POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (May 21, 2025) – Don’t bet against Chris Dyson at Lime Rock Park, especially if it’s a Trans Am race. Of the five times America’s longest running road racing series has visited the beautiful New England facility in the modern era Dyson has won three times. And the two times he didn’t win, he finished second.

Dyson arrives at Lime Rock Park hot off success on the Trans Am by Pirelli Series’ recent West Coast swing. At the wheel of his #16 GYM WEED Ford Mustang Dyson won at Laguna Seca earlier this month after finishing a close second the week before at Sonoma. The Sonoma race marked a successful return to the series for the three-time champion after injuries suffered in a crash at the season-opening race at Sebring that forced Dyson to miss the next race at Road Atlanta.

“Lime Rock is such a special place for our family and we have had so many memorable moments here,” Dyson said. “This weekend marks the 40th anniversary of our team’s debut race and win in the IMSA Camel GTP series. It inspired me as a boy and I’ve been fortunate to be able to enjoy lots of success here since my earliest driving days. And we always have lots of family and friends attending which only adds to the excitement.

“I can’t say enough about the facility and its recent upgrades,” Dyson continued. “This track layout just generates excitement. Like an oval it is a momentum lap and there is zero let-up here. It is maximum commitment with very little room for error. In a Trans Am car it’s sensational because with the horsepower we have, the corners come up very quickly. I can’t wait to be back racing ‘at home’ again. We have a lot of racing ahead of us this Memorial Day weekend, and I’m honored and humbled to have these opportunities.”

Brabham Back for Lime Rock

This weekend Matthew Brabham will be making his second start of the season for CD Racing. Standing in for the injured Dyson, Brabham drove Dyson’s #16 GYM WEED Ford Mustang to victory at Road Atlanta. This weekend Brabham will be piloting the team’s #21 Ford Mustang. It’s the same car Brabham drove to second place at Lime Rock in 2022.

Matos & Concord American Flagpole Look to Extend TA2 Point Lead

Rafa Matos is the defending TA2 class series champion and Lime Rock Park race winner. Matos’ victory at Laguna Seca, the first of the season for him and his #57 Concord American Flagpole Chevrolet Camaro, boosted him to the top the championship standing following 11th, 4th and third-place finishes in the first three races of the season.

“I’m grateful that Concord American Flagpole colors followed me when I changed teams for the 2025 season,” Matos said. “It was an honor to win the championship showcasing the ‘stars and stripes’ branding last year. We’ve got some real momentum building after the recent races. A win at Lime Rock on Saturday would be a big help in winning a second straight championship for Concord American.”

Matos is the TA2-class all-time race-win leader and in addition to his title last year was also the championship winner in 2021 and in 2018, his rookie year in the series. It’s a mark of Matos’s consistency that his four other TA2 seasons he has never finished lower than third in the championship standings.

Concord American Flagpole USAC Sprint Car Team Has Busy Memorial Day Weekend Schedule

CD Racing’s open-wheel short-track team is racing three times over the Memorial Day weekend. Brady Bacon will be behind the wheel of the #20 Concord American Flagpole red, white and blue liveried winged sprint car for the Bob Weikert Memorial meet at Pennsylvania’s half-mile dirt surface Port Royal Speedway.

Following the races at Port Royal the team will head west to Iowa’s legendary Knoxville Raceway for a pair of USAC non-wing races, May 30-31. Driving the #20 Concord American Flagpole car Bacon recently scored his 60th USAC sprint car feature win. That victory left Bacon just two tallies shy of the all-time USAC sprint car win record established by the retired legend Dave Darland, a mark Bacon could possibly match at Knoxville.

For more on Chris Dyson Racing.
TA Lime Rock Park Schedule

Qualifying takes place Monday, May 26, 8:45 – 9:00 AM ET

The 100-mile race takes the green flag Monday, May 26, at 12:00 PM (NOON) ET

TA2 Lime Rock Park Schedule

Qualifying takes place Saturday, May 24, 9:05 – 9:40 AM ET

The 100-mile race takes the green flag Saturday, May 24, at 1:20 PM ET

Broadcast Schedule

The race will be live-streamed on both SpeedTour.TV and the SpeedTour TV YouTube channel.

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Indianapolis 500 Qualifying Honda Message Points

May 16, 2025 ARP Trish

May 16, 2025 — Speedway, IN

Speedway, IN
Saturday, May 17, 2025 11 AM FS1 | 1:30 PM FS2 | 4 PM Fox
Sunday, May 18, 2025 4 PM Fox
All times Eastern

What to Watch for in Qualifying for the Indianapolis 500

Practice Makes Perfect: Honda teams and drivers completed four days of practice this week leading up to qualifying. Alex Palou led the NTT INDYCAR SERIES combined practice times across the first three days with a speed of 227.546 MPH. Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood led the non-tow speeds in his #27 Honda with a speed of 222.760 MPH. Honda drivers notched the top four fastest non-tow speeds on Friday—running with increased boost levels—led by Scott Dixon, followed by Palou, Kirkwood and Kirkwood’s Andretti teammate Colton Herta.
Pushing for Pole Position: Honda has 14 poles in 25 Indianapolis 500 races, most recently with Palou in 2023. Prior to 2024, Honda drivers had qualified on the pole for the previous four consecutive Indianapolis 500s. The streak started in 2020 with Marco Andretti leading the field. Scott Dixon qualified on the pole in both 2021-22, followed by Palou in 2023. Other Honda Indy 500 pole winners include Buddy Rice (2004), Tony Kanaan (2005), Sam Hornish Jr. (2006), Helio Castroneves (2007, 2009, 2010), Scott Dixon (2008, 2017), Alex Tagliani (2011) and James Hinchcliffe (2016).
Qualifying at the Indianapolis 500: Qualifying for the Indianapolis 500 operates differently to the other NTT INDYCAR SERIES races. With only 33 spots and 34 qualifiers, the fight is to make it into the field as much as it is to qualify up front. Positions are determined by the highest average speed over four laps of the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Qualifying on Saturday will lock in positions 13-30, as well as determining who will advance to Top 12 qualifying show, and those that will be fighting for the last positions on the grid. Sunday begins with the Top 12 shootout, determining positions 7-12, as well as those moving on to the Firestone Fast Six. That is followed by Last Chance qualifying, where the final row of the grid will be determined—as well as the driver that will not partake in next week’s Indy 500. Finally, Sunday will close with the Firestone Fast Six, where the six fastest drivers will vie for pole position for the 109th running of the Indianapolis 500.
The Alex Palou Show: The reigning and three-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion has started his 2025 championship run with an impressive four wins in the first five races. His worst finish this year is a second place at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach—finishing behind Honda driver Kyle Kirkwood, giving Honda five wins in a row to start the year. However, the driver of the #10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda has yet to win on an oval. He came close to winning the Indy 500 in 2021—finishing second to Helio Castroneves—and sat on the pole here in 2023. The Spaniard is looking for 500 glory and to continue his impressive start to the year.

2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES Honda Lineup

Andretti Global	#26 Colton Herta (W) #27 Kyle Kirkwood (W) #28 Marcus Ericsson (I) (W) #98 Marco Andretti (W)
Chip Ganassi Racing	# 8 Kyffin Simpson # 9 Scott Dixon (C) (I) (W) #10 Alex Palou (C) (W)
Dale Coyne Racing	#18 Rinus VeeKay (W) #51 Jacob Abel (R)
Meyer Shank Racing	#60 Felix Rosenqvist (W) #66 Marcus Armstrong #06 Helio Castroneves (I) (W)
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	#15 Graham Rahal (W) #30 Devlin DeFrancesco #45 Louis Foster (R) #75 Takuma Sato (I) (W)

C—Series Champion I—Indianapolis 500 winner W—Race Winner R—Series Rookie

Where to Watch

Television coverage of qualifying for the Indianapolis 500 begins Saturday, May 17th on FS1. Continuing coverage will air at 1:30 PM at FS2, and then on Fox at 4 PM ET.
Sunday’s Top 12, Fast Six and Bump Day qualifying will air on Sunday, May 18th on Fox beginning at 4 PM ET.

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INDYCAR-Team Penske NewS Conference

May 16, 2025 ARP Trish

NTT INDYCAR SERIES News Conference

Friday, May 16, 2025

Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

Team Penske Press Conference

· Tim Cindric

· Rick Mears

· Will Power

· Josef Newgarden

· Scott McLaughlin

THE MODERATOR: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to the DEX Imaging Media Center here at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Obviously a big day ahead. We’ll get started with our Fast Friday news conferences leading off with Team Penske, followed by Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing around 9:15, followed by Chip Ganassi Racing at 10:00 a.m. this morning, followed by Louis Schwitzer Award at 10:30, and then at 11:00, an Indianapolis 500 event update as well. A busy day. We’ll get started here shortly with Team Penske.

So many traditions at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and Fast Friday and team news conferences are certainly among those. We’re starting this morning with Team Penske, and Tim Cindric, Team Penske’s INDYCAR president joins us this morning. Also Josef Newgarden, driver of the No. 2 Shell V-Power NiTRO+ Team Penske Chevrolet. Scott McLaughlin is here, driver of the No. 3 Pennzoil Team Penske Chevrolet, Will Power, driver No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, and it’s always great to welcome back to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Rick Mears, four-time winner of the Indy 500 presented by Gainbridge. All four wins with Team Penske.

109th Indianapolis 500 marks the 51st year Team Penske has entered the race, first coming back in 1969 with Mark Donohue driving a McLaren, the team’s first win then just three years later in 1972. From there, names like the aforementioned Rick Mears, Unser, Hornish, de Ferran, Castroneves, Will Power have all won victories for the captain, of course the last two by Josef Newgarden. 14 different drivers have won the Indianapolis 500 for Team Penske. Newgarden, as mentioned, delivering the last two. Last year’s win also accomplishing the feat with Roger getting No. 20.

This weekend Team Penske has a chance at capturing its 700th pole, as well, with almost half of those, 306, in fact, collected in INDYCAR competition. McLaughlin leads the way for Team Penske with 70, all told in the organization, power a close second with 64 for Team Penske, part of his INDYCAR record 70. All told, this team, Team Penske, has over 720 years of experience at the Indianapolis 500.

Tim, we’ll open things up for you. Your first win came back in 2001 and I believe the story goes Roger came up to you and said, hey, we’re going to go for 20. I don’t know what your reaction was at the time, but now you guys sit here with that number, if not more, for years to come. How much pride have you taken in the run that Team Penske has had here?

TIM CINDRIC: It’s hard to believe that we’ve got to that point. For me, just winning one race here was kind of a dream come true. Sitting there in Victory Lane with Roger in 2001 with he and Helio, I just said to Roger, because that would have been his 11th Indy win, and I said, look, I know this is kind of old hat for you, but for me this is a big deal. He said, I’ve never finished first and second here, but I want 20. I thought he said 12, because it was 11. He’s like, no, 20.

Anyway, to be sitting here knowing that we accomplished that is pretty cool.

THE MODERATOR: Rick, welcome back to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. I’m hoping you’ve had a chance to visit the newly renovated Indianapolis Motor Speedway museum. Yes?

RICK MEARS: Yes, I have.

THE MODERATOR: What are your thoughts on that?

RICK MEARS: It’s unbelievable. It really is. Everybody, great congratulations. Just a tremendous job, everybody involved in that that had a hand in it, it’s just tremendous.

I think the section we’re talking about with the four-time winners, that was — first of all, I never dreamed of being included in a list like that to begin with, period, so to be there with all four winners and the way it’s done up and to be able to sit there and watch all the videos of each race and everything, to be able to be involved with it just brings back a lot of memories to begin with.

Just such an honor to be in that section.

THE MODERATOR: Will, for you, big announcement during the open test last month that depending on where you finish, going to help out some veteran debt, as well. Here we are a week out from the 500. Any pressure now? What are you going to do with the veteran debt? You’ve got to finish in the top 10 to double that.

WILL POWER: I do, yeah, a million dollars if I finish in the top 10. They’re going to wipe way $6 million worth of veteran debt —

TIM CINDRIC: Is that what you offered?

WILL POWER: The 6 or the 1?

TIM CINDRIC: The 1.

WILL POWER: If I win — I think we can all put in, right? No, seriously, I shouldn’t say that.

But yeah, it’s a great initiative between Penske, Verizon, Colts, IMS. It’s a tough position to be in for these guys, these veterans, to rack up so much debt through no fault of their own because it’s all medical debt. I’m really proud to be a part of it.

I actually have a veteran on my car, Blaine Hardy. He’s been on my car for more than a decade, and some of the stories you hear about these guys that went and fought for our country and ended up in a terrible position, I think it’s a very cool initiative.

THE MODERATOR: And the car is running well, too, so who knows on race day, right?

WILL POWER: Yes, sir, that’s the plan. Not top 10, the plan is to be No. 1.

THE MODERATOR: Josef, stop me if you’ve heard this before. No one in the 108-year history of the 500 has gone three in a row. You’ve gone two in a row. Getting that second one, I feel like you come in maybe relaxed going for the third? How would you describe your week so far for you?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I’m just happy to be here. You have no idea. I know that sounds like a line just to state, but I wake up happy. It feels like Christmas. It’s just the best. I love living here for three weeks. I almost wish it was longer. It’s definitely one of my favorite times of the year if not the favorite. It just gets better when you win it.

I feel like I’m already — I’m looking back in my life while still living it. I know we’re going to look back on this and feel so cool about what we were able to do as far as being able to drive for Team Penske with this group. It’s been so fun. We have a really, really good team across the board.

Yeah, excited to go racing. Look, we have an opportunity, obviously, to set history next weekend, which would be tremendous. I’m not focused on that. I think it’s circumstantial in a lot of ways. I want to win the race, and I think all of us do sitting up here. We all want to win the race, and that’s what we’re focused on.

If we win the race, everything you just spoke about kind of falls in line. But we’ve just got to focus on doing our job every year and enjoy that process. That’s what I’ve kind of brought myself back to the last two seasons. Yeah, like I said, I’m happy to be here. I’m happy it’s the month of May.

THE MODERATOR: Scott, you seem more and more comfortable around here, as well, obviously last year fastest four-lap average, winning on ovals and other tracks now. How much confidence do you have coming into this month of May for you?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, I feel every time you come here, you just take that next little step. These guys have been coming here a long time and I’m still leaning on them a little bit throughout that stage. But yeah, I feel super excited for what’s ahead.

I think having the experience of running up in front last year was crucial for me in my development and how I learnt from that, and I feel like I’ve sort of judged on what I did wrong and what I did right last year and just trying to mold into a better person and a better driver as we work forward.

Really proud of the group. The team has worked so hard. We were fast last year, but at the end of the day, we haven’t rested on our laurels and we’ve worked even harder to be better again.

That’s what it takes in INDYCAR. It’s so tough out there right now. The margins are so tight. You’ve just got to dot your I’s, cross your T’s, and hopefully at the end of it you’ve picked the right settings and you make the moves at the right times.

Q. Two, like always. One question for Rick Mears and one for Tim. Rick, from the very first time you sat in an INDYCAR cockpit until nowadays, what do you think personally for you is the most significant technology development in INDYCAR racing or INDYCAR motorsport? And question for Tim, a couple of weeks ago I got a media release that you want to cut back your activities with Team Penske. Can you describe what you’re doing now?

RICK MEARS: Yeah, as far as the biggest change to me is the safety. I think that’s one of the largest things.

When I started, the cars that we ran, say the ’79 car, it was state-of-the-art, the safest car out there, and I look at the cars before me and think, wow, how did they drive those things.

But again, you can go from where I was at in ’79, if I get in that car today and look around, I’m thinking, how did I ever hit the wall with this. It just keeps progressing, and today the safety is the biggest thing.

That and electronics as far as measuring everything that the car is doing, all the data readout and that kind of thing, to be able to fine tune in small areas, which we couldn’t do back then. But really safety is probably the biggest thing.

TIM CINDRIC: Yeah, for me, I guess it was after the first of the year. I’m basically doing the INDYCAR program that I’ve always done. I started in the INDYCAR world and then spent the last 20 years doing whatever Roger decided he wanted to do in the racing world.

I looked after it. Just decided it was time for me to maybe have some time for myself and a bit more flexibility and go INDYCAR racing exclusively, really. Yeah, I still look after the car collection and archives and all that kind of stuff for Roger, but beyond that, it’s business as usual on the INDYCAR car. But don’t really have responsibilities beyond that.

Q. Rick, what does Josef do that would allow him to win a third consecutive 500?

RICK MEARS: We talked a little bit about this the other day. All I can do is kind of go off what I felt I should do. I can’t really speak for Josef. But to me, it’s just treat it as another race.

Myself, if I had two or whatever, it didn’t matter. Each year you go into this race as a new race, and you’re here to win it. That was all my focus was on this day. It had nothing to do with whether it was No. 2 or No. 3 or No. 4 or whatever.

But I think to me, that helps keep it just as another race. This is Indianapolis; it’s almost impossible to keep it as another race. But that’s the frame of mind I tried to keep when we were running.

That way I’m not pressured into doing something that I shouldn’t do possibly. I just think that’s the best way. That’ll be up to him how he wants to approach it.

Q. For Josef, you’ve obviously used the word “perfect” quite a lot in kind of what it takes to win here, but can you define what perfect means at Indy and what it takes to get there, whether that’s something in the team, your approach? What does it take to be perfect after all those years to get over the line, not once but twice?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, maybe “perfect” is the wrong word. I don’t know that you can have a perfect day any day, but you have to be as close to it as possible. I guess the way I would sum it up, Indy magnifies the team effort more than anywhere. I’ve stated that a lot, and I think it’s very true, abundantly true here at this speedway. Everybody has to pull forward and really perform in an excellent way.

I don’t know how you win this race without the complete team.

It’s the same thing sitting on the pole. It just magnifies the team effort through and through.

On race day, you can have all the ingredients. You can feel like you have the winning car underneath you. You can feel really good about the moves you’re making. But if everything is not complete from a team side, you will not win the race. It just has to be almost as close to perfect as possible.

I think that’s what I’ve tried to just continue to repeat, is that it’s such a team effort here. It is everywhere, but it’s magnified at Indy to another level that we don’t see for the rest of the year.

Q. For Rick, you obviously did this four times, so you had to be, quite unquote, kind of perfect four times to win this race. Looking back, how did you manage to achieve that feat, and how much did it mean to you to be remembered in that exclusive club?

RICK MEARS: You know, having the right team and the right equipment and the tools you need to get the job done is what it takes, everything being in place at the right time, no mistakes. The old saying is you’re only as strong as your weakest link, and try to control all the variables and then have a lot of lady luck with you, also. There’s always a little lady luck involved. You control your own destiny to a point, but there’s a little lady luck there, too.

It’s just all got to come together on the day. It’s like I’ve always said, you never know about this place until you see the checkered flag. We were talking about that the other day. Somebody asked me after my first win, when did you realize you had it sewed up, and I said once I came off of Turn 4 heading for the checkered flag, not until I got by pit end because once I got by pit end, then I knew if all the wheels fell off the thing I could slide the rest of the way. But that’s as soon as I let myself feel I had it won.

Q. For Scott, we’ve obviously seen Simon Pagenaud with you again. What areas has he helped you the most, and what more has he helped you with this year, as well, and is this solely an Indy thing or is he helping you in the wider season, as well?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: We’re talking the whole season, but I think Simon has been just really helpful in a lot of ways, just how I look at things outside the box.

I’m probably — a detriment to my own career throughout the years is I haven’t been as intricate with looking at little details, and I think Simon is the professor in that regard. Like he’s very, very — strives for perfection in a lot of ways in how he sets up his car and what he feels.

It’s probably allowing me to look into more details and just the way I look at myself and the driving, the lines and what I’m doing with weight jacker and bars. It’s really helped sort of accelerate my progress here, and really am enjoying working with a friend, as well.

Q. I’ve got one question for Josef. How do you handle stress and pressure when you know that you can make history, like winning three Indy 500s? No one ever did that before, so how do you feel about it?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I mean, there’s two ways you can look at it. One way it could be very low stress. The odds of us winning it three times in a row are astronomical. They’re not in our favor. So what’s the stress then. Just go out and enjoy the day.

To me that’s one way to look at it. The other way to look at it is, to Rick’s point, this is still Indy. You feel the same stress every year when you show up here regardless of the circumstance. There’s a lot of effort that goes into every single season. This is a 12-month process, building these cars, strategizing for what we’re going to be doing throughout this month, and you want to perform every year for the team. All of us do.

All of us feel that pressure on race day. I don’t know that that changes, to Rick’s point, whether it’s the first time or the fourth time or whatever time it is. You feel the pressure regardless.

So when you’re here for many years, you either end up enjoying that pressure or you let it sort of break you down. I enjoy the pressure of this race day. I think it’s fun to go and perform when it’s really going to matter on the race.

From the pressure standpoint, I don’t think it changes year over year, and then if you just want to really simplify it, I don’t know that the odds are very good for us to win it three times in a row, so what does it matter; let’s just have a good time running the race. For me, it’s easy going.

Q. For Rick, as somebody who’s a young racing fan myself, I want to know how tricky was it driving in Indy in those days, particularly when it was so dangerous? Obviously we had Gordon Smiley’s accident in ’82. What was it like knowing when you get on to that track that anything could go wrong with the car? Nowadays it still happens, but what was it like back then knowing that the chances of something going wrong were so high?

RICK MEARS: Really, you never really think about that. Driving a car is what I love doing, and that’s the whole reason I got into it. It started as a hobby just because I loved driving the cars.

You always try to keep it — I always felt like if I stay within my limits and the car’s limits, there’s not a problem. Don’t have to worry about it. But there’s always things that can happen. Things end up happening around you from time to time, but the old saying, you just kind of put that out of your head and continue on down the road.

But the main thing for me is because it’s what I enjoyed doing. Now, obviously if I wasn’t having fun at it and it wasn’t what I loved doing, you couldn’t make me get in one. I think that is the main thing is if you enjoy what you’re doing, you just put it out of your head and go on.

Q. For all three of the drivers, trueing out, turning up the boost, qualifying mode at Indy is always tricky. New circumstances this year; is it slightly trickier, significantly more difficult? How will the next 48 hours be here for you or 72 hours be?

WILL POWER: Yeah, I think with the weight, it is more difficult or it’s more on a knife’s edge. You saw a couple of crashes on the test we had here.

I think the wind is the thing that will play the biggest part in how difficult it’s going to be. Yeah, it will be interesting to see how it all plays out. The temperature will be a bit cooler, but you’re going to have big winds, and these cars are affected a lot by that.

Q. I don’t know if maybe Tim’s best for this question, but Simon has really enjoyed working with you, Scott, and it’s a role that he thinks that he would like to expand if possible. Is there maybe something at Team Penske that he could do that involves him with the team and he can work with your drivers?

TIM CINDRIC: Simon is always welcome within our team. We spent some time together last night, and obviously how Scott wants to approach the race and how these drivers approach the race, my experience is every driver is different.

So I think it really depends on where the benefits are from an individual perspective.

But Simon has a lot going on on his own, beyond our team. I know Simon has been offered some really good things to do, but there’s only so much that Simon really wants to do. I think he can be a benefit for anybody around this place. I don’t think there’s any limit in terms of what he does, but at the same time, he wants to be productive.

Just hanging around probably isn’t what he wants to do, either. I think we have a pretty good balance, and we’re always open to him within our team. We always look at all the drivers that have been here as kind of part of our team, and I think that’s what makes us special.

Q. Everybody up there was part of the 2018 Indy 500 win except for Scott, who wasn’t here yet. Do you think that with the added weight from the hybrid we’ll see more of a 2018 style of race than what we’ve seen the past couple of years, which is more passing?

WILL POWER: Only if it was like a 90-degree day. It seems pretty similar to last year at the front, just switching back and forth. Yeah, I don’t see anyone just driving away. It would have to be a very hot day for that.

Q. Josef, do you remember back in 2018, it seemed that track position was extremely valuable; once Will was in the lead it was very hard for anybody to pass him because of the way the aero was at the time?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, I’ve answered this earlier in the week, too. Just to echo Will, it’s going to be, in my opinion, a very similar show to last year, bearing the weather isn’t crazy hot. If it’s a 90-degree day, then it can string out more.

I think the cars in a lot of ways drive in a similar fashion to last season. There’s a new element with the hybrid. That’s going to change up the way you race. But I think the ability to pass is not going to deviate that much from last year.

Q. But at the end of the race, I believe you were telling me you need to be in the top 3 because if you’re any lower than that you’re not going to be able to fight it out.

WILL POWER: Yeah, the top 2, to be honest. Yeah, top 3 if these two get together type thing. But yeah, I think you kind of get locked out if you’re not in the top 2. Those guys are going to go back and forth, back and forth, sort of the same situation as the last lap last year.

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: As far as positioning, you’re going to have to watch to see. I don’t know yet. You can start studying during the race. I can tell you that.

Q. Do you guys think it’s better on race day to soak in all the pageantry and absorb all the crowd and all that stuff or try to block it out and get into the zone and focus? What’s better for you at this place?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: I mean, coming here my first time in ’21, it was like 50 percent, and I thought that was pretty crazy, and then the next year after that was where I saw a full-blown 500. I enjoy just soaking it in. I think it’s our one time a year where it generally feels like our Super Bowl and it’s our biggest race. You don’t know how long you’re going to do this for; it’s just really cool just to be a part of it. That’s how I approach it. I enjoy having some friends come out and watch, and yeah, soaking in what’s going to be a pretty cool day hopefully.

Q. Will, at Long Beach last year you looked in the crystal ball and predicted a Team Penske front row lockout. I know we haven’t had Fast Friday practice yet, but what do you think this weekend? Are you three going to be sitting here Sunday night?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Hold on, this is very important what he says because Will has an incredible crystal ball. I don’t know how. He, like, can predict the future. It’s really weird.

TIM CINDRIC: He predicted his draw number last —

WILL POWER: A couple years ago.

Q. What’s your outlook this week?

WILL POWER: Yeah, I think one of our cars will be on pole, and I’m not sure about the front row lockout. We have the potential to do it, but the wind is going to play a part. Yeah, I think one of our cars will be on pole.

Q. All three in Fast Six?

WILL POWER: Yes.

TIM CINDRIC: We settled this a while back. It was unanimous that the drivers are going to draw from here on out, and they’ve done a good job.

WILL POWER: My wife did mine last year. She will do it again.

TIM CINDRIC: I should say the drivers are going to decide who draws for them from here on out. Certainly I’ll decline.

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I was just thinking as you asked that, like, what if I ask Tim to do it. He’ll probably say no.

TIM CINDRIC: No, we’re in a good place. I got booed. I deserved to be booed.

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Your last one was a bad one.

WILL POWER: That was crazy. I can’t believe you got all three just like —

THE MODERATOR: With that, we’ll wrap it up. The three drivers will be briefly available for one-on-ones, Rick and Tim a little bit longer than that. Thanks for leading us off here on our Fast Friday news conferences, and have a great day today.

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Cruz Pedregon–Joliet advance

May 16, 2025 ARP Trish

Cruz Pedregon and Primary Sponsor Snap-on Unveil Paint Scheme that Pays Tribute to

“The Makers and Fixers”

JOLIET, IL (May 16, 2024) – Cruz Pedregon and team are debuting a new “Makers and Fixers” paint scheme this weekend in Joliet. The team’s primary sponsor, Snap-on, designed the car to encourage those essential workers, like many fans at the track and watching from home, and the crew members who tune the cars to share stories of their work. You’ll see images of real Makers and Fixers on the hood and side-panels.

“It’s important to Snap-on and to us as a team to shine a light on the professionals who keep race teams, and the world, running every day,” Cruz says. “I get to hear from so many of these professionals about the important work they do when I ride-along with Snap-on franchisees to visit their customers’ shops before races and when they stop by the pits on race weekends. Their stories are truly remarkable, and we want to pay tribute to those who make and fix things critical to us all.”

Cruz’s sponsor Snap-on is celebrating 105 years of providing tools, equipment, and diagnostics for technicians around the world, supporting drivers here at the track, and NHRA fans in the stands and watching the broadcasts.

Snap-on has been active in racing for decades and is proud to support Cruz’s commitment to its customers, and this Makers and Fixers livery celebrates those who do real work for the real world and are essential to our daily lives.

With this reveal, Snap-on sends its thanks to the crews that tune the cars and the fans in the stands who make the National Hot Rod Association what it is today, the largest auto racing organization in the world.

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Chevrolet Power Represented by 18 Teams and Drivers as Preparations Continue for Qualifying to Make 33-Car Field of 109th Running of Indianapolis 500

May 16, 2025 ARP Trish

INDIANAPOLIS (May 16, 2025) – After consistent results during the first three days of practice for the Indianapolis 500 for the Team Chevy drivers and teams, the boost gets turned up for Fast Friday presented by Turtle Wax and PPG Presents Armed Forces Qualifying. The boost on the Chevrolet IndyCar V6 goes from 1.3 bar to 1.5 bar, which equates to 70 extra horsepower and lap speeds over 230mph. As the “Month of May” rolls on, Team Chevy is proud to introduce (listed by organization) the 18 drivers and their cars ready for Fast Friday:

A.J. Foyt Enterprises

No. 4 Clarience Technologies Chevrolet:

No. 14 Homes For Our Troops Chevrolet

Arrow McLaren

No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet

No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet

No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet

No. 17 HendrickCars.com Arrow McLaren Chevrolet

Dreyer & Reinbold Racing

No.23 DRR CUSICK WEDBUSH SECURITIES

No. 24 DRR CUSICK INVST

Ed Carpenter Racing

No. 20 Java House ECR Chevrolet

No. 21 Splenda ECR Chevrolet

No. 33 ECR Splenda Stevia Chevrolet

Juncos Hollinger Racing

No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet

No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet

PREMA Racing

No. 83 PREMA Racing Chevrolet

No. 90 PREMA Racing Chevrolet

Team Penske

No. 2 Shell V-Power NiTRO+ Team Penske Chevrolet

No.3 Pennzoil Team Penske Chevrolet

No.12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet

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Thornton Tames Thursday Night Opener at Eagle

May 16, 2025 ARP Trish

EAGLE, NE (May 15, 2025) – Ricky Thornton Jr. regained the lead for good on lap 35 and maintained it to win night one of the Malvern Bank High Bank Heist on Thursday night at Eagle Raceway. This victory marked Thornton’s eighth win of the season in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series presented by FloRacing and his first at Eagle, after finishing second the previous year to Hudson O’Neal during the series’ inaugural visit to the Roger Hadan-promoted facility. In the final ten laps of the race, Thornton stumbled briefly in turn four while leading, allowing Jonathan Davenport to slip by for the lead on lap 34. However, Thornton quickly recovered and regained the top spot, going on to win over Davenport by 1.341 seconds. Kyle Bronson came from 11th to secure third place on the Big River Steel Podium. Devin Moran finished fourth, and Garrett Alberson took fifth. Hudson O’Neal was trying to win for the second time in less than a year at Eagle, bolting to the lead at the start of the 40-lap main event. He paced the field for the first 11 circuits until Thornton grabbed the lead from him on lap 12. Thornton maintained a steady lead until Davenport emerged as a contender in the final 10 laps of the race. Davenport had multiple chances in the closing stretch, but a caution flag each time cost him the opportunity for the race lead. In Lucas Oil Victory Lane for the 50th time in his career, the defending champion came from the sixth starting spot to get the win in a race that saw three different leaders and four lead changes. “I just slowed down too much going into four, I didn’t realize the groove was getting as big as it was out there. I tried to pace myself, but I got close to the 15 car, and I thought, alright, I am just going to ride for a lap right here, and I got over the berm. I could barely hold the steering wheel, and it ripped it out of my hand. I thought I was going to destroy the wall, and I was going to spin out down the race track. I had a vibration, and I figured that my right rear wheel cover had to be destroyed. On the restart, I had a terrible start, and then the yellow came back out again, and I thought JD was going to slide me and probably going to win it.” Davenport had a glimmer of hope leading lap 34, but a couple of cautions kept him from possibly stealing the win from Thornton in the closing laps after Thornton got back around him on lap 35. “It was just bad timing on the cautions, really. I wouldn’t have had a chance if Ricky hadn’t made that mistake on the cushion, and we got to him. I made a mistake, I should have gone around the top whenever I got past him, but I thought I could hug the bottom and break his momentum coming back to me. It didn’t work, and he got back by me, and then I got another run on him and was going to slide him in three and four, and then somebody had a flat. I got going again and was going to pass him again, and then another caution came out, and then he knew to go to the top. He doesn’t usually make two mistakes in a row. He did a good job, congratulations to him.” Bronson came from the inside of row six to take the third spot at the finish. “We brought a different car out today. The scariest moment was when I got a little too low on one of those restarts and got in that slime and slid across the race track. It’s nice to have a track that you could make up for something like that; there was a big ‘ole cushion there. I am just looking forward to tomorrow, it’s been a while since we have been on a track with a lot of grip.” The winner’s Koehler Motorsports, Longhorn Chassis is powered by a Clements Racing Engine and sponsored by Ultimate Towing and Recovery, Elite Ready Mix, Hoker Trucking, Coltman Farms Racing, Knight’s Companies, Capital Waste, Sunoco Race Fuels, EMD Wraps, Certified Inspection Services. Completing the top ten were Brandon Sheppard, Hudson O’Neal, Dillon McCowan, Brandon Overton, and Carson Ferguson. Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Race Summary Malvern Bank Presents High Bank Heist | Night 1Thursday, May 15, 2025Eagle Raceway – Eagle, NE Allstar Performance Time TrialsFast Time Group A: Hudson O’Neal | 13.513 seconds Fast Time Group B: Garrett Alberson | 13.409 seconds (overall) Penske Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 71-Hudson O’Neal[1]; 2. 49-Jonathan Davenport[2]; 3. 99-Devin Moran[3]; 4. 93L-Cory Lawler[5]; 5. 16-Tyler Bruening[6]; 6. 18C-Chase Junghans[4]; 7. 19M-Spencer Hughes[7]; 8. 7D-Dusty Leonard[9]; 9. 18-Jesse Sobbing[8]; 10. (DNS) 18J-Jarrett Getzschman Summit Racing Products Heat Race #2 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 38T-Dylan Thornton[1]; 2. 1-Brandon Sheppard[2]; 3. 40B-Kyle Bronson[4]; 4. 6-Clay Harris[6]; 5. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[5]; 6. 14S-Collen Winebarger[7]; 7. 28W-Ian Whisler[3]; 8. 1T-Tyler Erb[8]; 9. 10-Junior Coover[9]
Cool-It Thermo-Tec Heat Race #3 Finish ( Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 58-Garrett Alberson[1]; 2. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[3]; 3. 76-Brandon Overton[2]; 4. 15-Clay Stuckey[4]; 5. 28-Sam Mars[5]; 6. 8-Dillon McCowan[6]; 7. 04-Tad Pospisil[7]; 8. (DNS) 30G-Jordan Grabouski; 9. (DNS) 45D-Dan Battaglia Simpson Race Products Heat Race #4 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 76N-Blair Nothdurft[1]; 2. 93-Carson Ferguson[3]; 3. 60-Dan Ebert[2]; 4. 79-Donald McIntosh[4]; 5. 18D-Daulton Wilson[7]; 6. 35D-Dylan Sillman[6]; 7. 6J-Jake Neal[8]; 8. 07-Ben Sukup[5]; 9. 71M-Michael Morton[9] Fast Shafts B-Main Race #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 16-Tyler Bruening[1]; 2. 18C-Chase Junghans[3]; 3. 14S-Collen Winebarger[4]; 4. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[2]; 5. 1T-Tyler Erb[8]; 6. 19M-Spencer Hughes[5]; 7. 18-Jesse Sobbing[9]; 8. 10-Junior Coover[10]; 9. 28W-Ian Whisler[6]; 10. (DNS) 7D-Dusty Leonard; 11. (DNS) 18J-Jarrett Getzschman
UNOH B-Main Race #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 18D-Daulton Wilson[2]; 2. 35D-Dylan Sillman[4]; 3. 8-Dillon McCowan[3]; 4. 28-Sam Mars[1]; 5. 04-Tad Pospisil[5]; 6. 6J-Jake Neal[6]; 7. 07-Ben Sukup[8]; 8. 71M-Michael Morton[10]; 9. (DNS) 30G-Jordan Grabouski; 10. (DNS) 45D-Dan Battaglia
Malvern Bank Presents High Bank Heist | Night 1 Feature Finish (40 Laps): Pos – Start – Car # – Competitor – Hometown – Pay1 – 6 – 20RT – Ricky Thornton Jr – Chandler, AZ – $10,2002 – 5 – 49 – Jonathan Davenport – Blairsville, GA – $5,5003 – 11 – 40B – Kyle Bronson – Brandon, FL – $3,5004 – 9 – 99 – Devin Moran – Dresden, OH – $2,7005 – 2 – 58 – Garrett Alberson – Las Cruces, NM – $2,5006 – 7 – 1 – Brandon Sheppard – New Berlin, IL – $2,3007 – 1 – 71 – Hudson O’Neal – Martinsville, IN – $2,2008 – 22 – 8 – Dillon McCowan – Urbana, MO – $2,1009 – 10 – 76 – Brandon Overton – Evans, GA – $2,05010 – 8 – 93 – Carson Ferguson – Lincolnton, NC – $2,00011 – 13 – 93L – Cory Lawler – Hanover, PA – $1,60012 – 15 – 6 – Clay Harris – Jupiter, FL – $1,40013 – 3 – 38T – Dylan Thornton – Orcutt, CA – $1,20014 – 16 – 79 – Donald McIntosh – Dawsonville, GA – $1,10015 – 18 – 18D – Daulton Wilson – Fayetteville, NC – $95016 – 23 – 22 – Daniel Hilsabeck – Earlham, IA – $92517 – 20 – 35D – Dylan Sillman – Alvo, NE – $90018 – 14 – 15 – Clay Stuckey – Shreveport, LA – $87519 – 21 – 14S – Collen Winebarger – Corbett, OR – $85020 – 19 – 18C – Chase Junghans – Manhattan, KS – $82521 – 17 – 16 – Tyler Bruening – Decorah, IA – $80022 – 12 – 60 – Dan Ebert – Lake Shore, MN – $80023 – 24 – 19M – Spencer Hughes – Meridian, MS – $80024 – 4 – 76N – Blair Nothdurft – Renner, SD – $800 Race Statistics Entrants: 37Victory Fuel Pole Sitter: Hudson O’NealMD3 Lap Leaders: Hudson O’Neal (Laps 1-11); Ricky Thornton, Jr. (Laps 12-33); Jonathan Davenport (Lap 34); Ricky Thornton, Jr. (Laps 35-40)Hellraizer Jacks Halfway Leader: Ricky Thornton, Jr.Wieland Feature Winner: Ricky Thornton, Jr.Margin of Victory: 1.341 secondsColtman Farms Racing Cautions: Blair Nothdurft (Lap 1); Spencer Hughes, Blair Nothdurft, Dan Ebert (Lap 2); Chase Junghans (Lap 7); Brandon Sheppard (Lap 20); Daulton Wilson (Lap 35); Debris (Lap 36)Series Provisionals: Daniel Hilsabeck; Spencer HughesFast Time Provisional: n/aEmergency Provisional: n/aTrack Provisional: n/aBig River Steel Podium Top 3: Ricky Thornton, Jr., Jonathan Davenport, Kyle BronsonPenske Shocks Top 5: Ricky Thornton, Jr., Jonathan Davenport, Kyle Bronson, Devin Moran, Garrett AlbersonPEM 4th Place Feature: Devin MoranDMI Rearends 5th Place Feature: Garrett AlbersonWilwood Brakes Lucky 7th Place Feature: Hudson O’NealWehrs Machine 11th Place Feature: Cory LawlerDeatherage Opticians Lucky 13th Place Feature: Dylan ThorntonMD3 24th Place Feature: Blair NothdurftHoker Trucking Hard Charger of the Race: Dillon McCowan (Advanced 14 Positions) MD3 Most Laps Led: Ricky Thornton, Jr. (28 Laps)Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Ricky Thornton, Jr.Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Ricky Thornton, Jr.O’Reilly Auto Parts Rookie of the Race: Donald McIntoshPro Fabrication Headers Fastest Lap of the Race: Ricky Thornton, Jr. (Lap 7 | 13.990 seconds)Slicker Graphics Slickest Move of the Race: Jonathan DavenportFresh Roof Hard Luck Award: Spencer HughesOuterwears Crew Chief of the Race: Zach FrieldsARP Engine Builder of the Race: Clements Racing EnginesMiller Welders Chassis Builder of the Race: Longhorn ChassisDirt Draft Fastest in Hot Laps: Carson Ferguson (13.6982 seconds)Time of Race: 26 minutes 43 seconds Big River Steel Chase for the Championship Presented by ARP Point Standings:Pos – Car # – Competitor – Hometown – Points – Pay1 – 20RT – Ricky Thornton Jr – Chandler, AZ – 3215 – $164,9502 – 49 – Jonathan Davenport – Blairsville, GA – 3065 – $120,2003 – 99 – Devin Moran – Dresden, OH – 3055 – $143,0494 – 58 – Garrett Alberson – Las Cruces, NM – 2795 – $55,6505 – 71 – Hudson O’Neal – Martinsville, IN – 2725 – $55,6756 – 76 – Brandon Overton – Evans, GA – 2720 – $60,9007 – 1 – Brandon Sheppard – New Berlin, IL – 2660 – $63,3008 – 18D – Daulton Wilson – Fayetteville, NC – 2550 – $47,5009 – 93 – Carson Ferguson – Lincolnton, NC – 2335 – $35,17510 – 1T – Tyler Erb – New Waverly, TX – 2280 – $31,70011 – 22 – Daniel Hilsabeck – Earlham, IA – 2205 – $24,97512 – 79 – Donald McIntosh – Dawsonville, GA – 2180 – $23,10013 – 19M – Spencer Hughes – Meridian, MS – 2145 – $27,35014 – 6 – Clay Harris – Jupiter, FL – 1965 – $22,00015 – 60 – Dan Ebert – Lake Shore, MN – 1960 – $17,45016 – 93L – Cory Lawler – Hanover, PA – 1780 – $12,175

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OHSWEKEN SWEEP: Gravel Charges from Fifth to Win Federated Auto Parts Showdown at Ohsweken Finale

May 16, 2025 ARP Trish

The champion completes his third event sweep of the 2025 with a drive from the third row

OHSWEKEN, ON (May 15, 2025) – Even when David Gravel looks like he might be out of contention for victory, he’s not.

The defending World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series champion lined up fifth for Thursday’s 35-lap Feature at Ohsweken Speedway, and on the opening circuit he slipped a spot to sixth.

The Big Game Motorsports No. 2 cruised around the 3/8 mile in that position for the first several circuits, unable to crack the top five. Finally, the time came for a pivotal restart.

The Watertown, CT native blasted into third when the green lights flashed again, and then only six laps later he took over the runner-up spot from early leader Dylan Westbrook. The hunt of Conner Morrell began as the Series rookie was out front in search of his first win. Gravel wasn’t about to let Morrell pull off a major upset.

Gravel rolled the bottom to perfection in the second half of the race and motored by Morrell on Lap 27, and that was the end of that battle. He built up more than a four-second advantage on his way to sweeping the Federated Auto Parts Showdown at Ohsweken.

“I had a good restart there starting sixth, that was our whole race there going sixth to third on the start,” Gravel said. “It just gave me some more clear track to work with. The guys continue to give me great race cars every time we hit the racetrack. Cody (Jacobs) is on his game. Zach (Patterson) is on his game. Pete (Stephens) is on his game.”

Victories on Wednesday and Thursday made it three clean weekend sweeps this year for Tod Quiring’s team as Gravel also topped two in a row at Volusia Speedway Park (March 2-3) and Cotton Bowl Speedway (March 21-22). He joins Donny Schatz (four), Jason Sides (three), and Tony Stewart (two) as a multi-time Ohsweken winner with The Greatest Show on Dirt. His eight wins this season are more than double the second most. It was also a noteworthy night for Big Game Motorsports as their 117th World of Outlaws win as a team equaled them for fifth all-time with Roth Motorsports.

Gravel admitted it didn’t come easily as Morrell had speed behind the wheel of the Bill Rose Racing No. 28M. After having a run in with the Bradenton, FL native early in the year, the champion was complimentary of the rookie’s efforts of Thursday night.

“He did a great job. Hats off to him,” Gravel said. “I chewed his ass earlier in the year for driving a little wild, and he did a great job tonight as a race car driver. Hats off to him. He showed speed here on and off. He almost had a win here tonight on an extremely tricky track. They obviously got his car pretty good and just faded a little bit late, and we came on there at the end.”

Morrell held on for second as he claimed his first career World of Outlaws podium and posted the best finish of any of the seven Series rookies this year so far. The 21-year-old was emotional after coming so close to becoming a winner with The Greatest Show on Dirt.

The car kind of went away, and the driver kind of went away. I should’ve had it, but it is what it is, and I’ll try again at Cornwall,” Morrell said. “It’s tough being out here on a limited budget with three engines and limited equipment, but it is what it is. We’re going to keep pushing on.”

The final step of the podium belonged to Canada’s own Dylan Westbrook. The Scotland, ON native made the home fans proud by leading the first 14 circuits before posting a career best finish with the World of Outlaws.

“We were just a little loose there in the last half after that caution and started to fade a little bit,” Westbrook said. “I tried to move my line a little bit, but they just had their cars a bit better and could roll the middle more and just kind of park on the bottom to get the grip coming out. Still really happy, and it’s definitely my best Outlaw finish, got to lead some laps, and I’m really happy to do it here at my hometown track.”

Sheldon Haudenschild and Chris Windom completed the top five.

Donny Schatz rolled from 23rd to 10th in the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing No. 15 to grab the KSE Racing Hard Charger.

Garet Williamson earned his first career Simpson Quick Time in Honest Abe Roofing Qualifying.

Heat Races belonged to Garet Williamson (NOS Energy Drink Heat One), Sheldon Haudenschild (Real American Beer Heat Two), David Gravel (WIX Filters Heat Three), and Chris Windom (TheGreatestStoreonDirt.com Heat Four).

The #SPATechnique #1 Redraw went to Dylan Westbrook.

Westbrook also topped the Toyota Dash.

Joe Trenca won the Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown.

The Smith Titanium Brake Systems Break of the Race went to Giovanni Scelzi.

UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars close out their trip to Canada with a visit to Long Sault, ON’s Cornwall Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 18 for the PartSource World of Outlaws Invasion. Tickets will be available at the track.

For the remaining 2025 schedule, CLICK HERE.

If you can’t make it to the track, catch every lap live on DIRTVision.

FEATURE RESULTS:

NOS Energy Drink Feature (35 Laps): 1. 2-David Gravel[5]; 2. 28M-Conner Morrell[6]; 3. 47X-Dylan Westbrook[1]; 4. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[8]; 5. 7S-Chris Windom[2]; 6. 28-Jordan Poirier[15]; 7. 23-Garet Williamson[4]; 8. 6-Zach Hampton[17]; 9. 83-Michael Kofoid[11]; 10. 15-Donny Schatz[23]; 11. 52-Stewart Friesen[13]; 12. 17X-Cory Turner[3]; 13. 1S-Logan Schuchart[19]; 14. 41-Carson Macedo[12]; 15. 2C-Cole Macedo[14]; 16. 17B-Bill Balog[10]; 17. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg[7]; 18. 15T-Ryan Turner[16]; 19. 79-Jordan Thomas[22]; 20. 99-Skylar Gee[18]; 21. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[9]; 22. 77X-Alex Hill[24]; 23. 98-Joe Trenca[21]; 24. 22-Jonathan Preston[20]

For complete results, CLICK HERE.

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McCreadie Returns to Victory Lane in Dominant Fashion at Raceway 7

May 16, 2025 ARP Trish

CONNEAUT, OH (May 15, 2025) – Tim McCreadie has won everything there is to win in dirt Late Model racing.

He’s a former champion of the World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision. He’s won at Eldora, Fairbury, Knoxville, and every other showplace of dirt track racing under the sun. But Thursday night’s victory in the Great Lake Showdown at Raceway 7 will forever be one of the most memorable of his illustrious career.

At the start of the 2025 season, McCreadie unveiled a throwback to his father, “Barefoot” Bob McCreadie’s No. 9 with one mission in mind – bringing it back to Victory Lane. One year to the day after Bob’s passing, “T-Mac” led every lap on his way to the checkered flag.

The McCreadie-Briggs pairing didn’t get off to the start that either of them expected, as they finished top 10 twice in the first 10 races of the year. But a seventh-place run at the Talladega Short Track in April signaled that the tide was shifting back in their favor. McCreadie followed that up with a pair of top fives at Mississippi Thunder Speedway, making it clear that his first World of Outlaws win in four years wasn’t far away.

That win coming at Raceway 7 didn’t come as a surprise – in four Late Model starts at the track, McCreadie has now won twice and has never finished worse than fourth.

“I don’t know, I’ve never really run here that much,” McCreadie said. “Maybe the way the style is, keeping the car straight and not spinning so much kind of lends itself to what I like to do. When I was younger I liked to spin the tires a lot, now that I’ve gotten older, I like to keep the car underneath me.”

Not only is Conneaut one of McCreadie’s favorite places to race, it’s also one of Briggs’ home tracks and a place he’s been turning laps around for decades. That combination proved to be unbeatable as the No. 9M spent the 35-lap caution-free Feature driving away to a 2.6-second margin over the field.

“He told me where to be in Qualifying, he ran over and told me where he thought I needed to be and it was good,” McCreadie said. “He’s just positive. Since driving with him, the whole deal, it’s been amazing. He keeps me focused, and with everything going on today, he was just there for me.”

Behind McCreadie, Ashton Winger collected his second runner-up finish of the season in his Raceway 7 debut. The Georgian’s season got off to a nightmarish start with five missed Features at Volusia Speedway Park, but the Jeff Mathews Motorsports team have found their stride as of late with two top fives in their last three World of Outlaws starts.

“I knew from the Heat Race, you probably wanted to start on the top, I got a better launch than I thought I’d get here leaving four,” Winger said. “About halfway down the back straightaway, I could kind of hear him. Two choices, you kind of block and take a chance on crashing or just blow off down into three and try to get crossed over. I knew I slid getting into one, I think we all knew it was going to be important to get out front. It’s cool, we needed good runs. Didn’t do anything too stupid tonight.”

Much like McCreadie and Shirley, third-place runner Brian Shirley has also been finding his footing after a slow start to the season. “Squirrel” failed to crack the top five on the first eight nights of the year; he’s now done so in four of his last six starts.

“I feel like we’ve got to be just a little bit more tight,” Shirley said. “I feel like we’re just really, really loose. Just can’t get in the corner. But all in all, it was a good night.”

Drake Troutman extended his MD3 Rookie of the Year lead with a fourth-place run while Bobby Pierce notched his fifth-straight top five in the fifth spot.

RACE NOTES:

Cody Overton set the Dirt King Simulators Fastest Hot Lap.

Drake Troutman earned the Simpson Quick Time Award.

Tim McCreadie won Real American Beer Heat 1.

Bobby Pierce won STAKT Products Heat 2.

Ashton Winger won Keyser Manufacturing Heat 3.

Brian Shirley won Jarrett Rifles Heat 4.

Ryan Gustin won the Landa Pressure Washers Last Chance Showdown.

Ashton Winger won the Bilstein Pole Award.

Max Blair won the FOX Factory Hard Charger Award.

Drake Troutman was the MD3 Rookie of the Race.

Ashton Winger won the WELD Racing Second-Place Finisher Award.

Drake Troutman was the ARP Fourth-Place Finisher.

Bobby Pierce was the MSD Fifth-Place Finisher.

Nick Hoffman was the Swift Springs Sixth-Place Finisher.

Dustin Sorensen was the VP Racing Fuels Eighth-Place Finisher.

Ethan Dotson was the Lifeline USA Ninth-Place Finisher.

Tristan Chamberlain was the COMP Cams 10th-Place Finisher.

Dennis Erb Jr. was the Cometic Gaskets 12th-Place Finisher.

UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision heads south into Pennsylvania to Marion Center Raceway for the Connor Bobik Memorial on Friday and Saturday, May 16-17. Tickets will be available at the gate.

If you can’t make it to the track, stream every lap live on DIRTVision.

Feature (35 Laps): 1. 9M-Tim McCreadie[2]; 2. 12-Ashton Winger[1]; 3. 3S-Brian Shirley[3]; 4. 22*-Drake Troutman[6]; 5. 32-Bobby Pierce[4]; 6. 9-Nick Hoffman[7]; 7. 2-Cody Overton[13]; 8. 19-Dustin Sorensen[8]; 9. 74X-Ethan Dotson[10]; 10. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[5]; 11. 111-Max Blair[19]; 12. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[12]; 13. 96-Tanner English[14]; 14. 19R-Ryan Gustin[17]; 15. 11-Austin Smith[15]; 16. 9Y-Levi Yetter[11]; 17. 49-Jake Timm[21]; 18. 57-Matt Tifft[20]; 19. B1-Brent Larson[23]; 20. 9S-Breyton Santee[22]; 21. 99B-Boom Briggs[16]; 22. 22B-Darrell Bossard[9]; 23. 555-Brock Pinkerous[24]; 24. 44-Dave Hess Jr[18]

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Josef Newgarden Topped Speed Charts on Practice Day Three Heading into Fast Friday

May 15, 2025 ARP Trish

CHEVROLET IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES INDIANAPOLIS 500 INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA TEAM CHEVY PRACTICE REPORT FRIDAY, MAY 15, 2025

Josef Newgarden, No. 2 Shell V-Power NITRO Team Penske Chevrolet topped the speed charts at the conclusion of day three practice for the Indianapolis 500 with a top speed of 226.632 mph/39.7120 secondsThe two-time and defending winner has been in top-three fastest since practice opened on TuesdayNewgarden also posted the fasted non-tow time of the day – 222.55 mphConor Daly, No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet, continued to impress. during practice leading into the Greatest Spectacle in Racing posting the third fastest speed of 224.893 mph/40.0191 secondsPato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, and Ryan Hunter-Reay, No. 23 DRR CUSICK WEDBUSH SECURITIES Chevrolet, completed the top-five in the final orderTony Kanaan, team principal for Arrow McLaren and stand-by driver for Kyle Larson in the No. 17 Hendrickcars.com Chevrolet, completed his veteran. refresher protocol after weather postponed the required program for two daysUp next for Team Chevy in the NTT INDYCAR Series is qualifying for the. 109 th Indianapolis 500 May 17-18, 2025, with Fast Friday up first when the boost is turned up from 1.3 bar to 1.5 adding approximately 60 additional horsepower. Saturday will see teams and drivers run for a starting position in the Indianapolis 500. At the conclusion of the day, the Fast 12 and positions 13-30 will be set. Sunday will see the battle for the final three starting positions, as well as the pole run from the Fast 12 to the Firestone Fast Six. Indy 500 qualifications will be televised on the FOX Network on Saturday, May 17, at 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. and. Sunday, May 18, at 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., as well as practice runs on FoxSports 1 and 2 both days
Indianapolis 500 Thursday Practice Results

Indianapolis 500 Thursday Non-Tow Practice Results

Indianapolis 500 practice tune-in alert Friday, May 16·      NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice – noon-4pm (ET)/11am-3pm (CT)/10am-2pm (MT)/9am-1pm (PT) – FS2/ INDYCAR Radio Network/SIRIUSXM 218·      NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice – 4pm-6pm (ET)/3pm-5pm (CT)/2pm-4pm (MT)/1pm-3pm (PT) – FS1/ INDYCAR Radio Network/SIRIUSXM 218
Indianapolis 500 qualifying tune-in alert
Saturday, May 17 (PPG Armed Forces Qualifying Weekend)·      NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice – 8:30am-9:30am (ET)/7:30am-8:30am (CT)/6:30am-7:30am (MT)/5:30am-6:30am (PT) – FS2/ INDYCAR Radio Network/SIRIUSXM 218·      NTT INDYCAR SERIES qualifying – 11am-1:30pm (ET)/10am-12:30pm (CT)/9am-11:30am (MT)/8am-10:30am (PT) – FS1/ INDYCAR Radio Network/SIRIUSXM 218·      NTT INDYCAR SERIES qualifying – 1:30pm-4pm (ET)/12:30pm-3pm (CT)/11:30am-2pm (MT)/10:30am-1pm (PT) – FS2/ INDYCAR Radio Network/SIRIUSXM 218·      NTT INDYCAR SERIES qualifying – 4pm-6pm (ET)/3pm-5pm (CT)/2pm-4pm (MT)/1pm-3pm (PT) – FOX/ INDYCAR Radio Network/SIRIUSXM 218
Sunday, May 18 (PPG Armed Forces Qualifying Weekend)·      NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice –1pm-3pm (ET)/noon-2pm (CT)/11am-1pm (MT)/10am-noon (PT) – FS2/ INDYCAR Radio Network/SIRIUSXM 218·      NTT INDYCAR SERIES qualifying – 4pm-7pm (ET)/3pm-6pm (CT)/2pm-5pm (MT)/1pm-4pm (PT) – FOX/ INDYCAR Radio Network/SIRIUSXM 218
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING INDIANAPOLIS 500 PRACTICE (QUOTES)
Arrow McLaren
Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:“There are two different beasts you’re trying to make go fast, to be honest with you. Just because you have a good car in traffic doesn’t mean you’re going to have a good Qualifying car, and vice versa. I’ve done no Qualifying stuff because the car changes a lot with the boost. It could feel good today trimming wise but then tomorrow you put the boost on and it’s like, “What the hell happened to the car?” We had a read at the Open Test that I was somewhat happy with, so tomorrow we’ll see what we’ve got once the boost comes on. In traffic, I think we’ve gotten better, but there’s still a handful of other cars that I believe are a lot stronger than we are. There’s still work to do.”
Nolan Siegel, No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet: “We worked into traffic, and I think we made a lot of progress there. I’m very comfortable there. Now we’re shifting focus to Qualifying, and hopefully we have a good Fast Friday. I’m looking forward to more boost and more speed. I think the car will continue to be comfortable. The team is making good changes, and I have no doubt we’re going to have a fast race car. I’m excited to show what we have.”
Christian Lundgaard, No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:“Today was thankfully a good day. It was interesting running on the hotter track and seeing what that does to the car. I think tomorrow will definitely be different with colder weather and potentially more wind. We’re just trying to dial in the race car, verifying things that were good early in the week, and we’re moving around some things. We’re finding good items and applying them to see what works further down the road. I think where we are now is a pretty good spot. I’m looking forward for this weekend.”
Kyle Larson, No. 17 HendrickCars.com Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:“Practice went pretty good today. I thought our car was a little bit more competitive in dirty air, so I’m happy with that.”
DRR-Cusick Mostorsports
Ryan Hunter-Reay, No.23 DRR CUSICK WEDBUSH SECURITIES:“It was definitely hotter today and there were challenging conditions. But we are going to have challenging conditions for the next few days. Again, we were trying some big swings at the car today. One of them didn’t work so we had to go back to the garage to reset the car. We validated that and went back to where we like the car. Then we went back and reset the car for qualifying trim. And we got out and got some runs in qualifying trim. So, we got the big boxes checked off today. Friday is going to be very interesting with the wind and added horsepower for qualifying. We were able to work on pit stops today again and those seemed better. We just have to get ready for qualifying now.”
Jack Harvey, No. 24 DRR CUSICK INVST:“It was a good day on the whole. I don’t think we are the fastest car, but I don’t think we are slowest either. Knock on wood. I think Ryan and I are super close in speed which is encouraging. We ran at different times of the day, and you can make an argument on who had the worst conditions in the afternoon. We did some qual setup early and then ran race settings later. I really appreciate the hard work of the INVST crew today. We went out late with some 45 minutes to go and baselined everything in the car. I think we have found something that works pretty well. Now we feel like we have good baselines for qualifying and race trim. Today was the hottest we have had this week, and we will be looking for more mechanical grip now. I think that will be our focus moving into Friday.” Team Penske
Josef Newgarden, No. 2 Shell V-Power NiTRO+ Team Penske Chevrolet:“Pretty solid week so far. The team has being doing a lot of work and we’ve shown up really prepared. We’re sort of going through the motions, and can’t ever get ahead of ourselves. We’re excited for Fast Friday. It’s going to be quite hot tomorrow, so we’re going to be trying to work around that and forecast the change going into Saturday and Sunday as the temperature is going to fluctuate quite a bit. Feeling good so far, the car is in a great window. The team is feeling good so I’m excited for the weekend and to turn up the boost tomorrow.”
Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 Pennzoil Team Penske Chevrolet:“It was a pretty smooth day for me. The last couple of days we’ve run through race settings today and qual today. We’ve already done 20 something laps. I feel really strong and Chevy feels really strong. Playing with the different hybrid settings has been fun.”
Pato O’WardConor DalyPress ConferencePato O’Ward joins us, driver of the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. Fourth quick overall. Best finish of a couple of years. 2022, 2024 as well. You feel pretty good heading into past Fast Friday tomorrow? Your thoughts?
PATO O’WARD: They’re two different beasts you’re trying to make go fast, to be fairly honest with you. Just because they have traffic car, doesn’t mean you’re going to have a good qualifying car and vice versa.So I have done no qualifying stuff, yeah. It changes a lot with the boost, so it could feel good today like trimming-wise, but then tomorrow you put the boost on, and you are, like, What the hell happened to the car?We had a read at the test. I was somewhat happy with it. Tomorrow we’ll see what we’ve got once the boosts come up.In traffic I think we’ve gotten better, but there’s still a handful of other cars that I believe are a lot stronger than we are. Still work to do.
THE MODERATOR: Checkered flag is out. Wrapping up the session. It looked like a number of teams are trying qual sims out there. Were you surprised by that today?PATO O’WARD: I mean, I’m not surprised, but also, I don’t know how much everyone will be able to read into what today was for them because, like I said, the boosts really change how the car behaves a lot.It can be as big as, like, I’m loose now, but with the biggest boost, you’re destroying right front, and now you have to understeer. The wall is a approaching a lot faster, so yeah.
THE MODERATOR: We will open it up to questions.Q. If you are happy with your car now and it does not react well to the boost, are you then extremely worried, or are you like, Okay, we may not qualify as well, but I feel good for what I have for the following week?PATO O’WARD: I mean, you try and qualify as far up as you can. For some reason I’ve never had I would say the speed or my car has never really had the speed in qualifying, to be honest, for the front row. I would love to be able to challenge for the front row. I think that’s a really neat experience. I’ve always been in the neighborhood of sixth, eighth, tenth, ninth.We usually race really well. So, yeah, I mean, I’m not so worried about it until we really see what we’ve got just because we really don’t know how it’s going to go tomorrow. It’s never right to panic even if you might not have the speed the other cars do.Sometimes it’s just unexplainable, and I’ve had to deal with it every single year of qualifying here because all my teammates’ cars have always been quicker than mine. I always know that I race really well, and putting the car in a decent place in qualifying gives you that opportunity to drive forward.It’s important to qualify well. It’s a cool experience, but also, it’s not the end of the world.
Q. How do you show up at a place that’s broken your heart and has so much emotion around it and some of you want so bad, but then avoid letting that get into your head or letting the pressure build or letting how badly you want it affect what you are doing on the track?PATO O’WARD: I treat it as a new thing every time I come back. You can’t plan just like you can never plan a start. You can never plan an Indy 500. You depend on other people’s decisions and mistakes as well, so that plays a lot into how your race is going to go, to be honest.I just really enjoy it. Obviously as the race starts falling and you see where you are at and stuff, that’s where it can get a little bit more interesting or intense, but all my Indy 500s, they’ve all been different.I would say the one last year would be the last one that I would have expected to be fighting, but somehow managed a way to get the car there. It’s a really long race. A lot of things can happen, but yeah, I’m focused on what we can do to put ourselves into a position to win, and the strive is obviously to get that right. We have a pretty good track record here in the past.
Q. Nolan obviously had an unfortunate mishap last year, but sometimes the most trying times will cause the most growth. In what specific ways have you seen Nolan grow over the past year, not only as a driver, but as a young man?PATO O’WARD: I mean, I think it’s safe to say that I went through the same thing. In 2019 I got bumped. Well, the whole team that I was in kind of got bumped.To be honest I actually told him after he got bumped, and I said, You’re lucky that you actually got bumped because it’s miserable to drive out here with a car that sucks. I would much rather not be in the race and not race with a car that’s just horrendous rather than having to do the 200 laps with a car that just is fricking miserable.The speeds are so high, and it’s not enjoyable when it’s really there, and I feel like that’s what Nolan’s position was last year. The car obviously didn’t seem strong, but I think this year he’s with a team that obviously gives him a lot more tools to showcase what he’s got in a superspeedway. He’s obviously in good hands in that regard.I still tell him, You look like you’re 12, but he’s a good kid.
Q. Pato, you’ve said several times you just don’t know what to expect out of tomorrow. Yet, some of the Andretti guys feel very, very confident that they are the favorites for the pole.PATO O’WARD: They look confident for sure. Oh, yeah.
Q. That’s the question. They look good?PATO O’WARD: Yeah, I think they look very strong both speed-wise and traffic running. I would say at least two in their camp are super strong. Yeah, I would say Kirkwood, Herta. Don’t count the Penskes. They’re going to have rockets just like they did last year.For us, I don’t know. I don’t want to assume before we really see what to expect, but Ganassi seems to have taken a step forward as well just from kind of playing around with them in traffic. Yeah, the speed feels a little bit like ’22, to be honest, us against Ganassi. It’s hard to say right now.You don’t know who is hiding what or are both manufacturers showing everything? Not sure, but they do look very strong, I would say.
Q. Does it make a difference that Honda will do its engine changes tonight and Chevrolet will wait until post-qualifying?PATO O’WARD: I did hear about that, but I have no idea why each one kind of prefers to do it that way. I’m assuming we’re doing the best decision for our camp. That’s probably what’s best for their camp. Why? No idea, but they seem to have brought a very strong package, I would say.I’m confident that our Chevy power is going to be pulling us forward.
Q. Pato, I have a personal question for you. Regardless what happened in the race, where you finished, if you win, I hope you do, you seem to be very ultra popular already here in Indianapolis. You are on the front cover of the “Indianapolis Monthly Magazine?”PATO O’WARD: Did you like the pictures? They make me look way too good (laughing).
Q. Then also I’m in the Krieger’s Supermarket, your picture is hanging from the wall.PATO O’WARD: My cardboard Patos, yeah.
Q. Do you have an explanation why you have been so popular here in Indianapolis?PATO O’WARD: Do I see it?
Q. Yeah.PATO O’WARD: I keep getting tagged people wanting to steal my cardboard Patos, but it’s grown a lot really. Last year’s Indy 500 was a big step in that, I would say. I definitely felt the difference. It’s amazing to see. It’s great to see.It’s always a great feeling seeing your shirts walking around and people smiling to support you. It’s got to be a sold-out event, isn’t it? Pretty much. It’s going to be.THE MODERATOR: If you want a grandstand ticket, good luck. Buy it quick.PATO O’WARD: I bought 300 to give away, bro.THE MODERATOR: Nice.PATO O’WARD: People don’t have to pay for it. I give away for free, 300. I’m so generous. No, anybody that buys stuff in Pato Shop gets free tickets. Buy a shirt, buy whatever. Make sure it adds up to more than $100, and you’re getting a ticket.I think it’s great. It’s just such a phenomenal event, and I have my own suite for the first time here at the Indy 500. I’m super stoked about that one. Definitely haven’t sold out in that one, but it’s okay.
Q. (Off microphone)PATO O’WARD: No cousins are coming this year. Can you imagine? One guy is getting married, and the other one is, like, No, sorry, I can’t. Apparently they’re all on unavailable for me now, so…THE MODERATOR: This will be the year you win when they aren’t here, right?PATO O’WARD: I’ll send them a selfie when I’m pouring myself with milk (laughing).
Q. When you see where you are now and what you had to endure in 2019, does that almost seem like a nightmare, or are you where you are now because you survived 2019?PATO O’WARD: No, I mean, I didn’t make the race in 2019 because the car sucked.
Q. Also, there was the uncertainty with the team. You were going to be —PATO O’WARD: Yeah, that was a blessing in disguise to GTFO out of there. That ultimately ended up being a blessing in disguise.I love the position I’m in right now. I love the people that I get to work with day in, day out. Yeah, I mean, I’m a believer that things do happen for a reason. I don’t think timing is always — timing doesn’t always seem like it’s on your side, but then when you look back, sometimes you’re, like, Huh, well, that worked out a lot better than I thought.Yeah, I guess it’s just part of the journey, man. It’s such a high and low. It’s just you got to ride with it. You got to ride with it. You got to just flow and, you know, make the best decision that you think you are doing at that time. Those will lead you to success.THE MODERATOR: Funny how things work out sometimes, right?PATO O’WARD: I guess (laughing).THE MODERATOR: Thanks for coming up. Good luck tomorrow.

Conor Daly joins us, driver of the No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet. Third quick overall. Seventh on no tow in the 77 laps turned today, qualifying this weekend for your 12th Indianapolis 500. Things are looking pretty good here, no?CONOR DALY: Yeah. I don’t want to get too overly excited about things. These last two days have honestly been two of the most fun days I’ve had here. I don’t know why. I mean, these guys have obviously given me a great car, and that really makes the driver’s job a lot easier, and it’s just got a lot of raw speed.That’s also thanks to Chevrolet. I think Chevrolet has done an amazing job for us. Yeah, it’s been fun. I feel like we’re quite competitive in traffic. Then our first qualifying run was seventh of the no tow, so I feel pretty decent about that. We haven’t even trimmed as much as the Penske cars.I don’t know. We’re just going to keep our expectations in check. We’re going to keep our belts tightened a little bit and see what happens.THE MODERATOR: Did you go through more than one qual run today?CONOR DALY: We tried. Yeah, we ran into some stuff at the end, but we sorted that out just with kind of like a safety lap at the end just to make sure we had everything taken care of.THE MODERATOR: We’ll open it up to questions.
Q. Conor, when you sat down, Dave said, third fastest today. How good does that make you feel coming down here after having what you’ve had in the past before coming here?CONOR DALY: I mean, people seem to — if I end up close to the front here, it’s like, Nice tow lap. Guess what Josef and Scott are doing every day. They are timing these huge tow laps to get these huge media runs. I don’t want to be given any crap about it because those guys are doing way more than we are. I was lifting on my lap. We’re in traffic.It’s just luck of the draw a lot of the times when you get a good lap here, but we’ve been two days in a row here now up at the sharper end of the grid. That’s not a mistake. I’ve been here enough years to know that if it’s much easier to just pop up there, then you’re probably in a good car, and when you are up with the Ganassis and Penskes, that’s not a bad thing.I feel really good. This isn’t anything like, Oh, we got lucky. We’ve had speed all day long and the last two days, so it feels good. It’s just something that, again, measure everything to the smallest degree. Just execute tomorrow. Don’t get too frustrated with anything because obviously you’re going to have tough days here too.Tomorrow Fast Friday is a tough one because you’re adding boost. It’s probably going to be windy. I think realistically we have got good speed in the car, and it’s been awesome to drive in traffic.
Q. Growing up in Indiana, obviously this race meant a lot to you. There’s also additional specialness with the Pacers doing well. How much more fun is it coming here in the month of May knowing that they’re doing well, everyone is in such a better mood, does it affect the team at all or you or anybody else?CONOR DALY: It’s just cool. I love the Pacers, so let’s keep winning. That’s all. It’s the greatest month of the year, and there’s so much excitement around this event. I think this year more than ever. Yeah, it feels awesome just all across the board.
Q. As the Indiana guy and as someone who has had this up and down career, to be where you are after three days here and to know that you’re probably in good shape this weekend, just emotionally how does that make you feel?CONOR DALY: Well, I mean, qualifying here I’m always pretty honest with everyone. I’ve struggled here in qualifying, without a doubt. The Andretti car that I drove here was actually the most — that was the best qualifying that I’ve had. I was comfortable, but we had a good draw too, you know what I mean? A lot of it’s about the draw.It would be awesome to have like my best qualifying. I would love to make the Fast 12. That would be awesome. That’s goodbye to be super dependent on the draw and the weather and stuff like that.But this car kind of gives me a little bit of a feeling that I had in 2021, which was the best car that I’ve ever had here for sure. Again, it’s a big statement to say. That was definitely one of our strongest races, but it kind of — I get that feeling that I’m, like, Man this thing sucks up really well in the tow and the draft, and it’s just got the ability to race well.Again, the race is the most important part. Josef Newgarden started 21st when he won. I’m not too upset about where we start. It’s just nice to have that confidence, I would say. These guys have done a great job preparing.This team has done a fantastic job, just all the meticulous detail. We’ve had a lot of small things go wrong so far this year. Just tiny little things here and there. When it comes to the speedway car, they’ve done a great job executing and bringing a fast machine.THE MODERATOR: Who is going to draw for you?CONOR DALY: I think Ricardo’s daughter.THE MODERATOR: That’s cool.CONOR DALY: I’m certainly not drawing. No one is going to draw well that way.
Q. Josef is very much embracing going for three in a row, right?CONOR DALY: Heck yeah, I would do.
Q. Why is that? I mean, this place, it’s so hard to win. We see over and over again, but he’s not running from it. He’s not being, like, I don’t know, anything can happen. He’s, like, I’m going to go take this and win three in a row, you know?CONOR DALY: When we know what we know and we see what we see and how fast those cars are and how well those cars can just go fast, I would be confident too. I mean, those guys are — like, the Penske cars are without a doubt the most impressive cars when it comes to a speed performance platform.I would be confident too. They’ve obviously won two in a row for a reason, and they got all the special information from Michael Cannon too, so then they got a little bit quicker. I was predicting a Penske front row lockout again. I don’t know. Kyle Kirkwood looks fast, though. I think Kyle Kirkwood might fight him a little bit. Maybe I would like to as well.Josef is so good here. He knows exactly what he wants. His engineer, Luke, is an awesome dude and obviously really smart too because I know he’s very smart. I enjoyed working with him. He’s got the whole package.Josef knows exactly what he wants. He’s a great champion, and he’s very smart. Yeah, can’t fault him for being confident.
Q. I’m doing a story on Buxton. I know you guys go back a long ways. What do you think he’s brought to INDYCAR in terms of helping gain attention for the series or bridging that gap between F1 fans and you guys?CONOR DALY: I think what’s interesting is Will has such a great respect for this series, and he did forever. He was commentating when I was racing in GP3. When I did the 500 for the first time, I was racing in GP3 full-time. He immediately was following it and already knew so much about it. Loved coming to America, going to INDYCAR races.I think the interesting part about the Formula 1 world is I think a lot more of the people in the paddock and the drivers maybe behind the scenes have a lot more respect for what we’re doing over here than maybe the public acknowledges or the fan base, F1 Twitter accepts.I was trying to get Daniel Ricciardo here next weekend, but I think he’s just enjoying life away from the world right now. Those guys I think have more of a respect for I think what we’re doing than maybe the fan base might, and Will is exemplifies that. He has so much love for this series. The guy is full of energy, and I think he’s a great addition for us here in Fox. I think it’s awesome.
Q. One of the questions that was asked to the previous drivers was were they surprised that some teams were racing — were practicing qualification setups. You mentioned that you were earlier. What made your team decide to do that today to get ready?CONOR DALY: I think at least in my history here there’s always a few runs at the end of Thursday just to kind of get a feel for low downforce for tomorrow.Yeah, I can’t remember a year where I haven’t done a couple of qualifying runs just before Fast Friday. It’s just to get yourself ready, get yourself mentally prepared.I mean, we were really happy with the race car as well, so yeah, I think it’s important to at least get a couple of runs and to know where you’re at. Just a quick read on, Hey, are we really struggling, or are we actually not in a bad spot?
Q. You never competed here for the pole under the old format that Rick Mears and those guys used to do where they had to get it right on one attempt if they were going to win the pole. Is the low draw more important now, or was it more important then?CONOR DALY: I obviously don’t know what it was like back then because I didn’t really get to experience it.
Q. Once you qualified, the only way you would have to pull the time, and basically that car was done.CONOR DALY: I mean, I remember seeing last year a car that was in the first three runs never had to run the rest of the day. I think it was Kyffin Simpson ran really early and just literally never ran again the rest of the day. I think the early draw is for sure very important.With the way the tires are going to deg I think with the heavier car, I think that’s going to be more important. And it depends on the wind. It depends on the sun and the air and the humidity.Yeah, it will be interesting, but I would love — we’re all crossing our fingers for that early draw.
Q. Would you have liked to have tried that old format?CONOR DALY: I don’t even know honestly.
Q. It was one attempt.CONOR DALY: I’ll race any time, anywhere, any era. Why not?

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Berry, Woods to Run Retro Scheme at Wilkesboro All-Star Race

May 15, 2025 ARP Trish

Josh Berry and the Wood Brothers are headed to historic North Wilkesboro Speedway for Sunday’s NASCAR All-Star Race. The DEX Imaging Mustang will carry a paint scheme based on the one Michael Waltrip drove to a dramatic victory in the 1996 running of the non-points spectacular, then known as the Winston Select.As the Woods celebrate their 75 years in the sport, the win by Waltrip is one of the all-time highlights. Waltrip and the 21 were not considered a contender entering the weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway. They had to run the preliminary Open and barely squeaked into the starting field for the main event, finishing fifth to take the final transfer spot to the main event.In that 70-lap race, Waltrip drove through the field, taking the lead from Dale Earnhardt in the final segment with nine laps remaining. He then drove away from the pack to take the win over Rusty Wallace, Earnhardt, Mark Martin and Terry Labonte.The win was a big boost for the Woods at a time they needed one, and it gave Waltrip the funds to buy his mother a new home.As the team heads into the current All-Star Race, Berry and the DEX Imaging crew are guaranteed a starting spot in the main event, thanks to a win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March.“I’m excited for this weekend,” Berry said. “It’ll be my third trip to North Wilkesboro. I was fortunate to win the Open race in 2023 in the 48 car and race my way into the big show, which was really cool. This time, knowing you’re already locked in adds a different kind of excitement. I’m looking forward to taking part in more of the actual racing and qualifying, especially with the Pit Crew Challenge. It’s a great opportunity for our crew to go out there and showcase what they can do. With the heat races as well, there’s going to be a lot more on-track time for me, and that just makes the weekend even more fun.”Practice at North Wilkesboro is set for Friday at 4 p.m. Eastern Time to be followed by qualifying at 7 p.m.The qualifying session includes the Pit Crew Challenge. Drivers will take the green flag and run one lap at speed then come onto pit road for a four-tire stop. Back on the track they will run to the checkered flag. The fastest team earns a $100,000 bonus and the pole for the first heat and the All-Star race.Two 75-lap heat races are set for Saturday, with the opener getting the green flag just after 5:20 p.m.On Sunday, the 100-lap Open, for drivers not already in the All-Star Race, is set to get the green flag just after 5:30 p.m., with the 250-lap main event getting under way just after 8 p.m. FS1 is carrying the TV coverage.

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Airport Raceway Built on Passion, Made For Garden City Community

May 15, 2025 ARP Trish

The Xtreme Outlaw Midgets will make their debut at Jack Crook’s Airport Raceway, May 23-25

GARDEN CITY, KS (May 15, 2025) – Airport Raceway in Garden City, KS was built from a love for racing.

When the city closed down the area’s dirt track to build a landfill, Jack Crook and a few of his friends were determined to keep racing alive for local racers and fans. Their answer was the construction of Airport Raceway – less than a mile from the Garden City Regional Airport – in 1990.

“We just all loved racing,” Crook said.

That love has allowed for the growth of Micro and Midget racing in the area and for the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota to make its debut at the track during Memorial Day weekend for the Midget Roundup, Friday-Sunday, May 23-25.

Airport was built as a 1/6-mile dirt track, which at the time, Crook said he and the other owners thought might be big for a Micro track, but has turned out to be the perfect size for Micro and Midget racing.

“We’re hoping with the geometry and the banking, they’ll enjoy it,” Crook said. “Out on the outside, I would guess it is real close to a quarter mile. We’re right inside of there. It’s about a quarter at the top. It’s not quite, but it’s almost there. It’s wide. I promise you, the looks of it… matter of fact, I think our track has a little more banking than the Chili Bowl, but you wouldn’t know the difference from one or the other.

“I’m telling you, it’ll be wall to wall… there will be a lot of good side-by-side action… It’ll be, I don’t know how better to say it, dynamic.”

The Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series will race in association with the Rocky Mountain Midget Racing Association (RMMRA), which has had a fundamental impact on Airport Raceway.

RMMRA is the oldest Midget association in the country, having been founded in 1940, and was one of the first groups to race at Airport when it opened.

“As far as keeping the Midget series alive, they’ve been the backbone,” Crook said about their involvement with the track. “Without those guys, I wouldn’t have kept running Midgets. They are still what I call old school… a club. I have good relations with all their club presidents. With those guys, I appreciate them, and I know they do us as well.”

Crook left the ownership group of Airport for about 15 years to support his son’s Sprint Car career. During that time, those left in charge of the track decided to no longer run Midgets. But when Crooks returned 10 years ago, becoming the sole promoter of the track, his first goal was to bring Midget racing back to Airport and did so with the help of the Rocky Mountain Midget Racing Association.

Between the cars RMMRA and Xtreme will bring, Crook expects a healthy car count for the event, which will also feature Micro classes.

When Airport Raceway opened in 1990, Crook said about five cars showed up for the first race. But since then, he’s seen it grow into his original vision of a haven for local racers, now bringing in over 30 cars on race night.

Adding an Xtreme Outlaw Midget event to the schedule has brought his vision to a level Crook said he has a hard time putting into words.

“It’s a dream to be honest,” he said. “I can’t say it any other way. How else can you word it when you have the premier Midget series, in my opinion, coming to your track? Everybody is talking about it. It has been a cool deal for our community.

“It’s important to myself and my crew to pull this off because we want them back. There is no doubt in my mind I want them back. We’re going to try and pull out all the stops.”

The Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series will be hosting a cookout for drivers and teams on Saturday night, sponsored by Honest Abe Roofing, with nearly $6,000 in prizes to give away from CSI Shocks ($500 in product) DIRTVision (annual FASTPASS), DMI ($1,000 in product), Driven Midwest, FK Rod Ends (four complete sets of rod ends), FK Shocks, Sharp Advantage (two knee guards), Ultra Shield Race Products (three boxes of tare-offs), VP Fuels (one set of fuel jugs), and Wilwood Brakes (complete Midget brake package).

Don’t miss the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota, along with the Rocky Mountain Midget Racing Association, at Airport Raceway for the Midget Roundup, May 23-25. Friday will be a practice night with Saturday’s Feature paying $4,000 to win and Sunday’s Feature paying $5,000 to win.

Get your tickets now by CLICKING HERE. Get $5 off your ticket when using code MCINTOSH71K.

If you can’t make it to the track, you can watch every lap live on DIRTVision.

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ZIZZO RACING LOOKING TO TAKE NEXT STEP IN CHICAGO

May 15, 2025 ARP Trish

CHICAGO (May 15, 2025) — This weekend at the Gerber Collision & Glass Rt. 66 Nationals, May 16-18, TJ Zizzo and his Rust-Oleum sponsored Top Fuel dragster will be looking to build on the success they showed last year when they captured the No. 1 qualifier and raced to the quarterfinals. Zizzo Racing has been steadily building a race-winning program for over two decades and this season the team and Zizzo feel they are coming into the season with all the pieces needed to race into the winner’s circle.

“We have worked throughout the off-season making our race car better. This Rust-Oleum Top Fuel dragster has been so close, and I think we can get there. Last year we were consistently one of the quickest race cars in qualifying,” said Zizzo, from his Chicago-based shop. “Everything about drag racing is evaluating your progress and adjusting. I think we have all the parts and experience to turn on more win lights on race day.”

They raced with a new race car two years ago and continued to fine tune their tune-up last year thanks to their success throughout the 2024 season. Crew chief Mike Kern and the Rust-Oleum team have been working diligently over the off-season to make sure Zizzo Racing is positioned for success once again when the season starts this weekend.

“I can’t say enough great things about Mike and our Rust-Oleum Zizzo Racing crew,” said Zizzo. “We did so many things right last season I can’t wait to get on the track in Chicago this weekend. For years we would go to every race with the mindset of winning. Now I truly feel like we are a team that can run low ET and turn on win lights.”

Prior to last year’s No. 1 effort Zizzo’s best qualifying effort came in 2018 when he raced to the No. 5 spot only to be upset in the first round by Scott Palmer. In 2017, Zizzo qualified No. 8 and took out Pat Dakin and Brittany Force in the first two rounds only to be ousted by eventual winner Steve Torrence in the semifinals. Zizzo has raced to the semifinals twice in Chicago in 2017 and 2023. In four of his last five appearances at the Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals the Rust-Oleum Top Fuel team has raced to at least the quarterfinals.

TJ Zizzo 2024 Route 66 Nationals No. 1 qualifier

“Last year was huge for our team but we want to make more memorable moments,” said Zizzo. “We will have several marketing partners at the race, and we’ll be hosting our Saturday morning pancake breakfast once again for the fans. I have missed seeing the fans the most since we wrapped up our season last year. We love racing in Chicago. It is our hometown track. The guys from the body shop get to come to the race which is cool.”

Qualifying for the Gerber Collision and Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals will begin on Friday, May 16 with two sessions of the three professional categories. On Saturday, fans will be treated to two more qualifying sessions. The quickest 16 race cars, dragsters and motorcycles will race for the famed Wally trophy beginning at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday. The race will be broadcast nationally on FS1 Sunday evening.

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WORTH THE WAIT: Gravel Tops Ohsweken Thriller in World of Outlaws Return to Canada

May 15, 2025 ARP Trish

The defending champion outduels Carson Macedo late for his seventh victory of 2025

OHSWEKEN, ON (May 14, 2025) – There’s a reason so many circled the return of Ohsweken Speedway when the 2025 World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series schedule was released. Wednesday night showed exactly why.

The Federated Auto Parts Showdown at Ohsweken brought The Greatest Show on Dirt back to Canada for the first time since 2017. Ohsweken was a staple of the schedule from the late 2000s to 2017 before the hiatus. The slick 3/8 mile delivered thrillers without fail whenever the tour rolled to town. Hype was off the charts heading into Wednesday, and Ohsweken didn’t let us down.

First, an all-time World of Outlaws upset looked to be brewing as Harding, PA’s Jordan Thomas, making only his fifth Series appearance, rocketed out to the early lead from the pole. But David Gravel did what David Gravel does and patiently reeled Thomas in and snatched the top spot on Lap 12.

The defending Series champion was in control after grabbing the lead, but a Lap 19 restart set the stage for a thrilling conclusion. The green flew, and Carson Macedo used a monster restart to surge from fifth to the lead as he slid Gravel in Turns 1 and 2. The two titans of the sport then waged war over the next several laps. Gravel fought back with sliders, and Macedo countered with crossovers. Gravel finally delivered the dagger on Lap 23 with a perfectly executed slide job that Macedo couldn’t fight back from.

That was all she wrote. Gravel drove the Big Game Motorsports No. 2 comfortably ahead on the route to his Series-leading seventh checkered flag of 2025.

“I think you could race on every square inch of this track, and you can’t ask for anymore,” Gravel said. “I thought I was good here, and then I looked back at the results, and my best finish was fifth out of six times and that was about it. But I had a lot of confidence coming in, had a lot more laps here than a lot of the other guys that are on tour. It’s a slick racetrack Cody (Jacobs) and I were really excited for.”

Ohsweken made it 110 career World of Outlaws wins for Gravel, and he’s now only a dozen behind Danny Lasoski for sixth all-time. He’s the seventh driver to claim a race with The Greatest Show on Dirt at the Ontario 3/8 mile. The victory also stretched his point lead to over a full race’s worth of security as the gap between he and Logan Schuchart sits at 158 markers.

“It just feels really good,” Gravel said. “That 79 (Jordan Thomas), man, he had a hell of a pace. He was doing a great job, and the air really slowed him down in lapped traffic and kind of came to us. We just bided our time, and it all worked out. I’m really proud of my guys. They gave me a great race car all night long.”

Sheldon Haudenschild stole the runner-up spot from Macedo with only a few laps remaining, completing a strong charge from sixth to second over the final 10 laps. The driver of the Stenhouse Jr.-Marshall Racing/NOS Energy Drink No. 17 felt he might’ve had a shot at Victory Lane if the main event had stayed green.

“I just got a little bit more wing in it as we were rolling,” Haudenschild explained. “I was really good on that long run, just on that restart Macedo went from fifth to the lead and just took advantage of the local guy there. I still feel like we had the best car tonight. We ran David down there at the end. We just lost 12 laps there with that restart.”

After his incredible restart and battle with Gravel, Carson Macedo came home third in the Jason Johnson Racing No. 41. The Lemoore, CA native gave the fans a show but didn’t quite have the speed to hold off Gravel at the end.

“I think the 79 fired off a little bit up, and there was a strip of grip right next to the wall on the bottom, and I was able to squeeze next to him there,” Macedo said. “I just kind of used that grip all the way down the frontstretch and just propelled me into Turn 1. Then I tried to get on defense mode. I felt really confident and good in (Turns) 3 and 4, but in (Turns) 1 and 2 I was struggling just a little bit to get off of (Turn) 2.”

Bill Balog and Jordan Thomas completed the top five.

Dylan Westbrook earned the KSE Racing Hard Charger with a run from 20th to 11th.

Sheldon Haudenschild claimed the 39th Simpson Quick Time of his career in Honest Abe Roofing Qualifying.

Heat Races went to Carson Macedo (NOS Energy Drink Heat One), Bill Balog (Real American Beer Heat Two), David Gravel (WIX Filters Heat Three), and Giovanni Scelzi (TheGreatestStoreonDirt.com Heat Four).

The #SPATechnique #1 Redraw went to Chris Windom.

Jordan Thomas topped the Toyota Dash.

Garet Williamson won the Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown.

The Smith Titanium Brake Systems Break of the Race went to Conner Morrell.

UP NEXT: The Federated Auto Parts Showdown at Ohsweken Speedway on Thursday, May 15 serves up a $20,000-to-win/$1,500-to-start finale for the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars. For tickets, CLICK HERE.

For the remaining 2025 schedule, CLICK HERE.

If you can’t make it to the track, catch every lap live on DIRTVision.

FEATURE RESULTS:

NOS Energy Drink Feature (30 Laps): 1. 2-David Gravel[2]; 2. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[7]; 3. 41-Carson Macedo[8]; 4. 17B-Bill Balog[5]; 5. 79-Jordan Thomas[1]; 6. 15-Donny Schatz[12]; 7. 83-Michael Kofoid[13]; 8. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[4]; 9. 6-Zach Hampton[15]; 10. 7S-Chris Windom[3]; 11. 47X-Dylan Westbrook[20]; 12. 1S-Logan Schuchart[9]; 13. 2C-Cole Macedo[11]; 14. 28-Jordan Poirier[19]; 15. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg[14]; 16. 94-Todd Hoddick[18]; 17. 45-Nick Sheridan[22]; 18. 17X-Cory Turner[17]; 19. 15T-Ryan Turner[24]; 20. 28M-Conner Morrell[10]; 21. 52-Stewart Friesen[16]; 22. 22-Jonathan Preston[6]; 23. 23-Garet Williamson[21]; 24. 98-Joe Trenca[23]

For complete results, CLICK HERE.

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Team Chevy drivers post four of the top six fastest speeds in Day Two of practice for the 109th running of the Indianapolis 500

May 15, 2025 ARP Trish

CHEVROLET IN NTT INDYCAR SERIESINDIANAPOLIS 500INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANATEAM CHEVY PRACTICE REPORTWEDNESDAY, MAY 14, 2025

For the second straight day, Will Power, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, was the fastest Team Chevy driver with a quick lap of 225.584mph, the second fastest lap of the day.Josef Newgarden, No. 2 Shell V-Power NiTRO Team Penske Chevrolet at 225.545mph, Conor Daly, Conor Daly, No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet at 224.931mph and David Malukas, No. 4 A.J. Foyt Racing Chevrolet at 224.618mph rounded out the top six. Ed Carpenter Racing were fast on the non-tow list, with Christian Rasmussen, No. 21 Splenda ECR Chevrolet at 221.116mph, and Alexander Rossi, No. 20 Java House ECR Chevrolet at 221.277mph.Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 Pennzoil Team Penske Chevrolet at 237.724mph, led a Team Chevy top six in the speed trap at the Yard of Bricks. Heavy overnight rain delayed Indianapolis 500 practice for the second straight day, which began an hour late and was interrupted twice by sprinkles. The track was green for three and a half hours, enough for the 34 drivers to complete 2555 laps. Kyle Larson in the No. 17 HendrickCars.com Arrow McLaren Chevrolet was the busiest Team Chevy driver, completing 107 laps, over half the race distance.Tony Kanaan, designated standby driver for the No.17 Hendrickcars.comArrow McLaren Chevrolet of Kyle Larson, who is attempting the Indianapolis 500/Coca Cola 600 double, had his refresher course rained on for the second straight day, and will take place at 10 am Thursday.
Indianapolis 500 Wednesday Practice Results

Indianapolis 500 Wednesday Non-Tow Practice Results

Indianapolis 500 practice tune-in alert
Thursday, May 15· NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice – noon-4pm (ET)/11am-3pm (CT)/10am-2pm (MT)/9am-1pm (PT) – FS2/ INDYCAR Radio Network/SIRIUSXM 218· NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice – 4pm-6pm (ET)/3pm-5pm (CT)/2pm-4pm (MT)/1pm-3pm (PT) – FS1/ INDYCAR Radio Network/SIRIUSXM 218 Friday, May 16· NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice – noon-4pm (ET)/11am-3pm (CT)/10am-2pm (MT)/9am-1pm (PT) – FS2/ INDYCAR Radio Network/SIRIUSXM 218· NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice – 4pm-6pm (ET)/3pm-5pm (CT)/2pm-4pm (MT)/1pm-3pm (PT) – FS1/ INDYCAR Radio Network/SIRIUSXM 218
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING INDIANAPOLIS 500 PRACTICE (QUOTES) A.J. Foyt Enterprises David Malukas, No. 4 AJ FOYT RACING Chevrolet:All right day two is a wrap and another very good day for us. We went in a very good direction with the car overnight. Then we even finished the day a bit early. I’m kind of just preparing for some bigger changes going into tomorrow but extremely happy with the work we’ve managed to do with these short windows from day one and into today with the rain, but it’s easy with the car being unloaded in a good spot. So very happy with the way things are going so hopefully we keep the streak going in the next few days. Arrow McLaren Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet: “Good to be out turning laps, but we’re not quite where we want to be yet. We have some work to do, and we’ll see what tomorrow brings.” Nolan Siegel, No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:“We had a solid day two. We’re happy with the balance and have made some small gains, chipping away at that. We’re working our way into traffic and that changed the balance quite a bit. We still have a bit to find there, but overall it’s still comfortable. The main thing is having a smooth few days into Qualifying and we’ll continue finding more speed every day.” Christian Lundgaard, No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:“It was a good second day from where we left off. We’re moving in one direction, which is the right way. We’re leaving Wednesday as happy as Tuesday, which is a step up compared to the Open Test. There’s a lot of momentum being built. The No. 7 VELO Arrow McLaren Chevrolet is great running out front. There’s more work to be done deeper in the traffic, but there’s a simple way to do that by qualifying and racing up front. Looking at it realistically, we need to work on getting the car better deeper into the pack and we should be in pretty good shape.” Kyle Larson, No. 17 HendrickCars.com Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:“I’m glad we were able to get some race runs today compared to yesterday. That’s really what I wanted to focus on mainly today. We were able to try running in the front of the pack and the middle and get an idea for the balance especially with the cars we were running around.” DRR-Cusick Mostorsports Ryan Hunter-Reay, No.23 DRR CUSICK WEDBUSH SECURITIES: “Today was super useful despite the rain delay. We got through a lot of stuff and we found a good direction with the Wedbush Chevy. In terms of racing running. And I’m looking forward to more of it on Thursday. I’m thankful for the hard work of the team in finding the proper direction. I feel good with the race car right now. But we to find a little more on Thursday.” Jack Harvey, No. 24 DRR CUSICK INVST: “Overall, it was a well-executed day for the INVST crew. We verified the changes we made overnight that worked today. We actually stayed out in pit lane as a rainstorm was coming. And we ran some additional laps. We wanted to get as many laps as possible if it did rain. We did a good job minimizing the time in the garage today. We tried various things, and we went back to the direction we like and made me more confident. All the years here at IMS, confidence is a big thing for me with the race car. For the race setup, we have made improvements each day.” Ed Carpenter Racing Alexander Rossi, No. 20 Java House ECR Chevrolet:“They are all good days at the (Indianapolis Motor) Speedway. It ebbs and flows, but we’re learning things we need to learn. You always feel like you never have enough time here. Two more, obviously, important days ahead of us.”
Christian Rasmussen, No. 21 Splenda ECR Chevrolet:“That is practice day two done here at IMS. Good day for us. Ended up P10 overall, and P2 on the no-tow list. We will keep working on all the traffic running, but I think we are in a good spot. Excited to see what this month brings.”
Juncos Hollinger Racing Conor Daly, No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet:“I feel good. Today was a nice reset after yesterday. Got through a couple things that we wanted to. I feel quite confident in this car, honestly. It feels really good. I think we have some good natural speed, but we just have to keep dialing in the balance. But don’t want to over-react too much, but it feels good. Today was a good day for us.”
Team Penske Josef Newgarden, No. 2 Shell V-Power NiTRO+ Team Penske Chevrolet: “It’s showing good signs to begin. It’s a long process. You can have the quickest car in the field, and that doesn’t mean you’re going to win the race. I think it takes a lot of ingredients, clearly, to win at this place. I think we have a few of them that are starting to show themselves in favorable conditions.Right now I think the car is in a really good place. We just have to continue to go through the motions. Qualifying is going to be its own thing. We’re going to find out exactly where everybody else is at as we get to Friday, and hopefully we’ll be in a good spot there.”
Will Power, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet: “Yeah, I felt pretty good in traffic. I just sat in a line of, I don’t know, ten cars or something. Just sat there going about the same speed. It was kind of, yeah, hard to tell, which the race is a completely different story to qualifying. Almost speed doesn’t quite matter. It’s more about handling, which looks like everyone’s car is handling well too. Everyone is doing long stints. The car is fine. It’s crazy. I think the cool temps help as well.”

Josef NewgardenWill PowerPress Conference
THE MODERATOR: Josef Newgarden, driver of the No. 2 Shell V-Power NiTRO+ Team Penske Chevrolet. As noted, the two-time Indy 500 champion and reigning champion. Third quick overall. Eighth quick no tow. Josef, you got your stuff done early and can watch this practice end, I guess, today?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I was watching. I was watching and then I got called over here.
THE MODERATOR: It happens.
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I’m missing the last ten minutes. I’ve been watching. This guy is going right here. I had my commentary ripping on the bus, which was good. I was watching like everybody else.
Been up and down with the weather, but for the most part we’ve had really good running. Even yesterday where some rain interrupted the beginning, we still got a lot of track time, and we got a lot of track time today. No complaints so far. I think we’ll get good sunny days for the rest of the week.
THE MODERATOR: Clearly very quick yesterday. Again, very quick today. Does that bode well for this coming weekend and maybe on the ranks?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: It’s showing good signs to begin. It’s a long process. You can have the quickest car in the field, and that doesn’t mean you’re going to win the race. I think it takes a lot of ingredients, clearly, to win at this place. I think we have a few of them that are starting to show themselves in favorable conditions.
Right now I think the car is in a really good place. We just have to continue to go through the motions. Qualifying is going to be its own thing. We’re going to find out exactly where everybody else is at as we get to Friday, and hopefully we’ll be in a good spot there.
Then the race will be a whole other animal, and we’ll figure that out next weekend.
THE MODERATOR: We’ll open it up to questions.
Q. Josef, Chevy seems fast, and maybe a little bit of speed that they haven’t shown yet through five races. Do you feel that way as well?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I think we’re definitely quick. Honda is a tough competitor. This is racing. It goes up and down, so you can never be too confident when you are going into something.
I said this earlier in the week. Every single one of my INDYCAR victories have been Chevrolet-powered. All 31 of them. I always feel I have a shot when I go into the race.
Certainly with Team Penske, the conjunction of those two, I always feel like I have the opportunity to win every single weekend. Where the ultimate performance is going to lie is going to be Saturday and Sunday this weekend and then Sunday the weekend after.
We’ve been here many times where we thought we were pretty quick going into the weekend, and then we were nowhere. So I don’t ever get ahead. I’ve learned to never get ahead of myself here.
I think Chevrolet has done a good job. We were in a great place last year. They definitely got to make a step because we knew Honda was probably going to make a step, and I think we’ve tried to. So far it looks good this week. It’s just going to be a matter of how does it progress into the weekend is what we’re going to need to look for.
Q. My second question comes from Twitter.
THE MODERATOR: Or X.
Q. X. It’s a high-level —
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Is it an AI question?
Q. No, it’s a real person. Obviously Kanaan is having some trouble getting out there to do his refresher course. They said if you polled all the drivers, would any of the drivers have an issue with Kanaan not getting the refresher course?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I saw this. Is he running?
THE MODERATOR: It’s a backup plan.
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: In case they need him for Larson. Would he jump in… Oh, for the race. Not necessarily to qualify the car. Yeah.
You know, I’m a big fan. It’s hard to answer these questions. I love the traditions of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. I would want to be very respectful of them. There are some things clearly that should stay traditions.
You know, the refresher thing, I’m not as positive on. I was actually just talking to another driver about it this morning. I mean, someone like Tony Kanaan doesn’t need a refresher. It’s up to the team. If the team wants to put Tony Kanaan in the car, then put him in the car. If he wrecks the car, then that was the team’s decision to do that.
I think when it’s big-time auto racing, there should be some oversight. It’s not necessarily, hey, just let the teams do whatever they want, but I think there’s some parameters that could be put in place where a guy like Tony Kanaan who clearly could jump in a car no problem tomorrow, should probably be allowed to do that.
I certainly have no issue with it. There might be some room for improvement there in the future in my opinion, but with staying respectful to the traditions of the speedway, I think you can make something where it satisfies both sides.
Q. I’m having trouble understanding what the hybrid is really doing out there for you guys. Is it making the car feel more twitchy? Can you even tell a difference? I hear, Okay, it drives differently, but how? What are you feeling out there that’s making it drive different?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: The big reason it’s driving differently is not necessarily the hybrid interacting with the car. It is the weight of the hybrid. That’s where you are getting all the comments.
Why is the car different? It is just the weight is up. You’re 100, 110 pounds heavier. That’s a lot of mass percentage-wise that you are adding to this car. It’s saturating the tires more. It’s just moving around. The CG changes a little bit. It raises slightly. Your weight distribution is shifted depending on where teams are putting it. That’s what people are trying to figure out right now.
You add 100 pounds to this thing, it’s almost like adding 200, 250 pounds to a stock car. If you said, Hey, guys, we’re going to bolt 250 pounds to these stock cars, see what you think, I bet they would all go, Okay, this drives differently, and now we have to counteract it.
The hybrid itself and the utilization, I have said this. I do think it’s very important here. It’s more important at this track than anywhere we’ve gone because of the drag level. We’ve not run in a superspeedway configuration yet with this hybrid, so it’s very, very low drag on the cars. Because of that, they’re very power-sensitive.
Any time you use something to add power, you feel the magnification of it here more than anywhere else. When you are using the hybrid on the straightaway, it makes a very big difference.
Where are you are regenerating it and where you are using it, to either pass or defend or for whatever situation, I think there’s repercussions for burning it, and there’s certainly reward for utilizing it correctly.
Q. At the open test the last couple of years you’ve been very confident with how your car was handling. Are you at that level of confidence now? How far along are you all in progressing, figuring out how to get the setup just right with the hybrid weight in the back?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, the great thing about the open test the last few years is you get this big head start coming into the month. If you are fortunate enough to show up with a pretty good car and get that dialed in in the test, then you don’t have a lot of work to do by the time we get to this week.
I feel like we got on top of the hybrid pretty quickly so far. This is only a certain set of conditions that I’ve felt. If it gets much hotter, say it’s 85, 87 and the track temp shoots through the roof at 120, 125, you know, I think that changes the condition and feel of the car.
I’m still open-minded that we don’t have everything checked, but the early signs of where we’re at I think is great. I think we’re in a really good window. My car feels fantastic. That’s only one piece of the puzzle.
Q. What we’re seeing the first couple of days obviously is race running, but as far as when you start trimming it out for speed, I get asked this on the radio network earlier, if we could see a repeat of what you guys did here last year by sweeping the front row. Do you think you can do it a second year in a row?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I think it’s possible, definitely. We’re coming from a very good spot last year, so everyone is going to have to make a big jump, which is possible. We know that everyone gets better every year. So we’ve tried to make a step too to retain hopefully a speed advantage.
It’s definitely possible. You know, we can do it. I don’t know that that’s going to materialize, but we’re trying to put our best foot forward and put three fast cars on the track.
They look quick. We’ll see what it brings on Saturday and Sunday.
Q. Do you think Team Penske has crept ahead just a little bit over Chip Ganassi Racing because they used to have a pretty good handle on qualifying here?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I think last year for sure. This year is to be determined. It’s so hard to give you an absolute. I just don’t know until we get to Saturday. When it’s for real, we’re going to see where everyone is really at.
THE MODERATOR: Checkered flag is out. Palou, Power, and Josef, the top three.
Q. You’ve experienced a lot of great success here the last couple of years. What would a first-time Indy 500 pole mean to you here on Sunday?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I don’t know. I’ve never gone through it. I’ll say this, though… I’ve talked about Indy as it’s this magnification of the team effort more than anywhere else that we go, and I mean that.
It’s a team sport more than people realize when you watch racing. Indy is like the greatest example of it. Here more than anywhere else everything has to go perfectly as a team and a unit, and I think that’s on the greatest display in qualifying.
So when you qualify well here, it a reward for the total team. I think that’s why you saw such satisfaction last year amongst the whole team. When you lock out the front row, I signed more front row photos than anything else for the team because that’s gratifying for everybody involved. It shows the work that’s been put in.
I think from a team standpoint it’s more satisfying. The win is still very much a big team thing, but you get a little more personal satisfaction out of it. I guess to answer your question, being on pole here, I would like to see it again for the team. I liked to see what happened last year for the team. It was really cool to see that in the garage. If we can do it again, I know what it’s going to look like.
Q. As we’ve gotten this additional weight added to the car, do you have a feeling yet on what is possible in those late race situations? If something really late on the back stretch going into three is still possible with the car as it is now?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: It seems possible. In my head, you know. I wanted to try some things out today, and itself, like, you probably need to park me, just let me sit out. I’m getting a little too excited out here. Things can work out here and be magical until they’re not.
It goes so quickly from fantastic to disaster, and you’re just flirting with that line. I think the racing style is going to be very similar this year to what we saw last year. That’s what the early indication advisory shown me.
What I felt today, I don’t think it will be a dramatic departure to what people saw at the end of the race last year, unless it’s crazy hot. If we somehow get like a 90 degree day, super high track temp, that’s just going to string the field out. You sort of can’t do anything about that. It is what it is.
I think if it’s a normal, typical 75, 80 degree Indiana day, I think you’re going to have a similar show to what we had last year, with the similar ability to do what you’ve seen.
Q. You know better than I do. The heavy rain it in the morning, I suppose cools the temperature down. Is a different setup required for cold temperature than for very hot temperature?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yes, definitely, definitely. The rain contributed to cooling it before we started, so it was a fairly — I think it was probably 95 degrees when we started practice today, so it came from a lower level. Especially it being whatever it was, 1:00, 1:15 when we rolled out.
You run the car very differently if it’s 120 degrees versus 90 or 95. The car, the tires, they react very, very differently. That’s why I said earlier, in certain conditions my car feels pretty solid. We don’t know what it could be like in extreme conditions. At least extreme on the other end of the temp spectrum.
Yeah, you’ve got to be ready to combat that. Some guys have cars that are really good in the heat. Some guys have cars that are really good in the cold. Some have both. Ideally you like to have a car that’s flexible because you need different cars in different conditions.
Q. (Off microphone)
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I don’t care. I normally like the harder condition. Typically hot is tougher around this place, so make it cold, make it hot, but yeah, when it’s harder, it’s more fun.
Q. Earlier you said you learned to never get ahead of yourself. With success and it can be so easy and human nature to build pride or get complacent, but what keeps you humble as you head for three straight?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I almost think winning the race was more humbling for me. I feel just so grateful to have been here. I kind of got there 24 months ago. I was so enamored with trying to win in this race. It seemed like it was like a needed thing. Like you have to win here. Otherwise, your career is a failure. That’s what people have always kind of painted it as. I think I got too consumed by it.
Then winning it has just made it very gratifying. If anything, I just feel more thankful now to have been here. I’ve told people too, if you focus on the end result, the winning the race, you’re missing the point that you have already succeeded so much by just being here.
You get here. You qualify. You’re on the grid. You’re already winning in so many ways. That’s what I feel when I show up. I try and remind myself of that. It doesn’t matter that we’ve won it a couple of minutes. I’m just still thankful to be here this year and to have another shot. That’s what I’m focusing on is just the next opportunity, which we have in front of us right now.
Q. You mentioned earlier about Chevy making gains, Honda making gains. We’re talking about engines that have been running since the fall of 2011. How much more do you think is there to get out of these engines?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: You would be surprised. We’re still finding stuff. Chevrolet made a great jump last year. They’re still making it happen. I think we’ve made another — I think we can make another step this year.
As much as they’ve been — you’ve kind of rung the thing out as much as you can, there’s still just a little bit left in there it seems like. We’re searching for it.
It’s becoming more detail-specific. You really have to be fantastic on the details these days. Not just as a manufacturer, but as a team. The field is so compressed that if you don’t nail the details, you will not win, and you will not find the next step in front of the competition.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Josef.
Joined now by Will Power, driver the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet. Of course, the 2018 winner of the Indianapolis 500. Currently seventh in points. Second quick in the overall session. 13th I think, the last time I looked. Tell us about your day. What did you get done?
WILL POWER: Yeah, I think we’ve got a reasonable package right now. Seems very difficult to pass when you are in the back of the pack, but car stayed really consistent through the rounds, yeah.
THE MODERATOR: We’ll open it up to questions.
Q. Same question I asked Josef. Chevy looks pretty good and has not looked so great through the first five races. How are you feeling about what they’ve brought so far?
WILL POWER: Yeah, I actually haven’t looked. It’s so hard to tell right now. We won’t know until maybe Friday. We’ll start to see some sort of indication. Really Saturday, to be honest.
Q. (Off microphone)
WILL POWER: Yeah, I felt pretty good in traffic. I just sat in a line of, I don’t know, ten cars or something.
Just sat there going about the same speed. It was kind of, yeah, hard to tell, which the race is a completely different story to qualifying.
Almost speed doesn’t quite matter. It’s more about handling, which looks like everyone’s car is handling well too. Everyone is doing long stints. The car is fine. It’s crazy. I think the cool temps help as well.
Q. (Off microphone)
WILL POWER: If it gets hot, it’s more difficult, but it looks like race day is about this temp. It’s going to be similar to last year. Very similar.
Q. (Off microphone)
WILL POWER: It might rain first and then hopefully dry. It would suck to have to do a Monday or Tuesday, yeah.
Q. Seven of the eight fastest cars today were either Ganassi or Penske or one of their affiliates. Is this kind of coming down to one of those Ganassi versus Penske weeks?
WILL POWER: I don’t know. Maybe both the bosses are, like, You better get out there and get a big tow, or you’re going to be at the top of the Times. I don’t know.
Yeah, usually. Yeah, I think even with tows it is an indication of car speed for sure or car handling and speed. It’s so hard to tell, man. It hasn’t been as many full-tank pack runs this year as there have been. Maybe it’s because of the rain and so on.
THE MODERATOR: Tomorrow looks dry, but there’s going to be a ton of that tomorrow, do you think?
WILL POWER: No. No, I think a lot of people switch to quallie tomorrow. Yeah. Start with a bit of race and then quickly get into quallie stuff.
Q. With the added weight of the hybrid in the back, how much does this feel like a brand new car, or does it just feel slightly different than last year?
WILL POWER: It feels very similar. Very similar. Honestly, the biggest changes are the changes you actually do suspension-wise to make the car better or worse. Yeah, honestly in racing it’s very similar.
Q. So your level of comfort now compared to what it was at this time last year, how would you gauge that?
WILL POWER: Mine is a lot more, yeah. I’ve actually found a pretty good setup.
Q. So why is that? You guys obviously had a fast car last year. Why are you feeling a lot more comfortable at this point already than last year?
WILL POWER: I had a fast car in qualifying. Definitely not in the race. I just went backwards the whole race on any restarts. It feels a lot better.
It is quite a different setup. Quite different from last few, so it’s what sort of direction we needed to go.
Q. When we were talking Wednesday after second practice, we’ve had a little bit of delays. In your experience does a confident week and a half before the race, does that typically still follow through and get you into feeling confident on race day, or how much can things change from now until Sunday when we’re rolling out on May 25th?
WILL POWER: Hard to say, man. You just have one session. It tips over a bit, and you start getting a bit uncomfortable, but yeah, I think you’ve got to be on top of your tools.
I think once you’ve got your round-about philosophy, you just sort of go on minor changes. That should keep you in your window, if you know what you’re doing.
Q. I guess you were talking a little bit about the people you were running with, and you felt like you were maybe stuck in line a little bit. Were there any cars in particular you felt were really strong?
WILL POWER: I think my two teammates look really good. Palou looked good. He was running trying to get a big tow lap, I suppose. Maybe he was on light fuel.
Rosenqvist. I sat in a line, man. Everyone looked about the same. No one was really passing. Some cars were closer. Yeah, it’s difficult to tell. Very hard to tell.
Q. You’ve got a gap of 120 points to Alex Palou in the points standing, which is obviously quite a big deficit already. Do you feel your season rides even more on the 500 now considering the points gap you do have?
WILL POWER: You most certainly have to start beating Alex. I mean, yeah, I haven’t beaten him once this year. I would like to start slowly chipping away at that.
It’s funny, how quickly things can turn around. It would be nice if it was double points and he had a bad day. I’m not joking. It would be crazy if that was the case and it switched around like that.
Yeah, two bad races for him and two good for me, and you start getting back within a race worth of points. There’s a lot of guys very close from second all the way back to where I am, I suppose, or eighth.
Q. I remember last year you sort of came into qualifying having such confidence that Penske would lock out the front row. Do you have a similar confidence going into this year, or do you think you’ll have more competition?
WILL POWER: I think it will be closer, yeah, for a number of reasons. Not just people caught up. It’s probably a bit of a different — it looks like it’s windy. It’s going to be more difficult because of the weight. I think that’s more pronounced in qualifying trim when you are on lighter downforce.
Yeah, I can see it being a little less about the speed of the car, but more about the handling.
THE MODERATOR: Forecast is for less rain. Thanks for coming up, Will.

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Hart Ready to Continue Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown Improvement in Chicago

May 15, 2025 ARP Trish

OCALA, FLA. (May 14, 2025) — The Burnyzz Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown Dodge Challenger and driver Josh Hart will be back in action this weekend at the Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals. Three weeks ago, Hart raced in his first four-wide race behind the wheel of the black and flamed Dodge Challenger and the newcomer to the small wheel, door-slammer class is ready to continue to tackle a new class. Reaching speeds over 170 mph in just under eight seconds, the factory stock race car is a new experience for Hart, who normally exceeds that speed in just over one second in his R+L Carriers Top Fuel dragster.

“It has been a lot of fun so far this season, but we have only had two races and one of those was impacted by rain,” said Hart, who has won in variety of NHRA classes throughout his career. “When this Burnyzz Dodge hooks up and takes off it is a fun ride for sure. David Davies and his DHDR team have been a huge help on the learning curve. I am looking forward to this weekend and continuing to get better. I love the challenge.”

The Burnyzz Speed Shop Dodge Drag Pak and Josh Hart will be focused on continued improvement in Chicago

Hart has owned the Dodge Challenger he will be campaigning this weekend since the Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown Series was announced over five years ago. Over the offseason Hart and Davies, a veteran of the factory stock class, talked about how they could work together to get Hart behind the wheel in one of the most competitive door-slammer classes in the NHRA.

“Charlotte was a big race for us because we got all the qualifying runs and we got a run in eliminations,” said Hart. “The tricky thing was we were all running four-wide so that added a wrinkle. This weekend just running two at a time will be a much better opportunity to get into a groove. We aren’t going to be running for the championship but going rounds is our team’s goal. David and all the other competitors have been great to work with and get to know.”

Hart will be pulling double duty at the Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 Nationals competing in the Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown Series as well as driving the R+L Carriers Top Fuel dragster in the Mission Foods Drag Racing Series. For the entrepreneur from Florida the added runs only help him focus on the task at hand.

“I love being busy at the racetrack,” said Hart. “All these racing programs work together, and we are also working on some exciting additional programs with David and DHDR for later in the season.”

The Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown Series is comprised of Dodge Drag Paks, Ford Cobra Jets, and Chevrolet COPO Camaros racing heads up down the quarter mile track. This weekend 20 drivers and teams will be vying for 16 qualified spots. The variety of competitors as well as different manufacturers gives this class a large contingency of passionate fans. Hart, a life-long Dodge fan and driver enjoys the friendly rivalry between the drivers in the class.

“I am just getting to know a lot of the guys and we are all passionate about our brands,” said Hart. “The fans definitely get into it when it is a Dodge versus a Chevy or a Ford versus a Dodge. I like that a lot. These cars look cool even when they are just in the staging lanes. I am one of the luckiest guys out here getting to race the Burnyzz Dodge Challenger and the R+L Carriers Top Fuel dragster. It makes for a busy weekend but I love it.”

Hart and the Burnyzz Speed Shop Dodge Challenger will make qualifying runs Friday, May 16, at 11:45 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. with additional qualifying pass on Saturday, May 17, at 10:30 a.m. The category will contest one round of eliminations on Saturday at 4:15 p.m. to close out the second day of racing action. The final three rounds of competition will be completed on Sunday, May 18. For information about tickets or schedule updates visit www.nhra.com.

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DOUBLE UP FOR FLEXJET FACTORY STOCK SHOWDOWN IN CHICAGO WITH ROUTE 66 NATIONALS AND CONCLUSION OF GATORNATIONALS

May 15, 2025 ARP Trish

CHICAGO (May 14, 2025) — Fans of factory stock hot rods will be treated to a unique two-for-one event at the Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals presented by PEAK with this weekend’s NHRA national event featuring the usual three exciting days of Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown racing action as well as the conclusion of the season-opening NHRA Gatornationals. Twenty competitors will be racing their Ford Cobra Jets, Dodge Drag Packs and Chevrolet COPO Camaros for the iconic Wally trophy presented to the Route 66 Nationals winner and included in that group will be four drivers still in action attempting to win the Gatornationals Wally. Lee Hartman, Doug Hamp, Jason Dietsch and Lenny Lottig will be racing for two trophies when qualifying action begins this Friday at Route 66 Raceway outside of Chicago.

“Gainesville was a lucky weekend for us, to be honest,” said Hamp. “We had a no show and a red light against us. I don’t think the COPOs got much for the Fords and the Dodges, but we’re in the semis and we’re excited to get the race wrapped up in Chicago. We didn’t think we’d get this far, but it’s one of those deals where you realize everyone needs a little bit of luck to win a race, and I hope I didn’t waste all my luck. Hopefully, we’ll still have some this weekend.”

Doug Hamp is one of four Gatornationals semifinalists who will be looking to double up this weekend in Chicago, photo credit Auto Imagery/Gary Nastase

Hartman is looking forward to hopefully capturing his first Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown national event win. In the first round of the Gatornationals Hartman, the No. 15 qualifier upset Scott Libersher, the No. 2 qualifier and a 2024 championship contender. In the second round he outran No. 10 qualifier Raymond Nash with his quickest run of the weekend, a solid 7.816 second run leading to a match-up with Lottig, who he will race during the second round of qualifying on Friday night.

“We had some tricky track conditions in Gainesville so coming to Chicago after we raced Charlotte will be a whole new ballgame,” said Hartman. “We’re going to continue to keep plugging away at it to finish this thing up. The four cars that are in the semi-finals are all tough competitors. It will be fun for everyone to have a sort of race within the race.”

The Gatornationals will be concluded during the second and third qualifying sessions of the Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 Nationals. Those runs will count towards qualifying positions for each driver as well as elimination rounds. At the conclusion of qualifying, one driver will be crowned the Gatornationals winner.

The twenty competitors entered in the Chicago national event will have three passes to secure their spot in the 16-car qualified field with eliminations starting Saturday afternoon. Newcomer Josh Hart, who also races Top Fuel dragster will be pulling double duty once again racing his Burnyzz Speed Shop Dodge Drag Pak in the Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown Series and his R+L Carriers Top Fuel dragster in the Mission Foods Drag Racing Series. He has teamed up with long-time factory stock competitor David Davies and his DHDR team to take on a new challenge.

“I love being busy at the racetrack,” said Hart. “David Davies and his DHDR team have been a huge help on the learning curve. I am looking forward to this weekend and continuing to get better. I love the challenge.”

Josh Hart and the Burnyzz Speed Shop Drag Pak Challenger is enjoying the challenge of the Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown Series in his first season, photo credit Auto Imagery/Gary Nastase

The Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown Series is comprised of Dodge Drag Paks, Ford Cobra Jets and Chevrolet COPO Camaros racing heads up down the quarter mile track. This weekend 20 drivers and teams will be vying for 16 qualified spots. The variety of competitors as well as different manufacturers gives this class a large contingency of passionate fans. Hart, a life-long Dodge fan and driver, enjoys the friendly rivalry between the drivers in the class.

“I am just getting to know a lot of the guys and we are all passionate about our brands,” said Hart. “The fans definitely get into it when it is a Dodge versus a Chevy or a Ford versus a Dodge. I like that a lot. These cars look cool even when they are just in the staging lanes. I am one of the luckiest guys out here getting to race the Burnyzz Dodge Challenger and the R+L Carriers Top Fuel dragster. It makes for a busy weekend, but I love it.”

This weekend the class will receive three qualifying runs allowing each team to get data and fine-tune their race cars. Friday, May 16 will feature qualifying runs at 11:45 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. (semis of the Gatornationals) and on Saturday teams will run at 10:30 a.m. (final round of the Gatornationals) with the first round of eliminations kicking off Saturday at 4:15 p.m. Eliminations will continue with three more rounds on Sunday. Fans can catch all the action live from Route 66 Raceway or tune into the FS1 broadcast following the conclusion of the race on Sunday.

2025 Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown Schedule
May 15-18              Gerber Collision & Repair Route 66 NHRA Nationals, Chicago, Ill.
                              Conclusion of Amalie Motor Oil Gatornationals
June 6-8                 Super Grip NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals, Bristol, Tenn.
June 26-29             Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals, Norwalk, Ohio
Aug. 27 – Sept. 1    Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals, Indianapolis, Ind.
Sept. 11-14             Reading NHRA Nationals, Reading, Pa.
Sept. 26-29             NHRA Midwest Nationals, St. Louis, Mo.

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Troutman Continuing Massive Schedule with Four-Race Weekend in His Backyard

May 15, 2025 ARP Trish

CONCORD, NC (May 14, 2025) – Dirt track racers have earned a reputation of being the busiest drivers in motorsports, but few of them have an itinerary that holds a candle to that of Drake Troutman.

The MD3 Rookie of the Year contender on the World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision has already contested 55 races in the first four and a half months of 2025. If everything goes to plan, Troutman could hit the century mark as soon as August.

He’s only taken one weekend off since New Year’s Day, and parts of his schedule are what some would deem downright impossible. Case in point: after loading up at Talladega Short Track following the Alabama Gang 100 on April 26, the Team22 Motorsports crew drove 13 hours through the night from Alabama to Pennsylvania, dealt with hauler trouble along the way and made it to Port Royal Speedway in time to race in front of their home fans the next day.

Why would anyone voluntarily subject themselves to that much work? For Troutman, the answer is simple – racers race.

“Anytime you can race anything, it just makes you a better driver,” Troutman said. “Racing that much, we went to a lot of tracks that I’ve never even been to before this year, so just getting seat time on those types of racetracks, trying to go to tracks that the Outlaws race at later in the season I feel like will help us. We went down all the way to Boothill [Speedway] for a race down there. We just went down there to get ready for later in the year, so we have an idea of what the place is going to be like.

“I think there’s a lot of pros to it. Don’t get me wrong, I think it can hurt you sometimes. By racing so much, you might not always be as prepared as what you want. But in the long run, I think it works out for you.”

All those extra laps have been turned with one goal in mind – becoming a World of Outlaws winner. Troutman has come close multiple times this year, as he’s won Heat Races, sat on the pole and led the second-most laps in Feature action through the first 13 races. He knows he has all the pieces he needs to succeed, and he’ll have four chances this week to put them together in a winning combination.

“Everything’s going pretty good,” Troutman said. “Some nights we had a bad night obviously, but that’s part of the deal, so we’ve just got to cut those out as much as we can. I feel like now, we’re getting to the point where we’re going to racetracks that I like a lot more. So I’m excited to get back out around Pennsylvania and race at some of my local tracks. I think we’ve got a really good program, I’ve just got to do a little bit better of a job behind the wheel of the car to capitalize on some of these nights when we start up front.”

The Ohio-Pennsylvania swing kicks off at Raceway 7 on Thursday, May 15 – a place Troutman has already proven he can contend at with The Most Powerful Late Models on the Planet. His 11th-place finish in last year’s Great Lake Showdown was his career-best World of Outlaws result at the time, and he’s in position to reset that mark once again this season.

“Last year we went there and we were still pretty green,” Troutman said. “Didn’t have a whole lot of experience in a Late Model at that point, so I think more experience is going to help us out. I feel like we’ve got a way better program now, racing for G.R. [Smith] and his wife Stacey. They gave us much better equipment, so hopefully we go back there and it’s a lot better.”

From there, Troutman will turn his attention to Marion Center Raceway for the two-night Connor Bobik Memorial on Friday and Saturday, May 16-17. While Troutman struggled against the Outlaws last year, Team22 ran top 10 with Max McLaughlin in the seat, giving the team a notebook he hopes will put him on the right track this time around.

“I’m excited to get back, I really don’t get to race up there that much,” Troutman said. “I’ve probably only been up there a handful of times at most. Going back there, it’s not like I go up there every weekend, so I’m excited to get back. Last year we kind of messed up on tire decisions, but G.R. and them ran good last year there at Marion Center, so his input will be helpful on what I need to do better in the Feature.”

While Troutman has been looking forward to Raceway 7 and Marion Center since the start of the season, he’s been looking forward to Bedford Speedway’s Billy Winn Classic on Sunday, May 18, since the day he became a race fan. The 5/8-mile oval is right down the road from Troutman’s Hyndman, PA home, and he spent his childhood watching the stars of dirt Late Model racing from the grandstands, dreaming of one day joining them. That dream will become reality this weekend when Troutman makes his first World of Outlaws start at his home track.

“Man, I’m excited,” Troutman said. “Last time I was even at an Outlaw race [at Bedford], I was just a little kid, that was back in 2009 or something. So, it’ll be really cool to see. That’s where I cut my teeth at, was at Bedford. Honestly, I really don’t run that great there, but I’m excited to go and see everyone. It’ll be cool.”

The 2025 World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision season continues this week with stops at Raceway 7 (Thursday, May 15), Marion Center Raceway (Friday-Saturday, May 16-17) and Bedford Speedway (Sunday, May 18). Tickets will be available at the gate on all four nights.

If you can’t make it to the track, stream every lap live on DIRTVision.

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Chevy racing–INDYCAR–qualifying recap

May 14, 2025 ARP Trish

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING (QUOTES):A.J. FOYT RACINGDavid Malukas, No. 4 A.J. Foyt Racing Chevrolet:“Not much really to say other than it wasn’t good. We kind of knew going into it, the pace wasn’t really there as it was Barber. I think Barber hurt quite a bit, just because we had a very good car, but here, obviously we never really had the confidence all day. Then we came into qualifying, I think that it was just a lot worse than we were even expecting. so not great. We just need to keep our heads down and keep working at it and hopefully find some time.” Santino Ferrucci, No. 14 A.J. Foyt Racing/Sexton Properties Chevrolet:“Obviously, quite an interesting up and down day. Had a clutch issue so we missed a good part of FP 1 and almost all of FP 2, but the guys just stuck with it. Had a really good qualifying to get an advance but kind of missed it a little bit in the second round. We’ll look back and see kind of why. I definitely left some time on the table in my driving and I just don’t feel like I started the tire, very well either. So, kind of bummed not to advance the Fast Six but we have a good starting spot for tomorrow, and we’ll be good.” ARROW MCLAREN Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet: “The car feels good. I think the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet crew have done a great job in giving me a good balance in Practice 1 and 2. We missed the Firestone Fast 6 because we’re losing speed on the straight, but hopefully we can find exactly what it is. This is a very straight-line speed sensitive track. We want to go forward tomorrow, not backwards. I trust the team is going to find it, and tomorrow we’ll be ready.” Nolan Siegel, No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet: “It’s disappointing that we weren’t able to advance out of round one of Qualifying because I think we rolled off in a competitive window and had a pretty positive day overall. The margins in this series are so tight, and today proved that. We have work to do tomorrow, but I feel confident that we’ll be able to make our way up and come away with a good result.” Christian Lundgaard, No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:“It was a frustrating session. We struggled with balance in both practices and went into Qualifying with something that was unknown; we didn’t use the Firestone Alternate tires in Practice 1 or 2, so not really having a reference for what the balance would be or how the tire would perform was tricky. It’s frustrating coming to a track where you know you’re fast, the pace has been in the car but it’s tough to drive. We tried to simplify that but then just missed and got it out of the window. At the end of the day, our options are limited tomorrow, so the race will be tough to make up positions. We will give it our best shot.” ED CARPENTER RACINGAlexander Rossi, No. 20 Java House Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet:“We had a generally okay day, but just missed out on a little bit in round two of qualifying. The No. 20 Java House Chevrolet is a good car, so I know that we can go forward from 9th.” Christian Rasmussen, No. 21 Splenda Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet:“That was a frustrating qualifying session. I didn’t maximize my lap as best I could. The lockup I had in practice was still on my mind a bit and I lost all of my time in Turn 7 alone. Everywhere else, it was pretty good! The No. 21 Splenda Chevrolet is strong, I just need to execute better in qualifying. The bright side is we still have two sets of new reds for the race and that will help us.” JUNCOS HOLLINGER RACINGConor Daly, No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet:“Well, sadly, today we just got a little bit blocked in qualifying. You know, our group, I think, was extremely tough, definitely when it comes to just pace and how close everyone was. So, you know, probably could have improved a little bit had we got our lap without traffic, but, but yeah, I think we have a little bit more pace, obviously, in the car than where we qualified, which is kind of a shame, because, yeah, I thought this was going to be a good one for us, but tomorrow, I think we can race our way forward thanks to kind of the work we’ve been doing.” Sting Ray Robb, No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet:“It was a very busy day here at Indy road course. But overall, I think there’s a lot of positive to take from the day. Qualified P 17, and literally, 1/100 of a second moves us to P 13. So a little bit more to transfer into the fast 12, but I think that we still had that if we nailed a lap, but really, really good progress from the team. I mean, that’s my best qualifying ever, which is nothing to shout, shout about, but it makes me excited for the future together, and I think that tomorrow we’ll have good package.” PREMARobert Shwartzman, No. 83 PREMA Racing Chevrolet“It’s another unfortunate situation where I have had limited practice time and jumped straight into qualifying. I had only four laps total at a track I didn’t know so it was very difficult. I did the best I could but nonetheless I still didn’t feel really comfortable with the car. We definitely need to have a work through tonight to see what we can do for tomorrow’s race. We have nothing to lose, starting from behind. Tomorrow is another day, we’ll keep our heads down and try to figure something out.” Callum Ilott, No, 90 PREMA Racing Chevrolet:“It was a very close qualifying. We made big improvements and to get that close to seventh – we’re just half a tenth away – I think is a good carryover from Barber. Although the results don’t show it, it’s nice to be within fighting distance. We had a lot of work to do from Free Practice so it’s nice to get that close, but also a bit frustrating to be on the wrong side of it. We just have to see what we can do for tomorrow. We’re always trying to improve but it’s tough as it’s very tight.” TEAM PENSKE Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 Sonsio Vehicle Protection Team Penske Chevrolet: “The reds really perked the car up so that makes me a little worried on the black tire. But, you know, really, really proud of Benny (Bretzman) and the guys. I was complaining a fair bit in practice, and they tuned it up for me and got it going. And to make the Fast Six, not that I didn’t expect. I always expected, but it was nice to do it. And then obviously, this weekend, there’s a new tire, of rules, new allocations. How are you going to then head into the race still with so many unknowns, you just got to treat it every race the same. Just go in there and just hope that you choose the right strategy at the end of the day. You know, as a driver, the best thing I can do is just Execute and hit by marks saying these guys will do the same, and what will come will come.”

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Taylor tales: From Detroit to Le Mans

May 14, 2025 ARP Trish

Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing aiming for victory at ‘home’ race and in FranceDETROIT (May 14, 2025) – Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing principal Wayne Taylor and drivers Ricky and Jordan Taylor met with the media via an IMSA-hosted Zoom call to discuss the May 31 Chevrolet Detroit SportsCar Classic and the June 14-15 24 Hours of Le Mans, where the team will join three other Cadillac Racing Hypercars seeking the overall victory in the 93rd edition.
Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque teamed up to win the Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) race on the downtown Detroit street circuit in 2024, and Albuquerque will co-drive with the Taylor brothers the No. 101 entry at Circuit de la Sarthe. Wayne Taylor owns a class victory among his 13 starts, including three with Cadillac. This year marks his first trip to the iconic endurance race as a team owner. Full transcript:

Tell us a little bit about what you’re looking forward to heading back to Detroit in a couple of weeks as the defending champion of the event.Ricky Taylor: “It’s nice always to come to Detroit. It’s such an iconic event, especially when you come here with a GM product, and to be racing in Cadillac is always, firstly a little bit of pressure, but secondly, a big opportunity to win on home soil. It’s a big weekend for GM and for the team. So, we’re really excited. The track is challenging. We had a great race last year, but so many things can happen here in just 100 minutes. But we’ll try to repeat the success we had last year and send ourselves for a good lead up to Le Mans.”
Jordan will be making his 180th MSA start and is a five-time winner at Dedtroit. How are you going to make more fond memories here in a couple of weeks?Jordan Taylor: “It would be nice to make some more good memories there. Obviously, a lot of good memories from all those years dating back to 2012 and all in GM products ranging from the Camaros, Corvettes and Cadillacs.

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Both Cadillac Hypercars qualify in top 10

May 9, 2025 ARP Trish

Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA ready for six-hour battle on fast Spa-Francorchamps circuitSTAVELOT, Belgium (May 9, 2025) – Alex Lynn’s prediction of quicker lap times in Hypercar qualifying on the recently resurfaced 7.004-kilometer (4.532-mile), 19-turn Spa-Francorchamps road course was spot on.
In fact, Lynn’s best lap of four in the 12-minute Hyperpole session Friday for the top 10 cars advancing from the 15-minute qualifying was a hefty 3 seconds quicker than 2024, when he qualified second in the Cadillac V-Series.R.
Lynn, driving the No. 12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R, qualified fifth on the 18-car grid for Saturday’s TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa with a lap of 2 minutes, 00.246 seconds. Lynn has advanced to Hyperpole in all three rounds of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) season.

Both Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA cars will start in the top 10 for the second time this season as Earl Bamber recorded a lap of 2:00.887 in the No. 38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R to qualify 10th. Both Bamber and Lynn improved their lap times from the initial qualifying by nearly a second in Hyperpole.
The No. 50 Ferrari AF Corse earned the pole with a lap of 1:59.617.
Lynn will share driving duties with Will Stevens and Norman Nato, while Sebastien Bourdais and Jenson Button will have time behind the wheel of the No. 38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R along with Bamber.

Media resources* Event media guide* 2025 WEC statistics* All-time Cadillac statistics* Photos for editorial use
In the driver’s seatSee what the drivers see in the TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa HERE. 8 a.m. ET/2 p.m. CEST Saturday.

Last year, Stevens and Callum Ilott triumphed with another manufacturer in a 1-hour, 44-minute run to the checkers following a lengthy red flag to give Hertz Team JOTA scored its first outright WEC victory as well as the first for a privateer entry in the Hypercar era. The lone Cadillac V-Series.R entry in the 2024 race, after qualifying on the front row, had pace before retiring on Lap 95 of 141 because of contact.

In its WEC Spa debut in 2023, the No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R (Bamber, Lynn, Richard Westbrook) placed fifth after qualifying fourth. The Cadillac Racing trio went on to earn a podium in the next race at Le Mans. Hertz Team JOTA placed sixth in the 2023 race after qualifying seventh.
The race on the picturesque Spa-Francorchamps course — considered second only to Circuit de la Sarthe in speed on the WEC calendar – is key in preparation for the 24 Hours of Le Mans in four weeks. The 93rd edition of the endurance classic will be Cadillac Racing’s 20th race in WEC competition.
The race is scheduled for 8 a.m. ET / 2 p.m. CET Saturday. Live streaming coverage will be available on the FIA WEC app and the MAX app in the U.S. Radio Le Mans will stream audio coverage.

What they’re saying
No. 12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R
Alex Lynn: “I think it was a decent qualifying session. We dreamt of more as we always do, but P5 on the grid is a solid place to start tomorrow and we’ve improved the car a lot over the weekend. Both Cadillacs into Hyperpole, which is great for the team and we’re going to score some heavy points tomorrow.”No. 38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R
Earl Bamber: “The session was OK; didn’t really get the most from it. But top 10 is OK and we’ll see what we got tomorrow and score some points.”

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