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  • Stewart Snares Second Straight SRX Win

    Stewart Snares Second Straight SRX Win

    NASCAR Hall of Famer Drives From Last to First in Camping World SRX Series Race at Eldora

    ROSSBURG, Ohio (June 26, 2021) – Tony Stewart made it back-to-back victories in the Camping World SRX Series by winning the third race of the six-race short-track series Saturday night at Eldora Speedway.

    Stewart put on a show at the track that he owns, starting from last in the 12-driver field to lead twice for six laps – all in the last seven laps of the 50-lap feature race at the half-mile, high-banked clay oval.

    “Jack Hewitt was probably the best I’ve ever seen here at Eldora and I learned a couple of things watching him win the 4-Crown one year where he won all four divisions, and I used that line a lot early in the race here today and it helped out a lot,” said Stewart, referring to sprint car and midget racer Hewitt’s sweep of the 1998 4-Crown Nationals at Eldora.

    Stewart won the previous Camping World SRX Series event at Knoxville (Iowa) Raceway on June 19, taking his first SRX win and the series’ first on a dirt track. Eldora marked the second and final dirt track race on the SRX schedule and Stewart showcased his versatility by holding off local all-star Kody Swanson by .481 of a second.

    “Kody found the bottom. I couldn’t roll the bottom as good as he could. I was real dependent on being up on the top. I just think that’s what Eldora does – the complexion of the track changes during the race,” Stewart said.

    “I thought the top was good in the beginning in the main and then Kody got just crushing everybody on the bottom and got rolling through there. But the good thing was when he went by, everybody else followed him down there like they were in a parade and left the top open. And the longer we went, I finally got the momentum going on the top to get back by him.”

    Swanson, the five-time USAC Silver Crown champion who leads the division in wins (30) and poles (31), nearly pulled off another victory for the local all-stars, emulating Doug Coby’s win in the Camping World SRX Series season opener on June 12 at Stafford (Conn.) Motor Speedway.

    “I felt like we had a really strong car through the middle of the race,” said Swanson, who was forced into a backup car for the feature race after sustaining damage to his primary car in the second heat race. “I really appreciate everybody with SRX and the guys on the crews. They built 16 cars to come out and put this on in a short amount of time and I appreciate them letting me have a chance in a backup car. I hate to tear up their equipment and I hate to lose.

    “I felt like we were really good in the middle of the race and the bottom just kind of gave up a little bit and I got the top of (turns) one and two working. But once Tony had track position, it was hard to get back by him. I felt like I had a chance there but I just didn’t hit the bottom perfect and he got back around. It’s awful hard to beat him here at Eldora.”

    Four-time and reigning Indianapolis 500 champion Helio Castroneves acquitted himself well at Eldora, finishing a stout third and rising to second in the Camping World SRX Series championship standings, 33 points behind Stewart.

    “It was crazy, especially on the restarts with PT. My goodness, I didn’t have anywhere to go except the wall and I kept hitting the wall,” said Castroneves, with his reference to P.T. being fellow driver Paul Tracy. “After that, something happened. It was really difficult – my car was really loose. So in the end, I said I’ve got to go to the bottom because I saw some of the guys go to the bottom – that’s the only way for my car to have a shot. The long runs were terrible for me. Restarts were the best. So, I kept it relatively clean, but man, I can’t believe it’s my first podium on the dirt. That is awesome.”

    The most talked-about driver was Tracy. The 2003 NTT INDYCAR Series champion led the first 25 laps of the 50-lap feature and used the bumper and fenders of his purpose-built SRX racecar prodigiously to protect that lead and then defend his position as Swanson, Castroneves, Marco Andretti and Bobby Labonte surged toward the front.

    “I know I’m going to have some Bobby Labonte fans after me because he’s super pissed at me, and rightly so,” Tracy said. “He got by me on the restart. I was running on top and I decided I was going to cut to the bottom like Tony did and I just got it all wrong. He turned in a little earlier than I thought he would and I tagged him and that was it. So that was my bad and I went over to apologize to him he was having none of it.

    “The SRX cars put on a great show. I felt really good on this track. This is a wonderful track that Tony has and I couldn’t be happier with how we ran overall tonight. We picked up a lot of points and hopefully made some new fans. I’m sure we made some enemies because those Bobby Labonte fans probably hate me.”

    The fender-banging and door-slamming proved entertaining and crowd-pleasing, but the repercussions left a lot of work for Camping World SRX Series co-founder Ray Evernham and his team of mechanics.

    “I think we had another good show tonight but, as race director, I’ve got a couple of phone calls to make to some people this week where I’ll have to say, ‘Look, this is for fun.’ We’ve got a lot of torn-up cars, but it sounds like the fans like it,” Evernham said.

    “We should’ve put Kody in that practice car to begin with. It looked like he liked it better than his original car. I knew when both of them got to the front, when Kody was on the bottom and Tony was on the top, I knew it was going to be pretty exciting. I thought Kody had it won on the last lap because I thought he was rolling the bottom good enough to slide up in front of Tony.

    “I thought it was great, but I’ve got to wait what and see the fans think.”

    After two straight dirt-track races at Knoxville (Iowa) Raceway and Eldora, the Camping World SRX Series returns to pavement for its fourth race July 3 at Lucas Oil Raceway in Brownsburg, Indiana. Bobby Santos III is the local all-star who will join the Camping World SRX Series regulars at the .686-mile asphalt oval near Indianapolis.

    Santos is from Franklin, Massachusetts, and is best known for his success on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. Nicknamed “Bobby New England,” Santos has 149 career Modified Tour starts with 19 victories, 54 top-five finishes and 18 pole positions to go along with his 2010 series championship. Additionally, Santos has excelled in USAC, scoring 10 career Silver Crown wins, including four at Lucas Oil Raceway. Two of his seven career National Sprint Car victories have come at Lucas Oil Raceway, as well as one of his 11 career victories in the Champion Midget category. The versatile Santos is a four-time winner of the A.J. Foyt Championship (2006, 2011, 2017 and 2020), which is awarded to the driver with the season-best points tally at Lucas Oil Raceway in USAC’s top-three series – Silver Crown, Sprint Car and Midget.

    Returning to the Camping World SRX Series for a second straight week is Scott Speed. The Manteca, California-native finished sixth on the dirt at Eldora and now he will test his mettle on asphalt.

    Speed is one of the most versatile drivers in motorsports. His career began with his climb up the American open-wheel ladder and it took him all the way to Formula One in 2006 and 2007, after which he turned his attention to American stock car racing, where Speed rose to the elite NASCAR Cup Series as a driver for Team Red Bull. Over the last decade, Speed has made his mark on the worldwide Rallycross stage, winning three Summer X Games gold medals from 2013 through 2015 for Team USA and five consecutive Rallycross championships from 2013 through 2017 for Andretti Autosport.

    After Lucas Oil Raceway, the Camping World SRX Series ventures north to Slinger (Wis.) Speedway on July 10 before its season finale July 17 at the Nashville (Tenn.) Fairgrounds Speedway.

    Every Camping World SRX Series race is broadcast live at 8 p.m. ET on the CBS Television Network with streaming on Paramount+ Premium.

    Heat Race No. 1 (12 minutes, 24 laps):
    Note: Starting lineup determined by random draw.

    1. Tony Stewart (Started 4th; led laps 13-17, 19-21, 23-24)
    2. Helio Castroneves (Started 3rd; led laps 18, 22; completed 24/24 laps)
    3. Paul Tracy (Started 9th; completed 24/24 laps)
    4. Marco Andretti (Started 8th; completed 24/24 laps)
    5. Bobby Labonte (Started 7th; completed 24/24 laps)
    6. Kody Swanson (Started 2nd; completed 24/24 laps)
    7. Ernie Francis Jr. (Started 10th; completed 24/24 laps)
    8. Bill Elliott (Started 6th; led laps completed 24/24laps)
    9. Michael Waltrip (Started 11th; led laps completed 24/24 laps)
    10. Scott Speed (Started 12th; led laps completed 24/24 laps)
    11. Tony Kanaan (Started 1st; led laps 1-12; completed 24/24 laps)
    12. Willy T. Ribbs (Started 5th; led laps completed 24/24 laps)

    Heat Race No. 2 (12 minutes, 11 laps):
    Note: Drivers’ finishing positions in Heat Race No. 1 were inverted for start of Heat Race No. 2.

    1. Marco Andretti (Started 9th; led laps 4-11)
    2. Paul Tracy (Started 10th; completed 11/11 laps)
    3. Tony Stewart (Started 12th; completed 11/11 laps)
    4. Scott Speed (Started 3rd; completed 11/11 laps)
    5. Bobby Labonte (Started 8th; completed 11/11 laps)
    6. Helio Castroneves (Started 11th; completed 11/11 laps)
    7. Bill Elliott (Started 5th; led laps completed 11/11 laps)
    8. Tony Kanaan (Started 2nd; led laps completed 11/11 laps)
    9. Willy T. Ribbs (Started 1st; led laps 1-3; completed 11/11 laps)
    10. Ernie Francis Jr. (Started 6th; completed 3/11 laps)
    11. Michael Waltrip (Started 4th; completed 3/11 laps)
    12. Kody Swanson (Started 7th; completed 3/11 laps)

    Feature Results (50 laps):
    Note: Starting lineup was based on average finishing positions in Heat Race Nos. 1-2.

    1. Tony Stewart (Started 1st, but went to back after pace laps; led laps 44-45, 47-50)
    2. Kody Swanson (Started 9th; led laps 26-33, 34-35, 46; completed 50/50 laps)
    3. Helio Castroneves (Started 4th; completed 50/50 laps)
    4. Marco Andretti (Started 3rd; completed 50/50 laps)
    5. Paul Tracy (Started 2nd; led laps 1-25, 34-35; completed 50/50 laps)
    6. Scott Speed (Started 6th; completed 50/50 laps)
    7. Tony Kanaan (Started 10th; completed 50/50 laps)
    8. Ernie Francis Jr. (Started 8th; completed 50/50 laps)
    9. Willy T. Ribbs (Started 12th; completed 50/50 laps)
    10. Michael Waltrip (Started 11th; completed 50/50 laps)
    11. Bobby Labonte (Started 5th; completed 45/50 laps)
    12. Bill Elliott (Started 7th; completed 45/50 laps)

    Camping World SRX Series Championship Standings (after Round 3 of 6):
    1.    Tony Stewart (129 points)
    2.    Helio Castroneves (96 points, -33)
    3.    Ernie Francis Jr. (90 points, -39)
    4.    Marco Andretti (80 points, -49)
    5.    Bobby Labonte (75 points, -54)
    6.    Paul Tracy (64 points, -65)
    7.    Michael Waltrip (57 points, -72)
    8.    Bill Elliott (46 points, -83)
    9.    Tony Kanaan (45 points, -84)
    10.  Willy T. Ribbs (38 points, -91)

    Note: Points are awarded in both heats and the feature. In each heat, the winner receives a maximum of 12 points. Second place earns 11 points with every position in descending order receiving one fewer point, with the 12th-place finisher earning one point. Points increase in the feature, with the winner receiving 25 points, second place 22 points, third place 20 points, fourth place 18 points, fifth place 16 points, sixth place 14 points, seventh place 12 points, eighth place 10 points, ninth place eight points, 10th place six points, 11th place four points and 12th place two points.

    About Camping World SRX Series:

    The Camping World SRX Series was created by a team consisting of Sandy Montag and The Montag Group, George Pyne, NASCAR Hall of Fame crew chief and team owner Ray Evernham, and legendary driver Tony Stewart. The Montag Group leads business operations and Evernham oversees all racing operations. Pyne is a member of the Board and serves as an advisor. For more information, please visit us online at www.SRXracing.com, on Facebook, on Twitter and on Instagram.

  • Tony Stewart claims first-ever SRX win at Knoxville

    Tony Stewart claims first-ever SRX win at Knoxville

    For the first time in his driving career, Tony Stewart brought home the checkered flag Saturday night at Knoxville Speedway after drawing pole position. The Indiana native had to fend off battles from Hailie Deegan, Michael Waltrip, and Ernie Francis Jr. to earn his first win at Knoxville.

    “It’s the first time I’ve ever been in victory lane at Knoxville as a driver, are you kidding me?” Stewart said to CBS Sports. “This is where I watched Donny Schatz and Steve Kinser, the greatest of the greats in Sprint Car racing. I’ve never seen one coming backwards like this, but this is a place I always wanted to be for sure. So this is pretty cool.”

    After making some rule changes earlier in the week, SRX Racing Series officials reduced the main feature from 75 laps to 50 laps and cut the heat races from 15 minutes to 12 minutes.

    Stewart grabbed the checkers early on winning the first heat race but the field was inverted for the second heat race. In the second heat race, dirt late model racer stand out, Scott Bloomquist, scored the victory with Eddie Francis Jr., Michael Waltrip, Tony Stewart and Hailie Deegan rounding out the top five.

    After the two heat races were completed, next up was the 50-lap main feature. Stewart was on the pole based on a random draw.

    Four cautions occurred early in the main event due to multiple incidents. The first yellow was for debris with 46 to go and then the next two yellows were brought out by the “Local All-Star” Brian Brown. Brown caused two yellows as his machine spun around twice. During the first incident, he spun by himself while the second spin was caused by contact with Willy T. Ribbs.

    The final yellow of the night flew with Ribbs spinning on the backstretch and bouncing off of Helio Castroneves.

    Following the yellow, Scott Bloomquist was poised to pull away from the field with his dirt experience. Unfortunately, he slid up the track and lost several positions, ultimately falling back to eighth. It was during that moment that Stewart took the lead.

    Shortly thereafter, Waltrip led with 39 laps to go and held on to the lead for 10 laps before Stewart resumed the top position with 29 to go. As Stewart was setting the pace, the field was slowed once again for a caution with 18 to go as Bloomquist was spun in Turn 4 by Castroneves.

    Despite the late-race yellow and multiple challenges from Waltrip and Deegan, Stewart held on to win his first-ever Knoxville dirt race and his first SRX victory. Hailie Deegan, Ernie Francis Jr., Helio Castroneves and Michael Waltrip rounded out the top five.

    Deegan, who competed in her first SRX race, came home second to Stewart as she replaced Tony Kanaan in what was called “The Replacement” car.

    “My goal coming into this race was to prove to everyone that I deserved to be here. I feel like we did that tonight, running second to Tony Stewart, that’s a huge accomplishment for me,” said Deegan, a three-time winner in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West – one of which came on dirt Feb. 28, 2019 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway Dirt Track. “I feel like we just ran a clean race, we just wrapped the bottom, stayed consistent, ran my line and finished second.”

    Meanwhile, Ernie Francis Jr, a winner in the Trans-Am Series rounded out the podium finish with a third.

    “Not too bad for my second-ever dirt race,” Francis said. “We were just kind of riding around there trying to save the tires as much as I could. The car wasn’t as good in the feature as it was in the heat races, so I was just trying to keep the back end underneath me and just try to save it as much as I could, try to keep my position and I really had an awesome battle with Hailie out there. I was trying to get to the back of Tony’s bumper to try and get by him, but you can’t be happier than this. It was an awesome race. The car’s a little beat up, but I can’t wait to get to the next one.”

    Next week, five-time USAC Silver Crown Series Champion Kody Swanson and former NASCAR driver Scott Speed will join the field.

    Official Results following the Camping World SRX Series at Knoxville Raceway.

    1. Tony Stewart
    2. Hailie Deegan
    3. Ernie Francis Jr
    4. Helio Castroneves
    5. Michael Waltrip
    6. Bobby Labonte
    7. Marco Andretti
    8. Brian Brown
    9. Scott Bloomquist
    10. Willy T. Ribbs
    11. Bill Elliott, 11 laps down
    12. Paul Tracy, OUT, Crash

    Up Next: The Camping World SRX Racing Series continues its summer stretch by heading to Eldora Speedway next Saturday night. It will be broadcast live on CBS.

  • NHRA Power Rankings New Hampshire Nationals – Funny Car

    NHRA Power Rankings New Hampshire Nationals – Funny Car

    The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) got back on track last weekend for the annual New Hampshire Nationals at the New England Dragway after a three-week hiatus from the rained out Houston Raceway Park on May 23.

    It also marked the New Hampshire Nationals’ two-year return after missing last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Don Schumacher Racing driver and 2020 Funny Car champion Matt Hagan was looking to continue his New England hot streak after three consecutive victories heading into the 2021 event. He seemed unstoppable, however, at some point in racing, all streaks come to an end. Hagan’s winning streak came to a halt after a second-round elimination by Tim Wilkerson’s team.

    While Hagan hopes for better days ahead, a few other drivers enjoyed success this weekend in the Funny Car class. We’ll take a look at them in this week’s power rankings.

    1. Robert Hight – Hight qualified ninth after three rounds of qualifying and had a first round matchup with Alexis DeJoria. Heading into their round, DeJoria had seven wins and six losses to Hight. However, the first round matchup would be their elusive first round meet. Hight advanced over DeJoria with a 4.336 seconds and 287.78 mph round to move into the second round. In the quarterfinal, he met New England’s favorite Bob Tasca III. Hight was once again successful with a 3.972 ET and 324.36 mph run to set up a matchup in the semis with veteran Tim Wilkerson. Hight eliminated Wilkerson with a run of 4.022 seconds and 322.77 mph to face his competitor and Team Owner John Force in the final round. It was the seventh race in the finals where Hight and Force met once more. The drag race was close and one of the best races of the year but Hight had to settle for the 31st runner-up finish of his career.

      “Really wanted this one for AAA New England,” Hight said. We all really wanted it. This crew, Jimmy Prock and Chris Cunningham, they worked hard. We went some rounds and got better but not the result we wanted. You always want to be the ones winning but I’m glad it stayed in the John Force Racing family. John’s been working hard too; all of our teams have been and we’re dominating and that’s ultimately what you want. Next weekend in Norwalk, it’ll be us.”
    2. John Force – Force seems to have gained momentum and it couldn’t come at a better time heading into the summer stretch and eventually the Countdown to the Championship. In the last three races, Force has two wins (New Hampshire Nationals, Four-Wide Nationals at Charlotte) and a ninth-place finish at Houston. Force qualified third, which set up a first round event with Cory Lee. Force was victorious setting a pace of 4.279 seconds and 211.03 mph after Lee lost traction. In the second round, he faced Kalitta Motorsports entry, J.R. Todd, in what was also another close drag race. This time, however, Force nearly sealed the deal and won by 15 feet over Todd setting up a semi-final appearance with Terry Haddock. Force has lost against Haddock just once but on Sunday, he earned his seventh victory against Haddock to leap him into the final round against Hight. When the two cars left the strip, Force’s reaction time was .054 compared to Hight’s .067. Force got the victory with an ET of 3.972 seconds and 327.51 mph, the 153rd win of his illustrious career.

    “It represents team effort,” he said about the victory. “You have to look at both of these cars and Brittany’s dragster, they all have PEAK on them and AAA and Monster, Flav-R-Pac, Chevy and all the people that take care of me; that’s what it’s all about.” Force is now second in points, only 15 out of first place. “Robert helps me so much, trying to help me back in the driver’s seat where I don’t suck so bad and right now, I’ve got a car and I won today, and I did my job. I want to thank all the people in Epping for coming back and I want to thank Daniel Hood for a great tune-up and Fabrisi for fixing the cockpit in my car.”

    3. Terry Haddock – It’s not all that often you see Haddock advance to the semi-finals. In fact, Sunday marked his first semi-final appearance in 293 career races thanks in part to a bye run in the second round. Haddock was squared up against Force in the semis and got off to a good start, but unfortunately for the fan-favorite, Haddock began laying oil down on the track and lost traction in the process. Haddock lost five points and lost the race to Force in the semis. The run was a good effort, though, by the independent Haddock team.

    4. Matt Hagan – While Hagan’s reign of New England terror ended on Sunday, the Don Schumacher Racing driver didn’t go down without a fight. He was the No. 1 qualifier for the 41st time in his NHRA Funny Car career following Friday night’s run. He had an easy first-round run as he was all by himself, which automatically guaranteed him a spot in the second round against Tim Wilkerson. The two veteran drivers have faced each other 34 times in their careers and Hagan had 24 career victories over Wilkerson with 10 losses. The race was clean and down to the wire, but Hagan was eliminated by Wilkerson in a losing effort of 0.0361 seconds margin of victory. Hagan is still winless in the 2021 season but has hopes as he heads to the Summit Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio in a couple of weeks.

    “It was a pretty good weekend at Epping,” Hagan said. “We qualified No. 1 for the first time this year and got that yellow No. 1 Camping World hat. The car ran really well, and we have a really good race car. We were just on the bad side of a good drag race that second round against Tim Wilkerson. You’re going to have those. You lose more than you win, but when you do win them, it makes them that much more special. Our turn for a win is right around the corner, so I’m really looking forward to Norwalk. We’re doing everything right to turn on the win lights, but sometimes you get on the bad side and that’s just racing. Last year we were on the right side of most of those races. You pay your dues, work hard and it will come around for ya, and that’s what we’re doing right now. We’ll roll into Norwalk and be excited for a great weekend. We’re glad to get DSR Performance and the DSR.parts website some good exposure with getting the No. 1 qualifier this weekend. The car looked good and it ran good, too. There’s so much racing left this season. This is only our sixth race in and there’s so much racing left, but it’s all about the finish and we’re a marathoner, not sprinting.”

    5. Bob Tasca III – Tasca III had a good qualifying effort of fourth facing Jim Campbell in round one. Tasca, the New England favorite, won over Campbell with an ET of 3.960 seconds and 324.90 mph over Campbell’s 4.111 and 312.71 mph and moved into the second round facing John Force Racing driver Robert Hight. Unfortunately for Tasca, the race was over before it started, as his tires started to go up in smoke when Tasca launched off the starting line. Disappointingly, Tasca ended the second round with 10.095 seconds and 86.22 mph to finish seventh in the final results.

  • John Force, Billy Torrence and Aaron Stanfield win the New England Nationals

    John Force, Billy Torrence and Aaron Stanfield win the New England Nationals

    On a sunny Sunday afternoon in Epping, New Hampshire, the National Hot Rod Association returned to the New England Dragway for the first time in two years after skipping last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

    John Force defeated Robert Hight in an all-Force final to take home his 153rd career Funny Car victory, while Billy Torrence secured his first Top Fuel victory of the 2021 season and Aaron Stanfield won over No. 1 qualifier Greg Anderson in the Pro Stock finals.

    Funny Car

    The day started out hot for John Force and his PEAK/BluDef Chevrolet Camaro. After qualifying third, Force won over his first round opponent, Cory Lee, by going 4.279 seconds and 211.03 mph. The victory was almost a given for Force as Lee smoked the tires down the strip.

    In the second round, Force had a good race against Kalitta entry, J.R. Todd, to advance to the semi-final. His second run was much better as Force went 3.957 seconds and 329.19 mph to meet Terry Haddock in the semis. Haddock was having great momentum when he upset Ron Capps in the first round after Capps hazed the tires.

    As the semis approached, Force won over Haddock with an ET of 3.975 seconds and 324.83 mph to advance for his 259th career final round appearance. It was in the finals where he met his teammate Robert Hight, who won over Alexis DeJoria, Bob Tasca and Tim Wilkerson to set the seventh finals matchup between him and Force.

    When the Christmas tree went green, the two Funny Cars were nearly even before Force pulled away with the victory going 3.972 seconds and 327.51 mph over Hight’s 3.993 and 323.35 mph. The victory was Force’s second of the 2021 Funny Car season.

    “(The win) represents a team effort. You have to look at both of these cars and all the people that take care of me, that’s what it’s all about,” said Force, who has won two of the last three races this year. “Robert helps me so much trying to help me back in the driver’s seat where I don’t suck so bad and, right now, I’ve got a car and I won today, and I did my job. I want to thank all the people in Epping for coming back and I want to thank Daniel Hood for a great tune-up, and (Tim) Fabrisi for fixing the cockpit in my car.”

    In a unique twist, he won the 900th career Funny Car race as well. He was the winner of the 400th Funny Car event back at Englishtown in 1999.

    Hight scored the 31st runner-up finish of his career and his second of 2021.

    “Really wanted this one for AAA New England,” Hight said. “We all really wanted it. This crew, Jimmy Prock and Chris Cunningham, they worked hard. We went some rounds and got better, but not the result we wanted. You always want to be the ones winning, but I’m glad it stayed in the John Force Racing family. John’s been working hard, too. All of our teams have been and we’re dominating. That’s ultimately what you want. In Norwalk, it will be us.”

    Funny Car Championship Standings

    1 Bob Tasca III, 495
    2 John Force, 480
    3 J.R. Todd, 450
    4 Robert Hight, 423
    5 Matt Hagan, 375
    6 Ron Capps, 372
    7 Tim Wilkerson, 364
    8 Alexis DeJoria, 325
    9 Cruz Pedregon, 305
    10 Terry Haddock, 226

    Top Fuel

    You could almost say that No. 1 qualifier Billy Torrence had somewhat of an easy weekend, but the victory wasn’t all that easy for the CAPCO driver. On Saturday, he earned his fifth No. 1 qualifier and the second of the season which put him in a first-round match against Joe Morrison. Torrence got off the line first and won easily over Morrison after Morrison lost a cylinder down the track.

    With the first-round victory, Torrence was set to face Don Schumacher Racing’s Antron Brown in the second round after Brown won over Brittany Force. When Torrence and Brown faced each other, it was a straight-up drag race with nearly identical reaction times. Brown had a reaction time of .074 while Torrence’s was .073. Torrence edged Brown with the win by going 3.837 seconds and 326.79 mph to give him an automatic bye in the semi-final.

    It was in the finals where he met Mike Salinas after Salinas eliminated Torrence’s son, Steve Torrence, in the semi’s, after he smoked the tires.

    Like the semi-final, the Top Fuel final proved to be another close drag race as Billy Torrence won by .002 seconds over Salinas to win his first elusive victory of the year.

    “Another great job by the Capco boys,” Torrence said. “It would have been great to race my ‘ol man in an all-Capco final round but hats off to Mike Salinas and that Scrappers team. We just didn’t have anything for them in the semis but, thanks to Billy
    and the boys, we’re taking another one of these little gold men (a reference to the NHRA “Wally” trophy awarded to event winners) back home to Kilgore.”

    With Billy Torrence and John Force taking home victories in the Funny Car and Top Fuel class, Sunday marked the first time in quite some time in either class competition that there was no Don Schumacher Racing driver in victory lane at the New England Dragway. Matt Hagan had won the past three consecutive Funny Car races. However, he was eliminated by Tim Wilkerson in round two, ending his New England Nationals hot streak.

    Top Fuel Standings

    1 Steve Torrence, 606
    2 Antron Brown, 444
    3 Billy Torrence, 391
    4 Shawn Langdon, 354
    5 Brittany Force, 341
    6 Doug Kalitta, 330
    7 Justin Ashley, 283
    8 Josh Hart, 278
    9 Clay Millican, 270
    10 Leah Pruett, 267

    Pro Stock

    No. 1 qualifier Greg Anderson was looking to make Sunday a very special day up in the northeast. He set the No. 1 qualifier for the 111th time in his career on Saturday and was eager to not only give a Wally to Mr. Hendrick but also tie legendary Pro Stock driver Warren Johnson on the All-time career win list.

    Anderson was poised to do just that with victories over John Gaydosh in round one, Troy Coughlin Jr. in round two and Matt Hartford in the semi-finals, to give Anderson his 161st final round appearance. But, he had another competitor who was also looking to make a name for himself, Aaron Stanfield.

    Stanfield qualified third on Saturday and faced Alan Prusiensky in the first round. He won with a time of 6.562 seconds and 210.28 mph to help him advance to a round two match up with Richie Stevens. Stanfield secured the second round victory over Stevens going 6.583 seconds and 209.52 mph to see a semi-final appearance for just the third time in his career against competitor, Mason McGaha.

    The semi-final was a close race with Stanfield having a reaction time of .051 and McGaha a .056 reaction time. The action was really close but ultimately Stanfield got the semi-final victory after putting down a pace of 6.595 seconds and 209.59 mph to meet Anderson in the final round.

    As the finals were set, the two got off the starting line with Stanfield having a quicker reaction time of .037 over Anderson’s .066. The times were still close as both drivers were having a good drag race for the victory. Eventually, Stanfield got the best of Anderson with an ET of 6.576 seconds and 209.88 mph over Anderson’s 6.577 seconds. The victory for Stanfield was the second of his career in just his 27th start.

    “It’s been a lot of hard work from all the guys on the team,” said Stanfield, who jumped to second in points. “They’ve been working a lot on this hot rod and I’ve been trying to do my best to do my job behind the wheel. It all gelled together today. Getting to race somebody you grew up watching do well over the years, it’s cool to race him and beat him, so we’re happy.”

    Anderson will have to wait another day after nabbing his 65th career runner-up finish, his first of the season.

    “I’ll be honest, this is not a good feeling, but the only thing we can do is learn from it and do better next time. The good news is that our HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro is the best race horse out here,” said Anderson. “It’s hard to smile right now, but a day like today just drives you to do better. I’m definitely looking forward to redemption.”

    Pro Stock Standings

    1. Greg Anderson, 543

    2. Aaron Stanfield, 438

    3. Mason McGaha, 402

    4. Deric Kramer, 390

    5. Erica Enders, 388

    6. Matt Hartford, 373

    7. Dallas Glenn, 343

    8. Troy Coughlin Jr, 321

    9. Kyle Koretsky, 312

    10. Chris McGaha, 240

    Final Results

    TOP FUEL:

    1. Billy Torrence; 2. Mike Salinas; 3. Steve Torrence; 4. Leah Pruett; 5. Antron Brown; 6. Doug Kalitta; 7. Brittany Force; 8. Justin Ashley; 9. Shawn Langdon; 10. Clay Millican; 11. Joe Morrison; 12. Buddy Hull.

    FUNNY CAR:

    1. John Force; 2. Robert Hight; 3. Terry Haddock; 4. Tim Wilkerson; 5. Matt Hagan; 6. J.R. Todd; 7. Bob Tasca III; 8. Cruz Pedregon; 9. Jim Campbell; 10. Ron Capps; 11. Alexis DeJoria; 12. Cory Lee; 13. Blake Alexander.

    PRO STOCK:

    1. Aaron Stanfield; 2. Greg Anderson; 3. Mason McGaha; 4. Matt Hartford; 5. Erica Enders; 6. Troy Coughlin Jr.; 7. Dallas Glenn; 8. Richie Stevens; 9. Kyle Koretsky; 10. Chris McGaha; 11. Val Smeland; 12. Bob Benza; 13. John Gaydosh Jr; 14. Kenny Delco; 15. Alan Prusiensky; 16. Deric Kramer.

    Up Next: The NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series will take next weekend off before heading back on the road for the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio on Sunday, June 27.

  • ‘Controlled Chaos’ with Ron Capps

    ‘Controlled Chaos’ with Ron Capps

    In this week’s interview, Speedway Media caught up with Funny Car veteran and Don Schumacher Racing driver, Ron Capps.

    During the interview, the San Luis Obispo, California native discussed what he thinks his best season was, his favorite Countdown to the Championship win, his “Welcome to NHRA moment” and if someone were to play him in a movie, who would that person be?

    SM: You’ve competed in 571 races since 1995. During your 26 years of racing, which season did you feel was your best and why?

    RC: “I would say my best season would definitely have to be, 2016 (the year Capps won the 2016 Funny Car championship,” Capps said. “Looking back, I had some great seasons and memories with different teams such as the Copenhagen team with Don Prudhomme and the years we’ve come close to winning a championship. I would have to say the consistency and the grittiness we had to win the 2016 Championship is the best season I can remember.”

    SM: An additional follow-up to that question, since 2007 when the countdown started, you’ve gained six wins and six runner-up finishes. Out of those six wins in the countdown, what’s the most special win you’ve achieved?

    RC: “I’m not even sure. It’s funny you ask about those six wins in Countdown (NHRA’s version of a playoff championship). “Honestly, I don’t really remember (those victories). It’s funny because I only remember the races that we lost and the ones we lost I really thought we should have won were close races, to be honest with you.”

    SM: At one moment during a driver’s career, they usually experience an explosion in the car whether it’s the body flying off or the motor blowing up, etc. What would you say is the most violent or wildest crash you’ve experienced?

    RC: “The SKOAL explosion in Dallas (in 2002) the car body imploded on me, was probably one of the scariest explosions. The explosion trapped my arms in the car,” Capps said. “For sure, not an explosion, but the time (my car) went into the sand traps at Indy upside down and into the net, NHRA’s people (Safety Safari) could not get the net undone. They could not get me out of the car and that was probably two and a half minutes the scariest I’ve been in a Funny Car, just because the only way out of these things are the roof hatch and I couldn’t get out of that or the side windows. A lot of thoughts go through your head when you’re laying upside down with fuel, oil, and all the other stuff making weird noises.”

    SM: Has there ever been a moment where you’ve gotten lost at the track? If so, where did you get lost and how did you get back to the right destination?

    RC: “There’s been plenty of times where I have almost gotten into the wrong tow vehicle where we run special paint schemes and different colored cars and different things for NAPA, especially with cars you’re not used to,” he said. “I’m used to the original color. There’s been cars where I’ve seen change their color and other times like that where I’ve gotten a little bit lost at the track.”

    SM: Most drivers have their “Welcome to NHRA moment.” For you, when did you have that moment and how did you take that learning lesson moving forward?

    RC: “The first time I felt like I made it was in Topeka, Kansas with (the late) Al Hoffman (NHRA drag racer and team owner),” Capps said. Al Hoffman invited me to go back and hang out at the bar and offered to buy me a beer. I sat and had beers with Al Hoffman, which was one of those cool moments.”

    SM: If your driving career was over tomorrow, but you had the option to stay in the sport whether it’s as a crew chief, engineer, specialist, in marketing, etc., what would your other career choice be if you stuck around in motorsports, but were not racing in the Funny Car?

    RC: “If I stuck around the sport and had another job of sorts, eventually I would love to be a team owner and that’s my goal,” he said. “If I had another job at the track, I would love to work with younger drivers or be some sort of coach or maybe a team manager type of thing.”

    SM: Sometimes people get mistaken for other people and that especially happens in racing a lot. Have you ever been mistaken for someone while at the drag strip and if so, who?

    RC: “The funniest thing is and it happened to him, I would get called Jimmie Johnson,” Capps said. “I would be walking out of a Supercross race in Anaheim or at another event or something and I had people yell out Jimmie Johnson! He (Johnson) has had it done as well to him. My wife always laughs about it because she always sees the comparison between us.”

    SM: If you could relive a moment in your career, what moment are you choosing to relive?

    RC: “Some of those wins at the races when the kids were young and I have plenty of pictures around the house that we’ve been going through,” he said. “You take it for granted, especially when the kids are that young. Gosh, Sonoma with the kids in my arms in the winner circle. The first double with Don Prudhomme against Larry Dixon. I had my kids in my arms during the interview area, which was 1998.”

    SM: You have 26 No. 1 qualifiers with your first coming in ‘97 at Seattle. Favorite No. 1 qualifier?

    RC: “Honestly, this year in Gainesville,” Capps said. “We had John Medlen (veteran tuner who works for Don Schumacher Racing) and a lot of new stuff and getting used to new things. It was a lot like starting over. That was a big moment to come out with a brand new team and win the pole at the very first Camping World race.”

    SM: I am sure there are many achievements that you would like to cross off the list before you retire, however, is there a checklist or bucket list item that you want to complete before retirement?

    RC: “I’ve talked about it before, but going back to Top Fuel, would be one of them,” he said. “Going back to where I started as a professional, I someday would love to go back there (Top Fuel) and get to race with some of these drivers and teams who I don’t get to compete against in Funny Car. Teammate Antron Brown, Leah (Pruett), of course, (Billy and Steve) Torrence, Doug Kalitta. It would be fun to do that before I get out of the car completely. I know a lot of drivers in the past have done that and went back and forth (between classes). That (going back to Top Fuel) would be a big thing I would like to check off the list.”

    SM: For someone who doesn’t know what it is like sitting in a Funny Car, can you describe the feeling of going 330 mph in a matter of seconds?

    RC: “Luckily, I wore those glasses and posted the view on my social media pages inside a Funny Car,” Capps said. “It’s an amazing thing to go back and watch that (Funny Car runs during a camera view). Trying to describe it, the time you step on the gas in a Funny Car, it’s complete and utter controlled chaos. It’s like the world is flying apart for 3.8 seconds and you’re doing everything you can to keep it in the middle of the track, knowing you have everybody behind you. Controlled chaos is the best description I have.”

    SM: Wrapping this interview up, let’s say someone is going to play you in a racing movie. What would the title of the movie be and who is going to play Ron Capps?

    RC: “Shoot, I think Controlled Chaos like I said earlier, kind of a catchy thing,” he said. “I think it would be cool for somebody to have a breakout role, somebody that is up and coming that nobody really knows and their career takes off for some small movie about me.”

    Throughout Capps’s career, the Don Schumacher Racing driver has 571 starts, 66 career wins (second on the all-time win list to John Force), 61 runner-up finishes, 104 semi-final round appearances, 124 quarter round and 200 first-round appearances. He has 26 No. 1 qualifiers and 19 DNQs with a win-loss record of 772 to 486.

    Fans of Ron Capps can follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

    Additionally, you can follow Don Schumacher Racing on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. You can also check out their website here.

  • John Force, Torrence, Glenn and Johnson take victories at Charlotte Four-Wide Nationals

    John Force, Torrence, Glenn and Johnson take victories at Charlotte Four-Wide Nationals

    Funny Car

    After securing his 161st No. 1 qualifier Saturday night at the Charlotte Four-Wide Nationals, John Force gained his first NHRA victory in over two years, his first since the 2019 US Nationals at Indianapolis. Force rocketed his Peak/BlueDEF Chevrolet to the win after defeating Cruz Pedregon, Alexis DeJoria, and JR Todd for his first victory of the 2021 season.

    “I pulled it off,” said Force, who dedicated the victory to track owner Bruton Smith. “I ran my big mouth, said I can do this, I’m going to win this. I love this guy and everything he’s done for the sport. I don’t have much time left, but when you have a crew chief like Danny Hood and Tim Fabrisi and all these guys who take this old man and give him strength, what a run.”

    Force advanced by winning in Round 1 over Dale Creasy and Dave Richards. In the semi-final, Force defeated McIntire and Terry Haddock to secure his final round spot. The other three advancing were JR Todd, Alexis DeJoria and Cruz Pedregon. Pedregon was runner-up in the semi-final while DeJoria got the victory. Todd was runner-up in the semi-round with Force, to advance. In the end, the victory went to Force who gained his 152nd career victory. Todd gained his 18th runner-up finish and finished second in the Funny Car class.

    “It is early in the season but you want to be at the top of the points or within striking distance,” Todd said about the runner-up finish. “This DHL Funny Car team has been awesome to start the season and we need to keep the pressure on the rest of the teams.”

    Funny Car Results

    1. John Force
    2. J.R. Todd
    3. Cruz Pedregon
    4. Alexis DeJoria
    5. Mike McIntire
    6. Matt Hagan
    7. Bob Tasca III
    8. Terry Haddock
    9. Ron Capps
    10. Dave Richards
    11. Jim Campbell
    12. Robert Hight
    13. Cory Lee
    14. Tim Wilkerson
    15. Blake Alexander
    16. Dale Creasy Jr
    1. Bob Tasca, 360 points
    2. J.R. Todd, -17
    3. John Force, -31
    4. Matt Hagan, -101
    5. Ron Capps, -125
    6. Alexis DeJoria, -132
    7. Tim Wilkerson, -142
    8. Cruz Pedregon, -144
    9. Robert Hight, -145
    10. Blake Alexander, -210

    Top Fuel

    After John Force extended his win count in the Funny Car class, he turned his attention to the Top Fuel final where his teammate Brittany Force was looking for her first win of the season. Brittany got off on the right foot Saturday night when she earned her 22nd No. 1 qualifier by posting an ET of 3.662 seconds and 330.08 mph. In Round 1, she was up against Justin Ashley, Joe Morrison, and Clay Millican.

    Brittany won in round 1 and was runner-up in the semi-final to advance to the final round. In the final round, she was joined by Steve Torrence, Josh Hart, and Antron Brown. The four drivers squared off and it was the 2020 Top Fuel champion Torrence who fended off Force for the victory. This victory marked Torrence’s second of the season and his 42nd career victory.

    “At first, admittedly, I was not a fan of the four-wide but Bruton Smith and Marcus, thank you guys, I love it,” said Torrence. “I mean, we do really well I don’t know why but I like to keep doing it. It’s the only thing that I’ve got a winning record, and so I’m proud of that. It makes us as a driver step up more, I think that it takes you out of your body, your wheelhouse of thinking makes you concentrate and focus a lot more.”

    Meanwhile, Brittany would have to wait another race to get her first victory of the season. She had to settle with her second runner-up of the year and 24th of her career.

    “Great weekend for this team. We came out Friday Q1, set track record at 3.66 and stole that No. 1 spot. Then, going into Saturday, we struggled. We didn’t get down the racetrack and that was tough for this team. We had a run that was in the cold and the best track conditions and now we needed to reset for race day. So, this team found that. David Grubnic and Max Savage set up this race car and it ran killer runs all day. Consistent all day long.

    “We ended up runner-up. We made it to a final; that’s huge for this team. I’m so proud of all my Flav-R-Pac guys and proud to be teamed up with David Grubnic. I struggled on the second run and just messed up on the Christmas Tree and was so in my head about it, and Grubnic pulled me aside and told me to stop messing with it, I’m overthinking it and go out and drive the car because I know how to do it and rip their throats out. And that’s what we went out there doing. We brought everything to the line the best we could. Unfortunately, it wasn’t our day, but this will carry us into next weekend.”

    Top Fuel Finishing Results

    1. Steve Torrence
    2. Brittany Force
    3. Antron Brown
    4. Josh Hart
    5. Doug Foley
    6. Doug Kalitta
    7. Krista Baldwin
    8. Clay Millican
    9. Billy Torrence
    10. Mike Salinas
    11. Shawn Langdon
    12. Joe Morrison
    13. Justin Ashley
    14. Arthur Allen
    15. Kyle Wurtzel
    16. Leah Pruett
    1. Steve Torrence, 408 points
    2. Antron Brown, -76
    3. Brittany Force, -134
    4. Shawn Langdon, -160
    5. Josh Hart, -163
    6. Billy Torrence, -193
    7. Doug Kalitta, -211
    8. Justin Ashley, -214
    9. Leah Pruett, -232
    10. Clay Millican, -244

    Pro Stock

    Dallas Glenn got his first career victory in just his fourth Pro Stock start for KB Racing. Glenn qualified his machine in the No. 10 spot after Saturday’s qualifying. In the first round, he was paired with Aaron Stanfield, Matt Hartford, and Fernando Cuadra. Glenn was victorious in the first round after he set an ET of 6.535 and 210.64 mph. In the semi-final, Glenn continued to win as he won over Strong and Stanfield to help him advance to the final round. There, he would face Mason McGaha, Troy Coughlin Jr, and Fernando Cuadra Jr. Glenn won in a close race and posted a time of 6.540 seconds and 209.88 mph.

    “To be honest, I don’t even think it’s hit me yet,” Glenn said. “I’m just trying to enjoy everything I can. I’ve never experienced it on this side. It’s super emotional. This is a whole new perspective for me and these cars are so much fun, but they’re hard to drive. The results just came a little sooner than we were expecting.”

    Pro Stock Results

    1. Dallas Glenn
    2. Mason McGaha
    3. Troy Coughlin Jr
    4. Fernando Cuadra Jr
    5. Greg Anderson
    6. Aaron Strong
    7. Aaron Stanfield
    8. Chris McGaha
    9. Kyle Koretsky
    10. Erica Enders
    11. Deric Kramer
    12. Matt Hartford
    13. Val Smeland
    14. Kenny Delco
    15. Fernando Cuadra
    16. Cristian Cuadra

    Pro Stock Standings

    1. Greg Anderson, 377 points
    2. Erica Enders, -106
    3. Mason McGaha, -107
    4. Deric Kramer, -115
    5. Aaron Stanfield, -131
    6. Troy Coughlin Jr, -143
    7. Dallas Glenn, -149
    8. Kyle Koretsky, -174
    9. Matt Hartford, -193
    10. Chris McGaha, -200

    Pro Stock Motorcycle

    In a continuation of firsts, Steve Johnson ended up getting his first victory in over seven years. In fact, you would have to look at Gainesville 2014 when Johnson got his last victory.

    Johnson qualified second in his Suzuki Saturday night when he posted a speed of 6.738 seconds and 197.62 mph. Johnson got victories in the first round over Chip Ellis and Kelly Clontz. However, in the second round, Johnson had to get into the final round by being a runner-up in the semi-final. When it came to the final round, Johnson hit on all cylinders and defeated Matt Smith, Karen Stoffer and Joey Gladstone.

    “When you have a career path and you reach a goal, it can be euphoric,” Johnson said. “We are committed to this sport and I’m so excited about the emotion of our sport. I feel like our sport is really doing well. This trophy is so cool and this is the most special (win).”

    Matt Smith was the event’s runner-up winning the 33rd runner-up finish of his career.

    Pro Stock Motorcycle Results

    1. Steve Johnson
    2. Matt Smith
    3. Karen Stoffer
    4. Joey Gladstone
    5. Hector Arana Jr
    6. Eddie Krawiec
    7. Jim Underdahl
    8. Andrew Hines
    9. Angelle Sampey
    10. Cory Reed
    11. Chip Ellis
    12. Scotty Pollacheck
    13. Ryan Oehler
    14. Jerry Savoie
    15. Kelly Clontz
    16. Angie Smith

    Pro Stock Motorcycle Standings

    1. Matt Smith, 377 points
    2. Scotty Pollacheck, -61
    3. Steve Johnson, -74
    4. Ryan Oehler, -84
    5. Angelle Sampey, -147
    6. Karen Stoffer, -183
    7. Cory Reed, -190
    8. Joey Gladstone, -197
    9. Angie Smith, -197
    10. Kelly Clontz, -250
    11. Eddie Krawiec, -250

    Up Next: NHRA will head to Houston Raceway Park May 21-23 for the annual Mopar Express Lane NHRA SpringNationals.

  • Pato O’Ward breaks through at Texas for first career win

    Pato O’Ward breaks through at Texas for first career win

    Making a move with 23 to go, Pato O’Ward passed then race leader Josef Newgarden going into Turn 3 for his first career NTT IndyCar Series victory and held off Newgarden by 1.2443 seconds. O’Ward started fourth based on championship driver standings following Saturday night’s race.

    “Finally man! That was a long race, but we had so much pace in this Arrow McLaren No. 5,” O’Ward said. “I have to thank Vuse, Team Chevy, Mission Foods and everybody on this team who have been doing such a good job. And we bounced back from last weekend and we got a podium yesterday, we had pace and we got the job done today. I couldn’t be happier for another group of guys.”

    However, the victory wasn’t all that easy for the Mexican driver. Saturday night’s winner, Scott Dixon, was on the pole and was looking to sweep the weekend and continue his dominance. Though, when the green flag flew for the start, there was a major crash on the frontstretch where many drivers were taken out of the field.

    The accident started when the No. 51 rookie of Pietro Fittipaldi spun into the back of the No. 14 of Sebastien Bourdais. Bourdais was then turned into the No. 27 of Alexander Rossi which then caused a multi-chain event that saw the No. 59 of Conor Daly hit the wall hard and flip upside down multiple times before coming to a rest in the grass. Thankfully, Daly and all drivers were okay from the Lap 1 incident.

    After spending 17 laps under caution, the restart came on Lap 18. Like Saturday night’s race, the top two were controlled by Dixon and Alex Palou through the first round of stops. On Lap 71, Dixon pitted from the lead for four tires and fuel while Palou stayed out a few laps later before pitting on Lap 73.

    Even though there were varying strategies, Dixon cycled back into the lead on Lap 80 and held the gap by .5708 seconds over Palou. But, the complexion of the race was changed when a caution flew on Lap 117 for the No. 60 of Jack Harvey who had smoke coming from the back of his car. After the stops, Dixon was still the leader but Will Power and Graham Rahal gained three positions moving into second and third, respectively.

    On Lap 140, Rahal eventually passed the dominant Dixon to lead his first few laps since St. Petersburg of last year. Rahal would stay out front of Dixon until Lap 154 when Dixon regained the lead once more and kept Rahal at bay.

    The final stop for both Dixon and Rahal came on Lap 186 and saw Rahal close up on the back of Dixon’s bumper for an advantage on the out lap. At Lap 188, O’Ward stayed out a few laps longer and then made his pit stop.

    A yellow on Lap 190 for the No. 7 of Felix Rosenqvist slowed the field down, but jumbled up the running order as Sato, Newgarden, and O’Ward were the top three. Rahal was fourth while Dixon was fifth.

    Following the Lap 197 restart, Sato held the lead briefly before he was passed by the No. 2 of Josef Newgarden heading into Turn 1. O’Ward followed closely behind Newgarden as he too passed Sato for second.

    It was clear that the game was on at that point. Lap after lap, O’Ward was closing in on Newgarden waiting for his moment to strike. His moment came with 23 to go when O’Ward charged hard on the outside of Newgarden in Turn 3.

    From there, O’Ward hit his points and was consistent and stretched the gap ever so slightly over Newgarden. When the checkered flag flew, O’Ward won his first NTT IndyCar Series race in just his 26th start and became the first Mexican driver since Adrian Fernandez in 2004 to win an IndyCar race.

    “Man, I admire Adrian a lot,” O’Ward continued. “It’s very special to me to represent my country. I’m the only Mexican driver racing here. I’m a competitive being. I like to win. I like to be at the front. I like to compete. I don’t think there’s anything better than putting your flag as high as you can. I think Dixon will say that about his country, so on. I’m very proud of what we accomplished and really happy that we got this all together in a way.”

    By winning at Texas, O’Ward will be able to test an F1 car at Abu Dhabi toward the end of the year. This is a result of a bet made between him and McLaren CEO Zak Brown that if O’Ward won a race this year, the two agreed there would be plans in place for a test and now O’Ward is a NTT IndyCar Series winner.

    O’Ward led twice for 25 laps en route to victory.

    There were three cautions for 35 laps and 12 lead changes among nine different leaders.

    Josef Newgarden, Graham Rahal, Scott Dixon, Colton Herta, Simon Pagenaud, Alex Palou, Scott McLaughlin, Rinus VeeKay, and Ryan Hunter-Reay rounded out the Top 10 finishers.

    Official Results following the XPEL 375 at Texas Motor Speedway.

    1. Pato O’Ward, led 25 laps
    2. Josef Newgarden, led 25 laps
    3. Graham Rahal, led 13 laps
    4. Scott Dixon, led 163 laps
    5. Colton Herta
    6. Simon Pagenaud
    7. Alex Palou, led three laps
    8. Scott McLaughlin
    9. Rinus VeeKay, led five laps
    10. Ryan Hunter-Reay
    11. Ed Carpenter, led one lap
    12. Marcus Ericsson
    13. Will Power, led one lap
    14. Takuma Sato, led 12 laps, 1 lap down
    15. Tony Kanaan, 2 laps down
    16. Felix Rosenqvist, 2 laps down
    17. Jack Harvey, OUT, Mechanical
    18. James Hinchcliffe, OUT, Mechanical
    19. Sebastien Bourdais, OUT, Contact
    20. Alexander Rossi, OUT, Contact
    21. Pietro Fittipaldi, OUT, Contact
    22. Ed Jones, OUT, Contact
    23. Dalton Kellett, OUT, Contact
    24. Conor Daly, OUT, Contact

    Up Next: The NTT IndyCar Series will head to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the rest of May, where series drivers will be competing on Saturday May 15 at the Indianapolis Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Road Course live on NBC at 2:30 p.m./ET.

  • Scott Dixon dominates to win at Texas

    Scott Dixon dominates to win at Texas

    Before entering Saturday night’s race, Scott Dixon was already victorious at Texas Motor Speedway by having four career track victories, including the most recent race last summer.

    However, the New Zealander had to hold off another New Zealander and IndyCar rookie, Scott McLaughlin, for the victory in the remaining few laps Saturday night.

    Dixon dominated by leading all but six laps for his first checkered flag of the year.

    “I’m pretty sure that was definitely a first,” Dixon said about the 1-2 Kiwi finish. It was fun. As I commented, it was really cool to look at that monitor on my steering wheel and see that it was the 3 car. I haven’t even got to see Scott yet, but definitely a congratulations to him. That was a tremendous run. Definitely very fast. There wasn’t much deg at the end of the race there, especially with the cooler conditions. Exit of two just became a very long straight until you got back to turn one. Definitely didn’t want him to get too close to get that big run through three and four, as I think you could definitely pull the pass off as we’d seen earlier in the race.

    “Huge result for a race for a couple of Kiwis, which is great to see. Commenting pre-season, people are like, How do you feel about having another Kiwi on the grid? I’ve been waiting 20 years for it. It’s great to see him over here. He’s a massive talent. He’s going to have a lot of victories, man. I have to try and hold him off while I can.”

    As the IndyCar teams rolled into Texas Motor Speedway Saturday morning, weather forecast and conditions looked tricky and there was a question as to whether they could get the race in. First, there was a two-hour delay for practice, which caused qualifying to get canceled to allow for a 90-minute practice session. With qualifying canceled, the field was set up by championship driver points meaning Barber Motorsports Park winner Alex Palou started on the pole.

    When the green flag flew, Palou had a solid car and led the first three laps of the race. However, on Lap 4, Dixon returned to the form he is known for, which is dominating races and leading the majority of the laps. He made the pass on his teammate, Palou, and never really looked back. Despite Dixon controlling the race, he didn’t stretch his lead as Palou kept the gap by one second through the first round of green-flag pit stops.

    With the green-flag pit stops beginning on Lap 51 with the No. 15 of Graham Rahal making a stop, the first caution flag flew on Lap 55 when the No. 14 A.J. Foyt Racing entry of Sebastien Bourdais pounded the Turn 2 wall. Bourdais went spinning after the No. 2 of Josef Newgarden made contact with Bourdais by bumping into the back of him. When the yellow slowed the field, the race leaders such as Dixon, Palou, Harvey, Herta, and VeeKay had not made a pit stop. By causing the incident, steward officials reviewed the incident between Bourdais and Newgarden and penalized Newgarden for avoidable contact.

    At the restart on Lap 71, Dixon once again stretched his lead over Palou by nearly a second. He would continue to do so at the halfway point on Lap 114 and Dixon was able to clinch the most laps led and earned two additional bonus points. Dixon comfortably sat in the lead throughout the race until the second caution flew on Lap 160 when the No. 29 of James Hinchcliffe snapped loose in Turn 2 and hit the wall, slowing the field down once again.

    It was at this point in time when the race began to change a little, at least for second position. Rookie Scott McLaughlin followed right behind Dixon after pit stops were made.

    Looking for his first career win, McLaughlin raced his heart out in the closing laps and even began closing the gap a little, slowly but surely. In fact, at Lap 210 with 2 laps to go, McLaughlin was on the back bumper of Dixon, 0.2534 seconds behind Dixon. Despite McLaughlin doing all he could do to race Dixon, Dixon held off the Team Penske driver to score his first victory of the 2021 season and his fifth win at Texas Motor Speedway.

    Even though McLaughlin finished second for the first time in his IndyCar career, the New Zealander was pumped and felt like the podium finish was more like a victory.

    “I had a tremendous amount of fun, about as much fun as I thought I was going to have,” McLaughlin said. “The PPG Chevy was great. We also had great strategy calls, pit stops. The crew on pit road were unbelievable. Have to thank them a huge amount. It’s a big thing taking on my first oval race. Just tried to get through the first few laps. I was pretty cautious, probably too cautious in my first stint. Just sort of worked up to it. Managed to dodge the Bourdais wreck, which was pretty close for me. Then the Hinchcliffe one which put us right there. Pretty proud. Just wish my mum and dad, wife were here. Anyway, next time.”

    Dixon led 206 laps en route to his fifth win at Texas Motor Speedway and the 50th of his NTT IndyCar Series career. He led two times for 206 laps.

    Official Results following the Genesys 300 at Texas Motor Speedway:
    1. Scott Dixon, led 206 laps
    2. Scott McLaughlin
    3. Pato O’Ward
    4. Alex Palou, led six laps
    5. Graham Rahal
    6. Josef Newgarden
    7. Jack Harvey
    8. Alexander Rossi
    9. Takuma Sato
    10. Simon Pagenaud
    11. Tony Kanaan
    12. Ed Jones
    13. Felix Rosenqvist
    14. Will Power
    15. Pietro Fittipaldi
    16. Ryan Hunter-Reay
    17. Ed Carpenter
    18. Dalton Kellett
    19. Marcus Ericsson, 1 lap down
    20. Rinus VeeKay, 1 lap down
    21. Conor Daly, 1 lap down
    22. Colton Herta, OUT, Mechanical
    23. James Hinchcliffe, OUT, Contact
    24. Sebastien Bourdais, OUT, Contact

    Up Next: The NTT IndyCar Series will be back in action Sunday afternoon at Texas Motor Speedway for race No. 2, which is slated to begin at 5 p.m. ET live on NBCSN and IndyCar radio. The starting lineup will be based on championship points standings following tonight’s race since qualifying was canceled.

  • Colton Herta dominates the streets of St. Petersburg

    Colton Herta dominates the streets of St. Petersburg

    Colton Herta dominated a majority of the race, as he cruised on to take his first win of the season at St. Petersburg. It is Herta’s fourth win in the Indycar Series, his first at St. Petersburg.

    “We knew we needed to win,” Herta said.

    “We needed a good points swing for us. It’ll put us up in the championship and that’s gonna make our lives that much easier in Texas and that much easier going forward for the rest of the season.”

    Herta started the race on the pole, with Jack Harvey on his outside. The field would roar off to the green flag, and there would be some four-wide action near the mid-pack as Alexander Rossi would make an aggressive dive into the first corner. Herta would maintain the lead while Rossi moved up to eighth.

    Sebastien Bourdais would have damage on the front nose after contact with the Penske cars of Simon Pagenaud and Josef Newgarden.

    Scott Dixon would make an overtake on Pato O’Ward on the fifth lap, putting the defending champion up to the ninth position.

    Conor Daly would pit early, as he would bring his No. 20 down pit road on Lap 11 in order to go for a three-stop strategy while many other teams looked at a two-stop strategy.

    Jimmie Johnson would go off the track on Lap 16. He would struggle in getting the car to reverse while everyone else would come down pit road. Will Power, Romain Grosjean, and several others would come in, hoping for a caution to come out. Eventually, there would be a full course yellow as a result of Johnson’s stalled No. 48.

    Herta would lead on the restart. Graham Rahal would make a dive on the outside of Rinus Veekay, putting the No. 15 to sixth.

    On Lap 23, Takuma Sato would make a move to the inside of James Hinchcliffe into Turn 1. The two would make contact and as a result it would give Hinchcliffe’s No. 29 a flat tire.

    Will Power and Grosjean would make contact battling it out, as they also would collide, putting Grosjean’s No. 51 into the wall. A few corners later he would find the wall again but would keep ongoing.

    Sato would continue to get on the attack as he would make a dive on the inside of Hunter-Reay, putting him up to 11th.

    Dixon would make a swing to the inside on Veekay, moving the No. 9 to eighth on Lap 28. Sato would make it three-wide on Veekay and O’Ward as the No. 21 would continue to plunge down the order. Sato would move up to ninth.

    More drivers would head down pit road on Lap 30, as Veekay and Ryan Hunter-Reay would pit for tires and fuel.

    A lap later, Newgarden would makes his move to second as he would pass Harvey off the first corner.

    Green flag pit stops would continue to commence as Harvey, Bourdais, Dixon, and O’Ward would bring their cars down pit road on Lap 35. A majority of the field would come in lap after lap. Rossi and Rahal would duke it out, but Rossi would have a right front go down after the two would make contact, sending the two of them off course on Lap 38. Herta would cycle as the leader at the end of pit stops. Rossi would end up two laps down as a result of the contact, while Rahal would drop down to 19th.

    The field would remain spread out for the next portion of laps, but as the field reached Lap 66, the final round of pit stops would begin. O’Ward would be the first to come in. Afterward, more would come down.

    Leader Herta would have a close shave, as when he finished his stop, Newgarden was coming into his stall. The two nearly touched, but managed to stay off one another.

    Dalton Kellett’s car would be stopped outside of Turn 1 on Lap 71. There would be no yellow regarding the No. 4’s stopped car.

    Johnson’s troubles would continue as he would spin on Lap 74. As a result it would bring out another full course yellow.

    Herta would lead the field once again to the restart, and everyone else would flock right behind the No. 26. However, another yellow would fly laps later as Ed Jones would try and make a move down the inside of Hinchcliffe, sending the No. 18 spinning around. O’Ward would also receive damage from the incident.

    With 18 laps to go Herta would continue to hold his ground. Power would send it down the bottom underneath teammate Scott McLaughlin to take tenth away.

    However, there would be no opposition for Herta, as he would take the win.

    In terms of the standings, Alex Palou holds a two-point gap over Power and Dixon. Herta sits fourth in points, five points back. Simon Pagenaud rounds out fifth in the points, 13 points back. Harvey, Bourdais, Beekay, Ericsson, and Newgarden round out the rest of the top 10 in the points.

    Next week marks a doubleheader at Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday and Sunday, May 1st (at 7:00 PM ET) and 2nd (at 5:00 PM ET) respectively. Coverage will be on NBSCN, Peacock, and SiriusXM Radio.

    Results Sunday of the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg NTT INDYCAR SERIES event on the 1.8-mile streets of St. Petersburg circuit, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):

    1. (1) Colton Herta, Honda, 100, Running
    2. (3) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 100, Running
    3. (4) Simon Pagenaud, Chevrolet, 100, Running
    4. (2) Jack Harvey, Honda, 100, Running
    5. (8) Scott Dixon, Honda, 100, Running
    6. (15) Takuma Sato, Honda, 100, Running
    7. (16) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 100, Running
    8. (20) Will Power, Chevrolet, 100, Running
    9. (7) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 100, Running
    10. (5) Sebastien Bourdais, Chevrolet, 100, Running
    11. (14) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 100, Running
    12. (17) Felix Rosenqvist, Chevrolet, 100, Running
    13. (18) Romain Grosjean, Honda, 100, Running
    14. (13) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Honda, 100, Running
    15. (9) Graham Rahal, Honda, 100, Running
    16. (19) Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 100, Running
    17. (10) Alex Palou, Honda, 99, Running
    18. (12) James Hinchcliffe, Honda, 99, Running
    19. (6) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 99, Running
    20. (21) Ed Jones, Honda, 99, Running
    21. (11) Alexander Rossi, Honda, 98, Running
    22. (23) Jimmie Johnson, Honda, 95, Running
    23. (24) Dalton Kellett, Chevrolet, 67, Off Course
    24. (22) Max Chilton, Chevrolet, 18, Mechanical

    Race Statistics
    Winner’s average speed: 96.552 mph
    Time of Race: 1:51:51.4115
    Margin of victory: 2.4933 seconds
    Cautions: 3 for 9 laps
    Lead changes: 3 among 3 drivers

    Lap Leaders:
    Herta 1-34
    Pagenaud 35
    Palou 36-37
    Herta 38-100

    NTT INDYCAR SERIES point standings: Palou 67, Power 65, Dixon 65, Herta 62, Pagenaud 54, Harvey 51, Bourdais 51, VeeKay 51, Ericsson 50, Newgarden 47.

  • Colton Herta secures first pole of 2021 at St. Pete

    Colton Herta secures first pole of 2021 at St. Pete

    After a disastrous start to the 2021 season at Barber Motorsports Park, Colton Herta qualified the No. 26 Andretti w/ Curb-Agajanian on the pole Saturday afternoon with a time of 1.00.3210 and 107.425 mph over another Andretti affiliate driver Jack Harvey. Herta was 0.2499 seconds ahead of Harvey to gain the Valencia, California native his fifth career NTT IndyCar Series pole.

    “Yeah, it’s been going good so far,” Herta said. “We’ve shown strong pace all weekend. Haven’t been outside of the top four in any session. Really all the Andretti cars have been really strong for most of the weekend. So, yeah, happy to get the pole obviously. Happy to get it with Dan Towriss here with Gainbridge and happy to be part of Honda. It’s going to be an awesome race tomorrow, interesting, two-stop. I need to do more research on that tonight.”

    By securing the pole position, Herta now shares the pole with his dad Bryan (Herta) who won the pole back in 2005.

    Qualifying featured another wild session for the weekend. Originally, the session was slated to go green at 1:45 p.m./ET but was briefly delayed for five minutes for course repair due to the previous on-track action. As Round 1, segment 1 went green, there was an incident that involved the No. 28 of Ryan Hunter-Reay and the No. 9 of Scott Dixon. Dixon ended up spinning around in Turn 8, causing a local yellow. Dixon was handed a penalty but was still able to advance in qualifying. Advancing out of the first group were Alexander Rossi, Colton Herta, Pato O’Ward, Simon Pagenaud, Sebastien Bourdais, and Scott Dixon.

    Group 2 of qualifying saw the most interesting action. Officials reviewed an incident between the No. 21 of Rinus VeeKay and the No. 4 of Dalton Kellett. Kellett’s day got worse as he was penalized again for causing a qualifying interference. This meant Kellett lost his two fastest laps and not advance into further sessions. Kellett was penalized earlier in the day for being late to the drivers weigh in and lost 10 minutes of practice time.

    Meanwhile, a few other incidents occurred as well. Will Power and the No. 12 Team Penske Verizon machine ended up spinning around in the last corner of the last turn in the final remaining minutes of the first session. IndyCar officials reviewed the spin but determined no action necessary. This was the first time since July of 2019 at Toronto, where Power would not advance to a second segment and the first time in his IndyCar career that the Aussie did not make the fast six at St. Pete.

    When the final round of qualifying went green for the Firestone Fast Six, the top spot changed hands multiple times with Jack Harvey challenging for pole position late in the session. However, the pole ultimately went to Herta who edged out Harvey and gave Andretti Autosport their 44th career NTT IndyCar Series pole.

    Despite Harvey missing out on the top spot, the starting spot is Harvey’s best since Road America last summer where he started second.

    “Yeah, really great day,” Harvey said about the qualifying effort. “I think we made some good changes overnight. We had a really good practice two. From what the guys said, we looked good on blacks, looked good on reds. Obviously didn’t quite have enough to challenge for pole. I thought we did there for a little bit, but then they said Colton had done a 3. At that point I knew we already peaked. I actually thought the 5 in Q3 was a really good time. Just kind of catching the tail end of Colton’s comments, I was actually surprised how close the Q3 time was to the best that anyone saw on new reds. It will be interesting overnight.”

    A 30 minute warm-up session is scheduled for 9:05 a.m./ET live on Peacock with the Firestone Grand Prix at St. Pete green-flag scheduled for 12:42 p.m./ET live on NBC.

    Official Starting Line Up for the Firestone Grand Prix at St. Pete:

    1. (26) Colton Herta, Honda, 01:00.3210 (107.425 mph)
    2. (60) Jack Harvey, Honda, 01:00.5709 (106.982)
    3. (2) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 01:00.6078 (106.917)
    4. (22) Simon Pagenaud, Chevrolet, 01:00.6353 (106.868)
    5. (14) Sebastien Bourdais, Chevrolet, 01:01.0017 (106.227)
    6. (5) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 01:01.0799 (106.091)
    7. (21) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 01:00.4858 (107.133)
    8. (9) Scott Dixon, Honda, 01:00.4997 (107.108)
    9. (15) Graham Rahal, Honda, 01:00.5678 (106.988)
    10. (10) Alex Palou, Honda, 01:00.6220 (106.892)
    11. (27) Alexander Rossi, Honda, 01:00.6476 (106.847)
    12. (29) James Hinchcliffe, Honda, 01:00.8671 (106.461)
    13. (28) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Honda, 01:00.8524 (106.487)
    14. (3) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 01:00.7044 (106.747)
    15. (30) Takuma Sato, Honda, 01:00.9167 (106.375)
    16. (8) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 01:00.7058 (106.744)
    17. (7) Felix Rosenqvist, Chevrolet, 01:00.9569 (106.305)
    18. (51) Romain Grosjean, Honda, 01:00.8127 (106.557)
    19. (20) Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 01:01.4220 (105.500)
    20. (12) Will Power, Chevrolet, 01:01.1140 (106.031)
    21. (18) Ed Jones, Honda, 01:01.4453 (105.460)
    22. (59) Max Chilton, Chevrolet, 01:01.5065 (105.355)
    23. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Honda, 01:01.8364 (104.793)
    24. (4) Dalton Kellett, Chevrolet, 01:02.3396 (103.947)