BACK-2-BACK: David Gravel Dominates for Second-Straight Weedsport Win

Fifth Win of 2022 for Big Game Motorsports Closes Championship Gap to Sweet

WEEDSPORT, NY – July 30, 2022 – David Gravel and Big Game Motorsports are quickly becoming one of the hottest teams at the perfect time with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series.

The Watertown, CT native crushed the field on Saturday night at New York’s Weedsport Speedway, earning his second-straight win at the track as Empire State Challenge Weekend kicked off. The 30-year-old owned a monstrous 8.034-second lead at one point in what was arguably the most dominant performance of the 2022 season.

Starting from the outside pole, Gravel settled into second as Donny Schatz controlled the opening 12 laps of the 30-lap affair. He quickly made his presence felt in the Huset’s Speedway, Jackson Motorplex, Billion Automotive #2, pouncing on an overwhelmed #15 in lap traffic on the 13th circuit.

He cruised to the lead on Lap 13 and never looked back, ultimately surviving for a 2.970-second margin of victory following the final restart with three laps remaining. It’s his 74th career World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series win and his fifth of the season, with three of those coming within the last eight races over two and a half weeks.

The gap to Brad Sweet’s championship advantage dwindled from -54 to -46 points, but more importantly, Gravel and his Big Game crew are gaining some big momentum ahead of high-paying events like the Ironman 55 (Aug. 5-6), Knoxville Nationals (Aug. 10-13), Jackson Nationals (Aug. 18-20), Skagit Nationals (Sept. 1-3), and Gold Cup Race of Champions (Sept. 8-10).

“My guys gave me an unbelievable car,” Gravel said in Victory Lane. “That’s probably the best car I’ve had all season and it came at one of the toughest tracks we race at. Cody [Jacobs], Trey [Bowman], and Zach [Patterson] are busting their butts right now. We had a little time off to regroup and it’s paying off. After feeling so stale and average there for a long time, it feels good to be in the contention almost every night again.”

Scoring his 10th podium finish of the season was 10-time Series champion Donny Schatz with a runner-up effort. The Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing, Ford Performance, Carquest Auto Parts #15 led the opening 12 laps from the outside pole, but lap traffic was the final straw that let Gravel slip by the Fargo, ND native. He settled for a P2 finish, extending his stretch of stellar finishes at the Weedsport, NY oval.

“I don’t know if we were gonna get by him, I think he was in another league,” Schatz said on the final caution. “I felt decent at the start but kept losing and losing him once he got me in traffic. That yellow gave us an opportunity, but there was nothing to capitalize on. I need to figure out how to get the grip at the end of races, we used to be able to do that but it’s a different day and tires are different.”

Continuing his magical stretch of home state performances against the World of Outlaws was Paulie Colagiovanni with a third-place effort. The Cicero, NY native was a close runner-up finisher at Ransomville last year and finished third at Weedsport on Saturday, earning his second podium finish in his seventh-career start. The potential is most certainly there for the #10 pilot to threaten for his first-career Series win on Sunday night.

“This one has been circled on the calendar all year long and I’ve been thinking about it all week,” Colagiovanni told a thrilled New York crowd. “We struggled with our setup earlier this season when we ran against them at Volusia, but we’re hooked up now. I think we can provide some stiff competition for these Outlaws tomorrow night.”

Rounding out the top-10 at Weedsport on Saturday night was Brad Sweet, Jacob Allen, Carson Macedo, Larry Wight, Spencer Bayston, James McFadden, and Danny Varin.

NOS NOTEBOOK (WEEDSPORT SPEEDWAY, 7/30/22)

David Gravel’s 74th career World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series win brings him two away from tying Brad Sweet for 11th on the All-Time Win List. His fifth win of the 2022 season ties him with Brent Marks for the third most on tour behind Sheldon Haudenschidl (8) and Carson Macedo (7).

Carson Macedo started the night in a familiar fashion by topping My Place Hotels Qualifying at 14.310 seconds around Weedsport Speedway. The Jason Johnson Racing #41 is up to eight QuickTime Awards this season, a Series best mark with the World of Outlaws in 2022.

NOS Energy Drink Heat Race wins went to Jacob Allen (43rd career), Sheldon Haudenschild (77th career), and Donny Schatz (502nd career). David Gravel topped the DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash, earning his fourth pole position of the year. Brock Zearfoss won the Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown, becoming the 10th driver to win the LCS on multiple occasions in 2022.

“Lightning” Larry Wight of Paulie Colagiovanni earned KSE Hard Charger honors with a 17th-to-7th drive in the #99L. It’s his third World of Outlaws top-10 finish in only seven starts with the Series.

UP NEXT (Sun) – The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series prepares to make its only stop in The Empire State next weekend with a New York’s Weedsport Speedway hosting shows on Saturday and Sunday, July 30-31. Fans can BUY TICKETS HERE, or watch every lap LIVE on DIRTVision.

NOS Energy Drink Feature Results (30 Laps) – 1. 2-David Gravel [1][$10,000]; 2. 15-Donny Schatz [2][$5,500]; 3. 10-Paulie Colagiovanni [7][$3,200]; 4. 49-Brad Sweet [4][$2,600]; 5. 1A-Jacob Allen [6][$2,350]; 6. 41-Carson Macedo [5][$2,150]; 7. 99-Larry Wight [17][$2,100]; 8. 5-Spencer Bayston [15][$1,950]; 9. 83-James McFadden [9][$1,900]; 10. O1-Danny Varin [8][$1,850]; 11. 1S-Logan Schuchart [11][$1,400]; 12. 11K-Kraig Kinser [12][$1,200]; 13. 79-Jordan Thomas [10][$1,000]; 14. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [19][$950]; 15. 9-Kasey Kahne [13][$900]; 16. 5H-Chris Hile [18][$900]; 17. 20G-Noah Gass [14][$900]; 18. 7S-Robbie Price [23][$900]; 19. 2X-Dave Axton [21][$900]; 20. 98-Joe Trenca [20][$900]; 21. 28F-Davie Franek [16][$900]; 22. 88-Floyd Billington [24][$900]; 23. 7NY-Matt Farnham [22][$900]; 24. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [3][$900]. Lap Leaders: Donny Schatz 1-12; David Gravel 13-30. KSE Hard Charger Award:99-Larry Wight[+10]

NEW Championship Standings (After 44/77 Races) – 1. Brad Sweet (5,948); 2. David Gravel (-46); 3. Carson Macedo (-104); 4. Sheldon Haudenschild (-124); 5. Donny Schatz (-186); 6. Logan Schuchart (-192); 7. Spencer Bayston (-332); 8. James McFadden (-352); 9. Jacob Allen (-514); 10. Brock Zearfoss (-656).

BRITTANY FORCE PUTS FLAV-R-PAC DRAGSTER INNo. 1 SPOT SATURDAY AT NHRA NORTHWEST NATIONALS

KENT, Wash. (July 30, 2022) – Brittany Force and the Flav-R-Pac / Monster Energy Chevrolet dragster team secured their first No. 1 at Pacific Raceways during the Flav-R-Pac NHRA Northwest Nationals, their primary sponsor’s first title race. Austin Prock landed the Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist dragster in tenth while John Force and PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevy Camaro SS at No. 3 and Robert Hight and Automobile Club of Southern California are No. 5.
Brittany Force and the Flav-R-Pac dragster had a hard time getting off the line in their second qualifying try. Force is shut off almost immediately and coasts to a 12.566-second pass at 62.56 mph. The Top Fuel points leaders eliminated doubts of a wavering tune up in their final session laying down a stellar 3.753-second pass at 327.35 mph to jump from No. 13 to the No. 1 spot. It is her fifth No. 1 this season, first at Pacific Raceways and 37th of Force’s career. She’ll race against Jim Maroney in the first round of eliminations. 
“That was really important to be able to make a killer run and get this Flav-R-Pac dragster down the race track. We struggled Q1 and 2. In Q1 we got greedy and then in Q2 our automatic shut off malfunctioned. We went back, fixed the problem and had answers for both runs. Luckily on our third run we really laid it down. Very similar to last weekend in Sonoma, one run down in qualifying and then came out race day and got the job done,” Force said. “I wasn’t expecting that in the heat third run but Grubby said he wanted to push and get into the top. It was pretty outstanding for this Flav-R-Pac team.We ended up going No.1 at this Flav-R-Pac sponsored race so we think the boss is happy.”
The PEAK Chevy Camaro had to shut off early on its first pass of the day allowing John Force to cross the line at only 4.679-seconds at 174.39 mph. For third final qualifying pass at Pacific Raceways, Force would go 4.026 at 310.55. They stay No. 3 off their Friday night run of 4.001 at 311.92 to face Matt Hagan first round. 
“In the top of the qualifying ladder, good place to be for this PEAK Chevy,” Force said. “Brittany is over there in the Flav-R-Pac dragster landing it in the No. 1 spot at her sponsor’s race. Putting on a show for Frank Tiegs and all the Flav-R-Pac employees and customers we have here with us. Going to be a good day tomorrow trying to get this PEAK Funny Car in the winner’s circle.”
Robert Hight and the Auto Club Chevy team picked up their performance Saturday at the Flav-R-Pac NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways to jump into the No. 5 spot. On their first run on Saturday, the Auto Club Chevy had a clean solid 4.003-second pass at 231.24 mph that would earn them three bonus points for being quickest of the session and ultimately land their No. 5 qualifying spot. In the final qualifying session of the Northwest Nationals, Hight would handle the Auto Club Camaro to a 4.035 at 297.94. 
“My crew chiefs, Jimmy Prock and Chris Cunningham, they wanted to run 3.99 on that first run today and that just shows the kind of power we have in this combination. They’ve all worked really hard, all these Auto Club guys to get us where we are now,” said Hight who will run against Ron Capps first round. “Looking forward to tomorrow, going to take it one run at a time and get this Auto Club Chevy back in the winner’s circle.”
Austin Prock and the Montana Brand / RMT dragster don’t have a full pull but make a huge improvement in the second qualifying session going 4.034-seconds at 231.24 before clicking it off. Crew chiefs Joe Barlam and Rahn Tobler tuned the Montana Brand / RMT dragster to a a solid 3.870 at 312.21 to put Prock in the No. 10 spot to compete against Justin Ashley in the first round. 
“It was another day of learning for this Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist team. We’ve improved each session here at the Flav-R-Pac Northwest Nationals,” Prock said. “I feel confident that we will have a competitive car come race day tomorrow. Looking forward to going some rounds and finish this Western Swing out strong.”
NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series action at the Flav-R-Pac NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways continues with eliminations at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday. Television coverage of the event continues on FOX Sports 1 (FS1) with a second qualifying show Sunday at 2:30 p.m. ET. Eliminations will be aired on FOX Broadcasting Network Sunday at 4:00 p.m. ET.
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AUSTIN PROCK, 26, Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist DragsterQualifying:10th; 3.870-seconds; 312.21 mphBonus Qualifying Points:0BRITTANY FORCE, 36, Flav-R-Pac / Monster Energy DragsterQualifying:1st; 3.753-seconds; 327.35 mphBonus Qualifying Points: +3 (quickest Q3)JOHN FORCE, 73, PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet Camaro SSQualifying:3rd; 4.001-seconds; 311.92 mphBonus Qualifying Points: +1 (3rd quickest Q1)ROBERT HIGHT, 52, Auto Club of Southern California Chevy Camaro SSQualifying:5th; 4.003-seconds; 315.71 mphBonus Qualifying Points:+3 (quickest Q2)

TOYOTAS TAKE ALL TOP-10 QUALIFYING POSITIONS IN SEATTLE

Torrence and DeJoria Score Second-Fastest Spots in Pacific Northwest

KENT, Wash. (July 30, 2022) – All five Toyota Top Fuel dragsters qualified within the top-seven for Sunday’s NHRA event at Pacific Raceways in Washington. Steve Torrence claimed the number two qualifier slot followed by Doug Kalitta (fourth), Antron Brown (fifth), Shawn Langdon (sixth) and Justin Ashley (seventh).

In Funny Car, all three Toyota GR Supra Funny Cars also qualified in the top-eight with Alexis DeJoria claiming the number two qualifier position followed by J.R Todd (seventh) and Ron Capps (eighth).

Toyota Post-Qualifying Recap

NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series

Pacific Raceways

Race 13 of 22

TOYOTA TOP FUEL QUALIFYING POSITIONS

NameCarQualifying PositionFirst Round Opponent
Brittany Force*Flav-R-Pac Top Fuel Dragster1st (3.753)J. Maroney
Steve TorrenceCapco Contractors Toyota Top Fuel Dragster2ndR. Smith
Doug KalittaMac Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster4thA. Laughlin
Antron BrownMatco Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster5thL. Pruett
Shawn LangdonDHL Toyota Top Fuel Dragster6thM. Salinas
Justin AshleyPhillips Connect Toyota Top Fuel Dragster7thA. Prock

(*non-Toyota driver)

TOYOTA FUNNY CAR QUALIFYING POSITIONS

NameCarQualifying PositionFirst Round Opponent
Bob Tasca III*Ford Performance Funny Car1stG. Densham
Alexis DeJoriaBandero Tequila Toyota GR Supra Funny Car2ndJ. Campbell
J.R. ToddDHL Toyota GR Supra Funny Car7thB. Alexander
Ron CappsNAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota GR Supra Funny Car8thR. Hight

(*non-Toyota driver)

TOYOTA QUOTES

STEVE TORRENCE, Capco Contractors Toyota Top Fuel Dragster, Torrence Racing

TF Qualifying Result: 2nd

What were you talking with Shawn Langdon about following your Q2 run?

“We were talking about Super Comp stuff. This is what we do because we do it, but he (Shawn Langdon) races Super Comp and my old man is in Topeka. I think it may have pushed a head gasket out. We were running pretty good down through there and then we were just bantering back and forth. He said I took him at the line by two or three hundredths, but he’s way better at that stuff than I am. I’m just holding on trying not to run over anything or anybody.”

SHAWN LANGDON, DHL Toyota Top Fuel Dragster, Kalitta Motorsports

TF Qualifying Result: 6th

Do you feel your car has been waking up in recent weeks and this weekend in Seattle?

“They’ve been doing a good job and with the heat up here, we’re just trying to make good runs down the track. Made a good run on Friday and that’s where we’ve been struggling a little bit and getting behind the eight ball. This DHL team did a great job getting good runs yesterday and today.”

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

TF Qualifying Result: 7th

How do you feel about the weather conditions for tomorrow’s race and your performance?

“Right now it’s just about how strong this team has performed and in weather like this, it’s important to be consistent. To go up there as a driver and be comfortable in the race car and to go up there and run a 3.85 twice in a row really speaks volumes of this team. We’re excited and we’re looking forward to race day. We have a lot of folks from Phillips Connect here and all of our sponsors. It’s time for race day.”

ALEXIS DEJORIA, Bandero Tequila Toyota GR Supra Funny Car, DC Motorsports

FC Qualifying Result: 2nd

How important is this number two qualifier spot for tomorrow’s race?

“We’re definitely not in Sonoma anymore. It’s a hot track out here in Seattle, but a beautiful, beautiful place. Great fans. We qualified number two with our Bandero Toyota GR Supra and it carried through from Friday night and really happy about that. We got some bonus points Friday. We tried to step it up this last run, but just dropped a hole early and ended up smoking the tires at the top end. But hey, we’re back and we’re back in the top-three again and qualifying really well. We’ve got a great car and I’m excited to race tomorrow. I got to come out early and spend some time with the Seattle Seahawks and meet the head coach, Pete Carroll. I did fan girl a little bit because I’ve seen him win championships and that guy’s a badass. He’s about the same age as my dad and super healthy. Good luck to that team! That was a great opportunity – thanks to Toyota.”

How do you feel heading into the Countdown in a few weeks with your recent performance?

“The Countdown is coming up and this a great time for our team to get hot. You don’t want to peak too early and you don’t want to peak too late. It’s the right time right now. I believe we’ve solidified a good spot in the Pep Boys All-Star Callout and just feeling good. We’re excited about tomorrow and we’ll see what happens.”

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

FC Qualifying Result: 7th

Is this team making progress as we head towards the Countdown?

“Our back half numbers are right there at the top, we’re just giving up a lot early. We’re kind of experimenting here today with it being a light field so hopefully that gives us some momentum going into the later part of the season where we need to make it count. This DHL Toyota GR Supra definitely isn’t qualifying where we want it to be, but anything can happen. First round tomorrow is going to be in the morning so that will make things more interesting.”

###

About Toyota

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Toyota directly employs more than 48,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 43 million cars and trucks at our 13 manufacturing plants.  By 2025, Toyota’s 14th plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles.  With the more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, more than a quarter of the company’s 2021 North American sales were electrified.

Through the Start Your Impossible campaign, Toyota highlights the way it partners with community, civic, academic and governmental organizations to address our society’s most pressing mobility challenges. We believe that when people are free to move, anything is possible. For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.

Beach Wins Clash of Titans at 75th Peoria TT

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (July 30, 2022) – JD Beach (No. 95 Estenson Racing Yamaha MT-07 DT) solidified his claim as the leading TT rider in all of Progressive American Flat Trackby earning a second consecutive victory at the World Famous SC2 Peoria TT presented by Country Saloon on Saturday at the Peoria Motorcycle Club in Peoria, Illinois. While Beach ultimately went wire-to-wire to victory, the contest was in fact quite a tense affair with two-time Mission SuperTwins presented by S&S Cycle champion Briar Bauman (No. 3 Indian Motorcycle/Progressive Insurance FTR750) glued to Beach’s rear wheel pretty much throughout. A five-rider freight train formed at the start, with Beach holding the lead ahead of Jarod Vanderkooi (No. 20 Mission Roof Systems Indian FTR750), Bauman, Jared Mees (No. 1 Indian Motorcycle/Progressive Insurance FTR750), and Dallas Daniels (No. 32 Estenson Racing Yamaha MT-07 DT). Bauman was the first to slip past ‘VDK,’ blasting ahead as they exited the race’s opening corner, while Mees and Daniels would do the same over the next few minutes. Bauman only really showed Beach his front wheel on a single occasion. That said, he was perfectly positioned at nearly every moment to capitalize on any mistakes that might possibly befall Beach on the dry and notchy track. However, the Yamaha ace proved remarkably resilient under fire, especially considering he was still riding at less than 100% after hurting his ankle at the Mission Port Royal Half-Mile a couple weeks back. Beach took the checkered flag 0.492 seconds ahead of Bauman to improve his overall series TT record to five wins in his last six attempts. He said, “When I hurt my ankle at the last race, I couldn’t even walk to leave the track. Coming into Peoria, there are so many fast guys here, and I was sitting on my butt for two weeks. I just have to thank my family, who made sure I didn’t do anything because I’m not good at sitting around. “The whole Estenson team worked so hard. Today was a little hectic, but to get this win again here and get two in a row… To imagine Henry (Wiles) got 14 in a row here is just insane. It feels so good. I’m pumped.” The continuation of Bauman’s midseason surge further tightened the title fight. So too did Daniels’ third-place finish, a result that only came following a protracted battle with reigning champion Mees for the position. If not for his continued woes at leaving the starting line, the rookie might have had more of a say in the final outcome. Still, he had to be satisfied with standing on the box in his first premier-class race at his home track. Bauman is now just three points behind Mees (188-185), while Daniels is only another 13 points back. Beach, too, has new life, closing to within 30 points of Mees (159) after securing his second win of the season. The challenge of 14-time Peoria TT winner “King Henry” Wiles (No. 17 Willy Built/Lyndy Roofing Co. Kawasaki Ninja 650) never fully materialized. Wiles showed respectable speed throughout the day but faded back to ninth before making a late climb to an eventual sixth, finishing behind Vanderkooi in the Main. Brandon Robinson (No. 44 Mission Roof Systems Indian FTR750) came home in seventh, one spot ahead of Mission Production Twins Challenge entrant Jesse Janisch (No. 33 Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson XG750R), who executed a spirited climb up the order early before running out of steam. Ben Lowe (No. 25 Rackley Racing/Mission Foods Indian FTR750) and Bronson Bauman(No. 37 Latus Motors Racing Harley-Davidson XG750R) rounded out the top ten. Mission Production Twins presented by Vance & Hines Before he was a full-fledged Mission Production Twins presented by Vance & Hines title fighter, Jesse Janisch (No. 33 Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson XG750R) originally made his name as a Peoria TT expert. In fact, that reputation actually landed him last year’s opportunity to earn his current ride – a ride that subsequently launched him into championship contention. While he’s clearly grown beyond the specialist tag, Janisch proved yet again he’s one of the very best there is at the legendary venue. He was in full-on imperious form, winning the drag race to Turn 1 and promptly building up a sizable gap before even completing a single lap. Janisch’s fellow Semi winner, Johnny Lewis (No. 10 Moto Anatomy X Powered by Royal Enfield 650), was outflanked by Dan Bromley (No. 62 Vinson Construction/Viper Air Yamaha MT-07) in the first corner and then spent the next couple of minutes looking for a way back through. By the time Lewis retook second, Janisch already had more than two seconds in hand. That advantage only continued to stretch even when Lewis had clear air in front of him. Janisch ultimately piled on more than 14 seconds worth of padding before he wheelied his way down the front straight to a 12.192-second margin of victory. The triumph was Janisch’s fourth professional win at the circuit, the first three coming aboard single-cylinder machinery. Afterward, he said, “That was awesome. I’m so much more comfortable with the bike and team this year. Last year, I came here and was just trying to stay quiet and be polite and ride the thing. This year, we’re obviously working good with the team and making changes, trying to learn me and the bike better. The Vance & Hines guys are amazing.” The victory also provided Janisch a bit more breathing space in the championship fight. That said, defending class champion Cory Texter (No. 1 G&G Racing/Yamaha Racing Yamaha MT-07) did what he does so well, minimizing the damage on the days in which he’s at a disadvantage in order to fight back another day. Texter held Cole Zabala (No. 51 Memphis Shades/Corbin/Vinson Yamaha MT-07) at bay to finish fourth, crossing the line just over a second back of podium finishers Lewis and Bromley. As a result, Janisch now leads Texter 199-188 with seven races remaining to decide the back-and-forth championship battle. Parts Unlimited AFT Singles presented by KICKER The four-race win streak of Kody Kopp (No. 12 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 450 SX-FFE) finally came to an end, but even so, the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing win streak now stands at five.And that’s because Kopp’s teammate, Max Whale (No. 18 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 450 SX-FFE), finally collected his first victory of 2022 after leading the Parts Unlimited AFT Singles presented by KICKER class in Main Event victories with five a season ago. However, both KTM pilots found themselves behind Estenson Racing’s Trevor Brunner (No. 21 Estenson Racing Yamaha YZ450F) off the line. Whale struck first, railing up the inside of Brunner as they powered onto the front straight a minute-and-a-half into the contest. The Australian would then proceed to rip open a couple seconds at the front as Kopp desperately attempted to find a way through himself. Instead, he found himself victimized by the charging Morgen Mischler (No. 13 American Honda/Progressive Insurance CRF450R) and dropped to fourth as Whale continued to break away at the front. Mischler would eventually exploit a big bobble on Brunner’s part to slide into second with around a minute to go and then close rapidly on the leader. What once seemed to be a certain win became considerably less so, but Whale responded to Mischler’s late push to hold on for a 0.831-second win. While Whale was awarded last year’s win at Peoria, it only came due to a DQ ahead of him. So technically this was his second in succession at the famed race even if it felt like a first to him. He said, “It’s been a long seven weeks since (getting hurt at) the Red Mile. And to come back finally with a win… It feels like it’s been years since I won a race. That was so much fun. I found a line that worked early on and just stuck to it. It’s unreal to get a win at Peoria, and the crowd here is awesome. I’m stoked.” Mischer’s runner-up represented his first-ever TT podium and saw him narrow Kopp’s title advantage for the first time in five races (even if it still stands at two full races, 220-170). The podium was completed by Brunner, who ultimately kept Kopp corralled behind him for full race distance, which meant the title leader would equal his worst finish of the season in fourth. Rookie Chase Saathoff (No. 106 American Honda/Progressive Insurance CRF450R) pulled off a last-lap pass on Ferran Cardús (No. 377 Roof Systems of Dallas/Bullet Strong Racing Honda CRF450R) to edge the Spanish champion for fifth by 0.008 seconds at the flag. The SC2 Peoria TT presented by Country Saloon will premiere on FS1 on Sunday, August 7, at 11:30 a.m. ET/8:30 a.m. PT, including exclusive features, cutting-edge aerial drone and onboard footage, and expert commentary. Next Up: Progressive AFT will hit the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally for the second in a string of four consecutive race weekends with the Progressive Black Hills Half-Mile presented by Saddleman at Black Hills Speedway in Rapid City, South Dakota, on August 6. Visit https://store.americanflattrack.com/ebooking/ticket/view/id/3696/ to secure your tickets today. You can catch the livestream of all the weekend’s racing activities on FansChoice.tvFansChoice.tv provides free-to-view livestreaming of Practice and Qualifying. FansChoice.tvsubscribers will then be able to watch the drama unfold from Opening Ceremonies through the Semis, Main Events, and podium celebrations. FansChoice.tv offers two subscription options, granting unlimited access to premium AFT content. Monthly subscriptions start at just $7.99, while a six-month subscription is available for $44.99. For more information on Progressive AFT visit https://www.americanflattrack.com. To score the latest gear for the Progressive American Flat Track fan, visit our official merchandise store at https://store.americanflattrack.com

Late-Race Spin Spoils Solid Run by Sheldon Creed and the No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Team at Indianapolis

23rd15th13th
“This Richard Childress Racing team did a great job today. Our Whelen Chevrolet needed rear grip early in the race and my crew chief Jeff Stankiewicz made changes that really improved the handling. Our pit crew was really good all day long. We were in position to score another solid finish, a top-five or maybe even better, and just got turned around. It stinks but we’ll bounce back next week at Michigan.” 
-Sheldon Creed
Austin Hill and the No. 21 Bennett Transportation & Logistics / Ace Doran Chevrolet Team Tally Solid Top-10 Finish at Indianapolis
9th9th6th
“We had a solid day today in our Bennett Transportation & Logistics / Ace Doran Chevrolet. After practice and qualifying yesterday afternoon, we were feeling pretty confident. When we fired off, we struggled with rear lateral grip and it started coming to me at the end of Stage 1. We just continued to struggle with that for the entire race. My team made some adjustments that helped with the lateral in high speed corners as we got into Stage 2 but we just didn’t have the car to get all the way up front. I’m glad we were able to bring home a solid top 10. I’m looking forward to getting to Michigan next weekend.” -Austin Hill

Rossi Win Completes Honda Sweep of Indianapolis in 2022


Alexander Rossi leads a Honda 1-2 result at the Gallagher Grand Prix
Christian Lundgaard finishes second in best run of his rookie season
Today’s Honda win completes a sweep of all three NTT INDYCAR SERIES races this year at the Indianpolis Motor Speedway

SPEEDWAY, Ind. (July 30, 2022) – Alexander Rossi dominated the second half of today’s Gallagher Grand Prix on the road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, as the Andretti Autosport driver headed a 1-2 finish for Honda and completed a sweep of NTT INDYCAR SERIES races at the famed “Brickyard” in 2022. Rossi led a race-high 44 laps in the 85-lap contest to record his first win of 2022, and his eighth career victory.

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Christian Lundgaard completed the 1-2 Honda result today, his best result in his rookie Indy car season. Teammate Graham Rahal finish seventh in another strong outing. Colton Herta led 17 laps, setting up a possible 1-2-3 finish for Honda, but dropped out after 42 laps with an apparent transmission/driveline issue. Scott Dixon gained a dozen positions in the race to finish eighth, taking him to fourth in the series championship standings.

Gallagher Grand Prix Honda Race Results
1st Alexander Rossi Andretti Autosport Honda
2nd Christian Lundgaard-R Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
7th Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
8th Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
10th Alex Palou Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
11th Marcus Ericsson Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
14th David Malukas-R Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Honda
15th Takuma Sato Dale Coyne Racing with RWR Honda
16th Romain Grosjean Andretti Autosport Honda
18th Devlin DeFrancesco-R Andretti Autosport Honda
19th Helio Castroneves Meyer Shank Racing Honda
20th Jack Harvey Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
22nd Jimmie Johnson Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
24th Colton Herta Andretti Autosport Honda [did not finish – mechanical]
25th Simon Pagenaud Meyer Shank Racing Honda [did not finish – fuel]
R – Rookie

Quotes
Alexander Rossi (#27 Andretti Autosport Honda) race winner: “It’s been an amazing weekend, right from Practice 1, the car performance was there. Everything we had going for us, from the balance to the Honda power and driveability, we knew we had a car to win. It was just a matter of us going out there and doing it. I’m so thankful for the continual belief I’ve received from the whole Andretti Autosport organization this year, just an incredible weekend for us.”

Christian Lundgaard (#30 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda) Finished second, best INDYCAR result in his rookie season: “Honda one-two! It really should have been a one-two-three, but this feels amazing. It’s just awesome to be up here, to be on the podium at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway! I think the team just deserves every bit of this achievement and this performance. I’m just super happy for the team. For me, as a driver, of course I’m happy with this podium, but I think the team just deserves it so much after all their hard work. I’m just incredibly pleased.”

Wayne Gross (Manager of Trackside Support, Honda Performance Development) on today’s Honda victory on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course: “Congratulations to everyone at HPD, Andretti Autosport and of course Alexander Rossi. With Colton [Herta] and Alex, we won both Indy road course races here this year, plus the 500 with Marcus [Ericsson]. This has been a pretty special place for us this year! Thanks to everyone involved, and let’s keep pushing through the final quarter of the season.”

Fast Facts
Today’s results complete a sweep for Honda at NTT INDYCAR SERIES races at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2022.

Honda’s Colton Herta began the streak in May, as the Andretti Autosport driver bested the field despite constantly changing weather conditions and a wet/dry/wet track to win the GMR Grand Prix on May 14.

One week later, Dixon claimed pole for the 107th running of the Indianapolis 500, and his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Marcus Ericsson scored Honda’s 15th victory in the Memorial Day Weekend classic.

Next
The NTT INDYCAR SERIES now heads to the temporary street circuit Big Machine Music City Grand Prix in Nashville, Tennessee, and the conclusion of a run of five races on four consecutive race weekends.

Honda Racing social media content and video links from Indianapolis can be found on Instagram (www.instagram.com/hondaracing_hpd), Twitter (twitter.com/HondaRacing_HPD) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/HondaRacingHPD). Additional features and long-form videos can be found on the Honda Racing/HPD YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/HondaRacingHPDTV).

POWER PUTS CHEVY ON THE PODIUM AT INDY ROAD COURSE

CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES

GALLAGHER GRAND PRIX

INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA

TEAM CHEVY RACE RECAP & QUOTES

LEAVES INDIANA WITH NINE-POINT LEAD IN THE STANDINGS

INDIANAPOLIS

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA (July 30, 2022) – Will Power put his No. 12 Verizon 5G Team Penske Chevrolet on the podium for the Gallagher Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) Road Course. With the strong run to third, Power leaves with nine-point lead in the standings with four races remaining in the 2022 NTT INDYCAR Series Season. It is the 92nd career podium for Power.

Following close behind Power in the final order was teammate Scott McLaughlin driving the No. 2 Gallagher Insurance Chevrolet to finish in the fourth position. The second year Team Penske driver is seventh in the point standings.

Capturing the fifth spot in the final order is two-time Series’ champion Josef Newgarden, giving Chevrolet powered drivers three of the top-five finishing positions. Newgarden sits third in the standings. 

Rinus VeeKay, No. 21 Bitcoin Racing Team with BitNile, crossed under the double checkered flags in sixth position. Pole winner Felix Rosenqvist finished ninth in the No. 7 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet to give Team Chevy five of the top-nine in the finishing order. Alexander Rossi was the race winner and Christian Lundgaard completed the podium.

Chevrolet continues to lead the NTT INDYCAR Series Manufacturer standings 1086 points to 999.

Next on the calendar is the Music City Grand Prix on the Streets of Nashville on August 7, 2022 and will be broadcast on NBC 3:00 p.m. ET

WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 4TH, FINISHED 3RD:

TELL US HOW THIS DAY WENT AND WHAT MORE YOU MIGHT HAVE NEEDED? “Yeah man, it was a crazy start and some pretty questionable driving there at the beginning. It was a great recovery for us, and we kept out of trouble and then we were able to get to third. What a day.”

FOURTH TO THIRD SEEMS ROUTINE, BUT YOU WERE DOWN AS FAR AS 16TH: “It definitely was a rough start. I got pushed around in Turn One, I got pushed into Pato (O’Ward), which spun him. Then Helio (Castroneves) went for a big move and pushed me on the curb. It was a great recovery. You can never expect a normal day in INDYCAR!”

YOU HAD SOME COMMENTARY ABOUT THE DRIVING OF THOSE AROUND YOU AT THAT TIME. “It was just one of those things. Everyone is very aggressive. It’s so hard to win in this series. It’s the toughest series in the world, and everyone fights for position. You just have to keep it clean. Great job today by the Verizon 5G guys. It’s amazing that we can go all the way back there and recover to third, and thanks to Chevy for such great fuel mileage.”

YOU’RE LEADING THE CHAMPIONSHIP THROUGH YOUR CONSISTENCY. “That was the goal from the very beginning… to play the long game, and we’ve been doing that. We’re doing what we know, and that’s what I’ve been doing. I know this game so well, and I know it can change very quickly. But you take what you can get every day and every race.”

SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN, NO. 3 GALLAGHER INSURANCE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 15TH, FINISHED 4TH:

“It was as good as we could have hoped. P4 after qualifying 15th, with a great start and we were able to press on and get going. Very proud because Team Chevy gave us great fuel mileage and we were able to just control it to the end.”

I’m pretty pumped. We needed one of those. To get from 15th to fourth in the Gallagher Chevy in the Gallagher Grand Prix was fantastic. The car was good. I was pumped. I was trying to push this guy (teammate Will Power)… I was like, ‘C’mon, let’s go!’ I had a bit of a blister on my right-front but he controlled it really well. We just missed out on the podium but a top-five was a great day for us.”

JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 2 PPG TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 5TH, FINISHED 5TH“Good day for our PPG Team Penske Chevrolet. I am just glad to be back out there on the track and get this race under my belt. We were able to come away with a solid top-five finish and make up some points, which is a pretty solid day. We had great strategy and Team Chevy brought some great power today, which allowed us to stay up front. Overall, a really good day for our PPG team.”

RINUS VEEKAY, BITCOIN RACING TEAM WITH BITNILE, QUALIFIED 8TH, FINISHED 6TH: “Pretty happy actually. Got in the mess at the start with everyone where I think Pato (O’Ward) spun to the inside, which you don’t see that often. It was a bummer because I think I chose the wrong side and lost some positions there. I think I went from like sixth or seventh to 13th or 14th. So, that didn’t really help but for the rest of the race, good pace. Again, not much luck at the yellow with me pitting just before. That would have brought me much more of an advantage if it didn’t go yellow. I’m pretty happy, because that is stuff we cannot control that didn’t go our way. But everything we could control was great.”

FELIX ROSENQVIST, NO. 7 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET, QUALIFED POLE, FINISHED 9TH:

“Today was a tough race. I gave it everything. The first stint on blacks was pretty poor; good in the beginning and then we started losing ground. I feel like the car felt good, but we just didn’t have any pace so we just kept losing positions. The Andretti cars just left us in the distance.

“We started out in like P12 or P13 after the first sequence and from there on there was nothing really happening as we were just doing the same lap times as others on the reds. The car felt good, but I think we had some issue like a dragging brake as we kept losing ground on the straights and it felt a bit abnormal so we will have to look into that.

“We have to nail the details on days like this, and it seems like today we didn’t. To come away with P9, though, were were able to collect some good points. We’ll have a look at everything and go to Nashville.”

PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED , FINISHED 12TH:

“What looked to be like it was going to be a good day, turned out to be really tough for both cars. I got hit during the start which damaged the car and I kind of had to nurse it until the end. We basically went all the way to last place and had to shift strategy-wise. The car wasn’t far off, but this wasn’t a good race for us today.”

CALLUM ILOTT, NO. 77 JUNCOS HOLLINGER CHEVROLET, JUNCOS HOLLINGER RACING , QUALIFIED 19TH, FINISHED 14TH: “It was quite a tough race. We ended up 14thh and ran out of fuel over the line so I lost one position. It was tough, especially in the first half. When the track was low-grip, it was taking awhile to get the car to work, and I was struggling to get past other cars. We had good pace in clean air but I was always stuck behind someone. Once we ended up getting some free air in that last stint-and-a-half. The pace was quite strong, actually. We were catching Pato (O’Ward) but then I had to go into fuel-saving mode… eco-friendly and tried to save it. It was a bit unfortunate. I almost caught him but then almost didn’t finish. But it was a great result to end with. We needed to find a bit of pace earlier in the weekend. We struggled for pace when it was low-grip conditions. Overall I’m happy with P14 from P19. It wasn’t too bad.”

CONNOR DALY, NO. 20 BITNILE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 10TH, FINISHED 17TH:

 “I made a mistake today in pits, stalling the car. The team gave me a really great car, it was really fast. I can admit when I make a mistake and it was a real shame. We will try to bounce back next week. I am thankful the car was fast as it was.”

DALTON KELLETT, NO. 4 K-LINE CHEVROLET, AJ FOYT RACING, QUALIFIED FINISHED 21ST: “We moved up in the race with the No. 4 K-Line car, so that was good not to finish where we started because we were toward the back after a tough qualifying. We made improvements to the car from the start of the weekend, figured a few things out and was able to collect some spots. It was a decent race overall for us. We’re making some progress on our road-course car. We’re trying to work on showing up for these races and knowing where we need to be in that window. We head to Nashville next weekend and I’m really excited. It was a fun track last year and it will be a fun party in Country Music Town. It should be a lot of fun.”

KYLE KIRKWOOD, NO. 14 SEXTON PROPERTIES CHEVROLET, AJ FOYT RACING – FINISHED 23RD: “It was actually a fun race; we were just on the wrong strategy. We started off on the red tires, which didn’t work out for anyone except Scott McLaughlin and he went long on them. We just didn’t really have the pace on the black tires. From there we went to an old set of reds because it was all we had left. We were the only ones to use reds in practice. We got hit in Turn Nine… that ultimately gave us too much damage to have any pace for the rest of the race. It ultimately put us a lap down with an extra pit stop due to an issue with the rear-right tire from that incident. It was an unfortunate day, but we made improvements this weekend. We’ll take the positives from it, and that was definitely one of them. We’ll go on to Nashville and another street course. Fingers crossed we’ll be good there.”

PRESS CONFERENCE INTERVIEW WITH WILL POWER:

THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon, everyone. Wrapping up the Gallagher Grand Prix here at the world famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course. We are joined by the now-once-again points leader in the NTT INDYCAR Series, Will Power, driver of the Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, his 92nd career podium today, which ties him with Dario Franchitti for seventh all time, seventh podium of the season and retakes the points lead and now has a nine-point advantage over Marcus Ericsson.

Congratulations on another podium. You got the points lead again. You’ve got to feel pretty good coming out of here.

WILL POWER: Yeah, I do, yeah. Considering the start of the race, yep, great recovery, man. Great recovery. It’s amazing some of the runs we’ve had this year. But yep, just kept my head and did what I could in the situation. I had to get a big fuel number and go as fast as I can.

Very good day. Good day for the team all around.

THE MODERATOR: Outside of Iowa and here, I know you were begging for starts of races up front because it didn’t happen there for a while where you didn’t have to make up big ground like you did at Mid-Ohio, and so far so good the last three races.

WILL POWER: Yeah, that’s right. It’s always hard starting fourth or the outside row at this track. You get — I don’t know, you get freight trained. So it’s tough going into 1. We didn’t make the most of that, but we definitely made the most of the rest of the race.

THE MODERATOR: Final restart and all that, at least towards the end, did you have anything for Rossi?

WILL POWER: No, not with the fuel number I had to get. I had to get a big fuel number because we pitted five laps before everyone.

THE MODERATOR: And played catch-up a little bit after that because of chasing the fuel?

WILL POWER: Yeah, pretty much all the way to the end we were on a number that was definitely holding us back. We had definitely a lot of pace in hand.

THE MODERATOR: We welcome all of you joining us on Zoom. We’ll get to your questions in a matter of moments. Let’s begin with questions in person.

Q. Will, you kind of said you made what you had today and you referenced in your post-race interview that you’ve been playing the long game all season. Are you pleased with where the long game has gotten you with four races to go?

WILL POWER: Yeah, definitely. It’s not necessarily the long game, it’s just that sort of attitude switch where you know these races are long, the season is long, and you’ve got to make the most of every situation, even if you’re fighting for like 12th. If that’s your day to finish 12th, well, finish 12th, not 24th.

Yeah, it’s certainly working very well.

Q. You also kind of referenced outside that there’s a point at which it switches now in the last four races. Did you have to sort of race points for a week or two here now? How do you look at the rest of the way?

WILL POWER: That totally depends on the situation, how you qualify, who’s in front of you, where you’re running, and where the guys that you are fighting or you believe will be the people or the drivers that you have to fight at the end. It becomes a little more obvious with three to go.

The next couple races you’ve got to know, okay, this is definitely the lead guys that we’re racing. We’ve got to cover them on strategies and such.

Yeah, it’s still not completely clear. A lot of guys still clustered up — I think there’s probably still five guys are out in the game, so still a long way to go.

Q. Otto told us Thursday that he feels like it’s going to go down to Laguna obviously but with five guys. Do you expect the same thing? Are you keeping your eye on anybody in particular or do you feel like it’s going to be five guys all the way to the end?

WILL POWER: I mean, that’s impossible to predict, but it’s still pretty close right now. It will always — it feels like it’s always going to go down to the last race. I expect to be having a fight at Laguna. Yeah, we’ll see how it plays out. Impossible to predict in this series. There’s just too many fast guys, good teams, good drivers, everything. It’s just try and pick a winner each week and try and pick a pole sitter. Impossible.

THE MODERATOR: Just 46 points separating the top 5 right now as an illustration of how tight it is.

Q. It’s been a while since you’ve been this deep into the season as the points leader. It happened a lot early in your career. Do you think that experience is beneficial to you to know what it takes to get through the day-to-day pressure that’s going to come with that?

WILL POWER: Absolutely. So different to what it was back then. Just know the game so well. Mentally just miles ahead mentally in every respect than I was back then.

Yeah, just a tremendous amount of experience in this series.

Q. Also, I hate to use the term “wild card,” but because of its unpredictable nature, do you see next week’s race at Nashville as being one of the ones that could cause somebody to go over the cliff?

WILL POWER: Yeah, I hope no one does go over the bridge (laughter), but it could be like Toronto where it could be an absolute crazy race, but it could also be very green. You just can’t predict. You don’t know. We don’t know.

Obviously last year, yeah, with track blockages, this sort of thing, it was pretty crazy, but sometimes a race gets into a flow and it goes. But honestly I think if it goes yellow, it’s going to breed more yellows for sure. That’s when people go for the big moves.

Yeah, we’ll see what happens.

Q. What was it like racing behind the Great Dane today?

WILL POWER: I could only see him as a dot in the distance. He took off. He was too fast.

 Q. Will, you and Pato and Sato both pitted underneath the first yellow. You’re here in third, Pato finished 12th and Sato was 15th. What was the major differentiator? Was it tire strategy or something else that worked well for you?

WILL POWER: I think it was our pace on the fuel mileage we had to get. Definitely we were able to make some hay just getting big numbers that we had to get. We had a great car. Car was really fast. Yeah.

Q. It seems like something wild happens to you pretty much every other race this season, whether it be qualifying or in the race, and you were able to bounce back from that so well. Just wondered if it’s kind of crept into your mind yet that you feel like the favorite in the championship based off that because you’re able to come back from some of these crazy situations?

WILL POWER: Yeah, I mean, to this point we’ve had a fantastic year, obviously leading the points right now. Just got to keep doing what I’m doing. I know the game so well, been in it so long. We have great potential to win the championship, but there’s four other guys that also do. It’s going to be hard fought to the end.

I’m enjoying it. I really am.

Q. Will, a couple laps in when you’re in 16th, what’s going through your mind? What’s your approach in a situation like that?

WILL POWER: Well, at that point you’re starting to think of what can we do, if there’s an alternate strategy, then the yellow comes and you’re like absolutely, all right, I think the guys understand, and we talked about it before the race, like we’ll pit, and try and make it on two more stops from there. Yeah, big fuel number, and that was a great call.

Yeah, never got upset or — just yep, that’s what it is. That’s how it rolls in this series. Just kept going.

Q. Obviously you knew you had a chance to take over first place in the standings; is that something on your mind during the race? Is that something you try not to think about? What’s your perspective on that?

WILL POWER: You’re just focusing on the race. You are aware of championship contenders if you’re around one or you do understand if there’s one — somebody racing behind you that you’re competing for the championship, you’ll definitely do your absolute best to keep him behind, but if it’s someone else, you’ve got to save big fuel, you might not fight him as hard.

Q. Will, you talked a while ago about seeing a dot in front of you, ahead of you, as opposed to maybe getting up on somebody’s tailpipe. When did that settle into your brain that third was going to be the best you could do today? How do you actually settle that into your brain?

WILL POWER: Well, when it all reset and all those guys pit, I had to pit before it went yellow. When we reset, it was, okay, we don’t have to get as big a fuel number now, and we’re P3, so if I can finish P3, that’s a great day.

Q. Will, this maturation process, you’re more settled, you keep talking about experience. How much of that is on the track and also off the track? Beau is getting a little older, the family man thing —

WILL POWER: Yeah, it is on both sides. It simply feels like the older you get, the more relaxed you get, just understand how life is. Life is not easy, it doesn’t flow that way like you expect when you’re younger that everything should just go right, but it simply just never does. That’s just the way it is. You get more relaxed about that.

Q. Do you enjoy moments like this a little bit more as you get older?

WILL POWER: Oh, yeah, yeah, I’m loving the racing. It’s a privilege to feel nervous before a race because there’s going to be a time that you don’t get to do that for decades. Some people never get to do that.

Q. You get to go into full dad mode.

WILL POWER: Yeah, exactly.

Burton Qualifies 13th at Indianapolis


July 30, 2022


Harrison Burton and No. 21 DEX Imaging team earned their best road-course starting spot of the season with a 13th-place effort on Saturday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Burton took that berth with a lap at 98.418 miles per hour around the 14-turn, 2.439-mile course inside the Speedway.

His speed in qualifying represented an increase from the practice session earlier in the day when he posted a best lap of 97.608 mph on the 10th of the 12 laps he ran in the session.

He was sixth fastest among drivers who ran 10 consecutive laps. His average speed from Laps 2-11 was 96.387 mph.

Sunday’s 82-lap Verizon 200 at the Brickyard is set to get the green flag just after 2:30 p.m., with TV coverage on NBC.

Stage breaks are set for Laps 15 and 35.


 

###

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.



Wood Brothers Racing
Wood Brothers Racing was formedin 1950 in Stuart, Va., by Hall of Famer Glenn Wood. Wood Brothers Racing is the oldest active team and one of the winningest teams in NASCAR history. Since its founding, the team won 99 races (including at least one race in every decade for the last seven decades) and 120 poles in NASCAR’s top-tier series. Fielding only Ford products for its entire history, the Wood Brothers own the longest association of any motorsports team with a single manufacturer. Glenn’s brother, Leonard, is known for inventing the modern pit stop. The team currently runs the Ford Mustang driven by Harrison Burton in the famous No. 21 racer.

NASCAR CUP SERIES IMS ROAD COURSE VERIZON 200 AT THE BRICKYARD TEAM CHEVY POLE WINNER





TYLER REDDICK TO LEAD THE FIELD TO THE GREEN IN INDIANAPOLISFifth NCS Pole Win of 2022 for Camaro ZL1
 ·       Tyler Reddick clocked-in a lap of 88.354 seconds, at 99.378 mph, to capture the pole position for tomorrow’s Verizon 200 at the Brickyard at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course.
·       This marks Reddick’s second career NASCAR Cup Series pole, both of which have been captured on a road course.
·       Reddick’s pole gives Chevrolet its fifth NASCAR Cup Series pole win of 2022; and 728th all-time in NASCAR Cup Series history. 
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (July 30, 2022) – The last time the NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) turned laps on a road course circuit, Tyler Reddick drove his No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Camaro ZL1 to victory lane for the first time in his NCS career (Road America, July 2022). Today, the 26-year-old California native picked up right where he left off, capturing the pole for tomorrow’s Verizon 200 at the Brickyard at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course. Reddick laid down a lap of 88.354 seconds, at 99.378 mph, in his No. 8 3CHI Camaro ZL1 to capture his second career pole win in NASCAR’s premier series. Reddick’s pole winning lap was almost three tenths of a second faster than the second-fastest driver, proving the No. 8 3CHI Camaro ZL1 will be a strong contender to go back-to-back in road course wins.  “I could have done a better job, but it was really nice to know that we really did such a good job; everyone at RCR and the ECR power under this hood,” said Reddick. “Just this whole group on the No. 8 3CHI Chevrolet team did a really good job of preparing the last couple of weeks for this race.” Reddick’s pole win marked the fifth for the Camaro ZL1 in 2022; and a manufacturer-leading 728th all-time in NASCAR Cup Series history. The bowtie brand has proven to be a force to be reckoned with on road course circuits, with Chevrolet currently sitting at nine consecutive NCS road course victories. A streak that started with Chase Elliott’s victory at Circuit of The Americas in March 2021, six drivers from four different Chevrolet teams have added to the Chevrolet NCS road course win count and the manufacturer looks to take that number to double digits this weekend.    NBC will broadcast the NASCAR Cup Series Verizon 200 at the Brickyard at 2:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, July 31. Live coverage can also be found on the NBCSports Gold App and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. 
TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 3CHI CAMARO ZL1 – Press Conference Transcript:WALK US THROUGH YOUR FAST LAP OUT THERE? “Well, it certainly seemed like a pretty good lap, but definitely not a pole lap. Right away, we were hustling to cool the car down and cool the brakes down so we could re-run. But it ended up being a good enough lap and it stood up against the nine other competitors. I definitely had a little bit of concern missing it a little bit in turn four and just a little bit in the braking zone. 
I’m glad it was a good enough lap. Certainly you always try and run the perfect lap. We didn’t quite do that, but it was good enough to win the pole.”
YOU’RE COMING OFF YOUR FIRST NASCAR CUP SERIES VICTORY AT ROAD AMERICA AND NOW YOU’RE SITTING ON THE POLE HERE IN INDIANAPOLIS. HOW MUCH CONFIDENCE DOES THAT GIVE YOU KNOWING THAT YOU’VE WON AT A ROAD COURSE; WON A ROAD COURSE IN THIS CAR; AND YOU’RE SITTING ON THE POLE AT INDIANAPOLIS?“I certainly have a little bit more confidence. A lot of the confidence that myself and my whole team has comes from the work that we put in. The confidence that we have and displayed today comes from that, but certainly it’s good to know that we’re doing the right things and we’re on the right track. 
We’ll see how tomorrow goes. We’re going to have a really good pit stall selection and have the opportunity from the start to control the race. Hopefully we’ll be able to do that and keep it up front all day.” 

chevy racing–nascar–IMS road course–pole quote

NASCAR CUP SERIES

IMS ROAD COURSE

VERIZON 200 AT THE BRICKYARD

TEAM CHEVY POLE WINNER QUOTE

JULY 30, 2022

TYLER REDDICK TO LEAD THE FIELD TO THE GREEN AT INDIANAPOLIS

·       Tyler Reddick clocked-in a lap of 88.354 seconds, at 99.378 mph, to capture the pole position for tomorrow’s Verizon 200 at the Brickyard at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course. 

·       This marks Reddick’s second career NASCAR Cup Series pole, both of which have been captured on a road course. 

·       Reddick’s pole gives Chevrolet its fifth NASCAR Cup Series pole win of 2022; and 728th all-time in NASCAR Cup Series history.

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

TYLER REDDICK GETS HIS SECOND CAREER POLE WITH A MONSTER LAP THERE.. ALMOST THREE TENTHS FASTER THAN SECOND PLACE. DID IT FEEL THAT GOOD? WHERE DID THAT COME FROM? 

“It actually didn’t. It’s what really prompted me to want to re-run there, but it ended up being a good enough lap. I could have done a better job, but it was really nice to know that we really did such a good job; everyone at RCR and the ECR power under this hood. Just this whole group on the No. 8 3CHI Chevrolet team did a really good job of preparing the last couple of weeks for this race. It looks like we’re picking right back up where we left off at Road America.”

WE FOUR KINGS: Marshall, McKinney, Long and Nicely Win Modified PDC Showdowns at Fairbury

Top-4 drivers locked into Saturday’s main event, top-2 from those will redraw

FAIRBURY, IL – July 29, 2022 – Sixty-two answered the bell, and sixteen are now locked-in to the main event. The DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals portion of the 32nd Prairie Dirt Classic kicked off Friday night at Fairbury Speedway and contested four individual 20-lap Showdown Features, taking the top-four finishers from each into Saturday’s 40-lap, $5,000-to-win main event.

Any other driver not yet qualified for the Modified Prairie Dirt Classic Feature will compete in one of two Last Chance Showdown events on Saturday evening, from which the top-two finishers will transfer into the main event, followed by four provisional starters to make up the remainder of the 24-car field.

Saturday’s events begin with a round of Hot Laps, followed by the redraw for the top-2 transfers from each of the Showdown Features. Tickets are available at the gate, but if you can’t be there in person, watch all the action live on DIRTVision.

Showdown Feature #1 – Frank Marshall

In similar fashion to his Friday night victory in 2021, Frank Marshall bagged the win in the first Showdown Feature of the evening.

In short, Marshall was dominant, winning the caution-free 20-lapper unchallenged in nine minutes and fifteen seconds. He took off at the drop of the green and crossed the stripe with a gap of nearly eight seconds over runner-up Chase Holland.

Marshall, of Valparaiso, IN, put on a clinic in traffic, whizzing past the slower cars in multiple lanes at a blazing pace.

“I may have taken a few less chances had I known I had that lead,” Marshall said. “I didn’t realize I had that lead until I got back to the trailer; I thought that was Curt Spalding right next to me at the finish line, I thought I beat him by half a car.”

In his eyes, a smooth and hammer-down racetrack was just what he was looking for to bag his second career Summit Modified Feature win and get into the redraw on Saturday.

“We got a perfect racetrack as the first race out, smooth and tacky, a little bit slick at first then it tacked-up,” Marshall said. “Soft tires worked out nice, and everything fell into place.”

Showdown Feature 1 20 Laps | 00:09:15.603 | Summit Racing Equipment

1. 28M-Frank Marshall[1]; 2. 45-Chase Holland[4]; 3. 22-Josh Harris[3]; 4. 130-Chase Allen[7]; 5. 5CS-Curt Spalding[2]; 6. 777-Trevor Neville[5]; 7. 50-Tyler Weiss[8]; 8. 3-Mike Brooks[11]; 9. 28-Rodney Standerfer[9]; 10. 21-Lyndon Whitfill[6]; 11. 15-Chris Smith[12]; 12. 48-Adam Pockrus[10]; 13. 34T-Tanner Reed[13]; 14. 83-Kasey Schrock[14]; 15. 11S-Nick Seplak[15]; 16. 73-Mark Rhoades[16]

Showdown Feature #2 – Mike McKinney

In what was the most action-packed Modified Showdown of the night, Mike McKinney emerged victorious after putting a last-lap pass on Brian Shaw in Turn 4 to seal the win.

McKinney trailed Shaw for 19 laps around the quarter-mile of Fairbury, digging harder each lap to try and find a way around the #1s.

“Dad said we had some room, so just started searching around trying to find a line to get by him,” McKinney said. “I knew that getting under him or above him on entry wasn’t going to be the ticket, so I started opening-up my entry super high into Turn 3. I’d enter on the top and turn it down the hill to try and beat him down the straightaway.”

A few laps of the new strategy, and McKinney found himself on the rear bumper of Shaw. He got a big run out of Turn 4 coming to the white flag and threw it into Turn 1 under Shaw. With the #96M right at his door panel, Shaw slid up the track in Turns 1-2, creating the lane McKinney needed to get by.

McKinney, of Plainfield, IL, kept it low in Turns 3-4 and held off Shaw for his 15th career Summit Modified Feature win, and first-ever in the Prairie Dirt Classic.

“That was definitely the hardest I’ve ever worked for $500, but it was awesome to win in front of these fans and have ‘em all cheer when I got out,” McKinney said. “This is a race I want really bad. We’ve accomplished a lot here, and this is the last thing on my list.”

Showdown Feature 2 20 Laps | 00:12:30.323 | All-Star Performance

1. 96M-Mike McKinney[1]; 2. 1S-Brian Shaw[2]; 3. 2-Nick Hoffman[7]; 4. 8K-Levi Kissinger[3]; 5. 24H-Mike Harrison[5]; 6. 77- Ray Bollinger[4]; 7. 66-Cole Falloway[6]; 8. 463-Daniel Sanchez[10]; 9. 1D-Dean Hoffman[11]; 10. 59R-Jacob Rexing[9]; 11. 88S-Alan Stipp[14]; 12. 14-Caden McWhorter[13]; 13. 12-Wyatt Harms[15]; 14. 43-Jared Thomas[8]; 15. 7-Tim Nash[12]

Showdown Feature #3 – Michael Long

Michael Long waited several years to make his first PDC appearance, and made it count Friday night, winning his Showdown Feature from the pole to lock himself into the redraw Saturday evening.

Though he’s competed at Fairbury several times in the past, Friday was his first PDC appearance – one which he won right up on the well-noted Fairbury cushion. But it took getting past Allen Weisser in the opening laps, which he did on Lap 4 with a great run off the top of Turn 4.

“Once we got rolling, the car was good and the tires got warmed-up a little bit,” Long said. “Got my momentum going, was able to get back to the lead and held on for the rest.”

Long, of Fowler, IL, led the rest of the way to collect his sixth career Summit Modified Feature win.

Showdown Feature 3 20 Laps | 00:12:47.687 | Hooker Harness

1. 18L-Michael Long[1]; 2. 8A-Austin Holcombe[4]; 3. 8-Kyle Steffens[3]; 4. 25W-Allen Weisser[2]; 5. 37-Michael Ledford[9]; 6. 35-Jason Hastings[11]; 7. 00-Ethan Dotson[6]; 8. 10-Garrett Jameson[15]; 9. 7T-Drake Troutman[5]; 10. 64-Dawson Cook[14]; 11. 17N-Dillon Nusbaum[7]; 12. 32-Mason Duncan[10]; 13. 1W-Bob Pohlman[12]; 14. 36-Eric Vaughan[13]; 15. 71R-Troy Ricketts[16]; 16. 89-Austin Friedman[8]

Showdown Feature #4 – Tyler Nicely

He missed Prairie Dirt Showdown Victory Lane last year by one spot. This year, Tyler Nicely was not going to be denied.

Now professionally reunited with his previous car builder Nick Hoffman of Elite Chassis, Nicely piloted his #25 to Fairbury Victory Lane Friday night with authority, leading all 20 laps en route to his fourth career Summit Modifieds Feature win.

“Ever since I got back in this Elite [Chassis] car, it fits me and I’m a lot more comfortable,” Nicely said. “I knew tonight we needed a good Qualifying effort, and that put us up front. We’ll get to that redraw tomorrow and hopefully we’ll be on that stage by the end of the night.”

Nicely, the 2015 PDC finale winner from Owensboro, KY, hasn’t seen PDC Victory Lane since 2019 when he won a Showdown. Friday’s Feature showed what he and the car can do, which he’ll use again Saturday in pursuit of a $5,000 check.

Showdown Feature 4 20 Laps | 00:17:54.659 | Deke Trucking

1. 25-Tyler Nicely[1]; 2. 21D-Danny Schwartz[4]; 3. 35W-Ethan Weber[3]; 4. 12H-Jason Hughes[7]; 5. 5-Steven Brooks[12]; 6. 24S-Jacob Steinkoenig[6]; 7. 99W-Chris Arnold[2]; 8. 3L-Jeff Leka[9]; 9. 62E-Deece Schwartz[10]; 10. 757-Bradley Jameson[8]; 11. 6-Ryan Ayers[14]; 12. 1-Nash Hilmes[13]; 13. 54-Zachary Hawk[15]; 14. 94-Tom Pasek[11]; 15. 16C-John Clippinger[5]

THE FOUR HORSEMEN: Smith, Sheppard, Marlar, Larson Score Prairie Dirt Showdown Victories

Sixteen drivers are locked into Saturday’s $50,000-to-win Prairie Dirt Classic

FAIRBURY, IL – JULY 29, 2022 – Four drivers are one step closer to etching their name into history at Fairbury Speedway. 

Garrett Smith, Brandon Sheppard, Mike Marlar and Kyle Larson each scored a World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Prairie Dirt Showdown win, which locked them into the first two rows of Saturday’s Prairie Dirt Classic. 

Twelve other drivers punched their tickets into the 100-lap, $50,000-to-win Feature, as the top four in each Showdown transferred to Saturday’s finale. The remaining drivers – more than 60 total – will battle in Last Chance Showdowns and the Prairie Dirt Shootout on Saturday to round out the rest of the field of the crown jewel. 

SHOWDOWN 1

Garrett Smith saw an opportunity Friday night he couldn’t pass up. The Eatonton, GA driver was running second to Ashton Winger when he made his move on the final lap of his 25-lap CASE Construction Equipment Showdown. 

Smith swung his Rocket Chassis to the bottom of Turns 1 and 2, sliding in front of Winger and pulling away on the backstretch. He went unchallenged in the final two corners en route to a $3,000 payday and a starting spot in the first two rows of the Prairie Dirt Classic. 

Minutes after the race was over, the winning moment for Smith hadn’t set in just yet. 

“[Fairbury] has always been a track on my bucket list,” Smith said. “I’ve played it a lot on iRacing. That’s the best I got on this place, but it’s even better than I thought it was. 

“I still really don’t know what happened; it happened so quick. I saw a gap, and I knew I had to fill it if I wanted to win.”

Garrett Alberson crossed the line second, 2021 Series Rookie of the Year Tyler Bruening finished third, and Jimmy Owens grabbed the final transfer spot. 

Ashton Winger, who led the first 24 laps, finished seventh after losing power steering with five laps left.

SHOWDOWN 2

Reigning World of Outlaws CASE Late Model Series champion Brandon Sheppard showed patience in his CASE Construction Equipment Showdown victory.

The New Berlin, IL driver bided his time in the first 10 laps before sliding under Mckay Wenger in Turns 3 and 4 to take the lead—one he wouldn’t relinquish. 

Sheppard stated the race played out exactly how he hoped. 

“Once I got my rhythm going, and I got my line figured out where I needed to be, and where I was making speed and where I wasn’t, then I could pressure him a little bit,” Sheppard said.

“I started seeing him messing up a bit, so I showed him the nose in the middle there. Then, he really started messing up and let me get a good enough run to slide him, and that’s what we needed.”

Jason Feger from Bloomington, IL, finished second, Kyle Bronson was third, and Wenger held on for fourth. 

SHOWDOWN 3

A former Series champion and current Series rookie waged war in an epic battle in the third CASE Construction Equipment showdown. 

Tanner English and 2018 Series champion Mike Marlar battled wheel to wheel for several laps before English took control of the race.  

However, a late race caution changed the Benton, KY driver’s fortunes, as Marlar powered past him on the outside to score the $3,000 triumph. 

The Winfield, TN driver stated he felt English may have had the better car but was still good enough to win after 25 laps. 

“Tanner’s car was a little bit faster, and I couldn’t really hold him off,” Marlar said. “I was moving around quite a bit. He was about to get me low, and I moved low, and then he rolled me in the middle. 

“Luckily, that caution came out, and I kind of got out there and packed up the crumbs in the middle of the racetrack. It got me just enough grip to get around him, and it worked out in our favor and set us up good for the big show [Saturday].”

English settled for second, followed by Ricky Thornton Jr and Series points leader Dennis Erb Jr. 

SHOWDOWN 4

Kyle Larson picked up where he left off a year ago at Fairbury, dominating the final CASE Construction Equipment Late Model showdown Friday night.

Despite leading all 25 laps, the Elk Grove, CA driver stated he wasn’t perfect throughout the race. 

“You never really know how you are out in the lead until you see somebody,” Larson said. “But I never saw anyone, so I felt like I had to be decent. I feel like I was getting around the cushion better than I thought I would. I started making some mistakes around traffic, and about that time, it started taking rubber, so I just inched my way down the track.”

While the defending NASCAR Cup Series champion was out front, all eyes were on Oakwood, IL driver Bobby Pierce who grabbed the final transfer spot after starting deep in the field. 

The “Smooth Operator” had problems with his car in Qualifying, forcing him to start toward the back of his Showdown.  

“I was on the move,” Pierce said. “We went with all the right decisions, and the car was really good. If that rubber didn’t come, I think we could’ve gotten to second, and you know, hopefully, we’re that good [Saturday]. 

“We did exactly what we needed to do after our issue, so it’s all good.”

Tyler Erb crossed the line behind Larson, Josh Rice was third, and Pierce finished fourth. 

UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws CASE Late Models return to Fairbury Speedway on Saturday for the 100-lap, $50,000-to-win Prairie Dirt Classic. Last Chances Showdowns will set the rest of the field, along with Prairie Dirt Shootout, where the winner can take home $2,500 or start the CASE Construction Equipment Feature. 

If you can’t make it to the event, watch live on DIRTVision – available either online or through the DIRTVision App.

CASE Construction Equipment Showdown Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 10-Garrett Smith[2]; 2. 58-Garrett Alberson[4]; 3. 16-Tyler Bruening[3]; 4. 20-Jimmy Owens[6]; 5. 111V-Max Blair[9]; 6. 32S-Chris Simpson[7]; 7. 58W-Ashton Winger[1]; 8. 19R-Ryan Gustin[5]; 9. 2S-Stormy Scott[14]; 10. 35-Derek Chandler[13]; 11. 91-Adam Tischauser[15]; 12. 21-Matt Lux[17]; 13. 757-Bradley Jameson[12]; 14. 1TT-Tom Thoennes[16]; 15. 354-Chris Nash[21]; 16. 36-Logan Martin[10]; 17. 8-Kyle Strickler[11]; 18. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[18]; 19. 84-Myles Moos[8]; 20. 73-Bill Weistart[20]; 21. 10P-Paul Parker[19]

CASE Construction Equipment Showdown Feature 2 (25 Laps): 1. 1S-Brandon Sheppard[2]; 2. 25F-Jason Feger[11]; 3. 40B-Kyle Bronson[4]; 4. 11-Gordy Gundaker[3]; 5. 42-Mckay Wenger[1]; 6. 17X-Kyle Hammer[17]; 7. 24-Ryan Unzicker[8]; 8. 2-Nick Hoffman[20]; 9. B1-Brent Larson[7]; 10. 4G-Bob Gardner[14]; 11. 10S-Scott Schmitt[9]; 12. 1C-Alex Ferree[16]; 13. 15-Justin Duty[10]; 14. B12-Kevin Weaver[6]; 15. 76-Titus Sneed[18]; 16. 90-Brian Rickman[15]; 17. 19-Cody Bauer[13]; 18. 4-Jason Suhre[12]; 19. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[5]; 20. 79W-Greg Wagner[19]

CASE Construction Equipment Showdown Feature 3 (25 Laps): 1. 157-Mike Marlar[2]; 2. 81E-Tanner English[3]; 3. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[7]; 4. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[1]; 5. 25-Shane Clanton[5]; 6. 22-Chris Ferguson[10]; 7. T6-Tommy Sheppard Jr[18]; 8. 49-Jonathan Davenport[17]; 9. 111-Steven Roberts[4]; 10. 10K-Daryn Klein[12]; 11. 1-Josh Richards[11]; 12. 38-Thomas Hunziker[16]; 13. 14-Glen Thompson[14]; 14. 33-Bill Hough[20]; 15. 97-Cade Dillard[8]; 16. 12-Doug Drown[9]; 17. 7S-Jay Sparks[15]; 18. 21A-Nick Allen[19]; 19. M27-Mike Provenzano[6]; 20. 212-Josh Putnam[13]

CASE Construction Equipment Showdown Feature 4 (25 Laps): 1. 6-Kyle Larson[1]; 2. 1T-Tyler Erb[3]; 3. 11R-Josh Rice[2]; 4. 32-Bobby Pierce[19]; 5. 18C-Chase Junghans[4]; 6. 1ST-Johnny Scott[5]; 7. 3S-Brian Shirley[11]; 8. 9Z-Mason Zeigler[7]; 9. 99B-Boom Briggs[6]; 10. 99-Jeff Larson[14]; 11. 89-Mike Spatola[10]; 12. 10J-Joseph Joiner[13]; 13. 18-Shannon Babb[12]; 14. 31AUS-Kye Blight[8]; 15. 3-Dale Markham[20]; 16. 1M-Mike Mataragas[16]; 17. T2-Todd Bennett[18]; 18. 7-Drake Troutman[17]; 19. 26M-Brent McKinnon[9]; 20. 28M-Jake Miller[15]

JOHN FORCE AND PEAK CHEVY LEAD JFR FRIDAY AT FLAV-R-PAC NHRA NORTHWEST NATIONALS

KENT, Wash. (July 29, 2022) – John Force and the PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car sit No. 3 after Friday qualifying at the Flav-R-Pac NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways just outside of Seattle. Robert Hight and the Automobile Club of Southern California Chevy Camaro sits in the No. 7 spot while in Top Fuel Brittany Force has the Flav-R-Pac / Monster Energy dragster in 10th and Austin Prock has the Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist dragster in 15th.
John Force and the PEAK Chevy were the third quickest Funny Car Friday afternoon earning them three bonus qualifying points for their 4.001-second pass at 311.92 mph on a race track that was over 130 degrees.
“Really cool to be out here with Flav-R-Pac and Frank Tiegs with my daughter Brittany and the success she’s had so far this year,” Force said. “Good start to the weekend for this PEAK Chevy. That track is prepared pretty good considering how hot it is out here. I’ve been racing here for 100 years, and I want to win, that’s what I’m here to do. Love it up here.”
Robert Hight and the Auto Club Chevy were not running on all cylinders when they went 4.053-seconds at 310.20 mph in the first qualifying pass down Pacific Raceways. The points leader will be looking for a lot more starting from the No. 7 spot on Saturday.
“The Auto Club Chevy put a hole out and it moved around a little bit up there at the end. We were expecting a 3.94 or 3.96. We’ve run that in Richmond under similar conditions, but we get another go at it tomorrow, earlier in the day will be similar conditions to Sunday race day,” Hight said. “We’re going after that No. 1 spot, this is the perfect race to go No. 1.”
Brittany Force and the Flav-R-Pac team lost traction on their first run down Pacific Raceways. The most recent event winner and points leader would cross the finish line at only 4.301-seconds and 189.55 mph to currently sit No. 10.
“Proud to be back running at Pacific Raceways this year especially because it’s the first ever Flav-R-Pac race,” Force said. “Our first run we attempted a mid 3.70 but unfortunately drove into tire smoke. We will have two more shots at it tomorrow to get this Flav-R-Pac dragster in the top of the field.”
Defending event winner Austin Prock and the Montana Brand / RMT dragster weren’t able to make a clean first pass down Pacific Raceways, they smoked the tires and had to shut off early recording a 6.201-second pass at 248.02 mph.
“Rough start to the weekend for this Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist team. It’s tough to not make it down Friday night, it really helps set the bar for the weekend,” Prock said. “The conditions will be similar tomorrow so we can get into the top half of the field. I know this team is capable of winning, we have the people, backing, parts and drive to win. We will get this figured out.”
NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series action at the Flav-R-Pac NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways continues with qualifying Saturday at 2:00 and 4:45 p.m. Eliminations are slated for a 10:30 a.m. start on Sunday. Television coverage of the event begins on FOX Sports 1 (FS1) with qualifying shows Saturday at 2:00 p.m. ET and Sunday at 2:30 p.m. ET. Eliminations will be aired on FOX Broadcasting Network Sunday at 4:00 p.m. ET.
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AUSTIN PROCK, 26, Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist DragsterQualifying:15th; 6.201-seconds; 248.02 mphBonus Qualifying Points:0BRITTANY FORCE, 36, Flav-R-Pac / Monster Energy DragsterQualifying:10th; 4.301-seconds; 189.55 mphBonus Qualifying Points: 0JOHN FORCE, 73, PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet Camaro SSQualifying:3rd; 4.001-seconds; 311.92 mphBonus Qualifying Points: +1 (3rd quickest Q1)ROBERT HIGHT, 52, Auto Club of Southern California Chevy Camaro SSQualifying:7th; 4.053-seconds; 310.20 mphBonus Qualifying Points:0

FELIX ROSENQVIST PUTS CHEVROLET ON POLE FOR INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY ROAD COURSE RACE

CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES

GALLAGHER GRAND PRIX

INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA

TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING RECAP

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA (July 29, 2022) – It was a good day for Chevrolet powered drivers in NTT INDYCAR Series Firestone Fast Six qualifying for the Gallagher Grand Prix. Felix Rosenqvist, No. 7 Vuse Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet, won the NTT P1 pole award for Saturday afternoon’s race on the 2.439-mile, 14-turn road course inside the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

It is the second pole of the season for Rosenqvist and third of his NTT INDYCAR career. 

Four of the six drivers in the final round of qualifying were Team Chevy drivers. Rosenqvist’s teammate and winner of race number two at Iowa Speedway, Pato O’Ward, captured the third starting position in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet. 

Will Power, No.12 Verizon 5G Team Penske Chevrolet, will roll-off in fourth with teammate Josef Newgarden, No. 2 PPG Chevrolet. 

The remainder of the Firestone Fast Six were Alexander Rossi and Christian Lundgaard. 

The 85-lap Gallagher Insurance Grand Prix is set to start 12:30 p.m. with broadcast on NBC beginning at noon, and INDYCAR Radio.

CONNOR DALY, NO. 20 BITNILE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 10TH: 

“Being fastest in the first round against (Will) Power and (Josef) Newgarden is something we can really be happy about. We’ll see what happens tomorrow, we are in a decent spot. When you start in the Top 10, you can move your way forward and hopefully end up with a podium.”

YOU HAD A GREAT RUN IN MAY, QUALIFIED WELL IN THE DRY AND RACED WELL IN THE WET.   YOUR BEST QUALIFYING OF THE SEASON, WHAT CAN YOU DO TOMORROW?

“We just need to put in a solid race.  Its been a real challenge for us this year, but a lot of those times we have had great race pace.  We will see what we can do when it comes to tomorrow.  We like the red tires and its obviously a bit of a red race, so we will see what happens.  Just thankful to be back in Indianapolis and have a great day.”

DALTON KELLETT, NO. 4 K-LINE INSULATORS USA CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 24TH:

“Overall tough qualifying for us.  Just didn’t feel like we’ve quite got the most out of the reds. Still struggling with the same thing since the start of the first practice: understeer in high and low speed corners. So, trying to dial some of that out. We thought we made a good decent swing at it for qualifying but still kind of missed on the balance a little bit with the reds. We opted to go to reds early and were one of the first ones on reds, so that never really helps. We’re still looking for a chunk of time so we’re gonna figure out just how we can get a little more front grip dialed into this No. 4 K-Line car and see what we’ve got for tomorrow.”

PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 3RD:

“It was a great day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course for the team. Felix is on pole, that was a great lap, and the No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet is P3. I’m super pumped for that, because of where we were in Practice 1 and at the start of the qualifying.

Great job to everyone and tomorrow is all about keeping our nose clean in Turn 1 and in the rest of race. We have some great race cars underneath us and hopefully we end up with a great team result.”

SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN, NO. 3 GALLAGHER CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 15TH:

“Disappointed we didn’t transfer to round two, so starting further back than is ideal.  I know my guys will give me a great Gallagher Chevy for the race tomorrow.  With good strategy and our usual great pit stops, we will be able to move our way forward on Saturday.”

KYLE KIRKWOOD, NO. 14 SEXTON PROPERTIES CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 21ST: 

WHAT WAS YOUR FEEDBACK TO THE TEAM ABOUT THE RACE CAR?

“Yeah, I think it was just very similar to what we had in practice where we are fighting a little bit of a balance issue.  For some reason we are not as good as we were at the test a month ago, so we are trying to figure it out.  We have a lot of time between qualifying and practice to really figure it out and nail it down.  We are working on it and now that we have some time to sit down and focus on what we have, where we are at, and what the differences are because there has been a clear difference in the data compared to the test and now.   Hopefully we can figure it out overnight and we can go into warm up with a good car.”

THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT YOU HAVE RACED HERE BEFORE IN YOUR INDYCAR CAREER.  CAN YOU RACE YOUR WAY FORWARD TOMORROW?

“I think so.   That all depends on what happens in the warm up tomorrow.  We have been solid here late on runs and we were really good late on the primary tires at the last race.  So, that could potentially be very good for us.”

WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 4TH:

HOW WAS YOUR CAR AND WHAT’S THE OUTLOOK FOR TOMORROW?

“The car was really good.  I think a few more adjustments would have helped us in the Fast Six, but I am happy to be in the top four.  We will see in the warm up how it is and make some changes tonight and hopefully put us in a good position.”

JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 2 PPG TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 5TH:

“I am just happy to be back and I was really motivated to be here this weekend.  If we weren’t in this race, it was going to be very difficult to stay in this championship fight.  That was kind of the end for me.   I know that we had to be in the race and whatever I have to do to be fit and prepared is number one on my plate.  We are here and I have had a tremendous amount of support.  I can’t thank the INDYCAR staff enough for all their help after the event, and then obviously everybody at Team Penske has just been unwavering with their support for me.   Yeah, we are ready to go and we will be able to race tomorrow now.”

WHAT WERE YOUR SYMPTOMS AND WHAT WERE YOU DOING TO BE READY TO GET BACK?

“I don’t want to get into too much of the medical side, but I certainly hit my head pretty hard on Sunday afternoon.   Obviously the main concern at that point is a concussion and just trying to make sure there is no lingering long term effects from that. Thankfully I am in really great shape and you know, I have felt good the rest of the week.   So, I think we are in a pretty good spot for tomorrow.”

DID YOU HAVE A CONCUSSION WHEN YOU HIT YOUR HEAD?

“You know, I can’t confirm that and I don’t know that I did.  I think if you were a doctor you probably would have said I was concussed after Sunday night so it’s probably fair to say that.  Then it turns into a question of how severe was it and how long was it going to linger.”

DOES THIS PUT THE TEAM TO A TEST SINCE YOU WERE KNOCKED OFF KILTER AND THAT YOU COULDN’T REALLY DO WHAT YOU PLANNED TO?

“Yeah, its not ideal.   Coming into this weekend, I had planned on being on the simulator Monday before coming here.   That would have been nice to have that prep.  We could have been in a better position coming into this weekend, but we are not in a bad spot this weekend.  Luckily we have great cars here at Team Penske and I have great teammates to lean on.   We qualified in the top five and I think that puts us in a great spot for PPG and Team Chevy tomorrow.”

(JAMES) HINCHCLIFF SAID HE WAS TALKING TO YOU TO GIVE YOU INSIGHT ABOUT WHEN HE WENT THROUGH THIS.  DID THAT HELP AT ALL OR DID IT JUST MAKE YOU LAUGH?

“No, my lovely and amazing wife did most of the communication for me.  She was communicating with anyone that had any sort of advice.  Whether it was good or bad, we would filter it out but we had a lot of….yeah, Hinch was one of them.  People like Hinch have been through incidents like this and they are not all like for like.  His is not necessarily what I was going through, but any information on what people do in these kind of moments is helpful.  So, there were a lot of people who reached out and we definitely took use of it.”

HOW ARE YOU APPROACHING THIS WEEKEND TO POTENTIALLY TAKE THE POINT LEAD?

“I am just ready to be in the fight.  We are well in the thick of the championship and we have a great opportunity here to stay in the fight.  I think it will go all the way down to the final event and possibly win the championship, that is my focus.   I would have loved a little more today.  I felt like on new tires we had pole pace, but on used tires we lacked some of that pole pace that we needed.  We are going to try and clean that up for tomorrow.  I think looking after the tires is always critical.  If we can do that job, and have a good race here, then it should set us up nicely for the last four events of the year.”

RINUS VEEKAY, BITCOIN RACING TEAM WITH BITNILE, QUALIFIED 8TH:

“We didn’t make the Fast Six, but I think we have a solid car.   Like race day wise we are pretty consistent on both tires, which is important.  I am pretty happy with that and I think we couldn’t really nail the last bit of balance in the final part of group two qualifying.  Bummer, but I won a race here from seventh, so I will have better tires for the race.”

PRESS CONFERENCE INTERVIEW WITH POLE WINNER FELIX ROSENQVIST AND PATO O’WARD:

THE MODERATOR: Pato O’Ward, he’ll start third tomorrow inside of row No. 2. Your thoughts on the team going 1-3 in qualifying today?

PATO O’WARD: Yeah, it’s a great team result. Extremely happy with, first of all, making it to the Fast Six because when we started qualifying we were in trouble, just as we were in FP1. We turned — I don’t know how we did that, but we turned it around, and we got the car into a window where I could work with it, and yeah, like Alex said, I think Felix — I don’t think anybody had anything for Felix’s lap. Great job to him. Super happy to see that for him. He deserves it. He’s been working really hard, and it’s a great result for the team.

Q. We heard you on the radio I think it was in that first segment, you hopped on the radio and said, We are blanked, because it wasn’t going to go well. Was there a turning point or something you changed that maybe you can talk about, or how did you get to this point?

PATO O’WARD: Yeah, sometimes it’s hard to judge. The problem is for us at least in the past it’s always been your balance on blacks has to be pretty tough to drive in order for it to be decent on reds. It was extremely difficult to drive, like even worse than FP1 in the morning, so I was like, oh, we’re in trouble. But they were like, man, we can’t change anything.

I was like, you know what, I’m just going to try and pull something out of my hat to see if we can transfer, and when they told us we transferred, I was like, whew. Then we were able to make a longer change, which then put me in a way happier window for the second shot of qualifying and then that transferred us into the Fast Six.

Q. Pato, at Iowa Felix told us whatever happens is sort of out of his hands; no matter how well he does, he can’t really influence the team’s decision if they bring him back. When you look at how well he’s been driving lately, is he going to make this really difficult for the team if he keeps excelling like this through the rest of the year? Is it going to be really hard to say goodbye to him?

PATO O’WARD: I mean, I love the guy, and I think what makes the atmosphere in the team so good to work around him is that he’s a genuine good guy, and it’s very easy to work with him. It’s in his best interest for the whole team to do well. He won’t section himself off and kind of — in the back of his head kind of wish bad upon the other car just to do better. No, I think that’s what makes our team very special is we’re all obviously pushing each other, but we’re both working together to create a package that’s going to be easier for both of us to drive and just to get better.

The point is to have a team that is P1 and P2, right? That’s always going to be the goal.

I just think he fits exactly what the team of McLaren Racing and all that stands for. In order to create a team or to make a team better and drive it forward, you need complete trust and transparency when working with each other. If you don’t have that, you’ve got nothing.

Q. Pato, obviously you talked about the struggles in practice and then early in qualifying. When you found out you transferred and you’re waiting there and the team is making some changes on the car, mentally what’s your thought process? Do you want to improve that? What are your overall thoughts and what thoughts are you changing to try and improve for the next round?

PATO O’WARD: Well, sometimes you just don’t know what to expect so you kind of just take it as it comes to you. At that point the feeling that I had before we went on the reds, it was like, well, this is going to be a handful. But then on the prep lap, I guess, before you do your flier, you get a little bit of a feel for what it’s going to be like when the tire is coming up to temp, and it was a significant step into, okay, I can work with this.

But that’s it, man. Sometimes it works out that way and sometimes it doesn’t, and sometimes it feels great in the first run and then you put the other set of tires, and it’s like, what the heck happened.

It’s tough. It’s extremely tough to nail both types of tire compounds in terms of balance. You’ve got to be a little unhappy with one of them to excel in the other one. You always kind of want to excel on the red one because the black ain’t going to transfer you anywhere unless you’re a second and a half faster than anybody, which doesn’t happen in the series.

Yeah, it’s tough, and it speaks to how hard it is to qualify in INDYCAR and how competitive it is.

I know in the Fast Six it didn’t really seem like it was that tight based on Felix’s lap. I know it was a great lap. But before that, I think transferring was a tenth or less than a tenth, or from like fourth to 12th or something. You’ve got to nail it.

PATO O’WARD: We’ll have fun.

Q. It seems like a big swing. Do you have to re-platform it almost to try to get a little bit better?

PATO O’WARD: What’s confusing sometimes is we were here in May, and we had a very solid qualifying. We had a very good race until it started raining. Anyway, we had pace.

We obviously come here with pretty much the same, and we’re six-tenths off. But only one car is six-tenths off and the other one is okay.

I’m still in the process of — and I think I’m probably never going to find it, but I don’t know why it happens. It’s very, very sensitive, and it’s extremely sensitive in how you, one, push the tire, and two, how hard you’re attacking the corners, because it’s just so flat, so there’s no cambers or off cambers that you can kind of take into your advantage.

But yeah, it’s just every time we come here, it doesn’t matter if it’s the same track, it’s always different, at least that’s my experience, and I think a lot of people would agree. Maybe others don’t. But yeah.

THE MODERATOR: Obviously joined by the pole winner now for tomorrow’s Gallagher Grand Prix, second pole of the season, third of his career, which goes back to the IMS road course here in 2019. Congratulations, Felix Rosenqvist. Your thoughts about the day and starting P1 tomorrow?

FELIX ROSENQVIST: Thanks. It’s been a pretty smooth day, surprisingly smooth, and I think those guys are kind of rare in INDYCAR. I think the whole team has just done a really good prep work for this race. We tested here like a month ago, which I think really helped. We kind of got here with a good starting package, so we knew that this was going to be one that we had to really extract everything in qualifying.

But yeah, it was really cool. We did only one lap in Q1, saved those tires for the Fast Six, and everything just worked out to plan. Man, it’s rare to have those days, but I think today was just a day about execution, and now eyes forward to tomorrow.

Q. Pato, any thoughts about the tire inconsistencies and stuff like that. Is that something you felt within the team or experienced at some point during the last two seasons?

PATO O’WARD: I have, yes. I’ve had this year and last year. You just never know when it’s going to happen, and it’s just obviously unfortunate. When we get it, other guys might not, but then maybe they can get it another time, but you just never really know when it’s going to happen to you, so you have to obviously analyze and see if it’s not an issue that wasn’t that.

Yeah, I think everybody is on the same boat. Everybody has had it at least once sometime.

Q. Felix, to use your nickname, Tall Swede is starting last, so I guess that makes you Short Swede starting up front. Does it surprise you Marcus is starting last in tomorrow’s race, and how do you think he’s going to get through the field like that, because it can be difficult to pass sometimes.

FELIX ROSENQVIST: Man, I feel with Marcus the further back he starts, the better he finishes. He has like a magic way of just always being there in the end.

That’s probably why he’s leading the championship, man. He’s probably the best racer in the field right now. I don’t really think he’s worried about it, either.

Every time I talk to him and he’s had a bad qualifying, it’s just like, oh, I’m just going to drive up the field. Yeah, good for him. He’s really figured out how to go forward in this series, and I think that’s — I love being here on pole, but that’s only like 10 percent of the job done, and the rest you have to do what Marcus is doing right now.

I’m not too worried for him. I’m sure I’m going to see him around somewhere tomorrow in the race.

Q. Correct me if I’m wrong, I think this is where you got your first pole in 2019. What is it about the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course that you’ve gelled with and gotten accustomed to quicker than almost anywhere else?

FELIX ROSENQVIST: I wouldn’t say it’s my best track. I mean, I have two poles here, but I wouldn’t say result-wise it’s my best track. I’ve been struggling a little bit here in the races historically.

I just feel like we’ve worked very hard as a team to improve this track as we go here twice a year, and at some point last year we were like, guys, we need to improve at the Indy GP because we’re struggling.

Since then every time we come back here I feel like we’re just getting better and better. We had a test here a couple of weeks ago where I think we found some really good things, and we were pretty sure where we wanted to start today in terms of setup, and yeah, it’s just been a smooth day.

Lucky to have one of those days. I’m sure the next weekend will not look the same.

Q. Felix, your race engineer just told me he thinks he’s been 15 years since his last road course pole, so he’s really happy with you right now. Can you talk about the evolution within the team this season with some engineering additions? Obviously Gavin Ward just came on. It seems like we should expect you and Pato to be in the Fast Six or up front in the ovals almost wherever we go. Is this a real revolution we’re watching?

FELIX ROSENQVIST: I think so. I think we as a team have, from an engineering standpoint, we’ve been pretty — I wouldn’t say wildly all over the place, but we’ve been very experimental the last two years, especially on my car. Pretty much every weekend where we go somewhere, Craig is calling me on Monday, like hey, are you open to try something different, and I’m like, yeah, like we’re two cars, and I think Pato in general is more inclined to run kind of what we ran last year with a little evolution, and I’ve been trying more like new philosophies of setup.

Surprisingly it’s not often you do like a big change and it works, but almost everywhere we’ve gone, like me and Craig and the guys at the 7 car have kind of been able to develop something new that works, and I think suits me better, as well.

But it’s almost been that way everywhere. Sometimes Pato’s package works better, like at Iowa, for example. Like day one his car was probably a little bit better than mine, and then day two I went to his car, and it’s been good like that. You kind of have to do that as a two-car team.

But at this point I feel like we gather so much info that we can be a bit more sure where we want to start, and also with Gavin coming along, I think that’s kind of his role, as well, to kind of have a little overview of the whole situation with both cars and just lead us in the best direction for me and Pato.

Yeah, we have a really good engineering crew. Like they’re really clever people. We have a lot of fun in that truck. There’s a lot of laughing and jokes and stuff going around, but then when it’s time to switch on, I feel like everyone is like laser sharp.

I’m really enjoying the working environment right now.

Q. Who won at miniature golf between you and Pato earlier this week?

FELIX ROSENQVIST: He beat me in pickleball before Iowa, so it seems like whoever wins in sports before the weekend is kind of like coming out ahead.

Q. From what I’ve read and heard you say, next year you want to be back here. How is this series compared to where you’ve run before? How is INDYCAR competition-wise, and I understand you hope to be back here again next year because you like it that much.

FELIX ROSENQVIST: Yeah, naturally because we’re doing well and I really enjoy my place in the team and just happy in general, it would be weird to not want to go back, I think. Obviously it’s not that straightforward, so we’re going to have to see what’s going to happen.

I think I’m in a good place no matter what happens. I’m going to have a good job somewhere.

Yeah, INDYCAR, I think it’s kind of addicting in a way. Like it’s very tough. It’s probably — I wouldn’t say like — the driver level is high everywhere in professional championships, but it’s just such a team effort to get everything right on the day in terms of setup, pit stop strategy. The driver has to be fit, he has to be focused. There’s just so many variables, and if you lose one second in a pit sequence, you’re gone. That’s your day gone.

I think that whole thing becomes — like when you succeed and when you win a race or get a podium or whatever, it’s just something you want to do again because it’s very rewarding when you do well, but it can also be brutal when you’re struggling, as I did last year. It was a super tough season for sure.

But yeah, I’m doing well, and I want to continue that, so yeah, hopefully I’ll stay.

Q. Do you work out every day?

FELIX ROSENQVIST: I wish I could say —

Q. I don’t mean with peewee golf. Do you physically work out?

FELIX ROSENQVIST: Yeah, I mean, in some kind of shape or form.

Q. I guess with your future undecided, things are difficult, but I know you’ve come to really love this place and everything that it means to the championship and the history of the series and everything. If this is your kind of last time here for a little while, does this pole make that — is the pole more special basically because of that?

FELIX ROSENQVIST: I mean, I don’t really think about that, to be honest. But I felt like when I drove here this morning, just I love this place. I had like a love-hate relationship. Coming here the first time I had a pole, and then I crashed in the 500 practice, and Chip was angry at me, and it was like such a roller coaster of emotions that are tied to this place.

But this year, man, like finished fourth in the 500, leading for a while towards the end, this pole, it’s just becoming a place that I really love and becoming kind of acquainted to the Indiana in general.

Yeah, it means a lot for sure to do well here.

Q. You spoke about the team effort; you’ve finally found this path or midpoint between the Pato drive mode and your drive mode for this first and third place on this qualification.

FELIX ROSENQVIST: I guess you mean that we’ve found something that works for both drivers? Yeah, man, I think we had pretty different days. Pato had a tough day in practice, and I think he did a really good job bouncing back. He kind of turned around his car a lot, and we kind of stayed the same and just stuck to what we had in practice.

But it’s good to see. I think this is probably like the fourth time we’re both in the Fast Six this year, so I feel like we both figured something out in qualifying together with the team.

As I said before, I think the car is just suited more towards me this year, so I feel like I can maximize it pretty much everywhere we go now, so yeah, that’s a good thing.

Q. The boys were talking about it before you arrived and how sensitive the IMS road course is. Tomorrow before the race obviously between the warm-up and the actual race you’ve got the Cup cars out on the track, as well. Is that going to impact the difference between what the car is like during the warm-up to the race?

FELIX ROSENQVIST: Good question. I don’t really think so. I have to say that this track is probably one of the few that doesn’t — it doesn’t really pick up a lot of rubber. When you look at practice, the lap times we do early on, like even when it’s only three, four cars on track, like that lap time normally stays to the end of the session. There’s not a lot of track evolution. So I think it would kind of be the reverse with NASCAR being out. I think the bigger worry there is if they’re like tearing up the grass or the curbs or something.

No, I’m not too worried about that. I think it’s going to be a pretty straightforward weekend in terms of track grip.

Q. I don’t know if Pato is your agent but he’s working hard to keep you in that INDYCAR seat. What does that mean to you, for him to feel so strongly each week to plug away for you?

FELIX ROSENQVIST: It means a lot to hear that. I would obviously say the same for him. I think we have a very strong working relationship right now on and off the track. I think it’s kind of rare that you have a teammate that you don’t really try to hide anything, and I think that’s the best possible situation for the team because the more competition there is, like the more negative competition it is between the teammates, the worse for the team, because it’s like you’re hiding stuff from each other; you maybe don’t tell how your car is; you kind of build up a little fence to your car.

But I feel like we have just full transparency between the two cars, between me and Pato. Today when he was struggling we’ll talk about it, like hey, maybe try this, try that. It’s just great, and we have a good time out of the track, as well, when we’re here in Indy. We always play mini golf or pickleball or just go for dinner.

Yeah, I think even for other drivers and team owners reaching out and showing support and kind of saying that they want me to stay in the series, I think it means a lot. I’m really thankful for all those comments, and hopefully that’ll be the case.

Q. (No microphone.)

FELIX ROSENQVIST: Well, I consider myself pretty easy to get along with, but for sure I had bad teammates that you don’t trust and you don’t like, and you just have to get on with it. I think when you spend so much time together over a season, like it’s just so helpful if you can actually enjoy hanging out.

But I think with Pato it’s very special for sure. It’s something I hope that will last longer.

Q. Your contract situation notwithstanding, just as a driver, do you have interest at all in driving a stock car at some point in your career?

FELIX ROSENQVIST: I think I would love to try it, especially on a road course. I feel like I’m a few laps behind when it comes to the ovals to beat those guys. It feels like they’re very experienced. But yeah, if an opportunity comes, I would definitely be open. I saw Daniil Kvyat; is he here this weekend? That’s super cool. Maybe one day — I’m always open to try anything, so just give me a call.

Q. What is the most interesting car you’ve raced would you say?

FELIX ROSENQVIST: The most interesting? I think I did a couple of races in Carrera Cup. I did one race in the Super Cup. That was a very tricky car to drive, like very soft and no ABS, and it was very difficult to get a lap right. But very good for driving. If you can be quick in that, I think you can probably be quick in anything.

Man, I have to say the INDYCAR is just so tricky. Like to get it right in these cars is like — yeah, it’s like one out of 10 laps you get it right. All the other laps you feel like you left something on the table.

It’s probably one of the hardest cars I’ve driven, as well.

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations again, second pole of 2022, third of his career, Felix Rosenqvist will start from pole tomorrow for the Gallagher Grand Prix.

CHEVROLET CELEBRATES INDIANAPOLIS HOMECOMING

IMS is Chevrolet’s home away from home 
(DETROIT, July 29, 2022) – Chevrolet has a long and special history at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The co-founder of Chevrolet, Louis Chevrolet, and his brothers competed in early races at IMS. Over 110 years later, Chevrolet teams will be competing in the NASCAR Cup, NASCAR Xfinity and INDYCAR series races at the Speedway this weekend. “This is our home away from home, due to the special history between Chevrolet and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway,” said Jim Campbell, U.S. vice president Performance and Motorsports. “Chevrolet is the only manufacturer that will be competing with teams in NASCAR Cup, NASCAR Xfinity and INDYCAR series races at the Speedway.” Current standings: ·       NASCAR Cup Series: Chase Elliott (No. 9 Camaro ZL1) leads the driver standings, and Chevrolet leads the manufacturer standings by 74 points·       NASCAR Xfinity Series: AJ Allmendinger (No. 16 Camaro SS) leads the driver standings, and Chevrolet leads the manufacturer standings by 83 points·       INDYCAR: Will Power (No. 12 Chevrolet) is second in the driver standings and Josef Newgarden (No. 2 Chevrolet) is third. Power is eight points behind the leader; Newgarden is 34 back. Chevrolet leads the manufacturer standings by 114 points Chevrolet has won 12 of 21 NASCAR Cup Series races this season, 13 of 19 in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, and nine of 12 races in INDYCAR. In addition, Chevrolet vehicles will pace all three races at IMS this weekend: ·       Corvette Stingray paces the INDYCAR race·       Camaro SS paces the NASCAR Xfinity Series race·       Camaro ZL1 paces the NASCAR Cup Series race Chevrolet also has an extensive display of new cars, crossovers and trucks located in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway infield midway, including the all-new Silverado EV, the first-ever Silverado ZR2, Camaro ZL1 and a 2023 Corvette Z06. Also on display is the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Cup car and a Chevrolet-powered INDYCAR. Chevrolet NASCAR and INDYCAR drivers will participate in Q&A sessions with fans at the display throughout the weekend. 

Front-Row Start for Rossi, Honda at the Gallagher Grand Prix


Andretti Autosport’s Alexander Rossi will start second in Saturday’s Gallagher Grand Prix on the road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Christian Lundgaard advances to final qualifying for the first time, will start sixth

SPEEDWAY, Ind. (July 29, 2022) – Alexander Rossi led the way for Honda today in qualifying for Saturday’s Gallagher Grand Prix on the road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and will start on the front row, second in his Andretti Autosport Honda.

Rahal Letterman Lanigan’s Christian Lundgaard also advanced through all three rounds of NTT INDYCAR SERIES “knockout” qualifying, and will start sixth, best among the rookies in the field. Other Honda drivers to advance out of first round qualifying today on the 2.439-mile Indy road course include defending series champion Alex Palou, who will start seventh; Colton Herta in ninth; rookie David Malukas in 11th and Simon Pagenaud, 12th.

Gallagher Grand Prix Honda Qualifying Results
2nd Alexander Rossi Andretti Autosport Honda
6th Christian Lundgaard-R Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
7th Alex Palou Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
9th Colton Herta Andretti Autosport Honda
11th David Malukas-R Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Honda
12th Simon Pagenaud Meyer Shank Racing Honda
13th Jack Harvey Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
14th Devlin DeFrancesco-R Andretti Autosport Honda
16th Helio Castroneves Meyer Shank Racing Honda
17th Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
18th Takuma Sato Dale Coyne Racing with RWR Honda
20th Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
22nd Romain Grosjean Andretti Autosport Honda
23rd Jimmie Johnson Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
25th Marcus Ericsson Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
R – Rookie

Quotes
Alexander Rossi (#27 Andretti Autosport Honda) will start second: “It’s far and away our best qualifying result we’ve had here as a team, so I’m thankful to all the guys for the effort. We had a really good test here and I’m just really glad that that translated to our pace for the race weekend. Grateful to have Honda power behind me and it should be a good race tomorrow.”

Christian Lundgaard (#30 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda) will start sixth: “This place is my new home. As it was my first appearance last year, there’s just some sort of magic with me and this track. I’m hoping I don’t get food poisoning this year for sure! I don’t want to replicate that from last year! At our May race [earlier this year], I think we had a better race car than we ended up showing, I think our race car was quite good. But I think as a team we perform well here and we have to figure out why that is. But, it’s great to be in the fast six!”


Fast Facts
The NTT INDYCAR SERIES returns to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this weekend for the Gallagher Grand Prix, the second race of the 2022 season to be held on the 2.439-mile infield road course at IMS.

Honda-powered Indianapolis 500 winner Marcus Ericsson returns to IMS leading the Drivers’ Championship with 403 points to 395 for his closest rival, Will Power.

Other Honda drivers in the top 10 coming to Indianapolis include Ericsson’s Chip Ganassi Racing teammate and six-time series champion, Scott Dixon, fourth with 369 points; defending series champion Alex Palou, sixth with 359 points; Andretti Autosport’s Colton Herta, eighth with 278 points; and Alexander Rossi, 10th with 265 points.

Honda’s most recent win on the IMS road course came in May, as Colton Herta bested the field despite constantly changing weather conditions and a wet/dry/wet track to win the GMR Grand Prix on May 14.

Where to Watch
Television coverage of Saturday’s Gallaher Grand Prix starts at 12 p.m. EDT on NBC. Complete, flag-to-flag race coverage also will be available on NBC Peacock, the INDYCAR Radio Network, and SiriusXM INDYCAR Nation (Channel 160).

Honda Racing social media content and video links from this weekend’s activities from Indianapolis can be found on Instagram (www.instagram.com/hondaracing_hpd), Twitter (twitter.com/HondaRacing_HPD) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/HondaRacingHPD). Additional features and long-form videos can be found on the Honda Racing/HPD YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/HondaRacingHPDTV).

chevy racing–indycar–indianapolis–gallagher grand prix–felix rosenqvist

CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES

GALLAGHER GRAND PRIX

INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA

TEAM CHEVY POLE WINNER QUOTE- FELIX ROSENQVIST

ROSENQVIST SCORES SECOND POLE OF 2022 AND THIRD OF CAREER IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES QUALIFYING FOR GALLAGHER GRAND PRIX AT INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA (July 29, 2022) – Felix Rosenqvist, driver of the No. 7 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet posted a lap time of 1:10.2265 mins and an average speed of 125.030 mph in the Firestone Fast Six to earn the NTT P1 Pole Position for Saturday’s Gallagher Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. 

THIS IS A GOOD WAY TO SAY YOU WANT TO STAY IN INDYCAR ISN’T IT?

“Yeah, I appreciate everyone reaching out, including Pato (O’Ward) and a lot of other drivers and team owners.  It means a lot and it helps to do these kind of performances.   Our Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet was unbelievable and thanks to Mission and Team Chevy.  It was on rails all day and I felt so calm in the car.  I think I knew when I did that lap that it was the one.   Big thanks to the team for giving me a really good car.”

DID YOU SAVE A LITTLE BIT OF LIFE ON THE RED TIRES IN ROUND TWO TO HELP YOU WITH THE FIRESTONE FAST SIX?

“Yes, in round one we only did one lap and we said that if it was a good one to call me in so that we could save the tire life for the Fast Six.  Everything just worked out perfectly so I am just super stoked.”

Legends Parker, Springsteen, Kidd Lead Past Motorcycle Stars to Meet Fans at Sacramento Mile

Sent on behalf of SDI Racing, LLC SACRAMENTO, CA – The upcoming Mission Legendary Sacramento Mile powered by Law Tigers motorcycle races on Saturday, Aug. 20, will feature some of the greatest flat track motorcycle riders in history in a special “Legends Meet and Greet” autograph session set for 2:45 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. at the Cal Expo Fairgrounds grandstand area. The winningest rider in Progressive American Flat Track history, Scott Parker, will be back at the site of his 13 main event victories at the Cal Expo dirt one-mile oval and will be joined by other Sacramento Mile winners and national series champions – popular Jay Springsteen, personable Mike Kidd and winner of seven consecutive Cal Expo wins, Bryan Smith, who scored second to Jared Mees last September in his final Progressive AFT race at Cal Expo. Other former flat track stars scheduled to appear in the fan favorite “Legends” meeting on Aug. 20 will include former Progressive AFT national champions Brad Baker and Joe Koppas well as national event race winners Ronnie Jones and Jim Odom. Northern California stars Eric and Dave BostromPaul BergstromDennis Kanegae and team owner Gary Rogers will also be on hand. Former Progressive AFT flat track racer Nichole Cheza Mees, wife of six-time SuperTwins champion Mees and the highest placing woman ever in the SuperTwins division, will be greeting the Sacramento Mile fans in the “Legends” event, sponsored by Motion Pro and the “Hot Shoe” Hall of Fame. Parker, who retired after the 1999 season as a full-time flat track racer, won a record 94 Grand National races (55 on Miles and 35 on Half-Miles) and nine Grand National series championships, easily the most by any flat track rider. Scott won Grand National races in all four forms of flat track racing – Miles, Half-Miles, TT Steeplechase and Short Track. “Sacramento was always a great track for me,” said Parker. “We had some great battles at Cal Expo. I lost a few close ones too. Luckily, I won the most of any rider at Sacramento. I’m looking forward to returning to Cal Expo and seeing the fans again. The “Hot Shoe Hall of Fame,” located on Fremont Street in Las Vegas, will also have a special booth for the “Legends” meeting at Cal Expo with former Speedway Racing stars Mike BastMike FariaJohn Cook and Gene Woods signing autographs. Woods is the founder and curator of the “Hot Shoe” Hall of Fame. A special “Legends” poster will be available to race fans for $5.00 and all of the “Legends” will be signing the posters from 2:45 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 20, at Cal Expo. Gates will open at 1 p.m. with Progressive American Flat Track practice set for 2:15 p.m. and racing scheduled for 6 p.m. PDT. In this year’s event, reigning four-time Sacramento Mile champion Mees seeks to add to his 60-plus career American Flat Track win record against the likes of Briar BaumanDallas DanielsJ.D. BeachBrandon RobinsonDavis Fisher and Bronson Bauman in the Mission SuperTwins presented by S&S Cycle class at Cal Expo. Defending Sacramento Mile winners Cory Texter and Trevor Brunner will lead the Mission Production Twins presented by Vance & Hines and Parts Unlimited AFT Singles presented by KICKERdivisions, respectively.  Tickets for the Aug. 20 Mission Legendary Sacramento Mile powered by Law Tigers motorcycle events are currently available at www.sdi-racing.com and https://calexpostatefair.com/event/sacramento-mile/.

Elite Motorsports Pre-Race Preview

Sportsman SummaryComing off an exciting Runner-Up finish in Denver recently, Jay Storey is looking forward to the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Division 5 doubleheader in Topeka, Kan. this weekend. Competing in Stock with his gorgeous 2018 Copo Camaro and Super Stock in a 2022 Copo, Storey is one of several Patterson Elite drivers who will vie for points and pride at this much-anticipated event at Heartland Motorsports Park. 
The Patterson Elite team is prepared to give its hometown crowd a great show in Stock and Super Stock. In addition to Storey’s participation in both aforementioned categories, Todd Patterson (2019 Copo FSS/D), as well as his sons Aydan (2014 Copo FSS/F) and A.J. (2001 S10 Pickup GT/TD) will be competing in Super Stock. Rounding out competition in Stock is Patterson Elite driver Ryan Montford in his 2013 Copo FSS/C.
“Topeka has always been our favorite racetrack,” said Aydan Patterson. “We’ve got a lot of teammates and customers competing this weekend and we are looking forward to watching them in action. It’s fun to have a doubleheader at this track where so many friends and family can come out and see what we do. I think it’s going to be an exciting weekend.”
Other Patterson Elite drivers and customers looking for success this weekend include:
TOP SPORTSMANChris ArnoldAllen FirestoneGreg Lair Mike Morehead
COMPETITION ELIMINATORSteve BasgallMike DePalmaRoyce Lee Freeman
SUPER STOCKJames Elias FSS/BTerry Elias FSS/BJohn Harder FSS/BTim Nicholson GT/M
STOCKLarry Dyck FS/B
In other NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series competition news, David Cuadra will be running his Top Sportsman car in Seattle at the Flav-R-Pac NHRA Northwest Nationals. D. Cuadra went several rounds last week in Sonoma and he plans to add more to his count in Seattle.
NHRA Camping World Drag Racing SeriesPro Stock competition is heating up in the final leg of the famed Western Swing as the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series rolls into Seattle for the first time in three years. The 33rd annual Flav-R-Pac NHRA Northwest Nationals kick off this Friday and the Elite Motorsports Pro Stock team is ready to rock the Northwest. 
Points leader Erica Enders won last weekend in Sonoma where she was also the No. 1 qualifier. The standout driver plans to take that momentum into this event and is excited to return to Seattle where she has one previous win (2012) and one runner-up finish (2017). 
Sitting right behind Enders in the Pro Stock points race is her Elite Motorsports teammate Aaron Stanfield. Stanfield has had a phenomenal season thus far and he’s ready to give the crowd a show in Seattle. This is his first appearance at the Western Swing’s final event, and he’s primed for the challenge. 
Despite the substantial number of wins 2017 Pro Stock World Champion Bo Butner has amassed in his Pro Stock career, he has yet to nab a Wally from Seattle. The fan-favorite driver is looking to change that this weekend. 
While Troy Coughlin Jr. is no stranger to Pacific Raceway, this will be the first time he’s competed in Pro Stock at this track. He’s continued to gain momentum all season long in his Elite-powered Pro Stock car and will be one to watch at this event. 
The Cuadra family legacy continues to gain momentum and fans this season with patriarch Fernando Cuadra Sr. competing alongside his sons, Fernando Jr. and Cristian. Each of these talented drivers is looking for a breakthrough this weekend. 
The Flav-R-Pac NHRA Northwest Nationals begin on Friday, July 29th.
Photos
Royce Lee Freeman launches off the starting line in Topeka. Photo credit: Alex OwensSteve Basgall in the staging lanes at Heartland Motorsports Park. Photo credit: Aydan Patterson 
Mike DePalma runs his first qualifying pass. Photo credit: Alex OwensJoey Storey in his Super Stock Copo Camaro. Photo credit: Alex Owens
Todd Patterson launches his Patterson Elite Copo Camaro on the starting line. Photo credit: Alex OwensA.J. Patterson in his Super Stock . Photo credit: Alex Owens
Aydan Patterson does an impressive wheelstand in Topeka. Photo credit: Alex OwensRyan Montford awaits his first qualifying pass of the event.. Photo credit: Alex Owens
Bo Butner; Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage Chevrolet Camaro  Photo credit: Auto ImageryAaron Stanfield; Janac Brothers/Jc3 Energy Chevrolet Camaro Photo credit: Auto Imagery
Fernando Cuadra Jr.; Corral Boots Ford Mustang Photo credit: Auto ImageryFernando Cuadra Sr.; Corral Boots Ford Mustang Photo credit: Auto Imagery
Cristian Cuadra; Corral Boots Ford Mustang Photo credit: Auto ImageryErica Enders; Melling Performance/Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro and Troy Coughlin Jr.; JEGS.com /Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro Photo credit: Auto Imagery

RCR Event Preview – Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course

Richard Childress Racing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway … In 73 NASCAR Cup Series starts at the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval, Richard Childress Racing has earned three wins with drivers Dale Earnhardt (1995), Kevin Harvick (2003), and Paul Menard (2011). This weekend marks the second time the NASCAR Cup Series will compete on the road course configuration at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  RCR in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course … RCR has two NASCAR Xfinity Series starts on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, led by Myatt Snider’s seventh-place in 2021.  Introducing the Carolina Cowboys … Driven by the same passion for performance that guides his race team, Richard Childress’ latest endeavor brings Professional Bull Riding to the Carolinas. The Carolina Cowboys represent Winston-Salem, North Carolina, in the PBR Team Series, an elite new league featuring the world’s top bull riders competing in games beginning in July 2022. The team is operated by Richard Childress Racing with 2018 Daytona 500 Champion Austin Dillon serving as General Manager. Don’t miss the Carolina Cowboys inaugural “Cowboy Days” Home Stand September 9-11 at Wake Forest’s Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Tickets are on sale at PBR.com and Ticketmaster. Catch the Action … The Indianapolis 150 at the Brickyard at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course will be televised live on Saturday, July 30 beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock and will be broadcast live on IMS Radio, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.  Follow Sunday’s Action at Indy … The Verizon 200 at the Brickyard at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course will be televised live on Sunday, July 31 beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC and will be broadcast live on IMS Radio, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. 

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