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  • Jeremy Clements Racing’s fleet of partners will grow again in 2024; Impel Union to make season premiere at COTA

    Jeremy Clements Racing’s fleet of partners will grow again in 2024; Impel Union to make season premiere at COTA

    Spartanburg, SC – Jeremy Clements Racing is revved up to announce that Impel Union, a Chicago-based company, will be the primary sponsor for six of their Xfinity racing events this season. The partnership will kick off with the highly anticipated Focused Health 250 at COTA this weekend and will continue at Martinsville, New Hampshire, Portland, Chicago, and Kansas later this year. This exciting collaboration will bring together two dynamic organizations and promises to be a thrilling season for fans of both Jeremy Clements Racing and Impel Union.

    This will also mark Impel Union’s second full season of being an integral part of JCR’s outstanding team of partners. Additionally, Alliance Driveaway Solutions will serve as an associate sponsor of their fourth race of this young 2024 Xfinity Season. The Focused Health 250 is scheduled for Saturday, March 23rd at the 3.426–mile Circuit of the Americas road course in Austin, TX.

    “It was great to have a weekend off after returning from the West Coast swing. I would love to race every week, if possible, but this break allowed Mark (Setzer) and the guys at the shop to dial in our Impel Union Chevy for COTA,” said Clements.

    “Jason (Kemner) from Impel has been a tremendous addition to our family of partners, and he and his team are dedicated to helping JCR succeed. So, don’t forget to catch the #51 Impel Union machine this weekend at COTA,” Clements went on to say.

    The No. 51 Chevy Camaro SS will feature the logos of various generous supporters, such as Spartan Waste, Workforce OHSS, Elite Towing, Whitetail Smokeless, Matman Designs, Carolina Driveline, Nordic Logistics and Dynamic Paintware.

    RACE PREVIEW
    Track: Circuit of the Americas
    Date: Saturday, March 23rd, 2024
    Broadcast Information: TV: 5:00 pm EST on FS1

    FAST FACTS
    Best Start 25th – 2023
    Best Finish 14th – 2023
    4th career start at COTA

    ABOUT IMPEL UNION:

    At Impel Union, we’re not just about providing top-tier trucks and trailers; we’re your co-driver in the thrilling race to trucking prosperity, with precision and enthusiasm reminiscent of a NASCAR pit crew. Our mission is to turbocharge your business, ensuring it doesn’t just move, but sprints forward, marking each milestone with the exhilarating echo of victory.

    In the fast lane with Jeremy Clements Racing, our partnership exemplifies our dedication to peak performance and unwavering reliability. Every truck, trailer, and service is a green flag, ushering you into an accelerated journey in the trucking circuit. With Impel Union, each mile and delivery is a victory lap, a sprint closer to the winner’s circle. Together, let’s speed to unparalleled success!

  • William Byron scores Busch Light Pole at Circuit of The Americas

    William Byron scores Busch Light Pole at Circuit of The Americas

    William Byron had the car to beat Saturday at Circuit of The Americas. He topped the NASCAR Cup Series qualifying session in his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet with a lap of 130.76 seconds at 93.882 mph to earn the Busch Light Pole Award at the 20-turn, 3.41-mile track.

    It was his ninth career pole in the Cup Series and Byron also set a record as the first driver to win a poll at four different road course venues – Charlotte Roval (2019), Road America (2021), Indianapolis Road Course (2021) and COTA (2022). 

    Byron spoke about the significance of earning the pole but is focused on Sunday’s race.

    “It’s good,” he said. “I think it’s been an up-and-down weekend. The Cup car, we definitely had a little bit of work to do yesterday just on overall balance and grip in some areas, and areas in me as a driver.

    Byron added, “Good to get the pole, but really tomorrow is what matters and there’s a lot of work to do.”

    Tyler Reddick will join Byron on the front row in the No. 45 Toyota for 23XI Racing, his first top-five start this season. He ran a record qualifying lap record during the opening round (94.210 mph) but fell short during the final round.

    Team Penske driver Austin Cindric will start third in his No. 2 Ford and is optimistic about the upcoming race.

    “Good execution,” he said, “by everyone in our Discount Ford Mustang in qualifying. I feel like this weekend, more than others, qualifying will certainly have an impact on your ability to have a good finish – without the stage cautions. So, solid place to start, it gives us great pit selection.”

     Taylor, a four-time IMSA champion, filling in for the injured Chase Elliott, was fourth fastest in the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

    “It was honestly a full new experience, and yesterday [in practice], I felt like I was out of control 90 percent of the time,” Taylor said. “Today, I felt like I knew what the car was doing. We made good set-up changes to help with that and give me a better sense of where the grip was. Today felt super smooth, and it felt like I was driving my [sports] car, something super familiar for me.”

    He gave much of the credit to HMS, saying, “the Hendrick guys have done an amazing job.”

    Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suárez rounds out the top-five qualifiers. Legacy Motor Club’s Noah Gragson was the fastest rookie in qualifying.

    Former Formula One drivers Kimi Räikkönen who has one prior Cup Series start, qualified 22nd in the No. 91 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet and Jenson Button, in his first start in the series, (No. 15 Rick Ware Racing Ford) qualified 24th.

    Jimmie Johnson qualified 31st in his second race this year as a team owner and part-time driver for Legacy Motor Club in the No. 84 Chevrolet.

    IndyCar driver Conor Daly, with two previous starts in the Cup Series, including the 2023 Daytona 500, qualified 35th.

    The EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix is set for Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

    Starting Lineup:

  • Weekend schedule for Circuit of The Americas

    Weekend schedule for Circuit of The Americas

    The NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) is making its first visit to Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas, for the inaugural EchoPark Automotive Texas Grand Prix.

    The 3.41-mile purpose-built road course with 20 turns and an elevation change of 133 feet is the first road course race of seven on the 2021 NCS schedule.

    The race is a 68-lap event that covers a race distance of 231 miles (371 km). The three stages are 15 laps for the first stage, 17 laps for the second stage, and 36 laps for the final stage in the race.

    The Pit Boss 250 NASCAR Xfinity Series race will be a 46-lap race of 156 miles (251 km) with three stages. The first stage will be 14 laps, the second 16 laps, and the final stage is 16 laps.

    The Toyota Tundra 225 Camping World Truck Series race will be a 41-lap race of 139.81 miles (225 km) with three stages. The first stage will be 12 laps, the second stage 14 and the final stage is 15 laps.

    There will be practice sessions and qualifying this weekend for each series as noted below.

    Weekend Schedule (all times ET):

    Friday, May 21

    12 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series garage opens
    1 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series garage open
    1:45-2:25 p.m.: IMSA practice
    3:05-3:55 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series practice
    4:05-4:55 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series practice
    5:45-6:25 p.m.: IMSA practice

    Saturday, May 22

    7 a.m.: NASCAR Cup Series garage opens
    7 a.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series garage opens
    8-8:15 a.m.: IMSA qualifying session 1 (multi-vehicle / timed format)
    8:20-7:35 a.m.: IMSA qualifying session 2 (multi-vehicle / timed format)
    9:05 a.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series qualifying
    9:30 a.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series garage open
    10:05-9:55 a.m.: NASCAR Cup Series practice
    11:05 a.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series qualifying
    12 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series driver introductions
    1 p.m.: Toyota Tundra 225 race (12/26/41 laps =139.81 miles)
    3:40 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series driver introductions
    4 p.m.: Pit Boss 250 race (14/30/46 laps = 156 miles)
    6-6:50 p.m.: IMSA race (50-minute timed race)

    Sunday, May 23

    8 a.m.: NASCAR Cup Series garage opens
    11 a.m.: NASCAR Cup Series qualifying
    12:10 p.m.-1 p.m.: IMSA race (50-minute timed race)
    2:10 p.m.: NASCAR Cup Series driver introductions
    2:30 p.m.: EchoPark Automotive Texas Grand Prix race (15/32/68 laps = 231 miles)

  • Marquez Completes Perfect Weekend in Austin

    Marquez Completes Perfect Weekend in Austin

    Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez dominated Sunday’s Grand Prix of the Americas, building a big gap between himself and the field early and winning the race by six seconds.

    The 23-year-old Spaniard has won all four MotoGP races at Circuit of the Americas since it’s inaugural season (and his rookie season) in 2013.

    COTA is the only North American track on the schedule after Indianapolis Motor Speedway was removed following last season. At Indy, Marquez claimed wins in three of his four premier class visits.

    Leading up to Sunday’s race, Marquez topped the charts in all four free practice sessions and qualifying. All of his wins at COTA come from pole position starts.

    In the three races this season, Marquez has claimed victories in the last two and placed third in the season opener at Qatar, launching him to a 21 point lead in the championship over Movistar Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo. His comfortable lead is due in part to being the only factory Honda, Yamaha or Ducati rider not to have crashed out of any of the three races thus far this season.

    His easy win may have been partly influenced by an early Valentino Rossi low side, followed by a hard wreck between Repsol Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa and Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso.

    Lorenzo appeared to be the only rider with anything for Marquez, but even his clean race couldn’t put him in contention for the win. The Movistar Yamaha rider may have elected to accept the second position and avoid pushing his bike too hard after crashing out of last weekend’s grand prix in Argentina.

    Ducati’s Andrea Iannone finished third, eleven seconds behind Marquez, with a comfortable seven-second gap to fourth place finisher Maverick Vinales. Iannone also improved heavily on crashes in the first two races, particularly last week’s final turn slide that took himself and Ducati teammate Dovizioso out of the race. Worth noting is that Dovizioso’s crash this week was due to competitor error as well.

    Fifth went to Suzuki Ecstar’s Aleix Espargaro, who engaged in close action with teammate Vinales from Lap 6 to the checkered flag.

    The series heads to Jerez, Spain in a few weeks, yet it goes without saying that Marquez would like an extended Western Hemisphere swing in the schedule.

  • Elias and Yoshimura Best the Americans at COTA

    Elias and Yoshimura Best the Americans at COTA

    Spaniard Toni Elias captured the win in Superbike Race One at Circuit of the Americas on Saturday. The former Moto2 World Champion and MotoGP race winner filled in for Yoshimura Suzuki’s injured rider Jake Lewis, and the win was in his first ever MotoAmerica race.

    Yoshimura teammate Roger Hayden dominated the early laps of Race One after grabbing the lead from the pole. Hayden only temporarily lost the lead to Monser Energy/Graves Yamaha’s Cameron Beaubier before the defending champion crashed out on the second lap.

    Hayden proceeded to take the lead and steadily increase it, building a gap of over two seconds to second place.

    Trouble struck for Hayden when Kyle Wyman blew his engine and spread oil across the track, bringing out the red flag as his bike erupted in flames. Oil cleanup caused a lengthy stoppage, and race officials decided to restart the race with five laps remaining.

    The second part of the race saw Hayden’s dominance put to the test, as his tire grip problems created a heated three-way battle for the lead with Elias and Monster Energy/Graves Yamaha’s Josh Hayes.

    Elias took the lead and Hayden pushed, but was faced with pressure from Hayes for second. Elias gained some breathing room and eased through the final portion of the last lap, while Hayden faced one final charge from Hayes in the last turn, but denied him the spot, completing a one-two sweep for Yoshimura Suzuki.

    Broaster Chicken/Roadrace Factory’s Jake Gagne took fourth, and Latus Motors Racing’s Bobby Fong finished fifth overall, winning the Superstock 1000 class on his Kawasaki ZX-10R.

    Texas native Garrett Gerloff won the Supersport race after he and Y.E.S./Graves Yamaha teammate J.D. Beach pulled away from the field early in the race.

  • Marquez Continues Dominant Ways at COTA

    Marquez Continues Dominant Ways at COTA

    Marc Marquez, winner of all three MotoGP races at Circuit of the Americas since it’s inaugural season in 2013, opened the track’s 2016 weekend with a sweep of Friday’s free practices.

    The two-time champion bested reigning champ Jorge Lorenzo by a quarter second in Free Practice #1, then shaved almost a second off his time in Free Practice #2.

    The competition was unable to keep up, with second overall Andrea Iannone trailing Repsol Honda’s Marquez by .7 seconds, despite improving his own FP1 time by three quarters of a second. The Ducati Corse rider undoubtedly aims to improve performance and ease tensions after losing control of his bike and taking out teammate Andrea Dovizioso in the final turn of last weekend’s grand Prix in Argentina. He was penalized for the incident.

    Despite taking the top spot in both of Friday’s free practice segments, Marquez’s time of 2’04.034 is still nearly two seconds off the track record he set last year.

    FP2 saw second-year GP rider Maverick Vinales pilot his Suzuki to the third spot overall, with a time of 2’04.895.

    Octo Pramac’s Scott Redding overcame gastrointestinal illness and was the top satellite rider overall, placing 6th and 4th in the free practices, respectively. Redding also experienced serious flight delays from Argentina, arriving two days late after multiple flights and “a few bus rides of seven or eight hours.”

    Possibly the biggest surprise of the day was Avintia Racing’s Hector Barbera placing fourth in FP1, and his teammate Loris Baz capturing the seventh spot overall.