Motor Sports

Brad Keselowski Admits He’s Been Part of Escalating Problem

Kyle Dalton -Brad Keselowski knows what it feels like to be on the receiving end of a NASCAR penalty. NASCAR made an example of his Roush Fenway Keselowski team earlier this year, docking the No. 6 driver 100 points for modifying a single-sourced part. It effectively ended any chance for the 2012 Cup Series champion to make the playoffs on points.
On Tuesday, NASCAR was at it again, imposing stiff penalties to William Byron and Ty Gibbs for infractions committed at Texas. Within minutes of the news, Keselowski appeared as a guest on NASCAR Race Hub, where he said NASCAR sent all the teams a message with the punishments for an escalating problem that he admitted he’s been a part of in the recent past.
William Byron fined for incident with Denny HamlinWilliam Byron didn’t like how Denny Hamlin raced him coming out of Turn 2 in the final stage at Texas. The Hendrick Motorsports driver immediately showed his displeasure by running Hamlin shallow on the next turn and making it three-wide with Austin Dillon. However, that was just the warning shot.
Seven laps later, after the caution came out for a spinning Martin Truex Jr., Byron dispensed his full retaliation when he ran into the back of the No. 11, sending the JGR car spinning into the infield grass.
After the race, Byron surprisingly admitted that he deliberately ran into Hamlin but said spinning him wasn’t part of the plan.
“I didn’t mean to spin him out,” Byron told reporters. “That definitely wasn’t what I intended to do. Just meant to bump him a little bit and show my displeasure.”
On Tuesday, NASCAR showed Byron its displeasure with his move, docking him 25 driver points and handing down a $50,000 fine. The points loss drops him from third in the playoff standings to below the cutline before Sunday’s race at Talladega.
The sanctioning body also fined Ty Gibbs $75,000 and docked him 25 points for door-slamming Ty Dillon on pit road and putting NASCAR officials in danger.
Brad Keselowski addresses penalties and offers surprising take
Brad Keselowski looks on during practice for the NASCAR Cup Series Auto Trader EchoPark Automotive 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on September 24, 2022. | Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images© Provided by SportscastingBrad Keselowski made one of his regular guest appearances on NASCAR Race Hub this week, and producers couldn’t have selected a more perfect show for the driver-owner to be a part of, considering the day’s news.
While Keselowski is certainly familiar with feeling the wrath of NASCAR’s penalty system, he offered an interesting perspective on the punishment, suggesting the sanctioning body had run out of options with driver conflicts on the rise.
“This is a really harsh penalty,” Keselowski admitted. “At first glance, I’m kind of not so sure about this one. But I also put myself in NASCAR’s shoes. What I really see them doing here with both of these penalties is trying to get control back over the garage. The drivers over probably the last year or so, it’s escalating.
“We saw the Denny Hamlin-Alex Bowman thing after the race at Martinsville. I’ve had an incident with Austin Dillon in New Hampshire. It’s escalating. If they don’t put their foot down, it’s going to keep going.”
Keselowski and Austin Dillon tangle at New HampshireKeselowski referenced his run-in with Austin Dillon back in July at New Hampshire. That’s when just past the midway point of the race and during a caution, Dillon was driving on the inside of Keselowski and unexpectedly moved up the track and swerved his Richard Childress Racing car into the side of the No. 6 car.
The RFK driver immediately responded, veering to his left and slamming hard into the No. 3 car, smoke billowing out from both sides of the cars. The pair continued to make contact with each other down the straightaway until Dillon ended up on the infield grass. Moments later the RFK car pitted to replace a flat left-front tire. Neither team was penalized for the incident.
Months later, Keselowski agrees that his aggressive driving was part of a growing trend among drivers taking the law into their own hands. With this latest penalty, NASCAR is hoping to quell it from happening in the future. According to the RFK driver-owner, the message has been received loud and clear.

Ford Performance NASCAR News

FORD PERFORMANCE NASCAR: TALLADEGA PLAYOFF NOTES
Three events over the course of two days are scheduled to take place on Saturday and Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway with all three of NASCAR’s top series conducting playoff races. The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and NASCAR XFINITY Series will run a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon with the NASCAR Cup Series set for a Sunday afternoon green flag.

This Week’s Schedule:
Saturday, October 1 – NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, 12:30 p.m. ET (FS1)
Saturday, October 1 – NASCAR XFINITY Series, 4 p.m. ET (USA)
Sunday, October 2 – NASCAR Cup Series, 2 p.m. ET (NBC)

ROUND OF 12 NCS PLAYOFF STANDINGS (Top 8 Advance After Charlotte)
1st – Joey Logano (+30 above cut line)
5th – Ryan Blaney (+15)
9th – Chase Briscoe (-4 below cut line)
10th – Austin Cindric (-11)

FORD IN THE NASCAR CUP SERIES AT TALLADEGA
·       Ford has 31 all-time series wins at Talladega, including 10 of the last 14, and 11 of the last 16.
·       Ford has won at least one Talladega Cup race each of the last 10 years.
·       Ford has won 10 of the last 14 Cup races at Talladega.

ROUND OF 12 NXS PLAYOFF STANDINGS (Top 8 Advance After Charlotte)
8th – Ryan Sieg (+1 above cut line)
9th – Riley Herbst (-1 below cut line)

FORD IN THE NASCAR XFINITY SERIES AT TALLADEGA
·       Ford has 6 series wins at Talladega.
·       The first Ford victory in the series was by Chad Little in 1995.
·       Six different Ford drivers have series wins at Talladega.

ROUND OF 12 NCWTS PLAYOFF STANDINGS (Top 4 Advance After Homestead)
2nd – Zane Smith (+21 above cut line)

FORD IN THE NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES AT TALLADEGA
·       Ford has 1 series wins at Talladega.
·       That victory came in the inaugural series race when Mark Martin won in 2006.

TALLADEGA WINNINGEST PLAYOFF TRACK FOR FORD
No track has been more successful for Ford in the playoff era than Talladega Superspeedway, which has produced nine wins since the postseason format was established in 2004. Here is a list of Ford drivers who have won a playoff race at Talladega: Dale Jarrett (2005); Jamie McMurray (2009); Matt Kenseth (2012); Brad Keselowski (2014 and 2017); Joey Logano (2015 and 2016); Aric Almirola (2018); Ryan Blaney (2019). Second on the list is Homestead and Kansas with seven each.

TEAM PENSKE ROLLING AT TALLADEGA
Team Penske has won 9 of the last 16 NCS races at Talladega Superspeedway. Brad Keselowski started this run by winning in 2014 and registered four victories at the track before joining Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing this season. Joey Logano won in back-to-back seasons (2015-16) while Ryan Blaney has followed suit, winning twice in the last three years at Talladega.

TEAM PENSKE WINS AT TALLADEGA SINCE 2014
2014 – Brad Keselowski (Talladega 2)
2015 – Joey Logano (Talladega 2)
2016 – Brad Keselowski (Talladega 1)
2016 – Joey Logano (Talladega 2)
2017 – Brad Keselowski (Talladega 2)
2018 – Joey Logano (Talladega 1)
2019 – Ryan Blaney (Talladega 2)
2020 – Ryan Blaney (Talladega 1)
2021 – Brad Keselowski (Talladega 1)

KESELOWSKI CLIMBING ALL-TIME TALLADEGA WIN LIST
Brad Keselowski is the winningest active driver at Talladega with six NASCAR Cup Series victories and is tied for second on the all-time list with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon. The track’s all-time winner is Dale Earnhardt Sr., who won 10 times during his NASCAR Hall of Fame career.

Ford Talladega Highlights:

BAKER PROVIDES MOORE SUCCESS
The first time Ford went to victory lane at Talladega Superspeedway was May 4, 1975 when Buddy Baker, driving for Hall of Fame car owner Bud Moore, held off David Pearson on the final lap. The win was Baker’s ninth career victory and came after he took the lead with 18 laps to go. One of the key decisions in getting Baker to the checkered flag first came when his team opted for two tires on its final pit stop of the day while Pearson and the Wood Brothers decided on gas only. Even though Pearson steadily gained ground on the final lap, Baker was able to hold on by half a car length to win. That started a streak which saw Baker and Moore win three straight Talladega races.

DAVEY ALLISON’S FIRST WIN
Ford has had many milestone moments at Talladega Superspeedway, including the first NASCAR Cup Series win for the late Davey Allison, who won the Winston 500 on May 3, 1987. The race came down to a restart with 10 laps to go in which Allison found himself behind Dale Earnhardt in the outside lane. Earnhardt bolted to the lead when the green flew and Allison tucked in right behind him through turns one and two. As they came off the second corner, Allison went to the inside and easily passed Earnhardt for what proved to be the winning pass. Terry Labonte ended up finishing second with Earnhardt third. Allison went on to win 19 NCS races, including three at Talladega.

ROBERT YATES RACING’S FINAL WIN
When Dale Jarrett won the UAW-Ford 500 on Oct. 2, 2005 it ended up being the final trip to victory lane for Robert Yates Racing. This race came down to a green-white-checker restart, where Jarrett was positioned fourth. He was still in that spot when they came around to start the final lap, but quickly moved to the outside as Tony Stewart grabbed the lead on the inside lane. The two drivers battled side-by-side down the backstretch before Jarrett powered his way in front. Seconds after getting the lead, Kyle Petty was involved in a single-car accident that brought out the caution as the cars entered turn three. Jarrett was declared the winner after NASCAR verified that he was in front at the time the yellow flag was thrown. The win was RYR’s 57th triumph in the NASCAR Cup Series, and came six years after the team won its only championship with Jarrett in 1999.

FORD’S NASCAR CUP SERIES WINNERS AT TALLADEGA
1975 – Buddy Baker (Sweep)
1976 – Buddy Baker (1)
1979 – Bobby Allison (1)
1983 – Dale Earnhardt (2)
1985 – Bill Elliott and Cale Yarborough
1987 – Davey Allison and Bill Elliott
1989 – Davey Allison and Terry Labonte
1992 – Davey Allison (1)
1994 – Jimmy Spencer (2)
1995 – Mark Martin (1)
1997 – Mark Martin (1)
1998 – Dale Jarrett (2)
2005 – Dale Jarrett (2)
2009 – Jamie McMurray (2)
2012 – Matt Kenseth (2)
2013 – David Ragan (1)
2014 – Brad Keselowski (2)
2015 – Joey Logano (2)
2016 – Brad Keselowski (1) and Joey Logano (2)
2017 – Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (1) and Brad Keselowski (2)
2018 – Joey Logano (1) and Aric Almirola (2)
2019 – Ryan Blaney (2)
2020 – Ryan Blaney (1)
2021 – Brad Keselowski (1)

FORD’S NASCAR XFINITY SERIES WINNERS AT TALLADEGA
1995 – Chad Little
1997 – Mark Martin
2002 – Jason Keller
2009 – David Ragan
2015 – Joey Logano
2017 – Aric AlmirolaFORD PERFORMANCE NASCAR: TALLADEGA PLAYOFF NOTES
Three events over the course of two days are scheduled to take place on Saturday and Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway with all three of NASCAR’s top series conducting playoff races. The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and NASCAR XFINITY Series will run a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon with the NASCAR Cup Series set for a Sunday afternoon green flag.

This Week’s Schedule:
Saturday, October 1 – NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, 12:30 p.m. ET (FS1)
Saturday, October 1 – NASCAR XFINITY Series, 4 p.m. ET (USA)
Sunday, October 2 – NASCAR Cup Series, 2 p.m. ET (NBC)

ROUND OF 12 NCS PLAYOFF STANDINGS (Top 8 Advance After Charlotte)
1st – Joey Logano (+30 above cut line)
5th – Ryan Blaney (+15)
9th – Chase Briscoe (-4 below cut line)
10th – Austin Cindric (-11)

FORD IN THE NASCAR CUP SERIES AT TALLADEGA
·       Ford has 31 all-time series wins at Talladega, including 10 of the last 14, and 11 of the last 16.
·       Ford has won at least one Talladega Cup race each of the last 10 years.
·       Ford has won 10 of the last 14 Cup races at Talladega.

ROUND OF 12 NXS PLAYOFF STANDINGS (Top 8 Advance After Charlotte)
8th – Ryan Sieg (+1 above cut line)
9th – Riley Herbst (-1 below cut line)

FORD IN THE NASCAR XFINITY SERIES AT TALLADEGA
·       Ford has 6 series wins at Talladega.
·       The first Ford victory in the series was by Chad Little in 1995.
·       Six different Ford drivers have series wins at Talladega.

ROUND OF 12 NCWTS PLAYOFF STANDINGS (Top 4 Advance After Homestead)
2nd – Zane Smith (+21 above cut line)

FORD IN THE NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES AT TALLADEGA
·       Ford has 1 series wins at Talladega.
·       That victory came in the inaugural series race when Mark Martin won in 2006.

TALLADEGA WINNINGEST PLAYOFF TRACK FOR FORD
No track has been more successful for Ford in the playoff era than Talladega Superspeedway, which has produced nine wins since the postseason format was established in 2004. Here is a list of Ford drivers who have won a playoff race at Talladega: Dale Jarrett (2005); Jamie McMurray (2009); Matt Kenseth (2012); Brad Keselowski (2014 and 2017); Joey Logano (2015 and 2016); Aric Almirola (2018); Ryan Blaney (2019). Second on the list is Homestead and Kansas with seven each.

TEAM PENSKE ROLLING AT TALLADEGA
Team Penske has won 9 of the last 16 NCS races at Talladega Superspeedway. Brad Keselowski started this run by winning in 2014 and registered four victories at the track before joining Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing this season. Joey Logano won in back-to-back seasons (2015-16) while Ryan Blaney has followed suit, winning twice in the last three years at Talladega.

TEAM PENSKE WINS AT TALLADEGA SINCE 2014
2014 – Brad Keselowski (Talladega 2)
2015 – Joey Logano (Talladega 2)
2016 – Brad Keselowski (Talladega 1)
2016 – Joey Logano (Talladega 2)
2017 – Brad Keselowski (Talladega 2)
2018 – Joey Logano (Talladega 1)
2019 – Ryan Blaney (Talladega 2)
2020 – Ryan Blaney (Talladega 1)
2021 – Brad Keselowski (Talladega 1)

KESELOWSKI CLIMBING ALL-TIME TALLADEGA WIN LIST
Brad Keselowski is the winningest active driver at Talladega with six NASCAR Cup Series victories and is tied for second on the all-time list with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon. The track’s all-time winner is Dale Earnhardt Sr., who won 10 times during his NASCAR Hall of Fame career.

Ford Talladega Highlights:

BAKER PROVIDES MOORE SUCCESS
The first time Ford went to victory lane at Talladega Superspeedway was May 4, 1975 when Buddy Baker, driving for Hall of Fame car owner Bud Moore, held off David Pearson on the final lap. The win was Baker’s ninth career victory and came after he took the lead with 18 laps to go. One of the key decisions in getting Baker to the checkered flag first came when his team opted for two tires on its final pit stop of the day while Pearson and the Wood Brothers decided on gas only. Even though Pearson steadily gained ground on the final lap, Baker was able to hold on by half a car length to win. That started a streak which saw Baker and Moore win three straight Talladega races.

DAVEY ALLISON’S FIRST WIN
Ford has had many milestone moments at Talladega Superspeedway, including the first NASCAR Cup Series win for the late Davey Allison, who won the Winston 500 on May 3, 1987. The race came down to a restart with 10 laps to go in which Allison found himself behind Dale Earnhardt in the outside lane. Earnhardt bolted to the lead when the green flew and Allison tucked in right behind him through turns one and two. As they came off the second corner, Allison went to the inside and easily passed Earnhardt for what proved to be the winning pass. Terry Labonte ended up finishing second with Earnhardt third. Allison went on to win 19 NCS races, including three at Talladega.

ROBERT YATES RACING’S FINAL WIN
When Dale Jarrett won the UAW-Ford 500 on Oct. 2, 2005 it ended up being the final trip to victory lane for Robert Yates Racing. This race came down to a green-white-checker restart, where Jarrett was positioned fourth. He was still in that spot when they came around to start the final lap, but quickly moved to the outside as Tony Stewart grabbed the lead on the inside lane. The two drivers battled side-by-side down the backstretch before Jarrett powered his way in front. Seconds after getting the lead, Kyle Petty was involved in a single-car accident that brought out the caution as the cars entered turn three. Jarrett was declared the winner after NASCAR verified that he was in front at the time the yellow flag was thrown. The win was RYR’s 57th triumph in the NASCAR Cup Series, and came six years after the team won its only championship with Jarrett in 1999.

FORD’S NASCAR CUP SERIES WINNERS AT TALLADEGA
1975 – Buddy Baker (Sweep)
1976 – Buddy Baker (1)
1979 – Bobby Allison (1)
1983 – Dale Earnhardt (2)
1985 – Bill Elliott and Cale Yarborough
1987 – Davey Allison and Bill Elliott
1989 – Davey Allison and Terry Labonte
1992 – Davey Allison (1)
1994 – Jimmy Spencer (2)
1995 – Mark Martin (1)
1997 – Mark Martin (1)
1998 – Dale Jarrett (2)
2005 – Dale Jarrett (2)
2009 – Jamie McMurray (2)
2012 – Matt Kenseth (2)
2013 – David Ragan (1)
2014 – Brad Keselowski (2)
2015 – Joey Logano (2)
2016 – Brad Keselowski (1) and Joey Logano (2)
2017 – Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (1) and Brad Keselowski (2)
2018 – Joey Logano (1) and Aric Almirola (2)
2019 – Ryan Blaney (2)
2020 – Ryan Blaney (1)
2021 – Brad Keselowski (1)

FORD’S NASCAR XFINITY SERIES WINNERS AT TALLADEGA
1995 – Chad Little
1997 – Mark Martin
2002 – Jason Keller
2009 – David Ragan
2015 – Joey Logano
2017 – Aric Almirola

Highlights and Comments from Bristol

NASCAR Drivers Comments after Bristol

CHRIS BUESCHER, No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang – VICTORY LANE INTERVIEW – “THis has been number one on my list for a really long time. I actually love this racetrack. It’s my favorite place we come on concrete. It’s just so special to get Fastenal their first points Cup race. After all these years we finally got them into Victory Lane. We’ve got a bunch of Fastenal folks out here with us, so that’s really special and to get Ford in Victory Lane and spoil the playoffs. Everybody on this team did such a great job, executed all day long and we had a really fast Ford Mustang. A lot of special things came together. I want to give a shout out to Adam Reagan. He’s back at home and just had some knee surgery, so he’s at home recovering. I’m just so excited right now. This is one I’ve had circled for a really long time and if there was gonna be one this year to get, this is it.”

YOU MENTIONED SPOILING THE PLAYOFFS. WHAT DOES IT SAY ABOUT THIS CAR THAT ALL THREE PLAYOFF WINNERS HAVE NOT BEEN PLAYOFF DRIVERS? “I don’t even know what that count is for the year now. I think that we knew we’ve had a ton of different winners this year and we’ve been really close and fighting hard to get here. We’ve had a great summer. A little bad luck, but we didn’t have any of that tonight. We had some good fortune and some good execution and a fast race car and got to park in Victory Lane.”

HOW DOES IT FEEL TO GET ROUSH BACK IN VICTORY LANE? “This is big to get RFK their first win and to get to talk to Jack and Brad and have our owners excited and pumped up to get back in Victory Lane is a great feeling and hopefully it’s the first of many. I feel like we’ve taken some big steps, so it’s special to get here. I appreciate Jack and everything he’s done for my career through the years and giving me a chance very early on and all the people back then – Robbie Reiser and Ken Ragan, David Ragan, all those that have done so much for my career and, of course, my parents and my family as well. It’s all come to this. This one is a little more special than the first one even, so it’s pretty big.”

BRAD KESELOWSKI, Owner, No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang – VICTORY LANE INTERVIEW – “There are forty-some of the best cars that nobody is gonna give you anything. You scratch and claw for every little bit every day and every hour and, if you’re lucky and you don’t wreck, you don’t blow up, you don’t have a problem and you finish 10th to 15th, and if you’re lucky and you’re damn good, you win. If you’re damn good and you’re not lucky, you still finish 20th or worse, so we had two cars that were really good today and one that was unlucky and one that executed and everything came the right way for them.”

COULD YOU GET USED TO THIS BEING YOUR FUTURE, STANDING HERE AND WATCHING OTHERS WIN? “Oh yeah, I’m proud as hell. Everybody has some level of ego and I’m not gonna say I don’t have any ego, but it’s easy to get over ego when you see that.”

WHAT’S IT LIKE CELEBRATING AS AN OWNER VERSUS A DRIVER? “It’s a lot different, but it’s good. This team really earned this. We really needed this for Fastenal. They’ve been a long-term partner for us and half the battle here is just keeping sponsors. There’s a lot to keeping the race team going and, sure, trying to find that speed or the next pit crew member or whatever the heck it is, but trying to keep the sponsors is the only way we can do those things and you can’t keep sponsors if you don’t win.”

KEVIN HARVICK, No. 4 Busch Light Ford Mustang – TALK ABOUT BEING ELIMINATED. “It just kind of goes with the whole year. Nothing has gone right, really. The wheels literally fell off tonight.”

YOU’VE HAD A PIT CREW ALL YEAR LONG. “Yeah, they’ve done a good job, just bad timing.”

HOW FRUSTRATING WAS IT NOT TO HAVE A SHOT TO RACE FOR IT AT THE END? “It was pretty tough. We pitted in front of the 17, but that’s just the way the year has gone. We went from having a chance to lead the parade to being a part of the parade, just difficult to pass. The cars are way too fast in the corners. You can’t race.”

ARE YOU JUST ABOUT RACE WINS FROM HERE ON OUT? “We wouldn’t do anything different. We do that every week.

RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Menards/Pennzoil Ford Mustang – YOU HAD A BIG CUSHION, BUT WHEN YOU HAVE NIGHTS LIKE TONIGHT IT PAYS TO HAVE THAT, DOESN’T IT? “Yeah, definitely. You never know what can happen and having that flat, there’s nothing that we can do about it. You’re lucky you have that cushion going into this race. The most unfortunate part is our car was super fast, too. That was the terrible thing about it. The worst part about it now, looking back. The car was really good and just had no indication. It seemed like a lot of guys had right-front problems tonight, but I’m proud of everybody for getting it fixed up and just out there to finish the race. There really wasn’t much we could do, just log laps and let everything play itself out. That’s why you try to have two good races beforehand because you never know when you’re gonna need some points.”
ANY ANXIOUSNESS SITTING IN THE CAR DURING STAGE TWO WHILE THEY WORKED ON IT? “I mean, you’re always concerned. I just didn’t know what the situation was until the start of stage three when I asked and we got back on the track. There were so many changing factors at the time, so you’re always nervous but there’s nothing we could do. We were wrecked and running last. We were gonna be 150 laps down, so I was trying not to be too nervous, but I did ask. I might have been biting my nails a little bit, but luckily we did a good job the first two races.”

_____

AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 2 Freightliner Ford Mustang – DO YOU HAVE TO CATCH YOUR BREATH AFTER THAT ONE? “For a while I was just trying as hard as I can and as they fell off like flies just trying not to force any issues, try not to force any more right-front tire failures. From there, I think I was tied with the 18 for 100 laps, but just one hell of a night. I still don’t think this place loves me back, but it probably showed me a little mercy tonight, so I’ll take it and run with it. We’ll be on offense for the next three races just like we were to start Darlington this round and have some fun with it.”

YOU QUESTIONED THE CAUTIONS AT ONE POINT BECAUSE THERE WASN’T ONE THROWN FOR YOU AND A COUPLE OTHERS DIDN’T EITHER, BUT SOME DID. “Yeah, there’s a part of me that wants to go, ‘Man, that’s kind of b.s. I blew a tire and didn’t get a caution,’ but I would also think that NASCAR probably recognized there might be some issues with tires and probably understand that, ok, it’s not just a one-time deal. Mine was the first to go. I’m happier about it because I made it in. I’d be less happy about it if I didn’t make it in, but certainly there’s something to be said about coming to a very important race in the year with a new tire, but it’s not my decision to make and just understand how we can make that better on our side.”
WHAT WAS YOUR RANGE OF EMOTIONS AFTER THE TIRE WENT DOWN? IT WAS A LONG NIGHT. “The only time I got emotional was when the 10 tried to wreck us into the 21. That was kind of lame, but after that I just drive as hard as I can, don’t take too many chances, calculate your risks and stay updated with the situation.”
WERE YOU UPDATED CONSTANTLY ON THE POINTS? “Not until there was a chance. I would say I got told at the beginning of stage three how close it was or how close it wasn’t. I was probably about 16 out at the beginning of stage three and then we were five out, four out, tied with the 18 and that wave around really helped me be able to conserve my car and get a lap ahead of the 77 and the 43, so just a perfect storm in some ways, but Bristol showed us a little mercy tonight.”
THE 22 MECHANICAL FAILURE WORKED TO YOUR ADVANTAGE A LITTLE BIT. “Not a very impressive night for Team Penske, so I’m just glad all three of us made it through to the next round. Certainly, a tense evening.”

There was chaos at Kansas.
Blown tires. Pit-road mistakes. Multi-car crashes. Trouble on the playoff grid.
Bubba Wallace rose above it all.
Wallace emerged late in the afternoon as a power in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway and held on to score the second win of his career. At the end, Wallace outran Denny Hamlin, one of the owners of the 23XI Racing team for which Wallace drives.
Wallace took the lead with 43 laps to go and wasn’t seriously challenged the rest of the way. He led 58 laps total.
“Just so proud,” Wallace told NBC Sports. “Pit crew was awesome today. We had one loose wheel. Just thankful. Thanks for the opportunity, and thankful to shut the hell up for a lot of people

For the second straight week, a non-playoff driver won a race, making Saturday’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway a critical one for much of the playoff field. Erik Jones won last week at Darlington Raceway.
Wallace’s first win came last October in a rain-shortened race at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama. He became the season’s 18th different winner.
Following Wallace and Hamlin at the finish were Christopher Bell, Alex Bowman and Martin Truex Jr. as Toyotas took four of the first five positions.
Bell jumped into the point lead and is locked into a spot in the Round of 12 based on points.
The race results scrambled the playoff standings for the second straight week. Bell moved up three spots to take the point lead, while previous leader Joey Logano fell three spots to fourth. Bowman jumped four spots to sixth. Kyle Busch, Austin Dillon, Chase Briscoe and Kevin Harvick are the four drivers below the playoff cut line.
There were a series of problems along pit road during Sunday’s race, with several teams battling issues with uncontrolled tires and contact between cars entering and exiting pit areas.
The first incident involving a playoff driver sent Harvick to the garage on lap 34. Bubba Wallace and Ross Chastain were racing for position in front of Harvick, and momentum forced Harvick into the outside wall. Right-front damage on the car was too extensive for quick repair.
Tyler Reddick, another playoff driver, slammed the wall 20 laps later after blowing a tire and parked his Chevrolet.
Kyle Busch lost control of his car in Turn 4 on lap 139, slid across the track and blew tires as he spun onto grass. He lost a lap in the pits.
Stage 1 winner: Christopher Bell
Stage 2 winner: Alex Bowman
Who had a good race: Bubba Wallace, eager to silence critics who had downplayed the importance of his victory last year in a rain-shortened race, dominated Sunday’s final stage for his second career win. … A fourth-place finish boosted Christopher Bell into the point lead. … Alex Bowman led a race-high 107 laps, finished fourth and now is sixth in points.
Who had a bad race: For the second straight week, Kevin Harvick stared into the abyss. His car was heavily damaged when he hit the outside wall early in the race, and Harvick finished last. … After a boost at Darlington, Tyler Reddick logged a bad finish at Kansas after a blown tire put his car into the wall. He fell six spots in the standings to 11th. … Joey Logano lost the point lead with a 17th-place finish.

NASCAR makes rule changes for Kansas to address fire issues from Darlington

By
Staff Report NASCAR.com September 7, 2022 at 11:11 AMNASCAR notified race teams of rule changes before this weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway to address fire issues that were seen at Darlington Raceway.
The use of intumescent coatings are now permitted for the underside of the car’s lower crush panels, inside the exhaust cover panels and the upper surface of the rocker box. It is also permitted to apply the coating to the right side stop panel.
Intumescent coatings help provide fire protection to steel components, and the changes come after exhaust issues during Sunday night’s Southern 500 at Darlington ended the race for Kevin Harvick in the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford and JJ Yeley in the No. 15 Rick Ware Racing Ford.
Other changes for Kansas included mandating a lateral seal/dam to be installed between the back of the front clip weight box and the top of the splitter panel to help reduce the migration of tire debris from the splitter area. And there were also instructions on trimming of the back stop panel included in the rules changes.
It was also recommended that with exhaust installation, clearance between the exhaust and the floor of the rocker box be maximized.
A NASCAR spokesperson said these changes are a follow-up to the first step exhaust shroud update that was mandated for Richmond Raceway to address specific issues encountered at Indianapolis. Development will continue in this area, and further updates are possible as test results are evaluated.

Sunday, Callout Results and 337 for Brittany Force

INDIANAPOLIS (Sept. 4, 2022) – Ron Capps won the Pep Boys NHRA Funny Car All-Star Callout on Saturday at this weekend’s prestigious 68th annual Dodge Power Brokers NHRA U.S. Nationals, beating Matt Hagan in the final round to take the $80,000 top prize in the bonus event at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.
Brittany Force (Top Fuel), Capps (Funny Car), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) and Angelle Sampey (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also qualified No. 1 at the 16th of 22 races during the 2022 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season and the final event of the regular season.
Capps, the defending world champion, put together a run of 3.936-seconds at 330.47 mph in his 11,000-horsepower NAPA Auto Parts GR Toyota Supra, knocking off Hagan on a holeshot. Hagan ran a quicker 3.900 at 328.66, but Capps was quicker off the starting line to pick up the specialty race win. He beat Tim Wilkerson and John Force to reach the final round, while Hagan knocked off Alexis DeJoria and Robert Hight. Capps’ .026 reaction time ultimately proved to be the difference in the finals.
“This turned out to be so much fun,” Capps said. “The car was hauling the mail in the final round and it’s so cool to win on a holeshot and to do it for this much money, I love it for my guys. We’ve had so many special moments this year and this ranks right up there, until hopefully tomorrow. But this one is really, really big for us.”
Looking for his first Dodge Power Brokers NHRA U.S. Nationals victory, Capps also secured his fifth No. 1 qualifier of the season with his run of 3.864 at 333.58 against Wilkerson. Sunday’s win provided momentum, but Capps knows he could get one of the biggest wins of his career on Monday. He’ll open eliminations against Dale Creasy Jr.
“We’ve got a great race car right now,” Capps said. “Last year stung and that was the run of the year in Funny Car. We’ll take some time to enjoy this No. 1 and this (callout) win, and we’ll get ready for tomorrow.”
Force delivered a magical moment on Sunday, breaking both ends of the track record at Indy with an incredible run of 3.640 at 337.75 in her 11,000-horsepower Monster Energy dragster. It gives Force, the current points leader, her seventh No. 1 this season and 39th in her career, but this one is certainly special for the former world champion. She’s after her first career U.S. Nationals, opening eliminations against Dan Mercier in what also ended up being the quickest qualifying field in NHRA history. Mercier qualified No. 16 with a 3.758 at 318.99, while Force will try for her fifth victory this season.
“This is definitely a big one for this Monster Energy team,” Force said. “This is the biggest race of the season, it’s the one race everyone wants to win. There’s extra motivation coming into it. It’s Indy and everyone wants to accomplish something here. That was a killer run, especially since we struggled every lap and then we finally got it figured out. It was outstanding. Then for it to be part of the quickest field in NHRA history and to be part of that with 25 cars is pretty incredible. That’s history and we want to leave our mark so to come here to Indy and take that No. 1, we’re just excited.”
Justin Ashley secured the second spot with a run of 3.671 at 335.32, which momentarily set the speed record on Saturday, while Steve Torrence is third with his 3.692 at 329.02.
Pro Stock’s Anderson wrapped up his third straight No. 1 qualifier this season on the strength of his 6.567 at 208.10 from Saturday in his Hendricks.com Chevrolet Camaro. It’s part of a great run for the defending world champion, who is seeking his first victory of the season. He’ll start raceday against Fernando Cuadra Sr. and has one goal for Monday: to pick up his 100th career victory. Doing so at the world’s biggest drag race would make it that much sweeter for Anderson, who is also trying to get his seventh Indy victory and first at the track since 2011.
“It’s just nice to have a race car that can win again,” Anderson said. “We were not up to par for the first 8-10 races but we’re back. We’re climbing the ladder and we know that we can win again. Now, we just need to put it all together on Monday. The driver has to have his act together and do a good job. Everyone in this class is a killer. Indy is a marathon, so you’ve got to learn to save a little for Monday. Now, it’s just a matter of who can bring the biggest gun tomorrow.”
Anderson’s KB Racing teammate Dallas Glenn wrapped up the second spot after going 6.578 at 207.72, while points leader Erica Enders finished third with a 6.582 at 208.97. Enders has won the last two races at Indy.
In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Sampey held onto her No. 1 spot from Saturday, clinching her fourth top qualifier of the season thanks to her run of 6.796 at 199.88 on her Mission Foods/Vance & Hines Suzuki. It’s also the 57th career No. 1 qualifier for Sampey, who will try to win the U.S. Nationals for the first time in 20 years. That would wrap up a stellar weekend for Sampey, who is after her third win at the Big Go. She’ll take on Ron Tornow to open eliminations.

“The last two runs today were good, and we feel confident going into tomorrow,” said Sampey, who has seven career No. 1 qualifiers at the U.S. Nationals. “We’re going to hold onto this the best we can and we’re certainly capable of winning this race if I can keep my composure. I’m going to give it my all and I just want to win the race. But I need to do my job in the first round and that’s where I need to keep my focus. I’m just so comfortable on this bike.”

Defending world champ Matt Smith made the best two runs on Sunday and finished second with a 6.800 at 201.16, while Krawiec’s 6.826 at 198.79 from earlier in the weekend put him third. Points leader Joey Gladstone qualified seventh.

Eliminations for the prestigious Dodge Power Brokers NHRA U.S. Nationals begin at 10 a.m. ET on Sunday at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.

FUNNY CAR ALL-STAR SHOOTOUT:

ROUND ONE -- John Force, Chevy Camaro, 3.931, 327.82 def. Cruz Pedregon, Dodge Charger, 4.031, 311.49; Robert Hight, Camaro, 3.870, 332.26 def. Bob Tasca III, Ford Mustang, 12.865, 60.32; Ron Capps, Toyota Supra, 3.864, 333.58 def. Tim Wilkerson, Mustang, 3.920, 329.50; Matt Hagan, Charger, 3.895, 334.15 def. Alexis DeJoria, Supra, 7.413, 92.95;
SEMIFINALS -- Hagan, 4.180, 255.73 def. Hight, 10.119, 82.57; Capps, 3.896, 332.59 def. Force, 5.162, 147.65;
FINAL -- Capps, 3.936, 330.47 def. Hagan, 3.900, 328.86.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Monday's first-round pairings for eliminations for the 68th annual Dodge Power Brokers NHRA U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis, the 16th of 22 events in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series. Pairings based on results in qualifying, which ended Sunday. DNQs listed below pairings.

Top Fuel -- 1. Brittany Force, 3.640 seconds, 337.75 mph vs. 16. Dan Mercier, 3.758, 318.99; 2. Justin Ashley, 3.671, 335.32 vs. 15. Shawn Langdon, 3.754, 322.73; 3. Steve Torrence, 3.692, 329.02 vs. 14. Austin Prock, 3.750, 333.58; 4. Mike Salinas, 3.701, 331.36 vs. 13. Tony Schumacher, 3.743, 325.37; 5. Clay Millican, 3.707, 324.98 vs. 12. Doug Kalitta, 3.741, 324.44; 6. Antron Brown, 3.712, 330.55 vs. 11. Tripp Tatum, 3.739, 326.71; 7. Billy Torrence, 3.717, 325.53 vs. 10. Leah Pruett, 3.725, 332.51; 8. Josh Hart, 3.722, 330.15 vs. 9. Doug Foley, 3.722, 326.56.
Did Not Qualify: 17. Kyle Wurtzel, 3.795, 327.59; 18. Spencer Massey, 3.798, 323.89; 19. Alex Laughlin, 3.809, 319.14; 20. Will Smith, 3.832, 318.02; 21. Krista Baldwin, 3.866, 305.01; 22. Lex Joon, 3.901, 318.69; 23. Scott Palmer, 3.972, 264.39; 24. Cameron Ferre, 5.864, 116.44; 25. Scott Farley, broke.

Funny Car -- 1. Ron Capps, Toyota Supra, 3.864, 333.58 vs. 16. Dale Creasy Jr., Dodge Charger, 4.075, 290.51; 2. Robert Hight, Chevy Camaro, 3.866, 327.27 vs. 15. John Smith, Charger, 4.034, 312.50; 3. Bob Tasca III, Ford Mustang, 3.878, 331.53 vs. 14. Jim Campbell, Charger, 3.961, 319.22; 4. John Force, Camaro, 3.881, 333.25 vs. 13. Paul Lee, Charger, 3.937, 328.78; 5. Blake Alexander, Mustang, 3.881, 327.19 vs. 12. Chad Green, Mustang, 3.924, 324.28; 6. Tim Wilkerson, Mustang, 3.891, 330.55 vs. 11. Bobby Bode, Mustang, 3.908, 318.92; 7. Matt Hagan, Charger, 3.892, 333.41 vs. 10. Alexis DeJoria, Supra, 3.907, 329.02; 8. J.R. Todd, Supra, 3.894, 329.50 vs. 9. Cruz Pedregon,
Charger, 3.906, 324.83.
Did Not Qualify: 17. Justin Schriefer, 4.079, 294.37; 18. Terry Haddock, 4.159, 307.65.
Pro Stock -- 1. Greg Anderson, Chevy Camaro, 6.567, 208.10 vs. 16. Fernando Cuadra, Ford Mustang, 6.661, 206.57; 2. Dallas Glenn, Camaro, 6.578, 207.72 vs. 15. Kenny Delco, Camaro, 6.644, 208.42; 3. Erica Enders, Camaro, 6.582, 208.97 vs. 14. Mason McGaha, Camaro, 6.640, 207.02; 4. Matt Hartford, Camaro, 6.584, 208.26 vs. 13. Chris McGaha, Camaro, 6.634, 208.01; 5. Bo Butner, Camaro, 6.592, 208.14 vs. 12. Fernando Cuadra Jr., Mustang, 6.629, 207.15; 6. Aaron Stanfield, Camaro, 6.594, 207.82 vs. 11. Camrie Caruso, Camaro, 6.617, 207.27; 7. Cristian Cuadra, Mustang, 6.596, 208.97 vs.
10. Kyle Koretsky, Camaro, 6.605, 207.62; 8. Deric Kramer, Camaro, 6.598, 207.78 vs. 9. Troy Coughlin Jr., Camaro, 6.604, 209.20.

EIGHT FUNNY CAR STANDOUTS SET FOR THRILLING DUEL IN PEP BOYS NHRA FUNNY CAR ALL-STAR CALLOUT AT INDY

INDIANAPOLIS (Aug. 31, 2022) – During what could be the best season in his standout Funny Car career, points leader and three-time world champion Robert Hight has the opportunity to add another special moment during this weekend’s Pep Boys NHRA Funny Car All-Star Callout.
The specialty race takes part on Sunday during this weekend’s prestigious Dodge Power Brokers NHRA U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway Indianapolis Raceway Park, pitting eight of the top Funny Car drivers against each other.
The unique twist is Hight, who is seeded first among the eight drivers, will get the first selection among the drivers for his first-round opponent. Defending world champ Ron Capps, who is seeded second, would get the next pick if he is not called out, followed by Matt Hagan and John Force until all the opening round matchups are set. Cruz Pedregon is seeded fifth, with Bob Tasca III, who has three wins in the last four races, Alexis DeJoria, and Tim Wilkerson round out the field.
So, who will Hight pick for his first-round opponent? Even the six-time event winner in 2022 isn’t sure of that answer yet.
“We’re going to have some fun with it, but these are the top eight Funny Cars in the country,” Hight said. “It’s going to be exciting, and I hope the fans love it because I like this format. It’s going to be a lot of fun to see how it all plays out, but the crew chiefs and myself, we’ll all get together and figure out who we want to call out. Any of these eight cars can win on any given weekend and that’s what is going to make it fun for the fans.”
Starting with Hight, the official first-round callouts will take place at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday, Sept. 3 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, with the competition taking place the next day. The Pep Boys NHRA All-Star Funny Car Callout will begin with the opening round at 1:20 p.m. ET on Sunday, the semifinals at 2:45 p.m. and the final round at 4:55 p.m.
The callout aspect isn’t over after the first round, either. After the must-see opening round, the driver who makes the quickest winning run in the first round will get to select their semifinal opponent, automatically locking in the other matchup as well.

With a $130,000 total purse, including an $80,000 prize, an already huge weekend at the Big Go can get even more memorable for the standouts in Funny Car, something that isn’t lost on Hight.

“There’s a lot of history of having a specialty race here in Indy, so it’s a big moment for this race,” Hight said. “I hope everyone is watching and following what the drivers are doing and who they’re calling out. You’re going to have to go through everybody, but I want to win this thing.”

The field in the Pep Boys NHRA Funny Car All-Star Callout is just as eager to see how it all goes down in Indy.

RON CAPPS: “As a team, we’re going to have a meeting and see who we want to pick. I’m so happy they brought something like this back and the callout aspect has brought a whole new element to what’s going to happen. You can’t even pick the worst car because it’s impossible with this group. It’s still the best in the world. It’s the top eight cars and there’s nobody weak in this group. The fans are going to have fun with it and they’re going to love it.

MATT HAGAN: “We’re honestly excited to have the opportunity to go out here and race. Being able to be involved, getting the adrenaline up, and being in that zone, that’s what does it for me. It’s just incredible to have another race like this within the race. You have to take everyone seriously, so it’s going to be cool. They’re all awesome competitors and no matter who we pick if we don’t get picked before that, it’s going to be tough for me and everybody in Funny Car. We’re going to have our hands full no matter what.”

CRUZ PEDREGON: “I love that we’re having this event. It’s a nice bonus for the team that wins it before you get into the big race on Monday. A big thank you to Pep Boys for that and I’m just happy to be involved. We’re trying to get back on track with our car and it’s just great that we have another all-star race on Sunday. It’s the time of year to shine and I think we saw some signs of life in our car in Brainerd.”

JOHN FORCE: “I appreciate the fact Pep Boys has gotten involved to add this to our biggest race. I think it will give the fans something else to see and the competition will be great. They’re all great teams that are in it. I’m excited to be a part of it and I enjoy the competition, so it’s fun. But I try to win every race and that’s what it’s all about.”

ALEXIS DEJORIA: I’m just happy to be a part of it. Even if I’m being called out, we’re just happy to be involved in it. Don’t count us out and don’t count this team out. I like to go first, and I wouldn’t mind being picked first. Having the chance to win something like that before the actual race on Monday, it’s motivating. I think it’s incredible and it breaks things up with a race within a race. We love it and the fans love it.”
Full schedule for the Pep Boys NHRA Funny Car All-Star Callout (ET):

Saturday, Sept. 3:
2:00 PM – Pep Boys NHRA Top Fuel All-Star Callout first-round selections. Robert Hight gets the first selection, followed by the next highest-seeded driver until all matchups are set.
Sunday, Sept. 4
11:45 AM – Pep Boys NHRA Top Fuel All-Star Callout autograph session at the Pep Boys midway display
11:30 AM – Pep Boys NHRA Top Fuel All-Star Callout opening ceremonies
1:20 PM – First round for Pep Boys NHRA Top Fuel All-Star Callout. The driver who makes the quickest winning run in the opening round will pick their semifinal opponent.
2:45 PM – Pep Boys NHRA Top Fuel All-Star Callout semifinals.
4:55 PM – Pep Boys NHRA Top Fuel All-Star Callout final round
Television coverage of the Pep Boys NHRA All-Star Funny Car Callout will take place on Sunday from 4-5:30 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1 (FS1).
Pep Boys NHRA Top Fuel All-Star Callout Final Standings
1. Robert Hight
2. Ron Capps
3. Matt Hagan
4. Cruz Pedregon
5. John Force
6. Bob Tasca III
7. Alexis DeJoria
8. Tim Wilkerson

FIELD SET FOR PEP BOYS NHRA FUNNY CAR ALL-STAR CALLOUT AT DODGE POWER BROKERS NHRA U.S. NATIONALS

INDIANAPOLIS (Aug. 23, 2022) – The field of eight star Funny Car drivers is now set for the upcoming Pep Boys NHRA Funny Car All-Star Callout specialty race, which will take place on Sunday, Sept. 4 as part of the prestigious 68th annual Dodge Power Brokers NHRA U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.

Funny Car points leader Robert Hight, who has six wins in 2022, clinched his spot as the No. 1 seed and he will get the chance to call out his first-round opponent from the other seven drivers, who are all competing for big money and a memorable win in the unique specialty race at the Big Go. In order, that includes defending world champ Ron Capps, three-time world champ Matt Hagan, two-time world champ Cruz Pedregon, 16-time world champ John Force, Brainerd winner Bob Tasca III, Alexis DeJoria, who has six career wins, and defending U.S. Nationals winner Tim Wilkerson, who clinched the final spot in the callout last weekend in Brainerd.
After Hight’s initial pick for his matchup, Capps would get the next selection if he is not called out by Hight, followed by Hagan until all the first-round matchups are set for the thrilling specialty race that includes an overall purse of $130,000, with $80,000 going to the winner.
The exciting callout aspect doesn’t stop after the first round, either. After what’s set to be a memorable first round of action, the driver who makes the quickest winning run in the opening round will get the chance to select their semifinal opponent, automatically locking in the other semifinal matchup.

The official first-round callouts will take place at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday, Sept. 3 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, with the competition taking place the next day. The Pep Boys NHRA All-Star Funny Car Callout will begin with the opening round at 1:20 p.m. ET on Sunday, the semifinals at 2:45 p.m. and the final round at 4:55 p.m.

Television coverage of the Pep Boys NHRA All-Star Funny Car Callout will take place on Sunday from 4-5:30 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1 (FS1).

The Pep Boys NHRA Top Fuel All-Star Callout will also conclude in Indianapolis after the opening round took place earlier this year in Gainesville. Points leader Brittany Force will get her selection of semifinal opponent based on making the quickest run in the first round. The other three semifinalists include four-time defending world champion Steve Torrence, Mike Salinas, who has four wins in 2022, and Justin Ashley, a two-time winner this year.

Force will make her semifinal opponent selection at 7:20 p.m. ET on Friday, Sept. 2, with action taking place the next day at 2:40 p.m. ET for the semifinals and 6:25 p.m. for the final round.

A special Pep Boys NHRA Top Fuel All-Star Callout autograph session will take place at 5:00 p.m. on Friday at the Pep Boys midway display, with an autograph session featuring the eight drivers in Funny Car happening the next day at 11:45 a.m. at the Pep Boys midway display.
Pep Boys NHRA Funny Car All-Star Callout Final Standings
1.   Robert Hight
2.   Ron Capps
3.   Matt Hagan
4.   Cruz Pedregon
5.   John Force
6.   Bob Tasca III
7.   Alexis DeJoria
8.   Tim Wilkerson

(Note: Hight will get first selection for the opening round, followed by the next-highest seeded driver until matchups are set.)

Kyle Larson out duels Chase Elliott at Watkins Glen

Newgarden Wins Again at WWTR;
Top Seven within 58 Points with Two To Go

MADISON, Ill. (Saturday, Aug. 20, 2022) – Josef Newgarden won the rain-interrupted Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline on Saturday night at World Wide Technology Raceway, mastering the race within the race created by the weather delay and pulling even closer to the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship lead.
Newgarden, from Nashville, Tennessee, drove to his series-leading fifth victory of the season in the No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet by .4708 of a second over rookie David Malukas, whose spirited charge after the race restarted fell just short in the No. 18 HMD Honda but still resulted in a career-best finish. This also was Newgarden’s third straight victory at this 1.25-mile oval in the shadows of the Gateway Arch.“I was so happy we could finish this race,” Newgarden said. “Scott McLaughlin, he wanted to win, too. I love that about us. We have a good relationship. He drove me super fair there at the end.”
Two-time series champion Newgarden pulled to within three points of teammate and series leader Will Power in the race for the Astor Challenge Cup with just two races remaining. Power led a race-high 128 laps but finished sixth in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet.
Scott McLaughlin finished third in the No. 3 Odyssey Battery Team Penske Chevrolet despite leading at the restart with 37 laps remaining after a red flag of two hours, nine minutes due to rain and lightning.
Pato O’Ward finished fourth in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet, while two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Takuma Sato placed fifth for his best result this season in the No. 51 Nurtec ODT Honda.
The championship race remains taut and tense. Seven drivers are still mathematically eligible to win the title, with just 58 points – only four more than the maximum awarded at one race – separating leader Power from seventh-place O’Ward.
Up next is the Grand Prix of Portland on Sunday, Sept. 4 at Portland International Raceway. The season ends with the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey on Sunday, Sept. 11 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
The official distance of this race was 260 laps, but the rain delay almost made it feel like a 213-lap race in daylight followed by a 47-lap trophy dash under the lights.
When the race resumed at 9:05 p.m. local time, track conditions had changed significantly because the rain cleaned the asphalt and there was better grip due to lower temperatures after sundown.
The starting field returned to the track under caution after the red flag was lifted, and McLaughlin pulled away when the green flag flew on Lap 224. But Newgarden wasted no time tucking under McLaughlin’s gearbox on the back straightaway and dove under his teammate in Turn 3 on Lap 225, the first full lap after the restart, to take the lead for good.
“We just had to have a good start,” Newgarden said. “I knew Scott was going to be good at the end there, and he had a great restart. I just tried to work the high lane. The high lane worked earlier for me. We just had enough to get by him. He was no slouch this weekend.”
McLaughlin stayed within approximately six-tenths of a second of his teammate for the next 34 laps but couldn’t find a way past. Meanwhile, Malukas put the exclamation point on the most thrilling drive of his young career to advance from fifth at the restart to second at the finish.
Chicago-area native Malukas reached third place by passing O’Ward on Lap 245 and then set his sights on Newgarden and McLaughlin.
“We ended up getting around O’Ward and we ended up getting past a lapped car, and they (pit box) said, ‘You see them in front,’ and I saw two Penskes, and I was like, ‘Oh, my God, they’re Penskes!’ They were tough.”
While he never challenged Newgarden, Malukas passed McLaughlin for second on the final lap with a brave, full-send outside move in Turn 1, aided by the additional traction of the cooler temperatures and clean racetrack.
Malukas’ previous-best finish before this stirring result was eighth last month in the second race of the doubleheader at the Iowa Speedway oval.
Teams attempted various pit strategies in the second half of the race to try and be out front when the expected rain arrived, taking an unlikely win if the race didn’t restart. Malukas and Sato were on an alternate strategy that pushed Malukas to the lead from Laps 207-211, but he was forced to pit. The rain arrived just two laps later.
It appeared pit strategy and traffic may have foiled Newgarden just before the rain arrived.
McLaughlin pitted from second on Lap 207. Newgarden stopped one lap later from the lead but followed rookie Christian Lundgaard in the No. 30 Mi-Jack Honda into the pits, with Newgarden’s pit in lap clocking in at 1.065 seconds slower than McLaughlin’s. McLaughlin kept the lead when Newgarden blended back to the racetrack after his stop, holding the front until the red flag.

Late Pass Pushes Brabham Past Lundqvist
for WWTR Victory

MADISON, Ill. (Saturday, Aug. 20, 2022) – Matthew Brabham learned his lessons from gutting disappointment last month at Iowa Speedway, driving past series leader and pole sitter Linus Lundqvist to win the Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires race Saturday at World Wide Technology Raceway.
Australian-American Brabham drove his No. 83 Andretti Autosport car to victory by .6770 of a second over the No. 26 HMD Motorsports with Dale Coyne entry of Lundqvist. It was Brabham’s second victory of the season, with his first coming in late February at the season opener at St. Petersburg, Florida.
SEE: Race Results
Benjamin Pedersen finished third in the No. 24 Global Racing Group with HMD Motorsports car. Teammate Danial Frost finished fourth in the No. 68 HMD Motorsports with Dale Coyne Racing entry, followed by rookie Hunter McElrea in the No. 27 Andretti Autosport car.
Brabham saved his best for last in the fast, caution-free race. Lundqvist led the first 71 laps of the 75-lap race, but Brabham used his preferred high line on ovals to gain momentum in Turns 1 and 2 on Lap 72. Brabham then dove under Lundqvist in Turn 3 on that lap for the decisive pass, never trailing again.
“I could tell he was starting to get loose toward the end of the race,” Brabham said. “I think I showed too much of what I could do there in Iowa, in the top lane. I told the guys on my team I don’t want to show anyone anything because I think they’re learning too much from me, especially my teammates. I was saving that top line for the last couple of laps.”
The win provided sweet redemption for Brabham, the grandson of three-time Formula One World Champion Jack Brabham.
Brabham challenged Lundqvist for the lead in his favorite outside lane with five laps to go in the previous oval event, July 23 at Iowa Speedway. Lundqvist moved up the track and their cars touched, damaging Brabham’s front wing and dropping him to third at the finish. Lundqvist was assessed a three-spot penalty for avoidable contact and tumbled from first to fourth in the final running order. Brabham’s teammate McElrea inherited the victory.
“I just wanted to win so badly, especially after Iowa,” Brabham said. “I just had that grit.”
Lundqvist couldn’t shake Brabham for the first 71 laps of today’s race, but he controlled a gap of around six- to seven-tenths of a second for the first 60 laps. Then Brabham moved to the high line to gain momentum and sliced into the margin, trailing by .1936 of a second on Lap 71 before making the decisive pass on the next trip around the 1.25-mile, asymmetrical oval in the shadow of the famous Gateway Arch in St. Louis.
While Lundqvist fell short of his sixth victory of the season, the big picture looks very clear: The Swedish driver is zeroing in on the series championship.
Lundqvist leads second-place Brabham by 108 points with just three races remaining. He needs to lead by 109 after the next event, Sunday, Sept. 4 at Portland International Raceway, to clinch the title. Live coverage from Portland is scheduled for 1:15 p.m. ET on Peacock Premium, INDYCAR Live! and the INDYCAR Radio Network.
A doubleheader Sept. 10-11 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca will conclude the season.

Indy Car News and Notes

The Automotive Group 500 will be the fifth and final oval race of the 2022 NTT INDYCAR SERIES schedule. The previous oval races were won by Josef Newgarden (Texas Motor Speedway, Iowa Speedway-1), Marcus Ericsson (Indianapolis Motor Speedway) and Pato O’Ward (Iowa Speedway-2).

Three drivers have won at World Wide Technology Raceway from the pole – Juan Pablo Montoya (2000), Gil de Ferran (2002) and Helio Castroneves (2003).
Team Penske has won seven times at World Wide Technology Raceway. Penske’s winning drivers are Paul Tracy (1997), Gil de Ferran (2002), Helio Castroneves (2003), Josef Newgarden (2017, 2020-Race 2, 2021) and Will Power (2018). Chip Ganassi Racing has three wins at Gateway with Alex Zanardi (1998), Juan Pablo Montoya (2000) and Scott Dixon (2020-Race 1).
Twenty drivers entered in the event have competed in past INDYCAR SERIES races at World Wide Technology Raceway. Scott Dixon has seven starts, most among the entered drivers. Twelve entered drivers have led laps at the track (Josef Newgarden 406, Helio Castroneves 271, Scott Dixon 251, Will Power 201, Takuma Sato 145, Pato O’Ward 131, Colton Herta 121, Simon Pagenaud 14, Alexander Rossi 4, Felix Rosenqvist 3, Marcus Ericsson 2 and Conor Daly 1).

Harvick and crew chief Rodney Childress after Harvick's second in a row

Pictures from Richmond

NASCAR Highlights from MIS 8.7.22

Pit Crew Members tell us why their driver will win at MIS

NXS Race Recap: Ty Gibbs picks up ninth career NASCAR Xfinity win at Michigan

Ty Gibbs picks up ninth career NASCAR Xfinity win at Michigan

Aug. 6, 2022

By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service

Taking control of the race in the final stage, Ty Gibbs sped to his NASCAR Xfinity Series-best fifth victory of the season in Saturday’s New Holland 250 at Michigan International Speedway.

The tenor of the race changed markedly near the end of the second stage when pole winner Noah Gragson opted to stay on the track and compete for the stage win on the high-speed 2.0-mile track.

Gibbs had pitted under caution on Lap 55 and inherited the lead when Gragson and others who had stayed out until the completion of the stage came to pit road during the stage break.

The race ran caution-free from the final restart Lap 68 to the finish on Lap 125, and Gibbs beat runner-up Justin Allgaier to the stripe by 1.160 seconds. Gragson worked his way up to third but trailed Gibbs by 2.472 seconds at the finish.

“I think this type of racing shows the strategy in the pit stops,” said Gibbs, who led twice for a race-high 54 laps, matching the number of his No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. “My guys did such a great job. I work out with them during the week, so I see how hard they work. They do a great job—every one of them.

“So I'm very thankful and glad to be part of the organization that motivates me like that week in and week out—not motivates, because that's temporary—but being relentless, and I feel like that's what they showed me.”

The victory was Gibbs first at Michigan and the ninth in 39 Xfinity Series starts for a remarkable winning percentage of 23.08.

Allgaier opted for the same strategy as Gibbs, but a slow green-flag pit stop on Lap 100 cost him a chance to compete for the win.

“I pitted to try and get clear of some lapped cars, and, unfortunately, we merged back on the race track right behind those same lapped cars, right before they made their pit stops,” Allgaier said. “So not only did we have to contend with getting by them, as soon as we got by them, they all pitted.

“Second place is tough, but my daughter’s birthday’s on Monday, so we’ll celebrate, even though it’s second.”

Gragson’s No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet arguably was the fastest car in the race, but strategy and the absence of cautions in the final stage doomed his prospects.

“We won the first stage and then had a caution with about five to go in the second stage and opted to stay out, won the second stage (by .035 seconds of AJ Allmendinger),” Gragson said. “Then just flipped.

“Restarted the third stage 12th, and that kind of hurt us there at the end, but overall good day for our Bass Pro Shops, Black Rifle Camaro. We were running him down—just needed more laps there at the end.”

Brandon Jones and Austin Hill finished fourth and fifth, respectively. Josh Berry, Allmendinger, Daniel Hemric, Riley Herbst and Landon Cassill completed the top 10.

NASCAR Xfinity Series Race - 30th Annual New Holland 250
Michigan International Speedway
Brooklyn, Michigan- Saturday, August 6, 2022

                1. (9) Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 125.
                2. (3) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 125.
                3. (1) Noah Gragson, Chevrolet, 125.
                4. (7) Brandon Jones, Toyota, 125.
                5. (16) Austin Hill #, Chevrolet, 125.
                6. (6) Josh Berry, Chevrolet, 125.
                7. (2) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 125.
                8. (4) Daniel Hemric, Chevrolet, 125.
                9. (13) Riley Herbst, Ford, 125.
                10. (12) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 125.
                11. (11) Sheldon Creed #, Chevrolet, 125.
                12. (5) Sammy Smith, Toyota, 125.

Michigan native Erik Jones returns to MIS with sights set on playoff spot

David Goricki- Courtesy of The Detroit News
Erik Jones feels he has a couple of good chances to reach victory lane for the first time this season and lock a spot for the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.
This Sunday's FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway is one of them.
Jones is thrilled to be coming back to his home state to compete in the No. 43 Chevrolet for the legendary Richard Petty in his second year with the team.
Jones struggled in his first season with the team, but now is occasionally running up front in the first year with the series’ Next Gen car in play.
“It’s been an interesting year. It’s been overall good for us,” said Jones, 26, who is from Byron, Michigan. “I think the new car has really brought us back to the game and given us an opportunity to run well and have opportunities to run up front and lead laps. That’s been a fun part, for sure.
“The different winners have been pretty unusual. I mean, seeing 14 winners at this point of the season and we're probably going to see a few more before the playoffs even start and definitely a few more before the year is over. It’s been the most parity that I’ve seen in the Cup series. It’s been fun. I’ve been having good speed here and there, so I’ve enjoyed it.”
There are four races remaining before the 10-race playoffs start. The top 16 drivers earn postseason spots, and a victory automatically puts a driver in the playoffs.
Jones sits 19th in the standings and desperately needs a victory to make the playoffs. His best finish was third at California, a similar 2-mile speedway oval to MIS. He also finished sixth at Talladega and fourth at the 1½-mile Atlanta Motor Speedway last month.

Three Rookies in top 5 at Indy road course

By Reid Spencer- Tyler Reddick survived a wild overtime battle against Ross Chastain — who, as it turned out, was under penalty for finagling the first corner — to win Sunday’s Verizon 200 at the Brickyard.
Reddick’s NASCAR Cup Series victory at the 2.439-mile, 14-turn Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course was his second this month, the second of his career and his second at a road course.

There was one fundamental difference between Reddick’s win at the Brickyard and his victory on July 3 at Road America. Between the two triumphs, Reddick announced he would leave Richard Childress Racing for 23XI Racing after the 2023 season.
But Reddick proved on Sunday that lame ducks can still go fast.
“Well, we just know what we’re capable of, and we did that at Road America,” said Reddick, who led a race-high 38 laps on Sunday. “Certainly, (the announcement) was a little bump in the road, but we went out and won a race fair and square a couple weeks ago, and if we change nothing, we keep working really, really hard, we find a way back to Victory Lane.
“Just really glad to be able to do it here in Indianapolis. This is one really special place to race, and really excited to kiss the bricks here in a little bit and really excited we got (sponsor) 3CHI their win in their hometown.”
After a multicar melee in Turn 1 sent the race to overtime and dashed the hopes of Chase Elliott, who had restarted second beside Reddick on Lap 80, Reddick lined up beside AJ Allmendinger for the overtime restart.
Lining up fifth on Lap 85, Chastain steered wide on the restart and opted for the access road beyond the corner. He returned to the track after swapping the lead with Reddick throughout the first lap of overtime.
Reddick was shocked to see Chastain’s unorthodox strategy.
“I was like, ‘Uh-oh,’” Reddick said. “But that was a scenario that had been talked about. If you get bottled up, what do you do? Take the access road. I couldn’t believe he got ahead of me. I was kind of waiting to see if he was going to have a penalty, because I didn’t want to move him out of the way and make his race worse than what it was.
“Yeah, I was really surprised by that, but, hey, we made it work. Hats off to Ross for trying to do that, but really glad it didn’t end up working out, because I’d have been pretty pissed off.”
NASCAR frowned on Chastain’s artifice and assessed a 30-second penalty that dropped him to 27th at the finish, elevating Daytona 500 winner Austin Cindric to the runner-up spot.
“Just trying not to be in the chaos there in Turn 1,” Chastain said. “I thought we were four-wide, and couldn’t go any farther right, and decided to take the NASCAR access lane out there.
“Just pure reaction there, for our Worldwide Express Chevy. I took it in practice on exit, overshooting Turn 1. … Yeah, just wanted to not get hit, and merged back on where I merged.”
Harrison Burton came home third, followed by Todd Gilliland and Bubba Wallace. The results were career bests for Burton and Gilliland, and with Cindric, it marked the first time since 1994 at Pocono that three rookies have finished in the top five in a Cup race.
(The three rookies at Pocono were Joe Nemechek and Jeff Burton and Ward Burton, Harrison Burton’s father and uncle respectively.)
Despite a multitude of early spins, the first caution for an accident in Sunday’s race didn’t come until Lap 62, and it set the stage for the chaos that followed.
After green-flag pit stops, Reddick had built a lead of more than three seconds over Christopher Bell when Kyle Larson’s Chevrolet hurtled out of control into Turn 1 and blindsided the Chevy of Ty Dillon with a bone-jarring impact.
The resulting caution tightened the field and set up a restart on Lap 65 with Reddick in the lead and Bell beside him in the outside lane and Ryan Blaney trailing in third.
The outside lane on that restart and the two that followed proved to be anathema for the drivers running second. Bell was shuffled back on the Lap 65 restart and ultimately caused the fourth caution with a blown right front tire that spread debris on the track.
Elliott, who was tracking Reddick before that yellow, spun in a three-wide sandwich in Turn 1 with Blaney and William Byron on the Lap 80 restart. And defending race winner AJ Allmendinger, who had driven his No. 16 Chevrolet to second despite a malfunctioning cool suit, was forced wide on the overtime restart and dropped to seventh at the finish.
Blaney also was a victim of the final restart, spinning in Turn 1 and finishing 26th after spending the majority of the afternoon in the top five and leading 17 laps, tied for second most with Bell. That mishap cost Blaney a chance to put more distance in the standings between himself and Martin Truex Jr.
Blaney and Truex are 15th and 16th, respectively, in the Playoff standings with four races left in the regular season. After Sunday’s race, Blaney leads Truex by 25 points.
NOTE: Post-race inspection is complete with no issues, confirming Tyler Reddick as the winner of Sunday’s race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course.

FAMILY TIES, 2021 VICTORY MAKE RACING AT INDY SPECIAL FOR CINDRIC

July 27, 2022 | By Curt Cavin
Austin Cindric understands the need to update one of his memorable quotes.
After winning last year’s Pennzoil 150 at the Brickyard, NASCAR Xfinity Series’ race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Cindric said there was “nothing bigger” than winning at the track that means so much to his family. He has since won the Daytona 500, the signature race of NASCAR’s Cup Series, which necessitated the update.
“If I could change my words it would be, ‘Nothing more meaningful than winning at Indy,’ because that’s my family’s history in racing, no doubt,” he said. “But I guess winning the Daytona 500 is the biggest.”
At least for now, of course. If Cindric’s career continues to progress – and remember, he is only 23 years old with a single Cup Series victory in hand – he plans to ask his father, Tim, Team Penske’s president, and team owner Roger Penske to provide him a ride in the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge.
“I’ve always said that I need to have some form of leverage to earn my place,” Cindric said. “After I won (Daytona), I was asked by some people if this is enough? I’m like, ‘Hey, I need to focus on my day job right now,’ but one day I want to do it.
“I’ve not had the conversation (with Penske), but I wouldn’t be surprised if he knows the interest is there. Let me tell you, that man pays attention. I wore a new color of shoes (for the July 10 race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, where he finished third) and I got a text that said, ‘Nice work, nice shoes.’”
There are a lot of reasons to pay attention to what Cindric is accomplishing in a stock car. He won the 2020 Xfinity Series championship and nearly repeated last year. Before moving to Team Penske’s No. 2 Ford, Cindric had amassed 13 wins in Xfinity, including the victory at IMS.
Cindric will enter Sunday’s Verizon 200 at the Brickyard (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC) 13th in points in the standings, with his Daytona 500 victory helping his chances of assuring a playoff position. He already has his first Cup Series pole, earned at the Feb. 27 race at Auto Club Speedway. Over the past six races, he has four top-10 finishes.
The Daytona 500 victory was signature not only for crossing the finish line ahead of the pack, as Cindric executed a classic restrictor-plate block on teammate Ryan Blaney, who was charging on the outside. Blaney had been a loyal teammate in the closing laps, protecting and pushing Cindric at every opportunity, but Cindric said he had to do what was needed to win the race.
“It’s my job to win the race,” he said. “Ryan’s been the best teammate as anyone could ask for as far as being loyal. But the conversation we had as an organization was, one of us has to cross the finish line first. We both put ourselves in position to have a chance. Ryan backed up, got a run, tried to take it, and I blocked it and won the race.
“It’s obviously the biggest (NASCAR) race to win, and I don’t think you can have a single regret trying to win it.”
Cindric then had to outrun Bubba Wallace to the finish line, where the separation was .036 of a second. Blaney settled for fourth place.
“That’s far in the past now,” Blaney said. “At the time I wasn’t too good with (the block), but I’ve gotten over it.”
Despite the importance of the Daytona 500 victory, racing at IMS will always have special meaning for Cindric. His father, an Indianapolis native, joined Team Penske in October 1999 and has helped the organization win the Indianapolis 500 eight times, three times as the strategist of Helio Castroneves, Austin Cindric’s all-time favorite driver.
Both of Austin Cindric’s grandfathers made significant impacts on the Speedway, too. Carl Cindric built engines; Jim Trueman was the car owner of Bobby Rahal’s 1986 race-winning entry. Trueman also owned the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, making it a signature stop on the NTT INDYCAR SERIES circuit.
Cindric never missed Indy until 2020 when the event was held in August as he raced in Dover, Delaware. As a youngster, he fears he annoyed team members by always being in the thick of things.
“I would take anything and get it signed, like if there was a Firestone hat from the podium, I’d take the hat and I wouldn’t just get the drivers to sign it, I’d have Roger sign it, the truck drivers, the mechanics … everybody,” he said. “I’d have anyone and everyone sign it just because I thought they were important and as a driver now I certainly know they’re important.”
When Cindric became a driver, his uncle, Colin Trueman, handed over an important piece of family history. Colin had carried a pair of his father’s racing gloves in his gear bag as he competed in Atlantics and Indy Lights; Cindric now does the same. Those gloves go everywhere with him.
In Cindric’s office are one of Jim Trueman’s helmets, and in the family’s collection are one of Carl Cindric’s helmets and a pair of his racing goggles. It’s not widely discussed that Carl Cindric once had a license to race in NASCAR, and his offspring have that framed.
“That’s cool how it’s come full circle with me,” Cindric said.
It’s interesting that Cindric shared most of his rise through the motorsports ranks with his mother, the former Megan Trueman, because her schedule allowed when Tim Cindric’s schedule with Team Penske didn’t.
“She was my travel companion, my roommate, my therapist,” he said. “She packed the cooler when we went to Summer Shootout. She obviously has been around the sport a long time and worked at racetracks, like Mid-Ohio. Mom’s been everything for me.”
These days, Cindric is with his father more often, although he avoids conversation during team meetings that his father leads.
“Oh, I don’t talk to him,” Cindric said in that folksy chuckle he shares with his father. “I know I’m going to lose any battle that I pick with him because if I give him the smallest opportunity to make fun of me in front of the whole group, he will take it every single time. He takes great pride in it, and I just have to take it.”
But they share a love for Indy, and both know the words to “Back Home Again in Indiana.” Cindric proved it when he crossed the finish line after winning last year’s Xfinity Series race at IMS.
“The singing was poor, but I got every word right,” he said, laughing.
After all, making memories is what makes Indy special.

Hamlin wins at Pocono and loses race in Inspection- Highlights below

Aric Almirola assesses future, relishing what could be final year in Cup
By Zach Sturniolo Aric Almirola spent Thursday morning surrounded by the serenity of Lake Champlain in Vermont, visiting longtime friends in New England.
The timing was perfect before this weekend’s race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (Sunday, 3 p.m. ET, USA Network, NBC Sports App, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
This midweek visit isn’t something Almirola made time for in previous years on the circuit. But after 11 years of racing full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, Almirola deemed in January that 2022 would be his last. Now, Almirola is making time to savor his time on the tour with his family before hanging up his helmet.
“In the past, I would just be head down, so focused on racing and sponsors and doing all the things that I needed to do — or that I felt like I needed to do — to make sure that I was continuing my career and giving 110%,” Almirola told NASCAR.com in a Thursday teleconference. “And this year, it’s been more about relish it, enjoy it, take it all in, enjoy the moment.”
Almirola has done exactly that this season, pointing to additional time spent with his family than ever before as members join him at the track far more regularly. On the track, his two top fives equal last year’s total, while his six top-10 finishes already better his 2021 compilation.
While Almirola, a three-time winner in NASCAR’s premier series, made his impending retirement known six months ago, chatter looms that he has pondered a Cup Series return in 2023. Almirola admitted uncertainty about what his future holds.
“For me, personally, I’ve been business as usual going to the race track and focused on winning races and continuing to do what we need to do to make the playoffs,” Almirola said. “But all the stuff behind the scenes, yeah, I’ve been involved in a part of trying to help Smithfield and help Stewart-Haas Racing figure out what their plan is going forward, and I think there’s still just a lot of question marks just in general about what that’s going to look like from Smithfield’s side, from the race team’s side.
“And so I’ve had some discussions with them. And it’s been a very small part of (me) having an opinion and kind of weighing in. And I appreciate the fact that they’ve valued my opinion enough to be involved in it. I don’t know what will happen going forward, to be honest. I think the race team is still trying to figure out that and the sponsor is still trying to figure that out.
“Ultimately, I feel like I’ve made the decision to step away from the sport full-time just because it’s a grind. It really is. There’s no doubt about it. And it’s hard with my kids. They’re starting to gain a lot of momentum and seeking their own personal interests and playing sports and doing a lot of different things. And here, dad is still chasing his childhood dreams.”
Almirola is still navigating those challenges and in communication with all parties to determine those plans. Perhaps complicating matters is that Almirola is enjoying his time behind the wheel of his No. 10 Smithfield Ford.
“I will say that this year has been one of the most fun years I’ve ever had, and we’ve really embraced it,” Almirola said. “And as a family, we’ve gone to the race track more as a family this year than we ever have in the past. And it’s been really enjoyable. And as much as I’d like to continue to race, I also know that I’ve got a short gap in time to where my kids are going to have car keys and probably not going to want to hang out with dad. So I want to make sure that make the most of that as well.”
Almirola returns to New Hampshire this weekend as the defending winner, scoring a surprising yet strong victory at the 1.058-mile oval in 2021 after leading 25 laps for his first Cup triumph away from the superspeedways of Daytona and Talladega. The No. 10 team entered the event 27th in points and catapulted into the playoffs with the victory.
“For me, that win was huge,” Almirola said. “We had gone through such a stretch of just bad finishes, bad luck and just seemed like nothing would go right for us. And then we went to Loudon, it was like, boom. Finally. Everything went right, right? We had a fast race car; we executed on pit road; I did my part. Just everything went perfectly and we were able to win.
“And it showed us what we were capable of, even when we felt like we were capable of it but none of the results were showing that. Loudon was a game changer for us and it really changed the outlook of our entire season.”
Almirola is certainly in a better position entering this year’s race, sitting 12th in the regular-season standings but 42 points out of a playoff spot.
“If I had to grade our season, I’d say it’s a B to B-plus. It’s been a good year, just hasn’t been great,” Almirola said. “We’ve missed getting the Victory Lane a few times. But overall, we’ve had a lot of consistency and we’ve run well, and I feel like we’re starting to figure out this new car. Every track is different. And we’re learning that last year’s success doesn’t guarantee success this year with this car.
“We’ve had to really re-evaluate and adapt the way we attack the weekend and the setups, and everything is so unique and so new with this car that it’s still a learning process. And I feel like we’ve been doing a good job through that learning process. And we just haven’t quite got it dialed in to figure out what we need for speed and the race car to go win each weekend.”
Another season-changing victory would be quite the send-off for Almirola in what seems to be his final year as a full-time Cup racer.

NTT INDYCAR SERIES Announces
17-Race 2023 Schedule

INDIANAPOLIS (Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2022) – INDYCAR has announced a 17-race schedule for the 2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES as the sport’s brash and bold athletes will be showcased with traditional weekend dates, 13 races on NBC and an exciting, late-summer swing leading to another climactic ending to the 2023 championship.
The 2023 season opens Sunday, March 5 on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida. Thrilling, wheel-to-wheel racing then will take place all spring and summer, including the 107th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge on Sunday, May 28, before the season ends with a stirring climax Sunday, Sept. 10 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California. The journey to a championship includes a stretch of eight races in the final nine weeks of the season, giving fans action nearly every weekend.
“The NTT INDYCAR SERIES is on an impactful upward trajectory, making progress at a pace that befits our thrilling style of competition,” Penske Entertainment Corp. President and CEO Mark Miles said. “The 2023 season provides an opportunity to further build on this trend, bringing our sport and its stars to more markets and households and reaching new consumers across the globe.”
For just the fourth time in the last 50 years, the INDYCAR SERIES will have 13 or more races on network television in the United States. The total appearances on broadcast television become 15 with the addition of PPG Presents Armed Forces Qualifying coverage, Saturday and Sunday, May 20-21, ahead of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The first seven events of 2023 will be featured on NBC, including the “500.” The season also finishes with six of the final seven races on network television. The 2023 season will include three races on USA Network and for the second consecutive year one exclusive race on Peacock. Peacock will present live simulstreams of all races on NBC and USA Network, as well as live coverage of all qualifying and practice sessions next season.
In partnership with NBC Sports, the 2022 NTT INDYCAR SERIES was the most-watched season in six years and the most watched across NBC Sports on record. Powered by NBCUniversal’s popular streaming service, Peacock, the 2022 season also was the most-streamed season on record.
Half of the 2022 season’s 16 races on television featured a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of more than 1 million viewers, the highest mark since 2008. Last year’s season opener, the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Presented by RP Funding, was the most-watched season opener in 11 years.
“We’re very excited for our 2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES schedule and to build on this past season’s viewership milestones,” said NBC Sports, VP, Programming Mike Perman. “In providing comprehensive coverage across NBC, Peacock and USA Network, NBC Sports is once again looking forward to telling the stories of these world-class drivers and this compelling series.”
Traditional Dates, Races Return
The 2023 schedule includes the diversity that has been the hallmark of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, the only open-wheel series on Earth that races on ovals, street circuits and permanent road courses. Drivers will compete in seven road course races, five street circuit events and five oval races.
After the 2023 season opens for the 13th time on the palm tree-lined Streets of St. Petersburg, Sunday, March 5, North America’s premier open-wheel racing series returns to Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday, April 2 for the series’ 36th race on the action-packed oval.
The Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach follows with its traditional mid-April date hosting the NTT INDYCAR SERIES on Sunday, April 16. It is the 39th time the INDYCAR SERIES has been featured on the iconic streets of Southern California as the event hosts its 48th edition.
Barber Motorsports Park plays host to its 13th NTT INDYCAR SERIES race, Sunday, April 30 before the series moves into the traditional Month of May cadence at Indianapolis Motor Speedway: the GMR Grand Prix on Saturday, May 13, “500” qualifying weekend, Saturday and Sunday, May 20-21, and the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge, Sunday, May 28.
To date, tickets for the 107th edition of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” are moving at a near-record pace, after a near-sellout crowd of more than 300,000 attended the 2022 race.
The traditional early June date for the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear returns in 2023, but at a brand-new site. The debut of the Streets of Detroit circuit, a move to the downtown site from its previous location at Belle Isle Park, takes place Sunday, June 4.
The nine-turn, 1.7-mile street circuit will provide unprecedented access with more than half of the event’s footprint open to the public. It is also a homecoming and a connection to the event’s heritage, which began on the downtown streets of the Motor City in 1982.
USA Network will feature the early-summer swing on the classic American road courses of the Sonsio Grand Prix presented by AMR at Road America, Sunday, June 18 and The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio, which returns for another Fourth of July weekend celebration, Sunday, July 2. Road America will feature a newly repaved 4.048-mile layout. Mid-Ohio matches Long Beach as it hosts INDYCAR SERIES racing for the 39th year.
Summer Homestretch
The 2023 season hits its stride with eight races in the final nine weeks. Peacock once again will provide an exclusive presentation of the Honda Indy Toronto on Sunday, July 16, for the series’ annual appearance in Canada’s largest city.
After that, six of the final seven races will be featured on NBC broadcast television. It begins with two events expected to be even bigger and better than in 2022: the Hy-Vee INDYCAR Race Weekend and the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix.
The doubleheader at Iowa Speedway is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, July 22-23. In 2022, with support from Hy-Vee, the wildly popular weekend featured world-class concerts and thrilling wheel-to-wheel action at “The Fastest Short Track on The Planet.”
INDYCAR returns to the unpredictable Streets of Nashville on Sunday, Aug. 6. Last year, the fan-favorite event, marked by concerts and entertainment, featured the closest street circuit finish in INDYCAR SERIES history when six-time series champion Scott Dixon edged Scott McLaughlin by a margin of .1067 of a second.
With the Brickyard Weekend returning to a traditional August date, the NASCAR-INDYCAR tripleheader on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course features the NTT INDYCAR SERIES’ Gallagher Grand Prix, Saturday, Aug. 12 on USA Network.
The series finishes the season with three races on three consecutive weekends – all on NBC – beginning with the final oval of the season at World Wide Technology Raceway for the Bommarito Automotive Group 500, Sunday, Aug. 27.
From there, it’s the traditional two-race, West Coast swing featuring Portland International Raceway and the newly repaved WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
The 29th Grand Prix of Portland is scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 3 while the 2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion will be crowned and receive the Astor Challenge Cup at the 26th Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey on Sunday, Sept. 10.
“We have worked hard to achieve date and venue equity, which has been an ongoing goal at INDYCAR,” INDYCAR President Jay Frye said. “We are excited to return to downtown Detroit, and the repaves at Road America and WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca will add new challenges for the drivers and teams. The intensity level will also be at an all-time high as we conclude the season with three weekends in a row.
“As we build off the record-breaking 2022 season, we could not be more enthusiastic to see how 2023 unfolds.”
Start times for the 2023 events will be announced at a later date.
2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES Schedule
Date
Venue
Television

Sunday, March 5
Streets of St. Petersburg
NBC, Peacock

Sunday, April 2
Texas Motor Speedway
NBC, Peacock

Sunday, April 16
Streets of Long Beach
NBC, Peacock

Sunday, April 30
Barber Motorsports Park
NBC, Peacock

Saturday, May 13
Indianapolis Motor Speedway (road course)
NBC, Peacock

Sunday, May 28
Indianapolis Motor Speedway (oval)
NBC, Peacock

Sunday, June 4
Streets of Detroit
NBC, Peacock

Sunday, June 18
Road America
USA Network, Peacock

Sunday, July 2
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
USA Network, Peacock

Sunday, July 16
Streets of Toronto
Peacock

Saturday, July 22
Iowa Speedway
NBC, Peacock

Sunday, July 23
Iowa Speedway
NBC, Peacock

Sunday, Aug. 6
Streets of Nashville
NBC, Peacock

Saturday, Aug. 12
Indianapolis Motor Speedway (road course)
USA Network, Peacock

Sunday, Aug. 27
World Wide Technology Raceway
NBC, Peacock

Sunday, Sept. 3
Portland International Raceway
NBC, Peacock

Sunday, Sept. 10
WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca
NBC, Peacock

STEVIE JACKSON GETS BACK IN FUELTECH NHRA PRO MOD WIN COLUMN AT CHARLOTTE RACE POWERED BY PEE DEE FLEET

CONCORD, N.C. (Sept 25, 2022) – Two-time world champion Stevie “Fast” Jackson picked up his first win in the FuelTech NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by D-Wagon since early in the 2021 season, driving to an impressive victory on Sunday at zMAX Dragway as part of the 14th annual Betway NHRA Carolina Nationals.
The event, which was powered by Pee Dee Fleet, was the eighth of 10 races during the 2022 FuelTech NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by D-Wagon season. Jackson came to life at the perfect time, beating Topeka winner Justin Bond in the final round with his pass of 5.715-seconds at 254.62 mph in his screwblower-powered Bahrain 1 Racing Camaro.

That was Jackson’s quickest run of the weekend, giving the talented driver his 12th career victory and first since the four-wide race at Charlotte early in the 2021 campaign. To reach the finals, Jackson, who qualified fifth, knocked off Khalid AlBalooshi, Indy winner Lyle Barnett and defending world champion Jose Gonzalez, posting back-to-back reaction times of .016 and .017 to reach the championship round.

He led wire-to-wire against Bond, getting a crucial win that also pulled him to within 125 points of leader Kris Thorne with two races remaining this season.

“I didn’t know if we still knew how to win. The NHRA Pro Mod class has the absolute best competitors in the world, and this is the top of the heap,” Jackson said. “You get your teeth kicked in by these guys for a year and a half and you’re not sure if you’ll win another one. I feel like I drove pretty well, and we got a tremendous outpouring of support from the fans, and to get this win, it means a lot and we’re about to celebrate. This was an awesome event and we’re going to keep swinging at it.”

Bond advanced to the finals for the second time this season and seventh time in his career by defeating Jerico Balduf, Brandon Snider, and Virginia winner Tylor Miller. Thorne's points lead also dwindled to just 46 over multi-time world champ Rickie Smith heading into the final two events.
The FuelTech NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by D-Wagon returns to action as part of the NHRA Midwest Nationals, which takes place Sept. 30-Oct. 2 at World Wide Technology Raceway.

CONCORD, N.C. -- Final finish order (1-16) at the 14th annual Betway NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMax Dragway. The race is the eighth of 10 events in the FuelTech NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by D-Wagon.
PRO MODIFIED:
1. Steve Jackson; 2. Justin Bond; 3. Jose Gonzalez; 4. Tylor Miller; 5. Lyle Barnett; 6. Rickie Smith; 7. Brandon Snider; 8. Mike Castellana; 9. Stan Shelton; 10. Jerico Balduf; 11. Khalid alBalooshi; 12. Mike Thielen; 13. Doug Winters; 14. Kris Thorne; 15. JR Gray.
CONCORD, N.C. -- Sunday's final results from the 14th annual Betway NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMax Dragway. The race is the eighth of 10 events in the FuelTech NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by D-Wagon.
Pro Modified -- Steve Jackson, Chevy Camaro, 5.715, 254.62 def. Justin Bond, Camaro, 5.745, 249.90.

CONCORD, N.C. -- Final round-by-round results from the 14th annual Betway NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMax Dragway, the eighth of 10 events in the FuelTech NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by D-Wagon.

PRO MODIFIED:

ROUND ONE -- Rickie Smith, Ford Mustang, 5.736, 251.39 def. Doug Winters, Chevy Chevelle, 5.813, 247.43; Steve Jackson, Chevy Camaro, 5.746, 253.28 def. Khalid alBalooshi, Camaro, 5.786, 247.47; Mike Castellana, Camaro, 5.745, 248.84 def. JR Gray, Camaro, Foul - Red Light; Brandon Snider, Camaro, 5.731, 254.23 def. Stan Shelton, Mustang, 5.751, 252.47; Jose Gonzalez, Camaro, 5.709, 251.34 was unopposed; Lyle Barnett, Camaro, 5.748, 255.39 def. Kris Thorne, Camaro, Foul - Red Light; Justin Bond, Camaro, 5.752, 250.09 def. Jerico Balduf, Chevelle, 5.758, 240.59; Tylor Miller, Camaro, 5.721, 253.37 def. Mike Thielen, Camaro, 5.797, 244.38;
QUARTERFINALS -- Jackson, 5.747, 253.66 def. Barnett, 5.761, 255.00; Miller, 5.759, 252.99 def. Castellana, Broke; Bond, 5.763, 248.75 def. Snider, 7.734, 123.18; Gonzalez, 5.739, 250.46 def. Smith, 6.056, 180.86;
SEMIFINALS -- Bond, 5.767, 248.29 def. Miller, 12.265, 57.77; Jackson, 5.735, 253.85 def. Gonzalez, Foul - Red Light;
FINAL -- Jackson, 5.715, 254.62 def. Bond, 5.745, 249.90.
CONCORD, N.C. -- Point standings (top 10) following the 14th annual Betway NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMax Dragway, the eighth of 10 events in the FuelTech NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by D-Wagon.
Pro Modified-1. Kris Thorne, 664; 2. Rickie Smith, 618; 3. Steve Jackson, 539; 4. Jose Gonzalez, 463; 5. Justin Bond, 455; 6. Lyle Barnett, 432; 7. JR Gray, 361; 8. Doug Winters, 326; 9. (tie) Mike Castellana, 307; Mike Thielen, 307.

Champions Power, Team Penske Share Honors
at Victory Lap Celebration

INDIANAPOLIS (Saturday, Sept. 17, 2022) – Will Power and Team Penske stepped into the spotlight again as the 2022 NTT INDYCAR SERIES champions Saturday night during the Victory Lap Celebration at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum.
Power clinched his second series championship with a third-place finish in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet last Sunday at the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. He won his first title in 2014 with Team Penske.
Australia native Power prevailed by 16 points over teammate Josef Newgarden, delivering Team Penske its record-extending 17th INDYCAR SERIES championship. Team Penske President Tim Cindric accepted the Championship Owner Award.
Newgarden and Scott Dixon of Chip Ganassi Racing also were saluted for finishing second and third, respectively, in the standings.
Power led the 2022 season with five NTT P1 Awards for pole, earning the NTT P1 Award as the best qualifier of the season. It’s the fifth time in his career he has won this award. Power also made history last weekend by winning his 68th career pole, breaking a tie with fellow legend Mario Andretti for the all-time INDYCAR SERIES record.
Team Penske’s technical team also was honored with two awards. Kyle Moyer won the Team Manager of the Year Award for the fifth time. It’s the sixth time a Team Penske executive has won. Pennzoil presented Trevor Lacasse with the Chief Mechanic of the Year for the first time, the sixth time a Team Penske mechanic has earned this award.
Power’s No. 12 Verizon Team Penske crew also won the Firestone Pit Performance Award for earning the most cumulative Pit Stop Performance Award points during the 2022 season.
Team Penske drivers Power, Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin delivered nine of Chevrolet’s series-leading 11 victories this season, helping Chevy win the Manufacturer Award for the seventh time since it returned to the series in 2012 and the first time since 2017. Jim Danahy, U.S. vice president, Competition Motorsports Engineering for Chevrolet, accepted the award on behalf of his team.
Christian Lundgaard was honored as the 2022 NTT INDYCAR SERIES Rookie of the Year. Lundgaard, from Denmark, scored one podium finish, two top-five finishes and seven top-10s in the No. 30 Honda fielded by Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. He edged David Malukas of Dale Coyne Racing with HMD by 18 points in the standings for first-year series drivers.
Success in Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires also was honored this year at the Victory Lap, as in 2022 INDYCAR took over execution and promotion of the series that provides the last step of preparation for drivers aspiring to race in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES.
Linus Lundqvist was honored as champion after a dominant season for HMD Motorsports with Dale Coyne Racing. Lundqvist, from Sweden, won a series-high five races in the No. 26 HMD Motorsports with Dale Coyne Racing entry and clinched the Lights championship with a race to spare, ending with a 92-point advantage over Sting Ray Robb.
Lundqvist also received a painting representing his 2022 championship season created by noted motorsports artist Jim Swintal, also a longtime INDYCAR SERIES race official. Swintal has painted these works for Lights champions every year since 1991.
Andretti Autosport teammates Robb and Matthew Brabham also were honored for finishing second and third, respectively, in the standings.
HMD Motorsports with Dale Coyne Racing owners Henry and Daiva Malukas accepted an honor for their championship-winning team this season in Lights.
Hunter McElrea received the Rookie of the Year Award in Indy Lights. McElrea, from New Zealand, drove to two victories, seven podium finishes and three poles in the No. 27 Andretti Autosport entry en route to finishing fourth in the series standings.
Newgarden and Lundqvist also received the AiM Sports Move Award for their respective series, presented to the driver judged to have made the most dramatic pass of the year

TONY STEWART RETURNS TO FOX BROADCAST BOOTH FOR NHRA

TONY STEWART RETURNS TO FOX BROADCAST BOOTH FOR NHRA PLAYOFF OPENER AT MAPLE GROVE RACEWAY
READING, Pa. (Sept. 14, 2022) – Hall of Fame driver and team owner Tony Stewart is returning to the FOX broadcast booth this weekend as the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series kicks off its Countdown to the Championship playoffs with the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway.
Stewart will once again join the NHRA on FOX team of Brian Lohnes and Tony Pedregon for eliminations on Sunday, with the event also serving as the NFL adjacent broadcast on FOX. It puts the NHRA on a huge platform to open its 2022 playoffs, with Stewart also in the broadcast booth for the second consecutive race.
“Tony’s work in the FOX NHRA booth for the U.S. Nationals was absolute nails,” said Frank Wilson, FOX Sports VP Event & Studio Production. “Drawing from his experience as a Hall of Fame driver, a team and track owner, and the relationships he has with some of the biggest names in the business, Tony has a unique perspective and can talk to nearly any aspect of racing with insight and credibility. It will be great to have him back in the booth Sunday for the opening of the NHRA Countdown to the Championship.”
Eliminations will air on FOX at either 2 p.m. ET or 4:30 p.m. based on local NFL coverage areas. Last season, NHRA on FOX television coverage that ran adjacent to FOX’s NFL singleheader was the most-viewed NHRA telecast on FOX, and Stewart’s addition for eliminations adds another exciting element for race fans at the must-see playoff opener.
NHRA also opens the six-race Countdown to the Championship with plenty of momentum, as the prestigious Dodge Power Brokers NHRA U.S. Nationals in Indy drew 840,000 viewers for Monday’s eliminations on FOX with Stewart in the booth. That marks an increase of nearly 10 percent from last year’s FOX broadcast of the U.S. Nationals.
That leads into the playoff opener at Maple Grove Raceway, which also finishes off a string of eight of nine NHRA events appearing on FOX.
“Tony Stewart’s addition to the US Nationals broadcast proved to be a great success. Not only was there instant chemistry in the broadcast booth with Brian Lohnes and Tony Pedregon but it was immediately clear that he possesses a next-level passion and knowledge of NHRA drag racing, which seamlessly translated during the broadcast,” NHRA Vice President of Broadcasting Steve Reintjes said. “As we move to Reading and start our Countdown to the Championship, we’re thrilled to have Tony join the team again in front of our largest TV audience of the season.”
In addition to his broadcast duties, Stewart will have a pair of teams in action this weekend. The championship-winning driver and owner became an NHRA team owner this season for the first time, with both Top Fuel’s Leah Pruett and Funny Car’s Matt Hagan competing under the Tony Stewart Racing banner. Hagan, a three-time world champ, opens the Countdown to the Championship in third, while Leah, who won in Denver this year, will start the postseason in seventh.
Television coverage of the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals also includes qualifying action on FS1 at 7:00 p.m. ET on Friday and 11:00 a.m. on Sunday. For more information on NHRA, please visit www.nhra.com.

INDYCAR SERIES final race results Palou wins and Will Power earns his second Title

MONTEREY, Calif. - Results Sunday of the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey NTT INDYCAR SERIES event on the 2.238-mile WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):
1. (11) Alex Palou, Honda, 95, Running
2. (25) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 95, Running
3. (1) Will Power, Chevrolet, 95, Running
4. (8) Felix Rosenqvist, Chevrolet, 95, Running
5. (16) Christian Lundgaard, Honda, 95, Running
6. (7) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 95, Running
7. (4) Romain Grosjean, Honda, 95, Running
8. (5) Pato O'Ward, Chevrolet, 95, Running
9. (9) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 95, Running
10. (3) Alexander Rossi, Honda, 95, Running
11. (18) Colton Herta, Honda, 95, Running
12. (13) Scott Dixon, Honda, 95, Running
13. (6) David Malukas, Honda, 94, Running
14. (14) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 94, Running
15. (20) Devlin DeFrancesco, Honda, 94, Running
16. (23) Jimmie Johnson, Honda, 94, Running
17. (10) Simon Pagenaud, Honda, 94, Running
18. (19) Graham Rahal, Honda, 94, Running
19. (12) Helio Castroneves, Honda, 94, Running
20. (21) Jack Harvey, Honda, 94, Running
21. (17) Kyle Kirkwood, Chevrolet, 94, Running
22. (26) Simona De Silvestro, Chevrolet, 94, Running
23. (22) Takuma Sato, Honda, 94, Running
24. (15) Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 93, Running
25. (24) Dalton Kellett, Chevrolet, 93, Running
26. (2) Callum Ilott, Chevrolet, 37, Mechanical
Race Statistics
Winner's average speed: 103.277 mph
Time of Race: 2:03:31.0628
Margin of victory: 30.3812 seconds
Cautions: 1 for 3 laps
Lead changes: 7 among 5 drivers
Lap Leaders:
Power, Will 1 - 14
Ilott, Callum 15
Palou, Alex 16 - 18
Rosenqvist, Felix 19 - 23
Power, Will 24 - 26
Palou, Alex 27 - 67
Newgarden, Josef 68 - 72
Palou, Alex 73 - 95

McLaughlin Runs Away with Portland Win;
Five To Race for Title in Finale

PORTLAND, Ore. (Sunday, Sept. 4, 2022) – Scott McLaughlin made winning look easy Sunday in the Grand Prix of Portland. Predicting who will NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship a week from today will be a lot tougher.
McLaughlin earned his third victory of the season, driving his No. 3 Freightliner Team Penske Chevrolet to a 1.1792-second margin over teammate and NTT INDYCAR SERIES points leader Will Power in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet.
SEE: Race Results
That result ensured McLaughlin will be one of five drivers eligible to win the Astor Challenge Cup at the season-ending Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey on Sunday, Sept. 11 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, joining Power, Josef Newgarden, Scott Dixon and Marcus Ericsson. Power can clinch his second season championship – his first came in 2014 – by finishing third or better, regardless of his rivals’ results.
“The Freightliner Chevy all weekend has been fast and has been right there when we needed it,” McLaughlin said. “The team, the Thirsty 3’s, got the job done in the pits. We did exactly what we needed to do this weekend, and that was win and get max points and keep ourselves in the fight.
“Yeah, we’re a long shot. I don’t care. But we’re a shot, and I’m looking forward to it.”
Power’s lead grew from three to 20 points over Newgarden. Dixon also is 20 points back but is third in the standings due to fewer wins this season than Newgarden. Ericsson is fourth, 39 points back. McLaughlin is fifth, 41 behind Power.
It's the 17th consecutive season the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship will remain up for grabs until the season finale. It’s the first time since the 2017 season that at least five drivers will race for the Astor Challenge Cup at the final race. Seven drivers held mathematical title hopes with one race to go that year, but double points were awarded at the season finale at Sonoma Raceway, expanding the group of title-eligible drivers, unlike this season.
“I want to win this championship for the guys that have been with me for more than a decade,” said Power, who began driving full time for Team Penske in 2010. “It’s a lot less selfish for me this time around because they deserve it. I feel their pain over the years of losing so many, so I would love to win it for them.”
Dixon finished third in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda after starting 16th, sustaining his hopes for a record-tying seventh season championship.
“We’re still in the fight,” Dixon said. “Anything is possible. We’ve won on tiebreakers before. We’re in it, and we won’t ever give up as a team until it’s over.”
O’Ward finished fourth in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet but was eliminated from title contention. Graham Rahal rounded out the top five in the No. 15 Quartz Engine Oil Honda.
McLaughlin dominated the early portions of the race after starting on Firestone’s alternate tire, as did six of the top 10 starters in the field. His rivals tried various tire strategies between the alternates and primaries hoping to find an edge that never came.
Helping McLaughlin’s cause was the clean race. Despite pre-race driver anxiety about possible carnage in the tight Turn 1 on Lap 1, every driver made it through that Calamity Corner without incident after the green flag.
That helped McLaughlin stretch his lead to nearly 7.5 seconds over Power by Lap 33.
“The car felt really good on that first stint, but as the race went on, it got a little bit worse,” McLaughlin said. “So, I just had to work on concentrating where I wanted the strengths of the car and work with those, and the weaknesses, just try to make the best of them.”
Power pulled to within 4.4 seconds of McLaughlin by Lap 71, with Power, McLaughlin and Team Penske teammate Newgarden making their final pit stops on Lap 80, when it appeared this may be the first caution-free race at Portland since 2007.
But McLaughlin’s lead was erased, giving his rivals hope for a restart, during the one and only caution on Lap 84. Rinus VeeKay’s No. 21 Bitcoin Racing Team with BitNile Chevrolet clipped the No. 48 Carvana Honda of Jimmie Johnson while overtaking on the front straightway before Turn 1, sending Johnson’s car into the wall. Johnson was unhurt, but his race was over.
On the ensuing restart on Lap 88, McLaughlin darted away from the field. Power held second but not until his title hopes perhaps flashed before his eyes after O’Ward made an optimistic dive under Power into Turn 1 and jolted Power’s sidepod.
Both drivers continued after the contact, with damage to the aerodynamic flip-up in front of O’Ward’s left rear wheel. Race officials also judged O’Ward blocked the hard-charging Dixon after his contact with Power, and the Mexican was forced to surrender third place to Dixon.
From there, McLaughlin managed a gap over Power of about 1.1 seconds for the final 22 trips around the 12-turn, 1.964-mile road course. McLaughlin will split a $10,000 bonus with his team and a charity of his choice as the race winner as part of the PeopleReady Force for Good Challenge.
The Race for the Championship isn’t the only raging fight to be decided this Sunday in Monterey, California. Christian Lundgaard leads David Malukas by just five points, 293-288, in the race for series Rookie of the Year honors. Malukas finished 14th in the No. 18 HMD Honda today, with Lundgaard 21st in the No. 30 Mi-Jack Honda.

Brickyard Icon Gordon To Race
Labor Day Weekend Porsche Event at IMS

Legendary Crew Chief Evernham To Work with Four-Time Cup Series Champion
INDIANAPOLIS (Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2022) – Four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon will briefly step out of retirement to race in the IMSA-sanctioned Porsche Carrera Cup North America Presented by the Cayman Islands on Sept. 2-4 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
Highlighting the weekend for three-time Daytona 500 winner Gordon will be a reunion with longtime and storied crew chief Ray Evernham. It marks the first time the championship-winning combination has teamed together since 1999. Gordon joins an entry list of over 30 Porsche specialists all driving Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race cars in competition on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile, road course at the world’s most famous racetrack.
SEE: Porsche Sports Car Together Fest Tickets
“I’m looking forward to getting back in a race car and competing against a talented field of teams and drivers,” NASCAR Hall of Fame member Gordon said. “It’s always special when I get a chance to compete at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Ray and I have always talked about running another race together, and we felt like Indy was the perfect place. It’ll be a fun way to spend the holiday weekend and make some new memories.”
Gordon will drive the No. 24 entry in the Invitational class of the premier Porsche one-make race series in North America as part of the second-annual Porsche Sports Car Together Fest.
The 93-time NASCAR Cup race winner is no stranger to either road courses or IMS. Gordon spent his teenage years in nearby Pittsboro, Indiana, is a record five-time Brickyard 400 winner at IMS and holds the NASCAR Cup Series record for most road course victories (nine). In 2017, Gordon won the Rolex 24 At Daytona overall in his second attempt, becoming one of only four drivers to win both the Daytona 500 and the Daytona 24-hour race. In 2003, he had his first taste of the Indy road course in a famous “seat swap” with Formula One driver Juan Pablo Montoya.

BRAINERD, Minn. (Aug. 21, 2022) – Four-time defending Top Fuel world champion Steve Torrence drove to his first victory of the season, defending his event win at Brainerd International Raceway on Sunday at the 40th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals.
Funny Car’s Bob Tasca III also won at the 15th of 22 races during the 2022 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season in front of another big crowd in Brainerd.
Facing off with eight-time world champ Tony Schumacher in the final round, Torrence picked up his 52nd career victory – but first since last November at the Auto Club NHRA Finals – with a run of 3.866-seconds at 322.04 mph in his 11,000-horsepower Capco Contractors dragster. He improved to 5-0 against Schumacher in eliminations this year, also picking up his first win in four final round appearances in 2022.
On a challenging day, Torrence took out a host of standouts, including Mike Salinas, Topeka winner Antron Brown and points leader Brittany Force before facing off with Schumacher. Torrence had to be on his game against Brown and Force, pedaling his dragster in both rounds to advance and ultimately pick up a much-needed and rewarding victory as he prepares to begin the hunt for a fifth straight world title.
“When you’ve had the success and the dominance we’ve had, it’s difficult to not have that. You just have to grit it and dig through it,” Torrence said. “(But) these Capco boys, they’re bad to the bone. We’ve shown it time and time again. We didn’t forget how to win but, dang, it sure felt like it. I have all the confidence and the faith in the world in this team because that car is always bad to the bone. Maybe we’re getting our stuff together at the right time because we’re charging for that (fifth world title).
“A day like today is one you’re most proud of a driver. On days like today when the car doesn’t do quite what it’s supposed to do, you have to earn your keep as a driver. It’s wins like this you’ll always cherish and remember as a driver.”
Schumacher advanced to his second final in the past three races and the 156th in his standout career thanks to round wins against Doug Kalitta, Josh Hart, and Justin Ashley. Brittany Force maintained the points lead in the class and it now stands at 94 points over Salinas. Torrence moved up to third in Top Fuel points with the win.
Funny Car’s Tasca continued his incredible run this summer, winning his second straight race and third in the past four events. He was the only driver in both nitro categories to make clean runs on every pass Sunday, finishing it off with a stellar pass of 3.945 at 329.42 in his 11,000-horsepower Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang against defending world champ Ron Capps in the final round. While most teams struggled during the second and third rounds, Tasca only seemed to get better, making four three-second runs during eliminations to knock off Dale Creasy Jr., Chad Green, and points leader Robert Hight to reach the final round.
Tasca, who has now advanced to the final round in five of the past six races, followed with another great performance against Capps to win for the first time in Brainerd. With the Countdown to the Championship approaching, Tasca and his team appear to be peaking at the perfect time.
“I’ve said this many times but what we’ve done lately has been amazing,” Tasca said. “We’ve not backed into any win and performed at a high level throughout. This is incredible execution by the team, and I mean every single person. This team has performed flawlessly. The package we have is unlike anything I’ve ever had in my driving career. (My team) always has an answer and when that happens, as a driver you just have to go out and do your job.
“All weekend, I was fighting the car down the track. It was spinning and moving around. If you let it get out of the groove, it will spin the tires. Keeping it in the center of the groove is critical, especially today. I’m so proud of what we’ve done. We have a lot of unfinished business ahead of us and we’re all chasing the same trophy at the end of the year.”
Capps reached his 135th career final round by getting wins against longtime rival John Force, Bobby Bode, and Alexis DeJoria, staying third in points. Hight kept a comfortable points lead over Matt Hagan, while Tasca moved up to fourth in points with one race left in the regular season.
The NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series returns to action with the prestigious Dodge Power Brokers NHRA U.S. Nationals on Aug. 31-Sept. 5 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.
BRAINERD, Minn. -- Final finish order (1-16) at the 40th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway. The race is the 15th of 22 events in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series.
TOP FUEL:
1. Steve Torrence; 2. Tony Schumacher; 3. Justin Ashley; 4. Brittany Force; 5. Shawn Langdon; 6. Billy Torrence; 7. Antron Brown; 8. Josh Hart; 9. Clay Millican; 10. Krista Baldwin; 11. Leah Pruett; 12. Austin Prock; 13. Mike Salinas; 14. Doug Kalitta; 15. Scott Farley.
FUNNY CAR:
1. Bob Tasca III; 2. Ron Capps; 3. Alexis DeJoria; 4. Robert Hight; 5. Chad Green; 6. J.R. Todd; 7. Matt Hagan; 8. Bobby Bode; 9. Cruz Pedregon; 10. Dale Creasy Jr.; 11. John Force; 12. Steven Densham; 13. Blake Alexander; 14. Jim Campbell; 15. Tim Wilkerson.

Kurt Busch announces he will miss races at Watkins Glen, Daytona

By
Staff Report NASCAR.com August 18, 2022 at 5:39 PMEditor’s note: Kurt Busch will be spotlighted in USA Network’s new unscripted series “Race for the Championship” airing this fall. The first episode is Thursday, Sept. 1, at 10 p.m. ET/PT. Watch the trailer
Kurt Busch has been ruled out for the next two NASCAR Cup Series races at Watkins Glen International and Daytona International Speedway, the 23XI Racing driver announced Thursday.
Busch will not be behind the wheel of the No. 45 Toyota for remainder of the regular season while concussion-like symptoms persist from his July 24 crash at Pocono Raceway. The Watkins Glen and Daytona races will be the fifth and sixth event, respectively, the veteran has missed.
“As much as I want to be in the car, the time is still not right,” Busch said in a statement. “… This decision is not an easy one, but the right one.”
As expected, Xfinity Series regular Ty Gibbs is slated to drive the No. 45 Toyota for 23XI at Sunday’s Go Bowling at The Glen (3 p.m. ET, USA Network, NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) and at Daytona. Gibbs started the last four events for the No. 45 team, collecting three finishes inside the top 17.
There are just two races remaining before the NASCAR Playoffs begin, leaving questions surrounding Busch and the No. 45 team’s playoff outlook.
As it stands with 15 winners, Busch has been granted a waiver should he qualify for the Round of 16 by way of his win at Kansas Speedway earlier this season.

DEFENDING FUNNY CAR WORLD CHAMP RON CAPPS ENJOYS SPECIAL ATMOSPHERE OF LUCAS OIL NHRA NATIONALS

BRAINERD, Minn. (Aug. 16, 2022) – There are several reasons why Brainerd International Raceway is a special place for reigning Funny Car world champion Ron Capps, but the incredible atmosphere at the facility is certainly among them. He’s eager to experience it at this weekend’s 40th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals, where a legion of fans will again be extra excited to cheer on the longtime standout.

The special “Capps Corner” portion of “The Zoo” campgrounds is filled with Capps aficionados, and they’ll be out in full force this weekend as the two-time NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series world champ looks to build momentum for the Countdown to the Championship.

He’s put together a solid season in his 11,000-horsepower NAPA Auto Parts Toyota GR Supra, winning twice, advancing to three final rounds, and picking up four No. 1 qualifiers. Capps also has no trouble getting amped up for what will be another special weekend in Brainerd, where he’s put together an impressive six victories at the track.

“We do something pretty cool for a living and sometimes you forget that while you’re competing, and you really feel like a rockstar when you go there to ‘The Zoo,’” Capps said. “The fans love it. They come out to the race for you and when you go out there to see them, it’s so cool. There’s a fine line to enjoying the Brainerd race like our fans do and also keeping your game face on and we’ve found a way to walk that line. We’ll all go out there together, but just that mojo and feeding off the fans, it’s so fun and always a fun race for us.”

Steve Torrence (Top Fuel) and Matt Hagan (Funny Car) won the 2021 event, and this year’s race will be broadcast on Fox Sports 1 (FS1) and the FOX broadcast network, including eliminations coverage starting at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX on Sunday, Aug. 21. It is the 15th of 22 races during the 2022 season and penultimate race in the regular season.

Capps won three straight at the track from 2012-2014 and his latest victory in Brainerd came in 2019, which is a victory he’ll always remember, mostly due to the post-race scene in “The Zoo” with the Wally, something he’ll try to repeat this weekend.

“We cruised around every campground with the Wally and people were so excited to get their pictures with it and with our team,” Capps said. “It was so much fun. There were so many pictures floating around that next week, and I think that Sunday night made a lot of people’s weekends.”

It would certainly make Capps’ weekend to add another victory this season leading into Indy and the Countdown to the Championship. Of course, it won’t be easy against a loaded Funny Car lineup that features points leader Robert Hight, who has an incredible six wins this year, defending event winner Hagan, longtime rival John Force, who has 11 Brainerd wins, Topeka winner Bob Tasca III and Cruz Pedregon, but Capps likes how his team is performing heading to crunch time.

With ideal temperatures slated for Brainerd, it could also be a weekend of massive runs, something that suits Capps, who has 70 career victories, just fine.

“Every driver and crew chief are looking at that forecast, and Brainerd is always fast,” Capps said. “Conditions like this, you could see some records fall. As a Funny Car driver, it’s a great, great surface there and we’re all pumped up. I feel good about our team and we’re doing a good job of implementing some different things within qualifying. But you have to be Countdown ready when you leave Brainerd. You go to Indy trying to win the race, so Brainerd is the last spot to get the car right and ready for the Countdown.”

Torrence became a first-time winner at Brainerd last year in Top Fuel, which also gave him a victory at every track on the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series circuit. The Texan finished the year with his fourth straight world title, but Torrence will need to be on his game against a loaded Top Fuel field. It’s led by Brittany Force, who has four wins and the points lead, and also features a litany of stars like Mike Salinas, another four-time winner in 2022, three-time Brainerd winner Tony Schumacher, Justin Ashley, who has two wins this season, Doug Kalitta, Denver winner Leah Pruett, Josh Hart, Clay Millican, Topeka winner Antron Brown, and Austin Prock

The event also will feature thrilling competition in the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, which includes some of the sport’s top drivers, as well as the FuelTech NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by D-Wagon and the exciting Mountain Motor Pro Stock category, bringing their powerful 800-plus cubic-inch engines to Brainerd. Reigning Pro Mod world champ Jose Gonzalez won the race a year ago as the category made its debut at the facility. This year, the FuelTech NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by D-Wagon will also participate in a specialty race at Brainerd, as the D-Wagon NHRA Pro Mod Shootout will take place on Friday and Saturday, with $10,000 being awarded to the winner.

On both Friday and Saturday, fans can witness a must-see cacklefest in the Midway, as well as a wheelstander exhibition from the “Walking Tall” PT Cruiser driven by “NitroMike.” On Saturday, fans can also attend Nitro School to learn more about how the cars operate and reach their thrilling speeds.

Race fans at Brainerd International Raceway can enjoy the special pre-race ceremonies that introduce and celebrate each of the drivers racing for the prestigious Wally on Sunday and includes the fan favorite SealMaster Track Walk. The final can’t-miss experience of any NHRA event is the winner’s circle celebration on Sunday after racing concludes, where fans are invited to congratulate the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals event winners.
As always, fans also get an exclusive pit pass to the most powerful and sensory-filled motorsports attraction on the planet in Brainerd. This unique opportunity gives fans a unique chance to see teams in action and service their hot rods between rounds, get autographs from their favorite NHRA drivers, and more. Fans can also visit NHRA’s popular Nitro Alley and Manufacturers Midway, where sponsors and race vendors create an exciting atmosphere that includes interactive displays, simulated competitions, merchandise, food, and fun for the entire family. The new Pep Boys midway display will include tire change challenges, oil change challenges, a slot car track, and much more, adding even more excitement to the midway.

NHRA at Topeka hits in four divisions

TOPEKA, Kan. (Aug. 14, 2022) – Three-time Top Fuel world champion Antron Brown enjoyed a monumental day at Heartland Motorsports Park, picking up his first win as a team owner with his memorable triumph on Sunday at the 33rd annual Menards NHRA Nationals presented by PetArmor.

Bob Tasca III (Funny Car), Troy Coughlin Jr. (Pro Stock) and Joey Gladstone (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also won the 14th of 22 races during the 2022 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season.
Facing off with four-time defending world champion Steve Torrence in the final round, Brown powered to a run of 3.902-seconds at 309.49 mph in his 11,000-horsepower Matco Tools dragster to earn his 69th career victory and first since the third race of the 2021 season, snapping a 30-race winless streak in the process. It’s also his first since he became a team owner this year, as Brown put together a strong day that started with round wins against points leader Brittany Force in a first-round thriller, Josh Hart, and Justin Ashley, setting up the marquee matchup with Torrence. Brown had the starting-line advantage and enjoyed a wire-to-wire win, setting off a huge celebration for the longtime star.
“We kept our heads down,” Brown said. “We faced a lot of resistance, but this AB Motorsports team, we’re all one unit. I wouldn’t want to do this with anybody else. All the people that have been behind us and supported us, this means so much. We’re doing this together and this is a very special day. It felt so good to get this win. I love it and here we come, baby.”
Torrence reached the final round for the third time this season and the 79th time in his career thanks to wins against Kyle Wurtzel, Seattle winner Tony Schumacher and No. 1 qualifier Mike Salinas. Force maintained the points lead but saw it shrink to 31 points over Salinas with her first-round defeat to Brown.
Tasca put together another incredible performance, staying red-hot in his 11,000-horsepower BG Products Ford Mustang and edging out the legendary John Force in the final round with a run of 3.999 at 316.82. It gave Tasca his second victory in the past three races – and his fourth final round in the past five events – and the 11th win in his career. He put together round victories against Jack Wyatt and Matt Hagan to reach the final round, improving to 4-0 in championship rounds against the 16-time world champion. It also wrapped up yet another dominant weekend for Tasca, who won for the first time in Topeka and continued to strengthen his championship hopes at the perfect time of the year.

“The guys worked so hard, and we’ve been working a long time for this,” said Tasca, who is fifth in points. “It was challenging conditions for our team, but these guys are awesome, and we got it done. Getting ready for the Countdown is what it’s all about right now. To get four finals in the last five races, and win two races in the last three races, I think we’ve got things in gear. These were really tough conditions and to see this Mustang go up and down the track like it did, it was great.”

Force reached the final round for the second straight year in Topeka, knocking off Cruz Pedregon, defending world champion Ron Capps and teammate Robert Hight to get there. It’s also Force’s third final this year and 264th in his career. Hight maintained the points lead, which now stands at 237 points over Hagan.

Coughlin Jr. didn’t have to wait long for his second career Pro Stock win, making it two victories in a row with a phenomenal weekend in Topeka, including a final-round run of 6.680 at 206.54 in his JEGS.com/Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro to knock off defending world champion Greg Anderson. Not only did Coughlin win his second straight race, but the rising star also denied Anderson, the No. 1 qualifier, his 100th career win. He reached the finals with victories against Chris McGaha and Fernando Cuadra Jr., and then knocked off points leader and teammate Erica Enders for a second straight race. Coughlin was first off the line against Anderson in the finals and held off the five-time champ to throw his name in the championship mix in the process.

“It’s extremely meaningful,” said Coughlin, whose father, Troy Sr., won in Topeka in 2002 in Pro Stock. “Anytime you can win at the same track as your father, it’s extremely memorable. I remember when I was in sixth grade, and he’s in the final round, and I’ll just never forget this elation. It’s a lot of work with these Pro Stock cars. When you struggle with one, it’s like struggling two times. But that’s kudos to everyone at Elite Motorsports. Everyone there, every car, and they rally around it.”

Anderson reached his 169th career final round – and second this season – by knocking off Bo Butner and teammate Kyle Koretsky. Enders keeps a healthy points lead and a 126-point advantage over teammate Aaron Stanfield.

Gladstone wrapped up a perfect weekend in Pro Stock Motorcycle, going 6.876 at 195.59 on his J&A Service Suzuki Hayabusa to knock off Eddie Krawiec in the championship round. It gave Gladstone his second straight – and second career – victory in the class as the young standout made the quickest run of every single session in both qualifying and eliminations. After a dominant performance in qualifying, Gladstone didn’t let up on raceday, knocking off David Barron and Angie Smith to set up the final with Krawiec. He denied Krawiec his 50th career win, making his seventh straight run in the 6.80s to finish off a remarkable weekend in style. He also took over the points lead on Saturday and pushed it to a 64-point lead over Angelle Sampey with his stellar showing in eliminations as Pro Stock Motorcycle appeared in Topeka for the first time since 1997.

“This is what dreams are made of,” Gladstone said. “I’m just so thankful and so proud of this team. They’re so awesome and this is unbelievable right now. Our guys gave me a perfect bike this weekend and we kind of lucked up into a tuneup. We put something that we thought would be close and we nailed it. We just had to make small adjustments to it, and I just had to keep doing my thing. It’s taken quite some time to do this, and these are extremely difficult to ride correctly. My tuner is doing a terrific job and to be doing it in this style, it's so cool.”

Krawiec came up short against Gladstone in the final round for the second straight race, but he did move to third in points by defeating Ryan Oehler, defending world champ Matt Smith and Jerry Savoie. It’s also his 91st career final round.

The NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series returns to action Aug. 18-21 with the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway in Brainerd, Minn.

***

TOPEKA, Kan. -- Final finish order (1-16) at the 33rd annual Menards NHRA Heartland Nationals presented by PetArmor at Heartland Motorsports Park. The race is the 14th of 22 events in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series.

TOP FUEL:
1. Antron Brown; 2. Steve Torrence; 3. Mike Salinas; 4. Justin Ashley; 5. Josh Hart; 6. Tony Schumacher; 7. Shawn Langdon; 8. Leah Pruett; 9. Doug Kalitta; 10. Clay Millican; 11. Austin Prock; 12. Brittany Force; 13. Kyle Wurtzel; 14. Doug Foley; 15. Buddy Hull; 16. Terry Totten.

FUNNY CAR:
1. Bob Tasca III; 2. John Force; 3. Robert Hight; 4. Matt Hagan; 5. Ron Capps; 6. Alexis
DeJoria; 7. Paul Lee; 8. Jim Campbell; 9. Chad Green; 10. Jack Wyatt; 11. Blake Alexander; 12. Cruz Pedregon; 13. Tim Wilkerson; 14. J.R. Todd.

PRO STOCK:
1. Troy Coughlin Jr.; 2. Greg Anderson; 3. Erica Enders; 4. Kyle Koretsky; 5. Bo Butner; 6.
Dallas Glenn; 7. Aaron Stanfield; 8. Fernando Cuadra Jr.; 9. Cristian Cuadra; 10. Deric Kramer; 11. Camrie Caruso; 12. Matt Hartford; 13. Chris McGaha; 14. Mason McGaha; 15. Fernando Cuadra.
PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE:
1. Joey Gladstone; 2. Eddie Krawiec; 3. Jerry Savoie; 4. Angie Smith; 5. Matt Smith; 6. LE
Tonglet; 7. Angelle Sampey; 8. Karen Stoffer; 9. Marc Ingwersen; 10. Steve Johnson; 11. Ryan Oehler; 12. David Barron; 13. Chris Bostick; 14. Jianna Evaristo.

Joey Gladstone qualifies at Topeka

Joey Gladstone-
Pro Stock Motorcycle Provisional No. 1 Qualifier
J&A Service Suzuki Hayabusa
6.831 seconds, 195.08 mph
NOTE: Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Joey Gladstone powered his way to a 6.831-second pass at 195.08 mph on Friday at the Menards NHRA Nationals Presented By PetArmor. If it holds, it will be Gladstone’s first career No. 1 qualifier.

Feld Motor Sports and MX Sports Pro Racing Partner to Form the SuperMotocross World Championship Race Purse Increased to Sport’s Richest - $10 Million

Reigning Monster Energy AMA Supercross Champion Eli Tomac (3) leading a star-studded field into the first turn at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. Photo Credit: Feld Motor Sports

PALMETTO, Fla./MORGANTOWN, W.Va., (August 2, 2022) – Feld Motor Sports, Inc. and MX Sports Pro Racing today jointly announced a partnership that will see the formation of the SuperMotocross World Championship. Under this new alliance, the two companies will work together to grow both, Supercross and Motocross, creating a new championship platform that will reward the sport’s best athletes with a $10 million purse - the richest offering in either sports’ history.

Starting in 2023, the professional racing season will expand and culminate with the SuperMotocross World Championship on Saturday, October 14 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California.

“With the creation of the SuperMotocross World Championship, we are taking a significant step towards growing the sport into a series that will be better suited for the expanding global marketplace and its impact on our fans and sponsors,” said Kenneth Feld, Chair and CEO of Feld Entertainment, Inc. “As media and technology continue to evolve, SuperMotocross will be able to capitalize on these innovations to reach new audiences and grow exponentially in the coming years.”

The Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship and the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship will both continue to crown their own champions at the conclusion of their respective series’. Afterwards, the top 22 250cc athletes and the top 22 450cc athletes in combined Supercross and Pro Motocross points will qualify to compete in the two SuperMotocross Playoff Rounds and World Championship round for the SuperMotocross #1 plate and sport’s richest payout.
“We are celebrating 50 years of American Motocross this season and the creation of the SuperMotocross World Championship and working in unison with Supercross may be one of the most significant changes the sport has ever undertaken,” said Carrie Coombs-Russell, Chief Executive Officer, MX Sports Pro Racing. “This collaboration will create the only off-road racing series on the planet that provides a fully supported infrastructure, from amateur development to the professional ranks for global competitors to race on the world’s most challenging and demanding tracks.”

All seven of the primary original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) – KTM, Husqvarna, GASGAS, Kawasaki, Honda, Yamaha, and Suzuki, are excited about this new partnership and are fully committed to competing with their race teams. Factory-supported racing efforts have been the backbone of professional racing in the United States for more than five decades. Their commitment ensures that the highest level of racing competition will continue in Supercross, Pro Motocross and throughout the SuperMotocross Playoffs and World Championship.

“The creation of the SuperMotocross World Championship is the biggest and most positive step to ever happen in our sport,” said Roger De Coster – Director of Motorsports, KTM Group North America. “Supercross and Motocross racing in the U.S. is very strong right now and this investment from Feld Motor Sports and MX Sports Pro Racing will bring the next generation of fans to motorcycling.”

"The SuperMotocross World Championship is an important and necessary step forward for our sport,” stated Chris Brull, Kawasaki Vice President of Marketing and Racing. “The collaboration between Feld Motor Sports and MX Sports Pro Racing further strengthens Kawasaki's commitment to this new world championship and to the already well-established and successful Supercross and Motocross championships."

The SuperMotocross World Championship will combine both disciplines of Supercross and Pro Motocross introducing a unique and distinct form of racing called SuperMotocross, hence becoming a new discipline for the sport. Custom-designed tracks will be built to showcase this new style of racing. World-class venues will allow room to integrate the best track designs from Supercross, Pro Motocross and now SuperMotocross, finally providing a stage where the sport’s ultimate debate can be decided – who is the best in the world and ultimately crowning a new overall champion.
Current Pro Motocross 450 Class point leader and multi-time champion Eli Tomac storms to victory at the annual RedBud National from Michigan’s RedBud MX. Photo Credit: MX Sports Pro Racing / Align Media

“As a manufacturer, it's great to see two of our valued partners collaborating to bring something new to our sport,” said Brandon Wilson, Manager of Racing and Experiential Marketing, Honda Power Sports & Products. “Considering that this has been in the works for more than two years, we are excited to now finally be able to share this significant news. The SuperMotocross World Championship is going to add a lot of intrigue for everyone. Fans will have more opportunities to see their favorite riders and the most competitive racing, plus we'll now see who the best overall rider is.”

“As the current and reigning champion in both Supercross and Motocross, we’re extremely proud to have earned those titles battling the best competition on the planet,” said Derek Brooks, Yamaha Motorcycle Product Line Manager. “The SuperMotocross World Championship is a unique, yet also natural next step for the sport as we work together to highlight the immense talent of the athletes who compete on our class-leading product.”

Feld Motor Sports and MX Sports Pro Racing have worked together previously on industry related initiatives, none more significant than joining forces in the early days of the pandemic to save motorcycle racing in the United States. Both companies will continue to work together in a collaborative effort to continue growing the sport both domestically and abroad. Bringing together the leadership experience of both organizations and creating a unified rule book will ensure consistency across the series for both athletes and teams. Their combined marketing and operational expertise will strengthen and grow fan engagement through integrated media, promotional, sponsorship and activation programming across the racing season.

“We are inspired to see this new partnership and the creating of the SuperMotocross World Championship,” said Chris Wheeler, Motorsports Manager for Suzuki Motor USA, LLC. “Suzuki is looking forward to racing in this new championship and competing at the highest level in Supercross, Motocross, and now the SuperMotocross World Championship.”

The 2023 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship schedule will be announced in the coming weeks, followed by the 2023 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship, sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing schedule. Dates and venues for the upcoming SuperMotocross World Championship and additional details will be announced later in the year. For updates and all the latest news please make sure to visit SupercrossLIVE and Pro Motocross.

BIG STAKES FOR NHRA CAMPING WORLD DRAG RACING SERIES

BRAINERD, Minn. (Aug. 2, 2022) – Known for its unique and memorable atmosphere, as well as plenty of thrilling racing action, Brainerd International Raceway is again set to host a key stop during the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season with the 40th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals on Aug. 18-21.

It is the 15th of 22 races during the 2022 NHRA campaign, marking the penultimate race of the regular season. That means plenty is on the line for the stars in the 11,000-horsepower, 330-mph Top Fuel and Funny Car classes as they get ready for the Countdown to the Championship playoffs.

For four decades, Brainerd International Raceway has played host to remarkable racing action, some of the best camping on the NHRA tour and the famed “Zoo,” which provides something unique for fans and racers. This year, fans can enjoy two qualifying sessions on both Friday and Saturday, a specialty shootout in the FuelTech NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by D-Wagon, and then Sunday eliminations to cap off a weekend sure to be filled with incredible moments.

Steve Torrence (Top Fuel) and Matt Hagan (Funny Car) won the 2021 event, and this year’s race will be broadcast on Fox Sports 1 (FS1) and the FOX broadcast network, including eliminations coverage starting at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX on Sunday, Aug. 21.

Torrence became a first-time winner at Brainerd last year in Top Fuel, which also gave him a victory at every track on the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series circuit. It clinched an impressive honor for the Texan, who finished the season with his fourth straight world championship. He’ll look for some more momentum heading into the playoffs this year in Brainerd, but Torrence will need to be on his game against a loaded Top Fuel field. It’s led by Brittany Force, who has four wins and the points lead, and also features a litany of stars like Mike Salinas, another four-time winner in 2022, three-time Brainerd winner Tony Schumacher, Justin Ashley, who has two wins this season, Doug Kalitta, Denver winner Leah Pruett, Josh Hart, Clay Millican, Antron Brown, and Austin Prock

Hagan finally cashed in at Brainerd for the first time in his standout career last year, picking up the Funny Car win in a thriller against Cruz Pedregon in the final round. Hagan, a three-time world champ, has enjoyed a strong 2022 season, picking up three victories and he’ll look to add another in Brainerd as he tries to track down points leader Robert Hight, who has racked up four wins thus far. Hight has won once in Brainerd, but nobody has been better at BIR than John Force, who has an incredible 11 Brainerd wins. Defending world champ Ron Capps has also been a standout at the track with six wins, while others to watch include former world champ J.R. Todd, 2017 Brainerd winner Alexis DeJoria, Blake Alexander, Tim Wilkerson, and Sonoma winner Bob Tasca III.

Top Fuel legend Tony Schumacher secured his 86th career NHRA win on Sunday at Pacific Raceways when he defeated category points leader Brittany Force.

SCHUMACHER, HIGHT AND COUGHLIN JR. CLOSE OUT WESTERN SWING WITH WINS AT FLAV-R-PAC NHRA NORTHWEST NATIONALS

KENT, Wash. (July 31, 2022) – Eight-time Top Fuel world champion Tony Schumacher picked up his first win since 2020, powering to his 86th career victory on Sunday at the 33rd annual Flav-R-Pac NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways.

Robert Hight (Funny Car) and Troy Coughlin Jr. (Pro Stock) also won at the 13th of 22 races during the 2022 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season and the final stop during the three-race NHRA Western Swing.

Schumacher held off points leader Brittany Force in the final round, going 3.977-seconds at 251.34 mph in his 11,000-horsepower Okuma dragster. It gave the longtime standout his fifth Seattle victory – and his first at Pacific Raceways since 2008 – and also the first win for Joe and Cathi Maynard, who became majority team owners last week. His 86th career win surpasses Bob Glidden for the fourth-most in NHRA history as Schumacher and his team have fully rebounded from a slow start this year. He beat Scott Palmer, Shawn Langdon, and then Justin Ashley in a wild pedalfest to reach the finals, where he outlasted Force to tie Joe Amato for the most Top Fuel wins at Pacific Raceways in NHRA history.

“This is fantastic,” Schumacher said. “We were having a tough time this year, but we dug deep, worked hard, and made some big changes. Joe and Cathi are a great group of people and when good stuff happens, it’s a beautiful thing. It’s good for my guys, it’s good for Joe and Cathi and this is cool stuff. You’ve got to perform in this class, and these are not easy to win. To have five here in Seattle is phenomenal and we all felt good coming here this weekend.”

Force advanced to her fifth final round this season and 33rd in her career with wins against Jim Maroney, Josh Hart, and Leah Pruett. The standout also set the track speed record on Sunday with a run of 332.43 and stretched her points lead to 71 points over Mike Salinas.

Hight wrapped up a nearly-perfect Western Swing with another spectacular Sunday performance, delivering a stellar 3.975 at 319.98 in his 11,000-horsepower Auto Club Chevrolet Camaro SS to slip past J.R. Todd in the final round. It gives the Funny Car points leader his sixth win this season and 59th in his career and a great finish to a Western Swing that included two victories and a semifinal appearance. Hight made the quickest run in each round of eliminations as he knocked off defending world champ Ron Capps, Alexis DeJoria, and John Force to reach the final round. He led wire-to-wire against Todd en route to his second career victory at Seattle.

“We weren’t the best car in qualifying, but we had to be on our game today,” Hight said. “We had low E.T. every round and that’s big. We’ve been good when the conditions were good, so I’m proud of what these guys did in the heat. It’s amazing to have six wins at this point in the season. I love it here in Seattle and it was great to be back, and we capitalized when we needed to. Everyone is pulling in the same direction on all of our teams and as a driver, that gives you a lot of confidence. We’re very hopeful we can keep this going, but we just have to continue to stay focused and keep working toward our goal.”

Todd broke through with his first final round of the season, knocking off Blake Alexander and No. 1 qualifier Bob Tasca III. It’s his 41st career finals appearance. Hight’s points lead now stands at 228 points over Matt Hagan.

Coughlin Jr. broke through in a major way on Sunday in Pro Stock, getting his first career win as a professional, going 6.638 at 208.68 in his JEGS.com/Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro in the final round to slip past teammate and points leader Erica Enders. After struggling early in the season, Coughlin and his team have come on strong as of late, hitting a major accomplishment in Seattle. He knocked off Fernando Cuadra, rookie Camrie Caruso and defending world champion Greg Anderson, who also qualified No. 1, to reach the final round against Enders. Both had solid reaction times, but Coughlin chased her down in his fourth career final round.

“All the credit in the world goes to this entire team and everyone at Elite Motorsports,” Coughlin said. “To have that many good runs in the heat is extremely difficult and impressive to do. What an honor to win today and I’m tickled to death. The car is phenomenal and a blast to drive, and I’m the luckiest kid in the pits. When the morale is up the car just starts to work. This team is gaining momentum and I’m excited to get to Topeka.”

Enders maintained her dominance in the class, advancing to her eighth final round in 2022 and the 69th in her career. She beat Chris McGaha, area native Dallas Glenn, and teammate Aaron Stanfield to reach the championship round, extending her points lead to 103 points over Stanfield in the process.

The NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series returns to action Aug. 12-14 with the 33rd annual Menards NHRA Nationals presented by PetArmor at Heartland Motorsports Park in Topeka, Kan.

***

KENT, Wash. -- Final finish order (1-16) at the 33rd annual Flav-R-Pac NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways. The race is the 13th of 22 events in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series.

TOP FUEL:
1. Tony Schumacher; 2. Brittany Force; 3. Leah Pruett; 4. Justin Ashley; 5. Shawn Langdon; 6. Doug Kalitta; 7. Josh Hart; 8. Steve Torrence; 9. Clay Millican; 10. Antron Brown; 11. Austin Prock; 12. Alex Laughlin; 13. Jim Maroney; 14. Scott Palmer; 15. Ron Smith; 16. Mike Salinas.

FUNNY CAR:
1. Robert Hight; 2. J.R. Todd; 3. John Force; 4. Tim Wilkerson; 5. Alexis DeJoria; 6. Bob Tasca III; 7. Blake Alexander; 8. Jim Campbell; 9. Cruz Pedregon; 10. Matt Hagan; 11. Ron Capps; 12. Gary Densham.

PRO STOCK:
1. Troy Coughlin Jr.; 2. Erica Enders; 3. Aaron Stanfield; 4. Greg Anderson; 5. Dallas Glenn; 6. Camrie Caruso; 7. Kyle Koretsky; 8. Fernando Cuadra Jr.; 9. Cristian Cuadra; 10. Mason McGaha; 11. Matt Hartford; 12. Fernando Cuadra; 13. Deric Kramer; 14. Chris McGaha; 15. Bo Butner.

KENT, Wash. -- Sunday's final results from the 33rd annual Flav-R-Pac NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways. The race is the 13th of 22 in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series:

Top Fuel -- Tony Schumacher, 3.977 seconds, 251.34 mph def. Brittany Force, 5.145 seconds, 153.14 mph.

Funny Car -- Robert Hight, Chevy Camaro, 3.975, 319.98 def. J.R. Todd, Toyota Supra, 3.978, 324.75.

Pro Stock -- Troy Coughlin Jr., Chevy Camaro, 6.638, 208.68 def. Erica Enders, Camaro, 6.644, 209.17.

Top Alcohol Dragster -- Jackie Fricke, 5.668, 242.58 def. Kim Parker, 8.270, 139.04.

Top Alcohol Funny Car -- Jake Guadagnolo, Chevy Camaro, 5.565, 262.23 def. Brian Hough, Camaro, 5.567, 264.08.

Competition Eliminator -- Ryan Priddy, Chevy Camaro, 7.107, 148.01 def. Bruce Schmiedl, Bantam Roadster, Foul - Red Light.

Super Stock -- Rod Stults, Olds Ciera, 10.969, 103.15 def. Kyle Rizzoli, Chevy Camaro, 10.154, 137.04.

Stock Eliminator -- Jody Lang, Chevy Malibu Wagon, 12.317, 92.33 def. Ryan McClanahan, Chevy Camaro, Foul - Red Light.

Super Comp -- Dylan Hough, Dragster, 8.914, 180.02 def. James Glenn, Dragster, 8.935, 161.23.

Super Gas -- Randy Sides, Chevy Camaro, 9.923, 173.07 def. Rodney Lee, Chevy Corvette, Foul - Red Light.

Super Street -- Tony Hopkins, Chevy, 10.910, 147.15 def. David Wakefield, Chevelle, Foul - Red Light.

Top Sportsman presented by Vortech Superchargers -- Shawn Herbst, Firebird, 7.129, 166.60 def. Joe Mellof, GXP, Foul - Red Light.

Top Dragster presented by Vortech Superchargers -- Thomas Bayer, Dragster, 6.254, 224.73 def. Clinton Geise, Dragster, 6.670, 195.31.

Junior Dragster Shootout -- Daniel O'Connor, 7.889, 81.02 def. Cole Dickhoff, Foul - Red Light.

KENT, Wash. -- Final round-by-round results from the 33rd annual Flav-R-Pac NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways, the 13th of 22 events in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series:

TOP FUEL:

ROUND ONE -- Josh Hart, 3.759, 325.61 def. Clay Millican, 3.792, 323.04; Leah Pruett, 3.781, 325.69 def. Antron Brown, 3.796, 320.81; Brittany Force, 3.742, 332.43 def. Jim Maroney, 4.148, 226.51; Tony Schumacher, 3.852, 294.75 def. Scott Palmer, 5.857, 110.73; Steve Torrence, 3.794, 324.36 def. Ron Smith, Broke; Doug Kalitta, 3.837, 322.11 def. Alex Laughlin, 3.856, 315.34; Shawn Langdon, 3.796, 321.73 def. Mike Salinas, Broke; Justin Ashley, 3.782, 325.30 def. Austin Prock, 3.796, 326.32;
QUARTERFINALS -- Schumacher, 3.827, 313.66 def. Langdon, 3.797, 304.32; Force, 3.791, 327.59 def. Hart, 3.924, 291.07; Pruett, 3.818, 322.42 def. Kalitta, 3.827, 316.67; Ashley, 3.785, 322.42 def. Torrence, 6.333, 95.40;
SEMIFINALS -- Force, 3.823, 325.61 def. Pruett, 6.295, 107.05; Schumacher, 4.485, 258.37 def. Ashley, Foul - Centerline;
FINAL -- Schumacher, 3.977, 251.34 def. Force, 5.145, 153.14.

FUNNY CAR:

ROUND ONE -- Bob Tasca III, Ford Mustang, 3.939, 323.66 def. Gary Densham, Mustang, 5.110, 140.11; Alexis DeJoria, Toyota Supra, 3.964, 320.74 def. Jim Campbell, Dodge Charger, 4.045, 313.00; John Force, Chevy Camaro, 4.277, 277.66 def. Matt Hagan, Charger, 4.633, 186.00; Tim Wilkerson, Mustang, 4.459, 214.83 def. Cruz Pedregon, Charger, 4.622, 181.64; Robert Hight, Camaro, 3.914, 323.35 def. Ron Capps, Supra, 4.674, 184.60; J.R. Todd, Supra, 3.955, 325.14 def. Blake Alexander, Mustang, 3.990, 312.21;
QUARTERFINALS -- Force, 3.965, 323.97 def. Wilkerson, 4.462, 201.43; Todd, 3.980, 323.35 def. Tasca III, 7.751, 105.74; Hight, 3.960, 320.89 def. DeJoria, 5.142, 145.41;
SEMIFINALS -- Todd, 3.984, 323.50 was unopposed; Hight, 3.976, 319.45 def. Force, 4.041, 322.50;
FINAL -- Hight, 3.975, 319.98 def. Todd, 3.978, 324.75.

PRO STOCK: SEMIFINALS -- Coughlin Jr., 6.659, 208.36 def. Anderson, 8.796, 112.18; Enders, 6.649, 208.71 def. Stanfield, 6.652, 208.42;
FINAL -- Coughlin Jr., 6.638, 208.68 def. Enders, 6.644, 209.17.

KENT, Wash. -- Point standings (top 10) following the 33rd annual Flav-R-Pac NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways, the 13th of 22 events in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series -

Top Fuel- 1. Brittany Force, 1,083; 2. Mike Salinas, 1,008; 3. Justin Ashley, 910; 4. Steve Torrence, 862; 5. Josh Hart, 689; 6. Leah Pruett, 673; 7. Shawn Langdon, 657; 8. Doug Kalitta, 624; 9. Austin Prock, 602; 10. Clay Millican, 583.

Funny Car-1. Robert Hight, 1,250; 2. Matt Hagan, 1,022; 3. Ron Capps, 956; 4. John Force, 904; 5. Bob Tasca III, 797; 6. J.R. Todd, 708; 7. Cruz Pedregon, 686; 8. Alexis DeJoria, 659; 9. Tim Wilkerson, 574; 10. Jim Campbell, 457.

Pro Stock- 1. Erica Enders, 1,078; 2. Aaron Stanfield, 975; 3. Kyle Koretsky, 723; 4. Greg Anderson, 676; 5. Dallas Glenn, 614; 6. Mason McGaha, 572; 7. Tro

- Results-Denso NHRA Sonoma Nationals

B. FORCE, TASCA III, ENDERS AND GLADSTONE GET WINS AT DENSO NHRA SONOMA NATIONALS

SONOMA, Calif. (July 22, 2022) – On a day that included a barrage on the Sonoma Raceway record books, Top Fuel star Brittany Force rolled to her fourth win of the 2022 season on Sunday and moved into the points lead in front of a packed house at the 34th annual Denso NHRA Sonoma Nationals.

Bob Tasca III (Funny Car), Erica Enders (Pro Stock) and Joey Gladstone (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also won at the 12th of 22 races during the 2022 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season and the second stop of the three-race NHRA Western Swing. All four winners on Sunday are first-time Sonoma winners as well.

Force went 3.709-seconds at 335.48 mph in her 11,000-horsepower Flav-R-Pac dragster to beat Mike Salinas in the final round, moving back into the points lead over Salinas with her first win at Sonoma and 15th in her career. Force made the quickest run in Sonoma Raceway history in the first round with a 3.662 in her win over John Force Racing teammate Austin Prock and then set the track speed record on three consecutive runs on Sunday, capped off by a 337.75 in her semifinal victory over Shawn Langdon. It puts her back in the points lead in Top Fuel and gives Force one of the most memorable wins of her standout career.

“It was an incredible weekend for our team,” Force said. “I’ve been coming here since I was a kid, but I’ve always struggled on the Western Swing as a racer. Winning in Sonoma has always been on my bucket list and to run so outstanding, I’m really proud of this team. To put those kinds of numbers on the board, it’s just incredible. I have to give it up for my team and I’m always going to bet on them. There’s a lot of good competition in this class, but we’re going for this championship. I’m excited for today and we’re ready to keep going.”

Racing at his home track, Salinas advanced to his 14th career final round and his fifth this season picking up round wins against Justin Ashley and Doug Kalitta. He now trails Force by six points.

Bob Tasca III was the epitome of consistency in Funny Car, starting eliminations with back-to-back runs of 3.875 and finishing his day by going 3.911 at 325.61 in his 11,000-horsepower Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang to knock off John Force in the final round. It gives Tasca, who had lost in the final round at the past two races, his first win of the season and 10th in his career and gives the standout plenty of momentum in the second half of the season. He picked up wins against Jason Rupert, Blake Alexander, and then points leader Robert Hight to set up the marquee matchup with Force, and Tasca put on another show as he prepares his march for a run at a world title.

“The only reason we’re out here is to run for a championship,” Tasca said. “We’ve sacrificed a lot to get where we’re at this season and with this set-up, we’ve put the field on notice. We made the decision to get our car set up to run for a championship and the car showed the field today it is capable of that. It’s exciting for me as a driver and this thing was as straight as an arrow all day long and it was lights out in the final. I have the ultimate respect for John and what he’s done and to beat him in the finals, it’s pretty special.”

For Force, he reached his 263rd career final round on the strength of round wins against defending world champ Ron Capps, J.R. Todd, and Alexis DeJoria. Hight maintained the points lead, which now stands at 144 points over Matt Hagan.

In another thrilling duel between a pair of longtime Pro Stock rivals, Erica Enders kept on rolling, knocking off Greg Anderson on a holeshot in the final round to collect her first career victory at Sonoma Raceway. Enders posted a brilliant .018 reaction time and held off Anderson at the finish line with a run of 6.574 at 196.62 in her Melling Performance/Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro to earn her 39th career win and sixth in her dominant 2022 season. She beat Fernando Cuadra Jr., Mason McGaha, who upset Enders in the first round last weekend at Denver, and Aaron Stanfield to reach the finals. She finished the job against her biggest rival and can now lay claim as a winner at Sonoma to continue what’s been a dream season.

“This is huge for us,” Enders said. “This has evaded us for 18 years and every season this is one race I wanted to win. We were finally able to capitalize on it and my guys worked so hard. It’s so crucial to be positive. I know we have the car to beat, and I just have to do my job. All day long, I was pretty consistent on the tree, and I’m super stoked with this win. It takes me back to my first win and anytime you have one of these awesome Wally trophies in your hand, it’s a good day. Being able to win for the first time here is truly something I’ll never forget. It’s just been an amazing day.”

Anderson, who remains a win shy of his 100th victory, advanced to his first final this year and 168th in his career by defeating Steve Graham, Bo Butner, and teammate Kyle Koretsky. Enders’ points lead now stands at 80 points over Stanfield heading to Seattle.

After back-to-back final round appearances, Joey Gladstone broke through for his first career victory in Pro Stock Motorcycle on Sunday, knocking off Eddie Krawiec in the final round with a pass of 6.759 at 200.68 on his J&A Service Suzuki Hayabusa. Krawiec went a quicker 6.758, but Gladstone was quicker on the starting line with a .026 reaction time and held off the veteran to claim his first win in the class. He reached the final round with wins against Jianna Evaristo, Katie Sullivan, and Jerry Savoie, going a stellar 6.735 at 202.18 in the second round. He made sure to finish the job this time, setting off an emotional celebration for Gladstone and his team.

“I’ve been waiting for this day since I was 12 years old when I decided I wanted to race Pro Stock Motorcycles,” Gladstone said. “To finally be here to do it and race the best guys in the world, this means everything to me. I just had to do my job out there. It’s been quite the road, and this means a lot and more than you could ever imagine. I’ve spent my whole life trying to get here and this is just the start for us.”

Krawiec reached his 90th career final round thanks to victories against Kelly Clontz, defending world champ Matt Smith and teammate Angelle Sampey, who now has just a two-point lead over Gladstone in the points standings.

The NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series returns to action on July 29-31 with the final race of the Western Swing, the Flav-R-Pac NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways in Seattle. It is the first race at the track since 2019.

***

SONOMA, Calif. -- Final finish order (1-16) at the 34th annual Denso NHRA Sonoma Nationals at Sonoma Raceway. The race is the 12th of 22 events in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series.

TOP FUEL:
1. Brittany Force; 2. Mike Salinas; 3. Shawn Langdon; 4. Doug Kalitta; 5. Steve Torrence; 6. Leah Pruett; 7. Josh Hart; 8. Justin Ashley; 9. Clay Millican; 10. Austin Prock; 11. Antron Brown; 12. Alex Laughlin; 13. Ron August; 14. Jim Maroney; 15. Tony Schumacher; 16. Cameron Ferre.

FUNNY CAR:
1. Bob Tasca III; 2. John Force; 3. Robert Hight; 4. Alexis DeJoria; 5. Blake Alexander; 6. J.R. Todd; 7. Jim Campbell; 8. Cruz Pedregon; 9. Ron Capps; 10. Matt Hagan; 11. Steven Densham; 12. Jason Rupert; 13. Paul Lee; 14. Tim Wilkerson; 15. Terry Haddock; 16. Jeff Diehl.

PRO STOCK:
1. Erica Enders; 2. Greg Anderson; 3. Kyle Koretsky; 4. Aaron Stanfield; 5. Mason McGaha; 6. Dallas Glenn; 7. Bo Butner; 8. Troy Coughlin Jr.; 9. Cristian Cuadra; 10. Deric Kramer; 11. Camrie Caruso; 12. Fernando Cuadra; 13. Steve Graham; 14. Chris McGaha; 15. Matt Hartford; 16. Fernando Cuadra Jr..

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE:
1. Joey Gladstone; 2. Eddie Krawiec; 3. Angelle Sampey; 4. Jerry Savoie; 5. Steve Johnson; 6. Matt Smith; 7. Katie Sullivan; 8. Angie Smith; 9. Karen Stoffer; 10. Kelly Clontz; 11. Ryan Oehler; 12. Jianna Evaristo; 13. Scott Bottorff; 14. Lance Bonham.

Results from Friday

Leah Pruett
Top Fuel Provisional No. 1 Qualifier
Rayce Rudeen Foundation Top Fuel Dragster
3.689 seconds, 327.59 mph
NOTE: Top Fuel pilot, and the winner of last weekend’s race in Denver, Leah Pruett impressed on Friday night when she took her dragster for a 3.689-second pass at 327.59 mph to seed herself in the provisional top spot at the Denso NHRA Sonoma Nationals.

Robert Hight
Funny Car Provisional No. 1 Qualifier
Automobile Club of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro SS
3.825 seconds, 332.75 mph
NOTE: Coming off his Denver win, Funny Car veteran Robert Hight rocketed to a 3.825-second pass at 332.75 mph to go to the provisional No. 1 spot at Sonoma Raceway for day one at the Denso NHRA Sonoma Nationals.

Troy Coughlin Jr.
Pro Stock Provisional No. 1 Qualifier
JEGS.com / Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro
6.549 seconds, 210.87 mph
NOTE: Pro Stock driver Troy Coughlin Jr. raced his way to a 6.549-second pass at 210.87 mph and the provisional No. 1 qualifier position at the Denso NHRA Sonoma Nationals.

Steve Johnson
Pro Stock Motorcycle Provisional No. 1 Qualifier
Butter Transportation Suzuki
6.743 seconds, 198.73 mph
NOTE: Steve Johnson powered to the provisional No. 1 position as he took his Pro Stock Motorcycle for a 6.743-second pass at 198.73 mph to kick off qualifying at Sonoma Raceway.

FUNNY CAR’S ROBERT HIGHT LOOKS TO MAKE HISTORY IN WINE COUNTRY AT DENSO NHRA SONOMA NATIONALS

SONOMA, Calif. (July 19, 2022) – FROM NHRA: Already on an incredible run this summer during the 2022 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season, Robert Hight now heads to a track where the Funny Car points leader has enjoyed some of his greatest moments, including a run of three straight victories at Sonoma Raceway.

Hight will look to become the first driver in NHRA history to win four straight races in the heart of wine country at this weekend’s 34th annual Denso NHRA Sonoma Nationals, and he certainly heads to Sonoma with plenty of momentum. Hight has won two straight races this season in his 11,000-horsepower Auto Club Chevrolet Camaro SS, taking over the points lead and giving him five wins in 11 races.

It’s an impressive stretch and Hight is hungry for more at a track that always seems to treat him well. In addition to his four career wins in Sonoma, the three-time Funny Car world champ also made the fastest run in NHRA history at the track, going 339.87 mph in 2017. That was one of several Hight highlights in Sonoma and he’s looking for another this weekend at the middle race in the famed three-race NHRA Western Swing.

“We’ve just got to go here and treat it like we did in Denver and make three really good qualifying runs and race smart,” said Hight, who has 58 career victories. “If we keep doing that, the round wins are going to come, but this class is tough. I think it’s a successful season when you have five wins total with the level of competition here. We’re at the halfway point, but it’s the next 11 races that count. We have to keep working and keep digging. I’d like to get to 60 (career wins) this year. Everything from top to bottom is working right now. We have to stay focused and keep working, and we can only get better.”

Steve Torrence (Top Fuel), Robert Hight (Funny Car), Aaron Stanfield (Pro Stock) and Karen Stoffer (Pro Stock Motorcycle) won the 2021 event, and this year’s race will be broadcast on both the FOX broadcast network and Fox Sports 1 (FS1), including live eliminations coverage starting at 4 p.m. ET on Sunday, July 24 on FOX. It is the 12th of 22 races during the 2022 season, kicking off a second half of the year Hight hopes is just as successful as the first half.

He won nearly half the races in the first 11 events, advancing to seven final rounds in the process. Though there’s a long way to go, Hight’s Denver win opens up the possibility to sweep the Western Swing, something that hasn’t been done since 2009 and only been done once in Funny Car.

Hight isn’t ready to think about that, as he’ll have to deal with the likes of Matt Hagan, defending world champ Ron Capps, Cruz Pedregon, Bob Tasca III, who has advanced to back-to-back final rounds this year, Alexis DeJoria, and J.R. Todd. But the veteran standout is thrilled to see how his team has bounced back from a difficult 2021 season, where his Sonoma victory was one of the few highlights.

“Last year was very disappointing,” Hight said. “I thought we would pick up right where we left off in 2019 when we were dominant, and it just didn’t happen. But what’s different this year is we’re not changing everything every week. We’ve got a great combination and we’re fine-tuning it, and I think we’re only getting better and more consistent. I don’t feel like we’ve peaked yet, but I also know the competition is getting tougher and we’ve got our work cut out for us. We’re going to keep working hard.”

In Top Fuel, Justin Ashley will try to inch closer to points leader Mike Salinas with another solid result on the Western Swing. He advanced to the semifinals in Denver as the team continues to put together a strong season. The young star has put together a pair of wins and has advanced to four final rounds in a loaded Top Fuel class, putting him third in points in his 11,000-horsepower Phillips Connect Toyota Top Fuel dragster powered by Vita C Shot at the halfway mark.

He’s only 92 points out of first, but to keep moving up the standings Ashley will have to get past the likes of Salinas, Brittany Force, who has three wins this year, four-time defending Top Fuel champ Steve Torrence, who won last year in Sonoma, Denver winner Leah Pruett, Antron Brown, Josh Hart, and Doug Kalitta. But Ashley has been fueled by constant progress and that has been evident on the track.

“I have been talking all season about stacking round wins and making the most out of every round on the track,” Ashley said. “Last weekend was a perfect example of that process. We were able to go more rounds than the drivers in front of us and that has us in an even better position to challenge for the No. 1 spot going into the Countdown. We still have our work cut out for us, but we made progress in Denver. I am looking forward to racing in Sonoma again. Last year we qualified No. 7 and lost a close first-round race. It was a great race, but we want to go rounds in Sonoma this year.”

Pro Stock’s Aaron Stanfield drove to the win a year ago, capping off his hot summer stretch with his first Sonoma win. He’s picked up a pair of wins in 2022 to strengthen his championship contender status, but this season has belonged to his teammate, points leader Erica Enders. She has won five times already this year and will look to win in Sonoma for the first time as she aims for a fifth world championship. Top drivers to watch include Greg Anderson, whose six wins at Sonoma are the most in Pro Stock, Kyle Koretsky, Mason McGaha, rookie Camrie Caruso and 2015 winner Chris McGaha.

Karen Stoffer picked up her first victory at Sonoma Raceway a year ago and she’s impressed so far in 2022 as well. She made the quickest run in class history en route to her Gatornationals win and Stoffer will look for back-to-back victories in wine country. But trying to stop her are a host of talented riders in the two-wheeled category, including points leader Steve Johnson, defending world champ Matt Smith, Norwalk winner Angelle Sampey, Eddie Krawiec, who has three wins in Sonoma, Angie Smith, Bristol winner Jerry Savoie, Jimmy Underdahl and Joey Gladstone.

ESPY Alert: NHRA's Torrence nominated for 2002 award

NHRA four-time defending Top Fuel world champion Steve Torrence has been nominated for the 2022 ESPYS in the Best Driver Award category.

This is Torrence's second ESPYS Best Driver Award nomination, putting him in the select company of NHRA stars who have been nominated two or more times for the prestigious award. Torrence was previously nominated in 2019 and now joins the likes of John Force (2000-03, 2011, 2014), Tony Schumacher (2007-2010), Greg Anderson (2005, 2011), and Erica Enders (2015, 2021) as NHRA drivers with multiple ESPYS nominations.

Torrence, who now has 51 career Top Fuel wins, put together another dominant season in 2021, racking up an incredible 11 wins and 14 final-round appearances in 20 races last year, also racing to four No. 1 qualifier positions and a 60-9 win-loss record in eliminations en route to the world championship.

Other nominees in the Best Driver Award category include NASCAR’s Kyle Larson, Formula 1 standout Max Verstappen, and IndyCar driver Alex Palou.

The ESPYS will air at 8 p.m. ET on July 20 on ABC, and NBA star Stephen Curry will be the host.

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Musings of a Filterless Reporter- Roy J. Akers

NASCAR takes after Atlanta

By Roy J. Akers
With silly season with us to sort out the remainder of the 2002 season and into 2023, things are changing.

- First, its hard to believe Chase Elliott has not won in Atlanta. After driving through Dawsonville years ago, its not worth a second drive but for those from Elliott's hometown, it means the world to them. Elliott was already in the season ending playoffs. His win is his third on the season and six top fives and 13 top ten's show his consistency. Elliott has only one DNF on the season in his dominating season performance.

If you want to look at a driver who would love to win more than almost every other driver in the field combined, Corey LaJoie is that driver. He is 31st in driver points out of 43 full-time drivers on the circuit. LaJoie led 20 laps on Sunday with quite a few more laps in the top five. He was nudged with just over a lap to go. He ended up finishing out of the top 20 and was in good spirits in a video segment done with Elliott on NASCAR.COM.

Ross Chastain has it in for Denny Hamlin, that's for sure. Elliott certainly knows how to return a favor. The problem for Chastain is he has two wins in 2022 and that is probably two more wins than friends among the drivers. Dale Earnhardt Jr. said in Sunday's NBC telecast Chastain will need to mend some fences as drivers will spoil his chances if he contends for a NASCAR championship.

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Brad Keselowski headed to Roush Fenway Racing in driver-ownership role (Video Presser follows)

By Staff Report NASCAR.com July 20, 2021 Roush Fenway Racing team president Steve Newmark announced Tuesday at the NASCAR Hall of Fame that Brad Keselowski will come on board as a driver with a minority ownership stake in the organization, starting in 2022. Keselowski is leaving Team Penske, where he has driven full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series since 2010 and has amassed 34 of his 35 Cup wins and a series championship (2012).
The Rochester Hills, Michigan, native will stay in the Ford camp. The news comes after a July 15 announcement from Team Penske that moves Austin Cindric into the No. 2 Ford for the 2022 campaign and also confirmed Keselowski’s departure from the team at the conclusion of this season.
Roush Fenway Racing currently fields the No. 6 Ford for Ryan Newman and the No. 17 Ford for Chris Buescher. Keselowski will take over the No. 6 ride in 2022. Keselowski will also assume a leadership role within the organization on the competition committee. The team will provide additional details on driver lineup, partners and other team assets at a later date.
“I am thrilled to be able to share the news about this next venture with my fans, peers, and the industry,” Keselowski said in a team release. “This presents an opportunity to continue my on-track success with a strong team and a long-term commitment, but also dive into my passion of team ownership where I know I can be an asset to the future of the team. I am optimistic about what Jack (Roush), John (Henry) and I can accomplish together, especially with a new era for our sport on the horizon (with the Next Gen car). Our goal is to win races and compete for championships at NASCAR’s top level, and we plan to do just that.”
Jack Roush was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in the Class of 2019. The 79-year-old team owner has fielded entries in the Cup Series since 1988 and has compiled 137 victories at that level, including series championships with Matt Kenseth (2003) and Kurt Busch (2004). He has also guided drivers to five Xfinity Series titles and one championship in the Camping World Truck Series. The organization was first known as Roush Racing. Red Sox majority owner John Henry became an investor in the team in 2007, and the name was changed to Roush Fenway Racing.
“I’m truly excited about this partnership with Brad,” Roush said. “I think it will bring a lot to the organization, from not only Brad’s ability behind the wheel, but a rejuvenation and fresh perspective across our teams. I’ve had the opportunity to watch Brad for a number of years, as he has fought and clawed his way up the ladder, molding himself into a champion and one of the top drivers in our sport. I’ve always admired his resolve and determination. I’m very pleased that he has chosen to be a part of our organization and I’m proud to partner with him moving into the future.”
Since 2011, Keselowski has qualified for the NASCAR Playoffs in 10 of 11 seasons. His streak of 11 consecutive seasons with a victory is tied with Kevin Harvick for the second-longest among active drivers. Entering the Olympic break, the 37-year-old sits ninth in the Cup Series points standings with a victory at Talladega — his sixth of his career there — seven top fives and nine top 10s.
In a statement released on July 15 on Twitter, Keselowski said that “getting to drive for Mr. Roger Penske in the No. 2 has been a tremendous opportunity, and I am proud of the success we’ve had together. His guidance has helped me both be a better competitor, but even more so, a better man. …
“Making the decision to part ways with Team Penske to embrace a new opportunity and challenge was a difficult one, and one I did not take lightly.”
This will be Keselowski’s second turn at an ownership role with a team on the NASCAR national series level. From 2008-15, he headed up Brad Keselowski Racing in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Cindric, Tyler Reddick, Chase Briscoe and Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney were among the drivers who piloted trucks for Keselowski during those years. His team compiled 11 race wins, including one for Keselowski as an owner-driver in 2014 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
RELATED: Brad Keselowski through the years, career milestones
During his availability to discuss elevating Cindric into the No. 2 Ford, Penske revealed that Keselowski had shown an interest in an ownership stake during talks. “He wanted to have ownership and the way we’re structured, that wasn’t available,” Penske said.
Denny Hamlin, who drives for Joe Gibbs Racing and is a co-owner of 23XI Racing with Michael Jordan, is another Cup Series veteran who is doing the dual role of driver and owner at NASCAR’s highest level. Other drivers who are either currently holding both roles or have done so in the past across NASCAR’s national series include Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Tony Stewart.
Keselowski got his start in the Cup Series with Rick Hendrick driving two races toward the end of 2008 season. Keselowski then drove part of the 2009 season for Hendrick, James Finch and ultimately Roger Penske. Keselowski got his first Cup win that year for James Finch in April at Talladega Superspeedway.

NASCAR at Atlanta race results: Kurt Busch wins Cup race

Kurt Busch emerged from his car Sunday with a massive grin on his face and a line ready for the cameras.
“Hell yeah, we beat Kyle!” the elder Busch said on NBCSN after climbing from his No. 1 Chevrolet.
Busch secured his first win of the season at Atlanta Motor Speedway by leading 144 laps of the 260-lap event and holding off his younger brother Kyle through the final stage.
The victory lifts the elder Busch into the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. He was sitting on the bubble of the 16-driver cutoff prior to Sunday and 327 points back from series leader Denny Hamlin.
The Busch brothers battled through each stage, with Kyle winning the first stage and Kurt behind him. Kurt then emerged ahead of Kyle to open the second stage, and was able to hold the lead through a long green flag run and eventually regain the top spot after green flag pit stops. It was the elder Busch who won the next stage followed by his younger brother.
In the final stage, the two continued to exchange the lead. Kyle was chasing Kurt, but a savvy call to pit a lap before the leader allowed Rowdy to sail to take first place as his brother came off pit road. Kurt continued to put pressure on Kyle and as he worked through lapped traffic.

He lost speed as he approached Kurt’s Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Ross Chastain, who continued to ride in the low lane, and Kurt surged to first with just under 25 laps to go. Kyle reduced the lead to half a second in the final 20 laps, but couldn’t quite get by him. He finished second. Martin Truex Jr. finished third.

LEBANON, Tenn. -- Kyle Larson won again - that's all he does these days - this time in the Cup debut at Nashville Superspeedway, where Hendrick Motorsports' new star drove to victory lane for the fourth consecutive week.
Larson led 264 of 300 laps Sunday for his third consecutive win in a points race, fourth straight including last weekend's All-Star race. That win at Texas Motor Speedway kicked off a stretch of four wins in seven days as Larson collected the $1 million All-Star payout then traveled to Ohio to pocket the $6,000 purses in two sprint car races.
Rick Hendrick's cars have been to victory lane six consecutive weeks dating to Alex Bowman's May 9 win at Dover.
Nashville Superspeedway re-opened this weekend after a decade of dormancy to host its first ever Cup race. NASCAR's top series last raced in the Nashville-area 37 years ago at the Fairgrounds, where Geoff Bodine won in the No. 5 Chevrolet for Hendrick.
To celebrate his win in his new No. 5, Larson did burnouts along the entire Nashville frontstretch to put on a show for the sold-out crowd of 40,000.
"There's a lot of fans out there and we had enough rubber and enough fuel there to do a good burnout at the end," Larson said.
Next up for Larson is a trip to Brandon, South Dakota, for Monday and Tuesday night World of Outlaws races at Huset's Speedway.
Larson's fourth Cup points win of the season was the first with sponsor Valvoline on his hood, which marked just the third time in 17 races so far this season that Larson featured a non-Hendrick company on his car. He's largely unsponsored after missing all but four races last season during a NASCAR suspension for using a racial slur while participating in an online race.
Ross Chastain finished second for Chip Ganassi Racing and Hendrick driver William Byron was third in a Chevrolet podium sweep.
"My goodness, we don't have anything for those Chevrolets right now," said Ford driver Aric Almirola, who finished fourth after starting from the pole.
His Stewart-Haas Racing teammate finished fifth in one of the better days for the slumping organization. The pair of top-fives came the same day team co-owner Tony Stewart was at his first Cup race since the start of the pandemic.
Traffic issues leading into the speedway delayed the start the race by 10 minutes.
NASCAR asked television partner NBC Sports to push back its first Cup race of the season to allow for more fans to get seated before the race began. NBCSN had an NHL playoff game scheduled Sunday night and could only afford the 10-minute delay.
Nashville Superspeedway is 28 miles east of downtown Music City and the race was a sellout at about 40,000 spectators in the grandstands, temporary seating and suites.
Xfinity Series driver Noah Gragson and the wife of Cup rookie Chase Briscoe were among those caught in the congestion and Gragson tweeted that he had "been in traffic for 2 hours. Brutal."
Nashville opened in 2001 and hosted 21 Xfinity Series races and 13 Truck Series events before it closed in 2011 when it couldn't get a coveted Cup date. Dover Motorsports owns the track and moved one of its weekends from its Delaware facility to Nashville to reopen the speedway and at last host a Cup race.
NASCAR awarded the track a four-year sanctioning agreement.

Hélio Castroneves Wins Indianapolis 500 for the Fourth Time

NDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Hélio Castroneves joined the exclusive club of four-time Indianapolis 500 winners Sunday, and then scaled the fence at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in front of the largest crowd since the start of the pandemic.
The Brazilian joined A.J. Foyt, Al Unser Sr. and Rick Mears, his former mentor at Team Penske, as the only four-time winners of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” Mears was the last driver to join the club in 1991.
Castroneves won his third 500 in 2009 and has been chasing win No. 4 ever since.
At 46 years old, in his first season no longer driving for Roger Penske, he held off Alex Palou to win the 105th running of the race in front of 135,000 fans — the most at any sports event in the world since the pandemic began 18 months ago. The number represented 40% of the speedway’s capacity and was agreed upon by health officials.
A year ago, no fans were allowed for the race that was delayed from May to August. This year, celebrities were back and fans were everywhere and they were treated to a win by one of the most popular drivers in Indy 500 history.

The Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear will return June 11-13, which will include the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the NTT Indycar Series, and the Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires.

The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship was originally planned to be scheduled a week earlier to coincide with the global 24 Hours of Le Mans event in France, but with the Le Mans race postponed to August, organizers decided to loop all three events together for one weekend.

The event also marks the 11th time that Indycar and sports car racing will compete on the same weekend on Belle Isle, and the first time since 2016 that Corvette will compete in Detroit.

It's also the first time in 13 years that a Corvette GT sports car will race in Detroit.

"We are excited to bring the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear back to Belle Isle in 2021 and return to a traditional one-weekend format June 11 through the 13th, featuring five great races with three incredible racing series," Michael Montri, President of the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear, said in a statement. "With the established stars of Indycar and the rising stars of Indy Lights both racing on Saturday and Sunday and Corvette Racing joining the intense IMSA sports car action on both Friday and Saturday, it’s going to be an incredible weekend in the Motor City."

Well, that's what racing fans think. But people who aren't so keen on cars have long complained about the event coming to Belle Isle state park, charging that it restricts access to Detroit's island treasure during our too-short warm season and its construction and tear-down period takes months.

Arlington, Texas, (March 13, 2021) The Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship returned to Texas and Red Bull KTM's Cooper Webb kicked off the Arlington triple-header inside AT&T Stadium with a dominant 450SX Class victory that pushed him from second to the lead in championship points. Opening round winner Troy Lee Designs / Red Bull / GASGAS Factory Racing's Justin Barcia earned second at the tenth Round of the season with Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing's Jason Anderson battling aggressively through the pack to grab a podium finish in third. In the third Round of Western Regional 250SX Class racing, a third different winner was crowned. This time it was Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki's rookie Seth Hammaker who led wire to wire to the screams of the limited-attendance, pod-seated Texas crowd.
Cooper Webb returned to the top of the podium in a performance that has to worry his competitors. He'll wear the red plate of the series points leader at the next Round on Tuesday night inside AT&T Stadium. Photo Credit: Feld Entertainment, Inc.

Cooper Webb left Texas with a win at Round Three and returned to the state to win at Round 10 without any bona fide challenges from the other racers. Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing's Dean Wilson grabbed the holeshot but Webb pushed his way past immediately and was never challenged. Justin Barcia started outside the top three but within five minutes of the 20-minute plus one lap Main Event had worked into second place. Barcia shaved a bit of time off the three second deficit to Webb over the next five minutes, but as the race clock ticked to 10 minutes Webb began to stretch his lead back out.

On a track that proved difficult to gain time or make a pass, Jason Anderson was the rider on the move. After one lap he sat eighth, but on the sixteenth of what turned out to be a 28-lap Main Event, Anderson pushed past Team Honda HRC's Chase Sexton and held the final podium spot to the checkers. Team Honda HRC's Ken Roczen, the points leader going into the race, was the victim of a bad starting gate pick after a heat race crash. A bad launch put Roczen in eleventh after one lap; he managed his way slowly through the pack to earn a sixth-place finish, which dropped him to second in the points. The 2020 defending champion and the winner of the previous round, Monster Energy Kawasaki's Eli Tomac, had a night that paralleled Roczen's but a few positions back. The No. 1 plate rider sat sixteenth on lap one and passed eight riders to finish eighth at the first of three Arlington events.
Three Rounds in, the Western Regional 250SX Class has produced three different winners. Kawasaki's Seth Hammaker is the second first time winner in the class in 2021. Photo Credit: Feld Entertainment, Inc.

The Western Regional 250SX Class served another surprising race as rookie Seth Hammaker launched off the line, grabbed the holeshot, and lead every moment of his career-first victory ride. It wasn't easy, as Hammaker's Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki teammate Jordon Smith applied the pressure from the start until a bobble that sent him temporarily off the track dropped him back to third. Meanwhile, series leader Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki's Cameron McAdoo and Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha's Justin Cooper were back in the pack in eighth and ninth place respectively.

McAdoo and Cooper clawed their way forward, but progress through the pack was slow. As Hammaker was composed in the lead, Team Honda HRC's Hunter Lawrence was just out of reach in second. Just over four minutes into the 15-minute plus one lap race McAdoo had reached the rear wheel of teammate Smith when Smith lost traction on a small jump and landed hard, putting him out of the battle. Things stabilized until the final lap and a half when Cooper reached and then charged past McAdoo. McAdoo countered a corner later and darted back into third. On the second to last corner Cooper made a final pass attempt, slid out, and low-sided trying to cut under McAdoo.

The series races twice more inside AT&T Stadium in Arlington, with Round 11 dropping the gate on Tuesday night and Round 12 returning next Saturday. For the full schedule, live streaming times on Peacock and airtimes on NBCSN, and tickets sales please visit SupercrossLIVE.com.

NASCAR's 'unique' winners already altering playoff landscape

MARK LONG
HOMESTEAD, Fla. (AP) — NASCAR’s postseason landscape has been altered after just two Cup Series races.
With Michael McDowell and Christopher Bell winning at Daytona International Speedway, the first in the Daytona 500 and the second on the road course, two playoff spots were locked up by guys who weren’t generally considered locks.
The fallout? Other teams are feeling the pinch in late February – six months before the 16-driver playoff field is set – and with 24 races remaining.
“Probably not for the teams that we all expect to win, but for some of those fringe cars it will,” said Bell’s crew chief, Adam Stevens. “The number of unique winners is really going to change how many cars get in on points, right? It’s pretty obvious.”
The simplest way to look at it: If the series heavyweights perform as expected the rest of the way, there won’t be many playoff spots left for anyone else. It’s a somewhat bleak outlook for several teams already and could force them to adjust their approach beginning Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
“Some of that next batch of cars is really needing to be thinking about if they’re swinging for the fence or if they’re racing for points,” Stevens said. “Maybe one more winner that somebody didn’t expect pretty early in the season could really change the complexion.”
Every year since NASCAR’s current playoff system began in 2014, at least three postseason berths have been awarded to drivers based on points. The past three years, as Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott have won a bigger share of races, more drivers have made the playoffs on points.
But Bell and McDowell already grabbed two of the spots, something many would have considered an unlikely possibility entering the year.
“The dynamic has changed dramatically right now,” 2012 Cup champion Brad Keselowski said. “We’re very early in the season, and it’s now turned into a points race for those last few spots. Hopefully it doesn’t matter for us.
“But if you don’t win, you’re in a lot of trouble right now because it’s not looking like you’re going to be able to get in the playoffs right now without a win.”
The Daytona 500 has a tendency to be a crapshoot, often delivering an odd top-10 and occasionally ending up with a long-shot winner like McDowell. He had been winless in 357 Cup starts before his breakthrough.
Although Bell drives for powerhouse Joe Gibbs Racing, he was a rookie for that top team and in his second full season in the Cup series.
“Two of the tracks we’ve went to are definitely tracks that create opportunities for guys that you wouldn’t necessarily just give them a spot or think that they’re going to point themselves in,” said Richard Childress Racing driver Austin Dillon, who has made the playoffs four times in the last five years. “But I think as the season goes on, there will be some opportunities for points.
“It always comes down to one or two positions, I feel like, when it comes to points.”
No one in the field has been better at Homestead than Hamlin. The Joe Gibbs Racing star has three wins (2009, ’13, ’20) at the track and 11 top-10 finishes in 16 starts. He led 137 of 267 laps last June en route to his latest victory.
He’s tied with Tony Stewart and Greg Biffle for the most Cup wins at the 1 1/2-mile venue. Those intermediate tracks are the ones Hamlin and Harvick mostly dominated last year.
“We are about to get into a chunk of the season where you are going to start to see some of your normal winners in the bracket,” Hamlin said.
NASCAR’s much-hyped season, one that included significant schedule changes, is being showcased in its first three weeks. The Cup Series opened on a superspeedway, then raced on a road course, and now heads to an intermediate track.
“It’s about time,” Harvick said. “As I’ve said for many years, I think mixing up the schedule is something that’s very important to capture people’s attention and to really try something different. Whether that’s different markets, different racetracks, it has to be different from year to year.
“As we go to these new markets and new styles of racetracks and try new things, we have to constantly evolve and mix it up. You’re going to have your staple markets and events, but you have those five or six events a year, like we’re having this year, that are new, exciting and different than you had last year.”
Former NASCAR crew chief and current NBC Sports analyst Steve Letarte will return to his previous role for the first time since 2014. Letarte will be atop the pit box for the No. 7 Chevrolet owned by Spire Motorsports and driven by Corey LaJoie.
LaJoie’s crew chief, Ryan Sparks, is sidelined because of COVID-19 protocols and unable to travel for the race. Letarte serves as a consultant for Spire Motorsports and was available to step in.
ODDS AND ENDS
Hamlin is the 5-1 favorite to win the Dixie Vodka 400, no surprise given his history at the track. Elliott (11-2) is the second choice, followed by Harvick (7-1), Truex (15-2), Kyle Larson (8-1), Logano (10-1) and Kyle Busch (10-1). … Current Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and former Miami Hurricanes/NFL linebacker Jonathan Vilma will serve as honorary race officials. Tagovailoa will give the command for drivers to start their engines, and Vilma will wave the green flag to start the race

Cooper Webb wins in Orlando

Orlando, Fla., (February 20, 2021) Round eight of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship thrilled with the second of two rounds inside Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida with Red Bull KTM's Cooper Webb taking the 450SX Class win to the cheers of the in-person pod-style-seated fans. His Red Bull KTM teammate Marvin Musquin kept Webb close, and round one winner Troy Lee Designs / Red Bull / GASGAS Factory Racing's Justin Barcia held off heavy pressure to finish in third. The event kicked off the nine round Western Regional 250SX Class with a wild and action-filled Main Event that saw Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha's Justin Cooper stay out of the chaos to lead wire to wire without any serious challenges.
Cooper Webb's speed and determination nabbed him another win and closed him to within six points of the championship lead. Photo Credit: Feld Entertainment, Inc.

Webb's charge from eighth at the holeshot stripe to leading the race in less than nine minutes demonstrated the speed and aggression of which he's capable. The last time Webb strung together two wins in a row was 2019, the year he won the title. He now sits only six points out of the points lead. Musquin benefitted from a crash in the whoops by early-leader Monster Energy Kawasaki's Adam Cianciarulo to take over second; from there the KTM rider did not let Webb get away but could not close to within striking distance.

Points leader Team Honda HRC's Ken Roczen got pinched at the start and found himself in seventeenth position. He made a brilliant early charge and got up to the rear tire of defending champion Monster Energy Kawasaki's Eli Tomac just four minutes into the 20-minute plus one lap race. After several attacks and counters, Roczen made it past. By then the riders were battling for fourth, and Roczen got right on Barcia's rear fender but could never get a wheel ahead of him. Tomac lost a spot two laps from the end from a hard charge by Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing's Jason Anderson, who recovered from outside the top ten to earn a top five finish.

In Eastern Regional 250SX Class racing it was Jett Lawrence's night from the drop of the Main Event gate. After scoring the holeshot it was his race to lose with points leader Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha's Colt Nichols right behind him. As the two pulled away from third place rider Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha's Christian Craig, the gap between the top two riders stretched and closed. Lawrence handily got through lappers, never allowing them to slow him enough for Nichols to get within striking distance.

The big drama of the 250SX class had come earlier in the night. Christian Craig crashed hard in 250SX Class Heat 2 while leading; Craig was pitched and slow to get up, evaluating his right hand. He returned for the Last Chance Qualifier with the injury taped up. He rode conservatively for the LCQ win and a spot on the Main Event gate. Craig gutted it out through the pain in the Main Event for third, losing only two points on his teammate as the regional series goes into a 10-week break before the final two rounds to determine the champion.

The racers line up again inside the same stadium on a completely re-designed track next Saturday for the second of the Orlando double-header; the February 20th Florida race will kick off the 2021 Western Regional 250SX Class series with a new group of hungry racers eager to start their title campaigns with a win. Event tickets are available in a restricted-attendance, pod-style seating structure for the second Orlando race as well as for upcoming rounds through the Atlanta triple-header

in a restricted-attendance, pod-style seating structure for the second Orlando race as well as for upcoming rounds through the Atlanta triple-header

The Eastern Regional 250SX Class delivered its own excitement as Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha's Christian Craig took the early lead and looked poised to repeat his round one win, but his teammate Colt Nichols kept close and made his first pass into the lead with just under three minutes left on the race clock. Craig fought back, but within two laps Nichols charged past again and made it stick to put himself into a title points tie with Craig. Last weekend's first-time winner, Team Honda HRC's Jett Lawrence, got a bad jump at the start and had to play catch up. An aggressive pass on Troy Lee Designs / Red Bull / GASGAS Factory Racing's Michael Mosiman for third earned the Honda rider a podium on the night. Title favorites Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki's Austin Forkner and Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing's RJ Hampshire both sat out with injuries incurred in qualifying and free practice.

Feld Entertainment engaged racing fans in its 2021 ‘We Won't Stop’ campaign to raise awareness and funding for the incredible St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Race fans are encouraged to get involved by texting "SUPER" to 785-833 to donate to the organization's mission to eliminate childhood cancer, make treatment free to families, as well as share medical breakthroughs freely. To date, the partnership between Supercross and St. Jude has raised $600,000.
The series shifts to Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana where another Saturday-SuperTuesday-Saturday triple-header drops the gate on January 30th. Feld has managed a limited-seating program that allows fan attendance. Tickets for several events in Indianapolis, Orlando, Daytona Beach, and Arlington are available for sale now, with tickets for the final rounds becoming available in the coming weeks.
450SX Class podium (riders left to right) Ken Roczen, Cooper Webb, Adam Cianciarulo. Photo Credit: Feld Entertainment, Inc.

450SX Class Results
1. Cooper Webb, Newport N.C., KTM
2. Ken Roczen, Clermont, Fla., Honda
3. Adam Cianciarulo, New Smyrna Beach, Fla., Kawasaki
4. Justin Barcia, Greenville, Fla., GASGAS
5. Eli Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Kawasaki
6. Malcolm Stewart, Haines City, Fla., Yamaha
7. Aaron Plessinger, Hamilton, Ohio, Yamaha
8. Jason Anderson, Rio Rancho, N.Mex., Husqvarna
9. Zach Osborne, Clermont, Fla., Husqvarna
10. Justin Brayton, Charlotte, N.C., Honda

450SX Class Championship Standings
1. Ken Roczen, Clermont, Fla., Honda (60)
2. Cooper Webb, Newport N.C., KTM (59)
3. Justin Barcia, Greenville, Fla., GASGAS (59)
4. Eli Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Kawasaki (54)
5. Adam Cianciarulo, New Smyrna Beach, Fla., Kawasaki (51)
6. Justin Brayton, Charlotte, N.C., Honda (51)
7. Malcolm Stewart, Haines City, Fla., Yamaha (51)
8. Dylan Ferrandis, Lake Elsinore, Calif., Yamaha (50)
9. Marvin Musquin, Corona, Calif., KTM (48)
10. Zach Osborne, Clermont, Fla., Husqvarna (40)

Updated Motocross Schedule

Several Adjustments to 2021 Schedule

MILAN, Italy/ ELLENTON, Fla., – Milestone, one of the leading racing game developers in the world, and Feld Entertainment, Inc., the worldwide leader in producing and presenting live touring family entertainment and motorsports events, are pleased to announce Monster Energy Supercross - The Official Videogame 4.

The most beloved and realistic Supercross videogame, globally available on March 11th on PlayStation®5, PlayStation®4, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, Windows PC®/STEAM and Google Stadia, will feature a faithful representation of the 2020 Monster Energy Supercross season, with all 11 stadiums and 17 tracks, including the 7 Salt Lake City variants.

A brand-new Career Mode structure will allow players, for the first time, to start their journey in Supercross Futures and advance towards the 250SX and 450SX Classes, where they will need to then challenge the largest number of Pro riders ever in the franchise history. In the new Career Mode, performance of each rider is affected by their skills, that can be upgraded and managed thanks to a new skill tree system. Skill points are gained by racing, joining special events, completing trainings and fulfilling the Journal: a series of special objectives to show who’s the best.

Inspired by the beautiful landscapes of Maine Islands, the new Compound is a place to roam free in Solo and Co-Op game modes or race against friends on the many tracks available. On this gorgeous island, there will be a lot of challenges and collectibles to discover!

A beloved community feature, the Track Editor, is back with more customization modules, directly created from 2020 Official Tracks. New cosmetic customization options to express creativity and boost realism include Tuff Blox, Starting Gate structures, Finish Line structures and Leader Pillars.

As always in the franchise, players will be able to customize their riders with tons of content, thanks to more than 110 official brands for cosmetic and performance customizations for both rider and bike. Also, the Online Mode guarantees a lag-free and engaging Multiplayer experience thanks to Dedicated Servers and Race Director Mode.

Monster Energy Supercross - The Official Videogame 4 will be available worldwide starting March 11th on PlayStation®5, PlayStation®4, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, Windows PC®/STEAM and Google Stadia.

NASCAR Erik Jones meets the media on his switch to Petty

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: Elusive Ironman Title On The Line At I-55

By Nick Graziano | August 4, 2020 at 2:34 pmThe stamina and strength of the greatest Sprint Car drivers in the world will be put to the test this weekend at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 for the prestigious Ironman 55.
Drivers will compete in a doubleheader event at the fast 1/3-mile track, running 35 laps on Fri., Aug. 7 and then 55 laps on Sat., Aug. 8 – the longest World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series event of the year.
With $28,000 on the line to win between the two nights and a special dumbbell trophy presented to the winner Saturday night, drivers will be pushing their cars and their bodies to the edge to claim the Ironman title.
If you can’t make it to the track, you can still watch all of the action live on DIRTVision.
Here are the top storylines to follow this weekend:

Sheldon Haudenschild / Trent Gower photoHISTORIC HAUD: Sheldon Haudenschild, of Wooster, OH, enters the Ironman 55 weekend looking to hold on to the title he claimed with a historic win last year. He won his first Ironman by more than 10 seconds over 10-time Series champion Donny Schatz, lapped up to the top-five and led 45 of the 55 laps in the caution free event.
He was on track to pull off a similar feat at the 1/3-mile track in May by taking the lead early and running away with it, but a mistake in Turn 1 resulted in him flipping over the cushion. He and his Stenhouse Jr.-Marshall Racing team are poised to put their NOS Energy Drink #17 back in Victory Lane with their recent run of 18 top-10 finishes in a row in the last 19 events – including their win at Lincoln Speedway.
TOP CAT: Reigning champion Brad Sweet, of Grass Valley, CA, is the winningest driver on 1/3-mile tracks, so far, this year. He won at I-55 in May and swept the weekend at Beaver Dam Raceway. His brother-in-law Kyle Larson has the second most, having won at I-55 in May and his last race with the Series at Attica Raceway Park.
Both drivers were the only two to finish on the podium during the spring doubleheader event at I-55, as well.

Brad Sweet (left), Donny Schatz (center) and Kyle Larson (right) battle for the lead / Trent Gower photoSweet reclaimed the points after the last race at Williams Grove Speedway, after a wild two weeks of rare issues for both he and Donny Schatz. He’s currently 18 points ahead of Schuchart and 26 points ahead of Schatz. So, while he and his NAPA Auto Parts Kasey Kahne Racing team hunt for their first Ironman title together, they’ll also be looking for two good points nights.
DETERMINED SCHATZ: After claiming the points lead for a week, 10-time Series champion Donny Schatz fell back to third in points when a mechanical issue took him out of the race during the Summer Nationals at Williams Grove. He and his Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing team will be digging to rebound during the Ironman weekend.
Prior to the issue, they hadn’t finished worse than second in five of their last seven races – including getting their third win of the year at Lernerville Speedway.
Of all the accolades Schatz was acquired, the Ironman is one he’s still chasing after. He has two wins at the 1/3-mile track, though – the most recent coming in 2015. He finished seventh and eighth, respectively, at the speedway in May.

Ford Motor's Mark Rushbrook on the Ford motor showcase weekend

IndyCar drivers ranking

Using INDYCAR’s advanced statistics and data, we’ve developed a weighted formula to rate the NTT IndyCar Series drivers after each race this season. Welcome to the Power Rankings – but that doesn’t necessarily mean that Will Power is always included.
How does it work? We look beyond the results of the event, also factoring in qualifying results, on-track passes, on-track position passes and average running position throughout the race to come up with each driver’s unique rating.
The rankings are based on the four most recent races. The most recent race (Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio) is weighted the most in the rating and the oldest race (REV Group Grand Prix presented by AMR) the least.
So, following Mid-Ohio and heading to Pocono on Aug. 18, here’s a look at the top NTT IndyCar Series drivers:
Who’s No. 1:
Simon Pagenaud – Sometimes consistency is key and consistent is what Simon Pagenaud has been over the last month. The Team Penske driver won a pair of poles, the Toronto race and finished just off the podium at Mid-Ohio. That moves him to No. 1 this week.
On the Rise
Chip Ganassi Racing – Scott Dixon has finished in the top five in the past four races and other than an Iowa he’d like to forget, series rookie Felix Rosenqvist has been on his tail during that stretch. At Mid-Ohio, the Ganassi duo scored the team’s first 1-2 finish in nearly four seasons. Rosenqvist was the highest-rated driver at Mid-Ohio and returns to the poll in fifth.
Looking to Bounce Back
James Hinchcliffe – The Mayor’s race at Mid-Ohio lasted less than a lap. Contact from teammate Marcus Ericsson (who had been hit by Takuma Sato) damaged Hinchcliffe’s car, and he never had a chance to show the pace he had all weekend.
The Top 10

Pagenaud (Last Rating: 2) – See above.
Dixon (Last Rating: 5) – See above
Alexander Rossi (Last Rating: 3) – Finishing fifth at Mid-Ohio helps him stay third in the ranking but the bigger gift was from title rival Josef Newgarden on the final lap. With his future settled for now, Rossi can focus on the championship pursuit.
Josef Newgarden (Last Rating: 1) – Sitting fourth with a less than a lap to go at Mid-Ohio, Newgarden saw a gap that could lead to another podium, and he went for it. Ryan Hunter-Reay was already there and Newgarden spun off course. A costly mistake for the championship leader.
Rosenqvist (Last Rating: Unranked) – See above.
Will Power (Last Rating: 10): A pole at Mid-Ohio and heading to Pocono where he has won two of the past three races. Maybe Power is finally turning his year around.
Spencer Pigot (Last Rating: 9) – Back-to-back top 10 finishes for Ed Carpenter Racing’s young driver could signal he is finally ready to break out of the series’ midfield.
Sebastien Bourdais (Last Rating: 8) – Qualified fifth at Mid-Ohio but wasn’t able to match that level in the race.
Graham Rahal (Last Rating: 6) – Rahal finishes in the top 10 again at his home race at Mid-Ohio. It keeps him in the top 10.
Hinchcliffe (Last Rating: 4) – See above

Dropped out: Santino Ferrucci (7)

Video interview: 2019 Indy winner talks to Roy J. Akers on his win and driving for the Captain

Juan Pablo Montoya has a home in a new racing series

World of Outlaws

June 5-
James McFadden? Brad Sweet? Kyle Larson? Your mind spun with the question of who will win, unable to find a clear answer as the three drivers dueled with the intensity of gladiators fighting to be the last man standing.
Then the dust settled. A moment of quiet ease spread around the quarter-mile Fairbury Speedway arena. Climbing atop the wing of his No. 57 machine to thunderous applause and an explosion of confetti was Larson – claiming his eighth World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series win Tuesday night.
The win gives him back-to-back World of Outlaws victories, after winning his last Series race at Lawrenceburg Speedway on Memorial Day.
“Cool to get a win back-to-back with the Outlaws, I’ve never done that before,” Larson said.
The last time he won more than one World of Outlaws race in a season was back in 2013 – a year before he went full-time NASCAR Cup Series racing.
Larson had to duel with fellow NASCAR competitor Christopher Bell and 10-time Series champion Donny Schatz to claim the win at Lawrenceburg. This time around, he had to face the dominate Kasey Kahne Racing duo of McFadden and Sweet.
The KKR teammates started the FVP Platinum Battery Showdown event going first and second in practice with Sweet pacing the field. The NAPA Auto Parts No. 49 car then backed up its speed in Qualifying by setting Quick Time. McFadden was third. Larson seventh.
Sweet then won his Drydene Heat race with ease. Larson and McFadden dueled for the win in the third Drydene Heat race of the night with Larson dominating the field.
McFadden came back with force, charging to the win in the DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash. Sweet finished third, and Larson sixth – setting their starting position for the 40-lap Feature.
McFadden wrestled with his 900hp machine, taming it like a wild stallion at the start of the Feature to take the early lead. His run was cut short by a red flag on the first lap for Dylan Tuxhorn rolling over in turn one.
When the Feature went back green, heart rates amplified. Breaths were held. McFadden led, but Sweet was charging for a fight.
The two teammates traded lanes lap after lap, corner after corner. Sweet could power his way to either the inside or outside of the Wicked Energy Gum No. 9 car into the turn, but McFadden could launch off the exit with the power of the gods.

While they dueled, Larson slayed the competition between him and the leaders with ease. By Lap 13, he gave the KKR duo something else to fear. Going into turn three he forced his car under Sweet, making it a three-wide battle through the corner – a common theme throughout the next several laps.
Sweet built up a strong enough run to steal the lead from McFadden on Lap 17. He couldn’t shake him, though. McFadden and Larson stayed on his bumper and the next time around they both snuck by him. McFadden threw his car low in turn three, while Larson squeezed his car between the outside of Sweet and the wall.
McFadden reclaimed the lead and now had a fierce Larson to contend with. The next lap, back in turns three and four, McFadden, again, went low and Larson high. The god-like launches McFadden could get exiting a corner were no match for the resilient throttle hungry Larson.
The two traded the lead for the next couple of laps with Larson eventually prevailing. McFadden still had fight left in him, though. And not far behind was Sweet, lurking. Waiting for another opportunity to strike.
In the closing laps, with the leaders having to navigate lap traffic, Larson couldn’t lose McFadden. The Australian was building momentum lap after lap, inching closer and closer to Larson. But then, with eight laps to go, McFadden’s battle came to an end.
While stuck behind a lap car through turns one and two, McFadden hit the corner tire and spun to a stop.
“Really fun race track,” said McFadden, still with a smile, after the Feature. “It was awesome racing with Brad and Kyle. They’re obviously a couple of the best guys in the country. I don’t know if I just misjudged the lap car. He got the tractor tire I think and slowed him a bunch. I just got into the back of him and when I did that, the tractor tire came out, after he hit it, and I got it and that was that. At the end of the day, it was a positive step for the team.”
In the remaining eight laps, Larson now had to contest with a hard charging Sweet.
Larson stuck to the bottom of the track – the least likely place for him to make a mistake, he said. Sweet took advantage of that, soaring around the outside of the speedway to find as much grip as he could to catch the Chevrolet Accessories No. 57 Silva Motorsports car.
Coming to the checkered flag, Larson faltered. He slid off turn four, scrubbing speed and allowing Sweet the opportunity to strike one final time.
The distance between the leaders was still too much for Sweet, though. Like a warrior on a steed signifying his victory, Larson sprinted to the checkered flag with his front two wheels off the ground.
“That was just an exciting race from start to finish for me,” Larson said. “Shoot, 40 laps around this place was crazy. It felt like we swapped the lead a lot. Just an awesome race track. Short tracks are always a blast.”

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NASCAR HOF gains 5

Covering NASCAR in 2021 has a Covid hangover

By Roy J. Akers
Man, this is weird. Covering NASCAR in 2021 is still tainted with Covid nearly 17 months after the NBA mothballed their season in 2020 and all other major sports leagues followed suit.

The first sign of weirdness is just walking from my usual parking lot to the media center. There were no cars in the usual lot and walking to the media center finds multiple people inspecting me like a dog inspecting a prime rib sandwich. Not this time. I walked right in. I thought the race was last weekend. When entering the media center, there were about six reporters there. For perspective, Friday’s are driver availability day. That means NASCAR has a series of press conferences or one on one interviews scheduled throughout the day with drivers or NASCAR related personnel. Not in 2021. This year, there were none.

NASCAR has mothballed both practices and qualifying and there were no drivers and that means… no press. No press means… no food. No lunch, no buzz amongst the press talking racing and no fans. No fans means a closed press box overlooking Michigan International Speedway (MIS) and watching the race on a 19” small screen tv. If you are getting the picture, press members are pretty spoiled and heck, we are not in a multi-million dollar paying profession, so fans, the spoils of hobnobbing with the athletes and people that make NASCAR happen are no better in 2021 than a popped balloon given to a child at their third birthday party. That means the quotes and stories that develop from a weekend of racing are stale, contrived or never develop.

So, if you are looking at giving readers or viewers a preview or recap of the drivers or the race itself, you are not getting much.

During the day… Debbie Downer kept sending emails that were like getting punched in the face. First, one email said you cannot speak to any driver all weekend long in a one-on-one format. Heck, the drivers love that. So do the media people from Ford, Chevy and Toyota. The manufacture media people disappear for hours and do not have to pretend to get you a driver. Then another email came. No pressers except for the race winner. Drivers might come on during Zoom calls. That is a code for you are getting zip, zilch, nada.

So, if you are looking for a short story that is inspiring, you have been had. Times will get better in sports. But for right now, the dominos have fallen for sports coverage in this sport and they may all fall in a split second, but setting them up to get back to sports in a post-Covid world are going to take some time.

I hope the race is great. May MIS provide a fan experience of three wide racing.

Secret no Longer... Keselowski to replace Ryan Newman at Roush/Fenway

Highlights and results from New Hampshire

NASCAR News and Notes

By Terrin - For the first time in his NASCAR Cup Series career, crew chief Adam Stevens celebrated a race win with a driver other than Kyle Busch. Stevens helped sophomore Christopher Bell put the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota in Victory Lane on Sunday at Daytona International Speedway after Bell conquered the track’s road-course layout. The win marked Bell’s first and Stevens’ 29th.
Stevens won only one race in 2020, and it was the third-to-last event. This victory came in just the second race of the 2021 schedule.
“I generally don’t self-analyze career milestones or achievements,” Stevens said in a post-race Zoom teleconference. “I can tell you it felt really good. I’m beyond thrilled for Bell and beyond thrilled for all my team guys. … We’re all learning each other. Everyone is doing such a good job with such a good attitude. That’s what feels good to me. Certainly less about me.
“It always feels good to win. It’s nice to be reminded we’re doing the right things and we’re doing them the right way.”
RELATED: Race results | Christopher Bell wins Daytona Road Course
The Busch-Stevens duo split during the offseason after six full-time seasons together at NASCAR’s top division. Their shared record included two championships (2015 and 2019) and 28 wins. They also worked together in the Xfinity Series, tallying an additional 19 victories.
Busch now has Ben Beshore atop the No. 18 pit box.
Bell is in just his second season in the Cup Series, his first with Joe Gibbs Racing. As a rookie, Bell competed for Leavine Family Racing in its No. 95 Toyota, but LFR shut its operation’s doors at the end of last year, prompting the move to JGR.
The biggest difference between working with Bell now compared to Busch before is the experience level. That was to be expected, though.
“We have to spend a lot of time talking about how we’re going to operate and what makes a good weekend, what makes a bad weekend — lessons we can learn from,” Stevens said. “You can learn from bad days just as easy as you can learn from a good day. You have to be ready to pull those lessons out. Just a lot of time communicating, laying the foundation for us to do great things in the future.”
Seems like it’s working.
Bell is now qualified to run in the NASCAR Playoffs. He didn’t make the 16-driver postseason field in 2020, finishing the season 20th in the final standings.
“I didn’t imagine we’d win our second race together, but happy to do so,” Stevens said. “It definitely changes the whole season — how you approach the season, what your obstacles might be. Now that we have one under our belt, I think we can get a few more.”

Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

Chase Elliott, NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver, now has a Cup title to bolster his resume.
As Jimmie Johnson bid farewell at Phoenix Raceway, the sport celebrated a changing of the guard.
After his best season to date, the 24-year-old second-generation racer is now a second-generation champion joining Lee and Richard Petty and Ned and Dale Jarrett as the only father and son combinations to pull off the feat.
And on Sunday, Elliott accomplished the task in dramatic fashion, coming from the rear of the field to holding off former champions Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski over the final 43 laps.
“Man, I'm at a loss for words,” Elliott said. “This is unbelievable. Oh, my gosh. We did it. I mean, we did it. That's all I've got to tell you. Unreal.
“Championship crew chief, Alan Gustafson, is now a NASCAR Cup Series champion, and very deserving. I just can't say enough about our group. I felt like we took some really big strides this year, and last week was a huge one. To come out of that with a win and a shot to come here and have a chance to race is unbelievable. This is unreal.”
Keselowski finished 2.740-seconds behind Elliott followed by title contenders Logano and Denny Hamlin. Seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, making his final start in the No. 48 Chevy, finished fifth before pulling up to the No. 9 Chevy to congratulate his Elliott. Johnson then rolled off for a Polish victory lap to thank the fans as Elliott started his celebratory burnouts.
Elliott started Season Finale 500 35th after the No. 9 Hendrick team failed pre-race inspection twice but soldiered up to 10th-place in the first 26 laps. Logano dominated the first stage and held serve on pit road to retain the lead to start the second segment. Elliott exited behind Hamlin and restarted third for the Lap 84 restart. Twenty laps later, Elliott started flexing his muscled and passed Hamlin for second-place.
Logano led a career-high 117 laps before developing a vibration. Elliott caught the No. 22 Ford in Turn 2 and executed a bump and run before making a pass for the lead on Lap 120. Over the last nine laps, the Championship 4 pitted.
Despite relinquishing the lead on Lap 139, Elliott quickly cycled back to the point on Lap 151. Eleven laps later, James Davison triggered the third caution. Following pit stops, Elliott came out second behind Kurt Busch, who opted for two tires.
Elliott easily took the lead from Busch on the Lap 168 restart with Keselowski, Logano, Hamlin and Johnson in tow. Elliott appeared to be in command of the stage before Keselowski drove low and inside of the No. 9 Chevy for the lead and the stage win with two circuits remaining.
A slow stop for Keselowski mired the No. 2 Ford in sixth for the Lap 201 restart. Hamlin developed a tight condition in the final stage and never factored into the end game. Keselowski passed Hamlin for third on Lap 224 but Elliott had checked out. By the time the final round of green-flag pit stops began on Lap 256, Hamlin was 4.7-seconds behind Elliott.
Of the Championship 4 contenders, Logano and Hamlin pitted first on Lap 259. Elliott and Keselowski came in for service two laps later—and once again, the No. 2 Penske team lacked execution.
Logano cycled back to the lead on Lap 262 but couldn’t maintain his advantage over Elliott for long. Logano developed another tire vibration and was passed by Elliott on Lap 270.
“Yeah, just waiting on the caution, as always,” Elliott said. “You know, I saw Joey was pretty loose there and felt like I needed to get to him while I could. I knew I'd been kind of tight on a longer run and he was probably going to get a little better. Just unbelievable.
“I mean, I just never would have thought that this year would have gone like it has. I mean, NASCAR Cup Series champion; are you kidding me? Unreal.”
Keselowski maneuvered by Logano on Lap 280 but couldn't catch Elliott. Without a caution, it was smooth sailing for Elliott over the final green-flag run en route to his and crew chief Alan Gustafson’s first Cup title and the 13th for Hendrick Motorsports.
“Oh, it's unbelievable,” Elliott added. “All you can dream for is an opportunity, and I've been very fortunate to have that over the years. You know, and that's all thanks to some great people. You know, my parents obviously have played a huge role.
“The past year has been tough. I lost my best friend about a year ago tonight. Lost my grandmother last year. And all those things bring families closer, so I really can't thank them enough.
“Mr. Hendrick, for taking a chance on me and believing in me when a lot of people didn't. I think it really says a lot about him. And then to have a championship sponsor like NAPA, all of our partners, and Chevrolet, huge thanks to Team Hendrick and everybody at our shop that peaked at the right time. That's all we can ask for.”
Elliott’s Phoenix win was his fifth of the season—including three in the post-season. He scored 15 top fives and 22 top 10s. Elliott is the 34th different driver to win a Cup title and the sixth different champion under NASCAR’s elimination-style Playoffs, which debuted in 2014.

Kyle Larson reinstated by NASCAR in 2021

By Staff Report NASCAR officials reinstated Kyle Larson on Monday, more than six months after his suspension for his use of a racial slur during an iRacing event.
Chip Ganassi Racing fired Larson on April 14, one day after NASCAR barred him indefinitely as part of a behavioral penalty. Larson was mandated to complete sensitivity training at NASCAR’s direction as a condition for reinstatement, but will also have continued requirements to fulfill in order to keep his NASCAR membership current.
“NASCAR continues to prioritize diversity and inclusion across our sport,” the sanctioning body said in an official statement. “Kyle Larson has fulfilled the requirements set by NASCAR, and has taken several voluntary measures, to better educate himself so that he can use his platform to help bridge the divide in our country. Larson’s indefinite suspension has been lifted. Under the terms of his reinstatement, he will be cleared to return to all NASCAR racing activities effective January 1, 2021.”
Those terms for reinstatement include several speaking engagements, each spaced out through 2023, where Larson will share his experiences with NASCAR’s weekly series, e-sports and dirt-racing communities. He will also be required to take further training and engagement classes through 2023, plus continue his work with the Urban Youth Racing School (UYRS) and Rev Racing, providing coaching and mentorship for those initiatives.
Larson’s suspension came after an April 12 invitational iRacing event. He said he had keyed his microphone to send a private message, but his use of a racial slur was instead broadcast to all participants in the race and to viewers on public live streams.
Larson was penalized for violating Sections 12.1 (General Procedures) and 12.8 (NASCAR Member Conduct Guidelines) of the NASCAR Rule Book. He later apologized for his actions through his social media channels. Competition officials confirmed Oct. 16 that Larson had applied for reinstatement.
After his dismissal, Larson told the Associated Press in an Aug. 19 article: “I was just ignorant. And immature. I didn’t understand the negativity and hurt that comes with that word.”
He also explained the measures that he had quietly undertaken since the incident to learn more about civil-rights issues, making some of his first in-depth comments about the matter in a personal essay published Oct. 4 on his website.
In his essay, Larson took accountability for his actions and said he had connected with former athletes Tony Sanneh and Jackie Joyner-Kersee to work with their foundations and to see the impact of racial injustice first-hand in Minneapolis. He also said he had hired a diversity coach, Doug Harris of The Kaleidoscope Group, and had conversations with Black racers Bubba Wallace, J.R. Todd and Willy T. Ribbs to learn about their experiences.
“I want them to know that words do matter,” Larson wrote in his essay, referencing that he would have to answer to his family as he takes responsibility for his actions moving forward. “Apologizing for your mistakes matters. Accountability matters. Forgiveness matters. Treating others with respect matters. I will not stop listening and learning, but for me now, it’s about action — doing the right things, being a part of the solution and writing a new chapter that my children will be proud to read.”

Standings

3.8.2020
450SX Class Results
1. Eli Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Kawasaki
2. Ken Roczen, Clermont, Fla., Honda
3. Cooper Webb, Clermont, Fla., KTM
4. Jason Anderson, Rio Rancho, N.M., Husqvarna
5. Justin Barcia, Greenville, Fla., Yamaha
6. Aaron Plessinger, Hamilton, Ohio, Yamaha
7. Dean Wilson, Murrieta, Calif., Husqvarna
8. Malcolm Stewart, Haines City, Fla., Honda
9. Justin Hill, Yoncalla, Ore., Honda
10. Justin Brayton, Charlotte, N.C., Honda

450SX Class Championship Standings
1. Eli Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Kawasaki (226)
2. Ken Roczen, Clermont, Fla., Honda (223)
3. Cooper Webb, Clermont, Fla., KTM (197)
4. Justin Barcia, Greenville, Fla., Yamaha (195)
5. Jason Anderson, Rio Rancho, N.M., Husqvarna (170)
6. Malcolm Stewart, Haines City, Fla., Honda (152)
7. Justin Hill, Yoncalla, Ore., Honda (141)
8. Justin Brayton, Charlotte, N.C., Honda (129)
9. Dean Wilson, Murrieta, Calif., Husqvarna (129)
10. Adam Cianciarulo, New Smyrna Beach, Fla., Kawasaki (128)

ROCKET MAN RETURNS: RICHARDS COLLECTS 77TH OUTLAWS WIN AT DUCK RIVER

byJordan DeLucia

WHEEL, TN – As the field crossed Duck River Raceway Park’s start/finish line with only five laps remaining on Friday night, leader Josh Richards could see the light at the end of the tunnel. Waiting for him on the other side was his 77th career World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series Feature win and his first in 1,225 days.
There was just one problem – Dennis Erb Jr. was reeling him in fast. Richards was ripping the middle-top side of the high-banked bullring as Erb was smooth sailing down low, until Richards looked outside the fence and saw his crew guys signaling him to move down. Richards followed the advice to make the line switch and made it through the final five laps untouched to collect his first World of Outlaws win in 134 tour races.

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INVINCIBLE IRONMAN: SHELDON HAUDENSCHILD BLOWS AWAY COMPETITION AT IRONMAN 55

byNick Graziano August 4, 2019

Ironman; a title earned, not given. Earned with the display of great strength. Earned with the display of great endurance. And earned with the display of great will power.
Sheldon Haudenschild displayed all three traits during Saturday’s World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series Ironman 55 event at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55.
On the 70-degree night with 90% humidity, Haudenschild led 45 of the 55 laps in the caution free Feature, sprinted to the finish with an unprecedented 10.3 second lead over runner-up Donny Schatz and lapped up to fifth-place – including Series points leader and Friday night’s winner at the raceway Brad Sweet.
“That right there was just a great car, me feeling comfortable and having a lot of fun,” Haudenschild said.
Finish Line Productions photo
The fun started for the Wooster, Ohio-native and his Stenhouse Jr.-Marshall Racing team Friday night with a runner-up finish to Sweet in the Night Before the Ironman 35-lap event. Haudenschild then backed up his performance with a second-place finish in his Drydene Heat race, coming to the finish side-by-side with Daryn Pittman. He then charged from fifth to the win in the DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash – a victory he initially didn’t want.
“I wanted to win the Heat race to get a better draw,” Haudenschild said. “Once I didn’t win the Heat my mindset kind of changed starting in the back of that Dash. I really didn’t want to win the Dash. I was thinking a third-place start would be good to see what they (the leaders) were doing.
“But after the track prep, I think winning the Dash was a good move.”
The entire 1/3-mile track was worked on before the 55-lap Feature, creating a new tacky racing surface.
When the 55-lap Feature went green, Schatz rocketed around the outside of Haudenschild on the exit of the first corner to take the lead. Tim Shaffer did the same the next corner, moving Haudenschild to third.
Five laps into the race – which saw lap times in the low 11 second bracket for the majority of it – Schatz caught lap traffic. At the same time, Haudenschild found his rhythm and charged his way back by Shaffer for second.
Then, in the time it takes to snap your fingers, the NOS Energy Drink No. 17 was on Schatz’s bumper. No matter where Haudenschild placed his car on the track he found grip. The 10-time Series champion was prey with no protection.
On Lap 10, Schatz covered the high side into turn one, while Haudenschild launched his car to the middle lane. Haudenschild’s tires held the better relationship with the clay surface and powered him by the Toco Warranty No. 15 car.
“I was really worried once [Shaffer] and Donny got by me,” Haudenschild said. “I didn’t quite know what to do. Once we got into traffic, I had the mindset I was going to get around them and run consistent laps.”
From there, Haudenschild showed his strength. Showed his endurance. And showed his will power. He was the man without fear. His charge through lapped cars looked more like a game than a challenge. Whether it was a slide job to drive by several cars at a time or going three-wide between two lapped cars, Haudenschild didn’t hesitate to make the move.
Once he lapped his way to the top-10, Sweet gave him his biggest challenge of the night. The two dueled for laps, with Sweet aggressively charging his way back by Haudenschild several times to remain on the lead lap. However, no one could match the No. 17 car.
Haudenschild eventually slid his way by Sweet with 17 laps to go and continued his hunt through the field. Schatz and Pittman’s battle for second-place was quickly going from being a battle behind Haudenschild, to one in front of him.
The two series champions dueled for the position throughout the race, but Schatz prevailed with Pittman never finding a strong enough run to get by the reigning champion. However, with Haudenschild out of sight, they thought they were potentially battling for the win.
“I thought I actually won; I couldn’t see him,” Schatz said. “I thought maybe he had run out of fuel or pulled off or something. I can’t believe it went green to checkered.”
He added all he could do was commend Haudenschild on his performance and applaud him.
“That was a whoopin’ right there,” said Schatz, who is now two points behind Sweet in the Series point standings.
Pittman also stated he thought he was battling Schatz for the win at the end. He was happy with the result, though, after a few weeks of undesired finishes.
Nothing surprised Haudenschild. The heat didn’t get to him. The long duration of the race didn’t get to him, and he knew he had a good car underneath him.
“Really, it wasn’t that physical at all,” Haudenschild said. “Keeping your mind right, making smart moves. I looked up at the board on Lap 51 and I probably shouldn’t have, ‘cause I think I did make one mistake after that. When the board is right in front of your face it’s hard not to. Especially in this long of a race. I was trying to play it cool and wanted to get it over with. Fifty-five laps is a long race.”
At the end of those 55 laps, though, celebration. After climbing to the top wing of his Sprint Car, spewing NOS Energy Drink all around Victory Lane, Haudenschild was greeted with congratulatory remarks and a hug from his hero – his dad.
Finish Line Productions photo
“It was pretty awesome,” Jac Haudenschild said about his son’s win. “He lapped me a couple of times, so I know he must have been going pretty good.”
Haudenschild’s victory earned him a $20,000 payday and his second win of the season – seventh career World of Outlaws win overall. After some struggles in the first half of the season – missing five Features – he and his team have been building momentum in the summer months.
“It’s huge,” Haudenschild said about the win. “Just to get it for our guys. Build a little bit of confidence. Put another win on the calendar and just keep working on it. I feel like we still have work to do on different kinds of tracks. Definitely this track is kind of my style.
“It’s been a little bit of a struggle the beginning of the year. We’re not quite where we want to be win wise, but we’re working at it and I feel like we’re doing it at the right time.”
He’s leaving Missouri not only with the confidence of another win, but the prestige of a new title.
He earned it by showing his strength. Earned it by showing his endurance. And earned it by proving his will power

The Detroit Grand Prix 2019 show has interviews and stories

Rising teen NASCAR star Hailie Deegan is brushing off criticism after she bumped her teammate Derek Krause in the last turn of the K&N Pro Series West Race in Colorado on Saturday to take her second win of the season.

DEEGAN, who led 66 of 155 laps, had just moved into second place and was going for the inside line when Kraus had the same idea and the two came in contact, which caused Kraus’ car to spin.

What everyone is talking about today:

“I went into that corner, went in hard and was already kind of on the edge. I was not expecting my teammate, with a broke sway bar to take a swing at me like that. I thought he was going to play cautious,” Deegan said.
Race stewards reviewed the incident and declared Deegan the winner.
Kraus, who is also 17, Tweeted out a video of the finish with the caption “Mama always told me if you have nothing nice to say, say nothing at all!”

Deegan became the first female to win a race in the series last year when she made a similar move on her former teammate Cole Rouse in Idaho.
Deegan added "I don’t regret it. I am sorry that he [Kraus] spun out. Bt this thing's been blowing up and people are turning on me. And I get that not everyone’s going to like me. I get that. That’s life,”

“I’m sorry to Derek. These next couple races are going to be tough ones. People are going to be taking swings at me. I’m ok with that. Take all the swings you want. But, just know that I’m going to swing back. It’s going to make it hard to win a championship. But, I think we’re just going for race wins.”
After five races, Kraus leads the series with 216 points ahead of Deegan in second place with 204.

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Winners and Losers at New Hampshire

-Aric Almirola- I have not seen Almirola since we discussed the tasty bacon of his prior sponsor Smithfield a few years ago. That was about the last time Almirola won a NASCAR Cup race. His win at New Hampshire guaranteed him of making the playoffs. Almirola turned his 2021 frown upside down as a win was really his only chance of making the playoffs as he had only two top five finishes this season.

- Christopher Bell has been lightning quick on road courses this season replacing Erik Jones in the Joe Gibbs # 20. Toyota was the favorite going into last weekend as they always run good in New Hampshire. Bell finished second and was the only non-Ford in the top six. Bell is a force and with his win at Daytona's road course, he is in the playoffs and will make some noise before the season is out.

Ford- They took five of the top six spots at New Hampshire with Almirola, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney and Kevin Harvick all finishing in the top six. Great showing by team Ford.

Those who lost track position are the drivers caught in silly season scenarios.

The silly season has drivers wondering if they have jobs in 2022. Drivers who are on the bubble are Erik Jones for Richard Petty, I thought he had a multi-year deal, but Petty has the option. Matt Dibenedetto is out at Wood Brothers as Harrison Burton takes his spot. Ryan Newman is out at Fenway/Roush but Jack Roush will recycle drivers if he needs to. Remember Matt Kenseth a few years ago?

Kurt Busch will most likely lose his gig after Chip Ganassi sold his team. Busch won in Atlanta and he gets to take the Monster Energy sponsorship with him wherever he goes. Bet you we see him again if he wants the gig.

SUPER SUB: KASEY KAHNE’S SUCCESS IS CRUCIAL FOR KKR #9’S OWNER TITLE HOPES

.Statistically, Kasey Kahne just completed the greatest six-race stretch of his career with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series.
His four top-ten finishes were highlighted by a hard charging 23rd-to-fifth bid at Magnolia and a pole position at The Rev. The Enumclaw, WA native didn’t just fill the seat and turn some laps to collect points; he became a true contender to win on a nightly basis with The Greatest Show on Dirt.
By result of Kahne’s impressive numbers, his early-season success has the Kasey Kahne Racing, Karavan Trailers #9 in a good position with the World of Outlaws Owners Championship in mind. Beginning this weekend at Cotton Bowl Speedway, James McFadden will begin his tenure – sitting -82 out of the points lead – and Kahne will return to his role as team owner of McFadden’s #9 and Brad Sweet’s NAPA Auto Parts #49.
“It’s been a lot of fun,” Kahne said on his driving duties. “I don’t really remember driving to every race this early in the year before, just running the World of Outlaws tour is pretty cool. I’ve really enjoyed it this last month or so. I’ve been working with the team more and more, and that’s been fun. Racing and running up and down the road, though, I kind of feel like a real World of Outlaws driver at the moment.”

Michael McDowell hopes Daytona 500 win brings more success to team

By Jenna Fryer-DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Michael McDowell was best known for years as the guy who barrel-rolled eight times at Texas while trying to qualify for just the second race of his Cup Series career.
He'd driven through the remnants of an oil spill when McDowell's car made a hard right turn into the wall. The car rebounded, flipped o n its roof and went airborne for eight rolls before the flaming wreckage finally came to a stop on its wheels.
“It’s just one of those things that happened,” McDowell said. “But you definitely hope that people would know you for something better than that.”
- Advertisement -It took 13 years for him to change the narrative: McDowel l is now a Daytona 500 champion.
The journeyman earned the first win of his career — he was 0-357 before Daytona — by zipping past two crashing cars on the final lap. McDowell led for less than a mile in the wee hours Monday morning but it was all he needed to validate a career spent driving inferior cars.
Daytona is unlike any race on NASCAR's schedule in that underdogs have a chance if they can make it to the finish. It takes understanding the nuances of superspeedway racing — managing the draft, knowing who to push and how to do it, and using instinct to plot strategy at almost 200 mph.
McDowell has had the hang of it since at least 2013, when he scored his first career top-10 finish at Daytona. He has been a fixture near the front of the field since, particularly after he moved to Front Row Motorsports in 2018.
Although FRM is considered one of NASCAR's third-tier teams, it has a strong program for superspeedways and road courses, circuits that somewhat level the playing field. In four Daytona 500s driving the No. 34 Ford, McDowell finished fifth, ninth, 14th and, finally, first.
“This is definitely no fluke,” said three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin. “I’ve said many times this is a skill game. He’s got the skill set to win these, and he finally got it done.”
The victory was just the third in 17 years for Front Row and owner Bob Jenkins. David Ragan won FRM's first race, in 2013 at Talladega Superspeedway, and Chris Buescher won at Pocono in 2016.
Jenkins doesn't think the sporadic success is indicative of the team he's built.
“I know the average fan is surprised when we win a race, but it never surprises me,” Jenkins said. "It’s taken a long time to get our third win and our first Daytona 500 win, but people don’t realize this is our third top-five in the Daytona 500. You want to win championships, but you’ve got to win races first.”
McDowell earlier this month said he doubted FRM could make the 16-car playoffs on points, so the priority had been earning an automatic berth via a race win. The schedule this year has a NASCAR-high seven road courses — the first is this Sunday at Daytona — and four superspeedways, which theoretically gave FRM a fighting chance to compete against NASCAR's elite.
FRM now has its first playoff berth in team history. More important, crew chief Drew Blickensderfer has 25 weeks to prepare for the championship rounds. He can overhaul his strategy to fixate less on decent finishes and instead aggressively chase stage points and victories in hopes of a deeper playoff run.
“All that matters right now is winning the stage or winning the race for us,” Blickensderfer said. "In the past, if you’re running at Pocono and you’re running seventh or eighth like we were last year, we were super happy to finish there.
"But right now seventh or eighth doesn’t do any better for us than 15th. So why not take a gamble and see if you can either steal another (win) or you can put yourself up in position to at least get some more points.”
McDowell will have a different approach to racing the rest of this season. He certainly wants to win more races, but he's got his Daytona 500 trophy now and can focus on helping FRM's growth.
“I think that you always have the fire and when you win that fire gets deeper, but we all know that’s not an every week thing for us and our race team right now,” McDowell said. "We know that on 26 of the racetracks, we’ll be happy to be in that top 10.
“I think this definitely gives us a lot of confidence. You always want more, but I am so thankful that I am not going to go my Cup career without a win. It’s such a relief to know that I won’t go 400 starts without a win. I’ve always said I want one, and I’ve got one now and obviously we want two, right?”

Ricky Weiss Returning to World of Outlaws Late Model Series in 2021 with Championship Desire

World of Outlaws 2021 Schedule

CANADIAN SENSATION BRINGS BACK DRYDENE AS SPONSOR, BUILDING HIS OWN CARS
By Brian Walker | December 4, 2020 at 5:48 pmIf statistical trends mean anything, 2021 will be the year of Ricky Weiss.
Today, the Headingly, Manitoba, Canada native confirmed that he’ll return to the World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series in 2021 with his sights set on the $100,000 championship. After earning Racing Electronics Rookie of the Year honors with a third-place finish in 2019, then a runner-up result in 2020, all that remains for The Manitoba Missile is the prestigious title.
Continuing his relationship with Drydene Performance Products, Weiss is proudly bringing them back as the primary sponsor on his No. 7 for the second year now. He’ll keep Vic Hill power under the hood, but is making some changes elsewhere in his program.
Building his own chassis, Weiss has split with his Team Zero Race Cars over the off-season to build his own machines in 2021; a new adventure that he hopes will instill some new life in his budding operation.
“I feel more confident than ever going into this next year with our whole team,” Weiss said. “If you look back at where we started with the Outlaws in 2019 to where we are now, we’ve grown leaps and bounds. We were the top rookie, then we won some races, now I really want to go contend for a title with Brandon [Sheppard]. I’m proud to have Drydene back on board with us and ready to get the season rolling next month.”
With more than 55+ races on a massive 2021 slate spanning from January to November and Florida to North Dakota, a championship against The Most Powerful Late Models on the Planet will be no easy task. To earn the crown and write his name into the record books, Weiss will have to dethrone the modern-day king of the Outlaws: Brandon Sheppard, who enters a new year fresh off his third World of Outlaws title with Rocket1 Racing.
Tough? Sure. Possible? Absolutely.
Since joining the World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series on a full-time basis in 2019, Weiss has certainly ascended up the ladder in his tenure. Why not climb just one position more?
Weiss finished 3rd in 2019, 2nd in 2020, now eyes 1st in 2021. [Jacy Norgaard Photo]

He went winless in year one, but came close to victory on countless occasions. Leading 82 laps across several different races, Weiss was slowly grooming himself into the title contender he would soon become. Backed by the consistency of 17 top five finishes and 30 top ten efforts in 41 shows, a third-place championship result gave him Rookie of the Year honors over Cade Dillard and propelled him into an even more successful sophomore season.

Led by his first career victories at Vado (N.M.) Speedway Park in January and Jackson (Minn.) Motorplex in May, Weiss recorded a career year in 2020 which saw him place second in the point standings. He set career highs in every statistical category with 150 laps led, 19 top five finishes and 31 top ten results. Solidifying that he was not only here to stay, but here to become a championship contender.
“Switching to our own cars is going to be a new challenge, but it’s something we’re ready for,” noted Weiss on the change. “To have our own resources and be able to make all of the adjustments that we can think of or desire will be good for us. We’ve been tinkering with a lot of things in the shop this off-season and doing a lot of fine tuning on this deal. I’m excited to get to Volusia next month and really start working on this thing at the track.”

PAYING UP: World of Outlaws Increase Sprint Car Purses, Points Fund For 2021

By Nick Graziano- Drivers competing with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series in 2021 will have to make more room in their wallets.
The Series is increasing its single-day and two-day event purses for 2021, as well as the overall points funds. Every race will now pay a minimum $10,000-to-win and the points fund at the end of the season will payout more than $730,000 – about a $90,000 increase from 2020.
And for the event purses, it’s not just the winner’s share that’s increasing. There are increases throughout the entire field.
Single-day events will payout more than $55,800 in total and will pay $1,000-to-start. Two-day events will payout more than $108,000 in total with the first night paying $5,500 to second-place, $1,850 to 10th and $900-to-start, and the second night paying $6,000 to second, $2,000 to 10th and $1,000-to-start.
“We’re excited to provide drivers and teams with an increased purse for the 2021 season, especially after the burdens COVID-19 placed on them in 2020,” World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series Director Carlton Reimers said. “The increase is a representation of the Series’ exciting continued growth, our commitment to our competitors and the growing support from the fans.”
The significance of the increase is not lost on the drivers either.
“Obviously, as a race car driver, trying to make a living racing, you want to race for the highest purses you can,” Two-time and defending World of Outlaws champion Brad Sweet said. “I’m very happy that the World of Outlaws has taken the step to increase the purses. Definitely a step in the right direction.”
The championship will again payout $150,000 between the winning driver and team in 2021, but second-place and down will see significant increases. Among the increases include, second-place paying $100,000, third paying $60,000, fifth paying $50,000 and 15th paying $13,000.
Along with the purse increase, the 2021 season will see the return of several big paying events, including the Aug. 11-14 60th NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals at Knoxville Raceway, which will pay a potential $200,000 to the winner.
A five-race “Showdown” event between the two-day (June 21-22) Huset’s 50 at Huset’s Speedway and the three-day (June 24-26) Jackson Nationals at Jackson Motorplex will offer an extra $100,000 if a driver can win the finale of both World of Outlaws events.
The 2021 season will kick off Feb. 5-7 at Volusia Speedway Park for the 50th DIRTcar Nationals in Barberville, FL. For tickets, click here. The entire 2021 schedule will be released soon.

Brad Keselowski presser talking about his new deal and Covid-19 racing MIS Doubleheader

From New Hampshire: Brad Keselowski Post Race interview and career hilights

BRAD KESELOWSKI GIVES MUSTANG 11TH WIN OF 2020 CUP SEASON·         Brad Keselowski won his third race of the season today.
·         The win is the 33rd of his Cup Series career and 24th with Ford.
·         Those 24 wins make him the all-time Team Penske leader for Cup wins with Ford, passing Rusty Wallace (23) and teammate Joey Logano (23).
·         The win is Mustang’s 11th of the season, bettering its win total from last season.
·         Today’s win is Ford’s 697th all-time in NASCAR Cup Series competition.
·         Of Team Penske’s 77 MENCS wins with Ford, 50 have come since rejoining Ford in 2013.

WHAT KIND OF STATEMENT WAS THAT TODAY? “We’ve had a lot of great races this year with the 2 car, but we just haven’t really went out and kind of dominated a race. Talking to Jeremy Bullins and like, ‘Man, what do we need to get to that next level? We’re right there. We need to go out and just dominate a race,’ and that’s what today was for us with the Western Star/Alliance Parts Ford Mustang. I’m really proud of my team and the effort that they gave today. A great race car and to all of Team Penske, thank you. Its so great to be racing back in front of fans again. It feels like forever, so welcome back, guys.”
WHY HAS IT WORKED SO WELL WITH JEREMY BULLINS THIS YEAR? “It’s been good. I’ve had a good career and I thought we needed a kick in the ass and Jeremy and this whole team has been a kick in the butt for me to make me a little bit better and push me to find another level and we’re doing that so far. I’m just really thankful. I’m in a great spot here and hungry for more wins. I think this is my fifth straight year with three wins, but I don’t want to stop here. I want us to keep going and I know this team can do it. I’m driven. I’ve just got to say there’s so much going on in the world right now. I’m glad to be able to be a race car driver and get to be here and do these things. I’ve got two special decals on my car with Maurice Petty and Mr. Bob Bahre, who passed away this week. I’m just thankful to those who made the sport possible, and to my friend Dave who lost his father this week to the coronavirus. We’re thinking about you, bud. There’s so much going on in the world. We’re just glad to be here and glad that maybe we can take a few peoples’ minds off of all the craziness. I hope you enjoyed the race.”
WHAT KIND OF STATEMENT WAS THIS TODAY? “This is the same tire and similar track to Phoenix and we know that’s what you’ve got to do to win this championship. You have to go win Phoenix and we put on a great showing today. I’m pumped, I really am. The playoffs are a long ways away and they’re gonna be tough, but this is certainly a good sign.”
MICHIGAN NEXT WEEK. THAT WOULD BE SWEET AS WELL. “It would. I’ve been so close to winning there and hopefully this is good mojo.”
HOW ABOUT THESE FANS? “We’re just so glad to have them all back. It feels so weird to be racing without fans, but we’re glad you’re here. I hope you stay safe and thank you for being here.”

Denny Hamlin denies Harvick, caps Pocono doubleheader in Victory LaneReid Spencer

By Roy J. Akers
-Joey Logano is the obvious choice. He won for the second time this season and sliced bread led only the 4th most laps, but he was superb down the stretch.
-Kevin Harvick finished second on Sunday after leading 67 laps early. What a great job he did down the stretch with a rocket ride. He is the NASCAR points leader after four races.
-Aric Almirola is like a fine wine. He just gets better every season in NASCAR. His 9th place finish gives him two top tens on the season.
Lugnuts
-Brad Keselowski finished 11th on Sunday and is 10th in the NASCAR points total. The impending free agent is taking other teams calls but he should not worry about getting a ride. With Jimmie Johnson retiring after 2020, many think he is headed to Hendrick Motorsports.
-Erik Jones struck the wall at the midway point on Sunday in Phoenix and his 28th place finish was a disappointment. It comes on the heels of his 21st ranking in the NASCAR standings. Jones’ contract expires at the end of the 2020 season and he needs to step up his game going forward.

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Top Seven within 58 Points with Two To Go

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for WWTR Victory

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at Victory Lap Celebration

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