CHEVY RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIESGMR GRAND PRIXROAD COURSE AT INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAYINDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA TEAM CHEVY NTT P1 POLE AWARD WINNER QUOTEJULY 3, 2020WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – POLE WINNERFOR THE 12^TH CONSECUTIVE SEASON, YOU HAVE SCORED AT LEAST ONE POLE. YOU STEP A LITTLE CLOSER TO HISTORY. YOU’RE JUST NINE AWAY FROM MARIO ANDRETTI FOR ALL-RIME LEADER IN POLES IN THE INDYCAR SERIES. WHEN YOU FINISHED THAT LAP, YOU LET OUT A BIG SIGH, LIKE I DON’T HAVE ANYTHING ELSE. DID YOU LEAVE ANYTHING ON THE TABLE IN THAT LAP?“No, nothing on the table in that lap. I knew that (Jack) Harvey had a pretty good time up there, so we put our best set on for the last run and I just gave it my all. Fortunately, it was enough. But man, the heat. I just want to jump into an ice bath right now, I’m so bloody hot!” AFTER THE LAP YOU SAID ALL WE NEED TO DO IS CONCENTRATE ON THE THINGS WE’RE GOOD AT. WHAT’S THAT?“That’s the lesson from Texas. We don’t need to be trying to get out first. If you’re thinking of that, you’re going to make a mistake, or I don’t need to be thinking about winning. You just need to be thinking about what you’re really good at, which is for me, driving; and for the crew the stops that they’ve done thousands of. We’ve all had a chat and we all understand that. That’s how we’re going to win a championship.” YOU ARE UNDEFEATED WHEN YOU START ON THE POLE HERE. HOW IMPORTANT IS THAT GOING INTO TURN 1 TOMORROW AFTERNOON?“Yeah, it’s a long stretch. You’ve got to get a good jump, but they’re going to be on you anyway, even if you get a good jump. So, just be smart and get through that first corner. I think being on the pole is definitely a good spot. You’re probably going to be out of a bit of harm’s way, but there are obviously a lot of hungry guys behind you trying to gain some positions.”

NASCAR CUP SERIESBIG MACHINE HAND SANITIZER 400INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAYTEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPTJULY 3, 2020
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 1LE, met with media via teleconference to discuss his upcoming IndyCar test at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, how he’s preparing for the test, his thoughts going into the race weekend at the track, and more. Transcript:  FOR NEXT WEEK’S INDYCAR TEST, WE OFTEN HEAR ABOUT MANUFACTURER CONFLICTS BEING DIFFICULT FOR DRIVERS TO NAVIGATE THAT. TAKE US THROUGH HOW YOU GOT TO TEST A HONDA FOR CHIP GANASSI RACING NEXT WEEK AND IF YOU HAD ANY DIFFICULTIES BEING A CHEVROLET DRIVER TESTING A HONDA.“No, everybody’s been super understanding that I just want to get on track and experience an IndyCar and see if it’s something that I want to do in the future. I feel like it is. My great relationship with Chevrolet – they were understanding that laps for me and any experience I can have in an IndyCar is really the most important thing. As we all know, I had a test scheduled for April 6th with the McLaren folks in a Chevrolet and I’m very, very hopeful to find a date with them and test in a McLaren Chevy. Honestly, any test date I can get, I want to take right now just to get every lap that I possibly can. I’m thankful that things came together so quickly with CGR and certainly there is the manufacturer conflict. But Chevrolet was very understanding of the situation and we’ll see where this all leads in the future.”
HOW DID IT COME TOGETHER WITH CHIP AND IS THERE A CHANCE NOW THAT MAYBE YOU COULD RACE FOR CHIP IN THE FUTURE?“I have a lot of options – I’m very fortunate to have many friends in the garage area. I’ve had a lot of conversations with more teams than just McLaren and CGR. And it’s very early days – there hasn’t been any serious conversations. It’s really just been about going to the track for the team to look at me and form their opinion of my abilities in one of their race cars. And certainly, I have that same opportunity to see what I think of each team and what an IndyCar even feels like. So, very early stages of all this. It’s hard to read too far into things at this point. But most importantly, I’m just thankful the teams are listening, willing and able to take me to the track just so I can learn.”
DO YOU VIEW THIS AS A TRYOUT?“Yeah, absolutely. It’s a test, it’s a tryout and it’s a two-way street. Two-way tryout for the team to look at me and for myself to look at a team.”
WHAT DO YOU NEED TO SEE THAT WOULD MAKE YOU SAY ‘YES, I DEFINITELY WANT TO RACE ONE OF THESE OR I DEFINITELY DON’T WANT TO RACE ONE OF THESE’?“If I’m about four seconds off the pace, then that’s probably a quick sign that I don’t need to be in one of these cars (laughs). It’s really how I can feel the car and what my pace is like. Of course, it’s unrealistic to think that I’ll be in a race-winning pace in the first test session. But if I’m within a certain amount of time and I have a good feel of the car, then for me, I feel like that’s an important first step that I need to know that I can be competitive. I do not want to go race in any series and not be competitive. It’s really in those lines of sensing and feeling the car. Of course, lap times always plays a role in things. From my standpoint, that’s what I’m looking at. And on the team side, I would say it’s pretty similar. They might have a few more things that they’re looking at, but on my side, it’s really about competitiveness.”
WHAT IS IT ABOUT INDY – YOU HAVE FOUR WINS AND YOU COULD BECOME JUST THE THIRD DRIVER IN HISTORY TO WIN FIVE MAJOR RACES AT INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY. IS IT SOMETHING THAT STICKS WITH YOU STILL TODAY OR IS IT SOMETHING OF THE PAST?“It took me a long time to figure that track out. I would say Indy, Martinsville and Sonoma were probably the tracks that took me the longest to be competitive at. Once I understood the driving style at those tracks and, more specifically to Indy, things really came our way. Having great race cars does not hurt. Great strategy is still very, very important today and I’ve been able to capitalize on those opportunities with good cars and good strategy.”
SOME YOUNGER DRIVERS SAY THAT THE TRACK IS SORT OF UNCOMFORTABLE FOR STOCK CARS FOR THEM – IT’S NOT COMFORTABLE OR SOMETHING, IT JUST FEELS DIFFERENT. BUT YOU HAVE FOUND KIND OF THE SWEET SPOT. WHAT IS IT ABOUT THAT TRACK THAT YOU LIKE ABOUT IT?“Yeah, for stock cars, we typically like a little more banking. And certainly, progressive banking so we can run side-by-side. There are two lanes for restarts, but to go fast, it really is a single lane race track and a very flat race track. So, I don’t think that fits into the NASCAR wheelhouse as well as it does for the IndyCar’s. It’s a phenomenal place to race – we all know and get that. I think IndyCar’s with their added downforce and the fact that they can change gears on a lap and in different situations really puts on a good show for them. So, for us, there are many things we can do wrong at that track and effect our lap times. There’s very little support from the banking and it’s easy to overdrive the car and slow yourself down.”
HOW MUCH WILL YOU TAKE NOTE FROM TOMORROW’S RACE TO TRY TO HELP YOURSELF WHEN YOU HAVE YOUR TEST?“Yeah, I’ll try to keep an eye on the television. I really plan on enjoying the day with my family. To have a Fourth of July on a Saturday at home is pretty rare, so my priorities will be there. But knowing that the cars will have data on them and the way CGR is going to prep me for my Wednesday test session, I will have more than enough data to look at to get ready. I will rely heavily on that. I was in the sim yesterday and starting to connect the dots, understand the track, understand braking marks and shift points, speed – all the things that you really need to know. I think data will get me very close and then being in the car is just really the next step back to that. And specifically, for this test, really just been talking to (Scott) Dixon. As you know, I was at COTA earlier this year. I have a lot of friends that are in the garage area and as the opportunity to test in April was coming around, many had reached out and said if I needed anything to lean on them. But it gets tricky when you get out of the specific teams. So, at least where I sit right now, I’ve just been leaning on Dixon to get ready for this test.”
YOU’VE RAN VERY WELL SINCE NASCAR RETURNED IN MID-MAY AND THIS IS ONE OF YOUR BEST TRACKS. HOW PERFECT WOULD IT BE IN YOUR FINAL SEASON TO GET ONE LAST VICTORY AT INDIANAPOLIS?“It would be storybook, to say the least. I certainly hope it happens. We’ve got a great starting spot – starting fourth. My team has been doing an amazing job and we’re ready.”
YOU MENTIONED YOU WERE LINED UP TO TEST EARLIER THIS YEAR, BUT FOR YOUR INDYCAR TEST TO COME AT INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY, WHERE YOU’VE HAD SO MUCH SUCCESS IN NASCAR AND THERE’S SO MUCH HISTORY HERE. DOES IT MAKE IT EVEN MORE SPECIAL FOR YOU TO BE ABLE TO STEP INTO AN INDYCAR FOR THE FIRST TIME AT IMS?“Yeah, track-wise, I guess the oval at Indy would be the top mark, especially in my era of racing and how many races I’ve watched on television with my grandfather and my father – watching the Indy 500 that is. So, yes of course, to be at such an iconic track does make it very special. I’ve just been super excited to get in these cars and experience them. Things really started with McLaren a few years ago when we did the ride swap and I was able to drive a Formula 1 car. Zak Brown and Fernando Alonso have been great friends to me and have helped me kind of pursue this single-seater open-wheel interest that I have. And there’s certainly other teams interested and that leads to the test with CGR. A lot of different things come to mind and I’m very thankful for the friends that I have within the open-wheel world. I’m not sure where it’s going to end up or where it’s going to take me, but I’m thankful for those relationships and these opportunities that I have right now.”
ON THE NASCAR SIDE OF THINGS, WITH THE XFINITY CARS TAKING THE ROAD COURSE THIS WEEKEND, I KNOW THERE’S BEEN SOME CHATTER THAT THERE COULD BE A POTENTIAL FOR THE CUP CARS TO TRY THAT OUT AT SOME POINT IN THE FUTURE. YOU MENTIONED THAT THERE’S THE HISTORY OF ONLY HAVING THE ONE LANE HERE, MAKING IT KIND OF TOUGH TO PASS. WILL YOU BE WATCHING THAT XFINITY RACE CLOSELY AND DO YOU THINK THERE COULD BE SOME POSITIVE ASPECTS TO GET YOU GUYS ON THE ROAD COURSE AT SOME POINT IN THE FUTURE?“Yeah, I think our cars race good on road courses. I’m personally torn to not have us on the oval with the significance of the oval and what we all know that means to motorsports. But our cars do put on a great show on road courses and I think street circuits are something we should definitely look at. If Cup does need to run on the infield, then there’s a lot of other factors showing why they should. But personally, the oval for me is the major – it’s the one we all want.”
OFF THE INDY PATH, THE ALL-STAR RACE BEING ON THE 15TH AT BRISTOL, THEY RELEASED THE FORMAT THIS WEEK. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT THE ALL-STAR RACE SHIFTING TO THE BULLRING AND THE WAY ALL THE THINGS BRISTOL KIND OF LENDS ITSELF? THIS WILL BE THE FIRST ONE YOU RUN AWAY FROM CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY. “Everything has been so different this year, that this doesn’t feel too-far fetched to travel for the All-Star race (laughs). I think many of us have wondered what it would be like if it moved around to different venues. If it was on a short track, what kind of racing would we see. So, I’m excited to see what really shakes out. I think the potential is really high for an action-packed night – a very interesting or spectacular finish if you will. When I think of the way the track races with the traction compound and lane selection being so important, the cone rule or the choose rule that’s out and how that might impact things, there’s going to be plenty to talk about, a lot of action and a lot of aggression.”
REGARDING WHAT KIND OF TRACKS THAT YOU MAY WANT TO DO IN INDYCAR – I KNOW THAT YOU’VE SAID THAT OVALS ARE OUT. IS IT JUST ROAD COURSES OR MAYBE WOULD YOU WANT TO TRY A STREET COURSE LIKE LONG BEACH OR DETROIT? WHERE DO YOU STAND ON WANTING TO RACE INDYCAR?“For starters, I’m going to keep a close eye on things. Their safety on ovals has dramatically increased this year with the windscreen they have. So, I’ll keep a close eye on things there and see how the safety level looks. I’ve always wanted to race the Indy 500 – I’d have to do a lot of selling to my wife to get that pass to do it (laughs). But my true desire right now is to just run the road courses. There are 12 on the schedule right now and I would be open to run all 12 if the right opportunity came along. But when I was a kid growing up, the closest IndyCar racing for me was at Long Beach. So, one of my hopes is that I am able to race at Long Beach. I hung on the fence a lot as a kid watching and dreaming. I had a lot of meetings as my professional career developed at the Long Beach Grand Prix with Chevrolet, thinking about what would be next for me transitioning from off road trucks to asphalt. For me, there’s a lot of sentimental value with that race and I hope to race there. But I’m open to all – when you think of COTA, when you think of Road America, there’s just so many good ones to think about. Indy, obviously I’m going to have a chance to test there. I’d be highly interested in every one that they have on the schedule right now.”
ARE YOU PLAYING ANY SORT OF ROLE, WHETHER OFFICIALLY OR UNOFFICIALLY, WITH HENDRICK AND THE FUTURE OF THE 48 CAR AND ITS DRIVER?“Not really. I’ve really just been focused on driving the race car, trying to grow our team and get every bit of performance that we can out of the car. I’ve not been involved with sponsor meetings regarding the future of the 48 or meetings with Hendrick Motorsports and who the driver might be. So, I’ve really just been focused on performance and getting the most out of what I can this year.”
WHEN YOUR FULL-TIME SEASON IS OVER, DO YOU EXPECT TO SORT OF MAINTAIN ANY RELATIONSHIP WITH THE TEAM? OR DO YOU THINK YOU’LL SORT OF BE MOVING ON TO DIFFERENT THINGS THAT YOU’VE BEEN INTERESTED IN AND CHALLENGING YOURSELF WITH?“That’s unclear – I certainly have all this history with Hendrick Motorsports. It’s family, so I know I will stay in touch and be involved. But from an organized or professional standpoint, nothing has been discussed at this point, so I don’t know what that would look like. But my heart is with that 48, no matter who’s in it, where it is. Hendrick Motorsports and that 48 car – that’s family, that’s home.”

TEAM CHEVY ADVANCEBIG MACHINE HAND SANITIZER 400INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAYSPEEDWAY, INDIANAJULY 5, 2020

RACE #16: INDIANAPOLISAlthough the COVID-19 pandemic has created several date & location changes to the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) schedule, the Brickyard remains on its original date this season. Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) will host the Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 on Sunday, July 5th, the first since 1994 to be held on Independence Day weekend.
HISTORY IN THE MAKINGFor tennis, it’s Wimbledon. For golf, it’s Augusta National. For horse racing, it’s Churchill Downs.
When it comes to hallowed ground in worldwide motorsports, it’s Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The world’s most famous race track has been the site of numerous prestigious motor racing events featuring legendary names since it opened in 1909.
This holiday weekend adds to its historic legacy with the first-ever NASCAR/INDYCAR triple-header at IMS, a crossover 2-day event that kicks off with NTT INDYCAR SERIES (NTTICS) GMR Grand Prix on the track’s road course at noon ET on Saturday, July 4th, followed by NASCAR’s Xfinity Series (NXS) Pennzoil 150 at 3:00 p.m. On Sunday, NASCAR’s Cup Series race will own the day with the running of the Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 at 4:00 p.m. ET on the famed 2.5-mile oval.
Chevrolet is the sole manufacturer to participate in all three events: There are 28 Chevrolet Camaro SS entries in the NXS race, 18 Chevy Camaro ZL1 1LE entries in the NCS race, and 11 Chevrolet entries in the NTTICS race.
ALL-TIME LEADERCareer Team Chevy driver Jeff Gordon, who won the inaugural Brickyard 400 on August 6, 1994, leads all drivers with five victories at IMS (1994, ’98, ’01, ’04, ’14). His record also boasts 12 top-5 finishes, 17 top-10’s, 528 laps led, and three poles in 17 starts. At the age of 23 years, 2 days, Gordon is also the youngest NCS winner at IMS. His last victory came in 2014.
BOWTIE BULLETS·      Team Chevy has won 17 of the 26 NCS races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, including an amazing streak of 12 years (2004-13).
·      Seven-time NCS champion, Jimmie Johnson, leads all active drivers with four wins (2012, ’09, ’08 and ’06) and also has a runner-up (2013) and third-place (2016) finish in 18 starts.
·      The most recent Chevrolet winner was Kasey Kahne in 2017. ·      A Chevrolet driver has led the field to the green from the pole position 10 times. The most recent Chevy pole winner at the Brickyard was Kevin Harvick in July ’14. ·      Hendrick Motorsports has more wins at the Brickyard than any other NCS team with 10 trips to victory lane in 26 races, all in Chevrolet race cars: Jeff Gordon (five), Jimmie Johnson (four), Kasey Kahne (one).  ·      Milestone Moment: Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1 1LE, will make his 700th NCS career start on Sunday, July 5th at IMS. His first Cup race was at Dover on Sept. 24, 2000, where he finished 18th. In 21 years and 699 starts, Busch has 31 victories, 146 top 5’s, 307 top 10’s, and has won the pole 28 times. Busch was the 2004 NCS Champion. COMING TO THE GREENIn compliance with the pandemic guidelines, the race will be run without spectators; and the format continues with no practice or qualifying. The starting lineup for Sunday’s Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 will be set by virtue of owner’s points and a random draw. Here are Team Chevy’s top-20 starters:  2nd    Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1 1LE 3rd     Alex Bowman, No. 88 ChevyGoods.com/Adam’s Polishes Camaro ZL1 1LE 4th     Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1 1LE10th     Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro Zl1 1LE13th     Tyler Reddick, No. 8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Camaro ZL1 1LE16th     Austin Dillon, No. 3 Dow Salutes Veterans Camaro ZL1 1LE17th     Bubba Wallace, No. 43 World Wide Technology Camaro ZL1 1LE18th     William Byron, No. 24 Liberty University Camaro ZL1 1LE
TUNE-INNBC will telecast the 160-lap, 400-mile Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 at 4:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, July 5th. Live coverage can also be found on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.
QUOTABLE QUOTES:CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 4th IN STANDINGS“I’ve really struggled at Indy. We’ve just been trying to get better there. It has just consistently been a huge challenge for me every year. My excitement level probably isn’t as high as some others about going to Indy, but that’s just because of how hard it has been. I would love to get over the hump. I think it would be such a cool place to run well and have success at. We are looking forward to giving it our best shot this weekend.” ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 CHEVYGOODS.COM CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 8th IN STANDINGS“Indianapolis is one of those tracks where we continue to learn each time we go there. We haven’t had great finishes at the track, but I think we make gains each time we go there. Greg (Ives) and the guys have been putting in a ton of work both at the track and away from the track. I know that we will have a car that can contend for a win when we arrive.”
KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 MONSTER ENERGY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 10th IN STANDINGS“It’s a big marquee race – it’s our Brickyard 400. Unfortunately, we don’t have our race fans. That’s what I still think about first, each time we’re heading to the race track. With a special weekend like this with INDYCAR and Xfinity on the road course on Saturday, and then the Cup race on Sunday on the oval, Roger Penske is the only one that could have made INDYCAR and NASCAR happen on the same weekend. Big Machine is there with their sponsorship and I know they would put on a great concert and the whole atmosphere around Indy. It was set-up to be fan-based and to have that extra entertainment value, so it’s something we’ll miss. But I’m focused-in on Sunday’s race.” “To have this opportunity and to have been blessed to have raced with so many great race teams over the years, just making it past the local track was something that I thought was an achievement because my dad was a local racer. He won a lot. But it was the money, sponsors, and the whole challenge of even getting to the Southwest Tour and Late Model division, that was even tough for us way back in the past. It’s amazing – twenty years of racing at the top series level and now having 700 starts, I never would have guessed.”
WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 15th IN STANDINGS“I’m really excited for the Brickyard 400 to be on July 4th weekend, even though it’ll be hotter than when we are normally there. The Brickyard is a marquee race at a marquee racetrack. This is another race that I’ve been looking forward to this season, not only because of how special the race is, but seeing what our team can do. Last year we had a really strong race overall and finished fourth. We’ll see how we unload this weekend, but I think we will have a good chance to contend for the win. We want to win every weekend, but this would just be an awesome race to win in general.” 
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 DOW SALUTES VETERANS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 17th IN STANDINGSHOW HARD IS IT TO GET A HANDLE ON INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY?“Well, Indy is a fast place. You are looking at a wall going into Turn 1. It feels like a never-ending turn there. You can’t see it and it’s just a fun place to cross the bricks. Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a prestigious place, similar to Daytona International Speedway, Darlington Raceway, and a few of the other big tracks that we go to. We love getting there and trying to race for that trophy.”
TYLER REDDICK NO. 8 CHEDDAR’S SCRATCH KITCHEN CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 18th IN STANDINGS“We’re spending a lot of time this weekend analyzing data and figuring out where we need to be for this weekend’s race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The good news is, we really liked the speed our cars showed us over the weekend in Pocono. We just had a couple missteps that made it so the races didn’t fall our way. It was tough to get into a position where we could weigh it out and compare tire to tire and lap to lap like some of the other guys could, but we did like the overall speed. Pocono and Indy do have some similarities when it comes to this package with the flat corners and long straightaways, so we’ll be building off what we just saw and experienced for this weekend. We’ll analyze the differences between the two cars we ended up using at Pocono and hopefully come up with something in the middle to help us this weekend.”
RICKY STENHOUSE JR., NO. 47 KROGER CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 19th IN STANDINGS“I always love getting to go back to Indianapolis Motor Speedway. We’ve had strong speed in our No. 47 Kroger Chevrolet the last few races, building positive momentum as we look towards the next stretch of races. The Brickyard 400 is a race that always comes down to strategy, which is right in Brian Pattie’s wheelhouse. He’s done a great job the last couple of races to utilize strategy and get us in a position to earn stage points, which have really helped put us in a decent points position during this summer stretch.I’m looking forward to a great Fourth of July weekend in one of my favorite cities.”
RYAN PREECE, NO. 37 KLEENEX CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 29th IN STANDINGS“We had two decent runs at Pocono Raceway last weekend, but I’m looking forward to continuing to keep putting everything together and having strong finishes. We have a new, clean paint scheme on the No. 37 Chevrolet this weekend with Kleenex, and I really want to get a great finish at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for them. I’ve really enjoyed the no practice and no qualifying races, and I think Indianapolis will continue to be a good test of how we can unload and race. I think the next few tracks will be really good for us as we’ve had strong intermediate track speed and I’m looking forward to having a good race in the No. 37 Kleenex Chevrolet debut this weekend.”
MATT KENSETH, NO. 42 MCDELIVERY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – 30th IN STANDINGS“I think all of us love to go to Indianapolis just because of the history of that track—it’s one of the most famous speedways in the world. Indy is a place where I’ve had a lot of fast race cars through the years, a lot of really great runs, but never been able to win. Obviously, it’s on the top of my list. I’m looking forward to getting another chance at it this year. It’s not really a tricky race track, but you got to keep your momentum and have a car that’s turning good enough so you can use a lot of throttle, particularly in turns two and four to try and set up some passes. I’m really looking forward to this one.”

CHEVY RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIESGMR GRAND PRIXINDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAYINDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA TEAM CHEVY ADVANCEJULY 2, 2020RACE #2 OF 2020 NTT INDYCAR SERES:Chevrolet will play a major role in the upcoming historic weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. For the first time Team Chevy teams and drivers in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, the NASCAR Xfinity Series and the NASCAR Cup Series will compete at the famous race track on the corner of 16^th and Georgetown in Indianapolis, Indiana. A total of 57 Team Chevy drivers will compete for a win at the track nicknamed the Brickyard.  The 2020 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season begins in earnest with Saturday’s GMR Grand Prix on the Road Course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as the first race of the trio of professional motorsports series making racing history. A total of 11 Chevrolet-powered teams and drivers are ready for the battle in the GMR Grand Prix on the 2.439-mile, 14-turn road course utilizes some of the 2.5-mile oval, including the short chute between turns one and two, through turn one and down the front straightaway before diving back into the infield.   Chevrolet has had great success in the GP of Indy with five poles and five wins in the six races held there to date. 
Simon Pagenaud is ready to defend his spectacular 2019 victory in the rain, again behind the wheel of the bright No. 22 Menards Chevrolet.  After scoring two podium and three of the top-five positions at Texas, the Chevy IndyCar 2.2 liter turbo charged direct injected V6 teams and drivers are ready to get their rhythm going for the remainder of the season, but especially for the return to Indianapolis Motor Speedway in August for the Indianapolis 500.  Fans have multiple options for listening and watching all of the on-track activities. NBC Sports telecasts: Qualifying, 4:30 p.m. ET Friday, July 3, NBCSN (live); Race, noon ET Saturday, July 4, NBC (live).  INDYCAR Radio Network broadcasts: Mark Jaynes is the chief announcer alongside analyst Davey Hamilton. The GMR Grand Prix race airs live on network affiliates, Sirius 211, XM 205, IndyCar.com and the INDYCAR Mobile app powered by NTT DATA.  All NTT INDYCAR SERIES practices and qualifying are available on IndyCar.com and the INDYCAR Mobile app. NBC Sports Gold livestreaming: All NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice sessions and qualifying will stream live on INDYCAR Pass on NBC Sports Gold, NBC Sports’ direct-to-consumer live streaming product.  At-track schedule (all times local): Friday, July 3 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice, NBC Sports Gold 4:30 p.m. – Qualifying for the NTT P1 Award (three rounds of NTT INDYCAR SERIES knockout qualifications), NBCSN (Live) Saturday, July 4 9-9:30 a.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES warmup, NBC Sports Gold Noon – NBC on air 12:01 p.m. – “Drivers, start your engines” 12:08 p.m. – GMR Grand Prix (80 laps/195.12 miles), NBC (Live)1 Immediately following the conclusion of the NTT IndyCar race, 28 Camaro SS drivers will also compete on the road course in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Then the finale on Sunday will see 18 Camaro ZL1 1LE drivers will take to the 2.5-mile oval and race for the right to be called an Indianapolis Brickyard 400 winner. The NTT INDYCAR SERIES race and the NASCAR Xfinity race will be paced by a beautiful Camaro ZL1. The NASCAR Cup Series race will be led to the green flag by an all-new Chevrolet Silverado. BOWTIE BULLETSSince returning to INDYCAR manufacturer competition in 2012, Chevrolet has amassed 82 wins and 92 poles in 135 races along with six Manufacturer Championships. Chevrolet at IMS road course since 2014:o  5 wins (Will Power, 2015, ’17, ‘18); Simon Pagenaud 2016, ‘19) o  All five wins for Team Penskeo  5 poles (Will Power, 2015, ‘17, ‘18); Simon Pagenaud (2016); Sebastian Saavedra (2014)o  Power holds circuit qualifying lap record (1:07.7044), set in 2017o  Josef Newgarden holds circuit race lap record (1:09.3888), set in 2017o  Power (2015) holds most laps led (65) record by winnero  Pagenaud is the only driver to win on the IMS 2.439-mile, 14-turn road course and go on to win the championship (2016, with ChevrolPower is second all-time INDYCAR pole winner with 57 (behind only Mario Andretti with 67). The GMR Grand Prix (80 laps/195.12 miles) will see several driver and team adjustments among the 11 Team Chevy drivers compared to Texas. o  Dalton Kellett (A.J. Foyt Racing) makes his IndyCar series debut. Sage Karam (Dreyer & Reinbold Racing) and Max Chilton (Carlin) make their first 2020 season starts. Conor Daly (Ed Carpenter Racing) makes his first start with Ed Carpenter Racing after finishing in sixth with Carlin at Texas.   QUOTABLE QUOTES: ROB BUCKNER, CHEVROLET RACING ENGINEERING PROGRAM MANAGER FOR THE NTT INDYCAR SERIES: “The Chevrolet teams and drivers are ready to get the INDYCAR Series kicked off in earnest on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway this weekend. We had a great race at Texas, but then we have had another long break. However, this time has given the Chevrolet engineers working with our teams and technical partners a great opportunity to take the learnings from the changes to the car this season, especially the aeroscreen, and work together to fine-tune those changes for upcoming stretch of races on a variety of tracks. With the highly technical Indy road course the first test. we are anxious to see if we have maximized the data to make key improvements to have a strong showing on Saturday. Chevrolet powered drivers have had great results in the six previous Indy Grand Prix events and we are looking forward to continuing that streak. Everyone wants to win at Indy!
FROM THE COCKPIT: JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 1 XPEL TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET: “Indianapolis is such a special place. It’s like my second home so racing there means a lot to me personally, especially even more so now that Roger [Penske] owns the track. It’s such an honor racing for him but with this being our first race there since he purchased the track, it just makes it even more great. And not to mention this will be the first time ever INDYCAR and NASCAR have raced at the same track on the same weekend, and it’s the Fourth of July so it’s just going to be a huge event. I know myself and my crew on the XPEL Chevrolet are really pumped for this race weekend. We really miss the fans at our races but know precautions are necessary and are glad they will be joining us back at track soon. It’s going to be such a huge weekend for NBC and we are so thrilled to be part of it.” CHARLIE KIMBALL, NO. 4 TRESIBA AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET:“While the GMR Grand Prix usually kicks off the Month of May, this year’s race is just as exciting as INDYCAR and NASCAR come together to celebrate the July 4th weekend with a historic doubleheader. I’ve had great results on the IMS road course in the past and can’t wait to get on track for my first road course in the No. 4 Tresiba Chevrolet for A.J. Foyt Racing! The opportunity to race for A.J. is always special – it means even more when it’s at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway!” PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET:“The next few weeks ahead of us are going to be intense and eventful. There is no better place to start it off than at the GMR Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Arrow McLaren SP and I have used this time off to prepare and be ready to tackle the challenges coming towards us at each track and event. I can’t wait to get going again this Friday and am really excited to be racing again on NBC. Hopefully Oliver and I can put on a show for all our fans and partners.” OLIVER ASKEW, NO. 7 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET:“I’ve always enjoyed racing on the Indianapolis road course, and I’ve had a lot of success there on the Road to Indy. I hope to take that experience into my first INDYCAR road course race. I think that everyone at Arrow McLaren SP has set the foundations for a very good month of racing, so I’m looking to take advantage of the cars we have been working hard to put together. It will feel weird to be racing in Indianapolis without fans but hopefully everyone tunes in to NBC to watch the race at noon on Saturday.” WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET:“Any time we race at Indianapolis is always just something else. There’s so much history at that track and it means so much to our series. With Roger [Penske] owning the track now, it’s even more special knowing how much the series, the track and our team mean to him. The Verizon Chevy guys have prepared a really great car for this weekend. We have had some amazing success there as a team since Simon [Pagenaud] and I are still the only winners. This is such a fun road course and always is a place where the series really can put on a show. NBC has put a lot of time and effort into this race weekend and having NASCAR and INDYCAR at the same track during the same weekend will be really cool.” DALTON KELLETT, NO 14 K-LINE USA AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET:“I’m excited to get my season underway at the GMR Grand Prix. I couldn’t be more grateful for the chance to make my debut in the K-Line Insulators USA No. 14 Chevrolet! With the long delay to the start of my season, it will be important to maximize all available track time. Especially given the condensed schedule. As a rookie, I expect there to be obstacles to overcome and new challenges to face. I am confident in the team we have put together to take these on. The goal is to perform well and learn the most that I can in my rookie event.” CONOR DALY, NO. 20 U.S. AIR FORCE ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET: “After what seems like many months together as a team, we still have yet to race together! I’m very excited to get out there with Ed Carpenter Racing and complete our first race together! The car looks incredible, I can’t wait to get out there for the U.S. Air Force. ECR has done well at the GMR Grand Prix before so it’s time to get out there and compete for a win! We’re looking to get some good points and start off this three-weekend stretch strong.” RINUS VEEKAY, NO. 21 SONAX ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET:“I am really looking forward to the GMR Grand Prix, finally driving an Indy car at Indy! That’s something really special! I am excited to get to drive again and really get the season started now. We’ve got some really busy weeks coming up. I’m very confident and think we have a strong package for this weekend.” SIMON PAGENAUD, NO. 22 MENARDS TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET:“I am thrilled to go back to Indianapolis. My whole life changed last May when my Menards Chevrolet team had that incredible month by winning both the Indianapolis 500 and the INDYCAR GP. Memories I will never forget. Now we finally have the opportunity to return and attempt to win again. We have been very fortunate at Team Penske with that particular road course race since my teammate Will Power and I are still the only winners of the event, which says a lot about how our team works together. I have been training pretty hard since our last race at Texas. Training is such an important part of my race prep. It’s great to feel in the best physical shape and mental space of my career right now. I wish fans could join us but know they will be back soon and I know all of us in the series can’t wait to see them back starting back at Road America. So until then, we will do our best to put on a great show for all of the fans tuned into NBC.”
SAGE KARAM. NO. 24 WIX FILTERS DRYER & REINBOLD RACING CHEVROLET:“It’s been a long time for the Dreyer & Reinbold Racing team to run more than just the Indy 500. They have been trying hard to expand their IndyCar program and, this year, WIX Filters extended its partnership to run some road courses. We were already to go at St. Petersburg when the (COVID-19) pandemic lockout started. We had to pack up and take everything back to Indy. We had put in a lot of work with testing, simulation runs and purchasing some road course parts with Dallara. We were hoping to run more events in 2020. But some races were postponed or cancelled. So I’m very excited to run the IMS road circuit this weekend. The Indy GP was not originally on our 2020 schedule and I really wanted to do it. Now we get that opportunity. I ran a sim test recently for the IMS road course. I believe we are ready to go. It is a big learning curve for myself and DRR since it’s over seven years since DRR has run an NTT INDYCAR SERIES road race. I raced there in 2014 in the IMSA race with the Ganassi sports car and finished second. It was a tough situation at St. Pete as we were very excited to run there. And it just wasn’t me. There were guys moving up from the Indy Lights and other guys who were looking for full-time rides with new opportunities. It has been tough for all of the drivers to sit. Many guys had been chasing their dreams of IndyCar racing and had to wait. It’s good that we can show our sport in action again after so many sports have been halted. I think the drivers want to put on the best possible show for the fans because we all – teams, drivers, sponsors and fans – have missed the racing. The fans are what makes the racing world go round.” MAX CHILTON, NO. 59 GALLAGHER CARLIN CHEVROLET: “I couldn’t be more excited to get back behind the wheel of the No. 59 Gallagher Carlin Chevrolet this weekend on the road course at IMS after being out of the car for so long. It’s been a long time to be away from a race track, but I’ve been putting in a lot of time at my home gym and thankfully I was able to get some time on the sim last week as well as some testing in one of Carlin’s F3 cars at Silverstone to get back into the swing of things. I love being at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and really enjoy driving the road course layout there, so I’ve been anxious to get back over to the US for this one. Conor and the team did a great job in Texas a few weeks ago and got us off to a great start, so I’m hoping I can keep us moving in that direction and come away with another solid result for Carlin and Gallagher.” 

Richard Childress Racing at the Brickyard …  In 71 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Richard Childress Racing has earned three wins with drivers Dale Earnhardt (1995), Kevin Harvick (2003), and Paul Menard (2011) at the famed Brickyard. The Welcome, North Carolina-based organization also has one NASCAR Xfinity Series win with Ty Dillion in 2014. This weekend will mark the Xfinity Series debut at the track’s road course. COVID-19 Relief … Own a piece of history by participating in an auction and sale of Richard Childress’ personal collection of memorabilia. All proceeds will assist COVID-19 relief efforts. Thousands of rare, hard-to-find and exclusive items from Richard Childress’ 50+ years in NASCAR are up for bid or sale. Visit https://www.ebay.com/str/RichardChildresscollection. Catch the Action … The NASCAR Xfinity Series Indianapolis 150 at the Brickyard will be televised live Saturday, July 4, beginning at 3 p.m. ET on NBC and will be broadcast live on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network.  The NASCAR Cup Series Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 Powered by Big Machine Records at Indianapolis Motor Speedway will be televised live Sunday, July 5, beginning at 4 p.m. ET on NBC and will be broadcast live on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network.

This Week’s Dow Salutes Veterans Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE at Indianapolis Motor Speedway…  In seven previous NASCAR Cup Series attempts at the Brickyard, Dillon’s best finish at the track in the Cup Series is ninth. He also has four NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at IMS, with a best finish of fifth in 2012. Dillon grew up attending races at the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway track with his grandfather, car owner Richard Childress. Dillon recalls riding in the pace car as a young child and participated in Victory Lane festivities with Paul Menard in 2011 and Kevin Harvick in 2003 when they won the prestigious race under the RCR banner. He also celebrated a NASCAR Xfinity Series win with his brother, Ty. Dow brings a science and engineering crew who is driven by limitless curiosity to the RCR Team … Austin Dillon and the RCR team are again supported by Dow’s materials science expertise and technologies this season. Backed by the power of data analysis and virtual modeling, Dow develops and manufactures high-performance components and materials custom-made for the No. 3 car. Dow and RCR’s partnership has expedited innovation and shortened testing time in the automotive industry by recreating in the lab one of the most extreme environments – the racetrack. After 7 years of collaboration, Dow scientists and RCR engineers are continuing to work together to make the No. 3 car faster, safer and more precise. Stay up to date with Dow’s exciting developments at www.dow.com/sports and follow us on Twitter @DowSports & @DowNewsroom. By Seeking Together, We Can Solve Anything – Dow Salutes Veterans … Our solutions are reshaping our world. And at the heart of our solutions are our people. Their diversity is our strength. They reflect the world in which we do business and the communities in which we live. As a diverse community of approximately 37,000 employees worldwide, together we can solve anything. Vote for America’s Best Aquarium … Wonders of Wildlife is the largest, most immersive fish and wildlife attraction in the world. They are dedicated to teaching kids and families about conservation, and they’re in the running for America’s Best Aquarium by USA TODAY. If you believe in the future of the outdoors, you can vote once per day at www.wondersofwildlife.org/vote   AUSTIN DILLON QUOTE:How hard is it to get a handle on Indianapolis Motor Speedway? “Well, Indy is a fast place. You are looking at a wall going into Turn 1. It feels like a never-ending turn there. You can’t see it, and it’s just a fun place to cross the bricks. Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a prestigious place, similar to Daytona International Speedway, Darlington Raceway, and a few of the other big tracks that we go to. We love getting there and trying to race for that trophy.” Talk about your paint scheme this weekend and the significance of racing with the names of more than 1,200 veterans on the hood of your car …“The Dow Salutes Veterans car is a lot of fun. It’s easily one of my favorite paint schemes of the entire year each year that we do it. I think we really have outdone ourselves this year. It’s a beautiful car. The best part of this program is that it’s for the real heroes. It’s for all of the veterans whose names are on this car. Our U.S. Military service members are what makes this country what it is, and allows us to do what we love, which is to race racecars on the weekends. Without their sacrifices, we all wouldn’t be able to have this country that we love so much. I’m really appreciative to Dow for their commitment to veterans.”

Tyler Reddick and the No. 8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE at Indianapolis Motor Speedway … This weekend will mark Tyler Reddick’s first NASCAR Cup Series start at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender has three NASCAR Xfinity Series starts and one top-five finish at the ‘Brickyard.’ About Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen … Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen is the homestyle casual dining restaurant where guests always ‘Get a lot, for not a lot’ in a place that feels like home. After being welcomed with a signature Honey Butter Croissant on the house, guests can enjoy favorite dishes like hand-breaded Chicken Tenders, Homemade Chicken Pot Pie and House-Smoked Baby Back Ribs. For an even greater value, guests can pick up Family Bundles To Go featuring guest favorites designed to feed the whole family (or Pit Crew!) starting at only $24.99 with contactless curbside pickup. Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen operates more than 160 restaurants in 28 states. See the full menu and order online at  cheddars.com. Watch the Race with Cheddar’s … To celebrate the debut of the No. 8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet Camaro, Cheddar’s is offering 15% off all To Go orders with the offer code RACEDAY placed on 7/5 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-dayfor full offer details. Get more Cheddar’s Offers & Exclusives … Love being an insider? Love saving money? Join the Cheddar’s eClub to be the first to receive offers, get exclusive rewards and learn of new dishes and promotions before anyone else. And it won’t take long to see the benefit – just for joining, Cheddar’s will give you Free Chips & Queso for your next visit or online order! Text TYLER to 346464 to join*. TYLER REDDICK QUOTES:Heading into Indianapolis Motor Speedway this weekend, how are you the team looking to bounce back from Pocono Raceway?“We’re spending a lot of time this weekend analyzing data and figuring out where we need to be for this weekend’s race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The good news is, we really liked the speed our cars showed us over the weekend in Pocono. We just had a couple missteps that made it so the races didn’t fall our way. It was tough to get into a position where we could weigh it out and compare tire to tire and lap to lap like some of the other guys could, but we did like the overall speed. Pocono and Indy do have some similarities when it comes to this package with the flat corners and long straightaways, so we’ll be building off what we just saw and experienced for this weekend. We’ll analyze the differences between the two cars we ended up using at Pocono and hopefully come up with something in the middle to help us this weekend.” This weekend is the first race weekend for Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen. What can you tell us about the paint scheme?“I’m excited for Cheddar’s Scratch kitchen to have their first race and see that paint scheme on track at Indy. Normally, we get to see the scheme and how it looks on track throughout the race weekend with practice and qualifying, but this time, the first time fans will really see it is during the race on Sunday. We are revealing the design fans voted as the winner later this week, and I’m looking forward to seeing what fans think, but I’m even more looking forward to seeing it on track Sunday for my first Brickyard 400. Also, in celebration of the car’s debut and continuing on for every NASCAR Cup Series race for the rest of the year, Cheddar’s is offering 15 percent off online to-go orders with the code RACEDAY, which is awesome. Hopefully, fans will take them up on their offer and feed their crew while we’re racing one of NASCAR’s crown jewel events with ours.”

This Week’s No. 21 Lucas Oil Chevrolet Camaro at Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course  …  Anthony Alfredo will make his road course debut this weekend as the NASCAR Xfinity Series takes to the 14-turn infield road course for the first time in series history at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In Alfredo’s previous start in the Richard Childress Racing prepared Chevrolet, he recorded a sixth-place finish at Talladega Superspeedway, which marked his fourth career top-10 finish in six starts with RCR.  About Lucas Oil … Forrest and Charlotte started Lucas Oil Products with the simple philosophy of producing only the best line of lubricants and additives available anywhere. Since its inception, Lucas has steadfastly adhered to this corporate objective. Through innovative product research and development, along with aggressive marketing programs, Lucas has established itself as a top selling additive line in the American truck stop industry. Lucas is also one of the fastest growing additive lines in the consumer automotive industry. A premium line of oils, greases and problem solving additives has helped to firmly establish Lucas as a prominent figure in this marketplace. Lucas has long been directly involved in the American racing industry through multiple vehicle sponsorships and racing event promotions, at all levels. Seeing a need for better lubricants in this industry, the Lucas people went to work again. The end result being a line of high performance engine oils and gear oils that are second-to-none in the racing industry. Visit LucasOil.com for a full list of products.  Fast Start for Fast Pasta …  In his first six NASCAR Xfinity Series starts in the No. 21 Chevrolet Camaro for Richard Childress Racing, Alfredo has secured four top-10 finishes and has an average finish of 8.5. He also won an eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series Saturday Night Thunder Race at Dover International Speedway during NASCAR’s hiatus from on-track competition. ANTHONY ALFREDO QUOTE:The NASCAR Xfinity Series will make history this weekend racing on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course for the first time. What kind of challenges does road course racing present specifically for you and your team? “Although I don’t have very much road course experience, I feel I am on a slightly more level playing field this weekend because the track will be new to almost everyone in the field, other than a select few who’ve competed in other racing series there. Fortunately, I have been able to ask questions and learn as much as possible, talking with successful road racers like Ron Fellows. It would be huge to win the inaugural event. I’m excited to see how I adapt to the track and road racing in general in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.”  You’re off to a fast start in your Xfinity Series career. Coming off another strong performance at Talladega Superspeedway, what do you hope to accomplish this weekend and going forward?“The goal this weekend isn’t that much different than previous races. We want to go be competitive, learn, have a clean race and be there at the end when it matters most. We have gotten better every week as a team. As we continue to build off of our consistency and putting races together, I plan on competing for wins frequently.”

July 2, 2020

Matt DiBenedetto and the No. 21 Red Kap/Menards Mustang will be a part of an historic weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway as NASCAR’s Cup Series will run a double header with the NTT IndyCar Series.

DiBenedetto said he’s especially proud of this weekend’s paint scheme, which features a solid red color reminiscent of the Fords fielded by the Wood Brothers back in the 60s and carrying the logos of the workwear company Red Kap and Menards.

“I’m excited about having a cool new look on the car for a weekend as special as Indy,” DiBenedetto said. “We’re looking forward to showcasing Red Kap, and of course it’s an honor to represent the Menard family knowing how much Indianapolis Motor Speedway means to them.” 

John Menard is a long-time car owner and sponsor of cars competing in the Indianapolis 500, and his son Paul won NASCAR’s Brickyard 400 in 2011.

DiBenedetto said being a part of the Indy/NASCAR doubleheader will make an already memorable weekend extra special. DiBenedetto will be keeping a close eye on the Xfinity Series race on Indy’s road course, where the IndyCar Series also will run, since he’s the only driver to have run an Xfinity car on that course. He drove a Team Penske Mustang in a test back in January.

“The race weekend is going to be one to remember,” he said. “These are things that go down in history and even just racing at the Brickyard, every time you go in there is a check mark, a bucket list item in itself.” 

“I’ll be like a race fan, just watching these races as excited as any fan that you’ll see because it’s going to be so cool on such a history weekend, the July 4^th Weekend, you name it. All of that is so cool.”

DiBenedetto and the Red Kap/Menards team head to Indy after a successful double header at Pocono Raceway, which shares many characteristics including the 2.5-mile length and relatively flat turns, with Indy.

At Pocono, DiBenedetto scored stage points in all four stages and finished 13^th and 6^th in the two races.

“If you asked me that a couple years ago when we ran the low downforce stuff, I would say the two tracks were completely different, but now that we have the high downforce and less horsepower, they’re actually pretty similar in the fact that it’s real strategy-oriented, extremely track position-oriented,” he said. “The high downforce just makes it so tough to pass…

“It just makes it really tough on the teams and the pit crews and the strategy because you just have to have track position or else you can’t make your way up there.”

He went on to say he and the No. 21 team are poised to be a consistent top-10 team, at Indy and every other stop on the circuit.

“We’re stepping in that direction,” he said. “To be honest, every single race track we’ve been to, aside from Darlington, we’ve had top-10 speed.”

“I’ve never had equipment or an opportunity like that much in the past, so that’s the encouraging part.”

“I knew once we got on track together, I think we can do this very consistently.”

Like recent races, there will be no practice or qualifying prior to Sunday’s Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 Powered By Big Machine Records, which is set to get the green flag just after 4 p.m. on Sunday with TV coverage on NBC.  

BATAVIA, Ohio (July 2, 2020) – Familiar to the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series schedule, teams will once again enjoy Independence Day celebrations in the Buckeye state at Muskingum County Speedway and Portsmouth Raceway Park.  Friday’s annual July 3rd event at Muskingum County Speedway will see the pit and general admission gates open at 2:00 pm. Along with the heart-pumping action of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, Friday will also feature Modifieds, Sport Mods, Modlites, and Four Cylinders, with hot laps beginning at 6:30 pm. In addition to the racing action, Muskingum County Speedway will have the area’s largest fireworks display. On Saturday, July 4th , Portsmouth Raceway Park will host the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series for the annual Independence 50 presented by Able Air. The Modifieds and Limited Late Models will serve as support divisions on Saturday. The pit gate will open at 2:00 pm at Portsmouth Raceway Park. The general admission gates will open at 4:00 pm, with on-track action beginning at 6:30 pm. 

Both nights will include a complete program of: Time Trials, Heat Races, B-Mains, and a 50-lap, $12,000-to-win main event. Jimmy Owens leads the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series championship standings and goes into the weekend with four consecutive series feature wins. Jonathan Davenport is now second, followed closely by Tim McCreadie, Tyler Erb and Josh Richards to round out the top five in championship standings. Track and Event Information:Muskingum County SpeedwayLocation: 7985 Frazeysburg Road, Dresden, OH 43821Directions: I-70 to exit 155, then 10.1 miles north on SR 60 (WSR)Website: www.muskingumcountyspeedway.com Portsmouth Raceway ParkPhone Number: 740-354-3278Location: 25648 State Route 73, West Portsmouth, OH 45663Directions: 0.5 mile south of US 52 on SR 73, then right just before bridgeWebsite: www.portsraceway.com Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Tire Rule:Left Rear/Fronts – Hoosier Rib (28.5) 1300Right Rear – Hoosier (29.0) 1300 NRM, (29.0) 1300 NRMW, (29.0) 1425 NRM, (29.0) 1425 NRMW
* Must use the same set of 4 tires for Time Trials, Heat Races, and B-Main.* For the A-Main, competitors may use 2 new rear tires of choice.
* Flat tire must be replaced with a used tire of the same compound and construction to retain starting position.

CHEVY RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIESGMR GRAND PRIXINDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAYINDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPTJULY 1, 2020
SIMON PAGENAUD, NO. 22 MENARDS TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, AND CONOR DALY, NO. 2O US AIR FORCE ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, met with media to discuss the upcoming GMR Grand Prix on the Road Course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Pagenaud is the defending race winner, and Daly is making his debut with Ed Carpenter Racing. Full transcript:
THE MODERATOR: Welcome, everybody, to today’s NTT INDYCAR Series video news conference in advance of the GMR Grand Prix on Saturday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The race will be noon at eastern on your local NBC affiliate.
We’re pleased to be joined by the defending champion of the GMR Gran Prix, Simon Pagenaud of Team Penske, and Conor Daly, driver of the No. 20 US Air Force Chevrolet for Ed Carpenter Racing.
Simon, we’ll start with you. I know last May at Indianapolis, it was pretty life-changing for you. How important was the win in the GMR Grand Prix for setting that stage?
SIMON PAGENAUD: Hi, everyone. Thanks for joining.
Obviously racing in Indianapolis to me, it’s what we’re all about. Obviously, our name is INDYCAR. I’ve always loved the Indy Grand Prix because it really sets the tone going into the month of May. It just showcases what INDYCAR is about, road course racing, then the week after that we usually go into the Indianapolis 500.
That’s what’s really about our series, is diversity in terms of tracks and talents. I really enjoy it. I’m really excited to come to Indy again and race in Indianapolis again. That put a grin on my face.
Obviously, the Grand Prix has been very blessed for me. I’ve had three wins there. I hope I can get it to number four. It’s definitely the goal this weekend. But it definitely changed my life last year. Now I can race very focused, yeah, very focused. Also, the chance to race with my personal pressure is off because I’ve achieved my dream. Now I can really focus on myself and getting the best out of myself which is what I really enjoy the most.
THE MODERATOR: Conor, you’ve been going to IMS most of your life, raced in the GMR Grand Prix twice, had a sixth-place finish for Dale Coyne Racing in your debut race. How exciting is it to race at IMS and finally get started with Ed Carpenter Racing?
CONOR DALY: As part of my one-off entries in the Indianapolis 500 in the past, I’ve tried to beg, borrow and plead with the teams, Hey, can I please do the Grand Prix as well? It hasn’t worked out yet.
It’s nice to be back. It’s such an incredible way to start out the month of May. I love the road course at Indy. I love the racing opportunity it brings. We know it’s going to be hard to beat Team Penske there as usual, but it’s going to be a fun challenge. It’s going to be great just to get back on track on a road course, fight with everyone.
There’s a lot of entries as well. We’ve obviously got some one-off entries. It’s great to see some other people in the field again, like Sage Karam and stuff like that. It’s going to be cool to just get back out, get on the road course, let these cars live a little bit at Indianapolis and just have a good weekend.
THE MODERATOR: I know we have quite a few media on the line so we’ll open up for questions from the media.
Q. Simon, you mentioned you’ve won this race three times. The only other person to have won in an INDYCAR on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course has been Will Power, your teammate. What do you make of your particular dominance on this course in these last several years? What has worked so incredibly well for the Team Penske cars?SIMON PAGENAUD: Well, I think what I know for a fact is that Will and I have a very similar driving style. I had the chance to score a win with the Schmidt Peterson Honda when I was there. That was the inaugural Grand Prix, 2014. As a smaller team taking on the big team, that was a lot of fun.
Obviously, I joined the powerhouse of Team Penske and we’ve been able to carry on the tradition of winning at the Grand Prix. Obviously, I’m very proud of that. I feel, again, very blessed that we have the program to be able to contend for wins everywhere we go.
Team Penske, you guys all know, we put a lot of work in, we work really well as teammates as well. That’s one of the things with Will, we have a very similar driving style, but that doesn’t mean that we’re the same speed in every corner. Some corners he’s better than me, some corners I’m better than him. We share a lot. We talk about it, talk about how to set the car up. We’ve been able to make the whole program better that way. Josef contributes a lot to that, as well.
I think the three of us together, obviously we have phenomenal engineers that are able to bring some ideas on how to develop the car in a better way for that track or another track.
But I do think there’s a little bit of mystery as to why sometimes you go to a track and you have more luck than you would at a different track. All I can think of is Detroit. I’ve never had much luck there. It doesn’t mean I’m not a good driver. I go to the Grand Prix and most of the time I’ve had good luck.
There’s a bit of that mystery in racing. You can’t forget it. It’s certainly a testament to the great job that we do all together.
Q. Simon, is there an additional comfort level that you get as a driver going to a track where recently you’ve had success and where your team has also won weekends that you haven’t won? This INDYCAR Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, does it feel any different as far as a comfort level for you guys?SIMON PAGENAUD: I think as a driver, when you go to a track where you’ve won before, a track where you’ve had good success, you just have a level of confidence. I’m going into the Grand Prix with very high expectations of myself and my car and my team. I’m going there to win the race. I’m not going to be third. I’m not going in thinking I could be fifth or sixth or seventh. The goal is to win.
Quite frankly, that’s the only thought I have. But there are a lot of things that’s going to happen, a lot of things out of my control. All I can do is the best I can. Certainly with the team that I have, obviously you expect to win.
Q. You’re both so accessible to fans, have been for a very long time. What will you miss most about not having fans there?CONOR DALY: Well, I mean, honestly it’s my home race. I’ve even seen some tweets today that, like, you know, Tony Donohue put out it’s 27 years since there’s been a race at IMS and he hasn’t been there. It is weird.
I was a fan first. I was out there every day of my life, every month of May that I was allowed to get out of school early and go. It was such a part of my life. But we will still obviously be doing our best to put on the best show that we can for everyone at home.
We know our job is to go out there and try to absolutely, you know, beat everyone and create an incredible race because we know that if the fans were there, they would be cheering along just as much as they would be at home.
It’s tough. It’s strange. But I know that we continue to tell everyone, Hey, we appreciate you, hang with us, we’ll get back to the track eventually. Everyone will be there eventually. We’ll get back hopefully and enjoy it once again.
As long as everyone tunes in on TV, I can guarantee it will be quite a show for everyone.
Q. Simon, could you address that briefly?SIMON PAGENAUD: Yeah, of course, I think it’s a very tough time we’re in right now. We just all have to adapt. It’s quite unfortunate. INDYCAR has been doing everything they could to reorganize the schedule, make sure that we could put on a show for the fans. That’s what we’re going to do.
Texas was a good example of it. We’re out there racing with the new windscreen, a lot of new things that make the series really exciting. I think we see the numbers.
I think everybody in the series can’t wait to have the fans come back. Luckily that’s going to be at Road America. We don’t have to wait too long. It’s unfortunate it can’t happen in Indy. Obviously, health and safety is first. I think we’re in this position right now.
When you ask that question, first thing I thought is back to my childhood. I was at a racetrack. One of the main drivers refused to give me an autograph. Obviously, I wanted to be a driver at some point, I was really young, I didn’t know if I was going to be a driver. I made myself a promise that I would always do the best I could to give an autograph every time I could.
So the fans for me are a big part of my career, a big part of who I am as a racer. It’s the case for every INDYCAR driver, I can assure you that.
It’s going to be weird. Hopefully, that changes very soon.
Q. Conor, I know you’ve raced for 42 different INDYCAR teams. Having a split season, how does the communication flow from one team to the other, then from track to track? What is your mindset? Seems like you have good communication skills anyway. How are you suited for this?CONOR DALY: Well, there’s no sharing of information. Everyone wants to beat everyone. It’s tough (smiling).
Oddly enough, I feel like I’ve been with ECR for quite a long time. We still have yet to race with each other. I was signed up in November. Guess what? It’s almost July. Haven’t even done a single race with them yet. It’s really interesting.
But I feel like I’m part of their family already. We’ve done a lot of work together. We’ve done a lot of simulator days together. So working with the engineers, working with my teammates, Ed and Rinus. We’re ready. We’ve got everything in place. It’s just a matter of you can only think through so many things until your head starts to explode and you just want to get on the real racetrack.
We’ve thought through every possible thing that we could possibly think through and we’re ready to go out there and deliver for the U.S. Air Force, for Chevrolet, for everyone that supports this group. I can’t wait.
The car has been looking great for a long time. Now we got to see it in action side-by-side with a bunch of people. Hopefully at the front. That would be quite satisfactory.
Q. Not complaining or anything, but we’ve gone so long with such a slow start to the season because of the shutdown, now this is going to be the first of five races over the next three weekends. Is it almost like a standing start to the season going from zero to 160 in a matter of a couple of seconds?SIMON PAGENAUD: It’s definitely an adjustment. Everybody I think in the world has been going at an interesting slow speed to going flat out.
I think the advantage of it is we’ve all been able to train a lot, get ready for the heat. Obviously, the added windscreen makes for quite a hot day every day in the racecar. That’s also going to be an adjustment.
But I’m personally ready, ready to go, couldn’t be any more ready, to be honest with you. It’s the best shape I’ve ever been in in my career.
CONOR DALY: Yeah, I mean, like Simon said, I feel really good myself. I’m lighter than I’ve been starting a year before. I feel good. Obviously this weekend will be new for us. We’ve done some road course testing, of course, with the windscreen. But it’s going to be a good old Indiana summer day, plenty of humidity, nice and hot. That will be really tough I think. It will be really interesting.
Really the doubleheaders are going to be the ones where I think it will really test us and put us on the limit. But that’s why we do what we do. We want to be the best athletes we can be and the best drivers we can be. It’s on us to be as prepared as possible.
I can’t wait for it. I’ve been sitting around in this darn simulator room for way too many weekends. I’m ready to get back to the real racecar and be sweating as much as possible because that means we’re out there doing work and I can’t wait.
Q. As racers, how excited are you to see the second race of the day on Saturday, to see how well they do on your course?CONOR DALY: If we’re allowed to watch, I can’t wait. I think it’s going to be great. Those guys, I’ve been getting a lot of texts from different Xfinity guys about the track. I know it will be totally new for them. But I’m excited.
I wish I could do the race obviously. Got to stay focused on the INDYCAR program. I think it will be cool. I think they’ll race pretty well, too.
SIMON PAGENAUD: Yeah, I’m excited to see obviously Austin Cindric, how well he does over there in the Xfinity on Saturday afternoon. But obviously there’s a lot of precautionary aspect we have to think about. I don’t think I can stay actually. I’m actually going to hop on the plane to get home to make sure we all stay safe. Obviously we just have to follow the guidelines. It’s the way it is. I don’t think I’ll be able to watch the race. I wish I could have. It’s the situation we’re in.
I look forward to seeing the big NASCAR race on Sunday. That will be fun to watch. At the end of the day, it’s a historical moment, I think not just for American racing but for worldwide racing. I look forward to the weekend and seeing the reaction afterward.
Q. Elaborate a little bit more on this crossover. How important is it to share a weekend with NASCAR? Do you want to do more of these weekends with these guys?CONOR DALY: I think it’s huge. I think it’s awesome. I mean, I love racing. I’m a race fan. Doesn’t matter if it’s Formula 1, NASCAR, Formula E, whatever it is, USAC. Anything like that is awesome. I would love to see more of it.
This is the first time it will happen. Realistically we wish we could see both fan bases interacting and everyone there together. We’ll still wait on that. But I think it’s an exciting sign hopefully for the future because if one side of motorsport, NASCAR, is doing well, we want that success to kind of somehow — if we can work together, that would be great. This is a team effort. For motorsports to be successful, hopefully, we can all help each other. That would be a lot of fun.
SIMON PAGENAUD: I totally agree with Conor. At the end of the day, we’re all racers. Doesn’t matter if you have a roof, no roof, windscreen, whatever it is. I’m like Conor, I love any sort of racing. I love anything with four wheels and a steering wheel.
If you can join the power of NASCAR and the power of INDYCAR together, it’s fantastic. I think what’s happening for us, for everybody that enjoys racing, it’s massive. I can’t wait to see what the weekend is like, what it’s like.
Obviously, it would have been phenomenal to have the fans come to that race for the first-ever time. We’ll see the attendance we get on TV and the response on social media. It’s going to be a big weekend.
Q. You two have been good here. Is there a pressure moment to get a good result during the week against some of the guys that haven’t been as lucky?CONOR DALY: I think for me personally, yes, you want to kind of keep the momentum going because I know that I’ve been strong here in the past. But it’s also a new environment still with this team for me.
We’re going to have a lot to learn about ourselves. Carlin and I at Texas, I knew that environment already. We were able to take advantage of that. We had a fantastic car. They did the job over the off-season, kind of working with what I had told them last year that we needed to do.
This is still new for us at Ed Carpenter Racing. I’m just excited. We’re only one race in. We want to do well at every race. I’m not really thinking about points or anything yet. But I can’t wait to just get things going.
Yes, Road America is going to be wild, Iowa is going to be tough, swapping teams and everything like that. It will just be nice to get things going. I think if you do well, though, at Indy right now, it does create some good momentum because you’re just going to be going back-to-back races. It’s always nice to have good momentum and cars that are in one piece, as well.
SIMON PAGENAUD: For me, it’s a little different. It’s quite a bit different for me because I’ve been with Team Penske for six years. Same engineer for many, many years. Actually almost a decade. I’m in a very different situation where I’m going into the road course at Indy with the goal to win the race, score more points, strike the (indiscernible). We started the season really well in Texas. I feel this year we can’t be any more ready, quite frankly, despite the situation.
I’m 100% full throttle right now in my head. I’m really in a good space mentally to go to this racetrack and score as many points as possible. I’m definitely thinking championship right now.
Q. Simon, how much do you expect the Aeroscreen to change some of the setups from the past? You’ve been good in the last car. You saw Texas changed a little bit. Do you expect a change in the setups for this weekend?SIMON PAGENAUD: Yeah, it’s a great question because Texas was an eye-opener for a lot of us, I think. We realized after the race there was a lot of improvement to be made, but not enough time to really think about what we could do on-site.
Obviously, it’s the same for the road course in Indy. We don’t really know yet what’s going to need change. Certainly, that hour and 20 minutes of practice is not that much. We’re going into qualifying after that, then it’s race day the next day.
I think it’s going to take a few races to adjust and figure out what we need for each track. Each track is different. No matter what, this is going to be a year of adjustments. I think that might allow driver and engineer combinations to show strength.
Q. Jumping ahead a week. First doubleheader at Road America. What are some of the challenges that go into doing that doubleheader when you have races that one is going to start less than 18 hours after the other one ends?CONOR DALY: I think from the team side, it’s just the amount of work that the guys have to put in. Our crews are going to be flat out, for sure. We appreciate everything that those guys do. They’re flat out.
It’s going to be interesting for us. Road America, probably going to be warm, probably going to be a physical race. It’s been a little while since I’ve been there in an INDYCAR. It’s a great place to race.
The key is, if you have a decent day in the first race, how do you make it an even better day for day two? You know what I mean? Each time on track, you’re going to have to do the best job possible. Use race one as a test session for race two if you’re struggling a little bit.
We want to go there with a strong package immediately because you have two opportunities for points. But realistically you never know what could happen. It’s obviously going to be a very short weekend.
I’m excited for it though. Two races at Road America, I don’t think any driver in the world would complain about that.
SIMON PAGENAUD: I think it will be interesting. Obviously we’ve seen it with NASCAR in Pocono last weekend. First day you’re going to have some really good cars. The next day everybody gets better, like Conor said. The second day is actually really, really tough racing day where you’re a little bit drained from the day before. Decision making is going to have to be on point despite being tired.
We’ve had some practice with Detroit. It’s grueling. The IndyCars are extremely physical cars. It’s going to be hot again with the new windscreen as well. A lot to take in combination there.
I have no doubt it should be an amazing event. But certainly second race will be interesting to see who gets better.
Q. You are in this busy stretch, the quick turnaround. There’s some pressure there not to make it any harder on your team than it needs to be. How much can you be thinking about that in the first race that I really don’t need to put one off in (Turn) 5 or whatever?CONOR DALY: I think drivers are going to go flat out, non-stop, no matter what day it is, what race it is. Yes, we have to think about the weekend as a whole. Obviously, we saw in Texas some mistakes in the day, whether that was in practice or qualifying, really, really affected some people’s race days in general.
We got to be smart. That’s hopefully part of our job, is using our brains the right way, being smart about things. No matter what, I think we’re going to be flat out every day, no matter what.
SIMON PAGENAUD: I actually looked at the schedule yesterday. We’re basically starting in July. October it’s going to be over. It’s half the season really, just as many races in half a season. It’s going to be compact, intense. We all know that INDYCAR racing is extremely intense.
I think the big teams might have an advantage for sure because of the amount of people they have working with them. The smaller teams, on the other hand, it’s going to be hard for them because of all the work they have to do for all these weeks. They have reduced the amount of people.
Overall all the teams are so professional that it should be normal. I expect nothing less than usual.

NASCAR CUP SERIESBIG MACHINE HAND SANITIZER 400INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAYTEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPTJULY 1, 2020
TONY LUNDERS, TEAM MANAGER FOR CHIP GANASSI RACING, met with media via teleconference to reflect NASCAR’s first doubleheader race weekend at Pocono, the expectations going into Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and more. Transcript:  REFLECT A LITTLE BIT ON THIS PAST WEEKEND GOING TO POCONO, THE FIRST EVER NASCAR CUP SERIES DOUBLEHEADER. HOW DID YOUR TEAM PREPARE FOR THAT AND WHAT WERE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THAT?“We were looking forward to a double, especially with the lack of practice that we’ve been able to have since the Covid-19 pandemic started. So, we were looking forward to having an opportunity to race, and then put our heads together, talk with the drivers and then be able to adjust and see what types of changes we could make on our cars. It was good to have that. We didn’t know quite what to expect. We haven’t done that with using the same car back-to-back yet – we still have a couple more of those to go. So, I think we learned some things that we can apply going forward and we were happy to be able to do that.”
WHAT DO YOU EXPECT, TONY, AT INDIANAPOLIS, IN GENERAL? IF YOU LOOK AT THE WEEKEND AND THEN LOOK AT WHAT NASCAR MIGHT DO THERE, IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE SUCH A BIG WEEKEND FOR THE FANS.“For sure. First off, Indy is an important place for our team. There’s a lot of history there with our IndyCar group, Chip (Ganassi), and we’ve had some success there in the past. We take it like we would most other races, as far as the prep and all that stuff. Obviously having the IndyCar group there before we get there, that’s exciting for us. It’s been a long time – I think back in the early 2000s we did some companion races with Trucks and IndyCar, and that was fun to do. So, we’re looking forward to it from the sense of one, in our team, we have both groups going up there. We wish were able to interact with those guys a little bit more and be there on the same day. But for our Cup guys, it will be somewhat business-as-usual as we’ve had these one-day shows. I think from that aspect, it won’t be anything different. We’ll show up the morning of – we’re actually flying out Sunday morning. So, our day will look similar to some of these one-day shows that we’ve been doing.”
WHAT’S YOUR OUTLOOK FOR YOUR TEAMS ON THE CUP SIDE OF THINGS AT INDY?“Indy is a unique place. Some people relate it to some of the other stuff, maybe even some aspects from Pocono where we were just at. We need to run a little bit better there. We didn’t have as good of performance that we wanted at Pocono. I think we took some steps forward and did learn some things. But we’re optimistic. Indy is sort of a unique place. We’re optimistic and we look forward to getting out there.”
HAVING GONE THROUGH THE POCONO WEEKEND, OBVIOUSLY THERE SEEMS TO BE AT THIS POINT, THE EXPECTATION THAT THERE COULD BE ANOTHER ONE OR TWO DOUBLEHEADER WEEKENDS EVEN THIS YEAR. WHAT ARE THE THINGS THAT WERE LEARNED FROM THIS PAST WEEKEND’S EXPERIENCE TO MAYBE CONSIDER FOR ANY OF THE OTHER ONES?“When you have a weekend or a race, you’re trying to makeup for practice time and the ability to throw some changes into. So, you come into it and put your best effort forward for the first race. But it gives you an opportunity to turn right back around and make changes. Not only the good stuff that you come across, but you’re also going to make some mistakes. I think in hindsight, you get a chance to digest and look at what happened throughout the weekend, what you think you did well and what you think you could improve on. And you can apply that same type of thing going forward. It’s a little bit difficult with the protocol stuff that we’re going through now at the track. The way our team operates as a two-car unit and using the other team and information you can get from them – having our groups split up at the race track presents some unique challenges for us. So, a big part of this for us is just trying to overcome some of the communication stuff and how to apply stuff that your teammate is learning. One of the strengths, luckily for us, we have two drivers that are similar in maybe their styles. They both know each other well and have experience with each other in the past. Their communication was really high from the beginning. They have a friendship and a mutual respect for each other that has definitely helped us through this.”
WITH THE 42 TEAM HAVING A LITTLE BIT BETTER PERFORMANCE THIS PAST WEEKEND THAN WHAT IT’S HAD, WHAT HAS BEEN THE CHALLENGE THERE AND WHERE THAT TEAM IS AND WHAT IT NEEDS TO DO TO HAVE EVEN STRONGER PERFORMANCES?“I think a couple of things – across the board, obviously nobody has been able to practice and that hurts most teams equally. I think for us, it’s even a little bit more of a challenge with plugging that in there. Obviously he’s a champion and has won a ton of races, there’s a lot of respect there. But just getting plugged into our system, it’s taken a little bit of time. And I think in any situation, when you put a new driver with a new team, you go through that learning phase. Unfortunately, we have not been able to get a lot of that done in practice. In a normal practice, you can run through six to ten changes and get a leg up on that stuff. So, that’s been a little bit of a challenge where we’re starting a race many times and having to learn things throughout the race, where I feel like that would have been accelerated quite a bit given some practice with that group. We’ve had a couple better finishes, which is good. So, we’re just going to try and build on that going forward.”
OBVIOUSLY, INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY IS A SPECIAL PLACE FOR CHIP. I’M WONDERING IF THERE REALLY ARE ANY SORT OF THINGS THAT YOU NOTICE IN A TEAM AND THE DRIVERS THAT MAKE IT, WHEN YOU GO THERE, SOME PLACE THAT THEY FEEL EITHER MORE OPTIMISTIC IN WINNING OR CERTAINLTLY MORE ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT DOING SO. “One exciting thing is Kurt (Busch)’s 700th start this weekend, so that’s pretty cool. I had the opportunity to work with Kurt when he first got into the Truck Series and it’s been fun to watch him throughout the last 20 years or so. Like you mentioned, the history with Chip Ganassi Racing, Chip, Indy, the Indy 500, the Brickyard – there’s just a long history of respect for that place and what it is. Teams always circle that race as a big one in their year as one of their goals, one of the top races you want to put a lot of effort towards winning and having success there. I think as the year goes, you have realistic expectations of where you’re at and what you think you can do. Like I said, that’s a unique place and you lean on some past experience there in what has worked and what hasn’t worked. A lot of it is confidence in how the team’s working. I think we’re in a good spot going in there. The teams are working really well together – jellying on pitstops, the pit crew and the road crews. It’s just different. It will be different showing up there without a huge fan base. It’s nice to be able to see some of these tracks moving towards having some fans there because it definitely adds to the environment when we’re there. Having the empty garages – when I say empty, just a lot less people – it’s just a different feel to it, for sure. But the teams, none the less, have put a lot of effort into winning that race.”
WHAT ARE YOUR LONGTERM PLANS FOR THE 42 TEAM? DO YOU SEE MATT AS THE LONGTERM SOLUTION FOR THAT TEAM OR ARE YOU JUST LOOKING TO GET THROUGH 2020?“We wanted to get some races with Matt (Kenseth) under us, kind of build that effort there and see where it took us. If Matt decided at some point that he’s enjoying what’s going on and we’re having some success, maybe there’s something more there. But I think the team is more focused on now, being mid-season, and what we need to do to get that car into the playoffs. We’re back in the points a little bit and we need to win a race. So, I think our focus is how do we build that group now to try to get towards the playoffs, win a race, and we’ll let the next year stuff take care of itself as the year goes on. Hopefully, the success is there. Certainly, there are others that know that seat is open and would contact us. And that’s all good, but I think our main focus now is just to get the performance and let the rest take care of itself.”
SPEAKING OF PERFORMANCE, ARE YOU CONTENT OR SATISFIED WITH THE COMMUNICATION BETWEEN MATT MCCALL AND KURT BUSCH AS IT STANDS RIGHT NOW?“Yeah, those two work really good together. That relationship has just gotten better as time has gone by. Kurt has a lot of confidence in Matt and that shows. And likewise, Matt’s communication to Kurt is working really well. We’ve got Kentucky circled coming up here. We got into victory lane there last year and that was really cool. So, we’re just trying to build on that and those guys are doing well together. I think that helps keep us as a company moving forward.”

NASCAR CUP SERIESBIG MACHINE HAND SANITIZER 400INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAYTEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPTJULY 1, 2020
KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 MONSTER ENERGY CAMARO ZL1 1LE met with media via teleconference, and discussed his 700th NASCAR Cup Series career start on Sunday at Indianapolis, having both INDYCAR and NASCAR racing on the same weekend, the ages of drivers currently competing in motorsports, the tight pit road conditions at Indy, and more. Full Transcript: INDY WILL BE YOUR 700th NASCAR CUP SERIES START. DID YOU IMAGINE WHEN YOU STARTED YOUR CAREER THAT YOU WOULD HAVE 700 STARTS?“It’s amazing. To have this opportunity and to have been blessed to have raced with so many great race teams over the years, just making it past the local track was something that I thought was an achievement because my dad was a local racer. He won a lot. But it was like money, sponsors, and the whole challenge of even getting to like the Southwest Tour and Late Model division, that was even tough for us way back in the past. So, it’s amazing. Twenty years of racing at the top series level and now having 700 starts, I never would have guessed.”
WHEN YOU LOOK AT GOING TO INDIANAPOLIS, WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS? WE HAVE THE ROAD COURSE FOR XFINITY, WE HAVE INDYCAR THERE, AND I’M SURE IT’S A TRACK THAT YOU FIND INTRIGUING. WHAT WILL THE WEEKEND BE LIKE IN YOUR MIND?“It’s a big marquee race. It’s our Brickyard 400. But unfortunately, we don’t have our race fans. That’s what I still think about first, each time we’re heading to the race track. And, with a special weekend like this with INDYCAR and Xfinity on the road course on Saturday, and then the Cup race on Sunday on the oval, Roger Penske is the only one that could have made INDYCAR and NASCAR happen on the same weekend. And Big Machine is there with their sponsorship and I know they would put on a great concert and the whole atmosphere around Indy, it was set-up to be fan-based and to have that extra entertainment value. So, it’s something we’ll miss. But I’m focused-in on Sunday’s race. I’m just going to fly in day-of. I would have really liked to have enjoyed seeing the IndyCars and Xfinity on track, but it’s time to stay in the bubble and stay isolated.”
WILL YOU WATCH THE INDYCAR AND XFINITY RACE? AND, WHAT IS YOUR VISION FOR GETTING A WIN AT INDY?“Oh absolutely. I’ll be tuned-in to watch and just enjoy it as a motorsports fan. I think that’s what this weekend is about with it being a July 4th celebration of our country’s birthday, and to have top forms in motorsport in America at Indy, you have open-wheel with INDYCAR and we’ve got NASCAR with the fenders on and they go around the oval, so it’s a great weekend for motorsports to tune-in.
WITH YOUR EXPERIENCED IN INDYCAR, DID YOU LOOK AT ANY CHANCE OF COMPETING IN THE RACE ON SATURDAY?“I did. I looked at it and just with everything going on with COVID and the pandemic and lack of preparation, it just kind of shut everything down as far as the progress and the approach, because it takes a full effort of being tested and track time and being ready. And that’s something that I really put in when I ran the Indy 500 six years ago now. And so, everything just got shut down. But, it would have been fun to with Chip Ganassi Racing and then with Jimmie Johnson now doing a test next week with Scott Dixon’s car, it’s all right there in front of us. It’s just the timing wasn’t right.”
DO YOU HAVE ANY SENSE OF HOW THE NEXT GEN CAR MIGHT REACT TO THE OVAL? THERE’S SOME TALK ABOUT IF THE XFINITY RACE GOES WELL OF MAYBE NASCAR DOING THE CUP CARS ON THE ROAD COURSE. BUT THEN, THERE’S TALK THAT WELL, COULD THE NEXT GEN CAR RACE ANY DIFFERENTLY?“As far as testing and gathering up information and data on the new car, it’s all kind of shut down as well. And, I see those cars though, where they’re able to adapt to any circumstances (like) a street course, road course, or oval. The way that I’ve looked at it and they way they’re assembled, things can be changed out pretty quick. So, you could almost hammer out a road course on a Saturday and an oval on a Sunday with the same cars.”
CAN YOU EXPLAIN WHAT HAS ALLOWED DRIVERS IN THEIR LATE 30’S TO BE VIEWED TO BE IN THE PEAK OF THEIR RACING CAREER STILL HAVING SUCCESS AND MAKING AN IMPACT? AND IS THAT EXTENDING CAREERS OR WHAT HAS THAT ALLOWED THOSE FROM LATE 30’S ON TO HAVE MORE SUCCESS AT A TIME WHEN PEOPLE DIDN’T LOOK AT IT AS BEING AS STRONG OF A PERIOD FOR A DRIVER’S CAREER?“It takes a good team to have a driver’s ability to find the success. A team is the foundation. But the way I’ve looked at things over the years is it seemed like drivers in the generation before me got in when they were in their young thirties and would go to their late forties. And then there was this guy named Jeff Gordon, who came into the sport and broke down a ton of barriers as far as age, and it opened up the flood gates for owners to look at all different areas of the country to find talent and to find racers. It’s been an amazing ride for me. I got in in my young twenties. And then a guy like Joey Logano got in in his teens. My little brother (Kyle Busch) got in in his teens. The change, the shift, has happened for younger drivers to get in and yet it’s still tough to go past 25 years is extreme. I don’t think we’ll ever see that anymore. And so that’s that window that we’ve all had this opportunity to race in, and I think it’s just a matter of age blended with the experience level and with a top-tier team. And when you see that, it’s usually in that 32 to 38 range that I would say could be the peak.
“But I’m having some of the best years of my career as far as consistency because I’m using that experience level. I’m using that calmness and that ability to project the future in the car, and that’s leading to good, consistent, and quality finishes. It’s just that we’ve got to cross over another barrier of sometimes you just throw caution to the wind and let it rip. And that’s when you see guys like (Ryan) Blaney, who now has won the last couple of restrictor-plate races, but yet ran into my little brother the other day at Pocono just driving over the nose of the car. So, you’ve got to blend in the youth and the experience and that’s when you’re going to find the right combination.”
WHAT IS PIT ROAD AT INDIANAPOLIS LIKE? THERE ARE A LOT OF CHALLENGES AT MANY TRACKS, BUT WITH HOW NARROW AND TIGHT INDIANAPOLIS IS, WHAT’S THAT LIKE IN AVOIDING ANY CONTACT THERE, WHICH CAN RUIN SOMEBODY’S DAY?“Yeah, Indianapolis has the toughest pit road in all of the NASCAR circuit. It’s compounded because of the difficulty of passing on track. And so, we’re all trying to gain every inch, every foot possible, on pit road. And so, when you’re coming down pit road at speed, guys are trying to look ahead and see where to peel off to get into their pit box, and then it creates an accordion effect of guys that are sitting there right on top of their lights and their pit road speed, and so that checks people up. And then when you’re coming out of your pit box, you’ve got to turn hard to the right to get around the guy that’s in front of you, and you’re mostly likely blending straight into traffic and people usually just throw all caution to the wind and go you know what? I’m just going to block you and it’s up to you to check-up because we’re that aggressive on pit road to keep that track position.”

Inside Line Promotions – JACKSON, Minn. (June 30, 2020) – Dominic Scelzi rallied throughout the 42^nd annual AGCO Jackson Nationals, where he overcame mechanical woes early in the weekend to tie for the most cars passed during the marquee event’s finale at Jackson Motorplex.

“It was a hell of a recovery from a tough weekend,” he said. “We made the show and moved forward in the race. I feel like from the moment we drove through the gate it was a struggle, but the guys kept working hard and we rebounded well by the end of it.”

Scelzi battled mechanical problems throughout the two preliminary nights of the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series event. He finished seventh in the Last Chance Showdown during the opener and maneuvered from 14^th to eighth in the LCS during Round 2 – both times being only a handful of positions shy of making the main event.

However, that changed on Saturday when Scelzi advanced from seventh to sixth place in a qualifier and from seventh to fourth place in the Last Chance Showdown.

“Before we went out they reworked the bottom,” he said. “Everyone moved to the top so I was able to sneak into the show by running the bottom. I felt like the car was all right and we rolled around the track decent.

“In the main event I felt really good and racy. There were a couple of yellows that didn’t fall my way. I passed a couple of guys when the yellow would come out and they’d get back in front of me. It didn’t go my way, but we still were able to pass a lot of cars.”

Scelzi charged from 24^th to 15^th and he was tied for the most positions gained during the race.

Next up is a trip to Cedar Lake Speedway in New Richmond, Wis., this Thursday through Saturday for the Independence Day Shootout with the World of Outlaws.

“I really like Cedar Lake,” he said. “It’s a place I enjoy going to. I’ve had good speed there. Usually that place gets really, really slick, which makes the racing fun. I’m hoping it gets slick and we can be contenders.”

CORVETTE RACING AT DAYTONA: Prepare for the Restart • First race back following COVID-19 lockdown period• Third race for new mid-engine Chevrolet Corvette C8.R• Corvette C8.Rs placed fourth, seventh in Rolex 24 debut DETROIT (June 30, 2020) – Following a long layoff due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Corvette Racing makes its return to competition this weekend at the same place the 2020 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship began. Daytona International Raceway is the site of Saturday’s WeatherTech 240 and Corvette Racing’s second IMSA event this season. Five months ago, Corvette Racing debuted the mid-engine Chevrolet Corvette C8.R in the Rolex 24 At Daytona. It was a landmark event for the program, which is in its 22nd year of top-level endurance sports car racing competition. Unlike January’s Rolex 24, each mid-engine Corvette will have two drivers apiece for the two-hour, 40-minute race on NBC Sports Network – Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor in the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Corvette with Tommy Milner and Oliver Gavin in the No. 4 C8.R. All four are past winners at Daytona. At this year’s Rolex 24, Garcia, Taylor and Nicky Catsburg placed fourth in GT Le Mans (GTLM), and the No. 3 Corvette C8.R completed more miles – 2,794.60 – than any other Corvette in race history.  This weekend’s race will have a drastically different feel, however. Aside from the difference in race length and grid size, Corvette Racing (like all competitors) will operate 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. Corvette Racing is a three-time winner at Daytona – all coming at the Rolex 24 including an overall victory in 2001. The GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series held mid-summer races at Daytona through 2010; Garcia, Taylor and Milner each competed in at least one of those previous events. The Corvette C8.R is the fifth racing version that Corvette Racing has fielded since its first season in 1999. The team’s record since its debut is unmatched – 107 victories, 13 IMSA Team Championships, and 12 Manufacturer and Driver titles. 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 IMSA WeatherTech 240 at Daytona is set for July 3-4 with live race television coverage on NBC Sports Network, NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports App starting at 6 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: “It’s going to be a challenge for everyone. Not being able to test your development on track is a new thing to do. Everyone is working at home so it’s not easy. You go by how the race went at Daytona, and we hope we are fixing the items we identified but we couldn’t test them on track. That’s the only downside to that and having just two hours practice. It will be a challenge, but Corvette Racing is the best team out there. If anyone can do this, it’s this team.”

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “It will be a much shorter race with a much different mindset. For the Rolex, you’re trying to race to the end and survive the first 20 hours to race in the last four. For this one, you’ll prepping a car for speed to compete in laptime and performance. You’ll have to take a lot more risks not to lose track position. There will be a bit of difference in strategy. Corvette Racing has a long history of bouncing between races of these lengths (endurance vs. sprint).”

OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “It’s fantastic to get back racing. All credit to everyone at IMSA for working away tirelessly for the last couple of months to get us back racing at Daytona. It will be obviously pretty hot and sticky conditions but at least we will be back behind the wheel. Some fans will get to see cars out on track, which I think is fantastic. It’s been a long break… probably the longest period for anyone involved in racing. There isn’t a lot of track time at Daytona, which will present some challenges and be a little weird, to be honest. But everyone is really wanting to just get out there and get on with it.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “With a new car, we are approaching each race trying to learn as much as we can. Winning races is always the target, and that won’t change whether we had a bad Daytona or not. For Olly and I, it’s about continuing to push the car forward and going for race wins. That’s the best way to make up that deficit. With less cars, it’s harder to make up larger point gaps but it’s the same for everyone. Just because we had a bad Daytona doesn’t mean we are out of it. As always, the goal at every weekend especially early on is to finish as high as we possibly can. Winning obviously is No. 1, but getting points is big. That won’t change by any means. There is an expected learning process with the new Corvette. If there is something we can learn early on here that will help us down the road then we will certainly explore that.”

·         Linus Lindqvist Sweeps Formula Regional Americas weekend

·         Honda Performance Development Extends Contract through 2023 as Exclusive Engine Supplier

·         SCCA Pro Racing inks Deal with Parella Motorsports Holdings

·         33 F4 U.S. Cars storm Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course

Lexington, Ohio (June 29, 2020)- After nearly an eight-month hiatus, the Formula 4 Untied States and Formula Regional Americas Championships returned to racing, roaring through Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course June 26-28 with more than 50 Honda-Powered cars between the championships. 

Linus Lindqvist Sweeps Formula Regional Americas weekend

The FR Americas drivers delivered two action packed races at Mid-Ohio, with exciting battles from the front to the back of the 17-car field, but it was  Global Racing Group rookie Linus Lundqvist who controlled the weekend with a dominate debut. 

Behind the No. 26 Paytrim machine, the 2018 BRDC British F3 champion swept the weekend, qualifying on pole by setting a new track qualifying lap record (1:19.273-seconds) then driving lights to checkers in both 30-minute features. The outstanding drive earned Lundqvist the Omologato Perfectly Timed Move of the Race.

“Two wins, two pole positions and setting the fastest lap, it’s very hard to beat an opening weekend like that,” Lundqvist said. “Obviously it wasn’t easy, especially when you look at how large and competitive the field is. I’m a very small part in this operation, the team gave me a great car and I went out there and did my part.

While HMD Motorsports driver David Malukas’ race craft shined on the technical 15-turn, 2.4-minle circuit, he played second fiddle to Lundqvist all weekend. Topping the charts early in qualifying, Malukas of Chicago was edged out of pole-position in the final laps by .001-seconds, the closest qualifying margin in series history.

In Race 1, Malukas, staring second, bobbled the F1-style standing start, dropping back to fifth before Turn 1. Malukas worked his way back to third by a final lap and clinched second after an unforced error made by Santiago Urrutia, sent the Uraguan pilot flying off course, forfeiting his podium position to his teammate. Newman Wachs Racing driver Victor Franzoni crossed the stripe in third.

Malukas challenged Lundqvist for the point in Race 2, but his focus quickly changed from challenging for first to defending his second-place position which allowed Lundqvist to pull a gap. Malukas completed his FR Americas debut weekend with a pair of second-place finishes.

Urrutia recovered in Race 2 to claim the podium finish he missed out on earlier in the weekend.

Full Results

HPD Extends Contract with Parella Motorsports Holdings through 2023

Honda Performance Development (HPD) extended its partnership through 2023 as the sole engine supplier to the FIA F4 U.S. and FR Americas Championships. In combination with the recent announcement that Parella Motorsports Holdings (PMH) is taking ownership of commercial promotion for these series, the future is very bright for developing world class open-wheel racing talent in North America.

The FR Americas Championship and F4 U.S. Championship offer global developing drivers the opportunity to demonstrate their skills on an international platform, with affordability and safety as top priorities. Both series’ cars are powered by equally strong, reliable, HPD-modified versions of the current Honda Civic® Type R® engine, with the FR Americas powered by a turbocharged 303-horsepower edition, while F4 U.S. uses a normally aspirated 160-bhp engine.

The Honda Civic® Type R® engine is manufactured in Marysville, Ohio, just miles north from Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

“We are eager to continue the strong momentum in developing racing talent in North America by leveraging our unique product and program capabilities,” said Ted Klaus, President of HPD. “I’d like to thank our partners SCCA Pro Racing, Ligier and Hankook for taking the risk with us, starting in 2015, to power the dreams of future INDYCAR stars.

“Our consistent, reliable, and powerful HPD-developed Type R® race engines have helped create affordable racing opportunities for developing open wheel racers, and we see even more opportunities with this new partnership,” Klaus continued. “We’re excited that PMH has taken an active interest in helping aspiring professional racers achieve their goals ‘Powered by Honda’, and we’re excited to see what the future holds for these series and their participants.”

33 F4 U.S. Cars storm Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course

The world’s largest FIA F4 average field stormed through Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course over the weekend, bringing 33 F4 U.S. cars to the Honda-supported circuit. While teams and drivers were ready to go racing, Mother Nature had other plans in mind, plaguing the first round with torrential weather. As rain worsened the already slick track conditions, lightening was spotted, forcing race control to call the round before the green flag reemerged. Since no green laps were taken, points were not awarded. The series will attempt to make up the round at a later date. 

Since no official lap times were clocked in Race 1, the grid for Race 2 was based off qualifying results. Christian Bogle started on point, and after three restarts, Bogle held onto his pole-position start to claim the Race 2 win at Mid-Ohio on Sunday. The race ended in yellow after a debris from an off car littered the track forced race competition to a halt. Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport driver Dylan Tavella crossed the line second with Velocity Racing Development rookie Hunter Yeany rounding out the provisional podium. 

After cars failed post-race technical inspection, all F4 weekend results are provisional. Final results will be released following an appeals hearing.

June 29, 2020

Matt DiBenedetto and the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane team turned in another strong performance in the Sunday’s second half of a double-header at Pocono Raceway.

After finishing 13^th and scoring 10 Stage points on Saturday, DiBenedetto and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane team came back on Monday and scored eight more Stage points and finished sixth in the Pocono 350.

Sunday’s finish netted 41 points, the most DiBenedetto has earned in a race this season. He remains 14^th in the Cup Series standings, but is just three points behind 13^th-place Clint Bowyer and six back of 12^th-place Jimmie Johnson.

DiBenedetto lined up eighth for the start of Sunday’s race and quickly drove his way into the top five then finished the first 30-lap Stage in sixth place, earning five Stage points.

In the second Stage, a 55-lapper, he ran in second or third place for much of the way, then made a pit stop from third place with 10 laps remaining in the Stage. Still, he drove his way back to ninth at the end of the Stage, earning two more points.

In the third and final segment of the race, he made his final pit stop with 38 laps remaining, taking two tires and fuel.

He rejoined the race and began working his way forward, gaining some spots through passes and others when drivers ahead of him made their last stops.

With 22 laps remaining, he was up to 15^th place, and broke back into the top 10 six laps later. With four laps remaining, he took sixth place and held off William Byron and Clint Bowyer to claim his best Pocono finish in 12 career starts and his fourth top-10 finish of the season.

“We had great strategy from start to finish,” DiBenedetto said of the plans formulated by crew chief Greg Erwin. “We followed Greg’s plan and it worked out even better than we thought.”

DiBenedetto said he and Erwin figured that making a pit stop just before the end of the second Stage would set them up better for the finish but cost them some Stage points, but that wasn’t the case.
 
“We thought we’d be sacrificing Stage points, but we had a good pit stop and had a solid restart and grabbed a couple of points.”
 
DiBenedetto said his Motorcraft/Quick Lane Mustang was fast and his crew was on their game.
 
“We had a top-10 car all day long,” he said. “Everything was really smooth. Everybody executed well, and it was just a good, solid day.”

He said the weekend’s performance at Pocono has him and the team feeling upbeat as they head to Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
 
“We’ve known we can do this,” he said, adding that he, Erwin and the crew have been working on their communication and on being more consistent in their on-track performance. “I think this weekend was an example of what we’ve been working on and knowing that we’re capable of doing is addressing that and just having solid days like we did today being in the top 10 from the start to the finish of the day, getting stage points and finishing up there.
 
“We’ve done a good job at working on that and I think we can do a lot more of this moving forward.”

Next up for DiBenedetto and the No. 21 team is the Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard on July 5. 
 

Solid, Top-15 Finish and Stage Points for Austin Dillon and the No. 3 Symbicort (budesonide/formoterol fumarate dihydrate) Chevrolet Team at Pocono Raceway

14th   2nd  17th

“Everyone on the Symbicort (budesonide/formoterol fumarate dihydrate) Chevrolet team did a great job hanging in there today and working together to pull off a top-15 finish. We made a few adjustments to our car and strategy based on what we learned yesterday. There was a lot more grip on the track then what I figured there would be for a 4 p.m. Eastern race start. We just battled a tight-handling condition for most of the day today, especially at the beginning of the race. We had to free it up a bunch. We missed Stage points at the conclusion of Stage 1 by just one position, but then earned a few key Stage points at the end of Stage 2. During Stage 3, we worked our way into the top-five before pitting for fuel with 13 laps remaining. All-in-all, can’t complain about a 14th-place finish. I want to thank everyone at AstraZeneca and Symbicort (budesonide/formoterol fumarate dihydrate) for their support.” -Austin Dillon

Tyler Reddick and No. 8 Caterpillar Team Put Up Strong Fight at Pocono Raceway

35th     30th    18th

“This weekend did not go at all how we wanted it to, but I’m proud of the No. 8 Caterpillar team for never giving up at any point. When I came across the line to take the green flag today, I lost all power steering and had to drop back to protect the car. Right as I was going to hit pit road to see what we could do to fix the handling, the caution came out for rain, which almost ended up helping us. I was able to pit and give my team the entire yellow to work on the car. We figured out we would be able to replace the alternator belt as the red flag came out. Once the yellow flag came back out, my team worked as fast as they could to make the repairs but we still ended up a handful of laps down by the time we could rejoin the field. From that point on it was just a matter of capitalizing on everything  that came our way to gain as many spots as we possibly could. Every point matters in the fight to make the Playoffs, and we weren’t going to go down without a fight. We got trapped a little bit with how the race played out, but we gave it our all today to get everything we could. I wouldn’t want to be racing with any other group than the one I have right now and am looking forward to getting back after it at Indy next weekend.” -Tyler Reddick

NASCAR CUP SERIESPOCONO RACEWAYPOCONO 350TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES AND QUOTESJUNE 28, 2020 
TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:POS.   DRIVER4th      CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE 7th      WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 1LE9th      ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 CHEVYGOODS.COM/ADAM POLISHES CAMARO ZL1 1LE12th    MATT KENSETH, NO. 42 CREDIT ONE BANK CAMARO ZL1 1LE13th    KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 MONSTER ENERGY CAMARO ZL1 1LE
TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS: POS.  DRIVER1st      Denny Hamlin (Toyota)2nd     Kevin Harvick (Ford)3rd      Erik Jones (Toyota)4th      Chase Elliott (Chevrolet)5th      Aric Almirola (Ford) The NASCAR Cup Series season continues at Indianapolis Motor Speedway with the Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 Powered by Big Machine Records on Sunday, July 5th, at 4:00 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on NBC, NBC Sports Gold and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
TEAM CHEVY NOTES AND QUOTES:CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 4th“It was good to have a solid run for our NAPA team after yesterday being so poor. Obviously, we would’ve liked to of been a little better, but after starting in the back, I was pleased how I was able to move forward and gain a lot of that track position back. It was a good rebound. Looking forward to getting back on track at Indy.” WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 7th“We ended up with a top-10 finish today which was good. It was definitely an improvement from yesterday – seven spots better to be exact – which is good. We still struggled a good portion of the race but I think we made the right calls and adjustments at the end. We had a lot of speed actually the last couple runs. I think the track kind of came to us and ultimately that’s what we needed. So we’ll go on to Indy and hopefully have a better run there.” ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 CHEVYGOODS.COM/ADAM POLISHES CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 9th“It was an up and down day. So many people are on different pit strategies throughout the day here in Pocono. We had a top 10 car all day, just didn’t have the running positions to show for it. Greg (Ives) and the guys made great adjustments on pit road and really improved the car throughout the race. A top-10 finish today is good momentum for us going to Indy next weekend.”
KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 MONSTER ENERGY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 13th“The team made a lot of changes to the car from the race yesterday, but we still really struggled with the handling in traffic. The difference between dirty and clean air is crazy. The Monster Energy Chevy was good early on when we had track position (clean air) and we were able to lead all the laps and get the Stage 1 win, but just a tough ending for the No.1 team, a little Pocono Deja vu for us today!”
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 SYMBICORT CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 14th“Everyone on the Symbicort (budesonide/formoterol fumarate dihydrate) Chevrolet team did a great job hanging in there today and working together to pull off a top-15 finish. We made a few adjustments to our car and strategy based on what we learned yesterday. There was a lot more grip on the track then what I figured there would be for a 4 p.m. race start. We just battled a tight-handling condition for most of the day today, especially at the beginning of the race. We had to free up a bunch. We missed Stage points at the conclusion of Stage 1 by just one position, but then earned a few key Stage points at the end of Stage 2. During Stage 3, we worked our way into the top-five before pitting for fuel with 13 laps remaining. All-in-all, can’t complain about a 14^th-place finish. I want to thank everyone at AstraZeneca and Symbicort (budesonide/formoterol fumarate dihydrate) for their support.”
RICKY STENHOUSE JR., NO. 47 KROGER CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 15th“Overall, I think it was a solid weekend for our Kroger Chevrolet. We definitely learned some things on Saturday that we were able to adapt to for Sunday, but the track raced very differently on Sunday than it did on Saturday. We were really loose most of the race, but Brian (Pattie) made some great strategy calls to keep us running up front and ultimately get a top-15 finish at the end. We’re on a solid momentum streak and I’m looking forward to carrying that over to Indianapolis Motor Speedway next weekend.”
BUBBA WALLACE, NO. 43 VICTORY JUNCTION CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 20th“Our Richard Petty Motorsports team made the right adjustments for what we fought yesterday, but it still was not the right adjustments; that is kind of the frustrating part. We did not have enough raw speed and couldn’t quite get the handling we needed on our No. 43 Victory Junction Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. All-in-all, we came-out with a top-20 finish and it’s an improvement from yesterday. Good to get out of Pocono, and give us time to refocus before we come back.”“I’m glad we got the race in. Racing with no lights is a little tricky, but all-in-all, we’ll head to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. We had our best finish there last year, so we’ll see if we can back that up.” TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 CATERPILLAR CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 35th “This weekend did not go at all how we wanted it to, but I’m proud of the No. 8 Caterpillar team for never giving up at any point. Unfortunately, when I came across the line to take the green flag today I lost all power steering and had to drop back to protect the car. Right as I was going to hit pit road to see what we could do to fix the handling, the caution came out for rain, which almost ended up helping us. I was able to pit and give my team the entire yellow to work on the car. We figured out we would be able to replace the alternator belt right as the red flag came out. Once the yellow flag came back out, my team worked as fast as they could to make the repairs but we still ended up a handful of laps down by the time we could rejoin the field. From that point on it was just a matter of capitalizing on everything that came our way to gain as many spots as we possibly could. Every point matters in the fight to make the Playoffs, and we weren’t going to go down without a fight. We got trapped a little bit with how the race played out, but we gave it our all today to get everything we could. I wouldn’t want to be racing with any other group than the one I have right now and am looking forward to getting back after it at Indy next weekend.”

Although the 12th Annual Scoggin-Dickey Parts Center NMRA/NMCA All-Star Nationals at Atlanta Dragway in Commerce, Georgia, was originally scheduled to be run in April, the repercussions from the Covid-19 pandemic forced a date change to June 26-28, 2020. It was definitely worth the wait, though, as the event was run to completion over a near-perfect weekend and racers and fans alike were thrilled to be back out cutting lights and clicking off runs at “Georgia’s House of Speed.” A combined event for both NMRA and NMCA only added to the excitement, while the huge car show and expansive vendor midway amped up the atmosphere even further. At the event’s conclusion, champions were crowned in the Aerospace Components Winner’s Circle and cars were eagerly loaded into trailers in preparation for the next event in just a few short weeks. In the combined NMRA and NMCA VP Racing Madditives/Mickey Thompson Street Outlaw category, Alan Felts put his newly-finished “baby Pro Mod” ’91 Mustang into the number-one spot with a 4.424 at 165.97mph blast, but spun twice in round two of eliminations and couldn’t recover. Meanwhile, former champion and Street Outlaw bad boy Phil Hines of Lebanon, Ohio, met with Tony Hobson and his recently-acquired ride for an epic final-round battle of ProCharged-powered Mustangs. Hines, who had qualified fourth, snatched the lead at the start and was able to hold it all the way to the finish where a 4.504 at 160.79mph trip from his ’01 model took down Hobson’s effort of 4.514 at 160.86 mph in his ’90 Fox body. It was Mike Freeman’s name topping the list after qualifying had been finalized for twenty-four NMRA/NMCA Edelbrock Renegade/Xtreme Street entries, as his ’88 Mustang put in an impressive performance of 4.687 at 148.31 mph. In eliminations, all the glory belonged to Bob Zelenak of Uniontown, Pennsylvania, and his ’93 Mustang. Zelenak translated his earlier number-ten qualifying performance of a 4.832 at 144.44 mph to a nearly identical 4.832 at 145.55mph run in the finals and was able to add an NMRA Edelbrock Victortrophy to his collection while Scott Grove—who had qualified thirteenth—took the runner up consolation prize with his 5.109 at 139.37mph eighth-mile run. The lead in JDM Engineering Limited Street qualifying belonged to Samantha Moore and her ’14 Mustang, as the duo clocked an 8.669 at 157.70 mph quarter-mile time slip. A hurt transmission took her out in round one of eliminations, though, and opened the door for UPR Products’ own Bill Putnam and Blow By Racing-backed Jason Davis to face off in the finals. Davis, however, had cooked his turbocharger earlier in the day and was only able to take the light as he watched Putnam, who had qualified second, fly down the track in his orange ’94 Mustang for an uncontested win. Rocking out with his ’89 Mustang in Richmond Gear Factory Stockqualifying, John Leslie Jr. earned the number-one placement when he went 10.334 at 128.71 mph. The Rockstar lived up to the name during eliminations, as Leslie rocked out round after round in eliminations and took down Mike Bowen, who had qualified third on a hole shot, on his want to the Aerospace Components Winner’s Circle. G-Force Racing Transmissions Coyote Stock is always crazy competitive, but Michigan’s Frank Paultanis was on a tear right from the start, as he was the only driver to click off a 10-teens number in qualifying, which rightfully put him in the top spot with his ’04 Mustang. In eliminations, his performance advantage was clearly evident as he turned on win light after win light with his Coyote-powered ’04 Mustang and capped off a perfect weekend with a trip to the Aerospace Components Winner’s Circle after putting Nathan Stymiest back on the trailer in the finals. Just 0.003-seconds away from a perfect light behind the wheel of his ’89 Fox body Mustang, Chris Graff was the number-one qualifier in Exedy Racing Clutch Modular Muscle qualifying. Coming back from a stint in no prep racing, though, was Texas-based racer James Meredith of Triangle Speed Shop fielding his ’73 Capri. Meredith proved things really are bigger in Texas, including wins, as he defeated reigning champion Charlie McCulloch and his ’04 Mustang Cobra in a tight final elimination round where McCulloch went 10.980 on his 10.88 but Meredith managed a 9.967 on his 9.91. David Mormann of Tampa, Florida, was nearly dead-on when he ran 11.005 on his 11.00 dial with his ’70 Mustang Mach I during FSC Ford Muscle qualifying to land in the top placement. He kept up the consistency throughout eliminations to muscle his way through to the finals. Kevin Sanders had qualified third and also made it to the last round of the weekend, but Mormann had him both at the start and at the stripe and it was the man from the Sunshine State who closed things out on a high note. Sitting in first after ROUSH Performance Super Stang qualifying, Andy Ransford’s 0.039-second reaction time in his ’06 Mustang definitely did the job, but it was Lloyd Mikeska and Russell Haskins who had the advantage during eliminations. Mikeska, the number-three qualifier from Richmond, Texas, and Haskins, the number-two qualifier from Marietta, Georgia, battled it out in a heated final round, but ultimately the win light lit in Mikeska’s lane.Nearly two dozen competitors came out to contest the ARP Open Comp class, but Tom Hoffman had the quickest reaction time during qualifying with an 0.003-second trigger from his Mustang. Hoffman’s run ended in round two, but Bill Jones and Mel White, both of Nashville, Georgia, and both with 0.019-second reaction times in qualifying to wind up ninth and eighth, respectively, ran side by side in the finals for a ‘60s-era Falcon vs Mustang showdown. At the stripe, it was Jones whose 9.214 at 149.91 mph run on a 9.21 dial was a winner over White’s 10.977 at 121.57 mph pass on his 11.06 goal. Recovering from his battle with Covid-19, Vinnie Telesco was missed by his usual Detroit Locker Truck & Lightning class as well as the entire NMRA family. Keith Chobirko of White Oak, Pennsylvania, however, set the pace in qualifying with his ’01 Ranger when he cut a quick 0.002-second light and stayed right on the money all throughout eliminations. In the final round pairing, Chobirko defeated the number two qualifier, Bob Dill, with a winning package A large group of QA1/TorqStorm Superchargers True Street racers came out to enjoy a 30-mile street cruise and three back-to-back trips down the quarter mile after so much time in quarantine, and it was Mark Scordato of Newton, New Jersey who was the overall winner as his ’68 Pontiac GTO clocked the quickest average of 9.463-seconds. Hot on his heels was Dan Nusbaum from Crossville, Tennessee, who averaged 9.926-seconds in his ’87 Mustang to take the overall runner-up honors. Alex Corella won the 10-second group, Ben Bramlett took top honors for the 11-second section, Mike Baker was the winner in the 12-second group, Dylan Derby bested the 13-second average, Kay Ward had the lead in the 14-second pack, and Allen Smith was the final winner for the 15-second bunch. The NMRA Holley Drag Racing Series continues the 15th Annual Nitto Tire NMRA/NMCA Super Bowl of Street-Legal Drag Racing Presented by HPJ Performance with the Chevrolet Performance Challenge Series at World Wide Technology Raceway near St. Louis in Madison, Illinois, over the weekend July 30-August 2, 2020.

Myatt Snider and the TaxSlayer Chevrolet Team Show Speed with Top-Five Finish at Pocono Raceway

4th    2nd  10th

“It was a great day for us. We were up front leading laps and had a great chance to win in our TaxSlayer Chevrolet Camaro. I hate we got involved earlier with that incident that took out so many cars. I was getting a big push from behind and had a run on the 9 car. I knew we were going to funnel up very quickly, so I started lifting out of it, but the guy behind me didn’t. I hate it for those guys, but I’m thankful we were able to make it through without damage. In the end it just came down to experience for me. I’ve only had a select few races with this RCR car. It has so much speed, I just need to get myself a little more consistent. Kudos to my RCR guys for bringing such a fast TaxSlayer Camaro. I had a blast today. I just need to get a little more experience and I think we’ll be able to win some races.” -Myatt Snider

EASTABOGA, AL (June 27, 2020) – Jimmy Owens won his fourth straight Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt series event on Saturday Night leading all the way in the EZ-GO 50. The event marked the first Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series race at Talladega Short Track in 12 years. The current series point leader extended his lead in the championship standings with his 69th career series victory. Josh Richards finished second in the Clint Bowyer Racing entry and Kyle Hardy recorded his best career finish in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series as he rounded out the Big River Steel podium in third. Michael Page came home in fourth followed by former series rookie-of-the-year, Billy Moyer Jr. in fifth. Owens took the lead at the start of the race with Hudson O’Neal quickly moving from his fourth starting spot to second. O’Neal ran in second behind Owens until he slowed on lap 8 and exited the race. Jonathan Davenport moved into second place where he would stay until a caution flew for him with 31 laps scored. Richards became the third different driver to run in the second spot behind Owens. A caution with ten laps to go bunched the field up, but for the fourth series race in a row, Owens went on to the victory in the richest race ever ran at TST. “Once again, the car was flawless all weekend,” said the 48-year-old 3-time series champion in Lucas Oil Victory Lane, “My hats to the crew and Dale McDowell for prepping the track this week. They watered the track and gave us a racy track for a long time. It’s great to come home with a win for Pope Construction, they are just up the road from here. He has helped us for years. I am just glad he could be a part of it and be here with us. I don’t think I have ever been here where I haven’t run off the corner in one and two. I am glad the fans stuck it out and I’m glad the weather held out. Hopefully, we can keep it going.”    Richards tried his best to stay with Owens in the closing laps but settled for the second finishing spot.  “Those guys have a done a good job,” said Richards in reference to Owens and his crew. “Whatever he has going on, he’s been riding it. It doesn’t seem like he has to hustle it very much. Compared to last night, tonight, we got the car more dialed in. We ran the race we feel like we came to win. We were right there on him. He beat us in certain parts of the track, but we feel like we can run with him in other parts.  Our balance is good, and we will just keep on digging.” Hardy was pleased with his run, “We came here with our backs against the wall. We had a tough night last night. I wish It didn’t end like it did. Hats off to the track crew. They worked hard on it this week and they gave us a track to race on. That’s what it’s all about. It means a lot to come here and finish behind Jimmy Owens and Josh Richards.”

The winner’s Ramirez Motorsports Rocket Chassis is powered by a Vic Hill Racing Engine and sponsored by Reece Monument Company, Tommy Pope Construction, Boomtest Well Service, Red Line Oil, General Tire, Midwest Sheet Metal, Hypercoil Springs, Ohlins Shocks, and Champion Spark Plugs. Completing the top ten were Cory Hedgecock, Dillon Tidmore, Tanner English, Tyler Erb, and Stormy Scott.Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series 
Race Summary 
EZ-Go 50
Saturday, June 27th, 2020
Talladega Short Track – Eastaboga, AL

Lucas Oil Time Trials
Fast Time Group A: Jonathan Davenport / 14.036 seconds (overall)
Fast Time Group B: Tim McCreadie / 14.273 seconds 

Penske Race Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer):  1. 49-Jonathan Davenport[1]; 2. 38-Dillon Tidmore[5]; 3. 18X-Michael Page[4]; 4. 9-Devin Moran[3]; 5. 50-Shanon Buckingham[8]; 6. 10J-Joseph Joiner[10]; 7. 66-Jake Knowles[7]; 8. 16S-Sam Seawright[6]; 9. 25-Shane Clanton[2]; 10. 00P-Dalton Polston[9]; 11. (DNS) 29-Christian Hanger

FK Rod Ends Heat Race #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer):  1. 14-Josh Richards[2]; 2. 2S-Stormy Scott[1]; 3. 1-Earl Pearson Jr[3]; 4. 40B-Kyle Bronson[8]; 5. 91-Heath Hindman[5]; 6. 21M-Billy Moyer Sr[4]; 7. 85-Jason Hiett[6]; 8. 35-Dallas Cooper[7]; 9. 6S-Blake Spencer[9]; 10. (DNS) 8-Kyle Strickler

Simpson Race Products Heat Race #3 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 20-Jimmy Owens[1]; 2. 21-Billy Moyer Jr[4]; 3. 79-Kyle Hardy[5]; 4. 81E-Tanner English[2]; 5. 44D-Dalton Cook[3]; 6. 22R-Will Roland[8]; 7. 57-Josh Adkins[9]; 8. 25M-Justin Mcree[10]; 9. 17-Logan Roberson[6]; 10. 84-Austin Smith[7]; 11. (DNS) 99M-JR Moseley

Ohlins Shocks Heat Race #4 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 71-Hudson O’Neal[2]; 2. 39-Tim McCreadie[1]; 3. 23H-Cory Hedgecock[3]; 4. 76-Brandon Overton[4]; 5. 1T-Tyler Erb[5]; 6. 24-Zach Leonhardi[6]; 7. 16-Tyler Bruening[8]; 8. 25T-Tim Roszell[9]; 9. 62-Cody King[7]; 10. 42K-Cla Knight[10]

Tiger Rear Ends B-Main #1 Finish (12 Laps, Top 3 Transfer):  1. 50-Shanon Buckingham[1]; 2. 91-Heath Hindman[2]; 3. 10J-Joseph Joiner[3]; 4. 21M-Billy Moyer Sr[4]; 5. 85-Jason Hiett[6]; 6. 66-Jake Knowles[5]; 7. 25-Shane Clanton[9]; 8. 16S-Sam Seawright[7]; 9. 35-Dallas Cooper[8]; 10. 6S-Blake Spencer[10]; 11. (DNS) 00P-Dalton Polston; 12. (DNS) 8-Kyle Strickler; 13. (DNS) 29-Christian Hanger

FAST Shafts B-Main #2 Finish (12 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 1T-Tyler Erb[2]; 2. 44D-Dalton Cook[1]; 3. 24-Zach Leonhardi[4]; 4. 22R-Will Roland[3]; 5. 25T-Tim Roszell[8]; 6. 57-Josh Adkins[5]; 7. 62-Cody King[10]; 8. 42K-Cla Knight[12]; 9. 84-Austin Smith[11]; 10. 25M-Justin Mcree[7]; 11. 16-Tyler Bruening[6]; 12. 99M-JR Moseley[13]; 13. (DNS) 17-Logan Roberson

Lucas Oil Feature Finish (50 Laps): 

Pos	Start	Car #	Competitor	Hometown	Pay
1	2	20	Jimmy Owens	Newport, TN	$12,900
2	3	14	Josh Richards	Shinnston, WV	$6,300
3	10	79	Kyle Hardy	Stephens City, VA	$3,500
4	9	18X	Michael Page	Winston, GA	$2,750
5	6	21	Billy Moyer Jr	Batesville, AR	$2,950
6	12	23H	Cory Hedgecock	Loudon, TN	$1,800
7	5	38	Dillon Tidmore	Gadsen, AL	$1,500
8	14	81E	Tanner English	Benton, KY	$2,100
9	18	1T	Tyler Erb	New Waverly, TX	$1,900
10	7	2S	Stormy Scott	Las Cruces, NM	$1,100
11	13	9	Devin Moran	Dresden, OH	$1,775
12	20	44D	Dalton Cook	Columbus, GA	$1,050
13	15	40B	Kyle Bronson	Brandon, FL	$1,725
14	17	50	Shanon Buckingham	Morristown, TN	$1,700
15	1	49	Jonathan Davenport	Blairsville, GA	$2,000
16	24	16	Tyler Bruening	Decorah, IA	$1,000
17	11	1	Earl Pearson Jr	Jacksonville, FL	$1,800
18	16	76	Brandon Overton	Evans, GA	$1,000
19	8	39	Tim McCreadie	Watertown, NY	$1,700
20	19	91	Heath Hindman	Signal Mountain, TN	$1,000
21	22	24	Zach Leonhardi	Douglasville, GA	$1,000
22	21	10J	Joseph Joiner	Milton, FL	$1,000
23	4	71	Hudson O’Neal	Martinsville, IN	$1,000
24	23	25	Shane Clanton	Zebulon, GA	$1,700

Race Statistics
Entrants: 42
Lap Leaders: Jimmy Owens (Laps 1 – 50)
Wrisco Feature Winner: Jimmy Owens
Margin of Victory: 1.581 seconds
Cautions: Hudson O’Neal (Lap 8); Jonathan Davenport (Lap 31); Shanon Buckingham, Earl Pearson Jr. (Lap 40)
Series Provisionals: Shane Clanton, Tyler Bruening
Fast Time Provisional: n/a
Series Emergency Provisionals: n/a
Big River Steel Podium Top 3: Jimmy Owens, Josh Richards, Kyle Hardy
Optima Batteries Hard Charger of the Race: Tyler Erb (Advanced 9 Positions) 
Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Jimmy Owens
Allstar Performance Most Laps Led: Jimmy Owens (50 Laps)
Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Jimmy Owens
Eibach Springs Rookie of the Race: Tanner English
ARP Engine Builder of the Race: Vic Hill Racing Engines
Miller Welders Chassis Builder of the Race: Rocket Chassis
Outerwears Crew Chief of the Race: Jeff Strope (Jimmy Owens)
Dirty Girl Racewear Fastest Lap of the Race: Jimmy Owens (Lap #1 – 14.276 seconds)
STEEL-IT Tough Break of the Race: Jonathan Davenport
PFC Brakes Pole Award: Jonathan Davenport
Time of Race: 23 minutes 48 seconds

Lucas Oil Point Standings:

Pos	Car #	Competitor	Hometown	Points	Pay
1	20	Jimmy Owens	Newport, TN	3545	$99,300
2	49	Jonathan Davenport	Blairsville, GA	3145	$63,300
3	39	Tim McCreadie	Watertown, NY	3140	$58,350
4	1T	Tyler Erb	New Waverly, TX	3115	$47,100
5	14	Josh Richards	Shinnston, WV	3090	$53,475
6	9	Devin Moran	Dresden, OH	3035	$43,207
7	40B	Kyle Bronson	Brandon, FL	2975	$44,900
7	25	Shane Clanton	Zebulon, GA	2975	$45,700
9	21	Billy Moyer Jr	Batesville, AR	2725	$30,025
10	81E	Tanner English	Benton, KY	2615	$24,025
11	50	Shanon Buckingham	Morristown, TN	2505	$23,325
12	1	Earl Pearson Jr	Jacksonville, FL	2470	$22,900
13	71	Hudson O’Neal	Martinsville, IN	2445	$23,925
14	16	Tyler Bruening	Decorah, IA	2320	$13,875
15	2S	Stormy Scott	Las Cruces, NM	2205	$12,975
16	76	Brandon Overton	Evans, GA	2125	$53,150