Bennett Transportation & Logistics to serve as primary partner for Hill’s first NASCAR Cup Series career start at Michigan International Speedway with support from RCR partners Alsco Uniforms, Global Industrial, United Rentals and Realtree WELCOME, N.C. (August 2, 2022) – Richard Childress Racing announced today that NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Austin Hill will make his NASCAR Cup Series debut this weekend at Michigan International Speedway. Hill will pilot the No. 33 Chevrolet with primary sponsorship from Bennett Transportation & Logistics. Hill’s first-ever Cup Series start will also be backed by RCR partners Alsco Uniforms, United Rentals, Global Industrial and Realtree on his Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. “As a kid growing up in this sport, getting the chance to run a NASCAR Cup Series car is the ultimate dream, especially with a team like Richard Childress Racing that has so much history and success,” said Hill, who currently competes full-time in the Xfinity Series for RCR in the No. 21 Chevrolet. “I’m so thankful that Richard Childress and everyone at RCR have so much faith in me. It will be a learning weekend, for sure, but I’ve had success at Michigan International Speedway in the past and can’t wait to take on the track’s wide, sweeping corners in a NASCAR Cup Series Chevrolet.” Hill, 28, won a NASCAR Truck Series race at MIS in 2019. The 2022 Xfinity Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender will pull double-duty at Michigan, competing in both the Xfinity Series and Cup Series races. In Xfinity Series competition, Hill has two wins so far this season (Daytona International Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway-2) as well as eight top fives, 12 top 10s and 223 laps led. “Austin Hill has shown talent in every Series he’s raced in during his career, so I couldn’t be more excited to have him behind the wheel of a Cup Series car,” said Richard Childress, Chairman and CEO of Richard Childress Racing. “He’s having a strong season in the Xfinity Series, and I know he will be just as competitive and eager to learn behind the wheel of a Cup Series car.” Prior to his full-time season in the Xfinity Series, Hill spent four full-time seasons in the Truck Series, where he tallied eight wins, 27 top fives and 54 top-10 finishes. Hill also won the 2020 Truck Series regular season championship. Bennett Family of Companies, a McDonough, Ga.-based company, will be the primary partner on the No. 33 Chevrolet for Hill’s Cup Series debut. Bennett made its NASCAR debut with Hill and the No. 21 Xfinity Series team in the season-opener at Daytona International Speedway and partnered with RCR on the No. 3 Chevrolet and driver Austin Dillon at the Cup Series race at Circuit of the Americas earlier this season. “We are elated to be the primary sponsor for Austin Hill’s Cup Series debut, not only because of Austin’s competitive nature, but because we believe in the advancement of drivers in their careers, just like Richard Childress does,” said Lynette Mathis, Vice President of the Bennett Family of Companies. “At Bennett, truck drivers level-up their skills through increasingly challenging specialized freight opportunities throughout their careers. Our company revolves around family, and both Austin Hill and Richard Childress take that same approach to their race team. Their focus on innovation and their commitment to safety and service is second to none, and we can’t wait to cheer them along in the NASCAR Cup Series along with our 5,800+ owner/operators, agents, and employees.” United Rentals, the world’s largest equipment rental provider, continues their support of Austin Hill as he makes his Cup Series debut in the No. 33 Chevrolet.  “United Rentals has been a proud supporter of Austin Hill since 2017, and we are excited to see him take this next step in his racing career,” said Craig Schmidt, Vice President, National Accounts at United Rentals. “We will be cheering him on every step of the way, while enjoying this unique opportunity to spend time with our customers.”  Global Industrial, a value-added industrial distributor with a roll-up-your-sleeves approach and a “We Can Supply That®” mentality, joins United Rentals, Alsco Uniforms and Realtree as enhanced partners on the No. 33 Chevrolet at Michigan. “We’ve enjoyed the business and branding opportunities our partnership with Richard Childress Racing and Austin Hill have provided this season, both on and off the track,” said Klaus Werner, Sr. Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Global Industrial. “We look forward to supporting Austin in this exciting new step in his career. He has been a great ambassador for Global Industrial and we know that will extend to the Cup Series.” The 2022 season marks the sixth season for Alsco as a partner with Richard Childress Racing. Alsco Uniforms is a fifth-generation family-owned-and-operated uniform company founded in 1889 and is the official uniform laundry supplier for the RCR pit crew and its many employees. “We’ve enjoyed our partnership with Richard Childress Racing over the years and sharing key moments in their history while supplying each week, clean uniforms, first aid, floor mats and restroom supplies,” said Ben Fox, Director of Sales and Marketing at Alsco Uniforms. “We are thrilled to be a part of another exciting first for RCR as they welcome Austin Hill into the Cup Series.” Realtree, the creator and marketer of the world’s most versatile camo patterns, joins a dynamic lineup of partners supporting Hill’s Cup Series debut at Michigan. “Our roots with Richard Childress Racing run deep, and we appreciate Austin Hill’s passion for both racing and the outdoors,” said Tyler Jordan, Realtree strategic business coordinator. “We know that Hill will represent the Realtree brand well and congratulate him on the fantastic next step in his career that Richard Childress is providing.” Catch Hill’s Cup Series debut in the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway on Sunday, August 7. The race airs live on USA at 3 p.m. ET.

Pipo Derani, co-driver of the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R, and Sebastien Bourdais, co-driver of the No. 01 V-Performance Academy Cadillac DPi-V.R, met with the media August 1 via Zoom conference to preview the IMSA Fastlane SportsCar Weekend at Road America. Derani co-drove to victory in the 2021 race. Bourdais and co-driver Renger van der Zande have won three times this season. Full transcript by individual driver:

Reigning IMSA DPi champion Pipo Derani, co-driver with Olivier Pla, of the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R: YOU’VE HAD SUCCESS AT ROAD AMERICA. WHAT ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS WEEK THERE?“I think Road America is perhaps one of the nicest tracks for any racing driver. It’s very fast, very technical as well and presents a big challenge for the teams to be able to do a perfect setup. I would love to try to get a third win (2021, 2017 in DPi). It hasn’t been an easy season for us, but hopefully in the last two races of the year we can show a little bit better results and get a win.”

WHAT DOES BEING CHAMPION ONE YEAR AND WHERE YOU ARE NOW SAY ABOUT THE COMPETITIVENESS OF THE SERIES?“It’s been a reality check to what motorsport is. You have ups and downs during your career. Coming in this year as the champ and having such a difficult year — changing teammates in the middle of the season – it hasn’t been easy. Nevertheless, it’s always a pleasure. You are in one of the most competitive championships in the world; IMSA right now being extremely competitive. Heading to the last two races without a single chance of winning the championship but I think it shows how the championship is so competitive you can’t have any weak link in the team whatsoever.

Cadillac Racing  media resources Road America guide: Storylines. team/driver notes, statistics, more 2022 media guide: Historical statistics, why we race, tech transfer, more Cadillac LMDh test: What they’re saying about latest on-track car development 2021-2017 results

“Once you go and fight against teams that are with the same lineup for two, three years, they are working well together it’s just hard for you to overcome that. So, going into the last few races of the year we have Olivier onboard in the Whelen Engineering Cadillac. I think he’s got up to speed quite well and I’m hoping that we can together put some strong results on the board. Hopefully, we can be in the mix for a win either at Road America or Road Atlanta to finish the year on a strong note. But, again, it shows that in motorsport it doesn’t matter what you do the year before or the last race. As they say, you’re as good as your last race. It’s a constant battle every weekend for you to be at the top because it’s definitely not a given. You should not take it for granted but should always be working hard.” WHAT’S THE MISSING INGREDIENT THIS YEAR?“To be honest, it’s such a competitive championship first of all. We’re going against pairings that have been working together for a while, and then we welcomed Tristan (Nunez) at the beginning of the year. That’s already in itself a difficult situation when you have to learn a new teammate, to work with someone new and this person has to learn how the team operates. So it takes little bit of time to adapt, and then not only that we had a change in the middle of the season. You repeat the whole process again. When Olivier joined at Detroit, obviously not a very easy track to join and get to learn a new team. It’s just a situation where you’re in a very competitive championship and instead of focusing on details you’re focusing on the driver who’s in the car is getting up to speed quickly. That, in itself, you’re starting on the back foot already. In such a competitive championship, this can’t happen. We’re definitely not missing speed; we’ve been close to a couple of pole positions this year that just didn’t materialize for maybe just a little bit of time. We led more than 50 percent of the Twelve Hours of Sebring. It’s details that make a huge difference when it counts at the very end to have a strong result that we missed. I would say that down not being fully in sync with one another, especially on the driver front. We’re working hard on that. I hope we can have a strong finish to the season. It hasn’t been easy, but Olivier has been up to speed especially in the last two races. From now on it’s a bit of fine-tuning to be back at where we should be. Obviously had going into the last two races of the season. There are only two shots at showing that we were able to do that, but I think if we put everything together there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be where we belong.” HOW DO YOU MANAGE TRAFFIC AT ROAD AMERICA?“It’s a track that the difference in speed is perhaps a bit higher than the others. If you take Mid-Ohio or even Laguna, the difference between a GT or a P3 to a DPi is not as big as for example Road America. That makes it very interesting as well for us approaching them at speeds that are even shocking for us inside the car. In general, you have quite a lot of space to overtake, especially with the straights. But then you have very tricky corner, which is the Carousel. If you get a GT or a P3 there, it’s a massive difference and you end up losing a lot of time. As the racing progresses, perhaps you can get a little bit luck and get the other guys on the straight. If you’re not that lucky and you get them right before the Carousel, then you’re stuck for a long, long time. That makes it interesting for everyone watching. Not quite as fun for us inside the car, but it’s part of multi-class racing and that’s why we keep coming back.”Sebastien Bourdais, co-driver with Renger van der Zande of the No. 01 V-Performance Academy Cadillac DPi-V.R:TALK ABOUT THE MOMENTUM YOU GUYS HAVE AND WHAT YOU’RE LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS WEEK.“We’ve had a very interesting season with three wins and quite a lot of misfortune. We’ve had a really fast 01 Cadillac and Chip Ganassi Racing has given us some great cars, but unfortunately, we’ve fallen out of too many races to really be in the championship hunt. We’re going to need some help from the 60 and the 10 to run into issues for us to stay in contention and hope for something in the last race at Petit. Nevertheless, it’s been a fun season. We’ve been running at the front, winning races, feeling strong. Renger put on an incredible performance at Mosport in really challenging conditions. He kind of went for it especially in traffic, which was really awesome. Looking forward to trying to repeat that at Road America. It’s a beautiful racetrack. I only managed to win there once in Champ Car days, but I have a lot of really good memories. It’s one of those places that is extremely rewarding if you get the lap right. It’s one of those cases where it feels really brilliant when you put a lap together and hopefully we can do that in qualifying and have a great race day.”

GIVEN THE WAY THE SEASON STARTED FOR YOU, ARE YOU SURPRISED TO BE GIVEN A SHOT AT THE CHAMPIONSHIP AT THIS POINT?“From the get-go we were really quick. We’ve had the pace all year long. It’s not been the problem of pace; it’s been a question of completing the races without tripping over something or having issues. It’s a shame that we’ve had so many. When you have three blank results out of a 10-race championship, it’s very unlikely you’re going to end up winning. We knew that basically after Daytona and Sebring that we were going to need to have a perfect season from there on out. Unfortunately, we had another miscue at Laguna, and at that point it was like you pretty much have to be winning or second and need your opposition to have some serious issues, which hasn’t really happened with the 60. Basically, when we’ve won they’ve finished second or third. I’m not the kind of guy who wishes anything bad on anyone; that’s not what I’m saying. At this point, either they are running into some issues in the last two events or it’s pretty much game over with the advantage in points that they have. We don’t really have our destiny on our hands, but we’re going to keep on pushing and going for wins which we have all season. Hopefully, we’re still in it going into Road Atlanta and then it’s a 10-hour race as the championship-decider, which we’ve seen crazier things happen.” WHAT ARE YOUR FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF THE CADILLAC LMDH CAR IN TESTING?“It’s been really exciting; the beginning of a new era. The car is really exciting to drive. The new powerplant, power units and everything that we have with the new regulations it’s a different package, a different balance between downforce, grip level and power. It’s quite cool and I was really excited to get in the car and quite pleased to see what the car was delivering. It’s quite amazing. You sit in a new car like that, in a completely different environment than what was done before, and obviously you have all the electronics and everything that you have to run through. The car was really well born. It just hit the track, we had not done any setup work and it was already quite fun to drive and the lap times were already quite interesting. I think we’re all quite excited and looking forward to the future. I was kind of expecting it to be quite different from the DPi and it’s really not all that different at least in terms of feel. Just looking forward to more progress and more miles in that car.” IS IT SIMILAR IN HAVING HELPED DEVELOP THE FORD GT AND THE PEUGEOT, BEING AT THE GROUND LEVEL?“Every new car is different, but I feel like there are some many more tools these days. Like the car runs complete with gearbox and engine and really pushes avenues to hit the ground running. The car hits the track and it’s already in the window. I’ve been part of development phases especially with Peugeot. That was really rough and raw and had to work a lot and make a ton of changes. This was completely different. The car was close and it felt right and it was a ton of fun and I’m looking forward to getting back in it.” HOW DO YOU MANAGE TRAFFIC WITH ALL FIVE CLASSES RUNNING?“It’s tough. Overall, we all kind of understand what needs to happen in order to have a successful interaction. I think the biggest problem us as far as the DPis is when some GT guy decides to block us – very late sometimes in braking zones. Most times it turns into chaos and disasters and it’s just super risky for everybody when you start to move down in the braking zone and shut the door and the DPi lunging in there. Everything else, it’s mostly timing and a bit of luck. You can have a great stint and a great average and things look really good and because you caught traffic at places where it didn’t impact you as far as lap time, and sometimes you keep on getting them at the wrong time. It’s not what anybody is doing; it’s just the luck of the draw. The biggest thing for us is for those other (classes) is to be predictable and drive. It’s much easier when everybody just keeps their heads down and just drives to the best of their ability and be predictable.”

Motor City Homecoming Weekend Celebrates the Ford Techs Who Keep Cars on the Road
 

• 153 Ford and Lincoln 20-Year Senior Master Technicians will be in attendance for the August 7 race at Michigan International Speedway.
• The name of each 20-Year Senior Master Tech will be on the special-edition paint scheme for the No. 21 Ford Mustang.
• Ford uses motorsports sponsorships in NASCAR and NHRA to reward current technicians and promote career opportunities in the automotive technician field.
• Special weekend highlights Ford’s 22-year partnership with Wood Brothers Racing.

DEARBORN, Mich. Aug. 1, 2022 – Ford and Wood Brothers Racing are thrilled to welcome 153 Ford and Lincoln Senior Master Technicians as special guests at the upcoming Firekeepers 400 at Michigan International Speedway. The race is the capstone to the Motor City Homecoming weekend that is celebrating techs who reached the 20-year Senior Master status mark in 2019 or 2020.

The 20-year Senior Master Technicians will be honored by having their names on the sides of the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang driven by Harrison Burton. This will be the first time since 2019 that the technicians are able to attend the race that recognizes their loyalty to Ford.

Ford Service Engineering Operations (Ford SEO) partners with Ford Motorcraft to reward automotive technicians who have dedicated themselves to providing excellent service at Ford and Lincoln dealerships across the U.S. To achieve Ford Senior Master Tech status, technicians complete over 600 hours of training and must have five years of service at a Ford dealership. To maintain their Senior Master status, these technicians have taken all new required training and two electives per year, for the last 20 years.

Motor City Homecoming weekend begins with a welcome dinner hosted by Ford Motor Company executives. There is also an exclusive recognition ceremony at Ford Field. To finish the weekend, the techs see their names on the No. 21 Ford Mustang competing in the NASCAR Cup Series race at MIS.

“We are so excited to bring back this memorable experience for our 20-year Senior Master Technicians,” said Elizabeth Tarquinto, Manager of Technical Service Operations, Ford Customer Service Division (FCSD). “The partnerships we have with Motorcraft/Quick Lane Racing and the legendary Wood Brothers Team make this very special. We thrive as a company thanks to the tremendous service that our technicians provide.” 

FCSD – best known to fans for its Motorcraft and Quick Lane brands – uses its NASCAR and NHRA racing programs to reward technicians at various levels of their career with VIP hospitality events.

Additionally, FCSD uses its NHRA racing program to actively recruit the next generation of automotive technicians. As a co-sponsor of the NHRA’s Youth & Education Services program, Ford dealerships meet and inform more than 30,000 students from across the country about the career opportunities afforded to technicians. The program resumes Labor Day weekend at the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series race in Indianapolis.

“Technicians are critically important to our dealerships, so we’re using our highly-visible racing programs to do two things, reward the techs we have and promote our need for more techs,” said Gina Scappaticci, Dealer and Distributor Engagement Manager for FCSD. “To retain the techs we have, we provide access to continuous training, set achievable goals, and offer rewards, like racing hospitality events, when those goals are met. At YES Program recruiting events, we express to students that becoming a technician has long-term viability as a career. We share how we actively help young techs receive the training they’ll need to service gas, diesel and electric vehicles.”

Ford estimates there is a need for over 80,000 automotive technicians annually across the industry. It has collaborated with the NHRA’s YES Program dating back to 2018. In 2022, there are 13 YES events, including six that will take place this fall. Students who attend have a full morning of activity, hearing a special message from Motorcraft/Quick Lane Funny Car driver, and third generation Ford dealer, Bob Tasca III. Students also meet with local Ford dealerships to discuss immediate opportunities and the technician career path.

Ford offers many avenues for entry into a career as a Ford/Lincoln technician through NewFordTech.com. High school students interested in becoming Ford or Lincoln automotive technicians have opportunities to continue their education at over 75 post-secondary training locations throughout the country, including the Ford Automotive Student Service Educational Training (ASSET) program and Ford Accelerated Credentials Training (FACT) program.
Information on the comprehensive programs Ford offers can be found at NewFordTech.com.

MARYVILLE, TN– AUG. 1 – For the first time since April, the World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Model Series will return to the Southeast for a Labor Day Weekend doubleheader. 

First, the Series will make its 11th overall trip to Smoky Mountain Speedway in Maryville, TN, on Friday, Sept. 2. Then it will head further south to the Peach State for a return to Lavonia Speedway in Lavonia, GA, on Saturday, Sept. 3.

The Southeast doubleheader will be the final two events of the summer, with each race paying $10,000-to-win. If one driver can sweep the weekend, they’ll head into Fall with a $20,000 weekend payday. 

SMOKY MOUNTAIN SHOWDOWN – Friday, Sept. 2
Track: Smoky Mountain Speedway
To Win: $10,000
Location: Maryville, TN
Latest Winner: Chris Madden

Notables: The World of Outlaws CASE Late Models will make their third and final Tennessee stop in 2022 and only appearance on the high-banked 4/10-mile track this season.

Gray Court, SC driver Chris Madden earned the win in last year’s Tennessee Tip-off—his second triumph at the track in World of Outlaws competition. 

Shane Clanton, the 2015 Series champion, is the only current full-time World of Outlaws driver with a Series win at the track. That win came in 2013. 

WORLD OF OUTLAWS @ LAVONIA – Saturday, Sept. 3
Track: Lavonia Speedway
To Win: $10,000
Location: Lavonia, GA
Latest Winner: Ben Watkins

Notables: The Most Powerful Late Models on the Planet make a Labor Day weekend stop at the 3/8-mile semi-banked oval for the third consecutive year and sixth overall.

South Carolina driver Ben Watkins scored his first career Series victory in 2021, besting last season’s Rookie of the Year Tyler Bruening to the checkered flag. 

So far this year, 2022 Rookie of the Year contender Max Blair and Ryan Gustin have thrived on 3/8-mile tracks. Blair won at Cherokee Speedway and Bloomsburg Fair Raceway, while Gustin scored his first Series victory this year at Sharon Speedway.

Schatz Sweeps Qualifying, Heat Race, Dash, and Feature for Second Win of 2022

WEEDSPORT, NY – July 31, 2022 – After 42 races away, Donny Schatz finally made his long-awaited return to Victory Lane with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series on Sunday night.

Recording a perfect night at New York’s Weedsport Speedway, the 10-time Series champion banked his 304th career win and his second of the 2022 season aboard the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing, Ford Performance, Carquest Auto Parts #15.

The box score will show a clean sweep of the evening for the Fargo, ND native, but it was no easy task come Feature time as a hard-charging David Gravel and Logan Schuchart made their presence felt in the final laps of the Empire State Challenge. On the 29th circuit with the white flag waving, the entire top-three were separated by only 0.911-seconds and it was truly anyone’s to take.

It was a 44-year-old champion of the sport vs. a 30-year-old proven Weedsport ace and a 29-year-old rising star within the Series. By the time the checkered flag waved, it was Schatz’s veteran prowess and mental fortitude paying off against the young guns.

“In my 26 years, I was always taught to worry about what is in front of you, and not what was behind you,” Schatz said on his mindset. “As long as I’m doing things rights, then it’s their job to pass me so I’m not going to change what I’m doing for what hasn’t impacted me yet.

Every race is made for winning, but we just haven’t been there. I don’t know if we were the best car at the end tonight, but we were able to get out front and stay there and battled through lap traffic. It’s been a tough learning curve these last few years with all the changes going on, but I feel like we’re getting a better handle on it.”

The victory now gives Schatz three wins in six starts at Weedsport Speedway, one of the quirkiest surfaces on the schedule with The Greatest Show on Dirt.

“You hear fans talk about how unique this place, but I wish you could see it from our perspective,” Schatz said on the layout. “It’s just different. You have to be on your game 110% of the time and that makes it a ton of fun to race. I’m glad we could pick up another win here.”

Earning the KSE Hard Charger Award with his ninth-to-second run, David Gravel was only 0.480-seconds away from making it three consecutive wins at Weedsport Speedway on Sunday. The Big Game Motorsports #2 was operating in the caution-free 30-lap finale as he quickly made it to fifth on Lap five, third on Lap 14, and then second on Lap 20.

The Watertown, CT native was 2.284-seconds behind the #15 when he drove by Brock Zearfoss for second, but promptly whittled that advantage down to nothing as he made it to Schatz’s rear bumper in the final laps. With lappers clogging the high lane and Gravel’s distinctive line boxed in a corner, he ran out of options and settled for a stellar runner-up result to continue cutting away at the championship lead.

“I know I was gaining down the straightaways, but it didn’t pay off in the corners with where I needed to get going,” Gravel noted. “It was a really good weekend in all, though. This is great momentum for us leading into the Ironman 55 and Knoxville Nationals. I’m excited for the rest of the season, this team is feeling good.”

Ending a 15-race absence from the podium, Logan Schuchart scored his first top-three outing in more than a month as he offered a spectacular showing in the late stages at Weedsport. The Hanover, PA native found an eccentric method to attack the track and cut his gap from 3.4 seconds to nothing in the last eight laps as he made it a three-way battle for the lead at the end. Were it not for lap traffic on the final circuit, the Shark Racing, DuraMAX Oil, Drydene Performance Products #1S may have been able to sneak out a stunner for win #2 of the season.

“I think a little iRacing helped out tonight,” Schuchart joked on the frontstretch. “I could sail it off in there into turn one with a lot of speed and bounce it off the cushion in turn two, and I think I made a ton of speed that way. I thought I had a good shot to maybe surprise Donny and David, but the lapper hurt my momentum when I needed it most. It feels good to be back up here on the podium, and we did it by passing some great cars. This definitely gets the confidence up ahead of Ironman and Knoxville.”

Brock Zearfoss earned his third top-five finish of the season with a fourth-place effort aboard the Moose’s LZ Bar & Grill #3Z, while James McFadden finished fifth to score his 13th top-five result in the Roth Motorsports #83.

Closing out the top-10 at Weedsport was Larry Wight (Phoenix, NY) with a career-best sixth-place finish, championship leader Brad Sweet (Grass Valley, CA) in the seventh spot, top rookie contender Spencer Bayston (Lebanon, IN) in eighth for the third-straight race, Danny Varin (Sharon Springs, NY) in ninth to make it three top-10s in four career starts, and Sheldon Haudenschild (Wooster, OH) with a 10th-place drive from 15th.

NOS NOTEBOOK (WEEDSPORT SPEEDWAY, 7/31/22)

Sunday’s win snapped a 42-race drought since Donny Schatz’s season-opening victory at Volusia (FL) Speedway Park on February 10, 2022. The Fargo, ND native is now at 304 career wins with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series.

With a 15th victory, New York is officially the sixth winningest state of Schatz’s World of Outlaws career behind Pennsylvania (36), Ohio (29), Iowa (24), North Dakota (23), and California (20). Weedsport Speedway also become the 39th track that Schatz has conquered on at least three occasions in World of Outlaws competition.

Schatz topped My Place Hotels Qualifying for the second time in two weeks, bumping his total to 109 career QuickTimes with the World of Outlaws. At 13.555 seconds around Weedsport, the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing #15 was almost four-tenths faster (0.371) than the field.

Schatz (503rd career) and Allen (44th career) extended their numbers in the heat win department, while Larry Wight of Phoenix, NY won his first-career Heat Race with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series.

UP NEXT (Fri-Sat) – The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series returns to Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 in Pevely, MO next weekend on Friday and Saturday, August 5-6. The Greatest Show on Dirt will be joined by the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series for two nights of epic action at the annual Ironman 55. Fans can BUY TICKETS HERE, or watch every lap LIVE on DIRTVision.

NOS Energy Drink Feature Results (30 Laps) – 1. 15-Donny Schatz (1); 2. 2-David Gravel (9); 3. 1S-Logan Schuchart (7); 4. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss (2); 5. 83-James McFadden (3); 6. 99-Larry Wight (4); 7. 49-Brad Sweet (8); 8. 5-Spencer Bayston (12); 9. 01-Danny Varin (6); 10. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild (15); 11. 10-Paulie Colagiovanni (11); 12. 41-Carson Macedo (10); 13. 11K-Kraig Kinser (20); 14. 98-Joe Trenca (18); 15. 9-Kasey Kahne (14); 16. 1A-Jacob Allen (5); 17. 7S-Robbie Price (17); 18. 7NY-Matt Farnham (21); 19. 20G-Noah Gass (13); 20. 5H-Chris Hile (16); 21. 79-Jordan Thomas (19); 22. 2X-Dave Axton (22); 23. 41R-Dalton Rombough (24); 24. 6-Bill Rose (25); 25. 28F-Davie Franek (23).

NEW Championship Standings (After 45/77 Races) – 1. Brad Sweet (6,084); 2. David Gravel (-36); 3. Carson Macedo (-114); 4. Sheldon Haudenschild (-130); 5. Donny Schatz (-172); 6. Logan Schuchart (-184); 7. Spencer Bayston (-334); 8. James McFadden (-348); 9. Jacob Allen (-532); 10. Brock Zearfoss (-650).

KENT, WA (July 31, 2022) — Rookie Pro Stock driver Camrie Caruso wrapped up the Western Swing with a quarterfinal finish at the NHRA Northwest Nationals today from Pacific Raceways outside of Seattle. The 24-year-old driver powered her Tequila Comisario Chevrolet Camaro past Cristian Cuadra in the first round before losing an incredibly close match-up with Troy “TJ” Coughlin Jr. It was the sixth time this season Caruso, who has Titan Racing Engine power under the hood, has raced to at least the quarterfinals in her young career.

Tequila Comisario Chevrolet Camaro, photo by Auto Imagery

“It was good to get another first round win,” said Caruso. “We have our confidence back and I feel like we have our race car back. We fixed a few things and we are in a good place. We are back to making solid progress. We are going to be good and we’ll keep getting better over these last two regular season races.” 

In the opening round facing Cuadra for the third time in her career Caruso was giving up lane choice but not confidence. The rookie driver from Denver, North Carolina, knew her team had used the information gathered from their three qualifying runs to put the Tequila Comisario Camaro in a great position to win. As both cars staged it was Cuadra jumping the start for a redlight disqualification as Caruso launched and made her quickest run of the weekend. The 6.610 second pass was one of the quickest runs of the first round and improved her head-to-head record with Cuadra to 3-0 on the season.

Camrie Caruso after first round win, photo by Auto Imagery

In the quarterfinals racing Coughlin for the first time, Caruso was looking to advance to her second career semifinal for marketing partners GESI, Powerbuilt Tools, NGK Spark Plugs, VP Racing Lubricants and Sand Haulers of America. Caruso took a starting line advantage again and was driving away from Coughlin before his Camaro pulled up beside her at halftrack and never trailed the rest of the quarter mile. He took the win by .0075 seconds or approximately two feet at the finish line. Caruso posted another solid run of 6.535 seconds in the heat of the day in her losing effort.

“TJ is a great racer and I don’t want to take anything away from him, but we could have won that race,” said Caruso. “We have a great team and I feel like we can beat anyone we race. I do want to congratulate him on his first Pro Stock win today.”

As Caruso wrapped up her first Western Swing for primary marketing partners Tequila Comisario and NGK Shop Squad the rookie driver drew attention to  www.shopsquadonline.com where automotive professionals can register for this unique program. Using code RACE22 pros can sign up for a chance to win a Solo Stove with NGK conducting one drawing per month. There will be two more races for Caruso to move up in the points and give the rookie driver her best shot at the world championship.

“In Topeka we need to have a really good race and then we need to take advantage of points and a half at the U.S. Nationals. We have time to move up,” said Caruso. “I am excited for these next two races and especially the Countdown.

Tequila Comisario will adorn Caruso’s race car for two more races along with NGK’s Shop Squad program for professional technicians. Caruso has a firm hold on a Top Ten position leaving Pacific Raceways sitting in eighth place four rounds ahead of the drivers in eleventh place.

Qualifying Results

Q1: 6.670 sec, 203.31 mph; Qual. 9

Q2: 6.695 sec, 195.34 mph; Qual. 12

Q3: 6.694 sec, 207.08 mph; Qual. 12

Bonus Points: 0

Race Results

First Round

Camrie Caruso, Denver, NC, Tequila Comisario Chevrolet Camaro, 6.610, 207.50 mph def. Cristian Cuadra, Leon, Mexico, Corral Boots Ford Mustang, DQ-redlight

Second Round

Troy Coughlin, Delaware, Ohio, JEGS Chevrolet Camaro, 6.619, 209.23 mph def. Camrie Caruso, Denver, NC, Tequila Comisario Chevrolet Camaro, 6.635, 207.72 mph

Camping World Drag Racing Series Top Ten – Pro Stock

1. Erica Enders            1078

2. Aaron Stanfield      975

3. Kyle Koretsky          723

4. Greg Anderson       676

5. Dallas Glenn           614

6. Mason McGaha      572

7. Troy Coughlin Jr      571

8. Camrie Caruso        539

9. Matt Hartford         521

10. Bo Butner             475

Elite Motorsports Racing Recap

NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series KENT, Wash. (July 31, 2022) – In an all-Elite Motorsports final, teammates Troy Coughlin Jr. and Erica Enders faced off against each other at the Flav-R-Pac NHRA Northwest Nationals in Seattle today. Coughlin emerged victorious with a Margin Of Victory of only .0001-seconds to earn his first win in the highly-competitive Pro Stock category.  “I think we’re going to see a lot more of this,” said team owner Richard Freeman. “We’ve got the best drivers, in my opinion, of the group. And TJ (Coughlin) really wanted it. He struggled the first part of the year, but it’s coming around and we’re proud of him.” It was a positive week for all of the Elite Motorsports team. Six of its talented Pro Stock drivers were qualified in the Top Ten going into race day on Sunday.  In the first round of Pro Stock competition, Elite teammates Bo Butner (No. 9 qualifier) and Fernando Cuadra Jr. (No. 8 qualifier) faced off against each other. Although Butner cut a phenomenal .004-second light in his Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage Chevrolet Camaro, F. Cuadra Jr. earned the win in his Corral Boots Ford Mustang with a run of 6.636-seconds at 208.10 MPH, his fastest pass of the weekend. Cristian Cuadra faced rising star Camrie Caruso. While both drivers went red, Cuadra left earlier than Caruso, giving her a first-round victory. In another Elite matchup, Fernando Cuadra Sr. faced Coughlin. F. Cuadra Sr. had the starting line advantage, but Coughlin was able to chase him down for the win thanks to a pass of 6.598 at 209.36. Aaron Stanfield defeated Mason McGaha despite M. McGaha’s starting line advantage, while Enders powered her Melling Performance/Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro to a blistering pass of 6.593 at 208.97, the lowest elapsed time of the event, to defeat Chris McGaha.  The second round of competition began with a series of red lights. Kyle Koretsky dropped the hammer too early giving Stanfield the win and advancing him to the semifinals in his Janac Brothers/JC3 Energy Chevrolet Camaro. In the next pair, Cuadra Jr. went red against Greg Anderson. Coughlin took out Camrie Caruso in his JEGS.com/EliteMotorsports Chevrolet Camaro with a margin of just seven-thousandths at the stripe. In the final Round Two matchup, Enders defeated Dallas Glenn with a powerful run of 6.954 at 209.72, consistent with her previous first-round performance. Three of the four drivers in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series Pro Stock semifinals were Elite teammates – Enders faced Stanfield for the seventh time this season. In qualifying, they were separated by only one-thousandth of a second. Enders defeated Stanfield with a pass of 6.649 at 208.71. Coughlin powered past Anderson with a pass of 6.659 at 208.36 propelling him into the finals where he defeated Enders. “This is something else,” said Coughlin. “It’s absolutely humbling. I’ve been surrounded by some wonderful people with great equipment so we are definitely really blessed. I just can’t wait to keep going! This win is so special. Coming out here to Seattle and Pacific Raceways, it’s a wonderful place to race and the fans are amazing. We’re lucky to be here. I’ll never forget this.” The next stop on the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series schedule is the Menards NHRA Nationals Presented By PetArmor at Heartland Motorsports Park in Topeka, Kan. August 12-14.

Sportsman Summary TOPEKA, Kan. (July 31, 2022) – In an action-packed NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series doubleheader, the Patterson Elite team had a great showing. In the first of two back-to-back events at Heartland Motorsports Park in Topeka, Kan., the Top Sportsman category featured an all-Patterson Elite customer final with Allen Firestone getting the win over Macy Higgins. This is the 10th NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Wally for the talented driver from Velma, Okla. In Competition Eliminator, standout driver Mike DePalma snagged a runner-up finish in a final round appearance against Scott Linder who earned his first NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event victory. In the second event of this competitive doubleheader, Jay Storey powered his Copo Camaro to a semifinal appearance, while Todd Patterson earned a runner-up finish in Super Stock. In Competition Eliminator, Royce Lee Freeman powered through to the semifinals.

Photos

Troy Coughlin Jr. heats up the tires of his JEGS.com/ Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro in Seattle. Photo credit: Auto ImageryAaron Stanfield prepares for launch in his Janac Brothers/JC3 Energy Chevrolet Camaro. Photo credit: Auto Imagery

Fernando Cuadra Jr. launches a smokey burnout in his Corral Boots Ford Mustang. Photo credit: Auto ImageryErica Enders is busy in the pits preparing her Melling Performance/Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro. Photo credit: Auto Imagery

Allan Firestone lines up in Topeka. Photo credit: Aydan PattersonMacy Higgins in Top Sportsman. Photo credit: Aydan Patterson

Todd Patterson earned a runner-up finish in Topeka. Photo credit: Alex OwensMike DePalma earned a runner-up finish in Comp Eliminator. Photo credit: Alex Owens

NASCAR CUP SERIES

IMS ROAD COURSE

VERIZON 200 AT THE BRICKYARD

TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES AND QUOTES

JULY 31, 2022

TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-20 RACE RESULTS:

POS.   DRIVER

1st      TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 3CHI CAMARO ZL1 

7th      AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 16 GOLD FISH CASINO CAMARO ZL1

13th    RICKY STENHOUSE JR., NO. 47 KROGER / GO-GURT CAMARO ZL1

15th    ERIK JONES, NO. 43 FOCUSFACTOR CAMARO ZL1

16th    CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1

18th    COREY LAJOIE, NO. 7 FRATERNAL ORDER OF EAGLES CAMARO ZL1

19th    JUSTIN HALEY, NO. 31 LEAFFILTER GUTTER PROTECTION CAMARO ZL1

TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS: 

POS.  DRIVER

1st      Tyler Reddick (Chevrolet)

2nd     Austin Cindric (Ford)

3rd      Harrison Burton (Ford)

4th      Todd Gilliland (Ford)

5th      Bubba Wallace (Toyota)

The NASCAR Cup Series season continues next Sunday, August 7, at the Michigan International Speedway with the FireKeepers Casino 400 at 3 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on the USA Network, the NBCSports Gold App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES AND QUOTES:

TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 3CHI CAMARO ZL1 – Race Winner

What a drive for Tyler Reddick today, the dominant driver here at Indy, his son Beau coming in for a hug, and the crew sprinting up pit road to get to Tyler to celebrate. Second win of the year for this race team and a win at Indianapolis. I’ve got to know your thoughts when you saw the 1; he went through the access road. Were you as shocked as everyone else to see him all of a sudden passing you for the lead?

“I was like, uh-oh. But that was a scenario that had been talked about. If you get bottled up, what do you do? Take the access road.

I couldn’t believe he got ahead of me. I was kind of waiting to see if he was going to have a penalty because I didn’t want to move him out of the way and make his race worse than what it was. Yeah, I was really surprised by that; but hey, we made it work. Hats off to Ross (Chastain) for trying to do that, but really glad it didn’t end up working out because I’d have been pretty pissed off.”

You made the announcement you’re moving from RCR. How did this team rally to get back to this point where you could come together and win races again?

“Well, we just know what we’re capable of, and we did that at Road America. Certainly it was a little bump in the road, but we went out and won a race fair and square a couple weeks ago. And if we change nothing, we keep working really, really hard, we find a way back to Victory Lane.

Just really glad to be able to do it here in Indianapolis. This is one really special place to race, and really excited to kiss the bricks here in a little bit and really excited we got 3CHI their win in their hometown.”

AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 16 GOLD FISH CASINO SLOTS CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 7th

When did you really start to feel the effects of that? 

“It was hot from the start of the race until I figured out that I still had the cooling shirt (turned) on, which made it even hotter in the car. But yeah, I was doing okay but with 20 to go, I ran out of water and the helmet blow was starting to feel hot as well. So, just riding around under yellow just makes it worse. During green I was okay, but you get heat-soaked in the car under yellow and those last few laps were pretty brutal.”

How was it with the restarts and the heat for you?

“Once you get green, you suck it up and we had a shot to win the race – so that is all that mattered. The way turn one is here – when you are on the outside front row on one of those late race restarts, you are just going to get run into. We saw it with Chase (Elliott) on the restart before and we saw it with Chase Briscoe last year. You just get shoved off the racetrack so I figured I was going to get shoved off the racetrack into (turn) one. I tried to make the best of it and felt like we did. But at the end of the day, we gave ourselves a shot to win two in a row and that is pretty badass.”

ERIK JONES, NO. 43 FOCUSFACTOR CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 15th

“We struggled today with our FOCUSfactor Chevy. Road courses have definitely been an area where we need to work and we thought we’d be a little better this weekend. Just didn’t qualify well, started at the back and fought the handling most of race. The guys stayed after it, we used the car up and salvaged a 15th-place finish. We’ll take it and move on to Michigan. I think we’ll have a good race next weekend and I’m looking forward to going home and racing in front of family and friends.”

JUSTIN HALEY, NO. 31 LEAFFILTER GUTTER PROTECTION CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 19th 

“Not the best day for us at Indy. We had some damage after an incident in turn one and ultimately couldn’t get the speed back in our No. 31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevy. Just too much damage to be able to compete for anything other than where we finished. We will move on to Michigan.”

ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 1 WORLDWIDE EXPRESS CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 27th

You were looking for a spot there at the end. What were you thinking, taking the access road and getting off course there?

“Just trying not to be in the corners there in Turn 1. I thought we were four wide, and couldn’t go any farther right, and decided to take the NASCAR access lane out there.”

Was that something you and the team had talked about earlier, like that’s a great option and it may not cost us anything?

“No, no, just pure reaction there for our Worldwide Express Chevy. I took it in practice on exit, overshooting Turn 1. You know where they’re at and in 12 you have to go around the loop there, and there is around the pole. Just wanted to not get hit and merged back on where I merged.”

TY DILLON, NO. 42 FERRIS CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 34th 

You got majorly surprised it looked like. What did you feel? 

“All I saw was a blue flash and that’s about the hardest I’ve been hit by anything. First, I’m just grateful to God that I’m OK and these cars are safe enough to take a shot like that.

We were having a good run with our No. 42 Ferris Camaro ZL1 and I was just blindsided, really. I’m all good. It’s been a tough year, but I’m never going to quit. We’re going to keep getting better. We’ve been running good, just things are happening. You’ll have days like that, you’ll have times like that. You just never give up and go onto the next one.”

TEAM CHEVY RACE QUICK NOTES

Stage One:

·       Tyler Reddick – the series’ most recent road course winner – captured his second career NASCAR Cup Series pole win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. 

·       Reddick led the first 12 laps of the 15-lap Stage One, with Crew Chief Randall Burnett bringing the No. 8 3CHI Camaro ZL1 down pit road for their first scheduled stop with three laps to go in the stage. 

·       William Byron led Chevrolet to the end of Stage One in the third position. Team Chevy Stage One Top-10 Results: 

3rd      William Byron, No. 24 Acronis Camaro ZL1

5th      Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1

7th      Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1

Stage Two: 

·       The 20-lap Stage Two saw three different lead changes, with pole sitter Tyler Reddick leading the second most laps (12) to that point of the race. 

·       Chase Elliott recorded his second top-five stage finish of the day in Stage Two, driving his No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1 to a fourth-place finish. 

·       Team Chevy Stage Two: Top-10 Results

4th      Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1

5th      Ty Dillon, No. 42 Ferris Camaro ZL1

9th      Erik Jones, No. 43 FOCUSfactor Camaro ZL1 

Post-Race Notes: 

Tyler Reddick goes back-to-back in NASCAR Cup Series road course wins, capturing his second NCS win of 2022 in the Verizon 200 at the Brickyard at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course.

• The win is Reddick’s second career victory in 96 NASCAR Cup Series starts. 
• Reddick is now the sixth repeat winner of 2022. 
• Reddick’s victory marks Chevrolet’s 10th-consecutive NASCAR Cup Series road course win since the manufacturer’s milestone 800th NCS win at Circuit of The Americas in May 2021. 
• With 22 NASCAR Cup Series races complete, the Camaro ZL1 now sits at a manufacturer-leading 13 wins this season. 
• The winningest brand in NASCAR, Chevrolet now has 827 all-time NASCAR Cup Series victories. 

TYLER REDDICK GETS SECOND WIN OF 2022 IN INDIANAPOLISChevrolet’s 13th NCS Win of 2022; 10th Consecutive NCS Road Course Win ·       Tyler Reddick goes back-to-back in NASCAR Cup Series road course wins, capturing his second NCS win of 2022 in the Verizon 200 at the Brickyard at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course.·       The win is Reddick’s second career victory in 96 NASCAR Cup Series starts. ·       Reddick is now the sixth repeat winner of 2022. ·       Reddick’s victory marks Chevrolet’s 10th-consecutive NASCAR Cup Series road course win since the manufacturer’s milestone 800th NCS win at Circuit of The Americas in May 2021. ·       With 22 NASCAR Cup Series races complete, the Camaro ZL1 now sits at a manufacturer-leading 13 wins this season. ·       The winningest brand in NASCAR, Chevrolet now has 827 all-time NASCAR Cup Series victories.

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (July 31, 2022) – The last time the NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) competed on a road course circuit, Tyler Reddick put his name in the record books as a first-time winner in NASCAR’s premier series (Road America; July 2022). Reddick backed up that performance this weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, powering his No. 8 3CHI Camaro ZL1 across the bricks first, taking the checkered flag for the second time in his NCS career. The 26-year-old Richard Childress Racing driver is not only a back-to-back road course winner, but now just the sixth driver to become a repeat winner in the series this season. “We just know what we’re (No. 8 RCR Chevrolet team) capable of and we did that at Road America,” said Reddick. “Just really glad to be able to do it here in Indianapolis. This is one really special place to race and I’m really excited to kiss the bricks.” Reddick’s victory took Chevrolet’s NASCAR Cup Series road course win streak to double digits, with the bowtie brand now sitting at 10 consecutive wins on road course circuits. Dating back to Chevrolet’s milestone 800th win in NASCAR’s premier series at Circuit of The Americas in May 2021, six drivers from four different Chevrolet teams have contributed to that feat. Leaving Chevrolet’s home away from home of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the bowtie brand also extended its manufacturer-leading NCS win count to 13 in the 22 races this season.  “Tyler, Crew Chief Randall Burnett and the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Camaro ZL1 team put together a strong weekend, clinching the pole on Saturday and racing hard and smart to bring home the win at the Brickyard today,” said Jim Campbell, Chevrolet U.S. Vice President, Performance and Motorsports. “Tyler has been putting in a lot of work preparing for these road courses, and it has paid off.” With all three NASCAR national series in competition in Indianapolis this weekend, one thing remained consistent in the final results: a bowtie on top. In addition to Reddick’s win on the 2.436-mile, 14-turn Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, Chevrolet drivers Grant Enfinger and AJ Allmendinger gave the manufacturer a weekend sweep.“And congratulations to all the Chevrolet drivers and teams who delivered big wins in all three NASCAR series this weekend in Indianapolis,” said Campbell. “Grant Enfinger, in the No. 23 Silverado, had an exciting win at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park on Friday; AJ Allmendinger, in the No. 16 Camaro SS, racing from the pole to the NASCAR Xfinity Series win at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course on Saturday; and Tyler bringing home the Cup win here at the Brickyard today.”  The NASCAR Cup Series season continues next Sunday, August 7, at the Michigan International Speedway with the FireKeepers Casino 400 at 3 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on the USA Network, the NBCSports Gold App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 3CHI CAMARO ZL1 – Press Conference Transcript:THE MODERATOR: We’re joined by Tyler Reddick, driver of the No. 8 3Chi Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing. You got your second victory of the 2022 season, second win on a road course, too. How good does it feel, and at Indy? TYLER REDDICK: It feels pretty dang special, I’m not going to lie. The last guy that was up here was about as short as me. That’s good. It’s pretty special. Yeah, it was very special. I’m not going to lie. I’ve watched a lot of racing at this venue as a kid growing up. A lot of really incredible drivers have won at this racetrack, and it’s really, really cool to be a part of the group of drivers that have won here, and yeah, I’m really happy about it, and hopefully I’ll be racing here again next year — well, I should be, I guess. I should be racing here next year. But hopefully winning again next year, and I’m excited to race here in some other things, too. I’d love to do that. Q. You got a great restart at the end. Was that just a matter of your timing, or was it — AJ was starting to fade a little bit physically and needed some help afterwards from the heat. His cool suit quit working. If you could just describe the restart and the key that that was to your victory.TYLER REDDICK: Every restart once we had some cautions, they were very important. I’m not going to lie, I saw drivers like Austin Cindric and a few others at the end of practice do some mock restarts.As the race progressed, I thought I had found the limit on the restart braking zone. It’s much different than what the normal braking zone is on a green flag lap. Thankfully I never overexerted and went past that mark. But we had pretty good brakes on our car all day long, could be pretty aggressive on that front, and was able to defend because of the good brakes that we had on our car and then also kind of be aggressive with the car that we were racing on the front row beside me. Q. Were you getting a little bit of a push from behind by Blaney?TYLER REDDICK: Yeah, I got a good push on that restart by Blaney. I don’t blame him. He was really trying to do a good job of timing the restart to get a good run on me and maybe being able to defend what was behind him, as well. Because of that, the second-to-last restart Chase and AJ got a really good launch because they were committed to pushing, and it got Chase kind of in front of me going into Turn 1, so I had to really nail it on that braking zone. Unfortunately he got turned around and the rest was history from there. Thankfully on that last restart he gave me a good push. I was able to fade to the inside. He was getting put in an interesting position by Daniel Suárez, and I saw that in my rear view, and I kind of faded to the bottom with him, so we kind of stayed together and pushed. It worked out really well. Q. What was your reaction when all of a sudden Chastain goes blowing through Turn 1, and the next thing you know, he’s right next to you?TYLER REDDICK: It didn’t seem like real life. I was like, what? I was waiting to see what was going to happen with that situation because I think I had Jim Pohlman say, hey, he’s probably going to get penalized. Well, dammit, Jim, like — Star Trek reference right there. He’s going to get penalized isn’t good enough. I need to know if — I didn’t know for sure if he was or wasn’t. Yeah, I was trying to race him as hard as I could, but I saw Austin Cindric was right there, and if you get battling side by side in certain sections of this racetrack, you can really hurt lap time on both drivers and allow third place to catch up. It was kind of a complex situation for a couple seconds there, but thankfully I was able to get momentum on Ross in a pretty convenient spot and make the pass for the lead and then check out from there. Q. Surviving two restarts as you did is pretty darned impressive. Just your thoughts on being able to accomplish that.TYLER REDDICK: You know, when I was at Road America, it was a pretty straightforward kind of old-school race. Well, we never used to have stages, but if it wasn’t for the stages, we wouldn’t have had a lot of cautions at Road America, and those were the only two cautions we had, so the race kind of played out naturally. Because of that it kind of became a race just between me and Chase. As the race was unfolding there, Chase got back to second place and I was kind of curious the pace he was going to run. Right before that caution came out he was running about a tenth or two faster so I was like, this is like Road America again, I’m going to have to push really hard and hope I don’t make a mistake. We didn’t; we ran a really fast lap. I think we were about five tenths faster than he was, and it was like, okay, we’re in good shape, and then the caution came out. I was like, well, I wasn’t prepared for that. I guess I was prepared for it, but I didn’t anticipate it. I had to be perfect on my restart. I kind of had to make sure that I was a little bit aggressive at blocking drivers to the far right going into Turn 1 because it seemed like that would work out in the first couple of rows for those drivers making that move, but thankfully I did and was pretty good in the braking zone to hold them off, too. Q. This was the first race where the Next-Gen car raced at this racetrack. Comparatively to the other road course races, they all have decent elevation changes. This place is completely flat. I don’t know if you knew, but there was a lot of cars just spinning off going all over the place. There were only full course cautions on the last stage, but throughout the first two there was a lot of cars going all over the place. Having driven last year’s car and then this year’s car at this racetrack, what are some of the big differences? Is this car more difficult to drive, or is it harder on parts? What do you think about this car?TYLER REDDICK: Well, certainly with this car, the edge is much sharper. It’s like a cliff. With the old car it was a bit more rounded. You could get up to that edge and slide past it and bring it back. I think with this car, if you can harness the — if you can focus enough, you can get to that edge and not crash past it, but it certainly is happening much quicker than it was with the old car for a number of reasons, whether it’s the physical body on the car, how it’s shaped, there’s less quarterpanel, how the diffuser works, and then the sidewall of the tires being different, too, really plays a role in that. I just think with a flat track like this and how this car gets — I wasn’t in dirty air for many laps today, but certainly there was a pretty big difference whether in clean air or dirty air, so I’m kind of glad we were a little bit on the loose side out front and by ourselves because it allowed us to work dirty air pretty well. These cars are really edgy, and it’s very easy once you get past that limit that you just end up blowing past it and spinning out. Q. (No microphone.)TYLER REDDICK: I mean, I was pretty loose by myself and I was pretty tight in dirty air. It was a little bit surprising. Q. This is the first race since the announcement that you’re going to Toyota in 2024. Did you feel more compelled — we know — that you won.TYLER REDDICK: Oh, that I won. I guess it would be the third. Q. Yeah, that you won, I’m sorry I left out a word. Did you feel extra compelled to show Richard you’re not laying down, because there was two races before here, but does that give you some, hey, I’m here for you guys to bring home checkered flags?TYLER REDDICK: I mean, nothing had really changed from the announcement other than knowing where I’m going to be in the next year and a half. My commitment level, if anything, probably is a little bit higher, but I mean, we’re not talking like it’s a significant amount higher. I just know that we’ve had time to continue to work on our cars and make them better and grow as a team and go the right direction, and now it’s like, all right, we have a hard stop. This is the end of the road that we have together. For me that puts, I think, a good amount of pressure on me to just keep finding more, because we’re always trying to bring the best that we can to the racetrack, but when we know that the end is — it’s not really close, but we know when it’s going to be, we’ve got to take advantage of every single moment possible, and I hope, I feel like at least for me, it’s a good thing. I think it really makes me push hard, and I think it’s making the team push hard. We’re all working really hard together to give it every last ounce that we have out there and win as many races as we can. Q. He said when I asked a similar question to him, he said he went and talked to the crew of the team and said, he’s committed, and then he followed up by saying that you’re there next year and obviously y’all are chasing championships.TYLER REDDICK: Yeah, that’s what we’re going to try and do. It’s really nice we won two races this year. We got some good playoff points in our back pocket. We would like to win at other tracks other than road courses, but we’ll win where we can for now. We’ve certainly had potential to win at a number of places, at a number of different places. We’ll just keep working really hard, and hopefully in the coming weeks we can win some more races, get some more playoff points and put our team, points speaking and mentally, confidence-wise, in a really good place going into the Playoffs. Q. What did it feel like to see Beau run across the Yard of Bricks to see his daddy?TYLER REDDICK: I’m really glad he was awake. I knew he was going to be awake this time around because we hung out with some 3Chi folks until a little late. Not like crazy late. We called it quits at like 10:30, we had some fun hanging out eating tacos. This is their home track, if you will, their headquarters are pretty close to here. A lot of people that work here are really close to this area, so it was fun hanging out with them last night and getting to spend time with everybody. I knew we kind of had a late night so I knew he was going to wake up a little bit late, so I knew he wasn’t going to get tired around this time, so I knew he was going to be awake this time around. Thankfully he was awake and he was running across the track and into my arms. I was really pumped about that. Q. How much confidence do you think the Road America win gave you, because to get two wins in a month, let alone get your first win but then to have the second one come within a month, that’s pretty sporty. It’s almost like the floodgates have kind of opened and things are clicking.TYLER REDDICK: They definitely are looking. If I’m honest, though, when you look back at the Charlotte Roval last year, we had a great opportunity there, we missed out on it. COTA we were like, all right, here we go, and then it just poured all day on Sunday and we were like — we didn’t know what to do about that, right, so that really threw us for a curve ball. These road courses have been our strong suit for a while now and we’ve just continued to harness and make our cars better. Oh, my gosh, we’ve really been good at a lot of places. I just — even Loudon, that’s probably the worst run we’ve had in a while, and Loudon we were — we had a great car but we were just making little mistakes on pit road, and on pit road I was like sledding through a box, trying too hard, and we kept losing like five, six, seven spots because of my mistakes. We really are really doing a good job right now; we’re clicking. I think even on tough days we can finish eighth or ninth, in the top 10. That tells me that we’re doing a lot of the right things, and we’re in a good place. Q. I’m curious, I know you guys have talked about getting through the announcement in the last few weeks, and I’m curious, do you feel like you have to prove anything to anybody beyond just proving being a good race car driver, so forth? Have the last three weeks changed anything from that perception or feelings on your behalf because certainly it’s kind of been a seismic thing that’s happened within the team and the organization?TYLER REDDICK: I wouldn’t say it’s necessarily a matter of proving things, it’s a matter of this is the time we have left. Like I kind of said earlier, we’ve been working hard to built to being a race-winning team. Whether that’s at short tracks, mile-and-a-halfs, road courses, whatever it may be, it seems like road courses have come our way faster than other places. For me, I just look at the time we have left, and I know I always give it my all, but certainly knowing that this is when — this is when the end of the road is going to be, I need to do everything I can to win as many races as possible for this group because I wouldn’t be the road course racer I am today if it wasn’t for RCR, if it wasn’t for the people on my team, if it wasn’t for Chevrolet. I owe it to them. I owe it to my team. I owe it to the people that really have helped me to get that done and go out there and deliver for them. Certainly if anything it’s helped. Just like when Alexa told me, hey, if you win the championship you can name our son, there’s not always times when I think I need an extra motivator because I don’t know if it’s possible or if it’s out there, but when I get them, I take it and run with it. For this situation, knowing when my last day will be with RCR, if anything it’s probably motivated me more than I thought was possible before all this went in motion. Q. This is the second year in a row that at the end of the race a car has cut a corner. This situation was different than last year’s, but again, could have been a potential for a situation where the presumptive winner gets knocked out and somebody else wins the race. How do you address this situation? Is it something like if you blow the corner it maybe should be just an automatic stop and go? How do you look at it as a competitor? Are you more comfortable with officials having to some degree maybe a little bit of discretion to examine the situation? Does it need to be a hard-and-fast, or are you more comfortable with maybe a little bit more discretion on officials examining something like that? You could have been wiped out and we could be talking to somebody else after you got wiped out by somebody who was penalized.TYLER REDDICK: Well, I’d certainly like to have this conversation first with NASCAR, then with the media. But I think looking at how today went and how some of our racetracks that we’ve had the potential trade-offs for cut-offs or blowing through a chicane or whatever it is like Charlotte Roval and what the penalty is or what you have to do is, hopefully we can learn from this situation and try to make the cut-through a little bit slower so the driver doesn’t have as much of a time gained. I don’t know, I haven’t looked at Ross’ SMT but it looked like he pretty much decided that was the route he was going to go, but the ruling by NASCAR is they don’t gain a huge advantage or whatever the term might be it’s acceptable, and he obviously gained too much of an advantage and it cost him a really solid finish inside the top 10. It’s kind of open for discussion, open for interpretation, right, so hopefully going forward, especially when we come back to here with this track and how that chicane or the cut-through is designed, we can make it to where it’s a little bit slower to where no matter if he hit it absolutely perfect, it’s costing you at least two, three, four seconds to where this situation doesn’t happen again. I don’t blame Ross for making that move because as a competitor, looking at how the rules were set forth, if I’m in a situation I want to do everything I can to win the race. I don’t blame him for trying to take advantage of it. It’s a shame it went the way that it did. Q. One team had mentioned to me that they felt like you really wouldn’t lose a whole lot if you kind of went through there. They kind of examined it. As part of the pre-race studying that you’ve done, is that what you guys have noticed, like look, if we have to go through this, we’re in not as bad a shape and we can come out —TYLER REDDICK: Yeah, I mean, certainly the amount of cars that were getting wrecked in 1 and 2, the risk is way higher to go through 1 and 2 normally than taking the cut-through. Again, I don’t blame him for doing it, but again, it’s the rules that were set forth before the race, and somebody was able to somewhat take advantage of it. Hopefully we can all learn from it, make it better. Certainly NASCAR doesn’t want it to be the way it was where they had to make a decision and penalize him for what he did. Q. When did Ross enter your field of vision?TYLER REDDICK: Right in the middle of turn — I think it’s the apex of Turn 3. I was like kind of cornering, and I heard Derek come on the radio in my ears, like, Don’t mind the 1, he’s doing whatever he is. Probably said some other not-so-nice words, but heat of the moment, right? I look over, I’m like, oh, no — I could say other words, but oh, no, there’s Ross, what do I do. He got to my right rear really nice, and as much as I wanted to go through chicane side-by-side with him, I’m like, if I screw up and fly my right-side tires over the inside curb, I could get a penalty. I don’t know if I’m racing him, I don’t know if I’m not, so it put me in an interesting spot. I wanted to pass him, but I also didn’t want to penalize myself trying to get around him. It was just kind of a weird situation. The way he was behaving in the car driving it, I didn’t know if he was trying to motion me by and then I thought he was, and then we get in the corner, I realized, oh, no, he’s not. It was just a very weird situation, and then with Austin Cindric as close as he was, it just made the whole situation that much more dynamic. I was trying to figure out how hard do I race Ross, and do I race him so hard that I allow the 2 to get close to us, and just trying to weigh all those things, because if I wasn’t racing Ross, he could run in front of me all day long as long as I kept Austin behind me. But if I was racing Ross, I had to get around him, and I just needed to weigh those things in my head, how hard do I race him. Q. How soon (indiscernible)?TYLER REDDICK: Well, we got to talk before the announcement was made, but we haven’t really spoke much until today since the announcement was made. Thankfully to win smooths some things over, I think. I’ve told him that as long as I’m racing here, I’m going to do everything I can to win races for this team, and I would love to win a championship or two with this team. I’m going to be more committed — I feel like the older I get, you smarter you get, the more you find ways to work really hard, and I’m just going to work as hard as I can for this team because there’s a lot of great people on this team, a lot of great people at ECR and a lot of great people not just on my car but at the shop at RCR that work really, really hard on these cars, and they’ve helped me come so far as a driver. I’m just going to give them everything I’ve got. Q. Randall and Richard both said (indiscernible)?TYLER REDDICK: Yeah, no, I got to talk to the team before the announcement was made. Certainly it was tough. I don’t think everyone was expecting it or many were expecting it, but again, it was the situation we were dealt. I just wanted them to know that I was going to continue to be committed to them and that I was going to work harder than ever before or work as hard as I have been, because the things that Brian Bottlemate (phonetic), who’s on my pit crew, he does a lot of the brake stuff on my car. There’s a lot of people that do a lot of different things, not just pitting the car, and all the different people that sometimes come on the road or sometimes don’t, stay at home, like they’ve done a lot to help me get better as a driver, and I just wanted to let them know that I’m going to do everything I can to win as many races as I can with you guys. I’m looking at this as I don’t have all the time in the world to figure out how to be a better driver. I need to be better now so we can go out and win as many races as possible together. Q. You said you and Richard really haven’t spoken much, and winning hopefully kind of is a cure-all. I wonder if you had an opportunity to speak in Victory Lane or anything since then?TYLER REDDICK: Yeah, we got to shoot the whatever they call it and kiss some bricks, drink some champagne, sip some champagne, drink some beers. Q. Did you say anything to him?TYLER REDDICK: Oh, yeah. I’m glad to add to his Brickyard collection of rings and wins. He’s already had a couple of them before me and I’m glad to help add to that. I want to add to everything I can possible with him before my time is up. Q. Did it feel normal, like there’s no —TYLER REDDICK: Yeah. Winning helps. Q. You mentioned at the start of the press conference that you’ve grown up watching a lot of great drivers win here at this track. Curious to know if winning on the road course today felt any different than you might expect it might have been growing up assuming that if you were going to win here during your Cup career until a couple of years ago that that would have been on the oval?TYLER REDDICK: I mean, I had a great opportunity in front of me to potentially win here in an Xfinity car. Just didn’t work out. I ran second to my teammate Justin Allgaier. Then the following year, me and Randall brought up a bullet of a race car. I remember perfectly, it was Anderson’s Maple Syrup, No. 2, it was fast. It was a rocketship. My and Christopher Bell, like we did most weekends, we were racing really, really hard, but unfortunately this on, we collected each other and we just destroyed our race cars. It was actually my Homestead car, and I totaled it. That was a tough one to swallow because we had a good car to win there, and totaled my Homestead car. Side story, we went to Texas later on, and me and Chase Briscoe kind of were battling on a restart and I wrecked. I totaled my second Homestead car the second time, and we had to rush the Homestead car through the doors for the championship weekend, a brand-new third car. I had three brand-new cars all year in that championship season with RCR, and the first one I totaled here, second one I totaled at Texas and the third one thank God survived and won a championship. Q. You had a lot of restarts today where you were at the front and then you had a lot where you were kind of middle of the pack and we saw those got really crazy. Can you describe what your thoughts are and just the general goal and what you’re trying to do to navigate around that big pack?TYLER REDDICK: I’m not going to lie, I wish I had a switch to turn my camera off on the back of that dang car because I can’t tell you how many times when AJ flew up into the sand in Turn 3 and 4, when Chase spun out or I think it was Blaney that spun out on the final restart, I was just like caught looking in the camera like I was a kid watching the best of the best race in front of me, like I’ve got to drive my dang car. I’ve got to stop looking at this camera. I wish I could turn that thing off sometimes. It captures way too much. I would hit a really good corner, but I would get so caught up with what was happening behind me that I would lose track of what I was looking at. I don’t know, the camera is great, but sometimes I wish I could turn that thing off because I get too caught up in what’s going on behind me sometimes. Q. When you were leading and on those restarts, did you find yourself looking at that camera a lot, too?TYLER REDDICK: I mean, yeah, after I’ve apexed the corner and I’m kind of accelerating and I don’t have to — maybe if I didn’t look at that thing at all, I’d run faster laps. But I don’t know, I kind of would look in the camera from time to time and kind of gauge my gaps and see every lap, lap after lap, like in Turn 1 or in Turn 13, kind of looking at my gaps, kind of gauging if I’ve made gains or not. But I have Derek and I have Randall and I have a lot of other great people to tell me what the gaps are, but I still seemingly look in the camera to kind of see myself. Q. How does that champagne compare to your boss’s vineyard products?TYLER REDDICK: No, his is way better by far. Q. Even with the late restarts, you basically had in race in check. Did you ever feel like you really didn’t have this race in check —TYLER REDDICK: Every single restart I was — I don’t take anything for granted. I knew I was going to have to work really, really hard on every single restart to win this race, and then when I saw Ross come flying back on the track until that decision was made to penalize him, I didn’t feel like I had won it at all, so I just had to go out there and work hard. Q. With getting the pole yesterday, track position so pivotal, for as good as you are on road courses, I know you don’t take things for granted, but did you feel like this was an opportunity to be in control —TYLER REDDICK: Yes, absolutely. Q. Explain that mindset going into this event as opposed to if you’d been starting 25th or something like that.TYLER REDDICK: Yeah, I mean, how you approach pit road, how you approach pit road entry. You’ve got a really great opportunity. Even if you — the last thing you want to do at a place like this when you have the pole, when you have that great pit stall is go 105 percent on pit road or pit road entry and have a penalty. Because of the hard work we put in on Saturday, I knew as long as we just played it 95, 90 percent on pit road and pit road entry into the box that — honestly how with the strategy worked out with the guys I was rating, they were having to stay plugged in longer to get fuel than I was, it kind of worked in our favor to kind of be just on the safe side. But as I’ve kind of discovered with this car, I’ve really pursued getting in the box as hard as I can and then I slide through, but then I’m still a whole pit stop down, and with this car, getting in the box is important, but more than anything, being consistent and stopping a little bit short, that consistency there allows your pit crew to really jump on top of it and really execute a good pit stop. Q. I know you said you kind of didn’t feel like you were in control when you’re in the middle of the pack on all those restarts. Throughout the race did you feel like you were only having to worry about maybe a couple different drivers?TYLER REDDICK: Yeah. Q. How concerned were you whether it was Blaney with that strategy or was it more about Bell or was there anybody else? You clearly had the best car and it was just a matter of if something didn’t happen to you, this was going to be your race.TYLER REDDICK: I mean, I was a bit alarmed by the amount of people that were able to make the two-stop strategy work. Certainly restarting I think we were in eighth or ninth, I think it was eighth because then the outside row. I was a bit concerned because the first time around when it was just three or four cars that did that, it was pretty difficult to get back to the lead. I in fact never did before the pit stop cycle occurred. I knew I had to really push hard on that final Stage 3 restart — the Stage 3 restart we had, not the final restart. I knew I had to be aggressive. I knew I had better tires, and I really had to maximize braking zones to really put the other guys in bad spots, and it worked, but I didn’t know which car I was going to be racing, but I just knew whoever got the good restart and got out in front that was on the older tires was the car I was going to have to run down and race, and thankfully I was able to be a little bit better than Christopher was in the braking zones to really not allow the dirty air effect to really hurt my car. Q. I saw one side of your car, but I didn’t see the other. Did you get hit at all? There wasn’t any marks or damage that we could see.TYLER REDDICK: Yeah, I made some pretty significant contact with Cole Custer, and for a couple of laps I was like, oh, no, the car is not driving the same. But I just turned that switch off in my head and just went back to attacking the track. Who knows, maybe we bent something a little bit, but it didn’t kill the race car. The last thing that a driver should do is after contact just jump on the bandwagon of oh, no, the car is ruined, making mistakes, so I just — made a little bit of contact? Whatever. Just gotta keep attacking and making the most of whatever the car will give you. Q. Since you brought up the camera, have you thought about some tape and cardboard to cover up —TYLER REDDICK: Well, there’s a dim switch on the camera. I think I could have a dim switch setting to where it’s either full brightness or zero percent brightness where it’s basically off. I might do that. THE MODERATOR: Tyler, thanks for coming in, and good luck in Michigan. RANDALL BURNETT, CREW CHIEF, NO. 8 3CHI CAMARO ZL1; AND RICHARD CHILDRESS, OWNER OF RICHARD CHILDRESS RACING – Press Conference Transcript: THE MODERATOR: We are joined by the team owner of the winning No. 8 car, Richard Childress. Richard, why don’t you start us off and talk about how exciting it is to win here at Indianapolis for you guys. RICHARD CHILDRESS: Anytime you win at Indy, it’s always great. This will be the fourth win on the Brickyard. We won one with Ty Dillon with the Xfinity, so we’ve won five times. Anytime you can get a win at Indy, it’s very special. Q. Did you ever think with Tyler going away, would he lay down, because he’s fought for you every week? How does it make you feel to know you’ve got a racer out there?RICHARD CHILDRESS: Well, after they made their announcement, I met — I thought about it a lot that night, gave it a lot of thought, and it’s more than just about one person. It’s about a team. Stayed up most of the night thinking about what I should do, how I wanted to handle it. I went in the next day and told the whole team it wasn’t a perfect circumstance the way it went down, but we’re going to give it everything we’ve got this year, and we’ll see where we go next year. Q. You’ve won here on the oval numerous times, now you’ve won here on the road course. There’s talk about whether this race should be on the oval or the road course. There’s a lot of history with the Brickyard 400 on the oval. What does Richard Childress think?RICHARD CHILDRESS: Well, we came here the first time in I think it was ’93. Bill France Jr. brought Earnhardt and myself and wanted to know what we thought about it. We ran it, Dale drove the car then, and I guess it was going into ’94 we came back up here with Rusty Wallace and two or three other drivers and we ran the oval. When you drive through the gates, go through the tunnel and you drive through here, just the history, tradition of Indianapolis gives you cold chills the first time I came — well, the first time I jumped the fence but we won’t talk about that. It gives you cold chills when you think about Indianapolis and the history. So yes, I love it. I wish we were back on the oval for sure. THE MODERATOR: We are also joined by the race-winning crew chief Randall Burnett. Q. For either or both, Tyler has a three-second lead, caution comes out. What goes through your mind at that point?RANDALL BURNETT: Oh, no. No, I was talking about it on the way up here. We had like a three-, three-and-a-half-second lead there. Obviously Chase was pretty fast. All those guys were pretty fast right behind us. I feel like Tyler was saving his stuff pretty good there. We kind of expected it. We were expecting it at Road America the other week. We were just kind of waiting on it to happen and it never did there, so to see it happen here wasn’t a huge surprise. With the tire falloff there was no real strategy to play like you didn’t have to worry about having to pit or not. Tires weren’t falling off. Just hoped for the best. Hopefully not get drove down in there and wrecked, and fortunately we weren’t part of that. It worked out great. Q. What were you thinking when you saw Chastain go up the access road?RANDALL BURNETT: Yeah, I was trying to watch on TV and then flashed away and was showing the cars wrecking and they flashed back to Tyler and the 1 is right there, I’m like, Where did that guy come from? I saw one car go blowing through the whole thing. I didn’t realize that’s where he came out. I was trying to get caught up. Where did he come from? That was pretty entertaining. I don’t know if he got a penalty or what for that, but yeah, glad him and Tyler didn’t get together and ruin our race. That was more what I was worried about than anything at that point. Q. Randall, can you discuss how instrumental the brake package is that you’re using on these cars to do what you do, because a lot of your competitors targeted that. They said you guys had an excellent brake package. I’m not taking anything away from your driver, but they said that it looks like you guys have really gone to work on the brakes.RANDALL BURNETT: Well, I credit a lot of that to Tyler. He’s worked really hard on understanding how to brake better. We’ve worked hard as a group to figure out a package that works for him. Everybody has got the same stuff on these cars. Everybody has got the same rotors and calipers. It’s basically a choice of master cylinders and brake pads and stuff like that, and fortunately for us we found something that worked for him pretty early in the season, and we’ve been able to work with that. He does a phenomenal job at knowing how hard to push, making sure he hits his marks right. Took really good care of his stuff and still had phenomenal speed today. That’s an “atta boy” to him for sure because he used to hate these places, so he’s done a great job pushing himself to get better for sure. Q. How much does the technical alliance with GM help because Hendrick had been so stout on the road courses? I think Larson won three out of ten and we don’t have to say anything about Chase, but to kind of take over the mantle, that’s got to be a feather in your cap.RANDALL BURNETT: Yeah, Chevy has put a lot into this deal this year, and it’s been certainly helpful to be able to more freely bounce ideas off one another. We don’t fully know what they’re doing and they don’t fully know what we’re doing, but there is a lot more dialogue between the teams.It’s been helpful for sure. Q. Randall, what was the conversations like in the aftermath of Tyler’s announcement, and what did you tell the team?RANDALL BURNETT: Well, you know, it’s one of those things. It’s a business deal. We’ve still got a lot of racing left to do with Tyler, and that’s what I told our guys. We’re all professionals. A lot of us, everybody in our team is veterans of the sport. We’ve all been around for a long time. We’ve seen drivers come and go and things move around, and that’s just part of our sport. We’ve talked about it as a group, and Richard sat in on some of them and talked with all of us about it. The biggest thing we can do is go out and do what we did today and that’s put fast cars underneath Tyler and try to win races and show everybody what this team is made of so we can try to figure out what we need to do to fill that void. That’s what we’re going to continue to do. We feel like we’ve got a great shot at the championship this year, to win two races now after just not even a month apart. We’re really looking forward to getting to the Chase, and got a lot of good races in there, so hopefully we can pull that off, too. Q. Amid a season that’s been very successful for you guys, was there ever a doubt at any point of hey, our season can go sideways here, and the promise we have is not going to be fulfilled?RANDALL BURNETT: Well, after we got spun out at Bristol coming to the checkered I was a little upset about that. I was hoping that wasn’t going to knock us out of the playoffs. But this team is very resilient. We’ve had fast race cars all year. We’ve taken ourselves out of races by making mistakes. We’ve had others take us out of races. We’ve had tires — you name it, we’ve learned how to lose them all year this year and give them away, and what we’ve been preaching lately as a group and everybody pushing each other to minimize the mistakes and make the most opportunities, and I feel like that’s what we’ve done this month. Q. Richard, going back to your first answer, if I’ve got this right, I think you said we’re going to give it everything we’ve got this year and we’ll see what we get next year. Are you guys still figuring out 2024 with the 8 and Tyler?RICHARD CHILDRESS: Yeah, Tyler will be in the car at RCR next year. Q. After you figured out what the situation was with the 1, how were you communicating to Tyler? You’re not actually racing the 1 for the lead. What was the communication between you two.RANDALL BURNETT: Well, Derek spoke up pretty quick and he’s like, that’s going to be a penalty on them. He informed him pretty quick to not put himself in a bad spot, but we also had the 2 right there and Ross was still racing us hard. It was important for us to get by the 1 to gap to the 2 because if we messed around with him and let the 2 by us — it was quite a mess right there for a minute, and pretty stressful situation. Fortunately we were able to get by the 1 and just get away from it clean and not have to worry about it. Q. Richard, this is your team’s first season with multiple wins by one driver since 2013 and your first season with multiple wins, period, since 2017. Is it safe to say that RCR is back, or do you still have a ways to go?RICHARD CHILDRESS: Well, it’s great to be back competitive again. The doors have been open, the lights have been on, but we haven’t been competitive. But it feels great to come to a racetrack and know you’re going to be one of the teams that’s going to be racing for the win. Q. For either or both of you, with Tyler’s wins kind of sandwiching his announcement at the start and end of this month, did today’s win feel any different? Was it more special given everything that the team has gone through over these last couple weeks? Can you describe the dichotomy between these two wins?RANDALL BURNETT: I mean, obviously any win feels special. I think it’s just a hats off to our guys. To be able to be big enough and put that behind them and go out there and do the job at hand, and that’s what we can do best. That’s what we’ve got to do going forward. I think it shows the resilience of this team, the dedication by everybody on this team to be able to step up at a big place like here and not have any mistakes today and everybody pull together and get to the common goal, I think that speaks a lot for this 8 team. Q. Randall, I don’t know who came over the radio and said it, but you guys were obviously very pumped up and somebody said to Tyler that he didn’t take any s— from anybody and he’d earned that one. Was there doubt that he was going to be pushed around or something? I was curious that reaction.RANDALL BURNETT: Well, I think there’s been a few times we’ve been in that position before with Tyler, and it didn’t go our way. I think he’s learned a lot from those situations. Heck, one of the times was our first year in the Cup Series with him, and he was racing Austin at Texas, and Austin got the best of him on two or three restarts when we restarted up front against one another. He takes that on his shoulders and he tries to study and learn from it. I was just really proud. He was laser focused today and didn’t miss a beat. Those restarts can get crazy. You never know what’s going to happen, if somebody is going blow through you down there, or who knows what’s going to happen. He did a great job not missing his marks, not overdriving it, hit it precise, and was able to do what he needed to do. Q. Was it you or Derek?RANDALL BURNETT: That was Derek. I told him that he just won at Indy, in case he didn’t know. Derek was the one who told him he didn’t take no s— Q. Earlier this year when we spoke you said you were really hoping that this team would get in Victory Lane because Tyler has worked so hard and you guys have come so close. What has that been like to see how he’s matured as a Cup driver and how this team has come together to smooth out races and put everything together?RANDALL BURNETT: Well, I think it’s not only Tyler, I think it’s our whole group. A lot of us have been together for a long time. We’ve got a veteran pit crew that’s been through a lot together. Just this whole team, it’s pretty impressive the talent we’ve got and the depth we’ve got on this team and how we pull together. It’s pretty phenomenal and great to see that we’re getting the fruits out of our labor and winning some races now, because like I said before, we’ve blown plenty of them and had plenty of them taken away, and just whatever happened and come up second however many times.It’s nice to finally be finishing them off the way we should. Q. Richard, which is better, Victory Cuvee or Victory Lane champagne from here?RICHARD CHILDRESS: No doubt, Victory Cuvee, for all the winning moments in your life. It’s pretty good. (Laughter.) THE MODERATOR: Richard and Randall, congratulations. Thanks for joining us today.

KENT, Wash. (July 31, 2022) – Robert Hight landed the Automobile Club of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car in the winners circle for the sixth time this season Sunday at the Flav-R-Pac NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways. Brittany Force and the Flav-R-Pac / Monster Energy team had their 33rd career final round appearance, John Force took the PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevy to the semifinals and Austin Prock and the Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist dragster had a first-round exit. Robert Hight’s 59th career victory is his second at Pacific Raceways and matches his career best season that came in 2019 (six wins and a championship), with still nine races left in the 2022 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season Robert Hight with the Auto Club Chevy and John Force with the PEAK Chevy both opened up race day with monster matchups. Hight would take on reigning champion Ron Capps while Force would battle it out with Funny Car veteran Matt Hagan. Hight would make the quickest pass of the weekend at 3.914-seconds and 323.35 mph to take down Capps’ 4.674 at 184.60 after he smoked the tires. In the second round, Hight sent Alexis DeJoria packing with a 3.960 at 320.89 bettering her 5.142 at 145.41 after she went up in tire smoke. That win set Hight up to run John Force in the semis. Force reached the semis to race against his teammate by first eliminating Matt Hagan in the round one. Force would pedal the PEAK Camaro to a 4.277-second run at 277.66 mph to cross the finish line ahead of Hagan and his 4.633 run at 186.00. In round two, Force would take the win from Tim Wilkerson going 3.965 at 323.97 to Wilkerson’s 4.462 at 201.43. In the Funny Car semifinals, Hight would prevail over team owner Force. The Auto Club Chevy would go 3.976-seconds at 319.45 mph defeating the PEAK Chevy’s 4.041 at 322.50 sending Hight to run J.R. Todd in the finals. “Good weekend for this PEAK Chevy, we got to running well, had to do some driving but we got the job done, went some rounds,” Force said. “Really good weekend for Frank Tiegs with Flav-R-Pac, his car went No.1 and made it to the finals, they’re running well and I think everyone was expecting them to win it. In the points lead with plenty of races left to get the job done but Robert got it done today with that Auto Club team. Austin was looking good over there with Montana Brand too.” In his 92nd career final round appearance, Hight and his Jimmy Prock and Chris Cunningham tuned Auto Club Chevy would prevail in a stout side-by-side run with Todd. It would be Hight and his Camaro to the finish line first with a 3.975-second run at 319.98 mph outdoing Todd’s 3.978 at 324.75.  “We weren’t the best car in qualifying, but we had to be on our game today,” Hight said. “We had the best elapsed time every round and that’s big. We’ve been good when the conditions were cool. Up until a couple of races ago, this Auto Club Chevy we didn’t have a hot weather setup, so I’m proud of what these guys did in the heat. It’s amazing to have six wins at this point in the season. I’m blown away, the whole team have pulled together,” Hight said. “I love it here in Seattle and it was great to be back, and we capitalized when we needed to. From top to bottom, this four-car (John Force Racing) team has been great. Everyone is pulling in the same direction and as a driver, that gives you a lot of confidence. We’re very hopeful we can keep this going, but we just have to continue to stay focused and working toward our goal.” Brittany Force and the Flav-R-Pac team, who found their stride in the final qualifying session to enter race day No. 1, continued to impress laying down a 3.742-second pass at a track record speed of 332.43 mph bettering Jim Maroney’s 4.148 at 226.51. Class rival Josh Hart would be Force’s next opponent. Force would go 3.791 at 327.59 to defeat Hart’s 3.924 at 291.07 after his dragster hazed the tires. It was Force and Leah Pruett in the semifinals. The Flav-R-Pac dragster would leave the line first and never trail going 3.923 at 325.61 as Pruett had tire smoke for a 6.295 at 107.05. In her 33rd final round appearance, Force faced the winningest NHRA Top Fuel driver, Tony Schumacher. The Flav-R-Pac dragster would have issues early going up in tire smoke before having to click it off early for only a 5.145-second pass at 153.14 mph. Schumacher started to lose traction and put holes out but ultimately held on for 3.977 run at 251.34 and the win. “It was a great weekend for this Flav-R-Pac team running at the first ever Flav-R-Pac Northwest Nationals. I’m very proud to be teamed with a company like Flav-R-Pac. I was excited to see their colors painted all over the drag strip this weekend,” Force said. “We had an awesome weekend – we qualified No. 1 and had a final round appearance. We stayed in the points lead, and that’s the most important thing. We’ll head to Topeka next.” Austin Prock and the Montana Brand / RMT dragster made their best run of the weekend at 3.796-seconds and 326.32 mph but it would come up just barely short of a first round victory against Justin Ashley. Prock would leave first but Ashley would cross the finish line at 3.782 and 325.30 to advance. “This Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist team got beat in a close race today. We made a bunch of ground this weekend, though, just came up short in the first round,” Prock said. “It wasn’t the Western Swing we anticipated but I know we’re moving forward. We’ve got a week to polish this hotrod up and come out swinging in Topeka.” NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series competition continues for the John Force Racing Team in Topeka, Kansas for the Menards NHRA Nationals at Heartland Motorsports Park, Aug. 12-14. -30-

AUSTIN PROCK, 26, Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist DragsterQualifying:10th; 3.870-seconds; 312.21 mphBonus Qualifying Points:0Race Results:Lost to Justin AshleyBRITTANY FORCE, 36, Flav-R-Pac / Monster Energy DragsterQualifying:1st; 3.753-seconds; 327.35 mphBonus Qualifying Points: +3 (quickest Q3)Race Results:Beat Jim Maroney, Josh Hart, and Leah Pruett; Lost to Tony SchumacherJOHN FORCE, 73, PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet Camaro SSQualifying:3rd; 4.001-seconds; 311.92 mphBonus Qualifying Points: +1 (3rd quickest Q1)Race Results:Beat Matt Hagan, TIm Wilkerson; Lost to Robert HightROBERT HIGHT, 52, Auto Club of Southern California Chevy Camaro SSQualifying:5th; 4.003-seconds; 315.71 mphBonus Qualifying Points:+3 (quickest Q2)Race Results:Beat Ron Capps, Alexis DeJoria, John Force and J.R. Todd

Photo Credit: Gary Nastase, Auto Imagery

Unofficial NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series Top Ten Points Standings TOP FUEL – 1. Brittany Force, Flav-R-Pac / Monster Energy dragster, 1083; 2. Mike Salinas, 1008; 3. Justin Ashley, 915; 4. Steve Torrence, 862; 5. Josh Hart, 689; 6. Leah Pruett, 673; 7. Shawn Langdon, 657; 8. Doug Kalitta, 624; 9. Austin Prock, Montana Brand/Rocky Mountain Twist dragster, 602; 10. Clay Millican, 583 FUNNY CAR – 1. Robert Hight, Auto Club of Southern California Chevy Camaro SS, 1150; 2. Matt Hagan, 1022; 3. Ron Capps, 956; 4. John Force, PEAK/Blue Def Platinum Chevy Camaro SS, 904; 5. Bob Tasca III, 797; 6. J.R. Todd, 708; 7. Cruz Pedregon, 686; 8. Alexis DeJoria, 659; 9. Tim Wilkerson, 574; 10. Jim Campbell, 457.

KENT, WA (July 31, 2022) — Justin Ashley and the Phillips Connect Toyota Top Fuel dragster powered by Vita C Energy started the Western Swing with a semifinal finish in Denver and they capped the three race stretch with another semifinal today at the NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways outside of Seattle. The third-year pro and team owner went into race day as the No. 7 qualifier and defeated Austin Prock and Steve Torrence before dropping a wild semifinal against Tony Schumacher. Ashley will leave the Northwest Nationals sitting third in the points with three races left before the Countdown playoffs begin after Labor Day.

“I am really proud of these guys,” said Ashley, at the end of a long day. “We didn’t accomplish what we wanted to this weekend, but I thought we ran really well. The real number for us was 47. These guys turned this car around in this weather in 47 minutes. I am really proud of this team. We will regroup and move on to Topeka.”

Phillips Connect Toyota Top Fuel dragster powered by Vita C Energy, photo by Auto Imagery

In the first round Ashley and Prock left side-by-side, but the Phillips Connect Toyota dragster powered by Vita C Energy had enough power to get out in front and race away for the win. Ashley’s winning elapsed time of 3.782 seconds outran Prock’s 3.796 seconds.  In the battle between two NHRA Rookies of the Year Ashley moved his head-to-head record to 5-0 against Prock with today’s round win. Ashley earned lane choice in the quarterfinals over four-time Top Fuel champion Steve Torrence.

Facing the four-time and reigning Top Fuel champion Torrence in the quarterfinals Ashley stepped up his game posting another 3.78 second run in on a track that was over 130 degrees. The two-time winner already this season pulled away from Torrence, who was smoking his tires, for another quick and clean run to advance to the final four.

The Pacific Raceways’ racing surface continued to heat up and Ashley drew eight-time Top Fuel champion Schumacher for his third race of the day. Both drivers launched hard, but Ashley smoked the tires almost immediately. He saw Schumacher also get into trouble and Ashley tried to pedal his 11,000 horsepower Phillips Connect Toyota Top Fuel dragster, but as he tried to wrestle his race car under control it crossed the centerline disqualifying his run and handing the win to Schumacher. It was a dramatic end of a successful team effort for Ashley and his Davis Motorsports backed team.

“It just went up in smoke,” said Ashley, from the top end after the semifinal run. “That is what happens sometimes when you are racing as hard as we are. I just tried to give it a ride after I saw Tony having some trouble in the other lane. I wanted to give our Phillips Connect team a shot.” 

The new experience of racing all three Western Swing races and making his first appearance at Pacific Raceways gave Ashley the opportunity to talk about his marketing partners like Bendix, Velociti, Sensata Insights, Lucas Oil, and KATO Fastening Systems to a packed house of fans. The team will head to Topeka in two weeks looking to close the gap on the Top Fuel points leaders.

Qualifying Results

Q1: 4.048 sec, 247.11 mph; Qual. 9

Q2: 3.853 sec; 319.75 mph; Qual. 6

Q3: 3.851 sec; 319.98 mph; Qual. 7

Bonus Points: 

Race Results

First Round

Justin Ashley, Phillips Connect Toyota dragster powered by Vita C Energy, 3.782, 325.30 mph def. Austin Prock, Pittsboro, Ind., Montana Brand dragster, 3.796, 326.32 mph

Second Round

Justin Ashley, Phillips Connect Toyota dragster powered by Vita C Energy, 3.785, 322.42 mph def. Steve Torrence, Kilgore, Texas, Capco dragster, 6.333, 95.40 mph

Semifinals

Tony Schumacher, Austin, Texas, Maynard Family Foundation dragster, 4.485, 258.37 mph def. Justin Ashley, Phillips Connect Toyota dragster powered by Vita C Energy, DQ-Centerline

Camping World Drag Racing Series Top Ten – Top Fuel

1. Brittany Force                          1083

2. Mike Salinas                            1008

3. Justin Ashley                           910

4. Steve Torrence                        862

5. Josh Hart                                   689

6. Leah Pruett                              673

7. Shawn Langdon                       657

8. Doug Kalitta                             624

9. Austin Prock                             602

10. Clay Millican                          583

• Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) Top Fuel pilot Leah Pruett drove her Sparkling Ice +Caffeine Dodge//SRT dragster to a semifinal appearance after qualifying No. 12 at the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Northwest Nationals near Seattle 
• Pruett closes out the NHRA three-event Western Swing sixth in the Top Fuel standings after her win at the Dodge Power Brokers Mile-High Nationals near Denver, a No. 1 qualifier position and quarterfinal appearance at the Sonoma Nationals, and this weekend’s semifinal appearance at the Northwest Nationals
• TSR Funny Car driver Matt Hagan remains second in the championship standings after a trio of challenging race weekends wrapped up at Pacific Raceways with a No. 10 qualifier position and a third consecutive early exit
• Cruz Pedregon qualified his Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car No. 4 for eliminations at the Northwest Nationals but bows out early and leaves the Seattle-area event seventh in points

July 31, Kent, Washington — Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) pilot Leah Pruett closed out the National Hot Rod Association’s (NHRA) three-event Western Swing by taking her Sparkling Ice +Caffeine Dodge//SRT Top Fuel dragster from the No. 12 seeded position to a semifinal appearance at the Northwest Nationals near Seattle, Washington.

Pruett drove to a 3.897-second elapsed time pass in the final qualifying session to secure the spot on the eliminations ladder that paired her with No. 5 qualifier Antron Brown for the opening round. She kicked off eliminations by beating Brown on the tree by 0.003 seconds, then battling it out the entire length of the track before the Dodge//SRT dragster turned on the win lights with Pruett’s quickest run of the weekend, a 3.781-second pass at 325.69 mph to defeat her opponent’s 3.796 sec./320.81 mph effort.

In the quarterfinals, Pruett had another close battle with No. 4 qualifier Doug Kalitta whom she chased down with a (0.080-second reaction time) 3.818 sec./322.42 mph run to better his (0.075-second RT) 3.827 sec./316.67 mph pass and take the round win with a 0.0041-second margin of victory. That set up a semifinal match-up with Brittany Force against whom a loss of traction at the start of the lap sent Pruett’s chances to challenge the current Top Fuel points leader up in smoke and ended what has been a solid three week campaign for her TSR team.

Pruett’s performance over the three-event Western Swing included a big win at the Dodge Power Brokers Mile-High Nationals near Denver, a No. 1 qualifier position and quarterfinal appearance at the Sonoma Nationals, and with the addition of Sunday’s semifinal appearance at the Northwest Nationals she sits solidly sixth in the Top Fuel championship standings with three events remaining in the regular season.

TSR teammate Matt Hagan came into the Western Swing second in the Funny Car championship standings after a strong start to the year that included three wins aboard his Dodge Power Brokers Charger SRT Hellcat. After initially kicking off the series of three consecutive events with a No. 1 qualifier position at the Dodge Power Brokers Mile-High Nationals, the team has since encountered a few challenges. 

Following a pair of uncharacteristic first round exits at Denver and Sonoma, Hagan had hoped to drive from his 12th place qualifying position at Pacific Raceways to four quality elimination runs on Sunday beginning with a showdown against No. 3 qualifier John Force. The Dodge Power Brokers Charger SRT Hellcat launched first and took the early lead but started to lose power just as Force began to lose traction. By then it was too late for Hagan as his opponent pedaled it enough to make it to the finish ahead of him. Despite the third consecutive opening round loss, Hagan remains solidly in second place behind category points leader and eventual event winner Robert Hight.

Fellow Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat driver Cruz Pedregon put in another solid qualifying effort to put himself No. 4 on the eliminations ladder and set up for a first round pairing with No. 9 seed Tim Wilkerson. While his opponent had a quicker start, Pedregon’s Snap-on Tools HEMI®-powered Funny Car took over the lead in the first few feet until it began to haze the tires and drop cylinders. While Wilkerson also had traction issues, he was able to make his way to the finish first and brought Pedregon’s race day to a premature end. Despite the setback, Pedregon is seventh in Funny Car points and firmly among the top ten positions with expectations of making the “Countdown to the Championship” playoffs.

The NHRA will take a one week break before returning to competition for the 14th of 22 events on the 2022 schedule at the Menards NHRA Nationals Presented By PetArmor at Heartland Motorsports Park in Topeka, Kansas.

ADDITIONAL NOTES and QUOTES:

Leah Pruett, Sparkling Ice +Caffeine Dodge//SRT Top Fuel Dragster  

(No. 12 Qualifier – 3.897  seconds at 314.39 mph)  

Round 1: (0.090-second reaction time, 3.781 seconds at 325.69 mph) defeats No. 5 Antron Brown (0.093/3.796/320.81)

Round 2: (0.080/3.818/322.42) defeats No. 4 Doug Kalitta (0.075/3.827/316.67)

Round 3: (0.141/6.295/107.05) loss to No.1 Brittany Force (0.087/3.823/325.61)

“This was one of the largest learning curves that we’ve had in a long time. We came out on the good side of things. Qualifying No. 12 wasn’t ideal, but a problem kept arising that would happen every two or three races. Saturday night before eliminations, this Sparkling Ice team spent about four hours dedicated to finding our out of control shaft issue, with an outlier we couldn’t put our finger on. By 11 p.m., we found a very large issue, so we addressed it going into race day with things unknown. We were able to put down a solid .78 run with lane choice for the second round. We have a better performing race car than we’ve had all year even though we didn’t make it to the finals. There was a huge piece of the puzzle that was missing and we found it here in Seattle. 

“It’s very difficult to do something like that one the Western Swing, but we did, so we have more confidence than ever going into finalizing our spot in the top 10 and keeping the points going. I did not do my best job in the semifinal. We put on a different blower and the car ended up being better than we thought it was, so we were overpowered. We didn’t finish the best way we wanted to, but everyone on the team has a great mindset. We had a great Western Swing and we only missed running in three rounds. Our parts attrition has been fantastic and attitudes are great. I personally learned a lot of dynamics of doing a great job on the tree. I didn’t get to fully use some of the apparatuses I have in the toolbox to practice on the road, so I’ll be spending these next two weeks dialing myself back in. We have a race car that’s performing better than ever now and will be more consistent. It makes the drive home for the team even better when you’ve had a successful Swing like this.” 

Matt Hagan, Dodge Power Brokers Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car  

(No. 10 Qualifier – 4.031 seconds at 311.20 mph)

Round 1: (0.062-second reaction time, 4.633 seconds at 186.00 mph) loss to No. 3 John Force (0.073/4.277/277.66)

“The Western Swing wasn’t very kind to us. It was tough having three first-round losses in a row. I think we have some problems with our fuel management system, where we are dropping cylinders. That’s something that is uncommon for us, so we have to use this next week off to take a look at some things. We’ll look at what we’ve changed from the beginning of the season to now and go back to where the car is running on all eight cylinders again. We have to get back on top of where we were and how we were doing it. Our Dodge Power Brokers crew wants to perform well in qualifying to set us up for a great day on Sunday. The car had a cylinder out at the step and it was one of those rounds that could have gone either way and today, things didn’t go our way. I always love racing John (Force). He’s a character and I like getting up on the wheel for him because I get excited to race him. He’s one of those guys you just want to beat because he’s John Force. I’m looking forward to the week off to see my family and get back to the farm. The week off will allow us to hit the reset button and get focused to race in Topeka.”

Cruz Pedregon, Pedregon Racing Snap-on® Tools Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat

(No. 4  Qualifier – 4.002 seconds at 315.56 mph)

Round 1: (0113-second reaction time, 4.622 seconds at 181.64 mph) loss to No. 9 Tim Wilkerson (0.087/4.459/214.83)      

“We qualified in the No. 4 spot with a four flat and we felt good going into race day against Tim Wilkerson. We had some solid qualifying runs at 4.07 [seconds], 4.05 and a 4.0, so heading into race day in the early morning we felt like the track was going to be good. Unfortunately, we went out there, spun the tires, and it really ended our weekend prematurely. We’re disappointed that that was our end result, but we’ll go back and regroup. We’re going to debut a new car this coming weekend at the ‘Night under Fire’ special match race in Norwalk (Ohio) next Saturday. It’s a completely new car so we look forward to getting that dialed in with some test runs to get it ready for Topeka. We’re optimistic with a lot of big races coming up. We’re looking forward to continuing our qualifying efforts and carrying that through the next few race days.”

NHRA CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS STANDINGS:

Following the Flav-R-Pac NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways 

FUNNY CAR (season wins in parentheses)

1.   Robert Hight 1250 (6)

2.  Matt Hagan (Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat): 1022 (3)

3.  Ron Capps: 956 (2)

4.  John Force: 904

5.  Bob Tasca III: 797 (1)

6.  J.R. Todd: 708

7. Cruz Pedregon (Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat): 686

8.  Alexis DeJoria: 659

9.  Tim Wilkerson: 574

10. Jim Campbell: 457

TOP FUEL (season wins in parentheses)

1.  Brittany Force: 1083 (5)

2.  Mike Salinas: 1008 (3) 

3.  Justin Ashley: 910 (2) 

4.  Steve Torrence: 862

5.  Josh Hart: 689

6.  Leah Pruett (Dodge Power Brokers): 673 (1)

7.  Shawn Langdon: 657

8.  Doug Kalitta: 624

9.  Austin Prock: 602

10. Clay Millican: 583

DodgeGarage: Digital Hub for Drag Racing News

Fans can follow all the NHRA action this season at DodgeGarage, the one-stop portal for Dodge//SRT and Mopar drag-racing news. The site includes daily updates and access to an online racing HQ, news, events, galleries, available downloads and merchandise. For more information, visit www.dodgegarage.com.

@DodgeMoparMotorsports on Instagram

The @DodgeMoparMotorsports Instagram channel continues to share content capturing Dodge//SRT Mopar drivers on the track. Fans can see action from the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series and NHRA Sportsman grassroots racers, competing in classes such as Factory Stock Showdown, Stock and Super Stock, as well as additional motorsports series.

Dodge//SRT

For more than 100 years, the Dodge brand has carried on the spirit of brothers John and Horace Dodge. Their influence continues today as Dodge shifts into high gear with muscle cars and SUVs that deliver unrivaled performance in each of the segments where they compete.

Dodge drives forward as a pure performance brand, offering SRT versions of every model across the lineup. For the 2022 model year, Dodge delivers the drag-strip dominating 807-horsepower Dodge Challenger SRT Super Stock, the 797-horsepower Dodge Charger SRT Redeye, the most powerful and fastest mass-produced sedan in the world, and the Dodge Durango SRT 392, America’s fastest, most powerful and most capable three-row SUV. Combined, these three muscle cars make Dodge the industry’s most powerful brand, offering more horsepower than any other American brand across its entire lineup.

In 2020, Dodge was named the “#1 Brand in Initial Quality,” making it the first domestic brand ever to rank No. 1 in the J.D. Power Initial Quality Study (IQS). In 2021, Dodge brand ranked No. 1 in the J.D. Power APEAL Study (mass market) — making it the only domestic brand ever to do so two years in a row.

Dodge is part of the portfolio of brands offered by leading global automaker and mobility provider Stellantis. For more information regarding Stellantis (NYSE: STLA), please visit www.stellantis.com.

July 31, 2022

Harrison Burton, aboard the No. 21 DEX Imaging Mustang, struggled in the middle stages of Sunday’s Verizon 200 on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, then steered his way through two chaotic late-race restarts to score a Cup-career-best third-place finish. 
 
“We tried to stay out for Stage points and more people stayed out than we thought and got buried there,” Burton told reporters after the race. “Then I made a mistake and got into [Cole] Custer.  

“I was spun out at one point. I was all over the place.”
 
Then he got a break when the team’s pit strategy put him in position to make a late-race charge.
 
“It was a tough day for me and then got some new tires there before the last caution and started picking guys off and just got in a good place for those restarts…” he said. “The big thing was being on the inside for those restarts and kind of plugging the middle and missing the chaos.”
  
Burton started the race from 13^th place and was in the top 10 after one circuit around the 2.439-mile, 14-turn track.
 
He ran around the top 10 for the remainder of the opening 15-lap Stage and ended that segment in ninth place, earning two bonus points.
 
He steered his DEX Imaging Mustang to pit road for service during the ensuing caution period and rejoined the race in 25^th place. He made his next pit stop with three laps remaining in the second Stage and that put him 30^th for the next restart.
 
The third segment of the race saw crew chief Brian Wilson and the DEX Imaging crew employ the pit strategy that put Burton in position to move forward in the race’s final laps.
 
The final stop came with 19 laps left to run.
 
As others ahead of him pitted he moved up to 19^th place and was running there when the caution flag flew for debris on the track with five of the scheduled 82 laps left to run.
 
On the restart, as drivers ahead of him began bouncing off each other, he worked his way to ninth place when another incident sent the race into Overtime.
 
The final restart saw him once again steer through spinning cars to take third place, which he maintained over the final two laps to get the first top-five finish of his Cup career.
 
Burton and the No. 21 team now head to Michigan International Speedway for the FireKeepers Casino 400.

 

###

About DEX Imaging
DEX Imaging is the digital document imaging division of Staples, the world’s largest business solutions provider. DEX sells and services the broadest selection of copiers, printers and data management solutions, such as HP, Konica Minolta, Canon, Kyocera and numerous others.

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES:
Reducing Operating Costs
Reducing Paper Consumption
Increasing Productivity

DEX Imaging has been the recipient of virtually every industry award since the company’s inception, including the JD Power & Associates Award for Best Customer Experience, the prestigious ProTech Service award by Konica Minolta, the Diamond Premier Dealer Award by Kyocera, and the Elite DEALER Award by ‘ENX’ magazine. Other accolades include being named ‘Best Place to Work’ by numerous business journals in the markets DEX serves.

CHEVROLET RACING IN NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION FLAV-R-PAC NHRA NORTHWEST NATIONALS PACIFIC RACEWAYS IN KENT, WASHINGTON JULY 31, 2022 Team Chevy adds to Western Swing victory total• Robert Hight ties career best with sixth Funny Car win in 13 races this season• Troy Coughlin Jr. adds to family legacy with his first Pro Stock victory• No. 1 qualifier Brittany Force extends Top Fuel points lead, sets track speed record • Chevrolet drivers earn six wins, five runner-up finishes in pro classes on Swing

KENT, Wash. (July 31, 2022) — Whether it’s the 59th time on the winner’s stage or the first, thrusting a Wally to the sky is a satisfying and emotional moment. Robert Hight, who collected his sixth Funny Car victory of the season and 59th of his career, welcomed first-time Pro Stock winner Troy Coughlin Jr. to the stage following the Flav-R-Pac NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways.

Brittany Force almost made it a Chevrolet sweep for the second consecutive National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Camping World Drag Racing Series visit to the racetrack near Seattle. Force, the No. 1 qualifier for the fifth time in 13 races, set the track speed record of 332.43 mph in the first round of eliminations and went on to record a runner-up finish in the Flav-R-Pac/Monster Energy Chevrolet dragster. Team Chevy drivers in the three professional classes registered six victories, six top qualifier honors and five runner-up finishes on the three-race Western Swing that also included Denver and Sonoma, California.“I’m blown away that at this point in the year we already have six wins,” said Hight, the No. 5 qualifier in the Automobile Club of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro SS who matched his career best for wins in a season. “But coming up we have a Countdown, and if we don’t do equally as good in the back half we’re not going to win a championship. That’s the goal for this Auto Club Chevy team.” Hight, who has advanced to the final round in eight of the 13 races, increased his points lead with his second victory on the Western Swing. Hight clipped John Force’s bid for his record-extending 10th Funny Car victory at Pacific Raceways by winning the semifinal matchup. The teammates met in the semis two weeks earlier at Denver, with Hight prevailing and going on to the event victory. Force, the No. 3 qualifier in the PEAK/BlueDEF Platinum Camaro SS, remains fourth in the standings.Coughlin, who had posted eight victories in Super Gas, Super Comp and Top Alcohol dragster competition, earned his initial Pro Stock win by defeating points leader Erica Enders by .0001 of a second in the final. “It’s something else. I’ve watched my uncle Jeg win a ton of these races in the class of Pro Stock. My dad has won five or six. The monkey is off your back, but you want to keep going,” said Coughlin, who advanced to his fourth career final in the JEGS.com Camaro SS. Enders, driving the Melling Performance Camaro SS, beat Elite Motorsports teammate Aaron Stanfield, driving the Janac Brothers Camaro SS, and Coughlin defeated Greg Anderson, the No. 1 qualifier for the 119th time in his career, in the semifinals. Anderson, driver of the HendrickCars.com Camaro SS, is seeking career win No. 100. Brittany Force extended her Top Fuel points lead with her fifth final-round appearance of the season. She was the No. 1 qualifier in two of the three races on the Swing and won at Sonoma.

“We had an awesome weekend. We qualified No. 1 and had a final round appearance. We stayed in the points lead, and that’s the most important thing. We’ll head to Topeka next,” she said. Austin Prock, who earned his first Top Fuel victory at Pacific Raceways in 2019, was the No. 10 qualifier in the Montana Brand/Rocky Mountain Twist Chevrolet dragster. He fell in the first round. Ryan McClanahan of San Bernardino, California, was runner-up in Stock Eliminator competition in his 2021 Chevrolet COPO Camaro. Chevrolet teams have a brief respite after three consecutive weeks of racing before the Menards NHRA Nationals on Aug. 12-14 at Heartland Motorsports Park in Topeka, Kansas. Team Chevy drivers swept the 2021 event with No. 1 qualifier Brittany Force winning in Top Fuel, John Force winning in Funny Car and Dallas Glenn earning the victory over KB Racing teammate Kyle Koretsky in Pro Stock. FS1 will telecast eliminations at 2 p.m. ET Aug. 14.

An interview with Funny Car winner ROBERT HIGHT, driver of the Automobile Club of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro SS: THESE MOMENTS OF PERSEVERANCE. HOW MUCH SWEETER DOES IT MAKE IT?“It’s unbelievable. To have six wins at this point in the year, I am blown away. Today, to have low ET every single round, I’m so proud of my guys.” YOU KNOW HOW BAD JR TODD WANTED THAT AND HOW GOOD THEY ARE.“It’s good to see JR’s car running good. He’s a great driver and good guy. Except for one little hiccup we had in Sonoma in the semifinals, we came really close to getting another final and sweeping this Western Swing. That’s really what this team wanted to do. I’m blown away that at this point in the year we already have six wins. But coming up we have a Countdown and if we don’t do equally as good in the back half, we’re not going to win a championship. That’s the goal for this Auto Club Chevy team. It’s amazing the caliber of drivers, former champions, none of these rounds get any easier. Up until a couple of races ago, this Auto Club Chevy we didn’t have a hot weather setup. We were good when the conditions were good. But Jimmy (Prock) and Chris (Cunningham) and the whole team have pulled together, and we had low ET every round today. All these teams out here today earned their keep working in his heat. We appreciate all the fans sticking it out in the heat. It’s so good to be back in Seattle.” YOU’RE NOT TAKING THE NEXT WEEKEND OFF. YOU’RE GOING TO NORWALK TO PUT ON A SHOW AND HAVING A CHANCE TO LEARN.“Without a doubt. We’re going to make the most of it next Saturday at the Night Under Fire in Norwalk (Ohio); one of the greatest shows in the country. We’re going to make some runs during the day for testing and then try to win another race. We treat that just like an NHRA race. We get a couple of days off and then we’re back at it at Topeka, so no rest for the wicked.” YOU’VE TIED YOUR ALL-TIME HIGH FOR RACE WINS AND STILL HAVE NINE RACES TO GO.“There are a lot of great cars out here. Last time we were here, John (Force) and Austin (Prock) both won and I think we lost early. I was really hoping we were going to get a double up with Brittany (Force). I thought that that car was going to get it.”An interview with Pro Stock winner TROY COUGHLIN JR., driver of the JEGS.com Chevrolet Camaro SS: WINNING YOUR FIRST PRO STOCK WALLY. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU?“It’s something else. I’ve watched my uncle Jeg win a ton of these races in the class of Pro Stock. My dad has won five or six. The monkey is off your back, but you want to keep going.” YOU’VE BEEN SUCCESSFUL IN SPORTSMAN CLASSES. NOW YOU CAN ADD PRO STOCK TO YOUR RESUME.“That’s absolutely humbling. I’ve been surrounded by some wonderful people with great equipment, so I’m definitely really blessed and can’t wait to keep going.” FINAL ROUND, YOU KNOW ERICA HAS THE BEST CAR OUT HERE. DO YOU LOOK OVER OR DO YOU THINK I THINNK I’VE GOT HER?“The margin of victory was triple zero one, so I don’t think I could have made that decision. I was just trying to get there.” RANK THIS ONE WITH ALL THE OTHERS.“This one you can’t even rank it’s so special. We come out here to Seattle, it’s a wonderful place to race, the fans are amazing. It’s great to be back here. I’ll never forget this. The flight home is going to be sweet.”

CHEVROLET FROM THE COCKPITTOP FUEL:BRITTANY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, FLAV-R-PAC/MONSTER ENERGY CHEVOLET DRAGSTER: “It was a great weekend for this Flav-R-Pac team running at the first-ever Flav-R-Pac Northwest Nationals. I’m very proud to be teamed with a company like Flav-R-Pac. I was excited to see their colors painted all over the drag strip this weekend. “We had an awesome weekend. We qualified No. 1 and had a final round appearance. We stayed in the points lead, and that’s the most important thing. We’ll head to Topeka next.” AUSTIN PROCK, JOHN FORCE RACING, MONTANA BRAND/ROCKY MOUNTAIN TWIST CHEVROLET DRAGSTER: “This Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist team got beat in a close race today. We made a bunch of ground this weekend, though, just came up short in the first round. It wasn’t the Western Swing we anticipated but I know we’re moving forward. We’ve got a week to polish this hotrod up and come out swinging in Topeka.” FUNNY CAR:JOHN FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, PEAK/BLUEDEF PLATINUM CHEVROLET CAMARO SS: “Good weekend for this PEAK Chevy. We got to running well, had to do some driving but we got the job done, went some rounds. Really good weekend for Frank Tiegs with Flav-R-Pac, his car went No.1 and made it to the finals, they’re running well and I think everyone was expecting them to win it. In the points lead with plenty of races left to get the job done but Robert got it done today with that Auto Club team. Austin was looking good over there with Montana Brand too.” PRO STOCK:GREG ANDERSON, KB RACING, HENDRICKCARS.COM CHEVROLET CAMARO SS: “There were a lot of positives this weekend, no question. We definitely picked up our performance, we got ourselves back in the fight with the HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, and now we can contend for wins again. That’s a huge positive.”

Austin Dillon and the No. 3 BetMGM Chevrolet Team Show Speed and Determination at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course

30th

29th

21st

“We started 29th today in our No. 3 BetMGM Chevrolet and my team worked all day long to salvage a good finish. It’s tough coming from behind at a road course because it’s so easy to get caught up in the messes. We worked really hard throughout the race to improve the handling of our BetMGM Chevy. We made an air pressure adjustment toward the end of the race and our car came to life. We were running lap times as fast as the race leader, and we were in position to earn a top-10 finish but it was mass chaos at the end of the race. We ended up in some messes there at the end. We’re looking forward to getting to Michigan to take home a win.” -Austin Dillon

Tyler Reddick and the No. 8 3CHI Chevrolet Team Dominate at Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course and Take Home Their Second Victory of the Season

1st

1st

11th

“What a day! We qualified on the pole and our car was crazy fast. This team has worked so hard and they brought me a dominant car. Thank you to everyone at RCR and ECR for making this possible. My pit crew and spotters were on top of it all day and my crew chief, Randall Burnett, made all the right calls. Road courses have been so good for us and I’m just really glad we were able to capitalize on our speed and bring home another win. To be able to get another victory and do it here in Indianapolis, I’m just thrilled. This is one really special place to race, and really excited that I got to kiss the bricks. I’m so excited that we got 3CHI a win in their hometown, too. Just such a special, special day and this No. 8 3CHI team is going to celebrate.”-Tyler Reddick

J.R. Todd Makes His First Final Round Appearance of 2022

KENT, Wash. (July 31, 2022) – With the NHRA Drag Racing Series making its final stop on the ‘west coast swing,’ the Kalitta Motorsports Funny Car team made the most of the extreme heat in the race track and the air temperature. J.R. Todd drove his Toyota GR Supra Funny Car to the final round and ultimately lost by only three one-thousandths of a second to Robert Hight.

In Top Fuel competition, Justin Ashley drove his Toyota dragster to the semi-finals, but his car smoked the tires ultimately ending his day. The Toyota dragsters of Doug Kalitta, Shawn Langdon and Steve Torrence were eliminated in round two while Antron Brown fell out in the first round.

Toyota Post-Race Recap

NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series

Pacific Raceways

Race 13 of 22

TOYOTA TOP FUEL FINISHING POSITIONS 

Name	Car	Final Result	Round-by-Round
Justin Ashley	Phillips Connect Toyota Top Fuel Dragster	Semi-Finals	W. 3.782 vs. A. Prock (3.796) W. 3.785 vs. S. Torrence (6.333) L. 5.131 vs. T. Schumacher (4.485)
Steve Torrence	Capco Contractors Toyota Top Fuel Dragster	Round 2	W. 3.794 vs. R. Smith (No Time) L. 6.333 vs. J. Ashley (3.785)
Doug Kalitta	Mac Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster	Round 2	W. 3.837 vs. A. Laughlin (3.856) L. 3.827 vs. L. Pruett (3.818)
Shawn Langdon	DHL Toyota Top Fuel Dragster	Round 2	W. 3.796 vs. M. Salinas (No Time) L. 3.797 vs. T. Schumacher (3.827)
Antron Brown	Matco Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster	Round 1	L. 3.796 vs. L. Pruett (3.781)

TOYOTA FUNNY CAR FINISHING POSITIONS 

Name	Car	Final Result	Round-by-Round
J.R. Todd	DHL Toyota GR Supra Funny Car	Final Round	W. 3.955 vs. B. Alexander (3.990) W. 3.980 vs. B. Tasca III (7.751) W. 3.984 vs. BYE L. 3.978 vs. R. Hight (3.975)
Alexis DeJoria	Bandero Tequila Toyota GR Supra Funny Car	Round 2	W. 3.964 vs. J. Campbell (4.045) L. 5.142 vs. R. Hight (3.960)
Ron Capps	NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota GR Supra Funny Car	Round 1	L. 4.674 vs. R. Hight (3.914)

TOYOTA QUOTES

J.R. TODD, DHL Toyota GR Supra Funny Car, Kalitta Motorsports

Final Result: Final Round

What can you say about the progress of this race team and today’s final round appearance?

“This DHL team has really been working hard to get our GR Supra to the point of consistently going rounds and today we were able to do that. Really proud of our whole team and all the effort these guys put into today and this whole weekend. It’s hot out here and it was hot on the race track, but they never gave up. I would have loved to have gotten the win, but it was a close race and we know we’re right there knocking on the door. We’ll get one soon.”

How has this team been able to continue slowly improving performance week after week?

“It seems like it came together there in Q3 and then again in first round. Todd and John just keep picking away at it and trying stuff. I also have to give a shout out to the track here at Pacific Raceways and NHRA for this track. They’re doing a hell of a job with the track temp and the track is hanging in there. The fans sitting in those aluminum seats, they’re the brave ones out here. Thanks for spending your hard-earned money to come out here and watch us try to put on a good show.”

JUSTIN ASHLEY, Phillips Connect Toyota Top Fuel Dragster, Davis Motorsports

Final Result: Semi-Finals

What happened in the semi-finals when you struggled down the track and crossed the center line?

“Just went up in smoke and that’s what happens when you’re racing. Just tried to give it a run and I saw Tony (Schumacher) having some trouble in the other lane. Just tried to give our Phillips Connect Toyota a shot so we tried to pull some of that Vita-C Energy we needed. Real proud of the guys this weekend. I thought we ran well and the real magic number is 47. These guys turned this car around in this weather in 47 minutes and really proud of them. We’ll regroup and move onto the next one.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES

IMS ROAD COURSE

VERIZON 200 AT THE BRICKYARD

TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES AND QUOTES

JULY 31, 2022

TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-20 RACE RESULTS:

POS.   DRIVER

1st      TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 3CHI CAMARO ZL1 

7th      AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 16 GOLD FISH CASINO CAMARO ZL1

13th    RICKY STENHOUSE JR., NO. 47 KROGER / GO-GURT CAMARO ZL1

15th    ERIK JONES, NO. 43 FOCUSFACTOR CAMARO ZL1

16th    CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1

18th    COREY LAJOIE, NO. 7 FRATERNAL ORDER OF EAGLES CAMARO ZL1

19th    JUSTIN HALEY, NO. 31 LEAFFILTER GUTTER PROTECTION CAMARO ZL1

TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS: 

POS.  DRIVER

1st      Tyler Reddick (Chevrolet)

2nd     Austin Cindric (Ford)

3rd      Harrison Burton (Ford)

4th      Todd Gilliland (Ford)

5th      Bubba Wallace (Toyota)

The NASCAR Cup Series season continues next Sunday, August 7, at the Michigan International Speedway with the FireKeepers Casino 400 at 3 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on the USA Network, the NBCSports Gold App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES AND QUOTES:

TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 3CHI CAMARO ZL1 – Race Winner

What a drive for Tyler Reddick today, the dominant driver here at Indy, his son Beau coming in for a hug, and the crew sprinting up pit road to get to Tyler to celebrate. Second win of the year for this race team and a win at Indianapolis. I’ve got to know your thoughts when you saw the 1; he went through the access road. Were you as shocked as everyone else to see him all of a sudden passing you for the lead?

“I was like, uh-oh. But that was a scenario that had been talked about. If you get bottled up, what do you do? Take the access road.

I couldn’t believe he got ahead of me. I was kind of waiting to see if he was going to have a penalty because I didn’t want to move him out of the way and make his race worse than what it was. Yeah, I was really surprised by that; but hey, we made it work. Hats off to Ross (Chastain) for trying to do that, but really glad it didn’t end up working out because I’d have been pretty pissed off.”

You made the announcement you’re moving from RCR. How did this team rally to get back to this point where you could come together and win races again?

“Well, we just know what we’re capable of, and we did that at Road America. Certainly it was a little bump in the road, but we went out and won a race fair and square a couple weeks ago. And if we change nothing, we keep working really, really hard, we find a way back to Victory Lane.

Just really glad to be able to do it here in Indianapolis. This is one really special place to race, and really excited to kiss the bricks here in a little bit and really excited we got 3CHI their win in their hometown.”

ERIK JONES, NO. 43 FOCUSFACTOR CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 15th

“We struggled today with our FOCUSfactor Chevy. Road courses have definitely been an area where we need to work and we thought we’d be a little better this weekend. Just didn’t qualify well, started at the back and fought the handling most of race. The guys stayed after it, we used the car up and salvaged a 15th-place finish. We’ll take it and move on to Michigan. I think we’ll have a good race next weekend and I’m looking forward to going home and racing in front of family and friends.”

ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 1 WORLDWIDE EXPRESS CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 27th

You were looking for a spot there at the end. What were you thinking, taking the access road and getting off course there?

“Just trying not to be in the corners there in Turn 1. I thought we were four wide, and couldn’t go any farther right, and decided to take the NASCAR access lane out there.”

Was that something you and the team had talked about earlier, like that’s a great option and it may not cost us anything?

“No, no, just pure reaction there for our Worldwide Express Chevy. I took it in practice on exit, overshooting Turn 1. You know where they’re at and in 12 you have to go around the loop there, and there is around the pole. Just wanted to not get hit and merged back on where I merged.”

TY DILLON, NO. 42 FERRIS CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 34th 

You got majorly surprised it looked like. What did you feel? 

“All I saw was a blue flash and that’s about the hardest I’ve been hit by anything. First, I’m just grateful to God that I’m OK and these cars are safe enough to take a shot like that.

We were having a good run with our No. 42 Ferris Camaro ZL1 and I was just blindsided, really. I’m all good. It’s been a tough year, but I’m never going to quit. We’re going to keep getting better. We’ve been running good, just things are happening. You’ll have days like that, you’ll have times like that. You just never give up and go onto the next one.”

TEAM CHEVY RACE QUICK NOTES

Stage One:

·       Tyler Reddick – the series’ most recent road course winner – captured his second career NASCAR Cup Series pole win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. 

·       Reddick led the first 12 laps of the 15-lap Stage One, with Crew Chief Randall Burnett bringing the No. 8 3CHI Camaro ZL1 down pit road for their first scheduled stop with three laps to go in the stage. 

·       William Byron led Chevrolet to the end of Stage One in the third position. Team Chevy Stage One Top-10 Results: 

3rd      William Byron, No. 24 Acronis Camaro ZL1

5th      Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1

7th      Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1

Stage Two: 

·       The 20-lap Stage Two saw three different lead changes, with pole sitter Tyler Reddick leading the second most laps (12) to that point of the race. 

·       Chase Elliott recorded his second top-five stage finish of the day in Stage Two, driving his No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1 to a fourth-place finish. 

·       Team Chevy Stage Two: Top-10 Results

4th      Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1

5th      Ty Dillon, No. 42 Ferris Camaro ZL1

9th      Erik Jones, No. 43 FOCUSfactor Camaro ZL1 

Post-Race Notes: 

Tyler Reddick goes back-to-back in NASCAR Cup Series road course wins, capturing his second NCS win of 2022 in the Verizon 200 at the Brickyard at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course.

• The win is Reddick’s second career victory in 96 NASCAR Cup Series starts. 
• Reddick is now the sixth repeat winner of 2022. 
• Reddick’s victory marks Chevrolet’s 10th-consecutive NASCAR Cup Series road course win since the manufacturer’s milestone 800th NCS win at Circuit of The Americas in May 2021.  
• With 22 NASCAR Cup Series races complete, the Camaro ZL1 now sits at a manufacturer-leading 13 wins this season. 
• The winningest brand in NASCAR, Chevrolet now has 827 all-time NASCAR Cup Series victories. 

NASCAR CUP SERIES

IMS ROAD COURSE

VERIZON 200 AT THE BRICKYARD

TEAM CHEVY RACE WINNER QUOTE & NOTES

JULY 31, 2022

Chevrolet’s 13th NCS Win of 2022; 10th-Consecutive Road Course Win

·       Tyler Reddick goes back-to-back in NASCAR Cup Series road course wins, capturing his second NCS win of 2022 in the Verizon 200 at the Brickyard at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course.

·       The win is Reddick’s second career victory in 96 NASCAR Cup Series starts. 

·       Reddick is now the sixth repeat winner of 2022. 

·       Reddick’s victory marks Chevrolet’s 10th-consecutive NASCAR Cup Series road course win since the manufacturer’s milestone 800th NCS win at Circuit of The Americas in May 2021.  

·       With 22 NASCAR Cup Series races complete, the Camaro ZL1 now sits at a manufacturer-leading 13 wins this season. 

·       The winningest brand in NASCAR, Chevrolet now has 827 all-time NASCAR Cup Series victories. 

TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 3CHI CAMARO ZL1, Race Winner Quick Quote:

Q. What a drive for Tyler Reddick today, the dominant driver here at Indy, his son Beau coming in for a hug, and the crew sprinting up pit road to get to Tyler to celebrate. Second win of the year for this race team and a win at Indianapolis. I’ve got to know your thoughts when you saw the 1; he went through the access road. Were you as shocked as everyone else to see him all of a sudden passing you for the lead?

TYLER REDDICK: “I was like, uh-oh. But that was a scenario that had been talked about. If you get bottled up, what do you do? Take the access road.

I couldn’t believe he got ahead of me. I was kind of waiting to see if he was going to have a penalty because I didn’t want to move him out of the way and make his race worse than what it was. Yeah, I was really surprised by that; but hey, we made it work. Hats off to Ross (Chastain) for trying to do that, but really glad it didn’t end up working out because I’d have been pretty pissed off.”

Q. You made the announcement you’re moving from RCR. How did this team rally to get back to this point where you could come together and win races again?

TYLER REDDICK: “Well, we just know what we’re capable of, and we did that at Road America. Certainly it was a little bump in the road, but we went out and won a race fair and square a couple weeks ago. And if we change nothing, we keep working really, really hard, we find a way back to Victory Lane.

Just really glad to be able to do it here in Indianapolis. This is one really special place to race, and really excited to kiss the bricks here in a little bit and really excited we got 3CHI their win in their hometown.”

Harrison out of Last Chance race to finish fourth, Weisser goes 14th-to-fifth

FAIRBURY, IL – July 30, 2022 – From Summit Modified races, the FALS Super Nationals, to the FALS Cup points championship, Mike McKinney had won just about every marquee DIRTcar UMP Modified race on the Fairbury Speedway schedule, except one. The Prairie Dirt Classic had evaded his grasp throughout his career, but now, it’s finally his.

“I wanted it more than anybody here, I can promise you that,” McKinney said. “It doesn’t matter who we beat, I just wanted to win this race. I’m glad it’s on our list now.”

Though his determination seemed unmatched, McKinney was forced to fend-off another driver with equal drive to win Saturday night – the newly crowned five-time DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals champion, Nick Hoffman.

The two waged a war of epic proportions throughout the final 15 laps of the 40-lap main event, swapping the lead twice in that span and bringing the crowd to the feet as they zoomed around the quarter-mile oval.

In the end, Hoffman came up just one spot short. For the second time this season, McKinney had gotten the best of the winningest Summit Modified driver.

“Mike just hit six perfect laps to beat me,” Hoffman said. “He did a great job.”

Their lane choices acted as weapons in their bullring battle for $5,000 – McKinney firing on the high side, right against the wall, while Hoffman swung down low, hugging the extreme bottom lane.

Hoffman had to drive from 11th on the starting grid after a rough Qualifying result on Friday set him back in his Showdown Feature. But with 15-to-go, Hoffman had just made the pass for second and was coming after leader McKinney.

Caution was displayed just two laps later, erasing McKinney’s half-second lead and putting Hoffman right on his bumper for the restart. The green dropped and Hoffman immediately challenged McKinney to his inside, taking the lead for the first time on Lap 28.

“Up until about 15-to-go, I thought I was gonna finish fifth in that race,” Hoffman said. “I just couldn’t get breaks and didn’t feel great in the car either. But some lanes opened-up and I was able to get to the lead.”

Hoffman led through Lap 34, when the caution was displayed for the final time. Though Hoffman got a great jump on the restart, McKinney hit his marks on the cushion, reeling the leader in and making the pass back for the lead with four-to-go.

“The harder I was running, the better it actually got,” McKinney said. “We had that last restart with six-to-go, and it took me a couple laps to get into a rhythm and get wound-up. Finally, I was able to shoot the gun and drive back by [Hoffman].”

Hoffman gave it everything he had on the bottom in the final laps to close on McKinney, but it proved fruitless. McKinney rounded Turn 4 for the final time and beat Hoffman to the line by .361 seconds to score a dramatic victory in the 32nd annual Prairie Dirt Classic.

“Getting out of the car and seeing all those people, it’s exactly what I thought it would be,” McKinney said. “It feels damn good.”

Though Mike got the biggest slice of Victory Lane glory, his father and crew chief David shared a part in the shining moment as well. The two took on a brand-new gameplan and joined the new Longhorn Chassis Modified program for the start of the 2021 season, putting in a ton of time and energy into learning how to master the new car. Though it wasn’t easy at first, David has helped accelerate Mike’s learning curve with the setup help, and together, they’ve finally bagged one of Fairbury’s most prestigious events.

“Sometimes I nail it and he can drive it with one hand,” David said. “Sometimes I miss it and he says, ‘I’ll make up for it.’

“How good is it for father and son to spend time together and race. I wouldn’t do it with anybody else, and he’s the same way.”

Though it doesn’t happen often in Summit Modified competition, Hoffman conceded to McKinney for the second time this season. He was bested by McKinney a few weeks earlier at Shadyhill Speedway in Indiana, and this time around, just didn’t feel as comfortable as he normally does out front at Fairbury.

“I just felt terrible everywhere in Turns 3-4,” Hoffman said. “I ran the bottom most of the race, but I tried the middle with a couple guys and just couldn’t make any speed off of 4. Normally, I feel like I get from Turn 4 to the flag stand better than anybody. I just didn’t feel that way tonight.”

Outside of the top-two, Tyler Nicely came home third after running up front all night. Six-time Summit Modified champ Mike Harrison came all the way out of a Last Chance Showdown event (17th on the Feature starting grid) to finish fourth, while Allen Weisser charged from 14th to round-out the top-five.

ABBREVIATED RESULTS (view full results)

Feature 40 Laps | 00:33:14.718

1. 96M-Mike McKinney[2]; 2. 2-Nick Hoffman[11]; 3. 25-Tyler Nicely[3]; 4. 24H-Mike Harrison[17]; 5. 25W-Allen Weisser[14]; 6. 45-Chase Holland[6]; 7. 22-Josh Harris[9]; 8. 8-Kyle Steffens[10]; 9. 12H-Jason Hughes[16]; 10. 777-Trevor Neville[24]; 11. 8A-Austin Holcombe[7]; 12. 28M-Frank Marshall[1]; 13. 5-Steven Brooks[18]; 14. 37-Michael Ledford[22]; 15. 35W- Ethan Weber[12]; 16. 88S-Alan Stipp[23]; 17. 21D-Danny Schwartz[5]; 18. 5CS-Curt Spalding[19]; 19. 18L-Michael Long[4]; 20. 54-Zachary Hawk[21]; 21. 130-Chase Allen[13]; 22. 1S-Brian Shaw[8]; 23. 00-Ethan Dotson[20]; 24. 8K-Levi Kissinger[15]

The New Berlin, IL driver led all 100 laps to earn $100,000 between winnings and lap money

FAIRBURY, IL – JULY 30, 2022 – Brandon Sheppard knew less than 10 laps into Saturday’s Prairie Dirt Classic his ability to read Fairbury’s surface would pay off well. And pay off big.

As the New Berlin, IL driver saw a cushion building on the track’s high banks, he felt right at home. 

The reigning World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Model Series champion used his experience at the Illinois track to quickly take the lead—one he wouldn’t relinquish en route to his third Prairie Dirt Classic win, along with a $100,000 overall payday.

While he never relinquished the lead, “Rocket Shepp” didn’t go unchallenged. Fellow Illinois competitor Bobby Pierce chased Sheppard for more than 20 laps, trying to slide past the former champion and grab his first win in the prestigious event.  

As Pierce gained momentum, heartbreak struck the Oakwood, IL driver. A brake issue sidelined Pierce to a 19th-place finish. 

From there, Sheppard cruised to victory despite surviving several late-race restarts. He was grateful to lead all 100 laps as he dealt with changing track conditions throughout the race.

“With all that track prep and stuff, and the way that they did it, I felt like the cushion would be there,” Sheppard said. “The bottom was still pretty hard. It was wet down there, but I didn’t feel like it was going to keep up with the cushion if I could run it right. 

“It was definitely tricky. It was rough around there after they tilled it, like a rut all the way around about a car lane off the top. It was tricky, and the transition from blowing the cushion over top of that, it was definitely tricky. I was about to turn over a couple of times, I thought, but it paid off, it was a crazy race, and we were very fortunate to lead all of the laps.”

Sheppard’s third Prairie Dirt Classic win earned him and Rocket1 Racing $100,000 after he grabbed the $50,000 check for the win and the $500 bonus per lap led – which for him was all 100.

He also adds his name to a list of Illinois legends who have won the event three times. Sheppard joins Shannon Babb and Bob Pierce as the only Prairie State drivers to win the event more than twice. 

“It honestly means the world to me to win this race,” Sheppard said. “This place is like home for me. All the fans, and the people, and the atmosphere is electric. They’ve taken me in like it’s home, and it’s two hours away from the house, but it’s definitely turned into my favorite track.”

Sheppard’s Prairie Dirt Classic win is his 80th career World of Outlaws CASE Late Model victory—and third of the 2022 season. 

Mike Marlar crossed the line second, his fifth straight top five in World of Outlaws competition.

The 2018 Series champion felt he was close to grabbing the win but didn’t have enough to get by Sheppard. 

“Coming into this weekend, we had a little bit of a streak there, but I was like, ‘Dude, there’s 81 cars at this little bullring, and that’s asking a lot to come out of here with a good finish,’” Marlar said. “Not only did we have a good finish, we had a shot lots of times at [Sheppard], he just didn’t do anything wrong, and I needed just a little bit to pass him, but we were really close.”

Tanner English, the World of Outlaws Rookie of the race, crossed the line third for his second podium finish of the season. 

The Benton, KY driver was resilient after dropping back to 10th in the first 50 laps. 

“I fell back to about 10th there early on, and I just kind of waited around and just tried to hit my marks and go where they weren’t, and the car kept getting better,” English said. “I kind of stalled out there with about 50 to go, and we just kind of rolled there and caught people when they made mistakes.”

English moved into second in the World of Outlaws CASE Late Models points standings and now leads in the race for Rookie of the Year—two points ahead of Max Blair, who finished eighth. 

Tyler Erb finished fourth after hovering in the top five for most of the race. The New Waverly, TX driver stated he was happy with his performance overall. 

“I didn’t want to kill my stuff at the drop of the green, so I just tried to maintain as long as I could,” Erb said. “When Bobby [Pierce] passed me, it was kind of the sign that I needed to move up and maintain his pace. He got to [Sheppard] really quick, and I was like, man, if there’s still 70 laps left, or 40 or whatever, if I could just ride with him until the last 20 or 30, I could give myself a chance.”

Ryan Gustin rounded out the top five. The Marshalltown, IA driver used a different line than he’s used to, as he rolled the bottom patiently throughout the race. 

“We’ve been doing some different things to the car where it’s a lot easier to driver here lately,” Gustin said. “You don’t have to go up there and live and die by the cushion. I just tried to be patient there. I kind of wanted to go hard at the beginning to make sure I didn’t get put a lap down or anything like that.

“The track went through a lot of different changes tonight, and it kind went the bottom, middle, top, diamond line, slider line, it was all over the place, which makes for good racing for sure.”

Brandon Sheppard felt at home at Fairbury Speedway, scoring another Prairie Dirt Classic win. His experience at the track paid off well and paid off big.  

“It’s always racy, and my car’s really good here, and I have a good feel of this place,” Sheppard said. “It’s been good to me for sure.”

UP NEXT: The Most Powerful Late Models on the Planet return to Wisconsin for the $50,000-to-win USA Nationals Aug. 4-6 at Cedar Lake Speedway in New Richmond, WI.