ST. LOUIS (Sept. 22) — This drag racing season has been very different with schedule constrictions necessitating more double-up weekends than ever before. But for reigning Division 3 Top Dragster champion Mike Coughlin and a few others, this weekend’s Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series race at World Wide Technology Raceway will present three chances to visit the victory circle. Due to a late-round rainout on August 30 at the last D3 race in Bowling Green, Ky., Coughlin and his fellow remaining survivors from Beech Bend will start this extended weekend by finishing the last few rounds of the previous race. Together with the regularly scheduled double-header, Coughlin knows this year’s Division 3 championships will likely be decided under the famous St. Louis Arch.  “It’s going to be a really exciting four days,” Coughlin said. “I’ve always enjoyed double-header weekends because they’re like bracket races where you’re just constantly on the go. This weekend will be even more crazy with three races. I’ve never had three NHRA races in a weekend before. I actually doubt it’s happened very often. I just know we won’t have a chance to catch our breath until Monday. It’ll be awesome.” After qualifying No. 1 with a stout 6.108 at 224.77 mph in Bowling Green, Coughlin used a bye run and wins over Phillip Oakley and John Biagi to reach the semifinals before rain drove everyone back to their pits. Several delays later, the race was postponed, leaving Coughlin and fellow D3 championship hopefuls Danny Nelson, Al Peavler and John Strassweg dreaming of finishing the job in St. Louis. “It’s great to still have a chance and considering the four of us that are left are all in the top five in the current standings, it’s obviously very important to finish this one off with a win,” Coughlin said. “”Then we need to turn right around and go deep into eliminations in the other two races. It’s all or nothing at this point.  “My crew chief Greg Cody, along with Tony Collier and Ryan Micke, have been very pleased with the JEGS Dragster and how it’s been responding so we don’t have any plans to change what we’ve been doing. We like to stay within our plan and race one round at a time, which is what we’ll be doing again in St. Louis.” Currently, Coughlin is third in the D3 Top Dragster championship points. He trails Nelson by 45 points and Patrick Forester by 20. Peavler is just 11 points behind Coughlin in fourth, and Strassweg is 10 more back in fifth place. “We’ll keep racing until they tell us to stop,” said Coughlin, who also has two D3 titles in Top Sportsman, earned in 2007 and 2009. “We’ll know a lot more about where we all stand by Sunday afternoon and then we’ll go from there. I’m planning on coming back to St. Louis next weekend for the national event and maybe we’ll go to Dallas also. We’ll have to see how everything shakes out. It’s a very exciting time.”

·       The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) returns to Florida for the 51st annual Amalie Oil Gatornationals at historic Gainesville Raceway after a six-month delay

·       The Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye-themed livery remains on Matt Hagan’s Funny Car and Leah Pruett’s Top Fuel dragster for the Gatornationals

·       Don Schumacher Racing’s (DSR) quartet of Funny Car drivers look to extend their streak of nine-consecutive event wins at the Gatornationals

·       DSR driver Leah Pruett arrives in Gainesville second in the Top Fuel Championship standings with a runner-up finish at NHRA U.S. Nationals

·       Mark Pawuk drives Empaco Equipment Mopar Drag Pak to Gainesville staging lanes second in Factory Stock Showdown championshipSeptember 22, 2020, Auburn Hills, Mich. – After four National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Mello Yello Drag Racing Series events were held consecutively in Indianapolis following the mid-July restart of the revamped 2020 season, the championship battle now moves to Florida this weekend for the 51st annual NHRA Amalie Oil Gatornationals. The Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) Mopar Dodge SRT race cars were headed to the staging lanes at Gainesville Raceway when the pandemic brought a sudden halt to competition, but even a six-month delay hasn’t lessened the anticipation and excitement that comes with competing at the historic event.
Ron Capps has put his DSR Dodge Charger in the winner’s circle at the Gatornationals three times, including back-to-back Wally trophies in 2006-2007 and a victory in 2015, Jack Beckman won in 2018, and Matt Hagan and Tommy Johnson Jr. are hoping to be first-time winners. Leah Pruett is also looking for her first Gatornats event win in either Top Fuel or Factory Stock Showdown competition.
Also returning to the drag strip is the “Demon-possessed” Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye-themed DSR race cars of Hagan and Pruett. For a fifth straight event Hagan’s Funny Car and Pruett’s Top Fuel dragster will feature the fierce-looking red, black and chrome paint scheme in tribute to the new 797-horsepower Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye, the most powerful and fastest mass-produced sedan in the world.
Adding to the anticipation of competing at the Gatornats this weekend is the opportunity for the DSR quartet of Dodge Charger Funny Cars to extend a nine-event winning streak that dates back to the October 2019 FallNationals at Texas Motorplex with Hagan’s victory aboard the Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Widebody. All four DSR Dodge entries have contributed to the continuous string of victories with Hagan leading the charge with four wins, Beckman adding three, while Johnson and Capps each providing a Wally trophy to the count. Three of those occasions featured an all-DSR Dodge final round battle for the win.
The only previous time in series history that a team swept 10 consecutive race wins in a single NHRA category was during the 2017 season when the same lineup of DSR Funny Car drivers contributed to that streak. Capps posted six of those 10 wins, with Beckman adding two, while Hagan and Johnson had one each.
The chance to claim a 10th consecutive win in the Funny Car category at the GatorNats comes after the team achieved an unprecedented milestone of 350 NHRA national event victories at the U.S. Nationals with Beckman’s winning drive behind the wheel of his Infinite Hero Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat. It also comes with just five national events left to fight for the 2020 NHRA Funny Car Championship title and all four DSR drivers in a fierce battle atop the top five positions in the standings. Beckman leads with a pair of wins and has Hagan on his heels with a 35-point deficit and two victories of his own. Johnson stays close in third place just 22 points behind Hagan, while Capps rounds out the top five.
Battling for a championship title in the Top Fuel category is Pruett, who has positioned her Mopar dragster in second place between competitors Doug Kalitta and Steve Torrance. She is challenging for the lead based on her runner-up finish at the U.S. Nationals and while she hasn’t yet hoisted a Wally trophy yet this season, she has won a round at every event this year, something that points leader Kalitta can’t say. 
Pruett is pulling double duty again this weekend as she will compete in the SAMTech.edu NHRA Factory Stock Showdown (FSS) class aboard her Mopar Drag Pak alongside teammate Mark Pawuk, with qualifying scheduled to begin on Friday. Pawuk comes into Gainesville Raceway second in points with four events left after driving his Empaco Equipment Mopar Drag Pak to a No.2 qualifying effort and runner-up finish at the U.S. Nationals. 
NHRA qualifying highlights will be broadcast on FS1 on Saturday, September 26, at 5 p.m. ET, while television coverage of the elimination rounds, including LIVE finals at Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals, will air on Sunday, September 27, on FS1 beginning at 2 p.m. ET.
ADDITIONAL NOTES and QUOTES: 
Jack Beckman, Infinite Hero Foundation Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny CarBeckman is the current Funny Car points leader with two wins and two runner-up finishes in six races this season. He won the Gatornationals Funny Car Wally in 2018.
“With a maximum of 20 rounds of eliminations left, and the fact that this championship is the first since 2006 that will be determined based on cumulative points, a win at Gainesville could prove essential to winning this year’s championship.”
Matt Hagan, Mopar Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye Funny Car  Hagan is second in points with two wins and two No. 1 qualifier positions. While he did make it to a final round of eliminations, he has not yet won at Gainesville Raceway.
“I have never won Gainesville. I’ve been to the final there, Jack Beckman beat me in 2018, so I really want to put a Gainesville Wally (trophy) on the shelf. We definitely have the car to do that this year. Our Dodge Hellcat Redeye is really responding well to the adjustments (crew chief) Dickie Venables has been making. I’ve got a really strong race car underneath me, my lights have been great, and I’ve been pretty shallow and making sure we keep lane choice.
“The package we’re creating this year has been great. We’ve won a few races. The points battle is always a dogfight, but especially this year with no points reset. Everything is coming down to these last few races, and it’s going to be a battle to the end. Our DSR team cars are tough, there’s just no way around it. My teammates are good drivers, good leavers, they have good race cars, good tuners, and all of the same parts and pieces that we do, so it’ll come down to who will have the best tune-up/driver combo. I’ve won a championship with Dickie (2014), and my first in 2011, so I understand the pressure and what it takes to get there. Sometimes you just have to sit back and trust in your team and allow all of the hard work they’ve put in over the year and the winter to come to you, so I’m just going to drive this Dodge Hellcat as best as I can, and focus on putting on four win lights this weekend.”
Tommy Johnson Jr., MD Anderson Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny CarJohnson has one win and one runner-up finish this season along with three No.1 qualifier positions to sit third in points behind his DSR teammates Beckman and Hagan.
“The points battle has come down to three of us from the same team and the pressure is on. We know what the remaining schedule is going to be, we know how many races are left to gain as many points as we can. The U.S. Nationals didn’t go the way we had planned. We had some unfortunate parts damage first round that cost us the win and really hurt us with points. We had been looking so good. “Gainesville isn’t necessarily a must-win, but it’s a ‘must do really well’ weekend and we need to get a lot of good points so we can come out of there and still be in the race with my teammates. They’re going to be tough. I know what kind of competition they are, and what they have, and we’ll have to bring our best. It’s just like any other year; when it comes down to crunch time, you have to be on your game, and hopefully, we’ve got all of our bad luck and misfortune out of the way and we can make a real run at it these last five and see what we can do.”
Ron Capps, NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny CarCapps has one win, one semi-final appearance, and a No.2 qualifier position to put him fifth in points. His runs in eliminations have been ended by DSR teammates in five of six events this season. Capps has three wins at the Gatornationals including back-to-back wins in 2006-2007 and 2015.
“We have a great streak going with the DSR Dodge Funny Cars, but one of the things I love about Don Schumacher is that you’d never know it. He is throttle down and when you talk to him, you’d think that we haven’t won a race in two years, and I don’t mean that in a negative way. I mean it as in, he wants you to go up there and just absolutely crush your competition, and that’s what we’re trying to do. He’s ultra-competitive. “I think with the NAPA team, you’re going to see more of what you saw at the last two Indy races, and that is, pushing it. We’re going to push it quite a bit more than we would have before. We won Indy 3 which was great, and we made up a lot of points there. Qualifying No. 1 during the first session of the U.S. Nationals, and then every other session we gathered those qualifying bonus points. We were one of the top three cars during every run, and I think that’s what you’re going to see at these last five races because really, it’s like a mini Countdown, and that’s how you have to approach it. Our teammates and J.R. Todd are ahead of us, but it doesn’t matter. When a world championship is on the line, we know we’re going to have to defeat the best cars anyways. I’m looking forward to this championship chase because I think you’re going to see a different mentality from (crew chief) Rahn Tobler and our NAPA team, and a little more aggressiveness.”
Leah Pruett, Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye Top Fuel Dragster  Pruett is second in points on the strength of her runner-up finish at the NHRA U.S. Nationals, three semi-final finishes, a No.2 qualifier position and three No.3 starting positions in six races to date.
“Indy is great, and we’re all very fortunate to have been able to run there as many times as we did, but the essence of traveling and seeing our various fan groups across the country is something I’ve truly missed. We traditionally have not had a great deal of racing success at the Gatornationals, which brings me to my favorite overall Gainesville memory, which was setting the stock Dodge Demon record on a cool late evening with the talented SRT team back in 2017. Now that we are continuing to adorn the Hellcat Redeye livery at the Gatornationals, I hope to create our very best memory there yet, by putting the themed dragster of Dodge’s most currently available, highest HP factory produced car, the Hellcat Redeye, in the winners circle. Something I feel we are outrageously close to doing.
“The championship math is simple. We are basically in what some would call ‘countdown weather’ without a countdown. We are aware of our position two-and-a-half rounds (50 points) behind Doug (Kalitta) and with Steve Torrence half of a round (10 points) behind us, but that is not our focus. They and the other strong competitors are not our focus. Qualifying low, heightening our adaptability and staying focused on our hot rod is what we believe will yield us the results we want.”
Mark Pawuk, Empaco Equipment Mopar Drag Pak– Factory Stock ShootoutComing off his Factory Stock Showdown (FSS) No. 2 qualifying effort and runner-up finish at “the Big Go,” Mark Pawuk drives his Empaco Equipment Mopar Drag Pak into the NHRA Gatornationals second in the FSS championship battle.
“After qualifying No. 2 and going to the finals at the U.S. Nationals, we definitely have shown that we have revived our program. I’m looking forward to the Empaco Equipment Dodge Challenger Drag Pak having another nice, long Sunday and going rounds in Gainesville this weekend. The team is going to test with Leah (Pruett) before the race to try out some new parts and pieces which we think will make us be even more competitive. (Crew chief) Kevin Helms did a great job turning our performance around from that first showing in Indy this year, and we look forward to continuing it this weekend.”
Leah Pruett, Dodge Challenger Mopar Drag Pak – Factory Stock ShootoutPruett sits just outside two points out of the top-10 in the FSS standings with four events left.
“We have been unable to test for months until this week, which brings me great joy leading into this race. Heading into to South Georgia Motorsports Park now with some setup changes Kevin Helms has been wanting to try that will hopefully bring Mark (Pawuk) and I even closer to that win we are both hunting for. I’m proud of Mark and his success in Indy and couldn’t ask for a better teammate.”

Sep 22, 2020 | Featured, Megan Meyer, Pre-Race Releases

Megan Meyer has had a season full of ups and downs this year, collecting wins in Dallas and Columbus for the regional events, and winning the U.S. Nationals at the beginning of this month while setting a new national record time. But she also has four first-round losses, which has hindered her efforts of winning the Regional Championship for the fourth year in a row. Despite having her worst outing of the year at her last event in Earlville, Iowa, she is looking forward to this weekend’s NHRA GatorNationals race.

“I am really excited to returning to Gainesville Raceway one last time. Winning this race last year meant so much to me – it’s been on my bucket list for years. I’m really hoping to take home this year’s Wally for my final GatorNationals to get a lead on the national points standings, and because this is the track where I got my Super Comp license, Top Alcohol Dragster license, and competed in my first National event. This track is sentimental to me and it would mean the world to win one last time,” Megan said.

Megan is currently sitting second in the National standings, tied for first place with rival Shawn Cowie. Both racers have one national event win this season and NHRA has revised the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series points structure this year. As a result of limited races due to COVID-19, Top Alcohol Dragster and Funny Car classes will be able to count their best two regional events plus their best five national events.

“If we could walk away with the 2020 World Championship, it would really show how dedicated our team is to this sport. We made some crew changes after winning the championship last year and I have an even better group of guys on my team this year. It’s a bummer we haven’t been able to flex our stuff at more races, and defend our championship, but I have a really good feeling we will be able to have some quick and fast runs in Gainesville this weekend. The weather calls for low 80’s with some cloud cover on Sunday, which is perfect conditions for our NGK Spark Plugs car to show what it can really do,” Megan said.

Joining Megan at the GatorNationals is teammate Julie Nataas, who is sitting fifth in national standings and first in the North Central Region. The Randy Meyer Racing Team will get two qualifying passes on Friday, with one on Saturday followed by two rounds of eliminations. The race will be concluded on Sunday.

: A New Stop for Corvette C8.R • First visit to Mid-Ohio for mid-engine Chevrolet Corvette C8.R• Corvette Racing first and second in GTLM Drivers Championship• Gavin, Milner back at site of 2012 ALMS GT victory• Chevrolet simulator key in Mid-Ohio prep for Corvette Racing drivers

DETROIT (Sept. 22, 2020) – Corvette Racing takes the mid-engine Chevrolet Corvette C8.R to its first new track in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship this weekend as the series visits Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for the Acura Sports Car Challenge. It’s the seventh round of the championship for the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class and sixth since racing returned from the COVID-19 break in July. The Corvette Racing program came out hot following the restart with four wins in five races. Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor have won three times in the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R and lead the GTLM Drivers Championship, as does Chevrolet in the Manufacturers standings. A runner-up finish at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta earlier this month moved Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner to second in GTLM points in the No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Corvette C8.R. The teammates were victorious in class at Sebring and placed second at Road America to start their march up the championship order. Unlike the previous seven IMSA events, Corvette Racing has not tested the new-generation Corvette at Mid-Ohio – a highly technical track with significant undulation and directional changes. As a result, the team and its drivers will rely on data analysis and correlations from sessions at Chevrolet’s Driver-in-the-Loop (DiL) simulator to arrive at effective baseline and aero setups for the first of a pair of one-hour practice sessions before Sunday’s qualifying and race. Corvette Racing leads all IMSA entrants with eight class victories at Mid-Ohio dating back to 2001 in the American Le Mans Series. Gavin is tied for most victories by an active driver at the circuit with four and also shares the lead for career Mid-Ohio poles with four. Taylor has two career pole positions at the track – one each in the prototype and GT ranks. Since making its return to Mid-Ohio in 2018, Corvette Racing has scored consecutive GTLM podiums with Garcia part of each – third in 2018 and runner-up last year. The Acura Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio is scheduled for 2:05 p.m. ET on Sunday with same-day coverage on NBCSN at 11 p.m. ET. Live streaming coverage begins at 2 p.m. via TrackPass on NBC Sports Gold. In addition, IMSA Radio will broadcast the race on IMSA.com, which also will host live timing and scoring.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “It will be a challenge to figure out what will be the best baseline at Mid-Ohio in a very short amount of time. With this new schedule of running just a couple of practices, it makes things very challenging – not only for us to get up to speed in a very short time but also to put down a decent test program. It feels much too short compared to what we are used to. So far this year, it has been very difficult to get data and improve the car in two hours, but also for Jordan to learn these tracks in new car. He knows all the circuits but it may have been a long time since he’s run a GT car. He’s doing a great job so far but it is extra work for him. Cutting down practice by an hour isn’t making those things easy.”

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “It will be difficult going to Mid-Ohio. It’s a track where we haven’t tested the new Corvette. It’s a situation where we can rely on the simulator, which has been a great tool for us. It’s shown great results where we can develop the car and then it shows up well on the track. Personally, every track we’ve gone to this year has been a learning curve. At Daytona and Sebring, we had test days. At Road America and VIR, just jumping in trying to figure it out has been tough. It’s great to have my teammates to rely on. They’re very open; I can ask any question and they’ll give me an honest answer. That really accelerates the learning curve.”

OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “Mid-Ohio is going to be a challenge. That track is always one where you’re always searching for grip. It’s a great track, one that I enjoy, and it seems to create good racing. I think by that point, we should have a reasonable data set with the C8.R and knowing what we can achieve with the car and the tires we have from Michelin. The simulator is a huge resource that Corvette Racing has been using. We know what we can get from that. I think we feel confident that we should be able to generate some pretty good data from that to make sure we are coming into Mid-Ohio as prepared as possible. I feel we will be strong and good but it is another new track for this car. We’re learning every weekend with this car, and that’s a good challenge.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “Without having a ton of real-world data to go off of, you have to lean on your simulation tools – whether it’s the Driver-In-The-Loop resource or other tools the team has at the race shop. But we also are taking lessons learned from this year as well – setup things that have worked so far at some tracks and on certain surfaces. We’ll use all the tools we have in our toolbox to put us in a good spot heading into the weekend. These events have been compressed and shortened quite a bit. Trying to get all those little details figured out beforehand can make a huge difference ahead of race week.”

 ·     World Champions Presentation in Aerospace Components Winner’s Circle·     Champions are presented their Nitto Tire Diamond Tree Champion Rings·     Champions receive the Edelbrock Victor Championship Trophy·     Expanded Video and Fastest Street Car Magazine Coverage for Champions The Holley NMRA Ford Nationals will celebrate the 2020 World Champions during a special Aerospace Components Winner’s Circle party on Sunday October 4, 2020, at the conclusion of the NMRA World Finals + Holley Intergalactic Ford Festival, held at the scenic Beech Bend Raceway in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Class champions will be presented with the special Edelbrock Victor Championship Trophy and prestigious Nitto Tire Diamond Tree Champion ring. This special celebration is the replacement for the cancelled Performance Racing Industry trade show that has hosted the NMRA Awards Ceremony since 2001. NMRA racing officials will be processing points in near real-time in order to declare category champions as quickly as possible. A second Aerospace Components Winner’s Circle will be used to properly honor the 2020 champions, their family and friends, and sponsors. The NMRA Media Division will be recording exclusive interviews with the champions, giving them an opportunity to present their champion’s speech. These videos will be produced and circulated across social media, giving our champions a platform to properly recognize their biggest supporters. In addition to the champion interviews, Fastest Street Car Magazine will be expanding its coverage to include a written speech by the champion and several pages of photos. As usual, Chris Simmons Photography will offer a special photo in the Aerospace Components Winner’s Circle to the 2020 champions. If a category is too close to call or protested under the guidelines in the NMRA rulebook, the video interview will be done off-site using a streaming platform once that category winner is declared. “We aren’t going to let COVID-19 keep us down, this is where having an in-house Media Division sets us apart from other sanctioning bodies. Our champions deserve to be celebrated in a grand fashion and their efforts showcased for the motorsport community to see,” said Steve Wolcott, Founder and CEO of the NMRA Ford Nationals. The special Aerospace Components Winner’s Circle celebration will be cranked up higher and louder with champion celebrations and a wider assortment of adult beverages. Please note, you must be 21 or older to consume alcoholic beverages and social distancing is required. For more information about the NMRA World Finals + Holley Intergalactic Ford Festival, please visit www.NMRAdigital.com/KY

IMSA WEATHERTECH SPORTSCAR CHAMPIONSHIP MID-OHIO SPORTS CAR COURSE ACURA SPORTS CAR CHALLENGE PRE-RACE MEDIA AVAILABILITY TRANSCRIPT SEPTEMBER 21, 2020 Corvette Racing drivers Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor (No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R) met with members of the media during a Zoom conference call Monday to discuss the upcoming Acura Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio. Topics included the pairing’s championship lead in GT Le Mans, expectations for Mid-Ohio, preparation for the next two events on the IMSA calendar and other items. FULL TRANSCRIPT: ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.RYOU’RE COMING OFF A RUN OF FOUR STRAIGHT TOP-TWO FINISHES AND BACK-TO-BACK WINS AT ROAD AMERICA AND VIR, BUT THINGS DIDN’T GO THE SAME WAY AT ROAD ATLANTA. HOW CAN YOU REGAIN THAT MOMENTUM YOU HAD EARLIER IN THE SUMMER?“Obviously go faster. That’s the biggest thing. In the last race, we were lacking a little bit of pace. We saw in qualifying that all the cars were separated by only a tenth-of-a-second or two, and that really hurt if you don’t have track position. We led the race for quite a few laps but being back in the pack with about two hours to go wasn’t going to be an easy task to go by the rest of the GTLM cars. Plus on top of that, we had a puncture. When that final yellow came, I thought maybe we had a chance to flip things around but it ended up being a green-white-checker finish anyway. It’s a shame that I wasn’t really in a good position and there were many GTD cars between us and the back of our field. That’s how things go. A few races will go your way and a few others don’t. We have to forget what happened at Road Atlanta, although Corvette Racing did finish second with a strong race from the No. 4 car. We need to carry on while focusing on that while keeping up the fight.” DOES A SUBSTANTIAL LEAD IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP IMPACT YOUR APPROACH TO THIS RACE?“It’s a mistake to start thinking about the championship this early. We just went to halfway. If someone scores the same amount of points as we did in the previous five or six races, then they will end up winning, mostly likely. We need to carry on and focus race-by-race while still being aggressive. If you plan things a little too conservative, other teams will notice that and take advantage. You end up being that much more vulnerable. You need to carry on and fight for it and let everyone know you are fighting for wins and not just a good position.” THERE HAS BEEN NO BoP CHANGE FOR THIS WEEK. DO YOU FIND IT FRUSTRATING WHEN YOU’RE BEHIND A CAR THAT HAS A LOT MORE STRAIGHTAWAY SPEED BUT YOU’RE BETTER IN OTHER PARTS OF THE TRACK?“Road Atlanta showed that it was difficult to either defend from the BMWs or be aggressive and pass them. Mid-Ohio is not any different. There will be a ton of acceleration zones. I don’t know if we will have time enough to place ourselves going into Turn Three or Turn Four. It’s not easy to balance out different cars to a laptime. As you saw, between BMW and our Corvette, we achieve our laptime in different ways. That also creates very good fights with everyone very close. Let’s see if we are all close as we were at Atlanta; a good lap or a bad lap was a difference of two-tenths. We will see if tire degradation is a little more effective and we can make a tiny bit more difference against our competition.” WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE POINTS, YOU HAVE A 14-POINT LEAD BUT EVERYONE ELSE IS SO TIGHT. IF YOU HAVE ANOTHER AVERAGE WEEKEND, IT LOOKS LIKE YOU HAVE 10 DRIVERS WITHIN SIX POINTS. HOW DO YOU VIEW THE CHAMPIONSHIP GOING FORWARD?“We are still in the position where we are leading. If someone else wants to take risks, it’s not on us. For sure we need to remain aggressive enough to carry on with what we have been doing. We aren’t even close to the last race of the year. Someone could score the same amount of points as we did in the first half of the season. So far we have three wins but I wouldn’t mind one or two more. That would make things way easier.” DOES WORK ON THE SIMULATOR GIVE YOU A LITTLE MORE COMFORT IN GOING INTO A TRACK LIKE CHARLOTTE WHERE I PRESUME YOU HARDLY HAVE ANY EXPERIENCE OTHER THAN THE TEST?“It was really good to be able to test there. As Jordan said, the track felt a little like Long Beach for the first five to 10 laps. It was a little stressful with how fast you can go around there and how many walls you could fly by and come very, very close. Once you get into a rhythm, it’s just another racetrack. With traffic, it will be very tricky. I anticipate there will be a ton of mistakes and probably more yellows than usual. There is no room for error at certain points. Tire degradation probably is another key thing there. We also are running into the night, and we were able to run at night during the test, and it wasn’t easy. The infield was almost completely dark and wasn’t easy. It will be a question mark for everyone. I hope the preparation we did during that day and after that is enough to be competitive.” WHAT’S IT LIKE TO HAVE A RACE LIKE THIS INSERTED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CHAMPIONSHIP STRETCH RUN?“You just need to carry on as it is. It’s like having a 12-hour race as the last race. Sebring won’t be like a usual Sebring 12 Hours where it’s just the second race of the year. This year, some races have taken place at different dates. We just need to adapt and race according to that.” WITH THE SEASON BEING HALFWAY, WHERE CAN YOU IMPROVE DESPITE THE SUCCESS OF EARLIER THIS SUMMER?“I think I always have areas to improve on during the season, like being on cold tires in this new car. As drivers at Corvette Racing, we always try to improve. There is always a big point to analyze all the data we have available each time we finish a race to try to improve. Even if you win a lot as we did this year, you can still do things better and that’s the focus of the upcoming races. We need to be as prepared as possible because the rest of the field will be doing the same.”  JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.RYOU HAVE A PRETTY SIZABLE LEAD IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP BUT QUITE A NUMBER OF RACES TO GO. HOW ARE YOU GOING TO ATTACK THE SECOND HALF OF THE SEASON STARTING THIS WEEKEND AT MID-OHIO?“So far, so good. The points gap is decently big, but it’s never big enough. Our season has 11 races, and we’re just past the halfway point. There are five races to go, and lot can happen – good and bad. We will go at it the same way we have been going at it all year, and that’s race-by-race and maximizing our efforts at each event. If you look at races like VIR or Road America, we didn’t have the quickest car and were racing for podium positions. We stuck to our program and those led to wins. We’re taking those as they come, and that will be the way we look at it the rest of the season. It’s been a great year so far with the Corvette C8.R in its first year. We’re going to go to some new tracks where it hasn’t tested, so it will be interesting.” WHAT DO YOU THINK WILL BE THE KEY TO SUCCESS AT MID-OHIO?“Well I haven’t won there yet, so I’m not too sure! It is a tough track to pass on, so track position is a big deal. It’s been awhile since I’ve raced there in a GT car, but traffic is always a big part of it there, especially when you get to the back side of the track. I’ve been watching a lot of last year’s race and the year before that. It looks tricky in a GTLM car. If you’re stuck behind a GTD car off the backstraight, you could be stuck there all the way to the frontstretch. Strategy-wise, staying out front is going to be a big part of it. Tire wear isn’t usually a huge thing there, but tire warm-up is usually pretty key. So there are lots of little details, but staying out of trouble is a big one. Hopefully we can start out the weekend strong in qualifying to start out with good track position and go from there.” PORSCHE HAS BEEN AWFULLY STRONG AT MID-OHIO. THEIR CAR CHANGES DIRECTION REALLY WELL AND WORKS REALLY WELL THROUGH THE TWISTY PARTS. WHAT HAVE YOU SEEN WITH THE C8.R IN TERMS OF THOSE TYPES OF CORNERS AND HOW YOU CAN COMPETE WITH THEM THERE?“. In talking with our guys about the strengths and weaknesses of the old car, we know how much more user-friendly the C8.R is in especially battling other cars, and the raceability of it when you get into traffic and when you have a long run on the tires. Overall the C8.R a much better package at a lot of tracks so far. Porsche obviously has been strong at Mid-Ohio in the past. It’s always been interesting weather-wise at Mid-Ohio; there’s always rain at some point on the weekend. It should be good. We did some good testing at the sim last week for two days, so I think that gives us a good lea-in to the weekend.” LOOKING AT THE TRACKS LEFT ON THE SCHEDULE, YOU TESTED AT CHARLOTTE. HAVE YOU TESTED AT MID-OHIO OR LAGUNA SECA?“I have not, and the car hasn’t been tested there either. We did do the day at the Charlotte Roval. Laguna and the Roval will be interesting. The Charlotte track was pretty unique and surprising to a lot of guys with the characteristics of the track. It’ll definitely be interesting when we go back with a full field of GT cars. By the end of the day, it was a fun track to drive on so I think it will be a fun weekend.” CAN YOU PASS THERE?“It will be tough. It’s a lot narrower than it seems on TV. We had a couple other cars that were there for the test. When you were around someone else, it seemed like those cars took up a lot of the track. It could be tough to pass, but at least we will have another class there to mix it up.” WITH THE SERIES SLOWING DOWN THE GTD CARS AND CREATE SOME SEPARATION BETWEEN GTLM AND GTD POWER-WISE, DID YOU NOTICE IF THERE WAS ENOUGH ROOM TO SQUIRT BY IN SOME OF THE AREAS?“I didn’t notice. Coming from prototype, it still needs to be a lot more (of a separation) just to make it easier. I remember racing around them in a prototype and thinking about how much of handful it looked like to pass a GTD car. It’s proving to be that way this year. It can be frustrating when you come up on one of the pro drivers in one who can drive well through the corners and has ABS. It makes it pretty difficult to pass.” FOLLOWING UP ON THE CHARLOTTE TEST, WHAT SURPRISED YOU AND WHAT WERE YOU IMPRESSED BY?“I had tested there in 2017 when we were doing our endurance testing for the Cadillac prototype. Back then, it was more like a makeshift infield. Since then, the track has obviously upped it to what the Roval is now for NASCAR. It definitely was different than what I remembered, and the flow was different. A lot of it on the infield feels like a street course with a lot of walls and not a lot of room for error. That’s a lot different compared to Daytona where you have some grass and exit curbs, whereas at Charlotte some of the apexes and exit curbs are concrete walls. Learning the track was pretty stressful because there are some bumps in odd places and the flow feels a bit funny. The chicanes with the big blue curbs… we can’t really touch those. One of the other cars there in testing crashed twice just from clipping the blue curbs. Definitely there will be some attrition.” IN A SEASON WITHOUT STREET COURSES, IS THIS THE CLOSEST THING YOU’LL HAVE TO ONE?“Maybe. It’s definitely going to be one of the tougher races. We were lucky to test there, and I’m sure a lot of other teams won’t be able to. We’ll have some of the GTD amateurs trying to learn the track on a race weekend with a tight schedule. There could definitely be some yellows. Coming up a lapping some of those guys who may not know the track as well could make it pretty interesting.” RACERS ARE USUALLY CREATURES OF HABIT. WHAT’S IT LIKE TO HAVE A ONE-OFF INSERTED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CHAMPIONSHIP STRETCH RUN?“I think it’s cool. It definitely keeps everyone on their toes. It suits the team well. Corvette Racing operates at a pretty high level and can prepare for something like this pretty quickly. We tested there on Wednesday, and our guys from the Chevrolet simulator were there that day. They took pictures of the first chicane where there was a change made from a couple years ago on the NASCAR track. The next day, they had already updated the track in the simulator for the changes to the exit curbs. It was really impressive to see that happen overnight. That’s a big strength of Corvette Racing and Chevrolet where they have these tools we can use to help prepare us better than a lot of the other teams.” WITH THE SEASON BEING HALFWAY, WHERE CAN YOU IMPROVE DESPITE THE SUCCESS OF EARLIER THIS SUMMER, ESPECIALLY TRANSITIONING FROM PROTOTYPES TO THE NEW CORVETTE?“There’s definitely a lot to learn and improve on. Atlanta wasn’t easy. Each track you go to will have a different level of difficulty. If this was last year, you would have twice as much practice. This year is pretty limited. Understanding all that and maximizing the new tire and how to make it last over a stint… there isn’t a lot of time to practice that at each event. Each track has different variables. Some don’t have any tire degradation, some wear the front tires more and some wear the rears more. It’s definitely tricky. But having good guys like Antonio and the rest of Corvette Racing to bounce questions off of and learn from has been a big help. Each track we go to is a new experience. When we come back around to Atlanta and Sebring, it will be nice to go back to those places with some experience.”

BRISTOL, TN – September 21, 2020 – Ford Performance and Roush Yates Engines win both the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity series races at Bristol Motor Speedway. Chase Briscoe and Kevin Harvick from Stewart-Haas Racing had their work cut out for them throughout the race and during the final laps at “The World’s Fastest Half-Mile”, both battling elite competition for the win.

“What a weekend in Bristol! Congratulations to Kevin, Chase, Tony, Gene, and the entire Stewart-Haas Racing Organization for the weekend sweep. These teams were well prepared and worked their strategies for the race wins,” said Doug Yates, President and CEO of Roush Yates Engines. “Our team at Roush Yates Engines is looking forward to the Round of 12 in the Cup Series playoffs and the start of the Xfinity Series playoffs this weekend at Las Vegas.”

Brad Keselowski led the field to green in the NASCAR Cup Series Bass Pro Shops Night Race and led a total of 82 laps before a power steering issue sent him to the garage. Team Penske racing teammate, Joey Logano, had a strong run finishing in the top ten in both stages while spending most of the night inside the top five. A loose wheel forced Logano to pit early and trapped him laps down, ultimately finishing P11.

The final laps at Bristol Motor Speedway surely did not disappoint, with two stock car racing champions, Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch, in a fierce battle for the win. Harvick and Busch swapped the lead multiple times before Harvick took the lead with 31 laps to go and crossed the finish line .310 seconds over Busch earning his ninth win of the 2020 season.

When asked about his battle with Busch, Harvick commented, “To beat Kyle Busch at Bristol, I kind of got myself in a little bit of a ringer there. I hit a lapped car and got a hole in the right-front nose, but just kept fighting. We don’t have anything else to lose. We were here to try to win a race. I know how much Rodney really enjoys coming here and, hell, how can you not enjoy coming here with all this enthusiasm.”

Five Ford Mustangs finished in the top-10. Following Harvick was Stewart-Haas teammates Aric Almirola in P5 and Clint Bowyer in P6. Roush Fenway’s Chris Buescher had a great run finishing P8 as well as Michael McDowell from Front Row Motorsports finishing P10.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series race was just as exciting this past weekend at Bristol. Both Ford Performance drivers, Austin Cindric and Chase Briscoe, finished inside the top five in both stages in the Food City 300. The final stage saw Austin Cindric take a comfortable lead at lap 253, until a power steering issue surfaced just 17 laps later. Cindric did a great job of hanging onto the lead until six laps to go when Briscoe made the winning pass.

This was Briscoe’s seventh time in victory lane in 2020, but winning at Bristol was special due to the fact that there were a limited number of fans back in the stands. Briscoe commented, “I am so thankful that we are back with the race fans. You guys are the best. It’s not the same without you guys. We can’t wait to get you back all the time, but, man what a race.”

The NASCAR Playoffs head out West to Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend for the Round of 12 kickoff for both series. In the Cup series there are five Ford drivers still in the hunt for the championship (Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Aric Almirola, and Clint Bowyer). In the Xfinity series both Ford drivers, Briscoe and Cindric, will be competing for the championship over these next seven weeks. Reference the full 2020 schedule on Roushyates.com.  27 CHAMPIONSHIPS – 408 WINS – 364 POLES!

Boehm, Smithson Score Touring Car Americas Wins in HPD Civic Si, Type R TCR
Kevin Boehm takes his HPD Civic Si to a pair of victories and TCA points lead
Scott Smithson earns his third TCR win of 2020 in Civic Type R TCR
Victor Gonzalez scores two TCR podiums, as Honda drivers earn six on weekend

AUSTIN, Texas (Sept. 20, 2020) – Continuing to gather late-season momentum, Honda team and drivers racing the three Civic race cars available from Honda Performance Development – the Type R TCR, Type R TC and Si – scored three wins, three poles and six podiums at the SRO Motorsports Touring Car Americas penultimate event of 2020 this weekend at the Circuit of the Americas.

Kevin Boehm opened a strong weekend at COTA by piloting his Civic SI to wins on Friday and Saturday, while the DXDT Racing Honda Civic Type R of Scott Smithson dominated Saturday’s TCR race, winning by more than 11 seconds for his third victory of the season.

Boehm, who previously earned a sweep of the Road America weekend, won his fourth race in a row on Friday with a flag-to-flag win; and then backed it up by besting the field by more than 22 seconds in a Saturday romp. He finished fourth in Sunday’s finale of a triple-header weekend, but did enough to take the series points lead heading into the October 1-3 season finale in Indianapolis.

“With these front-wheel drive cars, the trick is to find a way to make it turn, we finally found a way to make it turn really well,” Boehm said. “We have the car in a real ‘sweet spot’ right now. Everything seems to be coming together at once, and it doesn’t get any better than this.” 

Jonathan Newcombe backed up his Honda stablemate in his VGMC Racing Civic Si, claiming his second podium finish of the season with a third-place result on Saturday.

In the TCR races, Smithson led the Honda contingent early in his Civic Type R TCR, using a last-lap pass to place second in Friday’s lid lifter. He spun while leading on Saturday, but shook it off and stormed to his third win of the year in Sunday’s closer, coming home more than 11 seconds ahead of his nearest competitor.

“We had a rough start to the weekend, but the team was able to get my car back together and give me a great machine today,” Smithson said. “It’s taken me a little time to get used to a front wheel drive car, but thanks to DXDT and Honda for getting me here!”

Victor Gonzalez earned a pair of podium finishes in his VGMC Racing Honda Civic Type R TCR, placing third on Saturday and Sunday.

HPD has three ready-to-race Civic models for touring car competition. The line starts with the affordable and reliable Civic Si TCA race car, then leads to the Civic Type R TC racer that puts legendary Type R performance on track, and culminates with the no-compromise, championship-winning Civic Type R TCR race car. Our unparalleled trackside support at every level from HPD engineers is a unique benefit that no other manufacturer can offer. Find out more about these cars and our touring programs at: https://hpd.honda.com/Motorsports/Touring.

Trent Hindman and Shelby Blackstock seal Silver Class SRO Motorsports GT Title
Racers Edge Acura NSX GT3 Evo finishes second overall in both weekend races

AUSTIN, Texas. (August 30, 2020) – The #93 Racers Edge Motorsports Acura NSX GT3 Evo took Silver Class honors in Rounds 9 and 10 of 2020 SRO Motorsport GT World Challenge America series, as the driver pairing of Trent Hindman and Shelby Blackstock won Saturday’s and Sunday’s races at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.

The wins sealed the season championship in the Silver category for the Blackstock and Hindman, giving the Acura NSX GT3 Evo a GT class championship for the second consecutive season, as the pair finished second overall in both races around the demanding Texas road course.

“They [race winners Martin Fuentes and Rodrigo Baptista] didn’t put a wheel wrong the whole race and drove a heck of a race,” said Blackstock after finishing 6.7 seconds behind the leader on Saturday. “We will go back to the drawing board and hopefully put some setup changes on for tomorrow and go back at it.”

The #93 duo were reunited with the defending Pro/Am champion entry from a year ago as the #80 Racers Edge Acura NSX GT3 Evo returned to the track for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Defending Pro-Am champion Kyle Marcelli was joined in the cockpit of the #80 for the weekend by Zaid Ghandour, making his first start in the Racers Edge NSX.

On Sunday, Hindman an Marcelli saw as much of each other on the track as they did in the garage as the duo went literally wheel-to-wheel in the early stages of the race. The two Acuras battled with former Champ Car World Series drivers Jan Heylen and Ryan Dalziel for position prior to the mid-race driver change, which saw the #93 of Blackstock emerge in fourth place.

Blackstock wasted no time in making up ground, climbing into second with eight laps to go and coming to within seven seconds of the front running Ferrari at the end of the day.

“Overall, we are happy with two podiums this weekend,” Blackstock said. “So thankful for the Racer’s Edge team, they worked their tails off this weekend to get us on the podium. We’ll take the points and look forward to Indy.”

The class wins this weekend are the 10th and 11th in the Silver and Pro-Am categories through 10 rounds of GT World Challenge America competition for the Acura NSX GT3 Evo, which won team championships in both IMSA GTD and SRO GT in 2019. The car, sold and supported by HPD in North America, runs in both Sprint and Endurance GT3 competition around the world.

Next
The SRO GT teams will wrap their season October 2-4 on the infield road courase at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway as the SRO Motorsports campaign ends with Rounds 11 and 12 at the 2.439-mile road circuit.

Social media content and video links from this weekend’s Acura Motorsports activity at Circuit of the Americas are available on HPD’s Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/HondaRacingHPD) and on Twitter at (https://twitter.com/HondaRacing_HPD). 

Austin Dillon and the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/ TRACKER Off Road/E-Z-GO Chevrolet Team Advance to Round of 12 in NASCAR Playoffs with Solid Showing at Bristol Motor Speedway

12th   5th  8th

“We did what we had to do tonight in our Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Off Road/ E-Z-GO Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. We advanced to the Round of 12 in the NASCAR Playoffs. We started off really strong, but our Chevy ended up getting extremely tight in Stage 2. We recovered from that and were running in the top 10 when Harvick slowed on the track to make a green-flag pit stop. I got on my brakes as hard as I could to avoid hitting him, but a lapped car was in the middle of the track and I had nowhere to go. My RCR team did a great job making repairs, but we were never able to catch the break we needed to get back into the top five. Our car was fast overall tonight, though, and I’m looking forward to seeing what we can accomplish during the remainder of the season. We’ll go to Las Vegas next week and try to get a win.” -Austin Dillon

Tyler Reddick and the No. 8 Childress Vineyards Team Show Speed En Route to Fourth-Place Finish at Bristol Motor Speedway

4th   17th   19th

“Our No. 8 Childress Vineyards Chevrolet Camaro was a fast one tonight, and we had a great finish to show for it at Bristol Motor Speedway. It took a couple adjustments to get our car to where I needed it to be, but our communication as a team on what adjustments to make has been a big focus for us over the past few weeks and that paid off during tonight’s race. I fired off a little loose on the bottom and tight on the top, so our team had a decision to make on what to focus on. I felt that the top was the better groove for our car, so we chose to work on loosening up our Chevrolet a little bit throughout the night and got it in a really good spot for the final stage. Those adjustments made it so I was able to cut through traffic during that last stage and race our way into the top five for the last 100 laps or so. I think I may have pushed my front tires a little bit too much on that final run, but this was a really good night for our team. We’re chasing wins in these remaining races while also working on building a strong notebook for next year, and this is a solid step in the right direction for both of those goals.”-Tyler Reddick

NASCAR CUP SERIES BASS PRO SHOPS NIGHT RACE BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES AND QUOTES SEPTEMBER 19, 2020
TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:POS.   DRIVER4th      TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 CHILDRESS VINEYARDS CAMARO ZL1 1LE7th      CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE9th      RYAN PREECE, NO. 37 BUSH’S BEANS CAMARO ZL1 1LE12th    AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BASS PRO SHOPS/TRACKER OFF ROAD CAMARO ZL1 1LE14th    MATT KENSETH, NO. 42 CREDIT ONE BANK CAMARO ZL1 1LE TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS: POS.  DRIVER1st      Kevin Harvick (Ford)2nd     Kyle Busch (Toyota)3rd      Erik Jones (Toyota)4th      Tyler Reddick (Chevrolet)5th      Aric Almirola (Ford) UNOFFICIAL CURRENT PLAYOFF RANK (Following Round 3 of 10 / Entering into the Round of 12)POS.   DRIVER (* = Chevy Contender)        1st      Kevin Harvick (Ford) – 3,067 points2nd     Denny Hamlin (Toyota) – 3,048 points3rd      Brad Keselowski (Ford) – 3,035 points4th      Joey Logano (Ford) – 3,022 points5th      *Chase Elliott (Chevrolet) – 3,021 points6th      Martin Truex Jr. (Toyota) – 3,016 points7th      * Alex Bowman (Chevrolet) – 3,009 points8th      * Austin Dillon (Chevrolet) – 3,005 points9th      Aric Almirola (Ford) – 3,005 points10th    Kyle Busch (Toyota) – 3,004 points11th    Clint Bowyer (Ford) – 3,004 points12th    * Kurt Busch (Chevrolet) – 3,001 points
The NASCAR Cup Series seasons continues at Las Vegas  Motor Speedway with the South Point 400 on Sunday, September 27th,^, at 7:00 p.m. ET to kick off the Round of 12 for the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. Live coverage can be found on NBCSN, the NBC Sports Gold app, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
TEAM CHEVY NOTES AND QUOTES:TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 CHILDRESS VINEYARDS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 4th“Our No. 8 Childress Vineyards Chevrolet Camaro was a fast one tonight, and we had a great finish to show for it at Bristol Motor Speedway. It took a couple adjustments to get our car to where I needed it to be, but our communication as a team on what adjustments to make has been a big focus for us over the past few weeks and that paid off during tonight’s race. I fired off a little loose on the bottom and tight on the top, so our team had a decision to make on what to focus on. I felt that the top the better groove for our car, so we chose to work on loosening up our Chevrolet a little bit throughout the night and got it in a really good spot for the final stage. Those adjustments made it so I was able to cut through traffic during that last stage and race our way into the top five for the last 100 laps or so. I think I may have pushed my front tires a little bit too much on that final run, but this was a really good night for our team. We’re chasing wins in these remaining races while also working on building a strong notebook for next year, and this is a solid step in the right direction for both of those goals.”
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 7th“Definitely excited to move on in the playoffs. I thought the NAPA team had a solid race tonight. It’s unfortunate the way the pit cycle went there, but I felt like we were close. Not sure if we were as good as the 4 and 18, but I thought we were close to them. I am proud of the effort and I hope this next round is good for us. It’s definitely not going to get any easier as it goes. Nice to get the stage point and stage win and we will try again in Vegas.”
RYAN PREECE, NO. 37 BUSH’S BEANS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 9th“That was a really fun night at Bristol Motor Speedway. This year has obviously had its challenges for us, and we’ve worked so hard to try and make the strategy play in our favor and get JTG Daugherty Racing the finish we deserve and it feels really good to be able to put it all together. Our BUSH’S Beans Chevrolet was really good on the long run, and Trent and the guys did some great work on pit road to get our handling where we needed it to be to maintain those fast laps at the end of the long run. The cautions finally fell our way and we were able to capitalize on it. Every week for the rest of the season is so important to keep focusing on the positives and get as many good finishes as we can and to be able to get BUSH’S Beans as top-10 finish at their home track is something we’re all proud of.”
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BASS PRO SHOPS/TRACKER OFF ROAD CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 12th“We did what we had to do tonight in our Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Off Road/ E-Z-GO Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. We advanced to the Round of 12 in the NASCAR Playoffs. We started off really strong, but our Chevy ended up getting extremely tight in Stage 2. We recovered from that and were running in the top 10 when Harvick slowed on the track to make a green-flag pit stop. I got on my brakes as hard as I could to avoid hitting him, but a lapped car was in the middle of the track and I had nowhere to go. My RCR team did a great job making repairs, but we were never able to catch the break we needed to get back into the top five. Our car was fast overall tonight, though, and I’m looking forward to seeing what we can accomplish during the remainder of the season. We’ll go to Las Vegas next week and try to get a win.”
KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 MONSTER ENERGY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 15th“It was a good day, we had a loose wheel and we battled after that, but our stage points are what really helped the Monster Energy Chevy tonight. That gave us the cushion we needed to absorb the problem that we had. All-in-all we advanced and that’s what we expected to do and that is what we have to continue to do. We will do it through teamwork and execution. The next round we have a mile-and-a-half Superspeedway and then the Roval. We’ve just got to be on our toes, keep adjusting and adapt to all the things that are coming our way in the next round.”
ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 16th“That was pretty eventful. We had a really good car all night. Our Axalta Camaro was really fast. Probably going to end up somewhere in the top five, at least the top 10. We just had a tire issue under green there in the last stage and had to pit. Unfortunately, we were not in our window to pit. Once the caution did come out, we weren’t able to take the wave around. We were just kind of trapped there and unfortunately couldn’t recover from that. I think we finished 16th. So awesome to advance to the next round. Proud of my team. This is the strongest we have been going into the Round of 12. I feel like we have some great tracks for us coming up. This is the most consistent we have been as a race team. I am bummed we lost our streak of top-10 finishes, but we have plenty more opportunities throughout the year to have great cars and contend for wins. Wish we would have ended up a little better, but we are ready for Vegas.” TY DILLON, NO. 13 GEICO CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 18th“Our Germain Racing team battled all night long. It was a really good night for our GEICO Camaro ZL1 1LE. Everyone on our team executed throughout the entire race, from Matt (Borland) making good calls, the pit crew having great stops and Chris (Monez) on the spotter stand helping me navigate traffic. We all worked hard and it paid off. The car was its best at the end of the race, which is all you can ask for as a driver. I’m proud of our effort and we will keep digging to finish strong.” 
BUBBA WALLACE, NO. 43 CASH APP CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 22nd“We had a pretty fast No. 43 Cash App Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE tonight – probably the best car we’ve ever brought to Bristol (Motor Speedway), so that was a positive. We got a stage point in the Stage 1. I thought the guys were doing a really good job throughout the night. Our Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE was on the tight-side a little bit. We didn’t really seem to help it, but we didn’t really hurt it all either – kind of just stayed the same balance from the start of the race to the finish. A little frustrating, but super frustrated that we just can’t seem to get some luck on the strategy side. Unfortunate that we got trapped three-laps down, or whatever it was, and you’re just stuck, especially that late in the race. We’ll go onto the Las Vegas Motor Speedway and see if we can turn it around.”
WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Sidelined by accident on lap 232; Finished 38thABSOLUTE HEARTBREAK FOR WILLIAM BYRON, WHO WILL NOT ADVANCE TO THE ROUND OF 12. HE’S OUT OF THE CAR. THEY’RE TRYING TO ASSESS EXACTLY ALL THE DAMAGE ON THE NO. 24 CAR, BUT IT IS GOING TO END HIS EVENING. WHAT HAPPENED, WILLIAM, ON THE TRACK? EVERYTHING WAS GOING FINE AND THEN WHAT HAPPENED?“I think the No. 51 car (Joey Gase) checked up in the middle of the straightaway. As fast as we were running the top, I was right behind the No. 95 (Christopher Bell) and I had literally nowhere to go. You can’t stop in the middle of the straightaway when everybody is so committed to the top like that. Just ridiculous that that’s what takes us out. I thought honestly we had a shot to run top-five or seven. The car was really, really good. We just needed a couple good pitstops. We were running probably ninth or tenth there. Just super disappointing – I’ve got to go back and watch that because that was kind of ridiculous.” 
GIVE US A LOOK AT THE INCIDENT THROUGH YOUR PERSPECTIVE.“Yeah, we were running tenth, I believe, and trying to get a couple of stage points. We had gotten a few in the first stage. Our car was really good, just needed a little bit of track position I feel like. Probably went the wrong way on the last adjustment – tried to get myself turning a little better and it got too free. (inaudible) Really the incident, the No. 51 (Joey Gase), I think it was green and black car, was coming off the corner and the No. 95 (Christopher Bell) and I were both running the top. The No. 51 just checked up in the middle of the straightaway and had nowhere to go. And the No. 95 slammed on the brakes to try to not hit him and I slammed into him because I was on his bumper. So, just a terrible situation, but not really sure why that happened or what really transpired for him to stop like that. But, go back on SMT like we can now and look at what happened and move on.”  DESCRIBE THE EMOTIONS OF WHAT YOU’VE GONE THROUGH THE LAST MONTH WITH THE WIN AND THE WAY YOU FALL OUT TONIGHT.“I think they’re two separate things. It would have been worse if we just completely ran horrible this first round, but I think outside of Richmond, we were going to have two top-seven finishes. I feel like we were well capable of finishing in the top-five tonight. It was only halfway through the race and we were going to finish top-10 in both stages, probably, and move on from there. So, yeah I don’t really know – things like that, I don’t know, you’ve just got to be more aware I guess than that to check up like that. But I don’t know – I don’t know what happened that would cause that really.” HOW DO YOU EVALUATE THIS SEASON? OBVIOUSLY, YOU GOT YOUR FIRST-CAREER WIN AND THERE’S STILL SEVEN RACES LEFT THIS YEAR. HOW DO YOU LOOK AT THIS SEASON, EVEN THOUGH YOU’RE OUT IN THIS FIRST ROUND?“Yeah, I think it’s been a great season. I think that we’ve performed well. I think we would have liked to perform better, based on how we ended last year. But we got a win and I feel like really the last five or six weeks, we’ve had all top-10 runs, besides Richmond, which is our worst track. I don’t know – hopefully continue being fast the next few weeks.” 

GREENWOOD, NE (September 18, 2020) – Current Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Point Leader Jimmy Owens continued his spectacular 2020 racing season by winning Friday Night’s preliminary 30-lap event at I-80 Speedway. Owens took the lead from Tim McCreadie on lap 27 and went on for his 11th series win of the season. Brandon Overton who led early in the race finished in third followed by Devin Moran and Darrell Lanigan.Overton led for the first nine laps of the race before the only caution flag in two nights of feature racing changed the complexion of the race. On the restart McCreadie cleared Overton for the lead. McCreadie pulled away from both Overton and Owens as he encountered lapped traffic, allowing his two nearest pursuers to close the gap. Owens was finally able to track down McCreadie, taking the lead with three laps to go. Owens made his way to Lucas Oil Victory Lane for the 75thtime in his career, setting himself up for a good starting spot in Saturday’s $30,000-to-win finale. “I was moving around quite a bit on the track and we were in the catbirds seat for once, running in second. Timmy was just a sitting duck up there; he didn’t know where to go. I was able to move around enough to get this Ramirez Rocket up front. This should give us a lot of momentum for tomorrow night. This win says a lot for our crew, they busted their tails all week to get ready to come out here. We had to work for three days straight to get everything ready to come out here. It’s like a 16-hour drive out here and everybody pulled together and here we are.” McCreadie was more than satisfied with his second place finish. “It’s so hard to lead here. It’s such a big track and wide, the grooves come and go. Brandon’s out there leading away, I thought he wouldn’t change up much. On the restart it looked like that little bit of dust off of two cleaned up to where it wasn’t dirty any more. We were good for a while once we got the lead, I didn’t find the line on the track until I was passed. We work hard every night to try to get better. We took a stab at it tonight. I don’t know how we will run tomorrow, but the car’s pretty comfortable.” Overton led the first seven laps of the race before yielding to McCreadie. He was seeking his 20th overall win of the season, but came home in third. “On the restart that top there in one and two and three and four started to clean up. There was a fine line there, then Jimmy moved up and got by me. He got me going into three and I just got up there too late. Our car was good, it was way better than last night. We should be locked into tomorrow night with a good starting spot.”   The winner’s Ramirez Motorsports Rocket Chassis is powered by a Vic Hill Racing Engine and is sponsored by Reece Monument Company, Tommy Pope Construction, Boomtest Well Service, General Tire, Red Line Oil, Ohlins Shocks, Champion Spark Plugs, and Midwest Sheet Metal. Completing the top ten were Ricky Thornton, Jr., Ryan Gustin, Kyle Strickler, Josh Richards, and Brandon Sheppard.

Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series 
Race Summary 
Optima Batteries I-80 Nationals – Presented by General Tire
Friday, September 18th, 2020
I-80 Speedway – Greenwood, NE

Lucas Oil Time Trials
Fast Time Group A: Brandon Overton / 14.529 seconds (overall)
Fast Time Group B: Tim McCreadie / 14.554 seconds

Penske Race Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 18 from Heat Points Transfer):  1. 76-Brandon Overton[6]; 2. 29V-Darrell Lanigan[5]; 3. 40B-Kyle Bronson[1]; 4. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[8]; 5. 04-Tad Pospisil[4]; 6. 2S-Stormy Scott[3]; 7. 16-Tyler Bruening[7]; 8. 53-Andrew Kosiski[9]; 9. 98J-Jason Rauen[2]; 10. 76B-Blair Nothdurft[10]; 11. 26JR-Corey Zeitner[11]

FK Rod Ends Heat Race #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 18 from Heat Points Transfer):  1. 1T-Tyler Erb[1]; 2. 18J-Chase Junghans[2]; 3. 20-Jimmy Owens[6]; 4. 1S-Brandon Sheppard[5]; 5. 71-Hudson O’Neal[4]; 6. 21M-Billy Moyer Sr[3]; 7. 43-Jeremy Grady[9]; 8. 22H-Daniel Hilsabeck[8]; 9. 62-Justin Zeitner[7]; 10. 14J-Jake Neal[10]; 11. L88-Larry Clawson[11]

Simpson Race Products Heat Race #3 Finish (Top 18 from Heat Points Transfer): 1. 14-Josh Richards[1]; 2. 39-Tim McCreadie[6]; 3. 32-Bobby Pierce[4]; 4. 1C-Chad Simpson[2]; 5. 8-Kyle Strickler[5]; 6. 777-Jared Landers[3]; 7. 1-Earl Pearson Jr[7]; 8. 21-Billy Moyer Jr[8]; 9. 29D-Spencer Diercks[9]; 10. 3C-Mike Collins[10]; 11. 10C-Junior Coover[11]

Ohlins Shocks Heat Race #4 Finish (Top 18 from Heat Points Transfer): 1. 32S-Chris Simpson[1]; 2. 9-Devin Moran[6]; 3. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[4]; 4. 19R-Ryan Gustin[5]; 5. 44M-Chris Madden[7]; 6. 49-Jonathan Davenport[3]; 7. 81E-Tanner English[8]; 8. 98-Ben Schaller[9]; 9. 14M-Reid Millard[10]; 10. 25-Shane Clanton[2]

Tiger Rear Ends B-Main #1 Finish (12 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 777-Jared Landers[2]; 2. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[3]; 3. 2S-Stormy Scott[1]; 4. 16-Tyler Bruening[4]; 5. 22H-Daniel Hilsabeck[7]; 6. 62-Justin Zeitner[8]; 7. 98-Ben Schaller[9]; 8. 98J-Jason Rauen[5]; 9. 26JR-Corey Zeitner[12]; 10. 14M-Reid Millard[10]; 11. 10C-Junior Coover[13]; 12. (DNS) 25-Shane Clanton; 13. (DNS) 14J-Jake Neal

FAST Shafts B-Main #2 Finish (12 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 21M-Billy Moyer Sr[1]; 2. 81E-Tanner English[5]; 3. 44M-Chris Madden[3]; 4. 49-Jonathan Davenport[2]; 5. 1-Earl Pearson Jr[4]; 6. 21-Billy Moyer Jr[7]; 7. 53-Andrew Kosiski[8]; 8. 29D-Spencer Diercks[9]; 9. 3C-Mike Collins[11]; 10. 43-Jeremy Grady[6]; 11. 76B-Blair Nothdurft[10]; 12. L88-Larry Clawson[12]

6th    19th  11th

“We had another strong performance tonight in our No. 21 Death Wish Coffee Chevrolet. I believe that was our fifth sixth-place finish of the season. I was fighting really hard for that top-five finish, but also had to play a little defense on the car behind us. Our car was super fast tonight. Everyone at RCR and ECR have done a phenomenal job. I’m just so proud of everyone on our No. 21 team, especially the pit crew tonight. It was tough starting mid-pack and having to drive through everyone to get to the front. We just needed some track position and I really think we could have contended for the win. Overall, I am extremely pleased with our performance. It’s hard to be disappointed with another sixth-place finish, but with a car this fast, I know we are capable of more. I’m looking forward to trying to be a few spots better next week at Las Vegas.”

NHRA^® Team Report

NHRA U.S. Nationals – Gatornationals

Pre-Race Report

As a five-time number one qualifier and previous winner of the Gatornationals, Cruz Pedregon and team are headed to Florida with their sights set on a strong showing. The Snap-on Dodge^® will be decked out in its Snap-on 100^th scheme, that was recently featured on a magazine cover, while a new body and paint scheme are being prepped for October.

In the magazine’s article, Cruz says, “I feel like we’re on the brink of breaking out of the rebuilding mode that I’ve been in for several years now.” He shares that he’s got one of the most solid teams he’s had in a decade and feels like the team “stacks up well” in facing the competition.

Working with Nick (Casertano) and Eric (Lane), Cruz says he, the team and the Snap-on Funny Car are ready to take on the rest of what’s been a challenging year for drivers, teams and fans. 

“When you’ve got good people on your side, you know those incremental improvements you make each race are the result of their hard work under circumstances none of us could have imagined,” he says. He adds that he’s grateful to the sponsors, his team members and fans for continuing to make the sport of drag racing one of the best to be a part of saying, “We still have our eyes on winning and love having the fans along with us on TV, online and in the stands for the ride.”

While Cruz’s Dodge^® is still sporting the Snap-on 100^th paint scheme, he’s hoping fans will take and post pictures of the car with the hashtag #Snapon100. 

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

To see the latest Cruz news, like his Facebook page, where you can also check out his Vlog “Kickin’ It With The Cruzer.” Follow Cruz on Twitter and Instagram, and like the Snap-on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages for all things tools, racing and Cruz.

TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE BASS PRO SHOPS NIGHT RACE BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY BRISTOL, TENNESSEE SEPTEMBER 19, 2020
BRISTOL: RACE #29It’s a historic race with Playoff implications on the line – it’s ‘America’s Night Race’ at Bristol Motor Speedway. For the third time this season, the NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) returns to the ‘World’s Fastest Half-Mile’ for the Bass Pro Shops Night Race on Saturday, September 19, at 7:30 p.m. ET. The pressure is heightened as the 500-lap, 266.5-mile event at the .533-mile Tennessee venue will serve as the third race in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs and the cut-off race for the Round of 16. This weekend’s event marks the first time in NASCAR history that Bristol Motor Speedway has hosted a post-season event. 
Joining the NASCAR Cup Series, the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series will visit Bristol Motor Speedway to make it a three-day race weekend. The weekend’s schedule kicked off with the UNOH 200 presented by Ohio Logistics for the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors on Thursday night, which served as the first race in the Truck Series’ seven-race Playoff stretch. Bristol Motor Speedway will also be the host of the NASCAR Xfinity Series regular season finale with the Food City 300 on Friday, September 18, at 7:00 p.m. ET as drivers vie for the last chance to compete for the championship title. With momentum on his side, JR Motorsports and Chevrolet driver Justin Allgaier enters the weekend coming off of a doubleheader sweep at Richmond Raceway, giving the team their 50th and 51st victories in the series. 
A limited number of fans will be allowed to take in the action in-person for the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Cup Series’ events, adhering to all safety measures and protocols in place. To-date, the NCS All-Star Race that took place in July at Bristol Motor Speedway has had the largest crowd in any sporting event this year since the pandemic restrictions took place in March. With approval for up to 30,000 fans in attendance, Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race has been sold out at ‘socially-distanced capacity’. 
ROUND OF 16: THE CUT-OFF RACEFor the first time in NASCAR history, Bristol Motor Speedway will be the host of the third race of the Playoffs, serving as the elimination race for the first of four rounds and cutting the championship field down from 16 to 12 drivers. Bristol will become the fifth different track to serve as the third race of the Playoffs, joining Talladega Superspeedway (2004-2005), Kansas Speedway (2006–2010), Dover International Speedway (2011-2017) and the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course (2018-2019). Heading into the Bristol race weekend, here are where the Team Chevy Playoff Contenders sit in the points standings:  Austin Dillon, No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Off Road Camaro ZL1 1LE – 6th in Standings (2,094 points)Victories: 1 (Texas Motor Speedway) Top-Fives: 4; Top-10’s 9; Laps Led: 135; Average Finish: 15.9Stage Top-Five’s: 5; Stage Top-10’s: 16; Stage Points: 78At Bristol: Top-Five’s: 1; Top-10’s: 3; Average Finish: 17.385 Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1 1LE – 7th in Standings (2,086 points)Victories: 2 (Charlotte Motor Speedway and Daytona Road Course)Top-Fives: 11; Top-10’s: 16; Laps Led: 646; Average Finish: 12.8Stage Wins: 6; Stage Top-Five’s: 20; Stage Top-10’s: 38; Stage Points: 217At Bristol: Top-Five’s: 3; Top-10’s: 4; Average Finish: 12.667 Alex Bowman, No. 88 Axalta Camaro ZL1 1LE – 8th in Standings (2,085 points)Victories: 1 (Auto Club Speedway)Top-Fives: 3; Top-10’s: 10; Laps Led: 389; Average Finish: 16.3Stage Wins: 4; Stage Top-Five’s: 14; Stage Top-10’s: 31; Stage Points: 184At Bristol: Top-Five’s: 1; Top-10’s: 2; Average Finish: 22.667 Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1 1LE – 11th in Standings (2,065 points)Top-Fives: 4; Top-10’s: 15; Laps Led: 111; Average Finish: 13.2Stage Wins: 1; Stage Top-Five’s: 6; Stage Top-10’s: 24; Stage Points: 101At Bristol: Wins: 6; Top-Five’s: 12; Top-10’s: 21; Average Finish: 14.871 William Byron, No. 24 Liberty University Camaro ZL1 1LE – 13th in Standings (2,058 points)Victories: 1 (Daytona International Speedway)Top-Fives: 3; Top-10’s: 10; Laps Led: 97; Average Finish: 15.9Stage Wins: 2; Stage Top-Five’s 9; Stage Top-10’s: 24; Stage Points: 117At Bristol: Top-10’s: 1; Average Finish: 17.2 
BOWTIE BULLETS·       Current Chevrolet drivers that have recorded wins at Bristol Motor Speedway include:Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1 1LE, has 6 wins (’02, twice in ’03. ’04, ’06, & ’18).Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1 1LE, has 2 wins (’10 & ’17).Matt Kenseth, No. 42 Credit One Bank Camaro ZL1 1LE, has 4 wins (’05, ’06, ’13 & ’15)
·       Of 119 NASCAR Cup Series events held at “The Last Great Colosseum”, Chevrolet has scored 210 top-five’s, 437 top-10’s and have led 23,701 laps.
·       Matt Kenseth, No. 42 Credit One Bank Camaro ZL1 1LE, leads all active drivers in top-five finishes with 15.
·       Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1 1LE, leads the series’ active drivers in top-10 finishes at Bristol Motor Speedway with 21. Since 2014, Johnson also leads all drivers with an average finish of 8.85. 
·       Of the NCS active drivers, Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1 1LE, ties for the most starts at Bristol Motor Speedway with 39. His March 2002 victory at Bristol made him one of just five drivers to score their first career NASCAR Cup Series win at the track.  BRISTOL SCORECARDNASCAR’s premier series has made 119 appearances at the high-banked, all-concrete Tennessee short track. With eight different manufacturer’s finding their way to victory lane at Bristol Motor Speedway in NASCAR’s history, Chevrolet leads the way with 45 wins, giving the Bowtie brand a winning percentage of 37.8%. Chevrolet’s first win at Bristol Motor Speedway was captured by Charlie Glotzbach in the 1971 event, which also set the current race record at 101.074 mph.  In addition to the win category, of nine different manufacturers that have won the pole at Bristol Motor Speedway, Chevrolet has scored 39 poles, more than any other manufacturer. Hendrick Motorsports and Chevrolet driver Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1 1LE, currently holds the track qualifying record from his April 2019 pole win, clocking in at 131.713 mph with a lap time of 14.586 seconds. Of his 10 career-starts, Elliott also leads all active NASCAR Cup Series drivers in average starting position with 6.889.  STARTING LINEUPFor the remainder of the 2020 NCS season, the starting lineups will be determined by a competition-based formula, combining the following metrics from the previous race event: 15% of a fastest lap time position, 25% of the driver’s final race finish position, 25% of the owner’s final race position and 35% of the Owner points position.  Here are Team Chevy’s top-20 starters for Saturday Bass Pro Shops Night Race: 5th      Austin Dillon, No. 3 Bass Pro Shops / Tracker Off Road Camaro ZL1 1LE6th      Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1 1LE8th      Alex Bowman, No. 88 Axalta Camaro ZL1 1LE13th    Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1 1LE15th    William Byron, No. 24 Liberty University Camaro ZL1 1LE17th    Tyler Reddick, No. 8 Childress Vineyards Camaro ZL1 1LE19th    Matt Kenseth, No. 42 Credit One Bank Camaro ZL1 1LE TUNE-INNBCSN will telecast the 500-lap, 266.5-mile Bass Pro Shops Night Race live at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, September 19th. Live coverage can also be found on the NBC Sports Gold App, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.  QUOTABLE QUOTES:AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BASS PRO SHOPS / TRACKER OFF ROAD CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 6th IN STANDINGSWHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY? “Anything can happen at Bristol Motor Speedway. It’s a short track and you can get caught up in things fast. Our goal as a team is to be consistent and to try and score Stage points early. I think Stage points will play a big part of advancing out of each round in the NASCAR Playoffs, and with Bristol being the cutoff race there’s a lot on the line.” WHAT’S GOING TO BE YOUR TOP PRIORITY FOR THE BRISTOL RACE WEEKEND? JUST FINISHING OR GOING FOR A WIN? “I think you’ve got to keep going for wins. Darlington and Richmond were both good races for us, but we have just as much potential at Bristol. We had a solid run here back in May, and I really think this team has the capability to back that up.”  DID YOU FEEL LIKE YOU WERE OVERLOOKED COMING INTO THE PLAYOFFS A LITTLE BIT? “I get overlooked some, probably more than most, and I don’t know why.  I always feel like I perform pretty well in pressure situations, and RCR as a whole can step up.  I have total belief in the 3 team and probably more belief this year than I’ve ever had because we’ve brought consistent speed to the track. We might not have gotten every finish that we should have gotten this year, but we’ve gotten a lot of good finishes. It’s been one of my best years statistically and just the ability behind the cars are better. Chevy has stepped up.  Eric Warren, RCR, all of the mechanics and everybody that puts work in do a really good job. I think the smaller group has been good for us, with less distractions at the track.  As a whole, our group really works together well.” CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 7th IN STANDINGSDOES SUCCESS AT PREVIOUS RACES AT BRISTOL THIS SEASON GIVE YOU AN EDGE?“I’m not sure that it gives us an edge, but it does give us a good starting spot from a setup perspective so I look forward to that. I think we have a good base line, so to speak, to start the race which is encouraging. Hopefully we can make the right adjustments throughout the race to be good at the end of 500 laps.” ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 8th IN STANDINGSBOWMAN ON BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY: “Bristol is a good track for us, just as long as we have the track position we need. If you get down on track position early, it can be difficult to bounce back. We ran pretty strong in the All-Star race over the summer, which gives the team some momentum going into the final race in the Round of 16.” BOWMAN ON THE TEAM’S MOMENTUM: “Following last weekend’s race in Richmond, we have some really good momentum going into Bristol. Richmond has always been a tough track for this team but coming out of Saturday night with a ninth-place finish, was like a win. We are doing what we need to do, as a team, in order to continue pushing our way through the playoff rounds.” KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 MONSTER ENERGY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 11th IN STANDINGS“I think this is awesome to have a Bristol race in the playoffs. I think Bristol has always been deserving of being in the Playoffs. Even though it’s one of those Crown jewel, marquee events; it’s as big as the Southern 500 was a couple weeks ago at Darlington. I mean, it’s the Bristol night Race! A lot of people are focused on playoffs and it’s the cutoff at same time. The set-ups for Bristol have changed a lot, pretty rapidly. Some of my consistent results there; I finished second to my little brother when I first started with Chip Ganassi racing, I won there in 2018 with Stewart Haas. Those set-ups just aren’t there anymore. We’ve had to evolve and adapt. This particular race with the Playoff situation puts things into the drivers hands. If he says you’re two points to the good; you want look in the mirror and make sure you’re clear. If he says your two points behind and somebody’s on your front bumper out ahead, well, that’s where you’ve got to take matters into your own hands. That’s what this opportunity is for everybody to advance through the rounds. It’s a short track and drivers need to take things into their own hands.”
WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 13th IN STANDINGSBYRON ON HIS MINDSET FOR BRISTOL: “I have confidence for this weekend at Bristol after our performance in the spring race and the All-Star Race. We ran well in both races this year, plus all four races that I’ve run there with Chad (Knaus) on the pit box have been good. We’ve just had circumstances out of our control. I think Hendrick Motorsports as whole runs well at Bristol, too. Chase (Elliott) showed that with his All-Star Race win in the summer. That just means we have a good notebook to utilize for our setup. Overall, I have confidence for this Saturday’s race. We just need to focus on the details, execute all race and we’ll accomplish what we need to.”
TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 CHILDRESS VINEYARDS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 19th IN STANDINGSOVER THE COURSE OF THESE FINAL EIGHT RACES, WE RETURN TO A COUPLE OF TRACKS YOU’VE NOW BEEN ABLE TO MAKE A CUP START AT, INCLUDING THIS WEEKEND AT BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY. HOW ARE YOU AND THE TEAM LOOKING TO IMPROVE FROM YOUR LAST RACE AT BRISTOL?“We had a really good Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE during the spring race at Bristol Motor Speedway. We started near the back of the field due to how line-ups were determined at the time, but we were making some good adjustments on our car and starting to pick our way up through the field. Unfortunately, it was just a wrong place-wrong time situation when we got caught up in the wreck with the No. 47 car and a few others during the first part of that race. Bristol is a tough track and one where you have to be aware of those moves people will make entering the backstretch, especially since that seems to be where a lot of the wrecks happen. So that is something I’ll be paying attention to, but we had a solid piece entering that race and were making good adjustments before our day ended early. We’ll definitely be looking back at our notes from that time to get a feel for what we want to do entering this weekend’s event with our No. 8 Childress Vineyards Chevrolet.”

September 20, 2020

Matt DiBenedetto and the No. 21 Menards/Dutch Boy team had some good luck and some bad in Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, but in the end, not enough good fortune to advance to the Round of 12 in the Cup Series Playoffs.   

DiBenedetto started Saturday’s 500-lapper, the final race in the first Playoff round, from 16^th place. He moved up to 12^th place then took the lead by taking just two tires during a caution period at Lap 30. He ran among the top five for more than 60 laps, but the caution flag he needed for the two-tire strategy to work never flew. At a disadvantage tire-wise, he ended the Stage in 12^th place.

DiBenedetto and the Menards/Dutch Boy team again experienced equal doses of good and bad luck in the second Stage. On the 61^st lap of the second Stage, DiBenedetto had to make a green-flag pit stop because of a loose wheel.
 
He rejoined the race in 29^th place, three laps down, but good luck was riding with him. His fresher tires allowed him to regain one of the laps under the green flag, then he regained another lap by taking the wave-around when fellow Playoff driver William Byron wrecked in the closing laps of that Stage. Then when the caution flag flew to end the stage, DiBenedetto was in the free pass position and was able to return to the lead lap for the start of the final segment of the race.
 
A penalty for speeding on pit road sent him to the rear of the field for the restart, but he worked his way forward and was running seventh, a lap down, with less than 100 laps to go.
 
Still, the win he needed to advance in the Playoffs remained a long shot. DiBenedetto held his position until the bad luck returned in the form of a cut tire with just under 10 laps remaining.
 
A green-flag pit stop put him back three laps and left him with a 19th-place finish and elimination from the Playoffs.
 
DiBenedetto said after the race that the team’s perseverance at Bristol gives him hope for a strong finish to the 2020 season.
 
“Tonight shows the fight that we have as a team, rebounding like that,” he said. “I just hate that we miss the next round.
 
“We had some not-so-good races, bad luck tonight, you name it, but we’ve got a lot of season left.  We still have a lot of positions in points to fight for, and we have fast race cars like you see tonight, so we still have a lot of stuff left and hopefully a lot of good things to come.”
 
Eddie Wood said it just wasn’t in the cards for his family team to advance in the Playoffs.
 
“It was a long shot going into Bristol,” he said. “We ran pretty good. The car was tight early in the race, but adjustments got it better.
 
“We needed some luck on our side and got some at times in the race. But luck goes both ways and we saw that with a cut tire at the end.
 
“We’ll move on and make the most of these next seven races.”
 
DiBenedetto and the No. 21 team now head to Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where they finished second earlier this season.
 

GREENWOOD, NE (September 17, 2020) – Kyle Strickler outran Shane Clanton to the checkered flag to win his first career Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series event on Thursday Night at I-80 Speedway. Strickler passed Clanton on lap 11 and then edged Clanton by just .045 seconds at the finish line. Josh Richards came from the 10th starting spot to finish third with Chris Madden and Jimmy Owens rounding out the top five drivers. Clanton grabbed the lead at the start of the 30-lap event while Strickler dropped back several car lengths behind him. Stickler managed to find a groove that worked well for him and he slowly started to close the gap on the Georgia veteran. Strickler was finally able to track down Clanton and pass him on lap 11.  Clanton began to lose contact with Strickler, but in the last two laps was able to make up several car lengths. Coming out of the final corner Clanton dropped to the inside of Strickler but came up one car length short of victory as the checkers flew. The 37-year-old North Carolina driver became the 19th different winner this year on the tour. “On that last lap I thought please no flat right rear tire. My hat is off to Shane, he could have really sent her in there and cut in front of me, but he raced me clean and I appreciate that. I knew if I got into one and come off of four clean we would be really good. Man, everybody on this team deserves it so much. All my guys back home, my wife and my kids are watching on tv, my mom and my dad and friends are watching. Thanks to everybody who has helped me get here.” Clanton came up just short of his first series win of the year. “If I would have went to the bottom a few laps before the end, maybe I could have cleared him off of four on the last lap. Overall, it was good night, and we led some laps. I thought we did pretty well to maintain a fast pace. Strickler just snuck by me on the bottom and then I don’t know if I just started to let up or become more timid. I was just trying to save my stuff for 30 laps.” Richards survived a torrid battle for third place. “We had a phenomenal car. I can’t thank these guys enough for not giving up. We’ve had a lot of speed the last couple of weeks. We didn’t qualify the greatest, we were a little snug, the track was little greasy. It was a little narrow earlier and then it widened out and you can race all over it.” The winner’s Longhorn Chassis is powered by a Clements Racing Engine and sponsored by Bilstein Shocks, G Style Transport LLC, Donaldson Grading, Wehrs Machine, Tim Cat Performance, and Andy’s Towing. Completing the top ten were Devin Moran, Ryan Gustin, Tim McCreadie, Brandon Overton, and Billy Moyer.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series 
Race Summary 
Optima Batteries I-80 Nationals – Presented by General Tire
Thursday, September 17th, 2020
I-80 Speedway – Greenwood, NE

Lucas Oil Time Trials
Fast Time Group A: Devin Moran / 16.603 seconds 
Fast Time Group B: Kyle Strickler / 16.484 seconds (overall)

Penske Race Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 18 from Heat Points Transfer): 1. 29V-Darrell Lanigan[2]; 2. 04-Tad Pospisil[1]; 3. 44M-Chris Madden[4]; 4. 21-Billy Moyer Jr[7]; 5. 9-Devin Moran[6]; 6. 21M-Billy Moyer Sr[5]; 7. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[8]; 8. 1-Earl Pearson Jr[3]; 9. 43-Jeremy Grady[9]; 10. 26JR-Corey Zeitner[11]; 11. 29D-Spencer Diercks[10]; 12. 112-Tyler Smith[12]

FK Rod Ends Heat Race #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 18 from Heat Points Transfer): 1. 39-Tim McCreadie[1]; 2. 19R-Ryan Gustin[3]; 3. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[2]; 4. 56-Chris Spieker[4]; 5. 20-Jimmy Owens[6]; 6. 1T-Tyler Erb[7]; 7. 98J-Jason Rauen[5]; 8. 81E-Tanner English[8]; 9. 14J-Jake Neal[10]; 10. 22H-Daniel Hilsabeck[9]; 11. L88-Larry Clawson[11]

Simpson Race Products Heat Race #3 Finish (Top 18 from Heat Points Transfer): 1. 14-Josh Richards[2]; 2. 25-Shane Clanton[4]; 3. 49-Jonathan Davenport[1]; 4. 8-Kyle Strickler[6]; 5. 32S-Chris Simpson[5]; 6. 1S-Brandon Sheppard[3]; 7. 777-Jared Landers[7]; 8. 62-Justin Zeitner[8]; 9. 98-Ben Schaller[10]; 10. 76B-Blair Nothdurft[12]; 11. 10C-Junior Coover[11]; 12. 6D-Dylan Schmer[9]

Ohlins Shocks Heat Race #4 Finish (Top 18 from Heat Points Transfer): 1. 76-Brandon Overton[2]; 2. 18J-Chase Junghans[4]; 3. 71-Hudson O’Neal[3]; 4. 40B-Kyle Bronson[5]; 5. 32-Bobby Pierce[7]; 6. 2S-Stormy Scott[6]; 7. 16-Tyler Bruening[1]; 8. 1C-Chad Simpson[11]; 9. 53-Andrew Kosiski[8]; 10. 3C-Mike Collins[9]; 11. 14M-Reid Millard[10]

Tiger Rear Ends B-Main #1 Finish (12 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport[2]; 2. 1S-Brandon Sheppard[3]; 3. 1C-Chad Simpson[8]; 4. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[6]; 5. 16-Tyler Bruening[5]; 6. 81E-Tanner English[7]; 7. 22H-Daniel Hilsabeck[10]; 8. 26JR-Corey Zeitner[11]; 9. 14M-Reid Millard[12]; 10. 14J-Jake Neal[9]; 11. 76B-Blair Nothdurft[13]; 12. 04-Tad Pospisil[1]; 13. 1-Earl Pearson Jr[4]; 14. 10C-Junior Coover[14]

FAST Shafts B-Main #2 Finish (12 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 21-Billy Moyer Jr[2]; 2. 1T-Tyler Erb[4]; 3. 777-Jared Landers[5]; 4. 62-Justin Zeitner[6]; 5. 32-Bobby Pierce[3]; 6. 98J-Jason Rauen[1]; 7. 53-Andrew Kosiski[7]; 8. 98-Ben Schaller[9]; 9. L88-Larry Clawson[13]; 10. 29D-Spencer Diercks[11]; 11. 3C-Mike Collins[10]; 12. 43-Jeremy Grady[8]; 13. 6D-Dylan Schmer[12]; 14. 112-Tyler Smith[14]

Richard Childress Racing at Bristol Motor Speedway … In 177 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Bristol Motor Speedway, Richard Childress Racing has scored nine wins, 34 top-five, and 70 top-10 finishes. The Welcome N.C. organization has also found success in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at the ‘World’s Fastest Half-Mile’, capturing nine wins, 37 top-five and 61 top-10 finishes. NASCAR Playoffs … Austin Dillon is in the midst of his fourth NASCAR Playoffs appearance and currently ranks sixth among the 16 Playoff-eligible drivers following a couple strong top-five performances in the opening round of the NASCAR Playoffs (second at Darlington Raceway and fourth at Richmond Raceway). Dillon is 36 points above the cut line with only one race remaining (Bristol) in the Round of 16. Catch the Action …The NASCAR Xfinity Series’ Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway will be televised live Friday, September 18, beginning at 7 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network and will be broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.  The NASCAR Cup Series’ Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway will be televised live Saturday, September 19, beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network and will be broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

This Week’s Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Off Road/E-Z-GO Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE at Bristol Motor Speedway … In 13 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Bristol Motor Speedway, Dillon has one top-five and three top-10 finishes, including a career-best fourth-place finish in August 2016. He finished sixth in his most recent Bristol Motor Speedway appearance in May. He is a former winner in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at the track (August 2016). Tracker Off Road … Dillon’s No. 3 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE prominently features TRACKER ATVs, a game-changing new line of all-terrain vehicles and side-by-sides offering breakthrough performance, service and value in the off-road industry. TRACKER OFF ROAD was born out of a powerhouse partnership formed between Bass Pro Shops and TRACKER founder Johnny Morris and Textron Specialized Vehicles, bringing together the undisputed world leader in boating with a global leader in innovation and technology. Bass Pro Shops … Bass Pro Shops is North America’s premier outdoor and conservation company. Founded in 1972 when avid young angler Johnny Morris began selling tackle out of his father’s liquor store in Springfield, Missouri, today the company provides customers with unmatched offerings spanning premier destination retail, outdoor equipment manufacturing, world-class resort destinations and more. In 2017 Bass Pro Shops acquired Cabela’s to create a “best-of-the-best” experience with superior products, dynamic locations and outstanding customer service. Bass Pro Shops also operates White River Marine Group, offering an unsurpassed collection of industry-leading boat brands, and Big Cedar Lodge, America’s Premier Wilderness Resort. Under the visionary conservation leadership of Johnny Morris, Bass Pro Shops is a national leader in protecting habitat and introducing families to the outdoors and has been named by Forbes as “one of America’s Best Employers.” Bass Pro Shops has a long relationship with NASCAR, dating back to 1998. For more information, visit http://www.basspro.com/. E-Z-GO … E-Z-GO is an iconic, world-renowned brand in golf cars and personal transportation vehicles. Products sold under the E-Z-GO brand include RXV® and TXT® fleet golf cars, Freedom® RXV and Freedom TXT personal golf cars, E-Z-GO Express™ personal utility vehicles, and the 2Five® street-legal low-speed vehicle. Known for innovation in electric-vehicle technology, E-Z-GO’s newest offerings include the ELiTE series of lithium-ion powered golf cars and PTVs, and the company’s exclusive 72-volt AC electric powertrain found in its latest Express series vehicles. Founded in 1954 in Augusta, Ga., E-Z-GO became part of Textron Inc. in 1960, and today operates as part of the company’s Textron Specialized Vehicles division. NASCAR Playoffs …  Dillon’s 2020 NASCAR Playoffs appearance was enhanced last Saturday at Richmond Raceway by a career day in which he led 55 laps, scored 18 Stage points and finished fourth despite two in-race penalties. Dillon now ranks sixth among the 16 Playoff-eligible drivers. The four-round postseason consists of eliminations after the Round of 16 (Darlington, Richmond, Bristol), the Round of 12 (Las Vegas, Talladega, Charlotte Roval) and the Round of 8 (Kansas, Texas, Martinsville). The Championship 4 will compete for the title at Phoenix. AUSTIN DILLON QUOTES:What are your thoughts on Bristol Motor Speedway?“Anything can happen at Bristol Motor Speedway. It’s a short track and you can get caught up in things fast. Our goal as a team is to be consistent and to try and score Stage points early. I think Stage points will play a big part of advancing out of each round in the NASCAR Playoffs, and with Bristol being the cutoff race there’s a lot on the line.”What’s going to be your top priority for the Bristol race weekend? Just finishing or going for a win?“I think you’ve got to keep going for wins. Darlington and Richmond were both good races for us, but we have just as much potential at Bristol. We had a solid run here back in May, and I really think this team has the capability to back that up.” Did you feel like you were overlooked coming into the playoffs a little bit? “I get overlooked some, probably more than most, and I don’t know why.  I always feel like I perform pretty well in pressure situations, and RCR as a whole can step up.  I have total belief in the 3 team and probably more belief this year than I’ve ever had because we’ve brought consistent speed to the track. We might not have gotten every finish that we should have gotten this year, but we’ve gotten a lot of good finishes. It’s been one of my best years statistically and just the ability behind the cars are better. Chevy has stepped up.  Eric Warren, RCR, all of the mechanics and everybody that puts work in do a really good job. I think the smaller group has been good for us, with less distractions at the track.  As a whole, our group really works together well.”

Tyler Reddick and the No. 8 Childress Vineyards Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE at Bristol Motor Speedway … Tyler Reddick has one previous NASCAR Cup Series start at Bristol Motor Speedway. Reddick also has five NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at the track, winning last fall’s race with crew chief Randall Burnett, along with two top-five and four top-10 finishes. Reddick has two NASCAR Truck Series starts, with two top-five finishes at Bristol. About Childress Vineyards … Childress Vineyards is a premier winery located at the southern gateway of the Yadkin Valley in Lexington, North Carolina. Owned by Richard Childress, NASCAR team owner and Hall of Fame member, Childress Vineyards has been producing award-winning wines with the expertise of Winemaker Mark Frizsolowski. Open daily for tours, tastings, and lunch in the Bistro. Information about Childress Vineyards can be found on Facebook at facebook.com/childresswines/, on Twitter at @ChildressWines and on Instagram at  Instagram.com/childresswines. About Food City … Headquartered in Abingdon, Virginia, K-VA-T Food Stores (Food City’s parent company) operates 134 retail supermarkets throughout southeast Kentucky, southwest Virginia, east Tennessee, Chattanooga and north Georgia, including 109 pharmacies and 108 fuel/convenience stores. The company also owns and operates their own 1.2 million square-foot distribution center in Abingdon, VA. Food City offers a wide variety of services and conveniences, including in-store bakery/delis, floral boutiques, full-service meat and seafood departments with in-house butchers, locally grown produce, full service pharmacies, fuel centers, GoCart curbside pick-up, and home delivery. The Food City name is also synonymous with NASCAR racing through their title sponsorship of two of the sport’s most popular events, the Food City 500 and Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, TN. Food City is Bristol Motor Speedway’s longest running sponsor and the second longest in NASCAR.Learn more by visiting FoodCity.com. TYLER REDDICK QUOTE: Over the course of these final eight races, we return to a couple tracks you’ve now been able to make a Cup start at, including this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway. How are you and the team looking to improve from your last race at Bristol?“We had a really good Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE during the spring race at Bristol Motor Speedway. We started near the back of the field due to how line-ups were determined at the time, but we were making some good adjustments on our car and starting to pick our way up through the field. Unfortunately, it was just a wrong place-wrong time situation when we got caught up in the wreck with the No. 47 car and a few others during the first part of that race. Bristol is a tough track and one where you have to be aware of those moves people will make entering the backstretch, especially since that seems to be where a lot of the wrecks happen. So that is something I’ll be paying attention to, but we had a solid piece entering that race and were making good adjustments before our day ended early. We’ll definitely be looking back at our notes from that time to get a feel for what we want to do entering this weekend’s event with our No. 8 Childress Vineyards Chevrolet.”

Anthony Alfredo and the No. 21 Death Wish Coffee Chevrolet Camaro at Bristol Motor Speedway …Anthony Alfredo returns to the seat of the No. 21 NASCAR Xfinity Series entry for Richard Childress Racing this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway. Friday night will mark Alfredo’s first short track appearance of the 2020 season; however, Alfredo is familiar with ‘The Last Great Colosseum’ after competing in the short track nationals behind the wheel of a late model stock car early in his career. About Death Wish Coffee … In 2012, Death Wish Coffee Co. started a small coffee shop in Saratoga Springs, NY. Founder Mike Brown saw a need for coffee that was both strong and delicious to serve his groggy morning customers. After creating the perfect blend of beans and combining it with his unique roasting technique, the ‘World’s Strongest Coffee’ was born. Today, thousands of people trust Death Wish Coffee to wake them up and keep them going every day. For more information visit deathwishcoffee.com.Fast Start for Fast Pasta … Running a limited schedule in the No. 21 Chevrolet Camaro for Richard Childress Racing, Alfredo has secured six top-10 finishes. He also won an eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series Saturday Night Thunder Race at Dover International Speedway during NASCAR’s hiatus from on-track competition. ANTHONY ALFREDO QUOTES: How do you feel about making your first short track appearance of the season at a place like Bristol Motor Speedway? “I’m pumped to finally go short track racing in the NASCAR Xfinity series, especially at Bristol where RCR has had a lot of success. Short track racing is where I started my career, so it’s exciting to go back to my roots and be racing at this level. I even have a little history at Bristol from when I competed in the short track nationals in a late model stock car. I’m looking forward to putting together a strong performance in our Death Wish Coffee Chevrolet, and hopefully we will have a shot at the win under the lights on Friday night!”  What are going to be the keys to a successful night at Bristol Motor Speedway? “I think patience will be key on Friday night, especially with us starting further towards the back of the field. With that being said, I know we will have a very fast Death Wish Coffee Chevrolet. There will also be times where I will need to be aggressive behind the wheel to capitalize on opportunities since track position is very important. If we can have a smooth night and not make any mistakes, I am confident we can be in contention at the end.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES BASS PRO SHOPS NIGHT RACE BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT SEPTEMBER 17, 2020
KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 MONSTER ENERGY CAMARO ZL1 1LE, met with media via teleconference to discuss his outlook going into the race weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway, the pressure that comes with racing during a cutoff race, and more. Transcript: HOW DO YOU HANDLE THE TRACTION COMPOUND ON SATURDAY, ESPECIALLY WITH WHERE YOU ARE IN THE PLAYOFFS? DO YOU HAVE TO PLAY IT VERY CONSERVATIVELY OR DO YOU JUST RACE AND HOPE YOU DON’T SLIDE ON IT?“I think the biggest question right now is actually the weather. With Sally moving through, we hope that the Truck race gets in on time and we have the Xfinity race, as well. The thing about the summer race at Bristol is that you have the races before the Cup series race, so it helps burn in the traction compound. Even if they spray more, it still has a more consistent feel. So, this year, the spring race, it had a race before it. But at the All-Star race, there was no race at all and the Cup cars went out there right away, and it was like you were on ice. So, I’m hopeful for more consistent August/September track conditions, which will then lead the notes to what we’ve done in years past at this race. So, for us, we’re just hoping the weather cooperates and the race track ends up very close to the same as it usually ends up as.”
IS THERE ANYTHING THAT YOU FOUND THAT YOU WERE ABLE TO DO RACING ON THE BUBBLE AND ADVANCING THAT YOU FEEL ARE THE KEYS TO SUCCESS?“Fast cars and fast pit stops – that makes it easier. It’s just not getting too far ahead of yourself and executing as a team. With most likely a competition caution at lap 30, then the stage breaks at 125 and 250, there’s three opportunities to get points – stage one, stage two and the end. If we go out there and do our job, we’ve got a gain those points in the stages so that way the end of the race isn’t as much of a nail-biter as it should be.”
YOU’RE SO GOOD AT BRISTOL. DOES THAT LEND SOME SORT OF CONFIDENCE IN YOU OR HAVE THINGS CHANGED WHERE WITHOUT PRACTICE, IT’S DIFFERENT? BRISTOL, YOU JUST GO BACK TO IT BEING BRISTOL TO YOU, RIGHT?“Yeah, I feel like anytime you can go to a track that you’ve had past success at, it lends to just better feelings, it lends to going through the checklist items in an easier fashion. So, our confidence is high going into the race. We have our homework done and now we go and race. There are some other tracks where you’re like – we didn’t run so well at Kansas, let’s just say earlier this year, and we’ve got more questions so to speak going into the race. So, Bristol, we’re ready to rip and ready to go with the Monster Energy Chevy. We’ve got seven points to the plus and that’s just kind of how we’ve been all year – we’ve been right around that tenth-place position all year.”
HOW MUCH DO YOU WANT TO KNOW DURING THE RACE, KNOWING THAT BRISTOL IS A BLINK OF AN EYE, AND HOW MUCH WILL YOU JUST SAY ‘TELL ME WHEN I ASK FOR IT’ KIND OF THING?“There’s so many guys in the mix, so wherever the points end up at the end of each stage, I’ll just want the plus or the minus. As we’re getting closer to the final 100 laps, that’s when you have to make those decisions to race the guys straight up for points and play more of a defensive role if you have to.”
SEVEN POINTS – HOW DO YOU LOOK AT THAT GAP RIGHT NOW? DO YOU PLAY OFFENSE? DO YOU PLAY DEFENSE? A COMBINATION OF THE TWO? JUST WHAT KIND OF STRATEGY DO YOU LOOK AT GOING INTO A RACE WITH JUST A SINGLE DIGIT CUSHION?“So far in the Playoffs in 2020, we haven’t finished worse than 13th in any stage and we haven’t finished any better than 5th. So, that’s the good news and bad news all mixed in together. And so we just go there and do our job to get points in the stages. We know it’s going to come down to the final little bit on who’s above the line and who’s not, and you can’t worry about it too much. You race off the talent of the crew, the pit strategy, the pit crew guys themselves – everybody has to do their job right now because it’s the Playoffs, it’s what you do. It’s what we do and it’s what we’re prepared for.”
ARE YOU FEELING CONFIDENT JUST KNOWING THAT THE CUTOFF RACE IS IN BRISTOL? DESPITE ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN, GIVEN YOUR PAST EXPERIENCE THERE, DOES THAT KIND OF BUILD YOUR CONFIDENCE GOING INTO THAT EVENT?“Yeah, I enjoy Bristol. It’s a track that I look forward to going to and I get amped up for. I’m ready for the challenges that Bristol brings. The night race, getting back to the PJ-1 traction compound question, you hope that it all gets burned in and that the outside lane comes into play. But each time we go back to Bristol, there’s just these little weird things that the track is doing that SMI might not tell NASCAR. NASCAR might not tell SMI. And then there’s the Goodyear tire that shows up with different stager values, even though it’s the same tire code. So, there’s a lot of little things at Bristol all the time. But with this being a cutoff, you have to just go in there and do it. Get the job done, don’t shy away from the pressure. Even after this round, you have to go to the Roval and advance through it to get to the round after that. And then you have to go to Martinsville to go through that round if you’re going to have a shot at the championship. This Playoff format is genius for the anxiety level for all the drivers and teams.”
FROM THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN, RICHMOND SEEMED PRETTY TAME FOR A SHORT TRACK. DO YOU THINK THAT THE ANXIETY WILL BE ELEVATED GOING INTO BRISTOL, JUST BECAUSE IT IS A CUTOFF RACE?“The anxiety will be higher, the nerves of course, and just the overall ambiance and excitement. But in all reality, everybody’s got so much riding on the line and everybody’s got to protect their race car, get the points that they can, not run into somebody and get a fender rub. That’s what led to Richmond’s, I guess, lack of excitement and that could end up happening at Bristol. Which then that’s a question of, well wait a minute, maybe we need to move this race back to August when goes aren’t necessarily worried about points as much and let the rough edges drag, dump somebody or wreck some cars and not have to pay such a big points penalty. That’s the difference in Playoff racing – everybody is making sure they’re getting every point possible and, therefore, they’re driving more cautiously.”
THE NEXT ROUND BEGINS AT LAS VEGAS AND THAT’S ONE OF THE RACES THAT WERE HELD BEFORE THE PANDEMIC AND THE PAUSE. TYPICALLLY, YOU HEAR DRIVERS AND CREW CHIEFS TALK ABOUT HOW MUCH THINGS HAVE CHANGED IN THAT PERIOD OF TIME. HAVE THINGS CHANGED AS GREATLY BECAUSE OF THE CHALLENGES THIS SEASON OR HOW DIFFERENT WILL VEGAS BE THIS TIME COMPARED TO THE VEGAS RACE THAT WAS HELD BEFORE THE SEASON WAS PAUSED?“First things first is that this race is in 100-degree temperatures, where the spring race is in usually 60 to 70-degree temperatures. So that’s a huge difference all in its own. Then you get into the real nuts and bolts of 2020 and that’s where we haven’t had practice. That’s when more things are done on simulation models and engineering models for the baseline setups. That seems to have fallen into some teams’ hands and it seems to have handcuffed other teams. We can say that even within the same garage area, as far as Gibbs – we’ve got Denny Hamlin with a ton of wins and my little brother (Kyle Busch) with none. Guys like (Kevin) Harvick have a ton of wins and all the rest of Stewart-Haas has one. So, it works some ways to be a position, other ways it doesn’t work out as well. Even like Penske, with (Brad) Keselowski running well and (Ryan) Blaney is right on the line of being eliminated. So, it’s hard to really say. What happened back in March seems like two years ago and then also things trend in tech inspection, as well, on things that were going on in March versus what’s happening here in September.”
PEOPLE TALK ABOUT THAT NEXT ROUND. THE FEELING IS YOU NEED TO WIN AT LAS VEGAS BECAUSE OF THE UNCERTAINTY OF TALLADEGA AND THE ROVAL. IS THAT ALMOST THE WRONG APPROACH TO TAKE AND LOOK AT IT AS OPPORTUNITIES INSTEAD OF WILD CARD RACES?“Yeah, there’s a hundred different philosophies or different ways to look at it. Each team has their own agenda. There’s definitely the championship front-runners. There’s the guys that need to throw the hail marys and try to gamble on a pit stop. You’re going to see some of that at Bristol with this cutoff race. Guys might just do two tires and stay out and try to muscle their way to the end. There could be that same thing at Vegas, where you come in just for fuel only and try to top it off even though you can’t even make it to the end, but you try to use that strategy to get some points or to get a win. So, it’s really hard to really play out all the scenarios. You’ve just got to race with what your strengths are. And some teams have different strengths in different areas.” IS BRISTOL A TOUGH TRACK TO GET THE BASELINE SET-UP RIGHT, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU’RE STARTING 13^TH AND YOU’RE AROUND THE GUYS THAT YOU NEED FOR STAGE POINTS IN STAGE 1?“It seems like it’s tougher with the spray (traction compound) and how much they spray or where they spread. That’s been the biggest adjustment. It’s hard to really get into the full jargon of the level of detail of what an engineer has to do to match a race track surface; but then when you throw in inconsistencies from the track and the spray that they’re using and how much chemical versus how much water they mixed in. Or, how rain is hitting the track right now. In years past, to win Bristol you would set-up for lap 250. You would set-up for halfway. And you would just try to get through the first half of the race the best that you could. But you can’t do that anymore with it being the Playoffs and with Stage points. So, you’ve got to go hard right away, but you’ve got to build in that adjustability to be able to be that guy at the end that can win as well.” CONSIDERING THE PANDEMIC, HOW MUCH INPUT HAVE YOU HAD WITH (CREW CHIEF) MATT MCCALL THIS WEEK, GOING INTO THIS RACE?“My phone says I have a new operating system that I can download, but I’m scared to do that because I have so many digital meetings and so many calendar items of this department and that department. Hendrick Engines was checking in on some of the horsepower levels. There are these new departments of communication and open line; I mean, it’s all hands on-deck right now. And so, we’re staying on top of it the best way that we can. I even asked the shock department yesterday to have shocks that can have compression and rebound adjustable shocks in case we are off on our set-up and we have to go aggressive with changes. And the only time that you’re able to really do that is if you’re the last car on the lead lap on a pit stop or something. You’ve got to be ready for all case scenarios right now.”

Batavia, OH (September 17, 2020) – The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series will be back in action at I-80 Speedway, in Greenwood, NE for 3 full events, with the Al Belt Custom Homes I-80 Nationals on September 17th – 19th.

Thursday, September 17th and Friday, September 18th will feature two complete shows – paying $7,000-to-win. Thursday will also feature a full show for the Malvern Bank Stock Cars. Friday, the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series will be joined by the Malvern Bank Modifieds with a full show. 

On Saturday, September 19th, there will be B-Mains, a 20-lap, $2,000-to-win Non-Qualifiers race and the 80-lap, $30,000-to-win Al Belt Custom Homes I-80 Nationals. Saturday’s Lucas Dirt events will be lined up from the best points night from Thursday or Friday, with the top 18 drivers locked into the A-Main. In addition, Saturday will also feature a full show for Malvern Bank SLMR.

Tickets are available online at www.i-80speedway.com (All seating will be General Admission). Hot laps are set to begin at 6:45 PM CDT each day. To make purchases over the phone, please call the speedway office from 8:30 AM-5:30 PM CDT at 402-342-3453.

For anyone unable to make it out in person, all three nights will be available on LucasOilRacing.tv with a yearly subscription. 

Track Information:Phone Number: 402-342-3453Location: 13909 238th St Greenwood, NE 68366Website: www.i-80speedway.com

Tire Rule for I-80 Speedway: September 17th – 18thLeft Front – Hoosier Rib (28.5) 1350, (90) LM20, (90) WRS2Right Front – Hoosier (90) WRS2Left Rear – Hoosier (90) WRS2
Right Rear – Hoosier (92) LM40
*Must use the same set of 4 tires for Time Trials, Heat Races, and B-Mains.
*For the A-Main, competitors may use 2 new rear tires.
*Flat tire must be replaced with a used tire of the same compound and construction to retain starting position.

September 17th – 18th Event Purse:
1. $7,000, 2. $4,000, 3. $3,000, 4. $2,000, 5. $1,500, 6. $1,000, 7. $900, 8. $800, 9. $700, 10. $600, 11. $580, 12. $560, 13. $540, 14. $520, 15. $500, 16. $490, 17. $480, 18. $470, 19. $460, 20. $450, 21. $440, 22. $430, 23. $410, 24. $400

Tire Rule for I-80 Speedway: September 19thLeft Front – Hoosier Rib (28.5) 1350, (90) LM20, (90) WRS2Right Front – Hoosier (90) WRS2Left Rear – Hoosier (90) WRS2Right Rear – Hoosier (92) LM40 *Must use the same set of 4 tires for B-Mains and Non-Qualifiers Race.*For the A-Main, competitors may use 4 new tires.
*Flat tire must be replaced with a used tire of the same compound and construction to retain starting position.

September 19thNon-Qualifier Purse: 
1. $2,000, 2. $1,800, 3. $1,600, 4. $1,500, 5. $1,400, 6. $1,300, 7. $1,200, 8. $1,100, 9. $1,075, 10. $1,050, 11. $1,025, 12. $1,000, 13. $975, 14. $950, 15. $925, 16. $900, 17. $875, 18. $860, 19. $850, 20. $840, 21. $830, 22. $820, 23. $810, 24. $800

September 19thAl Belt Custom Homes I-80 Nationals Purse:
1. $30,000, 2. $18,000, 3. $10,000, 4. $7,000, 5. $6,000, 6. $5,000, 7. $4,600, 8. $4,400, 9. $4,200, 10. $4,000, 11. $3,900, 12. $3,800, 13. $3,700, 14. $3,600, 15. $3,500, 16. $3,400, 17. $3,300, 18. $3,200, 19. $3,100, 20. $3,000, 21. $2,900, 22. $2,800, 23. $2,700, 24. $2,600, 25. $2,575, 26. $2,550, 27. $2,525, 28. $2,500