FORT WORTH, TEXAS JULY 19, 2020
Race #18: TexasOriginally slated to be a March appearance for NASCAR’s premier series, the revised NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) schedule continues on with the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday, July 19th. The 334-lap, 500-mile race at the 1.5-mile Texas oval now marks the 18th race on the tour. 
With NASCAR continuing to take steps in the return of guests to its events, the Texas Motor Speedway event will play a part in the process. With the state allowing 50 percent capacity, the Texas oval grandstands and camping will be open to race fans, subject to social distancing requirements and additional safety measures in place. The NASCAR race weekend will be the first major league sports event in the state of Texas to be open to fans since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. 
BOWTIE BULLETS·       Chevrolet has made 13 trips to victory lane in NASCAR’s Premier Series at Texas Motor Speedway. Other statistics of note for the bowtie brand’s history at the 1.5-mile oval include 68 top-five’s, 162 top-10’s and 4,265 laps led.
·       Victories by current Chevrolet drivers include: Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1 1LE, with 7 wins (2007, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 sweep and 2017), Matt Kenseth, No. 42 McDelivery Camaro ZL1 1LE with 2 wins (2002 and 2011), and Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1, with one win (2009). 
·       Of the 38 NASCAR Cup Series events that have been held at Texas Motor Speedway, four different manufacturers have led the field to the green from the pole position, with Chevrolet leading the way capturing 15 poles. Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1 1LE, leads active drivers in NCS Busch Pole Awards at Texas with three (2015, 2017, 2018).  
·       Chevrolet team Hendrick Motorsports sits on top the leaderboard in NCS wins by teams at Texas Motor Speedway with nine trips to victory lane. 
TEXAS RECORDBOOKCareer Chevrolet driver, Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1 1LE, is no stranger to topping the leaderboard in statistics and his history at Texas Motor Speedway does just that. Of his 33 starts in NASCAR’s premier series at the speedway, Johnson leads the series in wins making seven trips to victory lane – a winning percentage of 21.2%. Three NCS drivers in history have captured consecutive wins at Texas, with Johnson leading the way with three (2014 Playoff race and the 2015 sweep). Johnson also leads the series in runner-up finishes with five, top-five finishes with 16, and top-10 finishes with 22 in his career. Of the 81 different drivers that have led laps at Texas Motor Speedway, Johnson tops the leaderboard by leading 1,152 laps thus far. He’s also captured the current title of series-best in fastest laps run with 728 and laps in the top-15 with 7,185.  STARTING LINEUPThe format for this weekend’s NCS event continues on as a one-day show with no practice and no qualifying. Owner points and a random draw have again set the starting lineup. Here are Team Chevy’s top-20 starters:
3rd      Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1 1LE8th      Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1 1LE12th    Alex Bowman, No. 88 ChevyGoods.com/Adam’s Polishes Camaro ZL1 1LE13th    Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Kroger Camaro ZL1 1LE14th    Bubba Wallace, No. 43 Cash App Camaro ZL1 1LE18th    William Byron, No. 24 Axalta Camaro ZL1 1LE20th    Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1 1LE
TUNE-INNBCSN will telecast the 334-lap race live at 3:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, July 19th. Live coverage can also be found on the NBCSports Gold App, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
QUOTABLE QUOTES:CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 L1E – 4th IN STANDINGS“Texas is a hot place. This time of year, I think everywhere is probably going to be hot, it always is. From the hydration standpoint, that’s always important. Preparing to sweat a lot is another big thing. As far as the track goes, I don’t expect the racing to look a whole lot different just because it’s hot. I think it will be really similar to what we’ve seen there in the past. The repave has been a big-time struggle for us. We just need to settle in and try to find some consistency and get going a little better. It’s such a unique place now with the ends being so different and how you want to configure your car.”
ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 CHEVYGOODS.COM/ADAM’S POLISHES CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 9th IN STANDINGSBOWMAN ON WHAT MAKES TEXAS DIFFERENT. “Texas is different because since they reconfigured it, it’s just really tricky down in turns one and two. In turns three and four, you’re just wide open. Turns one and two are just really flat and different. It’s not the normal 1.5-mile track shape. It started widening out there in the fall and hopefully it continues to move in that direction this year.”
WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 14th IN STANDINGSBYRON ON HIS SUCCESS AT TEXAS.“I don’t know why I’ve always been so good at Texas Motor Speedway other than it’s one of the tracks I’ve raced at the most in my career. We always bring fast cars which definitely helps especially with the amount of grip the track has. I would say it’s just a bit of luck that Texas just suits me. I really like that place and it seems to like me as well. Hopefully we will have a good run there this weekend.” AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BASS PRO SHOPS/TRACKER/E-Z-GO CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 16th IN STANDINGSTELL US ABOUT RACING AT TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY AND HOW IT DIFFERS FROM OTHER 1.5-MILE TRACKS, SUCH AS KANSAS SPEEDWAY? “Texas Motor Speedway is a bit different from Kansas Speedway in that it has two different ends. You have one end that’s very banked and has high speeds, and then you have a hard end where you have to get turned and get back on the gas. Texas Motor Speedway just has so much grip now. It’s quite a bit different, and the banking has changed a lot from the old track to the new track. I really like Texas and am looking forward to getting there. It’s going to be really important to run well and to have a good finish because we are still battling to make it into the Playoffs. Our cars have been strong on 1.5-mile tracks this year, and we will look to some of that speed to try and get the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER/E-Z-GO Chevy into Victory Lane.” TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 CAT OIL & GAS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 17th IN STANDINGS“Texas Motor Speedway is a fun place to race and a track I’ve come close to winning at in the past in the other series, but always seem to come up one or two spots short. So, I’m really looking forward to this weekend and competing in my first NASCAR Cup Series race there this Sunday with our No. 8 Cat Oil and Gas Chevrolet. Texas is a little similar to Kansas Speedway, where you can have a lot of balance changes in your car during a run. You have to manage your car and its changes during a run really well in order to be successful there. Moving around throughout a run will also still be important at Texas, and we’ve seen the PJ1 open up a couple lanes in the past, so we should be able to put on a good show this weekend.”
TY DILLON, NO. 13 GEICO CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 27th IN STANDINGS“I’m really looking forward to Texas. The hot weather on this track surface is going to be interesting. It is going to take a good car with a lot of grip to be successful. We had a great GEICO Camaro ZL1 1LE in Kentucky that we are now turning around to use at Texas on Sunday. Hopefully our Germain Racing team can keep the momentum rolling from the really fast race car we had last weekend.” 
MATT KENSETH, NO. 42 MCDELIVERY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 28th IN STANDINGS“Texas will be a big challenge this weekend. Day race, in Fort Worth, in the middle of July… you know it’s going to be a really hot and slick race track. Conditions are going to be extremely hot inside the car as well. Like most of the mile-and-a-half tracks we go to these days, track position is going to be extremely important. I feel we’ve made gains over the past few weeks and think if we execute well we can put our McDonald’s McDelivery Chevrolet in the mix on Sunday.” 

GRANITE CITY, IL (July 17, 2020) – Tyler Erb took the lead on lap 22 and then went on to pick up the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series victory on Friday Night. Tri-City Speedway’s “NAPA Know How 50” marks Erb’s second win at Tri-City Speedway. Billy Moyer Jr. recorded his best LOLMDS finish, coming home in second. Moyer, Jr. led the first 21 laps until Erb passed him for the lead. Jonathan Davenport crossed the finish stripe in third, followed by Shane Clanton and Tyler Bruening. Moyer Jr. started alongside Kyle Strickler on the front row and then survived what was once a three-car battle for the lead until Strickler went spinning into the infield, ending his night with front suspension damage. Moyer, Jr. then held the point until Erb got by him three laps from the halfway mark. Erb quickly stretched his lead over Moyer, Jr. as he went unchallenged to the checkers. Erb visited Lucas Oil Victory Lane for the second time this season, ninth of his career and said patience was a key to his win. “I knew that surviving out front was going to be half the battle. When we took off, I knew we had a really good car. I expected the track to come back the way it did. They had it rolled in really nice when we started. I almost took the lead when that caution came out. I knew when I was in second to just keep following Billy, he was a hand full tonight until an opportunity presented itself. He had a good car tonight and was going to be tough to beat. Congrats to him and JD on their finishes tonight,” said the 23-year-old Texas racer. Moyer, Jr. was glad about a podium finish to end the night, “I just didn’t judge lapped traffic right. All-in-all to run second here is great, it’s one of my best tracks. I love racing in the St. Louis area. The Lucas Oil Series and the track did a great job on the track considering how much rain they had here a few days ago. Thank you to Marshall Green and everyone at Capital Race Cars. I have never had this great of help from anyone on the chassis-side. We will be contending for wins hopefully for a long-time to come.” Davenport finished third. “It was tough to pass lapped cars. I moved around early on and gained some spots. I think Randall [Edwards], Erb’s crew chief saw me and moved him up the track. I got going pretty good and got by Junior. I felt like I was a little bit better than Junior, but it got hard to pass.  A third-place finish here is good, we have had some pretty bad luck so to get a podium finish feels good for sure.” The winner’s Best Performance Motorsports Rocket Chassis is powered by a Durham Race Engine and sponsored by is sponsored by Roberts Bee Company, First Class Septic, Franklin Enterprises, Industrial Resourcing Group, and Valvoline. Completing the top ten were Rick Eckert, Devin Moran, Johnny Scott, Tim McCreadie, and Josh Richards.

TEAM CHEVY RACE 1 NOTES & QUOTESJULY 17, 2020
TOP CHEVROLET UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS: POS.   DRIVER1^st       SIMON PAGENAUD, NO. 22 MENARDS TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET3^RD      OLIVER ASKEW, NO. 7 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET4^thPATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET5^th       JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 1 HITACHI TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET 8^th       CONOR DALY, NO. 59 GALLAGHER CARLIN CHEVROLET
TOP SIX UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:POS.  DRIVER1^ST      Simon Pagenaud (Chevrolet)2^nd      Scott Dixon (Honda)3^rd       Oliver Askew (Chevrolet)4^th       Pato O’Ward (Chevrolet)5^th      Josef Newgarden (Chevrolet)From last to first, Pagenaud claims victory in Iowa Race OneChevy drivers claim four of top-five finishing positions
Newton, Iowa – Simon Pagenaud sat quietly poised in his No.22 Menards Team Penske Chevrolet, set to be almost last car to qualify for both races of the NTT INDYCAR Series Doubleheader at Iowa Speedway. But a problem with the fueling system prevented the car from firing, so Pagenaud did not qualify and had to start dead last (23^rd) for the first of the two 250-lap races. He will also start last in Race Two. 
But in his usual cool manner, the 2016 Series’ champion worked in sync with his team and when the checkered flag flew, it was Pagenaud that took his bright yellow Chevrolet to victory lane. He led twice for total of 83 laps. 
Scoring his first NTT INDYCAR Series podium is third place finisher Oliver Askew, No. 7 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet. Askew started 14^th in the 23 car field. 
Scott Dixon (Honda) completed the podium.
Askew’s teammate, Pato O’Ward, brought his No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet in fourth. 
Josef Newgarden, who will start on the pole of Saturday night’s 250-lap race, finished fifth. Newgarden started second and grabbed the lead early, and would be credited with leading twice for 68 laps. But the team’s strategy was shuffled when a long caution flag scrambled the field on lap 144. 
The caution was caused when teammate Will Power made contact with the backstretch wall, and at the restart a two-car crash kept the field under caution for 26 laps. Team Chevy driiver Rinus Veekay, No. 21 Sonax Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet was involved in the accident but emerged uninjured.
Pole sitter Conor Daly, No. 59 Gallagher Carlin Chevrolet, finished eighth to give Chevrolet five of the top-eight finishers. 
NBCSN will telecast Race 2 of the IOWA INDYCAR 250’s Doubleheader live at 8:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, July 18. Live coverage can also be found on the INDYCAR Radio Network, Sirius 211, XM 205, IndyCar.com and on the INDYCAR MOBILE APP powered by NTT DATA.
TEAM CHEVY NOTES AND QUOTES:
SIMON PAGENAUD, NO. 22 MENARDS TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – Race WinnerFROM WORST TO FIRST! IS THERE A BETTER WAY TO NOTCH YOUR FIRST WIN HERE AT IOWA?“Wow, this place is tough! What a night! What a day for us. First of all, it was an amazing group effort from the whole Team Penske to recover from Road America. I made a mistake. We unloaded really well. This morning was a lot of fun. Qualifying was disheartening, but these guys never give up and that’s what this team is all about. It’s amazing to get the Menards car to be shining here in Iowa is awesome. So, I’m really proud for John and everybody at Menards and Chevy. Obviously, we had the horsepower and the fuel conception, but most importantly, I can’t believe it. I have to re-watch the race. How did I get there? I don’t know. The last 50 laps were certainly a lot of tension. A lot of tension. When (Scott) Dixon is chasing you, you’d better hit your marks.”
TAKE US THROUGH THAT AND HAVING THE FIVE-TIME CHAMPION BREATHING DOWN YOUR NECK AT TIMES AND TRYING TO STRETCH THE FUEL AND KEEP HIM IN YOUR REAR VIEW MIRROR AND DEALING WITH LAPPED TRAFFIC, HOW DID YOU DEAL WITH ALL OF THAT?“Yeah, it’s certainly not easy with lapped traffic. I knew we had a really good car on long runs, so that was really my chance. I was really keeping up with the tires and they behaved really well. I was a little worried about the (Arrow) McLaren guys because they pitted for new tires, and new tires were so much speed, so I was a little worried. In the end, I had my hands full. Thanks for everybody at Team Penske and everybody who supports us. It was an amazing team effort.”
YOU’RE GOING TO DO IT ALL AGAIN TOMORROW NIGHT, STARTING FROM THE REAR. DO YOU HAVE IT IN YOU?“I do, I do. I never give up. If I’ve got to do it again, I’ll do it again. This we certainly a pretty cool win on an oval. Indy will always be the top, but this one was pretty cool, too.”
OLIVER ASKEW, NO. 7 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET – Finished 3^rdWHAT A NIGHT IT WAS FOR YOU IN PICKING UP YOUR FIRST CAREER PODIUM. TALK ABOUT THAT TEAM STRATEGY ON PURE OFFENSE WITH THOSE TIRES LATE IN THE RACE. WHAT WAS THAT LIKE?“I wish you could see my smile right now (wearing a mask). This Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet absolutely came alive once the track started to get cooler. We were really, really good on new tires and when they were very used. So, if that yellow didn’t come out at the restart, I think we would have had a really good shot at finishing at least one-two with Pato (O’Ward) and I. We’ll get at them again tomorrow. Honestly, that’s probably one of the most fun races I’ve ever done in my life. Hats off to everybody at Arrow McLaren SP and thanks to everybody who showed up tonight and watched at home, my family. It was an awesome night.”
THIS WAS NO EASY TRACK TO COME TO TERMS WITH. AND WHILE YOU HAVE RACED HERE ONCE BEFORE EARLIER IN YOUR CAREER, YOU SAID IT WAS GOING TO BE LIKE LEARNING A WHOLE NEW TRACK IN THE NTT INDYCAR SERIES. HOW DID YOU COME TO GRIPS WITH IT SO QUICKLY?“Well, I think a lot of it comes down to preparation and spending some time in the Chevy simulator. I was here four years ago but the track feels a lot shorter and smaller now running in INDYCAR. I love this track and can’t wait to get back out there tomorrow.”
MAYBE SOME OF THAT SPEED CAME FROM YOUR NEW DO, A LITTLE BIT SHORTER?“Yeah, it might be a little more aero-efficient and a bit of weight reduction, and it’s a bit cooler in the car, too. Maybe I should keep it short.”
PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET – Finished 4thIF NOT FOR THAT PIT STOP THERE THE LAST TIME YOU CAME DOWN, YOU MIGHT HAVE BEEN RIGHT UP THERE CHALLENGING. BUT YOU HAD A FAST CAR. HOW WOULD YOU EVALUATE THE DAY OVERALL?“Yeah, I think you said it. Arrow McLaren SP gave us fantastic cars. We were really up on the pace. Unfortunately, that last pit stop really put us some time behind and it made us fight harder, but I’m super happy for my teammate, and his first INDYCAR podium. We’re going to be pushing for one-two tomorrow. We’ve got very fast cars and these guys deserve a win. So, hopefully we can give it to them tomorrow. But I’ve got a race under my belt at Iowa. What a fun race! What a cool race! It’s definitely one of the craziest ones I’ve ever done.”
YOU FOUGHT HARD TO GET TO A POSITION WHERE YOU’RE CONSISTENTLY CONTENDING FOR WINS AND OBVIOUSLY LAST WEEK AT ROAD AMERICA YOU HAD A STRONG SUNDAY. TONIGHT, ANOTHER STRONG NIGHT. HOW EXCITING IS THIS FOR YOU?“Oh, for sure. I have so much faith in the group of guys that are behind me that are engineering these cars. They are way smarter than me. My job is to drive the car. Honestly, they’ve given me great cars everywhere. We’ve been out of the box very fast. We need to continue doing that and our pre-race conditions need to keep improving and I know we’re going to be up there fighting for wins and podiums. I think we’re making big strides. Last weekend was a big step. Today was a great result for the team but we’re close to that first win and I hope it comes soon.”
HOW VALUABLE WAS TODAY JUST FROM A LEARNING PERSPECTIVE?“The stints are so long. It’s really good to just kind of get a feel for what the car is going to start doing after 40 or 50 laps. And yeah, obviously it’s up to the guys to do the strategy and my job is to listen to instructions and push, push, push. But, I’m so happy for Simon (Pagenaud). Great job on his part and Scott Dixon as well, and my teammate there. It’s a great result for the team, but I want three positions there!”
JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 1 HITACHI TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – Finished 5^thYOU LED 68 LAPS TONIGHT AND THERE WAS PERHAPS A SLOW STOP AND AN UNTIMELY CAUTION, BUT WHERE DID THIS ONE ULTIMATELY GET AWAY FROM YOU GUYS?Multiple points. The caution was certainly was the nail in the coffin. Without sounding too over-confident, I think we had the car to beat tonight, hands-down. So, it’s frustrating. I’ve got to be honest, I’m so angry about the way that this all transpired. Some of it is just bad luck. The yellow coming out when it came out, you can’t predict that stuff. You weigh out the pros and cons when you’re trying to go long, when you’re trying to go short on your pit windows. And, I can’t fault my guys. I think they did a great job. I had a rocket ship. I mean, I had a car above, in my opinion. I’m sad that we weren’t able to put our car in Victory Lane because I felt like we had that potential. But, like I said, I’m very proud of my guys. They always do a great job for me. I think it’s just chalked up to bad luck tonight. I’ve got to try and make-up for it tomorrow.”
AND YOU’LL BE STARTING ON THE POLE FOR TOMORROW’S RACE“Yeah hey, look, all you can do is go forward. This is racing. Some days the racing gods shine down on you and some days they don’t. And today they definitely didn’t, but that’s how it works. You’ve got to take the good days when you get them and accept the bad days when you have them. We’ll try to regroup for tomorrow. But Chevy has done a great job for us. We had the package to beat tonight in my opinion and having Hitachi’s support always means the world. So, we’ll try again tomorrow and try to get ‘em.”
CONOR DALY, NO. 59 GALLAGHER CARLIN CHEVROLET – Finished 8^th“It was definitely a rollercoaster of a day for us. Obviously, we were so excited to win the pole for tonight’s race in the No. 59 Gallagher Carlin Chevrolet. That’s just such a major accomplishment for myself and this team. We’ve all been working so hard and the guys gave me a great car to qualify, so I was pretty excited that I was able to get that pole. We started the race tonight okay, but just really struggled with keeping the rear underneath me and trying to figure it out as we went. It was just tough and we just didn’t have the pace that we needed. The yellow really killed us. Some people just got so lucky with that, but unfortunately it didn’t fall our way. We chose to extend the last stint and make the tires last, but it was really tough driving absolutely to the limit on older tires and trying to hold people off there at the end. It was tough end to the day, but it was seriously awesome to get the first INDYCAR pole for both Carlin and myself and I’m looking forward to tomorrow night’s race where we’ll start up front again in third.”
ED CARPENTER, NO. 20 U.S. AIR FORCE ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET – Finished 15^th“This has always been one of my favorite tracks, but I don’t remember ever having as difficult of a night here. I was excited to run the U.S. Air Force colors and want to do a good job for them. I’m embarrassed about the performance tonight. The good thing is we have another chance tomorrow, so long as it’s not a repeat. It was pretty brutal. It’s hot in the cars, it’s uncomfortable and with a poor performance, I am pretty disappointed.”
CHARLIE KIMBALL, NO. 4 TRESIBA AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET – Finished 17th “I think it was a disappointing night for both AJ Foyt Racing cars. The No. 4 Tresiba Chevrolet was not what I wanted to feel underneath me but I know the engineers will do really good work making it better tonight. I felt like everyone did a good job with what we had. Today was busy, practice, qualify and straight into the race—especially racing what you qualify. We had to compromise on gears, ride heights and setups and stuff but it was the same for everyone and we just didn’t maximize it. But we’ll review it and be ready to go for another 250 laps tomorrow night.”
TONY KANAAN, NO 14 BRYANT AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET – Finished 18^th“It was a shame. I think we had a consistent car but the tire deg for us was more than other people, so we need to figure out what’s causing it. It’s on the setup. We’re pretty decent halfway through the stint and then the car will fall off really quick and in one of those I got loose, and not to spin I went wide, got in the marbles, brushed the wall a little bit, so that cost us 18 laps, but track position is really important so we have that for tomorrow. [starts 8^th] I think we have overnight to think about it and another hour session tomorrow to try to make the tires last a little bit longer and then go from there. I truly believe we have a top 10 car for tomorrow.”
RINUS VEEKAY, NO. 21 SONAX ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET – Sidelined on lap 157 in accident with Colton Herta – Finished 20^th “There was nothing I could have done. I had a good start, but I was told it was a no-start so I went off the throttle. I think the other car was too late getting that information, I really don’t know. I got hit, that’s clear. It’s very tough. We could have gone for a podium or a win today. We’ve got to go for it tomorrow. I’m happy that we’ll have a Take 2.”
WE BET YOU’RE VERY GRATEFUL FOR THAT AERO SCREEN WHEN COLTON HERTA WENT OVER YOU“Yeah, I’m very happy; especially with the safety. I stepped out. I saw the whole row. So yeah, the screen was destroyed. Thank you to INDYCAR for the great safety and let’s go for it tomorrow.”
WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – Sidelined on Lap 143 with left front wheel issue – Finished 21^stYOU HAD A BIT OF A WILD RIDE WHEN THE WHEEL CAME OFF. WHAT WAS THAT EXPERIENCE LIKE?“Obviously, the front just took off straight into the wall. Yeah, not a good feeling.”
YOU HIT THE WALL AND IT WAS THE LEFT FRONT THAT CAME OFF. YOU SAID THIS HAS BEEN A SEASON SO FAR WITH A LOT OF PROMISE AND YOU JUST HAVEN’T LIVED-UP TO THE POTENTIAL. THIS LOOKS LIKE ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF THAT“Unbelievable. I don’t know what I’ve got to do. It’s so, so, so frustrating. It’s just unbelievable. I don’t know what to say. The guys will get it back together and we’ll have another shot at it tomorrow.”
WE’VE JUST SEEN A COUPLE EXAMPLES OF THE AERO SCREEN AND YOURS IS ONE OF THEM WITH THAT WHEEL COMING BACK OVER THE TOP OF YOU. WHAT DOES THAT SAY ABOUT THE ADDITION OF THIS SAFETY IMPLEMENT?‘Man, I’ll tell you, you can’t thank INDYCAR enough for everything that they’ve done, safety-wise with that aero screen and inside the aero screen. It’s just a tremendous job and it’s better than any other series that have implemented something like it. A very, very good job.”

First Division 3 race crowns winners as JEGS Speedweek powers forwardHEBRON, Ohio (July 17) – Ronnie Bohn, Michael Volkman, and Doug Duell were among the winners crowned Friday night as part of the Division 3 Lucas Oil Series event at National Trail Raceway. Bohn won in Comp Eliminator, Volkman earned the Super Stock title, and Duell won in Stock Eliminator.  The other champions crowned Friday evening included Michael Handras (Super Comp), Greg Slack (Super Gas), Robert Bauer (Super Street), Danny Nelson (Top Dragster), and Curt Fredrich (Top Sportsman).  The North Central Division Lucas Oil Series event marks the first of two races that make up JEGS Speedweek, an event that has attracted more than 600 of the nation’s best sportsman drag racers.  Bohn drove his six-cylinder powered dragster to a victory over past JEGS SPORTSnationals winner Mike Farrell in the final round of Comp. Bohn, was the No. 2 qualifier in the quick field while Farrell was sixth quickest at the start of eliminations. Volkman drove his Dodge Sebring to the Super Stock title by defeating Brina Frank in the final round. Volkman posted a dial-in time of 10.68 seconds and ran a 10.73 for the win. He entered the Columbus event as the No. 5 ranked Super Stock driver in NHRA competition. Duell outlasted 139 other racers to take home the Stock title. Paired with Kevin Wells in the final, Duell drove his vintage Plymouth Barracuda to the win when Wells fouled at the start. Handras outlasted a big field of Super Comp entries to earn that title. Handras defeated Rick Huges in the final round, which was decided via a double-breakout. Slack kicked off the 2020 season with a win and a runner-up in Gainesville, Fla., and he found the winner’s circle again here by beating Tommy Turner in the Super Gas final. Slack, in his ’70 Ford Maverick, ran right on the 9.90-second index for the victory.  Bauer had a nearly-perfect reaction time in the final round of Super Street, and parlayed his starting line advantage into a victory over Mark Smith. Bauer drove to a 10.93 elapsed time for the victory.  Fredrich is the reigning series champion in the Oakley Motorsports Top Sportsman class, and he bolstered his title defense with a final-round win against Glenn Butcher. Fredrich drove his ’68 Camaro to a 6.632-second run for the win, which was highlighted by an almost-perfect .007 reaction time. Nelson, defending JEGS SPORTSnationals winner and reigning NHRA Top Dragster world champion, continued his winning ways by besting Anthony Bertozzi in the final of Oakley Motorsports Top Dragster. Nelson drove to a 6.14 elapsed time on his 6.13 dial to take the victory. JEGS Speedweek will continue on Saturday, July 18 with qualifying rounds for the JEGS SPORTSnationals. Racing will get underway at 8 a.m. Saturday’s program will also include class eliminations for Super Stock and Stock drivers as well as final qualifying rounds for racers in Top Alcohol Dragster and Top Alcohol Funny Car.

Lundqvist fastest in Friday’s practice

Alton, Virginia (July 17, 2020)- A fleet of Formula Regional Americas Championship Powered by Honda drivers invade Virginia International Raceway for the third-annual Andy Scriven Memorial Race Weekend July 17-19. 

Sixteen drivers from eight countries make up the grid for the first triple-header event of the season. The weekend honors the late Ligier Automotive chassis designer Andy Scriven. Scriven was instrumental in the Ligier JS F3 and bringing the first Halo-equipped chassis to North America.  

Linus Lundqvist’s FR Americas perfect run in the season debut at Mid-Ohio netted the 2018 BRDC British F3 champion an early championship lead. But, this weekend the Global Racing Group rookie faces a challenging new circuit with hungry competitors nipping at the chance for victory.

“We had a perfect start to the season, surely, but I can’t rest on my laurels in this sport and I don’t intend to,” said Lundqvist. “I am absolutely certain that our rivals have done their all to close the gap we enjoyed at Mid-Ohio. I will try to go for wins again, of course, but I do expect a tough fight. It should be good fun.”

Although VIR is new to Lundqvist, the native Swedish pilot wheeled his No. 26 Paytrim machine to the top of practice times early on Friday, with a pair of fast laps. (Practice 1:44.419-seconds, Practice 2: 1:44.380-seconds)

“It is my first time around VIR and all I can say is it’s a great track and really amazing,” said Lundqvist. “Very happy with today’s results. My car felt mega here. We have some fine details to manage before qualifying tomorrow.”

A driver looking to dethrone Lundqvist from the top step happens to be one of his Global Racing Group teammates, Danish-American pilot Benjamin Pedersen. Pedersen is the winningest driver at VIR on the FR Americas roster.

In his last visit to the 3.27-mile, 18-turn track, Pedersen finished fastest in qualifying, setting the new track FR Americas record (1:43.486-seconds) which lead to a succession of wins. Driving the orange No. 24 DirtFish machine flatout around the fast and flowing Virginia circuit, Pedersen also holds the record for smallest margin of victory at VIR in both the Formula 4 United States Championship Powered by Honda (.122-seconds) and FR Americas (.5 34-seconds). 

Pedersen will have a lot of ground to make up from practice to qualifying, though, as his times in both Friday sessions were nearly a second off Lundqvist’s pace. (Practice 1: 1:45.108, Practice 2: 1:45.315-seconds)

“I’m really excited to be returning back to VIR this weekend with Global Racing Group,” said Pedersen. “We had very strong pace here last year with a near sweep of the weekend and we have worked extremely hard to be best prepared for VIR. We are learning so much every session. We took good advantage of the promoter test day and have some adjustments to make before qualifying on Saturday.”

After playing runner up to Lundqvist at Mid-Ohio in both rounds, HMD Motorsports driver David Malukas is on the hunt for his first win. Malukas’ best lap in Practice 1 (1:45.476-seconds) slotted him mid-field, but in the final practice of the day, Malukas shot to the top of the lap times halfway through the 30-minute session. He held the top time for a few laps before an off in Turn 12 ended his day prematurely. That left the door open for Lundqvist, who laid down consecutive fliers in the final two laps of practice. 

“After a short break since Mid-Ohio and with a bit more testing under my belt, I’m excited to try and do another good showing with the HMD Motorsports team at VIR,” expressed Malukas, who will mad his VIR debut today. “I’m ready to get going again and see what we can do with the ultimate goal being to win!”

Soler-Obel (Velocity Racing Development) had a break-out weekend last season at VIR, claiming his maiden FR Americas victory while also setting the track record for the fastest in-race lap (1:44.015-seconds). 

The Columbian driver faced several challenges at Mid-Ohio and is looking to rebound this weekend on a track that has been good to him in the past. Soler-Obel finished the day, turning his fastest time in the first practice (1:45.111-seconds).  

“VIR is a track the team and I are very comfortable on,” Soler-Obel said. “We’ve worked out the kink’s from the last race and expect much better results at VIR than Mid-Ohio.”

Other drivers to watch this weekend are Joshua Car (Crosslink Competition), Nicky Hays (Global Racing Group), James Roe Jr. (Global Racing Group) and Danial Frost (Andretti Autosport).

Both Car and Hays were only separated by a tenth of a second in the opening practice while Frost and Roe Jr. traded positions several times in the final practice.

New to the field this weekend are Relentless Motorsports and its drivers Mitch Egner and Andrew Dobbie. The first full Canadian FR Americas squad missed the season opener due to boarder restrictions, but are eager to get to work at VIR. 

“I am just glad to be here with everything going on in the world,” Dobbie said. “We were finally able to make it through the boarder. It’s a big day for the team since it’s the first race weekend for us. I am super happy and anxiously excited for Saturday.”

A field of 16 drivers open Saturday with a 30-minute qualifying (10:25 a.m. Eastern) with Race 1 at 2:55 p.m. Eastern. The Andy Scriven Memorial Race weekend culminates on Sunday with two 35-minute rounds of racing (10:35 a.m. Eastern and 3:05 p.m. Eastern). All three races will be streamed worldwide available at FANRacing.Live.

CHEVROLET IN NTT INDYCAR SERIESIOWA INDYCAR 250s DOUBLEHEADERIOWA SPEEDWAYNEWTON, IOWA TEAM CHEVY NTT P1 AWARD WINNERS QUOTES-CONOR DALY & JOSEF NEWGARDENJULY 17, 2020 In a very unique qualifying session where a driver’s first lap secured his starting position for tonight’s Race One of the Iowa IndyCar 250s, and lap two was the lap of record for his strarting position Saturday night at Iowa Speedway, Conor Daly made a very strong statement he was going to be contender. 
Not only did Daly score his career first NTT IndyCar Series P1 award, but he also won the first pole for his Carlin team. Daly powered the No. 59 Gallagher Carlin Chevrolet to the Race One pole with a lap of 175.188 mph.
Newgarden, winner of last year’s Iowa race and defending series’ champion, picked up his third NTT P1 Award of the season with a lap 175.333 mph to grab the pole for Race Two. Newgarden will start his No. 1 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet second alongside Daly.
Race One is scheuled to start at 8:30 p.m.ET with live coverage on NBCSN and IndyCar Radio. 
CONOR DALY, NO. 59 GALLAGHER CARLIN CHEVROLET – Pole Winner, Race 1:WHAT’S GOING THROUGH YOUR HEAD RIGHT NOW?“Man, it’s just way better than last weekend, that’s for sure. I’m just super happy to be here. I’ve struggled at Iowa, personally; and I’ve learned a lot lately. Carlin and this team has done an incredible job. We’ve improved exactly where we needed to from last year. We did the same at Texas. So mission one is accomplished; obviously starting up front is super, super helpful. So, we’ve just got one more mission left tonight and hopefully we can come out of here with some trophies.” DID YOU THINK YOU COULD EVER ACHIEVE A POLE, ESPECIALLY HERE AT IOWA SPEEDWAY?“At Iowa, absolutely not! I’ve started on the last row here pretty much every time I’ve run here. So, that’s quite a difference. If I have the car to do what I just did, I thrive it seems to be like. So, I’m super thankful that these guys have worked with me and have listened to what I’ve said, and we’ve all worked together as a team. And, we’re the only one-car team out here, so it’s nice to have us up front.”
JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 1 HITACHI TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – Pole Winner, Race 2:“It’s going to be physical. You know, this place is very short and very fast. This is my favorite type of INDYCAR racing. If we ran here ten times a year, I’d be all about it. But, absolutely 2 races is a big order for all of us. So, we’ll try and get through tonight’s Race 1, and have a good race, and then get ready to go again tomorrow. But, I’m so excited. This Is one of my favorite tracks.” YOU ARE THE DEFENDING RACE WINNER HERE. YOU’VE WON HERE BEFORE. BUT YOU’VE NEVER STARTED ON THE POLE. HOW WILL THAT CHANGE YOUR RACE?“I don’t think starting on the pole is going to change things too much. We’ve normally been close to the front row in qualifying here. You want to take your time at the beginning of this race. Your race car is really be the thing that matters at the end of the day. So, it’s not how you start. It’s how you finish. But I feel confident that our Hitachi Chevrolet car is good off the truck and feels good behind other cars in dirty, which is critical. So, I think we’re going to be able to make something happen.”

Richard Childress Racing at Texas Motor Speedway … Richard Childress Racing has a storied history at Texas Motor Speedway that includes a NASCAR Cup Series win with Jeff Burton (1997), five NASCAR Xfinity Series wins with Kevin Harvick (2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2012)  and two NASCAR Truck Series wins with Jay Sauter (1999) and Ty Dillon (2013). COVID-19 Relief … Own a piece of history by participating in an auction and sale of Richard Childress’ personal collection of memorabilia. All proceeds will assist COVID-19 relief efforts. Thousands of rare, hard-to-find and exclusive items from Richard Childress’ 50+ years in NASCAR are up for bid or sale. Visit https://www.ebay.com/str/RichardChildresscollection. Catch the Action … The NASCAR Xfinity Series My Bariatric Solutions 300 at Texas Motor Speedway will be televised live Saturday, July 18, beginning at 3 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network and will be broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.  The NASCAR Cup Series O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway will be televised live Sunday, July 19, beginning at 3 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network and will be broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

This Week’s Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Off Road/E-Z-GO Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 at Texas Motor Speedway… Dillon is an accomplished driver at Texas Motor Speedway with 30 starts spread out across NASCAR’s Cup, Xfinity and Truck Series. He has even competed virtually at the track on iRacing. The Welcome, North Carolina driver has earned pole awards in all three of NASCAR’s national touring series while competing at Texas Motor Speedway and has led laps in three of his 14 Cup races there. In his most recent NASCAR Cup Series start at Texas in November 2019, Dillon finished 13th. Tracker Off Road … Dillon’s No. 3 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE prominently features TRACKER ATVs, a game-changing new line of all-terrain vehicles and side-by-sides offering breakthrough performance, service and value in the off-road industry. TRACKER OFF ROAD was born out of a powerhouse partnership formed between Bass Pro Shops and TRACKER founder Johnny Morris and Textron Specialized Vehicles, bringing together the undisputed world leader in boating with a global leader in innovation and technology.  Bass Pro Shops … Bass Pro Shops is North America’s premier outdoor and conservation company. Founded in 1972 when avid young angler Johnny Morris began selling tackle out of his father’s liquor store in Springfield, Missouri, today the company provides customers with unmatched offerings spanning premier destination retail, outdoor equipment manufacturing, world-class resort destinations and more. In 2017 Bass Pro Shops acquired Cabela’s to create a “best-of-the-best” experience with superior products, dynamic locations and outstanding customer service. Bass Pro Shops also operates White River Marine Group, offering an unsurpassed collection of industry-leading boat brands, and Big Cedar Lodge, America’s Premier Wilderness Resort. Under the visionary conservation leadership of Johnny Morris, Bass Pro Shops is a national leader in protecting habitat and introducing families to the outdoors and has been named by Forbes as “one of America’s Best Employers.” Bass Pro Shops has a long relationship with NASCAR, dating back to 1998. For more information, visit  http://www.basspro.com/. E-Z-GO … E-Z-GO is an iconic, world-renowned brand in golf cars and personal transportation vehicles. Products sold under the E-Z-GO brand include RXV® and TXT® fleet golf cars, Freedom® RXV and Freedom TXT personal golf cars, E-Z-GO Express™ personal utility vehicles, and the 2Five® street-legal low-speed vehicle. Known for innovation in electric-vehicle technology, E-Z-GO’s newest offerings include the ELiTE series of lithium-ion powered golf cars and PTVs, and the company’s exclusive 72-volt AC electric powertrain found in its latest Express series vehicles. Founded in 1954 in Augusta, Ga., E-Z-GO became part of Textron Inc. in 1960, and today operates as part of the company’s Textron Specialized Vehicles division. AUSTIN DILLON QUOTE:Tell us about racing at Texas Motor Speedway and how it differs from other 1.5-mile tracks, such as Kansas Speedway?“Texas Motor Speedway is a bit different from Kansas Speedway in that it has two different ends. You have one end that’s very banked and has high speeds, and then you have a hard end where you have to get turned and get back on the gas. Texas Motor Speedway just has so much grip now.  It’s quite a bit different, and the banking has changed a lot from the old track to the new track. I really like Texas and am looking forward to getting there. It’s going to be really important to run well and to have a good finish because we are still battling to make it into the Playoffs. Our cars have been strong on 1.5-mile tracks this year, and we will look for some of that speed to try and get the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER/E-Z-GO Chevy into Victory Lane.”

Tyler Reddick and the No. 8 Cat Oil and Gas Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE at Texas Motor Speedway … Tyler Reddick will be making his first NASCAR Cup Series start at Texas Motor Speedway this Sunday. Reddick has five NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at the 1.5-mile speedway, with his best finish of second coming in both October 2018 and March 2019. The Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender also has six starts, one pole award and four top-five finishes at the track in the NASCAR Truck Series. Cat Oil and Gas … Caterpillar Oil & Gas, with headquarters in Houston, Texas, consolidates all the sales and service activities for Caterpillar Inc.’s oil and gas power solutions. Since the 1930s, Caterpillar has manufactured engines for the oilfield and today provides premier power solutions with outputs from 31 to 16,000 kW. The sales and service network includes more than 2,100 dealer locations world-wide dedicated to support customers in the drilling, production, well service and gas compression segments. More information is available at cat.com/oilandgas Watch the Race with Cheddar’s… Don’t miss out! Cheddar’s is offering 15% off all To Go orders with the offer code RACEDAY placed on 7/19 and every Cup Series race day for the remainder of the 2020 season! Whether you’re watching the race on a Sunday afternoon or on a weekday under the lights, watch with all your Cheddar’s favorites for 15% off. Terms & conditions apply, visit cheddars.com/offer/race-day for full offer details. TYLER REDDICK QUOTE: How does Texas Motor Speedway compare to other 1.5-mile speedways we visit?“Texas Motor Speedway is a fun place to race and a track I’ve come close to winning at in the past in the other series, but always seem to come up one or two spots short. So, I’m really looking forward to this weekend and competing in my first NASCAR Cup Series race there this Sunday with our No. 8 Cat Oil and Gas Chevrolet. Texas is a little similar to Kansas Speedway, where you can have a lot of balance changes in your car during a run. You have to manage your car and its changes during a run really well in order to be successful there. Moving around throughout a run will also still be important at Texas, and we’ve seen the PJ1 open up a couple lanes in the past, so we should be able to put on a good show this weekend.”

This Week’s No. 21 Death Wish Coffee Chevrolet Camaro at Texas Motor Speedway … Coming off a couple of strong performances at Kentucky Speedway, Anthony Alfredo will make his first appearance at Texas Motor Speedway in the NASCAR Xfinity Series this weekend. The 21-year-old made two career NASCAR Truck Series starts in 2019 at he track. Solid on 1.5-Mile Tracks … In five career NASCAR Xfinity Series starts on 1.5-mile racetracks, Alfredo holds an average finish of 7.4. He recorded his best finish of fourth at Homestead-Miami Speedway in June. About Death Wish Coffee … In 2012, Death Wish Coffee Co. started a small coffee shop in Saratoga Springs, NY. Founder Mike Brown saw a need for coffee that was both strong and delicious to serve his groggy morning customers. After creating the perfect blend of beans and combining it with his unique roasting technique, the ‘World’s Strongest Coffee’ was born. Today, thousands of people trust Death Wish Coffee to wake them up and keep them going every day. For more information visit deathwishcoffee.com. Fast Start for Fast Pasta …  In his first nine NASCAR Xfinity Series starts in the No. 21 Chevrolet Camaro for Richard Childress Racing, Alfredo has secured six top-10 finishes and has an average finish of 9.2. He also won an eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series Saturday Night Thunder Race at Dover International Speedway during NASCAR’s hiatus from on-track competition. ANTHONY ALFREDO QUOTE:You’re coming off two very solid performances at Kentucky Speedway. How excited are you to carry that momentum into Texas this weekend?“I am pumped to head to Texas Motor Speedway this weekend with our No. 21 Death Wish Coffee team. I learned a lot at Kentucky that I believe will translate well to Texas. The solid runs we had will definitely allow us to carry some confidence and momentum into the weekend.” It seems like you’re getting closer and closer every week to contending for wins. What slight adjustments do you and the team need to make in order to secure your first career win this weekend?“I honestly don’t think we need to make any adjustments to be competing for wins. I simply believe if we continue our consistency, keep learning every race, and improving together, we will find ourselves in contention very soon, maybe even this weekend.”

HEBRON, Ohio (July 20) – Anthony Bertozzi, one of NHRA’s most decorated sportsman drag racers, passed another milestone Monday when he drove to the Top Dragster title during the rain-delayed final rounds at the JEGS SPORTSnationals. Bertozzi is now the most successful driver in the history of the event with five titles.  A total of 11 champions were crowned out of a starting field of more than 600 drivers who attended JEGS Speedweek at historic National Trail Raceway. In addition to Bertozzi, Chad Voges (Comp), Jeff Dona (Super Stock), Eric Campolito (Stock), Phillip Oakley (Super Comp), Dwight Nuest (Super Gas), Mark Smith (Super Street), John Benoit (Top Sportsman), and Bruce Sauer (Sportsman Motorcycle) all racked up wins.  Top Dragster winner Anthony Bertozzi Earlier in the weekend, Megan Meyer and D.J. Cox, each earned titles in Top Alcohol Dragster and Top Alcohol Funny Car, respectively. All of the SPORTSnationals champions received a coveted copper NHRA Wally trophy. Bertozzi earned his 24th NHRA national event title when he defeated Team JEGS driver Mike Coughlin in the final round. Like Bertozzi, Coughlin also has experienced a tremendous amount of success in SPORTSnationals races with four previous victories. In one of the best side-by-side races of the weekend, both drivers were nearly perfect off the starting line, but the win light shone in Bertozzi’s lane after Coughlin broke out with a 6.16 on his 6.18-second prediction. Despite the loss, it was hard for Coughlin to call the weekend anything other than a success. “We had a darn good time but we just came up a little short in the final,” said Coughlin, a five-time national event winner at National Trail Raceway. “I just took a little more than I wanted at the finish line but when you race a guy like Anthony, he’s one of the best, so you have to be on your game. It was close but I’m not disappointed one bit.  Mike Coughlin, Top Dragster finalist “This was my first national event of the year and my car was awesome. It was a good start to the season and if I had a chance to go back and re-run the final, I don’t think I’d change a thing. “As a whole, JEGS Speedweek was great. This is the best turnout they’ve had in many years and the new management has done a great job with National Trail Raceway. They understand what it takes to succeed, and I was happy to see them have such a successful event.” Meyer and Cox earned their titles in the North Central Regional event that was the first part of JEGS Speedweek. The reigning NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster world champion, Meyer was the low qualifier and reached the final where she defeated Mike Bucher with a run of 5.260 seconds. Cox also was the top qualifier in his Chevy Camaro-bodied Top Alcohol Funny Car and defeated two-time and reigning class champion Sean Bellemeur in the trophy round with a 5.468-second elapsed time.  Voges earned the fourth national event title of his career, and his first since 2007, when he stopped Greg Kamplain in the final of Comp Eliminator. Driving his ’32 Bantam roadster, Voges was first off the starting line in his final against low qualifier Greg Kamplain and held on for the win with a 7.613, his quickest run of the weekend.  Comp winner Chad Voges Dona is now a three-time winner in national event competition after claiming the Super Stock title over Todd Frantz. Dona, racing in his eighth national event final, was able to cruise to the victory after Frantz fouled at the start. The final was a rematch of the 2013 NHRA U.S. Nationals, which was won by Frantz, a two-time JEGS SPORTSnationals champion. Super Stock winner Jeff Voges The Stock Eliminator class featured a first-time winner after Campolito outlasted a field of 140 entries before parking his ’96 Caprice in the National Trail Raceway winner’s circle. Campolito posted a dial-in prediction of 11.73 seconds and matched it perfectly in the final to beat opponent Bryan Merkle, who posted a 10.76 on a 10.73 dial-in. Stock winner Eric Campolito  In 2014, Oakley won the Top Dragster title at the JEGS Northern SPORTSnationals and returned six years later to add another title after winning the Super Comp crown here. Facing world champion John Labbous Jr. in the final, Oakley gained a slight lead at the start and held on for a razor-thin victory with an 8.928 to Labbous’ 8.932.  Super Comp winner Phillip Oakley Nuest collected his second title in Super Gas following a final-round win against Sarah Becker. Driving his unique ’82 Dodge Rampage, Nuest matched the Super Gas index with a 9.906 to Becker’s 9.866-second breakout. Nuest’s only other national event win came in St. Louis in 2017. Super Gas winner Dwight Nuest Smith lost last year’s Division 3 Super Street title via a tiebreaker but he’s now a SPORTSnationals champion after driving his ’82 Mustang to a perfect 10.90-second run in the final to stop Rocky Van Note, who had an early advantage, but broke out at the finish line. Smith’s only other national event final was a runner-up at the 2018 JEGS SPORTSnationals. Super Street winner Mark Smith In Top Sportsman, Benoit claimed his second title when he topped Chris Osborn in the final round. Benoit gained an early lead and then drove his ’15 Corvette to a 6.57 on his 6.56 dial-in for the win. Osborn matched his dial with a 6.68 but couldn’t catch Benoit. Top Sportsman winner John Benoit A pair of local racers met to decide the Sportsman Motorcycle title with Sauer, of Reynoldsburg, Ohio, riding to a victory against Zanesville’s Anthony Moore, who fouled at the start.

NHRA^® Team Report

NHRA Summernationals – Indianapolis

Pre-Race Report

Cruz Pedregon and team are looking forward to getting back together in Indianapolis this weekend with the NHRA family for the second official racing event since the pandemic shutdown. The team tested on Friday and was pleased Saturday with the back-to-back 4.09 passes in qualifying.

“It felt good to get those solid runs in qualifying but we knew the early Sunday start conditions on race day were going to be different. It was cooler, so we made changes to try to grab some additional power out of the Snap-on Dodge^®,” Cruz says. “The car didn’t adapt well to those adjustments, so we ended up hurting about halfway down the track. That’s what we’ve been working on this week and you’ll see improvement when we hit the track this Saturday.”

The team took the time to disassemble the pit and move back to the shop in nearby Brownsburg where it has been going through components to better understand what caused issues with the car and how to push through it at the upcoming Summernationals.

“It is so great to be back out on the track, and we are grateful to all the fans who came out to support us,” says Cruz. “Everyone is following the social distancing and protective rules. And, for those who can’t make it out to the track, we’re excited for them for them to be able to enjoy NHRA racing again on FOX Sports and online.”

Cruz’s Dodge^® will again pay tribute to the Snap-on 100^th with its paint scheme and logo. Fans are encouraged throughout the season to post pictures of the car with the hashtag #Snapon100. 

July 16, 2020

After a mid-week trip to Bristol Motor Speedway where Matt DiBenedetto won the NASCAR All-Star Open, earning his first appearance in the NASCAR All-Star Race, it’s back to work in the points-paying races on the Cup Series schedule.

DiBenedetto and the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane team are headed to Texas Motor Speedway this Sunday, hoping for more of the same from the past few weeks. 
 
 “We’ve been having a lot of fun lately as far as our car speed and stuff, so that’s been great,” DiBenedetto said. “I’m excited to get to Texas and hopefully continue on this roll that we’re on where we’ve gotten stage points in the last eight stages in a row.
 
“That just shows we’re running in that front group consistently from start to finish of these races, so that’s awesome. I’m excited.”
 
DiBenedetto finished 13^th in the All-Star main event after sustaining damage to the No. 21 Mustang in an early incident, but the car was competitive before then, continuing a string of recent strong runs, including a third-place finish this past Sunday at Kentucky Speedway.
 
“We’ve really been building and getting better and better, running up there in that front group consistently from start to finish in a lot of these races lately,” he said. “We’re continuing to get more and more points, climbing up there, catching guys in front of us.
 
“If we keep running up there consistently, that puts us in a position to have a shot at winning one of these things.”
 
He and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane team also have a shot at being one of the 16 teams that will start the Playoffs, which begin after nine more regular season races. He’s now 12^th in points and 13^th in the playoff standings, 44 points ahead of Jimmie Johnson, who holds the 16^th spot heading into Texas.
 
 “Going in, Goal Number One was making sure to make the playoffs, which is never easy,” DiBenedetto said of the 10-race, season-ending race for the Cup Series championship. “Knowing the strength of the team, I know we can work at it and do it, especially now that we’ve been on this good streak lately of having a lot of speed and racking up stage points.”
 
He said he not only wants to make the playoffs, he wants to prove that he and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane team belong among the elites in the sport. 
 
“If we keep improving like we have been, I think we can turn a lot of heads,” he said.

 Due to the coronavirus, there will be no practice or qualifying before Sunday’s 500-miler at Texas, whic

CHEVROLET IN NTT INDYCAR SERIESIOWA INDYCAR 250s DOUBLEHEADERIOWA SPEEDWAYNEWTON, IOWA TEAM CHEVY TEAM PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPTJULY 16, 2020 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET DRIVERS PATO O’WARD AND OLIVER ASKEW AND MANAGING DIRECTOR TAYLOR KIEL met with members of the media and discussed racing at Iowa Speedway, the 2020 season to date and other topics. Full transcript:
MODERATOR: Today we’re joined by drivers Pato , Oliver Askew and Managing Director Taylor Kiel from Arrow McLaren SP.  Thank you everybody for joining today. Please raise your hand or say in the chat whether or not you have a question we’ll get to as soon as we can. So I’ll start off asking some intro questions from each of our individuals today, and then we’ll get to the media question so first let’s start with Pato,Q.- Pato, you secured your first podium of your IndyCar career last weekend at Road America. What did that race mean to you? And how will you build on that momentum this weekend at Iowa?PATO O’WARD: Yeah, thanks Thomas. Yeah, I think we ended the Road America weekend very strong . Not just with the podium but I think performance-wise, we were basically leading the race though the whole way through until the last two laps. The lap cars didn’t really help all help our tire situation and and we just really fell back to Felix and gave him an opportunity to strike. We fought but I think we executed. Well, I think we you know, we really showed our potential and we were fighting where we were where we want to be fighting where we’re supposed to be fighting. We want to win races. We want to be on the podium and at the end of this we want to be contenders in the Championship so, you know, I’m excited to carry this momentum into Iowa.  Iowa has a very unique oval and its own way and I’ve had lots of success there in Pro Mazda and in Indy lights. So, you know, hopefully I can carry that on into IndyCar and and have a good couple races this week and then get ready for August.
Q. – Great. Thank you Pato Oliver. You’ve had success at Iowa Speedway in the past in US 2000 in 2017 and then other short oldest as well with Gateway in Indy lights. So do you think this success will translate well to an Indy car?OLIVER ASKEW: Yeah, thanks Thomas. I think it will and I know Aaron McLaren SP has had really good cars there in the past. They won a race there and finished third last year. So in the past two years so looking forward to it for sure looking forward to putting Road America behind us. I love short ovals have to like you said some success there last year in Indy Lights and felt pretty good on the oval in Texas as well. So we wish the the tire stint was longer because we felt like our cars were much better than everyone else is at the end of a stint. So hopefully that’s the case in Iowa as well. It’s a race of a lot of tiredeg. So that’s going to be important to kind of figure out as early as possible in practice Friday morning.
Q. Taylor. How will the team is past success at Iowa Speedway? Help Pato and Oliver this weekend. And what do you think the biggest challenge will be for them on their first short oval? TAYLOR KIEL:  Thanks for everybody for joining. The team’s past success is just that it’s in the past. Right? So we have ad good cars there before but a lots changed. We’ve got the aero screen now likely a different tire.  A lot of different variables the weekend schedule those types of things. So we’re certainly going into it Eyes Wide Open we feel like we’ve done a lot of good pre-event work like we have through the first few races of the year. So we’re looking for more success. Certainly. I think Pato and Oliver both have had success here in the past as well. But it but it’s a new challenge for all of us. I think the schedule is going to be the biggest thing for them and for everybody. But otherwise, I think it’s going to be fast paced. It’s not gonna be a whole lot of time to think of that and we’re going to go we’re going to go on there on the aggressive on the front foot and try to try to capitalize on the momentum we left Road America with.
Q. It’s just a question for Taylor. Taylor. How confident are you going into this weekend? Obviously off the back of the success and Road America, but also obviously it’s a different setup with a being an oval and just how confident are you going ahead into this weekend?KIEL: Short answer-Very. I think our team’s really coming together working well. Our pit stop performance last week was the best that it’s been we’ve continued to get to get better and better as we continue to race. We have Pato O’Ward and Oliver Askew driving our cars and that gives me a tremendous amount of confidence. We have great support from our partners and our fans. So having a limited amount of fans there will feel like we’re getting back to normal a bit and certainly the momentum that we carried from Road America will help so I’m excited to get there and I’m just kind of excited to get to work.
Q. A quick follow-up to Pato same question please.O’WARD: Yeah, I’m Taylor’s boat. I think we keep getting better and better; we keep improving. This weekend it is going to be very important to use our time efficiently to really prepare ourselves for qualifying and for the race. It’s a very long race and very long stints. So more than anything  we need outright speed but we need to use our heads. So I think if we make no mistakes keep everything nice and tidy I think will be will be in it at the end, you know to be able to to challenge for wins and for podiums. We first have to be there at the end. So, you know, I’m very much looking  forward to it Iowa. Like I said, it’s an oval that I that I look very much forward to going to so yeah bring on this weekend. 
Q. just quick ones Oliver as well same question.ASKEW: Looking forward to just putting Road America behind us that’s been there was a difficult weekend. I think you know the series is so tight. It doesn’t doesn’t allow for a small mistakes that any point through the weekend. So looking forward to executing every single time. We’re on track and like Pato said it’s important to to really good on a window to make sure that we’re the quickest at the end of the stint,  quicker than anybody else at the end of the stint. So I’m looking forward to just going out and having fun. Like Taylor said the pit crews been working flawlessly through adversity no matter what happens, you know, they’re not making any mistake so that builds confidence in both Pato and myself, and you know, the guys are going to give us great strategies as well. So look forward to it as look this weekend guys. Thank you. 
Q. I have a question for Pato – Pato first of all congrats on your Podium and on your pole. Awesome job, and I want to say one thing really stuck out with me and I was impressed when after race one at Road America. You said that we definitely have the car to be upfront and I want to say so you seemed to be really in tune with your car and there’s some drivers that aren’t as in tune as you are or on. I’m wondering where are you getting this confidence? Are you spending more time? Like in the garage with the mechanics with the strategists or what are you doing differently?O’WARD: Yeah, thank you. I just think I have a lot of faith in my team Arrow McLaren SP. We have a great group of engineers and in the car has felt good everywhere we’ve been. Obviously Texas was new to me. So I kind of had to be cautious and we didn’t want to have a tiny hiccup in qualifying that could really put us in a bad position for the race, so I had to be in a different mindset like going to a road course, you know road courses that I know, we’ve been very strong in practice and in qualifying which has it never everything never really went perfectly until all fine-tuning at Road America and we put it on the pole. So I’ve always known the speed is there I know the guys will always give me the tools to be able to be fighting up front. So I think was just getting everything together and to execute. In race one. we had a little issue with it something mechanically in the race one at Road America. So, you know, it is not the same whenever you start mid packed and when you start up front, you know, you make your life way easier when you start up front and  I was tired of starting in the middle. I wanted to start up front and I wanted to run up there. So I pulled a good lap out and put it on the pole and you know, we started the race and I think we we control the pace the whole way through, you know, until two laps to go but you know, I just I have lots of faith in the team and I know they are all pushing the same as I am and we’re also hungry for wins and for podiums and I think that’s what’s most important here is just that everybody is rowing towards the same way and pushing, you know with the same amount of energy and motivation. So I think that’s so important and to win these IndyCar races you have to execute perfectly because if you don’t then you just won’t win it because it’s so tight. But yeah, I’m very much looking forward to the rest of the season and I just I want to continue improving and getting better and better and better and I know the chemistry with the engineers is just going to improve every single race with
Q. Taylor just wondered about the kind of I guess you’ve had time to reflect on on Road America now and crunch some of the numbers and go through things. So I just wondered you know with the last stint love with the last stop you went for the for the Reds. And you know, would you have done anything differently, they’re you know going back with with hindsight. Obviously all of us would love to have the the knowledge of what to do before the race happens, but just kind of assessing things now and looking back. Would you have done anything differently there or do you think you made the right call? And you know, it’s just important so it worked out then.KIEL:  Yeah. Thanks Jack. Like we do every event our engineering team and our leadership team dig into the good the bad the ugly what we found is that we’re very confident that that was the right call for us in the moment. We did not have Felix’s pace on primary tires. We knew that we saw that in the previous two stints. Frankly, the reason we were able to maintain our gap was the pit sequence on our end was so much better than theirs both the in and out laps on the Pato’s side and then the actual pit stop itself. So we were able to continue to maintain that gap to Felix but we felt that our car was better on alternate tires, and we felt to give ourselves a fighting chance we needed to have a really mega out lap and to do that was going to be on the red tires from there hopefully we could pull a gap over the first few laps and then just hold on tight and make it to the end. So, you know hindsight is 20/20. We’ve looked at it a hundred different ways and I think that a hundred different times we would do the same thing.
 Q. Pato Obviously last year was it up and down for you? And you know, I’m sure you’ll pick out some strong positives and some downsides as well. Just how important is it been having Arrow McLaren behind you, you know to start the season and have that kind of support from them because I guess they kind of questions surrounds, you know, last year was so unusual for you and you were jumping around teams and going to different countries and doing so many different things and obviously a bit of consistency to start the season. So how was that been as the team support been?O’WARD: Yeah, thanks, man. I think one of the biggest things in success is having your team supporting you and having people behind you, you know pushing for the same objectives that you want to achieve. You know, last year was it was just so up and down it was a huge learning year, but more than anything is that it really makes a difference when when you know, the guy when you know the car when you know, what’s coming for you but whenever everything is a blur and also letting you you get a call and you have to meet new people new car new team owner. You have no testing. No nothing, you know, it’s so much harder and this year with you know, with a proper schedule Proper testing and really lots of time to be able to interact with Engineers, you know, make the chemistry and create relationships and make them, you know stronger and stronger every day. I think that makes a huge difference, especially when the weekends are so condensed as they’ve been.  Will and I are still learning from each other. We’re still working on how I like things, you know, he has an idea of how I drive now, which is completely different to to what James want, you know in the past. So it’s definitely a learning curve in its own but I think we’ve we’ve been very efficient. We’ve been you know, very hands-on and in trying to really come out strong out of the gate and I think we have so that’s going to continue being our focus and you know the better we get at that and then the better shots were going to have a qualifying and then, you know having a strong race. 
Q. Good morning Taylor. We talked before the season started and you mentioned, you know wanting to join the big big three teams, right? But make it big four. Have you taken a step towards that so far in the first four races?KIEL: I think you know relative to that group. All we can do is focus on ourselves and what we’re doing day-to-day and I believe that day to day we were making progress. There’s so much work so much effort going on behind the scenes with our group McLaren, Arrow, Chevy really working to push our package to the next level and we’re doing that and I think that that Road America finally gave us a little bit of result to prove that. But the speeds been there all year long. We just haven’t been able to put the total package together. So now we’ve seen it. We’ve done it. We’ve seen it. We know how it’s done and we can build off of that and continue to put those results together in a consistent manner. That’s what’s going to get us there. We see a lot of people struggling through the first handful of races this year. So for us, it’s all about consistency and closing that gap and I think we’re on our way.Q. You’ve obviously had good pit stops and a couple other teams have struggled. A couple that you wouldn’t expect a struggle. What did you guys do? I know you’ve always been good at pit stops. Did you change anything in the offseason? You know, I know it’s obviously hard, you know to get going late. You didn’t get the practice probably you needed. How do you explain your guys pit stops?KIEL: It’s simple Steve. It’s the buy-in from from the guys and girls on the team and working out everyday eating right drinking water doing the things that you need to do to show up at these events and a condensed with hundred degree ambient temperatures and being able to perform on the pressures on.  We give our pit crews all the tools they need to succeed and with that were able to look them in the eye and say hey now it’s on you to perform and they all do they do it everybody takes a lot of pride in it and everybody works really really hard. Even when there’s when there’s no time in the schedule. We make time for pitstop practice. We make time for physical and mental wellness. And we do the things we need to do to make sure that that our groups are ready to perform when the lights are on.
 Q. For the drivers along the same line, you’ve obviously got these guys working so hard on the pit stops how much confidence extra confidence is that bring you guys as drivers knowing you’re going to come into the pits and it’s going to be as quick as stop as possible. They’re going to get everything right as much as they can.O’WARD: Yeah, I think it’s huge not just for us but you know for everybody just works in sync. I think that’s very important especially in IndyCar races. The driver has to hit its marks in and out laps have to be perfect and then you know the guys in the pit stops have to do have to do their part. So the driver can get some help either if it’s an over cut and undercut or just maintaining lead. So I think you know from our side. It’s In a way not a relief, but you know, we we have so much faith in them and we know that you know, they are pushing as as much as we are to get everything perfectly and and you know, like like it is in many forms of motor sports, you know, you win and lose as a team, but you know pit stops are so important and the guys have been flawless and I have lots of respect.After I actually tried changing a tire and in like Oliver was driving the car and he was actually coming into the box and I thought that was the most terrifying thing. I’d ever seen and to like change it on that speed like those tires are so heavy man. Like they are so heavy in these guys lift it up like it’s a feather and I think that’s just it’s an art in its own and I don’t think there’s there’s I don’t think people appreciate it as much as they should because it’s truly something. And as important as the driver, you know driving on the track. So, you know that the guys really work hard in and I can’t thank him enough for that.
ASKEW: Thank you. I echo what Pato said it’s just it’s one more thing that I get to take off of my mind when I go into a race weekend knowing that we’re going to be strong in the pits. You know my crew. They think they’ve won the pit stop challenge Taylor you can you can chime in on this, but they won last year.  Right. They won last year at the pit stop challenge. So I know that you know that.My crew is going to be the most consistent at track and that just builds confidence in myself. You know, that’s just one less thing to worry about going into the weekend and the more more practice. I get coming into the box, you know going to the pit lane pushing the pit lane push in the box, you know, the less I have to think about it. So yeah, just echoing on what Pato a huge confidence boost and I think that’s one one of the many strengths that this team has is the work that we’ve done in the middle.
Q. Hi guys. Thanks for taking the time. I got a question for both Plateau. When all over Zac Brown said a few days ago to these willing to give you a running an F1 car when the time in the opportunity is right, and I know Pato you have recently had the taste of some open-wheel action outside of the US, but for both of you your career has been largely focused on American open-wheel, so there’s wonder if you can please elaborate on where the prospect of F1 is on your radar if at all?O’WARD: Thanks, man. You know for me is you know, my job in front of me right now is to succeed and win races try to win championships, you know, and try to win the Indy 500 those are my goals right now and I’m fully focused on that, you know, obviously in the future if something comes up in Formula One and opportunities there, you know, we will see what what what I’m going through at that time. But you know for now I’m fully focused on our Mclaren SP giving them results giving them championships and you know giving them race wins. I think they really deserve it. You know, it’s such a hard working group of guys and girls and you know, and I love IndyCar. I love IndyCar racing. But you know, like I said, obviously if a test comes up or something, you know, if the time is there, you know, I would for sure I would for sure consider doing it because you know, I think those cars are spectacular.ASKEW: Right now like am full focus on what I’m doing here, you know, I’m not going to get the opportunity to experience something like that. You know, if I don’t perform in my current space. Yeah right now just focus on the task at hand and obviously McLaren is done very very well for the past couple seasons and especially this year in Formula One, so they’re definitely a growing force and I think you know when the when the new regulations come out they’re going to be stronger, so it’s fun. It’s fun following them and their success in being a part of that family now, but like like Papa said it’s the most important thing for us now is to do our job and then the present moment.
Q. My first question for Taylor. I you mentioned that the schedules being may be the biggest challenge this weekend. Just you know at this point of maybe just past halfway of five races and 15 days is that would have what’s the schedule been like and consecutive double headers? And you know, how is it stressed your team?KIEL: It’s been intense. I think that’s kind of the general word. We’ve been using just intensity from the moment that you step in the car or the plane to go to the track until the moment The Checkered Flag waves. You don’t have a whole lot of time to think it’s it’s very fast-paced. The amount of time between sessions is reduced dramatically compared to what we’re used to so how that’s changed us is the pre-event work. It’s always been a priority for us. It is absolute necessity now. If we unload or the package, that’s not quick. You’re not going to get any better by the time the race shows up, right? So it’s the precedence is on making sure that you unload quickly. So all of your simulation work to pre event stuff that is an absolute priority. So that’s something that we’ve really I feel have done a good job. So that’s been a plus. The physical fitness have everybody on the team is a big thing. You don’t consider when you’re when you’re watching on TV and you’re seeing the cars go around but there’s a whole team of people that have to make that happen and they’re standing outside for 12 13 14 15 hour days. sometimes when ambient temperatures in the middle of the summer in the Midwest are a hundred degrees Fahrenheit, right? So it’s it takes a lot from everybody. So pre-event work, team chemistry the work ethic and the discipline and the toughness of everybody in the paddock and then likewise we haven’t even mentioned Covid-19 and the pandemic and everything that’s going on and associated with that that requires its own set of challenges with masks and protocols and those types of things. So really comes down to the guys and girls and the IndyCar Paddock taking care of each other and working hard through this tough stretch. I think the ultimate goal here is to get through these races to race for ourselves and our fans and our partners and do the best that we can so that we can we can continue to keep our product on track and in front of in front of all our loyal IndyCar fans. So that’s that’s the goal. 
Q. Just to follow up on that last part Taylor with its team footage is point about how teams have been made. Some errors on pit stops, you would expect to see from talking to some people. It sounds like routines have sort of been disrupted by the protocols and restrictions that track and then also you don’t have the routines of the schedule. Like normally the month of May is given to be a lot of repetition. Do you have any thoughts on that and like how your team is maybe been able to avoid those kind of errors that we’ve seen in some other teams made? KIEL: Well routines definitely disrupted. It’s something that you can’t hide from what the schedule the way it is and Shop base protocols being what they are. I mean a lot of teams have now changed out ways of working completely back at base. Right? So it doesn’t just begin and end in the paddock. It’s different from every facet of the operation for us. It’s really all about prioritizing it. That’s what it boils down to you can in the time find any number of ways to fill your time and the amount of time you have to prepare for a race event, but we feel that it stops are just as important. As our previous simulation work or our car builds or anything that we’re doing from an RD perspective. So we prioritize it make time for it. That’s really that’s really what we’ve done to make sure that what we can control is under our control 
Q. One for the drivers is Taylor just mentioned that the Midwest summertime temperatures. I’m sure 250 Laps on consecutive nights at Iowa. Speedway will be a little bit different and I know green flag temperatures for Saturday or like 90 degrees so I know both you guys are physically fit but are any concerns going into that kind of grueling Marathon session over the weekend at Iowa, I guess starting with Pato.O’WARD: Yeah, yeah, thanks man. I think we’re in for a treat this weekend because it’s going to be hot and it’s just not one race. It’s two races. So the recovery after the first race is going to be key. It’s going to be very important to be nice and fresh for for Saturday. You don’t even if they’re at night the humidity and the heat is still there. So I think you know, we’re all kind of going into it like well, you know, we’re going to get thrown in there and you have to survive it’s not like oh, you know you can give up no not you have to survive. So I think we’re just we’re going in it as prepared as possible. Just very hydrated. Make sure your food is very clean and everything and then, you know, just, you know, hang on to it for the whole race because it is going to be a long one.
ASKEW: Yeah, thanks for the question. I think being worried about it is the biggest part of preparation, you know. For me this is going to be the hardest race of the year so far because because it’s a doubleheader because the track is so short. There’s not much time to rest because it’s going to be hot because it’s bumpy. So there’s a lot of a lot of variables being thrown at us a lot of different variables every single weekend for the past three weekends that we’ve been on been on. Both Pato and I have been have been training as best as we can and we’ve been hydrating as best as we can trying to recover from the last wwekend at Road America and I think it’s going to be very difficult at the end of the stints and the tires are going away and you’re in you’re mentally drained and super hot. So you need to have this voice the back of your head to remind yourself to not make any crucial mistakes or really really pay attention to what’s going on because very easy to lose that you lose the car in that state of mind. So the looking for of the challenge for sure. It’s going to be difficult for everybody. We’ve got to be more prepared.
Q. I need to some details about of the race after read the race oad America battle from the radio the car will be on front tomorrow. Could you tell some more details about that attitude and how can them to expand it this attitude to the team to be the same level?Of course to be an on a Podium and the question for the drivers part of you wat two years ago, and now we’ll have a you have a reference from that the victory two years ago Oliver the reference its faculties Wicked on double-header. Thank you so much.KIEL: This is something that we talk a lot about as a team is a winning mentality is you know being aggressive in taking what’s yours? We all work very very hard. I don’t know what the other teams do. I’m sure they work hard too, but we work really really hard to make sure that we build a team in a package that can compete for ones and championships week in and week out.What Pato was saying from the car at that moment was I know that we have that we just didn’t execute today. We’re going to do it tomorrow because we have another chance and we did just right. So if that doesn’t give you confidence as a crew member or as a member of this team, generally then you’re probably in the wrong place. We take a lot of pride in that. We do a lot of work beforehand in the moment and post analysis to see that a man we do have a good car and we didn’t execute or we had a good car and we did execute we can see that we have data to prove it. So the entire time even first qualifying we had a we had a small mechanical issue that probably left us off of the front row, you know, frankly, or at least more towards the front when you start that far back in a race like Road America with such small windows and limited strategy plays you’re handcuffed. So we knew what weup against them race one and we knew we had an opportunity to qualify and redo that scenario again and we made the most of it and Pato certainly has that mentality to just go and attack and take what’s his so as a group if that doesn’t give you confidence and then I don’t know what will.O’WARD: Yeah, thanks Louise. Yeah, I think you know, I’ve had very good memories at from Iowa and and I’m looking forward to you know, just to continue the momentum with you know, with with a group of guys that I have, you know supporting me and I know that you know, we will have the tools to to be competitive. So I think it’s just to you know to finalize everything in to really have something, you know, very fast. And that last long I think that’s going to be very important. But I’m looking forward to trying to continue my set my success in Iowa. It’s a it’s an it’s an oval that I enjoy. So yeah, I’m excited for the weekend.
ASKEW: Yeah, I think that Pato has been a great reference for me for the past for the past couple race weekends. Even pre-season testing. I think we work together really. Well. I don’t I don’t expect I don’t expect to you know, take too much time to get up to speed in Iowa. I think it’s important with the condensed weekends to you know, really like light the match and be at the speed right away. So that’s going to be my main focus for tomorrow. It’s crazy to say that we’re already racing tomorrow. But yeah, it’s going to be a challenge for sure. But you know addicts have had some success at Iowa and us have two thousand four years ago. That’s obviously completely different. It’s going to be a different track that completely different car. So looking forward to the challenge.

BATAVIA, Ohio (July 16, 2020) – With nearly $170,000 in purse money up for grabs, the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series has three races in three days. Teams will be traveling to Tri-City Speedway for the NAPA Know How 50 and to Lucas Oil Speedway for both the 28th Annual Lucas Oil Show-Me 100 – Presented by ProtectTheHarvest.com and the CMH Diamond Nationals – Presented by Super Clean.  On Friday, July 17th, the series visits Granite City, IL for the NAPA Know How 50 for a full program, which includes: Time Trials, Heat Races, B-Mains, and a 50-lap, $12,000-to-win main event. The pit gate will open at 12:00 pm CT at Tri-City Speedway. The general admission gates will open at 5:00 pm CT with on-track action beginning at 6:30 pm CT. Also on hand will be the B-Mods and Modifieds.  For more information, visit: www.tricityspeedway.net. The nation’s top dirt late model drivers will storm into Lucas Oil Speedway, the state-of-the-art 3/8-mile oval, July 18th for the 28th Annual Lucas Oil Show-Me 100 – Presented by ProtectTheHarvest.com. The event is co-sanctioned by the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series and the Lucas Oil MLRA. On Saturday night, the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series/Midwest Latemodel Racing Association (MLRA) will have a complete program of: Time Trials, Heat Races, B-Mains, and the 100 lap Show-Me 100, paying $20,000-to-win.  The festivities in Wheatland, MO will shift on Sunday to the 14th Annual CMH Diamond Nationals – Presented by Super Clean. There will be a full program of Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series/Lucas Oil MLRA Time Trials, Heat Races, B-Mains, and the $12,000-to-win feature.

On Saturday and Sunday, at Lucas Oil Speedway, the pit gate will be open all day, before being closed and cleared at 3:30 pm CT. All gates will re-open at 4:00 pm CT, with on-track action beginning at 6:30 pm CT.

For tickets and more information, visit: www.lucasoilspeedway.com. Jimmy Owens currently stands atop of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Championship Point Standings. Jonathan Davenport sits in second, followed closely by Tim McCreadie, with Josh Richards, and Tyler Erb in a tie for fourth.  Track and Event Information:Tri-City SpeedwayPhone Number: 618-931-7836Location: 5100 Nameoki Road, Granite City, IL 62040Directions: I-270 to exit 4, then 0.5 mile south on SR 203Website: www.tricityspeedway.net Tire Rule July 17thLeft Rear/Fronts – Hoosier (90) LM20Right Rear – Hoosier (92) LM20, (92) LM40*Must use the same set of 4 tires for Time Trials, Heat Races, and B-Main.*For the Feature, competitors may use a new right rear tire.*Flat tire must be replaced with a used tire of the same compound and construction to retain starting position.

More than 600 racers fill National Trail Raceway as JEGS Speedweek begins

HEBRON, Ohio (July 16) — Build it and they will come.  The NHRA North Central Division and JEGS Mail Order worked together to organize JEGS Speedweek, which kicked off Thursday with more than 600 of the nation’s best sportsman drag racers getting to work at National Trail Raceway.  The historic event combines the first Lucas Oil Series Division 3 race of the season with the annual JEGS.com SPORTSnationals. The Division 3 race will take place Thursday and Friday, followed by the JEGS SPORTSnationals on Saturday and Sunday. After Thursday’s opening rounds of qualifying, Frank Affronti (Comp), Rich South (Super Stock), Gary Summers (Stock), Lester Johnson (Top Sportsman) and J.B. Strassweg (Top Dragster) lead their respective fields. Racers in Super Comp, Super Gas, Super Street, and Sportsman Motorcycle also made time trial runs in preparation for Friday’s eliminations. Affronti drove his Chevy Cobalt to a run of 7.337 seconds to lead the Comp Eliminator field. A finalist at the 1999 U.S. Nationals, Affronti was able to hold off Ronnie Bohn, Scott Chamness, and Greg Kamplain, who all made solid qualifying runs themselves. Defending JEGS SPORTSnationals Comp winner Terry Smith is seeded No. 10 in the field. Smith can earn the coveted JEGS Crown trophy should he prevail during Sunday’s final eliminations. Comp leader Frank Affronti Racing in his home state, South, who hails from of Pickerington, Ohio, topped a 98-car field of Super Stock drivers with a run of 9.908 seconds in his Pontiac G5. South’s closest pursuers include Bill Rink, Andy Kronenbitter, and Tony DePillo. Defending race winner Dan Steed, of Radnor, Ohio, is solidly in the field with his vintage ’66 Chevy II and will have an opportunity to score back-to-back SPORTSnationals titles this weekend.  Super Stock leader Rich South In Stock Eliminator, a massive field of 140 drivers is competing for 128 qualifying spots and the current king of the hill is Summers with a run of 13.74 seconds in his ’77 Ford Mustang. The top four qualifiers include Bill Dyer, Jim Marshall, and Dave Walther. The defending event winner is four-time world champion Jeff Taylor, who is driving the JEGS.com Dodge Challenger Drag Pak normally raced by Pro Stock ace Jeg Coughlin Jr. Taylor ran a best of 9.713-seconds to secure the No. 12 starting spot. Stock leader Gary Summers  Johnson is the qualifying leader in the Oakley Motorsports Top Sportsman category after a run of 6.237 seconds at more than 234 mph in his unique ’55 Chevy. Johnson holds a sizable lead over No. 2 qualifier, Jeff Melnick, who ran a 6.434, and Eric Burnett, who is third with a 6.445. The 27-car Top Sportsman field includes four drivers who earned top-10 finishes last season.  Top Sportsman leader Lester Johnson Strassweg earned the top seed in his Oakley Motorsports Top Dragster class following a run of 6.137 seconds. He was able to hold off defending world champion and JEGS SPORTSnationals winner Danny Nelson, who recorded a best of 6.168 seconds. Danny Waddle Jr. and Phillip Oakley round out the top four qualifying spots, while Team JEGS driver Mike Coughlin is the No. 9 seed after a 6.244-second run. Coughlin, the reigning Division 3 champion, is one of the most successful racers in the history of the JEGS SPORTSnationals with four career victories. Top Dragster leader J.B. Strassweg The JEGS Mail Order team also includes Troy Coughlin Jr., his sister, Paige Coughlin, and cousin, Makenna Brown, who are all racing in the Super Comp category. All three JEGS.com branded dragsters took aim at the 8.90-second Super Comp index during Thursday’s time trial runs.  JEGS Speedweek continues at 8 a.m., Friday, with final eliminations for the North Central Division Lucas Oil Series event. The event schedule also will include qualifying runs for competitors in the Top Alcohol Dragster and Top Alcohol Funny Car classes, which are making their first SPORTSnationals appearance since 1985.

TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE NTT INDYCAR SERIES IOWA INDYCAR 250s DOUBLE HEADER IOWA SPEEDWAY NEWTON, IOWA JULY 17-18, 2020 RACE #5 & 6 OF 2020 NTT INDYCAR SERIES: To complete the cycle of five races in 15 days, Chevrolet in the NTT INDYCAR Series heads to Iowa Speedway for another doubleheader on Friday and Saturday, July 17-18.  Since 2013 there has been at least one doubleheader weekend on the Series’ schedule, with the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix on Belle Isle the one remaining annual event.  However this season, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, racing was halted just prior to the season-opening event on the Streets of St. Petersburg, Florida. With the changes that had to be made to the schedule, Detroit had to be postponed for this season.  But, the Series was able to schedule the IOWA INDYCAR 250S doubleheader at Iowa Speedway, the .875-mile asphalt oval just East of Des Moines.  Both races are 250 laps/218.75 miles. Qualifying will be held on Friday and will be the debut of a new, unique format that will set the field for both races. Each driver will get two laps on the clock. Lap number one sets the field for Friday night, and lap two sets the field for Saturday night.  Both races are scheduled to start at 8:30 p.m. E.T. with live coverage on NBCSN television. Re-joining the competition at Iowa is 2004 INDYCAR Series champion and 2013 Indy 500 winner Tony Kanaan. Kanaan will drive the famed No. 14 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet sponsored by an equally famed and storied sponsor: Bryant Heating and CoolingM.
Defending and two-time NTT INDYCAR Series champion Josef Newgarden, No.1 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet, is heading to Iowa ready to recapture the magic of his win last season and continue his march toward another title. 
All NTT INDYCAR SERIES races are also broadcast live on the INDYCAR Radio Network, Sirius 211, XM 205, IndyCar.com and on the INDYCAR MOBILE APP powered by NTT DATA. Live coverage of NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice and qualifying is available on NBC Gold live streaming, Sirius 211, XM 205, IndyCar.com, and the INDYCAR MOBILE APP. The NTT INDYCAR SERIES races will be paced by a beautiful Camaro ZL1.  BOWTIE BULLETS:

• Chevrolet at Iowa Speedway 2012 to current:
• 5 wins: Ryan Hunter-Reay-2012; James Hinchcliffe-2013; Josef Newgarden-2016, 2019; Helio Castroneves-2017
• 7 poles: Will Power-2013, 2017,2018; Scott Dixon-2014; Helio Castroneves-2015; Simon Pagenaud-2016, 2019
• Simon Pagenaud is 3^rd in points; Pato O’Ward is 4^th in standings; Pato O’Ward is 4^th in points; Josef Newgarden is 5^th in the point standings; Will Power is 7^th in the standings 
• Power is the second all-time INDYCAR pole winner with 58 (behind only Mario Andretti with 67).
• Since returning to INDYCAR manufacturer competition in 2012, Chevrolet has amassed 82 wins and 96 poles in 139 races along with six Manufacturer Championships and six driver championships

 QUOTABLE QUOTES: ROB BUCKNER, CHEVROLET RACING ENGINEERING PROGRAM MANAGER FOR THE NTT INDYCAR SERIES: “Iowa Speedway is the shortest track on the NTT INDYCAR Series and always presents interesting scenarios for Chevy teams and drivers. This season having a doubleheader on the .875-mile high banked oval adds another level of preparation for what-ifs. All of the prior INDYCAR doubleheader race weekends have been on road or street courses. So being the first oval doubleheader gives the Chevrolet engineers with technical partners the tasks to assist teams with as many tools for their toolbox as possible.  For our rookie drivers, Friday’s on-track practice, qualifying and race will be critical. The good news is INDYCAR has added an additional practice session for rookies, or drivers who are coming to compete on the track for the first time. Fans will be in attendance and both races are at night, so there will heighten the excitement that is a necessary component for our sport.”

FROM THE COCKPIT: JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 1 HITACHI TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET: “Last weekend, we had some great moments but ultimately things did not go our way. We left Road America with that behind us and are looking forward to Iowa. We had such an awesome race there last year in the Hitachi Chevy, so I think we have a good shot to turn it back around with two shots for a win. It’s just one of those places that tends to fit my driving style, so I always feel great racing there. Speedways like Iowa can lead to a lot of close, wheel-to-wheel racing, so the guys have worked hard to put together a great car to help with that. I’m also looking forward to once again seeing fans at Iowa this weekend. They help provide a different energy that all of us drivers feed off of so we’re always happy to see them back at track!” CHARLIE KIMBALL, NO. 4 TRESIBA AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET:“Short track racing especially under the lights both Friday and Saturday nights is a place where INDYCAR shines. I’m excited to get there with the No. 4 Tresiba Chevrolet team; we’ve made progress all year long. Every single race we’ve seemed to have gone forward. We were strong on the oval at Texas and I‘m looking forward to continuing to work forward from where we finished at Texas and do better.” PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET:“Iowa Speedway is a very tricky but fun short oval. The NTT INDYCAR SERIES races at Iowa are always super exciting and eventful. I’m looking forward to building on the momentum we have so far this season, and trying to make this weekend even better than last weekend. I have had a lot of success the past few years at Iowa in the Road to Indy, so I really want to keep that going. Arrow McLaren SP and Team Chevy have a good track record at this race over the past few years, which is a combination for success.” OLIVER ASKEW, NO. 7 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET:“I expect Iowa to be very exciting for Arrow McLaren SP. INDYCAR racing there has always been a barn burner and it has been a hugely successful track for Arrow McLaren SP so I’m confident we can roll off the truck with a good package. It will be another steep learning curve for me as a rookie, having never been on a short oval in an Indy car, but I look forward to the challenge and the task at hand.” WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET:“Man, Road America was a rough weekend. We had some issues in the pits and I made some mistakes on track. We reviewed what we did over the weekend as a team and the Verizon Chevy guys and I feel much more confident headed into this weekend at Iowa. Ovals can be so much fun to race, but it will be a pretty tiring weekend between the two races and how hot it’s supposed to be. Getting rest between the two races will be key so that’s something I’m keeping in mind. I’m really excited to get back at it this weekend and turning our luck around.” TONY KANAAN, NO 14 BRYANT AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET:“Iowa has always been a good track for me so I’m pretty excited about it. At Texas we started off with a pretty good result so I’m looking forward to it especially being a doubleheader so hopefully we’ll have a better result than Texas which was already good.” ED CARPENTER, NO. 20 U.S. AIR FORCE ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET: “Every year I get excited to race at Iowa! It is such a cool race track with some of the best racing each season. Having a doubleheader this year is going to make it even better. I have been wanting to win this race for a long time and I am determined to make it happen this year!” RINUS VEEKAY, NO. 21 SONAX ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET:“I am really looking forward to Iowa! It’s going to be the first oval after the difficulties I had in Texas, so it gives me extra motivation to do extra well! The team has produced many good results in the past at this track so I think it will be a good weekend. Iowa is the first oval I ever drove at, it will be quite cool to come back after three years and this time in an Indy car! Two races will be tough, but I’m very confident. I can’t wait to get there and I am ready to fly around that track!”  SIMON PAGENAUD, NO. 22 MENARDS TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET:“I’m looking forward to Iowa which is one of my favorite ovals. It’s a short oval and the racing is tight and really exciting at night. I’m happy we will have fans at Iowa like we did at Road America. We are third in the championship and are looking forward to this doubleheader to perform at our A-game in those two races. The No. 22 Menards Chevy crew is fully ready to go and focus on execution.”  CONOR DALY, NO. 59 GALLAGHER CARLIN CHEVROLET: “I’m really excited to get back to work with everyone at Carlin after our strong debut at Texas Motor Speedway. It really felt like a podium was in the cards there, so I think we should set some high expectations this weekend for ourselves. Iowa is a tough track for me personally, but I actually felt like last year we didn’t have too bad of a race there. We needed to work on some things after that race for this year, but I’m excited to see the progress we’ve made. The progress we made from 2019 to 2020 at Texas was massive, so if we can make that same type of progress at Iowa, it should be a lot of fun. It’ll be a tough weekend physically with two races, but I’m so excited to get back in the No. 59 Gallagher Carlin Chevrolet and work with the Carlin boys again.” 

Summernationals·        Mopar Dodge//SRT Funny Car of Matt Hagan and Mopar Dodge//SRT Top Fuel Dragster of Leah Pruett from Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) will be sporting new “Demon-possessed” SRT Hellcat Redeye paint schemes as they return to Indianapolis for the Lucas Oil NHRA Summernationals on July 18-19·        Fierce new paint schemes promote the recent reveal of the 2021 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye, the most powerful and fastest mass-produced sedan in the world·        Hagan looking forward to repeating his winning performance from this past weekend with new SRT Hellcat Redeye look in second Indianapolis event·        Pruett gets back behind the wheel of her Mopar Challenger Drag Pak to compete in Factory Stock Showdown this weekendJuly 16, 2020, Auburn Hills, Mich. – The Mopar Dodge//SRT Funny Car of Matt Hagan and Mopar Dodge//SRT Top Fuel Dragster of Leah Pruett will be sporting new “Demon-possessed” SRT Hellcat Redeye paint schemes to battle the “dog days of summer” – traditionally associated with the start of a month of high heat, drought and adversity – that begin this weekend with the Lucas Oil National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Summernationals in Indianapolis. It is the second of two consecutive national events at Lucas Oil Raceway to restart the 2020 NHRA schedule after a four-month pause in competition.

The fierce-looking red-and-black paint schemes for the two Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) entries come on the heels of the early July public unveiling of the new 797-horsepower Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye, the most powerful and fastest mass-produced sedan in the world. With a top speed of 203 mph and quarter-mile elapsed time of 10.6 seconds at 129 mph, the 2021 Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye is designed and engineered to appeal to muscle car enthusiasts who want even more — more power, more performance and more bragging rights at the drag strip.

After driving away with bragging rights and a Wally trophy of his own by earning his first national event win of the season at this past Sunday’s E3 Spark Plugs NHRA Nationals, Hagan is looking forward to trying to repeat that performance aboard his new-look Mopar Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye this weekend.

“It’s beautiful and those colors really pop and I think it’s going to look great at 330 mph, so don’t blink,” says Hagan, whose speed has earned him two No.1 qualifier awards this season to date. “It’s one of those deals where Dodge has always come out with some awesome schemes, the coolest and fastest cars. I love that they really give me an opportunity to engage with the fans and the stuff they sell on the showroom floor. Dodge always comes out with some cool stuff and I’m excited for fans to see it because I love it. It’s an amazing paint scheme.

“My Hellcat Redeye Funny Car might be faster and more fun to drive,” adds the two-time Funny Car world champion, “but when you have a production car that you can grab off the showroom floor and take it out there, that’s pretty awesome. It’s pure power. It’s probably the closest you can get to what we’re drag racing, having that raw power in the palms of your hands and underneath you.”

Pruett is also looking forward to showing off the new Dodge//SRT Hellcat Redeye look on her DSR Top Fuel dragster.

“I’d like to say that I’m surprised how good it looks, but I’ve come to expect nothing but the remarkable from Dodge when it comes to showcasing their cars,” says Pruett. “They stand out on the racetrack and they stand out when it comes to how the cars look and how they perform. It makes me feel like when you’ve got a really nice dress and your dancing shoes on and you look hot-to-trot, then you go and have a good night out on the town.

“They’ve actually simplified that paint scheme into something that really pops with the chrome detail and that flat black is simple and refined,” says Pruett. “While I love my blue Mopar for how sleek and cool, like with a lot of o’s cool it is, this Redeye is spicy hot.”

After reaching the quarterfinals in the NHRA’s return to the drag strip last weekend, Pruett is also hoping to harness some of the energy she feels comes with the new Redeye look to maintain her top-five position in the Top Fuel point standings.

“This Redeye dragster is going to have a good weekend. I can just tell. There is an aura about it. The Redeye stands for ultimate power and it’s a way for us to be able to relate to those Redeye owners. It’s a new version for us to highlight. We had the 1320 and the Demon and I personally have driven a couple of Redeyes and wish I had one of my own. I feel that we are going to not only look good but do well,” says Pruett.

The Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye-themed paint schemes will remain on the two DSR entries through the next two scheduled NHRA events, including the Dodge Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway near Denver, Colorado, on Aug. 7-9.

Pruett is also slated to get back behind the wheel of her Mopar Challenger Drag Pak this weekend to compete in the season debut of the rescheduled 2020 SamTech.edu NHRA Factory Stock Showdown.

While development of the new-generation Challenger Drag Pak continues, its release has been postponed to 2021 due to the challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. An on-track NHRA debut is now slated for next season. Despite the delay, Pruett is confident that the team can still make some gains through the eight scheduled events.

“Coming back to racing has brought some sense of normalcy back and getting back in the Drag Pak is one of my favorite places to be on earth,” says Pruett. “We were very much looking forward to debuting a new Mopar Dodge Challenger Drag Pak this year, but even though we’re not, we’re still going to be out there entering, qualifying and competing and chasing down a Wally (trophy) with Mopar Dodge//SRT and making as much power as we can, while we can, in the circumstances that we can.”

Heading into the shortened two-day NHRA event, Jack Beckman leads the trio of Dodge Charger SRT Hellcats at the top of the Funny Car points standings that includes his DSR teammate Tommy Johnson Jr. and Hagan, each with a win this season. Ron Capps and his HEMI®-powered Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat sits sixth in points, but is working to change that this weekend at the only racetrack on the circuit at which he has never earned a Wally trophy.

In Top Fuel competition, Pruett will be joined again by Tony Schumacher and Cory McClenathan for the second of their two-event cameos. Schumacher is looking for his 85th Top Fuel event win as the NHRA’s most successful Top Fuel pilot of all time, while McClenathan is in the hunt for a 35th career victory, which would tie Mopar legend Don Garlits’ 35 NHRA wins.

Qualifying highlights will air on FOX Sports 1 at 7 p.m. Eastern on Saturday, July 18, while Sunday’s elimination rounds, including live action, will be broadcast on the FOX national broadcast network starting at noon Eastern.

July 16, 2020

Matt DiBenedetto overcame an early brush with the wall to lead the final 15 laps of the NASCAR Open at Bristol Motor Speedway Wednesday night, earning his first win in a major NASCAR race and a berth for the No. 21 Menards/FVP Mustang in the NASCAR All-Star Race.
 
DiBenedetto also had early contact with the wall in the All-Star Race but battled back to finish 13^th in the first All-Star appearance of his career.
 
Even though the All-Star result wasn’t what he was hoping for, it didn’t overshadow the accomplishment of winning the Open, where he stormed through the field then held off Clint Bowyer and Austin Dillon for the victory.

“The Open race went really good,” DiBenedetto said. “We got damage early. It was just a racing deal, but it put us in the wall pretty hard and we had to pit to fix it.

“We restarted from the rear and blew back through the field. I had to push some people out of the way to get back to the front and get the win.”

The Menards/FVP team repaired the damage from the Open prior to the start of the All-Star race, and DiBenedetto was encouraged with the speed his Mustang had shown in the Open even with body damage.

A similar scenario played out in the All-Star race when William Byron suddenly slowed ahead of him. DiBenedetto slammed on the brakes and wound up contacting the wall, resulting in significant damage to the Menards/FVP Mustang.
 
“I didn’t expect him to check up like he did, and I wheel hopped, hit the wall and knocked in the side of the car,” DiBenedetto said. “It was really beyond repair, but we made the most of it and were able to take advantage of the last restart and pick up some spots at the end.”
 
DiBenedetto said he remains encouraged about the speed and performance of the No. 21 Mustang as the team heads to Texas Motor Speedway this weekend.
 
“We’ve been on a roll lately,” he said.
 

NASCAR CUP SERIESBRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY NASCAR ALL-STAR RACE TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT JULY 15, 2020
CHASE ELLIOTT WINS MILLION-DOLLAR NASCAR ALL-STAR RACE  BRISTOL, Tenn. (July 15, 2020) – Chase Elliott scored a $1 million prize by winning the NASCAR All-Star race at Bristol Motor Speedway in dominating fashion behind the wheel of his No. 9 UniFirst Camaro ZL1 1LE. The Hendrick Motorsports driver won Stages 2 and 3 en route to his first victory of the prestigious NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) non-points event, and second of the 2020 NCS season.   The victory was the 19th All-Star triumph for Chevrolet and third of the 2020 season for the Camaro ZL1 1LE. It also marked the 10th All-Star win for Hendrick Motorsports, more than any other NCS team. Traditionally held at Charlotte Motor Speedway since 1985, this popular event took place at Bristol for the first time ever; hosting a capped attendance at 30,000 fans to mark the most-attended sporting event since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The last All-Star race not held at Charlotte was at Atlanta Motor Speedway in 1986, which was won by Chase’s father, Bill Elliott. The victory makes Chase Elliott and Bill Elliott the second father-son duo to win the NASCAR All-Star Race, joining Dale Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt Jr.  Other Team Chevy finishers in the select 20-car All-Star field were Elliott’s teammates Alex Bowman, No. 88 ChevyGoods.com/Adam’s Polishes Camaro ZL1 1LE in eighth, William Byron, No. 24 Axalta Camaro ZL1 1LE in 12th, and Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1 1LE in 17th. Additionally, Justin Haley, No. 77 Fraternal Order of Eagles Camaro ZL1 1LE was 14th, Matt Kenseth, No. 42 McDonalds McDelivery Camaro ZL1 1LE finished 18th, and Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1 1LE was 20th. CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 UNIFIRST CAMARO ZL1 1LE, PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT: 
THE MODERATOR: We are joined by our race winner, Chase Elliott. Why don’t you start off by running through your All‑Star Race.             CHASE ELLIOTT: Yeah, just a special night. A special event. Any race is hard to win, but this is a special race to win, something that locks you in the All‑Star Race for life. That’s extremely special to join dad.           Winning this race means a lot to me as well. Just a big thanks to our partners, UniFirst, NAPA, Hooter’s, Kelley Blue Book, Mountain Dew, Chevrolet, all our partners that make this go around. They stood by us through some not‑so‑spectacular years.           We’ve had a rough couple weeks. We ruined Mr. Hendrick’s birthday on Sunday by running pathetic. It was really nice to slightly make up for that tonight.             THE MODERATOR: We’ll take questions.            Q. You had a really good car back in May at Bristol. Was the car just as good tonight, better? How would you rate it?CHASE ELLIOTT: To be honest, I think it was a little bit better. I think we improved our car at least for the short run. The race a few weeks ago I felt like consisted of more long runs than the short runs. The short run came down to the very end. That was our weak point in that event. We put a lot of emphasis on trying to be better in the short run. I thought we hit it really well tonight.            Q. In the last segment, are you looking in your mirror thinking when you were going to get bumped, somebody is going to try to wreck me for this thing?CHASE ELLIOTT: I think you have to expect that in any event, especially this one. There’s no points on the line or anything. The goal is to get far enough away where they don’t have that option. Luckily it worked out that way tonight. Got a good restart there at the end, was able to put together a good 15 laps to seal the deal.            Q. How big is this win to you and why is it so big to you?CHASE ELLIOTT: I mean, to me this is one of those prestigious events that the Cup Series only has, right? This is a special race on the schedule every year. There’s a lot of hype around it. The other thing about it is, you know, it’s something you have to race your way into. Luckily we raced our way into this deal for life now. That means a lot.           To me, it reminds me a lot of the Clash or something at the beginning of the year in some ways. I think this race is bigger than that because you’re racing against the very best over recent times and anybody’s career that have locked themselves into this event.           To beat the best I think is always special.            Q. The only other time this race was run away from Charlotte was Atlanta, your dad won it. What does it mean to have a victory in this race like your dad?CHASE ELLIOTT: I didn’t know that. I knew that, but I didn’t really put it together until Winston told me that there on the front straightaway. Somebody told me upstairs a second ago I think the only other family duo to win the All‑Star Race were the Earnhardt’s. Any time you can join them in anything racing is very special.           To join dad in winning this event, heck, I mean, that’s not just special, that’s a lot of years and a lot of history for everything to come full circle like that. It’s pretty dang cool.            Q. Kevin Harvick talked about the challenges of the upper lane, raising the question about track prep. There was concern about track prep at Kentucky last week. How concerning has the track prep been the last two races? Is there a concern going into Texas?CHASE ELLIOTT: I mean, I don’t think so. The track prep was no different today than it has been the past two or three years we’ve been coming here. The difference was the length of the event was not long enough for us to get the grip strip up off the bottom to where the momentum around the top became the dominating factor.           Look, at the end of the day, by the end of a 500‑lap race, the top is the place to be. At the end of a hundred some odd lap race, the bottom is the place to be. There’s still a place to be so I’m not really sure that it matters.            Q. You said in addressing the victory on television there’s no feeling like watching those fans lose their minds after you’ve been successful. What’s the difference from your perspective, from the athlete’s perspective, having the adulation at the end of a night for you versus what you have experienced without anyone there?CHASE ELLIOTT: Yeah, you know, to me tonight felt like an event again. I feel like we’ve been missing that piece for a couple months. It just felt really good to get NASCAR back. I mean, NASCAR is built on the fans. Once the race starts, it’s hard to engage with them because you can’t hear them. Before a race, the atmosphere was energetic again. I felt like the vibe was back.           I felt like that fire and intensity in me was back even more so than it has been, a piece that had been missing. I think that’s driven by the people, the cars pulling in, the prerace parties and everything that you see.           I actually went up in the stands. I snuck up there with my mask on, watched the Open from the back straightaway. I’m looking around, seeing all these kids and families, people wearing their respective drivers, a lot of 9 gear. You don’t realize how much impact you have on people you never met, you never will meet, who genuinely want to see me do well and they don’t even know me. It’s pretty dang cool to experience that.           I felt like I had a special night sitting up there with them watching that Open from the grandstands, really seeing and getting back to the roots of what this sport is built on. Then to engage with them after the race, to me it made it mean that much more.            Q. You said after the race you had struggled, had difficult races in the last several weeks. Did you feel as a collective unit at Hendrick that you were missing something the last several weeks or more individual circumstances of the races?CHASE ELLIOTT: I mean, a little bit of both. I felt like I was struggling. I wasn’t doing a real good job, giving good feedback. To me good feedback is giving a direction on the car and coming in and doing that and going back out and being better. My direction has not been pointing us in a better direction in going faster these past couple weeks.           I feel like I needed to hit the reset button, not overthink things, do what I feel is right. That’s a hard thing to do all the time. You try to get better, you try to learn. A lot of times you can take yourself down a road, this or that, that may not necessarily be benefitting you.           But we all want to improve. I certainly have room for improvement. Tonight was a great night for us, but I still think I can do better and there’s areas I can improve on. I’m going to keep working on that.            Q. You must get an adrenaline rush in a race with fans. It must be something you can take forward for the rest of the season?CHASE ELLIOTT: Absolutely. To me there is no more electric environment that we as NASCAR drivers can interact with and hear at Bristol. There’s no other racetrack that’s like this, that you’re surrounded by the people watching all the way around the racetrack.           I don’t think there’s a better place to have people back for the first time than here. I know it was limited on how many people could come. Heck, it felt like they sure were making a lot of noise for only 30,000 people to be here, so that was pretty cool.            Q. What are you going to do with the money?CHASE ELLIOTT: That’s a great question. Blaney was giving me a hard time about Mountain Dew earlier today. I think I’m just going to send a truck to his house and they’re going to unload about 14 pallets of Mountain Dew in his driveway this week, see what he does with that.            Q. Normally we don’t race mid-July at Bristol. Did you notice anything different in the car than you would at Bristol normally?CHASE ELLIOTT: To me it felt like normal Bristol. This racetrack I think is really consistent from the standpoint of just the overall feel, what it’s like. I thought everything was really very Bristol‑esque.            Q. This being the first real marquee win of your career, you touched on the significance, but to have a marquee event on your résumé now, what kind of importance does that mean for you?CHASE ELLIOTT: It means a lot. I think that’s why the Coca‑Cola 600 this year hurt so much. Those are big events. This race is a big event. The 600, the Daytona 500, the Brickyard, the Southern 500, all those races are just ones that I feel like when you get done racing, you can look back and say that you had won something like that. I think it’s a special thing. That’s why.           All wins are hard. I’ve never had an easy one. I can’t say that any of them are any harder or easier than others. When I get done racing one day, to look back and say we won the All‑Star Race I think will be a special thing.            Q. The under glow on the cars, what did it look like from your perspective? Did it change anything for you? Just weird to see?CHASE ELLIOTT: I didn’t think it did much of anything, to be honest with you. It sure didn’t do anything for me.            Q. Can you hear the sirens going off in Dawsonville tonight? What does it mean to you to bring this back to Dawsonville, the fans that have followed you your whole career?CHASE ELLIOTT: It’s amazing. I can’t wait to get home. It’s late. I don’t know what time it is. Probably not going to hear it tonight. Hopefully somebody took a good video of it I can see it. Such a special tradition, Gordon there at the poolroom has carried on for me, after doing it for my dad’s career over the years.           Just proud that we were able to win, make it happen.            Q. How do you think the choose rule played out tonight?CHASE ELLIOTT: I think the choose rule has been needed for a long time. I think it should be that way every week. I don’t think there’s really a reason to not have it. There’s no reason to me why you shouldn’t have the choice or you should be automatically told where you’re going to line up when one lane has an obvious advantage just based on where you come off of pit road.           To me, life isn’t fair, but it just makes way more sense to put it in our hands. It either works out for you or it doesn’t. If it doesn’t work out, it’s your own fault, not the luck of the draw, where you come off of pit road.            Q. You jumped out front towards the final two stages. Once you took control of the race, never gave it up again. How important was getting out front?CHASE ELLIOTT: Luckily we were able to pass up through there. I think we had a really good UniFirst Camaro and we were able to make some passes there at the beginning of the race. My team did a really good job of hitting the setup really well for running the bottom. I don’t know how it would have been if I ever had to move up.           Yeah, I just think the way it played out, we were fast around the bottom and we were able to get out front and control the race. That’s nothing new. When somebody has a fast car and they get out front, it typically looks like that I feel like. I was just glad it was us this time.            Q. How much of tonight’s race can you apply to the Playoff race in the fall? Was it maybe too small of a sample size?CHASE ELLIOTT: I think Bristol is Bristol, like I said a minute ago. We’ll for sure be thinking about what we had here a few weeks ago, what we had tonight, try to be better when we come back.             THE MODERATOR: Congratulations and thanks for joining us.             CHASE ELLIOTT: Thank you. Have a good night.
ALAN GUSTAFSON, CREW CHIEF, NO. 9 UNIFIRST CAMARO ZL1 1LE PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT: THE MODERATOR: We are joined by our race‑winning crew chief, Alan Gustafson.           Why don’t you just start off and quickly run through the race from the top of the pit box.             ALAN GUSTAFSON: Yeah, we started 13th, so we knew we had to pass some cars pretty quickly. UniFirst Chevy was pretty fast. He made up some pretty quick ground there. I don’t remember where we got to after the first 55. Certainly, somewhere in the top three.           We knew we were going to pit there and get a read on the tires, get an adjustment on the car. We did that. The next 35 went pretty well. He was able to get past Kevin and get the lead.           That was probably the toughest decision of the night. When you have the lead, you don’t want to give it up here. Our plan had been to pit then and get tires. With the lead, it made it a little bit more difficult. We stuck to our guns there, pitted. Worked out there. I think Ryan was the only one that stayed out. Brad took two. Fortunately for us everything went smooth from there.           Having a tire advantage on those guys certainly paid off. Kyle was getting pretty good there where I could see him making some ground. Certainly, made a push there at the end to make it interesting.           Car was really good. Happy. Pit stops were great. Just about as smooth of a night as you could ask for.             THE MODERATOR: We’ll go to questions.            Q. You get there today and see pretty heavy application of the PJ1 on the bottom groove, a 20‑car race, are you thinking this is going to be a bottom feeder race?ALAN GUSTAFSON: Yeah, you know, my experience with the grooves here is you don’t really run the top in until you have to start lapping traffic significantly, right? That’s when you start running the top in, is when you have to lap cars. The leaders get strung out, you have no option. The faster cars will ultimately start running the top because they have to get through lappers.           With it being as short as it is, knowing it’s a short field, the chance of lapping cars… We had planned on the bottom, really having our car get on the bottom and having good short run speed.            Q. Looked like you had Chase turn off the under glow lights for the pit stop. If you did, was that so your crew guys could see better or something you were concerned about?ALAN GUSTAFSON: That’s a secret. I can’t tell you that (laughter). No, I’m kidding.           Yeah, we hadn’t done it before. I didn’t want to take a chance and have the lights ‑‑ we didn’t get the lights until pretty late in the game. We hadn’t had experience doing it. I don’t think it would be a problem ultimately. Certainly, we weren’t going to take that chance.            Q. What does this win do for your team?ALAN GUSTAFSON: It puts a million bucks in our bank account, that’s always a good thing. Certainly, happy for Chevrolet and UniFirst. Everybody at HMS works really hard. A win will certainly lift everybody’s spirits and give you some momentum.           Yeah, I certainly wish this was a points race. We got to get back on track. We’ve had a couple races, a stretch, that haven’t been the greatest for us. I think we’ve had some pretty decent performance in our cars.           That’s the way it goes sometimes, you just don’t get the finishes that you feel like you deserve. That’s certainly the case at Indianapolis and Kentucky and the first Pocono.           Yeah, we’re going to work hard. This doesn’t hurt. Bristol has been a good track for us. This was an opportunity for us to work on a few things that we struggled with in the spring to be prepared when we come back here when it really matters.            Q. For some of the races coming up, do you feel you have a pretty good string of strong tracks, this can help you gain some momentum in the official points races?ALAN GUSTAFSON: We have some points to make up. We’ve slid a few spots. It’s pretty close from second to fourth where we’re at.           To be honest with you, Texas and Loudon aren’t two of our better tracks. Those tracks we’ve circled to work hard on and try to improve. I feel like we can. I think we learned some things from Kentucky we can take to Texas. We’re looking forward to putting that to use. Loudon is a place we need to work on. We’ve had some decent runs there. I wouldn’t say we’ve got that one circled as one of our favorites.           Yeah, look, any time you can win, it’s better. I don’t know that it’s going to be a huge step forward. This track is so unique, I can’t say that what we’ve done here is going to help Texas.            Q. You only have to bring one racecar to the racetrack each and every weekend. Does that change how you prepare in the shop? Do you have to focus on specific cars?ALAN GUSTAFSON: To be honest with you, I don’t think if we had backup cars weekly we could do it with the schedule we’ve had. The way we’re working split shifts, trying to keep the road crew away from the shop crew as much as possible. Man, it would be just a monumental task to do that with backup cars.           I think it’s been a must. I wouldn’t say that it’s put us in a better position to focus on the primary car. It’s just kept that status quo or the way it was. I don’t think us or any other team could keep their head above water in this kind of COVID era, the schedule we’ve run with having to do two cars every weekend.            Q. A stretch of four races in 11 days. Certainly, you did this earlier in May. Those were only at two tracks. Four different tracks, four different locations. What are the challenges in this stretch, how you’re getting things prepared?ALAN GUSTAFSON: Yeah, it’s a tougher swing for sure with a Wednesday night race, then a Sunday race in Texas, then back to Kansas on Thursday. That’s tough. Then we’ve got some doubleheaders coming down the road. Certainly, have to get those cars prepared.           We’re full gas. It’s a lot of hours. It’s a lot of prep. It’s not going to be easy. It’s one of those situations, I think I talked about this before, it’s one of those situations where you’re just trying to keep the quality up and keep the cars as good as you can and try to find a way to improve throughout all that, which is difficult to do.           It’s going to be a tough stretch. I think it will be an opportunity to make some ground on some people if you get it right.            Q. It’s about a month away, you’ll be racing on the Daytona road course. You haven’t done that before. The challenges in getting ready for that? Is that simple for you guys, you just bring out your Roval winning car and run it there?ALAN GUSTAFSON: It’s not simple. It’s going to be difficult for everybody. You’re not going to have any references really. Certainly there are some characteristics of the Roval, but it’s obviously a bigger oval and the speeds are going to be higher. The infield is pretty unique. In my experience, a million years ago road racing there, it’s a track that’s hard to get ahold of.           That infield is not the easiest to navigate and get the car hooked up on. It’s going to present some unique challenges. Certainly the speed of the banking, it’s a pretty dedicated true chicane unlike what we’ve run at the Roval. That will be different I think for everybody to get ahold of. We’ll have to manage the speeds, too.           It will be a very, very unique experience. But I’m looking forward to it. It will be a fun challenge. I really like that road course. I hope the cars race well there. I think they will. I hope it all goes well obviously for us.            Q. The significance to you of helping Chase get his first marquee win?ALAN GUSTAFSON: To win at Bristol is cool no matter when you do it. The first All‑Star Race, pretty unique circumstances, something we haven’t done before. Any time you can be the first at something, you feel like you’ve done a good job.           Yeah, I mean, it’s very satisfying for all of us. Certainly I think Chase is the best out there, so any time we can help give him a car like we did tonight to showcase his talents, it’s very gratifying.            Q. How did the choose rule play out from your perspective? What kind of communication did you have with Chase about which lane to take?ALAN GUSTAFSON: That’s a great question. We had some statistical analysis of that and the effectiveness of the lane. We talked about it beforehand. I think he used that information every time but once. He kind of went against the grain. We certainly leave that up to him. He knows what the car is driving like, what the opportunities are.           I don’t think it’s an absolute monumental change to the sport. I’ve been in this situation a lot of times where it’s just really frustrating when you get taken out of an opportunity to race for a win because of a lane.           There are some tracks, this is one of them, that the lanes can get a huge amount of disparity. It kind of sucks when you’re second or third and get stuck on the bottom, end up seventh or eighth, don’t get a chance to race for the win.           I think it gives it an opportunity to make it a little bit more fair for the competitors. I don’t think it’s going to be a monumental shift. It’s probably going to affect a row or two like what you saw tonight.             THE MODERATOR: Thanks for joining us. Congratulations on the win. Good luck in Texas.             ALAN GUSTAFSON: Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate it.                

TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL ALL-STAR RACE RESULTS:POS.   DRIVER1st      CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 UNIFIRST CAMARO ZL1 1LE 8th      ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 CHEVYGOODS.COM / ADAM’S POLISHES CAMARO ZL1 1LE12th    WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 1LE 14th    JUSTIN HALEY, NO. 77 FRATERNAL ORDER OF EAGLES CAMARO ZL1 1LE17th    JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 1LE TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL ALL-STAR RACE RESULTS: POS.  DRIVER1st      Chase Elliott (Chevrolet)2nd     Kyle Busch (Toyota)3rd      Kevin Harvick (Ford)4th      Brad Keselowski (Ford)5th      Denny Hamlin (Toyota)
The NASCAR Cup Series season continues this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway with the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 on Sunday, July 19th at 3:00 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on NBCSN, NBCSports Gold App, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. TEAM CHEVY ALL-STAR POST-RACE NOTES AND QUOTES:
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 UNIFIRST CAMARO ZL1 1LE – RACE WINNER IT’S IN THE FAMILY DNA. MILLION DOLLARS, WHAT’S IT MEAN TO WIN THIS EVENT, THIS NIGHT, AT THIS TRACK?“I can’t believe it. What a better night to have fans back than tonight – y’all are awesome. There’s nothing like Bristol. There’s nothing like the lights here. There’s nothing like racing here. I’ve never won here – what a race to do it. Just really proud of our team tonight and rebounding. We’ve had a really tough couple of weeks and just felt like we had kind of gotten off base and I felt like I was struggling. Just tried to hit the reset button this week, and came out and put on a great performance – great car. Just can’t thank all our partners enough, everybody that makes this happen. All those No. 9 hats and t-shirts up in the stands – love to see it.” WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU TO HEAR THOSE FANS AND SEE THEM HERE TONIGHT?“There’s no feeling like it (cheering from the crowd). There’s nothing like it – this speaks for itself. And like I said, Bristol is an electric atmosphere that is unlike any other that we go to. Couldn’t be more excited. We’re going to celebrate this one for sure. And we’ll take that million dollars back to Georgia, why don’t we!”  ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 CHEVYGOODS.COM / ADAM’S POLISHES CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 8th“Not completely the night we wanted, especially after starting up front. Frustrating to go backwards there. I was really pleased with our final adjustments there at the end. We started out way too loose into the corner and struggled to get any rear grip in the car. Over the course of two stops, we made the exit worse instead of helping the entry. On the last stop we changed up what we were doing and really helped the car. For the last 15 laps we were just buried there trying to pass guys. To get back to eighth was really good. This will give us a good notebook for when we come back in the playoffs. Ran out of laps, but congrats to Chase (Elliott) and the guys on the win.”
WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 12th“I had fun in the All-Star race tonight. It wasn’t the result we hoped for. I was really proud to have Axalta on the car with a different look having Sea Glass back onboard. The lights under the cars were cool to see as well. It was really awesome to see fans back too which added a whole new level of excitement. On to Texas.”
MATT KENSETH, NO. 42 MCDONALD’S MCDELIVERY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 18th“It was a tough night for us. We just couldn’t get the balance where we needed it to be. We got the car handling better late in the race, but with such a short race that didn’t help us too much. It’s always fun to race at Bristol, just wish we could’ve been more competitive”.

Austin Dillon and the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Off Road/E-Z-GO Chevrolet Team Have Impressive Showing in  All-Star Open

3rd   11th

“We came into the All-Star Open with the goal of making it into the All-Star race for our Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Off Road/E-Z-GO Chevrolet team. That’s the big show, and a race I’ve been in before. We gave it all we had, and that’s all we can do. We moved forward fast from 11th. I got loose one time and lost track position, and that killed us. But we made the right call to come down pit road for tires and set ourselves up for the last two stages. We just didn’t have enough juice off the bottom. I was doing the best I could on the final restart to get going. I thought I had the leader almost clear, but when you come off Turn 2, you’re just done. I got sideways there, and it was over. Still, it was fun to make some laps at Bristol Motor Speedway tonight in front of a loud and passionate crowd. I love short track racing. We’ll go to Texas and try to get a win there.”-Austin Dillon

Tyler Reddick and the No. 8 Food City Team Battle Hard During All-Star Open at Bristol Motor Speedway

10th     5th

“We gave it our all tonight to try to make our first NASCAR All-Star Race, but it just didn’t come together this time. Our No. 8 Food City Chevrolet was way too loose to fire off tonight, and that caused us to fall back at the start of the Open and receive some damage on the initial start. We were able to tighten it up a lot during the first Stage break, but unfortunately received some additional damage to our nose on the restart. We kept with it though and did everything we could to try to get up there to win one of the final two stages, but it just wasn’t our night. We can at least take this experience back to the shop to continue building our notebook on Bristol Motor Speedway and hopefully come back here in the fall with a strong set-up for the race.” -Tyler Reddick

Virginia International Raceway stages three-race weekend for F4 U.S.

Alton, Virginia (June 15, 2020)- The largest average FIA F4 field in the world returns to action July 17-19 for the third annual Andy Scriven Memorial Race Weekend at Virginia International Raceway. Round 2 of the Formula 4 United States Championship Powered by Honda will feature 33 drivers from around the globe for a triple-header race weekend guaranteed to deliver wheel-to-wheel action. (Stream Live)

With final results still in review from the opening rounds at Mid-Ohio, the top spot in the championship has yet to be claimed. With a scholarship valued at $230,000 to enter the Formula Regional Americas Championship Powered by Honda on the line, every round in the expedited season is more crucial than the last. But before the 2020 championship title is in view, drivers will have to master the technical turns and steep elevation changes of the famous Virginia circuit. 

Of those drivers on the hunt for a title is F4 veteran Jose Blanco, who returned for his third season under the Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport banner, piloting the No. 32 Art-Draft Authority Crosslink Competition LVP Paints machine. Blanco leads the four-car international squad in experience and results on the 17-turn, 3.27-mile Virginia circuit. In his two visits (six races) at VIR with Crosslink/Kiwi, Blanco has collected one podium and three top-10 finishes with the top step just out of reach for the Puerto Rican pilot. But, after capturing top results at Mid-Ohio in the opening two rounds, Blanco looks to bag his first win of the season and his maiden victory at VIR during the Andy Scriven Memorial Race Weekend.   

“I’m very excited to go back to VIR to get back racing,” said Blanco. “I really like this track a lot. It has some nice corners and elevation so it will be nice to drive there again. We will be fighting for the win so I am very eager to get the weekend started.”

Working on his third season of competition, Dylan Tavella joined two-time team champions Crosslink/Kiwi for a 2020 title chase. Tavella opened the season scoring a podium finish for his new team at Mid-Ohio. The New York native also earned the Omologato Perfectly Timed Move of the Race for his charge to the front, achieving his best first-round results of his F4 career.

“My team and I left on a good note from Mid-Ohio, and we are coming into VIR better than ever,” said Tavella. “I’ve been doing a lot of simulator work to get ready for VIR and physically training every day to get prepped for the weekend.”

While Velocity Racing Development rookie Hunter Yeany only has two races of F4 U.S. competition experience, he’s spent hours turning laps at VIR in person and virtually during his two-years of training in the VRD Academy. The demanding preparation has already paid off for the 15-year-old driver who was the only rookie to complete the opening F4 weekend with a pair of podium finishes at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course just two weeks ago. Heading into VIR, Yeany said he’s not settling for anything less than a first-place finish. 

“Now that the first race of the series is behind us, I’m looking forward to my home race at VIR,” said Yeany. “I want to show the fans what I can do.”

However, the podium-hungry drivers will have to get through Jay Howard Driver Development pilot Christian Bogle. Bogle ended 2019 strong at the United States Grand Prix weekend at Circuit of The Americas, and his season-end success carried through into 2020 as he snagged the first pole-position of the season at Mid-Ohio. While Bogle 2020 marked his third season racing with JHDD, Friday will be his first visit to VIR, as schedule conflicts have kept Bogle from competing at the technical circuit in the past. 

Giving drivers ample seat time on race weekends to aid in their development is a staple of the F4 U.S. Championship. Drivers will receive three hours of track time at Virginia International Raceway in addition to a full promoter test day on Thursday. A pair of 30-minute practices on Friday kicks off the official weekend. A 30-minute qualifying session opens the day on Saturday at 9:05 a.m. ET followed by the first of three 30-minute races starting at 1:20 p.m. ET. The race weekend wraps up on Sunday with two races at 9:05 a.m. and 1:20 p.m. ET. Fans can stream all three races live by visiting FANRacing.Live. For live timing and scoring, post-race video highlights and results visit F4USChampionship.com.