CHANDLER, Ariz. (March 22, 2023) – Reigning and two-time Camping World Top Fuel champion, Brittany Force and her Flav-R-Pac / Monster Energy Chevrolet Top Fuel dragster team will be trying to get John Force Racing’s first Top Fuel win at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park this weekend at the NHRA Arizona Nationals. Coming off a No. 1 start at the season-opening Gatornationals in Gainesville Raceway, the 43rd of her career, Force is looking for her second No. 1 start at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park. Her first No. 1 came in 2020, before the pandemic disrupted the season, while she set both ends of the track record at 3.643 seconds at 337.92 mph. Force has made her way to the finals of the Arizona Nationals three times, coming up with runner-up finishes in 2014, 2016, and 2017. “Heading into race two on the NHRA circuit this weekend in Phoenix and we plan to come out with a win. With this being the final NHRA national event at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park, this Flav-R-Pac / Monster Energy team wants to leave on a strong note,” Force said. “We plan to qualify in the top three and go four rounds on race day. We’ve set both ends of the track record with our No. 1 qualifier from 2020 but it wasn’t enough on race day. Hoping to turn things around this year and get our first win of the 2023 season.” Most recently, Force qualified sixth and had a quarterfinal exit en route to her second Top Fuel world championship in 2022. This season, she is trying to become JFR’s third three-time champ while also tying Shirley Muldowney, the only other woman to win a nitro category championship, in championship titles. The NHRA Arizona Nationals at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park kicks off with qualifying Friday at 5 p.m. and Saturday at 12:30 and 3:30 p.m. Race Day is set to begin with the first round of eliminations Sunday at 11 a.m. Television coverage of the event will be on FOX Sports 1 (FS1) beginning with a qualifying show Friday at 10:30 p.m. ET and Sunday at noon ET. Eliminations will air Sunday at 7 p.m. ET.

2023 NHRA Arizona Nationals

Chandler, Arizona

March 24-26, 2023

ONE LAST SHOOTOUT AT WILD HORSE PASS

For the final time, the horsepower-filled field of the NHRA will take to the track at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park near Phoenix, Arizona. As the sun sets on the Southwest staple, Team Chevy drivers and teams look to rebound after NHRA’s Gatornationals in Gainesville while also capitalizing on 2022’s victories in Pro Stock (Elite Motorsports’ Aaron Stanfield) and Stock Eliminator (Leo Glasbrenner).

Featuring Top Fuel, Funny Car, and Pro Stock categories in competition this weekend, Troy Coughlin, Jr. looks to extend his streak of victory after capturing the 2023 season-opening Wally in Pro Stock in his JEGS.com/Elite Performance Chevrolet Camaro SS. Coughlin, Jr.’s Elite Motorsports teammate Aaron Stanfield heads into the race defending his 2022 NHRA Arizona Nationals Pro Stock win. Facing redemption from a Round 1 elimination in Gainesville, five-time Pro Stock champion Erica Enders enters the event weekend with a clear vision of her potential 44th career victory.

With KB Titan Racing’s Greg Anderson and Dallas Glenn racing to the semifinals in Gainesville, they hunt for their first Wally of the year alongside teammates Camrie Caruso, Kyle Koretsky, Deric Kramer, and Matt Hartford. With 115 Pro Stock victories – 101 career for Anderson, four Pro Stock wins notched by Glenn, four career wins by Kramer, five credited to Hartford, and one Pro Stock win to Koretsky, the team continues to seek the NHRA Winner’s Circle as Anderson looks to continue his drive for a sixth championship.

Prepared to battle for more championships and adding to their legendary winning history, the quartet at John Force Racing looks to reverse Gainesville’s results and sets sights on building momentum at Phoenix and beyond. Looking to match Shirley Muldowney (Top Fuel) and Angelle Sampey (Pro Stock Motorcycle) for second on the NHRA all-time championship list by females with another title in 2023, Brittany Force, in her Monster Energy Chevrolet Top Fuel dragster, also seeks her 44th No. 1 qualifier at Phoenix as well as her 17th career victory. Austin Prock, in his Montana Brand/Rocky Mountain Twist Chevrolet Top Fuel dragster, seeks his fourth career NHRA Top Fuel victory, building on his 52 round wins and one No. 1 qualifier in his 50-race career. On the Funny Car side of the nitro ladders, John Force, in his PEAK Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car, enters his 834th NHRA race seeking to build on his 1,423 round wins, 155 victories, and 16 championships. Robert Hight, in his Auto Club Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car, also looks to build on 398 events with 61 victories, 77 No. 1 qualifiers, and 593 round wins.

NHRA Arizona Nationals action from Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park airs first with Friday qualifying on Friday, March 24 at 10:30 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1 (FS1). Saturday qualifying from Phoenix airs Sunday, March 25 at 12 p.m. ET on FS1. Sunday’s Finals also air on FS1, starting at 7 p.m. ET. Coverage streaming live throughout the weekend can be found through NHRA.tv, available via AppleTV, Android TV, and Roku devices.

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING

Brittany Force, driver of the Monster Energy/Flav-R-Pack Chevrolet Top Fuel Dragster for John Force Racing:

“Heading into race two on the NHRA circuit this weekend in Phoenix and we plan to come out with a win. With this being the final NHRA national event at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park, this Flav-R-Pac / Monster Energy team wants to leave on a strong note,” Force said. “We plan to qualify in the top three and go four rounds on race day. We’ve set both ends of the track record with our No. 1 qualifier from 2020 but it wasn’t enough on race day. Hoping to turn things around this year and get our first win of the 2023 season.”

Austin Prock, driver of the Montana Brand/Rock Mountain Chevrolet Top Fuel Dragster for John Force Racing:

“I’m ready to get back into action with my Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist team at the Arizona Nationals. Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park is where I made my first pass in a Top Fuel Car and there’s just something about being out west early in the year that feels right,” Prock said. “We are going to come out strong this weekend and put the Gatornationals behind us. We’ve got a great team and car that can run with the best of them.”

TEAM CHEVY BY THE NUMBERS

1,423: Round wins for John Force (1st all-time)

593: Round wins for Robert Hight (14th all-time)

367: Number of wins in Pro Stock since 1970; 247 won in the Chevrolet Camaro body

264: Final Round wins by John Force (the last coming in Topeka, runner-up)

165: Number of career No. 1 qualifiers for John Force (1st all-time)

155: Number of Chevrolet Racing Funny Car wins since 1967

77: Number of career No. 1 qualifiers for Robert Hight (6th all-time)

75: Number of Chevrolet Racing Funny Car wins with the Camaro body

43: Number of career No. 1 qualifiers for Brittany Force

27: Number of NHRA championships Chevrolet holds as a manufacturer since entering the first in 1966. No other manufacturer has won it more than Chevrolet.

24: Wins by John Force in a Chevrolet-bodied Funny Car

18: Number of Pro Stock championships

16: Chevrolet career Top Fuel wins in NHRA

16: Number of Chevrolet career wins by Brittany Force

7: Number of Funny Car driver championships

2: Number of Top Fuel driver championships

MOST RECENT WIN IN NHRA BY CHEVROLET

Gainesville, 2023: Troy Coughlin, Jr., Pro Stock

MOST RECENT DRIVER CHAMPIONSHIPS IN NHRA BY CHEVROLET

2022: Brittany Force, Top Fuel

2022: Erica Enders, Pro Stock

2022: David Barton, Factory Stock Showdown

2019: Robert Hight, Funny Car

UPCOMING NHRA MILESTONES

950: Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) is second all-time with 914 elimination round wins. He could reach 950 round wins with a decent run in the 18-race schedule.

600: Robert Hight has 593 Funny Car elimination round victories to rank 14th on the all-time NHRA list. Reaching 600 round wins would put him 13th all time.

437: By qualifying for his next race, Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) will extend his NHRA record to 437 consecutive race day appearances.

138: Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) ranks third on the NHRA all-time list with 121 No. 1 qualifiers. He will tie Warren Johnson (Pro Stock, 138) for second to John Force (165) on the list.

62: Robert Hight will move into the top 10 on the all-time NHRA victory list with his next win, tying the retired Larry Dixon (Top Fuel) with 62 wins. Jeg Coughlin Jr. (Pro Stock, retired) is ninth on list with 65.

46: Erica Enders has 43 career Pro Stock victories (all with Chevrolet). Angelle Sampey (Pro Stock Motorcycle) is the all-time NHRA female leader with 46. 

18: Brittany Force (16 Top Fuel career wins) will move past Shirley Muldowney (18 wins) into third on the NHRA all-time victory list for females. Erica Enders (Pro Stock, 43) and Angelle Sampey (Pro Stock Motorcycle, 46) are ahead.

6: Erica Enders (Pro Stock) could tie Warren Johnson (6 Pro Stock championships) for second on the class list. The same holds for Greg Anderson. Bob Glidden is the leader with 10.

3: Brittany Force (Top Fuel, 2 championships) would tie Shirley Muldowney (Top Fuel) and Angelle Sampey (Pro Stock Motorcycle) for second on the NHRA all-time championship list by females with another title in 2023. Erica Enders (Pro Stock, 5) is the leader.

Right On Track, A Disney Channel Original Movie, Featured NHRA Jr. Drag Racing

WYNNEWOOD, Okla. (March 21, 2023) – Twenty years ago, The Disney Channel released a Disney Channel Original Movie, Right On Track, based on the life of drag racing sisters Erica and Courtney Enders. Right On Track premiered on March 21, 2003, and starred two young actresses who’ve gone on to have phenomenal careers in show business. Beverly Mitchell (7th Heaven, Candy Cane Christmas) played Erica Enders and Academy Award winner Brie Larson (Room, Captain Marvel) played Courtney Enders. It all started when Erica Enders, now a five-time Pro Stock world champion, began competing in the newly formed NHRA Jr. Drag Racing League when she was just 8 years old. Soon after, her younger sister Courtney followed suit and the two became an unstoppable force, picking up wins across the country. They caught the attention of a People Magazine journalist who wrote a feature on the dynamic duo.  That article led to interest from the Disney Channel. At the time, the network was focused on creating original content with a focus on unique true stories in the world of sports. Right On Track was an instant favorite, reaching new fans outside the drag racing world. Erica and Courtney not only made cameo appearances in the film, but they also did most of the stunt driving required to make the feature-length film. There are a few Hollywood embellishments like a crash and some pretty intense rivalries. But the film certainly hit the nail on the head when it came to depicting the personality differences between Erica and Courtney. That’s likely why they still make a good pair to this day. Through their experiences in Jr. Drag Racing, Erica learned to embrace the competitive pressure and Courtney learned to embrace the spotlight so Erica can remain focused on driving while Courtney handles all of the public relations aspects. “At the time, Right On Track felt like the peak of our careers,” said Courtney. “To have a movie made about your life when you’re still just a teenager is unheard of but we had already accomplished so much. I wish I could have absorbed every moment more as it happened. Fast forward 20 years and it’s still unbelievable to see the impact this movie had and still has on our sport. We get parents at the ropes introducing their kids to us saying they made their kids watch their favorite movie from 20 years ago and now their kids want to race. It’s wild. To know we had anything to do with the youth and female participation in the sport we love so much really wows me. I’m so proud of not only the movie and the story it told but where Erica and I have both taken our careers since then.” “It’s crazy to think that Right On Track was released 20 years ago,” said Erica. “To be a high school kid and have a movie made about your life is pretty surreal. It was fun to be a part of making a movie from start to finish – especially since we got to do all of the stunt driving. At the time, it was hard to comprehend the gravity of it. Looking back, it is so cool to see the impact the movie had on us, our sport and the Jr. Drag Racing League. To this day, I still hear kids talk about how they started racing because of this movie. To hear little girls (and grown women) tell us how our story impacted them and changed the course of their lives is unbelievable. When the movie was made, about 25% of Jr. Dragster drivers were girls. Now it’s around 50%. Courtney and I are perfect examples of normal kids who had big dreams. We were able to accomplish great things through hard work, determination and surrounding ourselves with the right people. It goes to show you that the sky is the limit when you never give up.” Right On Track received a resurgence of interest in late 2019 when Disney launched its streaming service, Disney+, which featured all of the Disney Channel Original Movies. Brie Larson has been known to mention the movie on talk shows when promoting other projects. Twenty years later, Right On Track is still inspiring young drivers in the Jr. Drag Racing League: “I love that movie! My favorite part is when the sisters compete against each other and it gets really intense.” – Cora H., 9 years old “I really like Right On Track because it’s about drag racing and there isn’t much out there for kids that’s about drag racing. I think it’s really cool that Erica started out racing Jr. Dragsters and now she’s racing in Pro Stock.” – Cam M., 9 years old The Enders sisters still work together in drag racing. Erica Enders is a professional Pro Stock racer with multiple records, national event wins and world championships to her credit. In addition to being Erica’s brand manager, Courtney Enders is the head of Drag Racing Content and on-air talent for FloRacing. She works with Elite Motorsports and a number of other drag racing entities doing team management, PR and content creation.  ***

Photos

Logo commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Disney Channel Original Movie, Right On Track, based on the lives of Erica and Courtney Enders. (Photo source: Elite Motorsports)

Courtney and Erica Enders were both champions in the NHRA Jr. Drag Racing League. (Photo source: Enders Family)

Right On Track starred Beverly Mitchell and Brie Larson. (Photo source: Disney)

Erica Enders and Beverly Mitchell on the set of Right On Track. (Photo source: Enders Family)

The Enders family with Beverly Mitchell at the Right On Track premiere. (Photo source: Enders Family)

L to R: Erica Enders, Beverly Mitchell, Courtney Enders and Brie Larson on the set of Righ

Magnolia Awaits World of OutlawsPoints are Tightening Between Gravel, Macedo, and Schuchart Heading into Alabama and MississippiEASTABOGA, AL (March 21, 2023) – After a quick trip to Pennsylvania to conclude the Low-E Insulation Spring Showdown, the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars are southbound.The Greatest Show on Dirt is gearing up for its only appearances of the year in a pair of neighboring southern states, Alabama and Mississippi.For the first time since 2011, the World of Outlaws will invade Talladega Short Track this Friday, March 24, marking the 12th Series visit to the Eastaboga, AL track. The following day the tour travels one state west for the second ever trip to Magnolia Motor Speedway (Columbus, MS).TALLADEGA TICKETSMAGNOLIA TICKETSHere are some of this weekend’s top storylines:MARCHIN’ MACEDO: The month of March has been especially kind to Carson Macedo. Behind the wheel of the Jason Johnson Racing #41, Macedo has picked up a win and posted a 3.5 average finish through four races this month. The Lemoore, CA native is also fresh off claiming the inaugural Low-E Insulation Spring Showdown mini-series, banking him an extra $10,000.The recent stretch of strength has brought Macedo within 12 points of the championship lead heading into the southern stint. Macedo is one of many who will be making his Talladega debut. His lone drive at Magnolia in 2021 saw him finish 21st after a mechanical issue ended his night prematurely.EVEN PLAYING FIELD?: The pair of races will present an interesting challenge to teams with such limited notebooks. Of the current full-time roster, only three drivers have turned laps at Talladega in World of Outlaws competition. At Magnolia, the only set of data to pull from is the 2021 Series debut at the facility.With the unique set of circumstances facing crews, this weekend presents a potential opportunity for younger drivers to notch a career best finish or even grab their inaugural World of Outlaws win.Robbie Price continues to navigate his rookie campaign and hopes this weekend can yield strong results. He’ll have the benefit of his car owner/crew chief, Jason Sides, who has driven in eight World of Outlaws Features at Talladega, posting a pair of top 10s. Price already tallied his third career Series top-10 this season at Volusia Speedway Park.Noah Gass is another driver on the rise who hopes to perform well this weekend. While he didn’t qualify for the Feature, Gass made his World of Outlaws debut at Magnolia in 2021. Two years later he returns as a sophomore on the tour.TALLADEGA TRACK TIME: The trio of active World of Outlaws who’ve competed at Talladega in Series competition hope the experience proves advantageous.David Gravel may serve as inspiration for those seeking their first win. In 2011, as a 19-year-old, Gravel claimed his first World of Outlaws win at the red clay oval. The current driver of the Big Game Motorsports #2 outdueled a red-hot Jason Meyers in the Series most recent Talladega appearance for the first of his now 79 victories. The Watertown, CT native heads into the weekend as the points leader.Donny Schatz finished behind Gravel that night, and the 10-time Series champion enters this weekend as the most experienced active competitor at the Alabama track. The Tony Stewart Racing/Curb Agajanian driver has competed in all 11 World of Outlaws races hosted by Talladega. Schatz is yet to win at the facility but has been close with five top-five finishes including a pair of runner-ups.Kasey Kahne was also present in 2011, operating within dual roles. The race took place during a NASCAR Cup Series weekend at Talladega Superspeedway – less than 10 minutes away from the Talladega Short Track – and Kahne served as a promoter and driver for the World of Outlaws race. The Enumclaw, WA native finished eighth that night, notching one of his now 34 career Series top 10s. MAGNOLIA MASTERS: A few current World of Outlaws full-timers took a liking to Magnolia during the Series’ inaugural race in 2021.Sheldon Haudenschild came away with the victory that night, making a late pass for the lead and pacing the final six circuits. The Wooster, OH native has been one of the most consistent drivers this season with five top 10s in six races aboard the Stenhouse Jr./Marshall Racing #17.The driver Haudenschild passed for the top spot was Logan Schuchart. The Shark Racing pilot still finished runner-up at Magnolia after leading the opening 24 laps, earning one of his now 121 World of Outlaws podiums. The Hanover, PA native currently sits third in points (14 behind Gravel) this season, having finished no worse than eighth. He and Macedo are the only two yet to miss the top 10.Completing the Magnolia podium in 2021 was four-time and defending World of Outlaws champion, Brad Sweet. “The Big Cat” enters this weekend carrying the momentum of runner-ups in two of the last three Features.Oddly enough, the next three in the finishing order that night was the aforementioned trio of drivers with Talladega experience. Donny Schatz, Kasey Kahne (started 23rd), and David Gravel filled positions fourth through sixth. After those three it was current Series Rookie of the Year contender, Gio Scelzi, in seventh.‘DEGA AND THE MAG CONNECTIONS: A couple current members of the World of Outlaws roster have ties to previous events at both tracks despite not having raced at them in the form of car ownership.Spencer Bayston has the benefit of driving for CJB Motorsports, who took part in the 2021 event at Magnolia, finishing 15th with Brent Marks. Bayston has been building some momentum recently. After finishes of 16th, 19th, and 12th to begin the year, the Lebanon, IN native has improved to the tune of sixth, fifth, and 11th in his last three races.James McFadden is behind the wheel of a car that nearly snagged a Talladega triumph – the Roth Motorsports #83. Back in 2003, Tim Shaffer drove the Beef Packers machine to a Talladega runner-up. McFadden has already won once this season in Florida and looks for more southern success.INVADERS: In addition to the crop of full-time World of Outlaws, more talented drivers are planning to venture into Alabama and Mississippi.Rico Abreu is fresh off topping his first Sprint Car race of the year with The Greatest Show on Dirt at Lincoln Speedway, and he’s aiming for more this weekend. However, Talladega and Magnolia will be a new experiences for the St. Helena, CA driver as he’s yet to compete at either track.Buddy Kofoid has competed in every World of Outlaws race this season with CMS Racing and plans to continue to do so through at least Talladega and Magnolia. The 21-year-old has been consistent with a pair of podiums and four top 10s so far.If you can’t make it to the track, watch every lap live on DIRTVision.THIS WEEKEND AT A GLANCEWHEN AND WHERE– Friday, March 24 at Talladega Short Track in Eastaboga, AL – Saturday, March 25 at Magnolia Motor Speedway in Columbus, MSON THE INTERNETWorld of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series Twitter – @WorldofOutlaws Instagram – @WoOSprint Facebook – Facebook.com/WorldofOutlawsSprintCarSeries YouTube – Youtube.com/WorldofOutlaws DIRTVision – DIRTVision.com – Platinum annual FAST PASS for $299 or monthly FAST PASS for $39/monthCURRENT CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS (6/84 Races)1. 2 – David Gravel (852 PTS); 2. 41 – Carson Macedo (-12PTS) 3. 1S – Logan Schuchart (-14PTS); 4. 49 – Brad Sweet (-40PTS) 5. 11 – Michael Kofoid (-48PTS) 6. – 83 James McFadden (-60PTS); 7. 17 – Sheldon Haudenschild (-66PTS); 8. 5 – Spencer Bayston (-90PTS); 9. 15 – Donny Schatz (-92PTS); 10. 13 – Justin Peck (-112 PTS)NOS ENERGY DRINK FEATURE WINNERS (4 Drivers):3 wins – David Gravel, Big Game Motorsports #21 win – James McFadden (Roth Motorsports #83), Carson Macedo (Jason Johnson Racing #41), Rico Abreu (Rico Abreu Racing #24)FEATURE LAPS LED (9 Drivers):54 laps – David Gravel30 laps – James McFadden22 laps – Brad Sweet21 laps – Carson Macedo13 laps – Rico Abreu11 laps – Buddy Kofoid10 laps – Anthony Macri, Cory Eliason9 laps – Gio ScelziLOW-E INSULATION QUICKTIME AWARDS (5 Drivers):2 QuickTimes – Carson Macedo1 QuickTime – Anthony Macri, Logan Schuchart, Brian Brown, Donny SchatzHEAT RACE WINNERS (13 Drivers):3 Heat Wins – Logan Schuchart, Buddy Kofoid, Carson Macedo, David Gravel2 Heat Wins – Brent Marks1 Heat Win – James McFadden, Brian Brown, Spencer Bayston, Gio Scelzi, Donny Schatz, Danny Dietrich, Freddie Rahmer, Brad SweetTOYOTA DASH APPEARANCES (22 Drivers):5 Dashes – Logan Schuchart, David Gravel4 Dashes – Carson Macedo3 Dashes – Buddy Kofoid, Jacob Allen, Brad Sweet2 Dashes – Brent Marks, Brian Brown, Donny Schatz, Danny Dietrich, Spencer Bayston1 Dash – Anthony Macri, Sheldon Haudenschild, Robbie Price, Cory Eliason, Justin Peck, James McFadden, Gio Scelzi, Kasey Kahne, Freddie Rahmer, Rico Abreu, Devon BordenMICROLITE LAST CHANCE SHOWDOWN WINS (4 Drivers):1 LCS Win – Brock Zearfoss, Parker Price-Miller, Sheldon Haudenschild, Gio ScelziKSE HARD CHARGER AWARDS (5 Drivers):2 Hard Chargers – Brock Zearfoss1 Hard Charger – Tyler Courtney, Donny Schatz, James McFadden, Gio ScelziPODIUM FINISHES (12 Drivers):4 Podiums – David Gravel2 Podiums – Buddy Kofoid, Carson Macedo, Brad Sweet1 Podium – Danny Dietrich, Logan Schuchart, James McFadden, Brian Brown, Kasey Kahne, Jacob Allen, Rico Abreu, Devon BordenTOP 10 FINISHES (24 Drivers):6 Top 10s – Carson Macedo, Logan Schuchart5 Top 10s – Sheldon Haudenschild, Brad Sweet, David Gravel4 Top 10s – Buddy Kofoid, James McFadden3 Top 10s – Donny Schatz, Justin Peck2 Top 10s – Brian Brown, Spencer Bayston, Brent Marks, Danny Dietrich1 Top 10 – Aaron Reutzel, Brock Zearfoss, Cory Eliason, Kasey Kahne, Robbie Price, Tyler Courtney, Zeb Wise, Jacob Allen, Rico Abreu, Devon Borden, Gio Scelzi2023 WORLD OF OUTLAWS SPRINT CAR SCHEDULE & WINNERS:No. / Day, Date / Track / Location / Winner (Total Wins)1. Fri, Feb 10 / Volusia Speedway Park / Barberville, FL / David Gravel (1)2. Fri, Feb 10 / Volusia Speedway Park / Barberville, FL / David Gravel (2)3. Sat, Feb 11* / Volusia Speedway Park / Barberville, FL / James McFadden (1)4. Sun, March 5 / Volusia Speedway Park / Barberville, FL / Carson Macedo (1)5. Mon, March 6 / Volusia Speedway Park / Barberville, FL / David Gravel (3)6. Sat, March 18 / Lincoln Speedway / Abbottstown, PA / Rico Abreu (1)

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (March 21, 2023) – The 2023 Progressive American Flat Track season resumes just two weeks after its thrilling Bike Week double-opener with the inaugural Yamaha Senoia Short Track at Senoia Raceway in Senoia, Georgia, on Saturday, March 25. All eyes will be on second-year Mission SuperTwins presented by S&S Cycle star Dallas Daniels(No. 32 Estenson Racing Yamaha MT-07 DT), who comes in with a perfect 50-point score after orchestrating back-to-back virtuoso rides at the DAYTONA Short Track I & II. Daniels will have some additional motivation to keep his hot streak going at Yamaha’s home round, as will teammate JD Beach (No. 95 Estenson Racing Yamaha MT-07 DT). Combined, the Estenson Racing pairing have collected the last three Short Track victories in succession (and four of the last six), dating back to last season. The two figure to face stiff challenges from last year’s other ST winners, Brandon Robinson (No. 44 Mission Roof Systems Indian FTR750), and Briar Bauman (No. 3 Parts Plus/Jacob Companies KTM 890 Duke). Speaking of Bauman, the two-time Mission SuperTwins champ’s initial outing aboard his new KTM 890 Duke was one of the opener’s biggest stories. He didn’t disappoint in his Rick Ware Racing debut, claiming a podium in his first attempt, despite losing his brakes early in the contest. The overall KTM premier-class presence will be further bolstered at Senoia where Bauman and his brother, Bronson Bauman (No. 37 Fastrack Racing/2 Wheelz KTM 890 Duke), will be joined by reigning Mission Production Twins champion Jesse Janisch (No. 33 KTM/Haversack/Z-Max 890 Duke), who will make his Wally Brown Racing debut this weekend. Meanwhile, no one should ever overlook defending Mission SuperTwins king Jared Mees (No. 1 Indian Motorcycle/Rogers Racing/SDI Racing FTR750). Mees had a bit of a quiet opener – at least by his standards – but he still managed to collect a pair of valuable fourths. And while he may not have won on a Short Track a year ago, he has taken multiple ST wins over his career and landed on the box in the close-quarters showdowns on more than one occasion in ‘22. Along with Mees and the aforementioned Robinson, two other Indian-mounted pilots in Jarod Vanderkooi (No. 20 JMC Motorsports/Fairway Ford Indian FTR750)and Davis Fisher (No. 67 Rackley Racing/Bob Lanphere’s BMC Racing Indian FTR750) got their ‘23 campaigns off to impressive starts, the two finishing 2-3 behind Daniels the last time out. Johnny Lewis (No. 10 Moto Anatomy X Powered by Royal Enfield 650) clearly demonstrated that he and his bike are capable of running up front with the best riders and equipment in the world in the opener. He and teammate Ryan Wells (No. 94 Moto Anatomy X Powered by Royal Enfield 650) will look to follow up a promising opener with an even stronger performance on Saturday. Parts Unlimited AFT Singles presented by KICKER A year ago, Kody Kopp (No. 1 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 450 SX-F) kick-started his runaway Parts Unlimited AFT Singles presented by KICKER title triumph with six wins over the season’s opening nine races. Therefore, it should be a serious concern for any prospective class title hopeful that Kopp is off to an even better beginning in ‘23, sweeping the first two rounds after going 1-2 to open ‘22. While slowing Kopp is a daunting task, the field is loaded with hungry and skilled riders across several manufacturers. Besides the defending champion, KTM is represented by with some of the category’s most decorated riders, headlined by the likes of Dalton Gauthier (No. 79 D&D Racing/Certified KTM 450 SX-F), Max Whale (No. 18 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 450 SX-F), and Shayna Texter-Bauman(No. 52 Parts Plus/Jacob Companies KTM 450 SX-F). The American Honda-backed Turner Honda effort has been a powerhouse since its earliest days, and ‘23 looks to be no different with the talented trio of Trent Lowe (No. 48 American Honda/Mission Foods CRF450R), Chase Saathoff (No. 88 American Honda/Mission Foods CRF450R), and Morgen Mischler (No. 13 American Honda/Mission Foods CRF450R). Yamaha, meanwhile, will see its home turf defended by the talented Trevor Brunner (No. 21 Estenson Racing Yamaha YZ450F) and Tom Drane (No. 59 Estenson Racing Yamaha YZ450F). And Husqvarna has a 1-2 punch of its own in James Ott (No. 19 1st Impressions Race Team/Husqvarna Racing FC450) and Chad Cose (No. 49 1st Impressions Race Team/Husqvarna Racing FC450). Along with joining the premier class in underlining the depth of manufacturer parity and diversity of Progressive AFT, the 2023 opener also showcased some riders who may be poised to step into the spotlight this season. Travis Petton IV (No. 82 ECG Racing/3 Bros KTM 450 SX-F), Justin Jones(No. 91 NRC Racing/Elder Trucking KTM 450 SX-F), and Andrew Luker (No. 11 Rackley Racing/Keeran Racing Yamaha YZ450F) all flashed eye-opening speed in Daytona, while rookies Logan Eisenhard (No. 166 Scotts Powersports/The Cycle Lab LLC KTM 450 SX-F) and Clark Morian (No. 133 Morian Racing/Wells Tuned KTM 450 SX-F) didn’t take long to prove they belonged. This weekend’s action actually kicks off on Friday with some top-flight amateur racing at Senoia Raceway. The added value trend carries over into Saturday, when Progressive AFT will again welcome the inclusion of the Grand National Hooligan Championship on the evening’s bill. There will be plenty to keep fans entertained off the track as well, including numerous vendors, plenty of food and beverage options, music, and extensive motorcycle parking. General Admission tickets are just $40 (kids 12 and under just $5), while Reserved Grandstand tickets are $50 (all ages). Reserved Trackside Parking (add-on only) is also available for $60 per vehicle while Multi-Day Camping Passes (add-on only) are $75. Pit Pass Upgrades are also available for purchase, which provide all-day access to the pits where fans can scope out the world’s fastest dirt track motorcycles and get up close and personal with the stars of the sport. Visit https://www.tixr.com/groups/americanflattrack/events/yamaha-senoia-short-track-61409 to purchase your tickets today! Gates will open for fans at 3:00 p.m. ET (12:00 p.m. PT) with Opening Ceremonies scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m. ET (4:00 p.m. PT). For those that can’t catch the live action from the circuit, FansChoice.tv is the live streaming home of Progressive AFT. Sign up now and catch every second of on-track action starting with Practice & Qualifying and ending with the Victory Podium at the end of the night at https://www.fanschoice.tv. FOX Sports coverage, featuring in-depth features and thrilling onboard cameras, will premiere on FS1 from the Yamaha Senoia Short Track on April 1 at 7:00 a.m. ET (4:00 a.m. PT).

DALLAS (March 20, 2023) — Beginning this weekend at the NHRA Arizona Nationals Buddy Hull Racing will be partnering with Minnesota-based Go Lithium to provide the team with custom designed 48-volt battery packs for their 12,000-horsepower Moonshine Methanol Top Fuel dragster. This first of its kind product from Go Lithium will feature four 12-volt batteries wired to create the 48-volts needed to power the starter in a custom design billet case.

“I am so excited to show off this Go Lithium battery starter,” said Buddy Hull, who will be making his 2023 debut this weekend at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park. “There are two things I love about racing, the technical innovations and looking cool. These battery packs combine both of those elements and I think Go Lithium will get a lot of customers once people see how sharp this custom starter looks and how well it works. Doug Johnson and Jason Line have done an amazing job.”

This is Go Lithium’s first foray into the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series, but the company has been providing batteries to Super Stock racer Justin Lamb, 5-time NHRA Lucas Oil Series champion, as well as late model racer Scott Bloomquist, X275 Racer JD Campbell and a variety of World of Outlaws teams. Go Lithium batteries are handmade in the USA and purpose built for racing. A nationwide network of dealers provides a wide range of battery products to racers and consumers at every level of motorsports.

“This is a dream come true for me to have our batteries aligned with an NHRA Top Fuel team like Buddy Hull Racing,” said Doug Johnson, Go Lithium President. “The beauty of this product is that we can make it completely custom for any Top Fuel team. It will be great looking and will stand out with the added benefit of being a tremendous battery pack. Getting on the level of NHRA Top Fuel racing also gives Go Lithium instant credibility. We are excited about the possibilities and we know Buddy Hull and his team will be great ambassadors for Go Lithium.”

The custom designed battery packs will be housed in billets designed by Pro Stock world champion Jason Line in conjunction with Go Lithium. Johnson was excited to be taking an existing product and modifying it for a new use. The small batch product will be completely customizable to match the look and design of any NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series team.

Fans and teams will get their first look at the Buddy Hull Racing Go Lithium battery starter on Friday night during the first round of qualifying for the NHRA Arizona Nationals at Wild Horse Motorsports Park. Two more qualifying rounds will be contested on Saturday, March 25 with the 16 quickest Top Fuel dragsters competing on Sunday before a packed hour and FS1 television audience. For more information on tickets visit nhra.com.

For more information visit https://www.buddyhullracing.com/ and for merchandise visit https://www.buddyhullracing.com/shop

YORBA LINDA, Calif. (March 20, 2023) – In its continued effort to grow partnerships and strengthen business-to-business relationships, John Force Racing announced that they have hired Paul Woody as its Chief Revenue Officer. In his new role, Woody will be responsible for creating new and enhancing current partnerships as well as developing and executing successful activation. “We are always looking for ways to keep up, keep up with how business is being done, keep up with what sponsors are looking for and I believe Paul will be important in keeping us up to speed,” said John Force, CEO of John Force Racing and driver of the PEAK / BlueDEF Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car. “We’re focusing on maintaining partnerships for years to come, building relationships that benefit both us and the businesses that support what we love doing. Having Paul specifically focused on finding and maintaining those relationships will be essential to John Force Racing.” Woody joins John Force Racing with two decades of sponsorship experience, most recently serving as the Vice President of Business Development for the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA), where he played an integral role in sponsorships, partnerships, and media development. Prior to PRCA, Woody worked for IMG, a global leader in sports, events, media, and fashion management and marketing, for a total of nine years, notably serving as General Manager for IMG Sports Marketing at the Air Force Academy, Ohio University and Assistant General Manager at UNLV. “I am very excited to be joining John Force Racing, one of the biggest names in motorsports. It is an honor to have the opportunity to represent and help the legacy of this team grow,” said Woody who earned a Ph.D. from the University of Nevada and an MBA and MSA from Ohio University after graduating with a Physics degree from Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas. “This team is already a leader both on and off the track. John is known for the quality with which he treats his sponsors. He and Robert Hight have established concrete relationships with their partners, and I look forward to building on that foundation and expanding their reach for the next generation of John Force Racing.” In his spare time, Woody enjoys time with his two sons (10 and 7) and his wife of 14 years. He is a member of Rotary Club International and serves on the Board of Directors for Home Front Military Network, a local charity focusing on financial bridge assistance for veterans.

March 19, 2023

Harrison Burton and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane team were swept up in a multi-car melee on Lap 189 of Sunday’s Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, with the damage to the No. 21 Mustang too severe to be repaired in a timely manner. That dropped Burton to 34^th in the finishing order.

Burton started Sunday’s race from 33^rd place after getting loose in qualifying on Saturday. When the green flag flew on Sunday he spent most of the first two Stages running near the back of the pack.
 
He finished the first 60-lap Stage in 32^nd place. In the second Stage he managed to avoid getting lapped as the Stage wound down and ended that segment in 29^th place and on the lead lap.

As Stage Three got underway, Burton began to move forward. He moved into the top 25 on Lap 167 and was up to 22^nd by Lap 171. 
 
He was still inside the top 25 on Lap 189, 71 circuits shy of the finish, when a wreck that began at the front of the pack left the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Mustang with race-ending suspension damage.

“I don’t even know what caused our wreck,” Burton told reporters at the track. “I was looking back and forth between the windshield and the mirror trying to block people from being aggressive and taking you in the middle of three-wide.
 
“I looked back and forth and by the time I looked back they were wrecking in front of me.”
 Burton said it was frustrating to see his race end as it did. 

 “I feel like our qualifying effort was not very good, obviously,” he said. “I about crashed in qualifying, but I felt really good about our car in the race, but I just could not gain track position to maintain it.  
 
“It’s really, really hard to leapfrog your way forward a lot of spots. It’s just frustrating how that worked out.  
 
“Once you’re back there, you’re bound to get pushed into all the wrecks for sure.”
 
Up next for Burton and the No. 21 team is next Sunday’s EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.
 

NASCAR CUP SERIES ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY AMBETTER HEALTH 400 TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES & QUOTES MARCH 19, 2023

TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10 RESULTS:POS.   DRIVER4th      Corey LaJoie, No. 7 Celsius Camaro ZL18th      Erik Jones, No. 43 Allegiant Camaro ZL110th    Kyle Busch, No. 8 Lenovo Camaro ZL1  TOP-FIVE UNOFFICIAL RESULTS: POS.  DRIVER1st      Joey Logano (Ford)2nd      Brad Keselowski (Ford)3rd      Christopher Bell (Toyota)4th      Corey LaJoie (Chevrolet)5th      Tyler Reddick (Toyota)    The 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season continues at Circuit of The Americas with the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix on Sunday, March 26, at 3:30 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE QUOTES: Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1Sidelined by damage sustained in an accident on lap 210. Finished: 31st “There was nowhere to go. Nobody had been having tire issues, so I wasn’t even expecting the No. 10 (Aric Almirola) to have a tire issue in front of me. Even if I did, I didn’t have time to react. It’s a bummer. Just frustrating.. I was finally upfront on this style of race track and still end up with a DNF. I don’t know, just frustrating.”  Corey LaJoie, No. 7 Celsius Camaro ZL1Finished: 4th“I hope he gives me a shout-out for pushing him (race winner Joey Logano).. gave him a good shot there at the end. I was probably fourth or fifth in the top lane there. I had an opportunity to get down and as soon as I didn’t take it, I was like – man that was the race. That was probably with 18 or 20 to go. That’s why these guys make millions of dollars.. they’re pretty good and know where to put their car. Fourth-place is a solid day for the No. 7 Celsius Chevy team.” LaJoie on this style of racing: “Honestly, I think as this track gets a little more wear and abrasiveness to it, it’s going to be like old Daytona.. where you’re bumping and sliding around, and your car has to be fast. I felt like the track lost 10 to 15 percent of grip from last year, so handling was a big thing. You could really drive or push if you wanted to, or you could be sideways. Our Chevy drove great. We were able to pick the right lanes at the right time, just a little short.” Kyle Busch, No. 8 Lenovo Camaro ZL1Finished: 10th“We had a decent day. Our No. 8 Lenovo Camaro was fast enough. I think there were probably 20 of them that were fast enough. It was just a matter of positioning yourself and getting positioned there towards the end. I got shuffled out to around 16th and then made our way back into the top-10. Tried to make a move there with four to go on the outside and just hit a block or a wall of air and just slowed up. Top-10 finish. We’ll take that and head to COTA.” Josh Berry, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1Finished: 18th “I thought it was a solid day for the No. 9 NAPA Chevy. I feel like we definitely improved. We got up there in the top-10 and we were pretty solid before that wreck. After that, the car was just a little too damaged to be too aggressive. All-in-all, we finished the race, learned a lot and had some fun.”  AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Action Industries Camaro ZL1Finished: 16th“I thought we made the best of it. We got a little bit of damage in one of the wrecks and that probably didn’t help our speed, but we were just lacking speed in general which made it tough for us to make moves and we kinda got stuck. Pit stops were really good, strategy was really good. We did everything right and the car handled well, just got stuck there in pack racing and we didn’t have a lot of raw speed in the car. We just tried to make the best there with what we had and we got out with a clean race car.” William Byron, No. 24 Liberty University Camaro ZL1Sidelined by damage sustained in an accident on lap 190. Finished: 32nd “It was superspeedway-type racing. I thought for the most part, it was pretty single-file all day. That was a little discouraging because the bottom lane wouldn’t really go that much. But as we all started to save fuel on the top, the bottom started to surge there. It looked like the No. 1 (Ross Chastain) and the No. 4 (Kevin Harvick) just got connected there into turn one and got the No. 4 loose. It’s just part of racing. That’s the way it goes.. not really in our control. We were up there running in the top-five and doing what we needed to do. Thank you to Liberty University and all of our partners. We’ll go to COTA and hopefully control a little bit more there and get a win.”  Noah Gragson, No. 42 Sunseeker Resorts Camaro ZL1Finished: 12th “It was a smooth, solid day for the No. 42 Sunseeker Resorts Chevy team. I felt pretty competitive running in the top-10 or 15 throughout the race. Really felt like we had a decent shot, we were just a little too far back there at the end to really make anything happen. But solid execution and solid job by everyone on the No. 42 LEGACY MOTOR CLUB Chevy team.  Erik Jones, No. 43 Allegiant Camaro ZL1Finished: 8thDid you think you’d get a top-10 after that accident? “Probably not. Just looking at the day, I thought we were just stuck farther back. It was just hard to pass. We didn’t qualify good, so it just took awhile for us to get up there and we never really did, and then we got in a crash there.  Happy to get a top-10 for the No. 43 Allegiant Chevy. We needed that. We just needed a good finish. We haven’t had one this year, so it was nice to do that. I hope we keep it rolling. We just kind of squeaked that one out there at the end with some stuff working out on the last two laps for us. But happy with that; proud of that. Glad we can hopefully get some momentum going and keep rolling.” 

Stage One·       Kyle Larson and the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1 team led Chevrolet in yesterday’s qualifying session, taking the green from a ninth-place starting position for today’s Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. ·       The only caution in Stage One fell early in the race on lap 11, with the majority of the field opting to not pit for track position. ·       Kyle Busch (No. 8 Lenovo Camaro ZL1) led Chevrolet to the conclusion of Stage One in the seventh position. ·       Two Chevrolet drivers scored stage points with top-10 finishes in Stage One: 7th      Kyle Busch, No. 8 Lenovo Camaro ZL19th      Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Tootsies Camaro ZL1 Stage Two·       The 100-lap Stage Two went caution-free, with a round of green-flag pit stops playing a factor in track position in the latter-part of the stage. ·       At the 160-lap mark, the race had seen nine lead changes, with Kyle Busch leading twice for Chevrolet for seven laps. ·       Alex Bowman (No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1) led Chevrolet to the end of Stage Two in the third position. ·       Team Chevy Stage Two: Top-103rd      Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL15th      William Byron, No. 24 Liberty University Camaro ZL110th     Corey LaJoie, No. 7 Celsius Camaro ZL1·       With a round of pit stops at the conclusion of Stage Two, crew chief Mike Kelley called Ricky Stenhouse Jr. down pit road for a two-tire pit strategy. The No. 47 Kroger / Nature Valley Camaro ZL1 team gained 18 positions on pit road to lead Chevrolet to a fourth-place starting position for the final stage.  Final Stage·       The first multi-car accident of the race took place on lap 190, collecting a handful of Chevrolet drivers (No. 9, 24, 1, 8, 3, 78). Unable to make repairs to the No. 24 Liberty University Camaro ZL1, Byron was forced to retire from the race. ·       Kyle Larson was running in the second position on lap 210 when race leader Aric Almirola spun due to tire issues, collecting the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1. Damage sustained in the accident ended Larson’s day. ·       Corey Lajoie and the No. 7 Celsius Camaro ZL1 team finished in the fourth position, leading Chevrolet to three top-10 finishes at the conclusion of the NASCAR Cup Series Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. ·       With five NASCAR Cup Series races in the books, Chevrolet has recorded four wins, two pole wins, 12 top-fives, 24 top-10s and seven stage wins.

NASCAR CUP SERIES ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY AMBETTER HEALTH 400 TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES & QUOTES MARCH 19, 2023

TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10 RESULTS:POS.   DRIVER4th      Corey LaJoie, No. 7 Celsius Camaro ZL18th      Erik Jones, No. 43 Allegiant Camaro ZL110th    Kyle Busch, No. 8 Lenovo Camaro ZL1  TOP-FIVE UNOFFICIAL RESULTS: POS.  DRIVER1st      Joey Logano (Ford)2nd      Brad Keselowski (Ford)3rd      Christopher Bell (Toyota)4th      Corey LaJoie (Chevrolet)5th      Tyler Reddick (Toyota)    The 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season continues at Circuit of The Americas with the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix on Sunday, March 26, at 3:30 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE QUOTES: Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1Sidelined by damage sustained in an accident on lap 210. Finished: 31st “There was nowhere to go. Nobody had been having tire issues, so I wasn’t even expecting the No. 10 (Aric Almirola) to have a tire issue in front of me. Even if I did, I didn’t have time to react. It’s a bummer. Just frustrating.. I was finally upfront on this style of race track and still end up with a DNF. I don’t know, just frustrating.”  Corey LaJoie, No. 7 Celsius Camaro ZL1Finished: 4th“I hope he gives me a shout-out for pushing him (race winner Joey Logano).. gave him a good shot there at the end. I was probably fourth or fifth in the top lane there. I had an opportunity to get down and as soon as I didn’t take it, I was like – man that was the race. That was probably with 18 or 20 to go. That’s why these guys make millions of dollars.. they’re pretty good and know where to put their car. Fourth-place is a solid day for the No. 7 Celsius Chevy team.” LaJoie on this style of racing: “Honestly, I think as this track gets a little more wear and abrasiveness to it, it’s going to be like old Daytona.. where you’re bumping and sliding around, and your car has to be fast. I felt like the track lost 10 to 15 percent of grip from last year, so handling was a big thing. You could really drive or push if you wanted to, or you could be sideways. Our Chevy drove great. We were able to pick the right lanes at the right time, just a little short.” Kyle Busch, No. 8 Lenovo Camaro ZL1Finished: 10th“We had a decent day. Our No. 8 Lenovo Camaro was fast enough. I think there were probably 20 of them that were fast enough. It was just a matter of positioning yourself and getting positioned there towards the end. I got shuffled out to around 16th and then made our way back into the top-10. Tried to make a move there with four to go on the outside and just hit a block or a wall of air and just slowed up. Top-10 finish. We’ll take that and head to COTA.” Josh Berry, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1Finished: 18th “I thought it was a solid day for the No. 9 NAPA Chevy. I feel like we definitely improved. We got up there in the top-10 and we were pretty solid before that wreck. After that, the car was just a little too damaged to be too aggressive. All-in-all, we finished the race, learned a lot and had some fun.”  AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Action Industries Camaro ZL1Finished: 16th“I thought we made the best of it. We got a little bit of damage in one of the wrecks and that probably didn’t help our speed, but we were just lacking speed in general which made it tough for us to make moves and we kinda got stuck. Pit stops were really good, strategy was really good. We did everything right and the car handled well, just got stuck there in pack racing and we didn’t have a lot of raw speed in the car. We just tried to make the best there with what we had and we got out with a clean race car.” William Byron, No. 24 Liberty University Camaro ZL1Sidelined by damage sustained in an accident on lap 190. Finished: 32nd “It was superspeedway-type racing. I thought for the most part, it was pretty single-file all day. That was a little discouraging because the bottom lane wouldn’t really go that much. But as we all started to save fuel on the top, the bottom started to surge there. It looked like the No. 1 (Ross Chastain) and the No. 4 (Kevin Harvick) just got connected there into turn one and got the No. 4 loose. It’s just part of racing. That’s the way it goes.. not really in our control. We were up there running in the top-five and doing what we needed to do. Thank you to Liberty University and all of our partners. We’ll go to COTA and hopefully control a little bit more there and get a win.”  Noah Gragson, No. 42 Sunseeker Resorts Camaro ZL1Finished: 12th “It was a smooth, solid day for the No. 42 Sunseeker Resorts Chevy team. I felt pretty competitive running in the top-10 or 15 throughout the race. Really felt like we had a decent shot, we were just a little too far back there at the end to really make anything happen. But solid execution and solid job by everyone on the No. 42 LEGACY MOTOR CLUB Chevy team.  Erik Jones, No. 43 Allegiant Camaro ZL1Finished: 8thDid you think you’d get a top-10 after that accident? “Probably not. Just looking at the day, I thought we were just stuck farther back. It was just hard to pass. We didn’t qualify good, so it just took awhile for us to get up there and we never really did, and then we got in a crash there.  Happy to get a top-10 for the No. 43 Allegiant Chevy. We needed that. We just needed a good finish. We haven’t had one this year, so it was nice to do that. I hope we keep it rolling. We just kind of squeaked that one out there at the end with some stuff working out on the last two laps for us. But happy with that; proud of that. Glad we can hopefully get some momentum going and keep rolling.” 

Stage One·       Kyle Larson and the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1 team led Chevrolet in yesterday’s qualifying session, taking the green from a ninth-place starting position for today’s Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. ·       The only caution in Stage One fell early in the race on lap 11, with the majority of the field opting to not pit for track position. ·       Kyle Busch (No. 8 Lenovo Camaro ZL1) led Chevrolet to the conclusion of Stage One in the seventh position. ·       Two Chevrolet drivers scored stage points with top-10 finishes in Stage One: 7th      Kyle Busch, No. 8 Lenovo Camaro ZL19th      Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Tootsies Camaro ZL1 Stage Two·       The 100-lap Stage Two went caution-free, with a round of green-flag pit stops playing a factor in track position in the latter-part of the stage. ·       At the 160-lap mark, the race had seen nine lead changes, with Kyle Busch leading twice for Chevrolet for seven laps. ·       Alex Bowman (No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1) led Chevrolet to the end of Stage Two in the third position. ·       Team Chevy Stage Two: Top-103rd      Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL15th      William Byron, No. 24 Liberty University Camaro ZL110th     Corey LaJoie, No. 7 Celsius Camaro ZL1·       With a round of pit stops at the conclusion of Stage Two, crew chief Mike Kelley called Ricky Stenhouse Jr. down pit road for a two-tire pit strategy. The No. 47 Kroger / Nature Valley Camaro ZL1 team gained 18 positions on pit road to lead Chevrolet to a fourth-place starting position for the final stage.  Final Stage·       The first multi-car accident of the race took place on lap 190, collecting a handful of Chevrolet drivers (No. 9, 24, 1, 8, 3, 78). Unable to make repairs to the No. 24 Liberty University Camaro ZL1, Byron was forced to retire from the race. ·       Kyle Larson was running in the second position on lap 210 when race leader Aric Almirola spun due to tire issues, collecting the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1. Damage sustained in the accident ended Larson’s day. ·       Corey Lajoie and the No. 7 Celsius Camaro ZL1 team finished in the fourth position, leading Chevrolet to three top-10 finishes at the conclusion of the NASCAR Cup Series Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. ·       With five NASCAR Cup Series races in the books, Chevrolet has recorded four wins, two pole wins, 12 top-fives, 24 top-10s and seven stage wins.

Abreu earns 10th Series win while Macedo banks $10,000 with Spring Showdown championship

ABBOTTSTOWN, PA (March 18, 2023) – Rico Abreu made a powerful opening statement for his 2023 Sprint Car season.

On a night that was all about World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars battling the PA Posse, it was a driver not fitting into either category coming out on top.

Making his 2023 World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car season debut, Abreu topped a thriller at Lincoln Speedway (Abbottstown, PA) on Saturday night in the Low-E Insulation Spring Showdown finale. The St. Helena, CA native outdueled four-time and defending Series champion, Brad Sweet, in the 35-lap Feature to take home the $10,000 check.

The victory marked his 10th with The Greatest Show on Dirt and first in the state of Pennsylvania. Abreu became the 48th different driver to reach double digit World of Outlaws wins and only the eighth from the state of California.

Needless to say, Abreu was thrilled for he and his #24 crew to come out swinging so forcefully to begin his year.

“It’s an incredible feeling,” Abreu said. “It’s incredible for my team. I think that’s the coolest part for me is for my team to experience something like that. Those are definitely difficult wins to come by.”

The majority of the 35 laps proved to be a three-horse race between Abreu, Sweet, and Raymond, WA native turned PA Posse driver, Devon Borden.

Sweet controlled the early portion of the race, taking off from the pole position. The driver of the Kasey Kahne Racing #49 faced an early challenge from Freddie Rahmer as traffic became a factor early on. However, on lap nine Rahmer’s chances vanished as he nosed into Sweet’s tail tank and spun in Turn one.

Rahmer’s misfortune moved Borden into the runner-up spot. On the ensuing restart, it appeared as if Sweet may get away, but lapped traffic again posed an issue for him, allowing Borden to close in. Around the halfway point, Borden made one valiant attempt at the lead as he drew even with Sweet down the front straightaway, but Sweet got his elbows up and pulled away after catching a glimpse of the Shuttlesworth-Stehman #23 to his outside.

“I actually thought there, for a minute, we were going to have a really good shot to win,” Borden said of the battle with Sweet. “We were really fast, had a really good car. I was just trying to stay patient and got to Sweet there a couple of times and was really close to him.”

Only a lap after Sweet put some distance between himself and Borden, Abreu’s car began to come alive as he rolled by Borden and set his sights on Sweet. Shortly after taking the runner-up spot, Abreu closed on “The Big Cat” and tossed a slider on him to take the lead coming to 13 laps to go. Abreu gave plenty of credit to his legendary crew chief, Ricky Warner, and his work on the wrenches for his late race speed.

“Ricky is obviously a very experienced crew chief and understands the ability to adapt quickly when it comes to crew chief decisions on racetracks that develop throughout the night,” Abreu said. “My car was unbelievably fast tonight. I was really lucky to get good track position and not have to fight too hard to get up front. Toward the end of the race, my car just kept getting better and better.”

After Abreu took the lead, there was no looking back as he pulled ahead and ultimately took the checkered flag with nearly a two second advantage over Sweet. A win to kick off his racing season left Abreu feeling especially grateful for his situation.

“I have some great partners,” Abreu said. “Everybody just does an unbelievable job. It’s just really cool to sit back and see it and see everybody involved and how pleasuring it is to me to be in this position. It’s unbelievable.”               

Behind Abreu, Sweet finished on the podium for the second time this year, earning the 259th of his illustrious career with the World of Outlaws. The Grass Valley, CA native felt encouraged with the result but also couldn’t help but think of what could’ve been after leading the opening 22 circuits.

“Overall tonight, we were pretty happy with our car, finishing second even though we were leading laps and up front,” Sweet explained. “I just felt we were a little off in the A (main), but this is a tough field of cars. And with new tires and a lot of unknowns, you just don’t know how these nights are going to go, so we’re pretty happy with second with our Napa Auto Parts car.”

Rounding out the podium in just his 14th career World of Outlaws Feature start was Borden, marking his first career Series top-three.

“It honestly means the world just to be running out here in Pennsylvania against the absolute best in the world and running up front and contending for wins, you know,” Borden said. “We’ve come a long way, didn’t think I’d be here this soon. It’s really cool.”

One spot behind Borden was a hard charging Carson Macedo. The Jason Johnson Racing driver moved up from ninth to fourth, enough to make him the Low-E Insulation Spring Showdown champion and pocket an extra $10,000.

“It means a lot to us,” Macedo said. “I think it’s something really cool they put together that hopefully they continue to do in the future. I feel like all the people from Low-E Insulation, that’s a good chunk of change for them to put out.”

David Gravel and Brad Sweet finished second and third in the Spring Showdown standings to take home the remaining portion of the point fund with Gravel taking $6,000 and Sweet claiming $4,000.

UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars will take on a down south double header as next weekend (March 24-25), Talladega Short Track (Eastaboga, AL) and Magnolia Motor Speedway (Columbus, MS) host The Greatest Show on Dirt. For tickets, CLICK HERE

If you can’t make it to the track, watch live on DIRTVision.

RESULTS

A Feature (35 Laps): 1. 24-Rico Abreu[3]; 2. 49-Brad Sweet[1]; 3. 23-Devon Borden[4]; 4. 41-Carson Macedo[9]; 5. 13-Justin Peck[12]; 6. 48-Danny Dietrich[7]; 7. 1S-Logan Schuchart[5]; 8. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[21]; 9. 19-Brent Marks[13]; 10. 2-David Gravel[6]; 11. 5-Spencer Bayston[8]; 12. 11-Michael Kofoid[10]; 13. 83-James McFadden[25]; 14. 27-Chris Windom[16]; 15. 39M-Anthony Macri[19]; 16. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[27]; 17. 16-Matt Campbell[11]; 18. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[22]; 19. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[30]; 20. 15-Donny Schatz[28]; 21. 9-Kasey Kahne[29]; 22. 1A-Jacob Allen[15]; 23. 8D-Billy Dietrich[14]; 24. 69-Tim Glatfelter[20]; 25. 91-Kyle Reinhardt[18]; 26. 99M-Kyle Moody[26]; 27. 5W-Lucas Wolfe[23]; 28. 44-Dylan Norris[24]; 29. 8-Freddie Rahmer[2]; 30. 1M-Landon Myers[17]

(March 18, 2023) – Corvette Racing showed itself strong early but was left wondering what might have been at the end of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring on Saturday. The No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R – with Antonio Garcia, Jordan Taylor and Tommy Milner sharing the wheel – placed fifth in the GT Daytona (GTD) PRO class after the second race of this year’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

After fighting back first from an untimely full-course yellow early and then a mechanical problem with four hours remaining, Corvette Racing appeared to be in a great spot for a second straight Sebring class victory until late-race chaos that started with the GTP-class fight with 20 minutes to go undid all the team’s good work at the end. The Corvette had the race going its way in the opening eight hours. Garcia began from pole position and steadily increased his advantage through the first hour. The first bit of misfortune struck at the race’s second full-course yellow just past the hour mark as the Corvette couldn’t make its first stop before the pits closed. As a result, it had to enter the pitlane for five seconds of emergency fuel and pit again for full service when the GT pits opened. Garcia fell to eighth in class but carved his way back toward the front with a dynamic drive through traffic in the span of 25 minutes. He moved up to second by the time the race went yellow again at the two-hour mark. Taylor got in the Corvette for almost three hours as the Corvette Racing crew got him out ahead of the No. 79 Mercedes for the GTD PRO lead. It was a spot that Taylor held for most of his triple-stint before he handed the C8.R to Milner, who rejoined with the lead. The Corvette continued to lead out front despite the air and track temperatures climbing during the hottest part of the day. Still while leading, Milner radioed to the Corvette Racing pitbox for the crew to check something at the rear of the car. On his final pitstop with about four hours left, the crew found and replaced the C8.R’s left-rear damper. The fix cost Corvette Racing a lap but Taylor got in for his second run in the car still with good pace but needing a yellow. Nearly 2.5 hours later, the yellow flags flew again to solidify the Corvette getting back on the lead lap. Taylor stayed in until the 10-hour mark when Garcia re-entered the race for the final stints to the end. A series of additional full-course yellows and some sharp strategy calls moved the Corvette as high as third and first among the GTD PRO cars that made their final scheduled stops under yellow with about 50 minutes to go. On the subsequent restart, however, Garcia was hit from behind and knocked off track. The contact sent the C8.R down to sixth place. The final blow came with 17 minutes to go when Garcia and the No. 62 Ferrari were involved in a crash instigated by the overall leaders. Despite the second spin, the Corvette did gain a spot to its final fifth-place finishing position. Corvette Racing’s next event in the WeatherTech Championship is Saturday, April 15 in Long Beach, Calif.

Photos: Richard Prince, Chevrolet Racing

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FINISHED FIFTH IN GTD PRO:“I’m really disappointed with the finish, but it has nothing to do with the team. They did a great job all weekend with the car, our strategy and helping to keep us in the race when things weren’t looking so good. We kept waiting for a long time for a yellow to get back with the main GTD PRO group, and it finally came our way not long after I got in. I felt like we were in the best shape of all with about an hour to go before all the chaos broke out. I really don’t know what to say. All I know is that I was spun twice and it ruined our race and our car. I understand that this is an important race but there is no call for what happened late. It was careless and reckless driving by a lot of guys who should know better. I don’t know if we would have won, but I do know that we had that chance taken from us. I’m not happy.”

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FINISHED FIFTH IN GTD PRO: “A disappointing finish. The guys did an amazing job. We were up front and in control for a majority of the day before our mechanical issue. I’d say driving standards for today were pretty sub-par from the whole field. There were so many yellows early on and the end of the race was embarrassing to be part of, to be honest. It’s disappointing to finish fifth after how strong we were, but we’ll move on to Long Beach.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FINISHED FIFTH IN GTD PRO: “The start was great from Antonio. The first stint from Jordan was awesome. The car was very, very good. At some point in my stint, we had our issue and it looked a little grim for awhile. Then it looked like we would have an opportunity and a chance to race for a podium, which I think we certainly deserved as we had the car to beat. At the end, you had a lot of guys who were driving over their heads and there was a lot of that today. Unfortunately we got the worst of it. I feel for the rest of the guys in GTD PRO to have to deal with Antonio for the rest of the year. He’s going to be fired up.”

Catsburg, Keating, Varrone lead total team effort in WEC victory SEBRING, Fla. (March 17, 2023) – Corvette Racing made an emphatic statement with a convincing GTE Am class victory in the 1,000 Miles of Sebring to open this year’s FIA World Endurance Championship. Nicky Catsburg, Ben Keating and Nico Varrone drove the No. 33 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R to a two-lap victory at Sebring International Raceway to start its new program in the class. It was the 14th win for Corvette Racing at the 3.74-mile, 17-turn rough-and-tumble circuit since 2002.

Friday’s victory also was the second for Corvette Racing as a full-time WEC entrant, the first coming last season at Monza in the GTE Pro class. The team now has 123 worldwide victories. That number is easy to understand when looking at the totality of Friday’s race. Each of the three drivers drove error-free stints with no contact and no risks taken. The engineering team rotated the three drivers through consecutively in order of ranking so neither Keating, Varrone or Catsburg had to get back in the Corvette. The Corvette Racing crew also was the fastest of the GTE Am teams in the pitlane with a six-second advantage on the next-quickest team.“No one at Corvette Racing could ask for a better start to our FIA WEC program than this win at Sebring for Ben, Nicky and Nico,” said Laura Wontrop Klauser, GM Sports Car Racing Program Manager. “All three put in excellent drives, the crew was the best throughout the class in the pitlane, and our engineers called a perfect race strategy. Ben really set the tone for this race with his opening three stints, and the performance continued from there with an incredible mid-race triple stint from Nico and then Nicky’s drive to close it out. Winning the first race of the season, in the United States and at Sebring is a storybook start that we will remember for a long time!” The fight of the race early was Keating’s battle with Sarah Bovy in the No. 85 Porsche. Familiar competitors from last year’s WEC, the two swapped the lead in the opening laps before the Corvette settled in to a close second position for the first couple hours. The Porsche gained a slight advantage by making its second stop near the 90-minute mark during a full-course yellow period while the Corvette made its second stop under green. Undeterred, Keating clicked off consistent, fast laps to keep the C8.R in the hunt and never dropped lower than second in class.  Last year’s winner in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the reigning GTE Am WEC champion, Keating made quite the debut in his first race with the Corvette program. He drove two hours, 40 minutes before handing over to Varrone for a triple-stint and nearly three hours in the C8.R. He moved the Corvette into the lead when the 85 Porsche suffered rear damage and lost multiple laps. From that point on, Varrone increased his pace and more often than not was the fastest driver during his time in the C8.R. His only challenge came from the No. 77 Porsche, which got as close as 14 seconds to the lead after gaining a similar pit stop advantage under yellow as the No. 85 earlier in the race. Varrone pressed on and continued to pound out sub two-minute laps while the Porsche’s pace fell off during its mid-race driver rotation to its Bronze-ranked driver. By the time of his iron-man three-plus hour stint, Varrone gave Catsburg the No. 33 Corvette – and a 90-second lead – for the final two hours. It wasn’t a coast to the end, however. Catsburg had to contend with the usual late-day Sebring sunset and Hypercar entries that attempted to make desperate moves to keep track position in their own race. Like his teammates, he drove clean and measured stints to deliver an undamaged C8.R to victory. Corvette Racing’s next event in the FIA World Endurance Championship is the Six Hours of Portimão on Sunday, April 15.

NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 33 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – GTE AM WINNER: “There’s so much to say about today. If you look at the execution, it’s not like we were out-pacing everyone by so much. We just made zero mistakes. In the pitlane, I feel like we were by far the fastest team, which is a big credit to the guys. They’re working out so much… four days per week. It pays off. It’s super-nice to start the season off like this. Those guys (Keating and Varrone) in their first race for Corvette and their first win, I think that’s pretty cool. They did a flawless job so big hats off to everyone!”More on Keating and Varrone: “This was the plan. But for them to do triple-stints in your first race with Corvette, it’s a lot more difficult than you think. It’s three hours in the car and it’s going to hurt at some point! But they each did a fantastic job.”

BEN KEATING, NO. 33 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – GTE AM WINNER: “It was mayhem out there, really. I started in second place, was able to gain the lead and then gave it up again. We got the early safety car that kind of changed the strategy up a little bit for us. It was not easy, for sure. Our car was sliding a lot more than it had in practice, so it was a lot more to handle and I think that was true for the other GT cars that I was watching while I was either following or looking in my camera to the back. “I’m really proud of the way we won the race today. If you look across the field and you look at how we got to be two laps up on the field. It wasn’t because we were the fastest car. It was because we stayed out of trouble. Almost everybody had some sort of issue, and it was really tough with all the traffic. I’m sure (the other winners) would say the same thing. Especially as the race wore on, it really got into one line and the track got more difficult. I’m just really proud of all three of us that we were able to have a clean race.“It’s really special for me to be driving something I sell and to be representing an American brand and winning the only American race for the World Endurance Championship and taking advantage of what I feel like is a home-field advantage. It was a really great job by everyone at Corvette.”More on the win: “This is the only WEC race in the United States, so it’s really special here! The guys, the team did a great job. All the drivers just didn’t make any mistakes, which is pretty tough to do with all that traffic out there. And like I said with, I guess, five hours to go, I said it’s mayhem. And so we just stayed out of it. And pretty much everybody else ended up having some problem or another. And so it’s a nice way to win and also it’s really special. Hearing the American National Anthem and being under an American flag… I couldn’t ask for more. To all the fans, I would say thank you!”

NICO VARRONE, NO. 33 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – GTE AM WINNER: “What a dream. At Sebring with Corvette and winning the 1,000 Miles of Sebring, I’m super happy. I couldn’t ask for a better debut with the brand. A big thank you to all the guys, all the mechanics, all the engineers. Corvette Racing did a great job all week long. Ben did a great job with the start and in his first three stints. He got us to P2. Then I jumped in the car for three hours, which was tough. Then I handed it over to Nicky, who is a legend. We all know that he knows what to do. He brought it home safely and now I can’t be happier!“This was a very difficult race for me. I had to do a triple stint in the middle. I’ve had to do a triple stint at Le Mans, but I have to say that Sebring is much more difficult! Ben did a great job at the start to get the car to me. The track was changing a lot during the whole race, so we had to figure out what was happening. Corvette Racing did a great job with that. They did a great job all week long. It’s a dream come true.”

No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R just misses podium finish in 1000 Miles of Sebring

SEBRING, Fla. (March 17, 2023) — On the 11th anniversary of the first FIA World Endurance Championship race – on the Sebring International Raceway course – Cadillac Racing made an impressive debut in the Hypercar class. The No. 2 Cadillac-V-Series.R co-driven by Alex Lynn, Earl Bamber and Richard Westbrook battled cockpit heat during afternoon temperatures that reach 84 degrees Fahrenheit, an international field of 11 Hypercars and the usual unpredictable 3.741-mile, 17-turn racecourse to place fourth in the 1000 Miles of Sebring.Bamber, closing out the eight-hour race, finished 10.127 seconds out of the final podium spot. The No. 7 Toyota Gazoo Racing entry, which is comprised of three former Cadillac Racing drivers from the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship DPi era, won the race. Like its run in the IMSA season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona in late January, the reliability and overall speed of the hybrid Cadillac racecar stood out. “In 2022, the development of this car, the testing schedule, everything that we went through was so tough on the team, but we are seeing the results and we are so proud of all that work and effort that we put in. It was worth it,” said GM sports car racing program manager Laura Wontrop Klauser. “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.

“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. So we can only grow and get better.” The No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R ran as high as third on multiple occasions to the twin Toyota LMH entries. Bamber led the way with 3 hours, 36 minutes (118 of the 237 laps) behind the wheel.

“No doubt it’s a strong and positive day for Cadillac Racing,” said Lynn, who drove to the fifth-place starting spot Thursday. “We started our WEC campaign with a fourth place and I think we would have taken that at the start of the weekend. This is the first time everyone has worked together on a brand new program, and to come 10 seconds within a podium with a team as strong as Ferrari is just a fantastic start with so much more to improve on.” The six-hour race April 16 in Portimao, Portugal, is next on the WEC schedule. The hybrid Cadillac racecar will soon travel to its European base in Wedlingen, Germany, and be prepared for the second of seven rounds. “The car was great. The pace was better than we expected, and we took advantage at the end of one of the Ferraris misfortune, but we’re racing for the podium and we gave it all we got,” said team manager and strategist Stephen Mitas. “We’ll keep giving it the same effort we’ve given it so far and try to build on this good result.” Earlier in the day, the sister Cadillac V-Series.Rs swept the front row for the 71st Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. Pipo Derani, seeking his fourth overall victory in the race, qualified on pole with a lap of 1 minute, 45.836 seconds in the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R. Sebastien Bourdais drove the No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R to second with a lap of 1:45.923. Cadillac has won the past two IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship races at Sebring and four of the past six.

Cadillac Racing 1000 Miles of Sebring high-resolution photos

No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.RAlex Lynn: “No doubt it’s a strong and positive day for Cadillac Racing. We started our WEC campaign with a fourth place and I think we would have taken that at the start of the weekend. This is the first time everyone has worked together on a brand new program, and to come 10 seconds within a podium with a team as strong as Ferrari is just a fantastic start with so much more to improve on. We’re a team that wants to achieve good things, so whilst we respect it as a good result we come away feeling like we wanted more.” Earl Bamber: “That was a tough one. We were fighting for a podium with the Ferrari and a little bit unlucky with a full-course yellow at the end. We were sort of best of the rest, so we’re going to push on. The team did a fantastic job first time in LMDh and it’s on to Portimao for the next race.” Richard Westbrook: “I think we executed brilliantly. Obviously, it’s a new format for everyone, a new team since Daytona and to come very close to a podium on our WEC debut is awesome for this whole Cadillac program. I’m just very proud of everyone. We stayed out of trouble and on another day we could have gotten third. We’re only going to go forward now. We got so much data now to go through. It’s just so invaluable. It beats any eight-hour test.”

(3/17/23 – Jim Allen) Fresno, CA … It was announced today that the victor of the April 15th Dennis Roth Classic NARC sprint car finale at Tulare will pocket a stout $18,300 for their ef…wp.me

(3/17/23 – Jim Allen) Fresno, CA … It was announced today that the victor of the April 15th Dennis Roth Classic NARC sprint car finale at Tulare will pocket a stout $18,300 for their efforts.  That is a hefty $10,000 increase over the originally announced payday.  The two-day show (April 14-15) honors and recognizes the accomplishments of the legendary Sprint Car Hall of Fame inductee car owner whose teams have won some of the biggest open wheel racing events in the nation.

“Dennis and Teresa (Roth) are honored to have a race put on by their peers and it is very special to us.” said Todd Ventura, Roth Motorsports Team Manager. “This team has had so many great moments, great drivers and great accomplishments in our 31-years and we are looking forward to next months show.

The Roth Motorsports team has built a legacy by capturing 100 World of Outlaw victories and recently gave Toyota their first ever win in a sprint car. Roth Motorsports has also won four NARC King of the West championships (2011, 2013, 2014, 2018.)

“It is truly an honor to be part of this team, Ventura continued, “because it’s all about winning.”

Another reward for the team standing in victory lane at the Dennis Roth Classic is the one-of-a-kind longhorn steer skeleton head trophy.  The event is loaded with as assortment of other perks, including ice chests full of beef for the fast qualifier and heat race winners.

The Roth Motorsports team plan to field three or four sprint cars for the Classic.
https://wp.me/p8HUv9-2oF

WILLIAMS ROOFING TO SPONSOR NARC HARDCHARGER AWARD(3/17/23 – Jim Allen) Sacramento, CA … It pays to get your elbows up and pass cars in the NARC 410 Sprint Car Series.  That is because Williams Roofing has partnered up with the sanctio…wp.me

(3/17/23 – Jim Allen) Sacramento, CA … It pays to get your elbows up and pass cars in the NARC 410 Sprint Car Series.  That is because Williams Roofing has partnered up with the sanctioning body to sponsor the NARC Hardcharger Award during the 2023 campaign.

The driver who passes the most cars from their original starting position in each NARC feature event will be presented with a $150 reward for their efforts from Williams Roofing.  (Competitors must run a Williams Roofing Hardcharger decal to be eligible.)

In addition, the driver who passes (advances) the most cars over the course of the entire 23-race NARC campaign, will pocket a $1000 at the November 5th NARC Championship Celebration.  Benicia’s Billy Aton and Bud Kaeding have claimed the bonus during the past two seasons.  Updated passing stats can be found on the NARC410.com points page.

Steve Williams of Williams Roofing has been a longtime supporter of the NARC King of the West series and sprint car racing in general.  His family-owned business is a full service contractor serving the greater California Bay Area from their Fremont office with generations of experience.  They provide roof inspections and repairs to new roof installations and replacements of virtually every type of residential and commercial roofs and gutters.  Williams Roofing offers prompt and friendly service, onsite owner management and exceptional workmanship guarantees so consumers receive the best roof possible.

Williams Roofing provides free estimates and can be contacted at 510-623-1424.  Or for more information, you can go to their website at www.williamsroofing.net.  Please support those who support sprint car racing.

The NARC season opener is scheduled for April 1st at the Stockton Dirt Track.

No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R prevails in race of attrition

SEBRING, Fla. (March 18, 2023) — Sitting on the pit wall collecting his thoughts and barely holding back tears, Chris Mitchum personified the unpredictable nature of endurance racing. Moments earlier, the Action Express Racing director of operations watched the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R survive the literal and figurative bumps in the Sebring International Raceway course to score Cadillac Racing’s inaugural victory in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) era. It wasn’t easy, somewhat surprising and certainly satisfying. “Everybody says you never quit, but all the way through the end there was belief,” said Mitchum, who celebrated Action Express Racing’s 29th victory. “We had our issues, we had a good car all weekend and you have to be there at the end and we were. I could not be more proud to get Cadillac’s first GTP win in IMSA.” Cadillac’s third consecutive win in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring is the longest manufacturer streak since Audi’s 2000-07 run, and the luxury brand has won five of the past seven on the 3.741-mile, 17-turn racetrack starting in the IMSA DPi era, including the past three from the pole. But starting from the Motul Pole Award didn’t come into play in the final 15 minutes of the grueling race of attrition. Jack Aitken inherited the three GTP competitors ahead of him tangled, causing a full-course yellow. The first-year prototype driver took the green flag with 4 minutes, 37 seconds left and held off the charges of the second-place BMW to take the checkered flag by 2.940 seconds.“This one was wild, but that’s why you go endurance racing. We worked really hard to be in the position we were at the end,” he said. “It wasn’t an easy race for us. You can’t choose how you win but we deserve that in the long ways.”

It was Cadillac’s 28th prototype win in IMSA since 2017 (most by any manufacturer) and 67th in all series/classes since 2004. “It takes perseverance. That’s one of the great things about endurance racing. It’s not over till it’s over,” Cadillac Global Vice President Rory Harvey said in Victory Circle. “We made it entertaining for the fans today and it was a fantastic win for the No. 31 car. It was an outstanding performance collectively.” Pipo Derani, who drove to Cadillac’s third consecutive pole start in a row in the event, earned his fourth victory (2023, 2019, 2018, 2016) in the Twelve Hours of Sebring – joining four others on the all-time list. Tom Kristensen is the leader with six overall wins. “I’ve had so many unlucky races since the last win here so I’ll take a little bit of luck,” he said. “I feel bad for the guys who crashed. But you have to be lucky a little bit in motorsports. We had a fantastic race. We started on pole, had a flawless race after the incident in the beginning, so we recovered well and just fantastic to get number four. This is for my little girl one at home.” The Action Express Racing team overcame contact with an LMP3 car that spun directly in front of Derani, who did not have time to take evasive action, at the two-hour mark. Replacement of a damaged nose assembly was performed quickly and Derani and co-drivers Alexander Sims and Aitken made up the lost time throughout the remainder of the first quarter of the race. Dominating the first half of the race – leading 127 of the 168 laps — it looked as if both Cadillac Racing cars would earn podium spots.

Renger van der Zande recorded the fastest lap of the race (1:48.311) on Lap 165, endurance championship points were collected, and the two cars traded the point through pit stops and consistently blunted challenges from the field. While leading the race, the No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R with Sebastien Bourdais behind the wheel made an unscheduled trip down pit lane with 3 hours, 8 minutes left. After examination on pit lane and back in the garage, the Chip Ganassi Racing campaigned racecar was retired. Cadillac Racing issued a statement: The No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R experienced a fuel distribution system issue. It is the first time we have seen it in testing — including a successful 24-hour test at Sebring International Raceway in November and two days of testing at the track in February — and race conditions. Cadillac Racing will figure out the root cause and prepare for the next race. The next race is April 15 on the streets of Long Beach, California, where Bourdais and van der Zande will seek to make it two victories in a row. They won from the pole in 2022 in the No. 01 Cadillac DPi-V.R.Overall, the Cadillac V-Series.Rs led 183 of the 332 race laps over the 12 hours.Cadillac Racing high-resolution IMSA GTP photos available for editorial use A 2023 Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing was the pace car/safety car for the race. The race weekend marked the kickoff of the 20th anniversary of the Cadillac V-Series performance vehicle lineup, and Cadillac was announced as the Official Luxury Vehicle of Sebring International Raceway.  The CT5-V Blackwing is a Car and Driver 10Best again for 2023: “…the Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing is the greatest sports sedan on sale today, if not of all time.” On March 17, the No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R finished fourth in the 1000 Miles of Sebring – its debut race in the Hypercar class of the FIA World Endurance Championship. An interview with the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadilac V-Series.R race winners: Pipo Derani:What does this fourth win at Sebring mean to you?“I’ve been on the unlucky side a few times since my last win. I’ve been close many times but you have to be lucky in motorsports. The most important thing is that we were there in the end with a car that was still running, especially after an early incident of no fault of our own. We were able to capitalize on all the others’ mistakes. I want to say thank you to the whole group. We came here with a very strong car in qualifying and put it on pole. We had an amazing weekend from FP1 through the end of the race. Jack had to start with old tires at the end, so we didn’t quite have the pace to keep the position but we were there at the end with the mistake that others made; it allowed us to get ahead and take the win. It’s a special one for me. It’s the first win I’ve had since fatherhood. My little girl is at home and three months old. It’s the fourth win at Sebring… one that I’ve been hoping to get for a few years. Like I said, I’ve been on the unlucky side so to get it is fantastic. First win as well for the Cadillac V-Series.R and our new LMDh car. A lot of hard work has been put into this program from the beginning, especially on the reliability side. To finish at Daytona and Sebring now with a win and already have pole position is a fantastic effort form the whole group. A big thank you to Whelen Engineering for providing us with amazing lights, Action Express for the amazing job that they’ve done since the beginning and Cadillac for providing us a very fast racecar.” What about double-stinting the qualifying tires?“I think we underestimated the fact that it was quite hot out there. We tried. We knew we couldn’t make it, especially if it was green most of the race, on the amount of tires that we had. We tried to be a little aggressive at the beginning to have more tires at the end. Obviously it wasn’t great at the end of the second stint; the second half of that stint was quite difficult. Very quickly after that, I had contact with a P3 that spun right in front of me. I had to stop for repairs and we removed that set of tires from the car. It was not an easy race in terms of tires. At the end, some had a few new tires to put on their car and some didn’t. It was a balance between using them at moments where the track was a bit warmer and temperatures were hotter or trying to save them for the end. So it’s a bit of you win early or you win later. We had an extra set of tires, but we decided at the end to gain track position on one of the last restarts. Jack continued on his tires and unfortunately we didn’t have the pace to keep the cars behind, but luck played into our side today.” Jack Aitken:What was going through your mind when you saw the accident at the end?“I was trying to do some quick counting at that moment. In those moments so late in the race, you’re pretty much in the moment. I saw the crash and was watching out for debris and other cars because there were cars pretty much everywhere and just trying to survive. It was after I got through that I was waiting for the caution and I thought, ‘That was quite a lot of GTP cars. Maybe we’re alright here.’ Were you worried about the BMW at the end?“We’ve had a lot of trouble on the restarts previously. We had a great strategy call to get us into the lead. The team were fantastic with that one, and it was quick thinking. I just wasn’t able to fight it and the other guys were really impressive with their speed at the restart. We didn’t quite have the pace, especially on warm-up. I was a little bit concerned, but luckily when the flag dropped we were able to sprint away pretty quickly and could just bring it home safely for the last laps.” Going three-wide into Turn 1 late before the accident.“It was very, very tough racing. We were trying to hold our position as good as we could. The other guys were fighting extremely hard. At some point, you have to realize when it’s time to give up and that’s part of the reason we made it to the end today. We all drove pretty smart as well as racing as hard as we could when we had the pace. I was waiting a little bit for an accident to happen at some point.” Were driving standards OK?“It was hard racing. I’m not going to sit here and say that because I was waiting for a crash doesn’t mean that people were necessarily over the limit. It was just really, really hard racing. In this new era where we’ve got so many teams and cars that are racing at a very similar level, it’s inevitable that you’re going to get a little bit of bumping and some close calls. I had a good time out there. I don’t think anyone was particularly out of line.” Alexander Sims:What was the reaction watching the accident at the end?“From my side, it was just a bit surreal, honestly, to watch all that unfold. Until that moment and after the end of the second-to-last safety car restart, it seemed like – as Jack mentioned – we seemed not to have the pace. In your mind, you’re resigning yourself to finishing fourth. And so yeah, the emotions go through a bit of roller-coaster to realize that we’re in the seat to win the race. There’s some level of sorrow for the three ahead that did crash out, to be honest, because we’ve all been in that situation and we know how that feels. Conversely, it benefits you sometimes and we’ve got to take it and enjoy the moment.” Have you seen anything like this before?“That was a surprising end. An excellent effort through the race. We had really good pace at times and the race of attrition was our friend today. The car was in one piece and in good condition at the end, and it was fantastic for Jack to bring it home and capitalize on the issue at the front at the end of the race.”

No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.RSebastien Bourdais: “It’s obviously pretty disappointing for everybody. The guys did a great job. A couple of incidents that kind of put us out of sequence and then we paid the price with the double stints on tires. Renger did a heck of a job hanging onto the car because it was well over two stints on the tires and not easy. And a typical safety car reset the field. We had a great restart from last to ninth and we worked out way to the lead with a great pit stop by the guys. The car was quick. Cadillac seems to have something that works pretty well at Sebring, so that’s really encouraging. I think we made some great progress from Daytona in performance, so that’s encouraging for the rest of the season after finishing on the podium but needing more pace at Daytona. It’s great to see the program heading in the right direction and everyone at Chip Ganassi Racing and Cadillac are working very hard to make progress.” Scott Dixon: “It was quite the race. The car was really fast and I felt like everybody on the team did a tremendous job. We had some ups and downs, but ultimately, we were top-three most of the race and led a good majority of it. Just bummed that it ended the way it did, and we didn’t win the race. It’s one that’s eluded me, and it would have been great to take this one. But we had great speed, great teamwork and everybody did a hell of a job.” Renger van der Zande: “Sebring is a special one, and it’s a shame that it didn’t fall in our direction. We had a strong Cadillac car here and while we’ve been testing all over, we’re still trying to improve things across the board. We’re still learning. We go deep to try to optimize performance. It’s just an unfortunate end to the race after showing so much speed.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY AMBETTER HEALTH 400 TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING REPORT MARCH 18, 2023

TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL STARTING LINEUP:  POS.   DRIVER9th      Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL111th    William Byron, No. 24 Liberty University Camaro ZL113th    Austin Dillon, No. 3 Andy’s Frozen Custard Camaro ZL115th    Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL117th    Kyle Busch, No. 8 Lenovo Camaro ZL118th    Ross Chastain, No. 1 Advent Health Camaro ZL120th    Justin Haley, No. 31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Camaro ZL121st    Josh Berry, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL122nd   Noah Gragson, No. 42 Sunseeker Resort Camaro ZL125th    Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Tootsies Orchid Lounge Camaro ZL126th    Ty Dillon, No. 77 Ferris Commercial Mowers Camaro ZL127th    Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Kroger / Nature Valley Camaro ZL128th    Erik Jones, No. 43 Allegiant Camaro ZL130th    AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Action Industries Camaro ZL131st    Corey LaJoie, No. 7 Celsius Camaro ZL136th    BJ McLeod, No. 78 B’laster Camaro ZL1 TOP-FIVE UNOFFICIAL STARTING LINEUP:  POS.  DRIVER                                                                1st      Joey Logano (Ford)2nd     Austin Cindric (Ford)3rd      Ryan Blaney (Ford)4th      Brad Keselowski (Ford)5th      Aric Almirola (Ford)  ·       With no practice session on the schedule for this weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the NASCAR Cup Series hit the track for the first time this weekend for a single-car qualifying session.  ·       Kyle Larson and the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1 team led Chevrolet in qualifying, securing a ninth-place starting position for tomorrow’s Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.  ·       FOX will broadcast the NASCAR Cup Series Ambetter Health 400 on Sunday, March 18, at 3 p.m. ET. Live coverage can also be found on the PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

NASCAR CUP SERIES ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY AMBETTER HEALTH 400 TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT MARCH 18, 2023

WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series qualifying session at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Press Conference Transcript:  Your thoughts on the penalties this week and how you thought NASCAR handled things? “Look, I can’t say the details of the penalty, of what goes on there. But certainly excited for the appeal and everything that comes with that. Just ready for this weekend. We’ve got more to prove and we’ll just keep going. It’s good to get two in a row the last couple of weeks. I feel like we’re on a good role. This is a really good race track for us; won here last year.  I was excited hearing Chad’s (Knaus) comments yesterday and all that was good, so looking forward to the appeal.” Can you describe what the impact of the 100 points and 10 playoff points are? And also, what have you been doing this week to get acquainted to your interim crew chief? “Yeah, certainly the points is something that we just adjust to. It’s early in the season. The cars are extremely fast. We obviously had the pace last week to win regardless, so I think that’s going to continue. I think with that pace, we’re just going to use that to our advantage to makeup points.  We didn’t intend on really relaxing after a win anyways this year. So I think going into the next however many weeks that we’ve got until the playoffs, we’re going to push really hard. I think we’re just going to give it everything, every week. We had a good week of preparation; lots of time in the sim, lots of time at the shop. Just excited for all of that to continue. That’s as far as the points go.  And then as far as the interim crew chief – Brian (Campe) is going to be great. I work with him a lot in the shop through our competition meetings and spend a lot of time with him, so excited to have him on top of the pit box. My engineer, Brandon McSwain, we’ve worked together since the JRM days in 2017. He was my engineer at JRM when we won the championship and he’ll be a bigger factor, bigger role, throughout the weekend. I’m excited for that because we know each other really well. We probably exchange texts about 10 times a week on the car, so excited to have him in a bigger role.” William, you spoke last weekend that after back-to-back wins, you were really confident, really motivated. And then you guys get hit with a really big penalty, but you said a minute ago that you have more to prove. So when you get hit with a penalty like that, does it knock your confidence or knock you for a loop at all? Instead, it seems like you come here with more motivation.“Absolutely. Look, I really get excited about coming to the race track right now. I was just excited in the off-season with the group I know we have. So yeah if anything, it just shows that we’re not there yet. We have more to prove and we have more to go out there and accomplish. I think that’s a dangerous thing, right? We’re going out there with a goal in mind; a specific goal to win every week. We’re going to keep pushing for that every single week. Really, it starts during the week. A lot of the weekend stuff is a result of what we do and our processes back at the shop and communicating with one another. I think that process started on Monday as soon as we got back from Phoenix (Raceway).. what could we have done better at Phoenix because that’s a really important race track. There were certainly things we could have done better there. I thought the No. 4 car (Kevin Harvick) was the best car. I thought we were second or third-best; kind of right there with the No. 5 (Kyle Larson). So I think there were things last week that we could have done better. We addressed all of that Monday and Tuesday, and Tuesday night turned the page to focus on Atlanta (Motor Speedway). Obviously this track has been good for us in the past, but July wasn’t quite as good. So we looked at a lot of the things that Chase (Elliott) and the No. 9 team were doing really well here in July and tried to apply that to this weekend for us.” I’m curious on your thoughts about Josh Berry. How he has come in and his approach to jumping into this car; his growth over the last couple of weeks and what he’s brought to Hendrick Motorsports.“I think Josh (Berry) has been great. It’s a very unique circumstance for him. Last weekend, we had 50 minutes of practice, but he doesn’t have the 10 test sessions that we all had last off-season to get comfortable with this car; learn what it needs and things like that. So he’s at a very big deficit, in terms of experience, with this car. I mean it’s not like anything else that you drive. When I go race a super late model and then go race the Xfinity car – those are in the same ballpark. When you go run the Cup car, you might as well go drive a Trans Am car or go drive a sportscar to adjust.  I think there are so many things he’s having to learn, and I think he’s doing a great job with it all. He’s brought a new perspective to the debriefs. Being such a clean slate, there are some things that he says that you don’t even realize that go on with this car and it’s cool to hear. Excited to have him.” Here this weekend, obviously this is the third race on this surface. I’m curious how much things change from the first one last year to the second, and what you kind of expect for change-wise this weekend.“Yeah, I mean it’s really hard to say. It’s really cold this weekend, so I don’t know how that’s going to factor into the way the race plays out. The groove is wide here because it’s drafting and you’re not at the edge of grip throughout the whole corner. There are certain parts of the corner that you can be on edge of grip and have to lift, which I think is what we all like about it. It does have some element of having to drive because you are out of the gas. So I think that’s what’s cool about the new Atlanta (Motor Speedway). But I don’t know if it’s going to be a similar race to the summer race because that’s obviously really hot and slick.  I’m not really sure what we’re going to see, but I’d say it would be maybe closer to the July race just because the track is starting to age. So curious how that will play a factor.” Before you won your appeal on your penalty last year, you had a 25-point fine and $50,000 fine with the incident with (Denny) Hamlin at Texas Motor Speedway. Denny got the same thing this past week. Do you look at your incident with him – under caution, what happened there and what he did with Ross (Chastain) – as equal penalties? “I don’t know if they’re equal. I don’t know how to answer that part, but I do think that it’s unfortunate. You’re going to have a game of poker, right? Because now guys aren’t going to be able to say what happened. There are a lot of guys that fake it in interviews and us drivers know that. So it’s unfortunate that those are the guys that get away with it.” How do they get away with it then if the drivers know about it? You guys have the memories that stay with you, so it’s not like you guys forget. How is this not resolved because now guys can’t say anything?“Yeah, I mean it will just be handled on the track. I think that’s the way it is. Things are always handled on the race track, but yeah I guess nobody else will know.”

No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R gives brand third pole in a row

SEBRING, Fla. (March 17, 2023) — Cadillac Racing will have an initial advantage as it seeks to successfully defend its Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring victory, sweeping the front row for the 71st edition of the classic U.S. endurance race. The No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R driven by Pipo Derani claimed the pole – Cadillac’s third in a row at Sebring International Raceway – with a best lap of 1 minute, 45.836 seconds on the 3.741-mile, 17-turn course.

The sister No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R driven by Sebastien Bourdais recorded a best lap of 1:45.923 in the scheduled 20-minute session cut short because of a red flag with 5 minutes left. Bourdais started from the pole in the 2022 race with a qualifying lap-record time of 1:45.166 in the No. 01 Cadillac DPi-V.R. Cadillac has won the past two 12-hour races at Sebring and four of the six in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship DPi era, including 2022 and ’21 from pole. Last year, Cadillac swept the podium.Derani, who will share the wheel of the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R with Alexander Sims and Jack Aitken, is among five drivers (and youngest) with three wins in the Twelve Hours of Sebring (2016, 2018, 2019), joining the likes of Phil Hill and Mario Andretti. Cadillac Racing Twelve Hours of Sebring pit notes“I think we’ve been having a fantastic weekend since the beginning. It seems we rolled out onto the track with a very competitive car, so the changes have been very small from practice to practice and therefore we keep improving with better lap times,” said Derani, who posted his eighth IMSA pole and second at Sebring (2021). “I wanted to say thank you to the whole Action Express Whelen Engineering team and Cadillac for its continued support, the relentless work and hours behind closed doors to try to make this program the best it can be.” Both entries in the Grand Touring Prototype class tested on the bumpy circuit last month following the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona, and completed a successful 24-hour test at the track in November in the continuing development of the hybrid racecar. A day earlier, the No 2 Cadillac V-Series.R qualified fifth in the Hypercar class for its FIA World Endurance Championship debut in the 1000 Miles of Sebring.

A Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing will be the pace car/safety car for the race. The race weekend marks the kickoff of the 20th anniversary of the Cadillac V-Series performance vehicle lineup. The CT5-V Blackwing is a Car and Driver 10Best again for 2023: “…the Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing is the greatest sports sedan on sale today, if not of all time.” Peacock will stream flag-to-flag coverage of the race starting at 10:05 a.m. ET Saturday. USA will telecast the track action from 4:30-10:30 p.m. ET. IMSA Radio will air all on-track sessions at IMSA.com along with Sirius 216, XM 207 and SiriusXM Online 992 and 100.9 FM at the circuit. Cadillac Racing IMSA GTP high-resolution photos from Sebring International Raceway No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.RSebastien Bourdais, Renger van der Zande, Scott DixonBourdais drove in the 20-minute qualifying session (1 minute, 45.923 seconds): “Obviously, a great day for Cadillac. I had just a tiny bit of understeer, but I think it was pretty close with lap times and everything. I guess last year’s pole didn’t really serve us so well. Maybe it’s a good omen. I think we have a solid racecar and looking forward to the grueling 12 hours ahead. It’s going to be a lot of keeping your nose clean and make sure that you execute and don’t run into any trouble.” No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.RPipo Derani, Alexader Sims, Jack AitkenDerani drove in the 20-minute qualifying session (1 minute, 45.836 seconds): What made the difference for your team this morning?“I think we’ve been having a fantastic weekend since the beginning. It seems we rolled out onto the track with a very competitive car, so the changes have been very small from practice to practice and therefore we keep improving with better lap times. It was a very competitive qualifying session. I think we came in from Daytona a little behind some of our competitors, but it shows we’ve been able to work well together between Action Express and Ganassi to continue to develop the Cadillac. And I think it’s a strong track normally for the Cadillac but with the new regulations you never know how that’s going to translate. It’s still a strong track for our car. We’ve evolved and worked really hard, and it shows we are a little bit more competitive than we were at Daytona. And to be able to extract that in qualifying and have a Cadillac on pole it shows were able to achieve what we’ve been looking for. In general, it’s always good to be back at Sebring. It’s a place that I really enjoy. Being on pole here doesn’t mean much for the race, but for us as a team coming from a difficult ’22 it means a lot to be able to get back on track and show the potential we have as a team. I wanted to say thank you to the whole Action Express Whelen Engineering team and Cadillac for its continued support, the relentless work and hours behind closed doors to try to make this program the best it can be. On a personal note, it’s always nice to have the first Cadillac LMDh pole at a place that I really like to drive. A fantastic beginning to our weekend. Hoping we can have a clean race. I think we’re in a strong position this weekend.” What do you expect this race to look like, how do you think it will shape up?“Sebring being Sebring, it’s a really difficult track on man and machine. Despite having done a 24-hour race at Daytona, I think this is really demanding on the car to the point we might experience new things throughout the race just because of the nature of the track. We’re expecting that we’ll continue to learn about our cars; they are so very new and there are things we are constantly developing. It’s going to be one of those races where you find yourself in the middle thinking, ‘Oh, I didn’t think about this. We could have used this tool or that tool.’ The cars are technologically advanced to the point where sometimes you have five tools to fix the same problem. Those are the learning curves we’re having and this is the second race for these cars. On the competitive side, it’s such a difficult race. When it hits man in terms of fatigue, you can see things starting to go on. We’ll try to stay cool and this race is still like a long practice sessions for us for future races.” Are you more focused on getting your car figured out as opposed to the competition?“Those two things mix with each other. You always want to win the race, and you want to check the boxes you have to make and then you start thinking about the race. We are learning, improving the team and improving the car. Up until about hour 10 of the race, you’re trying to get those learning curves out of the way and then you start thinking about winning the race. For sure, the competition so far has bene really close. It’s fantastic for the new regulations and the future of the sport.”

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SEBRING, Fla. (March 17, 2023) – In defense of its class victory from a year ago, Antonio Garcia and Corvette Racing will start from pole position in GT Daytona (GTD) PRO for Saturday’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. Garcia, in the No. 1 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R, set a best time of 1:59.315 (112.843 mph) just before a red-flag period ended Friday’s 15-minute qualifying session for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. He and teammates Jordan Taylor and Tommy Milner will look to give the Corvette Racing program its 13th victory in the Florida endurance classic and second in a row. Garcia’s qualifying effort continued a strong pre-race program for Corvette Racing, which posted the fastest GTD PRO times in the final two of Thursday’s three practice sessions around the 3.74-mile, 17-turn circuit. Pre-event work – including significant work in Chevrolet’s Driver in the Loop simulator – helped establish an early baseline with the results validating the virtual efforts.

Garcia, Taylor and Milner finished second in GTD PRO to open the season at the Rolex 24 At Daytona. They have combined for eight class wins in the 12 Hours – nine when adding a sprint-race victory for Milner and then-teammate Oliver Gavin in the 2020 season. The Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring is scheduled for 10:10 a.m. ET on Saturday. The race will air on USA Network from 4:30-10:30 p.m. ET with full streaming coverage on Peacock at 10:05 a.m. ET. IMSA Radio will stream the race at IMSA.com with radio coverage also on SiriusXM 392, SiriusXM Online 992 and 100.9 FM at the circuit.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – GTD PRO POLE-WINNER: “The car felt really good. A good thumbs-up for the team. We were not here for the (IMSA February) test but so far things have been really good through practice. Even warmup just before qualifying felt really, really good so we just went for it and it was enough. Luckily enough I was just across the line before the red flag because I just messed up the previous laps. I’m very happy for Corvette Racing. I’ve had a few pole positions here and I love this race and love this track.”More on pole position: “Things felt really good. I have to say that after Practice One, we were not where we wanted. But from Practice Two onward, everyone seemed to be faster… Tommy, Jordan… so we have a good package, for sure. Last night felt good. We tested in the little warmup before qualifying and the car felt good. I had in the back of my mind that this Corvette was good and I would have a chance be on pole.”His Sebring success: “That is true. In GTLM, I was on pole the last two times and now today. The car really suits this racetrack and I think there is more to come because we love racing here. I’m looking forward to the rest of the race. I wouldn’t mind to race in an hour! So it’s a long wait until we start. There are a lot of things to think about, but obviously the car is good so maybe we should just clean it and put it in the truck!”Outlook for the race from pole: “It’s confidence. We have confidence that we have a good Corvette. We knew from practice last night that the car was good, but we didn’t know where it was for a quick, quick lap but we were up there. Tomorrow is a long one but I’m already looking forward to those last two hours of the race.”