(6/1/24 – Ben Deatherage) Placerville, California … Justin Sanders won a NARC sprint car thriller and a $5,500 payday with an exciting performance in the 40-lap Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial at Placerville Speedway. He made a late move to get past race leader Shane Golobic to secure the impressive victory aboard the Mittry Motorsports-fielded Farmer’s Brewing Company #2X KPC.Beacon Wealth Strategies Trophy Dash winner D.J. Netto set the standard once the initial green flag but had to deal with several restarts due to several stoppages in the early laps. NARC rookie driver Gauge Garcia drove like a seasoned veteran and began to pressure Netto for the point and passed the leader on the eighth trip past the flag stand.Garcia, piloting the Keller Motorsports Monarch Ford XXX sprinter, established a commanding lead over the rest of the competition as Netto had his hands full with ARP Fast Timer Andy Forsberg in his Pacific Highway Rentals #92 Maxim. After a caution on the 22nd circuit, Golobic, driving the NOS Energy Drink #17W, played cat and mouse with the leader, eventually riding the cushion past the low-groove riding Garcia to take the point on lap 26.Garcia did not go away quietly and kept Golobic honest. The script was flipped in the final 10-laps when the fifth-starting Sanders emerged as a late race contender. A lap 34 restart witnessed Sanders propel his car into the runner-up spot and get around Garcia, before performing a banzai move in the final set of turns to procure the lead at the wire on the 35th trip around the quarter-mile clay oval. Golobic returned the favor a lap later to retake the lead.A red flag incident with only two-laps remaining set the stage for a green-white-checkered showdown. On the restart, Sanders would again throw caution to the wind and got around Golobic with a daring maneuver out of turn four as they raced toward the white flag. It proved to be the winning move as Sanders collected his third career Placerville NARC win and his 17th series victory.”That was some hard racing,” stated an elated Sanders in victory lane. “I thought when I passed (Shane) and then ran the top and got over the curb that it was over. When I saw him go to the top of three and four, that really surprised me, and I figured he would throw a blocking line on me, and that would have won him the race. Me and Shane have raced really hard for fifteen years now and he’s the guy I always look for on the scoreboard.”Unfortunately, Golobic would jump the cushion on the final lap which allowed for a shake-up in the top five finishing order, with Garcia grabbing second.”One thing about these guys like Justin and Shane is they have this place down,” commented an incredibly happy runner-up Garcia after his NARC career best finish. “I can’t thank this team enough, and it’s super great to see all this stuff paying off, and we’re starting to put results together.”Two-time NARC champion Dominic Scelzi had an incredible run in the Whipple Superchargers #41 Maxim, earning Williams Roofing Hardcharger honors with a methodical 17th-to-third run.Colby Copeland made a cameo appearance in the Clark Family entry and finished fourth in the CCI Electrical #12T Helix. Netto wrapped up the top five finishers.Golobic would end up sixth, while Michael Faccinto passed 14 cars to finish seventh for the Friends & Family Racing team. Dylan Bloomfield, Kaleb Montgomery, and Justyn Cox rounded out the top ten.Garcia, Golobic, Sanders, and rookie Dominic Gorden were victorious in the program’s four heat races. Michael Faccinto scored the triumph in the Starr Property Management B-Feature.Gorden and Bud Kaeding got upside down in the main event but were uninjured.HOOSIER RACING TIRES A-FEATURE (40 LAPS): 1. 2X-Justin Sanders [5]; 2. 2K-Gauge Garcia [2]; 3. 41-Dominic Scelzi [17]; 4. 12T-Colby Copeland [9]; 5. 88N-DJ Netto [1]; 6. 17W-Shane Golobic [6]; 7. X1-Michael Faccinto [21]; 8. 83V-Dylan Bloomfield [10]; 9. 3-Kaleb Montgomery [15]; 10. 42X-Justyn Cox [18]; 11. 21-Cole Macedo [24]; 12. 21S-Shane Hopkins [23]; 13. 121-Caeden Steele [20]; 14. 2XM-Max Mittry [12]; 15. 26-Billy Aton [22]; 16. 02-Austin Torgerson [16]; 17. 29-Bud Kaeding [3]; 18. 92-Andy Forsberg [8]; 19. 7B-Sean Becker [4]; 20. 54X-Ryan Bernal [14]; 21. 10-Dominic Gorden [7]; 22. 83T-Tanner Carrick [11]; 23. 45-Jake Morgan [13]; 24. 93-Stephen Ingraham [19]METTEC TITANIUM LAP LEADERS: D.J. Netto 1-7; Gauge Garcia 8-25; Shane Golobic 26-34, 36-37; Justin Sanders 35, 39-40WILLIAMS ROOFING HARDCHARGER: Dominic Scelzi +14 (17th to 3rd)STARR PROPERTY MANAGEMENT B-FEATURE (12 LAPS): 1. X1-Michael Faccinto [2]; 2. 26-Billy Aton [7]; 3. 21S-Shane Hopkins [6]; 4. 21-Cole Macedo [3]; 5. 15-Nick Parker [1]; 6. 15S-Michael Sellers [9]; 7. 12J-John Clark [12]; 8. 87-Ashlyn Rodriguez [8]; 9. 12-Jarrett Soares [4]; 10. 4-Burt Foland Jr. [13]; 11. 551-Angelique Bell [10]; 12. 75-Bill Smith [11]; 13. DNS 77-Ryan LippincottBROWN AND MILLER RACING SOLUTIONS HEAT ONE (8 LAPS): 1. 2K-Gauge Garcia [3]; 2. 92-Andy Forsberg [4]; 3. 2XM-Max Mittry [2]; 4. 02-Austin Torgerson [6]; 5. 41-Dominic Scelzi [5]; 6. 77-Ryan Lippincott [7]; 7. 15S-Michael Sellers [9]; 8. 551-Angelique Bell [8]; 9. (DNF) 15-Nick Parker [1]KIMO’S TROPICAL CAR WASH HEAT TWO (8 LAPS): 1. 17W-Shane Golobic [1]; 2. 12T-Colby Copeland [2]; 3. 7B-Sean Becker [4]; 4. 54X-Ryan Bernal [3]; 5. 121-Caeden Steele [6]; 6. 12-Jarrett Soares [5]; 7. 26-Billy Aton [7]; 8. 75-Bill Smith [8]SYSTEM 1 PRO IGNITION HEAT THREE (8 LAPS): 1. 10-Dominic Gorden [1]; 2. 83V-Dylan Bloomfield [2]; 3. 88N-DJ Netto [4]; 4. 3-Kaleb Montgomery [3]; 5. 42X-Justyn Cox [5]; 6. 21-Cole Macedo [6]; 7. 21S-Shane Hopkins [7]; 8. 12J-John Clark [8]WINTERS PERFORMANCE HEAT FOUR (8 LAPS): 1. 2X-Justin Sanders [2]; 2. 83T-Tanner Carrick [5]; 3. 45-Jake Morgan [1]; 4. 29-Bud Kaeding [4]; 5. 93-Stephen Ingraham [6]; 6. X1-Michael Faccinto [3]; 7. 87-Ashlyn Rodriguez [7]; 8. 4-Burt Foland Jr. [8]BEACON WEALTH STRATEGIES TROPHY DASH (6 LAPS): 1. 88N-DJ Netto [1]; 2. 2K-Gauge Garcia [2]; 3. 29-Bud Kaeding [4]; 4. 7B-Sean Becker [3]; 5. 2X-Justin Sanders [6]; 6. 17W-Shane Golobic [7]; 7. 10-Dominic Gorden [5]; 8. 92-Andy Forsberg [8]ARP QUALIFYING QUICK TIME: Andy Forsberg, 10.719 (33 Cars)
hafertepe Jr. Wins Battle of Attrition at Dodge City
Hafertepe Jr. Wins Battle of Attrition at Dodge City DODGE CITY, KS (June 1, 2024) – In the midst of a race with challenging elements aplenty, Sam Hafertepe Jr. would not be denied, as he collected his first American Sprint Car Series National Tour win of the season at Dodge City Raceway Park Saturday night.
The win was the 66th of Hafertepe’s illustrious National Tour career, but it was also his first Podium finish of 2024 with the Series.
“We show up every night to win, and obviously we haven’t been coming close to doing that,” Hafertepe said. “Every night we’ve been ending up with some damage on the racecar, this happens to us or that happens to us. Can’t feel sorry for yourself, just got to race one race at a time and the wins will come.”
After starting on the pole following his second Dash victory in as many nights, Matt Covington led the opening seven circuits until the first pause in the action. Bryan Gossel spun on the exit of Turn 4 and kept going, but knocked a cone onto the racing surface which forced officials to throw a caution for debris.
When the race resumed, Covington began building a lead once more, but his night fell apart seven laps after the restart. In his attempt to lap Gossel, Covington collided with the rear end of the No. 6G, damaging his front axle beyond repair and ending his night.
Covington’s misfortune handed the lead to Hafertepe, who closely trailed Covington for much of the first half of the race.
After Bryant Wiedeman’s flip just one lap later, Hafertepe waged war with Jason Martin for the top spot in the late stages. Both drivers made several slip-ups on the tricky track surface, allowing their opponent to sneak through before having a mishap of their own.
“Got into lap traffic there, it was really hard to pass,” Hafertepe said. “Guys were plugging up the middle, the bottom, the top. There really wasn’t anywhere to go, because the first guy that caught the lap car was kind of screwed, and then the second guy had the better opportunity.”
The pace slowed with just five laps to go due to a wild ride for Jeremy Campbell, with Hafertepe in the lead at the time of the caution. Hafertepe was able to pull off an error-free restart and cruised away for his first win of 2024 on the National Tour.
“Lap traffic was so treacherous, but on a clean racetrack we had the best car all night long,” Hafertepe said. “I was really proud about our speed, we took a lot of good things away from that.”
While Martin’s wealth of Sprint Car experience gave him an advantage over the field in navigating the narrow racing groove, it wasn’t enough to keep the No. 15H behind him.
“I made a couple mistakes and let Sam get back by me,” Martin said. “It’s just what won him the race and lost me the race.”
While he did not have the pace to challenge the leaders, Hank Davis completed his first weekend with TwoC Racing with his second-career Podium finish with the Series.
“Super proud of this team,” Davis said. “Just shows you how good this team is. Wayne [Johnson]’s got his stuff figured out, and these guys work really well. Todd Carlile at TwoC Racing, man, he’s got everything we need. It’s really up to us now.”
Jordon Mallett brought home a fourth-place finish as a substitute for the injured Brandon Anderson in the No. 55B car, while Landon Britt rounded out the top five to collect his best finish of 2024 on the National Tour.
The night’s Hard Charger Award went to Texas native Michael Day, who drove from 22nd to 13th in his third Series start at Dodge City.
A sixth-place run for Seth Bergman was enough for him to hold onto a 57-point lead over Martin. Seventh-place runner Andrew Deal (-74) sits third, with Hafertepe (-76) and Covington (-97) completing the top five.
UP NEXT: The National Tour will get ready for the long-awaited return of ASCS Speedweek, which begins Tuesday, June 11 at Texarkana 67 Speedway in Arkansas. Tickets will be available at the gate on race day, while DIRTVision will provide live coverage of all the night’s racing action.Feature (30 Laps): 1. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[6]; 2. 36-Jason Martin[4]; 3. 2C-Hank Davis[3]; 4. 55B-Jordon Mallett[5]; 5. 10-Landon Britt[8]; 6. 23-Seth Bergman[7]; 7. 15D-Andrew Deal[11]; 8. 2-Brekton Crouch[2]; 9. 88J-Jeremy Huish[17]; 10. 2J-Zach Blurton[14]; 11. 91X-Jeff Stasa[13]; 12. 45X-Kyler Johnson[15]; 13. 91-Michael Day[22]; 14. 16G-Austyn Gossel[20]; 15. 10C-Jeremy Campbell[9]; 16. 938-Bradley Fezard[18]; 17. 88-Terry Easum[21]; 18. 11K-Tyler Knight[19]; 19. 1X-Bryant Wiedeman[12]; 20. 95-Matt Covington[1]; 21. 6G-Bryan Gossel[10]; 22. 0-Steven Richardson[16]; 23. 88K-Jordan Knight[23]; 24. (DNS) 88R-Ryder Laplante; 25. (DNS) 57P-Peter Walker; 26. (DNS) 6-Kaden Taylor
JOHN FORCE WINS FIRST #2FAST2TASTY CHALLENGE OF 2024
| Hole Shot Win Over Alexander Seals Victory in Prelude to 11th New England Nationals |
| EPPING, N.H. (June 1, 2024) – In an age-defying performance at the wheel of his PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet Camaro SS, John Force beat Daniel Wilkerson and Blake Alexander Saturday, the latter on a final round hole shot, to win the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge, a prelude to Sunday’s 11th New England Nationals at New England Dragway. “I love racing these kids,” Force said of the win. “They make me get out of bed every day and get mental. GHX and Off-Road Campers, AAA, Frank Tiegs (Flav-R-Pac), Rick Hendrick (HendrickCars.com) and Tom Hurvis (founder of Old World Industries and PEAK), I love those people and all that they’ve done (and) I want to tell all you guys this old man still looks like he’s got a life. It ain’t over yet.” It was Force’s second win in the unique “race within a race”, and first of 2024, which made its series debut a year ago. In essence, the 2Fast2Tasty Challenge is a do-over for the semifinalists from the most recent tour event with cash and Countdown bonus points to the winner. In his previous five appearances in the Challenge, Force had only won once (Indianapolis 2023). He was runner-up earlier this year at Phoenix, as he was last year at Bristol, Tenn. Driving a car prepared by son-in-law Daniel Hood and a PEAK crew led by Chris Cunningham and Tim Fabrisi, Force first dispatched Wilkerson, just as he did two weeks earlier at the Gerber Route 66 Nationals presented by PEAK in Chicago. The sport’s all-time biggest winner negotiated a 127-degree racetrack in 4.133 seconds at 281.36 miles per hour while Wilkerson slowed to 6.676 at less than 100 mph after his car lost traction. In the final, the Hall of Famer used all of the experience gleaned in a 48-year pro career to make a slower 4.048 second elapsed time the winner against Alexander’s quicker 3.994. Force’s .023 reaction time gave him a .056 of a second starting line advantage that Alexander could not overcome. The final margin was a scant .002 of a second for the PEAK Camaro. “I know Jim Head (owner and tuner of Alexander’s car),” Force said. “He’s tricky. He’ll go down any kind of racetrack. Alexander can drive and they can all leave on me. Don’t believe (the numbers). I rolled in deep because I tried to get a few inches on him and evidently it helped me get (the win). Jim Head ran good (as) he always does (and) I really like his driver; he’s got a big future out here. But, at the end of the day, we got the win and I get to eat Mission tortillas tonight. Mission Foods. I drove a truck a 100 years ago, back in L.A., and I hauled their stuff when people didn’t hardly know who they were.”Force, winner of a record 156 NHRA tour events and 16 series championships, will try to double-up Sunday when he starts from the No. 2 qualifying position in the New England Nationals event he won in 2015 and 2021 and in which he has been runner-up on two other occasions. |
AT 11th NEW ENGLAND NATIONALS, QUALIFYING EASY AS 1-2-3
| Prock and Force Quickest in Funny Car; Brittany Grabs No. 3 Slot in Top Fuel |
| EPPING, N.H. (June 1, 2024) – Substantially warmer track temperatures denied Austin Prock the opportunity to improve on a sensational Friday night qualifying performance, but it didn’t prevent the Funny Car rookie from putting a John Force Racing Chevrolet in the number one qualifier position for Sunday’s 11th NHRA New England Nationals at New England Dragway. Driving an Auto Club Chevrolet Camaro SS prepared by his dad, four-time World Championship-winning crew chief Jimmy Prock, the 28-year-old not only will race Sunday from the No. 1 qualifying position for the fifth time in seven races, he will do so from atop the driver standings after reclaiming the lead from Matt Hagan. Eight qualifying bonus points plus the standard eight points that accrue to the No. 1 qualifier pushed the third generation drag racer back into the lead by eight points. He will race journeyman Mike Smith in Sunday’s first round. “Five out of seven, that’s pretty unreal,” Prock said, “but I’m looking forward to tomorrow. We really want to get the job done for AAA, but to be No. 1 qualifier in these colors is a really good feeling. We struggled in Pomona (the last time the car was in the AAA livery) and I’m glad we could turn it around (here). They’ve been a long-time partner of ours and we’re happy to do them well (along with) HendrickCars.com, GHX, ORC, Monster, PEAK, Cornwell Tools and all of our other supporters.” After stopping the timers in 3.837 seconds at 336.23 miles per hour on Friday, just shy of the track records set seven years ago by JFR president Robert Hight, Prock was quickest among all Funny Car drivers again on Saturday albeit at a much slower 3.973 seconds. Hight, a three-time World Champion, set the track records of 3.822 seconds, 336.74 mph on June 3, 2017. It actually will be a 1-2-3 start for JFR on Sunday. Team founder John Force and his PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Camaro team, winners Saturday of the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge, earned the No. 2 starting position in the Funny Car field with a best of 3.865 seconds and a resurgent Brittany Force grabbed the No. 3 spot in Top Fuel, moving from 10th to ninth in points, after wrestling her Monster Energy Top Fuel Chevy into the No. 3 qualifying position with a time of 3.715 seconds and a track record finish line speed of 335.57 mph. That speed broke the record she established in 2022. “We go into race day from the No. 3 spot after a pretty consistent two days of qualifying, she said. “This Monster Energy team reset the track record last night and we are pumped (about that). We feel like we are in a good position after the improvements we’ve made throughout the weekend. Excited for race day tomorrow.” A two-time Top Fuel World Champion and the only woman other than Shirley Muldowney to have beaten the boys in drag racing’s signature category, Brittany will begin her bid for a second New England Nationals title against eight-time series champion Tony Schumacher. As for her dad, he’ll face Buddy Hull in Sunday’s first round in a PEAK Chevy that has been almost as good as the “Prock Rocket.” “It’s a good hot rod,” crew chief Daniel Hood said of the car. “Our boys are doing a helluva a job of putting it together and he’s doing good driving.” |
WTRAndretti, Acura Win in Detroit
June 1, 2024 — DETROIT, MI
- Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque win the Chevrolet Sports Car Classic, Acura’s second IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship win of 2024
- #10 Acura ARX-06 duo takes command, then leads final third of 100-minute contest
- Louis Deletraz and Jordan Taylor bring their #40 WTRAndretti Acura home fourth
With a deft move under braking for the tight Turn 3 hairpin, Ricky Taylor claimed the lead of today’s Chevrolet Sports Car Classic, then went on to claim victory with starting co-driver Filipe Albuquerque today on the streets of Detroit, Michigan.
Starting fourth, Albuquerque quickly moved the #10 car up to second with a bold pass up the inside on the opening lap. The team’s single pit stop was for fuel and driver change only, with Taylor taking over driving duties. He then stalked race leader Mathieu Jaminet for several laps and, with less than 26 minutes remaining, moved to the inside and successfully out-braked his rival.
Once in front, Taylor continued to hold off the GTP field, despite a pair of late-race caution flag restarts, to claim the victory by just over 1.1 seconds at the checkers.
The win is the first of the year for the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti duo, and the second of the year for Acura. Their WTRAndretti teammates, Louis Deletraz and Jordan Taylor, took their #40 Acura to victory at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring in March, and finished fourth today.
The third driver in the winning #40 Acura at Sebring, Colton Herta, qualified on the pole for Sunday’s Indy car contest, completing a sweep of today’s activities in Detroit for Honda Racing Corporation USA [HRC US].
Detroit Grand Prix Acura Race Results
- Finished 1st – #10 Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor; WTRAndretti Acura ARX-06
- Finished 5th – #40 Louis Deletraz and Jordan Taylor; WTRAndretti Acura ARX-06
Quotes
Ricky Taylor (#10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06) Race winner: “We didn’t know what to expect, this is such a challenging course. HRC has worked so hard with everyone at WTRAndretti, everyone has just worked so incredibly hard. It’s been over a year [since the last win for the #10] and we’re not used to that. Until now, I hadn’t won a race since I’ve been married [last year]! But today, Filipe got an unbelievable start. Track position is so important here, and that start by Filipe [from fourth to second] put us in position to win the race. We used the one set of tires for the whole race, so thanks Michelin, the guys nailed the pit stop, and the driver change was flawless. I’m just so happy and so proud of the team. This is an awesome day.”
Filipe Albuquerque (#10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06) Race winner: “It’s been hard for us. There were many races we could’ve won, but didn’t. Today was a big fight from P4 [on the starting grid], but we did an amazing race. Ricky unstoppable this weekend, he had amazing pace all the time, and he just proved that with his amazing stint and overtake [for the lead]. He had to deal with so many cautions, so many restarts, and all these walls, he was perfect. We are the House of Acura, and we came here, to the House of Cadillac, and we won. I couldn’t be more proud of that.”
Lee Niffenegger (IMSA program manager, HRC US) on today’s win in Detroit: “This is a fantastic result by Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti and HRC. The weekend demonstrated a constant progression in performance from everyone involved throughout the event. In the race, we enjoyed perfect execution right from the green flag to the checkered. Congratulations to everyone at HRC and WTRAndretti on a job well done.”
Fast Facts
- This is Acura’s fifth win in Detroit, and the first in IMSA’s inaugural run on the downtown streets. The series previously race at Belle Isle Park, where Acura Motorsports recorded four victories, including the 2019 event, won by Dane Cameron and Juan Pablo Montoya aboard their Acura ARX-05 prototype; consecutive GTD triumphs for the Acura NSX GT3 in 2017-18; and another overall win for the Acura ARX-01b prototype in 2008.
- The production-based GTD class does not race at Detroit. The Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 of Tatiana Calderon, Stevan McAleer and Sheena Monk will return to IMSA competition at the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen, June 21-23 at Watkins Glen International Raceway in upstate New York.
Next
The 2024 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship next travels to upstate New York for the third endurance round on the schedule, the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen, June 23 at the historic Waktins Glen International Raceway.
Acura and HRC US social media content and video links can be found on:
CORVETTE RACING AT DETROIT: Bid for Home Win Comes up Short DETROIT
| (June 1, 2024) – Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports and its two Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs were dealt cruel hands Saturday as the program’s effort to post a victory on the streets of downtown Detroit came up short. The No. 3 and No. 4 Corvettes finished 10th and ninth, respectively, in the GTD PRO class of the Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. It brought an end to what had been a fantastic weekend with the Corvettes returning to race in Detroit – and for the first time on the city’s downtown street circuit. |
| Tommy Milner and Nicky Catsburg in the No. 4 Corvette led the Z06 GT3.R effort, followed by class pole-sitter Antonio Garcia and Alexander Sims. The pair of yellow Corvettes began the race first and second in class with hopes of finishing that way for the Z06 GT3.R’s first win in IMSA. Disaster struck first and at the start for the No. 3 Corvette. Garcia had to pit at the end of the first lap with an alternator problem. By the time he rejoined the race, he and Sims were well down the order and treated the rest of the race as an extended test session for the first-year Corvette. That moved Milner to the class lead. He quickly opened a lead of more than two seconds in the opening 20 minutes and set the fastest GTD PRO race lap along the way. He made the No. 4 team’s only pit stop with a little more than hour to go and handed over to Catsburg, who rejoined after taking just fuel but under a full-course caution period. On the restart, Catsburg was spun from the lead at the end of the Detroit circuit’s long backstretch. The Corvette suffered damage to the front-left corner but was able to continue to the end of the race. The next IMSA event for the Corvette Z06 GT3.R is the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen on Sunday, June 23. |
Cadillac Racing at Detroit: Hard-fought podium
| Bourdais, van der Zande place third in No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R in sprint race |
| DETROIT (June 1, 2024) – Cadillac scored its fifth podium in as many IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship races with third place in the Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic. |
| All four Cadillac Racing drivers who competed in the Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic are included in the three-car roster for the 92nd 24 Hours of Le Mans on June 15-16. Bourdais and van der Zande will co-drive with six-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon, while Derani and Aitken will be joined by 2022 F2 champion Felipe Drugovich. The full-season FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) Cadillac V-Series.R entry will have Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn and reigning IndyCar champion Alex Palou sharing the seat. Cadillac Racing photos for editorial use from Detroit The next IMSA race is the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen on June 23 at Watkins Glen International. USA will telecast the race from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. ET, while Peacock will provide flag-to-flag streaming coverage in the U.S. and IMSA.tv will stream outside the U.S. IMSARadio.com will have the race broadcast. |
| What they’re saying No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R |
| Sebastien Bourdais: “I had a pretty short stint. With a short format, you pit so early in the window to try and prevent yourself from getting caught out with yellows. We had a really, really late call and to get the cockpit ready for pitstop was almost impossible. Then, the earlier you pit the quicker you need the pitstop to be. So, it didn’t turn out the way we wanted but we salvaged a starting position at the end, which is not a bad day at all.” Renger van der Zande: “I think we should be very happy with P3. For the championship, it’s good points. I think we’re second in the championship now and closed the gap to the first ones. I would have liked a bit more speed in the car. We just lacked top speed to really attack him. It was four or five car lengths in the back straight. We were strong on the brakes, strong on the corners, but didn’t have the top speed to attack. So, third was maximum possible and I think it’s so exciting here and so exciting to be racing in front of General Motors. There was new street track learning; how to get fast here. It was good fun. I’m really enjoyed that.” |
| No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.RPipo Derani: “It’s a day that was damage limitation for us. When we knew how qualifying went, we said we had to do something different to try to fight for the win. We did it but it wasn’t enough because we were then depending on a yellow to come out on top. We finished P6 and during the race I thought we were going to be last because of how the strategy worked and the yellow didn’t come our way. With a little chaotic race here and there, we finished P6, so we’ll take it. Obviously, not a fantastic weekend for us, but when you talk about a long championship when you take P6 when you most likely would have finished 10th, it’s a good day.” Jack Aitken: “With the nature of these sprint races, if you want to be competitive and everyone today was being super aggressive. I think, generally, to come in P6 after qualifying P10 we’ll take that because it’s some decent points in the bank and we’ll move forward to the next race where hopefully we’ll have a better week.” |
CBS Bringing New World of Outlaws Docu-Special on June 9
| CONCORD, NC (June 1, 2024) – The path to the World of Outlaws will be showcased on CBS with a new one-hour special on Sunday, June 9, at 12:30 p.m. (ET).In the documentary-style show – World of Outlaws: The Dirt Road to Stardom – the ladder system of going from racing dirt Midgets to 410 Sprint Cars will be highlighted with a focus on the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series and Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota from the April Wildcat Showdown event at US 36 Raceway.The special will showcase the stars of both Series, including 10-time World of Outlaws champion Donny Schatz, current World of Outlaws points leader David Gravel, Michael “Buddy” Kofoid – who went from racing Midgets to Sprint Cars – and those trying to make their way to The Greatest Show on Dirt like Cannon McIntosh, Ryan Timms and more.The show will run from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. (ET), on Sunday, June 9, marking the World of Outlaws’ third time on the main CBS network.Fans will also get to see World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car, World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Model and Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota races from the 2024 season throughout the year on CBS Sports Network (CBSSN), presented in a half-hour special.World of Outlaws CBS/CBS Sports Schedule: Sunday, June 9 – World of Outlaws: The Dirt Road to Stardom (CBS main network) Sunday, June 23 – World of Outlaws Late Model Dairyland Showdown (CBS Sports) Sunday, July 7 – World of Outlaws Sprint Car Jim “JB” Boyd Memorial (CBS Sports) Sunday, July 21 – World of Outlaws Late Model Gopher 50 (CBS Sports) Sunday, Aug. 4 – Xtreme Outlaw Midget DIAEDGE Double Down Showdown (CBS Sports) Sunday, Aug. 18 – World of Outlaws Sprint Car Summer Nationals (CBS Sports) Sunday, Sept. 1 – World of Outlaws Late Model Prairie Dirt Classic (CBS Sports) Sunday, Sept. 15 – World of Outlaws Sprint Car Knoxville Nationals (CBS Sports) Sunday, Sept. 29 – World of Outlaws Late Models at Highland Speedway (CBS Sports) Sunday, Oct. 13 – World of Outlaws Sprint Car Huset’s Shootout (CBS Sports) Sunday, Oct. 27 – World of Outlaws Late Models at Atomic Speedway (CBS Sports) Sunday, Nov. 10 – Xtreme Outlaw Championship Finale at Jacksonville Speedway (CBS Sports) Sunday, Nov. 24 – World of Outlaws Late Models World Finals (CBS Sports) Sunday, Dec. 8 – World of Outlaws Sprint Cars World Finals (CBS Sports) |
| The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink® Sprint Car Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners, including: NOS Energy Drink (Official Energy Product), DIRTVision (Official Live Broadcast Partner), Hoosier Racing Tire (Official Tire), iRacing (Official Online Racing Game), Milton Hershey School (Official Education Partner), Racing Electronics (Official Radio Supplier), Simpson Performance Products (Preferred Safety Gear Partner), SIS Insurance (Official Insurance Provider), Toyota (Official Vehicle), and VP Racing (Official Racing Fuel); contingency sponsors include: ARP (Automotive Racing Products), Cometic Gasket, COMP Cams, Evolve Transporters, Federated Auto Parts, KSE Racing Products (Hard Charger Award), Lifeline USA, Micro-Lite LLC, MSD, Quartz Hill Records, Stone Country Records, and Smith Titanium Brake Systems. Manufacturer sponsors include, FIREBULL, and Intercomp, and Sea Foam. The World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Model Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners, including: CASE Construction Equipment (Official Construction Equipment), DIRTVision (Official Live Broadcast Partner), Hoosier Racing Tire (Official Tire), iRacing (Official Online Racing Game), Racing Electronics (Official Radio Supplier), Simpson Performance Products (Preferred Safety Gear Partner), SIS Insurance (Official Insurance Provider), Toyota (Official Vehicle), and VP Racing (Official Racing Fuel). Contingency sponsors include: Arizona Sport Shirts/Gotta Race, ARP (Automotive Racing Products), Cometic Gasket, COMP Cams, Evolve Transporters, Fox Factory (Hard Charger Award), MD3, MSD, Penske Racing Shocks, Quarter Master, Swift Springs, and Wieland Metal Services (Exclusive Racing Aluminum); along with manufacturer sponsors, including, Behrent’s Performance Warehouse, Bilstein, Capital Race Cars, Dirt King Simulators, FAST 1 Speed Shop, FIREBULL, Gorsuch Performance, Integra Shocks, Intercomp, Reliable Painting, Rocket Chassis, and Sea Foam. |
KALITTA EARNS NO. 1 QUALIFIER IN STRONG TOYOTA SHOWING AT EPPING
Defending Top Fuel Champion’s Third No. 1 Qualifying Position in Four Races
EPPING, N.H. (June 1, 2024) – Doug Kalitta continued his qualifying hot streak by capturing the No. 1 qualifying position in Top Fuel for the NHRA New England Nationals at New England Dragway. His third No. 1 qualifier in four races, and the 56th of his career, Kalitta laid down a blistering 3.700 elapsed time Friday night that held firm after Saturday’s two sessions. The run by Kalitta also marks Toyota’s fifth No. 1 qualifier in the first seven races of the 2024 season.
Steve Torrence earned the No. 2 seed in Top Fuel, narrowly missing out on the top spot by two one thousandths of a second after posting a 3.702 time Friday night. Coupling his strong qualifying, Torrence was also victorious in the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, defeating Dan Mercier in the final qualifying session Saturday afternoon. Toyota makes up five of the top six positions in Top Fuel tomorrow with Shawn Langdon in fourth, Billy Torrence in fifth and points leader, Justin Ashley, in sixth.
In Funny Car, J.R Todd was the lead GR Supra Funny Car, earning the third overall position for Sunday’s eliminations. His Toyota teammates, Alexis DeJoria and Ron Capps, qualified eighth and 12th going into tomorrow.
Toyota Post-Race Recap
NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series
NHRA New England Nationals
New England Dragway
Race 7 of 20
TOYOTA TOP FUEL QUALIFYING POSITIONS
| Name | Car | Qualifying Position | First Round Opponent |
| Doug Kalitta | Mac Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | 1st | S. Farley |
| Steve Torrence | CAPCO Contractors Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | 2nd | S. Smith |
| Shawn Langdon | Kalitta Air Careers Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | 4th | S. Reed |
| Billy Torrence | CAPCO Contractors Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | 5th | J. Salinas |
| Justin Ashley | SCAG Power Equipment Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | 6th | J. Hart |
| Antron Brown | Matco Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster | 9th | T. Stewart |
TOYOTA FUNNY CAR QUALIFYING POSITIONS
| Name | Car | Qualifying Position | First Round Opponent |
| Austin Prock | Cornwell Tools Chevrolet Funny Car | 1st* | M. Smith |
| J.R. Todd | DHL Toyota GR Supra Funny Car | 3rd | D. Richards |
| Alexis DeJoria | Bandero Tequila Toyota GR Supra Funny Car | 8th | C. Green |
| Ron Capps | NAPA Auto Care Toyota GR Supra Funny Car | 12th | M. Hagan |
*Non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
DOUG KALITTA, Mac Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster, Kalitta Motorsports
TF Qualifying Result: 1st
Is it too early to count points as you guys are looking very strong right now.
“Yeah, definitely appreciate what Mission Foods is doing for us out here and these yellow (No. 1 qualifier) hats. Yeah, my guys really have this car running well, I’m just trying to do my part and go rounds on Sunday. Yeah, it’s probably too early to start counting points, but 20 points a round tomorrow, Sunday, is definitely what we’re looking for. I would love to win here at Epping. They have a great crowd here this weekend. Toyota, Mac Tools and all my sponsors, we’re hoping to have a good day tomorrow.”
STEVE TORRENCE, CAPCO Contractors Toyota Top Fuel Dragster, Torrence Racing
TF Qualifying Result: 2nd
How does this #2Fast2Tasty win feel?
“Hey, I’ve won these (Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge) before, just not this year! Yeah, thanks to everyone at Mission Foods, everybody that takes care of us. Man, that was a cool race. (Dan) Mercier doesn’t race all the time, but man, he kicks our butt when he does, so I had to get up on the wheel and do the best I could. Props to that team, proud to have them out here. Proud of these CAPCO boys, they were unbelievable. This Toyota Dragster hasn’t been as good as it used to be, but we’re working on getting it back there and we’re working on getting Steve-O (himself) to drive this thing a little bit better. Heck, we won something this weekend, maybe we can win one tomorrow.”
J.R. TODD, DHL Toyota GR Supra Funny Car, Kalitta Motorsports
FC Qualifying Result: 3rd
Take us through your thoughts with the No. 3 qualifying position for tomorrow.
“Yeah, a good qualifying effort, just missed it on Q4. Conditions for race day tomorrow will probably be like Q3 today, so we have a good idea on what to work with for tomorrow.”
Herta, Palou head Honda Front Row Qualifying Sweep At the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix
June 1, 2024 — DETROIT, MI
- Colton Herta claims pole in qualifying for Sunday’s NTT INDYCAR SERIES race on the streets of downtown Detroit
- Defending race winner and series champion Alex Palou completes an all-Honda front row
- Scott Dixon to start fifth, Kyle Kirkwood sixth for Honda in strong qualifying runs
Colton Herta will head an all-Honda front row as the Andretti Global Honda driver claimed his first pole of the 2024 NTT INDYCAR SERIES today in qualifying for Sunday’s Detroit Grand Prix.
Herta edged out defending race winner and 2023 INDYCAR series champion Alex Palou by just 0.152 seconds to claim his 12th career pole. Palou made it an all-Honda front row for tomorrow’s 100-lap race as the Chip Ganassi Racing driver seeks his second victory of 2024 and a third career title.
Honda drivers claimed four of the top six qualifying positions, with Palou’s teammate Scott Dixon starting fifth while Kyle Kirkwood rounded out the top six qualifiers today in his Andretti Global Honda.
Detroit Grand Prix Honda Qualifying Results
- 1st Colton Herta
- 2nd Alex Palou
- 5th Scott Dixon
- 6th Kyle Kirkwood
- 9th Marcus Ericsson
- 11th Christian Lundgaard
- 14th Graham Rahal
- 16th Pietro Fittipaldi
- 20th Marcus Armstrong
- 21st Linus Lundqvist-R
- 22nd Felix Rosenqvist
- 23rd Kyffin Simpson-R
- 25th Tristan Vautier
- 26th Helio Castroneves
- 27th Jack Harvey
Andretti Global Honda
Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
Andretti Global Honda
Andretti Global Honda
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
Meyer Shank Racing Honda
Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
Dale Coyne Racing with RWR Honda
Meyer Shank Racing Honda
Dale Coyne Racing Honda
R – Rookie
Quotes
Colton Herta (#26 Andretti Global Honda) pole qualifier: “This is a complete 180 from last weekend [when Herta crashed while contending for victory at the Indianapolis 500]. It was disappointing to say the least. To come back here and get some redemption, it feels good. It’s so hard to get a clean lap here, it’s probably the most aggressive place we go to in terms of bumps and walls. That makes it feel even better.”
Alex Palou (#10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) will start second: “We were fast today, but I’m not sure if we were better than Colton. But I’m happy. The car has been awesome since Practice 1 yesterday, and were able to fight for P1 in every qualifying segment today. So yeah, starting from the front and looking forward to tomorrow. We have a fast car.”
Fast Facts
- Honda drivers and teams have won seven of the last 10 NTT INDYCAR SERIES events held in the Detroit – including last year’s inaugural run on the new downtown street circuit – won by eventual series champion Alex Palou, who scored the second of his five victories recorded in 2023 en route to his second INDYCAR drivers’ title.
- After five championship rounds of the 2024 NTT INDYCAR SERIES, defending series champion and last month’s Indianapolis Grand Prix race winner Alex Palou leads the Drivers’ Championship standings with 183 points. His Chip Ganassi Racing teammate and Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach race winner Scott Dixon is second with 163 points.
Where to Watch
Television coverage of Sunday’s Detroit Grand Prix starts at 12 p.m. ET on the USA Network. Complete, flag-to-flag race coverage also will be available on NBC Peacock, the INDYCAR Radio Network, and SiriusXM INDYCAR Nation (Channel 160).
Honda Racing and HRC US social media content and video links can be found on:
chevy racing–indycar–detroit–qualifying report
| CHEVROLET IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES CHEVROLET DETROIT GRAND PRIX DETROIT, MICHIGAN TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING REPORT JUNE 1, 2024 TEAM PENSKE’S JOSEF NEWGARDEN AND SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN REPRESENT TEAM CHEVY IN THE SECOND ROW AT DETROIT Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden, driver of the No. 2 Chevrolet (third), and Scott McLaughlin, driver of the No. 3 Chevrolet (fourth), represented Team Chevy in the Firestone Fast Six and will start in the second row of Sunday’s Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix in downtown Detroit, Michigan.Théo Pourchaire, driver of the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, qualified seventh and narrowly missed the Firestone Fast Six in what is his highest NTT INDYCAR SERIES career qualifying effort so far.Rounding out the top-10 in qualifying, Team Penske’ s Will Power will start Sunday’s 100-lap event eighth, with AJ Foyt Racing’s Santino Ferrucci starting 10th.Representing the Bowtie brand, Team Penske’s McLaughlin and Newgarden transferred to the Firestone Fast Six from the second round.Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward transferred to the second round representing Chevrolet from Group 2.Group 1 of qualifying saw Arrow McLaren’s Pourchaire (first in the group), Team Penske’s McLaughlin (second in the group), Newgarden (third in the group), Power (fifth in the group), and AJ Foyt Racing’s Ferrucci (six in the group) transfer to the second round.Race day on the streets of Detroit kicks off with warm-up at 9:30 a.m. ET. The 100-lap, 164.5-mile Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix takes the green flag live on USA Network at 12 p.m. ET. Additional coverage can be found on Peacock, as well as INDYCAR Radio Network and SiriusXM Channel 218. TEAM CHEVY FIRESTONE FAST SIX QUALIFYING RESULT:Pos. Driver3rd Josef Newgarden (1:00.9607)4th Scott McLaughlin (1:01.3344)7th Théo Pourchaire (1:00.7342)8th Will Power (1:00.7612)10th Santino Ferrucci (1:01.0351) |
| WHAT THEY’RE SAYING (QUOTES):Santino Ferrucci, No. 14 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet:“First off, I just want to say sorry for what I said, and how I acted to Kyle (Kirkwood) and towards Colton (Herta). They’re great competitors. I was definitely hot out of the car, and I love racing. It’s good now, but this is where I kind of feel the 14 Sexton Properties Chevrolet should be. I feel like we’re a top-10 car. I kind of missed it on the lap a little bit to move it a little further forward. It’s real tight. Looking forward to a good race tomorrow. Obviously, I actually had no idea it was (Romain Grosjean). I thought it was Will (Power) because that’s the last car that I passed and Larry (Foyt) just reading off gaps and trying to do a cool down and push. It’s tight here, man. It’s tough. If INDYCAR’s not calling it, it’s really not a big deal. He honestly didn’t look that close to me when checking the mirrors. It’s just a small track, short track racing on a street course.” Sting Ray Robb, No. 41 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet:“A little disappointed with the result in qualifying. I thought we had a better car than that yet again, but good to see Santino (Ferrucci) do well. I think we had a good idea of where we need to be. Little changes here and there make a big difference around this place. We’re in the window and we weren’t too far off. A little bit here and there with the Goodheart Chevy, and we’ll be back at it tomorrow.” Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:“I was just trying to get out of the way. Honestly, we shouldn’t have even transferred into Q2 just because I was in Felix’s (Rosenqvist) gearbox, and everybody is trying to lap. There’s cars on fliers that come out before the sequence I guess, and you can’t back up because then you’re going to mess up their lap. You also can’t speed up because you’ll ruin your own chance to get a lap in. (Kyle) Kirkwood was coming behind me, and I knew there was still going to be stack up later on after turn five. So I decided to give him room here because that was probably the best area to kind of give him a chance and not get a penalty. Sadly, these cars don’t have rear-wheel steering. I couldn’t get the radius down and then I stalled the car whenever I tried to get it back into neutral. It’s a new week, a new race weekend. I think we had an opportunity get into the Fast Six. It’s just, it’s so tight. You can’t be playing around with gaps. You either have to give up with an extra laps and just get three clean laps, or you’re going to end up like me or (Will) Power.” Christian Rasmussen, No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet:“That’s what this place is all about, just hustling it through! Just so close! I felt pretty maximized on my lap in terms of what we were able to do. In past qualifiyings, I always come in and say “Ok, there’s a little more to gain here” or “a bit more to gain there,” today; I felt like we got everything out of it and I am happy about that! But to miss advancing by that little, you just want it that much more!” Rinus VeeKay, No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet:“That was a tough qualifying. We struggled much of Practice 2 to get tire temperature up, so we made the choice to go out on greens and stay on greens for the full session. I am pretty happy with my lap, I pushed as hard as I could. Our strategy just did not work out with the track’s evolution. It was worth a try! A lot of stuff can happen tomorrow and I am looking forward to the race to see what we can do. A tough one for us, but good job by Christian!” Romain Grosjean, No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet:“They need to do a better job of not blocking people; not crashing people. Just being aware of who is around them. He screwed me in qualifying. I don’t know what he slowed on his lap. I was seven tenths down on my lap, he was three tenths down and I lost four tenths behind. I called out INDYCAR race control. If that’s not blocking, I don’t know what is. I’m really…I know we’ve had a tough weekend, but I think the car came alive during qualifying. I just couldn’t get my lap. Too many mistakes on our end. Pressure just not right, and we’ve been suffering from lack of top speed. But that one is not on us.” Agustin Canapino, No. 78 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet:“Every time we have the same issue. Every time we are good in practice, we are not good in qualifying. It is what it is. Last time I started 18th I think and finished ninth, so it isn’t such a bad of position, of course in the middle of the war. I am going to try to survive and do the best I can.” Will Power, No. 12 Team Penske Chevrolet:“Some frustration because if you are the last one across the line in that situation, the track is just better. The first part of my lap is just slippery, then it was a very good last sector. I’m not just frustrated because I didn’t make it. It’s a tough field man. And I just needed the littlest bit. If you went out last, you would have had a better shot, but it is what it is. It’s fine. I’ve been good. I just know when it is that close, where you go really matters. We could have controlled that, but again, you can get caught out by a yellow as well when you are the last one to cross the line. It’s one of those things. It’s tough.” |
Ashton Torgerson Takes Coles County Debut for Third Xtreme Outlaw Win of 2024
MATTOON, IL (May 31, 2024) – When Ashton Torgerson cemented his plans to begin his rookie season on the trail of the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota, he was unsure about how he’d perform and manage the pressure of driving for one of the most accomplished teams in national Midget racing.
But now, only halfway through the season, the Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports (KKM) racer has collected three Xtreme Outlaw Feature wins, which is second-most among all drivers. The latest came Friday night in the Series’ debut at Coles County Speedway, when he took the lead from 2022 Series champion Zach Daum on Lap 10 and led the rest of the way to score the win in the POWRi co-sanctioned Xtreme Outlaw-POWRi Challenge Series main event.
“We weren’t sure if we were gonna be the best since it’s my first Midget year,” Torgerson, 17, of Glendale AZ, said. “We have three wins already this year with Xtreme and one with POWRi. Overall, so far, it’s been amazing already, and we’re only halfway through.”
Earlier in the program, Torgerson put himself in shape to be up front after setting the fastest lap in his Qualifying group and winning his Heat Race from outside Row 2. After the four-car invert, Torgerson took the green flag in the Feature from the fourth starting spot and wasted little time challenging the leaders in the early going.
A red flag situation appeared on Lap 5 for a Kale Drake rollover in Turn 2, which restacked the field for a restart. Daum led the field back to green with Gavin Miller right behind him in the bottom lane around the 1/8-mile oval, which played right into Torgerson’s hand as he soon found the top side of the track to his liking and began to close-in on the two leaders ahead.
“We looked at the track before the main and I think everybody thought it was gonna be right around the bottom with how much track work they actually did to the bottom,” Torgerson said. “Rolling around, we had four laps I think and then a red came out. I just figured I’m third, I had to try something.
“I saw the top in (Turns) 1 and 2 and it was kinda cleaned off a little bit, and so I figured I’d try it once, see how it goes and learn from there. That’s what I did.”
Torgerson got around Miller for second on Lap 7 and then set his sights on Daum. He kept it smooth on the top side and reeled-in the Trifecta Motorsports No. 7U, and on Lap 10 got a great run to Daum’s outside in Turns 1 and 2 and zoomed past him into the lead down the backstretch.
“Really, I was just hoping Daum wouldn’t come up in (Turns) 1 and 2 to block me the one or two times I showed him I had momentum, and luckily he didn’t,” Torgerson said. “After that, I was able to jump up top in 3 and 4 pretty much set sail after that.”
And set sail he did. Torgerson navigated his way through traffic without a single fault, ducking and weaving his way around the slower cars en route to the win. At its largest, his gap to second-place Chase McDermand grew to nearly two seconds in the final laps.
“With the moves I was making and how fast I was getting around them, I actually think it calmed me down a little bit knowing that I had lapped cars in between us,” Torgerson said. “Splitting cars there – I don’t think they were able to do the exact same moves, so it probably took them a little bit longer to get around them.”
McDermand crossed the finish line second to secure his fourth podium finish of the season. He started third and fell back to fourth in the beginning of the race but was able to climb back thanks to his patience on the top side.
After a fierce battle with Daum around the midway point of the race, complete with slide jobs and repeated contact between the two, McDermand was able to take the spot away for good on Lap 13. However, he was unable to get close enough to Torgerson in the end to make a bid for the lead.
“I think, like everybody else, I just needed a caution,” McDermand said. “Just couldn’t get there in the dirty air. I feel like we were better in clean air. I ran him down, but then right when I caught him, we were getting into lapped traffic and there really wasn’t any opportunity to get by him.”
Still, the 23-year-old Illinois racer collected a strong finish and showed progress in the midst of a season that’s been dotted with misfortune and results he said has not been up to his standards.
“It’s good for some confidence to have a good run again after the last few runs we’ve had,” McDermand said. “I feel like we’ve just been buried lately, and it just hasn’t been reflective of what we’re capable of and what we know we’re capable of. To get a P2 finish is good for everybody involved.”
Daum hung on to finish third while KKM teammates Ryan Timms and Cannon McIntosh completed the top-five.
The Whitz Racing Products Quick Time Award went to Zach Daum for his fastest lap in Qualifying of 10.781.
Toyota Racing Heat 1 was won by Chase McDermand. TJ Forged Heat 2 was won by Ryan Timms.
UP NEXT
Following the postponement of Saturday’s events at Wayne County Speedway (IL), the Xtreme Outlaw Midgets will now take a summer break and resume competition Friday-Saturday, July 19-20, at Spoon River Speedway in Lewistown, IL.
Tickets for the event are on sale now at XtremeOutlawSeries.com and will also be available at the gate on race day. If you can’t be there to watch in person, stream every lap live on DIRTVision.
ABBREVIATED RESULTS (view full results)
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 67K-Ashton Torgerson[4]; 2. 40-Chase McDermand[3]; 3. 7U-Zach Daum[1]; 4. 67-Ryan Timms[5]; 5. 71K-Cannon McIntosh[12]; 6. 71-Jade Avedisian[8]; 7. 97-Gavin Miller[2]; 8. 21K-Karter Sarff[10]; 9. 16-Kyle Jones[17]; 10. 55-Trevor Cline[6]; 11. 19AZ-Hayden Reinbold[9]; 12. 56D-Mitchell Davis[18]; 13. 14S-Tyler Edwards[19]; 14. 54-Michael Pickens[11]; 15. 1K-Brayton Lynch[13]; 16. 97K-Kale Drake[16]; 17. 43-Gunnar Setser[20]; 18. 66-Jayden Clay[21]; 19. 98-Elijah Gile[15]; 20. 57-Mark McMahill[22]; 21. 19M-Ethan Mitchell[7]; 22. 86-Shane Cottle[14]
Bergman Wins at Rush County in Return to Family Team
LA CROSSE, KS (May 31, 2024) – Some drivers take weeks, months, even years to hit their stride when moving from one team to another. For Seth Bergman, it took one race.
In his return to his family-owned No. 23 machine, following a short stint in the TwoC Racing car, Bergman collected his second American Sprint Car Series National Tour victory of the season Friday night at Rush County Speedway.
After starting the Feature on the outside of the front row, following a second-place Dash effort, Bergman trailed closely behind polesitter Matt Covington in the early stages of the race. Once Covington began catching traffic on Lap 7, Bergman dove to Covington’s inside entering Turn 3, completed the pass, and never looked back.
“What a fantastic night,” Bergman said in Victory Lane. “First night back in our family car, to come out here and get a win, I couldn’t have scripted it any better.”
With all 30 laps going caution-free, maneuvering around slower cars was critical throughout the seven-minute Feature. Bergman was one of the only drivers in the field capable of using any lane on the track at any time, which allowed him to build a lead of nearly seven seconds by the time the checkered flag flew – and lap up to sixth-place.
“This place was cowboy up tonight,” Bergman said. “I felt like a teenager again. Growing up on the west coast definitely helped me tonight, I was able to dig back in the toolbox and get the spurs on and go to work. I felt like my biggest concern there once I got going was running out of tear-offs, I felt like I was pulling two or three a lap sometimes.”
Covington’s dominant Dash victory gave him the night’s pole position in the Feature, but the 19-time National Tour winner said a lack of versatility in traffic was his downfall.
“I felt like my car was good in clean air, but I didn’t feel as good when I got into dirty air,” Covington said. “It doesn’t take a lot to make these cars go from looking really good to really bad, just subtle changes. We were real close. Bergman was better in traffic, I think. We’ll put that in the notebook and try to get him next time.”
The National Tour was not the only one making its Rush County debut, as many drivers in the field were making their first-ever laps around the 5/16-mile bullring, including the top two.
“The track stayed fairly narrow,” Covington said. “The kind of dirt it is, even though it looks all wet, you can get your car through it if you’re brave enough and stay in the gas.”
As for Bergman, the move back to his family team allows him to have a more hands-on approach to his racing program.
“Getting back in our family car, I’m able to oversee everything at our house,” Bergman said. “I spend countless hours just overthinking and paying attention to detail, and just really trying to build race cars that are capable of coming here and doing that.”
Rounding out the podium in the third spot was 17-year-old Ryder Laplante, who was making just his second start with the National Tour. The young Oklahoma native has bounced between everything from Micro Sprints to 410 Sprint Cars in the early months of the season and said he hopes his quick success with ASCS will snowball into a championship chase in 2025.
“We’re just going to hit as many races as we can here and there,” Laplante said. “Just get prepared for next year and hopefully we can hit it full time.”
Bergman wasn’t the only one able to make passes during the 30-lap Feature. Hank Davis, making his debut in the TwoC Racing No. 2C, charged from 11th to fourth, claiming the night’s Hard Charger Award.
Sam Hafertepe Jr., who challenged Covington for second most of the Feature, fell back and ended the night fifth – his first top-five finish of the 2024 National Tour season.
UP NEXT: The National Tour will now turn its attention to the second half of this weekend’s Kansas doubleheader, with Dodge City Raceway Park on Saturday, June 1. Tickets will be available at the gate, with live coverage available on DIRTVision for those unable to make it to the track.
RESULTS
A Feature 1 (30 Laps): 1. 23-Seth Bergman[2]; 2. 95-Matt Covington[1]; 3. 88R-Ryder Laplante[7]; 4. 2C-Hank Davis[11]; 5. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[3]; 6. 10C-Jeremy Campbell[6]; 7. 36-Jason Martin[13]; 8. 10-Landon Britt[15]; 9. 55B-Jordon Mallett[4]; 10. 15D-Andrew Deal[8]; 11. 45X-Kyler Johnson[14]; 12. 2-Brekton Crouch[12]; 13. 16G-Austyn Gossel[9]; 14. 938-Bradley Fezard[20]; 15. 88J-Jeremy Huish[17]; 16. 2J-Zach Blurton[16]; 17. 88-Terry Easum[19]; 18. 88K-Jordan Knight[22]; 19. 57P-Peter Walker[23]; 20. 6G-Bryan Gossel[18]; 21. 1X-Bryant Wiedeman[10]; 22. 91-Michael Day[24]; 23. 71-Brady Baker[5]; 24. 11K-Tyler Knight[21]
HAUD HEROICS: Sheldon Haudenschild Drives from Sixth for Another Beaver Dam Victory
A thrilling drive leads Sheldon Haudenschild to his fifth Beaver Dam win in the last six races
BEAVER DAM, WI (May 31, 2024) – Sometime a track just fits a racer perfectly. Whether it’s the size, shape, surface, or a blend of all the elements, drivers go with certain racetracks like yin and yang.
And that’s certainly the case with Sheldon Haudenschild and Beaver Dam Raceway.
Heading into Friday’s Jim “JB” Boyd Memorial opener, Haudenschild had topped four the last five Beaver Dam races with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars. Haudenschild being up front at the Wisconsin oval with the Stenhouse Jr.-Marshall Racing crew had become a foregone conclusion. And he didn’t let the “Badger State” fans down on Friday.
Haudenschild delivered perhaps his most exciting Beaver Dam victory to kick off the Jim Boyd Memorial. He hadn’t started worse than third in his previous four victories, but he lined up sixth Friday night and gave the crowd a show. The Wooster, OH native wheeled his way forward from row three, snatched the top spot from Carson Macedo on Lap 17, and held on late for his fifth win in the last six Beaver Dam races.
“I don’t know, maybe I’m Scott Boyd’s (track owner) long lost son or something,” Haudenschild said with a laugh of his success at Beaver Dam. “We just seem to have this place figured out. It’s cool to have the wins here and be friends with the Boyd family.”
The sixth win of 2024 for Haudenschild moved him to 40 for his career with The Greatest Show on Dirt as he becomes the 20th different driver to reach 40 victories. Five wins at Beaver Dam also breaks a tie with Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 to make it the winningest track on his résumé. It also broke a tie with Brad Sweet and Daryn Pittman to give him sole possession of the most World of Outlaws wins at Beaver through 34 visits.
The front row of Carson Macedo and Bill Balog led the field to green. Macedo slid ahead of Balog to take the top spot and lead the opening lap. As the front four cars all opted for the cushion on the first couple circuits, David Gravel gave the bottom a shot and it paid off. The point leader rolled all the way from the fifth starting spot to second in two laps.
The forward progress for Gravel halted when he reached second as he couldn’t also move by Macedo for the top spot. The lead duo settled into a rhythm while Haudenschild began to make his charge. At the completion of the first lap Haudenschild was in seventh. Only three circuits later he’d worked his way up to third.
Haudenschild quickly closed in on the lead duo as they navigated traffic. Lapped cars caused the leaders to bunch up and make daring moves to work their way through. Haudenschild grabbed the runner-up spot from Gravel on Lap 8, but Gravel took it right back on the following lap. Two circuits later Haudenschild passed Gravel again, and then a Lap 14 caution cooled off the battle.
Gravel used a strong run on the bottom during the restart to reclaim second, but it didn’t take long for Haudenschild to get his momentum wound up where he’s most comfortable – right against the fence.
As Macedo and Gravel rolled the bottom in Turns 3 and 4, Haudenschild blasted by Gravel on the top and into second on the 16th circuit. One lap later he used the same move to power by Macedo and into the lead.
There was no slowing Haudenschild after he took the top spot as he began to stretch the advantage while Macedo and Gravel battled for second.
A yellow flag with six laps remaining brought Macedo and Gravel to Haudenschild’s tail tank, but he proved to be too strong on the restart as he took off and drove to his sixth victory of 2024 in the NOS Energy Drink #17.
“Just searching the track and knowing when to move,” Haudenschild said of how he got to Victory Lane. “Me and David were on the bottom pretty early, but he was still trying the top in (Turns) 1 and 2. I kind of showed him my nose, and then he moved down, and that just put me searching again. But you can only do that with a really good race car. If your car is no good, you can’t search like that, so hats off to (Kyle) Ripper and the guys. They were on it all night even after starting in the back of that Dash.”
Carson Macedo brought the Jason Johnson Racing #41 home second for their eighth consecutive podium finish. They’re down to only 30 markers behind Gravel for the point lead. Macedo found himself wishing he’d tried something different to stay in front of Haudenschild with hopes of back-to-back victories after winning Fremont on Monday.
“I feel like that was obviously the wrong move now, but hindsight is 20/20,” Macedo said. “I felt like during the race I was getting edged on the bottom. I could see David down there, and I think I could see Sheldon down there at one point. It just felt like in lapped traffic it was decent down there and getting so far around up top. It was weird. I went down there, and it was good, and then a couple laps later I went down there and spun (tires), and Sheldon blew my doors off. Then when I moved back up, it was way more grippy up there all of a sudden.”
David Gravel and Big Game Motorsports rounded out the podium. Like he has most of 2024, Gravel showed he had speed capable of winning but came up just a couple spots shy of his ninth victory of the year.
“We had a race-winning race car right there,” Gravel said. “What a racetrack. It changed. The fastest lane changed a couple times. I felt like if Carson just continued to run the top there and didn’t dirty up my air on the bottom of (Turns) 3 and 4, then I could’ve maybe got the lead. But that just opened up the top for Sheldon, and he was really able to rip it and make it count.”
Giovanni Scelzi and Logan Schuchart completed the top five.
A 23rd to 13th drive earned Scotty Neitzel the KSE Racing Hard Charger.
Giovanni Scelzi claimed his third Simpson Quick Time of 2024 and the 14th of his career in Sea Foam Qualifying.
NOS Energy Drink Heats One, Three, and Four went to Brock Zearfoss (18th Heat Race win of career), Buddy Kofoid (23rd of career), and Sheldon Haudenschild (108th of career). Milton Hershey School Heat Two belonged to David Gravel (258th of career).
Carson Macedo topped the Toyota Racing Dash.
Garet Williamson won the Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown.
Brock Zearfoss earned the night’s Smith Titanium Brake Systems Break of the Race.
UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars finish the Jim “JB” Boyd Memorial at Beaver Dam Raceway with a $20,000-to-win finale on Saturday, June 1. For tickets, CLICK HERE.
If you can’t make it to the track, catch every lap live on DIRTVision.
FEATURE RESULTS:
NOS Energy Drink Feature (30 Laps): 1. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[6]; 2. 41-Carson Macedo[1]; 3. 2-David Gravel[5]; 4. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[7]; 5. 1S-Logan Schuchart[10]; 6. 15-Donny Schatz[3]; 7. 83-Michael Kofoid[4]; 8. 17B-Bill Balog[2]; 9. 99-Skylar Gee[17]; 10. 73-Scotty Thiel[9]; 11. W20-Greg Wilson[13]; 12. 23-Garet Williamson[21]; 13. 2W-Scott Neitzel[23]; 14. 70-Kraig Kinser[14]; 15. 6-Bill Rose[15]; 16. 49J-Josh Schneiderman[11]; 17. 14T-Tim Estenson[19]; 18. 7S-Landon Crawley[12]; 19. 10V-Matt VanderVere[22]; 20. 25-Danny Schlafer[16]; 21. 87A-Austin Hartmann[20]; 22. 65-Jordan Goldesberry[24]; 23. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[8]; 24. 10W-Mike Reinke[18]
PROCK, FORCE GO 1-2 IN FIRST DAY QUALIFYING AT EPPING
| Brittany Guides Resurgent Monster Energy Top Fuel Chevy to Provisional No. 3 |
| EPPING, N.H. (May 31, 2024) – Funny Car rookie Austin Prock drove the AAA Chevrolet Camaro SS through the 1,000-foot timers in 3.837 seconds at 336.23 miles per hour in ideal conditions Friday night to claim the provisional No. 1 starting position for Sunday’s 11th NHRA New England Nationals at New England Dragway. “Yeah, that was pretty awesome,” Prock enthused. “Good speed, too. I finally nipped Tasca (Funny Car rival Bob Tasca III), you know. He’s been beating us up on the mile per hour. But 336, we’re happy with that, just so happy to get this AAA Camaro running good. Hopefully (Friday’s time) will stick for the weekend.” Boss and teammate John Force grabbed the provisional No. 2 position behind Prock at 3.868 seconds, 333.16 mph in the PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Camaro. Two final qualifying sessions Saturday will set the field for Sunday’s single elimination finals. While Prock and Force were dominating the Funny Car category, going 1-2 in both Friday sessions, two-time Top Fuel World Champion Brittany Force and her Monster Energy dragster were showing flashes of their old form after a couple of disappointing starts. After a solid 3.783 at 331.69 mph in the opening session, Brittany crossed the line in the provisional No. 3 spot, a welcome turnaround following a rare qualifying failure two weeks ago at Chicago. “Day one here in Epping and this Monster Energy team is off to a good start,” she said after stopping the timers in 3.715 seconds at 333.57 mph. “We are coming out of a rough week in Chicago. We went testing in Indy and we definitely have a better understanding of this car on hot racetracks. We still have a lot to figure out but I feel confident going into this weekend with Monster Energy, HendrickCars.com, PEAK, Flav-R-Pac and Chevrolet.” In addition to qualifying, Saturday’s program will include the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge featuring the Chicago semifinalists. John Force will be among the four Funny Car drivers battling for cash and Countdown bonus points. He’ll oppose Daniel Wilkerson in a first round match at the conclusion of Saturday’s first session. Finals will follow the last session. Prock’s Friday time was just a tick off the track records set seven years ago by the man for who he is driving the AAA Camaro this year, three-time World Champ Robert Hight. Hight sped down New England’s all-concrete surface in 3.822 seconds at 336.74 mph on June 3, 2017. “We thought it would run ’82 or ’83,” Prock said. “The conditions were there for that. It’s pretty surreal. I’m just holding on to the wheel. All the kudos go to this AAA team. They’re doing such a great job. My dad (crew chief Jimmy Prock) and brother (Thomas) are making really smart decisions. And the team is putting the car together the same way every time – it’s really impressive.” Force, too, was in a mood to credit his crew for his Friday success which included an opening 3.903 that was quickest of the first session. “My guys, led by Daniel Hood, gave me a real good race car,” he said. “The only guy who lets them down is me so, I gotta fix me.” Force, the sport’s all-time biggest winner with 156 tour victories and 16 World Championships, is a two-time past winner at Epping where he prevailed in 2015 and again in 2021. |
CORVETTE RACING AT DETROIT: Corvettes Qualify 1-2… Again!
| Garcia puts No. 3 Z06 GT3.R on class pole with Milner second in shadow of GM RenCen DETROIT (May 31, 2024) – Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports will roll off 1-2 in class for the hometown race for the team and Chevrolet after Friday’s 15-minute qualifying session for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic. Antonio Garcia captured pole position in the GTD PRO class in the No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R with a lap of 1:09.092 (85.711 mph) around the 1.654-mile, nine-turn street circuit in downtown Detroit. He was 0.336 seconds clear of teammate Tommy Milner in the No. 4 Corvette. |
| It’s the second consecutive pole position in IMSA competition for the Z06 GT3.R following a pole for Nicky Catsburg – Milner’s teammate – earlier this month at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. The pair of yellow GTD PRO Corvettes also started first and second at Laguna Seca with Milner and Catsburg going on to finish third in class for the Corvette Z06 GT3.R’s first podium. “Congratulations to Antonio Garcia on his pole-winning lap in GTD PRO with the No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R on the streets of Detroit – the second consecutive pole position for our new Corvette GT3 entry in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship,” said Scott Bell, Vice President, Global Chevrolet. “Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports continues to show the performance capabilities of the Z06 GT3.R, which is a testament to the work of the team, and our Chevrolet and GM engineering groups.” Pre-race work at Chevrolet’s Driver-in-the-Loop simulator paid immediate dividends in each of Friday’s two practice sessions. Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports engineers leaned on the learnings of Chevrolet’s NTT INDYCAR program to help establish a baseline for a handful of sessions on Chevy’s Driver in the Loop simulator. That helped with the results in pre-qualifying running. Alexander Sims, who shares the No. 3 Corvette with Garcia, went fastest in GTD PRO during the opening 90-minute session. Milner paced the two-hour afternoon practice in the field’s final track time before qualifying. The Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic is scheduled for 3:10 p.m. ET on Saturday, June 1. The race will air live on USA Network with full streaming coverage also on Peacock. IMSA Radio will air the race at IMSA.com along XM 206, SiriusXM Online 996. |
| TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R – QUALIFIED SECOND IN GTD PRO: “I’m definitely happy. I would like to have been P1, but I just didn’t put the laps together. I’m curious to see what the best sectors would have been. I don’t think I had quite enough for pole with Antonio going fast again on his last lap. But overall I’m happy. It’s great to be here in Detroit, in the shadow of the RenCen and having both Corvettes on the front row it’s great. That’s the first part of the job done. The second part is to go win this thing tomorrow. We have two really great cars. The guys are working really hard and well right now. As long as we do our job tomorrow we should be in a good position.”Race outlook: “It will be a challenge, no question about it. With the Lexus and the Porsche behind us, both those cars and guys are quick, obviously. Some are more aggressive than others. Passing is hard here so we’ll have to be prepared for how they normally race and be prepared to race as hard as they normally do.” |
Cadillac Racing at Detroit: Second-row start
| Bourdais puts the No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R in third position for 100-minute race |
| DETROIT (May 31, 2024) – Sebastien Bourdais recorded a lap of 1 minute, 05.762 seconds in the No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R on the 1.654-mile, nine-turn temporary street circuit to qualify third for the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear. |
| USA will telecast the race and Peacock will provide flag-to-flag streaming of the race in the U.S. while IMSA.TV will have coverage outside the U.S. IMSA Radio (IMSA.com), RadioLeMans.com will broadcast every session. SiriusXM live race coverage will be available at XM 206, SiriusXM Web/App 996. |
| What they’re saying No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R |
 Sebastien Bourdais: “It’s not bad at all; just missing a little bit to put everything together. I’m pretty happy. You’re never completely satisfied with P3 but given the circumstances for this weekend I think it’s not bad. We’re in a raceable situation and it’s all pretty tight behind us. We have something we want to try in the (race day) practice because we’re not where we want to be. We might have gone a bit too conservative because of the nature of what seemed to be a very bumpy track. It is, but it really isn’t at the same time. There are bit bumps, but I feel like your still need a car that gives you enough ride height and downforce to really challenge the tires and get them going, particularly tomorrow when it’s going to be overcast.” |
No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R Pipo Derani: “We’ve been struggling a bit through the weekend with set-up, so I went in there and I knew it was only three laps to go and I just tried a bit too much. Unfortunately, I spun and hit the wall. I don’t think we had the pace we wanted to be fighting for the front and I didn’t feel like I had much more in the pocket. Then I tried to be a bit of a superman and put a lap in. We have enough time to recover tomorrow.” |
chevy racing–indycar–detroit–practice report
| CHEVROLET IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES CHEVROLET DETROIT GRAND PRIX DETROIT, MICHIGAN TEAM CHEVY PRACTICE REPORT MAY 31, 2024 PATO O’WARD AND ARROW MCLAREN LEAD TEAM CHEVY IN THE FIRST PRACTICE FOR THE CHEVROLET DETROIT GRAND PRIX, FINISHING THE SESSION SECOND ON FRIDAY Pato O’Ward, driver of the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, led Team Chevy on the streets of Detroit finishing first practice in second with his fastest lap of 1:01.7315.Chevrolet finished with five drivers in the top-10 in first practice, with O’Ward in second, Scott McLaughlin and Josef Newgarden of Team Penske in fifth and sixth, AJ Foyt Racing’s Santino Ferrucci in seventh, and Will Power of Team Penske in ninth.Saturday sees a second practice session at 9:10 a.m. ET, as well as qualifying and the Firestone Fast Six at 12:15 p.m. ET. Coverage of both sessions is broadcasted via Peacock, as well as INDYCAR Radio and SiriusXM Channel 218. TEAM CHEVY TOP-10 PRACTICE RESULT:Pos. Driver2nd Pato O’Ward (1:01.7315)5th Scott McLaughlin (1:02.0959)6th Josef Newgarden (1:02.2377)7th Santino Ferrucci (1:02.3277)9th Will Power (1:02.4474) |
| WHAT THEY’RE SAYING (QUOTES):Santino Ferrucci, No. 14 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet:“It feels good to come back to Detroit and be in the window. Solid job by all the boys rolling out strong and looking forward to tuning on this Sexton Properties Chevrolet.” Sting Ray Robb, No. 41 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet:“Pretty happy with the first practice. We learned a lot. It was a clean run with just a couple kisses of the wall but nothing too dramatic, so happy with that. The Goodheart Vet / Pray.com Chevrolet feels really nice and I think we’re in a good spot. I didn’t get a great run on the greens (tires) but I think we’ll have it figured out. Santino had a great run so I think that we’ll compare notes and see what we can learn for tomorrow.” Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:“It’s better than last year. We got laps in, you know? We’ve still got some work to do. It’s tricky out there. It really is. There’s a lot of bumps, and it’ll be very important to get the window right on the car in qualifying just because those bumps can kind of throw you off in sequence quite quickly. It’ll just ruin your lap, so you have to be pretty precise.” Théo Pourchaire, No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:“It is a fun track, and I really like it. The first practice was a bit of a mess for us with all of the traffic. We don’t know the real pace because some cars are blocking the other ones because of the track layout. That’s no one’s fault; no one is doing it on purpose. With so many cars on the track, it can be tough to get a lap. We struggled with the balance a bit at the beginning, but we improved toward the end. It’s all part of racing and we will get there. The most important thing is to get better, and we will work for a great job tomorrow.” Alexander Rossi, No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:“It’s great to be back in Detroit. We will be looking for some performance overnight, but Pato’s car looks good. We will look at that and see what we can do to improve the No. 7 VELO Arrow McLaren Chevrolet for tomorrow.” Gavin Ward, Team Principal at Arrow McLaren:“Everybody is taking a bit of time to get the tires up, which is a common theme out there today, but I’m encouraged that we have one of our cars up there at the top of the timing sheets. So, there’s some good data there to look at to try to get things dialed in for tomorrow.” Romain Grosjean, No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet:“Day one in Detroit, and it was bumpy, slippery, and a lot of fun out there. I think the car’s got some potential. Obviously, it’s always hard to put a lap here in, but we’ll do some work, come back tomorrow, and hopefully qualify well.” Agustin Canapino, No. 78 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet:“We started here in a good way in Detroit, P11 for beginning of the weekend. I’m happy to start this way. Of course we want to be faster tomorrow. We are slightly away from the pace of the leaders but I think we have a good car to start the weekend.” Josef Newgarden, No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet:“I think we just got better through the session, and we were running a lot of the primary tires. Definitely abusing them. In the middle, towards the end of the early running, I think we hit on some changes that were really good. Then, we were able to show it a little bit more on the greens. I think we have event more in it. I think the car feels really good. I’ve got to clean some stuff up on my side. I think I know some areas where we can be better and faster. The Astemo Chevy looks good, feels good. Long weekend, we’ve got to make it to the end, and we’d love to have a good result with these guys.” Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 Team Penske Chevrolet:“I learned how to spin in each of them because I kept going down the escape roads. That’s all part of it here. You risk in the points where you’ve got least risk. The Gallagher Chevy feels really good. On the straightaways, I feel like I am in a really good spot. It felt really strong, so I hope that carries on throughout the weekend.” |
| SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN, NO. 3 GALLAGHER TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – End of Day Press Conference:THE MODERATOR: Joined now by Scott McLaughlin, best finish of seventh in the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix. Q. Testing the limits, is that going into the runoffs, trying to find a place you can brake?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Basically, yeah. A lot of it’s the corners where you know you have the runoff. Might as well bring a yellow out now than later. That’s always my strategy on street circuits. Q. Can you change your brake bias during a lap?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, you can. Q. Something you would do at a place like this?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Depends. It really depends on what you got in the car and how comfortable you are with it. Yeah, that’s something I’ve done in the past with Supercars, for sure. Q. Everybody is complaining the place is very bumpy. Is there anything you can do in the setup to make it a little bit easier?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: I think it’s character. You can do a couple little things, softening or whatnot. Ultimately there’s a point where it hurts the balance trying to set up for the bumps. You just got to deal with them. It’s not a billiard table, absolutely not. It’s Detroit streets. We just enjoy it. Q. (No microphone.)SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah. Couple guys are going to have to tighten the belts, enjoy it. Q. Any bumps from last year been smoothed over?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Last corner coming out of the pit straight. Really, really good. I think there’s a lot of great improvements. Off the long back straight, it’s a lot smoother there. Bumpy down Jefferson Ave. Once it gets to the point they resurface, they resurface a thousand feet or something like that, which is amazing. Yeah, I think there’s been a lot of really good improvements from this time last year to now. So yeah, I think they’ve done a really good job. Q. That plus the car being lighter, the whole year of setup data, faster than last year in the first practice?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Was it? Maybe we all know this track a bit better. That for sure is probably a thing. Last year first practice was our first time on track. After a year, everyone has seven-posted, thought about different things. Cars are just better, they’re lighter. Yeah, it’s probably a case of that, too. Q. The alternates and the primary look close together to the point that some drivers chose not to switch on the split segment. We could expect this to be a primary race on Sunday?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: I think you’re nuts not to run them right now because you can’t run them again. I feel like that’s a silly move. Ultimately we’ve seen this trend. I think it might lend to that way. It just depends on how it goes throughout the weekend. I think as the track grips up, tires are probably going to wear out less. We’ve seen this trend quite a fair bit. Yeah, I feel like it’s going to be more of a green tire race already. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Scott. SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Thank you. |
Championship Leader Nick Hoffman Eyes June Summer Sizzler Success
Tight World of Outlaws CASE Late Model Series points battle sees eight races in 10 days
CONCORD, NC (May 31, 2024) – At the top of the World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Models points for the first time in his career, Nick Hoffman looks forward to showing he has what it takes to claim his maiden Late Model title in 2024.
Through 12 of the 44 races in the 2024 season, Hoffman eclipsed his rookie numbers with three wins (Volusia Speedway Park, Farmer City Raceway, and Mississippi Thunder Speedway) and 87 laps led while tying his stats in podiums and Heat race wins with five for both.
Hoffman’s confidence has never been higher in a Late Model program, with team owner Tye Twarog giving him full trust to drive the car like he wants and get the most out of what his No. 9 NOS Energy Drink Late Model brings to the track on race nights.
“This is the most confident I have ever been with any Late Model program,” said Hoffman, of Mooresville, NC. “I’ve been super fortunate to race other Late Model programs, but this is the most I’ve ever gotten to work on the race car and control my destiny. I know the car the best I ever have with a Late Model, and then Tye giving me everything and letting me control all the people, parts and things that go in and out of a race night.
“If I wanted to run 120 races this year, he’d let me do so and put the ball in my court. It’s the best situation you could ever want out of a car owner. It’s made things super easy for me not to have that pressure, and we can take a bad night with a grain of salt and move on to the next race.”
The early journey Hoffman endured in 2024 has seen its fair share of challenges for him to overcome on race nights, including a broken left front at Path Valley Speedway and a chain-reaction pileup at Ultimate Motorsports & RV Park.
Despite that, “The Thrill from Mooresville” is happy to see the strides made in the program and how his conservative driving style with his Longhorn Chassis has paid dividends in the results.
“Luckily, we dodged some bullets this year, especially with the incident at Ultimate,” Hoffman said. “Going back to Path Valley, in any other situation if we weren’t racing for points, I would have pulled off the track. Sometimes, you gotta salvage an OK night and luckily we ended up in seventh. And that’s what it takes to points race is overcoming those challenges. We’re still early in the season so I’m not getting hopes up or get too interested until we get towards the end of Summer.
“Right now, you go into every night trying to win which we’ve been able to do three times now. Our car’s been phenomenal. It’s just about not trying to be dumb or do anything to put myself in a bad position. There’s a couple of times where I could have been more aggressive or push the boundary, but it’s a risk of taking myself out of the race, so it’s just about being smart.”
When the World of Outlaws CASE Late Models return to the race track, the June Summer Sizzler boasts a grind of eight races in 10 days. Knowing all too well about racing at different tracks every night from his time racing the Summit Modified Summer Nationals, Hoffman will need to work extra to continue contending for wins and stay in the points hunt by the end of the stretch.
“The new tracks will definitely throw a challenge at us,” Hoffman said. “The biggest difference is on the Modified side, I could race every night and did the Hell Tour by myself with no crew helping and my dad would come help on the weekends. But the weekdays we’re all me, myself and I. I’m used to that grind, the Late Model side is probably three times as much work to get ready. Between maintaining the car every single night, getting tires ready and everything else that comes along with it.
“Competition-wise, the Modified was easy from night to night how we we’re doing it to win a bunch of races and that makes every day feel a little bit easier. The Late Model has a lot more competition and the work you have to put into it is far more than before. I’m looking forward to get going with the stretch and not get plagued by Mother Nature.”
Out of the tracks on the Summer Sizzler schedule, Hoffman looks most forward to getting started on the right foot with familiar tracks in Ponderosa Speedway and Brownstown Speedway on June 22 while trying to outperform his previous showings in the Midwest in 2023.
“Brownstown is one of my favorite tracks in the country to go race at,” Hoffman said. “I’d mark that on my list of places to really look forward to. The new tracks we’re going to like definitely throw a curveball because we don’t know what to expect, and Ponderosa is definitely an elbows-up bullring and pretty fast for its size, and Brownstown is slow and slick, but has a lot of momentum and that’s what I’m good at so that’s why I look forward to there. The Iowa tracks haven’t been particularly great for me, so hopefully what I learned last year will help me going forward into next month.
See Hoffman battle against the toughest dirt Late Model competitors in the Summer Sizzler, beginning with Thunderhill Raceway on Thursday, June 20. For more information on the event, and other races on the 2024 World of Outlaws CASE Late Models schedule, CLICK HERE.
Cannon McIntosh Wins at Doe Run for Second-Straight Xtreme Outlaw Feature Win
DOE RUN, MO (May 30, 2024) – Cannon McIntosh and the Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports (KKM) team are heating up at exactly the right time of the season.
With a summer break in the schedule nearing, McIntosh, 21, of Bixby, OK, scored his fourth Feature win of the season with the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota Thursday night at Doe Run Raceway, taking the lead from Michael Pickens early and never looking back en route to his ninth career Series victory and second in two races, going back to his win at Atomic Speedway last Saturday.
The win increases his lead in the championship standings up to 154 points over his KKM teammate Ryan Timms with 13 of the 30 scheduled races complete. He’s now a perfect 13-for-13 in top-five finishes this season – 10 of which have been on the podium. Thursday’s program was also run in conjunction with the POWRi National Midget League, making for his second career win in Xtreme Outlaw-POWRi Challenge Series events.
With his fourth Xtreme Outlaw main event win of the season in the can – tying his personal record from last year – McIntosh is beginning to take the form he showed during the first half of 2023 driving for his family-run team. But he made the move back to KKM this past winter and has been increasingly more of a threat for the win every night – essential in his quest to capture his first national Midget series championship.
“I think it’s just Keith and I’s relationship, when it comes to the racecars, is just getting better and better with every race,” McIntosh said. “As good as we looked tonight, I feel like we keep better and better every race.”
When the green flag dropped in the main event, McIntosh wasted no time in making a charge for the leaders, picking off Tyler Edwards for second on Lap 3 and setting his sights on leader Pickens.
A caution flag was thrown one lap later for Edwards who spun and collected Jade Avedisian in Turn 4. On the restart, McIntosh lined up behind Pickens and took first crack at a slide job in Turns 3-4 on Lap 5. Pickens crossed him over to retake the spot down the frontstretch, but McIntosh returned the favor in Turns 1-2. Pickens threw one more slider in Turn 3 and but washed way up the track out of Turn 4, allowing McIntosh to take the spot for good.
“Pickens was, obviously, a little bit harder to do; he had more momentum built up,” McIntosh said. “But, I was able to eventually just build enough momentum to get by him there. I know it was probably a close slider, but no contact, which is always a good thing.”
“It got trickier as the race went on,” Pickens said. “It was really a race of understanding the best place to put your car and not make mistakes and trip yourself up. Cannon obviously did that the best.”
Once he got to the lead, it was all McIntosh out front. For the next 25 laps, he put on a clinic around the 1/6-mile, opening up a gap as large as three seconds in lapped traffic as the laps wound down.
From seventh on the starting grid, Zach Daum was making his climb toward the front, and by Lap 11 had taken second from Pickens with a pass in Turns 1-2. While Daum tried to run McIntosh down later in the race, he was unable to find the speed to keep up as McIntosh’s gap grew in traffic.
“First thing is having a really good car under you, which I had an amazing piece under me; it was lights-out,” McIntosh said. “From that point out, it was just kind of my job in finding the line early, and I think I found it pretty quick. After that, it was just kind of finding the fine line between how hard I could drive it and not going too far.”
In the closing laps, Daum appeared to be settled in for runner-up finish until a rear-end component broke with only two laps left. The 2022 Series champion pulled to the infield and gave up his spot to Pickens, who crossed the stripe with a second-place finish in his first appearance with Xtreme since 2022.
“I probably struggled a little bit through the midway point, figured a few things out and maybe got a tick better at the end,” said Pickens, 41, of Auckland, NZ.
Coming home third was 16-year-old national Midget rookie Trevor Cline, who received the Whitz Racing Products Quick Time Award for the first time in his career earlier in the program. His Qualifying lap of 10.784 also broke the track record and contributed to him later starting ninth on the Feature starting grid.
Cline, of Mooresville, NC, navigated through the top-10 gradually throughout the 30-lap main event, settling into third once Daum dropped out in the final laps.
Toyota Racing Heat 1 was won by Karter Sarff; Kale Drake won TJ Forged Heat 2; Tyler Edwards won Heat 3.
The Last Chance Showdown was won by Mitchell Davis.
UP NEXT
The Xtreme Outlaw and POWRi Midgets next head to Coles County Speedway in Mattoon, IL, on Friday, May 31. Tickets will be on sale at the gate. If you can’t be at the track, stream every lap live on DIRTVision.
ABBREVIATED RESULTS (view full results)
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 71K-Cannon McIntosh[3]; 2. 54-Michael Pickens[1]; 3. 55-Trevor Cline[9]; 4. 21K-Karter Sarff[5]; 5. 67-Ryan Timms[15]; 6. 19AZ-Hayden Reinbold[14]; 7. 14S-Tyler Edwards[2]; 8. 97K-Kale Drake[4]; 9. 40-Chase McDermand[12]; 10. 16-Kyle Jones[16]; 11. 67K-Ashton Torgerson[11]; 12. 97-Gavin Miller[18]; 13. 98-Elijah Gile[10]; 14. 3N-Jake Neuman[20]; 15. 43-Gunnar Setser[8]; 16. 1K-Brayton Lynch[21]; 17. 66-Jayden Clay[22]; 18. 7U-Zach Daum[7]; 19. 71-Jade Avedisian[6]; 20. 77-Joe Wirth[13]; 21. 56D-Mitchell Davis[17]; 22. 50-Daniel Adler[19]