NASCAR CUP SERIES

NASHVILLE SUPERSPEEDWAY

ALLY 400

TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING NOTES

JUNE 25, 2022

TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-20 QUALIFYING RESULTS:

POS.   DRIVER

3rd      KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1

4th      CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1

5th      DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 TOOTSIES ORCHID LOUNGE CAMARO ZL1 

7th      ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 1 JOCKEY CAMARO ZL1 

12th    ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY MUSIC CITY CAMARO ZL1

13th    WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 VALVOLINE CAMARO ZL1 

14th    AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 16 GOLD FISH CASINO SLOTS CAMARO ZL1 

16th    TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 3CHI CAMARO ZL1 

20th    AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BASS PRO SHOPS / TRACKER OFF ROAD CAMARO ZL1

TOP-FIVE UNOFFICIAL QUALIFYING RESULTS: 

POS.  DRIVER

1st     Denny Hamlin (Toyota)

2nd    Joey Logano (Ford)

3rd     Kyle Larson (Chevrolet)

4th     Chase Elliott (Chevrolet)

5th     Daniel Suarez (Chevrolet)

·       Following Round One of qualifying for both Group A and B, rain prior to the start of Round Two forced qualifying to be concluded. 

·       The starting positions for the NASCAR Cup Series Ally 400 were based on the lap times posted in Round One of qualifying.  

·       Four Camaro ZL1’s will start in the top-10, led by Nashville Superspeedway defending winner Kyle Larson and the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1 in third. This marks his 11th top-10 start of 2022.  

·       NBC will telecast the NASCAR Cup Series Ally 400 live at 5 p.m. ET on Sunday, June 26. Live coverage can also be found on the NBCSports Gold App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

PEVELY, MO – June 24, 2022 – Rick Conoyer has competed all season long at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 but had yet to go to Victory Lane. That was, until Friday night, when he led every lap of the DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals Feature, collecting his second career victory with the tour and snapping four-time and defending champion Nick Hoffman’s perfect season.

“To beat those guys, it’s phenomenal,” Conoyer said.

Prior to Friday night, The Destroyer had only one other Summit Modified victory in his career – June 30, 2018, right at I-55. Nearly four years in the making, and the Wentzville, MO-native drives back to Victory Lane in the biggest way, defeating the most stacked field of DIRTcar UMP Modifieds the track has hosted all year.

The race was 25 laps, but it seemed like an eternity in the cockpit for Conoyer, knowing Hoffman started one row behind him at the drop of the green.

“That whole race I was driving out there, the car was so good,” Conoyer said. “I was on like a Sunday cruise. But I kept looking over my shoulder like, ‘Where’s the 2 car? Where’s the 2 car? He’s gotta be coming, because I’m running like quarter-throttle, half-throttle tops.’”

Crossing the stripe with two-to-go, polesitter Will Krup was right on Conoyer’s rear bumper with a small cluster of lapped traffic in front. Conoyer dove into Turn 1 in the middle, opening the door for Krup down low. Conoyer defended down the backstretch and through Turns 3-4 with Krup right on him, using the lapped car as a pick.

“Then we got into lapped traffic and I was like, ‘Oh boy, just don’t make a stupid move,’” Conoyer said. “Will [Krup] came in there and ran me clean as a whistle, and I can’t be more happy. I just can’t.

“I just about gave it up when I saw the white flag. I was on the outside of that lapped car, and I just about went around the outside of him. If I would’ve, I’d have slid up, and he would’ve got me. So, I dove down to the bottom and just protected.”

Hoffman crossed the line right where he started, in third. This effectively ends his perfect season at seven-straight victories, though he still sits way out front in Summit Modified points.

“I just needed to be a little bit more compliant,” Hoffman said about what his car needed in the Feature. “I was way too stiff. I never really felt like my right-rear tire was in the racetrack.”

At various points through the Feature, Hoffman did get a look underneath Krup for second, but couldn’t get the bite he needed to make the pass. He eventually faded back comfortably in third, and crossed the stripe to complete the podium.

“My only shot was to try and clean that one lane up a little bit and get underneath [Krup], because he wasn’t gonna leave that middle where most of the grip was,” Hoffman said.

UP NEXT

The Summit Modifieds are back in action Saturday night at I-55 for the St. Louis Firecracker Faceoff finale; watch all the action live on DIRTVision.

ABBREVIATED RESULTS (view full results)

Feature 25 Laps | 00:09:28.266

1. 14C-Rick Conoyer[2]; 2. K9-Will Krup[1]; 3. 2-Nick Hoffman[3]; 4. 8-Kyle Steffens[13]; 5. 36-Kenny Wallace[4]; 6. 1D- Dean Hoffman[10]; 7. 25-Tyler Nicely[7]; 8. 10X-Jim Black[6]; 9. 59R-Jacob Rexing[8]; 10. 12L-Lucas Lee[9]; 11. J82-Treb Jacoby[16]; 12. 130-Chase Allen[11]; 13. 4T-Jake Trebilcock[17]; 14. 327-Chuck Goodman[20]; 15. 24D-Jesse Dill[12]; 16. 18L-Michael Long[19]; 17. 1A-Steve Meyer Jr[18]; 18. 7P-Dennis Ponder[14]; 19. 23-Dylan Sharp[15]; 20. 77S-Rick Stevenson[5]; 21. M41-Steve Maisel[21]; 22. 96-Curtis Rodenhaber[22]

(6/24/2022 – Alex Nieten) Burlington, WA… California might’ve claimed round one of the 50th Annual Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup, but Washington would not be denied as the bell rang for round two.

Fireworks boomed above the backstretch, and the Northwest crowd roared as Puyallup, Washington’s Trey Starks climbed atop his car in Skagit Speedway victory lane having emerged as Friday’s winner of the second and final Dirt Cup preliminary with the NARC Fujitsu General Sprint Cars.

It was a special night for the 26-year-old. While he’s won dozens of races in his home region, Starks had never taken a Dirt Cup checkered flag in the finale or a prelim. It also marked his seventh win in 10 total races in 2022 and his second in three races with NARC this year.

As a bonus, Starks got to battle his good friend, Dominic Scelzi, for the victory.

“It was a really good race,” Starks said. “I’m so happy to be back up on stage in front of the hometown crowd.”

Starks began the race outside the front row with Garen Linder on the pole. Starks ripped the outside in his T&C Concepts No. 55 to lead the opening circuit as Scelzi quickly jumped from sixth to third in the opening laps.

A red flag flew with 36 to go as Tanner Holmes made contact with another car out of turn four, sending Holmes on a wild flip, his second nasty crash in as many days. Holmes walked away under his own power.

On the restart Scelzi wasted no time clearing Linder with a slider to move into the runner-up spot and setting his sights on Starks. As the lead duo began to work through traffic 10 laps in Scelzi closed in. Scelzi threw his first slider attempt at Starks but couldn’t clear him.

Then, Scelzi regrouped and sent another slide job, making the pass this time and leading lap 15. Starks, though, rallied and returned the favor with his own successful slider to take the lead back.

Starks began to build a small advantage over Scelzi, but with 19 to go the red flag flew again as Zeb Wise got above the cushion in turn three and climbed the fence before getting upside down. Wise was okay.

On the ensuing restart Scelzi slid Starks in turn three, but Starks again answered, perfectly rolling the bottom in turns one and two to edge ahead of Scelzi.

“I saw Dominic more than a few times,” Starks said of their battle. “And we were able to combat every one of his moves.”

Starks took off after snagging the lead back from Scelzi. He found himself in heavy traffic as the race dipped inside 10 laps to go. Scelzi took a peak to his inside on multiple occasions in traffic but couldn’t quite challenge him.

A couple of late yellows bunched things up, but Starks pulled away each time and ultimately held on to win by just under eight tenths of a second. With how his points situation had been at the time the Fujitsu Feature started, Starks knew he needed to win to stay alive in Dirt Cup standings head into Saturday’s $50,000 to win finale..

“I knew starting on the front row we were basically going to have to win to put us in any decent position for points tomorrow,” Starks expiated “It was a hard fought race.”

Scelzi held on for second in his Red Rose Transportation/Whipple Superchargers No. 41, his 10th NARC podium of the year. Scelzi thought a longer green flag run might’ve allowed him a chance at the lead.

“I would’ve liked to have seen traffic stay,” Scelzi said. “I think in open air he (Starks) was probably better for the first four or five laps, and then I seemed to start coming back to him. The car was perfect tonight.”

Completing the podium was Shane Golobic in his NOS Energy Drink/Elk Grove Ford No. 17W. While he would’ve liked to win, Golobic stayed focused on the big picture.

“Third is not exactly what we came for,” Golobic said. “But in this format points are everything and we had a decent points night, going seventh to third. We’ll take it.”

The remainder of the top-10 included Corey Day, Tyler Courtney (from 20th), Tim Kaeding, Jason Solwold (from 17th), Justin Sanders (from 16th), Greg Hamilton, and Jesse Schlotfeldt.

Tyler Courtney is the high point man heading into Saturday’s finale and will be guaranteed a front row starting spot in the 50-lap main event.

*The Feature was shortened by three laps due to tire wear concerns.

FUJITSU GENERAL USA FEATURE (37 laps): 1. Trey Starks 55 2. Dominic Scelzi 41 3. Shane Golobic 17W 4. Corey Day 14 5. Tyler Courtney 57W 6. Tim Kaeding 42X 7. Jason Solwold 18 8. Justin Sanders 2X 9. Greg Hamilton 96 10. Jesse Schlotfeldt 21 11. Kerry Madsen 83JR 12. Tanner Carrick 83T 13. Max Mittry 2XM 14. Willie Croft 29 15. Jonathan Allard 0 16. D.J. Netto 88N 17. Blake Carrick 38B 18. Garen Linder 22 19. Tyler Thompson 7 20. Logan Forler 2L 21. Cory Eliason 26C 22. Mitchell Faccinto 21T 23. Zeb Wise 26R 24. Tanner Holmes 18T

METTEC TITANIUM LAP LEADERS:  Starks, 1-14, Scelzi 15, Starks 16-37

ARP QUICK QUALIFIER (44 cars): Dominic Scelzi – 11.311 seconds

BROWN AND MILLER RACING SOLUTIONS HEAT ONE (8 laps):  Netto, Linder, Mittry, Golobic, Madsen, Croft, Fauver, Caruana, Aton, McGhie, Goetz

KIMO’s TROPICAL CAR WASH HEAT TWO (8 laps): Starks, Day, Wise, Courtney, Faccinto, Schlotfeldt, Parker, Kaeding, Johnson, Allard, Robinson

DIRT.TRAVEL CLUB HEAT THREE (8 laps):  B. Carrick, Sanders, T. Kaeding, Solwold, Holmes, Thompson, Heath, Glenn, Jacobson, Didiuk, Becker

KAEDING PERFORMANCE HEAT FOUR (8 laps): Hamilton, Scelzi, Eliason, T. Carrick, Forler, Ringo, Youngquist, Richman, Myers, Gomes,

STARR PROPERTY MANAGEMENT SEMI (15 laps): Allard, B. Carrick, Netto, Thompson, Gomes, B. Kaeding, Fauver, Youngquist, Myers, Aton, Heath, Glenn, Didiuk, Johnson, McGhie, Jacobson, Ringo, Goetz, Parker, Caruana, Becker.

ROLL BOTTOM: Bright Low-Lines to Win STL Firecracker Faceoff Night 1 at I-55 PEVELY, MO – June 24, 2022 – In his pursuit of the Xtreme Outlaw Sprint Car Series presented by Low-E Insulation championship this year, Alex Bright took a big step toward that ultimate goal Friday night, winning night #1 of the inaugural St. Louis Firecracker Faceoff at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55. The Hummer Motorsports pilot from Collegeville, PA, topped the 26-car field, scoring his first career Xtreme Outlaw Series victory and gaining some valuable points in the championship standings. “I can’t thank Hummer Motorsports and everybody from the Hummer family enough for the opportunity,” Bright said. “We just had this Rodota Trucking & Excavating, CRC Auto, driveWFX car rolling on the bottom.” Coming from seventh on the starting grid, Bright got on his horse quickly, passing his way to fourth in the first four laps. For the next 10 laps, he had the best seat in the house to watch a three-way battle for the lead between Mario Clouser, Jake Swanson and Isaac Chapple. Clouser had taken the lead from Chapple on Lap 5 and was ripping around the top side of the third-mile, keeping the cars behind him at bay with the speed he carried on the top. Clouser looked to have the best line until he got over the cushion in Turns 1-2 on Lap 16 and ramped-up the outside wall, spinning and bringing out caution. “I saw the top was definitely getting treacherous,” Bright said of his view from the cockpit. “Before I even got to [Clouser], the other guys that were running the top were making mistakes, so that’s why I just kept working the bottom, and we were good down there too.” By that time, Bright had just made the move for second, which meant he had the lead for the next restart. The green flag dropped, and Bright took off and began his defense of the top spot. Multiple caution flags fell over the course of his time at the head of the field, meaning Bright had to be sharp on restarts. In the end, he was flawless, nailing the bottom line for each of the remaining laps to score the $5,000 victory. “I honestly had no idea where anybody behind me was running,” Bright said. “[Whether] they were running the top, if they were running the bottom, middle or lower, because I got by Isaac Chapple trying to work the middle line. I had no idea where anybody else was. I just kept it smooth, kept the car underneath me and tried not to make any mistakes.” Nick Bilbee, of Martinsville, IN, crossed the stripe second in his first start with the Series. Overall Fast Qualifier (pres. by Whitz Racing Products) Zach Daum, of Pocahontas, IL, rounded out the podium. UP NEXT The Xtreme Outlaw Sprint Cars return to I-55 on Saturday, June 25, for the $6,000-to-win St. Louis Firecracker Faceoff finale. If you can’t be at the track, stream it live on DIRTVision. ABBREVIATED RESULTS (view full results) Feature 30 Laps | 00:25:40.2831. 20-Alex Bright[7]; 2. 17-Nick Bilbee[2]; 3. 5D-Zach Daum[11]; 4. 33M-Matt Westfall[12]; 5. 52-Isaac Chapple[1]; 6. 66- Shane Cockrum[5]; 7. 16-Anthony Nicholson[23]; 8. 99X-Dalton Stevens[19]; 9. 28-Kory Schudy[9]; 10. 2-Chase Johnson[22]; 11. 2B-Chad Boespflug[8]; 12. 1JR-Steven Russell[16]; 13. 34-Sterling Cling[17]; 14. 0-Steve Irwin[18]; 15. 6- Mario Clouser[4]; 16. 13-Chase Howard[21]; 17. 21AZ-Jake Swanson[6]; 18. 24-Landon Simon[14]; 19. 17GP-Kyle Shipley[3]; 20. 77-Jack Wagner[10]; 21. 99-Korey Weyant[20]; 22. 33-Rece Wommack[15]; 23. 44-Wesley Smith[13]

The Xtreme Outlaw Series is brought to fans by important sponsors and partners, including: DIRTVision (Official Live Broadcast Partner), Low-E Insulation (Presenting sponsor of the non-wing Sprint Car Series), Toyota (Presenting sponsor of the Midgets Series), Racing Electronics (Official Radio Supplier) and SIS Insurance (Official Insurance Provider). Other partners include:  DRC Chassis, K1 Race Gear, Pace Dyno Services, TJ Forged and Whitz Racing Products.

Gravel, Macedo, Kofoid & Zearfoss Locked-In for Saturday’s $100,000/Win Finale

BRANDON, SD – June 24, 2022 – Exactly four years to the day of Jason Johnson’s passing, Carson Macedo brought the famed #41 back to victory lane.

With some help from above, the Lemoore, CA superstar used a little late-race magic to steal the lead away from Brian Brown on Lap 33 of 35 with $20,000 on the line in Friday’s Feature at Huset’s Speedway. His win tallied enough points to lock-in for Saturday’s $100,000-to-win High Bank Nationals finale along with David Gravel, Buddy Kofoid, and Brock Zearfoss.

It was a symbolic win in many fashions for the Albaugh #41 team. Friday marked the first-ever trip to victory lane for Jace Dietz, the newborn son of owners Philip & Brooke Dietz, who ironically enough was originally due on June 24 of all dates. With Jace in arms, a little bit of Jason was taken to the winner’s circle.

As championship leader Brad Sweet suffered more carnage, Macedo made the most of his opportunity and cut the championship lead down to a mere 12 points with his sixth World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series win of the 2022 season.

More importantly, he’s put himself and the JJR squad in a prime position to contend for $100,000 on Saturday night at the state-of-the-art Brandon, SD facility. It’s the first of four six-figure paydays for The Greatest Show on Dirt this summer and would top the National Open ($75,000) as the richest win of Macedo’s career at 26 years old.

“I think I had a co-pilot in there tonight,” Macedo said. “Winning today on June 24th, four years after we lost Jason, is pretty special. He was an incredible man and built an incredible team, and I’m privileged to continue honoring his legacy with these guys. From Craig & Deborah and Bobbi & Jaxx to now Philip & Brooke, carrying on this legacy means a lot to all of us.”

Winning it from the fifth spot, Macedo was far from the story early on in Friday’s 35-lapper.

Knoxville, IA native Riley Goodno, in his seventh-career World of Outlaws start, earned the pole position in his family-owned #22. The 19-year-old quickly deterred any “fluke” narratives as he beat Brian Brown on the opening lap and ensued to lead the first eight circuits while only building his advantage over the best Sprint Car drivers in the world.

Goodno’s pace was erased when Brad Sweet & Rico Abreu brought out the red flag on Lap 8 and created a double-file restart. This time, Brown wasn’t messing around and throttled around the top to put the Casey’s General Stores, FVP Parts #21 in command of the race lead on Lap 9.

Brownie, of Higginsville, MO, controlled the top spot for another 24 laps until Macedo tossed a big move his way and made it stick to steal the lead with three laps left.

“Once I got behind Brown, I was hustling extremely hard, probably too hard,” Macedo contained. “I finally calmed myself down and set up that big slider on him in turns one and two. I know it was a big flyer to throw, but this is for a lot of money this week so I had to try it. It feels good to just finally get a win at Huset’s after this place had my number for so long.”

Blackjack Brian Brown completed a miraculous turnaround with a runner-up finish for the #21, finishing 1.046-seconds behind Macedo. In only 24 hours, the Knoxville Raceway ace took his 1/4-mile program from struggling into the Last Chance Showdown to competing for the $20,000 victory.

“A lot of the credit goes to Danny [Lasoski] tonight,” Brown said on his comeback. “He made a ton of big changes to this car from last night, and I just let him do his thing and kept my nose out of it. It’s no secret this is a place that has always had my numbers over the years. We were 16th in the LCS last night, I mean terrible honestly, and tonight we almost won it. We’ve got a lot of work left to do tomorrow, though.”

Rounding out the podium was the feel-good story of the night with Riley Goodno claiming a career-best third-place finish with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series. It was a drastic improvement for the 19-year-old, who entered Friday with a career-best of 18th in six starts with the Series.

“This is a dream come true,” Goodno said on the frontstretch. “I can’t thank my mom and my dad enough for everything they’ve done for me. Driving me up and down the road allowing me to chase my dreams is something I appreciate so much. My dad and I have always wanted to travel as much as possible, learn as much as possible, and be the best team that we could be, I think that is starting to show.”

Closing out the top-five at Huset’s was Spencer Bayston in fourth-from-11th aboard the CJB Motorsports, TrueTimber #5, and David Gravel in fifth in the Big Game Motorsports #2. The Watertown, CT native collected 852 total points across the two preliminary nights (6th Thursday, 5th Friday) to earn high point man honors and guarantee himself a front row start in the $100,000-to-win Feature on Saturday.

Finishing the top-10 on Friday was Logan Schuchart, Sheldon Haudenschild (from 25th), Donny Schatz, Giovanni Scelzi, and Brock Zearfoss.

NOS NOTEBOOK (HUSET’S SPEEDWAY, 6/24/22)

Carson Macedo’s 23rd career World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series victory brings him one away from Ron Shuman (24) for 27th on the All-Time Win List. In his eighth start at the track, Friday marked Macedo’s first-career win at Huset’s Speedway, the 17th different track he’s won a World of Outlaws race at.

For the third consecutive night, a driver earned his first-career World of Outlaws podium finish. It was Kasey Kahne (3rd) on Wednesday after leading lap, then Buddy Kofoid (1st) winning for the first time on Thursday, and now Riley Goodno (3rd) leading laps and finding the frontstretch on Friday.

David Gravel, Carson Macedo, Buddy Kofoid, and Brock Zearfoss are locked-in for Saturday’s King of the Hill, already guaranteeing a top-five starting spot for each of them in tomorrow’s $100,000-to-win High Bank Nationals finale.

The likes of James McFadden, Logan Schuchart, Giovanni Scelzi, and Hunter Schuerenberg are expected to lead Saturday’s four Qualifiers to the green flag with each winner earning a spot in the King of the Hill alongside the locked-in drivers.

Macedo earned his sixth Slick Woody’s QuickTime Award of the season, the most on tour. He was followed by six new NOS Energy Drink Heat Winners Riley Goodno, Matt Juhl, Jack Croaker, Paige Polyak, Carson McCarl, and Marcus Dumesny. 

For the second consecutive night, Sheldon Haudenschild earned the KSE Hard Charger Award, his Series-best sixth of the season. This one came with a monumental 25th-t0-7th run, the largest of the season at +18 positions after he needed to take a provisional.

UP NEXT (Thur-Sat) – The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series will conclude the inaugural High Bank Nationals on Saturday with a $100,000-to-win finale awaiting racers at Huset’s Speedway in Brandon, SD. Fans can BUY TICKETS HERE, or watch every lap LIVE on DIRTVision.

NOS Energy Drink Feature Results (35 Laps) – 1. 41-Carson Macedo [5][$20,000]; 2. 21-Brian Brown [2][$10,000]; 3. 22-Riley Goodno [1][$7,000]; 4. 5-Spencer Bayston [11][$6,000]; 5. 2-David Gravel [6][$5,500]; 6. 1S-Logan Schuchart [10][$5,000]; 7. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [25][$3,000]; 8. 15-Donny Schatz [13][$4,000]; 9. 18-Giovanni Scelzi [21][$3,500]; 10. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [9][$3,000]; 11. 49-Brad Sweet [3][$2,500]; 12. 83-James McFadden [17][$2,400]; 13. 11-Buddy Kofoid [8][$2,300]; 14. 1A-Jacob Allen [14][$2,200]; 15. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [24][$2,100]; 16. 88-Austin McCarl [20][$1,500]; 17. 15H-Sam Hafertepe [12][$1,500]; 18. 16-Brooke Tatnell [18][$1,500]; 19. 1AU-Marcus Dumesny [15][$1,500]; 20. O9-Matt Juhl [7][$1,500]; 21. 7S-Robbie Price [22][$1,500]; 22. 19-Paige Polyak [16][$1,500]; 23. 24-Rico Abreu [4][$1,500]; 24. 11P-Parker Price-Miller [23][$1,500]; 25. 27-Carson McCarl [19]. Lap Leaders: Riley Goodno 1-8, Brian Brown 9-32, Carson Macedo 33-35. KSE Hard Charger Award: 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[+18]

NEW Championship Standings (After 31/77 Races): 1. Brad Sweet (4,266); 2. Carson Macedo (-12); 3. Sheldon Haudenschild (-24); 4. David Gravel (-46); 5. Logan Schuchart (-54); 6. Donny Schatz (-148); 7. Spencer Bayston (-156); 8. James McFadden (-214); 9. Jacob Allen (-354); 10. Brock Zearfoss (-486).

The Carpentersville, IL driver passed Billy Moyer Jr. with 12 Laps to go to earn his third World of Outlaws Triumph of 2022

PEVELY, MO – JUNE 25, 2022 – A second chance isn’t something that slips away from Dennis Erb Jr. 

However, the veteran Late Model driver needed that second chance Friday at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 after a caution negated his pass for the lead.  

Erb found another opportunity to strike 18 laps later, as race leader Billy Moyer Jr. caught the tail of the field. That’s when Erb dove to the bottom, splitting Kye Blight’s car as Moyer tried to pass him on the outside. Erb took the advantage, thundering past both of them with momentum to take the lead with 12 laps to go. 

This time, a caution wouldn’t get in Erb’s way as he bested the top drivers with the World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Model Series and DIRTcar Summer Nationals to earn the $10,000 prize on night one of the St. Louis Firecracker Faceoff. 

Erb stressed the importance of hitting his marks as a key to finding Victory Lane. 

“We really would’ve liked to have gotten [the lead] earlier, but you know we were able to just wait and got it at the right time and was able to make a move on [Moyer],” Erb said. “Our car was working really good around that bottom, and we just had to hit our marks real good.

“Once I got out front, I was able to move up and move around. It was a little slippery tonight, but we were able to go out and get it.”

Erb’s win is his 12th World of Outlaws victory and 24th DIRTcar Summer Nationals triumph.

The four-time Hell Tour champion stated his time running Summer Nationals events the past two weeks gave him the chance to get better, despite his consistency in the first half of the season. 

“We spent the last week or so going out and running [DIRTcar Summer Nationals] races,” Erb said. “We tried a few different things to see if we can make ourselves better. So, we picked up on a few things, and hopefully, it’ll help us out the rest of the year.”

Erb’s win extends his World of Outlaws CASE Late Models points lead—122 points over Max Blair, who finished 12th. 

Billy Moyer Jr. settled for second after leading the race’s first 28 laps. 

The Batesville, AK driver stated he had a good car but started to tighten up once he reached traffic. 

“If the whole time we are in clean air, I don’t know if [Erb] would’ve got us,” Moyer said. “His car was just way better than ours maneuverability-wise.

“I couldn’t run that bottom like he did, and hell, I felt like I had a parachute back there. So, I just moved back up and tried to use the whole track. All in all, the car is good, just not as good as his around the bottom.”

Frank Heckenast Jr. crossed the line third, his first podium with the World of Outlaws and DIRTcar Summer Nationals in 2022. 

Despite coming home third, the Frankfort, IL driver said his finish felt like a win.

“I screwed up in the Heat,” Heckenast said. “I didn’t screw up in the Heat; I just mean [Shannon Babb], and I had such a good race, and I have so much respect for him. I could’ve tried to slide him, and then I would’ve had the last pill for the fourth heat and started second. 

“This feels like a win. We just had so much stuff going wrong lately. When you get that close, it really just tears at you that you had a shot to win.”

Jason Feger finished fourth, his fifth DIRTcar Summer Nationals top five this season, and first with the World of Outlaws—after starting 12th. 

“Once we got rolling, the car was pretty good, and it came to life,” Feger said. “It felt really good on the restarts, and we were rolling by guys. We couldn’t get by Frankie at the end, and you know we were probably a little too nice to him.

“But I’m really happy; 12th to fourth against this bunch of guys. The car is fast and in one piece, and maybe we have something for them [Saturday].”

Four-time Hell Tour champion Brian Shirley rounded out the top five. 

DIRTcar Summer Nationals points leader Bobby Pierce finished eighth, extending his lead over Ryan Unzicker. 

Dennis Erb Jr.’s ability to take advantage of a second chance allowed him to get the edge on the competition Friday at I-55. If having that edge pays off on Saturday, it could be another $20,000 in his bank account. 

UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Models and DIRTcar Summer Nationals return to I-55 on Saturday, June 25 for the second night of the St. Louis Firecracker Faceoff. 

Sarver, PA (June 24, 2022) – For the second night in a row Mike Marlar won a preliminary feature at Lernerville Speedway. Marlar took the lead from Ricky Thornton Jr. on lap 14 to score the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win on Friday night; setting himself up for a good starting spot in one of the six heat races to be contested Saturday night for the 16th Annual Firecracker 100 Presented by Big River Steel paying $50,000-to-win. Marlar fought off Tim McCreadie, who had raced from the ninth starting spot to challenge for the lead at the end but fell a few car lengths short at the checkers. Thornton, who led the first 13 laps from the pole finished in third. Mark Whitener, who had an impressive run in his heat race climbing from seventh for the win came home fourth in the feature just ahead of fifth place Hudson O’Neal. Thornton and O’Neal started on the front row and paced the field for the first four laps until Marlar took over second from O’Neal on the fifth circuit. The race went the first 12 laps caution free just as Thornton was about to pick up the tail end of the field. On the restart it took Marlar just two laps around the legendary racetrack to get the lead, which he held until the end to keep him a perfect two-for-two on the weekend so far. In Lucas Oil Victory Lane for the 18th time in his career Marlar has his sights set on his third career $50,000 payday on Saturday night. “It was just so slick I was just kind of driving different most laps actually and I probably changed up what I was doing six or seven times in 30 laps. I saw him (McCreadie) flash under me in one and two, after about four or five laps my tires would get a little hotter and they’d give up some grip, so I think he preserved his tires a little better.” Marlar started third in the race and tracked down Thornton, overhauling for the lead one lap shy of the halfway mark. “He had the bottom and he wasn’t going to move; I was just waiting on that brown ring on the bottom to wear out. It was getting thinner and thinner so then on that one restart I found some crumbs out here kind of in the middle leaving four, so I got on the outside and it worked for me, I barely got by him. It’s definitely been a good weekend so far. The trip is paid for and tomorrow will be the cherry on top. It will be tough. You know we have a good 30-40 lap car; it slides around on me once the tires get warm. So tomorrow we will get a harder tire and see if that helps the situation too.” McCreadie, the reigning Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series National Champion took the runner-up spot as the 2019 Firecracker 100 winner charged from the inside of the fifth row. “This will give us a better shot in the heats tomorrow night which is what you are working for. The track’s been tough. It’s been way different each night and it just shows this Mega Plumbing team is doing a good job in trying to adapt. To be able to run well both nights and be competitive, it’s all you can ask for. I need some help over in one and two, I can’t get where I want the car to be activated. To come home second to Mikey, he’s really good. We need a little more we will just keep working hard it’s all we can do.” Thornton was denied his first series win of the year as he will try to score another crown jewel victory on Saturday night to go along with his Dirt Track World Championship win last October. “I didn’t really know if I needed to move out or not. He (Marlar) was really good through the middle just like T-Mac was. I felt like we had a really good car. We’ll take a third, it should set us up in good position for tomorrow’s heat races.” The winner’s Ronnie Delk-owned Longhorn Chassis is powered by a Cornett Racing Engine and sponsored by Delk Equipment, Tri-Rivers Enterprises, Rockets Convenient Plus, Bilstein Shocks, Mesilla Valley Transportation, Can-Am Salvage, and Capital CapSigns.com. Completing the top ten were Garrett Alberson, Jonathan Davenport, Earl Pearson Jr., Michael Norris, and Brandon Sheppard. Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Race Summary Firecracker 100 Presented by Big River SteelFriday, June 24th, 2022Lernerville Speedway – Sarver, PA Allstar Performance Time TrialsFast Time Group A: Earl Pearson, Jr. / 15.659 seconds (overall)Fast Time Group B: Rick Eckert / 16.026 seconds Penske Race Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[3]; 2. 46-Earl Pearson Jr[1]; 3. 1T-Tyler Erb[4]; 4. 7-Ross Robinson[5]; 5. 3RK-Daryl Charlier[7]; 6. 48-Colton Flinner[8]; 7. 22F-Chris Ferguson[2]; 8. 14-Dan Angelicchio[9]; 9. 9Z-Mason Zeigler[6] Summit Racing Equipment Heat Race #2 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 157-Mike Marlar[1]; 2. 39-Tim McCreadie[2]; 3. 49-Jonathan Davenport[4]; 4. 1*-Chub Frank[3]; 5. 1Z-Logan Zarin[5]; 6. 22B-Darrell Bossard[8]; 7. 77-Tyler Dietz[6]; 8. 66-Todd Bachman[7]; 9. 10-Gary Lyle[9] Simpson Race Products Heat Race #3 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 72-Michael Norris[1]; 2. 58-Garrett Alberson[2]; 3. 18D-Daulton Wilson[3]; 4. 29-Ken Schaltenbrand[5]; 5. 10G-Garrett Smith[7]; 6. 12D-Doug Drown[4]; 7. 9-Breyton Santee[8]; 8. 44-Joe Petyak[6]; 9. 17SS-Brenden Smith[9] Ohlins Shocks Heat Race #4 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 71-Hudson O’Neal[3]; 2. 0E-Rick Eckert[1]; 3. 1-Brandon Sheppard[4]; 4. 20-Jimmy Owens[5]; 5. 1C-Alex Ferree[8]; 6. 76-Brandon Overton[6]; 7. 94C-Charles Powell[2]; 8. 25S-Cory Sines[7]; 9. 11H-Gale Huey[9] Wrisco Industries Heat Race #5 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 58W-Mark Whitener[7]; 2. 1CJ-Ryan Montgomery[1]; 3. 22-Gregg Satterlee[3]; 4. 8-Kyle Strickler[2]; 5. 10M-Jared Miley[6]; 6. 5L-Jonathan Lee[8]; 7. 21L-Matt Lux[4]; 8. 9Y-Levi Yetter[5]; 9. 11J-Joshua Powell[9] Lucas Oil Heat Race #6 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 89-Ashton Winger[2]; 2. J4-John Garvin Jr[1]; 3. 11-Spencer Hughes[4]; 4. 7T-Drake Troutman[5]; 5. 0-Scott Bloomquist[6]; 6. 11AC-Trevor Collins[7]; 7. 2D-Dan Stone[3]; 8. 17T-Tim Vance[8]; 9. 112-Brandon Little[9] Fast Shafts B-Main #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 7-Ross Robinson[1]; 2. 1*-Chub Frank[2]; 3. 22B-Darrell Bossard[6]; 4. 77-Tyler Dietz[8]; 5. 22F-Chris Ferguson[7]; 6. 48-Colton Flinner[5]; 7. 14-Dan Angelicchio[9]; 8. 1Z-Logan Zarin[4]; 9. 9Z-Mason Zeigler[11]; 10. 66-Todd Bachman[10]; 11. 10-Gary Lyle[12]; 12. 3RK-Daryl Charlier[3] UNOH B-Main #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 20-Jimmy Owens[2]; 2. 1C-Alex Ferree[4]; 3. 76-Brandon Overton[6]; 4. 10G-Garrett Smith[3]; 5. 12D-Doug Drown[5]; 6. 94C-Charles Powell[8]; 7. 29-Ken Schaltenbrand[1]; 8. 9-Breyton Santee[7]; 9. 17SS-Brenden Smith[11]; 10. 44-Joe Petyak[9]; 11. 11H-Gale Huey[12]; 12. (DNS) 25S-Cory Sines Lucas Oil B-Main #3 Finish (10 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 10M-Jared Miley[3]; 2. 8-Kyle Strickler[1]; 3. 0-Scott Bloomquist[4]; 4. 21L-Matt Lux[7]; 5. 11AC-Trevor Collins[6]; 6. 5L-Jonathan Lee[5]; 7. 7T-Drake Troutman[2]; 8. 2D-Dan Stone[8]; 9. 17T-Tim Vance[10]; 10. 9Y-Levi Yetter[9]; 11. 11J-Joshua Powell[11]; 12. 112-Brandon Little[12]

NASCAR CUP SERIES

NASHVILLE SUPERSPEEDWAY

ALLY 400

TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT

JUNE 24, 2022

RICKY STENHOUSE JR., NO. 47 KROGER / ENTENMANN’S CAMARO ZL1, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series practice session at Nashville Superspeedway. Press Conference Transcript: 

BEFORE WE GET STARTED WITH QUESTIONS, I’M GOING TO HAND THE MICROPHONE OVER TO YOU TO MAKE A LITTLE BIT OF AN ANNOUCEMENT ON YOUR END.

“It’s always good to be in Nashville, especially after last year. We obviously had a really good run here in the inaugural NASCAR Cup Series race. I’m hoping we can translate that into this new car and you continue that success that we had here last year. 

It’s been a good week, so far. Myself and everybody at JTG Daugherty Racing inked a new contract for me for a multi-year contract. That’s been something that we’ve been working on. I know that a few people have asked me over the last few weeks kind of where that was. But we had been working on that. I’m very thankful for Tad (Geschickter), Brad (Daugherty), Jodi (Geschickter), Gordon (Smith), everybody in the ownership group. And then obviously everybody in the race shop. We have so many people that don’t get to travel with us every weekend that put their heart and soul into this organization and I’m glad to be a part of it.”

WHAT MADE YOU WANT TO STAY? 

“I really have enjoyed my time at JTG Daugherty Racing. I feel like we haven’t had the end results, points-wise. But I feel like we’ve had so many bright spots throughout our first few seasons together. I feel like with this new car – we were hoping to have it last year and continue to build on that. Obviously, this is the first year with it. So I know for me and the way this car has been, I feel like at certain race tracks we kind of have it figured out. And then there are other race tracks where we’re pretty out to lunch and we’re still looking for those parts and pieces to be in the right spot to be fast. 

But I feel confident with the people that we have that we will be able to do that. Tad and everybody at Kroger has put a lot of faith in me to come over here and drive the car and I think we’ve shown some really solid strong runs this year. I had opportunity to win at Dover, I felt like. Charlotte, we had a really fast car. So, I think that’s the reason why. I just really enjoy the family atmosphere from the top, down. Everybody in our shop, our partners – it’s been a really good relationship.” 

INAUDIBLE

“I don’t actually know where anybody else’s contracts are (laughs).

Like I said, from the top to bottom, obviously I’ve had a super long relationship with Brian (Pattie). And you look at people in the shop, Mike Kelley. Ernie (Cope) and I, even though we haven’t worked together for a long time, we’ve had really good relationships when we raced against each other. I just feel like everybody believes in each other there and I think that’s what I look for in our group going forward. This car is supposed to stay the same for years to come and I think that’s only going to help us build our notebook going forward.”

IS THIS KIND OF LIKE A HOME GAME FOR YOU? DO YOU HAVE MORE PEOPLE WANTING TO COME AND JOIN YOU AT NASHVILLE THAN NORMAL RACES SINCE IT’S PRETTY CLOSE TO HOME? 

“For sure. You know, in the XFINITY series, this was my home race track; I guess once Memphis was off the schedule. So yeah, it’s close to home. I have a lot of friends and family that live in the area. And then obviously, for my family coming up from home, it’s four and a half hours. So, really close to home. They’ve got a few spots on the backstretch, so we’ll go and watch the Truck race with them. It’s always nice to have family around and friends that want to come out and support you. And then obviously friends in the music industry that they want to come out here, as well. It definitely feels like a home game. I wouldn’t say that Nashville in my Xfinity Series career was top of the list. But after last year, I had a lot of fun, so hopefully it stays there.”

I TALKED TO (BRIAN) PATTIE A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO AND HE SAID YOU GUYS DISCOVERED SOMETHING WITH THE CAR’S GEOMETRY AND THAT WAS ONE OF THE REASONS WHY YOU ALL HAD BEEN RUNNING SO WELL. BUT HE SAID IT’S LIKE A DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD, WHERE AS MUCH HELP AS YOU GET FROM CHEVROLT, WHEN YOU GUYS HIT ON SOMETHING LIKE THAT, YOU HAVE TO SHARE IT WITH THE GROUP. HOW FRUSTRATING IS THAT BEING A SINGLE CAR TEAM, NOT HAVING THE DEPTH OF ENGINEERING THAT SOME OF THESE GROUPS HAVE – HITTING ON SOMETHING AND KNOWING IT’S GOING TO BE SHORT TERM BECAUSE YOU’RE GOING TO HAVE TO SHARE IT WITH THE GROUP? 

“Obviously we were really good at the faster race tracks, like Fontana and Vegas. We had strong runs there. And then, we really didn’t get back to those tracks until Dover and then we had that really good stretch of runs. 

Yeah, we hit on something and definitely you get asked to share those things. I wish we got as much information back the other way. I think that would really help our program a lot. I feel like our group of guys really work hard together to come up with any setup that we can that’s going to move the needle in the right direction. And we take all the information that we get – whether it be a lot or a little – and we try to make the most of it. Our guys are doing a great job with that. 

Like I said, the short track stuff, we’re still trying to figure out. We know that we have a lot of work to do there. But if we can continue to be as strong as we have been on the 1.5-mile tracks, that will kind of get us through the season and hopefully we figure that out on the short tracks before too long.”

WANT TO TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT ATLANTA AND THE FACT THAT IT NOW HAS THAT SUPERSPEEDWAY FEEL. DO YOU GO THERE PRETTY CONFIDENT? 

“Heck yeah. I’m looking forward to going back to Atlanta. Our car was so fast there earlier this year. It handled really well and I felt like it was the class of the field; and then obviously we blew that tire leading. So hopefully we learned a little bit throughout the season on the tire issues that we can maybe help ourselves. Again, that’s some of the information that we didn’t have before the race that we got after the race; on some tire pressure, camber, things that definitely would have helped if we had them before the race. Instead, we found out the hard way. But obviously it being hot and slick when we get to Atlanta this time versus where we were at the beginning of the season, I think a good handling race car is going to be even that much more important. I know Brian Pattie and my guys will give me that.”

JUST A MOMENT AGO TALKING TO TYLER (REDDICK), HE TALKED ABOUT NOT ONLY THE MENTAL DRAIN OF A SUPERSPEEDWAY RACE, BUT THERE WAS ALSO A PHYSICAL COMPONMENT TO IT THAT HE DIDN’T REALLY ANTICIPATE. DID YOU FIND THAT RACE MORE MENTALLY DRAINING THAN MAYBE SOMETHING AT DAYTONA OR TALLADEGA? HOW DID THE MENTAL AND PHYSICAL DRAIN FEEL?

“I guess you could say mentally it was a little bit different than Daytona and Talladega, just because we weren’t 100% sure what to expect. It was a brand new race track. There was some bumps off the turn four on the top side that we were trying to navigate and figure out what the car was going to do over those bumps. There’s kind of the narrow entry into turn three. Obviously in practice, when you’re by yourself, the bottom was by far the fastest lane around the racetrack; and then it ended up being kind of in the middle to the top during the race. I felt like as a driver, you’re just trying to figure out that new track. We weren’t 100 percent sure it was going to race like a speedway until we got out there. In practice it did, but nobody was really pressing the issues. Once we all started going flat out and really racing, we weren’t sure if that was going to be the case and then obviously it was. So just trying to learn the track physically. I didn’t think the track was much more demanding physically. I did have a headache when the No. 2 hit me in the door when we blew a tire. But other than that, I felt like the car was similar at Daytona and Talladega, physically-wise.”

INAUDIBLE

“Yeah, I would say it was more compressed and definitely things happen quicker. The track is a little bit narrower than what we’re used to for a speedway, which obviously makes it a little bit more tricky, as well. And then, when you have such high banking and you’re going into the corner and the radius is tighter, it’s harder to see out the corner. I would say that’s maybe the biggest difference.”

OBVIOUSLY, THE NO. 10 IS OPEN FOR NEXT YEAR. I’M CURIOUS, DID YOU HAVE ANY CONVERSATIONS WITH STEWART-HAAS ABOUT THAT CAR? WERE YOU NERVOUS AT ALL WHETHER JTG DAUGHERTY WOULD KEEP YOU? 

“I let Josh at KHI kind of handle everything off the race track, as far as contracts go and talking to other teams. We feel like we have a really good fit and felt like JTG Daugherty Racing was where we wanted to be. I feel really confident in who we have and what we’re doing right now; and want to continue to grow that can keep that going. I don’t want to bounce around from team to team. I don’t think that does myself or anybody really any favors. So I want to build on what we’ve started. 

Yeah, we haven’t had consistently the runs that we want. But I think we’ve had a lot of shining moments, especially this year. We know those race tracks and we know where we struggle. Was I worried? I try not to worry too much about that. I feel like I have a really good relationship with our whole organization, especially Tad. He comes to every race track and I feel confident with everything that he does. He believes in me and like I said earlier, I think everybody at our company believes in each other. We go to battle together. So, I was never really worried. I felt really good about it.”

YOU HAD A STREAK OF FOUR TOP-10 FINISHES. DID THAT REALLY SEAL THE DEAL FOR YOUR CONTRACT TO BE RE-SIGNED WITH JTG DAUGHERTY RACING? 

“I’m not sure – that would be a Tad question (laughs). Tad and myself have been chatting about this since the beginning of the season. Tad’s always working on getting funding for our car and working on things probably a little more important than my contract, as far as making the team go around. Tad does a great job with that. 

Yeah, good runs never hurt. But I think that stretch of races we kind of had circled as race tracks that we felt like we could do exactly what we accomplished. I know a lot of people were kind of surprised that we were able to do that, but internally, we felt like we were capable of doing that. It was cool to feel that way and actually fulfill that thought process.”

YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT THAT YOU HOPE THAT THE CAR IS AROUND FOR YEARS TO COME. HOW MUCH MORE SECURE WERE YOU IN SIGNING THIS DEAL WITH THE NEXT GEN THIS YEAR? DID THAT GIVE YOU A LOT MORE SECURITY IN KNOWING THIS IS A PLACE YOU COULD BE? 

“Obviously I’ve been in the Cup Series for quite some time now. I felt like if you weren’t spending a ton of money or had all this information coming in and trying to develop new parts and pieces, you really weren’t going to catch-up when something’s always evolving and always changing. And so, obviously when I first signed my contract at JTG Daugherty Racing, our second year we were supposed to have that car and that’s what I was really looking forward to. Like hey, we might not be exactly where we want to be our first year, but this new car is coming in. We can learn it, more of the pieces are going to stay the same from season to season, and let’s try and build on that. We had to wait an extra year for that. So, for me, I was very thankful that we were able to add another year to our contract to run this year with this race car. It definitely gave me the confidence running this car so far this year that I feel like being here, we can still do great things and contend for wins.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES

NASHVILLE SUPERSPEEDWAY

ALLY 400

TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT

JUNE 24, 2022

TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 3CHI CAMARO ZL1, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series practice session at Nashville Superspeedway. Press Conference Transcript: 

YOU ARE SITTING 11TH IN THE STANDINGS BUT YOU BASICALLY ARE ON THE BUBBLE. OTHER THAN GETTING A WIN, DOES THE SITUATION HAVE YOU DOING SOMETHING DIFFERENT TO FIND YOUR WAY INTO THE PLAYOFFS?

“No. But it’s definitely crazy how things can change in the matter of one race. We were in a place where I think we were in good position to make our way in on points and I feel like that has drastically changed. So, certainly as the mindset shifts more to winning. But if I am being honest, we have been trying to do that all year long. So, in reality, not a whole lot changes for us.  But certainly, I don’t think we are as worried about points going forward.”

YOU PARTICIPATED IN THE MARTINSVILLE TEST RECENTLY AND I AM CURIOUS WHAT ALL THE CHANGES THAT YOU GUYS WENT THROUGH AND WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE DIRECTION THAT YOU GUYS LEARNED?

“It was a tough test.  Just with the setting and the circumstances with weather.  You know, we raced there when it felt like it was in the 40s or right around there and we went back and tested and it was in the 90s. So, the control tire that we raced on in March laid plenty of rubber.  But the three cars laid more rubber than the entire race.  The different tire combinations all seemed to work pretty well, but it seems like the car is in this weird spot where its got plenty of mechanical grip, but it just doesn’t seem like we have enough power for the grip we have in the tires for in the driver’s seat to make the mistake of burning the rear tires off and making throttle and tire management a part of the Martinsville game that I think has been a part of it since I have been driving in Trucks or watching the Cup races. So, that is an interesting spot that we are in. I am not sure where we came away from that, but the underbody stuff that was tried certainly helped the situation. We are just missing the racing product a little bit, I think.  Still, at the end of the day, the cars have a lot of grip at the short tracks and I don’t think we have enough power to rip the tires off if we make that mistake.”

DID YOU GUYS PLAY WITH THE GEAR RATIOS AND TRY TO CHANGE THE SHIFTING RULES?

“As crazy as this may sound, in my opinion, if we changed the gear and we made it to where we are just running one gear, that makes our problem worse in my opinion. Because then, you could run 150 laps and never burn the tires on the car off if you are not shifting. When you are downshifting, eventually you know 50-60 laps into the run you know you can start feathering the tire on corner exit, but in my opinion just running it for whatever gear it would be, we are never going to spin the tires. So, I don’t think a gear change would be the solution.”

DO YOU FEEL THAT THIS CUP CAR IS IN A GOOD PLACE AS FAR AS RACING TODAY?

“Yeah, for the most part. The bigger tracks that have less side force its more treacherous to drive but at the short tracks you are never really on the edge of the car quite like that. You know, we are more fighting mechanical grip, and the car has more mechanical grip everywhere we go. For the most part it has been better and it’s been better at a majority of the places, its just unfortunately put the short track racing where none of us wanted it to be.”

DID THEY TRY ANYTING WITH ENGINES AND USING MORE HORSEPOWER ON THE TRACK?

“Yeah, it wasn’t tried. But I am not one to say what we should or shouldn’t do there because there are a lot of moving parts and pieces. A lot of time, research and development have gone into the horsepower package that we are at now and you can’t just flip a switch or change the tapered spacer or go to a different horsepower level and have the same engine reliability across all the engine manufacturers. So, as much as it would be nice to have that option, I can’t really say whether that is an option or not because there is a lot that goes into that unfortunately.”

WHAT ADVANTAGE TO YOU THINK CAN BE GAINED AT GOING BACK TO ATLANTA AND THE FIRST TIME RETURNING TO A TRACK FOR A SECOND TIME WITH THIS CAR?

“That one is an interesting one in my opinion because it’s a speedway type race. I thought we were actually pretty good when we were there the last time. We had the tire go that really took us out of that race. You will be able to look at some gains, right? But its more on speedway-type racing gains that really only apply to the six speedway races now that we have in counting Atlanta. So, I wouldn’t say that its an A to B that we can take to one place or the other necessarily, but it will be interesting to see from the first time we were there what improvements have been made. It sounds like they made a number of them to the racetrack and to some of the bumps that were in place at the speedway. So, it will be interesting to see how some of those details to the track have been changed and hopefully improved.” 

HOW WOULD YOU ASSESS YOUR SEASON SO FAR?

“Frustrating. That is probably the best way to put it, yeah. You know, it’s everything you hoped for at times, but unfortunately things go wrong.”

DO YOU LOOK BACK AT SOME OF THE RACES AND SAY WOULD HAVE, COULD HAVE, SHOULD HAVE OR JUST LOOK FORWARD AND BE POSITIVE ABOUT IT?

“It’s important to go back in the days after and look back on it and take away the positives for sure so you can grow and get better for hopefully the next race and the next weekend. But after that you are telling yourself should have, would have, could have and saying the what ifs if you will. If you get caught up in that, then you lose sight of what is important and that is the next week ahead.”

HOW DO YOU STAY POSITIVE AND BELIEVE YOU ARE GOING TO TURN THIS AROUND AND GET IN THE PLAYOFFS?

“Through the speed that we have had. The things that aren’t going our way are the things that we can learn from and correct.  Eventually, as frustrating as these things have been to us, we are going to learn from them, and I would rather go through this now than in the Playoffs. If it turns around and we work all the kinks out that we have been going through, hopefully the right time of the year comes and we put all this behind us.”

GOING BACK TO THE MARTNSVILLE TEST, YOU SAID THERE WERE CHANGES TO THE UNDERBODY. HOW DID IT FEEL DIFFERENT?

“Well, that was the great thing. The feel of the car wasn’t much different, it just felt like a little bit less downforce. You didn’t feel as tight behind the car ahead of you and that was one of the things we were feeling at Martinsville when we raced there. When we had the different underbody, it didn’t seem to be as bad. I didn’t get to run up behind cars as much as Austin Cindric or Kyle Busch did, but they certainly thought it was better too. So, that is something that is certainly interesting and hopefully if we can apply it the right way, it will help the racing when we go back.”

HOW MUCH DO YOU SEE THE OFF WEEK LAST WEEK AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO KIND OF RESET THE STREAK OF RUN WELL GET A GOOD FINISH, RUN WELL, DON’T GET A GOOD FINISH AND RUN WELL AND GET A DNF?

“Yeah, it was good to have. Anytime we have a bad week, it would be kind of nice to have a moment to gather ourselves up and get back going, but the nature of the schedules is that you don’t have that. So to have that off weekend last weekend for all of us was good. We only get one, so we have to make the most of it and a lot of us did. You don’t want to have a bad race, but if you are going to have a flip like we did of being in a really good points position going into Sonoma and having a first-time winner now being 18^th or wherever we are in points, to have that off weekend in between Sonoma and here was good timing.”

WOULD YOU LIKE TO HAVE MORE OFF WEEKS AS NASCAR LOOKS TO THE FUTURE FOR THE SCHEDULE?

“I mean, I would be up for having more off weekends in the year if we raced more. If this is how we get all the races in, then I am good with it. I used to race 100 times a year, so more races the merrier for me.”

WILLIAM BYRON SAID WHEN HE GOT OUT OF THE CAR IN ATLANTA THAT HE FOUND THAT TO BE ONE OF THE MOST MENTALLY DRAINING RACES HE HAD BEEN IN. DID YOU FIND THAT TO BE THE CASE AND IF SO, WHY?

“Physically it was too. We are zipping around a mile-and-a-half at really high speeds, high average speeds, running upper 180s the entire lap. Not a lot of rest down the straightaways because the corners were so long and the aggressive pack racing that we had just really drains you mentally. But certainly, after that race I felt like I was surprised physically of the toll that it had. Normally at speedways its purely a mental drain, but it seemed like at Atlanta it was a little bit of both and that was surprising. When we go back and its even hotter, there is going to be more of that.”

DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 TOOTSIES ORCHID LOUNGE CAMARO ZL1, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series practice session at Nashville Superspeedway. Press Conference Transcript:  DANIEL, JUST TO START US OFF BEFORE WE GO TO OUR MEDIA FOR QUESTIONS, GIVE US A RECAP OF WHAT LIFE HAS BEEN LIKE THE LAST WEEK OR SO.“Yeah, it’s been fun and it’s been busy at the same time. I feel very fortunate that I got some extra time to enjoy the moment a little bit more. As you guys know, we had the off week and I got the opportunity to celebrate with my team Sunday night on the plane. But also Monday night, I was able to celebrate with my mom, my dad, my sisters, friends and family. So, it was special. If it was any other week besides Sonoma, it wasn’t going to be like that. It worked out like that and it was great.  I’ve been trying to digest every single moment of it because your first win only happens once. But it’s been good. I’ve enjoyed it a lot, but now my focus is here at Nashville.” THE PINATA – WHEN DID YOU COME UP WITH THAT IDEA?“A few months ago, I had a few conversations with a few friends in Mexico about a piñata. They asked me what my celebration was going to be and I had no idea; and then a piñata came into the conversation. Then, I had a similar conversation with my teammate, Ross (Chastain), about it. Slowly, it just started making sense. Matt Norris, he works at Trackhouse Racing – he went to check for a piñata. He sent a few pictures of piñatas and a taco piñata was there, so we decided to pick the taco piñata. It’s been with us in the hauler for six or eight weeks, so it was about time to smash it.” WHAT WAS IN IT?“The one from the race track, there was candy in it. In Mexico, that’s a big culture thing. Since I turned one year old and all the way to 30 years old, for every birthday, I’ve had a piñata. And I will say that every kid does it; it’s a big culture thing. It was fun.  In Mexico, they put candy in the piñata. You break the piñata and everyone jumps in to get the candy. It’s kind of like that idea and it worked out great, really. It was pretty cool to see the comments from people connecting very well with the piñata idea.” AND THEN YOU GOT TO GO TO THE SHOP AND PITBULL THROWS YOU A PINATA. YOU SMASH IT AND IT HAS MONEY IN IT. HOW WAS THAT?“It was cool. I didn’t know that piñata had money. They told me it had something in it. I lifted it at one point and it was heavy (laughs). It was good. I have to say, thank you to Pitbull for throwing the piñata the right way because if it wasn’t for him, I was probably going to miss. But he threw it very, very good.  It was great. That day was also very special for me. That was the last day of celebration for me because that was the last day that I got to enjoy it with Pitbull and my team again. That night, I put it in my mind to flip the page. I enjoyed every second of it, but for me, it’s in the past. Now, it’s time to get some more.” DANIEL, NOW THAT YOU’VE WON, YOU’VE QUALIFIED FOR THE PLAYOFFS. ANY THOUGHTS ON THAT? “Yeah, honestly, I haven’t thought about the Playoffs yet. We still have 2 ½ months before that. I feel like there is still a lot of things to be done before that. It feels good to know that we’re locked-in. But as a race car driver, at least for me, we know that being locked-in doesn’t mean a lot. For me, it means a lot when you have a lot of points in the bank – when you have more than a win, but also at least a few Playoff points. That’s when you start becoming a strong contender in the Playoff races.  That’s the goal. We still have 2 ½ months to work on that. Hopefully we can get a couple more wins and some more Playoff points. That would be nice.” LOOKING AHEAD TO NEXT WEEK, YOU RAN WELL AT COTA – YOU WON A STAGE, HAD A CHANCE TO WIN AND THINGS DIDN’T GO YOUR WAY. YOU SMOKED THEM AT SONOMA. FOR ROAD AMERICA, EVERYBODY IS GOING TO SAY YOUR THE NUMBER ONE GUY NOW GOING INTO THE ROAD RACE. DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU’RE THE NUMBER ONE GUY?“Honestly, I don’t know. At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter to me. I think at COTA, we we’re extremely strong. Our car broke early and we did what we had to do to finish the stage and survive. But in my opinion, we were very, very strong; even stronger than Sonoma. In Sonoma, we had a very good car. We did a very good job calling the race.  It’s been good. I would be lying to you if I told you I’m not extremely excited about every single road course because I believe that we can win in every single one of them. We have good cars. I have a very good team behind me. I feel like I’ve done a good job with the tools that have been given to me and it’s been fun. So, I’m really looking forward to it.  Right now, I’m trying to put all my energy into here at Nashville. But next week at Road America, I know it’s going to be a lot of fun for me; and hopefully we can have another strong shot.” WHAT WOULD IT MEAN TO YOU TO WIN HERE AND DO IT IN THE TOOTSIES CAR? “Yeah, that would be really cool. I was at Tootsies last night. It’s been a long week, but it’s been fun. It would mean a lot for Tootsies, for Steve (Smith), the owner of Tootsies; and also for Trackhouse Racing. The whole idea of Trackhouse was actually born here. This is one of the homes of Trackhouse, so it would be very special. If you think about it, last year, Ross (Chastain) and I, we both had a pretty solid performance here at Nashville. So, why not? We really have come from a good couple months of racing, speed-wise. We haven’t had the results that we’ve wanted; but speed-wise, we’ve had speed for two months. So, I’m really looking forward to hopefully be contending for a win on Sunday.” HOW MUCH MORE CONFIDENT DO YOU FEEL COMING INTO SUNDAY COMING OFF OF THE WIN AT SONOMA?“Honestly, the people that know me, they would tell me that I’m very confident before or after the win. The biggest change for me is just that I feel relief. I feel more relaxed. I feel that now, I don’t have to answer the question of ‘when are you going to win’. I feel like I got that one out of the way, but I do feel more relief. Confidence-wise, honestly I feel just as confident right now as I did two months ago. I knew that I could win races. Now, the only difference is that everyone knows that other than just me. Hopefully we can carry that over and get a few more.” WHAT WAS YOUR RECEPTION WHEN YOU WALKED INTO TOOTSIES?“Everyone was having a good time last night when I walked in. It was good. It was a great time. It was a lot of fun to spend some time with my team, with my pit crew. And with a lot of media; a lot of media were there. A lot of folks from NASCAR. It was very, very cool to see a lot of people from this industry outside of the race track. Personally, I don’t get to see that very often. And the couple times that I have seen it has been at Tootsies (laughs). It’s been fun. I’ve had a good time.” WE KNOW THE THING ABOUT THESE NEW CARS – AND WE HEARD EARLY ON ABOUT GETTING AIR TO THE DRIVERS AND HOW TO KEEP THEM COOL – THIS IS GOING TO BE ONE OF THE HOTTEST RACES THAT YOU’VE HAD SO FAR THIS SEASON. WHAT DO YOU DO EXTRA, THAT YOU CAN DO, TO COMBAT THAT?“Luckily, I was just in Mexico for a week and it was hot down there (laughs). So I feel like I came here a little acclimated for the heat. But the reality is, I feel like every driver in the field prepares themselves for this situation. Try to get a lot of fluids. Try to do different exercises in the heat to prepare for this weekend. But it’s going to be fun. Honestly every time that we get to the summer part of the race season, I get excited because I personally try to prepare myself as good as I can to perform as good as possible in this part of the season.  I’m excited. Hopefully it gets very, very hot; and hopefully everybody gets very, very tired.” HOW WAS THE RECEPTION FOR YOU BACK IN MEXICO GOING BACK WITH A CUP WIN?“It was quite a special moment. It was probably the most special trip I’ve ever had to Mexico. Everybody was very, very excited for me. The people that have been with me on this journey for 10 years now in the U.S., they know how hard its been on this journey. They’ve known me when the lows were low; and known me when the highs are high. It was a lot of fun to see all the people that have stuck with me. All the people that I love. Honestly, if I could write down everything I wanted it to be for that first win, it’s exactly how it happened. So, I’m very, very blessed and very fortunate.  I enjoyed it a lot, but that’s now in the past. Now, I’m looking forward to this weekend.” 12 WINNERS IN 16 RACES – FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THIS PLAYOFF FORMAT HISTORY. IT MIGHT TAKE MORE THAN ONE WIN. IS THAT SOMETHING THAT’S IN THE BACK OF YOUR MIND?“It’s not. I think that it’s very cool to see what is happening in the Playoffs right now. I feel like a big reason for this is the Next Gen car. These Next Gen cars really came to the game to change everything. The way that we work, the way that we approach things. Everyone is out there playing with pretty much the same tools and we’re seeing those results on track. You never know who’s going to be competitive. It can be a Chevy; it can be anyone really. That’s fun and I really enjoy that. Maybe I’m a little biased because we’ve been strong lately, but it’s been a lot of fun.  For me, I really try to focus on one week at a time. There is nothing I can do about Road America right now or the following race. I’m trying to put all my focus into Nashville. I take it one day at a time. I feel like we’re in a good spot. I believe that we can actually contend for more wins before the Playoffs start, so hopefully we can do that and put ourselves in a better position for the last few months of the season in the Playoffs.” IT WASN’T ONLY YOUR FIRST WIN, BUT THE FIRST WIN FOR YOUR SPOTTER, FRANKIE KIMMEL. YOU AND FRANKIE DIDN’T REALLY KNOW EACH OTHER BEFORE YOU WERE PAIRED TOGETHER AND YOU GUYS HAVE HIT IT OFF REALLY WELL. WHAT HAS IT BEEN LIKE WORKING WITH FRANKIE?“Yeah, it’s been really special. I have quite a special team. And I say team because it’s everyone – Frankie (Kimmel II); Travis (Mack), my crew chief; Jose (R. Blasco-Figueroa) and Dusty (Zacharyasz), my engineers; my mechanics; pit crew and PR people. Everyone that makes Trackhouse what it is, is very special. I feel very, very proud to have such an amazing group of people around me. I was actually talking to Travis, my crew chief, on the plane back going home from Sonoma. For most of the guys on our team, it was the first win in the Cup Series in the position they have. Travis has won races in the Cup Series, but never as a crew chief. Frankie, the same thing. It’s very special because everyone now knows what it feels like. Everyone knows what it’s like to do that and what it takes. So, I feel like not just myself, but my entire team is way more relaxed and way more relieved. That’s quite exciting to know.” YOU DON’T HAVE A NEW CONTRACT EXTENSION TO ANNOUCE, DO YOU?“I’ve been so busy doing interviews the last week that I haven’t even had time to answer Ty Norris’s calls (laughs).”

(6/23/2022 – Alex Nieten) Burlington, WA… Just one month ago, Tim Kaeding wasn’t sure he’d ever climb back in a sprint car.

Three straight incidents in a week span left him bruised and battered, but not broken.

Kaeding took a month off to heal up, contemplating whether or not racing sprint cars, something he’s spent the last 25 years doing, was something he’d be able to continue. Well, not only did he return, he came back in ideal fashion, leading flag to flag in Skagit Speedway’s 50th Annual Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup 30-lap opener Thursday night and holding off D.J. Netto to win in thrilling fashion.

Emotions flowed after the checkered flew. TK gave the fans a show with some donuts on both ends of the track, car owner Josh Bates shook with excitement, and the rest of the Bates-Hamilton crew celebrated with shouts and hugs.

The victory marked Kaeding’s 72nd NARC Fujitsu General Sprint Car victory and his first prelim win at Dirt Cup since 1999.

“To win, knowing a month ago I possibly wasn’t ever going to get back in a race car, means so much,” a choked up Kaeding said in victory lane..

The field was led to green by pole sitter Joel Myers Jr. with Kaeding to his outside. Kaeding rocketed around Myers Jr.’s to lead the opening lap. The San Jose native wasted no time in building a wide advantage, stretching his lead to nearly two seconds just a few laps in.

Just as Kaeding was about to encounter traffic, the race’s first caution flew on seven for Jonathan Allard slowing in turns one and two with front end issues.

On the restart a quick red flag on the next lap brought things to a halt as Cory Eliason, Ryan Robinson, Jesse Schlotfeldt tangled in turn three. All drivers were okay, and the stoppage became an open red as teams refueled and made adjustments.

Kaeding got a solid jump on the restart, jumping ahead as the race established a rhythm. After a couple of laps, Myers Jr. began to reel Kaeding as the race approached the halfway mark. With traffic looming and Myers Jr. on TK’s tail, a battle for the lead seemed to be brewing. However, that potential duel was derailed when Myers Jr. got above the cushion in turn three on lap 14 and hit the wall, sending him flipping and ending his night.

The incident gifted D.J. Netto the runner-up spot.

When racing resumed the action was again quickly halted for a violent crash. Austen Wheatley made contact with Kerry Madsen on the backstretch, causing Wheatley to get upside down and leaving Tanner Holmes nowhere to go as Holmes came into turn three and slammed into

Wheatley. Holmes was shaken but exited the car under his own power, and Wheatley was transported to a local hospital after complaint of back pain.

One last caution for a spinning Willie Croft on lap 20 set up an 11 lap sprint to the finish.

Kaeding initially jumped ahead to a comfortable advantage, gapping Netto by over a second as the race dipped inside 10 laps to to go. As the duo approached the tail of the field, Netto began to cut into the lead each lap, until finally pulling right on Kaeding’s tail tank as the white flag flew.

Netto dipped to Kaeding’s inside in turn one, but Kaeding powered ahead down the backstretch. In turn three Netto threw one last haymaker, sticking the bottom perfectly and even inching ahead about midway through turns three and four. As the two exited turn four Netto drifted high, and Kaeding slipped through the narrow gap between Netto’s machine and the wall to win by a mere nine one-hundredths of a second in the Teichert/Vinyltech No. 42X.

“I knew D.J. was back there, I heard him coming,” Kaeding said. “I’ve got to thank the entire Bates-Hamilton team, Brad, Roger and Lori Hamilton, and Josh Bates. These guys bust their butts.”

With a prelim victory under his belt, Kaeding now has the ultimate goal in the crosshairs. The two-time NARC champ is yet to win a Dirt Cup championship, but he has three runner-ups at the Northwest’s premier event. He’s tired of playing bridesmaid.

“I can run second at this place better than anybody,” Kaeding said. “This year I’m going to win this son of a b***h because I’m taking it back to California.”

Netto, making his Dirt Cup debut this week, brought his Netto Ag No. 88N home in the runner-up spot to kickoff the weekend strong.

“We needed traffic to start moving around,” Netto explained. “We got to it right there at the end, and I was like, ‘well, I’ve got one shot at this’ when I was coming to the white (flag). I was able to hit the bottom really good in (turns) one and two, which I was doing early in the race, so I knew the speed I could carry. And I thought I could get him cleared down there (turns three and four), but the top was still really fast.”

Completing the podium was Tarlton Motorsports pilot Mitchell Faccinto. The strong run was a much needed one as he ended a recent stretch of bad luck.

“I was really happy with it,” Faccinto said of his night. “It’s miles ahead of where we’ve been the last couple weeks. We’ve just been struggling a little bit, but I felt really good all night.”

The balance of the top-10 included Justin Sanders, Corey Day (from 23rd), Tyler Courtney (from 16th), Tyler Thompson, Zeb Wise, Kerry Madsen, and Jason Solwold.

FUJITSU GENERAL USA FEATURE (30 laps): 1. Tim Kaeding 42X 2. D.J. Netto 88N 3. Mitchell Faccinto 21T 4. Justin Sanders 2X 5. Corey Day 14 6. Tyler Courtney 57W  7. Tyler Thompson 7 8. Zeb Wise 26R 9. Kerry Madsen 83JR 10. Jason Solwold 18 11. Shane Golobic 17W 12. Dominic Scelzi 41 13. Nick Parker 115 14. Trey Starks 55 15. Blake Carrick 38B 16. Willie Croft 29 17. Bud Kaeding 69 18. Jonathan Allard 0 19. Austen Wheatley 44W 20. Tanner Holmes 18T 21. Joel Myers Jr. 46JR 22. Ryan Robinson 56 23. Cory Eliason 26C 24. Jesse Schlotfeldt 21

METTEC TITANIUM LAP LEADERS:  T. Kaeding 1-30

ARP QUICK QUALIFIER (43 cars): Dominic Scelzi – 11.311 seconds

BROWN AND MILLER RACING SOLUTIONS HEAT ONE (10 laps):  Sanders, Allard, Myers Jr., Day, Scelzi, Starks, Croft, Lemley, Linder, Jacobson, Fauver

KIMO’s TROPICAL CAR WASH HEAT TWO (10 laps): Eliason, T. Kaeding, B. Carrick, Courtney, Faccinto, Ringo, Solwold, Holmes, Caruana, Aton,

DIRT.TRAVEL CLUB HEAT THREE (10 laps):  Hamilton, Schlotfeldt, Wise, Netto, Golobic, Becker, Robinson, Didiuk, Gomes, Youngquist, Johnson

KAEDING PERFORMANCE HEAT FOUR (10 laps): T. Carrick, Thompson, Wheatley, B. Kaeding, Mittry, Parker, Forler, Glenn, Sucich, Madsen

STARR PROPERTY MANAGEMENT SEMI (15 laps): Eliason, Allard, Day, Schlotfeldt, T. Carrick, Mittry, Didiuk, Linder, Forler, Aton, Tingo, Gomes, Johnson, Jacobsen, Youngquist, Becker, Lemley, Caruana, Glenn

Richard Childress Racing at Nashville Superspeedway … Nashville Superspeedway opened for business in 2001 and hosted its first NASCAR Cup Series event in 2021. Austin Dillon led RCR in the inaugural Cup Series event with a respectable 12th-place finish. Dillon also owns a victory in the Truck Series at Nashville in 2011. He won the pole, leading 56 of 150 laps with an average running position of 2.207.   Racing in Music City … NASCAR has a rich tradition in Nashville with the Cup Series competing at Fairgrounds Speedway dating back to 1958. Car owner Richard Childress made 20 starts at the .596-mile oval as a driver from 1971-1981. He had six starts there as an owner with drivers Ricky Rudd and Dale Earnhardt from 1982-1984. The duo combined to score three top-five finishes led by Earnhardt’s third-place effort in July 1984.   RCR In the NASCAR Xfinity Series at Nashville … Richard Childress Racing has 38 starts in NASCAR Xfinity Series competition at Nashville Superspeedway. The organization has three wins at the 1.33-mile track with three different drivers: Kevin Harvick (2001), Clint Bowyer (2005) and Scott Wimmer (2008). RCR owns two 1-2 finishes at Nashville: Harvick and Bowyer in 2006; Wimmer and Bowyer in 2008. The Welcome, N.C., based organization has 16 top-five and 22 top-10 finishes entering Saturday’s race.    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 Tennessee Lottery 250 at Nashville Superspeedway will be televised live on Saturday, June 25 beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET on USA and will be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.  Follow Sunday’s Action at Nashville … The Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway will be televised live on Sunday, June 26 beginning at 5 p.m. ET on NBC and will be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

This Week’s Bass Pro Shops / TRACKER Off Road Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 at Nashville Superspeedway … Austin Dillon raced in the inaugural NASCAR Cup Series event at Nashville Superspeedway in 2021, finishing 12th after starting 28th. He made two NASCAR Xfinity Series starts for Kevin Harvick, Inc. at the track in 2011, earning a third-place finish among two top-10 finishes. In Four NASCAR Truck Series starts at Nashville, Dillon has earned one win and one pole award.  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 QUOTES:When you think of Nashville Superspeedway, what are some of the memories and experiences that come to mind for you?“Nashville Superspeedway kicked off my NASCAR Cup Series career. One of my first Cup tests was at Nashville. I remember going there to test with the team leading into the season and having a really good time. We won there in the NASCAR Truck Series and finished third there in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with KHI. We had fun at Nashville. It was a good track for me. I didn’t feel like the Cup race at Nashville was as good for our team as I had expected going into the race. We finished decent. I think we were 12th. But I know we are capable of running better than that at Nashville so I’m looking forward to going back.” What is cool about Nashville Superspeedway?I think what’s cool and what I enjoyed about Nashville is people fought for that bottom line and you really had to be disciplined and not miss your exit leaving the corner at Nashville. The car that rotated the most was pretty good. It’s been a good track for us in the past, and I think it will be interesting to go back there with a year of Cup racing under our belt at the track.”

This Week’s 3CHI Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 at Nashville Superspeedway … Tyler Reddick has one start at Nashville Superspeedway, finishing 18th in the inaugural event in 2021. Reddick has four top-10 finishes on super speedways this season, ranking him fifth overall among active drivers on tracks over one mile in length. Reddick is also scheduled to compete in the No. 48 Big Machine Racing Chevrolet in the NASCAR Xfinity Series event this weekend at Nashville.     3CHI Blazed the Trail for Another Industry First … 3CHI and Richard Childress Racing created another first with their partnership for the 2022 NASCAR season. 3CHI began with roots as a CBD producer and quickly became a pioneer in science-based hemp and cannabis innovation. The company was the first to commercially develop and market Delta 8 THC, and today, 3CHI is an industry leader with unsurpassed product quality and purity as verified by top independent labs and benchmark organizations. 3CHI products are sold in a majority of the United States, and the company produces and markets a variety of gummies, tinctures, lotions, edibles and vape products. All 3CHI products meet federal requirements for full legal compliance, with a commitment to promoting responsible adult use. See 3CHI.com for more information.  TYLER REDDICK QUOTES:What are your expectations for Nashville this weekend?“Nashville Superspeedway is going to be really hot and slick this weekend. We saw last year that the track was physical and hard on the race cars. The track time that I’m getting in the Xfinity Series will certainly help on the Cup side. It’s a new car with the new track again and we’ve been going through that a bit this year. We’ve been pretty good at races like that. The Next Gen car has been good pretty much everywhere we’ve been so our confidence is high. We’ll see how the heat and this new car come into play at Nashville. We’ve struggled a little bit on the concrete tracks so we’ll see if we’ve made that a little bit better. Nashville was good for us last year. We had a strong car and it will be good to get the extra seat time.” Do you expect the track to change a lot during the weekend?“We’ve got to keep an eye on how much the resin is going to wear off of the track during the race weekend. We saw that in the Cup and Xfinity races last year. It will start wearing out from the bottom up as the Goodyear tires burn the resin off. Most likely that’s going to move the line on the racetrack around as the race goes. The track should change a lot throughout the race. We’ll just have to keep up with it with our 3CHI Chevrolet as always.”

This Week’s Whelen Engineering Chevrolet Camaro SS at Nashville Superspeedway … Sheldon Creed will make his first NASCAR Xfinity Series start at Nashville Superspeedway on Saturday. Last season, he made his first and only national series start at the Tennessee track in the Truck Series. He started 24th and finished 14th, completing all 150 race laps. In his rookie season, Creed has six top-10 finishes in 14 starts with an average start of 9.9 and an average finish of 19.0. He’s led 28 laps and completed 92.4 percent of laps attempted. The Xfinity Series had the last two weekends off and the team heads to Nashville Superspeedway in search of their first victory and punching their ticket to the Playoffs. 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. SHELDON CREED QUOTES:You’re making your first Xfinity Series start at Nashville Superspeedway this weekend. What are you looking forward to?“When we went to Nashville Superspeedway last season in the Truck Series, it was a really fun race. The atmosphere was awesome and you could tell how excited people were for the race. With it being my first time in an Xfinity car at the track, the only thing I can really take from the truck race is the track itself. Our team has been taking a lot of notes and preparing for the race. It’s nice that we’ve got practice and qualifying to make sure our car is where we want it for the start of the race. I’m excited to get to Nashville. The off week has been really special for me as I welcomed my son, Axel, to the world with my wife, Cami. They’re both doing great and I’ve gotten to spend some quality time with them and now I’m ready to get to the track and go win for my team. We’ve had a really up and down season so far but ours win is coming.”

This Week’s Bennett Transportation and Logistics Chevrolet Camaro SS at Nashville Superspeedway … Austin Hill will make his second Xfinity Series start at Nashville Superspeedway on Saturday. Last season, he competed in the race and started 15th and finished ninth. Saturday afternoon’s race will be his first at the Tennessee track as a full-time Xfinity Series driver for RCR. Hill has one win so far this season as well as six top fives and seven top-10 finishes. He’s led 146 laps and completed 98.7 percent of laps attempted. The Xfinity Series had the last two weekends off and the team heads to Nashville Superspeedway looking for redemption after a hard-found third-place finish at Portland International Raceway. Currently, Hill is eighth in the driver standings. 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 QUOTES:You ran in the Xfinity Series race at Nashville last season and had a very decent result. What are you looking forward to for this weekend’s race?“Last season’s race was a lot of fun and I was able to take home a ninth-place finish in a car that I didn’t drive every weekend. It’s nice to be able to have some notes from that race and use them for this weekend. The racetrack was really fun to run on and it felt like once you could get your car dialed in and figure out the best place to run on the track, you could move around in traffic. Hopefully it’s the same this weekend and we can be the car up front. Practice will be helpful and then we qualify on Saturday and jump right into the race so there will be some track changes to keep an eye on. I’m looking forward to getting back after these two off weeks. I think our team has really been dialed in and we’re ready to go.”

TUNE-IN ALERT! Mission Lima Half-Mile LIVE on FansChoice.tv

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (June 24, 2022) – The 2022 Progressive American Flat Track season resumes this weekend with the Mission Lima Half-Mile at the Allen County Fairgrounds in Lima, Ohio, on Saturday, June 25. All three Progressive AFT classes – Mission SuperTwins presented by S&S Cycle, Mission Production Twins presented by Vance & Hines, and Parts Unlimited AFT Singles presented by KICKER – will be back in action with the day’s first practice scheduled to start at 3:30 p.m. ET (12:30 p.m. PT). Catch the livestream of all the weekend’s racing activities on FansChoice.tv. FansChoice.tvprovides free-to-view livestreaming of Practice and Qualifying. FansChoice.tv subscribers will then be able to watch the drama unfold from Opening Ceremonies through the Semis, Main Events, and podium celebrations. FansChoice.tv offers two subscription options, granting unlimited access to premium AFT content. Monthly subscriptions start at just $7.99, while a six-month subscription is available for $44.99.

Pierce runs second, Blair nabs third-straight third-place finish

LEWISTOWN, IL – June 23, 2022 – Spoon River Speedway flagger DJ Adams waived the green flag; two laps to go for race leader Cade Dillard. Just three-quarters of a mile away from his first DIRTcar Summer Nationals victory. And then, caution.

Dillard and his S&S Fishing & Rental/Black Diamond Race Cars #97 slowed significantly coming out of Turn 4 and pulled to the infield, done for the race. He and crew chief Donnie Pederson took a look underneath the car and saw the broken drive shaft yoke that caused the loss of power to the rear wheels; their hopes of a first career Hell Tour victory now dashed.

The Robeline, LA-driver led 37 consecutive laps before the breakdown and was maintaining a near one-second advantage over second-place Tanner English, but ultimately came up just two laps short of the $5,000 grand prize.

“Around the five-to-go area, Donnie was telling me I had a decent little lead and we were pulling away,” Dillard said. “Right before I broke, I got comfortable and just made sure to hit my marks, and figured as long as I didn’t mess up, it was ours.

“It just wasn’t meant to be.”

This handed the lead over to English, who encountered a fierce challenge to his outside from a high-flying Bobby Pierce in the final two laps, but held on for his third career Summer Nationals victory.

“I thought [Dillard] thought the race was over, I didn’t really know,” English recalled when he saw the #97 slowing. “I saw the green flag come out, and that meant two-to-go, and then he pulled down. I didn’t know what had happened.

“I just hate it for him, because I’ve been there.”

Dillard was in the midst of turning around a train of bad luck in his first two Summer Nationals starts this week – which consisted of a DNQ and an 18th-place run Wednesday at Adams County Speedway – qualifying quickest in his group, then winning his Heat Race and redrawing the outside pole for the Feature. He and the team worked hard, and though it didn’t end how they envisioned, they were proud of the efforts they made to get there.

“It’s just me and Donnie, and we’re working hard,” Dillard said. “I know it’s a lot of miles no matter where I go race. It’s a lot of work and a lot of time away from home. To be able to put yourself in position to win these things is good because they’re hard to come by.”

“To let one slip away from me like that is tough, but we’ll keep working hard and try and put ourselves in position.”

English celebrated in Summer Nationals Victory Lane for the first time since his win at Tri-City Speedway last year after a charge from 10th on the starting grid. He made crucial, quick passes toward the end of the race that set him up to be in position when Dillard broke at the end and get the win.

“I had to go where they weren’t; they were kinda all over the place,” English said of his late passes for position. “Some were on the top, some were on the bottom. A lot of times, if they were on the bottom, I just had to wait for them to make a mistake and I could take advantage of it.”

After starting fourth, Pierce came back from as deep as seventh at one point to finish second. The Oakwood, IL-driver was able to make the top groove work in the closing laps, and nearly stole the win out of Turn 4 coming to the checkered, crossing the stripe just .159-seconds after English.

Max Blair, of Centerville, PA, crossed in third for the third-straight time this week. Ryan Unzicker was fourth, and Brian Shirley completed the top-five.

UP NEXT

The DIRTcar Summer Nationals clashes with the World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Model Series in the two-day St. Louis Firecracker Faceoff Friday-Saturday, June 24-25, at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55. If you can’t be at the track, watch every lap live on DIRTVision.

ABBREVIATED RESULTS (view full results)

Feature 40 Laps | 00:20:15.965

1. 81E-Tanner English[10]; 2. 32-Bobby Pierce[4]; 3. 111V-Max Blair[8]; 4. 24-Ryan Unzicker[14]; 5. 3S-Brian Shirley[11]; 6. 25-Jason Feger[3]; 7. 11-Gordy Gundaker[1]; 8. 36-Logan Martin[6]; 9. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[7]; 10. 86-Kyle Beard[15]; 11. F1- Payton Freeman[12]; 12. 18-Shannon Babb[21]; 13. 44-Blaze Burwell[17]; 14. 14G-Joe Godsey[9]; 15. 26M-Brent McKinnon[5]; 16. 77-Preston Luckman[20]; 17. 0-Deshawn Gingerich[13]; 18. 97-Cade Dillard[2]; 19. 14R-Jeff Roth[19]; 20. 30-Mark Voigt[18]; 21. 15-Justin Duty[16]; 22. 80-Rich Dawson[22]

PLAY DEEP: Hoffman Charges from Ninth to win Seventh-Straight at Spoon River

A tough field of local cars, regional invaders, and a season-low ninth-place starting spot. Nothing was going to get in Nick Hoffman’s way of a seventh-straight DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals victory Thursday night at Spoon River Speedway.

After qualifying fourth in his group and running third in his Heat Race, Hoffman found himself in the deepest hole he’d been in so far on the Hell Tour, with a ninth-place starting spot for the 25-lap Feature.

The green flag dropped and polesitter Will Krup took off, opening up a nice advantage on the field that stretched to over 1.5 seconds at one point. By Lap 4, Hoffman had already taken sixth. By Lap 10, he was fifth. With six laps remaining, he was just .7 seconds behind Krup and closing fast.

“Once I got to fifth and saw Tyler [Nicely] and those guys in front of me, they were only about a half-straightaway out… I was like, ‘man, I think I can get this done if I just clear these lapped cars the way I need to,’” Hoffman said.

“Once I got past Nicely, that put me into third behind Allen and Will [Krup], the track was just getting slicker and slower, which was coming to me and going away from them.”

With a look to the inside when Krup pushed up the track slightly, Hoffman zoomed past Krup for the lead coming to two-to-go and took it to the checkers for his seventh Feature win in seven starts.

“I told [Krup] before the race, I said, ‘Plan on seeing me,’” Hoffman said lightheartedly. “I told him at the time, I was just kinda screwing with him, ‘You’ll probably see me around Lap 10.’ Saying I was going to pass a car a lap, and I knew that wasn’t gonna be the case.”

Krup said he had no idea Hoffman was closing until Hoffman poked his nose underneath to try and make the pass. Some lapped traffic impeded his line in the final laps, and he was unable to get back at Hoffman as he drove away with the win.

“I couldn’t really see my stick guy down there in Turn 3,” Krup said, recalling leading the field around in the later stages of the race. “It was dusty enough in the lights and I couldn’t quite see him. I didn’t really know what kind of lead I had the whole race, but I knew the laps were coming down.”

UP NEXT

The Summit Modifieds join the card in the inaugural St. Louis Firecracker Faceoff Friday-Saturday, June 24-25, racing alongside the DIRTcar Summer Nationals Late Models vs. World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Model Series clash, and the Xtreme Outlaw Sprint Car Series presented by Low-E Insulation.

If you can’t be at the track, watch all the action live on DIRTVision.

ABBREVIATED RESULTS (view full results)

Feature 25 Laps | 00:06:51.163

1. 2-Nick Hoffman[9]; 2. K9-Will Krup[2]; 3. 25-Tyler Nicely[5]; 4. 05-Dave Wietholder[7]; 5. 292-Josh Allen[3]; 6. 36-Kenny Wallace[6]; 7. 12L-Lucas Lee[8]; 8. 8-Kyle Steffens[1]; 9. 31-Mark Anderson[4]; 10. 10K-Kelly Kovski[12]; 11. 96M-Mike McKinney[13]; 12. 130-Chase Allen[18]; 13. 3-Mike Brooks[15]; 14. 35-Brandon Roberts[10]; 15. 77-Ray Bollinger[16]; 16. 242-Brandon Bollinger[11]; 17. 08-Michael Claeys[14]; 18. 87-Blake Woodruff[17]; 19. 99B-Brandyn Ryan[19]; 20. 69- Derek Roberts[23]; 21. 54-Zachary Hawk[20]; 22. 20-Brian Kidder[21]; 23. (DNS) 777-Trevor Neville

Kofoid, McFadden, PPM, Zearfoss, Schuerenberg Lead High Bank Nationals Points After Thursday

BRANDON, SD – June 23, 2022 – Michael Kofoid was merely nine-years-old when he strapped in and manhandled a Sprint Car for the first time.

It was a life-changing experience for the Penngrove, CA native and drastically shaped his path to motorsports stardom at the ripe age of 20-years-old. Before Thursday, he was already a proven ace with a USAC National Midget championship, All Star Circuit of Champions victories, a Trophy Cup title, and success in the NASCAR Truck Series.

Of all those noteworthy accomplishments, though, nothing compares to what the kid they call “Buddy” finally achieved on Thursday night at Huset’s Speedway.

Winning night one of the inaugural High Bank Nationals, Kofoid fulfilled a childhood dream by beating the best Sprint Car drivers in the world to claim his first-career win with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series. It was only his 16th start against The Greatest Show on Dirt and marked the first World of Outlaws win for car owner Crouch Motorsports, as well.

The young phenom started on the outside pole and drove by Brock Zearfoss to lead Lap four, but it wasn’t smooth sailing from there. Australian James McFadden passed the Indy Race Parts #11 on Lap 21, but Kofoid showed the prowess of a seasoned veteran as he regrouped, drove back by J-Mac, and mastered lap traffic over the final stages to earn a margin of victory at 2.177-seconds.

“I’m speechless,” an ecstatic Kofoid let out. “I’ve wanted to win a World of Outlaws for as long as I can remember. This is by far the biggest win of my career. To say I’ve beaten the best in the world is unbelievable. This is so special, wow. I knew our car was fast all day yesterday, and then today I knew we would have a chance. My guys Brad [Alexander] and Blade [Kearns] do one hell of a job, it’s just us three here this week. I have to thank Leighton Crouch and Bernie Stuebgen for everything they do for us as well. This is incredible.”

In becoming the 148th different winner in Series history, Kofoid (442) also escaped Thursday as the initial high point man at the High Bank Nationals. He currently leads James McFadden (441), Parker Price-Miller (433), Brock Zearfoss (431), and Hunter Schuerenberg (431) with the top-four in combined points following Friday set to lock-in for Saturday’s $100,000-to-win finale.

James McFadden of Alice Springs, NT, AUS capped off his whirlwind night with a season-best second-place finish aboard the Roth Motorsports #83. Things started on a bad note when Justin [Adams], Gary [Woodman], and Rob [Beattie] were forced to change engines during Hot Laps, but it all turned around as J-Mac timed in fifth quick and then drove from fifth-to-second in his Heat Race.

The reigning Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year slid by Kofoid to lead the 21st lap in Thursday’s Feature, but a slight bobble in lap traffic the next time by allowed Kofoid to reclaim the point, and he never let it go from there. McFadden settled for a season-best runner-up as he continues to chase the 99th World of Outlaws win for car owners, Dennis & Teresa Roth.

“I got so caught up with lap cars there, it seemed like some of them were racing for the lead and that hurt me the most,” McFadden mentioned. “That is what killed my momentum the most when I got to Buddy for the lead. This Roth Motorsports car was great tonight, though. We’ve got the qualifying package figured out and now we’re back up front come Feature time. I’ve always enjoyed this place and hope to keep this rolling tomorrow.”

Earning his first World of Outlaws podium finish since 2020 was Parker Price-Miller in third-place aboard the Sam McGhee Motorsports #11. The two-time Series winner was c”

“We put a new engine in and changed the fueling from last night, and that made a huge difference for us tonight,” PPM noted. “I was really good late in the going here, but I just started too tight in the beginning. All in all, a great run for us. Landing on the podium against a field like this is always impressive. We’ve just gotta keep this going tomorrow night,”

Brock Zearfoss, who led the first three circuits from pole position, fell back to finish a season-best fourth in the Moose’s LZ Bar & Grill #3Z. Also earning his first World of Outlaws top-five of 2022 was Hunter Schuerenberg, an All Star Circuit of Champions regular, who finished P5 in the Tony Vermeer owned #55.

Rounding out the top-10 on Thursday night was David Gravel in the Big Game Motorsports #2, Sheldon Haudenschildin the Stenhouse Jr. / Marshall Racing #17, Giovanni Scelzi in the KCP Racing #18, Logan Schuchart in the Shark Racing #1S, and Carson Macedo in the Jason Johnson Racing #41.

NOS NOTEBOOK (HUSET’S SPEEDWAY, 6/23/22)

Buddy Kofoid’s first-career victory makes him the 148th different winner in World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series history. He’s the 29th driver from the state of California to win with The Greatest Show on Dirt, and the first in history to earn his initial triumph at Brandon, SD’s Huset’s Speedway.

The entire top-five on Thursday night all set a new season-best finish with the World of Outlaws – Kofoid (1st), McFadden (2nd), Price-Miller (3rd), Zearfoss (4th), and Schuerenberg (5th).

Spencer Bayston topped My Place Hotels Qualifying at the 1/3-mile oval, becoming the eighth driver to earn multiple Slick Woody’s QuickTime Awards this season.

Six inverted NOS Energy Drink Heat Races were won by Logan Schuchart (98th career), Mitchel Moles (1st career), Brooke Tatnell (52nd career), Austin McCarl (4th career), Hunter Schuerenberg (5th career), and Mark Dobmeier (17th career).

Advancing +16 positions, Sheldon Haudenschild’s 23rd-to-seventh bid equaled the largest run for the KSE Hard Charger Award this season, as he earned the Award for a Series-leading fifth time on Thursday.

Championship leader Brad Sweet (involved in Lap 1 crash) finished 14th, only his fourth result outside the top-10 through 30 races. Thus, the standings again tightened with the entire top-five now separated by only 64 points.

UP NEXT (Thur-Sat) – The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series continues a weeklong affair at Huset’s Speedway in Brandon, SD with the inaugural High Bank Nationals on Friday-Saturday capped off by a mega $100,000-to-win finale. Fans can BUY TICKETS HERE, or watch every lap LIVE on DIRTVision.

NOS Energy Drink Feature Results (35 Laps) – 1. 11-Buddy Kofoid [2][$15,000]; 2. 83-James McFadden [5][$6,000]; 3. 11P-Parker Price-Miller [6][$3,500]; 4. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [1][$2,800]; 5. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [4][$2,500]; 6. 2-David Gravel [9][$2,300]; 7. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [23][$2,200]; 8. 18-Giovanni Scelzi [7][$2,100]; 9. 1S-Logan Schuchart [13][$2,050]; 10. 41-Carson Macedo [11][$2,000]; 11. 24-Rico Abreu [14][$1,600]; 12. 1A-Jacob Allen [8][$1,400]; 13. 15H-Sam Hafertepe [10][$1,200]; 14. 49-Brad Sweet [16][$1,100]; 15. 88-Austin McCarl [15][$1,050]; 16. O9-Matt Juhl [3][$1,000]; 17. 5-Spencer Bayston [21][$1,000]; 18. 15-Donny Schatz [24][$1,000]; 19. 16-Brooke Tatnell [17][$1,000]; 20. 25-JJ Hickle [20][$1,000]; 21. 19AZ-Mitchel Moles [12][$1,000]; 22. 13-Mark Dobmeier [19][$1,000]; 23. 21K-Thomas Kennedy [18][$1,000]; 24. 7S-Robbie Price [22][$1,000]. Lap Leaders: Brock Zearfoss 1-3; Buddy Kofoid 4, 21-35; James McFadden 20. KSE Hard Charger Award: 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[+16].

NEW Championship Standings (Through 30/77 Races): 1. Brad Sweet (4,016); 2. Sheldon Haudenschild (-32); 3. Carson Macedo (-34); 4. David Gravel (-58); 5. Logan Schuchart (-64); 6. Donny Schatz (-154); 7. Spencer Bayston (-170); 8. James McFadden (-212); 9. Jacob Allen (-348); 10. Brock Zearfoss (-488).

High Bank Nationals Points (After Thursday): 1. Buddy Kofoid (442); 2. James McFadden (441); 3. Parker Price-Miller (433); 4. Brock Zearfoss (431); 5. Hunter Schuerenberg (431); 6. David Gravel (423); 7. Giovanni Scelzi (418); 8. Sheldon Haudenschild (413); 9. Logan Schuchart (411); 10. Carson Macedo (410); 11. Jacob Allen (406); 12. Rico Abreu (406); 13. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (402); 14. Matt Juhl (395); 15. Brad Sweet (394); 16. Austin McCarl (393); 17. Brooke Tatnell (379); 18. Mitchel Moles (377); 19. Spencer Bayston (376); 20. Donny Schatz (376)…

Sarver, PA (June 23, 2022) – Mike Marlar overtook race leader Ashton Winger on lap four and held off a furious late-race charge by Brandon Overton to win preliminary night number one of the 16th Annual Firecracker 100 Presented by Big River Steel. Marlar earned $6,000 for the 30-lap victory, his first this season with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series. Overton came home in second followed by four-time Series Champion Earl Pearson Jr., current series points leader Brandon Sheppard, and Tyler Erb, who rounded out the top five. Winger, currently the top driver in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Rookie-of-the-Year chase led the first three laps from his pole starting spot before yielded the point to Marlar, who had started alongside him. Marlar had Pearson and Overton breathing down his neck in the race for the lead. A red flag with eight laps in for Chub Frank, who rolled his car his turn two, halted the race. Frank emerged uninjured in the mishap. When the race went back green Marlar steadily pulled away from the battle for second between Pearson and Overton. Overton eventually cleared Pearson for second and set his sights on Marlar who was having to negotiate heavy traffic in the waning laps of the race. With a few laps to go there were no lapped cars between the top two drivers, but Marlar, who nearly slipped over the turn two embankment was able to regroup and get to the finish line winning by 1.063 seconds over the reigning Firecracker 100 winner. In Lucas Oil Victory Lane for the 17th time in his career, the only three-time Lucas Oil Knoxville Late Model Nationals winner was relieved to see the checkered flag as he nearly slipped off the turn two corner with just a few laps to go. “I kind of figured out what my car needed there and drove around a couple of issues I was having. With this tough of competition that is here you can’t be messing around out there. The guys in front of me there at the end was messing with my air. I just about went out of there a couple of times. It was definitely an awesome race track we used every bit of it, on the bottom, the top, the middle, and everywhere. Lernerville always provides an awesome track.” “You just use this night to build off of,” said the 44-year-old Tennessee native in becoming the 13th different winner this year with the series. “We know we a had a car to win a 30-lapper right there, we’ve got to work on it a little better. It was pretty close out of the box tonight and it’s always good to start that way instead of having to try and reel something back in during the night.” Overton, who finished third behind Chris Madden and Jonathan Davenport in last week’s $50,000 to win Mountain Moonshine Classic at Smoky Mountain Speedway charged from fifth to the runner-up spot on Thursday night at Lernerville. “We definitely put ourselves in a good position on the first night. The track was so good on the bottom, and you could sling the crumbs up the track. You could move around a little, the car felt really good in the middle of the track. We will continue to work on it and give it another shot tomorrow night.” “It was a good points night for us, it will get us lined-up well for a heat race for Saturday if we have a good run tomorrow,” said Pearson, who rounded out the podium in third. “For my guys they done an outstanding job. The track was pretty racy there. Overton seemed to be pretty good through the middle and Marlar was good around the top there and I just stayed around the bottom. We will work on it tomorrow and see if we get a few more spots tomorrow night.” The winner’s Ronnie Delk-owned Longhorn Chassis is powered by a Cornett Racing Engine and sponsored by Delk Equipment, Tri-Rivers Equipment, Rockets Convenient Plus, Bilstein Shocks, Mesilla Valley Transportation, Can-Am Salvage, and Capital CapSigns.com. Completing the top ten were Jonathan Davenport, Mark Whitener, Tim McCreadie, Ashton Winger, and Garrett Alberson. Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Race Summary Firecracker 100 Presented by Big River SteelThursday, June 23rd, 2022Lernerville Speedway – Sarver, PA Allstar Performance Time TrialsFast Time Group A: Daulton Wilson / 15.291 seconds (overall)Fast Time Group B: Mike Marlar / 15.346 seconds Penske Race Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 89-Ashton Winger[2]; 2. 58W-Mark Whitener[3]; 3. 49-Jonathan Davenport[5]; 4. 18D-Daulton Wilson[1]; 5. 94C-Charles Powell[4]; 6. 10M-Jared Miley[9]; 7. 22-Gregg Satterlee[6]; 8. 1C-Alex Ferree[7]; 9. 14-Dan Angelicchio[8] Summit Racing Equipment Heat Race #2 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 46-Earl Pearson Jr[2]; 2. 1*-Chub Frank[1]; 3. 0E-Rick Eckert[3]; 4. 2D-Dan Stone[5]; 5. 20-Jimmy Owens[4]; 6. 12D-Doug Drown[6]; 7. 66-Todd Bachman[7]; 8. 22B-Darrell Bossard[8]; 9. 29-Ken Schaltenbrand[9] Simpson Race Products Heat Race #3 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 76-Brandon Overton[1]; 2. 58-Garrett Alberson[2]; 3. 72-Michael Norris[8]; 4. 21L-Matt Lux[7]; 5. 77-Tyler Dietz[5]; 6. 9Y-Levi Yetter[6]; 7. 1Z-Logan Zarin[4]; 8. 11J-Joshua Powell[9]; 9. 7-Ross Robinson[3] Ohlins Shocks Heat Race #4 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 157-Mike Marlar[1]; 2. 1-Brandon Sheppard[2]; 3. 7T-Drake Troutman[4]; 4. 1CJ-Ryan Montgomery[3]; 5. 39-Tim McCreadie[6]; 6. 8-Kyle Strickler[5]; 7. 11AC-Trevor Collins[7]; 8. 25S-Cory Sines[8]; 9. 9-Breyton Santee[9] Wrisco Industries Heat Race #5 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 1T-Tyler Erb[1]; 2. 71-Hudson O’Neal[4]; 3. 22F-Chris Ferguson[5]; 4. 3RK-Daryl Charlier[3]; 5. 11H-Gale Huey[7]; 6. 10-Gary Lyle[9]; 7. 11-Spencer Hughes[2]; 8. 44-Joe Petyak[6]; 9. 112-Brandon Little[8] Lucas Oil Heat Race #6 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. J4-John Garvin Jr[1]; 2. 0-Scott Bloomquist[5]; 3. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[2]; 4. 48-Colton Flinner[9]; 5. 10G-Garrett Smith[3]; 6. 9Z-Mason Zeigler[4]; 7. 17T-Tim Vance[7]; 8. 17SS-Brenden Smith[6]; 9. 9J-Joe Loffredo[8] Fast Shafts B-Main #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 18D-Daulton Wilson[1]; 2. 20-Jimmy Owens[4]; 3. 10M-Jared Miley[5]; 4. 22-Gregg Satterlee[7]; 5. 29-Ken Schaltenbrand[12]; 6. 1C-Alex Ferree[9]; 7. 94C-Charles Powell[3]; 8. 2D-Dan Stone[2]; 9. 22B-Darrell Bossard[10]; 10. 14-Dan Angelicchio[11]; 11. 12D-Doug Drown[6]; 12. 66-Todd Bachman[8] UNOH B-Main #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 21L-Matt Lux[1]; 2. 39-Tim McCreadie[4]; 3. 8-Kyle Strickler[6]; 4. 1CJ-Ryan Montgomery[2]; 5. 77-Tyler Dietz[3]; 6. 1Z-Logan Zarin[7]; 7. 9Y-Levi Yetter[5]; 8. 7-Ross Robinson[11]; 9. 25S-Cory Sines[10]; 10. 11AC-Trevor Collins[8]; 11. 9-Breyton Santee[12]; 12. 11J-Joshua Powell[9] Lucas Oil B-Main #3 Finish (10 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 3RK-Daryl Charlier[1]; 2. 48-Colton Flinner[2]; 3. 10-Gary Lyle[5]; 4. 9Z-Mason Zeigler[6]; 5. 17T-Tim Vance[8]; 6. 10G-Garrett Smith[4]; 7. 44-Joe Petyak[9]; 8. 17SS-Brenden Smith[10]; 9. 112-Brandon Little[11]; 10. 11H-Gale Huey[3]; 11. 11-Spencer Hughes[7]; 12. (DNS) 9J-Joe Loffredo Firecracker 100 Presented by Big River Steel – Night 1 Feature Finish (30 Laps):

Race StatisticsEntrants: 54Lap Leaders: Ashton Winger (Laps 1-3); Mike Marlar (Laps 4-30)Wrisco Feature Winner: Mike MarlarArizona Sport Shirts Crown Jewel Cup Feature Winner: n/aBrandon Ford TV Challenge Feature Winner: n/aMargin of Victory: 1.063 secondsStop-Tech Cautions: John Garvin Jr (Lap 7); Chub Frank (Lap 8)Series Provisionals: n/aFast Time Provisional: n/aSeries Emergency Provisionals: n/aTrack Provisionals: n/aBig River Steel Podium Top 3: Mike Marlar, Brandon Overton, Earl Pearson, Jr.Penske Shocks Top 5: Mike Marlar, Brandon Overton, Earl Pearson, Jr., Brandon Sheppard, Tyler ErbOptima Batteries Hard Charger of the Race: Tim McCreadie (Advanced 15 Positions)Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Brandon SheppardHot Rod Processing Most Laps Led: Mike Marlar (27 Laps)Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Earl Pearson, Jr.O’Reilly Auto Parts Rookie of the Race: Ashton WingerDirty Girl Racewear Fastest Lap of the Race: Mike Marlar (Lap 3 – 17.461 seconds)Feature DirtonDirt.com Tough Break of the Race: Ross RobinsonOuterwears Crew Chief of the Race: Josh Davis (Mike Marlar)ARP Engine Builder of the Race: Cornett Racing EnginesMiller Welders Chassis Builder of the Race: Longhorn ChassisDirt Draft Fastest in Hot Laps: John Garvin Jr (15.376 seconds)Time of Race: 22 minutes 27 seconds

TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE ALLY 400 NASHVILLE SUPERSPEEDWAY NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE JUNE 26, 2022         RACE #17 – NASHVILLEComing off the single off-weekend of the season for the NASCAR Cup Series (NCS), the 10-race stretch to the end of the regular season gets under way this weekend at Nashville Superspeedway. The 2021 NASCAR season marked the return of racing at Nashville Superspeedway since 2011, but it was the first time in history that the 1.33-mile concrete oval hosted NASCAR’s premier series. All three of NASCAR’s national touring series will return to the Tennessee venue, with all eyes set on hoisting the coveted custom guitar in victory lane.  Chevrolet returns to Nashville Speedway aiming to not only go back-to-back in wins on the season but also defend its win from last year. Last season’s inaugural NASCAR Cup Series race at the track saw Kyle Larson and the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team post a dominating performance en route to the victory, marking a fifth-consecutive, points-paying win for the Bowtie brand – a feat that Chevrolet had last accomplished in 2014.

MAKING HISTORY AT SONOMADaniel Suarez had come close to notching his first career NASCAR Cup Series win on many occasions, but a trip out west to Sonoma Raceway was where he was able to record the triumph. Leading 47 of the final 50 laps at the 1.99-mile Northern California road course, Suarez powered his No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Camaro ZL1 to a 3.849-second margin of victory to score his first win in 195 career starts in NASCAR’s premier series.  It was a monumental victory for not only Suarez, but one for the NASCAR history books. The win marks the first time that a Mexico-born driver has been victorious in NASCAR’s premier series. The 30-year-old Monterrey, Mexico, driver also became just the fifth foreign-born driver to win a NASCAR Cup Series race, which was last accomplished by Australia’s Marcos Ambrose in 2012.  The victory marks the 12th different winner in 16 NASCAR Cup Series races held thus far, leaving just four spots open in the NCS Playoff field that can lock-in by virtue of a win. Suarez is also the fourth first-time winner this season, joining Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain on that elite list. Chastain grabbed his first career NCS win and the first for Trackhouse Racing at Circuit of The Americas earlier in March, while becoming a repeat winner at Talladega Superspeedway in April.

NXS BACK IN ACTIONHaving been idle since AJ Allmendinger’s victory at Portland, the NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) will return to competition at Nashville Superspeedway with the Tennessee Lottery 250 on Saturday. The 188-lap event marks the start of a 12-race stretch to the Playoffs for the series. Seven drivers have secured a spot in the 12-driver NXS Playoff field, five of which come from the Bowtie brigade.  Kaulig Racing’s Allmendinger arrives to Nashville Superspeedway as the NASCAR Xfinity Series points leader with a 43-point lead over second. The 40-year-old Chevrolet driver has not only recorded two wins in 2022, but also has a series-high 13 top-10 finishes in 14 races. Allmendinger is among four Chevrolet drivers in the top-five and eight of the top-10 in the NXS driver standings. Other Chevrolet drivers that have a win under their belt to secure their spot in the NXS Playoff field include JR Motorsports teammates Noah Gragson, Josh Berry and Justin Allgaier, who sit in the standings at third through fifth, respectively; and NXS rookie Austin Hill, who captured the season-opening victory at Daytona International Speedway.  JR Motorsports’ Sam Mayer sits in the first points-qualifying position in the Playoff standings in the eighth position with a 137-point cushion over the cutline. While Mayer is in search of his first-career NASCAR Xfinity Series win, he’s recorded an impressive seven top-fives and eight top-10s in 2022, making him a strong contender to claim a spot in the Playoff field. Kaulig Racing teammates Daniel Hemric (ninth) and Landon Cassill (10th) round out the top-10 of the standings – 102 and 79 points, respectively, above the cutline.  The NASCAR Xfinity Series Manufacturer Points Standings continues to see Chevrolet in the top spot with a 67-point lead heading into the race weekend. In 14 NXS races in the books thus far, the Camaro SS has recorded nine of those victories. Of those victories includes a streak of the last six, dating back to Noah Gragson’s victory at Talladega Superspeedway in April.  FROM DIRT TO THE CONCRETEThe NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) will come to the end of a stretch of eight consecutive races in Friday’s Rackley Roofing 200 at Nashville Superspeedway. With just three races left in the series’ regular season, Chevrolet drivers have their eyes set on the five remaining spots in the 10-driver NCWTS Playoff field for their chance at the fight for the championship title.  The series is coming off its second dirt race of the season after taking on the famed half-mile dirt track of Knoxville Raceway last weekend. Passing and finishing points accumulated through qualifying races determined the starting lineup for the main event. Driving his No. 19 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing Silverado RST from eighth to second in his qualifying race, Derek Kraus topped the points leaderboard to capture the third NCWTS pole award of 2022 for Chevrolet.  It was an all-Chevrolet front row to lead the field to the green in the 150-lap event, with Niece Motorsports’ Carson Hocevar joining Kraus with a front row starting spot. Quickly taking the lead on Lap One, Hocevar went on to capture the Stage One win. Looking to be the truck to beat, Hocevar’s night came to an early end following an engine failure. While the result doesn’t depict the speed of the No. 42 Niece Motorsports team, Hocevar continues to sit in the eighth-position in the NCWTS driver standings, with a 61-point cushion on the Playoff cutline.  Kraus led Chevrolet to two top-10 finishes after piloting his Silverado to a season-best, sixth-place finish. The young Chevrolet driver had a strong performance throughout the night, recording top-five’s in both stages. The combination of a strong finish and valuable stage points moved Kraus up two positions in the NCWTS driver points standings to 11th; just 27 points below the Playoff cutline.  Joining Kraus in the top-10 was GMS Racing’s Grant Enfinger, who drove his Chevrolet-powered machine to an eighth-place finish to give the No. 23 Silverado RST team its seventh top-10 finish of the year. Enfinger, who also scored top-10 finishes in both stages, heads into the Nashville Superspeedway race weekend in the ninth-spot in the NCWTS driver points standings and 58 points above the cutline.  PLAYOFF OUTLOOK: 10 TO GOThe NASCAR Cup Series’ trip to Nashville Superspeedway marks 10 races to go in the regular season. Following his win at Sonoma Raceway, Daniel Suarez became the 12th different driver to claim a NCS win and a Playoff berth, leaving just four spots open in the 2022 NCS Playoff field.  Of those 12 different winners and current Playoff contenders includes six Chevrolet drivers: Hendrick Motorsports’ Larson, Alex Bowman, William Byron and Chase Elliott; and Trackhouse Racing’s Chastain and Suarez. Those drivers have scored a combined eight wins in 16 points-paying races thus far, giving the Camaro ZL1 a current winning percentage of 50 percent.  For the 12th consecutive week, 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Champion Chase Elliott leads the series at the top of the points standings. While his win at Dover Motor Speedway solidified his Playoff spot, the 26-year-old Georgia native has also accumulated a series-leading 136 stage points in 16 races. Elliott leads Chevrolet to five of the top-10 in the NCS Playoff standings with Ross Chastain in second; and Elliott’s Hendrick Motorsports teammates Larson, Byron and Bowman sitting in the seventh through ninth positions, respectively. Below the cutline heading to Sonoma Raceway, Suarez’s win moved him up through the standings as the most recent driver to enter the Playoff grid by virtue of a win.  While on the outside looking in on the Playoff grid, Chevrolet’s Tyler Reddick (18th), Austin Dillon (19th) and Erik Jones (20th) are all within reach of a spot to compete in the Playoffs.  On top of its manufacturer-leading win count, Chevrolet also continues to lead its manufacturer competitors in NASCAR Cup Series laps led (2,333), top-fives (37), top-10s (74) and stage wins (16). En route to defending its NCS Manufacturer Championship title, Chevrolet heads into the final stretch of the regular season with a 41-point lead over second, with eight drivers among four different Chevrolet teams contributing to those points thus far. FOR THE FANS:·    Fans can visit the Team Chevy Racing Display in the Fan Midway at Nashville Superspeedway.   ·    Fans can check out an assortment of Chevrolet vehicles at the Team Chevy Racing Display including: 2022 Blazer Premier AWD, Camaro ZL, Corvette Z51, Equinox RS, Tahoe RST, Traverse Redline, Silverado 1500 ZR2, Silverado 2500 LTZ.  TEAM CHEVY QUESTION-AND-ANSWER SESSIONS AT THE DISPLAY:Saturday, June 25·       Myatt Snider: 9:15 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.·       Sheldon Creed & Austin Hill: 9:30 a.m. – 9:45 a.m. ·       Jeremy Clements: 9:45 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. ·       Bayley Currey & Ryan Vargas: 10:00 a.m. – 10:15 a.m. Sunday, June 26·       Ricky Stenhouse Jr: 12:15 p.m. – 12:30 p.m. ·       Corey LaJoie: 1:00 p.m. – 1:15 p.m. ·       Justin Haley: 1:30 p.m. – 1:45 p.m. Chevrolet Display Hours of Operation: Friday, June 24: 2:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. Saturday, June 25: 9:00 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. Sunday, June 26: 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.  BOWTIE BULLETS·       The inaugural NASCAR Cup Series race at Nashville Superspeedway was won by Kyle Larson and the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team (June 20, 2021). ·       Austin Dillon is one of just three active drivers entered into the NASCAR Cup Series race at Nashville Superspeedway that have previously won in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at the Tennessee venue (2011). ·       In the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series race at Nashville Superspeedway, Ross Chastain scored a then career-best, runner-up finish behind the wheel of the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet. Now, one year later, Chastain is a two-time winner in NASCAR’s premier series and heads into the Nashville race weekend second in the NCS driver points standings. ·       Daniel Suarez became the 12th different NASCAR Cup Series winner this season following his win at Sonoma Raceway; and the sixth different Chevrolet driver to win and secure a NCS Playoff spot. Suarez’s first-career NCS win makes him the first Mexico-born driver to win in NASCAR’s premier series.   ·       Following Daniel Suarez’s win at Sonoma Raceway, Chevrolet now sits at eight-consecutive NCS road course wins, dating back to Chase Elliott’s victory at Circuit of The Americas in May 2021.  ·    With 16 NASCAR Cup Series races in the books, Chevrolet has recorded eight victories with six different drivers; a winning percentage of 50 percent. ·    At the top of the NASCAR Cup Series driver points standings for the 12th consecutive week, Chase Elliott has also recorded a series-leading 136 stage points in 16 points-paying races.  ·    William Byron leads the NASCAR Cup Series in total laps led thus far this season with 570. Two other fellow Chevrolet drivers join Byron in the top-five of that list, including Chase Elliott in second with 471 laps led and Ross Chastain in third with 426 laps led.  ·    During the NASCAR Cup Series race at Sonoma Raceway, Hendrick Motorsports hit the milestone of 100,000 miles led in the NCS, all behind the wheel of a Chevrolet-powered machine. Hendrick Motorsports is the first team in the series’ history to accomplish that feat.  ·    With 16 NASCAR Cup Series races complete in the 2022 season, Chevrolet continues to lead all manufacturers in NCS wins (8), top-five’s (37), top-10’s (74), laps led (2,333) and stage wins (16).  ·    Seven Team Chevy drivers have combined 16 NASCAR Cup Series stage wins: Tyler Reddick 2 – (Fontana x2)Alex Bowman 1 – (Las Vegas)Ross Chastain 3 – (Las Vegas, Darlington, Charlotte)William Byron 3 – (Phoenix, Atlanta, Talladega)Daniel Suarez 2 – (COTA, Charlotte)Chase Elliott 3 – (Martinsville x2), Charlotte)Kyle Larson 2 – (Bristol, Sonoma) ·    Of the four NASCAR Cup Series drivers that have recorded multiple wins this season, two come from the Chevrolet camp: (Ross Chastain – COTA, Talladega), (William Byron – Atlanta, Martinsville).  ·    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 with a 16-point advantage over second; and AJ Allmendinger continues to lead the NXS standings by 43-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 822 all-time NASCAR Cup Series wins, Chevrolet continues to hold the title of winningest brand in NASCAR.

TUNE INNBC will telecast the NASCAR Cup Series Ally 400 live at 5 p.m. ET on Sunday, June 26. Live coverage can also be found on the NBCSports Gold App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. USA Network will telecast the NASCAR Xfinity Series Tennessee Lottery 250 live at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, June 25. Live coverage can also be found on the NBCSports Gold App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. FS1 will telecast the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Rackley Roofing 200 live at 8 p.m. ET on Friday, June 24. Live coverage can also be found on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. QUOTABLE QUOTESROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 1 JOCKEY CAMARO ZL1 TALK ABOUT THE NEW PARTNER YOU HAVE ON YOUR CAR FOR THIS WEEKEND AND WHAT IT WOULD MEAN TO GET A WIN AT NASHVILLE? “I’m super pumped to have the Jockey paint scheme on my car this weekend. It’s an iconic brand and the red, white and blue colors will look awesome on the track at Nashville. I hope I can finish one place better than I did last year and get them to victory lane. It would be awesome to get them their first win and to get one for Trackhouse in Nashville.” YOU HAD YOUR BEST FINISH OF THE SEASON LAST YEAR AT NASHVILLE. IS THERE SOMETHING YOU PICKED UP ABOUT THAT TRACK? “We were good off of the truck. We were second quick in practice, and I messed up qualifying and started mid-pack, I think. We marched our way up through there and ran top-10 most of the day. We were on the right side of the fuel and tire strategy to take advantage and finish second. I was able to hustle the car all weekend.” AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BASS PRO SHOPS / TRACKER OFF ROAD CAMARO ZL1WHEN YOU THINK OF NASHVILLE SUPERSPEEDWAY, WHAT ARE SOME OF THE MEMORIES AND EXPERIENCES THAT COME TO MIND FOR YOU? “Nashville Superspeedway kicked off my NASCAR Cup Series career. One of my first Cup tests was at Nashville. I remember going there to test with the team leading into the season and having a really good time. We won there in the NASCAR Truck Series and finished third there in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with KHI. We had fun at Nashville. It was a good track for me. I didn’t feel like the Cup race at Nashville was as good for our team as I had expected going into the race. We finished decent. I think we were 12th. But I know we are capable of running better than that at Nashville so I’m looking forward to going back.” WHAT IS COOL ABOUT NASHVILLE SUPERSPEEDWAY?“I think what’s cool and what I enjoyed about Nashville is people fought for that bottom line and you really had to be disciplined and not miss your exit leaving the corner at Nashville. The car that rotated the most was pretty good. It’s been a good track for us in the past, and I think it will be interesting to go back there with a year of Cup racing under our belt at the track.” KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1 LARSON ON HOW HE EXPECTS NASHVILLE SUPERSPEEDWAY TO RACE THIS YEAR VERSUS LAST YEAR: “It raced really well (last year). I had only tested there before and it was always kind of just right around the bottom. Last year, I think they put some resin on the track or something and we were able to move up the track. It was pretty slick and you could move around. I hope it’s similar to that. I think it should be and probably even better. It seems like these Next Gen cars slide around even more, so it should be fun.” CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 ELLIOTT ON RACING AT NASHVILLE: “I think Nashville (Superspeedway) will be similar to the rest of the mile and mile-and-a-half tracks we go to. I don’t see it looking much different than last year. I think we have the potential to be really good there. We’ve had some pretty good speed this year, we just need to focus on putting everything together and getting more consistently strong finishes and hopefully another win or two during this stretch of races before heading into the playoffs.” ALAN GUSTAFSON, CREW CHIEF, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 GUSTAFSON ON HEADING BACK TO NASHVILLE: “I think for sure the heat will play a role and everything is going to be a bit more difficult for everybody. The car’s performance, your driver is going to be in a little more difficult situation. The grip of the tires is going to be a little worse, pitting the car on pit road is a little more difficult when it’s hot. It’s hard to get calm and cool. It’s a little bit more uncomfortable. It’ll make it a little bit tougher. I like it. I think those mental challenges are fun, for me. We were OK there last year. I wouldn’t say we were great, but we need to improve and get the car driving a little bit better. The car is typically loose in there and tight in the center and can be tight exit or loose exit depending on what you’ve got, but stringing that whole corner together is key.” AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 16 GOLD FISH CASINO SLOTS CAMARO ZL1“I enjoyed racing at Nashville last year in the Xfinity Series. This will be my first time running both the Xfinity and Cup races. I think we are making progress in both of our programs and feel like Nashville will be a good test to see where we are at.” WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 VALVOLINE CAMARO ZL1 BYRON ON HIS THOUGHTS FOR THIS WEEKEND AT NASHVILLE: “I think last year’s race at Nashville (Superspeedway) was a ‘learn as you go’ type of situation. With so few people having experience there, and even my short stint in the (Camping World) Truck Series race that weekend, we still didn’t know a lot of what to expect. We ended up having a really solid run though and that does offer some extra confidence for this weekend. You don’t want to be overly confident, though. Just because you had a good finish, that was last year’s car, and the Next Gen car handles differently. We have a starting point, and we’ll use practice on Friday to really dial the race setup in. Nashville presents its own challenges though as it looks like a superspeedway but it’s more similar to a short track in how tight the corners are.” RUDY FUGLE, CREW CHIEF, NO. 24 VALVOLINE CAMARO ZL1FUGLE ON HOW HE’S APPROACHING THIS WEEKEND AT NASHVILLE: “I think this will be another weekend that we have a good starting point to work from when we unload. We ran well in last year’s race at Nashville Superspeedway. We had to start at the rear and were still able to race our way back to the front. I’m not sure if there will be as much passing this year as there was last year, but between our notebook and our teammate’s notebook (No. 5 team, defending winner), we have a good starting point. Plus, a full 50-minute practice really allows us to try some different things and make longer runs. It’s going to be hot, which will make for a slick track and with the resin down, we’ll want to practice with that as much as we can ahead of Sunday to get the balance right over a run.” JUSTIN HALEY, NO. 31 LEAFFILTER GUTTER PROTECTION CAMARO ZL1 “After a nice off week of downtime, I’m ready to get back to it and race Nashville. It was a new track to us last year, and it was fun to race on. This will be the first time these new Cup cars will be on this type of track. The last concrete track we raced on was Dover, and we showed some speed there. Hopefully that applies over to Nashville.” ERIK JONES, NO. 43 FOCUSFACTOR CAMARO ZL1 CONSIDERING WE’VE SEEN SOME GOOD RACES ON THE INTERMEDIATE TRACKS WITH THE NEW CAR, ARE YOU EXPECTING SOMETHING SIMILAR AT NASHVILLE SUPERSPEEDWAY? “Yeah, I think it’ll race good there. It’s hard to tell. It’s kind of surprising. We didn’t think Gateway would be good with these cars, but it was and it put on a good show. You just have to see how it plays out and what it does, but I think Nashville will race good. From what I’ve known with this car a little bit, I feel like it’ll put on a good show.” RICKY STENHOUSE JR., NO. 47 KROGER / ENTENMANN’S CAMARO ZL1 “We’re hoping for another good concrete track run at Nashville like we had a Dover where we finished second. This style of racetrack has been better for us than some of the other ones and I love Nashville. It was a really good track for us last year, but of course it’s a totally different car. The biggest thing for us is to have a good practice session on Friday and make sure we have a car that handles good and is easy on the tires for our race.” ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY MUSIC CITY CAMARO ZL1 BOWMAN ON WHAT IT MEANS TO HAVE PRIMARY SPONSOR ALLY BE THE TITLE SPONSOR OF THE RACE IN NASHVILLE: “It is cool to see Ally have such a presence in NASCAR beyond just my team. Whatever Ally does, they do it to the best and fullest extent. Whether it is my Cup car, my sprint car and midgets at ABR, helping dogs with Best Friends – Ally does it right and I am happy to see them getting involved in NASCAR beyond just being the primary partner of the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.” GREG IVES, CREW CHIEF, NO. 48 ALLY MUSIC CITY CAMARO ZL1 IVES ON HIS EXPECTATIONS HEADING TO NASHVILLE FOR THE ALLY 400: “We have a lot of data and notes to look back on from last year and the races we have completed this year, so we expect to go out to Nashville and have a competitive car. Having a weekend off last weekend and the race being sponsored by Ally, I feel like our team has a lot of positive, motivating factors to head to Tennessee with. Obviously, we want to win the race for Ally, but we have to take it one step at a time and that means getting the car ready during practice, qualifying well, and then getting it done on Sunday.” DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 TOOTSIES ORCHID LOUNGE CAMARO ZL1 WHAT HAS LIFE BEEN LIKE SINCE YOU TOOK THE CHECKERED FLAG FOR THE FIRST TIME IN SONOMA? “We were in victory lane a long time Sunday celebrating with my team, and some of the Amigos came down to join in. It was a fun flight home although I think we got home at 5:30 a.m. I took my girlfriend to the airport for an 8:30 a.m. flight to Brazil and then I went by the shop to see all of my team before flying to Mexico.” WHAT WAS IT LIKE WHEN YOU SAW THEM IN MEXICO? “I was so tired but when I got home my mom and sisters had a surprise party for me. Like I said I was so tired, but it was a lot of fun and I am glad they did it.The win was great timing. We get to enjoy this for two weeks. But I am sure I’ll be ready to race again by this weekend.” HOW IMPORTANT IS NASHVILLE? “It’s very important. We are carrying Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge on our car in Nashville. I think everyone who lives in Nashville or even been to Nashville knows all about Tootsie’s.Nashville is where (Team Founder and Owner) Justin (Marks) lives, (Team President) Ty (Norris) live so they are going to have lots of friends and family out. We want to do well every week, but Nashville is special.” GRANT ENFINGER, NO. 23 CHAMPION POWER EQUIPMENT SILVERADO RST“Nashville races similar to a mile and a half track, and I feel like we have made steady progress with our program this year. It took a while for the track to widen out for our race last year, so track position and qualifying will be very important. We’ve got a lot of guests from Champion Power Equipment that will be with us in Nashville so I’m hoping we can give them a reason to celebrate.” JACK WOOD, NO. 24 CHEVYLINERS.COM SILVERADO RST“I’m really looking forward to returning to Nashville; the race there last year was by far my best race that I had all year and I love this track layout. We were able to stay in contention all race long last time we raced here, which served as a big confidence boost for me. The way our season has gone this year has definitely been tough, but this track has been one that we’ve had circled on our calendars for quite a while now. I know how to get around this place as a driver, and I know that we are going to have a good setup to base ourselves off of, so we’re just going to stick with it all day. Hopefully we can put together another good practice and qualifying run to give ourselves an opportunity to succeed. If there’s been any race that I’ve had high hopes for, Nashville would definitely be the one on the top of my list, so I can’t wait to see what my No. 24 ChevyLiners.com team and I have in store for Friday as we return to one of my favorite cities in the country.”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: 8Poles: 3Laps Led: 2,333Top-five finishes: 37Top-10 finishes: 74Stage 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: 822 (1949 to date)Poles won to date: 726Laps led to date: 243,669Top-five finishes to date: 4,175Top-10 finishes to date: 8,629                                                                                                          Total NASCAR Cup Wins by Corporation, 1949 to Date:                    General Motors: 1,156           Chevrolet: 822           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

OSWEGO, NY – June 23, 2022 – Fifty years of NAPA Super DIRT Week history will be bestowed upon the Billy Whittaker Cars 200 champion in October.

The stories and legacy of the event will be encapsulated in a more than two-foot-tall golden cup like no other.

Upon first glance, the 50th logo draws your eyes to the trophy’s center before venturing around the sleek curves and angles of its unique design. But what you’ll miss, if not careful, is the story it tells.

At the base of the trophy and at the top are black acrylic ovals. From any side view, they appear as another element of the design. However, look from the top and you’re transported through time.

The black oval at the base is the exact shape of the Syracuse “Moody Mile,” the treasured track that birthed Super DIRT Week and hosted the event from 1972 to 2015 before being torn down. At the top of the trophy, the smaller black oval is the exact shape of the “Steel Palace” Oswego Speedway, which became the new home for Super DIRT Week in 2016 and will host the historic 50th running of the event this year, Oct. 3-9.

“Between the history and significance of the race, there is no bigger event this year than the 50th NAPA Super DIRT Week,” said Jeff Hachmann, DIRTcar Executive Director of Events. “We wanted to emphasize that with this year’s trophy for the Billy Whittaker Cars 200 by highlighting the history of the event and its roots that we all cherish.”

When you look at the trophy again from the front or sides, you’ll see the “Moody Mile” is represented at the bottom to indicate how it laid the groundwork and holds the weight of the event’s historic 50-year run. The golden metal cup rises from the “Moody Mile,” indicating the years of success and growth that led to the 50th Running and support of its new home at the “Steel Palace.”

“This is a one-of-a-kind trophy that will only be handed out this year,” Hachmann added. “Only one driver in the history of the event will have this trophy, which is why we wanted to make sure the design also signified that importance.”

The trophy, which will be more than 27 inches tall and 17 inches wide (from handle to handle), is being made by MTM Recognition – which has also made iconic trophies for college football championships. Having just celebrated their own 50th anniversary last year, they took the design to heart, making a trophy, unlike anything they’ve done before.

“For us, the track outline is something we’ve never done before,” said CJ Norton, an account manager at MTM. “We always start off with a little bit of directions and then go from there. We have lots of different cup ideas that we’re trying. Cups are kind of standard in the industry. We’ve kind of taken a couple different changes from the traditional cup like this and did and outline of a cup.”

Finished in May in preparation for a year-long trophy tour across New York – spanning to areas like Time Square in New York City, Niagara Falls, Watkins Glen and more – the trophy went through a comprehensive engineering process.

Engineers drew up a schematic, down to the nuts and bolts and pathways. Then, it went into manufacturing with the wooden base being cut out by a CNC machine and all the metal pieces cut with a water jet machine.

The historic significance of the event was never lost throughout the process, as the trophy was made to weigh 35 lbs. – the same number of miles between the “Moody Mile” and the “Steel Palace.”

The final product is a polished relic of history, bestowed upon only one drive who can master 200 laps around the 5/8-mile “Steel Palace” and forever be engraved in the history of Super DIRT Week.

Keep track of SuperDIRTWeek.com for the upcoming full trophy tour schedule and visit the site to purchase your tickets to the 50th NAPA Super DIRT Week.

NASCAR CUP SERIES

NASHVILLE SUPERSPEEDWAY

ALLY 400

TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT

JUNE 23, 2022

ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY MUSIC CITY CAMARO ZL1, met with the media via teleconference in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series race weekend at Nashville Superspeedway. Press Conference Transcript: 

YOUR SPONSOR ALLY, IT’S A BIG WEEKEND FOR THEM. GIVE US A QUICK OVERVIEW OF HOW YOU’RE LOOKING FORWARD TO THE WEEKEND AND WHAT IT MEANS TO HAVE ALLY SO INVOLVED IN NOT ONLY THE NASHVILLE MARKET, BUT ALSO IN THIS EVENT.

“Yeah, for sure. It’s always cool to have Ally be the title sponsor of the race this weekend. Last year, I feel like we definitely underperformed at Nashville. It was a bummer for it being the Ally 400, so we’re all in on trying to get our race car better. Anything Ally does, they are all in on. There’s a lot going on, whether it’s at the race track, Ole Red or wherever they’ve got me going. I’m excited for all of the weekend’s activities and just trying to do our best to put on a good show and get the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet in victory lane.”

WHAT KIND OF PRESSURE IS THERE, IF ANY, ON YOU WHEN ALLY IS SO HEAVILY INVOLVED IN THE WEEKEND?

“It’s not like there’s an overbearing pressure; certainly not from the outside at least. I think just for me, anything that they do, you want to do well. Anytime that JB and Andrea are there or really anybody from Ally are there – you want to run well. For them to have their name on everything there, I really want to run well and I want to get the Ally car in victory lane for that race; for any race, but just a little bit extra this weekend. There’s no pressure from Ally or anybody at Hendrick Motorsports, it’s just I want to run well for selfish reasons when it’s the Ally 400.”

WHAT’S IT LIKE AS A DRIVER WHEN YOU’VE LINED UP WITH A SPONSOR THAT BELIEVES IN YOU – WANTS TO WORK WITH YOU, WANTS TO PROMOTE YOU AND SEND YOU ALL OVER NASHVILLE?

“It’s been really cool. They have been amazing to work with. I’m not going to lie to you, when Mr. Hendrick told me that I was driving the No. 48, I was super nervous. I didn’t know how it was going to go. I didn’t know anybody at Ally yet. I just didn’t know how it was going to go. It has been awesome. Everybody there has been awesome to work with. Anything that we’ve done – whether it’s the animal shelter stuff, the sprint car stuff, whatever they’ve been a part of – they’ve been amazing. 

For this weekend, kind of going all over Nashville, is going to be really cool. I’m just excited. They are always on their game. They do things the right way. They’re really fun to work with.”

WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU ARE RIGHT NOW HEADING INTO THE 17TH RACE OF THE SEASON?

“I don’t think we’re quite where we want to be. I think we’ve had a rough couple of weeks. Sonoma, we had a way better race car than where we finished. We got caught up when the No. 18 (Kyle Busch) spun on that last restart. Gateway wasn’t pretty for any of the HMS cars and I think we’ve got a little bit of work to do. I’m looking forward to seeing how we come out after the week off and the little bit of a reset we’ve had. Hopefully we’re really strong in Nashville. Like I said, we struggled there last year, so there’s a lot of pressure from myself to run well and hopefully we’re good. I think a lot can change after a weekend off, so we’ll see where we stack up.”

IT SEEMS LIKE THIS YEAR, MAYBE MORE SO THAN YEARS PAST, YOU NEVER KNOW WHO’S GOING TO HIT ON IT WEEK-TO-WEEK. OBVIOUSLY, THERE’S BEEN SOME CONSISTENT DRIVERS UP THERE. THE WORD ‘UNPREDICTABLE’ SEEMS TO BE USED A LOT THIS YEAR. AS A DRIVER, IS THAT FUN OR IS THAT SOMETHING THAT’S KIND OF FRUSTRATING? 

“I think it feels pretty normal to me. It doesn’t feel extraordinarily different. I definitely think the way the season has been – like I feel like the HMS cars were really good to start and some other guys have caught up here recently. The Trackhouse cars have been really, really strong. So, just trying to understand where we’re at has been interesting. But for us, it’s pretty normal. I’d say the biggest thing is the lack of being able to change things in practice is a little bit weird. We have some practice back, but we can’t really make changes and change necessarily what we want to with the race car. So, just trying to unload the best that we can so we can make the most out of those practices and be as close as we can be. 

It definitely seems like there’s not one guy that’s kind of taking off with the season, so it’s kind of wide open still. Hopefully when the Playoffs swing around, we’re in the best shape possible.”

YOU SAID THERE’S NOT REALLY ONE GUY THAT HAS RAN AWAY WITH IT. IT SEEMS LIKE, IN TERMS OF PLAYOFF POINTS, THAT’S KIND OF THE SAME THING. THERE’S REALLY NOT A BIG GAP FROM ANYBODY. I WOULD ASSUME AS OF RIGHT NOW, THAT’S A GOOD THING AS WE START TO GET CLOSER TO THE PLAYOFFS? 

“Yeah, I guess. We’ve seen in previous years; guys rack up a ton of wins and a ton of Playoff points to lean on. Typically, they’re the best guys in the Playoffs anyways. So it’s a little bit interesting, but yeah I think it’s pretty wide open right now. I think you’re going to have teams get hot and then kind of cool off even between now and the Playoffs. I think so much changes with this race car. It’s not like the old car where we’re nit-picking things, making little changes and little developments. We can’t change parts, but it’s big swings I feel like as we learn the race car and as teams get the race cars better. It’s big improvements and I think it’s going to continue to be that way.”

NEXT GEN HAS BEEN PRAISED THIS YEAR FOR ITS PERFORMANCES ON MOST OF THE 1.5-MILE TRACKS. HAS THE RACING LOOKED AS GOOD TO YOU BEHIND THE WHEEL AS IT SEEMINGLY HAS TO EVERYONE WATCHING?

“Yes and no. I think it drives worse, which makes it a better race. Like I think at the short tracks, Martinsville in particular, it drove way too well and it made for a bad race. The 1.5-mile tracks, it seems to race really well. It definitely isn’t as comfortable to drive as the old car, but the rules package that we’ve ended up with and where everything shook out, it’s put on really good races. 

I think that’s been really good. I’m surprised that the short tracks weren’t better. I kind of would have predicted that they would have been great. But it’s good to see the 1.5-mile tracks racing as well as they have.”

HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS HAS ONE WIN IN THE LAST EIGHT RACES AND YOU GUYS STARTED OUT SO STRONG. DO YOU FEEL LIKE AS A GROUP AS A WHOLE, YOU’RE NOT GETTING THE RESULTS THAT YOU WANTED THE LAST COUPLE OF MONTHS?

“Yeah – I think if I could say what it was or what exactly we were fighting, we could fix it. I don’t think we’re bad by any means. I think we’re just not as great as we were in the beginning of the year. I think some other guys have just caught up and we’ve got to do our homework to get back ahead of the pack. We’re all working on it. There’s a lot of smart people at HMS. I know a lot of them rely on your (Bob Pockrass) tweets for getting weekly information and that helps us out with knowing where the resin is going to be and stuff like that. But there’s a lot of really smart people that are head down and working on making our race cars better each and every week.”

CONSIDERING THE HEAT EXPECTED THIS WEEKEND, ARE YOU MORE CONCERNED ABOUT YOURSELF AS A DRIVER OR CERTAIN PARTS AND PIECES ON THE CAR THAT HAVE NOT BEEN TESTED YET IN EXTREME HEAT?

“I’m a whiny race car driver, so I’m concerned about me myself. I think the parts and pieces on the race car should be fine. I think really the biggest failure we’ve seen lately was the brake issue with the No. 4 (Kevin Harvick) car. I think all of that should be OK. The car should be fine. It’s definitely going to be hot, but I think that’s what we all train for and all expect. Cup racing in the summer is a very uncomfortable environment and the Next Gen car has made that environment way more uncomfortable, but just have to keep training. I think that stuff pays off and hopefully I’m on the right side of that.”

YOU CAN RELATE TO WHAT ROSS CHASTAIN HAS BEEN THROUGH WHERE YOU’VE REALLY HAD TO GRIND TO GET THE OPPORTUNITY TO END UP WITH AN ELITE ORGANIZATION. HE’S HAVING THAT MOMENT AND WHEN THINGS KIND OF CLICKED FOR YOU AT HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS AND YOU GOT THAT FIRST WIN, WHAT WAS THE RELIEF AND WHAT DO YOU THINK HE’S GOING THROUGH? 

“Yeah, definitely. We definitely have somewhat similar career paths. I think he drove some really good trucks and stuff; and had a lot of opportunities. But I think he’s been great this year. He’s super aggressive and I think this race car fits him really well. He’s been doing a really good job. Definitely had some drama around it and some people fired up, but I’m happy to see him win some races. I think he’s a super talented race car driver, so it’s cool to see. 

For me personally, it was a big roller coaster. I got signed to Hendrick Motorsports and almost won some races in 2016 and then sat on the couch. In 2018, when I finally got that full-time ride, it was a really frustrating year. It didn’t come right away. But when it did come, like in 2019, we still weren’t phenomenal. Winning at Chicago, we were really good. It wasn’t really until last year – we won four races last year and three within a really short time span. It wasn’t really until that that it was like ‘we can do this every week’. It’s tough. The Cup Series is hard and when you get up, it will knock you right back down. It is always hard. There’s no being comfortable. But it’s good to see Ross (Chastain) having success.”

YOU MENTIONED ABOUT THIS CAR FITTING HIS STYLE. WE’VE SEEN PEOPLE WHERE THIS CAR DOES NOT FIT THEIR STYLE. ONE OF YOUR TEAMMATES, CHASE ELLIOTT, IS ONE OF THOSE GUYS. HE’S TALKED ABOUT IT AND ALAN (GUSTAFSON) HAS TALKED ABOUT IT. WHAT DO YOU THINK THE LEARNING PERIOD OR JUST GETTING ACCLIMATED IS? SOME OF THESE GUYS ARE GOING TO EMBRACE IT, THEY’RE GOING TO DIVE ALL IN. IS IT AN AGGRESSIVE DRIVER OR WHAT IS THE KIND OF STYLE THAT REALLY SUITS THIS?

“Ross’s (Chastain) style somewhat seems to be hitting people, which this car is obviously pretty tough. But aside from that, he’s just really aggressive. I think he can drive the heck out of. Obviously the Trackhouse cars are really, really good, so that doesn’t hurt either. But I think everybody is a head down, all-in and embracing it. There’s nobody that’s like ‘oh I don’t like this car; I’m not going to try’. Everybody knows that this is what we’ve got and know we have to figure it out. We’re just trying to figure it out quicker than the next guy.”

WHERE ARE YOU ON IT? HAVE YOU EMBRACED IT, ARE YOU DIGGING IT? DO YOU ENJOY DRIVING IT? HAVE YOU FOUND YOUR GROOVE FINALLY WITH THIS CAR?

“I think so. I’m trying my best to figure it out. It’s definitely been a learning curve. It’s just different. At some places, it’s more different than we thought it would be; and at other places, it’s really good. So just trying to figure it out. Going to a lot of places that we haven’t been with it yet is still the biggest question mark. We don’t have a notebook to lean on, so just trying to learn the most we can the quickest that we can.”

NASHVILLE SUPERSPEEDWAY IS A UNIQUE INTERMEDIATE TRACK, BOTH IN DISTANCE AND RACING SURFACE. A LOT OF TEAMS HAD BRAKE ISSUES THERE LAST YEAR. HOW IS THE NO. 48 TEAM APPROACHING THIS UNIQUE TRACK WITH THIS BRAND NEW CAR? HOW DO YOU THINK IT’S GOING TO PLAY OUT?

“I don’t know – I think it’s going to look like a 1.5-mile race. I feel like the race is going to be pretty good. I’m excited that they sprayed the resin higher on the race track than they have in the past. I think that will be a help. Just trying to be as prepared as we can be. Like I said, we don’t have any notes. We can kind of correlate notes to last year, but that’s kind of tough. Hopefully we’re on the right side of it. 

But yeah, I don’t really anticipate any brake issues or anything like guys had last year. I think we’re in a better place and it should be pretty good.”

WITH ALL THE NON-STOP RACING THAT’S GOING TO KICK OFF THIS WEEKEND IN NASHVILLE TO THE END OF THE SEASON AT PHOENIX, HOW DO YOU PLAN TO KEEP YOURSELF REFRESHED, FIT, BUT ALSO NOT TOO BURNT OUT DURING THIS STRETCH?

“Yeah, the one off weekend for the whole year was an interesting move, for sure. I’m the super smart person that spent it just racing more (laughs). It’s definitely a tough, grueling season. It’s hard to complain about from a driver’s point of view when you see what the team guys are going through. I think it’s harder on them than anybody. I’m appreciative of all the hard work that the teams and their families put in. It’s a long year and a tough grind from here on out. 

From my side of things, just have to keep steady. Train hard, work hard, during the week. The best way to stay refreshed and to not get burnt out is to run well. We’re going to do our best to make that happen.”

NHRA^® Team Report

Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals

Pre-Race Report

Cruz Pedregon and team head back to Norwalk as winners of last year’s race here and looking for a repeat victory in Ohio. Cruz and his Snap-on^® “Makers and Fixers” Dodge^® SRT^® Hellcat^® continue to hold onto fifth place in the NHRA Funny Car rankings and distancing the team in points from the next closest competitors in the field.

“It’s great to return to ‘America’s Track’ as the 2021 event champs. That win here last year was special because it showed how much we’d improved as a team. And this team has only gotten better,” says Cruz. “We so appreciate the Bader family’s hospitality, and it’s going to be a great weekend to have Nick Pinchuk, the chairman and CEO of our primary sponsor Snap-on, and other Snap-on reps back at an NHRA race this year. Nick loves talking racing and seeing all the Snap-on boxes and tools being put to the test in the pit.”

Another Snap-on rep at the race this weekend will be Nitro Franchisee Mark Earnest. Mark was self-employed at a repair shop before investing in his Snap-on franchise 22 years ago. He’s grown and expanded his business over those two decades. He says he most likes the service he and his team get to provide their customers. Snap-on is encouraging Makers and Fixers like Mark’s customers, and you, to share your stories at makersandfixers.com.