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  • Mahindra Tractors Racing: Chase Briscoe Kansas Advance

    Mahindra Tractors Racing: Chase Briscoe Kansas Advance

    CHASE BRISCOE
    Kansas Advance
    No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang Dark Horse

    Event Overview

    ● Event: Hollywood Casino 400 (Round 30 of 36)
    ● Time/Date: 3 p.m. EDT on Sunday, Sept. 29
    ● Location: Kansas Speedway in Kansas City
    ● Layout: 1.5-mile oval
    ● Laps/Miles: 267 laps/400.5 miles
    ● Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 80 laps / Stage 2: 85 laps / Final Stage: 102 laps
    ● TV/Radio: USA / MRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

    Notes of Interest

    ● The Hollywood Casino 400 NASCAR Cup Series race is this Sunday at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, and in addition to watching Chase Briscoe wheel his No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang Dark Horse, perhaps it’s time to bet on Briscoe. After earning his playoff spot with the equivalent of a walk-off home run Sept. 1 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway when he won the Cook Out Southern 500, Briscoe has since outshined four other playoff participants by advancing to the Round of 12. Even after finishing dead last in the playoff opener Sept. 8 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Briscoe rebounded the following week at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International when he finished a best-in-class sixth. The next-best playoff driver was 10th-place Austin Cindric, as 14 of the 16 original playoff drivers finished outside of the top-10. Briscoe then went into the elimination race last Saturday night at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway with a six-point buffer over the top-12 cutoff. Five hundred laps later, Briscoe was on to the Round of 12 with a solid eighth-place drive. The guy many had written off before the playoffs even started is now a bona fide playoff contender. So if you’re in the Hollywood Casino this weekend on the backstretch at Kansas and you amble up to the roulette table, put some money on red No. 14. It’s bound to pay off.

    ● The Hollywood Casino 400 will be Briscoe’s eighth career NASCAR Cup Series start at Kansas. While Briscoe is still looking for his first top-10 finish at the 1.5-mile oval, he has been quietly consistent, with four finishes of 21st or better, and only one result outside the top-25. Briscoe’s best Cup Series finish at Kansas is 13th, earned in September 2022.

    ● Briscoe’s Kansas record in the NASCAR Xfinity Series was a study in improvement – specifically, rapid improvement. After finishing 30th in his first Xfinity Series race at Kansas in October 2018, Briscoe returned to the track the following October and finished an impressive third after leading twice for 33 laps. He finished 14th in July 2020 but then roared back three months later to utterly dominate. In his final Xfinity Series start at Kansas in October 2020, Briscoe led four times for a race-high 159 laps – all but 41 of the race’s 200 laps. He finished 1.199 seconds ahead of runner-up Daniel Hemric to take the last of his 11 career Xfinity Series victories.

    ● Briscoe has made two NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series starts at Kansas. He finished fifth in his first Truck Series race at the track in May 2017 and in his return to Kansas four years later, he finished 19th (May 2021).

    ● Briscoe’s epic run to the 2016 ARCA Menards Series title ended with a mic drop at Kansas. Having already sewn up the series title before the last race of the year at Kansas, Briscoe went into the series finale and made that race a microcosm of his season. He won the pole, led twice for a race-high 67 laps (all but 33 of the race’s 100 laps) and then won the race with a 1.464-second advantage over runner-up Austin Cindric. It was Briscoe’s sixth win of the season and he padded his championship tally to an eye-popping 5,290 points, which was 535 points more than his nearest pursuer, Tom Hessert III. In that title-winning season, Briscoe’s average start across 20 races was 4.1 and his average finish was 5.2 with a total of 949 laps led.

    ● Riding along with Briscoe in the Hollywood Casino 400 is Heath Dodson. Via a decal over the passenger-side window of Briscoe’s No. 14 Ford Mustang Dark Horse, Dodson’s cancer battle is being highlighted by the Martin Truex Jr. Foundation’s and the NASCAR Foundation’s Honor a Cancer Hero program. Diagnosed with esophageal cancer in December 2023, Dodson underwent radiation and chemotherapy this spring. More recently, he had an esophagectomy. Even with all of this adversity, Dodson remains strong and resilient in his cancer battle. He was nominated for the Honor a Cancer Hero program by Jonathan Haggarty.

    ● Mahindra Ag North America is a proud sponsor of Briscoe and Stewart-Haas Racing, and 2024 highlights an impressive milestone for Mahindra – 30 years of selling tractors in the United States. Houston-based Mahindra Ag North America is part of Mahindra Group’s Automotive and Farm Sector, the No. 1-selling farm tractor company in the world, based on volumes across all company brands. Mahindra offers a range of tractor models from 20-75 horsepower, implements, and the ROXOR heavy-duty UTV. Mahindra farm equipment is engineered to be easy to operate by first-time tractor or side-by-side owners and heavy duty to tackle the tough jobs of rural living, farming and ranching. Steel-framed Mahindra Tractors and side-by-sides are ideal for customers who demand performance, reliability and comfort. Mahindra dealers are independent, family-owned businesses located throughout the U.S. and Canada.

    Chase Briscoe, Driver of the No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang Dark Horse

    Back-to-back top-10s propelled you into the Round of 12. Is it time for people to start taking you and the No. 14 team seriously in this year’s playoffs?

    “I don’t think anyone believes us, but I really think we can battle for the championship, and I think these last two weeks show that. I mean, we gave ’em a race, right? We went to Atlanta and got one point. At Bristol, we had a lot of adversity and we were better than eighth place. We’ve brought top-five racecars to the track the last four weeks and we’re hitting our stride at the right time. And with this format, if you can just be good for 10 weeks, then you can be a champion, and I feel like we’re as strong as any team right now.”

    Intermediate-style tracks are the bread and butter of the NASCAR Cup Series, with Kansas the first of three intermediate tracks in this season’s last seven races. How have intermediates been for you this year and what are your expectations for the Hollywood Casino 400?

    “It’s definitely the bread and butter of what NASCAR is, as far as how the schedule goes. I think this year we’ve come a long way on our mile-and-a-half program. At the beginning of the year, I felt like we were probably one of the stronger Fords. And then over the course of the summer, everybody else kind of caught up. But I still feel good about it. Intermediates are probably our weakest style of track, but it’s still a track where I feel like we can go to and run well. We’ve always been able to qualify really well on them. We have the speed, we just have to put the balance together for the race.”

    The spring race at Kansas produced the closest finish in NASCAR history when Kyle Larson beat Chris Buescher by .001 of a second. Is this a result of the NextGen car and how it’s made everyone run so closely with one another?

    “Yeah, it’s definitely different than what we’ve seen in the past. Just how the NextGen car races, it kind of creates a lot of opportunities for just really close, side-by-side racing on mile-and-a-half racetracks. And you obviously see that now when we go to places like Kansas and Michigan and all these kind of tracks. This car thrives on those types of racetracks, and I think that’s why you see these super-close finishes on them.”

    What do you need to be fast and consistent throughout a race at Kansas?

    “First off, your car just has to have good speed. It has to drive good. It’s a place where just the raw speed of the car is a big deal. As a driver, it’s hard to really carry it a ton there. At a place like Darlington or Homestead, the slick, worn-out racetracks, the driver can probably make up a few more positions than at a place like Kansas just because the raw speed of the car is really, really important there. When I think of Kansas, I think your car has to have good speed. It has to have good balance because you have to be extremely aggressive, and you just have to be really good on restarts. If you can have good restarts and gain a lot of spots, it just completely changes the complexion of your race. Where, if you’re battling on restarts there, it’s just easy to lose a lot of spots because the restarts are always so chaotic. Those are the things that typically stand out when I think about Kansas.”

    The Kansas layout looks simple, but is that simplicity a bit deceptive when it comes to turning consistently fast laps?

    “Kansas is fairly simple. Out of all the mile-and-a-halves that we go to, I would say in some ways it’s probably the least technical, but in other ways it’s one of the more technical tracks, just because it seems like for whatever reason, especially the last couple of years, Kansas has become a track where everybody runs on the fence. So it’s really, really hard to pass there. Your car does have to be really balanced there just to be able to pass anybody and not get tight behind guys. Any time you run the fence, there’s a technical aspect to it, but at the same time, it’s so high-speed, it’s not like we’re in there doing a lot of stuff with the pedals, but there’s a lot of commitment that comes with that as far as understanding the downforce and where you put your car compared to others. And the other thing that’s really hard about Kansas is just the wind. It seems like that racetrack, more than anywhere we go, your car drives totally different on one end than the other just because of the direction of the wind and how windy it is when we’re there.”

    Kansas is another track where you had success in the Xfinity Series. In fact, you ended your career in the series there with a win. What made Kansas work for you in an Xfinity Series car?

    “We just had really good stuff, truthfully. I think anybody could’ve driven that thing to win when we won there in the playoffs. I don’t know how many laps we led, but it felt like we led every single one of them. Our stuff was just extremely good, and that’s what it takes at Kansas. It’s one of those places where you’re only going to go as fast as your car allows. It’s a place where the driver, out of all the mile-and-a-halves, probably makes the least amount of difference just because it is so fast. (Kevin) Harvick said all the time, ‘You can’t make a slow car go fast,’ and that’s the truth when you go to Kansas. If your car’s not nearly perfect, it’s going to be a long day for you. So, hopefully, we can take what we’ve learned this year and apply it to Kansas. I feel like at Texas our car was 85 percent, 90 percent close to being perfect, so I feel like we’re right on that window of finding what perfect is, as close as you can be to that. You’re never 100 percent, but you can get to 98, 99 percent, and if we can do that, then we can go to Kansas and run well.”

    How much different is a NASCAR Cup Series car at Kansas compared to what you were used to when you were there in an Xfinity Series car?

    “The NextGen car is kind of different everywhere. The biggest thing when you got to the Cup Series is that, in Xfinity, there are probably only two or three guys whose cars are really, really good and the rest were way off. And if you got to Kansas and you were off, you were way off. But you get to the Cup Series, there are now 25 guys whose cars drive pretty dang good. It just makes it way tougher.”

    Your introduction to Kansas was pretty amazing. In the ARCA race in 2016, you won the pole, led 67 of 100 laps, won the race, and that was during a dominating ARCA season. How big of a deal was that win and that kind of domination when you’re really trying to stake your claim to being a professional racecar driver?

    “It was huge. ARCA finished their season at Kansas when I was racing there, and we were able to wrap up the championship before even going to Kansas that year. When you already have won the championship, you want to go out winning the race, right? We went in there, sat on the pole and won the race. It was cool. I knew when I ran that race it was probably going to be the last ARCA race I would ever run, so you want to go out on top. But also, I didn’t have anything for sure going into 2017. I was obviously talking to a couple of Truck teams, and when I won that race, that was finally when Ford came and said, ‘Hey, we want you to drive next year for us.’ So it was a big deal to win there and I think about it every time I go back, even though it was eight or so years ago now. That’s kind of where it all started, in a sense. After that weekend was when I finally signed my Ford contract, so it’s always cool to go back.”

    No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Team Roster

    Primary Team Members

    Driver: Chase Briscoe

    Hometown: Mitchell, Indiana

    Crew Chief: Richard Boswell

    Hometown: Friendship, Maryland

    Car Chief: J.D. Frey

    Hometown: Ferndale, California

    Engineer: Mike Cook

    Hometown: Annapolis, Maryland

    Spotter: Joey Campbell

    Hometown: Berlin, Connecticut

    Over-The-Wall Members

    Front Tire Changer: Shayne Pipala

    Hometown: Frankfort Square, Illinois

    Rear Tire Changer: Dakota Ratcliff

    Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee

    Tire Carrier: Jon Bernal

    Hometown: Holland, Michigan

    Jack Man: Kapil Fletcher

    Hometown: Fort Lauderdale, Florida

    Fuel Man: Corey Coppola

    Hometown: Bluefield, West Virginia

    Road Crew Members

    Underneath Mechanic: Stephen Gonzalez

    Hometown: Mooresville, North Carolina

    Interior Mechanic: Trevor Adams

    Hometown: Plymouth, Wisconsin

    Tire Specialist: Keith Eads

    Hometown: Arlington, Virginia

    Shock Specialist: Brian Holshouser

    Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina

    Engine Tuner: Jon Phillips

    Hometown: Jefferson City, Missouri

    Transporter Co-Driver: Todd Cable

    Hometown: Shelby, North Carolina

    Transporter Co-Driver: Dale Lackey

    Hometown: Taylorsville, North Carolina

  • WTRAndretti’s Acura ARX-06 GTPs Finish Fifth and Sixth after Hectic Battle at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

    WTRAndretti’s Acura ARX-06 GTPs Finish Fifth and Sixth after Hectic Battle at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

    INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana (September 22, 2024) – Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti (WTRAndretti)’s Acura ARX-06 GTPs made their return to endurance racing as they took on the inaugural Battle on the Bricks at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. With an already competitively right field of 56 cars across all four classes, weather became an integral factor throughout the six-hour race.

    Starting on the front row, Louis Delétraz and the No. 40 DEX Imaging Acura ARX-06 settled in quickly running within the leader at the drop of the green flag. Shortly into the six-hour race, a light rain began to fall and the GTP leaders began to catch lap traffic as Delétraz encountered contact from another car, sliding the No. 40 off track and back to the rear of the GTP field. As the light rain turned steady, the No. 40 crew went to work on pit lane shifting to rain tires. Near the one hour in mark, the field saw the yellow flag fly and ran under caution conditions due to standing water across the 2.439-mile road course for almost an hour.

    Once the rain stopped, it was full steam ahead to finish the over four hours of racing action. Strategy and lap traffic played a pivotal role throughout the middle hours as co-driver, Jordan Taylor, navigated a drying surface. With just over two hours remaining, Taylor found himself insight of the GTP leaders before handing the reins back to Delétraz.

    Looking to finish out in the No. 40, Delétraz and the team were in prime stance of the running order – even leading 24 laps – and poised for a podium result, but unfortunately, contact in the final hour with GT lap traffic saw Delétraz serve a drive-through penalty and lose track position. The No. 40 DEX Imaging Acura ARX-06 finished fifth on the day, continuing its streak of top five finishes in the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup races this season.

    Ricky Taylor started strong, finding impressive pace in the opening minutes of the new six-hour event. However, rainfall curtailed the No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06’s progression after a series of cautions ground the racing to a halt due to standing water on track for nearly an hour. Taylor managed to keep the car out of trouble for the opening stint as he navigated heavy traffic and changing course conditions. In the closing stages of his first stint Taylor was running in the podium positions before pitting from second for a driver change at about halfway. Filipe Albuquerque took over for the middle stint of the race with a focus on making forward progress. He found strong pace as the track began to dry with the rain receding. This momentum allowed Albuquerque to cut through the field as he once again brought the No. 10 car to the front of the field.

    Albuquerque ran in the lead for a number of laps as the No. 10 looked to challenge an alternate strategy to the end. Taylor resumed control at the wheel for the closing stint as he looked to capitalize on the No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06’s strong pace. However, limited yellows and loads of lap traffic interrupted Taylor from challenging towards the front and ultimately brought home a sixth-place result.

    Up next for the WTRAndretti Acura ARX-06 GTP teams is the season finale from Road Atlanta with the 10-hour endurance classic: Petit Le Mans. The team will close out the 2024 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship on October 10-12, 2024.
    Wayne Taylor, Team Principal, WTRAndretti: “It was a tough race for everybody, with starting in the dry, going to the wet and finishing in the dry. We led a lot of laps. At the end, we had a fifth and sixth place car, but the way the yellows worked out, it wasn’t the best for us, it was better for the BMWs. One more race this year at Petit Le Mans and it will be an exciting one. Everyone will be going there to try to win.”

    No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 GTP Drivers
    Ricky Taylor: “We had a bit of everything today. Hats off first to Acura, HRC and Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti. Compared to last year, the cars were way more competitive throughout the weekend. In the race we had a bit everything, switching from dry, to rain, to damp and back to dry. The first half of the race was about survival and protecting the car to get to the end. Toward the end, we just couldn’t quite put ourselves in a position to win. We’re always just slightly out of reach. It wasn’t for lack of pace; I think the car was fast. The positive thing is that we’ve improved the car from last year, and we can go to Petit Le Mans on full attack.”

    Filipe Albuquerque: “I think it’s a little bit reflective of our year. We looked good at one point. When I had the lead, I took off. I had one of the fastest laps, so I think I was good. When we were behind other people, it was a bit more difficult, but the pace was still there. But in the end, Ricky had an issue with the car which didn’t enable us to push for fourth or further. And that’s what it is; it was a long one.”

    No. 40 DEX Imaging Acura ARX-06 GTP Drivers
    Louis Delétraz: “The positive today is that we had strong pace. We came back to the front and to the lead a few times. Jordan and I had a good fight to come back to the front. Unfortunately, the drive through penalty prevented us from competing for the win at the end. Overall positive pace, sad result. Let’s go to Petit Le Mans and try to win.”

    Jordan Taylor: “There were moments where a win was definitely in the cards. We did what we needed to do early on, and in the changing conditions we stayed out of trouble. We definitely didn’t have a good car in the wet; we weren’t super competitive. We were focused on just surviving to get back to the dry conditions. We had a good car in clean air, and we were able to make some passes when we needed to. But a tough way to end the day. I think we go to Atlanta focused on trying to get one more big win this year and finish the year off on a high.”

    ABOUT WTRANDRETTI
    Andretti Global and Wayne Taylor Racing announced a new, long-term partnership in 2023 that combines the resources of the two championship-caliber teams to compete in IMSA’s top classes. In 2024, Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti (WTRAndretti) has expanded to a two-car GTP program as well as competes in the GTD class. Coming off its 2023 championship winning effort, WTRAndretti continues its Driver Development Program competing in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America series with a full stable.

    WTRAndretti’s global motorsports enterprise boasts two IMSA driver championships (2013 and 2017), and back-to-back IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup Championships (2020, 2021) which contributed to nine IMSA manufacturer championships for Acura, Pontiac, Corvette and Cadillac. In its brief 17-year history, WTRAndretti has accumulated multiple victories in sportscar racing’s most iconic events: Rolex 24 At Daytona, Twelve Hours of Sebring, Petit Le Mans, Mid-Ohio, Road America and the Six Hours of The Glen. With its back-to-back PRO Class Championship wins (2022, 2023), WTR also has ten North America Lamborghini Super Trofeo Championship titles and a Lamborghini World Finals title.

    Andretti Global, a Championship-winning motorsports organization, competes in additional racing categories worldwide, including the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, Extreme E, Australian Supercars and the Mexico SuperCopa Championship. Additionally, the racing enterprise commits to driver development through competition in INDY NXT by Firestone and through support of Sebastian and Oliver Wheldon’s racing careers.

  • CORVETTE RACING AT INDY: No. 3 Corvette Fights Way to Podium

    CORVETTE RACING AT INDY: No. 3 Corvette Fights Way to Podium

    Garcia’s late charge sends him, Sims to P3; AWA wins second straight Akin Award in GTD

    INDIANAPOLIS (September 22, 2024) – Corvette factory drivers Antonio Garcia and Alexander Sims climbed back on the podium in GTD PRO on Sunday in the six-hour Battle on the Bricks at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course to lead the contingent of three Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs in the next-to-last race of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

    Garcia drove the final three hours in the No. 3 Corvette from Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports and went from fifth to third in the final two laps to secure third place. It was the first podium for the Garcia/Sims duo since their victory in July at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

    Rain dominated the first half of the race, which saw three separate full-course yellow periods in the first 100 minutes. Sims and the No. 3 Corvette went toward the head of the class as the first GTD PRO car to take wet tires during the first yellow. A steady rain settled in not long after, with Sims taking the lead following a short pit stop during another full-course yellow.

    A third caution period, this one for almost an hour, kept Sims out front until the rain stopped for good in the third hour. The No. 3 Corvette did lose some time having to make two stops 30 minutes apart to switch to slick tires just before the halfway mark.

    Garcia drove the rest of the way in the No. 3 Z06 GT3.R, including a hard-fought battle during the final hour with the No. 14 Lexus and No. 23 Aston Martin for the final podium position. A restart with 55 minutes remaining set the stage for the finish with Garcia falling from fourth to fifth inside the final half-hour. He fought to regain the spot with five minutes left and gained another to third and the podium with two laps to go.

    The GTD PRO pole-winning No. 4 Corvette of Tommy Milner and Nicky Catsburg finished 11th in class after losing four laps due to contact and subsequent repair with 75 minutes to go.

    Catsburg led the first 15 laps from pole before making the team’s first stop during the initial full-course yellow. The No. 4 Z06 GT3.R was assessed an avoidable contact penalty near the one-hour mark before Milner was hit from behind by a prototype, which necessitated a lengthy stop to repair damage to the right-rear of the Corvette.

    In GTD, the No. 13 AWA Corvette moved closer to securing an automatic invitation to next year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans with a sixth-place class finish and winning the Bob Akin Award competition for the Indianapolis round. Both Orey Fidani and Lars Kern kept their Z06 GT3.R on the lead lap throughout the 90-minute stints, allowing Matt Bell to drive from 14th in class and into the top-five late in class.

    It was the third Akin race win for the AWA Corvette and second in a row. The award goes to the highest-finishing GTD entry featuring a Bronze-rated driver for each race as well as the full-season championship with Le Mans as the ultimate prize.

    Both Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports and AWA close the IMSA season with the 10-hour Petit Le Mans on Saturday, October 12 at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.

    CORVETTE RACING BY PRATT MILLER MOTORSPORTS POST-RACE DRIVER QUOTES

    ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “Those last laps were tough. We had a good call to pit before a yellow, but the way things unfolded it kind of helped the ones that stayed out. So we lost a little track position to some of the cars that were ahead of me when we got to the last restart. The restarts with these guys and being so close is not easy. I made up a few places but with how hard the race was for everyone, there were times where I got caught in traffic and lost some spots. I thought we were done when the (No. 23) Aston Martin passed me, but somehow I regrouped and put everything together to get back up there to them. Maybe I had a little more than them with the tires or made some good choices. With two or three laps left, that’s it. It’s time to go! It was either a podium, fourth or fifth. I went for it, and it worked. It would have been nice to win, but I’m happy with where we finished.”

    ALEXANDER SIMS, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “I was very happy that Antonio was in the car! He did a really, really good job. I really enjoyed the wet laps at the start of the race, so it was probably the right way around for the both of us. Antonio did a great job to keep in the fight. From the outside, I thought once Antonio got held up and passed by the Aston, I thought it would be hard for him to get back past with the pace situation as it was. Thankfully he stayed with them and kept fighting with them to the end… quite literally! It was great to watch.”

    TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “I think parts of the race we did things really well. Nicky did a great job at the start to keep us in the lead. There were some tricky conditions that were tough for both of us. The class interactions with the prototype cars weren’t ideal for us. He had an incident, and so did I with a P2 car. I don’t know what happened there. It’s one of those days where you feel like sometimes things are going your way. The cautions were getting us back into it, but there were just too many ups and down for us today. It’s unfortunate. It was a good little fight for the 3 guys to get on the podium there at the end. So now we’ll go to Petit Le Mans and try again.”

    AWA POST-RACE DRIVER QUOTES

    MATT BELL, NO. 13 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “I have absolutely no idea what happened in my three hours! I got updates every now and again from the guys on the pitbox, so I was trying to get by every GT car I could. We had a really, really good car especially early in the stints. I was able to be pretty aggressive, attack and go forward early in the stints. That put us in a great place for the team to be able to call some great strategy, and they called this race perfectly again. There’s been such good teamwork all year in the pitlane. There’s been so much hard work that’s gone into that. My two teammates did a great job in the first part of the race. An insane race! I absolutely love IMSA racing and GTD. It’s always so hard. I had some great fights out there and won more than we lost. We made great progress, and I’m really happy with the result.”

    OREY FIDANI, NO. 13 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “That was the first time I’ve driven the Corvette in wet race conditions. We did a little bit of wet-weather testing earlier this year at Carolina Motorsports Park. It actually handles pretty well in the rain. It was awesome, and I think we’re in a good spot. At the start, there were a couple of cars in front of me that as the track came in, they were a little in the way a little and holding me and the cars behind me up. I needed to find my way around those guys but didn’t get to do that with the rain. But it’s fine. I’m pretty happy with things.”

    LARS KERN, NO. 13 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “At the end of the day, we can be happy with the result. The team did a mega job. In my stint, I was struggling a lot when there was still a lot of water on the track. Once it dried, the car was rapid but we couldn’t really recover from this loss. So we could have finished better but I couldn’t activate the tires in my middle stint. I’m super-happy with what Matt did at the end. At one point I don’t think we really believed we could win the Akin Award today. Orey did great at the beginning and kept it clean. This was a big step toward our target of getting to Le Mans next year.”

    About Chevrolet

    Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands. Chevrolet models include electric and fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

  • No. 45 DEX Imaging Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 Earns Top Ten Finish in GTD at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

    No. 45 DEX Imaging Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 Earns Top Ten Finish in GTD at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

    INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana (September 22, 2024) – The Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti (WTRAndretti) No. 45 DEX Imaging Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 team earned its first top ten finish at an endurance event after a hectic six-hour TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS).

    Danny Formal started the six-hour race in sixth after a strong qualifying session placed the team toward the front of the 22-car GTD grid. He quickly made positions on track, maneuvering the car into third before steady rain caused continuous cautions, preventing progress for a large part of his double stint. The cautions also disrupted the team’s strategy, changing driver order and forcing the team onto the back foot in the early stages of the race. However, Formal kept the car out of trouble and ran in the podium positions before handing the car over to Kyle Marcelli from second position.

    Marcelli continued to battle with adverse weather and cautions before the rain eventually cleared, and the black and red team was once again able to make progress through the field. Marcelli’s pace and strategy allowed the team to run at the front of the GTD field despite a plethora of yellow flags. Marcelli continued his strong pace and handed over the driver’s seat to Graham Doyle to take over for his first IWSC racing laps at IMS.

    Doyle drove an impressive stint in changing conditions as he navigated the difficult field and lap traffic. He drove with impressive pace, managing to keep the No. 45 car on the lead lap throughout his stint before returning the car to Marcelli for the final hour of the race. However, an issue during the pitstop hindered the team’s further forward momentum. Marcelli still quickly found blistering pace, putting up similar lap times to the race leaders. He brought the car home in tenth after a challenging six hours for the WTRAndretti GTD team’s best endurance finish of 2024.

    “It was an up-and-down day, but all-in-all, the car is getting better,” said Wayne Taylor, Team Principal of WTRAndretti. “Kyle and Danny drove really well and I am equally proud of Graham. For his first time here driving this GTD car on a racetrack with varying conditions, I just told him to keep it on the track, and that will be good enough, and everyone on the team told me how awesome he drove. I’m very happy for DEX Imaging, the drivers and the WTRAndretti team.”

    Next up, the No. 45 DEX Imaging Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 team will take on Road Atlanta for the iconic Petit Le Mans on October 10-12, 2024.

    No. 45 DEX Imaging Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 Drivers:
    Kyle Marcelli: “We need to be really happy with the result today. We finished in tenth and on the lead lap. We got on our back foot early in terms of strategy, and driving line up if you will. We didn’t get Graham until just over two hours remaining, and he finished his drive time with just an hour left. So, all things considered, we had things happen to us early that hurt our strategy, but also a couple that helped us out toward the end. On our final pit stop, there was some kind of an issue, some kind of fuel rig problem. That really took us out of contention from trying to move forward in the last hour, but the pace was good. We were able to match the pace of the leaders. In the wet today we were quick. The No. 45 car passed a lot of cars today and we led multiple times but had to drop back for various reasons. I think a really good day for the team’s spirit, and I think the car is in good shape for Petit Le Mans.”

    Danny Formal: “It was a great weekend. We got our best endurance qualifying in sixth. The race pace was very good for us three. I had a really interesting stint. I got taken out in Turn 7, went back to eighth and worked my way back up to third. There were some really good passes, and the car felt awesome. It started raining, and that disrupted our strategy because we couldn’t pit for Graham to do his drive time. When we did pit, we went back to last. I made my way back to ninth in the rain, and the car felt amazing in the rain. Kyle and Graham both had great stints. It was definitely Graham’s best endurance stint of the season. He drove fantastically, and so did Kyle. Tenth at the end and our first endurance finish on the lead lap for the team. Graham is a very new driver in the IMSA paddock, so for him to finish in the top ten at this six-hour event just shows how much our team has grown, and the No. 45 DEX Imaging Lamborghini Huracán was just fantastic this weekend. I’m very grateful to be a part of this team, and we’re ready for Petit Le Mans next month.”

    Graham Doyle: “It was a pretty crazy race from start to finish. It started out dry but quickly went wet in the first stint. Danny did a great job throughout that; he did a double through the majority of the rain. Then Kyle hopped in for a bit when the rain started to fade out. He was able to run the car from wet to dry. That’s when I was able to get in, do a double and keep us on the lead lap, and Kyle finished it out for our first top ten finish in an endurance event this year. Altogether, great weekend, great work by the team, and I’m super happy for everybody and excited for the team.”

    ABOUT WTRANDRETTI
    Andretti Global and Wayne Taylor Racing announced a new, long-term partnership in 2023 that combines the resources of the two championship-caliber teams to compete in IMSA’s top classes. In 2024, Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti (WTRAndretti) has expanded to a two-car GTP program as well as competes in the GTD class. Coming off its 2023 championship winning effort, WTRAndretti continues its Driver Development Program competing in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America series with a full stable.

    WTRAndretti’s global motorsports enterprise boasts two IMSA driver championships (2013 and 2017), and back-to-back IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup Championships (2020, 2021) which contributed to nine IMSA manufacturer championships for Acura, Pontiac, Corvette and Cadillac. In its brief 17-year history, WTRAndretti has accumulated multiple victories in sportscar racing’s most iconic events: Rolex 24 At Daytona, Twelve Hours of Sebring, Petit Le Mans, Mid-Ohio, Road America and the Six Hours of The Glen. With its back-to-back PRO Class Championship wins (2022, 2023), WTR also has ten North America Lamborghini Super Trofeo Championship titles and a Lamborghini World Finals title.

    Andretti Global, a Championship-winning motorsports organization, competes in additional racing categories worldwide, including the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, Extreme E, Australian Supercars and the Mexico SuperCopa Championship. Additionally, the racing enterprise commits to driver development through competition in INDY NXT by Firestone and through support of Sebastian and Oliver Wheldon’s racing careers.

  • NHRA AT CHARLOTTE 2: Team Chevy Race Report | Notes & Quotes

    NHRA AT CHARLOTTE 2: Team Chevy Race Report | Notes & Quotes

    CHEVROLET IN NHRA
    2024 NHRA CAROLINA NATIONALS
    zMAX DRAGWAY
    CONCORD, NORTH CAROLINA
    TEAM CHEVY RACE REPORT | NOTES & STATS
    SEPTEMBER 22, 2024

    AUSTIN PROCK AND JOHN FORCE RACING TAKE CHEVROLET TO THE WINNER’S CIRCLE FOR THE SEVENTH TIME THIS SEASON AT zMAX DRAGWAY

    Chevrolet Captured Two Top Wally Trophies, with Prock in Funny Car and Dallas Glenn of KB Titan Racing in Pro Stock

    Notes:

    • Austin Prock, driver of the Cornwell Tools/HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car, captured his seventh victory of the 2024 season and 11th career NHRA win while earning Team Chevy their 168th in the NHRA Funny Car category. His win Sunday is his third in a row after winning the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis, Reading last weekend, and now Charlotte 2.
    • Prock, who maintained an 86-point lead heading into Charlotte 2 over Bob Tasca, III, leaves the NHRA Carolina Nationals still maintaining the Championship standings lead unofficially by 129 points over Tasca, III in second.
    • Prock qualified No. 2 heading into Sunday’s race day, with his run of 3.833 seconds E.T. at 332.84 mph qualifying him behind Hagan. Prock defeated Alexis DeJoria in Round 1, Ron Capps in Round 2, and teammate Jack Beckman in the semifinals on his way to winning the NHRA Carolina Nationals by defeating Hagan in the finals.
    • After qualifying No. 3 this weekend at zMAX Dragway, Jack Beckman, driver of the PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car and competing on behalf of 16-time champion John Force, fell to teammate Prock in the semifinals after defeating Buddy Hall in Round 1 and Daniel Wilkerson in Round 2.
    • Sunday’s semifinal appearance is his second in four events after returning to the Funny Car seat for the first time in four years and being tapped to drive on behalf of Force after being sidelined while competing for his potential 17th career championship.
    • Capturing her 49th No. 1 qualifier in NHRA, Brittany Force, driver of the HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Top Fuel dragster for John Force Racing, also earned her third of the season.
    • Force set fast time on the first day of qualifying, taking the provisional pole position on the leaderboard with her and her team’s Q2 run of 3.690 seconds E.T. at 334.24 mph.
    • Facing off against Clay Millican in Round 2 after defeating Ida Zetterstrom in Round 1, Force fell to her opponent with her run of 3.909 seconds E.T. at 314.53 mph to Millican’s 3.796 seconds E.T. at 323.04 mph.
    • In a tight final race to the win light, Dallas Glenn, driver of the RAD Torque Chevrolet Camaro SS Pro Stock for KB Titan Racing, captured his 13th career NHRA victory and Chevrolet’s 397th in the category, the 278th in the Camaro, after defeating Elite Motorsports’ Aaron Stanfield with his run of 6.626 seconds E.T. at 207.18 mph to Stanfield’s 5.549 seconds E.T. at 207.75 mph.
    • Erica Enders, driver of the Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage Melling Performance Chevrolet Camaro SS Pro Stock, captured her 40th career No. 1 qualifier and sixth of 2024, with her fastest run of four rounds at 6.557 seconds E.T. at 208.20 mph. Separated by .023 seconds, Greg Anderson, driver of the HenrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro SS Pro Stock for KB Titan Racing, qualified No. 2 heading into Sunday’s race day.

    Quotes:

    AUSTIN PROCK, DRIVER OF THE CORNWELL TOOLS/HENDRICKCARS.COM CHEVROLET CAMARO SS FUNNY CAR, JOHN FORCE RACING:

    You said you made big changes ahead of the semifinal. How much trust is in this team?

    ‘All of it. My dad (Jimmy Prock), Thomas (Prock), Nate HIldahl, all of these Cornwell Tools guys are just so incredibly smart. They study their craft every single day and it shows on the racetrack, and it sure is fun. This trophy right here is going to Rick Hendrick. I know he’s out there watching. He’s in Europe right now and wanted to be out here watching and couldn’t. HendrickCars.com doubled up this weekend with Kyle Larson (winning NASCAR in Bristol). What a weekend right in his hometown. I’m so proud to drive this Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car. This is a dream come true.”

    JACK BECKMAN, DRIVER OF THE PEAK ANTIFREEZE AND COOLANT CHEVROLET CAMARO SS FUNNY CAR, JOHN FORCE RACING:

    “It was another solid weekend for us, but frustrating. Our PEAK Chevy team has all of the resources and talent to put our Camaro back into the Winner’s Circle. It’s time to get it done next weekend in St. Louis.”

    BRITTANY FORCE, DRIVER OF THE HENDRICKCARS.COM CHEVROLET TOP FUEL DRAGSTER, JOHN FORCE RACING:

    “Charlotte was a special weekend for us running HendrickCars.com. I’m very proud to represent Hendrick, especially here in Charlotte, North Carolina, their back yard. We had an incredibly strong car all weekend, taking the number one qualifier spot.

    Even though we didn’t get the result we wanted in the second round, I’m proud of how fast we were and the progress we’re making. I am proud that we put on a good drag race next to Clay Millican. We’re staying positive and confident that bigger results are just around the corner.”

    DALLAS GLENN, DRIVER OF THE RAD TORQUE SYSTEMS CHEVROLET CAMARO SS FUNNY CAR, KB TITAN RACING:

    “A lot (of pride in this Wally). I had to work really hard for this. I’m really tired. Aaron (Stanfield) and I always have really good races. He’s super tough. Super great racer. I don’t feel like I drove as good as I was in Reading, but I definitely drove a lot better there in the final. I had to earn that one. That thing went hard left, and I had to drive it out of the wall. Everybody at KB Titan Racing is here, and hey, we got the points lead back!”

    AUSTIN PROCK, driver of the Cornwell Tools/HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car – Winner’s Circle Transcript:

    “We’ve got a great team behind us, and I try not to mess it up. I just stab and steer, and this Chevrolet Camaro has won me a lot of rounds this year.”

    You were just on the phone with (team owner) John (Force)…

    “He sounds great. Love hearing from him. I know he’s really proud of everything that’s going on and he thinks it’s really cool our family gets to work together, and the success we’ve had. It’s all good at John Force Racing.”

    Coming into this team and taking over for Robert (Hight) as the driver this year, you had high expectations. Even you have to be going wow…

    “I’ve just been trying my best. I’ve been more focused this year than I ever have in any category I’ve ever driven. I just feel so comfortable, and I love racing with my family. I know how good this team is and how great it was when they told me I was going to get put in the seat. I had high expectations for myself because you don’t want to be the guy who lets them down. I’ve done that a couple of times this year, and it’s the worst feeling in the world. They work so hard; they study so much to produce the results we have. I’m trying to put the same work in and just be a machine. It’s been working out. Missed the tree there. Had a lot of glare there on the tree, and had me a little nervous. I stuttered my foot and had a 70-light. I think that was the worst light of mine in three or four races.”

    Are you thinking far enough ahead yet that you legitimately have a shot at standing on the stage at the end of the year celebrating a championship?

    “No. I just look at it one round at a time. The only way we’re going to win this championship is if we’re perfect every time we drag it up there. Just one round at a time, and if we do that and everybody does their best, we’ll be up on that stage. Working hard, we’re trying to get that 348-point lead back.”

    How to Watch:

    The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series continues the Countdown to the Championship at World Wide Technology Raceway near St. Louis Sept. 27-29 for the NHRA Midwest Nationals. Eliminations air Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1 (FS1). Coverage of qualifying and the race stream live throughout the weekend on NHRA.tv, and is available via AppleTV, Android TV, and Roku devices.

    About Chevrolet

    Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands. Chevrolet models include electric and fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

  • TRAVIS HARVEY WINS CONGRUITY NHRA PRO MOD SERIES DEBUT IN CHARLOTTE AT RACE POWERED BY CULP LUMBER

    TRAVIS HARVEY WINS CONGRUITY NHRA PRO MOD SERIES DEBUT IN CHARLOTTE AT RACE POWERED BY CULP LUMBER

    CONCORD, N.C. (Sept. 22, 2024) – Filling in for Khalid Al Balooshi, Travis Harvey made the most of his debut in the Congruity NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by LearnEV+, winning his first career start after defeating Dmitry Samorukov in the final round as part of this weekend’s NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMAX Dragway.

    The event was the second in the category’s four-race “Road to the Championship” playoffs and was powered by Culp Lumber.

    It was a matchup featuring two first-time finalists, but it was “The Carolina Kid” who prevailed in the Bahrain 1 Racing Camaro, going 5.786-seconds at 247.61 mph to get past Samorukov’s 5.949 at 245.18.

    After qualifying in the No. 14 position, Harvey beat a trio of standouts, defeating world champions in Rickie Smith, Mike Janis and reigning world champ Mike Castellana. He was terrific on the starting line on raceday, going .029 in the final round and saving his best performance of the weekend for the finals.

    With his performance, Harvey helped push Al Balooshi to second in points, as the former world champion now trails leader and Indy winner Ken Quartuccio by just 19 points with two races remaining in the “Road to the Championship.” Thorne is third in points, 38 out of first.

    “It’s awesome. I can’t even believe it,” Harvey said. “I just want to thank Bahrain 1 Racing and Khalid Al Balooshi and all the guys on the team that helped me get here. I’m just thankful for all the support and this is just awesome.

    “It’s crazy. I ran three world champs. I was growing up watching them and I was just glad to be able to race them. I’m glad I was able to get some points for (Al Balooshi).”

    Samorukov reached the championship round for the first time in his 18th NHRA Pro Mod start, defeating Jason Scruggs, Jordan Lazic and Thorne.

    The Congruity NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by LearnEV+ returns to action Sept. 27-29 as part of the 13th annual NHRA Midwest Nationals at World Wide Technology Raceway in St. Louis.

    CONCORD, N.C. — Final finish order (1-16) at the 16th annual NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMax Dragway. The race is the eighth of 10 events in the Congruity NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by LearnEV+.

    PRO MODIFIED:

    1. Travis Harvey; 2. Dmitry Samorukov; 3. Kris Thorne; 4. Mike Castellana; 5. Mike Janis; 6. Jordan Lazic; 7. Steve Jackson; 8. Justin Bond; 9. Ken Quartuccio; 10. Billy Banaka; 11. Kevin Rivenbark; 12. Mason Wright; 13. Jose Gonzalez; 14. Jason Scruggs; 15. Rickie Smith; 16. Chip King.

    CONCORD, N.C. — Sunday’s final results from the 16th annual NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMax Dragway. The race is the eighth of 10 events in the Congruity NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by LearnEV+.

    Pro Modified — Travis Harvey, Chevy Camaro, 5.786, 247.61 def. Dmitry Samorukov, Camaro, 5.949, 245.18.

    CONCORD, N.C. — Final round-by-round results from the 16th annual NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMax Dragway. The race is the eighth of 10 events in the Congruity NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by LearnEV+.

    PRO MODIFIED:

    ROUND ONE — Jordan Lazic, Chevy Camaro, 5.752, 249.44 def. Ken Quartuccio, Camaro, 5.808, 245.72; Dmitry Samorukov, Camaro, 5.856, 244.56 def. Jason Scruggs, Camaro, 7.361, 132.22; Travis Harvey, Camaro, 5.787, 246.44 def. Rickie Smith, Ford Mustang, 9.089, 101.58; Steve Jackson, Camaro, 5.972, 206.01 def. Jose Gonzalez, Camaro, 6.280, 223.95; Mike Janis, Mustang, 5.814, 245.67 def. Kevin Rivenbark, Mustang, 5.846, 245.67; Mike Castellana, Camaro, 5.791, 249.07 def. Billy Banaka, Camaro, 5.827, 247.66; Justin Bond, Camaro, 5.770, 246.44 def. Chip King, Dodge Charger, 9.120, 98.94; Kris Thorne, Camaro, 5.845, 242.23 def. Mason Wright, Camaro, 6.191, 212.76;

    QUARTERFINALS — Samorukov, 5.807, 245.36 def. Lazic, 10.369, 98.79; Thorne, 5.845, 248.52 def. Jackson, Broke – No Show; Castellana, 6.653, 242.41 def. Bond, Foul – Outer Boundary; Harvey, 5.801, 247.34 def. Janis, 5.840, 245.99;

    SEMIFINALS — Samorukov, 5.800, 245.76 def. Thorne, 5.823, 249.72; Harvey, 5.811, 247.38 def. Castellana, 5.877, 248.66;

    FINAL — Harvey, 5.786, 247.61 def. Samorukov, 5.949, 245.18.

    CONCORD, N.C. — Point standings (top 10) following the 16th annual NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMax Dragway. The race is the eighth of 10 events in the Congruity NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by LearnEV+.

    Pro Modified

    1. Ken Quartuccio, 920; 2. Khalid alBalooshi, 901; 3. Kris Thorne, 882; 4. Jose Gonzalez, 875; 5. Kevin Rivenbark, 874; 6. Justin Bond, 872; 7. Jordan Lazic, 855; 8. Billy Banaka, 852; 9. Dmitry Samorukov, 846; 10. Mason Wright, 830.
  • Toyota Gazoo Racing North America NHRA Carolina Nationals Post-Race Report – 09.22.24

    Toyota Gazoo Racing North America NHRA Carolina Nationals Post-Race Report – 09.22.24

    Antron Brown claims second straight victory to start Countdown to the Championship
    Toyota now has 15 victories in last 17 Top Fuel races

    CONCORD, N.C. (Sept. 22, 2024) – Antron Brown captured his fifth win of the 2024 season and his second straight to begin the Countdown to the Championship by taking home the Wally Trophy in the NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMAX Dragway. Brown now has 79 wins in his historic NHRA career and 63 in Top Fuel, which puts him second all-time in Top Fuel history. He now holds the category points lead heading to St. Louis next weekend.

    The triumph for Brown is also Toyota’s 15th Top Fuel win in the last 17 races, and by him making the finals on Sunday, Toyota has now reached 39 consecutive NHRA event final rounds in either Top Fuel and/or Funny Car.

    Brown defeated Toyota teammate, Doug Kalitta, in the semifinals, as well as Steve and Billy Torrence on his way to victory today. Justin Ashley and Shawn Langdon were the other Toyota dragsters to advance out of round one, both falling in the second round.

    In Funny Car, Ron Capps advanced to the second round in his NAPA Auto Care GR Supra Funny Car but fell in the quarterfinals. Alexis DeJoria and J.R. Todd were both eliminated in round one on Sunday.

    The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series heads to World Wide Technology Raceway outside of St. Louis for the Midwest Nationals next weekend, with eliminations next Sunday, September 29.

    Toyota Post-Race Recap
    NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series
    zMAX Dragway
    NHRA Carolina Nationals
    Race 16 of 20

    TOYOTA TOP FUEL FINISHING POSITIONS 

    NameCarFinal ResultRound-by-Round
    Antron BrownMatco Tools Toyota Top Fuel DragsterWinnerW (3.829 – holeshot) v. S. Torrence (3.817) W (3.869) v. B. Torrence (3.892) W (3.873) v. D. Kalitta (3.876) W (3.848) v. D. Foley (3.862)
    Doug KalittaMac Tools Toyota Top Fuel DragsterSemi-finalsW (3.894) v. T. Stewart (4.299) W (3.905) v. S. Langdon (4.364) L (3.876) v. A. Brown (3.873)
    Shawn LangdonKalitta Air Careers Toyota Top Fuel DragsterSecond RoundW (3.775) v. J. Hart (4.923) L (4.364) v. D. Kalitta (3.775)
    Justin AshleySCAG Power Equipment Toyota Top Fuel DragsterSecond RoundW (4.498 – holeshot) v. D. Foley (4.411) L (5.203) v. D. Foley (4.709)
    Billy TorrenceCAPCO Contractors Toyota Top Fuel DragsterSecond RoundW (3.884) v. S. Reed (6.993) L (3.892) v. A. Brown (3.869)
    Steve TorrenceCAPCO Contractors Toyota Top Fuel DragsterFirst RoundL (3.817) v. A. Brown (3.829 – holeshot)

    TOYOTA FUNNY CAR FINISHING POSITIONS 

    NameCarFinal ResultRound-by-Round
    Ron CappsNAPA Auto Care Army Tribute Toyota GR Supra Funny CarSecond RoundW (3.933) v. C. Green (7.770) L (6.772) v. A. Prock (4.029)
    J.R. ToddDHL Toyota GR Supra Funny CarFirst RoundL (3.945) v. D. Wilkerson (3.984 – holeshot)
    Alexis DeJoriaBandero CaféToyota GR Supra Funny CarFirst RoundL (4.994) v. A. Prock (3.965)

    *= Non-Toyota driver

    TOYOTA QUOTES

    ANTRON BROWN, Matco Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster, AB Motorsports

    TF Final Result: Winner

    Describe this win and how you’re feeling so far in the Countdown.

    “I feel like we have some momentum going our way and we’re just finding ourselves in the right situation and we’re capitalizing on it. We’re doing the right things at the right time, and no matter what blows come our way, as we’ve had some struggles, I see Brian (Corradi, co-crew chief), Mark (Oswald, co-crew chief), Brad (Mason, car chief) and these Matco Tools guys make the car do what they want it to do. And we’re really, really close to where we need to be, but the good part is, we’re working and we’re getting better and we’re in the right spot, in the right time, to capitalize to make the runs we need to make to win the rounds and that’s the main thing. Our guys know how to race and I’m super proud, super blessed to be on this team and to bring these wins home means something, but the work is not done yet. Not at all. We have to keep going until the job’s finished.”

    DOUG KALITTA, Mac Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster, Kalitta Motorsports

    TF Final Result: Semifinalist

    Take us through your day here in Charlotte.

    “It was nice to go a couple rounds today. We were right there in the semifinals, it was really close, but we came up a little bit short. We’re figuring out a hot-track tune-up, and I think the guys are doing a good job figuring it out for Mac Tools, Revchem, Toyota, SealMaster and all the great people who help is make all this happen.”

    About Toyota

    Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for more than 65 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships. 

    Toyota directly employs more than 63,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 47 million cars and trucks at our 12 manufacturing plants. By 2025, Toyota’s 13th plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles. With more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, Toyota currently offers 29 electrified options.

    For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.

  • BROWN, PROCK, GLENN & M. SMITH PICK UP PLAYOFF WINS AT NHRA CAROLINA NATIONALS

    BROWN, PROCK, GLENN & M. SMITH PICK UP PLAYOFF WINS AT NHRA CAROLINA NATIONALS

    • Brown takes over lead with second straight TF triumph
    • Prock keeps rolling, wins third straight FC race
    • Glenn goes back into PS lead after duel with Stanfield
    • Smith nabs 40th career win, moves into PSM points lead

    CONCORD, N.C. (Sept. 22, 2024) – Three-time Top Fuel world champion Antron Brown moved into the points lead for the first time since 2017, winning his second straight playoff race on Sunday at zMAX Dragway after defeating Doug Foley in the final round of the 16th annual NHRA Carolina Nationals.

    Austin Prock (Funny Car), Dallas Glenn (Pro Stock) and Matt Smith (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also won the 16th of 20 races during the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season and the second of six races in the Countdown to the Championship playoffs.

    In the final round, Brown went 3.848-seconds at 319.90 mph in his 11,000-horsepower Matco Tools/Toyota dragster to beat Foley’s 3.862 at 316.08, powering to his fifth victory this season and 79th in his career. It was also his 63rd Top Fuel win, as Brown passed Larry Dixon for the second-most Top Fuel wins in NHRA history.

    After qualifying 10th, Brown put together a workmanlike Sunday, defeating Steve Torrence, Billy Torrence and reigning world champion Doug Kalitta to reach the final round. He then led wire-to-wire against Foley, taking over the points lead for the first time in more than seven years. His points lead stands at 53 and 62 points over Justin Ashley and Shawn Langdon, respectively. Kalitta is 67 points behind.

    “When you race somebody like Doug Foley, you don’t falter and say, ‘Well, I can’t mess up.’ That’s when you set yourself up for failure,” Brown said. “We go out there and run what we can run, and give it all we got, and it fell our way. We just keep working hard and digging, no matter what. You’ve got to show up on raceday and we have that mindset to stay humble and stay hungry.

    “We still have four races left. Drag racing’s math. There’s 16 rounds left on table to win and our goal is go out there wins many of those rounds as possible. We won the first eight, so we’ve got a third of them.”

    Foley reached his second career final round after beating Tony Schumacher, Ashley and Clay Millican.

    Funny Car’s Austin Prock continued his absolute dominant run in the loaded category, winning his third straight race and seventh overall in an incredible 2024 campaign, racing past defending world champion Matt Hagan in the final round with a run of 3.924 at 326.48 in his 11,000-horsepower Cornwell Tools Chevrolet Camaro SS. There appears to be no stopping Prock, who has opened up a commanding 129-point lead in the Funny Car ranks through the first two playoff races after delivering his 11th career win.

    He reached the championship round on Sunday thanks to wins against Alexis DeJoria, Ron Capps and John Force Racing teammate Jack Beckman. Hagan and Prock then delivered a thriller in the finals, with Hagan leaving first and going 3.958 at 324.98. But Prock was able to track the reigning champ down, adding another monumental performance in a season filled with spectacular runs and victories.

    “We left the door open to get beat today a couple times and then my team made wholesale changes going into the semifinals, stuff I would say 95 percent of the crew chiefs wouldn’t change going into a round, and it went up there and flew,” Prock said. “It stuck. It was on a mission, and I did the same thing in the final round.

    “I’m just trying to take it one moment at a time, one round at a time. And if you do that, you don’t get caught up in being the leader, being the chaser, just go up there and do the best that you can do, because each person on the team has a specific job to do, and they have to do it perfect to have the success. We’ll celebrate tonight and then get my head back in the game and go and try again, one run at a time.”

    Hagan, who qualified No. 1, reached the finals for the ffith time this year and 92nd time in his career with round wins against Dave Richards and Bob Tasca III. Hagan was looking for a sweep of both Charlotte races this year. Tasca is second in points, while Beckman trails his teammate by 136 points.

    Pro Stock’s Dallas Glenn, who was the points leader for most of the regular season, jumped back to the top spot on Sunday, slipping past Aaron Stanfield in the finals after going 6.626 at 207.18 in his RAD Torque Systems Camaro. It’s the fourth win of the season in eight trips to the finals for Glenn, who now leads Stanfield by just eight points with four races remaining this season.

    To reach the finals, Glenn had to get past Mason McGaha, Matt Hartford and reigning world champion Erica Enders. That set up a marquee duel with two of the category’s top young standouts, with Glenn posting a .026 reaction time and holding off Stanfield at the finish line.

    “Aaron has a fast car and he’s a great driver and doesn’t make mistakes,” Glenn said. “So, it’s a deal where you can’t make a mistake against him. The crew chiefs have to do their job and give me the best car they can. I’m glad that Aaron and I put on a good show for the fans in the final. I hate not having a close race against him.

    “In the Countdown, every lap I go up there in eliminations, I’m on kill. I’m trying to do everything I can. I can’t make any mistakes. I’ve got to try to make sure I get every last bit in case it does shake a little bit and I lose whatever performance advantage I have. I’m on kill 100 percent of the time.”

    Stanfield, who had won back-to-back races, knocked off Chris McGaha, Jeg Coughlin Jr. and Greg Anderson to reach the finals for the eighth time in 2024 and 23rd time overall. Enders is 53 points back in third, while Anderson trails his KB Titan Racing teammate Glenn by 74 points.

    In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Matt Smith took a big step towards a possible seventh world championship, picking up his second win of the year on his Denso Auto Parts Buell when rookie Richard Gadson went red in the final round. Smith rolled to a run of 6.846 at 199.35, scooping up his 40th career win and moving into the points lead for the first time this year in the process.

    To get to the final round, Smith defeated his wife, Angie, and Matt Smith Racing teammate Jianna Evaristo, clinching the home track win when Gadson left the starting line a touch too soon. He now leads defending world champion Gaige Herrera by 25 points, finishing off a hugely-rewarding weekend that saw Smith also qualify No. 1. He’s now laser-focused on trying to become the first rider in NHRA history to win seven Pro Stock Motorcycle championships.

    “I was just trying to stay good and tough against Richard and when I went through the lights, I didn’t see my win light and I didn’t know if I won or not,” Smith said. “It’s never a good feeling when you can’t see a win light because you thought you had a good deal, but you don’t ever know. But all in all, what a weekend, what a day.

    “I like being under pressure. It doesn’t matter what you do in the regular season. You always have to be good the last six races, and I’ve always been pretty good last six races, and that’s how I won my championships, and that’s how we’re going to continue to race.”

    Gadson reached his second straight final round after defeating Ron Tornow, Chase Van Sant and Herrera. He remains third in points, 27 back of Smith.

    The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series returns to action Sept. 27-29 with the 13th annual NHRA Midwest Nationals at World Wide Technology Raceway in St. Louis.

    CONCORD, N.C. — Final finish order (1-16) at the 16th annual NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMax Dragway. The race is the 16th of 20 events in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series.

    TOP FUEL:

    1. Antron Brown; 2. Doug Foley; 3. Doug Kalitta; 4. Clay Millican; 5. Billy Torrence; 6.

    Brittany Force; 7. Shawn Langdon; 8. Justin Ashley; 9. Jasmine Salinas; 10. Steve Torrence; 11. Tony Schumacher; 12. Tony Stewart; 13. Dan Mercier; 14. Ida Zetterstrom; 15. Josh Hart; 16. Shawn Reed.

    FUNNY CAR:

    1. Austin Prock; 2. Matt Hagan; 3. Bob Tasca III; 4. Jack Beckman; 5. Daniel Wilkerson; 6. John Smith; 7. Ron Capps; 8. J.R. Todd; 9. Dave Richards; 10. Cruz Pedregon; 11. Buddy Hull; 12. Alexis DeJoria; 13. Chad Green; 14. Blake Alexander.

    PRO STOCK:

    1. Dallas Glenn; 2. Aaron Stanfield; 3. Greg Anderson; 4. Erica Enders; 5. Matt Hartford; 6. Cristian Cuadra; 7. Jerry Tucker; 8. Jeg Coughlin; 9. Mason McGaha; 10. Chris McGaha; 11. Derrick Reese; 12. Eric Latino; 13. Kenny Delco; 14. Cory Reed; 15. Troy Coughlin Jr.; 16. Camrie Caruso.

    PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE:

    1. Matt Smith; 2. Richard Gadson; 3. Jianna Evaristo; 4. Gaige Herrera; 5. Angie Smith; 6. Chase Van Sant; 7. John Hall; 8. Hector Arana Jr; 9. Marc Ingwersen; 10. Chris Bostick; 11. Geno Scali; 12. Kelly Clontz; 13. Steve Johnson; 14. Ron Tornow; 15. Marcus Hylton.

    CONCORD, N.C. — Sunday’s final results from the 16th annual NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMax Dragway. The race is the 16th of 20 in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series:

    Top Fuel — Antron Brown, 3.848 seconds, 319.90 mph def. Doug Foley, 3.862 seconds, 316.08 mph.

    Funny Car — Austin Prock, Chevy Camaro, 3.924, 326.48 def. Matt Hagan, Dodge Charger, 3.958, 324.98.

    Pro Stock — Dallas Glenn, Chevy Camaro, 6.626, 207.18 def. Aaron Stanfield, Camaro, 6.630, 207.75.

    Pro Stock Motorcycle — Matt Smith, Buell, 6.846, 199.35 def. Richard Gadson, Suzuki, Foul – Red Light.

    Top Alcohol Dragster — Joe Maynard, 5.272, 273.05 def. Julie Nataas, 6.679, 152.97.

    Top Alcohol Funny Car — Sean Bellemeur, Chevy Camaro, 5.513, 265.22 def. Bob McCosh, Chevy Camero, 5.529, 261.83.

    Competition Eliminator — Larry Pritchett, Pontiac Sunfire, 7.982, 154.92 def. Jared Kimbrough, Dragster, Foul – Red Light.

    Super Stock — Logan Belanger, Pontiac Firebird, 10.284, 117.92 def. Monty Bogan, Chevy Camaro, Foul – Red Light.

    Stock Eliminator — Tim Barrett, Chevy Camaro, 10.925, 119.47 def. Kenny Anderson, Chevy Nova, 11.094, 117.49.

    Super Comp — Ray Miller III, Dragster, 8.934, 173.92 def. Jack Sepanek, Dragster, 8.945, 170.19.

    Super Gas — David Morris, Chevy Camaro, 9.915, 165.64 def. Tim Powell, Chevy Corvette, 9.989, 155.74.

    Top Sportsman — Tyler Caheely, Chevy Cavalier, 6.955, 199.11 def. Sandy Wilkins, Chevy Camaro, 6.441, 204.35.

    Top Dragster — Chad Taylor, Dragster, 7.157, 182.45 def. Chuck Krepela, Dragster, 6.968, 187.99.

    Pro Modified — Travis Harvey, Chevy Camaro, 5.786, 247.61 def. Dmitry Samorukov, Camaro, 5.949, 245.18.

    Top Fuel Motorcycle — Larry McBride, Suzuki, 4.875, 238.38 def. Mitch Brown, Suzuki, Broke.

    CONCORD, N.C. — Final round-by-round results from the 16th annual NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMax Dragway, the 16th of 20 events in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series:

    TOP FUEL:

    ROUND ONE — Clay Millican, 3.814, 326.87 def. Jasmine Salinas, 3.798, 329.42; Doug Foley, 3.780, 325.92 def. Tony Schumacher, 3.834, 320.28; Billy Torrence, 3.884, 302.01 def. Shawn Reed, 6.993, 105.27; Doug Kalitta, 3.894, 306.67 def. Tony Stewart, 4.299, 220.48; Brittany Force, 4.789, 203.58 def. Ida Zetterstrom, 4.896, 147.13; Justin Ashley, 4.498, 306.74 def. Dan Mercier, 4.411, 253.52; Shawn Langdon, 3.775, 327.98 def. Josh Hart, 4.923, 165.97; Antron Brown, 3.829, 325.30 def. Steve Torrence, 3.817, 326.08;

    QUARTERFINALS — Brown, 3.869, 321.12 def. B. Torrence, 3.892, 323.97; Foley, 4.709, 227.15 def. Ashley, 5.203, 137.36; Millican, 3.796, 323.04 def. Force, 3.909, 314.53; Kalitta, 3.905, 317.64 def. Langdon, 4.364, 242.19;

    SEMIFINALS — Brown, 3.873, 319.07 def. Kalitta, 3.876, 300.73; Foley, 5.314, 127.56 def. Millican, Broke – No Show;

    FINAL — Brown, 3.848, 319.90 def. Foley, 3.862, 316.08.

    FUNNY CAR:

    ROUND ONE — John Smith, Dodge Charger, 5.196, 152.90 def. Blake Alexander, Ford Mustang, 10.110, 76.32; Matt Hagan, Charger, 3.976, 320.97 def. Dave Richards, Mustang, 4.095, 305.36; Austin Prock, Chevy Camaro, 3.965, 319.07 def. Alexis DeJoria, Toyota GR Supra, 4.994, 197.74; Jack Beckman, Camaro, 3.934, 322.81 def. Buddy Hull, Charger, 4.597, 191.95; Bob Tasca III, Mustang, 3.988, 316.15 def. Cruz Pedregon, Charger, 4.361, 209.95; Daniel Wilkerson, Mustang, 3.984, 314.46 def. J.R. Todd, GR Supra, 3.945, 321.50; Ron Capps, GR Supra, 3.933, 319.37 def. Chad Green, Mustang, 7.770, 122.31;

    QUARTERFINALS — Tasca III, 4.003, 314.97 def. Smith, 4.149, 281.54; Beckman, 3.937, 323.35 def. Wilkerson, 4.004, 317.64; Prock, 4.029, 292.20 def. Capps, 6.772, 107.92; Hagan, 3.978, 318.77 was unopposed;

    SEMIFINALS — Hagan, 4.002, 316.38 def. Tasca III, 4.009, 319.60; Prock, 3.962, 324.36

    def. Beckman, 4.016, 320.97;

    FINAL — Prock, 3.924, 326.48 def. Hagan, 3.958, 324.98.

    PRO STOCK:

    ROUND ONE — Jerry Tucker, Chevy Camaro, 6.689, 205.76 def. Troy Coughlin Jr., Camaro, 8.540, 130.94; Cristian Cuadra, Ford Mustang, 6.675, 206.07 def. Cory Reed, Camaro, Foul – Red Light; Jeg Coughlin, Camaro, 6.617, 207.11 def. Eric Latino, Camaro, 6.686, 206.32; Matt Hartford, Camaro, 6.676, 206.57 def. Camrie Caruso, Camaro, 15.994, 52.60; Dallas Glenn, Camaro, 6.596, 206.29 def. Mason McGaha, Camaro, 6.640, 207.53; Greg Anderson, Camaro, 6.596, 207.69 def. Kenny Delco, Camaro, 6.692, 206.61; Aaron Stanfield, Camaro, 6.599, 206.16 def. Chris McGaha, Camaro, 6.661, 207.85; Erica Enders, Camaro, 6.602, 208.42 def. Derrick Reese, Mustang, Foul – Red Light;

    QUARTERFINALS — Enders, 6.626, 208.04 def. Tucker, 6.685, 206.10; Stanfield, 6.625, 206.16 def. Coughlin, Foul – Red Light; Glenn, 6.609, 206.42 def. Hartford, 6.644, 206.80; Anderson, 6.603, 207.69 def. Cuadra, 6.664, 206.99;

    SEMIFINALS — Glenn, 6.643, 207.27 def. Enders, 6.924, 207.98; Stanfield, 6.622, 207.53 def. Anderson, 6.629, 207.75;

    FINAL — Glenn, 6.626, 207.18 def. Stanfield, 6.630, 207.75.

    PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE:

    ROUND ONE — Angie Smith, Buell, 6.907, 197.88 def. Geno Scali, Suzuki, Foul – Red Light; John Hall, 6.971, 194.86 def. Kelly Clontz, Suzuki, 6.969, 192.82; Chase Van Sant, Suzuki, 6.900, 195.68 def. Marc Ingwersen, 6.922, 194.02; Hector Arana Jr, 6.899, 196.90 def. Chris Bostick, Suzuki, 6.947, 193.60; Jianna Evaristo, Buell, 6.960, 194.10 def. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 7.002, 190.86; Richard Gadson, Suzuki, 6.846, 197.94 def. Ron Tornow, 7.182, 193.40; Gaige Herrera, Suzuki, 6.852, 197.83 def. Marcus Hylton, 7.189, 184.25; Matt Smith, Buell, 6.833, 199.02 was unopposed;

    QUARTERFINALS — Evaristo, 6.996, 194.83 def. Arana Jr, Broke; Herrera, 6.874, 196.73 def. Hall, Foul – Red Light; Gadson, 6.887, 197.39 def. Van Sant, 6.942, 194.91; M. Smith, 6.863, 198.29 def. A. Smith, 6.893, 198.55;

    SEMIFINALS — Gadson, 6.890, 196.36 def. Herrera, 8.746, 100.40; M. Smith, 6.903, 196.85 def. Evaristo, 7.046, 192.58;

    FINAL — M. Smith, 6.846, 199.35 def. Gadson, Foul – Red Light.

    CONCORD, N.C. — Point standings (top 10) following the 16th annual NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMax Dragway, the 16th of 20 events in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series –

    Top Fuel

    1. Antron Brown, 2,292; 2. Justin Ashley, 2,239; 3. Shawn Langdon, 2,230; 4. Doug Kalitta, 2,225; 5. Clay Millican, 2,174; 6. Steve Torrence, 2,162; 7. Tony Schumacher, 2,119; 8. Tony Stewart, 2,118; 9. Brittany Force, 2,114; 10. Billy Torrence, 2,082.

    Funny Car

    1. Austin Prock, 2,370; 2. Bob Tasca III, 2,241; 3. John Force/Jack Beckman, 2,234; 4. Matt Hagan, 2,217; 5. Ron Capps, 2,163; 6. J.R. Todd, 2,160; 7. Alexis DeJoria, 2,113; 8. Daniel Wilkerson, 2,108; 9. Blake Alexander, 2,103; 10. Chad Green, 2,100.

    Pro Stock

    1. Dallas Glenn, 2,317; 2. Aaron Stanfield, 2,309; 3. Erica Enders, 2,264; 4. Greg Anderson, 2,243; 5. Jeg Coughlin, 2,151; 6. Cristian Cuadra, 2,125; 7. Jerry Tucker, 2,118; 8. Troy Coughlin Jr., 2,111; 9. Matt Hartford, 2,088; 10. Eric Latino, 2,074.

    Pro Stock Motorcycle

    1. Matt Smith, 2,308; 2. Gaige Herrera, 2,283; 3. Richard Gadson, 2,281; 4. Hector Arana Jr, 2,193; 5. Chase Van Sant, 2,154; 6. John Hall, 2,152; 7. Angie Smith, 2,149; 8. Jianna Evaristo, 2,137; 9. Steve Johnson, 2,095; 10. Chris Bostick, 2,064.
  • Promising start, tough finish at Brickyard

    Promising start, tough finish at Brickyard

    Cadillac Racing GTP entries encounter unforced issues in six-hour race

    INDIANAPOLIS (Sept. 22, 2024) – A promising start to the TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks ended in double disappointment for the Cadillac Racing Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) entries in the six-hour race Sunday.

    Contending with the 56-car, four-class field and dramatic changing weather and track conditions that included a long full-course yellow in the opening hours on the 2.439-mile, 14-turn Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, the No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R and No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R were poised to challenge for podium positions.

    Sebastien Bourdais, who earned the second pole of the season for the No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R and fifth in the eight IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship races for Cadillac Racing, traded the point multiple times with the No. 6 Porsche 963. And with Renger van der Zande in the seat and holding the lead, the No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R gained maximum points at the halfway mark in the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup standings.

    The No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R qualified fourth and Jack Aitken moved to second on Lap 8 and briefly took the lead on the first pit stop for Michelin wet tires.

    But unforced issues negated the strong start for both racecars powered by the purpose-built Cadillac 5.5-liter V8. While running seventh later in the race, driver Pipo Derani was alerted to an issue and was called onto pit lane.

    Cadillac statement: With 3 hours, 50 minutes left in the race, the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac lost oil pressure. After inspecting the vehicle in the garage, the decision was made to retire the car. We will regroup to diagnose the root cause of the issue and prepare to race again in the season finale at Road Atlanta.

    It was the first mechanical DNF for the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R in the GTP era.

    With 1 hour, 27 minutes left and running second, van der Zande rolled onto pit lane for regular service and a switch to Bourdais for the close. A lap later, however, the right-rear tire on the No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R went flat, and Bourdais had to make a full tour of the course before limping into the pit. An extended stop, which included untangled tire chord from the driveshaft, cost the team three laps.

    Bourdais soldiered on, overtook the No. 7 Porsche 963 and drove the No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R to eighth place overall. The No. 24 BMW M Hybrid V8 won the race.

    The IMSA GTP season concludes Oct. 12 with the 10-hour Motul Petit Le Mans at 2.54-mile, 12-turn Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. The No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R was runner-up in the 2023, clinching the GTP and IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup manufacturer championships for Cadillac Racing. Peacock will stream flag-to-flag coverage, with USA telecasting the race from 6-10:30 p.m.

    What they’re saying

    No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R

    Sebastien Bourdais: “I think pace-wise we were OK, but the competition was stronger again. … Unfortunately, we probably didn’t have what we needed to fight. But it turned into a very weird race at the end with the BMW winning. I jumped in the car. I did the out lap. I didn’t hit anyone, but something cut the right rear tire. Debris, or someone when they got by when I was crawling around on cold tires, I have no idea. I didn’t feel anything at all. Just another really disappointing race because it definitely feels like we did everything we could to give ourselves a chance, then we get nothing at the end.”

    Renger van der Zande: “I’m very disappointed with where we ended up because we had good speed in the car, we worked really hard on the setup and to get it done. The team did a fantastic job. I think we extracted everything we could out of the car. Seb did a good job; I did a good job. At the end, a blown tire ended our fight today. I’m not happy, but we’ll move forward from here, and we’ll see what we can do at Petit Le Mans and hopefully win that race.”

    No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R

    Jack Aitken: “The first stint went great for us. The car was working really well and managed to move up from P4 to second and even were closing in on the No. 6 Porsche. Then the rain started to come and we managed that pretty well, too, getting out of the pits in first place. But a bit of bad luck and the race unraveled for us. It was an encouraging race start and we’ll take that to Petit Le Mans.”

  • Larson dominates Bass Pro Shops Night Race at iconic Bristol Motor Speedway to advance in Playoffs

    Larson dominates Bass Pro Shops Night Race at iconic Bristol Motor Speedway to advance in Playoffs

    BRISTOL, Tenn.— It was a story of absolute domination on the part of Kyle Larson, who led 462 of 500 laps at Bristol Motor Speedway and won Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race by 7.088 seconds over Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott.

    Larson’s advance to the Round of 12 in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs was hardly in doubt, but the vicissitudes of the elimination race were unkind to Ty Gibbs, Martin Truex Jr., Brad Keselowski and Harrison Burton, who are no longer eligible to compete for the series championship.

    Sweeping both stages in front of a massive crowd on a near-perfect night, Larson set a record for laps led in a single race by a Hendrick Motorsports driver. He has now led 1,351 laps at Bristol, his most at a single track.

    No driver has led as many laps in a victory at Bristol since Cale Yarborough led 495 in 1977.

    The victory was Larson’s second at the 0.533-mile track, his series-best fifth of the season and the 28th of the career. He enters the Round of 12 as the top seed, as the series moves to Kansas Speedway for the Sept. 29 Hollywood Casino 400.

    “Man, that was just great execution all weekend by the team,” Larson said. “Practiced good. You’ve got to qualify good; we did that. Yeah, just had a great car. Thanks to the whole 5 team. They’re the best in the business.

    “We dominate a lot of races, but we might not close them all out, so it feels really good to close one out here in this HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevy. We’ve got (team owner) Rick Hendrick here today, too. He hasn’t been to many races this year…

    “Just a phenomenal car, could kind of manage my stuff and then really pass some cars there at the end.”

    Unfortunately for Gibbs and Truex, Saturday night’s race also was the story of crippling penalties. Gibbs was flagged for speeding on pit road during the first stage break and spent the rest of the race fighting his way toward the front.

    By Lap 500, however, Gibbs had worn out his right rear tire, finished 15th and lost the final Round of 12 position to Daniel Suarez and Chase Briscoe by 11 points.

    “Speeding penalty is on me,” Gibbs said. “You run the lights so close … it’s my fault. Unfortunate.”

    Entering the race 14 points below the cut line, Truex ran fourth in the first stage and second in Stage 2, but the driver of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota sped on pit road during the fifth and final caution and finished 24th, 21 points short of advancing to the Round of 12.

    “We did good in the first two stages—we got a lot of points,” said Truex, who will retire from full-time Cup racing at the end of the season. “I guess we would have had to run second or third to make it through. Who knows if we would have been able to? I wish we could have seen if we could have done that.

    “I’m just gutted for my team. We worked so hard this week. We all put in a lot all season long, and in the last three weeks, just snake-bit. Can’t do anything right … .09 mph (over the pit road speed tolerance) hurts really bad to take the chance away to know if we even could have done it. I don’t know if we could have run second … maybe. We were close to it all day, but in the end, it doesn’t matter. I feel terrible for my guys.”

    Non-Playoff driver Bubba Wallace finished third on Saturday night, followed by Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell and defending series champion Ryan Blaney, all of whom secured spots in the Round of 12.

    Hamlin entered the race six points below the cut line but maintained a presence in the top five all race long. The driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing machine, who won the last two Bristol races, came up a bit short tonight of adding another Bristol trophy and sword to his collection.

    “My aspirations were to win it, but it looked like the 5 (Larson) there was better than all of us,” Hamlin said. “Solid car. I thought we were really good towards the middle of the stages, and then at the end, got too loose and couldn’t hang onto what we had.

    “Overall, top-five day, good stage points, kind of in the mix, just not really as good as we’ve been here the last few times. But overall, I want to thank this whole FedEx Toyota team for giving me something I can move on with.”

    Ryan Preece ran seventh, trailed by Briscoe and pole winner Alex Bowman, who was locked into the next Playoff round after finishing seventh in Stage 2. Austin Cindric (13th Saturday), William Byron (17th), Tyler Reddick (20th) and Joey Logano (28th) also were among the 12 drivers to advance.

    Logano already had secured his spot with a victory in the Playoff opener at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

    Larson took charge early, passing Bowman for the lead on Lap 33. Adroitly working traffic as the first 125-lap stage progressed, Larson lapped three Playoff drivers in succession—Suarez on Lap 64, Burton on Lap 86 and Keselowski of Lap 104.

    Bowman led a lap under caution during the first stage break, but Larson had the top spot back out of the pits one circuit later and continued to assert his authority in Stage 2. Suarez lost a second lap to the leader on Lap 194, putting his Playoff future in dire peril—temporarily.

    Burton suffered the same fate on Lap 207, all but assuring his elimination. His fate was sealed when he took his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford to the garage on Lap 235 to repair a power steering issue.

    Gibbs’ penalty was the saving grace for Suarez, who finished 31st, four laps down but was able to move on.

    “It was a struggle,” Suarez acknowledged. “Since yesterday when we unloaded the car for first practice, we just didn’t have the speed. As you know, with a short amount of practice, qualifying, and going to the race, if you don’t have speed out of the trailer, it’s very, very difficult to bring it back to speed.

    “We made it better, but it wasn’t good enough. We were running 30th, 28th, 32nd all night long, and that’s what we had. Luckily, we had a great Atlanta (a runner-up finish), decent Watkins Glen after a broken wheel, and we were able to build a cushion, and we definitely used every single point out of that cushion.”

    Interestingly, the rapid tire fall-off that exerted a profound influence over this year’s spring race at Thunder Valley was a non-factor on Saturday. Before the race, after consultation with the drivers, NASCAR opted to spray PJ1 traction compound on the bottom two feet of the track.

    Story by NASCAR Newswire

    NASCAR Cup Series Race – Bass Pro Shops Night Race
    Bristol Motor Speedway
    Bristol, Tennessee
    Saturday, September 21, 2024

    (2) Kyle Larson (P), Chevrolet, 500.
    (10) Chase Elliott (P), Chevrolet, 500.
    (11) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 500.
    (8) Denny Hamlin (P), Toyota, 500.
    (6) Christopher Bell (P), Toyota, 500.
    (22) Ryan Blaney (P), Ford, 500.
    (14) Ryan Preece, Ford, 500.
    (5) Chase Briscoe (P), Ford, 500.
    (1) Alex Bowman (P), Chevrolet, 500.
    (12) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 500.
    (18) Michael McDowell, Ford, 499.
    (16) Noah Gragson, Ford, 499.
    (27) Austin Cindric (P), Ford, 499.
    (17) Chris Buescher, Ford, 499.
    (13) Ty Gibbs (P), Toyota, 499.
    (33) Zane Smith #, Chevrolet, 499.
    (3) William Byron (P), Chevrolet, 499.
    (7) Carson Hocevar #, Chevrolet, 499.
    (21) Daniel Hemric, Chevrolet, 499.
    (15) Tyler Reddick (P), Toyota, 499.
    (30) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 499.
    (26) Justin Haley, Ford, 499.
    (19) AJ Allmendinger(i), Chevrolet, 499.
    (4) Martin Truex Jr. (P), Toyota, 499.
    (29) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 498.
    (23) Brad Keselowski (P), Ford, 497.
    (31) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 497.
    (20) Joey Logano (P), Ford, 496.
    (25) Josh Berry #, Ford, 496.
    (32) Erik Jones, Toyota, 496.
    (35) Daniel Suarez (P), Chevrolet, 496.
    (24) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 496.
    (28) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 491.
    (37) Josh Bilicki(i), Ford, 467.
    (34) Harrison Burton (P), Ford, 422.
    (9) Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, Accident, 330.
    (36) Kaz Grala #, Ford, Steering, 296.

    Average Speed of Race Winner: 101.277 mph.

    Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 37 Mins, 53 Secs. Margin of Victory: 7.088 Seconds.

    Caution Flags: 5 for 36 laps.

    Lead Changes: 8 among 4 drivers.

    Lap Leaders: A. Bowman (P) 1-32;K. Larson (P) 33-129;A. Bowman (P) 130;K. Larson (P) 131-244;A. Bowman (P) 245;T. Reddick (P) 246-248;K. Larson (P) 249-332;B. Wallace 333;K. Larson (P) 334-500.

    Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Kyle Larson (P) 4 times for 462 laps; Alex Bowman (P) 3 times for 34 laps; Tyler Reddick (P) 1 time for 3 laps; Bubba Wallace 1 time for 1 lap.

    Stage #1 Top Ten: 5,48,20,19,24,11,14,54,9,23

    Stage #2 Top Ten: 5,19,11,45,20,23,48,14,12,9