(April 10, 2023 – Ben Deatherage), Tulare, CA … Thunderbowl Raceway will feature two nights of incredible action this weekend as NAPA Auto Parts presents the NARC 410 Sprint Series for the Dennis Roth Classic. The Tulare 1/3-mile action track will host the tour on Friday, April 14th, and Saturday, the 15th, for the series’ first doubleheader of the 2023 season.  Saturday night will have a fantastic payout of $18,383.00 to the winner. Rico Abreu won the race last year in an electrifying battle in the main event. 

“This race is a true honor to Dennis and Teresa Roth.” said Roth Motorsports Team Manager Todd Ventura. “Fellow competitors and Dennis’ peers were the ones that wanted to have this event. When you have people with that amount of respect for you like Brent Kaeding, Jim Allen, and Ashley Smith who talked about it and made it come together, we are honored to be a part of it.” 

Dennis Roth and his wife, Teresa, are longtime Sprint Car supporters nationwide. Their race team, Roth Motorsports, boasts over 100 World Of Outlaw feature victories and multiple titles in California.   

“It’s a big deal for us because Dennis has been a great supporter of this race track,” commented Steve Faria, promoter of Thunderbowl Raceway. “He’s a special friend and we’re trying to make something special out of it.” 

Thunderbowl Raceway, since 2001, has had twenty-six different winners in the last fifty-six shows that the NARC 410 Sprint Series has put on. The house of Kaeding has reigned supreme as they are level at the top with seven wins each for Brent and Tim. Amazingly sixteen drivers have accomplished just a single triumph over the years. 

“It’s an honor to be able to put on this race for Dennis Roth,” stated NARC 410 Series General Manager Jim Allen, “he’s done so much for motorsports, and this is a real-world and real-life tribute that we are proud to honor those contributions.” 

Who to Watch

Corey Day is coming off an incredible win at Kings Speedway last weekend at the Anthony Simone Classic. It was his seventh career NARC 410 Sprint Series triumph in twenty-eight starts. The Clovis teenager was third at last year’s Roth Classic, and this is the only time he has been on the podium at the Thunderbowl with the tour. 

Aromas driver Justin Sanders was the runner-up to Day last Saturday in Hanford. Over the years at Thunderbowl, Justin has netted just one top five, a fourth at last year’s Roth, and two tens in five career NARC 410 Sprint Series starts at the track. 

Tim Kaeding is again teaming up with the famed Williams Motorsports #0 team. As mentioned above, the San Jose driver was sixth at the Simone last weekend and is tied with Brent Kaeding, for the most wins at Tulare. TK was seventh in the 2022 edition of the Roth Classic and, on top of his seven wins, has ten podiums, fourteen Top 5s, and twenty-one Top 10s in thirty-one starts.  

Kraig Kinser of Bloomington, Indiana, will make a guest appearance with the NARC 410 Sprint Series. He has four career starts with the series, all in 2015, co-sanctioned with the World Of Outlaws, and just one top ten result. That was a tenth-place result at Tulare on March 14th. 

Bud Kaeding is a driver to be on the lookout for, as the Campbell chauffeur knows how to pilot his way around the 1/3-mile clay oval. Bud has three career NARC 410 Sprint Series victories at the facility, most recently in 2018, in thirty-eight starts since 2001. Kaeding is also second on the all-time modern era list in the podium (14), Top 5 (20), and Top 10 (30) categories, with an average finish of 7.57. 

Also expected to compete will be Lemoore’s Cole Macedo, Fremont standout Shane Golobic, Tanner Holmes of Jacksonville, Oregon, Penngrove pilot Chase Johnson, two-time defending series champion Dominic Scelzi from Fresno, Clarksburg driver Justyn Cox, Ryan Bernal from Roseville, Oakley’s Dylan Bloomfield; Templeton’s Kaleb Montgomery, Nick Parker from Tuscon, and many more! 

Fan & Competitor Info

Thunderbowl Raceway is located at the Tulare County Fairgrounds in Tulare, California. Grandstand tickets are priced at $30.00 for Adults, $28.00 for Seniors, and Children (6-12) $15.00. Bleacher tickets are priced at $25.00 for Adults, $23.00 for Seniors, and Children (6-12) $13.00. Front Gates open at 4:00, Hot Laps at 5:00, and Racing is scheduled to kick off around 7:00. Also, visit the track website, www.thunderbowlraceway.com. 

The NARC 410 Sprint Series, presented by Napa Auto Parts, is the leading 410 Sprint Car tour west of the Rocky Mountains. Since 1960, they have enthralled countless thousands of fans from tracks up and down the Pacific Coast. For more information, visit their website at www.narc410.com or social media pages. 

The Dennis Roth Classic can be viewed live on Floracing.com, along with every NARC 410 Sprint Car Series race. 

The NARC 410 Sprint Car Racing Series is also sponsored by Hoosier Racing Tires, Floracing.com, and NAPA Auto Parts. Associate and product award sponsors include Automotive Racing Products (ARP), Beacon Wealth Strategies-Raymond James Financial, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, Bullet Impressions, D & D Roofing, Diversified Machine Inc., Johnstone Supply, Kaeding Performance Center, Kimo’s Tropical Car Wash, KSE Racing Enterprises, Lifeline LLC, Starr Property Management, Sunnyvalley Bacon, System 1 Ignition, Ultra Lite Brakes, Williams Roofing, Wilwood Disc Brakes, and Winters Performance Products.

NARC 410 SPRINT CAR SERIES 
CHAMPIONSHIP POINT STANDINGS
(AFTER ONE EVENT IN 22-RACE SERIES)

1	Corey Day, Clovis	142
2	Justin Sanders, Aromas	139
3	Shane Golobic, Fremont	138
4	Chase Johnson, Penngrove	137
5	Dominic Scelzi, Fresno	136
6	Tim Kaeding, San Jose	135
7	Justyn Cox, Clarksburg	135
8	Tanner Holmes, Jacksonville, OR	133
9	Bud Kaeding, Campbell	132
10	Kaleb Montgomery, Templeton	131
11	Sean Becker, Roseville	130
12	Ryan Bernal, Roseville	129
13	Joey Ancona ®, Concord	128
14	Dawson Faria ®, Fresno	127
15	Mauro Simone ®, Fresno	126
16	Michael Pombo ®, Easton	125
17	Jake Hodges ®, Camarillo	124
18	Dylan Bloomfield, Oakley	123
19	Craig Stidham, Fresno	122
20	Nick Parker ®, Tuscon, AZ	121

SOCIAL MEDIA INFORMATION

Facebook: NARCKingoftheWest
 Facebook (History page): NARCSprintCarHistory
 Twitter: NARC410 
 Instagram: NARC410
 YouTube: NARC410 
 TikTok: NARC410 
 Live Stream PPV:  Floracing.com 
 

UPCOMING EVENTS:
April 29th – Antioch Speedway – The Contra Costa County Clash 
May 6th- Silver Dollar Speedway – David Tarter Memorial 
May 13th-14th-Kings Speedway – Peter Murphy Classic

First two of 11 Xtreme-POWRi Challenge Series races, Abreu makes Xtreme debut doing double duty

PEVELY, MO (April 10, 2023) – The Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota gets back into action at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 this Friday-Saturday night, April 14-15, for the I-55 Outlaw Showdown weekend.

Racing alongside the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series, the Xtreme Outlaws team-up with the POWRi National Midget League for the first of 11 races on the newly announced Xtreme Outlaw-POWRi Challenge Series, which awards a $2,500 check to the winner of the miniseries.

The Midgets will take to the track for two consecutive nights, racing 30 laps for a $4,000 grand prize Friday night before a 35-lap, $5,000-to-win Feature on Saturday.

Tickets will be available at the gate on race day or can be purchased in advanced at the link below. If you can’t be at the track in person, stream all the action live on DIRTVision.

BUY TICKETS

Here are the drivers to watch for and the storylines to follow this weekend:

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT – Jade Avedisian has some work to do if she wants to keep her 30-point gap in the Series points standings this weekend.

In the Series’ last venture out to I-55 last August, Avedisian struggled to find a rhythm, resulting in finishes of 15th and 14th in the two-day event. Those were two of her final starts for her former team at Chad Boat Industries and has since made the transition over to her new team at Keith Kunz Motorsports – a group which she’s already won with once in two Series starts.

After the first victory of the year in March at the Southern Illinois Center, she took that points lead out of the building, and in doing so broke another record, becoming the first female in dirt track racing history to lead the points standings of a national Midget tour.

A CHANCE FOR TWO – Chance Crum took home a big trophy after the Series’ debut at I-55 last year, winning the Friday night portion of the Ironman 55 weekend and picking up his first career Xtreme Outlaw victory.

He makes his return to Pevely this weekend on the heels of a fourth-place run in the Rudeen Racing #26 three weekends ago in Oklahoma with POWRi, leading the majority of the laps before falling back before the checkered.

The 25-year-old from Snohomish, WA, currently sits sixth in the Series points standings after finishes of 13th and fifth in Du Quoin last month.

SO CLOSE, NOT SO FAR – Only 0.3 seconds separated 20-year-old Karter Sarff from his first career Series victory at I-55 last year.

Sarff, of Mason City, IL, started third on the grid and stayed in the top-three the entire race, taking the lead early and leading laps 5-14 before giving it up to Crum at the halfway point. Sarff maintained pace with Crum and made it exciting with a last-ditch effort out of Turn 4 coming to the stripe on the final lap but was unsuccessful, settling for runner-up.

This weekend, he’ll get another chance at the Xtreme Outlaw field, as he saddles up his Provisio Partners #21K after making both Features last month in Du Quoin.

LOOKING UP – If his past starts at I-55 are any indication, Zach Daum has a lot to look forward to this weekend as he climbs back behind the wheel of his self-owned King Chassis #5d.

Daum, the defending Series champion from Pocahontas, IL, ended up +12 in position over Ironman 55 weekend last year with runs of ninth-to-fifth on Friday and 11th-to-third on Saturday. Though it wasn’t a win, Daum has been to I-55 Victory Lane before, taking the checkers in a POWRi event there in 2016.

I-55 comes at the right time for Daum, as he needs a couple strong finishes to get back in the hunt for his fifth national Midget championship. He currently sits 11th after a top-five and a DNF in Du Quoin.

BIG DEBUT – Fresh off his second win of the season against the World of Outlaws Sprint Cars on Saturday night, Rico Abreu is set for his Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series debut this weekend.

Abreu, the 2014 USAC National Midget Series champion and two-time Chili Bowl Nationals winner from St. Helena, CA, will take the wheel of a Tanner Thorson Racing entry for his first career Xtreme Outlaw Series appearance, while also piloting his own Rico Abreu Racing #24 Sprint Car with the World of Outlaws.

He’s had success in both divisions at I-55 in the past, sweeping both POWRi Midget events on Ironman 55 weekend in 2019 and capturing the coveted 55-pound dumbbell trophy as Ironman 55 victor with the Sprint Car in 2016.

THIS WEEKEND AT A GLANCE

When and where
• Friday-Saturday, April 14-15 at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 in Pevely, MO

On the internet
Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota
Twitter – @Xtreme_Outlaw
Instagram – @XtremeOutlaw
Facebook – @XtremeOutlawSeries.WRG

Live broadcast
DIRTVision – DIRTVision.com. Platinum annual FAST PASS for $299 or monthly FAST PASS for $39/month.

Current championship points standings (view full standings)
1. Jade Avedisian (442pts); 2. Kyle Jones 412pts (-30); 3. Landon Brooks 409pts (-33); 4. Shane Cottle 402pts (-40); 5. Gavin Miller 397pts (-45); 6. Chance Crum 387pts (-55); 7. Thomas Meseraull 387pts (-55); 8. Cannon McIntosh 384pts (-58); 9. Mitchel Moles 381pts (-61); 10. Ethan Mitchell 364pts (-78).

Toyota Feature winners (2 drivers)
1 win – Cannon McIntosh (Dave Mac-Dalby Motorsports); Jade Avedisian (Keith Kunz Motorsports)

Toyota Feature laps led (4 drivers)
26 laps – Thomas Meseraull
22 laps – Shane Cottle
14 laps – Jade Avedisian
8 laps – Cannon McIntosh

Whitz RC Racing Products Fast Time Awards (2 drivers)

1 Fast Time – Cannon McIntosh, Ethan Mitchell

Heat Race winners (9 drivers)
2 wins – Jade Avedisian
1 win – Austin Barnhill, Shane Cottle, Gavin Miller, Thomas Meseraull, Corbin Rueschenberg, Nick Drake, Kyle Jones, Chance Crum

High-points honors
1 honor – Gavin Miller, Chance Crum

Last Chance Showdown wins (4 drivers)
1 win – Kyle Jones, Landon Brooks, Karter Sarff, Howard Moore

DIRTVision Hard Charger Awards (2 drivers)
1 Award – Mitchel Moles, Chase Johnson

Podium finishes (6 drivers)
1 podium – Cannon McIntosh, Shane Cottle, Thomas Meseraull, Jade Avedisian, Chase McDermand, Kyle Jones

Top-10 finishes (16 drivers)
2 top-10s – Jade Avedisian, Kyle Jones, Landon Brooks, Gavin Miller
1 top-10 – Shane Cottle, Chance Crum, Thomas Meseraull, Cannon McIntosh, Mitchel Moles, Ethan Mitchell, Zach Daum, Taylor Reimer, Chase McDermand, Chase Johnson, Austin Barnhill, Corbin Rueschenberg

2023 Schedule & Winners – Race No. Day, Date / Track / Location / Winner (Total Wins)
1. Fri, March 10 / Southern Illinois Center / Du Quoin, IL / Cannon McIntosh (1)
2. Sat, March 11 / Southern Illinois Center / Du Quoin, IL / Jade Avedisian (2)

Along with bringing in the TRD 410 engine, Toyota has also increased its partnership with the World of Outlaws, Super DIRTcar Series and Xtreme Outlaw Midget SeriesCONCORD, NC (April 10, 2023) – Racing has been the engine of Andy Graves’ life. A robust engine that’s guided him to Hendrick Motorsports for nine years, Chip Ganassi Racing for six years – including an Indianapolis 500 win in 2000 – and Toyota Racing Development for more than 16 years, helping build their presence across multiple forms of motorsports.But when he wants to remember why he fell in love with auto racing, Sprint Car and Midget races are his Eden.That passion has led Toyota to the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series with the development of the TRD Toyota 410 engine and increased partnership – now the Official Vehicle of the Series and Dash sponsor.“At TRD, since we’ve been involved with the USAC Midget program, we always knew and always felt like there was a hole there in our grassroots ladder and the World of Outlaws 410 Sprint Car would be a perfect fit,” said Graves, the executive competition engineering, technical director for TRD. “There’d been light discussions over the years about that. I think it really stemmed from, after the 2017 season we had another great year in NASCAR, winning the championship with Martin Truex (Jr.) and Furniture Row Racing. I put it back on the agenda (in 2018) before our group, our executive committee, because of my love for 410 Sprint Cars.“When I was younger, at 14 years old, in the summers I worked for Jeff Swindell. I had the passion for Sprint Cars and it fit really nice for Jack (Irving, the executive commercial director for TRD) and his driver development ladder, and for us to fit in the community. During that time, during the end of 2018, beginning of 2019, we finally got the green light and the approval to start moving forward with it.”FIRST STEPSWith the goal of eventually selling their own parts and hoping to see close to half of Sprint Car fields powered by TRD engines, Graves said they thought working with two engine builders would help speed up the process. Especially with having to start from a clean sheet.First up for the challenge was Rick Long, owner and president of Speedway Engine Development, who they already had a relationship with. Then, off the recommendations of Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson, Graves approached Tom Rider with Rider Racing Engines out of Pennsylvania to also help with the program.“I feel like that is a pretty powerhouse of a combination when you have those two guys on your team,” Graves said.In the TRD engine’s first full season with the World of Outlaws this year, it’s already visited Victory Lane twice in the first 10 races with James McFadden and Roth Motorsports.“It’s a pretty cool stat to be a part of,” McFadden said. “I’m an engine builder by trade. I’ve done that my whole career until I came over here working with the World of Outlaws. So, to be a part of a development deal is really fun and something that I’m really interested in.“It’s tough at times, you really have to be on your game as soon as you hit the track with these guys and when you’re trying to develop something, it can put you on the back foot but so far so good. It’s been pretty good. These things run really well.”The path to that success wasn’t easy. Like the development of the Ford FPS 410, TRD’s new engine was also plagued by COVID supply issues. Manufacturers couldn’t get materials. And when they could, it still took months to get it.The TRD engine – from Rider – made its official debut on Jan. 29, 2021, with Giovanni Scelzi and KCP Racing at an All Star Circuit of Champions race. The day prior, Scelzi and the team made practice laps with it. Thirty minutes into the session Long called Graves to warn him that the crankshaft had just broke on the engine he had on his dyno. While the engine in Scelzi’s car survived the weekend, crankshaft issues lingered throughout the year.Taking advice from their NHRA Toyota team, Kalitta Motorsports, they switched to Callies Performance Products crankshafts and the issue went away. However, they weren’t out of the water yet.After spending almost all of 2021 dealing with the crankshaft issue, they suffered head sealing issues in 2022. This year, Graves said he feels like they’ve finally got their arms around everything.During those development years, the engine was still victorious, though. Tyler Courtney brought the engine its first victory at the end of 2021 during a Non-Wing Sprint Car event with the National Auto Club Racing Series at Kings Speedway in Hanford, CA. Then, in 2022, Aaron Reutzel brought the engine its first Winged Sprint Car victory during a weekly show at Knoxville Raceway.“It’s cool to say I have a little piece of Toyota’s history coming into Sprint Car racing,” Courtney said. “They’ve made a name for themselves in all forms of motorsports. To be the, ‘quote–unquote’ first winner for them, whether it was a super high-class race or not, I can always say I was the first Sprint Car winner for Toyota.”TEAM BUILDINGReutzel was one of the first drivers Toyota teamed with to run the TRD engine, off the recommendation of Graves and Bell. When the two parties agreed to work together in 2021, Reutzel was making the move to Roth Motorsports and introduced Graves to Dennis and Teresa Roth. However, between Reutzel not finishing the season with the team and crankshaft issues, a TRD engine never made it into the Roth #83 that year.Scelzi was Toyota’s other driver, but with the young Californian and his KCP Racing still trying to develop their program at the time, Graves said they all agreed it wasn’t the right time for them to take on the development of the new engine.So, for the 2022 season, knowing they still wanted at least two teams to help run the engine, Toyota continued its partnership with Roth Motorsports – now fielding the #83 for James McFadden – and followed Reutzel to his new team with Ridge & Sons Racing.McFadden scored his first win with Roth at Lakeside Speedway that year, which was a race after they pulled the TRD engine out of the car due to it hitting its mileage limit.Going into 2023, Todd Ventura, Roth’s team manager, pushed Graves and his team into taking the next step. He thought they were ready to run the entire 87-race World of Outlaws schedule.“I don’t think we thought we were ready to go World of Outlaws racing,” Graves said with a chuckle. “[Ventura] had a lot of faith in us.”That faith payday off in the third race of the season when McFadden won at Volusia, bringing Toyota its first World of Outlaws win and Roth Motorsports its 100th win. A month and a half later, he won again at Devil’s Bowl, securing another milestone win for Toyota – he had won Volusia with the Rider engine and Devil’s Bowl with the Speedway engine.“We made a decision over the winter that we wanted each of the guys running our engines to be split,” Graves said. “We wanted half of their pool to be Rider engines and the other half to be Speedway because we wanted to accelerate our learning curve even more. The only way to do that was to be able to get our engine partners and ourselves to be more involved in every part and piece and in each other’s engines in order to solve those problems quicker.“For James to get a win at Volusia with a Rider and then to follow it up with a win at Devil’s Bowl with a Speedway TRD engine is just phenomenal. We’re super excited and hopefully a lot better things to come this year.”GROWING ROOTSThe 410 engine program and partnership with the World of Outlaws is a key element in Toyota’s hopes to further engage with the grassroots community and have another platform to work with drivers in the highest level of dirt racing.They’ve already had a strong presence in dirt Midget racing and have increased that, joining as the presenting sponsor of the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series. Now, along with joining the World of Outlaws Sprint Cars, Toyota has also partnered with the World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Model Series and Super DIRTcar Series, becoming the Official Vehicle for each.“Obviously, [the World of Outlaws] put on a hell of a show,” Irving said. “They have the best drivers. They do an amazing job with how they manage a race and how they deal with tech at a race. They run a very clean, well ran program. When we visited them years back, when Andy first pitched this, you couldn’t be more impressed with what they have for people who are at the track, for marketing people like us who want to engage at the track, the ability to receive data and use their video services and everything else, make it an easy partnership for Toyota.“They are a great group to deal with. A long time ago I was told you should do business with people you like, and they are an easy group to like. From our perspective to further partner with them, we love what they’re doing with the Xtreme Midget program. It is extremely important how well they tech the cars and how consistent they are with the rules and how they implement them. That has been a big part for us. It helps the teams kind of save themselves from themselves. I think for us, to be able to have drivers that get to race against the best there are at doing what they do, it was a pretty natural progression to partner with them a little bit further.”To attend World of Outlaws events and see the TRD Toyota 410 engine in action, CLICK HERE.If you can’t make it to the track, you can watch all the action live on DIRTVision.

Inside Line Promotions – HANFORD, Calif. (April 10, 2023) – Dominic Scelzi scored a top-five result last Saturday during the NARC 410 Sprint Car Series season opener hosted by Kings Speedway.

Scelzi kicked off the Anthony Simone Classic by qualifying seventh quickest out of the 30 entrants. He then finished where he started in a heat race – second – to advance into the dash. Scelzi gained a pair of positions to finish fifth in the dash, lining him up on the inside of the third row in the A Main.

“The track seemed to get faster later in qualifying,” he said. “We were quick time for a long time, but ended up seventh. We did what we needed to in the heat race to make the dash and moved forward in it. In the feature we ran fourth almost the whole race, but got passed on the last lap to finish fifth. We just missed it a little bit. I think we know where we could have been better.”

The fifth-place outing was Scelzi’s third straight top five to start the year.

Next up for the team is the Dennis Roth Classic this Friday and Saturday at Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, Calif. Scelzi’s family owned team will field a second car with Trey Starks behind the wheel.

“I’m really looking forward to the Dennis Roth Classic,” Scelzi said. “It’s a big event that is in honor of someone who has done so much for racing. We were second in the 410 feature and won the 360 feature last year during the Dennis Roth Classic so we’re going into it confident. It will also be great to have Trey in a second car of ours to show support for the event.”

QUICK RESULTS –

April 8 – Kings Speedway in Hanford, Calif. – Qualifying: 7; Heat race: 2 (2); Dash: 5 (7); Feature: 5 (5).

SEASON STATS –

3 races, 0 wins, 3 top fives, 3 top 10s, 3 top 15s, 3 top 20s

UP NEXT –

Friday and Saturday at Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, Calif., for the Dennis Roth Classic with the NARC 410 Sprint Car Series

No. 33 Corvette looks to continue early-season momentum after Sebring win DETROIT (April 10, 2023) – It’s a new track for Corvette Racing in the FIA World Endurance Championship this weekend, but the team is hoping for a familiar result in its second race of the season. Nicky Catsburg, Ben Keating and Nico Varrone will look for consecutive GTE Am victories in the No. 33 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R when Corvette Racing visits Portugal for the Six Hours of Portimão.

The trio of drivers claimed a convincing victory in the 1,000 Miles of Sebring in their first race together to grab the early-season lead in the GTE Am Drivers Championship. It also was Corvette Racing’s first win in its first season of GTE Am competition. But rather than a familiar track where the program has thousands of miles of testing under its belt, Portimão is an unknown commodity.

CORVETTE RACING MEDIA INFORMATION Corvette Racing media information is updated and available ahead of this weekend’s WEC round at Portimao.  Materials include: · WEC race advance and quotes· Corvette Racing stats and figures· Corvette Racing racecar comparisons· Corvette Racing Fast Facts· Driver biographies

The 2.891-mile, 15-turn circuit is new to the Corvette Racing team but not new to the WEC calendar, having played host to the championship in 2021. It’s also not new to the three Corvette Racing drivers, each of whom have competed previously at Portimão in WEC competition and other racing championships. Varrone is the most recent driver having time at Portimão, having contested the European Le Mans Series in 2022 at the circuit. Keating was part of the GTE Am field at the circuit in the 2021 WEC event. For those who enjoy trivia, Catsburg drove a Corvette C6.R in the 2011 FIA GT1 Championship. Although there is no real-life experience at Portimão from a team perspective, the Corvette program has done its homework in the virtual world with Driver in the Loop simulator sessions at the GM Tech Center in Charlotte with Keating getting a couple of days work in during the last two weeks. After Portimão, Corvette Racing will contest the final five rounds on the WEC on tracks where it gained valuable experience in last year’s championship with the mid-engine C8.R.  The Six Hours of Portimão for the FIA World Endurance Championship is scheduled for 7 a.m. ET / noon Western European Time on Sunday, April 16. MotorTrend and MotorTrend Plus will provide both live television and streaming coverage. Radio Le Mans will stream audio coverage of qualifying and the race.

NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 33 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “Portimão for us will be a huge challenge. It’s a new track for the team. Usually some of the teams that have had cars there before in other championships like ELMS may have a bit of an advantage. It will be a steep learning curve for us. There won’t be as much practice time as there was at Sebring. Nico was there last year so he will be someone Ben and I can learn from. We’ve had the best season start possible so we’re all very much looking forward to seeing what we can do at Portimão. It will be more difficult here. Some of our competition at Sebring eliminated themselves, and I don’t think that will happen again. We need to be on-point but I feel like have the right team and right drivers for this race. Let’s continue where we left off at Sebring.”

BEN KEATING, NO. 33 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “I’ve only been to Portimão once for a race event. It was a track that was very hard for me to feel like I had learned it and was up to speed. After the three practice sessions and qualifying, I still didn’t feel that way. I remember getting on the radio after my first stint and saying that I’d like to start the whole weekend again right now. That’s how long it took me to be comfortable. It’s not an easy track to learn. It’s very different. We will put more energy into our tires at this track than any other track we go to by a significant amount. There is a ton of elevation change, a ton of off-camber and blind corners. It takes a long time as a driver to feel like you have this place figured out. But that’s also what makes it fun.“Every car has a track that it likes and doesn’t like. I just think the handling of the Corvette and where we can carry a higher minimum speed around these low-speed, technical corners. We can carry the momentum better, we can handle the elevation change better and can handle the off-camber and off-balance corners better. I’m really excited about going to Portimão in the Corvette and having one race weekend there under my belt.”

NICO VARRONE, NO. 33 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “I’m really looking forward to the second round of the WEC at Portimão. We had a great start to the season at Sebring in our home race and on home soil for the team. Getting the victory there is the perfect start to our season. I really want to thank everyone at Corvette Racing for the amazing welcome at Sebring. The first race was special. There were a lot of nerves but everyone on the team – the engineers, the mechanics, everyone there – made me feel really comfortable. Now we’ll go for more at Portimão!“Portimão for me is a track where I have a lot of good memories in my short career. The circuit is very much like a roller coaster, so I think for every driver it’s fun. As a team, we have a lot of confidence. Based on what I know, I think this should be a good track for us. We have the success ballast for being the championship leaders and winning at Sebring, so that will be a little bit of a disadvantage for us but we have a great team and great lineup. I’m really confident. The aim is to try and score the most amount of points possible. For sure, we are going for the win but if we can’t do that then we will maximize our result and keep getting points for the championship.”

2023 FIA World Endurance Championship – GTE Am (After two of seven events)Driver Standings1. Ben Keating/Nicky Catsburg/Nico Varrone – 382. Christian Ried/Julien Andlauer/Mikkel Pedersen – 273. Daniel Serra/Scott Huffaker/Takeshi Kimura – 234. Simon Mann/Stefano Constantini/Ulysse De Pauw – 185. Davide Rigon/Francesco Castellacci/Thomas Flohr – 15 Team Standings1. No. 33 Corvette Racing – 382. No. 77 Dempsey-Proton Racing – 273. No. 57 Kessel Racing – 234. No. 21 AF Corse – 185. No. 54 AF Corse – 15 Corvette Racing By the Numbers• 1: As in one team, one manufacturer and one model of car for 25 years: Corvette Racing, Chevrolet and the Chevrolet Corvette.• 14: Manufacturer Championships for Chevrolet and Corvette Racing since 2001.• 19: Number of street circuit victories for Corvette Racing – more than any other IMSA entrant at the circuit.• 26: Tracks at which Corvette Racing has won races – Baltimore, Charlotte Motor Speedway, COTA, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park/Mosport, Daytona, Detroit, Houston, Laguna Seca, Le Mans, Lime Rock, Long Beach, Miami, Mid-Ohio, Monza, Portland, Road America, Road Atlanta, Sebring, Sonoma, St. Petersburg, Texas, Trois Rivieres, Utah, VIR, Washington DC and Watkins Glen• 34: Number of drivers for Corvette Racing since 1999. Ben Keating and Nico Varrone joined that list with their participation – and victory – in the 1,000 Miles of Sebring for the World Endurance Championship.• 123: Victories worldwide for Corvette Racing – 113 in North America and eight at Le Mans.• 269: Event starts by Corvette Racing since 1999.• 353,311.01: Total number of racing miles completed by Corvette Racing since its inception. To put that in perspective, Corvette Racing is more than halfway to the distance traveled by Apollo 13 – the longest manned spaceflight in history: 622,268 miles. That means Corvette Racing has raced to the moon… and then some!

No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R team aims for continued improvement in second race of season

DETROIT (April 10, 2023) – Following an impressive debut of the hybrid Cadillac V-Series.R in the FIA World Endurance Championship, Cadillac Racing turns its attention to the opening leg of the European schedule and the 6 Hours of Portimão in Portugal this weekend. Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn and Richard Westbrook will share the driving duties of the No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R In the 11-car Hypercar class on the Algarve International Circuit. “It will be the first time we run the car in Europe. That will be a challenging weekend,” said Bamber after the team opened with a fourth place in the 1000 Mile of Sebring on March 17.

Its sister racecars – the No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R and the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R – on Saturday will seek to give the iconic brand six consecutive victories on the streets of Long Beach, California, in the third race of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season.  The 100-minute race is scheduled for 5 p.m. ET on the 1.968-mile, 11-turn circuit. The No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R, co-driven by Pipo Derani, Alexander Sims and Jack Aitken, started from the pole and went on to claim the victory in the Twelve Hours of Sebring on March 18. It was Cadillac’s third consecutive win on the 3.741-mile, 17-turn course and first in the recast Grand Touring Prototype class.

Media resources * French version of Portimão preview* Cadillac Racing driver bios, team info* Cadillac Racing car and driver photos* Cadillac Racing victory list, accolades* 6 Hours of Portimão entry list

“We have a solid car and we can’t wait to get to the rest of the WEC season and the IMSA season and show the world how great it is,” GM sports car racing program manager Laura Wontrop Klauser said. “Every time we turn the car on, we learn something. Whether if we move it or even if it sits still, we learn something, and the racing is the best way possible to learn. We can only grow and get better.” The 6 Hours of Portimão will mark the third race for the No. 2 drivers in the new Cadillac V-Series.R powered by a 5.5-liter V-8 normally aspirated engine developed by GM’s Performance and Racing propulsion team paired with the spec energy recovery system.  They opened with a fourth place in the Rolex 24 At Daytona in January followed by the strong showing at Sebring International Raceway. “We’ll keep giving it the same effort we’ve given it so far and try to build on this good result,” team manager and strategist Stephen Mitas said. The WEC has visited the Algarve International Circuit once (June 2021) – an eight-hour race in which Westbrook co-drove a Hypercar entry with Ryan Briscoe and Romain Dumas that qualified 11th and placed 30th overall (54 laps behind). Bamber and Lynn have raced at the circuit in various formulas.

Completed in 2008, the racecourse has hosted the Formula One Portuguese Grand Prix, MotoGP and the Lamborghini Super Trofeo World Finals among other races and is an annual stop for the European Le Mans Series. Bamber observed that many of the circuit’s 15 turns have personality and that its undulating 4,653 kilometers (2.891 miles) length is akin to riding on a roller coaster. Two free practices Friday and one Saturday totaling 150 minutes precede the 15-minute Hypercar qualifying session. Green flag for the 6 Hours of Portimão is scheduled for 7 a.m. ET/noon local Sunday.As announced late last month, a second Cadillac V-Series.R is entered for the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchampson April 29. Sebastien Bourdais and Renger van der Zande will drive the No. 3 Cadillac V-Series.R.

Algarve International Circuit Length: 4,653 kilometers(2,891 miles)Turns: 15Nature: Undulating road courseOpened: 2008Previous WEC visit: 2021

What they’re saying

Earl Bamber: “I’m very excited for Portugal. We had a great day in Sebring, fighting for a podium, and I think we all want to go one step higher and make it there this time. The team has been doing some really good preparation and I know we are going to make positive steps every race. It’s a learning process in the WEC, but we have all eyes forward to make it on to the podium.” Alex Lynn: “It was a strong showing for the whole crew in Sebring, and we’re all excited to now get our European adventures started. This will be the first time competing with this car in Europe, and we’ve put a lot of time into understanding what the car needs, making efforts across the simulator and now it’s about executing a clean race. There is this big buildup to Le Mans, where we can score some serious points beforehand. We’re really looking forward to continuing to learn and carrying on with this strong momentum that this car and team has provided.”Richard Westbrook: “We had a lot of positives come out of our first WEC race — reliability, good points and we got a ton of data. With how our car was running, it is disappointing not to have come away with a podium finish at Sebring. But we are a brand-new WEC team and are still learning about the car and the WEC rules. It will be a bit of going into the unknown at Portimao because it is unlike any track we’ve raced on or tested on in the U.S. Still, I’m looking forward to the challenge and confident we’ll continue to score more solid points in the championship.”

April 9, 2023

Harrison Burton and the No. 21 DEX Imaging team avoided the pitfalls that come with racing on the dirt at Bristol Motor Speedway and came away with a 15^th-place finish in the Food City Dirt Race.

That equaled Burton’s previous best finish of the season, at Auto Club Speedway in February.

Burton and the DEX Imaging Mustang lined up 20^th for the start of Sunday’s 250-lap race on the clay-covered Bristol track. 

The team struggled in the early going, finishing 30^th in the first 75-lap Stage but improved to 24^th by the end of the second Stage.

As the race went on, Burton and the DEX Mustang moved further through the field. With 66 laps remaining, Burton moved into the top 20 and ran there for the remainder of the race.

With just under 10 laps left to run, Burton moved into the top 15 and was running there when the checkered flag flew.

Next up for the No. 21 team is a trip to the Wood Brothers’ home track, Martinsville Speedway, for next Sunday’s NOCO 400.

 

NASCAR CUP SERIES BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY FOOD CITY DIRT RACE TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE REPORT APRIL 9, 2023

TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10 RESULTS:POS.   DRIVER3rd      AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BREZTRI CAMARO ZL14th      RICKY STENHOUSE JR., NO. 47 KROGER / IRISH SPRING CAMARO ZL16th      JUSTIN HALEY, NO. 31 TIDE CAMARO ZL1 TOP-FIVE UNOFFICIAL RESULTS: POS.  DRIVER1st      Christopher Bell (Toyota)2nd      Tyler Reddick (Toyota)3rd      Austin Dillon (Chevrolet)4th      Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (Chevrolet)5th      Chase Briscoe (Ford) The 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season continues at Martinsville Speedway with the NOCO 400 on Sunday, April 16, at 3 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE QUOTES: Austin Dillon, No. 3 BREZTRI Camaro ZL1Finished: 3rdA third place finish after starting on the outside pole. Austin, you had one heck of a racecar tonight, even after having to come through mid-pack and back up to the front. It seemed like your car was one of the few that was driving right at certain points of the night. Tell us about your race.“I just have to thank SMI for all of the hard work they’ve done with this dirt racing. I don’t care what anybody says, that was an amazing show throughout the field. I felt like it was some great racing.  Have to thank the good Lord above. It’s Easter and that’s what we’re really here to celebrate. But man, that was a fun time. I really wish we could have brought home the No. 3 BREZTRI Chevy into victory lane. We were second in both stages and getting a third-place finish was big for us. Getting the momentum rolling. I had a lot of fun out there. Just wasn’t good enough against the fence when it mattered. We needed the track to kind of go back to our run. Right there at the end, we were kind of circling the middle and the car was really good. The No. 3 BREZTRI Chevy was fast, just not enough at the end.”  Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1Finished: 35th We saw contact earlier in the race between you and Ryan Preece. We saw it again off turn two and continue down the straightway. What caused it to continue?  “Yeah, I’m guessing he was paying me back for whatever I did earlier. He ran me straight into the fence and my car was broke and we crashed. It sucks, but I should just be mad at myself for spinning out earlier and putting myself back there. Just sucks.”  You were looking for a long run; you said you had a better car when you could go out there for a while. “Yeah, just the tires seemed to operate better when they were hotter. Just didn’t get to run very long there at the end.”  Noah Gragson, No. 42 Sunseeker Resort Camaro ZL1Finished: 33rd“I felt like we had a much better No. 42 Sunseeker Resorts Chevy from the heat races to the race. Luke Lambert (crew chief) and the rest of the Sunseeker team really did a great job of making adjustments to the car and improving it; going from dead last in the heat race and starting 36th in the race, and then getting up into the top-10. The team did a great job, a great effort in making adjustments. I caught the wall in the second stage and then with probably about 40 or 50-laps to go, just broke a toe link so that took us out of contention. But I felt like we had a really good Chevy. Just proud of everyone’s efforts from where we started the weekend to where we ended. I felt like we got way better. Just appreciate everyone’s hard work.”  Erik Jones, No. 43 Club Wyndham Camaro ZL1Finished: 14th“Yeah, I’d say that was pretty good. We kind of just survived the chaos and obviously had an up and down day going three laps down early on. To come back and finish in the top-15 is pretty solid. We just need to find a little more in the car and get a little bit better for next year, but I’m definitely happy to get out of here with a decent finish after a night like that. Proud of everyone’s efforts on our Club Wyndham Chevy, looking forward to Martinsville next week.” Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Kroger / Irish Spring Camaro ZL1Finished: 4th I heard you on the radio today say that you felt like you were pulling a trailer behind this No. 47 Chevy. Kind of describe what you were dealing with out there.“It honestly felt like I hadn’t run dirt cars much. We just struggled a little bit yesterday. The guys worked really hard all night coming up with something different. We changed our No. 47 Irish Spring Camaro around and we were better. We still didn’t have enough to run up front there, but we methodically kind of picked and chose lanes. We got to running the bottom really well and made up a lot of time on restarts. They all just kind of fell our way there.  Really good to get a top-five and a bounce-back after last weekend. I hope that was a good show. I thought the race track was as good as it could be. You could run kind of all over the place, so hats off to the track.”

TEAM CHEVY RACE HIGHLIGHTS: Stage One·       With the starting lineup set by qualifying heat races, Chevrolet’s Kyle Larson and Austin Dillon accumulated the most passing and finishing points to take front-row starting spots in tonight’s NASCAR Cup Series’ (NCS) Food City Dirt Race.  ·       Polesitter Larson led all 75-laps in Stage One marking his second stage win of the 2023 season.  ·       Larson led Chevrolet to a one-two-three finish in the opening stage with Richard Childress Racing teammates Dillon and Kyle Busch finishing in the second and third-positions, respectively.  ·       While William Byron was caught-up in the race’s first caution on lap 10, he was able to drive his No. 24 RaptorTough.com Camaro ZL1 back through the field to salvage a top-10 finish in Stage One.  ·       Team Chevy Stage One: Top-101st      Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL12nd      Austin Dillon, No. 3 BREZTRI Camaro ZL13rd      Kyle Busch, No. 8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Camaro ZL19th      Justin Haley, No. 31 Tide Camaro ZL110th     William Byron, No. 24 RaptorTough.com Camaro ZL1 Stage Two·       At the conclusion of Stage One, the field came down pit road for the race’s first round of stops.  ·       Stage One winner Kyle Larson chose the outside lane of the front-row to lead the field to the green for Stage Two.  ·       The 75-lap Stage Two saw three lead changes with Kyle Busch pacing the field for six laps, ultimately ending the stage in the fifth position.  ·       Showcasing the speed of the No. 3 BREZTRI Camaro ZL1, Austin Dillon drove to back-to-back runner-up finishes in both stages. Dillon led Chevrolet to four top-10 finishes in Stage Two.  ·       Team Chevy Stage Two: Top-102nd      Austin Dillon, No. 3 BREZTRI Camaro ZL13rd      Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL15th      Kyle Busch, No. 8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Camaro ZL19th      Justin Haley, No. 31 Tide Camaro ZL1 Final Stage / Post-Race Notes·       The Stage Two break saw pit strategy come into play with a handful of teams choosing to stay out for track position. Of those cars includes Team Chevy drivers William Byron, Josh Berry and Ross Chastain.  ·       While Kyle Larson brought his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1 team to pit road, the team opted to not change tires and do a fuel-only stop.  ·       A caution flew with 75 laps to go involving Larson and the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1 team. Suffering too much damage to repair, Larson was forced to retire early from the race.  ·       Austin Dillon led Chevrolet to the checkered flag, driving his No. 3 BREZTRI Camaro ZL1 home with a third-place finish. ·       2023 Daytona 500 Champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr. took a fourth-place finish to give Chevrolet two top-five finishes in the series’ only appearance on dirt this season.

NASCAR CUP SERIES BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY FOOD CITY DIRT RACE TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING REPORT APRIL 8, 2023

LARSON, DILLON DRIVES CHEVROLET TO A FRONT-ROW SWEEP AT BRISTOL   TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-20 STARTING LINEUP:  POS.   DRIVER1st      KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1 2nd     AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BREZTRI CAMARO ZL1 5th      KYLE LARSON, NO. 8 CHEDDAR’S SCRATCH KITCHEN CAMARO ZL1 10th    WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 RAPTORTOUGH.COM CAMARO ZL116th    ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 1 ADVENT HEALTH CAMARO ZL117th    ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 18th    ERIK JONES, NO. 43 CLUB WYNDHAM CAMARO ZL1  TOP-FIVE UNOFFICIAL STARTING LINEUP: POS.  DRIVER1.       Kyle Larson (Chevrolet)2.       Austin Dillon (Chevrolet)3.       JJ Yeley (Ford)4.       Christopher Bell (Toyota)5.       Kyle Busch (Chevrolet)

BRISTOL, Tenn. (April 8, 2023) – Coming off his first NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) win of the 2023 season, Kyle Larson and the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1 team will lead the field to the green from the pole position in tomorrow’s Food City Dirt Race. The starting lineup for the NCS’ only appearance on dirt was set by a unique format to the series. The field was split into four heat races with the lineups determined by random draw. Drivers were awarded passing and finishing points with the driver accumulating the most points taking the pole position.  A notable favorite heading into the weekend, Larson powered his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1 from the sixth starting position to the lead in a single lap and never looked back to take the heat three win. The 30-year-old California racked up a field-high 15 points to take the pole position. Fellow Team Chevy driver Austin Dillon drove his No. 3 BREZTRI Camaro ZL1 from a fifth-place starting position to the heat one win to start alongside Larson for a Chevrolet front-row sweep.  FOX will broadcast the NCS’ Food City Dirt Race on Sunday, April 9, at 7 p.m. ET. Live coverage can also be found on the PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1 – Pole Winner QuotesCAN YOU JUST EXPLAIN HOW YOU GOT FROM SIXTH TO FIRST SO QUICKLY? “Well (Matt) Crafton has never been in a Cup car, so I think he’s probably a little bit just slow on shifting and taking it all easy. So I had a good launch on him and got to the outside of him. And then Corey (LaJoie) went to the bottom of (turn) three; I had a run down the backstretch and was able to get to his outside. So it just kind of worked out that the outside lane launched really well and my car turned well enough to stay rotated to get by them.” ON THE RESTARTS WHEN YOU HAD TO CHOOSE, COULD YOU SEE THE CHOOSE BOX? “I never did. We didn’t have a restart in my heat.” DID YOU SEE THEM TESTING IT? “I could see it from our trailer, but it’s at a different angle than what will be on the track. But it didn’t seem like there were any issues, I guess. Yeah, it’s just funny that we need a drone to choose. I think it’s a little over-complicated, for sure (laughs).” 

NASCAR CUP SERIES BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY FOOD CITY DIRT RACE TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT APRIL 8, 2023

ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 1 ADVENT HEALTH CAMARO ZL1 met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series qualifying heat races at Bristol Motor Speedway. Press Conference Transcript:  FIRST OFF, HAVE YOU SEEN ANY OF THE MEMES THAT HAVE COME OUT THIS PAST WEEK ON TWITTER OF YOUR CAR BEING PHOTOSHOPPED INTO IMAGES WITH THE HASHTAG ‘BLAME ROSS’ OR ‘THANKS ROSS’? “Yeah, I’ve looked at all of them, or as much as I could. There are some awesome, some not-so-awesome. But a lot of fun looking through all of that. I got a lot of good laughs out of it.” WHAT WAS YOUR REACTION TO DENNY HAMLIN’S PENALTY BEING UPHELD BY THE APPEAL COMMITTEE? “That doesn’t really involve me. I don’t really have an opinion on it. Not really my deal.” CHRISTOPHER BELL GETS OUT OF THE CAR AND CALLS YOU A WRECKING BALL AND THEN LATER SAYS HE REALLY DIDN’T DO ANYTHING WRONG. HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH A GUY SAYING THAT AND THEN SAYING IT WASN’T YOUR FAULT. YOU SEEM TO ALWAYS BE TAGGED WITH THINGS THAT MAYBE YOU SHOULDN’T BE.“I do think looking at it – being as real looking at this whole situation as I can be – I do think it’s easy for a lot of good reasons for guys to point a finger at me very easily and just assume that I’m at fault. But I do think we should probably, as racecar drivers, hold ourselves to a little higher standard and maybe put in a little more effort to get the full story when we get out the car.. ask for a video. I do that with my team, even something as silly or simple at Martinsville last fall, I asked to see it. But we can also get information during the race and I think that spotters, crew chiefs, whoever is talking to us, can tell us honestly what happened from their point-of-view.. not biased as we all are.  But then again, I want Phil Surgen (crew chief) and Brandon McReynolds (spotter) to be the most biased guys in the whole facility here at Bristol this weekend; be on my side and back me up no matter what. I think there can be a lot more facts given to us as drivers. We’re probably self-appointed alphas in our groups, where we’re always right. When we say our car is tight, the car is tight. If your crew chief believes you, then he’s going to loosen the car up. That’s kind of a whole spinoff, but I think we could just do a better job of holding ourselves accountable to finding out all the facts before we go stay stuff on cameras and microphones that we have opportunity to get to quicker than we actually have the opportunity to get to the facts.” LOOKING AHEAD AT TALLADEGA – THAT WIN LAST YEAR, WHAT DID THAT VICTORY MEAN? WHAT DO YOU RECALL FROM THOSE LAST LAPS? “Just an incredible career-changing win. To win at one of the superspeedways is just such a crazy lottery to get it done. Thought I would have to pay a lot more dues and will probably have to pay even more dues now and pay it back for many years to come to get another one. But I really remember speeding on pit road; getting freaked out and hitting the gas with a car exiting his stall to my left. And then trying to get the lucky dog and making a very crazy move to try to split the pack up, and then to get the lucky dog and fight back up there. At the end, I just remember them all turning right – like one after another, they just kept pulling to the outside lane and I just stayed on the bottom.” CARSON HOCEVAR LOOKED AT YOU AS A MENTOR AND HE GOT A WIN LAST WEEK. HOW HAVE YOU SEEN HIM EVOLVE OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS? “Yeah, a lot. I’ve seen a lot. I got to know Carson (Hocevar) when he came to Niece Motorsports. He was something that Al and Cody believed in early on, and with a little bit of sponsorship, they’ve raced him for two years. And then coming into this year, for Worldwide Express to come on full-time on his truck and take every race, as well as the No. 41 truck that I split with several other drivers. I know every step along the way – from talking about race trucks to pitching him to Worldwide Express to Rob Rose in his motorhome at Martinsville a year ago and initially Worldwide saying ‘no’. And then going back to him – Niece fighting some more and me helping where I could with just my opinion of getting behind him early and support him. We have equal conversations about business as we do about racing. He doesn’t need my help driving a race truck fast.. that’s came natural to him. It’s hopefully helping these younger guys with what not to do. They’re going to have a lot of decisions in their lives and in their career, and if they’re around long enough, they’re going to make the wrong decision a lot. And that’s OK, as long as you keep going.  For Carson, it’s just been about me trying to help him minimize mistakes – whether it be on the race track for sure, but on Tuesday at 10 a.m., you can make an equally bad decision. Just try to surround him with good people that help mitigate those mistakes. And going fast, he’s pretty much got that and he’s got a good group around him helping him go fast. I don’t have a whole lot to say there, other than when I’m driving the truck, it’s really good to bounce ideas off each other.” IN TERMS OF WHAT CHRISTOPHER BELL SAID LAST WEEK AND HE DID LATER RETRACT IT – DID HE REACH OUT TO YOU OR DO YOU HOPE THAT HE REACHES OUT TO YOU AND APOLOGIZE PERSONALLY AS OPPOSED TO SOCIAL MEDIA? “I don’t really have a thought on if he should or shouldn’t.. that’s up to him. But from what I saw, he didn’t apologize to me. He apologized to William (Byron). No hard feelings here. If you want to say something to me, like say it to me. I was standing right over to his side, so I’m around.” WITH THE DRAW FOR THE HEAT RACES, YOU’RE LAST IN YOUR HEAT RACE. IS THIS ONE OF THOSE TIMES WHERE DRAWING LAST IS BETTER THAN DRAWING ON THE POLE WITH THE PASSING POINTS? “I don’t really know what would be the best. I feel like I’m starting south of town in like Johnson City (laughs). I feel like I have a really stacked heat race just looking at it. Definitely if I could choose, I would probably choose a different one. I think I counted six dirt racers and four of us that are not true dirt racers. I’ll probably get to learn the most though, so if nothing else, I’ll get to learn and watch. Like Kyle (Busch) was saying before I jumped up here, it’s so hard to just not spin out. I have so much to learn. I mainly just want to finish the race. I haven’t finished one of these yet for various reason. If on the last lap, we roll across to the checkered flag, that’s goal number one. The heat race, I’m not too worried about where we start.” BACK TO THE FALLOUT FROM LAST WEEK, AS YOU’VE NAVIGATED THROUGH THE LAST YEAR AND A HALF, HAS IT BEEN DIFFICULT HAVING THIS REPUTATION OF BEING THE ESCAPE GOAT WHERE GUYS KIND OF POINT THE FINGER AT YOU. DO YOU PAY ANY ATTENTION TO IT WHEN YOU LEAVE THE RACE TRACK, OR IS IT A DONE DEAL AS SOON AS YOU GET OUT OF THE RACECAR? “So what’s so crazy is – we got out and one of my guys, jokingly, said what’s the No. 20 going to say about you. And we laughed because we didn’t think anything. And then we hear about it a couple minutes later, we were jaws on the ground on pit road there. It caught us completely by surprise that we would get blamed for that. But tying it all together to the last year and a half or whatever – last week, that’s nothing (laughs). That’s easy. I think the only person that had more fun looking at those memes was Tyler Reddick. I think he had a lot of fun watching that stuff.” THINKING AHEAD TO THE COCA-COLA 600, I THINK YOU’VE HAD FIVE STARTS IN THAT RACE. WITH THAT SAID, HOW HARD IS IT FOR YOU AS A RELATIVELY NEW DRIVER, TO GET USED TO 600 MILES AT CHARLOTTE? IT’S A LONG WAY, MENTALLY AND PHYSICALLY.“It is. The Coca-Cola 600 last year and the Southern 500 were two races last year that hurt the most that we lost. I thought we had real opportunities to win both of those, which is just an incredible thought that we had opportunities to win those iconic races in this sport. I don’t do much different though to prepare. It’s going to be painful a little bit, and it’s going to be mentally-taxing. Those first two with Premium Motorsports and Jay Robinson were a whole lot harder than what it’s been the last two with CGR and Trackhouse Racing. It’s a whole lot easier to run 600 miles in a fast car. It’s a whole lot hard to run 600 miles, or 588 miles, in a slow car.  Look, those races with Jay were so much about just getting to the next caution, getting to the next stage break. Hoping someone crashed or blew up, or whatever, and there were tires on pit road that we could buy at half-price, and we’d run some of those stints on scuffs. And then something would happen and Jay would come on the radio – hey buddy, we have stickers.. get ready to pass some cars. Just mitigating the laps down. Trying to manage those races was so mentally challenging. Knowing that Jay did not and could not afford for us to be crashing cars, where now it’s about going fast and winning races. Those laps and those years have molded me into who I am today. I can say it’s a lot harder to be a slow car in the Coca-Cola 600 than it is to be a fast car like I am in now.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY FOOD CITY DIRT RACE TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPTAPRIL 8, 2023

KYLE BUSCH, NO. 8 CHEDDAR’S SCRATCH KITCHEN CAMARO ZL1 met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series qualifying heat races at Bristol Motor Speedway. Press Conference Transcript:  KYLE, YOU JUST CAME IN WITH A GRAND ENTRANCE. WHAT DID YOU BRING EVERYONE? “I brought some croissants for everyone from Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen. Awesome opportunity to have them on board with us here this weekend. They have a couple stores close nearby that they were able to get those fluffy, delicious-tasting croissants all ready to go for everybody in the media center today.  Welcome, go back there, grab you some and enjoy.” TWO COMPLETELY DIFFERENT TYPES OF CARS AND OF COURSE THE TRACK IS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT, BUT DID YOU LEARN ANYTHING THURSDAY NIGHT AT BULLS GAP THAT WILL APPLY HERE AT ALL THIS WEEKEND? “(Laughs) No, not really. I guess just getting the gist of getting back on dirt and kind of feeling the sliding around; the nature of how to get cars to go on dirt. But completely different applications with the racecars and the way the vehicles are; how heavy they are, the tires they have, the way they are built, everything like that. Just fun to get over there and do something different. I enjoy the dirt racing stuff, whether it’s the micros or the dirt late models. I always try to get my hands behind one as much as I can. But really, that was the first time I’ve done it in two years since being here at Bristol dirt in Davenport’s car. I don’t get a chance a whole lot.” NASCAR ANNOUNCED SOME CHANGES TO WHAT THE APPEALS COMMITTEE CAN DECIDE ON AN APPEAL, AND THEY ALSO SAY THEY’RE GOING TO START SHOWING PARTS AND PIECES THAT ARE TAKEN. WILL THAT HELP AT ALL WITH ANY TRANSPARENCY?  “No, I don’t believe so.  I’m actually kind of surprised on the whole Denny (Hamlin) deal. He did a really, really good job of explaining. I listened to his podcast from this week. I’ve been through some of those appeals before. You think you’ve done a good job selling your case and they actually kind of backdown on the other side. And so you think you have a really good shot of getting something reversed or overturned, and then it just completely sideswipes you that it doesn’t happen that way.  I have no clue how that is a penalty when in the rulebook – if you basically get into somebody or wreck somebody, then it can be a penalty of any sort that they want to enforce on you or infringe on you – so at the Clash, how come Joey Logano wasn’t penalized for wiping me out, you know what I mean? Every time somebody crashes from somebody else from car contact, it can be a penalty or it can be a fine, or whatever. Their rulebook contradicts itself quite a lot and all of us have a very, very hard understanding of exactly what’s what. It is what it is and we’ll keep going.” DO YOU PLAN TO APPEAL THE TRUCK PENALITES THAT CAME OUT THIS WEEK? “No, no point in appealing. We’ll lose. I don’t have enough money to afford lawyers, so we’ll let it go. That’s not in the budget.” WHAT’S THE DYNAMIC BEEN FOR YOU WORKING WITH YOUR CREW CHIEF RANDALL BURNETT AS YOU WORK ON BUILDING ON THE SUCCESS FROM YOUR AUTO CLUB WIN? “Working with Randall (Burnett) has been super good. We’ve had a great relationship thus far. And just the communication styles – his background, my background being from similar demographics if you will from racing in the short-track, late model, ranks.. things like that. We understand each other a lot. It’s just the nature of how do we apply what we’re doing to the race track better. I feel like that’s kind of our struggle and we’re continuing to work on that, and find the pieces of how we can further improve on our processes of how we go about building a setup and making it translate to be successful at the track.  California (Auto Club Speedway) was awesome. That was a lot based off what they did last year and it worked. Some of the other stuff that we’ve done this year we’ve based off of that, but we’ve also kind of gone towards something more similar to what I’ve been accustomed to driving; being a little bit on the snugger-side than what (Tyler) Reddick was always used to. Maybe we just need to forget anything that I tell him how to do and go more off of what they have always been doing.” NASCAR HAS RACED AT A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT TRACKS. HOW IMPORTANT IS IT FOR THE SERIES, OVERALL, TO DIVERSIFY ITS SCHEDULE?“I believe it’s probably the most diverse, if not the most diverse, in any form of motorsports.. even in any form of sport, for that matter. Soccer, football, baseball – they all look the same. They all might not exactly feel the same, but they all look the same. And when we go to the race track, they don’t look anything close to each other. The Clash is entirely different looking than what Martinsville (Speedway) is, and those are probably the two most comparable race tracks that we have on the schedule. Having the opportunity to race at superspeedways like Daytona (International Speedway) and Talladega (Superspeedway); the short-tracks of Bristol (Motor Speedway), Bristol dirt, Martinsville Speedway; the Clash and even the 1.5-mile tracks that are somewhat cookie-cutter. A lot of them are very different.” WE HAVE THE ALL-STAR RACE COMING UP. YOUR TEAMMATE GOT TO DO SOME TIRE TESTING THERE. WHAT KIND OF FEEDBACK DO YOU EXPECT FROM HIM AND WHAT ARE YOUR FEELINGS TOWARDS NORTH WILKESBORO? “There’s not going to be a whole lot of grip there. I think the grip was gone probably back in the ‘80s and they haven’t touched it since. It almost would have been worth probably putting dirt on it before us going there so then you had dirt smeared into all the rocks and acted as an aggravate, and it would burn off and lose grip as you went. So that could have been interesting, but it didn’t get the dirt on it quite in time before they made the decisions for all of us to go out there. I’m looking forward to it. I think it’s going to be cool to just get back to a nostalgic venue. I enjoy all the NASCAR footage from stuff from the early 2000s and 1990s when I really kind of tuned in and started watching. I don’t know that you can go watch film of past races there and learn a whole lot; maybe a little bit. But I certainly do remember the times of Terry Labonte being there in the silver car, the iron man car, and then Jeff Gordon winning the last race there. Just the moments between Earnhardt and Bodine, Earnhardt and Rudd, and a lot of the other guys that kind of feuded a little bit there at North Wilkesboro. It’s a cool place.” GOING BACK TO THE 2015 SEASON – WHEN YOU SEE SOMEBODY IN YOUR CAR AS YOUR REHABILITATING, HOW DOES THAT IMPACT YOU IN THE SENSE OF SEEING SOMEBODY IN THE CAR, BUT ALSO SEEING THE SPORT CONTINUE ON? “Yeah, to me, there’s two ways – probably more – that you could go about it. But the two that I think about is that it shows you how small you are as a piece of the sport. It will be there with or without you. That was always Bill France Sr.’s line, I believe, years and years ago – that the show will go on, and we don’t need you, you need us.  But then the second nature to that is when you’re on the sidelines injured or whatever it might be and you see your racecar going out there, you miss it. You miss being in there and that I think goes to show your drive, determination, passion, fire, desire. Everything for what your passion is in being a racecar driver and being here in this sport. It gave me a new recognition to – could I retire and just walk away in the 2015 season, just be done and not worry about coming back. You kind of think through some of those. And then you go through a couple of weekends of watching the car go around the race track without you in it and you’re like – no, I don’t like this.. I don’t think I could do that. So you want to get back out there and I think that kind of re-lights that fire. It was good to have that for me.” IN TERMS OF THE RULINGS AND AS YOU NOTE HOW THE RULEBOOK KIND OF CONFLICTS – DO YOU NEED CLARIFICATION FROM NASCAR.. IS THAT SOMETHING YOU SEEK? OR IN ONE SENSE ARE YOU ALMOST HOPING THAT NASCAR STARTS CALLING THINGS A LITTLE BIT MORE AGGRESSIVELY AND INSERTING THEMSELVES IN TOWARDS MAKING A DECISION? “Well, I think where I agree a lot with Denny (Hamlin) is – if we’re supposed to be self-policing and have the opportunity to be able to go out there and do something if someone did something to us and us to be able to go back and retaliate, how are we supposed to do that? Tell me what is and isn’t OK. Apparently saying it two days after the fact is not OK. Saying it right after the fact when you’re still ‘hot and bothered’ is OK.  The nature of it is, to me, how do you clean this up? I think you can clean up a lot of it by doing what we’re all supposed to be doing at the local short-track ranks – penalizing those that are involved in the caution and sending them to the rear of the field. If there is a spin and you got punted by somebody and the caution is drawn, those two go to the back. The one spinning is already going to the back, but the one that caused the spin should have to go to the back. That’s not a fix, but that’s just a start to kind of help in the instance of what all goes down.  You want to bring up an example from COTA. You had the No. 1 that got into the No. 48 who go into the No. 99 – so who do you penalize between the No. 48 and the No. 1, right? All of them.. anybody that is involved in the caution, go to the back. That’s how we do it with the kids racing at seven years old (laughs). So if we can teach seven and eight year olds that’s not the way you’re supposed to do it and you need to race clean, then surely we should be able to teach 18 or 19 year olds to Harvick’s 46 or 47. We should be able to figure it out.” DID YOU SEE IMPROVEMENTS AT RICHMOND (RACEWAY) WITH THE SHORT-TRACK PACKAGE THAT YOU THINK WILL HELP AT MARTINSVILLE (SPEEDWAY)?“So far with the lower downforce package, I have been loose. We have not figured out how to get my back-end into the race track like I need it to be. That has definitely been our struggle. I don’t see the same struggle from some of the other guys. They’ve been able to figure it out a lot better than we have, so they’ve been faster. But as far as the aero-deficiencies that you see following other cars – yes, it’s better. On a one to 10 scale, if we were a seven bad before, I think we’re still probably a five. When I ran the Xfinity car at Phoenix (Raceway), I would say that it had one, one and a half, maybe a two at the worst moments of aero-deficiencies following people. So the way we used do things is better than the Next Gen way of doing things.” REGARDING THE COCA-COLA 600, WHAT IS IT NOW AS FAR AS PHYSICALLY TAXING OR MENTALLY TAXING, IS IT BOTH? “You’re kind of going based off of the man versus machine of that era. I would say that parts and pieces of the cars were a lot different back then, so you kind of had to drive them differently back then; taking care of your equipment, not using up your stuff and whatnot. The cars now are about bulletproof.. just run them as hard as you can all race long, all the time, and that wears on a driver, for sure. Just being on top of it every single lap and giving it everything all the time.  So yeah, it’s definitely physically demanding. I’ve had Coca-Cola 600’s where after the race is over, I’m fine.. I’m good. I have no issue. And then I’ve had Coca-Cola 600’s where I looked up at the scoreboard, it was mile marker 500 and I was like – OK, we should be done and I’m like ‘damn we still have 100 more to go.. this is going to be a night’. So I think it kind of depends on your routine, your workout, that sort of stuff. I’ve also had more superspeedway races probably where I felt more mental fatigue, just with all the decision-making processes that you have to think through, where the Coca-Cola 600 I don’t think is too terrible on that for me.” ON MARTINSVILLE, NO MATTER WHAT THE PACKAGE IS, WERE YOU SURPRISED TO SEE A GUY LIKE WILLIAM BYRON GO OUT AND LEAD 490 AND SOME ODD LAPS AT MARTINSVILLE? “Yeah, you would think at least coming to pit road and having a stumble on pit road or something like that would kind of shuffle up the order, at least once maybe twice, during a race. But it didn’t really do that.  Yeah, you are kind of surprised by that. We had a little bit of that with the old car, too. Martin Truex Jr., myself, at the Coca-Cola 600 actually – we led how many laps of that race. So it’s not always unprecedented. You see someone be able to run upfront and dominate a race, but with this Next Gen car last year, it was a lot easier to mess up peoples’ aero following you and make them suffer more than what you were out front. Hopefully that doesn’t happen this time around.” LOOKING BACK ON THE WIN HERE LAST YEAR, THAT AS IT TURNED OUT, ALLOWED YOU TO KEEP YOUR STREAK AND THEN BROKE IT THIS YEAR TO SET THE RECORD. WOULD HAVE EVER THOUGHT GOING INTO IT THAT A WIN ON DIRT WOULD HAVE BEEN SO IMPORTANT TO THAT STREAK? “No, no definitely not. It certainly shines a light of just how important every single race, every single week, is. And for the nature of us going to all these different venues and having the diversity that we do in the race tracks that we go to is fun to a point. I think this was a little bit more gimmicky.. just not a true race track that we’ve been accustomed to going to, and I don’t know that we’re really capturing the Cup Series allure here, just with these cars. Like dirt cars are dirt cars.. they’re fun on dirt. You can drive them way differently. You can drive them harder and whatnot. These things here, you’re literally trying to not spin out when you’re going around there on the race track. So how do you make a pass when you’re already past the limit of spinning out. It’s tough. It just makes for a tough race. Makes it for a little better track position race. No different than anything else that we really do. But that dirt race last year was certainly significant to my years of winning races and capitalizing on that when we did. Lucky for us.” CHANDLER SMITH SAID EARLIER THIS WEEK ON A PODCAST THAT HE HAS THE UPMOST RESPECT FOR YOU AND STILL WANTS TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED AT PHOENIX (RACEWAY). DO YOU HAVE ANY INTEREST IN TALKING TO CHANDLER OR HAVE YOU ALREADY MOVED ON?“I’ve pretty much already moved on. I think it will come at due time. But if you had the upmost respect for someone, you wouldn’t race them the way I got raced, so I’ll leave it at that.”

(4/8/23 – By Ben Deatherage) Hanford, California … Seventeen-year-old Corey Day outgunned race leader Justin Sanders in an entertaining NARC 410 Sprint Car Series season opener during the 30-lap NAPA Auto Parts Anthony Simone Classic at King Speedway.  It was Day’s seventh career series victory and it was worth a stout $10,000 payday.

Day started sixth in the 25-car grid aboard the potent Meyers Constructors #14 sprint car and wasted no time powering his way to the front.  Sanders, who started on the pole in the Mittry Family sprinter, quickly built a comfortable gap over the rest of the field before the first stoppage on lap four. However, he would have his hands full on the restart with a Day who had already moved up to the runner-up spot..

Day would overtake Sanders coming to the line on lap seven.  However, another caution flag appeared before the circuit was completed, and Sanders reclaimed the lead. The third and final incident of the feature was with six laps completed.  From there on out, it would be a fierce dogfight with twenty-four clicks running incident free.

As lapped traffic became a significant factor, Sanders would have to make critical passes with the tail end of the field. Day also quickly dispatched the slower cars and kept Sanders in his crosshairs. With laps running down quickly, and the two playing a highspeed game of cat and mouse, Day made his winning move on the 23rd circuit.

From there on out, the Clovis teenager was dominant building a significant lead as he raced to the checkered.

“That was probably the best we’ve ever been here in Hanford; we were lights out,” said Day in victory lane. “I had a feeling we were going to have a long green flag run there.

“I have to give huge hats off to Shane (Bowers)” continued Day. “It was on rails, and we struggled all night with car speed. I was having to drive it hard to keep up with the pace they were setting.”

Justin Sanders had to settle for second, chased by the Works Limited machine driven by Shane Golobic.  Chase Johnson powered from fourteenth to end the night in fourth, while defending series champion Dominic Scelzi rounded out the top five finishing order.  Tim Kaeding, Justyn Cox, Oregon driver Tanner Holmes, Bud Kaeding, and Kaleb Montgomery rounded out the top 10.  Sean Becker claimed the Williams Roofing Hardcharger award with his 24th to 11th effort.

A Non-Wing, non-points feature was run at the very end of the night. It is the second time that NARC has sanctioned a wingless event since 1985.  Ryan Bernal dominated the topless 15-lapper for his first ever NARC victory.  Bernal, running for car owner Keith Day, would pace the field the entire distance to win his first NARC-sanctioned event.

“I felt so at home being in a non-wing car,” commented Ryan, “hats off to Peter (Murphy, promoter at Kings Speedway) for changing stuff up. It’s great to add something extra for the fans to see.”

Corey Day and Chase Johnson were second and third at the finish line. Campbell’s Bud Kaeding ended the race fourth over fifth, finishing ahead Dawson Faria from Tipton.

The event drew thirty teams from California, Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona for a crowd thirsty for racing.

NAPA AUTO PARTS FEATURE (30 laps): 1. 14-Corey Day[6]; 2. 2X-Justin Sanders[1]; 3. 57-Shane Golobic[3]; 4. 24-Chase Johnson[14]; 5. 41-Dominic Scelzi[5]; 6. 0-Tim Kaeding[9]; 7. 42X-Justyn Cox[8]; 8. 18T-Tanner Holmes[4]; 9. 69-Bud Kaeding[18]; 10. 2K-Kaleb Montgomery[12]; 11. 21-Sean Becker[24]; 12. 22-Ryan Bernal[7]; 13. 88A-Joey Ancona[11]; 14. 12B-Dawson Faria[22]; 15. 10-Mauro Simone[25]; 16. 37-Michael Pombo[21]; 17. 4-Jake Hodges[23]; 18. (DNF) 83V-Dylan Bloomfield[19]; 19. (DNF) 36-Craig Stidham[16]; 20. (DNF) 115-Nick Parker[20]; 21. (DNF) 83-Mitchell Faccinto[13]; 22. (DNF) 29-Willie Croft[2]; 23. (DNF) 17-Kalib Henry[17]; 24. (DNF) 88N-DJ Netto[15]; 25. (DNF) 2XM-Max Mittry[10]

WILLIAMS ROOFING HARDCHARGER: Sean Becker – 24th – 11th

METTEC TITANIUM LAP LEADERS: Sanders 1-22, Day 23-30.

ARP FAST QUALIFIER (30 Cars): Justyn Cox – 13.52 seconds

BROWN AND MILLER RACING SOLUTIONS HEAT ONE (6 laps): 1. 42X-Justyn Cox[1]; 2. 29-Willie Croft[2]; 3. 83-Mitchell Faccinto[3]; 4. 69-Bud Kaeding[4]; 5. 26-Billy Aton[5]; 6. 75-Bill Smith[6]

KIMO’s TROPICAL CAR WASH HEAT TWO (6 laps): 1. 2X-Justin Sanders[1]; 2. 41-Dominic Scelzi[2]; 3. 24-Chase Johnson[3]; 4. 83V-Dylan Bloomfield[4]; 5. 37-Michael Pombo[5]; 6. 10-Mauro Simone[6]

BEACON WEALTH STRATEGIES – RAYMOND JAMES HEAT THREE (6 laps): 1. 57-Shane Golobic[1]; 2. 14-Corey Day[4]; 3. 12B-Dawson Faria[5]; 4. 88A-Joey Ancona[2]; 5. 551-Angelique Bell[6]; 6. (DNF) 88N-DJ Netto[3]

LIFELINE USA HEAT FOUR (6 laps): 1. 18T-Tanner Holmes[2]; 2. 2XM-Max Mittry[1]; 3. 21-Sean Becker[6]; 4. 115-Nick Parker[4]; 5. 36-Craig Stidham[3]; 6. 4-Jake Hodges[5]

 NAPA AUTO PARTS HEAT FIVE (6 laps): 1. 0-Tim Kaeding[1]; 2. 22-Ryan Bernal[4]; 3. 17-Kalib Henry[3]; 4. 2K-Kaleb Montgomery[2]; 5. 5R-Ryan Rocha[5]; 6. (DNS) 15-Cody Key

SUNNYVALLEY “POWERED BY BACON” TROPHY DASH (10 laps): 1. 2X-Justin Sanders[3]; 2. 29-Willie Croft[1]; 3. 57-Shane Golobic[4]; 4. 18T-Tanner Holmes[2]; 5. 41-Dominic Scelzi[7]; 6. 14-Corey Day[5]; 7. 22-Ryan Bernal[8]; 8. 42X-Justyn Cox[6]; 9. 0-Tim Kaeding[9]

KAEDING PERFORMANCE SEMI-MAIN (10 Laps): 1. 88N-DJ Netto[1]; 2. 36-Craig Stidham[2]; 3. 37-Michael Pombo[4]; 4. 4-Jake Hodges[5]; 5. 551-Angelique Bell[9]; 6. 75-Bill Smith[7]; 7. (DNF) 10-Mauro Simone[8]; 8. (DNF) 26-Billy Aton[3]; 9. (DNS) 5R-Ryan Rocha; 10. (DNS) 15-Cody Key

Non Wing Main (15 Laps): 1. 22-Ryan Bernal[4]; 2. 14-Corey Day[7]; 3. 24-Chase Johnson[6]; 4. 69-Bud Kaeding[5]; 5. 12B-Dawson Faria[3]; 6. 4-Jake Hodges[2]; 7. (DNS) 83V-Dylan Bloomfield

Nineteen-race Super Late Model regional series begins April 7 at All-Tech Raceway

CONCORD, NC (April 5, 2023) – Dirt Late Model racing’s newest regional tour, the Hunt the Front Super Dirt Series presented by Sweet Victory Apparel, has joined the DIRTcar family for its inaugural season.

All 19 races in the Series’ highly anticipated first year will be under the DIRTcar banner, adhering to the 2023 DIRTcar Late Model rulebook, starting with its inaugural event at All-Tech Raceway in Lake City, FL on April 7. Drivers will also earn points in the DIRTcar Late Model national and regional points standings.

Participating drivers with active DIRTcar memberships will also receive the extra benefits included with their membership – including points fund eligibility, additional insurance and more.

“Our goal for the regional guys was to make it feel more like what they’re used to when they go to national events,” said Series Director Joshua Joiner. “Whether it be the World of Outlaws or DIRTcar-sanctioned events, when they have them down here in the south. Or even Eldora for the World 100 or the [Dirt Late Model] Dream – it’s done professionally with the way that DIRTcar operates. Being able to be a part of that and bring some of that to our tour made sense to us.”

In considering a rules package for their inaugural season, Joiner and the Hunt the Front staff made the decision to align with DIRTcar to take advantage of the sanctioning body’s widespread reach, driver/track benefits and nationally recognized rules and regulations.

Joiner took note of the newly established Unified Dirt Late Model Car Construction Rules and National Late Model Tire specs that DIRTcar assisted in rolling out last year and knew they would be the perfect fit for his fledgling organization.

“From the driver’s standpoint, [those rules] make a lot of sense,” Joiner said. “As a race team, we’re behind that 100 percent and happy to see it, so it made sense for us to support it and be a part of it when we started our series.”

The new Super Late Model series, headquartered in Milton, FL, was born from the family of one of dirt racing’s most successful YouTube channels – Hunt the Front. The trio of brothers – Joshua, Joseph and Jonathan Joiner – and friend/driver Jesse Enterkin, brought the brand to life in the spring of 2019, producing vlogs from their experiences at the shop and the track, first as a local Crate-engine team with a single car to their present-day operation as a three-car team attending regional and national-level Super Late Model events.

Their expanding involvement in motorsports led to their first dip into event promotion in the fall of 2021 with the inaugural running of the Southern Showcase. The event’s success brought it back to Deep South Speedway in Loxley, AL, for a second edition last November, and laid the bricks for the spawning of the new regional Series in 2023.

“We just didn’t feel like there was a really good option at the regional level for drivers at the level that our driver, Joseph, was,” Joiner said. “I look at the guys like Will Herrington, Payton Freeman, Sam Seawright, and a whole list of other guys – not just us – we needed something like this to want to race.

“It’s not to discredit any of what the other series in the Southeast are doing; everyone has a different way of doing things and how they see the best way of doing it.”

The inaugural slate of races was built with the intention of attracting full-time drivers, reducing travel costs, and avoiding overlap with other national/regional events. Joiner said Hunt the Front has strategic breaks in their calendar to allow full-time teams to compete in the bigger Late Model events dotted throughout the year while still being able to attend all 19 Series events without conflict. They’re certain these principles will result in increased car counts.

“We want the guys who want to run those [national] races to be a part of our series,” Joiner said. “When there’s a World of Outlaws race in Georgia somewhere, we don’t want to schedule a race that’s less than two hours away and keep our series regulars from being able to run against the best in the country.”

The Hunt the Front Super Dirt Series begins its inaugural season this Friday with a $20,000-to-win event at All-Tech Raceway. For more information and a full schedule of events, visit HTFSeries.com.

Ahead of season’s first street circuit after bizarre finish one year ago… Corvette Racing’s Jordan Taylor participated in a media availability Wednesday to preview next week’s Acura Sports Car Challenge for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship at the Long Beach street circuit. Taylor and teammate Antonio Garcia will look to better their third-place finish last year in the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R:

PREVIEWING THIS YEAR’S RACE AND FIRST SPRINT EVENT OF THE SEASON.“It’s always nice to go back to Long Beach. It’s the first sprint race of the year. We’ve settled in with Daytona and Sebring with endurance races, and the end of those races gets pretty intense. But Long Beach, the whole event is intense, right from the start with practice. Last year we had a great car. We were on the pole and led for the whole first stint and then had a that crazy fluke incident on pitlane which kind of put us out of contention for the win. It would be nice to go back there and be as competitive as we were and execute as well as we did last year. Having a year under our belt with this car and this class, we learned a lot throughout last season that already has been beneficial this year. I’m looking forward to getting back there and seeing what we learned throughout 2022 and be able to put that to good use once the sprint races start.” HOW HAS THE CORVETTE EVOLVED AFTER A YEAR IN GTD PRO?“The car last year honestly was great to drive all year. We’d leave sessions and be nitpicking things to work on here and there… little bit of understeer, little bit of oversteer. We were just off the pace. It was hard to kind of exploit the pace of the car without taking huge measures. At some tracks we went to, we had big setup swings to try things, but for the most part it never really worked. I feel like we have our car in a great working window. It was competitive in GTLM (GT Le Mans); last year we had some competitive weekends but it depends on the track and the event to where we stack up. We still do a lot of work in the simulator prepping for each event. We always go into the weekends with a strong car. We saw last year that we’d go in with our sim setup and we’d be pretty much right in the window of where we wanted to be. Last year at Long Beach we had a great car there. We were on pole and led the whole first stint. When things are going well, they’re going very well. Last year we put ourselves in a lot of positions to win races. At Watkins Glen we were leading up until the last couple of stops and things out of our control put us out of contention. I have a lot of confidence going to Long Beach. We had a good car last year and have made strides since then. We should be right at the front of the pack.”

LOOKING AT THE VARIOUS CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CARS IN GTD PRO, WHERE IS THE STIFFEST COMPETITION?“The Porsche got a pretty big change for Sebring, and they were obviously super-fast. In Practice One, the GTD car was fastest overall and the 9 car never really showed speed until when it needed to. So I feel like they’ve got some stuff in-hand to show when they need to. The Mercedes was strong all year last year, so I’m sure they’ll be strong now that they have two proper pros in the car for the sprint races. When you look at Sebring and Daytona, a lot of different cars were competitive so our eyes are on everybody at this point.” THE GTD AND GTD PRO CARS ARE MIXED A LOT ON-TRACK. HOW DOES THAT IMPACT YOUR FOCUS AND STRATEGY?“Not everyone is like Bill (Auberlen, a pro driver) in that class. Most of the guys don’t move out of the way that nicely. It’s the same thing Bill said – if there’s a guy in between you and someone you’re battling against, you’re going to fight that guy pretty hard just to have that buffer in-hand. We saw at the end of the Rolex 24 where there was GTD PRO, then GTD, then GTD PRO again. That kind of separates the race especially on those last restarts where it’s going to be difficult to see a proper battle in your own class. At the end of Sebring, we got hit by a GTD car going into Turn Seven on the last restart and put us out of contention. It’s difficult when you put everyone in the same situation without a class split, but it’s just the way things are right now.” PERFORMANCE DIFFERENCES IN BEING OVERTAKEN BY GTP CARS THIS YEAR VERSUS DPI CARS A YEAR AGO?“It’s much different. The way they make speed seems different. They come by you a bit quicker on the straights and then their cornering speeds – especially in the medium-speed corners – is quite a bit lower than back in the DPi days. At Sebring, I had a BMW come by me and it must have been on a double-stint on the tires. It passed me into 15 and was so slow at apex that I was actually able to drive back around him. It’s a much different car, it seems, for them to learn and adapt to. It makes the style of racing a bit different because now in GT, we know that they struggle on second-stint tires and it will put us in a position to probably want to be a little more defensive in those sorts of spots to not lose laptime when they go by us. It’s definitely a learning process. They come by you a lot quicker in the straights like at Daytona before the Kink and out of the Kink. They’d arrive much quicker and when you wouldn’t expect it from years past in a DPi. When we go to different tracks, it’s going to be learning where those places are, and where they can get by us and where they can’t compared to what it was like back in DPi.” AFTER YOUR CUP PERFORMANCE AT COTA AND THINKING ABOUT A STREET RACE FOR CUP GUYS AT CHICAGO, HOW MANY TRIES WILL IT TAKE FOR THEM TO GET A CHECKERED FLAG?“If it’s anything like COTA, they won’t have much green-flag running! When I got out of the car, Ricky (Taylor) was the first person I saw, and I was like, ‘Holy cow. That was ridiculous, what that was like on those last restarts just getting beaten around.’ I was glad to see that at least everyone else had same opinion, even in the paddock, saying that it was an especially aggressive finish to the race. I think it was a bit of wake-up call for a lot of the regulars to start thinking about it. Having those guys never been to a street course race and how strong those cars are, I think they’re going to be bouncing off the walls and probably doing more damage to the barriers than the cars themselves.” WITH THE NEW GTP CARS A BIT BIGGER AND BEING SLOWER THROUGH THE CORNERS, DO YOU ANTICIPATE HAVING BEING A LITTLE MORE AGGRESSIVE IN TAKING THE LINE AWAY BEFORE YOU GET TO A CORNER?“I think so. We saw at Sebring that if you got passed in the wrong spot, you’d lose quite a bit of time. At Long Beach, especially, if they get by you at Turn One and they can’t really get away from you all the way through Four or Five, it could be a pretty big loss. I’m sure you’ll see guys getting pretty aggressive. Now there are also a lot of new drivers in GTP that are young and hungry to show what they can do. At Sebring and Daytona, some of those guys would come by you and were pretty aggressive even in endurance races and taking a line away from GT cars kind of unknowingly. We need to be a little more proactive in showing some of those guys our intentions as well entering the corner. For sure, I think you’ll see a lot of the guys near the front of the GT pack being especially aggressive, especially late in the runs, when those guys are on used tires.”

Transcript: Defending pole and race winner aims for repeat in No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R

Renger van der Zande, co-driver with Sebastien Bourdais of the No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R in the Grand Touring Prototype class of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, met with the media via Zoom conference to preview the April 14-15 race in Long Beach, California.  Van der Zande and Bourdais will look to successfully defend their race win on the 1.968-mile, 11-turn temporary street circuit. Cadillac has won every IMSA prototype race at Long Beach since the start of the DPi era in 2017. Q&A with van der Zande transcript:

As you prepare for this event and look back on last year, what comes to mind?“I think the Long Beach Grand Prix is always special. I finished second there a lot and then last year won it finally so happy to go there and defend the win. This year it’s with a new car. We haven’t raced the Cadillac LMDh on any street track. You never know what to expect. We know from the past that Long Beach is a hard track for tires; tire degradation can be hard. The DPi Cadillac was always good with that; I think it was an advantage compared to the competition. We have a weapon this year, which is Sebastien Bourdais my teammate. He was flying last year. I think it was very special to see him go. He even planted it in the wall and still drove back to first place. I had to drive it home and that’s a very comfortable position, though it’s never easy on a street track. Of course, I had to do some work. We got it done and we won that race. (This year) the car is a little heavier than the DPi, it has less downforce than a DPi, it has more power. At the same time are systems that under braking can be tricky, so what to do with all the bumps and different tarmac changes and the curbs. For example, around the fountain is something to consider. We are discussing that right now with our engineers to be best prepared. It’s an interesting street track. It’s always spectacular. It’s always something happening with that last hairpin, and it’s also a lot of stop and go, 90-degree corners that you have to deal with and, of course, the fountain. Turn 1 is always a guess on how much grip you have, flying toward that outside wall. It’s not an easy track and let’s see what we can make of it. Not much lost at Sebring, but at the same time I’m still digesting that one going to Long Beach.”With new homologation, closer performance level and BoP rules with the GTP cars, will that open the door for other manufacturers to be on more level ground than previously at a street circuit?“LMDh is a different platform where the weight is the same, the power is the same, the basics of the car are the same. We all have the same tires, the same weight, the same power. I do think that things are much closer. We’re all searching here and there for details and fine-tuning the setup – from the engine side, the chassis side and the aerodynamics and balance everything. What you saw at Sebring and Daytona is it’s pretty close. Going to Long Beach, I think it’s a new starting level. It have a strong feeling that it is more equal than ever before.” Are there differences in the way the GTP cars are racing each other compared to the DPi?“I feel it’s hard to overtake. The speeds are higher but we have to brake a bit earlier and the weight is higher as well, so the minimum speed is a lot lower. You rely on let’s brake super late and dive bomb someone and get away with it. I think if you dive bomb someone you’re going straight so you’re going to miss the corner. I feel that in traffic it makes a bigger difference. You can see the last part of Daytona, there were some faster cars in front of us and when there was traffic there were gaps and those gaps remained, so there are a few spots on track where you can overtake and you’re limited more than the DPi in those spots. I think with the DPi you could overtake someone on track because you have a bit more downforce, you had more minimum speed grip to get away with a mistake. These cars, if you out-brake yourself you’re actually going to out-brake yourself and go off the track. You have to be a bit more careful. Traffic management is super important. The GTs are really in cooperation with the GTPs.” Talk about the Long Beach hairpin and the role it plays in the race.“I think the steering on our Cadillac is a bit better than it was on the DPi, so I think that won’t be a problem. We’ve seen a lot of action there, some misfortune for some people stranded there. It’s one of those do-or-dies on the last corner of the last lap of the race. That makes Long Beach a difficult street track with no room for error. Around that corner there really is only one line. If you dive bomb on the inside you probably won’t get away with it. If you do, might get lucky and win that race. Also in GTP, spare parts are at a premium, we don’t have that much stock. If you keep on taking off bits of the car in the first practice, second practice and then qualifying, it’s something to keep in mind. That last corner is special, and the corner before that – the long left-hander with all the drifting rubber – it’s easy to screw it up a well.” About cold tires on the GTP car.“Our cold tires are super tricky. I had an LMP2 driver to come me and ask if we were still charging our hybrid system when we were coming out of the pits because why are you so slow. I said nothing like that, it’s just no grip at all. If you’re coming out of the pits and you’re racing each other you have zero grip. The GTP drivers must think we have a problem, but really trying to get a read on the tires, temperature and grip. So, that’s another element in this championship.”

The Series Returns to Action at 411 Motor Speedway on April 20, and Talladega Short Track on April 21-22

SEYMOUR, TN – April 5, 2023 – In the nearly two months since the last World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Model event in Florida, Series regulars haven’t stayed quiet.

Before making the next weekend stop at 411 Motor Speedway, April 20, and Talladega Short Track, April 21-22, drivers have taken advantage of the extra time to prepare their programs for the rest of the season.

Reigning World of Outlaws CASE Late Models Rookie of the Year Tanner English has spent time racing in Tennessee and Missouri.

The Benton, KY driver scored a win at Clarksville Speedway and has only finished outside the top five once in those races.

That time inside the car has allowed him to regain his killer instinct.

“We haven’t panicked or anything like that,” English said.  We just put our heads down and went to work, and I feel like we’ve made our car better. 

“It’s big just knowing we can qualify up front and put ourselves in a position to run good. I started on the front row of both Heat Races, and with a lack of racing, I wasn’t as good as I needed to be. I just learned from that, and that’s what happens when you kind of lose your killer instinct.” 

It’s a killer instinct he’ll need to put himself back into championship contention.

He’s currently 11th in points—90 points behind Chris Madden. But it’s a situation he’s familiar with after climbing to a second-place finish in last year’s standings. 

“We just caught some breaks (last year); I don’t feel like we were any better,” English said. “It’s still a long season. I feel like we came from a pretty big deficit last year and still had a shot at winning the title.  

“It makes it harder, but it’s not unattainable.” 

English hasn’t been the only driver taking advantage of seat time during the long break. 

Logan Martin has also been working to find momentum after he didn’t get off to the start at Volusia Speedway Park he hoped for.

The West Plains, MO driver put together a few consistent runs since Florida, including a win at Boothill Speedway in March and a second to Series rival Bobby Pierce at Springfield Raceway. 

Those consistent runs have Martin, who’s currently 20th in points, optimistic about his return to World of Outlaws competition. 

“Obviously, we didn’t have a good run down in Florida, so it’s getting some momentum built back up and some confidence,” Martin said.  

“We’ve just been trying to go race and race when we can on these off days so we can build some confidence before we get back racing with the Outlaws. I feel like we’ve had a lot of good runs since we’ve been off, so I’m excited for 411 and Talladega.” 

However, while Martin has built up his confidence, many of the tracks on the schedule in the next two months are at places he’s never been to. 

But after racing in unfamiliar territory, he returns to the Midwest, where he had his best runs with the Series, including a top five at Boone Speedway in 2021.

“I’m excited for anything in the Midwest,” Martin said. “The Southeast and Northeast stuff, I’ve never really raced in that area. That dirt’s a little bit different, and I’ve never been to any of the tracks in the Northeast. I haven’t been to 411 and Talladega either.  

“I enjoy first-time visits, and I have a lot of confidence heading into it.” 

Martin and English aren’t the only drivers who’ve found success since DIRTcar Nationals in February.

Like English, defending Series champion Dennis Erb Jr. and Brian Shirley also scored a win at Clarksville this season.

And while it’s not in a Late Model, Johnny Scott and Cade Dillard have each won in a Modified.

Despite the curveball of extra time off thrown to World of Outlaws CASE Late Models drivers, many are staying sharp as Series competition resumes later this month.

The World of Outlaws CASE Late Models return to action for the Seymour Showdown at 411 Motor Speedway on Thursday, April 20. Then, the Series debuts at Talladega Short Track on Friday and Saturday, April 21-22, for the Alabama Gang 100 weekend—the first $50,000-to-win battle of the season.

For a complete look at the World of Outlaws CASE Late Models Schedule: CLICK HERE. 

April 5, 2023

After a memorable trip to Richmond Raceway, Harrison Burton and the No. 21 DEX Imaging team now are focusing the second of three consecutive short track races in the early portion of the 2023 Cup Series schedule. This Easter weekend finds them at Bristol Motor Speedway, where the high-banked, half-mile concrete oval has been covered in clay for the Food City Dirt Race on Sunday night.

“Last weekend in Richmond was a solid result for the No. 21 Ford, but it was also a great day for the Wood Brothers family,” crew chief Brian Wilson said. “To be honored by your home state with the Wood Brothers Racing Day in the Commonwealth of Virginia is a great accomplishment.”

Wilson said the upcoming dirt race also promises to be one to remember.
 
“Looking forward to this weekend in Bristol, we will continue what has become one of the most unique and dynamic events in NASCAR,” he said. “Last year we were able to score a top-20 result which we will build from this year. 
 
“With a year of dirt racing notes we can now be more detailed on our practice plan for this year.”
 
Wilson said the DEX Imaging team, like their peers in the Cup Series, will be trying to predict just what kind of racing surface they’ll see, then tune their cars accordingly.
 
“A lot of the discussion this week has centered around the weather forecast and how often NASCAR will water the track,” he said. “Keeping up with the track as it dries and slicks off will be part of the challenge for all teams.
 
“One thing we know for sure is that the No. 21 DEX Imaging Mustang will look sharp with a little bit of dirt on the paint scheme.”
 
Two practice sessions are scheduled for Friday evening, the first beginning at 6:35 p.m. and the final one at 8:32 p.m.
 
FOX Sports 1 will carry the TV coverage.
 
The first of four 15-lap qualifying races is set to begin at 6 p.m. Saturday, to be followed by the remaining three. FOX Sports 2 will broadcast those races.
 
The 250-lap feature event is scheduled to get the green flag just after 7 p.m. on Sunday with TV coverage on FOX.
 
Stage breaks are planned for Laps 75 and 150. 

 

1 MONTH ALERT: World of Outlaws Return For #LetsRaceTwo at Eldora, May 5-6ROSSBURG, OH (April 5, 2023) – The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars are set for a May visit at Eldora Speedway, May 5-6.The two-day #LetsRaceTwo event brings The Greatest Show on Dirt to Ohio for the first time this season with a plethora of talent.Ten-time Series champion Donny Schatz, four-time and reigning Series champion Brad Sweet, current points leader David Gravel, Carson Macedo, James McFadden, Logan Schuchart, Ohio’s Sheldon Haudenschild and more will duel for $10,000 paydays each night at the Tony Stewart owned track.TICKETS: CLICK HEREEarly Storylines:GRAVEL EYES MORE: While he missed out on the bigger paydays, David Gravel still claimed two victories at Eldora Speedway during the famed Kings Royal week – bringing him to five wins overall at the “Big E” and three with the World of Outlaws.He and his Big Game Motorsports team will be poised to add couple more trophies from the historic track to their collection this May and continued to extend their points lead as they’re both chasing their first World of Outlaws title.SCHATZ’S ELDORA: Ten-time Series champion Donny Schatz, driver of the CARQUEST/Advance Auto Parts #15 for Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing, has one of the best careers at Eldora, scoring 18 World of Outlaws victories there – including five Kings Royal triumphs.He and his team will be looking for their first win at the track since 2019, when he won three of the six races there that year.REIGNING STARS: Rico Abreu, who won with the World of Outlaws at Lincoln Speedway this year, scored the latest Series victory at Eldora in September. Before him, Brent Marks won the Historical Big 1 and was crowned King Brett the 39th at last year’s Kings Royal.Abreu’s victory was his first Eldora win with the World of Outlaws, but seventh overall at the track, having won there with the All Star Circuit of Champions and USAC Midgets before. Marks’ two victories brought him to five victories at the track and four with the World of Outlaws.PREVIOUS ELDORA WINNERS: 2022 –David Gravel on July 13, Brent Marks on July 14, David Gravel on July 15 (Day), Brent Marks on July 15 (Night), Rico Abreu on Sept. 23 2021 – Brent Marks on May 8 (Day), Sheldon Haudenschild on May 8, Carson Macedo on July 14, Tyler Courtney on July 17 (Day), Kyle Larson on July 17, Carson Macedo on July 18, Logan Schuchart on Sept. 24 2019 – Donny Schatz on May 10, Donny Schatz on July 17, Brad Sweet on July 18, Donny Schatz on July 19, Brad Sweet on July 20, Logan Schuchart on Sept. 27 2018 – Donny Schatz on May 11, Donny Schatz on May 12, Shane Stewart on July 12, Donny Schatz on July 13, Donny Schatz on July 14, Brent Marks on Sept. 21, Christopher Bell on October 14 2017 – Logan Schuchart on May 12, Donny Schatz on May 13, Kerry Madsen on July 13, Christopher Bell on July 14, Donny Schatz on May 15, Tim Shaffer on Sept. 22 2016 – Kerry Madsen on May 6, Kerry Madsen on May 7, David Gravel on July 14, Daryn Pittman on July 15, Donny Schatz on July 16, Shane Stewart on Sept. 23 2015 – Donny Schatz on May 8, Donny Schatz on May 9, Shane Stewart on July 17, Shane Stewart on July 18, Greg Wilson on Sept. 25 2014 – Shane Stewart on May 2, David Gravel on May 3, Sammy Swindell on July 11, Kerry Madsen on July 12, Joey Saldana on Sept. 19 2013 – Kerry Madsen on May 3, Daryn Pittman on May 4, Kerry Madsen on July 12, Brad Sweet on July 13 2012 – Chad Kemenah on May 4, Sammy Swindell on May 5, Joey Saldana on July 13, Sammy Swindell on July 14 2011 – Joey Saldana on May 8, Tim Shaffer on July 15, Tyler Walker on July 16, Joey Saldana on Sept. 23 2010 – Joey Saldana on May 8, Paul McMahan on May 9, Joey Saldana on July 16, Steve Kinser on July 17, Jac Haudenschild on Sept. 24 2009 – Donny Schatz on May 9, Terry McCarl on July 17, Donny Schatz on July 18, Jason Sides on Sept. 25 2008 – Craig Dollansky on April 11, Donny Schatz on May 31, Joey Saldana on July 11, Daryn Pittman on July 13, Joey Saldana on Sept. 19 2007 – Jason Meyers on April 13, Paul McMahan on June 2, Steve Kinser on July 13, Donny Schatz on July 14, Joey Saldana on Sept. 21 2006 – Sammy Swindell on April 7, Sammy Swindell on April 8, Craig Dollansky on June 3, Craig Dollansky on July 14, Joey Saldana on July 15, Joey Saldana on Aug. 4 2005 – Sammy Swindell on April 8, Steve Kinser on April 9, Sammy Swindell on June 4, Steve Kinser on July 15, Steve Kinser on July 16, Jac Haudenschild on Aug. 5 2004 – Steve Kinser on April 9, Steve Kinser on April 10, Danny Lasoski on June 5, Dale Blaney on July 16, Jason Sides on July 17, Sammy Swindell on Aug. 6 2003 – Donny Schatz on April 18, Sammy Swindell on April 19, Steve Kinser on May 31, Steve Kinser on July 18, Steve Kinser on July 19, Jason Meyers on Aug. 8 2002 – Craig Dollansky on April 13, Steve Kinser on June 1, Daryn Pittman on July 19, Joey Saldana on July 20, Steve Kinser on Aug. 2 2001 – Stevie Smith on April 13, Mark Kinser on April 14, Andy Hillenburg on June 2, Andy Hillenburg on July 20, Mark Kinser on July 21, Steve Kinser on Aug. 3 2000 – Steve Kinser on April 22, Mark Kinser on June 3, Johnny Herrera on July 13, Sammy Swindell in July 14, Dale Blaney on July 15, Tim Shaffer on Aug. 4 1999 – Steve Kinser on April 2, Tim Shaffer on June 5, Mark Kinser on July 15, Greg Hodnett on July 16, Sammy Swindell on July 17, Stevie Smith on Aug. 6 1998 – Joey Saldana on April 10, Sammy Swindell on April 11, Sammy Swindell on June 13, Jac Haudenschild on July 17, Jac Haudenschild on July 18, Jac Haudenschild on Aug. 7 1997 – Sammy Swindell on April 4, Dave Blaney on June 14, Dave Blaney on July 18, Steve Kinser on July 19, Sammy Swindell on Aug. 8 1996 – Sammy Swindell on April 5, Steve Kinser on June 15, Mark Kinser on July 19, Johnny Herrera on July 20, Mark Kinser on Aug. 9 1995 – Dave Blaney on April 14, Jac Haudenschild on April 15, Steve Kinser on June 10, Dave Blaney on Aug. 11 1994 – Jeff Swindell on April 16, Kenny Jacobs on April 17, Kenny Jacobs on June 11, Dave Blaney on Aug. 12 1993 – Dave Blaney on Dave Blaney on April 17, April 18, Dave Blaney on June 11, Steve Kinser on June 12, Dave Blaney on Aug. 13 1992 – Sammy Swindell on April 12 1991 – Doug Wolfgang on April 20, Steve Kinser on June 7, Sammy Swindell on June 8 1990 – Steve Kinser on April 21, Steve Kinser on April 22, Rickey Hood on June 8, Steve Kinser on June 9 1989 – Lee Brewer on April 22, Jeff Swindell on April 23, Bobby Davis, Jr. on June 9, Doug Wolfgang on June 10, Doug Wolfgang on Aug. 4, Doug Wolfgang on Aug. 5 1988 – Sammy Swindell on April 9, Doug Wolfgang on April 10, Jac Haudenschild on Aug. 26, Steve Kinser on Aug. 27 1987 – Steve Kinser on April 12, Dave Blaney on Aug. 7, Steve Kinser on Aug. 8 1986 – Sammy Swindell on Aug. 7, Kenny Jacobs on Aug. 8, Bobby Allen on Aug. 9 1985 – Doug Wolfgang on April 13, Doug Wolfgang on April 14, Sammy Swindell on Aug. 8, Jac Haudenschild on Aug. 9, Doug Wolfgang on Aug. 10 1984 – Sammy Swindell on April 7, Ron Shuman on April 8 1983 – Steve Kinser on May 21, Brad Doty on May 22 1982 – Danny Smith on May 8, Sammy Swindell on May 9, Doug Wolfgang on June 12, Jac Haudenschild on Aug. 4, Ronnie Daniels on Aug. 5, Rick Ferkel on Aug. 6, Sammy Swindell on Aug. 7, Steve Kinser on Oct. 17 1981 – Sammy Swindell on May 16, Sammy Swindell on Aug. 6, Doug Wolfgang on Aug. 7, Doug Wolfgang on Aug. 8, Sammy Swindell on Oct. 17, Steve Kinser on Oct. 18 1980 – Sammy Swindell on April 13, Steve Kinser on May 3, Steve Kinser on May 4, Steve Kinser on May 24, Steve Kinser on July 5, Doug Wolfgang on Aug. 7, Sammy Swindell on Aug.8, Steve Kinser on Aug. 9, Doug Wolfgang on Aug. 30, Doug Wolfgang on Aug. 31, Steve Kinser on Oct. 19 1979 – Ron Shuman on April 15, Dub May on May 27, Steve Kinser on July 3, Sammy Swindell on July 14, Steve Kinser on Aug. 2, Steve Kinser on Aug. 3, Steve Kinser on Aug. 4, Doug Wolfgang on Sept. 1, Shane Carson on Oct. 21 1978 – Bobby Allen on April 16, Rick Ferkel on April 30, Steve Kinser on May 21, Rick Ferkel on July 3, Randy Ford on Aug. 3, Rick Ferkel on Aug. 4, Rick Ferkel on Aug. 5, Steve Kinser on Sept. 3, Shane Carson on Oct. 29If you can’t make it to the track, you can watch all the action live on DIRTVision.

NARC NEWSLINE – APRIL 4, 2023, By Jim Allen … Let’s be honest, motorsports have taken some serious blows in the past three years. First, we got hit with COVID-19, then a totally unexpected tire shortage, and now a lunatic Mother Nature of California acting like she’s got the world’s worst case of PMS. The Golden State headlines are dominated by record rainfall, storms, and flooding that has forced the cancellation and postponement of many racing events. Meteorologist’s call it an “Atmospheric River.”  I think I speak on behalf of everybody reading this column when I call it a “pain in the butt.” 

It’s one thing to rain, but to have so water that most dirt track infields resemble fishing ponds doesn’t work. There is literally no place left for it to drain.  Social media is loaded with track photos showing newfound lakes, ponds, swamps, leaking levees, and flooding. The Tulare Fairgrounds is now a disaster relief center for animals after a recent levee break.  The Kings Speedway  overflow pond is full and there is no place to pump the water unless the neighboring airport wants to start practicing water landings. The grounds surrounding the Stockton Dirt Track resemble swamp lands in Florida and I’m waiting for an alligator to crawl up to the staging area.  Then there is Silver Dollar Speedway where haulers entering the pits would be like a tagline for a horror movie:  “They all went in, but nobody came out.” It’s more suited for Monster Trucks.  And for places like Petaluma, Merced, Antioch, Watsonville, Placerville, KCRP, and Santa Maria, pumping water is part of the morning ritual.

In the meantime, racing teams are getting anxious, promoters wonder when it will end, and fans are enduring some serious withdrawals.  And the main reason we dislike it is because we can’t do anything about it.  It’s totally out of our control.  Don’t you hate when that happens?

Promoter Tony Noceti was all geared up for his big April 1^st Asparagus Cup at Stockton but got cannonballed in the days leading up to the show, completely drenching the place.  He held out for as long as he could but was forced to pull the proverbial plug two days before the show.  At that point, social media lit up like the press coverage of Donald Trump going to New York, proclaiming the show should be moved to Placerville Speedway or Kern County Raceway Park.  Contrary to belief, we looked into one of those options but with just 48 hours’ notice, it just couldn’t happen.  Contrary to belief, racetracks gear up for events, not just open the gate on race day and hope there is beer and food and people to work the facility. Then there is the other wild card and that is the racer and the fan correlation.  We know 100%, beyond a reasonable doubt, that most teams will show up naked to race lawnmowers in the snow.  One thing they don’t do is race for free and without a large crowd, the promoter’s wallet would bleed red ink like it was in a spaghetti strainer.  That’s not a workable scenario.  So now, we just wait.

HEY JIM, DID YOU MENTION SANTA MARIA?  By design, I actually did. Many of you are asking questions about the beleaguered facility.  Is it still open?  Will NARC go there again?  Is the track up for sale?  I heard there is five races scheduled this year – is that true?  And your answers are … SORT OF, WE WANT TO, YUP, and PROBABLY.

But seriously, what is happening at Santa Maria Raceway would make Doug Fort roll over in his grave.  What most people think is that the encroaching housing development hates racing, and the track is being sued into non-existence.  While there is some truth in that statement, it’s really not that way – in a twisted sort of way.

Let me explain: What the housing development has a problem with is the other “entertainment activities” that take place at the track. And we are not talking about something underhanded like a gambling hall or a strip club.  Promoter Nick Duggan and his group of track investors had great plans for the iconic facility and discovered a gold mine opportunity by adding “Mexican Rodeos” to the mix.  It would help make ends meet in a tough business. To put the Mexican Rodeo’s in real world terms, it’s are absolutely huge. They literally make a crowd at a World of Outlaws show look like small family picnic. SMR was literally packed with families enjoying the rodeo, live music, and other related activities.  And they left the place cleaner than when they found it.  That’s a WIN that also happens to reel in local community involvement and support for the facility.

According to legal documents filed by resident lawyers in the neighboring subdivision, it was stated that the Raceway needed an“entertainment license” if they held any activities besides racing.  Not to mention, they also want to require a $100,000 EPA Study to make sure the ground was safe for farm animals and touring rock bands.  So, the track went to PLAN B in an attempt to placate the locals.  Duggan & Company did the right thing and secured the license and incorporated a little “off-road racing” into the next two Mexican Rodeo events. Sounds reasonable, eh?  The best of all worlds, right?  NOPE!  The homeowner’s association felt that effort bypassed the intention of what they were trying to accomplish and stated there wasn’t enough racing to make it a “racing” event.  Somewhere in the middle of all that, they also wanted half of the revenue from those events.  Shortly thereafter, the aforementioned entertainment license was rescinded by San Luis Obispo County officials and the track was fined $25,000.  Man, you can’t make this stuff up!

The good news is because the Raceway was an established facility, several local establishments went to bat for the track, including the police and fire departments.  They wrote letters and eventually, the fine was dropped down to $5,000. While that was good, it’s still a fine for $5000.  Just pile that on top of the other $200,000 in legal fees and just about anybody of sane mind and body would wonder why Duggan didn’t invest in a Quick Quack Car Wash instead. To put those expenses in perspective, that would take a few successful racing seasons to recuperate – and that is if nothing else goes wrong.

At this juncture, the track is still up for sale.  If you have $2.7M burning a hole in your pocket or laying around in your 401K, Santa Maria Raceway could be the business of your dreams (or nightmares if local lawyers continue on their mission.) But don’t wait too long because the land may be more valuable than the track itself.  A storage unit company offered $1.8M and wanted one-year of due diligence to make sure they were not assuming an assortment of hidden liabilities. That didn’t get accepted.

Camping World also stepped up to the offer table with $2.2M, which also included an extended “no racing” holding period.  However, that offer got pulled back when it was discovered the facility is geographically in a flood plain. To build a Camping World would require prior approval by … you ready for this … FEMA, Fish & Game, and the Army Corp of Engineers which maintains and fixes any levee issues. Then there is the ultimate trump card. It’s called CEQA, which is the California Environmental Quality Act.  It requires state and local government to inform decision makers and the public about potential environmental impacts of proposed projects and to reduce them.  So based on that statement which I borrowed off Google, if we all step back for just a second and take a deep breath, it’s actually easier to keepSanta Maria Raceway a racing facility than to actually build on the property. They just can’t do rodeos, concerts, gambling, flea markets, or strip club related activities.

In the meantime, track manager David Castaneda has scheduled a few events in an attempt to keep the track relevant.  While this is going on, legal expenses, fines, and property tax bills still need to be paid and facility maintenance needs to keep moving forward. It might not be a winnable battle.

Castaneda, who actually received a few death threats when the track was initially closed, has a handful of USAC/CRA events scheduled this summer (hopefully). The ownership group is also open for a third-party to come in and promote an event on their own. There have been a few inquiries, but nothing serious yet.  Could it be that they are leery of possibly becoming a defendant on a legal document?

Does this answer all of your questions, or just leave you shaking your head in disbelief?  I can see the heads shaking now!  No, this isn’t another April Fools story, this is the real deal!  If we think that the likes of Kyle Larson, Brad Sweet, Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon are going to ante up millions to buy tracks out of the goodness of their hearts, it probably isn’t a realistic expectation. In addition to being successful race car drivers, they are successful businessmen. Most investors demand a return on their initial investment within a five-year period. A $2M racetrack purchase equates to cashing out $400,000 a year. That might happen at a Knoxville or Eldora, but probably not at a dirt track in California.  If our racetracks were netting $400,000 per year, we would see Tony Noceti, Scott Russell, Steve Faria and Rick Faeth and others lined up doing the doing the “happy dance” on the front straightaway. (I apologize for that visual.)

Now you have to admit, after reading this, the problems at Calistoga Speedway don’t seem so bad compared to Santa Maria. The reality is there is a lot of work to be done and it’s not just at those two tracks. Perris Auto Speedway is located smack dab in the middle of a proposed State water project and a legal battle related to make the Perris Dam more earthquake safe. State officials want to close the facility to do the work with the promise it will be completed by 2025. Sure, you betcha!  And I’ve got some swamp land at the Stockton Dirt Track I would like to sell you or review the timeline and budget of something called the “Bullet Train to nowhere.” (For news on the Perris situation, go here …https://www.pressenterprise.com/2022/09/04/perris-dam-project-threatens-perris-auto-speedway-fairgrounds-businesses-lawsuit-alleges/)

We also heard through the grapevine that several hotel chains are drooling over the property that is now Ventura Speedway. Ocean views and a beach just 100 yards from the front lobby is in the Embassy Suites business handbook.  The bottom line is we can only dream about some big motorsport icons coming in to purchase Calistoga Speedway and restore it to its 2019 pre-covid luster. Or maybe a race fan will win one of those gigantic billion-dollar Powerball lotteries and take care of everything.  It’s probably has the same odds.

Now the purpose of sharing all of this information is not to get you depressed or upset. Just know that your beloved racetracks are under attack and promoters are fighting hard to save them. Some of those promoters are literally backed into a corner.

If you really want to step up for dirt track racing, we need you to sit down – like in a seat at your local dirt track on race day.  And while you are at it, bring a friend, or two.  We need packed grandstands at every motorsports event in California.  Maybe then, somebody will take notice and realize that the racing community pumps a lot of money into the local economy, and we are one of the best marketing demographics in the U.S.A.  Amen!

NARC NOTES:  Fire suppression systems are mandatory by May 1^st.  An informal poll of NARC regulars show most are way ahead of the curve and are already installed. … It sure is nice to see racetracks finally offering “SEASON PASSES” to diehard race fans. … Joel Myers Jr. is taking no prisoners in New Zealand these days.  He is winning everything back there and hopes to parlay that into a few NARC victories this season. … Along those lines, there are a ton of young drivers on the NARC tour looking to take the next step in their careers.  Who will win their first NARC feature event of their career this season?  Your choices are, in no particular order, Dylan Bloomfield, Max Mittry, Blake Carrick, Kaleb Montgomery, Joel Myers Jr., Tanner Holmes, Nick Parker, Tanner Carrick, Cole Macedo and Joey Ancona.  That is one heck of a heat race if you put them all together. …

… We welcome some new sponsors to our ranks this year including NAPA Auto Parts, Beacon Wealth Strategies, Williams Roofing, Diversified Machine, LifelineUSA, & D & D Roofing. We couldn’t do it without them. If you have a lead on a presenting sponsor for our series, please contact me.  Please support those who support sprint car racing. …  As you may have seen, Ben Deatherage is our new Media Specialist this season, replacing Alex Nieten who now works for the World of Outlaws.  He has already created some great marketing pieces and authors a new column called “NARC BY THE NUM*ER5!  Make sure you check it out.  You can also listen to his Inside NARCinterviews online and his multitude of interviews on Highside Racing Promotions. … You can catch NARC on Floracing, but as I stated earlier, we really need you at the track. … Tim Kaeding needs a full-time 410 ride. … It is going to be nice to see a little more of Andy Forsberg and Sean Becker this season. Both have more 410 events on their schedule. …  Let the High Limit races begin! … For those of you who may be interested in some  golf during the Fastest Four Days in Motorsports adventure, send me a DM.  I’m planning to fill in some downtime.

And finally, we’ve got a ton of racing coming up.  Peter Murphy is hard at it to make sure Kings Speedway is race-ready for Saturday’s (4/8/23) $10,000 to win Anthony Simone Classic. The pit area might not be perfect when we arrive, but the alternative is sitting at home surfing crap-shows on Netflix for the 300^th time.  I’ll take racing for $10,000 Alex!  This show also includes a 15-lap non-wing NARC feature.

By the way, if you get a chance, make sure you stop by the NAPA Auto Parts store in Hanford between 10:00 a.m. and NOON on Saturday.  Our two-time NARC champion Dominic Scelzi will have his hauler and car on display and will be signing autographs.  And … possibly handing out some free stuff.  The address is 380 W 8th St, Hanford, CA 93230.

We follow up the Simone show with the highly anticipated Dennis Roth Classic on April 14-15th at the Thunderbowl Raceway. The winner will walk away with $18,383 on Saturday night.  The extra $83 comes via a contribution by Brad Kennedy in case you were wondering.  Look for Roth Motorsports to have two or three cars running in the event.  By the way, in addition to the enhanced purse, individual event winners take home a Roth ice chest full of meat.  Fast time is worth 10 lbs. of New York Strip. Heat race winners take home 20 lbs. of Tri-Tip.  And theDennis Roth Classic winner will be loaded up with 30 lbs. of Ribeye.  Of course, the Sunnyvalley Dash winner takes home 10 lbs. of the best bacon on the planet.  A clean sweep of the program comes with a free cholesterol check.

We conclude the month of April – Mother Nature permitting – on April 29^th.  The NARC 410 sprint cars will be returning to Antioch Speedwayfor the first time since 2017.  Everybody is pretty stoked about the Contra Costa County Clash.  We will see you there!

Coming to you live from Auburn, CA.  See ya.

FOUNTAIN CITY, WI (April 4, 2023) – One of the biggest World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Model events of the season lands in May at Wisconsin’s Mississippi Thunder Speedway.

The Dairyland Showdown, May 4-6, will boast a $264,000 overall purse – the second biggest of the year – between the three days with Thursday and Friday’s events featuring two $5,000-to-win Features each night and then Saturday boasting a $50,000 payday.

It makes for a massive destination weekend at the 3/8-mile track, loved by fans and drivers, in Fountain City, WI.

TICKETS: CLICK HERE

Early Storylines:

GUSTIN’S PLAYGROUND: Ryan Gustin, of Marshalltown, IA – less than 4 hours from Fountain City – has collected five wins at Mississippi Thunder Speedway. However, all five came in a Modified.

He’ll be poised to get his first with the World of Outlaws this year after a breakthrough season in 2022, which saw him pick up his first two Series victories. He hasn’t finished outside the top 10 in his last four Series starts at the track and has a career best Series finish of second there.

OUTLAW WINNERS: Three of the current World of Outlaws championship contenders have scored Series victories at Mississippi Thunder Speedway – Bobby Pierce, four-time Series champion Brandon Sheppard and current Series points leader Chris Madden.

Sheppard scored his win during the World of Outlaws’ Series debut at the track in 2021 and then Madden claimed the victory the next night. Pierce earned his third win with the Series at the track last year and will be poised to try and repeat as he chases the World of Outlaws title for the first time in his career.

TITLE HUNT: With one of the most impressive rosters in World of Outlaws CASE Late Model history, the hunt for the 2023 title is far from predictable. After securing his first Series title last year, Dennis Erb Jr. is back with two-time Crew Chief of the Year winner Heather Lyne, for a back to back run, but drivers like Chris Madden, Brian Shirley, Brandon Sheppard and Max Blair have had a strong start to the season, putting themselves at the front of the leaderboard.

Three nights at Mississippi Thunder Speedway could shake up the standings if one contenders hits a hot streak all three nights or if someone misses their setup.

PREVIOUS MISSISSIPPI THUNDER WINNERS:
2022 – Bobby Pierce, on May 5, Jonathan Davenport on May 6, Mike Marlar on May 7
2021 – Brandon Sheppard on May 7, Chris Madden on May 8

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