NASCAR CUP SERIES KANSAS SPEEDWAY HOLLYWOOD CASINO 400 TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT SEPTEMBER 10, 2022

TYLER REDDICK RECORDS SECOND POLE OF 2022 AT KANSAS SPEEDWAYFive Camaro ZL1’s to Start in Top-10

·       Tyler Reddick clocked-in a lap of 29.899 seconds, at 180.608 mph, to capture the pole position for tomorrow’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway.   ·       This marks Reddick’s third career pole in 102 NASCAR Cup Series starts. ·       Reddick’s pole gives Chevrolet its eighth NASCAR Cup Series pole win of 2022; and 731st all-time in NASCAR Cup Series history.

TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 GUARANTEED RATE CAMARO ZL1 – Press Conference Transcript:YOU GOT YOURSELF A SECOND PEDAL CAR HERE. TALK ABOUT THAT LAP YOU PUT DOWN OUT THERE.“It was good enough. My lap in the first round was certainly a little better. Based off of what I was hearing; everybody was running about the same. I guess in that second round, Ross (Chastain) wasn’t able to put down the exact same lap, so had a little bit of wiggle room. I just tried to maximize our speed and hit it right in turns one and two. I felt like I still could have been a little bit more aggressive, but understanding what we needed to get done, it was just a matter of duplicating the lap from before. We were able to do that and win a pedal car for my kid, so I’m excited about that.” YOU WERE ON THE FRONT ROW IN THE SPRING. HOW CONFIDENT DOES ALL OF THIS MAKE YOU GOING INTO TOMORROW?“It’s reassuring. Again, the last few times we’ve been here, we’ve had a car capable of leading and we’ve been able to do that. It’s just been a matter of putting together the whole day, which is something we’ve fought at times throughout the year. I’m really glad that we’ve been able to learn from a lot of those experiences. It’s made us stronger; it’s made us better as a team. I feel really good and excited about it. Starting first is great any weekend, but to be able to have that first pit stall selection is going to be key. I’m looking forward to it.” FIRST ROUND, YOU RAN A 29.8 SECOND LAP, AND IN THE SECOND ROUND, YOU WERE ONE OF MAYBE TWO OR THREE THAT MATCHED WHAT YOU RAN IN THE FIRST ROUND. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE ABLE TO KEEP THAT CONSISTENCY UP CONSIDERING THE WEATHER CHANGING, THE SUN COMING OUT A LITTLE BIT IN BETWEEN? WHAT CAN YOU TAKE FROM THAT TO LEARN GOING INTO TOMORROW?“Having a consistent car is really important. This place is a track where you’ll have some fall off, but not a lot, so a car that doesn’t swing tight or loose will be important. All of those things, it’s about as perfect of a situation as you’re going to get out there in qualifying today. In practice for us, we didn’t have a lot of traffic, so we had a really good read on what our car will do. But from here on out the rest of the weekend; you’re going to be in traffic at some point, whether it’s later, in fifth and fifth on back. I feel really good about the speed our car has shown. Handling-wise, it’s just about right where I would want it for a place like this so I can move around a little bit and get up by the wall. It pretty much checked all of our boxes today. We can obviously make some small adjustments, but we’re not having to do anything crazy. We’re pretty happy with what we have.” BRISTOL, IN THE SPRING, YOU SAW HOW CRAZY THINGS CAN GET IN THE CLOSING LAPS. HOW PRECARIOUS DOES IT MAKE THAT TRACK SINCE IT’S A CUT-OFF RACE IN THE PLAYOFFS?“I’ll be honest.. I’m not expecting anything crazy there. I really don’t. Just the trend of how this car has been on the short tracks – Martinsville, Richmond – there’s a lot of grip. We don’t really have to pedal the car at all. We were actually working on Bristol a little bit today. At first, I was surprised like ‘wow, this has got a lot of grip’. It feels like you’re out of the gas about as much as you would be on a 1.5-mile track and then I realized you can just start connecting the dots. We went to Richmond and Richmond was a certain way; and Martinsville was, too.  I really don’t know. I think the speeds are going to be high enough there where I just don’t think someone is going to be able to move somebody out of the way like that without going to the extent that we saw, for example, Joey Logano do to William Byron earlier in the year at Darlington. You’re pretty much going to have to go in there and hope that you hit the guy because if you don’t, you’re going to just go flying up into the wall and crash. It could be chaotic.. I don’t know. It’s the type of place where things stack up. You could have some action, but I don’t think it’s going to be the type of race where people are going to be moving each other out of the way because I just don’t think you’re going to be able to get there.” DENNY (HAMLIN) WAS IN HERE EARLIER AND HE SAID HE THINKS TYLER (REDDICK) WOULD LIKE TO PLAY OUT HIS CONTRACT AT RCR AND THAT’S WHAT HE ALWAYS INTENDED. IS THAT YOUR INTENTION IF THE RUMOR MILL GOES TO FRUITION AND SOMETHING HAPPENS WITH KYLE BUSCH AT RCR?“If it does, then I’ll figure out what to do. But until then, I’m just going to keep doing my job and the task at hand. That’s what we did today. We got a pole. We were fast in practice in a lot of different measures.  If I was pretty bored during the week, didn’t have a lot going on and wasn’t spending a lot of time trying to prepare; it would be easy to get distracted and give that some of your mind and some of your attention. But for me, thankfully, I stay really busy with my team. We have a lot on our minds; right here, doing stuff like this, bringing fast race cars. So we don’t even have time to let that into my head.” WHEN GROUP A WAS RUNNING THEIR QUALIFYING SESSION, IT DIDN’T SEEM UNTIL (CHRISTOPHER) BELL’S LAP THAT PEOPLE FIGURED OUT THAT YOU NEEDED TO MIGRATE TO THE TOP TO GET THE SPEED THERE. I ASSUME THAT WAS YOUR PLAN ALL ALONG. DO YOU THINK THAT IS WHERE THE SPEED IS GOING TO BE ON SUNDAY?“It certainly will be for large amounts of this race. I think it has the potential, under green flag cycle, to move around off of that wall. The fastest car here in the spring was Kurt Busch and he was able to really do a good job of running on that top seam. It’s going to lay rubber with 30 plus cars out there, all running in the majority of the same area of the racetrack. So I think it’s going to open up that opportunity for other lanes to come into play because it’ll just be less rubber on it.  Certainly when we have cautions, the track cleans up and we’ll go out there with brand new tires; all of the rubber will come off the race track and kind of reset. But I definitely think it has the opportunity to where you’re going to be moving around. More so than anything, clean air is always going to be key. Everyone knows that at this point. You’re not going to be able to follow somebody into the corner, two or three-car links off of them, and run the same lap as the car ahead. You’re going to have to move around, so having some versatility is going to be important tomorrow.” DID YOU NOTICE ANY DIFFERENCE FROM THE NEW TIRES FROM THE SPRING? “I’ve paid some attention to that. Just from what I know from the little bit we played with it when I drove the wheel force car a long time ago; you can definitely get the car a little bit more unsettled. You have a little bit more of a window to work with it on the tire before you just crash. I don’t know if that’s actually a good thing or not, but everyone has kind of adjusted for it and worked on the cars.  Between that and the temperature differences, it’s pretty much been about what I expected it to be.” YOU’RE TWO CAREER NASCAR CUP SERIES WINS WERE BOTH ON ROAD COURSES. YOU HAD A GOOD FINISH LAST WEEKEND AT DARLINGTON. WHAT GETS YOU OVER THE HUMP ON THE OVAL? “I think it’s the very same thing that we were able to do on the road courses.. and that’s just execute all day long. I would say that – at one point when I came into the Cup Series – I had more speed on the ovals and I had to figure the road courses out. I think road courses have a higher chance of playing out naturally. We’ll see more cautions and more things happen on ovals I feel like. And because of that, we’ve had more opportunities to make mistakes. We’ve made them and that’s kept us from getting the job done.  But we’ve been close a few times. A lot of second-places, which are painful. But thankfully we have some wins, some top-three’s. We’re right there, it’s just a matter of putting the whole day together.”

Title is Seventh for the Chevrolet INDYCAR Program 

DETROIT (Sept. 10, 2022) – Chevrolet has won the NTT INDYCAR SERIES (NICS) Manufacturer Championship for the seventh time since it returned to the Series in 2012.

The Chevrolet 2.2-liter, twin-turbocharged, direct-injected V6 INDYCAR engine has produced 12 poles and ­­­11 wins in 16 events heading into Sunday’s season finale at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. 

“Preparation, teamwork and great execution were key this season to every pole, every win and now Chevrolet’s seventh Manufacturer Championship,” said Jim Campbell, U.S. Vice President Performance and Motorsports for Chevrolet. “Thank you to Team Penske, Ed Carpenter Racing, Arrow McLaren SP, AJ Foyt Racing, Juncos Hollinger Racing, Paretta Autosport, our Chevrolet Competition and Propulsion engineers, and our technical partners for their combined efforts that resulted in delivering Chevrolet’s NTT INDYCAR Series Manufacturer Championship.”

In the 11 seasons of the Chevrolet 2.2-liter V6 INDYCAR engine, Team Chevy drivers have amassed 106 wins of the 181 races to date – an impressive 58.6%. This season, Chevy-powered drivers have won 69% of the races and 75% of the NTT P1 Awards.

The 2022 Manufacturer Championship clearly demonstrates the never-give-up attitude of Chevrolet engineering, its teams, the GM Propulsion Group and its technical partners. Chevrolet proudly fielded 11 full-time entries during the 17-race season. Despite having less than half of the total car count, the Chevy teams and drivers maximized all the available support, engineering tools and simulator time to continue performance growth that translated to tremendous performance. 

All of Chevrolet’s full-time teams contributed valuable time and effort toward the seventh NICS Manufacturer Championship. Team Penske, with drivers Will Power, Josef Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin; Ed Carpenter Racing, with drivers Rinus VeeKay and Conor Daly; AJ Foyt Racing, with drivers Dalton Kellett and Kyle Kirkwood; and Juncos Hollinger Racing, with driver Callum Ilott, were instrumental in Team Chevy’s success.

“Winning Chevrolet’s seventh NTT INDYCAR Series Manufacturer Championship has been a true team effort by our Chevrolet engineers, Chevy-powered race teams, Chevrolet Propulsion engineers and technical partners at Ilmor Engineering and Hitachi Automotive Systems,” said Mark Stielow, Director Motorsports Competition Engineering. “The performance delivered by Chevrolet’s 2.2-liter twin turbo, direct-injected V6 engine has proven throughout the season to be the consistent combination of reliability, drivability and power for our teams to win races and this championship.”

Since 2012, in addition to the seven Manufacturer Championships, Chevrolet has won six driver championships with Ryan Hunter-Reay (2012), Power (2014), Scott Dixon (2015), Pagenaud (2016), Newgarden (2017 and 2019). Three Chevrolet drivers are in contention to win the crown in 2022. 

Additionally, the Chevrolet 2.2-liter V6 engine powered drivers to win the Indianapolis 500 with Tony Kanaan (2013), Juan Pablo Montoya (2015) Will Power (2018) and Simon Pagenaud (2019). 

Previously, Chevrolet competed in Indy-style racing as a manufacturer of V8 engines from 1986-93 and 2002-05, powering 111 wins, one manufacturer championship in 2002, seven Indianapolis 500 wins and six driver championships.

NASCAR CUP SERIES

KANSAS SPEEDWAY

HOLLYWOOD CASINO 400

TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT

SEPTEMBER 10, 2022

DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 COMMSCOPE CAMARO ZL1, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying session at Kansas Speedway. Press Conference Transcript:

YOU’VE GOT ONE TOP-10 HERE IN 11 STARTS AT THE CUP LEVEL. WHAT IS IT ABOUT THIS TRACK THAT’S DIFFICULT TO GET A HANDLE? 

“I don’t know.. I wish I knew. It has been a difficult place for me in the past, but this year has been different. Last time here, we were running top-five when I had a flat tire. I felt like we were going to have a shot to fight Toyota for the win, but we didn’t make it to that point.

I feel like the Next Gen car has changed a lot; the history in previous races, results and stuff like that. In the past, it hasn’t been a great place for me. But I truly believe that right now is quite different. I feel like we are going to be contending for the win this weekend.”

WITH BEING A FORMER CHAMPION, YOU’VE GOT POST-SEASON EXPERIENCE. WHAT’S THE EXPERIENCE BEEN LIKE SO FAR IN THE CUP SERIES AND WHAT’S IT LIKE BEING ON THE BUBBLE OR HOW DO YOU AVOID THINKING ABOUT THAT ASPECT AT THIS POINT?

“Really, I think the secret is not to think about it. At the end of the day, there is a lot of stuff going on around the playoffs; a lot of pressure, a lot of media obligations, a lot of stuff going on. But at the end of the day, when we put the helmets on and we go to race, it’s exactly the same thing. It’s no different than the first Kansas race in the spring to the Kansas race right now in the playoffs. You have to try to be smart; try to control what you can control. At the end of the day, I can only control one car and that is the No. 99 team. I cannot control what everyone else does or doesn’t do. I have to be smart, control what I can control and put all of my energy and effort into maximizing the results for the No. 99.”

AFTER LAST WEEKEND’S RACE, YOU WERE A BIT OUTSPOKEN ABOUT THE NO. 20 CAR.. SAYING YOU OWE HIM ONE FOR WHAT HAPPENED DURING THAT RACE. A WEEK LATER, HAS ANYTHING CHANGED IN TERMS OF YOUR MINDSET OR DO YOU STILL STAND BY WHAT YOU SAID AFTER THE RACE? 

“No, nothing has changed. But once again, that’s a perfect example of I have to control what I can control. Last week, I couldn’t control what the No. 20 was going to do. I feel like we were very, very lucky that we were able to finish the stage and continue with minor damage. The car wasn’t the same.. the toe and the right rear tire was messed up after that. 

But you make decisions as a racecar driver. You have to live with those and that’s the way he races. Something that is very, very general in the Cup garage is that you’re going to race people and you have to expect those people to race you the same way back. If that’s 100 percent clean, with a little bit of respect but aggressive, that’s the rule of the game and I feel like it’s going to be no different this time. I’m not thinking about it too much, but I definitely won’t forget what happened last week because it could have been way, way worse. I feel like I got very lucky.”

YOU HAD A LOT OF SPEED AT DARLINGTON LAST WEEKEND. HOW DOES THAT TRANSITION TO HERE AT KANSAS BECAUSE THERE ARE SIMILARITIES.. UP AGAINST THE FENCE, THAT SORT OF THING. HOW DOES THAT TRANSITION TO HERE AND YOUR DEGREE OF OPTIMISM WHEN YOU LOOK AT THIS RACE THIS WEEKEND?

“I’m very excited. Nobody pays attention to the No. 99 team like I do or my team does. But we’ve been extremely strong. At Daytona, we were in the position to win it before the rain. We probably should have won that race. 

In Darlington, whatever happened, happened. I made a mistake (on pit road) and that cost us a lot, but we were in contention to fight for the win once again. This weekend, honestly, is going to be no different. I think the No. 99 team right now is in a very, very good place. We’re just continuing to get better. At the beginning of the year, we were a very young, new team; new people working together. Right now, we are just jelling more and more. I’m excited for everything that we’re doing. The results on paper, they don’t look that great right now. But I’ve been extremely pleased with the speed that we’ve had. I’m really looking forward to continuing that.”

WHAT’S GOING TO BE THE BIGGEST DIFFERENT BETWEEN THE RACE HERE IN THE SPRING AND THE RACE TOMORROW?

“That’s a good question. I think that the biggest difference will be all of the developing that the teams have done. If you think about it, in the spring, the No. 45 team won the race in a very, very strong way in the final stage; and I don’t think there was a better car than the No. 45 in the final stage. If that team brought the exact same car to this race, I don’t think he’d be able to run in the top-20. The teams have gotten so much smarter and they’ve done so much developing in just a few months. It’s crazy to me and that just continues to grow. 

I feel like the biggest difference would be the development that we’ve done in the last few months. I was expecting the race to be hot, but it probably won’t be that way. It’s actually a little chilly. With that being said, we may be racing with the same temperatures as we did a few months ago in the spring. So I think the biggest difference would be all the developing that the teams have done throughout the last few months.”

NEXT WEEK AT BRISTOL.. OBVIOUSLY YOU GUYS HAVE RAN THERE, BUT ON DIRT, SO IT’S A BRAND NEW RACETRACK IN A WAY. WHAT KIND OF CHALLENGES OR UNKNOWNS ARE THERE WITH THIS CAR BEING ON THE CONCRETE THERE?

“That’s a very good question. The only racetrack that we’ve been that is similar to Bristol – but not the same by any means – is Dover. Nobody really knows what to exact at Bristol. It’s a racetrack that is by itself. It’s completely different than anything else and it’s a tough place. With 20 minutes of practice; if you miss it during the week, you’re going to have a long weekend and a long 500 laps. 

I love Bristol. It’s actually one of my favorite racetracks and I’m really looking forward to the challenge. It would be nice to have a strong weekend here in Kansas and go to Bristol a little bit more relaxed when it comes to points. Like I said, I’m not really thinking about it too much once I’m in the race. But during the week, there are a lot of conversations about that. I think the preparation we do during the week is going to be important because nobody really knows what is going to work in Bristol, just because it’s so different than everything else that we’ve done.”

FROM A COMPETITOR’S POINT OF VIEW, WHAT’S YOUR PERSPECTIVE TO SEE WHAT THE UNCERTAINTY THAT KYLE BUSCH HAS GONE THROUGH THIS SUMMER AND TO SEE SOMEONE OF HIS CALIBER TO HAVE THAT UNCERTAINTY FOR SUCH A LONG TIME? YOU’VE GONE THROUGH SOME DIFFERENT THINGS – NOT SAYING THEY ARE THE SAME THINGS AT ALL – BUT I’M GUESSING YOU PROBABLY HAVE A MORE UNIQUE PERSPECTIVE THAN I WOULD OR ANYBODY ELSE WOULD?

“I’ve unfortunately been in those situations in the past. Racing at this level is very consuming. You have to work 24/7 to be competitive; with your team, preparation both physically and mentally, looking at data. When you’re in a situation where you don’t really know where you’re going to land next year – team, contracts, all that kind of stuff – at the end of the day, in my mind with my experience, were distractions. Once you get to a race, you put the helmet on and you forget everything else and you get to drive. But everything else that happens during the week is not as good.. the preparation, the meetings, all those things. There is ‘X’ amount of time a day that you have to put into all of these discussions and negotiations that you aren’t putting into the competition. So, it’s never a good thing, especially for Kyle (Busch). He hasn’t had to experience that in many years. It’s definitely not the best situation, but you learn to deal with it.”

IN THE TWO 1.5-MILE RACES – CHARLOTTE AND HERE – THE TOYOTA’S WERE PRETTY DOMINANT.. FIVE OF THE TOP-SIX, TOP-TWO AND THREE OF THE TOP-FIVE AT CHARLOTTE. SINCE YOU GUYS HAVEN’T BEEN ON A 1.5-MILE TRACK SINCE THE COCA-COLA 600, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO TRY AND MAKE UP THAT GAP AND HAVE YOU BEEN SPENDING A LOT OF TIME ON THE SIMULATOR? 

“Do you remember who was the best car in the Coca-Cola 600 (laughs)? 

I think everyone has worked really hard. What Toyota has been able to do in the last few months has been very good. They weren’t as good a few months ago and now they have a pretty good package with whatever they were able to figure out. 

Everyone at the Chevy camp has done a very, very good job just continuing to develop. I feel like we started the year as, I would say, the leader group in some of the racetracks. Some of these guys were playing catch-up, like Toyota, they are right there with us.. and at times, even a little bit better. But I feel like we continue to get better. I think that in Darlington, we showed some pretty good speed. We showed that we can fight with them. I personally felt like I was going to give them a fight. It was going to be a track position race, but I don’t feel like they were much better than me. And I feel like hopefully, here in Kansas, is going to be similar. We can fight in a level field. I guess time will tell.

I feel very confident. Everyone at Chevrolet and GM have done an amazing job. Trackhouse Racing with the No. 99 and No. 1 teams, we’ve been working together very, very hard to continue to move forward. I feel confident in where we are right now to continue to fight.”

YOU KNOW WHAT IT’S LIKE TO FIGHT FOR AND WIN A CHAMPIONSHIP IN A NASCAR NATIONAL SERIES. CAN YOU COMPARE AND CONTRAST WHAT YOU’RE GOING THROUGH NOW TO WHAT YOU WERE GOING TO THEN? HOW MUCH MORE STRESSFUL, IF IT IS? ALSO, DOES HAVING WON THE XFINITY TITLE GIVE YOU A BETTER IDEA OF WHAT YOU’RE IN FOR DURING THE NEXT EIGHT OR NINE WEEKS?

“That’s a good question. If you really think about it, it’s the same thing. It’s exactly the same thing. The process is the same, the system is the same, what you have to go through is the same. The only part that is very different is the level of competition. Everyone is better and everything is more difficult. But the system – the pressure and the stuff that you have to do, how you have to be smart and how you have to pick and choose your battles – is the same thing. I feel fortunate that I have that experience in the past.. to live, experience and learn from that championship battle in 2016. It’s been fun. If it wasn’t because of that, right now would probably feel a little bit more like ‘OK, what is next.. what is going to happen next’. At least I’ve been there before. 

But like I said, it’s quite different when it comes to the competition. I’m really looking forward to continue doing what we’ve been doing. We have to control what we can control. The No. 99 team has been doing an incredible job. Everybody is very calm; everybody is very relaxed. We are taking one day at a time and I feel like we’re going to be in good shape. I truly believe that. I feel like the playoffs are coming at a very, very good time for Trackhouse Racing.”

PLACERVILLE, CA (Sept. 10, 2022) – For the second consecutive year, Placerville Speedway is becoming the base for regional California firefighting efforts, including a fire rescue camp, and thereby forcing the postponement of the Sept. 17 Bonney Plumbing 49er Gold Rush Classic to 2023.

The thoughts of the entire World of Outlaws family are with the firefighters and all of those affected by the fires throughout the area.

The Tom Tarlton Classic at Keller Auto Speedway in Hanford, CA — one of the most exciting races in 2022 — remains scheduled for Friday, Sept. 16, and will now be the final World of Outlaws race this season in California.

Those who already purchased tickets to the 2022 Bonney Plumbing 49er Gold Rush, originally scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 17, will be able to use them for the 2023 event at Placerville. The date of the 2023 race will be announced by the end of the year. Ticketholders unable to make the 2023 race can request a refund when the 2023 date is announced.

The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series West Coast Swing continues tonight at Silver Dollar Speedway for the $25,000-to-win Gold Cup Race of Champions, live on DIRTVision.

right leads 28 of 30 laps, Cockrum drives 18th-to-sixth JACKSONVILLE, IL – Sept. 9, 2022 – Jake Swanson could smell the blood in the water. Directly in front of him, leader Alex Bright was getting tighter and tighter every lap. With two left on the board, he knew it was time to make the move. With a deep dive into Turn 3, he slid up in front of Bright and took away his line and the lead before crossing under the white flag, nearly neck-and-neck at the line. Bright tried a slider of his own through Turns 1-2, but Swanson kept his foot in it as he hit the high-banked Jacksonville Speedway cushion and fended-off Bright’s last-ditch effort. In the end, it was all Swanson needed to gap Bright and drive across the finish line to score his second Xtreme Outlaw Sprint Car Series presented by Low-E Insulation Feature win of the inaugural season. “It was a close one, but I gambled a little bit and tried to make sure I beat him around the outside,” Swanson said. “I actually buried it in the curb a little bit harder than I wanted to, and I squeezed the throttle pedal harder and tried to make sure that it didn’t bike-up or get tight. I knew if I snagged the nose, I was done for.” It’s been long and winding road for the 35-year-old from Anaheim, CA, who now becomes only the second driver in Xtreme Outlaw history to win more than once. He’s come a long way since his days in the Midget ranks and early Sprint Car starts, and reflected on his time in the seat with Team AZ Racing, traveling around to compete against drivers from across the country. “It really is an honor to drive all over the country and race,” Swanson said. “To be on a circuit like this and be able to win at this level is pretty awesome.” Swanson took the green flag from outside Row 2, directly behind Bright. Bright took the lead on the first lap and proceeded to lead the next 27 circuits of the 1/4-mile oval. Though he looked fast out front in the early going, Bright soon found himself in a struggle, losing the handling with half of the race left. “I knew I was in trouble before two-to-go; I started to struggle with about 15-to-go,” Bright said. “I was just trying to hold on, not make mistakes, still running hard. But I didn’t wanna give it up on doing something stupid, either.” Even though the car was getting tight, Bright still looked strong on the restarts, which contributed to his ability to keep the lead. And his competition noticed. “I knew [Bright] was getting tighter and tighter,” Swanson said. “He was getting really good restarts. He was going so early that I would have a hard time getting ahold of something. It was hard for me to smash the pedal and get going. It felt like I was spinning the tires, and I would lose more time. “If I could make sure that I carried speed into Turns 1-2, [Bright] would get tight and I’d be able to make that ground back up as long as I got a good restart.” After fending-off relentless pressure from Robert Ballou behind him, Swanson was left with five laps on the board for the race’s final restart; one car in front of him. That’s when he devised the plan. “I knew I was running out of time, but there were a couple spots where I could see down there on the bottom,” Swanson said. “If I could just get some momentum and get close enough to [Bright], I could stick something down there and at least break his momentum. “If it slid him, I’d break his momentum and if it hooked the bottom, I could drag race him to the next corner and hopefully slide him there. That’s what we ended up doing.” Bright had a plan for the last restart as well – a conservative one – and said that looking back, he realized he should’ve pushed harder. “I think with about five-to-go, I needed to just throw the ‘don’t-make-mistakes’ card out the door and just start running it as hard as I could,” Bright said. “For how we had the car, I think that was my only option. I didn’t see it until Swanson got by us, but at that point, it was too little, too late.” Though he didn’t get the win, Bright still finished P2 and made up a big chunk of points in the championship standings on leader Shane Cockrum. With Cockrum having to come from 18th to finish sixth, Bright was able to cut the gap down from 47 points to 16 with five races remaining. Doing well miles away from his home in Collegeville, PA, gives he and the Hummer Motorsports crew a big dose of confidence. “Running back in Pennsylvania, we don’t really get cushions, we don’t run on the small tracks like that,” Bright said. “So, to come out here and run as good as we did for 28 of the 30 laps, I guess it wasn’t so bad.” Rounding out the podium was the only other two-time Xtreme Series winner, CJ Leary. The Greenfield, IN-driver came from seventh in his first Series appearance since Lake Ozark Speedway in June. Though the night started out unfavorable, Cockrum was able to come back from 18th to finish sixth and retain his points lead, though smaller now. He earned the TJ Forged Hard Charger Award in his drive, picking up 12 spots of position in 30 laps. UP NEXT The Xtreme Outlaw Sprint Car Series presented by Low-E Insulation heads to Lewistown, IL, for another track debut on Saturday, Sept. 10, at Spoon River Speedway. Buy a ticket at the gate or stream all the action live on DIRTVision. ABBREVIATED RESULTS (view full results) Feature (30 Laps): 1. 21AZ-Jake Swanson[4]; 2. 20-Alex Bright[2]; 3. 77M-CJ Leary[7]; 4. 2B-Anton Hernandez[6]; 5. 15K-Kevin Thomas Jr[9]; 6. 66-Shane Cockrum[18]; 7. 33M-Matt Westfall[8]; 8. 12-Robert Ballou[3]; 9. 56-Mitchell Davis[17]; 10. 6-Mario Clouser[5]; 11. 28-Kory Schudy[14]; 12. N2-Nic Harris[11]; 13. 8D-Will Armitage[12]; 14. 1JR-Steven Russell[15]; 15. 16-Anthony Nicholson[19]; 16. 44-Wesley Smith[13]; 17. 2A-Austin Archdale[21]; 18. 17GP-Max Adams[10]; 19. 24-Landon Simon[20]; 20. 52-Isaac Chapple[16]; 21. 28M-Brandon Mattox[1]; 22. 52F-Logan Faucon[22]

Team will dig into its bag of tricks to work forward in Six Hours of Fuji OYAMA, Japan (Sept. 10, 2022) – Corvette Racing will start fifth among GTE Pro runners Sunday morning in Japan as it tries for a second straight victory in the FIA World Endurance Championship. Nick Tandy set a lap of 1:37.127 (105.074 mph) in the No. 64 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R that he will share with Tommy Milner in the Six Hours of Fuji. Only 0.756 seconds separates all of the GTE Pro entries, an interesting prospect for another thrilling race in the category.

Tandy and Milner won in their last time out at the Six Hours of Monza, which was the first victory for Corvette Racing as a full-time FIA WEC entrant. With Fuji being a much more technical circuit that Monza – another new track for the Corvette program – the bulk of the three practice sessions were spent developing and fine-tuning chassis and aero setups, plus evaluating different tire compounds with an eye toward the race. Both Milner and Tandy were happy with the long-run prospects of the Corvette after the final practice leading into qualifying. Fuji is the Corvette program’s 32nd venue during its nearly 25-year run of racetracks around the world with Bahrain still to go in the WEC’s season finale. The Six Hours of Fuji for the FIA World Endurance Championship is scheduled for 11 a.m. JST Sunday /10 p.m. ET Saturday from Fuji Speedway in Japan. The race will air live on MotorTrend from 9:30-11 p.m. ET on Saturday and the final hour and post-race from 3-4:30 a.m ET on Sunday. Live streaming coverage of the race an on-board feed from the No. 64 Corvette will be available on the MotorTrend Plus app. Radio Le Mans’ RS1 channel will stream play-by-play and race commentary from 9:30 p.m. ET on Saturday through 4:30 a.m. ET on Sunday.

NICK TANDY, NO. 64 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – QUALIFIED FIFTH IN GTE PRO: “Since Free Practice One, we’ve been at a pace deficit that has been similar throughout all the sessions. We’ve been improving the car, but it seems like something fundamentally with the circuit, how the car is working on the tires and other factors aren’t suiting us on single-lap performance. Looking at qualifying, things were better again from Free Practice Three, which was better from Free Practice Two. But of course, everyone else also is going faster. It’s kind of frustrating because we are improving and the Corvette is better to drive, but we are lacking a little bit of single-lap pace. “Of course this a new track to us and the one where Tommy and I have the least amount of experience on the WEC calendar. There’s something else kind of happening where our car and the tire combination isn’t working with the track surface. We can look again and come up with a few ideas for the race.“Typically we are better in race pace in this WEC season than we’ve been in qualifying. We haven’t had a pole outside of Le Mans, but we manage to run at the front once the race gets going. There is still a long race to come. The thing with WEC is that you do have to double-stint tires, and up to two hours on a set of tires here is going to be a challenge for every team. Let’s see what happens.”

Allen and Golobic Lock-In for Saturday’s $25,000/Win Finale at Silver Dollar

CHICO, CA – September 9, 2022 – The second night of the 68th Gold Cup Race of Champions saw the return of a familiar face to Victory Lane at Silver Dollar Speedway.

Completing a California sweep of the split-field preliminary programs, Lemoore’s Carson Macedo stood on top at the Chico, CA 1/4-mile for the third time in his career. He’s won all three of his Gold Cup prelims with a different team – Tarlton Racing in 2014, Kyle Larson Racing in 2019, and Jason Johnson Racing in 2022.

To secure Friday’s Feature win – unofficially his 12th with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series in 2022 – Macedo was forced to fight off a resurgent Jacob Allen, who presented a career-best Silver Dollar Speedway effort.

Macedo led the opening 15 laps from the pole position, but seventh-starting Jacob Allen quickly found himself in contention aboard the Shark Racing, Pells Tire Service, Low-E Insulation #1A. The Hanover, PA native, who had amassed a stunning average finish of 24th through his first 12 starts in Chico, drove by Macedo on the low-line and led laps 16-18.

The Jason Johnson Racing, Albaugh #41 rebounded on the ensuing restart, however, and ripped command of the lead back from Allen as he throttled the tricky cushion. From there, the 26-year-old star easily ran off into lap traffic and won Friday’s preliminary by 2.117-seconds.

“I didn’t expect that honestly,” Macedo said of Allen driving by him. “He was so good on the bottom, I was taken aback for a minute. These big mufflers are so quiet that you kind of hear things and don’t know where they’re coming from really. I had to get back into the seat and rip the top really hard. I’m glad it paid off and I’m excited knowing that we can improve tomorrow and make this thing better.”

An added element in the moment is that Macedo earned his first-career World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series win right here at Silver Dollar Speedway almost eight years to the day. It also marks the first-ever win for Jason Johnson Racing at the Chico, CA 1/4-mile.

“This place is special to me and always will be,” Macedo added. “I got my first World of Outlaws win here and now I gave Jason Johnson Racing their first win here. I know how much Philip has wanted to win here, so I’m excited I can finally give them that. Hopefully we can be up here when it counts tomorrow.”

Finishing a career-best second-place after leading three laps past halfway was Jacob Allen. The Shark Racing pilot continued his remarkable turnaround by nearly winning at a track that has haunted him ever since he became a full-time World of Outlaws competitor in 2014. He’s now gone from a 24.0 average finisher to a lock-in driver at the Gold Cup Race of Champions.

“Man, I’ve ran second to Carson like two or three times lately,” Allen added. “We just need to get a little bit better and I need to capitalize some more. Our decision-making has been awesome, though, and I think that is showing in our results. It’s not easy going against the best in the world every night, but we’re doing it.”

Closing out the podium in his first-ever appearance at Silver Dollar Speedway was Lebanon, IN native Spencer Bayston. The 23-year-old leading contender for Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year ended up third aboard the CJB Motorsports, True Timber, Signing Day Sports #5.

“I knew my first time here would be tough and technical, but wow it was in a big way,” Bayston noted on the track. “I didn’t feel too good around the bottom, but it was so touchy up top, I biked so many times. I’m happy with our first outing here. This year is all about learning and experiencing these tracks. Excited to see what we can do tomorrow.”

Shane Golobic, of Fremont, CA, finished fourth-from-eighth to secure high point honors and lock-in for tomorrow’s $25,000-to-win Gold Cup finale. The usual pilot of the NOS Energy Drink #17W, Golobic hopped in the Kevin Kozlowski-owned, Paul Silva-wrenched #57W and nearly completed a perfect night in Chico.

Rounding out the top-10 on Friday was non-wing ace Ryan Bernal in the fifth spot, Lincoln, CA’s Blake Carrick in sixth, David Gravel in seventh-from-22nd with the KSE Hard Charger Award, Max Mittry in eighth during his World of Outlaws debut, Australian Kerry Madsen in ninth, and Hanford, CA’s DJ Netto in tenth.

NOS Energy Drink Feature Results (30 Laps) – 1. 41-Carson Macedo [1][$10,000]; 2. 1A-Jacob Allen [7][$6,000]; 3. 5-Spencer Bayston [4][$3,500]; 4. 57W-Shane Golobic [8][$2,800]; 5. 22-Ryan Bernal [10][$2,500]; 6. 38B-Blake Carrick [3][$2,300]; 7. 2-David Gravel [22][$2,200]; 8. 2XM-Max Mittry [2][$2,100]; 9. 83JR-Kerry Madsen [9][$2,050]; 10. 88N-DJ Netto [17][$2,000]; 11. 15-Donny Schatz [13][$1,600]; 12. 24-Chase Johnson [11][$1,400]; 13. 41S-Dominic Scelzi [6][$1,200]; 14. 11K-Kraig Kinser [16][$1,100]; 15. 7S-Robbie Price [5][$1,050]; 16. 88-Austin McCarl [12][$1,000]; 17. 42X-Tim Kaeding [14][$1,000]; 18. 5B-Colby Copeland [15][$1,000]; 19. 45-Jake Morgan [19][$1,000]; 20. 2S-Jayce Steinberg [24][$1,000]; 21. 19T-Tucker LaCaze [20][$1,000]; 22. 21M-Michael Ing [23][$1,000]; 23. 51-Shane Hopkins [18][$1,000]; 24. 21S-Jesse Schlotfeldt [21][$1,000]. Lap Leaders: Carson Macedo 1-15, 19-30; Jacob Allen 16-18. KSE Hard Charger Award: 2-David Gravel[+15]

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (September 9, 2022) – Progressive American Flat Track announced today the expansion of the final two race weekends of the season to conclude the 2022 campaign in epic double-doubleheader fashion.

The inaugural Drag Specialties Cedar Lake Short Track will feature a unique twist on the doubleheader format, fitting two full points- and purse-paying Mission SuperTwins presented by S&S Cycle Main Events into a single evening on Saturday, September 24 at Cedar Lake Speedway in New Richmond, Wisconsin.

Following the conclusion of Opening Ceremonies, Mission SuperTwins will kick off the Main Event program with Round 15 of the premier-class championship. Later that evening, the Mission SuperTwins competitors will return to the track, joined by the participating Mission Production Twins Challenge entrants, to cap off the day’s activities with Round 16.

Flag-to-flag coverage of both Mission SuperTwins Main Events will feature in the one-hour FS1 broadcast of the Cedar Lake Short Track scheduled to premiere on Sunday, October 2, at 10:30 a.m. ET/7:30 a.m. PT.

The Mission Volusia Half-Mile Finale presented by Daytona Dodge at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Florida, will then conclude the 2022 season with a conventional two-day doubleheader, featuring Round 17 on Friday, October 14, and Round 18 on Saturday, October 15. The weekend will also represent the final two-thirds of the Progressive Triple Crown, which will pay the Mission SuperTwins rider who collects the most combined points across the Progressive Laconia Short Track and twin finale a $25,000 prize.

The additions to the year-end slate further raise the stakes for what was already destined to be a thrilling conclusion to a historic season. With four Mission SuperTwins title fighters representing two different manufacturers separated by just 29 points and 100 points still up for grabs, this year’s championship battle remains far too close to predict.

Visit https://store.americanflattrack.com/ebooking/ticket/view/id/3901/ to reserve your tickets for the Drag Specialties Cedar Lake Short Track.

Visit https://store.americanflattrack.com/ebooking/ticket/view/id/3697/ to reserve your tickets for the Mission Volusia Half-Mile Finale presented by Daytona Dodge. Tickets for Friday, October 14 on sale soon.

For more information on Progressive AFT visit https://www.americanflattrack.com. To score the latest gear for the Progressive American Flat Track fan, visit our official merchandise store at https://store.americanflattrack.com.

The Xtreme Outlaw Sprint Car Series will make its debut at Devil’s Bowl Speedway for a doubleheader season finale, Oct. 28-29

MESQUITE, TX (Sept. 9, 2022) – The inaugural championship for the Xtreme Outlaw Sprint Car Series presented by Low-E Insulation will conclude where the World of Outlaws began – Devil’s Bowl Speedway.

The Texas Non-Wing Nationals will be a two-day event at the historic Texas track, Friday-Saturday, Oct. 28-29, paying $5,000-to-win on Friday, and $10,000-to-win on Saturday, along with rewarding $20,000 to the first Xtreme Outlaw Sprint Car champion.

It’ll also mark the Series’ first trip to Texas.

“I’m excited we’re able to bring such a historic moment for this new series to a historic track like Devil’s Bowl Speedway,” said Casey Shuman, Xtreme Outlaw Series director. “We’ve had a great debut year with exceptional races at each event. The Texas Non-Wing Nationals is a great opportunity to give fans an epic championship finale.”

The Xtreme Outlaws Sprint Cars debuted at Volusia Speedway Park in February with CJ Leary and Thomas Meseraull picking up the first two victories. Since then, there have been five different winners in six events, with a doubleheader in Illinois up next – Friday, Sept. 9, at Jacksonville Speedway, and Saturday, Sept. 10, at Spoon River Speedway.

A doubleheader at Atomic Speedway, Oct. 7-8, will set the stage for the championship finale at Devil’s Bowl. Currently, Shane Cockrum holds the top stop, but Alex Bright and Matt Westfall are still less than 70 points back.

The World of Outlaws ran its inaugural race at Devil’s Bowl in 1978 with Non-wing Sprint Cars, bringing the event back to its original “Outlaw” roots.

“This will be a special event for the track and Sprint Car fans with the Xtreme Outlaw Sprint Cars bringing Outlaw Non-wing racing back to the speedway,” said Lanny Ross Edwards, Devil’s Bowl Speedway promoter. “On top of that, we’re thrilled to host the Series’ historic championship finale.”

Friday night’s Feature will be 25 laps and Saturday’s Feature will be 30 laps around the half-mile track, with the championship celebration to follow. Also, the Xtreme Outlaw Sprint Cars will welcome the ASCS Elite Non-Wing Sprint Cars to the field.

Brad Sweet and Ryan Timms Lock-In for Saturday’s Finale at Silver Dollar

CHICO, CA – September 8, 2022 – The Gold Cup Race of Champions is back, and back in a big way.

On Thursday, Silver Dollar Speedway kicked off the 68th edition of the iconic event with new promoters bringing back old traditions and injecting a much-needed boost as they return to Crown Jewel status with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series.

The first of two preliminary programs delivered all you could ask for in a thrilling 30-lap Feature. Three different drivers combined to offer five official lead changes throughout a breathtaking race on the choppy, tricky, and treacherous Chico, CA 1/4-mile.

Ultimately, Kyle Larson – the “L” in SLC Promotions at Silver Dollar – chalked up the win in his one and only night at Gold Cup this week. He won’t be back for Saturday’s finale with NASCAR obligations taking precedent, but he had the time for Thursday’s opener and made the most of it; returning to Victory Lane at the same place where his first-career World of Outlaws win came in 2011.

Leading the final six laps, the 30-year-old dubbed “Yung Money” for his stunning ability to shine on the biggest stages as a teenager was forced to fight off the new kid on the block, who is quite frankly now deserving of that title himself. At 16 years old, Ryan Timms, of Oklahoma City, OK, has become arguably the hottest topic in Sprint Car Racing this year.  He nearly won his second-ever World of Outlaws race in August, and he almost beat Kyle Larson on Thursday at his own game.

The duo exchanged the lead several times through the middle stages, but it was the final restart on Lap 24 that decided it all. Timms had survived an attack before, but this time Larson chucked the Kevin Kozlwoski-owned #57 through turns one and two to clear the Randy Timms-owned #5T and drove off to a 1.983-second margin of victory.

“I knew my only opportunity was going to come if Ryan didn’t get a great launch on the restart,” Larson admitted. “I knew that I would have to slide across quicker that second time, and thankfully it stuck. This place was awesome tonight, it was treacherous. It made sliders really sketchy and you’d be off the throttle sliding across super fast. It felt great when I hit it right, but it was tricky every single corner.”

“He is really, really good,” Larson added on Timms. “I know most of these young kids nowadays can rip a cushion like that. I saw him on the front row of the lineup and figured he would be a tough guy to beat tonight. It was crazy coming through the pack. I think if he hit those restarts a little better it was his to win.”

A second-place finish gives Ryan Timms already two runner-up finishes in World of Outlaws competition through three weeks against The Greatest Show on Dirt. He’s locked in for Saturday’s $25,000-to-win finale of the Gold Cup Race of Champions, where a victory would make him the youngest winner in the Series’ storied 45-year history.

“I really thought when he slid me and I got around him that it was my break,” Timms said on the initial restart he beat Larson. “It seemed like it was just better to be in second than first in some way tonight, so you could attack differently. It stings, but losing to him isn’t the worst thing in the world. It’s a lot better than I expected, really.”

Closing out the podium after a ferocious drive from 11th to third was James McFadden in the Roth Motorsports #83. The Australian will find himself on the front row of a Gold Cup Heat Race on Saturday with hopes of a win locking him into the DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash.

“Even by yourself you had your hands full tonight, “McFadden said on the track. “It was so treacherous up there. I wish we didn’t get those restarts because I felt like I was way better all bunched up in traffic. We sucked early and dug ourselves a hole, but these guys worked really hard and got this Roth #83 back where it belongs.”

Brad Sweet, who finished fourth and collected 386 points on the night, is the unofficial high point man with brother-in-law Kyle Larson (395) not returned for Saturday. “The Big Cat” will have a chance at the pole position on Saturday as he continues to pursue his first-career title at the Gold Cup.

Kalib Henry, in his sixth-ever World of Outlaws Feature, led a lap while mixing it up with Timms and Larson after he started on the pole position. The Citrus Heights, CA native ended up in fifth-place to put his #17M in a good position ahead of Saturday’s finale.

Rounding out the top-10 on Thursday was Sheldon Haudenschild in sixth from 16th, Andy Forsberg in the seventh spot, Sean Becker with a KSE Hard Charger runs from 24th to eighth, Mitchell Faccinto with another ninth-place effort, and Tanner Carrick in the 10th position.

NOS Energy Drink Feature Results (30 Laps) – 1. 57-Kyle Larson [8][$10,000]; 2. 5T-Ryan Timms [2][$6,000]; 3. 83-James McFadden [11][$3,500]; 4. 49-Brad Sweet [7][$2,800]; 5. 17M-Kalib Henry [1][$2,500]; 6. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [16][$2,300]; 7. 92-Andy Forsberg [3][$2,200]; 8. 83V-Sean Becker [24][$2,100]; 9. 21-Mitchell Faccinto [14][$2,050]; 10. 83T-Tanner Carrick [9][$2,000]; 11. 29-Willie Croft [19][$1,600]; 12. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [13][$1,400]; 13. 14-Corey Day [17][$1,200]; 14. 1S-Logan Schuchart [5][$1,100]; 15. 53-Jessie Attard [21][$1,050]; 16. 2K-Kaleb Montgomery [18][$1,000]; 17. 33-Dylan Bloomfield [6][$1,000]; 18. 12J-John Clark [22][$1,000]; 19. 20G-Noah Gass [15][$1,000]; 20. 5V-Landon Brooks [10][$1,000]; 21. 55D-Dawson Hammes [23][$1,000]; 22. 18T-Tanner Holmes [4][$1,000]; 23. 19-Colby Thornhill [20][$1,000]; 24. 2X-Justin Sanders [12][$1,000]. Lap Leaders: Ryan Timms 1-8, 10-13, 18-24; Kalib Henry 9; Kyle Larson 14-17, 25-30. KSE Hard Charger Award: 83V-Sean Becker[+16]

ROSSBURG, OH– September 9, 2022 – Two drivers took their first step toward conquering “The World” Thursday night at Eldora Speedway. 

After 107 cars entered night one of the 52nd World 100, Jonathan Davenport and Hudson O’Neal stood tall earning $12,000 preliminary Feature victories and gained valuable momentum toward Saturday’s main event. 

GROUP A Preliminary Feature- Jonathan Davenport

One night after finishing fourth in the Dirt Late Model Dream, Jonathan Davenport wasted no time returning to Eldora Speedway’s iconic Victory Lane. 

The Blairsville, GA driver stormed past Jimmy Owens on Lap 6 of Thursday’s Group A Feature to claim the $12,000 prize on night one of the 52nd World 100. 

The four-time World 100 winner said his team made changes throughout the day, helping his car return to its winning form. 

“I think we’re one adjustment away from being perfect,” Davenport said. “We changed quite a few things today. We just couldn’t get a good balance on it. 

“I wish the racetrack was like that last night. We might have been right back up here. It’s a phenomenal job, by my guys, Jason, Vinny, and Tyler. We all put our heads together and constantly changed on this thing. We changed things on the car, and it messed the balance up a bit, and I think we got it back there pretty good.”

Owens, a two-time World 100 winner, finished second after leading the race’s first five laps. 

The Newport, TN driver stated he was happy with his car but needed to make a few more adjustments to stay with Davenport.

“I was just discussing with my guys about how we can get a little more stable in the corners,” Owens said. “I felt like we were good, but the 49 has been phenomenal all year. Another great year for those guys. Hats off to them. 

“We got some work to do, and maybe we can make some improvements for the big race.”

Defending World 100 winner Brandon Overton finished third, while Chris Madden and Johnny Scott rounded out the top five. 

Group B Preliminary Feature- Hudson O’Neal

Hudson O’Neal had one goal in his World 100 preliminary Feature—get in clean air quick. 

The Martinsville, IN driver, accomplished that goal immediately, thundering around Shane Clanton in Turn 2 to take the lead. 

O’Neal dominated the Group B Feature at Eldora to earn the $12,000 triumph.

“I got a really good start there, and I knew I just needed to get the lead there and get to clean air as fast as I could,” O’Neal said. “The first [Feature] went caution-free, so I figured the second one would, too.

“The air plays such a big factor here. I swear it felt like I slowed down two seconds when I caught lap traffic.”

Clanton, from Zebulon, GA, crossed the line second after winning a Heat Race earlier in the night. 

The “Georgia Bulldog” stated he’s optimistic about the rest of the weekend.  

“Our car was good, we had a good starting spot, and I hope we can do it again tomorrow,” Clanton said. “This Capital Race Car is pretty good right now. Hopefully, we can just keep it up.”

Chris Ferguson rounded out the podium one night after making an early exit in the Dirt Late Model Dream. 

The Mount Holly, NC driver was forced to switch to a backup car and stated he was thrilled with how well the car ran.

“I just want to give a special thanks to my crew for all the hard work,” Ferguson said. “The car was really good. I could just kind of hang with Shane and Hudson but couldn’t get momentum going like we needed to. 

“I’m tickled to death; this is the first time I’ve raced this car here since 2018.”

Tim McCreadie finished fourth, and Garrett Smith rounded out the top five. 

UP NEXT: The DIRTcar Late Models return to Eldora Speedway on Friday, Sept. 9, for night two of the 52nd World 100, as drivers will battle in twin 25-lap split-field Features paying $12,000-to-win. 

TICKETS: https://bit.ly/3epLMIw

Follow live coverage and updates of everything at Eldora Speedway on all of DIRTcar’s social media channels and DIRTcar.com. 

A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport[3]; 2. 20-Jimmy Owens[2]; 3. 76-Brandon Overton[5]; 4. 44-Chris Madden[4]; 5. 1ST-Johnny Scott[1]; 6. 1-Brandon Sheppard[8]; 7. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[6]; 8. 157-Mike Marlar[7]; 9. 11H-Spencer Hughes[9]; 10. 8-Kyle Strickler[23]; 11. 1T-Tyler Erb[10]; 12. 19R-Ryan Gustin[16]; 13. 58-Garrett Alberson[14]; 14. 23-John Blankenship[12]; 15. 22S-Gregg Satterlee[15]; 16. 88-Trent Ivey[11]; 17. 42H-Tyler Carpenter[19]; 18. 83F-Jensen Ford[17]; 19. 25F-Jason Feger[20]; 20. 5-Mark Whitener[18]; 21. 31K-Kye Blight[13]; 22. 21K-Dakotah Knuckles[24]; 23. 99-Camaron Marlar[22]; 24. 10-Joseph Joiner[21]

A Feature 2 (25 Laps): 1. 71-Hudson O’Neal[2]; 2. 25-Shane Clanton[1]; 3. 22-Chris Ferguson[4]; 4. 39-Tim McCreadie[3]; 5. 10S-Garrett Smith[8]; 6. 9-Devin Moran[9]; 7. 7-Ricky Weiss[6]; 8. 32-Bobby Pierce[10]; 9. 9Z-Mason Zeigler[19]; 10. 19M-Wil Herrington[7]; 11. 11R-Josh Rice[15]; 12. 2S-Stormy Scott[11]; 13. 46-Earl Pearson Jr[18]; 14. 40B-Kyle Bronson[5]; 15. 18-Shannon Babb[14]; 16. 97-Michael Chilton[12]; 17. 17-Zack Dohm[13]; 18. 16-Tyler Bruening[23]; 19. 18C-Chase Junghans[17]; 20. 21-Billy Moyer Sr[21]; 21. 23H-Cory Hedgecock[16]; 22. 11K-Austin Kirkpatrick[24]; 23. C9-Steve Casebolt[22]; 24. 57-Zack Mitchell[20]

ROSSBURG, OH– September 8, 2022 – Late Model drivers across the country will see a significant change in 2023.

On Thursday afternoon at Eldora Speedway, Hoosier Racing Tire announced a new Dirt Late Model tire starting next season. The tire will be used in all Super Dirt Late Model racing, including the World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Model Series and DIRTcar Late Model divisions.

World Racing Group CEO Brian Carter was among the officials there at the announcement. He stated he thinks the change will be a positive one for Late Model racing going forward.

“It’s been in the works for quite a while now,” Carter said. “It’s a collaboration between all of the sanctioning bodies and Hoosier and the racetracks to try and consolidate the supply chain to help Late Model racing be sustainable for a long time.

“It should make it simpler for the teams, a lot less tires to carry, and should help the local racers, too. It’s a great step forward for Late Model racing.”

Current World of Outlaws CASE Late Models points leader Dennis Erb Jr. agreed with Carter on the consolidation.

“I think it’s a good idea to get them down to a few compounds and make it easier to go all different places and not have to worry about carrying a bunch of different tires and getting tires ready,” Erb said. “Hopefully, that will make things a little bit easier.”

Four-time defending DIRTcar Summer Nationals champion Bobby Pierce said it saves him time trying to figure out what tires he needs to run, but knows there will be some adjusting.

“It’s very nice to have everybody on the same exact rule,” Pierce said. “That way, you go race wherever you want and not have to worry about the tire rule. That’s always something we have to figure out.”

World of Outlaws CASE Late Models Rookie of the Year contender Gordy Gundaker is also on board with cutting down the number of compounds. He stated that it helps the drivers who aren’t used to running different tires in different regions.

“It’s going to be great for everybody,” Gundaker said. “Now you can go race anywhere in the country and have the right tires. That’s one of the biggest reasons why we didn’t really travel a lot over the past couple of years because once we leave the Midwest, you have to get 1300s, 1350s, and 1425s. It’s a wide range, and it’s tough for a guy like me to justify going for a weekend and buying all those tires.

“Them coming together and unifying the rule, I think, is great for all of us.”

World of Outlaws CASE Late Model drivers will get their first crack at the new tire when the Series opens its season in January at Volusia Speedway Park for the Sunshine Nationals (Jan. 18-21).

Richard Childress Racing at Kansas Speedway … In 94 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Kansas Speedway, Richard Childress Racing has one win with Kevin Harvick in 2013 along with five top-five and 26 top-10 finishes. The victory was Harvick’s first at Kansas and it came in dominating fashion with Harvick winning the pole and leading the most laps in the race. In 2021, Austin Dillon claimed a pair of 10th-place finishes at Kansas while Tyler Reddick scored a seventh-place finish in the spring event at the 1.5-mile speedway.  

Back in the Playoffs … Richard Childress Racing enters Kansas with three victories in NASCAR’s elite Cup Series during the 2022 season. The Welcome, N.C., based company has two entries in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs for the first time since 2017 (Austin Dillon and Ryan Newman). 

Xfinity Series Stats at Kansas … RCR has one NASCAR Xfinity Series victory at Kansas: Kevin Harvick in 2006. Harvick, who led twice for 18 laps, would go on to win the 2006 series title with RCR, the second of his career. The Welcome, N.C., based organization has three poles at Kansas by three different drivers: Austin Dillon (2013), Ty Dillon (2014) and Daniel Hemric (2018).

Introducing the Carolina Cowboys … Driven by the same passion for performance that guides his race team, Richard Childress’ latest endeavor brings Professional Bull Riding to the Carolinas. The Carolina Cowboys represent Winston-Salem, North Carolina, in the PBR Team Series, an elite new league featuring the world’s top bull riders in games that began in July 2022. The team is operated by Richard Childress Racing with 2018 Daytona 500 Champion Austin Dillon serving as General Manager.  

Don’t miss the Carolina Cowboys inaugural “Cowboy Days” Home Stand September 9-11 at Wake Forest’s Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Friends of RCR have the opportunity to save 15% on tickets by entering code RCR15. To purchase tickets, click here: https://www.ticketmaster.com/pbr-professional-bull-riders-tickets/artist/2859854?venueId=369555

Catch the Action … The NASCAR Xfinity Series Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway will be televised live Saturday, September 10, beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET on USA Network. The race will be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. 

Follow Sunday’s Action at Kansas … The NASCAR Cup Series Kansas 400 at Kansas Speedway will be televised live on Sunday, September 11 beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET on USA Network. The race will be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. 

NASCAR CUP SERIES

KANSAS SPEEDWAY

HOLLYWOOD CASINO 400

TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT

SEPTEMBER 8, 2022

ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 1 ADVENTHEALTH CAMARO ZL1, met with the media via teleconference in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series race weekend at Kansas Speedway. Press Conference Transcript:

TAKE US THROUGH YOUR THOUGHTS GOING INTO THE WEEKEND AT KANSAS SPEEDWAY AND THE SECOND RACE OF THE PLAYOFFS ROUND OF 16. 

“Yeah, Darlington (Raceway) was fine for our team.. it wasn’t a great finish, but we had speed. So as long as that keeps happening, we’ll be OK.”

YOU FINISHED TOP-10 AT KANSAS IN THE SPRING. WHAT IS IT GOING TO TAKE THIS TIME TO JUST GAIN A FEW SPOTS THERE AND FIND YOURSELF IN VICTORY LANE? 

“The sport is evolving this year; really I’d say across the board more than I’ve ever seen, for sure. The race cars are just evolving. We got them basically on pallets over the off season. We started assembling them; we started testing them and we started racing them in February. We’ve been on this continuous learning curve that this sport always goes through, but it’s just steeper. We just started with cars that we’ve never raced before; we’ve never wrecked before and we’ve never pushed them to the limits before. So the teams are constantly evolving and finding what geometry and setups work better and keep pushing the limits. 

I think Kansas (Speedway) is going to feel similar; the track has only aged a few months and it’s going to be warmer, but it’s not going to be too different from the spring. I think just like then, when we were contending within the top-five, I think we’ll have that same speed again.”

TALK ABOUT JUST RACING, IN GENERAL, AT KANSAS SPEEDWAY WITH THIS CAR. WHAT DO YOU NEED TO BE ABLE TO DO WELL? 

“With the progressive banking, we continue to move up. I don’t know exactly what the weather is going to be like Sunday. There are some chances of some stuff we don’t like to talk about and some cooler air. But definitely practice on Saturday will be just using that top lane. We’ve seen that for quite a few years now. These cars like momentum. They like more racetrack to turn on, so they want the widest corner possible. If the guy in front of you is similar in speed and he’s running your line up top, it’s not great. But the great thing about Kansas (Speedway) is that you can make the bottom work if you’re better. And if you’re not, I feel like I’ll be patient and I just have to wait for the next opportunity. You’re not stuck in line, but you don’t want to give the guy behind you momentum and clean air. So it’s a mix of offense and defense.”

WINNING IS OBVIOUSLY IMPORTANT IN THE PLAYOFFS.. IT’S YOU’RE GUARANTEED CHANCE INTO THE NEXT ROUND. TALK ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF POINTS, ESPECIALLY WHERE WE ARE NOW IN THIS ROUND WHEN WE HAVE TWO RACES LEFT.

“Winning solves everything. Running good will give you the most points. 

So yeah, there’s ultimately 16 cars – including me – that will be the test of if we score enough points or not. If you win, you’re automatically locked in. It all just pays to run well. The difference for us – from last year to this year – has been eye-opening in the amount of points we can earn. It’s amazing.”

DO YOU FEEL LIKE KANSAS SPEEDWAY IS A PLACE THAT YOU CAN CAPITALIZE THIS WEEKEND? 

“Yeah, for sure. It’s pretty wild that our wins have not come on 1.5-mile tracks because I feel like those have been our strongest races. I don’t know how we’ll qualify.. we’re working on that. But the main thing is that we’re fast throughout the race for 400 miles.”

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE ANNOUCEMENT TODAY WITH NORTH WILKESBORO HOSTING THE ALL-STAR RACE NEXT YEAR?

“I love it. I never thought I would see the day. I’ve driven by the track, but I’ve never stopped and never seen it. I’ve watched a lot of old videos over the years of races there and I’ve done some iRacing on it. 

I do think there is a reason why they left it, right? There’s a reason they stopped racing there. But I don’t know, we’ll go back and experience it. It’s going to be cool. Hopefully we’re locked-in.”

HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW ABOUT NORTH WILKESBORO OR HAVE YOU WATCHED OR LEARNED ABOUT IT? 

“I’d be making stuff up if I said I did. Like I said, I’ve iRaced and watched some old videos when I can’t sleep, but that’s about it.

HOW ARE YOU LOOKING AT WHAT CAME OUT OF DARLINGTON? WHAT DID YOU MAKE OF EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED.. ALL THE PLAYOFF CONTENDERS THAT HAD ISSUES AND YOUR RACE?

“Yeah, it’s crazy. We prepare all year and then a lot of us did have issues. I expected it.. Obviously I don’t expect for the No. 1 car to have issues. But it was said in our pre-race meeting, teams are going to take themselves out… let’s just not do that. Not that the No. 99 or us had the race and the finish that we wanted, but we survived and we didn’t hurt ourselves, so far. Time will tell if the points lost ultimately account for anything. But the only reason that we’ll look back on Darlington (Raceway) and say it cost us anything is if we have more issues. As long as we just have clean races, we’ll be fine. We have plenty of speed.”

HOW DO YOU LOOK AT KANSAS, ITSELF, THEN?

“I can’t wait.. the hotter the better. I hope the wet stuff and cooler weather doesn’t come in until Monday and it stays nice and warm. Just being able to move around on the track. Even though everybody wants the top, if you’re car is better, you can move down the hill and pass. Restarts, you have a lot of options. We don’t have to spray anything on the track to make it good. We don’t have to do anything.. we can just go race and in today’s world, that’s nice to just be able to naturally race on a racetrack.”

IS THERE ANYTHING YOU CAN DO TO PREVENT THE DEAL WITH THE PIN HOLES AND THE DEBRIS THAT GOT CAUGHT UP IN THERE LAST WEEKEND?

“I don’t know.. that would be a question for somebody on the team way smarter than me. I don’t think so, but I don’t want to say for sure. I don’t think we could have done anything to prevent that.”

THE TIRES ARE A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT THAN BEFORE WITH THE NEW CONSTRUCTION THEY DEBUTED IN POCONO OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT. DO YOU HAVE ANY SENSE IF THAT WILL CHANGE THINGS VERY MUCH FOR THIS WEEKEND?

“Well, first of all, I’m thankful that they have. I’m glad that it’s been awhile since we’ve been blowing left-rear tires like we were at the beginning of the year, so that’s good. There are still things that I do, we do, to hopefully guard ourselves as much as we can against blowing left rear tires. I know there’s going to be less stagger. So like Michigan (International Speedway), the cars are going to be tighter if you just go back with the same setup. You would have less stagger in the tires than you would in the spring. So that will be something to work through and hopefully the GM/Chevrolet group have that balance figured out for us.”

DO YOU HAVE A TARGETED POINTS CUSHION THAT YOU’D LIKE TO HAVE GOING INTO BRISTOL? 

“I want to go get 60-points this weekend (laughs). There’s nothing comfortable about racing in the Cup Series and I like it that way.” 

YOU’RE EIGHTH IN THE PLAYOFF STANDINGS HEADING INTO KANSAS.. KIND OF MID-PACK. HOW DO YOU DEFINE WHERE YOU’RE AT? OBVIOUSLY, NOT ENOUGH AND YOU’D LIKE TO WIN TO ADVANCE ON. BUT HOW DO YOU LOOK AT WHERE YOU’RE AT?

“Even with the issues at Darlington (Raceway), we cleared two more points above the cutline. Yeah, a lot of guys passed us, but we actually distanced ourselves, only by two, but we’re up to 15-points ahead. If we do that again for a few more weeks and we add two points to the cutline, then we’re fine and we move on. 

Ultimately, that’s what I’m looking for, right? Yeah, I want to go win, but I really just want good races. I don’t want to be in the news for the obvious reasons earlier in the year. But right now, for points-wise, if I’m not in the news, then that means that I’m just solidly scoring points and we’ll move. That’s all that’s on my plan right now.”

WHEN YOU WERE ENTERING THE PLAYOFFS, YOU SAID IT WAS SORT OF SURREAL. WHAT DID YOU MAKE OF HOW IT FELT TO BE A PLAYOFF DRIVER AT DARLINGTON WITH EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED? 

“The whole week was really normal. I was almost scared that it was so normal that it was going to end up not being. And to an extent, that did happen. On Sunday, I had butterflies. I had nerves. It was a late race and I didn’t really leave for the track until like 2 p.m. I hung around with the family and just killed time. I think that’s going to bring in some nerves a bit, but it was weighing on me that my actions tonight could forever dictate the outcome of what we’ve worked to accomplish. Fortunately, we survived.. we put a few points on them and lived to fight through Kansas.”

NOW THAT YOU’VE BEEN THROUGH PLAYOFF RACE ONE, HOW DO YOU ENTER KANSAS? MAYBE MORE AGGRESSIVE, MAYBE MORE RELAXED, NO BUTTERFLIES.. WILL IT BE DIFFERENT YOU THINK?

“I don’t know. For me, I think that’s what’s so cool about all of this.. is that I’m experiencing it. I expect to feel similar at Kansas. They give out just as many points at Kansas as they did at Darlington. Running right up against the fence for 400 miles is no easy feat. I’m not expecting Kansas to be easy. I’m not expecting it to be calm. We can have issues; we can make mistakes. What was so great about Darlington – like throughout the second half of the race – was how calm we all stayed. We talked through the problem; we got it fixed, we cleaned up the pins and we finished the race. We got three of our four laps back. Half of a Southern 500 to make up three laps on the field, that’s the beginnings of a storybook ending if we get one more caution.”

Sep 8, 2022 | Featured, Julie Nataas, Race Results

This past weekend’s Dodge Power Broker’s NHRA U.S. Nationals was one of the biggest weekends yet for the Randy Meyer Racing team as Julie Nataas pulled a double-up as she took the top prize in the JEGS AllStars and the regular event. Teammate Hunter Green inked a quarterfinal finish at the event as well in his newly branded Bond-Coat scheme.

“Coming in to the weekend I was confident in me and my team that we could do really good at both the Jegs Allstars and U.S. Nationals as the car has been running good lately,” said Julie. “I think we all went through a lot of different emotions as the weekend went by. There were highs, lows and back to highs.”

Before the JEGS AllStars kicked off, the competitors had two rounds of qualifying to set the order for the elimination ladder. Julie came into the JEGS AllStars as the No. 3 qualifier with a 5.306-second pass at 273.66 mph and the defending AllStars champion from 2021.

In first round of the AllStars, the Randy Meyer-tuned dragster took on James Stevens. Knowing all the racers in the competition would bring their best tune-ups to the stage, Julie clocked in with a career best 5.151, 283.19 to defeat Stevens’ 5.356, 266.74; this run would also count towards her qualifying effort and landed her in the No. 1 spot. 

Second round, Julie used a 5.185, 279.90 to defeat Casey Grisel’s 5.358, 270.70 and advance to the final round of the Jegs AllStars for the second year in a row.

For the final round of the AllStars, Julie staged up against multi-time Top Alcohol Dragster champion Joey Severance. Julie started the race off strong with a starting line advantage over Joey Severance but then the race got real exciting. Severance lost traction and Julie started to shake but with a quick pedal job a parachute escaped slowing her down. But she reached the finish line first for the win with a 5.586, 239.57. However, at the finish line, Julie’s dragster bowed and almost the entire body of her OTG dragster blew off.

The team is still unsure of what caused the body to bend and break at the finish line, but we are glad Julie got the car stopped safely. With her old 2021 body in tow overnight, it was time for eliminations for the 68th U.S. Nationals for Julie Nataas and Hunter Green. Julie Nataas was No. 1 qualifier with her 5.151, 283.19 and Hunter was qualified No. 6 with a stout 5.302, 269.35.

“It was both a disappointing and awesome moment when we blew the body off the car and won the Jegs Allstars all at once. I couldn’t believe what had just happened and my mind went straight to the U.S. Nationals race the next day: ‘Are we going to be able to race? Can we find a new body? Do we have a wing? Is anything else broke? Can someone drive up an old body from the shop?’ 

Thank you to Megan and her husband Adam for helping out and making sure my old body from last year was delivered on time for first round! Without their help I would be able to double up in Indy. 

I’m usually not sick to my stomach before a round on race day, but I was after the Jegs Allstars. I wanted to throw up before every single round on Sunday and Monday of the U.S. Nationals. Not because I was scared of being in the race car, but I was nervous to mess it up for my crew that worked so hard to get my car back together for race day. It’s also the U.S. Nationals; it’s huge” Julie claimed.

First round, Julie continued her domination from the day before with a win over Steve Collier as she clocked in at the top end with a 5.204, 279.44 to his troubled 15.929, 69.02. Hunter ran a career best 5.285, 270.75 to defeat Mick Steele’s 5.376, 267.06.

Second round, Julie crossed the finish line with the win with a 5.192, 280.14 to defeat Tom Fox Jr.’s perfect reaction time and 5.395, 266.79. Hunter Green bettered his career best 5.250, 270.48 against Shawn Cowie but red lit at the launch and gave the win to Cowie.

In the semifinals, Julie faced up against Joey Severance for the second time in the same weekend. She continued her domination with a solid 5.240, 278.75 to turn on the win light against Severance’s tire-shaking 16.780, 40.34. This win would advance her to her 13th career national event final round and her fourth of the season.

In the finals, Julie remained consistent with a 5.237, 277.15 to take out heavy hitter Mike Coughlin’s 5.342, 241.28; this win inked her second national event win of the season and her fourth of her career. This was the first time a No. 1 qualifier won the Top Alcohol Dragster category at the U.S. Nationals since Ashley Force-Hood in 2004.

“It was a huge reliefs and an unbelievable moment for me when I saw the win light in my lane in the final. It felt like I could breathe again. I’m proud of everything this team has accomplished this weekend. Thank you to OTG, Right Trailers, Lucas Oil and NGK for making weekends like this happened,” said Julie.

CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES

GRAND PRIX OF MONTEREY

WEATHERTECH RACEWAY LAGUNA SECA

MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA

TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE

SEPTEMBER 8, 2022

ONE TO GO – THREE TEAM CHEVY DRIVERS TO VIE FOR NTT INDYCAR SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP

Point leader Will Power and teammates Josef Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin are among five drivers mathematically eligible to win the Astor Cup

DETROIT (Sept. 8, 2022) – As the 2022 NTT INDYCAR Series (NICS) season roars to a close at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca (WTLS) on Sunday, three Team Chevy drivers are among the five that are mathematically eligible to win the INDYCAR Championship and take home the Astor Cup.

Will Power, No.12 Verizon 5G Team Penske Chevrolet, heads to the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey season finale as the points leader with 523 points. Power led the standings twice earlier in the season and retook the top spot after Race 13 (Indianapolis road course-July 30). He has one win, four poles and 11 top-five finishes (the latter two are most in INDYCAR this year).

Teammate Josef Newgarden, No. 2 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet, is tied for second, 20 points down to Power, and holds the tiebreaker with five wins (most in INDYCAR this year). He also has one pole and seven top-five finishes.

Sitting fifth is Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 XPEL Team Penske Chevrolet, fresh off his convincing win at Portland and the announcement of a contract extension. He is 41 points behind Power and has recorded three wins, three poles and eight top-five finishes.

Scott Dixon (Honda) is tied with Newgarden, and Marcus Ericsson (Honda) is fourth in the standings.

A total of 54 points is available Sunday: 50 points for the race win, one point each for pole position and leading one lap, plus two points for leading the most laps in the 95-lap race around the 2.238-mile, 11-turn road course.

“To have five drivers vying for the championship, three of which are Chevy-powered, going into the final race of the INDYCAR season is remarkable,” said Rob Buckner, Chevrolet program manager for the NTT INDYCAR Series. “With 11 wins in 16 races, I am extremely proud of the effort put forth by our teams, the Chevrolet engineers and Ilmor, our engine partner. We had our challenges from time to time, but everyone pulled together and moved forward. And here we are … poised for a final run for the title times three.

“We feel well-prepared for Sunday’s race at Laguna Seca to support not only our title-contending teams, but all of our Bowtie teams as they engage in the final 95-lap battle of the season. Good luck to Will, Josef and Scott as they all drive to cap off their season off by winning the Astor Cup.”

TIDBITS:

·      Points leader Power has one previous podium at WTLS (second in 2019).

·      Newgarden was crowned the 2019 NTCS champion at WTLS without winning the race (eighth in 2019).

The Grand Prix of Monterey will commence with practice on Friday, Sept. 9, at 2:30 p.m. local (5:30 p.m. ET). On Saturday, practice will start at 10:15 a.m. local (1:15 p.m. ET); Firestone Fast Six qualifying will start at 2:05 p.m. local (5:05 p.m. ET). The morning warmup on Sunday is at 9 a.m. local (noon ET). All practice and qualifying will be live on Peacock, INDYCAR Radio and XM Channel 160. The 95-lap race will take the green flag at 12:30 p.m. local (3:30 p.m. ET) live on NBC.

BY THE NUMBERS: Chevrolet in INDYCAR

· 1: Chevrolet’s position in the INDYCAR Engine Manufacturer standings after 16 races

· 2: Consecutive front-row starts in the Indianapolis 500 for Rinus Veekay of Ed Carpenter Racing

· 4: Consecutive victories by Chevrolet to open the 2022 NTT INDYCAR SERIES. Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin won the pole and race at St. Petersburg. Penske teammate Josef Newgarden won at Texas and Long Beach, and Pato O’Ward was victorious at Barber Motorsport Park for Arrow McLaren SP

· 5: Wins by Chevrolet-powered entries in CART/Champ Car World Series at Laguna Seca in the late 1980s-early 1990s. Four came via Team Penske including Paul Tracy’s victory in 1993

· 6: Different Chevrolet drivers to win races dating to the start of 2020. Scott McLaughlin was the most recent at St. Petersburg

· 6: Number of Manufacturer Championships in the NTT INDYCAR Series since 2012

· 6: Number of Team Chevy Driver/Entrant championships since 2012

· 14: Consecutive seasons with at least one win by Will Power, including past 11 with Chevrolet. He won at Belle Isle in 2022

· 26: Wins by Will Power since 2012. All have come with Chevrolet, giving him the most of any driver with same manufacturer

· 42: Pole starts by Will Power since 2012 in a Chevrolet-powered car, most of any driver

· 106: Chevrolet victories in NTT INDYCAR SERIES since 2012

· 116: Earned poles by Chevrolet since 2012

· 181: NTT INDYCAR SERIES races as V6 engine supplier since 2012 return to INDYCAR

TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE Hollywood Casino 400 Kansas Speedway Kansas City, Kansas September 11, 2022

NCS PLAYOFFS ROUND OF 16: RACE #2 AT KANSAS SPEEDWAY

One last trek to the Midwest lies ahead for all three NASCAR national touring series, with the 1.5-mile tri-oval of Kansas Speedway set to host a tripleheader race weekend. While it will be the first time that the NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) will take on the Kansas venue this season; it will be a return trip for the NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS), but this time with playoff implications on the line for both series. With the playoffs in full swing for NASCAR’s premier series, Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 will mark the second of three races in the NCS Playoffs Round of 16 and the next opportunity for playoff drivers to clinch their spot in the next round with a victory.  Kansas Speedway has held a spot on the NCS post-season schedule since the debut of the playoffs to the series in 2004. While the series saw the track during the Round of 8 in 2021; this season marks the first time that Kansas has hosted the second race of the playoffs. Last season’s Kansas playoff race – race two of the Round of 8 – Kyle Larson and the No. 5 Hendrickcars.com Camaro ZL1 posted a dominating performance to go two-for-two in wins during the round. Larson became the third driver to record the win in the NCS playoff race at Kansas Speedway and go on to win the championship title that season.  In 33 NCS races held at Kansas Speedway, Chevrolet has made the trip to victory lane 13 times to lead all manufacturers. Of those triumphs include the series’ inaugural race at the track in 2001, where Jeff Gordon powered the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet to victory lane. The NASCAR Hall of Famer went on to become a repeat winner the following season; and to-date, Gordon is one of only four drivers to record back-to-back wins at the track.  A look at where the Team Chevy NCS playoff drivers stand heading into race two of three in the Round of 16, including season numbers and career stats at Kansas Speedway:

William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Camaro ZL1 – 2nd in Playoff Standings2022 Season To-Date: Victories: 2Top-Fives: 4; Top-10s: 6; Laps Led: 662; Average Finish: 17.7; Stage Wins: 4 At Kansas Speedway (9 starts):Top-Fives: 1; Top-10s: 5; Laps Led 117; Average Finish: 16.1 Of Note:– The 2022 season marks Byron’s fourth consecutive appearance in the NCS playoffs. – Bryon’s career-best finish in the NCS playoffs came in 2021, finishing the season 10th in the final standings.- Following a stage win and a top-10 finish at Darlington, Byron moved from 5th in the playoff standings to 2nd.. just six-points out of the lead. Tyler Reddick, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Camaro ZL1 – 5th in Playoff Standings2022 Season To-Date: Victories: 2Top-Fives: 9; Top-10s: 12; Laps Led: 331; Average Finish: 16.1; Stage Wins: 2 At Kansas Speedway (6 starts): Top-10s: 2; Average Running Position: 14.262; Average Finish: 17.667 Of Note:  – The 2022 season marks Reddick’s second consecutive appearance in the NCS playoffs, with his first coming in 2021. – Reddick earned a playoff berth following his first career NCS win at Road America; going on to win his second of the season at the Indianapolis Road Course.- Following his ninth top-five of the season, Reddick jumped from eighth to fifth in the playoff standings.

Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Camaro ZL1 – 7th in Playoff Standings2022 Season To-Date: Victories: 2 Pole Wins: 3; Top-Fives: 10 (tied for series-leading); Top-10s: 13; Laps Led: 307; Average Finish: 14.3; Stage Wins: 3 At Kansas Speedway (15 starts): Victories: 1; top-fives: 5; top-10s: 7; Average Finish: 14.6 Of Note:– In 2021, Larson scored his first career NCS Regular Season Championship, going on to win his first career NCS Driver Championship. – The 2022 season marks Larson’s sixth appearance in the NCS playoffs, with 2021 bringing Larson his first trip to the Championship 4. – During the playoff era (2004-present); Larson leads the series in ‘multiple playoff race wins in a single season’ with five in 2021 (Bristol, Charlotte ROVAL, Texas, Kansas, Phoenix).Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Camaro ZL1 – 8th in Playoff Standings2022 Season To-Date: Victories: 2Top-Fives: 10 (tied for series-leading); Top-10s: 14; Laps Led: 584;  Average Finish: 14.8; Stage Wins: 5 At Kansas Speedway (7 starts)Top-10s: 1; Average Finish: 22.429 Of Note:– The 2022 season marks Chastain’s first career appearance in the NCS playoffs. – Chastain secured a playoff berth with his first career NCS win at COTA in March; also marking Trackhouse Racing’s first win in the organization’s second season in the series.

Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Camaro ZL1 – 9th in Playoff Standings2022 NASCAR Cup Series Regular-Season Champion2022 Season To-Date: Victories: 4 (series-leading)Top-Fives: 10; Top-10s: 17; Laps Led: 719; Average Finish: 11.5 (all are series-leading)Stage Wins: 5 At Kansas Speedway (13 starts): Victories: 1; Top-Fives: 6; Top-10s: 8; Average Finish: 11.231 Of Note:– For the first time in his NCS career, Elliott was crowned the 2022 NCS Regular Season Champion. – The 2022 season marks Elliott’s seventh consecutive appearance in the NCS playoffs. – Elliott has advanced to the Championship 4 the past two seasons, winning his first career NCS Driver Championship in 2020. – Six of his 17 career NCS wins have come in the playoffs.Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1 – 10th in Playoff Standings2022 Season To-Date: Victories: 1Top-Fives: 3 Top-10s: 11; Laps Led: 29 Average Finish: 15.5; Stage Wins: 1 At Kansas Speedway (14 starts):Top-Fives: 2; Top-10s: 6; Average Finish; 16.929 Of Note:– The 2022 season marks Bowman’s fifth consecutive appearance in the NCS playoffs. – Bowman has raced his way into the Round of 12 in each of his NCS playoff appearances; making it to the Round of Eight in the 2020 season to score a career-best sixth in the final standings.- With his 11th top-10 finish of the season, Bowman moved from below the cutline, up to the 10th position in the playoff standings.

Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Camaro ZL1 – 12th in Playoff Standings2022 Season To-Date: Victories: 1Top-Fives: 6; Top-10s: 10; Laps Led: 238; Average Finish: 16.6; Stage Wins: 2 At Kansas Speedway (11 starts):Top-10s: 1; Average Finish: 22.273 Of Note:– The 2022 season marks Suarez’s first career appearance in the NCS playoffs. – Suarez earned his playoff berth following his first career NCS win at Sonoma Raceway. Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Camaro ZL1 – 14th in Playoff Standings2022 Season To-Date: Victories: 1Top-Fives: 4; Top-10s: 8; Laps Led: 18; Average Finish: 16.7 At Kansas Speedway (18 starts):Top-10s: 5; Average Finish: 16.333 Of Note:– The 2022 season marks Dillon’s fifth appearance in the NCS playoffs. – Dillon’s career-best finish in the NCS playoffs is 11th, accomplishing that feat in 2017 and 2020.

Chevrolet All-Time NASCAR Cup SeriesChampionships: Manufacturer Championships:1st Chevy Title: 1958Most Recent Title: 2021Highest Number of Consecutive Titles: 13 (2003-2015) Driver Championships:1st Chevy title: Buck Baker (1957)Most Recent: Kyle Larson (2021)Highest Number of Consecutive Titles: 7 (2005-2011)

ERIK JONES BECOMES NINTH VICTORIOUS TEAM CHEVY DRIVER OF 2022

Erik Jones and the No. 43 Petty GMS Camaro ZL1 stole the headlines of the NASCAR Cup Series playoff opener, taking the crown jewel win in Sunday’s Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. The win – Jones’ first since taking the seat in the iconic No. 43 – is the first time that a non-playoff driver has won the opening race of the playoffs since NASCAR started the playoff format in 2004. The win was even more special for the Chevrolet team, Petty GMS, as it marks the first win for the organization since the team merged and entered NASCAR’s premier series at the beginning of the 2022 season.  The 26-year-old Michigan native is now the ninth Chevrolet driver – from the fourth different Chevrolet team – to score a NCS win this season, extending the Camaro ZL1’s win total to a manufacturer-leading 16 victories in 2022. Now with a double-digit lead in wins over its manufacturer competitors with only nine races remaining; Chevrolet has already clinched the most NCS wins recorded in a single season among all manufacturers.

THREE IN A ROW IN WEEKEND SWEEPS

For the past three consecutive race weekends, the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series has seen an all-Chevrolet victory lane in each race to sweep the race weekend. All three bowtie sweeps have been performed on drastically different racetrack configurations, including: road course (Kyle Larson’s NXS and NCS wins at Watkins Glen International); superspeedway (at Daytona: Austin Dillon – NCS; Jeremy Clements – NXS); and an intermediate oval (at Darlington: Erik Jones – NCS; Noah Gragson – NXS).  With the pair of trips to victory lane at Darlington; Chevrolet has now swept the wins when the NCS and NXS are in competition on the same weekend for the 10th time, the most of all manufacturers. Of that series-leading feat, two of those race weekends included a NCWTS win, making it a sweep across the board of all three NASCAR national series.

A RECORD WIN FOR JR MOTORSPORTS

In a three-way battle of the bowties in the closing laps of the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at the “Lady in Black”; Noah Gragson made a last-lap pass on both the race leader Sheldon Creed and second-place Kyle Larson to take the checkered flag for a career-best fourth time this season. Gragson’s victory was not only JR Motorsports’ fourth consecutive win at Darlington Raceway, but the organization’s 10th NXS win of 2022.. breaking the team’s record for the most wins recorded in a single season, all behind the wheel of a Chevrolet-powered machine. The victory – Chevrolet’s third consecutive NXS win – brought the manufacturer’s series-leading win count to 17 in 24 races this season.. 14 of which have been recorded in the past 16 races.  Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300 marks the first of two remaining opportunities for Chevrolet drivers to secure their place in the 2022 NXS playoffs and their chance to take part in the championship title hunt. Five of the seven NXS drivers that have clinched their playoff berth by virtue of a win comes from the bowtie camp, including series points leader AJ Allmendinger, who’s also looking to go back-to-back in NXS regular-season championship titles.

NCWTS: ONE LAST CHANCE TO ADVANCE

The stakes are high for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series playoff drivers, as Friday night’s Kansas Lottery 200 is the Round of 10 elimination race, cutting the playoff field from 10 to eight drivers. Thanks to his win in the series’ playoff opener at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park; Chevrolet playoff contender Grant Enfinger and the No. 23 GMS Racing Silverado RST team has already secured their spot in the Round of Eight. Also representing the bowtie brand in the NCWTS playoff battle, Niece Motorsports’ Carson Hocevar is heading into the pressure-packed event below the cutline, but only three points out of the top-eight in the points standings.

BOWTIE BULLETS

·       Victories by active Chevrolet drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series at Kansas Speedway include:    Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Camaro ZL1 (2021)    Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Camaro ZL1 (2018) ·       In addition to its 13 manufacturer-leading NASCAR Cup Series wins at Kansas Speedway, Chevrolet has also recorded 11 pole wins – the most of all manufacturers – as well as 65 top-fives and 141 top-10s. ·       Career Chevrolet drivers, Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon, are among five drivers tied for the most NASCAR Cup Series wins (3) at Kansas Speedway. Of those wins for Gordon includes the inaugural NCS race at the 1.5-mile Kansas venue (2001). ·       Erik Jones’ win at Darlington Raceway made him the ninth Chevrolet driver, from the fourth different Chevrolet team, to score a NASCAR Cup Series win in 2022. The victory also marked the first for Chevrolet team, Petty GMS, since the organization merged and entered NASCAR’s premier series at the beginning of the season. ·       With the pair of trips to victory lane at Darlington Raceway; Chevrolet has now swept the wins when the NCS and NXS are in competition on the same weekend for a manufacturer-leading 10th time, including the past three weekends.  ·       In 27 NASCAR Cup Series points-paying racing, Chevrolet continue to lead all manufacturers in NCS race wins (16), top-fives (65), top-10s (117), laps led (3,130) and stage wins (22). With a double-digit lead in wins over its manufacturer competitors with only nine races remaining; Chevrolet has already clinched the most NCS wins recorded in a single season among all manufacturers. ·       Seven Team Chevy drivers have combined 22 NASCAR Cup Series stage wins:        Tyler Reddick 2 – Fontana x2       Alex Bowman 1 – Las Vegas       Ross Chastain 4 – Las Vegas, Darlington, Charlotte, Pocono, Richmond       William Byron 4 – Phoenix, Atlanta, Talladega, Darlington       Daniel Suarez 2 – COTA, Charlotte       Chase Elliott 3 – Martinsville x2, Charlotte, Atlanta x2        Kyle Larson 3 – Bristol, Sonoma, Pocono ·       Reigning NASCAR Cup Series and NASAR Xfinity Series Manufacturer Champions, Chevrolet, continues to lead in the manufacturer points standings in both series. The bowtie brand leads the NCS manufacturer points standings by 87-points, with the manufacturer’s lead in the NXS standings expanding to 109-points.  ·       With its 40 NASCAR Cup Series Manufacturer Championships, 33 NASCAR Cup Series Driver Championships, and 830 all-time NASCAR Cup Series wins, Chevrolet continues to hold the title of winningest brand in NASCAR.

FOR THE FANS

·       Fans can visit the Team Chevy Racing Display in the Fan Midway at Kansas Speedway.  ·       Fans can check out an assortment of Chevrolet vehicles including: 2023 Bolt EUV 2LZ, 2022 Colorado ZR2, 2023 Corvette 3LT, 2023 Tahoe Z71, 2022 Silverado 1500 ZR2, 2022 Trailblazer ACTIV.·       At the Chevrolet Display, fans can also view Kyle Larson’s No. 5 Camaro ZL1 show car. Team Chevy Driver Appearances at the Display: Friday, September 9·       Grant Enfinger & Jack Wood: 4 p.m. ·       Derek Kraus & Colby Howard: 4:15 p.m. ·       Matt DiBenedetto & Tate Fogleman: 4:30 p.m.  Saturday, September 10 ·       Stefan Parsons: 10:45 a.m. ·       Rajah Caruth & Nick Sanchez: 11 ·       Josh Berry: 11:45 a.m. ·       Daniel Dye: 1:30 p.m.  Sunday, September 11·       Ross Chastain: 11:05 a.m. ·       Ty Dillon: 11:30 a.m.  Chevrolet Display Hours of Operation:  Friday, September 9: 1 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. Saturday, September 10: 8:30 a.m. – 3 p.m. Sunday, September 11: 9 a.m. – 2 p.m.  Tune In: USA Network will broadcast the NASCAR Cup Series Hollywood Casino 400 at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday, September 11. Live coverage can also be found on the NBCSports Gold App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.  USA Network will broadcast the NASCAR Xfinity Series Sport Clips Kansas Lottery 300 at 3 p.m. ET on Saturday, September 10. Live coverage can also be found on the NBCSports Gold App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. FS1 will broadcast the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Kansas Lottery 200 at 7:30 p.m. ET on Friday, September 9. Live coverage can also be found on the NBCSports Gold App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

QUOTABLE QUOTES

ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 1 ADVENT HEALTH CAMARO ZL1What is the key to have a long, successful run in the playoffs?“I don’t really know what it takes to have a long, successful run in the playoffs because I’ve never been in this position before. I’m just taking it week by week, just like I would do in the regular season.” How does it feel to be in the playoffs for your first time?“As a fan, I remember watching some of these guys growing up. Now, to be in the playoffs with them is really cool.” Can you describe Kansas and what you think of it?“Kansas is in a group of tracks that you run pretty high on, up near the wall, and early in my career, that was not normal or comfortable for me. I’ve put a lot of effort in, just like a lot of guys have. I truly enjoy running at the top there now and up against the wall. I didn’t grow up racing at tracks on the high groove. I grew up racing around the bottom groove. I go to Kansas now and confidently run the wall. I’m super happy I get to run the Xfinity car at Kansas. It was on my priority list to run the Xfinity race to get more track time and more reps.” If you were to win the pole at Kansas, would you put an engine in the pedal car that they give away to pole winner?“I think the chances of me doing that could be pretty high. Growing up, a lot of things that I had would have a motor in it.” AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 GET BIOETHANOL CAMARO ZL1How is Kansas unique compared to some of the other 1.5-mile tracks?“Kansas Speedway has done a really good job with their banking. There’s a line right up by the fence that has a little extra grip. There’s an angle up there that I don’t think many tracks have figured out yet, but Kansas got it right. You can run from top to bottom there. The bottom groove is the preferred groove at the beginning, but it becomes too tight to try and run around there in turns one and two sometimes depending on what the balance of your race car is. I’ve enjoyed that track a lot ever since they repaved it. I wish every track could do as good as a job as Kansas has with repaves.” Can this team win the trophy from where it starts in the NASCAR Playoffs?“Why not? I’m confident at the tracks in the playoffs. RCR has shown speed at every type of track with Tyler Reddick winning the road courses, and the No. 3 team winning the speedway. At Martinsville Speedway, I finished third but was probably the second-best car there, and we probably should have won the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. I was really close there. I’m happy to be in this spot and I think we’re the underdog. Some people are already putting us out, which is just fine with me because it takes pressure off and we’ll go have fun and try to upset some of these guys. We’re taking it as survive and advance mode from here on out.” Is there any problem flipping the switch for the NASCAR Playoffs?“If anything, I’ve learned with 15 winners that you need to stay aggressive. I talked to the guys about it the other day. Some of the strategy calls we made over the last couple of weeks we probably wouldn’t have done it if we were racing for points. We maximize more points by being aggressive on strategy and putting ourselves in better position. So, I don’t think a whole lot is going to change. We’ll monitor where everybody is running during the race and go from there. I believe we should stay on the same strategy path that we’ve been on.” How does your previous NASCAR Playoffs experience help you?“Just knowing how every position matters. Looking back at a couple of times when you’re outside looking in and it came down to a point or two points, knowing that you have to get it at all cost.” KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1Larson on why Kansas Speedway fits his driving style: “I think Kansas (Speedway) fits my driving style because it’s an intermediate track with multiple grooves so you can move around to find grip. Usually the fastest lane is right up next to the wall – and at times that is where I am most comfortable.” CLIFF DANIELS, CREW CHIEF, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1Daniels on if the win last year and runner-up result this year provides confidence at Kansas: “I don’t have a good feel at all. The reasons that I say that is at the end of the race (in May) – yes, we ran second and we were up front – we didn’t run as well as we needed to and we’re on a different tire (compound) this weekend. No one has been on this tire for a Cup weekend. We have things from May that we need to work on and now we’re going to add a new tire, so that’s a very tough equation to understand exactly what we’re going to need.” CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1Elliott on racing at Kansas: “Kansas (Speedway) is a place that typically has some groove options. It seems like the cooler it is, the more groove options we have. When it’s hotter, the outside lane tends to become more dominant. To me, that place feels like a shorter mile-and-a-half for some reason – it just feels a little tighter than some of the other ones. Momentum is going to be tough to beat and the track is aging too. They have some pretty hot summers and some pretty harsh winters, so that place is getting some age to it now. Typically as those tracks age, momentum starts to be king over time and that outside lane tends to give you that. I think as time goes the top will continue to be more and more dominant unless you just have that perfect weather situation where it’s cool and the short way around has enough grip to not break momentum. It’s going to be a fight for track position and how well you can get around the top.” ALAN GUSTAFSON, CREW CHIEF, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1Gustafson on the team’s mindset heading into the final two races of the Round of 16: “One of the great things about our team is when we have a bad race, we learn from it and move on. We don’t dwell on it. Chase is so good at being able to do that, putting the previous race in the rearview and focusing on the week ahead. That’s what you have to do – take things week by week. I think that’s key to being able to survive in these playoffs.” WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1Byron on what he expects during Sunday’s race at Kansas: “Honestly, Kansas (Speedway) might be the one track in the playoffs that I’m the most worried about. I feel like we know what to expect at a place like Talladega (Superspeedway) or the (Charlotte Motor Speedway) ROVAL and other tracks we have already raced at this year so we have notes. We raced at Kansas in May and had speed, led laps early and then had a flat tire that damaged the underneath of the car. We kept going but the car never handled the same. That means we don’t have our own notes on how we expect the Next Gen car to handle throughout the run, etc. The good thing is we can lean on our teammates some and use our past mile-and-a-half notes as well. The good news is I like racing at Kansas, and it’s a place that both Rudy (Fugle) and I seem to have taken to really well. Hopefully, we can do what we did at Darlington (Raceway) last week, put together a solid points day and be there at the end to possibly lock ourselves into the next round.” RUDY FUGLE, CREW CHIEF, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1Fugle on wanting to improve their mile-and-a-half track package: “We’re excited for the chance to continue to get better at mile-and-a -half tracks early on in the playoffs. We have Texas (Motor Speedway), Las Vegas (Motor Speedway) and Homestead (Miami Speedway) coming up even though Homestead is kind of its own animal. Having a solid race, stay in it all day long and try to get another building block to be competing for a win this weekend. And if we’re not, then to get to a point that we’re competing for the win at Texas. William (Byron) is great at Kansas (Speedway). We ran well there at the first race, led laps and had a flat left-rear tire land damaged the car. We should have won that race last year but we had a loose wheel late in the race. We came back to finish six after leading a bunch of laps. I love Kansas and I’m excited to get back there.” Fugle on why he thinks Byron is good at tracks like Kansas: “Any time you have a lot of throttle time, William is really good at those tracks. Places like Texas (Motor Speedway), Michigan (International Speedway), Kansas (Speedway), places like that. He’s really good at keeping momentum up, using the throttle and running high speed. I think he’s a very underrated guy who runs against the wall. People don’t really think about him with that, but I think he does an amazing job at it. That’s what we’ll be doing for a lot of the run in Kansas. He’s also good at just driving underneath the tire. Kansas is a track that still has a lot of grip, but in the right condition if you overheat the tires, you go from a lot of grip to not a lot of grip really quick. That’s why you see the races spread out there in my opinion.” TY DILLON, NO. 42 SUNSEEKERRESORTS.COM CAMARO ZL1Heading to Kansas Speedway this weekend, what is it about this track that excites you as a driver?“I’m excited to be returning to Kansas this week, this track is a fun place with a lot of different grooves, which allows the drivers to have a lot of options getting going on restarts and on long runs. We’re looking to have a strong finish there with our No. 42 Sunseeker Resorts Chevrolet.” ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1Bowman on heading to Kansas: “I really like that track. Kansas (Speedway) is one of the tracks that has widened out and has multiple lanes and ways to get around it. I feel like I have always gone there and been competitive and this weekend doesn’t feel any different from any other weekend I have headed there. I know our team will build a fast No 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 like they do every week and we will go there and race just as hard as we always do. Hopefully, it is enough to grab a win.” GREG IVES, CREW CHIEF, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1Ives on where they stand in the playoffs after Darlington Raceway: “I think we made a lot of progress with our 10th-place result at Darlington Raceway last Sunday. Moving from 15th to 10th is a nice jump, but the points are still so close, so we need to go to Kansas Speedway this Sunday and have another solid day. Alex (Bowman) really likes Kansas and coming off a top-10 finish, I think our team has a lot of wind in our sails right now. He (Bowman) has said it before, we always feel like underdogs, so there is a little bit of a fire lit under the No. 48 team right now and I think that’s exactly what this team needs as we navigate the playoffs.” DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 COMMSCOPE CAMARO ZL1What are your thoughts going into Kansas?“We are ready. We had a really fast car at Darlington Sunday. I made a mistake (speeding on pit road) and you can’t have that. We have some things to clean up, but if we are as fast at every playoff race as we were in Darlington then we are going to be fine.” How does it feel to be part of the playoffs?“It feels nice, but honestly it feels normal. I believe that I belong here. When you have a team like the one I have, I feel like it’s more like a must to be in this position. I think we’re in a great position. I have an amazing team behind me. Trackhouse Racing has done a tremendous job this year. We have to continue to evolve. It’s the most important part of the season, of course. We have to continue to do the same thing that we’ve been doing and continue to get better.” Can anyone win the championship in 2022?“Yeah, I think so. If it was last year, I would tell you ‘this guy is going to win it or this guy is going to win it’ because the gaps were so big. With this car, if you’re telling me who is going to win any race and you get it right, I’ll give you a thousand dollars (laughs). I don’t think you’re going to get it right. There is not one guy.. anyone can be good. I love that about this car. It’s unpredictable. Everyone has an opportunity.” GRANT ENFINGER, NO. 23 ALLEGIANT SILVERADO RST“It will be nice to be able to return to Kansas for a second time this season with our No. 23 team. I feel like we learned some stuff that helped us gain speed towards the end of the race in the spring, and also as a whole, we have really improved on our intermediate program, so I feel like we are bringing a better truck this time around. I want to say thank you to Allegiant for coming onboard this week, and I’m hoping that we give everyone a good run to be proud of on Friday night.” JACK WOOD, NO. 24 SEVWINS SILVERADO RST“Kansas is the only track on our schedule that we’re going to visit twice this year, so I think there’s definitely some expectations set by both of us driver, crew members, and everyone in the organization to head back to the track stronger than how we unloaded earlier in the year. I definitely have high hopes for this race, and we have implemented some different parts on our setup that we are excited to try out, so hopefully we will have a better showing this time around. I’m looking forward to having Sevwins back on my Chevy, it’s always great to bring some cool partners like them back to the racetrack. More importantly, I’m looking forward to getting back in our truck. I’ve been very blessed to have this opportunity to be a part of this team, and we have five more races this year to make the most of it. All of our guys on the No. 24 team have our heads down and will continue to be fighting hard in these races!”

Chevrolet NASCAR Cup Series Statistics Manufacturers Championships:Total (1949-2021): 40First title for Chevrolet: 1958Highest number of consecutive titles: 13 (2003-15) Years Won: 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2021 Drivers Championships:Total (1949-2021): 33First Chevrolet champion: Buck Baker (1957)Highest number of consecutive titles: 7 (2005-11)Most Recent: Kyle Larson (2021) Years Won: 1957, 1960, 1961, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2020, 2021 Event Victories:Record for total race wins in single season: 26 (2007)                2022 STATISTICS:                                                                                                    Wins: 16Poles: 7Laps Led: 3,130Top-five finishes: 65Top-10 finishes: 117Stage wins: 22Tyler Reddick (Fontanax2)Alex Bowman (Las Vegas)Ross Chastain (Las Vegas), (Darlington), (Charlotte), (Pocono), (Richmond)William Byron (Phoenix), (Atlanta), (Talladega), (Darlington)Daniel Suarez (COTA), (Charlotte)Chase Elliott (Martinsvillex2), (Charlotte), (Atlantax2)Kyle Larson (Bristol Dirt), (Sonoma), (Pocono) CHEVROLET IN NASCAR CUMULATIVE STATISTICS:Total Chevrolet race wins: 830 (1949 to date)Poles won to date: 730Laps led to date: 244,466Top-five finishes to date: 4,203Top-10 finishes to date: 8,672                                                                                                          Total NASCAR Cup Wins by Corporation, 1949 to Date:                    General Motors: 1,164           Chevrolet: 830           Pontiac: 154           Oldsmobile: 115           Buick: 65            Ford: 817                                                                    Ford: 717           Mercury: 96           Lincoln: 4            Fiat Chrysler Automobiles: 467           Dodge: 217           Plymouth: 191           Chrysler: 59            Toyota: 167

-Stampede of Speed weekend opens with throwback race and music-

ENNIS, TX (September 8, 2022) — The opening weekend of the 2nd annual Stampede of Speed will rev up with the series-ending Funny Car Chaos Finals followed by a high energy After Party in the Pits featuring country stars Niko Moon and Kolby Cooper on Saturday, October 8. Featuring ten days of racing events, concerts and special events the Stampede of Speed has quickly established itself as the must-attend for motorsports and music fans across the country. The Saturday program will feature some of the best Nostalgia Funny Car racing in the country followed by two rising stars in the country music scene.

“Hosting the Funny Car Chaos Finals is a great way to start the Stampede of Speed. We always say Texas Motorplex is where speed was born and these Funny Cars are a throwback to the history of drag racing,” said Christie Meyer Johnson. “The variety of race cars that will be on the track will be highly entertaining. Just walking the pits and seeing these cool looking Funny Cars is amazing. They are fast, wild and unpredictable so they put on a great show.” 

Known as an adventurous artist, writer and musician Niko Moon wins over fans with an enduring optimism and a flair for challenging boundaries. His newest songs “Good Time” and “Drunk Over You” are quickly becoming favorites and will be featured on his fourth album set for release later this year. Kolby Cooper, a prolific songwriter has an uncanny ability to turn his and his friends’ life stories into relatable songs his rabidly zealous fanbase can’t get enough of, and his upcoming EP is no different, stacking the release with high-energy rockers, scorching break-up anthems and reflective love songs. Cooper has amassed over 113.5 million on demand streams to date.

“Wrapping up the race with a concert with Niko and Kolby will give the race fans a great treat,” said Johnson. “We are hoping some Niko and Kolby fans will come out early and check out the racing. We have put the schedule together to make it a seamless transition from racing to music so it will be a great event.”

Pre-race ceremonies will begin on Saturday at 1 p.m. and will lead into the first round of eliminations for the Funny Car Chaos Finals. The semifinals of Funny Car Chaos are scheduled for approximately 3 p.m. with additional classes of Outlaw Fuel Altered, Old School Back Half and Gassers running eliminations throughout the day. The final rounds for all classes including Funny Car Chaos will begin at 5:45 p.m. followed by the Jet Funny Car Finale and Winner’s Circle. The After Party in the Pits concerts are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. with a spectacular fireworks show to close out the evening.

Tickets for Funny Car Chaos and the After Party in the Pits can be purchased here and more information about all the events surrounding the Stampede of Speed can be found at www.stampedeofspeed.com.

 

September 8, 2022

Harrison Burton and the No. 21 Menards/Masterforce team are headed to Kansas Speedway hoping to build on a steady performance when the Cup Series visited the Kansas track back in May. In that race, Burton qualified 26^th but moved into the top 15 midway through the second Stage and ran there for much of the remainder of the race before dropping to 21^st at the checkered flag.

Crew chief Brian Wilson said that gives him a dose of optimism headed into this weekend’s 22^nd running of the Hollywood Casino 400 on the 1.5-mile track.
 
“Any return trip to a track is welcomed when you’re a team that’s building a notebook,” Wilson said. “Kansas is especially welcomed by everyone on the Menard’s Ford since we raced in the top 15 for most of the first race there.
 
“During that race weekend there were multiple tire failures for other teams. This weekend Goodyear has brought a new tire combination. With the added durability there’s also a stagger change. 
 
“This change is the biggest source of conversation and concern as we study the notes from the first race.”
  
Wilson said he believes the Menards/Masterforce team can adapt to the changes.
 
“I’m confident that through our simulation work, previous notes on stagger changes as well as the simulator time provided by Ford that we’ll unload with all the necessary adjustments,” he said, adding that the team also will be focusing on Saturday’s qualifying session. “We know that a great starting position also comes with a great pit stall.
 
“All of that would give our pit crew a huge advantage. Our guys have been doing a tremendous job lately, and we want to help them capitalize on that.”
 
Practice for the Hollywood Casino 400 is set for Saturday at 11:05 a.m. (12:05 p.m. Eastern Time) to be immediately followed by qualifying.
 
Sunday’s 400-mile, 267-lap race is scheduled to start just after 2 p.m. (3 p.m. Eastern) with TV coverage on USA Network. Stage breaks are planned for Laps 80 and 165. 
 

Elite Pro Stock Teams Prepare For The Countdown To The Championship

Elite Motorsports Event Preview

NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series EARLVILLE, Iowa (September 8, 2022) – It’s going to be a big weekend for the Patterson-Elite team as they travel to Earlville, Iowa for the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Division 5 points meet at Tri State Raceway. This is the final meet of the season for Division 5 and the competition will be fierce.  In Super Stock, Todd Patterson is ready to race to the winners circle with his 2019 COPO Camaro FSS/D. His sons A.J. (2001 S10 Pickup GT/TD) and Aydan (2014 COPO FSS/F) will be competing against him in the very competitive category. All three of these skilled drivers are in the top ten in the Division 5 points standings right now and they hope to solidify their positions as the season comes to an end. In Stock, Ryan Montford is looking to go rounds in his 2013 COPO Camaro FS/C this weekend and will face a host of talented drag racers vying for the last divisional victory of the season.  Due to an unfavorable weather forecast, NHRA officials have revised the competition schedule and will conduct all qualifying sessions on Friday, September 9 followed by eliminations on Saturday, September 10.

DID YOU KNOW?While COPO Camaro is the name given to the special line of Chevrolet Camaros built specifically for racing, COPO actually stands for Central Office Production Order and it was originally Chevrolet’s special-order system used by dealers to build high-performance models in the 1960s.

NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series The famed Countdown To The Championship in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series will kick off next week at the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals in Reading, Penn. Pro Stock, however, will not begin competition for the Countdown until the Betway NHRA Carolina Nationals, September 23-25 at zMAX Dragway in Charlotte, N.C. All Elite Motorsports Pro Stock drivers are entered into the Countdown with more than half of the team in the top ten. All points reset for the Countdown To The Championship so it’s really anyone’s game. Four-time Pro Stock world champion Erica Enders has been leading the points most of the season and she’s eager to continue that momentum into the Countdown. Her teammate Aaron Stanfield is right behind her, sitting second in the points. Having won 10 out of the 13 regular season Pro Stock events, Elite Motorsports has been performing well all season and each of its drivers have a true shot at the title as they enter playoff competition. ***

Photos

Aydan Patterson launches with a fantastic wheelstand. Photo credit: Auto ImageryTodd Patterson races to to the finish line in Brainerd, Minn. Photo credit: Auto Imagery

A.J. Patterson at the ready line. Photo credit: Alex OwensRyan Montford powers to the finish line in Topeka. Photo credit: Alex Owens