TEAM CHEVY ADVANCEWorld Wide Technology Raceway / Portland International RacewayJune 1-2, 2024

For the first time this season, a tripleheader weekend for NASCAR’s three national series will be contested at two different venues. The NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (NCTS) will pair up for the journey to World Wide Technology Raceway (WWTR), where Chevrolet returns to the track as the reigning winner in both series. The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) will make its longest trek of the season to Portland International Raceway for the second road course race of the series’ 33-race schedule.

Chevrolet in the NASCAR Cup Series at World Wide Technology Raceway: World Wide Technology Raceway earned a spot on the NASCAR Cup Series’ schedule for the first time in 2022, making the 1.25-mile oval one of the newest additions to the circuit. In just the series’ second appearance at WWTR (2023), Chevrolet earned its first trip to victory lane in NASCAR’s top division at the track, courtesy of a victory by Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch.

Chevrolet in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at World Wide Technology Raceway:Contrary to the NASCAR Cup Series, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series has a much longer history at WWTR with Saturday’s Toyota 200 marking the series’ 24th race at the track. The 1.25-mile oval nestled in Madison, Illinois, first played host for the NCTS in 1998 – an event that saw Rick Carelli take the victory behind the wheel of a Chevrolet. Since then, Chevrolet has become the winningest manufacturer in series’ history at WWTR with 12 victories, with six of those triumphs coming in the series’ last seven races at the track. Grant Enfinger was the most recent Team Chevy driver to claim a NCTS victory at WWTR (2023) – a monumental victory that earned GMS Racing the title as the winningest Chevrolet team in NCTS’ history.

Chevrolet in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at Portland International Raceway: Saturday’s Pacific Office Automation 147 will mark the NASCAR Xfinity Series’ third-ever appearance at Portland International Raceway. In the series’ debut at the 1.97-mile, 12-turn road course circuit in 2022, road course ringer AJ Allmendinger took Chevrolet to victory lane. The triumph in the series’ inaugural event was celebrated by a sweep of the top six finishing positions – recorded by drivers from four different Chevrolet teams. One year ago, the Bowtie brand came just one spot short of defending its race winning title, but still grabbed four of the top five positions in the final running order.

BUSCH BOASTS SERIES-LEADING STATS AT WWTRWhile seeking his first win of NASCAR Cup Series season, Team Chevy’s Kyle Busch is heading to a track that fares statistically well for the two-time champion. The 39-year-old Las Vegas, Nevada, native has earned the series’ best average finish of 1.500 at World Wide Technology Raceway – recording a runner-up finish in 2022 and, most recently, a victory in 2023. Busch has tallied the most laps led in each of the series’ two appearances at the 1.25-mile oval – logging 66 laps led in 2022 and 121 laps led in 2023. Proving to be a contender in each event, Busch has also earned a series-best average running position of 3.024 heading into the series’ third consecutive trip to the track.

SANCHEZ ADDS TO SILVERADO’S INTERMEDIATE STRENGTHThis weekend’s trip to World Wide Technology Raceway will mark the five-race countdown to the end of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series’ regular-season. Last weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Rev Racing’s Nick Sanchez became the series’ third repeat winner of the season – delivering Chevrolet its series-leading eighth victory in 11 NCTS races.  Among its victories this season, intermediate-style ovals have proven to be a strong suit for the Bowtie brand. In five races on non-drafting, intermediate-style ovals, the Silverado RST has picked up four victories – each earned by a different Team Chevy driver (Rajah Caruth – Las Vegas Motor Speedway; Kyle Busch – Texas Motor Speedway; Ross Chastain – Darlington Raceway; and Nick Sanchez – Charlotte Motor Speedway). In addition, each of those victories saw the Bowtie brand earn at least 50 percent of the top-10 finishing positions.

Perez Set for NCTS DebutRev Racing’s Andres Perez will make the jump into the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series this weekend for the first time in his young career. The 19-year-old Mexico City, Mexico, native will make his series’ debut behind the wheel of the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Silverado RST. Perez, who is a part of NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity Driver Development Program, currently competes full-time behind the wheel of a Chevrolet in the ARCA Menards Series. The 2024 season marks just his second full-time season competing at the national level. In six ARCA Menards Series races this season, the Team Chevy driver sits as the series’ points leader with two top-fives and five top-10s.

ALLMENDINGER, MAYER HIGHLIGHT NXS’ ROAD COURSE RINGERSReturning to the NASCAR Xfinity Series full-time this season, Kaulig Racing’s AJ Allmendinger will return to Portland International Raceway for the first time since his victory in the series’ inaugural event at the circuit. The 42-year-old Los Gatos, California, native has earned an impressive 13 career road course victories at the NASCAR national level – 11 of which have come in the NXS, making Allmendinger the only driver in series’ history to earn a double-digit win count on road courses.  JR Motorsports’ Sam Mayer became a first-time winner in the NXS last season at his home track of Road America. The 20-year-old Franklin, Wisconsin, native quickly became a series frontrunner on road courses when the Team Chevy driver took his No. 1 Camaro SS to three-straight road course triumphs with wins at Watkins Glen International and the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course.

AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Camaro SSInaugural NXS Race Win at PortlandJune 4, 2022Sam Mayer, No. 1 JR Motorsports Camaro SSFirst Career NXS Win – Road AmericaJuly 29, 2023

BOWTIE BULLETS:·       With 38 races complete across NASCAR’s three national series this season, Chevrolet has a winning percentage of 57.9% with 22 victories (NASCAR Cup Series – seven wins; NASCAR Xfinity Series – seven wins; NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series – eight wins). ·       In eight tripleheader weekends this season, Chevrolet is the only manufacturer to earn a weekend sweep – accomplishing the feat three times (Daytona International Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway).  ·       Victories by active Chevrolet drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series at World Wide Technology Raceway:  Kyle Busch – one win (2023) ·       In 86 points-paying races in the Next Gen era, Chevrolet leads all manufacturers with 44 victories – a winning percentage of 51.2%.  ·       Team Chevy’s William Byron is the only driver to have a double-digit win record in the NASCAR Cup Series’ Next Gen era – with his victory at Martinsville Speedway marking his 11th all-time victory in the Next Gen Camaro ZL1.  ·       With its 42 NASCAR Cup Series Manufacturer Championships, 33 NASCAR Cup Series Driver Championships, and 858 all-time NASCAR Cup Series wins, Chevrolet continues to hold the title as the winningest brand in NASCAR Cup Series history.

Manufacturer Points Standings Chevrolet: 511Toyota: 510 (-1)Ford: 473 (-38)

Manufacturer Points Standings Chevrolet: 450Toyota: 425 (-25)Ford: 375 (-75)

Manufacturer Points Standings Chevrolet: 423Toyota: 385 (-38)Ford: 351 (-72)

TUNE-IN:NASCAR Cup Series at World Wide Technology RacewayEnjoy Illinois 300 Sunday, June 2, at 3:30 p.m. ET(FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90) NASCAR Xfinity Series at Portland International RacewayPacific Office Automation 147Saturday, June 1, at 4:30 p.m. ET(FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90) NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at World Wide Technology RacewayToyota 200 Saturday, June 1, at 1:30 pm. ET(FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90)

QUOTABLE QUOTES:ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 1 BUSCH LIGHT CAMARO ZL1How challenging is track like Gateway that has completely opposite corners?“It’s exactly that. You get to one end and drive it completely different at the other end. Long straightaways, tight corners, really flat turns 3 and 4, a little more banking and a unique line in turns 1 and 2. It’s a one of one track. There’s nowhere else like Gateway. I’ve been there in the truck series before. I remember watching truck races way back in the day, Xfinity Series races way back in the day. Gateway was a staple of those series and for some reason I really remember that track. Everything about it makes it a one of one.” How do you find speed at Gateway?“If I knew that, I would be in victory lane every time. I don’t know. You can’t drive a slow car fast. You want your car to be turning well. I’m a simple man. I want the car to turn. I want it to do what I ask it to do and not have to manipulate it so much inside. It needs to do something similar in both ends. You can’t get in turns 1 and 2 with the extra banking doing one thing and then getting down to the other end and it be another.” Can you take me back to your first time driving at Gateway?“My first time driving at Gateway was in a truck for Jay Robinson. The Xfinity Series was off and he asked me if I wanted to go drive a truck and run it until it’s out of gas, get laps on the track. We actually made second round of qualifying back then. It was a crazy memory to have that and then come back the next year and win the race in the No. 45 truck.” Why does it seem to race much more like a short track than an intermediate?“The straightaways are longer and the corners are shorter than intermediates. It’s more like a paperclip versus a tri-oval or quad-oval that we run on the intermediate.” KYLE BUSCH, NO. 8 REBEL BOURBON CAMARO ZL1How different is World Wide Technology Raceway versus other superspeedways?“I feel like the racetrack lends itself to a different challenge than what we’re accustomed to. A lot of times you run these racetracks and both ends of the track are very similar. You have to drive World Wide Technology Raceway differently than other places we go. As a driver, that’s fun and gives you a different challenge. It’s also unique because it’s not quite a short track but it’s not quite a superspeedway. It’s egg-shaped and drives like a short track. There’s a big, heavy braking moment getting into Turn 1, a really tight corner in 1 and 2, and then a long, sweeping, and much faster corner in 3 and 4. We’ve been fast the last couple of years and we want to make sure we do it again this weekend.” You have performed well in both Cup races at World Wide Technology Raceway and enter this weekend at the defending race winner of the Enjoy Illinois 300. “The last couple of years there have been great. Last year we started up front and we were able to make the most of that and score the win. We had a couple of delays in that one so it went a little later in the night and we finished under the lights. I hope we can go there with the same speed that we had last year and we can go after a win again. World Wide Technology Raceway is the home track for my crew chief, Randall Burnett, so It was really cool to have a special weekend for him last year and to be able to score that win.” DANIEL HEMRIC, NO. 31 POPPY BANK CAMARO ZL1“I haven’t been to Gateway since 2016, so I’ve never run on the repave. I’ve had a chance to do a little bit of simulation to get used to shifting as much as you do there. I’m pretty fired up to get there and hopefully have a solid race after showing the speed we did in Charlotte.” DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 CHOICE PRIVILEGES CAMARO ZL1Can you repeat last year’s performance in St. Louis?“Last year the entire weekend was very solid for us. We barely missed the second round in qualifying and really, we missed it because of me and not because of the car. The car was capable of advancing. In the race, the car was strong right away. I hope we are as strong again this weekend.” What are your thoughts preparing for the playoffs in September?“This is what I told my team: We have two months to figure it out. Two months to figure it out, and I say two months because I would like to have one month before the playoffs, to have the mentality of playoffs. Because if we think that we’re going to go into the playoffs and flip a switch and just be great, that won’t happen. No matter who it is, that doesn’t exist. So we have to just be ready when the time comes.” BAYLEY CURREY, NO. 41 DQS SILVERADO RSTDo you use shifting to your advantage here as an offensive or defensive move?“I think shifting is just something that you have to do here, really. You slow down so much in turns one and two that you can use that option. Depending on where you downshift, you can change the balance of what your truck’s doing. If you’re tight, you can downshift earlier to get the rotation through the center. If you’re on a long run like how we had last year, you can shift in turns three and four as well. It’s a good tool for the drivers to use.” MATT MILLS, NO. 42 HAMLIN & ASSOCIATES SILVERADO RSTWith it being a home race for your sponsors, how much emphasis do you put on running well at Gateway specifically?“Gateway is definitely a big race for us. J.F. Electric is on our truck all year, but this is a race that they go all-out with on the hospitality aspect. All the men and women that are their employees really want to see their truck run well in their backyard, so we’ve been putting a lot of time in the sim to prepare for it. For us, it’s one of the biggest races of the year.” CONNOR MOSACK, NO. 45 CHEVY ACCESSORIES SILVERADO RSTWhat are some of the benefits and challenges of racing for two different teams in the Truck Series?“I think the challenges come from the fact that once you’re getting into the rhythm of how one team operates, that stops, and you have to give yourself a restart with the other team. You feel like you still have the momentum in the series with the trucks, but each team does things a little differently. The communication changes and some of the small details make a difference. I think full-time drivers have the advantage of gaining speed by keeping in that rhythm with everybody. The crew chief knows exactly what they’re asking for and vise-versa. Some of the benefits are learning what each team does that the other team doesn’t do. You can apply the differences whether that be through prep or debrief after the race, so there’s definitely some benefits as well.”

Chevrolet NASCAR Cup Series Statistics Manufacturers Championships:Total (1949-2023): 42First title for Chevrolet: 1958Highest number of consecutive titles: 13 (2003-15) Years Won: 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2021, 2022, 2023 Drivers Championships:Total (1949-2021): 33First Chevrolet champion: Buck Baker (1957)Highest number of consecutive titles: 7 (2005-11)Most Recent: Kyle Larson (2021) Years Won: 1957, 1960, 1961, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2020, 2021 Event Victories:Record for total race wins in single season: 26 (2007)                2024 STATISTICS:                                                                                                    Wins: 7Poles: 5Laps Led: 1,384Top-five finishes: 27Top-10 finishes: 54Stage wins: 10·       Chase Elliott: 1 ·       Kyle Larson: 7·       Ross Chastain: 1·       William Byron: 1  CHEVROLET IN NASCAR CUMULATIVE STATISTICS:Total Chevrolet race wins: 858 (1949 to date)Poles won to date: 748Laps led to date: 250,559Top-five finishes to date: 4,325Top-10 finishes to date: 8,914                                                                                                          Total NASCAR Cup Wins by Corporation, 1949 to Date:                    General Motors: 1,192           Chevrolet: 858           Pontiac: 154           Oldsmobile: 115           Buick: 65            Ford: 829                                                                      Ford: 729           Mercury: 96           Lincoln: 4            Fiat Chrysler Automobiles: 467           Dodge: 217           Plymouth: 191           Chrysler: 59            Toyota: 186

DOE RUN, MO (May 29, 2024) – The busiest stretch of the season for the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota continues this weekend with three races spread across Missouri and Illinois.

After four races through North Carolina and Ohio last week, the Series now heads to Missouri for an appearance at Doe Run Raceway on Thursday, May 30. The banked 1/6-mile oval is home to weekly Micro Sprint competition and hosted its first-ever national Midget series event with the Xtreme Outlaw Series’ debut in July 2023. The Xtreme stars will return to the track with a $4,000 grand prize on the line, racing in conjunction with the POWRi National Midget League.

Next, the Series heads back to Illinois for a first-time appearance at Coles County Speedway in Mattoon, IL, featuring another $4,000-to-win main event. The event will mark a moment in track history as the first time national Midget series racing has graced its 1/8-mile confines. This event will also be run in conjunction with POWRi as Race No. 4 of the Xtreme Outlaw-POWRi Challenge Series.

Finally, the weekend wraps up with a trip back to Wayne County Speedway in Wayne City, IL, where the Series ran two races in 2023. A $4,000 grand prize is on the line for the Feature winner at the banked 1/5-mile oval.

Races three and four of the Challenge Series will commence at Doe Run and Coles County. Ashton Torgerson is the points leader of both the Challenge Series and the POWRi National standings with two Feature wins.

Tickets for all three races will be on sale at the gate on race day. If you can’t be at the track to watch in person, stream every lap live on DIRTVision.

Here are the drivers to watch for and storylines to follow this week:

CLIMBING BACK – Right when it looked as if Zach Daum and Trifecta Motorsports had freed themselves from their string of bad luck, fate tipped them off on another stretch of misfortune that they’ll again try to bounce back from this weekend.

Daum, the 2022 Series champion from Pocahontas, IL, scored his first win of the season last Wednesday at Millbridge Speedway, finally breaking through on the track that had frustrated he and his team for the past two seasons. However, two days later at Atomic Speedway, a crash took them out of the main event early, damaging their primary car and forcing them to go to a backup for Saturday.

But things may be looking up for the 32-year-old open-wheel veteran. He and the Trifecta team race Doe Run on Thursday, where they won in July of last year, and Wayne County on Saturday, where they won on back-to-back nights last June. All three of those wins came in succession, marking the first three-peat in Xtreme Outlaw Series history.

THE STREAK CONTINUES – Cannon McIntosh’s streak of top-fives continued last week, bringing him up to 12-straight Xtreme Outlaw Series races finishing no worse than fifth as he maintains his points lead.

McIntosh, 21, of Bixby, OK, scored his third Xtreme Outlaw Series win of the season last Saturday at Atomic over his Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports (KKM) teammate Ryan Timms, who he leads in the standings by 127 points with 18 races left on the schedule.

Last year at Doe Run, McIntosh crashed out of the main event but had success at Wayne County, notching a third-place run at the Illinois oval.

HELLO, OLD FRIEND – New Zealand racer Michael Pickens begins his first racing trip to the States – aside from the Chili Bowl Nationals – since 2022 this weekend with the Xtreme Outlaw Series.

Pickens, 41, of Auckland, NZ, has not been seen in Series competition since 2022, when he won at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 during Ironman 55 weekend in August.

This weekend, he’ll join the Oklahoma-based Mounce/Stout Motorsports team, piloting a Spike/Stanton package for all three races as teammates to Tyler Edwards and Jayden Clay in his first Midget appearances at all three tracks.

DYNAMIC DUO – The partner drivers of Chase Briscoe Racing will be on the Xtreme Outlaw Series roster this weekend after a strong showing at Millbridge.

Briscoe, the NASCAR Cup Series regular from Mitchell, IN, plans to be in attendance Thursday at Doe Run and Saturday at Wayne County, where he finished eighth and sixth in the two Series events held there last year.

His part-time hired Sprint Car driver, Karter Sarff, is also scheduled to be in attendance in his family-owned ride. The 21-year-old from Mason City, IL, posted finishes of seventh at Wayne County and eighth at Doe Run last year. He scored his second Feature win of the season last Tuesday at Millbridge and ran second to Daum on Wednesday.

LOOKING UP – After being involved in a hard wreck last Wednesday at Millbridge, Gavin Miller is set to return to competition for all three races this weekend.

Miller, 17, of Allentown, PA, will head back to Doe Run on Thursday, where he ran fifth last July, and Wayne County on Saturday, where he ran second and third in the two starts he made there with the Series last year.

THIS WEEKEND AT A GLANCE

When and where
Thursday, May 30 at Doe Run Raceway in Doe Run, MO
Friday, May 31 at Coles County Speedway in Mattoon, IL
Saturday, June 1 at Wayne County Speedway in Wayne City, IL

On the internet
Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota
Twitter/X – @Xtreme_Outlaw
Instagram – @XtremeOutlaw
Facebook – @XtremeOutlawSeries.WRG

Live broadcast
DIRTVision – DIRTVision.com. Annual FAST PASS for $299 or monthly FAST PASS for $39/month.

Current championship points standings (view full standings)

1. Cannon McIntosh: 2625 points | Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports #71K
2. Ryan Timms: 2498 points (-127) | Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports #67
3. Chase McDermand: 2401 points (-224) | CMR-Mounce/Stout Motorsports #40
4. Ashton Torgerson: 2378 points (-247) | Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports #67K
5. Zach Daum: 2236 points (-389) | Trifecta Motorsports #7U
6. Hayden Reinbold: 2148 points (-477) | Reinbold/Underwood Motorsports #19AZ
7. Trevor Cline: 1979 points (-646) | Cline Racing #55
8. Karter Sarff: 1969 points (-656) | Karter Sarff Motorsports #21K
9. Kale Drake: 1918 points (-707) | Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports #97K
10. Tyler Edwards: 1892 points (-733) | Mounce/Stout Motorsports #14S

Toyota Feature winners (7 drivers)
3 wins – Cannon McIntosh (Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports #71K)
2 wins – Ashton Torgerson (Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports #67K), Karter Sarff (Karter Sarff Motorsports #21K), Ryan Timms (Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports #67)
1 win – Thomas Meseraull (Engler Racing #7x), Kale Drake (Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports #97), Zach Daum (Trifecta Motorsports #7U)

Toyota Feature laps led (12 drivers)
61 laps – Cannon McIntosh
52 laps – Ryan Timms
49 laps – Ashton Torgerson
44 laps – Kale Drake
41 laps – Karter Sarff
35 laps – Joe B. Miller

27 laps – Thomas Meseraull
14 laps – Zach Daum

12 laps – Taylor Reimer
11 laps – Jade Avedisian

4 laps – Tyler Edwards
1 lap – Chase McDermand

Whitz RC Racing Products Quick Time Awards (6 drivers)
4 awards – Ethan Mitchell
3 awards – Kale Drake
2 awards – Karter Sarff
1 award – Cannon McIntosh, Ryan Timms, Kyle Jones

Heat Race winners (19 drivers)
5 wins – Ashton Torgerson
4 wins – Kale Drake, Zach Daum, Cannon McIntosh
3 wins – Chase McDermand
2 wins – Tyler Edwards, Ryan Timms, Gavin Miller, Jade Avedisian, Nick Hoffman, Trevor Cline

1 win – Thomas Meseraull, Shane Cottle, TJ Smith, Karter Sarff, Kyle Jones, Taylor Reimer, Ethan Mitchell, Tyler Edwards

High-points honors (7 drivers)
2 honors – Cannon McIntosh, Ryan Timms, Zach Daum
1 honor – Tyler Edwards, Chase McDermand, Karter Sarff, Ashton Torgerson, Gavin Miller, Kale Drake

Last Chance Showdown wins (8 drivers)
1 win – Taylor Reimer, Gunnar Setser, Austin Torgerson, Gavin Miller, Shane Cottle, Ethan Mitchell, Ashton Torgerson, Ryan Timms

Hard Charger Awards (10 drivers)
3 awards – Hayden Reinbold
1 award – Will Armitage, Ryan Timms, Ryan Timms, Kayla Roell, Gunnar Setser, Jade Avedisian, Chase McDermand, Elijah Gile, Zach Daum

Podium finishes (11 drivers)
9 podiums – Cannon McIntosh
6 podiums – Ryan Timms
4 podiums – Zach Daum
3 podiums – Chase McDermand, Ashton Torgerson, Karter Sarff, Kale Drake
2 podiums – Gavin Miller 
1 podium – Thomas Meseraull, Taylor Reimer, Jade Avedisian

Top-10 finishes (31 drivers)
12 top-10s – Cannon McIntosh
11 top-10s – Chase McDermand
10 top-10s – Ryan Timms
9 top-10s – Ashton Torgerson
8 top-10s – Zach Daum
7 top-10s – Karter Sarff
6 top-10s – Gavin Miller, Kale Drake, Jade Avedisian
5 top-10s – Taylor Reimer, Hayden Reinbold
4 top-10s – Trevor Cline
3 top-10s – Ethan Mitchell, Mitchell Davis, Tyler Edwards
2 top-10s – Shane Cottle, Gunnar Setser, TJ Smith, Kyle Jones, Sam Johnson
1 top-10 – Joe B. Miller, Thomas Meseraull, Will Armitage, Trey Marcham, Rylan Gray, Todd McVay, Kevin Thomas Jr, Elijah Gile, Brayton Lynch, Nick Drake, Jacob Dykstra, Briggs Danner

2024 Schedule & Winners – Race No. Day, Date / Track / Location / Winner (Total Wins)
1. Fri, March 15 / Southern Illinois Center / Du Quoin, IL / Thomas Meseraull (1)
2. Sat, March 16 / Southern Illinois Center / Du Quoin, IL / Cannon McIntosh (1)

3. Fri, April 5 / US 36 Raceway / Osborn, MO / Karter Sarff (1)
4. Sat, April 6 / Sweet Springs Motorsports Complex / Sweet Springs, MO / Kale Drake (1)
5. Fri, April 12 / Farmer City Raceway / Farmer City, IL / Ryan Timms (1)
6. Sat, April 13 / Farmer City Raceway / Farmer City, IL / Ashton Torgerson (1)
7. Fri, May 10 / Humboldt Speedway / Humboldt, KS / Ashton Torgerson (2)
8. Sat, May 11 / 81 Speedway / Park City, KS / Cannon McIntosh (2)
9. Tue, May 21 / Millbridge Speedway / Salisbury, NC / Karter Sarff (2)
10. Wed, May 22 / Millbridge Speedway / Salisbury, NC / Zach Daum (1)
11. Fri, May 24 / Atomic Speedway / Chillicothe, OH / Ryan Timms (2)
12. Sat, May 25 / Atomic Speedway / Chillicothe, OH / Cannon McIntosh (3)

TULSA, OK (May 29, 2024) – When the American Sprint Car Series National Tour rolls into Tulsa Speedway, June 28-29, competitors will have more money on the line thanks to more than $3,000 added to the Feature purse.

Night two at Tulsa will now award $6,000 to the Feature winner – a 50% increase from the standard $4,000-to-win purse. There are also increases for the second, third and fourth-place finishers, who will receive $2,500, $2,000, and $1,500 respectively.

Series Director Lonnie Wheatley credited Tulsa Speedway promoter Keith Haney’s desire to make the Dirt Down in T-Town a premiere event on the ASCS schedule as the reason for the increase.

“It’s great to have promoters that are this generous,” said Lonnie Wheatley, ASCS National Tour series director. “Keith wants to give back to the racers, and he’s willing to throw some extra money in there. He wants to make this a big event, and I think this is going to help do that.”

Haney, best known as a championship-winning Pro Mod racer on the dragstrip, said he wanted to take the popular “Throwdown in T-Town” drag race at Tulsa and create a similar event on the dirt track.

“It worked out to where we could give more to the racers and make it a bigger show,” Haney said. “The fans love the concept that we bring to the table, and I think it’s going to put the racers and the ASCS in front of a bunch of people that have probably never watched it before.”

Haney said the event will also include added fan amenities including live music, a children’s play area, cooling stations and more.

On both nights of the event, admission will be priced at $25 per carload, with no limit on the number of people per vehicle.

The National Tour will hold its third and fourth events in Series history at Tulsa Speedway, which opened in 2021. Blake Hahn and Tim Crawley scored wins in the tour’s previous two visits in 2021 and 2022, respectively.

Both nights of the Dirt Down in T-Town will be co-sanctioned with the ASCS Sooner Region.

The American Sprint Car Series National Tour returns this weekend with a pair of races in Kansas at Rush County Speedway on Friday, May 31, and Dodge City Raceway Park on Saturday, June 1.

Two-Time World Champ Brittany Force Seeks Second New England Nationals Win

EPPING, N.H. (May 30, 2024) – Coming off her first DNQ since 2014, two-time Top Fuel World Champion Brittany Force didn’t have to look far for motivation in preparing herself and her Monster Energy Chevrolet team for this week’s 11th NHRA New England Nationals at New England Dragway. The 37-year-old national record holder (3.623 seconds, 338.94 miles per hour) was reminded that her dad, John Force, drag racing’s biggest all-time winner, suffered a similar fate 25 times in his Funny Car career, most recently in 2018 when he failed to qualify for the no-longer-contested Spring Nationals at Houston, Texas. “My dad taught us that when you get knocked down, you learn from the experience and you get right back up,” said the 2013 NHRA Rookie of the Year. “That’s the mindset of everyone on this team. We know what we’re capable of doing. “This weekend will be a pivotal time for our Monster Energy Chevrolet team,” predicted the woman who is the current track record holder for time, speed or both at 10 of the 17 tracks in the Mission Foods series.  “We are coming out of one of the toughest, most heartbreaking weekends of my career, the toughest since not qualifying for the Finals in 2014,” she said. “But, moving forward from Chicago has taught everyone on this David Grubnic-run team to dig even deeper and stay positive.  “I know we will get back on top,” said the woman who earned her teaching credentials before opting for a less traditional career outside the classroom. “We won Epping in 2017, so we have some good history, and it’s a market with fans that I love.I’m really excited about the prospect of getting back on track, literally and figuratively.” She also gets a big confidence boost knowing that New England Dragway is an all-concrete track, one on which she not only has won before, but one on which she set the speed record (334.90 mph) with Grubnic power just two years ago.  Furthermore, despite the disappointment at Chicago, the 16-time pro tour winner kept her John Force Racing dragster in the Top 10 in series points with the regular season not yet half over.

At 75, Drag Racing’s Biggest Winner Still a Topic in the Funny Car Conversation

EPPING, N.H. (May 29, 2024) – With a win and a runner-up to his credit already this season, 16-time NHRA World Champion John Force sends his PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet Camaro SS back to work this week at New England Dragway where he once more will try to turn back time in the 11th running of the NHRA New England Nationals. In his 48th season on the NHRA tour and just a month after celebrating his 75th birthday, drag racing’s all-time biggest winner finds himself in third place in the Mission Foods Funny Car driver standings, 36 points behind John Force Racing teammate Austin Prock and the AAA Camaro, and 50 behind Matt Hagan, to whom he finished runner-up, at the previous race in Chicago.  “I’m always excited going back to Epping,” Force said. “I’ve been there a lot of years and have won the race a couple times. It’s got a great market where we draw fans from Boston, Canada, and everywhere, but it’s a tricky racetrack, depending on whether it’s hot or cool.  “The crew chiefs really have their jobs cut out for them,” he said. “Right now, my car is running very consistently. Prock’s car, with AAA, is doing the same. So, we’re both in the hunt for the championship. We’ve got our work cut out for us and it’s going to be tough, but for this PEAK team, it also feels nice to be coming off of a runner-up finish two weeks ago.” The one-time Driver of the Year for all of American motor sports (1996) and the first drag racer ever so honored, Force this week is within reach of first place in driver points for the first time since 2021 which, notably, was the last time he won on the New England Dragway concrete. The only Funny Car driver other than Hagan to have won more than once at Epping, Force lost last year’s final to Bob Tasca III although, technically, the defeat occurred at Bristol Dragway in Tennessee, the track to which the final rounds were moved after rain prevented completion of the event in New Hampshire. In addition to his own New England success, the 156-time tour winner also benefits from the past success of crew chief Dan Hood, who won the inaugural New England Nationals as crew chief to John’s youngest daughter, Courtney, now the wife of Indy Car driver Graham Rahal.

 
LONG BEACH, CA (May 29, 2024) — For the first time since his Top Fuel rookie season in 2021, NHRA driver Buddy Hull is making his return to the New England Nationals, May 31-June 2, at New England Dragway, this time as a rookie Funny Car driver, driving for Jim Dunn Racing.
 
“Looking back at the first time I competed at this event, it makes me realize how far I have come,” said Hull. “Back in 2021, this race was one of the first national NHRA events that I had ever competed in. Almost everything has changed since then. I’m now blessed to be competing in Funny Car instead of Top Fuel, and for the legendary Big Jim. I have an incredible wife and we’re welcoming a baby boy real soon. I don’t think I could have imagined back then where I would be now, both on the track and off. Life is crazy like that.”

 
For the past two races, Hull has qualified in the No. 13 spot. He’s made several strong passes during qualifying that make this next race in Epping feel very promising.
 
“We are continuously moving the needle in the right direction, working out the kinks with some new parts and making adjustments based on the data,” said Hull. “We’re going to keep attempting to make A to B runs, while putting on a good show for the fans. When I was in Epping three years ago, the fans were incredible. They are honestly the biggest reason why I am so pumped to be coming back. Every race so far this year, there have been fans who have come to my pits, saying how they remember me during my rookie season, and are just as excited as I am to see where I am now. The NHRA has the best fans in the world, I will say it again and again.”
 
This weekend Hull will be racing with a Blaze Exhaust Probes paint scheme on his nitro Funny Car, representing one of Jim Dunn Racing’s season-long sponsors. Since 1996, Blaze has been a leading full-service temperature sensor manufacturer that offers solutions for even the most demanding applications. Their reputation for creating the most rugged sensors available has made them a top choice in the industry.
 
“I’m excited to rep a company this weekend that has made the commitment to sponsor us all season,” said Hull. “I don’t take those commitments lightly because we literally could not do what we do as a race team without companies like Blaze stepping up to support us. Blaze has been a Jim Dunn sponsor for a few years now, and I’m hoping that with the addition of me as a driver, they will continue to see the value in our partnership. We’re going to make them proud this weekend.”
 
In addition to Blaze Exhaust Probes, Hull will be representing season-long sponsors Vertex Roofers and General Contractors, Solid Start/True Brand Products, Lescure Mechanical Services, Crow Safety, Compass Facility Services, KGC Construction, Koppl Pipeline Services, Mooneyes, Good Vibrations Motorsports, Powerbuilt Tools and Wiley X.
 
“We’re ready to have an epic weekend in Epping,” said Hull. “Now that we are past the Memorial Day holiday, it’s officially summertime. In my head, summer and racing go hand-in-hand. We’ve had a good start to the season, but now we’re in the real meat of it. This past month we’ve had quite a bit of downtime with only one race in May, and I can’t wait to show everyone what we’ve been working on during that time off. The summer of 2024 is going to be a fun one.”
 

OWASSO, OK (May 29, 2024) — It has been seven weeks since NHRA rookie of the year contender and Pro Stock standout Brandon Foster raced side by side on the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series. Foster competed in the two four-wide nationals in April, but those unique events are not the same as the traditional head-to-head match-ups Foster is quickly acclimating himself to behind the wheel of his Aqua Prop Chevrolet Camaro. This weekend Foster and the Aqua Prop Chevrolet Camaro will make his first appearance at the New England Dragway.
 
“I can’t wait to get back to just racing one other driver,” said Foster. “The four-wides were cool and I feel like I did a pretty good job but there is nothing like pulling up beside one other person and seeing who can get to the finish line stripe first. I have heard good things about New England Dragway and the fact that it is all-concrete should make for some great racing.”

 Brandon Foster and the Aqua Prop Camaro are ready to get back in action at the NHRA New England Nationals, photo credit NHRA/National Dragster

Foster has shown he can handle himself behind the wheel of his Aqua Prop Chevrolet Camaro that gets its power from KB Titan racing. In two of his first three races the rookie raced to the quarterfinals taking out veteran driver Chris MaGaha at the Winternationals and Troy Coughlin Jr. at the Gatornationals. Those round wins were solid efforts for Foster who is still learning with every run down the track.
 
“I have a lot of confidence in my ability to drive and to learn,” said Foster, a successful businessman and entrepreneur. “I have built companies from the ground up and I am doing the same thing with my Pro Stock career. I am working on learning and getting better at the track and in my down time. There is so much that goes on once you strap into this Aqua Pro Camaro you must have a laser focus. I am ready for Epping.”
 
Foster is in an elite group of first year pro drivers and riders vying for the 2024 Rookie of the Year award. Foster has had some early season success and finds himself in good company with NASCAR Hall of Famer turned drag racer Tony Stewart who is making his way in Top Fuel, second generation driver Daniel Wilkerson who is making his first run at a full season in Funny Car and motorcycle phenom Richard Gadson who is riding a powerful Vance & Hines Pro Stock Motorcycle. This group is joined by Jasmine Salinas, Sienna Wildgust, Travis Shumake and later this season Ida Zetterstrom.
 
“Getting some round wins early in the season was a big help in starting my rookie season,” said Foster. “We are in the Pro Stock Top Ten which is great, but we want to move up and keep winning rounds. Epping will be a great chance to make a move. I want to be in the conversation for Rookie of the Year all season and the best way to do that is to keep doing what we are doing. There are some big names in this rookie class, but we all have to do the job on the track.”
 
Foster and the Aqua Prop Chevrolet Camaro will continue to battle this weekend at the New England Nationals. The rookie driver will get two qualifying runs on Friday and two on Saturday. The quickest 16 Pro Stock cars will race for the iconic Wally trophy on Sunday.
 
“I am looking forward to the four qualifying runs on Friday and Saturday because that is the best environment for me to continue to get better,” said Foster. “I didn’t race Chicago because of some business commitments but I am ready for the New England Nationals. I want to make the most of the qualifying runs and get back into my racer groove. Sunday could be a long day for us and I hope to see a lot of win lights.”
 

BARBERVILLE, FL (May 29, 2024) – The 54th Running of Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals will be the biggest yet with the addition of the American Sprint Car Series National Tour, creating a massive three-week event, Jan. 30-Feb. 15, 2025.

Three straight nights of ASCS racing, Jan. 30-Feb. 1, will kick off DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park and serve as the third annual Germfree Southern Sprint Car Shootout. DIRTcar UMP Modifieds will join the 360 Sprint Cars each night, leading to an added day of DIRTcar UMP Modified action on Monday, Feb. 3.

“Every year we look for ways to grow and enhance DIRTcar Nationals; and with World Racing Group’s acquisition of the American Sprint Car Series, this was a great opportunity to build a marquee event for ASCS that also helps make DIRTcar Nationals bigger than ever before,” said Jeff Hachmann, executive director of events at World Racing Group. “This also makes Volusia Speedway Park home to the biggest dirt racing events in Florida for four straight weeks with DIRTcar Sunshine Nationals commencing the 2024 season in January.”

The Southern Sprint Car Shootout has already grown into one of the biggest 360 Sprint Car events, expanding to three days last year with one of the biggest purses of the year for the division. That will be true again in 2025 with a more than $70,000 purse on the line for ASCS competitors in the Series’ debut at Volusia, featuring $3,000-to-win events on Thursday and Friday, and then a $12,000 top prize on Saturday.

Also, the driver with the most points at the end of the three nights will be awarded the Big Gator title.

Last year, the event attracted some of the biggest names in Sprint Car racing from around the world and produced three-straight nights of thrilling racing with three different winners – Sam Hafertepe Jr., Austin McCarl and Ryan Timms.

Sunday, Feb. 2 will be an off day before a full week of DIRTcar UMP Modified and World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series action commences (Feb. 3-8). The DIRTcar UMP Modifieds will run six Features a night Monday through Friday before competing for the Gator Championship and a Big Gator title on Saturday. The World of Outlaws Sprint Cars will run Wednesday through Saturday with Wednesday’s event being a non-points event – however all four nights will count toward the Big Gator championship.

There will be another off day on Sunday, Feb. 9, as DIRTcar Nationals resets for its final week of racing (Feb. 10-15), featuring USAC Non-Wing Sprint Cars, DIRTcar Late Models, Super DIRTcar Series Big Block Modifieds and World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Models.

Ticket packages for all three weeks of racing are on sale now. CLICK HERE to buy them before they’re gone.

For more information about Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals, visit the DIRTcar Nationals website, and follow DIRTcar Nationals on X (formerly Twitter).

2025 Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals Schedule:
-Thursday, Jan. 30: American Sprint Car Series National Tour & DIRTcar UMP Modifieds
-Friday, Jan. 31: American Sprint Car Series National Tour & DIRTcar UMP Modifieds
-Saturday, Feb. 1: American Sprint Car Series National Tour & DIRTcar UMP Modifieds

-Sunday, Feb. 2: Day Off

-Monday, Feb. 3: DIRTcar UMP Modifieds
-Tuesday, Feb. 4: DIRTcar UMP Modifieds
-Wednesday, Feb. 5: World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars & DIRTcar UMP Modifieds
-Thursday, Feb. 6: World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars & DIRTcar UMP Modifieds
-Friday, Feb. 7: World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars & DIRTcar UMP Modifieds
-Saturday, Feb. 8: World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars & DIRTcar UMP Modifieds

-Sunday, Feb. 9: Day Off

-Monday, Feb. 10: USAC Non-Wing & DIRTcar Late Models
-Tuesday, Feb. 11: USAC Non-Wing & DIRTcar Late Models
-Wednesday, Feb. 12: DIRTcar Late Models & Super DIRTcar Series
-Thursday, Feb. 13: World of Outlaws Late Models & Super DIRTcar Series
-Friday, Feb. 14: World of Outlaws Late Models & Super DIRTcar Series
-Saturday, Feb. 15: World of Outlaws Late Models & Super DIRTcar Series

OCALA, FL (May 29, 2024) — One of the busiest months of the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series is getting started this weekend with the NHRA New England Nationals from historic New England Dragway in Epping, New Hampshire. Josh Hart and the R+L Carriers Top Fuel team will return to the northeast for the third time looking to turn their fortunes around. With four races in five weeks Hart and his crew are looking to build momentum going into the second half of the NHRA regular season.

Josh Hart and R+L Carriers Top Fuel team are ready for success at NHRA New England Nationals,
photo credit Auto Imagery/Gary Nastase

“We haven’t seen the results we wanted so far this season, but I know (crew chief) Ron Douglas and the crew have a plan for this weekend,” said Hart, a multi-time Top Fuel national event winner. “The good news is we have qualified well at New England we just haven’t executed on race day in the past two years. I think we are in a good place to turn those race day results around.”

In Hart’s previous two races at New England Dragway he has qualified No. 4 and No. 5 but he failed to advance out of the first round. Two years ago a significant motor failure off the starting line ended Hart’s race day and last year rain forced the postponement and relocation of the race to Bristol. It has been anything but business as usual for Hart and the R+L Carriers team in New England.

“The first time we raced there were had some solid qualifying runs and then on Sunday we had one of the biggest boomers of my career right off the starting line,” said Hart. “Last year we only made a couple runs and I was one of the drivers advocating to get out of town since the weather was so bad. This year the forecast is looking good and I am ready for four solid qualifying runs and a long race day.”

The schedule for Hart and the rest of the tough Top Fuel class will be conducted under what looks to be prime racing conditions for quick and fast runs. On Friday and Saturday, the weather could be sunny with temperatures in the high 60s and low 70s. These types of conditions with the New England Dragway all concrete racing surface could set up the opportunity for record runs. Hart isn’t focused on records he is looking for consistency over four qualifying runs.

“We don’t need to make hero runs in cool weather,” said Hart. “We are focused on getting the most out of the track and our tune up so we can go into race day with as much information as possible. My crew chief Ron Douglas has been working on fine tuning our tune up and we are seeing progress. Four runs in qualifying will be a big help for us.”

Hart is looking for this stretch of races to be the opportunity to make a move up the point standings. Starting this weekend in Epping, then heading to Bristol, Tennessee the next weekend followed by races in Virginia and Ohio to close out the last two weeks of June Hart and the R+L Carriers team can nearly double the season count of passes in the next 30 days. That kind of schedule also keeps his team in a racing groove.

“This section of the season will be critical to our championship plans,” said Hart. “We are in a group of quality drivers at the bottom end of the Top Ten standings. We want to be solidly in the Top Ten heading into July and then continue to improve as the regular season wraps up. I have a ton of confidence in this team and we will start to make some progress this weekend.”

CHEVROLET IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES INDIANAPOLIS 500 INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA TEAM CHEVY FRIDAY PRACTICE REPORT MAY 17, 2024 CHEVROLET SHOWS STRENGTH AND SPEED DURING INDIANAPOLIS 500 FAST FRIDAY PRACTICE AT INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY Team Chevy closed Fast Friday practice at Indianapolis Motor Speedway with seven drivers and teams in the top-10 of best one-lap speeds, with Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 17 HendrickCars.com Arrow McLaren Chevrolet leading the Bowtie brand at 234.271 mph.Chevrolet additionally captured the top-five four-lap average results, in addition to eight of the top-10, with Josef Newgarden, driver of the No. 2 Shell Team Penske Chevrolet leading at 234.063 mph.Larson continued to impress while going the fastest he’s ever had in a racecar, logging 34 laps for the day and clocking the fastest Turn 2 exit trap speed at 231.178 mph.At the checkered flag on Fast Friday, Chevrolet completed 456 laps of the 990 overall on the day, with 2,409 total laps of 5,189 during the first week of preparation for the 108th Running of the Indianapolis 500.Armed Forces Qualifying weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway kicks off Saturday with practice at 8:30 a.m. ET, followed by qualifying at 11 a.m. ET. Saturday’s events will stream live on Peacock. TEAM CHEVY TOP-10 PRACTICE RESULT (FOUR-LAP AVERAGE):Pos.   Driver1st      Josef Newgarden (234.063 mph)2nd    Scott McLaughlin (233.623 mph)3rd     Will Power (233.451 mph)4th     Alexander Ross (233.355 mph)5th     Pato O’Ward (233.043 mph)8th     Agustin Canapino (232.875 mph)9th     Santino Ferrucci (232.867 mph)10th   Kyle Larson (232.549 mph) TEAM CHEVY TOP-10 PRACTICE RESULT (ONE-LAP BEST SPEED):Pos. Driver2nd    Kyle Larson (234.271 mph)3rd     Josef Newgarden (234.250 mph)4th     Scott McLaughlin (234.102 mph)5th     Alexander Rossi (234.006 mph)6th     Will Power (233.864 mph)7th     Pato O’Ward (233.748 mph)10th Santino Ferrucci (233.412 mph)

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING (Quotes):Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:“It was a rollercoaster of a day for us today, but I ended up quite happy with the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevy, and I think we’re ready for qualifying tomorrow. We ended the day strong.” Callum Ilott, No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:“We had a bit of a stronger finish to the day than the start. We built things up a lot the whole way through and had some good speed. Now, it’s just about unlocking it. I think we’ve got a better baseline for tomorrow than what we started with today. I’m looking forward to it.” Alexander Rossi, No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:“It was a good Fast Friday. I always love when we get to turn up the boost around here. I think the car is very close. It’s competitive as always out there, but I think we have the ability to fight for it tomorrow.” Kyle Larson, No. 17 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:“I think I have to play it by ear and see how much you’re off or whatever. The Penske cars seem really fast, (Alexander) Rossi seems fast. I feel like the McLarens are the next best to the Penske cars. Just kind of see where you are on speed and then adjust. I felt like the one run where I felt closer to the limit, I would’ve made it a fourth lap. I guess that’s not a fun feeling being on the limit, I guess, in this place. Overall, I thought it was a decent day. Good to have it go smooth for once with no weather delays, or anything pop up. Just happy about today.” “I think our car balance was in a comfortable spot that allowed me to be a little bit calmer in the car. If I went out there and felt on the limit of the rear tires, I would have felt like I was probably going a lot faster. I think they did a good job to deal with the balance and keeping me comfortable.” What goals do you have for Qualifying weekend?“I’m not sure. I think it’d be pretty neat to make the Fast 12, and then the Fast Six. I think that’d be pretty neat, but being a rookie, I don’t know if that’s to be expected but it’d be pretty cool to make that and be in the front couple of rows of the race. Just want to get a good, smooth run in and make the show first. Being the top rookie in qualifying would be cool as well.” Gavin Ward, Team Principal at Arrow McLaren:“We are in the mix. Now, it is going to be about getting the details right for tomorrow. We had a good day and are focused on a strong qualifying tomorrow.” Rinus VeeKay, No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet:“Friday was fast. I think we’ve got some speed for tomorrow. Still got some left. Hoping for a good draw since it will be hot tomorrow. Let’s make sure we get to do it again on Sunday.” Christian Rasmussen, No. 33 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet:“I got used to the boost quick! I thought the car had good balance. In the afternoon, when it warms up, everything was a little more dicey. I think we had a lot of wind this afternoon as well. That definitely makes a bit impact, but a lot of valuable lessons learned today. Got comfortable with the high boost and ready to go into qualifying. We’ll see what happens!”

KYLE LARSON, NO. 7 ARROW MCLAREN CHEVROLET and JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 2 TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET– End of Day Press Conference:THE MODERATOR: We’re going to begin our end of day news conferences, Josef Newgarden and Colton Herta will be on their way up. We’ll start with Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 17 Hendrickcars.com Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. Kyle picked up the second quickest lap of the day at 234.271 miles an hour. Kyle, before you got up there you said it felt like a much smoother day today for you. Describe that a little bit. KYLE LARSON: Yeah, today went a lot smoother. Just more so as planned. Where yesterday did not. I thought with the weather being — the forecast being good, I would get lots of laps, but did not. Was pretty frustrated with things yesterday.Yeah, it all went smooth and was good to just get some reps with the boost and feeling all that. Yeah, happy with how it all went. THE MODERATOR: Josef Newgarden also joins us who had the quickest four-lap average during all the qual sim runs that were happening. 234.063 miles an hour, back driving the No. 2 Shell Powering Progress Team Penske Chevrolet, set to qualify for your 13th Indianapolis 500. Your thoughts on — seemed like a pretty good day for a lot of teams today. JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, it’s always interesting to see how this shapes up. Friday is one deal, and then tomorrow is going to be where it really comes together and you’re going to see where the field truly stacks up. But I think today is a good indicator, and we feel like we’re in a decent spot. We’re definitely in the mix, which is great to see. We’ve been working the last four years to try and get back into the mix in qualifying. Really proud of the team. I think they’ve built fast cars. That’s what happens when you’re quick in qualifying here. It’s about a team effort and building fast cars. It doesn’t matter how good you are. You can’t will the car faster through ability. It is a team effort at Indianapolis. The race is one deal, but qualifying really shows the true nature of the build quality. I think everybody at our shop should be really proud. They’ve done a good job over the off-season, and we’re excited for tomorrow. THE MODERATOR: Josef also the top no-tow speed today, 234.260 miles per hour. Q. Kyle, the fact that you work with Brian Campe at Hendrick Motorsports on the stock car side but he has a tremendous understanding of INDYCAR having worked at Team Penske, how huge of an asset is that for you in this endeavor?KYLE LARSON: Yeah, I think it’s good just having somebody that I’ve gotten to be around the last couple years on the stock car side of things, somebody I’m comfortable with, and with his experience here at Indy as well as working with others, winning championships and big races and stuff, I know he’s been very excited to be a part of this opportunity. It’s been fun working with him and seeing him catch up with old friends and stuff. He’s been a little rusty, though. He sent us out the first day a couple times looking for a pack. Just I’m out there all alone. Then today the first run he called me in after the third lap instead of making it four laps. I was joking with him that he’s a little bit rusty. Either way, he’s a very intelligent person I feel like, and we’re lucky to have him at Hendrick Motorsports. Also lucky that they loaned him for the couple weeks here. Q. Josef, you worked with Brian Campe and Gavin Ward when they were both over at Team Penske. The fact that you realize he’s got them in their corner, how valuable do you think that is for what he’s trying to do?JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I think they’re super valuable. They’ve both been my race engineer at some point in time, so I know them very well. Great guys, super — to Kyle’s point, very smart individuals, and no surprise to see where they are in their careers. Different paths but both super successful. I think the strength on this team beside us is showing today. They all look very strong, and I think we’re going to have possibly a good fight this weekend. We’ll see how it ultimately shapes up. It’s tough. There’s a lot of good talent in this series. Just to speak about my team, we feel like we’re in a good spot. We’ve got a lot of really good people. It’s also bigger than one person. We preach that at Team Penske. It’s a group working together trying to get the most out of each other, and when one person either moves on or we lose somebody, we try and just fill it in with our strength, and I think we’re pretty good at doing that. Q. Josef, do you feel like a favorite for tomorrow or for the weekend now after putting in that run? It looked like an on-rails kind of run. I don’t know what it was like from the cockpit. Can you put yourself in a favorites role at this point?JOSEF NEWGARDEN: No, I don’t think at Indianapolis. I’ve never felt like a favorite here, and I don’t know that I ever would. There’s so many good-quality teams nowadays. This race has changed from where it was 20 years ago. Just to speak recently. Certainly changes from 30, 40 years ago. I think you could really choose who had the fast car throughout the month or who had the fastest cars. Qualifying is still one thing. It shows general car speed. But you can’t ever get ahead of yourself here. That’s been my experience the last 12 years running at this place that stuff surprises you. There’s so many good quality teams and drivers that I just don’t think you can ever feel too confident and comfortable. I think we’re in a good spot. There’s no doubt. I just wouldn’t consider ourselves a favorite. I think we’ve just shown up prepared and ready, and now we need to execute tomorrow and Sunday. Q. Kyle, what was it like getting the extra horsepower today? Did it feel like a different beast? What was it like to drive that with more horsepower?KYLE LARSON: For me, surprisingly, it didn’t feel as different as I was expecting it to be. It’s obviously different. You can tell you’re going faster and you’re a little bit more on the limit of things. But I was expecting like from what I’ve heard or just from watching Indianapolis stuff in the past, the commentators do such a great job of making it seem like it’s like, boom, you’re going 100 miles an hour faster. It didn’t feel way different, so I was happy about that. I think our car balance was in a comfortable spot, too, that allowed me to be a little bit calmer in the car, where I think if I would have went out there and felt on the limit of the rear tires, then yeah, I would have felt like I probably going way faster. I think they did a good job today with the balance and keeping me comfortable. Q. Kyle, going back to the frustration of yesterday and feeling like, hey, we got a lot of time here to make laps, can you walk us through that? Was it just the engine change in the morning and then things compounded from there and caught the team out?KYLE LARSON: Yeah, I’m not sure all the setbacks throughout the day, but I know that — we knew on — what was yesterday, Thursday? Tuesday, that we were going to have to change. So I was all ready for that. I don’t know, I think it all just took longer than anticipated. I was told we were going to be ready about 45 minutes after, and then it ended up being like another 45 minutes later, and then we went out and had to do our install stuff. I made just one run by myself to get familiar with things, and then we tried to go out there in a little draft run, but there wasn’t much of one, and then everybody left to go swap over to Q trim, so then we did, and then that took a little bit longer than expected. By that point, the rain was approaching. I just didn’t get a lot of time, which I felt like I’ve missed out on some good opportunity of people drafting. That just is what it is, and I know there will be more chances on Monday and Friday hopefully if weather cooperates. But yeah, I was just expecting — like hey, Thursday has got the best forecast of this week, so I thought I was going to — I think my optimism was too high, I guess. You never know what’s going to happen with weather here and issues that pop up. I just thought that I was going to run a lot more. But nobody’s fault. I wasn’t mad at anybody. I was just mad that I didn’t get to run more. Q. Today how comfortable were you with the tools? I know you said you practiced that with the knobs and the buttons. Was that easier than you thought? I think Townsend and Hinch were saying on the broadcast they noticed one time the shifting pattern might have needed a little bit of improvement or the precision of the weight jack. Are they working with you on that stuff a little bit?KYLE LARSON: Yeah, I don’t do very good multitasking at all. Like it was okay when I went out there and just ran sixth gear the whole time and I could just worry about the weight jacker and my balance was in a good spot. I didn’t even feel like I needed to adjust the car at all. But then there was other runs where I had to adjust the bar, and then I hit the weight jacker, then I adjusted the bar, then I go down the straight, like oh, shit, I have to hit the button again, and then I’m about to the corner. It’s just more than what I’m used to doing. But I think each run I got a little bit more comfortable and we got to kind of adjust moving some buttons around and playing with the colors of things. I think that was all coming to me a little bit. But thankfully, again, the balance was in a comfortable spot, so I didn’t really have to be super busy in the cockpit. Q. Kyle, this is the fastest you’ve ever been in a race car, but you’ve driven sprint cars that have a lot more horsepower. Did that feeling of acceleration — how different did that feeling of acceleration feel when you’re going that fast, when you get up to speed, compared to being in a sprint car or something like that?KYLE LARSON: Well, it’s just so different. When you’re in a sprint car, you’re 950 horsepower, 1,400 pounds on a quarter mile with the gear to match that. So yeah, that acceleration is different. But I feel like the acceleration in an INDYCAR is pretty incredible for what I’ve gotten to ever feel in a two-mile track or whatever, two and a half mile, whatever this is. Just like going through the gears, it accelerates way faster than a stock car does. That’s fun, feeling that. But it’s hard to compare between a sprint car and an INDYCAR. Q. Josef, hearing Kyle talk about all the different buttons and the tools and the adjustments, does it remind you of everything you had to experience when you were learning about all the different things from an INDYCAR, when you were adjusting from Indy Lights? Any flashbacks of that?JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, definitely. First time I drove an INDYCAR was really the first time I drove anything professionally. I’m sure it’s a little different experience for Kyle. He’s coming from a different place and background. But it’s a process for sure to learn this specific form of motorsport. I can only imagine going to the NASCAR side would be similar in that there’s a lot to learn. Maybe the process is different, tools are different. But — KYLE LARSON: There’s no tools. JOSEF NEWGARDEN: There you go, there’s no tools. But it is true nowadays, you get to — top levels of everything, everybody is so in tune and specialized at what they do, and they know it so well. Regardless, I think it’s a lot to take in and master quickly. I think that’s the challenge for sure is you’re coming up in a — Kyle has got an opportunity to compete against people that are doing this all year, just trying to maximize this form of racing. It’s a fun challenge I’m sure. I can only imagine trying it the other way. It’s cool to have him here. Obviously for us, we want to have the best of the best running in this race, and Kyle only adds to that, which is fantastic. Q. Kyle, this race has a lot of traditions and pageantry and stuff like that, and one of the first ones is the qualifying draw that comes up next. A couple years ago Tim Cindric picked for Josef and Scott and got booed off the stage. Last year Scott picked on his own and stormed off in a rage at what he drew. Who’s picking for you, and do you have any idea of where you want to be when that thing flips?KYLE LARSON: So my son is drawing, Owen. But we’ll see. I’m sure him and Audrey might fight over it here shortly. I don’t know. I mean, it sounds like the track will be a little bit cooler, I think, when we start, so I think you would want to go out earlier. But you also would like to have some teammates go out before you, I believe. I don’t know, somewhere in the first eight with a couple teammates in front of you would be nice. But I don’t know. Q. Do you plan on milking the cow next week?KYLE LARSON: What? Is that a thing? Q. The rookies have to milk a cow.KYLE LARSON: What? Where is this? Q. Josef will fill you in.KYLE LARSON: Oh, my gosh. Yeah, I guess I will. Q. That hasn’t changed your decision to do the Indianapolis 500, has it?KYLE LARSON: Do we get to glove up? Q. I was talking with your dad earlier and he said one of his fondest recent memories of this race is he thought the 2012 race he thought you guys — you ran the night before the 500 and you went off to Ohio the next day and Sato and Dario had their thing, but he said it was a fond moment of you guys huddled together and watching on a phone screen of this race. Do you have any recollection of that day?KYLE LARSON: Kind of. Now that you mention that, I just remember we were in the car driving. Did Sato win? Yeah. I just remember — I can’t believe we had live streams back then. Yeah, I think I remember watching on the screen, and he just did like a late move to the inside of Dixon, I believe — Q. Dario.KYLE LARSON: Okay. I remember it being a Ganassi car, and yeah, spinning. I’m half Japanese, so I remember cheering for Sato in that moment and was a little bit bummed that he didn’t win. I was happy for both — I guess I was Ganassi then. But I was conflicted in who I was cheering for. I just remember — I don’t know if they feel the same way, but I remember watching it, like Sato was crazy. That was fun.

NASCAR CUP SERIES NORTH WILKESBORO SPEEDWAY TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT MAY 17, 2024

Kevin Harvick met with the media in advance of the practice and qualifying session for the NASCAR Cup Series’ All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway, where Harvick will be filling the seat of the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1.  Media Availability Quotes:  This double duty is a little different than what it probably meant to you before…“It’s definitely not the attire that I thought I would be wearing this year. But it’s been a fun process. Sometimes there are phone calls that you react to different than others. When Rick (Hendrick) called and said what he needed and I said OK, everyone at FOX was kind enough to let us take the day to do what we needed to do. It’s been a fun process to be able to go through everything with Cliff (Daniels) and everybody at Hendrick. They’ve been true pros about it. SHR has been great to give us our seats and seat rails and make the fitting process a little bit less complicated. So it’s gone well. But definitely not something I expected to be doing this year.” When you stepped out of the car at Phoenix, how does that affect your sense of finality in terms of how your driving career came to a close last fall?“Obviously my full-time career is over. I think that sometimes there are just things that pop up that are fun. This’ll be fun for me, it’ll be fun for Cliff and it’ll be fun just to relate and talk to Kyle about what’s happening here today. Obviously he has a lot going on. So to get back in the car six, seven, eight months later, whatever it’s been, you’re definitely not as sharp as you would have been than if you had gotten right back in and run all the races. This is really more to help those guys out in this scenario. I think they were just looking for somebody who had been in a car. This car is a lot different to drive than an Xfinity car or any of the other cars that you would run. Really just having a good time with it, and we’ll see how it goes.” You spent about 20 years driving a Gen 4, Gen 5, Gen 6 chassis, which were all kind of related to each other before the Next Gen. Is it more difficult to get back in this car and take to it knowing it is so different from what you ran for all but two years of your Cup career?“I’ll let you know in about an hour. I don’t know that answer.” Was there ever a point where Mr. H called to ask you to drive one of his racecars over the last 20 years? And how much of this is kind of a personal accomplishment to say that you’ve now driven for Mr. H?“Any time that these conversations had come up in the past, I had been in the middle of a situation that I was happy with and good with. It’s always been a casual conversation about things. Rick being involved in Stewart-Haas Racing when I started, there obviously was a conversation that happened there to go to SHR. To have that relationship with the engine shop and all the sharing of the information, he still had to be good with it. I did have to sit there and put my Xfinity deal together in Rick’s office and let him work all that out. It’s not the first time we’ve had interaction. But it’s the first time it’s worked out to get into one of his cars and drive it on the Cup side. It’s fun.” Does it feel different that you’re driving the 5?“I don’t know. I’ve climbed in and out of it at the shop. The last time I got into one of these vehicles for the first time was 2013 at the open test that was basically all Hendrick with Rodney (Childers) working on the car for the first time. It’s different because I’ve been sitting in the booth watching the 5 car do what it does on the racetrack. My only job today is to get it into the pit box and try to understand the difference in the tires. It’s fun to see how the guys have approached it with something that is literally for one 50-minute practice. But we’ve approached it like we’re going into a race weekend because they want to do everything they can do to get Kyle prepared to come from the back of the pack to try to win the All-Star race. It’s been very methodical with how they’ve gone about everything. I’ve sat in all the team meetings and been in the simulator and done all those things as we’ve led up to like they were preparing for the race. Hopefully I can do my part.” Your thoughts on the All-Star race coming back here, and is this a good venue for it?“Seeing the venue lit up last year with all the changes and the event itself, and everybody loves the short tracks and North Wilkesboro has been talked about for a long time… so I think with the repave, now it’s what North Wilkesboro is going to be as we go through this year and next year. I guess it will be our last race of the season next year. It’s close to home, so that’s a good thing.” Compared to SHR and elsewhere, has anything struck you or stood out about how HMS does things?“I heard from the owner twice in two weeks, so that’s different! It’s interesting to see just the race shop, the structure and the way that everybody goes about it differently… there’s a million different ways you can do things. The thing that sticks out for me about Hendrick Motorsports in general, it’s truly run like a business that is part of an actual structure of how things flow and who you talk to. There’s just the depth of the business side and the racing side, it’s deep. That’s pretty eye-opening – just the structure from the whole thing. And I like structure. That’s something that has been good to see.” To see behind the scenes at Hendrick and to have the success that you did knowing that you at times were able to beat them…“The 4 team itself was very structured. We had a great group of people that communicated well and did a lot of little things well, but also took the burden of some things that weren’t as structured within the organization. To be able to do those things and still run well was a burden for all the guys on the team. I had a very special group of people that succeeded in a structure that wasn’t as structured as what we’re in currently in this situation. I had a lot of success at Stewart-Haas Racing and all the things we did, I’m super proud of. I love the relationships that we had. It’s just vastly different cultures.” How important is it for you in the analyst chair to know what’s going on with these cars and translate it for the people at home?“It’s priceless. This sport evolves quickly. To be understand the tires, the scenario that goes with how long these tires will last, how fast they go, what the feeling is and what all the scenarios are… listening to someone else’s team, I took my team for granted because we had been around for so long. To hear other people’s thoughts and process and understand all those things to be able to relate to the fans, it’s a pretty big deal to get a mid-year check of things that go with the evolution of our sport. It evolves quickly and can leave you behind quickly. To be still engrained in it and understand where everything’s at is always good.” Going from a part-time broadcaster to full-time, what’s been the biggest challenge?‘It’s just a different group of people. I’m intrigued with how to communication with people and how things are structured. On the television side, it’s a lot of people. To be able to know and understand how that process works and be able to work with different people… I just have a different team that I work with. I’ve been fortunate to not to have to get to know Clint (Bowyer). Mike (Joy), I’ve not known personally, but to get to know him and be able to be comfortable in the booth, we’ve had a good time calling the races and have been able to evolve and get better as the year has gone on. It’s been very different living outside the infield. The things I’ve been had to worry about the most this year is where we’re going to eat dinner at night. It’s much different than how you function in the infield.” How much do you appreciate or are you intrigued with how another team operates?“Like I said earlier, I was fortunate to have a very, very good race team at Stewart-Haas. To walk into another very, very good race team and see the things that go on and happen, it’s fun to get a look behind the curtain. Kyle is very good at whatever he races, but Cliff is also very understanding the fact that he’s off racing other things. How they talk about things and when they go through things with Kyle is very interesting. It seems like they want him to keep being Kyle. To be able to talk about the things they need in their car, how they structure things with Kyle and when they meet with him and why they do, that part to me is very insightful because we all tick a little different. Kyle likes to race all the time. Some guys don’t want to race all that. They just want to race the Cup car and show up on the weekend and do that. Some guys like to race the Xfinity car. There’s a balance for everybody that gets the most out of them. It seems they’ve leaned into letting Kyle be Kyle. That’s not always the case with everyone that drives in the Cup Series. Letting Kyle do Kyle things is surrounded by a group of people that want to be there because of him and how good he is.” It’ll be a benefit for you to be in the car to stay current on how it’s reacting, but what about the repave and knowing how the track feels when you go back to the booth?“All that. If we run this race on Sunday on slick tires and you’ve got the tires going on and off, just understanding how far the soft tires will go… There’s a good possibility that if you do that and the soft-tire guys have to come to pit road under green, just all the little nuances of little things. The more detail that we have, the more we have to talk about and relay to the people and you guys to understand. I look at it that we want to teach people about what our sport is, as well, and the things that are happening. There’s a number of things that go into that in order to make the car go around the racetrack that people just have no idea.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES NORTH WILKESBORO SPEEDWAY TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT MAY 17, 2024

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying session at North Wilkesboro Speedway.  Media Availability Quotes: Did you hear the announcement about the tournament bracket that they’re going to have for next year? “Yeah.. I don’t know probably every single detail about it, but I have heard of it. Yeah, it sounds interesting, especially starting at Atlanta (Motor Speedway) with it now being a speedway thing. But yeah, I think it has potential to add some excitement to our year and doing something a little different. I don’t have any issues with that.” Should they give a playoff spot to the winner?“A playoff spot to the winner? They’re already going to be in.” This place for so long was lost relic. Last year, everyone was so excited to see this place be revived and revitalized. Coming back this year and to know that we’re coming back for the All-Star Race next year, as well, what is it like now to come to North Wilkesboro and know that it’s normal for us to be racing here? “Yeah, I think it’s a good thing. This place has been around for a long time. It’s kind of in the heart of ‘NASCAR land’, with Charlotte being right down road and all that stuff. So yeah, I think it’s a good thing. Personally, I was excited to see that NASCAR or whoever spent a bunch of money to repave the place because that just told me that it was going to be around for a while, and they made that commitment pretty quickly. Yeah, I think it’s all positive. The fan turnout was great last year, and I hope that continues. I’ve seen a couple times in my career where we’ll have something new; it’ll go really good the first time and then it won’t after that. So, I just hope that this continues to be a positive event because it was last year, and I think that led to the money being spent on the racetrack, the resurface and all that stuff. Seemingly, it’s sticking around, so I hope the fans’ support and excitement continues now that the racetrack got the support that it needed to live on.” You were a part of the first attempt to revive this place back in 2010. That revival was pretty short-lived. What do you think is the biggest difference between that and now what SMI and NASCAR has done with it? “Just money.. They have the money to spend and the resources to support it like it needs to be supported. Nowadays, asphalt racetracks across the country that aren’t affiliated with NASCAR, ISC, SMI or whatever you want to call them, struggle. They just do and I hate to say that, but a lot of them do. This place needed NASCAR’s involvement to become what it once was.”  If Richmond goes away and we take that race to Mexico City or whatnot..“So Richmond will go away totally.. that’s the rumor?” Well one of the two.. so, Dale Earnhardt Jr. had said on his podcast that he felt like it was the beginning of this kind of movement to get away from short-track racing again. The 1.5-mile racing is so good.. Are you worried as a short-track, pavement guy, that even at the Cup Series level, we might be getting rid of more short-tracks to have more 1.5-mile tracks, more road courses, stuff like that? “Yeah, I could kind of see where he’s coming from on that, right? Because the short-track racing has been so bad the last couple of years. And we all see it – the races at the mile-and-a-half tracks have been really good. But I don’t think that’s always a reason to get more of them. I always feel like less is more. The Bristol night race is a perfect example of less is more because you go there once a year; it’s super exciting and everybody loves the Bristol night race. And it’s because it only happens one time a year and it makes it special. Road course racing was really special and really cool because we used to do it twice, and now we do it 12 times, seemingly, a year and it’s become not-so-cool. So, I just think that the more that you do that, you lean into a direction and you just add more, more, more.. You can easily make things that are really exciting and neat still really quickly. So, I think we just need to be careful not to do that and put enough emphasis and importance into making our short-track package better because we do have great short-tracks around the country that we can lean into and race at. We just need to make our cars structured into a position that we can put on better shows, and I think we can do that. There’s no reason why we can’t. We’ve had it before, so why can’t we recreate that moving forward? So, I would rather see just a better product on the short-track stuff than taking them away, for sure. And I don’t think they’re taking them away, but I would hate to see a movement away from that, just because it’s an important part of our sport.” How excited are you to get back into a super late model? “I’m looking forward to it. The last time I guess was New Smyrna there at the beginning of the year, so I’m excited to go run with those guys again. I hope we continue to progress and improve. It’s tough hitting one every two or three months, but I am excited to go and hopefully have a little fun. We’ll see.” A lot of professional athletes, you can go and look at their contracts or look at their money situation. Where do you fall in that idea? “I don’t have a preference. It’s not up to me, I guess, at the end of the day, but I don’t really care one way or another.”

“Mad Max” Starts his weekend racing in North Carolina, before heading to New York

WEEDSPORT, NY (May 17, 2024) – One of the most versatile drivers in motorsports will try to complete “the double” on Memorial Day weekend. But not the one you’re thinking of.

Max McLaughlin will race in two different Series May 24-26. He’ll start the weekend at Ultimate Motorsports and RV Park in Elkin, NC, with the World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Models, May 24-25, before flying to Syracuse to race with the Super DIRTcar Series at Weedsport Speedway on May 26.

It’s the second time McLaughlin will get behind the wheel of a Big Block Modified since last year’s World of Outlaws World Finals in November.

He said he’s taking some notes from his last time in a Modified as a lesson of what not to do at Weedsport. 

“We were competitive at Port Royal,” McLaughlin said. “I made some stupid adjustments trying to treat it like it’s a Late Model, but it’s not. We had speed there. The biggest thing is I’m relying on (Heinke-Baldwin Racing crew members) Brandon (Ford), Emmett (Waldron), and Jimmy (Phelps) to do their thing with the car, and I’m going to show up and drive. 

“I’ve always owned my own stuff, so I’m kind of leaving it to the HBR guys to set it up for me. I just have to worry about driving.”

McLaughlin’s Super DIRTcar Series return comes at a track he’s been successful at, scoring his first career Series victory at Weedsport during OktoberFAST in 2020. He’s also aiming to keep the momentum in a Big Block he had at the end of 2023, where he finished the season with three top fives and four consecutive top 10s in his last four races, including a runner-up finish at Super DIRT Week.

“[Weedsport’s] probably the place I’m most comfortable,” McLaughlin said. “I was pretty good at the end of the year everywhere we went. My crew chief at the beginning of the year was Tyler Murray. He’s a young kid, and he’s really sharp. Him and I work together really good and I thought if I stayed in the Modified we were going to start being a force. I would’ve liked to see what we would’ve done there.”

In his new venture with the World of Outlaws CASE Late Models, McLaughlin has already found success, winning a preliminary Feature during the Alabama Gang 100 at the Talladega Short Track in April.

Despite finding Victory Lane, McLaughlin said he knows he has a long way to go to compete for wins consistently.

“I still have a lot of proving to do,” McLaughlin said. “I haven’t really shown that I belong 100 percent. But the win was really cool. We’ve had some good success and some good speed. We just have to put whole nights together. When we do put a whole night together, we can do it. I just have to be smarter with my adjustments.

“We brought on Tyler now. He doesn’t know much about Late Models, but he didn’t know much about Big Blocks halfway through the year, either. I’m pretty confident in his knowledge that he can be a top crew chief in the sport. G.R. (Smith, the car owner) has been great. He’s taught me a lot about these cars so far, and it’s really helped speed up the learning process. I got a long way to go to put my name close to any of these guys yet, but it’s been a lot of fun.”

The two-day event at Ultimate Motorsports Park will be a home state race for the Mooresville, NC native, who lives less than an hour from the track. It’ll also be staged like Talladega with split Features on Friday and a massive finale on Saturday – paying $35,000-to-win/$3,000-to-start.

While McLaughlin isn’t running two different races in one day he’ll still have to manage a bit of traveling logistics.

“We land at like noon (on Sunday), and we’re going straight to the racetrack,” McLaughlin said. “I saw some pictures of everyone working on my new trailer up there. It’s pretty cool that they have a lot of interest and they’re putting a lot of effort into it. 

“It makes me want to go up there and run good. And I’m thankful to have a car owner like G.R. Smith that lets me do it.”

McLaughlin kicks off his weekend with the two-night World of Outlaws Elkin Late Model Showdown at Ultimate Motorsports and RV Park on Friday and Saturday, May 24-25. Then, he’ll head to Weedsport Speedway with the Super DIRTcar Series on Sunday, May 26, for the Heroes Remembered 100. For tickets, CLICK HERE.

If you can’t make it to the track, watch all Super DIRTcar Series and World of Outlaws Late Models action live on DIRTVision, either online or with the DIRTVision app.

Madden led all 40 Laps at Raceway 7 to score his 37th career World of Outlaws win

CONNEAUT, OH (May 16, 2024) – In a Feature that included twists and turns across Conneaut, OH’s Raceway 7, Chris Madden showed the way for his first win of the 2024 World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Models season.

Beginning the night with a win in Heat 3, Madden put himself in the redraw and drew the outside pole, starting on the front row next to Cade Dillard for the 40-lap Feature.

From the drop of the Gorsuch Performance Green Flag, “Smokey” quickly took the lead from Dillard on the high side, using his No. 44 machine to his advantage to create a gap between him and the stout field of Late Models.

Continuous packs of lapped cars hampered Madden’s chances of getting a large gap on the field, giving Brandon, FL driver Kyle Bronson a chance to take away the lead.

When Bronson had his only formidable chance to get by Madden, the only caution flag of the Feature flew with 15 laps to go. The cause was Brandon Sheppard, who blew a right rear tire, putting his points lead in jeopardy.

When the race resumed, Madden got a solid jump on Bronson and kept command of the race.

The closing stages of the Feature saw Bronson using every inch of the track to make his car work. But Madden was too strong and was the first to cross under the twin checkered flags to win the $10,000 bounty.

“We’ve been running good, we just had to get it all together and it hasn’t shown,” Madden said. “We’ve had the speed; we’ve just haven’t been able to put a whole night together. So, we did that and got the lead off the start there. Obviously, that was a big key to it by being in the right place at the right time, then the caution and lap traffic and our tire going down.

“Everything went the way we needed it to tonight for a change instead of going wrong. So, maybe our luck has turned around for a change. We had a great race car throughout the night. Hats off to my guys so that we we’re able to get it done.”

Bronson came home second, happy with the progress of the team as he looks forward to continuing the hunt for his first Feature win of 2024.

“I think we ran over something on the track from the caution about 15 (laps) to go,” Bronson said. “I had one chance to roll (Madden) on the outside there right before the caution came out, so I felt like we we’re gonna get by. But the tire was going down and I couldn’t really turn down the corner the way I wanted it to.

“Overall, I think our car is really good right now. We’re heading in the right direction, got a lot of good folks helping us out, and really looking forward to the next race. It’s been a long time since I’ve said that, but I really do look forward to winning some of these races and seeing what our car can do.”

Dillard rounded out the night’s podium, hoping to have held the lead after a strong night that included a Dirt King Simulator Hottest Hot Lap and Simpson Quick Time Award.

“We definitely had the car to win,” Dillard said. “Madden was good there and got me on the start. We had a third-place car in the Feature, and we brought it home third. We just keep on marching forward and eventually and hopefully the win will come.”

Nick Hoffman took the fourth-place finish after the Feature. With the finish, and Sheppard’s woes, Hoffman is the new leader of the points standings by a slight two-point margin.

MD3 Rookie of the Year contender Dustin Sorensen scored his first top five of the season with his fifth-place result in the Feature. With the result, he extended his points lead on Evans, GA driver Cody Overton by 16 points.

Lake Elmo, MN’s Brent Larson’s 10-pace climb in the Feature rewarded him the FOX Factory Hard Charger Award.

The Heat winners from Raceway 7 included Dillard (Heat 1), Madden (Heat 2), Bronson (Heat 3), and Hoffman (Heat 4).

Dave Hess Jr and Dennis Erb Jr made their way into the Feature with wins in the two Last Chance Showdown races.

Up Next: The World of Outlaws CASE Late Models cross into Pennsylvania for three more nights of racing over the weekend, with Bedford Speedway (May 17), Marion Center Raceway (May 18), and Path Valley Speedway (May 19) up next for the “Most Powerful Late Models on the Planet.” For more information and tickets, CLICK HERE.

May 16, 2024

Harrison Burton and the No. 21 Motorcraft/DEX Imaging team are headed to North Wilkesboro Speedway for this weekend’s All-Star races.

It’s a familiar venue for the No. 21 team as the Wood Brothers ran 46 races there from 1957 until the track lost its Cup date in 1996. They had two poles there, both by the late team founder Glenn Wood (in 1958 and 1959) and two wins, both by the late Marvin Panch (in 1963 and 1964).

All told the team had 14 top-five finishes and 23 top-10s.

The 5/8-mile track lay dormant after the 1996 races and the prospects of racing there again seemed unlikely, but has experienced a revival in recent years, and this weekend’s event is the second straight All-Star race to be held there.

“Obviously it’s really cool to be racing again at such a historic venue as North Wilkesboro,” said Jeremy Bullins, crew chief of the Motorcraft/DEX Imaging Mustang Dark Horse, which is entered in the Open race as drivers in that preliminary event seek to earn a starting berth in the All-Star race.

Bullins said this year’s All-Star weekend events will be unique due to the different tires available to teams this year and because of the new pavement that has been added since last year.

Goodyear will offer a convention tire known as the “Prime” tire, and fans can identify them by the yellow lettering on the tires.

An “Option” tire will be offered as well. The Option tires are essentially a wet weather tire but with slick tread.

These tires, which will carry red lettering, are expected to offer more grip initially but wear quicker, leading to more fall off of lap times.

Then, if rain wets the track, there’s the regular wet weather tire, which will have visible treads and carry white lettering.

“This year, with the repave, is likely to look like a much different race,” Bullins predicted. “And everyone has a lot of questions about how the Option tire is going to drive and how long will it last.

“Hopefully we can learn what we need to in practice to race our way through the Open and get in the big show for the All-Star race.”

Practice at North Wilkesboro is set for Friday at 4:35 p.m. Eastern Time to be followed by Open qualifying at 5:40 and All-Star qualifying at 6:20.

The 100-lap Open race is scheduled to start just after 5:30 p.m. on Sunday. The top two finishers will advance to the All-Star race along with one driver selected by a fan vote.

The 200-lap main event should get the green flag just after 8 p.m. Sunday.

FOX Sports 1 will carry the TV coverage.

CHEVROLET IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES INDIANAPOLIS 500 INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA TEAM CHEVY PRACTICE REPORT MAY 16, 2024 CHEVROLET TOPS INDIANAPOLIS 500 PRACTICE FOR SECOND DAY AT INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY Pato O’Ward, driver of the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, and Scott McLaughlin, driver of the No. 3 Pennzoil Team Penske Chevrolet, led Team Chevy in first and second respectively on the third day of practice at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the 108th Running of the Indianapolis 500.O’Ward’s fastest lap of 228.861 mph set speed over the NTT INDYCAR SERIES field, with McLaughlin trailing slightly with 227.316 mph.Chevrolet finished with five in the top-ten representing the Bowtie brand at the conclusion of Thursday’s practice session.A total of 1,896 laps were completed during Thursday’s on-track activity, with Chevrolet completing 878 laps.Friday’s practice at Indianapolis Motor Speedway is scheduled from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. tomorrow.Fast Friday will see the boost turned up, where drivers and teams get a bump to 1.5 bar from 1.3 bar, adding approximately 100 horsepower ahead of Saturday’s practice and the first day of Indianapolis 500 qualifying. TEAM CHEVY TOP-10 PRACTICE RESULT:Pos. Driver1st      Pato O’Ward (228.861 mph)2nd    Scott McLaughlin (227.316 mph)5th     Josef Newgarden (226.684 mph)8th     Ed Carpenter (226.115 mph)9th     Will Power (225.675 mph)

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING (Quotes);Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:“That was a good day for us. The No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet team just keeps working hard to get the car in the window. We did some qualifying runs today, and while I wish we had more time for those, the rain had other plans. There are no big issues, though, so I’m happy. Tomorrow is Fast Friday; time to go fast.” Callum Ilott, No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:“That was a really good day for the team. The No. 6 NTT DATA Arrow McLaren Chevrolet team made some big improvements overnight and did a good job sorting everything out. We started the day with race runs, and the car continues to feel better and more comfortable. The afternoon was cut short a bit by weather, but I got a good feeling for our qualifying setup, as well. I think we’re in a good place going into tomorrow when everything gets turned up a bit. The team is working well together right now, and tomorrow we’ll see where we really stand.” Alexander Rossi, No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:“We had another very good day today, and I’m leaving the day feeling pretty strong in traffic. The No. 7 VELO Arrow McLaren Chevrolet is in a good window. I’m looking forward to turning up the boost tomorrow for Fast Friday and focusing on qualifying.” Kyle Larson, No. 17 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:“The day didn’t go as we hoped. When we wanted to do runs in a pack, there were no packs on the track. When we wanted to do single-car runs, cars would pull out in front of me. It was frustrating.” Brian Campe, Technical Director at Hendrick Motorsports and Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 17 Arrow McLaren’s Indianapolis 500 Race Strategist:“We haven’t got as much running as we’d like to today, which happens around here with rain and things like that. We’re prepared. Kyle (Larson) is just working through all of the procedures for qualifying. We’ve got a lot of those boxes ticked there. Kind of got bit by some traffic, and then by the rain, so we haven’t got a full qualifying sim in but we’re trying to check as many boxes as we can.” You’ve worked with many great ones at the speedway. You’re talking about some of the most well-rounded drivers of the last ten years or so – Juan Pablo Montoya, Kyle Larson’s name comes to mind. Do you see similarities in the two?“Sure. I think you could easily draw the similarities. I think while you’re in it, you don’t realize it but in maybe a couple of weeks, we’ll talk about it in, and it’ll be come more clear. We’re focused on making the best qualifying effort with the weather. Not sure what’s going to happen the next two days. We’re just really focused on that.” When you were here with Juan (Pablo Montoya), including winning in 2015, you had the benefit of experience. He was a former winner. How different is the process with a true INDYCAR Rookie in Kyle Larson?“The driving part is well taken care of; the skill part is checked. It’s just the procedure differences – leaving pit lane, all the buttons to push and all those things, things to remember, and the fact he can actually adjust the car, which is just laps – he’ll get that figured out.” He adjusts his sprint car and midget a lot, but I don’t think he bothers…“I think that speaks to his skill and focus on his driving. We’ll certainly help him out here. We have the telemetry and we’ve been adjusting ourselves too, and just telling him what we think he needs to do and then he responds. So, it’s going well.” When you left Team Penske to join Hendrick Motorsports, did you think you would be back for the Indianapolis 500?“No. I never thought this would be a possibility, so I really appreciate the opportunity, Mr. Hendrick, Jeff Andrews, Gavin (Ward), Zak (Brown), and everyone at Arrow McLaren to put that trust in me to come back over here after being away for a while. I’m really enjoying it.” How much translation do you have to do with Kyle (Larson) from INDYCAR jargon into NASCAR dialect?“There is a little bit, but it’s a racecar, right? He speaks racecar pretty well, and everyone here understands. It’s just a racecar, right? Sure, they look different, but when you get down to the stuff that matters, it’s all the same.” You didn’t get the start today you may have wanted with the engine change and put you behind timing-wise. Where do you stand with qualifying looming?“I think we’re probably a run or two behind from where we want to be. You know, it happens. We had the unfortunate of changing an engine, but the reliability and power are most important. Chevrolet, we didn’t want to ruin a day by having an engine change in the middle of the session, so it the best thing for us to do and it’s just part of the month of May. Things come you don’t expect, and you just adjust.” Ryan Hunter-Reay, No. 23 Dreyer & Reinbold Chevrolet:“Weather was another issue (today), a little bit of a stop and start, but we got through some things we needed to. Found a comfort level that I needed in the race trim. We came back out for qual sims, but of course it rained. Looking forward to going fast and left tomorrow a whole lot tomorrow with the added boost. Added horsepower, higher speeds, good times.” Conor Daly, No. 24 Dreyer & Reinbold Chevrolet:“There’s a few bits and bobs and I think they know definitely know what it is (referring to issues on his run that ended his day). That’s good. We can fix it. It could have been way worse, so pretty thankful for that not being way worse. Honestly, that run alone makes me feel a lot better because that was our first time actually going into qual trim and the car was super easy to drive. It was pretty decent in qual trim. We didn’t even have to change gears or anything in the course of the qual run. Just to have that speed in it that we had, I think we’re not upset about it, and overall in the race running, we’re okay. We want to win this race, so we need to fight with the Palous and the McLaughlins, and those guys look really good. I haven’t seen Colton (Herta) out there yet, but he looks good as well. We just need a couple more pieces, but obviously now we’re in qual mode. We’ll see what happens. We’re going to gain, we just need a few more things.” Ed Carpenter, No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet:“It was an awkward day and not totally how we planned it. We had an issue earlier in the day that cost us some track time which is frustrating. We were able to sort everything out, but I wasn’t able to get as many laps as I wanted to. My teammates were able to do more work on qualifying simulations so we will look at what they were able to do. We will be in a good place heading into tomorrow.” Rinus VeeKay, No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet:“We started the day with qualifying simulations, and it felt good. We checked off our list today and are continuing to work through everything we need to ahead of this weekend. We tried to get some race running in at the end, but the weather didn’t cooperate long enough to do that. Ready for Fast Friday!” Christian Rasmussen, No. 33 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet:“We didn’t get too much running in, but we were able to focus on our qualifying simulations. I am learning and practicing everything that I need to do during a qualifying attempt, and I am feeling good. Each lap it gets easier and easier to keep my foot flat. Everyone wished for a bit of traffic running towards the end, but the weather in Indy this time of year is unpredictable. We will take what we worked on today into the rest of the week before we go all in on Saturday.”  Agustin Canapino, No. 78 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet:“We finished the second day of (Indianapolis) 500 practice. We had good progress. We finished 26th today, which is better than the last day. We are going to try to do another step tomorrow and try to do a good qualifying (run) on the weekend.”

PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROW MCLAREN CHEVROLET – Thursday Practice End of Day Press Conference Transcript:THE MODERATOR: Wrapping up this Thursday practice at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway ahead of the 108th running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge looking ahead to Fast Friday tomorrow, But P1 today overall, Pato O’Ward in his 56 laps turned, top speed of 228.861 miles an hour, at least a top average speed around this two-and-a-half-mile oval. Driver of the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet set to qualify for his fifth Indianapolis 500, best finish was second a couple of years ago. Did you get all the boxes checked and that sort of thing today? PATO O’WARD: Yeah, we did. We got a pretty fat tow lap on the board, which was unexpected, I would say. But yeah, I’m happy with my car. We did race runs. We did qualifying runs. Obviously it doesn’t necessarily translate perfectly to when the boosts come up just because the speed is so different. But I mean, tomorrow if it does rain out, at least we got a bit of a feeling of what the car is tending to want to do on a bit more trim level. Q. Looks like maybe rain ends towards the morning, maybe some afternoon running, so it could be crucial with another 100 horsepower tomorrow?PATO O’WARD: Oh, yeah, you feel it. It’s so cool. Honestly, it’s one of the coolest parts about the whole process is just those four laps in qualifying. They can be very enjoyable, but they can be miserable, as well. Like you’ve got to get it right, and puts a lot of emphasis on — you’ll really see a lot of the work that these teams go through in the off-season making those things go as fast as possible. Q. When you get that extra boost, does the track visually look different because things are coming at you a little bit faster?PATO O’WARD: Yeah, I mean, everything just gets — you feel the difference. I think the biggest thing is there’s so much more speed that you’re carrying through the corner. Front right takes a bit more of a beating, and whenever it does decide not to give you that peak grip from lap 1 to lap 4, that wall comes fast, really, really fast. Q. Alex said last week that you also can hear the speed because the wind sounds a little bit different going —PATO O’WARD: You can hear the engine. You can hear the different pitch of the engine that it’s producing. It’s freaking badass. Q. Is that a pitch you’d like to have all the time here?PATO O’WARD: Oh, my God, those boosts for racing would be gnarly. Too gnarly I’d say. I wouldn’t say no. Why not? Q. You should have seen the engines in the ’90s, early ’90s. With the lack of running on Tuesday, like 20-something minutes, and then a couple hours yesterday, what’s the level of frustration that you have knowing that this forecast is just stopping all this extra running that you could have done and checked even more boxes off instead of just doing almost everything today?PATO O’WARD: Zero, I’d say. I don’t mind it. If it rains, it rains. If it doesn’t rain, it doesn’t rain. I’m enjoying the process either way. It’s really cool to be a part of it, and I feel like every year it goes on, you really get to kind of see what it is to Indianapolis and what it is to the INDYCAR community. No, I mean, if it rains, I’ll just go to my bus. I had a lot of hours at the bus yesterday.But when we’ve actually had some time on the track, it’s been pretty intense. Like I didn’t get out all afternoon basically until it started raining again, and we got quite a few running laps. Then today, it was a beautiful day. Right now it got a little cloudy. We almost got through our whole list of testing. Q. With the cars being a little bit lighter, how much different does the car handle, especially in traffic?PATO O’WARD: I feel like that’s very weather dependent. To be honest, at least from my side, I haven’t really been able to tell the difference of balance shift with this new lighter aeroscreen on the superspeedway. I felt it on the road course and street course car balance, but I haven’t really felt it on the superspeedway. It’s not like last year we were slower. We weren’t. I think the speeds are pretty much what — you’ll probably see the same thing as you saw last year. It would be cool to go a little bit faster. It always makes it better for the spectacle. Yeah, not really, not much change I’d say. Q. I’m trying to be an optimist, but if tomorrow there is no running, presumably they would give you some time with the boost before qualifying. How much practice would you need say —PATO O’WARD: Oh, yeah. We’re going to need to get a few runs in with the boost. You’ll see guys today getting super consistent four-lap runs, but as soon as those boosts come up, some fourth laps for people are going to be like — I mean, you feel it. It’s just so much faster. The car just goes to a different dimension with the boost. It’s really almost incomparable to what it is now. Right now you try and pepper it in as good as you can, but you’re going way faster. It’s a lot more downforce, but you’re also trimming more. It’s a very different — yeah, very different car at that point. Q. They need to give you at least a couple hours —PATO O’WARD: Yeah. I think everybody would like to get at least two outings I would say. Problem around here is that there’s 34 cars, and if there’s another car on track, you’re getting towed, no matter how far back you are. You try and have maybe two, maybe three cars on track at the same time, nicely spaced out, but sometimes you just can’t time it, or people obviously will put their program in front of yours. But as long as we can get a read of what it’s like. Q. I understand where you are. You’re obviously in a good place. You’ve got a good car. But your teammate Kyle Larson had an engine change. I don’t know how many laps he ended up with, but he only had like 11 through mid-afternoon before he got out there and did some qual sims. Do you feel empathy for those guys who haven’t had much experience who haven’t gotten a lot of time over the last three days and do you feel like you have an edge over them?PATO O’WARD: I didn’t know they were going to do an engine change, and then I asked around and it seemed like it was a mileage thing, like it was going to happen. But obviously it’s not ideal for them to not get the same amount of laps, considering he’s new to INDYCAR. He’s new to the Indy 500. He’s new to basically everything that has to do with the Indy 500 and with the car and everything. For them, I do hope that it doesn’t rain much more because I’m sure they’ll enjoy to get some laps in. But Kyle looks comfortable. I think he’s fine. Like I said, today guys can be looking so comfortable, but as soon as the boosts come up, it might completely change direction, or it might be, oh, I feel as good or even better. Really got to see tomorrow. Q. Obviously you got a little bit of full-field action the past few days, but today just consistently with a more packed track, was that something that you were looking forward to just to be on the track with a lot of the other drivers, as well?PATO O’WARD: Yeah, I was. It’s always fun to go out there and start playing around with everybody and just seeing kind of what cars are fast, what cars are not as strong as you or stronger than you. Just every lap around here, you learn. Q. You said that you were pleased with your car and it felt good. What about it felt good, and why do you feel like you were able to go so fast today?PATO O’WARD: Just when it’s not trying to kill you, it’s a lot more enjoyable. Q. Pato, to piggyback, if Friday and Saturday are washed out, how crazy is Sunday going to be?PATO O’WARD: What happens if that happens? Do we just push everything back two days? Like Saturday would be Sunday — Q. Full field qualifying on Sunday. We’ll see. Depends on television, too.ALEX PALOU: It’s TV, so we would –PATO O’WARD: Would they shorten up the 34 qualifying to get Fast 12 and — Q. I’m sure we’d try to get it all in on Sunday.PATO O’WARD: Yeah, I don’t know. Yeah, it’s beyond my knowledge, I guess. Q. Pato, you mentioned earlier about everybody needs to have a shot at the extra boost if it does rain tomorrow, but is the scheduled amount of practice Saturday morning enough?PATO O’WARD: For everybody to get a shot? Probably not. But we’ll just see. It’s Indianapolis, man. It could say it was raining and then it’s like, oh, cleared out, and we’ll get two, three, four hours of running. It is what it is. Q. We’ve all been at this track for a lot of years. You are relatively new but you’ve been here long enough to know that it’s really rare when you get full days in consecutively. How difficult is that from a team standpoint, a preparation standpoint? I guess a lot of people say the downtime or the boredom is probably the hardest part to deal with for you guys.PATO O’WARD: Honestly, sometimes I think it’s not a bad thing to have the rain because sometimes there is so much time to be doing so many changes, it’s so easy to get out of rhythm. Yeah, it is what it is.

CHICAGO, IL (May 16, 2024) — For over 20 years, Top Fuel racer TJ Zizzo has been rolling into Rt. 66 Raceway chasing a dream. The Chicago native racing with his family team owned by his father Tony Zizzo, also a drag racing veteran, has proven time and time they are serious competitors. This weekend at the Gerber Collision & Glass Rt. 66 Nationals, May 17-19, Zizzo and his Rust-Oleum sponsored Top Fuel dragster will be looking to continue a streak of success with a consistent goal in mind. The team has won rounds and captured upset victories on race day, but standing in the winner’s circle hoisting the famed Wally trophy on Sunday afternoon is the ultimate prize.
 
“We are a family-owned team with crew members that have been with us for over 30 years,” said Zizzo, from his Chicago-based shop. “We come out to the races with winning as our number one goal. We have worked throughout the offseason making our race car better. Last year we built a new race car and made a big jump but this year we are in an even better position to really make quick runs and win some rounds. This Rust-Oleum Top Fuel dragster has been so close, and I think we can get there. I have so much confidence and cannot wait to get to the track.”

 
TJ Zizzo and Rust-Oleum Top Fuel team ready to get their season started at Route 66 Nationals,
photo credit Auto Imagery/Gary Nastase

This year Zizzo Racing and the entire NHRA racing community will have a special person on their minds as they enter race weekend in Chicago. Over the off-season, Chicagoan and NHRA Hall of Fame driver and team owner Don Schumacher lost his battle with cancer. Throughout the weekend there will be several opportunities to celebrate Schumacher’s life and accomplishments on and off the track. For Zizzo the loss is especially hard because Schumacher was a great friend, mentor and supporter of his race team and family.
 
“Don Schumacher is one of the major reasons Zizzo Racing is still getting to do what we love at the highest level,” said Zizzo. “He was a great friend and mentor. His impact on racing and the Chicago business community was massive. I think about him every day and every time I go into the shop, I am thankful for every opportunity, every conversation, and the words of encouragement he gave me and our team. He was one of the iconic figures in our sport and this weekend will be a celebration of his generosity and impact.”
 
Last year Zizzo and the Rust-Oleum Top Fuel team which also added support this season from Dundee Heating and AC, Indak, Blager Concrete,Master Truck and Trailer and recently announced an extension with Button Transportation raced to the semifinals from the No. 16 qualifying position. This was the third time Zizzo won rounds as the No. 16 qualifier at the Chicago national event. He raced to the semifinals, his best effort at his home track in over two decades. The veteran team has proven that when the chips are down, they will not give up.
“Winning from the No. 16 spot is hard but also there is no pressure,” said Zizzo. “I do not put pressure on myself no matter where we are qualified. For our team we just need to get runs to get the best information and we use every round of qualifying to get better on race day we always surprise people. I do not care where we are qualified as long as we are in the show. There are a lot of good race cars that will be racing in Chicago, and we will be ready for whoever we have to race.”
 
Zizzo’s best qualifying effort came in 2018 when he raced to the No. 5 spot only to be upset in the first round by Scott Palmer. In 2017, Zizzo qualified No. 8 and took out Pat Dakin and Brittany Force in the first two rounds only to be ousted by eventual winner Steve Torrence in the semifinals. That finish would stand as Zizzo’s best effort prior to his semifinal finish last year, but not the most memorable race.
 
As the No. 16 qualifier in 2012, Zizzo upset No. 1 qualifier and fellow Chicagoan Tony Schumacher in the first round before losing to Hillary Will in the quarterfinals. The first round race was an epic effort for Zizzo who was first off the starting line against the sure-fire Hall of Famer Schumacher, .092 to .120, and he never trailed in the drag race. Prior to that race Zizzo was 0-5 versus the world champion. As Schumacher crossed the finish line, his engine let go in a huge fireball.
 
“We have had so many memorable moments in Chicago we want to make some new memories this year,” said Zizzo. “Last year we almost made it to the final. We ran great in the first two rounds and then smoked the tires against Josh Hart in the semis. You look at the competition now and it will be a fun weekend. I think you could see the quickest Top Fuel field in history if the weather cooperates so we will need to be prepared.”
 
Zizzo has raced at Rt. 66 Raceway more than any other facility on the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series tour. He will be surrounded by family and friends throughout the weekend. The added support is something that Zizzo enjoys and relishes.
 
“We love racing in Chicago,” said Zizzo. “It is our hometown track. Our sponsor Rust-Oleum is right up the road, so we get great support from them. I have family and friends from all over Chicago come to the races. The guys from the body shop come out. It will be an amazing weekend, and we want to put on a good show. I am so glad we are back here racing.”
 
In addition to the on-track activities, Zizzo will bring back his traditional Saturday morning pancake breakfast for the fans and his fellow competitors. The fan-favorite event is a way for Zizzo and his team to say thank you for the support and have some fun engaging with his fan base. The pancake breakfast will once again be held at the Rust-Oleum pit area on Saturday morning starting at approximately 8:30 a.m. and after the breakfast Zizzo will be the featured guest for Nitro School and interactive Q&A stage show with NHRA announce Alan Reinhart in the professional pit area.
 
“One of the many things that set NHRA drag racing apart from all other sports is the fan access,” said Zizzo. “On Saturday I will be serving pancakes to fans and then during Nitro School Alan and I will give fans insight into how the cars work. For long-time fans it is a chance to say hello again and for new fans we hope to give them tips to enjoy the race day a little better. I know I will be signing tons of hero cards all weekend and that is what makes NHRA unique.”
 
Qualifying for the Gerber Collision and Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals will begin on Friday, May 17 with two sessions of the four professional categories. On Saturday, fans will be treated to two more qualifying sessions. The quickest 16 race cars, dragsters and motorcycles will race for the famed Wally trophy beginning at 11 a.m. on Sunday. The race will be broadcast nationally on FS1 Sunday evening.
 

2003 USAC Triple Crown winner continuing passion of dirt track racing with new team owner

CONCORD, NC (May 16, 2024) – J.J. Yeley has spent his last 20 Memorial Day weekends competing in the most prestigious races in motorsports and this year he’ll add a new event to that list.

The NASCAR veteran and former USAC champion will make his debut with the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota at Millbridge Speedway – Tuesday-Wednesday, May 21-22 – for the DIAEDGE Double Down Showdown.

“Regardless of where I am in my life and career, I’ve always been a dirt guy,” Yeley said. “That’s always been my passion. That’s where I started my career. Even though I’ve spent 20 years in NASCAR, I’ve run IndyCar, I’ve always kept the dirt side of things close to my heart. It didn’t matter if it was Midgets or Sprint Cars.”

Yeley, 47, of Phoenix, AZ, will get behind the wheel of the Avanti Windows & Doors-sponsored, Stanton-powered Ripper Chassis Midget for one of open-wheel racing’s newest teams – Petty Performance Racing (PPR), which was founded by fellow Arizona-native and Avanti CEO Jerry Petty in fall 2023.

Though it’s been roughly 20 years since he last competed full-time in the USAC ranks, Yeley has found pockets of time to be able to keep in touch with his dirt roots. He made scattered starts in the mid-2000s after taking on NASCAR full-time, but soon made efforts to scale back on the dirt after a hard crash sidelined him.

“The scheduling was always more difficult to do,” Yeley said. “After I was injured in 2009 at Lakeside (Speedway) in a USAC Non-Wing Sprint Car, I pumped the brakes a little bit on some of the events that I did, and then became more comfortable going back and doing it.”

In April, Yeley competed in a USAC CRA Sprint Car race in Arizona, piloting one of Petty’s Non-Wing Sprint Cars to an eighth-place finish.

Petty has been a supporter and investor of dirt track racing for many years, sponsoring multiple events and putting the Avanti logo on the side of several cars across the country. He’s had a strong connection with the Yeley family in sponsoring J.J.’s father Jack, who won several Midget championships around Arizona in the 1980s and 1990s.

Petty broke new ground on the foundation of his PPR race team for 2024, putting a Non-Wing Sprint Car operation together for Indiana racer Kyle Cummins, and a new Midget for Yeley’s own endeavors this season.

“Jerry Petty has been a sponsor of my dad for the last couple years, fantastic guy,” Yeley said. “He reminds me of a modern-day J.W. Hunt.”

Yeley debuted the Midget at the Chili Bowl Nationals in January but had limited results after experiencing mechanical issues during the week.

“It wasn’t a good barometer for what I feel the car has the capabilities of,” Yeley said.

He said he’s resolved those issues and will be ready to go at Millbridge, despite the limited time he’s spent on track with the car.

“Gonna go at it a little bit blindly, but it’s nothing new to show up to the racetrack and just have to make adjustments, see if we can find the speed and do what we need to win the race,” Yeley said.

He’ll race Millbridge next week as one of the only driver, mechanic and crew chief entrants in the field. Yeley said as far back as his days as a full-time USAC racer, he has always been most comfortable as the head wrench on his equipment – something he feels gives him an edge over the competition.

“As far as calling the shots, I’ve always been best doing that myself,” Yeley said. “If it’s not a good night, there’s no one to blame other than myself. If it came down to hard work, perseverance, the success comes from having to do it yourself and not necessarily relying on other people to get the job done for you.”

It’s been almost two years since his last national Midget series start, but he hasn’t forgotten how to wheel. Yeley is taking the two-day event at Millbridge seriously, armed with great equipment, a “DIY” attitude and the spirit of hard work.

“I’m showing up to win,” Yeley said. “There’s no participation trophy in my world; there never has been.”

See Yeley and his new Petty Performance Racing ride compete against the stars of the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota at Millbridge Speedway next Tuesday-Wednesday night, May 21-22, in the third annual DIAEDGE Double Down Showdown.

Tickets will be on sale at the gate on race day. If you can’t be there in person, stream every lap live on DIRTVision.

The first leg of the 2024 PFL Playoffs will be taking place at the Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee on August 2nd. This is the PFL’s first visit to Nashville, and is sure to be an event to remember. Don’t miss your chance to watch Heavyweights and Women’s Flyweights punch their ticket to the PFL World Championship.

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The second event of the 2024 PFL Playoffs will take place on August 16th at the Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, Florida. MMA’s League makes its long-awaited return to Hollywood, Florida with Light Heavyweights and Lightweights looking to secure their title shot.

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The third and final event of the 2024 PFL Playoffs goes down on August 23rd at The Anthem in Washington D.C. After a successful D.C. debut back in 2023, the PFL looks to one-up itself with Welterweights and Featherweights fighting for the opportunity to close out the year with a $1 million prize at the 2024 PFL World Championship.

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CHEVROLET IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES INDIANAPOLIS 500 INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA TEAM CHEVY PRACTICE REPORT MAY 15, 2024 CHEVROLET LEADS THE SECOND DAY OF PRACTICE, FINISHING WITH FOUR IN THE TOP-FIVE Scott McLaughlin, driver of the No. 3 Pennzoil Team Penske Chevrolet, led Team Chevy and the NTT INDYCAR SERIES field with a fastest speed of 229.493 mph at the checkered flag of the second day of Indianapolis 500 practice.McLaughlin’s teammate Will Power, driver of the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, followed in second with his fastest speed of 228.767 mph to give the Bowtie brand lead of the top two positions on day two.Chevrolet finished with four in the top-five, five in the top-seven, and six in the top-10 at the conclusion of Wednesday’s practice session.A total of 2,084 laps were turned overall on Wednesday, with Chevrolet completing 979 laps at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.Thursday’s practice at Indianapolis Motor Speedway has been extended to accommodate for shortened days due to inclement weather, with Chevrolet drivers and teams on track from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. TEAM CHEVY TOP-10 PRACTICE RESULT:Pos. Driver1st     Scott McLaughlin (229.493 mph)2nd    Will Power (228.767 mph)4th     Josef Newgarden (227.675 mph)5th     Alexander Rossi (227.484 mph)7th     Pato O’Ward (226.965 mph)9th     Ryan Hunter-Reay (226.490 mph)

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING (Quotes);Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:“The No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet feels good. I ended the day really happy with the car. Obviously, the rain hasn’t cooperated in a perfect manner these first couple days, but it’s just part of the process sometimes. I’m looking forward to tomorrow when we’ll get more running in; it looks like it’s going to be a beautiful day. With the rain in the forecast for Fast Friday, our focus tomorrow will probably be on getting our qualifying car setup in a good place.” Callum Ilott, No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:“It was a pretty productive day, and it was nice to get some proper running in, as well. The car feels good; it’s very comfortable. We’ve been working hard and chipping away at it. There are a couple of clear things that we need to look at overnight, and hopefully we can sort that out for tomorrow, but I think overall, it’s not a bad start.” Alexander Rossi, No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:“I think we got through a lot of what we were trying to do. We were getting close to completing everything. That’s the way it goes. I think the Arrow McLaren cars are in a really good window. I think Chevy has done a good job with some of the developments in the offseason. We feel good.” Kyle Larson, No. 17 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:“There’s plenty of track time, so trying to remember that. I’m glad to have got out there and get running. Still trying to figure a lot out, and kind of work through the car balance some, timing of runs and all that. Maybe the timing of runs will becoming easier when the car balance gets better. Just trying to play around with things and try to be able to make runs and pass people like I see some others are able to pass pretty easily. There’s a lot of guys that just seem stuck, maybe. Just trying to figure that out. Overall, pretty happy with the few hours we’ve got. We’ll go back and talk to the teammates now, and listen in on what they were working through, what they felt, and if it matches up with what I’m feeling as well. Good to get out there.” Do you feel confident in the feeling you want from the car, or is that something you’re still having to learn?“I feel like know what I need to feel in traffic to maintain those runs, but then it’s like if you miss that a little bit or get some clean air, and then you’re now like weirdly loose, I feel like there are moments where it’s a little bit unpredictable when I feel the couple of times I’ve had a loose moment. Just talking to them and see what’s normal and all that. Tony (Kanaan) has been a great help throughout this evening in talking to him, but it would be nice to hear what the guys’ thoughts who were also in traffic today.” Are you looking forward to getting a full day in tomorrow?“I am. Sounds like there may be some qualifying trim runs, which will be interesting in seeing how that feels differently without the boost turned up. I think Friday doesn’t look good, so getting into that and keep learning.” Ed Carpenter, No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet:“Today wasn’t a full day, but after an abbreviated open test and short day yesterday, it felt like a full day of running. Today went well and we were quite strong, before the conditions changed towards the end of the day. We are in a decent spot and happy with what we learned today. Looking forward to carrying on the program and hopefully the weather cooperates tomorrow.” Rinus VeeKay, No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet:“It is nice to finally get some decent running in today. The first day is all about building confidence and getting the car into a window where you can follow close. We did that today and feel good after running a full stint on a set of tires. There is still time to gain and confidence to build, but I am in a happy place to finish our first official day of running. Onto tomorrow!”  Christian Rasmussen, No. 33 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet:“Today has been a learning process, but it’s been good. We made great strides and I am feeling more comfortable. We spent most of the day peeling out downforce and it was like we couldn’t do it quickly enough, which is a good sign. I feel good and a lot better having half a day under my belt. I am feeling confident, and I can’t wait to get into tomorrow!” Agustin Canapino, No. 78 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet:“It’s a very hard-working day. We tried a lot of things, but I was in clean air, no tow, so this is our work for today. Trying to get a better car for qualifying, trying to get confidence. We tried many, many different settings, so it was a good day.” With the track so busy today, was it tough to find a clean lap?“Every time we were looking for a hole, trying to get distance with cars in front, especially when you have a big pack of cars, it’s difficult and hard to find a no-tow lap. We did a good job, I think. Of course, I am last because I didn’t have a lap with any tow, but we learned a lot today. I think it was a good way to start the Indy 500.” Josef Newgarden, No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet:“It’s great. I love this place. It’s always a privilege to run an Indy car around here. I very much felt that the last couple of years. I’ve just tried to enjoy the opportunity. It’s just cool to be here in an Indy car. To win it, is a whole other thing and I’m so grateful to be able to do that with Team Penske last year. Get win No. 19 for Roger (Penske). Just being here, driving the car, being able to qualify for the race, that’s a huge deal. I enjoy it. I enjoy it a little more after last year now. I love this place. It’s the best racetrack in the world.” Will Power, No. 3 Team Penske Chevrolet:“It can be frustrating to sit inside on the first couple days of practice for the Indianapolis 500 because of rain. You’ve been waiting to get back here for almost a year so you want to see what you have. It was good to finally get the Verizon Chevy out for a run. Very happy with the speed so far, but obviously a long way to go.”

SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN, NO. 3 PENNZOIL TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – Wednesday Practice End of Day Press Conference Transcript:THE MODERATOR: Wrapping up this Wednesday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway ahead of PPG presents armed forces qualifying this weekend and obviously the 108 running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge, joined by the two quickest of the day, Scott McLaughlin, P1 overall. Scott, driver of the No. 3 Pennzoil Team Penske Chevrolet, set to qualify for his fourth Indianapolis 500 a top speed of 229.493 miles an hour in the 78 laps that you turned today. Kind of a busy day for you guys in the limited time we had this afternoon. SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, it was a pretty busy day. Well, the start of it was pretty slow, and then once we got out there, it was hustle and bustle just getting out there and finding some space, and traffic running was probably what we were working on. Race car feels really good, basically straight out of the truck. Even yesterday when we had those limited running, I felt really good there just from a balance perspective, and just had that confidence today. But yeah, ran some really good runs in pretty dirty air deep in the pack and was able to pass a few cars, and that’s always a good sign. Q. So much anticipation to get out there, everyone hates waiting for the track to dry. Once you got out there, what was the feeling like?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: It’s awesome. So boring, there’s only so much Netflix you can watch. I was over it. I watched about three movies but then I was ready to go once we got going, and I was happy as. When the car is good straight away, that’s a nice feeling. I feel that anticipation, as well, because it is quite a bit of anticipation just getting ready to go. I think this is two years in a row we’ve lost opening day. It’s a nice feeling. Q. What were the three movies?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: There was one about Wembley. It was Kevin Hart, his roast, and I can’t remember now. Survivor. I actually watched an episode of survivor. Caught up with it. Q. Some anniversaries this year, 50th anniversary Johnny Rutherford drove that car to victory in the Indy 500, 40th anniversary that Rick Mears drove that car to victory in the Indy 500. Do you look at things like that and say maybe this is my year?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: No, at the end of the day Indy chooses you, as we all know. But pretty cool. I actually didn’t know about Johnny’s — 50 years since he won in this car, too. I knew about Rick, obviously. Super cool. We did some really cool stuff with that car this morning, and I think that’s going to be some really cool stuff come race week that Pennzoil are putting out. I count myself pretty privileged to work with a guy that won 40 years ago, and I’m excited to actually add a bit of history, but at the end of the day there’s so much yet to go, and we all know, and I’ll keep working. Q. Scott, everybody has got practice plans starting March and April, but of course the rain can always throw those away. How much have y’all been able to get through in the very limited running that we’ve had over the last few hours?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Well, it’s not a huge amount at all, really. You have plans, absolutely, but they change a lot when you’re here, especially at this time of year. I think we’re in — for me, I look at it, it’s the same for everyone. It’s not like anyone else is going out there and running. We’re all in the same box together. You’ve just got to make the most of the track time that you have, and I felt like we had a really good day today with how much we got through. We were able to sort of put the car away at 6:00 instead of running all the way to 7:00, even though the rain didn’t stop, so that was always our plan anyway. It’s nice to be in that situation, but at the same time it can change quickly if you let it. You get a little bit complacent or whatever, so it’s important that we stick with it and keep focused, and hopefully we’re there or thereabouts. Q. How much fun was that out there today?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Always fun. It’s always fun around here. Q. Scott, I believe if you want to include April’s open test and then the past two days, of like the 26 scheduled hours, there was only about six of green flag time. With that in mind, you had the fourth most completed laps today. Was that kind of the strategy you were looking for, just to complete a lot of laps in a limited time?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, it was just a plan. We just ran through — obviously running through a lot of race trim stuff, a lot of traffic stuff. A lot of it’s also, for me, I feel like I’m improving year in, year out, and you just never stop learning. Sometimes it take a little bit to get back into the rhythm of things around here and understanding the timing, and that’s how guys like Takuma have won this race is understanding that stuff, and I’m trying to get a handle on that pretty early. We’ll work on qualifying here tomorrow and whatnot, but at the same time, I think we’re in a lot better shape. For me mentally, just I’m a bit more focused on the right things, not being blase on the little details because it takes every little detail to be good here, and I think we made the most of our time. Q. Scott, I see you’ve got a Kiwi contingent coming over with the Scott McLaughlin experience. Talk about that and how cool that’s going to be for you.SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, I think it’s just something that we just wanted to — I guess this is an amazing experience for anyone even if you’re in the States already, but anyone internationally to come and experience, and to have that option for people to come in and enjoy it from the inner sanctum with me, it’s exciting. There’s going to be people here for the whole week next week from — I think from Monday onwards, so they’re going to be doing bits and pieces throughout Indy and then seeing Carb Day, parade, concerts, all that sort of stuff. It’s exciting. It’s cool to be able to bring a little bit of a vibe to the INDYCAR event from the New Zealand contingent and just appreciate the support from everyone, whether they’re here or not. Q. Your fourth Indy, how are you feeling going into this one?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, I feel really good. I understand the race a lot more for sure. I think you just build a bit of experience every year, and it’s just invaluable, that experience. Someone like Taku who’s done 15, you want to have that experience, but you just try and soak everything up like a sponge and understand what you want from the car, and I feel like I’ve got a pretty firm understanding of what I want from the car, especially on an oval. It’s just a matter of putting the pieces of the puzzle together, and I think I’m in that frame of mind and that experience level where I can really sort of take it to the next level. Hopefully we can do that this year.