Detroit, Mich. (2 June 2024) – Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) made Sunday lemonade out of a bushel of Saturday’s lemons as Felix Rosenqvist (No. 60 AutoNation / SiriusXM Honda) came from 22nd on the grid to finish a hard-fought eighth in today’s Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix.
After sustaining damage from contact early on in the race, Helio Castroneves (No. 66 AutoNation / SiriusXM Honda) held on to finish 25th.
Rosenqvist overcame his first rough qualifying session of the 2024 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season to score his fifth top-10 result of the campaign, gaining 14 spots over 100 trips around the 1.645-mile, nine-turn street course located in downtown Detroit.
The Swedish veteran made his way through the field by avoiding the maelstrom that swirled around the first 50 laps of the day. Seven caution periods and a brief rain shower scrambled pit strategies and upended track position all day, but Rosenqvist dodged the numerous incidents to claw his way through the field. His charge was helped by strong tire management and a key strategy call as MSR eschewed a tire change to make up ground on his last pit stop, and Rosenqvist made his Firestone primary tires last over the final 56 laps.
Castroneves made his first non-oval start of the season after taking over for rookie Tom Blomqvist for the next two races and had some good fortune early, climbing seven positions to 18th by skirting a first-lap accident. The optimistic outlook didn’t last long however as Castroneves spun after being hit from behind by the No. 14 car on Lap 17, causing a broken right-rear tow link that cost the No. 66 MSR team five laps to repair. He returned to the track and finished five laps down in 25th.
Rosenqvist’s workmanlike effort made him one of just six drivers to have as many as five top-10 results over the year’s first six points-paying races. The driver of the No. 60 car that carried the livery of SiriusXM channel Smokey’s Soul Town (SiriusXM Channel 74) honoring Motown legend Smokey Robinson, is provisionally ninth in the points, but is now just 10 markers out of a berth in the top five.
MSR was fortunate to have Smokey Robinson on-site on Sunday, with the Motown legend seeing his personalized livery in person in addition to serving as Detroit Grand Prix Grand Marshal.
MSR will wrap up a spate of three races in three weeks next Sunday as it travels to Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin for the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America.
Felix Rosenqvist – Started 22nd, finished 8th: “We finished P8 which I’ll take. We had a puncture on the first lap and then we were actually really quick on the reds and then the tires just went off [pace], and then it started raining. Everyone kind of ended up on the same program and we were around P8, P9. We just kind of hung there. We didn’t have great pace and we trimmed a lot, so we were good on the straights. We got hit a couple of times so we had damage so I was just focused on bringing it home. It was a great points day for the team overall.”
Helio Castroneves – Started 26th, finished 25th: “Wow, what a race. It was unfortunate that we got hit toward the beginning of the race and we had some damage in the rear. But good work from the guys to get it fixed and send me back out. Unfortunately after that we were just kind of running in the back and since we were a few laps down, we were just focusing on bringing the car home at the end. I don’t think we necessarily had the car to win today, but I think we could have hung around the top 12.”
DETROIT (Sunday, June 2, 2024) – Louis Foster led all 45 laps to win the Detroit Grand Prix on Sunday, moving closer to the INDY NXT by Firestone championship lead after misfortune struck his two closest title rivals.
Pole sitter Foster drove his No. 26 Copart/Novara Technologies car of Andretti Global to victory under caution. It was his second victory of the season and second in a row, as he won the second race of the doubleheader last month on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
Foster’s fourth career victory helped him jump from third to second in the standings, 25 points behind leader Jacob Abel. He entered this race 44 points behind Abel.
Abel finished fifth in the No. 51 Abel Construction entry fielded by Abel Motorsports. Nolan Siegel, who entered this race second in points, 25 behind Abel, finished 18th after sitting in the pits for the first three laps of the race due to a half-shaft problem in his No. 39 HMD Motorsports car. Siegel dropped to third in points, 44 behind leader Abel.
“We’re second in points now,” Foster said. “Unfortunate for Nolan, he didn’t start the race. That’s a shame. But it’s good for us. Abel didn’t have a great race, either. We’re just continuing our pace throughout the season. Hopefully we just keep getting decent luck, not any more bad luck, and I’ll be happy.”
Two rookies from HMD Motorsports shared the podium with Foster. Caio Collet pressured Foster for nearly the entire race before ending up a career-best second with his second consecutive podium finish in the No. 18 machine. Callum Hedge earned his first podium finish with a career-best result of third in the No. 17 car.
Rookie Myles Rowe produced an inspired drive to a career-best fourth after starting 19th in the 21-car field in the No. 99 HMD Motorsports with Force Indy car.
While Foster led every lap around the nine-turn, 1.645-mile temporary street circuit, this race was far from a parade. Foster stayed out front on three restarts despite constant pressure from Collet, and there were multiple jousts for position throughout the field.
Collet stayed within about a second of Foster for most of the race, with Foster only extending that gap to two-plus seconds before a caution flag flew on Lap 39 due to a spin by the No. 7 HMD Motorsports car driven by Christian Bogle.
Brazilian rookie Collet stayed within about one-half second of Foster on the restart on Lap 41 before James Roe spun in his No. 29 Topcon car fielded by Andretti Autosport on Lap 42, collecting the cars of Nolan Allaer, Christian Bogle and Niels Koolen in the incident, which triggered the race-ending caution period.
“At the start, I was just managing the gap,” Foster said. “About midway through, I pulled quite a gap on him (Collet), thinking it killed his tires. But to be fair to him, he came back at me quite hard in the late stages of race. It was getting close, but I think we had enough Push to Pass to keep him off.”
One of the most spirited duels of the race also came in the closing laps, between Hedge and Rowe for third. It appeared Rowe had barged past Hedge for his first career podium finish, but that move came just after the race-ending caution period started. So, Hedge was credited with third.
The next race is the Grand Prix at Road America on Sunday, June 9. Live coverage starts at 1:05 p.m. ET on Peacock and the INDYCAR Radio Network.
INDY NXT by Firestone Detroit Grand Prix Race Results
DETROIT – Results Sunday of the INDY NXT by Firestone Detroit Grand Prix INDY NXT by Firestone event on the 1.645-mile streets of Detroit circuit, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, laps completed and reason out (if any):
(1) Louis Foster, 45, Running
(3) Caio Collet, 45, Running
(6) Callum Hedge, 45, Running
(19) Myles Rowe, 45, Running
(2) Jacob Abel, 45, Running
(16) Reece Gold, 45, Running
(18) Salvador de Alba Jr., 45, Running
(14) Josh Pierson, 45, Running
(13) Jonathan Browne, 45, Running
(5) Michael d’Orlando, 45, Running
(20) Christian Bogle, 45, Running
(4) Jamie Chadwick, 45, Running
(15) Niels Koolen, 44, Running
(9) Yuven Sundaramoorthy, 44, Running
(8) Jack William Miller, 43, Running
(10) James Roe, 41, Contact
(17) Nolan Allaer, 41, Contact
(7) Nolan Siegel, 41, Running
(21) Lindsay Brewer, 38, Running
(11) Bryce Aron, 2, Contact
(12) Ricardo Escotto, 0, DQ
Race Statistics Winner’s average speed: 79.206 mph Time of Race: 00:56:04.5065 Margin of victory: Under caution Cautions: 4 for 13 laps Lead changes: 0
Lap Leaders: Foster, Louis 1 – 45
INDY NXT by Firestone Point Standings: Abel 221, Foster 196, Siegel 177, Collet 149, Rowe 140, Hedge 128, d’Orlando 124, Gold 124, Browne 114, Roe 110, de Alba 109, Bogle 93. Chadwick 87, Pierson 81, Koolen 77, Aron 72, Miller 71, Allaer 71, Sundaramoorthy 62, Brewer 60, Jordan Missig 29, Josh Mason 27, Ricardo Escotto 0.
Corey Heim of TRICON Garage crosses the finish line to win Saturday’s Toyota 200 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race at World Wide Technology Raceway. Photo credit: World Wide Technology Raceway.
TRICON Garage’s Corey Heim earns his fourth win of the season and second at World Wide Technology Raceway.
MADISON, Ill. (June 1, 2024) –TRICON Garage driver Corey Heim remained perfect at World Wide Technology Raceway.
Heim collected his second NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series win in as many starts at the 1.25-mile oval, leading a race-high 65 laps in his No. 11 Toyota for a series-leading fourth win of the season. The 21-year-old Georgia native won in his inaugural visit in 2022 with Kyle Busch Motorsports, but missed last season’s event due to illness.
“I’m just on top of the world right now,” Heim said. “We’ve got such a great race team and such a long season ahead. We’re the team to beat right now. I feel like the last five weeks we should have won them all.
“Today, we came and we probably didn’t have the best truck, by far, by any means. We were definitely top three. To have our pit crew step up like that and fix their mistakes from the past couple weeks is a big statement from those guys.”
The win was Heim’s fourth in the last eight races – the others came at Circuit of The Americas, Kansas and North Wilkesboro – but early on it was shaping up to be a great race for polesitter Ty Majeski after an approximate three-hour rain delay.
The ThorSport Racing driver, chasing his first win of the season, dominated the first stage by leading 33 of the 35 laps. He then took Stage 2 honors as well. But it was Heim who began to emerge as the favorite in the third and final stage after not leading a lap in the first two.
Heim enjoyed a 38-lap stint at the point from Laps 78-115 with Majeski in tow. Majeski would lead his only lap of the final stage on the next lap when Heim pitted and then would do the same himself. It was setting up to be a potential shootout between the two and Majeski’s best opportunity came on a restart following a caution with 23 laps to go. Majeski closed the gap to .795 of a second with 15 laps to go. Heim, however, remained in control as Majeski began to fade and also was dealing with pressure from Christian Eckes of McAnally Hilgemann Racing and Nick Sanchez of Rev Racing.
Eckes moved to second with nine to go, but never challenged Heim and finished 1.854 seconds back in second. Sanchez took third, Majeski fourth and rookie Layne Riggs rounded out the top five.
World Wide Technology Raceway was the second leg of the three-race Triple Truck Challenge. Sanchez won the first leg last week at Charlotte Motor Speedway for a $50,000 bonus and Heim pocketed the same amount for his victory. Should either driver win the final leg of “The Trip,” they will earn a $150,000 bonus for winning two of the three designated races.
The weekend culminates Sunday at World Wide Technology Raceway with the NASCAR Cup Series Enjoy Illinois 300 beginning at 2:30 p.m. CT (TV: FS1, Radio: MRN, SiriusXM, WNOI 103.9 FM locally).
For more information on the NASCAR race weekend, please visit www.wwtraceway.com.
PORTLAND, OREGON - JUNE 01: (L-R) Matt Kaulig, owner of Kaulig Racing, Shane Van Gisbergen, driver of the #97 Quad Lock Chevrolet, and Chris Rice, President of Kaulig Racing celebrate in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series Pacific Office Automation 147 at Portland International Raceway on June 01, 2024 in Portland, Oregon. (Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images).
Nearly a year after making his inaugural presence in NASCAR quickly known with his first Cup Series career victory at Chicago, rookie Shane van Gisbergen checked off another accomplishment by clinching his first Xfinity Series career win in the third annual running of the Pacific Office Automation 147 at Portland International Raceway on Saturday, June 1.
The three-time Supercars champion from Auckland, New Zealand, led three times for 12 of 75 scheduled laps in an event where he started on the front row and quickly endured a wild start by sending pole-sitter Sam Mayer for a spin. Despite struggling to launch on restarts and after slipping off the course during the second stage period, van Gisbergen managed to keep himself running towards the front in the closing stages. Amid two late-race restarts, van Gisbergen then managed to overtake and fend off Justin Allgaier during a four-lap shootout to the finish to claim his first Xfinity career win in his 13th series start.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Sam Mayer claimed his first Xfinity pole position of the 2024 season and the second of his career after posting a pole-winning lap at 96.654 mph in 73.375 seconds. Joining him on the front row was rookie Shane van Gisbergen, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 96.596 mph in 73.419 seconds.
Prior to the event, AJ Allmendinger dropped to the rear of the field in a backup car after he wrecked his primary car during the event’s qualifying session earlier in the day. The following names that included rookie Jesse Love, Patrick Gallagher, Brandon Jones, Hailie Deegan, ED Jones, Sage Karam, Austin Green, Chandler Smith, Kyle Weatherman and Logan Bearden also dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.
When the green flag waved and the race started, Sam Mayer launched ahead with a brief lead over Shane van Gisbergen as the field fanned out entering the first set of turns. Then in Turn 1, van Gisbergen hit Mayer as Mayer was sent spinning backwards through the course’s first three tight turns. Amid the early contact with the field scattering to avoid Mayer as Mayer plummeted below the leaderboard, Riley Herbst navigated his No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang into the lead as Justin Allgaier overtook van Gisbergen for the runner-up spot. As Cole Custer, Sheldon Creed and Parker Kligerman followed suit in the top six while Sammy Smith and Josh Bilicki battled for seventh, Herbst proceeded to lead the first lap.
Over the next four laps, Herbst stabilized his advantage within four-tenths of a second over Allgaier while van Gisbergen trailed by a second in third place. Behind, Custer and Creed continued to trail in the top five along with Kligerman, Bilicki and Sammy Smith while Ryan Truex and Jeb Burton followed suit in the top 10. Meanwhile, Kyle Weatherman was trying to regain his momentum back on the course after he was sideways off the course in Turn 12 while AJ Allmendinger was mired in the top 30.
Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Herbst was leading by four-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Allgaier followed by van Gisbergen, Custer and Creed while Kligerman, Bilicki, Sammy Smith, Truex and Burton continued to follow suit in the top 10. Behind, Austin Hill trailed in 11th place ahead of Parker Retzlaff, Anthony Alfredo, Josh Williams and Jeremy Clements while Sage Karam, Ryan Sieg, Jesse Love, Chandler Smith and Sam Mayer trailed in the top 20, with AJ Allmendinger and Brandon Jones occupying 21st and 24th, respectively.
Five laps later and as Logan Bearden was trying to rally from getting sideways off the course entering Turn 12, Herbst continued to lead by half a second over van Gisbergen while Allgaier dropped to third place. Behind, Custer and Creed continued to run in the top five while Kligerman was trying to fend off Bilicki for sixth place and with Sammy Smith, Truex and Hill racing in the top 10.
Another lap later, van Gisbergen, who got to Herbst’s rear bumper through the frontstretch, pulled a crossover move on Herbst through three turns to move into the lead. Van Gisbergen would maintain the lead for the following lap while Allgaier was trying to find a way to overtake Herbst for the runner-up spot.
Just past the Lap 20 mark, van Gisbergen stretched his advantage to more than a second and a half over Allgaier while Herbst, Custer, Creed, Kligerman and Bilicki continued to follow suit in the top seven and by within less than five seconds. Behind, Sammy Smith trailed by more than seven seconds in eighth place and ahead of Truex and Hill while Retzlaff, Karam, Chandler Smith, Mayer and Alfredo occupied the top 15.
Then on Lap 22, Custer went for a spin entering the first turn after he locked the brakes and got loose while trying to avoid hitting teammate Herbst. Amid Custer’s issues, the race remained under green flag conditions as Custer proceeded despite dropping to eighth place. Another lap later, van Gisbergen surrendered the lead to pit his No. 97 Quad Lock Chevrolet Camaro under green. This enabled Allgaier to cycle into the lead over Herbst and Creed while Bilicki and Kligerman trailed in the top five and within less than four seconds.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 25, Allgaier, who navigated past a spinning Retzlaff in Turn 12, captured his ninth Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Herbst settled in second followed Creed, Bilicki and Kligerman while Sammy Smith, Custer, Truex, Hill and Sage Karam were scored in the top 10.
Under the stage break, the field led by Allgaier pitted for a unique, competitive pit sequence for this event, where the pit stops were to last a minimum of 63 seconds from the pit road entrance to exit. Amid the pit sequence, all competitors could either gain or lose positions on pit road, with the lineup for the next stage being determined by the order of exit from pit road. Following the pit stops, Allgaier retained the lead after he exited pit road first followed by Creed, Bilicki, Custer, Truex, Herbst, Chandler Smith, Hill, Sage Karam and Jesse Love.
The second stage period started on Lap 29 as Allgaier and van Gisbergen occupied the front row. At the start, van Gisbergen struggled to launch and he was being pinned in a three-wide Joe Gibbs Racing sandwich in between Creed and Bilicki while Allgaier launched ahead through the frontstretch. As Allgaier led Creed through the first three turns, van Gisbergen made contact with Custer, which stalled their momentum as Bilicki and Ryan Truex overtook them to move up to third and fourth. As the field navigated through the next turns amid two tight lanes, Chandler Smith then passed van Gisbergen to claim sixth place. Amid the battles over the next sets of turns, Allgaier retained the lead by eight-tenths of a second by the Lap 30 mark.
By Lap 35, Allgaier was out in front by more than a second over Creed and more than three seconds over Bilicki as van Gisbergen and Custer trailed in the top five ahead of Truex. Behind, Chandler Smith trailed in seventh ahead of Herbst and Sage Karam while AJ Allmendinger was scored in 10th.
A lap later, van Gisbergen, who was racing with a damaged left-front fender amid his earlier contact with Custer, slipped off the course after he hopped the curbs in Turns 10 and 11. He then slid sideways and went off the course in Turn 12, all while battling Bilicki for third, but he managed to quickly blend back onto the racing surface as he dropped to seventh place.
At the Lap 40 mark, Allgaier extended his advantage by more than over Creed as Bilicki, Custer and Chandler Smith occupied the top five. Meanwhile, van Gisbergen was mired back in sixth while Herbst, Truex, Karam and Allmendinger were in the top 10.
Then on the final lap of the second stage period, Lap 49, the caution flew after Matt DiBenedetto stalled his RSS Racing entry on the course. DiBenedetto’s stalled incident was enough for the second stage period scheduled to conclude on Lap 50 to conclude under caution as Allgaier proceeded to capture his 10th Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season and sweep both stages of the event. Creed settled in second followed by Bilicki, Custer and van Gisbergen while Chandler Smith, Herbst, Karam, Mayer and Ed Jones were scored in the top 10.
During the stage break, the field led by Allgaier returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Allgaier retained lead after exiting ahead of Creed, Bilicki, Chandler Smith, Truex, Herbst, Karam, Ed Jones, Mayer and van Gisbergen.
With 20 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Allgaier and Creed occupied the front row. At the start and as the field fanned out through the frontstretch, Allgaier and Creed dueled for the lead entering the first turn. Then as Bilicki was sent for a spin while three competitors led by Herbst missed the first turn, Creed muscled his No. 18 Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota Supra ahead of Allgaier to move into the lead. Despite receiving numerous bumps into the rear by Allgaier for a series of turns, Creed retained the top spot when he led Allgaier back to the frontstretch.
A lap later, however, Allgaier and Creed dueled through the frontstretch. Both competitors then proceed to hit and rub fenders against one another past the first three turns, with Allgaier reassuming the lead prior to entering Turn 4. Amid their contact, Chandler Smith tried to close in from third place while Truex and van Gisbergen were in the top five. Meanwhile, Jesse Love pitted with a crumbled hood after he T-boned into the rear of Mayer prior to the latest restart period.
With 15 laps remaining, Allgaier was leading ahead of a side-by-side battle between Creed and van Gisbergen for second place while Mayer and Chandler Smith followed suit in the top five. Behind, Truex was in sixth ahead of Sammy Smith, Herbst, Ed Jones and Kligerman while Williams, Allmendinger, Weatherman, Retzlaff and Hill were in the top 15. With Allgaier maintaining a reasonable advantage of three seconds during the following lap, van Gisbergen bumped, rubbed and overtook Creed for the runner-up spot before Mayer seized third place from Creed during the next lap.
Following another late caution period with 13 laps remaining after Hailie Deegan lost a right front tire in Turn 9, the race restarted under green with nine laps remaining as Allgaier and van Gisbergen occupied the front row for a second time. At the start, Allgaier muscled his No. 7 Brandt Chevrolet Camaro ahead of a four-wide battle for second place entering the first turn. With the field tightly navigating through the first three turns, Allgaier maintained the top spot over Creed, who moved back into second place, as van Gisbergen, Mayer and Sammy Smith followed suit in the top five.
As Chandler Smith, who was running sixth, pulled his car off the course in Turn 12 with a damaged front nose, the caution quickly returned during the following lap for a multi-car wreck that ensued in Turn 12 when Brennan Poole and Blaine Perkins got turned sideways separately, with the latter getting spun into the path of Bilicki and Brandon Jones as Jones went head-on into the tire barriers while Andre Castro, Ryan Ellis, Kyle Sieg and Herbst were also involved. By then, Creed was assessed a drive-through penalty through pit road due to being penalized for a restart violation.
During the next restart period with four laps remaining, Allgaier fended off van Gisbergen and teammate Sammy Smith through the frontstretch to retain the lead and through the first three turns. With the field behind navigating through the turns, the battle for the lead ignited as van Gisbergen attempted to make a move beneath Allgaier entering Turn 4. Despite sliding sideways through the next two turns, van Gisbergen managed to keep his car pointing straight while also keeping Allgaier next to him as he avoided spinning Allgaier through the turns. Then as Allgaier also got loose in between Turns 5 and 6, van Gisbergen seized an opportunity to move into the lead. As Allgaier was getting pressured by teammate Mayer for the runner-up spot, van Gisbergen retained the lead through the frontstretch and with three laps remaining.
Then with two laps remaining, Mayer’s strong rally back to the front evaporated after he scrubbed the wall entering the frontstretch, which cut his left-rear tire as Mayer had to keep his No. 1 RTIC Outdoors Chevrolet Camaro running straight while going off the course. Amid Mayer’s incident, the race remained under green flag conditions as Allgaier was slowly closing in on van Gisbergen for the lead through each set of turns.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, van Gisbergen remained as the leader by four-tenths of a second over Allgaier while third-place Sammy Smith trailed by two seconds. As van Gisbergen retained the lead through the first three turns before he made his way to Turn 4, he started to extend his advantage by more than a second as Allgaier was losing ground. With Allgaier unable to close the deficit for the final nine sets of corners, van Gisbergen was able to keep his car running straight on the course and cycle back to the frontstretch victorious as he claimed his first checkered flag of the season and of his career.
With the victory, van Gisbergen, who drifted his race-winning car through the turns while performing his victory burnouts and kicked a rugby ball into the frontstretch’s crowd, became the 178th competitor overall to win in the Xfinity Series as he joined rookie rival Jesse Love as first-time Xfinity race winners of the 2024 season. He also became the seventh foreign-born competitor to win in the Xfinity level and the first since Daniel Suarez made the last accomplishment at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November 2016. As an added bonus, van Gisbergen notched the first victory of the season for Kaulig Racing.
“Firstly, I’m very sorry to Sam Mayer and the No. 1 team for [hitting them in the] first corner,” van Gisbergen said on FS1. “I just mucked up there and just clipped him. He got back well, but year, Quad Lock Chevy. Thanks Kaulig Racing, Trackhouse [Racing] guys. What a day. It was really cool. Had some great racing. I need to get better at my restarts and learn how to position, but man, that was so much fun. Really cool racing. I love these cars. They’re great.”
Justin Allgaier, who led a race-high 46 laps, settled in the runner-up spot for a second consecutive season in Portland while teammate Sammy Smith, AJ Allmendinger and Ed Jones finished in the top five.
Cole Custer, the winner of last year’s Xfinity event at Portland, rallied for sixth place while Josh Williams, Parker Kligerman, Parker Retzlaff and Riley Herbst finished in the top 10.
Notably, Josh Bilicki piloted the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Supra to a 12th-place result behind Austin Hill, Sheldon Creed rallied for 13th, Jesse Love ended up 19th, Ryan Truex dropped to 27th after he spun on the final lap and Sam Mayer plummeted to 28th.
There were nine lead changes for four different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 14 laps. In addition, 27 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.
Following the 13th event of the 2024 Xfinity Series season, Cole Custer leads the regular-season standings by 18 points over both Austin Hill and Chandler Smith, with Justin Allgaier trailing by 23 points and rookie Jesse Love trailing by 73 points.
Next on the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the series’ second annual event at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California, for the Zip Buy Now, Pay Later 250. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, June 8, and air at 8 p.m. ET on FS1.
Corey Heim’s recent hot pursuit on the track continued after the driver of the No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota Tundra TRD Pro raced his way to a strong, dominant victory in the Toyota 200 at World Wide Technology Raceway on Saturday, June 1.
The 21-year-old Heim from Marietta, Georgia, led twice for a race-high 65 of 160-scheduled laps in an event where he qualified ninth and settled in the top five during both stage periods before he assumed the lead for the first time at the start of the final stage period with 83 laps remaining.
Then, amid a late cycle of green flag pit stops, followed by a single-truck incident involving Vicente Salas, Heim cycled his way back into the lead for the start of the final restart period with 23 laps remaining. Despite restarting on the inside lane, which was deemed a struggling lane on restarts, Heim rocketed ahead with the lead and led the remainder of the event as he beat runner-up Christian Eckes by more than a second. It was his fourth NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory of the 2024 season as he also cashed in on the second Triple Truck Challenge bonus.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, May 31, Ty Majeski claimed his third Truck pole position of the 2024 season after posting a pole-winning lap at 138.568 mph in 32.475 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Christian Eckes, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 138.041 mph in 32.599 seconds.
Prior to the event, Tanner Gray dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to his TRICON Garage entry.
When the green flag waved and the race started following a three-hour delay due to on-track precipitation, the field within the middle of the pack fanned out to three lanes through the frontstretch as Ty Majeski used the outside lane to his advantage to muscle his No. 98 Road Ranger/Bucked UP Ford F-150 ahead of Christian Eckes through the first two turns and retain the lead through the backstretch. As the field behind continued to fan out through the backstretch, Majeski fended off Eckes to lead the first lap.
Through the second to fifth lap marks, Majeski retained the lead as he stretched it to as high as half a second over Eckes while Nick Sanchez, Stewart Friesen and Dean Thompson trailed in the top five. Behind, Ben Rhodes trailed in sixth place by four seconds while Corey Heim, Taylor Gray, Grant Enfinger and Daniel Dye were racing in the top 10.
Just past the Lap 10 mark, the event’s first caution period flew when newcomer Luke Fenhaus, who was racing in the mid-20s and battling both Bayley Currey and Lawless Alan amid three lanes, got loose underneath Currey before he spun his No. 66 Soda Sense Ford F-150 in Turn 1. During the event’s first caution period, select names, mainly those running within the mid-pack region, pitted, among which included Tanner Gray, Matt Mills, Connor Mosack, Bayley Currey and rookie Thad Moffitt, while the rest led by Majeski remained on the track.
When the event restarted under green on Lap 15, Majeski and Eckes battled dead even for the lead through the first two turns and through the backstretch as Sanchez pursued in third. Amid the tight battle, Eckes managed to lead the next lap from the inside lane and he would lead the following lap by a tenth of a second until Majeski reassumed the top spot by Lap 18. Not long after Eckes was fending off Sanchez for the runner-up spot, Friesen proceeded to battle Sanchez amid close-quarters racing for third place. With Friesen muscling ahead of Sanchez for third, Majeski retained the lead by half a second over Eckes while Dean Thompson occupied fifth place.
Through the first 25 scheduled laps, Majeski was leading by more than a second over Eckes followed by Sanchez, Friesen and Corey Heim while Thompson, Grant Enfinger, Ben Rhodes, Daniel Dye and Taylor Gray were running in the top 10. Behind, Rajah Caruth occupied 11th place ahead of Tyler Ankrum, Chase Purdy, Ty Dillon and Jake Garcia while rookie Layne Riggs, newcomer Andres Perez de Lara, Tanner Gray, Bayley Currey and Lawless Alan followed suit in the top 20 along with Colby Howard, Mason Massey, Matt Crafton, Matt Mills and Bret Holmes.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 35, Majeski claimed his fourth Truck stage victory of the 2024 season. Eckes settled in second ahead of Sanchez, Friesen and Heim while Thompson, Enfinger, Rhodes, Dye and Taylor Gray were scored in the top 10. By then, all but one of 32 starters were scored on the lead lap.
Under the stage break, a majority of the field led by Majeski pitted while the rest led by Tanner Gray, including those who pitted earlier, remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Daniel Dye was penalized for speeding on pit road as Sanchez emerged as the first competitor off of pit road.
The second stage period started on Lap 41 as Tanner Gray and Colby Howard occupied the front row. At the start, Gray muscled ahead from the outside lane to retain the lead while Mosack also retained second ahead of Sanchez and Howard as the field fanned out through the backstretch. Gray would proceed to lead by two seconds over Mosack while Sanchez, Rhodes, Howard and Majeski trailed in the top six.
Within Lap 45, the caution returned after Howard, who was in the top five, wrecked his No. 1 Coastal Sports Cards Toyota Tundra TRD Pro hard against the outside wall in Turn 3 after he lost a right-front tire. By then, Sanchez had overtaken Mosack to claim the runner-up spot while Tanner Gray was still leading. During the caution period, Crafton, who was battling electrical issues earlier in the event, pitted his No. 88 Menards Ford F-150 to have his issues further addressed. Crafton would make multiple trips to pit road but he would remain on the lead lap.
As the event restarted under green on Lap 54, Tanner Gray and Sanchez dueled for the lead entering the first two turns. They then rubbed fenders and nearly wrecked entering the backstretch, but they kept their trucks running straight. Their stalled momentum, however, enabled Ben Rhodes to go three wide in between both of them exiting the backstretch as Rhodes made the move stick and he led the following lap over both Sanchez and Tanner Gray. Amid the tight battle, Rhodes would proceed to lead in his No. 99 Bommarito Automotive Group Ford F-150 ahead of Sanchez, and Tanner Gray dropped to third as Majeski closed in and eventually overtook Gray for third place.
By Lap 60, Rhodes was leading by two-tenths of a second over Sanchez followed by Majeski, Sanchez and Tanner Gray while Heim, Enfinger, Chase Purdy, Taylor Gray and Rajah Caruth trailed in the top 10. Behind, Connor Mosack was in 11th ahead of Ty Dillon, Friesen, Tyler Ankrum and Dean Thompson as rookie Layne Riggs, Andres Perez de Lara, Daniel Dye, Jake Garcia and Bret Holmes occupied the top 20.
Six laps later, Majeski, who spent the previous six laps navigating his way into the runner-up spot and was closing in on teammate Rhodes for the lead, overtook Rhodes to reassume the lead. Not long after, Eckes navigated past Rhodes for the runner-up spot while Sanchez was trying to close in for third place. In addition, Heim trailed in fifth place by more than two seconds while Tanner Gray and Enfinger both trailed by seven seconds in the top seven.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 70, Majeski claimed his fifth Truck stage victory of the 2024 season and completed the sweep of both stages of the event. Eckes settled in a close second followed by Sanchez, Rhodes and Heim while Enfinger, brothers Tanner and Taylor Gray, Purdy and Dillon were scored in the top 10.
During the stage break, nearly the entire lead lap field led by Majeski pitted while Kieth McGee and Thad Moffitt remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Ankrum and Dye exited first and second, respectively, after both opted for two fresh tires while Heim, who exited third, was the third competitor to have four fresh tires on his entry. Not long after, McGee and Moffitt pitted their respective entries as Ankrum assumed the lead
With 83 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Ankrum and Heim occupied the front row. At the start, Heim muscled his No. 11 Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD Pro ahead into the lead from the inside lane. As a flurry of battles ensued within the field, Heim retained the lead by half a second over Ankrum at the halfway mark with 80 laps remaining. Meanwhile, Majeski trailed in third place and by eight-tenths of a second along with Sanchez and Dye while Rhodes, Eckes, Tanner Gray, Enfinger and Caruth were scored in the top 10.
With 70 laps remaining, Heim was leading by nine-tenths of a second over Majeski followed by Sanchez, Ankrum and Rhodes while Eckes, Dye, Enfinger, Caruth and Tanner Gray were racing in the top 10 ahead of Friesen, Purdy, Thompson, Dillon and Crafton. Meanwhile, Taylor Gray pitted his No. 17 Place of Hope Toyota Tundra TRD Pro and his pit crew raised Gray’s hood up to address a brake issue as Gray lost multiple laps on pit road.
Ten laps later, Heim extended his advantage by more than a second over Majeski as Sanchez, Rhodes and Eckes continued to follow suit in the top five. Meanwhile, Dye was in sixth and he was racing ahead of Ankrum, Enfinger, Caruth and Friesen while Heim proceeded to slightly extend his advantage to nearly two seconds over Majeski with 50 laps remaining.
Then with 45 laps remaining, green flag pit stops commenced as the leader Heim pit along with Jake Garcia. Majeski then pitted during the following lap before more names, including Rhodes, Enfinger, Caruth, Dillon, Dye and Ankrum, pit during the proceeding laps. With more names peeling off the track to pit their respective entries, Sanchez, who has yet to pit, was leading ahead of Eckes and Friesen while Tanner Gray and Purdy were scored in the top five with 40 laps remaining.
With less than 35 laps remaining, more names, including Sanchez, pitted under green while select names led by Tanner Gray, Purdy and Luke Fenhaus, all of whom have yet to pit, were running in the top-three spots.
Then with nearly 30 laps remaining, the caution flew after Vicente Salas spun in Turn 4 as Heim had to take evasive action to avoid hitting Salas. At the time of caution, Tanner Gray had pitted while Purdy, Fenhaus and Crafton, all of whom had yet to pit, were still on the track and occupying the top three spots. During the caution period, select names including Purdy, Crafton and Fenhaus pitted while the rest led by Heim remained on the track as Heim cycled back into the lead.
With 23 laps remaining, the event restarted under green as Heim and Majeski occupied the front row. At the start, Heim, who restarted on the inside lane, retained the lead by a narrow advantage over Majeski through the first two turns and back to the backstretch. With the battle for the lead intensifying, Heim retained the lead by two-tenths of a second over Majeski while third-place Eckes tried to close in from third place and as he trailed by six-tenths of a second with 20 laps remaining.
With less than 15 laps remaining, Heim extended his advantage by nearly a second over Majeski while Eckes, Sanchez and Rhodes were in the top five. Riggs, Purdy, Friesen, Andres Perez de Lara and Luke Fenhaus followed suit in the top 10 while Heim continued to lead by a second with 10 laps remaining. Behind him, Eckes and Sanchez started to pressure Majeski for second.
Down to the final five laps of the event, Heim retained the lead by a second over Eckes and Sanchez while Majeski dropped to fourth as he trailed by three seconds. Meanwhile, Layne Riggs was up into fifth place as he occupied the spot over Purdy and Rhodes.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Heim remained as the leader by more than a second over Eckes as Sanchez trailed by two seconds. Having a reasonable lead to his advantage, Heim was able to smoothly navigate his way around Gateway for a final time before he navigated back to the frontstretch to claim his fourth checkered flag of the 2024 Truck Series season.
With the victory, Heim, who became the first four-time race winner of this season, notched his ninth career win in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series division, his first since winning at North Wilkesboro Speedway two races ago and his second at Gateway’s World Wide Technology Raceway after he won his first in 2022.
As an added bonus, Heim, who was absent from last year’s Truck event at Gateway due to an illness, claimed the second $50,000 bonus as part of the Triple Truck Challenge, which also marks his second time claiming the prize after he achieved his first in 2022.
Photo by Simon Scoggins for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“Total team effort today,” Heim said on FS2. “We actually struggled a bit yesterday and worked overnight on [the truck]. I just have to say [that] this pit crew redeemed themselves. Last week, we felt like we could’ve won the race and admittedly they made some mistakes, but they redeemed themselves today and that’s what it’s all about. That was awesome. [I’m] On top of the world right now. We’ve got such a great race team and such a long season ahead.”
Christian Eckes settled in the runner-up position for a third consecutive event at Gateway while Nick Sanchez, Ty Majeski and rookie Layne Riggs finished in the top five.
Chase Purdy, Ben Rhodes, Stewart Friesen, and newcomers Andres Perez de Lara and Luke Fenhaus completed the top 10 in the final running order.
There were 13 lead changes for nine different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 32 laps. In addition, 20 of 32 starters finished on the lead lap.
Following the 12th event of the 2024 Craftsman Truck Series season, Christian Eckes leads the regular-season standings by 31 points over Corey Heim, 53 over Nick Sanchez and 64 over Ty Majeski.
Results.
1. Corey Heim, 65 laps led
2. Christian Eckes, two laps led
3. Nick Sanchez, 10 laps led
4. Ty Majeski, 43 laps led, Stages 1 & 2 winner
5. Layne Riggs
6. Chase Purdy, five laps led
7. Ben Rhodes, 11 laps led
8. Stewart Friesen
9. Andres Perez de Lara
10. Luke Fenhaus
11. Tanner Gray, 19 laps led
12. Daniel Dye
13. Ty Dillon
14. Dean Thompson
15. Tyler Ankrum, four laps led
16. Rajah Caruth
17. Grant Enfinger
18. Timmy Hill
19. Lawless Alan
20. Matt Crafton
21. Bret Holmes, one lap down
22. Connor Mosack, one lap down
23. Matt Mills, one lap down
24. Jake Garcia, one lap down
25. Vicente Salas, three laps down
26. Spencer Boyd, four laps down
27. Keight McGee, four laps down, one lap led
28. Thad Moffitt, five laps down
29. Bayley Currey, seven laps down
30. Taylor Gray, eight laps down
31. Mason Massey – OUT, Engine
32. Colby Howard – OUT, Accident
Next on the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule is Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tennessee, for the Rackley Roofing 200. The event is scheduled to occur on June 28 and air at 8 p.m. ET on FS2.
STEWART-HAAS RACING Portland 147 Date: June 1, 2024 Event: Portland 147 (Round 13 of 33) Series: NASCAR Xfinity Series Location: Portland (Ore.) International Raceway (1.967-mile, 12-turn road course) Format: 75 laps, broken into three stages (25 laps/25 laps/25 laps) Race Winner: Shane Van Gisbergen of Kaulig Racing (Chevrolet) Stage 1 Winner: Justin Allgaier of JR Motorsports (Chevrolet) Stage 2 Winner: Justin Allgaier of JR Motorsports (Chevrolet)
● Cole Custer (1st with 475 points) ● Riley Herbst (7th with 378 points, 97 out of first)
SHR Notes:
● Custer earned his 10th top-10 of the season and his second top-10 in two career NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Portland. ● In the past 11 races, Custer has now earned 10 top-10 finishes, including his nine-race top-10 streak from his runner-up finish March 2 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway through his third-place finish May 11 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway. ● Custer has never finished outside the top-10 at Portland. He won in his first visit to the track last June. ● Custer finished seventh in Stage 1 to earn four bonus points and fourth in Stage 2 to earn seven more bonus points. ● Herbst earned his fifth top-10 of the season and his first top-10 in three career NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Portland. ● Herbst’s 10th-place finish bettered his previous best finish at Portland – 32nd, earned last June. ● Herbst finished second in Stage 1 to earn nine bonus points and seventh in Stage 2 to earn four more bonus points. ● Herbst led once for 15 laps – his first laps led at Portland.
Race Notes:
● Shane Van Gisbergen won the Portland 147 to score his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series victory in 13 starts. His margin over second-place Justin Allgaier was .941 of a second. ● There were four caution periods for a total of 14 laps. ● Twenty-seven of the 38 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap. ● Custer leaves Portland as the championship leader with an 18-point advantage over second-place Austin Hill.
Sound Bites:
“Overall, it was a solid day for the No. 00 Autodesk / Haas Automation team. We had a car that could compete with the best today, but everything didn’t play out right unfortunately. We had a lug nut kind of get stuck on that last pit stop and lost a lot of track position. It was a solid day, but I wish we could’ve had that little bit more. Definitely a good day for us in the points standings, so we’ll learn from this and move on to Sonoma next week. We have to keep executing like we have been, but our time will come. Just can’t thank my guys, Stewart-Haas, Ford Performance, Autodesk, and Haas Automation enough for their support.” –Cole Custer, driver of the No. 00 Autodesk / Haas Automation Ford Mustang Dark Horse
“Man, our No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang Dark Horse was fast. We got the lead on the initial start, and I was able to hold off Justin (Allgaier) and SVG (Shane Van Gisbergen) for a while in that first stage. That was pretty awesome. I don’t consider myself a road-course ringer, but it was cool to be able to hang with those two. I locked the tires up into the chicane and had to make a choice to either wreck four cars or just go straight. I chose to go straight. That final stage got wild though. The mayhem at the end helped me recover some of those lost spots for a top-10. We made the most of today with points. My team gave me a great racecar, and I’m even more excited to head to Sonoma now for another road course. Hopefully, we’ll be contenders again.” –Riley Herbst, driver of the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang Dark Horse
Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the Zip Buy Now, Pay Later 250 on Saturday, June 8 at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway. The race begins at 8 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FS1 and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
JONES LEADS TOYOTA IN CHAOTIC XFINITY SERIES RACE AT PORTLAND Scores top-five finish in only second career start
PORTLAND, Ore. (June 1, 2024) – Sam Hunt Racing’s Ed Jones came home fifth in Saturday’s wild Xfinity Series race at Portland, leading the Toyota GR Supra contingent. The Emirati-born Brit, making his second career Xfinity Series start, started the day 17th but powered his No. 24 GR Supra through the field and around late-race chaos to a top-five finish.
The other five Toyota GR Supras ran near or inside the top-10 throughout the 75-lap race at the 1.915-mile road course but were victims of hectic late-race restarts that impeded them from stronger results. This included title contender, Chandler Smith, who suffered damage to his No. 81 GR Supra, ultimately finishing 35th and Sheldon Creed, who obtained a penalty for jumping out of line on restart with 10 laps to go but raced his way back up to the 13th finishing position.
The Xfinity Series stays out west next weekend at Sonoma Raceway for another road course duel.
Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap NASCAR Xfinity Series Portland International Raceway Race 13 of 33 – 147.75 miles, 75 laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS 1st, Shane Van Gisbergen* 2nd, Justin Allgaier* 3rd, Sammy Smith* 4th, AJ Allmendinger* 5th, ED JONES 12th, JOSH BILICKI 13th, SHELDON CREED 27th, RYAN TRUEX 34th, SAGE KARAM 35th, CHANDLER SMITH *non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
ED JONES, No. 24 Synergy Modular Toyota GR Supra, Sam Hunt Racing
Finishing Position: 5th
Coming home in the top-five, what was that race like for you?
“We rolled off the truck pretty good. Obviously, practice is so short, but we got a good feel. Our car wasn’t the best for qualifying, a single-lap run, but we felt comfortable that we had a good car in the long run, and it proved its case in the race. Started mid-pack and gradually worked out way up the field every stage to inside the top-10 for the final stage. For the last two restarts, it was all about going full attack. Again, I’m still learning how to aggressive to be. It’s been an experience, it’s great to get a full race’s experience in, and even better, to be in the top-five. Just thank you to the team and Toyota for helping me prepare for the weekend. And Synergy for being in the car. Looking forward to Sonoma in a few days’ time.”
JOSH BILICKI, No. 19 Ditec Marine Products Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 12th
How would you describe your day today?
“Ended up with a solid day for our DiTec/Trim Tex Supra all things considered. We really had a car capable of having a shot at the win but getting spun just set us back too far to make the ground up. Pretty disappointing that adversity got in the way of our full potential but I’m really proud of our team for rallying and getting a 12th place finish out of it.”
CHANDLER SMITH, No. 81 QuickTie Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 35th
Take us through that contact at the end there.
“Had a solid day going until the end there. Really unfortunate to have something like that happen, but I feel really confident in our road course program going into Sonoma next week.”
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in the U.S. for more than 65 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our nearly 1,500 dealerships.
Toyota directly employs more than 49,000 people in the U.S. who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of more than 34 million cars and trucks at our nine manufacturing plants. By 2025, Toyota’s 10th plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles. With more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, Toyota currently offers 28 electrified options.
Through its Driving Possibilities initiative, the Toyota USA Foundation has committed to creating innovative educational programs within, and in partnership with, historically underserved and diverse communities near the company’s U.S. operating sites.
HEIM REMAINS PERFECT AT GATEWAY Corey Heim earns his fourth victory of the season, winning the Toyota 200
MADISON, ILL. (June 1, 2024) – Corey Heim earned his fourth victory of the season, as he led the final 26 laps on his way to a victory in the Toyota 200 at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway. It was his second victory in as many starts at the track, and ninth NASCAR Truck Series win of his career.
The Toyota Development Driver has now led the most laps in five consecutive events and has set a career-high in single season race wins – just 12 races into the season.
Stewart Friesen (eighth) picked up his third consecutive top-10 finish as he closed on the provisional Playoff field. Heim, Taylor Gray and Tanner Gray are the Toyota drivers currently qualified for the Playoffs with four races remaining in the regular season.
Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway Race 12 of 23 – 160 Laps, 200 Miles
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS 1st, COREY HEIM 2nd, Christian Eckes* 3rd, Nick Sanchez* 4th, Ty Majeski* 5th, Layne Riggs* 8th, STEWART FRIESEN 11th, TANNER GRAY 14th, DEAN THOMPSON 18th, TIMMY HILL 31st, TAYLOR GRAY 32nd, COLBY HOWARD *non-Toyota driver
Can you talk about how much this win means to you?
“Total team effort today. We actually struggled a little bit yesterday and worked overnight on it. I just have to say this pit crew has redeemed themselves from last week. I felt like we could have won the race and admittedly they made some mistakes, but they redeemed themselves today and that is what it is all about. Total team effort on this 11 crew. Super thankful for TRICON Garage, Toyota Racing, Safelite – that was awesome.”
You have a perfect record at Gateway, what does that mean?
“That’s awesome. Just so grateful for all of my guys at TRICON Garage and Toyota Racing. Yesterday in practice, I honestly thought we were not one of the better trucks. We looked at a lot of data overnight and made it better, so super grateful for those guys for their hard work overnight. The guys back at the shop have been working hard to get this Gateway truck ready, so awesome to bring home our Tundra p1 in the Toyota 200, so that is another special event for us. This was my second ever win – and first win on a non-superspeedway, so it means everything to come back here, espeically with my illness from last year – just watching from the sidelines – just grateful to be back and healthy this year, and picking up a win.”
DAVID GILLILAND, partner, TRICON Garage
How much does this win mean to the team?
“We felt like as a team we had a couple mistakes and we had a truck capable of winning last week and obviously with what happened with the penalty and the DQ – there is two ways you can handle those situations, and we presented it with how do we learn from it, how do we make ourselves better and we were better today. This is a championship quality team, championship quality organization. Really proud of what Scott (Zipadelli, crew chief) and Corey (Heim) and TRICON Garage was able to do today. This is a huge win. When you have setbacks like we did last week, it is how a team bounces back from that stuff – to me – that makes a team, and today proves where we are at.”
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in the U.S. for more than 65 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our nearly 1,500 dealerships.
Toyota directly employs more than 49,000 people in the U.S. who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of more than 34 million cars and trucks at our nine manufacturing plants. By 2025, Toyota’s 10th plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles. With more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, Toyota currently offers 28 electrified options.
Through its Driving Possibilities initiative, the Toyota USA Foundation has committed to creating innovative educational programs within, and in partnership with, historically underserved and diverse communities near the company’s U.S. operating sites.
DETROIT, Michigan (June 1, 2024) – The No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 captured victory on Saturday afternoon on the streets of Detroit, with Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque handing the Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti (WTRAndretti) the team its second win of the 2024 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season. Saturday’s 100-minute sprint race marked the debut of the GTP class on the streets of Detroit, and for both Taylor and Albuquerque, it was their first win since Road America in 2022.
On the tight 1.645-mile street circuit after qualifying fourth, Filipe Albuquerque knew the start of the Detroit Grand Prix would be a key moment to gain positions and the Portuguese driver did exactly that, moving up into second. From there, Albuquerque stayed in contention and eventually inherited the lead after the No. 6 Porsche received a penalty. With this being a 100-minute race, it brought the unique element of a one stop race, with fuel and driver change only being the strategy call. When coming to pit lane, the blue and black WTRAndretti crew executed what they needed to do and sent Ricky Taylor back out into second position with an hour left on the clock. Taylor knew he had a strong car and patiently waited for the perfect moment to make a stellar pass, taking the lead up the inside of Turn 3 with 26 minutes remaining. Once in the lead, despite a string of cautions, Taylor kept his head down and brought home the long overdue victory.
The No. 40 DEX Imaging Acura ARX-06 team rallied through the streets of Detroit to end the day with a top-five result. Jordan Taylor took the green flag and looked to gain positions on the start but unfortunately got shuffled back in the running order. As the opening stint played out, Taylor was able to work his way towards the front before the pit stop. With only fuel taken at the stop and a driver change to Louis Delétraz, the No. 40 WTRAndretti crew went to work and sent the No. 40 back out to stay in contention. Delétraz was able to battle all the way to the end to earn the team’s second consecutive top-five finish.
The WTRAndretti team will return to endurance racing with the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen from Watkins Glen International on June 20-23, 2024.
Wayne Taylor, Team Principal, WTRAndretti: “This was a fantastic result for the entire WTRAndretti team, both the No. 10 car and the No. 40 car. The team has worked flawlessly all week. We’ve had a rough time in the last two races, but we seem to have got everything back together. I can’t say enough about all our partners: Konica Minolta, DEX Imaging and our partnership with HRC as well as Michael Andretti’s group. This has been a long time coming, and I was ecstatic. Obviously, in the championship the No. 40 car is closer to being in the front than the No. 10 car, so we were debating what to do during the race. But the No. 10 car seemed to be in a different league, so we didn’t have to figure out how we would handle things. I’m so ecstatic.”
Michael Andretti, Chairman and CEO, Andretti Global: “I’m really excited to be here. I’ve been here now for the two wins this year. It’s exciting to be part of the No. 10 win and the No. 40 win. Hopefully this is a good sign for the rest of the year, get some more wins and get the championship.” No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 GTP Drivers Ricky Taylor: “This is Filipe and I’s fourth year together, and we’ve had a lot of success together. The No. 10 Konica Minolta car was on a roll for our first three years together, and we’ve had a really rough last year and a half. We were really struggling and hadn’t had a win in a long time, and it seemed nothing could go our way. First of all, everybody at HRC and Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti worked really hard to put us back in the game. Street courses were not our thing. This year we haven’t been fighting for wins outside of Sebring. Everybody really turned our season around and we had performance. In qualifying, it looked like Filipe and Jordan could have been fighting for a top three very easily. Starting fourth on a track that’s so difficult to pass on, we thought a podium would be a bit of a win. Filipe really set the tone of the race with his start. We were on the wrong side of the road, as the clean track is on the left, and we were on the bumpy outside, so we were going to be happy with a podium. But Filipe made the move on the outside and put us in the lead on his first stint. Fast forwarding to later in the race, we couldn’t believe we found ourselves effectively third on the road for that first restart. Nasr had a coming together which put us second, then it was a battle for the lead. The Porsche was really strong on short runs after restarts, so the longer it went, we could claw our way back. The Acura guys and the whole WTRAndretti team have made a really strong car in the braking zones, and that was where we were able to get it done. I think, had it not been for that one GT car, if we’d had all those restarts after and the way the race went, that was probably my last shot to get the Porsche, and I’m really relieved that we took advantage of it because it was still quite a long way to go. You’d have thought there’d have been more opportunities, but with how good they were on restarts, I don’t think I would have had another chance. There’s just so many people on the No. 10 car that have come around since we’ve expanded, and haven’t had any success on the No. 10 car, so happy for our group on the Konica Minolta side.”
Filipe Albuquerque: “We are happy about this weekend. We had more pace than in other races in the past, so we knew we could do well. But to be honest, after what’s been happening to us, we needed to be humble so we thought a podium would be good for us. But again, at the end of the day, we are racers. We go wherever opportunity takes us, and I think the start was a good example of that. I was just a bit worried about the hairpin there with our cars since they are bigger, but the car felt good braking down, and I was in second, so I was pretty happy about it. I could see as well that the Porsche in front of me took out a Ferrari, so I could see that penalty coming. Eventually I was leading, and as awkward as it is, I was actually nervous. It’s been a while since we were leading a sprint race with the car doing well. It was not easy; there was still a lot to go. I was a bit nervous about the pit stop since it’s so hard to get in and go tight to the right side with our cars. But the pit stop went well and made no mistakes, so I was super happy to hand the car over in first place, but there was still so much to go. I told the team to stay calm and keep going, and Ricky went in and made the pass. I’m super proud of my teammate and the No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 team.”
No. 40 DEX Imaging Acura ARX-06 GTP Drivers Louis Delétraz: “Considering our speed today, P5 is very good points. First of all, a massive congratulations to the No. 10 car and WTRAndretti for the second win of the season. They deserve it, and they’ve been unlucky so far this year. I’m very happy for the whole team. For us, we didn’t have the pace today. I was sliding all over for the last hour, but to finish in fifth and get those points is very good.”
Jordan Taylor: “We didn’t have a great start, and that set the tone for the first part of the race. It was tough to pass or make moves. We had a good strategy call to make the stop in traffic and had a good driver change and execution there, so we were able to jump up a couple spots. I don’t think we had the outright pace this weekend on the No. 40 DEX Imaging car side, but I think it’s decent to at least salvage a fifth-place finish. We beat a couple of the guys in the championship hunt, but some of the others beat us. But overall, a good day for the WTRAndretti team itself. Good for the No. 10 car to get their money off their back these last couple years and get another win.”
ABOUT WTRANDRETTI Andretti Global and Wayne Taylor Racing announced a new, long-term partnership in 2023 that combines the resources of the two championship-caliber teams to compete in IMSA’s top classes. In 2024, Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti (WTRAndretti) has expanded to a two-car GTP program as well as competes in the GTD class. Coming off its 2023 championship winning effort, WTRAndretti continues its Driver Development Program competing in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America series with a full stable.
WTRAndretti’s global motorsports enterprise boasts two IMSA driver championships (2013 and 2017), and back-to-back IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup Championships (2020, 2021) which contributed to nine IMSA manufacturer championships for Acura, Pontiac, Corvette and Cadillac. In its brief 17-year history, WTRAndretti has accumulated multiple victories in sportscar racing’s most iconic events: Rolex 24 At Daytona, Twelve Hours of Sebring, Petit Le Mans, Mid-Ohio, Road America and the Six Hours of The Glen. With its back-to-back PRO Class Championship wins (2022, 2023), WTR also has ten North America Lamborghini Super Trofeo Championship titles and a Lamborghini World Finals title.
Andretti Global, a Championship-winning motorsports organization, competes in additional racing categories worldwide, including the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, Extreme E, Australian Supercars and the Mexico SuperCopa Championship. Additionally, the racing enterprise commits to driver development through competition in INDY NXT by Firestone and through support of Sebastian and Oliver Wheldon’s racing careers.
WTRAndretti’s long term partnerships include Acura, Honda Racing Corporation US (HRC), Konica Minolta Business Solutions USA, DEX Imaging, Harrison Contracting Company and Gainbridge.
DETROIT (June 1, 2024) – Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports and its two Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs were dealt cruel hands Saturday as the program’s effort to post a victory on the streets of downtown Detroit came up short.
The No. 3 and No. 4 Corvettes finished 10th and ninth, respectively, in the GTD PRO class of the Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. It brought an end to what had been a fantastic weekend with the Corvettes returning to race in Detroit – and for the first time on the city’s downtown street circuit.
Tommy Milner and Nicky Catsburg in the No. 4 Corvette led the Z06 GT3.R effort, followed by class pole-sitter Antonio Garcia and Alexander Sims. The pair of yellow Corvettes began the race first and second in class with hopes of finishing that way for the Z06 GT3.R’s first win in IMSA.
Disaster struck first and at the start for the No. 3 Corvette. Garcia had to pit at the end of the first lap with an alternator problem. By the time he rejoined the race, he and Sims were well down the order and treated the rest of the race as an extended test session for the first-year Corvette.
That moved Milner to the class lead. He quickly opened a lead of more than two seconds in the opening 20 minutes and set the fastest GTD PRO race lap along the way. He made the No. 4 team’s only pit stop with a little more than hour to go and handed over to Catsburg, who rejoined after taking just fuel but under a full-course caution period.
On the restart, Catsburg was spun from the lead at the end of the Detroit circuit’s long backstretch. The Corvette suffered damage to the front-left corner but was able to continue to the end of the race.
The next IMSA event for the Corvette Z06 GT3.R is the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen on Sunday, June 23.
CORVETTE RACING BY PRATT MILLER MOTORSPORTS POST-EVENT DRIVER QUOTES
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “Not the day we wanted. The most difficult part of the race was the start with all the GTPs and GTD PROs together. But we got through it 1-2 which is what we wanted. To me that was 50 percent of the race. But then to be called into the pits, I couldn’t believe it. A very tough and cruel day for us.”
ALEXANDER SIMS, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “These are never going to be easy events, but it seemed like in practice and qualifying that we were going to have a nice, sensible race at the front of the field. Not long after the start, it became obvious that this wasn’t going to be the case on our car. It was a huge disappointment and tough. Everyone is working hard but we can always find ways to get better.”
TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “We can look at the weekend as a whole and be proud of what we showed and how good these Corvettes are. Obviously in the race you have a wildcard, especially on a street track where we are put in situations that encourage those kinds of accidents. Unfortunately we were on the wrong end of it. Every single one of the people on this team can hold their heads high for what we achieved this weekend. We showed the car is very fast, and it was really impressive how good it was on the streets here. We were just unlucky in the race.”
NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “I would say that we didn’t get the result we deserved. But we also have to look at ourselves and be better. In my case, I guess I should have known that the 14 was going to send it the way he did and should have anticipated it. Some other issues we had in regards to tire pressure could have been avoided as well. I think we deserved more. We had a fast car. I feel like we deserved to come away with an awesome result in our home race. It didn’t work, but it never really helps to blame everyone and everything around you. We can look in the mirror and try to be better next time.”
Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.
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