| The Headingly, MB driver sits fifth in Points heading into Port Royal SpeedwayCONCORD, NC – MAY 12, 2021 – Taking on a new journey can lead to many different emotions, especially in racing. For World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Models driver Ricky Weiss, his third full season is a venture he’s never experienced before. The Headingly, MB, Canada driver is pushing for his first championship behind the wheel of his own Sniper chassis. He’s yet to reach Victory Lane in one of his cars, but The Manitoba Missile is starting to put together consistent runs. He has eight top-10 finishes in 2021, so far. Only Brandon Sheppard (12) and Chris Madden (11) have more. Despite those consistent finishes, there’s also been nights he’s struggled. Weiss knows it’s part of the ups and downs drivers deal with running a national tour. “You’re going to have that roller coaster effect,” Weiss said. “The car’s been good, we just got some stuff as a team to work on, and I think we’ve got the speed.” Speed is something that may come in handy as the Series moves to Port Royal Speedway. Weiss has had success at the 1/2-mile oval, finishing second to Mason Ziegler in 2019. He also led 17 laps in that race. “It’s another big, fast track that becomes racy in the Feature,” Weiss said. “I think we’ll have a good car in the Feature, we just need to Qualify better and run our Heat Races better.” Weiss enters Port Royal fifth in the points standing—156 points behind Sheppard. Even though he’s not too far behind, it’s not something he’s worrying about right now. “I don’t really want to look at points until November, that’s always been my goal,” Weiss said. “There’s no doubt we’ve been struggling here and there, but you never know when that roller coaster effect could come around. I think the further we go we’re going to get better and better.” Weiss’s success in his Sniper chassis isn’t his only focus in 2021. He’s been going to different racetracks helping customers move in the right direction. “We’re working on getting some more cars out there, and that’s only going to help everyone as a team with feedback,” Weiss said. “Just like everything it’s hard to get materials, it’s hard to get anything right now. Once we get a few more cars out there and more people to work with, it’s only going to get better.” The optimism Weiss is carrying through this journey, could be the key to unlocking more success on the path toward his first championship. “The Manitoba Missile” and the rest of The Most Powerful Late Models on The Planet head to Port Royal Speedway May 21-22, for the Huey Wilcoxon and Billy Vacek Memorials. If you can’t make it either night watch all the action live on DIRTVision with the annual Platinum FAST PASS subscription for $299/year or the monthly FAST PASS subscription for $39/month. |
| 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. |
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chevy racing–indycar–grand prix indianapolis–arrow mclaren sp drivers
| CHEVROLET RACING NTT INDYCAR SERIESGMR GRAND PRIXINDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEEDWAYINDIANAPOLIS, INDIANATEAM CHEVY DRIVER ZOOM CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPTARROW MCLAREN SP DRIVERS PRE-INDIANAPOLIS GP QUOTESMAY 12, 2021 ARROW MCLAREN SP DRIVERS PATO O’WARD, FELIX ROSENQVIST AND JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, ALONG WITH ARROW MCLAREN SP PRESDIENT TAYLOR KIEL met with media to discuss upcoming NTT INDYCAR SERIES race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course: Felix, what learnings did you take out of the two races at Texas Motor Speedway, and how prepared are you to head to Indianapolis for the month of May? FELIX ROSENQVIST: We can be that fast on a super speedway. Maybe not all of it translates to the 500, but I’m sure of it is going to do that. I think personally as well, I’ve felt better than I’ve ever done on an oval. I think that’s kind of a good step. I really started to learn what I need from the car, and I think my engineer Blair (Perschbacher) and all the others on the No. 7 (Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet) will start to understand what I need to feel comfortable. As I said, the points haven’t come, which is a shame because we have had some really good potential in at least three of these four rounds we have had so far. That’s how it is. We have a good chance to strike back here in these two, and there’s double points at the 500, so that’s encouraging. You just have to keep fighting and it should be good. We’ll go now to Pato. First-time race winner at the last race in Texas. Pato, how do you build off that success you had in Texas, especially given that you’re second in the championship right now? Where does that put your priorities heading into the Indy GP and also the rest of the month of May? PATO O’WARD: Thank you. Yeah, I think we are rolling into the month of May with some great momentum. We want to keep it going. Especially leading into the 500 and the rest of the season. There’s a long season still ahead; many races and many opportunities to be able to execute and get some more results in the bag. I think the approach will be the same as any other weekend that we’ve been to, trying to execute come qualifying and keep our nose clean during the race, have a quick race car. That should really put us in contention for a podium or a win. That is the goal for this weekend, the same as it’s been for every single weekend since 2020. Yeah, I am looking forward to it. Thanks, Pato. Now we’ll go to the newest member of Arrow McLaren SP, Juan Pablo Montoya. Juan Pablo, this is going to be your first IndyCar race since 2017. You’ve obviously been racing other cars since then, but how do you prepare yourself for your first race in an IndyCar in almost four years? JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: Well, I think first of all try not to freak out (laughter)! I think we got a decent test in Laguna (Seca), and learned and understood a lot of what I needed out of the car, and got it in the swing of things. The two days at Indy in the oval were really nice to get everyone together. We need to understand the priority of running the road course, apart from having a really good result, is working well with the engineers and everyone on the team. If everyone is a new group of people, and they’re really good people, and to get them bonding together is really important. And understand what I need out of the car. It’s such a compact schedule, and I think it’ll be good. It could be frustrating; there could be anger moments, and there could be good moments. But I am looking forward to it. I am really working hard to prepare myself for it. And we’ll see what it brings. We had a session in the simulator last week, and the baseline was pretty good and the pace seemed pretty good. So I’m looking forward to it. One of the curveballs is the red tires. Learning to get the most out of it will be really hard, but at least we’ll get a set out of it in practice. Back in the day, we didn’t use to get them. Thanks, Juan Pablo. Taylor, I’ll piggyback a bit off that and ask you a follow-up question. What a lot of people may not realize is our third crew at Indianapolis, the No. 86, are all full-time employees of Arrow McLaren SP. How important is it to have the Indianapolis GP to prepare those guys, who aren’t normally a race weekend crew but are important to the team to get ready for the Indy 500? JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: I think one of the most important things there is to understand that they are full-time employees, but work different jobs. Like Craig (Hampson), my engineer, he’s not running a car normally. He’s looking after everybody. I think in a way it’s good because there’s a lot of experience. There’s a couple young guys working on my team that came from England as well. I’m really excited. I think we have a great group of people, very experienced mechanics, and everyone is pumped up about it. With Pato winning the last race, it shows the potential of the car at Indy, so now you have to execute. If we screw up, we have to make sure we screw up in the Indy GP and not in the big race! Taylor, do you want to follow up on that? TAYLOR KIEL: I think Juan covered it pretty well. That’s why we made the choice to run the road course race was to get some more experience with that group. It’s the only thing that separates them from Pato and Felix’s cars, they just did it a week ago. It’s important where we are at an advantage over the other one-off cars, and that we’re doing that. That’s what it’s about, like Juan said, to put ourselves in the best position for the 500. That’s what it is. Pato, what’s life been like for you now that you are an IndyCar winner? PATO O’WARD: It’s the same, now with the title of having one win under my belt. It’s all the same. The approach to everything is the same. We’re the same people, same persons, nothing has changed. We just have had a taste of what a win feels like and now we want more of that! It’d be great to rack up some more if we can. For all three of you, the IndyCar races on the IMS road course have been kind of pedestrian, but the Friday race last October was one of the best road races they have had there. What’s the reason why that particular race was so good last year, when others have been about how the strategy falls? PATO O’WARD: I’ll take it first. I think in my opinion it is about the amount of laps (85) opened up it for either a two-stop fuel save or a three-stopper. Whenever you take away some laps, and force everyone to do a two-stop, is when things get boring I guess. So I feel like, this year is the same amount of laps (85) that road race you mentioned was good. I think it’ll be a good mix this weekend. FELIX ROSENQVIST: I think it’s also depending on weather, tires and how they operate together. I think INDYCAR is doing a good job in experimenting in that a bit, with race length. Sometimes you don’t know how it’ll play out. One day the red tires are degrading, the next they’re good for a whole stint. We may have a hard time figuring out what it’ll be, even with our best predictions. That’s part of the fun, you know? Sometimes it’ll be an awesome race, and others it’ll be completely different than what you expect. I’m sure we’ll be surprised with some this weekend as well. JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: I’ve watched the races, but as Felix said and as Pato said, it depends on strategy, when the cautions come out, and if people save fuel. If they do that it is normally a pretty quiet race. Everybody tries to stay in line, draft, save fuel and go as far as they can. It becomes who can go the furthest. When you’re not racing hard, versus when you get cautions, the pack is packed up, the cautions mix the pack. It’s frustrating sometimes, because you could be on the right strategy leading the race, and someone tries a different strategy and the caution comes out and you can come out of the pits 10th when you were leading and you finish 10th. And you don’t even know why? But that’s the nature of IndyCar. In a way it’s their problem not mine, I’m just a one-off so I want to run as good as I can this week and see what we can bring. Taylor, reflecting at Pato’s win at Texas, just being able to put into words what it means for Arrow McLaren SP, it really is a sign of what the whole program is based on. It’s about showcasing their talent of young drivers. JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: Thank you for the young (laughter)! TAYLOR KIEL: Yeah, I think there’s a few things to that. Certainly there is the young talent piece. That’s a small part of it. The other thing is putting the best people in the best positions to take advantage of what we’re building as a team. We have that with Pato and Felix and certainly Juan. But this has been a long journey. I think at a certain point you get sick and tired of being a mid-pack team that occasionally sneaks out a victory. When you have a partner lineup like we do, the support from ownership and everyone to take advantage of it, it’s a great position. It requires thoughtful planning and organization. That’s what we have been able to do slowly over time, and now we are starting to reap those rewards. Texas is certainly Texas. That’s it. We’re onto the Indy GP, then onto the Indy 500, then a bunch of races after that. But now we have an organization that knows how to win. From an importance perspective, it’s very important. But it’s certainly not the end of the journey. It’s not putting our feet on the desk and saying, we’ve won Texas, we made it. We still have a long way to go. We’ll see shortly how far we’ve come. For Juan Pablo, during the Indy 500 test-, you did an interview (with NBC Sports) about you’d heard from Arrow McLaren SP about running Indy and Roger Penske said no. Could you elaborate, and how hard did you push to do this earlier? JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: Well, with Roger, when it’s no, it’s no. Zak (Brown) called me the last two years and I said to him, ‘Well, I don’t think they’re going to let me. If you want to call him, call him, but I’m pretty sure the answer’s going to be no.’ And he called 10 minutes later and he said, ‘Yeah, no, you’re not running!’ So this year, now that I’m running a different program, I talked with Zak and I thought the challenge was exciting, and as everyone is saying, Taylor mentioned they’re going in the right direction. The timing is very good and the potential to run the Indy 500 is perfect. From the timing point of view, working with Craig and the experience he has, and how open-minded he is, the potential is huge. It’s been fun, because I’ve worked with people before and you show up and they go, ‘Well, this is the way we need to run it.’ Craig is very open-minded, and has a lot of experience. So we can work together where I say, ‘Hey I want this out of the car, I don’t like this,’ and he’s got a lot of previous laps and experience where he can go, ‘Oh, I understand what you mean.’ So it’s very easy to communicate and we seem to find direction really quickly. I’m very stubborn when I don’t like something; I really don’t like it. And we’ve been there already. And we laugh about it. I told him before the first test, ‘There’s a few things especially in the Indy oval, if I don’t like it, or feel comfortable, I’m not even gonna try it.’ Because normally, that’s when you make a mistake and end up having a shunt for no reason, with something you wouldn’t even think about racing. You seem very excited to be back at Indianapolis and the Indy 500. How much did you miss it and were you surprised by how much you missed it? JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: Honestly, I loved the sports car program, and I really enjoyed endurance racing. Still working with Penske was a lot of fun. All that time was cool. I think this opportunity was unreal, to be honest with you. In my mind, I never thought I’d run Indy again. Because Roger would never let me at the time. I’m 45, whether you like it or not. I believe I still can perform. And I’ll give you an example. We’re in Spa, running WEC (World Endurance Championship). I was running hard, but I feel like I’m miles off the pace. And we qualify like ninth in (LMP2) class, and I drove from ninth to third, and I passed people on the brakes, and I out-brake and outsmart people. It was really good. Oh, I can still do this! Felix, you’re going back to a track where you’ve had pace before. Do you think you can get one with the AMSP car here?FELIX ROSENQVIST: Yeah for sure, I’ve been quick here before. I wouldn’t say it’s a track I like more than others, but I had a pole here my rookie season which was fun. I think it’s more what we’ve done in the background, developing the setup, what Juan talked about. I spent a lot of time with Craig and my engineer (Blair) to build a package I think will work better than Barber and St. Pete. It’ll be exciting to see what we come up with, because I definitely think it’ll be a bit of a difference. It’s less depending on the track. When we find the sweet spot of where we want to be, I think it’ll be from every track for the rest of the year. We saw that in Texas with something I liked. That’s the direction we’re going, and working to strike back at the GP after a tough first four races. Juan, I noticed you’ve had Sebastian (Montoya) with you in Europe. What is it like having him as a driver around? I know he’s been around as a son, but now he’s a driver. Is it fun to have someone who now understands the driving side with you? JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: Yeah I think it’s exciting. We had a really good conversation with me after Spa. He’s been with me, getting ready for his new season. He has his first race of the year this weekend here in Italian F4. In the car, something you don’t understand is how good you are. He’s got crazy talent and crazy speed, but he’s like, ‘I don’t know.’ Honestly, you see how good I am and he’s like, ‘Yeah, you’re so good,’ and I’m like, ‘I still believe you can kick my rear end every day.’ So imagine how good you are. And he’s like, ‘Really?’ He needs a little bit of confidence and needs to learn a lot. He’s young, you know what I mean? He turned 16 last month. It’s crazy the potential he has. Once we get to cars with a little more downforce and he’s not sliding around like the F4, he really hates that car. But he needed the experience. We did a test in Barcelona in Euro F3, and I think he was the quickest guy of the week. We ran the first two days, and then the track gets better. Then the team is like, ‘Oh my god, how quick is this guy?’ And I’m like, ‘I know,’ but he doesn’t! Juan, what do you see of ‘younger you’ in time you’ve spent with Pato and Felix so far? JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: I think they’re very different driving styles, both of them. Pato’s the guy that you put the wheels backwards, and he’ll still make a good lap time! And you don’t know how, but he does, and that’s great for him. But he needs to, and we’ve spoke about it, he needs to learn a bit more about what he needs for the long runs. His potential is unreal. Felix’s, I think his driving style is a lot more similar to mine. You want a car that doesn’t want to kill you! I think that’s been the biggest thing. For Felix, when I got in and I was like, ‘I can’t drive this!’ He’s like, ‘I’m glad I’m not the only one!’ (laughter) It’s been really good. We work to make a much friendlier car and much more consistent in a race, because if they can build a car that’s consistent, the results will be much more often in the front. And then Pato and Felix, your thoughts on what you can take from Juan going into this month? PATO O’WARD: For me it’s just so much experience, and a lot of input in areas where I don’t know how to explain what I need from the car. Especially in manufacturer stuff like downshifting, seeing if you have a certain issue in the downshift, seeing where in the downshift it is, and just understanding more about the car. I don’t really know how to explain it, but I think you can tell the experience he has when he explains things. I’m trying to learn as much as I can, and even without spending weekends together, with the Laguna test and the Indy test, I have just comprehended a little bit more about what things do. That helps me tell my engineers more about what I need, and that’s been a win-win situation. Like I said, in my career, I’ve been so used to driving what they give me, so I’m not a big whiner. But I need to whine more, because I think we can extract a lot more when it’s easier to drive. Like Juan Pablo said, it doesn’t want to kill you, I guess! FELIX ROSENQVIST: I agree with Pato. I’m kind of in the middle between Pato and Juan Pablo in my career. I have had the opportunity to work with a lot of experienced drivers, like Nick Heidfeld, Scott Dixon, and Gary Paffett when I was in DTM. When you have a teammate that has done so much, as Juan Pablo has done, you realize the reason he’s good is because he knows what he wants and knows how to get it. Everyone understands that’s the way it has to be. Like Pato said, I got so far in my career by jumping in driving whatever I had. I didn’t complain about it. I told my engineers what I wanted, and for me it was very clear, when I raced with Scott and now with Juan Pablo, if you want to race for championships that’s where you need to be to make the difference. Everyone has the talent. There’s huge talent in IndyCar in the whole field. Those details are where you can make your life easier. If it’s easier for you, and make the car do more work for you, that’ll be a different kind of race. Pato, so you’ve been with the Arrow McLaren SP team since the beginning. How has your confidence and trust grown, and how does that help build momentum for the Indy 500 and championship? PATO O’WARD: I think just having a full year under our belt is what has given us a bit more efficiency in a weekend, knowing what I want. There’s barely any running in the weekend from session to session, so it’s important to be efficient with changes and know what you want to go in the right direction. That’s helped us. But I don’t necessarily think it’s so much different to last year. This year we are showing what we had last year. We just didn’t quite execute. The goal has been, don’t screw up. If you don’t screw up, you’ll win races. For me, going into the 500, it’s a race where if you’ve never done one before, there’s no way you can prepare yourself for that. Ever. You just can’t. I feel like once you do it a year, you’ll understand what to expect, for traffic running and having a good car to compete at the front and win. Juan, when you’re going from series to series, you’re going through different cars. What’s the most difficult thing to adjust to? JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: I think the hardest thing is adapting to the tires, in the feel of what the tire wants. Every car is different and every manufacturer builds them different. So when I run here, we’re with Firestone. In Europe, we’re with Goodyear, and in IMSA we’re with Michelin. So you go from the spectrum of the Michelins, which are super fast with tons of grip, while the Goodyears are the P2 cars, they’re a little more intermediate – a little harder and more difficult to drive – and it is what it is. You learn to make the most out of it. But it’s so good because it keeps you on your toes the whole time. The other thing that’s hard is, here, it’s good because it’s my car with my engineer and group of people. When I run in IMSA, I’m the third guy. So I don’t even have a voice or a vote. I say what’s happening, but I’m just the filler guy. In WEC, we have Ben (Hanley), who’s the younger guy, myself, and then we have the gentleman in the car. It’s a different program. There we need to make the car drive really good, and we work a lot on the gentleman, Henrik (Hedman), to get the best out of him. If we make the car two tenths quicker for us, that’s great, but if we can make Henrik go two seconds a lap quicker, that’s a bigger improvement than anything else. It’s a different challenge, everything is, but as Pato said before it makes experience even better. It makes me look at things in a different way and makes things much simpler. Taylor, you have two Latin American drivers, how important is that for the team for the region. TAYLOR KIEL: I think they could be from Mars, right? But it’s about the best drivers available. Pato and Juan, their Latin heritage brings them together. But as a group, I’m focused on putting the two best drivers in the car regardless of age, race, ethnicity, gender, it doesn’t really matter to us. Bringing Juan and Pato together is the best move for our team. They’ve proven that, and we’re excited to get going. Juan, how do you adapt your driving style to IndyCar after being most recently in WEC? JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: I think the hardest thing there is remembering what I want from an IndyCar on a speedway. It’s all about how fast can you go. The more comfortable you are, the quicker you’re going to be. For Pato, what I want may be completely different. Maybe he goes, oh, the thing can’t turn. Maybe he’s more comfortable with the car stepping out. For me, if the car is uncomfortable on the entry, I’m going to keep my foot on the brake until I feel I can release it and know the car isn’t going to snap out on me. Where Pato may trust the car a little different, and rotate. If you give the car more understeer, I may be able to turn it more to be more aggressive with my hands. You may make it turn more. You have to know what you need. The hard thing is we only have two sessions, maybe two or three runs each, and two, three, four, five laps and you’re done. So we’ll see what happens. I’d talked to Sebastian (Montoya) and he said he might want run at Daytona next year (2022 Rolex 24 At Daytona). What are your thoughts? JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: (Laughter). I don’t want to think about that yet! It’s too early to be honest. We need to see where I’m going to run next year. If an opportunity to run in a car together with him came up that would be amazing. I think it’d be great, he’d learn a lot if we are in the same car. He’d have to be more flexible in the way drive and brake. In Europe, they tell you, this is the way you need to brake, this is the way you need to turn. And when you’re young, that’s what you do, and you do that to make lap time. When you learn to drive all the cars I drive, the best way to describe it is I drive depends on what the car needs, so I turn and brake a different way. Different cars have different cornering ways. I don’t have a set driving style, but I do have my preferences. Taylor, you’ve been part of Robert Wickens’ journey in the team. What’s your reflection on him getting in a car last week, and the feeling in the team around that? TAYLOR KIEL: I thought it was great. Since day one, we’ve been behind Robbie in any number of ways. Certainly, it’s been his main ambition to get back in a race car. I think our support for him both away from the racetrack, at track, and in any endeavor he wants to do has always been there. So when an opportunity came to hop in a car, good on you, go for it. I was thrilled to see him back out there. I spoke with him afterwards, and he had a blast, but he was already thinking ‘Man, can we do this? How can we do that?’ We’re going to go to the drawing board and help him out any way that we can to see if we can help realize his new dream, which is getting back into a race car. We’re certainly supportive and proud of Robbie for what he’s put in. We’re excited to see where the journey goes and how we can be a part of it. For Pato, how much momentum does the win give you into Indy and the 500? PATO O’WARD: I think it’s great momentum, the best we can carry into the month. The approach is the same. We want to continue fighting at the front. The most points we extract out of the GP, the better it will be for the 500 and so forth for the rest of the season. How beneficial is it to have Juan Pablo for the GP and the 500? PATO O’WARD: It’s good. He has loads of experience. The guy knows what he wants from a race car. I think we can learn a lot from him in trying to extract the most we need from our cars. FELIX ROSENQVIST: I’d agree with Pato. It’s also good for us to have a third source of data. We’re a team that is growing, and don’t have a lot of time to try new things with limited track time on a weekend and in winter testing. There’s not a lot of running. It matches well with our plans from an engineering point of view to run a third car, try different stuff. Juan Pablo is a huge input source. He’ll tell you what he wants. If he doesn’t get it, he’ll keep asking for it. It’s pretty exciting for all of us. It changes the dynamic in the team for the better. Taylor, by being Pato’s strategist, how has this process of building confidence and chemistry occurred race-by-race? TAYLOR KIEL: It’s been a process, no doubt, as any relationship is in our lives. But it’s also super critical to off-track success. Understanding how to read body language, tone of voice, and being involved in the process from start-to-finish, to be close to the engineering group, driver group, mechanics, you can paint a clearer picture of what’s going on. That’s not limited to just strategy on race day. To me it’s a big part of building the team and everyone being on the same page. The race day piece takes care of itself. Although we’re growing and on a growth trajectory, we do try to stay small in a few aspects. Those are communication within the team, interpersonal communication with myself, management, drivers, and always trying to keep our finger on the pulse. When you do that on a day-in, day-out basis, with quick decisions or otherwise, you take in the human element. If you look across the paddock, those teams with a massive amount of success like Scott (Dixon) or Josef (Newgarden) just to name a couple, those have longtime people in their ear, on their timing stand both with Mike (Hull) and Tim (Cindric). Continuity is big. I think the relationship piece is big. It’s a daily effort. How do you build it day-by-day? That’s what I’ve tried with Pato, and also Felix and Billy (Vincent) have a good relationship as well. It takes time, but the rewards can be reaped on the back side as well. |
Colonial Pipeline Disruptions Stop Lucas Oil Late Model Doubleheader
BATAVIA, Ohio (May 12, 2021) – The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series events scheduled for Friday, May 14 at 411 Motor Speedway and Saturday, May 15 at Talladega Short Track have been canceled. The Colonial Pipeline is the largest pipeline system for refined oil products in the U.S. – stretching over 5,500 miles long between Texas and New York. A recent cyber-attack on the Colonial Pipeline halted 2.5 million barrels per day of fuel shipments. As fuel shortages in the Southeast worsen as a result of the disruption, track and series officials have mutually agreed to cancel this weekend’s events. The events will not be made up. “These are unfortunate circumstances beyond our control,” said Rick Schwallie, Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Director. “These decisions are never easy, but we had to consider our fan base and those traveling hundreds of miles to attend these events.” Next up, the Lucas Oil Late Model Series heads west for a doubleheader in the Hawkeye state. The series will visit 300 Raceway in Farley, IA on Friday, May 21 and 34 Raceway in Burlington, IA on Saturday, May 22. The events will pay $12,000 and $15,000 to win, respectively. Tim McCreadie currently leads the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Point Standings by just 45 points over Hudson O’Neal. Jonathan Davenport, Ricky Thornton Jr, and Shane Clanton round out the top five in championship points. There is a tight battle transpiring, with many positions separated by just one feature finishing position. 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.About Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt SeriesFounded in 2005, the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series showcases the talents of the top dirt late model drivers from across the country. In 2021, the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series will sanction 59 events across 18 states, including some of the biggest marquee events in the industry, providing dirt slinging, sideways, door-to-door racing action lap after lap. The series receives national exposure through a television package filmed, produced and edited by Lucas Oil Production Studios. Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series events will broadcast on four networks including CBS, NBC Sports, CBS Sports Network and the MAVTV Motorsports Network. The in your face excitement of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series is second to none in motorsports. For more information, including the latest news, tour schedule, driver information, and more, visit the official website at: www.LucasDirt.com.2021 Official Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Marketing Partners 2021 Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Partners Include:Advanced Powder Coating, Allstar Performance, Arizona Sport Shirts, Automotive Racing Products, Big River Steel, Bilstein, Black Diamond Chassis, Boyd Bilt Fabrication, Brandon Ford, Brodix, Capital Race Cars, Cornett Racing Engines, CP Carrillo Pistons, DirtonDirt.com, DirtCarLift.com, Dirt Draft, Dirty Girl Racewear, Dixie Chopper, E3 Spark Plugs, Earnhardt Technologies Group, Eibach Springs, Fast Shafts, General Tire, Heath Lawson Photography, Holmatro, Hoosier Tire, Hot Rod Processing, Keyser Manufacturing, K&N Engineering, LINE-X, Longhorn Chassis, Lucas Oil Products, MAVTV Motorsports Network, Mega Plumbing of the Carolinas, Midwest Sheet Metal, Miller Welders, MSD Performance, MyRacePass, Nutrien Ag Solutions, Öhlins Shocks, OPTIMA Batteries, Outerwears, Penske Racing Shocks, Performance Bodies, Pit Stop USA, Pro Power Racing Engines, ProtectTheHarvest.com, Rocket Chassis, Rugged Radios, Schoenfeld Headers, Simpson Race Products, Slicker Graphics, Stop Tech Brakes, Sunoco Race Fuels, Super Clean, Swift Springs, Summit Racing Equipment, Thermo-Tec Automotive Products, UNOH – University of Northwestern Ohio, Vahlco Wheels, Vic Hill Race Engines, Whelen Engineering Company Inc, Wrisco Aluminum, 5150 Race Trailers |
CBS to broadcast World of Outlaws Bristol special
The World of Outlaws Sprint Cars and Late Models return to national TV for an hour-long show CONCORD, NC – May 12, 2021 – Race fans around the country will get to relive the World of Outlaws’ historic return to Bristol Motor Speedway when the premier dirt racing series returns to the CBS Television Network for the World of Outlaws: It’s Bristol Baby special on June 12 at 1:30pm (ET).The nationally televised hour-long special will showcase record-setting speeds and eye-widening moments from the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series return to Bristol for the first time in 20 years and World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series’ debut at “The Last Great Colosseum.” It’ll also feature interviews from drivers like Kyle Larson, two-time Sprint Car champion Brad Sweet and three-time Late Model champion Brandon Sheppard.“By stepping onto the stage at one of the most iconic racetracks in the country like Bristol Motor Speedway, we were able to showcase the best dirt car racing in the world to a new audience. And we gave them four amazing shows,” World of Outlaws CEO Brian Carter said. “We are grateful for CBS once again providing us with a platform to expand that audience further and continue to provide our current fans something special.”The Bristol Bash, featuring the World of Outlaws Late Models, saw the best Super Late Model drivers in the country go wheel-to-wheel in two 40-lap Features. The first night featured a brawl among legends in the sport like Sheppard, four-time champion Josh Richards and multi-time winner Chris Madden. Then, the second Feature saw rising young guns Devin Moran, Ricky Weiss and Ross Bailes bring fans to their feet with their late-race battle.When the World of Outlaws Sprint Cars took their turn during the Bristol Throwdown, drivers averaged speeds higher than 140mph and put on two shows worthy of the title Greatest Show on Dirt. The likes of 2019 Knoxville Nationals champion David Gravel, 10-time Series champion Donny Schatz, 2021 DIRTcar Nationals champion Logan Schuchart and 2019 Rookie of the Year Carson Macedo put the thunder in “Thunder Valley” with daring moves that brought fans to the edge of their seats.Join the thousands of fans who witnessed these historic moments in motorsports history by tuning in to CBS on Saturday, June 12, at 1:30pm.You’ll be able to catch additional World of Outlaws events throughout the year on CBS Sports Network, as well.CBS Sports, a year-round leader in television sports, broadcasts a portfolio of events on the CBS Television Network, including THE NFL ON CBS; college football, including the SEC ON CBS; college basketball, including the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship; golf, including The Masters®, PGA Championship and PGA TOUR; and CBS SPORTS SPECTACULAR. In addition, the division includes CBS SPORTS NETWORK, the 24-hour home of CBS Sports, and produces INSIDE THE NFL for SHOWTIME. CBS Sports Digital’s multi-platform offerings include CBSSports.com and the CBS Sports apps for mobile and connected TV devices; streaming sports news network CBS Sports HQ; 247Sports; MaxPreps; CBS Sports fantasy games; and SportsLine. |
| The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink® Sprint Car 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), NOS Energy (Official Energy Product), SIS Insurance (Official Insurance Provider) and VP Racing Fuels (Official Racing Fuel); contingency sponsors include ARP (Automotive Racing Products), Cometic Gasket, COMP Cams, KSE Racing Products (Hard Charger Award), MSD and Slick Woody’s (Quick Time Award); manufacturer sponsors include FireAde, Intercomp, K1 Race Gear, and Racing Electronics.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. |
chevy racing–nhra–charlotte advance
| CHEVROLET AT CHARLOTTE What: NGK NTK NHRA Four-Wide NationalsWhen: Friday, May 15-Sunday, May 17Where: zMAX Dragway in Concord, North CarolinaTV: FS1 will telecast eliminations at 6 p.m. ET May 17 Chevrolet aims to keep momentum in four-wide formatJohn Force Racing trio has found success at zMAX Dragway DETROIT (May 12, 2021) – John Force Racing’s trio of drivers carry momentum and past success in the four-wide format at zMAX Dragway in Concord, North Carolina, into this weekend’s National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) event. The 11th NGK NTK NHRA Four-Wide Nationals is the fourth event of the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season and second using the four-wide format. The race at zMAX Dragway was not held in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Chevrolet swept the top qualifiers in Top Fuel (Brittany Force), Funny Car (Robert Hight) and Pro Stock (Greg Anderson) in the four-wide event in Las Vegas last month. Hight, Brittany Force and team owner John Force all have won the spring four-wide meeting at the racetrack. “I won the inaugural four-wide (2010) in Charlotte, against my daughter Ashley. All of John Force Racing has done pretty well in North Carolina,” said John Force, who has raced for the Wally in the final quad five times. “This PEAK team with Chevrolet and Cornwell Tools and all my sponsors, we’re going to go out there and keep that up, qualify and win some rounds, hopefully take home the Wally. That’s the goal, the whole point, win some races for the sponsors that have stuck by me.” Force, with 151 NHRA Funny Car national event wins, heads into three rounds of qualifying off a runner-up finish at Atlanta Dragway in the PEAK/BlueDEF Platinum Chevrolet Camaro SS. Teammate Hight, who outdistanced Force to win the 2014 four-wide at zMAX Dragway, has won more races at the track than any other pro driver (2012 and 2014 in the four-wide format and 2009, 2013, 2017, 2019 in the fall). “We’re going to Charlotte with the mindset that we are the team to beat. I’ve had a lot of success at this track and I’m hoping that continues,” said Hight, driver of the Auto Club of Southern California Camaro SS who has been the top Funny Car qualifier in 2010, 2012 and 2019 in the four-wide format at the track. “This Auto Club team, Jimmy Prock, Chris Cunningham, we’re proven we are going to be dangerous this year. I think the performance we have shown this season, in just three races, is a pretty good indication of what’s to come.” Brittany Force was the first woman in either of the nitro categories to win a four-wide race when she prevailed in 2016. “I’m anxious to get to Charlotte Four-Wide. We’ve had success there back in 2016,” said Force, who drives the Flav-R-Pac Chevrolet dragster. “Four-wide is tricky, but we’ve gotten the job done before and we can do it again this weekend. We’re looking to go rounds, win and move up in points to get closer to that championship.” Anderson, driver of the HendrickCars.com Plugs Camaro SS for KB Racing, has earned the No. 1 qualifier honor for all three Pro Stock races. Anderson has won twice, including two weeks ago at Atlanta Dragway for his 96th career class victory. Reigning Pro Stock champion Erica Enders (Melling Performance/Elite Motorsports Camaro SS) won the Las Vegas four-wide event from the 13th qualifier position. FS1 will telecast eliminations at 6 p.m. ET May 17. CHEVROLET FROM THE COCKPIT TOP FUEL: BRITTANY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, MONSTER ENERGY/FLAV-R-PAC CHEVROLET DRAGSTER (No. 1 qualifier in Las Vegas four-wide; semifinalist in last event): “We’re coming off three races and I feel like this Flav-R-Pac / Monster Energy team is off to a good start. But we need to step up our game,” Force said. “We’re looking for more if we want to win a championship. At the final race in Atlanta, we were No. 5, went to the semis and made a big jump from 10th to fifth in points, which was good, but, again, we want more.” FUNNY CAR: JOHN FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, PEAK/BLUEDEF PLATINUM CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (runner-up in last race; No. 2 qualifier in Las Vegas four-wide; won 2010 four-wide a track and has been runner-up twice): “I’m proud of this team, of Daniel Hood and Tim Fabrisi. They’ve really got this PEAK / BlueDEF PLATINUM Chevy figured out. Because they have it figured out, now I have to do my job. I’ve got to keep working to stay in this game, keep improving. We all keep doing our jobs right we’re going to be looking pretty good the rest of the season, starting in Charlotte and zMAX Dragway, another beautiful Bruton Smith facility.” ROBERT HIGHT, JOHN FORCE RACING, AUTO CLUB OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 1 qualifier in Las Vegas four-wide; runner-up in season opener; six-time winner at track): “It just wasn’t our weekend in Atlanta (first-round exit). It definitely didn’t reflect the work this Auto Club team has put in early this season. Quickest every round, like we were in Vegas, that’s where we want to be and that’s where we’re going to get used to being. This Auto Club team is ready for Charlotte, ready to go some rounds, get another win and set our pace for the rest of the season.” PRO STOCK: GREG ANDERSON, KB RACING, HENDRICKCARS.COM CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (winner in two of the three races; No. 1 qualifier in all three events; three-time winner at track): “I’m so proud of the guys and the work they’ve done, not only with my car, but with all five of our team cars (Kyle Koretsky, Deric Kramer, Matt Hartford and Dallas Glenn). “My car has been the standout-superior so far, but any race we go to, any one of these five KB Racing cars could win the event. That’s a great feeling, and there is no question that they’re going to win races, too. It’s going to be a great season for this team, and I’m looking forward to it.” KYLE KORETSKY, KB RACING, LUCAS OIL CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (competing in 12th Pro Stock race and second four-wide event): “TROY COUGHLIN JR., ELITE MOTORSPORTS, JEGS.COM/ELITE MOTORSPORTS CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (runner-up in season opener): “Drag racing four-wide is something different but I really enjoy the format. It adds a lot to the competition. You have to really concentrate on what you’re doing during the staging process in relation to the other three cars. In the end you’re still trying to get all you can out of your own car, so you can’t get too distracted by what the other drivers are doing either. Charlotte is a fun town with a lot of really great motorsports fans.” |
chevy racing–indycar–grand prix indianapolis–penske drivers
| CHEVROLET RACING NTT INDYCAR SERIESGMR GRAND PRIXINDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEEDWAYINDIANAPOLIS, INDIANATEAM CHEVY DRIVER ZOOM CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPTTEAM PENSKE DRIVERS JOSEF NEWGARDEN AND WILL POWER PRE-INDIANAPOLIS GP QUOTESMAY 12, 2021 TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET DRIVERS JOSEF NEWGARDEN AND WILL POWER met with media to discuss upcoming NTT INDYCAR SERIES race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course: THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to the NTT INDYCAR SERIES video news conference with teammates Will Power and Josef Newgarden from Team Penske.Gentlemen, both of you had success last year on the road course here at Indy in the Harvest Grand Prix with Josef winning race one and Will winning race two.Will, you have four wins and five poles here at the road course in Indianapolis. How excited are you to get back to the road course where you’ve had so much success? WILL POWER: Yeah, always a track that I thoroughly enjoy. The field is so tight this year you have no idea where you’ll stack up. We were pretty good at Barber. That was a road course, smooth road course. Hopefully some of that transfers over.But I think our baseline setup there is pretty good. The temperature matters a lot there. You can have a very different car depending on the wind, the temperature, if it’s rain or whatever.But, yeah, never take it for granted we’re going to turn up strong, always ready to react on the fly. Yeah, certainly looking forward to starting out there. THE MODERATOR: Josef, you had a P2 finish in St. Pete on a street course. How excited are you to get back to a road course where you started P2 last year for the Harvest Grand Prix and ended up on the podium in the winner’s circle?JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Just like Will, it’s always been a good track for us and Team Penske without a doubt. We’re going to try to follow up where we were at last year.Temperature-wise I think Will brings up a good point. We seemed almost a little stronger on the 2 car specifically in October. I’m hoping that carries over. I think the weather is going to be cool looking at it, not necessarily super hot. If the wind is not to our liking, like Will said, we have to be ready to react pretty quickly.Excited about it. Excited to have Snap-on running on our car this weekend, which will be quite cool. A unique livery. Celebrate their makers and fixers. Very excited about that. THE MODERATOR: The weather is going to be cool, in the 60s, but sunny at least through Saturday. Happy about that.WILL POWER: I love Snap-on, so yeah. I have Snap-on everything. Maybe I should have had the Snap-on car. But Verizon 5G is still someone I’m very loyal to. Yeah, I just wanted to put that out there and let everyone digest that the way they would like. Thank you.THE MODERATOR: I’ll have you guys work that out with the captain.WILL POWER: Yeah (laughter).THE MODERATOR: We’ll start with questions. Q. Will, you got to admit, it’s a crappy day outside here in North Carolina, isn’t it?WILL POWER: It is. If you want to come over and watch How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days or something like, that I’m all for it. Just chilling in my basement. Up to you. Q. Maybe I’ll stop over and bring some barbecue with me.WILL POWER: Sounds good, Bruce (smiling). Q. The Friday race last October was one of the best road races we’ve seen at the IMS road course. What do you see the reason for that being? The length of the race was different in the Friday race. It was a more action-packed race than what we’ve seen in some of the previous races at IMS on the road course, which if you get out front at the right time, you can cruise to victory.WILL POWER: I would say it certainly was the difference between the Friday race and the Saturday race, the fact that of the distance. It opened the windows, the strategy window, up significantly so you could try different strategies, pit on different laps, just created good racing.Actually I haven’t looked at the distance. I know we sent the series a lot of information on race distance, how to open the windows up, make it so it’s not a fuel race. Hopefully I did that. Q. Josef?JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, I agree with Will. It’s just the fuel windows. A much better race on Saturday because they were open windows. I think that’s the goal going back, is to try to keep those windows as open as possible. It just creates opportunity to run a completely different strategy than people around you, make it work. I think that’s the key, is providing options to people.Once they have them, it makes the race instantly more entertaining because there’s just a lot more going on. Q. Speaking of entertaining, Mr. Entertainment himself, Juan Pablo Montoya, is going to be driving an INDYCAR the first time since 2017. How happy are you to mix it up with him? Arrow McLaren SP is a pretty good team this year. Put Montoya in the mix, it’s interesting.WILL POWER: Is he running the road course as well? Q. Yes.WILL POWER: Is Helio running the road course?JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I believe he is. Q. He’s not. He’s just doing the 500.WILL POWER: Okay. Q. He’ll be doing the Music City Grand Prix.WILL POWER: He picked a right one there. That’s a special town, not because of its history in country music, but because Josef Newgarden lives there. As I’ve said before, he is what I’d class as a god-like figure based on his social media. So, yeah, I’m excited to go there. I’m sure Helio is, as well. Q. How about Montoya?WILL POWER: Oh, yeah, Montoya. Yeah, no, it’s cool that he’s back in the series. Juan, he works it out pretty quickly. I think he’ll help that team with all the experience he’s had. I think he’ll really help them on the oval actually. That’s where he’s very strong.Yeah, it will be fun to have him back in the series. Always a great character, someone that you don’t want to mess with on the track or off the track.JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, I mean, I would agree with Will again. I think Montoya’s strength will be more on the oval. I think he’ll be a very strong teammate for both Rosenqvist and Pato. I think he’ll help the team a lot with what they’re doing and just be tough to beat. He’ll be difficult to beat.Road course-wise, think it will probably be harder for him, I really do. He’s Montoya, so he could surprise all of us at any moment. I think he’ll have a tougher time just getting back up to speed.The field is so tight, like Will said, you can’t even make the smallest slipup nowadays. You can be way in the back, like 20th. WILL POWER: Yeah.JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I think it will be hard for him to get back up to grips with the road course car.WILL POWER: I’ll see you in an hour or so, Bruce. The barbecue, remember that (laughter). Q. Will or Josef, because you’re going to spend so much time at Indianapolis over the next few weeks, Josef, it looks like you’re moving house to Indianapolis anyway, but driving this direction this weekend, the other direction from Monday onwards, does it actually play into your mindset when you’re on the main straightaway at Indy or do you blank it out because you’re doing what you got to do?WILL POWER: Yeah, I mean, doesn’t even register. Totally different track, different downforce level. So, yeah, I have to say in all the times I’ve done it, it hasn’t even registered. It’s such different disciplines, you could say.JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, I’m like Will. It’s so completely different that you’re almost hitting it in stages. The first stage of a big month, kind of really focused on that. Then as soon as you get done with it, you can start thinking about the oval event and the 500.Having said that, we have people working on the 500 the whole off-season. Even before we show up for the GP, we’ve been working on the 500. We get locked in on the GP event, get the most of that. You get a good cadence leading into practice the next week, then you roll into the big show. Q. Will, is there anything specific that you can pinpoint as to why you’re so good at the road course in Indy?JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I think it’s Bruce’s barbecue. Something about when Will and Bruce get together there’s a 24, 48 hour window. Bruce is available, Will gets that barbecue, that guy sings on the track. He just sings. I don’t know what it is. It’s something in the brisket (laughter).WILL POWER: I would agree with that because the years I’ve won it, yes, Bruce has come over and we’ve eaten barbecue and we’ve watched chick flix. There is something to that. Maybe it’s the attitude of going into the weekend, an attitude of bliss and happiness.On a more truthful note, honestly I enjoy the track. I’ve done well at pretty much every track we go to in the series now. Yeah, in particular just a fun road course, consistent grip all the way around.Yeah, it’s hard to pinpoint whether it really suits my style because we go to other tracks where it is a completely different style and I’m still quick.Yeah, don’t know. I think the team’s very good there, period. So you’re starting off with a good car, then obviously you got to do the rest. Yeah, I actually really enjoy it. A really fun track.You can certainly push the limits because, you know, there’s not many walls or anything to hit there. You get to the limit pretty quickly. I couldn’t pinpoint a reason apart from all the work I’ve done over the years on the craft. Q. Josef, obviously you did really well last season. What do you think you can kind of improve, if anything, for this year to get to victory circle?JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Well, I’m disappointed I’m driving up to Indy, I was trying to be over in North Carolina today with Will. I would have liked to have gotten on this barbecue meeting, chick flix. I’ve got to look at different ways to be good.I thought we were very strong. Hopefully I haven’t frozen here. THE MODERATOR: You jinxed yourself, Josef. You were doing great, then you froze. Now you’re back, but you’re muted.WILL POWER: He shouldn’t have talked about Bruce like that (smiling). He’s muted again. Take your ear phones out, Ashley won’t care.JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I much prefer to listen to Will, to be honest with you. I don’t know that it’s a tremendous loss that you’re not being able to hear me (laughter).I think we hit on something pretty good last year with our car specifically. I felt good about our car in the summertime, too, when Will and me were up front in that race before the yellow happened.I’m excited. We just got to try and make sure we qualify well. I think that’s pretty important at the GP. Definitely make your day a little bit better. So if we can do that, I think we’ll have good cars, like Will said. Q. Josef, there’s been quite a lot of talk about INDYCAR drivers in Formula 1 over the past few weeks, spurred by Colton winning at St. Pete. Obviously you went over to GP3 and had a short period of time there. What was it that brought you back to the States? Was it how attractive the Road to Indy program is? The style of the tracks? The limited time you had to get used to racing on the calendar?JOSEF NEWGARDEN: It’s kind of a shame. I think it’s just a shame to see the animosity amongst the two series. I consider both of them world class championships, both Formula 1 and INDYCAR. I think there’s just a lot of parallels you see (indiscernible).WILL POWER: We can’t hear you, mate. Your headphones.JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I figured this would be a shame if I broke up on this, because it’s a great question. I don’t know that I can really answer it super well in these conditions. Got toilet paper behind me (laughter).Jack, if you remember this, you ask me this question again at some point. I would love to see some young drivers get over there. Both Pato and Colton I think would do extremely well in Formula 1 personally, in my opinion. It’s a great question.I hate to see the animosity between some of the fans amongst the series because they’re both great championships, really great. I think they have so many parallels together.I’m just a huge fan of seeing the crossover, more often than not, whether that’s drivers, mechanics or engineers. I’d love to see some more. Hopefully we get some young guys from our side competing over there. Q. There’s a lot of points on the table this month. You have a doubleheader in Belle Isle after. How do you balance the championship, thinking about the championship, also the 500 as a driver? The championship at the end of the year can be decided over these next few races.WILL POWER: I’ve never been a big fan of the double points at the 500. I believe you should never be thinking of the championship when you’re racing to try to win that race. If you’re in the hunt to win it, not that you’re thinking of that, but if you’re fifth and you’re down the last stint, the last 10 laps, there’s no chance to win, you won’t fight as hard. You might consider just taking the points.Yeah, I just think it shouldn’t be double points, it should be normal points. It should be 100% about the race, shouldn’t be about the championship, in my opinion.Yeah, obviously like you said, massive stint in a short period of points coming up here. It will play a huge part in who’s going to be a contender at the end of the year. Q. Josef, do you think championship yet? Is that even in your mind? Are you still just trying to get the season going?JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I think it’s still pretty early. Even at Indianapolis. I completely agree with Will. I’ve not been a big fan of the double points scenario, both at Indy and the championship finale, quite frankly.Yeah, you’re not thinking of points at Indy until it’s over. Those come in moments. You think about qualifying, you’re always trying to be fast, always trying to be in the top nine shootout because you know there’s points there, but more so because you want to start up front in the race.You’re first thinking about doing well in the race, starting up front. Then after qualifying is done, then you think about the points implications. If you had a good qualifying, it helps you in points. If you didn’t have a good qualifying, you worry about what it did to you in points.The race is the same way. When you’re in the race, you’re thinking about doing as well as possible in this event. You get one shot at it every year. It’s such a big deal. You’re just trying to win the race.After the fact you kind of have to settle with whatever that was. If it was a winning day, it helps you tremendously in the points. If it wasn’t, then you’re feeling horrible about leaving there, being in a hole probably in the championship.Yeah, I don’t like it. I think Will brings up a good point. If you’re fifth or sixth, do something strategy-wise to win the event, you may not do that nowadays just because you don’t want to sacrifice the negative of losing a bunch of points if you get it wrong. I don’t like that element.For the most part you’re not thinking about championship when you’re in the event.WILL POWER: Is the final race double points this year?THE MODERATOR: No, just the 500.WILL POWER: I thought they got rid of that.JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I don’t know if they carried that. I know we did that last year.THE MODERATOR: Not the finale. That was two years ago. Just the 500. I just verified that with Arni, the knower of all things.WILL POWER: Unless you’re behind, of course, then it’s terrible (laughter). Change the rule. Q. When it comes to being successful, how much is it about pure speed and how much is it getting comfortable in the car?WILL POWER: I would say successful in this series is often about luck because if you get caught on the wrong side of yellows, it can totally ruin your day because they have this terrible rule where the pits close on the yellow.Obviously speed matters massively. You might question that if you look at last year’s championship where Dixon won probably three races because of yellows and qualified horribly.For the most part, yep, if you can qualify at the front it helps. Lottery yellows, I love to stick the knife in and let people know how bad they are.JOSEF NEWGARDEN: It’s a tough equation. It’s just tough. I feel like you have good years and bad years when it comes to luck. You just don’t know. I don’t know how you really control that. You just got to work as hard as possible at all moments and try to put yourself in position to be ready to capitalize. There’s some things that are just out of your control.WILL POWER: I think a pretty safe strategy is pit when Dixon pits because nine times out of ten you’re going to catch a lucky yellow, like last year on the Indy road course. If you just, like, watch Dixon, qualified 17th, me and Josef out leading by a mile, Dixon pits, INDYCAR is going to throw a quick pit, Josef would have won the championship for sure. I probably would have been in the hunt, yeah.You can tell Josef hasn’t been destroyed multiple times by yellows, and he’s still kind of on the fence. Well, yellows have helped me out a few times. A few more times of Dixon getting the lucky one, him not, he’ll be right onboard, Yep, the yellow thing really, really stinks.JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I’ve not been beat to a pulp quite as much as Will has when it comes to yellow flags. I don’t have as many wounds. It’s not fresh for me. But I understand it.WILL POWER: Honestly, it’s a really bad system because if you qualify well, you’re more subject, because I have qualified well my whole INDYCAR career, you’re definitely more subject to getting screwed by a yellow. If you don’t qualify well, you are going to pit early and take a risk, go fishing for that lucky yellow.That’s where I think it’s a horrible system, a horrible system that has nothing to do with merit. Totally to do with luck. It almost goes the other way: it hurts the guy that does a good job. Horrible system. Must change.Think I got my point across (laughter)? It’s the truth, though.Look, I can promise you nothing will change. We actually went to the INDYCAR meeting. Helio was in there. Walked out, said, Nothing has changed in 20 years. He’s right. Q. Speaking of frustrations of yellows, another side of frustration can be keep coming close to winning and not winning. Is the frustration building in having not got there yet or is it too early in the season to have that buildup?JOSEF NEWGARDEN: It’s becoming almost unbearable at this point. So close, yet so far. No, I’m kidding.It’s been okay. We definitely have been in the mix, which is most important. Step one is just getting in the mix, giving yourself an opportunity to win a race. We definitely have been there two out of the four events we’ve had so far.I feel really positive. I think we’re doing a lot of things right. Probably not the start of the year that we would have dreamed of, but it’s been good enough to where we can build on it. That’s kind of where we’re at. We’re trying to build on what we’ve done so far, continue to improve.I think we just need to keep doing what we’re doing because we’re plenty close enough in the fight. You keep to doing that, eventually it will cave open. We will make sure the door caves open.WILL POWER: Caves open? That’s the way.JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Knock it down.WILL POWER: Knock it down. Q. Josef, it’s been a little bit of a rocky season so far for you with some incidents that have happened, yet you’ve managed to be No. 4 in the championship right now. You bounce back, you’re always able to bounce back. You bounced back last season. What’s the secret? How are you able to do that?JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Look, I’m telling you, I don’t want to give my secrets away, but it’s barbecue. I live in Tennessee. We got good barbecue, too. I know Bruce has some magic stuff there that Will has been taking advantage of every now and then. It’s the diet. It’s really the diet that keeps you resilient. I don’t know. It makes me more rubbery, just makes me bounce back.I don’t know what to attribute it to. We have a very resilient team I think in general with all of us. Certainly within our group specifically, when things happen that are negative, certainly the first race was very negative, then you just got to move forward. Whether it’s me or a member on the team, it’s one of the engineers that’s not feeling good, we just always are moving forward. I think we have that mindset that we’re always moving forward. That kind of keeps us in a good place performance-wise.WILL POWER: I think we all need the barbecue just based on today’s social issues. THE MODERATOR: We’ll close out today with Asher.Q. For both of you. You were both winners last October for the Harvest Grand Prix. Josef was the first winner on day one, Will was number two, number one in day two. There’s only one race for the GMR Grand Prix, so only one of you can win. What is one of you going to try to do to try to get it to the front or make a repeat win?JOSEF NEWGARDEN: What do you think, Mr. Power?WILL POWER: Hopefully we roll off the track pretty good. It’s a couple of short sessions, straight in qualifying. I think we’re pretty well-prepped. It will come down to qualifying well, or if you don’t, catching a lucky yellow. Obviously making no mistakes in the race. Might as well make a couple risky moves.Like Josef said, keep knocking on that door and eventually the yellow flag monster will answer. Or just a win, or the I’ve-worked-hard thing will come to fruition.JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I would agree. Thanks for the question, Mr. Asher. I hope you’re excited for the weekend. I know that we are.I would love to have a duel with Mr. Power on the track. That would be fun as long as it doesn’t end badly for both of us. I think it will take qualifying well, decisive decision making because we don’t have a lot of time. It’s going to go really fast.You’re going to roll off the first practice, pretty much how your car is is what it’s going to be. If it’s not good, you have to make quick decisions to make it better before you qualify. A fast-paced weekend that you have to basically get the most out of very quickly. Whoever is best at that will do really well.WILL POWER: Actually I think that we deserve to resume our battle that we were having at the first race last year, and Dixon should be back starting 17th. Let’s replay that and see how it really would have finished.JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I would have liked to have won. It’s a shame we didn’t get to see.WILL POWER: It would have been quite an interesting good little battle.JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I would love an opportunity to snooker Mr. Power. I like that we can snooker these guys. Very hard to do, though.WILL POWER: You’ve snookered me more times than I’ve ever snookered you. I owe you a snookering big-time.JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Can we just say ‘snookering’ all weekend? That’s the new word we have to fit into our interviews. Q. Do you think there will be another push-up battle between Will and Josef?WILL POWER: I reckon I might be able to beat him right now. I’ve done a lot of weights recently. I’m pretty sure I can get him in push-ups right now, pretty sure.JOSEF NEWGARDEN: We should have another battle.WILL POWER: Let me know when. I’m probably going to get you. Probably going to get you this time.JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I don’t think so. It’s a good suggestion. Q. How many push-ups do you think they should do? 500 or what?WILL POWER: In a workout you can definitely do 300, no question.JOSEF NEWGARDEN: How many in a row can you get right now, Will?WILL POWER: No, I haven’t been doing many in a row. They’ll all been, like, intervals with 10. I’ve been doing chest, weights, single arm chest push, whatever you call it, single arm dumbbell press.THE MODERATOR: Then you add in the barbecue.WILL POWER: I’ve got bigger muscles than I’ve ever had right now. Trying to stay in my weight bracket.I’d like to add that Josef sent me a very, very disheartening text message last night. He hasn’t apologized for it. That’s something that’s kind of upsetting me, I would say (smiling). I should tell you what he said. He said my wife does everything for me. That’s what he said. And she does (smiling).JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I did not know what you were going to say. I actually was confused about what text message you were talking about.I was complimenting Liz. Liz is very organized and professional. Some people don’t seem to know that, but they’re going to know that Liz is very professional.WILL POWER: There’s no question. Liz is certainly on top of her game. She has two children to deal with. I contribute a lot. You’d be surprised, Josef. You would be surprised. I bathe my little boy every night, put him to bed. I don’t ever cook dinner, never cook dinner. The missus, she’s too on it, man. Just something I don’t do. But I would.JOSEF NEWGARDEN: You’re a lucky man, Power.WILL POWER: I don’t know. I reckon old Ashley does probably quite a bit for you.JOSEF NEWGARDEN: She’s amazing. I would not function without my wife.WILL POWER: You hear that, Ashley?ASHLEY NEWGARDEN: He has to say that because I’m driving.THE MODERATOR: We’re going to end it there. I would suggest similar to our Andretti Autosport friends that you guys start a podcast together, like Hinch and Rossi. I think it would be entertaining and there would be a lot of subscribers.Thank you everyone for joining. |
chevy racing–nascar–dover–rudy fugle
| NASCAR CUP SERIESDOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAYDRYDENE 400TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPTMAY 12, 2021 RUDY FUGLE, CREW CHIEF, NO. 24 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 1LE, Teleconference Transcript: TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HOW YOU THINK THE TEAM HAS DEVELOPED OVER THE BEGINNING OF THIS SEASON AND, THAT WILLIAM BYRON HAD ANOTHER TOP 10 FINISH THIS PAST WEEKEND. HOW ARE YOU SET TO APPROACH THIS SUMMER STRETCH?“I think we’re growing here. Week by week we’re learning. I’m learning way more than they are learning and starting to get a feel for the cars and set-ups and everything different about the Cup series. The guys and everybody at Hendrick Motorsports are doing a great job helping me get to where we need to be. And then, William is doing an awesome job. Our feedback and communication are getting better weekly. All that stuff is going great.” WHAT HAS BEEN THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCE FOR YOU COMPARED TO THE TRUCK SERIES?“There are two things, really. The first week-to-week thing is that we’d spend a whole lot of time on some small details. We’d go over just everything over and over and over; and just make sure we’re getting every kind of downforce and counting for everything. Sometimes you don’t have enough time or people to go over those things on the Truck-side of things. The other thing is just the racing every week like we’ve been doing. Once it’s Monday morning and we go through our debrief meeting, it’s lunchtime and it’s over and you’re fully focused on the next week. So, it’s just getting used to that grind of every single week a new task. It’s been fun.” GOING TO COTA NEXT WEEK, NO CREW CHIEF HAS NOTES. SO, DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU WON’T BE BEHIND ANY OTHER CREW CHIEFS BECAUSE OF EXPERIENCE THERE?“Yeah, I think we’re all in the same boat. At this point, I think. I’m caught up. Road Racing is different anyway. So, just have to get reacquainted to that side of things and how we’re going to do pit strategy and how the tire wear is going to be and some of those things. But yeah, there’s a lot of learning in 50 minutes that we’re going to have for one practice and trying to get caught up on what’s going on. Hopefully we can have a smooth weekend and learn and make a lot of laps and make some good adjustments overnight into Sunday to try to have a good race.” ON BEHALF OF HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS, COULD YOU SPEAK ABOUT GOING TO DOVER WITHOUT JIMMIE JOHNSON IN THE FIELD?“Yeah, definitely Jimmie has set a lot of milestones at Dover. It’s his house. And then, I think Hendrick likes to think of it as their house. It was a team effort to win all those races. But we definitely don’t have the experienced guy to lean on and ask questions, like how did this happen and when the track rubbers up and it acts like this, what do you do, and those kinds of things. There is probably a little bit less experience to lean on but there are still tons and tons of notes. Chad Knaus is still here, and Greg Ives won a lot of those races with him as well. So, there are lots of people who have run well and to lean on and ask questions. I think we are very prepared, and the morale is high here. We’re running well and we’re trying to build good products and keep winning some more races.” WITH TEN STRAIGHT TOP 10’S, A LOT HAS BEEN TALKED ABOUT THANKS TO WILLIAM BYRON. HOW ABOUT ON THE CREW SIDE OF THE NO. 24? WHAT HAS BEEN THE MAIN POSITIVE AS YOU’VE LED THIS TEAM ON THE PIT BOX?“We’re just getting better every single week at everything. Whether it is pit stops or getting a little bit better week in and week out and have been more consistent. We’ve had a stop here and there, but overall, way way better on pit road. The communication between Tab (Boyd, spotter) and William and myself is going well. We’re making good adjustments during the race. That’s engineering. That’s Chevrolet people. That’s everybody involved. And then all the mechanics have been building great race cars. We’re not having any mechanical problems. We’re not really having problems getting through tech. We’re having a lot of good things happen so, just no big mistakes. We haven’t had enough big splashes to run in the Top 5 as consistently as we want to, but we’re building on that and I think we’re getting there.” WITH 10 STRAIGHT TOP 10’S, IS THERE SOMETHING IN THE RELATIONSHIP WITH WILLIAM BYRON THAT HAS DEVELOPED MORE OR SOMETHING THAT IS CONTRIBUTING TO THAT BETWEEN THE TWO OF YOU? HOW HAS THAT IMPACTED THE RACING?“First of all, I think everybody at Hendrick has given us a great race car to work with. So, our product, to start with, has been very good. So, we start with a good product and we tune on it and William has been very involved in all the set-ups and what wasn’t good before and going well and what we can do better. By bringing small pieces here and there, we’ve just made some really good decisions. We’ve had some good luck and we’ve capitalized.” AT ONE POINT, WILLIAM SAID HE SORT OF HAND-SELECTED YOU TO BE HIS NEW CREW CHIEF AND WAS REALLY INVOLVED IN THAT DECISION. WHY DO YOU THINK THAT WAS? DID YOU HAVE ABOUT THAT EVEN BEFORE THE SEASON STARTED?“Yeah, this goes back since we were racing Trucks together that we had a great relationship. We worked very well together. It was fun working together and we learned, and he progressed a ton. And then he had different crew chiefs through the way, and he’s always asked that he wanted me on the team. We just had to wait for the right time. And, this was the right time, so it worked out and it was proven to be the right time. So, it’s everybody at Hendrick making that decision and then William and myself being patient and waiting for the time to make the change.” DOES THE TEN-WEEK STRETCH OF TOP 10’S PUT ANY PRESSURE ON THE TEAM WHILE PREPARING? OR DOES THE TEAM NOT PAY ANY ATTENTION TO IT AND JUST DOES ITS BEST?“Well, we know it’s there. We think, at Hendrick Motorsports, that we should be achieving Top 10’s every week. It’s definitely what we’re shooting for no matter what. Every single week, no matter where we go, we think we should finish in the Top 10. So, there’s not really much extra pressure. That’s the pressure of working at Hendrick Motorsports. That makes it a little bit easier. But everybody is just digging hard and trying to do their job and execute. And then, we talk about it afterwards that we’re proud and that’s what’s going on and then, Monday comes around and it’s time to start over again.” |
JOHN FORCE AND PEAK / BLUEDEF CONTINUE TO BUILD TOWARDSVICTORY ENTERING NHRA FOUR-WIDE NATIONALS AT ZMAX DRAGWAY
| CONCORD, N.C. (May 12, 2021) – It’s been a steady climb to start the season for 16-time world champion John Force and his PEAK / BlueDEF PALTINUM Chevrolet Camaro SS team. Entering the NGK NTK NHRA Four-Wide Nationals, the fourth event on the Camping World Drag Racing Series schedule, Force is fourth in points, just two out from the top three, and poised for his first victory of the 2021 season. Opening the season at the Gatornationals, Force was qualified in the fifth position and raced his way to the quarterfinals where teammate Robert Hight would end his weekend. At the first four-wide event of 2021 at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Force would qualify No. 2 only behind Hight. At the final NHRA Southern Nationals to be held at Atlanta Dragway, Force and his PEAK / BlueDEF team would make their 257th final round appearance. After qualifying only 11th, Force would battle his way past Cruz Pedregon, Ron Capps and J.R. Todd before finishing runner-up to Bob Tasca III in his 15th final round appearance at the facility. “I’m proud of this team, of Daniel Hood and Tim Fabrisi. They’ve really got this PEAK / BlueDEF PLATINUM Chevy figured out,” Force said. “Because they have it figured out, now I have to do my job. I’ve got to keep working to stay in this game, keep improving. We all keep doing our jobs right we’re going to be looking pretty good the rest of the season, starting in Charlotte and zMAX Dragway, another beautiful Bruton Smith facility.” Looking for his 152nd NHRA national event win, Force heads to zMAX Dragway with the inaugural four-wide win in 2010 under his belt. Force raced to the final quad in both 2018 and 2019, the last two years the race was ran, and in 2018 had the runner-up finish. Force also runnered-up in 2014 to Hight. In fact, in the 10 years the Four-Wide Nationals have been competed at zMAX, Force has been in the final quad five times. “I won the inaugural Four-Wide in Charlotte, against my daughter Ashley. All of John Force Racing has done pretty well in North Carolina,” Force said. “This PEAK team with Chevrolet and Cornwell Tools and all my sponsors, we’re going to go out there and keep that up, qualify and win some rounds, hopefully take home the Wally. That’s the goal, the whole point, win some races for the sponsors that have stuck by me.” Qualifying at the NGK NTK NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway begins Friday night with header flames being lit at 7:45 p.m. Saturday will consist of two qualifying runs at 2 and 5:30 p.m. ET. Eliminations begin Sunday at noon. For television coverage tune into FOX Sports 1 (FS1) Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 11:30 a.m. ET for qualifying action. Eliminations will air at 6 p.m. ET on Sunday on FS1. |
ROBERT HIGHT AND AUTO CLUB LOOKING TO DOMINATE ZMAX DRAGWAY ONCE AGAIN AT NHRA FOUR-WIDE NATIONALS
| CONCORD, N.C. (May 12, 2021) – Heading to North Carolina and zMAX Dragway for the NGK NTK NHRA Four-Wide Nationals May 14-16 couldn’t come at a better time for Robert Hight and the Automobile Club of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro SS team. If there was ever a track for Hight and Auto Club to overtake the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series, it would be zMAX Dragway. Hight, who has raced his entire 17-year career with Auto Club, has won more races at zMAX Dragway than any other pro driver, regardless of category, with two wins in the four-wide format (2012, 2014) and four at the fall race (2009, 2013, 2017, 2019). The six wins are the most he has at any track. Hight has also earned the No. 1 qualifying position three times (2010, 2012, 2019) all in the four-wide format. “We’re going to Charlotte with the mindset that we are the team to beat. I’ve had a lot of success at this track and I’m hoping that continues,” Hight said. “This Auto Club team, Jimmy Prock, Chris Cunningham, we’re proven we are going to be dangerous this year. We had some setbacks, some bad luck, but even still we have been competitive. I think the performance we have shown this season, in just three races, is a pretty good indication of what’s to come.” Currently sitting sixth in the points standings, Hight and the Auto Club Camaro have shown glimpses of brilliance. They opened the season with a runner-up finish at the Gatornationals and in Las Vegas, at the first four-wide event of the season, they were quickest each of the qualifying rounds and bettered themselves with low ET of the event during the first round of eliminations. At the NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway, they had a rare run-in with some misfortune to qualify 12th and have a first round exit. “It just wasn’t our weekend in Atlanta. It definitely didn’t reflect the work this Auto Club team has put in early this season,” Hight said. “Quickest every round, like we were in Vegas, that’s where we want to be and that’s where we’re going to get used to being. This Auto Club team is ready for Charlotte, ready to go some rounds, get another win and set our pace for the rest of the season.” Qualifying at the NGK NTK NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway begins Friday night with header flames being lit at 7:45 p.m. Saturday will consist of two qualifying runs at 2 and 5:30 p.m. ET. Eliminations begin Sunday at noon. For television coverage tune into FOX Sports 1 (FS1) Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 11:30 a.m. ET for qualifying action. Eliminations will air at 6 p.m. ET on Sunday on FS1. |
BRITTANY FORCE AND FLAV-R-PAC READY TO CAPITALIZE ON CONSISTENCY AT ZMAX DRAGWAY FOUR-WIDE NATIONALS
| CONCORD, N.C. (May 12, 2021) – There has been no doubt that Brittany Force and her Flav-R-Pac team have emerged dominant after a year’s long absence from the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series. Since pre-season testing, the 2017 championship team have yet to let up, continually improving their performance and most recently making a jump in points to enter the NGK NTK NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway May 14-16 sitting fifth in the standings, just six points out of the top four. Led by crew chiefs David Grubnic and Mac Savage, Force and her team opened the season at the Gatornationals earning top speed of the event in the first round of eliminations at 331.94 mph. At the Vegas Four-Wide Nationals, Force tallied the 21st No. 1 qualifying position of her career and ended the weekend with the top speed and low elapsed time when she ran 3.722-seconds at 330.80 mph to open eliminations. At the most recent event at Atlanta Dragway, the NHRA Southern Nationals, Force qualified No. 5 and laced together three solid runs for a semifinal finish. “We’re coming off three races and I feel like this Flav-R-Pac / Monster Energy team is off to a good start. But we need to step up our game,” Force said. “We’re looking for more if we want to win a championship. At the final race in Atlanta we were No. 5, went to the semis and made a big jump from 10th to fifth in points, which was good, but, again, we want more.” As they chase their first win of the season, Force and her Flav-R-Pac team have history on their side at zMAX Dragway. Force was the first woman in either of the nitro categories to win a four-wide race when she prevailed in 2016 over Antron Brown. To this day she is only one of two women (along with Erica Enders) to have won a four-wide race. In 2018, when she was the No. 1 qualifier, she just missed becoming the 15th driver to win both Charlotte races when she was runner-up to Steve Torrence at the fall race in 2018. “I’m anxious to get to Charlotte Four-Wide. We’ve had success there back in 2016,” said Force. “Four-wide is tricky, but we’ve gotten the job done before and we can do it again this weekend. We’re looking to go rounds, win and move up in points to get closer to that championship.” Qualifying at the NGK NTK NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway begins Friday night with header flames being lit at 7:45 p.m. Saturday will consist of two qualifying runs at 2 and 5:30 p.m. ET. Eliminations begin Sunday at noon. For television coverage tune into FOX Sports 1 (FS1) Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 11:30 a.m. ET for qualifying action. Eliminations will air at 6 p.m. ET on Sunday on FS1. |
KNOXVILLE’S CALLING
| Brownells Big Guns Bash is Next Month on June 11-12Outlaws Get Two Nights in Iowa in Preparation for 60th Knoxville Nationals in AugustKNOXVILLE, IA – May 11, 2021 – When the Sprint Car Capital of the World calls, you always answer.Next month, on Friday & Saturday, June 11-12, the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars will answer that call with their first visit of the 2021 season to the famed Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, IA.The fifth annual Brownells Big Guns Bash brings The Greatest Show on Dirt to the 1/2-mile oval for back-to-back summer nights to take on the stout weekly crowd of racers. For the Outlaws, it’ll be their only chance to get laps before returning on August 11-14 for the 60th running of the NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals pres. by Casey’s General Stores.BUY TICKETS (6/11-12)Created in 2017, the Brownells Big Guns Bash flipped the script from a single-night showdown to a two-day affair at Knoxville. Over those eight events since then, five different winners have found victory lane and carried that momentum to success when the $150,000 paydays arises at the Nationals in August.Of all active drivers, it’s the last three Knoxville Nationals champions that stick out the most even in June at the 1/2-mile.Donny Schatz, a 10-time Knoxville Nationals champion, owns a pair of Brownells Big Guns Bash wins in 2017 and 2018. Brad Sweet, who broke through for his first Nationals crown in 2018, also has a pair of June triumphs in 2017 and 2019. Also on that list is David Gravel, the reigning champion of the 59th Knoxville Nationals, who claimed a June win back in 2018.All told, Schatz, Sweet & Gravel each have five podium finishes over the last eight events.”It’s hard to even put a track like Knoxville into words,” Sweet said on how special the track is to him. “It’s the Mecca of our sport, the Knoxville Nationals is our most iconic race of every season. Going there in June has become a big deal for translating results to August. In order to perform well when the money is on the line, you really have to dial yourself in during those two nights in June. It’s a really important weekend to build momentum ahead of all the big races in summer.”Knoxville’s group of weekly racers will get their biggest test of the season when the Outlaws come to town. Through three events thus far, Davey Heskin of St. Michael, MN, Lynton Jeffrey of Sydney, NSW, AUS, Terry McCarl of Altoona, IA, and Sawyer Phillips of Pleasantville, IA are the only drivers with a top-10 finish in each outing.Victories this season have gone to Jeffrey, Austin McCarl, and Sheldon Haudenschild, who made a last-minute decision in April to haul from Tulsa, OK to Knoxville, IA when the Outlaws rained out at Lawton and Devil’s Bowl. Haudenschild’s win came with an incredible last-lap pass over Giovanni Scelzi to score his first-career victory at Knoxville.It was an accomplishment that gives the Stenhouse Jr. Marshall Racing, NOS Energy Drink #17 tons of momentum heading into the Brownells Big Guns Bash next month.”It’s pretty crazy all within the last month I’ve won at Knoxville and now Eldora for the first time,” Haudenschild noted on his progression. “This team we’ve got is really special. We’ve been improving time and time again at Knoxville, last time we finally put all the pieces together. Just having the experience of winning there makes me feel a lot more comfortable and excited to go back in June, and then of course for the Nationals.”Other notable Outlaws to watch at Knoxville include Carson Macedo, Logan Schuchart, Kraig Kinser, and James McFadden.Macedo, currently third in the points aboard the Jason Johnson Racing #41, is a former ASCS winner at the track and finished top-five in both June races last year. Schuchart, who’s been on a strong rebound in the Shark Racing #1S, has collected seven podium finishes in his last nine starts at Knoxville. Kinser is the 2005 Knoxville Nationals champion and McFadden is a multi-time 360 winner at the track.With one month and seven events still ahead before the Outlaws reach Knoxville, Brad Sweet continues to lead the standings in pursuit of his third consecutive Series championship aboard the Kasey Kahne Racing, NAPA Auto Parts #49.David Gravel, driver of the Big Game Motorsports #2, has risen into contention as Sweet’s closest challenger thanks to three wins – including a Bristol sweep – and 19 top-10 finishes through the first 20 events. He’s only 60 points back entering the first PA Posse swing of the season.Trailing Sweet and Gravel in the points is Macedo (-110), Haudenschild (-140), Reutzel (-150), Schatz (-160) and Schuchart (-178).Fans who can’t make it to the track can catch all of the action on DIRTVision with the annual Platinum FAST PASS subscription for $299/year or the monthly FAST PASS subscription for $39/month.Photo – Trent Gower |
| The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink® Sprint Car 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), NOS Energy (Official Energy Product), SIS Insurance (Official Insurance Provider) and VP Racing Fuels (Official Racing Fuel); contingency sponsors include ARP (Automotive Racing Products), Cometic Gasket, COMP Cams, KSE Racing Products (Hard Charger Award), MSD and Slick Woody’s (Quick Time Award); manufacturer sponsors include FireAde, Intercomp, K1 Race Gear, and Racing Electronics.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 all World of Outlaws events over the Internet to fans around the world. Learn more about the World of Outlaws. |
Dominic Scelzi Captures Podiums in California and South Dakota
Inside Line Promotions – BRANDON, S.D. (May 11, 2021) – Dominic Scelzi produced a pair of podium performances last weekend, securing a third-place finish in California while piloting his family car and a runner-up result in South Dakota during his first appearance with Lunstra Motorsports.Scelzi had originally planned on only racing on Friday at Ocean Speedway in Watsonville, Calif., where he had recorded a top-six result during each of two previous races this year. That trend continued Friday as he qualified ninth quickest before winning a heat race to make the dash. “We didn’t qualify very good, but we won the heat race and that put us in the dash,” he said. “We advanced from third to second and that started us on the front row of the feature. We got the jump and led the first half of the race. We got balled up in traffic and I struggled to get around cars as well as I needed to so we fell to second. We had a restart with about 10 laps to go and I got back by (Justin) Sanders for the lead, but I hit the cushion and he got back by me. I hit the cushion again and fell to third. I got back to second and caught Justin with three or four laps to go, but I got over the cushion again and fell to third. That’s where we finished. It was a back-and-forth race.”The third-place outing was Scelzi’s 12th top five of the season.Meanwhile an opportunity presented itself for Scelzi to fly to the Midwest for the Huset’s Speedway Mother’s Day Opener on Sunday.”It was a last-minute deal,” he said. “I got a call from Dave Lunstra at 5:30 on Thursday afternoon and we decided we were going to make it happen. We flew in there on Sunday and had all kinds of issues on the way. We barely made it in time. I got my pit pass and walked to the infield as the drivers meeting started.”The car felt great and we were third in hot laps, but we had a mishap in qualifying and ran out of fuel on the first lap so we weren’t able to get a true time. That was a bummer. We drove from seventh to fifth in the heat race and that started me 14th in the feature.”Scelzi and the team overcame the early woes by hustling from 14 th to second in the main event.”In the heat race when we did get clear we ran the fastest lap by two tenths so that gave me a lot of confidence entering the feature,” he said. “I was really happy with our speed. We made it to third with 10 laps to go. I didn’t want that late yellow. We were right there on top of first and second when the yellow came out as the leader got together with a car. That put me in second, but I felt like we had a better shot to win in traffic. Austin (McCarl) got a better restart than us and we ran second. I’m not upset with that finish though as we ran second from 14th in a car we hadn’t been in before.”Huset’s is one of my favorite tracks and it’s a place I really want to win at. I want to thank Dave Lunstra and the Lunstra Family for allowing me to race and Mark Dobmeier and his team for allowing us to borrow an engine. Jimmy Carr flew back there on Saturday and put everything together. There’s a lot of people who worked hard to make it happen so I’m grateful to all of them. Hopefully we can do it again.”Scelzi will be back with his family team this weekend during the Peter Murphy Classic, which runs Friday at Keller Auto Speedway in Hanford, Calif., and Saturday at Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, Calif.QUICK RESULTS –May 7 – Ocean Speedway in Watsonville, Calif. – Qualifying: 9; Heat race: 1 (2); Dash: 2 (3); Feature: 3 (2).May 9 – Huset’s Speedway in Brandon, S.D. – Qualifying: 19; Heat race: 5 (7); Feature: 2 (14).SEASON STATS –18 races, 5 wins, 13 top fives, 17 top 10s, 17 top 15s, 17 top 20sUP NEXT –Friday at Keller Auto Speedway in Hanford, Calif., and Saturday at Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, Calif., during the Peter Murphy Classic with the King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Series and Spr |
2021 Mid-Engine Corvette Stingray Convertible To Lead Field to Green Flag
| of 105th Indianapolis 500 Presented by GainbridgeThis is 18th time a Chevrolet Corvette has paced ‘The Greatest Spectacle in Racing’ INDIANAPOLIS (Tuesday, May 11, 2021) – The 2021 mid-engine Chevrolet Corvette Stingray hardtop convertible will lead the 33-car field to the green flag for the 105th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge on May 30, 2021. The Arctic White Stingray will be the first convertible since 2008 to pace the iconic race. Chevrolet and Corvette have led the starting field more than any other manufacturer and nameplate, respectively. The 2021 race marks the 32nd time for Chevrolet to pace dating back to 1948, and the 18th time since 1978 for America’s favorite sports car. “The Chevrolet team is privileged every time we’re invited to pace the Indianapolis 500,” said Steve Majoros, vice president of Chevrolet Marketing. “We are confident the track-capable Corvette Stingray Convertible will catch every race fan’s eye as it leads the pack toward the Yard of Bricks. From the color scheme, to the special race weekend decals and how the safety lighting is skillfully integrated into the nacelles of the hard-top convertible Corvette’s revolutionary appearance, we’re putting Chevrolet’s best on display for the fans.” The exterior and interior of the Corvette Convertible will be on full display as the car fulfills responsibilities on and off track. Sky Cool Gray and Strike Yellow upholstery selected for the cabin influenced the racy exterior appearance of the pace car. A close look at the car reveals Indianapolis 500 logos adapted specifically for pace car use, an exclusive stripe package, unique Stingray decals and more. For racers, highly visible safety lighting on the pace car is a top priority. Corvette designers prioritized form and function by incorporating four lights into each of the tonneau cover nacelles, in addition to strobe lights in the headlights, front louvers and taillights. This maintains the Corvette Convertible’s signature silhouette and eliminates need for a traditional lightbar. “The 2021 Corvette Stingray hardtop convertible is such a world-class performance car that’s a perfect match to lead the talented field of 33 drivers to the green flag in ‘The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,’” Indianapolis Motor Speedway President J. Douglas Boles said. “We continue to be grateful for our strong, enduring partnership with Chevrolet and its many contributions to the success of our events and the exciting appeal of competition at the Racing Capital of the World.” The mid-engine 2021 Corvette Stingray was engineered first and foremost as a convertible. The convertible maintains the tunnel-dominant structure and use of high-integrity die-cast parts found in the Stingray coupe. Like the coupe, the Stingray convertible’s design was inspired by fighter jets. The tonneau cover features aerodynamically shaped nacelles influenced by the housing used for jet engines. The nacelles, which were also used as inspiration on the Chevrolet Engineering Research Vehicle (CERV) I and II, as well as the Corvette SS and SR2 concepts, help reduce air recirculation into the cabin and provide a remarkably exotic profile with the top up or down. The tonneau also provides a rear power-adjustable window and a vent for mid-engine cooling. The 2021 Corvette Stingray convertible is powered by the next-generation 6.2L Small Block V-8 LT2 engine, the only naturally aspirated V-8 in the segment. It will produce 495 horsepower (369 kW) and 470 lb-ft (637 Nm) of torque when equipped with performance exhaust — the most horsepower and torque for any entry Corvette. The LT2 is paired with Chevrolet’s first eight-speed dual-clutch transmission, which provides lightning-fast shifts and excellent power transfer. This transmission is uniquely designed to provide the best of both worlds: the spirited, directly connected feeling of a manual and the premium driving comfort of an automatic. The double-paddle de-clutch feature even allows the driver to disconnect the clutch by holding both paddles for more manual control. When combined, the advanced propulsion system, revised chassis tuning and retractable hardtop make the Stingray the most no-compromise Corvette convertible in history. Chevrolet has a storied history at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Chevrolet was founded in 1911, the year of the inaugural 500-mile race. Company co-founder and namesake Louis Chevrolet, along with brothers Arthur and Gaston, competed in early Indy 500s. Arthur competed in the 1911 race and Gaston won in 1920. Nine drivers with Chevrolet engines have combined to win “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” 11 times, with Rick Mears, Emerson Fittipaldi, Arie Luyendyk, Al Unser Jr., Helio Castroneves, Tony Kanaan, Juan Pablo Montoya, Will Power and, most recently, Simon Pagenaud in 2019. Team Chevy also has won the NTT INDYCAR SERIES manufacturer championship six times since 2012. Visit IMS.com for more information about this year’s schedule. The race will be televised live on NBC for the third consecutive year, with the pre-race show starting at 11 a.m. The INDYCAR Radio Network will provide live coverage of the race to its affiliates and on Sirius 211, XM 205, indycar.com and the INDYCAR Mobile App powered by NTT DATA. Additional photos available here: https://stevefecht.photoshelter.com/gallery/20210511-Mid-Engine-Chevrolet-Corvette-2021-Indianapolis-500-Pace-Car/G0000A0vMciLZ6y4Password: Corvette About Indianapolis Motor Speedway The Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the world’s largest spectator sporting facility, has been the worldwide leader in motorsports entertainment since opening in 1909. IMS is hosting the 105th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge on Sunday, May 30, the world’s most prestigious auto race. The Month of May will start Saturday, May 15 with the GMR Grand Prix for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES on the IMS road course. The Speedway also will host the stars of the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series and NTT INDYCAR SERIES on the same weekend Aug. 13-15 for three exciting races on the road course, including the first Cup Series race on the circuit Sunday, Aug. 15. IMS also will welcome the competitors of the Intercontinental GT Challenge Powered by Pirelli/GT Challenge World Challenge America and the ground-breaking Indy Autonomous Challenge on separate event weekends in October 2021. IMS, the NTT INDYCAR SERIES and IMS Productions are owned by Penske Corporation, a global transportation, automotive and motorsports leader. To purchase tickets or for more information, please visit ims.com. |
WHAT TO WATCH FOR: Next Chapter of PA Posse vs. Outlaws is This Weekend
| The Battle Begins at Lincoln (Wednesday) and Williams Grove (Friday-Saturday)ABBOTTSTOWN, PA – May 10, 2021 – The PA Posse vs. The World of Outlaws. Simply put, it’s the single greatest rivalry in Sprint Car Racing.These two factions have been at each others throats since the inception of Ted Johnson’s traveling tour in 1978, and here we are four decades later with the battle still as epic as ever. When the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series visits central Pennsylvania, you won’t find a more passionate crowd.It’s a rivalry that pits arguably the best local hot bed of racing against the best touring drivers in the nation.This weekend, we kickstart the 2021 edition at Lincoln Speedway in Wednesday’s Gettysburg Clash, followed by a Friday & Saturday double at Williams Grove Speedway for the Morgan Cup.LINCOLN TICKETS (5/12) WILLIAMS GROVE TICKETS (5/14) WILLIAMS GROVE TICKETS (5/15)There’s a plethora of storylines to follow. Here’s some of the most noteworthy to watch:THE TRACKS: Wednesday’s midweek stop marks the first of a scheduled 11 meets in Pennsylvania this year for the World of Outlaws. The Greatest Show on Dirt will tackle the 3/8-mile, semi-banked oval in Abbottstown, PA before heading to Mechanicsburg, PA on Friday and Saturday. Capping the weekend will be two nights at Williams Grove, an iconic 1/2-mile notorious for long straightaways and tight corners.POSSE WANTS REVENGE: The 2020 season was one to forget for the PA Posse. For the first time since 2008, they went winless in World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series competition. They lost at Lincoln, they lost four shows at Williams Grove, and another two at Port Royal. It’s a memory that only fuels their desire to stop the Outlaws this week.In fact, it’s been almost two complete years since a central Pennsylvania Posse member beat the Outlaws. The last occurrence being Lance Dewease’s May 20189 triumph at Williams Grove.THE POSSE’S FINEST: Among the strongest possibilities to beat the Outlaws for the PA Posse this weekend are Lance Dewease of Fayetteville, PA, Danny Dietrich of Gettysburg, PA, Freddie Rahmer of Salfordville, PA, Anthony Macri of Dillsburg, PA, Brent Marks of Myerstown, PA. All five are winners at both Lincoln and Williams Grove, and four of the five are Outlaw winners minus Macri.Their win totals at each track are… Dewease (99 WG / 42 LS); Dietrich (55 LS / 25 WG); Rahmer (15 LS / 14 WG); Marks (10 WG / 8 LS); and Macri (3 LS / 1 WG).Additional names to watch include Tim Shaffer, Alan Krimes, Chase Dietz, TJ Stutts, Tim Wagaman, Kyle Moody, Chad Trout, Billy Dietrich, Jim Siegel, Dylan Cisney, Tyler Ross, Matt Campbell, and a whole host of others.GRAVEL’S CLIMB: We’ve made it through 20 events this season and David Gravel has 19 top-10 finishes. He also has six Slick Woody’s QuickTimes, nine Team Drydene Heat Wins, and 13 DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash appearances – he’s the leader in all of those categories. Entering this week, he’s second in the championship standings and cutting away at Sweet’s 60-point advantage.The Watertown, CT driver brings his Big Game Motorsports #2 crew to two tracks he’s comfortable at. He’s an eight-time winner at Williams Grove with two National Open titles and he’s got two Lincoln Speedway triumphs. They’ve been hot on the half-miles lately, sweeping Bristol Motor Speedway and running well at Eldora Speedway.ICON VS. ICON: Depending on how Wednesday’s show at Lincoln goes, we could enter the Morgan Cup at Williams Grove with a pair of historic accomplishments on the line for two different legends: Donny Schatz and Lance Dewease.For Schatz, he’s chasing his 300th career World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series win. The Fargo, ND native has been close a handful of times this season, leading 66 laps aboard his Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing #15, but falling short on notable occasions at Volusia, I-55, and last week at Eldora. Williams Grove is welcomed site for the 10-time Series champion, as he won his most recent 299th race at the track during last year’s $75,000-to-win National Open in October.For Dewease, the 55-year-old legend is pursuing his milestone 100th career victory at the Williams Grove Speedway. At 99 wins right now, he’s already the winningest Sprint Car driver in track history, but boy would #100 be extra special coming against the Outlaws, who has beaten 17 times in his career.SWEET’S STRUGGLES: After winning eight of the first 18 races with only one finish outside the top-10, Brad Sweet was due for something to go south. Unfortunately, that finally happened this weekend at Eldora as he recorded finished of 11th and 14th. It’s only the second time in three seasons (since he started winning championships) that such an occasion of back-to-back runs outside the top-10 has occurred for the Kasey Kahne Racing, NAPA Auto Parts #49.To overcome the bad weekend and get back on track, The Big Cat will have to thrive at two tracks he has never won at before. The Grass Valley, CA native has three top-five finishes in 11 starts at Lincon to go along with six top-five runs in 44 starts at Williams Grove.BACK-TO-BACK: Sheldon Haudenschild just checked off one of the biggest “firsts” of his career, might as well follow with another, right? On Saturday, the Wooster, OH native scored his first-career victory at Eldora Speedway in spectacular fashion by stunning Donny Schatz at the white flag for his 17th career World of Outlaws win.On Wednesday, the Series returns to Lincoln Speedway, where Lil Haud was the victor one year ago. Another triumph aboard the NOS Energy Drink, Stenhouse Jr. Marshall Racing #17 would give him the first back-to-back wins of his career. When it comes to the weekend, he’ll be aiming for his first-career victory at Williams Grove Speedway, where his career-best is a second-place finish from 2019.HOME TURF: Three full-time World of Outlaws drivers will be on home turf this week as the Series heads to The Keystone State for the first time in 2021. Hanover, PA’s Logan Schuchart & Jacob Allen grew up just down the road from Lincoln Speedway, while Jonestown, PA’s Brock Zearfoss hails from less than an hour away from Williams Grove Speedway.Schuchart’s Drydene #1S brings in momentum from an impressive 21st-to-2nd charge at Eldora Speedway last weekend. He’s trying to add his second World of Outlaws win in his home state, first since Port Royal Speedway in 2016. For Allen, he snagged his first top-five finish of the year at Eldora in his Drydene #1A. TheDIETRICH’S PROMISE: Five-time World of Outlaws winner and successful PA Posse star Danny Dietrich delivered the first blow in this week’s rivalry, promising a loss for the Outlaws in at least one of three events. It’s a statement that DD himself can comfortably make, considering the fact that he’s a multi-time Outlaw winner at both tracks.His first two career wins against the Series came at Lincoln Speedway in 2012 and 2013, and he’s stopped them twice at Williams Grove in 2015 and 2016, which was his first-ever National Open title. We’ll find out this week whether Dietrich’s promise comes true or not.This Week at a Glance – When and WhereWednesday, May 12 at Lincoln Speedway in Abbottstown, PA Friday-Saturday, May 14-15 at Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, PAOn 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/monthAround the Turn: Following this weekend, the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series will head back to Ohio for a weekend at Attica Raceway Park on Friday, May 21 and Sharon Speedway on Saturday, May 22.NOS ENERGY DRINK FEATURE WINNERS (8 Drivers): 8 wins – Brad Sweet, Kasey Kahne Racing w/ Mike Curb #49 3 wins – David Gravel, Big Game Motorsports #2 3 wins – Sheldon Haudenschild, Stenhouse Jr. Marshall Racing #17 2 wins – Carson Macedo, Jason Johnson Racing #41 1 win – Logan Schuchart, Shark Racing #1S 1 win – Aaron Reutzel, Roth Motorsports #83 1 win – James McFadden, Kasey Kahne Racing w/ Mike Curb #9 1 win – Brent Marks, Brent Marks Racing #19MFEATURE LAPS LED (16 Drivers): 194 laps – Brad Sweet 90 laps – Sheldon Haudenschild 76 laps – David Gravel 66 laps – Donny Schatz 51 laps – Aaron Reutzel 49 laps – Logan Schuchart 31 laps – James McFadden 27 laps – Sam Hafertepe Jr. 19 laps – Tyler Courtney 13 laps – Brent Marks 11 laps – Carson Macedo 10 laps – Jacob Allen & Brock Zearfoss 3 laps – Ian Madsen 1 lap – Kasey Kahne & Kraig KinserSLICK WOODY’S QUICKTIME AWARDS (9 Drivers): 6 QuickTimes – David Gravel 3 QuickTimes – Sheldon Haudenschild 2 QuickTimes – Brad Sweet, James McFadden, Cory Eliason, Sam Hafertepe Jr. 1 QuickTimes – Aaron Reutzel, Logan Schuchart, Danny DietrichDRYDENE HEAT RACE WINNERS (21 Drivers) 9 Heat Wins – David Gravel 7 Heat Wins – Carson Macedo 6 Heat Wins – Aaron Reutzel, Sheldon Haudenschild 4 Heat Wins – Logan Schuchart, Donny Schatz 3 Heat Wins – Brock Zearfoss, James McFadden, Ian Madsen, Brian Brown, Sam Hafertepe Jr. 2 Heat Wins – Jacob Allen, Brock Zearfoss, Kasey Kahne, Kraig Kinser, Jason Sides 1 Heat Win – Brad Sweet, Gio Scelzi, Danny Dietrich, Hunter Schuerenberg, Kyle LarsonPODIUM FINISHES (17 Drivers): 13 Podiums – Brad Sweet 6 Podiums – Sheldon Haudenschild, Donny Schatz 5 Podiums – David Gravel, Carson Macedo, Logan Schuchart, Aaron Reutzel 3 Podiums – James McFadden 2 Podiums – Cory Eliason, Gio Scelzi, Brent Marks 1 Podium – Kraig Kinser, Danny Dietrich, Tyler Courtney, Justin Peck, Brian Brown, Sam Hafertepe Jr.2021 World of Outlaws Sprint Car Schedule & WinnersNo. / 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)Photo – Trent Gower |
| The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink® Sprint Car 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), NOS Energy (Official Energy Product), SIS Insurance (Official Insurance Provider) and VP Racing Fuels (Official Racing Fuel); contingency sponsors include ARP (Automotive Racing Products), Cometic Gasket, COMP Cams, KSE Racing Products (Hard Charger Award), MSD and Slick Woody’s (Quick Time Award); manufacturer sponsors include FireAde, Intercomp, K1 Race Gear, and Racing Electronics.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 all World of Outlaws events over the Internet to fans around the world. Learn more about the World of Outlaws. |
cruz pedregon–charlotte advance
NHRA® Team Report
NHRA Four-Wide Nationals – Charlotte
Pre-Race Report
Winning the Charlotte Four-Wide is both a goal and fresh memory for Cruz after taking home the Wally from the zMax four-wide meet just three years ago. Now it’s time for the Snap-on Makers & Fixers Dodge® to showcase all the work Cruz, Crew Chief John Collins, and the team have put into the car this year.
“The Snap-on Dodge is becoming more consistent in getting down the track. Race day in Atlanta was the exception to that when we had a cylinder out at the step. We’ve identified the cause, replaced the wiring that caused the issue, and are confident we’re in a position where that won’t happen again,” says Cruz. “I think we’re right in the mix. We just need to get rid of some of these little issues and, performance-wise, we’re right there. So, we’ve spent the past couple of weeks super-focused on preparing for the race ahead and we’re ready to win in Charlotte again this year.”
When Cruz captured the Funny Car class at the 2018 Four-Wide Nationals in Charlotte, his was the first independent team to win the category since 2016. He calls the win one of the “sweetest” of his career.
DiBenedetto Finishes 19th at Darlington
May 9, 2021  After three straight top-10 finishes, Matt DiBenedetto and the Menards/Dutch Boy team struggled to a 19th place finish in Sunday’s Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway.DiBenedetto started eighth, and moved up to sixth place in the early going. He maintained that spot until a caution flag flew at Lap 23. From that point on the track Too Tough to Tame lived up to its reputation for the Menards/Dutch Boy team. The No. 21 Mustang was an ill-handling beast for the remainder of the day. DiBenedetto finished 12th in the first Stage and was 17th, one lap down, at the end of the second Stage. With no caution periods in the third and final segment of the race, there were few opportunities for the Menards/Dutch Boy team to make major chassis adjustments, and DiBenedetto crossed the finish line three laps in arrears. “We were just way off, unfortunately,” DiBenedetto said. “We missed the set-up on our Menards/Dutch Boy Mustang and had to keep it clean and just survive the race with what we had. “It was a tough day.” Despite the disappointment, DiBenedetto lost just one position in the points standings to 17th, but remains tied in points with 16th place Tyler Reddick, who holds the tie-breaker of best finish this season.  Len Wood said that while the race didn’t play out as he’d hoped, the pre-race festivities did. His uncle Leonard Wood displayed for fans in attendance and for a TV audience his hand-built miniature 427-cubic-inch Ford engine. Then on the pace laps, the NASCAR Hall of Famer made three circuits at the wheel of the team’s 1971 Mercury made famous by the late David Pearson.After that, Len and Eddie Wood were able to visit old friends they hadn’t seen since the start of the pandemic, folks like fellow team owners Jack Roush and Joe Gibbs, and Goodyear’s Stu Grant. “We haven’t seen them in 14 months,” Len Wood said. DiBenedetto and the Wood Brothers team now head to Dover International Speedway for next Sunday’s Drydene 400. |
RCR Post Race Report – Goodyear 400
Austin Dillon and the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops / TRACKER Off Road Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE Team Stick With It All Day at Darlington Raceway  16th 9th 12th“It was fun to work with Bass Pro Shops to pay tribute to NASCAR Hall of Famer Fireball Roberts for this weekend’s NASCAR Throwback race at Darlington Raceway. I just hate that we couldn’t get them into Victory Lane. We started off loose and lost track position late in Stage 1. We put together a really solid run from start to finish in Stage 2, even though we were still trying to fine-tune the handling of our Chevy. Overall, we were just a little too late on the car adjustments and didn’t get the cautions we needed to get back on the lead lap. The entire No. 3 Richard Childress Racing team did a nice job sticking with it all day, but we’ll go back to the drawing board for next time we race at Darlington Raceway. We’ll go get them at Dover International Speedway next week.”-Austin Dillon Tyler Reddick and No. 8 Joe Nichols / Quartz Hill Records Chevy Team Secure Valuable Stage Points with Strong Run at Darlington Raceway  12th10th16th“Our No. 8 Joe Nichols / Quartz Hill Records Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE not only looked good for NASCAR’s Throwback weekend, but was also really fast today at Darlington Raceway. I fired off way too loose and lacked rear grip pretty much from the start of the day, but we were able to capitalize on a strong starting spot to gain valuable stage points in Stages 1 and 2. This is the second week in a row we’ve scored a lot of stage points, and those have been key to helping climb up through the standings. Once the sun started to set, the handling of my Chevy changed dramatically. It was tough to be able to move around and search for different lines at times, especially when I would get snug on one end of the track and loose on the other. We kept working at it, and I felt like we were decent on handling at the end of the race, but we just lacked some speed. I wish we could have got back in the top 10 and grab the finish we deserved, but it looks like out right-front shock broke at some point in the race. The important thing is we’re moving in the right direction in the standings. I really enjoyed throwing it back to Marty Robbins and his iconic pink and yellow machine today with the help of Joe Nichols and Quartz Hill, and I hope all the fans enjoyed it too.”-Tyler Reddick |
DAIRYLAND DUEL
| : Madden Holds on for $22,500 Victory“Smokey” wins his 30th Career World of Outlaws FeatureFOUNTAIN CITY, WI – May 8, 2021 – The Dairyland Showdown at Mississippi Thunder Speedway lived up to its billing. After 60 laps of slide jobs, crossovers, and battles through traffic, it was Chris Madden who stood tall in Victory Lane Saturday. The Gray Court, SC driver took the lead from three-time and defending champion Brandon Sheppard early, en route to his second win of 2021. It’s also Madden’s 30th career World of Outlaws victory. Even though Madden led most of the race, he didn’t have much time to breathe. “Smokey” was challenged from start-to-finish in the 60-lap Feature. After he dealt with Sheppard, it was Rookie of the Year contender Ryan Gustin who tried to steal the top spot toward the end. Madden knew he was in for a battle when he saw the Marshalltown, IA driver move into second. “I watched [Gustin] go around here all weekend, and that boy’s tough,” Madden said. “When he got into second, I said boy, you better get your elbows up and give it all you got.” A couple of late restarts kept Gustin on Madden’s back bumper, but “The Reaper” didn’t have enough to get by. Madden used his experience to make sure he saw the checkered flag first. “I just had to make sure I hit my marks, and not slip my wheels when I didn’t need to,” Madden said. “I just had to do the best I could do, and if they beat me, they beat me.” While Gustin settled for second –his best World of Outlaws finish – the rookie was still happy with his performance at a place he’s familiar with. “I love [Mississippi Thunder Speedway], it’s my favorite racetrack in the country,” Gustin said. “It’s huge to know you can actually run up front and be a contender, and it feels really good. Hopefully this is the upside of things.” Brandon Sheppard and Kyle Strickler were locked in an exciting battle for most of the race. The “High Side Tickler” attempted multiple slide jobs on Sheppard, but the “Rocket Shepp” powered underneath him to get the position back each time. While he managed to cross the line in third ahead of Strickler, the New Berlin, IL driver wasn’t happy with Strickler after the race. “The eight car couldn’t pass me without hitting me, I don’t know what his problem is,” Sheppard said. Strickler had a different view of what happened. “I don’t think we touched, but I need to run over him because I feel like I’m giving him too much room, and being too nice to him,” Strickler said. “There was times I was clear and needed to commit to the slider. “It doesn’t matter who he his or who he drives for. He puts his pants on the same way I do, so I’m going to go out there and run as hard as we can.” Strickler’s fourth-place finish is his first top-five since February at DIRTcar Nationals. Tim McCreadie crossed the line fifth, rebounding from an early setback. T-Mac had to start last in his Drydene Heat Race, after his time was disallowed for not going to the scales after Qualifying. Sheppard leaves Mississippi Thunder Speedway with a 60 point lead over Madden in the standings. Strickler is third—120 points back. Tyler Bruening is fourth—146 points behind, and Ricky Weiss is fifth—156 points out of first. Up Next: The Most Powerful Late Models on the Planet visit Port Royal Speedway, May 21-22, for the Huey Wicoxon Memorial, and Billy Vacek Memorial. Morton Buildings Feature (60 Laps)-1. 44-Chris Madden [1][$22,500]; 2. 19R-Ryan Gustin [10][$10,000]; 3. 1-Brandon Sheppard [2][$5,000]; 4. 8-Kyle Strickler [4][$4,000]; 5. 39-Tim McCreadie [13][$3,500]; 6. 97-Cade Dillard [8][$3,000]; 7. 49-Jake Timm [5][$2,800]; 8. 16-Tyler Bruening [9][$2,700]; 9. 28M-Jimmy Mars [6][$2,600]; 10. B1-Brent Larson [19][$2,500]; 11. 18B-Shannon Babb [15][$2,000]; 12. 11-Gordy Gundaker [18][$1,800]; 13. 32S-Chris Simpson [12][$1,600]; 14. 7-Ricky Weiss [21][$1,500]; 15. 29-Spencer Diercks [16][$1,400]; 16. 10S-Taylor Scheffler [17][$1,300]; 17. 77-Jordan Yaggy [24][$1,200]; 18. 32-Bobby Pierce [3][$1,200]; 19. 99B-Boom Briggs [7][$1,200]; 20. 15-Nick Anvelink [22][$1,200]; 21. 74-Mitch McGrath [14][$1,200]; 22. 20-Rodney Sanders [11][$1,200]; 23. 90-Lance Matthees [25][$1,200]; 24. 25J-Jared Siefert [20][$1,200]; 25. 28-Dennis Erb [23][$1,200] Hard Charger: B1-Brent Larson[+9] Qualifying Flight-A –1. 32-Bobby Pierce, 13.613; 2. 28M-Jimmy Mars, 13.927; 3. 97-Cade Dillard, 13.935; 4. 44-Chris Madden, 14.045; 5. 16-Tyler Bruening, 14.072; 6. 18B-Shannon Babb, 14.088; 7. 7-Ricky Weiss, 14.091; 8. 20-Rodney Sanders, 14.117; 9. 10S-Taylor Scheffler, 14.171; 10. 25-Chad Simpson, 14.187; 11. B1-Brent Larson, 14.347; 12. 77-Jordan Yaggy, 14.442; 13. 55C-Chad Mahder, 14.501; 14. 99JR-Frank Heckenast, 14.513; 15. 43-Jeremy Grady, 14.559; 16. 28-Dennis Erb, 14.744; 17. 90-Lance Matthees, 14.85; 18. 10-Paul Parker, 14.882; DQ. 39-Tim McCreadie, 13.889Qualifying Flight-B-1. 1-Brandon Sheppard, 13.889; 2. 99B-Boom Briggs, 14.145; 3. 19R-Ryan Gustin, 14.169; 4. 8-Kyle Strickler, 14.282; 5. 74-Mitch McGrath, 14.323; 6. 32S-Chris Simpson, 14.355; 7. 49-Jake Timm, 14.402; 8. 76-Blair Nothdurft, 14.485; 9. 15-Nick Anvelink, 14.536; 10. 24-Brad Waits, 14.585; 11. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck, 14.612; 12. 29-Spencer Diercks, 14.667; 13. 25J-Jared Siefert, 14.672; 14. O4-Tad Pospisil, 14.721; 15. 11-Gordy Gundaker, 14.736; 16. 6M-Jeff Massingill, 14.824; 17. 3-Brett Swedberg, 15.041; 18. 10C-Chad Olsen, 15.063 |
| 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. |
chevy racing–nascar–darlington–post race
| NASCAR CUP SERIES DARLINGTON RACEWAY GOODYEAR 400TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES AND QUOTESMAY 9, 2021 TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:POS. DRIVER2nd KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM THROWBACK CAMARO ZL1 1LE4th WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 VALVOLINE THROWBACK CAMARO ZL1 1LE7th CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 HOOTERS THROWBACK CAMARO ZL1 1LE12th TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 QUARTZ HILL RECORDS CAMARO ZL1 1LE15th ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 42 MCDONALD’S CAMARO ZL1 1LE TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS: POS. DRIVER1st Martin Truex Jr. (Toyota)2nd Kyle Larson (Chevrolet)3rd Kyle Busch (Toyota)4th William Byron (Chevrolet) 5th Denny Hamlin (Toyota) The NASCAR Cup Series season continues next weekend at Dover International Speedway for the Drydene 400 on Sunday, May 16, at 2:00 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES AND QUOTES: KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM THROWBACK CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 2ndYOUR PIT CREW GOT IT DONE AND IT SEEMED LIKE YOU HAD EVERYTHING. YOU CLOSED ON MARTIN TRUEX, JR. (WINNER). WHAT DID YOU NEED IN THOSE CLOSING LAPS?“I was surprised that I was able to get to him. I caught him really; like, I closed on pit road and then I caught him pretty quickly once we were on track. I closed right in, and actually had an opportunity to get by him in the middle of (Turns) 1 and 2, but I thought I’d stay patient and maybe get him to use his stuff up. He was just a little bit better than I was in the long runs. So, just wish maybe I could have taken advantage of that opportunity, but thought it was going to play out a little differently.” “But it was a great day for our HendrickCars.com Chevy. It was fun to come here to Darlington with low downforce. During the day we were sliding around. I felt like we were not very good all day, but I passed a lot of cars and found myself towards the front. I was like well, I feel like I’m struggling but I fast. So, it was fun. Hats off to Martin Truex (Jr.) and his team. But yeah, it was a great day for our guys after a few bad weeks in a row. So, I’m happy about that and now we’ll look forward to Dover and hopefully we’ll be really good there.” WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 VALVOLINE THROWBACK CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 4th “I thought we were pretty solid all day. We fell back to eighth or ninth early in the race and we were just too loose. We didn’t really have the car fully connected yet, but we just got it better and better. The long runs were still kind of our weakness. We weren’t super strong on long runs; we were just kind of a fourth-place car. But to finish fourth is good for us. Tenth top-10 in a row is awesome. I think our team is just super consistent this year. That’s a credit to Rudy (Fugle, Crew Chief) and the guys preparing awesome cars and executing well. We just have to find that little bit to kind of get with the 5 (Kyle Larson) and the 19 (Martin Truex Jr.). We’re there at times, but we can’t really kind of break that seal, which is hard. We just have to continue to build the notebook. It’s Rudy and I’s first time going to these tracks, so I feel like there’s a lot of room to go still. But we’re doing great.” YOU’RE GETTING A LOT OF STAGE POINTS, TOO. SHOULD WE READ SOMETHING INTO THAT?“I think it just shows the strength of the car, our team, our communication, all those things. If you’re running fifteenth all day and you finish in the top-five, it might feel nice, but it doesn’t really show much points-wise, etc. I feel like for us to run where we finish all day is impressive and that’s what the good teams do, and I feel like we’re in that mix. We’re in that fourth to sixth range right now, so we just kind of have to break that seal to get into the top-two or three, which I think it’s pretty obvious which cars those are. We’re getting close.” CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 HOOTERS THROWBACK CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 7th“Tough day today. I got pretty loose on that last run and killed the right rear. During the beginning of the run, I was tight though. Not sure if I tried sliding the back too much or what. I just couldn’t figure it out.” TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 JOE NICHOLS/QUARTZ HILL RECORDS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 12th“Our No. 8 Joe Nichols / Quartz Hill Records Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE not only looked good for NASCAR’s Throwback weekend, but was also really fast today at Darlington Raceway. I fired off way too loose and lacked rear grip pretty much from the start of the day, but we were able to capitalize on a strong starting spot to gain valuable stage points in Stages 1 and 2. This is the second week in a row we’ve scored a lot of stage points, and those have been key to helping climb up through the standings. Once the sun started to set, the handling of my Chevy changed dramatically. It was tough to be able to move around and search for different lines at times, especially when I would get snug on one end of the track and loose on the other. We kept working at it, and I felt like we were decent on handling at the end of the race, but we just lacked some speed. I wish we could have got back in the top 10 to grab the finish we deserved, but we’ll at least take these stage points and move on to Dover. I really enjoyed throwing it back to Marty Robbins and his iconic pink and yellow machine today with the help of Joe Nichols and Quartz Hill, and I hope all the fans enjoyed it too.” ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 42 MCDONALD’S CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 15th“It was a good day for our No. 42 Throwback McDonald’s Chevy. I got trapped a lap down early in Stage 1 and never got it back. I missed two decisions on the choose cone; went in the wrong lane and gave the free pass to two other guys and never got it back the rest of the day. There were no more cautions to cycle us back to the free pass. 15th is okay, but we definitely had a faster car, our best car I believe, of the year. We’ll just keep moving along (with) more progress, more progress. I’m proud of this group. I hate that the No. 1 car (Kurt Busch) wrecked out early. We’re making progress, so it’s good stuff.” AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BASS PRO SHOPS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 16th“It was fun to work with Bass Pro Shops to pay tribute to NASCAR Hall of Famer Fireball Roberts for this weekend’s NASCAR Throwback race at Darlington Raceway. I just hate that we couldn’t get them into Victory Lane. We started off loose and lost track position late in Stage 1. We put together a really solid run from start to finish in Stage 2 even though we were still trying to fine-tune the handling of our Chevy. Overall, we were just a little too late on the car adjustments and didn’t get the cautions we needed to get back on the lead lap. The entire No. 3 Richard Childress Racing team did a nice job sticking with it all day, but we’ll go back to the drawing board for next time we race at Darlington Raceway. We’ll go get them at Dover International Speedway.” ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY THROWBACK CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 17th“Today was not our day. We were super tight all day and just couldn’t get the front tires in the track. We will move on to Dover.” ERIK JONES, NO. 43 STP CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 18th“We did not get the finish we wanted today with our Richard Petty Motorsports No. 43 STP Camaro ZL1 1LE. It was pretty decent. We had a good run early and lost the balance a little bit late, and then cut a tire and got in the fence. We came back and salvaged a decent day, so I am happy with that. It was the best run we have had in a few weeks, and it is something to build off of when we come back in the fall. Overall a decent day, but we can do a little bit better.” DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 CAMPING WORLD THROWBACK CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 23rd“It was a very, very difficult day. We have to regroup and try to see where we are a little wrong. We started the race extremely off. We made a few steps in the right direction and then we lost it again by the end. We have a lot of work to do. But we have very good people and have to regroup to try to see what we’re going to do.” KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 MONSTER ENERGY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Sidelined by damage sustained in an accident on lap 106; Finished 35th“I was racing hard and there’s no give and take. Guy’s running for the Lucky Dog; you can’t fault him for that. But you still have to race the track and the give the room to the lead lap guys. But man, just got ran into, got taken out and we’re on this end of it. It’s been too many times. It’s been a rough year and this just adds to it.” TELL US ABOUT THE RUN OUT THERE TODAY WITH THE LACK OF DOWNFORCE.“It’s a fun challenge. You just have to make sure you’re making the right adjustments to keep up with the track. But we flat out got run over. You still have to race the race track.” KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM THROWBACK CAMARO ZL1 1LE, PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT: THE MODERATOR: We are joined by Kyle Larson, our second-place finisher in today’s Goodyear 400. Q. I know a lot of people have talked about the 750 package coming back to Darlington. What was your assessment? Obviously you were running Truex down there for a bit towards the end. How much fun was it just wheeling these things and really racing the track as much as you were racing anybody else?KYLE LARSON: Yeah, it was fun. It definitely took a handful of laps to get used to. I was going down the straightaway and then everybody was lifting a lot sooner than I thought I needed to, and so I adjusted to them and backed my entry up and I felt like I got a little bit better loading into the corners then. And then the exit was sliding around a lot. A lot of fun. I don’t remember honestly how the high downforce was because I didn’t get to run here last year, but it was fun to be here during the day, my first daytime Cup race here, so it was cool to do that, and yeah, had a lot of fun slipping and sliding. Q. How tough was the heat compared to what you remember from the nighttime races here?KYLE LARSON: It wasn’t as bad as I thought. Maybe we just do a really good job with the cooling in our car, but I hardly broke a sweat, surprisingly. It wasn’t too bad for me. I don’t know how the other guys were. Q. Kyle, how does it feel to — you had a good little run going along and then Richmond, Talladega, Kansas kind of weren’t what you wanted. You guys seem to be back on the — how does it feel to get things back on the right track?KYLE LARSON: Yeah, it’s good. We definitely needed to get a good finish. I thought we were going to get one last week and I messed that up. Three bad weeks in a row, and to come back and contend for a win and finish second and get good stage points after speeding at the end of the first stage, too, yeah, it was a good day. Now we go to Dover, which is one of if not my best tracks. Excited about that, and Hendrick Motorsports has been pretty good at Dover from what I remember, too, so looking forward to getting there. Q. We’re about halfway through the regular season. How would you assess what you’ve been able to accomplish in the first half of the regular season?KYLE LARSON: Yeah, I mean, I think we’re top three. We’re one of the top three teams out there, so I’m happy with that. We’ve been really good to start the year and meshing very well as a team. Really enjoy working with cliff and everybody on the 5 car, and I think we’re just going to continue to grow. Our pit crew has been doing an awesome job. Everybody at the shop has been doing great. You look at all four of our teammates, with myself included, and we’ve been really good. Happy about it, and looking forward to building from where we’re at. Q. Before the final round of pit stops cliff was kind of preaching take care of your stuff, we’ll close the gap on the final round of pit stops. Was that hard to do when you can see Martin in front of you and want to get as close as you can, or were you able to kind of be patient there?KYLE LARSON: Yeah, I mean, it’s hard. I had already planned on — when we closed a bunch throughout the green flag cycle, that final one, and I could see that I was really close and noticed that I was gaining on him, I definitely had to tell myself to just calm myself. I wish I was. Even the whole last stage I felt like I did a good job for where I was at and who I was battling with to take care of my stuff. But yeah, when the leader is in front of you it is tougher to remind yourself. But in a way I maybe was too patient at one point. I got to his back bumper in 1 and 2 and I could see he was struggling in front of me, and I thought, well, if I am just patient here and stay behind him and put some pressure on him, maybe he’ll use his stuff up or get into the wall in 3 and 4 because he was running so close to it. So I was just hoping that he would make a mistake. Looking back if there was something I could do different I would have taken advantage of that opportunity and tried to get to his inside and maybe tried to clear him off of two and maybe block him in my dirty air the rest of the race. Q. The strength of today’s performance and going back to Dover next week, one of your good tracks and a Hendrick car, what’s your outlook on going back to Dover?KYLE LARSON: Yeah, I’m pumped to get there. I think it’s this aero package maybe, too. Yeah, Dover is just an awesome place, suits my style. Can move around quite a bit. It’s fast, aggressive, and I love it. Ready to get there, and hopefully be one spot better. Q. You talked about the runs that you’ve had and obviously the win, the top 5s, but how has it been able to come together so fast for you, your relationship with Cliff, coming to a new team? You’re 12 races in and you guys seem to be clicking on all cylinders. How has it come together so fast?KYLE LARSON: I just think I’ve got a great group of people around me throughout all of Hendrick Motorsports but especially on our 5 car. Their preparation is something that is pretty awesome to see, and I feel like I’m putting in a lot of work off the track, too, to get myself up to speed with no practice and things like that. Honestly probably no practice benefits me a little bit, just from being able to adapt quickly and not giving myself an opportunity to tune ourselves out with any bad feedback. It’s been really fun to be this good this early on in the year, and like I said earlier, I hope we can just continue to build on it and get better and be the best when it comes to the final 10 races. Q. What exactly were you thinking there? I think it was like eight or seven laps to go when you decided to thread the needle between Ryan Newman and Tyler Reddick?KYLE LARSON: Well, they’re both really aggressive drivers, so I didn’t want to get stuck behind them because I knew if I didn’t clear them then, I would definitely not have an opportunity to get by or get close to Martin. I saw a door open up a little bit, and I stuck my nose in there and came out the other side. It was pretty intense, but that’s what I felt like I needed to do at that point to give myself a shot to win, but even once I cleared them, I was struggling at that point and Martin was getting away from me. Q. We’re going to come back here in September and it’s going to be the first race of the playoffs, something you’re locked into at this point. What are you looking to do differently when we get to the longer race, the night race, in September?KYLE LARSON: I don’t know, I mean, hopefully we can just look at our data points from this race and try and get our car better. I felt like we were a little bit slow on the short run, on restarts maybe — after green flag stops I felt like we were one of the faster cars taking off, but on a clear track after restarts I felt like we were a little slow, and then the long runs I was just way too loose to carry throttle, be aggressive, not get stuck in traffic, things like that. Just take what we learned today and try and be better and try and be better than the 19 because he was obviously really good all race long. Q. Just kind of curious, you talked about doing different stuff during the week. Has your routine changed at all since coming to Hendrick as far as how you prepare for the races during the week?KYLE LARSON: I mean, yeah, there’s more meetings and things of that sort, as far as like looking at SMT and stuff like that. That’s stuff I always did before, and I would say even the meetings are the same as what I had before. They’re just a little bit more structured probably and a little more information in them. But yeah, and then I guess, too, the SMT things with no practice, I’m probably spending more time looking at that now because when we did have practice, you’d look for a little while and you’re like, all right, I’ll just figure the rest out once we get on track for practice. But now with not having practice you just want to be as prepared as you can be, so trying to study up on other drivers and stuff like that and what trends look fast. Q. Any physical training? I know you continue to race on a regular basis, but have you done anything from a physical standpoint as far as training goes to prepare for the weekends?KYLE LARSON: I mean, the same as I’ve kind of always did when I was at Ganassi. I actually still work out at Ganassi with Josh Wise. That’s been great. He’s also expanded his program a lot more from even when I was doing it a couple years ago, so you know, now he’s got even more information than I can look at and then go to my guys on the 5 and talk to them about as well as doing stuff in the gym. As you can tell I’m not a big guy so we don’t do a lot of lifting and stuff like that, but I feel like it’s all stuff centered around being a great race car driver. I enjoy doing that. I do it a few times a week when I can, and I race a lot, too, so I think that’s probably the most important fitness you can get as a race car driver. Q. When you saw Truex in front of you, did you think that was your shot to get him or was there another time where you thought, this is my one shot and just didn’t come through?KYLE LARSON: Well, yeah, I saw him — I closed a lot. We had to have gained seconds on him on the pit cycle, and then I was closing on him a little bit and then he was getting in heavy traffic, and it looked like he was struggling in front of me for grip. I was trying to just be patient and try and let him burn his stuff up.I do think I remember seeing him get sideways off of 2 once or something like that, and then I got to him later on and got to his back bumper, was going to try and get him loose just to get him to check up off of 2 and maybe get to his inside or just stalk him some more and get him to make a mistake or burn his tires up. But he did a really good job. So yeah, the only thing I think I could have done differently was get that big run on him in 1 and 2, and when I got to his bumper I could have just probably throttled up through the center and maybe cleared him or at least got my right rear to his left front and made him lift off of 2.Like I said, I could see he was struggling and I wanted to be patient and figured I’d have another opportunity, but I never really did. Q. The maneuver between the 8 and the 6, what was going through your head when you made that move?KYLE LARSON: Well, I just was trying to — I knew if I didn’t get by them then, when I was surprised that I got by them both in the same corner, but Newman obviously is really hard to pass. He races really hard, and so does Tyler, and he was kind of running where I wanted to be, so I knew I had to make quick work of them if I wanted to have an opportunity to get to Martin. So the 6 kind of pulled lower than I thought he would, and I saw a door open and poked my nose through it and came out the other side. Still after I cleared, I wasn’t good enough to get to Martin, but had I not got by them, I definitely would not have had a shot to get to Martin, so just glad I didn’t wreck there. THE MODERATOR: Kyle, thanks so much for taking the time to talk to us. We will see you in Dover. |
PASSING OF THE TORCH
| Haudenschild Beats Schatz for Elusive Eldora WinSheldon Following Father Jac Haudenschild’s Footsteps as an Eldora IconROSSBURG, OH – May 8, 2021 – Saturday’s #LetsRaceTwo finale felt like the symbolical beginning of a new era in more ways than one.For starters, Sheldon Haudenschild finally achieved one of his biggest personal goals: winning at Eldora Speedway. The 27-year-old gasser grew up only two hours away from the 1/2-mile in Wooster, OH sitting in the shadows behind his legendary father, Jac Haudenschild.Jac’s legacy at The Big E is undeniably amongst the all-time greats. He won three Kings Royal’s, the Mopar Million, and countless other features in his heyday. Now, Sheldon is getting his chance to shine at The House That Earl Built. On Saturday, he did it while racing against his father in his farewell season aboard the Pennzoil #22, too.On another level, Sheldon’s momentous breakthrough was special because it came against Donny Schatz. The 10-time World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series champion is easily the greatest Eldora icon of his era, winning almost 20 times at the Rossburg, OH facility. Simply put, he’s the man to beat there.Schatz and his Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing crew were poised for a milestone victory until Sheldon spoiled their moment. Stalking Schatz over the final ten laps, Haudenschild slowly reeled in the Ford Performance, Carquest #15 before pouncing at the white flag and sending his NOS Energy Drink, Stenhouse Jr. Marshall Racing #17 to the lead.He survived an extra 1/2-mile to score his 17th career World of Outlaws victory and the third of his 2021 season.”Donny is the best in the business,” Haudenschild acknowledged on a man he grew up watching. “He schooled me early in the race, so I just fell into second and watched him for a bit. Sometimes it’s better to not be out front. I just kept telling myself to hit my marks and stay smooth. You have to be perfect at this place, and we finally did it tonight.”From the outset, Haudenschild and Schatz were the two to watch in the #LetsRaceTwo finale.Schatz somehow picked his way from seventh-to-second in the first two laps of the 30-lapper, but then Haudenschild blasted by he and leader Ian Madsen thanks to a monster slide job into turn one. The #17 paced the following four laps before Schatz perfected the low line and cruised into command on Lap 8.A gnarly crash collecting top-five runners Giovanni Scelzi and Carson Macedo – all were okay – set the stage for the final restart on Lap 16. Electing to restart on the bottom, Schatz (Fargo, ND) quickly pulled away and seemed as if he was finally due to collect his first win of the 2021 season.However, with 10 laps to go, you could feel the tide change. The momentum was swiftly changing, and it was changing away from Schatz’s #15.With every passing lap, Haudenschild cut into the lead and withered it away until he was hounding Schatz with three to go. But the next time around, he was all over his back bumper. The next time? He was leading as the white flag waved and the #17 drove around the #15.Haudenschild drove away to officially claim his first Eldora triumph by 0.930-seconds over Logan Schuchart, who stole second from Schatz on the final lap.”As long as we can keep this team, these group of guys together for a long time, we could do something special,” Haudenschild said while realizing the magnitude of this moment. “If you look at the #15 [Schatz] or #49 [Sweet] over all these years, the crew is a huge part of their legacy. This win is at the top of my list, and it wouldn’t come without my guys [Kyle] Ripper, Nickolas [Goodfliesch] and Drew [Brenner]. I can’t wait for our big July shows here.”Coming home with a second-place finish at Eldora was Logan Schuchart of Hanover, PA. He earned KSE Hard Charger honors with a jaw-dropping 21st-to-2nd (+19) bid aboard his Drydene Performance Products #1S.”Man, we needed this run,” Schuchart said following his recent run of bad luck. “We’ve had a fast car all year, but those little problem have hurt us. Confidence is huge in this sport, and we just got a lot back tonight. I knew we had a good car, especially as the track came in. I’m so happy to be back here at Eldora. I love this place.”Finishing a heartbreaking third was Schatz, who led 21 laps until Haudenschild went by at the white flag.”He just had everything to gain by moving around the race track,” Schatz said on Haudenschild catching him. “We were solid out front, but kept fading there at the end. We were better in the middle and lower early on, but sometimes you get to see what’s going on if you’re bak there. I couldn’t move around, it’s just the way it goes. Would’ve been nice to win, but we didn’t. We’ll get another chance on Wednesday.”Behind Haudenschild, Schuchart and Schatz was Ian Madsen in fourth after leading the first three laps aboard the McGhee #11, and Jacob Allen with his first top-five finish of the season aboard his Shark Racing, Drydene #1A.Rounding out the top ten at Eldora was Brian Brown, David Gravel, Aaron Reutzel, Tyler Courtney and Parker Price-Miller.UP NEXT – The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series prepare themselves for the first invasion of 2021 against the PA Posse. A three-race swing through Pennsylvania will bring The Greatest Show on Dirt to Lincoln Speedway on Wednesday, May 12 followed a doubleheader at Williams Grove Speedway on Friday-Saturday, May 14-15.NOS Energy Drink Feature (30 Laps) – 1. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [4][$10,000]; 2. 1S-Logan Schuchart [21][$6,000]; 3. 15-Donny Schatz [7][$3,500]; 4. 11-Ian Madsen [1][$2,800]; 5. 1A-Jacob Allen [3][$2,500]; 6. 21-Brian Brown [9][$2,300]; 7. 2-David Gravel [5][$2,200]; 8. 83-Aaron Reutzel [11][$2,100]; 9. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [14][$2,050]; 10. 19-Parker Price-Miller [23][$2,000]; 11. 49-Brad Sweet [8][$1,600]; 12. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [25][$400]; 13. 14-Kerry Madsen [17][$1,200]; 14. 9-James McFadden [10][$1,100]; 15. 24-Rico Abreu [24][$1,050]; 16. 5-Spencer Bayston [15][$1,000]; 17. 15H-Sam Hafertepe [19][$1,000]; 18. 19M-Brent Marks [20][$1,000]; 19. 18-Giovanni Scelzi [2][$1,000]; 20. 41-Carson Macedo [6][$1,000]; 21. 10-Zeb Wise [22][$1,000]; 22. 26-Cory Eliason [18][$1,000]; 23. 2C-Wayne Johnson [16][$1,000]; 24. 11K-Kraig Kinser [12][$1,000]; 25. 22-Jac Haudenschild [13][$1,000]. Lap Leaders: Ian Madsen 1-3; Sheldon Haudenschild 4-7, 28-30; Donny Schatz 8-27. KSE Hard Charger Award: 1S-Logan Schuchart[+19]NEW Championship Standings (20/83 Races): 1. Brad Sweet (2,842); 2. David Gravel (-62); 3. Carson Macedo (-110); 4. Sheldon Haudenschild (-140); 5. Aaron Reutzel (-150); 6. Donny Schatz (-160); 7. Logan Schuchart (-178); 8. Kraig Kinser (-352); 9. Brock Zearfoss (-406); 10. Jacob Allen (-512).Photo – Trent Gower |
| The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink® Sprint Car 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), NOS Energy (Official Energy Product), SIS Insurance (Official Insurance Provider) and VP Racing Fuels (Official Racing Fuel); contingency sponsors include ARP (Automotive Racing Products), Cometic Gasket, COMP Cams, KSE Racing Products (Hard Charger Award), MSD and Slick Woody’s (Quick Time Award); manufacturer sponsors include FireAde, Intercomp, K1 Race Gear, and Racing Electronics.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 all World of Outlaws events over the Internet to fans around the world. Learn more about the World of Outlaws. |