Category: NASCAR Cup PR

Todd Gilliland and the No. 38 Rasmussen Air & Gas Energy Ford Mustang Dark Horse
Kansas Speedway Competition Notes

 MOORESVILLE, N.C. (September 24, 2024) – Todd Gilliland is back in action this weekend as the NASCAR Cup Series returns to the Kansas Speedway.

Following a 32nd place finish at the Bristol Motor Speedway, Gilliland and the team look to regain their momentum at the 1.5-mile oval. Quincy Compressor returns with Front Row Motorsports and Gilliland for the event and will bring along their partner, Rasmussen Air & Gas Energy for the 400-mile event. Alongside their partners, Quincy Compressor and Chicago Pneumatic, Rasmussen Air & Gas Energy is excited to enter the NASCAR world.

Founded on March 1, 2013, Rasmussen Air & Gas Energy (RAGE) has quickly established itself as a leading provider of compressed air and gas systems in the U.S. The acronym “RAGE” reflects their focus on air, gas, and energy.

Specializing in systems ranging from fractional horsepower to 5,000 horsepower, RAGE offers tailored solutions backed by a top-notch technical service team. Their commitment to an add-value mentality and innovative culture ensures that they meet the unique challenges faced by their clients across various sectors, including food and beverage, healthcare, and manufacturing.

RAGE pride’s themselves on being your trusted partner for optimized productivity and efficiency. For more information, visit rage-energy.com.

Track activity for the NASCAR Cup Series will start Saturday, September 28th with practice and qualifying at 1:00 pm ET. The 267-lap event is scheduled for Sunday, September 29th at 3:00 pm ET. Fans can watch the action live on the USA Network or listen in via the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM channel 90.

No. 38 Rasmussen Air & Gas Energy Ford Mustang Dark Horse:

DRIVER TODD GILLILAND:

“We haven’t had the best results on the mile and a half tracks, but I think that will change this weekend. Ryan (Bergenty) and the team have been hard at work ensuring we have speed and I think their hard work will pay off this weekend.

“I’m excited to partner with RAGE. They are super excited for this weekend. Hopefully I can give them a good showing.”

CREW CHIEF RYAN BERGENTY:

“We have struggled on the mile and a half tracks this year, but I think we’re in a pretty good spot heading to Kansas. Bristol didn’t go as planned, but it’s in the past. We have to keep our heads high and eyes forward as we get through this last stretch of races.”

ABOUT FRONT ROW MOTORSPORTS

Front Row Motorsports (FRM) is a winning organization in the NASCAR Cup and CRAFTSMAN Truck Series. The team is the 2021 Daytona 500 and 2022 CRAFTSMAN Truck Series champions. The team was founded in 2004 and is owned by successful entrepreneur, Bob Jenkins. FRM fields the No. 34 and the No. 38 NASCAR Cup Series teams along with the No. 38 CRAFTSMAN Truck Series team from its Mooresville, N.C. headquarters. Visit teamfrm.com and follow FRM on social media: Twitter at @Team_FRM, Instagram at @team_frm and Facebook at facebook.com/FrontRowMotorsports.

Martin Truex Jr.
Kansas Advance
No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry XSE for Joe Gibbs Racing

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
● Format: 267 laps, 400 miles
● Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 80 laps / Stage 2: 85 laps / Final Stage: 102 laps
● TV/Radio: USA Network / MRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Notes of Interest

● Seven to Go: Truex failed to make it to the Round of 12 of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. Truex sits 14th in the reset driver standings with 2,064 points after last Saturday night’s Round of 16 finale at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.

● Honor a Cancer Hero: Truex has not one but two cancer heroes riding along with him on his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Camry this weekend in the Hollywood Casino 400. It’s part of the Martin Truex Jr. Foundation’s and the NASCAR Foundation’s annual Honor a Cancer Hero program event. Via a decal over the driver-side door will be the name of Michele Broadley. Broadley fought a three-and-a-half-year battle with alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma (ARMS). During her fight, she continued college and graduated from the University of Connecticut with a bachelors degree in Psychology with a minor in Women’s Studies. She held a 3.74 grade-point average earned Magna Cum Laude honors. She even started Graduate School for her Master’s Degree in Social Work at Southern Connecticut State University. Broadley passed away on Sept. 28, 2016. Truex is honored to have her name ride along with him this weekend.

● Honor a Cancer Hero, Part 2: Truex also has the honor of having cancer survivor Claire Kochenower ride along above the passenger-side window of his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Camry XSE this weekend. Kochenower is a seven-and-a-half-year medulloblastoma survivor. Kochenower continues to have yearly checkups with her long-term survivor doctor as they monitor her for complications from her treatment. Truex is her favorite driver, and she is excited to have her name on his car this year during his final fulltime season.

● Truex has two wins, 11 top-five finishes, 18 top-10s and has led a total of 906 laps in 32 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Kansas. Truex’s average Kansas finish is 12.6. Truex finished fourth at Kansas in May and had a chance to win prior to a late caution flag.

● Strong in the Heartland: Truex’s two Kansas wins came by way of a season sweep of the spring and fall races there in 2017. The feat kicked off a 13-race stretch on the 1.5-mile oval during which he earned six top-fives and finished inside the top-10 all but once.

● While he doesn’t like to play favorites, Truex certainly excels at tracks with worn-out surfaces, where driver skill is key to managing the tires and the racecar over the course of a long race. At four such tracks – Kansas Speedway, the now defunct 2-mile oval at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, Homestead-Miami Speedway, and Darlington (S.C.) Raceway – Truex has six wins, 25 top-five finishes and 47 top-10s, and has led 2,209 laps.

● Looking for 35: Truex’s July 2023 win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon was his most recent Cup Series win, the 34th of his career, tying him with 2004 champion Kurt Busch for 25th on the all-time Cup Series win list.

Martin Truex Jr., Driver of the No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry XSE

You have had success at Kansas Speedway over the years, but a year ago you had a fast car but had a cut tire at the start of the race. Can you talk a little bit about what it takes to have a solid day there?

“Yeah, for sure. I felt really good about our car there last year, but it didn’t last very long with the tire issue last fall, and we had a really good run going there in the spring and the caution came out at the end and we ended up fourth instead of a chance at the win. Kansas is a really fun racetrack. It’s a place where you can move around. The tires wear out and it gets slippery. It’s just a fun place to race and we’re looking forward to it with our Bass Pro Shops Camry. A

thing to get around there. You have to have horsepower and downforce, a good setup with a lot of tire grip and things like that. It’s a big challenge and usually the guys that have the fastest cars are up front there, so hopefully we’ll be one of those guys.”

You are trying to get a win this year before you are done racing fulltime. Is Kansas a place where you feel like you could get it done?

“I feel like Kansas is one of those places that has always suited my style. It’s a place you can move around, it gets really slick and there’s a lot of tire falloff. I really enjoy that. As good as our cars have been lately, I feel good about our chances that we’ll go there and have race-winning speed. And then it’s all about execution, which we are working on right now. If we can have a straightforward strategy race and good pit stops, I think we are going to be in the mix at Kansas, for sure.”

What is racing at Kansas like, and what other track is most similar?

“I would say Kansas is a lot like Homestead but with a tri-oval. Similar corners and a little bit of progressive banking. The wall has really come into play the last couple of years there since the asphalt has worn out. So, running high is very important there, and also momentum is very important at Kansas. You have a big, wide, front straightaway that gives you the option to make big, bold moves on the restarts where it can get pretty wild there. Kansas is definitely high on my list of places I like to race, and we are hoping for a great weekend there with our Bass Pro Shops Camry.”

Did you ever think you’d accomplished all you have?

“I always dreamed I could. Always thought I could. But you know, in this sport and in life in general, that’s all just talk. So, it’s been fun to get it done a few times.”

No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Team Roster

Primary Team Members

Driver: Martin Truex Jr.

Hometown: Mayetta, New Jersey

Crew Chief: James Small

Hometown: Melbourne, Australia

Car Chief: Chris Jones

Hometown: Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia

Race Engineer: Jaik Halpainy

Hometown: Blockville, New York

Spotter: Drew Herring

Hometown: Benson, North Carolina

Road Crew Members

Underneath Mechanic: Ryan Martin

Hometown: Mechanicsburg, Virgina

Mechanic: Todd Carmichael

Hometown: Redding, California

Interior/Tire Specialist: Tommy DiBlasi

Hometown: Annapolis, Maryland

Engine Tuner: Beau Morton

Hometown: Lake Havasu City, Arizona

Transporter Driver: Kyle Bazzell

Hometown: Fairbury, Illinois

Transporter Driver: Eddie DeGroot

Hometown: Baldwinsville, New York

Over-The-Wall Crew Members

Gas Man: Matt Tyrrell

Hometown: Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Jackman: Caleb Dirks

Hometown: Riverside, California

Tire Carrier: CJ Bailey

Hometown: Outer Banks, North Carolina

Front Tire Changer: Thomas Hatcher

Hometown: Middleburg, Florida

Rear Tire Changer: Lee Cunningham

Hometown: Leaf River, Illinois

Kansas II Event Info:
Date: Sunday, Sept. 29
Time: 3 p.m. ET
Series: NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Location: Kansas City, Kansas
Format: 267 Laps, 400.5 Miles, Stages: 80-85-102
TV: USA
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90)

Weekend Schedule:
Saturday: 1:05 p.m. ET, Practice (NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Saturday: 1:45 p.m. ET, Qualifying (NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Saturday: 3 p.m. ET, Race (USA, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

Pace Laps:

• Kansas Speedway hosts its second race of the 2024 season – the site of the famed photo finish this May where Chris Buescher appeared to secure win, but finished second in the closest finish in NASCAR history.
• Jack Roush has four wins in the Cup Series at Kansas and nine overall, the most recent in 2012.

6 Team Info:
Crew Chief: Matt McCall
Partner: Solomon Plumbing

17 Team Info:
Crew Chief: Scott Graves
Partner: Fastenal

Keselowski at Kansas
Starts: 29
Wins: 2 (2011, 2019)
Top-10s: 14
Poles: 2 (2015, 2021)

• Keselowski makes his 30th start at Kansas this weekend, a track where he carries a 12.2 average finish. He’s coming off an 11th-place finish this spring, and a P9 finish last fall.
• Keselowski has an average starting position of 12th with 17 starts inside the top-10. He most recently qualified 20th last spring and 12th in the fall, and has two career poles (2015, 2021) in Kansas.
• He also made a combined 10 starts in the Xfinity and Truck Series with one win and five combined top-10s.

Buescher at Kansas
Starts: 17
Wins: —
Top-10s: 4
Poles: —

• Buescher is coming off a positive – but heartbreaking – race this spring in Kansas where he finished second in the closest finish in NASCAR history. He won stage two and led 53 laps in that race in what was his fourth top-10 at the track.
• He finished 27th in the 2023 fall race where he lost a tire with less than 10 laps remaining.
• Dating back to the 2022 fall event, Buescher has qualified 14th or better in all four races, including a career-best 10th in that 2022 fall race. His average starting position stands at 19.1.
• Buescher made three Xfinity starts at Kansas from 2013-15 with a best finish of sixth (2015).

RFK Historically at Kansas
Cup Wins: 4 (Mark Martin, 2005; Greg Biffle, 2007, 2010; Matt Kenseth, 2012)

• Follow the Yellow Brick Road: Overall, RFK has started 185 races across the three national series, earning nine wins, 42 top-five finishes, 78 top-10 finishes and has an overall average finish of 15th.
• Winning at Kansas: RFK swept both the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NCS races at Kansas in the fall of 2012 with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Matt Kenseth. Stenhouse became the sixth driver to win at the track for the organization via his Xfinity victory. NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin earned RFK’s first NCS win at Kansas in 2005 and former driver Greg Biffle bested the 1.5-mile track in 2007 and 2010. RFK’s first overall win at Kansas came in 2002 via Jeff Burton in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Three drivers (Jon Wood in 2003, Carl Edwards in 2004 and Erik Darnell in 2007) have won in the NCWTS at Kansas for RFK.
• Tale of the Tape: RFK has started 116 NCS races at Kansas, recording four victories, 21 top-five finishes, 38 top-10 finishes, an average finish of 16.5 and has led 1047 laps. Kenseth earned the most recent victory at Kansas in the fall of 2012.

RFK Kansas Wins

2002 Burton NXS
2003 Wood Truck
2004 Edwards Truck
2005 Martin Cup
2007 Biffle Cup
2007 Darnell Truck
2010 Biffle Cup
2012-2 Kenseth Cup
2012 Stenhouse NXS

Last Time Out & Where They Stand
Bristol: Keselowski finished 26th and did not advance to the Round of 12 in the NASCAR Playoffs. Buescher led RFK with a 14th-place finish.

NOAH GRAGSON
Kansas Advance

No. 10 Bed Bath & Beyond 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

● Noah Gragson has made four NASCAR Cup Series starts at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, with his most recent being his best. In early May, Gragson qualified third and finished ninth in the Cup Series’ first Kansas stop of the 2024 season. It was a complete weekend, with Gragson bettering his previous best starting spot of 22nd (earned in May 2023) and his previous best finishing position of 18th (earned twice in his May and September Cup Series starts at Kansas in 2022).

● Gragson has five NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Kansas and, collectively, they are emblematic of his growth as a racecar driver. The Las Vegas native finished 13th in his first Xfinity Series start at Kansas in October 2019 and then scored a 15th-place finish in his return to the 1.5-mile oval in July 2020. Two strong runs at Kansas followed in October 2020 and October 2021 when Gragson led a total of 22 laps, but crashes left him with finishes of 36th and 35th, respectively. But in Gragson’s fifth and final Xfinity Series start at Kansas, he put a whole race together and punctuated it with an exclamation point. In September 2022, Gragson qualified fifth and then led three times for 20 laps, including the final 18, to take the victory. It was the 10th of his 13 career Xfinity Series wins.

● Before that NASCAR Xfinity Series triumph at Kansas, Gragson had already put his name on the track’s list of winners. In May 2018, in his second and final NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series start at Kansas, Gragson dominated. He won the pole with a lap of 30.564 seconds at 176.678 mph and proceeded to lead five times for a race-high 128 laps, pacing the field for all but 39 of race’s 167 laps.

● Gragson’s Kansas debut came in the ARCA Menards Series. On Oct. 14, 2016, an 18-year-old Gragson started eighth and finished fifth in the Kansas 150.

● Riding along with Gragson in the Hollywood Casino 400 is Anastasia Vessel. Via a decal over the passenger-side window of Gragson’s No. 10 Ford Mustang Dark Horse, Vessel’s cancer battle is being highlighted by the Martin Truex Jr. Foundation’s and the NASCAR Foundation’s Honor a Cancer Hero program. Vessel was diagnosed with cancer six months after her wedding, but after going through chemotherapy and radiation, Vessel has since tested cancer free. She was nominated for the Honor a Cancer Hero program by her husband, Jack.

● Bed Bath & Beyond adorns Gragson’s No. 10 Ford Mustang Dark Horse at Kansas. The partnership celebrates Bed Bath & Beyond as the ultimate online destination for home essentials, featuring an unmatched assortment for every room of the house. Whether it’s your kitchen, bedroom, outdoor space or bathroom, Bed Bath & Beyond has what you need to create a space that feels uniquely yours. From cookware and bedding to bath accessories and beyond, Bed Bath & Beyond is your go-to source for functional and stylish home essentials.

Noah Gragson, Driver of the No. 10 Bed Bath & Beyond Ford Mustang Dark Horse

You qualified third and finished a solid ninth when you raced at Kansas back in May. How did that race go for you and what can you take from it and apply to your return to Kansas this weekend?

“I hope we have the same kind of speed. We qualified third, finished ninth and ran in the top-10 pretty much the majority of the whole race. Had really good speed in practice. I think we were fourth in practice overall. It seemed like we had really good pace that race. I just showed up and I didn’t do anything different than what I do any other week. Our Ford Mustang Dark Horse just drove faster and I had more speed. I hope it translates again when we go back to Kansas this weekend.”

How much of a factor is the wind at Kansas?

“I haven’t really noticed the wind too much at any racetrack. I know it gets pretty bad at Vegas and some other tracks, but I don’t really feel it too much in the car. A lot of guys are pretty sensitive to it, but I haven’t been able to notice it in huge amounts.”

You have five starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at Kansas. Those first four starts were a bit of a struggle, but that fifth start was impressive. You qualified fifth and led three times for 20 laps, including the final 18, to take the win. How did you do it, and how satisfying was it to take the checkered flag?

“It was either hit or miss there. We always ran well there but never finished well. But once I finally figured out how to put a whole race together, we ended up getting a win. The same thing happened in Trucks, too. The first year I went there, we had decent speed but just didn’t capitalize on the entirety of the day. It’s a fun track and, to be able to put it all together, it’s good.”

That Xfinity Series win at Kansas was not your first win there. You won a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Kansas in 2018, and pretty handily too. You won the pole and led five times for a race-high 128 laps, and the race only went 167 laps. It was just your second-ever start at the track and you beat your boss at the time, Kyle Busch. How did you do it?

“It was probably bigger just to win the race, in general. It was definitely a little sweeter because Kyle was in it, but we had a lot of speed that year and, once again, didn’t capitalize on the races where we had that speed and had shots to win. I got the pole, we won the first stage, the second stage, and ultimately won the race, so it was kind of a perfect day, a perfect weekend. That was a pretty cool moment.”

You ran an ARCA race at Kansas in 2016 and finished fifth. At that time, it was one of the bigger tracks you had raced on. What were you experiencing as an 18-year-old competing at Kansas?

“It was crazy. I never dealt with aero too much and having to move myself around, so learning on the fly and trying to figure that out and how to position your car just so you could have the best aero positioning was big, and that place was fast, learning how to drive around that place. I wish I could go back to that day knowing what I know now, I probably would’ve won that race. But with that being said, I was doing all I could to try and figure it out on the fly, and as I’ve gained experience, I’ve definitely learned a lot since that day.”

No. 10 Bed Bath & Beyond Team Roster

Primary Team Members

Driver: Noah Gragson

Hometown: Las Vegas

Crew Chief: Drew Blickensderfer

Hometown: Decatur, Illinois

Car Chief: Jerry Cook

Hometown: Toledo, Ohio

Engineer: James Kimbrough

Hometown: Pensacola, Florida

Spotter: Andy Houston

Hometown: Hickory, North Carolina

Over-The-Wall Members

Front Tire Changer: Ryan Mulder

Hometown: Sioux Center, Iowa

Rear Tire Changer: Trevor White

Hometown: Arlington, Texas

Tire Carrier: Tyler Bullard

Hometown: King, North Carolina

Jack Man: Sean Cotten

Hometown: Mooresville, North Carolina

Fuel Man: James “Ace” Keener

Hometown: Fortuna, California

Road Crew Members

Mechanic: Chris Trickett

Hometown: Grafton, West Virginia

Mechanic: Beau Whitley

Hometown: Carmel, Indiana

Tire Specialist: Jacob Cooksey

Hometown: Westbrookville, New York

Engine Tuner: Matt Moeller

Hometown: Monroe, New York

Transporter Co-Driver: Steve Casper

Hometown: Salisbury, North Carolina

Transporter Co-Driver: Matt Murphy

Hometown: Augusta, Georgia

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

Bass Pro Shops Night Race: Bristol Motor Speedway
Bristol, Tenn. – September 21, 2024

AUSTIN CINDRIC No. 2 MENARDS/MONSTER ENERGY FORD MUSTANG

START: 27TH STAGE ONE: 21ST STAGE TWO: 16TH FINISH: 13TH POINTS: 9TH

RACE RUNDOWN: Austin Cindric executed a solid performance in the Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, finishing 13th in the No. 2 Menards/Monster Energy Ford Mustang to clinch a spot in the Round of 12 in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. Despite an unfavorable starting spot at the half-mile, concrete oval where track position is key, Cindric maintained great momentum through the opening segment, finishing Stage 1 in the 21st position on the lead lap. He informed his team that he started to lose rear grip as the first stint winded down, and headed to pit road for service. The 26-year-old driver restarted 17th and reported early on that the car was freer in that run. On Lap 242, a caution slowed the field just shy of the conclusion of the second break, and Cindric reported a right-front chatter and said the car was too free to fire off. He was scored 16th when Stage 2 officially ended and received four fresh tires, fuel and adjustments in preparation for the final dash to the checkers in the Round of 16 finale. As the third stint played out, Cindric gained ground, climbing to the 13th position by the time the 500-lap race reached its end. The performance advanced him to the next round of the postseason, where Team Penske teammates Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano will also be represented as the elite drivers vie for the coveted Cup Series championship.

CINDRIC’S THOUGHTS: “It was a solid night from starting as far back as we did and staying on the lead lap for as long as we did. Our car was really strong. Thank you to Menards and everyone at Team Penske. I’m proud of the effort to bring really solid race cars the first three races and how we were able to do the right things with them. We had three solid finishes, the worst finish being 13th – that’s what we needed in this round, racing within our limits, and no reason why we can’t do the same thing in the next. I think that’s what it’s going to take to move on to the Round of 8.”

RYAN BLANEY No. 12 WURTH FORD MUSTANG

START: 22ND STAGE ONE: 11TH STAGE TWO: 9TH FINISH: 6TH POINTS: 5TH

RACE RUNDOWN: Ryan Blaney turned in a sixth-place finish Saturday night at Bristol to advance to the Round of 12 in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. The No. 12 Wurth Ford Mustang started from 22nd and worked methodically through the field during the opening run of the night to come away with an 11th-place finish in Stage 1. Following a four tire stop and a round of adjustments under caution, Blaney continued to work between the top and bottom lanes and made his way up to eighth in the running order early on Stage 2. Blaney was scored sixth when the caution flag flew with eight to go in the segment, prompting a trip to pit road for fresh tires before eventually racing to a ninth-place result in the stage. After taking the green flag on the restart from eighth, Blaney saw the balance start to even out over the long run as he battled his way into the top-five. Blaney settled into sixth in the running order as the longest green flag run of the night ensued while managing his tires to make it to the end. Ultimately, the Wurth Ford took the checkered flag sixth as the 12-team heads into the opening race of the next round 11 points above the cut line. The top-10 finish marks Blaney’s 13th of the 2024 season as he takes his title defense into the Round of 12.

BLANEY’S THOUGHTS: “It was a good night overall. We came from not qualifying great and got up to the top 10 that second stage. I thought we had a really good long run car and the long run at the end was so many laps that we were guarding against blowing a tire, so I just kind of rode around the last 100 laps or so for that run and wound up with a decent finish. It was a good effort from not qualifying well. The speed in our car was pretty decent. It’s something to learn from and nice to go to the next round.”

JOEY LOGANO No. 22 SHELL-PENNZOIL FORD MUSTANG

START: 20TH STAGE ONE: 14TH STAGE TWO: 33RD FINISH: 28TH POINTS: 8TH

RACE RUNDOWN: Joey Logano and the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil team saw their night at Bristol derailed in the closing laps of Stage 2 as Logano was involved in an incident that resulted in a 28th-place finish to cap off the Round of 16. Despite the result, Logano heads into the next round of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs eighth in the standings, four points above the cut line. After starting 20th Saturday night, Logano quickly made his way into the top-15 despite a tight handling condition in the early going before coming away with a 14th-place finish in Stage 1. Following a four tire stop and a round of adjustments, Logano took the restart from 11th and worked his way into the top-10 during the opening laps of the second segment. On lap 242, the No. 7 made contact with Logano’s rear bumper on the exit of turn four and sent the Shell-Pennzoil Ford sliding down the frontstretch, causing damage to the right front. Logano brought his Ford Mustang to pit road for four tires and repairs under caution but went a lap down in the process. The No. 22 team continued to make adjustments to assist with Logano’s handling due to the damage sustained in the incident and was ultimately scored 28th when the checkered flag flew.

LOGANO’S THOUGHTS: “It’s just the same stuff. You’ve got to get some points to survive. Kansas will be important. You’ve still got Talladega in there, which is quite the wild card, and then the Roval. It’s a fairly similar round to what we just went through, so you’ve got to be able to score some points. We just have to go back to Kansas this weekend and run good. We need to go up there and run in the top five and score stage points and position ourselves solid into the next two races after that.”

The NASCAR Cup Series opens the Round of 12 at Kansas Speedway on Sunday, September 29. Coverage of the Hollywood Casino 400 begins at 3:00 p.m. ET on USA, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

Austin Dillon and The No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Off Road Chevrolet Team Fight Hard in Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway

Finish: 21st
Start: 30th
Points: 28th

“Our No. 3 Bass Pro Shops / TRACKER Off Road Chevrolet team fought hard tonight at Bristol Motor Speedway. We lacked forward drive all night but we caught some early cautions that allowed us to pit and work on our car. The track changed a lot, which made for a challenging night. Proud of the effort the Richard Childress Racing team put in this weekend. We will head back to Welcome and get ready for Kansas Speedway.” -Austin Dillon

Kyle Busch and The No. 8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet Team Survive Bristol Motor Speedway with Top-25 Finish

Finish: 25th
Start: 29th
Points: 20th

“I’m really proud of crew chief Randall Burnett and all the guys on the Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet team for never giving up during a tough race. The balance on our Chevrolet was loose in, tight in the middle and too tight off the corners all night. We also lacked grip. We kept making changes during every pit stop but we didn’t hit on anything that worked. The handling issues coupled with an early speeding penalty made for a disappointing night, but we’ll get to work and be better when we come back to Bristol next season.” -Kyle Busch

DANIEL HEMRIC
No. 31 Mountain Dew Doritos Camaro ZL1

• Daniel Hemric qualified 21st for the Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
• Hemric fired off decently in the No. 31 Mountain Dew Doritos Chevrolet and maintained his starting position when the first caution came out on lap five. Restarting 21st on lap 11, Hemric fell back to 24th and was lapped by the leader with 10 laps remaining in the stage. He fought for the free-pass position and earned the lap back, finishing 24th in the first stage.
• Hemric pitted during the first stage break for a right-rear air pressure and chassis adjustment on the No. 31 Chevy. When the third caution of the day came out, he sat 24th, radioing that the No. 31 was now tight handling. He pitted to go back on previous chassis adjustments, before finishing out the final two laps of the stage under green. He was scored in 23rd place.
• Hemric stayed out during the second stage break and started the final stage from 22nd place. Moving up one position, Hemric radioed that the No. 31 Chevy had fired off tight this run. The caution came out on lap 329, and Hemric pitted under caution for tires, fuel and a right-side adjustment, before restarting 20th on lap 337. He eventually fell one lap to the leader, before finishing the race in 19th place.

“Not a bad night for this No. 31 Mountain Dew Doritos team. We fired off well and got the free pass to get back on the lead lap a couple of times. Overall, I think we showed some decent speed throughout the weekend and a huge improvement from the spring race here. ” – Daniel Hemric  

AJ ALLMENDINGER
No. 16 Barger Precast Camaro ZL1

• AJ Allmendinger qualified 19th for the Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
• The first caution flag of the day flew on lap five. The No. 16 Barger Precast Chevy fired off with good balance and did not feel tight in traffic. Allmendinger remained in the 19th position for the restart on lap 11 and finished the first stage in the 22nd position.
• The No. 16 pitted for four tires, fuel, air pressure, wedge, and a track-bar adjustment during the first stage break. General balance of the No. 16 Barger Precast Chevy was tight, and rear bounce was making the car feel unsettled. Allmendinger started the second stage in the 21st position. The first caution of Stage 2 came on lap 243, and Allmendinger pitted for four tires, fuel, air pressure and a track-bar adjustment to help with rear drive and tightness. The field went green with two laps remaining in the stage, and Allmendinger took the stage flag in 21st.
• Allmendinger stayed out during the second stage break and started the final stage in the 20th position. The first caution of stage 3 came on lap 329, and Allmendinger reported that the No. 16 Chevy was better but hard to drive on the exit of the corner. He pitted for four tires, fuel, air pressure, and a left-rear adjustment, before restarting in the 17th position. Allmendinger fell back to 23rd and was lapped by the leader on lap 433. He went on to finish the race in 23rd.

“We struggled a bit overall trying to get the balance right and fought tight and loose back-and-forth throughout the night. We never really hit on it. Unfortunately, our last run was our worst run of the race, which cost us a few spots. I was hoping for a little bit better, but I think we got everything out of it that we could and still had a decent finish.” – AJ Allmendinger  
 
About Kaulig Racing

Kaulig Racing™ is a full-time, multi-car NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) and NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) team, owned by award winning entrepreneur, Matt Kaulig. Established in 2016, Kaulig Racing™ has earned 23 NXS wins, made the NXS Playoffs consecutively each season since the playoff system started, and won two regular-season championships. In 2021, the team competed in select NCS events, before expanding to a two-car, full-time NCS team in 2022 and adding a third, part-time entry during the 2023 season. Since its first NCS start in 2021, the team has earned two wins. Kaulig Racing is currently fielding two full-time entries in the NCS and continues to field three full-time NXS entries, with a part-time fourth entry at select events. To learn more about the team, visit kauligracing.com.