CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIESACURA GRAND PRIX OF LONG BEACHSTREETS OF LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIAQUALIFYING RECAP-NEWGARDEN PUTS CHEVY ON POLESEPT. 25, 2021
JOSEF NEWGARDEN PUTS CHEVY ON POLE AT LONG BEACHO’WARD AND NEWGARDEN TO BATTLE FOR CHAMPIONSHIP ON SUNDAY LONG BEACH, CALIF (Sept 25,2021) – Two-time NTT INDYCAR Series champion Josef Newgarden came into the season’s final weekend knowing exactly what he had to do to keep his championship hopes alive sitting third in the standings 45 points down to the leader.
So far the driver of the No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet is one-for-one. He progressed to the Firestone Fast Six and turned that into the pole with a lap of 1 minute 08.22411 seconds/103.846 mph. For the fourth time this season and 15th time in his career, he will lead the field to the green flag and add another NTT P1 Award to his trophy case. With today’s pole, Newgarden stays in contention for the season-long NTT P1 Award. Team Chevy drivers Simon Pagenaud, No. 22 Menards Team Penske Chevrolet, and Felix Rosenqvist, No. 7 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet joined Newgarden in the final round of knock-out qualifying. They will start Sunday’s race fourth and fifth respectively. Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet, who came to Long Beach second in points, 35 points behind leader Alex Palou will start eighth tomorrow. Palou will roll off 10th. Rookie-of-the-year contender Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet, qualified 13th for the season finale. Scott Dixon, Helio Castroneves and Romain Grojean made up the remainder of the Firestone Fast Six, and will start second, third and sixth respectively. NBCSN will telecast the 85-lap/167-mile race on the 1.968-mile, 11-turn temporary street circuit in Long Beach, California at 3 p.m. ET Sunday, Sept. 26. The race will be broadcast live on INDYCAR Radio Network affiliates, Sirius 211, XM 205, Indycar.com, and on the INDYCAR Mobile app powered by NTT DATA. TEAM CHEVY DRIVER STARTING POSITIONS: No. 2 Josef Newgarden, Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet, Qualified POLENo. 22 Simon Pagenaud, Menards Team Penske Chevrolet, Qualified 4thNo. 7 Felix Rosenqvist, Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, Qualified 5thNo. 5 Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet, Qualified 8thNo.12 Will Power, Verizon5G Team Penske Chevrolet, Qualified 12thNo. 3 Scott McLaughlin, PPG Team Penske Chevrolet, Qualified 13thNo. 77 Callum Ilott, Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet, Qualified 18thNo. 20 Conor Daly, U.S. Air Force Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet, Qualified 21st No. 14 Sebastien Bourdais, ROKIT AJ Foyt Chevrolet, Qualified 22nd No. 59 Max Chilton, Gallagher Carlin Chevrolet, Qualified 23rdNo. 21 Rinus VeeKay, Sonax/AutoGeek Ed Carpenter Chevrolet, Qualified 24thNo. 4 Dalton Kellett, K-Line AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet, Qualified 26thDRIVER QUOTES:JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 2 HITACHI TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – POLE WINNERYOU ARE FIRED-UP! THAT IS GREAT TO SEE. YOU DID WHAT YOU NEEDED TO DO“There’s some guy roaming around Long Beach that has just been yelling all weekend and getting us fired-up (laughter), and I was pretty much screaming that whole last lap. He’s at the track somewhere. He’s just getting me hyped. He was getting all of us hyped. He needs to be in this pit box. “I’m so happy. It’s been a little bit demoralizing the last couple of weekends where we’ve qualified. We’ve had really good cars. The team has been doing a phenomenal job, Gavin (Ward, Race Engineer) and all the boys. They’ve been killing it. To start where we’ve started these last couple of races has just taken the life out of me a little bit. So, I’m so pumped that we were able to be quick here. I think we’ve got the package, for sure, with Team Chevy. I wish we had more of a fight with Colton (Herta). He was going to be really tough to beat today. It’s a shame we didn’t get to fight him straight up, but you know what? We accomplished our job for today and now we have to go after it tomorrow.” YOU HAVE A CHANCE AT THE CHAMPIONSHIP. IT HAS TO GO REALLY BAD FOR ALEX PALOU. HOW DO YOU APPROACH TOMORROW? IT SEEMS PRETTY SIMPLE SINCE YOU CAN’T CONTROL THEM“Yeah, I mean look, we’ve fought hard all year. We’ve had ups and downs. It’s very unprobeable for us to win this championship. So, I think our goal is to win the race tomorrow. Let’s finish our season on a high note. Everyone here deserves that. We’ll see what happens. I think it’s pretty unlikely, but you never say never in this sport.” DOES SECOND IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP MATTER? IS THERE SIGNIFICANCE IN THAT IF YOU CAN GET PAST PATO O’WARD?“Well, we always want to maximize our potential. If second is what we can do for the year, then we want to get that done. I know that’s what’s important to Roger (Penske) and the team and the same with me. So, we’re going to do everything we can to finish as high as possible and we’ll see where the chips fall at the end of the day.”
FELIX ROSENQVIST, NO. 7 VUSE ARROW MCLAREN SP – QUALIFIED 5thWALK US THROUGH ALL THE CONFUSION TO MAKE IT TO THE FAST 12, WHAT WAS YOUR TAKE ON THE LOCAL LEVEL AND EVERYONE SAYING YOU DIDN’T SLOW DOWN, YOU SAID YOU DID SLOW DOWN. WHAT WAS THAT ALL ABOUT?“Man, I don’t know how they judged that because I’m happy I got through and we were fast enough to get through. But man, the car was standing there, and they kept the yellow for two or three laps and its qualifying. You have to push. But I wasn’t pushing. I was slowing down like three-tenths in that section, which I thought was safe. So yeah, I think we just have to be more clear on how the rule works. But anyway, I thought it was a good session. We ended up P-5. Maybe wanted a little bit more out of the Fast Six, but it was good qualifying again.” TALK ABOUT THE SPEED IN YOUR CAR, BUT ALSO HOW YOU CAN HELP YOUR TEAMMATE TOMORROW? THAT’S GOING TO BE THE FOCUS FOR THE ENTIRE ORGANIZATION AT ARROW MCLAREN SP“Yeah, we haven’t talked a lot about it yet but I think tonight we’ll go through potential scenarios. The fact that we’re up there is helpful. I think that’s a really good thing that both cars are starting in the top – 10. It just gives you more window to play around with things, with strategy, and potential outcomes that can happen in the race. It’s INDYCAR and you never know what’s going to happen tomorrow. We kind of have to get through Turn 1 and then we’ll see where we are. I’ll just push and do my best race.” SIMON PAGENAUD, NO. 22 MENARDS TEAM PENSKE – QUALIFIED 4thYOU SAID IF YOU COULD HAVE GOTTEN A LITTLE BIT MORE OUT OF THE HAIRPIN, YOU MIGHT HAVE BEEN ON THE POLE“Yeah, I was on the lap and went hard in the hairpin and it was a little too much for the car. I may have lost second position there, but I tried. The goal was to go for pole position but Josef (Newgarden) sticked a really good one in. Great for Team Penske to be one and four. And tomorrow, we get to go racing. It’s my favorite track, so I’ve been enjoying the weekend.” YOU’VE BEEN IN THESE CHAMPIONSHIP BATTLES. PATO O’WARD STARTING 8th AND ALEX PALOU STARTING 10th. HOW WOULD YOU PLAY THE GAME IF YOU WERE THOSE GUYS? AND ARE THEY NERVOUS TONIGHT STARTING MID-PACK LIKE THAT?“Well, first of all, personally, and I’m sure it’s the same for a lot of drivers. But it’s awesome to be in the fight in the end. You’re doing this to be in the fight in the last race and Pato and Palou are in it. Man, Pato is in a tough situation. He’s starting mid-pack you know, and it’s been a mess, mid-pack, lately. So, I’m sure it won’t be easy, but he’s got cold blood. He’s really good. And Indy after the crash, he came back and finished second, so he’s strong. He’s going to be able to manage the pressure, I’m sure. But it is not an easy situation he’s in but first you’ve got go through all the mess.” TAYLOR KEIL, PRESIDENT ARROW MCLAREN SP AND STRATEGIST FOR PATO O’WARD: ON CONFUSION AT THE END OF FAST 12 SESSION:“I think we should (be in the Firestone Fast Six). We’ve actually got some data on our own team – I’m surprised Felix is through – frankly, good for him. Two cars we know went through the local yellow, but the results are official, so we have to make the best with what we’ve got. It’s unfortunate when the stakes are so high at the moment.” PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET – QUALIFIED 8thI KNOW YOU CAN’T SEE WHAT THE OTHER CARS ARE DOING, BUT WHAT’S YOUR REACTION AND WHAT THE SITUATION IS WITH THIS RACE NOW IN NOT GETTING A CHANCE TO START IN THE FRONT COUPLE OF ROWS?“Yeah, we should be in there. We were up on our last lap and I had eyes and I saw yellow flags and there were yellow flags until the end of the session. (Alex) Palou had to slow in front of me. I slowed up because that’s what you have to do whenever there are yellow flags. INDYCAR is never consistent with their calls. They need to review that because we should be in the Fast Six right now.” THE CONSOLATION IS THAT ALEX PALOU IS RIGHT BEHIND YOU. WHAT CAN YOU MAKE HAPPEN TOMORROW? WHAT KIND OF STRATEGY OPTIONS DO YOU HAVE TO TRY TO WIN THE RACE AND MAYBE PUT HIM IN A BAD SITUATION?“He’s not the only one we’re worrying about. There’s Josef (Newgarden), there’s Scott (Dixon) that are in there and we should be fighting against at least for pole. I don’t know if we quite had it for the pole, but we definitely had it to get into the Fast Six. It’s a crappy situation. A bummer. But we’ll see what we can do.”
NTT INDYCAR SERIES POST QUALIFYING NEWS CONFERENCEJOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 2 HITACHI TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLETPATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET
THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon, everyone. Wrapping up qualifying at Long Beach. Joined by Josef Newgarden, the fourth pole of the season, 15th career pole for Josef today. Also joined on the far end by Pato O’Ward, second in the championship. He will start eighth tomorrow.Pato, championship still very much in play. The good news is you start in front of Alex tomorrow. How big of an advantage is that on a street course like Long Beach?PATO O’WARD: Yeah, our car has been good. I mean, we didn’t roll off the best, but I think we made some really good changes, just kept improving. We had enough for the Fast 6. Yeah, we should have been in the Fast 6, so…Kind of sucks to get hosed by a very odd call. I’m still seeking for answers. But, yeah.THE MODERATOR: Josef Newgarden, congratulations on the pole position. Tell us about your qualifying session today.JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, I wish we didn’t lose that the last couple weekends. That would have been nice to have that mojo. It’s really what’s done our fate in for this weekend, is just not qualifying well. It’s nice to have that back.We’ve had a fast car this weekend. Actually like we started a little bit slower. It’s been kind of the opposite the last two weekends where we started really quick, then for whatever reason we just fade and don’t get it right on the day when it counts.Really proud of the team. Felt like our car was good from the start. Just needed the track grip to come up. The more grip we had, the better I felt our car was. Yeah, pretty happy for our whole team, especially Gavin, all the boys on the car, Hitachi, Team Chevy.Got one goal accomplished for the weekend. Hopefully we can finish things off tomorrow and have a clean day. Staying alive, man, for now.THE MODERATOR: Questions.Q.Josef, you got out of the car excited, a couple of expletives doing the photography stuff. How excited are you to cut the gap, even if it is just a bonus point?JOSEF NEWGARDEN: You should hear Dixon, he’s way worse. They call him The Iceman, this guy. Dropping fire (laughter).Yeah, I was pumped. We’ve had a guy roaming around here all weekend that’s just been yelling, like in excitement.PATO O’WARD: White shirt? Redhead, beard?JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Dude, he has jacked me up. I just heard him the entire qualifying session. I tried to embody him as I got out of the car. I think I successfully did that. I apologize if anyone heard any of that. But I was pretty excited.It’s been a hard couple of weeks, like it said. The last couple qualifyings have been demoralizing. To bounce back and show our form is very gratifying. Very pleased for our team and that’s what we saw.Q.What did he yell?JOSEF NEWGARDEN: What does he yell, Pato?PATO O’WARD: No, I’m going to get in trouble (laughter).JOSEF NEWGARDEN: He’s so loud. You can’t miss this person. He’s great. I wanted him in our pit box. I meant to tell him that. I forgot to tell him before qualifying.He’s awesome, though. Don’t get rid of him.Q.Is he an INDYCAR fan?PATO O’WARD: Some guy just goes around screaming.JOSEF NEWGARDEN: He’s knowledgeable. The guy is a fan. He’s not just some crazy person that lives around here. He’s a real fan.PATO O’WARD: I think he’s had a tattoo of Will Power on his forearm.JOSEF NEWGARDEN: 07 Will Power race car on his forearm, massive. He loves it. Will took a video of him earlier in the week. You have to find this guy.Q.Have you seen him previously at Long Beach?JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I don’t remember him. I’ll remember it now.Q.This race being in September for the first time, two days to absorb it, how does it feel? Different from the April race?JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I mean, not to me. It’s great to be back. I don’t know, now that you’re here in the space, it feels like normal Long Beach in a lot of ways. Definitely missed this track, missed the crowd, missed the energy. Feels like it hasn’t really dipped, to be quite honest, coming back two years later, which is really great to see.Excited to be here. Excited that hopefully we’ll be back in April, no problems as well next year. It’s just a classic. You can’t not go to Long Beach on the year. It’s something you’d miss if we weren’t here. It’s nice to be here.Q.Would it make sense for INDYCAR to look at street races to finish things out?JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, I would agree. Also just being in L.A., it’s a great market to end the year. I think that adds an element to it that should probably be talked about.There’s a lot that goes into it, right? There’s so many other logistics, other variables to consider. Yeah, if you’re looking at it from a pure excitement standpoint, to Scott’s point, it’s interesting. It adds an element of chaos sometimes which can be very exhilarating.It can probably be worrisome if you’re leading the points, like if you’re an Alex in this situation it’s tough. If you’re a Pato in this situation, it’s encouraging because something maybe can happen, right, that you can’t plan for. I like it from that standpoint.I would also agree, an oval is fun, too. Iowa would be super crazy, but probably not the right place to end the year.Q.(No microphone.)PATO O’WARD: I love Iowa. I’m so excited we’re going back.Q.Pato, obviously you were able to see Felix’s data. What is the explanation you’ve had for the reason why the other cars weren’t penalized and Ed was the only one?PATO O’WARD: Yeah, I mean, really, really happy for Felix, that he went into the Fast 6. I mean, we’re in the same team and we have literal data that shows that at least two of the cars that didn’t get penalized kept going quickly in the yellow flag. I don’t know. Maybe rules don’t apply the last race of the season when everything’s at stake.It just sucks. Sucks that we’re stuck there because we should have transferred. We had the car to fight it. I don’t know if for pole, but we definitely had a car to be in the Fast 6 and start within the first two rows.Q.You’ve not been given an explanation?PATO O’WARD: I’m still waiting on the explanation, just like you and everybody else. But doubt I’ll get an explanation.Q.Pato, we’ve seen a few people have trouble getting into the walls, trouble staying on track. You brushed against the wall once. How do you balance risk versus reward on a tough track like this?PATO O’WARD: Yeah, I don’t know. I think you can’t get too greedy because it will bite. It will for sure bite you. I think as we saw today, not sure where Colton was, but for me he was the guy to beat for sure for pole. Yeah, like I said, when you get too greedy in places like this, they will bite. You just have to kind of find the fine line without damaging your car too bad, I guess.Q.You didn’t get any damage?PATO O’WARD: No, yeah, I gave an exit of turn four a little smooch. I just bent the tow link, then they fix.Q.Is pole more important here than at some other tracks? Does that help you stay out of trouble?JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I mean, it never hurts, right? I think they’re important at all tracks just from that standpoint. It puts you in the best position to kind of control the start in the race, stay out of any mishaps.But INDYCAR these days is unpredictable. You can start up front and it can flip pretty quickly. We haven’t seen as much of that this year. Looking at the statistics, probably starting up front is good.JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, I just jinxed it. It will flip now (laughter).I hope it doesn’t. So far this year starting up front has been what looks like pretty important. Yeah, hopefully that bodes well for tomorrow.Q.Josef, you said it’s been a tough couple of quallies. Does your race engineer Gavin give you any words of inspiration from qualifying or the start of the Fast 6?JOSEF NEWGARDEN: We have these fun things that we do. He’s got a pre-event report that he always does, and I love to read it. He puts inspirational quotes at the top page. In this case he just put three pole winning photos. I was laughing with him on Friday. I was like, Well, at least we know how to do it, right? Literally it feels like we forgot how to do our job the last couple weeks.Yeah, that’s the inspiration he gave me, was let’s just go do what we normally do. Somehow it worked out. Pretty pumped on that.Q.When the Fast 6 got started, did you know Pato and Alex were out? How did that play into your mindset?JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, I saw where they were. I was kind of hoping they’d be a little further back. They got well within the top 10 there. It’s good, but they weren’t in the Fast 6, which is positive for our outlook. But we still had a job to do so I was just kind of focused on what we were going to do in the Fast 6.Q.Pato, you said last weekend in Laguna after the race that you were in the championship hunt but you never felt like you had the car to beat the whole weekend. Do you feel like you have a really good car this weekend? Seeing how you were angry about not being in the Fast 6, seems like you have a pretty good shot at it.PATO O’WARD: We definitely have a better car than what we’ve had, at least last weekend. Yeah, happy about that. I think the guys have done a great job in being efficient with changes, just working together to make everything just go a little bit better.But, yeah, I mean, it’s hard to say. There’s a lot of really quick cars out there. We’ve got champions in the front, people that know how to win races, people that know how to win championships.Yeah, it won’t be easy. But we’re definitely going to send it tomorrow.Q.Seeing how St. Pete went last year, do you feel we can have the same thing tomorrow in Long Beach? Does it give you a good feeling?JOSEF NEWGARDEN: It’s impossible to predict honestly. You try and predict these races and it does the opposite, to Scott’s point a second ago, saying I might have jinxed it. I don’t know what’s going to happen. I really don’t.Alex has been extremely strong. I think if he sticks to his program, he should be in good shape. He’s been very resilient this year and done a tremendous job. Really the same with Pato. I don’t see him make a lot of mistakes, he’s always a charger.If they have a normal day, I don’t expect too much craziness to happen. But like I said, it’s unpredictable. You just don’t know in these events. We’ll see what we get tomorrow.Q.You’ve always expressed a great deal of confidence with the Arrow McLaren SP team since you first joined them. Did you know all along this season that you would end up in the top three for the championship?PATO O’WARD: For sure that was the goal. Last year we finished fourth, so the goal just starting off on the season was definitely to not be fourth, to be at least third, then maybe a bit better.Yeah, I mean, we can still finish there. We’re sitting second right now. At least from where I’m at, it’s really tight. We need to have a good race tomorrow to try to secure second. We just need to monitor where Alex is and see if we should really risk it to go for a win or not if we have a chance, or just try and save second, which is where we are.Q.Josef , there’s three Chevys and three Hondas in the top six. Talk about how important it is at this race to get that win. Have you noticed, is there a difference in drivability off the corner at top speed or something you’ve seen where you have a bit of an advantage?JOSEF NEWGARDEN: We all want to have a good end to our championship regardless. As a team, as a manufacturer, as a competitor, you want to end the year on a high note. We’re all pushing for a good result tomorrow.There’s definitely differences I think between the two brands. I think for us, very pleased with our reliability, our fuel mileage, certainly our power that we’re able to create.I think there’s definitely differences between the two, the way the cars get off the corner, you can see visual differences between the two manufacturers. I’m happy to be a Chevy guy. I think they’ve backed every one of my wins in INDYCAR, have been still doing a stellar job for us this year.Q.For the Firestone reds, what do you think is going to be the dropoff?JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, I’ll do what he does. See what happens.Q.Josef, you have a big mountain to climb to winning the championship. Is it liberating to know the only way you can get this thing if you get all the points, bonus points, win the race, not worry about anything anybody else does?JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I feel like I’m nearly dead. Just put me out of my misery at this point.But we’re, like, clinging to life. It’s a little bit, I don’t know, a hard place to be. We were in a similar situation last year. I just wish we were in a closer striking distance to Scott. We’re even worse than that this season. We’re just in it.Not much more to think about than trying to just go win the race. We did that last year at St. Pete. We approached it with let’s focus on ourselves, try to win the race, see what happens. We’ll do the same tomorrow and see where everything lands at the end of the day.Q.Josef, can you go into a little bit of detail about what went wrong in the last three qualifyings. Was it the same thing each time?JOSEF NEWGARDEN: No. Laguna was probably the most confusing. I felt like we had the car to beat going into Laguna. It just unraveled oddly on Saturday morning when we put red tires on. Not a hundred percent sure what took place there.I think Portland we just got behind. It was sort of self-inflicting. We made, yeah — just didn’t keep up with the track, didn’t put it together. That happens at Portland. It’s so tight there, if you do that, you can get bounced out pretty quickly. That was more easy to understand, but no less difficult to realize.I think it was probably a combination of things at the GP weekend. But you just can’t have that. When you have 28 cars in the championship now, I mean, you can’t start back in 17th, 18th. It’s going to kill your day, especially when there’s nothing that happens in the race to help you. You’re really banking on at least some help somewhere to vault you to the top three.We can fight to fifth or seventh, that’s what we did, but to do much more than that you have to have an extraordinary day. Those are just really hard to come by nowadays with the parity in the series.Yeah, I don’t know. The last two weekends were really, really odd. I’m so pleased to go into this off-season with something more normal and just feeling a little bit better about going into ’22.THE MODERATOR: Thank you.
Chevrolet IndyCar V6 Year-By-Year Results since 20122021 – 6 wins, 7 poles in 15 racesWins – Pato O’Ward (Texas2, Detroit2); Rinus VeeKay (Indy RC1); Josef Newgarden (Mid-Ohio, St. Louis); Will Power (Indy RC2). Pole – Pato O’Ward (Barber Motorsports Park, Detroit1, Indy RC2); Josef Newgarden (Detroit2, Road America, Mid-Ohio); Will Power (St. Louis).2020 – 7 wins, 11 poles in 14 racesWins – Simon Pagenaud (Iowa1); Josef Newgarden (Iowa2, St. Louis2, Indy RC2, St. Petersburg); Will Power (Mid-Ohio1, Indy RC3, St. Petersburg). Poles – Josef Newgarden (Texas, Road America1, Iowa2), Will Power (Indianapolis road course, St. Louis1, Mid-Ohio1, Indy RC3; St. Petersburg), Pato O’Ward (Road America2), Conor Daly (Iowa1), Rinus VeeKay (Indy road course October)2019 – 9 wins, 9 poles in 17 racesDriver/owner championship (Josef Newgarden/Roger Penske); Indianapolis 500 win (Simon Pagenaud)2018 – 6 wins, 9 poles in 17 racesIndianapolis 500 win (Will Power)2017 – 10 wins, 11 poles in 17 racesEngine Manufacturer Championship; driver/owner titles (Josef Newgarden/Roger Penske)2016 – 14 wins, 13 poles in 16 racesEngine Manufacturer Championship; driver/owner titles (Simon Pagenaud/Roger Penske)2015 – 10 wins, 16 poles in 16 racesEngine Manufacturer Championship; driver/owner titles (Scott Dixon/Chip Ganassi);Indianapolis 500 win (Juan Pablo Montoya). First manufacturer to capture all titles since Chevrolet returned to INDYCAR in 20122014 – 12 wins, 14 poles in 18 racesEngine Manufacturer Championship; driver/owner titles (Will Power/Roger Penske)2013 – 10 wins, 11 poles in 19 racesEngine Manufacturer Championship; Indianapolis 500 win (Tony Kanaan)2012 – 11 wins, 10 poles in 15 racesEngine Manufacturer Championship; driver/owner titles (Ryan Hunter-Reay/Michael Andretti)Total – 95 wins, 106 earned poles in 164 races
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CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES ACURA GRAND PRIX OF LONG BEACH STREETS OF LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA JOSEF NEWGARDEN POLE WINNING QUOTE SEPT. 25, 2021
JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 2 HITACHI TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – POLE WINNERYOU ARE FIRED-UP! THAT IS GREAT TO SEE. YOU DID WHAT YOU NEEDED TO DO“There’s some guy roaming around Long Beach that has just been yelling all weekend and getting us fired-up (laughter), and I was pretty much screaming that whole last lap. He’s at the track somewhere. He’s just getting me hyped. He was getting all of us hyped. He needs to be in this pit box. “I’m so happy. It’s been a little bit demoralizing the last couple of weekends where we’ve qualified. We’ve had really good cars. The team has been doing a phenomenal job, Gavin (Ward, Race Engineer) and all the boys. They’ve been killing it. To start where we’ve started these last couple of races has just taken the life out of me a little bit. So, I’m so pumped that we were able to be quick here. I think we’ve got the package, for sure, with Team Chevy. I wish we had more of a fight with Colton (Herta). He was going to be really tough to beat today. It’s a shame we didn’t get to fight him straight up, but you know what? We accomplished our job for today and now we have to go after it tomorrow.” YOU HAVE A CHANCE AT THE CHAMPIONSHIP. IT HAS TO GO REALLY BAD FOR ALEX PALOU. HOW DO YOU APPROACH TOMORROW? IT SEEMS PRETTY SIMPLE SINCE YOU CAN’T CONTROL THEM“Yeah, I mean look, we’ve fought hard all year. We’ve had ups and downs. It’s very unprobeable for us to win this championship. So, I think our goal is to win the race tomorrow. Let’s finish our season on a high note. Everyone here deserves that. We’ll see what happens. I think it’s pretty unlikely, but you never say never in this sport.” DOES SECOND IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP MATTER? IS THERE SIGNIFICANCE IN THAT IF YOU CAN GET PAST PATO O’WARD?“Well, we always want to maximize our potential. If second is what we can do for the year, then we want to get that done. I know that’s what’s important to Roger (Penske) and the team and the same with me. So, we’re going to do everything we can to finish as high as possible and we’ll see where the chips fall at the end of the day.” NBCSN will telecast the 85-lap/167-mile race at 3 p.m. ET Sunday, Sept. 26. The race will be broadcast live on INDYCAR Radio Network affiliates, Sirius 211, XM 205, Indycar.com, and on the INDYCAR Mobile app powered by NTT DATA.
Chevrolet IndyCar V6 Year-By-Year Results since 20122021 – 6 wins, 7 poles in 15 racesWins – Pato O’Ward (Texas2, Detroit2); Rinus VeeKay (Indy RC1); Josef Newgarden (Mid-Ohio, St. Louis); Will Power (Indy RC2). Pole – Pato O’Ward (Barber Motorsports Park, Detroit1, Indy RC2); Josef Newgarden (Detroit2, Road America, Mid-Ohio); Will Power (St. Louis).2020 – 7 wins, 11 poles in 14 racesWins – Simon Pagenaud (Iowa1); Josef Newgarden (Iowa2, St. Louis2, Indy RC2, St. Petersburg); Will Power (Mid-Ohio1, Indy RC3, St. Petersburg). Poles – Josef Newgarden (Texas, Road America1, Iowa2), Will Power (Indianapolis road course, St. Louis1, Mid-Ohio1, Indy RC3; St. Petersburg), Pato O’Ward (Road America2), Conor Daly (Iowa1), Rinus VeeKay (Indy road course October)2019 – 9 wins, 9 poles in 17 racesDriver/owner championship (Josef Newgarden/Roger Penske); Indianapolis 500 win (Simon Pagenaud)2018 – 6 wins, 9 poles in 17 racesIndianapolis 500 win (Will Power)2017 – 10 wins, 11 poles in 17 racesEngine Manufacturer Championship; driver/owner titles (Josef Newgarden/Roger Penske)2016 – 14 wins, 13 poles in 16 racesEngine Manufacturer Championship; driver/owner titles (Simon Pagenaud/Roger Penske)2015 – 10 wins, 16 poles in 16 racesEngine Manufacturer Championship; driver/owner titles (Scott Dixon/Chip Ganassi);Indianapolis 500 win (Juan Pablo Montoya). First manufacturer to capture all titles since Chevrolet returned to INDYCAR in 20122014 – 12 wins, 14 poles in 18 racesEngine Manufacturer Championship; driver/owner titles (Will Power/Roger Penske)2013 – 10 wins, 11 poles in 19 racesEngine Manufacturer Championship; Indianapolis 500 win (Tony Kanaan)2012 – 11 wins, 10 poles in 15 racesEngine Manufacturer Championship; driver/owner titles (Ryan Hunter-Reay/Michael Andretti)Total – 95 wins, 106 earned poles in 164 races
Tyler Erb Gets Seventh Lucas Oil Win of the Season at Brownstown
| BROWNSTOWN, IN (September 24, 2021) – In a wild Night Before the Jackson Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series main event, Tyler Eb emerged for his series-leading seventh win of 2021 on Friday Night at the Brownstown Speedway. Erb took over the top spot when race-leader Josh Rice slowed with a right rear flat tire on lap 29. Erb went on for his first ever win at Brownstown. Current LOLMDS Championship point leader, Tim McCreadie, finished in second followed by Brandon Sheppard, Devin Moran, and Tanner English. Scott James started from the pole, as the veteran Indiana racer was looking for his first LOLMDS win since 2009. James would lead the first three laps before yielding the top spot to fellow front row starter, Josh Rice. Rice, the 2021 Ralph Latham Memorial winner at Florence Speedway in May, held the race lead until Erb passed him on lap 13 for the top spot. Rice would then use the high side to his advantage retaking the point from Erb on lap 17. Erb and Rice came across the line side-by-side with Erb narrowly edging out Rice. Suddenly, Rice slowed coming off turn number two with a flat right rear tire which forced a caution flag and a trip to the hot pit for a tire change. Erb went on to lead the rest of the race for the $10,000 victory. In Lucas Oil Victory Lane for the 16th time in his career and his third in the last four series races, Erb said, “It feels great to win here at Brownstown. They did a great job from yesterday to today to give us a good racetrack. I have a great time. We had to bring out two cars yesterday. I have a great crew and great car owners. We had a good car tonight and it gives us confidence for tomorrow night.” The defending Jackson 100 winner, McCreadie, finished second in Friday Night’s event. “It was really wild out there. You’d think it was the beginning of the year the way some of them raced tonight. They’re really hungry, I guess. I just tried to stay out of their way. This place is so much fun to race on when it gets like tonight. It was cool and a lot of fun tonight.” Sheppard rounded out the podium as the Illinois drive, who won the Indiana Icebreaker on Thursday night, will be looking for his first Jackson 100 victory on Saturday Night. “It was pretty crazy there for a while for sure. We were fortunate to keep our nose clean there and hang on for a third-place finish. Our car was good, we probably need do a few things different for tomorrow night.” The winner’s Best Performance Motorsports Rocket Chassis is powered by a Clements Racing Engine and sponsored by M&W Transport, Roberts Bee Company, First Class Septic, Bazell Race Fuels, Posi Flow, Lucas Oil Products, Go Lithium, Midwest Sheet Metals, Keyser Manufacturing, and KBC Graphics. Completing the top ten were Earl Pearson Jr., Billy Moyer Jr., Steve Casebolt, Josh Rice, and Shane Clanton. Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt SeriesRace SummaryNight Before the JacksonFriday, September 24th, 2021Brownstown Speedway – Brownstown, IN Allstar Performance Time TrialsFast Time Group A: Mike Marlar / 13.385 seconds (overall)Fast Time Group B: Josh Rice / 13.653 seconds Penske Race Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 83-Scott James[3]; 2. 39-Tim McCreadie[4]; 3. 81E-Tanner English[6]; 4. 25-Shane Clanton[5]; 5. 16-Justin Rattliff[7]; 6. 28JS-Jeff Shackelford[9]; 7. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[2]; 8. 21H-Robby Hensley[8]; 9. 157-Mike Marlar[1]; 10. 14B-Britan Godsey[10] Summit Racing Equipment Heat Race #2 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 71-Hudson O’Neal[1]; 2. 1S-Brandon Sheppard[3]; 3. 21-Billy Moyer Jr[2]; 4. 6-Ashton Winger[6]; 5. 11H-Spencer Hughes[4]; 6. 12J-Jason Jameson[5]; 7. 22L-Skyller Lewis[7]; 8. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[8]; 9. 14W-Quentin White[9]; 10. 79-Troy Worrick[10] Simpson Race Products Heat Race #3 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 11R-Josh Rice[1]; 2. 1T-Tyler Erb[2]; 3. 46-Earl Pearson Jr[5]; 4. 76-Shelby Miles[7]; 5. 2S-Stormy Scott[3]; 6. 97-Michael Chilton[6]; 7. C9-Steve Casebolt[8]; 8. 40B-Kyle Bronson[4]; 9. 66C-Matt Cosner[9]; 10. 1CJ-Casey White[10] Ohlins Shocks Heat Race #4 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 20-Jimmy Owens[1]; 2. 1G-Devin Gilpin[2]; 3. 1ST-Johnny Scott[3]; 4. 9-Devin Moran[4]; 5. 28E-Dennis Erb Jr[6]; 6. 14-Josh Richards[5]; 7. 14G-Joe Godsey[7]; 8. 17D-Zack Dohm[8]; 9. 14R-Jeff Roth[9]; 10. (DNS) 13W-Brayton Laster LINE-X B-Main #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 157-Mike Marlar[5]; 2. 11H-Spencer Hughes[2]; 3. 16-Justin Rattliff[1]; 4. 22L-Skyller Lewis[6]; 5. 21H-Robby Hensley[9]; 6. 12J-Jason Jameson[4]; 7. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[8]; 8. 79-Troy Worrick[12]; 9. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[7]; 10. 28JS-Jeff Shackelford[3]; 11. 14B-Britan Godsey[11]; 12. 14W-Quentin White[10] UNOH B-Main #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 2S-Stormy Scott[1]; 2. C9-Steve Casebolt[5]; 3. 28E-Dennis Erb Jr[2]; 4. 97-Michael Chilton[3]; 5. 40B-Kyle Bronson[7]; 6. 14-Josh Richards[4]; 7. 17D-Zack Dohm[8]; 8. 14G-Joe Godsey[6]; 9. 66C-Matt Cosner[9]; 10. 14R-Jeff Roth[10]; 11. 1CJ-Casey White[11]; 12. (DNS) 13W-Brayton Laster |
ANOTHER ONE: Logan Schuchart Stays Hot with Back-to-Back Eldora 4-Crown Wins
Three Wins in Five Races for Shark Racing, Drydene Performance Products #1S
ROSSBURG, OH – September 24, 2021 – Start with Logan Schuchart and Eldora Speedway, then add in that crisp autumn air of September, and you’ve got a perfect recipe.
The Shark Racing pilot continued his hot streak on Friday night, leading the final eight laps at The Big E and scoring his second-straight BeFour the Crown Showdown victory.
After a tough opening half to the 2021 World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series campaign, the Drydene Performance Products #1S has roared to life over the past month with three wins in the last five races. His stellar stretch has been good enough to propel him into a tie with Sheldon Haudenschild for fifth in the championship standings.
Schuchart’s third-career win at “The House That Earl Built” came with a little help from lap traffic, as he pounced on 10-time Series champion Donny Schatz on Lap 22 and never looked back.
“I thought I could use those holes to my advantage, but I ran through it and I swear the motor felt like it lost two cylinders,” Schuchart said. “I think it ripped two spark plug wires off, so I was worried. I thought David would slide me for sure on that last restart, but we never saw him. Eldora is always in great shape and it was a lot of fun tonight.”
From the jump of the 30-lap NOS Energy Drink Feature, all eyes were pointed to Oklahoma City’s Wayne Johnson, who earned his second pole position of the season.
However, Schatz stole command on the start and cruised away to lead the opening 21 laps aboard the Ford Performance, Carquest #15. Schuchart quickly charged from fifth to second, and then all attention turned to an epic battle for third between Johnson, David Gravel, Tyler Courtney, Ayrton Gennetten, and James McFadden.
The first two stoppages of the race were for championship leader Brad Sweet, who suffered a flat right rear on the Kasey Kahne Racing, NAPA Auto Parts #49 not only once, but twice. He went to the work area on Lap 11 and Lap 22, ultimately crossing the line 19th for his worst finish of the season.
At the front of the field, Schuchart pounced on Schatz thanks to lap traffic and never saw another challenge. A green-white-checkered restart made it interesting, but neither Gravel nor McFadden could pressure the #1S as he scooted away to his sixth win of the season and 29th of his World of Outlaws career in a new Triple-X chassis, which he credits for their revitalized success.
“We just didn’t have the summer we wanted,” Schuchart elaborated. ” We felt like at any moment we’d start clicking, and we really felt like Eldora owed us one after July. We left Kings Royal week bummed out with the results considering how good our cars were. I don’t think we were good in the Dash tonight, but Ron, Ben, Jack & Bill made some awesome changes, and here we are.
Australian James McFadden earned a career-best Eldora Speedway result by placing second with a last-lap pass. It also extends his stellar stretch with five podium finishes in the last eight races aboard the Kasey Kahne Racing, Karavan Trailers #9.
“That was so much fun,” McFadden said with a grin. “I told the boys I couldn’t stop laughing in the car it was that much fun. I grew up watching Eldora and watching guys pound it off the fence like that. A bit of redemption after leading laps at the Kings Royal and stepping on my old feller. This team is really clicking right now.”
The Big Game Motorsports #2 made a late charge at Schuchart for the lead, but the final caution on Lap 28 was a caution that David Gravel didn’t want to see as he slipped back to finish third. Ultimately, it was a massive points night as Sweet struggled with two flat tires and Gravel gained 32 points with some of his best tracks on the horizon in the final 10 races.
“Track was slick, but it was great,” Gravel noted. “The holes made it interesting. I don’t think I would’ve won the race, but the caution didn’t help with losing second. Overall it’s a good night to rebound after Hanford. I’m excited for Lernerville tomorrow, one of my favorite tracks.”
After leading the opening 21 laps, Donny Schatz fell back to finish fourth aboard the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing #15. Rounding out the top-five was King Tyler Courtney in the NOS Energy Drink TURBO #7BC, who started his night with a win in the USAC Midget program.
Closing out the top-10 on Friday night was KSE Hard Charger Justin Peck in sixth-from-18th, polesitter Wayne Johnson in seventh, Eldora rookie Ayrton Gennetten in eighth, Jason Johnson Racing’s Carson Macedo in ninth, and Slammin’ Sammy Swindell with his first top-10 of the year.
UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series now embarks on a long overnight drive to Sarver, PA as Lernerville Speedway hosts the Commonwealth Clash on Saturday, September 25. If you can’t be at the track, you can watch Every Lap LIVE on DIRTVision.
NOS Energy Drink Feature (30 Laps): 1. 1S-Logan Schuchart [5][$10,000]; 2. 9-James McFadden [9][$6,000]; 3. 2-David Gravel [6][$3,500]; 4. 15-Donny Schatz [2][$2,800]; 5. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [8][$2,500]; 6. 13-Justin Peck [16][$2,300]; 7. 2C-Wayne Johnson [1][$2,200]; 8. 3-Ayrton Gennetten [7][$2,100]; 9. 41-Carson Macedo [10][$2,050]; 10. 70-Sammy Swindell [12][$2,000]; 11. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [18][$1,600]; 12. 26-Cory Eliason [11][$1,400]; 13. 11K-Kraig Kinser [13][$1,200]; 14. 10-Zeb Wise [24][$1,100]; 15. 5T-Travis Philo [17][$1,050]; 16. 5-Ian Madsen [4][$1,000]; 17. 97-Greg Wilson [22][$1,000]; 18. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [23][$1,000]; 19. 49-Brad Sweet [3][$1,000]; 20. 101-Cale Thomas [15][$1,000]; 21. 83-Kasey Kahne [21][$1,000]; 22. 7S-Jason Sides [19][$1,000]; 23. 1A-Jacob Allen [14][$1,000]; 24. 11-Parker Price-Miller [20][$1,000]. Lap Leaders: Donny Schatz 1-21, Logan Schuchart 22-30. KSE Hard Charger Award: 13-Justin Peck[+10]
NEW Championship Standings (70/80 races): 1. Brad Sweet (9,266); 2. David Gravel (-124); 3. Carson Macedo (-164); 4. Donny Schatz (-234); 5. Sheldon Haudenschild (-322); 5. Logan Schuchart (-322); 7. James McFadden (-702); 8. Kraig Kinser (-1058); 9. Brock Zearfoss (-1324); 10. Jacob Allen (-1638).
Acura’s Qualify Fourth and Fifth at Long Beach
Dane Cameron qualifies his Acura ARX-05 fourth for Meyer Shank Racing
Filipe Albuquerque to start fifth in the Wayne Taylor Racing Acura prototype
Till Bechtolscheimer, Gradient Racing pace Acura NSX GT3 qualifying
LONG BEACH, CA (September 24, 2021) – Dane Cameron led the way for Acura today in qualifying for Saturday’s IMSA Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, and will start his Meyer Shank Racing ARX-05 prototype from the outside of the second row, fourth. His co-driver in tomorrow’s 100-minute WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race will again be Olivier Pla.
Championship points leaders Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor will start fifth in their Wayne Taylor Racing Acura following today’s practice and qualifying sessions.
In the production-based GTD class, Till Bechtolsheimer led the trio of Acura NSX GT3 Evo’s running this weekend in Long Beach, and will start 10th with co-driver Marc Miller. Defending GTD champions Matt McMurry and Mario Farnbacher will start 13th In their Compass Racing NSX, while Andy Lally and co-driver John Potter will start 16th for Magnus Racing with Archangel.
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Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach Qualifying Results
4th overall – #60 Dane Cameron, Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-05 DPi
5th overall – #10 Filipe Albuquerque, Wayne Taylor Racing Acura ARX-05 DPi
10th GTD – #66 Till Bechtolsheimer, Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo
13th GTD – #76 Matt McMurry, Compass Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo
16th GTD – #44 John Potter, Magnus with Archangel Acura NSX GT3 Evo
Quotes
Dane Cameron (#60 Meyer Shank Racing ARX-05) qualified fourth; race co-driver will be Olivier Pla: “A good rebound from this morning, with the unfortunate incident in the first practice [when co-driver Pla made contact with the wall]. But I think we’ve had a pretty good car throughout the day. Both Oli [Pla] and I were quite happy with the handling. It seems like all the turbocharged cars are a bit off from the normally aspirated cars here, which is a bit of a shame. But we were kind of the ‘best of the rest’ of the turbo group, and sometimes that’s all you can do. So we’ll see if we can make some magic happen tomorrow [in the race]. A big ‘thank you’ to all the Meyer Shank team, they had a really long day today with two practice sessions and qualifying all in the same day, so a really big ‘thank you’ to them.”
Matt McMurry (#76 Compass Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo) qualified xxth in GTD, co-driver will be fellow defending GTD champion Mario Farnbacher: “Qualifying today was a bit tough. There was a traffic jam almost every lap going into the last corner. I think we’ve improved the car a ton since we first arrived here this morning and I think me and Mario [Farnbacher, co-driver] are ‘there’ now. We have a fast car and know the track now. We’re plenty quick, but didn’t play the traffic [in qualifying] quite 100% right, so we’ll have some work to do in the race to get back up to the front.”
Fast Facts
Acura Motorsports and its performance arm, Honda Performance Development, have recorded a total of nine sports car victories at the Grand Prix of Long Beach, second only to WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca for Acura and HPD.
This total includes three Long Beach wins for Acura, and six victories under the HPD umbrella. The victories all came in a consecutive, six-year period from 2008-13, and included “doubles” [wins in both LMP1 and LMP2] in 2009, 2012 and 2013.
Where to Watch the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach
Live US television coverage from the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach begins at 5 p.m. EDT Saturday on the NBC Sports Network. Live flag-to-flag race coverage also will be available on NBC Sports Gold TrackPass, on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports App with NBCSN authentication.
Fans can listen to audio commentary via IMSA.com, RadioLeMans.com and XM Radio; and follow the race live via in-car cameras, IMSA Radio and timing & scoring available worldwide on IMSA.com and the IMSA mobile device App.
Acura Motorsports social media content and video links from Long Beach can be found on Instagram (www.instagram.com/hondaracing_hpd), Twitter (twitter.com/HondaRacing_HPD) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/HondaRacingHPD). Additional features and long-form videos can be found on the Honda Racing/HPD YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/HondaRacingHPDTV).
CORVETTE RACING AT LONG BEACH: GTLM Pole for Taylor, No. 3 C8.R
| Another close battle with Milner second in GTLM with No. 4 Corvette |
| LONG BEACH, Calif. (Sept. 21, 2021) – Corvette Racing continued its perfect run of pole positions in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship as Jordan Taylor earned fastest-qualifier honors Friday ahead of the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. Taylor, in the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R, set a time of 1:16.801 (92.248 mph) around the 1.968-mile, 11-turn street course in Southern California. It’s his fifth consecutive pole position in GT Le Mans (GTLM) this season ahead of Saturday’s 100-minute race. Taylor and teammate Antonio Garcia enter Saturday leading the GTLM Drivers Championship on the strength of four wins and six pole positions this year. The No. 3 Corvette C8.R duo also won five races in 2020 en route to the class title. Taylor was 0.297 seconds clear of teammate Tommy Milner in the No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R. He and Nick Tandy were winners in the most recent GTLM race at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca two weeks ago. Saturday’s race will be the first at Long Beach for the mid-engine Corvette C8.R as the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled last year’s race and delayed this year’s running from April. All four drivers have previous victories at Long Beach. Milner and Taylor each of three while Garcia and Tandy have one each. Corvette Racing will contest the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on Saturday from the Long Beach Street Circuit in Long Beach, Calif. Live television coverage will air live on NBCSN at 5 p.m. ET with live streaming coverage on TrackPass and NBC Sports Gold. Live audio coverage from IMSA Radio will be available on IMSA.com, XM 202 and SiriusXM Online 992. |
ROBERT HIGHT AND AAA CHEVY LEAD JOHN FORCE RACING FRIDAY AT NHRA MIDWEST NATIONALS
| MADISON, Ill. (Sept. 24, 2021) – Robert Hight and the AAA Missouri Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car ended day one of the NHRA Midwest Nationals at World Wide Technology Raceway sitting No. 4. John Force and the PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Camaro are temporarily No. 14 and Brittany Force and the Monster Energy dragster are No. 15 with two more runs tomorrow. Hight, who is looking for his fifth No.1 qualifying position at World Wide Technology Raceway, handled the AAA Chevy to a clean 3.902-second pass at 326.87 mph to open qualifying at the NHRA Midwest Nationals. “Not a bad start to the weekend. Two more runs tomorrow to try and improve, maybe pick up some points,” Hight said. “We’ve got some ground to cover but we have to take it one run at a time. This AAA team needs to be aggressive and get the job done. Looking forward to what we can do tomorrow to set us up for race day.” The PEAK Chevy struggled in its first try at qualifying on Friday night. Force lost traction and had to pedal his Camaro hot rod before shutting off early for only a 5.816-second pass at 125.75 mph. “This PEAK Chevrolet team made some changes coming into this race, we’re figuring it out. We have two more runs tomorrow. Not worried, we’ll just have to see how it goes,” said Force who is looking for his fourth No. 1 at the facility. “It’s great to be back in St. Louis at World Wide Technology Raceway, weather is beautiful so the racing should be good. We’ll put on a show so come on out.” Top Fuel points leader Brittany Force and the Monster Energy / Flav-R-Pac team had a rare stumble during Friday night qualifying. The 10-time No. 1 qualifiers this season went up in tire smoke mid-track to only go 5.620-seconds at 116.81 mph putting them, momentarily, in the No. 16 spot. “Unfortunately, we didn’t get down there in Q1. I drove it a bit out of the groove and it went into smoke,” Force said. “We’re collecting all the information from tonight and we’ll adjust for tomorrow. Conditions should still be cool so we should be able to run well. This Monster Energy / Flav-R-Pac team is not letting one run get to us. We get two more tomorrow and we’re confident we’ll step up.” Qualifying at the NHRA Midwest Nationals at World Wide Technology Raceway continues with sessions on Saturday at 1:45 and 4:25 p.m. Eliminations are slated to begin Sunday at 10:30 a.m. For qualifying television coverage, tune-in Sunday at 1 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1 (FS1). Eliminations will air Sunday at 2 p.m. ET on FS1. -30- |
 BRITTANY FORCE, 35, Monster Energy Top Fuel dragsterQualifying:16th; 5.620-seconds at 116.81mphBonus Qualifying Points:0 |  ROBERT HIGHT, 52, Automobile Club of Southern California Chevy Camaro SSQualifying:4th; 3.902-seconds at 326.87 mphBonus Qualifying Points:0 |
Jackson 100 Fantasy Racing – Draft, Play, Win!
| BATAVIA, Ohio (September 23, 2021) – As the “Official Fantasy Sports Provider” of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, Dirt Draft makes it easy for fans to have fun playing dirt track fantasy games and win prizes, while offering a cash bonus to one driver at the year-end Series Championship banquet. Dirt Draft is a fantasy racing contest that allows you to compete against hundreds of other fans across the country. Select a team of five drivers while staying under the $100,000 salary cap and earn points towards the Speed Shop for event tickets, merchandise, subscriptions and much more! Join in on the fun at dirtdraft.com/lucasoil today! At the beginning of the season, Dirt Draft introduced the Hot Lap Award. The driver with the most overall fastest lap time in Hot Laps at the conclusion of the season will be presented with a $500 check courtesy of Dirt Draft Fantasy Racing. Currently, Jonathan Davenport leads the Dirt Draft Fastest in Hot Laps point category, with Tim McCreadie trailing by just a single overall fastest hot lap time. A fan will be crowned the 2021 Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Dirt Draft Fantasy Champion. Not only does this title come with bragging rights, but the fantasy champion will be invited to the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series banquet in December to be recognized in front of and alongside some of the nation’s most elite teams and drivers. Draft your team today! For the latest breaking news concerning the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, including the latest series standings, 2021 tour schedule, driver information, and more visit the official website at: www.lucasdirt.com. |
NAPA Super DIRT Week partners key to bringing race fans Racing’s Biggest Party
Long-time partners extend sponsorship; Several step up to present more than $20,000 total in special awards OSWEGO, NY – Sept. 23, 2021 – The 49th NAPA Auto Parts Super DIRT Week will boast more than a $400,000 total purse for the week of racing (Oct. 6-10), which couldn’t be accomplished without the support of new and long-lasting sponsors.Earlier this year, NAPA Auto Parts announced it was extending its partnership with Super DIRT Week with a multi-year deal, which will include the 50th edition of the historic event. This year will mark the ninth consecutive year that NAPA has served as the title sponsor.“NAPA Auto Parts is thrilled to be a part of the history and legacy of Super DIRT Week,” said Ryan Nowitzke, general manager of NAPA Syracuse. “We look forward to seeing our dedicated, hard-working race fans from across the Northeast spend the week in Central New York at Oswego Speedway and surrounding racetracks. Nothing compares to the excitement and drama of Super DIRTcar Series racing at Super DIRT Week. It takes a lot of “NAPA Know How” to get to the top level of dirt racing.”NAPA isn’t the only well-known partner returning, as well. Billy Whittaker Cars & Trux enters its fifth consecutive season as the sponsor of the Super DIRTcar Series 200-lap, $50,000-to-win, main event (Sunday, Oct. 10).“Super DIRT Week is a special event with an amazing community of race fans and I’m proud to have Billy Whittaker Cars & Trux continue to play a key role,” Billy Whittaker said. “This has been a tremendous partnership throughout the years as we all work to produce the best dirt car racing, we can in the Northeast.”The familiar gold bowtie will dawn the DIRTcar Sportsman main event once again for the Chevrolet Performance 75 – taking place on Sunday, Oct. 10.When it comes to the essential tires and fuel, Hoosier Racing Tire and VP Racing Fuels have become synonymous with NAPA Super DIRT Week and DIRTcar Racing throughout the Northeast. They’ll both continue to be suppliers of those essentials for competitors throughout the week.DIRTVision joins NAPA Super DIRT Week as the new official live broadcast partner this year. The entire week of racing from Oswego Speedway, Brewerton Speedway and Weedsport Speedway will be broadcast live with expert play-by-play announcing, in-depth pit reporter and superior camera action – including drone coverage. There will also be jumbotrons at every race for fans in the grandstands. To watch DIRTVision, sign up now with an annual Platinum FASS PASS or the monthly FAST PASS. You can watch at DIRTVision.com or on the DIRTVision App.“We’re very excited to showcase to the Northeast fans that can’t be at the track the expert coverage and storytelling DIRTVision has to offer,” said DIRTVision General Manager Jim Chiappelli. “We have a lot of exciting things in store that will make them feel like they’re still a part of Racing’s Biggest Party.”More than $20,000 in total special awards will be available to drivers in all four divisions (Super DIRTcar Series, DIRTcar 358 Modified, DIRTcar Sportsman and DIRTcar Pro Stock) with awards for all four coming from SRI Performance (Pole Award), Low-E Insulation (Outside Pole Award), St. Lawrence Radiology (Last Chance Showdown), Bart Contracting (Hard Luck Award), K1 Race Gear (Last Car/Finisher Award), Fastline Performance (Halfway Feature Leader Award), Integra (Last Car on the Lead Lap) PJC Spray Foam (Lap 50 Leader Award) and Penske Racing Shocks (Hard Charger Award). Area Auto Racing News will also again present the Best Appearing Car award for each division.Beyond those sponsors, NAPA Super DIRT Week counts on many other key sponsors and partners, including: SIS Insurance, Automotive Racing Products, A-Verdi, ASI Race Wear, Best Western Plus-Oswego, Beyea Custom Headers, Bicknell Racing Products, City of Oswego, C&S Companies, Clarion Hotel-Oswego, Cometic Gasket, COMP Cams, Drydene, Empire Golf Cars, Fast Shafts, FireAde, Fox Factory, Gypsum Express, Integra Racing Shocks, Intercomp, iRacing, MSD, Penske Racing Shocks, Racing Electronics, Tracey Road Equipment, and Wrisco Aluminum. |
| NAPA Super DIRT Week is brought to fans by many important sponsors and partners, including: NAPA Auto Parts, DIRTVision (Official Live Broadcast Partner), Billy Whittaker Cars and Trux, Chevrolet Performance and SIS Insurance. Other Super DIRT Week sponsors include: ARP (Automotive Racing Products), A-Verdi, Area Auto Racing News, ASI Race Wear, Bart Contracting Inc, Best Western Plus-Oswego, Beyea Custom Headers, Bicknell Racing Products, City of Oswego, C&S Companies, Clarion Hotel – Oswego, Cometic Gasket, COMP Cams, Drydene, Fast Line Performance, Fast Shafts, FireAde, Fox Factory, Gypsum Express, Hoosier Racing Tire, Integra Racing Shocks, Intercomp, iRacing, K1 Race Gear, Low-E Insulation, MSD, Penske Shocks, PJC Spray Foam, Racing Electronics, SRI Performance, Tracey Road Equipment, VP Racing Fuels, and Wrisco Aluminum. Special thanks to New York State. The Super DIRTcar Series is brought to fans by many important sponsors and partners, including: DIRTVision (Official Live Broadcast Partner), Hoosier Racing Tire (Official Tire), SIS Insurance (Official Insurance Provider), VP Racing Fuels (Official Racing Fuel), Chevy Performance Parts, iRacing (Official Online Racing Game) and NAPA Auto Parts. Contingency sponsors include: ARP (Automotive Racing Products), ASI Race Wear, Bicknell Racing Products, Billy Whittaker Cars & Trux, Cometic Gasket, COMP Cams, Drydene, Fox Factory, MSD, and Wrisco (Exclusive Racing Aluminum); along with manufacturer sponsors, including: FireAde, Intercomp, and Racing Electronics. |
chevy racing–nascar–las vegas advance
TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE SOUTH POINT 400 LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY LAS VEGAS, NEVADA SEPT. 26, 2021
RACE #30 – LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAYThe Round of 12 of the NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) Playoffs for four Team Chevy drivers opens Sunday, September 26, with the 267-lap South Point 400 on the 1.5-mile oval of Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Chevrolet has won nine of the 27 NCS races held at the Nevada venue, including the past two by Kyle Larson (March 2021) and Kurt Busch (September 2020). Larson, first in the Playoff standings entering the race, will start from the pole in his No. 5 Tarlton and Son Camaro ZL1 1LE.
The diverse three-race set of the second round also includes the 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway oval and the Charlotte ROVAL, where the field will be trimmed from 12 drivers to eight in pursuit for the NCS championship title. A look at Team Chevy in the NASCAR Cup Series title hunt:
Kyle Larson, No. 5 Tarlton and Son Camaro ZL1 1LE – 1st in Standings (3,059 Points)Victories: 6 (field-high)Top-Fives: 16; Top-10’s: 21; Poles: 1; Laps Led: 1,905Average Finish: 9.0Stage Wins: 14At Las Vegas (10 career NCS starts): Wins: 1; Top-Fives: 4; Top-10’s: 7; Average Finish: 9.8Of Note: In the March 2021 NCS race at Las Vegas, Larson led a field-high 103 of 267 laps to capture his first win of the 2021 NCS season and his first with Hendrick Motorsports. The NCS Regular Season Champion starts the second round 46 points above the cutline.
Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1 1LE – 6th in Standings (3,021 points)Victories: 2Top-Fives: 12; Top-10’s: 17; Laps Led: 524; Average Finish: 12.0Stage Wins: 3At Las Vegas (9 career NCS starts): Top-Fives: 2; Top-10’s: 3; Average Finish: 20.556 Of Note: The 2021 NCS season marks Elliott’s sixth consecutive year of being part of the Playoff field. Six of his 13 career NCS wins have come in the Playoffs. Elliott has wins at five of the next seven venues on the NCS schedule.
Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1 1LE –7th in Standings (3,015 Points)Victories: 3Top-Fives: 7; Top-10’s 14; Pole Wins: 1; Laps Led: 151; Average Finish: 14.1At Las Vegas (9 career NCS starts): Top-Fives: 1; Top-10’s: 2; Average Finish: 19.667Of Note: The 2021 NCS season marks Bowman’s fourth-career Playoffs appearance. Bowman has raced his way into the Round of 12 for the last three years. Bowman tied a career best at Bristol of a fifth-place finish to advance to the Round of 12.
William Byron, No. 24 Axalta/Service King Camaro ZL1 1LE – 8th in Standings (3,014 Points)Victories: 1 Top-Fives: 10; Top-10’s: 17; Pole Wins: 2; Laps Led: 276; Average Finish: 13.7Stage Wins: 3At Las Vegas (8 career NCS starts): Top-10’s: 2; Average Finish: 20.286Of Note: The 2021 NCS season marks Byron’s third-career Playoffs appearance. Byron produced a career-high third place finish at Bristol, making up an 18-point deficit to advance to the Round of 12. In six NCS races on 1.5-mile tracks thus far this season, Byron has captured one win (Homestead-Miami Speedway) and finished inside the top 10 in five of those races.
CHEVROLET OCCUPIES SEVEN OF 12 NXS PLAYOFF SPOTSSeven drivers of the Chevrolet Camaro SS – AJ Allmendinger, Justin Allgaier, Noah Gragson, Justin Haley, Jeb Burton, Myatt Snider and Jeremy Clements – qualified for the 12-driver NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) Playoffs that begin Saturday, September 25, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.Allmendinger sealed the regular season championship with his fourth victory of the season at Bristol Motor Speedway. The Kaulig Racing driver returns to Las Vegas Motor Speedway looking to become a repeat winner after capturing the NXS victory at Las Vegas in March. Chevrolet, with 12 NXS wins, is heading into the NXS playoff run atop the Manufacturer Standings.
NCWTS ROUND OF EIGHTReigning NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) champion Sheldon Creed, Zane Smith and Carson Hocevar advanced to the Round of 8 in their Chevrolet Silverado’s. The reigning NCWTS Champion, Sheldon Creed, had an impressive first round, capturing the victory at two of the three races in the Round of 10. Creed leads the Team Chevy brigade sitting second in the driver standings. The Round of 8 kicks off at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Friday, September 24, with the Victoria’s Voice Foundation 200 Presented by Westgate Resorts.
TWENTY YEARS AGO – GORDON RECORDS CHEVY’S FIRSTCareer Chevrolet driver Jeff Gordon gave the Bowtie Brand its first victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 4, 2001. Gordon led twice, including the final 20 laps of the 267-lap race, after starting 24th. Jimmie Johnson leads Chevrolet and all NCS drivers with four wins at the track, including three in a row in 2005, ’06 and ’07.
CHEVROLET HOLDS LEAD IN MANUFACTURER STANDINGSChevrolet remains the leader in the NASCAR Cup Series Manufacturer Standings in pursuit of its 40th title. Team Chevy has recorded field highs of 14 victories, 128 top-10 finishes, 3,300 laps led and 26 stage wins through 29 races. The Bowtie Brand has already surpassed its totals for wins (9), top-10 finishes (120), laps led (2,399) and stage wins (21) from the 36-race 2020 season.
BUSCH TO MAKE 750TH START ON HOME TRACKLas Vegas native Kurt Busch, driving the No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Camaro ZL1 1LE, will make his 750th NASCAR Cup Series start on his home track. In his 22nd season, the 2004 NASCAR Cup Series champion is the longest-tenured active driver in terms of career starts. He has 33 wins and 327 top-10 finishes. Busch, 43, qualified for the Playoffs this season for the 15th time in the 18 years of the postseason.
ON THE WAY TO THE GREENWith no practice or qualifying for the 267-lap race, the starting lineup is determined by NASCAR’s metrics system that was introduced to the series last year and incorporates results from both individual races and season-long results. Team Chevy’s Top-20 Starters:1st Kyle Larson, No. 5 Tarlton and Son Camaro ZL1 1LE 3rd William Byron, No. 24 Axalta/Service King Camaro ZL1 1LE7th Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1 1LE 11th Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1 1LE 13th Tyler Reddick, No. 8 Cat Trial 11: Hot Wheels Camaro ZL1 1LE15th Austin Dillon, No. 3 BETMGM Camaro ZL1 1LE16th Erik Jones, No. 43 Medallion Bank Camaro ZL1 1LE 18th Ross Chastain, No. 42 Clover Camaro ZL1 1LE20th Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1 1LE
BOWTIE BULLETS· Chevrolet leads all manufacturers with 14 wins, 128 top-10 finishes and 3,300 laps led of 7,293 total this season.· In addition to its nine wins, Chevrolet has amassed 55 top-five and 106 top-10 finishes in 27 races since Las Vegas Motor Speedway opened in 1998.· The Southpoint 400 is the fourth race of the Playoffs. Career Chevrolet driver Jimmie Johnson won the fourth race in 2009 and 2016 on the way to claiming the Driver Championship.· Johnson’s four wins at Las Vegas leads all drivers.· Erik Jones (22 years, 3 months, 17 days) is the youngest pole winner at Las Vegas.· Jones led non-Playoff drivers with an eighth-place finish at Bristol.· Hendrick Motorsports continues to lead the Owner Standings.· Kyle Larson paces all drivers with 1,905 laps led.· Tyler Reddick is second among drivers with 99.49% of laps completed (7,256 of 7,293).· Five Team Chevy drivers have combined for 26 stage wins: Chase Elliott (Daytona RC, Michigan, Daytona2); William Byron (Homestead, Pocono2, Road America); Tyler Reddick (Road America, Indianapolis Road Course x2); Kurt Busch (Nashville Superspeedway, Pocono1, Atlanta2); Kyle Larson (Las Vegas, Atlanta x2, Kansas, Dover x2, Charlotte x3, Sonoma x2, Nashville, Darlington2, Bristol2).
TUNE INNBCSN will telecast the 267-lap NASCAR Cup Series South Point 400 at 7 p.m. ET, Sunday, Sept. 26. Live coverage is also on PRN and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. NBCSN will also telecast the 201-lap NASCAR Xfinity Series Alsco Uniforms 302 at 7:30 p.m. ET Saturday, Sept. 25. FS1 will telecast the 134-lap NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Victoria’s Voice Foundation 200 presented by Westgate Resorts at 9 p.m. ET, Friday, Sept. 24.
QUOTABLE QUOTESKYLE LARSON, NO. 5 TARLTON AND SON CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 1st IN STANDINGSLARSON ON RETURNING TO LAS VEGAS: “It’s nice going back to a track we’ve won at before. We were really good at Vegas earlier this year, so definitely excited to go back and hoping we have similar speed. The temperature will be much warmer this weekend, so that changes things but our team has been really good at adapting to every situation this year. Hopefully, we can prepare well and have another good car and battle for the win.”
CLIFF DANIELS, CREW CHIEF, NO. 5 TARLTON AND SON CAMARO ZL1 1LEDANIELS ON HOTTER TEMPERATURES COMPARED TO MARCH: “It definitely presents a lot of challenges – from the ambient air temperature to the track temperature, and the pace is going to be slower and (tire) fall off is going to be higher. We’re taking all that into consideration and hope we make the right decisions to have a good car – not only for speed but longer into a run when grip is lacking.”
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 6th IN STANDINGS“We haven’t had the best results at Las Vegas. The good thing is I feel like we have been fast out there at times. That’s the frustrating thing. Terrible results. I feel like every time I leave out there I’m mad and ready to go home, but I’m looking forward to this trip. Vegas is a place that I don’t have any ill will toward and again, I feel like we have had pace there. We have just really struggled to get the results. Hopefully, this time is a little different. It would be nice to get a win out there. That would be even better.”
ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 7th IN STANDINGS“Advancing to the Round of 12 was exactly what we needed to do going into the Bristol race. It is obvious we struggled in the first two races in the playoffs, but we went into Bristol with a strategy and Greg (Ives) and the team did a great job with adjustments throughout the race. We fought hard and coming out with a fifth-place finish was big for this Ally team. We want to take Ally as far as we can in these playoffs and putting races together like last weekend will do just that for us.”
“Going to Vegas this weekend is a good track for the 48 team. We have seen success there in the past and earlier this season we had a top-10, if not a top-five run going before we had a tire go down. Our mile and a half program is strong and this Ally team has been working hard on our Chevrolets. This round of the playoffs has a lot of good tracks for us, so we are looking to have strong runs the next three weeks.”
GREG IVES, CREW CHIEF, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 1LE “Whether it’s a great week or a bad week, you try to look at each week as a new start and have realistic goals in mind. A realistic goal for us at Las Vegas is a win. There are some places you go and try to get top five in stages and then come out with a good finish. With Vegas, I feel like we got great race cars capable of going out there and scoring a lot of stage points and getting the win. Fortunately, or unfortunately, we have teammates who have the same thing. We just got to go out there and execute to the best of our abilities and take advantage when we can. Whether it’s a restart or on pit road or short runs or long runs. We just got to stay focused on that. I feel like we’re capable of winning at any racetrack, but there’s a lot of confidence going back to Vegas.”
WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA / SERVICE KING CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 8th IN STANDINGSBYRON ON HOW CRUCIAL LAS VEGAS IS FOR THE NEXT ROUND OF THE PLAYOFFS: “It’s a great feeling knowing that we had the performance we did in Bristol and were able to advance on. I knew this team was capable of it but to be able to execute it in a Game 7-style situation is even more impressive. Now we’re moving on and turning or focus to the next round. These upcoming tracks are ones that have always been good for us but they also can be wildcards in their own respective, especially Talladega (Superspeedway) and the Charlotte ROVAL. That’s why it’s even more important for us to go to Vegas, execute everything and maximize points. We don’t want to start this round off in a hole like we did the first round. Myself and Rudy (Fugle) would rather play offense through these next three races than have to worry on defending points. Vegas is crucial, in my mind, to determine how you play the rest of the round. Hopefully, we come out with a win and the only points that matter for the next two races are playoff points.”
RUDY FUGLE, CREW CHIEF, NO. 24 AXALTA / SERVICE KING CAMARO ZL1 1LEFUGLE ON THE MOMENTUM HEADING TO LAS VEGAS:“We’re super excited to hit the reset button at this stage. Darlington put us behind and we didn’t have a good run at Richmond. It made Bristol way too stressful. I feel like Vegas is really good for us, and this whole round has tracks where we are fast and perform well. I’m really excited about getting a reset, getting a good start at Vegas, competing for a win and maybe not having to worry about the next two (races), so that would be great.”
ERIK JONES, NO. 43 MEDALLION BANK CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 24th IN STANDINGSTHOUGHTS ON GOING BACK TO LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY FOR A SECOND TIME THIS SEASON? “I’m looking forward to going back to Las Vegas (Motor Speedway). We had a really good run there in the spring with a top-10. Hopefully we can just go back and run as good and improve on it, as well. We’ll see how it goes. Las Vegas is kind of an interesting track. I feel like this race is a lot different than the spring, just because it ends at night and the track changes a lot when it cools down.”“Overall, I feel good about our package and being able to come back with something that was good in the spring and hopefully just as good when we go back this weekend.”
DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 GOOD SAM CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 25th IN STANDINGSWHAT IS DANIEL’S AMIGOS?“Daniel’s Amigos was just an idea. I always wanted to do something special for the Latinos, and was just trying to come up with ways to bring this community to the race track and give them a special, cool experience.
“After several conversations with Coca-Cola and NASCAR, we were able to make it happen in 2019 at Auto Club Speedway in California. The program just grew from there until COVID made us take a break. It has been a while since we have done it, but we are back Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.”It has taken a lot of work by Coca-Cola and NASCAR to make this happen, but I am super excited about it.”
WHAT DO YOU EXPECT ON SUNDAY WITH DANIEL’S AMIGOS? “We are going to have a few hundred people in the infield of the race track in an open air space where they can have a good time. I am going to be there for 45 minutes, taking pictures, questions and answers and lots of fun. I want them to get to know me better and I want to get to know them. I want to show them how cool NASCAR really is.”
WHY IS THIS PROGRAM IMPORTANT? “One of the great things I love about our sport is that it is very family oriented. Every time I get the opportunity to do one of these Daniel’s Amigos events, I want to make them feel like they are at home so they will come back and support us every week at the track.”
HOW COOL WOULD IT BE TO WIN SUNDAY? “Winning Sunday would be amazing. I would invite all 200 Daniel’s Amigos to victory lane to help us celebrate.”
COREY LAJOIE, NO. 7 BUILT BAR CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 29th IN STANDINGS“Heading into Vegas this weekend with some high hopes. I turn 30 on Saturday, so my friends at Built Bar did a special scheme that makes me look like I’m turning 80. We broke a gear running 16th the first race here, so hopefully we can back that up and have an even better run this time. This track changes drastically from the start of the race in the direct sunlight, to the end of the race when it finishes under the lights. We’ve got some good notes that we’ll apply from previous races & stay on top of the changes to our Built Bar Camaro all night.”
Chevrolet NASCAR Cup Series StatisticsManufacturers Championships:Total (1949-2020): 39First title for Chevrolet: 1958Highest number of consecutive titles: 13 (2003-15) Years Won: 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 Drivers Championships:Total (1949-2020): 32First Chevrolet champion: Buck Baker (1957)Highest number of consecutive titles: 7 (2005-11)Most Recent: Chase Elliott (2020) Years Won: 1957, 1960, 1961, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2020 Event Victories:Record for total race wins in single season: 26 (2007) 2021 STATISTICS: Wins: 14Poles: 5Laps Led: 3,300Top-five finishes: 60Top-10 finishes: 128Stage wins: 26 – Chase Elliott (Daytona RC, Michigan, Daytona), William Byron (Homestead, Pocono 2, Road America), Kyle Larson (Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Atlanta x2, Kansas, Dover x2, Charlotte x3, Sonoma x2, Nashville, Darlington, Bristol), Kurt Busch (Nashville, Pocono 1, Atlanta 2), Tyler Reddick (Road America, Indy RC x2) CHEVROLET IN NASCAR CUMULATIVE STATISTICS:Total Chevrolet race wins: 809 (1949 to date)Poles won to date: 722Laps led to date: 240,005Top-five finishes to date: 4,125Top-10 finishes to date: 8,530 Total NASCAR Cup Wins by Corporation, 1949 to Date: General Motors: 1,143 Chevrolet: 809 Pontiac: 154 Oldsmobile: 115 Buick: 65 Ford: 811 Ford: 711 Mercury: 96 Lincoln: 4 Fiat Chrysler Automobiles: 467 Dodge: 217 Plymouth: 191 Chrysler: 59 Toyota: 160
chevy racing–indycar–grand prix of long beach pre-race advance
CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES ACURA GRAND PRIX OF LONG BEACH STREETS OF LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA SEPT. 24-26 RACE 16 OF 2021 NTT INDYCAR SERIES SEASON Team Chevy heads to Long Beach with eyes on the prizePato O’Ward and Josef Newgarden take aim at driver championship in season finale; Scott McLaughlin eyes Rookie-of-the-Year titleDETROIT (Sept. 23, 2021) – Pato O’Ward’s path to clinching the Astor Cup has become more challenging. But like any true competitor, the second-year NTT INDYCAR SERIES driver thrives on challenges. The driver of the No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet enters the 85-lap championship-deciding race Sunday, Sept. 26, on the 1.968-mile, 11-turn temporary street circuit in Long Beach, California, second in the standings. Scoring his third win of the 16-race season is a necessity to leave Southern California with the title. “We are still alive in the championship, and a lot of things can fall our way,” said O’Ward, who enters the season finale 35 points out of first. “I’m going for the win in Long Beach, whatever it takes. I think our street course package is probably one of our stronger packages in terms of road courses, street courses, ovals, short ovals. I think I’m pretty handy around a street course, so hopefully I can pull off something good.” O’Ward has one NTT INDYCAR SERIES start on the technical street circuit, qualifying ninth and placing 12th in 2019. The event was not contested in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. “We’re here as underdogs,” O’Ward added. “It’s the first time we truly challenged for a championship of this magnitude, with this amount of competitiveness. I think it’s been a fantastic year. I’m very proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish. Really proud of how we’ve grown. But we’re not there yet. We need to keep pushing and we need to keep improving.” Two 45-minute practice sessions on the precede knockout qualifications Saturday, Sept. 25. The race will be the 165th for Chevrolet since it returned to INDYCAR manufacturer competition in 2012. The Bowtie Brand has four victories on the Long Beach course in that span and seven in a row from 1987-93.
“Chevrolet enters the final race of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES season with the same objective and resolve it entered 2021 with — to provide the best support possible to our teams and drivers and see a race car with the Bowtie take the checkered flag,” Chevrolet INDYCAR program manager Rob Buckner said. “It’s been a challenging season in many regards for everybody but rewarding, too.
“We’re looking forward to watching the one of Chevy’s newest talents Pato O’Ward tackle the Long Beach street circuit in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet and Josef Newgarden wheel his No. 2 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet as they both charge for the win and hopefully either Pato’s first or Josef’s third championship.”
Two-time NTT INDCYAR SERIES champion Newgarden, who was runner-up in the 2019 race at Long Beach, is 45 points behind front-running Alex Palou and mathematically in contention for the title. “I’m so proud of the No. 2 car team and everyone with Chevy and Hitachi — just a little short,” said Newgarden, who advanced 10 positions to finish seventh at Laguna Seca. “Little bit tough, but we’ll go to Long Beach and try to get another win before the offseason.” McLaughlin seeks to secure rookie of year titleScott McLaughlin will aim to wrap up the INDYCAR Rookie of the Year award in the No. 3 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet. With five top-10 finishes through the 15 races, including runner-up at Texas Motor Speedway in his oval debut, the three-time Australian V8 Supercars champion is a respectable 13th in the standings. Buckner continued: “Scott has made a difficult transition with incredible determination. He has challenged himself all season. It will be an exciting to see his hard work rewarded.” Chevrolet on displaySpectators can learn more about Chevrolet vehicles at the Chevrolet Motorsports Display in the Long Beach Expo Center throughout the weekend. Display vehicles include the No. 16 Paretta Autosport Chevrolet NTT INDYCAR SERIES car that raced in the 2021 Indianapolis 500, a 2022 Corvette Stingray convertible, a 2021 Camaro 1LE and a 2021 Silverado Trail Boss. Chevrolet INDYCAR team owner Beth Paretta will meet fans at the Chevrolet Display on Sunday at 10:00 a. m.
Of noteINDYCAR veteran Charlie Kimball returns to AJ Foyt Racing for the season finale in the No. 11 Tresiba Chevrolet. … Dalton Kellett, driver of the No. 4 K-Line Insulators AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet, got engaged to be married after the Sept. 16 race at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. … Sebastien Bourdais, driver of the No. 14 ROKiT AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet, is a three-time winner at Long Beach. … The 2022 Long Beach race will be third event of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES schedule, scheduled for April 10. Tune inNBCSN will telecast the 85-lap/167-mile race at 3 p.m. ET Sunday, Sept. 26, and knockout qualifications at 3 p.m. ET Saturday, Sept. 25. Qualifying and practice sessions will also stream on Peacock Premium. The race, qualifications and practice will be broadcast live on INDYCAR Radio Network affiliates, Sirius 211, XM 205, Indycar.com, and on the INDYCAR Mobile app powered by NTT DATA.
Team Chevy will be represented by:A.J. Foyt EnterprisesDalton Kellett, No. 4 K-Line Insulators AJ Foyt RacingCharlie Kimball, No. 11 Tresiba AJ Foyt RacingSebastien Bourdais, No. 14 ROKiT AJ Foyt RacingArrow McLaren SPPato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren SPFelix Rosenqvist, No. 7 Vuse Arrow McLaren SPCarlinMax Chilton, No. 59 CarlinEd Carpenter RacingConor Daly, No. 20 U.S. Air ForceRinus VeeKay, No. 21 Sonax/AutogeekJuncos Hollinger RacingCallum Ilott, No. 77 Juncos Hollinger RacingTeam PenskeJosef Newgarden, No. 2 Hitachi Team PenskeScott McLaughlin, No. 3 PPG Team PenskeWill Power, No. 12 Verizon 5G Team PenskeSimon Pagenaud, No. 22 Menards Team Penske Chevrolet IndyCar V6 Year-By-Year Results since 20122021 – 6 wins, 7 poles in 15 racesWins – Pato O’Ward (Texas2, Detroit2); Rinus VeeKay (Indy RC1); Josef Newgarden (Mid-Ohio, St. Louis); Will Power (Indy RC2). Pole – Pato O’Ward (Barber Motorsports Park, Detroit1, Indy RC2); Josef Newgarden (Detroit2, Road America, Mid-Ohio); Will Power (St. Louis).2020 – 7 wins, 11 poles in 14 racesWins – Simon Pagenaud (Iowa1); Josef Newgarden (Iowa2, St. Louis2, Indy RC2, St. Petersburg); Will Power (Mid-Ohio1, Indy RC3, St. Petersburg). Poles – Josef Newgarden (Texas, Road America1, Iowa2), Will Power (Indianapolis road course, St. Louis1, Mid-Ohio1, Indy RC3; St. Petersburg), Pato O’Ward (Road America2), Conor Daly (Iowa1), Rinus VeeKay (Indy road course October)2019 – 9 wins, 9 poles in 17 racesDriver/owner championship (Josef Newgarden/Roger Penske); Indianapolis 500 win (Simon Pagenaud)2018 – 6 wins, 9 poles in 17 racesIndianapolis 500 win (Will Power)2017 – 10 wins, 11 poles in 17 racesEngine Manufacturer Championship; driver/owner titles (Josef Newgarden/Roger Penske)2016 – 14 wins, 13 poles in 16 racesEngine Manufacturer Championship; driver/owner titles (Simon Pagenaud/Roger Penske)2015 – 10 wins, 16 poles in 16 racesEngine Manufacturer Championship; driver/owner titles (Scott Dixon/Chip Ganassi);Indianapolis 500 win (Juan Pablo Montoya). First manufacturer to capture all titles since Chevrolet returned to INDYCAR in 20122014 – 12 wins, 14 poles in 18 racesEngine Manufacturer Championship; driver/owner titles (Will Power/Roger Penske)2013 – 10 wins, 11 poles in 19 racesEngine Manufacturer Championship; Indianapolis 500 win (Tony Kanaan)2012 – 11 wins, 10 poles in 15 racesEngine Manufacturer Championship; driver/owner titles (Ryan Hunter-Reay/Michael Andretti)Total – 95 wins, 106 earned poles in 164 races
RECENT SUCCESS HAS DEJORIA PUMPED for st. louis midwest nationals
ST. LOUIS (September 23, 2021) — A grueling four race stretch of NHRA national events will come to a close this weekend at the NHRA Midwest Nationals at World Wide Technology Raceway outside of St. Louis. Alexis DeJoria and the Bandero Premium Tequila ROKiT Toyota Camry might be one of the few teams that would like to keep the racing streak alive on the heels of their strong performance at the DeWalt NHRA Carolina Nationals last weekend. The five-time national event winner raced to the semifinals and while they did not get the trophy, the improved performance numbers across the board has the entire team ready for the final five races of the NHRA Countdown.
“Luckily, our next race is at St. Louis, we’ve had some good luck there, but we’ve also had some problems,” said DeJoria. “It’s a good track and we’re excited to get back on it. We’re closing the gap and the finals will be here before you know it and, hopefully, we can get a win before the end of the season.”
Sitting in eighth place may not seem like an optimal position but the compact point differential has DeJoria only 51 points, less than three rounds of racing out of fourth place. A strong weekend in St. Louis could easily catapult her into the top tier of Funny Cars with four races remaining. The remaining Countdown national events also play into DeJoria’s hand considering last season the Bandero Tequila ROKiT Funny Car team performed very well at those events.
Alexis DeJoria, Bandero Premium Tequila ROKiT Toyota Camry Funny Car
“When you look at the races we have coming up to close out the season I have performed well there over the years,” said DeJoria. “I think we could get on a roll at just the right time and make this Countdown interesting. The main thing we need to do is make a great run Friday night during the first session. That will set the tone for the rest of the weekend.”
DeJoria’s success at World Wide Technology Raceway extends back to the 2015 season when she raced to the quarterfinals from the No. 12 qualifier position upsetting Tommy Johnson Jr. in the first round before losing to Ron Capps in the next round. Two years later as the No. 4 qualifier DeJoria once again raced to the quarterfinals with a strong race day performance. After a two-year hiatus from racing DeJoria returned, qualified No. 2, her best starting position in St. Louis, and raced to the semifinals before losing to eventual finalist Matt Hagan.
“We had a wild ride in the second round last year, but I was really proud of my team getting us ready for the semifinals,” said DeJoria. “These race cars are a handful. We have been doing a great job this season of going up and down the track. (Crew chiefs) Del Worsham and Nicky Boninfante have a great handle on the tune up and I am looking forward to getting to St. Louis.”
The Bandero Tequila ROKiT Toyota Camry Funny Car has raced to the semifinals in two of the last three races and additionally has started from the top half of the field in eleven of the past twelve races. In that span DeJoria has been either the No. 2 qualifier five times.
Qualifying for the NHRA MIdwest Nationals begins with one session on Friday at 6:00 p.m. with two more qualifying sessions on Saturday afternoon. Eliminations will begin on Sunday at 10:30 a.m. CDT with the race being broadcast nationally on FS1 starting at 1:00 p.
NEW KID ON THE BLOCK: Hammer to join World of Outlaws Late Models in 2022
| The Clinton, IL driver has made three starts with the Series this seasonCONCORD, NC – September 23, 2021 – As the 2021 season begins to wind-down, some drivers are already looking ahead to next year. For Kyle Hammer, it’s embarking on a new journey in 2022—his rookie campaign with the World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Models. The Clinton, IL driver switched from a DIRTcar UMP Modified to a Late Model earlier this season and plans to take his racing program to the national level. After a conversation with fellow Illinois driver Dennis Erb Jr., his team decided to join the Series. “We talked to [Erb] to see what it would cost money-wise, and he pretty much just kind of put it in our eyes that no matter what you do, it’s going to cost the same amount of money,” Hammer said. “The only difference is with the World of Outlaws; you’re going to spend more money on fuel getting to the track. But, in the long run, you’re going to make more with the payouts, so he kind of talked us into it, and we’re going to go for it.” Hammer already gained experience with the World of Outlaws Late Models in 2021, starting with the Northern tour in July. He’s made three starts in six appearances with the Series and said he’s enjoyed how efficient the schedule is on race night. “We definitely liked an organized program more than we do a local show where some of our local shows around [Illinois] you’re not getting out of the track until two, three in the morning, and they’re only running four classes,” Hammer said. “We like being able to know what time you’re going to do exactly what; everything’s planned out, and you’re good to go.” The switch has been a learning curve for Hammer, getting behind the wheel of a Late Model for the first time since 2015. He stated the difference between the two cars is more complicated than people might think. “The driving style is the biggest thing; it’s not as similar as what everybody thinks it would be,” Hammer said. “The Modified, they drive themselves so much easier going into the corners and stuff like that where the Late Model you really have to hustle them and get them to work themselves. It’s just a lot more work than what people realize.” Tires are another challenge Hammer faced when he switched to a Late Model because of the preparation teams need to do before hitting the track. “It’s been a little bit difficult here and there, going from not doing any tire work with the modified where you can’t groove or anything like that, to the Late Model that’s double the tire and you have to groove and sipe them and everything else,” Hammer said. Despite the steep learning curve for Hammer, he’s already gained valuable experience racing against some of the top Late Model drivers in the country. He was surprised at how quickly he started to move in the right direction. “To be able to go out and actually be able to make the shows and run decently close to the front; we had a couple of top-10s and stuff was definitely an eye-opener, not something you really expect to do the first time in a Late Model for six years,” Hammer said. In three starts with the World of Outlaws, Hammer has finishes of 11th, 13th, and 23rd. As Hammer embarks on his new venture in 2022, he’s already taken a liking to a particular type of track. “I’m looking forward to the bigger stuff; I like the bigger tracks,” Hammer said. “The 1/4-mile stuff is what I grew up on, but we’ve been to Eldora and Knoxville the last two weeks, and I enjoy that kind of stuff. “The bigger momentum tracks, you don’t have to hustle the car around the cushion and stuff like that.” That may help Hammer kickoff a strong rookie season in 2022 as the World of Outlaws Late Models will run seven nights at the half-mile Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, FL, starting with the Sunshine Nationals (Jan. 20-22) and then concluding with four nights at the DIRTcar Nationals (Feb. 16-19). Hammer is looking forward to his new journey next season but doesn’t have the goal some fans may expect. While he’d love to add Rookie of the Year to his accolades, he has another priority in 2022. “We really just want to be able to complete every race,” Hammer said. “There’s a lot of guys that go out there, and their goal is to win points and stuff like that, but we just want to be able to say we made every race, completed every race, didn’t have a lot of parts failures, keep up on the maintenance side of stuff, and have an overall decent season.” The World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Models return to action on Friday, Oct. 1, at Cherokee Speedway in Gaffney, SC, followed by a return to Senoia Raceway in Senoia, GA on Saturday, Oct. 2. If you can’t make it to the track, you can watch all the action live on DIRTVision – either online or through the DIRTVision App. |
| The World of Outlaws Morton Buildings® Late Model Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners, including: DIRTVision (Official Live Broadcast Partner), Drydene (Official Motor Oil), Hoosier Racing Tire (Official Tire), iRacing (Official Online Racing Game), Morton Buildings (Official Building), SIS Insurance (Official Insurance Provider) VP Racing Fuels (Official Racing Fuel); in addition to contingency sponsors, including: Arizona Sport Shirts/Gotta Race, ARP (Automotive Racing Products), Cometic Gasket, COMP Cams, MSD, Penske Racing Shocks, Quarter Master, Slick Woody’s (Quick Time Award), and Wrisco (Exclusive Racing Aluminum); along with manufacturer sponsors, including: Capital Race Cars, FireAde, Integra Shocks, Intercomp, K1 Race Gear, Racing Electronics, Reliable Painting, and Rocket Chassis.Founded in 1978, the World of Outlaws®, based in Concord, NC, is the premier national touring series for dirt track racing in North America, featuring the most powerful cars on dirt, the World of Outlaws NOS® Energy Drink Sprint Car Series and the World of Outlaws Morton Buildings® Late Model Series. Annually, the two series race nearly 140 times at tracks across the United States and Canada. CBS Sports Network is the official broadcast partner of the World of Outlaws. DIRTVision® also broadcasts World of Outlaws events over the Internet to fans around the world. Learn more about the World of Outlaws. |
ALL CHARGED UP: Lakeside Speedway Hosts FVP Platinum Battery Showdown on October 22
| Only Race in Kansas This Year for World of Outlaws Sprint CarsKANSAS CITY, KS – September 22, 2021 – For one weekend only next month, the home of the Chiefs will be made the home of the Outlaws.The 76th show in an 80-race championship chase for the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series guides the winged warriors to Kansas City, KS for the traditional fall date at Lakeside Speedway on Friday, October 22.The FVP Platinum Battery Showdown marks a crucial standalone date for The Greatest Show on Dirt, as championship contenders Brad Sweet, David Gravel, and Carson Macedo continue to jockey for points ahead of the season-ending NGK/NTK World Finals on November 4-6.Three former Lakeside Speedway winners are expected to compete, including 10-time Series champion Donny Schatz, reigning champion Brad Sweet, and FVP pilot Brian Brown.Brown, of Grain Valley, MO, is the man who leads the charge for locals into Lakeside. He’s no stranger to success at the Kansas City 4/10-mile, earning one of his five-career World of Outlaws wins at the 2017 race aboard the FVP Parts, Casey’s General Stores #21.Although not a full-timer, “Blackjack” or “Brownie” has made his presence known over the past decade with the Series. Along with modern-day greats like Schatz, Sweet & Gravel, Brown is one of four drivers to lead a lap during every single year over the last decade. He’ll try to lead all 30 when the Series returns to his home turf next month for the race sponsored by his premier partner.”The people at FVP have been instrumental in not only supporting my career, but the entire sport,” Brown said. “I’m always proud to carry the FVP colors, and I can’t wait to try and win another Platinum Battery Showdown. I hope all of our local fans come out and pack Lakeside Speedway for this big race.”Brown will be joined by Donny Schatz, who won two of his 302 career NOS Energy Drink Features at Lakeside. The Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing #15 driver scored wins at the Kansas City oval in 2015 and 2019. Currently fourth in the standings, the Fargo, ND native is trying to catch Carson Macedo in a battle for third in the championship.Also in the hunt is Brad Sweet, who continues to chase a third consecutive World of Outlaws championship. He and his Kasey Kahne Racing #49 crew found victory lane at Lakeside in 2016 when the October tradition in Kansas City was born. With another six races left until the FVP Platinum Battery Showdown, The Big Cat leads the standings bu +156 points and has cruised to a career-high 16 wins aboard the NAPA Auto Parts ride.For Jason Johnson Racing, they’ll be competing only two hours away from their Rocky Mount, MO shop. The first-year pairing has been incredibly stout with driver Carson Macedo and crew chief Philip Dietz meshing well with nine wins together. They currently sit third in the standings and hope to repeat their 2020 win at Lakeside with Shane Stewart behind the wheel.Another first-year pairing is David Gravel and Big Game Motorsports, who currently hold the second spot in the points. The Watertown, CT native has collected nine wins this year and isn’t out of reach from Sweet’s championship lead just yet.Other Outlaws to watch at Lakeside include Sheldon Haudenschild, an eight-time winner in the NOS Energy Drink #17, the Shark Racing duo of Logan Schuchart & Jacob Allen, Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year contenders James McFadden & Brock Zearfoss, and veterans like Kraig Kinser, Jason Sides, and Wayne Johnson.If you can’t make it to the track, you can watch all remaining World of Outlaws events live on DIRTVision – either online or through the DIRTVision App.LAKESIDE SPEEDWAY WINNERS: 3 wins – Steve Kinser 2 wins – Donny Schatz, Daryn Pittman 1 win – Shane Stewart, Brian Brown, Brad Sweet, Kerry Madsen, Craig Dollansky, Sammy Swindell, Mark Kinser |
Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach Returns This Weekend
Classic street circuit event will feature NTT INDYCAR SERIES finale
Highlights Acura’s expanding role in motorsports
WeatherTech SportsCar Championship round highlights Saturday activities
TORRANCE, Calif. (Sept. 22, 2021) – The longest-running North American temporary street circuit motorsports event the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach returns this weekend with three days of non-stop action.
“With our U.S. headquarters nearby in Torrance, this is a true ‘home’ event for the Acura brand,” said Jon Ikeda, Acura vice president and brand officer. “The Grand Prix of Long Beach is one of North America’s premier motorsports events, and an institution in Southern California. Acura is delighted and proud to be associated with the Grand Prix of Long Beach, and we look forward to a long and successful partnership.”
The weekend will be headlined by the season finale of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, where Honda last week clinched its 10th – and fourth consecutive – Indy car Manufacturers’ Championship; and Honda-powered driver Alex Palou reclaimed the Drivers’ Championship points lead and could claim his first title.
The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will be the feature event on Saturday, where Wayne Taylor Racing drivers Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque lead the Drivers’ Championship in their Acura ARX-05, after eight of 10 events.
The Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach entry includes 15 Honda-powered Indy cars and five Acura racers in Saturday’s IMSA event. In addition to championship contender Palou, the Indy car field includes six-time series champion Scott Dixon, seven-time NASCAR title winner Jimmie Johnson; two-time Long Beach winner Alexander Rossi; additional previous winners including
James Hinchcliffe, Takuma Sato, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Helio Castroneves; series veterans Colton Herta, Marcus Ericsson, Graham Rahal, Jack Harvey, Oliver Askew, Ed Jones; and Formula One veteran Romain Grosjean.
In IMSA’s featured Daytona Prototype International category, Albuquerque and Taylor come to Long Beach seeking to increase their championship advantage; while former series champion Dane Cameron and Olivier Pla make up the driver pairing for the Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-05 prototype. In the production-based GTD division, three teams field Acura NSX GT3 Evo’s for defending GTD champions Mario Farnbacher/Matt McMurry [Compass Racing], Andy Lally/John Potter [Magnus with Archangel] and Till Bechtolsheimer/Marc Miller [Gradient Racing].
In addition, the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach weekend will include the Super Drift Challenge under the lights on Friday and Saturday nights, the SPEED Energy Stadium Super Trucks, and the new-for-2021 Historic Formula Atlantic Challenge and Global Time Attack.
Live network television coverage Sunday’s 95-lap NTT INDYCAR SERIES finale starts at 3 p.m. EDT on NBC. Complete, flag-to-flag race coverage also will be available on NBC Peacock, the INDYCAR Radio Network, and carried by SiriusXM satellite radio.
Saturday’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race will be broadcast on NBCSN, starting at 5 p.m. EDT. Live flag-to-flag race coverage also will be available NBC Sports Gold TrackPass, on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports App with NBCSN authentication.
Honda Racing social media content and video links from WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca can be found on Instagram (www.instagram.com/hondaracing_hpd), Twitter (twitter.com/HondaRacing_HPD) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/HondaRacingHPD). Additional features and long-form videos can be found on the Honda Racing/HPD YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/HondaRacingHPDTV).
Fans can also follow the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on Facebook (GrandPrixLB), Twitter @GPLongBeach (#AGPLB) and Instagram @GPLongBeach.
In 2018, Acura made a successful return to the top level of sports car racing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, going on to sweep the Manufacturer, Driver and Team championships in both 2019 and 2020.
Honda has a long, winning history with Indy cars at Long Beach. Honda-powered drivers have won seven of the last 11 Grands Prix – and 14 times in 20 appearances – including the two most recent events, in 2018-19, with Alexander Rossi. Native Californian Jimmy Vasser scored Honda’s first Long Beach victory in 1996, with other Honda-powered winners including Alex Zanardi (1997-98), Michael Andretti (2002), Dario Franchitti (2009), Sato (2013) and Hinchcliffe (2017).About Acura
Acura is a leading automotive nameplate that delivers Precision Crafted Performance – a commitment to expressive styling, high-performance and innovative engineering, all built on a foundation of quality and reliability. The Acura lineup features five distinctive models – the ILX and TLX sport sedans, the RDX and MDX sport-utility vehicles and the electrified NSX supercar. All 2021 model year and newer Acura vehicles sold in America are made in the U.S., using domestic and globally sourced parts.
Randy Meyer Tunes Julie Nataas to a 5.10 E.T. at NHRA Carolina Nationals
Sep 21, 2021 | Featured, Julie Nataas, Race Results, Rachel Meyer
Julie Nataas carried the Randy Meyer Racing flag into the semifinal round at the 13th annual DeWALT NHRA Carolina Nationals, while Rachel Meyer inked a quarterfinal finish in the NTK Sensors dragster.
Coming into raceday, Julie qualified No. 2 with a 5.168-second pass at 274.89 mph and Rachel was No. 9 with a 5.279, 271.19.
In Rachel’s matchup against Corey Michalek first round, she pulled away for the win with a 5.240, 275.06 over Michalek’s 5.342, 272.39. The following pair, Julie nabbed the starting line advantage over competitor Brad McBride and lit up the scoreboard win light in her lane with a 5.232, 272.94 to defeat McBride’s 5.402, 246.21.
Second round, Julie was able to overcome a sizable starting line deficit against Mick Steele thanks to her Randy Meyer-tuned beast; her 5.228 268.60 went on to defeat Steele’s 5.413, 272.78. In her matchup, Rachel had an impressive .028-second reaction time over competitor Matthew Cummings but her 5.235, 279.15 was not enough to outrun Cumming’ 5.135, 281.71.
“Well we struggled a little in qualifying at Charlotte,” Rachel claimed. “Our first hit would have been a good pass but it carried the wheels after I left and I started heading towards the wall. I got out of the throttle then tried getting back in it, and popped the front wheels again so I lifted. Q2 had a much better performance, but in Q3 it shook hard because we were too aggressive on the tune-up. We were able to qualify 9th and got the first round win, but unfortunately lost second round to Matt Cummings who ran a great 5.13 pass and went on to win the race. So far I’m still holding onto the points lead both regionally and nationally. I have two more races left this season; St. Louis regional and Dallas national.”
In the semifinal round, Julie turned every head at zMAX DRAGWAY her way as she busted out a 5.103, 277.54 but unfortunately, she turned on the red light by .025-seconds at the hit; Karen Stalba’s 5.320, 277.94 advanced to the final round.
“My OTG car was running good all weekend long,” said Julie. “We ended the weekend running the 3rd quickest run in history in the semifinals when I unfortunately turned the red light on. I have 3 more races this season, and after running so good this weekend I can’t wait to finish this season strong. “
CHEVROLET AT ST. LOUIS What: NHRA Midwest Nationals
When: Friday, Sept. 24-Sunday, Sept. 26Where: World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, IllinoisTV: FS1 will telecast eliminations live at 2 p.m. ET Sunday, Sept. 26
Chevrolet drivers seek to add to points total in Round 3 of CountdownBrittany Force leads Top Fuel standings, Greg Anderson paces Pro Stock
DETROIT (Sept. 22, 2021) – It was Bring Your Wally to Work Day for Kyle Koretsky on Monday.
Koretsky, the newly minted first-time Pro Stock winner, scaled the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Countdown to the Championship standings with his Sept. 19 victory. He enters the NHRA Midwest Nationals at World Wide Technology Raceway – the third round of the Countdown — in third place.
The driver of the Lucas Oil Chevrolet Camaro SS joined KB Racing teammate Dallas Glenn as recording their first Pro Stock win at zMAX Dragway. Glenn, driver of the RAD Torque Systems Camaro SS, won the four-wide event in May.
“The Countdown is huge; it’s something I always wanted to do. To win the championship, to be honest I’m not even really looking at that now,” said Koretsky, who was runner-up three times in 20 races over two seasons before breaking through. “I’ll take every race one at a time and that’s the way I look at it. Would I like to get one of those white hats? 100 percent.”
Brittany Force took a step toward earning her second white championship hat with her eighth consecutive No. 1 Top Fuel qualifier and runner-up finish in the Monster Energy Chevrolet dragster at zMAX Dragway. Force, the points leader, will aim for her second win of the season and tying Gary Beck (1982-83 seasons) for the most top qualifier honors in a row.
“We’re not there yet, but the possibility that we could hold a big record with a name like that, that’s really cool,” Force said. “It makes me very proud of this entire team. It’s not easy to do; I’ll tell you that. But what’s really not easy is winning on race day, and that’s what we’re focused on right now.”
John Force, also the No. 1 qualifier at zMAX Dragway in the PEAK Antifreeze & Coolant Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car, enters the weekend third in the standings. Teammate Robert Hight, driver of the Automobile Club of Southern California Camaro SS, is tied for sixth.
In addition to the pro categories, the seventh round of the Constant Aviation Factory Stock Showdown will be contested. Drivers of the Chevrolet COPO Camaro have won five of the seven races.
FS1 will telecast eliminations live at 2 p.m. ET Sunday, Sept. 26.
CHEVROLET FROM THE COCKPIT
TOP FUEL:
BRITTANY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, MONSTER ENERGY/FLAV-R-PAC CHEVROLET DRAGSTER (Points leader): “Heading into St. Louis with a slight points lead. Our Monster Energy/Flav-R-Pac team plans to continue what we’ve been doing. We are looking to get as many points as we can during qualifying and on race day. Eight No. 1 qualifiers in a row is a huge accomplishment and we plan to add to that this weekend while also going for a St. Louis win.”
FUNNY CAR:
JOHN FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, PEAK ANTIFREEZE AND COOLANT CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (Third in standings; three-time winner at track): “We’re in the thick of it. I just want to be in the hunt, I am. This PEAK team, Danny Hood, Tim Fabrisi, Joe Barlam and all the guys, they’ve put me in the hunt. Now I just need to do my job. We have a great hot rod with this Chevy, even with a couple mistakes, we’re right there in it. St. Louis has been good to me, which makes it a nice place to finish out this four in a row. We’ll be putting on a show, especially with the competition in Funny Car. It’s going to be exciting.”
ROBERT HIGHT, JOHN FORCE RACING, AAA CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (Tied for sixth in standings): “We have our work cut out for us. I said it from the beginning, I believe you need to win three races in this Countdown to win the championship and I believe this AAA team can do just that. We had some issues on race day in Charlotte, but we got it handled. I’m excited for what we can do in St. Louis. I love racing here, hoping we can capitalize on our progress and gain some ground in the points battle. I know this AAA team is putting everything they have into these final five races, it’s time for their hard work to pay off.”
PRO STOCK:
GREG ANDERSON, KB RACING, HENDRICKCARS.COM CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (Points leader): “I’ve got a great-running car, I know we’ll be fast at St. Louis and I know I’ll have another chance (to break tie with Warren Johnson for most Pro Stock victories with 98) there. I left one on the table at zMAX. I’m happy for Kyle (Koretsky). He didn’t back into it; he earned it.”
KYLE KORETSKY, KB RACING, LUCAS OIL CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (Third in standings): “The Countdown is huge; it’s something I always wanted to do. To win the championship, to be honest I’m not even really looking at that now. I’ll take every race one at a time and that’s the way I look at it. Would I like to get one of those white hats? 100 percent.”
DALLAS GLENN, KB RACING, RAD TORQUE SYSTEMS CAMARO SS (Fourth in standings): “Overall, we didn’t lose any ground in points at zMAX Dragway. We’re still fourth and as long as I can stay in striking distance I know my car is going to like St. Louis a lot. The track is usually good for the car I’m in. I’ll just try to keep doing what I’m doing and drive the best I can. With a little bit of luck, I’ll be able to get another win.”
TROY COUGHLIN JR., ELITE MOTORSPORTS, JEGS.COM/ELITEMOTORSPORTS CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (Sixth in standings): “This is my first time in the Countdown and I can tell you that it’s a pretty intense atmosphere at the racetrack these days. Pro Stock has always had the closest racing of any professional category and yet somehow it’s gotten even closer these last few events. It’s pretty insane and exciting, all at the same time. It’s fun to be in the thick of things every race and when the competition gets this tight it takes everything up another level. You know everyone is making great horsepower so it comes down to which driver gets off the clutch pedal and through the gears the quickest. Mistakes are magnified and win lights mean 1,000 times more than normal.”
JOHN FORCE AND PEAK AUTO KEEPING CHAMPIONSHIP FIRE BURNING HEADING TO NHRA MIDWEST NATIONALS
| MADISON, Ill. (Sept. 22, 2021) – Sixteen-time champion John Force and his PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet Camaro SS team have been contenders for the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series Funny Car Crown from the beginning of the season. Now, heading to the NHRA Midwest Nationals at World Wide Technology Raceway just 25 points back in third, Force will be counting on his team’s consistent high performance to separate themselves from the rest of the field. With five final round appearances that included three wins (Charlotte Four-Wide, New England Nationals and sharing the winners circle with daughter Brittany in Topeka at Heartland Motorsports Park) and three No. 1 qualifying positions (Charlotte Four-Wide, U.S. Nationals and Carolina Nationals), Force will be trying to win four races in a season for the 14th time in his career while chasing an unprecedented 17th championship. “We’re in the thick of it. I just want to be in the hunt, I am. This PEAK team, Danny Hood, Tim Fabrisi, Joe Barlam and all the guys, they’ve put me in the hunt,” Force said. “Now I just need to do my job. We have a great hot rod with this Chevy, even with a couple mistakes, we’re right there in it.” Force has gone to the finals six times at the Midwest Nationals (1999, 2002-04, 2006, 2013) and tallied three wins in 1999, 2002 and 2013, also the year he last won the championship. Most recently, he was the No. 1 qualifier in 2019. He has three total No. 1s including 2010 and 2014. “St. Louis has been good to me which makes it a nice place to finish out this four-in-a-row. We’ll be putting on a show, especially with the competition in Funny Car,” Force said. “It’s going to be exciting.” The NHRA Midwest Nationals at World Wide Technology Raceway kicks off with the first qualifying session on Friday evening at 6 p.m. and continues with sessions on Saturday at 1:45 and 4:25 p.m. Eliminations are slated to begin Sunday at 10:30 a.m. For television coverage, tune-in Friday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1 (FS1) for qualifying. Eliminations will air Sunday at 2 p.m. ET on FS1. |
WHAT TO WATCH FOR: World of Outlaws Begin Homestretch with Stops at Eldora & Lernerville
BeFour the Crowns Showdown & Commonwealth Clash Brings Series Back East
ROSSBURG, OH – September 22, 2021 – The conclusion of the west coast swing means a 32-hour cross country drive for the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series.
Three weeks in Washington and California was fun, but now it’s time to get down to business with 11 races left this season. The chase for the championship heats up this weekend as The Greatest Show on Dirt returns east for the first time since July.
Eldora Speedway’s BeFour the Crowns Showdown starts off the weekend on Friday, September 24 with the seventh and final World of Outlaws event at The Big E this year.
Lernerville Speedway carries the torch on Saturday, September 25 as the Commonwealth Clash takes center stage at the Sarver, PA facility.
ELDORA TICKETS (Friday)
LERNERVILLE TICKETS (Saturday)
LAST CHANCE: Eldora Speedway and Lernerville Speedway are two of only eight tracks on the schedule with multiple visits throughout the season, and this weekend is the final stop at both of them.
At Eldora’s 1/2-mile, the Series has already hosted six Features this year. Brent Marks and Sheldon Haudenschild split scores during Let’s Race Two in May, Carson Macedo won both preliminary races at the Kings Royal, and Tyler Courtney and Kyle Larson claimed the $175,000 paydays in the 38th and 37th Kings Royal in July.
For Lernerville’s 4/10-mile, the Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup XXX in July was the only previous race held at the Sarver circle in 2020. Sye Lynch’s storybook evening fell short as Brad Sweet earned the $25,000 payday by beating the field and Mother Nature as the rain started to pour in victory lane.
PULLING AWAY: The consistency of Brad Sweet and Kasey Kahne Racing is on full display as the #49 dynasty continues to march towards a third consecutive World of Outlaws championship. Entering this weekend, The Big Cat is on a streak of 17 consecutive top-10 finishes and eight-straight top-five results with four podiums in-a-row. Over that stretch, Sweet has outran Gravel and extended his points lead in five of the last six nights.
The Grass Valley, CA native will look to build on his +156 margin this weekend at two of his favorite tracks. In fact, he’s won at both Eldora and Lernerville on three different occasions, a feat he’s accomplished at nine tracks during his 74-win career with The Greatest Show on Dirt.
CHASING A NEW CROWN: The most noteworthy crown at Eldora Speedway is given out during July’s Kings Royal, but don’t sleep on September’s 4-Crown Nationals. An idea devised by Johnny Vance Jr. of Aristocrat Products, the event began in 1981 with the King of the Outlaws Steve Kinser swooping in to steal the USAC loot in two of the three open-wheel Features. Other Outlaw icons such as Ron Shuman, Jack Hewitt, Brad Sweet & Kyle Larson have found their own share of glory at the race.
In 2008, 4-Crown became open-wheel only when Late Models were subbed for The Greatest Show on Dirt. Since then Joey Saldana has been the only Outlaw to win multiple shows, topping the BeFour the Crowns Showdown in 2008, 2011. and 2014. Other 4-Crown winners include Jason Sides (2009), Jac Haudenschild (2010), Greg Wilson (2015), Shane Stewart (2016), Tim Shaffer (2017), Brent Marks (2018), and Logan Schuchart (2019).
COMMONWEALTH KINGS: The “Big Three” over the past decade in the NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series is undoubtedly Donny Schatz, Brad Sweet, and David Gravel. Those three are also undoubtedly the rulers of Lernerville’s Commonwealth Clash, as the only drivers with multiple scores since the date was moved to the fall in 2010.
Schatz, who owns nine wins at Lernerville, is trying to make the Sarver, PA oval his eighth track with 10+ World of Outlaws wins. He and the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing #15 topped the Commonwealth Clash in 2010 and 2016.
Sweet is in rarified air when it comes to the Commonwealth Clash, becoming only the second driver to win back-to-back titles along with Steve Kinser. He and the Kasey Kahne Racing #49 owned the fall event in 2018 and 2019.
Gravel enters as the defending Commonwealth Clash champion, winning the 2020 race with the Jason Johnson Racing #41 crew. He also topped the 2017 race with CJB Motorsports, and now eyes a score in the Big Game Motorsports #2.
BACK AT HOME: After three weeks on the west coast, four full-time Outlaws get the pleasure of returning to racing in their home states this weekend.
Wooster, OH’s Sheldon Haudenschild leads the charge to The Buckeye State on Friday and looks to join his father Jac Haudenschild as a 4-Crown Nationals winner. Earlier this May, he scored his first-career win at The Big E in a late-race thriller by overtaking Donny Schatz. The NOS Energy Drink #17 enters this weekend fifth in the championship standings with eight wins this year for Stenhouse Jr. Marshall Racing.
On Saturday, Pennsylvanian’s Logan Schuchart, Jacob Allen, and Brock Zearfoss finally return to The Keystone State. Lernerville’s Commonwealth Clash marks the first of five-straight races in the state with Williams Grove’s National Open (Oct. 1-2) and Port Royal’s Nittany Showdown (Oct. 8-9) set to follow.
KING SUNSHINE: Tyler Courtney will return to Eldora Speedway for the first time since becoming King Tyler XXXVIII with his $175,000 upset at the Kings Royal in July. In his first full year as a winged sprint car driver, Courtney and Fishers, IN based Clauson-Marshall Racing have taken the scene by storm. On top of his crowning moment at the Kings Royal, the 27-year-old has dominated the All Star Circuit of Champions with arguably the most impressive rookie season in Series history. He’s on the verge of clinching that championship thanks to eight wins and 25 top-fives through 46 starts in the NOS Energy Drink TURBO #7BC.
It’s not just a Kings Royal crown that makes Courtney a threat on Friday night, but his entire Eldora resume is off the charts. The Indianapolis, IN native has made a living off the Rossburg, OH oval, winning a total of 10 national level events in four different disciplines over the last four years. To his credit, he’s got five USAC Non-Wing Sprint Car scores, two USAC Midget victories, two USAC Silver Crown triumphs, and that one, huge World of Outlaws win.
This Week at a Glance – When and Where
Friday, September 24 at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, OH
Saturday, September 25 at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, PA
On the Internet
World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series
Twitter – @WorldofOutlaws
Instagram – @WoOSprint
Facebook – Facebook.com/WorldofOutlawsSprintCarSeries
YouTube – Youtube.com/WorldofOutlaws
DIRTVision – DIRTVision.com – Platinum annual FAST PASS for $299 or monthly FAST PASS for $39/month
Around the Turn: The final Crown Jewel of the season is coming up after this weekend for the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series. On October 1-2, The Greatest Show on Dirt will return to PA’s Williams Grove Speedway for the 59th National Open with a $75,000 payday on the line.
NOS ENERGY DRINK FEATURE WINNERS (14 Drivers):
16 wins – Brad Sweet, Kasey Kahne Racing w/ Mike Curb #49
9 wins – David Gravel, Big Game Motorsports #2
9 wins – Carson Macedo, Jason Johnson Racing #41
8 wins – Sheldon Haudenschild, Stenhouse Jr. Marshall Racing #17
5 wins – Logan Schuchart, Shark Racing #1S
4 wins – Aaron Reutzel, Roth Motorsports #83
3 wins – Donny Schatz, Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing #15
3 wins – Kyle Larson, Silva Motorsports #57
2 wins – James McFadden, Kasey Kahne Racing w/ Mike Curb #9
2 wins – Kerry Madsen, Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing #14
2 wins – Brent Marks, Brent Marks Racing #19
1 win – Dave Blaney, Dave Blaney #10
1 win – Spencer Bayston, Sam McGhee Motorsports #11
1 win – Tyler Courtney, Clauson-Marshall Racing #7BC
FEATURE LAPS LED (29 Drivers):
323 laps – Brad Sweet
293 laps – Sheldon Haudenschild
282 laps – Carson Macedo
229 laps – David Gravel
222 laps – Logan Schuchart
201 laps – Donny Schatz
188 laps – Aaron Reutzel
72 laps – Kyle Larson
66 laps – James McFadden
63 laps – Kerry Madsen
57 laps – Tyler Courtney
33 laps – Spencer Bayston
29 laps – Giovanni Scelzi
27 laps – Brent Marks, Sam Hafertepe Jr.
16 laps – Tanner Carrick
13 laps – Wayne Johnson, Colby Copeland
11 laps – Sye Lynch
10 laps – Jacob Allen, Brock Zearfoss, Parker Price-Miller
9 laps – Kasey Kahne, Austin McCarl
3 laps – Ian Madsen
1 lap – Kraig Kinser, Brandon Spithaler, Dave Blaney, Brian Brown
SLICK WOODY’S QUICKTIME AWARDS (22 Drivers):
14 QuickTimes – David Gravel
7 QuickTimes – Sheldon Haudenschild, Logan Schuchart
5 QuickTimes – Brad Sweet
4 QuickTimes – Carson Macedo, Kerry Madsen
3 QuickTimes – Aaron Reutzel
2 QuickTimes – James McFadden, Donny Schatz, Kasey Kahne, Cory Eliason, Giovanni Scelzi, Parker Price-Miller, Sam Hafertepe Jr.
1 QuickTime – Kraig Kinser, Jacob Allen, Danny Dietrich, Anthony Macri, Brian Brown, Brock Zearfoss, Rico Abreu, Sye Lynch
DRYDENE HEAT RACE WINNERS (41 Drivers)
28 Heat Wins – David Gravel
27 Heat Wins – Carson Macedo
19 Heat Wins – Donny Schatz
17 Heat Wins – Brad Sweet
16 Heat Wins – Sheldon Haudenschild, Aaron Reutzel
14 Heat Wins – Logan Schuchart
11 Heat Wins – James McFadden
7 Heat Wins – Brian Brown
5 Heat Wins – Kraig Kinser, Kerry Madsen
4 Heat Wins – Brock Zearfoss, Jason Sides, Giovanni Scelzi, Tyler Courtney
3 Heat Wins – Kasey Kahne, Wayne Johnson, Ian Madsen, Anthony Macri, Sam Hafertepe Jr.
2 Heat Wins – Jacob Allen, Kyle Larson, DJ Netto, Parker Price-Miller
1 Heat Win – Danny Dietrich, Hunter Schuerenberg, Lance Dewease, Brandon Spithaler, Tim Kaeding, Jack Dover, Scotty Thiel, Paul McMahan, Daryn Pittman, Justin Peck, Jac Haudenschild, Sye Lynch, Chad Trout, TJ Stutts, Brent Marks, Ryan Robinson, Blake Carrick
PODIUM FINISHES (28 Drivers):
33 Podiums – Brad Sweet
23 Podiums – Carson Macedo
21 Podiums –David Gravel
20 Podiums – David Gravel, Donny Schatz, Sheldon Haudenschild
15 Podiums – Logan Schuchart
11 Podiums – James McFadden
10 Podiums – Aaron Reutzel
6 Podiums – Kerry Madsen, Brent Marks
5 Podiums – Giovanni Scelzi
3 Podiums – Brian Brown, Lance Dewease, Kyle Larson
2 Podiums – Kraig Kinser, Cory Eliason, Anthony Macri, Danny Dietrich, Tyler Courtney
1 Podium – Jacob Allen, Justin Peck, Brian Brown, Anthony Macri, Dave Blaney, Spencer Bayston, Daryn Pittman, Paulie Colagiovanni, Austin McCarl, Colby Copeland, Sam Hafertepe Jr.
2021 World of Outlaws Sprint Car Schedule & Winners
No. / Day, Date / Track / Location / Winner (Total Wins)
1. Fri, Feb. 5 / Volusia Speedway Park / Barberville, FL / Brad Sweet (1)
2. Sun, Feb. 7 / Volusia Speedway Park / Barberville, FL / Logan Schuchart (1)
3. Fri, March 5 / Volusia Speedway Park / Barberville, FL / Carson Macedo (1)
4. Sat, March 6 / East Bay Raceway Park / Tampa, FL / Aaron Reutzel (1)
5. Fri, March 12 / Magnolia Motor Speedway / Columbus, MS / Sheldon Haudenschild (1)
6. Sat, March 13 / The Rev / Monroe, LA / David Gravel (1)
7. Fri, March 19 / Cotton Bowl Speedway / Paige, TX / Sheldon Haudenschild (2)
8. Sat, March 20 / Cotton Bowl Speedway / Paige, TX / Brad Sweet (2)
9. Sat, March 27 / Lake Ozark Speedway / Eldon, MO / Brad Sweet (3)
10. Fri, April 2 / I-55 Raceway / Pevely, MO / Brad Sweet (4)
11. Sat, April 3 / I-55 Raceway / Pevely, MO / Brad Sweet (5)
12. Fri, April 9 / Kokomo Speedway / Kokomo, IN / James McFadden (1)
13. Sat, April 10 / Tri-State Speedway / Haubstadt, IN / Carson Macedo (2)
14. Fri, April 22 / Bristol Motor Speedway / Bristol, TN / David Gravel (2)
15. Sun, April 24 / Bristol Motor Speedway / Bristol, TN / David Gravel (3)
16. Thur, April 29 / Jacksonville Speedway / Jacksonville, IL / Brad Sweet (6)
17. Fri, April 30 / I-70 Motorsports Park / Odessa, MO / Brad Sweet (7)
18. Sat, May 1 / I-70 Motorsports Park / Odessa, MO / Brad Sweet (8)
19. Sat, May 8 / Eldora Speedway / Rossburg, OH / Brent Marks (1)
20. Sat, May 8 / Eldora Speedway / Rossburg, OH / Sheldon Haudenschild (3)
21. Wed, May 12 / Lincoln Speedway / Abbottstown, PA / Brad Sweet (9)
22. Fri, May 14 / Williams Grove Speedway / Mechanicsburg, PA / Carson Macedo (3)
23. Sat, May 15 / Williams Grove Speedway / Mechanicsburg, PA / Aaron Reutzel (2)
24. Tues, May 18 / Bridgeport Speedway / Swedesboro, NJ / Logan Schuchart (2)
25. Fri, May 21 / Attica Raceway Park / Attica, OH / David Gravel (4)
26. Sat, May 22 / Sharon Speedway / Hartford, OH / Dave Blaney (1)
27. Mon, May 31 / Lawrenceburg Speedway / Lawrenceburg, IN / Kyle Larson (1)
28. Sat, June 5 / Granite City Speedway /Sauk Rapids, MN / David Gravel (5)
29. Fri, June 11 / Knoxville Raceway / Knoxville, IA / Carson Macedo (4)
30. Sat, June 12 / Knoxville Raceway / Knoxville, IA / Carson Macedo (5)
31. Thur, June 17 / 34 Raceway / West Burlington, IA / Brad Sweet (10)
32. Fri, June 18 / Dubuque Fairgrounds Speedway / Dubuque, IA / Donny Schatz (1)
33. Sat, June 19 / Beaver Dam Raceway / Beaver Dam, WI / Sheldon Haudenschild (4)
34. Mon, June 21 / Huset’s Speedway / Brandon, SD / David Gravel (6)
35. Tues, June 22 / Huset’s Speedway / Brandon, SD / Aaron Reutzel (3)
36. Thur, June 24 / Jackson Motorplex / Jackson, MN / Kerry Madsen (1)
37. Fri, June 25 / Jackson Motorplex / Jackson, MN / Kerry Madsen (2)
38. Sat, June 27 / Jackson Motorplex / Jackson, MN / Logan Schuchart (3)
39. Fri, July 2 / Cedar Lake Speedway / New Richmond, WI / Brad Sweet (11)
40. Sat, July 3 / Cedar Lake Speedway / New Richmond, WI / Brad Sweet (12)
41. Sat, July 10 / Wilmot Raceway / Wilmot, WI / Brad Sweet (13)
42. Tues, July 13 / Attica Raceway Park / Attica, OH / Spencer Bayston (1)
43. Wed, July 14 / Eldora Speedway / Rossburg, OH / Carson Macedo (6)
44. Sat, July 17 / Eldora Speedway / Rossburg, OH / Tyler Courtney (1)
45. Sat, July 17 / Eldora Speedway / Rossburg, OH / Kyle Larson (2)
46. Sun, July 18 / Eldora Speedway / Rossburg, OH / Carson Macedo (7)
47. Tues, July 20 / Lernerville Speedway / Sarver, PA / Brad Sweet (14)
48. Fri, July 23 / Williams Grove Speedway / Mechanicsburg, PA / Sheldon Haudenschild (5)
49. Sat, July 24 / Williams Grove Speedway / Mechanicsburg, PA / Brent Marks (2)
50. Fri, July 30 / Ransomville Speedway / Ransomville, NY / Aaron Reutzel (4)
51. Sat, July 31 / Weedsport Speedway / Weedsport, NY / David Gravel (7)
52. Fri, August 6 / I-55 Raceway / Pevely, MO / Sheldon Haudenschild (6)
53. Sat, August 7 / I-55 Raceway / Pevely, MO / Sheldon Haudenschild (7)
54. Wed, August 11 / Knoxville Raceway / Knoxville, IA / David Gravel (NP)
55. Thur, August 12 / Knoxville Raceway / Knoxville, IA / Brian Brown (NP)
56. Fri, August 13 / Knoxville Raceway / Knoxville, IA / Rico Abreu (NP)
57. Sat, August 14 / Knoxville Raceway / Knoxville, IA / Kyle Larson (3)
58. Sat, August 21 / Red River Valley Speedway / Fargo, ND / Donny Schatz (2)
59. Sun, August 22 / Huset’s Speedway / Brandon, SD / David Gravel (8)
60. Wed, August 25 / River Cities Speedway / Grand Forks, ND / Brad Sweet (15)
61. Fri, August 27 / I-80 Speedway / Greenwood, NE / Donny Schatz (3)
62. Sun, August 29 / Black Hills Speedway / Rapid City, SD / Sheldon Haudenschild (8)
63. Fri, September 3 / Skagit Speedway / Alger, WA / James McFadden (2)
64. Sat, September 4 / Skagit Speedway / Alger, WA / Brad Sweet (16)
65. Sun, September 5 / Skagit Speedway / Alger, WA / Carson Macedo (8)
66. Mon, September 6 / Grays Harbor Raceway / Elma, WA / Logan Schuchart (4)
67. Fri, September 10 / Silver Dollar Speedway / Chico, CA / David Gravel (9)
68. Sat, September 11 / Silver Dollar Speedway / Chico, CA / Logan Schuchart (5)
69. Sat, September 18 / Keller Auto Speedway / Hanford, CA / Carson Macedo (9)
ROBERT HIGHT AND AAA CHEVY LOOKING FOR POINTS JUMP AT NHRA MIDWEST NATIONALS
| MADISON, Ill. (Sept. 22, 2021) – Sporting the AAA livery on his Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car for this weekend’s NHRA Midwest Nationals at World Wide Technology Raceway just outside of St. Louis, Robert Hight, the only NHRA driver to have ever won a championship starting the Countdown to the Championship from the No. 10 spot, is chasing the points lead en route to his fourth Camping World Drag Racing Series crown. With two victories in 2021 at the SpringNationals in Houston and Sonoma Raceway’s NHRA Sonoma Nationals, two runner-up finishes at the season opening Gatornationals and the New England Nationals, and a No. 1 qualifier at the Las Vegas Four-Wide event, Hight and the AAA team know they have the right pieces to pull off another championship run. With the points standings closer than ever in Funny Car, Hight, tied for sixth and back only 72, left the first two events in the Countdown, the first at Maple Grove Raceway and the second the NHRA Carolina Nationals, with No. 2 qualifying positions at each and a semifinal and first round exit, respectively. “We have our work cut out for us. I said it from the beginning, I believe you need to win three races in this Countdown to win the championship and I believe this AAA team can do just that,” Hight said. “We had some issues on race day in Charlotte, but we got it handled. Jimmy Prock is one of the most focused crew chiefs out here and he’s really had to poor himself into this Chevy, he and Chris Cunningham both. I’m excited for what we can do in St. Louis.” Hight is trying to extend to four the number of consecutive seasons in which he has won a Countdown race. That’s the longest active streak in Funny Car. He leads the category in Countdown wins with 12. Hight has history on his side heading to World Wide Technology Raceway. He set both ends of the track record at 3.830-seconds and 338.60 mph on Sept. 30, 2017, has two wins (2010 and 2018) and four No. 1 qualifying positions (2006, 2016, 2017, 2018). His 2018 win is perhaps the most memorable, when crossing the line first against Tim Wilkerson in the final, Hight’s Camaro had an explosion and hit the wall, breaking his clavicle. Hight would celebrate the victory with his team several hours later back at the track in a sling. “I’ve had some luck at World Wide Technology Raceway. And even when I had some bad luck it still had some good to it. When we wrecked in 2018, I won the race and ended up back in the seat just 10 days later,” Hight said. “I love racing here, hoping we can capitalize on our progress and gain some ground in the points battle. I know this AAA team is putting everything they have into these final five races, it’s time for their hard work to pay off.” The NHRA Midwest Nationals at World Wide Technology Raceway kicks off with the first qualifying session on Friday evening at 6 p.m. and continues with sessions on Saturday at 1:45 and 4:25 p.m. Eliminations are slated to begin Sunday at 10:30 a.m. For television coverage, tune-in Friday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1 (FS1) for qualifying. Eliminations will air Sunday at 2 p.m. ET on FS1. |