After Sebring win, No. 3 Corvette looks for more success in 100-minute race

DETROIT (April 5, 2022) – After winning for the 12th time at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring three weeks ago, Corvette Racing moves to a completely different style of racing when it returns to the Long Beach (Calif.) street circuit for the continuation of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor will pilot the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R in Saturday’s 100-minute Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on the streets of southern California. It’s the third race for Corvette in the new GT Daytona (GTD) PRO class and first on a street circuit. Garcia and Taylor sit second in GTD PRO points after two races, including their victory at Sebring with Nicky Catsburg. The goal is to continue adding to Corvette Racing’s lengthy list of successes, including those at Long Beach.

The team has won eight times at the circuit including a win last year for Tommy Milner and Nick Tandy in the now-extinct GT Le Mans (GTLM) category. Garcia and Taylor finished second and this time around face a tough field of five other manufacturers in GTD PRO. The GTD PRO Corvette differs in several ways from the C8.R that ran at Long Beach in 2021. Chief among the differences are additional weight, restricted power and customer Michelin tires that are mandated for all GTD entries as opposed to Michelins specifically designed for the C8.R in GTLM trim.

CORVETE RACING MEDIA INFORMATIONCorvette Racing media information is updated and available ahead of this weekend’s Grand Prix of Long Beach. Materials include: · IMSA race advance and quotes· Summary of changes to the GTD PRO Corvette C8.R· Corvette Racing Long Beach stats and figures· Corvette Racing Fast Facts· Driver biographies

The combination of moving to GTD PRO plus a 100-minute race places even more importance on qualifying than normal. With such a short race, there likely will be just one planned pit stop for fuel and change of tires and driver. With all 20 GTD cars having roughly the same performance levels, track position will be at a premium. Chevrolet Motorsports Display On-Site at Long BeachIn addition to the many series and events on the racetrack at Long Beach, fans will have plenty to see and experience from Chevrolet. The Chevrolet’s Motorsports Display will be full of Chevy vehicles that spectators can learn more about throughout the weekend. The Chevrolet Motorsports Display opens at 8 a.m. Friday through Sunday and is located in the Long Beach Convention Center. Numerous Chevrolet vehicles and other highlights include: • The 2023 Corvette convertible 3LT• Additional Chevrolet products such as Blazer RS, Trailblazer RS, Camaro 2SS 1LE, Silverado Trail Boss and • A Corvette Racing C8.R showcar and LT6.R engine• An opportunity to receive a 2022 Chevrolet t-shirt  The Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach is scheduled for 5:05 p.m. ET/2:05 p.m. PT on Saturday, April 9. The race will air live on USA and stream on Peacock starting at 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT. IMSA Radio will air all on-track sessions beginning at IMSA.com along with XM 207 and SiriusXM Online 992.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “Traffic won’t be such a factor because you won’t be lapping as many cars as you normally would. It’s more of a single-group deal and working your way through that. That race is always about qualifying and doing a perfect stop and driver change. I don’t see a lot of difference in GTLM and GTD PRO at Long Beach. I hope the car behaves as well as it did at Sebring because it was really good. I hope it’s as warm as possible. It feels like when we have those conditions and as we saw at Sebring, we have something of an advantage.”

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “There’s going to be a lot to learn about this car and tire at pretty much every track we go to. We were shocked at how different things were at Sebring. It was a wake-up call to see how far the setups were from GTLM. Having seen success at Sebring gives us some promise that we know the right direction to take the Corvette. Long Beach is always a different animal but I can’t wait for it.”

CORVETTE RACING AT LONG BEACH: By the Numbers• 1: As in one team, one manufacturer and one model of car for 14 years at Long Beach: Corvette Racing, Chevrolet and the Chevrolet Corvette.• 3: Generations of Corvette Racing entries at Long Beach since 2007 –Corvette C6.R (2007-13) and Corvette C7.R (2014-2019) and Corvette C8.R (2021). All three generations have won at least once at Long Beach.• 4: Number of Long Beach race victories for Corvette Racing’s duo of Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor.• 8: Number of drivers who have competed at Long Beach for Corvette Racing – Olivier Beretta, Antonio Garcia, Oliver Gavin, Jan Magnussen, Tommy Milner, Johnny O’Connell, Nick Tandy and Jordan Taylor. Each driver has won at least once at Long Beach.• 8: Number of Long Beach victories in 13 appearances for Corvette Racing – more than any other IMSA entrant at the circuit.• 10: Number of Long Beach sports car victories for Chevrolet. Throw in 11 IndyCar wins, and Chevrolet has claimed 21 victories in the event’s two premier races.• 14: Manufacturer Championships for Chevrolet and Corvette Racing since 2001.• 19: Number of street circuit victories for Corvette Racing – more than any other IMSA entrant at the circuit.• 25: Tracks at which Corvette Racing has won races – Baltimore, Charlotte Motor Speedway, COTA, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park/Mosport, Daytona, Detroit, Houston, Laguna Seca, Le Mans, Lime Rock, Long Beach, Miami, Mid-Ohio, Portland, Road America, Road Atlanta, Sebring, Sonoma, St. Petersburg, Texas, Trois Rivieres, Utah, VIR, Washington DC and Watkins Glen.• 30: Number of wins in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for Corvette Racing since the start of 2014.• 121: Victories worldwide for Corvette Racing – 113 in North America and eight at Le Mans.• 253: Event starts by Corvette Racing since 1999.• 3,945.82: Number of racing miles completed by Corvette Racing in its 12 previous trips to Long Beach. That represents 2,005 laps around the 1.968-mile street circuit.• 339,411.24: Total number of racing miles completed by Corvette Racing since its inception. To put that in perspective, Corvette Racing is more than halfway to the distance traveled by Apollo 13 – the longest manned spaceflight in history: 622,268 miles. That means Corvette Racing has raced to the moon… and then some! Corvette Racing at Long Beach (wins in bold)2007No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Johnny O’Connell – 2nd in GT1 (Magnussen fastest race lap)No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 1st in GT1 (Gavin pole) 2008No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Johnny O’Connell/Jan Magnussen – 1st in GT1 (Magnussen pole)No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 1st in GT1 (Gavin fastest race lap) 2009No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Johnny O’Connell – 2nd in GT1No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 1st in GT1 (Beretta pole, fastest race lap) 2010No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Johnny O’Connell – 2nd in GT2No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Jan Magnussen – 9th in GT2 (Gavin fastest race lap) 2011No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Tommy Milner – 5th in GTNo. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Jan Magnussen – 2nd in GT (Magnussen fastest race lap) 2012No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 4th in GTNo. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 1st in GT (Gavin fastest race lap) 2013No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 5th in GTNo. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 4th in GT (Gavin fastest race lap) 2014No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 1st in GTLM (Magnussen pole)No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 3rd in GTLM (Milner fastest race lap) 2015No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 3rd in GTLMNo. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 7th in GTLM 2016No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 9th in GTLMNo. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 2nd in GTLM 2017No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 5th in GTLM (Magnussen pole)No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 1st in GTLM 2018No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 4th in GTLMNo. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 1st in GTLM 2019No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 2nd in GTLMNo. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 3rd in GTLM 2021No. 3 Corvette C8.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 2nd in GTLMNo. 4 Corvette C8.R: Tommy Milner/Nick Tandy – 1st in GTLM

Inside Line Promotions – STOCKTON, Calif. (April 4, 2022) – Dominic Scelzi produced a second-place showing last Saturday during the opening round of the King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Series season.

The defending series champion put himself in contention from the start of the night by setting quick time during qualifying of the 25 competitors at Stockton Dirt Track. A run from fourth to second in a heat race locked Scelzi into the dash, which he won to garner the pole position for the 3 ^rd annual Asparagus Cup feature.

“I felt good and we were fast all night,” he said. “They reworked the track right before the feature. We won the start, but hit a little grease and slid up in turns three and four. Colby Copeland drove around me and I couldn’t get him back. We had good speed and balance, but we ran second to him all race. It’s a good way to start a points season.”

The second-place result ranks Scelzi second – only two points out of the lead – in the championship standings heading into the next round of action this Saturday when Keller Auto Speedway in Hanford, Calif., hosts the Anthony Simone Classic.

“We’re really looking forward to getting back to Keller Auto Speedway, where we’ve enjoyed a lot of success,” Scelzi said. “I think if we can keep qualifying well and putting ourselves in contention like we did last Saturday we’ll earn our share of wins this year.”

Scelzi scored a second-place result during a 360ci winged sprint car race at Keller Auto Speedway in February. He captured eight feature victories at the track last year.

QUICK RESULTS –

April 2 – Stockton Dirt Track in Stockton, Calif. – Qualifying: 1; Heat race: 2 (4); Dash: 1 (1); Feature: 2 (1).

SEASON STATS –

9 races, 0 wins, 4 top fives, 6 top 10s, 7 top 15s, 7 top 20s

UP NEXT –

Saturday at Keller Auto Speedway in Hanford, Calif., for the Anthony Simone Classic

Batavia, OH (April 4, 2022) – The Arizona Sport Shirts Crown Jewel Cup mini-series and Arizona Sport Shirts Crown Jewel Quest for Cash bonus both begin this weekend with Carl Short’s 53rd Hillbilly Hundred Presented by Arizona Sport Shirts at Tyler County Speedway. The mini-series within the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series schedule consists of 14 events that pay $30,000 or more to the winner, the first of which is in Middlebourne, WV this Friday, April 8th at Tyler County Speedway where drivers will compete for a $30,000 top prize. First place winnings for all 14 events in 2022 comes to an extraordinary $718,000. Drivers with perfect attendance with the series will earn points in these 14 events based on their finishes. The Arizona Sport Shirts Crown Jewel Cup Champion and the top five in points will receive bigger cash awards than in years past; this mini-series Champion will receive a $15,000 cash bonus at the year-end awards banquet. The drivers who finish second through fifth in the Crown Jewel Cup standings will earn $6,000, $4,000, $3,000, and $2,000 in cash, respectively for a total points fund of $30,000 for these 14 events. As part of the Arizona Sport Shirts Crown Jewel Cup, the Quest for Cash includes a potential bonus of $50,000, another bonus at $100,000 and a top bonus of $250,000. These bonuses are also available to drivers that maintain perfect attendance with the series for the entire season. If a driver wins six (6) of the fourteen (14) Crown Jewel Cup events in 2022, that driver will receive a $50,000 bonus. A driver that wins eight (8) of fourteen (14) Crown Jewel Cup events will earn a $100,000 bonus and if a driver can win eleven (11) of the fourteen (14) Crown Jewel Cup events, that driver will earn a whopping $250,000 bonus.** Arizona Sport Shirts Crown Jewel Cup 2022 events:April 8, 2022- Tyler County Speedway- 53rd Annual Hillbilly 100- $30,000 to winMay 28, 2022- Lucas Oil Speedway- Show-Me 100- $50,000 to winJune 4, 2022- West Virginia Motor Speedway- Historic 100- $50,000 to winJune 18, 2022- Smoky Mountain Speedway- Mountain Moonshine Classic- $50,000 to winJune 25, 2022- Lernerville Speedway- Firecracker 100- $50,000 to winJuly 3, 2022- Muskingum County Speedway- Prime Solutions 60- $30,000 to winJuly 9, 2022- Deer Creek Speedway- Gopher 50- $50,000 to winJuly 23, 2022- I-80 Speedway- Silver Dollar Nationals- $53,000 to winAugust 13, 2022- Florence Speedway- North/South 100- $75,000 to winAugust 20, 2022- Batesville Motor Speedway- Topless 100- $50,000 to winAugust 27, 2022- Port Royal Speedway- Rumble by the River- $50,000 to winSeptember 4, 2022- Tyler County Speedway- 54th Annual Hillbilly 100- $30,000 to winSeptember 17, 2022- Knoxville Raceway- Late Model Nationals- $50,000 to winOctober 15, 2022- Portsmouth Raceway Park- Dirt Track World Championship- $100,000 to win **A minimum of 11 of the scheduled 14 Crown Jewel Cup races must be completed during the 2022 season with a minimum of 24 cars entered at each of those events. To be eligible, the driver must have perfect attendance in all Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series races in 2022.

(4/4/22) Sacramento, CA …  The NARC Fujitsu General 410 Sprint Cars roll right into round two this weekend with the second edition of the Anthony Simone Classic this Saturday, April 9th at Hanford’s Keller Auto Speedway.

The event honors the late Anthony “Mr. Excitement” Simone who sadly passed last year and awards a whopping $10,000 to the winner. As a tip of the cap to the versatile driver, a special NARC non-wing race will take place immediately after the Fujitsu Feature concludes. The wingless event will consist only of drivers who competed in the winged portion, and like last year the teams will remove the wings and make adjustments in the work area on the front stretch.

A unique format also awaits the drivers with an emphasis on the number 10, Simone’s car number. There will be five Brown and Miller Racing Solutions five-lap Heat Races lined up straight up based on ARP Qualifying times and will take the top-two finishers to the Sunnyvalley Bacon Trophy Dash, equaling 10 cars. Those 10 cars will take part in a pill draw with the options of four, six, or eight to set the lineup for the Dash. Then, they’ll duke it out open wheel-style for 10 laps to determine the first five rows of the 30-lap Fujitsu Feature.

Keller Auto Speedway underwent a minor reconfiguration in the off-season which may throw a curve ball to the entire pit area as promoter Peter Murphy continues to improve the facility. Saturday will mark the first of three NARC visits to Hanford in 2022.

The Championship Chase

Following this past weekend’s NARC opener, a part-time driver leads the standings in the form of Roseville’s Colby Copeland courtesy of his Stockton win. Copeland doesn’t plan to race this Saturday, so he’ll relinquish the top spot.

Looking to take his place will be current runner-up and reigning series titlist Dominic Scelzi. The Fresno native opened his championship defense with a second-place run at Stockton, his sixth career podium at the facility and 11th in his last 15 series starts dating back to 2021.

Just two markers behind Scelzi is Tarlton Motorsports pilot Mitchell Faccinto. He picked up his 12th career series podium in his maiden NARC voyage aboard the No. 21 as he began the pursuit of his first championship.

Among other confirmed full-time drivers toward the front Colfax’s Willie Croft sits fifth in points (-6 behind Copeland), Tim Kaeding is seventh (-8), and Bud Kaeding is ninth (-10).

Who to Watch

This weekend is a home game for brothers Mitchell and Michael Faccinto who hail from Hanford. Two of Mitchell’s three career NARC wins have come at Keller Auto Speedway. Michael picked up a USAC Western States Midget victory at Hanford last year, and his first two career NARC feature starts came at the three-eighths mile, including his debut in his current ride, the Mike Phulps No. 56, last season.

“Getting an early season win at Hanford for the Simone would be huge for this team (Tarlton Motorsports),” Mitchell Faccinto said heading into the weekend. “With the different track layout, we were able to at least get one night on it before we start points racing which will help. Even though we struggled a little during the World of Outlaws (California) swing, I have full confidence that we should be contending for wins the rest of the year.”

“We got the notes from last year, and we have a couple races under our belts now,” Michael Faccinto said. “A top-five run with the stout NARC field that is following the series this year would be a good run for our team.”

Entering the event as the defending Anthony Simone Classic winner is Fremont’s Shane Golobic after taking home the $10,000 check last year. The Matt Wood Racing pilot has also podiumed in five of his last six NARC feature starts at Hanford.

Keller Auto Speedway is tied for the second winningest track on Tim Kaeding’s extensive NARC resumé. Nine of TK’s 71 career feature wins have come in Hanford. While the San Jose driver hasn’t visited victory lane there since 2013, he has finished fourth or better in seven of his last nine series starts.

Dominic Scelzi has won a NARC feature event at Keller Auto Speedway in each of the last two years. Last year during Scelzi’s 22 overall feature win season, six of those came at Hanford.

Campbell native Bud Kaeding has chalked up four series victories in Hanford. In fact, three of his first four NARC wins came at Keller Auto Speedway. Kaeding hasn’t visited NARC victory lane there since 2012 but does own a steady record as of late with six top-10s in his last eight starts.

A driver still seeking his first Keller Auto Speedway triumph is 11-time NARC feature winner Justin Sanders. Though the Aromas racer is still in search of that inaugural victory, he’s been remarkably consistent in Hanford with three top-fives in four series starts last year, two of those being podium runs.

One of Sebastopol’s Joel Myers Jr.’s two NARC top-fives from 2021 came at Keller Auto Speedway in the Simone, and he’s hoping for a similarly strong effort to bounce back from a tough opening outing at Stockton with Vertullo Motorsports.

Also expected to compete are Hanford’s D.J. Netto, Benicia’s Billy Aton, Idaho’s Logan Forler, Lincoln’s Tanner and Blake Carrick, Oregon’s Tanner Holmes, Washington’s Colby Thornhill, and more!

Fan & Competitor Info

The NARC Hoosier Tire format will feature ARP Fast Time Qualifying, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions 5-lap Heat Races, an eight-lap Sunnyvalley Bacon Trophy Dash, a Kaeding Performance Semi, the 30-lap Fujitsu Feature and the special 20-lap wingless Fujitsu Feature

The pit gate will open at 1:00 P.M. with the front gate following at 4:00 P.M. The driver’s meeting will take place at 4:30 P.M. Cars will be on track for wheel pack/hot laps at 5:00 P.M., and racing will begin around 6:00 P.M. The new and already popular Pete’s Pub will be from 4:30-5:30 P.M. and allow fans without pit passes the opportunity to enjoy a small section of the pit area with food and drinks being sold..

Adult General Admission tickets will be $20. Kids ages 6-17, seniors ages 62 and up, and military (ID required) will be admitted for the discounted price of $15. Tickets can be purchased at the gate or via the following link https://www.myracepass.com/events/401628/tickets/.  The MyRacePass app can also be used to buy tickets.

Keller Auto Speedway is located on the Kings County Fairgrounds at 801 South 10th Avenue Hanford, CA 93230. For more information visit racekingsspeedway.com or email kellerautospeedway@yahoo.com.

The Anthony Simone Classic will be broadcast live on floracing.com along with the entire NARC Fujitsu General Sprint Car schedule.

2022 NARC King of the West Fujitsu 410 Sprint Car Series
Championship Points Standings (After one event in 25-race series)

1. Colby Copeland, Roseville – 117
2. Dominic Scelzi, Fresno – 115
3. Mitchell Faccinto, Hanford – 113
4. Shane Golobic, Elk Grove – 112
5. Willie Croft, Colfax – 111
6. Justin Sanders, Aromas – 110
7. Tim Kaeding, San Jose – 109
8. Tanner Carrick, Lincoln – 108
9. Bud Kaeding, Campbell – 107
10. Corey Day, Salinas – 106
11. Michael Faccinto, Hanford – 105
12. Max Mittry, Redding (R) – 104
13. Tanner Holmes, Jacksonville, OR – 103
14. Kerry Madsen – Sydney, AUST – 102
15. Colby Thornhill, Emuclaw, WA – 101
16. DJ Netto, Hanford – 100
17. Billy Aton, Benicia (R) – 99
18. Logan Forler, Boise, ID (R) – 98
19. Blake Carrick, Lincoln – 97
20. Dylan Bloomfield, Discovery Bay (R) – 96
21. Geoffrey Strole, Hanford (R) – 95
22. Joel Myers Jr, Sebastopol (R) – 94
23. Josh Weisz, Colfax (R) – 93
24. Angelica Bell, Sacramento (R) – 92
25. Austin McCarl, Altoona, IA – 91

The NARC Fujitsu General USA Racing Series is also sponsored by Hoosier Racing Tires and Floracing.com.  Associate and product award sponsors include Automotive Racing Products (ARP), Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, Bullet Impressions, Dirt.Travel, FK Rod Ends, Johnstone Supply, Kaeding Performance Center, Kimo’s Tropical Car Wash, KSE Racing Products, Maxim, Pyrotect, Roth Motorsports, Safecraft Safety Equipment, Saldana Racing Products, Schoenfeld Headers, SCI Racing Products, Scelzi Enterprises, Starr Property Management, Swift Metal Finishing, Sunnyvalley Bacon, System 1 Ignition, Ultra Lite Brakes, Vortex Wings, Wilwood Disc Brakes, and Winters Performance Products.

SOCIAL MEDIA INFORMATION
Website: www.NARC410.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NARCKingoftheWest
Facebook (history page):  https://www.facebook.com/NARCSprintCarHistory
Twitter: https://twitter.com/NARC410
Instagram: www.instagram.com/narc410
YouTube: NARC410
Live Stream PPV:  Floracing.com

UPCOMING EVENTS:

April 30 – Silver Dollar Speedway, Chico – Tenth Annual David Tarter Memorial
May 13 – Thunderbowl Raceway, Tulare – Peter Murphy Classic (Night One)
May 14 – Keller Auto Speedway, Hanford – $11,000 to win Peter Murphy Classic
May 21 – Petaluma Speedway, Salute to First Responders

 INDIANAPOLIS (Monday, April 4, 2022) – A longtime tradition and another sign of the return of the Month of May took place April 4 as the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Chevrolet staged 50 identical 2022 Chevrolet Camaro SS convertibles on the main straightaway at IMS. The “Festival Event Cars” have reminded Indianapolis-area residents of the upcoming Indianapolis 500 since the 1960s, and this year’s fleet of unique Camaros again will turn heads as they are driven around Central Indiana.  Presenting the cars were Allison Melangton, Penske Entertainment Senior Vice President; Pat Merna, 500 Festival Vice President Strategic Partnerships; and Todd Christensen, Chevrolet Motorsports Strategic Marketing and Operations. The Festival Event Cars are a unique option code based off the 2022 Chevrolet Camaro SS convertible and are powered by a 6.2-liter small block V-8, which offers 455 horsepower and 455 pound-feet of torque. The exterior of the car features Wild Cherry Tintcoat exterior paint with special decals from Chevrolet’s Performance Design Studio representing the 106th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge. The car also features a Ceramic White interior, a power-folding convertible top that can be lowered while driving at speeds up to 30 mph, Brembo front and rear performance brakes with red calipers and 20-inch black-painted aluminum wheels. “We’re glad to continue the tradition of providing Festival Event Cars to build excitement for the Indianapolis 500,” said Dean Stramer, Chevrolet Camaro marketing and advertising manager. “Our Chevrolet Design team did a great job making this year’s Camaro a stand-out.” The 106th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge is scheduled for Sunday, May 29, 2022. Visit IMS.com for tickets and more information on all Month of May events and activities at IMS.

• Tony Stewart Racing’s Matt Hagan drove his Dodge Power Brokers Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car to a runner-up finish at the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Camping World Drag Racing Series’ Four-Wide Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
• Hagan powered his Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat from a No. 4 qualifying effort to the team’s third consecutive final round appearance in just their fourth national event and take over the lead in the Funny Car championship points standings
• Top Fuel pilot Leah Pruett had her strongest performance of the season to date after running in the top-five in each qualifying session, earning the No. 3 qualifier position, and turning on the win light in the first quad
• No. 7 seed Cruz Pedregon and his Snap-on Tools Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat were quickest in the third of four qualifying sessions, and while not being able to advance out of the first elimination quad, they remain fourth in Funny Car standings

April 3, 2022, Las Vegas, Nevada — Just four races into the 2022 National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Camping World Drag Racing Series’ season, Matt Hagan has put the Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) team into the Funny Car championship points lead by driving his Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat to a runner-up finish at the Four-Wide Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. After earning the team’s first nitro win and his first career Gatornationals victory last month, Hagan followed-up that performance this weekend by advancing to TSR’s third consecutive final round appearance in its first season of competition. 

This weekend’s uniquely formatted competition, the first of two four-wide events this season, saw racers battle one another in four lanes instead of the usual two, and as such, they also had four qualifying sessions to make a pass in each lane. Hagan put his Dodge Power Brokers Direct Connection Funny Car in the No. 4 qualifying position for eliminations with the second quickest lap of the second session by posting a 3.920-second elapsed time run at 332.92 mph.

In eliminations, Hagan turned on the win light in the first of three rounds to beat No. 5 Bob Tasca III, No. 12 Chad Green, and No. 13 Jeff Diehl and advanced to the next round, along with Tasca, to face No. 1 qualifier Ron Capps and No. 9 seed J.R. Todd. In the second stanza, Hagan finished second to fellow Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat driver and defending Funny Car champ Capps, with both moving on to the final quad to join No. 6 Robert Hight and No. 10 Alexis DeJoria and battle for the Four-Wide Nationals Wally trophy at Las Vegas.

The final round saw Hagan come off the start line with the Capps and Hight and in a close race from start to finish. The Dodge Power Broker Funny Car charged to the runner-up finish just behind the HEMI-powered machine of Capps, who earned his first national event win as an owner and driver. Hagan takes over the points lead by nine points over Hight, with Capps and Cruz Pedregon also among the top contenders in the class.

TSR Top Fuel pilot Leah Pruett swapped her dragster’s usual Dodge Power Brokers paint scheme for a Code 3 Associates wrap for Las Vegas to bring attention to the non-profit organization that goes into disaster areas to rescue animals and help reunite them with their owners. She kicked off the weekend with two solid pulls on Friday to earn the provisional No. 1 qualifier position with a best run of 3.741 seconds at 326.79 mph.

She consistently posted qualifying lap times that kept her and her Dodge//SRT performance machine among the top-five in each of the four sessions, collected a total of five bonus points for her efforts, and earned the No. 3 spot on the eliminations ladder for Sunday’s four-wide battles.

Pruett powered her dragster straight down the lane to turn on her first win light of the season with quick 0.042-second reaction time and solid 3.740-second elapsed time run at 327.27 mph ahead of No. 11 Shawn Langdon (0.069/3.853/316.01), No. 10 Doug Kalitta (0.065/4.100/227.80) and No. 14 Rob Passey (0.098/13.101/63.28).

Pruett and Langdon both advanced to the second quad to face No. 2 qualifier Brittany Force and No. 7 Steve Torrence. Pruett launched and battled hard against her competition to cross the finish with a 3.745 sec./325.69 mph run, just a hair behind Torrence’s 3.744 sec./328.46 mph lap and Force’s round winning effort of 3.725 sec./329.58 mph, and ahead of Langdon’s 3.884 sec./294.32 mph.

Funny Car driver and team owner Cruz Pedregon took his Snap-on Tools Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat for a 3.926-second elapsed time run at 321.9 mph to record the quickest run of the third qualifying session, earn three bonus points, and put himself in the No. 7 position on the eliminations ladder for Sunday’s main event. Pedregon staged his HEMI-powered ride alongside No. 2 qualifier John Force, No. 10 Alexis DeJoria, and No. 15 Jim Campbell for the opening stanza and powered off the start to battle Force to the halfway mark until a loss of traction dropped him out of contention for advancement to the next round.

The Dodge//SRT Mopar-powered contingent will be back on track on April 2-24 at Houston Raceway Park in Texas for the 35^th edition of the NHRA SpringNationals, the fifth of 22 NHRA national events this season.

ADDITIONAL NOTES and QUOTES:

Leah Pruett, Dodge Power Brokers Top Fuel Dragster 

(No. 3 Qualifier – 3.741 seconds at 326.79 mph)

Round 1: (0.042-second reaction time, 3.740 seconds at 327.27 mph) defeated No. 11 Shawn Langdon (0.069/3.853/316.01), No. 10 Doug Kalitta (0.065/4.100/227.80) and No. 14 Rob Passey (0.098/13.101/63.28)

Round 2: (0.068/3.745/325.69) loss to No. 2 Brittany Force (0.056/3.725/329.58) and No. 7 Steve Torrence (0.057/3.744/328.46), defeated No. 11 Shawn Langdon (0.052/3.884/294.32)

“What a monumental weekend for the Code 3 Associates [Dodge//SRT Mopar-powered] Top Fuel dragster. The points at the end of the Las Vegas Four-Wide Nationals may not represent that, but anybody that was here, or watched the FS1 broadcast or looked at the times, and saw that we made six full clean healthy passes that where fast and qualified us No. 3, knows that we are coming. We just needed a little bit of momentum and we have found it. We are extremely happy with the way that our car is running. The attitude of these team members is great. They know that we knew in the off-season that we had the potential. We were the only ones that really knew and believed in our performance. This past weekend, our competition now knows that we’re coming and that’s exciting.

“I have really worked hard on finding my love and passion again for drag racing, being eager to be at the line to cut down the Christmas tree, and actually race and enjoy racing. It’s been a long time since really enjoyed that. I attribute it to the positive-minded people that I have around me. I am more excited at this moment than I had been all season because our potential is showing itself. We’ve got one foot out that opening door right now and we’re going to take that other step and people will know that we’re coming.

“It was tough competition today. Four-wides are always interesting and require maximum focus on all parts. NHRA did a fantastic job of keeping all four lanes equal and prepped and primed for us to lay it down. We were within just a couple, one to two hundredths off the top competitors in our field and for the pace of our progress, which has been very fast, is inspiring. It’s encouraging. It’s what makes me more excited than I’ve ever been to get back in the race car and race at Houston coming up.”

Matt Hagan, Dodge Power Brokers Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car  

(No. 4 Qualifier – 3.920 seconds at 332.92 mph)

Round 1: (0.068-second reaction time, 3.929 seconds at 323.35 mph) defeated No. 5 Bob Tasca III (0.087/3.929/326.32), No. 12 Chad Green (0.081/3.937/312.35), and No. 13 Jeff Diehl (0.078/4.136/291.07)

Round 2: (0.060/3.919/320.43) finished second to No. 1 Ron Capps (0.073/3.902/329.91) and defeated No. 9 J.R. Todd (0.047/3.936/326.08) and No. 5 Bob Tasca III (0.073/3.949/323.12)

Round 3: (0.056/3.924/324.44) finished runner-up to No. 1 Ron Capps (0.053/3.914/331.20) and defeated No. 6 Robert Hight (0.052/3.943/328.94) and No. 10 Alexis DeJoria (0.088/3.954/321.35)

“What a crazy race. Anytime we go four-wide it’s always crazy, but we had a really solid weekend, finished number two, and took over to points lead. The [Dodge Power Brokers Funny Car] is running really good. It was a little tough as we’re up here on a hill a little bit with the altitude and trying to make power, but [Crew Chief] Dickie Venables is the man at we had a great race car this weekend and had three good rounds on Sunday after qualifying number four. I’m really proud of my guys.

“We’re going to test tomorrow here and try to make some more power up here on the hill because we’ll be back here in Vegas [for the Dodge//SRT Nationals] in October around Halloween time. I can’t wait to get back here. We’ve got a lot more racing to go.”

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

(No. 7 Qualifier – 3.926 seconds at 321.96 mph)

Round 1: (0.112-second reaction time, 4.343 seconds at 206.16 mph) loss to quad winner No. 2 John Force (0.092/3.978/328.14), No. 10 Alexis DeJoria (0.177/3.932/327.43), and No. 15 Jim Campbell (0.112/4.066/313.00)

“Las Vegas Four-Wide started off being a really good event for us. Our Snap-on Tools Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat had the quickest run of Q3 at a 3.92 seconds at over 322 mph which was a solid run. It was very smooth and it was actually done during the hottest part of the weekend when the track temperature was 120 degrees. We felt good going into the race day with our quad consisting of John Force, Alexis DeJoria and Jim Campbell. We felt good and felt we had a good shot to win. We were actually leading the other three cars until we smoked the tires about half track and that was the end of our weekend, unfortunately.

“Overall a good a good weekend. We had been consistently qualifying in the top five and we got moved down to seventh, but if you look at the times, there was a lot of 3.92s. We were right there and everybody was really close. Obviously we didn’t accomplish our goals of winning the race, but it was still a good solid weekend for us and we’re going to set our sights on Houston now.”

NHRA CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS STANDINGS:

Following the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at Las Vegas

FUNNY CAR (season wins in parentheses)

1. Matt Hagan (Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat)-394 (1)

2.  Robert Hight-385 (1)

3.  Ron Capps (Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat)-354 (1)

4.  Cruz Pedregon (Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat)-224

5.  John Force-217

6.  Alexis DeJoria-207

7.  Bob Tasca III-193

8.  Tim Wilkerson-183

9.  J.R. Todd-170

10.  Chad Green-163

TOP FUEL (season wins in parentheses)

1.  Steve Torrence-304

2.  Brittany Force-300

3.  Mike Salinas- 297

4.  Justin Ashley-270 (1)

5.  Clay Millican-229

6.  Austin Prock-198

7.  Tony Schumacher-192

8.  Josh Hart-189

9.  Doug Kalitta-168

10.  Antron Brown-164

14.  Leah Pruett (Dodge Power Brokers)-137

DodgeGarage: Digital Hub for Drag Racing News

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

@DodgeMoparMotorsports on Instagram

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

Dodge//SRT

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

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

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

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

Mopar

This year marks the 85th anniversary of Mopar.

A simple combination of the words MOtor and PARts, Mopar offers exceptional service, parts and customer-care. Born in 1937 as the name of a line of antifreeze products, Mopar has evolved over nearly 85 years to represent both complete vehicle care and authentic performance for owners and enthusiasts worldwide.

Mopar made its mark in the 1960s during the muscle-car era with performance parts to enhance speed and handling for both on-road and racing use. Later, Moparexpanded to include technical service and customer support, and today integrates service, parts and customer-care operations in order to enhance customer and dealer support worldwide.

LAS VEGAS (April 3, 2022) — The NHRA Las Vegas Four-Wide Nationals was a new experience for Josh Hart and the R+L Carriers Top Fuel team. As the event concluded Hart will take a few positives from a short race day to the next event. There were four qualifying runs this weekend to give every team the chance to make a pass in each lane of competition. In an unfortunate twist Hart bypassed the second session to track down an issue in his 11,000-horsepower Top Fuel dragster that carried over from the NHRA Gatornationals. The team moved to a structured qualifying schedule to ensure peak performance beyond this weekend.

“We had an issue with a tool that is very crucial. That is what caused our demise in Gainesville and it carried over to our first qualifying round on Friday,” said Hart, the 2021 Gatornationals winner. “That is why for the first time in my career I skipped a qualifying session just to regroup and check everything. We found the issue, thank goodness, so we played it safe on the first run on Saturday and only made a planned half-track pass. Everything was fine and we played it safe in the final qualifier to make sure everything was all set for race day.”

R+L Carrier Top Fuel dragster, photo by Auto Imagery

At the end of the day on Saturday Hart was sitting No. 10 in the qualifying order. The strategy set the team up to get aggressive in the first round on Sunday. In his quad Hart was squaring off in what was recognized in the opening ceremonies as the “Marquee Match-Up” between Hart, reigning Top Fuel champion Steve Torrence, Brittany Force and Cameron Ferre. In an epic race Torrence posted low elapsed time of the event to reach the finish line first and Hart was just a shade behind Force to get the second slot to advance to the next round. Hart’s scoreboard flashed with a weekends’ quickest elapsed time of 3.798 seconds at 326 mph.

Hart, who spends considerable time between rounds talking with fans about the employment opportunities with primary sponsor R+L Carriers, knew this round loss was tough but not devastating to his championship aspirations. The second-year driver who is competing on a full schedule for the first time is eager to keep the focus on improvement and building a strong foundation.

Josh Hart with new fan, photo by Josh Hart Racing

“At this point we look at it as if we lost the battle, but we are focused on winning the war,” said Hart. “We want to make sure all our t’s are crossed and our i’s are dotted. Complacency is not something that is going to be tolerated on this team. We have a strong group and I have a lot of confidence. We have 18 more races this season and I will be ready in Houston.”

Hart and the R+L Carriers Top Fuel team will leave The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway No. 8 in the NHRA Camping World Top Fuel standings.

Qualifying Results

Q1: 3.806 sec, 306.60 mph; Qual. 6

Q2: No Run

Q3: 4.542 sec, 170.45 mph; Qual. 9

Q4: 3.907 sec, 315.64 mph; Qual. 10

Bonus Points: 0

Race Results

E1: 

W – No. 7; Steve Torrence, Kilgore, Tex., Capco dragster, 3.720, 327.27 mph

W – No. 2; Brittany Force, Yorba Linda, Calif., Monster Energy dragster, 3.747, 334.32 mph

No. 10 Josh Hart, Ocala, Florida, R+L Carriers dragster, 3.798, 326.00 mph

No. 15 Cameron Ferre, Huntington Beach, Calif., 5.899, 118.62 mph

Camping World Drag Racing Series Top Ten – Top Fuel

1. Steve Torrence                      304

2. Brittany Force                        300

3. Mike Salinas                          297

4. Justin Ashley                          270

5. Clay Millican                          229

6. Austin Prock                           198

7. Tony Schumacher                  192

8. Josh Hart                                 189

9. Doug Kalitta                           168

10. Antron Brown                      164

LAS VEGAS (April 3, 2022) —- For rookie Pro Stock driver Camrie Caruso her first four-wide racing experience was two days of qualifying runs and continued race day improvement behind the wheel of her Air Flow Research (AFR) SCAT Crankshafts and Procar by SCAT Chevrolet Camaro. Caruso entered race day at the NHRA Las Vegas Four-Wide Nationals, as the No. 9 qualifier on the heels of four qualifying runs that placed her in a quad with No. 1 qualifier Aaron Stanfield, No. 8 qualifier Matt Hartford and No. 16 qualifier Cristian Cuadra.

As all four Pro Stock race cars pulled to the ready line Caruso knew she would have to be at the top of her game with her Titan Racing Engine powered Chevrolet Camaro. Over the previous three races the favorite for the NHRA Rookie of the Year award has qualified for every race. All four race cars launched hard and Caruso was right in the mix as she charged down track from lane three. Through the windshield she could see Stanfield and Cuadra, who she had defeated in the previous two races, just out in front of her bumper. Her second quickest run of the weekend, 6.693 seconds, was not enough to advance to the second round. At the end of the day the young driver reflected on her first four-wide experience.

Camrie Caruso, photo by Auto Imagery

“I think it was neat,” said Caruso. “I don’t think it is as complicated as a lot of people make it out to be. I know my crew chief Jim Yates liked getting the four qualifying runs and it meant more seat time for me which is great.”

The four qualifying runs Caruso and her Air Flow Research (AFR) SCAT Crankshafts and Procar by SCAT Chevrolet Camaro made along with her first round pass have continued to show the strength of her Titan Racing Engines program as well as the support she has garnered from Right Trailers, Global Emissions Systems Inc. (GESi®), NGK Spark Plugs, VP Racing Lubricants and Powerbuilt Tools. Representing so many brands has given Caruso the confidence to focus on her racing program.

Camrie Caruso, photo by Auto Imagery

“I love racing this Chevrolet Camaro and I have to thank my Caruso Family Racing team for all their support,” said Caruso. “This was a learning experience and I am glad I got the first four-wide out of the way. We will get ready for Houston.” 

The early favorite for NHRA Rookie of the Year will leave the fourth race of the season No. 11 in the Pro Stock point standings. 

Qualifying Results

Q1:10.503 sec, 85.32 mph; Qual. 13

Q2: 6.715 sec, 205.76 mph; Qual. 12

Q3: 6.742 sec, 203.77 mph; Qual 13

Q4: 6.691 sec, 203. 89 mph; Qual 9

Bonus Points:  0

Race Results

E1: 

No. 1; Aaron Stanfield, Janac Brothers Chevrolet Camaro, 6.667, 206.07 mph (W)

No. 16; Cristian Cuadra, Corral Boots Ford Mustang, 6.694, 204.60 mph (W)

No. 8; Matt Hartford, Total Seal Chevrolet Camaro, 6.685, 205.26 mph 

No. 9; Camrie Caruso, AFR/SCAT Crankshafts/Procar by SCAT Chevrolet Camaro, 6.693, 203.65 mph 

Camping World Drag Racing Series Top Ten – Pro Stock

1. Aaron Stanfield                     369

2. Erica Enders                           346

3. Dallas Glenn                          272

4. Kyle Koretsky                         271

5. Mason McGaha                     226

6. Greg Anderson                      213

7. Troy Coughlin Jr                     213

8. Bo Butner                              195

9. Cristian Cuadra                      186

10. Deric Kramer                        176

11. Camrie Caruso                     171

About Camrie Caruso/Caruso Family Racing
Camrie Caruso is a third-generation driver with Caruso Family Racing. The 23-year-old Pro Stock rookie is following the career path of her father, former Pro Mod racer Marc Caruso and her grandfather, “Papa Joe” Caruso, who competed in Super Gas, Top Sportsman, and Pro Mod. Racing a Chevrolet Camaro with power provided by Titan Racing Engines Caruso will race the full NHRA Camping World Series schedule as she chases Rookie of the Year honors and her first world championship. She first got behind the wheel of a race car when she was eight years old competing in the NHRA Junior Dragster League. She has continued to move up through the NHRA competition classes for over a decade rising to Top Alcohol Dragster as well as Elite Top Dragster and Pro Outlaw 632 in the PDRA. Caruso has a Finance degree as well as a Marketing degree from SUNY Empire State College. In 2018 she was recognized by Drag Illustrated magazine as a 30 Under 30, drag racing personality. When she is not at the track, she is handling the marketing for Titan Racing Engines.

LAS VEGAS (April 3, 2022) — Through two days of qualifying at the NHRA Las Vegas Four-Wide Nationals Justin Ashley and his Phillips Connect Toyota Top Fuel dragster powered by Vita C Shot made three solid runs in four rounds of qualifying. They rolled into race day as the No. 4 qualifier in a tough quad with 2019 Rookie of the Year Austin Prock, veteran Clay Millican and Jim Maroney. Ashley was looking for his first round win in the unique four-wide format.

“I loved having four qualifying sessions,” said Ashley, who opened the season with a win at the NHRA Winternationals. “That is one of the benefits of the Stampede of Speed at Texas Motorplex. It’s good for the team because it gives us more data and information to analyze going into Sunday. Having Q1 early in the afternoon gave us an opportunity to set a baseline and run more aggressively during the second run on Friday. It’s also is one more time down the track and one more time to look at the tree. It all adds up. I am all for four qualifiers whenever it is possible.”

Phillips Connect Top Fuel dragster powered by Vita C Shot, photo by Ron Lewis Photography

Ashley and his three competitors were the first four dragsters to hit the track. The consensus was all four lanes were even and Ashley’s mindset was focused on his lane, his tree and getting to the finish line in front of at least two of his opponents. The tree flashed and Ashley hit the throttle on his Phillips Connect Top Fuel dragster powered by Vita C Shot launched hard and went into immediate tire smoke. The 2020 Rookie of the Year was forced to watch as all three dragsters took off down track. There was no need to try and pedal his 11,000-horsepower race car and the three-time Top Fuel winner immediately turned his focus to the next race in three weeks in Houston.

“We went up to the starting line with a plan and got a different result,” said Ashley. “That’s racing. The important thing is to learn from this race and move on to the next one. As always, our Phillips Connect/Toyota team powered by Vita C Shot did great and put us in a nice qualifying position going to Sunday. But race day is a different day, especially during the four-wides when anything can happen. We are going to take the rest of the day and root on Antron. We are just going to focus on the next race.”

The Springnationals will be the final NHRA national event at Houston Raceway Park and Ashley is focused on making the most of his final run for returning sponsors Auto Shocker, KATO Fastening Systems and GuardLab.

“We want to win every race but when you know it is going to be the final race it makes it very special,” said Ashley. “Winning the final race gives your team a historic moment that no one can take away from you. You will be the last winner forever.”

Ashley will leave Las Vegas Four-Wide Nationals sitting in the No. 4 in the Camping World Drag Racing Series point standings.

Qualifying Results

Q1: 3.855 sec, 265.22 mph; Qual. 7

Q2: 3.924 sec, 285.98 mph; Qual. 9

Q3: 3.748 sec, 330.55 mph: Qual. 3

Q4: 4.015 sec, 224.96 mph; Qual. 4

Bonus Points: +2 (2nd quickest in Q2)

Race Results

E1: 

W – No. 5; Clay Millican, Drummonds, Tenn., Parts Plus dragster,3.768, 321.65 mph

W – No. 12; Austin Prock,Pittsboro, Ind., Montana Brand/RMT dragster, 3.803, 324.83 mph

No. 13; Jim Maroney, Mesa, Ariz., American Flowtech dragster, 3.973, 300.73 mph

No. 4; Justin Ashley, Plainview, NY, Phillips Connect Vita C Shot dragster, 9.845, 75.15 mph

Camping World Drag Racing Series Top Ten – Top Fuel

1. Steve Torrence                      304

2. Brittany Force                        300

3. Mike Salinas                          297

4. Justin Ashley                         270

5. Clay Millican                          229

6. Austin Prock                           198

7. Tony Schumacher                  192

8. Josh Hart                                 189

9. Doug Kalitta                           168

10. Antron Brown                      164About Justin Ashley Racing
Justin Ashley Racing in partnership with Davis Motorsports fields the Phillips Connect Top Fuel dragster powered by Vita C Shot in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series. In 2021 Ashley raced to three final rounds with a win at the Texas Fall Nationals in Dallas and ultimately finished No. 4 in the Top Fuel standings. During his Top Fuel rookie season in 2020 Justin won the NHRA Summernationals, finished in the Top Ten and was recognized as the 2020 NHRA Rookie of the Year.  Prior to his professional debut Ashley has three wins in Top Alcohol Dragster on the Lucas Oil Series. He is the son of multi-time NHRA national event winner Mike Ashley. In 2017, he was named to the Drag Illustrated magazine’s 30 under 30 list, highlighting some of racing’s most promising young individuals on and off the racetrack. To learn more about Justin Ashley Racing, visit JustinAshley.com. 

CHEVROLET RACING IN NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION NHRA FOUR-WIDE NATIONALS THE STRIP AT LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY APRIL 3, 2022                                                                       Chevrolet drivers hold winning hand at Las Vegas • Brittany Force scores 12th career Top Fuel victory• Erica Enders repeats as Pro Stock four-wide winner• Ryan McClanahan wins Stock Eliminator in COPO Camaro

LAS VEGAS (April 3, 2022) — Chevrolet drivers had the winning hand at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Brittany Force won the Top Fuel final quad race with a pass of 3.718 seconds at a blistering 338 mph in the Monster Energy/Flav-R-Pac Chevrolet dragster for her initial win of the season and 12th of her career – all with Chevrolet. Force, who earned her second NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series victory in the Charlotte four-wide event in 2016, topped the finalists who represent 15 NHRA Top Fuel season titles. She moved to second in the Top Fuel standings through four of the scheduled 22 events.

“This is huge for our team. We’ve had a little bit of a tough start to our season, but our guys got the job done,” said Force, the 2017 Top Fuel champion who holds both ends of the track record including the 338.17 mph run in November 2019 that stands as the class national speed record. “To be able to look at that final quad and see the guys that we were good enough to pull up next to and then beat them all, it’s something that we’re very proud of. I’m proud just to share the lanes with those guys to be able to race against them. I watched Tony Schumacher when I was out here watching my dad as a kid, so to be able to line up next to him is just something very exciting, and then to turn the win light on is even better. “We had an awesome race. We qualified pretty well, No. 2, and we got four qualifying sessions this weekend and three out of the four were pretty dang good, so going in today was just consistency.” She was runner-up in the 2019 four-wide event at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and came back to win the fall race.

Four-time Pro Stock champion Erica Enders won her second consecutive four-wide event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for her second victory of the season and 35th of her career.  “Las Vegas has been good to me even when I wasn’t at my best,” said Enders, driver of the Melling Performance/Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro SS. “Thankfully, I have a crew that picks me up when I need it. That (holeshot loss) in Gainesville was a lot of crap to eat over the last two weeks while we had off. I took it hard. I also lost on a holeshot in Phoenix but my sister reminded me that we’ve had four races this year and I’ve won two of them so she doesn’t let me get too down on myself. “Our Elite family lost one of the best guys on the planet this week (Pro Mod racer) Scotty Oksas. We wanted to win this one for him.” She was also the runner-up in the 2021 fall race at the track, won the 2020 and ’19 fall race and was runner-up in the 2018 fall event. Enders closed the gap to No. 1 qualifier and points front-runner Aaron Stanfield, driver of the Janac Brothers Camaro SS, to three points.

Robert Hight, who set low elapsed time of the event (3.864 seconds) in the second Funny Car quad in the Auto Club of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro SS, wound up third in the final as he had a cylinder out early in the run.  John Force won his first-round Funny Car match in the PEAK BlueDEF Platinum Chevrolet Camaro SS with a 3.978-second pass. Force, the No. 2 qualifier, finished third in the second round and did not advance. Austin Prock, the No. 12 qualifier in the Montana Brands/Rocky Mountain Twist Chevrolet dragster, advanced to the second round. His 3.783-second run, which was quicker than his first-round pass, was good for third but not good enough to advance to the final quad. Ryan McClanahan of San Bernardino, California, drove his Chevrolet COPO Camaro to victory in Stock Eliminator for his 11th national event win. Drivers of a COPO Camaro have won all four Stock Eliminator national events this season. The NHRA SpringNationals on April 24-26 is next up for Chevrolet teams and drivers. Hight (Funny Car) and Matt Hartford (Pro Stock) were winners for Team chevy. FS1 will telecast eliminations at 7:30 p.m. ET April 26 from Houston Raceway Park. An interview with Top Fuel winner BRITTANY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, MONSTER ENERGY/FLAV-R-PAC CHEVROLET DRAGSTER (No. 2 qualifier): YOU RACED AGAINST STEVE TORRENCE ALL THREE ROUNDS. TALK ABOUT THAT.“I pointed out how tough our quads were every single time. It’s tough trying to keep up with him and make sure we get around him in that final, and we got it done. He had lane choice over us on one of the runs, we got it back on him and we figured it out in the final round.” DOES IT MAKE THIS WIN SWEETER WHEN IT COMES AGAINST A GROUP LIKE THAT?“Absolutely. To be able to look at that final quad and see the guys that we were good enough to pull up next to and then beat them all, it’s something that we’re very proud of. I’m proud just to share the lanes with those guys to be able to race against them. I watched Tony Schumacher when I was out here watching my dad as a kid, so to be able to line up next to him is just something very exciting, and then to turn the win light on is even better.” WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR MOMENTUM GOING INTO THE REST OF THE SEASON?“It just builds and builds. This just lights a fire under us and motivates us, puts that extra energy that maybe we lost over the last few races because we have struggled. Getting in the winner’s circle with your team, there’s no better feeling than that.” WHAT WAS PREPARATION LIKE GOING INTO THE FINAL? ANY HEAD GAMES?“There’s so much going on. There’s not just one car next to you, now there’s three other cars. There’s too much thinking going on. For me, when I pull up there and try to cut a good light and keep my focus, I can’t be thinking about all that. And now you’re adding more into the mix and that makes it far more complicated. I don’t need to go up there worrying about that. For me, I pull up there and I know who I’m going to run but I’m not even thinking about that. It doesn’t matter who we’re up against. It’s about me getting this car down there first and stepping up and getting a win light.” An interview with Pro Stock winner ERICA ENDERS, ELITE MOTORSPORTS, MELLING PERFORMANCE CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 4 qualifier): WHAT IS IT ABOUT THIS PLACE THAT MAKES IT SO SPECIAL AND YOU’VE DONE SO WELL?“I’m not really sure what it is about Las Vegas. I feel like my guys have a really great tuneup. Everything changes out here. It’s obviously dry, crazy air so you have to have your tuneup right. So I have to give my crew chiefs a lot of credit; they have a ton of data here and they do a great job. I’m not much of a gambler. I’d rather go shopping than gambling, but I love coming to Las Vegas. I’m thankful for the success we’ve had here.” HOW IMPORTANT IS THIS WIN FOR YOU?“I took Gainesville really hard. I also lost on a holeshot second round at Phoenix as well, so coming off that awesome 900th Pro Stock win in Pomona I kind of fell into a couple race slump. I’m my worst critic; I take a lot of pride in my driving. I’ve been racing Pro Stock for 18 years where we didn’t have any success the first nine, so it’s been quite the ride with Elite Motorsports and I’m really thankful for that. It definitely makes it easier going back to normal work easier when you get to take a Wally on the plane home.” HOW DID YOU GET YOUR MIND RIGHT FOR THIS RACE?“I don’t really think I showed up here with my mind right, to be honest with you. I did my very best. It’s just the six inches between my ears – getting in a positive mindset and believing in myself. My goal this year is to make every round count. I didn’t do that in Phoenix and I didn’t do that in Gainesville, but you can only do the best you can and I’m the biggest variable of our entire program being human. So it’s up to me to be positive, crack the Tree, hit my shifts and we’re going to give it our all this year.”

Torrence and Brown Take Toyota Top Fuel Dragsters to Final Round in Vegas

LAS VEGAS (April 3, 2022) – The first four-wide NHRA race of the 2022 season didn’t disappoint for the Toyota race teams. The GR Supra Funny Car of Alexis DeJoria made it’s first final round appearance at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The Toyota Top Fuel dragsters of Steve Torrence and Antron Brown also made appearances in the final round of four-wide competition with Torrence claiming the runner-up result and overtaking the Top Fuel point lead.

Toyota Post-Race Recap

NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series

The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Race 4 of 22

TOYOTA TOP FUEL FINISHING POSITIONS    —  Race Winner: Brittany Force

Name	Car	Final Result	Round-by-Round
Steve Torrence	Capco Contractors Toyota Top Fuel Dragster	Finals	W. 3.720 vs. 3.747 (B. Force – advances) vs. 3.798 (Hart) vs. 5.899 (Ferre) W. 3.744 vs. 3.725 (B. Force – advances) vs. 3.745 (Pruett) vs. 3.884 (Langdon) L. 3.756 vs. 3.718 (B. Force – winner) vs. 4.713 (Schumacher) vs. 5.086 (Brown)
Antron Brown	Matco Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster	Semi-Finals	W. 3.754 vs. 3.880 (Schumacher – advances) vs. 3.779 (Salinas) vs. Farley W. 3.749 vs. 3.733 (Schumacher – advances) vs. 3.783 (Prock) vs. 3.786 (Millican) L. 5.086 vs. 3.718 (B. Force – winner) vs. 3.756 (Torrrence) vs. 4.713 (Schumacher)
Shawn Langdon	DHL Toyota Top Fuel Dragster	Round 2	W. 3.853 vs. 3.740 (Pruett – advances) vs. 4.100 (Kalitta) vs. 13.101 (Passey) L. 3.884 vs. 3.744 (Torrence – advances) vs. 3.725 (B. Force – advances) vs. 3.745 (Pruett)
Justin Ashley	Phillips Connect Toyota Top Fuel Dragster	Round 1	L. 9.845 vs. 3.768 (Millican – advances) vs. 3.803 (Prock – advances) vs. 3.973 (Maroney)
Doug Kalitta	Mac Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster	Round 1	L. 4.100 vs. 3.740 (Pruett – advances) vs. 3.853 (Langdon – advances) vs. 13.101 (Passey)

TOYOTA FUNNY CAR FINISHING POSITIONS  — Race Winner: Ron Capps

Name	Car	Final Result	Round-by-Round
Alexis DeJoria	Bandero Tequila Toyota GR Supra Funny Car	Semi-Finals	W. 3.932 vs. 3.978 (Force – advances) vs. 4.066 (Campbell) vs. 4.343 (Pedregon) W. 3.936 vs. 3.864 (Hight – advances) vs. 3.983 (J. Force) vs. 4.182 (Alexander) L. 3.954 vs. 3.914 (Capps – winner) vs. 3.924 (Hagan) vs. 3.943 (Hight)
J.R. Todd	DHL Toyota GR Supra Funny Car	Round 2	W. 4.419 vs. 3.970 (Capps – advances) vs. 8.045 (Wilkerson) vs. Rupert L. 3.936 vs. 3.902 (Capps – advances) vs. 3.919 (Hagan – advances) vs. 3.949 (Tasca)

TOYOTA QUOTES

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

Final Result: Finals

How was your run in the final round?

“I ran a .75, but was .039 on the tree and left on everybody and I knew I probably needed to. But this Capco Contractors Toyota dragster has been been pretty bad. So we’ve been making a lot of changes, big changes, especially this weekend and it’s all trending in the right direction so I couldn’t be happier with the car. Everybody’s doing a great job. Not the outcome we wanted, but better than than the other two cars in there with us. So we’ll take the runner up. We will leave here with some momentum and a lot of confidence and head to Houston.”

Heading to Houston with the point lead and a home track for you, how do you feel about your chances there?

“We finally were able to mark that thing off the list for winning a race there last year as it’s been one that has eluded me for quite some time. So we’ll go there with some confidence going into it and try to definitely finish off the Houston Raceway Park with a bang. I mean, that’s the track that I’ve grown up racing out my whole whole career and so a lot of memories there. And so I look forward to it, but let me see what we can do. I’m really excited leaving here with the runner up and we’ll just go from there.”

ANTRON BROWN, Matco Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster, AB Motorsports

Final Result: Semi-Finals

How do you feel about your race weekend overall and the final round appearance?

“I’m super proud of all of my guys this weekend here at (Las) Vegas for the Four-Wide Nationals. We put those Matco Tools to work and the Lucas Oil was cooking. I thought we had something for them in the finals the way this car has been running this weekend. To that point, we made it down the track six straight times and got quicker each lap, but as soon I hit the gas I felt a hole (cylinder) go out and I knew it dropped a hole cause it felt real lazy to the 60-foot and then it shook (the tires). That being said, we did a great job this weekend. To go down the track and be so consistent and improve the performance on each lap after what happened in Gainesville is just an awesome rebound weekend that we needed. That first win is right around the corner and we can’t wait to get to Houston.”

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

Final Result: Semi-Finals

How do you feel about the progress your team is making with this Final Round appearance?

“There’s nothing to hang our heads about this weekend. We made it to the finals at the four wide and you know, a pretty successful weekend in Vegas for our team. I think we got a handle on this the GR Supra, you know everything’s coming together and need some more time. We’ll be back up there again and I just want to make my guys and everybody that supports us and you know the guys did a hell of a job getting everything turned around quickly.”

How do you feel about your race weekend overall?

“We made it to the finals here in (Las) Vegas this weekend and another pretty successful weekend at this track for us with the Bandero Supra. We didn’t come away with the hardware, but no reason to hang our heads. We did good today. The team hustled. We made three really good, consistent runs on race day and we’re right there. I’m proud of these guys. They’re working hard and we’ll get prepare for Houston and look to grab our first win of the season there.”

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

Final Result: Round Two

How do you feel about your performance this weekend overall?

“We’re still learning and making adjustments with this new GR Supra body, but this weekend we really feel like we’ve made some good progress with the race car overall. We had some good qualifying passes and had to really drive our DHL GR Supra into the second round. Of course we wanted more and wanted to be in the final round, but we’re learning and improving each race weekend.”

April 3, 2022

Harrison Burton and the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane team came away from Sunday’s 400-lapper at Richmond Raceway with an 18^th-place finish and a confidence boost as they work their way through Burton’s – and crew chief Brian Wilson’s – rookie seasons.

Burton lined up 17^th for the start of Sunday’s race on the three-quarter-mile Richmond oval.

He moved up to 15^th place by the 15^th lap and was able to consistently run competitive lap times, especially early in green-flag runs.

Burton ended the first 70-lap Stage in 20^th place, then worked his way forward in the second Stage and ended that segment in 16^th place.

The race was slowed by just three cautions for incidents on the track, which necessitated several green-flag pit stops. The Motorcraft/Quick Lane crew had a great day on pit road, highlighted by one sub-10-second stop.
 
As the laps wound down, Burton continued to post good lap times but was unable to pick up positions he’d hoped to get.
 
“It’s frustrating because I feel like we were better than 18th, but track position is really hard to get here now,” Burton told reporters after the race. “We struggled with being aero tight behind guys, so it was really hard for me to kind of move forward throughout the run because of that. 

 “I felt like we had a pretty decent Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang. If we keep going in this direction, I feel like we’re getting a little better every time.
 
“It’s good to start running with guys that we should be running with and building that direction.”
 
Burton moved up one spot in the Cup Series standings to 29^th place but closed the gap to 25^th place from 22 points to 10.
 
The Motorcraft/Quick Lane team now head to the Wood Brothers’ home track, Martinsville Speedway, for Saturday night’s Blue-Emu 400.   

 

Austin Dillon Races the No. 3 BREZTRI AEROSPHERE® (budesonide, glycopyrrolate, and formoterol fumarate) Inhalation Aerosol Camaro ZL1  to a Top-10 Finish at Richmond Raceway

10th

25th

16th

“I’m so proud of this No. 3 team. We fought hard all day long and are leaving Richmond Raceway with a top-10 finish in the BREZTRI AEROSPHERE® (budesonide, glycopyrrolate, and formoterol fumarate) Inhalation Aerosol Camaro ZL1. We didn’t give up. We started the race plowing tight so I spent a lot of time trying to change my entry into the corners to try and help our handling conditions. We got better as we ran. We stretched Stage 2 into a single pit stop, which helped position us for Stage 3 with an extra set of tires. We battled hard and it feels good to leave here with a top-10 finish.” -Austin Dillon

Tyler Reddick and the No. 8 Guaranteed Rate Team Race Their Way to Top-12 Finish at Richmond Raceway

12th

16th

13th

“What a weekend in Richmond, Virgina. Practice and qualifying were tough on our No. 8 Guaranteed Rate Chevrolet on Saturday, but I felt like we had some good motivation heading into today’s race. I started out really loose in every corner and had some brake issues throughout the whole race. My team spent a lot of time strategizing and coming up with different solutions to make our car fast – not only on the long run, but on the short run as well. We just didn’t have it today, but it’s another lesson we will take with us and learn from. We were able to salvage a 12th-place finish which speaks volumes about this team. These guys never gave up and we will look toward Martinsville Speedway.” -Tyler Reddick

NASCAR CUP SERIES RICHMOND RACEWAY TOYOTA OWNERS 400 TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES & QUOTES APRIL 3, 2022  TEAM CHEVY TOP-20 UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:POS.   DRIVER3rd     WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL15th      KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL18th      ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL110th    AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BREZTRI CAMARO ZL112th    TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 GUARANTEED RATE CAMARO ZL114th    CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 A SHOC CAMARO ZL116th    DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 COMMSCOPE CAMARO ZL119th    ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 1 ONX HOMES / IFLY CAMARO ZL1  TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS: POS.  DRIVER1st      Denny Hamlin (Toyota)2nd     Kevin Harvick (Ford)3rd     William Byron (Chevrolet)4th      Martin Truex Jr. (Toyota)5th      Kyle Larson (Chevrolet) The NASCAR Cup Series season continues next weekend at Martinsville Speedway with the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400 on Saturday, April 9, at 7:30 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES AND QUOTES:WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 3rd“Thought we probably did the best job we could. It didn’t quite work out. I thought there at the end they told me I was just racing the 19. I’m like ok I got him, but then the 4 and the 11 were on a totally different planet. That’s just part of it. There wasn’t anything I could do about them, so it was probably four or five to go and Brandon (Lines) was coaching me on keeping the tires underneath it and having good exits and entries. Especially making those guys go around me on the top was definitely better. The times that guys would get underneath me was really, really hard to get back connected and get a good lap put together. The middle of the race we were terrible and we just couldn’t get in the corner at all and if you can’t get into the corner you can’t put consistent laps together. It’s nice to have a run like we had today.”  KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 5th“I assume we netted out good with our strategy or better than we were. I didn’t think those guys the 11 and the 4 were going to get to us, but then all of a sudden, our tires kind of fell off a cliff there and got really slick. We just kind of had to nurse it home. Glad we got a top-five after three bad finishes in a row. We will move on to Martinsville and try to get a good run there.” DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 COMMSCOPE CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 16th“It was a tough day. I just feel like we missed it the entire weekend. We didn’t have the speed yesterday. We didn’t have the speed in qualifying. Today was a battle. I feel like we were OK in the long runs at times, but overall, we just didn’t have a lot of speed. We just have to go back home and try to learn what we did right, what we did wrong and come back strong.”  AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 16 ACTION INDUSTRIES CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 27th“That was a tough day. The guys did all they could to try to make our No. 16 Action Industries Camaro ZL1 better. I just fought super loose in and burnt the rear tires off it. I wasn’t ever able to get a good balance. We made the best of what we could, it just wasn’t very pretty. Our pitstops were really good – our guys did a great job all day. I just need to be better, so we will keep trying.” JUSTIN HALEY, NO. 31 LEAFFILTER GUTTER PROTECTION CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 29th“We couldn’t catch a break today in our LeafFilter Gutter Protection Camaro ZL1. We bounced back early from our drive-through penalty but struggled with an ill-handling car for the majority of the day. We had a pit-road issue on our last green-flag stop, which really sealed our fate for the end. I’m looking forward to getting to Martinsville and putting today behind us.” TEAM CHEVY – RACE QUICK NOTESSTAGE ONE·       William Byron led the field to the green from a front row starting spot, his third top-10 start of 2022. ·       Three Camaro ZL1’s placed in the top-10 at the end of stage one, led by William Byron in second. Ross Chastain was third to conclude the stage; with Chase Elliott rounding out the Team Chevy top-10 in sixth. STAGE TWO·       Stage two saw the 160-lap run go caution-free. ·       Pit strategy played a huge role in track position throughout stage two, with teams making the run either a one or two-stop stage. ·       Three Camaro ZL1’s placed in the top-10 of stage two, with Ross Chastain capturing his second top-five stage finish of the day in third. Chase Elliott finished the stage in sixth; with Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Kyle Larson, rounding out the Team Chevy top-10 in ninth.  FINAL STAGE·       After a string of cautions at the beginning of the final stage, No. 24 Liberty University Camaro ZL1 Crew Chief, Rudy Fugle, made a pit strategy call to not pit following the fifth caution of the day, giving William Byron a front row restart position. ·       Byron took advantage of the track position, piloting his No. 24 Liberty University Camaro ZL1 to the lead on the restart, making it the first time Byon has led in his NASCAR Cup Series career at Richmond Raceway. ·       Byron led Team Chevy to two in the top-five and four of the top-10 in the final running order. In seven points-paying races thus far, the Camaro ZL1 has now posted 20 top-five’s and 32 top-10’s to lead all manufacturers.

The former-Outlaw collected the $20,000 payday in the DuraMAX Drydene Texas Outlaw Nationals MESQUITE, TX – April 2, 2022 – There was no comfort for Brent Marks while leading at Devil’s Bowl Speedway Saturday night. Even with more than a second lead. He knew being at the track that birthed the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series, with its 10-time champion behind him, there was no room for error. Only his wit and lightning-quick #19 could help him secure the big-money victory in front of a packed house. Marks, of Myerstown, PA, bested the stout field in the annual return to the Texas facility for the DuraMAX Drydene Texas Outlaw Nationals, collecting the $20,000 check and his eighth career Series win. “You [Chase Raudman] said I had a big lead, but it sure didn’t feel like it,” Marks said in Victory Lane. “I felt pressure the whole time, just the way the track was. It was so fast and muddy. I was getting tight behind lap cars… Just muscled it there at the end and tried not to make any mistakes.” Track speeds were quick all night, making for an exciting watch as Marks flew through lapped traffic after grabbing the lead from Brian Brown on a Lap 3 restart. Starting outside front row, Marks originally had a different plan to get around Brown. But after a great run into the first corner a lap after the restart, he couldn’t help but seize the opportunity with a slide job in Turns 3-4. “My plan was just to wait until we got to lapped traffic and hope that he’d make a mistake, that way I could try and get by him,” Marks said. “We just had a better car than he did there at the beginning.” Now with the lead and a clear track in front of him, Marks hit the hyper drive, opening an advantage over Brown that grew every lap. At its height, Marks had amassed a near six-second lead in traffic as the rest of the field struggled to get by the cars Marks spent little time on. “I thought I’d just settle down in lapped traffic and see what happens,” Brown said of his plan after Marks got by him. “We got to lapped cars and Brent blew through four or five, and the next thing you know they’re running two-three-wide and I could never clear any.” However, from Marks’ point-of-view inside his M&M Painting & Construction #19, it was a bit more difficult than he made it look. “Lapped traffic was really hard, passing was really hard, and so much mud was built-up on the car and I was just manhandling it there at the end, it was just so tight,” Marks said. “It was a tough race. “Guys in front of me were tight, and they just didn’t know which direction they wanted to go, so picking a line was really hard too.” Just past halfway, Donny Schatz moved to the top and powered by Brown for second at the exit of Turn 4. Then, he turned his attention to trying to run down Marks. “I was super tight, so getting out around somebody was kinda sketchy,” Schatz said. “Brown kept slowing down more and more, so I kinda had no choice but to just go and hope that I didn’t get too balled-up and someone goes by on the bottom.” Though Marks was still over five seconds ahead, Schatz cracked the whip and made some headway, chopping the gap down to just more than three seconds in the final five laps. Ultimately, he came up a bit short, but bagged a runner-up for his best finish since the season-opening win at Volusia Speedway Park in February. “Brent was so far out there, it was hard to get caught back up,” Schatz said. “We obviously didn’t have any yellows, so it might’ve been a different story if we had a yellow. But that’s the way it goes.” Brown crossed the stripe third for his first podium finish against the World of Outlaws this season. Three-time and defending race winner Logan Schuchart looked to be in contention for a shot at a four-peat early on in the program, qualifying inside the top-10, but engine issues in his Heat Race forced him to come through the Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown. Starting 21st, he was only able to get to 16th, but picked up the KSE Hard Charger honors. UP NEXT The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series next heads to the Show-Me State of Missouri for a pair of races at US 36 Raceway and Lake Ozark Speedway, Friday-Saturday, April 8-9. For tickets, CLICK HERE. If you can’t make it to the track, you can watch all the action live on DIRTVision – either online or by downloading the DIRTVision App. QUICK RESULTS (view full results) NOS Energy Drink Feature (30 Laps) – 1. 19-Brent Marks [2][$20,000]; 2. 15-Donny Schatz [3][$6,000]; 3. 21-Brian Brown [1][$3,750]; 4. 83-James McFadden [4][$3,250]; 5. 1A-Jacob Allen [6][$2,750]; 6. 41-Carson Macedo [5][$2,500]; 7. 49-Brad Sweet [8][$2,400]; 8. 5-Spencer Bayston [7][$2,300]; 9. 18-Giovanni Scelzi [9][$2,200]; 10. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [11][$2,100]; 11. 9-Daryn Pittman [13][$1,700]; 12. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [10][$1,400]; 13. 2-David Gravel [12][$1,300]; 14. 15H-Sam Hafertepe [14][$1,200]; 15. 7X-Justin Henderson [15][$1,100]; 16. 1S-Logan Schuchart [21][$1,000]; 17. 8-Aaron Reutzel [20][$1,000]; 18. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [16][$1,000]; 19. 11K-Kraig Kinser [23][$1,000]; 20. J2-John Carney [18][$1,000]; 21. 11-Parker Price-Miller [19][$1,000]; 22. 7S-Jason Sides [22][$1,000]; 23. 6-Bill Rose [24][$1,000]; 24. 73-Scotty Thiel [17][$1,000] Lap Leaders: Brian Brown 1-3, Brent Marks 4-30KSE Hard Charger Award: 1S-Logan Schuchart[+5]

(4/2/2022 – Alex Nieten) Stockton, CA… Colby Copeland may not be pursuing a NARC Fujitsu General Sprint Car championship this year, but he made a statement on opening night at Stockton Dirt Track that he’ll be a force anytime he shows up to compete.

The pilot of Larry Antaya’s Fire Protection Management No. 16A led all 25 laps of the third annual Asparagus Cup en route to his third career Fujitsu Feature victory. The triumph marked his first with the series since June of 2019. Copeland’s trio of NARC victories have all come aboard Antaya’s machine, this latest win coming with a $6,000 check.

Dominic Scelzi led the field to green courtesy of his win in the Sunnyvalley Bacon Dash with Copeland to his outside. The reigning series champion led through turns one and two, but in the next set of corners Copeland made what ultimately proved to be the winning move.

Running a lane above Scelzi in turns three and four, Copeland ripped around Scelzi’s outside to take command and lead the opening circuit.

“It’s one of those things you’ve just got to try to go for it,” Copeland said of the pass. “It was pretty fast and hard to pass, so I knew the start was going to be crucial.”

A flurry of yellows for stopped and spun cars slowed the pace early on.  During the race’s second restart Scelzi threw a slider at Copeland entering the first turn but came up a little short and had to regroup. As Scelzi pursued Copeland, Shane Golobic, Mitchell Faccinto, Willie Croft, Kerry Madsen, and Justin Sanders all jockeyed for spots behind the lead duo in the top-five.

After the early yellows, the feature event barreled toward its conclusion with a long green flag run that forced the front runners to navigate heavy traffic.

On the hooked up Stockton surface, Copeland sliced his way through slower cars as Scelzi struggled to keep pace, and a new contender climbed onto the podium. Making his first NARC start in the Tarlton Motorsports machine, Mitchell Faccinto drove around Golobic for third as the laps dwindled.

Ultimately, Copeland held on to win by a comfortable margin, but the Roseville, CA native made sure to never take his foot off the gas through the swarm of lapped cars until the checkered flag flew.

“It might not have seemed like a lot of trouble,” Copeland said of negotiating slower cars. “But when you get behind those guys, the air gets off your wing and you’re just bucking and you get tight. And you know Dominic, obviously he was the champion last year so you know he’s breathing down your neck the whole time. You’re just trying to run as hard as you can, hold your breath, close your eyes, and hammer it.”

Scelzi held on to claim second in his Red Rose Transportation No. 41, marking his 32nd career NARC podium and 11th in his last 15 Fujitsu Feature starts dating back to last year.

“Hats off to the 16A guys,” Scelzi said. “They’ve been fast. It’s good to see that there’s so many cars out here.”

Making his first NARC start in the Tarlton machine, Mitchell Faccinto completed the podium with a third place run.

“Going from fifth to third it was a good first points night out for us,” Faccinto said. “I’m excited. Obviously Tom and Tommy (Tarlton) give us great equipment to come out here and compete.”

Rounding out the top-10 was Golobic, Croft, Sanders, Tim Kaeding, Tanner Carrick, Bud Kaeding (from 16th, Swift Metal Finishing Hardcharger) and Corey Day.

FUJITSU GENERAL USA FEATURE (25 laps): 1. Colby Copeland 16A 2. Dominic Scelzi 41 3. Mitchell Faccinto 21 4. Shane Golobic 17W 5. Willie Croft 29 6. Justin Sanders 57 7. Tim Kaeding 42X 8. Tanner Carrick 83T 9. Bud Kaeding 69 10. Corey Day 14 11. Michael Faccinto 56 12. Max Mittry 2X 13. Tanner Holmes 18 14. Kerry Madsen 83JR 15. Colby Thornhill 19 16. 88N D.J. Netto 17. Billy Aton 26 18. Logan Forler 2L 19. Blake Carrick 38B  20. Dylan Bloomfield 11 21. Geoffrey Strole 09S 22. Joel Myers Jr. 83V 23. Josh Wiesz 21W 24. Angelique Bell 55I 25. Austin McCarl 88

HOOSIER TIRE LAP LEADERS: Copeland 1-25

SWIFT METAL FINISHING HARDCHARGER: Bud Kaeding 16th to 9th

ARP FAST QUALIFIER (25 cars): Dominic Scelzi 14.432

BROWN AND MILLER RACING SOLUTIONS HEAT ONE (8 laps): Golobic, Scelzi, Faccinto, Day, Netto, Aton, Carrick, Bell, Myers Jr.

KIMO’S TROPICAL CAR WASH HEAT TWO (8 laps): Copeland, Carrick, Croft, Mittry, Forler, Bloomfield, Strole, Kaeding

DIRT.TRAVEL CLUB HEAT THREE (8 laps): Kaeding, Sanders, Madsen, Faccinto, McCarl, Holmes, Thornhill, Wiesz

SUNNYVALLEY “POWERED BY BACON” TROPHY DASH (6 laps): Scelzi, Copeland, Croft, Golobic, Faccinto, Madsen

BRITTANY FORCE WITH MONSTER ENERGY ANDJOHN FORCE WITH PEAK / BLUEDEF LAND NO. 2 SPOTS SATURDAY

LAS VEGAS (April 02, 2022) – Brittany Force and the Monster Energy team gained momentum and consistency Saturday at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to earn the No. 2 spot. John Force and the PEAK / BlueDEF PLATINUM Chevrolet Camaro SS team followed suit also qualifying No. 2. Robert Hight and the Automobile Club of Southern California team secured the No. 6 spot while Austin Prock and the Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist team are sitting No. 12. Brittany Force and the Monster Energy dragster came out making a point on the final day of qualifying. The David Grubnic and Mac Savage tuned team would take over the No. 1 spot at the Four-Wide Nationals during the third qualifying session when they blasted to a 3.735-second run at 324.20 mph. In their final attempt, Force laid down an impressive 3.790 at 327.11 but would be bumped to the No. 2 spot. “After four qualifying sessions this Monster Energy / Fav-R-Pac team took the number two spot. It’s a good position to be in,” said Force who lines up with Steve Torrence, Josh Hart and Cameron Ferre in the first quad. “We had three out of four solid passes down the track. Our best was a .73 and we’re looking forward to tomorrow. We’re looking for some clean runs and win lights all day long.” John Force and the BlueDEF Chevy had a quality third qualifying session Saturday. They went 3.934-seconds at 325.45 mph to earn two bonus qualifying points for being second quickest of the session. In their final qualifying pass down The Strip, Force would go 3.986 at 315.64 with no issues. They’ll stay No. 2 with their 3.887 pass from the first qualifying session on Friday. “It was a good day. It’s been a good weekend for the PEAK / BlueDEF team. I’m back in it. Love being in that race car. I have a friend from my high school days out here with me and it’s bringing back a lot of really good memories,” said Force who will compete against Jim Campbell, Cruz Pedregon and Alexis DeJoria. “Looking forward to tomorrow, getting some win lights, staying consistent. Danny Hood and Tim Fabrisi this team, they’ve worked hard on this car this weekend to get it running right. So now I gotta do my job and we’ll be okay.” Already a two-time winner in 2021, Robert Hight and the Auto Club team were consistent on Friday but stumbled their first attempt at making it down The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday. Hight’s Chevy would run into tire smoke and coast to a 5.743-second pass at 120.69 mph. The three-time championship team picked things back up in the final session powering to their best run of the weekend at 3.923-seconds and 325.14 mph to ultimately earn the No. 6 qualifying spot and two bonus qualifying points for being second quickest of the session. “A little bit of a misstep today but that’s all it was, a misstep. This Auto Club team picked it up in that second run and we’ll keep it going into race day,” said Hight who will run against Blake Alexander, Bob Bode and Tony Juardo to open eliminations on Sunday. “When you have Jimmy Prock and Chris Cunningham, you know they’ll do whatever they can to get this Auto Club Chevy running the way it needs to. After the start we’ve had, I’m not worried. Tomorrow will be good. It’s a short race day with only three runs but it’s a chance to gain some points.” The Montana Brand / RMT dragster team improved during Saturday qualifying. On their first run of the day, Prock handled his dragster to a 3.918-second pass at 313.15 mph to shift into No. 11. Another clean pass straight down the groove for the Montana Brand team gives them a 3.942-second pass at 314.39 in the final qualifying session. Prock shifts into the No. 12 spot heading into race day. “We made a lot of progress today. We’re not exactly where we want to be, but we’re heading in the right direction. Nothing really matters until tomorrow,” said Prock who will face Justin Ashley, Clay Millican and Jim Maroney in the first quad of eliminations. “This Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist team is in the show, and you can kind of get away with making some mistakes tomorrow, but we don’t plan on doing that. We’re making some huge changes to the race car tonight and, we should be fine for tomorrow morning.” Eliminations at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway are slated to begin at noon (PT) on Sunday. Racing action will be televised on FOX Sports 1 (FS1) Sunday beginning with qualifying at 12:30 p.m. ET and eliminations at 7 p.m. ET. -30-

AUSTIN PROCK, 26, Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist DragsterQualifying:12th; 3.918-seconds; 313.15 mphBonus Qualifying Points:0BRITTANY FORCE, 35, Monster Energy DragsterQualifying:2nd; 3.735-seconds; 324.20 mphBonus Qualifying Points: +2 (2nd quickest Q1)JOHN FORCE, 72, PEAK / BlueDEF PLATINUM Chevrolet Camaro SSQualifying:2nd; 3.887-seconds; 327.90 mphBonus Qualifying Points: +5 (quickest Q1, 2nd quickest Q3)ROBERT HIGHT, 52, Auto Club of Southern California Chevy Camaro SSQualifying:6th; 3.923-seconds; 325.14 mphBonus Qualifying Points:+2 (2nd quickest Q4)

GR Supra Funny Cars of DeJoria and Todd Post Top-10 Qualifying Effort

LAS VEGAS (April 2, 2022) – NHRA takes to The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday for the first four-wide event of the 2022 season. Toyota Top Fuel dragsters all qualified within six one-hundreths of a second to each other while the GR Supra Funny Cars qualified top-10.

Toyota Post-Qualifying Recap

NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series

The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Race 4 of 22

TOYOTA TOP FUEL QUALIFYING POSITIONS

Name	Car	Qualifying Position	First Round Opponent
Mike Salinas3.722	Top Fuel Dragster*	1	A. BrownT. Schumacher
Justin Ashley3.748	Phillips Connect Toyota Top Fuel Dragster	4	C. MillicanA. ProckJ. Maroney
Doug Kalitta3.759	Mac Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster	6	L. PruettS. LangdonR. Passey
Steve Torrence3.761	Capco Contractors Toyota Top Fuel Dragster	7	B. ForceJ. HartC. Ferre
Antron Brown3.762	Matco Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster	8	M. SalinasT. Schumacher
Shawn Langdon3.808	DHL Toyota Top Fuel Dragster	11	L. PruettD. KalittaR. Passey

(*non-Toyota driver)

TOYOTA FUNNY CAR QUALIFYING POSITIONS

Name	Car	Qualifying Position	First Round Opponent
Ron Capps3.883	NAPA Funny Car*	1	J. CampbellT. WilkersonJ. Todd
J.R. Todd3.943	DHL Toyota GR Supra Funny Car	9	R. CappsJ. CampbellT. Wilkerson
Alexis DeJoria3.958	Bandero Tequila Toyota GR Supra Funny Car	10	J. ForceB. BodeC. Pedregon

(*non-Toyota driver)

Sheldon Creed Shows Never-Give-Up Attitude at Richmond Raceway in the No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet

22nd

13th

12th

“I really thought we were going to have a strong No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet today at Richmond Raceway. We started the race 13th and fired off decent at the beginning of the run. Unfortunately, it didn’t stay that way. We struggled for most of the day with handling issues and a lack of drive, but this Richard Childress Racing team never gave up. I’m so proud of them for all of their hard work. We’ve got some work to do in the shop and I will go back and study my notes for this track. We’ve got a lot of fight left in this team. On to Martinsville.”  -Sheldon Creed

Austin Hill and the No. 21 Bennett Transportation & Logistics Chevrolet Team Battle Hard at Richmond Raceway

18th

4th

9th

“I thought we were pretty decent at the start of the race. Our Bennett Transportation and Logistics Chevrolet was free on entry and a little tight in the center. The main thing I needed at the beginning of Stage 1 was forward drive. It fired off better on that next run, but toward the end of Stage 2 I thought something happened to the left front. We were keeping up with the No. 7 car and then we suddenly got really tight. It was like a light switch. We pitted for tires and adjustments and got back inside the top 10 but with about 40 laps to go the same thing happened with the left front. It’s frustrating but we’ll bounce back next week at Martinsville Speedway.”  -Austin Hill

April 2, 2022

Harrison Burton and the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Mustang are set to start 17^th in Sunday’s 400-lapper at Richmond Raceway.

In Saturday’s qualifying session on the three-quarter-mile oval, Burton turned a lap at 119.506 miles per hour.

It was a pick up from his best lap in practice, where he posted a speed of 118.095 mph on the ninth of the 29 laps he ran. 

Burton said he and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane team are happy with the adjustments they made to their No. 21 Mustang.
 
“I felt like we made good gains on the car,” Burton said. “I just missed the entry into Turn Three on the second lap.
 
“I feel like we are going to be OK in the race.”
  
Sunday’s 300-mile race is scheduled to start just after 3:30 p.m. with TV coverage on FOX. Stage breaks are set for Laps 70 and 230.