Inside Line Promotions – PETALUMA, Calif. (July 10, 2023) – Dominic Scelzi was in contention to win his third straight NARC 410 Sprint Car Series race at Petaluma Speedway last Saturday when disaster struck.

Scelzi led the first 18 laps of the Salute to Baylands Raceway Park feature before falling to second. Soon after, a lapped car appeared to lose steering and drove down the track directly in front of Scelzi, who was unable to avoid contact.

“I don’t know how I didn’t flip,” he said. “There was a lot of damage. It twisted the arm to no return, ripped the shock in half, messed up the rear axle, ripped off the Jacob’s Ladder.”

It was a disappointing end to a night that began very promising as Scelzi qualified fifth quickest. He then won a heat race and the dash to garner the pole position for the 30-lap A Main.

“I felt I was setting a decent pace in the feature,” he said. “I was just trying not to get myself in a bad predicament behind lapped cars. I knew the bottom was dominant. I felt I had a maneuverable and good race car. A lot of times at that track not taking yourself out of it is half the battle.

“I wasn’t exerting myself. The lapped cars were tough because they’d slip up off the bottom so I had to go around them. Chase (Johnson) was good and he was on the bottom. When he got by me I felt I’d need a couple of laps to get to him to race him. We were in traffic so I felt good about the situation until we were involved in that incident.”

Scelzi was unable to return to the track following the contact and he was credited with a 14^th-place result.

He plans on venturing to Ocean Speedway in Watsonville, Calif., this Friday and Saturday during the 13 ^th annual Howard Kaeding Classic. Friday is a 360ci winged sprint car show and Saturday features a NARC 410 Sprint Car Series race.

“Our goal from the beginning of the year has been to race for wins,” he said. “The goal for this weekend is to have a problem-free weekend. If that means we’re a 10^th-place car I’ll take that with a smile. We’ve been fast all year, but the last six weeks we have faced some bad luck. Hopefully we can have a smooth weekend and if we do I think we’ll be in contention to win a race or two.”

QUICK RESULTS –

July 8 – Petaluma Speedway in Petaluma, Calif. – Qualifying: 5; Heat race: 1 (1); Dash: 1 (1); Feature: 14 (1).

SEASON STATS –

24 races, 5 wins, 15 top fives, 17 top 10s, 21 top 15s, 23 top 20s

UP NEXT –

Friday and Saturday at Ocean Speedway in Watsonville, Calif., for the 13 ^th annual Howard Kaeding Classic with the NARC 410 Sprint Car Series

MEDIA LINKS –

Website: http://www.GaryScelziMotorsports.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DominicScelzi41

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Scelzi41

A trio of big money “Buckeye State” battles highlight the weekATTICA, OH (July 10, 2023) – The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars’ “Summer of Money” hits a lucrative stretch this week.Three races. Three big paydays. And securing a spot in Sprint Car history on the line.First up is the Ohio Logistics Brad Doty Classic presented by Racing Optics on Tuesday, July 11 at Ohio’s Attica Raceway Park. The night salutes a man who has contributed so much to the sport and continues to do so today. Behind the wheel, Doty was one of the most promising talents in the 1980s before an injury ended his career prematurely. In the 35 years that have followed, the Apple Creek, OH native has found many avenues to remain an impactful figure. Tuesday’s winner will leave Attica with $15,000.After “The Doty,” it’s a two-hour drive southwest where Eldora Speedway awaits. On Friday, July 14, “The Big E” welcomes The Greatest Show on Dirt for The Knight Before which awards $20,000 to the victor. Then, the next night, the historic half-mile hosts the 40th Kings Royal as the Crown Jewel of Sprint Car racing completes another decade of existence. The King who sits atop the throne on Saturday will take $175,000 back to their palace.BUY ELDORA TICKETSTickets for the Brad Doty Classic will be available at the track on race day.Let’s look at some of the week’s top storylines:BACK-TO-BACK BDC?: The Brad Doty Classic has been contested for over three decades, but no driver has been able to claim the event twice in a row.Kyle Larson could be the first. “Yung Money” won the Classic last year and in his last five Sprint Car starts at Attica, Larson owns four victories including a trio with the World of Outlaws.Larson’s three Attica wins are enough to tie him for the second most in Series history through 22 visits, and he’ll chase the elusive back-to-back Brad Doty Classic accomplishment on Tuesday.ATTICA EXPERTS: Aside from Larson, a handful of other drivers have proven to be potent when they roll in the Attica pit area.Donny Schatz stands out the most among the group. Back in May, the Fargo, ND native collected his fifth Attica victory with the World of Outlaws – the most of all-time. Of Schatz’s four Brad Doty Classic wins, two (2016 & 2018) have been at Attica.David Gravel rolled to the 2017 Brad Doty Classic win. A 2021 Attica World of Outlaws win also made him one of six drivers to have multiple Series victories at the 1/3-mile.Spencer Bayston made his first trip to Victory Lane with the World of Outlaws at the 2021 Brad Doty Classic. The pilot of the CJB Motorsports #5 has also topped a pair of All-Star Circuit of Champions (ASCoC) races there.Attica also features a stout crop of locals that will look to upset the World of Outlaws. Drivers such as Craig Mintz, Travis Philo, and Zeth Sabo all call “The Buckeye State” home and have won at the northern Ohio oval already this season.CAST OF KINGS: Throughout the first 39 editions of the Kings Royal, 21 different drivers have claimed the crown. Unsurprisingly, “The King” himself – Steve Kinser – has donned the crown most often with seven titles to his credit. This week’s roster is expected to have eight former kings in competition.King Donny: Among active drivers, Donny Schatz holds the most Kings Royal victories with five on his stout résumé. The driver of the Tony Stewart/Curb Agajanian Racing #15 first wore the crown in 2007. A trio of Schatz’s wins came in back-to-back-to-back fashion (2016-2018), making him the only driver to claim two in a row and three in a row. Schatz will look to close within one of Kinser’s record tally this week.King Brent: The most recent addition to the list of Kings is Brent Marks. The Myerstown, PA native topped the 39th running last year as a part of his massive week that also included driving to Victory Lane in the return of the Historical Big One. Marks’ triumph made him the second Pennsylvanian to win a Kings Royal, and this year he’ll attempt to become the first from “The Keystone State” to win multiple.King Tyler: The one and only win of Tyler Courtney’s World of Outlaws career remains one of two Kings Royals completed in 2021. “Sunshine” wheeled the Clauson-Marshall Racing #7BC to victory during the daytime Feature and a healthy $175,000 payday. The Eldora ace returns this week with hopes of another six-digit paycheck.King Kyle: After Courtney’s win during the daylight, it was Kyle Larson claiming the nighttime Kings Royal in 2021 for his first victory in the prestigious Crown Jewel. The former NASCAR Cup Series champion intends to be back behind the wheel of the Silva Motorsports #57 looking to become the ninth driver with multiple Kings Royal wins. King Brad: Two-time Kings Royal winner – Brad Sweet – will be looking to become the fifth driver to ever claim at least a trio of crowns. Back in 2013, “The Big Cat” earned his second career Series win in the 30th Kings Royal. Six years later, Sweet was the first to sit atop the throne when the winner’s share was upped to its current total of $175,000.King Shane: Bixby, OK’s Shane Stewart will be back for his first Kings Royal attempt since 2019. The 2015 winner has emerged from retirement to pilot Bernie Stuebgen’s Indy Race Parts #71 this week.King Kerry: After multiple close calls, Kerry Madsen finally broke through for an elusive Kings Royal triumph in 2014. “The Mad Man” will return this week aboard the Vermeer Motorsports #55 in search of a second crown.King Daryn: Making his 26th Kings Royal appearance will be 2008 winner – Daryn Pittman. The 2013 World of Outlaws champion has partnered with Alex Bowman Racing with hopes of qualifying for his 22nd Kings Royal main event.CROWN CHASING: There are still many elite level Sprint Car talents pursuing their first Kings Royal title. And plenty will be in attendance this week hoping 2023 will be the year of their coronation.David Gravel stands out among the favorites to claim his first Kings Royal. It’s the lone event of Sprint Car racing’s “Triple Crown” (Knoxville Nationals, Kings Royal, National Open) that Gravel is yet to top. In 14 attempts, Gravel’s best outing is a 2014 podium. If Gravel can pull it off, he’ll become the first driver with six-digit paydays at three different racetracks.Logan Schuchart picked up his fourth career World of Outlaws win at Eldora this year. But the Shark Racing pilot is still chasing a Kings Royal. Schuchart narrowly missed out in 2019 when he charged from 12th to the lead and led 15 laps before slipping to second on a restart and finishing runner-up.Carson Macedo is a two-time World of Outlaws winner at Eldora, topping a pair of shows during 2021 Kings Royal week, but he wasn’t able to capture the crown that season. The Lemoore, CA native has come close to a Kings Royal title recently with podiums in his last two attempts.Sheldon Haudenschild is a three-time Kings Royal top five finisher looking for his first win to join his father – Jac Haudenschild (three-time winner) – on the list of Kings. The Wooster, OH native owns one Eldora triumph with the World of Outlaws – topping a race in May of 2021.STACKED FIELD: On top of the many former Kings Royal winners and favorites to add their name to the list, many more talented drivers will be invading Eldora.The remainder of the full-time group of World of Outlaws including Spencer Bayston, James McFadden, Gio Scelzi, and more will all be potential threats.Rico Abreu has won two of the last three World of Outlaws races at Eldora. The St. Helena, CA native is also a three-time ASCoC winner at Eldora.Some of the PA Posse’s top talent including the likes of Anthony Macri and Danny Dietrich will make their way one state west.And many more strong names from all over the country such as Zeb Wise, Buddy Kofoid, Brian Brown, Hunter Schuerenberg, Aaron Reutzel, Sam Hafertepe Jr., Justin Peck, Cory Eliason, and many more plan to vie for the crown.If you can’t make it to the track, catch all three races live on DIRTVision.THIS WEEKEND AT A GLANCEWHEN AND WHERETuesday, July 11 at Attica Raceway Park in Attica, OHFriday-Saturday, July 14-15 at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, OHON THE INTERNETWorld 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/monthCURRENT CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS (37/80 Races):1. 49 – Brad Sweet (4990PTS) 3. 2 – David Gravel (-12PTS) 3. 41 – Carson Macedo (-50PTS) 4. 1S – Logan Schuchart (-202PTS) 5. 15 – Donny Schatz (-264PTS) 6. 17 – Sheldon Haudenschild (-264PTS) 7. 18 – Gio Scelzi (-290PTS) 8. 5 – Spencer Bayston (-368PTS) 9. 3Z – Brock Zearfoss (-614PTS) 10. 1A – Jacob Allen (-658PTS)NOS ENERGY DRINK FEATURE WINNERS (13 Drivers):8 wins – David Gravel (Big Game Motorsports #2)6 wins – Brad Sweet (Kasey Kahne Racing #49)4 wins – James McFadden (Roth Motorsports #83), Carson Macedo (Jason Johnson Racing #41)3 wins – Rico Abreu (Rico Abreu Racing #24)2 wins – Donny Schatz (Tony Stewart/Curb Agajanian Racing #15), Sheldon Haudenschild (Stenhouse Jr.-Marshall Racing #17), Logan Schuchart (Shark Racing #1S)1 win – Buddy Kofoid (CMS Racing #11), Brady Bacon (TKH Motorsports #21), Anthony Macri (Macri Motorsports #39), Brian Brown (Brian Brown Racing #21), Gio Scelzi (KCP Racing #18), Kyle Larson (Silva Motorsports #57)FEATURE LAPS LED (18 Drivers):177 laps – Brad Sweet157 laps – Carson Macedo149 laps – David Gravel144 laps – Rico Abreu133 laps – James McFadden93 laps – Buddy Kofoid80 laps – Logan Schuchart70 laps – Sheldon Haudenschild56 laps – Donny Schatz43 laps – Brent Marks39 laps – Gio Scelzi24 laps – Brian Brown23 laps – Spencer Bayston11 laps – Anthony Macri10 laps – Cory Eliason7 laps – Kyle Larson3 laps – Brady Bacon1 lap – Austin McCarlSIMPSON PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS QUICKTIME AWARDS (13 Drivers):11 QuickTimes – Carson Macedo7 QuickTimes – David Gravel4 QuickTimes – Logan Schuchart2 QuickTimes – Anthony Macri, Rico Abreu, Sheldon Haudenschild, Bill Balog1 QuickTime – Brian Brown, Donny Schatz, Buddy Kofoid, Gio Scelzi, James McFadden, Jacob AllenHEAT RACE WINNERS (32 Drivers):22 Heat Wins – Carson Macedo20 Heat Wins – David Gravel9 Heat Wins – Buddy Kofoid, Donny Schatz7 Heat Wins – Brad Sweet, Gio Scelzi6 Heat Wins – Sheldon Haudenschild, Logan Schuchart5 Heat Wins – Rico Abreu, Jacob Allen4 Heat Wins – Brent Marks, James McFadden, Spencer Bayston3 Heat Wins – Anthony Macri, Brian Brown, Bill Balog2 Heat Wins – Parker Price-Miller, Justin Peck, Brock Zearfoss, Noah Gass1 Heat Win – Danny Dietrich, Freddie Rahmer, Cory Eliason, Tim Kaeding, Mark Dobmeier, Kasey Kahne, Austin McCarl, Lachlan McHugh, Kerry Madsen, Ryan Timms, Tim Estenson, Sam Hafertepe Jr.TOYOTA DASH APPEARANCES (36 Drivers):27 Dashes – Carson Macedo, David Gravel22 Dashes – Brad Sweet18 Dashes – Logan Schuchart15 Dashes – Donny Schatz14 Dashes – Gio Scelzi12 Dashes – Sheldon Haudenschild, Rico Abreu10 Dashes – James McFadden, Spencer Bayston9 Dashes – Buddy Kofoid8 Dashes – Jacob Allen6 Dashes – Brent Marks, Brock Zearfoss5 Dashes – Anthony Macri4 Dashes – Brian Brown3 Dashes – Justin Peck, Danny Dietrich, Cory Eliason, Robbie Price2 Dashes – Parker Price-Miller, Tyler Courtney, Garet Williamson, Austin McCarl, Kasey Kahne, Bill Balog1 Dash – Freddie Rahmer, Devon Borden, Aaron Reutzel, Brady Bacon, Chad Trout, Dylan Norris, Cap Henry, Stuart Brubaker, Kyle Larson, Sam Hafertepe Jr.MICROLITE LAST CHANCE SHOWDOWN WINS (26 Drivers):4 LCS Wins – Sheldon Haudenschild2 LCS Wins – Robbie Price, Parker Price-Miller, Noah Gass1 LCS Win – Brock Zearfoss, Gio Scelzi, Hunter Schuerenberg, James McFadden, Wayne Johnson, Ryan Timms, Ayrton Gennetten, Spencer Bayston, Logan Schuchart, Kraig Kinser, Freddie Rahmer, Henry Malcuit, Cole Macedo, Tim Estenson, Aaron Reutzel, Kerry Madsen, Sye Lynch, Cory Eliason, Donny Schatz, Tyler Courtney, Rico Abreu, Jacob AllenKSE HARD CHARGER AWARDS (26 Drivers):4 Hard Chargers – Sheldon Haudenschild3 Hard Chargers – Tyler Courtney, Brad Sweet2 Hard Chargers – Brock Zearfoss, James McFadden, Donny Schatz, Logan Schuchart1 Hard Charger – Gio Scelzi, Robbie Price, David Gravel, Justin Peck, Blake Hahn, Buddy Kofoid, Joe B. Miller, Kyle Larson, Hunter Schuerenberg, Kyle Moody, Freddie Rahmer, Skylar Gee, Cole Duncan, Austin Pierce, Brenham Crouch, Tim Kaeding, Spencer Bayston, Jacob Allen, Caden EnglehartPODIUM FINISHES (22 Drivers):20 Podiums – David Gravel16 Podiums – Brad Sweet11 Podiums – Carson Macedo9 Podiums – Rico Abreu7 Podiums – Donny Schatz, Logan Schuchart6 Podiums – Buddy Kofoid, Sheldon Haudenschild5 Podiums – James McFadden3 Podiums – Brent Marks, Brian Brown, Kyle Larson, Jacob Allen, Spencer Bayston1 Podium – Danny Dietrich, Kasey Kahne, Devon Borden, Parker Price-Miller, Brady Bacon, Anthony Macri, Garet Williamson, Gio ScelziTOP 10 FINISHES (45 Drivers):33 Top 10s – Carson Macedo, Brad Sweet, David Gravel29 Top 10s – Logan Schuchart25 Top 10s – Gio Scelzi, Spencer Bayston24 Top 10s – Sheldon Haudenschild20 Top 10s – James McFadden19 Top 10s – Donny Schatz16 Top 10s – Rico Abreu15 Top 10s – Buddy Kofoid14 Top 10s – Jacob Allen8 Top 10s – Justin Peck7 Top 10s – Tyler Courtney6 Top 10s – Brent Marks, Brian Brown, Cory Eliason5 Top 10s – Kasey Kahne4 Top 10s – Danny Dietrich, Brock Zearfoss, Kyle Larson3 Top 10s – Anthony Macri, Bill Balog2 Top 10s – Aaron Reutzel, Blake Hahn, Brady Bacon, Parker Price-Miller, Robbie Price1 Top 10 – Zeb Wise, Devon Borden, Sam Hafertepe Jr., Joe B. Miller, Hunter Schuerenberg, Brandon Rahmer, Chad Trout, Lance Dewease, Cap Henry, Cole Macedo, Stuart Brubaker, Skylar Gee, Cole Duncan, Austin McCarl, Garet Williamson, Tim Kaeding, Chase Randall2023 WORLD OF OUTLAWS SPRINT CAR SCHEDULE & WINNERS:No. / Day, Date / Track / Location / Winner (Total Wins)1. Fri, Feb 10 / Volusia Speedway Park / Barberville, FL / David Gravel (1)2. Fri, Feb 10 / Volusia Speedway Park / Barberville, FL / David Gravel (2)3. Sat, Feb 11* / Volusia Speedway Park / Barberville, FL / James McFadden (1)4. Sun, March 5 / Volusia Speedway Park / Barberville, FL / Carson Macedo (1)5. Mon, March 6 / Volusia Speedway Park / Barberville, FL / David Gravel (3)6. Sat, March 18 / Lincoln Speedway / Abbottstown, PA / Rico Abreu (1)7. Fri, March 24 / Talladega Short Track / Eastaboga, AL / Buddy Kofoid (1)8. Sat, March 25 / Magnolia Motor Speedway / Columbus, MS / Brad Sweet (1)9. Fri, March 31 / Devil’s Bowl Speedway / Mesquite, TX / Brad Sweet (2)10. Sat, April 1 / Devil’s Bowl Speedway / Mesquite, TX / James McFadden (2)11. Fri, April 7 / U.S. 36 Raceway / Osborn, MO / Sheldon Haudenschild (1)12. Sat, April 8 / 81 Speedway / Wichita, KS / Rico Abreu (2)13. Fri, April 14 / Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 / Pevely, MO / Brad Sweet (3)14. Fri, April 28 / Tri-City Speedway / Granite City, IL / David Gravel (4)15. Sat, April 29 / Tri-State Speedway / Haubstadt, IN / Brady Bacon (1)16. Fri, May 5 / Eldora Speedway / Rossburg, OH / Logan Schuchart (1)17. Sat, May 6 / Eldora Speedway / Rossburg, OH / Rico Abreu (3)18. Wed, May 10 / Lincoln Speedway / Abbottstown, PA / Anthony Macri (1)19. Fri, May 12 / Williams Grove Speedway / Mechanicsburg, PA / Brad Sweet (4)20. Fri, May 19 / Attica Raceway Park / Attica, OH / Donny Schatz (1)21. Sat, May 20 / Sharon Speedway / Hartford, OH / Donny Schatz (2)22. Fri, May 26 / Atomic Speedway / Chillicothe, OH / Brad Sweet (5)23. Sat, May 27 / Atomic Speedway / Chillicothe, OH / Carson Macedo (2)24. Mon, May 29 / Lawrenceburg Speedway / Lawrenceburg, IN / James McFadden (3)25. Fri, June 2 / River Cities Speedway / Grand Forks, ND / David Gravel (5)26. Sat, June 3 / Ogilvie Raceway / Ogilvie, MN / Carson Macedo (3)27. Fri, June 9 / Knoxville Raceway / Knoxville, IA / Brian Brown (1)28. Sat, June 10 / Knoxville Raceway / Knoxville, IA / David Gravel (6)29. Fri, June 16 / Beaver Dam Raceway / Beaver Dam, WI / Gio Scelzi (1)30. Sat, June 17 / Beaver Dam Raceway / Beaver Dam, WI / Sheldon Haudenschild (2)31. Wed, June 21 / Huset’s Speedway / Brandon, SD / Kyle Larson (1)32. Thurs, June 22 / Huset’s Speedway / Brandon, SD / James McFadden (4)33. Fri, June 23 / Huset’s Speedway / Brandon, SD / Logan Schuchart (2)34. Sat, June 24 / Huset’s Speedway / Brandon, SD / David Gravel (7)35. Fri, June 30 / Cedar Lake Speedway / New Richmond, WI / Brad Sweet (6)36. Sat, July 1 / Cedar Lake Speedway / New Richmond, WI / David Gravel (8)37. Sat, July 8 / Wilmot Raceway / Wilmot, WI / Carson Macedo (4)

 
MOORESVILLE, NC (July 10, 2023) — Leading up to the NHRA Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway, 2022 NHRA Rookie of the Year Camrie Caruso’s primary sponsor Tequila Comisario will be hosting a free fan event at Bevy’s Liquor World (5869 S Alkire Street, Littleton, CO 80127) on Wednesday from 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. to promote their involvement with the rising star of the NHRA. The event will feature the Tequila Comisario Chevrolet Camaro race car that Caruso will be racing, July 14-16, during the NHRA national event as well as a bottling signing opportunity. Caruso will also have free hero cards to sign and hand out to fans in attendance.

 
“I am super excited to get to Bevy’s Liquor World and meet some Tequila Comisario customers and fans,” said Caruso. “Having our race car on display makes it even better since I am hoping to get people excited about coming out to the race and trying Tequila Comisario. The design on my race car looks amazing and I am looking forward to seeing a ton of fans before we get to the racetrack for the race on Friday.”
 
Tequila Comisario is an ultra-premium award-winning tequila. Since its release Tequila Comisario has become the most awarded brand in the entire Tequila category. Tequila Comisario is estate grown, in the unique appellation of the Highlands of Jalisco, with a unique terroir giving it a slightly more fruit forward profile, yet keeping in balance the peppery, earthy spiciness of the 100% Blue Weber Agave, along with subtle, complex note from its barrel aging programs. In addition to their relationship with Caruso they have been involved in NHRA sponsoring Pro Mod competitors.
“Our two year marketing relationship with Camrie has been great for Tequila Comisario,” said Fran Vivenio, Vice President/National Sales Manager Stellar Spirits & Wine. “The exposure and brand awareness from her success on FOX and FS1 provides a great boost to Tequila Comisario. She is also an amazing ambassador at the track and off-site appearances like Bevy’s Liquor World.”
Caruso and the Pro Stock class will have two qualifying runs on Friday, July 14, at 3:30 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. and on Saturday they will hit the track at 2:30 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. The quickest 16 Pro Stock race cars will face off in eliminations at noon MT on Sunday. The race will be broadcast nationally on FOX.
 

 

CONCORD, NC – July 10, 2023– Temperatures across the country aren’t the only thing going up this summer. 

From July to Labor Day weekend, the World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Model Series will see some of its biggest payouts of the year for eight straight events – totaling over $1 million in combined purses during the “Summer of Money” span. 

Those eight events will pay at least $15,000 to win for their main event – two paying $50,000 to win – and at least $1,200 to start. First up will be the doubleheader weekend at Ponderosa Speedway, July 14, and Brownstown Speedway, July 15 – each paying $15,000 to win. 

Three events during the “Summer of Money” will boast a more than $200,000 purse with two of them at nearly $300,000. The two biggest are the Prairie Dirt Classic at Fairbury Speedway, July 28-29, and USA Nationals at Cedar Lake Speedway, Aug. 3-5 – both paying $50,000 to win and $3,000 to start. And like last year, the Prairie Dirt Classic will also pay $500 for every lap led, allowing one driver to do what Brandon Sheppard did and walk away with a $100,000 payday. 

Joining the more than $200,000 purse club is the My Place Hotels Quad Cities 150 at Davenport Speedway, Aug. 24-26, paying $30,000-to-win for its Saturday finale. 

In between the Prairie Dirt Classic and USA Nationals is the $15,000-to-win growing marquee event at Boone Speedway – the Hawkeye 50 on Monday, Aug. 1. After Davenport, the Series will venture to Mississippi Thunder Speedway (Aug. 31-Sept. 1) and Deer Creek Speedway (Sept. 2), which will each feature a $20,000-to-win main event. 

The start money continues to impress at each event with Boone paying $1,200 to start, Deer Creek and Mississippi Thunder’s finale paying $1,600 to start, and Davenport’s finale paying $2,500 to start. 

That money helps teams big and small like Germfree Labs Rookie of the Year contender Todd Cooney, who’s enduring the grind of the World of Outlaws CASE Late Models season for the first time. 

“For a team like us that’s been struggling most of the year, we have a lot of learning to do,” Cooney said. “So, it takes a lot of money to get the parts we need. There’s a lot of trial and error. You’re trying this and trying that. So, we’ve got a lot of money going out every week to try and get better. So, extra money coming in helps a lot.” 

Shane Clanton, the 2015 Series champion, of Zebulon, GA, agreed with Cooney’s thoughts, knowing how important that money through the field is to help teams get to each event. 

“It feels good,” Clanton said. “It helps us get up and down the road… [When] they add a little bit throughout the whole field that’s good for everybody.” 

He’s also eyeing the big paydays too as he’s yet to win either crown jewel. 

“I want to get PDC and Cedar Lake both,” Clanton said. “I’ve been close at both of them and just haven’t gotten the checkered flag yet. So, hopefully, we get the chance this year to be competitive and get it.” 

Both Cedar Lake and Fairbury have two of the toughest fields dirt Late Model drivers will see in 2023. Sheppard, of New Berlin, IL, is the only full-time World of Outlaws competitor who’s won both. 

The World of Outlaws CASE Late Models kick off the “Summer of Money” on Friday, July 14, at Ponderosa Speedway in Junction City, KY, before heading to Brownstown Speedway in Brownstown, IN, on Saturday, July 15. 

UPCOMING SCHEDULE: 
July 14 – Ponderosa Speedway – $15,000 to win 

July 15 – Brownstown Speedway – $15,000 to win 

July 28 – Fairbury Speedway – $5,000 to win (Prelim Features) 
July 29 – Fairbury Speedway – $50,000 to win (Plus lap money) 

Aug. 1 – Boone Speedway – $15,000 to win 

Aug. 3 – Cedar Lake Speedway – $6,000 to win 

Aug. 4 – Cedar Lake Speedway – $6,000 to win 

Aug. 5 – Cedar Lake Speedway – $50,000 to win  

Aug. 24 – Davenport Speedway – $10,000 to win 

Aug. 25 – Davenport Speedway – $10,000 to win 

Aug. 26 – Davenport Speedway – $30,000 to win 

Aug. 31 – Mississippi Thunder Speedway – $10,000 to win 

Sept. 1 – Mississippi Thunder Speedway – $20,000 to win 

Sept. 2 – Deer Creek Speedway – $20,000 to win 

If you can’t make it to the tracks, you can watch every World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Model race live on DIRTVision.  

This will be a sentimental weekend for Funny Car veteran Cruz Pedregon at what will be the final NHRA race at Denver’s Bandimere Raceway. Cruz has called it his “favorite track” and it’s the place where he’s set numerous ET records and had multiple wins. The team has been working on the Snap-on^® “Makers and Fixers” Dodge^® SRT^® Hellcat^® to get it ready for what is sure to be a memorable curtain call for this high-altitude raceway.

“The way we plan to say ‘farewell’ to the wonderful Bandimere family and Thunder Mountain is by having the Snap-on Dodge tuned and ready for these mile-high conditions,” Cruz says. “We’ve been working on tune-ups we believe will be a winning swan song for this legendary favorite track of mine.”

Cruz’s Funny Car will sport a Snap-on franchise paint scheme to honor the many franchisees of the team’s primary sponsor. Before races, Cruz rides along with franchisees in NHRA cities to visit shops and professionals who love being ‘makers and fixers,’ talking tools and racing. The ‘Own It’ paint scheme is a reminder that the Snap-on franchise opportunity is a way to own your own business, and it’s a ‘thank you’ tribute to current and future Snap-on franchisees.

The weekend will be one to remember for Snap-on Nitro Franchisee Walter Hayes as well. He drove Cruz on his first Denver ride-along with a franchisee, so it’s only fitting he will be around for this final area visit to shops with Cruz. Walter was an auto mechanic in his early career and has had his Snap-on franchise for 26 years. In his free time, he’s a competitive, medal-winning bodybuilder. Walter’s been friends with Cruz for a long time and has done a lot with the racing program here at Bandimere where he’s learned he just can’t say enough good things about the Bandimere family. 

Before Denver, Cruz’s “Makers and Fixers” Dodge Funny Car headed south to Atlanta for a special appearance at sponsor Snap-on’s SkillsUSA booth. It was “the largest gathering of America’s future skilled workforce,” where around 15,000 attendees had the opportunity to have an up-close look at a Nitro Funny Car. If you’re a future maker and fixer like the SkillsUSA students or a seasoned pro, be sure to check out “Makers and Fixers” on Instagram and share your stories at makersandfixers.com.

Byron, Chevrolet Takes Victory in Rain-Shortened Race at Atlanta Team Chevy Sweeps Podium

·       The win is Byron’s series-leading fourth NASCAR Cup Series win of the 2023 season; his second career NCS win at Atlanta Motor Speedway; and his eighth career win in NASCAR’s premier series.  ·       The victory extended Chevrolet’s series-leading NASCAR Cup Series win record at Atlanta Motor Speedway to 44 all-time victories at the 1.54-mile Georgia oval.  ·       Chevrolet has now won eight of the past nine superspeedway-style races in NASCAR’s top series – recorded by six drivers from four different Chevrolet teams.  ·       The victory marked Chevrolet’s series-leading 12th NASCAR Cup Series victory this season.  ·       The winningest manufacturer in NASCAR Cup Series history, Chevrolet now sits at 845 all-time wins in NASCAR’s premier series.  ·       Team Chevy drivers swept the podium in the NASCAR Cup Series Quaker State 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway – recorded by drivers from three different Chevrolet teams. This marks the fifth podium sweep for Chevrolet in NASCAR’s premier series this season.  TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10 RESULTS:POS.   DRIVER1st      William Byron, No. 24 Axalta Camaro ZL12nd     Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Quaker State Camaro ZL13rd      AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Farmsmart Camaro ZL15th      Kyle Busch, No. 8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Camaro ZL18th      Justin Haley, No. 31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Camaro ZL110th    Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Kroger / Slim Jim Camaro ZL1  TOP-FIVE UNOFFICIAL RESULTS: POS.  DRIVER1.        William Byron (Chevrolet)2.        Daniel Suarez (Chevrolet)3.        AJ Allmendinger (Chevrolet)4.        Michael McDowell (Ford)5.        Kyle Busch (Chevrolet)

HAMPTON, Ga. (July 8, 2023) – Team Chevy’s William Byron added onto an already career season by picking up the victory in the rain-shortened NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) Quaker State 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The trip to victory lane marked Byron’s series-leading fourth win of the season – already doubling his 2022 win count with 19 points-paying races in the books.   The victory didn’t come easy for the 25-year-old North Carolina native. Starting the race from the 18th-position, Byron quickly maneuvered his No. 24 Axalta Camaro ZL1 to the lead portion of the pack – taking a top-five finish in Stage One. But a safety violation on pit road during the stage break pit stop forced Byron to start Stage Two from the rear of the field. Problems continued for the team after being involved in the race’s third caution – with a spin and flat tire putting the team one lap down.  With the threat of weather looming, Crew Chief Rudy Fugle opted for track position – forgoing pit road under the stage break to give Byron the third position for the start of the final stage. Racing against the rain, Byron made a move past fellow Team Chevy driver AJ Allmendinger on lap 167 and maintained the top position until the seventh caution of the day flew on lap 178. With Byron at the top of the leaderboard, rain began to fall, ultimately forcing the race under red flag conditions until the race was made official – with Byron and the No. 24 Axalta Camaro ZL1 team delivering Chevrolet its series-leading 12th victory of the season in NASCAR’s premier series.  A powerhouse group of six Team Chevy drivers claimed top-10 finishes in the series’ second appearance of the season at the 1.54-mile Georgia venue. Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suarez took the runner-up position, with Kaulig Racing’s AJ Allmendinger in the third position to give Chevrolet its fifth podium sweep of the 2023 NCS season. Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch drove his Camaro ZL1 to a fifth-place finish, Kaulig Racing’s Justin Haley came home in the eighth-position and JTG Daugherty Racing’s Ricky Stenhouse Jr. rounded out the top-10.  The 2023 NCS season continues at New Hampshire Motor Speedway with the Crayon 301 on Sunday, July 16, at 2:30 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on the USA Network, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE QUOTES: William Byron, No. 24 Axalta Camaro ZL1Finished: Race Winner I don’t even know where to start with your day. You said it was so much fun early on and then the penalty on pit road and the spin – how did you guys come back and make this happen? “Yeah, just team work. Honestly I don’t completely understand this one. It’s a really good feeling. I’ve never had a rain victory like this. Thank you to Hendrick Motorsports, Axalta, Chevrolet. It’s cool – we went through so much throughout the night; spinning through the infield. Destroyed the bottom of the car dragging it around the apron trying to stay on the lead lap. At that point, you just don’t have the grip, so I was real edgy back in traffic. But Rudy (Fugle, crew chief) made a good call to pit there and then stay out. Once we got towards the front, it was OK. We could honestly make the right decisions. Got the lead from AJ (Allmendinger) and just was able to manage the run. Just a crazy night.” The guys in the booth were saying some of the most amazing racing they have seen. Behind the wheel, how was the racing tonight? “Yeah, it was awesome. I think that’s all you can ask for on a superspeedway. We want handling to matter. We want to be able to drive the thing. I feel like the first stage was really fun. I was able to make some moves on the bottom. You’d lift in every corner, so it’s different than a 550 old-style race – it’s more packed up, but handling still matters and guys can make aggressive moves. I was certainly edgy back in traffic, but like I said, Rudy made a good call and we got up towards the front. Sometimes that’s what it takes. Just thankful for the whole team and just staying in it. We were a lap down and it could have been over.” Austin Dillon, No. 3 Dow Salutes Veterans Camaro ZL1Finished: 21st“Really struggled all weekend with the handling of our Dow Salutes Veterans Chevy. Hate it for Dow and Team Rubicon. The car looked amazing. We made some adjustments. Just needed all the laps to get the car to the front.” Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1Sidelined by damage sustained in an accident in Stage One. Finished: 36thWe saw the spin – what happened and then what ultimately took you out of contention?“Yeah, on the spin – I haven’t seen a replay, but I think I was just late and slow to protect the top, and the No. 43 (Erik Jones) must have been just really close to me and got me loose. I spun and got the flat. And then I thought we were going to get lucky enough to just be able to drive right to my pit stall and change the tire. We changed the right-rear and didn’t get the right-front changed. And then that exploded on the apron and I had to lose a lap for the damage. Just had a little bit of a tire rub still and ultimately it just ended up giving out and I got into the wall. Hate that I made the mistake there to put us in this position, but I was having fun up until the spin. I thought I was doing a decent job – finishing second in the stage. Just wish I could have got to the end. Most of the time I feel like it’s other peoples’ fault why I DNF, but tonight it was my fault. Little bit of a bummer.” Kyle Busch, No. 8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Camaro ZL1Finished: 5thHow dicey has it been out there tonight? “Yeah, it’s been really dicey. A lot of things kind of been going on – a lot of lanes, a lot of options, which has been pretty good. It’s all about momentum obviously. You break momentum or have something happen, it knocks you back or slows you down, you get blown over by four or five guys. So it’s all about just minimizing your mistakes and minimize those that can get by you while you’re trying to make moves. Definitely a different game, but overall, just really happy with the No. 8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Camaro. We’ve adjusted on it every pit stop today. We stayed out on that set of tires and it felt really good. Wish we could have continued. I felt like we had more than fifth.” AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Farmsmart Camaro ZL1Finished: 3rd“At the end of the day, I am proud of everyone at Kaulig Racing. We brought a really, really good Nutrien Ag Solutions FARMSMART Chevy. We didn’t quite have the speed, but it really handled well and I could maneuver it like it needed to. We didn’t have enough speed to lead, but it was a lot of fun to drive. I’m proud walking away from this one. We had a good points day, top-five finish, our best finish of year. We rebounded after the disappointment last week and we moved on to the next one.” Justin Haley, No. 31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Camaro ZL1Finished: 8th “Atlanta continues to be a really strong track for this Kaulig Racing team. We fired off super loose, but Trent (Owens) made some great adjustments that got us back where we needed to be for the start of the second stage. It was a lot of fun running second there for a while and racing in the top five. We knew the weather was moving in, and we thought we might have a good strategy there. Unfortunately, it ended just a little too soon, but overall it was a good day for Kaulig Racing.” Noah Gragson, No. 42 Sunseeker Resorts Camaro ZL1Finished: 33rd “We started out really tight and Luke Lambert and the No. 42 Sunseeker Resort team really took some pretty big swings at the handling. We were making our way up there and were top-10 at one point. The car just came out from underneath me in Turn 3 and it bent the toe pretty good. The guys did a great job by getting it to where I could drive it and make speed, but our day was done after that. We could have probably picked up a few more spots if the race went the duration because it was getting wild.” Erik Jones, No. 43 Allegiant Camaro ZL1Finished: 11th“It was an up and down day for our Allegiant Chevy; we could have been a bit farther up with some of the stuff that we did, but for the most part we made our bed set up wise last night. So, it was a good day. The car is getting faster each week, and hopefully we keep going that way. I think today was overall a good day.” Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Quaker State Camaro ZL1Finished: 2nd “I feel like I have mixed feelings, but overall, very proud of my No. 99 Quaker State Chevy team. It’s been a little bit rough lately because we’ve had the speed, but we haven’t had the results, so this feels good.” Ty Gibbs had trouble, so this is probably a good points day for you.. “Yeah, it’s a shame – you never want your competition to have trouble and feel happy about it. But it is what it is. We’ve had trouble the last few weeks, as well. I’m just trying to take one race at a time and let it play out. We had the speed today, once again, and we showed that.” 

WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 – Race Win Press Conference Transcript THE MODERATOR: We are now joined by our race winner today, William Byron. We’ll go straight to questions from the media. Q. I asked Rudy, Rudy had a good idea of the damage to the car when you spun. What were you thinking when you spun, and did the car feel any differently at that point?WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, when I spun, I was like, well, here we go, we’re flying through the infield. I was kind of looking towards the right side of the car just thinking about, okay, can I let it roll and not lock the tires up on the asphalt to try to keep them up, but then I saw the wall was coming quick. I kind of let go of the brake for a minute and then locked it down, and I knew at that point I was probably going to have flats, and when I tried to get spun around it was really hard to get spun around, so I knew probably a right-side tire was flat, and it was the right rear. I was trying to catch up, and as you do that, everything gets torn up, so it destroyed some of the floor and the crush panel and everything. It was not good because this car really relies on all that, so it was not good at that moment, but lost a lap, changed tires, and then at that point the conversation with Rudy was just about, okay, we’re probably going to have to make some pretty big adjustments here because the car is not going to drive good. It was pretty balanced before that point. Thought we were one of the better cars, just a little bit free back in traffic after the penalty, but we were making good time. So we made a lot of adjustments. We changed a lot of things, rounds in all four corners and probably air pressure, too, and got it to where it was competitive. It was competitive for 15 laps, and then I was just kind of on pins and needles after that. I would make some mistakes because either I’d put myself in some bad positions aero wise and lose grip or just not trust the car. I knew when we got out front, we were in the probably lower teens, like 12th, 13th running and we were doing okay, but I knew when we got out front we’d have more air on the car and be okay. Then it was just about playing the air game with my spotter Brandon and trying to manage all that. Q. We knew weather from the start of the night was probably going to come into play at some point. From the outside looking in, that was a very chaotic, entertaining race. Behind the wheel as you get closer to halfway and then you get past halfway, how chaotic is it for you to keep constantly getting weather updates, and are you on the edge of your seat, so to speak, is the next call going to be we’re doing? What are you going through?WILLIAM BYRON: I honestly don’t get too excited. I feel like for me, I’ve never had a rain win, so I was like, sure enough, with me leading, this isn’t going to happen like this. So I’m like, just thinking about what lane I’m going to choose. I think as soon as the caution came out, I asked what lane are we going to choose because I didn’t even want to think about the possibility of rain and coming down pit road. All that was secondary to me. I was just thinking about, okay, how can we control the race so when the next caution comes out for rain we’re in a good spot. So I started thinking about that, and then my spotter and Rudy as well — Brandon and Rudy were talking about, okay, it’s starting to rain around the track, and I started to get some drops on the windshield. I was like, okay, we’re probably going to get some drops and then it’s going to stall, and then we’re going to go back again. I just kept thinking that way, and then even when I got out of the car I kept thinking that way, and eventually when we got over there I knew it was official. Then you start to feel better about it.Yeah, it takes a long time. For me I’m just trying to stay locked in the race. Q. Is Jeff going to make you sit in the calendar and count up 3,000 races?WILLIAM BYRON: As long as they’ll have me I’ll keep going. Hopefully I can get to 3,000. Seems like a lot of races. Yeah, I don’t know how many years that is, but I’m willing to do it as long as I can. I love what I do, and hopefully keep doing it. I just like to race. Feel like I’m just this year starting to just kind of understand the flow of everything, and it’s starting to click. It’s been a good year, but like someone told me in a meet and greet today, they’re like, how many races are in a year, and I was like, 38 and a couple exhibition, and we’re on 19. I was like, well, we still have half a season to go. Everything we’ve done to this point is great, but if we suck from here on out, it’s not going to be fun, so hopefully we just keep on going. Q. The last three races we really only saw two-wide racing, attempts to get the third lane going and never could get it running. Tonight we saw that the dominant lane to be in. Were you surprised by that? Did that catch you off guard how well that third lane worked?WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, it had to get cleaned off. It was definitely grayer up there, but you can count on Reddick to clean it off. He goes there right away, which is amazing. I think he kind of cleaned off the entry, then it started cleaning it off, center off got a little bit cleaner, a little bit cleaner. I think handling was just a big enough issue — if handling wasn’t an issue, you’re still going to see two wide because the car has so much drag that you can run the bottom two lanes and not ever get a run on the outside. The fact that handling and how much we were lifting made it a three-wide race, and really it was just about trying to find clean air, which was what made your car handle better. Q. I’m kind of surprised you’re six years in and you’re still trying to find your rhythm. It’s not like you’re a rookie anymore.WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, I just think I haven’t raced a lot in my career, so getting a later start, I think every race is a learning experience. Obviously I’m comfortable with a lot of things, but if I go and race something else, I’m very comfortable, but these are the best guys, and it takes every little detail. I think still inching up on those things, still getting better. There’s a lot — I thought tonight there was a lot of things I could have done better, pit road speed, decisions. I think there’s still a lot of things you can improve. But we’re on the right track. Q. Getting a win this late in the season, what kind of confidence does that give you going into New Hampshire, going into Pocono? New Hampshire you’re still looking for your first top 10.WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, New Hampshire is tough for us. It was great all the way until I got to the Cup Series, and I thought, I’m really good at this track, and then I got against all the Cup guys, and I’m like, no, I’m not very good here. I got a truck win early, and I think that kind of helped make me overconfident that I was really good there, and I think just inching up on little details here and there, and I thought we had a really good sim session at Loudon last week. I think we’re confident going in there. I’m sure the 19 is going to be fast. I think there’s going to be a few other guys that were good at Gateway, the 11. I think it’s going to be tough, but yeah, that’s certainly one we circled on the calendar. We’ve done a lot of sim work for it. Hopefully all that stuff pays off and we show up fast. Q. (No microphone.)WILLIAM BYRON: A little bit, yeah. I think it’s probably the closest thing we’ve had lately. I would say that, maybe a little bit at Nashville and then obviously Phoenix, but that was way back.I think a lot has changed since Phoenix, but I feel good about our car. If the sim is close, I think we did a lot of good things. Q. What was your thought process after the infield spin condition of the car, the rain coming? How did you pull off a win, or how did you keep composure with all that?WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, I mean, first it starts with just the basics, just getting to pit road, not tearing up the car even worse. I think I went a little bit fast at first to try to get caught up, and then tore up some stuff, so then I took it easy around the apron. When I got to pit road I realized they were taking a lot of stuff out of the right side of the car that had been torn up, so I thought, man, it’s probably pretty hurt if they’re trying to peel off parts of the car to clearance it. It was. I think the car was damaged for sure. But we were able to change the balance enough to where it got manageable, and like I said, we were able to get the balance to where we could drive it, and we just weren’t the most aggressive out there, but we could make some moves. Q. When you look back on this race, say a week from now, a month from now, down the road, what do you think you’re going to remember the most about it?WILLIAM BYRON: Just the perseverance by the team. I think it’s easy to give up, kind of pack it in. Just be like, okay, we’re a lap down. But we’ll try to get the Lucky Dog, try to have a solid finish. But we kept working on the car. We got aggressive with the changes to try to make the car have a better balance and then got aggressive with the strategy, too. I think it’s — I could tell in Rudy’s tone, he never gave up and he was constantly pumping me up saying the car is fine, just go drive the heck out of it and see what happens. Some of that motivation was great, and then I get in the corner and it would be loose, and I’m like, still not quite there. But it was okay. I think that we worked together really well. Q. We had Jeff in here earlier, and he had talked about this kind of multiyear narrative about trying to get you to come out of your shell or just showing us something, whatever that something is. I’m curious, what has the process been like with Jeff and really all the marketing people at Hendrick, and what are they trying to pull out of you exactly?WILLIAM BYRON: I don’t know. I’m pretty reserved. I’m introverted. But I think just being more comfortable around the racetrack in my environment. I think being with the team is what drives me. When I get up every day, it’s about how can I get better as a race car driver. I try to focus on that goal. I’m sure a lot of guys have that same goal, but for me, yeah, it’s what I think about. It’s what drove me to get into this sport. That’s really what I follow is just my desire to be a better driver.I think they recognize that. My work ethic and the things that I want to do to get better. Just try to be comfortable with that, and I’ve surrounded myself with people that believe in that and want to nurture that and help support it. I think Rudy and I have a good process during the week, and I think Jeff and I have a great relationship, so it’s just about trying to win more races, and then yeah, be excited and be happy that those moments happen, but for me, it’s all about kind of the process and the work. Q. Speaking of winning races, you’re the defending winner of the Slinger Nationals. You’re headed back there on Monday. What’s so cool about that event and why is it on the radar? How do you feel about your chances?WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, I feel good about it. So a little bit pissed off at the last race that I ran a super, got moved and finished second. Yeah, excited to get back in those cars. I think the Slinger Nationals is going to be really competitive this year. I think Erik is running well. He’s got his stuff good. Chase is going to be up there, Matt. Then the whole cast of characters up there. Yeah, there’s a lot of local guys that are fast, too, and I think the thing I learned last year is just to try to keep my heart rate in check. It’s easy to get worn out there. Hopefully I don’t fall out of the seat and I can do a good job for the team. I’m excited. I haven’t ran a super late model in a few months. It’s kind of been a couple months of just personal stuff and none of the races really lined up for me to run. But yeah, I’m looking forward to it. It’s going to be a busy week, but it’ll be fun. Q. I want to say you’re 21 points ahead of Truex now in the regular season. How much have you been looking at these points every week just to see about the regular season title?WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, I mean, we definitely look at it. There’s no doubt about it. I look at Racing Reference and look at all the top 5s, top 10s, all that stuff. Yeah, I think Truex has been running really well. It’s just a matter of us performing well. I feel like if we can perform at a high level, we put ourselves in position to run up front and get stage points. Yeah, it’s a long — we’ve still got, what, six, seven races until the playoffs, and we’ve just got to keep inching up on it. We can’t have any major bad weeks. This looked like it was going to be a bad week, and we overcame it. It’s a good lesson to learn, but I think we’re coming up on two tough tracks that we’ve got to really hone in on with Pocono and Loudon. I know that the 19 is going to be fast there and all the JGR cars, so we’ve got to keep it up. Q. What is it about Rudy and his personality that is good for you, that works for you?WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, I think he’s just no-nonsense. It’s just facts and it’s what can we do to go faster. I don’t have to worry about him — he just shoots me straight. He just talks about what we need to do better, and I feel like that works really well for me because I’m honestly similar. I think we’re similar in some ways on a professional side, and then on a personal side we keep up with each other, but we’re not hanging out getting beers. But we certainly have grown closer on that side, but I think in a professional sense, we just work really well.

Feger wins Week 4 points championship by 20 over Winger

HAUBSTADT, IN (July 9, 2023) – Speeding out of Turns 1-2 and down the backstretch with the lead, Shannon Babb was only a half-lap away from a record seventh DIRTcar Summer Nationals win Sunday at Tri-State Speedway. And then, crash.

As Babb entered in on the high side of Turn 3, two lapped cars got into each other, sending the 23NZ of Mick Quin washing up the track, directly in front of a full-speed Babb coming to collect the checkered flag. Instead, Babb collected with Quin between Turns 3-4, roughly 50 yards from the finish line.

Right on Babb’s heels getting into Turn 3 was Dylan Thompson – the veteran racer from Paducah, KY – who entered the corner a full lane lower than Babb. As Babb collided with Quin on the top, Thompson sailed it through the middle groove, right underneath the wreck and took the lead out of Turn 4.

The flagman waved the checkered flag in the air as Thompson sped across the finish line to steal the win, completing the last-lap, last-corner pass in dramatic fashion and score his first career Hell Tour victory.

“Coming out of Turn 2 on the last lap, coming down the backstretch, I watched it happen,” Thompson said. “I stood on that damn thing and turned it to the bottom. I looked over and thought, ‘Well, I see the lapped car, I do not see Shannon, and I see the checkered flag.’

“Then they said [over driver radio communication] ‘99 to scales and droop check,’ and I thought, ‘We literally just won.’ It’s still not sinking in, really.”

Babb’s perspective further detailed the situation and how fast it all went down in front of him.

“As soon as we entered Turn 3, I saw the two get together,” Babb said. “There’s just no way I can get down and avoid it. The big opening closed-up really quick. I got on the brakes really hard to keep from getting into [Quin] and had to come to a dead stop.”

Though Babb led most of the 40-lap main event, Thompson led the one and only lap that truly mattered. He said he didn’t expect to be there at the end when the green flag dropped but was glad it worked out how it did.

“I told my guys when we pulled on the track, I said, ‘I just want to finish.’ That was my goal,” Thompson said.

“We finished first.”

Despite the big contact coming to the checkers, Babb was able to gather it back in and take home a runner-up finish. He took the lead from the outside pole in the opening laps and was soon met with heavy pressure from Rusty Schlenk, who took the lead from him on Lap 17 with a big slide job through Turns 1-2.

Babb stayed with it, however, and retook the lead with a slide job of his own on Lap 29.

“I had confidence I could pass [Schlenk] back; my car was really good,” Babb said. “I just started driving harder. I was only doing about three-quarters. Once he got by me, I just turned the week up and ran a little harder.”

Thompson had been stalking both of them from the third position throughout the battle and made the pass on Schlenk to get into position behind Babb on Lap 30. Coming to the white flag, Thompson was only a single car length back, and was there to capitalize on Babb’s misfortune to get the win in the end.

Further back in the field, Jason Feger had advanced to the seventh spot from ninth on the grid, finishing right behind Ashton Winger in the running order. Feger came into the night up 22 points on Winger in the hunt for the Week 4 points championship and retained the advantage at the checkered flag, earning him another $10,000 points fund check after capturing the Week 2 title earlier this season.

UP NEXT

The Summer Nationals Late Models take Monday and Tuesday off before returning to action in the final week of the 38th annual Hell Tour on Wednesday, July 12 at Shadyhill Speedway in Medaryville, IN. Tickets will be on sale at the gate; streaming available at DIRTVision.com.

ABBREVIATED RESULTS (view full results)

Feature (40 Laps): 1. 99-Dylan Thompson[8]; 2. 18-Shannon Babb[2]; 3. 31AUS-Kye Blight[3]; 4. 91-Rusty Schlenk[5]; 5. 4G-Bob Gardner[6]; 6. 12-Ashton Winger[4]; 7. 25-Jason Feger[9]; 8. 15-Clayton Stuckey[12]; 9. 22-Skyller Lewis[1]; 10. 1-BJ Robinson[14]; 11. 44-Blaze Burwell[13]; 12. 38-Thomas Hunziker[17]; 13. 17-Lee Williams[21]; 14. 23NZ-Mick Quin[16]; 15. 15T-Cliff Tooley[23]; 16. 27M-Rodney Melvin[11]; 17. 4D-Doug Tye[20]; 18. 17W-Greg Williams[10]; 19. 7-Steven Reinacher[19]; 20. 4-Jason Suhre[7]; 21. 11-Robby Moore[18]; 22. 18M-Jimmy Miller[15]; 23. 78S-Steve Stultz[24]; 24. 16-Brandon Tibaldi[22]

Lamont Wins Tri-State Summit Modified Feature for Second-Straight Year

When it comes to the DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals at Tri-State Speedway, no driver has had the field covered more recently than Mark Lamont.

Lamont, 39, of Crossville, IL, won his first career Summit Modified Feature last year at Tri-State, defeating Tyler Nicely in a dogfight. Fast forward one year to Sunday night, and he did it again – this time, in more dominant fashion, leading all 25 circuits around the 1/4-mile to bag his second career series victory at Tri-State in consecutive years.

Like last year, Nicely was right on Lamont’s tail yet again Sunday. A late restart posed a green-white-checkered finish to the field, which Lamont aced and held off pressure from Nicely behind him to secure the win.

“I never saw [Nicely], but I saw Lucas [Lee] a couple restarts earlier,” Lamont said. “I was kinda just cruising, and then my flag guy said to get on it.”

UP NEXT

The Summit Modifieds take Monday and Tuesday off before returning to action in the final week of the 38th annual Hell Tour on Wednesday, July 12 at Shadyhill Speedway in Medaryville, IN. Tickets will be on sale at the gate; streaming available at DIRTVision.com.

ABBREVIATED RESULTS (view full results)

Feature (25 Laps): 1. 7-Mark Lamont[2]; 2. 25-Tyler Nicely[3]; 3. 12L-Lucas Lee[4]; 4. 81C-Christopher Cole[6]; 5. 10Y-Trent Young[1]; 6. 1S-Brian Shaw[8]; 7. 47-Cyle Forgy[12]; 8. 55-Justin Jones[13]; 9. 91K-Cody Kibby[15]; 10. 5S-Owen Steinkoenig[9]; 11. 82-Dalton Lane[7]; 12. 27-Beau DeYoung[21]; 13. 13-Charlie Mefford[17]; 14. 69L-Josh Lemke[14]; 15. 66-Michael Fox[5]; 16. 37-Everett Bradham[18]; 17. 1H-Ben Harmon[16]; 18. 8K-Levi Kissinger[19]; 19. 81-Mark Cole[11]; 20. 1A-Steve Meyer Jr[10]; 21. 50-Tyler Weiss[20]; 22. I99-Mikey Kopka[

Defending DIRTcar Sportsman Champion three-for-three in West Region

PORT COLBORNE, ONT. (JULY 9, 2023) – Cody McPherson continues to make a statement in hopes to repeat as DIRTcar Sportsman champion for 2023.  It took two late race, green, white, checkers to pass race long leader Billy Bleich to win his third West Region Series event out of three starts.

In what look to be a non-stop event with Bleich going wire to wire, a yellow on lap 29 for a spun car in turn two changed the entire outlook of the event.

The restart put McPherson’s familiar #7 alongside Bleich and when the green lights shined, he stayed alongside his rival going into turn one.  “I needed that restart, this was Billy’s race.  I tried everything to get by him but he was so good down in that low lane,” McPherson commented on the event’s unfolding, “When the restart happened I was going to roll the middle and try to maybe pinch him a bit.  It worked.”

With McPherson out-front and looking to receive the checkers, a multi-car incident occurred in turn one.  Yellow lights were on again which made for another green, white, checker.  “Yea, didn’t want to see that second yellow.  You just don’t know if he could do the same I did to him,” he said with some concern, “I tried to get a good jump and it seemed to work. The car took off.”

The win extended his lead slightly over Brett Senek who came home in third.  In the runner-up slot was Merrittville tough luck finisher in James Michael Friesen.  He too used those last two restarts to move himself from fifth to second at the finish.

“I was really just locked in the middle of the field for so many laps.  I was trying to make the top work but the bottom was so good,” Friesen summed up, “The restarts I was able to make some moves and get a bit lucky to grab second.  We will take it.”

For Senek, It was a bit of a late race charge just like the week prior at Merrittville and this time it resulted in a podium finish.  “The restarts helped me also.  I was kind of settled in and was going to take what I could get,” Senek quipped, “On the restarts I found a lane to get a couple of cars.  That helped some in points, I’m behind Cody be we do have a shot.”

Bleich took fourth at the finish, not the result he wanted.  Chad Chevalier came from his tenth place to grab fifth at the end.  The next five was made up of Taylor Vanderzanden, Nelson Mason, Curtis Friesem, who also receives a free Hoosier Tire, Justin Sharp and Kyle Richner.

Taking the heat wins were McPherson, James Friesen and Jay Mallory.  A total of 24 cars made up the pit log.

DIRTcar Sportsman West Region 30 – Cody McPherson ($1,250), James Michael Friesen, Brett Senek, Bill Bleich Jr., Chad Chevalier, Taylor Vanderzanden, Nelson Mason, Curtis Friesen, Justin Sharp, Kyle Richner, Phil Vigneri III, Matteo Panunte, Rob Pietz, Jay Mallory, Terry Smith, Tom Princiotta, Matt Sharpe, Nathan Peattie, Tyler Pulchalski, Jeff Panunte, Adam Leslie, Chris Hawkins, Doug Walsh Jr.

NASCAR CUP SERIES ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY QUAKER STATE 400 TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES & QUOTES JULY 9, 2023    Team Chevy Sweeps Podium

·       The win is Byron’s series-leading fourth NASCAR Cup Series win of the 2023 season; his second career NCS win at Atlanta Motor Speedway; and his eighth career win in NASCAR’s premier series.  ·       The victory extended Chevrolet’s series-leading NASCAR Cup Series win record at Atlanta Motor Speedway to 44 all-time victories at the 1.54-mile Georgia oval.  ·       Chevrolet has now won eight of the past nine superspeedway-style races in NASCAR’s top series – recorded by six drivers from four different Chevrolet teams.  ·       The victory marked Chevrolet’s series-leading 12th NASCAR Cup Series victory this season.  ·       The winningest manufacturer in NASCAR Cup Series history, Chevrolet now sits at 845 all-time wins in NASCAR’s premier series.  ·       Team Chevy drivers swept the podium in the NASCAR Cup Series Quaker State 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway – recorded by drivers from three different Chevrolet teams. This marks the fifth podium sweep for Chevrolet in NASCAR’s premier series this season.  TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10 RESULTS:POS.   DRIVER1st      William Byron, No. 24 Axalta Camaro ZL12nd     Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Quaker State Camaro ZL13rd      AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Farmsmart Camaro ZL15th      Kyle Busch, No. 8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Camaro ZL18th      Justin Haley, No. 31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Camaro ZL110th    Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Kroger / Slim Jim Camaro ZL1  TOP-FIVE UNOFFICIAL RESULTS: POS.  DRIVER1.        William Byron (Chevrolet)2.        Daniel Suarez (Chevrolet)3.        AJ Allmendinger (Chevrolet)4.        Michael McDowell (Ford)5.        Kyle Busch (Chevrolet)  The 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season continues at New Hampshire Motor Speedway with the Crayon 301 on Sunday, July 16, at 2:30 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on the USA Network, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE QUOTES: William Byron, No. 24 Axalta Camaro ZL1Finished: Race Winner I don’t even know where to start with your day. You said it was so much fun early on and then the penalty on pit road and the spin – how did you guys come back and make this happen? “Yeah, just team work. Honestly I don’t completely understand this one. It’s a really good feeling. I’ve never had a rain victory like this. Thank you to Hendrick Motorsports, Axalta, Chevrolet. It’s cool – we went through so much throughout the night; spinning through the infield. Destroyed the bottom of the car dragging it around the apron trying to stay on the lead lap. At that point, you just don’t have the grip, so I was real edgy back in traffic. But Rudy (Fugle, crew chief) made a good call to pit there and then stay out. Once we got towards the front, it was OK. We could honestly make the right decisions. Got the lead from AJ (Allmendinger) and just was able to manage the run. Just a crazy night.” The guys in the booth were saying some of the most amazing racing they have seen. Behind the wheel, how was the racing tonight? “Yeah, it was awesome. I think that’s all you can ask for on a superspeedway. We want handling to matter. We want to be able to drive the thing. I feel like the first stage was really fun. I was able to make some moves on the bottom. You’d lift in every corner, so it’s different than a 550 old-style race – it’s more packed up, but handling still matters and guys can make aggressive moves. I was certainly edgy back in traffic, but like I said, Rudy made a good call and we got up towards the front. Sometimes that’s what it takes. Just thankful for the whole team and just staying in it. We were a lap down and it could have been over.” Austin Dillon, No. 3 Dow Salutes Veterans Camaro ZL1Finished: 21st“Really struggled all weekend with the handling of our Dow Salutes Veterans Chevy. Hate it for Dow and Team Rubicon. The car looked amazing. We made some adjustments. Just needed all the laps to get the car to the front.” Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1Sidelined by damage sustained in an accident in Stage One. Finished: 36thWe saw the spin – what happened and then what ultimately took you out of contention?“Yeah, on the spin – I haven’t seen a replay, but I think I was just late and slow to protect the top, and the No. 43 (Erik Jones) must have been just really close to me and got me loose. I spun and got the flat. And then I thought we were going to get lucky enough to just be able to drive right to my pit stall and change the tire. We changed the right-rear and didn’t get the right-front changed. And then that exploded on the apron and I had to lose a lap for the damage. Just had a little bit of a tire rub still and ultimately it just ended up giving out and I got into the wall. Hate that I made the mistake there to put us in this position, but I was having fun up until the spin. I thought I was doing a decent job – finishing second in the stage. Just wish I could have got to the end. Most of the time I feel like it’s other peoples’ fault why I DNF, but tonight it was my fault. Little bit of a bummer.” Kyle Busch, No. 8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Camaro ZL1Finished: 5thHow dicey has it been out there tonight? “Yeah, it’s been really dicey. A lot of things kind of been going on – a lot of lanes, a lot of options, which has been pretty good. It’s all about momentum obviously. You break momentum or have something happen, it knocks you back or slows you down, you get blown over by four or five guys. So it’s all about just minimizing your mistakes and minimize those that can get by you while you’re trying to make moves. Definitely a different game, but overall, just really happy with the No. 8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Camaro. We’ve adjusted on it every pit stop today. We stayed out on that set of tires and it felt really good. Wish we could have continued. I felt like we had more than fifth.” Justin Haley, No. 31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Camaro ZL1Finished: 8th “Atlanta continues to be a really strong track for this Kaulig Racing team. We fired off super loose, but Trent (Owens) made some great adjustments that got us back where we needed to be for the start of the second stage. It was a lot of fun running second there for a while and racing in the top five. We knew the weather was moving in, and we thought we might have a good strategy there. Unfortunately, it ended just a little too soon, but overall it was a good day for Kaulig Racing.” Erik Jones, No. 43 Allegiant Camaro ZL1Finished: 11th“It was an up and down day for our Allegiant Chevy; we could have been a bit farther up with some of the stuff that we did, but for the most part we made our bed set up wise last night. So, it was a good day. The car is getting faster each week, and hopefully we keep going that way. I think today was overall a good day.” Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Quaker State Camaro ZL1Finished: 2nd “I feel like I have mixed feelings, but overall, very proud of my No. 99 Quaker State Chevy team. It’s been a little bit rough lately because we’ve had the speed, but we haven’t had the results, so this feels good.” Ty Gibbs had trouble, so this is probably a good points day for you..  “Yeah, it’s a shame – you never want your competition to have trouble and feel happy about it. But it is what it is. We’ve had trouble the last few weeks, as well. I’m just trying to take one race at a time and let it play out. We had the speed today, once again, and we showed that.” 

July 9, 2023 — BOWMANVILLE, Ont., Canada

• Meyer Shank Racing duo of Colin Braun and Tom Blomqvist claim their second IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship win of 2023
• Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor bring  Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport Acura home secon
• Brake issue blunts Gradient Racing run in GTD

Playing their energy management strategy to perfection, Meyer Shank Racing led an Acura 1-2 sweep of today’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, with Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport finishing second for Acura. 

In GTD, Katherine Legge and Sheena Monk appeared headed for their second consecutive top-five result – and third of the season – in their Acura NSX GT3 Evo22, until a late-race brake issue dropped the pair to an unrepresentative 11th-place finish.

Acura ARX-06 GTP
In the premier GTP division for hybrid prototypes, Blomqvist and Braun had their #60 MSR Acura ARX-06 at the front of the field for the majority of the two-hour, 40-minute contest, despite a flurry of incidents and late-race caution flags turned the race into a contest of pit stop strategies.

Stretching their final run for an impressive 78 minutes, MSR held on for the victory; with the sister WTRAndretti Acura of Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque coming home second.

The victory is the second of the season for Acura, both 1-2 results, with the previous win coming at the season-opening Rolex 24 at Daytona.  In scoring their first overall win today at CTMP, the Meyer Shank organization became the first GTP team to win multiple WeatherTech Championship races in 2023 in the new hybrid prototype era.

Today’s victory moves Braun and Blomqvist to sixth in the championship after six of nine races; while Albuquerque and Taylor are third in the standings, just 29 points out of first.

Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 GTD
In the production-based GTD category, Gradient Racing saw their chance for a podium finish evaporate when Katherine Legge was forced to make an unscheduled late-race pit stop to repair a left-rear brake caliper. 

Prior to issue, Sheena Monk had made up seven positions during her opening stint, pitting from seventh in GTD; while Legge took advantage of the team’s off-sequence pit strategy to take over the class lead with just over an hour remaining.  Despite losing seven laps to complete the brake repair, Legge resumed to garner an 11th-place finish for the team, which enabled the pair to move up to sixth in the GTD championship standings after six of 11 rounds.

Canadian Tire Motorsport Park Acura Race Results

• 1st GTP – #60 Tom Blomqvist and Colin Braun; Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06
• 2nd GTP – #10 Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor; Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport Acura ARX-06
• 11th GTD –  #66 Katherine Legge and Sheena Monk; Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo22

Quotes
Colin Braun (#60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06): Race winner with co-driver Tom Blomqvist: “It was tough. The other guys were good on fuel, so for me it was just about getting a good restart and building a gap and then going into fuel save mode. I was surprised with the great pace the Acura had on the fuel save. Then, once we got through the traffic, I knew I could probably pull a gap and we did. I’m just super proud of everyone here with Meyer Shank Racing, Acura, and HPD. Everyone did a great job. You know, obviously, we’ve been close [to another victory]. We’ve had good pace all year. So, great is it converted to a win and we definitely had to work for it this week.”

Filipe Albuquerque (#10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport Acura ARX-06) finished second with co-driver Ricky Taylor: “What a crazy race!” We started really well with Ricky [Taylor] putting pressure and pulling a big gap on everybody. Then I got in the car and was actually feeling good, just saving the tires and controlling the position. At one point with the strategy, the safety car went out when we just pitted. So, it’s like ‘perfect’ and by then we thought it’s going to be an easy win. But then it was so chaotic with so many yellows. It turned out that the Meyer Shank car got to the end. It’s so hard to pass around here and whoever was in front were going to pull away. We’re happy with P2 today. It’s a start, we’ve been having a rough season with amazing pace. Congrats to HPD for the pace and the car we had today. So, let’s continue with this momentum.” 

Katherine Legge (#66 Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo22) 11th in GTD with co-driver Sheena Monk: “It looked like we had a very promising race going for us.  I think we had the car for a top-five finish, at the very least, but then we had the long stop to repair a brake caliper.  It’s unfortunate.  At least we were able to return to the race once the problem was fixed and salvage a finish and some championship points.  All our thoughts right now are with [team owner] Andris Laivins as he deals with a serious illness in his family.”

Lee Niffenegger (principal engineer, Honda Performance Development) on today’s Acura 1-2 result at CTMP:  “Today turned into a race with two possible strategies, but we had both options covered [with Meyer Shank Racing and Wayne Taylor with Andretti Autosport], and it turned into a fantastic 1-2 for Acura and HPD.  We’re really proud of both our teams and everyone at HPD today.  We fought back after some less-than-desirable results recently, and now we’re in the thick of the championship with three [GTP] races to go.  It’s ‘Game on!'”

Fast Facts

• This is the seventh prototype victory for Acura Motorsports at CTMP, in both IMSA and American Le Mans Series championship competition.
• Acura’s first win at what was then called Mosport Park came in 2008, when David Brabham and Scott Sharp took their Highcroft Racing Acura ARX-01b to the LMP2 class victory. 

Next

The GT classes of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTD PRO and GTD, travel to Connecticut’s Lime Rock Park for the FCP Euro Northeast Grand Prix Presented by Liqui Moly, July 20-22.  The full IMSA field next runs August 4-6 for the IMSA SportsCar Weekend at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.

Acura Motorsports social media content and video links can be found on:

• Instagram        (www.instagram.com/hondaracing_hpd)
• TikTok             (www.tiktok.com/hondaracing_hpd)
• Twitter             (www.twitter.com/HondaRacing_Hpd)
• Facebook        (www.facebook.com/HondaRacingHPD)
• YouTube         (https://www.youtube.com/HondaRacingHPDTV)

BATAVIA, Ohio (July 9, 2023) – The stars of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series are ready for a mid-week showdown at Davenport, Iowa’s 1/4-mile bulling. The annual Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series stop at Davenport Speedway presented C & J Trucking / HD Equipment will be a complete program of Dirt Draft Hot Laps, Allstar Performance Time Trials, Heat Races, B-Mains, and a 40-lap, $10,000-to-win A-Main. The IMCA Late Models and IMCA Modifieds are also on the racing card for Tuesday, July 11. The pit gate will open at 2:00PM with the general admission gate opening at 5:00PM. On track action will begin at 6:30PM. All times are Central Time. In 2022, Hudson O’Neal narrowly held off Brandon Overton in a thrilling battle at Davenport that saw four different lead changes during the 40-lapper. O’Neal took the lead for good on lap 34 and beat Overton to the line by just .589 seconds. Mike Marlar, like O’Neal and Overton, led during the race but finished in third followed by Jimmy Owens and Spencer Hughes. Davenport Speedway is located on the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds at 2815 West Locust Street in Davenport, Iowa. Tickets to the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series event presented by presented C & J Trucking / HD Equipment can be purchased at the gate on race day. For more information about Davenport Speedway, visit www.davenportiaspeedway.com.  Ricky Thornton Jr. leads the Big River Steel Chase for the Championship presented by ARP to Davenport Speedway – with a 175-point advantage over Hudson O’Neal. Brandon Overton is third, followed by Tim McCreadie and Jonathan Davenport.  For the latest news, results, championship standings and more about the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, please visit www.lucasdirt.com. Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Purse: 1. $10,000, 2. $5,500, 3. $3,500, 4. $2,700, 5. $2,500, 6. $2,300, 7. $2,200, 8. $2,100, 9. $2,050, 10. $2,000, 11. $1,600, 12. $1,400, 13. $1,200, 14. $1,000, 15. $950, 16. $925, 17. $900, 18. $875, 19. $850, 20. $825, 21. $800, 22. $800, 23. $800, 24. $800 = Total $48,575 Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Tire Rule:Left Rear/Fronts – Hoosier (90) NLMT2, (90) NLMT3Right Rear – Hoosier (92) NLMT3, (92) NLMT4 *Must use the same set of 4 tires for Time Trials and Heat Races

NASCAR CUP SERIES

ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY

QUAKER STATE 400

TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT

JULY 9, 2023

KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1, met with the media prior to the NASCAR Cup Series Quaker State 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Press conference transcript: 

YOU’VE BEEN NOMINATED FOR ESPN’S BEST DRIVER ESPY AWARD FOR THE SECOND YEAR IN A ROW. YOU WON IT LAST YEAR. WHAT DOES THIS INCREDIBLE FEAT MEAN TO YOU? 

“Honestly, it’s cool to be acknowledged. I was super surprised by it. I know there was a lot more deserving drivers – at least in American auto racing – than I was last year. But regardless, it’s an honor. I don’t think I should win it (laughs), but either way, it’s cool to be on the list. I feel bad for guys who didn’t get acknowledged for this award because, like I said, there’s a lot more that are deserving of it than me.”

TALKING ABOUT THE LIST OF DRIVERS THAT YOU’RE NOMINATED ALONG WITH – YOU ARE NOMINATED IN GOOD COMPANY ALONG WITH BRITTANY FORCE, JOSEF NEWGARDEN AND MAX VERSTAPPEN. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON BEING NOMINATED FOR THIS AWARD WITH THOSE DRIVERS? 

“Yeah, they’re the best – or one of the best – in all of their forms of racing. Anytime you can join a list with names like that is special. But again, I think a guy like Joey Logano probably should be on it more so than me. But hey – if I win, I’m going to stick the trophy right next to the other one, too. 

It’s cool.. it’s cool, for sure. But a fluke, in a way.” 

HOW DO YOU FEEL LIKE ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY HAS MATURED AS A SUPERSPEEDWAY-STYLE TRACK? 

“Well we’ve only made two laps, so I don’t know how it’s different than earlier this year. It seemed like the Chevy’s had their hands full yesterday just to complete a lap. I don’t know if that’s the surface or just teams trying to make their car better; not making it better and making it tougher to drive. But we’ll see once the race starts. Visually, it doesn’t look like it’s aged much. Just the times I went through (turn) two, I felt like the patch was rougher than I remembered, so curious of what that’ll feel like as we move up the race track because in qualifying we just run low. We’ll see – but yeah, pavement ages and I hope this place ages quickly to make the racing different each time we come back.”

(NO MIC.)

“I have no clue. I’ve been in NASCAR for 10 years and aside from Darlington (Raceway), I haven’t seen really any track get super abrasive over time. Yes – the groove might change here or there. Kansas (Speedway), for example, is good but I wouldn’t say it’s abrasive. It’s nice that you can move around the track. It was repaved all that long ago. But then you know a track like Daytona (International Speedway), Talladega (Superspeedway), Pocono (Raceway), Phoenix (Raceway) – places that like, I don’t foresee those tracks ever getting abrasive. I just think the – I don’t know the engineering behind it, but pavement nowadays must be a lot more durable than what it used to be. I would love for all of these tracks to get more abrasive. I think that’s when the racing gets better. These places seem so perfectly paved that I don’t see it getting abrasive, ever.”

CAN YOU TELL ME WHAT YOUR EXPECTATIONS ARE AT LOUDON? THEY ARE GOING TO DO A TEST AFTERWARDS, BUT WHAT DO WE NEED TO SEE ON THE FLATTER ONE-MILE TRACKS LIKE THAT TO GET A LITTLE MORE SIDE-BY-SIDE RACING AND MAKE IT EASIER TO PASS?

“I don’t know – I saw just a quick kind of overview of the changes, I guess, that they’re going to try at New Hampshire (Motor Speedway). I don’t know much about race cars, so I don’t know what it is exactly – but it sounds like on the runs that they’ve made on the computers, it seems like it should be better in traffic. I hope that when they go to the test that it correlates well and the guys that are there feel better behind cars.. all of that. I don’t know – that’s the goal for every race track and race car, is if you’re faster than a guy, it would be a little easier to pass them. We’ll see. 

But yeah, with these cars, I feel like we’ve made improvements on the 1.5-mile tracks compared to the previous model car. For sure, the short-track stuff has struggled for passing. But overall, I would say the cars are more fun to drive because you have your hands full of it more, but it’s definitely a little harder to pass.”

FROM A GUY THAT COMES FROM THE GRASSROOTS, WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO A TEAM THAT’S IN WORLD OF OUTLAWS OR THE ALL-STARS TO HAVE A GUY LIKE TONY STEWART, OR A PROMOTOR LIKE THAT, PUT UP A MILLION DOLLARS FOR A WIN? 

“Yeah, it’s amazing. It’s honestly really cool.. it’s a lot of money. It’s way more money than any dirt racer gets to race for. It’s life-changing money, for sure. For a World of Outlaw guy, it might take him four or five years to make that much. 

Yeah, it’s awesome. Tony (Stewart) and his whole staff.. FloRacing, they’re a big part of it, too. To promote a race last year with the late model million and then give the sprint car guys their chance this year, it’s pretty neat. I’m obviously happy I get to compete in it, too (laughs). 

We’ll see. It’s going to be a really tough race. I think there’s a few guys that have a great shot to win. But then it’s also a unique format that will open the door for others, too. We’ll see, but I’m looking forward to the opportunity, as well as everybody else is.”

WHAT’S YOUR MINDSET GOING INTO A SUPERSPEEDWAY RACE LIKE THIS? DO YOU TRY TO HOLD BACK AND AVOID THE WRECKS, OR DO YOU THINK YOU CAN RUN UP FRONT ALL DAY LONG?

“Well I would like to get up front – stay up front and have a better chance of not getting caught up in a crash. But I feel like I’ve crashed at superspeedways more than anybody probably ever has in their career (laughs). I’ve crashed in the front. I’ve crashed in the middle. I’ve crashed in the back. And I haven’t figured out how not to crash.

I don’t really know. I’ve tried studying these places a lot to figure out how to not crash and where all that happens. But I don’t know – I think a lot of times, you have to get a little bit lucky, but it’s decisions that lead up to those moments when crashes happen that are the reasons why you got in it or didn’t get in it. So just trying to make the right decisions. I would love to be up front though all race long.” 

REMEMBERING THE FINISH IN LAST NIGHT’S XFINITY SERIES RACE, WE SAW THINGS GO AWRY WITH THE STRATEGY THE KAULIG RACING CARS HAD. I DON’T KNOW IF YOU’VE HAD YOUR COMPETITION MEETINGS YET, WHETHER IT’S BEEN WITH HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS OR CHEVROLET, BUT HAS THERE BEEN ANY REFERRAL TO WHAT HAPPENED LAST NIGHT AND ANY MESSAGE OF ‘DON’T DO THAT’ WHEN YOU’RE TRYING TO DRAFT AND WORK WITH YOUR TEAMMATES? 

“Well I think there was more that went into the moves that were made last night than just Justin (Haley) not working with (Daniel) Hemric. It sounded like he was running out of fuel, so I don’t think it necessarily was him not working with his teammate. But yeah, I mean every week, you talk about the upcoming race and what you can do to help each other. Daytona (International Speedway), Talladega (Superspeedway) and Atlanta (Motor Speedway) are a little more extreme, I guess, in conversations. 

But yeah, you want to give your team the best opportunity to win. You want to give Chevrolet the best opportunity to win. So yes – I think working together is key, but you also have to lookout for yourself and how to get yourself the best finish sometimes, too. 

And also, it’s hard to make the decisions at 190 mph, quickly. It’s easy to look at something happening in the moment or look at it afterward and really critique somebody. But when you’re not behind the wheel, those decisions have to be made in under a second.”

IN 2001, WHEN KEVIN HARVICK DROVE THE NO. 29 TO HIS FIRST WIN HERE – FIRST OF ALL, DID YOU HAVE MEMORIES OF THAT RACE OR WATCHING IT AS A KID? WHAT IS YOUR VANTAGE POINT, SEEING CARS LIKE THAT, LEADING YOU GUYS AROUND TO THE GREEN TODAY? 

“Yeah, I was – gosh, I was only nine (years old) then, so I don’t remember if I watched it live. But I’ve obviously seen the highlights a lot of times. It was just an epic finish; an epic moment. A moment that meant a lot to the sport and to that race team, and the legacy that Dale Earnhardt, Sr., had and the start of Kevin Harvick’s amazing career. It’s pretty neat in Kevin’s final time here at Atlanta (Motor Speedway) to have Richard (Childress) pacing the field in that car. I think Atlanta has been Kevin’s best track his whole career until they repaved it, so it’s pretty neat. Those cars and the track – everything was just way different back then. It’s not even the same place – it might have the same address, but it’s not the same track as it was then. But no, it’s definitely cool to have that car leading the field.”

GOING BACK TO THE CRASH TOPIC – CAN YOU TALK ABOUT YOUR RECOVERY PROCESS AFTER BEING INVOLVED IN ONE OF THOSE WRECKS.. KIND OF LIKE THE ONE AT TALLADEGA (SUPERSPEEDWAY)? WHAT IT DOES TO YOUR BODY AND KIND OF WHAT YOU DO, SPECIFICALLY, TO RECOVER FROM SOMETHING LIKE THAT?

“Thankfully, I’ve never had anything too serious happen to me. I’ve never been diagnosed with a concussion. I’ve never had anything like that happen. Typically, I mean for me – in some wrecks, you’re not even sore at all. Even the Talladega (Superspeedway) one, I wasn’t really sore the next day. I think me being hit from the side; my body didn’t really have anywhere to go. So my neck wasn’t stiff.. nothing hurt. So I think that’s just a testament to the cars and the safety. You always want to see it getting safer. But yeah 10 years ago, I might have felt differently.. or maybe longer ago than that. 

But I’ve been fortunate, knock on wood, to not have anything serious happen to me yet. I know there’s an opportunity every weekend for that. I’m sure if the situation ever comes up where I am injured, I know that Hendrick Motorsports has great people, resources and contacts for whatever I’m sure you’re dealing with. Alex (Bowman) had his injuries. Chase (Elliott) had his earlier this year. They have, unfortunately, a lot of experience with it. But yeah, hopefully I don’t run into anything like that.” 

Garcia, Taylor, No. 3 Corvette C8.R claim season’s first GTD PRO victory

BOWMANVILLE, Ontario, Canada (July 9, 2023) – Corvette Racing broke through with a long-awaited victory Sunday at the Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, the team’s first win of the season in the GT Daytona (GTD) PRO class of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor teamed for the victory in the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R, which was racing for the second time at CTMP. It’s the first win for Corvette at the circuit since 2014 and gave the team an even dozen victories at the historic Canadian venue. It’s also the 126th win all-time for Corvette Racing and 114 in North American competition. The victory capped a day where Corvette Racing clinched the FIA WEC GTE Am Drivers and Teams World Championships at the Six Hours of Monza. The groundwork for the Canadian Corvette victory began early. Taylor began from fourth and held his position until diving in for a pit stop at the 33-minute mark. He got out and Garcia got in as the Corvette Racing crew changed tires and added fuel. The move set off a chain reaction with three other GTD PRO cars following suit, and the C8.R emerging after the cycle in third place – but second among cars in class that stopped early. An even more critical moment came with 70 minutes remaining. Garcia moved to the lead on a restart with 70 minutes left as the two cars ahead of him fought off-track at the exit of the first corner. The Corvette held the proper line and moved by each. The championship-leading 14 Lexus suffered damage in the incident while the No. 9 Porsche emerged behind Garcia. The top three cars ran within less than four seconds apart for the final 24 minutes with the Corvette taking the win under yellow after a late-race safety car period – the fourth of the day. Corvette Racing’s next event is the FCP Euro Northeast Grand Prix on Saturday, July 22 from Lime Rock Park.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – GTD PRO RACE-WINNER: “It was not easy. Probably on the last restart I knew we had the pace to win. Up to that point, the whole class was pretty close. Since the start, everyone was bunched up. We made a good call early just to put stress on everybody to see what they did. Almost everybody followed us on that strategy, which was OK. I believe it’s also smart to follow what Corvette Racing does! We did that expecting the leaders to stay out maybe, but they all came in and I knew from that point that I had to do a good job… especially at the start of the stint when I passed the Mercedes and got very close to the Lexus on cold tires. From that point on, they had really good pace but we were close. On the restart (with 70 minutes left), I knew the Porsche was the only one that gambled on the strategy and jumped us. I was kind of a front-row spectator into Turn One when the 9 and 14 went side-by-side, which I think never works here. Once I saw that, I was alert and went for it to make the move for the lead. We had strong pace at the front, but it was difficult to be at the back of the GTD field with the safety car rules where we cycle completely back to the rear of the GTDs or are always there fighting for positions. It’s always a nightmare. I’m glad we had the pace and nothing against us happened like what happened at Sebring when we were in the middle of the GTDs. That’s the way it is. I don’t think they want us to be there while we are racing, and we don’t want them there while we are racing other PRO cars.”

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – GTD PRO RACE-WINNER: “It has been awhile. The Sebring 12 Hours was the last one. We’ve struggled here and there, but I feel like we executed very well at a lot of the races and the results haven’t been there. We’ve had a lot of podiums here and there so it’s nice for everything to click and go our way. The guys called a great strategy and undercut everyone at the beginning, picked up a couple more spots and Antonio had a great restart to jump to the lead. Once he got to the lead, it was kind of stressful to watch with him mixed in with the GTDs. He did a great job staying out of trouble and thankfully we had a quick car in clean air. It’s really nice to get a Corvette back in victory lane back here at CTMP for the Chevrolet Grand Prix.”ON WINNING THE RACE AND THE WEC TEAM WINNING THE GTE AM CHAMPIONSHIPS: “It was a very good day. I don’t think it could have gone much better. We have our remote operations here too, and during our pre-race meeting and warmup, we were listening to their intercom of what was going on there. Kyle Millay (chief engineer) is usually on the WEC side but he came here this weekend. They were still talking to him here during our pre-race meeting for their strategy there. It’s a team effort from both sides. Nicky (Catsburg) just texted us and said they were on our intercom during our race. It’s one big family. They’ve had an unbelievable year winning as much as they did, winning Le Mans and clinching the championship. It was a good decision for Corvette to stay in the WEC to execute that championship and open some doors for the future.“They were bouncing some questions off Kyle. He’s been around for so long and seen pretty much everything there is to see even though he’s so young. Ben Johnson (IMSA team manager and program technical director) was on the intercoms too. Both teams on both sides of the ocean are working together. If we have an electronics issues, Neil (Schreiber), who set up our car is on the WEC side now so we can bounce questions off him. It’s nice to have that constant communication between the two.”

LAURA WONTROP KLAUSER, GM SPORTS CAR RACING PROGRAM MANAGER: “I can’t think of a better weekend for Corvette Racing. A World Championship in the WEC and a race win in IMSA on the same day is something we all will remember. It shows how strong this program is in both series and how much both sides work together to get the most out of these Corvette race cars. I’m incredibly proud of both the No. 33 and No. 3 Corvette teams on this unbelievable day.”

No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R retains championship points lead

BOWMANVILLE, Ontario (July 9, 2023) – The silver lining Sunday for Cadillac Racing in the Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park is that the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R retained the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Grand Touring Prototype driver and team points lead.

Pipo Derani and Alexander Sims, who started on the inside of Row 2 in the hybrid Cadillac racecar for the scheduled 2-hour, 40-minute sprint, finished seventh in the race that ended under caution due to an incident with 4 minutes, 50 seconds left involving the No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R. The No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R, which qualified fourth with Sebastien Bourdais behind the wheel, was pushed off the racing surface into the grass and made heavy nose-first contact with the tire barrier in Turn 8 on the 2.459-mile course.

Renger van der Zande exited the car under his own power and was checked at the infield care center. The No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R was classified ninth. The No. 60 Acura ARX-06 took the checkered flag. Sims recorded the fastest lap of the race of the GTP contenders at 1 minute, 07.422 seconds on Lap 96 of 120. The No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R holds a 10-point lead over the No. 25 BMW M Hybrid V8. Cadillac paces the GTP Manufacturer standings by 47 points. The next IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTP race is Sunday, Aug. 6, on the 4-mile, 14-turn Road America course. Cadillac Racing will participate in a two-day IMSA-sanctioned test July 28-29 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in preparation for the mid-September race on the 2.439-mile, 14-turn road course that incorporates sections of the famous oval.

No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.RPipo Derani: “We just weren’t lucky with the yellows today. We proved we had the pace, were quick in every sector of the track, but after being pushed wide on the final restart we weren’t able to recover in time to challenge for the podium. Tough hit on championship points, but we’re still in the lead and we’ll move on to Road America to try to increase the lead.” Alexander Sims: “We had a good car throughout the race and were very competitive but got caught by yellow flags today. It was just one of those days that you have to fight through to stay on course for the championship.” No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.RRenger van der Zande: “This was a tough result today for our Cadillac team. You never want to retire late in the race, but thankfully I’m OK and we can look to what lies ahead. Our team has made it clear that we will always dust ourselves off and push forward, no matter the circumstances.”

Catsburg, Keating, Varrone wrap up GTE Am title in No. 33 C8.R MONZA, Italy (July 9, 2023) – Campionato, Corvette! Corvette Racing clinched the GTE Am Drivers and Teams titles in the FIA World Endurance Championship on Sunday with a fourth-place finish at the Six Hours of Monza for the trio of Nicky Catsburg, Ben Keating and Nico Varrone. The No. 33 Corvette C8.R team finished ahead of its closest championship competitors to wrap up the program’s first title in WEC competition.

It’s been a dream season for Corvette Racing with three victories – the 24 Hours of Le Mans, 1000 Miles of Sebring and Six Hours Portimão – in addition to a runner-up finish at the Six Hours of Spa. “Congratulations to Ben Keating, Nicky Catsburg and Nico Varrone on their championship in the first year for Corvette Racing in the World Endurance Championship’s GTE Am class,” said Mark Stielow, Director, Chevrolet Motorsports Competition Engineering. “This was not an easy accomplishment despite the results this season. The strategy and execution by the entire Corvette Racing team – the drivers, the crew and the engineers – has been excellent throughout the season. This was a deep and competitive class and we are grateful that Corvette Racing has come out on top. It gives us great momentum going into the end of the season and 2024 when the Corvette Z06 GT3.R customer program arrives in WEC.”There were a number of scenarios in play to clinch the title. The most straight-forward options were to win or finish second Sunday, or place ahead of its two nearest challengers – the No. 25 TF Sport and No. 85 Iron Dames entries. The latter worked just fine. Keating set the tone for the Corvette team early. He started sixth but picked up spots on consecutive laps to run third prior to a safety-car period at the 15-minute mark. The Corvette crew elected to bring the C8.R into pitlane for a fuel top-off. By the time Keating made his second stop at 80 minutes running, he had worked his way back up to second as the varying pit strategies came into view. He gave way to Varrone just past the two-hour mark but a rare in-race mistake meant the C8.R was called in for a drive-through penalty due to speeding in the pitlane. Varrone slid back to sixth but steadily worked his way back to the lead with strong pace and the pit stop cycle. By the time his driving time was complete just prior to the four-hour mark, the C8.R ran third but less than four seconds from the leader. Catsburg drove the final 92 minutes but was unable to make in-roads to the podium finishers – all of which were from the same manufacturer and ran more than 100 pounds lighter than the Corvette. The C8.R carried 40 additional kilograms of “success ballast” in accordance with GTE Am sporting rules. That is due to the victory in the previous race at Le Mans, 10 kilograms for taking the runner-up spot at Spa (the race prior to Le Mans) and another 15 for leading the championship. In addition, the C8.R received 10 additional kilograms of pre-event weight by the rules-makers, making the Corvette 50 kilograms (110 pounds) heavier than how it began the season at Sebring. The next round for Corvette Racing in the FIA WEC is the Six Hours of Fuji on Sunday, September 10.

NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 33 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FIA WEC GTE AM CHAMPION: “Honestly, this season might have been one of my nicest in motorsport. It has been so cool, right from the start. It was always very relaxed with not a lot of pressure. Somehow the results just kept coming. I cannot deny that we have a great car, a great team and we have an awesome lineup. But we still need to execute, and I feel like we did that really well. Today I feel like we should have come away with a podium. We got a little bit unlucky with some of the safety car situations, but we did great. It’s super, super cool to be able to call myself a World Champion. I think I had won it before with a team but not as a driver. So I’m really, really happy!”

BEN KEATING, NO. 33 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FIA WEC GTE AM CHAMPION: “I’ve said it over and over, but in this championship and in each one of the five races we’ve had, it has been a true team performance overall. You win as a team and you lose as a team, but we’ve also been lucky in quite a lot of places. It’s just been a magical season. Everyone kept talking about us needing to finish first or second in order to clinch the championship here. I kept saying it was more about where the 25 and 85 finished rather than where we finished. We weren’t really racing for that. We were racing to be as far up in the order as we possibly could be. We had a really good race. It’s been an amazing season. I keep on joking that because we’ve finished fourth, we get to lose 10 kilograms in success ballast! Now we can really start pushing hard because we don’t have to be conservative. Just kidding! It’s been a great season. I’m really proud of everyone on the Corvette Racing team.”

NICO VARRONE, NO. 33 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FIA WEC GTE AM CHAMPION:“This means quite a lot. It feels very weird at the moment but means so much. To say that we are World Champions is just an amazing feeling. I’ve been working for this since I was 8 years old and started driving karts. I didn’t imagine it was going to be so early. As Ben said, this was all teamwork all season. We’ve all done a great job – the three of us as teammates, the engineers and the pit crew has been amazing. We did a fantastic job. Today we weren’t racing for the win and couldn’t make it. But finishing fourth and sealing the title already with two rounds to go is just amazing.”

LAURA WONTROP KLAUSER, GM SPORTS CAR RACING PROGRAM MANAGER: “How cool is this? The Corvette Racing team joined the WEC full-time last year to learn the championship and had some great successes. We enjoyed it so much and had an opportunity this year with Ben, Nicky and Nico to have a Corvette in the GTE Am class. This group couldn’t say no! Now to be able to walk away champions and win the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the final year of GTE and the C8.R is a dream come true.”

No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R finishes 10th overall, adds to championship points total

MONZA, Italy (July 9, 2023) – A promising start to the 6 Hours of Monza didn’t pay out with the desired result as the No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R finished 10th overall Sunday in the FIA World Endurance Championship race. Timing of a safety car period at the start of the third hour impacted the strategy of Cadillac Racing, which was among the handful of teams that pitted early in the race under the first safety car period. For the fifth consecutive race on its maiden tour of the WEC schedule, the prototype powered by the all-new Cadillac 5.5-liter, DOHC V8 ran without mechanical issue.

Starting fifth in the 13-car Hypercar field on the 5.793-kilometer, 11-turn Autodromo Nazionale di Monza circuit, Alex Lynn took advantage of contact between two cars in the early minutes to advance his position. The team pitted behind the safety car with 31 minutes expired for 55 seconds of fuel/energy, joining four other Hypercars on the alternate strategy. Richard Westbrook took over driving duties with 4 hours, 39 minutes left and was running third when the second safety car was deployed 46 minutes later. Westbrook inherited the lead through pit stop cycling but was called in for emergency fuel under yellow. Three minutes later, under green, the No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R returned to pit lane for full fuel/energy, which dropped the hybrid racecar to 10th in class. Earl Bamber, marking his 33rd birthday, relieved Westbrook with 3 hours, 24 minutes left and held track position during his stints. Lynn returned to the seat with 59 minutes left and brought the car home. Twelve Hypercars were running at the finish led to the checkered flag on Lap 200 by the No. 7 Toyota Gazoo Racing entry.The WEC moves to Fuji, Japan, for the penultimate event in the championship. The six-hour race will be contested Sunday, Sept. 10, on the 4.563-kilometer, 16-turn course.

No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.RRichard Westbrook: “My stint in the car was really good. We were fighting at the front and on a different strategy to half the cars, so it was good, classic sports car racing with different strategies playing out. And it was working for us. Unfortunately, the timing of the safety car was bad for us and we had to pit for emergency fuel and once that happens you’re pretty much out of the game. It’s a real shame. We have a good racecar, good on tires and were looking forward to this race. But when stuff like the timing of the safety car happens, you’re in the lap of the gods and it didn’t quite work out for us today. But in the future it will.” Earl Bamber: “Overall, a pretty tough day. I think we executed everything perfectly until qualifying and things in the race just didn’t go our way. From chassis, engine and everything like that I think we’ve made gains since Le Mans. We just needed to execute it better as drivers with a bit of strategy. But you have one of those days and we still scored points. I think we know where we can improve for Fuji. Huge congrats to Corvette Racing for winning the world championship.” Alex Lynn: “The start was pretty chaotic, but we got through unscathed and had a good start. And then we were battling it out with the Peugeots, the Ferraris, the Porsches and the car was performing well. It hasn’t swung our way, but we’ll pick up points where we can.”

July 9, 2023

Harrison Burton, in the No. 21 DEX Imaging Mustang, is set to start a Cup-career-best fifth in Sunday night’s Quaker State 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Burton earned that spot with a lap at 176.803 miles per hour in qualifying on Saturday evening as Ford drivers swept the top six starting spots and eight of the top 10. His previous best Cup qualifying effort was a sixth in last year’s season finale at Phoenix.

Burton was fourth fastest in the opening qualifying round, turning a lap at 176.893 mph in his first lap on the track, as no practice was held prior to qualifying.

The 260-lap Quaker State 400 is scheduled to get the green flag just after 7 p.m., with TV coverage on USA Network. Stage breaks are planned for Laps 60 and 160.
 

POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (July 9, 2023) – At Wisconsin’s Road America this weekend Chris Dyson got everything there was from his #16 GYM Weed Ford Mustang. But after twice leading the race over the course of a sometimes tooth-and-nail battle with Justin Marks, Dyson came up just a bit short in a race that ended a lap early due to time constraints. “It’s never nice to finish second,” Dyson admitted after the race. “But congratulations to Justin and his team. His car was an absolute rocket this weekend and he drove a strong race. Our team had some technical problems during the weekend, but on race day my guys gave me an excellent race car. I wish I could say that if the race had run the full distance I might have had another shot at Justin, but unless he made another mistake it really wasn’t going to matter. Second was the best we could do today on pace alone.” From his starting spot on the outside of the front row Dyson led the first third of the 25-lap Denny Lammers Tribute 100 race after polesitter Marks got too hot into the first turn after the green flag and briefly dropped to third place behind Dyson and Boris Said. “Justin got past Boris very quickly and was on my tail,” Dyson reported later. “I knew it was going to take everything I had – and maybe a little more – to hold Justin off for the whole race. I was good early in the stint on full tanks and was able to conserve tires a bit more and control the pace. I knew if Justin got past and had open road ahead of him I was going to be in a tougher spot.” Eventually Dyson got a bit loose braking in Turn Six and Marks got by. But Dyson got another shot at Marks after a red-flag period at the race’s two-thirds point. Marks made another small error early in the first green lap and again Dyson and Said briefly got by. The next lap Marks drafted by Dyson on the front straight and retook the lead, this time for good. For Dyson the disappointment of not winning the race was somewhat assuaged with an increased point lead in his campaign for a third consecutive Trans Am National series championship. “The points situation still looks good,” Dyson said. “But we are looking to win the national championship by winning more races. We need to make our cars a bit faster. Fortunately, it’s two months till the next TA race, at Watkins Glen, though I think we will need all that time.” For Dyson’s teammate, Matty Brabham, it was an even tougher weekend; after setting fast times in practice, his #20 GYM Weed Ford Mustang suffered terminal electrical problems. Brabham was unable to qualify or race.  Fortunately for Brabham he had enough of a points cushion that despite going pointless at Road America he remains second in the championship. Next Up: Watkins Glen The Trans Am Series’ next event for the headline TA class is September 6-10 at Watkins Glen International. Dyson, a two-time Trans Am winner at the classic Central New York circuit, finished second there last season. Dyson looks to dethrone defending Watkins Glen race winner Justin Marks. Road America Rebroadcast Schedule A 60-minute feature on the Road America race, will be broadcast this Thursday at 9:00 p.m. ET to MAVTV’s 22 million North American linear households and 175 million connected devices. For more on Chris Dyson Racing, visit chrisdysonracing.com

HIGHLAND, IL (July 8, 2023) – Ashton Winger’s been on one mission this summer – win more races. His relentless drive and determination to do that was tested Saturday night at Highland Speedway as he battled to keep the lead against some of Illinois’ best racers.

He took the lead in the opening laps, lost it, got it back, then lost it and regained it once more before holding off Mike Harrison and Jason Feger on a green-white-checkered finish to score the $10,000 grand prize and his fifth DIRTcar Summer Nationals Feature win of the season.

From the outside pole, Winger jumped out to the lead and looked strong through the first half of the 40-lap main event. He first denied five-time Hell Tour champion Shannon Babb on Lap 14 with a slide job pass for the lead, taking back the top spot after Babb got it from him on the previous restart.

Further back in the field, hometown hero and multi-time UMP Modified track champion Mike Harrison was mounting his charge to the front, advancing all the way to third from 12th on the starting grid by Lap 11. He picked up the battle for second with Babb on Lap 16 and swiped the spot from him at the line, blasting the high side around the 1/4-mile.

“I just slowly started venturing up toward the top, and I just figured out how to make that top work,” Harrison said. “There wasn’t really much up there; just more or less momentum.”

Harrison quickly closed in on the back of Winger, and with a big run off the top side of Turn 2, Harrison drove it hard down to the bottom in Turn 3 in a bid for the lead on Lap 24.

“I finally got to where I felt I had position and I drove in underneath [Winger],” Harrison said. “I don’t know if he just turned and went to the bottom or what happened there. We made a little contact there, but I fully intended on driving right past him into the corner.”

Harrison’s right-rear smacked Winger’s left-front, bending several front-end components on Winger’s car and opening the door for Babb to go by underneath him to take second.

“I’m not making excuses, but I was swatting flies down the straightaway, not knowing where my front tires were gonna land,” Winger said.

Winger had fallen back a bit with his handling now hindered but wasn’t ready to give up. When a flat left-rear tire forced Babb to pit under yellow with six laps left, Winger’s hopes were renewed.

“When Shannon had that flat, I knew Harrison was gonna try the top,” Winger said. “Then on that restart, it looked like he didn’t know where he wanted to go. So at the last second, he tried to run the bottom, and he left just enough open to where I could get my nose in there.”

Winger grabbed hold of the bottom lane for the restart while Harrison stuck to the top. With bent suspension parts and all, Winger still found the speed on the bottom to scoot past Harrison at the line coming to two-to-go to retake the lead.

“I knew when I got out front and could use the whole racetrack, I’d be alright,” Winger said.

The caution was thrown as the leaders were headed for the white flag, setting up a green-white-checkered dash to the finish. Try as they may, Harrison and a hard-charging Jason Feger – who had driven all the way back up to third from 17th on the starting grid – were unable to catch Winger as he held his damaged ride together and crossed the finish line to score his 11th career Summer Nationals win.

Though he crossed in second after leading 10 laps, Harrison stood proud with his second Late Model podium of the summer aboard the Steve Lampley Motorsports #33.

“In the end, I’m almost glad it came back down to me and [Winger], because that’s the way it was,” Harrison said. “I would rather lose the race to him for the way it all happened than win it and take it from him because we crashed together.”

UP NEXT

The DIRTcar Summer Nationals Late Models will wrap-up Week 4 of competition Sunday, July 9, with a visit to Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, IN. Tickets will be on sale at the gate; streaming is available at DIRTVision.com.

FEATURE RESULTS

Feature (40 Laps): 1. 12-Ashton Winger[2]; 2. 25-Jason Feger[17]; 3. 33-Mike Harrison[12]; 4. 7-Chad Zobrist[1]; 5. 4G-Bob Gardner[14]; 6. 91-Rusty Schlenk[11]; 7. 96V-Tanner English[10]; 8. 16-Rusty Griffaw[20]; 9. 14-Paul Kuper[15]; 10. 26H-Kyle Hammer[18]; 11. 31AUS-Kye Blight[19]; 12. 17-Todd Rehg[7]; 13. 44-Blaze Burwell[4]; 14. 18-Shannon Babb[6]; 15. 51-Dean Carpenter[13]; 16. 15-Clayton Stuckey[23]; 17. 1-BJ Robinson[8]; 18. 27M-Rodney Melvin[3]; 19. 10-Daryn Klein[5]; 20. 38-Thomas Hunziker[16]; 21. 6K-Michael Kloos[9]; 22. 22-Dan Jacober[21]; 23. 23NZ-Mick Quin[22]

Harrison Holds off Steinkoenig to Win Eighth Career Summit Modified Feature at Highland

A victor so many times at Highland Speedway, there aren’t many situations Mike Harrison hasn’t prevailed in his career at the 1/4-mile bullring. Still, he put another on display for a packed house Saturday night.

With track points leader Owen Steinkoenig right on his tail for nearly the entire 25-lap Feature, Harrison fended off the pressure from behind and trekked his way through lapped traffic on the bottom to win his eighth DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals Feature at Highland in the last 12 years.

“I knew [Steinkoenig] would be good here because he’s been really good here,” Harrison said. “He and Nicely – I knew they were the two I was going to have to contend with. I just had to keep my head on and stay down on that bottom; not necessarily protect, but just run my race and not worry about who was behind me.”

UP NEXT

The DIRTcar Summit Modifieds will wrap-up Week 4 of competition Sunday, July 9, with a visit to Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, IN. Tickets will be on sale at the gate; streaming is available at DIRTVision.com.

FEATURE RESULTS

Feature (25 Laps): 1. 24H-Mike Harrison[1]; 2. 5S-Owen Steinkoenig[3]; 3. 25-Tyler Nicely[4]; 4. 0-Tim Hancock Sr[5]; 5. 1D-Dean Hoffman[9]; 6. 3E-Robbie Eilers[2]; 7. 1A-Steve Meyer Jr[10]; 8. 58R-Ryan Hamilton[6]; 9. 24S-Jacob Steinkoenig[8]; 10. 128-Zach Schantz[7]; 11. E55-Chad Sellers[16]; 12. 787-Cody Zobrist[13]; 13. 15-Chris Smith[18]; 14. 21M-Willy Myers[14]; 15. 27R-Steve Rex[19]; 16. 94-Mark Clary[11]; 17. 14C-Rick Conoyer[15]; 18. 87Z-Zeb Moake[21]; 19. I99-Mikey Kopka[24]; 20. 9-Chad Cornett[12]; 21. 51M-Joe Mercurio[20]; 22. 12T-Dave Thornton[17]; 23. 95-Rick Salter[22]; 24. 69L-Josh Lemke[23]

The Lemoore, CA native moves by Schatz early and holds on for fourth victory of the yearWILMOT, WI (July 8, 2023) – Carson Macedo admits he hasn’t been himself over the past few weeks. A frightening crash at Knoxville in early June left him rattled both physically and mentally.He and his Jason Johnson Racing team stayed dedicated. Macedo battled pain. A large supporting cast kept his spirits up. Since the incident, his finishes in the next nine races were solid with eight top 10s but not quite on the championship level he showed early in the season.And heading into the 10th race after Knoxville, Macedo was beginning to feel like himself again. The result was a revitalizing triumph at Wilmot Raceway on Saturday night. Macedo rolled by Donny Schatz shortly before the halfway point of the Federated Auto Parts Larry Hillerud Memorial Badger 40 and held off multiple challengers on his way to Victory Lane for the second straight year at the Wisconsin oval.The Wilmot win moved Macedo up to four World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car triumphs this season and 32 for his career. The Lemoore, CA native joined David Gravel as the only driver with multiple checkered flags at Wilmot. And most importantly, the win served as a much needed confidence boost. A reminder to Macedo and the entire team of their capabilities as they pursue a championship.“I’m just thankful more than anything,” Macedo said. “It’s been a tough few weeks. I’ve had a lot of really good people reach out and be supporters. When you’re young you think you’re invincible, but the other week kind of knocked me back a little bit, that wreck. I feel like my guys have never given up on me – Philip Dietz, Clyde Knipp, Nate Repetz. They’ve been trying to give me the best car they possibly can. I just haven’t been 100% right. “Coming into this week, I worked out all week and was just in a much better mind and place in my head. I felt pretty good about our chances. We were fast early in the night. I felt like we had a really good Heat Race. We were outstanding in the Dash, and they just delivered again in the Feature. These guys did an incredible job.”When the green flag waved on the 40-lap main event, Macedo was on the pole, but it was Donny Schatz powering into the lead around Macedo’s outside.While Schatz was the one who grabbed the early lead, Macedo refused to let him pull away. Macedo kept the Albaugh #41 a few car lengths behind Schatz. As the two entered traffic, Macedo was forced to fend off a challenge in the form of a charging Bill Balog. “The North Pole Nightmare” slid Macedo for the runner-up spot, but he was able to cross Balog over.Balog’s challenge forced Macedo to elevate his game. Only a few laps after he’d briefly slipped to third, Macedo closed right back up to Schatz’ tail tank as they navigated slower cars. On lap 16, Schatz left an opening on the top side, and Macedo promptly took advantage. He ripped the cushion right around the Tony Stewart/Curb Agajanian Racing #15.After taking the lead, Macedo began to put some distance between himself and Schatz. Then Schatz slipped back a spot as Balog maneuvered by him for second.A restart that came a lap beyond the halfway point gave Macedo a close moment as Balog got a strong restart. He attempted a slider but couldn’t clear Macedo. The #17B drifted up and above the cushion causing him to lose some spots and gift Brad Sweet the runner-up position.“I was most nervous with Bill. I knew he wants to win really bad and was willing to throw a flyer to try and win the race,” Macedo said of the restart. “I kind of spun a little bit off the bottom and could hear him behind me. I went to the top thinking I’ll get a run, and he threw a big bomb and I just barely snuck around him.”Once he cleared Balog, Macedo cruised ahead and worked his way expertly through traffic. A couple close moments where the cushion tripped him up caused some drama as Sweet closed in, but ultimately Macedo never allowed “The Big Cat” to have a legitimate opportunity at moving ahead.The checkered flag flew to a very happy recipient. It’s not only a victory to boost the entire team’s morale. It’s also a boost heading into a massive week in Ohio that includes the Brad Doty Classic and Kings Royal.“I’m thankful to be standing up here,” Macedo said. “When things are going good, you really kind of take for granted just how tough this is out here on the Outlaw tour. It felt really good to be back after lacking performance. Hopefully we can build on it. It’s good to have a little bit of momentum rolling into this week coming up. It’s definitely a big one.”The runner-up spot belonged to Brad Sweet aboard the Kasey Kahne Racing/Napa Auto Parts #49 as he fell just short of his 13th Series win in the state of Wisconsin. Sweet is up to 16 World of Outlaws podiums this season and put a little distance between himself and David Gravel in the championship hunt. Sweet enjoyed the 40-lap finale, and the racing surface even reminded him a bit of his west coast roots.“It was a tricky track,” Sweet explained. “It was actually a lot of fun. Lapped traffic was kind of wild there. I had a few close calls. The track was changing a lot… Once the curb got built up, it got a lot trickier. It was kind of a fine line between you either you’d enter with your right-rear too out in front of you and you got loose or you could get yourself too tight, and then you could get it right sometimes. It was a really fine line. It was kind of old school, kind of like a California track. My Napa Auto Parts guys gave me a great car.”Rounding out the top three was a charging Sheldon Haudenschild. The Stenhouse Jr.-Marshall Racing gasser drove from 10th up to third aboard the NOS Energy Drink #17. Haudenschild’s feelings mirrored that of Sweet’s regarding the puzzling track conditions at times.“I feel like I only made one big mistake over in (Turn) 3, but it was just tricky,” Haudenschild said. “It was hard to get runs and throw sliders. The top was really fast. I felt really good early, though. We were able to move around, I feel like, probably more than anybody.”Donny Schatz and Kasey Kahne completed the top five.Brad Sweet’s lead in the standings is up to 12 markers. With his win, Carson Macedo closed in slightly back in third as he’s now 38 behind Gravel and 50 back of Sweet.KSE Hard Charger honors went to Caden Englehart. In his first career World of Outlaws Feature start, the Terre Haute, IN native drove from 24th to 15th.For the second time in the last three races, Bill Balog earned the Simpson Performance Products QuickTime Award as he set a new Wilmot Raceway track record.The Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown was claimed by Noah Gass.CASE No.1 Engine Oil Heat One went to Bill Balog (seventh Heat Race win of career). NOS Energy Drink Heats Two through Four were topped by Carson Macedo (105th of career), Jacob Allen (57th of career), and Donny Schatz (516th of career).The Smith Titanium Brake Systems “Break of the Race” went to Bill Balog after he challenged for the lead early before slipping to eighth.UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars make their way to Ohio for a massive week. On Tuesday, July 11 Attica Raceway Park will host the Ohio Logistics Brad Doty Classic presented by Racing Optics with $15,000 on the line. Then it’s off to Eldora Speedway for two nights at “The Big E.” First, The Knight Before on Friday, July 14 pays $20,000-to-win. Then the 40th Kings Royal on Saturday, July 15 awards a huge $175,000 payday. For tickets, CLICK HERE. If you can’t make it to the track, catch all of the action live on DIRTVision.RESULTS:NOS Energy Drink Feature (40 Laps): 1. 41-Carson Macedo[1]; 2. 49-Brad Sweet[4]; 3. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[10]; 4. 15-Donny Schatz[2]; 5. 9-Kasey Kahne[6]; 6. 2-David Gravel[7]; 7. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[11]; 8. 17B-Bill Balog[5]; 9. 5-Spencer Bayston[8]; 10. 83-James McFadden[12]; 11. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[9]; 12. 1S-Logan Schuchart[15]; 13. 1A-Jacob Allen[3]; 14. 20G-Noah Gass[21]; 15. 71M-Caden Englehart[24]; 16. 3N-Jake Neuman[20]; 17. 23-Russel Borland[22]; 18. 6-Bill Rose[16]; 19. (DNF) 87A-Austin Hartmann[18]; 20. (DNF) 7S-Robbie Price[14]; 21. (DNF) 68-Dave Uttech[23]; 22. (DNF) 7N-Darin Naida[13]; 23. (DNF) 49J-Josh Schneiderman[17]; 24. (DNF) 16TH-Hunter Schuerenberg[19]