RACE RECAP – INDIANAPOLIS Race 14 of 20

Photography: John Force Racing / Auto Imagery / Gary Nastase

BECKMAN GETS ‘PINCH ME’ MOMENT HE WANTEDWITH THIRD U.S. NATIONALS WINVandergriff and DeJoria bow out in Round 2, Hart in Round 1

RACE RECAP – INDIANAPOLISRace 14 of 20

Photography: John Force Racing / Auto Imagery / Gary Nastase

BECKMAN GETS ‘PINCH ME’ MOMENT HE WANTEDWITH THIRD U.S. NATIONALS WINVandergriff and DeJoria bow out in Round 2, Hart in Round 1

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (Sept. 7, 2026) – Jack Beckman was under the weather with cold symptoms throughout the week at Indianapolis Raceway Park but he and the PEAK Chevrolet SS Funny Car, carrying the 1996 John Force championship flame job tribute paint scheme, were the hottest combo on the track as they swept the weekend by winning Sunday’s PlayNHRA All-Star Call Out and today’s Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals. Beckman earned his second win of the season, 39th of his Funny Car career and third U.S. Nationals title with the final round victory against Matt Hagan. The PEAK Chevy left the starting line ahead by just one thousandth of a second (.055 to .056) and never looked back, running 3.965 seconds at 327.35 mph to Hagan’s 4.030 seconds at 318.84 mph. It was also the second time Beckman has doubled up at Indy, winning both the All-Star event and the U.S. Nationals in 2015. John Force Racing’s Alexis DeJoria and Jordan Vandergriff finished their days in the second round and Josh Hart’s day ended in Round 1. “I could truthfully tell you this is the greatest weekend I’ve ever had holding the steering wheel,” Beckman said. “This was just a phenomenal weekend. This one might be more significant because we did it in John Force’s tribute car. The car ran once and won once, and then yesterday we did the All-Star Callout, and it ran twice and won twice, and then today we start clicking off the round wins.” The 1996 John Force championship tribute paint scheme is 3-0 overall with 11 consecutive round wins. Force won four rounds on the way to winning the 1996 season finale, Beckman won three rounds in winning Sunday’s Play NHRA All-Star Call Out and four more in winning today’s Cornwell Quality Tools U.S. Nationals win.   It was the 16th time John Force Racing has won the U.S. Nationals: John Force (5); Robert Hight (3); Ashley Force Hood (2); Mike Neff (2); Austin Prock (2); Gary Densham (1); and Beckman (1). It was also the fifth time a John Force Racing team has won the Indy double: John Force won it in 1993 and 1996; Gary Densham accomplished the feat in 2004, Austin Prock won both in 2025 and Beckman’s double this year. “The PEAK SQUAD didn’t really benefit from any luck today,” said Beckman. “We went out there and we dominated every session. In the final round, it was 127 degrees. I rolled in shallow so the car would have run a 3.96. That’s an exclamation point. Nobody gave us anything this weekend. We went out, and we earned every single win, and it’s the same trophy, but we know how much we kicked butt today. I’m feeling a little under the weather, but I wouldn’t trade this weekend for any I have ever had behind the wheel of a race car.” Beckman ran 3.885 seconds at 328.94 mph in Round 1 to defeat Jeff Arend’s 4.019 seconds at 320.28 mph. In Round 2 against DeJoria, he grabbed the holeshot by almost two hundredths and put down a lap of 3.924 seconds at 329.75 mph to DeJoria’s mid-track tire-spinning run of 5.323 seconds at 137.44 mph. The PEAK SQUAD then reached the final round with a semifinal-winning run of 3.962 seconds at 327.25 mph against a tire-smoking Austin Prock, who coasted across the finish line in 10.328 seconds at 81.63 mph. The PEAK SQUAD will start the 2026 Countdown to the Championship in third place. DeJoria ran 3.937 seconds at 326.16 mph in Round 1 to defeat Chad Green’s 3.977 seconds at 321.73 mph. The Bandero Café team will start the 2026 Countdown to the Championship in seventh place. “This is my first U.S. Nationals with John Force Racing and that, in itself, is an honor,” said DeJoria. “Add to that the fact that I was able to run the Night Stalker car was just icing on the cake. We made some good runs this weekend. The Bandero Café crew hustled hard and I’m so proud of them. This is everything I ever dreamed of, and I’m so grateful I can’t wait to get back in the car to start the Countdown to the Championship.” Vandergriff and J.R. Todd made identical 3.908-second runs in Round 1 so it came down to the Cornwell Tools driver’s holeshot (.44 to .58) to claim the victory and the opportunity to move on to the second round. The second round battle with Prock began with a slight starting line edge to Prock but it was fairly even until halftrack when the Cornwell Tools Chevy dropped a cylinder. The Cornwell Tools Chevy slowed to a run of 4.055 seconds at 314.46 mph while Prock crossed the finish line in 3.935 seconds at 328.86 mph. The Cornwell Tools team will start the 2026 Countdown to the Championship in the fourth position “It’s been just an unbelievable first regular season of my career, my first opportunity to even run the full season. I feel very fortunate to be in this position and John Force and Cornwell Quality Tools have been so great to me. I’d give us an A in the regular season, not an A plus because an A plus would have been winning the regular season championship. But I’ll give us an A so far and now we can set sights on the season championship. I really think our Cornwell Quality Tools team is going to have a good shot at it.” Hart grabbed the holeshot over Leah Pruett by just more than one hundredth of a second but the Speedmaster Top Fuel Dragster but slowed after losing at least one cylinder near halftrack. He crossed the finish line at 3.869 seconds at 282.84 mph to Pruett’s run of 3.713 seconds at 333.66 seconds. The Speedmaster team will start the 2026 Countdown to the Championship in the seventh position. “We have an issue that is solvable and we believe we will compete for the championship,” said Speedmaster crew chief Dave Grubnic. “I owe it to Josh. I owe it to the guys. I owe it to the fans to fix the issue.” The 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Top Fuel point standings after 14 of 20 races are: 1. Doug Kalitta, 1,352; 2. Shawn Langdon, 1,344; 3. Leah Pruett, 1,095; 4. Tony Stewart, 900; 5. Antron Brown, 893; 6. Maddi Gordon, 863; 7. Josh Hart, 754; 8. Billy Torrence, 710; 9. Justin Ashley, 691; 10. Clay Millican, 589. The 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Funny Car point standings after 14 of 20 races are: 1. Matt Hagan, 1,083; 2. Ron Capps, 1,056; 3. Jack Beckman, 1,043; 4. Jordan Vandergriff, 1,014; 5. J.R. Todd, 966; 6. Austin Prock, 890; 7. Alexis DeJoria, 822; 8. Chad Green, 807; 9. Daniel Wilkerson, 695; 10. Spencer Hyde, 667. NEXT RACEThe 15th of 20 races of the 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series is the Sept. 18-20 NHRA Great Lakes Nationals at US 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, Mich.

ZIZZO RACING HONORED TO BE A PART OF HISTORIC U.S. NATIONALS INDIANAPOLIS (September 7, 2026) — Zizzo Racing has built a strong reputation as one of the best part-time teams on the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series tour, and that was only further solidified this weekend at the Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals. With 22 Top Fuel dragsters vying for 16 race day spots, driver TJ Zizzo was not only able to secure a place in the show, but also earn bonus points during qualifying.   “When I got strapped in the car for Q5, we knew by the time we ran that we were in the show,” said Zizzo. “We were pulling under the famous bridge and one of the guys told me, ‘Hey, we’re safe.’ When he said it, a total sense of relief came over me, because no matter what happened out there on that run, we were in.”  TJ Zizzo made big impression at the NHRA U.S. Nationals with the Rust-Oleum Top Fuel dragster, photo credit Auto ImageryZizzo, driver of the Rust-Oleum Dragster, was very aware of the gravitas of the 72nd annual NHRA U.S. Nationals, taking place during the NHRA’s 75th season. The Chicago native entered the weekend with a Diamond Wally on his mind, and the goal of winning a national event with his family weighing heavily on him.   “It means everything to me to get to come here,” said Zizzo. “75 years of NHRA. I’ve been drag racing with my dad and his entire team for over 30 years, and to be able to come here and even have a chance to win on Monday is huge for us.”   Out of five qualifying sessions taking place over three days, Zizzo’s best run came during the fourth round, a 3.836 second, 328.62 mph pass, earning him the No. 15 qualifying spot. However, his third qualifying run of 3.936 seconds at 322.11 mph was the second quickest of the session, netting him three bonus points.   “As a team we don’t really care that much about points because we’re not competing for a championship,” said Zizzo. “But collecting bonus points is still pretty cool because it means we are running just as well, or better, than the teams that are doing this all year.”   In the first round, Zizzo was up against the 2025 regular season champion Tony Stewart. Despite making his quickest and fastest pass of the weekend (3.768 seconds at 333.41 mph), it was not enough to get past the No. 2 qualifier. When reflecting on the weekend, Zizzo kept coming back to how special it is that he got to experience it with his father.   “Getting to do this with my dad means the world to me,” said Zizzo. “We spend more time together than I spend with my wife and kids. He told me about 25 years ago, ‘TJ, you’re right 90% of the time.’ And thank God he said that. That’s a compliment and a half. And we get to do this. We don’t always agree on things. But it’s okay because he’s got my back and I got his, and that’s what this is truly about.”   This was Zizzo Racing’s final race of the 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season. To keep up to date on their 2027 plans, follow TJ Zizzo on social media. And for tickets or more information on future NHRA national events, visit nhra.com.   Qualifying Results Q1: 3.934 sec, 288.89 mph; Qual. 14 Q2: 7.634 sec, 71.67 mph; Qual. 16 Q3: 3.936 sec, 322.11 mph; Qual. 16 Q4: 3.836 sec, 328.62 mph; Qual. 14 Q5: 4.252 sec, 205.98 mph; Qual. 15 Bonus Points: +3 (second quickest of Q3)   Race Results First Round Tony Stewart, Lake Havasu City, Ariz., R+L Carriers Top Fuel Dragster, (.044) 3.717 sec, 334.40 mph def. TJ Zizzo, Lincolnshire, Ill., Rust-Oleum Dragster, (.076), 3.768 sec, 333.41 mph

HYDE AND HEAD RACING MAKE IMPROVEMENTS COMING OUT OF INDY INDIANAPOLIS (September 7, 2026) — Coming into the Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals, the Head Contractors and Engineers Funny Car team led by Jim Head and piloted by Spencer Hyde made significant changes to the car by upgrading several parts. Those changes were reflected positively on the track almost immediately, when Hyde qualified in the No. 4 position in a competitive field of 23 Funny Cars.   “We knew coming into this weekend with such a large field that we were going to have to bring our A-game,” said Hyde. “We upgraded a few parts and changed some things related to our clutch, and I was happy to see that it really made a difference. Now that we know we are moving in the right direction, we can head into the Countdown a lot more confidently.”  Spencer Hyde and the Head Contractors and Engineers Funny Car will leave U.S. Nationals in the top ten headed to the Countdown playoffs, photo credit AJ Bohlander PhotographyThere were five qualifying sessions held over the course of three days at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park. Hyde’s best run of qualifying came during the third session, with a 3.944 second, 319.45 mph pass. It was the third quickest run of the round, which earned him two bonus points. He ended up earning a total of five bonus points by also having the third quickest run of the fourth qualifying session and the fourth quickest run of the fifth qualifying session.   “Bonus points are critical when we’re jockeying for position in the final race of the regular season,” said Hyde. “It was great to have earned so many of them during qualifying. It also showed how consistent our car was able to be, in a variety of conditions when the weather was constantly changing.”   The fourth qualifying session was also the first round of the PlayNHRA All-Star Callout, where Hyde was called out by 4-time world champion Matt Hagan. Hagan was able to get around him, but Hyde still had one of the quickest cars of the session.  Spencer Hyde qualified No. 4 at the NHRA U.S. Nationals and will head into the Countdown in the Top Ten, photo credit Innovative Creation Experts“Hagan made a big show of calling me out because I’m an expecting dad, and according to him I need time to build a crib,” said Hyde. “Even though we didn’t get the win, I am still proud of how we performed. I am hopeful that I’ll have another shot at the callout next year.”   The 2025 NHRA Rookie of the Year entered race day in the No. 4 position, which had him facing Paul Lee in the first round of eliminations on Monday. In previous matchups, Hyde was 2-0 against Lee. He felt good going into race day, and that optimism was echoed by NHRA fans – 87.25% of Drag Race Bracket Bonanza players picked Hyde to advance to the second round. Unfortunately, Lee was first out of the gate and Hyde could not catch up when his car started to mix up cylinders.   “Everyone always builds up the significance of this race, and it felt even more important this year as part of the NHRA’s 75th anniversary,” said Hyde. “Our entire team was hoping for a longer day on Monday, but we learned a lot this weekend overall. We were able to maintain our position in the Top 10 going into the Countdown, and that’s the biggest thing. The team is going to keep working over the next few weeks, that way we can represent Hyde Construction, OUTLAW Light Beer and the Caine Group well through the rest of the season.”   Hyde and the Head Contractors and Engineers Funny Car will be back in NHRA competition in two weeks at the inaugural Dodge NHRA Great Lakes Nationals presented by MOPAR on September 25-27 at US 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, Michigan. There will be two qualifying sessions on Friday, September 18 and two qualifying sessions on Saturday, September 19. The first race day of the 2026 Countdown to the Championship will be contested on Sunday. For tickets or more information on the NHRA Great Lakes Nationals visit nhra.com.   Qualifying Results – Funny Car Q1: 4.013, 318.47 mph; Qual. 9 Q2: 9.837, 59.66 mph; Qual. 9 Q3: 3.944, 319.45 mph; Qual. 4 Q4: 3.976, 325.22 mph; Qual. 4 Q5: 3.982, 325.45 mph; Qual. 4 Bonus Points: +5 (third quickest of Q3, third quickest of Q4, fourth quickest of Q5)   Race Results First Round Paul Lee, Orange, Calif., McLeod Racing/FTI Performance Charger, (.056), 3.925 sec, 326.87 mph def. Spencer Hyde, Stratford, Ontario, Head Contractors & Engineers Funny Car, (.077), 4.119 sec, 252.57 mph  Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Point Standings – Funny Car1.     Matt Hagan, 10832.     Ron Capps, 10563.     Jack Beckman, 10434.     Jordan Vandergriff, 10145.     J.R. Todd, 9666.     Austin Prock, 8907.     Alexis DeJoria, 8228.     Chad Green, 8079.     Daniel Wilkerson, 69510.  Spencer Hyde, 667

The Rookie of the Year leader bests Kofoid, Gravel, and Macedo to add his name to the history books

BRANDON, SD (September 6, 2026) – Emerson Axsom fought back tears on Sunday night at Huset’s Speedway.

The 21-year-old is one of the sport’s top rising stars, but nothing is guaranteed with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series. Axsom hit the road full-time with The Greatest Show on Dirt for the first time in 2026 with his father, Joe, as the crew chief on the Klaasmeyer/Petry Motorsports No. 27.

It had been a year of highs and lows for Axsom and the team as they entered Sunday’s L.G. Everist Huset’s Shootout presented by Myrl & Roy’s Paving finale. One thing that had eluded them was Axsom’s first World of Outlaws win.

Not anymore.

Axsom put together 40 laps at the Brandon, SD track and flat out earned it. He survived an intense mid-race battle with Carson Macedo after the two traded the lead multiple times. Then he held on through several late restarts with David Gravel and Michael “Buddy” Kofoid breathing down his neck. The best in the business right behind him, and Axsom stayed composed on his way to a special victory and $25,000 payday.

“Man, I’m about to tear up,” Axsom said. “This has been an awesome but trying year. I’m just so proud of my dad and I. It’s just my dad and myself and one other guy out here. We try so hard every week. I’m just so glad to see it happen. There’s been so many guys that’ve helped us. I’m so happy for Dale Klaasmeyer and Scott Petry. They’ve believed in me since day one and gave me an opportunity in my Winged Sprint Car career.

“This is my dream. This is the toughest Series in the world. It’s the hardest I’ve ever had to try to win races, and it’s week in and week out. It feels like there’s eight to 10 guys that can win every night. I mean, we’re 12th in points, and we just won an Outlaw race. I feel like it shows how deep this field is. I feel like racing these guys has made me such a better driver. It’s a dream come true, and I hope to be here a long time.”

Axsom is the 160th different winner in World of Outlaws history and is the fifth new face to visit Victory Lane this year, joining Kasey Kahne. Bryce Lucius, Chris Windom, and Garet Williamson. He’s the 21st different driver to top a race with The Greatest Show on Dirt in 2026, bringing this season within four of equaling the record for the most (25) set in 2004. The Franklin, IN native is the 13th “Hoosier” to beat the World of Outlaws as he’s now alongside Steve Kinser (Bloomington, IN), Mark Kinser (Oolitic, IN), Joey Saldana (Brownsburg, IN), Kraig Kinser (Bloomington, IN), Joe Gaerte (Rochester, IN), Spencer Bayston (Lebanon, IN), Tyler Courtney (Indianapolis, IN), Tony Stewart (Columbus, IN), Parker Price-Miller (Kokomo, IN), Larry Gates (St. Joseph, IN), Kelly Kinser (Bloomington, IN), and Zeb Wise (Angola, IN).

Buddy Kofoid slid by David Gravel late to secure the runner-up spot in the Roth Motorsports No. 83.

David Gravel and the Big Game Motorsports No. 2 crew rounded out the podium.

Carson Macedo and Spencer Bayston completed the top five.

NIGHTLY NOTES

David Gravel laid down the Race//Ready Hottest Lap of the Night.

Heat Races belonged to Christopher Thram (NOS Energy Drink Heat One), Chris Windom (TheGreatestStoreonDirt.comHeat Two), Emerson Axsom (WIX Filters Heat Three), and (Golf Cart Services Heat Four).

The SPA Technique #1 Redraw went to Carson Macedo.

Macedo also topped the Toyota Dash.

Sam Henderson won the Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown.

Ashton Torgerson wheeled from 17th to 10th to pick up the KSE Racing Products Hard Charger.

Emerson Axsom’s win made him the Five Star Bodies Rookie of the Race.

Axsom also clocked the ACME Trading Company Fast Lap.

The Smith Titanium Brake Systems Break of the Race went to Sheldon Haudenschild.

UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars head to Kansas’ Dodge City Raceway Park for the first time since 2020 on Saturday, Sept. 12 before returning to Colorado after a decade away at Calhan, CO’s El Paso County Raceway on Monday, Sept. 14. For tickets, CLICK HERE.

Where can you watch every World of Outlaws race? Live on DIRTVision.

Where can you see the World of Outlaws in 2026? Click to see the full schedule.

FEATURE RESULTS:

NOS Energy Drink Feature (40 Laps): 1. 27-Emerson Axsom[2]; 2. 83-Michael Kofoid[7]; 3. 2-David Gravel[3]; 4. 41-Carson Macedo[1]; 5. 17-Spencer Bayston[11]; 6. 23-Garet Williamson[5]; 7. 1S-Logan Schuchart[8]; 8. 51-Steven Snyder Jr[10]; 9. 7S-Chris Windom[13]; 10. 45X-Ashton Torgerson[17]; 11. 18-Sheldon Haudenschild[6]; 12. 2C-Cole Macedo[15]; 13. 16C-Skylar Gee[18]; 14. 3-Kelby Watt[16]; 15. 24T-Christopher Thram[12]; 16. 15-Donny Schatz[19]; 17. 8-Jacob Hughes[20]; 18. (DNF) 17B-Bill Balog[9]; 19. (DNF) 10-Ryan Timms[4]; 20. (DNF) 11M-Brendan Mullen[23]; 21. (DNF) 83JR-Sam Henderson[21]; 22. (DNF) 19-Kaleb Johnson[14]; 23. (DNF) 16-Riley Goodno[24]; 24. (DNF) 13-Mark Dobmeier[22]

For complete results, CLICK HERE.

EA EARNS IT: Axsom Fends off Three of the Best for First World of Outlaws Win

The Rookie of the Year leader bests Kofoid, Gravel, and Macedo to add his name to the history books

BRANDON, SD (September 6, 2026) – Emerson Axsom fought back tears on Sunday night at Huset’s Speedway.

The 21-year-old is one of the sport’s top rising stars, but nothing is guaranteed with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series. Axsom hit the road full-time with The Greatest Show on Dirt for the first time in 2026 with his father, Joe, as the crew chief on the Klaasmeyer/Petry Motorsports No. 27.

It had been a year of highs and lows for Axsom and the team as they entered Sunday’s L.G. Everist Huset’s Shootout presented by Myrl & Roy’s Paving finale. One thing that had eluded them was Axsom’s first World of Outlaws win.

Not anymore.

Axsom put together 40 laps at the Brandon, SD track and flat out earned it. He survived an intense mid-race battle with Carson Macedo after the two traded the lead multiple times. Then he held on through several late restarts with David Gravel and Michael “Buddy” Kofoid breathing down his neck. The best in the business right behind him, and Axsom stayed composed on his way to a special victory and $25,000 payday.

“Man, I’m about to tear up,” Axsom said. “This has been an awesome but trying year. I’m just so proud of my dad and I. It’s just my dad and myself and one other guy out here. We try so hard every week. I’m just so glad to see it happen. There’s been so many guys that’ve helped us. I’m so happy for Dale Klaasmeyer and Scott Petry. They’ve believed in me since day one and gave me an opportunity in my Winged Sprint Car career.

“This is my dream. This is the toughest Series in the world. It’s the hardest I’ve ever had to try to win races, and it’s week in and week out. It feels like there’s eight to 10 guys that can win every night. I mean, we’re 12th in points, and we just won an Outlaw race. I feel like it shows how deep this field is. I feel like racing these guys has made me such a better driver. It’s a dream come true, and I hope to be here a long time.”

Axsom is the 160th different winner in World of Outlaws history and is the fifth new face to visit Victory Lane this year, joining Kasey Kahne. Bryce Lucius, Chris Windom, and Garet Williamson. He’s the 21st different driver to top a race with The Greatest Show on Dirt in 2026, bringing this season within four of equaling the record for the most (25) set in 2004. The Franklin, IN native is the 13th “Hoosier” to beat the World of Outlaws as he’s now alongside Steve Kinser (Bloomington, IN), Mark Kinser (Oolitic, IN), Joey Saldana (Brownsburg, IN), Kraig Kinser (Bloomington, IN), Joe Gaerte (Rochester, IN), Spencer Bayston (Lebanon, IN), Tyler Courtney (Indianapolis, IN), Tony Stewart (Columbus, IN), Parker Price-Miller (Kokomo, IN), Larry Gates (St. Joseph, IN), Kelly Kinser (Bloomington, IN), and Zeb Wise (Angola, IN).

Buddy Kofoid slid by David Gravel late to secure the runner-up spot in the Roth Motorsports No. 83.

David Gravel and the Big Game Motorsports No. 2 crew rounded out the podium.

Carson Macedo and Spencer Bayston completed the top five.

NIGHTLY NOTES

David Gravel laid down the Race//Ready Hottest Lap of the Night.

Heat Races belonged to Christopher Thram (NOS Energy Drink Heat One), Chris Windom (TheGreatestStoreonDirt.comHeat Two), Emerson Axsom (WIX Filters Heat Three), and (Golf Cart Services Heat Four).

The SPA Technique #1 Redraw went to Carson Macedo.

Macedo also topped the Toyota Dash.

Sam Henderson won the Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown.

Ashton Torgerson wheeled from 17th to 10th to pick up the KSE Racing Products Hard Charger.

Emerson Axsom’s win made him the Five Star Bodies Rookie of the Race.

Axsom also clocked the ACME Trading Company Fast Lap.

The Smith Titanium Brake Systems Break of the Race went to Sheldon Haudenschild.

UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars head to Kansas’ Dodge City Raceway Park for the first time since 2020 on Saturday, Sept. 12 before returning to Colorado after a decade away at Calhan, CO’s El Paso County Raceway on Monday, Sept. 14. For tickets, CLICK HERE.

Where can you watch every World of Outlaws race? Live on DIRTVision.

Where can you see the World of Outlaws in 2026? Click to see the full schedule.

FEATURE RESULTS:

NOS Energy Drink Feature (40 Laps): 1. 27-Emerson Axsom[2]; 2. 83-Michael Kofoid[7]; 3. 2-David Gravel[3]; 4. 41-Carson Macedo[1]; 5. 17-Spencer Bayston[11]; 6. 23-Garet Williamson[5]; 7. 1S-Logan Schuchart[8]; 8. 51-Steven Snyder Jr[10]; 9. 7S-Chris Windom[13]; 10. 45X-Ashton Torgerson[17]; 11. 18-Sheldon Haudenschild[6]; 12. 2C-Cole Macedo[15]; 13. 16C-Skylar Gee[18]; 14. 3-Kelby Watt[16]; 15. 24T-Christopher Thram[12]; 16. 15-Donny Schatz[19]; 17. 8-Jacob Hughes[20]; 18. (DNF) 17B-Bill Balog[9]; 19. (DNF) 10-Ryan Timms[4]; 20. (DNF) 11M-Brendan Mullen[23]; 21. (DNF) 83JR-Sam Henderson[21]; 22. (DNF) 19-Kaleb Johnson[14]; 23. (DNF) 16-Riley Goodno[24]; 24. (DNF) 13-Mark Dobmeier[22]

For complete results, CLICK HERE.

ARTICLE: https://worldofoutlaws.com/sprintcars/ea-earns-it-axsom-fends-off-three-of-the-best-for-first-world-of-outlaws-win/

Event: Cook Out Southern 500

Location: Darlington Raceway, Darlington, South Carolina

Date: Sunday, September 6, 2026

Start: 14th

Finish: 7th

Josh Berry and the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane team earned their sixth consecutive top-10 finish with a seventh-place result in Sunday night’s Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.

The finish continued an impressive stretch for Berry and the Wood Brothers Racing team, which has now recorded six straight top-10s dating back to Indianapolis Motor Speedway in late July.

With practice and qualifying cancelled due to weather, Berry lined up 14th based on NASCAR’s metric and steadily worked his way forward throughout the 500-mile event.

Berry spent much of the opening stage inside the top 15 before finishing the segment in 11th. The Motorcraft/Quick Lane Mustang Dark Horse continued to improve as the race progressed, with Berry moving into the top 10 during Stage 2 and earning four stage points with a seventh-place finish.

The No. 21 became an even bigger factor during the final segment as Berry raced his way into the top five and remained there for much of the closing portion of the race.

A brief rain delay set up the final round of pit stops, with Berry coming to pit road from inside the top five for fresh tires. Several competitors elected to remain on track, putting Berry eighth for the ensuing restart.

After briefly falling outside the top 10, Berry began working his way back through the field. He moved into seventh with 12 laps remaining and held the position through the finish, giving the Motorcraft/Quick Lane team another strong result on one of the NASCAR Cup Series’ most demanding nights.

“It was a lot of fun,” Berry told reporters at the track. “There were a couple of runs where I thought we were super, super good. I just struggled a little bit firing off, but the trade-off of that was we were kind of always moving forward throughout the runs and then just how the race played out at the end.”

Berry felt taking tires following the rain delay was the right decision, although the restart didn’t unfold quite as he had hoped.

“I probably should have picked the top, but all-in-all the guys did a really good job. We had a really solid car for no practice. That’s all you can ask for.”

Berry’s seventh-place finish made him the highest-finishing driver outside the Chase field in the opening race of the 10-race championship stretch. While pleased to keep the team’s top-10 streak intact, he felt the strength of the No. 21 throughout the night left an opportunity for an even better result.

“But I feel like there was more out there tonight,” he said.

Event: Cook Out Southern 500

Location: Darlington Raceway, Darlington, South Carolina

Date: Sunday, September 6, 2026

Start: 14th

Finish: 7th

Josh Berry and the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane team earned their sixth consecutive top-10 finish with a seventh-place result in Sunday night’s Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.

The finish continued an impressive stretch for Berry and the Wood Brothers Racing team, which has now recorded six straight top-10s dating back to Indianapolis Motor Speedway in late July.

With practice and qualifying cancelled due to weather, Berry lined up 14th based on NASCAR’s metric and steadily worked his way forward throughout the 500-mile event.

Berry spent much of the opening stage inside the top 15 before finishing the segment in 11th. The Motorcraft/Quick Lane Mustang Dark Horse continued to improve as the race progressed, with Berry moving into the top 10 during Stage 2 and earning four stage points with a seventh-place finish.

The No. 21 became an even bigger factor during the final segment as Berry raced his way into the top five and remained there for much of the closing portion of the race.

A brief rain delay set up the final round of pit stops, with Berry coming to pit road from inside the top five for fresh tires. Several competitors elected to remain on track, putting Berry eighth for the ensuing restart.

After briefly falling outside the top 10, Berry began working his way back through the field. He moved into seventh with 12 laps remaining and held the position through the finish, giving the Motorcraft/Quick Lane team another strong result on one of the NASCAR Cup Series’ most demanding nights.

“It was a lot of fun,” Berry told reporters at the track. “There were a couple of runs where I thought we were super, super good. I just struggled a little bit firing off, but the trade-off of that was we were kind of always moving forward throughout the runs and then just how the race played out at the end.”

Berry felt taking tires following the rain delay was the right decision, although the restart didn’t unfold quite as he had hoped.

“I probably should have picked the top, but all-in-all the guys did a really good job. We had a really solid car for no practice. That’s all you can ask for.”

Berry’s seventh-place finish made him the highest-finishing driver outside the Chase field in the opening race of the 10-race championship stretch. While pleased to keep the team’s top-10 streak intact, he felt the strength of the No. 21 throughout the night left an opportunity for an even better result.

“But I feel like there was more out there tonight,” he said.

Berry and the Wood Brothers team will look to carry their momentum to World Wide Technology Raceway near St. Louis for Sunday’s Enjoy Illinois 300 on the 1.25-mile oval.

NASCAR Cup SeriesDarlington Raceway Cook Out Southern 500 Team Chevy Post-Race Report September 6, 2026

Larson Starts Title-Defending Campaign with a Top-Five Finish at Darlington Raceway

MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race AdvancesChevrolet Newsroom

Kyle Larson and the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team started their championship title-defending campaign with a strong top-five finish in the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. Despite a deep starting position due to the metric, the California native raced his way into the top-10 during Stage Two and became a familiar face at the front of the pack for much of the remainder of the race – going on to lead a race-high 99 laps en route to his 10th top-five finish of the season. Larson will head to the second stop of the Chase at World Wide Technology Raceway ranked seventh in the standings and 49-points behind the lead.  RACE RECAP:  Stage One: With the starting lineup set by the metric, Daniel Suarez and the No. 7 Spire Motorsports team inherited a spot on the front row to lead the NASCAR Cup Series to the green flag and the start of the Chase at Darlington Raceway. A strong start saw the Spire Motorsports driver edge his Chevrolet to the top of the leaderboard to pace the opening lap of his title-contention run. But it was early in the run when Suarez reported that he was struggling with the balance of his Chevrolet, ultimately holding on to a top-15 running position en route to the competition caution on Lap 35. A two-stop stage saw the green flag pit cycle begin near the halfway mark of the run. At that point, it was fellow Chase contender, William Byron, that made the steady climb up through the field to make his first appearance in the top-10 of the evening. Once the cycle was deemed complete, the North Carolina native found himself up in the eighth position for the final 35-lap run of Stage One. Hovering around the position for much of the run, Byron was settled in ninth when a caution flew with six laps to go – ultimately bringing the opening stage to a close.  Stage Two: Byron and Elliott were among the teams that gained track position in the race off pit road, lining up in the eighth and ninth positions, respectively, to start Stage Two. The stage started with yet another green flag run, and while maintaining their running positions, their Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Larson, joined the duo in the top-10 for the first time of the evening. Continuing to pace the Bowtie brigade, Byron reported that he was still looking for better drive in his Chevrolet-powered machine before his next trip to pit road. With another green flag pit cycle underway, crew chief Cliff Daniels opted for a longer run on this set of tires – ultimately giving Larson a brief tenure in the lead before calling his driver to pit road for four tires and fuel. The stage length required a second green flag pit cycle, and while employing a similar strategy, Larson was among the tail-end of the leaders to make his stop – finding his way back to the lead once again before making the dive to pit road. Cycling back up into the seventh position, the reigning champion found his footing late in the run – entering the top-five and quickly making a pass on the No. 1 seed, Denny Hamlin, with 16 laps to go in the stage. It was an impressive run by Larson with the California native driving up into the second position and a margin of just 1.5-seconds behind then race leader, Christopher Bell, at the drop of the second green-white checkered flag.  Final Stage: The No. 5 pit crew delivered a stellar performance during the stage break to give Larson the win in the race off pit road and a front row starting position to take the green flag for the final stage. Wasting no time, Larson powered his Chevrolet to the lead on the opening lap, going on to pull away to a nearly three-second lead over second with 110 laps to go in the race. Continuing to set a strong pace, Larson maintained the margin throughout the run before being called to pit road for a scheduled stop with 88 laps to go. Cycling back up into the second position, a caution flew just before the end of the green flag pit cycle, and with the direction to stay out, Larson found a familiar spot back on the front row for the restart. Finding his rhythm around the wall of “The Lady in Black”, Larson continued to click off laps in the closing portion of the race as a caution flew on Lap 316 for his teammate, Byron, who’s spin spiraled into what ended up being a race-ending mechanical issue. With the field heading to pit road for what was setting up for the final stop of the race, Larson exited in the third position after service from the No. 5 crew. After a brief red flag for precipitation, it was a gamble from atop the No. 5 box to stay out once the caution period resumed to give Larson crucial track position back on the front row for the restart and a 24-lap run to the end. The restart saw Larson quickly take over the lead once again but with a trio of hard-charging drivers in his rearview mirror that had four fresh Goodyear tires. A valiant effort saw the reigning champion lead Chevrolet with a top-five finish to start his title-defending campaign.

Team Chevy Unofficial Top-20 ResultsPos.     Driver 5th – Kyle Larson11th – Carson Hocevar12th – Alex Bowman14th – Chase Elliott17th – Michael McDowellChevrolet’s season statistics with 27 NASCAR Cup Series races complete: Wins: 6Poles: 6Top-Fives: 44Top 10s: 90Stage Wins: 18

The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series Chase will continue at World Wide Technology Raceway with the Enjoy Illinois 300 on Sunday, September 13, at 3 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on the USA Network, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

Post-Race Driver Quotes: Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing ChevroletFinished: 29th “Disappointing night for the No. 3 Boot Barn Chevrolet team. We struggled with balance all night, and ended real tight. I couldn’t turn on the bottom and running the top was the only shot we had. We have a lot of work to do. We have nine races to find speed, balance and a little bit of everything. We’re going to keep digging and hopefully that starts to show at World Wide Technology Raceway.”   Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports ChevroletFinished: 5thHow hard was it to hang on there at the end? “Yeah, I thought more people would stay out. I think another two or three people staying out would have helped. I think, ultimately, they would have got to me. I was just hoping I could get some laps where I could take care of my tires. (Christopher) Bell got to second really quickly and we were just instantly on the defense trying to block lines, so I wasn’t really able to manage my tires like I would have liked. I feel like I did the best job I could, honestly, but I just didn’t think he would get to second that fast so I could have spent those first five or seven laps saving my tires so I would have something when he got there. And then ultimately, I held him off longer than I thought I could. There was a point where I thought I had maybe damaged his tires enough where maybe I could hang onto it. He was just too close to me in (turn) one and I couldn’t run up the hill like I wanted to.”  You started deep in the field with the metric. What’s it feel like to walk away with a top-five to start the Chase? “Yeah, it was a great day for this No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet team. That first run of the race, we really struggled, and I was like, man, this is going to be a long race and we’re going to lose a lot of points here. But we got the first adjustment in and our Chevy really woke up. I felt like I could run the lines that I’m comfortable running here. My entry was secure enough to allow me to do that. It helped me manage my tires really well on the long run, and we had our strategy working out for us in the second-half of the first stage and all of the second stage. It was amazing to get to second. We had the hiccup there on pit road and lost control of the race there, but then the race kind of got messy after that and you just didn’t know how it was going to play out.”   Daniel Suarez, No. 7 Spire Motorsports ChevroletFinished: 21st“It was a long night. Listen, something about the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet team this year is that we’ve done an amazing job executing, and if we have a 10th-place car, we finish better, and that’s been our signature for the entire year. Today, we didn’t have the speed at the start of the race. We went from leading the race to back in 20th. And then, we just didn’t execute the little things. Our last pit stop was bad. The adjustments, I feel like we never really improved our car a whole lot. We have to go back and regroup. We also had a couple issues with the fuel pump and an issue with the engine, a couple little things. It wasn’t the way we wanted to start the Chase, but overall, I know I have a great team. At Spire Motorsports, we’re going to go back to work and come back stronger next weekend.”   William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports ChevroletSidelined by a mechanical issue in the final stage. Finished: 37th “I’ve never had that happen. I felt like I had a flat left-rear tire in (turns) one and two, so I slowed down quite a bit and I was going to pit and try to be early on the cycle. I’m not sure, it was super odd. I don’t know if I was blowing up in that process and got oil on my tire or what. We had an eighth or ninth-place run going, but it was just an unfortunate end to the evening for this No. 24 Valvoline Restore & Protect Chevrolet team.”    Austin Hill, No. 33 Richard Childress Racing ChevroletFinished: 28th “Man, our Morgan & Morgan Chevrolet fired off really good at the start of the race when the sun was up. We were able to move forward and run solid lap times, staying on the lead lap despite our starting position. Once the track got fully shaded though, the balance took a big swing and we struggled the rest of the night. We were working in a two inch by two inch box with adjustments. The car fired off tight, then would get out of the track with both fronts and rears. The rear end would have a swinging sensation. I hate it for these guys because we showed a lot of promise at the beginning, especially without having practice or qualifying yesterday. We’ll keep grinding.”   Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports ChevroletFinished: 17th“A long night here in Darlington, but we showed a lot of speed. I felt like we were right on the fringe of taking home a top-10 finish today, but during that last restart it felt like something broke. Regardless, proud of our No. 71 Delaware Life Chevrolet, this was a lot of progress from where we were in the spring for our guys. We have run well at Gateway in the past, I am looking forward to getting back there with Spire Motorsports and continuing to build this momentum over the last nine weeks.”   Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports ChevroletFinished: 11th“Overall, I was pretty happy with our race, considering we started 34th with the metric. Our No. 77 Spectrum Chevrolet handled pretty well throughout the evening. Obviously, we want more, but this is our first run at this whole Chase thing and we’re just gaining experience. We were up there with a lot of other Chase drivers, which is ultimately what we want to do.”

NASCAR Cup SeriesDarlington RacewayCook Out Southern 500Team Chevy Post-Race ReportSeptember 6, 2026

Larson Starts Title-Defending Campaign with a Top-Five Finish at Darlington Raceway

MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race AdvancesChevrolet Newsroom

Kyle Larson and the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team started their championship title-defending campaign with a strong top-five finish in the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. Despite a deep starting position due to the metric, the California native raced his way into the top-10 during Stage Two and became a familiar face at the front of the pack for much of the remainder of the race – going on to lead a race-high 99 laps en route to his 10th top-five finish of the season. Larson will head to the second stop of the Chase at World Wide Technology Raceway ranked seventh in the standings and 49-points behind the lead.  RACE RECAP:  Stage One: With the starting lineup set by the metric, Daniel Suarez and the No. 7 Spire Motorsports team inherited a spot on the front row to lead the NASCAR Cup Series to the green flag and the start of the Chase at Darlington Raceway. A strong start saw the Spire Motorsports driver edge his Chevrolet to the top of the leaderboard to pace the opening lap of his title-contention run. But it was early in the run when Suarez reported that he was struggling with the balance of his Chevrolet, ultimately holding on to a top-15 running position en route to the competition caution on Lap 35. A two-stop stage saw the green flag pit cycle begin near the halfway mark of the run. At that point, it was fellow Chase contender, William Byron, that made the steady climb up through the field to make his first appearance in the top-10 of the evening. Once the cycle was deemed complete, the North Carolina native found himself up in the eighth position for the final 35-lap run of Stage One. Hovering around the position for much of the run, Byron was settled in ninth when a caution flew with six laps to go – ultimately bringing the opening stage to a close.  Stage Two: Byron and Elliott were among the teams that gained track position in the race off pit road, lining up in the eighth and ninth positions, respectively, to start Stage Two. The stage started with yet another green flag run, and while maintaining their running positions, their Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Larson, joined the duo in the top-10 for the first time of the evening. Continuing to pace the Bowtie brigade, Byron reported that he was still looking for better drive in his Chevrolet-powered machine before his next trip to pit road. With another green flag pit cycle underway, crew chief Cliff Daniels opted for a longer run on this set of tires – ultimately giving Larson a brief tenure in the lead before calling his driver to pit road for four tires and fuel. The stage length required a second green flag pit cycle, and while employing a similar strategy, Larson was among the tail-end of the leaders to make his stop – finding his way back to the lead once again before making the dive to pit road. Cycling back up into the seventh position, the reigning champion found his footing late in the run – entering the top-five and quickly making a pass on the No. 1 seed, Denny Hamlin, with 16 laps to go in the stage. It was an impressive run by Larson with the California native driving up into the second position and a margin of just 1.5-seconds behind then race leader, Christopher Bell, at the drop of the second green-white checkered flag.  Final Stage: The No. 5 pit crew delivered a stellar performance during the stage break to give Larson the win in the race off pit road and a front row starting position to take the green flag for the final stage. Wasting no time, Larson powered his Chevrolet to the lead on the opening lap, going on to pull away to a nearly three-second lead over second with 110 laps to go in the race. Continuing to set a strong pace, Larson maintained the margin throughout the run before being called to pit road for a scheduled stop with 88 laps to go. Cycling back up into the second position, a caution flew just before the end of the green flag pit cycle, and with the direction to stay out, Larson found a familiar spot back on the front row for the restart. Finding his rhythm around the wall of “The Lady in Black”, Larson continued to click off laps in the closing portion of the race as a caution flew on Lap 316 for his teammate, Byron, who’s spin spiraled into what ended up being a race-ending mechanical issue. With the field heading to pit road for what was setting up for the final stop of the race, Larson exited in the third position after service from the No. 5 crew. After a brief red flag for precipitation, it was a gamble from atop the No. 5 box to stay out once the caution period resumed to give Larson crucial track position back on the front row for the restart and a 24-lap run to the end. The restart saw Larson quickly take over the lead once again but with a trio of hard-charging drivers in his rearview mirror that had four fresh Goodyear tires. A valiant effort saw the reigning champion lead Chevrolet with a top-five finish to start his title-defending campaign.

Team Chevy Unofficial Top-20 ResultsPos.     Driver 5th – Kyle Larson11th – Carson Hocevar12th – Alex Bowman14th – Chase Elliott17th – Michael McDowellChevrolet’s season statistics with 27 NASCAR Cup Series races complete: Wins: 6Poles: 6Top-Fives: 44Top 10s: 90Stage Wins: 18

The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series Chase will continue at World Wide Technology Raceway with the Enjoy Illinois 300 on Sunday, September 13, at 3 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on the USA Network, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

Post-Race Driver Quotes: Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing ChevroletFinished: 29th “Disappointing night for the No. 3 Boot Barn Chevrolet team. We struggled with balance all night, and ended real tight. I couldn’t turn on the bottom and running the top was the only shot we had. We have a lot of work to do. We have nine races to find speed, balance and a little bit of everything. We’re going to keep digging and hopefully that starts to show at World Wide Technology Raceway.”   Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports ChevroletFinished: 5thHow hard was it to hang on there at the end? “Yeah, I thought more people would stay out. I think another two or three people staying out would have helped. I think, ultimately, they would have got to me. I was just hoping I could get some laps where I could take care of my tires. (Christopher) Bell got to second really quickly and we were just instantly on the defense trying to block lines, so I wasn’t really able to manage my tires like I would have liked. I feel like I did the best job I could, honestly, but I just didn’t think he would get to second that fast so I could have spent those first five or seven laps saving my tires so I would have something when he got there. And then ultimately, I held him off longer than I thought I could. There was a point where I thought I had maybe damaged his tires enough where maybe I could hang onto it. He was just too close to me in (turn) one and I couldn’t run up the hill like I wanted to.”  You started deep in the field with the metric. What’s it feel like to walk away with a top-five to start the Chase? “Yeah, it was a great day for this No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet team. That first run of the race, we really struggled, and I was like, man, this is going to be a long race and we’re going to lose a lot of points here. But we got the first adjustment in and our Chevy really woke up. I felt like I could run the lines that I’m comfortable running here. My entry was secure enough to allow me to do that. It helped me manage my tires really well on the long run, and we had our strategy working out for us in the second-half of the first stage and all of the second stage. It was amazing to get to second. We had the hiccup there on pit road and lost control of the race there, but then the race kind of got messy after that and you just didn’t know how it was going to play out.”   Daniel Suarez, No. 7 Spire Motorsports ChevroletFinished: 21st“It was a long night. Listen, something about the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet team this year is that we’ve done an amazing job executing, and if we have a 10th-place car, we finish better, and that’s been our signature for the entire year. Today, we didn’t have the speed at the start of the race. We went from leading the race to back in 20th. And then, we just didn’t execute the little things. Our last pit stop was bad. The adjustments, I feel like we never really improved our car a whole lot. We have to go back and regroup. We also had a couple issues with the fuel pump and an issue with the engine, a couple little things. It wasn’t the way we wanted to start the Chase, but overall, I know I have a great team. At Spire Motorsports, we’re going to go back to work and come back stronger next weekend.”   William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports ChevroletSidelined by a mechanical issue in the final stage. Finished: 37th “I’ve never had that happen. I felt like I had a flat left-rear tire in (turns) one and two, so I slowed down quite a bit and I was going to pit and try to be early on the cycle. I’m not sure, it was super odd. I don’t know if I was blowing up in that process and got oil on my tire or what. We had an eighth or ninth-place run going, but it was just an unfortunate end to the evening for this No. 24 Valvoline Restore & Protect Chevrolet team.”    Austin Hill, No. 33 Richard Childress Racing ChevroletFinished: 28th “Man, our Morgan & Morgan Chevrolet fired off really good at the start of the race when the sun was up. We were able to move forward and run solid lap times, staying on the lead lap despite our starting position. Once the track got fully shaded though, the balance took a big swing and we struggled the rest of the night. We were working in a two inch by two inch box with adjustments. The car fired off tight, then would get out of the track with both fronts and rears. The rear end would have a swinging sensation. I hate it for these guys because we showed a lot of promise at the beginning, especially without having practice or qualifying yesterday. We’ll keep grinding.”   Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports ChevroletFinished: 17th“A long night here in Darlington, but we showed a lot of speed. I felt like we were right on the fringe of taking home a top-10 finish today, but during that last restart it felt like something broke. Regardless, proud of our No. 71 Delaware Life Chevrolet, this was a lot of progress from where we were in the spring for our guys. We have run well at Gateway in the past, I am looking forward to getting back there with Spire Motorsports and continuing to build this momentum over the last nine weeks.”   Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports ChevroletFinished: 11th“Overall, I was pretty happy with our race, considering we started 34th with the metric. Our No. 77 Spectrum Chevrolet handled pretty well throughout the evening. Obviously, we want more, but this is our first run at this whole Chase thing and we’re just gaining experience. We were up there with a lot of other Chase drivers, which is ultimately what we want to do.”

CORVETTE RACING AT COTA: “You Can’t Win Them All”Separate contacts sideline Corvette points challenges in WEC U.S. stop AUSTIN, Texas (September 6, 2026) – TF Sport and its two Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs missed finishing in the points Sunday in the six-hour Lone Star Le Mans and the FIA World Endurance Championship’s only race in America.In-race contact set back both Corvettes in the first half of the race at Circuit of The Americas. The yellow No. 33 TF Sport Corvette of Nicky Catsburg, Jonny Edgar and Texan Ben Keating finished 12th in the LMGT3 class with the red No. 34 Racing Team Turkey by TF entry of Charlie Eastwood, Salih Yoluc and Peter Dempsey in 14th. Fortunately the championship points picture still favors TF Sport and the Corvette camp. The No. 33 Corvette provisionally leads the Teams standings by 22 points – still nearly a full-race advantage with three rounds to go. The No. 34 Corvette – class winner in the previous round at Interlagos – is provisionally eighth in Teams points but well within range of the top-three. In the Drivers standings Edgar, Catsburg and Keating still sit 1-2-3 but with Keating tied for third heading into the final trio of races. The race for the championship-leading No. 33 Corvette came undone in the opening hour. Keating began 17th in class but was hit by a Ferrari GT3 car on the first green-flag lap. The hit didn’t result in significant damage to the Corvette, but the Ferrari was handed a five-second time penalty.  The next run-in between the two cars resulted in much more severe consequences as the same Ferrari spun Keating at the first corner as the Corvette stopped on the track. The Ferrari received a 10-second time penalty for causing the incident. The Corvette fell off the lead lap before the end of Keating’s first stint with Edgar driving a single stint before Keating finished his drivetime just shy of halfway.  That came shortly after disaster struck the No. 34 Corvette, which suffered a mechanical issue at the right-rear that forced Dempsey into the pits for seven minutes. The Corvette re-emerged three laps down to the leader with Eastwood driving the final two race stints. The next race in the FIA WEC for TF Sport is the Six Hours of Fuji on September 25-27 from Japan’s Fuji Speedway.

CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R POST-EVENT DRIVER QUOTES

NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “We knew that this was going to be tough. The taps on Ben from the Ferrari didn’t help. After that it was trying to get it to the finish line and always being ready to jump if there was an opportunity to score some points. I think we got lucky today with some of our opponents not scoring. Only the 21 Ferrari had a decent points haul. For me, it was an amazing day if you look at the dollar per lap ratio! I was ready in the pitlane to jump in for the last stint but Jonny didn’t make his drivetime so the VSC (virtual safety car) timing made my day very, very short.”

BEN KEATING, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “Home race for me and for the Corvette… unfortunately you can’t win them all. We had won the previous two races in a row, and the success ballast and some other things made it really tough this weekend in the Corvette. I still think we would have a decent race if we hadn’t been hit twice by the same Ferrari driver. It’s a shame that one individual can make the same mistake twice and basically take us out of the race.”

CHARLIE EASTWOOD, NO. 34 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “It was a busy race for everybody and trying to keep your nose clean. Only seven cars finished on the lead lap which was no problem for us. Early contact broke the toe link… it just seemed that kind of race that was quite aggressive and unfortunately we got caught up in it. Frustrating but I don’t feel like we missed a win or anything like that. When all of our championship rivals were a lap down early on, that was kind of our time to capitalize but we didn’t. Frustrating again but we’ll bounce back in Fuji.”

CORVETTE RACING AT COTA: “You Can’t Win Them All”Separate contacts sideline Corvette points challenges in WEC U.S. stop AUSTIN, Texas (September 6, 2026) – TF Sport and its two Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs missed finishing in the points Sunday in the six-hour Lone Star Le Mans and the FIA World Endurance Championship’s only race in America.In-race contact set back both Corvettes in the first half of the race at Circuit of The Americas. The yellow No. 33 TF Sport Corvette of Nicky Catsburg, Jonny Edgar and Texan Ben Keating finished 12th in the LMGT3 class with the red No. 34 Racing Team Turkey by TF entry of Charlie Eastwood, Salih Yoluc and Peter Dempsey in 14th. Fortunately the championship points picture still favors TF Sport and the Corvette camp. The No. 33 Corvette provisionally leads the Teams standings by 22 points – still nearly a full-race advantage with three rounds to go. The No. 34 Corvette – class winner in the previous round at Interlagos – is provisionally eighth in Teams points but well within range of the top-three. In the Drivers standings Edgar, Catsburg and Keating still sit 1-2-3 but with Keating tied for third heading into the final trio of races. The race for the championship-leading No. 33 Corvette came undone in the opening hour. Keating began 17th in class but was hit by a Ferrari GT3 car on the first green-flag lap. The hit didn’t result in significant damage to the Corvette, but the Ferrari was handed a five-second time penalty.  The next run-in between the two cars resulted in much more severe consequences as the same Ferrari spun Keating at the first corner as the Corvette stopped on the track. The Ferrari received a 10-second time penalty for causing the incident. The Corvette fell off the lead lap before the end of Keating’s first stint with Edgar driving a single stint before Keating finished his drivetime just shy of halfway.  That came shortly after disaster struck the No. 34 Corvette, which suffered a mechanical issue at the right-rear that forced Dempsey into the pits for seven minutes. The Corvette re-emerged three laps down to the leader with Eastwood driving the final two race stints. The next race in the FIA WEC for TF Sport is the Six Hours of Fuji on September 25-27 from Japan’s Fuji Speedway.

CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R POST-EVENT DRIVER QUOTES

NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “We knew that this was going to be tough. The taps on Ben from the Ferrari didn’t help. After that it was trying to get it to the finish line and always being ready to jump if there was an opportunity to score some points. I think we got lucky today with some of our opponents not scoring. Only the 21 Ferrari had a decent points haul. For me, it was an amazing day if you look at the dollar per lap ratio! I was ready in the pitlane to jump in for the last stint but Jonny didn’t make his drivetime so the VSC (virtual safety car) timing made my day very, very short.”

BEN KEATING, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “Home race for me and for the Corvette… unfortunately you can’t win them all. We had won the previous two races in a row, and the success ballast and some other things made it really tough this weekend in the Corvette. I still think we would have a decent race if we hadn’t been hit twice by the same Ferrari driver. It’s a shame that one individual can make the same mistake twice and basically take us out of the race.”

CHARLIE EASTWOOD, NO. 34 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “It was a busy race for everybody and trying to keep your nose clean. Only seven cars finished on the lead lap which was no problem for us. Early contact broke the toe link… it just seemed that kind of race that was quite aggressive and unfortunately we got caught up in it. Frustrating but I don’t feel like we missed a win or anything like that. When all of our championship rivals were a lap down early on, that was kind of our time to capitalize but we didn’t. Frustrating again but we’ll bounce back in Fuji.”

PETER DEMPSEY, NO. 34 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “It didn’t feel quite right once I got in, but I think that was from earlier contact with Salih and a Ferrari at the last turn. I got in and the steering was already off to the right, and the car had an imbalance going from left to right. So I don’t know if the imbalance put more stress on something or not. Obviously once it broke at Turn 15 I had a fair idea what it was and relayed to the team before getting back to the pits as safely as I could. It’s unfortunate but it’s one of those weekends where you take it on the chin and move on.”

SECOND PLACE FINISH FOR CADILLAC HERTZ TEAM JOTA AT THE LONE STAR LE MANS September 6th, 2026 – Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA recorded their best finish of the FIA World Endurance Championship season with a second place at the Lone Star Le Mans for the No.38. The No.12 took P9, picking up more valuable championship points. Lining up on the grid in P2, the No.38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R crew of Jack Aitken, Sébastien Bourdais and Earl Bamber had a strong race, fighting at the front and being in contention for a podium throughout the six-hour.  Some bad luck with safety car periods dropped the car down the field, but a strong final stint brought them back into contention, taking the chequered flag in third place. This was promoted to second when the No. 35 Alpine was handed a five-second penalty for an unsafe release. The No.12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R recovered from a tricky qualifying, having lined up for the race in P15. Going with an alternate strategy to be out of sync with their pit stops to the front runners, the No.12 fought through the pack and crossed the finish line seventh in class. The team received a five-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage in the final hour of the race, but Stevens’ final stint in the car gave them enough of a buffer to their competitors that they stayed in the top ten, classifying P9.

SECOND PLACE FINISH FOR CADILLAC HERTZ TEAM JOTA AT THE LONE STAR LE MANS September 6th, 2026 – Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA recorded their best finish of the FIA World Endurance Championship season with a second place at the Lone Star Le Mans for the No.38. The No.12 took P9, picking up more valuable championship points. Lining up on the grid in P2, the No.38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R crew of Jack Aitken, Sébastien Bourdais and Earl Bamber had a strong race, fighting at the front and being in contention for a podium throughout the six-hour.  Some bad luck with safety car periods dropped the car down the field, but a strong final stint brought them back into contention, taking the chequered flag in third place. This was promoted to second when the No. 35 Alpine was handed a five-second penalty for an unsafe release. The No.12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R recovered from a tricky qualifying, having lined up for the race in P15. Going with an alternate strategy to be out of sync with their pit stops to the front runners, the No.12 fought through the pack and crossed the finish line seventh in class. The team received a five-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage in the final hour of the race, but Stevens’ final stint in the car gave them enough of a buffer to their competitors that they stayed in the top ten, classifying P9.

What they’re saying:Keely Bosn, Cadillac Racing Programme Manager; ‘What a race and an incredible effort from the entire team today. We led for several laps, and our drivers fought hard to hold off the competition and maintain position throughout the race. An unfortunate bit of luck with the safety car erased the gap we had built, but the team stayed focused, recovered, and kept fighting all the way to the finish, before taking the chequered flag in P2 and P9. I’m incredibly proud of everyone’s work today. The team never gave up, and the second place result is a great reminder to always fight until the very end.” No. 38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA, Jack Aitken: “It is a really fantastic result. It was a very up and down race with quite a few interventions, a lot of yellow and safety periods on track. We kept yo-yoing back and forth from the lead to further down in the top ten and it was hard to see where we were going to end up. But we managed to fight through and secure a fantastic podium on home soil.” No. 38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA, Earl Bamber: “That was a really spectacular day, great to get second place at our home race. I think the team executed a perfect race, we were leading at one stage and we managed to fight back through a strategy disadvantage twice with the VSCs, so I think to come away with second; everyone is really happy.” No. 38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA, Sebastian Bourdais: “We knew it was going to be a tough day and there was a bit of a yo-yo-ing effect in the scenario of the race. It looked like it was pretty good and under control until the first VSC and safety car, then at that point a podium looked tricky. To fight back to P2 out of that is a really good result for the whole team. I’m really happy for the whole team at Cadillac, we keep chipping away and aim to get more points for the championship in the final few races of the season.” No. 12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA, Will Stevens: “Overall, it was a tough race. Trying to make a recovery from where we started was always going to be difficult, so we had to go for a different strategy early on. We were making good headway and then the timing of the virtual safety car wasn’t ideal for us at all. It meant in the last few stints we had to be pretty aggressive to try and get through traffic. We did that nicely, finishing the race P7 but we had a five-second penalty. It’s a solid week for the team, congratulations to the No.38, it’s great to see them get a podium. Back-to-back races with podiums for the team so it shows we were making great progress.” No. 12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA, Norman Nato: “It’s been quite a mixed weekend; qualifying was challenging, but the race was quite good for us. From where we started we managed to make some positions back, we had strong pace and we made some good overtaking moves. Starting from near the back is never easy, so finishing in the points is a big positive for the manufacturer championship.  Congratulations to the sister car finishing in P2. It’s a really great race for them, really well deserved because they’ve been fast all weekend. Thanks to the whole team for all the hard work. Two podiums in a row for the team is a great result, and we keep pushing!” No. 12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA, Ricky Taylor: “After a tough start, we tried a different strategy to try to make something happen. Cadillac this year is strong and we have a good package, as the No.38 showed in the race. The way the safety car played out wasn’t truly in our favour but it was a long race and we knew we had time to try and recover positions lost. Kudos to the team for executing it well. It’s been really nice to join the team. I get along really well with all the drivers and getting to work with Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA this race has been an honour.”

SUNDAY RECAP – INDIANAPOLIS Race 14 of 20

Photography: John Force Racing / Auto Imagery / Gary Nastase

BECKMAN WINS PLAYNHRA ALL-STAR CALL OUTBeckman qualifies third, DeJoria, sixth, Vandergriff seventh and Hart 12thfor the Big Go

SUNDAY RECAP – INDIANAPOLISRace 14 of 20

Photography: John Force Racing / Auto Imagery / Gary Nastase

BECKMAN WINS PLAYNHRA ALL-STAR CALL OUTBeckman qualifies third, DeJoria, sixth, Vandergriff seventh and Hart 12thfor the Big Go

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (Sept. 6, 2026) – Jack Beckman and the PEAK SQUAD won today’s PlayNHRA Funny Car All-Star Call Out and all four John Force Racing teams qualified solidly for Monday’s Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis Raceway Park. Beckman, driving the PEAK Chevrolet sporting the black-and-white flame job special paint scheme honoring John Force’s dominant 1996 championship, defeated Matt Hagan in the Call Out final round with a run of 3.980 seconds at 323.19 mph to Hagan’s 4.290-second run at 227.19 mph. It was Beckman’s fifth career Funny Car All-Star race victory at Indy (2007, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2026). The PEAK SQUAD defeated Chad Green in Round 1 and J.R. Todd in the semifinal of the Call Out. The PEAK SQUAD also led the way in qualifying for the Cornwell Quality Tools U.S. Nationals by earning the No. 3 spot with a Q1 run of 3.937 seconds at 326.79 mph. Beckman will line up in Round 1 of eliminations against No. 14 qualifier Jeff Arend (4.076 seconds, 303.78 mph). Monday will be an opportunity for Beckman to earn his third U.S. Nationals Funny Car title (2015, 2020) and possibly sweep the weekend for the first time since 2015. Alexis DeJoria and the Bandero Café Night Stalker Chevrolet SS Funny Car team qualified sixth with their Q1 run of 3.947 seconds at 329.26 mph and, in doing so, they clinched a spot in the 2026 Countdown to the Championship. The 2014 U.S. Nationals Funny Car Champion will face No. 11 qualifier Chad Green (4.002 seconds, 317.87 mph) in the first round. DeJoria defeated Ron Capps in the first round of the Call Out but fell to Hagan in their semifinal matchup. Jordan Vandergriff and the Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS Funny Car team saved their best qualifying run for the fifth and final pass of the event, earning the No. 7 spot with a run of 3.948 seconds at 327.59 mph. Vandergriff face No. 10 qualifier J.R. Todd (3.981 seconds, 327.74 mph) in the first round of eliminations. Josh Hart and the Speedmaster Top Fuel Dragster team qualified 12th with their Q1 run of 3.812 seconds at 323.50 mph. As the No. 12 qualifier, Hart will face Leah Pruett, who qualified fifth with a run of 3.772 seconds at 326.24 mph, in Monday’s first round of eliminations. The first round of eliminations is scheduled for Mon., Sept. 7, at 10 a.m. ET. Quote from Jack Beckman, PEAK 1996 John Force Tribute Chevrolet SS Funny Car: “John’s car is still undefeated and the PEAK SQUAD is four more win lights away from immortality. I’m just so happy for the team. I screwed up yesterday so it’s nice to get to redeem myself today with this great group of guys. We smoked the tires in the first round of the Call Out but got away with it. I said in the interview at the top end that the Peak Squad doesn’t miss it twice in a row and we were going to be tough the rest of the way … and look what happened. We rallied. This is the fifth time I’ve won this special points race at Indy and that’s some rare air. They didn’t have even have them some of the years I was competing so, to get a chance to come back qualified number one for it, and then to clinch the deal on Sunday at Indy is amazing. The only thing better than this is the double-up at Indy with the Cornwell Quality Tools U.S. Nationals win … and we’re the only one left that has a shot at it.” Quote from Alexis DeJoria, Bandero Café Night Stalker Chevrolet SS Funny Car: “I’m so proud of this Bandero Café Chevy team. They worked late into the night getting the car ready after last night’s mishap and the Night Stalker body will be back for first round of eliminations. We had a great run in the first round of the Call Out but our luck ran out in Round 2 when we spun the tires. Our final qualifying run down the track qualified us for the Countdown so it’s great to lock that up and now it’s all about Monday of the U.S. Nationals.” Quote from Jordan Vandergriff, Cornwell Tools Stars & Stripes Chevrolet SS Funny Car: “It’s fantastic to be the driver of the Cornwell Quality Tools Chevrolet Funny Car at the Cornwell Quality Tools US Nationals. We really needed that run. I just had a feeling coming up to Q5 that we had it figured out. The temperature was coming down a tiny bit and the car launched hard and clean. Toward the end of the run, I think it started spinning the tires a little bit and got wiggly on me so I tried to keep it down the middle. But, in the end, it was a great run for this Cornwell Quality Tools team. Quote from Josh Hart, Speedmaster Top Fuel Dragster: “It’s a great feeling to say the John Force Racing Speedmaster Top Fuel Dragster team has clinched our spot in the 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Countdown to the Championship. With that accomplished, it’s all about going rounds tomorrow and turning our luck around one round at a time.”

Media Resources: Images | Media Advances | Chevrolet Newsroom

CHEVROLET IN THE NTT INDYCAR SERIESMission Foods Grand Prix of Monterey2.238-mile, 11-turn Weather Raceway Laguna Seca road courseMonterey, CaliforniaSunday Race ReportSeptember 6, 2026 MONTEREY, California (Sept. 6, 2026) – After taking Chevrolet’s historic 250th pole on Saturday, Scott McLaughlin, the driver of the No. 3 DEX Team Penske Chevrolet, led 87 of 95 laps of the Mission Foods Grand Prix of Monterey, the final race of the 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season.  McGlaughlin’s win is the eighth of his career, and the eighth time that a driver wearing a Bowtie visited victory lane in 2026.  Alexander Rossi and the No. 20 ECR Java House Chevrolet executed an alternate strategy, going long on the first stint, making three quick pit stops, and winning an on-track battle with David Malukas to cross under the checkered flag in third place, standing on the podium for the 31st time in his career, but the first time with ECR.  David Malukas brought the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet home in the top five for the ninth time in 2026, ending his first campaign with the legendary team in fifth place, the best of the team’s trio of drivers.  Christian Lundgaard finished sixth after starting 11th, falling only two points shy of finishing second in the season-long championship. The driver of the No. 7 VELO Arrow McLaren Chevrolet ended the season as the highest points scorer on natural-terrain courses, besting season-long champion Álex Palou by 10 points. Lundgaard’s teammate Pato O’Ward (No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet) ended the season fourth in points, with Malukas in fifth and McLaughlin in sixth. McLaughlin’s win is Chevrolet’s 245th all-time, 135th since the introduction of the 2.2L Twin-Turbo V6 in 2012 and sixth at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca (first since Paul Tracy won for Team Penske in 1993). The win is McLaughlin’s 8th with Team Chevy, tying him with Sam Hornish, Jr. for 10th all-time with Chevrolet power and moving him to 4th since the introduction of the 2.2L Twin-Turbo V6 in 2012.It’s Team Penske’s 127th win all-time with Chevrolet power and 90th since the introduction of the 2.2L Twin-Turbo V6 in 2012.  Mission Foods Grand Prix Of Monterey race results:

Alexander Rossi and the No. 20 ECR Java House Chevrolet crew worked together to end the season on a high note with a podium at the Mission Foods Grand Prix Of Monterey

What they’re saying – Mission Foods Grand Prix Of Monterey Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 DEX Team Penske Chevrolet won:“Well, firstly, my little girl hasn’t seen me win yet, and she finally has. So, Dad’s coming home with a trophy, baby. Let’s go! Karly, I love you, babe. It’s been hard, I know. The DEX Imaging Chevy was unbelievable. These guys and girls on my team, Team Penske, have stuck behind me the whole time. Congrats, Alex, on his fifth. We’re working hard to be better but today was a big step in the right direction, so… and I’ve been waiting six years to do donuts. They sucked, but I was like, let’s go! I was really happy. We had to be solid. That’s what it’s gonna take to win a championship. What a great warm-up we had. So, yeah, bring it on 2027.” Alexander Rossi, No. 20 ECR Java House Chevrolet finished 3rd:“I don’t know that I could state the significance of it just with how challenging this year has been for the whole organization, and how much road courses have been a huge struggle of ours, and there was a lot of doubt, I think, coming into this event, as to whether or not we could find a direction. So, I think this is just a huge reward for all of the effort for the entire Java House/Splenda ECR team, and it’s been a grind this year, but everyone stayed true to the course and focusing on just continuing to push forward. And I think that that speaks volumes this weekend and gives us a great kind of step of motivation, belief, self-belief in ourselves going into next year.” David Malukas, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet finished 5th:“I think it was very strong for us, there were a few mistakes that we made throughout the weekend that I think we should have started off a little bit better. So many good things to come out of this, especially for me. I think before coming into the season, for me, it was just ovals only. Now we’ve figured out the road courses on top of it. Street courses need a little more work, but road courses are good. From outside pace I think we were one of the top cars on pace, but my wrist started giving out there toward the end.” Christian Lundgaard, No. 7 VELO Arrow McLaren Chevrolet finished 6th:“Today was a long race, a lot of tire degradation the field had to work through. We had to fight a little harder with the engine penalty to get up to sixth, and it’s a shame we couldn’t snag one more position into fifth. Congrats to Kirkwood, edging us out of second in the championship. Our entire 7 VELO crew did an awesome job, though, today and all season to complete every single lap across 18 races. I’m really proud of how we raced this year together. My crew, my engineers, everyone did their part. And I’m thankful for all the papaya fans who’ve supported me the past two seasons. We’ll take home third in the championship, my highest finish yet.” Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet finished 11th:“P4 in the championship this year. Obviously, we always look for more considering we were second last year. We faced a lot of challenges this year but it was nice to get three wins on-track. That was definitely the highlight. Other than that, our bad days are too bad, and we need to make that better and give it another go next year. Appreciate all the fans for their support, and seeing so many of you at the track this year.” Santino Ferrucci, No. 14 Homes For Our Troops Chevrolet finished 12th:“It looked like it was gonna start to be a good weekend but It’s been pretty rough. Ended up being a really solid one. I mean, really happy with the crew strategy. Our pit stops have been phenomenal. I mean, you can’t do what we just did without having great pit stops. And yeah, car was nice to drive. Obviously, really physical there at the end, but we just kind of nailed everything. So really happy.” Josef Newgarden, No. 2 Astemo Team Penske Chevrolet finished 15th:“The Astemo Chevy had really good pace today. Starting in the back we decided to go with a four-stop strategy and just didn’t get a yellow when we needed it. Just can’t say enough about the effort of this team this year. Obviously, we had some things to deal with after Indy and they just continued to give me everything I needed. Happy to get some time to reset and start getting ready to come back stronger in 2027. Thank you to Astemo, Chevy, Shell, Snap-on, XPEL, PPG and everyone that allows us to do this.” Rinus VeeKay, No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Chevrolet finished 16th:“10th in the Championship! That was our goal coming into this weekend. It wasn’t our easiest, we missed the balance a little bit in qualifying and in the end it was a track position race and just couldn’t get too much done there. Had a little bit of an issue on the first pit stop where we did not get all the fuel in. We had to adjust strategy, go to a 4 stop. I think we adjusted quite well and didn’t take too much risk and yeah, just one of those weekends where we were just a little bit behind. It wasn’t anything spectacular, but it was enough to get the job done and get 10th in the Championship. I think looking back at that, an incredible job by the team, by the #76 crew, all the engineers, the mechanics, guys doing pitstops, and everything getting me to 10th in the Championship, getting us to 10th in the Championship, I think was great and really happy for everybody and really thankful for all the hard work of everybody on the team.”Caio Collet, No. 4 Combitrans Amazonia Chevrolet finished 20th:“It was a decent race until the last stint. I think we did a pretty good job the first three stints. Then, with 15 laps to go, I just started to struggle a lot with the reds, especially with the rear. And then I was just losing two, three seconds a lap. Need to understand a little bit better what I did wrong or what we could have done a bit better to just protect the tire or shorten that stint a little bit more. But it is what it is. A big thanks to everyone for the season, for all the year, AJ Foyt Racing, Chevy, Combitrans, all the engineers, and the mechanics. It was a tough year but definitely also had some really enjoyable moments. So big thanks to everyone.” Christian Rasmussen, No. 21 Splenda Stevia Chevrolet finished 21st:“2026 is done! It has been a tough year for the  No. 21 Splenda Chevrolet crew, but still a lot of positive to look back on. Our final spot in the championship does not tell the full story about the pace that we showed this year. We just got caught out in a lot of situations that were outside of our own control, again and again. I think we’ve used up all the bad luck for at least the next five years! I think we’re in for a good one in 2027. I’m excited to come back with ECR for the future. We’re truly improving and getting better all the time. “It really excites me to see what’s ahead for us, and we’ll work super hard this offseason to sort out the wrinkles and come back swinging for ‘27!” Sting Ray Robb, No. 77 Juncos Hollinger – Goodheart Chevrolet finished 23rd:“Tough last race. Ran over the back of Dennis (Hauger) into turn six when everyone checked up. Caught me out. So, stop and go penalty, and changed the front wing. Just didn’t have enough pace to make it up.   Unfortunate last race of the year. I definitely think this is the cherry on top. Has been a disappointing season. Big thanks to everyone at JHR. They’ve all worked very hard. All the mechanics. All the engineers and everyone has put in a lot of time and effort to make it work. It’s been a lot of fun. But not the result we wanted or needed. Thank you to Oikos for being with us this last race. Hopefully we will be seeing everyone around soon.” Nolan Siegel, No. 6 NTT DATA Arrow McLaren Chevrolet finished 24th:“Tough one today. I had hoped for a better finale, but I want to thank the 6 crew for all their hard work over the past two-plus years. We had our highs and lows, but I’m proud that we stuck with it and continued to fight our way forward. Thank you to the papaya fans, as well, for the great memories.”

Scott McLaughlin (No. 3 DEX Team Penske Chevrolet) and Alexander Rossi (No. 20 ECR Java House Chevrolet) share the podium at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca to end the 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season

NTT INDYCAR SERIES News ConferenceAlexander RossiScott McLaughlin THE MODERATOR: Alex, I’m going to call this the home race. A great drive today. ALEXANDER ROSSI: Yeah, thank you. It’s no secret that this has been a pretty terrible year for myself and the whole ECR team with the litany of issue, some out of our control, some in our control. Ultimately road courses have been something that have been a pretty big challenge for us in the second half of this year. Really ever since the Indy GP, there’s been a huge amount of emphasis and effort behind the scenes to kind of dig out of that hole. It’s very difficult to do in this championship. Just really proud of the whole organization and everyone involved for kind of staying true to the course and fighting through a lot of adversity. This is a great result to kind of reward that effort, just rebuild the confidence in everyone that we’re capable of doing this. It’s a good boost going into what’s going to be a long off-season, but an important one, to make sure we execute a lot better and clean up a lot of our issues that we can control in 2027. THE MODERATOR: Questions. Q. Alex, you just said terrible season, problems. Is there any particular area you can point your finger on that was very bad? Did you identify the problems? ALEXANDER ROSSI: I mean, it was really everything. Anything that could go wrong really did go wrong from crashes to failures of gearboxes, hybrids, engines. Some struggles being on fire in pit lane. Some lack of performance at some events. Anything that you can think of has happened to us across both cars. Just a really trying year. As I said before, like, no one lost motivation or commitment to the end goal and I’m just really proud of that. Q. Alex, do you consider today an ‘a-ha’ moment or is it just we’ve been good all year, bad things happened? ALEXANDER ROSSI: No, I think this was a step for us in performance, for sure, especially on the road courses. I think we had a test at Mid-Ohio where we started to uncover some shortcomings. The Mid-Ohio race we took a little bit of a step. Portland, a little bit of a step. Here was another decent step. There’s two issues, two challenges: you have to identify the problem, then you have to figure out how to fix it. We were able to do that to a certain extent. Like, there’s still more to come from what we know. It’s a huge step in the right direction. Now we have a lot of time to really understand. It’s been a huge stretch for everyone in the series this past five weeks. To really analyze and understand how it can be better will be useful coming into March. Q. Alex, you talked about the long off-season ahead. What does that look like from a driver perspective? How soon are you back in the shop? ALEXANDER ROSSI: After Wednesday for me at least (smiling). I’m on track Wednesday. I think it’s immediately, right? As soon as this is over, we’ll kind of debrief today, try and understand it. Really this week, end of this week, we’ll really focus on the last six weeks, the good parts, the bad parts. As time goes on, look at a bigger overall picture of the year. I’ve said it often this year, that the team has done a lot of things better year over year from ’25 to ’26. Just unfortunately nothing really to show for it. I think drastic changes aren’t necessary. It’s a continual evolution. Just like in a car setup, there’s no magic bullet. It’s the same thing in putting together a season: there’s not one thing you have to do; you have to do everything a little better. There’s no wholesale changes needed. It’s just focusing on understanding our strengths and weaknesses and executing when we can. Q. Is it important for you to jump back into the IR28 and do the oval testing? ALEXANDER ROSSI: It’s a great opportunity and a pretty big privilege to be the first guy to take it around, what is going to be our most important test of the car and understanding what it does on the Speedway. It will be interesting. Like, it’s exciting. It’s a little bit nerve-wracking ’cause I’m sure it will be good, but who knows. It will be a very, very interesting day. Again, just a huge honor and privilege to be chosen by Chevy to be the guy to kind of lead the charge on that with Alex. Q. Alex, two years in now with Ted, a huge agent of change within the team, do you have a thought on that effect? What’s different about this team that encourages you about where you can be in the future? ALEXANDER ROSSI: I think the team just knows now that it has the ability. If we feel we need something, we can go get it, right? But the teams that we’re trying to close the gap to have had that advantage on this organization at ECR for a decade. Just because someone comes in and gives you the resources and tools to close that gap, the teams you’re competing against don’t stop developing either. You have to take bigger steps than they do. It’s not a simple proposition. This championship has so many great drivers and teams and personnel, you don’t just do that overnight. Ted is an amazing partner in the organization, as you see with all of his activation, with commercials he’s doing to help promote the series. It’s pretty amazing what Java House and Splenda are doing outside of the competition side. Inside the organization, everyone knows if we need something, we can go get it. It’s a matter of, as I said before, continuing to develop and get better. It will come. It’s a process. THE MODERATOR: Congratulations on the strong finish to 2026. ————- THE MODERATOR: We are joined by our champion driver and Jonathan Diuguid. Scott McLaughlin who led 87 of the 90 laps snaps the 35-race winless streak. His eighth career win. Finishes sixth in the standings. The stat that I love, Scott, you led the first lap of the season and you led the last lap of the season. SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Sweet. THE MODERATOR: Team Penske, their 312th INDYCAR SERIES win.Scott, congratulations. Great way to finish up 2026. SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Thank you. A culmination of some hard work. I think the whole team, all three cars, just been working on basically I think from the Mid-Ohio test for us, at least on my car, we found a bit of a direction. Always felt, yeah, Raul was my guy. We’ve been having that good energy, that feeling that we could do this, but it was just about putting the parts together. Today was fantastic. We’ve had poles. Haven’t quite completed the races. You could see that it was there. Really proud to get our first win together on a road course where the last couple years we probably struggled at the most. Yeah, what a great way to end the season. We have a lot of hard work to do over the off-season to come back stronger, combat against the 10. I think J.D. would agree, it’s just a good finish to the season, gets everyone excited. THE MODERATOR: Jonathan, a lot of people talk about momentum. It can be real in racing? JONATHAN DIUGUID: Yeah, obviously we had the same conversation at the end of last season. It’s definitely nice to win the last race of the year. We just have to figure out how to win some more in the middle. Scott mentioned, we had a crucial test for our organization. Today was proof in the pudding, showed up with good cars, got the pole and the race win. Scott led the majority of the race. That bodes well. We’re strong on road courses, street courses and ovals now, which is what it takes to be competitive in the championship. Real excited for 2027 already. We’ll definitely celebrate this win, it’s an important one for the team. THE MODERATOR: Open it up for questions.Q. Scott, are you going to do any work over the off-season on your doughnut game?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: It’s been terrible, right? I’ve been waiting six years to do that. My initial one I wanted to park it against the fence and do it. I lost it in the smoke. I was too close to the wall when the smoke cleared. It sucked. Look, I was doing donuts, that’s all I can ask for. Q. The importance of winning the last race of the year, may not be a championship, but you get to celebrate a victory for months, whereas generally a lot of people only get to celebrate it for a week. How much does that help boost you especially when you return home to Charlotte?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: I’m very excited. I said on TV, for me to win as a dad, I’ve been wanting to win for Lucy so much. That’s the main thing. Yeah, we’ll celebrate it, but we’ll learn from it, too. I don’t think we were that great across the stints. We need to figure out why we’re using the rear tires a little bit more than the 27 there. Yeah, I’m very happy, but there’s work to be done. Q. Jonathan, second year in a row Team Penske has won the season finale. How important is that for the organization? It was a tough season with the injuries you had to deal with.JONATHAN DIUGUID: I would say it’s a tough season. We won three races this year, which isn’t something to shake a stick at. We moved all the cars up in the championship about all of them finishing in the top eight. I think as an organization we’re definitely heading the right direction. Our performance has been strong. Like Scott mentioned, it’s all about execution. Winning the last race is definitely the last memory in everybody’s mine. It’s very positive for the team and the shop. The trophy here this weekend is quite a nice one, too, as well. Q. Looking at the way the race played itself out, you ran the hard tire in the last stint, a good choice. Was the tire deg what you thought it was going to be?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, about the same. I was probably surprised how bad I was at the end of a black tire stint. But we made it progressively better. That’s what you need to do. I thought we had some really good (indiscernible) in our car to figure that out and get it back to where we needed. That’s a lot of trust in myself and Raul, figuring out what rear bar and front bar we want, all that jazz. Like I said, it’s good. I was thankful that Kirkwood had reds to put on at the end. He was quick on the blacks. I knew if I could just get through the out-laps, then control that first part of the stint, he would probably die off a little worse than I would. That’s sort of what happened. Q. Gap never got bigger.SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: No. My goal was to keep it at two seconds the whole time. Q. This work that you and Raul have done, for you two as driver-engineer, the relationship that you have, this can now cement that a lot more during the off-season, can’t it?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, I’m so happy for him. Malcolm Finch gets forgotten as well. He’s my performance engineer. He’s been fantastic. For us to get that success, we never stopped believing. We knew we could do it. It was a matter of putting it together and the feeling that I needed to go fast and trust the car. Really sort of hit on that this weekend, but even the last couple events. Thought we’ve been on a bit of roll. Yeah, the three of us working well. I think the whole 3 stand is fantastic. T.C. was amazing on the radio. His experience was fantastic. Dave Faustino. Everyone, really, the last few events, basically since June, July, I think we’ve been really, really good. It’s just getting some car pace to control like we did today. It was awesome. Q. Scott, do you feel more relief, more excitement, more pride in this one?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: A bit of everything, to be honest. I’d say a little bit of relief because I’ve been promising Lucy a long time a race win. She has no idea. She gave me nothing on FaceTime before. That’s part of it. Yeah, it’s just a good, good day. Good day. It’s cool to just have a good weekend. I mean, we were top five every session. Just from the jump felt like we had really good speed. Q. You were complaining about vibration late. How bad was it? Were you feeling everything 10 times as big?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: It was bad enough for me to think about where I was placing the car, look after the left rear, not run the curbs and stuff like that. I wanted to bring it home more than anything. Thankfully we had reasonable pace and wasn’t pressured. I sort of was able to do what I wanted there. The vibration, wasn’t a panic. I wanted to know what tire it was so I could understand it and move forward. It was a good call and great communication, as I said, from T.C. on the stand. Q. With the close calls you’ve had this year, what is your mentality during that final stint? Are you hoping and praying no yellow comes out?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, it’s just control what I can control. I can’t control if a yellow comes out. We had a good exchange. I came out in the lead. That was just a matter of then bringing up the tire nice, not using it too hard, making sure we had something to play with in case the yellow came out. For me it was just like control the gap and do what I need to do. If a yellow comes out, we’ll reset and go again. Q. The ice cream nights really made the difference this weekend?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, yeah. Yep, Revival Ice Cream Shop. I went Friday night. Went last night. I might have to go tonight, as well. Q. Jonathan, with the reshuffling for the 3 car, how rewarding is it to get this moment?JONATHAN DIUGUID: Yeah, like Scott mentioned, that group has been working very well together for the last stands of the season. It was a lot of changes. It’s kind of an All-Star team, too, as well. The people moving in those positions were very experienced, like Scott mentioned with Tim on the radio there, Raul, Dave Faustino, Malcolm running the engineering of the car. They’re all extremely experienced guys who know how to win. There’s been a lot mentioned about Raul. I can tell you, he lives it. He never sleeps. I’m sure Scott has had to mute his phone at 3:00 in the morning sometimes. He’s relentless. Like Scott said, I’m really proud that he’s able to finish the season off with a win. Q. Scott, you’re the first Chevy driver to win here at Laguna Seca since Paul Tracy in 1993. Talk about that and what that means to you.SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, I didn’t know that. Proud obviously. We got the 249 and 250 poles for them. To get that was a big milestone for Team Chevy. Yeah, to win today was special. I didn’t know that stat, so that’s pretty cool. Proud of the effort. It’s been hard for everyone. We worked together really well, all Chevy teams. I feel like we’re going to have to keep working in the off-season, keep getting stronger and better. We know where we need to improve. Yeah, I feel like it’s a massive team effort from everyone up in Michigan. Really, really proud. Proud to do it for them. Yeah, we’re going to have to work hard in the off-season to come back better. Q. Obviously 2025 was not the season that you wanted to have. Talk about putting that in the rearview mirror and how you were able to turn that corner.JONATHAN DIUGUID: Yeah, I mean, obviously we didn’t have a lot of time. The off-season is long. It does take a lot of work and effort from a lot of people to kind of right the ship, identify what the issues are, then be able to address them with limited testing sessions, testing on the race weekends as much as we are on test days. To be honest, you always question yourself, too, are you making the right decisions when the results aren’t coming. Obviously our short oval performance and speedway performance was strong. Street courses is there, but road courses was the biggest deficit we identified. We had a strong Mid-Ohio race, had a strong race here. I think it just goes to show we’re on the right track and have a good foundation to build on. Like Scott said, we’ll start to focus on the details to have all cars in the top five and be able to fight for a championship. Q. On the fire suits, the cars, Penske’s 60th anniversary. What do you say about 60 years of Team Penske and your role in this organization?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: I think it’s just proud to put this uniform on. The people that raced before you, the people that work before you, to celebrate 60 years has been amazing for Roger. To have success is fantastic. Is it as much success as we want? No. We keep continue as we always are talking about: Effort equals results. We will keep working.60 years has to be a long time. Has to be celebrated. He’s the first one to go, Okay, let’s see about the next ten. It’s keep working hard, keep getting better and better. It’s a testament to this team and his leadership, as well. JONATHAN DIUGUID: I think Scott answered it pretty well there, so… THE MODERATOR: 3 a.m. phone calls. SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: My second wife. THE MODERATOR: Where is the party tonight? SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: INDYCAR banquet, bro. Anywhere for a free drink. THE MODERATOR: Congratulations.

Scott McLaughlin and the No. 3 DEX Team Penske Chevrolet crew celebrate the 250th all-time earned pole for Chevrolet in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES

Chevrolet at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca Chevrolet wins at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca: 6 2026 – Scott McLaughlin – Team Penske1993 – Paul Tracy – Team Penske1991 – Michael Andretti – Newman Haas Racing1990 – Danny Sullivan – Team Penske1989 – Rick Mears – Team Penske1988 – Danny Sullivan – Team Penske Chevrolet poles at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca: 9 2026 – Scott McLaughlin – Team Penske2023 – Felix Rosenqvist – Arrow McLaren2022 – Will Power – Team Penske1993 – Emerson Fittipaldi – Team Penske1991 – Michael Andretti – Newman Haas Racing1990 – Danny Sullivan – Team Penske1989 – Rick Mears – Team Penske1988 – Danny Sullivan – Team Penske1987 – Mario Andretti – Newman Haas Racing Chevrolet podiums at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca: 24 Chevrolet podiums at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca by driver: Mario Andretti (3), Danny Sullivan (3), Al Unser Jr. (3), Michael Andretti (2), Scott McLaughlin (2), Rick Mears (2), Will Power (2), Alexander Rossi (2), Emerson Fittipaldi (1), Christian Lundgaard (1), Josef Newgarden (1), Bob Rahal (1), and Paul Tracy (1)  Chevrolet podiums at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca by team: Team Penske (12), Newman Haas Racing (5), Galles Racing (3), Arrow McLaren (2), ECR (1), Rahal Hogan Racing (1) Chevrolet laps led at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca: 647 Chevrolet laps led at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca by driver: Danny Sullivan (156), Scott McLaughlin (87), Michael Andretti (86), Mario Andretti (83), Paul Tracy (81), Rick Mears (52), Will Power (29), Pato O’Ward (15), Alexander Rossi (14), Al Unser Jr. (14), Felix Rosenqvist (11), Nolan Siegel (11), Josef Newgarden (10), Alexander Rossi (14), Emerson Fittipaldi (7), Callum Ilott (1), and Simon Pagenaud (1) Chevrolet laps led at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca by team: Team Penske (332), Newman Haas Racing (169), Arrow McLaren (47), Galles Racing (14), Patrick Racing (4), and Juncos Hollinger Racing (1) Manufacturer History at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca Wins (with competition): 9 – Honda (2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2019, 2000, 1997, 1996)6 – Chevrolet (2026, 1993, 1991, 1990, 1989, 1988)5 – Cosworth (1987, 1986, 1985, 1984, 1983)4 – Ford (2001, 1999, 1998, 1992)1 – Ilmor (1994)1 – Mercedes (1995)1 – Toyota (2002) Poles (with competition): 9 – Chevrolet (2026, 2023, 2021, 1993, 1991, 1990, 1989, 1988, 1987)7 – Honda (2025, 2024, 2021 2019, 2001, 2000, 1996)5 – Ford (1999, 1998, 1997, 1995, 1992)4 – Cosworth (1986, 1985, 1984, 1983)1 – Ilmor (1994)1 – Toyota (2002)

Scott McLaughlin, driver of the No. 3 DEX Team Penske Chevrolet with his trophy for winning the Mission Foods Grand Prix Of Monterey, the final race of the 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season

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CHEVROLET IN THE NTT INDYCAR SERIESMission Foods Grand Prix of Monterey2.238-mile, 11-turn Weather Raceway Laguna Seca road courseMonterey, CaliforniaSunday Race ReportSeptember 6, 2026 MONTEREY, California (Sept. 6, 2026) – After taking Chevrolet’s historic 250th pole on Saturday, Scott McLaughlin, the driver of the No. 3 DEX Team Penske Chevrolet, led 87 of 95 laps of the Mission Foods Grand Prix of Monterey, the final race of the 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season.  McGlaughlin’s win is the eighth of his career, and the eighth time that a driver wearing a Bowtie visited victory lane in 2026.  Alexander Rossi and the No. 20 ECR Java House Chevrolet executed an alternate strategy, going long on the first stint, making three quick pit stops, and winning an on-track battle with David Malukas to cross under the checkered flag in third place, standing on the podium for the 31st time in his career, but the first time with ECR.  David Malukas brought the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet home in the top five for the ninth time in 2026, ending his first campaign with the legendary team in fifth place, the best of the team’s trio of drivers.  Christian Lundgaard finished sixth after starting 11th, falling only two points shy of finishing second in the season-long championship. The driver of the No. 7 VELO Arrow McLaren Chevrolet ended the season as the highest points scorer on natural-terrain courses, besting season-long champion Álex Palou by 10 points. Lundgaard’s teammate Pato O’Ward (No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet) ended the season fourth in points, with Malukas in fifth and McLaughlin in sixth. McLaughlin’s win is Chevrolet’s 245th all-time, 135th since the introduction of the 2.2L Twin-Turbo V6 in 2012 and sixth at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca (first since Paul Tracy won for Team Penske in 1993). The win is McLaughlin’s 8th with Team Chevy, tying him with Sam Hornish, Jr. for 10th all-time with Chevrolet power and moving him to 4th since the introduction of the 2.2L Twin-Turbo V6 in 2012.It’s Team Penske’s 127th win all-time with Chevrolet power and 90th since the introduction of the 2.2L Twin-Turbo V6 in 2012.  Mission Foods Grand Prix Of Monterey race results:

Alexander Rossi and the No. 20 ECR Java House Chevrolet crew worked together to end the season on a high note with a podium at the Mission Foods Grand Prix Of Monterey

What they’re saying – Mission Foods Grand Prix Of Monterey Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 DEX Team Penske Chevrolet won:“Well, firstly, my little girl hasn’t seen me win yet, and she finally has. So, Dad’s coming home with a trophy, baby. Let’s go! Karly, I love you, babe. It’s been hard, I know. The DEX Imaging Chevy was unbelievable. These guys and girls on my team, Team Penske, have stuck behind me the whole time. Congrats, Alex, on his fifth. We’re working hard to be better but today was a big step in the right direction, so… and I’ve been waiting six years to do donuts. They sucked, but I was like, let’s go! I was really happy. We had to be solid. That’s what it’s gonna take to win a championship. What a great warm-up we had. So, yeah, bring it on 2027.” Alexander Rossi, No. 20 ECR Java House Chevrolet finished 3rd:“I don’t know that I could state the significance of it just with how challenging this year has been for the whole organization, and how much road courses have been a huge struggle of ours, and there was a lot of doubt, I think, coming into this event, as to whether or not we could find a direction. So, I think this is just a huge reward for all of the effort for the entire Java House/Splenda ECR team, and it’s been a grind this year, but everyone stayed true to the course and focusing on just continuing to push forward. And I think that that speaks volumes this weekend and gives us a great kind of step of motivation, belief, self-belief in ourselves going into next year.” David Malukas, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet finished 5th:“I think it was very strong for us, there were a few mistakes that we made throughout the weekend that I think we should have started off a little bit better. So many good things to come out of this, especially for me. I think before coming into the season, for me, it was just ovals only. Now we’ve figured out the road courses on top of it. Street courses need a little more work, but road courses are good. From outside pace I think we were one of the top cars on pace, but my wrist started giving out there toward the end.” Christian Lundgaard, No. 7 VELO Arrow McLaren Chevrolet finished 6th:“Today was a long race, a lot of tire degradation the field had to work through. We had to fight a little harder with the engine penalty to get up to sixth, and it’s a shame we couldn’t snag one more position into fifth. Congrats to Kirkwood, edging us out of second in the championship. Our entire 7 VELO crew did an awesome job, though, today and all season to complete every single lap across 18 races. I’m really proud of how we raced this year together. My crew, my engineers, everyone did their part. And I’m thankful for all the papaya fans who’ve supported me the past two seasons. We’ll take home third in the championship, my highest finish yet.” Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet finished 11th:“P4 in the championship this year. Obviously, we always look for more considering we were second last year. We faced a lot of challenges this year but it was nice to get three wins on-track. That was definitely the highlight. Other than that, our bad days are too bad, and we need to make that better and give it another go next year. Appreciate all the fans for their support, and seeing so many of you at the track this year.” Santino Ferrucci, No. 14 Homes For Our Troops Chevrolet finished 12th:“It looked like it was gonna start to be a good weekend but It’s been pretty rough. Ended up being a really solid one. I mean, really happy with the crew strategy. Our pit stops have been phenomenal. I mean, you can’t do what we just did without having great pit stops. And yeah, car was nice to drive. Obviously, really physical there at the end, but we just kind of nailed everything. So really happy.” Josef Newgarden, No. 2 Astemo Team Penske Chevrolet finished 15th:“The Astemo Chevy had really good pace today. Starting in the back we decided to go with a four-stop strategy and just didn’t get a yellow when we needed it. Just can’t say enough about the effort of this team this year. Obviously, we had some things to deal with after Indy and they just continued to give me everything I needed. Happy to get some time to reset and start getting ready to come back stronger in 2027. Thank you to Astemo, Chevy, Shell, Snap-on, XPEL, PPG and everyone that allows us to do this.” Rinus VeeKay, No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Chevrolet finished 16th:“10th in the Championship! That was our goal coming into this weekend. It wasn’t our easiest, we missed the balance a little bit in qualifying and in the end it was a track position race and just couldn’t get too much done there. Had a little bit of an issue on the first pit stop where we did not get all the fuel in. We had to adjust strategy, go to a 4 stop. I think we adjusted quite well and didn’t take too much risk and yeah, just one of those weekends where we were just a little bit behind. It wasn’t anything spectacular, but it was enough to get the job done and get 10th in the Championship. I think looking back at that, an incredible job by the team, by the #76 crew, all the engineers, the mechanics, guys doing pitstops, and everything getting me to 10th in the Championship, getting us to 10th in the Championship, I think was great and really happy for everybody and really thankful for all the hard work of everybody on the team.”Caio Collet, No. 4 Combitrans Amazonia Chevrolet finished 20th:“It was a decent race until the last stint. I think we did a pretty good job the first three stints. Then, with 15 laps to go, I just started to struggle a lot with the reds, especially with the rear. And then I was just losing two, three seconds a lap. Need to understand a little bit better what I did wrong or what we could have done a bit better to just protect the tire or shorten that stint a little bit more. But it is what it is. A big thanks to everyone for the season, for all the year, AJ Foyt Racing, Chevy, Combitrans, all the engineers, and the mechanics. It was a tough year but definitely also had some really enjoyable moments. So big thanks to everyone.” Christian Rasmussen, No. 21 Splenda Stevia Chevrolet finished 21st:“2026 is done! It has been a tough year for the  No. 21 Splenda Chevrolet crew, but still a lot of positive to look back on. Our final spot in the championship does not tell the full story about the pace that we showed this year. We just got caught out in a lot of situations that were outside of our own control, again and again. I think we’ve used up all the bad luck for at least the next five years! I think we’re in for a good one in 2027. I’m excited to come back with ECR for the future. We’re truly improving and getting better all the time. “It really excites me to see what’s ahead for us, and we’ll work super hard this offseason to sort out the wrinkles and come back swinging for ‘27!” Sting Ray Robb, No. 77 Juncos Hollinger – Goodheart Chevrolet finished 23rd:“Tough last race. Ran over the back of Dennis (Hauger) into turn six when everyone checked up. Caught me out. So, stop and go penalty, and changed the front wing. Just didn’t have enough pace to make it up.   Unfortunate last race of the year. I definitely think this is the cherry on top. Has been a disappointing season. Big thanks to everyone at JHR. They’ve all worked very hard. All the mechanics. All the engineers and everyone has put in a lot of time and effort to make it work. It’s been a lot of fun. But not the result we wanted or needed. Thank you to Oikos for being with us this last race. Hopefully we will be seeing everyone around soon.” Nolan Siegel, No. 6 NTT DATA Arrow McLaren Chevrolet finished 24th:“Tough one today. I had hoped for a better finale, but I want to thank the 6 crew for all their hard work over the past two-plus years. We had our highs and lows, but I’m proud that we stuck with it and continued to fight our way forward. Thank you to the papaya fans, as well, for the great memories.”

Scott McLaughlin (No. 3 DEX Team Penske Chevrolet) and Alexander Rossi (No. 20 ECR Java House Chevrolet) share the podium at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca to end the 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season

NTT INDYCAR SERIES News ConferenceAlexander RossiScott McLaughlin THE MODERATOR: Alex, I’m going to call this the home race. A great drive today. ALEXANDER ROSSI: Yeah, thank you. It’s no secret that this has been a pretty terrible year for myself and the whole ECR team with the litany of issue, some out of our control, some in our control. Ultimately road courses have been something that have been a pretty big challenge for us in the second half of this year. Really ever since the Indy GP, there’s been a huge amount of emphasis and effort behind the scenes to kind of dig out of that hole. It’s very difficult to do in this championship. Just really proud of the whole organization and everyone involved for kind of staying true to the course and fighting through a lot of adversity. This is a great result to kind of reward that effort, just rebuild the confidence in everyone that we’re capable of doing this. It’s a good boost going into what’s going to be a long off-season, but an important one, to make sure we execute a lot better and clean up a lot of our issues that we can control in 2027. THE MODERATOR: Questions. Q. Alex, you just said terrible season, problems. Is there any particular area you can point your finger on that was very bad? Did you identify the problems? ALEXANDER ROSSI: I mean, it was really everything. Anything that could go wrong really did go wrong from crashes to failures of gearboxes, hybrids, engines. Some struggles being on fire in pit lane. Some lack of performance at some events. Anything that you can think of has happened to us across both cars. Just a really trying year. As I said before, like, no one lost motivation or commitment to the end goal and I’m just really proud of that. Q. Alex, do you consider today an ‘a-ha’ moment or is it just we’ve been good all year, bad things happened? ALEXANDER ROSSI: No, I think this was a step for us in performance, for sure, especially on the road courses. I think we had a test at Mid-Ohio where we started to uncover some shortcomings. The Mid-Ohio race we took a little bit of a step. Portland, a little bit of a step. Here was another decent step. There’s two issues, two challenges: you have to identify the problem, then you have to figure out how to fix it. We were able to do that to a certain extent. Like, there’s still more to come from what we know. It’s a huge step in the right direction. Now we have a lot of time to really understand. It’s been a huge stretch for everyone in the series this past five weeks. To really analyze and understand how it can be better will be useful coming into March. Q. Alex, you talked about the long off-season ahead. What does that look like from a driver perspective? How soon are you back in the shop? ALEXANDER ROSSI: After Wednesday for me at least (smiling). I’m on track Wednesday. I think it’s immediately, right? As soon as this is over, we’ll kind of debrief today, try and understand it. Really this week, end of this week, we’ll really focus on the last six weeks, the good parts, the bad parts. As time goes on, look at a bigger overall picture of the year. I’ve said it often this year, that the team has done a lot of things better year over year from ’25 to ’26. Just unfortunately nothing really to show for it. I think drastic changes aren’t necessary. It’s a continual evolution. Just like in a car setup, there’s no magic bullet. It’s the same thing in putting together a season: there’s not one thing you have to do; you have to do everything a little better. There’s no wholesale changes needed. It’s just focusing on understanding our strengths and weaknesses and executing when we can. Q. Is it important for you to jump back into the IR28 and do the oval testing? ALEXANDER ROSSI: It’s a great opportunity and a pretty big privilege to be the first guy to take it around, what is going to be our most important test of the car and understanding what it does on the Speedway. It will be interesting. Like, it’s exciting. It’s a little bit nerve-wracking ’cause I’m sure it will be good, but who knows. It will be a very, very interesting day. Again, just a huge honor and privilege to be chosen by Chevy to be the guy to kind of lead the charge on that with Alex. Q. Alex, two years in now with Ted, a huge agent of change within the team, do you have a thought on that effect? What’s different about this team that encourages you about where you can be in the future? ALEXANDER ROSSI: I think the team just knows now that it has the ability. If we feel we need something, we can go get it, right? But the teams that we’re trying to close the gap to have had that advantage on this organization at ECR for a decade. Just because someone comes in and gives you the resources and tools to close that gap, the teams you’re competing against don’t stop developing either. You have to take bigger steps than they do. It’s not a simple proposition. This championship has so many great drivers and teams and personnel, you don’t just do that overnight. Ted is an amazing partner in the organization, as you see with all of his activation, with commercials he’s doing to help promote the series. It’s pretty amazing what Java House and Splenda are doing outside of the competition side. Inside the organization, everyone knows if we need something, we can go get it. It’s a matter of, as I said before, continuing to develop and get better. It will come. It’s a process. THE MODERATOR: Congratulations on the strong finish to 2026. ————- THE MODERATOR: We are joined by our champion driver and Jonathan Diuguid. Scott McLaughlin who led 87 of the 90 laps snaps the 35-race winless streak. His eighth career win. Finishes sixth in the standings. The stat that I love, Scott, you led the first lap of the season and you led the last lap of the season. SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Sweet. THE MODERATOR: Team Penske, their 312th INDYCAR SERIES win.Scott, congratulations. Great way to finish up 2026. SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Thank you. A culmination of some hard work. I think the whole team, all three cars, just been working on basically I think from the Mid-Ohio test for us, at least on my car, we found a bit of a direction. Always felt, yeah, Raul was my guy. We’ve been having that good energy, that feeling that we could do this, but it was just about putting the parts together. Today was fantastic. We’ve had poles. Haven’t quite completed the races. You could see that it was there. Really proud to get our first win together on a road course where the last couple years we probably struggled at the most. Yeah, what a great way to end the season. We have a lot of hard work to do over the off-season to come back stronger, combat against the 10. I think J.D. would agree, it’s just a good finish to the season, gets everyone excited. THE MODERATOR: Jonathan, a lot of people talk about momentum. It can be real in racing? JONATHAN DIUGUID: Yeah, obviously we had the same conversation at the end of last season. It’s definitely nice to win the last race of the year. We just have to figure out how to win some more in the middle. Scott mentioned, we had a crucial test for our organization. Today was proof in the pudding, showed up with good cars, got the pole and the race win. Scott led the majority of the race. That bodes well. We’re strong on road courses, street courses and ovals now, which is what it takes to be competitive in the championship. Real excited for 2027 already. We’ll definitely celebrate this win, it’s an important one for the team. THE MODERATOR: Open it up for questions.Q. Scott, are you going to do any work over the off-season on your doughnut game?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: It’s been terrible, right? I’ve been waiting six years to do that. My initial one I wanted to park it against the fence and do it. I lost it in the smoke. I was too close to the wall when the smoke cleared. It sucked. Look, I was doing donuts, that’s all I can ask for. Q. The importance of winning the last race of the year, may not be a championship, but you get to celebrate a victory for months, whereas generally a lot of people only get to celebrate it for a week. How much does that help boost you especially when you return home to Charlotte?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: I’m very excited. I said on TV, for me to win as a dad, I’ve been wanting to win for Lucy so much. That’s the main thing. Yeah, we’ll celebrate it, but we’ll learn from it, too. I don’t think we were that great across the stints. We need to figure out why we’re using the rear tires a little bit more than the 27 there. Yeah, I’m very happy, but there’s work to be done. Q. Jonathan, second year in a row Team Penske has won the season finale. How important is that for the organization? It was a tough season with the injuries you had to deal with.JONATHAN DIUGUID: I would say it’s a tough season. We won three races this year, which isn’t something to shake a stick at. We moved all the cars up in the championship about all of them finishing in the top eight. I think as an organization we’re definitely heading the right direction. Our performance has been strong. Like Scott mentioned, it’s all about execution. Winning the last race is definitely the last memory in everybody’s mine. It’s very positive for the team and the shop. The trophy here this weekend is quite a nice one, too, as well. Q. Looking at the way the race played itself out, you ran the hard tire in the last stint, a good choice. Was the tire deg what you thought it was going to be?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, about the same. I was probably surprised how bad I was at the end of a black tire stint. But we made it progressively better. That’s what you need to do. I thought we had some really good (indiscernible) in our car to figure that out and get it back to where we needed. That’s a lot of trust in myself and Raul, figuring out what rear bar and front bar we want, all that jazz. Like I said, it’s good. I was thankful that Kirkwood had reds to put on at the end. He was quick on the blacks. I knew if I could just get through the out-laps, then control that first part of the stint, he would probably die off a little worse than I would. That’s sort of what happened. Q. Gap never got bigger.SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: No. My goal was to keep it at two seconds the whole time. Q. This work that you and Raul have done, for you two as driver-engineer, the relationship that you have, this can now cement that a lot more during the off-season, can’t it?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, I’m so happy for him. Malcolm Finch gets forgotten as well. He’s my performance engineer. He’s been fantastic. For us to get that success, we never stopped believing. We knew we could do it. It was a matter of putting it together and the feeling that I needed to go fast and trust the car. Really sort of hit on that this weekend, but even the last couple events. Thought we’ve been on a bit of roll. Yeah, the three of us working well. I think the whole 3 stand is fantastic. T.C. was amazing on the radio. His experience was fantastic. Dave Faustino. Everyone, really, the last few events, basically since June, July, I think we’ve been really, really good. It’s just getting some car pace to control like we did today. It was awesome. Q. Scott, do you feel more relief, more excitement, more pride in this one?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: A bit of everything, to be honest. I’d say a little bit of relief because I’ve been promising Lucy a long time a race win. She has no idea. She gave me nothing on FaceTime before. That’s part of it. Yeah, it’s just a good, good day. Good day. It’s cool to just have a good weekend. I mean, we were top five every session. Just from the jump felt like we had really good speed. Q. You were complaining about vibration late. How bad was it? Were you feeling everything 10 times as big?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: It was bad enough for me to think about where I was placing the car, look after the left rear, not run the curbs and stuff like that. I wanted to bring it home more than anything. Thankfully we had reasonable pace and wasn’t pressured. I sort of was able to do what I wanted there. The vibration, wasn’t a panic. I wanted to know what tire it was so I could understand it and move forward. It was a good call and great communication, as I said, from T.C. on the stand. Q. With the close calls you’ve had this year, what is your mentality during that final stint? Are you hoping and praying no yellow comes out?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, it’s just control what I can control. I can’t control if a yellow comes out. We had a good exchange. I came out in the lead. That was just a matter of then bringing up the tire nice, not using it too hard, making sure we had something to play with in case the yellow came out. For me it was just like control the gap and do what I need to do. If a yellow comes out, we’ll reset and go again. Q. The ice cream nights really made the difference this weekend?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, yeah. Yep, Revival Ice Cream Shop. I went Friday night. Went last night. I might have to go tonight, as well. Q. Jonathan, with the reshuffling for the 3 car, how rewarding is it to get this moment?JONATHAN DIUGUID: Yeah, like Scott mentioned, that group has been working very well together for the last stands of the season. It was a lot of changes. It’s kind of an All-Star team, too, as well. The people moving in those positions were very experienced, like Scott mentioned with Tim on the radio there, Raul, Dave Faustino, Malcolm running the engineering of the car. They’re all extremely experienced guys who know how to win. There’s been a lot mentioned about Raul. I can tell you, he lives it. He never sleeps. I’m sure Scott has had to mute his phone at 3:00 in the morning sometimes. He’s relentless. Like Scott said, I’m really proud that he’s able to finish the season off with a win. Q. Scott, you’re the first Chevy driver to win here at Laguna Seca since Paul Tracy in 1993. Talk about that and what that means to you.SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, I didn’t know that. Proud obviously. We got the 249 and 250 poles for them. To get that was a big milestone for Team Chevy. Yeah, to win today was special. I didn’t know that stat, so that’s pretty cool. Proud of the effort. It’s been hard for everyone. We worked together really well, all Chevy teams. I feel like we’re going to have to keep working in the off-season, keep getting stronger and better. We know where we need to improve. Yeah, I feel like it’s a massive team effort from everyone up in Michigan. Really, really proud. Proud to do it for them. Yeah, we’re going to have to work hard in the off-season to come back better. Q. Obviously 2025 was not the season that you wanted to have. Talk about putting that in the rearview mirror and how you were able to turn that corner.JONATHAN DIUGUID: Yeah, I mean, obviously we didn’t have a lot of time. The off-season is long. It does take a lot of work and effort from a lot of people to kind of right the ship, identify what the issues are, then be able to address them with limited testing sessions, testing on the race weekends as much as we are on test days. To be honest, you always question yourself, too, are you making the right decisions when the results aren’t coming. Obviously our short oval performance and speedway performance was strong. Street courses is there, but road courses was the biggest deficit we identified. We had a strong Mid-Ohio race, had a strong race here. I think it just goes to show we’re on the right track and have a good foundation to build on. Like Scott said, we’ll start to focus on the details to have all cars in the top five and be able to fight for a championship. Q. On the fire suits, the cars, Penske’s 60th anniversary. What do you say about 60 years of Team Penske and your role in this organization?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: I think it’s just proud to put this uniform on. The people that raced before you, the people that work before you, to celebrate 60 years has been amazing for Roger. To have success is fantastic. Is it as much success as we want? No. We keep continue as we always are talking about: Effort equals results. We will keep working.60 years has to be a long time. Has to be celebrated. He’s the first one to go, Okay, let’s see about the next ten. It’s keep working hard, keep getting better and better. It’s a testament to this team and his leadership, as well. JONATHAN DIUGUID: I think Scott answered it pretty well there, so… THE MODERATOR: 3 a.m. phone calls. SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: My second wife. THE MODERATOR: Where is the party tonight? SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: INDYCAR banquet, bro. Anywhere for a free drink. THE MODERATOR: Congratulations.

Scott McLaughlin and the No. 3 DEX Team Penske Chevrolet crew celebrate the 250th all-time earned pole for Chevrolet in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES

Chevrolet at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca Chevrolet wins at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca: 6 2026 – Scott McLaughlin – Team Penske1993 – Paul Tracy – Team Penske1991 – Michael Andretti – Newman Haas Racing1990 – Danny Sullivan – Team Penske1989 – Rick Mears – Team Penske1988 – Danny Sullivan – Team Penske Chevrolet poles at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca: 9 2026 – Scott McLaughlin – Team Penske2023 – Felix Rosenqvist – Arrow McLaren2022 – Will Power – Team Penske1993 – Emerson Fittipaldi – Team Penske1991 – Michael Andretti – Newman Haas Racing1990 – Danny Sullivan – Team Penske1989 – Rick Mears – Team Penske1988 – Danny Sullivan – Team Penske1987 – Mario Andretti – Newman Haas Racing Chevrolet podiums at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca: 24 Chevrolet podiums at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca by driver: Mario Andretti (3), Danny Sullivan (3), Al Unser Jr. (3), Michael Andretti (2), Scott McLaughlin (2), Rick Mears (2), Will Power (2), Alexander Rossi (2), Emerson Fittipaldi (1), Christian Lundgaard (1), Josef Newgarden (1), Bob Rahal (1), and Paul Tracy (1)  Chevrolet podiums at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca by team: Team Penske (12), Newman Haas Racing (5), Galles Racing (3), Arrow McLaren (2), ECR (1), Rahal Hogan Racing (1) Chevrolet laps led at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca: 647 Chevrolet laps led at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca by driver: Danny Sullivan (156), Scott McLaughlin (87), Michael Andretti (86), Mario Andretti (83), Paul Tracy (81), Rick Mears (52), Will Power (29), Pato O’Ward (15), Alexander Rossi (14), Al Unser Jr. (14), Felix Rosenqvist (11), Nolan Siegel (11), Josef Newgarden (10), Alexander Rossi (14), Emerson Fittipaldi (7), Callum Ilott (1), and Simon Pagenaud (1) Chevrolet laps led at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca by team: Team Penske (332), Newman Haas Racing (169), Arrow McLaren (47), Galles Racing (14), Patrick Racing (4), and Juncos Hollinger Racing (1) Manufacturer History at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca Wins (with competition): 9 – Honda (2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2019, 2000, 1997, 1996)6 – Chevrolet (2026, 1993, 1991, 1990, 1989, 1988)5 – Cosworth (1987, 1986, 1985, 1984, 1983)4 – Ford (2001, 1999, 1998, 1992)1 – Ilmor (1994)1 – Mercedes (1995)1 – Toyota (2002) Poles (with competition): 9 – Chevrolet (2026, 2023, 2021, 1993, 1991, 1990, 1989, 1988, 1987)7 – Honda (2025, 2024, 2021 2019, 2001, 2000, 1996)5 – Ford (1999, 1998, 1997, 1995, 1992)4 – Cosworth (1986, 1985, 1984, 1983)1 – Ilmor (1994)1 – Toyota (2002)

Davis Fisher (No. 67) beats Tom Drane (No. 59) and Trent Lowe (No. 48) to the line, scoring the victory at the Caterpillar Springfield Mile II.  [Photo: Tim Lester for AMA Pro Racing] Download high-resolution photo from AMA Pro’s Digital Asset Management system

Fisher Over Drane by 0.009 in Caterpillar Springfield Mile II Finale Thriller

Davis Fisher (No. 67) beats Tom Drane (No. 59) and Trent Lowe (No. 48) to the line, scoring the victory at the Caterpillar Springfield Mile II.  [Photo: Tim Lester for AMA Pro Racing] Download high-resolution photo from AMA Pro’s Digital Asset Management system

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (September 6, 2026) – Davis Fisher (No. 67 Rackley Racing/Bob Lanphere’s BMC Racing KTM 790 Duke) scored his second-career Mission AFT SuperTwins victory in a thrilling Caterpillar Springfield Mile II that closed out a spectacular 2026 Progressive American Flat Track season, sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing, in fine style.  As with his first – taken at the 2021 Charlotte Half-Mile – Fisher did so in a season-ending stunner. The difference is this one came in Springfield, Illinois, at the Illinois State Fairgrounds’ fabled Springfield Mile.  Equally noteworthy was the overall makeup of the podium, which did not feature any of the three Grand National Championship protagonists who dominated the headlines and garnered all previous 15 victories leading into the last race of the year.  While champion Dallas Daniels (No. 1 Estenson Racing Yamaha MT-07) and title rivals Briar Bauman (No. 3 Super.com/RWR/Rocket Doctor Harley-Davidson XG750R) and Kody Kopp (No. 12 Latus Motors Racing Harley-Davidson XG750R) played their roles in the race, Fisher ultimately earned the win by fending off KICKER AFT Singles superstar and Mission AFT SuperTwins wild card Tom Drane (No. 59 Estenson Racing Yamaha MT-07) at the flag.  Fisher and Drane went back and forth for first over the back half of the contest, where it became increasingly obvious that Fisher needed to keep Drane behind him entering Turn 3 on the final lap to have any hope of taking the win. And he did exactly that, a fact that allowed him to edge the talented Australian by a meager 0.009 seconds at the flag.  Fisher said, “Tom (Drane) put up a heck of a fight. I just can’t thank the whole Rackley team enough for just chugging away at this and putting the KTM on the top of the box. My long-time sponsor Bob Lanphere from Beaverton Motorcycles made the trip here, and he told me, ‘I’m here to watch you win the Mile.’ And we did that. “It’s pretty cool going into the offseason on top. I get to look at the scoreboard all year long, just like I did after Charlotte. It’s been a while since I got a win. It was long overdue, and it feels so great.”  2025 Springfield winner Trent Lowe (No. 48 American Honda/Mission Foods Honda CB750 Hornet) finished in third just 0.057 seconds further adrift to back up his Saturday podium with another on Sunday.  As for the title fighters, Bauman frequently ran at the head of the multi-rider lead pack until he was forced out with an apparent mechanical issue with just over four minutes remaining.  Daniels, meanwhile, lost touch with the lead group just prior to half-distance. He dropped nearly two seconds back at one point before executing a late charge aided by the back-and-forth antics of Fisher and Drane at the front. That enabled him to latch onto the tail of the draft with two laps to go, bringing him near enough to zap Kopp on the final lap for fourth.   Despite that setback, fifth was more than enough for Kopp to overtake the unlucky Bauman and finish his rookie premier-class campaign ranked second in the Grand National Championship.   Behind, Dalton Gauthier (No. 79 Moto Anatomy X Powered by Royal Enfield 650) took a lonely sixth, while Declan Bender (No. 70 Memphis Shades/Vinson Construction Yamaha MT-07) won out in a tight all-Yamaha battle for seventh, finishing just ahead of Hunter Bauer (No. 24 G&G Racing Yamaha MT-07) and Chad Cose (No. 49 PRO Roofing/Parker Racing Yamaha MT-07).   The “Wizard” Jeffrey Carver, Jr. (No. 123 Mission Foods/Roof Systems Harley-Davidson XG750R) earned a popular top ten in his return to action at the Springfield Mile.   Daniels concluded his second-consecutive championship-winning campaign with 309 points. He was followed by Kopp (274) and Bauman (270).   Fisher rounded out a fine season in fourth with 216 points, followed by Lowe at 178.  KICKER AFT Singles The KICKER AFT Singles category held out until its final Main Event of the season to unleash its wildest race of 2026.  Twelve riders went back and forth for ten minutes and (nearly) two laps, swapping the lead at the end of almost every straight. That intensity reached its boiling point on the final lap, at which point Logan Eisenhard (No. 66 Mark Tepper Racing/Pags Powersports KTM 450 SX-F) got sucked up the track and collected Jordan Beaulac (No. 156 Picotte Motosport/Dofralex GASGAS MC 450F), sending both riders into the air fence.   The incident brought out a red flag while double class champ Tom Drane (No. 1 Estenson Racing Yamaha YZ450F) held the lead negotiating the race’s final lap.   However, Chase Saathoff (No. 88 1st Impressions Race Team Husqvarna FC450) had actually taken the white flag to open that lap inches ahead of both Kage Tadman (No. 28 American Honda/Mission Foods CRF450R) (0.038 seconds back) and Drane (0.039) as the massive group maneuvered to set up their last-gasp sprints to a checkered flag that would never wave.   As a result, the win was awarded to Saathoff in what might prove to be an unexpected conclusion to an epic, years-long KICKER AFT Singles rivalry should one or both graduate to premier-class duty in 2027.   After picking up his second victory of the season, home-state hero Saathoff said, “It still feels great to win. I’m super grateful, and I do feel we would have had a chance at the line. I can’t thank the whole team enough; it’s been a great year. I’m very blessed to be up here right now, even though it was by a technicality… it happens.”   Tadman was credited with second while Drane officially finished third – a tough luck end to his seven-race Mile win streak aboard the YZ450F.   Trevor Brunner (No. 21 JMC Motorsports/Fairway GMC KTM 450 SX-F) and Jared Lowe (No. 63 Big R Racing/Vinson Construction Honda CRF450R) rounded out the top five in that order.   Walker Porter (No. 10 American Honda/Mission Foods CRF450R), Bradon Pfanders (No. 83 Memphis Shades/Corbin Seats Yamaha YZ450F), Tarren Santero (No. 75 Roof Systems/Texas Utility Studies/Vinson Construction Honda CRF450R), Jett Katarzy (No. 117 1st Impressions Race Team Husqvarna FC450) and Kaleb Martin (No. 93 GETMOREBIKE Honda CRF450F) were listed sixth through tenth, respectively, in the official results.   Despite Sunday’s minor disappointment, Drane had already locked down a record-breaking nine-win season to round out a second consecutive crushing title triumph. He ended his campaign with 303 points, followed by Saathoff at 257 and Tadman with 226.

POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (September 6, 2026) – Every winning streak eventually ends, and for Matthew Brabham and his #16 GYM SODA Ford Mustang his four-race run in the Trans Am by Pirelli came to a halt Saturday at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park. In an exciting race-long duel with defending race winner and series champion Paul Menard that was decided by the luck of lapped traffic, series point-leader Brabham finished second by less than a half second. Brabham’s teammate, Chris Dyson filled out the podium in the #20 GYM SODA / RACER Ford Mustang. Brabham kept his now 10-race pole-winning record intact and led the first quarter of the 100-mile sprint handily until he got balked by lapped traffic, which permitted second-place Paul Menard to slip through into the lead. “I knew traffic might be critical today,” Brabham said following the race, noting that for this event the TA2 cars would be part of the field,  along with GT entries. “Those guys race hard and they are going for their own championship. But they’re enough slower than our TA cars that we come up on them pretty quickly. Even though they are usually good about keeping their line and letting us figure out how to get by, sometimes by trying to get out of the way, they get in the way. That happened today. I got stuck and that gave Paul the opening he needed.” The battle stayed close but clean all the way to the checkered flag, with Brabham never more than a second off Menard’s bumper. While challenging Menard for the lead near the end of the race, Brabham got caught in traffic again, costing him two seconds. Clawing his way back to Menard, Brabham set the fastest lap of the race by a full half second. “We just ran out of laps and luck,” Brabham said. “I congratulate Paul and his team. They’ve worked hard and now the clear performance advantage we had earlier in the season is basically evened out. He drove an excellent race today; no mistakes. The last two races should be really good.” “All of us on the team are disappointed we didn’t win,” Dyson said. “But it wasn’t from lack of preparation or effort. Matt and everyone on the team did a great job. This is a demanding place and it is one of our favorites. We were just a bit unlucky and came up short today. Both of us on the podium is still a good result. And with points both for the pole and laps led in the race, Matt only lost four points from the 50-point lead he had.” Next: Virginia International Raceway As the 2026 season enters its final phase, the team looks forward to the penultimate round in two weeks at Virginia International Raceway. CD Racing has a strong record at the challenging southern Virgina circuit. Dyson and Brabham are both Trans Am race winners. Dyson won twice; 2021 from pole and 2025, when he started sixth. Brabham took the winner’s laurels in 2022, coming from last on the grid.  Click here for more on Chris Dyson Racing.

BLACK EAGLE, MT (September 5, 2026) — Sam Hafertepe Jr’s drive towards a seventh championship is energized.

Maintaining the American Sprint Car Series points lead into the penultimate race of Frontier Speedweek at Electric City Speedway for the 30th Montana Roundup, Hafertepe secured his first National Tour win at the track while padding his points lead.

The Sunnyvale, TX racer began the night with a win in Heat racing, then wheeled to an Honest Abe Roofing Dash win to start the 30-lap Feature at the Black Eagle, MT facility from the pole.

Hafertepe jumped to the lead from the bottom lane of Turns 1-2 while front-row starter Terry Easum slipped up to the track, allowing space for the No. 15H to take charge.

Matt Covington capitalized on Easum’s early struggles on the cushion, taking over the runner-up spot on Lap 2, while Hafertepe stretched his lead over his championship adversary.

Hafertepe maxed out his lead to a 2.6-second gap until lapped traffic invaded his crosshairs around the bottom lane. While Covington used the low lane, Kyler Johnson added a fight for second place with his No. 45X ripping around the cushion.

On Lap 18, Johnson took the position and held it until the caution waved with 10 laps remaining. The ensuing restart saw Hafertepe have a perfect restart while Johnson had a delayed start. Covington took advantage and ran a slide-job move across Johnson to retake second place while Hafertepe found his new groove around the 3/10-mile track’s cushion.

Hafertepe re-extended his lead to 2.6 seconds over Covington over the remaining eight laps, picking up a second consecutive win and the 93rd of his career with the ASCS National Tour.

“Before the last yellow, we were running around the bottom,” Hafertepe said. “We got to lap traffic, and a lot of those guys were making some runs on the outside. I got to them, and I was like, ‘Man, it’s probably time to go. We got to get up top.’ 

“We were probably better on the bottom of Turns 3 and 4, but in Turns 1 and 2, you definitely had to be up top in the cushion. Honestly, we were a little bit too tight to be doing that out in clean air out front. I could do my own thing and navigate the car, and man, I have to appreciate all the people that are part of this deal.”

Though Covington finished runner-up to Hafertepe at the finish, he lost ground as the Texan leads over the Glenpool, OK native by 22 points. Garrett Benson finished third for his third podium appearance of 2026. Johnson took fourth, and Seth Bergman rallied to the final spot in the top five after an 11-place hike in the Feature.

Recap Notes:

Quick Time Award: Brogan Carder (12.323 sec.)

Heat Race Winners: Sam Hafertepe Jr., Matt Covington, Ryder Laplante

Honest Abe Roofing Dash Winner: Sam Hafertepe Jr.

Hard Charger Award: Seth Bergman (+11)

UP NEXT: The American Sprint Car Series will close the 2026 Frontier Speedweek at Electric City for the finale of Montana Roundup on Sunday, Sept. 6.

How can you find info for Electric City? Click here.

Where can you watch every lap of the American Sprint Car Series? Live on DIRTVision.

RESULTS: Feature (30 Laps): 1. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[1]; 2. 95-Matt Covington[3]; 3. 2B-Garrett Benson[9]; 4. 45X-Kyler Johnson[7]; 5. 23-Seth Bergman[16]; 6. 88R-Ryder Laplante[4]; 7. 16G-Austyn Gossel[11]; 8. 88-Terry Easum[2]; 9. 37-Trever Kirkland[8]; 10. 3-Cole Schroeder[13]; 11. 23H-Jake Helsel[17]; 12. 17F-Paxton Fleming[5]; 13. 97-Sheldon Bender[12]; 14. 7F-Decklyn Fleming[15]; 15. 88C-Brogan Carder[6]; 16. 6C-Cruz Riggin[18]; 17. 81-Kelly Miller[10]; 18. 8M-Kade Morton[14]; 19. (DNS) 23N-Rich Bailey; 20. (DNS) 24M-Ian Myers

Sam Hafertepe Jr. Triumphs at Electric City for Third Frontier Speedweek Win of 2026 BLACK EAGLE, MT (September 5, 2026) — Sam Hafertepe Jr’s drive towards a seventh championship is energized.

Maintaining the American Sprint Car Series points lead into the penultimate race of Frontier Speedweek at Electric City Speedway for the 30th Montana Roundup, Hafertepe secured his first National Tour win at the track while padding his points lead.

The Sunnyvale, TX racer began the night with a win in Heat racing, then wheeled to an Honest Abe Roofing Dash win to start the 30-lap Feature at the Black Eagle, MT facility from the pole.

Hafertepe jumped to the lead from the bottom lane of Turns 1-2 while front-row starter Terry Easum slipped up to the track, allowing space for the No. 15H to take charge.

Matt Covington capitalized on Easum’s early struggles on the cushion, taking over the runner-up spot on Lap 2, while Hafertepe stretched his lead over his championship adversary.

Hafertepe maxed out his lead to a 2.6-second gap until lapped traffic invaded his crosshairs around the bottom lane. While Covington used the low lane, Kyler Johnson added a fight for second place with his No. 45X ripping around the cushion.

On Lap 18, Johnson took the position and held it until the caution waved with 10 laps remaining. The ensuing restart saw Hafertepe have a perfect restart while Johnson had a delayed start. Covington took advantage and ran a slide-job move across Johnson to retake second place while Hafertepe found his new groove around the 3/10-mile track’s cushion.

Hafertepe re-extended his lead to 2.6 seconds over Covington over the remaining eight laps, picking up a second consecutive win and the 93rd of his career with the ASCS National Tour.

“Before the last yellow, we were running around the bottom,” Hafertepe said. “We got to lap traffic, and a lot of those guys were making some runs on the outside. I got to them, and I was like, ‘Man, it’s probably time to go. We got to get up top.’ 

“We were probably better on the bottom of Turns 3 and 4, but in Turns 1 and 2, you definitely had to be up top in the cushion. Honestly, we were a little bit too tight to be doing that out in clean air out front. I could do my own thing and navigate the car, and man, I have to appreciate all the people that are part of this deal.”

Though Covington finished runner-up to Hafertepe at the finish, he lost ground as the Texan leads over the Glenpool, OK native by 22 points. Garrett Benson finished third for his third podium appearance of 2026. Johnson took fourth, and Seth Bergman rallied to the final spot in the top five after an 11-place hike in the Feature.

Recap Notes:

Quick Time Award: Brogan Carder (12.323 sec.)

Heat Race Winners: Sam Hafertepe Jr., Matt Covington, Ryder Laplante

Honest Abe Roofing Dash Winner: Sam Hafertepe Jr.

Hard Charger Award: Seth Bergman (+11)

UP NEXT: The American Sprint Car Series will close the 2026 Frontier Speedweek at Electric City for the finale of Montana Roundup on Sunday, Sept. 6.

How can you find info for Electric City? Click here.

Where can you watch every lap of the American Sprint Car Series? Live on DIRTVision.

RESULTS: Feature (30 Laps): 1. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[1]; 2. 95-Matt Covington[3]; 3. 2B-Garrett Benson[9]; 4. 45X-Kyler Johnson[7]; 5. 23-Seth Bergman[16]; 6. 88R-Ryder Laplante[4]; 7. 16G-Austyn Gossel[11]; 8. 88-Terry Easum[2]; 9. 37-Trever Kirkland[8]; 10. 3-Cole Schroeder[13]; 11. 23H-Jake Helsel[17]; 12. 17F-Paxton Fleming[5]; 13. 97-Sheldon Bender[12]; 14. 7F-Decklyn Fleming[15]; 15. 88C-Brogan Carder[6]; 16. 6C-Cruz Riggin[18]; 17. 81-Kelly Miller[10]; 18. 8M-Kade Morton[14]; 19. (DNS) 23N-Rich Bailey; 20. (DNS) 24M-Ian Myers

ARTICLE:https://ascsracing.com/recap/sam-hafertepe-jr-triumphs-at-electric-city-for-third-frontier-speedweek-win-of-2026

The driver of the Roth Motorsports No. 83 puts on a clinic in traffic for his ninth Huset’s score

BRANDON, SD (September 5, 2026) – There are few things more reliable in life than Michael “Buddy” Kofoid being fast at Huset’s Speedway.

As sure as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, you can rely on the Penngrove, CA native to be up front when the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series heads to Brandon, SD. It’s where he got his first win with the Series in 2022 and has been on a tear ever since.

Saturday’s L.G. Everist Huset’s Shootout presented by Ace Ready Mix prelim proved to be no different for Kofoid and the Roth Motorsports No. 83 team. Steven Snyder Jr. led early in the Three Stooges Racing No. 51, but it took Kofoid only seven laps to find his way into the lead. The 24-year-old then set a torrid pace, disposing of lapped cars as quick as he caught them on his way to a commanding victory and $15,000 payday.

“It was pretty hectic,” Kofoid said of lapped traffic. “Not as much as the leader, but I do enjoy traffic when it’s like that. It’s a little more nerve wracking when you’re leading. You don’t know really where they’re gaining or how hard you need to push it. I feel like I picked off quite a bit of them pretty quick. Then there was a point when I got to racing with some of those guys, and we were kind of evened out. I was thinking I needed to get going, and then we had the red. I knew we had seven laps to go. I knew I was probably going to get four or five clean laps, and then it was just a matter of going wherever they weren’t but making sure I had enough speed to where if I didn’t want to be in the preferred groove that I was making good speed and hitting it right.”

It was a major victory for Kofoid in a number of ways. First, it was his 12th of the season with The Greatest Show on Dirt, which already matches his total for all of 2025. It gave him nine at Huset’s alone, tying him with Mark Kinser for second most all-time and moving him within one of equaling Sammy Swindell for the most. Kofoid has collected 26-percent of his 34 career World of Outlaws checkered flags at the South Dakota 3/8 mile. Looking ahead to Sunday, Kofoid is second in points heading into the $25,000-to-win Huset’s Shootout finale and positioned well to chase the big payday.

Garet Williamson and the Fischer Motorsports team finished runner-up for the second straight night and are third in points heading into Sunday’s finale.

A day after winning Friday’s opener, Sheldon Haudenschild rounded out the podium in the KCP Racing/NOS Energy Drink No. 18. The Wooster, OH native is the high point man best set up to go after $25,000 Sunday night.

Logan Schuchart and Steven Snyder Jr. completed the top five.

NIGHTLY NOTES

David Gravel grabbed the Race//Ready Hottest Lap of the Night.

Gravel then clocked his fifth straight Simpson Quick Time and 23rd of the year in Honest Abe Roofing Qualifying.

Heat Races belonged to Ryan Timms (NOS Energy Drink Heat One), Christopher Thram (TheGreatestStoreonDirt.com Heat Two), Garet Williamson (WIX Filters Heat Three), and Buddy Kofoid (Golf Cart Services Heat Four).

The SPA Technique #1 Redraw went to Steven Snyder Jr.

Snyder Jr. also topped the Toyota Dash.

Chris Windom won the Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown.

Donny Schatz drove from 25th to 16th to take the KSE Racing Products Hard Charger.

Spencer Bayston was the Tub O’ Towels Seventh Place Finisher.

Emerson Axsom collected Five Star Bodies Rookie of the Race honors.

Steven Snyder Jr. clocked the ACME Trading Company Fast Lap.

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

UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars battle for $25,000 at Huset’s Speedway’s L.G. Everist Huset’s Shootout presented by Myrl & Roy’s Paving on Sunday, Sept. 6. For tickets, CLICK HERE.

Where can you watch every World of Outlaws race? Live on DIRTVision.

Where can you see the World of Outlaws in 2026? Click to see the full schedule.

FEATURE RESULTS:

NOS Energy Drink Feature (35 Laps): 1. 83-Michael Kofoid[2]; 2. 23-Garet Williamson[3]; 3. 18-Sheldon Haudenschild[4]; 4. 1S-Logan Schuchart[6]; 5. 51-Steven Snyder Jr[1]; 6. 10-Ryan Timms[7]; 7. 17-Spencer Bayston[9]; 8. 2-David Gravel[13]; 9. 41-Carson Macedo[10]; 10. 24T-Christopher Thram[8]; 11. 17B-Bill Balog[15]; 12. 2C-Cole Macedo[14]; 13. 27-Emerson Axsom[18]; 14. 83JR-Sam Henderson[20]; 15. 7S-Chris Windom[21]; 16. 15-Donny Schatz[25]; 17. 19-Kaleb Johnson[11]; 18. 16C-Skylar Gee[16]; 19. 6-Bryce Lucius[17]; 20. 3-Kelby Watt[22]; 21. 11M-Brendan Mullen[19]; 22. 45X-Ashton Torgerson[23]; 23. 8-Jacob Hughes[24]; 24. 28M-Conner Morrell[12]; 25. (DNF) G5-Gage Pulkrabek[5]

For complete results, CLICK HERE.

SURPRISE, SURPRISE: Kofoid Claims Saturday’s Huset’s Shootout Prelim

The driver of the Roth Motorsports No. 83 puts on a clinic in traffic for his ninth Huset’s score

BRANDON, SD (September 5, 2026) – There are few things more reliable in life than Michael “Buddy” Kofoid being fast at Huset’s Speedway.

As sure as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, you can rely on the Penngrove, CA native to be up front when the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series heads to Brandon, SD. It’s where he got his first win with the Series in 2022 and has been on a tear ever since.

Saturday’s L.G. Everist Huset’s Shootout presented by Ace Ready Mix prelim proved to be no different for Kofoid and the Roth Motorsports No. 83 team. Steven Snyder Jr. led early in the Three Stooges Racing No. 51, but it took Kofoid only seven laps to find his way into the lead. The 24-year-old then set a torrid pace, disposing of lapped cars as quick as he caught them on his way to a commanding victory and $15,000 payday.

“It was pretty hectic,” Kofoid said of lapped traffic. “Not as much as the leader, but I do enjoy traffic when it’s like that. It’s a little more nerve wracking when you’re leading. You don’t know really where they’re gaining or how hard you need to push it. I feel like I picked off quite a bit of them pretty quick. Then there was a point when I got to racing with some of those guys, and we were kind of evened out. I was thinking I needed to get going, and then we had the red. I knew we had seven laps to go. I knew I was probably going to get four or five clean laps, and then it was just a matter of going wherever they weren’t but making sure I had enough speed to where if I didn’t want to be in the preferred groove that I was making good speed and hitting it right.”

It was a major victory for Kofoid in a number of ways. First, it was his 12th of the season with The Greatest Show on Dirt, which already matches his total for all of 2025. It gave him nine at Huset’s alone, tying him with Mark Kinser for second most all-time and moving him within one of equaling Sammy Swindell for the most. Kofoid has collected 26-percent of his 34 career World of Outlaws checkered flags at the South Dakota 3/8 mile. Looking ahead to Sunday, Kofoid is second in points heading into the $25,000-to-win Huset’s Shootout finale and positioned well to chase the big payday.

Garet Williamson and the Fischer Motorsports team finished runner-up for the second straight night and are third in points heading into Sunday’s finale.

A day after winning Friday’s opener, Sheldon Haudenschild rounded out the podium in the KCP Racing/NOS Energy Drink No. 18. The Wooster, OH native is the high point man best set up to go after $25,000 Sunday night.

Logan Schuchart and Steven Snyder Jr. completed the top five.

NIGHTLY NOTES

David Gravel grabbed the Race//Ready Hottest Lap of the Night.

Gravel then clocked his fifth straight Simpson Quick Time and 23rd of the year in Honest Abe Roofing Qualifying.

Heat Races belonged to Ryan Timms (NOS Energy Drink Heat One), Christopher Thram (TheGreatestStoreonDirt.com Heat Two), Garet Williamson (WIX Filters Heat Three), and Buddy Kofoid (Golf Cart Services Heat Four).

The SPA Technique #1 Redraw went to Steven Snyder Jr.

Snyder Jr. also topped the Toyota Dash.

Chris Windom won the Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown.

Donny Schatz drove from 25th to 16th to take the KSE Racing Products Hard Charger.

Spencer Bayston was the Tub O’ Towels Seventh Place Finisher.

Emerson Axsom collected Five Star Bodies Rookie of the Race honors.

Steven Snyder Jr. clocked the ACME Trading Company Fast Lap.

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

UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars battle for $25,000 at Huset’s Speedway’s L.G. Everist Huset’s Shootout presented by Myrl & Roy’s Paving on Sunday, Sept. 6. For tickets, CLICK HERE.

Where can you watch every World of Outlaws race? Live on DIRTVision.

Where can you see the World of Outlaws in 2026? Click to see the full schedule.

FEATURE RESULTS:

NOS Energy Drink Feature (35 Laps): 1. 83-Michael Kofoid[2]; 2. 23-Garet Williamson[3]; 3. 18-Sheldon Haudenschild[4]; 4. 1S-Logan Schuchart[6]; 5. 51-Steven Snyder Jr[1]; 6. 10-Ryan Timms[7]; 7. 17-Spencer Bayston[9]; 8. 2-David Gravel[13]; 9. 41-Carson Macedo[10]; 10. 24T-Christopher Thram[8]; 11. 17B-Bill Balog[15]; 12. 2C-Cole Macedo[14]; 13. 27-Emerson Axsom[18]; 14. 83JR-Sam Henderson[20]; 15. 7S-Chris Windom[21]; 16. 15-Donny Schatz[25]; 17. 19-Kaleb Johnson[11]; 18. 16C-Skylar Gee[16]; 19. 6-Bryce Lucius[17]; 20. 3-Kelby Watt[22]; 21. 11M-Brendan Mullen[19]; 22. 45X-Ashton Torgerson[23]; 23. 8-Jacob Hughes[24]; 24. 28M-Conner Morrell[12]; 25. (DNF) G5-Gage Pulkrabek[5]

For complete results, CLICK HERE.

ARTICLE: https://worldofoutlaws.com/sprintcars/surprise-surprise-kofoid-claims-saturdays-husets-shootout-prelim/

INDIANAPOLIS (September 5, 2026) — Points leader Jonathan Allegrucci drove his Mustang Cobra Jet to the No. 1 qualifier at the most prestigious drag race in the country today, the Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals. This is Allegrucci’s third No. 1 qualifier of the racing season, but first since the Charlotte Four-Wide Nationals. His quickest run came today in the opening qualifying session when he crossed the finish line with an improved time of 7.714 seconds at 179.54 mph.
 
“It doesn’t feel real yet. Going No. 1 wasn’t the plan,” said Allegrucci. “When we looked at the entry list, we didn’t think it was going to happen. But we made four perfect runs, and the car’s just been great. The adjustments have been great, and we were able to just keep building.”

Jonathan Allegrucci drove his Ford Mustang Cobra Jet to the No. 1 qualifier spot today at the NHRA U.S. Nationals outside Indianapolis. Photo credit: Auto Imagery/Gary Nastase

JONATHAN ALLEGRUCCI RUNS TO FLEXJET FACTORY STOCK SHOWDOWN
NO. 1 AT NHRA U.S. NATIONALS

INDIANAPOLIS (September 5, 2026) — Points leader Jonathan Allegrucci drove his Mustang Cobra Jet to the No. 1 qualifier at the most prestigious drag race in the country today, the Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals. This is Allegrucci’s third No. 1 qualifier of the racing season, but first since the Charlotte Four-Wide Nationals. His quickest run came today in the opening qualifying session when he crossed the finish line with an improved time of 7.714 seconds at 179.54 mph.
 
“It doesn’t feel real yet. Going No. 1 wasn’t the plan,” said Allegrucci. “When we looked at the entry list, we didn’t think it was going to happen. But we made four perfect runs, and the car’s just been great. The adjustments have been great, and we were able to just keep building.”

Jonathan Allegrucci drove his Ford Mustang Cobra Jet to the No. 1 qualifier spot today at the NHRA U.S. Nationals outside Indianapolis. Photo credit: Auto Imagery/Gary Nastase

Alex Anderson made a solid pass of 7.719 seconds at 178.52 in the third qualifying session, followed by James Betz who improved from his best Friday time but slid three spots running 7.723 seconds at 178.76 mph. Reigning Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown world champion Mark Pawuk jumped to No. 4 from No. 17 with 7.744 seconds at 179.90 mph run.
 
In the final session, Allegrucci held on to the top spot and will go into race day with a competition bye. He made a solid run in the last session but was slightly off the three quickest runs of the final session. If he is able to secure the race day win, it will be his first U.S. Nationals title. Jason Dietsch ran 7.769 seconds at 176.74 mph followed by Richard Hord’s 7.771 seconds at 176.19 mph and Raymond Nash with a run of 7.793 seconds at 175.55 mph.
 
“We just have to do us,” said Allegrucci. “We have to forget everything else. Just do what we did in qualifying. Look at the weather. Look at the data. Adjust the suspension, the tune and just do us. Don’t worry about anything else. Racing Flexjet Factory Stock is the only thing I’ve ever dreamed of doing. I love all the aspects of drag racing, but this is by far my love, and I don’t think it gets any better.”
 
On Friday night during qualifying there were no major changes from the first session which saw James Betz and his Ford Mustang Cobra Jet run the quickest time of Friday, a 7.822 second pass at 172.10 mph.
 
Norwalk and defending U.S. Nationals winner Taylor Dietsch will head into the first round of eliminations tomorrow with the Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown $1,000 bounty on the line. Tony Scott will have the first chance to grab the bonus cash if he can turn on a win light in the first round. Other notable first round match-ups include No. 2 in Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown points Raymond Nash versus Mike Clark, and reigning champion Pawuk versus Kim Shirley.
 
The first round of eliminations at the Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals will begin Sunday morning with three rounds of eliminations for the all-run field. Monday will feature the semifinals and final round. Fans can follow the racing action at www.nhra.com.
 
First Round Match-ups
 
First Round Match-ups
No. 1 Jonathan Allegrucci vs. BYE
No. 2 Alex Anderson vs. No. 23 Richard Ingram
No. 3 James Betz vs. No. 22 Carl Tasca
No. 4 Mark Pawuk vs. No. 21 Kim Shirley
No. 5 Scott Libersher vs. No. 20 Mike Lloyd
No. 6 Raymond Nash vs. No. 19 Mike Clark
No. 7 Jason Dietsch vs. No. 18 Matthew Hartman
No. 8 Ricky Hord vs. No. 17 Kyle Pawuk
No. 9 David Janac vs. No. 16 David Davies II
No. 10 Doug Hamp vs. No. 15 Rouven Dawson
No. 11 Taylor Dietsch vs. No. 14 Tony Scott
No. 12 Lee Hartman vs. No. 13 Doug Duell
 
Flexjet Bounty Program
Gatornationals (Gainesville, Fla.)
$1,000 bounty collected by Jonathan Allegrucci, defeated Mark Pawuk (2025 Flexjet world champion)
 
NHRA 4-Wide Nationals (Charlotte, N. C.)
$1,000 bounty collected by Raymond Nash, defeated Ricky Hord (2026 Gatornationals winner)
 
Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 Nationals (Chicago, Illinois)
$1,000 bounty was not claimed with Allegrucci’s victory
 
Super Grip Thunder Valley Nationals (Bristol, Tenn,)
$2,000 bounty was not claimed with Allegrucci’s victory
 
Norwalk Nationals (Norwalk, Ohio)
$3,000 bounty claimed by Taylor Dietsch, defeated Jonathan Allegrucci (2026 Chicago and Bristol winner)
 
 
2026 Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown Results
Gainesville – Ricky Hord, winner; David Janac, runner-up
Charlotte – Jonathan Allegrucci, winner; Jason Dietsch, runner-up
Chicago – Jonathan Allegrucci, winner; Jason Dietsch, runner-up
Bristol – Jonathan Allegrucci, winner; Raymond Nash, runner-up
Norwalk – Taylor Dietsch, winner; Jonathan Allergrucci, runner-up
 

SATURDAY RECAP – INDIANAPOLIS Race 14 of 20

Photography: John Force Racing / Auto Imagery / Gary Nastase

HEAT, RAIN PLAY FACTORS IN DAY 2 OF BIG GODeJoria’s Night Stalker body destroyed in Q3 but repair work underway

SATURDAY RECAP – INDIANAPOLISRace 14 of 20

Photography: John Force Racing / Auto Imagery / Gary Nastase

HEAT, RAIN PLAY FACTORS IN DAY 2 OF BIG GODeJoria’s Night Stalker body destroyed in Q3 but repair work underway

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (Sept. 5, 2026) – More unseasonably hot weather and then rain at Indianapolis Raceway Park kept the John Force Racing teams guessing about the best way to get down the track Saturday during Day 2 of the Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals. At day’s end, it’s positioning on the qualifying sheet that counts most and the John Force Racing team are positioned as follows: No. 3 – Jack Beckman and the PEAK 1996 John Force championship tribute Chevrolet SS Funny Car team; No. 5 – Alexis DeJoria and the Bandero Café Night Stalker Chevrolet SS Funny Car team; No. 9 – Josh Hart and the Speedmaster Top Fuel team; No. 10 – Jordan Vandergriff and the Cornwell Tools chrome patriotic stars and stripes Chevrolet SS Funny Car team. Beckman, DeJoria, and Hart did not improve on their Q1 runs while Vandergriff used his Q3 run of 4.002 seconds at 315.45 mph to move from 12th to 10th. DeJoria provided what was, unfortunately, the most spectacular run of the day in Q3 when the engine in the Night Stalker Chevy dropped cylinders during the run and backfired at the finish line. The explosion damaged the body beyond repair but John Force Racing is still planning on giving the fans the Night Stalker livery for Monday’s first round of eliminations. Vandergriff lined up against J.R. Todd in Saturday’s first qualifying session, which also served as a semifinal race for the Mission Foods 2Fast2Tasty Challenge. Both cars lost traction early but each driver pedaled in the hope of regaining traction. The Cornwell Tools Chevy lost traction again and shut off while Todd pedaled a second time and gathered up enough steam to make it the finish line for the win. The box score shows Vandergriff ran 5.427 seconds at 148.10 mph to Todd’s 4.538 seconds at 264.55 mph. Sunday will feature the final two rounds of qualifying at 12 and 2:45 p.m. ET. The PlayNHRA All-Star Funny Car Call Out is scheduled for 12:45 p.m., 2:15 p.m. and 4 p.m. The first round of eliminations for the Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals is scheduled for 10 a.m. ET on Monday, Sept 7. Quote from Jack Beckman, PEAK 1996 John Force Tribute Chevrolet SS Funny Car: “It was a little bit frustrating in Q3 to have run earlier with a really hot track temperature, have the rain drop the track temperature by 20 degrees and then watch all those cars have a shot at a much cooler race track when qualifying resumed. We were fortunate that we stayed third after all that, only dropping two spots. If the forecast is fairly accurate, tomorrow’s first run should give us an equalizer and maybe a chance to step on it to get back to the pole position. Our focus tomorrow will be threefold: gobble up all the qualifying points possible, win three rounds to lock up the Funny Car Call Out, and gather data for Monday.” Quote from Alexis DeJoria, Bandero Café Night Stalker Chevrolet SS Funny Car: “We were in the right lane and took off okay. I was in the groove when I started to feel a little vibration but I was still going forward in the groove. It dropped a cylinder on the left side at about half track and it moved around a little but I was still going forward. We then dropped a cylinder on the right side but the guys couldn’t see it because the sun was glaring so bad and they didn’t shut the car off. I didn’t know so I just took it to the finish line … and there goes the Night Stalker. I’m OK. I’ve definitely been through worse and I’m just glad I was able to keep it off the wall and save the chassis. We have a backup body and we’re working to have a second set of Night Stalker vinyl to have another body ready for Monday’s eliminations. That’s all we have to do. I absolutely love this paint scheme so we’ll make it work.” Quote from Jordan Vandergriff, Cornwell Tools Chrome Stars & Stripes Chevrolet SS Funny Car: “It’s been a strange day. You just don’t see this kind of heat very often in Indiana at the Cornwell Quality Tools U.S. Nationals. I’ve been to the last few and I can’t remember it being this hot. We ran into some unique conditions: being on the starting line ready to qualify, getting called back for rain and lightning, and then going back to make the run with changed conditions. We expect better than a 4 flat but we have two more shots at it tomorrow in what should be cooler conditions. We’ll be all right.” Quote from Josh Hart, Speedmaster Top Fuel Dragster: “Record breaking heat for the U.S. Nationals means no record breaking speed or elapsed time to be had for the Speedmaster team or anyone else in the Top Fuel field. Tomorrow’s final two qualifying runs will set the field and it looks like temperatures are falling in our favor.”

CHEVROLET IN THE NTT INDYCAR SERIESMission Foods Grand Prix Of Monterey2.238-mile, 11-turn Weather Raceway Laguna Seca road courseMonterey, CaliforniaSaturday Qualifying ReportSeptember 5, 2026 MONTEREY, California (Sept. 5, 2026) – Scott McLaughlin, in the No. 3 DEX Team Penske Chevy, earned Chevrolet’s 250th pole in the final race of the 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season. McLaughlin’s earned his third pole of the season and 14th of his career, moving into a tie for fifth on the Team Chevy all-time list with Michael Andretti and Danny Sullivan.  “Oh, it was pretty solid,” said McLaughlin. “It wasn’t my best lap, but it was good enough for a pole. I said all week, the car-the last couple of days-the car has had really good speed, just almost effortless speed. I’m really proud of the guys. I lost my voice, because I’m yelling so much, so I’m really proud of everyone. Long race tomorrow for the Dex Chevy. That’s 250 poles for Team Chevy. So I’m really proud for them. Hopefully we can transition this to a win.” Jim Hurtubise was the first Chevrolet-powered pole winner, using a Chevrolet small-block originally built for the Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport at the one-mile dirt oval at Langhorne Speedway.  “Congratulations to Scott McLaughlin and Team Penske on securing Chevrolet’s 250th INDYCAR pole,” said Mark Stielow, Director – Motorsports Competition Chevrolet Programs. “Two hundred and fifty poles is more than a number—it reflects Chevrolet’s enduring commitment to performance and the collective effort of our engineers, partners, teams and drivers. This is a significant achievement for everyone who has helped build Chevrolet’s INDYCAR legacy. To accomplish this milestone at the iconic WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, helps us end the 2026 season on a high note”  Will Power (47 poles), Team Penske (160 poles) and Iowa Speedway (15 poles) lead the driver, team and tracks on the all-time earned pole list for Chevrolet.  Since the introduction of the 2.2L Twin-Turbo V6 in 2012, Chevrolet power has won 58.2% (146) poles.  Chevrolet-powered earned pole notes Mission Foods Grand Prix Of Monterey qualifying results:

Alexander Rossi in the No. 20 ECR Java House Chevrolet qualified 4th, his best road or street course qualifying result of the season

What They’re Saying – Mission Foods Grand Prix Of Monterey Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 DEX Team Penske Chevrolet qualified on pole, Chevrolet’s 250th pole in INDYCAR:“Oh, it was pretty solid. It wasn’t my best lap, but it was good enough a pole. I said all week, the car-the last couple of days-the car has had really good speed, just almost effortless speed. I’m really proud of the guys. I lost my voice, because I’m yelling so much, so I’m really proud of everyone. Long race tomorrow for the Dex Chevy. That’s 250 poles for Team Chevy. So I’m really proud for them. Hopefully we can transition this to a win.” Alexander Rossi, No. 20 ECR Java House Chevrolet qualified 4th:“Road courses have been a big struggle for us, really all season. At a test we had a couple of months ago, we really understood something we hadn’t prior to that and have just been building off of it. This sport is so challenging, there’s no magic pill or overnight fix, it’s just a process. Sometimes we have to really go through it before we find our way out. The No. 20 Java House Chevrolet has been through a lot this season so it’s nice to get a decent qualifying on the books before the year comes to a close. The group behind me is an amazing group who just keeps pushing forward each weekend. Huge thanks to the whole ECR organization, and congrats to Team Chevy on their 250th pole. Tomorrow is a great opportunity for ECR to end this season in a really special way.” Christian Lundgaard, No. 7 VELO Arrow McLaren Chevrolet qualified 5th:“We just kept improving the car through the weekend so far. I actually thought we had a chance to pull off the pole on the used Firestone Reds that were on the car. We wanted to save an extra set of new Reds for the race. I think ultimately it’s going to be a tire degradation race, and maybe the alts are faster but we don’t really know quite yet so we wanted the option. We know we need to finish ahead of the 27 car and 5 car to secure second in the championship, and we felt that was the best route to have both sets on deck for the race tomorrow. I’m proud of the team with what we pulled off in Qualifying.” David Malukas, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet qualified 6th:“The past month, with this injury flair up with the wrist coming out of Mid-Ohio. This past month we’ve had this drop in form and all these races. It’s more just surviving. I’ve got two days left here where we’re testing a lot of good stuff with the Verizon Chevy. Qualifying is easy on the wrist. You only push for two laps and then it gets to recover. But these races take a toll. We’re doing what we can. Tomorrow is going to be about surviving. Hopefully this wrist can take one more. This is a tough one on it. The team has done a good job and hopefully we can finish it off on a high note.” Caio Collet, No. 4 Combitrans Amazonia Chevrolet qualified 12th:“I think it was a pretty decent qualifying. Another fast 12. We were really happy in Q1 with the strategy, and also I did a really good lap. Then in Q2,  we tried to make the car better but I think it didn’t really work well. Also we got a bit out of sequence with the guys in front, so I didn’t really have a clean lap, which is a bit unfortunate. But I think it would not have changed much because I have the engine penalty anyway. So two or three spots, I think I could have done a P8 or P7 maybe but still with the engine penalty, we will still start a little bit outside the top 10. I think we have a pretty decent race car, and hopefully we can move forward tomorrow.” Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet qualified 13th:“We’re focused on the race now, starting 12th. Today was a bit underwhelming based on what I thought we could accomplish in Qualifying today. We just missed it there by a smidge to transfer, bummer.” Nolan Siegel, No. 6 NTT DATA Arrow McLaren Chevrolet qualified 16th:“It didn’t feel too bad, just missed it on the execution a little bit. It’s disappointing because we’ve been strong all weekend up until now. I just ended up in kind of a funky spot on track, didn’t get the tires in the right window and then didn’t execute the session as well as we needed to. So, missed it by just a couple hundreds and Kind of been the story of our year. So, we’ll be in it tomorrow and, have a car for it. Excited to finish the season strong.” Christian Rasmussen, No. 21 Splenda Stevia Chevrolet qualified 18th:“That was a difficult qualifying session, especially after we had a fairly strong practice session and felt like we had a good car underneath us. It’s a bit disappointing to qualify 18th, but we know we have the pace to move forward. We’ll have to fight our way through the field tomorrow, but I’m confident we can make up some ground and have a strong race to finish the season!” Rinus VeeKay, No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Chevrolet qualified 19th:“That was a tough qualifying.  I think we just struggled there to get the balance right with the track progression with the car on reds.  We just missed it unfortunately.  Starting 19th with a time that is only four tenths off  P1.  So it wasn’t terrible. Just with how tight it is, we just missed the ball a little bit.  Not ideal, but we’ve race from the back to the front this year.  Looking forward to doing that again.  I think we can have a great weekend.” Josef Newgarden, No. 2 Astemo Team Penske Chevrolet qualified 20th:Santino Ferrucci, No. 14 Homes For Our Troops Chevrolet qualified 21st:“Just really standard qualifying. Nothing to really say about it. Just obviously missing speed. So we’ll figure out what’s going on and go from there.” Sting Ray Robb, No. 77 Juncos Hollinger – Goodheart Chevrolet qualified 25th:“Really frustrating qualifying.  But it’s the best car we’ve had all weekend.  We made some steps forward, and I think we have a good idea what we need for the race.  But tomorrow is a new day but we won’t have a warm-up.  See how it plays out. I think the degradation is going to big here compared to the past couple of seasons at Laguna Seca. The aggregate level has changed a lot over the past couple of years.  So back to maybe 2022 grip level because I had my best finish here in INDY NEXT, winning by 11 seconds.  So that would be really cool if we could run it back.”

Scott McLaughlin celebrates pole #250 for Team Chevy with his Team Penske crew

NTT INDYCAR SERIES News ConferenceSaturday, September 5, 2026Scott McLaughlinPress Conference THE MODERATOR: Scott McLaughlin joins us. Third NTT P1 award of the season.Congratulations. 250 by the way for Team Chevrolet. Another big milestone there. Your thoughts. It was close. SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, no, it was close. I don’t know if all of us did a really good lap. That’s what is so hard about Laguna. If you can do it enough, be committed in the right spots. Yeah, I felt like from the jump this weekend, we’ve come with a philosophy we’ve been working on the last, I don’t know, four months or something like that, basically since our Mid-Ohio test. Been feeling better and better. Put it all together today. Really proud of Raul, my engineer. We’ve been clicking. I’ve been saying it. It just feels really good right now. Really proud for him and the team. Proud for Chevrolet. That’s fantastic. To be the guy that’s won 249 and 250 as well. We’ve had some good times together, for sure. Here’s to many more. Really proud. Felt like a lot of hard work. It’s been hard the last couple years, especially on road courses, not only for me but the team. I feel like we’re really starting to just find a bit of direction. We got a long way to go to be consistent week in, week out as well. We’re working hard. Really proud. THE MODERATOR: Strong qualifying performances like this, is that something going into the off-season that you can hang your hat on a little bit? SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: The biggest thing for us was road courses was almost our hurdle, bogey. We felt good on short ovals, felt good at Indy. On street tracks I feel like I’ve had really good speed there from the jump. I haven’t really worried about that car. The road course car is something we’ve really struggled with, and this tire. Personally, but I think as a team as well, now just to get a pole is a really good motivating thing for the whole team. We have a long way to go for tomorrow. There’s no doubt I think we’ve got great pace on both compounds. We’ll sue where it leads. Really, really happy for Raul, to be honest. This is his pole. He’s a great friend of mine. Had an up-and-down season just like I have the last few. Just really cool to see him happy and jovial. THE MODERATOR: Questions for Scott. Q.  You and Raul on the new driver-engineer relationship, second half of the season, that curve is going up. What’s working now? What have you found?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, he’s just at lot more comfortable with the tire, with the car, how the tracks change. Yeah, temperature adjustment. So finicky in INDYCAR, you can miss it just by a bee’s thing. If you just miss it, you’re off, you’re out. There’s been a couple times where we’ve had pretty good pace and we’ve missed the Fast 12. It doesn’t show our pace. I’m so happy to have qualified well for him today and prove that the trajectory, where we’ve been going with the car is great. Like I said, this is his pole more than anything. Q.  Can you share how great race engineers engineer the cars, but the most successful ones the engineer is engineering the driver…SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: We’re very good friends. My wife calls him my second wife. We text all the time (smiling). We’re always talking and thinking about the car and the race car. We’re talking about the 500 today. It’s great to have a guy like that Ben was like that for me, but he was very engineering, where Raul is probably a little bit more, like, driver. Helps me with a little bit driving. Why can’t you do that? What do I need to do with the car to make you do that? He calls me out if I’m slow here, whatever. That’s a good thing. Not that Ben didn’t do it, but just a little bit different way we do it. I’ve learned a lot about the race car this year, what different parts do. I think the guy next to me before is where he excels. Raul has known him since he was like four years old. I have a bit of a book in terms of how good he is. It’s been nice to learn off that a bit because everyone needs to race to his level. Q.  Are you sick?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: I yelled way too much on the in-lap. I just lost my voice. I was great this morning. Fine. Good as gold. Q.  You see Alex here, if he wins, it’s like okay, another win. Already won the title. What would a win for you and your team mean or do for your season?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: It would mean a lot. Obviously I want that more than anything. You’ve seen the last events how hard I want it, how aggressive I want to be. Like, it’s not about forcing anything. I’m just dotting our Is, crossing our Ts. I think we’re on a great trajectory right now. You’re chasing Alex. You’re chasing what they do. Their excellence is high. They don’t miss a beat. He’s qualified on the front row again, he’s going to be a contender tomorrow. He does that week in, week out. We need to get to that level. It’s nice to win a race here or there, but I want to be competing week in, week out. That’s the only way to win a championship. Absolutely, I want to win the race. I want to win races in the future. I know we can. We have the speed. It’s all about getting that consistency back, which I think we’re slow getting back. Q.  To win it in the last race of the year before the long off-season, would that almost be like a mic drop moment for you?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Make not mic drop, but it would be a really good motivating feature. I think this is great, the pole. We’ve been really executing well in our race. To have track position tomorrow is a great start. We’ll see what we’ve got. Q.  Looking at today and then looking at yesterday, the ambient temperature and track temperature are pretty consistent across the hour and a half. You’d have to assume that’s going to be the same tomorrow. Is that going to play into the tire deg as well, pit stops, two tire compounds? Are we going to see lots of choices available?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: It’s going to be interesting. I feel great on both compounds. It’s going to be how they both deg. It’s nice to have a consistent temperature more for the baseline, you can trust those reads you get each time you’re on track. Unsure until this afternoon when we got in practice how it’s going to react the long runs. But it has been helpful to be pretty consistent with the balance and know roughly what I need from the car. Q.  Looking at the season as a whole, having the pole in the first race, obviously here, it’s got to be a confidence booster long-term for you?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, no, for sure. It’s an awesome deal. I’m proud of that. I’m too inconsistent. I need to be more consistent throughout the whole season if I’m going to compete with these guys. I have the speed. I don’t doubt that by any means. I know I can win races. I’ve done it before. If I want to win a championship, which is the ultimate goal, I need to be better in the mid-season and consistent throughout the whole season. THE MODERATOR: St. Pete seems like a long time ago. SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: It does. THE MODERATOR: Get some warm tea for the throat and best of luck tomorrow.SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Thank you.

Tune-In Guide Sunday, September 6Mission Foods Grand Prix Of Monterey (95 laps) – 2:30pm (ET)/1:30pm (CT)12:30pm (MT)/11:30am (PT) – FOX/INDYCAR Radio Network/SIRIUSXM 218

Christian Lundgaard (Arrow McLaren) celebrates on the podium at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in 2025

CHEVROLET IN THE NTT INDYCAR SERIESMission Foods Grand Prix Of Monterey2.238-mile, 11-turn Weather Raceway Laguna Seca road courseMonterey, CaliforniaSaturday Qualifying ReportSeptember 5, 2026 MONTEREY, California (Sept. 5, 2026) – Scott McLaughlin, in the No. 3 DEX Team Penske Chevy, earned Chevrolet’s 250th pole in the final race of the 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season. McLaughlin’s earned his third pole of the season and 14th of his career, moving into a tie for fifth on the Team Chevy all-time list with Michael Andretti and Danny Sullivan.  “Oh, it was pretty solid,” said McLaughlin. “It wasn’t my best lap, but it was good enough for a pole. I said all week, the car-the last couple of days-the car has had really good speed, just almost effortless speed. I’m really proud of the guys. I lost my voice, because I’m yelling so much, so I’m really proud of everyone. Long race tomorrow for the Dex Chevy. That’s 250 poles for Team Chevy. So I’m really proud for them. Hopefully we can transition this to a win.” Jim Hurtubise was the first Chevrolet-powered pole winner, using a Chevrolet small-block originally built for the Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport at the one-mile dirt oval at Langhorne Speedway.  “Congratulations to Scott McLaughlin and Team Penske on securing Chevrolet’s 250th INDYCAR pole,” said Mark Stielow, Director – Motorsports Competition Chevrolet Programs. “Two hundred and fifty poles is more than a number—it reflects Chevrolet’s enduring commitment to performance and the collective effort of our engineers, partners, teams and drivers. This is a significant achievement for everyone who has helped build Chevrolet’s INDYCAR legacy. To accomplish this milestone at the iconic WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, helps us end the 2026 season on a high note”  Will Power (47 poles), Team Penske (160 poles) and Iowa Speedway (15 poles) lead the driver, team and tracks on the all-time earned pole list for Chevrolet.  Since the introduction of the 2.2L Twin-Turbo V6 in 2012, Chevrolet power has won 58.2% (146) poles.  Chevrolet-powered earned pole notes Mission Foods Grand Prix Of Monterey qualifying results:

Alexander Rossi in the No. 20 ECR Java House Chevrolet qualified 4th, his best road or street course qualifying result of the season

What They’re Saying – Mission Foods Grand Prix Of Monterey Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 DEX Team Penske Chevrolet qualified on pole, Chevrolet’s 250th pole in INDYCAR:“Oh, it was pretty solid. It wasn’t my best lap, but it was good enough a pole. I said all week, the car-the last couple of days-the car has had really good speed, just almost effortless speed. I’m really proud of the guys. I lost my voice, because I’m yelling so much, so I’m really proud of everyone. Long race tomorrow for the Dex Chevy. That’s 250 poles for Team Chevy. So I’m really proud for them. Hopefully we can transition this to a win.” Alexander Rossi, No. 20 ECR Java House Chevrolet qualified 4th:“Road courses have been a big struggle for us, really all season. At a test we had a couple of months ago, we really understood something we hadn’t prior to that and have just been building off of it. This sport is so challenging, there’s no magic pill or overnight fix, it’s just a process. Sometimes we have to really go through it before we find our way out. The No. 20 Java House Chevrolet has been through a lot this season so it’s nice to get a decent qualifying on the books before the year comes to a close. The group behind me is an amazing group who just keeps pushing forward each weekend. Huge thanks to the whole ECR organization, and congrats to Team Chevy on their 250th pole. Tomorrow is a great opportunity for ECR to end this season in a really special way.” Christian Lundgaard, No. 7 VELO Arrow McLaren Chevrolet qualified 5th:“We just kept improving the car through the weekend so far. I actually thought we had a chance to pull off the pole on the used Firestone Reds that were on the car. We wanted to save an extra set of new Reds for the race. I think ultimately it’s going to be a tire degradation race, and maybe the alts are faster but we don’t really know quite yet so we wanted the option. We know we need to finish ahead of the 27 car and 5 car to secure second in the championship, and we felt that was the best route to have both sets on deck for the race tomorrow. I’m proud of the team with what we pulled off in Qualifying.” David Malukas, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet qualified 6th:“The past month, with this injury flair up with the wrist coming out of Mid-Ohio. This past month we’ve had this drop in form and all these races. It’s more just surviving. I’ve got two days left here where we’re testing a lot of good stuff with the Verizon Chevy. Qualifying is easy on the wrist. You only push for two laps and then it gets to recover. But these races take a toll. We’re doing what we can. Tomorrow is going to be about surviving. Hopefully this wrist can take one more. This is a tough one on it. The team has done a good job and hopefully we can finish it off on a high note.” Caio Collet, No. 4 Combitrans Amazonia Chevrolet qualified 12th:“I think it was a pretty decent qualifying. Another fast 12. We were really happy in Q1 with the strategy, and also I did a really good lap. Then in Q2,  we tried to make the car better but I think it didn’t really work well. Also we got a bit out of sequence with the guys in front, so I didn’t really have a clean lap, which is a bit unfortunate. But I think it would not have changed much because I have the engine penalty anyway. So two or three spots, I think I could have done a P8 or P7 maybe but still with the engine penalty, we will still start a little bit outside the top 10. I think we have a pretty decent race car, and hopefully we can move forward tomorrow.” Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet qualified 13th:“We’re focused on the race now, starting 12th. Today was a bit underwhelming based on what I thought we could accomplish in Qualifying today. We just missed it there by a smidge to transfer, bummer.” Nolan Siegel, No. 6 NTT DATA Arrow McLaren Chevrolet qualified 16th:“It didn’t feel too bad, just missed it on the execution a little bit. It’s disappointing because we’ve been strong all weekend up until now. I just ended up in kind of a funky spot on track, didn’t get the tires in the right window and then didn’t execute the session as well as we needed to. So, missed it by just a couple hundreds and Kind of been the story of our year. So, we’ll be in it tomorrow and, have a car for it. Excited to finish the season strong.” Christian Rasmussen, No. 21 Splenda Stevia Chevrolet qualified 18th:“That was a difficult qualifying session, especially after we had a fairly strong practice session and felt like we had a good car underneath us. It’s a bit disappointing to qualify 18th, but we know we have the pace to move forward. We’ll have to fight our way through the field tomorrow, but I’m confident we can make up some ground and have a strong race to finish the season!” Rinus VeeKay, No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Chevrolet qualified 19th:“That was a tough qualifying.  I think we just struggled there to get the balance right with the track progression with the car on reds.  We just missed it unfortunately.  Starting 19th with a time that is only four tenths off  P1.  So it wasn’t terrible. Just with how tight it is, we just missed the ball a little bit.  Not ideal, but we’ve race from the back to the front this year.  Looking forward to doing that again.  I think we can have a great weekend.” Josef Newgarden, No. 2 Astemo Team Penske Chevrolet qualified 20th:Santino Ferrucci, No. 14 Homes For Our Troops Chevrolet qualified 21st:“Just really standard qualifying. Nothing to really say about it. Just obviously missing speed. So we’ll figure out what’s going on and go from there.” Sting Ray Robb, No. 77 Juncos Hollinger – Goodheart Chevrolet qualified 25th:“Really frustrating qualifying.  But it’s the best car we’ve had all weekend.  We made some steps forward, and I think we have a good idea what we need for the race.  But tomorrow is a new day but we won’t have a warm-up.  See how it plays out. I think the degradation is going to big here compared to the past couple of seasons at Laguna Seca. The aggregate level has changed a lot over the past couple of years.  So back to maybe 2022 grip level because I had my best finish here in INDY NEXT, winning by 11 seconds.  So that would be really cool if we could run it back.”

Scott McLaughlin celebrates pole #250 for Team Chevy with his Team Penske crew

NTT INDYCAR SERIES News ConferenceSaturday, September 5, 2026Scott McLaughlinPress Conference THE MODERATOR: Scott McLaughlin joins us. Third NTT P1 award of the season.Congratulations. 250 by the way for Team Chevrolet. Another big milestone there. Your thoughts. It was close. SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, no, it was close. I don’t know if all of us did a really good lap. That’s what is so hard about Laguna. If you can do it enough, be committed in the right spots. Yeah, I felt like from the jump this weekend, we’ve come with a philosophy we’ve been working on the last, I don’t know, four months or something like that, basically since our Mid-Ohio test. Been feeling better and better. Put it all together today. Really proud of Raul, my engineer. We’ve been clicking. I’ve been saying it. It just feels really good right now. Really proud for him and the team. Proud for Chevrolet. That’s fantastic. To be the guy that’s won 249 and 250 as well. We’ve had some good times together, for sure. Here’s to many more. Really proud. Felt like a lot of hard work. It’s been hard the last couple years, especially on road courses, not only for me but the team. I feel like we’re really starting to just find a bit of direction. We got a long way to go to be consistent week in, week out as well. We’re working hard. Really proud. THE MODERATOR: Strong qualifying performances like this, is that something going into the off-season that you can hang your hat on a little bit? SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: The biggest thing for us was road courses was almost our hurdle, bogey. We felt good on short ovals, felt good at Indy. On street tracks I feel like I’ve had really good speed there from the jump. I haven’t really worried about that car. The road course car is something we’ve really struggled with, and this tire. Personally, but I think as a team as well, now just to get a pole is a really good motivating thing for the whole team. We have a long way to go for tomorrow. There’s no doubt I think we’ve got great pace on both compounds. We’ll sue where it leads. Really, really happy for Raul, to be honest. This is his pole. He’s a great friend of mine. Had an up-and-down season just like I have the last few. Just really cool to see him happy and jovial. THE MODERATOR: Questions for Scott. Q.  You and Raul on the new driver-engineer relationship, second half of the season, that curve is going up. What’s working now? What have you found?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, he’s just at lot more comfortable with the tire, with the car, how the tracks change. Yeah, temperature adjustment. So finicky in INDYCAR, you can miss it just by a bee’s thing. If you just miss it, you’re off, you’re out. There’s been a couple times where we’ve had pretty good pace and we’ve missed the Fast 12. It doesn’t show our pace. I’m so happy to have qualified well for him today and prove that the trajectory, where we’ve been going with the car is great. Like I said, this is his pole more than anything. Q.  Can you share how great race engineers engineer the cars, but the most successful ones the engineer is engineering the driver…SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: We’re very good friends. My wife calls him my second wife. We text all the time (smiling). We’re always talking and thinking about the car and the race car. We’re talking about the 500 today. It’s great to have a guy like that Ben was like that for me, but he was very engineering, where Raul is probably a little bit more, like, driver. Helps me with a little bit driving. Why can’t you do that? What do I need to do with the car to make you do that? He calls me out if I’m slow here, whatever. That’s a good thing. Not that Ben didn’t do it, but just a little bit different way we do it. I’ve learned a lot about the race car this year, what different parts do. I think the guy next to me before is where he excels. Raul has known him since he was like four years old. I have a bit of a book in terms of how good he is. It’s been nice to learn off that a bit because everyone needs to race to his level. Q.  Are you sick?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: I yelled way too much on the in-lap. I just lost my voice. I was great this morning. Fine. Good as gold. Q.  You see Alex here, if he wins, it’s like okay, another win. Already won the title. What would a win for you and your team mean or do for your season?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: It would mean a lot. Obviously I want that more than anything. You’ve seen the last events how hard I want it, how aggressive I want to be. Like, it’s not about forcing anything. I’m just dotting our Is, crossing our Ts. I think we’re on a great trajectory right now. You’re chasing Alex. You’re chasing what they do. Their excellence is high. They don’t miss a beat. He’s qualified on the front row again, he’s going to be a contender tomorrow. He does that week in, week out. We need to get to that level. It’s nice to win a race here or there, but I want to be competing week in, week out. That’s the only way to win a championship. Absolutely, I want to win the race. I want to win races in the future. I know we can. We have the speed. It’s all about getting that consistency back, which I think we’re slow getting back. Q.  To win it in the last race of the year before the long off-season, would that almost be like a mic drop moment for you?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Make not mic drop, but it would be a really good motivating feature. I think this is great, the pole. We’ve been really executing well in our race. To have track position tomorrow is a great start. We’ll see what we’ve got. Q.  Looking at today and then looking at yesterday, the ambient temperature and track temperature are pretty consistent across the hour and a half. You’d have to assume that’s going to be the same tomorrow. Is that going to play into the tire deg as well, pit stops, two tire compounds? Are we going to see lots of choices available?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: It’s going to be interesting. I feel great on both compounds. It’s going to be how they both deg. It’s nice to have a consistent temperature more for the baseline, you can trust those reads you get each time you’re on track. Unsure until this afternoon when we got in practice how it’s going to react the long runs. But it has been helpful to be pretty consistent with the balance and know roughly what I need from the car. Q.  Looking at the season as a whole, having the pole in the first race, obviously here, it’s got to be a confidence booster long-term for you?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, no, for sure. It’s an awesome deal. I’m proud of that. I’m too inconsistent. I need to be more consistent throughout the whole season if I’m going to compete with these guys. I have the speed. I don’t doubt that by any means. I know I can win races. I’ve done it before. If I want to win a championship, which is the ultimate goal, I need to be better in the mid-season and consistent throughout the whole season. THE MODERATOR: St. Pete seems like a long time ago. SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: It does. THE MODERATOR: Get some warm tea for the throat and best of luck tomorrow.SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Thank you.

Tune-In Guide Sunday, September 6Mission Foods Grand Prix Of Monterey (95 laps) – 2:30pm (ET)/1:30pm (CT)12:30pm (MT)/11:30am (PT) – FOX/INDYCAR Radio Network/SIRIUSXM 218

Christian Lundgaard (Arrow McLaren) celebrates on the podium at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in 2025

Chevrolet at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca Chevrolet wins at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca: 5 1993 – Paul Tracy – Team Penske1991 – Michael Andretti – Newman Haas Racing1990 – Danny Sullivan – Team Penske1989 – Rick Mears – Team Penske1988 – Danny Sullivan – Team Penske Chevrolet poles at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca: 8 2023 – Felix Rosenqvist – Arrow McLaren2022 – Will Power – Team Penske1993 – Emerson Fittipaldi – Team Penske1991 – Michael Andretti – Newman Haas Racing1990 – Danny Sullivan – Team Penske1989 – Rick Mears – Team Penske1988 – Danny Sullivan – Team Penske1987 – Mario Andretti – Newman Haas Racing Chevrolet podiums at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca: 22 Chevrolet podiums at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca by driver: Mario Andretti (3), Danny Sullivan (3), Al Unser Jr. (3), Michael Andretti (2), Rick Mears (2), Will Power (2), Emerson Fittipaldi (1), Christian Lundgaard (1), Scott McLaughlin (1), Josef Newgarden (1), Bob Rahal (1), Alexander Rossi (1) and Paul Tracy (1)  Chevrolet podiums at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca by team: Team Penske (11), Newman Haas Racing (5), Galles Racing (3), Arrow McLaren (2), Rahal Hogan Racing (1) Chevrolet laps led at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca: 556 Chevrolet laps led at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca by driver: Danny Sullivan (156), Michael Andretti (86), Mario Andretti (83), Paul Tracy (81), Rick Mears (52), Will Power (29), Pato O’Ward (15), Al Unser Jr. (14), Felix Rosenqvist (11), Nolan Siegel (11), Josef Newgarden (10), Alexander Rossi (10), Emerson Fittipaldi (7), Callum Ilott (1), and Simon Pagenaud (1) Chevrolet laps led at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca by team: Team Penske (332), Newman Haas Racing (169), Arrow McLaren (47), Galles Racing (14), Patrick Racing (4), and Juncos Hollinger Racing (1) Manufacturer History at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca Wins (with competition): 9 – Honda (2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2019, 2000, 1997, 1996)5 – Chevrolet (1993, 1991, 1990, 1989, 1988)5 – Cosworth (1987, 1986, 1985, 1984, 1983)4 – Ford (2001, 1999, 1998, 1992)1 – Ilmor (1994)1 – Mercedes (1995)1 – Toyota (2002) Poles (with competition): 8 – Chevrolet (2023, 2021, 1993, 1991, 1990, 1989, 1988, 1987)7 – Honda (2025, 2024, 2021 2019, 2001, 2000, 1996)5 – Ford (1999, 1998, 1997, 1995, 1992)4 – Cosworth (1986, 1985, 1984, 1983)1 – Ilmor (1994)1 – Toyota (2002)

Dallas Daniels (No. 1) leads Briar Bauman (No. 3) and Kody Kopp (No. 12) during the 2026 Caterpillar Springfield MIle I.  [Photo: Tim Lester for AMA Pro Racing] Download high-resolution photo from AMA Pro’s Digital Asset Management system

Dallas Daniels Conquers Caterpillar Springfield Mile I, Repeats as Grand National Champion

Dallas Daniels (No. 1) leads Briar Bauman (No. 3) and Kody Kopp (No. 12) during the 2026 Caterpillar Springfield MIle I.  [Photo: Tim Lester for AMA Pro Racing] Download high-resolution photo from AMA Pro’s Digital Asset Management system

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (September 5, 2026) – A destiny promised is now a destiny realized. Dallas Daniels (No. 1 Estenson Racing Yamaha MT-07) joined the exclusive ranks of multi-time Grand National Champions with a victorious performance in Saturday’s Caterpillar Springfield Mile I at the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield, Illinois.   Racing in front of his home-state fans at the crown jewel of the Progressive American Flat Track season, sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing, Daniels once again did exactly what he needed to do when it mattered the most.  Main Event 1 The Mission AFT SuperTwins competitors lined up for the season’s third and final Mission Triple Challenge contending with not just one another but near-triple-digit temperatures to boot. That extreme heat carried over into the competition, which was scorching hot from the opening lap.  An initial ten-lap sprint properly set the tone for the day with an eight-rider lead pack scrapping for top honors as the contest settled in. Two-time Grand National Champion Briar Bauman (No. 3 Super.com/RWR/Rocket Doctor Harley-Davidson XG750R) grabbed the holeshot but was immediately overhauled by last year’s hero of Springfield, Trent Lowe (No. 48 American Honda/Mission Foods Honda CB750 Hornet).   Daniels took his turn at the front soon after but saw Lowe and Fisher simultaneously rip past on either flank with seven laps to go. Those three would then proceed to slowly stretch out an advantage over the remainder of the field.  Fisher kicked in up another gear late, shaking free over the final two laps to claim an unchallenged victory in the first of three Mission Triple Challenge Main Events.  Daniels edged Lowe for second by just 0.059 seconds, while KICKER AFT SuperTwins champion Tom Drane (No. 59 Estenson Racing Yamaha MT-07) did his part to help out his teammate, drafting past Bauman and Kody Kopp (No. 12 Latus Motors Racing Harley-Davidson XG750R) on the final lap to steal away fourth.  Main Event 2 An even better race played out in the 15-lap Main Event 2 – and one that ultimately proved to have massive championship implications.  From the early going, this one was a six-rider affair. Fisher immediately dropped to the back of the group following a poor start from pole that sent him spinning up the track, while Daniels powered under Lowe to secure the lead.  Daniels proceeded to control the race from the front but never had room to breathe with Lowe, Drane, Kopp, Bauman, and Fisher running in tight formation on his rear wheel.  With four laps remaining, title hopeful Bauman raised his hand, indicating a problem. Moments later, he pulled out of the race, further opening the door for Daniels’ quest for a second-consecutive crown.   He raced through that opening to close out Main Event 2, holding Lowe at bay by 0.111 seconds to claim the win.  Kopp edged former 450cc rival Drane for third while Main Event 1 winner Fisher came home fifth, finishing just 0.564 seconds off the win despite struggling to keep his bike tidy and low in the rematch.  Behind, Declan Bender (No. 70 Memphis Shades/Vinson Construction Yamaha MT-07) ran a lonely race to sixth, with Hunter Bauer (No. 24 G&G Racing Yamaha MT-07), Chad Cose (No. 49 PRO Roofing/Parker Racing Yamaha MT-07), Dalton Gauthier (No. 79 Moto Anatomy X Powered by Royal Enfield 650), and Ben Lowe (No. 25 Rackley Racing/Roof Systems KTM 790 Duke) rounding out the top ten.  Main Event 3 While his shattered championship aspirations couldn’t be resurrected, Bauman did get a significant measure of revenge in Main Event 3.  Starting from the back of the field, Bauman clawed his way into contention, slotting into sixth after the opening lap.  Working a slightly higher line, the RWR Harley-Davidson ace continued to pick his way forward, taking his position at the front of a seven-rider pack shortly after the race hit its half-way point.  Meanwhile, Daniels had bigger concerns, finding himself in a dogfight with Fisher, Lowe, and Drane as he calculated what he needed to do to secure the day’s overall win and the 2026 Grand National Championship along with it.  While Fisher repeated his Main Event 2 fade, Lowe and Drane didn’t go anywhere. Bauman managed to break the draft with Daniels, Lowe, and Drane racing side-by-side for second over the contest’s final three laps.  Once in position, Daniels again proved a difficult quarry. And he indeed came home in second, finishing some 0.289 seconds behind Bauman and 0.059 seconds ahead of Lowe.  That (2-1-2) was all Daniels needed to do to lock down the Caterpillar Springfield Mile I overall win and another #1 plate.   The victory was Daniels’ fourth in a row and moved him equal with Bauman at six on the season. Afterward, he said, “It was a tough year. It was really long, and it was hard. The guys I’m racing against are so good. Each year you expect to take a step (forward), but your competition does too. I didn’t know if it was going to happen today. “I could talk about the day, or I could talk about the season, but really, I want to thank my whole team. The Estenson Racing Monster Energy Yamaha team – Tommy Hayden and Tim Estenson – gave me the opportunity of a lifetime to come out here and do what I love and make a living doing it. I also want to thank all of my supporters… This year came together late, but winning four in a row and the Springfield Mile, it’s awesome.   “This is an emotional time for me. I dreamed of this for a long time. It’s cool.”  Lowe finished the day second overall (3-2-3) to claim his first podium of the season. Meanwhile, Bauman’s victory more than made up for his second race 15th, springing him all the way up to third (5-15-1) on the combined order. Fisher finished fourth (1-5-6) with Drane rounding out the top five (4-4-4).  With one race to go, Daniels now holds an unassailable 27-point lead over Bauman (295-268). Kopp is third at 261 and still well within striking distance of second heading into Sunday’s finale.  KICKER AFT Singles Two-time KICKER AFT Singles champion Tom Drane (No. 1 Estenson Racing Yamaha YZ450F) continued his unprecedented revision of the record books with yet another Springfield Mile performance to remember.  Saturday’s Main Event was predictably frenetic with a huge pack of motivated riders holding the throttle wide open around the fabled Mile. A red flag brought the action to a momentary halt after promising rookie Charlie Jaques (No. 110 J&M Logging/Miller Racing Honda CRF450R) crashed from fourth after briefly running in the lead.  When the race resumed, it took shape as a five-rider breakaway. Kage Tadman (No. 28 American Honda/Mission Foods CRF450R) did manage to open up a gap of more than a half-second as the race took the halfway flags but was quickly hunted down by the chasing Drane, Chase Saathoff (No. 88 1st Impressions Race Team Husqvarna FC450), Trevor Brunner (No. 21 JMC Motorsports/Fairway GMC KTM 450 SX-F), and Logan Eisenhard (No. 66 Mark Tepper Racing/Pags Powersports KTM 450 SX-F).  All but Eisenhard held the lead at one point or another as the contenders rehearsed last-lap strategies with the laps ticking away. Eisenhard finally fell off the lead pack with less than a minute to go, as the jockeying continued at the front.  As the last lap opened, Tadman sailed ahead of Drane entering Turn 1 to reclaim the lead but was helpless as Drane rushed back by on the entrance to Turn 3.  Drane tucked in low coming off of Turn 4, hoping to beat his pursuers to the checkered flag. The gambit worked, as he blasted past the checkered flag mere fractions of a second ahead of second-placed Saathoff (.037 seconds back) and third-placed Brunner (0.067 seconds back).  The victory was the Estenson Racing star’s ninth of 2026, establishing a new single-season wins record for the category. It also upped the Australian’s Mile win streak to seven and his Springfield-specific streak to six.  Tadman, despite leading on the final lap and finishing just 0.085 seconds back of the win, didn’t even earn himself a trip to the podium in fourth.  Eisenhard managed to come home with a top five but only just, as Evan Kelleher (No. 31 Schaeffer’s Motorsports KTM 450 SX-F) closed in to finish 0.035 seconds behind him in sixth.  Walker Porter (No. 10 American Honda/Mission Foods CRF450R) battled from the back to an eventual seventh, while Jordan Beaulac (No. 156 Picotte Motosport/Dofralex GASGAS MC 450F), Jett Katarzy (No. 117 1st Impressions Race Team Husqvarna FC450), and Bradon Pfanders (No. 83 Memphis Shades/Corbin Seats Yamaha YZ450F) completed the top ten.  Next Up The 2026 Progressive AFT season will conclude tomorrow with the second half of this weekend’s double finale, the Caterpillar Springfield Mile II.  Visit https://www.tixr.com/groups/meespromotions/events/day-2-springfield-2026-165643 to secure your seats now.

Front row start for Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA at COTA September 5th, 2026 – Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA will start the Lone Star Le Mans in second position, for the latest round of the FIA World Endurance Championship. Seventeen cars took to the track for the twelve minutes of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) Hypercar qualifying, and with LM GT3 qualifying session having occurred ahead of Hypercar qualifying, the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) surface was rubbered-in nicely. However, it would be the hot surface temperature that would be the biggest element the drivers had to contend with as they tried to keep their tyres in the optimum performance window. Aitken, in the No.38 progressed to Hyperpole. In one of the closest contested qualifying sessions this season, Aitken took provisional pole after his first lap in Hyperpole and was on the way to improving in his second when Giovinazzi displaced him by a few tenths of a second. The deltas were positive and Aitken was set to make the improvements needed in his second lap to take the No.38’s first pole of the season, only to set an identical lap time to Giovinazzi: a 1:52.445.  As the laps matched to a thousandth of a second, the car that set the time first got positioned ahead giving the No.38 second on the starting grid for the Lone Star Le Mans. Despite a strong showing in FP3, the No.12 had a difficult qualifying session and was unable to progress to Hyperpole. The No. 12 will line up 15th in class. The No.12 car will be driven by Will Stevens, Norman Nato and Ricky Taylor and the No.38 car will be driven by Jack Aitken, Sebastian Bourdais and Earl Bamber. The race is scheduled for 1300 local time on Sunday September 6th.

Front row start for Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA at COTA September 5th, 2026 – Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA will start the Lone Star Le Mans in second position, for the latest round of the FIA World Endurance Championship. Seventeen cars took to the track for the twelve minutes of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) Hypercar qualifying, and with LM GT3 qualifying session having occurred ahead of Hypercar qualifying, the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) surface was rubbered-in nicely. However, it would be the hot surface temperature that would be the biggest element the drivers had to contend with as they tried to keep their tyres in the optimum performance window. Aitken, in the No.38 progressed to Hyperpole. In one of the closest contested qualifying sessions this season, Aitken took provisional pole after his first lap in Hyperpole and was on the way to improving in his second when Giovinazzi displaced him by a few tenths of a second. The deltas were positive and Aitken was set to make the improvements needed in his second lap to take the No.38’s first pole of the season, only to set an identical lap time to Giovinazzi: a 1:52.445.  As the laps matched to a thousandth of a second, the car that set the time first got positioned ahead giving the No.38 second on the starting grid for the Lone Star Le Mans. Despite a strong showing in FP3, the No.12 had a difficult qualifying session and was unable to progress to Hyperpole. The No. 12 will line up 15th in class. The No.12 car will be driven by Will Stevens, Norman Nato and Ricky Taylor and the No.38 car will be driven by Jack Aitken, Sebastian Bourdais and Earl Bamber. The race is scheduled for 1300 local time on Sunday September 6th.

What they’re saying:No. 38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA, Jack Aitken: “I didn’t think it would be that close to pole! Can’t get much closer than that! P2 is a very good position for us to start tomorrow. In these hot conditions it has been tough to get more than one lap out of the tyres, but the team did a great job to fine tune things after FP3 and we’ve put ourselves on the front foot for tomorrow so we’ll see how it goes.” No.12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA, Norman Nato: “A very difficult qualifying. I don’t really know what happened yet, we still need to investigate. This morning we were quite competitive in free practice, we ended up P6 and had a few tenths to find. So we just tried to optimise and make a couple of changes for qualifying. Unfortunately it didn’t work out at all for some reason which I don’t have the answer for yet. I lost a lot of lap time compared to this morning. It caught us a little bit by surprise, to be honest, so we need to investigate and try our best for tomorrow.” Cadillac Racing Programme Manager, Keely Bosn: “Today we performed extremely well despite the heat. I think the field today that we saw in qualifying was extremely tight and Cadillac came out there on top, setting an identical lap time to pole. Right now, we’re showing a lot of promise for the race tomorrow. We’ll work on our overall strategy for both cars tonight, their set-ups, and we’ll see how things go tomorrow here in our home country.”

CORVETTE RACING AT COTA: All Eyes ForwardTF Sport Corvette teams hoping to work their way into the points Sunday AUSTIN, Texas (September 5, 2026) – TF Sport’s pair of Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs will look to race their way up the grid Sunday from the xth and xth row of LMGT3 at the start of the six-hour Lone Star Le Mans at Circuit of The Americas for the FIA World Endurance Championship.

Peter Dempsey qualified the No. 34 Racing Team Turkey by TF Corvette that he drives with Salih Yoluc and Charlie Eastwood 12th in the 12-minute preliminary qualifying session. The trio won the most recent round at Interlagos in Brazil in July – the second straight win the championship for a TF Sport Corvette. Saturday marked just the second time this year that the red No. 34 did not advance to the 10-minute Hyperpole session to set the first 10 spots on the grid.

TF Sport’s Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs, the 2027 Corvette Grand Sport X and 2027 Corvette Grand Sport

Home-state hero Ben Keating will start 17th in the championship-leading No. 33 Corvette Z06 GT3.R that he shares with Nicky Catsburg and Jonny Edgar. The trio were winners at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and – as the result of some missed races – sit 1-2-3 in the Drivers Championship with Edgar ahead of Catsburg, followed by Keating. Points-paying finishes are the goal in Sunday’s race, which will be run in the extreme heat under the Texas sun. The last two races have largely been mistake-free by TF Sport, with the team hoping for another similar performance combined with excellent tire management and an air-conditioned Corvette cockpit to keep the drivers cool. The Corvette Z06 GT3.R already is a winner at Circuit of the Americas, having won in GT World Challenge America competition in 2024 and 2025. As a program, Corvette Racing has five victories in both IMSA and SRO competition. Three generations of Corvette – C6.R, C7.R and Z06 GT3.R – have won at the circuit. The six-hour Lone Star Le Mans race for the FIA World Endurance Championship is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT on Sunday. Live streaming coverage of the race plus timing and scoring is available through a subscription on FIA WEC Plus with additional live streaming on the HBO Max app in the U.S. Radio Le Mans also will provide live streaming audio coverage of the race as well.

CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R POST-QUALIFYING DRIVER QUOTES

BEN KEATING, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “Because we’re leading the championship and won Le Mans, we have more success ballast than anyone else. Different cars carry the weight differently and different tracks deal with the weight differently. (In practice, the balance of the car feels really good and the car feels really good; we’re just slow. I think this is one of those tracks… where the weight really affects the car more than others. It affects us here more than at Sāo Paulo, for example. But I expect it to be very hot on raceday. Hopefully that ends up leveling the playing field a little bit. The Corvette traditionally has been good on its Goodyear tires, and it keeps the driver pretty cool in comparison to some of the other cars in the field. We’re hoping that we can sneak up on it at the end of the day and if we can limit track-limit penalties and have a clean race.”(On championship perspective with no extra-points races left) “Clearly it is an advantage. If you win Le Mans as a double-points race and there aren’t any (extra) points races, then winning Le Mans becomes a much bigger deal for the championship. It’s an advantage to us as a team that there aren’t longer races. I do like the longer races and I wish we were doing them. From the championship standpoint it’s a clear advantage. Right now in the Drivers Championship, we’re first, second and third. It’s fun to think about but it will be pretty difficult for me to end up in third place by the time we get to the end of the season. But I do think Jonny (Edgar) has a really good chance at staying up there. We get the opportunity to lose some weight most likely after this weekend, so hopefully we will be a little more competitive to finish it out.”

JONNY EDGAR, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “This weekend, we knew before we started it was going to be difficult. Getting any points in the race will be good. Qualifying isn’t too important. We haven’t been in the top-10 all year and it’s obviously gone pretty well in the races so far. We’re all hoping to have a clean race tomorrow. We all expected it to be difficult but if we have no mistakes and no penalties, there’s still a chance to get some points.”

PETER DEMPSEY, NO. 34 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “It’s incredible to be back here as a race-winner. One of the goals we had this year was to win as many races as we can. To get the first one in Interlagos was great. Now the pressure is on to try and keep the performance where we need it to be so we can get some points back on the cars ahead of us in the championship. So we’re still pushing as hard as we can.”(On the Corvette A/C system) “For COTA, I’m not going to complain (about the heat) at all! Some of our competitors don’t have any A/C out there so I can only imagine what it’s like. Thankfully the Corvette has a great system in the car to help keep us cool.”

CORVETTE RACING AT COTA: All Eyes ForwardTF Sport Corvette teams hoping to work their way into the points Sunday AUSTIN, Texas (September 5, 2026) – TF Sport’s pair of Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs will look to race their way up the grid Sunday from the xth and xth row of LMGT3 at the start of the six-hour Lone Star Le Mans at Circuit of The Americas for the FIA World Endurance Championship.

Peter Dempsey qualified the No. 34 Racing Team Turkey by TF Corvette that he drives with Salih Yoluc and Charlie Eastwood 12th in the 12-minute preliminary qualifying session. The trio won the most recent round at Interlagos in Brazil in July – the second straight win the championship for a TF Sport Corvette. Saturday marked just the second time this year that the red No. 34 did not advance to the 10-minute Hyperpole session to set the first 10 spots on the grid.

TF Sport’s Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs, the 2027 Corvette Grand Sport X and 2027 Corvette Grand Sport

Home-state hero Ben Keating will start 17th in the championship-leading No. 33 Corvette Z06 GT3.R that he shares with Nicky Catsburg and Jonny Edgar. The trio were winners at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and – as the result of some missed races – sit 1-2-3 in the Drivers Championship with Edgar ahead of Catsburg, followed by Keating. Points-paying finishes are the goal in Sunday’s race, which will be run in the extreme heat under the Texas sun. The last two races have largely been mistake-free by TF Sport, with the team hoping for another similar performance combined with excellent tire management and an air-conditioned Corvette cockpit to keep the drivers cool. The Corvette Z06 GT3.R already is a winner at Circuit of the Americas, having won in GT World Challenge America competition in 2024 and 2025. As a program, Corvette Racing has five victories in both IMSA and SRO competition. Three generations of Corvette – C6.R, C7.R and Z06 GT3.R – have won at the circuit. The six-hour Lone Star Le Mans race for the FIA World Endurance Championship is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT on Sunday. Live streaming coverage of the race plus timing and scoring is available through a subscription on FIA WEC Plus with additional live streaming on the HBO Max app in the U.S. Radio Le Mans also will provide live streaming audio coverage of the race as well.

CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R POST-QUALIFYING DRIVER QUOTES

BEN KEATING, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “Because we’re leading the championship and won Le Mans, we have more success ballast than anyone else. Different cars carry the weight differently and different tracks deal with the weight differently. (In practice, the balance of the car feels really good and the car feels really good; we’re just slow. I think this is one of those tracks… where the weight really affects the car more than others. It affects us here more than at Sāo Paulo, for example. But I expect it to be very hot on raceday. Hopefully that ends up leveling the playing field a little bit. The Corvette traditionally has been good on its Goodyear tires, and it keeps the driver pretty cool in comparison to some of the other cars in the field. We’re hoping that we can sneak up on it at the end of the day and if we can limit track-limit penalties and have a clean race.”(On championship perspective with no extra-points races left) “Clearly it is an advantage. If you win Le Mans as a double-points race and there aren’t any (extra) points races, then winning Le Mans becomes a much bigger deal for the championship. It’s an advantage to us as a team that there aren’t longer races. I do like the longer races and I wish we were doing them. From the championship standpoint it’s a clear advantage. Right now in the Drivers Championship, we’re first, second and third. It’s fun to think about but it will be pretty difficult for me to end up in third place by the time we get to the end of the season. But I do think Jonny (Edgar) has a really good chance at staying up there. We get the opportunity to lose some weight most likely after this weekend, so hopefully we will be a little more competitive to finish it out.”

JONNY EDGAR, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “This weekend, we knew before we started it was going to be difficult. Getting any points in the race will be good. Qualifying isn’t too important. We haven’t been in the top-10 all year and it’s obviously gone pretty well in the races so far. We’re all hoping to have a clean race tomorrow. We all expected it to be difficult but if we have no mistakes and no penalties, there’s still a chance to get some points.”

PETER DEMPSEY, NO. 34 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “It’s incredible to be back here as a race-winner. One of the goals we had this year was to win as many races as we can. To get the first one in Interlagos was great. Now the pressure is on to try and keep the performance where we need it to be so we can get some points back on the cars ahead of us in the championship. So we’re still pushing as hard as we can.”(On the Corvette A/C system) “For COTA, I’m not going to complain (about the heat) at all! Some of our competitors don’t have any A/C out there so I can only imagine what it’s like. Thankfully the Corvette has a great system in the car to help keep us cool.”

2026 FIA World Endurance Championship PointsLMGT3 Drivers Standings1. Jonny Edgar – 762. Nicky Catsburg – 723. Ben Keating – 544. Riccardo Pera/Richard Lietz/Yasser Shahin – 495. Anthony McIntosh/Daniel Harper/Parker Thompson – 436. Charlie Eastwood/Peter Dempsey/Salih Yoluc – 43 LMGT3 Teams Standings1. No. 33 TF Sport – 762. No. 92 The Bend Manthey – 493. No. 69 Team WRT – 434. No. 34 Racing Team Turkey by TF – 435. No. 21 Vista AF Corse – 42 CORVETTE RACING AT COTA: By the Numbers• 2: Consecutive race wins for TF Sport in FIA WEC competition: 24 Hours of Le Mans (No. 33 Corvette) and Six Hours of Sāo Paulo (No. 34 Corvette)• 3: Generations of Corvette Racing entries at COTA since 2013 – Corvette C6.R (2013), Corvette C7.R (2014-2019) and the mid-engine Corvette C8.R – which raced at COTA for the first time in WEC competition in 2020 – and Z06 GT3.R, both of which are eighth-gen Corvettes• 5: Class wins at COTA for Corvette Racing entries in two championships: IMSA and GT World Challenge America. The latest came in 2025 from DXDT Racing in GT World Challenge America Pro-Am• 11: Wins this year for the Corvette Z06 GT3.R including two earlier this year at Circuit of The Americas• 15: Manufacturer Championships for Chevrolet and Corvette Racing since 2001• 35: Tracks at which Corvette Racing has won races – Baltimore, Charlotte Motor Speedway, COTA, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park/Mosport, Chang International Circuit (Thailand), Daytona, Detroit, Fuji, Houston, Imola, Indianapolis, Laguna Seca, Le Mans, Lime Rock, Long Beach, Lusail International Circuit (Qatar), Miami, Mid-Ohio, Monza, Portimão, Portland, Road America, Road Atlanta, Sāo Paulo (Brazil), Sebring, Sepang International Circuit (Malaysia), Sonoma, Spa-Francorchamps, St. Petersburg, Texas, Trois Rivieres, Utah, VIR, Washington DC and Watkins Glen• 44: Number of drivers to win races in Corvette Racing entries since 1999. The latest to join the list were TF Sport’s Peter Dempsey and Salih Yoluc at Sāo Paulo in WEC• 73: Years since Corvette was introduced to the world on Jan. 17, 1953 in New York City. A total of 300 cars were produced that year• 86: Number of drivers in Corvette Racing entries since 1999. Steller Motorsports’ Lenny Ried joined the list at the 24 Hours of Spa• 159: Victories worldwide for Corvette Racing – 119 in IMSA, 10 at Le Mans, six in the FIA WEC, 13 in GT World Challenge America, three in GT World Challenge Asia, GT America and the European Le Mans Series, and one in IGTC/GT World Challenge Europe• 387: Event starts by Corvette Racing since 1999• 6,256.04: Number of racing miles completed by Corvette Racing in its 12 previous events at Circuit of The Americas• 511,683.39: Total number of racing miles completed by Corvette Racing since its inception. The program went over the half-million mark at this year’s 24 Hours of Spa Corvette Racing at Circuit of The Americas (wins in bold)2013 IMSA – No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Antonio Garcia/Jan Magnussen – 1st in GTNo. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 11th in GT 2014 IMSA – No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Antonio Garcia/Jan Magnussen – 9th in GTLMNo. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 10th in GTLM 2014 FIA WEC – No. 65 Corvette C7.R: Tommy Milner/Jordan Taylor/Ricky Taylor – 7th in GTE Pro (FIA WEC entry) 2015 IMSA – No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Antonio Garcia/Jan Magnussen: 6th in GTLMNo. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner: 8th in GTLM 2016 IMSA – No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Antonio Garcia/Jan Magnussen: 3rd in GTLMNo. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner: 5th in GTLM 2017 IMSA – No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Antonio Garcia/Jan Magnussen: 1st in GTLMNo. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner: 7th in GTLM 2020 FIA WEC – No. 63 Corvette C8.R: Jan Magnussen/Mike Rockenfeller: 6th in GTE Pro 2024 SRO America – No. 63 Corvette Z06 GT3.R: Tommy Milner/Alec Udell – 1st, 1st in GTWC ProNo. 08 Corvette Z06 GT3.R: Bryan Sellers/Scott Smithson – 6th, 11th in GTWC Pro-Am 2024 FIA WEC – No. 81 Corvette Z06 GT3.R: Charlie Eastwood/Rui Andrade/Tom Van Rompuy – 8th in LMGT3No. 82 Corvette Z06 GT3.R: Daniel Juncadella/Sebastien Baud/Hiroshi Koizumi – 17th in LMGT3 (DNF) 2025 SRO America – No. 11 Corvette Z06 GT3.R: Blake McDonald/Matt Bell – 1st, 3rd in GTWC Pro-AmNo. 50 Corvette Z06 GT3.R: Ross Chouest/Aaron Povoledo – 8th, 11th in GTWC Pro-AmNo. 50 Corvette Z06 GT3.R: Ross Chouest – 4th, 3rd in GT America SRO3 2025 FIA WEC – No. 33 Corvette Z06 GT3.R: Daniel Juncadella/Jonny Edgar/Ben Keating – 7th in LMGT3No. 81 Corvette Z06 GT3.R: Charlie Eastwood/Rui Andrade/Tom Van Rompuy – 2nd in LMGT3 2026 SRO America – No. 50 Corvette Z06 GT3.R: Ross Chouest – 3rd, 5th in GT America SRO3