World of Outlaws Head to Wisconsin for a Potential $30,000 WeekendBEAVER DAM, WI – June 15, 2022 – A weekend in Wisconsin awaits the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series.The Greatest Show on Dirt will spend an extra day battling for extra money at Beaver Dam Raceway this Friday & Saturday as the 12th annual Jim “JB” Boyd Memorial expands to include a $20,000-to-win finale for competitors. The series will reach 30 all-time appearances at the Beaver Dam, WI 1/3-mile by the end of the weekend.After an exciting weekend in Knoxville, Iowa, Brad Sweet continues to lead the championships standings over David Gravel, Carson Macedo, Sheldon Haudenschild, Logan Schuchart, Donny Schatz, Spencer Bayston, James McFadden, Jacob Allen, and Brock Zearfoss as the Series prepares for the upcoming “Month of Money” and the remaining 50 races on the calendar.BEAVER DAM TICKETS (Fri-Sat)Let’s look at what to watch for this weekend on DIRTVision.com:THE BIG BADGER: When it comes to Beaver Dam, and Wisconsin in general, nobody sticks out quite as much as Brad Sweet does. The Grass Valley, CA native has won in The Badger State more than anywhere else, scoring 11 of his 75 career World of Outlaws wins in the state, only six less than Steve Kinser’s all-time mark of 17 Wisconsin wins. The three-time and defending Series champion enters this weekend with a +62 point lead as he chases a fourth consecutive title this season.Through 28 appearances at Beaver Dam, The Big Cat is tied with Daryn Pittman atop the list with four victories in his short tenure at the track. He’s contested 10 of those 28 races and impressively enough, has a top-five result in all eight of the races he finished. It’s a crucial weekend for the Kasey Kahne Racing, NAPA Auto Parts #49 team, who although continues to expand the championship advantage, remains only a one-time winner in 2022 with a Vado (NM) victory to show in March.UPPIN’ THE ANTE: This weekend’s 12th annual Jim “JB” Boyd Memorial will line someone’s pocket with a little extra dough as the event expands on the calendar and atop the purse. Traditionally, a one-day event since established in 2010, the annual running is growing in 2022 with an added day making it a doubleheader and an added dose of money making Saturday’s finale now $20,000-to-win.Thus far this season, the World of Outlaws have conducted five events offering more than the standard $10,000-to-win structure. Ironically enough, all five of those races have been won by a team from the state of Pennsylvania. Brent Marks has won two of those (Texas Outlaw Nationals / Morgan Cup) in the Murray-Marks #19, while Shark Racing’s Logan Schuchart (Bristol Bash) & Jacob Allen (Jason Johnson Classic), along with Spencer Bayston (Bristol Bash) in the CJB Motorsports #5 have each topped one.PROVEN WINNERS: Behind Sweet, there’s a loaded line of contenders ready to pounce and earn their next victory at Beaver Dam. The quartet of Sheldon Haudenschild, Donny Schatz, Carson Macedo & Kraig Kinser have all won before at the Wisconsin oval, and look to stop the Kasey Kahne Racing #49 to get another this weekend.Sheldon Haudenschild enters as the defending winner of the Jim “JB” Boyd Memorial, passing Giovanni Scelzi at halfway of last year’s 40-lapper to score his first-career Beaver Dam triumph. The Wooster, OH native will be going for a Series-best sixth World of Outlaws win in 2022 this weekend aboard the Stenhouse Jr. / Marshall Racing, NOS Energy Drink #17.Donny Schatz is the most experienced full-time Outlaw at Beaver Dam, contesting 28 of the 29 shows in Series history. The 10-time Series champion scored wins in 2002 and 2015 at the track and goes for his second win of the season this weekend in the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing, Ford Performance, Advance Auto Parts #15.Carson Macedo has yet to win a World of Outlaws race at Beaver Dam, but has won with IRA at the track in late 2017 aboard Joe Gaerte’s #3G. The Jason Johnson Racing pilot finished fifth at the track last year and like Haudenschild, eyes his sixth win of the season in the Albaugh #41 this weekend.Kraig Kinser was a Beaver Dam victor a decade ago, topping the third edition of the Jim “JB” Boyd Memorial in 2012. It’s been a tough, but consistent road for the Bloomington, IN native in recent years with results of 12th, 12th, 13th, 12th, 11th, 12th, 12th. He’ll be looking to break that top-10 barrier for the third time this season as the Outlaws get back to Beaver Dam this weekend.ON THE CUSP: Another group of seven full-time World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car stars have enjoyed their own taste of success at Beaver Dam in the past, and look for their biggest breakthrough yet with two nights available this weekend.David Gravel owns nine top-10 finishes in 11 starts at the track with a career-best of third on three occasions, including last year’s visit aboard the Big Game Motorsports #2.Logan Schuchart has experienced a rollercoaster ride of results at Beaver Dam with numbers trending down, then up, then down, and ultimately peaking with a third-place finish in 2020 aboard the DuraMAX Oil, Drydene Performance Products #1S.Jacob Allen, Schuchart’s Shark Racing teammate, owns a career-best of fourth at the facility as he returns hoping to capture another boosted payout for his third win in 2022.Kasey Kahne says Beaver Dam is one of his favorite tracks in the country and has the numbers to back up his liking with a career-best of fifth with IRA in 2009 and an Outlaws best of ninth in 2020.James McFadden has run sixth at Beaver Dam in the J&M #55 and KKR #9, now he looks to better that aboard the Roth #83 as he continues to chase his first win of the season.Brock Zearfoss made his Beaver Dam debut last year and quickly found speed with a tenth-place finish in the Moose’s LZ Bar & Grill #3.Bill Rose finished as high as second with IRA at Beaver Dam in 2014 and owns an Outlaws best of 11th at the track.DUELIN’ IN DAIRYLAND: Beaver Dam’s doubleheader marks the first of five races in Wisconsin for the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series, and all of them come within the next month. The Badger State faithful can find further action with The Greatest Show on Dirt in a few weeks with stops at New Richmond’s Cedar Lake Speedway on July 1-2 and Wilmot Raceway on July 9.BEAVER DAM DEBUT: The three youngest faces on the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series tour will all be making their first appearance at Wisconsin’s Beaver Dam Raceway this weekend.Spencer Bayston, the leading Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year contender, continues to shine in his first year with CJB Motorsports. The Signing Day Sports, Bubbly Brands #5 currently sits seventh in points (-194) with a big Bristol victory, three podium finishes, eight top-five results, and 17 top-10 runs recorded by the Lebanon, IN 23-year-old.Noah Gass of Mounds, OK has continued to grow leaps and bounds during his inaugural season with the World of Outlaws, proven by his first-career top-10 finish at River Cities (ND) to start the month of June. The 18-year-old rookie has yet to encounter Beaver Dam in his short time but is a two-time IRA winner in the state of Wisconsin with a pair of Plymouth Dirt Track triumphs coming last summer.Robbie Price of Cobble Hill, BC is growing more and more accustomed to the Jason Sides #7S as he prepares for the final 50 races of the World of Outlaws season. The 24-year-old Canadian qualified for two Features at Atomic (16th) and Knoxville (19th) last weekend with his sights set on a third and fourth as the Series ventures to Beaver Dam this weekend.THE BIG WHEEL: A native of Sheboygan, WI, Scotty Thiel is always one of the stout locals that rise to the challenge when the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars enter his home state. The 30-year-old has earned four of his 22 career IRA (Interstate Racing Association) wins at Beaver Dam and owns 10 IRA podiums at the track to go along with topping this year’s season debut.When it comes to the World of Outlaws, “The Big Wheel” has made 33 Feature starts with a career-best of eighth-place coming last year at Wisconsin’s Wilmot Raceway. He’s made six DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash appearances throughout his career and looks for a seventh and potentially eighth this weekend in pursuit of bettering his Beaver Dam best of 14th with The Greatest Show on Dirt.REPPIN’ THE IRA: Along with Thiel, a handful of other Interstate Racing Association regulars are expected to make their season debut with the World of Outlaws in Wisconsin this weekend.Jake Blackhurst of Hanna City, IL is an 11-time IRA winner and an 11-time Feature starter with the World of Outlaws. He’s already won with IRA once this year (Francis Creek, WI) and currently sits third in the standings. Blackhurst won at Beaver Dam in the fall of 2020 and chases his first-career top-10 with the Series this weekend.Danny Schlafer of Gibson, WI has yet to taste IRA victory lane but has been rather consistent in 2022 with four top-five finishes placing him fourth in the current points. He enjoyed a breakout a moment earlier this year with a stellar second-place effort against the All Star Circuit of Champions at Plymouth (WI). Schlafer will be aiming for a second-career start with the World of Outlaws with his first coming last year at Wilmot.Scott Neitzel from down the road in Beaver Dam, WI will be representing his hometown with a 22nd career World of Outlaws start on the line. The 25-time IRA winner owns victories at the track as far back as 1995 and scored his only Outlaws top-10 at Beaver Dam back in 2003 with an eighth-place finish.Other recent IRA winners at Beaver Dam include Blake Nimee, Mike Reinke, Jordan Goldesberry, Steve Meyer, and Mike Kertscher.THIS WEEK AT A GLANCEFriday & Saturday, June 17-18 at Beaver Dam Raceway in Beaver Dam, WION THE INTERNET World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series Twitter – @WorldofOutlaws Instagram – @WoOSprint Facebook – Facebook.com/WorldofOutlawsSprintCarSeries YouTube – Youtube.com/WorldofOutlaws DIRTVision – DIRTVision.com – Platinum annual FAST PASS for $299 or monthly FAST PASS for $39/monthCURRENT CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS (26/77 Nights): 1. 49-Brad Sweet (3,612 PTS); 2. 2-David Gravel (-64 PTS); 3. 41-Carson Macedo (-66 PTS); 4. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild (-74 PTS); 5. 1S-Logan Schuchart (-88 PTS); 6. 15-Donny Schatz (-158 PTS); 7. 5-Spencer Bayston (-194 PTS); 8. 83-James McFadden (-214 PTS); 9. 1A-Jacob Allen (-324 PTS); 10. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss (-436 PTS).NOS ENERGY DRINK FEATURE WINNERS (12 Drivers): 5 wins – Sheldon Haudenschild, Stenhouse Jr. / Marshall Racing #17 5 wins – Carson Macedo, Jason Johnson Racing #41 3 wins – Brent Marks, Murray-Marks Motorsports #19 2 wins – David Gravel, Big Game Motorsports #2 2 wins – Jacob Allen, Shark Racing #1A 2 wins – Kyle Larson, Kevin Kozlowski/Paul Silva #57 2 wins – Giovanni Scelzi, KCP Racing #18 1 win – Brad Sweet, Kasey Kahne Racing #49 1 win – Logan Schuchart, Shark Racing #1S 1 win – Donny Schatz, Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing #15 1 win – Spencer Bayston, CJB Motorsports #5 1 win – Brian Brown, Brian Brown Racing #21FEATURE LAPS LED (22 Drivers): 107 laps – Carson Macedo 95 laps – Brad Sweet 79 laps – Sheldon Haudenschild 71 laps – David Gravel 64 laps – Jacob Allen 61 laps – Kyle Larson 55 laps – Giovanni Scelzi 54 laps – Brent Marks 49 laps – Spencer Bayston 41 laps – Logan Schuchart 26 laps – Sam Hafertepe Jr. 25 laps – Donny Schatz 15 laps – Justin Peck 14 laps – Brian Brown 13 laps – Cory Eliason 9 laps – Dominic Scelzi, Brady Bacon 8 laps – James McFadden, Anthony Macri 3 laps – Brock Zearfoss 1 lap – Corey Day, Aaron ReutzelSLICK WOODY’S QUICKTIME AWARDS (16 Drivers): 4 QuickTimes – David Gravel, Carson Macedo 2 QuickTimes – Sheldon Haudenschild, Jacob Allen, Rico Abreu, Giovanni Scelzi* 1 QuickTime – Brad Sweet, Logan Schuchart, Spencer Bayston, James McFadden, Aaron Reutzel, Cory Eliason, Sam Hafertepe Jr, Justin Peck, Buddy Kofoid, Brent Marks * Denotes New Track RecordHEAT RACE WINNERS (29 Drivers): 11 Heat Wins – David Gravel 9 Heat Wins – Brad Sweet, Carson Macedo 8 Heat Wins – Jacob Allen 6 Heat Wins – Sheldon Haudenschild, Logan Schuchart 5 Heat Wins – James McFadden, Rico Abreu 4 Heat Wins – Giovanni Scelzi 3 Heat Wins – Donny Schatz, Kraig Kinser, Aaron Reutzel 2 Heat Wins – Spencer Bayston, Brock Zearfoss, Tyler Courtney, Cory Eliason, Kerry Madsen, Brian Brown 1 Heat Win – Kasey Kahne, Sam Hafertepe Jr, Dominic Scelzi, Corey Day, Justin Peck, Anthony Macri, Justin Whittall, Ian Madsen, Parker Price-Miller, Brent Marks, Austin McCarlDIRTVISION FAST PASS DASH APPEARANCES (37 Drivers): 18 Dashes – David Gravel 16 Dashes – Brad Sweet 15 Dashes – Carson Macedo, Spencer Bayston 14 Dashes – Jacob Allen 12 Dashes – Sheldon Haudenschild, Logan Schuchart, 8 Dashes – Donny Schatz, James McFadden 7 Dashes – Rico Abreu 6 Dashes – Kraig Kinser, Giovanni Scelzi 5 Dashes – Kyle Larson, Cory Eliason 4 Dashes – Brock Zearfoss, Brent Marks, Aaron Reutzel, 3 Dashes – Tyler Courtney, Kerry Madsen, Anthony Macri, Brian Brown 2 Dashes – Kasey Kahne, Dominic Scelzi, Corey Day, 1 Dash – Sam Hafertepe Jr, Colby Copeland, Tanner Carrick, DJ Netto, Brady Bacon, Justin Peck, Matt Campbell, Justin Whittall, Ian Madsen, Cole Duncan, Parker Price-Miller, Austin McCarl, Matt JuhlMICROLITE LAST CHANCE SHOWDOWN WINS (15 Drivers): 3 LCS Wins – Sheldon Haudenschild, James McFadden, Ayrton Gennetten 2 LCS Wins – Logan Schuchart, Kerry Madsen 1 LCS Win – Spencer Bayston, Donny Schatz, Brock Zearfoss, Anthony Macri, Mitchell Faccinto, Sam Hafertepe Jr, Brent Marks, DJ Foos, Christopher Bell, Austin PierceKSE HARD CHARGER AWARDS (11 Drivers): 4 Hard Chargers – Sheldon Haudenschild, Logan Schuchart 2 Hard Chargers – Carson Macedo, Donny Schatz, James McFadden 1 Hard Chargers – David Gravel, Brock Zearfoss, Noah Gass, Jason Sides, Rico Abreu, Tanner Thorson, Alan Krimes, Devon Borden, Anthony Macri, Greg Wilson, Travis Philo, Kyle LarsonPODIUM FINISHES (20 Drivers): 10 Podiums – Brad Sweet 8 Podiums – Sheldon Haudenschild, Carson Macedo 7 Podiums – Kyle Larson 6 Podiums – David Gravel, Logan Schuchart 5 Podiums – Donny Schatz 4 Podiums – Brent Marks 3 Podiums – Spencer Bayston, James McFadden, Jacob Allen, Giovanni Scelzi, Brent Marks, Brian Brown 2 Podiums – Aaron Reutzel, Corey Day 1 Podium – Kraig Kinser, Cory Eliason, Sam Hafertepe Jr, Justin Peck, Rico AbreuTOP 10 FINISHES (39 Drivers): 23 Top 10s – Brad Sweet 22 Top 10s – David Gravel 20 Top 10s – Logan Schuchart 19 Top 10s – Carson Macedo, Sheldon Haudenschild 18 Top 10s – Donny Schatz 17 Top 10s – Spencer Bayston 14 Top 10s – James McFadden 13 Top 10s – Jacob Allen 12 Top 10s – Giovanni Scelzi 11 Top 10s – Rico Abreu 8 Top 10s – Kyle Larson 7 Top 10s – Cory Eliason 6 Top 10s – Brent Marks, Aaron Reutzel 5 Top 10s – Brock Zearfoss, Anthony Macri 4 Top 10s – Tyler Courtney 3 Top 10s – Kerry Madsen, Brian Brown 2 Top 10s – Kraig Kinser, Kasey Kahne, Dominic Scelzi, Corey Day, Justin Peck, Sam Hafertepe Jr. 1 Top 10 – Noah Gass, Shane Golobic, DJ Netto, Hunter Schuerenberg, Carson Short, Tanner Thorson, Danny Dietrich, Lance Dewease, Greg Wilson, Cole Duncan, Cale Thomas, Cole Macedo, Mark Dobmeier2022 WORLD OF OUTLAWS SPRINT CAR SCHEDULE & WINNERS: No. / Day, Date / Track / Location / Winner (Total Wins) 1. Thur, Feb. 10 / Volusia Speedway Park / Barberville, FL / Donny Schatz (1) 2. Fri, Feb. 11 / Volusia Speedway Park / Barberville, FL / Sheldon Haudenschild (1) 3. Sat, Feb. 12 / Volusia Speedway Park / Barberville, FL / David Gravel (1) 4. Fri, March 4 / Cotton Bowl Speedway / Paige, TX / Sheldon Haudenschild (2) 5. Sat, March 5 / Cotton Bowl Speedway / Paige, TX / Carson Macedo (1) 6. Fri, March 11 / Thunderbowl Raceway / Tulare, CA / Giovanni Scelzi (1) 7. Sat, March 12 / Thunderbowl Raceway / Tulare, CA / Kyle Larson (1) 8. Fri, March 18 / Merced Speedway / Merced, CA / Carson Macedo (2) 9. Fri, March 25 / Bakersfield Speedway / Bakersfield, CA / Giovanni Scelzi (2) 10. Sat, March 26 / Perris Auto Speedway / Perris, CA / David Gravel (2) 11. Tues, March 29 / Vado Speedway Park / Vado, NM / Brad Sweet (1) 12. Sat, April 2 / Devil’s Bowl Speedway / Mesquite, TX / Brent Marks (1) 13. Sat, April 9 / Lake Ozark Speedway / Eldon, MO / Jacob Allen (1) 14. Fri, April 15 / Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 / Pevely, MO / Carson Macedo (3) 15. Sat, April 23 / Tri-State Speedway / Haubstadt, IN / Carson Macedo (4) 16. Fri, April 29 / Bristol Motor Speedway / Bristol, TN / Logan Schuchart (1) 17. Sat, April 30 / Bristol Motor Speedway / Bristol, TN / Spencer Bayston (1) 18. Wed, May 11 / Lincoln Speedway / Abbottstown, PA / Jacob Allen (2) 19. Sat, May 14 / Williams Grove Speedway / Mechanicsburg, PA / Brent Marks (2) 20. Tues, May 17 / Bridgeport Motorsports Park / Swedesboro, NJ / Sheldon Haudenschild (3) 21. Fri, May 20 / Attica Raceway Park / Attica, OH / Kyle Larson (2) 22. Sat, May 28 / Atomic Speedway / Waverly, OH / Sheldon Haudenschild (4) 23. Mon, May 30 / Lawrenceburg Speedway / Lawrenceburg, IN / Sheldon Haudenschild (5) 24. Fri, June 3 / River Cities Speedway / Grand Forks, ND / Carson Macedo (5) 25. Fri, June 10 / Knoxville Raceway / Knoxville, IA / Brent Marks (3) 26. Sat, June 11 / Knoxville Raceway / Knoxville, IA / Brian Brown (1)

NHRA^® Team Report

NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals

Pre-Race Report

Holding steady in the NHRA Top Five Funny Car standings, Cruz Pedregon and team are looking forward to showing what the Snap-on^® “Makers and Fixers” Dodge^® SRT^® Hellcat^® can do in Thunder Valley.

“Our qualifying efforts prove we’re fast. We’re right on the cusp of really breaking through, and I believe we’re going to bust through one of these days soon. We have the speed; we just need to keep maintaining that consistency throughout the event. And we plan to make that happen at Bristol Dragway,” says Cruz. “We took some time to regroup after a strong showing at Epping.  J.C. (John Collins), Rip (Reynolds) and I made a trip to Las Vegas to make some noise in the desert firing up our back-up car for Snap-on’s SuperSpeedway contest winners and franchisees at Spring Mountain Motor Resort and Country Club. It was a great way to spend the weekend off, and we even got to talk racing with Formula Drift drivers Chris Forsberg and Ryan Tuerck.”

When he gets to Bristol, Cruz and team will host 150 associates from Snap-on’s Elizabethton, Tennessee manufacturing facility. The Elizabethton plant manufactures the hand tools Cruz’s pit crew relies on every weekend racing. He’s visited their plant as well as shops in the area with this week’s Nitro Franchisee Bivins Giddens, whose name is on the side of his car this week. Bivins worked in route sales for a major brand before deciding he “wanted to be his own boss” and investing in a Snap-on franchise. He says he enjoys interacting with his customers and helping them solve problems. If you’re one of the Makers and Fixers relying on hand tools in your work, be sure to share your story at makersandfixers.com.

Follow Cruz and Snap-on on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

To see the latest Cruz news, like his Facebook page, where you can also check out his Vlog “Kickin’ It With The Cruzer.” Follow Cruz on Twitter and Instagram. Be sure to follow @MakersandFixers on Instagram and share your stories at makersandfixers.com.

Twelfth career Hell Tour win for Unzicker, Rookie Payton Freeman sixth in series debut

KANKAKEE, IL – June 14, 2022 – With lapped traffic in front and two multi-time DIRTcar Summer Nationals champions on his tail, Ryan Unzicker had a choice to make. Go now, or risk losing the lead.

“That 14 car – I just caught him at the wrong time,” Unzicker, of El Paso, IL, said. “He left the door open and I had to take it. I felt like if I didn’t, I wouldn’t have been giving it my all.”

Having led the season-opening Feature for the 37th annual Hell Tour Tuesday night at Kankakee County Speedway since the drop of the green, Unzicker managed to fend-off the pressure from behind him for over half of the race when he came up on a lapped car in front of him, right in his lane.

Knowing Bobby Pierce and Dennis Erb Jr. were right on his tail, The El Paso Express decided to make a quick decision and shoot a narrow gap that opened as they went through Turns 3-4.

“We gambled, took the shot, made some contact with him, so I’m glad my right-rear held,” he said.

Unzicker didn’t get by without contact, and neither did the next guy coming through. Several laps later, the leaders approached more traffic and more tough decisions to make in getting by. Pierce got into Jeff Roth when making a pass on him just after halfway, enough to allow Erb Jr. to get by for second.

Once Unzicker freed himself from the traffic tangle, it was time to play heavy defense again. Hugging the bottom lane for the entirety of the race, Unzicker held strong on the low side and denied both Erb and Pierce’s passing attempts over 40 laps to collect $5,000 and his first win on the Summer Nationals trail since June 2018.

“My stick guy was pounding me to the bottom, telling me they were right there,” Unzicker said of feeling Pierce and Erb so close behind him.

To his early-season success, Unzicker attributes much of it to his work earlier in the night, laying down the fastest lap in Group 3 Qualifying and winning his Heat Race. That set him up for a pole redraw, which allowed him to get out front early and eventually lead all 40 laps.

“I’m fortunate to start up front, that’s the biggest thing,” Unzicker said. “Fortunate to have a good car for the first six or seven laps to sustain the lead.”

Defending Summer Nationals champion Bobby Pierce was able to get back to second after Erb slipped up in a pass attempt for the lead later on and finished runner-up. Erb, the current World of Outlaws CASE Late Model Series points leader, crossed in third, while young Drake Troutman made it to fourth pulling double-duty. Jason Feger, celebrating 20 years of racing this year, rounded out the top-five.

Summer Nationals rookie Payton Freeman, of Commerce, GA, made a sound debut on the tour with a victory in his Heat Race and a sixth-place run in the Feature. The 19-year-old had limited experience on Midwest ovals prior to Tuesday but his determination and raw talent shined through on Tuesday.

UP NEXT

The DIRTcar Summer Nationals continues Illinois-Iowa Week action Wednesday evening at Peoria Speedway in Peoria, IL. If you can’t be at the track, stream all the action live on DIRTVision.

ABBREVIATED RESULTS (view full results)

Feature (40 Laps) – 1. 24-Ryan Unzicker[1]; 2. 32-Bobby Pierce[3]; 3. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[5]; 4. 7-Drake Troutman[4]; 5. 25-Jason Feger[7]; 6. F1- Payton Freeman[2]; 7. 21JR-Billy Moyer Jr[8]; 8. 3S-Brian Shirley[6]; 9. 9R-Curtis Roberts[11]; 10. T6-Tommy Sheppard Jr[9]; 11. 36-Logan Martin[13]; 12. 89-Mike Spatola[12]; 13. 14G-Joe Godsey[19]; 14. 99-Hunt Gossum[14]; 15. M27-Mike Provenzano[15]; 16. 77-Preston Luckman[18]; 17. 30-Mark Voigt[20]; 18. 14R-Jeff Roth[22]; 19. 14-Glen Thompson[21]; 20. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[10]; 21. B12-Kevin Weaver[16]; 22. 10-Paul Parker[17]

STILL WINNING: Hoffman Wins 12th Summit Modified Tour Opener at Kankakee

North Carolinian collects 58th career tour victory

He’s back, boys and girls.

Nick Hoffman picked up right where he left off in his history-making 2021 season with a win in the 2022 DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals season opener at Kankakee County Speedway Tuesday night.

The four-time and defending champion started third on the grid, got to the lead on Lap 3 and never looked back, leading the rest of the way unchallenged for his 58th career tour victory – most by any driver all-time.

“I knew I had to get to the lead as soon as I could possibly do it and just try to control the race from there,” Hoffman, of Mooresville, NC, said.

Forced to go to the outside of polesitter Trevor Neville for the lead, Hoffman saw the big vision from within the cockpit of his NOS Energy Drink/Elite Chassis #2.

“I knew the outside lane in Turns 1-2 was there to be able to roll speed as fast as I could,” Hoffman said. “Then, I knew I had to get back down in 3-4. I had to charge 1-2 as hard as I could to be able to beat [Neville] down the back-straightway and get back into his lane in 3-4.”

Even the internal issues he found early in the program could not stop him from getting to Victory Lane.

“We were smoking earlier… Dad had just change the valve cover gaskets on both sides, so we had a mess back there with oil and stuff,” Hoffman said. “Had some issues with my transmission too. It’s just wear-and-tear on parts.”

“This deal’s grueling; we’re only one night in.”

UP NEXT

The DIRTcar Summit Modifieds continue Illinois-Iowa Week action Wednesday evening at Peoria Speedway in Peoria, IL. If you can’t be at the track, stream all the action live on DIRTVision.

ABBREVIATED RESULTS (view full results)

Feature (25 Laps) – 1. 2-Nick Hoffman[3]; 2. 36L-Jamie Lomax[2]; 3. 777-Trevor Neville[1]; 4. 8-Kyle Steffens[5]; 5. 36-Kenny Wallace[4]; 6. 25- Tyler Nicely[12]; 7. 79D-John Demoss[7]; 8. 37L-Michael Ledford[14]; 9. 21L-Derek Losh[9]; 10. 65-Todd Sherman[17]; 11. 8A-Austin Holcombe[11]; 12. 130-Chase Allen[8]; 13. 6M-Carl McKinney[13]; 14. 6B-Dave Baldwin[20]; 15. 0-Travis Kohler[19]; 16. 82-Darren Wireman[10]; 17. 4-Mike Learman[16]; 18. 7-Drake Troutman[6]; 19. 35-Jason Hastings[21]; 20. 19C-Carter Sinkhorn[22]; 21. 8K-Levi Kissinger[15]; 22. 5CS-Curt Spalding[18]

BRISTOL, Tenn. (June 15, 2022) – Brittany Force and the Flav-R-Pac / Monster Energy dragster team enter this Father’s Day weekend’s NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway having led the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series points standings for four consecutive races and are still 30 points ahead of second place. Force’s four-race points lead is equal to her longest consecutive streak in her professional career. The Flav-R-Pac team owes their status to an impressive three wins in the first eight of events of the season giving them a 16-5 record on race day. The team’s dominant performance is the best start of Force’s career. The David Grubnic and Mac Savage led team first picked up a win at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, then followed-it up with a dominant victory at Houston Raceway Park and went onto solidify their position with their third victory of 2022 at the Virginia NHRA Nationals. “We head to Bristol next for Father’s Day weekend at one of my favorite tracks on the circuit. This Flav-R-Pac / Monster Energy team is heading in with the points lead and we hope to leave the same way,” Force said. “Being one of my favorite tracks, we’re looking for a long weekend and our fourth win of the season. A win at Thunder Valley has always been on my bucket list and we plan to make it happen this weekend. I’m glad we are bringing this race back on Father’s Day weekend. It’s how I’ve celebrated my dad on Father’s Day for the last 10 years and I’m glad we return to it this season.” Force will be looking for the ultimate Father’s Day gift for her dad, a Wally. She had her best result at the Thunder Valley Nationals when the event was run last October where she went to the semifinals. She has one No. 1 start in 2014 at Bristol Dragway, one of the few venues at which she is yet to hold either end of the track record. Currently, she is the elapsed time record holder at 11 of the 19 tracks that host events in the series and the speed record holder at 10. Racing at the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway begins with qualifying Friday night at 8 p.m. and continues with Saturday with sessions at 2:30 and 5:30 p.m. Eliminations will begin Father’s Day Sunday at noon. Television coverage of qualifying will be on FOX Sports 1 (FS1)

The Series Makes its Return to North Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin

GRAND FORKS, ND – JUNE 14, 2022 – When the calendar turns to July, only two things are certain. The Summer heat and the return of the World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Models to the Upper Midwest. 

The second tripleheader weekend of the season awaits The Most Powerful Late Models on the Planet, kicking off at River Cities Raceway in Grand Forks, ND, on Friday, July 15.  

2022 marks the 15th appearance at the 1/4-mile bullring as teams prepare for the first of three, 40-lap, $10,000-to-win CASE Construction Equipment Features. 

Last season, two veterans brought fans to their feet as Dennis Erb Jr. and Jimmy Mars waged war for more than 20 laps. The Carpentersville, IL driver held on to win for the third time in 2021 and his first River Cities triumph. 

PREVIOUS RIVER CITIES SPEEDWAY WINNERS

2021 – Dennis Erb. Jr on July 16
2020 – Brandon Sheppard on July 19
2019 – Brandon Sheppard on July 12
2018 – Mike Marlar on July 13
2017 – Shane Clanton on July 14
2015 – Tim McCreadie on July 10
2014 – Tim Fuller on July 18
2012 – Darrell Lanigan on July 13
2011 – Tim McCreadie on July 15
2010 – Austin Hubbard on July 9
2009 – Josh Richards on 10
2008 – Brady Smith on July 11
2007 – Tim Fuller on June 12
2006 – Darrell Lanigan on May 30

The World of Outlaws CASE Late Models move east on Saturday, July 16, taking on I-94 Sure Step Speedway in Fergus Falls, MN, for the second time. 

Illinois standout Frank Heckenast Jr. led wire-to-wire in the Series’ inaugural appearance at the 3/8-mile track, as Tyler Bruening, Brandon Sheppard, and Chris Madden had an epic battle for second behind him. 

PREVIOUS I-94 SURE STEP SPEEDWAY WINNERS

2021 – Frank Heckenast Jr. on July 17

TICKETS: https://bit.ly/3tz5vdu

A trip to Wisconsin finishes the weekend off for the World of Outlaws CASE Late Models as they head to Red Cedar Speedway in Menomonie, WI, on Sunday, July 17. 

The Rumble at the Red Cedar will be the third time the Series will race at the Badger State oval after Sheppard held off a hard-charging Cade Dillard to grab the win last season. 

PREVIOUS RED CEDAR SPEEDWAY WINNERS

2021-Brandon Sheppard on July 18
2019-Chase Junghans on July 14

TICKETS: https://bit.ly/3tz5why

Dennis Erb Jr. leads the charge of World of Outlaws drivers hoping to make a push toward the 2022 championship. 

The Illinois veteran has two wins on the Series this season, and currently holds the points lead—98 points ahead of Max Blair. 

Erb scored a win and another top-10 on the weekend last year and hopes to increase his points lead during the swing. 

Blair and Tanner English, who’s third in the standings, will each get their first look at all three of these facilities, hoping to catch Erb, who’s had the lead since leaving Cherokee Speedway in March. 

Another driver hoping for home state glory is Brent Larson. The race at I-94 is Larson’s only chance to bring home state fans to their feet in 2022. 

However, while I-94 is the only event in Minnesota, Red Cedar Raceway is less than an hour from his Lake Elmo, MN residence. 

Larson is hoping to take advantage of his hometown crowd to grave his first career World of Outlaws CASE Late Models win. 

 If you can’t make it to the track, watch all the action live on DIRTVision – either online on with the DIRTVision App.

BRISTOL, Tenn. (June 14) – Pro Stock driver Troy Coughlin Jr. isn’t the type of guy to break the rules, despite what his history at Bristol Dragway may indicate. Either way, he promises to walk a straight path at this weekend’s Thunder Valley Nationals. Honest! Long before he started driving the JEGS.com Chevrolet Camaro for Elite Motorsports, Coughlin was the sport’s biggest superfan, especially when his father Troy Coughlin Sr. was racing. At times, watching dad required “bending” the rules a little bit, something he pushed to the extreme one memorable race day in Bristol. “I was like 10 years old and Dad was in the Winston ‘No Bull’ Showdown,” Troy Jr. said. “At that point he hadn’t won a Pro Stock race but his car was stout that weekend and he was driving really well. They’d hyped up that race with the big money prizes and everything and it was so exciting to watch him work his way through eliminations.” By the time it got to the later rounds, Troy Jr. couldn’t help himself. Although he’d been warned several times by NHRA’s former head of security, Mike Lentz, that he couldn’t be on or near the starting line, Troy Jr. repeatedly decided the risk was worth the reward.

“He’d try to sneak up there every round,” said JEGS Director of Motorsports Scott “Woody” Woodruff. “I had NHRA race control on my radio headset and I’d hear ‘Troy’s kid is up here again.’ Mike Lentz would immediately look at me and I’d tell him I would handle it. I would usually go tell T.J. to hide somewhere else. I knew how badly he wanted to be up there.” By the time Troy Sr. made it to the finals against fellow Ohioan Mark “the Cowboy” Pawuk, young Troy simply wouldn’t be denied. “Woody told me, ‘At least wait until your dad’s done with the burnout and is pulling forward to stage,’ thinking there wouldn’t be enough time for the security guys to run me off at the point. So that’s what I did and even though it seemed like I’d be banned for life, I was able to watch Dad win his first race.”

Troy Jr. has had a special affection for Bristol Dragway ever since, despite the stern lecture he got that day back in 2000, and yet again, is one of the most excited people heading to the picturesque track this weekend. “I have a driver’s pass this time so hopefully I won’t get thrown out,” Troy Jr. said with a laugh. “The goal now is to win my first Pro Stock race at the same track where Dad got his. How cool would that be? “We have a new car this year and we’re still learning what it wants. It’s taking some time but once it all falls into place, look out. There has been so much work, so many hours, so much sweat put into figuring this car out. I know we’re really close. Hopefully, this is the weekend when it all comes together.”

Troy Jr. will actually have two chances to win in Bristol as he is scheduled to also compete in the Super Gas category in his Uncle Jeg Coughlin Jr.’s 1957 Chevrolet Corvette Roadster.  “It’s a super fun car to drive and it’s been in the family stable for quite a while now,” Troy Jr. said. “Uncle Mike (Coughlin) wants to race it in Norwalk (Ohio) and since it hasn’t been run for a while I volunteered to blow the dust off it this weekend. It’ll give me some more laps down the strip. Plus, I get to race some more, which is always a plus. “I still have the same crazy passion for this sport that I did back when I was a kid sneaking up to the starting line to watch my Dad and uncles. I was only dreaming about doing this at that point. Now I’m living that dream and my feelings for the sport haven’t changed one bit. Nothing has changed, except I don’t have to sneak around anymore.”

Champions return, Australia/NZ shows presence, healthy roster expected for first full week

KANKAKEE, IL – June 14, 2022 – It’s time to feel the heat on the trail of the Hell Tour. The 37th DIRTcar Summer Nationals and DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals is here.

Illinois-Iowa Week kicks off the 32-race schedule Tuesday night at Kankakee County Speedway – the 34th visit in tour history. A potential $39,000 Late Model champion’s check is on the line should all 32 races be completed by season’s end, while the Modifieds chase the traditional $5,000 check.

Illinois-Iowa Week schedule

Tuesday, June 14 – Kankakee County Speedway (Kankakee, IL)
Wednesday, June 15 – Peoria Speedway (Peoria, IL)
Thursday, June 16 – Davenport Speedway (Davenport, IA)
Friday, June 17 – Tri-City Speedway (Pontoon Beach, IL)
Saturday, June 18 – Fairbury Speedway (Fairbury, IL)
Sunday, June 19 – Sycamore Speedway (Maple Park, IL)

Tri-City and Fairbury will stand as the first $10,000-to-win Late Model shows on the schedule, bringing the competition and racing action to a fever pitch as the tour gets underway.

Tickets will be available at the gate on each race day. If you can’t be at the track, the entire 2022 Summer Nationals will be broadcasted live on DIRTVision. Get your FAST PASS subscription today or download the mobile app to watch from anywhere.

Here are the drivers to watch for and the storylines to follow this week…

RETURN TO FORM – After two seasons following a never-before-seen schedule that stretched into the later weeks of August, the Summer Nationals returns to a format more like its traditional slate in 2022 with 32 race dates in 40 calendar days, predominantly racing an average of six days per week. The first, third and fourth weeks have six scheduled races, Week #2 and Week #5 have five scheduled races and the final week in Michigan is set for four races.

This will crank up the heat on the competitors, once again offering the challenge the Hell Tour has come to be known for as teams fight to stay in the action night after night and keep their equipment, tempers and patience in check.

Though the schedule reverts to a more traditional timeframe, the points fund will follow the format unveiled in 2021, with an upgraded purse for perfect-attendance drivers. For each race completed past 25, the champion’s check will increase by $2,000. Positions 2-10 in points will receive prize money increases in different increments as well. Weekly bonuses and the all-new tow money program will also increase incentives for full-timers.

THE CHAMPS ARE HERE – Defending Hell Tour champions Bobby Pierce, the reigning Late Model champ from Oakwood, IL, and Nick Hoffman, last year’s Modified champion from Mooresville, NC, have made clear their intentions to be in-action during Illinois-Iowa Week and beyond.

Pierce currently has every race through July 3 (end of Multi-State Week) on his schedule, giving several of the traditional Summer Nationals tracks and their fans the chance to see the four-time champion compete against the best from the region. Should he decide to divert from the schedule past that point, a new champion could potentially rise to the top by season’s end.

As he has done in each of the past three seasons, Hoffman plans to tackle the majority of the Modified schedule, aiming for his fourth-straight and fifth career championship. New for this summer, he’s taking NOS Energy Drink along for the ride with a brand-new sponsorship inked with the beverage brand for his already orange-and-blue colored #2.

WELCOME TO HELL, ROOK – Multiple Late Model racers have already made their intentions of following all or most of the entire schedule known, creating an interesting roster of talent tackling the tour for their first time.

• Payton Freeman, of Commerce, GA, won two Features last year in his first full-time season aboard the Southern All Star Racing Series, clinching Rookie of the Year honors and the Series championship by over 500 points. This summer, he faces the biggest challenge of his career against some of the nation’s best Dirt Late Model talent on their home turf behind the wheel of his Madison County Auto Parts / Freeman Plumbing #F1.

• Preston Luckman, of Coos Bay, OR, is new to the Midwest Dirt Late Model racing scene in 2022, but has plenty of experience racing Late Models around his home tracks in Oregon. He’s been a dominant force at Coos Bay Speedway and Cottage Grove Speedway in recent seasons, capturing the 2018 Cottage Grove Super Late Model track championship with seven wins in 16 starts, as well as the 2019 Coos Bay championship with an equal number of wins in 15 starts.

• Brent McKinnon, of Carlyle, IL, announced via social media last week his plans to take on most of the 2022 schedule behind the wheel of his Midwest Farm & Land Company #26. McKinnon received a notable mention in DirtonDirt.com’s “Most Improved Drivers” year-end superlatives category last winter after winning his first career Super Late Model race at Tri-City Speedway in June.

THUNDER FROM DOWN UNDER – Two Late Model veterans have made the trip across the pond and into the states from Australia and New Zealand to attempt the full schedule this year, marking the first running of the Hell Tour with drivers from outside the US since 2019.

Paul Stubber, the 63-year-old Aussie champion from Wanneroo, Western Australia, is no stranger to the Summer Nationals, contesting several races on the schedule from 2017-2019. Unable to compete in the states due to travel restrictions from the pandemic in 2020 and 2021, Stubber takes his recognizable yellow/orange Palice Property Group #31AUS back on the Hell Tour trail this year for a return to his favorite summer racing adventure.

Mick Quin, veteran racer from Hawke’s Bay, NZ, has been racing and winning around the Kiwi circuits of Baypark Speedway and Waikarara Park Speedway in the Super Saloon division – a Late Model-like class in similar power and construction, commonly raced in New Zealand. He’s been highly successful over the past few years racing a US-built Barry Wright ICON chassis against his local competition, and has now loaded up for Kankakee with a brand-new Barry Wright car and Clements engine strapped into his Quin Buildings Direct #23NZ.

ROLL CALL – In addition to each of the drivers mentioned previously, several other Late Model names are projected to join in at various intervals during Illinois-Iowa action, including (but not limited to): Mitch McGrath, Jeff Roth, Joe Godsey, Bob Gardner, Dennis Erb Jr., Ryan Unzicker, Mark Voigt, Brian Shirley, Jason Feger, Brenden Smith, Frank Heckenast Jr., Daryn Klein, Tanner English, Deshawn Gingerich, Justin Duty, Rich Dawson, Hunt Gossum and Billy Moyer Jr.

Batavia, OH (June 14, 2022) – The stars of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series will return to action on June 16th at Cherokee Speedway for the 24th Annual Grassy Smith Memorial and June 17th – 18th at Smoky Mountain Speedway for two days of the Mountain Moonshine Classic presented by Lazydays RV. The weekend kicks off on Thursday with a visit to Gaffney, SC for a full program of Allstar Performance Time Trials, Heat races, and B-Main(s), highlighted by a 40-lap, $10,000-to-win main event. The pit gates at Cherokee Speedway will open at 2:00 PM ET with the general admission gates opening one hour later, at 3:00 PM ET. The drivers meeting is set for 6:45 PM ET, followed by hot laps at 7:15 PM ET. In addition to the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, the Thunder Series 602 Late Models, Thunder Bomber, and Pure Stocks will also be in action. The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series then visits Smoky Mountain Speedway for two days of the Mountain Moonshine Classic presented by Lazydays RV. On Friday, June 17, the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series will compete in a full program of racing consisting of Allstar Performance Time Trials, Heat Races, and two 30-lap A-Mains paying $5,000 each to win. In addition to the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, the Classic and Front Wheel Drive cars will be in competition on Friday. On Saturday June 18, the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series returns with Heat Races (lineups determined from Friday’s twin A-Main finishes), and B-Mains, all topped off with a 60-lap A-Main paying $50,000-to-win. The Saturday night program will also feature Sportsman Late Models and Mini Stocks. Both the pit and general admission gates at Smoky Mountain Speedway will open at noon on Friday and Saturday. The drivers meeting will take place at 6:30 PM ET each night with hot laps at 7:00 PM ET. Dirt Racing Outreach will be holding a service at 3:30 PM ET on Saturday at the pavilion located next to the concession stand followed by a driver autograph session at 4:30 PM ET. Brandon Sheppard currently sits on top of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Point Standings followed by the reigning Champion, Tim McCreadie. Tyler Erb sits in a close third with Ricky Thornton Jr and Earl Pearson Jr rounding out the top five in points. Track Information:Cherokee SpeedwayPhone Number: 864-489-1969Location: 153 Speedway Road, Gaffney, SC 29340Directions: I-85 to exit 96, then 0.2 mile south on SR 18, then 0.2 mile east on SR 329, then north on Speedway Road.Website: www.cherokeespeedwaysc.com Smoky Mountain SpeedwayPhone Number: 865-856-8989Location: 809 Brickmill Road, Maryville, TN 37801Directions: 4.5 miles southwest of US 129 on US 411, then 1.6 miles south on Brick Mill Road.Website: www.smokymountainspeedway.com Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Weekend Tire Rules:Cherokee Speedway June 16th:Left Rear/Fronts: Hoosier Rib (28.5) 1350Right Rear: Hoosier (29.0) 1350 NRM, (29.0) 1350 NRMW, (29.0) White Dot 1600 NRM, (29.0) White Dot1600 NRMW *Must use the same set of 4 tires for Time Trials, Heat Races, and B-Mains*For the A-Main, competitors may use 2 new tires.*Flat tire must be replaced with a used tire of the same compound and construction to retain starting position. Smoky Mountain Speedway: June 17thLeft Rear/Fronts: Hoosier Rib (28.5) 1350Right Rear: Hoosier (29.0) 1350 NRM, (29.0) 1350 NRMW, (29.0) White Dot 1600 NRM, (29.0) White Dot1600 NRMW *Must use the same set of 4 tires for Time Trials, Heat Races, and B-Mains*For the A-Main, competitors may use a new right rear tire.*Flat tire must be replaced with a used tire of the same compound and construction to retain starting position. Smoky Mountain Speedway: June 18thLeft Rear/Fronts: Hoosier Rib (28.5) 1350Right Rear: Hoosier (29.0) 1350 NRM, (29.0) 1350 NRMW, (29.0) White Dot 1600 NRM, (29.0) White Dot1600 NRMW *Must use the same set of 4 tires for Heat Races, and B-Mains*For the A-Main, competitors may use 3 new tires.*Flat tire must be replaced with a used tire of the same compound and construction to retain starting position. Event Purses:Cherokee Speedway June 16th: 1. $10,000, 2. $5,500,3. $3,500, 4. $2,700, 5. $2,500, 6. $2,300, 7. $2,200, 8. $2,100, 9. $2,050, 10. $2,000, 11. $1,600, 12. $1,400, 13. $1,200, 14. $1,000, 15. $950, 16. $925, 17. $900, 18. $875, 19. $850, 20. $825, 21. $800, 22. $800, 23. $800, 24. $800 = $48,575 Smoky Mountain June 17th: 1. $5,000, 2. $3,000, 3. $2,000, 4. $1,500, 5. $1,250, 6. $1,000, 7. $950, 8. $900, 9. $850, 10. $800, 11. $700, 12. $600, 13. $600, 14. $600, 15. $600, 16. $600, 17. $550, 18. $500, 19. $500, 20. $500 = $23,000 (x2) Smoky Mountain June 18th: 1. $50,000, 2. $20,000, 3. $10,000, 4. $8,000, 5. $7,000, 6. $6,000, 7. $4,500, 8. $4,000, 9. $3,800, 10. $3,600, 11. $3,400, 12. $3,200, 13. $3,000, 14. $2,500, 15. $2,400, 16. $2,300, 17. $2,200, 18. $2,100, 19. $2,000, 20. $2,000, 21. $2,000, 22. $2,000, 23. $2,000, 24. $2,000 = $150,000

YPSILANTI, MI (June 14, 2022) —- Shawn Langdon will return to the blue and white CMR Construction and Roofing Top Fuel dragster this weekend at the Thunder Valley Nationals. Since early 2021 CMR has expanded their relationship with Kalitta Motorsports and throughout the 2022 season they are highlighting their 20^thanniversary and strategic partnership with a primary sponsorship presence on Langdon’s CMR Toyota Top Fuel dragster. The nationally known and award-winning business has utilized the business relationship to expand their footprint and host guests at NHRA national events across the country. Langdon is looking forward to putting on a good show for the guests and executive who attend the Thunder Valley Nationals

“This will be a busy and exciting weekend with the CMR Construction and Roofing team in Bristol,” said Langdon. “They always bring a ton of guests and love to be at the races. CMR CEO Steve and Chandra Soule have been amazing to work with since this relationship started in 2021. Bristol is a track with a lot of history and I would love to add to that with some win lights in this CMR Top Fuel dragster.”

Austin Dillon and the No. 3 True Velocity Chevrolet Team Race to Solid 11th-Place Finish at Sonoma Raceway

11th

13th

15th

“It feels great to earn an 11th-place Finish in the True Velocity Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 this weekend at Sonoma Raceway. This team has worked hard, and I have worked hard personally, on improving our road course performances. We qualified 13th on Saturday and came into Sunday’s race knowing that we had a strong car and a solid plan. We maintained our position throughout  Stage 1. We tried to play the pit strategy a few times and got caught on the wrong side of a caution flag. During the final stage, we were making a green-flag stop right as the caution came out. It put us back about seven spots, but we had newer tires than the guys in front of us which gave me a little more leverage. I’m proud of the effort that everyone has put in. It was fun racing in the top 10 and seeing the improvements we’ve made. We’ll take an 11th-place finish and take the off weekend to regroup for Nashville.” -Austin Dillon

Tyler Reddick and the No. 8 Lenovo Chevrolet Team Show Resilience at Sonoma Raceway

35th

5th

14th

“Our Lenovo Chevy was strong this weekend at Sonoma Raceway. We started the race fifth and spent most of Stages 1 and 2 in and around the top five. We were running fourth with three laps remaining in Stage 2 when we made a green-flag stop. Unfortunately, we were caught speeding on pit road and had to restart at the tail end of the field to start Stage 3. We got mirrored back in traffic. Everyone was bunching up and another car ended up making contact with us. It destroyed our left-rear and we had to go to the garage for repairs. We made it back out, but finished 14 laps down in 35th. It’s definitely disappointing to get a finish like that after running so strong today.” -Tyler Reddick

Team Chevy Scores Eighth NCS Victory of 2022 ·       The win is Suarez’s first-career victory in 195 starts in the NASCAR Cup Series. ·       It also marks the third NASCAR Cup Series triumph for Trackhouse Racing in 2022. ·       With his victory, Suarez secures a spot into the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Field. ·       Suarez’s triumph is also the eighth of the season for the Camaro ZL1 and the 13th victory for Team Chevy at Sonoma Raceway, both of which are manufacturer-leading feats. ·       The winningest brand in NASCAR, Chevrolet now has 822 all-time NASCAR Cup Series victories. SONOMA, Calif. (June 22, 2022) – Daniel Suarez has been on the horizon of his first-career win in the NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) all season and a trip out west checked off that monumental feat in his career. In 195 starts in NASCAR’s premier series, Daniel Suarez drove his No. 99 Onx Homes/Renu Camaro ZL1 across the line first, capturing his first-career NCS win in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway. “It’s a crazy day. I have so many thoughts in my head right now,” said Suarez. “I mean, it’s been a rough road. It’s been a rough journey in the Cup Series. These guys believe in me – Trackhouse Racing, Justin Marks, Ty Norris. Everyone that helped me to get to this point. Alot of people in Mexico: Jay Morales, Carlos Slim. My family, they never give up on me. A lot of people did, but they didn’t (tearing up).” The feat came after Saurez took the green from the eighth-starting position. Piloting his Chevrolet-powered machine to a top-five finish in Stage Two, track position and a strong performance on pit road setup the No. 99 Trackhouse Racing team to start up front for the final stage. The 30-year-old Chevro driver went on to lead a race-high 47 laps en route to the victory at the 1.99-mile Northern California circuit. The win marks the third win for Trackhouse Racing in NASCAR’s premier series, all of which have been captured this season. The victory makes Suarez the sixth different Chevrolet driver to win in the series thus far this season; joining Trackhouse Racing teammate, Ross Chastain, and Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson, Alex Bowman, William Byron and Chase Elliott on the elite list that have secured a spot in the 2022 NCS Playoff field.  With 16 points-paying races in the books for the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season, the Camaro ZL1 has recorded eight wins, giving Chevrolet an impressive winning percentage of 50 percent. The trip to victory lane also marks Chevrolet’s 13th triumph at Sonoma Raceway and the 822nd all-time in NASCAR’s premier series to lead all manufacturers. Ross Chastain (7th), Chase Elliott (8th) and William Byron (9th) rounded out the Team Chevy top-10, giving the bowtie brand four top-10 finishes.  Heading into the off week for the series, the NASCAR Cup Series will be back in action at Nashville Superspeedway with the Ally 400 on Sunday, June 26, at 5 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 ONX HOMES/RENU CAMARO ZL1 – Press Conference Transcript:THE MODERATOR: We are now joined by today’s winner, Daniel Suarez, driver of the No. 99 Trackhouse Chevrolet. Take us through what went through your mind when you crossed the finish line on the last lap and became the first driver from Mexico to win in the NASCAR Cup Series. DANIEL SUAREZ: I didn’t know what to do. It was special. Man, I’ve been working very hard for this moment, not just myself, but my entire team. I am very lucky to have people around me in the team, but outside the team. My family always supporting me, my beautiful girlfriend Julia that she work very hard in the last few months keeping me up and letting me know that I was doing the right things. We just need to have a clean day. That’s what we had today. So today just felt special. I told her this morning that today felt good. We did it in front of a few hundred Mexicans and Daniel’s Amigos. It was just a special day. I have always seen California as my second home. To be able to get the first victory here is quite special. THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q- What was the mindset knowing you had pretty much control of this race hoping there were no cautions? DANIEL SUAREZ: I mean, honestly, I didn’t care who was behind me. I was just trying to do my race, trying to control what I can control. I knew that Buescher was very strong in the short run. Probably a little bit better than me. But in the middle part of the run I was better than him. In the long run I felt like I was better than him. It was able to play out pretty good right there near the end. I knew if I stay up front for the first five to seven laps, I was going to be able to control the race. Obviously the last 10, five laps, I was just trying to take care of my tires in case we had a restart. If we had a restart at that point, I knew we were not going to come for tires. It was going to be a track position race. I was trying to save a little bit, even though my car was already a little tired at the time, but everyone else was tired as well. It worked out great. It was good. My team, my crew chief, everyone did what they had to do. They called the pit stops, everything work out where they were supposed to. We were able to maximize the potential of our car. Q- Justin and Travis were talking about your confidence, that they never doubted you would be here. They felt like you never doubted it. What kept you confident? DANIEL SUAREZ: You know, it has cost me a lot to get to this point. A lot of people doesn’t know that, but it has cost me a lot to get to this country first 10 years ago, and to get to this point, fighting. I come from a very humble family. Every step of my life has cost me a lot. I knew that it’s important to remember that if I was able to come all the way here, I wasn’t going to give up here. My confidence was high. But obviously knowing that you haven’t won yet, there is a little bit of doubt. But I knew that I was fast. I knew that I could race with them, with the guys that are winning. But I haven’t showed that first victory. I told my team, you know, the last five weeks we have had very fast race cars, but things happen. The jack broke last week. A few weeks ago the (indiscernible) broke. In Charlotte we were the fastest car and we were missing something on pit road every single time. It was hard to stay on track. But at the end my team, everyone, stayed together. We keep pushing. I told them that bad luck doesn’t last forever, and tough people do. We keep working very hard and here we are. Q- You said on Thursday you felt good about this weekend. What was it coming in here about why you felt so good? What was going through your head throughout the weekend? DANIEL SUAREZ: I grew up racing go-karts, road course stuff. I never raced big cars in road course, but I raced go-karts a lot all over the world. Road course for me is fun. It’s something different. It’s something we don’t do every day. In years past I been always strong but never very strong. In COTA it just felt special. In COTA we were the car to beat, we were the best car. Unfortunately my car had issues. I made sure in the radio in the middle of the race, if I can’t win the race, I want my teammate to win the race. I felt he was probably a good second best car. He was able to win the race. I was able to dominate the first stage with a car that was a rocket. We came here with the confidence that it’s another road course. We had a good car, but we didn’t have the best car today. I felt like we were able to make the right calls, maximize what we got, and the result shows for that. Q- What was going through your mind when you came around the final turn here? Once you crossed it, what did you think? DANIEL SUAREZ: I was asking for my piñata. I was asking the team to bring the piñata with me. I wanted to break it (smiling). It just felt right, man. It’s been a long journey, a lot of sacrifices, a lot of hard work. To finally be able to get the first one. I have told this to many people. The first one always costs a lot. Once you get the first one, be ready because we’re going to get some more. Q- What does this mean for Mexico and what does it mean it was one of the races where you had Daniel’s Amigos here? DANIEL SUAREZ: That’s special. That was very, very special. In the very last caution I was already slow on the caution. I was able to see in corner one on the right there was Daniel’s Amigos group there. All of them were cheering, the fans, all of them were excited. That fuels me. That’s energy for me. I knew that I wasn’t going to let them down. I was going to push and I was going to do everything in my power to make this happen. Just felt right. This morning I spent an hour and a half with them. Just felt right. I woke up this morning and I was ready to go. Yesterday we had a long race in the Trucks and I was tired. But it just felt right. California like my second home. The people here are amazing to me. They support me a lot. I just can’t describe how thankful I am for being able to win the first one here in front of my people. Q- For Mexico? DANIEL SUAREZ: For Mexico the same. I don’t get to race in my country. There is a lot of races that feel like home. This is one of them. Texas is one of them. There is a lot, Auto Club, Vegas, Phoenix. There is a lot of racetracks, they feel like home. Just very thankful being a kid coming from Mexico trying to live the NASCAR dream in the U.S. Q- Do you keep in touch with anyone that you met in previous Daniel’s Amigos groups? Did you see any revisits, familiar faces? DANIEL SUAREZ: Yeah, couple. It’s hard to keep track of everyone, of course. There is a couple, I remember them from here, from last time here. Yeah, that’s always very special. The cool part is that they come this week, and the ones that are new, I’m going to see them next year. That’s something very special to me. Those are the faces I remember. The faces I remember from last year. I’m sure I’m going to see a lot of faces next year that I just met today. That’s very special. I just can’t describe how happy I am to be able to get this win, the first one, in California in front of all of them. Q- You have some of the earliest alumni from the Drive for Diversity program at Trackhouse. What does this win mean to you and what do you think it means for NASCAR moving forward? DANIEL SUAREZ: Yeah, I mean, that’s very special. A lot of people doesn’t know this, but one of my engineers, he’s from Mexico City. Unfortunately he got sick, he couldn’t come to this weekend. He’s at home. He called me crying. He works extremely hard. He is a big part of today’s win. His name is Jose Velasco. He’s a huge part of this team. We’ve been working together for two years. Part of my pit crew are from diversity, as well. Myself. If it wasn’t for the Drive for Diversity, I don’t think I would be sitting here right now. Back in 2013 and ’14 they saved my butt. I was about to come back to Mexico. They gave me an opportunity to keep racing in 2013. That kept me alive. I was able to win races that year and keep the momentum going. Before that it was very, very tough. So it’s been quite a journey. But those tough moments and those ups and downs is what makes this moment so special. Q- With the final restart 23 laps to go, are you nervous? I was hearing from Justin your radio was silent. DANIEL SUAREZ: I was just trying to stay calm. I knew that it was a big stake on the line, but I was trying to stay calm. I was silent. I wanted to do my thing. I didn’t want too much noise on the radio. I knew what I had to do. I felt like I was controlling well what I could control. If the caution was coming out, welcome, try to go again. I was just trying to stay calm. I would say after the white flag is when I got out of control. I just start crying inside the helmet, just thinking about. Especially because I had a big gap. If it wasn’t a big gap, I would be focused. Since I had a big gap, I was just thinking about every single moment that has cost me to be here. It’s been a different journey. Every NASCAR driver has had a tough journey. Everyone has a different journey. But my journey is definitely the most different of everyone else, leaving my family, my country, and just coming to a different culture, different language. Thinking of all those things, it makes today very, very special. Q- What was inside the piñata? DANIEL SUAREZ: A lot of chocolate. A lot of chocolate. Next time we have to organize that better. Next time I need a bat so can I break it. Actually we had one. I don’t know. It was missing somewhere. It was good. Just felt good. Very, very thankful to all my team for today. Q- What kind of momentum does this give for you and the No. 99 team 10 races to the Playoffs? DANIEL SUAREZ: Yeah, it feels good. My team has been working very hard. But to be able to finally get the first one, I feel like that is going to make us feel more relaxed. Now we’re going to do things more calm. I told my team, Hey, let’s say calm. Let’s do our thing. We’re capable of winning races. But one thing is to say it, another thing is to do it. Today we did it. So now we’re going to be able to (indiscernible) and do things more relaxed. That way victories and success is going to be able to find us much easier. Q- Have you ever punched a piñata before? DANIEL SUAREZ: I have. I have. But I have punched a piñata after I smash it with a stick. This time nobody gave me a stick so I had to punch it. Man, a few weeks ago or a month and a half ago when they gave me that taco piñata, I knew we were going to break it soon. I was keeping it in my lounge, getting ready to break it. Today finally we smashed that thing. Q- When was the last time you punched one? DANIEL SUAREZ: I was a kid, man. Probably my grandma’s house in front of all my cousins. I couldn’t see because I had my eyes taped. I was knocking out the piñata. Eventually when you break it, it’s not broken 100%, you just start smashing it to get all the candy. It’s been at least 15 years. Q- Off weekend coming up. Are you celebrating? DANIEL SUAREZ: Believe it or not I’m going to Mexico tomorrow. I have that already plan for a few weeks. My girlfriend is going to Brazil to visit her family, her father, after two years and a half that she hasn’t see him. Yeah, she going to celebrate in Brazil, I’m going to celebrate in Mexico. I can’t wait to see my mom, my dad, my sister to give them a big hug. They’ve been with me on this journey since the beginning. My mom already called me, she was crying. It’s special. I’m going to see the people I like to see, I love to see. Just try to enjoy the moment. Like I said, very few people knows how much work, sacrifice, tears, sweat this has cost me. So we have to enjoy it. After a few days, we’re going to keep working because we want more. Q- 10 or 11 years ago you’re living in Upstate New York watching cartoons to learn English. Are you dreaming of this moment? Is this moment a thought? Could you have conceived what happened today? DANIEL SUAREZ: I was always dreaming about winning in the Cup Series. I knew it was going to be a tough journey. At the time I was scared not to be able to compete because I didn’t speak English. At the time I didn’t have money to buy myself classes to speak English, so I had to in a way learn by myself by watching movies and watching cartoons and reading. It was quite a journey. I remember one day waking up and being scared that the language barrier was going to keep me away from my goal, which was being a winner, a championship winner in the NASCAR Cup Series. I didn’t want that to happen. I started working extremely hard to learn English. It’s been quite a journey. That’s why I felt like my story is very similar to many, many Mexicans, Latinos, out there coming to this country, trying to find a goal or trying to find their dream. If I was able to make it happen, everyone out there can make it happen. So just feel very, very proud to be an example for many of them. Q- Do you think this team can make a deep Playoff run? Are you a championship team? DANIEL SUAREZ: I think we are. I think we are. The beautiful part is that we get stronger as we go. If you were asking me that question three months ago, I was going to tell you, man, we have work to do. We have the potential, but we have work to do. Two months ago I was starting to believe more. A month ago I would say, Heck, yeah. Right now, of course we are here. We just keep getting stronger. I guarantee you in a month from now we’re going to be stronger than right now. We’re going to keep working. Today was amazing. We did a lot of things right. But we believed that our car could have been a little bit better. So when you look at the big picture and always try to see yourself as what I could have done better or different, that’s when you become a great team. I feel like we’re on our way there. Q- Thursday you talked about diversity. Does this win spur more Mexicans and Latinos to take up driving? One lesser thought. Ross smashes pumpkins and you’re smashing piñatas. Do the other teams have to step their game? DANIEL SUAREZ: They’ll have to step their game. We talk about diversity, how important it is. I personally feel extremely, extremely lucky and fortunate to be that driver that the whole Hispanic community can connect with. I feel extremely, extremely lucky. I feel so fortunate. I feel like I have an entire country and community behind me. All the people wearing red shirts today, those are my people. Some of them, they have exactly the same journey that I have. Coming from Mexico, not knowing the language, trying to find an opportunity, having goals, just trying to find that dream or trying to make that dream happen. These are my people. I feel extremely lucky to be the one that can represent all of them. Hopefully the success that we have had, that we’re having, can fuel them as well to continue to push in whatever they want to do, that is racing, mechanic, engineering, business, whatever that may be, to continue to fuel them to know that they can do it. They just have to work hard and put in the table what they have to do. JUSTIN MARKS, FOUNDER AND OWNER, TRACKHOUSE RACING – Press Conference Transcript:THE MODERATOR: We are now joined by today’s winners, owner of the No. 99 Chevrolet for Trackhouse Racing, Justin Marks, and crew chief Travis Mack.We’ll go right into questions for Justin first as he has to leave. Q- Justin, I guess Suarez said last year this was his best opportunity. Now he’s finally put it into Victory Lane. How does that feel for you as a car owner? JUSTIN MARKS: Yeah, it’s hard to put it into words. When Ty Norris and I first started talking about this, I came to Ty, I’ve got this idea. What I said first and foremost is I believe with this new car it’s truly going to be about the people, the people are going to make this car go.The way they changed the model of the sport a little bit is you have to invest in your people and keep them motivated, and put talented people in positions, lift them up, empower them. I just believe that.I think we’re doing that right now because we have a great culture at Trackhouse. Daniel checked a lot of boxes for us right away. He’s an experienced Cup driver. He is a winner. When he’s been in positions to win, he’s won with his Xfinity championship and Truck.He had a chip on his shoulder. He wanted to prove to the world he belonged in the Cup Series. 2020 was a difficult year for him.He checked all the boxes for us and I knew he had a tremendous amount of potential, that he was a winner at this level. I told him from day one, This is your team, this 99 team is your team. You come to me and tell me anything and everything that you need. We’re going to put that behind you.Travis to my left here is a big part of that. He’s been a big believer in this project. It’s really nice to see all that work over the last couple of years be at a place where everybody is rewarded for it. Q- You say you saw the potential in him. Do you ever feel like he felt that he was never going to meet that potential? JUSTIN MARKS: Did I feel like he thought that? Yes. JUSTIN MARKS: Not for one second. Not for one second ever. I have almost never met a more determined, focused, hard-working race car driver in my 20 years in this sport.Every single morning he wakes up and says, I am going to be the best version of myself I can be today, I’m going to do all the work I can possibly do today to win this race this weekend.I think Travis will say the same thing. It’s amazing how consistent he is, how that continues, that fire continues to burn so bright even after stringing numerous tough races in a row together. Tough month last year. He’s just very, very impressive in that regard. Q- Have you talked to Armando? JUSTIN MARKS: I haven’t talked to him. But he was on the phone. You can always count on Ty Norris having him on the phone in Victory Lane. I’ll talk to him tomorrow. Q- Is there any surprises so far with this team with Daniel and with Ross, Trackhouse, the accomplishments that you guys have had so far? JUSTIN MARKS: What I tell people is I’m not surprised that we’re a winning race team because I wouldn’t have started this project if I didn’t think, truly believe, that the opportunity existed to build a new race team in this sport that could win. It’s just happened really quickly. That’s been the surprise, is how quickly it’s happened.To me it kind of makes sense, too. We’ve got such great people that work so hard. The promise of this car is being delivered every single weekend. We have talks in the race, in the team, I have talks with myself. It’s like, Is this a moment in time or is Trackhouse arrived? I think we’ve arrived because we fundamentally invest in the things that I believe are going to be…Literally Pitbull texting me right now.Congrats. I can’t say that word. I’m taking a couple tequila shots right now. History in the making. See you soon. Step on the gas and haul ass.Anyway, it’s happened very, very quickly. When you have this many people together working, supporting each other, focused, and are talented, these are the things that can happen. Q- Tell the truth, were you nervous on the final lap? JUSTIN MARKS: Of course. I have a long way to go before I get comfortable at the ends of these races when we’re leading. My colleagues have been doing this for a long time. I sort of operate under the assumption that a late caution always comes out and these races can devolve into total chaos. I sort of was half expecting that today.But some days it’s just your time, it’s just your day. Everything lined up perfectly. Everybody on the 99 team did an awesome job. Great strategy, Travis ran a great strategy, Daniel drove a career race. Q- Was the radio silent? JUSTIN MARKS: It’s actually funny. The 99 radio is typically the opposite of silent. I think there were five words said the last half hour of that race. 10 to go, you didn’t hear anything for eight minutes, then it was five to go, then there was a bunch of screaming. Q- This one is huge not only for Daniel but also Mexico. The team has been about unification, diversity. What does this mean? JUSTIN MARKS: I mean, it’s big for all that. Trackhouse is a race team that anybody and everybody can be a fan of. We’ve made investments in the minority community with Pitbull’s schools, our great (indiscernible) night program, our STEM stuff.To me this is sort of a representation of what America stands for. It’s a place you can come with big dreams and you can work hard to achieve those dreams. I always say that Daniel is one of one. A Mexican race car driver moving to America, can’t speak the language, to be a NASCAR Cup Series winner, that shows the amazing place we live.Not only him, but Jose our lead engineer from Mexico, wasn’t here today, probably is killing him that he’s not here today. Truly an elite talent. It’s really great to be able to write those stories. Q- Justin, Suarez is four points ahead of Cindric and 11 points of Kurt Busch. There’s 10 races left. Do you feel comfortable he’s in the Playoffs or is it going to be a scrap?JUSTIN MARKS: I haven’t really thought about that yet to be honest. How many races are left? Eight? 10. JUSTIN MARKS: I don’t know. I saw you ask Denny that question. I thought about it, not in our context, but just in general, is this going to be a season.I don’t really feel like it’s gonna. Anything can happen. I don’t really feel like it’s going to be that way. I don’t think we think about that until there’s 16 winners and a race or more left. THE MODERATOR: Justin, thank you so much. JUSTIN MARKS: Thanks, everybody. TRAVIS MACK, CREW CHIEF, NO. 99 ONX HOMES/RENU CAMARO ZL1 – Press Conference Transcript:THE MODERATOR: We’ll continue with questions for Travis. Q- Travis, what does this one mean for you being involved with a guy that’s got their first win? TRAVIS MACK: This is huge. Just taking it all in today. Really excited for Justin and Daniel, just really excited for all these team guys. I’m the lucky guy that gets to sit on top of the box and watch it all happen.I’ve just had so much belief in Daniel and his capability of winning a race. We really believe in each other. You take two guys who have never won a Cup race, put us together, we’re both very, very hungry to win races. This is what you get. Q- The last few laps can be crash, caution, green-white-checkered, are you sitting there thinking stay green? Are you praying? TRAVIS MACK: I was so calm. Felt so confident coming in today. I think I stayed up studying last night till 12:30 West Coast time, that’s 3:30 East Coast time. I just felt so confident coming into today that we could get this done today.Everything that has happened to us this year has led up to this moment. It’s taught us what we need to do, what we don’t need to do, and just execute this race the best we could. That’s what we did. Q- Probably the biggest story is Trackhouse being the surprise of the year. Have you been surprised at the success? TRAVIS MACK: Not really. This is what I do every year. Even last year, having the conversations with Justin, I think I was number two hire at Trackhouse, it was very exciting.The first time I met with him, I was doubting if I should leave the Hendrick family, what I needed to do. I was really comfortable at Junior Motorsports. After I met with Justin, talked to him on the phone, I was so confident in what he was building.I told him, You just give us the tools and you do you and I’m going to build us a great race team. We’re going to go to Daytona and get the pole. That’s how confident I was. I told him that. I think he believed in that. We believe in each other.We went down there, had a top 10 effort. I wasn’t happy because we weren’t on the pole because I told him we would get the pole.I was confident to get this win for Daniel and I’m excited to get it in Sonoma. Q- Can you speak to the culture at Trackhouse right now? Two wins for Ross, one for Daniel. What is it like working there? Why is it working so well? TRAVIS MACK: Just having fun. I’ve never been at a place that has had so much fun. We’re building fast race cars. Everybody is enjoying work. It’s just a great place to be right now. Team chemistry is amazing between the 1 and the 99. It really feels like one team building two cars, confident in each other and our capabilities of winning races, bringing the best cars to the racetrack every week. Q- You said you have confidence in Daniel. Why? TRAVIS MACK: First time I met with Daniel, I think a lot of crew chiefs in the past kind of doubted his capabilities. Around the garage you hear he shouldn’t be in the ride, this or that.Once I met with him, I could see the drive in his face, in his eyes. Once we started becoming friends and talking to each other, I could see how hard he was working. He wanted this so bad. I was the same way.Coming up as a crew chief, people doubted me being a crew chief. Not being an engineer, coming up through the mechanic, car chief role, there’s not many of us that has done that in the Cup Series. So people doubted me. They doubted him.They put us together and I think we’re a great team. Q- In the last part of this race, we saw teams that are at the front of the field with new names. Did that make the strategy any more difficult or is it just another car to you guys? TRAVIS MACK: No, I think we played a perfect strategy. I didn’t feel like we had the best car coming into today. I think the 5 car was really good. 9 car was really good on long runs. So was the 4. All we had to do was execute. I knew we had a top five car. If everything worked out perfectly, made no mistakes on pit road, executed the race perfectly, we could have a day like we did today. Q- Of all the victories, you mentioned a long journey, the engineer, where would you say this one ranks? TRAVIS MACK: Yeah, I’m not an engineer. There’s not many of us that aren’t engineers in the sport today, especially with this car.I trust my engineers on my team. I have really great engineers. Jose Velasco, Dustin and Troy. Those guys just work so hard. They make me look really good. I try to do the things, I’m dealing with the driver, the pit crew, the team, just trying to keep our team upbeat, moving the right direction, organized, prepared to come into the race weekends.Coming up through the ranks at Hendrick, being a car chief, working so hard for this first win. This was actually my first win with Jeff Gordon. I believe in ’04 Sonoma was my first win on a Cup team. It’s very excited to get my very first win as a crew chief in Sonoma. THE MODERATOR: Travis, congratulations and thank you. TRAVIS MACK: Thank you.

(6/13/2022) Sacramento, CA… The NARC Fujitsu General Sprint Cars begin their northern journey to Dirt Cup this weekend on Friday, June 17th at Chico’s Silver Dollar Speedway for night one of Road to Dirt Cup followed by night number two on Saturday, June 18th at Cottage Grove Speedway.

The two nights signal the beginning of a highly anticipated week of racing that will culminate with the 50th Annual Super Dirt Cup at Washington’s Skagit Speedway on June 23rd through the 25th.

The Chico visit will be the second and final appearance for NARC of 2022 at Silver Dollar Speedway, and Saturday’s Battle at the Bullring will be the series’ first trip to Cottage Grove Speedway in more than a decade. Cottage Grove will award $5,000 to the winner.

With some lucrative bonuses on the line, drivers will be eager to park in victory lane this weekend. There are six 410ci events composing the week of Dirt Cup– Chico and Cottage Grove this weekend, the Dirt Cup tune up at Skagit on Monday (not a NARC sanctioned event), and the three nights of Dirt Cup. If a driver can win three of the six, they’ll earn an extra $10,000. Winning four of the six nets $25,000. And claiming five of the six will award a driver with $50,000!

On Friday in Chico B Mods and Hobby Stocks will join NARC. Saturday at Cottage Grove three IMCA divisions will run alongside NARC, Modifieds, SportMods, and Stock Cars.

Championship Chase

A pair of top-fives this past weekend kept Dominic Scelzi atop the standings with a healthy 44 point advantage. The driver closest to him, Willie Croft, has been on one of the best stretches of his NARC career with six straight top-five results heading into the Road to Dirt Cup. Croft will look to cut into Scelzi’s lead this weekend.

Bud Kaeding, who has only missed the top-10 once this year, sits third in points, 26 markers behind Croft.

Then it’s Justin Sanders in fourth, seven points behind Kaeding, and Mitchell Faccinto, 14 behind Sanders, completing the top-five.

Who to Watch

Aromas native Justin Sanders is a threat at any track he shows up at, and that will especially be the case this weekend. Sanders has top-two finishes in three of his last four NARC races in Chico including a pair of wins, and he’s a former winner with the Western Sprint Tour at Cottage Grove Speedway.

2017 series champion, Bud Kaeding, has quietly put together a solid season thus far and should be in the running to earn his first win of the season. The Campbell native owns a pair of NARC wins in Chico. He’s also one of few with some 410 laps at Cottage Grove, picking up top-fives with NARC there in 2009 and 2010.

Mitchell Faccinto will be another to keep an eye on this weekend as he continues to pursue his first series title. The Tarlton Motorsports wheelman from Hanford doesn’t own a NARC win in Chico, but he did already claim the prestigious Silver Cup finale at the quarter-mile this year. He’s also a former winner at Cottage Grove Speedway, topping a 2019 Western Sprint Tour show.

Many of the Pacific Northwest natives who competed during the Fastest Four Days in Motorsports also plan to race at least at Cottage Grove this weekend if not tackle both nights. Former winners at Cottage Grove Speedway– Trey Starks, Tanner Holmes, and Tyler Thompson will be a few of the Oregon and Washington drivers on The Road to Dirt Cup.

Other drivers expected to compete include Benicia’s Billy Aton, Fresno’s Dominic Scelzi, Colfax’s Willie Croft,, Clovis’ Corey Day, Tanner & Blake Carrick out of Lincoln, Sebastopol’s Joel Myers Jr., Roseville’s Colby Copeland, Fremont’s Shane Golobic, Redding’s Max Mittry, Idaho’s Logan Forler, Hanford’s D.J. Netto, and more.

Fan & Competitor Info

The NARC-King of the West Hoosier Tire Format on both nights will feature ARP Fast-Time Qualifying, 10-lap Heat Races, a six-lap Sunnyvalley Bacon Trophy Dash, a Kaeding Performance Semi if necessary, and a 30-lap Fujitsu Feature.

On Friday at Silver Dollar Speedway the pit gate will open at 1:00 P.M. with the front gate opening at 4:00 P.M. Racing will begin around 6:00 P.M.

On Saturday at Cottage Grove Speedway the pit gate will open at 12:00 P.M. with the front gate set to follow at 3:00 P.M. Hot laps are slated to start at 4:30 P.M. with racing beginning around 6:00 P.M.

Adult General Admission tickets at Silver Dollar Speedway will be $20. Seniors (ages 60+) and kids (ages 12-15) will be admitted for $15. Kids 11 and under will be admitted for just $5. Tickets can be purchased at the gate or via the following link: https://www.eventsprout.com/event/silver-dollar-speedway-2022.

Adult General Admission tickets at Cottage Grove Speedway will be $20. Seniors, Military, and juniors (ages 13-17) will be admitted for $15. Kids (ages 6-12) will be admitted for just $5. Kids 5 and under are free. Tickets can be purchased at the gate or via the following link: https://www.myracepass.com/events/398217/tickets/.

Silver Dollar Speedway is located on the Silver Dollar Fairgrounds at 2343 Fair St, Chico, CA 95928. For more information visit silverdollarspeedway.com or call (530) 891-6535.

Cottage Grove Speedway is located at 2150 North Douglas St, Cottage Grove, OR 97424. For more information visit cottagegrovespeedway.com or call 541-942-7561.

Both nights of the Road to Dirt Cup can be viewed live on floracing.com along with the entire NARC Fujitsu General Sprint Car tour.

2022 NARC King of the West Fujitsu 410 Sprint Car Series
Championship Points Standings (After ten events in 23-race series – 6/12/22)

1. Dominic Scelzi, Fresno – 1150
2. Willie Croft, Colfax – 1106
3. Bud Kaeding, Campbell – 1080
4. Justin Sanders, Aromas – 1073
5. Mitchell Faccinto, Hanford – 1059
6. Max Mittry, Redding (R) – 1046
7. Billy Aton, Benicia – 982
8. Shane Golobic, Elk Grove – 977
9. Joel Myers Jr, Sebastopol – 900
10. Logan Forler, Boise, ID – 895
11. Corey Day, Salinas – 649
12. Chase Johnson, Penngrove – 620
13. Tanner Holmes, Jacksonville, OR (R) –  604
14. Colby Copeland, Rocklin – 562
15. Tim Kaeding, San Jose – 497
16. Geoffrey Strole, Hanford – 467
17. DJ Netto, Hanford – 433
18. Michael Faccinto, Hanford – 411
19. Garen Linder, Central Point, OR – 408
20. Landon Brooks, Yuba City – 407

NASCAR CUP SERIES

SONOMA RACEWAY

TOYOTA / SAVE MART 350

TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES & QUOTES

JUNE 12, 2022

TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:

POS.   DRIVER

1st      DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 ONX HOMES / RENU CAMARO ZL1

7th      ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 1 WORLDWIDE EXPRESS CAMARO ZL1

8th      CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1

9th      WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 RAPTORTOUGH.COM CAMARO ZL1

11th    AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 TRUE VELOCITY CAMARO ZL1

12th    JUSTIN HALEY, NO. 31 LEAFFILTER GUTTER PROTECTION CAMARO ZL1

15th    KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1

16th    ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY/BETTER TOGETHER CAMARO ZL1

19th    AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 16 GOLD FISH CASINO SLOTS CAMARO ZL1

22nd   ERIK JONES, NO. 43 FOCUSFACTOR CAMARO ZL1

23rd   TY DILLON, NO. 42 ALLEGIANT CAMARO ZL1

25th    RICKY STENHOUSE JR., NO. 47 KROGER / COTTONELLE CAMARO ZL1

TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS: 

POS.  DRIVER

1.        Daniel Suarez (Chevrolet)

2.        Chris Buescher (Ford)

3.        Michael McDowell (Ford)

4.        Kevin Harvick (Ford)

5.        Austin Cindric (Ford)

Heading into the off week for the series, the NASCAR Cup Series will be back in action at Nashville Superspeedway with the Ally 400 on Sunday, June 26, at 5 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. 

TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES AND QUOTES:

DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 ONX HOMES / RENU CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 1st

THIS HAS ALREADY BEEN QUITE THE CELEBRATION. DANIEL SUAREZ, SINCE YOU WON YOUR XFINITY SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP, IT HAS BEEN A LONG ROAD HERE IN THE CUP SERIES, DIFFERENT TEAMS, A LOT OF HEARTBREAK. HOW DO YOU PUT INTO WORDS THE RACE YOU HAD TODAY?

“It’s crazy day. I have so many thoughts in my head right now. I mean, it’s been a rough road. It’s been a rough journey in the Cup Series. These guys believing in me – Trackhouse Racing, Justin Marks, Ty Norris. Everyone that helped me get to this point. A lot of people in Mexico: Jay Morales, Carlos Slim. My family, they never give up on me. A lot of people did, but they didn’t.

Just very happy we were able to make it work.” 

I MENTIONED DIFFERENT TEAMS. TRACKHOUSE, SEEMED LIKE MAGIC FROM THE MOMENT YOU STARTED TOGETHER. WHAT HAS BEEN DIFFERENT ABOUT THIS TEAM FOR YOU?

“Their energy. They believe in me since day one. They believe in me. All the people, all the resources to make it happen.

We have Daniel’s Amigos over there. (Expletive) yeah.”

TALK TO THOSE DANIEL’S AMIGOS OVER THERE AND ALL THE DANIEL’S AMIGO’S WATCHING ON TV. TELL THEM IN SPANISH WHAT YOU’RE FEELING JUST NOW. 

“(Answer in Spanish.) This is the first one of many.”

ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 1 WORLDWIDE EXPRESS CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 7th

OF COURSE YOUR TEAMMATE HAS BEEN WAITING HIS TURN SO PATIENTLY. WHAT DOES THIS MOMENT MEAN FOR YOU WATCHING ON AS THE TEAMMATE?

“Yeah, it’s Team Trackhouse all the way. I’m so happy for this group. Man, so good. The people behind the scenes that put in the time and effort to help us drivers. They’re just total team support. To be this new and special of a group, this is not supposed to happen. Another two fast Chevy’s and I couldn’t be prouder of Daniel (Suarez). I know what he is feeling right now and gosh, he’s so good. I’m so proud of him and so happy for him.”

WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 RAPTORTOUGH.COM CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 9th

“Ended up ninth here at Sonoma. Good run for our team. Fought hard all day and got the balance right and the second half of the race was good. Happy with that and going into the off week with some good momentum.”

ERIK JONES, NO. 43 FOCUSFACTOR CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 22nd

“We just missed the mark this weekend with our FOCUSfactor Chevy. We made some adjustments after practice that didn’t really help us in qualifying. We put ourselves in a hole with where we qualified and decided to make additional changes to better our car for the race. Unfortunately, those changes didn’t help much and we fought the handling all day. We’ll go back to the shop and take the time to look over the notes and data to see where we can improve before we go to Road America in a couple of weeks.” 

TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 LENOVO CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 35th

“Our Lenovo Chevy was strong this weekend at Sonoma Raceway. We started the race fifth and spent most of Stages 1 and 2 in and around the top five. We were running fourth with three laps remaining in Stage 2 when we made a green-flag stop. Unfortunately, we were caught speeding on pit road and had to restart at the tail end of the field to start Stage 3. We got mirrored back in traffic. Everyone was bunching up and another car ended up making contact with us. It destroyed our left-rear and we had to go to the garage for repairs. We made it back out, but finished 14 laps down in 35th. It’s definitely disappointing to get a finish like that after running so strong today.”

TEAM CHEVY – RACE QUICK NOTES

Stage One: 

·       A Chevrolet front row led the field to the green in today’s Toyota / Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway, with Kyle Larson capturing a series-leading fourth pole at the track; joined by Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott on the front row. 

·       Varying pit strategies in the closing laps of Stage One, Cliff Daniels kept the No. 5 HendrickCars.comCamaro ZL1 out until the end of the stage. 

·       Defending race winner, Kyle Larson, led all 25 laps of Stage One, giving Larson his second stage win of 2022. 

·       Team Chevy Top-10 of Stage One: Kyle Larson (Stage Winner), Justin Haley (4th), Josh Bilicki (7th) and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (9th).

Stage Two: 

·       Chase Elliott, who pitted prior to the conclusion of the Stage One, capitalized on track position, leading the field to the green from the pole position. 

·       Leading 26 laps of the 30-lap Stage Two, Alan Gustafson brought the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1 down pit road in the closing laps of the stage, with a long stop causing Elliott to lose track position. Issued a penalty for pitting outside the box, Elliott was forced to restart at the rear of the field to start the Final Stage. 

·       Team Chevy Top-10 of Stage Two: Daniel Suarez (4th) and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (9th).

Post-Race Fast Facts: 

·       Suarez’s triumph is also the eighth of the season for the Camaro ZL1 and the 13th victory for Chevrolet at Sonoma Raceway, both of which are manufacturer-leading feats. 

·       The win is Suarez’s first-career victory in 195 starts in the NASCAR Cup Series. 

·       It also marks the third NASCAR Cup Series triumph for Trackhouse Racing in 2022. 

·       With his victory, Suarez secures a spot into the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Field. 

·       The winningest brand in NASCAR, Chevrolet now has 822 all-time NASCAR Cup Series victories.

June 12, 2022

Harrison Burton and the No. 21 DEX Imaging team entered Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway with the goal of earning Stage points and scoring a good finish, as they did earlier this year at Circuit of the Americas.

They wound up with a mixed bag as they scored Stage points in both Stages but took the checkered flag in 28^th place.

Burton, who started the race from 26^th place, ran inside the top 25 for much of the first Stage, then stayed on the track when others pitted near the end of that 25-lap segment. He moved up to sixth place and finished the Stage there, earning five points.

After making his pit stop, he rejoined the race in 33^rd place. The DEX Imaging team employed the same strategy in Stage Two, ending that segment in seventh place and collecting four more points.
 
Burton lined up 24^th for the start of final segment of the race and made his final pit stop early, with 36 laps remaining.
 
When the caution flag flew with 27 laps remaining, and other drivers made their pit stops, Burton moved up to 15^th place for the ensuing restart.
 
He ran inside the top 25 for much of the remainder of the race, which saw just two yellow flags for incidents on the track, one of them coming in the final segment. In the closing laps, Burton lost several spots to drivers who made later stops for fresh rubber and wound up 28^th, which gave him a total of 18 points earned for the day.
 
Next up for Burton and the No. 21 team is the Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway on June 26.

NASCAR CUP SERIES

SONOMA RACEWAY

TOYOTA / SAVE MART 350

TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES & QUOTES

JUNE 12, 2022

TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:

POS.   DRIVER

1st      DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 ONX HOMES / RENU CAMARO ZL1

7th      ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 1 WORLDWIDE EXPRESS CAMARO ZL1

8th      CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1

9th      WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 RAPTORTOUGH.COM CAMARO ZL1

11th    AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 TRUE VELOCITY CAMARO ZL1

12th    JUSTIN HALEY, NO. 31 LEAFFILTER GUTTER PROTECTION CAMARO ZL1

15th    KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1

16th    ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY/BETTER TOGETHER CAMARO ZL1

19th    AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 16 GOLD FISH CASINO SLOTS CAMARO ZL1

22nd   ERIK JONES, NO. 43 FOCUSFACTOR CAMARO ZL1

23rd   TY DILLON, NO. 42 ALLEGIANT CAMARO ZL1

25th    RICKY STENHOUSE JR., NO. 47 KROGER / COTTONELLE CAMARO ZL1

TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS: 

POS.  DRIVER

1.        Daniel Suarez (Chevrolet)

2.        Chris Buescher (Ford)

3.        Michael McDowell (Ford)

4.        Kevin Harvick (Ford)

5.        Austin Cindric (Ford)

Heading into the off week for the series, the NASCAR Cup Series will be back in action at Nashville Superspeedway with the Ally 400 on Sunday, June 26, at 5 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. 

TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES AND QUOTES:

DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 ONX HOMES / RENU CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 1st

THIS HAS ALREADY BEEN QUITE THE CELEBRATION. DANIEL SUAREZ, SINCE YOU WON YOUR XFINITY SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP, IT HAS BEEN A LONG ROAD HERE IN THE CUP SERIES, DIFFERENT TEAMS, A LOT OF HEARTBREAK. HOW DO YOU PUT INTO WORDS THE RACE YOU HAD TODAY?

“It’s crazy day. I have so many thoughts in my head right now. I mean, it’s been a rough road. It’s been a rough journey in the Cup Series. These guys believing in me – Trackhouse Racing, Justin Marks, Ty Norris. Everyone that helped me get to this point. A lot of people in Mexico: Jay Morales, Carlos Slim. My family, they never give up on me. A lot of people did, but they didn’t.

Just very happy we were able to make it work.” 

I MENTIONED DIFFERENT TEAMS. TRACKHOUSE, SEEMED LIKE MAGIC FROM THE MOMENT YOU STARTED TOGETHER. WHAT HAS BEEN DIFFERENT ABOUT THIS TEAM FOR YOU?

“Their energy. They believe in me since day one. They believe in me. All the people, all the resources to make it happen.

We have Daniel’s Amigos over there. (Expletive) yeah.”

TALK TO THOSE DANIEL’S AMIGOS OVER THERE AND ALL THE DANIEL’S AMIGO’S WATCHING ON TV. TELL THEM IN SPANISH WHAT YOU’RE FEELING JUST NOW. 

“(Answer in Spanish.) This is the first one of many.”

WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 RAPTORTOUGH.COM CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 9th

“Ended up ninth here at Sonoma. Good run for our team. Fought hard all day and got the balance right and the second half of the race was good. Happy with that and going into the off week with some good momentum.”

TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 LENOVO CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 35th

“Our Lenovo Chevy was strong this weekend at Sonoma Raceway. We started the race fifth and spent most of Stages 1 and 2 in and around the top five. We were running fourth with three laps remaining in Stage 2 when we made a green-flag stop. Unfortunately, we were caught speeding on pit road and had to restart at the tail end of the field to start Stage 3. We got mirrored back in traffic. Everyone was bunching up and another car ended up making contact with us. It destroyed our left-rear and we had to go to the garage for repairs. We made it back out, but finished 14 laps down in 35th. It’s definitely disappointing to get a finish like that after running so strong today.”

TEAM CHEVY – RACE QUICK NOTES

Stage One: 

·       A Chevrolet front row led the field to the green in today’s Toyota / Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway, with Kyle Larson capturing a series-leading fourth pole at the track; joined by Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott on the front row.  

·       Varying pit strategies in the closing laps of Stage One, Cliff Daniels kept the No. 5 HendrickCars.comCamaro ZL1 out until the end of the stage. 

·       Defending race winner, Kyle Larson, led all 25 laps of Stage One, giving Larson his second stage win of 2022. 

·       Team Chevy Top-10 of Stage One: Kyle Larson (Stage Winner), Justin Haley (4th), Josh Bilicki (7th) and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (9th).

Stage Two: 

·       Chase Elliott, who pitted prior to the conclusion of the Stage One, capitalized on track position, leading the field to the green from the pole position. 

·       Leading 26 laps of the 30-lap Stage Two, Alan Gustafson brought the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1 down pit road in the closing laps of the stage, with a long stop causing Elliott to lose track position. Issued a penalty for pitting outside the box, Elliott was forced to restart at the rear of the field to start the Final Stage. 

·       Team Chevy Top-10 of Stage Two: Daniel Suarez (4th) and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (9th).

Post-Race Fast Facts: 

·       Suarez’s triumph is also the eighth of the season for the Camaro ZL1 and the 13th victory for Chevrolet at Sonoma Raceway, both of which are manufacturer-leading feats. 

·       The win is Suarez’s first-career victory in 195 starts in the NASCAR Cup Series. 

·       It also marks the third NASCAR Cup Series triumph for Trackhouse Racing in 2022. 

·       With his victory, Suarez secures a spot into the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Field. 

·       The winningest brand in NASCAR, Chevrolet now has 822 all-time NASCAR Cup Series victories.

NASCAR CUP SERIES

SONOMA RACEWAY

TOYOTA / SAVE MART 350

TEAM CHEVY RACE WINNER QUOTE & NOTES

JUNE 12, 2022

DANIEL SUAREZ TAKES FIRST-CAREER NASCAR CUP SERIES WIN AT SONOMA 

Team Chevy Scores Eighth NCS Victory of 2022

Behind the wheel of his No. 99 Onx Homes/Renu Camaro ZL1, Daniel Suarez scored his first-career NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) win at Sonoma Raceway. 

·       The win is Suarez’s first-career victory in 195 starts in the NASCAR Cup Series. 

·       It also marks the third NASCAR Cup Series triumph for Trackhouse Racing in 2022. 

·       With his victory, Suarez secures a spot into the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Field. 

·       Suarez’s triumph is also the eighth of the season for the Camaro ZL1 and the 13th victory for Team Chevy at Sonoma Raceway, both of which are manufacturer-leading feats. 

·       The winningest brand in NASCAR, Chevrolet now has 822 all-time NASCAR Cup Series victories.

DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 ONX HOMES/RENU CAMARO ZL1, Race Winner Quick Quote: 

Q. This has already been quite the celebration. Daniel Suarez, since you won your Xfinity Series championship, it has been a long road here in the Cup Series, different teams, a lot of heartbreak. How do you put into words the race you had today?

DANIEL SUAREZ: It’s a crazy day. I have so many thoughts in my head right now. I mean, it’s been a rough road. It’s been a rough journey in the Cup Series.

These guys believe in me – Trackhouse Racing, Justin Marks, Ty Norris. Everyone that helped me to get to this point. Alot of people in Mexico: Jay Morales, Carlos Slim. My family, they never give up on me. A lot of people did, but they didn’t (tearing up).

Just very happy we were able to make it work.

Q. I mentioned different teams. Trackhouse, seemed like magic from the moment you started together. What has been different about this team for you?

DANIEL SUAREZ: Their energy. They believed in me since day one. They believe in me. All the people, all the resources to make it happen.

We have Daniel’s Amigos over there. (Expletive) yeah.

Q. Talk to those Daniel’s Amigos over there and all the Daniel’s Amigos watching on TV. Tell them in Spanish what you’re feeling just now.

DANIEL SUAREZ: (Answer in Spanish.) This is the first one of many.

CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES

SONSIO GRAND PRIX AT ROAD AMERICA

ROAD AMERICA

ELKHART LAKE, WISCONSIN

TEAM CHEVY POST RACE REPORT

JUNE 12, 2022

JOSEF NEWGARDEN TAKES CHEVROLET TO VICTORY LANE AT ROAD AMERICA

WINS $1 MILLION PEOPLEREADY FORCE FOR GOOD CHARITY WITH ONE WIN ON EACH STREET COURSE, OVAL AND NATURAL ROAD COURSE

ELKHART LAKE, WISC (JUNE 12, 2022) – Josef Newgarden put Chevrolet in Victory Lane for the Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America presented by AMR at Road America. It is the two-time NTT INDYCAR Series Champion’s third win of season.

By capturing his victories on one of each different kind of track – street course (Long Beach), oval (Texas Motor Speedway) and today on Road America, a 4.048-mile, 14-turn natural road course – the $1 million PeopleReady Force for Good for charity and his team today. 

The $1 million will be split between Newgarden and Team Penske, and the two charities of Newgarden’s choice – Wags and Walks of Nashville and SeriousFun Children’s Network.

This is his 22nd career INDYCAR victory and his second at Road America – all behind the wheel of a Chevrolet powered INDY car.

Newgarden started on the outside of the front row. He led a total 28 of the 55-lap race taking the lead for the first time on a pitstop exchange on lap 25. He never relinquished the point for the remainder of the race except during pitstop cycles and differing race strategies.

Felix Rosenqvist, No. 7 VUSE Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet finished sixth, and Scott McLaughlin finished seventh to give Team Chevy three of the top-seven. Chevrolet leads the Manufacturer Standings by 60 points. 677-617.

Will Power, No. 12 Verizon 5G Team Penske Chevrolet, came into the weekend leading the points, but contact from another car on lap seven in turn five sent him to pit lane for repairs. He rallied to finish 19th, one lap down and sits second in the standings only 27 points down to the leader.

Marcus Ericsson and Alexander Rossi completed the podium.

Race nine of the 17-race NTT INDYCAR Series season will be Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course July 1 – 3, 2022.

CHEVROLET DRIVER QUOTES

JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 2 PPG TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – Finished 1st

WERE YOU THINKING ABOUT THOSE RACES THAT DIDN’T WORK OUT ON LATE RESTARTS? HOW DETERMINED WERE YOU TO NOT LET THAT HAPPEN AGAIN TODAY?

“I was just trying to stay focused on what I had to do. Just an unbelievable job by everyone at Team Penske. Great to have PPG on board with us. We’ve had a lot of success with this car and Team Chevy. Team Chevy’s bringing it with this engine. Just so proud to be here and People’s Choice. I keep forgetting about this million bucks.”

YOU’VE GOT A MILLION DOLLAR CHECK COMING HERE IN A SECOND!

“I just kept forgetting about it. To finally get it done and to most importantly give that money to charity. Half that money is going to charity with SeriousFun Children’s Network and Wags and Walks Nashville. I hope they are happy about that. That’s a lot of money coming their way.”

HOW TOUGH OF AN ACCOMPLISHMENT IS THAT TO GET IT DONE ON AN OVAL, A STREET COURSE AND A ROAD COURSE ALL IN ONE SEASON, MUCH LESS THE FIRST HALF OF THE SEASON?

“That’s what makes Indy Car so tough. It’s impossible to predict what’s going to happen. I thought we had it all locked up in Detroit. It was going to be easy from the front row and it was anything but easy. It went completely different than we predicted. That’s just what makes this series so difficult, and it makes it fun to be in. You’ve got to be on your toes at all times. You can go in with a plan, but you’re probably going to have to change your plan 90 percent of the time once the race starts to unfold. To be able to hit all these disciplines with this team is just, for me, it’s the best series in the world. I just love driving Indy Car.”

FELIX ROSENQVIST, NO. 7 VUSE ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET – Finished 6th

“Pretty interesting race. We were a bit weak on the start and on the restarts, especially on the reds. We just couldn’t really make anything happen. We pitted early and then it kind of became a fuel race. We needed to save a lot on every stint after pitting so early. We ended up getting pretty good track position and our pace was better than expected while making our fuel number. We were able to lead the race but didn’t really have anything for the lead drivers at the end. We did the best we could. The No. 7 team did a great job on pit stops and we have moved higher in the championship.”

SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN, NO.3 SONSIO TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – Finished 7th

“Overall, pretty good day for the Sonsio Chevy. We started eighth and finished seventh. Nearly got sixth on the line. We’ve been chasing set up all weekend, but solid points day for us in seventh. We will just keep building from there. Onto Mid-Ohio. We have a couple of weeks off, we’ll be ok.”

CALLUM ILOTT, NO. 77 JUNCOS HOLLIGER RACING CHEVROLET – Finished 11th

“It was a pretty good race finishing P11. It was a crazy race, we just kept it clean and kept it cool. A couple of things slowed us down in the beginning and then we got our momentum. To be fair, the pace was good. I probably could have pushed it a bit more in some areas. Honestly, P11 is a good result for us and good points especially since I have been out of the car. We did a good job putting everything back together after qualifying. Thanks to all the guys at Juncos Hollinger and Team Chevy.”

CONOR DALY, NO. 20 BITNILE ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET – Finished 14th

“We had great pace today, especially on the reds. Both Meyer Shank Racing cars drove us off the road today at two different times, it’s a real shame to see experienced veterans drive like that. Simon (Pagenaud) knocking us off blatantly on the last restart was really tough because we were in 12th and that was my goal. We had a good day, great pace, but sometimes these things happen in racing.”

RINUS VEEKAY, NO. 21 DIRECT SUPPLY ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET – Finished 17th

“P17 was everything we had, really. It was very tough. I struggled with the balance of the car all day. For me, it was a race to keep the car on track and that’s not a great race! It was a great call all the end to go to red tires, I passed many guys. I am looking forward to a few weeks off and coming back with great car for Mid-Ohio.”

WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON 5G TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – Finished 19th

STILL SECOND IN THE CHAMPIONSHIPSHIP, BUT WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN. YOU ALREADY HAD A LONG WAY TO GO FROM THERE, BUT WE HEARD YOU AFTER THE CONTACT WITH DEVLIN DEFRANCESCO IT WAS “WAIT UNTIL I SEE HIM.” HAVE YOU SEEN HIM AND YOU’VE HAD A LITTLE BIT OF TIME SINCE THEN, HOW ARE YOU FEELING ABOUT THIS?

“Yeah, no I haven’t seen him. I mean, we had a fast car it’s just I kind of wondered if we changed tires when we were doing the wing. We didn’t want to go down a lap obviously. That made our day a lot harder. Yeah, nothing I could do about that one. That is Indy Car. Not the best day, you have them. Just move on to the next one.”

THIS DOES SEEM TO ALIGN WITH THE NEW MENTALITY THAT YOU’VE HAD OVER THE LAST YEAR OR SO. YOU’RE TAKING THIS BETTER THAN A LOT OF PEOPLE WOULD AT THIS POINT.

“Man, you can’t really do much about it. He is a young guy and he’s made some big moves this year that resulted in some incidents. It was good on the team for at least, I got ran off on the last lap there so maybe we could have finished a little bit higher. We had plenty of push to pass, couldn’t do much about it. We’ll see if we can get the Verizon 5G Chevy to victory lane again this year. Anytime we get a victory in this series it’s so big, because it’s so hard. There’s a different winner every week. Except for Newgarden, obviously congrats to him. He won the charity prize and yeah, he’s won three races. He’s on a good run.” 

KYLE KIRKWOOD, NO. 14 ROKIT AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET – Finished 20th

“Finished up here in Road America. Weekend is over. We didn’t have the exact race like we would have liked to have. For some reason, we lost pace from final practice yesterday to the race. We started 24th and finished 20th, so we gained a few positions. Finished with the car, came back with no battle wounds. So, that’s positive. We are going to look forward to Mid-Ohio.”

SIMONA DE SILVESTRO, NO. 16 PARETTA AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET – Finished 21st

“I think it was really important to finish this race. We had so much going on with me getting back in the car, getting to know the team again and working with my engineer. But we finished and I think we can be pretty happy because things started to come together at the end. It’s something to build on.”

DALTON KELLETT, NO. 4 K-LINE AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET – Finished 23rd

“Not the weekend we wanted here at Road America. I don’t think we had the pace overall in the race to make a lot of headway. We kept our nose clean and was able to make up a couple of spots. Coming to the final restart, on my end I don’t think I had a great restart for those last couple of laps. Gave up a couple spots there. That’s how it goes sometimes. Lesson learned. Aggression and timing, I don’t think I really timed the run coming through 14. That cost me those couple spots. Overall, we are still kind of struggling on pace on blacks. Reds felt better. We’ve got a little work to do and have some time to think about it before the next Indy road course race.”

TATIANA CALDERON, NO. 11 ROKIT AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET – Finished 25th

“We just finished Road America and unfortunately it was not our day in many ways. We had some penalties, some fuel miscommunication and we had to restart the engine a couple of times on pit lane. So yeah, tough day for everyone. I just want to thank the whole AJ Foyt racing team. It’s been a couple of busy weeks, so hopefully we can regroup and go back Mid-Ohio. I’m looking forward to it.”

PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET – Finished 26th

“We had a failure, which will put an end to anyone’s race. We weren’t having the smoothest of days anyway. We made some mistakes in the pits that cost us positions and we didn’t really have much pace to attack. Just not our day today.”

Josef Newgarden

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations, Josef Newgarden. The second win here at Road America. Third win of the season, 23rd of your career. Now ties the great Tommy Milton for 19th on the all-time list. Most importantly today the People Ready Force For Good Challenge, $1 million. Half goes to your favorite charity. A spectacular day.

Tell us about it a little bit.

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: It was a great day. Great, great day. Felt really good going into it. Felt like we had a car to win today. It was just about executing.

My team really put me in position on that first stop. Rossi was not going to be easy to beat today. I felt like he was very strong. I felt like we were a little bit better than him, but he was by no means going to be simple to go by.

That first stop is really what set the tone for us. Once we got in position, it was about getting through the lap markers, the alternate strategy quicker than him, building a gap, maintaining it. I felt like our PPG car was hooked up and had it from Team Chevy on the power side pretty much as always this year.

Really comfy. To be able to win this million bucks, give half of it to charity, is very cool. Very, very cool. I’m sure our recipients are going to be thrilled with that.

THE MODERATOR: On the Zoom joining us are your friends that are going to be the recipients.

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Fantastic.

THE MODERATOR: Kathryn Hurley is the founder of the Nashville chapter of Wags & Walks.

Kathryn, say hello.

KATHRYN HURLEY: Hi.

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Kathryn.

KATHRYN HURLEY: Hi. We are absolutely thrilled. Congratulations, Josef. I mean, you know what we’re going to do this year with all the dogs here in Nashville. That was bigger than me winning the Super Bowl for the Detroit Lions. We are absolutely so, so thrilled.

It’s going to impact literally thousands of dogs here in Nashville and allow us to build an amazing adoption center. Congratulations to you, Ashley and your little one at home.

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Thank you.

For people don’t know, our dog Axel was adopted through Wags & Walks. Kathryn really started the charge in Nashville. Wags & Walks started in L.A. Kathryn started the Nashville chapter for it. They’ve been doing an amazing job. They work with a lot of great people in Nashville. They save all sorts of dogs. All sorts. You should hear some of these heartbreaking stories that these guys through to find these dogs homes. We need more of that.

We’re very happy to be able to get some money to this group because they’ve done a lot for us and for a lot of people in Nashville. Very thrilled.

Thank you, Kathryn, for all your work.

KATHRYN HURLEY: Thank you so much. Congratulations again.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you for joining us. By the way, the $10,000 for each and every race continues through the rest of the season. You may not be done.

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: We’ll work on it more.

KATHRYN HURLEY: The good news continues.

THE MODERATOR: Blake Maher is the CEO from the (indiscernible).

BLAKE MAHER: Congratulations, Josef, on a big win for you and your whole team. Couldn’t be more grateful for the win today and all you do for SeriousFun, a true champion for us.

(Loss of audio.)

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: We want to help these groups as much as we can. To have something like this challenge I think fires you up more competitively, that you want to get it done for them. You know it’s just a bonus and a plus for these two groups.

Yeah, not quite as emotional. I just know how impactful it is, so I get really competitive and want to make it happen.

THE MODERATOR: Tremendous day. So congratulations many times over.

Questions.

Q. What type of dog is Axel?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: He’s a mutt. He has a lot of different breeds. He’s a smart little fellow. Cute, adorable. 30 pounds. He’s a lot of things. He’s got Shepard in him. All sorts of stuff. I couldn’t even tell you.

Q. You said on the TV interview you had forgotten about the $1 million prize. How can you forget about something like that?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I do forget about it at points. Like, I didn’t think about it coming into this weekend. I totally forgot that that was a thing. There’s a point you get reminded about it. You’re like, Oh, yeah, that’s right.

But for me, it’s not something you really dwell on because it doesn’t matter ultimately at the end of the day. I’m not going to try to win this race because this is on the line. You never approach any race that way.

I want to win the race because I want to win the race. It’s a great little bonus. It’s not a little bonus, that’s a big bonus. It’s just one of those things that kind of comes with it.

It’s not motivating for me that I have to do something extra because of this. I’m putting my best effort forward every weekend. I know if we can just focus on our job, get the job done, at times I get reminded, This is also going to come with it. That’s very, very cool obviously.

THE MODERATOR: Blake, do you have anything else to say? We lost you there.

BLAKE MAHER: Josef, I just wanted to make sure you heard our congratulations. We’re so excited for you and the team. Thank you for being a champion for SeriousFun, whether you’re at camp, welcoming kids to the racetrack, your ping-pong tournament. This, of course, is such a huge feather in your cap. We’re so proud to work with you and thankful for all you do for all the kids at the camps around the world.

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Thank you, Blake. We’re so fortunate to have people like you and SeriousFun Children’s Network. Keep up the great work as always.

BLAKE MAHER: Hope to see you soon. Take care.

THE MODERATOR: Blake, thanks. You’ve been a great friend for INDYCAR in the past and for years to come.

More questions.

Q. It seemed like the first pit stop was the key to the race. You were able to beat Rossi out. From that point on it seemed like every time…

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: It was going to be that point or another point. Truthfully I was hoping for an all green start, no cautions, because I felt that’s where we could find the exposure in Rossi’s game.

I was kind of biding my time but felt like I had the straight speed advantage with him. I felt like my Chevy was much quicker than him on the straights. I was going to wait for an opportunity.

All the yellows really took away that potential. We were running most of the laps under caution, so the reds weren’t going to drop off as much. We needed to make the difference somewhere else. We came in right on his tail. I made sure, Look, I’m going to give my team ample opportunity, get as close as I can to Rossi on the pits.

If it wasn’t going to happen on the pit stop, it was going to be an out lap or a back end of a stint (indiscernible). The pit stop is what ended up being the pivotal point for us. If that wasn’t the point, I think we could have made that point somewhere else today.

Q. Pit selection seemed to work in your favor. I believe you were the last pit out.

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, yeah. We were first out, if you will, first box, which always helps. You got a clear out. You don’t have to worry about typically a lot of the mess going on in the middle or wherever you’re located at.

It does pay to start up front.

(Loss of audio.)

Q. Obviously the difference on a late restart this year versus last year was considerable. Can you forget that stuff?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I don’t really think about it. If you want to talk about last year, it’s not anything anyone did wrong. It’s a part that failed that I think was a $50 part. No one has ever seen it fail. It’s not like it was a prep issue.

I couldn’t have affected anything. I or the team couldn’t have affected anything to make it different. Had no thought about it. I was just focused on today.

The thing I focus on is we’re in position. You don’t have many opportunities to be in position to close. I just want to close. That’s where my head was at today, yep.

Q. With the two late restarts there at the very end, were you surprised on both cases how much you were able to gap Rossi going up the hill with the green flag there?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Not after watching him. I kind of knew where the strength and weakness was. I felt like we had a good advantage on him in certain areas. We tried to exploit that as best as possible.

It was two really good starts, great attack mode from Team Chevy. All of that contributes to being able to push the gap. I was hopeful we could do that, but I can’t say I was surprised. I felt like we had that potential. I knew if we just do our job, we can do that, and was happy to see it kind of come to fruition.

Q. You get a good cut of it the bonus. After buying some baby stuff for the newborn, what is the first dumb thing you’re going to buy with the money?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I don’t know. I don’t know. Probably a bunch of McDonald’s. Probably over a hundred dollars worth of McDonald’s at least. That’s probably stop one. After that, I don’t know. We’ll have to see.

Q. Will had a line in the interview that it’s hard to get wins except for Josef, he’s got multiple. How hard is it to win now compared to earlier in your career? What do they mean now?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: It’s extremely difficult. It’s hard to win a pole. Hard to win a race. The landscape is not constant these days. I think 10 years ago you used to have sort of consistent trends. When a team would find a performance edge, they would typically carry that edge across the entire year.

Whereas now I think people find these little edges on each other like every weekend. It’s going up and down all the time.

You see a McLaren strong at one track, Andretti strong at another, Ganassi pops up, ECR pops up, we’re in the mix. Then a Shank pops up. It’s never ending.

We say every year it’s the closest competition we ever had. Somehow it keeps getting tighter. It must be just the development of this car has really hit a fine point. You’re just constantly tuning little things now, millimeters of changes.

The driving style is getting tighter, with simulators, all this stuff you can analyze. It’s impossible to hide something from the competition.

Yeah, it is very difficult to win these races consistently. To be able to put multiple on the board, it’s a job well done to everybody in the 2 group.

Q. Three wins is like what drivers are looking for, if you want to win the championship, you have to win three races. Do you feel like you’ve got the momentum in the championship or is that still with Marcus after the 500 win?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: It’s been a little bit too up and down for us. Kind of feast or famine. I think we genuinely had the potential for four or five wins up to this point. So we’ve done three of the potential five, let’s say. The other ones that we weren’t winning, we were finishing too far back.

We’ve got to up our consistency. It’s a little abnormal for us. I feel like we’re a fairly consistent group. So I’m not going to lose sleep on why that was happening. Sometimes you get in these little micro trends where we didn’t have the consistency we needed.

Number one, we need to clean that up. We need to win a couple more races before the year is out because of the way the first part of the season went. We definitely have wins on the board. But definitely more than wins, consistency is going to rule the day this year, for sure.

Q. (No microphone.)

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, I mean, I felt good coming into the season. I felt good about last year. I remember we were getting hounded, up to this point last year we were getting hounded on why we hadn’t won a race.

For me it was funny because I’m like, You guys must not be inside our internal network and seeing. We’re just totally fine, totally fine. There’s not a problem with the team. We’re where we need to be. Just wasn’t clicking off for some reason.

I felt that way going into this season and I feel that way now. I think we’re in a good spot. We have to clean up the consistency. For one reason or another that didn’t happen up to this point. I know if we keep doing our normal thing, that will come.

We just need to keep on a good track here till the finish. Feel very positive about our group. I mean, we don’t have anything negative going on. Honestly, there’s nothing that I could be complaining about. We got a really strong team, everything is in a good place, great partnerships with Tammy Chevy and everyone else. Yeah, feel good about it.

Q. (Question about the late caution.)

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, I mean, I think I cooked my stuff a little bit too much on that second stint. I was aggressive with traffic. That’s where I think I got the gap, was I was more aggressive than he was cutting through either a lap marker or an alternate strategy. So that ripped a really nice gap for us.

After that it was more just trying to manage it. I kept watching my gap to him. I was trying to study where he was strong and where I was weak. I just kind of focused on tire management after that point.

I could tell he was very good in the beginning through 75% of the stint. I think we had the edge in the last 25%. Look, we have a good gap here, got more overtake, let’s just try to manage tires. That was my game plan as I got to middle to finish. I think that worked well for us.

I was surprised. We didn’t get to see what was going to happen in the first stint because of all the yellows. That’s where I thought I was going to find the exposure for him. I was a little bit worried, we missed that opportunity, but let’s see what happens on the primaries. It worked out. I think we had a fast car all around.

Q. Can you explain how restarts work here.

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, typically in INDYCAR now the rule is there’s a restart zone that’s designated. Typically it’s around the final corner, sometimes sort of encompassing the entire final corner, sometimes it’s a bit more.

In our case, it’s kind of 13 to 14, that lead-up into 14 is the restart zone. So the procedure for us is the pace car lets us get temperature, does a pretty quick lap, then slows us down. By the time we get to the carrousel, packs us up. As we get to turn 12, he tries to get away. We let him get away to where we can start 13 to 14. That’s our process.

Q. (No microphone.)

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Rossi was as tight as he could be to me when I got on the gas. He definitely wasn’t getting jacked up, to use your words. It’s just the point. INDYCAR sort of designates the restart area or zone that you can start in. We know that. That’s what I did today.

Q. From our point of view once you got the lead, it seemed like you were pretty comfortable. Was it that comfortable to you? Anything you think you could have done better?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I would say it was only fairly comfortable today. I didn’t feel like we were lights out better than anybody. But I felt like we were just as good. I felt we were kind of toe-to-toe with Rossi today. It was just about managing the tires the best.

I think raw pace on the primaries, we were probably similar. It was a matter of when you wanted to push them.

Yeah, what can we learn? There’s always a lot of little stuff. We’re going to go back and analyze the sectors, look at straights versus corners, mechanical changes that we made. We’re going to analyze all of it and see where we can optimize for next year.

At this point the broad strokes are very good for this track, these conditions. Now that I’m also saying that, we’re going to come back next year and it’s going to be a completely new challenge, they’re going to resurface this place. We are still going to analyze and learn what we can from this season, but pretty open book next year.

Q. This track could be quite a bit different. Do you think that’s a good thing? Do you think it needs it or rather it stay like it is?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I’m indifferent. If it’s up to me…

Indianapolis 500 winner Marcus Ericsson returns to the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship lead with second-place finish at Road America
Alexander Rossi scores second successive podium with third-place finish
Honda drivers claim four of the top-five finishing positions with Romain Grosjean and Colton Herta

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (June 12, 2022) – Last month’s Indianapolis 500 winner Marcus Ericsson led the way for Honda today in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES Sonsio Grand Prix of Road America, with a second-place finish vaulting him back into the championship points lead after eight of 17 races.

Starting fourth, Ericsson ran in the lead group throughout the first two stints of the 55-lap, 220-mile race. When a late-race caution flag led to a restart with just three laps remaining, second-running Alexander Rossi made a lunge for the lead, but had to abort the attempt and Ericsson used the opportunity to grab second, finishing three seconds behind winner Josef Newgarden. With today’s result, Ericsson has a 27-point lead in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES Drivers’ Championship over Will Power, who finished 19th.

Rossi, the pole qualifier on Saturday, recovered to finish third, with his Honda-powered Andretti Autosport teammates Romain Grosjean and Colton Herta finishing fourth and fifth, respectively.

Also of note, Graham Rahal rebounded from a disappointing 22nd in qualifying to finish eighth today, with his Rahal Letterman Lanigan teammate Christian Lundegaard leading the rookie contingent with an 11th-place finish.

Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America Honda Results
2nd Marcus Ericsson Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
3rd Alexander Rossi Andretti Autosport Honda
4th Romain Grosjean Andretti Autosport Honda
5th Colton Herta Andretti Autosport Honda
8th Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
9th Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
11th Christian Lundegaard-R Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
12th Simon Pagenaud Meyer Shank Racing Honda
13th Jack Harvey Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
15th Takuma Sato Dale Coyne Racing with RWR Honda
16th David Malukas-R Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Honda
18th Devlin DeFrancesco-R Andretti Autosport Honda
22nd Helio Castroneves Meyer Shank Racing Honda
24th Jimmie Johnson Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
27th Alex Palou Chip Ganassi Racing Honda [did not finish – contact]
R – Rookie

Quotes
Marcus Ericsson (#8 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) finished second, moves into the Drivers’ Championship points lead after 8 of 17 races: “It was a really good race, and we were strong throughout the weekend. Honda, HPD, and everyone on the #8 Chip Ganassi Racing team did an awesome job this weekend, they gave me a really good race car today. Finishing second is great for the championship. I am sorry about the [early race] contact with Alex [Palou]. From my point of view, we were side-by-side and it was a nice racing move. But you never want to have contact with a teammate, and I’m super sorry Alex was damaged there.”

Alexander Rossi (#27 Andretti Autosport Honda) pole qualifier, finished third: “We went for the lead on that last restart, and it kind of cost us [dropping from second to third], but ultimately a good day for us. It took us until the last stint to get the balance right in the car, and then we could make up ground on Josef [Newgarden]. It’s always disappointing when you start on pole, but don’t win the race, but it’s been a good couple of races for us [with podium finishes at both Detroit and Road Amerca]. We’ll take to positives from that and move on to Mid-Ohio.”

Rebecca Johnson (Senior Manager, Director of Production, Honda Performance Development) on today’s Honda podium finishes at Road America: “While we can’t be fully satisfied with missing out on the race win, it was good to seen Marcus [Ericsson] move back to the championship points lead with a strong second-place finish and Andretti Autosport had their best result – across the board – today with [Alexander] Rossi, Romain [Grosjean] and Colton [Herta] all scoring top-five finishes. The Rahal Letterman Lanigan organization today demonstrated they are improving, with Graham [Rahal] coming from 22nd on the grid to finish eighth; and Christian Lundegaard again leading the rookie field with an 11th-place result. After five consecutive weekends at Indianapolis, Detroit and now here in Wisconsin, it will be nice for the HPD race team to get a brief, but well-deserved break, before resuming the season at our “home” circuit, the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, on the Independence Day weekend.”

Fast Fact
Honda Indy car drivers have scored eight victories at Road America, most recently in last year’s NTT INDYCAR SERIES race, won by eventual series champion Alex Palou in his Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.

Next
The NTT INDYCAR SERIES is back racing at the Midwestern “home circuit” for American Honda, the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, for the Honda Indy 200 presented by the all-new 2023 Civic Type R, on July 1-3.

Honda Racing social media content and video links from Road America 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).

CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES

SONSIO GRAND PRIX AT ROAD AMERICA

ROAD AMERICA

ELKHART LAKE, WISCONSIN

TEAM CHEVY JOSEF NEWGARDEN

WINNER QUICK QUOTE

JUNE 12, 2022

JOSEF NEWGARDEN TAKES CHEVROLET TO VICTORY LANE AT ROAD AMERICA

WINS $1 MILLION PEOPLEREADY FORCE FOR GOOD CHARITY WITH ONE WIN ON EACH STREET COURSE, OVAL AND NATURAL ROAD COURSE

ELKHART LAKE, WISC (JUNE 12, 2022) – Josef Newgarden put Chevrolet in Victory Lane for the Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America presented by AMR at Road America. It is the two-time NTT INDYCAR Series Champion’s third win of season.

By capturing his victories on one of each different kind of track – street course (Long Beach), oval (Texas Motor Speedway and today on Road America, a 4.048-mile, 14-turn natural road course – the $1 million PeopleReady Force for Good for charity and his team today. 

The $1 million will be split between Newgarden and Team Penske, and the two charities of Newgarden’s choice – Wags and Walks of Nashville and SeriousFun Children’s Network.

This is his 22nd career INDYCAR victory and his second at Road America – all behind the wheel of a Chevrolet-powered car.

WINNER’S QUOTE:

WERE YOU THINKING ABOUT THOSE RACES THAT DIDN’T WORK OUT ON LATE RESTARTS? HOW DETERMINED WERE YOU TO NOT LET THAT HAPPEN AGAIN TODAY?

“I was just trying to stay focused on what I had to do. Just an unbelievable job by everyone at Team Penske. Great to have PPG on board with us. We’ve had a lot of success with this car and Team Chevy. Team Chevy’s bringing it with this engine. Just so proud to be here and People’s Choice. I keep forgetting about this million bucks.”

YOU’VE GOT A MILLION DOLLAR CHECK COMING HERE IN A SECOND!

“I just kept forgetting about it. To finally get it done and to most importantly give that money to charity. Half that money is going to charity with SeriousFun Children’s Network and Wags and Walks Nashville. I hope they are happy about that. That’s a lot of money coming their way.”

HOW TOUGH OF AN ACCOMPLISHMENT IS THAT TO GET IT DONE ON AN OVAL, A STREET COURSE AND A ROAD COURSE ALL IN ONE SEASON, MUCH LESS THE FIRST HALF OF THE SEASON?

“That’s what makes Indy Car so tough. It’s impossible to predict what’s going to happen. I thought we had it all locked up in Detroit. It was going to be easy from the front row and it was anything but easy. It went completely different than we predicted. That’s just what makes this series so difficult, and it makes it fun to be in. You’ve got to be on your toes at all times. You can go in with a plan, but you’re probably going to have to change your plan 90 percent of the time once the

Both Corvettes retire early in final GTE Pro race at 24 Hours

LE MANS, France (June 12, 2022) – Corvette Racing’s GTE Pro run at the 24 Hours of Le Mans ended with retirements of both Chevrolet Corvette C8.Rs on Sunday. Alexander Sims in the No. 64 Corvette was fighting to regain the class lead just before the 18-hour mark when a prototype competitor moved into him on the Mulsanne Straight. The contact, with Sims on the far-left with two LMP2 cars going by, pitched the Corvette hard left into the guardrail nose-first. Sims exited the car unassisted and was fine upon his return to the paddock. He, along with FIA World Endurance Championship teammates Tommy Milner and Nick Tandy, took turns leading in the pole-winning Corvette. Sims earlier set the fastest GTE Pro lap of the race. Only moments earlier, Corvette Racing had retired the No. 63 Corvette due to significant mechanical damage –  seen and unseen – at the rear of the car. It was unclear if this was a continuation from an earlier suspension issue in the race’s first six hours. Every effort was made to get the car back into the race, but due to safety concerns for the team’s drivers and fellow competitors, the decision was made to retire. “This isn’t how we wanted our Le Mans race to end,” said Laura Klauser, GM Sports Car Racing Program Manager. “We’re all proud of the dedication of everyone on the Corvette Racing team to give us the absolute best chance for our ninth class victory. At the end of the day, we’re all proud to be part of the One Team effort that is Corvette Racing. We’re glad Alexander is OK and that the C8.R kept him safe. Our focus now is on our two full-season efforts in the WEC and also the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.”

CORVETTE RACING AU MANS: Sans parolesLes deux Corvettes abandonnent dans la course des GTE Pro aux 24 Heures LE MANS, le 12 juin 2022 – La course du Corvette Racing aux 24 Heures du Mans s’est terminée par l’abandon des deux Chevrolet Corvette C8.R dimanche matin. Alexander Sims, au volant de la Corvette n°64, se battait pour reprendre la tête de la catégorie GTE Pro juste avant la 18e heure lorsqu’un concurrent prototype l’a percuté sur la ligne droite des Hunaudières. Le contact, alors que Sims se trouvait à l’extrême gauche et que deux voitures LMP2 le dépassaient, a envoyé la Corvette de front dans les rails. Sims est sorti de la voiture sans assistance et se sentait bien à son retour dans le paddock. Avec ses coéquipiers du Championnat du monde d’Endurance, Tommy Milner et Nick Tandy, il s’est relayé en tête de la Corvette qui a remporté la pole. Sims avait auparavant réalisé le tour le plus rapide de la course en GTE Pro. Quelques instants plus tôt, Corvette Racing avait retiré la Corvette n° 63 en raison d’importants dégâts mécaniques – visibles et invisibles – à l’arrière de la voiture. Il n’était pas clair s’il s’agissait de la suite d’un problème de suspension survenu au cours des six premières heures de la course. Tout a été fait pour que la voiture reprenne la course, mais pour des raisons de sécurité pour les pilotes et les autres concurrents, la décision a été prise de retirer la voiture. “Ce n’est pas comme ça que nous voulions que notre course au Mans se termine,” disait Laura Klauser, GM Sports Car Racing Program Manager. “Nous sommes tous fiers de l’engagement de tous les membres du team Corvette Racing pour nous donner les meilleures chances de remporter notre neuvième victoire de catégorie . En fin de compte, nous sommes tous fiers de faire partie de l’effort de l’équipe unique qu’est Corvette Racing. Nous sommes heureux qu’Alexander aille bien et que la C8.R l’ait bien protégé. Désormais, nous nous concentrons sur nos deux efforts en WEC et aussi dans le championnat IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar”.