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Featured Other Series

  • Turner Motorsport’s Bill Auberlen And Robby Foley React To Condensed Schedule Format

    Turner Motorsport’s Bill Auberlen And Robby Foley React To Condensed Schedule Format

    IMSA announced the remainder of their 2020 schedule on Thursday afternoon. There were some major shakeups. Most races are now two hours and 40 minutes, aside from the traditional Six Hours of The Glen, 10 Hours of Road Atlanta, and the season finale 12 hours of Sebring in November.

    With IMSA scaling back to a two hour and 40 minute sprint race for seven races, the format creates some challenges to the teams and drivers that could prove difficult. As in most races in the longer events, drivers could take it easy for the first few hours and then push hard as time starts winding down. With the schedule change you will most likely see drivers on their game throughout the entire event. One slip up, could easily cost their chances of winning.

    Robby Foley, a co-driver of the Turner Motorsport BMW, believes there will be a different mentality as they approach the new schedule.

    “Yeah, there’s definitely a different mentality,” Foley said. “For me, you think about time and strategy. There’s been some changes from IMSA that will maybe limit the strategy options we have going forward. If you look at it (racing 2 hours and 40 minutes), we have less time to get it done. If you’re running sixth and want to make it to the podium, you’ve got to move a little bit quicker. There’s less pit stops to contend with to help you out in terms of strategy.”

    “We kind of talked about this a little bit, but Bill (Auberlen, Foley’s teammate) and I are going to maximize points first. And then keep that in the back of ours heads maybe (condensed schedule). Not be less aggressive than we have in the past, but think about the bigger picture from the start of the first session at Daytona. It’s a very condensed schedule. We’re used to long endurance races at the beginning. So, now we’re going to jump into a sprint race, as they are packed together and some endurance races at the end.”

    “For us from a drivers stand point, we’re still going to push for the best result, but truly based on the fact that races are shorter, we’re going to have less time to articulate the race. That’s the main difference for me.”

    Bill Auberlen, shares the same thought as his teammate Robby Foley does.

    “When we’re at the 24 hours of Daytona race, you have it in your mind, you’re going to cruise around for 20 hours and keep it on the lead lap to keep the car in really good piece, and then you have to strategize the last four hours to climb your way to the front,” Auberlen said.

    “When you do two hours and 40 minutes all year long, it’s a totally different mentality. Qualifying is way more important. You have to start toward the front, you have to stay toward the front, and strategies have to be clear, crisp and on target to keep you there. If you’re not there to put yourself there, you have two hours and 40 minutes to do it, and it’s critical. We’ve been doing it all year long and it’s been fairly successful.”

    “We have a guy named Don Salama (Race Strategy for Turner Motorsport), who is one of the best strategizers in the field. We feel comfortable, he’ll make the right move. We’re always in contact with him during the race. I’ve kind of done this long enough to know where the guy ahead of me is, the guy behind me, when they pitted. I make a mental note and maybe undercut them (drivers) on the pit stops. There maybe a lot of stuff going on, but it’s fun. It’s aggressive.”

  • Pipo Derani and Felipe Nasr Predict If Daytona Will Be Wild Or Calm

    Pipo Derani and Felipe Nasr Predict If Daytona Will Be Wild Or Calm

    The restart of the 2020 IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Series season is just a week away. As the drivers start to prepare to get back behind the wheel, many of them are anxious on how the first turn is going to be when the green flag drops.

    In most cases, the first turn will be like riding a bike. Once you get on it for the first time, you get used to it again. While in other cases, there will be some antsy drivers who may loose control of their car and be a lot more cautious about the first turn at Daytona.

    For the Whelen Engineering Racing team, drivers Pipo Derani and Felipe Nasr, think that once the green flag drops at Daytona and laps start ticking away, it’ll be back to normal.

    “I hope they all think it’s a game and went straight into Turn 1, locking breaks and I get the lead or something like that,” Nasr said jokingly about the what the first turn could look like. We drivers, it’s like riding a bicycle. Once you get into that flow, know what you are driving, the procedures, etc (it’ll be fine). Plus, you got to control that aginity, where we’ve been so long away from the racetrack and you want to show something at lap 1. That’s not going to work right? But, I’m hoping for a clean race. It’s great IMSA brought the effort to put the series and calendar together, and get back into race mode. All in all, I’m looking forward to get back to my No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac.”

    Meanwhile, Nasr’s teammate Pipo Derani, believes the first turn is going to be difficult at first then calm.

    “Well, I think the teams are going to be telling the drivers to take it easy at a two hour and 40 minute race,” Derani said. “With that said, we’re drivers, we want to win. It’s not a 24 hour race at Daytona, so you’ve gotta to make the move. But, in the end, I think it’s going to be more difficult for drivers that have not log enough with the team. Those kind of things can make a difference in the end.”

    “For me and Felipe, we have a really nice stable relationship with the team. They trust us a lot, which gives us a more relaxed feeling going in to a race like this. Consistency and the work you do, it’s going to take that anxiety out of the driver. That’s one of the strengths we have as a team, we believe in each other. Whenever Felipe is in the car, I know what exactly what he is doing and have 100 percent trust on him. When we’re working on setup, it’s the same thing the other way around. So knowing what you have in your hands heading into this event, I think that takes a lot of anxiety out of the drivers hand. For sure, there’s going to be a lot of drivers out there going 110 percent into Turn 1, but we have to be smart and we know what we have in our hands.”

  • Ty Gibbs Grabs Dominating ARCA Pocono Win

    Ty Gibbs Grabs Dominating ARCA Pocono Win

    Ty Gibbs took the victory after starting in the second position in dominating fashion at Pocono Raceway on Friday.

    Gibbs took the lead early on lap 13 and held on through both competition cautions at lap 20 and lap 50. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver only lost the lead a couple of times, but was the class of the field in the remaining laps of the Anywhere Is Possible 200. Hoping for no caution, Gibbs fended off Chandler Smith and Sam Mayer for the win.

    “Yeah, I had that happened to me at Phoenix this year,” Gibbs said hoping for no late race yellows. “I was being prepared for it, so I just kept going. I couldn’t quite get away from that 20 (Chandler Smith) because he was a little faster than me. I was really on nerves. I come here to win and I try to have a positive attitude, and that’s how I get through my days.”

    Michael Self started on the pole based on Owner Points. Gibbs was second, while Drew Dollar, Chandler Smith and Bret Holmes rounded out the top five starting positions.

    The first caution of the night flew early on lap 2. Thad Moffitt in the No. 46 DGR-Crosley machine had an engine expire and left him out of the race early. Due to the expiration of his engine, Moffitt was regulated to last place, finishing 20th.

    Another driver had issues as the green flag dropped. In fact, it was Moffitt’s teammate Tanner Gray, who changed lanes before the start/finish line. Gray was penalized, as a driver cannot change their lanes before the green flag drops. By doing so, the DGR-Crosley driver, had to serve the penalty on pit road.

    After the lap 9 restart, Venturini Motorsports driver Chandler Smith, took the lead momentarily. Though, it wasn’t long, until Gibbs had command on lap 13 and held his presence at the top spot through the first competition caution on lap 20. Self, Smith, Holmes, Mayer, Dollar, Griffith, Gray, Deegan, and Sean Corr were the top 10 drivers when the yellow flew.

    The green flag would fly again for a restart at lap 24. Michael Self in the No. 25 Toyota was back in the lead again and looked to settle in as the leader. However, Gibbs car was just too strong for Self to hold off, as he was passed by Gibbs on lap 27.

    Before the next competition caution on lap 50, there were a couple of notable incidents. The first on lap 32, where the No. 82 of Sean Corr was slow on the track. Despite being slow, Corr made it back to pit road without a yellow being flown. The second incident was seen on lap 38, this time an actual yellow was flown for Tanner Gray, who had hit the wall hard on the backstretch. The New Mexico native first Pocono run was cut short, as Gray would be credited with a 15th place finishing position.

    An eight lap dash to the lap 50 comp yellow made the action exciting for a few laps. Gibbs once again led the field to lap 50 with Smith, Self, Mayer, Deegan, Dollar, Holmes, Griffith, Kitzmiller, and Huff the top 10 for the second comp yellow.

    Shortly after the restart with 26 to go, a wreck by Jason Kitzmiller on the frontstretch slowed the pace once more, and brought out another yellow. Kitzmiller was okay from the incident, but placed 14th in the final running order after running in the top 10 for portions of the race.

    From lap 59 to lap 80, there was a 21 lap green flag run to the finish that saw no yellow. Gibbs was out front, but did have a couple of challengers late in the going. Sam Mayer in the GMS entry tried to close the gap with 15 to go, but to no avail. Meanwhile, Mayer got passed by Chandler Smith for second with 13 to go, and set eyes on Gibbs.

    Though, Gibbs proved no match for the field, as Smith ran out of time to catch him and the Joe Gibbs Racing driver went on to take his third career ARCA Menards Series victory.

    There were five cautions for 24 laps and four lead changes among three different leaders.

    Gibbs led twice for 65 laps en route to victory.

    Official Results

    1. Ty Gibbs
    2. Chandler Smith
    3. Sam Mayer
    4. Bret Holmes
    5. Michael Self
    6. Drew Dollar
    7. Hailie Deegan
    8. Derek Griffith
    9. Ryan Huff, 1 lap down
    10. Scott Melton, 1 lap down
    11. Ed Pompa, 3 laps down
    12. Sean Corr, 5 laps down
    13. Brad Smith, 8 laps down
    14. Jason Kitzmiller, OUT
    15. Tanner Gray, OUT
    16. Clay Greenfield, OUT
    17. Russ Lane, OUT
    18. Don Thompson, OUT
    19. Tommy Vigh Jr, OUT
    20. Thad Moffitt, OUT
  • Corvette Racing’s Jordan Taylor and Antonio Garcia Ready To Get Back To Racing

    Corvette Racing’s Jordan Taylor and Antonio Garcia Ready To Get Back To Racing

    January 25-26, the last time IMSA drivers were on the race track competing in the annual 24 hours of Daytona and everything seemed normal at least for the time being.

    Little did everyone know, two months later, a pandemic would bring a halt to almost everything in the world including most if not all Motorsports leagues. Everything was getting canceled left to right and it looked as though, IMSA would not be able to restart their season or even complete the schedule.

    However, there was some light at the end of the tunnel, as the series officials announced they would be racing at Daytona International Speedway for a sprint event of two hours and 40 minutes.

    A long break in racing can be a good thing, while for some it can be bad. The break in the action, can give drivers some time to think about their expectations to either change them or keep them, despite not knowing what the rest of the schedule would be after the Daytona 240.

    For Corvette Racing, drivers Jordan Taylor and Antonio Garcia haven’t seen their expectations changed much, if at all.

    Jordan Taylor, the Orlando, Florida native, believes his current mindset hasn’t changed, but thinks the new type of schedule and the restart will make things more interesting out on the track.

    “I don’t know if it’s altered things, but it’s made everyone a little more excited to get back to the track,” Taylor said. “I think we still have a team, a car and a full package to compete for the championship. For us, maybe the break is a little bit of an advantage for us with a new car. The guys were able to go back and study the car… understand where can make improvements whether it’s pit stops, drivability of the car, engine calibration, all those little things that have been worked on between the engineers and crew. I still have high expectations.”

    Garcia, Jordan’s teammate, says the restart will be difficult for most people involved, and having limited track time will prove challenging as well.

    “It’s going to be a challenge for everyone,” Garcia said. “Not being able to test your development on track is a new thing to do. Everyone is working at home so it’s not easy. You go by how the race went at Daytona, and we hope we are fixing the items we identified but we couldn’t test them on track. That’s the only downside to that and having just two hours practice. It will be a challenge, but Corvette Racing is the best team out there. If anyone can do this, it’s this team.”

  • ARCA Menards Series Preview – Pocono I

    ARCA Menards Series Preview – Pocono I

    The ARCA Menards Series returned to the track at Talladega Superspeedway last weekend and continues their schedule this weekend by going north to Pocono Raceway.

    The Anywhere Is Possible 200 presented by General Tire will mark the fourth race on the 2020 schedule and features 21 cars on the entry list.

    On the entry list, there will be some new faces as that is normally the case for the ARCA Menards Series. Of the 21 cars, Russ Lane, Clay Greenfield, Derek Griffith, Ryan Huff, Sam Mayer, Tanner Gray, Hailie Deegan, Drew Dollar and Ty Gibbs will all make their Pocono debut this Friday afternoon.

    However, despite those drivers who have not competed at Pocono before, one team has plenty of experience and that’s Venturini Motorsports.

    Venturini Motorsports will have drivers Deegan, Drew Dollar, Chandler Smith, and Michael Self in the field.

    Self has the most starts out of the stable with three and has a best finish third twice (2017 and 2019). Even though, the Utah native was able to gain a top five finish last year, Self notes that Pocono has been tricky for him but does have enough confidence to perform well.

    “Pocono Raceway has been a little bit tough for me to really grasp in the past. I really like the track, but its definitely difficult. Last year we were able to snag a third-place finish, but I left feeling like I just wasn’t where I wanted to be with my level of comfort there. I’ve spent a lot of time watching video and asking questions to people that have had success there and I have a few things in mind that I’m anxious to try this weekend. It’ll be interesting with such a limited practice session, but I’ve got confidence that the No. 25 Sinclair Oil Toyota Camry team are bringing a solid car as always and I can just go in and work on the things I want.” 

    For Drew Dollar, Pocono couldn’t have come at a better timing. The Venturini driver is coming off a win at Talladega last weekend and has momentum heading into his Pocono start Friday. Dollar is ready to get back in the No. 15 and have an exceptional outing.

    “I’m looking forward to carrying the momentum we have from winning at Talladega Superspeedway into Pocono Raceway this weekend. We’ll have limited practice and I’ve never been to Pocono before, but I’m confident that I will be able to quickly get up to speed. I know my Venturini Motorsports Toyota Camry is going to be really good and I can’t wait to get back to the track.” 

    Back in the field this weekend and making his second ARCA start this year is Chandler Smith. Notably, the Georgia native recorded one start, which came last year where Smith placed eighth after starting third.

    “I’m looking forward to getting back in my No. 20 JBL Toyota Camry with Venturini Motorsports. It’s been a long downtime and I am excited at being able to be back at a racetrack.”

    As for DGR-Crosley they will have Hailie Deegan, Thad Moffitt, and Tanner Gray once again.

    Moffitt has three starts at Pocono with a best finish of 11th, which came in 2019. The DGR-Crosley crew will have a brand new Ford body to the No. 46 machine.

    “Pocono is very unique and challenging. I’ve kind of struggled there in the past, but I think I have a better shot this year. I’m in better equipment and I’ve got a better starting spot already based on 2020 points, so I’m pretty confident going into this. DGR-Crosley is bringing fast cars to the track right now and all of our Fusions have been fast so far this year. I think we’ll just keep it up going into Pocono and I believe that we have a good shot at running top three and possibly winning the race this weekend.”

    Tanner Gray is back in the No. 17 Ford Performance entry. Gray makes his Pocono debut this weekend and will be a busy driver as he is scheduled to pull double duty by competing in the Truck race as well. The New Mexico native hopes this weekend his luck will start turning around.

    “I don’t know what I need to do to turn my luck around on both the ARCA and Truck Series sides. I might need to start looking for four-leaf clovers, or put a lucky horseshoe in my hauler, or something. I’m looking forward to racing twice at Pocono this weekend. This will be my first time there, so getting the extra seat time in the ARCA car will help me on Saturday since I’ll already be familiar with the track. Thad (Moffitt) has raced there twice before, so I’ll probably lean on him for some advice, as well as David (Gilliland, team co-owner) since he’s got a lot of experience there.”

    Even though Talladega was a new experience to Hailie Deegan last weekend, Pocono will somewhat not be new to the California native as she recorded one start that came last year. Deegan started fourth and placed seventh, two laps down in the running order. She notes that she enjoys the challenges Pocono bring and has been using the simulator to get extra track time in.

    “Pocono is a fun track. It’s really hard to get your car set up and good for every single corner. I think going there with DGR-Crosley, with all the guys working hard here, that I’m going to come with a good set-up. I’ve been on the simulator a lot and getting a lot of practice. I’ve been trying a lot of different stuff seeing what I’m comfortable with and seeing what we want to baseline with since we’re not getting much time on the track. It’s going to be fun.”

    Jason Kitzmiller is back in the No. 97 Codie Rohrbaugh entry and is set for his Pocono debut. The West Virgina native is coming his off his career best finish last weekend at Talladega, finishing eighth. With all that aside, Kitzmiller now turns his attention to Pocono and hopes to carry some of that Talladega momentum for Friday afternoon.

    “I’ve been preparing as best as I can for Pocono,” added Kitzmiller. “Of course, I’m been talking to Codie a lot about it – but the only thing that is really going to help me is track time. I wish we were still having the test, but I know circumstances prevented that and we’ll have to work around that. Thankfully, we’ll have some practice before we jump in the race and I’ll use that as my saving grace to try and get comfortable and use the race to keep making adjustments to our car and put us in position to perhaps back up what we did last weekend at Talladega.”

    Like Kitzmiller, Derek Griffith makes his first Pocono start as well. However the Chad Bryant Racing team has had some previous success at the 2.5 mile speedway. The No. 22 team won with Ty Majeski two years ago in 2018 after starting fifth and leading 12 laps. Griffith is excited to get to the track and see how the 22 team performs.

    “I’m excited to get to Pocono on Friday,” said Griffith. “It’s going to be a big challenge as it will be the largest track that I’ve ever competed on, but I feel like I’m heading there with one of the best teams in the garage. It’s going to take a few laps to get comfortable, but I think with some confidence in myself and the leadership of the Chad (Bryant) and Paul (Andrews, crew chief) we can turn some heads.”

    Joining the likes of Kitzmiller and Griffith will be the Fast Track Racing and Andy Hillenburg entry of Ryan Huff. Huff placed 12th last week at Talladega and heads to Pocono for the first time in his career. However, the team is optimistic as they were able to purchase some equipment from Travis Braden who previously owned RFMS Racing. This leaves Huff and the No. 10 team optimistic for Friday.

    “We were fortunate to get our hands on some pretty good equipment,” sounded Huff. “Working with Fast Track Racing and Andy Hillenburg has been great for these last couple of races but we had the chance to bring some additional resources to the table and I’m hopeful we can capitalize on it.”

    Of the other drivers slated for their first Pocono start include Ty Gibbs, Russ Lane, Sam Mayer, and Clay Greenfield.

    Friday’s event will be a one-day show that includes only one practice session. The session takes place from 3:30-4:30 p.m./ET with no TV coverage. There will also be no qualifying and starting lineup will be based on 2019 owner points.

    The green flag and 80 lap race is set for 6:05 p.m./ET live on Fox Sports 1.

  • IMSA Releases Rest of 2020 Schedule

    IMSA Releases Rest of 2020 Schedule

    IMSA announced on Thursday afternoon a wide variety of schedule changes for the rest of the 2020 racing season.

    As one date is already set for July 4, which will be a return to racing for the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Series at Daytona International Speedway, the following number of races for the series has been scheduled.

    For majority of the schedule, Daytona on July 4, Sebring on July 18, Road America on August 2, VIRginia International Raceway, Lime Rock Park on Sept 12, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Sept 27, and WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca will see a two hour and 40 minute sprint race.

    Keeping the traditional time of the races are Watkins Glen, which will still see six hours, Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta 10 hours, and Sebring International Raceway 12 hours.

    With that in mind, the Six Hours of The Glen will now be held on Labor Day weekend, which will see all four classes in session. Those classes include a four hour Michelin Pilot Challenge event, two double headers for the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge and the Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America Series.

    For the GT Le Mans and GT Daytona Series, those classes will be kept in the Northeast following that weekend, as they head to Lime Rock Park in Connecticut, which sees a timed event of two hours and 40 minutes. The Michelin Pilot Challenge Series will also compete that same weekend with just a two hour race, with the GT3 Cup Challenge USA class scheduled for a 45 minute race.

    As the schedule rolls on through 2020, WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca will be the host of the penultimate round in the series championship from Oct 30 through Nov 1. On that weekend, the Hyundai Monterey Sports Cars will have their championship held. Other classes scheduled to compete are Michelin Pilot Challenge and the Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America Series.

    IMSA President, John Doonan, says these scenarios are what they had hoped for within the organization to complete the 2020 season.

    “These revisions to our 2020 schedules put all of IMSA’s stakeholders in the best possible position for success,” said IMSA President John Doonan. “They are also the result of the ongoing spirit of collaboration with our promoter partners. Moving our Northeastern events into September should pay dividends from the standpoint of weather. WeatherTech Raceway on Halloween weekend also has the potential to be spectacular and will set the stage for a thrilling conclusion at Sebring.”

    In addition, the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Series returns to VIRingia National Raceway for the weekend of Aug 21-Aug 23. VIR takes the place of the originally planned event at St. Petersburg.

    As for the IMSA Prototype Challenge class, their six race schedule will not see any revisions and are intended to remain the same. Despite that announcement, Road Atlanta the season finale, is now a three-hour event. The other events are scheduled to be one hour and 45 minutes.

  • NHRA’s Northwest Nationals Canceled Due To COVID-19

    NHRA’s Northwest Nationals Canceled Due To COVID-19

    With restrictions in the northwest part of the United States, NHRA (National Hot Rod Association) has canceled the Northwest Nationals, which was supposed to be held at Pacific Raceway (outside the city of Seattle).

    Seattle has been a hot spot for COVID-19 cases this year, ever since the pandemic started in March. Unfortunately, the cases have not dropped down enough, to allow Pacific Raceways to host a NHRA event. King County had hopes of moving into their next phase of lowering restrictions for the county, but it was not enough, as the county is still in Phase 2. In order for the county to host a sporting event like the NHRA, they would have had to been in Phase 4.

    It’s the first time in event history, Pacific Raceways had to cancel the Northwest Nationals. The racetrack itself has seen a total of 38 races and, a total of 32 consecutive races.

    “NHRA has hosted national events at Pacific Raceways for 38 years, including the last 32 straight,” said John Ramsey, Pacific Raceways General Manager. “As hard as it is to cancel the race, the health and safety of our fans, competitors and staff of is the utmost importance to us. The bright side is we now turn our focus to next year and look forward to seeing the fans back as we celebrate the 33rd Annual Flav-R-Pac NHRA Northwest Nationals in 2021.”

    Fans who had tickets for this event will be receiving email from the track about their future ticket options.

    NHRA will kick off their 2020 racing season with two double headers at Lucas Oil Raceway July 11 and July 18.

  • Mahindra Racing Welcomes Alex Lynn

    Mahindra Racing Welcomes Alex Lynn

    Mahindra Racing announced today, Great Denmore, England native, Alex Lynn will compete for Mahindra Racing for the rest of the 2019/20 season.

    When Lynn returns to the track in Berlin in August, it’ll be the first time in two years he will drive in a Formula E car. The last time the British driver entered in one was, 2018 at the season finale in Brooklyn, New York.

    “I am really excited to be able to represent Mahindra Racing in Berlin,” Lynn said. “I have high ambitions in this championship that match what Mahindra Racing wants to achieve. I just can’t wait to get started. I’ve raced twice in Berlin before and always felt that I went well there, including appearing in Super Pole last season. The format of Berlin is going to be exciting and challenging at the same time and I’m looking forward to hitting the ground.”

    This announcement comes from earlier in the month, when team driver, Pascal Wehrlein mutually agreed to part ways, leaving the team without a driver to take his place until now.

    “We’re delighted to welcome Alex to the Mahindra Racing family,” Dilbagh Gill, CEO & Team Principle of Mahindra Racing said. “He has achieved some fantastic highlights in his career already and we’re confident that together we can get results in the remainder of Season 6. It’s not easy to jump in mid-season, especially with the unique way we will be running the races in Berlin, but Alex has a hunger, talent and experience that we are sure will pay dividends fast. We would like to thank Pascal (Wehrlein) for his contribution and wish him all the best in his future endeavors.”

    Despite Lynn being new to Mahindra Racing, he will have teammate, Jerome D’ Ambrosio to lean on for any advice he shall seek.

    The FIA ABB Formula E Series is set to resume its season August 5 at Berlin.

  • Tony Schumacher Announces NHRA Return

    Tony Schumacher Announces NHRA Return

    As the NHRA (National Hot Rod Association) continues to their countdown return to racing, Don Schumacher Racing announces a old return from the past.

    84-time NHRA winner Tony Schumacher will return to the team to compete at two consecutive events set for Lucas Oil Raceway located in Brownsburg, Indiana.

    Race fans have always known Schumacher as the driver behind the US Army car. However, when Schumacher better known as “The Sarge” returns to racing, he will be sporting new colors. It was announced that Global Electronic Technology would sponsor the DSR entry for the two races.

    “I’ve always been the ‘Army guy,’” said Schumacher, referring to his impressive run of nearly two decades representing the U.S. Army, which spanned from 2000 to 2018 and remains one of the longest-running partnerships in motorsports history. “It was an absolute privilege to represent them for so many years, but I’m not that guy anymore, and it’ll be exciting to be the face of a different brand, Global Electronic Technology, when I return to Indy next month. A huge thank you goes out to Steve and Samantha Bryson for allowing me this incredible opportunity to get back out there.”

    It has been noted while Schumacher is passionate about the NHRA, but he’s not normally a fan of doing a part-time effort, rather he’s like to compete full-time. Whether or not this effort will spark any interest for the Texas native is yet to be seen, but does give some idea where he is standing.

    “I also would never want to hire people only to release them in two weeks. We have so many extremely talented people at DSR, several of whom have gone on to create careers for themselves in our machine and fab shops, and at Don Schumacher Motorsports. Those are the guys that will be working on my car these two weeks. They know how to be safe, and they know how to win, and then you have Brian Corradi who has won championship after championship. That’s how I know that even though this is just two races, we will still be competitive, and we will do it right.
     
    “You also can’t discount the fact that these races will air on network FOX; that’s huge and I’m thrilled to be able to promote Global on such a large stage. And, the fact that it’s at Indy, which is where I’ve had the most success,” he added of his unprecedented 10 NHRA U.S. Nationals titles, which makes him the most successful NHRA driver in Indianapolis history. “As I said, it just all made sense. I’ve driven thousands of laps, I love racing, and I love doing it for the right reasons. We’ve got a gift here and we’re really looking to make the most of it.”

    Steve Bryson, CEO of Global Electronic Technology, they are pleased to have another winning force in their stable.

    “Global Electronic Technology is synonymous with a winning culture,” said founder and CEO Steve Bryson. “Every day we help our customers win in business, so who better to partner with than the driver who has won more Top Fuel races and championships than anyone? Tony Schumacher is one of the best ever, and to pair him with another all-time great in Antron Brown and DSR is a dream relationship for Team Global.”

    With NHRA set to return on July 11-12, Schumacher and the DSR team will have a test and tune day on Friday July 10 to get comfortable with the Global Electronic Technology machine.

    Qualifying can be seen on Saturday July 11 and are slated for 12:30 p.m. and 4:00 p.m./ET live on FOX.

    Final round eliminations are set for Sunday July 12, which will began at 9:00 a.m./ET.

  • Drew Dollar Takes Emotional Talladega Victory

    Drew Dollar Takes Emotional Talladega Victory

    The ARCA Menards Series returned to Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday afternoon for the General Tire 200 after 3 months away from the track. 

    With COVID-19 still a major factor across the nation, series officials limited exposure across the garage area, therefore no qualifying was held for the event. Meaning, a random draw took place, which saw Venturini Motorsports driver, Ryan Repko take the pole position and Drew Dollar in the No. 15 start outside pole in second. 

    And with no qualifying in place, limited crew members at track, there was a halfway break (lap 39) that allowed teams to work on their cars and make the adjustments necessary to their liking, but no positions can be gained. 

    Dollar got the lead instantly from the get-go and had led every lap until that point. There were challenges from Riley Herbst, who tried to make a move to take the lead, but Dollar held the position not allowing Herbst to make the pass. 

    After the halfway break, Herbst was finally able to get the top spot from Dollar. As the laps winded down, all three Venturini cars (Michael Self and Ryan Repko) were in a small pack of five cars. Minding their time, the three drivers hoped to get that run on Herbst, and tried for a top three sweep. However, the teammates had trouble doing so. Dollar went to make a move on Herbst, but both made contact for the lead. The contact saw Dollar drop back to fifth in the running order and had to rethink his plan of attack. 

    As Dollar and the Venturini cars regrouped themselves, most of them got momentum back on their side and made another run at Herbst. Repko pushed Dollar to the lead, but Michael Self had trouble, when he made contact with Herbst in Turns 3 and 4 coming to the final lap. Self, did a 360 spin, but somehow avoided further contact and damage. 

    No yellow was thrown and Dollar pulled away from the field to score an emotional victory at Talladega, his first career win in ARCA.

    “I definitely needed this one. I’m definitely out of breath right now,” Dollar said. “Venturini guys gave me the car out here today. Had the best team, had the best spotter in the stand in Joe White. He guided me through it. I lost a family member over the break so this is definitely emotional. This one’s for him. I know he’s watching from up above.”

    Indeed it was an emotional win for Dollar and the No. 15 Venturini Motorsports crew. 

    As Dollar picked up the victory for the first time in his career, he doesn’t really know when the victory will set in for him. 

    “I don’t know, maybe on the way home,”Dollar said excitingly. “I’m going to have a lot of notifications on my phone when I get back to the hauler. Maybe, once I get through all those, it will (the win) will sink in.” 

    Official Results 

    1. Drew Dollar 
    2. Ryan Repko 
    3. Bret Holmes
    4. Riley Herbst
    5. Michael Self 
    6. Thad Moffitt
    7. Hailie Deegan
    8. Jason Kitzmiller, 1 lap down
    9. Sean Corr, 2 laps down
    10. Ed Pompa, 2 laps down
    11. Scott Melton, 2 laps down
    12. Ryan Huff, 2 laps down 
    13. Tanner Gray, 2 laps down
    14. Eric Caudell, 3 laps down
    15. Brandon Lynn, 7 laps down
    16. Gus Dean, OUT, Engine
    17. Tim Richmond, OUT, Engine
    18. Willie Mullins, OUT, Electrical
    19. Tommy Vigh JR, OUT, Vibration
    20. Brad Smith, OUT, Carburetor
    21. Con Nicolopoulous, OUT, Did Not Start, Engine 

    As for points standings, Michael Self leads Hailie Deegan by 12 points. 

    Up Next: The ARCA Menards Series will head northeast Friday June 26 for Round No. 4 at Pocono Raceway.