The Marshalltown, IA driver enters the Hawkeye 50 Searching for a Home State Win

BOONE, IA– Thursday, July 21 – Of all the words of wisdom famous basketball coach John Wooden shared during his time at UCLA, the one he’d probably repeat for Ryan Gustin is, “All of life is peaks and valleys. Don’t let the peaks get too high, or the valley’s too low.”

As the World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Model Series returns to Gustin’s home state on Monday, July 25, for the Hawkeye 50 at Boone Speedway, the Marshalltown, IA driver has experienced both. 

The high: Gustin won his first career World of Outlaws CASE Late Models Feature at Sharon Speedway in May. 

The low: Heartbreak has struck “The Reaper” multiple times, including a part failure while running second at Red Cedar Speedway last weekend. 

While Gustin continues his battle for success in his second year with the Series, he echoes Wooden’s mindset.

“It sucks sometimes,” Gustin said. “Like [Sunday at Red Cedar], I felt like I had the car to win and just broke the rear end. I mean, there’s not really any perfect way to balance it. You just have to take the highs with the lows without the highs getting too high and the lows getting too low.”

Even though he’s trying to balance those peaks and valleys, he feels he’s moving toward the top of the mountain. Gustin believes he’s one of the cars to beat night in and night out, especially when his team is hitting its marks. 

“I think that most of the time, when we put a whole night together, we are one of the top guys,” Gustin said. “It seems like our Qualifying has been off a little bit this year to where last year we qualified good but didn’t race good. Once we find the balance between Qualifying and Feature time, we’ll be fine. It’s just that Qualifying has been kicking our ass this year.”

Those challenging qualifying runs have forced “The Reaper” to work his way through the field on several occasions this season. However, it’s a challenge that doesn’t faze him. He’s developed a “never say die” attitude on the racetrack, especially when he can bang the right rear of his car off a cushion.

“It’s kind of what I’ve always had,” Gustin said. “I’m kind of used to starting in the back anyway with the draw/redraw stuff with [The United States Modified Touring Series] stuff. So, you have to find the fastest lane before everyone else does, and that’s why I’m considered a cushion guy because that’s normally the fastest lane most of the time on the racetracks that have a cushion. You got to get up and get after it before everyone else does to get around them.”

Gustin’s next chance to reach the World of Outlaws CASE Late Models peak comes less than an hour from his Marshalltown, IA, home in Boone. He’s excited about the opportunity to climb out of his current valley and try to find himself $20,000 richer at the Hawkeye 50.

“It’s nice to only be 45 minutes to an hour away from home for once, instead of 12 hours,” Gustin said. “It would definitely mean a lot to get a win in Iowa near home. It would be badass.”

The Iowa driver will continue to lean on Wooden’s words of not letting the peaks get too high and the valleys too low in his quest for success.

Gustin and The Most Powerful Late Models on the Planet return to battle on Monday, July 25, for the Hawkeye 50 at Boone Speedway in Boone, IA. 

CHEVROLET AT SONOMA What: Denso NHRA Sonoma NationalsWhen: Friday, July 22-Sunday, July 24Where: Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, CaliforniaTV: FOX will telecast eliminations at 4 p.m. ET Sunday, July 24                                                                       Team Chevy takes aim at second leg of Western SwingRobert Hight seeking to become first to win four in a row at Sonoma Raceway

DETROIT (July 21, 2022) – No driver has won four consecutive National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) events at Sonoma Raceway. That’s all the motivation Funny Car points leader Robert Hight needs as he heads into the race weekend at the scenic and fast California racetrack. Hight, winner last week at Denver in the Automobile Club of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro SS, has won the past three races (2021, ’19 and ’18; no race in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic) at the facility 44 miles north of San Francisco. He’ll seek to keep that streak intact, which would give him victories in two legs of the three-race Western Swing and increase his Funny Car points lead. Hight has been on a roll with five wins and a pair of runner-up finishes through 11 races this season.

“We’ve just got to go to Sonoma and treat it like we did in Denver and make three really good qualifying runs and race smart,” said Hight, said Hight, who pushed his career victory total to 58 and delivered the 152nd Funny Car win for Chevrolet.  “If we keep doing that, the round wins are going to come, but this class is tough. I think it’s a successful season when you have five wins total with the level of competition here. We’re at the halfway point, but it’s the next 11 races that count. We have to keep working and keep digging.

“We’ve got a great combination and we’re fine-tuning it, and I think we’re only getting better and more consistent. I don’t feel like we’ve peaked yet, but I also know the competition is getting tougher.“

“We’ve got a great combination and we’re fine-tuning it, and I think we’re only getting better and more consistent. I don’t feel like we’ve peaked yet, but I also know the competition is getting tougher and we’ve got our work cut out for us. Everything is working from top to bottom and we’re just going to try to stay focused and keep working.” Only 16-time NHRA Funny Car champion John Force (1994) ha swept the Western Swing in Funny Car, and five-time champion Greg Anderson (2004) accomplished the feat in Pro Stock. In 2019, Anderson nearly duplicated the feat, winning the first leg at Denver and the second at Sonoma before finishing runner-up to Matt Hartford at Seattle. Hartford, driving the Total Seal Camaro SS, won at Bandimere Speedway last weekend, beating No. 1 qualifier Aaron Stanfield in the final for his first win since May 2021 at Houston and his fifth overall. “This Total Seal Camaro is coming around and I’m starting to drive better,” Hartford said. “This deal isn’t over yet. We’re coming.” Stanfield, driving the Janac Brothers Camaro SS, has advanced to the final round in six of the nine races. He won at Sonoma in 2021, defeating rookie Dallas Glenn in the final. Stanfield is second in the Pro Stock standings to Elite Motorsports teammate Erica Enders. Anderson, who has six wins and was the No. 1 qualifier in 2021 at Sonoma Raceway, is aiming to add his 100th Pro Stock victory to his stellar career in the HendrickCars.com Camaro SS. Only Force (155) has triple-digit wins in pro categories. Force, winner earlier this season at zMAX Dragway in the PEAK/BlueDEF Platinum Camaro SS and a semifinalist at Denver, has eight wins at Sonoma Raceway. Brittany Force, who is 10 points out of the top spot in the Top Fuel category in the Flav-R-Pac/Monster Energy Chevrolet dragster, earned her fourth No. 1 qualifier of the season at Denver and will be looking for her first victory at Sonoma. She was the No. 1 qualifier at the track in 2021 and holds the Top Fuel speed record of 335.15 mph set in 2019. CHEVROLET FROM THE COCKPITTOP FUELBRITTANY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, FLAV-R-PAC/MONSTER ENERGY CHEVROLET DRAGSTER (three-time winner this season; second in points): “We still kept ourselves up in the points and brought home our fourth No. 1 qualifier of the season. Lucky for us we head straight to Sonoma for number two on this Western Swing.”  AUSTIN PROCK, JOHN FORCE RACING, MONTANA BRAND/ROCKY MOUNTAIN TWIST CHEVROLET DRAGSTER (runner-up at Pomona opener; semifinalist in two of past five races): “I have a good feeling about Sonoma. I’m glad my dad and Hight were able to make the day worth it, especially with NK Seeds and Frank Tiegs in attendance. We will celebrate their win for the John Force Racing team and get it done this weekend.” FUNNY CARJOHN FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, PEAK BLUEDEF PLATINUM CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 1 qualifier and Charlotte four-wide winner; eight-time winner at the racetrack): “As a team owner, as part of a team, anytime you come out of the day with someone in your camp winning, it’s a good day. Robert and that Auto Club team they’re on a roll, they’re the team to beat. But this PEAK team, we’re getting there, we’re right there. We’ve been consistent. Danny Hood and Tim Fabrisi, all these PEAK guys, they are working hard to get the job done and I just need to keep doing my job too.” ROBERT HIGHT, JOHN FORCE RACING, AUTO CLUB OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (five-time winner this season; points leader; holds both ends of track Funny Car record set in 2017): “We’ve just got to go to Sonoma and treat it like we did in Denver and make three really good qualifying runs and race smart. If we keep doing that, the round wins are going to come, but this class is tough. I think it’s a successful season when you have five wins total with the level of competition here. We’re at the halfway point, but it’s the next 11 races that count. We have to keep working and keep digging. I’d like to get to 60 (career wins) this year. Everything from top to bottom is working right now. We have to stay focused and keep working, and we can only get better.” PRO STOCKMASON MCGAHA, HARLOW SAMMONS RACING, HARLOW SAMMONS OF ODESSA CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (semifinalist in four of the nine races): “I would really like to get that first win. I felt like we had a pretty good race in Denver. My dad had his best qualifying effort and on race day I felt pretty strong. In that first round I hit all my shift points perfectly and was .003. I needed all of it right there for that win. I have always liked Sonoma and it would be pretty cool to get my first win at a track where my dad has won. It is a nice facility and you can run pretty fast there when conditions are right. I feel like at some point things have to go my way on race day. The odds just need to swing in my favor and we will keep going up there giving it our best.” CHRIS MCGAHA, HARLOW SAMMONS RACING, HARLOW SAMMONS OF ODESSA CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (2015 winner at the track): “I have won eight races, but I haven’t won somewhere twice. I feel like I am due to win somewhere twice. The last few years on the fuel injection have been tough. I won Sonoma in 2015 and had the track record. I haven’t done as well at Sonoma the past few years as I thought I could. Having two cars now helps. I was looking at my notes for Sonoma and I think in previous years I just took for granted how good the track really is. I think it could be a better track than I have given it credit. I might not have been as aggressive as I needed to be. I am looking forward to getting back there and seeing if I can get that second win.” GREG ANDERSON, KB RACING, HENDRICKCARS.COM CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (reigning Pro Stock champion; seeking to become second pro driver with 100 wins; six-time winner at Sonoma; No. 1 qualifier in 2021): “If they ever drop one or two races off the Western Swing, I hope they never drop Sonoma. It’s probably one of my favorite races. I’ve had a lot of luck there. It’s always decent weather, the cars run good there, so it’s everything that makes you smile if you race Pro Stock.” CAMRIE CARUSO, CARUSO FAMILY RACING, TEQUILA COMISARIO CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (first season in Pro Stock; No. 1 qualifier and runner-up at Houston): “The Mile High Nationals was a race that tested our team, but I think we will be stronger because we did struggle. We are a young team and we are working to get better every race. We have had a lot of success so far this season, but I know we can be better. I am getting better as a driver and the team is getting better. There is so much to learn and process it is a challenge but one that I am up for.” KYLE KORETSKY, KB RACING, LUCAS OIL CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 1 qualifier at Phoenix; runner-up at Gainesville; third in standings; No. 2 qualifier at track in 2021): “Sonoma has a cool atmosphere and we had a fast car last year. Going into Sonoma we’ll change cars back from the high altitude of Denver and we’ll try to keep the momentum going. We’ll focus on going one round at a time and try to gain some points.” DALLAS GLENN, KB RACING, RAD TORQUE SYSTEMS CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (winner at Gainesville; No. 1 qualifier at Epping; runner-up in 2021 race at track): “Just didn’t go our way (at Denver). Excited to head to Sonoma and to some regular elevation racing. I seem to do better in those conditions anyways.”

CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES

HY-VEE DOUBLE HEADER

IOWA SPEEDWAY

NEWTON, IOWA

TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE

Chevrolet Aims to Double Up in Return to Iowa

Team Chevy INDYCAR program brings strong history back to short oval

DETROIT (June 21, 2022) – After a year away, Chevrolet’s teams in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES head back to the Midwest for a twin-bill at a most unique venue on the 2022 schedule: the 0.875-mile Iowa Speedway.

INDYCAR squads will race at 4 p.m. ET on Saturday in the Hy-VeeDeals.com250, followed the next day at 3 p.m. ET by the Hy-Vee Salute to Farmers 300. Each event will air live on NBC, Peacock and the INDYCAR Radio Network.

Chevrolet returns to Iowa carrying the lead in the INDYCAR Engine Manufacturer Championship – as it has done since the first race at St. Petersburg in February. Through 10 races, Chevrolet teams have claimed seven race wins by four different drivers and six pole positions by six different drivers from three different teams.

Now Team Chevy has its sights set on Iowa, a venue where the manufacturer has achieved incredible success. It’s the perfect place for a rebound from a disappointing race at Toronto

“We’re all looking forward to returning to Iowa Speedway for this year’s doubleheader,” said Rob Buckner, Chevrolet Program Manager for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES. “It’s a classic American short track where things happen very quickly. After a weekend like Toronto, there’s nothing like getting back to racing right away at a place where we have traditionally been strong. We need to keep piling up points and results.”

There haven’t been many places where Chevrolet has done that more than Iowa. The Bowtie brand has seven wins and nine pole positions in 10 races… plus it has set the fastest race laps in all 10 previous appearances since 2012.

Team Chevy swept the podium in 2013, 2014 and 2016 and has 20 podiums out of a possible 30.

Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden, driver of the No. 2 PPG Chevrolet, is a three-time winner at Iowa – tied for the most all-time at the circuit. He is one of five drivers to take victory at Iowa with Chevrolet power.

Ed Carpenter returns to the cockpit of the No. 33 Alzamend Neuro Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet.

Team Chevy on Display

While on-site at Iowa, Team Chevy fans can enjoy all that the Chevrolet Motorsports display, located in the Fan Midway. The Chevrolet Motorsports Display opens at 2 p.m. Friday, 8 a.m. Saturday, and 9 a.m. Sunday. Numerous Chevrolet vehicles and other highlights include:

• 2023 Corvette Z06

• Additional Chevrolet products such as Silverado ZR2, Tahoe Z71, Blazer RS, Equinox RS, Trailblazer Activ and Camaro ZL1

• A Chevrolet IndyCar showcar

• An opportunity to receive a 2022 Chevrolet Racing t-shirt

Chevrolet also will serve as the official pace car with a Corvette Stingray Coupe leading the field to green.

Chevrolet and the NTT INDYCAR Series return to Iowa Speedway with two races: the Hy-VeeDeals.com 250 at 4 p.m. ET on Saturday and the Hy-Vee Salute to Farmers 300 at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday. Each event will air live on NBC, Peacock and the INDYCAR Radio Network. Live timing and scoring will be available at racecontrol.indycar.com.

BY THE NUMBERS: Chevrolet in INDYCAR

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

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

· 3: Victories at Iowa for Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden (2016, 2019, 2020)

· 5: Number of drivers to win at Iowa with Chevrolet power since 2012: Will Power (2007, 2010, 2016) and Josef Newgarden (2015, 2017)

· 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

· 6: Different Chevrolet drivers to win races dating back 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

· 9: Pole positions for Chevrolet-powered entries at Iowa

· 10: Consecutive fastest race laps at Iowa Speedway for Team Chevy drivers

· 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

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

· 102: Chevrolet victories in NTT INDYCAR SERIES since 2012

· 110: Earned poles by Chevrolet since 2012

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

The PA Posse Places Six Drivers in Top-10 at The Speed Palace

PORT ROYAL, PA – July 20, 2022 – The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series offered a $20,000 midweek special and Kyle Larson showed up to show out at Port Royal Speedway.

In one of the most dominating performances of the season, the Elk Grove, CA native controlled all 30 laps without challenge and crossed the finish line ahead by 2.799-seconds. It’s his fourth win of 2022 with Paul Silva on the wrenches of the HendrickCars.com #57, and the 28th of his career with The Greatest Show on Dirt.

However, The Speed Palace still found a way to present Larson with several challenges throughout the night. He was dealt a thrilling battle with Carson Macedo for the Heat Race win, a side-by-side contest with Donny Schatz for the Dash victory, and then was forced to fight through lap traffic up to 15th in the Feature.

“I feel like I did a decent job in traffic, but then I got stuck in for like five-six laps and got pretty nervous,” Larson admitted. “I saw Danny [Dietrich] was up to second on the board and I’ve seen him roll the inside wall here before, so I was trying to keep my eye on that. My car was just phenomenal all night long. We had to pass to win the Heat and pass to win the Dash, so I knew we would be good for the Feature.”

Behind Larson, the PA Posse defended their home turf in impressive fashion with six of the top-10 finishers coming from local racers. Danny Dietrich, Anthony Macri, and Brent Marks combined to place the highest-finishing full-time World of Outlaws driver in fifth place for Sheldon Haudenschild.

Only four days removed from a nasty crash at Eldora’s Kings Royal, Dietrich was never certain that he would be finished with rebuilding the Gary Kauffman Racing #48 in time for Port Royal. However, the Gettysburg, PA native and his crew thrashed enough to get the job done and head to the track on Wednesday. Their reward for all the hard work was a season-best runner-up result against the World of Outlaws.

“Man, I’m feeling pretty good here,” Dietrich said with a smirk. “Our truck is in the shop right now, so I’ve got to thank the Weikerts for getting this rig up here. We had to tear the other car apart and get this one built off the upper deck, so it’s been a tough few days on my guys. It would’ve been pretty easy to take the night and enjoy a break, but we’re here and I’m glad we stuck it out.”

Rounding out the podium on Wednesday was Dillsburg, PA native Anthony Macri with a ninth-to-third drive aboard the #39M. The Concrete Kid rallied well as the night progressed to earn his sixth-career World of Outlaws podium finish on the heels of a change at crew chief. He’ll get his next shot at that elusive first-career World of Outlaws victory this weekend at Williams Grove.

“Maybe this car is just as good without an old crew chief as we are with the current situation,” Macri said to stir the crowd. “We were going off the notebook tonight and throwing ideas off each other. We probably should’ve been more aggressive to start the night, but once I got into a rhythm I knew we were fine. I would’ve liked to see a caution, but the cookie just didn’t crumble that way.

King Brent XXXIX finished fourth from 10th, while Sheldon Haudenschild earned the mark of highest finishing World of Outlaws full-timer in the fifth spot aboard his NOS Energy Drink #17.

Closing out the top-10 at Port Royal was Jeff Halligan (Ephrata, PA), Lance Dewease (Fayetteville, PA), Carson Macedo (Lemoore, CA), Devon Borden (Raymond, WA), and Brock Zearfoss (Jonestown, PA).

NOS NOTEBOOK (PORT ROYAL SPEEDWAY, 7/20/22)

Kyle Larson’s (Elk Grove, CA) 28th career World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series win puts him into a tie for 23rd on the All-Time Win List with Kerry Madsen (St. Mary’s, NSW, AUS). He joins Haudenschild (8), Macedo (7), Marks (5), and Gravel (4) as four-time winners with the Series in 2022.

A group of five PA Posse stars recorded their season-best effort against the World of Outlaws on Wednesday. All finishing inside the top-10 was Danny Dietrich (2nd), Anthony Macri (3rd), Jeff Halligan (6th), Lance Dewease (7th), and Devon Borden (9th).

Donny Schatz earned his first QuickTime Award of the season, topping My Place Hotels Qualifying at 16.717 seconds around Port Royal for an average speed of 107.244 MPH. It’s the 108th QuickTime of his World of Outlaws career.

NOS Energy Drink Heat Races were won by Donny Schatz (499th career), Sheldon Haudenschild (76th career), Kyle Larson (36th career), and Danny Dietrich (12th career). Kyle Larson earned his first pole position of the season courtesy of the DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash, while Justin Whitall charged to the MicroLite Last Chance Showdown win.

Brock Zearfoss, a former Port Royal track champion (2017) and current full-time Outlaw, earned the KSE Hard Charger Award with his 17th-to-10th bid in the Moose’s LZ Bar & Grill #3Z.

UP NEXT (Fri-Sat) – The World of Outlaws and PA Posse will continue Sprint Car Racing’s favorite rivalry this weekend with a doubleheader at Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, PA on Friday and Saturday, highlighted by the $20,000-to-win Summer Nationals finale. Fans can BUY TICKETS HERE, or watch every lap LIVE on DIRTVision.

NOS Energy Drink Feature Results (30 Laps) – 1. 57-Kyle Larson [1][$20,000]; 2. 48-Danny Dietrich [4][$6,000]; 3. 39M-Anthony Macri [9][$3,750]; 4. 19-Brent Marks [10][$3,250]; 5. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [3][$2,750]; 6. 45-Jeff Halligan [6][$2,500]; 7. 69K-Lance Dewease [13][$2,400]; 8. 41-Carson Macedo [7][$2,300]; 9. 23-Devon Borden [14][$2,200]; 10. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [17][$2,100]; 11. 2-David Gravel [5][$1,700]; 12. 1-Logan Wagner [11][$1,400]; 13. 49-Brad Sweet [8][$1,300]; 14. 1S-Logan Schuchart [16][$1,200]; 15. 5C-Dylan Cisney [18][$1,100]; 16. 1A-Jacob Allen [20][$1,000]; 17. 5-Spencer Bayston [12][$1,000]; 18. 67-Justin Whittall [21][$1,000]; 19. 15-Donny Schatz [2][$1,000]; 20. 83-James McFadden [22][$1,000]; 21. 55-Mike Wagner [24][$1,000]; 22. 33W-Mike Walter [25][$]; 23. 11-TJ Stutts [15][$1,000]; 24. 5W-Lucas Wolfe [23][$1,000]; 25. 11K-Kraig Kinser [19][$1,000]; 26. 98-Tyler Bear [26][]. Lap Leaders: Kyle Larson 1-30. KSE Hard Charger Award: 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[+7]

NEW Championship Standings (After 41/77 Races) – 1. Brad Sweet (5,514); 2. David Gravel (-38); 3. Carson Macedo (-48); 4. Sheldon Haudenschild (-64); 5. Logan Schuchart (-124); 6. Donny Schatz (-176); 7. Spencer Bayston (-288); 8. James McFadden (-318); 9. Jacob Allen (-470); 10. Brock Zearfoss (-564).

PRO NITROUS – Chris Rini in his nitrous-powered ATI Performance Products Camaro scored his first-ever PDRA Pro Nitrous win Sunday night at the PDRA Summer Shootout at Virginia Motorsports Park! Rini’s .006 reaction time and 3.732-second, 202.97 MPH pass gave him the win over finalist Dane Wood. “It means a lot because we put a lot of years into Pro Nitrous prior to this year,” said Rini. “There’s some tough, fast cars here,” Rini continued. “At the end of the day, these are the fastest eighth-mile cars out there. The competition is stiff!” Helping kick the competition including the 5 speed clutchless transmissions, Rini has bragging rights on running the quickest Turbo 400 in the field thanks to ATI. PRO STREET – Ty Kasper took the win in Pro Street over no-show #1 Qualifier Nick Agostino, for his 2nd career PRDA Pro Street win. “I feel the same as I did last time. I’m so excited,” said Kasper, who went on to thank supporters Victus Baseball, Vibrant Performance, ATI Transmissions, and JNE Automotive. “It feels like the first time winning again. I don’t think this will ever get old. It feels great.” Dan Whetstine runnered up in the Super Street class in his ProCharger-boosted ’93 Mustang. Dan is the crew chief for defending PDRA Pro Street world champ Tim Essick.Vince Fourcade Jr, a veteran racer who graduated through the ranks of Jr. Dragster, Brackets, Super Gas and Super Street showed that practice does pay off as he cruised to the finish line at the Bracket Bash at the PDRA event at Virginia Motorsports Park, running a 5.286 on a 5.28 dial-in in the final to beat Ben Jones. Vince Jr started his racing career in his backyard at 5 when his father Vince Sr strapped him in a half scale junior dragster.

NASCAR CUP SERIES

NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY

AMBETTER 301

TEAM CHEVY POST-QUALIFYING NOTES

JULY 16, 2022

TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL STARTING LINEUP:  

POS.   DRIVER

2nd     CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1

6th      WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1

8th      KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1

13th    TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 GUARANTEED RATE CAMARO ZL1

18th    ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 1 WORLDWIDE EXPRESS CAMARO ZL1

19th    DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 SLAM! CAMARO ZL1 

20th    AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 16 GOLD FISH CASINO SLOTS CAMARO ZL1

21st    COREY LAJOIE, NO. 7 BUILT.COM CAMARO ZL1

22nd   ERIK JONES, NO. 43 FOCUSFACTOR CAMARO ZL1

24th    RICKY STENHOUSE JR., NO. 47 KROGER / MINUTE RICE CAMARO ZL1

25th    JUSTIN HALEY, NO. 31 LEAFFILTER GUTTER PROTECTION CAMARO ZL1

27th    ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1

30th    AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BASS PRO SHOPS / TRACKER OFF ROAD CAMARO ZL1

34th    JOSH BILICKI, NO. 77 ZEIGLER AUTO / DITEC MARINE CAMARO ZL1

35th    TY DILLON, NO. 42 ALLEGIANT CAMARO ZL1

TOP-FIVE UNOFFICIAL STARTING LINEUP:  

POS.  DRIVER

1st      Martin Truex Jr. (Toyota)

2nd    Chase Elliott (Chevrolet)

3rd      Kurt Busch (Toyota)

4th      Bubba Wallace (Toyota)

5th      Christopher Bell (Toyota)

·       In Group A Round One qualifying, Chevrolet went 1-2 on the leaderboard with Hendrick Motorsports teammates Chase Elliott and William Byron, both transferring their Camaro ZL1’s onto the final round of qualifying. 

·       Kyle Larson was third fastest in Group B Round One qualifying to lead Chevrolet, advancing his No. 5 HendrickMotorsports.com Camaro ZL1 to the final round of qualifying to race for the pole position. 

·       Chase Elliott was second fastest in the final round of qualifying, giving the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1 a front row starting spot for tomorrow’s race at New Hampshire. This marks Elliott’s 11th top-10 start of 2022. 

·       USA Network will broadcast the NASCAR Cup Series Ambetter 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sunday, July 17, at 3 p.m. ET. Live coverage can also be found on the NBCSports Gold App, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. 

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 – Qualified 2nd

CHASE, WE TALKED EARLIER AND YOU WEREN’T REAL SURE OR CONFIDENT IN WHAT TO EXPECT IN QUALIFYING. YOU HAVE TO BE HAPPY WITH SECOND. 

“I was shocked.. I was shocked that we were second. And shocked that it held on that long. Those guys ran 70’s in that first round and I barely ran a flat, so I thought for sure they’d go closer to what they ran that first round. 

Really proud of our NAPA team today. It’s not been super pretty, but I feel like we’ve learned a couple of things. At this point, we just have to make sure we make some good decisions overnight. Not saying we have to completely rebuild it, but I do think we need to be a little better and I need to work on some things on my end to help create some longevity in our car, too. 

Proud of the effort. Nice to be on the front row and give us a good pit selection. Would love to have that first one if I was being selfish, but second will give us a solid one to choose from and we’ll go to work all day tomorrow.”

Granite City, IL (July 15, 2022) – Hudson O’Neal continued his successful run in the month of July in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series by winning the NAPA Know How 50 on Friday night at Tri-City Speedway. O’Neal has now won three series events in the last eight days to go along with his victories at Davenport, IA on July 6 and Thursday night at I-70 Speedway in Odessa, MO. O’Neal went toe-to-toe with Spencer Hughes early in the race until taking the lead for good on the 11th lap after an exciting lead swapping battle with Hughes. O’Neal, who started third led the rest of the way for the victory. Current Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series point leader Tim McCreadie finished in second followed by Jimmy Owens, Tyler Erb, and Brandon Sheppard. O’Neal took the lead on the opening lap from his inside row two starting spot. O’Neal led the first three circuits until Hughes, who started on the outside of the front row took over the lead, but it was short lived as O’Neal retook the point on lap six and led the rest of the way. Erb got by Hughes to run in second for several laps until McCreadie got by him on lap 37. McCreadie closed the gap on O’Neal in lapped traffic, but O’Neal held off the reigning series champion for the 16th career series victory for the 21-year-old Indiana native. O’Neal was joined in victory lane by his team and family as he celebrated his win in the first Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series race at Tri-City since 2020. “This is awesome to go back-to-back with the year we have had. It’s pretty cool. I just told myself before it went green, I was going to give this bottom a good shot. I then rolled to the lead on the bottom and then Spencer gave me a good run up there. I was just trying to stay calm and make sure I hit my marks down there. I was hoping that the bottom was going to prevail. Thank you to the Gundaker family and everybody for an awesome facility here at Tri-City. This place races cool every time we come here.”  McCreadie with his second-place finish will maintain the series point lead heading into the series’ next event on Saturday night at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, MO. “I tried once on the outside to pass him (O’Neal) and lost some spots. I wanted to get to the bottom quicker, but I just got stuck up there and couldn’t. We have a second-place car tonight. Give Tyler (Erb) credit he was giving it his all on the top and that’s all you can ask of us drivers is to do our best. My hats off to Hudson and those guys I know they work hard, and I appreciate my guys as hard as they work as well.” Owens, who ran second to O’Neal on Thursday night at I-70 rounded out the podium. “I have just got to thank Becky and Dereck Ramirez and the guys. We keep getting the car a little better maybe we will get it into victory lane a little more consistently. I just wanted it to stay green tonight. We were throwing crumbs up there. It was cleaner on the bottom, and it made it hard to run the high side.” The winner’s Roger Sellers/Double Down Motorsports Rocket Chassis is powered by a Cornett Racing Engine and sponsored by Lazydays RV, O’Neal’s Salvage, Lucas Oil Products, Smoky Mountain Speedway, WR1 Sim Chassis, VP Fuels, Integra Racing Shocks, and Dynamic Drivelines. Completing the top ten were Ricky Thornton Jr., Spencer Hughes, Earl Pearson Jr., Jason Feger, and Garrett Alberson. Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Race Summary NAPA Know How 50Friday, July 15th, 2022Tri-City Speedway – Granite City, IL Allstar Performance Time TrialsFast Time Group A: Earl Pearson, Jr. / 15.018 seconds (overall)Fast Time Group B: Spencer Hughes / 15.098 seconds Penske Race Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 46-Earl Pearson Jr[1]; 2. 20-Jimmy Owens[3]; 3. 2S-Stormy Scott[4]; 4. 25-Jason Feger[5]; 5. 18D-Daulton Wilson[6]; 6. 8-Kyle Strickler[7]; 7. 3-Brennon Willard[9]; 8. 16C-John Clippinger[8]; 9. F1-Payton Freeman[2] Summit Racing Equipment Heat Race #2 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 71-Hudson O’Neal[1]; 2. 58-Garrett Alberson[2]; 3. 36-Logan Martin[5]; 4. 33-Rickey Frankel[3]; 5. 1S-Jeremy Shaw[6]; 6. 7-Ross Robinson[7]; 7. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[4]; 8. 16W-Tony Wolf[8] Simpson Race Products Heat Race #3 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 11-Spencer Hughes[1]; 2. 1T-Tyler Erb[2]; 3. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[3]; 4. 26M-Brent McKinnon[8]; 5. 3S-Brian Shirley[4]; 6. 40B-Kyle Bronson[5]; 7. 18H-Nick Hoffman[6]; 8. 80-Rich Dawson[7] Ohlins Shocks Heat Race #4 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 39-Tim McCreadie[1]; 2. 1-Brandon Sheppard[2]; 3. 18-Shannon Babb[4]; 4. 82-Billy Laycock[7]; 5. 11H-Jeff Herzog[3]; 6. 16R-Rusty Griffaw[5]; 7. 81J-Jack Riggs[8]; 8. 44-Blaze Burwell[6] Fast Shafts B-Main #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 7-Ross Robinson[4]; 2. 18D-Daulton Wilson[1]; 3. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[6]; 4. 8-Kyle Strickler[3]; 5. 3-Brennon Willard[5]; 6. 16C-John Clippinger[7]; 7. 1S-Jeremy Shaw[2]; 8. 16W-Tony Wolf[8]; 9. (DNS) F1-Payton Freeman UNOH B-Main #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 3S-Brian Shirley[1]; 2. 18H-Nick Hoffman[5]; 3. 40B-Kyle Bronson[3]; 4. 80-Rich Dawson[7]; 5. 16R-Rusty Griffaw[4]; 6. 11H-Jeff Herzog[2]; 7. (DNS) 81J-Jack Riggs; 8. (DNS) 44-Blaze Burwell

The Zebulon, GA driver held off Dennis Erb Jr. for his 47th career Series triumph

GRAND FORKS, ND– July 15, 2022– Shane Clanton knows the winning formula. He’d used it to perfection 46 times already with the World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Model Series.

However, not since 2019 with the Series.

He and his Skyline Motorsports team had been searching for the final equation since returning to the tour in May. And on Friday at River Cities Speedway, he nailed it, leading all 40 laps to earn his first World of Outlaws win of the season.

“We came full circle,” Clanton said. “We hot lapped good, qualified on the pole, won our Heat, started on the pole, and won the race. When you have the fastest car in Qualifying and the [Heat Race], you’re supposed to do that. 

“I really thought we had the best car in the race; we just needed to be in the right lines. They said [Mike Marlar] was coming, but I didn’t move up until I had to, and I could just mash the gas. It was just right timing, I guess.”

While Clanton led every lap, Dennis Erb Jr., who ended up second, challenged him for the win in the race’s late stages.    

The Carpentersville, IL driver swung to the bottom of Clanton’s Capital Race Car with two laps to go as the two waged war for the lead. However, Clanton, the 2015 Series champion, shut the door on Erb’s momentum in Turn 4, allowing him to pull away for the win. 

“Well, I saw a blue car, and I figured it was Dennis,” Clanton said. “I know Dennis runs the bottom real good, better than anyone in the business. I knew he was probably there and shut the door on him, and I caught a lap car on the last lap and said I’ve got to go because if I miss it, Dennis is going to drive by me off Turn 4.

“I went to the middle, and I could just bend the floorboard then. It’s probably where I should’ve been the last five or six laps anyway; I just didn’t know to get up there.”

Clanton’s win is his 47th career World of Outlaws CASE Late Models win and second at River Cities Speedway. 

While Erb came up short on the victory, the veteran Late Model driver kept his consistency rolling with his 12th top-five finish of 2022. 

“The car was good. We were just trying to get to the right spot there to make the move,” Erb said. “We got up underneath him, and he closed the door on me, but like I said, we had another good car tonight, and another good finish for us. So, we’ll just take this and move on to [Saturday].”

His second-place finish also extended his points lead to 164 points over Max Blair, who finished 10th. 

Mike Marlar, the 2018 Series champion, crossed the line third. 

The Winfield, TN driver charged into the top five, using the outside line to pick off cars. He stated he had more room to maneuver his Longhorn Chassis as he moved toward the front.

“I found my groove there, and it wasn’t really the top that was working so much, just that when I got to the front, there were more lanes,” Marlar said. “It was kind of tight there on the front straightaway every lap, so whatever kind of momentum you would have, you’d have to break.”

Tyler Bruening, the 2021 Series Rookie of the Year, finished fourth. The Decorah, IA driver, didn’t believe his car was good enough to compete with Clanton and Erb for the $10,000 prize. 

“We were really good, just not quite good enough,” Bruening said. “I had tremendous drive off the corner. I was good getting in, but just through the center, I’d lose the car every once in a while, a little bit. 

“The car was really good. We made some changes after [Qualifying] to make it a little more similar to what Shane [Clanton] had, and that really seemed to help me and the car a lot.”

Tanner English finished fifth, his fourth top five of the season. 

The Benton, KY driver stated that although he finally had a good Qualifying run, he missed out on crucial adjustments throughout the night.

“The car was good, and that’s all we can ask for,” English said. “Starting up front, that’s half the battle, and I just didn’t do anything to the car that I needed to do. 

“I was scared to make some adjustments, and I won’t be now because I know that’s what it needed. So, I think we’re alright, and we’re heading in the right direction.”

Shane Clanton’s ability to put an entire night together allowed him to return to winning form with the World of Outlaws CASE Late Models.

UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws CASE Late Models travel to I-94 Sure Step Speedway in Fergus Falls, MN on Saturday, July 16, for night two of the Upper Midwest triple header. 

TICKETS: https://bit.ly/3P6EBTn

If you can’t make it to the track, watch all the action live on DIRTVision – either online on with the DIRTVision App.

CASE Construction Equipment Feature (40 Laps): 1. 25-Shane Clanton[1]; 2. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[3]; 3. 157-Mike Marlar[6]; 4. 16-Tyler Bruening[5]; 5. 81E-Tanner English[2]; 6. 7-Ricky Weiss[7]; 7. 11-Gordy Gundaker[4]; 8. 19R-Ryan Gustin[23]; 9. B1-Brent Larson[12]; 10. 111V-Max Blair[9]; 11. 7P-Joey Pederson[8]; 12. 76-Blair Nothdurft[16]; 13. 12S-Brad Seng[17]; 14. 6M-Jeff Massingill[10]; 15. 10-Mike Balcaen[24]; 16. 99B-Boom Briggs[13]; 17. 55C-Chad Mahder[18]; 18. 5G-Scott Greer[14]; 19. 17-Mike Greseth[21]; 20. 1-Josh Richards[11]; 21. 21-Billy Moyer Sr[19]; 22. E85-Jason Strand[20]; 23. 70-

MORRISON, Colo. (July 15, 2022) – Robert Hight and the Automobile Club of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro SS team finished day one of the Dodge Power Brokers NHRA Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway in the No. 2 position. John Force and the PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevy are sitting in the No. 4 spot while Austin Prock has the Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist dragster sitting No. 7 with Brittany Force and Flav-R-Pac / Monster Energy dragster in 12th. Robert Hight handled the Auto Club Chevy to a clean 3.987-second pass at 311.92 mph in the first qualifying session to put them in the No. 4 spot heading into the night session. Hight and the Jimmy Prock and Chris Cunningham tuned Auto Club Camaro improved to the No. 2 spot with their stout 3.936 run at 324.51 that also earned them two bonus points for being second quickest of the session. “Not a bad way to get the weekend started here at Bandimere. Hopefully it sets the tone for the whole weekend and the whole Western Swing,” Hight said. “Good first two runs to help us get set. Tomorrow we’ll be racing a little earlier, conditions will be a little warmer. Jimmy and Chris, they’ve got a handle on this mountain, so we’ll be good, they’ll be really dialing this Auto Club Chevy in.” John Force and the PEAK Camaro would go 4.020-seconds at 318.47 mph to start off the Mile-High Nationals. Their efforts put them in the No. 5 spot. In their second run, crew chiefs Danny Hood and Tim Fabrisi tuned the PEAK Chevy to a 3.978 at 325.07 to move Force into the No. 4 spot with two qualifying sessions left on Saturday. “Pretty good day for this PEAK Chevy team. Got it down there both runs, got some good data,” Force said. “Great to be back racing at ‘God’s Mountain.’ Getting back in that Chevrolet Funny Car out here has really put me in a good mood. I’m ready to do it again tomorrow and go some rounds on race day. NK Seeds is out here with us and Gates Belts has their headquarters just downtown here, great to have them with us and all of my sponsors. Shaping up to be a good weekend.” Brittany Force and the Flav-R-Pac team had a hole out and went up in tire smoke in their first attempt down Bandimere Speedway for a 7.174-second pass at 86.34 mph. In the second session, the Flav-R-Pac dragster shut off early to go 4.198 at 201.52 and put Force No. 12. “Our Flav-R-Pac team got off to a slow start this weekend here at Bandimere Speedway. Two runs that were far from our goal,” Force said. “First run we had a cylinder out from the step. Second run pan pressure shut our car off early. The track looked great the second run and we were pushing to lay down a good number. Our early numbers were good. We will readjust going into tomorrow. The positive is we have an answer so we can fix it.” Austin Prock and the Montana Brand / RMT team laid down a solid 3.904-second pass at 312.86 mph to temporarily put them in the No. 2 spot and earn two bonus points. In the second session, the Montana Brand dragster would lose traction early and coast to a 6.226 at 113.24 landing Prock in the No. 7 spot. “Good start to the day here at Bandimere Speedway, we came in here a little blind on our setup and made the second quickest run of the first session,” Prock said. “On that second run, we came in swinging. This Montana Brand / RMT dragster left hard with the wheels up and shot me inside, I tried to bring it back but it was too late and puffed the tire. We’re making adjustments now and will go for it again tomorrow night.” Racing at the Dodge Power Brokers NHRA Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway continues with a second day of qualifying Saturday at 3:30 and 7:00 p.m. Eliminations are slated to begin Sunday at 11 a.m. Television coverage of the event continues with a second qualifying shows on FOX Sports 1 (FS1) Sunday at 11 a.m. ET. Eliminations will air on FOX Broadcasting Network Sunday at 4 p.m. ET. -30-

AUSTIN PROCK, 26, Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist DragsterQualifying:7th; 3.904-seconds; 312.86 mphBonus Qualifying Points:+2 (2nd quickest Q1)BRITTANY FORCE, 36, Flav-R-Pac / Monster Energy DragsterQualifying:12th; 4.198-seconds; 201.52 mphBonus Qualifying Points: 0 JOHN FORCE, 73, PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet Camaro SSQualifying:4th; 3.978-seconds; 325.07 mphBonus Qualifying Points: 0ROBERT HIGHT, 52, AAA Ohio Chevy Camaro SSQualifying:2nd; 3.936-seconds; 324.51 mphBonus Qualifying Points:+2 (2nd quickest Q2)

NASCAR CUP SERIES

NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY

AMBETTER 301

TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT

JULY 15, 2022

WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series doubleheader race weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Press Conference Transcript: 

WE’VE SEEN A LOT OF DRIVERS SHUFFLING THE PAST COUPLE OF WEEKS. DO YOU THINK IT’S GOING TO BE COMMON NOW THAT WE’RE GOING TO SEE DRIVERS KIND OF NEGOTIATE WELL PAST THEIR CONTRACTS; OR IS THAT AN ANOMALY? 

“I think it’s just kind of an anomaly. Tyler (Reddick) is obviously super talented and I think he has a lot of leverage with winning and things like that. But I don’t know.. I don’t think that will be common. It happened with Kevin (Harvick) way back before I was racing, but watched it happen. I just think it’s the way it worked out with that situation.”

CAN YOU SUM UP THE EXPERIENCE AT SLINGER NATIONALS? IT’S JUST ANOTHER WEEK WHERE YOU WIN DURING THE WEEK, SO DO YOU COME INTO THE CUP WEEKEND WITH ANY MORE OF A SPRING IN YOUR STEP AFTER WINNING A SHORT TRACK RACE?

“Yeah, that’s a great question. I had a great time at Slinger. I had never been to that race, but I’ve heard a lot about it and watched videos. Matt Kenseth has won it eight times. Kyle Busch has won it once. The only reason I know that stuff is because it’s on the trophy, so that was cool (laughs).

I enjoyed it. I’ve raced a lot more this year and I’ve loved what its done for just the use of my time. I can be back home trying to prepare for a race as much as I can, but being out at the race track is just fun. I didn’t realize how much I enjoy doing that during the week. It’s tougher on the schedule.. like you get less sleep, you don’t have as much time at home, all those things are true. But it’s just been a lot of fun to do it. Looking forward to the future, I feel like it’s something that I’m going to try and incorporate in my career as I go. Obviously its gone great this year. I never would have thought it would go like it has, but it’s gone pretty amazing. A lot of things have worked out in our favor to win the races. It does bring over some confidence because I feel like when I’m in a race car, I’m learning and I can just have some fun.”

BRAD WENT AND RAN THUNDER ROAD LAST NIGHT. WE’VE SEEN OTHER DRIVERS IN THE CUP, XFINITY AND TRUCK SERIES SUPPORT GRASSROOTS RACING. WHAT DOES THAT SAY ABOUT RACING AS A WHOLE RIGHT NOW? 

“Each race track you go to or each series you go to, the people in that series are the best at what they do. When we went up to Wisconsin and raced Slinger, I was 29th in practice at the beginning. My car was a lot better than that and I was probably going to get better than that, too. But it’s not easy to just go to these different places and insert yourself. So that’s what makes it so impressive of what Kyle Larson did last year and what other guys have done in the past. Kyle Busch used to travel to all these places; and Matt Kenseth.. people like that. It’s cool that Brad (Keselowski) went and did that last night. It’s fun to see the different environments.”

NOW THAT YOU’RE HERE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE, HOW ARE YOU FEELING ABOUT THE WEEKEND AND WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE TRACK HERE?

“I thought I had it figured out before I got to the Cup Series and I realized I just had really good cars to get me to this point. New Hampshire is a place that I’ve wanted to work at and get better; and this is a perfect opportunity this weekend to hopefully improve. Hopefully it translates to the Cup side. The Xfinity car is a little bit different, but the downforce level and the power level is not that different in the fact that it’s a short track. It should line up pretty well. I’m excited to get laps in the Xfinity car. We finished second at Texas (Motor Speedway) and hopefully we can have a little bit better run than that.”

THROUGHOUT THE DAY TODAY, WHAT HAS YOUR PREPARATION LOOKED LIKE?

“Not much of anything (laughs). I just got in with the team guys; got some lunch and waiting for this practice session to start. 20 minutes of practice isn’t a lot, but hopefully we’ll get one or two runs and get a chance to feel the car out. I go out first in qualifying, so I’m not sure how good or bad that’s going to be. Going out early isn’t usually a great thing, so we’ll just have to wait and see how that plays out.”

FOLLOWING UP ON THE GRASSROOTS QUESTION, HOW IMPORTANT DO YOU THINK IT IS FOR THE OVERALL HEALTH OF NOT ONLY NASCAR, BUT SHORT TRACK RACING, THAT YOU GUYS ARE DOING MORE CROSSOVER? 

“I think it’s important. When you go to some of these short tracks, you notice how little some people know about what we’re doing, what’s going on, or where the Cup Series is racing. And then when you kind of educate them and they get a chance to meet you, their whole perspective changes on what NASCAR is all about. I think sometimes it’s kind of distant for them.. like the drivers seem pretty distant, just from their side of the fence to inside the garage. Going to the short tracks, it’s really not difficult to get a pit pass and go up and talk to your favorite driver. So it opens that door a little bit more.”

HOW DO YOU LIKE INTERACTING WITH THE FANS AT THE SHORT TRACKS?

“Yeah, it’s cool. The fact that there’s no barrier there, they can talk to you anytime. Typically I try to limit it to after practice or before practice, but it’s cool because you get to hear different stories. There was one guy that was at Jeff Gordon’s first race in the No. 24; and then he was seeing me at Atlanta. So people like that, that you meet, it’s cool to hear those stories.”

POCONO NEXT WEEKEND.. HOW MANY TIMES DO YOU ANTICIPATE THAT YOU’LL BE SHIFTING AT POCONO AND WHAT’S IT LIKE TO HAVE TO CONSTANTLY SHIFT ON A RACE TRACK LIKE THAT? 

“I didn’t get a chance to run Pocono (Raceway) in the simulator this week, but watching Brett Moffitt run the simulator, I got a chance to kind of see where he was shifting. It looks like you’ll be shifting obviously every corner, as it is this year at most places. I don’t know if you’ll shift twice in certain corners or not. I’m not sure how the gearing is for that, but it’ll be interesting for sure. 

And then to see how tomorrow is too with the shifting.”

YOU HAVE THE LONGEST STRAIGHTAWAY IN NASCAR. WHAT’S IT GOING TO BE LIKE TO BE DOWNSHIFTING AT THE END OF IT? IT SEEMS LIKE THERE’S A LOT GOING ON.. BRAKES, DOWNSHIFT, TURNING..

“Honestly, yes but we’re used to it now. We’ve been shifting so much. Even at Charlotte (Motor Speedway), if you were back in traffic, people were shifting. So I don’t think you ever kind of rule it out of your playbook and with that comes normalcy with it. I think we’re getting more and more used to it. It took me awhile to understand how to take my hand off the wheel and use my left hand a little bit more to steer the car, but it’s becoming more natural now.”

TO FOLLOW UP ON THAT, DO YOU EXPECT TO BE SHIFTING TWICE HERE; OR DO YOU THINK YOU’LL GET THROUGH THE CORNER SHIFTING JUST ONCE?

“Based on my simulator time, I feel like it’ll probably be once on both ends. But I would feel like if you get way back in traffic, you could be shifting twice each corner, each lap. Third gear is definitely an option. It’s not too much of a drop it doesn’t seem like from third to fourth.”

YOU HAD A REALLY SUCCESSFUL SEASON TO THIS POINT. I KNOW THE LAST FEW WEEKS HAVEN’T TURNED OUT AS WELL AS YOU’D HOPE, BUT WHEN YOU HAVE SUCCESS LIKE YOU DID AT SLINGER AND SOME OTHER PLACES, DOES IT REALLY MATTER IN A SENSE FROM A DRIVER’S POINT OF VIEW? YOU’VE ALREADY WON TWO CUP RACES THIS YEAR AND YOU’RE STILL A CHAMPIONSHIP CONTENDER. WHEN YOU WIN THESE RACES, IS IT THE LEARNING SKILLS OR IS IT THE ‘HEY I FEEL BETTER ABOUT MYSELF BECAUSE I WON A RACE AND I BEAT THESE GUYS’. WHAT’S THE BENEFIT?

“I think winning does wonders for drivers and teams, too. I think you see momentum build. When we won those two Cup races really close together within a couple of races, you see momentum from that from a driver’s perspective. And then when I go to the late model side – we’ve obviously won six-in-a-row, which we would not have expected that, but it builds momentum in those guys. Every time I get in the car, I’m excited and they’re excited. 

So yeah, trying to build that back on the Cup side is top of the list for me. I think going to do all this stuff during the week is trying to get me back to that level for me as a driver and us as a team. We’re spending more time than ever in the simulator, things like that, trying to just get ourselves back to where we feel like we need to be. Even though it’s not playoff time and people can say ‘oh, you’re locked in with two wins’ – we definitely see right now as a really critical point to get us back to where we want to be.”

YOU’RE WILLIAM BYRON.. YOU’RE A CUP WINNER. SO WHEN YOU WIN IN THE LATE MODEL, I’M JUST CURIOUS HOW IT EFFECTS YOU PERSONALLY. 

“I think it’s learning how to be versatile. Winning in different cars is a big boost because you’re not one dimensional. Like before this year, I would have probably gone back and ran late models earlier if I felt like it was going to go pretty well. But I didn’t think I would be able to take what I do now and move around. Going and doing it this year has definitely bred some confidence to know that I can get in a car and learn. 

I think that’s what it takes on Sunday.. that adaptability and being able to have different techniques and make it work.”

CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES HONDA INDY TORONTO STREETS OF TORONTO TEAM CHEVY PRACTICE RECAP AND NOTEBOOK Return to Toronto welcomed by Team Chevy drivers, fansNewgarden paces Chevrolet drivers in opening practice session on 1.786-mile circuit

TORONTO (July 15, 2022) — Extra autograph cards, featuring Dalton Kellett’s image and the No. 4 K-Line Insulators USA Chevrolet, were ordered for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES race weekend at Exhibition Place. Good move as the Toronto native could have devoted more than the hour allotted to greet fans Friday before the initial practice session on the 1.786-mile, 11-turn street circuit.

“I think it’s great having the race back and having a Canadian driving. It gives everyone a rooting interest after Hinch (James Hinchcliffe),” said 16-year-old Samantha Gould of Mississauga, who scored a signed “hero card” and photo. Kellett was pleased to oblige. It’s been a busy week for the third-year AJ Foyt Racing driver as the series returns to the venue for the first time since 2019 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. “I’ve been in town for about a week, and it’s been busy but great to see the reception and how the city is embracing the event,” said Kellett, who has a bachelor’s degree in engineering physics from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. “There is certainly more focus on you when it’s the hometown race. I’m happy to be back here. (The event is) going to be a big one and then for my whole career it’s definitely going to be a highlight. I will be racing hard for a good finish for the home crowd.”

Newgarden paces Chevrolet drivers in opening session Two-time Toronto winner Josef Newgarden was the quickest Chevrolet driver in the 75-minute practice with a best lap of 1 minute, 0.7650 seconds in the No. 2 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet. He was .1560 of a second behind the leader of the initial session. A 60-minute practice Saturday morning precedes the three rounds of knockout qualifications. Felix Rosenqvist (above) was sixth-quick (1:00.7936) in the No. 7 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet. “Pretty good start for us. I didn’t really know what to expect after not being here since 2019,” Newgarden said. “Across our three cars, we had different plans of attack. (The track) I thought had really good grip. I was surprised that the balance was more secure than I thought it was going to be. Not too dissimilar to ’19. There are definitely a couple of sections that they could grind down just to help us over the bumps. “I was really happy with my car. I thought toward the end of the session we really got close, did a couple of positive changes and I feel really good about going into tomorrow with the Hitachi Chevy car.”

Tying the record or first repeat pole winner? Will there be a repeat NTT P1 Award winner for the first time in 10 races this season? Chevrolet drivers have accounted for six pole starts. The modern-day record for most different pole winners to start a season is 10 in 1952. The record for most pole winners in a season is 12 in 1999. “There is no one that is dominating, no one stands out,” said Will Power, driver of the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet who is second to Mario Andretti on the all-time list with 64 career pole starts. “You can try to pick the polesitter for this weekend. You simply couldn’t. Even the drivers, you couldn’t pick who might be on pole, which to me is a great thing.” Newgarden set a qualifying mark of 58.4129 seconds (110.072 mph) for the current layout in 2019. Peacock will stream the three rounds of knockout qualifications at 2 p.m. ET Saturday in addition to the race at 3 p.m. ET Sunday. Qualifying and the race will also be broadcast on INDYCAR Radio Network affiliates, SiriusXM 160 and the INDYCAR app. Busy summer stretch will impact title chase The race in Toronto begins a stretch of five races in four weeks that ends with the Nashville street circuit race Aug. 7. Chevrolet drivers have won seven of the nine races, including a sweep of the three street races. That schedule, with 270 available points, will have an impact on the championship chase. Power, a three-time winner at Toronto, is 20 points out of the lead. Newgarden is third in the standings (34 points arrears), while Pato O’Ward, driving the No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet, is 65 points out. “When you start having good runs on the board, you’re right there in the points, it does give you confidence,” said Power, the 2014 NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion who won at Detroit in June. “You’re obviously feeling good about the situation. You’re not feeling like you have to do anything desperate, you’re just having to execute. You’re sitting in that sweet spot of performance.” Back to Indy 500 engines for Chevrolet entries Chevrolet INDYCAR program manager Rob Buckner said that nine of the 10 Chevrolet entries had their Indianapolis 500 engines reinstalled for the race weekend as the previous 2.2-liter V6, twin-turbocharged engines reached their mileage limit. Kellett’s No. 4 car is off-sequence and did not receive an engine change.

The engine cover of Kellett’s No. 4 K-Line Insulators USA Chevrolet features a nod to his Canadian roots — red and black plaid with a white maple leaf and the popular “eh?” … Kyle Kirkwood, driver of the No. 14 Sexton Properties Chevrolet for AJ Foyt Racing, won both U.S. F2000 Series (now the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship) races in 2018 on the Exhibition Place circuit. He won the back end of the Indy Pro 2000 Series doubleheader in 2019. “Toronto was always one of my favorite tracks in the lower categories. I really like street courses and Toronto is special, just the characteristics of the track are so much different from anywhere else we go. It’s just a ton of fun.” … Chevrolet has won seven of the 10 races at Toronto since the Bowtie’s return to NTT INDYCAR SERIES competition in 2012.

In 132 NASCAR Cup Series starts at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Richard Childress Racing has recorded four wins. Clint Bowyer leads the organization with two victories (2007 and 2010) while Robby Gordon (2001) and Kevin Harvick (2006) also won with RCR at New Hampshire. The Welcome, N.C., based team has 16 top-five and 42 top-10 finishes.  RCR In the NASCAR Xfinity Series at New Hampshire … RCR has one win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in NASCAR Xfinity Series competition (Kevin Harvick in 2007) and has racked up 15 top-five and 27 top-10 finishes in over 50 starts.  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 competing in games beginning 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. Tickets are on sale at PBR.com and Ticketmaster. Catch the Action … The Crayon 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway will be televised live on Saturday, July 16 beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET on USA and will be broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.  Follow Sunday’s Action at New Hampshire … The Ambetter 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway will be televised live on Sunday, July 17 beginning at 3 p.m. ET on USA and will be broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

This Week’s Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Off Road Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway … Dillon has made 12 NASCAR Cup Series starts at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, earning his best finish of eighth in July 2015. In six NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at the track, Dillon has earned four top-five and five top-10 finishes. Dillon is a former winner at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in the NASCAR Truck Series, winning the race from the pole position in 2015. Tracker Off Road … Dillon’s No. 3 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 prominently features TRACKER ATVs, a game-changing new line of all-terrain vehicles and side-by-sides offering breakthrough performance, service and value in the off-road industry. TRACKER OFF ROAD was born out of a powerhouse partnership formed between Bass Pro Shops and TRACKER founder Johnny Morris and Textron Specialized Vehicles, bringing together the undisputed world leader in boating with a global leader in innovation and technology.  Bass Pro Shops … Bass Pro Shops is North America’s premier outdoor and conservation company. Founded in 1972 when avid young angler Johnny Morris began selling tackle out of his father’s liquor store in Springfield, Missouri, today the company provides customers with unmatched offerings spanning premier destination retail, outdoor equipment manufacturing, world-class resort destinations and more. In 2017 Bass Pro Shops acquired Cabela’s to create a “best-of-the-best” experience with superior products, dynamic locations and outstanding customer service. Bass Pro Shops also operates White River Marine Group, offering an unsurpassed collection of industry-leading boat brands, and Big Cedar Lodge, America’s Premier Wilderness Resort. Under the visionary conservation leadership of Johnny Morris, Bass Pro Shops is a national leader in protecting habitat and introducing families to the outdoors and has been named by Forbes as “one of America’s Best Employers.” Bass Pro Shops has a long relationship with NASCAR, dating back to 1998. For more information, visit http://www.basspro.com/. AUSTIN DILLON QUOTE:What are your thoughts on New Hampshire Motor Speedway?“New Hampshire Motor Speedway has always been a really fun track. I love going there. It’s a flat track. Entry is fun there. It’s different. It’s a different type of feel than what we have anywhere, but it will be interesting to experience it this year in the Next Gen Chevy. I’ve been spending a lot of time in the simulator to prepare. We’re going to go there and do everything we can to earn a win and lock ourselves into the NASCAR Playoffs.”

This Week’s Guaranteed Rate Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway … Tyler Reddick will be making his third NASCAR Cup Series start at New Hampshire Motor Speedway this weekend. Reddick has one top-10 finish and has completed all 594 possible laps at the 1.058-mile speedway. He made two starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at New Hampshire, highlighted by a fourth-place finish with Richard Childress Racing in 2019. He has also made three starts in the NASCAR Truck Series at the track, racking up two top-10 finishes and one top-five. About Guaranteed Rate … Guaranteed Rate is a leader in mortgage lending and digital financial services. Headquartered in Chicago, the company has more than 8,000 employees in 500 offices across the U.S., and is licensed in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. Since its launch in 2000, Guaranteed Rate has helped hundreds of thousands of homeowners with home purchase loans and refinances, funding more than $95 billion in total loan volume in 2021 alone. Powered by its belief in positivity, the company has become one of the largest retail lenders in the nation. Guaranteed Rate delivers innovative technology, including the world’s first Digital Mortgage, low rates and unparalleled customer service. Visit https://www.rate.com/mortgage-rates for more information. TYLER REDDICK QUOTES:What does it take run well at New Hampshire Motor Speedway? “It’s all about putting the entire race together, from the start to the finish. If you make mistakes at New Hampshire, they’re hard to bounce back from. Normally with 300 laps that sounds like a long time, but the way the race flows and how it plays out it really demands excellence. It’s about executing all day long, making the right adjustments all day long. The track could potentially change quite a bit whether we have resin on the track or not. That could play a factor in the race and how it goes. The straightaways are long at this track and the corners are flat. It’s a one-mile racetrack but it races somewhat like a short track with how you break the corner up and how corner entry is important. It always seems like there are a few different ways to get around a place like Loudon. You’ll see a lot of parity among the cars in the top five. Some up front will be running really fast on entry while some are set up for exit. We’ll just have to figure out where we need to be with our Guaranteed Rate Chevrolet and go from there.”   You ran well earlier this year at Phoenix Raceway, a track that is comparable to New Hampshire. Does that give you confidence entering this weekend? “It certainly does. We had good speed at Gateway as well and that gives me confidence, too. Looking at that speed should not be a problem. Confidence has been high all year long but especially at these flat tracks it seems like we have plenty of speed.”

This Week’s Whelen Engineering Chevrolet Camaro SS at New Hampshire Motor Speedway … Sheldon Creed will make his first NASCAR Xfinity Series career start at New Hampshire Motor Speedway this weekend. So far this season, Creed finished 14th at Phoenix Raceway and eighth at Dover Motor Speedway, two other 1-mile tracks on the schedule. Creed visited New Hampshire Motor Speedway in 2017 in a K&N car and finished fifth.  Whelen Celebrates 70 Years … From a small garage workshop in Connecticut in 1952 to a worldwide leader in emergency warning equipment today, Whelen Engineering continues to push the boundaries of innovation. As we mark our 70th anniversary, we’re proud to continue our founder’s mission of making it safer for those who serve and protect. Whelen has been manufacturing in America for 70 years—we never left, and we’re here to stay. About Whelen … Whelen Engineering is a family-owned company with a pioneering spirit and a passion to protect the lives of those who protect and serve others. The company mission is to provide industry-defining safety solutions around the world, while creating a community of problem-solvers who are inspired to push boundaries and continue our legacy of delivering ground-breaking innovation. As a global leader in the emergency warning industry, Whelen has been trusted to perform since 1952, when George Whelen III invented the first rotating aviation beacon. Whelen now encompasses two state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in Connecticut and New Hampshire with over 750,000 square feet of engineering and manufacturing space and the largest design staff in the industry. Every part of every Whelen product is proudly designed and manufactured in America. We embrace quality as our foundation, we celebrate innovative engineering in every product we produce. SHELDON CREED QUOTE:What’s your mindset like heading into this weekend’s race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway?“I’m super excited for Saturday’s race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. It’s a pretty new track for me. The last time I was there was in 2017 in a K&N car, and I finished fifth, so it was a pretty good racetrack for me. I feel like my team, and I can capitalize on that this weekend. We’ve got practice and qualifying on Friday so we can feel out the track and see how our car runs. I’m looking forward to getting out there and running up front like we did at Atlanta. Our results have shown the kind of cars we are bringing to the track every weekend so I’m ready to get out there and get a win for my team. It’s also really cool that Whelen has a headquarters in New Hampshire, I definitely want to get a good finish for them, too.”

This Week’s Bennett Transportation and Logistics Chevrolet Camaro SS at New Hampshire Motor Speedway … Austin Hill will make his first start at New Hampshire Motor Speedway this weekend in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Hill has never made a lap around the Loudon, New Hampshire track in his NASCAR national series career. So far this season, Hill finished 17th at Phoenix Raceway and 14th at Dover Motor Speedway, two other 1-mile tracks on the schedule. The last time Hill was at New Hampshire Motor Speedway was in 2015 in a K&N car. He started fifth and finished fifth in the race. Home State Winner … The Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender won last week at Atlanta Motor Speedway, his home track, securing his second win of the season. He led 73 laps and started fifth enroute to his first victory in his home state of Georgia and second of the 2022 season.  About Bennett Family of Companies … McDonough, Ga.-based Bennett Family of Companies is a woman-owned, Women’s Enterprise Business Council (WBENC) certified, diversified transportation and logistics company. Through its 12 affiliated operating companies, the Bennett Family of Companies delivers integrated transportation and supply chain management solutions worldwide. The company will use race experiences to recruit and retain hundreds of truck drivers for their organization in 2022. For more information, visit www.Drive4Bennett.com. AUSTIN HILL QUOTE:Coming off a huge win at your home track of Atlanta Motor Speedway, how’s your motivation heading into this weekend’s race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway?“I’m so thrilled for our No. 21 Bennett Transportation & Logistics Chevrolet team for getting the win last weekend at Atlanta. A win at your home track is always so special and I really think it’s the motivation our team needed as the playoffs are approaching. I’m actually really looking forward to getting to New Hampshire this weekend, too. We haven’t had the best short-track program this season and we’ve struggled to get the results we’ve needed. My team has been working really hard preparing for these races coming up and I think we’ve got a good plan heading into the weekend. Practice and qualifying will be really important since I haven’t been there in many years and it will give us a chance to see what we need for Saturday’s race. It’s going to be a good one, though, and I’m looking forward to parking our No. 21 in Victory Lane again.”

Tyler Courtney and Rico Abreu Round Out Podium in Thrilling Thursday FeatureROSSBURG, OH – July 15, 2022 – After a 19-year absence, Eldora Speedway’s Historical Big One returned to the limelight on Thursday night in only the most spectacular fashion.Brent Marks of Myerstown, PA earned the richest win of his World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series career, scoring $100,000 for rocketing from 14th-to-1st and deterring the super sliders thrown his way by Indiana’s Tyler Courtney in the #7BC and California’s Rico Abreu in the #24.The Myerstown Missile entered the week as one of the top favorites to take big cash from The Big E, but many had thrown in the towel when the Murray-Marks #19 was slated to roll from 14th in the 40-lapper. A now 11-time World of Outlaws winner, Marks had also counted himself out through the opening stages, but quickly took a liking to the ever-changing track and quietly made his way to the front.Marks was driving into the top-10 by Lap 8, scooting in the top-five by Lap 15, and already seized command of the race lead by Lap 25. He’s now a 12-time Sprint Car winner throughout the 2022 campaign – four of those with World of Outlaws – and uses the biggest payday of his life to prepare for a bigger check in Saturday’s Kings Royal worth $175,000.”Holy shit,” Marks told the packed crowd at Eldora. “I didn’t think we would have anything at all through the first half, but then the car kept coming to me and changing each lap. I knew I had to take Tyler’s line away on that last restart if I wanted a chance, and I had to take it. I can’t tell you enough how badass this year has been. We were horrible last night, but came out tonight and the support has been unreal.”Finishing second and third as the most dejected individuals on the night were Tyler Courtney and Rico Abreu, who offered an insane fight for the lead near halfway. The NOS Energy Drink #7BC and Rowdy Energy #24 swapped super sliders for the lead on almost every occasion until a caution flew and introduced a new party to the friend.Officially, Courtney led Laps 1-18, Abreu controlled Laps 19-21, and Courtney was back at front on Laps 22-24. The Murray-Marks #19 team took the top spot on Lap 25 at the 1/2-mile and never looked back. In the face of Marks’ dominance was the dejection of a close Courtney and Abreu.The pairing swapped slider-after-slider-after-slider through lap traffic while battling for the race lead near the midway point. Once disposed of Abreu with a wall-riding display, Marks set his sights on Courtney and quickly began closing and finally made the pass on the final restart.Tyler Courtney, the reigning Kings Royal champion, brought his #7BC home with a second-place finish, missing another six-figure payday by only 0.865-seconds by the checkered flag. It’s a sign of progress, yet at the same time, heartbreak for what could’ve been for the Eldora master.”The only thing that matters is being up on that stage and we aren’t there,” Schatz said. “It was a great night, but it just sucks being that good and not winning. I killed that last restart and now I’m out $100,000. I don’t know what second-place pays, but the thing is we don’t have to wait too long to chase more money at Eldora.”Rico Abreu of St. Helena, CA, finished out on the podium after leading his first laps of the season. The fan-favorite drove to the lead thanks to an otherworldly display of tactics against the fence, but it soon began to father. While Marks stormed off with the lead, Abreu slipped back to earn a P3 finish in the Rowdy Energy #24.”We’re building some confidence,” Abreu noted. “My changes have been making some big changes every time we hit the track, and they do a phenomenal job.”Closing out the top-five at the Historical Big One was World of Outlaws championship leader Brad Sweet in fourth with the Kasey Kahne Racing, NAPA Auto Parts #49 in fifth for Brad Sweet. Without points on the line, The Big Cat’s only objective of taces like such is to win the big bucks. Sometimes they’ll have another shot on Sunday morning.Rounding out the top-10 at Eldora was Brian Brown from 19th-to-sixth, David Gravel in seventh and rising, Carson Macedo up to eighth place, Kyle Larson rallied from the work area to finish ninth, and former Historical Big One champion Donny Schatz finished up P10.UP NEXT (Fri-Sat) – The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series keeps going at Eldora Speedway with Friday’s The Knight Before leading into Saturday’s $175,000/Win Kings Royal. Fans can BUY TICKETS HERE, or watch every lap LIVE on DIRTVision.NOS Energy Drink Feature Results (40 Laps) – 1. 19-Brent Marks [14][$100,000]; 2. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [2][$25,000]; 3. 24-Rico Abreu [8][$15,000]; 4. 49-Brad Sweet [6][$12,500]; 5. 1S-Logan Schuchart [21][$10,000]; 6. 21-Brian Brown [19][$7,500]; 7. 2-David Gravel [5][$6,500]; 8. 41-Carson Macedo [17][$6,000]; 9. 57-Kyle Larson [3][$5,500]; 10. 15-Donny Schatz [9][$5,000]; 11. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [22][$4,750]; 12. 1-Logan Wagner [24][$4,650]; 13. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [10][$4,625]; 14. 11-Parker Price-Miller [23][$4,600]; 15. 83JR-Kerry Madsen [4][$4,575]; 16. 19W-Chris Windom [11][$4,550]; 17. 1AU-Marcus Dumesny [12][$4,525]; 18. 35-Zach Hampton [16][$4,500]; 19. 1A-Jacob Allen [18][$4,475]; 20. 83-James McFadden [20][$4,450]; 21. 18-Giovanni Scelzi [13][$4,425]; 22. 11K-Kraig Kinser [7][$4,200]; 23. 42-Sye Lynch [1][$4,100]; 24. 10-Dave Blaney [15][$4,000] DNS – 8-Aaron Reutzel[$4,000]. Lap Leaders: Tyler Courtney 1-18, 22-24; Rico Abreu 19-21; Brent Marks 25-40. KSE Hard Charger Award: 1S-Logan Schuchart[+16]

Teenage Tristan Chamberlain bags P2, Godsey collects another top-five

MEDARYVILLE, IN – July 14, 2022 – Make it three-straight trips to Victory Lane for the reigning champion.

Twenty-two years after father Bob took the checkers in the DIRTcar Summer Nationals’ debut at Shadyhill Speedway in July of 2000, son Bobby Pierce has done the same, winning the Hell Tour’s return to the 1/4-mile for the first time since 2018 Thursday night.

From the drop of the green, Pierce had the car to beat. He grabbed the lead from the pole on Lap 1, but not without some good fortune prior to the first lap.

On the initial start, outside polesitter Chad Finley, of St. Johns, MI, got a great run on the outside of Turn 2 and appeared to have the advantage on Pierce heading into Turn 3. But as Devin Moran and Thomas Hunziker tangled in Turn 2 behind them, the caution flag waved, forcing the field to restack and try it again – much to Pierce’s delight.

“I was probably going to have to race [Finley] for a while if I was going to try and pass him,” Pierce said. “I got that second start going and made sure I got to the top as soon as I could, and got it done.”

Now with a second chance at the start, Pierce got the jump he needed on Finley the second time around. He quickly took the lead and headed right for the top side, which caught-on with the rest of the field behind him as well.

“Track had a top side there early on and it was pretty fun for a few laps, but I knew it was only a matter of time before it started to move down,” Pierce said.

When the preferred lane came in around the middle, Pierce and the other leaders moved down to use it for the remainder of the race. Several caution flags dotted throughout the rest of the race forced Pierce to stay vigilant on the restarts, which was no issue for the four-time champion.

Pierce crossed the line, having led all 40 circuits, largely unchallenged for his 47th career victory with the tour, seventh of the season and third in-a-row, going back to last Sunday at Tri-State Speedway.

Fifteen-year-old Tristan Chamberlain scored his best career finish on tour in second with Finley right on his tail in third. Joe Godsey earned his second top-five finish of the season in fourth, while Brian Shirley rounded out the top-five.

UP NEXT

The DIRTcar Summer Nationals Late Models are back in action Friday night, July 15, at Farmer City Raceway for the final stop of the season in Illinois. If you can’t be there in person, watch every lap live on DIRTVision.

ABBREVIATED RESULTS (view full results)

Feature 40 Laps | 00:20:12.929

1. 32-Bobby Pierce[1]; 2. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[4]; 3. 42-Chad Finley[2]; 4. 14G-Joe Godsey[3]; 5. 3S-Brian Shirley[6]; 6. 21-Billy Moyer Jr[12]; 7. 91-Rusty Schlenk[8]; 8. 9-Devin Moran[7]; 9. 27-Eric Spangler[14]; 10. 21A-Nick Allen[11]; 11. F1-Payton Freeman[21]; 12. 80-Rich Dawson[10]; 13. 17SS-Brenden Smith[18]; 14. 757-Bradley Jameson[15]; 15. 31AUS- Paul Stubber[20]; 16. 38-Thomas Hunziker[5]; 17. 22-Jace Owens[17]; 18. 14R-Jeff Roth[9]; 19. 92-Lynn Johns[13]; 20. 15- Justin Duty[16]; 21. 1M-Mike Mataragas[22]; 22. (DNS) 23NZ-Mick Quin

WORKED FOR IT: McKinney Beats Hoffman in Epic Duel at Shadyhill

Since joining Team Longhorn Chassis for the start of the 2021 season, Mike McKinney has put every ounce of time and effort he’s spent on the racetrack into bettering himself and the new racecar. Thursday night might just be the biggest reflection of those efforts – beating UMP Modified titan Nick Hoffman in a memorable showdown at Shadyhill Speedway.

Mike and father/crew chief David McKinney took down Hoffman, the four-time and defending DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals champion form Mooresville, NC, holding him off for all 25 laps en route to his 14th career Summit Modified victory.

“It might not mean I’m the best car here, and I might not go win the next 20, but tonight, we won,” McKinney said. “We came to get the check, and we’re bringing it home.”

Only three times in the last two seasons has Hoffman competed in a Summit Modified event and not won the Feature. McKinney now becomes the fourth different driver to win a Feature on the tour when Hoffman is in the field since the start of the 2021 campaign.

While it’s Feature wins they’re chasing, Hoffman has been a thorn in the side of many UMP Modified drivers in the past several seasons with his dominant presence, and McKinney has been aiming to change that as well with his efforts.

“Last year was the hardest we’ve ever worked in our lives, and this year’s been even harder,” McKinney said. “We’ve got to get better.

“Nick’s obviously stepping the Modified deal up to a whole other level, and if we want to win a race, we better get to work.”

The two wheelmen started their race-long game of cat-and-mouse from the drop of the green, breaking away from the pack several times on the green flag stretches as they blasted around the 1/4-mile track. Hoffman looked low on McKinney several times throughout the first half of the race but could never get close enough to make a move. But it wasn’t until the closing laps until the battle reached its boiling point.

Barreling into Turn 3 at full speed with only three laps left, McKinney came up on a group of spun-out cars right in his lane. It was all he could do to keep from piling-in, but McKinney found himself spinning in and making contact.

“They called the yellow going into Turn 3, but I was going so fast,” McKinney said. “I was on the brakes, and I knew I was gonna run right into those guys, they had the whole track blocked. I was just trying to figure out the best way to not knock any suspension parts out.

“I just tried to spin it sideways and hit ‘em with that door – there’s not really anything you’re gonna mess-up there other than the door bar.”

McKinney drove away with mostly cosmetic body damage and was granted his spot back at the head of the field after spinning to avoid the original incident. He took the green once more on the restart and drove it back home to the checkered, despite Hoffman’s best efforts to steal the win in the final corners.

Though he crossed the line with a runner-up finish, Hoffman was not the most pleased with the result. He felt he had the car to beat, especially in traffic.

“I wish we could have got into heavy lapped traffic because [McKinney] couldn’t maneuver like I could,” Hoffman said.

The middle-top lane looked as though it was the place to be Thursday night, and with his pole starting spot, Hoffman did not get there as quickly as he would have liked to.

“It all comes down to the [redraw], basically,” Hoffman said. “[McKinney] was in the preferred line on the start and was able to get by me in Turns 1-2.”

UP NEXT

The DIRTcar Summit Modifieds are back in action Friday night, July 15, at Farmer City Raceway for the final stop of the season in Illinois. If you can’t be there in person, watch every lap live on DIRTVision.

ABBREVIATED RESULTS (view full results)

Feature 25 Laps | 00:25:58.395

1. 96M-Mike McKinney[2]; 2. 2-Nick Hoffman[1]; 3. 36L-Jamie Lomax[6]; 4. 21A-Kyle Cooper[5]; 5. 5CS-Curt Spalding[4]; 6. 19B-Chad Bauer[8]; 7. 35-David Stremme[9]; 8. 28M-Frank Marshall[17]; 9. 8A-Austin Holcombe[3]; 10. 65-Todd Sherman[7]; 11. 82-Darren Wireman[16]; 12. 3W-Dylan Woodling[18]; 13. 10-Garrett Jameson[15]; 14. 7-Brad Deyoung[11]; 15. 15-TJ Larson[21]; 16. 1W-Jesse Bitterling[22]; 17. 26-Anthony Carter[19]; 18. 1S-Brian Shaw[12]; 19. 27- Beau DeYoung[14]; 20. 17N-Dillon Nusbaum[13]; 21. 25S-Jake Straka[10]; 22. 4G-Bill Griffith[20]

EVENT RECAP: Round 4 

New Jersey was a great event full of energy, what a show! RAD DAN turned it up on the track yet again earning him his 3rd “Performance Of The Night Award” of the season. Dan battled hard with Dylan Hughes, the two of them have driven together many times outside of Formula Drift at local tracks back in California. Everyone watching these two battle in Top 32 along with a “one more time” battle witnessed the heart that these two drivers have for drifting! When it comes down to close battles like this, the judges really have to pick apart the runs and there is zero room for error. Dan had a mistake in his chase lap that held us back from advancing, but again, what a show! Dan has actively been getting more seat time in both of his race Supra’s by adding 2 additional drift competitions between Round 4 and our next Round 5 in St. Louis next week. We have been chasing after results this race season and they have been coming together more and more at each event. We are so thrilled to share this time with each of you who are a part of making RAD Industries race program possible.

First days of on-track development a preview of aggressive schedule to prepare for 2023

DETROIT (July 8, 2022) – Cadillac Racing completed its eagerly-awaited maiden on-track laps of the LMDh race car.

In 2023, Cadillac will contest the top category of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the FIA World Endurance Championship, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans, as the only U.S.-based manufacturer. The IMSA season begins January 28-29 with the Rolex 24 At Daytona. “It’s exciting to see the hard work and ingenuity of the whole team pay off,” said Kalvin Parker, Cadillac Racing assistant program manager. “The 2023 season promises to be one of the most competitive ever, so we’re looking forward to developing the race car with further testing on-track, driver feedback and in the wind tunnel.” Development of the race car will continue through the year, with IMSA-sanctioned tests scheduled for October 3-5 at Michelin Raceway Atlanta and December 6-7 at Daytona International Speedway.

“The first laps are the start of an aggressive testing schedule ahead of next year,” GM sports car racing program manager Laura Wontrop Klauser said. “Our team is dedicated to continuing Cadillac Racing’s rich heritage of winning on the track.” An all-new Cadillac 5.5-liter DOHC V-8 engine developed by GM’s Performance and Racing propulsion team based in Pontiac, Michigan, is paired to the LMDh common hybrid system.

“It was an exhilarating feeling to jump in the car forthe first time and get a sense of what the future will look like.“– Earl Bamber

Together with the new spec energy recovery system — combining Bosch’s motor generator unit, battery from Williams Advanced Engineering and gearbox by Xtrac — the 680-horsepower race car will serve as Cadillac’s first hybrid prototype. Cadillac Racing driver Earl Bamber was impressed with attributes of the race car as he had the privilege to be the first to get behind the wheel to shake down the race car. “This was a monumental event thanks to a complete group effort between Cadillac, Chip Ganassi Racing and Dallara,” said Bamber, co-driver with Alex Lynn of the No. 02 Cadillac Accessories Cadillac DPi-V.R this season in IMSA competition. “It was an exhilarating feeling to jump in the car for the first time and get a sense of what the future will look like. So much work has gone into the 2023 race car, and I can’t wait to see it take flight next season.” Codeveloped by Cadillac Design, Cadillac Racing and chassis constructor Dallara, the new race car features elements of the brand’s heritage such as vertical lighting and floating blades that preview Cadillac’s future portfolio. Cadillac’s LMDh program will partner with Chip Ganassi Racing and Action Express Racing for 2023. Additional details will be announced later this year.  Since 2017, Cadillac has been competing at the forefront of American sports car racing in IMSA in the DPi class, where it has recorded 27 victories, three Manufacturer Championships and four Manufacturer Endurance Championships. Cadillac Racing has also won three Team and Driver Championships.

Richard Childress Racing at Atlanta Motor Speedway … In 156 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Richard Childress Racing has earned nine wins and three pole awards, including Kevin Harvick’s emotional victory in 2001. Dale Earnhardt won eight times at the Hampton, Ga., track under the RCR banner (1984-fall, 1986-fall, 1988-spring, 1989-fall, 1990-spring, 1995-fall, 1996-spring, 2000-spring). The Welcome, N.C., based team has 29 top-five and 59 top-10 finishes at Atlanta and has led a total of 3,000 laps at the 1.54-mile oval. Team owner Richard Childress recorded his best finish at Atlanta, a ninth-place effort, in the 1980 Atlanta Journal 500. RCR In the NASCAR Xfinity Series at Atlanta … RCR has recorded three wins, two by Jeff Burton (2006 and 2007) and one by Kevin Harvick (2013) in NASCAR Xfinity Series competition at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Harvick scored a dominating victory, leading 132 of 195 laps (67.7 percent) and his average running position was 2.85. The organization has racked up 14 top-five and 29 top-10 finishes over a span of 54 starts. 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 competing in games beginning 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. Tickets are on sale at PBR.com and Ticketmaster. Catch the Action … The ALSCO Uniforms 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway will be televised live on Saturday, July 9 beginning at 5 p.m. ET on USA and will be broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.  Follow Sunday’s Action from Atlanta … The Atlanta 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway will be televised live on Sunday, July 10 beginning at 3 p.m. ET on USA and will be broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

This Week’s Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Off Road Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 at Atlanta Motor Speedway … In 11 NASCAR Cup Series races at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Dillon’s best finish is sixth in March 2021. Dillon had a fast Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Off Road Chevy at his most recent appearance to Atlanta Motor Speedway in March but was taken out of the race in an on-track incident at the end of Stage 1. He has earned top-10 finishes in each of his three NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at the track and four NASCAR Truck Series starts at the track. Tracker Off Road … Dillon’s No. 3 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 prominently features TRACKER ATVs, a game-changing new line of all-terrain vehicles and side-by-sides offering breakthrough performance, service and value in the off-road industry. TRACKER OFF ROAD was born out of a powerhouse partnership formed between Bass Pro Shops and TRACKER founder Johnny Morris and Textron Specialized Vehicles, bringing together the undisputed world leader in boating with a global leader in innovation and technology.  Bass Pro Shops … Bass Pro Shops is North America’s premier outdoor and conservation company. Founded in 1972 when avid young angler Johnny Morris began selling tackle out of his father’s liquor store in Springfield, Missouri, today the company provides customers with unmatched offerings spanning premier destination retail, outdoor equipment manufacturing, world-class resort destinations and more. In 2017 Bass Pro Shops acquired Cabela’s to create a “best-of-the-best” experience with superior products, dynamic locations and outstanding customer service. Bass Pro Shops also operates White River Marine Group, offering an unsurpassed collection of industry-leading boat brands, and Big Cedar Lodge, America’s Premier Wilderness Resort. Under the visionary conservation leadership of Johnny Morris, Bass Pro Shops is a national leader in protecting habitat and introducing families to the outdoors and has been named by Forbes as “one of America’s Best Employers.” Bass Pro Shops has a long relationship with NASCAR, dating back to 1998. For more information, visit http://www.basspro.com/. AUSTIN DILLON QUOTE:What are your thoughts on racing at Atlanta Motor Speedway this weekend?“I’m anxious to get to Atlanta Motor Speedway. We had a fast Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Off Road Chevy in March, but we didn’t get to finish the race so I feel like we have some redeeming to do there. We were going for the lead when we crashed, so I know our team is capable of running well at Atlanta. It’s going to be important to run well, and to try to win. Atlanta Motor Speedway has been a great track for us in the past, and I think it can be again. We have one race under our belts now with the new asphalt and running the NextGen cars, and I think everyone has learned a lot. There was some aggressive driving and blocking going on in March. It’ll be interesting to see how this race plays out.”

This Week’s Alsco Uniforms Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 at Atlanta Motor Speedway … Tyler Reddick has four previous NASCAR Cup Series starts at Atlanta Motor Speedway, highlighted by a sixth-place finish in the July 2021 event. In March, Reddick qualified fifth and led five laps before he was sidelined by an accident. Reddick is also scheduled to compete in the No. 48 Big Machine Racing Chevrolet in the NASCAR Xfinity Series event Saturday afternoon at Atlanta Motor Speedway.     The Winner’s Club… Tyler Reddick enters Sunday’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway fresh off scoring his first NASCAR Cup Series win July 3 at Road America. The victory came in his 92nd career start and is his seventh top-10 finish in 2022. He became the fifth different driver to score their first-career win in NASCAR’s elite series this season and has now earned a NASCAR Playoffs spot for the second consecutive season.  About Alsco Uniforms … Alsco is a fifth-generation family-owned and operated uniform company founded in 1889 and recognized by the prestigious Hohenstein Institute for having invented the uniform rental industry. Celebrating over 130 years of business, Alsco provides uniform laundry services and other products that keep businesses clean and safe to all kinds of customers in the healthcare, automotive, industrial and hospitality industries. With more than 180 locations and 20,000 employees, Alsco provides laundry rental services to more than 355,000 customers in 14 countries, which makes Alsco Uniforms the largest uniform company in the world. Visit www.alsco.com to learn more about how Alsco Uniforms is the industry’s best kept secret.  TYLER REDDICK QUOTES:How mentally draining was the race earlier this year at Atlanta Motor Speedway?“We’re zipping around a mile-and-a-half at really high speeds, running upper 180s (miles per hour) for the entire lap. Not a lot of rest down the straightaways and the corners are so long and all the aggressive pack racing that we had really drains you mentally. I was surprised after that race by the physical toll that it had. Normally speedways like Daytona and Talladega are a mental drain but it seemed like Atlanta was both. It’s going to be hotter when we go back this weekend with our ALSCO Uniforms Chevrolet so it’s going to be even more of that.” Atlanta Motor Speedway is the first race that the Next Gen car will be competing at for the second time. It’s the first track that you will go back to for the second time. Talk about that.“That was an interesting one in my opinion because it’s a speedway-type race like Daytona and Talladega. I thought we were pretty good when we were there in March. Unfortunately, we cut a tire that took us out of that race. It’s going to be interesting to see compared to the first time that we were there. It sounds like they made a number of improvements to the racetrack. It will be interesting to see how some of those details of the track have been changed.”

This Week’s Whelen Engineering Chevrolet Camaro SS at Atlanta Motor Speedway … Sheldon Creed will make his second NASCAR Xfinity Series career start at Atlanta Motor Speedway this weekend. Earlier this season, Creed started 13th and finished ninth at the Georgia track, leading 15 laps. During his time in the NASCAR Truck Series, Creed made three starts at the track and scored a best finish of fifth in 2021. The No. 2 team didn’t see the results they wanted last weekend at Road America and are looking to bounce back with another strong finish at Atlanta. Currently, Creed is 17th in the driver standings.  About Whelen … Whelen Engineering is a family-owned company with a pioneering spirit and a passion to protect the lives of those who protect and serve others. The company mission is to provide industry-defining safety solutions around the world, while creating a community of problem-solvers who are inspired to push boundaries and continue our legacy of delivering ground-breaking innovation. As a global leader in the emergency warning industry, Whelen has been trusted to perform since 1952, when George Whelen III invented the first rotating aviation beacon. Whelen now encompasses two state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in Connecticut and New Hampshire with over 750,000 square feet of engineering and manufacturing space and the largest design staff in the industry. Every part of every Whelen product is proudly designed and manufactured in America. We embrace quality as our foundation, we celebrate innovative engineering in every product we produce. Manufactured in America for 70 Years – We Never Left, and We’re Here to Stay … Whelen designs and manufactures reliable and powerful warning lights, white illumination lighting, sirens, controllers, and high-powered warning systems for Automotive and Mass Notification industries worldwide. Whelen products have been proudly designed and manufactured in America since 1952. With quality as the foundation, Whelen celebrates innovative engineering with every product made. SHELDON CREED QUOTE:Are you looking forward to getting back to Atlanta Motor Speedway this weekend?“I’m really excited to get back down to Atlanta this weekend. The repave and redesign of the track was brand new for everyone earlier this season and no one really knew what to expect. Since we had a race at Atlanta Motor Speedway earlier this season already, we were able to take some notes and utilize them while preparing for this weekend. We finished ninth earlier this season and led 15 laps. Our speed was there and I think our Whelen Chevrolet is going to be fast again. We’ve brought fast racecars with us every weekend and we just need to capitalize on that. I’m confident that we can bounce back after a tough ending to last weekend’s race at Road America.”

This Week’s Bennett Transportation and Logistics Chevrolet Camaro SS at Atlanta … Austin Hill made his first NASCAR Xfinity Series start at Atlanta Motor Speedway earlier this season, where he started 14th and finished runner-up to Ty Gibbs, leading 27 laps. During his time in the NASCAR Truck Series, Hill made six starts at Atlanta and had to back-to-back second-place finishes in 2020 and 2021. In total, he had one pole, two top fives, three top 10s, an average start of 13.2 and an average finish of 9.8. Last weekend, Hill scored another solid finish with a fourth-place finish at Road America, and he is currently eighth in the driver standings.  Hangout with Bennett in the FanZone on Saturday … This weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway, fans have the opportunity to hangout with the Bennett Transportation and Logistics crew in the FanZone at their display. This is a home race for the McDonough, Georgia based company and Austin Hill is scheduled to make an appearance at the display for an autograph session on Saturday, July 9 from 1:45 – 2 p.m. ET. Their autographed Bennett truck will also be on display for fans to take pictures with.  About Bennett Family of Companies … McDonough, Ga.-based Bennett Family of Companies is a woman-owned, Women’s Enterprise Business Council (WBENC) certified, diversified transportation and logistics company. Through its 12 affiliated operating companies, the Bennett Family of Companies delivers integrated transportation and supply chain management solutions worldwide. The company will use race experiences to recruit and retain hundreds of truck drivers for their organization in 2022. For more information, visit www.Drive4Bennett.com. AUSTIN HILL QUOTE:Are you looking forward to this weekend’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway?“I can’t wait to get back to Atlanta Motor Speedway this weekend. With Atlanta being a hometown race for me, I really want to go out there and get the win. We were so close earlier this year and finished runner-up. I led 27 laps and my team brought me a really fast Chevrolet. I’ve done a lot of simulator time and we had some notes from the race in March that we’ve been able to go over and study. You’re pretty much wide open on this new track configuration so clean air is going to be important, along with running up front and staying out of trouble. I’m really looking forward to it. Bennett Transportation & Logistics is located about 15 miles away from the track and they’ll have a lot of guests there supporting me as well as my friends and family so I’m ready to put on a good show and win it.”

SPRING VALLEY, MN (July 7, 2022) – Chris Madden snuck by Brandon Sheppard and Jonathan Davenport with five laps to go to win the 25-lap preliminary feature on Thursday night at Deer Creek Speedway. It was Madden’s first race back after winning last month’s Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series-sanctioned Mountain Moonshine Classic at Smoky Mountain Speedway in Tennessee. Madden came from the eleventh starting spot using the low line around the 3/8-mile high-banked oval. Sheppard came home in second followed by Davenport, Tim McCreadie, and Mike Marlar. Sheppard took the lead at the start of the main event. He and Davenport ran one-two in the race trading sliders in an exciting battle for the top spot. Madden was utilizing the very bottom of the racing surface as he from third to the lead in a single lap to take the win. In Lucas Oil Victory Lane for the third time in 2022, Madden still showed signs of recovering from a bout with pneumonia the last few weeks. “I just figured out a good line right there where I didn’t have to stop entering to get off the corner on the bottom. My car was good enough to lay out and turn and go back to the bottom and leave the bottom as fast as the top where they were running. In one and two I think we were about even with those guys in three and four I was better.” “I am still down on my strength. We are still working on it. I’ve got a great family at home and a great wife who took care of me while I was home,” said the 47-year-old South Carolina native who is the midst of the best season of his racing career.  Sheppard, who led more laps than anyone during the feature saw his battle with Davenport upstaged by Madden’s late race run to the front. “Our car was really good there. I felt like I was going a little bit hard there early. I think it got my tires hot there. I could take off really good on the restarts and get rolling there and after that last one me and JD started sliding each other and that was a lot of fun. Then Madden sneak attacked us there. It was a good race. We were right there with them at the end. After I started hustling there at the end, I thought I should have been doing that the whole time.” Davenport, the 3-time Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series National Champion rounded out the podium in third. “He [Madden] snookered us on the bottom. I felt I had a really good car especially the longer we ran the better we got. I felt like I really got a run-on Sheppard there, so I was going to try and break his momentum and I didn’t really realize Chris was quite that close to us.” The winner’s Rocket Chassis is powered by a Durham Racing Engine and sponsored by Drydene Performance Products, Henderson Amusement, Franklin Enterprises, Penske Racing Shocks, Millwood Plumbing, VP Fuels, Worley Monument, DirtCar Lift, Davis Diesel Service, and Swift Springs. Completing the top ten were Brandon Overton, Ricky Weiss, Johnny Scott, Ricky Thornton, Jr., and Jimmy Owens. Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Race Summary NAPA Auto Parts Gopher 50 – Prelim Night 1Thursday, July 7th, 2022Deer Creek Speedway – Spring Valley, MN Allstar Performance Time TrialsFast Time Group A: Brandon Sheppard / 14.241 seconds (overall)Fast Time Group B: Chris Simpson / 14.669 seconds Penske Race Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 1-Brandon Sheppard[1]; 2. 76-Brandon Overton[2]; 3. 1ST-Johnny Scott[3]; 4. 20-Jimmy Owens[5]; 5. 71-Hudson O’Neal[6]; 6. 58-Garrett Alberson[8]; 7. 49T-Jake Timm[7]; 8. 77-Jared Hawkins[9]; 9. 46-Earl Pearson Jr[4]; 10. 16-Tyler Bruening[10]; 11. 78S-Steve Stultz[11] Summit Racing Equipment Heat Race #2 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 157-Mike Marlar[2]; 2. 39-Tim McCreadie[4]; 3. 44M-Chris Madden[1]; 4. 97-Cade Dillard[3]; 5. 25-Chad Simpson[8]; 6. 19-Dustin Sorensen[5]; 7. 7-Ross Robinson[10]; 8. 10-Paul Parker[9]; 9. 76B-Blair Nothdurft[7]; 10. 29-Larry Grube[6] Simpson Race Products Heat Race #3 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 32S-Chris Simpson[1]; 2. 2S-Stormy Scott[2]; 3. 0-Scott Bloomquist[5]; 4. 18D-Daulton Wilson[8]; 5. 8-Kyle Strickler[3]; 6. 7W-Ricky Weiss[6]; 7. B1-Brent Larson[9]; 8. 40B-Kyle Bronson[7]; 9. 22H-Daniel Hilsabeck[10]; 10. (DNF) 55C-Chad Mahder[4] Ohlins Shocks Heat Race #4 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport[2]; 2. 19R-Ryan Gustin[1]; 3. 18J-Chase Junghans[4]; 4. 1T-Tyler Erb[5]; 5. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[8]; 6. 25C-Shane Clanton[6]; 7. 11-Spencer Hughes[3]; 8. 7X-Jesse Glenz[9]; 9. 15V-Kolby Vandenbergh[7]; 10. 90-Lance Matthees[10] Fast Shafts B-Main #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 25-Chad Simpson[2]; 2. 71-Hudson O’Neal[1]; 3. 58-Garrett Alberson[3]; 4. 77-Jared Hawkins[7]; 5. 76B-Blair Nothdurft[10]; 6. 49T-Jake Timm[5]; 7. 46-Earl Pearson Jr[9]; 8. 78S-Steve Stultz[13]; 9. 10-Paul Parker[8]; 10. 16-Tyler Bruening[11]; 11. 29-Larry Grube[12]; 12. 7-Ross Robinson[6]; 13. (DNS) 19-Dustin Sorensen UNOH B-Main #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[2]; 2. 7W-Ricky Weiss[3]; 3. B1-Brent Larson[5]; 4. 7X-Jesse Glenz[8]; 5. 15V-Kolby Vandenbergh[10]; 6. 25C-Shane Clanton[4]; 7. 40B-Kyle Bronson[7]; 8. 90-Lance Matthees[12]; 9. 22H-Daniel Hilsabeck[9]; 10. 11-Spencer Hughes[6]; 11. 8-Kyle Strickler[1]; 12. 55C-Chad Mahder[11] NAPA Auto Parts Gopher 50 – Prelim Night 1 Feature Finish (25 Laps):

Race StatisticsEntrants: 41Lap Leaders: Brandon Sheppard (Laps 1-19); Chris Madden (Laps 20-25)Wrisco Feature Winner: Chris MaddenArizona Sport Shirts Crown Jewel Cup Feature Winner: n/aBrandon Ford TV Challenge Feature Winner: n/aMargin of Victory: 0.391 secondsStop-Tech Cautions: Scott Bloomquist (Lap 6)Series Provisionals: n/aFast Time Provisional: n/aSeries Emergency Provisionals: n/a Track Provisionals: n/aBig River Steel Podium Top 3: Chris Madden, Brandon Sheppard, Jonathan DavenportPenske Shocks Top 5: Optima Batteries Hard Charger of the Race: Chris Madden (Advanced 10 Positions)Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Brandon SheppardHot Rod Processing Most Laps Led: Brandon Sheppard (19 Laps)Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Brandon SheppardO’Reilly Auto Parts Rookie of the Race: Garrett AlbersonDirty Girl Racewear Fastest Lap of the Race: Brandon Sheppard (Lap 3– 15.252 seconds)Feature DirtonDirt.com Tough Break of the Race: Chad MahderOuterwears Crew Chief of the Race: Ricky Arnold (Chris Madden)ARP Engine Builder of the Race: Durham Race EnginesMiller Welders Chassis Builder of the Race: Rocket ChassisDirt Draft Fastest in Hot Laps: Jonathan Davenport (14.614 seconds)Time of Race: 11 minutes 00 seconds

TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE QUAKER STATE 400 PRESENTED BY WALMART ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY HAMPTON, GEORGIAJULY 10, 2022  RACE #19 – ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAYThe revamped Atlanta Motor Speedway will be the host to a NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) and NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) doubleheader this weekend, marking the first time this season that both series will make a repeat visit to a track. Undergoing a reprofiling following the July 2021 event; a complete repave, increased banking and narrowing of the track width all around the 1.54-mile Atlanta venue provided teams with a superspeedway-style race. A mid-summer return to the track will provide for an additional set of variables for teams to navigate.  Chevrolet returns to Atlanta Motor Speedway looking to not only make it four-in-a-row in NASCAR Cup Series wins, but also defend its win title at the Georgia venue in Sunday’s Quaker State 400 Presented by Walmart. In the series’ visit to the track in March, William Byron and the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team battled through a race that saw a record-breaking 11 cautions and 46 lead changes to record their first win of 2022. The victory was celebrated by a strong bowtie presence in the top-10 of the race, with Chevrolet drivers taking four of the top-five and six of the top-10 finishing positions. The win marked Chevrolet’s 42nd trip to Atlanta Motor Speedway victory lane, extending its record as the winningest manufacturer at the track.  The NASCAR Xfinity Series takes on round two of action at Atlanta Motor Speedway with Saturday’s Alsco Uniforms 250. The series’ spring appearance at the track saw six Camaro SS drivers among three different Chevrolet teams record top-10 finishes, led by NXS rookie and season opener winner Austin Hill and his No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet team. In 31 NXS races held at Atlanta, Chevrolet has recorded a manufacturer-leading 17 wins… the most recent coming from JR Motorsports’ Justin Allgaier in March 2021.

CHECKING OFF HIS FIRSTRichard Childress Racing’s Tyler Reddick has been within reach of his first career NASCAR Cup Series victory throughout his young career, including scoring five runner-up finishes since his first full-time NCS season in 2020. But it was his 92nd career NCS start at Road America where he was able to accomplish that feat.  The 26-year-old Chevrolet driver entered the Road America race weekend under the cutline, with the pressure of a ‘must-win’ situation building as the series nears the end of the regular season. A strong stop on pit road during the final round of pit stops brought Reddick in close proximity to then race leader Chase Elliott, who’s dominating performance throughout most of the race marked him as a favorite to win. With 16 laps to go, Reddick was able to capitalize on a mistake by Elliott in turn five; power his No. 8 Camaro ZL1 to the lead and never look back as he took the checkered flag for the first time in NASCAR’s premier series.

A monumental win for Reddick also kept Chevrolet’s NASCAR Cup Series road course win streak going strong, marking the bowtie brand’s ninth-consecutive NCS road course victory. Six drivers from four different Chevrolet teams have contributed to that string of triumphs:  Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet: (Circuit of The Americas; May 2021)(Road America; July 2021) Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet: (Sonoma; June 2021)(Watkins Glen; August 2021)(Charlotte ROVAL; October 2021) AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet: (Indianapolis Road Course; August 2021) Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet: (Circuit of The Americas; March 2022) Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet:(Sonoma Raceway; June 2022) Tyler Reddick, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet: (Road America; July 2022)

A CHEVROLET TOP-FIVE SWEEPIt was a near-dominate performance for the Camaro ZL1 at the 4.048-mile, 14-turn Wisconsin road course circuit. Tyler Reddick took the checkered flag with a brigade of Chevrolet drivers in tow to sweep the top-five finishing positions: Chase Elliott (2nd), Kyle Larson (3rd), Ross Chastain (4th) and Daniel Suarez (5th). Notable road course favorite and NASCAR Xfinity Series point leader, AJ Allmendinger, powered the No. 16 Kaulig Racing Camaro ZL1 to a ninth-place finish to give Chevrolet six of the top-10 finishers.  Road America marked the eighth time in 18 NASCAR Cup Series points-paying races that Chevrolet placed six drivers in the top-10.. with six of those races having at least four different Chevrolet teams represented within the top-10.  HITTING DOUBLE DIGITS WITH EIGHT-TO-GOWith 18 NASCAR Cup Series races in the books, the Camaro ZL1 has hit the double digit win count. Tyler Reddick’s first career victory at Road America marked the 10th win for Chevrolet in 2022. Along with more than double the wins than its manufacturer competitors, the bowtie brand also continues to lead in top-fives (45), top-10s (83), laps led (2,427) and stage wins (16).  Reddick became the 13th different driver to notch a NASCAR Cup Series win and Playoff berth thus far this season. That elite list now includes seven Chevrolet drivers: Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson, William Byron and Alex Bowman; Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez; and Richard Childress Racing’s Tyler Reddick.  A look at the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Standings heading into the Atlanta race weekend: ·       For the 14th-consecutive week, Chase Elliott remains atop the NCS driver points standings. Chevrolet’s Elliott, Ross Chastain and William Byron continue to sit at a three-way tie for drivers that have accumulated the most playoff points (13). ·       Erik Jones (19th; -85 points) and Austin Dillon (20th; -94 points) remain in the top-20 of the standings, but on the outside looking in as drivers battle for the final three remaining positions in the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series playoff field. ·       Looking for its 41st NASCAR Cup Series Manufacturer Championship title, Chevrolet continues to lead in the manufacturer points standings, increasing its points lead to 56 over second.  OH SO CLOSE IN WISCONSINMaking his first appearance in the NASCAR Xfinity Series since 2018, Kyle Larson was en route to what was almost a perfect day. Piloting the No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Camaro SS, Larson’s return to the series started with a pole win; the eighth in the series for Chevrolet in 2022. Taking the lead on lap one, Larson went on to sweep the stage wins and led a race-high 31 laps before getting passed on the final lap, resulting in a runner-up finish.  The 29-year-old California native led Chevrolet to three top-fives and six top-10s, with five different Chevrolet teams being represented in the top-10 including: JR Motorsports’ Josh Berry (3rd) and Noah Gragson (8th); Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill (4th); Kaulig Racing’s AJ Allmendinger (6th); and Jeremy Clements, piloting his family owned and operated team to a ninth-place finish.  Another race down as the series approaches the end to the regular season, AJ Allmendinger remains in the top spot, with a nine-point lead over second. Also remaining consistently at the top, Chevrolet inches closer to its 24th NASCAR Xfinity Series Manufacturer Championship title with a 67-point lead over second. In 16 NXS races, Chevrolet has recorded 10 wins, 55 top-fives and 106 top-10s, all of which are manufacturer-leading statistics.  BACK TO WORK AT MID-OHIOWith just two races left in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS), teams will be faced with not only the pressure of the looming playoffs, but the unknowns that come with an inaugural visit to a track. For the first time in the series’ history, the NCWTS will take on the 2.258-mile, 13-turn circuit of the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on Saturday for the O’Reilly Auto Parts 150.  With five drivers having already clinched a spot in the series’ playoff field by virtue of a win, five spots remain for Chevrolet drivers to either point or win their way into the championship title run. Heading into the Mid-Ohio race weekend, two Chevrolet drivers currently sit above the playoff cutline with Carson Hocevar in the eighth-position (+75 points), followed by Grant Enfinger in ninth (+39 points). While currently on the outside looking in, Derek Kraus was able to close the gap to the top-10 to just 29 points below the cutline following the series’ last race at Nashville Superspeedway.  A familiar face from the Chevrolet team ownership side will make an appearance in the series’ Mid-Ohio debut. Trackhouse Racing’s Justin Marks will make his 39th career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series start this weekend behind the wheel of the No. 41 Niece Motorsports Silverado RST. This will be Marks’ first national series start since 2018. Mid-Ohio holds a special place in Marks’ racing career as the venue where the 41-year-old Missouri native record a win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2016.  BOWTIE BULLETS·       Chevrolet has recorded a manufacturer-leading 42 wins at Atlanta Motor Speedway, with the most recent coming from William Byron in March 2022. In addition to its wins, Chevrolet has accrued 25 poles, 198 top-fives and 395 top-10s. ·       Chevrolet team Hendrick Motorsports leads the NASCAR Cup Series in wins at Atlanta Motor Speedway with 15 victories among seven drivers: Darrell Waltrip (1989), Ken Schrader (1991), Jeff Gordon (1995, 1996, 1999, 2003, 2011), Jerry Nadeau (2000), Jimmie Johnson (2004, 2007 sweep, 2015, 2016), Kasey Kahne (2014) and William Byron (2022). ·       With his win at Road America, Tyler Reddick became the fifth first-time NASCAR Cup Series winner of 2022, tying the modern era record for the most first-time winners in a single NCS season. Reddick also became the seventh different Chevrolet driver to score a win in NASCAR’s premier series this season. ·       Chevrolet led 52 of the 62-lap race at Road America. Chase Elliott, who sits second on the most laps led leaderboard for 2022, led a race-high 36 laps en route to his 12th top-10 finish of 2022. Race winner Tyler Reddick led the final 16 laps to the checkered flag.   ·       Tyler Reddick’s win at Road America marked Chevrolet’s ninth-consecutive NASCAR Cup Series road course win.. a feat that dates back to Chase Elliott’s win at Circuit of The Americas in May 2021.  ·       Chevrolet heads into the Atlanta Motor Speedway race weekend with 10 NASCAR Cup Series wins in 18 points-paying races, including a streak of the last three. The bowtie brand also continues to lead in NCS top-fives (45), top-10s (83), laps led (2,427) and stage wins (16). ·       Seven Team Chevy drivers have combined 16 NASCAR Cup Series stage wins: Tyler Reddick 2 – Fontana x2Alex Bowman 1 – Las VegasRoss Chastain 3 – Las Vegas, Darlington, CharlotteWilliam Byron 3 – Phoenix, Atlanta, TalladegaDaniel Suarez 2 – COTA, CharlotteChase Elliott 3 – Martinsville x2, CharlotteKyle Larson 2 – Bristol, Sonoma ·       Chevrolet leads the driver points standing in both the NASCAR Cup Series and the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Chase Elliott remains in the top position in the NCS standings for the 14th consecutive week with a 33-point lead over second; and AJ Allmendinger continues to lead the NXS standings by 9 points. Chevrolet also remains atop both the NCS and NXS manufacturer points standings.  ·       With its 40 NASCAR Cup Series Manufacturer Championships, 33 NASCAR Cup Series Driver Championships, and 824 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 Displays in the Fan Midway at Atlanta Motor Speedway.·       Fans can check out an assortment of Chevrolet vehicles at the Fan Midway including: 2022 Blazer Premier AWD, Camaro ZL1, Corvette Z51, Equinox RS, Tahoe RST, Traverse Redline, Silverado 1500 ZR2, Silverado 2500 LTZ.  TEAM CHEVY QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSIONS AT THE DISPLAY:Saturday, July 9·       Bayley Currey & Ryan Vargas: 12:30 p.m. – 12:45 p.m. ·       Jeremy Clements: 1:45 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. ·       Sheldon Creed: 2:30 p.m. – 2:45 p.m. Sunday, July 10·       Justin Haley: 12:30 p.m. – 12:45 p.m. ·       Noah Gragson: 1:00 p.m. – 1:15 p.m. Chevrolet Display Hours of Operation: ·       Saturday, July 9: 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.  ·       Sunday, July 10: 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.  TUNE INUSA Network will broadcast the NASCAR Cup Series Quaker State 400 Presented by Walmart on Sunday, July 10, at 3 p.m. ET. Live coverage can also be found on the NBCSports Gold App, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.  USA Network will broadcast the NASCAR Xfinity Series Alsco Uniforms 250 on Saturday, July 9, at 5 p.m. ET. Live coverage can also be found on the NBCSports Gold App, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.  FS1 will broadcast the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series O’Reilly Auto Parts 150 at Mid-Ohio on Saturday, July 9, at 1:30 p.m. ET. Live coverage can also be found on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. QUOTABLE QUOTESROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 1 JOCKEY CAMARO ZL1ANY KEY LEARNINGS FROM THE FIRST ATLANTA RACE THAT WILL HAVE YOU BETTER PREPARED FOR THIS WEEKEND’S RACE?      “It’s full superspeedway style, think of Daytona and Talladega. We need our car to be very efficient in the air and the least amount of drag and still have grip, and not be too loose or tight. You’re going to fight the handling at Atlanta because the corners are so much tighter than Daytona and Talladega. We don’t really fight handling too much at those two tracks. Atlanta is a place you’ll still need to handle well. Without practice at Atlanta, we need to handle good or we will be in trouble and we’ll be swinging at it in the race if that’s the case.” SEVERAL PEOPLE HAVE SAID THAT THE NO. 1 TEAM IS THE TEAM TO BEAT THIS YEAR FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP. WHAT IS THAT LIKE? “Unbelievable. Showing up and having speed in the No. 1 car every weekend is incredible. Honestly though, it was harder for me to show up six years ago and race when my focus throughout the week was, do we have all of the sponsorship we need, do we have enough money to buy tires. Do we have an R07 motor or an SB2 motor, that was more of a challenge, and then try to go race on scuffs and development pit crews? Now, Trackhouse reminds me often to just drive the car and don’t worry about tires, don’t worry about the body build of the car, and what springs, just drive the car and that’s made it easier on me and lets me focus. I think we are a competing Cup team and we have your casual top-10 car every week and if you run in the top-10 and top-five enough, you’ll win races and put yourself in position.” AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BASS PRO SHOPS / TRACKER OFF ROAD CAMARO ZL1WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON RACING AT ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY THIS WEEKEND? “I’m anxious to get to Atlanta Motor Speedway. We had a fast Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Off Road Chevy in March, but we didn’t get to finish the race so I feel like we have some redeeming to do there. We were leading when we crashed, so I know our team is capable of running well at Atlanta. It’s going to be important to run well, and to try to win. Atlanta Motor Speedway has been a great track for us in the past, and I think it can be again. We have one race under our belts now with the new asphalt and running the NextGen cars, and I think everyone has learned a lot. There was some aggressive driving and blocking going on in March. It’ll be interesting to see how this race plays out.” KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1LARSON ON THE LAST RACE AT ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY WITH THE NEW RACE PACKAGE AND TRACK CONFIGURATION: “Our HendrickCars.com Chevrolet definitely had speed at Atlanta (Motor Speedway) earlier this year. We battled from the back to the front I think two times. We were going for the stage win but the push (from another car in turn four) just upset my car a little too much and we wrecked. It’s a product of this racing and product of pushing; trying to draft and get your lane going.” TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 ALSCO UNIFORMS CAMARO ZL1 HOW MENTALLY DRAINING WAS THE RACE EARLIER THIS YEAR AT ATLANTA? “We’re zipping around a mile-and-a-half at really high speeds, running upper 180s (miles per hour) for the entire lap. Not a lot of rest down the straightaways and the corners are so long and all the aggressive pack racing that we had really drains you mentally. I surprised after that race by the physical toll that it had. Normally speedways like Daytona and Talladega are a mental drain but it seemed like Atlanta was both. It’s going to be hotter when we go back this weekend with our ALSCO Uniforms Chevrolet so it’s going to be even more of that.” ATLANTA IS THE FIRST RACE THAT THE NEXT GEN CAR WILL BE COMPETING AT FOR THE SECOND TIME; THE FIRST TRACK THAT YOU WILL GO BACK TO FOR THE SECOND TIME. “That was an interesting one in my opinion because it’s a speedway type race like Daytona and Talladega. I thought we were pretty good when we were there in March. Unfortunately, we cut a tire that took us out of that race. It’s going to be interesting to see compared to the first time that we were there. It sounds like they made a number of improvements to the racetrack. It will be interesting to see how some of those details of the track have been changed.” CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 ELLIOTT ON RETURNING TO ATLANTA: “This weekend’s race will be a lot like the first one. I think the difference will be teams now have had a few months to kind of dial in and understand exactly what’s going on underneath the car. I think all the cars are just going to drive better when we come back and typically when that happens, the aggression level will increase and people are going to be more apt to put themselves in compromised situations throughout the event. There were a lot of things going on to start the year and I think a lot of people were just trying to survive. Whereas this time everyone is going to be a little bit more comfortable, so decision making will be a little more questionable for a lot of the field I would say.” MORE FROM ELLIOTT ON ATLANTA: “For me, I want to try to get to the end. Five hundred miles at Atlanta was one of the longest races of the year in March from my seat. That being said, when you’re in a bit of a marathon event like that, you’ve got to survive. You want to be around there at the end. So, if you can be on the lead lap and not have any damage to your car, you’re probably going to have a shot at it at the end of the event. So for me, I’m just like, ‘man, let’s get to the end and we’ll run then for the win hopefully.’ You never know. You try to take each circumstance for what it is and make the best decision you can.” NOAH GRAGSON, NO. 16 GOLD FISH CASINO SLOTS CAMARO ZL1“I’m super excited to be in the No. 16 Kaulig Racing Camaro ZL1 this weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway, but this time with Gold Fish Casino Slots onboard. Atlanta is the place I made my first start with this team, and since then, we’ve really made some great gains as a team to improve each race we’ve run together.” WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 BYRON ON HIS THOUGHTS FOR SUNDAY’S RACE AT ATLANTA: “I’m excited to go back to Atlanta (Motor Speedway). I think the track is going to be slicker than the last race there in March. It’s still going to race like a superspeedway race but I think we’re going to be working on the handling of our cars more than we did last time with the heat. I’m honestly interested to see how that plays out and what the conditions end up being like. We’ll have to really adapt throughout the race since we have no practice this time. Just like a lot of these weekends this season, we’ll just have to see how it goes once we get there and get on track.” RUDY FUGLE, CREW CHIEF, NO. 24 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1FUGLE ON HOW TRACK CONDITIONS WILL DIFFER FROM THE MARCH RACE AT ATLANTA: “Obviously, we had a good showing at Atlanta (Motor Speedway) in March and some of those notes will definitely transfer over for this weekend. However, the track has been sitting in the sun and baking since we were there last. It’s almost a similar situation as when we run the DAYTONA 500 to then racing 400 miles in August in that it’s much cooler the first time we race at Daytona (International Speedway) and then handling becomes a bigger factor in the summer race. We’ll still be drafting this weekend, but track grip will be down and handling will play a bigger role. Since we don’t have practice this time around, I think more guys will show up guessing a little bit on their handling to start the race. I think there will be more ebbs and flows of who is good at the start and then who is good at the end once they have some time to work on their cars. It’s going to be more about who can keep up with track conditions while being around at the end of the race to give yourself a shot.” JUSTIN HALEY, NO. 31 LEAFFILTER GUTTER PROTECTION CAMARO ZL1 “I’m excited to get to Atlanta because I feel confident in our Speedway program and our ability as a race team to go out there and compete for a win this weekend. We typically do really well and have speed at these types of tracks, so hopefully we can be there at the end.” ERIK JONES, NO. 43 FOCUSFACTOR CAMARO ZL1 “This time around at Atlanta will definitely be tougher. I think this time with the heat, I’m sure it’s not going to be cool in Atlanta in July, it will be a lot more of a handling race than when we were there in the spring. We had a good car in the spring, we just fell back on that last restart. It’s going to be way more of a handling race. I think we’re going to have to bring somewhat of a different car build, a different mentality going in. You are not going to be able to really run it as hard as you could last time, so I think it will be more racier for us. More lanes, more moving around, running up top I hope, so it’ll be interesting to see how it plays out, but definitely more handling.”  RICKY STENHOUSE JR., NO. 47 KROGER / BALL PARK BUNS CAMARO ZL1“We’ve got some unfinished business to take care of at Atlanta Motor Speedway. I was in the shop this week and the team feels good about how the car went together. It’s as close to the other one as it can be. We’re looking forward to Sunday.” ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY MILESTONE CAMARO ZL1BOWMAN ON HEADING BACK TO ATLANTA: “We had a good No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 last time we were at Atlanta (Motor Speedway). Obviously, there are still a lot of challenges with the Next Gen car and the repave, but our guys work hard to put us in the best position every weekend and I am confident that they will look at the information we have from last time to improve on our car. The racing is pretty technical, so I am looking forward to getting out there in our new scheme and trying to get it to victory lane on Sunday.” GREG IVES, CREW CHIEF, NO. 48 ALLY MILESTONE CAMARO ZL1IVES ON THE MOMENTUM BUILT AT ROAD AMERICA: “We had an opportunity to score stage points in the first stage at Road America and I felt confident that Alex (Bowman) could drive to the front, so we took a gamble for points, and it paid off. We weren’t happy with our finish, but we will definitely take the 33 points he earned on track last weekend. It was a step forward after not finishing the race at Nashville (Superspeedway), so we will lean on the success, work on what we can control, and look to be there at the end this Sunday in Atlanta.” DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 FREEWAY INSURANCE CAMARO ZL1WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON ATLANTA THIS WEEKEND?         “It’s a fun race. Things change quickly on that track now. One second you are in the lead then all of a sudden you can be in the middle of the pack. You know you are going to have an up and down day no matter what. So, you just hope in the end you will be up front with a chance to win. In March we were able to do that. Our car was good and we had some really good pit stops. That’s going to be important again this Sunday.” ARE YOU HAPPY WITH THE PROGRESS OF TRACKHOUSE RACING? “We have fast cars, great pitstops and everyone is working together. We are nowhere close to where we know we can be so we have to keep working and getting better each week. We want to be at our best when the playoffs start.” HOW IMPORTANT HAS THE NEXT GEN CAR BEEN TO NASCAR AND TRACKHOUSE’S SUCCESS IN 2022? “I think it’s important that without the Next Gen car, we wouldn’t be talking about Trackhouse Racing, probably most likely we wouldn’t be talking about 23XI. The Next Gen car has brought a lot of opportunities to current new teams. I’m sure it’s going to continue to do that in the near future. I think that has been extremely, extremely important factor. Justin Marks has mentioned this to me several times. From the first time we sat together to talk about partnering together, he said this project is around the Next Gen car. I feel like that’s an incredible idea that NASCAR and everyone was able to put together to make it happen. “ 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: 10Poles: 4Laps Led: 2,427Top-five finishes: 45Top-10 finishes: 83Stage wins: 16Tyler Reddick (Fontanax2)Alex Bowman (Las Vegas)Ross Chastain (Las Vegas), (Darlington), (Charlotte)William Byron (Phoenix), (Atlanta), (Talladega)Daniel Suarez (COTA), (Charlotte)Chase Elliott (Martinsvillex2), (Charlotte)Kyle Larson (Bristol Dirt), (Sonoma) CHEVROLET IN NASCAR CUMULATIVE STATISTICS:Total Chevrolet race wins: 824 (1949 to date)Poles won to date: 727Laps led to date: 243,763Top-five finishes to date: 4,183Top-10 finishes to date: 8,638                                                                                                          Total NASCAR Cup Wins by Corporation, 1949 to Date:                    General Motors: 1,158           Chevrolet: 824           Pontiac: 154           Oldsmobile: 115           Buick: 65            Ford: 815                                                                    Ford: 715           Mercury: 96           Lincoln: 4            Fiat Chrysler Automobiles: 467           Dodge: 217           Plymouth: 191           Chrysler: 59            Toyota: 166

On display July – December 2022, the brand-new Great Hall exhibit offers a firsthand look at eight Cup Series Chevrolet race cars

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (July 7, 2022) – Today the NASCAR Hall of Fame opened a new, limited-run exhibit, “Chevrolet: Winningest Brand in NASCAR Cup History.” The Great Hall exhibit celebrates NASCAR’s storied history and highlights Chevrolet’s record 814 race victories and 40 manufacturer championships as of the end of the 2021 season. The display will be available for guests to see and experience from July – December 2022. 

“We are proud to partner with Chevrolet in highlighting their incredible history as NASCAR’s winningest manufacturer in Cup Series history by spotlighting the breadth of Chevrolet’s accomplishments,” said Winston Kelley, Executive Director of the NASCAR Hall of Fame. “This new exhibit aligns perfectly with one aspect of our mission — to serve as the recognized home for honoring NASCAR’s evolving history, legends, celebrated heritage and family-oriented traditions. We are thankful to Chevrolet and so many of their team partners for enabling us to share this story with our guests in the months ahead.”

In recognition of Chevrolet being the Winningest Cup Series Brand in NASCAR, the new exhibit spotlights Chevrolet’s NASCAR success with eight historically significant Cup Series Chevrolet race cars from the 1950s through 2021, when Chevrolet captured its 800th checkered flag. Cars on display range from the Chevrolet 150, driven by Hall of Famer Herb Thomas, for the brand’s first major NASCAR premier series victory at the 1955 Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway to the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, driven by Chase Elliott, for Chevrolet’s historic 800th premier series win in 2021 during NASCAR’s first visit to the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. With six additional historic Chevrolet cars to view, winning drivers include the likes of Richard Petty (1978), Cale Yarborough (1984), Dale Earnhardt (1986), Jeff Gordon (2003), Jimmie Johnson (2010) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2013). In total, six of the legendary drivers connected to the exhibit’s cars were inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame. 

“It’s exciting to have our history in the sport honored at the NASCAR Hall of Fame with this exhibit,” said Jim Campbell, U.S. vice president, Chevrolet performance and motorsports. “We’re proud to showcase eight Chevrolet race cars from key moments that contributed to our success and tell stories of our drivers and team partners who helped us become the winningest brand in NASCAR Cup history.” 

In addition to viewing the cars on display, guests will have the opportunity to learn about and re-live other Chevrolet milestone Cup victories since 1955, through engaging visual displays. Images of the brand-new exhibit can be found here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/7t36e0np4xmh9kn/AABzCcfM2lX484uQel2vojZNa?dl=0 

General admission tickets to the NASCAR Hall of Fame can be purchased online at nascarhall.com or via Ticketmaster by calling 877-231-2010. Admission is $27 for adults, $24 for seniors with ID, $20 for military with ID, $20 for youth 4-12 and free for members and children three and under. High-octane combo packages are also available. All prices include tax. Memberships start at $60.

For more details, visit nascarhall.com and follow @NASCARHall on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.