Richard Childress Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at Road America … In 24 Series starts at the 4.7-mile road course, RCR has captured three victories with drivers Brendan Gaughan (2014), Paul Menard (2015) and Michael McDowell (2016). RCR has accumulated seven top-five finishes, nine top-10 finishes, led 62 laps and averages a starting position of 12.7 and finishing position of 12.9. The Welcome, North Carolina, organization has completed 1,162 laps of the 1,176 (98.8 percent) that they have competed.
Bristol Review … Matt Tifft was the highest-finishing RCR driver when he placed 10th in the Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Ty Dillon finished 15th and Daniel Hemric finished 24th.
The Points … Daniel Hemric and Matt Tifft currently sit fifth and 10th, respectively, in the Xfinity Series driver point standings. The No. 3 RCR team is currently 14th in the series owner point standings.
Social Media … To keep up with the latest updates from RCR’s Xfinity Series teams, follow @RCRracing and @RCRNXS on Twitter. Updates can also be found via RCR’s Facebook Page and Instagram (@RCRracing).
Catch the Action … Coverage of this weekend’s Johnsonville 180 at Road America will be televised live on Saturday, August 25, beginning at 3 p.m. ET on NBCSN. It will also be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Satellite Radio Channel 90.
This Week’s Dragon Alliance Chevrolet Camaro at Road America … Matt Tifft has one previous NASCAR Xfinity Series start at Road America, finishing third in 2017 after leading six laps of the four-mile course. Tifft will also be competing in the Trans Am 2 Series race this weekend at the road course.
About Dragon Alliance … Since the beginning, Dragon set out to be the leading eyewear and accessories brand in the active youth lifestyle market by supporting the best athletes with premier products, while remaining connected to core retailers and consumers. That mission still holds true today and remains to be the driving force behind the company’s triumph and heritage. With an emphasis on creating functional and premium merchandise, the brand has stayed true to its appeal in the youth market, while continuing to push the status quo. Throughout their approach to design, Dragon always counted on the feedback of their riders, which has enabled them to continually push the boundaries in creating unique and original product ranges. For more visit dragonalliance.com.
Meet Tifft … Fans can meet Tifft, along with his RCR teammates Daniel Hemric and Brendan Gaughan, when he participates in the Xfinity Series Autograph Session beginning at 10 a.m. local time at the Road America Center.
MATT TIFFT QUOTES:
We return to road racing this weekend with Road America. Thoughts on that?
“I’m all for the road races. It’s a type of racing that I really enjoy. Road America wasn’t really a place I had circled on my calendar last year to almost get a win at, but that happened in both the ARCA race and Xfinity race there last year. I’m looking forward to getting back there and getting another shot at it. It’s a fun race track and a beautiful area. It was a highlight of my 2017 season, and I’m hoping to make it a highlight of this year too.”
What is the biggest challenge to getting around that course for you? It has so many unique corners and turns.
“I think for me the biggest thing is that the course is over four miles long, so there is a lot of time to be made or lost out there. Coming down into Turn 5 into that really steep braking zone before you get into Corvette Corner is a big one for me. There is so much time to be made up there, but also a lot to give away if you’re not careful. A lot of guys end up wheel-hopping through there. Road America is such a fun place because a lot of areas mimic pieces of other road courses, it’s just a huge mix of them. The front section is so fast, but the back section of the course is super technical. So, if you’re off just a little bit, it’ll take a long time for your car to come back in. For practice day, we’ll need to be quick with what we want to change and try out because the course is so long. We probably won’t even get into the double-digit lap numbers.”
This Week’s South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet Camaro at Road America … Gaughan will be making his seventh NASCAR Xfinity Series start at the 4.048-mile road course at Road America during this weekend’s Johnsonville 180. The Las Vegas native has one win (2014), four top-five and four top-10 finishes, with 14 laps led. His average finish of 6.3 and has completed 100 percent of the laps he has attempted.
Meet the Driver … Fans will have the opportunity to meet Gaughan during the NASCAR Xfinity Series autograph session at Road America next to Victory Lane on Saturday, Aug. 25, starting at 10:00 a.m. local time.
Get Ready for the South Point 400 … The inaugural South Point 400 weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sept. 14-16 is quickly approaching and South Point Hotel & Casino has the best deals on packages for race tickets and hotel accommodations. For more information on the race packages, be sure to visit southpointcasino.com.
BRENDAN GAUGHAN QUOTE:
You return to action in the No. 3 South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet at Road America, which you have made very clear is your favorite road course. What is it about Road America that you enjoy so much?
“I have always said that Road America is my favorite road course in the country. It is one of America’s premier road course venues and it is a technical and fundamentally sound racetrack. It is over four miles long and has everything you could want out of a road course; a carousel, uphill braking, downhill braking, elevation changes where you have to pick points in the air to have visual references, speed bumps that will hurt you if you miss the corner even just a little bit, and it has the gravel trap that give you a big penalty if you miss the corner entirely. It is the most fundamentally sound road course in America and I cannot wait to get there this weekend with the No. 3 South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet. I finished second to Michael McDowell and the No. 2 RCR team in 2016 and was fifth there last year, so hopefully we can go there and contend for the win for all these guys at Richard Childress Racing.”
This Week’s South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet Camaro at Road America … Hemric will be making his second career NASCAR Xfinity Series start at Elkhart Lake’s Road America in this weekend’s Johnsonville 180. The driver of the No. 21 South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet led 10 laps and won Stage 2 in his first start at the 4.048-mile road course in 2017, but a pit road speeding penalty resulted in a 15th-place finish.
Rearview Mirror: Bristol … Starting from the 11th position, Hemric quickly raced his way into the top 10 during Friday night’s Xfinity Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway, remaining there for much of the event. Hemric earned points in Stage 1 but finished 13th in the second stage of the night after pitting with just before the end of the stage. Racing just outside the top five in the closing laps, Hemric felt a vibration in the right rear tire and was trying to make it to the end of the race when the car spun on the backstretch and made contact with the inside wall. When he tried to hit pit road for a second time to make additional repairs, the steering on the No. 21 South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet locked up and Hemric was forced to climb from the car, ending his night. The 24th-place finish was Hemric’s first DNF of the 2018 season.
This Week at the South Point Hotel & Casino … Fans visiting the South Point Hotel & Casino this weekend have the opportunity to see actor and singer James Darren perform at The Showroom on Aug. 24 – 25. Tickets and information is available at southpointcasino.com.
Meet the Driver … Fans have the opportunity to meet Hemric at the NASCAR Xfinity Series autograph session at Road America on Saturday, Aug. 25, starting at 10:00 a.m. local time.
DANIEL HEMRIC QUOTES:
You finished 15th in your first start at Road America in 2017 but had a fast Chevrolet throughout the day and have run well at the road course over the last two seasons. What are your thoughts headed back to the 4-mile road course this weekend?
“For some reason it seems like our finishes on the road courses never seem to match up where we run all day long. We ran out of gas at Watkins Glen running fifth on the white flag lap a few weeks ago. I sped on pit road at Road America while leading with 10 or 12 laps to go last year. I’ve always approached road course racing with the understanding that it is a challenge, and I have tried to put that much more effort into it trying to be the best I can be. Just from a racer standpoint, it is cool to go to a place where we don’t necessarily have to change anything to the car, but I can do things differently behind the wheel to pick up speed. We don’t have that luxury to do that at a lot of places these days. Road America is my favorite road course on the circuit because of the size of the track, but also the texture of the pavement. It is really, really aggressive and reminds me of a Greenville-Pickens road course. It gives up so much time that you will lose a second every five or six laps. It is cool to maneuver and change how you do things during the course of a run because of that. I look forward to going there and hopefully taking the momentum of our strong run at Mid-Ohio with this package, fluffing on it a little bit and make sure we are where we need to be going into Road America.”
There are a lot of difficult areas of the racetrack at Road America, which part of the course is the most challenging for you?
“For me, Turn 5 is the most challenging part of Road America. It is a big, heavy braking zone, downhill and there are a lot of swells in the racetrack and wheel-hopping is really an issue for the majority of the field. Then you have to be able to change direction when you leave Turn 5 to get through the smaller parts of the racetrack before leading to the fast parts of the track with the Kink and Canada Corner. I really try to focus a lot on that area to make good time. Whether it is simulation or watching past races, the guys that can really get through those sections, it turns out being an equalizer for lap times and you can really make good speed if you can get through that part of the track well.”
