Batavia, OH (September 29, 2020) – Save money by purchasing your tickets in advance, until October 1st, for the 40th Annual Dirt Track World. The 100-lap event will once again pay $100,000 to the winner, the highest paying event to win of 2020.  

The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series will be in contention on Friday, October 16th and Saturday, October 17th at Portsmouth Raceway Park. Support divisions will be in attendance October 15th – 17th. In addition to the 14 Lucas Dirt teams in good standing, one can expect to see many other local, regional, and national stars, including fan favorite, Kyle Larson, gunning for the top prize to cap off their season. 

There will be award presentations on Saturday for the 2020 Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Champion and Rookie of the Year. The 25 lap, $3,000-to-win Jim Dunn Memorial Non-Qualifiers Race for those not making the A-Main will be the last event of the weekend. 
To purchase tickets and/or reserved seats, Contact Mindy at 740-858-4972 or go online at www.thedtwc.com.
Advance Ticket Prices:3-Day All Access Pit Pass: $65 (all ages)3-Day General Admission: $55 Adults (ages 18 & up)$30 Student (Ages 12-17)$15 Child (Ages 7-11)Ages 6 & Under – FreeReserved seating is also available for an additional $5 per seat for all three days. 
Primitive camping is $40 for the week/weekend. 

Track Information: Phone Number: 740-354-3278Tracks Promoter: Donna Rayburn – (740) 821-1161Location: 25648 State Route 73, West Portsmouth, OH 45663Directions: 0.5 mile south of US 52 on SR 73, then right just before bridgeWebsite: www.portsraceway.com

Tire Rule:Left Rear/Fronts – Hoosier Rib (28.5) 1300, Rib (28.5) 1425Right Rear – Hoosier (29.0) 1300 NRM, (29.0) 1300 NRMW, (29.0) 1425 NRM, (29.0) 1425 NRMW, (92) LM40*Must use the same set of 4 tires for Time Trials and Heat Races on Friday. 
*For the B-Main, competitors may use 4 new tires.*For the Non-Qualifiers Race, competitors must use the same 4 tires from the B-Mains.*For the A-Main, competitors may use 4 new tires.*Flat tire must be replaced with a used tire of the same compound and construction to retain starting position.

Event Purses:Dirt Track World Championship Purse:1. $100,000,  2. $20,000,  3. $10,000,  4. $7,000,  5. $5,000,  6. $3,500,  7. $3,200,  8. $3,000,  9. $2,800,  10. $2,500, 11. $2,450, 12. $2,400,  13. $2,350,  14. $2,300,  15. $2,250,  16. $2,200,  17. $2,150,  18. $2,100,  19. $2,075,  20. $2,060,  21. $2,050,  22. $2,040,  23. $2,030,  24. $2,020,  25. $2,010, 26. $2,000.

Jim Dunn Memorial Non Qualifiers Race:1. $3,000,  2. $1,500,  3. $1,250,  4. $1,000,  5. $900,  6. $800, 7. $750,  8. $700,  9. $650,  10. $600, 11. 500, 12. $400, 13. $350, 14. $300, 15. $250,  16. $200, 17. $200, 18. $200, 19. $200, 20. $200, 21. $200, 22. $200, 23. $200, 24. $200, 25. $200, 26. $200.

Top Dragster’s Mike Coughlin turns attention to national rankings

ST. LOUIS (Sept. 29) — Considering the month he’s had, five-time Pro Stock champion Jeg Coughlin Jr. is one of the happiest drivers in drag racing as the NHRA tour heads to World Wide Technology Raceway for this weekend’s ninth annual Mopar Express Lanes Midwest Nationals presented by Pennzoil. Jeg Coughlin Jr.After leading the championship points for three of the first four races of the season on the strength of two victories and a runner-up result in his JEGS.comElite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro, the 65-time national event winner has endured an uncharacteristic stretch of two first-round losses in as many events. A 44-point advantage over Jason Line has been replaced by a 34-point deficit to the new points leader.  “While you never like giving up points it’s been a bit of a blessing that things have fallen the way they have,” Coughlin said. “We haven’t been hurt too badly; it definitely could have been worse. “This just sets us up perfectly for a nice, big, fun rebound weekend in St. Louis. I’ll personally be making some test passes in Tulsa (Okla.) on Wednesday. After a pretty decent qualifying session last weekend in Gainesville, we had an ECU crap out on us in Round 1. It was an untimely event, for sure, but we’ll test as much as necessary to make sure everything is firing like it has been the last 12 months, where we’ve really enjoyed some great momentum.” Coughlin has enjoyed plenty of success in St. Louis. His five wins at this facility include collecting the Pro Stock title in 2002 and 2009, the Super Stock trophy in 1997 and 2003, and the Top Dragster hardware in 2010. He also was runner-up in Pro Stock in 1998, 2007 and 2010. “We’re assuming we still have four races left on the schedule but our mindset is that this weekend’s race could be the World Finals so we won’t be holding anything back,” said Coughlin, who plans to pull back from full-time professional competition at the end of the season. “We’re still having fun and racing this weekend with my brother Mikey and nephew Troy Jr. will be an adventure, as always.” Troy Coughlin Jr. will be competing alongside his uncle with his JEGS.com Ford Mustang, which also races out of the Elite Motorsports camp. This is Troy Jr.’s first year in the factory hot rod class and he’s already raced to a final round at Indy 3 where he was beaten by Jeg Jr. Troy Coughlin Jr.“Five races into my Pro Stock career and I’m definitely still learning how to drive these cars,” Troy Jr. said. “I’m also learning how to bounce back from mistakes and being with the best team in the sport has made a huge difference. These Elite guys are all about winning championships and races and it pushes me to stay on my toes and get everything right when I’m in the car. “This is an extremely competitive class and with the shortened weekends only allowing for two qualifying sessions instead of four, there just isn’t any margin for error. You have to make great runs right out of the trailer. Fortunately, having Uncle Jeg and (teammate and reigning champion) Erica Enders right there in the pits with me gives me a lot of experience to pull from. I want to keep progressing every pass.” Just one week removed from a big Division 3 Top Dragster victory at World Wide Technology Raceway, Mike Coughlin also has high hopes for the weekend. With D3’s schedule now in the books, Mike and crewmen Greg Cody, Tony Collier and Ryan Micke will be looking to improve on their current national ranking of third place. “We’ve got two national events left to claim so between this weekend in St. Louis and two weeks from now in Dallas, we need to be at our best,” Mike said. “We’re coming out of a triple-header weekend in St. Louis and we did get one win out of the three so we feel really good about our chances. It’s supposed to be nice and cool again so we’ll stick with this flawless tune-up the guys have put together and go have some fun. “We run as many races as we can, and some are on the divisional level and some are national level, but I look at them the same. The main difference is the national events give me the chance to cheer on Jeg and Troy Jr., and this year we haven’t had as many chances to do that as usual, so I’m extra excited.”

• Ridgeline Baja Race Truck captures second consecutive Class 7 win
• Fourth Ridgeline Class 7 Baja 500 victory in last five years

SAN FELIPE, Mexico (Sept. 28, 2020) – The Honda Off-Road Racing Team returned to Baja California last weekend, and continued its string of Baja 500 successes with another Class 7 victory at the iconic off-road race, the fourth class win for the Ridgeline Baja Race Truck in the last five years. In addition, the new-for-2020 Honda Off-Road Racing Talon 1000R scored its first podium finish with a second-place result for Eliott Watson and Quintin Tucker.

Ridgeline Baja Race Truck

After drawing a starting position deep in the field, starting driver Jeff Proctor and navigator Evan Weller immediately began working through slower traffic. With an early race start of 7 a.m., there was not much wind, which made navigating through the thick Baja dust a challenge. Navigator Weller was on point all day in the right seat as the pair clicked off early race miles.

Despite two stops to repair tire punctures within the first 80 miles, a fast 30-mile lakebed section enabled the Ridgeline to overtake traffic and regain positions, moving into the class lead.  Once in clean air, Proctor and Weller extended their advantage to the second scheduled pit stop at Mile 160. 

When the pair exited the Ridgeline at Mile 360 for second driver Pat Daily and navigator Michael Loomis, the Ridgeline had an 80-mile lead on the second-running truck. An uneventful run to the finish earned the team’s second consecutive Baja 500 victory, and fourth in the last five years.

Making approximately 550 horsepower, HPD’s 3.5-liter HR35TT engine uses the same block and cylinder heads as the production V6 that powers the production Ridgeline.  Additional, custom elements of the powertrain include an HPD-designed intake plenum and custom Engine Control Unit programming. 

Honda Talon 1000Rs

The Honda Talons of Eliott and Christopher Polvoorde were prepared and ready to challenge Baja for the first time in the third event for the Honda UTV Pro Turbo Class side-by-sides. The strategy for both entries was to be competitive in the closing miles of the race.

After getting off to a great start, Polvoorde unfortunately had to retire his Talon early, but Eliott continued with great pace, clicking off miles and working through a rough and rocky course. With minimal down time all day and a well managed race by Eliott and his navigator Quintin Tucker, they brought their #1893 Talon to the finish line in P2 after a long scorching hot day of battling the Baja desert.

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The Honda Off-Road Racing Team finishes their 2020 season November 17-22 with the 53^rd running of the BFGoodrich SCORE Baja 1000.

Photos and information from the Ridgeline Baja Race Truck’s efforts can be viewed on

Instagram at @hondaoffroadracing and @proctor_race.  Honda Racing/HPD news and reports can be found on the racing channel at Hondanews.com and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/HondaRacing_HPD  and on the Honda Racing Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/HondaRacingHPD.

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Jeff Proctor (team owner/driver Ridgeline Baja Race Truck) won Class 7 for unlimited V6 Trucks: “This was a very fast, yet very rough Baja 500 that was demanding with such high ambient temperatures. We were fortunate to have a near perfect day and bring home the win in class!”

Inside Line Promotions – PLYMOUTH, Ind. (Sept. 28, 2020) – Dominic Scelzi is fresh off a busy week that featured five races at three tracks in three different states during a seven-day period.

His best result came during that first night when he invaded Huset’s Speedway in Brandon, S.D., on Sept. 18 for the DeKalb/Asgrow Power Series Nationals presented by Casey’s General Stores/ Scelzi kicked off the Midwest Sprint Touring Series and the Midwest Power Series doubleheader by qualifying seventh quickest in his group. He then advanced from sixth to fifth place in a heat race and from 17^th to ninth in the A Main.

“We went out a little early and didn’t have a great time in qualifying,” he said. “We got one spot in the heat to lock into the feature. In the main event I was running 15^th with about seven laps to go. I started running the heck out of the top and was able to get up to ninth.”

Scelzi’s eight positions gained was tied for the second-most cars passed in the feature.

The ensuing night started better at Huset’s Speedway. Unfortunately, the action was short-lived.

“We qualified better, going second quickest in our group, but we lost an engine about three laps into the heat race while racing for second,” he said. “That ended our night early.”

The team headed to Eldora Speedway near Rossburg, Ohio, last Tuesday for the Governors Reign opener with the Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1.

“We were 14^th quickest out of the 48 drivers in qualifying, which was good,” he said. “However, I was seventh quickest in my group. The track was locked down so you couldn’t really pass. We finished seventh in our heat race and we got by a couple in the B Main to finish ninth.

“The next night we went out a little bit later and didn’t have the speed. I felt good, but we just didn’t have the speed. I felt like it was every bit of the Kings Royal and the Knoxville Nationals. It was neat to be invited and to be a part of it. For whatever reason we didn’t have the speed we needed to contend.”

Scelzi timed in 36^th quickest overall before finishing seventh in a heat race and 11^th in the B Main.

The week wrapped up last Thursday at Plymouth Speedway during a World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series show. Scelzi qualified 20 ^th quickest. He gained a position in a heat race to finish fourth, locking him into the 16^thstarting position in the feature.

“We didn’t qualify very good,” he said. “We got aggressive and were a little tight. In the heat race we picked up a spot and raced with (Logan) Schuchart for third. In the feature I worked my way to 10^th. With about 11 laps to go I had a bad restart on the outside and ended up running 12^th. We were racy, which was good.”

The 12^th-place finish was Scelzi’s 39^th top 15 of the season.

The team has had a recent change of plans and is returning to Scelzi’s home state of California. The schedule for the remainder of the year will be decided in the near future.

LAS VEGAS, NV – September 28, 2020 – Chase Briscoe won his eighth NASCAR Xfinity Series race of the 2020 season and first race of the NASCAR Xfinity Playoffs winning the ALSCO 300. Briscoe collected back-to-back wins at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway this season for Stewart-Haas Racing and Ford Performance.

“Congratulations to Chase, Richard, Tony, Gene and the No. 98 crew,” said Doug Yates, President and CEO of Roush Yates Engines. “Chase and the No. 98 crew showcased their speed at Vegas while winning both stages and taking home the checkered flag. Eight wins in a season is a testament to the hard work and partnership between Ford Performance, Stewart-Haas Racing, Chase, and our team at Roush Yates Engines.”

Briscoe dominated at Las Vegas Motor Speedway leading a career high 164 laps out of 200 while winning both stages and taking the checkered flag by 1.370 seconds over second place.  On Lap 180, Briscoe had over a six second lead, but a late race caution brought the field together for a 10 lap shoutout.   Briscoe joins an elite group of NASCAR legends as Sam Ard and Jack Ingram are the only two drivers to win eight races in the opening 27 races of a Xfinity Series season.

“First off, an incredible car by everybody at Stewart-Haas. That made my job way too easy, honestly,” said Briscoe. “The restart, I knew if I could take the lead on the restart, I would be okay, but I was spinning the tires so bad all night for whatever reason. I guess that Roush Yates horsepower. We have had a lot of wins this year, but this is by far our most dominant car and I am so glad I can sleep a little easier this week going into Talladega and the Roval and just enjoy them.” Ford Performance teammate Austin Cindric from Team Penske finished 6th and now with Briscoe locked into the next round, Cindric leads the Xfinity Playoffs standings by 17 points. Cindric was also recognized and received his regular season championship trophy while in Las Vegas.

The NASCAR Cup Series also rolled the dice during the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Sunday afternoon. Wood Brothers Racing’s Matt DiBenedetto finished P2, Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney finished P7, Roush Fenway Racing’s Chris Buescher finished P9, while Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick finished P10.

In addition, the Ford Mustang GT4s were back in action in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Series for a double header at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. On Saturday, the No. 22 Multimatic Motorsports Ford Mustang finished P5 while No. 40 PF Racing finished P9. On Sunday, PF Racing finished P4 while Multimatic Motorsports finished P19 due to an early race incident.

The NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series Playoffs are in full swing as both series head to Talladega Speedway this weekend.    27 CHAMPIONSHIPS – 409 WINS – 366 POLES!

September 28, 2020

Matt DiBenedetto and the No. 21 Menards/Duracell team put the disappointment of dropping out of the playoffs behind them by scoring a strong second-place finish in Sunday’s South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

DiBenedetto started the race from 19th place and began moving forward from the drop of the green flag.

He broke into the top 10 for the first time at Lap 34 and was rarely outside that elite group for the remainder of the race.
 
After leading the race during a cycle of pit stops he ended the second Stage in eighth place, earning three bonus points.
 
DiBenedetto continued to work his way to the front and took second place for a time with a bold, four-wide move with 71 laps remaining.
 
His biggest break came during the race’s final round of green-flag pit stops when crew chief Greg Erwin’s strategy of running long paid off when the caution flag flew for debris while DiBenedetto was on pit road.
 
When the scoring was sorted out, DiBenedetto had the lead with 25 laps to go.
 
From then on to the checkered flag, he battled with eventual winner Kurt Busch for the top spot, while also holding off the charges of drivers behind him on fresher tires to score his third top-three finish of the season and his eighth top-10. He moved up two positions to 14^th in the points standings, six points behind 13^th-place Ryan Blaney.
 
“It’s tough to come that close,” DiBenedetto said. “I just wanted it so bad for this team. I love driving for the Wood Brothers. I want that [win] number 100 for them so bad and for Menards, the whole family and everything they do for us and the team.”
 
He offered his appreciation for his backers, including Menards/Duracell, Motorcraft/Quick Lane, Ford, Roush Yates Engines, and all the people that put a fast Ford Mustang under him.
 
DiBenedetto said his Mustang was at its fastest at the end of the race, but he just couldn’t overcome Busch on the late restarts.

“Kurt, did a great job,” he said. “We had completely different ratios for the restarts, and once he gained control of the race, he played the right games on the restarts. 

“Man, it’s tough to come that close. I just want it so bad, but I’m proud of the team. They did a great job. My pit crew did a great job tonight and really earned that one for us.”
 
Eddie Wood said he was glad to see DiBenedetto and the team score a strong finish, both for the team’s sponsors and for Marnie Howiler, whose name was above the driver’s door as part of the Nominate a Cancer Hero program spearheaded by the Martin Truex Jr. Foundation.
 
Howiler, from Cornelius, N.C., is the granddaughter of the late NASCAR Hall of Famer Bobby Isaac and was diagnosed with Stage IV Wilms Tumor at five years old and underwent eight months of treatment.
 
“We’re happy for Menards and Duracell, Motorcraft and Quick Lane and for Ford, and we’re especially glad to have a great race for Marnie.
 
“Growing up, I knew Bobby and got to spend a lot of time around him, especially when David Pearson drove our car.
 
“Bobby and David were great friends, and they were our friends too.”
 
DiBenedetto and the No. 21 Wood Brothers team now head to Talladega Superspeedway for Sunday’s YellaWood 500.
 

NASCAR CUP SERIES LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY SOUTH POINT 400 TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT SEPTEMBER 28, 2020 

KURT BUSCH, CHEVROLET CAMARO ZL1 1LE SCORES VICTORY AT LAS VEGAS
LAS VEGAS, NV (SEPTEMBER 28, 2020) – For the first time in his career, Las Vegas native Kurt Busch added his name to the records books by taking his No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1 1LE to his hometown’s victory lane in the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The win marks Busch’s first win this season, securing his spot in the Round of Eight of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. 
With a set of strong late race restarts, Busch’s speed prevailed to give him his 32nd NASCAR Cup Series win. The victory, the sixth triumph for Chevrolet this season, is the Bowtie brand’s eighth win in history at the 1.5-oval and 792nd all-time win in NASCAR’s premier series. Alex Bowman, No. 88 LLUMAR Camaro ZL1 1LE, crossed the finish line in the Silver State’s 400-mile event in fifth, giving Team Chevy two of the top-five finishers. 
Matt DiBenedetto (Ford) finished second, Denny Hamlin (Toyota) was third and Martin Truex Jr. (Toyota) was fourth rounding out the top-five finishers of the race.  The NASCAR Cup Series season continues next weekend at Talladega Superspeedway with the YellaWood 500 on Sunday, October 4th, at 2:00 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on NBC, the NBC Sports Gold app, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. 
KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 MONSTER ENERGY CAMARO ZL1 1LE, PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT:            THE MODERATOR: We are now joined by tonight’s race winner of the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet. We’ll kick it over to media for questions.            Q. I know how bad you’ve wanted to win this race; has it sunk in at all? The celebration out there, that was memorable, but after getting the Daytona 500, I knew this was absolutely tops on your list.KURT BUSCH:  This is 20 years of agony and defeat and now today with triumph, I don’t know if I have any more gas left or if I just filled my tank up to go win every race that I’m going to go race next. This feeling of growing up here and watching the track get built from the desert gravel pit that it was by Richie Clyne and his group and then when Speedway Motorsports came in and bought it, I’m like, man, there’s going to be a Cup race there, I hope I can make my way up through Legend cars. And just all the memories, all the memories of everybody, my mom and dad, every Saturday night, all the commitment they gave me and my little brother to make it in racing.           For me it was a hobby. I never knew I’d get this far. A guy named Craig Keough here locally here in Las Vegas, the owner of the Star Nurseries here in Las Vegas took a chance on me and let me run his late model a few times and we won a couple races and started working our way up.           It takes a village to make somebody cut through and make it, and this is my hometown and I have so many people to thank, and I couldn’t be more proud and I know that they’re very proud right now watching on TV, watching on NBC Sports Network and seeing their hometown boy win at the hometown track.            Q. I knew on normal weekends you would have your friends from Star Nursery, you would have the high school people you grew up with. Is it somewhat bittersweet under the pandemic that that it just wasn’t ‑‑ I mean, I don’t know, it just seems like it would have been a little bit different had there been your hometown crowd there to cheer you on.KURT BUSCH:  They’ve pierced my heart right now. My memory of everybody, I know they’re thinking of me and I know they’re celebrating. They’re enjoying this just as much as I am. And yes, with empty grandstands, that’s tough. The governor couldn’t quite help make the right call to get fans in the grandstands, but everything aside, yes, it’s a bit empty, but my heart is full. I won at my hometown track after 20‑some odd tries.            Q. Take us through those final laps, what was going through your head and the emotion when you were spelling out Las Vegas out there with the checkered flag.KURT BUSCH:  The race unfolded in our favor when we were leading and we were cranking out some great lap times on old tires, and a yellow came out, and I’m like, this is like a huge break, this is like having all your chips in on a roulette number and it came up 1, it came up our number, and we doubled down. We had a good pit stop to hold our track position. We had to battle DiBenedetto on some of those restarts.           I pulled out a few drag racing tricks on him. I used our strengths against his weaknesses, and at the end, to again have 20 years of this track kicking my butt, it did the same thing tonight after lap 200 I’m like, really? Again? I’m going to have to battle, battle, battle maybe to get to 10th and we had no stage points tonight, either. So that yellow was a huge break for us.           And again, thank you to everybody in Las Vegas that helped my career get up and going. There’s so many people here; enjoy it tonight with me.            Q. I guess you’re riding back with Kyle. Brexton took this weekend off. Any extra pressure on you to beat your nephew this weekend?KURT BUSCH:  I wish I could have been there for it but I was trying to stay focused on getting my rest and being ready for today’s race. The pressure was there, and honestly on the plane ride out here, I was telling Samantha, my sister‑in‑law, that life is going to change with Victory Lane. I said, how did he feel, what were his emotions. She said, he was vibrating and that he loved it so much and that he could feel that energy of being a winner. And I just sat there on the plane going, my dad helped me, we helped Kyle, Kyle and my dad and myself are helping Brexton. It definitely felt like a generational shift was happening. But maybe not. Maybe not. This old guy has still got it going on.            Q. Kurt, when you’re going for the win there, is there anything going on in your mind like man, the difference between first and second, a playoff spot versus being on the bubble?KURT BUSCH:  It was going to be a tough pass for anybody to make. That was our ticket to move forward to win, to do the job that I need to do. I mean, it’s like giving a lion a piece of meat. I had it. I was in position, and nobody was going to take it from me. I had to execute on those restarts and then change the draft around, and the 11 was definitely going to have a hard time passing us because he had more to lose than we do.            Q. I was just wondering if you could talk about how important your spotter Tyler Green was for those crucial restarts and what your relationship has been like with Tyler.KURT BUSCH:  Tyler Green is a great spotter, he’s a great kid, and he’s a good racer. He races Legend cars in his spare time, and he actually has the most experience with the choose rule. This is my 21st year, I’ve never done a choose rule before, and so I’ve just gone off of him 100 percent. We’ve been crystal clear, and yes, spotters have to relay information with the restart lanes, with the draft, and where lap times are being produced. But all in all, my crew guys, this Monster Energy Chip Ganassi team, we knew we needed nighttime, and a yellow came out at a perfect opportunity and we had the right setup to be able to hold it wide open at the end to win it.            Q. Knowing that you’re locked into the next round, that’s obviously got to be big, take a lot off your mind for the next two races, but looking forward into the Round of Eight, what does tonight’s run do for you and this team, especially with Kansas and Texas back‑to‑back to start off the next round?KURT BUSCH:  Yeah, it’s a mile‑and‑a‑half win. We last won together at Kentucky on a mile‑and‑a‑half. So if you fast forward to Kansas and Texas, it’s a mile‑and‑a‑half. So everything is just pointing in our direction right now. I don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves, but we will enjoy this. We will celebrate. We need to grab points at Talladega. We need to grab points at the Roval.           We thought we were a top eight team if things went perfectly, but we still need to execute to grab those points in case we’re on the short stick and eliminated after the Martinsville round. All in all, this is a huge breath of fresh air. It’s wind in our sails, and it’s a lifelong dream of mine to win in my hometown.            Q. I know the emotions were pretty high when you got out of the car. Just comparison to your Daytona win; the emotion level, what was it like?KURT BUSCH:  It’s right there underneath Daytona, underneath the championship back in 2004. Any time you win, it’s special. But to do it in front of my hometown crowd and nobody was there and all the people that I see every time I come to Vegas and I get to say thank you and I can’t right now, that’s the hardest part. So this one is easily ramping up to being my third most favorite win ever. Right now it’s my favorite because it’s here, it’s Vegas, and I have so many people to thank. They know they helped me, and they know who they are, and it just all started with mom and dad taking me to the racetrack right here at the Bullring in Las Vegas.            Q. After the race you mentioned the people who have helped you since Vegas, but you got thanks from two people very close to you in Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth. What was it like to get the congratulations from Kyle and Matt after you crossed the start‑finish line?KURT BUSCH:  Again, I’m so grateful, but to have friendships in this garage, and Matt Kenseth and I go back the furthest out of anybody. It’s great to have him as a teammate right now and somebody that created stability for the 42 car, and to run with him and to share notes, it’s the best that we can be right now, with no practice and no normal sequences.           And then with my little brother, our relationship has blossomed this year with being travel buddies and staying in a family bubble together and respecting the COVID process together. And just to share stories and get caught up with things that we never talked about before, and to have him be the first one to give me the congratulatory donut down the back straightaway, it was a flashback of Legend car racing when we were growing up as kids together, and old brother always wins.            Q. It’s safe to say that some people might not have had the No. 1 in the Round of Eight, but this was a team effort tonight. Your spotter did a great job, pit crew did a great job. How much of a statement does this win feel like, a statement to say watch out for the No. 1 car, we’re not going anywhere?KURT BUSCH:  I’ll be honest with you, we needed everything to go perfect in this round to advance to the Round of Eight. You never want to count yourself out as a championship contender, but we knew we needed to work a little harder to keep pace with the 11, to keep pace with the 4. There’s the Penske guys that are strong, and I saw the 4 car tonight struggling, and the 18 was running around me a lot tonight.           You never know when your moment is going to come and the yellow came out at a perfect opportunity for us, and so yes, we’re advanced through to the Round of Eight. I still think it’s important to grab points at Talladega and the Roval. We just don’t have any ill side effects that are going to pop up these next two weeks. So we still need to go out there and put points in our pocket.            Q. What was your thinking in the car as the restarts were happening in those closing laps, heart rate, nightmares? Are you thinking confidence? What was your general mood as you were sitting in the car getting yourself set up for the best chance to win the thing?KURT BUSCH:  I go by this quote that I learned earlier this year reading some books and listening to some speakers. This guy, he said, “So what; now what?” It doesn’t matter what pops up, if it goes against you or if it’s with you, so what, now what, and that makes you clear your mind, makes me clear my mind anyway and make a plan, find a procedure that’s still going to keep us up front and protect that position.            Q. Even with more opportunities to run at Vegas in the future, was there ever a point where you were worried that you might not win at your home track in your career?KURT BUSCH:  I was worried about lap 200 today. I was like, oh, track got me again.           It’s so tough here keeping up with the track’s changing conditions, the speed through 1 and 2 versus the slick part of 3 and 4. We had been notoriously loose all year at mile‑and‑a‑half tracks, and we were loose all night. The run just before this, I said, hey, we’re finally on the tight side, go back. And then you’ve just got to wheel it. You’ve got to give it your best, and we found the right position to be in with the yellow flag and then the restarts.           But I mean, it’s Vegas; you’ve got to put yourself in position for the dice to unfold in your favor or for the cards to flip out. That would be the equivalent of having all of your money in after you’d been wasting money and burning up money all night at the blackjack table, and you go, you know what, one more hand, I’m all in, and then it just flipped over, an ace and a jack suited and it fell perfect.            Q. Matt McCall during these playoffs has run you long during green flag cycles where others have kind of split up stages, and that certainly benefitted you tonight. What is the challenge from a driver’s point of view when you’re running long, the tires are wearing, other people have fresher tires? What kind of demands does that put on you and the things that you’re able to do that allows Matt to make these calls to put you in this position?KURT BUSCH:  You know, that’s the good news and the bad news. We’ve been really good on long runs this year at mile‑and‑a‑halfs, and when we were out front on old tires we were cranking out some of the best laps that we had had all night. Again, it’s like we’re on that alternate strategy, and it’s just got to be law of averages, and it finally unfolded in our favor.            Q. When a driver runs 10th to 15th most of the night, how satisfying is it in your case to win those races?KURT BUSCH:  Oh, this is huge. We struggled early with being loose. We needed nightfall to happen sooner rather than later, and we just kept digging. We kept ourselves as close to the front as we could. Some pit stops were a struggle. I almost missed my pit box one time, and then that clear air at the end, being up front, being the guy that has to deliver for the team, that’s when everything came together for us. So no matter where you are in this game right now of NASCAR Cup Series racing, you’ve got to be there at the end to win it.            Q. Obviously with the next two races coming up in this round, it’ll be Talladega and the Charlotte Roval, races regarded as two really unpredictable elements of the round. Is there any pressure that has been relieved by winning here tonight going into the next two races of the round?KURT BUSCH:  Yeah, the pressure is off. There’s not going to be any consequences the next two weeks. But still, we want to gain points. We want to put some points in our pocket from the stages and the finish at Talladega and the Roval just to build up towards the season end. That’s how we’re going to make it to the Championship 4 is to still keep putting the pressure on, but we know we can slip up, or as Mark Martin said, you can stub your toe every now and then but you’ve just got to learn from it.           Right now we’re in great position. I knew we could make the Championship Eight if everything went perfectly through this round. This just put the icing on the cake way before we could get the cake.            Q. Just want to get your thoughts there 32nd career win, tying fellow past champion Dale Jarrett on the all‑time wins list, what that means to you?KURT BUSCH:  I was just looking at Dale Jarrett on the TV, I was like, I had something in the back of my mind for him; what was it. Yes, it’s a great feeling to be tied up with a Hall of Famer. He’s got more Daytona 500 wins, but we do have a championship together, and that’s cool company. I’ve always looked up to Dale Jarrett with respect; the traditions that he has started in this sport have carried through. His father taught him how to drive, how to be a great broadcaster and commentator, and so to be alongside Dale Jarrett ‑‑ this win at my hometown after two decades of not winning, I don’t know if I have more gas in the tank now to win every race or if I’m done. I’m loving every single minute of this win and what it’s done here in 2020, what it means here in 2020.            Q. When you look two decades from now and somebody brings up this race and you’re talking about it, what are you going to remember most?KURT BUSCH:  It’s being in position, never giving up, and when the opportunity to win comes your way, you have to be that lion and you have to grab that piece of meat and you can’t let go, and you have to continue to protect it when others are coming up with all the other yellows and restarts and drafts and inside lane, outside lane. That’s what I’m going to remember the most, and it’s similar to my win at Kentucky last year against my little brother.            Q. Describe how big of a deal ‑‑ you mentioned about the family, you brought up Brexton. How great is it to know another Busch family member being involved with racing?KURT BUSCH:  It’s a great feeling to see little Brexton already piecing it together and putting it in Victory Lane and having that excitement and that joy of winning. It takes a team effort, and for my dad to be there and my mom, this next generation, it’s amazing.           Watching Samantha, my sister‑in‑law, helping Brexton, it reminds me of my mom when she was there doing everything she could for me. I honestly had a feeling on the plane ride out here today, with his win, it was like, you know, my job is almost done here, I’m starting to become that old guy, got to find the rocking chair because Brexton is taking over. But not so fast. It’s great to be back in Victory Lane.            Q. Speaking of Victory Lane, it’s been also a big week for next season to have Ross Chastain as your teammate. Tell us what kind of an asset he’ll be in the new season.KURT BUSCH:  Yeah, he’s a great addition. Ross Chastain will fit in right away. His style of driving and how he goes about his craft is very similar to how I came up through the ranks with working and working and working. He’s had some tough situations stacked against him with different sponsors and different movement, but he’s just continued to rise above that and to showcase himself as the next talent to Chip Ganassi, and Chip chose him, so I see a lot of similarities, I think he’ll fit in great, and I hope we hit the ground running strong at Daytona next year.            Q. The post‑race cool‑down lap, what did it mean to be celebrating with Kyle at your home track?KURT BUSCH:  What a great feeling, to have him give me the celebratory mandatory door donut down the back straightaway, it was a flash back of legend car racing when we raced against each other as kids, and every time back when we were kids, because I’m seven years older, I would beat him. So that was perfect. It took us right back to memory lane in 20 years. It was perfect, right there on the back straightaway.            Q. Being from Las Vegas it was a bummer hearing the news last week that no fans would be allowed for this race. How much were you wishing those fans would be in attendance losing their minds seeing you win?KURT BUSCH:  It was tragic. Everything I was hearing from different business members in the community, Governor Sisolak said that we were going to have fans, and it just did an about‑face and changed. I know that Chris Powell here as the track president was devastated. The casino industry, the entertainment industry, everybody from restaurants to a friend of mine that runs one of the major helicopter tours here, they’re hurting. This is a process that we all have to get through together, but when you have 80 to 100,000 seats available for social distancing and for everybody to be able to enjoy it and to do it properly, I’m not a politician, but hey, I wish we could have had the fans. I know they saw me in spirit; they were watching it on NBC Sports Network, and my heart is pierced right now from all my great memories of friends, family and just the cool people that helped me become a winner here in Las Vegas.           I’ve got to make a comment. Ron Kantowski, Las Vegas Review Journal, you can finally write a good article about me in Las Vegas. I’m going to be so proud of you tomorrow when I wake up and read the paper. Thank you, Ron.             THE MODERATOR: Thank you for your time, and congrats again. 

NASCAR CUP SERIES LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY SOUTH POINT 400 TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT SEPTEMBER 27, 2020 

TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:POS.   DRIVER1st      KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 MONSTER ENERGY CAMARO ZL1 1LE5th      ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 LLUMAR CAMARO ZL1 1LE11th    JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 1LE18th    MATT KENSETH, NO. 42 MCDONALD’S CAMARO ZL1 1LE19th    RYAN PREECE, NO. 37 SLIM JIM CAMARO ZL1 1LE TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS: POS.  DRIVER1st      Kurt Busch (Chevrolet)2nd     Matt DiBenedetto (Ford)3rd      Denny Hamlin (Toyota)4th      Martin Truex Jr. (Toyota)5th      Alex Bowman (Chevrolet)UNOFFICIAL CURRENT PLAYOFF RANK (Following Round 4 of 10)POS.   DRIVER (* = Chevy Contender)1. * Kurt Busch (Chevrolet) 1 Win2. Kevin Harvick (Ford) + 613. Denny Hamlin (Toyota) + 584. Brad Keselowski (Ford) + 165. Martin Truex (Toyota) + 156. Joey Logano (Ford) + 11      7. * Chase Elliott (Chevrolet) + 108. * Alex Bowman (Chevrolet) + 99. Kyle Busch (Toyota) – 910. Clint Bowyer (Ford) – 2011. Aric Almirola (Ford) – 2712. * Austin Dillon (Chevrolet) – 32
The NASCAR Cup Series seasons continues at Talladega Superspeedway with the YellaWood 500 on Sunday, October 4th,^, at 2:00 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on NBC, the NBC Sports Gold app, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
TEAM CHEVY NOTES AND QUOTES:KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 MONSTER ENERGY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Race WinnerYOU GREW UP RACING AT THE BULLRING OUTSIDE OF THE 1.5 TRACK HERE AT LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY, DREAMING OF THIS MOMENT. AND NOW YOU HAVE DONE SOMETHING YOU COULDN’T DO IN 21 PREVIOUS TRIES HERE IN LAS VEGAS, AND THAT IS TO WIN AT YOUR HOME TRACK. AND TO WIN DURING THE PLAYOFFS HAS GOT TO RANK RIGHT NEAR THE TOP“This is what kids dream of when they grow up racing. You dream of winning at your hometown track. And for two decades it’s kicked my butt. And tonight, with this Monster Energy Chevy, I’m in awe. I knew the race would come to us. We needed to get to nightfall and one of those quirky Mac McCall (crew chief) pit sequences finally unfolded. We got lucky. You’ve got to be lucky. And you have to be lucky in any race, but we did it tonight with teamwork and pulling through and just not giving up. “This is Vegas and I miss the fans. I miss them so much. My dad and my mom, they were there every day at the track pushing. And Brexton, my nephew, won last night. Those thoughts were running through my head because my hometown is special. This Vegas place is special. So, thanks to Brendan Gaughan and South Point and everybody that makes this happen at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. I couldn’t be happier.” YOU SAID YOU’VE GOT TO BE LUCKY BUT YOU ALSO HAVE TO BE GOOD. HOW DID YOU MANAGE TO HOLD OFF THE NO. 21 (MATT DIBENEDETTO) AND THE NO. 11 (DENNY HAMLIN), WHO HAD FRESHER TIRES THERE AT THE END?“Yeah, the No. 11 (Hamlin) had a ton of speed. I was wide-open. And you just have to manipulate the draft. I pulled out some old drag racing skills on the restarts. I knew that was our strong suit. We just put ourselves in position and we held off. Chip Ganassi was up in the suite somewhere and I could feel him breathing over my neck, I want to win. And we did it.” EVERYONE HAS BEEN SORT OF DREADING THIS ROUND OF THE PLAYOFFS GIVEN THE TWO TRACKS AHEAD, TALLADEGA AND THE ROVAL. YOU CAME IN AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PLAYOFF STANDINGS AND YOU’RE GOING TO LEAVE AT THE TOP OF THEM. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO SECURE THE WIN SO EARLY?“That’s part of the system. It’s an incredible feeling to not have; well, it’s sinking in. No Talladega worries. No Roval worries. But we’re still going there to get points. We’re still going there to add up what we need to do to win this championship. So, thanks to Chevrolet. Thank you guys, and Jim Campbell, and everybody at the Ganassi shop. This Monster Energy Chevy was fast.” ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 LLUMAR CAMARO ZL1 L1E – Finished 5th“I guess it is good to be disappointed in a fifth-place finish. We did not need that caution to come out in the middle of the pit cycle like that. I thought it was going to be ok for us, but we just couldn’t get through traffic as well as we needed to. We had a really fast LLumar Camaro. Thanks to everyone at Hendrick Motorsports, because they have been working super hard. Our program is continuing to improve and I just feel like this is another Vegas race that go away from us. At least it was a good points day, which is what we need.” WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 25th“Just a bummer of a result tonight. We really had a good car. We needed to keep adjusting to keep up with the track but we were running inside the top 10 before that caution during green-flag pit stops. Then we could never rally back unfortunately. Being stuck back there, we then got caught up with two laps to go and couldn’t recover.”
TY DILLON, NO. 13 GEICO MILITARY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 26th“Our GEICO Military team battled all night long. At the start of the race, the car didn’t have enough rear grip to charge and make speed, but Matt (Borland) kept chipping away at it. Our Chevrolet continued to get better throughout the race. The caution came at the wrong time after our green flag pit stop there at the end, which trapped us a lap down. You can’t control those things though. I’m looking forward to Talladega next week. It is important to our Germain Racing team to finish these final six races strong and we will keep working hard to do that.”
BUBBA WALLACE, NO. 43 DOOR DASH CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 28th“Awful. Just missed it. On to Talladega.” AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 DOWFROST CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 32nd“We had a strong DOWFROST Chevrolet tonight at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. We were doing what we needed to do. We were a solid, top-five car in Stage 1 and Stage 2 and were able to earn some points during the end of the stages. We weren’t so fortunate in Stage 3. We were issued a safety violation on pit road with less than 80 laps to go and had to restart at the tail end of the field. We shook it off because we knew that we work well under pressure. We made our way up to 20^th and were in pretty good shape, actually, because we were three cars behind the No. 1 and we were probably going to run long. But then I suddenly lost all steering and the water pressure gauge pegged at 400 degrees. We made quick repairs but lost nine laps on pit road and that pretty much did us in. I’m proud of this team for continuing to fight. We’ve got two races left in the Round of 12 and we’re not giving up. It’s on to Talladega Superspeedway where anything can happen.”
TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 CAT MINING CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 38th “We had a fast No. 8 Cat Mining Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE at Las Vegas, just didn’t really have any luck on our side tonight. I was a little tight to fire off, but we had good overall speed in our car. Unfortunately, after our first pit stop of the night, we had a loose right rear tire so we had to make a second stop to fix that and fell a lap down. It’s frustrating to have a car as fast as the one we had and be trapped a lap down, but as a team, we knew we still had a lot of time to get back on the lead lap and into the mix before the race was over. On the final lap of Stage 2, I got into the wall pretty hard and it ended our night early. That’s not the way our team wanted tonight to go with our Cat Mining Chevy, but we’ll look to regroup next week at Talladega Superspeedway.”

Austin Dillon and the No. 3 DOWFROST Chevrolet Team Earn Valuable Stage Points at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Showcase Never-Give-Up Attitude

32nd   7th  12th

“We had a strong DOWFROST Chevrolet tonight at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. We were doing what we needed to do. We were a solid, top-five car in Stage 1 and Stage 2 and were able to earn some points during the end of each of the first two stages. We weren’t so fortunate in Stage 3. We were issued a safety violation on pit road with less than 80 laps to go and had to restart at the tail end of the field. We shook it off because we knew that we work well under pressure. We made our way up to 20th and we were in pretty good shape because we were three cars behind the No. 1 car and we were going to run long, probably. But then I suddenly lost all steering and the water pressure gauge pegged at 400 degrees. We made quick repairs but lost nine laps on pit road and that pretty much did us in. I’m proud of this team for continuing to fight. We’ve got two races left in the Round of 12 and we’re not giving up. It’s on to Talladega Superspeedway where anything can happen, and our goal is to win.” -Austin Dillon

Tyler Reddick and No. 8 Cat Mining Team Show Speed Before On-Track Contact Cuts Night Short

37th   14th   19th

“We had a fast No. 8 Cat Mining Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE at Las Vegas. We just didn’t really have any luck on our side tonight. I was a little tight to fire off, but we had good overall speed in our car. Unfortunately after our first pit stop of the night, we had a loose right rear tire so we had to make a second stop to fix that and fell a lap down. It’s frustrating to have a car as fast as the one we had and be trapped a lap down, but as a team, we knew we still had a lot of time to get back on the lead lap and into the mix before the race was over. On the final lap of Stage 2, I got into the wall pretty hard and it ended our night early. That’s not the way we wanted tonight to go with our Cat Mining Chevy, but we’ll look to regroup next week at Talladega Superspeedway.”-Tyler Reddick

First IMSA podium, pole position and laps led for Taylor Hagler
LA Honda World Honda Civic Type R TCR stars in both races of doubleheader event
Hagler and Ryan Eversley suffer reversal of fortune after strong start in race two

LEXINGTON, OH (September 27, 2020) – Honda notched up their second podium finish of the 2020 IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge series TCR class with the #77 LA Honda World Honda Civic Type R TCR at a pair of two-hour Mid-Ohio 120 events this weekend at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

Saturday Race
Starting fifth for the first event of the weekend, Taylor Hagler moved up to third place on the opening lap, setting consistent times and staying in a podium position through the first 20 minutes of the race. Falling back after a pit stop during a full-course caution, Hagler pitted again from fourth, handing the #77 LA Honda World Honda Civic Type R TCR to her co-driver Ryan Eversley.

Eversley resumed sixth on the track, but third among cars that had already taken service with just under an hour left to run at Honda’s home race. The Georgia-native moved to third as the leaders came in to complete the pit stop cycle, then passed the second-place #61 Audi on a restart with 42 minutes left to run.

Despite intense pressure from behind, Eversley continued his march forward, chasing down the race leader and even taking some looks down the inside before crossing the line in second place.

The second-place finish marked Honda’s best result in the 2020 IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge, and Hagler’s first podium finish in her rookie year of IMSA competition.

Sunday Race
Hagler achieved two more IMSA firsts in Sunday’s second Mid-Ohio 120, notching up her first pole position—only the third woman to do so in Pilot Challenge history—and leading her first laps in IMSA competition.

Hagler stunned in qualifying, taking pole position on the very last timed lap as the sun set over Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. She continued her impressive pace in the opening 40 minutes of the event, holding off first the #5 Alfa and then the #21 Hyundai for more than 35 minutes before the only yellow flag of the day flew.

Pitting during a caution, Hagler handed over driving duties to Eversley. It would be a tough stint for the veteran, as he was asked to save fuel with one hour and 10 minutes of potential green-flag running still to go, right at the upper edge of the fuel window for the TCR class.

Eversley continued to save fuel, moving forward from fifth in the class as competitors came in for their additional fuel stops. Eversley took the lead with 30 minutes to go and looked set to make it a double podium weekend for Honda before an apparent turbocharger failure ended their day with just 20 minutes left on the clock.

HPD has three ready-to-race Civic models for touring car competition. The line starts with the affordable and reliable Civic Si TCA race car, then leads to the Civic Type R TC racer that puts legendary Type R performance on track, and culminates with the no-compromise, championship-winning Civic Type R TCR race car.

Our unparalleled trackside support at every level from HPD engineers is a unique benefit that no other manufacturer can offer. Find out more about these cars and our touring programs at: https://hpd.honda.com/Motorsports/Touring

Honda Racing social media content and videos from the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course are available on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/HondaRacingHPD) and on Twitter at (https://twitter.com/HondaRacing_HPD).  Produced by CoForce Digital Media, YouTube video packages can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/HondaRacingHPDTV.  

Next
The MICHELIN Pilot Challenge travels to Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta October 15-16 for the FOX Factory 120. The race can be streamed live on TrackPass on NBC Sports Gold.

Quotes
Ryan Eversley (#77 LA Honda World Honda Civic Type R TCR) finished second on Saturday: “It was an unfortunate result to our second race this weekend but can’t say enough about how well our Honda Civic ran in qualifying and the first race! Before our mechanical problem in race two, we were leading pretty much the whole time, so that was really great. We’ll bounce back and head to the next race, but I’m even more excited about the rest of the year. Major congrats to my teammate Taylor on her first pole and IMSA podium, she’s been doing such a great job and I’m excited to see her having this success.

Taylor Hagler (#77 LA Honda World Honda Civic Type R TCR), finished second in Saturday’s opener, scored her first pole position for Sunday’s race: “It feels great to get my first IMSA podium! The beginning of the race definitely wasn’t easy. I was running by myself for a while, so I made sure to use the pack of cars behind me as a reference. I could tell that they were slower than me in certain corners, so I made sure that I hit all my marks to gap them. The car was running great and Ryan did what he does best.” On Sunday’s race: “Today was definitely a tough way to end the race. Everything was looking to work in our favor and Ryan made it back up to the lead. Unfortunately, that’s racing sometimes and we just need to refocus for the next race. Overall, this weekend has been really positive for us. I think that we finally were able to show that we can be contenders in the front of the field and fight for wins. There was a lot learned this weekend that we will take with us to Road Atlanta.”

·        No. 4 qualifier Ron Capps drives Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat to win at the 51st annual Amalie Motor Oil National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Gatornationals at historic Gainesville Raceway 

·        Capps’ Gatornationals victory extends Don Schumacher Racing’s (DSR) consecutive win streak to 10 consecutive national event victories

·        Funny Car championship battle tightens up among DSR teammates as they sit 1-2-3-4 with four national events left 

·        No. 1 qualifier Hagan drives Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye to a semifinal finish and within four points of leader Jack Beckman

·        DSR Top Fuel driver Leah Pruett takes her Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye dragster from eighth qualifying position to semifinal appearance at the Gatornationals

September 27, 2020, Gainesville, Fla. – It was a Hell(cat) of a ride for Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) driver Ron Capps on his drive to the winner’s circle at the 51st annual Amalie Motor Oil National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Gatornationals at historic Gainesville Raceway. 

Capps’ fourth career Gatornationals event victory extended DSR’s Funny Car consecutive win streak to ten national events since October 2019.

From his No. 4 position on the eliminations ladder, Capps sped past competitors Jim Campbell and Alexis DeJoria and into a hotly contested semifinal match against No. 1 qualifier and DSR teammate Matt Hagan; quite literally as Capps’ Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car crossed the finish line in flames while still posting the lowest elapsed time run and top speed of the weekend. 

“We blew up right when I stepped off the gas in the semifinals,” said Capps who emerged unscathed after turning on the win light and employing a “hockey stop” maneuver to slow his car after a 3.898-second pass at 329.99 mph to defeat Hagan’s 4.016/312.64. “It exploded down there but thanks to the changes made by the Don Schumacher Racing fab (fabrication) shop, this body stayed on, rather than launch up in the air. I felt very safe after it blew up and everything stayed together on the car.” 

With limited time to return to the staging lanes, Capps’s Crew Chief Rahn Tobler opted to unload a back-up Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat for the final round showdown against No. 2 qualifier Tim Wilkerson. Capps powered to a 3.937 sec./323.12-mph lap to defeat his opponents 3.945/325.92 and bring home his second Wally trophy of the season and 66th of his career.

“We all knew it was (Crew Chief Rahn) Tobler’s birthday and we all secretly wanted to win on his birthday, but to bring out a car that we had as a backup, that’s never made it to the finish line and it goes 3.93 in the final round of the Gatornationals is crazy,” said Capps. “He’s had that car up in the trailer since last year when we ran it at ‘Night Under Fire’ at Norwalk (Ohio) and made a check-out run with it and he put it away for these occasions. With live TV pushing us, we had every team member of Don Schumacher Racing over here working on the car. It was unbelievable. Team members you’re battling against in the championship are over here helping our guys and it was cool.”

Those efforts resulted in moving Capps up one position into fourth place in the Funny Car championship standings and into a four-way fight amongst the DSR teammates atop the leaderboard with just four national events left on the 2020 calendar.

Leading the charge towards the Funny Car championship with 569 points is Jack Beckman and his Infinite Hero Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat based on two wins and two runner-up finishes, and who, despite a quarterfinal loss to top qualifier Hagan, remains four markers ahead of him. 

For his part, Hagan drove the Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye out of the gates for the opening round bye-run just as the “demon-possessed” namesake implies, posting a 3.915-second run at 327.90 mph to immediate set the low elapsed-time (e.t.) and top speed standard to beat. With the win over Beckman and the loss to Capps, Hagan remains firmly in second place.  

Sitting third in the points coming into the weekend, Tommy Johnson Jr. took his MD Anderson Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat for a drive to a first round win against J.R. Todd which was followed by a quarterfinal loss to Wilkerson. He does maintain his position in the standings with 512 points ahead of Capps who rounds out the top-four with 486 points.

While DSR Top Fuel driver Leah Pruett wasn’t able to score her first Gatornats win, she did drive her red, black and chrome Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye dragster to her fourth straight semifinal appearance. 

Pruett pedaled her way to an opening round victory against Joe Morrison to face No. 1 qualifier Clay Millican against whom she earned an exciting holeshot win as they ran identical elapsed time passes of 3.788 seconds. That set up a semifinal battle with Steve Torrence whom she had a slight second-place lead over in the Top Fuel championship standings coming into race day. Pruett drove her Mopar dragster to a solid 3.812-second pass, but saw her day cut short by Torrence’s 3.772 effort. Torrence went on to win the Wally and move into the points lead ahead of Doug Kalitta with Pruett still in the hunt sitting in third place in the Top Fuel standings just 33 points behind the leader.

In NHRA Factory Stock Showdown (FSS) qualifying, the Mopar Drag Pak duo of Mark Pawuk and Leah Pruett drove into eliminations seeded tenth and 12th respectively. Coming into Gainesville second in points behind Aaron Stanfield, Pawuk followed up his U.S. Nationals runner-up performance with a solid 8.091 at 169.83-mph run in his Empaco Equipment Mopar Drag Pak to defeat David Kramer’s 8.192 in the opening round. While Pawuk had a lightning quick start with a 0.002-second reaction time against the No. 2 qualifier, Stephen Bell, he wasn’t able to hold him off and fell short with a respectable 8.065/170.58 pass to the winner’s 7.987/171.18 run.

From her 12^th position on the eliminations ladder, Pruett and her Mopar Dodge Challenger Drag Pak lined up next to no. 5 qualifier Arthur Kohn. Despite her best efforts, Kohn took the early lead and ended Pruett’s day prematurely.

The DSR Mopar Dodge//SRT teams and drivers will have a short time to get ready for next weekend’s Mopar Express Lane NHRA Midwest Nationals at World Wide Technology Motorsports Park near St. Louis, Missouri. Two NHRA nitro qualifying sessions are scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 3, at 1:30 and 5:00 p.m. ET, with highlights to be aired on FS1 later that night from 10-11 p.m. ET and also on Sunday, Oct. 4, from 1:30-2:30 p.m. ET. 

Elimination rounds at the Mopar Express Lane Midwest Nationals Presented by Pennzoil are scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. ET on Sunday, Oct. 4, with the television broadcast on FS1 beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET featuring LIVE coverage of the final round.

Acura Team Penske wins the Acura Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio for the third consecutive year
Helio Castroneves, Ricky Taylor score third consecutive overall win of 2020
Contact ends GTD victory hopes for Mario Farnbacher and Matt McMurry; Meyer Shank Racing duo recover to finish fifth

LEXINGTON, Ohio (Sept. 27, 2020) – Acura kept its IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship winning streak alive Sunday at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, as Ricky Taylor and Helio Castroneves scored their third consecutive win of 2020; and Acura Team Penske won the Acura Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio for the third consecutive year.

In the production-based GTD category, the Meyer Shank Racing duo of Mario Farnbacher and Matt McMurry took over the class lead following the first exchange of pit stops in their Acura NSX GT3 Evo, but sustained damage from contact following a mid-race restart. After an unscheduled pit stop for repairs, the pair recovered to finish fifth and maintain their lead in the GTD championship.

Acura Team Penske
At the start, pole qualifier Dane Cameron took charge of the two-hour, 40-minute contest in the #6 Acura ARX-05, while outside front-row starter Castroneves struggled on the slippery outside line and dropped back to fourth.

In the #6 Acura, Cameron pulled out an intial lead of 6.5 seconds in the first stint, then handed off driving duties Montoya during the first full-course caution of the day. Resuming in the lead, Montoya briefly slipped off course while lapping GTD traffic, falling back to seventh. Going to an off-sequence pit strategy, Montoya would work his way back into the lead with just over an hour remaining, but surrendered the position to teammate Taylor in the #7 Acura in a strategy call. Additional issues in traffic saw Montoya fall off the lead lap, finishing seventh.

An excellent first pit stop helped Castroneves moved his #7 Acura into third as the race neared the one-hour mark, and he gained another position as then-leading Juan Pablo Montoya had a brief off-course excursion in his #6 Acura. Another excellent stop saw the #7 move ahead of the #31 Action Express Cadillac during the second round of stops as Taylor took over the driving duties. Once around the off-sequence #6 Acura, Taylor was in control of the race for the final run to the checkers. The win for Castroneves and Taylor is their third in a row this year, following victories at Road America in August and Road Atlanta earlier this month. The pair moved up to third in the DPi Drivers’ Championship, only five points out of first, with three races remaining. Acura moves up to second in the Manufacturers’ Championship, just a single point out of first.

Acura NSX GT3 Evo Teams
In the always competitive GTD division for production-based cars, fast pit work also benefitted the Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo, as second-running McMurry moved his #86 NSX into the lead at the first round of pit stops and would maintain his advantage throughout his stint.

A caution that that came out at exactly the wrong moment for the GTD cars, with just over an hour remaining, cost the #86 car the class lead with co-driver Farnbacher at the wheel. Following the restart, Farnbacher pulled alongside the McLaren of Paul Holton to pass, but Holton made contact with Farnbacher no less than three times on the front straight, and the subsequent damage cut down the Acura’s right front tire, sending Farnbacher into the sandtrap at Turn 1 and limping around to the pits, dropping to ninth. Farnbacher eventually recovered to finish fifth, while Holton was given a stop-and-hold penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Combined with the GTD win at Road Atlanta three weeks ago and a trio of podium finishes earlier this season, Farnbacher and McMurry continue to hold an unofficial three-point the drivers’ title chase, with Acura a single point out of first in the Manufacturers’ Championship.

Starting third, the #57 Heinricher Racing with MSR Acura of Alvaro Parente and Misha Goikhberg also had a strong opening half, running third until the final round of pit stops, but lost some pace in the final thirty minutes, and eventually yielded a position to their teammates in the #86 Acura to finish sixth.

Making their fourth start of the 2020 season, the #22 Gradient Racing Acura NSX GRT3 Evo of Marc Miller and Till Bechtolshiemer ran as high as fifth in the first hour with Bechtolshiemer at the controls. The duo appeared headed for a top-six finish until Miller spun entering the first turn, with the resulting pit stop leading to a ninth-place finish for the still-young operation.

Next
The 2020 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship next heads to the Charlotte Motor Speedway “Roval” [combined oval/road course], for the second of two GT class-only rounds in this year’s championship, October 9-10 in Charlotte, N.C.

Acura Motorsports Social media content and video links from this weekend’s Acura Sports Car Challenge are available on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/HondaRacingHPD) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/HondaRacing_HPD).  Produced by the CoForce Digital Media, the YouTube videos can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/HondaRacingHPDTV.  

Quotes
Ricky Taylor (#7 Acura Team Penske ARX-05) race winner, 3rd consecutive victory of 2020: “I’m just so proud of the job this team did today. Helio [Castroneves] started on the outside, and that can be difficult here, but he settled in and put us in position to pass the #31 on the pit stops. I felt like we were the strongest car on track, especially on new tires. Thanks to our teammates Dane [Cameron] and Juan [Pablo Montoya], they were super helpful all weekend long. It was a real team effort.”

Mario Farnbacher (#86 Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo) Finished fifth in GTD, continues to lead GTD Drivers’ Championship with co-driver Matt McMurry : “Matt [McMurry] had a great opening stint. We were close on fuel so it was a tough call on when to come in during that second stop. But, we were really tight on fuel so it was a tough call. I think that without that, we could have finished second or third which would have been really good points. We tried to recover after we had our front right tire destroyed from someone else. When I got back out on track, I think the car was pushed to the maximum and we really gave it our all. We’re hoping that Charlotte will be better.”

Ted Klaus (President, Honda Performance Development) on today’s win at the Acura Sports Car Challenge of Mid-Ohio: “Congratulations to everyone at Acura Team Penske for their third consecutive win at our ‘signature’ event, the Acura Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio. We wish all of our Ohio-based associates could’ve been here to witness it in person, but we’re grateful for everyone who was able to come here today, or watch from home. We all know that Meyer Shank Racing deserved a much better result at their own ‘home’ race as well, but their excellent recovery effort keeps us in the thick of the GTD title fight with the Ohio-made Acura NSX GT3 Evo.”

CHEVROLET RACING IN NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION AMALIE MOTOR OIL GATORNATIONALS GAINESVILLE RACEWAY, GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2020

ALEX LAUGHLIN SHAKES OFF EARLY-SEASON ISSUES AND SCORES BIGGEST WIN OF HIS CAREER IN HISTORIC GATORNATIONALS
• Jason Line retakes point lead in tight three-way battle with four races remaining

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (September 27, 2020) – Alex Laughlin left famed Gainesville Raceway very disappointed after his defeat in the NHRA Pro Stock final in 2019. He broke on the starting line and as his team rolled his car backwards, he watched Bo Butner drive away to the win.
But the driver of the Havoline Chevrolet Camaro SS left today a much happier young man, holding the Wally for winning the prestigious Gatornationals.
It was an all Elite Performance final as Laughlin lined up next to Aaron Stanfield. Both drivers thought they were going to suffer the agony of defeat as the duo shook the tires on both cars hard right out of the box. Somehow, Laughlin was able to get the car back underneath him and drive it straight to the lights for the win.
Laughlin’s car was as good as any as he started his march from No. 4 starting spot. Laughlin posted wins against Kenny Delco, rookie Kyle Koretsky, and low qualifier Deric Kramer. 
Erica Enders, Jeg Coughlin Jr., and Jason Line all came in separated by just 11-points, but none of them were able to get a solid lead in the standings. Coughlin lost in round one while Enders lost in the quarterfinals to Line. Jason takes over the lead by a mere two points with four races remaining.
PRO STOCK:
JASON LINE, SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT CHEVROLET CAMARO SS, (fell in the semis) “It was not the day we wanted, and we kind of struggled and never really got a good handle on the racetrack all weekend – but you’ll have that. The good news is that we made up a little bit of ground and moved into the points lead. That’s a good thing, but we’re not going to fixate on that right now. It’s nice to have, though. The goal from here will be to hang onto it, obviously, and I think the silver Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro is only going to get better and better.”
GREG ANDERSON, KB RACING, SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT CHEVROLET CAMARO SS, (fell in the first round): “I was ready to go with my head, but my leg wasn’t. Those two have to be on the same page, or you’re in trouble. It was a rookie mistake, unfortunately, but the good news was that I had a good racecar with my Summit Racing Chevy” 
ALEX LAUGHLIN, HAVOLINE/ELITE MOTORSPORTS CHEVROLET CAMARO SS, (race winner)“This has been a heck of a year and I am sure everybody says that, but this is just unbelievable. I want to thank Richard Freeman for giving me a bad-to-the-bone race car.  I want to thank Havoline, because without these guys, I wouldn’t be anywhere or anything and their continued support just means so much to me.  Hoping we can renew this year…..my family, just so thankful. The list goes on and on.” 

 GAINESVILLE, FL (September 27, 2020) — It took almost seven months but Terry McMillen and the AMALIEⓇ Motor Oil Top Fuel team finally delivered for the NHRA AMALIE Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals fans. Today in front of an impressive crowd at Gainesville Raceway McMillen raced to a semifinal finish before being upended by eventual runner-up Billy Torrence. The day was one of solid progress and a big-time upset for the team from Elkhart, Indiana.

“We were ahead in that semifinal race against Billy Torrence and then it just dropped a cylinder at like 1.5 seconds out,” said McMillen, driver of the AMALIEⓇ Motor Oil XTERMIGATORⓇ Top Fuel dragster. “It started spinning the tires. It just didn’t work out. It has been a great weekend. We put on a great show in front of our AMALIE Motor Oil family. It was a successful weekend but certainly we wanted to go to the final and give ourselves a chance to win. We had the car to get there but we just made a mistake out there and it didn’t like it.”

McMillen and his Rob Wendland tuned Top Fuel dragster struggled in qualifying trying to get a handle on a hot track with only two qualifying sessions. The driver and crew chief combo put their heads together overnight and decided to get aggressive in their first round race with Top Fuel point leader Doug Kalitta. McMillen’s best time of the weekend was a pedestrian 4.72 second run in qualifying and they dramatically improved with a 3.724 second blast to get the first round win over Kalitta. The first round win highlighted some of the positive moves the team made.

“It was awesome to be here because with the Amalie executives out here at the track and our customers it is really good for them to see all this sport has to offer,” said McMillen. “You see the interaction with the fans and it helps everyone understand a little more about what our sport is all about. It is not just about race cars going down the track. We are taking care of the fans who are our potential customers for future sales. That is really important. Getting back here to Gainesville where we started something where we didn’t have the chance to finish was important. We finished it today the best that we could. Overall it was a good weekend we just have a couple bugs we still have to work out.”

In the second round McMillen had lane choice over three-time world champion Antron Brown. Once again the Rob Wendland tune-up was up to the challenge for another round win. His time was slower but it was enough to trailer a tire smoking Brown and advance to the semifinals. The next round did not unfold in McMillen’s favor but with another race this coming weekend the team was taking the positives and moving forward.

“In reality the more you race the more efficient you become,” said McMillen. “It is good for the team and good for everyone. You get a little more information every time. This is like our ninth run on this clutch pack so we are still learning this clutch system we are getting a better handle on it. It throws us a bone every once and a while. In Indy we went 3.72 and first round today we went 3.74 but we have to find consistency. Rob has done a marvelous job of giving us a good race car. The inconsistency of the clutch discs is something we are working through and that is something he can’t control. We have to continue to work on that clutch package.”

McMillen and the Amalie Motor Oil Top Fuel team will be back in action at the NHRA Midwest Nationals at World Wide Technology Raceway with two qualifying session, Saturday, October 3.

Gatornationals Qualifying Results
Q1: 4.724 sec, 162.96 mph; Qual. 9
Q2: 5.111 sec, 137.40 mph; Qual. 11
Bonus Points: 0

Race Results

E1: Terry McMillen, Elkhart, Ind., AMALIEⓇ Motor Oil XTERMIGATORⓇ Top Fuel dragster, 3.747, 321.27 mph def. Doug Kalitta, Ypsilanti, Mich., Mac Tools dragster 3.877, 310.91 mph 

E2: Terry McMillen, Elkhart, Ind., AMALIEⓇ Motor Oil XTERMIGATORⓇ Top Fuel dragster, 3.827, 310.63 mph def. Antron Brown, Brownsburg, Ind., Matco dragster, 4.575, 178.06 mph

E3: Billy Torrence, Kilgore, Texas, Capco Contractors dragster 3.817, 321.88 mph def. Terry McMillen, Elkhart, Ind., AMALIEⓇ Motor Oil XTERMIGATORⓇ Top Fuel dragster, 3.841, 311.34 mph

• No. 3 Corvette C8.R takes fourth GTLM win of seaso• Chevrolet grows lead in Manufacturers Championship• Gavin, Milner come home second in No. 4 Corvette C8.R• Ninth class victory at Mid-Ohio for Corvette Racing

LEXINGTON, Ohio (Sept. 27, 2020) – Corvette Racing went wire-to-wire Sunday to claim a GT Le Mans (GTLM) victory at the Acura Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor won for the fourth time this year in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R.  The result extended their lead in the GTLM Drivers Championship and Chevrolet’s advantage in the class Manufacturers standings. Corvette Racing won at Mid-Ohio for the ninth time, and Sunday’s victory was the fifth in the first year of the mid-engine C8.R. Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner placed second in the No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R to remain second in GTLM points. It was the 63rd 1-2 finish for Corvette Racing and third of the year.  Corvette Racing led the entire two hours and 40 minutes – 110 laps in all. Taylor began from pole but Gavin got the jump early and led the first 17 laps before going slightly wide at the end of the backstraight. That allowed Taylor to move back in front, and the No. 3 Corvette led the rest of the way. Three full-course cautions kept bringing Garcia and Taylor back to the field. The first flew at the 36-minute mark, and both cars stopped for fuel and tires at 43 minutes running. Taylor took fuel and fresh Michelin tires, while Milner got in the No. 4 Corvette, which also got a full service. The No. 3 Corvette stopped again under the race’s second full-course caution with about an hour to go with Garcia taking over for Taylor.  Milner stopped again for fuel, tires and a final adjustment to try and match the pace of the sister Corvette. The move worked as the No. 4 C8.R remained almost glued to the back of the leading Corvette while holding off the pair of BMWs in third and fourth. Milner got as close a half-second and at one point held the fastest GTLM lap of the race before Garcia responded and reset fastest time four laps later. With no team orders, the two Corvettes continued to race each other hard but fair with Garcia winning by 1.472 seconds. Unlike the previous seven IMSA events, Corvette Racing has not tested the new-generation Corvette at Mid-Ohio. As a result, the team and its drivers relied on data analysis and correlations from sessions at Chevrolet’s Driver-in-the-Loop (DiL) simulator to arrive at its baseline setup ahead of the weekend.  A test at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval – site of the team’s next GTLM race on Oct. 10 – also proved beneficial to the Mid-Ohio success.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – GTLM RACE-WINNER: “It was a perfect day and a perfect weekend. We seemed to have a really good Corvette all weekend long. Everything we did worked in the right direction. Being on pole made things a little easier even if we lost track position right away, but Jordan did a fantastic job getting back to the lead and being in control of the race. We didn’t risk doing the driver change on the first pit stop because we didn’t know about BMW’s fuel fill time and didn’t want to lose track position. Other than that, Jordan had a fantastic drive in both stints. It’s a shame we had that second yellow because we had built up about eight or nine seconds over the 4 car, and that would have made things way easier for me! But knowing what Jordan did at the start and on his restart, I knew what I had underneath me. I had to believe the car was really good and was able to do pretty much the same as Jordan. Getting that little gap over Tommy gave me a little chance to breathe especially with all the traffic, which is really important here. It was pretty much a perfect weekend for Corvette Racing and the first win for me at Mid-Ohio and for Jordan, too. We’ll keep going race by race and see what happens the rest of the year.”COMPARING THE C8.R TO THE CORVETTE C7.R AT MID-OHIO: “This is definitely better. Last year we had a close race. We pushed the Porsche all the way to the end but didn’t have enough. This year the C8.R worked perfectly not just on a quick lap, and the consistency through the stint was the main thing. That allows you to work your way through traffic a little better. The restarts were very strong. The car is very consistent and easier to drive. The C7.R was a good car, as we proved over the years, but this is definitely a step forward.”MORE ON RACE PREP: “From the test we did at the simulator plus the test we did (at the Charlotte Roval), everything worked together for this race. Every time we hit the track or in the sim, we have an opportunity to develop the car and improve it. I think we did that, obviously. The baseline car we had here really worked. We had to still fine tune things and follow the track conditions, but all the preparations worked in our way.”

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – GTLM RACE-WINNER: “The 3 Corvette was particularly strong all weekend. We led all four sessions – both practice sessions, qualifying and the race. I think we just had a little bit more speed on everyone else all weekend. The balance was really strong from the get-go. That says a lot for the team to come here for the first time with the C8.R with no testing – just simulator time – and rolling off the truck so strong. We only had to make minor adjustments to get it to where we wanted. It speaks volumes for the team and the preparation for today. It’s another good day for us, our fourth win of the year and fifth for Corvette Racing. It’s hard to complain about anything at this point.”WINNING AT MID-OHIO: “We’ve both been racing at Mid-Ohio for a long time. I’ve had a couple of close races here, and I’m sure Antonio has as well. Just like Road America, it was our first time winning there so anytime you check that box, it’s pretty special. The track is definitely a lot different, unique and technical. The first practice was very difficult. A lot can happen in these races here, like we saw today. Everything has to go right. Thankfully for us today, no one made a mistake on track, the guys were perfect in the pits and on strategy.”

OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FINISHED SECOND IN GTLM: “Fundamentally, we were just that little step behind the 3 car. We could never get the balance to where Tommy and I were comfortable. It really only came in during that last stint; it was maybe a little bit of the track conditions and a little bit of us working on the car and figuring out a few things. It was somewhat of a frustrating weekend on our side, not being able to discover the same speed as our sister Corvette. It goes like that. We were quick in Atlanta and got the result, but it flip-flopped here. Antonio and Jordan really came back strong. We need to go back and try to assess why that is so we can have both cars running equally strong at the front. But today was a fantastic 1-2 for Corvette Racing and our third of the year. That’s always very positive and good for the team. They all worked hard this weekend to make sure we had everything covered off. It was an encouraging day.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FINISHED SECOND IN GTLM: “Antonio and Jordan were really quick all weekend. Olly was able to sneak by at the start but Jordan did a good job capitalizing on the one little minuscule mistake. They did a really good job all weekend; their car was just a tick quicker all weekend and they turned it into a first-place effort. We struggled a little bit all weekend with a little too much understeer. We made a good change late to get a little bit back toward a better balance. The 3 car guys were quite good on the first five laps or so, and it looked like I was able to close up in the middle of the stint. But all in all, they were that little tick better. By no means did we have a bad weekend. Our Corvette was pretty good but missing just a little bit. As usual in our class, if you don’t get it just right then you’re a little out of that window. I’m super happy for the team. Obviously it was a little bit weird without Porsche, but good on all our guys to keep their heads down and focus. BMW is certainly no slouch but we just had a little bit of pace on them over a stint. We still needed to execute today, and everyone did that

LEXINGTON, Ohio (Sept. 27, 2020) – Corvette Racing went wire-to-wire Sunday to claim a GT Le Mans (GTLM) victory at the Acura Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor won for the fourth time this year in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R.  The result extended their lead in the GTLM Drivers Championship and Chevrolet’s in the class Manufacturers standings. Corvette Racing won at Mid-Ohio for the ninth time. Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner placed second in the No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – GTLM RACE-WINNER: “You always get nervous. Even your teammate is pushing you hard. But it’s another great day for Corvette Racing and going 1-2. It’s a shame that Porsche is not here as we want them back for sure. It was a brilliant job by everyone. Jordan did a fantastic job all day long, getting on pole and then getting a solid lead even if there were a ton of yellows. But when you are in that position, you are in control of the race. The C8.R worked perfectly again today. This ticks off another win for me because I never won here! Let’s see if I can get another one at Atlanta because I’ve never won there, too! Just a great day for Corvette Racing.”

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – GTLM RACE-WINNER: “It was a perfect weekend for our Corvette. I think the 3 Corvette led every session in practice, qualifying and the race. The car rolled off the truck really well. This was one of the tracks where we never tested at, so the preparation by the team really set us up well. We lost the lead early, but I knew we had the fastest car and I wanted to get back by. Once the 4 car made a little mistake, I had to make the most of it. When we got back to the front we could control it from there. It was another great job by everyone at Corvette Racing – five wins for the team and four for us in the 3 car.” SURPRISED AT SUCCESS OF THE FIRST-YEAR C8.R? “Once we got the first win, that was a little bit of a strategy call. Since then, we’ve been so strong on pace and reliability. That’s just Corvette Racing and the staple of this team. I’m glad to be here and be with Antonio. Today definitely helped us in the championship. Only four to go.”

LEXINGTON, Ohio (Sept. 27, 2020) – Corvette Racing’s Jordan Taylor took his second GT Le Mans (GTLM) pole position of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season Sunday in an early-morning session for the Acura Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Taylor, in the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R, set a lap of 1:17.985 in the championship-leading entry he shares with Antonio Garcia. Taylor also was the class pole-winner at Sebring in July. Garcia and Taylor lead the GTLM Drivers’ Championship by 14 points over their No. 4 Corvette C8.R teammates Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner. Gavin qualified third in class and was 0.530 seconds off Taylor’s pace. He’ll line up behind the No. 3 Corvette for the start of the race. The Acura Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio is scheduled for 2:05 p.m. ET today with same-day coverage on NBCSN at 11 p.m. ET. Live streaming coverage begins at 2 p.m. via TrackPass on NBC Sports Gold. In addition, IMSA Radio will broadcast the race on IMSA.com, which also will host live timing and scoring.

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – GTLM POLE-WINNER: “It was good. No matter how many cars, the GTLM class is always going to be competitive. It’s unfortunate Porsche isn’t here but hopefully they will be back for the next round. For us, it’s the first time here with the Corvette C8.R, so a lot of this came down to preparation by the team. We spent two days at the simulator last week to prepare for it and rolled off the truck really strong. We’ve only had to make a couple of minor adjustments, and that speaks volumes for the team and the preparation to come here with a brand new car and be out front. The Corvette was really good in qualifying and has been good all weekend. Hopefully we can lead the next session as well.” MANAGING TRAFFIC IN THE RACE: “This is my first time racing here in GTLM. Passing the GTD cars in practice is difficult. The speed differential isn’t that big. You can get stuck behind them for most of the infield if you don’t get them down the main straights. They have ABS and can brake very deep into those big brake zones as well. There’s not a big separation between the classes, so hopefully that doesn’t impact too much of the race. Then with the prototypes coming through, that will make it even more interesting.”

BROWNSTOWN, IN (September 26, 2020) – Tim McCreadie went to victory lane at Brownstown Speedway as he captured the 41st Annual Jackson 100 on Saturday Night. McCreadie took the lead on lap 15 and held it the rest of the way for his second win in the last three Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series races. The New York Native previously won the event in 2008.Jonathan Davenport chased McCreadie to the checkers to finish second. The Eibach Springs Rooke of the Year Point Leader, Tanner English came from the 11th starting spot to finish third. Completing the top five were Zack Dohm and Earl Pearson Jr. Davenport led the first 14 laps of the 100-lap event until yielding the lead to the fourth-place starting McCreadie. McCreadie survived several restarts to pick-up his second career win in the track’s most prestigious event that began in 1980. McCreadie’s picked up his seventh LOLMDS win of the season. “When I first came here, we won the first time out the gate. I thought man I love this place, this is a lot of fun. I was thinking 12 years later, it hasn’t been a lot of fun for 11 of them, but the 12th is pretty cool that’s for sure. I haven’t been here many times where it’s been horrible, it has always been really racy. I am worn out! This is probably the hardest I have worked for anything this year. I saw 49 on the board and I thought to myself, don’t hold off one lap because he will make you pay. I thought he [Davenport] was getting close so I just moved down the track a little bit.” Davenport was looking for his second win the event as well, but finished in second. “We had a good car tonight, just not good enough. I think we were pretty close. Congratulations to McCreadie on the win. I think he has been in my trailer as much as he has been in his. I was just probably one lap too late in moving up top in the beginning. Me and Zack [Dohm] had a good race there for several laps when we were running side-by side. We have come a long way since last week.”  English earned another podium finish at one of his favorite tracks. “We definitely had a fast car at the end. It seemed like every time after a caution we would pass two or three cars and then kind of even out at the end. Everybody seemed to start fading at the end and I started to gain on them, picking them off one by one. I had one of the best cars I have had all year.” The winner’s Donald and Gena Bradsher-owned Longhorn Chassis is powered by a Cornett Racing Engine and sponsored by Mega Plumbing of the Carolinas, Bilstein Shocks, VP Fuels, Sweeteners Plus, D&E Marine, and Racing for Heroes. Completing the top ten were Mike Marlar, Tyler Erb, Chris Ferguson, Devin Moran, and Ricky Thornton Jr.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series 
Race Summary 
41st Annual Jackson 100
Saturday, September 26th, 2020
Brownstown Speedway – Brownstown, IN
Lucas Oil Time Trials
Fast Time Group A: Kyle Strickler / 13.828 seconds (overall)
Fast Time Group B: Michael Chilton / 14.314 seconds

Penske Race Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 8-Kyle Strickler[1]; 2. 9-Devin Moran[3]; 3. 32-Bobby Pierce[7]; 4. 16R-Justin Rattliff[2]; 5. 32S-Chad Stapleton[4]; 6. 2S-Stormy Scott[5]; 7. 22B-Austin Burns[9]; 8. 1G-Devin Gilpin[8]; 9. 16-Tyler Bruening[6]; 10. 28JS-Jeff Shackelford[10]

FK Rod Ends Heat Race #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[1]; 2. 157-Mike Marlar[2]; 3. 71-Hudson O’Neal[3]; 4. 25-Shane Clanton[6]; 5. 83-Scott James[7]; 6. 44-Colten Burdette[5]; 7. 20C-Duane Chamberlain[8]; 8. 18L-Trevor Landrum[4]; 9. 144-Anthony Kinkade[9]; 10. 29-Larry Grube[10]

Simpson Race Products Heat Race #3 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 21M-Billy Moyer Sr[1]; 2. 81E-Tanner English[5]; 3. 22F-Chris Ferguson[2]; 4. 42-Chad Finley[3]; 5. 23H-Cory Hedgecock[6]; 6. 71D-Don O’Neal[4]; 7. 14R-Jeff Roth[8]; 8. 43-Kody Marsee[10]; 9. T22-Tegan Evans[9]; 10. (DNS) D8-Dustin Linville

Ohlins Shocks Heat Race #4 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport[2]; 2. 14-Josh Richards[3]; 3. 40B-Kyle Bronson[6]; 4. 22L-Skyller Lewis[5]; 5. 97-Michael Chilton[1]; 6. 21-Billy Moyer Jr[4]; 7. 76-Shelby Miles[8]; 8. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[7]; 9. 14B-Britan Godsey[9]; 10. 19Y-Scott Young[10]

MyRacePass Heat Race #5 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 39-Tim McCreadie[3]; 2. 17J-Greg Johnson[1]; 3. 11R-Josh Rice[2]; 4. 1CJ-Justin Shaw[7]; 5. 14G-Joe Godsey[4]; 6. 24-Jared Bailey[5]; 7. 19M-Marty O’Neal[9]; 8. 21H-Robby Hensley[8]; 9. 26J-Joshua Hall[6]; 10. 79-Troy Worrick[10]

Lucas Oil Heat Race #6 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 17D-Zack Dohm[1]; 2. 1-Earl Pearson Jr[2]; 3. 20-Jimmy Owens[3]; 4. 1T-Tyler Erb[4]; 5. C9-Steve Casebolt[8]; 6. 20N-Tyler Neal[6]; 7. 12J-Jason Jameson[5]; 8. 17T-Tim Vance[7]; 9. 14M-Reid Millard[9]; 10. 13L-Brayton Laster[10]

Tiger Rear Ends B-Main #1 Finish (12 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 16R-Justin Rattliff; 2. 25-Shane Clanton; 3. 32S-Chad Stapleton; 4. 83-Scott James; 5. 2S-Stormy Scott; 6. 44-Colten Burdette; 7. 22B-Austin Burns; 8. 20C-Duane Chamberlain; (DNS) 1G-Devin Gilpin; 10. 18L-Trevor Landrum; 11. 16-Tyler Bruening; 12. 144-Anthony Kinkade; 13. 28JS-Jeff Shackelford; 14. 29-Larry Grube

FAST Shafts B-Main #2 Finish (12 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 42-Chad Finley[1]; 2. 97-Michael Chilton[4]; 3. 23H-Cory Hedgecock[3]; 4. 22L-Skyller Lewis[2]; 5. 21-Billy Moyer Jr[6]; 6. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[10]; 7. 19Y-Scott Young[14]; 8. 14B-Britan Godsey[12]; 9. 14R-Jeff Roth[7]; 10. 43-Kody Marsee[9]; 11. (DNS) 71D-Don O’Neal; 12. (DNS) 76-Shelby Miles; 13. (DNS) T22-Tegan Evans; 14. (DNS) D8-Dustin Linville

Sunoco Race Fuels B-Main #3 Finish (12 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. C9-Steve Casebolt[4]; 2. 1T-Tyler Erb[2]; 3. 1CJ-Justin Shaw[1]; 4. 24-Jared Bailey[5]; 5. 20N-Tyler Neal[6]; 6. 12J-Jason Jameson[8]; 7. 19M-Marty O’Neal[7]; 8. 26J-Joshua Hall[11]; 9. 17T-Tim Vance[10]; 10. 14M-Reid Millard[12]; 11. 21H-Robby Hensley[9]; 12. 79-Troy Worrick[13]; 13. 13L-Brayton Laster[14]; 14. 14G-Joe Godsey[3]

Anthony Alfredo and the Sim Seats Chevrolet Team Score Valuable Stage Points and Secure Eighth-Place Finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

8th    8th  7th

“We had another extremely fast No. 21 Sim Seats Chevrolet tonight at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. I thought we did a really good job running inside the top-five for the majority of the race and scoring some valuable stage points to add to our total, as we continue to pursue an Owner’s Championship for our No. 21 team. We fell back a bit at the beginning of the final stage. The groove I had been running throughout the race went away and it seemed the way the rubber laid down really affected the balance of our Sim Seats Chevrolet. My crew chief Andy Street made great adjustments to keep our car in it and we were thankfully able to rally back inside the top-10. Unfortunately, we had a problem on our last pit stop with some lug nuts falling off, which cost us several positions. I tried to get all I could on the last restart and we were able to get back to eighth for another top-10 finish. We win as a team and lose as a team, but I’m very proud of all the effort that my Richard Childress Racing team puts into this program week in and week out. I’m really looking forward to going to Talladega Superspeedway next weekend.” -Anthony Alfredo

·        Matt Hagan earns No.1 spot in Funny Car qualifying at the 51st annual Amalie Motor Oil National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Gatornationals at historic Gainesville Raceway 

·        Hagan drives Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye to the only sub-four second run in Funny Car qualifying and earns five bonus points and a first-round bye

·        Don Schumacher Racing’s (DSR) quartet of Funny Car drivers look to extend their streak of nine-consecutive event wins at the Gatornationals

·        DSR Top Fuel driver Leah Pruett will start her Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye dragster from the eighth spot on the elimination ladder at the Gatornationals 

·        Mopar Drag Paks of Mark Pawuk and Leah Pruett qualify tenth and 12^th respectively for Sunday’s elimination rounds of Factory Stock Showdown

September 26, 2020, Auburn Hills, Mich. – Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) pilot Matt Hagan drove his red-hot “Demon-possessed” Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye to a three-second pass, the only one in Funny Car qualifying amid hot and muggy conditions, to garner the No. 1 qualifier position for Sunday’s elimination rounds at the 51st annual Amalie Motor Oil National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Gatornationals at historic Gainesville Raceway. 

Hagan’s final qualifying run at 3.975 seconds and 321.35 mph to earn the top spot on the eliminations ladder was an improvement on an already strong 4.006 sec./ 315.64 mph initial run that had him second on the timing sheets. With this his third career No.1 qualifier position at the Gatornationals (2010-11), his third of the season and the 39th of his career, Hagan reaps the benefits with a first-round bye and five extra bonus points. He is also looking to hoist a third Wally trophy this season and his first at the Gatornationals.

While the Florida sun elevated track temperatures to over 120 degrees making qualifying and the drag strip a lot trickier, the Funny Car championship battle also heated up as Hagan (525 points) heads into race day at Gainesville second in the standings, sandwiched between points leader Jack Beckman (549) and Tommy Johnson Jr. (492) with Ron Capps (411) rounding out the top-five. With just five race days remaining in the 2020 NHRA season and a tight points race between the DSR teammates, every round win and bonus point is especially valuable.

While they battle through rounds and jostle for position atop the championship standings, the Mopar Dodge//SRT Funny Car foursome are also looking to extend their team’s current streak of nine-consecutive event wins. 

Three-time Gatornationals winner Ron Capps is seeded fourth for Sunday’s first elimination round after posting a stout 4.025 sec./ 309.27 mph qualifying pass in his HEMI-powered Dodge//SRT machine and will have John Smith as his first opponent of the day.

Qualifying didn’t quite go as planned for Beckman who won at the historic Gainesville track in 2018. He will start his Infinite Hero Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat from the ninth rung on the eliminations ladder after a 4.123 sec./ 254.18 mph qualifying effort and will see Paul Lee in the next lane for his first match-up.

Tommy Johnson Jr., who has had three No. 1 qualifier positions this season and is seeking a second win this year with what would be his first Gatornationals win, didn’t fare as well as usual in qualifying posting a 4.129 sec./ 249.44 mph run for the tenth quickest pass of the day in his MD Anderson Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat. He’ll be paired-up with J.R. Todd for the opening round.

DSR Top Fuel driver Leah Pruett is not only looking to score her first Gatornats event win, but also hoping to make some big gains in the standings as she sits in second place just 51 points behind leader Doug Kalitta going into race day. Pruett took her red, black and chrome Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye dragster for a 3.922 sec./315.64 mph run on her final qualifying attempt to give her lane choice against Clay Millican. 

In NHRA Factory Stock Showdown (FSS) qualifying, the Mopar Drag Pak duo of Mark Pawuk and Leah Pruett will go into eliminations seeded tenth and 12th respectively after the heat slowed their forward momentum both on track and in qualifying. In the first session held on Friday, Pruett was seventh on the speed charts after taking her Mopar Dodge Challenger for an initial pass at 8.297-second and 168.01 mph. Her second run on Saturday at 8.160 sec / 169.25 mph put her 12th overall to pair her up with Arthur Kohn for the opening round.

Pawuk fared a slightly better moving up a spot to a tenth place on the eliminations ladder with his second pass at 8.105 sec./ 171.99 mph. Pawuk came to Gainesville Raceway second in points with four race days left to catch current leader and No. 1 qualifier Aaron Stanfield. Pawuk will line-up his Empaco Equipment Mopar Drag Pak next to Derik Kramer in the first round.

Television coverage of the NHRA elimination rounds, including LIVE finals at Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals, will air on Sunday, September 27, on FS1 beginning at 2 p.m. ET.

ADDITIONAL NOTES and QUOTES: 

Jack Beckman, Infinite Hero Foundation Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car
(No. 9 Qualifier – 4.123 seconds at 254.18 mph)
Qualifying 1: 4.123 sec./ 254.18 mph 
Qualifying 2: 4.340 sec./ 211.53 mph 

“I think that the Infinite Hero team is living proof that you do not have to qualify in the top half to win the race on Sunday. We’ve kind of been living out of the bottom half this year and a lot of that has to do with just getting two qualifying runs. I thought we had backed it up enough on the second run and we’re still too aggressive. I had mentioned that we had changed two discs in our clutch package two races ago and this is the hottest track we’ve been on and it’s still throwing us a bit of a curveball. We’ll have an early start tomorrow. It’ll be different conditions that will give us one more run. We’ll pick away at it and hopefully we make three more after that.”

Matt Hagan, Mopar Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye Funny Car  
(No. 1  Qualifier – 3.975 seconds at 321.35 mph)
Qualifying 1: 4.006 sec./ 315.64 mph (2 bonus point for second quickest run of session)
Qualifying 2: 3.975 sec./ 321.35 mph (3 bonus points for quickest run of session)

“Our race car is running great. This Dodge Hellcat Redeye Funny Car is running strong. It runs like a Hellcat, but drives like a (Chrysler) 300C. Dickie (Venables) is doing such a great job putting a tuen-up in this car. What a great race car I have underneath me. It’s one of the more fun seasons I’ve had. The car is just so smooth. It shows the caliber of guys we have to take so much time off and all the adversity with Covid19 and to come back out here and put together a great race car. We’ve been No. 1 qualifier several times and won a few times also. We have a real car that can compete for the next five races and do big things. I’m extremely excited. I think this might be the first time I’ve ever had a bye run and I just can’t say enough about this team who makes it all happen.”

Tommy Johnson Jr., MD Anderson Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car
(No. 10 Qualifier – 4.129 seconds at 249.44 mph) 
Qualifying 1: 4.129 sec./ 249.44 mph 
Qualifying 2: 4.969 sec. /152.35 mph 

“That is not our normal qualifying position, our average took a hit here this weekend. Come race day I think we can overcome that. It’s just a tricky track for everybody. It’s hotter than what we’ve seen most of the year and a surface we haven’t raced on in over a year. With two shots at qualifying, it’s been hard to hit it quickly. Hopefully we have enough data for tomorrow and we can make the right changes and maybe the weather will be cooler, but we have to wait and see. It should be an interesting race and may fall in the driver’s hands and it may be a pedal fest, but we’ll be ready. They’re all big rounds now. We control our own destiny and have to fend them all off.”

Ron Capps, NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car
(No. 4 Qualifier –seconds at mph)
Qualifying 1: 4.025 sec./ 309.27 mph 
Qualifying 2: 7.827 sec./ 8.589 mph
 
“Man, what a difficult day. Hot weather, humidity all the things that make you dig down deep. The NAPA guys did great Q1 and put us No. 4. I actually shut the car off around 900-feet, so it was possible that we could have gotten a few more spots in that session. We had a couple of issues on Q2 and Tobler and the guys are looking at it right now. There was something with the air system and it didn’t function properly and caused us to smoke the tires. We went up there to go low ET knowing there weren’t 16 cars here. That bye run is pretty important. Fortunately, we’re in the show. It’s going to be a tough day tomorrow and we need to make some ground up and get back in the top four.”

Leah Pruett, Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye Top Fuel Dragster  
(No. 8 Qualifier – 3.922 seconds at 315.64  mph)   
Qualifying 1: 4.347 sec./ 187.63 mph 
Qualifying 2: 3.922 sec./315.64 mph

“It was very tricky to maneuver from the tuning calls to expecting the thing to maybe wash out a little bit, and we had to reposition the car for things we didn’t have to do at the Indy races given how hot it was here today. We smoked the tires Q1, but really far out there. I was thinking it was going to make it. And oddly enough for us to go second to last pair in Q2 put us in a good spot to be able to see where the track was at during that time, which could be similar to the final round tomorrow. I’m feeling good about eliminations for Sunday. We’re carrying momentum from the U.S. Nationals picking up where we left off and we’re itching for a solid race day with an early 10 am start. We’ll get some good sleep and be ready to tame some nitro dragons tomorrow.”

Mark Pawuk, Empaco Equipment Mopar Drag Pak– Factory Stock Shootout
(No. 10 Qualifier – 8.105 seconds at 171.99 mph)
Round 1:   E.T. at   MPH defeated Kim Shirley 8.795 E.T. at 154.90 MPH
Qualifying 1: 8.583 sec./ 168.51 mph
Qualifying 2: 8.105 sec./ 171.99 mph

“It looks like the Florida heat really got to our Dodge Drag Paks this weekend. We didn’t have the same performance that we had at Indy, but tomorrow is a new day and we’d love to go some rounds and stay up in the points. Our competition is looking awfully fast, but we’re never down until it’s over. (Crew chief) Kevin Helms and the crew, Terry (Snyder) and Kyle (Pawuk), are going to get it done to make these cars quicker tomorrow for race day.”

Leah Pruett, Mopar Dodge Challenger Mopar Drag Pak – Factory Stock Shootout 
(No. 12  Qualifier – 8.160 seconds at 169.25 mph)
Qualifying 1: 8.297 sec. / 168.01 mph 
Qualifying 2: 8.160 sec / 169.25 mph

“Things are a little different this weekend with one run on Friday, one on Saturday and all four rounds of racing on Sunday. We go into race day from the No. 12 position and had two good runs down the track. The strategy is to get down the track and creep up on it instead of overpowering the track and then trying to back it down. I’m very confident that we can keep finding more power with this Mopar horsepower we create and we’re going to need that tomorrow morning for the first round. We look forward to a long day of racing and carrying the Mopar banner for the Dodge fans. We’re excited to be back in Gainesville and hope to go some rounds deep into Sunday for these fans.”

NHRA Championship Points Standings:
Following qualifying at Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals

FUNNY CAR (season wins in parentheses)
1. Jack Beckman (Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat) – 549 (2)
2. Matt Hagan (Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat) – 525 (2)
3. Tommy Johnson Jr. (Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat) – 492 (1)
4. J.R. Todd – 420
5. Ron Capps (Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat) – 411 (1)
6. Bob Tasca III – 394
7. Tim Wilkerson – 388
8. Alexis DeJoria – 276
9. Cruz Pedregon – 266
10. Paul Lee – 258

TOP FUEL (season wins in parentheses)
1. Doug Kalitta – 526 (1)
2. Leah Pruett (Mopar Dodge//SRT) – 475
3. Steve Torrance –  468 (2)
4. Justin Ashley – 402 (1)
5. Billy Torrance – 373 (1)
6. Shawn Langdon – 363 (1)
7. Antron Brown – 353
8. Terry McMillen – 337
9. Clay Millican – 317
10. Doug Foley – 196