CHEVY RACING NTT INDYCAR SERIES IOWA INDYCAR 250s IOWA SPEEDWAY NEWTON, IOWA TEAM CHEVY ENGINEERING PROGRAM MANAGER ROBERT BUCKNER Q & A JULY 15, 2020 Robert “Rob” Buckner, Chevrolet Engineering Program Manager for the INDYCAR program answers questions on managing five races in 15 days with two doubleheaders – one on the biggest track on the schedule followed immediately with one on the smallest track on the schedule and other topics. QUESTION: INDYCAR is currently in a stretch of five races in 15 days on three very different tracks.  From the engine manufacturer side, what are the processes the Chevy engineers with the technical partners have to address to get the information to the teams? What kind of information do you disseminate to the Chevy teams prior to a race weekend? ROB BUCKNER: Everyone on the Chevrolet side has been putting in a great effort during these busy times, we all really missed being at the track and racing so we are enjoying the busy month of July. Our Chevrolet teams and drivers have been preparing for each event at the Chevrolet Performance simulator which helps us prepare for each unique circuit. That process reall enables us to have the dialogue of current weaknesses and issues that we need to collectively address together. On the engine side we are always looking for gains in performance and fuel economy that can be applied to every discipline that IndyCar represents. QUESTION: INDYCAR has had at least one doubleheader on the schedule for several years. Having raced at Iowa Speedway for many years, does that familiarity make the preparation for a doubleheader weekend less complicated? ROB BUCKNER: The Iowa doubleheader will be a unique challenge, because it is the first double header at an oval in this era and the race distance for each race is still significant at 250 laps. Iowa is more about the cornering forces than the mileage accumulation so it will be a grind for the crews to have a properly prepared car for both days. That goes for the drivers also – the July Iowa race is always hot and humid, very little straight away to rest. Everyone will be exhausted after Saturday night’s race. I have always loved night racing so it is a weekend I am looking forward to. QUESTION: Not violating proprietary information in any way, in a doubleheader event, can enough be learned in Race One and then implemented to make a significant difference in performance in Race Two? ROB BUCKNER: On the chassis side I am sure there will be some improvements made, there are so many smart people in the paddock that running a full race and having 20 hours to think about what you would do differently will lead to some improvements for Saturday. Iowa is also a tire management type event over a stint length so balancing that will be a real challenge. As an engine supplier we will be looking to address any immediate reliability concerns or driver feedback as we play a role in managing tire wear. Hopefully if we execute on Friday night we can replicate that on Saturday and get some good results. Our engine group is certainly up to the challenge. QUESTION: Without giving away any secrets, how significant are the mapping changes from a small, tight road course, to a big technical a road course and then to a short oval?  ROB BUCKNER: It is easier now than it would have been in years past since all these July events are ran at 1.5 bar boost level. With the amended schedule for 2020 we are still on our first race engines that have been installed since the COTA preseason test in February. These engines are closing in on 2000 miles but have been very reliable so far. The needs of a road course and an oval are very different but our engineering support on the weekend have developed great baselines, so we are in a really good place right from lap 1 in first practice. We are very fortunate to have such an experienced Chevrolet support network during these times of so much change. QUESTION: How is Chevrolet able to adapt engine characteristics and drivability to accommodate the varying driving styles across the group of drivers in the Chevrolet V6 camp? ROB BUCKNER: It is very useful to have a library of calibration and track data to reference over the years and each of our Chevrolet engineers have a great relationship with their driver. Our group can then take the drivers verbal feedback and identify what they are referencing from the engine data and make improvements. We really get to understand what each of them are looking for from the engine and tailor around that. It is incredible how observant the drivers are and how attentive to minor changes they can be in this development process. It is definitely a process that requires attention to detail and our group really excels at that.

CHEVY RACING NTT INDYCAR SERIES IOWA INDYCAR 250s IOWA SPEEDWAY NEWTON, IOWA TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT – TONY KANAAN JULY 15, 2020 TONY KANAAN, NO.14 BRYANT AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET, MET WITH MEDIA TO DISCUSS BRYANT SPONSORSHIP, HOW HE SEES THE SEASON PLAYING OUT AND OTHER TOPICS, FULL TRANSCRIPT:
THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to the NTT INDYCAR Series video conference heading into the doubleheader at Iowa Speedway, the Iowa INDYCAR 250s.We are joined today by 2013 Indianapolis 500 champion Tony Kanaan, who has a special sponsor announcement he would like to share.Tony, go ahead and share your news.
TONY KANAAN: Thank you. Welcome, everybody. Obviously I’m pretty excited about many things. I sat away for two weekends in a row suffering watching other people drive, which was kind of tough for me.
Today we going to announce, Bryant, which has been my sponsor for 13 out of the last 14 years, they’re going to be my primary sponsor for the two Iowa races.
Pretty excited. I have a long relationship with them. They step it up big-time this year to make the T.K. Last Lap possible. I have good friends there.If you guys ever noticed, we have the loudest fans on the INDYCAR parade here in Indianapolis during the month of May. Bryant bring more than 500 people every year to the Indy 500. It’s not going to be different this year.I’m extremely excited. The car looks beautiful. You guys going to have a chance to see it. Not obviously just that they sponsor me. It came out really cool. I’m excited about it. Iowa is a good track for me. We had a lot of success there in the past. Looking forward to this weekend.
THE MODERATOR: Your team sent over a photo of the car. I’m going to share it with everyone right now. I hope everyone can see my screen. Pretty cool car.T.K., do you want to walk us through it a little bit and tell us about it.TONY KANAAN: Yeah, they have this saying: Whatever it takes. It’s on the engine cover, as well. You guys can’t see it. The team, the guys from Bryant, they were so cool. They came to me and said, How do you want your car?I said, Well, it’s more how you guys want your car.Together we came up with that. I’m pretty happy about it.
THE MODERATOR: At this time we’ll go ahead and open it up to the media for questions.Q.T.K., here it is Iowa. You have a great record there. Two races. The way your schedule is set up this year, by the time the second race is over, you’ll already be halfway through with your season. Talk a little bit about the mixed feelings that you have going into this race. You’re a former winner and could win this weekend.TONY KANAAN: For sure. Every race that I finish this year, in my head it’s one less, right? Although I can tell you I’m prepared. That was my decision. But it’s never easy. It’s never easy. I’ve been doing this for 23 years. This is all I’ve done.I kind of got spoiled in a way with COVID because the season was supposed to start in March and didn’t. I was actually part of the first race of the year. Kind of was twisted in my head because I really didn’t have time to process that.When it hit me, when everybody went to the next race, I wasn’t there, I was home on the Friday watching it, it was kind of tough. I knew was going to be an adjustment. It is what it is.When I win, I’m going to be happy. I’m pretty sure three hours later I’m going to be sad. If I don’t win, it will be the same thing. I know it’s coming. Obviously we have still four races to go on my end. We’ll take it one at a time.
Q.There was a time in your career where you go to Iowa, Tony Kanaan was the first name everybody said they had to beat to win that race. Why are you so good there? What is it about that track? Is it a track you have to be aggressive and attack?TONY KANAAN: Yeah, I mean, it’s a track you need to be aggressive. It’s an oval that has some particularities that I don’t think I’m going to share here because it’s some of my secrets. It’s a track that we clicked right away.I was always competitive there. If you guys remember, if I’m right, I think I crashed the first three or four times actually leading that race or in contention to win the first three times we went there. It was like, Wow, I’m good but…It was kind of like a mini Indy for me. I was always very successful, but I couldn’t close the deal. Then we clicked. I’m pretty sure that it’s going to be a good weekend for us. I picked the tracks. I was actually extremely fortunate this year to say, These are the races I want to do. We made it happen with a different sponsor every race, which is awesome. Iowa is one of them because I know I can be very competitive.What it is, I don’t think I have the answer the total answer for you. For sure, it’s a track that suits my style.
Q.Bryant Heating and Cooling goes all the way back to the early days of A.J. Foyt, back in the ’60s. To have that connection, Robin Miller used to say Tony Kanaan could have raced in the ’60s. You had to be a test pilot to drive those things. With all that being combined, what is it like to be in this?TONY KANAAN: I mean, if you think about it, Bryant has been in racing since 1958. I mean, it’s crazy how this company has support the Indy 500. They actually sponsored A.J.’s car with John Andretti the year that John did the double I think in ’99. It’s a company that supports INDYCAR.With me, they made my career last a lot longer because they are one of my biggest sponsors. They’ve been with me through every team. I moved, they moved with me. It’s a company that knows racing, that knows the background.Back to your question, when you talk about that I could be racing, I could have raced in the 1960s, I don’t disagree. I think I see a lot of things in my boss that I still have it today.I don’t know if that’s good or bad, but that’s just the way we are. For sure I would have loved to actually be part of those days. I know it was dangerous. He tells me, Tony, we’d start a season, we didn’t know if we would finish the season. Not finish the season because you’d be out of the car but because you probably be not around.I like that dangerous part. I like the mentality, the way they used to run things. That’s how A.J. and I clicked, because he’s a much older school, but I’m kind of old school.
Q.You mentioned how hard these last couple weekends have been for you watching the races. What have you done during the race weekends or race weeks to try and keep yourself occupied?TONY KANAAN: I did it all. I tried everything. The first time, the first weekend, during the first day I went to the pool with the kids. I tried to stay in the pool. I couldn’t help getting out of the pool and watch the scoreboard. That was during qualifying. I ended up actually watching the race.Last weekend I picked a virtual race, a 24-hour race to do. Me, Alonso, Rubens Barrichello and a couple of eSports drivers. That kept me busy. It was a real 24-hour race. We did it in Spa. We ended up winning that race.I was really busy. Obviously it was a real thing. Alternating doing stints. You got to sleep because you got to be up. I kept myself extremely busy and racing in a way.I guess one positive thing about the pandemic, I think it brought a lot of people a lot closer. Look how we’ve been doing things lately. And sim racing was something that INDYCAR introduced so we could entertain our sponsors and the fans. I kind of liked it. I picked it up, been doing it regularly.Actually, as soon as we hang up today, I have a race to do at 2:00 on iRacing. I picked up a 24-hour race to do. In a way, I felt like I was racing.
Q.I know Iowa is a track you have a lot of history with, success at. Being that you only have five races to run this year, the opportunity with how the schedule changed, running two of those at Iowa, trying to build momentum with this team, how much are you looking forward to that?TONY KANAAN: I’m looking forward many things. To be honest, I mean, the way I shape up the T.K. Last Lap was we had a lot of plans with the fans. Unfortunately that’s not going to happen. But it’s still not going to take away that I, Tony Kanaan, wanted to have.I am doing it to thank the fans, to thank obviously the sport that gave me so much. Also I’m doing it for myself. I’m going to try to enjoy the weekend as much as I can in many ways: driving the car, which I don’t get to do a lot these days, spending time with my team. Obviously a good result would be awesome.To me, I just really want to enjoy and just really be in the car and do what I do. I think that’s the best place to be. For me, it’s a good track. I’m extremely, extremely hopeful that we’ll be very competitive there, which is going to help a lot. Just really enjoy the weekend. Like you said, it’s actually four more to go that I get to do this. We’ll enjoy as much as we can.
Q.This is probably less of a concern for you given your physical condition. What do you think about 500 laps in a little over 24 hours in Iowa? The green flag temperature Saturday night is going to be around 90. What kind of a test do you think it will be?TONY KANAAN: I love it. I think the hotter and the more difficult it is, the better for me. That’s what I train for. I train for difficult situations. I train to be able to have that edge on people that don’t. Unfortunately I know that a lot of the guys are doing the same. I used to I think have a bigger edge on them.To be honest, they had two extremely hot races already, so they’re more accustomed than I am. Although I can try to simulate the heat in the car, driving the car, it’s what you’re going to feel.I think we’re going to be level there. I think it’s going to be extremely tough. I talked to the guys, everybody is kind of complaining a little bit that it’s quite a bit hot. But I’m ready. That is something that when I decided to become the athlete or the racecar driver that I am today, one thing that I said was never going to lack is my physical condition.I’m not worried. Obviously I’m cautious and I have to take the precautions because it is going to be extremely stressful. When you talk about the heat and a road course or a street course, you talk about the heat and fatigue physically. Here is mentally. I found throughout my career the physical fatigue, I think you can manage well.For me the mental fatigue, it’s really tough. It’s a lot tougher. You kind of not have trained for that. Your body, you can lift weights, do cardio, this and that. Your mind…I’m expecting to be extremely drained after the two races, but I’m ready.
Q.The 10 car for Ganassi winning Road America, first time since you won with that team six years ago, I don’t know if you keep in touch with a lot of those guys, what did you think of that?TONY KANAAN: I do. Obviously Dixon and I, we actually see each other every day. We work out together. Felix started cycling. I know you heard that on NBC. Felix is actually my height. I sold him a couple of my bikes so he could have a bike ride. We’ve been working together.NTT, my personal sponsor, I raced that car. I felt so happy for so many reasons. They gave me the opportunity to drive for Ganassi for all those years. Unfortunately the race that I won there wasn’t with that car. The relationship with those guys, it’s so good.John was a great, great support, John McCain, that was the CEO that unfortunately passed away a few months ago with brain cancer, didn’t even see that car win. It was so special in so many ways. All those guys were my guys, the guys that I raced with, my mechanics. Really special.I think you saw, I posted congratulating the 10 car, Chip and NTT. It was really sweet to see it. I mean, I think it was easier to swallow because I’m not there. But they deserve it. They deserve it.
Q.I saw your tweet yesterday about the superstar racing experience. Have you talked to Tony Stewart? Are you going to do this?TONY KANAAN: So funny. I don’t want to spoil the thing. I see the tweet that they come up with new series. Jokingly I said, I’m in.Yesterday I was in Charlotte on a simulator for Chevy, for Iowa, the proper one. I’m on the plane, boarding the plane, my phone rings. I see a Charlotte number. I picked up. It’s Ray. Ray says, Hey, T.K. it’s Ray Evernham, what is your suit size?I truly mean it as I have nothing planned for next year yet. If they make it happen, I’ll be there.
Q.How excited are you with the progress made by the team in recent races? Obviously Charlie finished 10th in Road America. How excited are you to be back in the car this weekend, hopefully kind of extending that progress with the team?TONY KANAAN: Oh, extremely excited. I think we made quite a good jump. If you look at Texas, Charlie and I were extremely competitive. We were in the top 10 the entire race.Charlie’s been pretty good. He had an awesome second race in Road America. I’m pumped. I think we have a good thing going. There are still a couple things we need to adjust. But the cars are definitely better this year. We made a lot of changes, some of them we had to do.I’m pretty pleased. I’m extremely confident and hopeful that we’ll be very competitive there.
Q.The fact that we have a doubleheader this weekend, is that more beneficial to you in terms of progression with the car?TONY KANAAN: 100%. I mean, for me, you know, if you think about it, I’m out of the car for two weeks. I know it wasn’t an oval, but these guys been driving the car. I have a chance to, let’s say on the first day, because Texas was really hard for me, I was out of the car for eight months, have an hour session, that got cut because a couple guys crash, becomes a 40-minute session. I wasn’t comfortable, I would say, until mid race. Here I have two chances.I would say it’s definitely better for me.
Q.You mentioned earlier about obviously retirement, four races to go, not being able to really celebrate with the fans. Is retirement something that you may reconsider doing?TONY KANAAN: That’s something that I’ve been actually stressing enough. I don’t know when we got misled on the retirement. When we announced the T.K. Last Lap, it got confused. Obviously I’m not doing a full season, so it’s tough to say it’s my last season in INDYCAR.My idea was to slow down a bit. I can assure you I don’t think I’ll be competing on a full championship again in INDYCAR. But I never said I’m going away.To answer your question, I still have plans to do a few races next year. Obviously a lot of things need to fall in place. For the same reason what you just mentioned, I’m not going to say I’m coming back because I couldn’t celebrate with my fans. The plan all along, obviously it’s quite obvious that I want to do the 500 again. A lot of my sponsors are onboard with that.But as this year happened the way it happens, I think we have a pretty good chance to probably do exactly the same thing next year. But the message was the T.K. Last Lap was, I’m slowing it down, I’m not going to be a full-time INDYCAR driver any more. I never really had the intention to say, That’s it, I’m leaving. Unless I don’t have a seat, unless I don’t have a car and sponsor that wants to help me to drive, I guess then I would be forced to retirement.My intentions are to come back in a smaller degree, do maybe the 500 only or maybe two races, one before the 500 and the 500. Also I’m still extremely involved with INDYCAR. I still run the drivers association.If, if there is no possibility for me to come and drive again in INDYCAR next year, I’m still committed to come to the races. I still have a lot of sponsors there that want me to come. I was going to do the Indy Lights broadcast this year, but they canceled. I’ll still be around so I have time to celebrate with them as well.
Q.Could you talk a bit about Scott Dixon getting off to winning three races in a row. What are you seeing with this? How impressed are you?TONY KANAAN: He can’t impress me any more. I live with this guy. We raced together. He was my teammate. I see him regularly every day at the gym.Here is the thing with Scott Dixon. People have to stop giving him chances because he doesn’t need any chances to win anyway. People are doing him huge favors. They’re shooting themselves in the foot, man. From the outside now I can see a lot better because I’m not in it. You can just see it coming.Scott is, in my opinion, with all the credit to every driver I’ve been teammates, if you think about it, I had tough ones, I had Dan Wheldon, Dario Franchitti, Alex Zanardi, Michael Andretti. I mean, I had them. He’s by far the most complete one I’ve ever seen.I don’t know how to explain. I joke with him all the time. He’s just Scott Dixon. That’s it. I joke at home, I joke with him, when I do something good, Wow, I Scott Dixon’ed this one.He’s amazing. He’s on a roll. People better wake up otherwise he’s going to be gone.
Q.New qualifying system this weekend. Two laps, the first lap counts for the first race, second for the second race. How do you attack that? I don’t know if we know about tire deg yet. Is that a thing where you hope to do two consistent ones or go hard on one versus the other?TONY KANAAN: Actually I found that out like 30 minutes ago. Benito says, Did you see that? I said, What?I have not had a chance to process. Like you said, I don’t know the tire deg. I’m going to have to make up my mind. For sure you’re not going to do two laps exactly the same. For sure either the first lap or the second lap is going to be the quickest. That’s kind of obvious.Depends how the weekend goes, the heat. I will know that on Friday on the hour session, then I’ll make my decision. One race is not going to be good, the other one is going to be better. That’s the way it’s going to be.It’s interesting. It’s actually fun because we never done that. You’re going to have to probably be cautious in the first lap because it’s such a short track, maybe your tire temps, everything is not going to be up to temp yet. Those type of qualifying, you do one to put it in the bank, then you go for the next one. If the next one doesn’t worth, you had the first one. This one is not, you’re going to have both of them.It’s going to be interesting.
Q.Would it be better to have two fifth starting spots or a first and a 10th?TONY KANAAN: I would go for first and a 10th. Who cares? Nothing to lose.
Q.How about the race? Two races, two days. Attack more the first race or the second race?TONY KANAAN: Depending where you’re starting. That’s all going to dictate from where you’re starting, what kind of car you have, to be honest. For me it will be attack them both. I mean, obviously you’ll know your chances better where you qualify from one race to the another.It’s a tough track. Easy to get lapped there. It’s going to be interesting.
Q.Can you talk a little bit about the rookies, how you see them, especially he’s not technically a rookie, what do you think about Pato O’Ward?TONY KANAAN: I mean, I was really impressed. Actually in a way, again, I’m on the outside. I’m glad I’m not there actually sometimes to see how many of the young kids are coming up, right?I think it was kind of like about time. We’ve been dominating for so long, the same guys. Year after year, you call the same people. Oh, it will be those guys, blah blah, you make a list. Now it’s like, Whoa, wait a second. We have something there.They’re only going to get better. That’s just the nature of things. That time has arrived. It’s no different than when we came in, Helio and I, to the series back in ’98. We were there. Then Wheldon comes in.I’m happy to see that. It’s really cool. Pato showed a lot of maturity. You call him a rookie, he has done a few races, but still fairly young and unexperienced in INDYCAR. I think he did an awesome job.It was a shame. Whoever chose that tire for him, I could see that miles away. I couldn’t understand why. They probably have their reasons. It’s easy for me to say.But it’s pretty impressive to see. I’m excited to see how this thing is going to develop in the future. I think we found three really good kids that are actually going to be giving the old guys a hard time.That is the time that I say I’m glad I’m slowing it down and going somewhere (laughter). It’s going to be tough to swallow. I’ve been there before.
THE MODERATOR: One other thing I forgot to mention is we have a very special grand marshal for this Friday’s event. The folks at Iowa Speedway have chosen the one and only Tony Kanaan to be the grand marshal on Friday night. He’ll be giving the command from his car.Talk about that special honor.TONY KANAAN: That’s so cool. I’ve been watching NASCAR and what they’re doing with Jimmie Johnson. That’s quite cool. I’ve been getting so much back. It’s amazing. It’s something that it’s hard for me because I’m very emotional. I’m going to have to actually hold my breath because I’m really easy to get emotional when people are doing stuff and I actually knowing that.It’s an honor. I’m glad I’m doing from inside the car, to be honest. I’m excited. It’s one of those things that I didn’t expect it at all. I think it was a nice gesture. I can’t wait.
THE MODERATOR: Thanks, everybody, for joining. Be sure to tune in this weekend on NBCSN for both races beginning 8:30 p.m. on Friday night.

Jul 15, 2020 | Featured, Julie Nataas, Megan Meyer, Pre-Race Releases

The 2020 racing season is starting to wind back up again during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Randy Meyer Racing Team is eager to return to the winner’s circle at National Trail Raceway in Columbus, OH. Defending event winner, Julie Nataas, will join the defending World Champion Megan Meyer, in her NGK Spark Plugs/Lucas Oil Top Alcohol Dragster, to take on the rest of the competition for the team’s fourth race of the year.

“It’s been four long months without racing, so I’m really looking forward to go to National Trail Raceway where we won last year to restart the NHRA season,” Julie said. “We will do a test run before the race to make sure everything is where we want it to be. It’s going to be hot this weekend, but I’m hoping to defend my win from last year. I’m excited to be back racing with my team!”

Julie scored her first Regional event win at this event last year over Chris Demke that led to her first Regional Championship. This will be Megan’s first time racing in Columbus, and she is looking forward to the challenge.

“It’s been almost 2 months since my last race where we had a great outing being number one qualifier and picked up the win, which is our second of the season. I’m hoping to collect as many points as possible this weekend, and at our race in Topeka next weekend, to continue the chase for the 2020 championship with the limited schedule. We collected good data here last year, so I have a really good feeling going into qualifying on Friday that we will both perform our best,” said Megan.

The team will get one qualifying session Friday at 6pm ET, with two more on Saturday at 12 and 3pm ET followed by the opening round of eliminations at 6pm ET. The semi-finals and final round will be held on Sunday at 12 and 3pm ET at National Trail Raceway.

TEAM CHEVY ADVANCENASCAR ALL-STARBRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAYBRISTOL, TENNESSEEJULY 15, 2020
BRISTOL FOR THE NASCAR ALL-STAR:The NASCAR All-Star race is an annual event that has been held at Charlotte Motor Speedway every year since 1985, with the exception of 1986, when it took place at Atlanta Motor Speedway. For the first time, this popular race will take place at Bristol Motor Speedway on Wednesday, July 15th, where NASCAR’s best will battle under the lights for a $1 million winner-take-all prize.
Although Charlotte will always be recognized as the traditional home for the All-Star, the current pandemic situation in North Carolina makes its 36th running at Bristol a better option to allow fans in attendance. 
CONTENDERS:There are 16 drivers who are eligible to compete in the All-Star event due to wins in 2019-20 or being a previous All-Star winner or Cup champion. Six of those are Camaro ZL1 1LE drivers, and their starting positions for the race have been determined by a random draw: 
 2nd    Alex Bowman, No. 88 ChevyGoods.com/Adam’s Polishes Camaro ZL1 1LE 4th     Justin Haley, No. 77 Fraternal Order of Eagles Camaro ZL1 1LE 6th     Matt Kenseth, No. 42 McDonald’s McDelivery Camaro ZL1 1LE 7th     Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1 1LE13th     Chase Elliott, No. 9 UniFirst Camaro ZL1 1LE14th     Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1 1LE
Drivers not already qualified will have a chance to join the All-Star field by competing in the NASCAR Open, in which there are ten Team Chevy entries. The winner of each Open segment will advance to the All-Star, as will the winner of the Fan Vote. 
WHAT’S NEW?In addition to the location change itself, there are three modifications coming to the 2020 All-Star Race. NASCAR oftentimes utilizes this particular event to test concepts for possible future use.
The highly anticipated ‘choose rule’ will be executed on restarts, which allows each driver to pick a lane. Traditionally, the leader makes a choice, and the field lines-up accordingly on the inside or outside lanes. With this new test format, there will be a designated point on the track where the drivers will choose their restart lane.
Teams already locked-into the All-Star race will feature underglow lighting mounted beneath their cars giving each manufacturer its own colorful identity.
The race cars themselves will feature a new paint scheme concept in which the side-door numbers are moved toward the rear wheel to allow additional sponsor exposure. CHEVY PERFORMANCE:Chevrolet leads all other manufacturers with 18 victories in the prestigious All-Star race.
Career-long Chevrolet driver and seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, Jimmie Johnson, leads all drivers with four All-Star race victories to his credit (2003, ’06, ’12, ’13). Other active Chevy drivers with All-Star wins are Kurt Busch (2010), and Matt Kenseth (2004).
Hendrick Motorsports leads all other NASCAR Cup Series teams with eight All-Star victories:Jimmie Johnson (4), Jeff Gordon (3), and Terry Labonte (1).
FLASHBACKS:Darrell Waltrip, driving a Chevrolet Monte Carlo for Hendrick Motorsports, won the inaugural All-Star race on May 25, 1985. Team Chevy has since won the event with multiple models including the Chevy Lumina, Monte Carlo SS., Impala, the Chevy SS, and most recently, the Camaro ZL1.
When rain caused a multi-car crash on Lap 1 of the All-Star race in 2001, Jeff Gordon used his back-up Chevrolet to win the big prize. Gordon has captured three All-Star wins in Chevrolet race cars.
TUNE-IN:FS1 will telecast the NASCAR Open and the NASCAR All-Star at Bristol Motor Speedway on Wednesday evening, July 15 at 7:00 p.m. ET. Live coverage can also be found on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. QUOTABLE QUOTES:ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 CHEVYGOODS.COM / ADAM’S POLISHES CAMARO ZL1 1LE:“This year’s All-Star Race is going to be a little different since we don’t have to race our way in. I have not ever been in the All-Star Race without having to race my way in or win the fan vote like we did last year. I think the ChevyGoods.com/Adam’s Polishes machine will look great under the lights at Bristol, especially with the underglow lights. We ran decent at Bristol earlier this year before we got caught up in an incident on track. I think we will have a good Chevrolet for Wednesday night’s race.” WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 1LE:BYRON ON THE ALL-STAR RACE AT BRISTOL.“I think it’s going to be fun having the All-Star race at Bristol Motor Speedway, especially under the lights. Hopefully we make it in since we have to race our way in still. Bristol is always a tough track that requires constant concentration. I think that Open race is going to be even more wild than usual with people trying to secure their place. There will be desperation on the line to get a win and get into the big show. Last year we raced our way into the All-Star race with a Stage One win. We had a really good run there and honestly had a shot to win close to the end. I think if we get into the All-Star race, it’s going to be a lot of fun, especially now.” BYRON ON USING THE CHOOSE CONE WEDNESDAY NIGHT.“I’m for sure excited to use the choose cone in the All-Star race. There’s no doubt that I think it will add an extra layer of strategy and excitement. It’s going to be a tool that will make this into an incredible race and keep people on their toes more than they already would be at a place like Bristol. It brings me back to my early days in racing. The race itself is going to be phenomenal I feel like but I’m really looking forward to see how this plays out. AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BASS PRO SHOPS / TRACKER OFF ROAD CAMARO ZL1 1LE:WHAT WILL IT TAKE TO GET INTO THE ALL-STAR RACE?“You’ve got to go get it. You will be after it, and putting it all on the line to try and win a Stage in the open in order to transfer into the All-Star race. The All-Star race is so fun because you let everything go on All-Star night as far as the big picture, and just put it all on the line to try and win. It’s for the fans, and I’m really looking forward to trying to race my way in. Especially at a short track like Bristol Motor Speedway.” TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 FOOD CITY CAMARO ZL1 1LE:“It’s tough to gauge our chances on making into the main event. Honestly, the All-Star race is an event I always have fun going to watch from the stands with my friends, so it’s weird being involved in it this year. I haven’t gotten much of a chance to campaign for the fan vote with how busy we’ve been with all these races, but it would be an honor to win that. Hopefully, fans are seeing what I’m doing out on the track and that performance has gotten them to go vote for me. If they want someone who is going to do some crazy stuff to try to win the million dollars, I’m their guy. As for racing our way in through the Open, I hope we can do that. There are just so many variables going into the race that it’s tough to even form a strategy. The lineup is based off a random draw, so that is an unknown for now. We also aren’t quite sure yet how the traction compound will be laid down, so that’s another variable. We’ll just have to adapt to all the challenges and try to put ourselves in the best spot to win a stage and advance to the main event.” RICKY STENHOUSE JR., NO. 47 KROGER / COTTONELLE CAMARO ZL1 1LE:“I think we have a really strong shot at making the All-Star Race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Bristol is one of my favorite tracks, and we have a great starting position starting fourth. We had a really strong run om the first Bristol race before ultimately being involved in a wreck that ended our day early, but that gives me nothing but confidence that Brian Pattie set up our No. 47 Kroger/Cottonelle Chevrolet as best he could to give us a shot at $1 million.” MATT KENSETH, NO. 42 MCDONALD’S DELIVERY CAMARO ZL1 1LE:“The All-Star Race moving to Bristol is awesome. It’s long overdue. I love Charlotte Motor Speedway but I think the All-Star Race needs to be at a short track and there’s no better short track in the country than Bristol Motor Speedway. I think everyone is looking forward to being a part of this one. There’s a high probability of a lot of action there, maybe some hurt feelings, most likely some wrinkled up race cars. It’s the All-Star Race, it pays a lot of money, so you know everyone’s going to be in the gas. I’m thankful to be a part of this one and hopefully we can go up there and dice it up for that million.” 
RYAN PREECE, NO. 37 ENERGIZER CAMARO ZL1 1LE:“Nothing would turn our luck around quite like advancing into the All-Star Race and competing for $1 million. I love Bristol Motor Speedway and short track racing, and I think we have a really strong shot at winning a stage and advancing into the race. Bristol is one of the only tracks where we’ve seemed to have some luck this season, and I feel confident that we can race our No. 37 Energizer Chevrolet into the big show. We’ve got a great setup, and one of the best-looking cars on track and I know we’ll have some extra power with Energizer on board.”
TY DILLON, NO. 13 GEICO HUMP DAY CAMARO ZL1 1LE:ON GETTING A TOUGH STARTING POSITION DRAW FOR THE OPEN (21st OF 22) AND OVERALL THOUGHTS ON ALL-STAR RACE:“Drawing second to last for the Open is not quite what you want, but you never know what can happen. It’s going to be wild and a crazy shootout to get in. The choose rule is going to make it super interesting as well, so we might have to be strategic and just go for it. Bristol is a place where I’ve been successful. Our GEICO team won a stage there last season, and this will be essentially stage racing. If we can get ourselves in a position to find some track position at the end of one of the stages, I believe that we can win and sneak into the All-Star Race.”
DO YOU KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THE CHOOSE RULE WHEN WHAT YOU DO IS DEPENDENT ON WHAT THE PEOPLE IN FRONT OF YOU DO?“It’s going to be a split-second decision. You are going to see the guys with an aggressive mindset who put themselves out there in a tough spot – probably on the top lane which isn’t the dominant lane at Bristol. It just depends on how the PJ1 comes in and what line will be dominant on the restart. It’s going to be interesting, but quite fun. I used to do this back in my legend car days, and you could always make something happen. I love that our sport is opening up their minds to new creative ways to make the racing exciting. I think they are going to be very pleased with what this choose rule brings and maybe it is something that we can adapt into the future of our sport.”

Inside Line Promotions – FRESNO, Calif. (July 14, 2020) – Giovanni Scelzi is doing double duty this Saturday.

Scelzi will pilot a Bill McAnally Racing pavement late model during an ARCA Menards Series event at Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa, before venturing approximately 28 miles south to Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa, where he will drive a 410ci winged sprint car for Guy Forbrook.

“It will be a long day running the ARCA race and then heading to Knoxville, but I’m really looking forward to it,” Scelzi said. “It will be my first time at Iowa Speedway, but I’ve heard it’s an awesome place to race. Knoxville is a great track, too.”

Scelzi has produced a lot of success during his limited number of starts at Knoxville Raceway, where he became the youngest 410ci winged sprint car winner in the history of the track last year. He also won the season finale, placed third out of 77 drivers during the 8^th annual Bell Helmets Capitani Classic presented by Great Southern Bank and finished 10^th at the 59^thannual NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Stores.

“Knoxville is a place I’m really comfortable at,” he said. “We made some changes to make us better since we ran there earlier this year. There will be a lot of good cars there so I’m looking forward to the challenge.”

It will be an action-packed day as the ARCA Menards Series race is scheduled to start at 4:30 p.m. Hot laps at Knoxville Raceway begin at 6:45 p.m. with qualifying to follow.

SEASON STATS –

25 races, 1 win, 8 top fives, 16 top 10s, 20 top 15s, 22 top 20s

UP NEXT –

Saturday at Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa, with the ARCA Menards Series and at Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa

Inside Line Promotions – TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (July 14, 2020) – Dominic Scelzi earned his first top 10 of the season during World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series competition last Sunday, capping a three-race weekend with ‘The Greatest Show on Dirt.’

Scelzi qualified 18^th quickest before he gained a position to finish fifth during a heat race at Terre Haute Action Track. That lined him up on the inside of the eighth row for a wild main event. Scelzi survived the close calls and gained a handful of positions to place 10^th, which was his best run of the season with the series.

“It’s good to make progress and earn a top 10,” he said. “We’ve been struggling with being too tight lately. We haven’t been able to qualify very well and it feels like we haven’t raced well either so it’s nice to see a positive result to end the weekend.”

Scelzi began the weekend last Friday at 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa, where he timed in 20^th quickest, placed seventh in a heat race, ended second in the Last Chance Showdown and rallied from 20 ^th to 14^th in the A Main. It was the second-most positions gained in the feature.

Scelzi followed that performance up with another 14^th-place run on Saturday at Wilmot Raceway in Wilmot, Wis.

“We aren’t where we want to be, but we’re trying really hard to better ourselves,” he said. “We are going to change some stuff on the car this week to hopefully feel better this weekend.”

Scelzi plans on making his debut at Lincoln Speedway in Lincoln., Ill., on Friday with the MOWA Sprint Car Series before heading to Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa, on Saturday.

HEBRON, Ohio (July 14) — There will be plenty of JEGS yellow and black at one of the high-performance auto parts giant’s biggest events of the year, JEGS Speedweek, a double-header race taking place Thursday-Sunday at historic National Trail Raceway. Reigning divisional and regional champions Mike Coughlin and Troy Coughlin Jr. will be joined by Paige Coughlin, Makenna Brown and Jeff Taylor in representing JEGS.com in a variety of classes in both races. JEGS Speedweek combines the first Lucas Oil Series Division 3 race of the season with the annual JEGS.com SPORTSnationals, a special national event exclusively for Sportsman racers. The D3 race will take place Thursday and Friday, followed by the SPORTSnationals on Saturday and Sunday. Mike Coughlin“We have a whole lot of racing ahead of us this weekend and I’m very excited about it,” said Mike, the reigning D3 Top Dragster champion. “Aside from a little spin I took in Tony Collier’s bracket car a few weeks at Dragway 42, I haven’t raced since last fall so I’m absolutely ready to get back on the racetrack. “My guys, Greg Cody, Tony Collier, Dave Raurk and Ryan Micke, did a bunch of work in the off-season to insure we wouldn’t have any drop-off in performance from last year’s incredible run and we’ve just been waiting for the green light to race. I know I’ll be treasuring whatever racing we’re able to do this year because we never know what will happen.” Mike will follow-up this weekend’s race with two more double-header weekends in Topeka, Kan., and Indianapolis.  “We’re going to stay very busy and I love it,” Mike said. “I couldn’t be happier. Starting this weekend at National Trail, which (track owner) Jay Livingston has revived to its former glory and beyond, we’re going to have a bunch of fun, and racing with my family makes it even better.” Troy Jr. returns from a weekend outing in Pro Stock to pilot his always-reliable JEGS.com Super Comp dragster. After winning back-to-back regional championships in Top Alcohol Dragster, Troy Jr. is ever-anxious to compete in a pair of races that bear his family’s famous company name. “Any time I’m representing JEGS I take an incredible amount of pride in what that means,” Troy Jr. said. “From my grandfather’s time starting JEGS here in Columbus 60 years ago to nowadays with my dad and uncles running JEGS and a lot of us third-generation kids working there, it’s truly an honor to be a part of it all. Troy Coughlin Jr. “We have a lot of cars entered in both races and I will be so happy if we can find the winner’s circle. It won’t be easy because this event has attracted all of the top racers in the country, but we have all the pieces in place to challenge for every trophy.” After participating in four high-profile bracket races in the last month, Paige arrives at her home track of NTR looking to turn on as many win lights as possible in her JEGS.com Super Comp dragster. The college junior cut her racing teeth at NTR and says returning to the familiar confines of her local track gives her a great level of comfort. “I pretty much grew up at this track, either running my Junior Dragster or watching my brother and my uncles’ race, so it’s definitely my favorite place to compete,” Paige said. “Plus, it’ll be nice to race a full quarter-mile again. We did really well at the bracket races so my crew chief Justin Beaver feels really confident in the car.  “It’s the first Division 3 race of the year and we’re repping No. 32 on my dragster this year so we’re coming in with our heads held high. It’s always a blast racing with my Uncle Mike, my brother TJ, and my cousin Makenna. Me and Makenna have been racing together a lot and she’s doing so well. It’s not an easy transition but she’s handling it well.” Paige Coughlin Like Paige, Makenna is searching for her first win in Super Comp and having two chances at glory during JEGS Speedweek is exciting, although she is more focused on continuing to learn the nuances of driving a nine-second dragster. “Although it has been around five months since I last raced in Super Comp, I feel really confident going into this double header,” Makenna said. “My team and I feel we have the JEGS.com dragster set up really well and I know they’ve been working really hard.  “It has been nice to get some bracket races in and get more comfortable with the car, but I am really ready to be back with the NHRA. I am so thankful to be able to represent JEGS and my family at the track. I am also excited to return to National Trail Raceway, the track where I started racing juniors, won my first race, and won two back-to-back track championships. I have a lot of good memories there and am really excited to make some more.” Decorated drag racer Taylor, who helps Team JEGS with numerous projects involving the group’s racing program, rounds out the team roster this week. Taylor will be captaining the JEGS.com Dodge Challenger in Stock eliminator.

5:30 p.m. EDT Saturday, July 18
NBC Sports Network, NBC Trackpass and IMSATV.com
Radio Le Mans and IMSA.com

ACURA, HPD AT SEBRING
Acura Motorsports and its performance arm, Honda Performance Development, have recorded a total of eight victories at the 12 Hours of Sebring, including three class wins for Acura, four LMP2 class wins under the HPD umbrella, and an overall win in 2016.

This weekend’s two-hour, 40-minute contest is an addition to the 2020 schedule as a result of adjustments made to the calendar in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Acura’s initial victory at the rugged airport circuit came in 1993, when Comptech Racing brought its Acura Spice prototype home first in the Camel Lights division, and fifth overall in the 47-car field. Three-time Camel Lights champion Parker Johnstone anchored the driver lineup, with co-drivers Dan Marvin and Ruggero Melgrati.

In 2007, Acura returned to endurance sports car racing for the first time since ’93, and promptly won the LMP2 class – finishing second overall – in the debut of the Acura ARX-01a prototype in the hands of Andretti Autosports drivers Dario Franchitti, Bryan Herta and Tony Kanaan.

Acura won the LMP2 category again at Sebring in 2009, with Lowe’s Fernandez Racing finishing third overall in its Acura ARX-01b driven by Adrian Fernandez and Luis Diaz.

HPD supplied customer teams in the LMP2 category from 2010-2016, scoring class wins at Sebring in 2011, 2012 (in both the American Le Mans Series and World Endurance Championship races) and 2013.

In 2016, HPD and partner team Tequila Patron ESM scored an overall victory at Sebring in a Honda-powered Ligier JSP2 co-driven by Pipo Derani, Scott Sharp, Johannes van Overbeek and Ed Brown.

ACURA TEAM PENSKE
The combination of Acura Motorsports, Team Penske and the Acura ARX-05 DPi resulted in a sweep of IMSA’s season-long championships in 2019, claiming the Manufacturers’, Teams’ and Drivers’ championships.

Dane Cameron and Juan Pablo Montoya combined for three race wins and four additional podium finishes to claim the 2019 Drivers’ Championship in the #6 Acura Team Penske entry. Teammates Helio Castroneves and Ricky Cameron complied five podium finishes in their #7 ARX-05 to help Acura secure the Manufacturers’ title.

The Acura ARX-05 is the latest in a line of prototype sports cars to be fielded by the company, dating to 1991, just five years after the launch of the Acura brand. Based on the successful ORECA 07 chassis, the ARX-05 DPi features Acura-specific bodywork and utilizes the production-based Acura AR35TT twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6 engine.

ACURA NSX GT3 EVO TEAMS
Fielding a pair of Acura NSX GT3s, Meyer Shank Racing took the Drivers’ and Team championships in GTD, with drivers Mario Farnbacher and Trent Hindman scoring one win (with endurance co-driver Justin Marks) at the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen, and four second-place finishes in 10 races to claim the Drivers’ Championship for Farnbacher and Hindman, and the teams title for MSR.

For the GTD class, this weekend’s race at Sebring is part of the Sprint Cup Championship, for shorter races on the 2020 schedule, and is not part of the overall WeatherTech SpotsCar Championship. As a result, the Meyer Shank team will not be present in Sebring this weekend, but will return for the next round, July 31-August 2 at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.

Starting at the WeatherTech 240 at Daytona earlier this month, the Texas-based Gradient Racing organization is fielding an Acura NSX GT3 Evo in IMSA GTD Sprint Cup completion for drivers Marc Miller and Till Bechtolscheimer. The pair finished a solid 10th in their IMSA debut at the WeatherTech Daytona 240. The Gradient team is focusing on the GTD Sprint Cup championship, and will lead the Acura NSX GT3 Evo effort at Sebring this weekend.

WHERE TO WATCH
Television coverage from Sebring begins at 5:30 p.m. EDT Saturday on the NBC Sports Network. Complete, flag-to-flag race coverage also will be available on the NBC Sports App and NBC Gold with NBCSN Trackpass authentication. Practice and qualifying action can be found at IMSATV.com.

Complete, flag-to-flag race coverage also will be available on the NBC Sports App with NBCSN authentication.

Fans can listen to audio commentary via IMSA.com, RadioLeMans.com and Sirius XM Radio; and follow the race live via in-car cameras, IMSA Radio and timing & scoring available worldwide on IMSA.com and the IMSA mobile device App.

Acura Motorsports social media content and video links from the WeatherTech 240 will be available on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/HondaRacingHPD) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/HondaRacing_HPD).  Produced by the CoForce Digital Media, the YouTube videos can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/HondaRacingHPDTV.  

July 14, 2020

If there ever was a NASCAR All-Star Race made to order for Matt DiBenedetto and the No. 21 Menards/FVP team it’s this one.

Due to concerns about the coronavirus pandemic the annual non-points-paying extravaganza has been moved from its traditional home at Charlotte Motor Speedway to Bristol Motor Speedway, one of DiBenedetto’s best tracks. And it will be run this Wednesday night, giving him and his team a chance to capitalize on their recent momentum.

His stirring run at Bristol in 2019, where he led 93 laps and eventually finished second, played a big role in his being selected by the retiring Paul Menard to replace him as driver of the iconic No. 21 Mustang fielded by the Wood Brothers.
 
“Obviously I’m pretty glad that it’s at Bristol,” DiBenedetto said. “I think it’s cool, a cool change. I’m a little biased, though. I love Bristol so much. One of my favorite tracks.”

Because DiBenedetto hasn’t won a Cup race in the past year, he’ll have to race his way into the main event by winning one of the Stages of the preliminary Open or through the fan vote.

That prospect doesn’t intimidate him at all.

“I think it’s cool,” he said. “I’m excited to have the opportunity to race our way in. I know the fan vote is important, too. People have been voting, which we appreciate a lot as a team.”
 
The timing of the All-Star event is a plus for DiBenedetto and the Menards/FVP team.

They were fast when the Cup Series ran a points-paying race at Bristol in May before being swept up in a multi-car crash, and they’ve been on quite a roll in the past few weeks, winning Stage points and running among the leaders every week.
 
His third-place finish this past Sunday at Kentucky Speedway shows just what the team is capable of doing on a regular basis.
 
“You see how fast our cars are,” he said. “It makes it so fun driving these things. We’re really getting in a groove as a team now. I finally feel it clicking real well.”
 
He said his confidence has never been higher.
 
“What does that, though, is my team,” he said. “Driving this 21 car for the Wood Brothers, having such a good team, great people around you, firing off the race with no practice, yeah, it’s pretty good, don’t really touch it, tiny air pressure [adjustment].  
 
“That’s amazing to have that good of people here. Having our alliance with Team Penske, support from them. All the support from Ford and Menards/FVP. That is what does it. That’s what makes my confidence so high because I’m so confident in my guys.”
 
The Open is set to get the green flag at 7 p.m. Wednesday night, followed by the All-Star race at 8:30. TV coverage is on FOX Sports 1.
 

• Garcia, Taylor coming off Daytona win in No. 3 Corvette C8.R• Chevrolet enters tied for GTLM Manufacturer Championship• Corvette Racing program with 11 class victories at Sebring

DETROIT (July 14, 2020) – Corvette Racing doesn’t have to wait long for its chance at a second straight victory in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The team returns to the track this weekend at Sebring International Raceway for the Cadillac Grand Prix in search of another win for the mid-engine Chevrolet Corvette C8.R. Both Corvettes will be on the GT Le Mans (GTLM) grid at Sebring as the IMSA championship embarks on its third race of the season and second following a weeks-long layoff due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Unlike the team’s previous 21 visits to the 3.7-mile, 17-turn road course, Saturday’s affair is a two-hour, 40-minute sprint race. It’s the same format that saw Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor claim a class victory in the IMSA WeatherTech 240 at Daytona on July 4. The Independence Day result gave Corvette Racing its 100th win in IMSA as well as the first for the new Corvette. The No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Corvette C8.R won by 1.977 seconds in the car’s third race, and Garcia set the fastest GTLM lap of the race. The sister Corvette – the No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM C8.R – scored pole position with Oliver Gavin at the wheel. He and teammate Tommy Milner led the race on two occasions and went on to finish fifth in the race. Like Daytona, Sebring is a track that Corvette Racing has a significant amount of testing data available, having completed a multi-day test there earlier this year and also early in the C8.R’s initial development period. Sebring is steeped in Corvette Racing history. The circuit has witnessed the team take 11 class victories since 2002, and all four drivers have previously won there. Gavin leads with six GT-class victories, Garcia has three and Milner two. Taylor was part of one overall winning effort. Like Daytona two weeks ago, Corvette Racing (like all competitors) will operate at Sebring in accordance with federal, state and local guidelines for social distancing and wear appropriate PPE at all times. The event schedule will include a one-hour practice Friday with another practice Saturday morning, qualifying early Saturday afternoon and a race into dusk Saturday evening. The mid-engine C8.R is based on the strong foundation of the 2020 Corvette Stingray with both developed simultaneously. There is a deeper level of technology transfer between the race car and production Corvette than ever before, which helps contribute to many of its advancements. As a result, the C8.R shares the highest percentage of parts between the production and race car than any previous generation. Initial design and development on the Corvette C8.R – with Corvette Racing engineers working alongside Corvette production personnel – began more than five years ago with track testing starting within the last 18 months. Heavy emphasis on wind tunnel and simulation aided in the testing program. The Cadillac Grand Prix at Sebring is set for July 17-18 with live race television coverage on NBC Sports Network, NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports App starting at 5:30 p.m. ET on Saturday. IMSA Radio will broadcast all practice and qualifying sessions as well as the race on IMSA.com, which also will host live timing and scoring.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “Sebring, I think, will have the same feel as Daytona. We are normally racing quite a bit longer at Sebring, just like Daytona. The main thing is still the importance of just two hours practice before qualifying. That’s what puts the most pressure on us as a team. You will discover very quickly how competitive you are. If you are good, then you are good. There is not really time to adjust much on your car. Knowing how good the C8.R felt at Daytona compared to how it was at the Rolex 24, and how good it felt at our Sebring test, I’m confident.”

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “We’re entering the meat of the championship where we’re racing every two weeks. For us to come out so strong out of the box after the break is impressive and shows a lot for the team and all the drivers for all the preparation we did leading up to it. This will be a different experience racing at Sebring this weekend. The biggest thing will be the heat. Usually we are there in March where it’s starting to get warm. Now we’re going there in the summer when it’s crazy hot, plus the track is still physical. That will all raise the intensity and it will be a much different feeling. Everyone will have a new experience doing a sprint race there. I’m looking forward to it. It should be a fun event.”

OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “It’s a great thing to have these first three races at tracks where we have raced on or tested with the Corvette C8.R. We have a pretty understanding about where to go with the car and how it will feel. These will be very different conditions, though. Sebring will be very, very hot and likely very humid. The mindset for Sebring has to be the same as how we approached Daytona. We have to go all-out, get qualified up front and try to run up there as much as possible. There is no time to waste. We have to use every single second of track time to understand the car in these conditions.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “Both Daytona and Sebring are good tracks for us, especially with this new Corvette C8.R and the testing we have done at both places. It lessens the learning curve for us to some extent. The temperature and difference from what we would have expected in March at Sebring will be significant this weekend, although it shouldn’t be too different than what we faced at Daytona a couple of weeks ago. I was encouraged by the car at Daytona, and we feel similarly about the package we have going into this race. Sebring, no matter if it’s a one-hour practice session or a 12-hour race, is always going to be difficult. It’s not the smoothest track in the world and has a lot of high-G corners and big brake zones. The fatigue and drain you normally feel after the 12 Hours probably won’t be as bad this time, but it’s still going to be difficult. That won’t change at all.”

Richard Childress Racing in the All-Star Race …  Richard Childress Racing has won four NASCAR Cup Series All-Star races with drivers Kevin Harvick (2017) and Dale Earnhardt (1987, 1990 and 1993). Earnhardt’s 1987 All-Star victory included the legendary “Pass in the Grass.” Battle at Bristol  … For the first time in history, the Cup Series stars will battle for one million dollars on the high banks of the ‘World’s Fastest Half-Mile’ of Bristol Motor Speedway. Adding to the excitement, NASCAR will implement the ‘choose cone’ rule for restarts. The idea for a choose cone came after Austin Dillon petitioned for it on Twitter saying, “It’s time for a choose cone. The bottom is at a disadvantage. This will create drama and allow us to decide our fate. Paint something on the track before the start finish line. One to go we choose our destiny.”  Both Austin Dillon and Tyler Reddick will need to race their way in by winning a stage in the All-Star Open in order to secure a spot in the feature event, the All-Star Race.  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 Cup Series All-Star Open at Bristol Motor Speedway will be televised live Wednesday, July 15, beginning at 7:00 p.m. ET on Fox Sports One and will be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.  The NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race at Bristol Motor Speedway will be televised live Wednesday, July 15, beginning at 8:30 p.m. ET on Fox Sports One and will be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

This Week’s Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Off Road/E-Z-GO Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 at Bristol Motor Speedway… In 13 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Bristol Motor Speedway, Dillon has one top-five and three top-10 finishes. He posted his best finish of fourth in August 2016. He is a former winner in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at the track. Vying For A Spot In The All-Star Race … Dillon, who has made two previous All-Star race starts, will be vying for a spot in this year’s event by competing in the All-Star Open. The 22 drivers entered in the All-Star Open can race their way into the All-Star Race by winning a Stage. Fans can also vote Dillon into the All-Star race by participating in a fan vote at nascar.com/fanvote. 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 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. Vote for Austin … Visit NASCAR.com/fanvote to vote Austin Dillon into this year’s All-Star Race. You can vote daily and votes shared via Facebook and/or Twitter count double. AUSTIN DILLON QUOTE:What will it take to get into the All-Star race?“You’ve got to go get it. You will have to be after it, and putting it all on the line to try and win a Stage in the open in order to transfer into the All-Star race. The All-Star race is so fun because you let everything go on All-Star night as far as the big picture, and just put it all on the line to try and win. It’s for the fans, and I’m really looking forward to trying to race my way in. Especially at a short track like Bristol Motor Speedway.”

Tyler Reddick and the No. 8 Food City Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE at Bristol Motor Speedway … This Wednesday’s NASCAR All-Star Open will be Tyler Reddick’s first time competing in the event. Reddick will need to race his way in via the Open or win the Fan Vote to make the All-Star Race. The two-time NASCAR Xfinity Series champion has five Xfinity Series starts at the track, winning last fall’s race there with crew chief Randall Burnett, along with two top-five and four other top-10 finishes. Reddick also has two NASCAR Truck Series starts, with two top-five finishes at Bristol. About Food City … Headquartered in Abingdon, Virginia, K-VA-T Food Stores (Food City’s parent company) operates 134 retail supermarkets throughout southeast Kentucky, southwest Virginia, east Tennessee, Chattanooga and north Georgia, including 109 pharmacies and 108 fuel/convenience stores. The company also owns and operates their own 1.2 million square-foot distribution center in Abingdon, VA. Food City offers a wide variety of services and conveniences, including in-store bakery/delis, floral boutiques, full-service meat and seafood departments with in-house butchers, locally grown produce, full service pharmacies, fuel centers, GoCart curbside pick-up, and home delivery. The Food City name is also synonymous with NASCAR racing through their title sponsorship of two of the sport’s most popular events, the Food City 500 and Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, TN. Food City is Bristol Motor Speedway’s longest running sponsor and the second longest in NASCAR.Learn more by visiting FoodCity.com  Vote for Tyler … It’s not too late to case your vote for Reddick as the 2020 NASCAR Fan Vote! Fans can vote on NASCAR.com/FanVote once a day through Tuesday, July 14, at 12 p.m. ET for Reddick as their pick for the All-Star race. Votes shared to Facebook and Twitter count as double. 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 7/15 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: This will be your first time taking part in the All-Star race festivities. What do you think your chances are of making it into the main event from the Open?“It’s tough to gauge our chances. Honestly, the All-Star race is an event I always have fun going to watch from the stands with my friends, so it’s weird being involved in it this year. I haven’t gotten much of a chance to campaign for the fan vote with how busy we’ve been with all these races, but it would be an honor to win that. Hopefully, fans are seeing what I’m doing out on the track and that performance has gotten them to go vote for me. If they want someone who is going to do some crazy stuff to try to win the million dollars, I’m their guy. As for racing our way in through the Open, I hope we can do that. There are just so many variables going into the race that it’s tough to even form a strategy. The lineup is based off a random draw, so that is an unknown for now. We also aren’t quite sure yet how the traction compound will be laid down, so that’s another variable. We’ll just have to adapt to all the challenges and try to put ourselves in the best spot to win a stage and advance to the main event.”

FARLEY, Iowa (July 13, 2020) – Josh Richards made a daring three-wide pass for the lead on lap 17 and went on to win the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Truck Country 50 on Monday Night at 300 Raceway. Richards, Jimmy Owens, and Kyle Bronson went 3-wide down the main straightaway as Richards split both Owens and Bronson to take the lead heading into turn one on lap 16. From there Richards maintained a steady pace to the checkers as he bested Owens by .872 seconds to become the sixth different winner in six appearances by the LOLMDS. Tim McCreadie charged from the back after pitting for a flat tire to finish in third place. Kyle Bronson led the first part of the race but finished in fourth followed by Tyler Erb, who rounded out the top five finishers. Richards was thankful his right rear tire held up as flat tires derailed some of his top competition. “Man, I was hoping the tires would hold up tonight. I can’t thank everyone enough with this race car: Brad, Cody, and Big Dog; they do a phenomenal job. Thanks to my dad and Steve Baker at Rocket Chassis. We have had a lot of speed, and we just tweaked some things. We were a lot better tonight. I knew last year the track dried up pretty quick. They tilled it up quite a bit tonight, so we kind of left the car alone. The car was snug tonight. The last couple of laps the right front wouldn’t steer at all. I was fortunate enough to have a scoreboard in turn three to help with how many laps I had left.” Owens notched yet another top five finish this year. “Josh drove an awesome race. He made a heck of a move to get the lead. It was great to come out with another podium finish. They did a great job on prepping the track before the feature. It was good racing all-night long.” McCreadie passed several cars in the closing laps to round out the podium. “This is two years in a row we have had flats here. Hats off to everybody in the pit to get both back tires changed. When I got to third, I thought I was getting another flat. We had a nice rebound and are looking forward to the next race. The winner’s Clint Bowyer Racing Rocket Chassis is powered by a Cornett Racing Engine and sponsored by iRacing, Big River Steel, DEKALB Seed, Crawford Outdoor, FORD Performance, Cometic Gasket, and Integra Shocks. Completing the top ten were Jonathan Davenport, Tanner English, Shane Clanton, Tyler Bruening, and Devin Moran.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series 
Race Summary 
Truck Country 50          
Monday, July 13th, 2020
300 Raceway – Farley, IA

Lucas Oil Time Trials
Fast Time Group A: Josh Richards / 15.082 seconds 
Fast Time Group B: Stormy Scott / 14.992 seconds (overall)

Penske Race Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 6 Transfer):  1. 14-Josh Richards[2]; 2. 20-Jimmy Owens[4]; 3. 1T-Tyler Erb[3]; 4. 32S-Chris Simpson[6]; 5. 1ST-Johnny Scott[5]; 6. 1-Earl Pearson Jr[7]; 7. 2S-Stormy Scott[1]; 8. 40-Joel Callahan[8]; 9. 71-Hudson O’Neal[9]

FK Rod Ends Heat Race #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 6 Transfer):  1. 40B-Kyle Bronson[1]; 2. 16-Tyler Bruening[2]; 3. 49-Jonathan Davenport[3]; 4. 15B-Brian Birkhofer[4]; 5. 58-Jeremiah Hurst[5]; 6. 29D-Spencer Diercks[8]; 7. 50-Shanon Buckingham[7]; 8. 59-Garrett Alberson[6]; 9. T22-Tegan Evans[9]

Simpson Race Products Heat Race #3 Finish (10 Laps, Top 6 Transfer): 1. 21-Billy Moyer Jr[1]; 2. 25-Shane Clanton[3]; 3. 0E-Rick Eckert[4]; 4. 39-Tim McCreadie[6]; 5. 1C-Chad Simpson[5]; 6. 9-Devin Moran[2]; 7. 81E-Tanner English[7]; 8. 111-Matthew Lux[8]; 9. 44W-David Webster[9]

Tiger Rear Ends B-Main #1 Finish (12 Laps, Top 4 Transfer):  1. 2S-Stormy Scott[1]; 2. 71-Hudson O’Neal[7]; 3. 111-Matthew Lux[6]; 4. 44W-David Webster[9]; 5. 81E-Tanner English[3]; 6. 40-Joel Callahan[4]; 7. T22-Tegan Evans[8]; 8. (DNS) 50-Shanon Buckingham; 9. (DNS) 59-Garrett Alberson

(July 14, 2020) Jim Allen, Sacramento, CA …  The NARC King of the West Fujitsu 410 Sprint Car Series will be in action this Saturday, July 18th at the 10th Annual Howard Kaeding Classic at Ocean Speedway in Watsonville.  The lucrative event, sponsored by Al’s Roofing Supply, will be showcased in front of an empty grandstand due to strict state-mandated COVID-19 restrictions.  It was made possible due to a tremendous outpouring of sponsorship support in honor of the living driving legend.

Saturday’s nights show will feature more than $32,000 in prize money, including a $5000 payday for the winner of the 30-lap headliner.  Each starter in the 24-car main will earn a minimum of $700.  This is the second night of a two-day HK Classic program at Ocean Speedway, featuring a regular racing program on Friday night (July 17th.)

This marks only the second race of the season for the NARC King of the West series, utilizing a schedule that has endured 13-cancellations so far due to the pandemic.  The Northern Auto Racing Club announced three-weeks ago that the traveling series will not crown a champion after 60-consecutive years of doing so.  The Howard Kaeding Classic could also be the 2020 “season finale” assuming California continues its lock down on spectator sports.

This race was made possible through donations of businesses and supporters directly tied to the racing community.  2018 series champion Bud Kaeding of Campbell has spearheaded the fund-raising efforts in honor of his legendary grandfather, a winner of more than 500 career main events.

“To be honest, I was surprised by the response we received from supporters of the event,” said Kaeding.  “I knew going into this project that it is was going to be tough to pull it off.  In years past, I just worked on contributing to the existing payout, but this year I knew that raising the full purse would be a tall feat. The support by the teams and sponsors has been incredible.”

The only drawback of the 10th Annual event is not providing race fans with the ability to attend in person.  The event will only be available on FloRacing/Speedshift TV PPV.  Racing teams will be required to wear masks and practice social distancing in the pit area.

“Not having race fans attend really takes away the atmosphere for me as a racer,” explains Kaeding, a 21-time winner on tour, including last year’s race.  “Not seeing fans after the races and not seeing a smiling kid after an autograph is something I hope ends soon.”

But the motivation to continue the event without an annual gap comes directly from the source – the 88-year old Howard Kaeding himself.

“He (Howard) is always on me about making flyers and getting the word out to the community in February and March,” said Bud.  “He usually puts ads in the local papers and goes to local restaurants and auto parts stores to hang flyers.  So, I guess you could say he looks forward to it, which drives me to succeed also.”

“As a driver, team owner, and promoter I can’t thank all of the supporters of this years event enough. I know this has been an off year for everyone and I am beyond thankful for everyone that has contributed.  Without their help this event wouldn’t be possible.”

All the top 410 sprint car drivers in California will be competing on the quarter-mile dirt oval.  Among them will be defending champion DJ Netto; Indiana’s Spencer Bayston, the winner of the June 20th show at Hanford; two-time series champ Tim Kaeding of San Jose; Elk Grove’s Shane Golobic; Willie Croft, Colby Copeland, Jodie Robinson and Sean Becker of Roseville; Clovis driver Sean Watts; Kyle Offill of Tracy; Hanford’s Mitchell Faccinto; San Diego’s AJ Bender; Chico’s Kenny Allen; and many more!

The NARC King of the West Fujitsu Racing Series will consist of qualifying, four 10-lap heat races, the 6-lap Sunnyvalley Bacon Dash, a 12-lap Last Chance semi, and the 30-lap main event.  Also on the racing card are IMCA Modifieds and Hobby Stocks.

Ocean Speedway is located at the Santa Cruz Fairgrounds in Watsonville, CA.  Qualifying gets underway at 6:00 p.m.

RACING TEAMS:  A signed COVID-19 release form must be signed at the pit gate.  Strict COVID-19 safety protocol must followed at all times.  This includes, but is not limited to, wearing a mask, social distancing, and proper sanitation (washing hands.)

Event Contributors (as of 7/13/20 – 4:00 p.m.) :  Al’s Roofing Supply, Swift Metal Finishing, Norm Martin, Roth Motorsports, Emadco, Southern Pacific Farms, Rico Abreu Racing, Kyle Larson Racing, Williams Roofing, Speedshift TV, Fujitsu General USA, Alviso Rock, FK Rod Ends, Netto Ag, North County Plastering, Anne Chisum, Beer Optics, Alan Cade, Golobic Construction, R&B Company.

Corvette Racing drivers Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor (No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R) along with Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner (No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R) met with members of the media during a teleconference to discuss the team’s recent victory at Daytona, development of the mid-engine Corvette C8.R and the outlook for this weekend’s Cadillac Grand Prix at Sebring. FULL TRANSCRIPT: ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.RTALK ABOUT THE SATISFACTION OF WINNING AT SEBRING FOR THE TEAM’S 100TH VICTORY.“It was definitely a good race for us. Knowing that it was the 100th win for Corvette Racing was very special. We had been waiting for a long time since the 99th victory. I wish there had been more victories with C7.R but getting this win with everything going on this year was a blessing for everyone. After five months of not having track activity, it meant a lot to the guys who had never stopped working on the development of the C8.R. We knew we had a better car right away (compared to the Rolex 24), but we had to prove it on the track. On the first very laps two weeks ago, I could really tell a big difference in the car from the Daytona 24 Hours.” WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN ABLE TO DO IN THE WEEK OR SO SINCE DAYTONA IN TERMS OF COMMUNICATION WITH THE TEAM, AND WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN ABLE TO TAKE FROM DAYTONA THAT YOU CAN USE FOR SEBRING?“Mainly what we could do was fill in with more details a report regarding the Daytona race. The engineers now have hard work analyzing all the data. That’s basically all we can do at this time. They came back to us with all they could see in their data to prepare us for the next race. For us, it’s not a ton of work to be done. It’s more work on the engineering side, and I think we have the best engineers and mechanics behind us. They probably went down to every single bolt on the car and I’m sure they rebuilt the whole car again. I’m sure we learned something from this past race on every aspect – speed and things that we can get fixed for the next race. This is still a very young car, and we are still on a learning curve.” IN THIS BREAK, OTHER THAN YOU BEING IN FLORIDA, IS THIS DIFFERENT FOR YOU? WOULD YOU HAVE GONE BACK TO SPAIN AND THEN COME BACK, OR IS THE PROCEDURE NOW THE SAME IN TERMS OF COMMUNICATION?“It would have been the same. We decided to stay here (near Clearwater, Fla.). We’ve been doing a really good job of staying away from everyone and doing our job. I’ve been living with Olly now for three weeks. All you can do is keep training and looking at all the data the engineers send you and thinking a lot about the next race because there isn’t a ton of things to do (outside of race prep).” WILL CONDITIONS BE A LOT DIFFERENT AT SEBRING THAN WHAT YOU WOULD HAVE FACED IN MARCH?“I don’t know if it will be that much different than it usually is at the Sebring 12 Hours. We probably found way different track conditions during the Daytona 24 race, because there it can get warm but usually it can get very cold during the night. At Sebring, we’ve had quite a few races where it was very, very hot anyway. During the last test we did in February, from what I remember it was not as warm as it is now, but it felt pretty close. But this is a different time of year and the sunset might be different, so that will be something we will experience in a different way. From what I remember, the sunset is usually at the worst point during the March race, so I hope it’s going down in another place other than when you are going into Turn Seven and Turn 17. Other than that, we need to follow the conditions and wait to see what the track temperature will be. Sebring is one of the tracks where we test the most and those are always in different conditions. We need to find out the tire allocation and compounds we have. We need to test those early and see what the best combination. From that point we’ll use all the data we have to get the best car for the race.”  BEING STUCK IN FLORIDA, ARE YOU EXPECTING TO BE THERE INDEFINITELY? DO YOU SEE ANY POINT IN THE SEASON WHERE YOU’LL BE ABLE TO GO BACK HOME TO SPAIN?“The plan is to stay until after Road America. After that we have two off weekends, and as far as I know we will fly back right after that race. There will be a three-week break then almost, and so far it seems like things look better at home than in the U.S. at the moment. I don’t see why there would be an issue for us to go back, but we will all discuss that and see how things develop. We are still almost a month away from that, so we need to wait and see how everything goes. I do have a ticket to fly back so that’s the plan, but everything can change.” DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY DAYS OF TESTING YOU’VE AT SEBRING IN THE C8.R?“I don’t. We did a couple of tests – the one in February and another where we ran at night. It was just those two. It’s been quite awhile since the very first one there. The car changes so much so even if there was a test a year or year-and-a-half from now, it would be way different than at this time. Luckily enough one of the last tests we did was at Sebring so hopefully the car will be almost as it was then. That will be a plus for us. It will be different for the next few races onward since we will have to rediscover the car on all the new tracks that we will be at.”TALK ABOUT HOW YOU EXPECT THE CORVETTE TO DO AROUND WATKINS GLEN.“I think it’s going to be a great car around there. The C7.R was really good around Watkins Glen, and we had a lot of success there. This car, though, will be very, very fun to drive around there. When that time comes, we’ll be a few races into the season and will have raced at Sebring, Road America and VIR. So our car will be a little more developed and everything should be better for The Glen. I’m looking forward to that track for sure. Probably the next four races are probably my favorite tracks.” JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.RIS IT A RELIEF TO GET THE FIRST WIN FOR THE C8.R AND YOUR FIRST WIN AS FULL-TIME DRIVER ALREADY?“It’s great to get that first win early on. The team is always expecting to win, although going into the Rolex it was a big unknown with a brand new car in the Corvette C8.R. Once we got to the halfway point, I think we all thought we could have won that race with how strong we were out of the box. Going back to Daytona with everything we learned through January and during the COVID period, going to the simulators and the engineers working as hard as they did, we knew we were going to have a good shot of winning at Daytona. So for me personally, it’s great to get my first win for the team since 2015 (24 Hours of Le Mans), my first with Antonio and obviously the first for the C8.R and 100th for the team. It’s a lot of milestones but I’m glad we could do it after this huge break to show that everyone’s hard work paid off.”  YOU’LL BE RACING CLOSE TO HOME THIS WEEKEND. WHAT ARE YOU EXPECTING?“It definitely will be different going to Sebring for a sprint race as opposed to the 12 Hour. For me, I haven’t raced at Sebring in a GT car since 2013, so I’ll have to get used to the points on the track where I’ll need to look in the mirror again and get used to that. The closing speeds of the prototypes in the high-speed corners will be something to get used to. Like Antonio said, we’ve been to Sebring through testing when it’s been warm. When we tested there ahead of the 12 Hours, it was pretty hot and I was personally very shocked at how good the car behaved in those hot conditions. Sebring is very temperature sensitive. Usually when you start the race late in the morning and get into the early afternoon when it’s really warm, you can struggle for pace and balance. All throughout our testing in those two days we did, the car was very well-balanced. It bodes well for us that we were able to get that test in before the COVID shutdown and were able to take the data that we learned there to the simulator for a couple days to get a head start on the weekend.” ANTONIO MENTIONED THE CAR WAS A LOT BETTER AT DAYTONA THE SECOND TIME AROUND. DID YOU MAKE THOSE CHANGES FOR THE TEST AT SEBRING?“It’s been awhile and I can’t remember exactly what has changed. The car was developed before I was in the picture, and they did a couple of days at Sebring before I was on the team, and then earlier this year we did the two days. A lot of the correlation work that’s been done on the simulator has expedited that development process. I saw in November with how well the simulator and the correlation works. You can do a change in the simulator and then do it at the racetrack… I did it months apart where I drove in the sim and then in the racecar and gave some feedback on a change. When I gave that feedback in real life, it lined up perfectly. Those changes that we are able to make during these times when we weren’t allowed to do track testing, we can rely on those a little bit better and that showed at Daytona. We couldn’t do much track testing before that event, but we were able to put a lot of things on the car that we learned at the simulator, and it proved to work there. I think the same thing could be the case at Sebring.” YOU OFFERED UP YOUR SERVICES FOR THE NASCAR RACEWEEK AT DAYTONA IN AUGUST. DID YOU GET ANY OFFERS OR IS THERE ANYTHING ON THE TABLE?“Kind of. I got an ARCA offer and I don’t know if you’d call it an offer in a Cup car… the conversation was a little bit confusing. I’ve always wanted to do a NASCAR road course race. I’m a big fan of that style of racing in that type of car. I’d love to try it. Daytona is a home track for me, and I’d be right around the corner. Obviously, I have a lot of laps around there. I’m not sure how the weekend will work. Seeing what they’ve done these past few races where they have no practices and go straight into the race, a guy with a little bit of track experience could have maybe a small advantage at the beginning even though I’m sure a lot of those guys probably have done a lot of simulator work as well. It obviously would be a big learning curve to jump into one of those cars and figure it out at the same time. I’d definitely love to try it if there is an opportunity, hopefully in a Chevrolet vehicle.” WHEN YOU SAY CONFUSING, DOES THAT MEAN YOU’RE NOT SURE IF THEY WANT TO PUT YOU IN A CAR, DO THEY WANT YOU TO CONSULT?“It was like, ‘Hey do you want do this?’ And yeah I’d love to do this, but am I just coming to drive? And then they’re like, ‘We need to figure out if we can raise the money for it.’ That’s always kind of the case for those teams that offer those sorts of situations. It’s tough. You don’t want to be labeled as a guy who is going to bring money to a ride. If you get labeled as that, you’re going to get stuck in that position. I don’t want to get in a car to be battling for 35th to 40th, but if it gets my face in the NASCAR scene for a road course event, that’s not a bad thing either.” YOU GOT PRETTY CLOSE LAST YEAR WITH AN XFINITY RACE, RIGHT?“Yeah, I thought I was doing Mid-Ohio and Watkins Glen last year. It was pretty much a done deal, but it fell through at the last minute. I was getting ready to go off to see the team and meet everyone. I was really excited about that. I’d love another opportunity to come around. Daytona being right here is even better than a Mid-Ohio or Road America for that matter.” YOU TALKED ABOUT THE C8.R BEING BETTER THE SECOND TIME AROUND AT DAYTONA. WERE THERE ANY PLACES THAT STICK OUT WHERE YOU WERE NOTICIBLY BETTER THAN YOUR COMPETITORS?“It’s hard to say. I didn’t really get into much battling as Antonio did in the race. My stint was kind of weird with the damp start on slicks and then it going dry. From a drivability point of view, the guys did a lot of work with the engine calibration and the drivability of the engine. There were a lot of little things that we were complaining about during the Rolex weekend that were really fine-tuned for when we came back, whether it was traction control or throttle mapping. Things like that make a driver a little bit happier. Balance-wise, there were some small improvements overall. Daytona mostly has slow-speed corners, so in all the horseshoes the car felt better rotation-wise without losing traction. So the overall package was improved.” YOU TALKED ABOUT BEFORE DAYTONA WAS GETTING USED TO BEING BACK IN A GT CAR, BUT SEBRING WILL BE COMPLETLEY DIFFERENT WHEN IT COMES TO DEALING WITH PROTOYPE TRAFFIC. WHAT DID YOU TAKE FROM DAYTONA TO HELP AT SEBRING?“Thankfully when we went back to Daytona I was a little more prepared, but on the Rolex weekend I got a really big scare from one of the Mazdas in the Dogleg. In a prototype, you don’t realize the closing speeds. When you forget to look at the mirror before the Dogleg and they come flying by you at the exit, it’ll definitely wake you up. Looking at Sebring where we have a lot more of those high-speed corners like Turn One, Turn 17 and the back half of the track, I’ll have to get used to looking in the mirror in certain spots again. At Daytona, you can look at it in certain spots and know if you can relax or not. I’ll have to learn those same little habits and tendencies throughout Sebring.” TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.RHOW QUICKLY HAS THE CORVETTE C8.R DEVELOPED INTO A FRONT-RUNNING GTLM CAR?“First and foremost, it was good to be back racing again and be back at the racetrack. It was good for us, the crew and engineers to get back going again. Obviously, it was a great result for the team with a pole for Olly and a win for the No. 3 in the end. The car showed great pace throughout practice and in the race. We can be proud of the effort the guys put on in the five-month break after the Rolex 24 where we were quick for sure but maybe didn’t quite have the pace of the other cars. Daytona earlier this month was a great result for the team. For us in the No. 4 car, we were a little unlucky with the strategy. The pace was good. I’m excited to keep racing and going to Sebring this coming week to see how the car does there.” HOW MUCH DO YOU THINK THE EXPERIENCE OF TESTING AT SEBRING ALREADY WILL PLAY INTO THIS WEEKEND?“With the C8.R being a new car, some of these racetracks we won’t have tested at in person. Fortunately, Sebring is one of the places we have tested so that should be to our strength a little bit. We’ve done some simulator testing at Sebring as well, so having that experience and in real life should shorten any learning curve we might have. We still have some areas we’d like to improve obviously. The car was pretty good at Daytona. The team has such a long history at Sebring that there’s a lot we can pull from with past experiences and the testing we have done with this car to start the weekend off strong and hopefully improve a little bit as we did at Daytona to give us another great chance at the race.” IS THERE ANY DIFFERENCE IN SETUP AND PREPARATION FOR A SPRINT RACE AT SEBRING COMPARED TO HOW IT WAS INITIALLY PREPPED FOR THE 12 HOURS?“I don’t think fundamentally it’s a huge change. For prep of the car, the biggest difference is probably brake compounds. But otherwise, the engine, gearbox and suspension… we don’t have an endurance spec of those pieces. The car fundamentally, as far as I’m aware, is the same for sprint races and endurance races. The biggest difference is the brake package. The idea, of course, for Sebring would be not to have to make a brake change for the 12 Hours. With the sprint race coming up, the brake compound will be the only major difference we would have seen from the 12 Hours to this race.” HOW MUCH EFFORT HAS BEEN PUT INTO THE CORRELATION BETWEEN THE SIMULATOR AND THE REAL CAR? WOULD THAT HAVE BEEN SOMETHING YOU WANTED TO WORK IN EVEN WITHOUT THE COVID SITUATION?“Before there even was a C8.R racecar… we were already driving iterations of what the race car is now in our simulator that Chevy has in Charlotte. It has been a huge part of this car’s development process and will continue to be. It’s something the team is constantly improving. Even with C7.R, after race events oftentimes we would correlate changes we would make at the track and go back through and run through those changes on the simulator to see if everything correlates as we expected. It allowed the engineering team to improve both the chassis and tire models. The simulator continues to be a big part of making the most use of the track time we get. It helps accelerate the development process of taking something that is brand new like the C8.R and accelerating the process to get it race-ready in a shorter amount of time. During the COVID situation, we weren’t allowed to test on the simulator for a number of months. But before we got back to the racetrack, we had the chance to get back in the simulator. It was good for us as drivers and the engineers to have those tests where we are able to get back in the car and get things back going again.” THE 12 HOURS GOES FROM MORNING AND FINISHES WELL INTO DARKNESS SO YOU GO THROUGH THIS WIDE TEMPERATURE PATTERN. THIS WILL OBVIOUSLY BE MUCH DIFFERENT. DOES THAT ALSO NARROW DOWN THE SETUP THAT YOU’RE ABLE TO PUT IN THE CAR BECAUSE YOU DON’T HAVE TO COMPROMISE OVER A SHORTER PERIOD?“I think in 2016 we were expecting some heavy rain at some point, and some teams gambled with more of a wet setup and others went with a dry setup. The only thing that our simulator can’t do yet is simulate rain conditions, so that’s a situation where we don’t have a ton of time in this C8.R. We are eager to drive it more in the wet to get that experience. Hopefully if rain is to come for the race, we get some of those conditions in practice to learn as much as we can. We’ve seen in the past with C7.R that there is a setup that is ideal for wet conditions, but oftentimes if the balance is good in the dry then it’s good in the wet as well.” WITH TEMPERATURE EXTREMES, WE’VE BEEN DOWN THERE WITH A 20-DEGREE DELTA FROM START TO FINISH. YOU’D THINK THE DELTA WILL BE SMALLER IN THIS RACE WINDOW. DOES THAT ALLOW YOU FOCUS ON A PINPOINT SETUP?“Sebring, in its normal time slot in March, can be super-hot in the daytime and chilly at night. With that, we’d often see ourselves running two or three tire compounds throughout the race. That isn’t going to be factor for this race. Each compound doesn’t typically have a huge balance change from one to the other. But if we are expecting a certain temperature range and it falls in line with only using one compound, then we can hone the setup in on that. For sure that’s another aspect of this sprint race and running it at this time of the year that is different from the 12 Hours and what we are used to.” OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.RWAS THERE SATISFACTION WITH THE TEAM RESULTS FROM DAYTONA, AND HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE FUTURE OF THIS PROGRAM AS IT GOES FORWARD?“It was great to get pole position at Daytona. I really enjoyed that lap. The car really did come together in qualifying, and it was a huge amount of fun to drive. I think everyone who has driven the C8.R would say that the feedback and enjoyment you get when it gets hooked up and starts to roll is fantastic. It was great to see that we could get a clean sweep on the front row in qualifying, and it was great to see the No. 3 get the victory. Our strategy didn’t play out that day, but that’s the way it is. We’re two cars from one team that is striving to get race wins and ultimately a championship. It’s very exciting to get the racing started back and get going. It’ll be great to go to Sebring where we have tested and had success there. We understand the bumps and how the Florida weather can work. I seem to remember Tommy giving us a fantastic victory there in 2016 and dealing with tricky conditions. This time of year, it can really throw up anything. It definitely will be warm, so we’ll be ready for that.” WITH A FRONT-ENGINE CAR, YOU GET A LOT OF HEATSOAK THROUGH THE PEDALS IN REGARD TO COCKPIT TEMPERATURE. DO YOU NOTICE A DIFFERENCE WITH THE NEW LAYOUT?“It is different. The team has been working very hard on what makes the cabin hot and where we need to do some work. Daytona was another datapoint for that. We’ve gone away and studied that, and Sebring will be another good test. We do have a good A/C system in the car, and Corvette Racing have invested a lot in that. When you get in the car, you hear all the fans running and feel a lot of air moving in the cabin, which is good. Ultimately the truth and the reality of it is will it work well in the race. At Daytona, I don’t’ think we got a full test because it wasn’t that hot in the race; it was sort of overcast and we had some rain that cooled things off. If we have a real scorching Saturday at Sebring, I think that’ll give it a real thorough test. Everyone feels it is a good system. We don’t have any real issues with temperature of the pedals so that’s a nice thing. We have a good system that blows air through the back of the seat, so that’s another thing that’s working well. We have Stand21 suits that we’ve been running for years and are working with those guys. Fingers crossed for Sebring. Our cooling system is a solid piece and something we’ll be able to rely on.” WERE THE REVISED TRACK SCHEDULE AND COVID PROTOCOLS A BIG ADJUSTMENT?“It was a little bit of an adjustment, but IMSA did a great job. It was fantastic to see how structured they were and how we got into the track. Everything went very smoothly and very well. You have to say that IMSA and Daytona did a fantastic job in managing everyone coming in. The fans that were there were kept in their own area, and it was very good in terms of distancing. I expect it to be very similar for Sebring. I’m comfortable with it and what we’ve done IMSA has done a great job getting us back racing.” HOW MANY MILES HAVE YOU PUT ON YOUR BIKE IN THE U.S. SO FAR?“I haven’t really counted miles, but I think it’s somewhere close to maybe 1,000 miles. I cooked myself yesterday and got ridiculously hot! I felt better today so it’s all good preparation for Sebring!”

Racers Edge Acura NSX GT3 Evo moves to third in season standings after four rounds
Trent Hindman and Shelby Blackstock topped qualifying for both weekend races

ALTON, Va (July 12, 2020) – The Racers Edge Motorsports duo of Martin Barkey and Kyle Marcelli, the 2019 SRO Motorsports GT World Challenge Pro/Am champions, had four months to think about a tough opening weekend at the Circuit of the Americas in March prior to this weekend’s resumption of racing at Virginia International Raceway.

The time off worked in the team’s favor as the #80 Acura NSX GT3 Evo returned to the sharp end of the grid as Barkey and Marcelli combined for a win and a second-place finish in Rounds 3 and 4 of the 2020 GT campaign this weekend in Virginia.

Meanwhile, the Silver Class pairing of Trent Hindman and Shelby Blackstock continued their strong 2020 season. After a start in March that saw the pair put their #93 Acura NSX GT3 Evo in Victory Lane in each of the first two opening rounds, Hindman and Blackstock added a P2 podium in Saturday’s VIR opening race of a doubleheader GT weekend.

Blackstock started the #93 NSX GT3 Evo from pole Saturday, and ran out to a lead of more than six seconds after 20 laps, while Barkey’s #80 machine was fighting its way into the top three after starting sixth. The team’s strategy of waiting longer than the rest of the field to make its driver change was paying dividends until a Lap 21 caution flag not only erased the advantage, but dropped the team behind those that had already made their driver swaps.

Marcelli, who had taken over from Barkey, restarted second and made quick work of the lead car, taking a lead he would not relinquish. Trent Hindman needed just three trips around the 17-turn 3.27-mile course to move into second, where he would finish 18 laps later.

Sunday’s race followed suit for the #93 NSX as Hindman opened up an early lead, after starting from the pole position for the second consecutive day, only to see it negated by a Pit Lane speed violation during the team’s driver change.

The resulting penalty promoted put Barkey into P2 amid a three-way tussle for the position.

A caution flew on Lap 42, setting up a seven-lap sprint to the checkered flag. Barkey restarted second and hounded the lead car all the way to the flag, finishing second by just .226 seconds. Hindman and Blackstock suffered a mechanical setback in the latter stages of the race and finished seventh overall, but had some consolation in running the race’s fastest lap.

The wins this weekend are the third in four GT World Challenge races for the Acura NSX GT3 Evo, which won team championships in both IMSA GTD and the SRO GT World Challenge series in 2019. The car, sold and supported by HPD in North America, runs in both Sprint and Endurance racing competition around the world.

Next
The GT World Challenge Series will traverse the country after running in Virginia, as the series’ next competition will take place at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway August 7 – 9 where Rounds 5 and 6 will be contested.

Acura Motorsports social media content and video links from Virginia International Raceway are available on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/HondaRacingHPD) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/HondaRacing_HPD).  Produced by the CoForce Digital Media, the YouTube videos can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/HondaRacingHPDTV.  

Quotes
Martin Barkey (#80 Racers Edge Motorsports Acura NSX GT3 Evo) finished first overall Saturday, second Sunday: “We had better pace at COTA [prior race] than the results there really showed This is a great turnaround for us here. I have to tip my hat to the Racers Edge crew and of course the Acura. It’s such a great car to drive.”

Shelby Blackstock (#93 Acura Accelerated Service NSX GT3 Evo) finished second overall Saturday, seventh Sunday: “We had really good pace here, and it showed in qualifying P1 and in our race lap times. Unfortunately, the results didn’t reflect that, but happy that we showed that we can run with anyone in the class. Eager to get to Sonoma and challenge for the podium there. Thanks to the Racers Edge team and HPD for all the hard work this weekend!”

FORD PERFORMANCE SWEEPS KENTUCKY SPARTA, KY – July 13, 2020 – Ford Performance and Roush Yates Engines sweep Kentucky with Cole Custer winning his first NASCAR Cup Series race as a rookie and Austin Cindric capturing back-to-back wins on Thursday and Friday in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

“Congratulations to Cole and Austin on their wins,” said Doug Yates, President and CEO of Roush Yates Engines. “The Ford Mustangs ran strong at Kentucky and to see Cole win his first Cup race as a rookie and Austin win his first two races of the year is special. Ford Performance and our Ford Performance race teams have been working really hard to deliver fast race cars to the track every week and to see the guys in Victory Lane is a testament to everyone’s dedication and teamwork.”

On a late race restart with two laps to go, in Sunday’s Quaker State 400, Stewart-Haas Racing driver, Custer in the No. 41 Ford Mustang started from the third row. With a strong push from Ford teammate, Matt DiBenedetto, during the restart he was able to make a monster move from the outside on the white flag lap to take it four wide and pass the race leader and veteran drivers Martin Truex Jr, Kevin Harvick and Ryan Blaney for the lead. Custer took the checkered flag .271 seconds ahead of second place driver Truex, punching his ticket to the All-Star race on Wednesday night and into the Playoffs.

“I knew I just had to get to the top,” said Custer. “The top rolled pretty good and once I got past and I was like in third I was like I’ve just got to take a shot and do whatever I can here. And it ended up the 4 and the 19 got together a little bit and I was able to take advantage of it. It was just an unbelievable car and I was able to take advantage of it. I just can’t thank all my guys and everybody at SHR enough, and everybody at Roush Yates Engines – just an absolutely amazing car.”

Six Fords finished in the top-10, led by Custer, DiBenedetto P3, Harvick P4, Blaney P6, Stage 1 winner and leader of 128-laps Aric Almirola P8 and Stage 2 winner Brad Keselowski P9.

Ford leads all manufacturers with 10 race wins while Stewart-Haas and Kevin Harvick lead the owner and driver points standings.

In the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Austin Cindric battled hard against Ford Performance teammate Chase Briscoe to bring home his first two wins of the 2020 season for Team Penske. This marked three NXS wins in a row at Kentucky for Ford Performance and 4th consecutive win in 2020.   Thursday night, Cindric took the lead with 40 laps to go and it appeared he would take the checkered flag, but late race cautions set the stage for a thrilling over-time finish as he battled with Ford Performance teammate Briscoe.

The two Ford Mustangs lined up side-by-side on the front row for a green-white-checkered finish. Cindric took the outside lane and Briscoe the inside. Briscoe was able to get a slight jump on Cindric at the restart, but the No. 22 would not be denied and got a huge run off the corner to rocket right by the No. 98 to take the lead and the checkered flag in Kentucky. Briscoe finished P4.

“I don’t care what shape the track is, if it’s dirt, oval, I don’t care I’m just so happy this Snap-On Ford Mustang is in Victory Lane,” said Cindric. “We’ve come so close all year. These guys have given me so many awesome race-winning cars. This is awesome. All the credit to my guys for getting me here.”

In a double-header at Kentucky Speedway the Xfinity series returned Friday night, where the No. 22 Ford Mustang dominated the Alsco 300. Cindric led a career high 130 laps out of the 200-lap race and took the checkered flag 2.262 seconds ahead of No. 98 Briscoe, making it a 1-2 finish for Ford Performance.   “I’m just so excited. This is all a credit to my team,” commented Cindric. “I’m the lucky one that gets to drive this Snap-On Ford Mustang. Thank you to everyone – Ford Performance. A one-two between me and Chase. That was a lot of fun.”

Briscoe and Stewart-Haas Racing continue to lead the driver and owner points standings and with back-to-back wins Ford leads manufacturers with seven wins and a 10-point lead. Cindric and Team Penske are in a strong third place position.

The NASCAR Cup Series heads into All-Star week with the All-Star Open and All-Star Race being held in Bristol, TN on Wednesday, July 15th. Reference the full 2020 schedule on Roushyates.com.  27 CHAMPIONSHIPS – 396 WINS – 357 POLES!  *Photos courtesy of NASCAR Media & Getty Images

About Roush Yates Engines   Roush Yates Engines is a leading-edge engine development company based in Mooresville, NC consisting of two state-of-the-art facilities – Roush Yates Engines and Roush Yates Manufacturing Solutions, a world class ISO 9001 / AS9100 certified CNC manufacturing facility. The company’s core business includes designing, building and testing purpose-built race engines.   Ford Performance in partnership with Roush Yates Engines is the exclusive engine builder of the NASCAR FR9 Ford V8 engine and Ford Mustang 5.2L V8 engine, used in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge series.   With an unparalleled culture of winning and steeped in rich racing history, Roush Yates Engines continues to follow the company’s vision to lead performance engine innovation and staying true to the company’s mission, provide race winning engines through demonstrated power and performance.   3 Series – 22 Teams – 81 Races

13th   19th  16th

“We had a lot of fun today in the RigUp Chevrolet. Justin Alexander and the entire No. 3 team did a heck of a job all day, and I think if we wouldn’t have had damage to our car we would have been right up there in the mix at the end of the race. We were able to earn some Stage points again this weekend, so that was good. Green-flag pit stops were cycling through at the end of Stage 2, and we were just about to enter pit road when the caution flag was displayed. I quickly got back onto the track to avoid pit road and ended up spinning in front of the field. I was waiting for the big one on the right-side door but thankfully everyone avoided me. After that, though, we had a really tight-handling Chevrolet. I was just so tight, which made it difficult on the last couple of restarts. Still, 13th isn’t bad considering the damage we had.” -Austin Dillon

Tyler Reddick and the Caterpillar Team Forge Forward into a Top-10 Finish at Kentucky Speedway

10th     24th    17th

“Races like today are ones we need to get ourselves into a Playoff spot in the next few weeks. We really had to fight for our top-10 finish today at Kentucky Speedway. Our No. 8 Caterpillar Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE was tight for most of the day but freed up almost too much in the final few laps. My team kept after it all day, and we were able to get up into the top 12 during Stage 2 after some pretty big swings on the adjustments. We got shuffled back in the field during the stage break between Stages 2 and 3 when we hit pit road thinking more cars behind us would follow. Unfortunately, they didn’t so we had to fight up through the field one more time, while also being smart and not getting in any situations that would end our day early. We were able to do that today and grab a top-10 finish with a car we struggled with, so that’s a positive. I know spots in the Playoffs are starting to dwindle down, so we’re going to have to keep picking it up. Top-10 finishes are going to help us, but we’re in a very volatile spot in the standings where things like today could happen and drivers behind us in points could win and lock in a spot. We’ll stay aggressive and not let points get away from us as we get down to the final races of the regular season.”-Tyler Reddick

July 12, 2020

Matt DiBenedetto used what he described as some monstrous restarts to drive his No. 21 Menards/Quaker State Ford Mustang from 20^th place with 13 laps remaining to 3^rd at the finish of Sunday’s Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway.

His finish, combined with the nine stage points earned earlier in the race, keeps him 12th in the Cup Series standings and continues a recent string of strong performances by the driver, crew chief and pit crew.

DiBenedetto spent much of Sunday’s race at Kentucky running among the leaders after starting 10^th. He ran as high as 3^rd in the first stage before ending that 80-lap run in fourth place, earning seven stage points. 

He continued to run in the top 10 for much of the second stage before a caution period during a round of pit stops with six laps remaining in the stage allowed some drivers who took only two tires or none to pass him. But he rallied to finish ninth and earn two more stage points.

In the final segment of the race he again ran among the leaders until another untimely caution flag flew, occurring just after he’d brought the Menards/Quaker State Mustang to pit road and left him a lap down.

He took the wave-around to rejoin the lead lap but found himself mired in traffic just inside the top 20.

The late-race heroics from DiBenedetto and his spotter Doug Campbell allowed him to drive the Menards/Quaker State Mustang into the top 10 with just 10 laps left to run. He continued to advance until the race’s final caution flag put him in eighth place for a two-lap sprint to the finish.

When the green flag flew, DiBenedetto gave sixth-starting Cole Custer a mighty shove, which put Custer in position to challenge for the win while DiBenedetto followed through to take third place, his second top-three finish of the season, the first being a second-place at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the second race of the season.

“We had a really good car,” DiBenedetto said. “I mean, we could have contended for the win.”  
 
“It was really fast, but lost track position when things shuffled around and we had to do the wave around.  Me and my spotter – I’ve got to give him a lot of credit, Doug Campbell. I told him we should win some sort of restart award – had two monstrous restarts and then pushed Cole to the win there, which kind of felt cool.” 

“Good for him. Congrats, but this is a big race for us having the Menards/Quaker State Ford Mustang in the Quaker State 400, so I wish we could have won it, but circumstances didn’t work out. We’ll take a strong finish and a really fast car.”
 
Next up for DiBenedetto and the Menards team is the NASCAR All-Star Race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Wednesday night, where DiBenedetto will have to race his way into the main event through the preliminary Open.

INDIANAPOLIS, IN (July 12, 2020) — The NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series returned to the track this weekend beginning back-to-back races at Lucas Oil Raceway. Today during the E3 Spark Plugs NHRA Nationals the TopCoat™ Dodge driven by Alan Prusiensky, the No. 16 qualifier, made a strong showing against eventual race winner Jason Line. With just one day of qualifying Prusiensky and the blue and black Dodge Dart branded with the TopCoat™ and F11 logos survived a field of over twenty Pro Stock cars to earn the right to race today.

“We really had to pull together on Saturday,” said Prusiensky. “When you only get two runs to try and qualify that puts a lot of pressure on the team. Luckily, this Top Coat Dodge Pro Stock group came through and we got to race.”

On Saturday there were two qualifying sessions on a hot track after an over four month lay-off. It was a tough task for all the teams and Prusiensky made the most of his first run a solid 6.700 second pass which at the time was quick enough to slot him No. 13. In the second session a number of drivers improved but the New Jersey based driver was able to hold them off and run for the Wally on Sunday.

“I couldn’t be out here without the support of TopCoat™ and F11,” said Prusiensky. “Saturday was a lot of stress. We made a good run in the first session and were No. 13. I was hoping to improve in the last run and we got bumped back a little in the qualifying standings but we were still in the show.”

During eliminations with dramatically different conditions Prusiensky pulled up against No. 1 qualifier Jason Line. The Dodge Dart driver knew he had to get every advantage to secure a round win. As the tree fired up the Top Coat Dodge leapt off the starting line first and as the Pro Stock cars approached half-track Line began to move around Prusiensky. As both cars crossed the finish line stripe it was the Summit Chevrolet getting the win light over the Top Coat Dodge with a time of 6.615 seconds versus 7.062 seconds. 

“We were fired up to make the field because the race would be on the FOX national broadcast and that would be great exposure for our sponsor TopCoat™ with F11,” said Prusiensky at the end of qualifying.  “We got one of the toughest racers out here in Jason Line and we tried to give him everything we had. I was glad I had a good reaction time but I would have traded that for a win light for sure. We are going to have some time before the next race and I know we will come back stronger. I have to thank all my crew guys and my wife, Christine, for supporting this team. We come out here every race and give it our all.”

Prusiensky and the rest of his Pro Stock competitors are celebrating the 50^th anniversary season of Pro Stock this season. Throughout the year the NHRA will be celebrating one of the most competitive classes in NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series history.

“I always liked watching Pro Stock back in the day. It is cool to be our here with TopCoat™ racing in the 50^th year of the category. I am really concentrating on my own program and giving this team everything I can,” added Prusiensky.

Next up for the TopCoat™ Dodge Dart Pro Stock team will be the Menards NHRA Heartland Nationals, August 21-23.     

NASCAR CUP SERIESKENTUCKY SPEEDWAYQUAKER STATE 400PRESENTED BY WALMARTTEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES AND QUOTESJULY 12, 2020 
 TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:POS.   DRIVER5th      KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 MONSTER ENERGY CAMARO ZL1 1LE10th    TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 CATERPILLAR CAMARO ZL1 1LE 11th    WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 1LE13th    AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 RIGUP CAMARO ZL1 1LE16th    TY DILLON, NO. 13 GEICO CAMARO ZL1 1LE
TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS: POS.  DRIVER1st      Cole Custer (Ford)2nd     Martin Truex Jr. (Toyota)3rd      Matt DiBenedetto (Ford)4th      Kevin Harvick (Ford)5th      Kurt Busch (Chevrolet) The NASCAR Cup Series season continues at Bristol Motor Speedway with the NASCAR All-Star Race on Wednesday, July 15th at 8:30 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
TEAM CHEVY NOTES AND QUOTES:KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 MONSTER ENERGY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 5th“We ran strong, we raced tough. We weren’t quite able to rekindle last year’s success, but a top-five is solid. Thanks to Monster, Chevrolet and the everyone on this No. 1 team. Looking forward to seeing everyone Wednesday night in Bristol go the All- Star Race!” TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 CATERPILLAR CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 10th“Races like today are ones we need to get ourselves into a Playoff spot in the next few weeks. We really had to fight for our top-10 finish today at Kentucky Speedway. Our No. 8 Caterpillar Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE was really tight for most of the day, but freed up almost too much in the final few laps. My team kept after it all day, and we were able to get up into the top 12 during Stage 2 after some pretty big swings on a couple adjustments. We got shuffled back in the field during the stage break between Stages 2 and 3 when we hit pit road thinking more cars behind us would follow. Unfortunately, they didn’t so we had to fight up through the field one more time, while also being smart and not getting in any situations that would end our day early. We were able to do that today and grab a top-10 finish with a car we struggled with, so that’s a positive. I know spots in the Playoffs are starting to dwindle down, so we’re going to have keep picking it up. Top-10 finishes are going to help us, but we’re in a very volatile spot in the standings where things like today could happen and drivers behind us in points could win and lock in a spot. We’ll stay aggressive and not let points get away from us as we get down to the final races of the regular season.”
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 RIGUP CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 13th“Well, I feel really stupid after spinning out trying to avoid the orange box. I did make it – it gave us some big, important track position, but it killed the splitter in the process. It kind of separated hitting the wrong way, so we were just super tight there at the end. We were able to make some of probably the best restarts of my career. Eleventh to fifth on that one and just holding on hoping it would go green to the end running ninth. Had that last restart – had another good one, but it kind of got choked up on the bottom that time. Everybody kind of bogged down and couldn’t continue the momentum. And then us being tight, we were just kind of sitting ducks.”
“P-13. Proud of the guys. We had a really fast race car today, just wish I wouldn’t have overreacted there. The apron just kind of shot me towards the wall. Luckily, we didn’t get t-boned. But solid day for all of that. Man, I think we could have in a position to possibly win if we would have maintained that track position that we got on that second-to-last restart. But all-in-all, I have to thank RigUp, everybody that helps this No. 3 RCR team. Solid day – we’ve got some good stuff ahead of us. I’m looking forward to Texas. We’ve got the Open this week. We’ll do what we can do to get in there. We’ll work hard!”
TY DILLON, NO. 13 GEICO CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 16th“Solid 16th-place finish today at Kentucky. That’s two top-16s in a row, which is awesome. I’m so proud of our GEICO Racing team and we are going to keep digging and building on these consistent finishes. We are learning a lot and definitely getting better. Our team is going to go after it this second half of the season.”  ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 CINCINNATI CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 19th“That is just one of those things. We had a great car today. A big thank you to everyone on this Cincinnati team and everyone at Hendrick Motorsports for putting this car together. We battled some tight conditions there at the end, but overall, we had a decent day. I hate it that we didn’t get Cincinnati the finish they deserve, but we will come back strong this week with two races.”
MATT KENSETH, NO. 42 CLOVER CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 25th“A tough day again for us after a couple of good weeks. The Clover Chevy was pretty fast, and we were able to work our way up into the teens after starting in the back. The conditions today were really tough; probably the toughest I’ve raced under, and passing was pretty difficult with the track conditions and rules package. But, we were making our way towards the top-10 when a miscue in the pits resulted in a broken valve stem that caused the left rear to go down and put us a lap down. We finally got the lap back towards the end of the race and I took a ride through the infield off of turn 4 trying to get all I could get. So, a disappointing day, but I’m really encouraged by the speed we had in our Camaro, which was probably the best mile and half car I’ve raced. Just need to have mistake free days to be able to take advantage of fast cars.”