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CORVETTE RACING AT LE MANS: TF Sport Sees the Checkered Flag

By
Official Release
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Both Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs finish full 24 hours in treacherous LMGT3 battle

LE MANS, France (June 16, 2024) – TF Sport and the Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R program achieved the goal of completing the 24 Hours of Le Mans on Sunday as the pair of first-year GT3 Corvettes completed the full race in a challenging and treacherous 24-hour battle.

Both Corvettes combined to complete 545 laps for 4,616 miles in the race. It wasn’t just the first Le Mans for the Corvette GT3 entry but also the first in the French classic for the TF Sport/Chevrolet partnership.

The No. 82 Corvette of Hiroshi Koizumi, Sebastien Baud and Corvette factory driver Daniel Juncadella led the TF Sport effort with an 11th-place finish after starting 18th and completed 278 laps in the LMGT3 class. The No. 81 sister car of Tom Van Rompuy, Rui Andrade and factory driver Daniel Juncadella placed 15th as Porsche took the class win.

This was the second 24-hour race for the Z06 GT3.R this year, the first coming at the Rolex 24 At Daytona to open the IMSA season. Le Mans also marked the fourth round of this year’s FIA World Endurance Championship.

Weather played a role in multiple parts of the race, which put a premium on limiting mistakes and staying on track. For a large majority, that’s what the TF Sport team did even in a couple of treacherous conditions. The most notable was a four-hour-plus safety car period due to heavy rain that started just shy of halfway.

Bronze-rated drivers Van Rompuy (No. 81 Corvette) and Koizumi (No. 82 Z06 GT3.R) were at the wheel for the bulk of the safety car period. The cars circulated the circuit at 80 kph until the rains let up enough for the field to safely return to racing.

The lengthy period did allow Van Rompuy and Koizumi to complete a bulk of their six-hour minimum drive time – a requirement for Bronze and Silver drivers. Both continued to put in solid laps before the race’s only significant issue struck with Eastwood at the wheel of the No. 81 Corvette – a power system problem that the team eventually rectified but not before losing more than 10 laps.

Other than that, the cars and teams ran like clockwork, even in challenging weather early and a late rain shower that was heavy enough for the team to change to wet-weather tires with two hours to go.

The only other significant issues for the No. 81 Corvette was a trip to the garage to change the nose of the car during the race’s first safety car period near the eight-hour mark. On the No. 82 side, a couple of minor off-track excursions and a clutch system issue were the only items of note in the first two-thirds of the race.

The next race for TF Sport in the FIA World Endurance Championship is the Six Hours of São Paulo (Brazil) on Sunday, July 14.

TF SPORT DRIVER POST-RACE QUOTES

CHARLIE EASTWOOD, NO. 81 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “I’m happy to get to the end of the race. It threw close to everything at us, especially with the weather and conditions. There were a lot of tricky stints. There wasn’t a single stint in full dry conditions, which I can’t believe in a 24-hour race. All in all, I’m super proud of everyone for all of the work that has been happening – both from the GM and Corvette Racing side but also TF Sport. The rate of development that we’ve had with this car in this space of six months has been insane. Hopefully the development continues and we come back here next year even stronger.”

En Française: “Je suis heureux d’arriver au bout de la course. Nous avons eu droit à presque tout, surtout avec la météo et les conditions. Il y a eu beaucoup de relais délicats. Il n’y a pas eu un seul relais sur le sec, ce qui est incroyable dans une course de 24 heures. Dans l’ensemble, je suis très fier de tout le monde pour le travail accompli – à la fois du côté de GM et de Corvette Racing, mais aussi de TF Sport. Le rythme de développement de cette voiture en l’espace de six mois a été incroyable. J’espère que le développement se poursuivra et que nous reviendrons ici l’année prochaine encore plus forts.”

RUI ANDRADE, NO. 81 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “We were just unlucky today, and this is how Le Mans is. It usually brings everything at you. I think we had a solid run – no mistakes by the drivers or teams. We weren’t the fastest car in the class, but we were definitely maximizing what we had. Unfortunately these things happen. The car ran faultlessly for most of the race. After the power hiccup, we continued to fight back. There are a lot of positives to take away from this race.”

En Française: “Nous n’avons pas eu de chance aujourd’hui, mais c’est comme ça au Mans. Il y a toujours tout ce qu’il faut. Je pense que nous avons fait une bonne course – aucune erreur de la part des pilotes ou des équipes. Nous n’étions pas la voiture la plus rapide de la catégorie, mais nous avons vraiment maximisé ce que nous avions. Malheureusement, ce sont des choses qui arrivent. La voiture a fonctionné sans problème pendant la plus grande partie de la course. Après le problème de moteur, nous avons continué à nous battre. Il y a beaucoup de points positifs à retenir de cette course.

TOM VAN ROMPUY, NO. 81 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “I’m happy that we brought the car home. Obviously we always hope for more, but that means only one thing: come back stronger next year. But here we did all we could which was in our hands. I’m happy to make it to the finish after all the things that were thrown at us with the conditions and the weather. Now it’s time for a good sleep!”

En française: “Je suis heureux d’avoir ramené la voiture à l’arrivée. Évidemment, nous espérons toujours plus, mais cela ne signifie qu’une chose : revenir plus fort l’année prochaine. Mais ici, nous avons fait tout ce que nous pouvions, ce qui était entre nos mains. Je suis heureux d’avoir atteint l’arrivée après tout ce qui nous est arrivé avec les conditions et la météo. Maintenant, il est temps de dormir un peu !”

DANIEL JUNCADELLA, NO. 82 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “We made it to the end, which is an amazing accomplishment. We lost the clutch six or seven hours in, so that was quite insane. I’m very happy with the result considering some of the difficulties today. We got behind by three laps but finished two laps back, so that is encouraging. All in all, it was a great first experience for me at Le Mans. I had a lot of driving in all conditions, and the Corvette handled very good. It actually got better throughout the race, and I’m quite happy with that. Thanks to TF Sport, the guys at GM Corvette Racing and Pratt Miller for all their work this week. It’s such a pleasure to be part of such a big program. I’m looking forward to many more.”

En Française: “Nous sommes allés jusqu’au bout, ce qui est un exploit. Nous avons perdu l’embrayage au bout de six ou sept heures, c’était un peu fou. Je suis très heureux du résultat compte tenu des difficultés rencontrées aujourd’hui. Nous avons été distancés de trois tours, mais nous avons terminé à deux tours, ce qui est encourageant. Dans l’ensemble, ce fut une excellente première expérience pour moi au Mans. J’ai eu l’occasion de conduire dans toutes les conditions et la Corvette s’est très bien comportée. Elle s’est même améliorée tout au long de la course, et j’en suis très heureux. Merci à TF Sport, aux gens de GM Corvette Racing et à Pratt Miller pour tout le travail accompli cette semaine. C’est un plaisir de faire partie d’un programme aussi important. Je suis impatient d’en connaître d’autres.”

SEBASTIEN BAUD, NO. 82 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “We have finished Le Mans in the “Rookie Car” with Dani and Hiroshi! So I am happy for this and it is good for my experience and to keep developing the Corvette. Of course I’m a competitor and I would have liked a better result in LMGT3. But P11 isn’t too bad. I hope we come back next year to improve because I think the car is good around here. We had some problems with top speed and mechanically with the clutch. It was difficult to manage and keep moving up. But the team kept fighting back, and myself, Dani and Hiroshi pushed a lot. I liked Le Mans, I like his place and I like all the fans here. It’s amazing, and the car is so nice around this track. I hope we keep continuing to improve, and my goal continues to be winning a race this year with Corvette.”

En Française: “Nous avons terminé Le Mans dans la “Rookie Car” avec Dani et Hiroshi ! Je suis donc heureux de ce résultat, qui me permet d’acquérir de l’expérience et de continuer à développer la Corvette. Bien sûr, je suis un compétiteur et j’aurais aimé un meilleur résultat en LMGT3. Mais P11 n’est pas si mal. J’espère que nous reviendrons l’année prochaine pour nous améliorer parce que je pense que la voiture est bonne ici. Nous avons eu quelques problèmes de vitesse de pointe et de mécanique avec l’embrayage. C’était difficile de gérer et de continuer à progresser. Mais l’équipe a continué à se battre, et moi-même, Dani et Hiroshi avons beaucoup poussé. J’ai aimé Le Mans, j’aime cet endroit et j’aime tous les fans ici. C’est incroyable, et la voiture est tellement agréable sur ce circuit. J’espère que nous continuerons à nous améliorer, et mon objectif reste de gagner une course cette année avec Corvette.”

HIROSHI KOIZUMI, NO. 82 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “First off all, it’s good to finish the race. At the beginning, it wasn’t planned that I would drive at night. I had no practice during the week. The plan was to have Dani and Seb drive those hours. But getting in the car at that time of night and in the rain was challenging. As a team sport, my job is to keep the car safe and give it to my teammates. And I feel that I did that. Motorsports and racing at this level, it’s not easy to get a good result especially at Le Mans. But I hope I can try this race again with Dani and Seb as my partners.”

En française: “Tout d’abord, c’est bien de terminer la course. Au départ, il n’était pas prévu que je roule de nuit. Je n’ai pas eu d’entraînement pendant la semaine. Le plan était de faire rouler Dani et Seb pendant ces heures. Mais monter dans la voiture à cette heure de la nuit et sous la pluie était un défi. En tant que sport d’équipe, mon travail consiste à assurer la sécurité de la voiture et à la donner à mes coéquipiers. Et je pense que c’est ce que j’ai fait. En sport automobile et à ce niveau, il n’est pas facile d’obtenir un bon résultat, surtout au Mans. Mais j’espère que je pourrai tenter à nouveau cette course avec Dani et Seb comme partenaires.”

About Chevrolet
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Cadillac at Le Mans: Fight to the finish

By
Official Release
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No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R starts, finishes seventh in the endurance classic

LE MANS, France (June 16, 2024) – In what had been a cruel FIA World Endurance Championship season to date, the No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R team discovered rays of sunshine and promise through the rain clouds at Circuit de la Sarthe.

WEC full-season teammates Earl Bamber and Alex Lynn, complemented by two-time IndyCar champion Alex Palou, fought eight other Hypercar manufacturers on a slick 8.47-mile asphalt battleground to place seventh in the 92nd 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Briggs Cunningham would be proud.

The entrepreneur entered the first Cadillacs – a pair of Series 61 coupes, including the low-slung “Le Monstre” – at Le Mans in 1950. Though the cars did not earn a podium finish, efforts by the drivers and entire team won over the French faithful.

Individuals involved in motorsports, whether intricately or peripherally, understand the magnitude, the romance and the history of certain global events. The 24 Hours of Le Mans, with a legacy of iconic sports cars and legendary drivers, sits atop the endurance race list.

It’s a reason why Cadillac, an iconic brand itself, decided to enter FIA WEC competition. Third- and fourth-place finishes in 2023 in Cadillac’s return to Circuit de la Sarthe after a 21-year absence offered promise for the ultimate prize this year. The objective was not realized in a race dampened by overnight and afternoon rain and multiple on-track incidents that dispatched the Safety Car for more than five hours.

But in an exhibition of performance, strategy and teamwork on the 8.47-mile (13.629 kilometers) circuit, Cadillac Racing continued to make a statement of strength in the field of 23 Hypercars. The No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R started seventh in the race that totaled 311 laps and led 61.

“We led the race for long periods of time. Ultimately, didn’t swing in our favor with the weather at the end. But that’s sort of Le Mans and racing,” Bamber said. “We can be proud as a program about what we’ve achieved, how much we’ve gone forward. Now we just need a result to show for it. Other than that, I think we’ve made big leaps and bounds forward.”

Cadillac Racing’s second WEC season began with a fourth-place finish at Qatar that was nullified because of an unintentional technical infringement. After a sub-par race result at Imola, the No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R was competing for a podium spot at Spa-Francorchamps in May when contact with two other cars that caused a lengthy red flag not only produced a DNF but a five-spot grid penalty that FIA stewards enforced at Le Mans.

The No. 50 Ferrari AF Corse won the race.

The No. 311 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R, the reigning IMSA Grand Touring Prototype team champion, was running in and out of the top 10 until Pipo Derani lost control of the car in the Indianapolis Curve and made contact with the tire barrier with 5 hours, 24 minutes left. He was able to limp the car back to pit lane, where the Action Express Racing team immediately began assessing what would be needed to get back out and finish the race. Derani was uninjured in the incident.

The team systematically completed repairs and returned to the track with 3 hours, 14 minutes left. The No. 311 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R, with Derani, Jack Aitken and 2022 F2 champion Felipe Drugovich making his Le Mans debut co-driving, finished 29th overall and 15th in class.

Five among the 23 Hypercars did not finish, including the No. 3 Cadillac V-Series.R, with IMSA teammates Sebastien Bourdais and Renger van der Zande complemented by six-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon. They were running in the top 10 most of the race before the discovery of an oil tank puncture with 5 hours, 45 minutes left that caused the entry to retire.

GM said in a statement: With nearly six hours left in the race, a puncture of the oil tank was discovered on the No. 3 Cadillac V-Series.R sustained during the Safety Car period. As a result, the racecar had to retire. We will regroup to understand what caused the issue and be ready to race again.

The No. 3 Cadillac V-Series.R started on the front row for Cadillac Racing’s highest position for the green flag since its initial venture to Sarthe in 1950.

Cadillac Racing will be pointing to the 2025 event scheduled for June 14-15.

Bourdais, van der Zande, Derani and Aitken are back in action June 21-23 at Watkins Glen International for the Sahlen’s 6 Hours of The Glen, which is the third of five races in the Michelin IMSA Endurance Cup and sixth race in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season.

The next FIA WEC race for Bamber and Lynn is July 12-13 at Interlagos in Brazil.

What they’re saying

No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R

Earl Bamber: “We definitely came here much more prepared than last year. We ticked all the boxes that we wanted to improve on. We led the race for long periods of time. Ultimately, didn’t swing in our favor with the weather at the end. But that’s sort of Le Mans and racing. We can be proud as a program about what we’ve achieved, how much we’ve gone forward. Now we just need a result to show for it. Other than that, I think we’ve made big leaps and bounds forward.”

Alex Lynn: “We absolutely gave it our everything all week. It’s been a close fight, led a lot of laps and Ferrari and Toyota coming out just a little better than us similar to last year. We’ll regroup and go again. I’m proud of the efforts of everybody at Cadillac, Chip Ganassi Racing and those who support us.”

Alex Palou: “It was a lot of fun till the end just because of that hope of trying to get the win but failing at the end. It was a great experience the first time doing Le Mans with Cadillac. I learned a lot and looking forward to the next one. (night stint) It was actually the first time I drove in the rain at night. It was a first time for many things this year.”

No. 3 Cadillac V-Series.R

Sebastien Bourdais: “It’s a shame we’ve had DNFs in the two biggest races of the year, but it’s part of racing. We tried to fight as much as we could and did the best we could. Now we’re going to go back to the States and tackle the six hours (Watkins Glen) – another tough event. We have work to do because we weren’t very good there last year and we didn’t have the luxury to go testing with the tight schedule. We hopefully made some good progress on the hard tire and the set-up for Watkins and we’ll keep pushing. We’re second in the championship so we’ll try to maximize the results.”

Renger van der Zande: “I think we would have been up there at the end. We lost all the time with the rain tires in the first two hours. Then we stayed in there and kept the gap to the leaders the same for almost 15 hours and then we finally got the break with the Safety Car with the merge and that’s when the issue arose with the car. It’s a lot of hard work from everyone at Cadillac, GM, Chip Ganassi Racing, the drivers and everybody involved and an amazing experience to do Le Mans with this group, but it’s really a shame we had to end it this way.”

Scott Dixon: “It was definitely an eventful race. I think conditions alone created a lot of strange things. The sad part is we were back in it on the lead lap. We had the Safety Car pack-up and were going to restart seventh or eighth. All would had been on for a decent finish. That’s how racing goes. It was a lot of fun to be here again with Cadillac.”

No. 311 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R

Pipo Derani: “Unfortunately, we don’t know if it was water running across the track from the cars that went by before me or debris, but I did lose the car suddenly and had no time to react. I had a big impact but fortunately everything is OK with me. It’s a shame because we were trying to fight our way back onto the lead lap. Racing at Le Mans sometimes can be cruel, you live and learn and try to be better next time.”

Jack Aitken: “It was another tough Le Mans similar to last year with really difficult weather conditions for everybody. Everyone made a few mistakes in terms of putting on the right tire at the right time. We were fighting to stay on the lead lap but it was slightly on the back foot for a lot of the race. Then, unfortunately, we had an accident this morning but amazingly got the car running and back out. It was a great job by the crew and we managed to finish with two Caddys. Encouraging but ultimately a frustrating experience for everyone. That’s Le Mans, it’s tough.”

Felipe Drugovich: “It’s been an amazing experience. We got here 10 days ago and it started with a festival. I really enjoyed every activity we got to do. The race was complicated since the beginning. We started already on the back foot with the track position, trying to move forward with the rain didn’t work out. It didn’t go our way, but from my side I’m really happy and thankful as well to Cadillac and all the GM people.”

Cadillac au Mans: Un résultat sur lequel on peut construire

LE MANS, France (le 16 juin 2024) – Dans ce qui a été une saison difficile en Championnat du Monde d’Endurance de la FIA, le team de la Cadillac V-Series.R n°2 a découvert des rayons de soleil et des promesses à travers les nuages de pluie sur le Circuit de la Sarthe.

Les coéquipiers de la saison du WEC, Earl Bamber et Alex Lynn, ainsi que le double champion d’IndyCar Alex Palou, se sont battus contre huit autres constructeurs en hypercars.

Les personnes impliquées dans le sport automobile, de près ou de loin, comprennent l’ampleur, le romantisme et l’histoire de certains événements mondiaux. Les 24 heures du Mans, avec leur lot de voitures de sport emblématiques et de pilotes légendaires, figurent en tête de liste des courses d’endurance.

C’est la raison pour laquelle Cadillac, elle-même une marque emblématique, a décidé de participer au WEC de la FIA. Les troisième et quatrième places obtenues en 2023 lors du retour de Cadillac sur le circuit de la Sarthe après 21 ans d’absence laissaient présager le prix ultime cette année. L’objectif n’a pas été atteint lors d’une course perturbée par la pluie de la nuit et de l’après-midi et par de multiples incidents sur la piste qui ont entraîné le recours à la voiture de sécurité pendant plus de cinq heures.

Mais dans une démonstration de performance, de stratégie et de travail d’équipe, le Cadillac Racing a continué d’affirmer sa force dans le peloton des 23 Hypercars. La deuxième saison de Cadillac Racing a commencé par une quatrième place au Qatar, annulée en raison d’une infraction technique involontaire. Après un résultat médiocre à Imola, la Cadillac V-Series.R n°2 était en lice pour une place sur le podium à Spa-Francorchamps en mai lorsqu’un contact avec deux autres voitures, qui a provoqué un long drapeau rouge, a entraîné non seulement un DNF mais aussi une pénalité de cinq places sur la grille que les commissaires de la FIA ont appliquée au Mans.

“Nous avons mené la course pendant de longues périodes. En fin de compte, la météo n’a pas joué en notre faveur à la fin. Mais c’est le propre du Mans et de la course”, a déclaré Bamber. “Nous pouvons être fiers, en tant que programme, de ce que nous avons accompli, de ce que nous avons fait pour progresser. Il ne nous reste plus qu’à obtenir un résultat. A part cela, je pense que nous avons fait de grands pas en avant”.

La Ferrari AF Corse n°50 a remporté la course.

La Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R n°311, championne en titre de l’IMSA Grand Touring Prototype, faisait des allers-retours dans le top 10 jusqu’à ce que Pipo Derani perde le contrôle de la voiture dans le virage d’Indianapolis et entre en contact avec la barrière de pneus à 5 heures et 24 minutes de la fin de la course. Il a pu ramener la voiture aux stands, où l’équipe d’Action Express Racing a immédiatement commencé à évaluer ce qu’il fallait faire pour repartir et terminer la course. Derani n’a pas été blessé dans l’incident.

L’équipe a systématiquement effectué les réparations et est revenue sur la piste à 3 heures et 14 minutes de la fin de la course. La Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R n° 311, copilotée par Derani, Jack Aitken et Felipe Drugovich, champion de F2 en 2022, qui faisait ses débuts au Mans, a terminé 29e au classement général et 15e dans sa catégorie.

Cadillac V-Series.R n°2

Earl Bamber: “Nous sommes arrivés ici beaucoup mieux préparés que l’année dernière. Nous avons coché toutes les cases que nous voulions améliorer. Nous avons mené la course pendant de longues périodes. En fin de compte, la météo n’a pas joué en notre faveur. Mais c’est un peu le Mans et la course. Nous pouvons être fiers, en tant que programme, de ce que nous avons accompli, des progrès que nous avons réalisés. Il ne nous reste plus qu’à obtenir un résultat. Pour le reste, je pense que nous avons fait de grands pas en avant.”

Alex Lynn: “Nous avons tout donné toute la semaine. La lutte a été serrée, nous avons mené beaucoup de tours et Ferrari et Toyota ont été un peu meilleurs que nous, comme l’an dernier. Nous allons nous regrouper et repartir. Je suis fier des efforts de tout le monde chez Cadillac, Chip Ganassi Racing et de ceux qui nous soutiennent.”

Alex Palou: “C’était très amusant jusqu’à la fin, simplement parce qu’il y avait l’espoir d’essayer d’obtenir la victoire mais en échouant à la fin. C’était une grande expérience, la première fois que je participais au Mans avec Cadillac. J’ai beaucoup appris et j’attends avec impatience la prochaine édition.

(relais de nuit) C’était la première fois que je conduisais sous la pluie, de nuit. C’était la première fois pour beaucoup de choses cette année.

Cadillac V-Series.R n°3

Sébastien Bourdais: “C’est dommage que nous ayons eu des DNF dans les deux plus grandes courses de l’année, mais cela fait partie de la course. Nous avons essayé de nous battre autant que possible et nous avons fait de notre mieux. Maintenant, nous allons retourner aux États-Unis et nous attaquer aux six heures (Watkins Glen), une autre épreuve difficile.Nous avons du travail à faire car nous n’étions pas très bons l’année dernière et nous n’avons pas eu le luxe de faire des essais avec un calendrier serré. Nous espérons avoir fait de bons progrès sur le pneu dur et les réglages pour Watkins Glen et nous allons continuer à pousser. Nous sommes deuxièmes au championnat, nous allons donc essayer de maximiser les résultats.

Renger van der Zande: “Je pense que nous aurions pu être là à la fin. Nous avons perdu du temps avec les pneus pluie dans les deux premières heures. Ensuite, nous sommes restés dans la course et nous avons maintenu l’écart avec les leaders pendant près de 15 heures, puis nous avons finalement obtenu une pause avec la voiture de sécurité lors de la fusion et c’est là que le problème est apparu avec la voiture. C’est un énorme travail de la part de Cadillac, GM, le Chip Ganassi Racing, des pilotes et de toutes les personnes impliquées. C’est une expérience incroyable de faire Le Mans avec ce groupe, mais c’est vraiment dommage que nous ayons dû finir de cette façon.

Scott Dixon: “C’était vraiment une course mouvementée. Je pense que les conditions à elles seules ont créé beaucoup de choses étranges. Ce qui est triste, c’est que nous étions de retour dans le tour de tête. La voiture de sécurité s’est arrêtée et nous devions repartir en septième ou huitième position. Tout aurait été possible pour une bonne fin de course. C’est ainsi que se déroulent les courses. C’était très amusant d’être à nouveau ici avec Cadillac.”

Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R n°311

Pipo Derani: “Malheureusement, nous ne savons pas si c’est de l’eau qui a coulé sur la piste depuis les voitures qui sont passées avant moi ou des débris, mais j’ai perdu la voiture soudainement et je n’ai pas eu le temps de réagir. J’ai eu un gros impact mais heureusement tout va bien pour moi.C’est dommage parce que nous essayions de nous battre pour revenir dans le tour de tête. La course au Mans peut parfois être cruelle, vous vivez et apprenez et vous essayez d’être meilleur la prochaine fois.”

Jack Aitken : “Le Mans a été une nouvelle fois difficile, comme l’année dernière, avec des conditions météorologiques très difficiles pour tout le monde. Tout le monde a commis quelques erreurs en ce qui concerne le montage du bon pneu au bon moment. Nous nous sommes battus pour rester dans le tour de tête, mais nous avons été légèrement en retrait pendant une bonne partie de la course. Malheureusement, nous avons eu un accident ce matin, mais nous avons réussi à faire rouler la voiture et à la faire repartir.L’équipe a fait du bon travail et nous avons réussi à terminer avec deux Cadillac.

C’est encourageant, mais c’est une expérience frustrante pour tout le monde. C’est ça Le Mans, c’est difficile.

Felipe Drugovich: ” Ça a été une expérience extraordinaire. Nous sommes arrivés il y a dix jours et tout a commencé par un festival. J’ai vraiment apprécié toutes les activités que nous avons pu faire. La course a été compliquée dès le début. Nous avons commencé en étant déjà en retrait avec notre position sur la piste, en essayant de progresser sous la pluie, mais cela n’a pas fonctionné. Cela ne s’est pas passé comme nous le souhaitions, mais de mon côté, je suis vraiment heureux et reconnaissant envers Cadillac et toute l’équipe de GM.”

Mayer survives overtime shootout for dramatic Xfinity victory at Iowa

By
Andrew Kim
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Photo by Ron Olds for SpeedwayMedia.com.

Sam Mayer preserved his tires to the very end and fended off a late challenge from Riley Herbst during an overtime shootout to win the Hy-Vee PERKS 250 at Iowa Speedway on Saturday, June 15.

The 20-year-old Mayer from Franklin, Wisconsin, led three times for 47 of 253 over-scheduled laps in an event where he started fifth and ran up front for the majority of the event. Amid a series of on-track carnages that knocked a multitude of front runners out of contention due to tire explosions, Mayer, who nearly wrecked at the start of the second stage period on Lap 82 but led for the first time on Lap 169, made the event’s final pass for the lead on Herbst with seven laps remaining. Then amid an overtime shootout, Mayer managed to fend off Herbst for two laps to score his second NASCAR Xfinity Series victory of the 2024 season and cap off an eventful afternoon of competition in Iowa Speedway’s return to hosting Xfinity events.

With on-track qualifying that was scheduled to occur on Saturday canceled due to inclement weather, the starting lineup for the main event was determined through a performance metric system from the NASCAR Rule Book. As a result, Austin Hill was awarded the pole position.

Rookie Shane van Gisbergen, winner of last weekend’s Xfinity event at Sonoma Raceway, was scheduled to start alongside Hill on the front row but he dropped to the rear of the field in a backup car after he wrecked his primary car during Friday’s practice session. Patrick Emerling also dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to his respective entry.

When the green flag waved and the race started, Austin Hill muscled ahead with a brief advantage through the frontstretch until Justin Allgaier, who was scheduled to start in fourth place but moved up to start alongside Hill on the front row in second place, used the outside lane to his advantage as he rocketed his No. 7 BRANDT/Precision Build Chevrolet Camaro into the lead through the first two turns. Sheldon Creed then tried to battle Hill for the runner-up spot through the backstretch, but he slipped up the track while making light contact with Hill’s No. 21 Bennett Transportation Chevrolet Camaro. The contact cause Creed to slip into a side-by-side battle with Sam Mayer for third place as Hill retained second while Allgaier proceeded to lead the first lap.

During the proceeding four laps, Creed retained third place while teammate Chandler Smith moved his No. 81 Mobil 1 Toyota Supra into fourth place over Mayer. Amid a flurry of battles ensuing within the middle of the pack, Brennan Poole got loose off the front nose of Sammy Smith and nearly slipped up the track and into the path of Jeremy Clements in Turn 3, but all kept their respective entries running straight. Amid the tight side-by-side battles as the competitors in the mid-pack region fanned out to multiple lanes, Allgaier retained the lead by nearly half a second over Hill as Chandler Smith, Creed and Mayer were running in the top five.

Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Allgaier was leading by three-tenths of a second over Hill followed by Chandler Smith, Creed and John Hunter Nemechek while Mayer, Cole Custer, rookie Jesse Love, Riley Herbst and Corey Heim trailed in the top 10. Behind, Parker Kligerman followed suit in 11th place ahead of AJ Allmendinger, Ryan Sieg, Sammy Smith and Parker Retzlaff while Anthony Alfredo, Brandon Jones, Matt DiBenedetto, Brett Moffitt and Ross Chastain were in the top 20 ahead of Jeb Burton, Kyle Sieg, Brennan Poole, Leland Honeyman and Jeremy Clements. Meanwhile, Shane van Gisbergen was up to 33rd place while teammates Josh Williams and Daniel Dye were mired in 28th and 29th, respectively.

Five laps later, Chandler Smith overtook Allgaier to assume the lead. Smith would stretch his advantage to a second over Allgaier by the Lap 20 mark as Nemechek and Creed were up to third and fourth, respectively. Meanwhile, Hill, who was battling loose conditions, dropped to fifth while Mayer, Custer, Love, Herbst and Allmendinger followed suit in the top 10.

At the Lap 30 mark, Chandler Smith stabilized his advantage to more than a second over teammate Nemechek while third-place Creed, another Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, trailed by four seconds. In the midst of the three Joe Gibbs Racing competitors running first through third on the track, Allgaier trailed in fourth place by six seconds while Hill retained fifth. Allgaier and Hill would then battle for fourth place as Mayer, Custer, Herbst, Love and Allmendinger were in the top 10. By then, van Gisbergen was lapped by the leaders.

Three laps later, the event’s first caution period flew after Allmendinger, who was running 10th, blew a right-front tire and veered dead straight into the Turn 4 outside wall at full speed before he parked his damaged No. 16 Cirkul Chevrolet Camaro on the frontstretch’s grass and retired from the event. During the event’s first caution period, nearly the entire field led by Chandler Smith pitted while the rest led by teammate Nemechek and including Jeremy Clements and Ryan Ellis remained on the track. Shortly after the pit stops, Brandon Jones nursed his No. 9 Menards Chevrolet Camaro back to pit road as smoke was seen billowing out of his car with the driver battling oil pressure issues that would send the Georgian to the garage.

When the event restarted under green on Lap 42, Nemechek gained a brief advantage from the outside lane through the frontstretch, but he then went wide in Turn 1, which allowed Jeremy Clements to move his No. 51 Whitetail Smokeless Chevrolet Camaro into the lead from the inside lane. Clements would retain the lead through Lap 48 before Chandler Smith reassumed the lead. Smith would be followed by teammates Creed and Nemechek along with Mayer by the Lap 50 mark while Clements dropped to fifth ahead of Hill.

By Lap 60, Chandler Smith extended his advantage to more than a second over teammate Creed as Mayer, Nemechek and Custer trailed in the top five. Behind, Allgaier was up to sixth place and Clements dropped to seventh place, with Sammy Smith, Herbst and Moffitt following suit in the top 10 ahead of Love, Hill, Heim, Chastain and Ryan Sieg.

Nearing the Lap 70 mark, Chandler Smith continued to extend his advantage as he was leading by nearly three seconds over teammate Creed while JR Motorsports’ Mayer, Allgaier and Sammy Smith were up in the top five. Meanwhile, Nemechek dropped to ninth as he trailed Custer, teammate Moffitt and Heim on the track as Love occupied 10th place.

Two laps later, the event’s second caution period flew after Jeb Burton, who was running 14th, blew a right-front tire and scrubbed the outside wall through Turns 1 and 2. Burton’s incident was enough for the first stage period scheduled to conclude on Lap 75 to officially conclude under caution as Chandler Smith claimed his fourth Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Teammate Creed followed suit in second ahead of Mayer, Allgaier and Sammy Smith while Custer, Moffitt, Heim, Nemechek and Love were scored in the top 10.

Under the stage break, the entire lead lap field led by Chandler Smith pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Chandler Smith retained the lead after exiting first followed by teammate Creed, Custer, Sammy Smith, Mayer and Moffitt.

The second stage period started on Lap 82 as teammates Chandler Smith and Creed occupied the front row. At the start, both Joe Gibbs Racing teammates dueled for the lead until Smith muscled ahead from the outside lane while Creed got loose on the inside lane. Creed was then placed in a tight four-wide battle against Herbst, Mayer and Moffitt for fourth place through the backstretch while Custer and Sammy Smith grabbed second and third, respectively, through the backstretch.

Mayer then slid sideways after getting hit by Moffitt through Turns 3 and 4, but he kept his car running straight as the oncoming field behind scattered and fanned out to avoid hitting him. Amid the war of attrition in the middle of the pack, Chandler Smith proceeded to lead Custer by a tenth of a second by the Lap 85 mark while third-place Sammy Smith trailed by four-tenths of a second in third.

On Lap 87, the caution returned after van Gisbergen, who was mired in the top 25, got loose entering the backstretch and slipped up the track and into Blaine Perkins, which resulted in Perkins slapping the outside wall as van Gisbergen slid down the track and was hit hard by Kyle Weatherman, which took all three out of contention and spoiled van Gisbergen’s hopes of winning three consecutive Xfinity races.

As the event restarted under green on Lap 96, the two Smiths, Chandler and Sammy, battled for the lead, with the former edging ahead for nearly a lap from the outside lane until Sammy mounted the pressure on Chandler for the top spot after the latter slipped up the track. With the battle for the lead intensifying during the following lap, Chandler Smith would muscle ahead followed by Custer while Sammy Smith slipped to third. Behind, Chastain and Moffitt carved their way up to fourth and fifth, respectively, while Love trailed in sixth as Chandler Smith was leading by two-tenths of a second by the Lap 100 mark.

Fifteen laps later, Chandler Smith was leading by more than a second over Custer followed by Sammy Smith, Moffitt and Love while Chastain, Nemechek, Herbst, Allgaier and Mayer were in the top 10. Behind, Heim trailed in 11th place ahead of Creed, Kligerman, Ryan Sieg and Hill while Ryan Ellis, Leland Honeyman, Daniel Dye, Brennan Poole and Clements were scored in the top 20.

Then on Lap 123 and with a multitude of competitors battling for car control on the track’s paved surface, the caution flew after Patrick Emerling spun in Turn 1. During the caution period, some including Moffitt, Hill, Josh Williams, Ryan Sieg, Kligerman, Clements, Dawson Cram and Joey Gase pitted while the rest led by Chandler Smith remained on the track.

With the event restarting under green on Lap 132, Chandler Smith muscled ahead of Custer to retain the lead as Custer slipped through the first two turns. Custer’s misfortune cost him three spots as Sammy Smith, Chastain and Allgaier all moved up the leaderboard. Soon after, Allgaier and Custer made contact, but they continued to race in the top 10 as the field fanned out. Amid the battles in the middle of the pack, the battle for the lead between the two Smiths, Chandler and Sammy, began to intensify as the latter challenged the former for the top spot. Chastain and Mayer would close in to make the battle for the lead a four-car battle while Chandler Smith retained the top spot.

Just past the Lap 140 mark, Chandler Smith continued to lead by three-tenths of a second over Sammy Smith as Mayer, Chastain and Creed followed suit within a second in the top five. Behind, Heim was up to sixth place while Allgaier, Herbst, Love and Custer trailed in the top 10 ahead of Hill, DiBenedetto, Nemechek, Daniel Dye and Moffitt.

Then on the final lap of the second stage period, the caution flew due to 14th-place runner Love cutting a right-front tire and going dead straight into the outside wall in between Turns 3 and 4 as his event came a late end. The drama for Love would continue as his damaged No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Camaro went up in flames while being towed back to the garage.

Love’s incident was enough for the second stage period scheduled to conclude on Lap 150 to officially conclude under caution as Chandler Smith captured his fifth Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season and second of the day. Mayer muscled his way up to second place as he was followed by Chastain, Heim and Sammy Smith while Creed, Allgaier, Herbst, Custer and Hill were scored in the top 10.

During the stage break, nearly the entire lead lap field led by Chandler Smith returned to pit road for service while Josh Williams remained on the track, with the latter assuming the lead. Amid the pit stops, Ryan Sieg exited pit road second after he opted for a full tank of fuel to his entry.

With 90 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Williams and Ryan Sieg occupied the front row. At the start, Chandler Smith tried to force his way in between both for the lead, but Sieg muscled ahead with the lead. In addition, Mayer overtook both to assume the runner-up while Chandler Smith slipped. This resulted with Smith dropping out of race-winning contention and out of the top 10 on the track while Sieg was leading ahead of Mayer and a bevy of battles ensuing behind them.

With 80 laps remaining, Mayer, who overtook Ryan Sieg for the lead two laps earlier, was leading by six-tenths of a second over Creed followed by Ryan Sieg, Custer and Moffitt while Nemechek, Heim, Hill, Williams and Sammy Smith were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Chandler Smith was still mired in 12th.

Ten laps later, Mayer stabilized his advantage to half a second over Creed as Custer, Nemechek and Moffitt trailed in the top five. Behind, Chandler Smith retained 12th place as he was racing in between Allgaier and Chastain while Heim, Hill, Ryan Sieg, Sammy Smith and Williams were mired in the top 10.

Another 10 laps later, Mayer slightly extended his advantage to nine-tenths of a second over Creed as Custer, Nemechek and Heim followed suit in the top five. Meanwhile, Ryan Sieg and Moffitt, both of whom pitted under green a few laps earlier, were mired back in 25th and 27th, respectively.

With 50 laps remaining, Mayer stabilized his advantage to a second over Creed as Nemechek moved up to third place ahead of Custer and Heim. By then, Williams and Matt DiBenedetto had pitted under green. Another lap later, the caution flew after Allgaier blew a right-front tire and went dead straight into the outside wall entering Turn 4 as his strong run came to a late end.

During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Mayer pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Nemechek emerged with the lead after he exited first while teammate Creed, Mayer, Custer, Hill and Chandler Smith followed suit in the top six.

As the event restarted with 40 laps remaining, Nemechek muscled ahead with the lead from the outside lane followed by teammate Creed while Hill put the bumper to Mayer and moved Mayer in the middle of a three-wide battle as Hill tried to march his way back to the front. Then as Kligerman went wide and nearly hit the outside wall in between Turns 3 and 4, the battle for the lead intensified between teammates Nemechek and Creed as they dueled in front of Custer through the frontstretch. Creed then briefly wiggled in Turn 1, which allowed Nemechek to muscle back ahead as Custer and Hill overtook Creed for second and third on the track.

Then with 33 laps remaining, Hill’s chances of contending for the victory evaporated after a blown left-front tire sent Hill straight into the outside wall in Turn 1. With Hill out of contention, Nemechek had retained the lead while Custer, Creed, Mayer and Chandler Smith were scored in the top five.

Down to the final 26 laps of the event, the event restarted under green. At the start, Nemechek continued to make the outside lane work to his advantage as he muscled away from the field followed by Custer while Mayer, who restarted as the first competitor on the inside lane, settled in third and in front of Creed. Mayer would then overtake Custer for the runner-up spot during the following lap. He would retain the spot over Herbst and Custer over the next four laps before the caution flew as Brennan Poole went up in smoke and dropped fluid around the circuit.

The start of the next restart period with 13 laps remaining featured Nemechek fending off Herbst for nearly a lap before Herbst drew his No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang alongside Nemechek’s No. 20 Daisy Brands Toyota Supra in a late battle for the lead through the frontstretch. Herbst then managed to clear Nemechek and emerge with the lead and with both lanes to his control during the following lap while Creed battled Nemechek for the runner-up spot.

Shortly after, Nemechek and Creed made contact that resulted in Nemechek generating a tire rub and slipping out of the top five. Amid the contact, Mayer made his way into the runner-up spot. Heim, Custer and Chastain moved into the top five while Herbst retained the lead by three-tenths of a second with 10 laps remaining.

Then with seven laps remaining, Mayer drag-raced against Herbst through the backstretch before he assumed the lead in his No. 1 Roto-Rooter Chevrolet Camaro. As Mayer started to pull away from Herbst and Heim with the lead, the caution returned with five laps remaining after Nemechek, who was trying to nurse his car to the finish amid his tire rub and late run-in with teammate Creed, ended up against the outside wall towards Turn 4 with a flat tire. Nemechek’s incident was enough to send the event into overtime.

The start of the first overtime attempt featured Herbst and Mayer battling dead even for the lead approaching the first turn. As Creed got loose and nearly slid into Heim, Mayer managed to rocket ahead of Herbst through the first two turns and lead through the backstretch.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Mayer was leading by two-tenths of a second over Herbst as Heim tried to join the battle. With both Herbst and Heim unable to mount a final lap charge, Mayer was able to nurse his car around the Iowa circuit smoothly for a final time before he cycled back to the frontstretch and claimed the checkered flag by a tenth of a second.

With the victory, Mayer, who ended up with a flat left-rear tire after Herbst gave Mayer a post-race bump into the side to express his displeasure from an earlier on-track contact and proceeded to blow his right-rear tire from his post-race burnout, notched his sixth career win in his 99th Xfinity Series career start, his second of the 2024 season and his first since winning at Texas Motor Speedway in April.

In addition to becoming the fourth multi-race winner of this year’s Xfinity Series season, Mayer became the 15th competitor overall to win an Xfinity event at Iowa in the speedway’s return to hosting NASCAR Xfinity events since the 2019 season. The Wisconsin native also delivered the 10th victory of the season for the Chevrolet nameplate and the third of the season for JR Motorsports.

“We struggled yesterday and this Roto-Rooter team went to work,” Mayer said on USA Network. “Obviously, we did pretty good overnight making good decisions on this race car. Man, I’m out of breath because I was just huffing in a bunch of smoke, but I feel really good. I could do another 100 laps, for sure. With a race car like this, it’d be a lot of fun. We definitely got a little bit tight there at the end of the second stage, so I was a little concern [of the tire wear] there. [Crew chief] Mardy [Lindley] said the tires look all good. We took care of [the car] and we did our job and now, we get to celebrate.”

As Mayer celebrated on the frontstretch, Herbst was left disappointed on pit road and with a small axe to grind towards Mayer after the latter had made contact with the former earlier prior to their late-race battle for the victory. Nonetheless, Herbst was also left pleased with his performance and the resilience being exhibited by Stewart-Haas Racing amid the team’s closure at this season’s conclusion. Currently, Herbst’s racing plans for the 2025 season remains to be determined.

“It was just frustrating,” Herbst said. “It was an up-and-down day, for sure. I felt like we were okay yesterday and we got it better. We worked all night. [The No. 98 team] did a really good job. We worked our day back up through the field, got some track position and then, the guy who won [Mayer], I mean, he just absolutely brooms us into [Turns] 1 and 2, so that was frustrating. Then for him to door me down the straightaway before the green white checkered [restart], I don’t know.

“That was a bit frustrating, but all in all, it was fun to race with them on the green-white checkered. I’m just most proud in that the speed’s back in the No. 98 Monster Energy car. It was really fast today, so I appreciate everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing for sticking together. It’s been a hard last couple of months and it’s gonna be a hard couple months going forward as well with everything that’s going on. Everybody staying together is awesome. Hopefully, we can continue to bring the speed to New Hampshire next week.”

Corey Heim piloted the No. 26 Yahoo! Toyota Supra from Sam Hunt Racing to a career-best third place in his 11th career start in the Xfinity Series while Sammy Smith and Sheldon Creed finished in the top five.

Cole Custer came home in sixth place while Matt DiBenedetto, Chandler Smith, Ross Chastain and Daniel Dye completed the top 10 in the final running order.

There were 13 lead changes for eight different leaders. The race featured nine cautions for 71 laps. In addition, 17 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

Following the 15th event of the 2024 Xfinity Series season, Cole Custer leads the regular-season standings by a single point over Chandler Smith while Austin Hill trails by 41 points and Justin Allgaier trails by 44 points.

Results.

1. Sam Mayer, 47 laps led

2. Riley Herbst, seven laps led

3. Corey Heim

4. Sammy Smith

5. Sheldon Creed

6. Cole Custer

7. Matt DiBenedetto

8. Chandler Smith, 131 laps led, Stages 1 & 2 winner

9. Ross Chastain

10. Daniel Dye

11. Parker Kligerman

12. Ryan Sieg, eight laps led

13. Leland Honeyman

14. Ryan Ellis

15. Anthony Alfredo

16. Joey Gase

17. David Starr

18. Brett Moffitt, one lap down

19. Kyle Sieg, one lap down

20. Josh Williams, one lap down, four laps led

21. Jeremy Clements, one lap down, seven laps led

22. Dawson Cram, one lap down

23. Patrick Emerling, one lap down

24. Jeb Burton, three laps down

25. Hailie Deegan, three laps down

26. Garrett Smithley, three laps down

27. John Hunter Nemechek – OUT, Accident, 35 laps led

28. Brennan Poole – OUT, Oil Line

29. Austin Hill – OUT, Accident

30. Justin Allgaier – OUT, Accident, 14 laps led

31. Jesse Love – OUT, Accident

32. Parker Retzlaff – OUT, Electrical

33. Kyle Weatherman – OUT, Accident

34. Shane van Gisbergen – OUT, Accident

35. Blaine Perkins – OUT, Accident

36. Brandon Jones – OUT, Engine

37. AJ Allmendinger – OUT, Accident

38. Glen Reen – OUT, Carburetor

Next on the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the series’ annual visit to New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire, for the SciAps 200. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, June 22, and air at 3:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.

Sam Mayer holds off Riley Herbst for overtime NASCAR Xfinity Series win at Iowa

By
Official Release
-
NEWTON, IOWA - JUNE 15: Sam Mayer, driver of the #1 Roto-Rooter Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series Hy-Vee Perks 250 at Iowa Speedway on June 15, 2024 in Newton, Iowa. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

June 15, 2024
By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service

NEWTON, Iowa — In a race of tire management and hurt feelings, Sam Mayer held off Riley Herbst in overtime to win Saturday’s Hy-Vee Perks 250 in the NASCAR Xfinity Series’ return to Iowa Speedway after a four-year hiatus.

Mayer’s No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet crossed the finish line 0.146 seconds ahead of the No. 98 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford of Herbst, who felt Mayer had abused him earlier in the race.

The victory was Mayer’s second of the season and the sixth of his career, all coming within the last 29 races in the series.
“We struggled (Friday in practice), and the team went to work,” said Mayer, who started fifth when qualifying was canceled because of rain earlier on Saturday. “Obviously, we did pretty good overnight, making different changes on this race car.

“I feel really good. I could do another 100 laps — with a race car like this, it would be a lot of fun.”

Mayer held the lead when John Hunter Nemechek slammed the outside wall in Turn 4 with his left front tire down, the result of close quarters racing with Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Sheldon Creed.

That accident on Lap 245 caused the ninth caution of the afternoon and sent the race three laps beyond its scheduled distance.

In the overtime, Mayer and Herbst took the green flag side-by-side and remained in that posture into Turn 1, but Mayer cleared the race runner-up off Turn 2 and held the top spot the rest of the way.

“I like racing Sam, but Stage 1 or 2 he just absolutely brooms me,” Herbst said. “We were racing clean for fourth, and he takes us back to 10th and then doors me down the back straightaway before the green-white-checker.

“It’s just frustrating the way he wants to do that, but all in all, it was fun. I’m happy to be back on ovals. The speed is back in the 98.”

Corey Heim finished a career-best third after starting 22nd because of the qualifying rainout. Sammy Smith was fourth, followed by Creed, who survived the dust-up with Nemechek after a restart on Lap 238.

Cole Custer, Matt DiBenedetto, Chandler Smith, Ross Chastain and Daniel Dye completed the top 10.

If any driver had cause for frustration, it was Chandler Smith, who led a race-high 131 laps and swept the first two stages. Smith restarted third to begin the final stage, but lack of short-run speed quickly dropped him to 12th, and he never recovered.

Austin Hill likewise had reason to bemoan his result. Overcoming early handling issues, Hill charged into the top five in the final stage, but a cut left front tire sent him hard into the Turn 1 wall on Lap 218, causing the seventh caution.

Hill finished 29th and dropped to third in the series standings, 41 points behind Custer, the current leader and defending series champion. Chandler Smith, second in the standings, trails Custer by one point.

NASCAR Xfinity Series Race – Hy-Vee Perks 250
Iowa Speedway
Newton, Iowa
Saturday, June 15, 2024
1. (5) Sam Mayer, Chevrolet, 253.
2. (12) Riley Herbst, Ford, 253.
3. (22) Corey Heim(i), Toyota, 253.
4. (17) Sammy Smith, Chevrolet, 253.
5. (3) Sheldon Creed, Toyota, 253.
6. (7) Cole Custer, Ford, 253.
7. (24) Matt Dibenedetto, Ford, 253.
8. (6) Chandler Smith, Toyota, 253.
9. (28) Ross Chastain(i), Chevrolet, 253.
10. (37) Daniel Dye(i), Chevrolet, 253.
11. (10) Parker Kligerman, Chevrolet, 253.
12. (15) Ryan Sieg, Ford, 253.
13. (25) Leland Honeyman #, Chevrolet, 253.
14. (20) Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, 253.
15. (19) Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, 253.
16. (36) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 253.
17. (31) David Starr, Chevrolet, 253.
18. (29) Brett Moffitt(i), Toyota, 252.
19. (21) Kyle Sieg, Ford, 252.
20. (27) Josh Williams, Chevrolet, 252.
21. (16) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 252.
22. (34) Dawson Cram #, Chevrolet, 252.
23. (32) Patrick Emerling, Chevrolet, 252.
24. (30) Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, 250.
25. (33) Hailie Deegan #, Ford, 250.
26. (35) Garrett Smithley, Chevrolet, 250.
27. (8) John Hunter Nemechek(i), Toyota, Accident, 244.
28. (14) Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, Oil Line, 218.
29. (1) Austin Hill, Chevrolet, Accident, 217.
30. (4) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, Accident, 200.
31. (9) Jesse Love #, Chevrolet, Accident, 149.
32. (13) Parker Retzlaff, Chevrolet, Electrical, 103.
33. (23) Kyle Weatherman, Chevrolet, Accident, 87.
34. (2) Shane Van Gisbergen #, Chevrolet, Accident, 86.
35. (18) Blaine Perkins, Ford, Accident, 86.
36. (26) Brandon Jones, Chevrolet, Engine, 38.
37. (11) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, Accident, 32.
38. (38) Glen Reen, Chevrolet, Carburetor, 20.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 84.899 mph.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 36 Mins, 27 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.146 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 9 for 71 laps.
Lead Changes: 13 among 8 drivers.
Lap Leaders: A. Hill 0;J. Allgaier 1-14;C. Smith 15-37;J. Nemechek(i) 38-41;J. Clements 42-48;C. Smith 49-156;J. Williams 157-160;R. Sieg 161-168;S. Mayer 169-206;J. Nemechek(i) 207-237;R. Herbst 238-243;S. Mayer 244-250;R. Herbst 251;S. Mayer 252-253.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Chandler Smith 2 times for 131 laps; Sam Mayer 3 times for 47 laps; John Hunter Nemechek(i) 2 times for 35 laps; Justin Allgaier 1 time for 14 laps; Ryan Sieg 1 time for 8 laps; Jeremy Clements 1 time for 7 laps; Riley Herbst 2 times for 7 laps; Josh Williams 1 time for 4 laps.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 81,18,1,7,8,00,19,26,20,2
Stage #2 Top Ten: 81,1,92,26,8,18,7,98,00,21

Cadillac Racing at Le Mans: 8-hour report

By
Official Release
-

All three Cadillac V-Series.Rs in podium contention in changeable weather

LE MANS, France (June 15, 2024) – Cadillac Racing’s trio of Hypercars continue to contest for podium spots through eight hours of the 92nd 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R, with Alex Lynn, Earl Bamber and Alex Palou sharing time behind the wheel of the hybrid Cadillac, was running fifth. It started the race seventh.

The No. 3 Cadillac V-Series.R, with Sebastien Bourdais, Renger van der Zande and Scott Dixon swapping the seat, was running 10th It started the race on the outside of the front row.

The No. 311 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R, co-driven by Pipo Derani, Jack Aitken and Felipe Drugovich, was running ninth. It started the race 18th.

All Cadillac cars were on the lead lap at the green following deployment of the Safety Car at 6 hours, 36 minutes into the race for contact between two Hypercars that required barrier repair. The caution lasted 92 minutes.

An ambient temperature of 64 degrees F (18 C) and wind gusts up to 22 mph (35 km/h) greeted official starter Zinedine Zidane as he waved the French flag to commence the endurance classic for the 62 entries in three classes.

Light rain on the Mulsanne Straight and two corners about 90 minutes into the race prompted most of the Hypercar field of 23 to pit for rain tires that saw only five laps by the Cadillac racecars before switching back to Michelin slicks. Intermittent showers covering sections of the race course returned through one-third of the race.

Three Hypercars retired, while the Cadillac V-Series.Rs showed reliability and pace on the 8.47-mile (13.629 kilometers) Circuit de la Sarthe.

The No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R qualified second in Hyperpole but a five grid-spot penalty levied by FIA stewards from the on-track incident at Spa-Francorchamps in May awaited. Still, it was the highest starting position in the race for Cadillac, which made its maiden trip to Le Mans in 1950 with two entries by privateers.

Hyperpole, a qualifying format introduced in 2020 at Circuit de la Sarthe, follows the previous night’s 60-minute qualifying practice that determined the cars in each of the three classes that fill the top eight positions on the grid based on lap time.

Last year, the nascent three-car program turned heads with strong qualifying efforts and third-, fourth- and 17th-place overall finishes in Cadillac Racing’s return to Sarthe after a 21-year absence.

‘No Perfect Formula’

The documentary about Cadillac Racing’s road to the Le Mans podium. WATCH

You’re looking live trackside

All three Cadillac V-Series.Rs will have an onboard camera for a different perspective of the June 15-16 race. WATCH

No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R

Alex Palou: “My first stint at Le Mans was amazing. It was tough, especially with the conditions. We were losing sunlight, it was raining, went on wets and the track started drying. I had a bit of everything and reeled in a few cars. We had some issues at the beginning of the race with balance of the car, but we’re back in the game.”

French: “Mon premier relais au Mans a été extraordinaire. C’était difficile, surtout à cause des conditions.

Nous perdions la lumière du soleil, il pleuvait, nous avons mis des pneus pluie et la piste a commencé à sécher.J’ai eu un peu de tout et j’ai pu doubler quelques voitures.

Nous avons eu quelques problèmes en début de course avec l’équilibre de la voiture, mais nous sommes de retour dans le jeu.”

No. 3 Cadillac V-Series.R

Sebastien Bourdais: “The start of the race was pretty clean. Pace on its own is fine, but when we get stuck in traffic we can’t make the lap time and fall further behind. It’s frustrating. All the cars that stayed out because it didn’t really rain – it was like one straight, one corner, another corner – but it wasn’t really wet enough to pay dividends on the wets and we lost the lead train. There’s a lot of time left, so we’ll keep fighting.”

French: “Le début de la course a été plutôt propre. Le rythme en lui-même est bon, mais quand nous sommes coincés dans le trafic, nous ne pouvons pas faire le temps au tour et nous prenons du retard. C’est frustrant. Toutes les voitures qui sont restées à l’extérieur parce qu’il ne pleuvait pas vraiment – c’était comme une ligne droite, un virage, un autre virage – mais ce n’était pas assez humide pour payer les dividendes des pneus pluie et nous avons perdu le train de tête. Il reste beaucoup de temps, alors nous allons continuer à nous battre.”

Renger van der Zande: “In that Dunlop corner on the exit it just snapped on me and I was close to the wall and then into the wall. At least it was a pancake into it. I was so lucky to not get more damage. The car felt good after that and I think we were making progress, so we’re happy with that. We lost a lot of time with the rain tires for a short time, so that put us on the back foot. We’re here to win and we’ll throw everything at it.”

French: “Dans le virage Dunlop, à la sortie, j’ai perdu le contrôle et j’étais proche du mur, puis j’ai foncé dans le mur. J’ai eu beaucoup de chance de ne pas avoir plus de dégâts. La voiture se comportait bien après cela et je pense que nous avons progressé, donc nous sommes satisfaits. Nous avons perdu beaucoup de temps avec les pneus pluie pendant une courte période, ce qui nous a mis en difficulté. Nous sommes ici pour gagner et nous allons tout faire pour y parvenir.

Scott Dixon: “It was a bit of everything because we had the rain and went to the wets that set us back to the leaders. And for my stint it started to rain again and there were some slow zones, so it was just messy. It was stop-go, stop-go. There was no real pattern to it. Luckily, we stayed on the lead lap, the car is in one piece and we’ll see how it goes.”

French: C’était un peu de tout, parce que nous avons eu la pluie et nous sommes passés aux pneus pluie, ce qui nous a ramenés vers les leaders. Et pour mon relais, il a recommencé à pleuvoir et il y avait des zones de ralentissement, donc c’était un peu le bazar. C’était du stop-go, stop-go. Il n’y avait pas vraiment de scénario. Heureusement, nous sommes restés dans le tour de tête, la voiture est saine et sauve et nous verrons comment cela se passe.”

No. 311 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R

Pipo Derani: “We can already say it’s a lot better than last year, so that’s very positive. It was a good first stint – a triple stint almost. We gained positions. Unfortunately, the rain kind of pulled back everything we gained because we came in for the rain tires and then the track dried quite quickly, so Jack (Aitken) had to come back in for slicks. Overall, I’m happy with how we were able to progress. It gives us good hope. Still a long way to go. We’ll keep chipping away.”

French: “Nous pouvons déjà dire que c’est beaucoup mieux que l’année dernière, c’est donc très positif. C’était un bon premier relais, presque un triple relais. Nous avons gagné des positions. Malheureusement, la pluie nous a fait perdre tout ce que nous avions gagné car nous nous sommes arrêtés pour des pneus pluie et la piste a séché assez rapidement par après, si bien que Jack (Aitken) a dû rentrer pour des pneus slicks. Dans l’ensemble, je suis content de la façon dont nous avons pu progresser. Cela nous donne bon espoir. Il reste encore beaucoup de chemin à parcourir. Nous allons continuer à progresser.”

Kyle Larson collects NASCAR Cup Series pole at Iowa Speedway

By
Angie Campbell
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Photo by Ron Olds for SpeedwayMedia.com

Kyle Larson scored the Busch Light Pole Award Saturday at Iowa Speedway. The Hendrick Motorsports driver will lead the field to green in the NASCAR Cup Series debut at the 0.875-mile track.

It is Larson’s fourth pole this season and his 20th career pole. He outpaced the field with a 136.458 mph qualifying lap in 23.084 seconds in his No. 5 Chevrolet.

“Obviously, happy to get the pole,” Larson said. “It helped to go out last, probably. I’m sure the track was continuing to get a little bit better. We got to watch SMT (data) of everybody’s runs, so that helps. But it also makes you a little bit more nervous when you see everybody out there struggling. Thankfully, my lap was mostly comfortable, a little bit loose like everybody was. But we were able to piece together two pretty consistent laps and be fast enough on that second lap to get it done.”

Ryan Blaney will start beside Larson on the front row in his No. 12 Team Penske Ford after a 136.311 mph lap.

“It would have been nice [to win the pole], obviously,” Blaney commented. “But that’s a big improvement from yesterday. We did a lot of work overnight and this morning to figure out how to be better than where we were yesterday at the end of practice. We’re really proud of that effort.”

Josh Berry, William Byron and Brad Keselowski completed the top five fastest drivers in the qualifying session followed by Chase Briscoe, Kyle Busch, Tyler Reddick, Chase Elliott and Christopher Bell to round out the top 10. Bell, however, will start from the rear of the field after crashing during practice which necessitated going to a backup car for the race.  

Austin Cindric will also go to a backup car after a tire failure during practice.

Sunday’s Iowa Corn 350 Powered by Ethanol will be broadcast on the USA network at 7 p.m. ET with radio coverage provided by MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Complete Starting Lineup:

  1.  Kyle Larson
  2. Ryan Blaney
  3. Josh Berry
  4. William Byron
  5. Brad Keselowski
  6. Chase Briscoe
  7. Kyle Busch
  8. Tyler Reddick
  9. Chase Elliott
  10. Christopher Bell (Will start at the rear of the field)
  11. Joey Logano
  12. Denny Hamlin
  13. Daniel Suarez
  14. Todd Gilliland
  15. Chris Buescher
  16. Bubba Wallace
  17. Ross Chastain
  18. AJ Allmendinger
  19. Justin Haley
  20. Carson Hocevar
  21. Austin Cindric (Will start at the rear of the field)
  22. Michael McDowell
  23. Noah Gragson
  24. Corey LaJoie
  25. Harrison Burton
  26. Zane Smith
  27. Ty Gibbs
  28. Kaz Grala
  29. Ryan Preece
  30. Daniel Hemric
  31. Martin Truex Jr.
  32. Erik Jones
  33. Alex Bowman
  34. John H Nemechek
  35. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
  36. Austin Dillon

Kaulig Racing Race Recap | Hy-Vee PERKS 250

By
Official Release
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DANIEL DYE
No. 10 Race to Stop Suicide Chevrolet Camaro

  • Daniel Dye started 37th, per the rule book, after qualifying for the Hy-Vee PERKS 250 was canceled due to weather.
  • Dye made up 10 spots within the first 15 laps in the No. 10 Race to Stop Suicide Chevrolet. The first caution of the day came out on lap 35, and Dye told his crew chief that he needed to be tighter through the corners. He pitted on lap 36 for tires and fuel. Restarting from 22nd place, Dye made his way up to 19th, before a caution with three laps remaining ended the opening stage under yellow.
  • During the first stage break, Dye radioed that the No. 10 Chevy was still too free. He pitted for four tires, fuel and an adjustment to tighten him up. A wreck on lap 88 brought out the next caution, as Dye gained one spot, putting him 21st. He restarted 20th on lap 97 and made it up to 16th, before the next caution came out on lap 125. Dye was told he was running the fastest times on track before the yellow came out. He stayed out during the caution and restarted 12th on lap 133. A caution with one to go ended the second stage under yellow. Dye was scored 14th.
  • During the final stage break, Dye radioed that the balance of his No. 10 Chevrolet was near perfect. He pitted for a full service before starting the final stage in 16th. Dye gained five spots before the next caution came out with 48 to go. He pitted for fuel and the team’s final set of sticker tires before restarting 12th. The next caution came out seven laps later, and Dye remained on track before restarting 10th with 26 to go. The eighth caution of the day came out with 20 laps remaining. After a lengthy cleanup, the field went back to green with 13 laps remaining. Another caution fell with five laps remaining, resulting in a green- white-checkered finish. Dye crossed the line in 10th.

“It was a hard fight all day. We just fought free conditions pretty much everywhere, but the worst into [turn] three. The No. 10 Race to Stop Suicide Chevy was definitely solid, and I think we can be better. I would definitely love to come back and race here.” – Daniel Dye  

JOSH WILLIAMS
No. 11 Alloy Employer Services Chevrolet Camaro

  • Josh Williams started 27th, as per the rule book, after qualifying for the Hy-Vee PERKS 250 was canceled due to weather.
  • Williams struggled to make moves during the 34-lap opening run, so after the caution came out on lap 35, he pitted for tires, fuel and a left-side air pressure adjustment. He gained spots in the pits and restarted in 20th on lap 42. As the stage’s end grew near, crew chief Kevin Walter told Williams to take care of the right-front tire due to potential blistering and failures. The yellow flag waved on lap 73 due to the race’s second right-front tire failure, ending stage one with Williams running 26th.
  • Williams pitted for a full-service stop, and the Alloy Employer Services team made major adjustments geared towards alleviating the right-side tires’ blistering. Williams restarted in 25th on lap 83 and moved into 22nd by the time the yellow flag waved on lap 88. He restarted on lap 96 in 21st, losing one spot by the lap-124 caution. Williams pitted for tires, fuel, an air pressure adjustment, and a grille tape reduction under caution, and after coming down again to top off on fuel, he restarted in 26th with 18 laps to go in stage two. He strategically rode around in the back for the rest of stage two, finishing it in 22nd.
  • Williams stayed out during the stage break, restarting in first on lap 161. He was quickly shuffled back to ninth within five laps. As the run continued, the No. 11 Chevy Camaro continued foundering, and Williams eventually pitted under green for a two-tire stop with 54 to go. Four laps later, the caution came out while Williams was two laps down and in 22nd. He took the wave-around to get one lap back, restarting with 40 to go, and by the time the next wreck brought out the yellow flag on lap 218, Williams moved into 17th. He fell to 21st on the lap-224 restart and was still trapped one lap down when the yellow came out again on lap 230. Williams pitted for full service under the caution and restarted in 24th with 13 to go. He gained two spots before an overtime-inducing wreck brought out the yellow flag with six laps left, and Williams finished in 20th place.

“We had some decent speed today. We just got caught a few laps down and didn’t recover as well as we needed to. I’m looking forward to next week and getting back up front.” – Josh Williams  

SHANE van GISBERGEN
No. 97 Kubota Chevrolet Camaro

  • NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) qualifying for the Hy-Vee PERKS 250 was canceled due to inclement weather. The starting lineup for the 250-lap event at Iowa Speedway was set per the NASCAR rule book, placing Shane van Gisbergen and his No. 97 Kubota team on the outside row in the second position.
  • As a result of an accident during practice session on Friday, the team had to resort to the utilizing the backup car requiring Van Gisbergen to drop to the rear of the field before taking the green flag for the start of stage one. The first caution of the day came out on lap 32, and the Kubota team hit pit road for four tires, fuel and adjustments; Van Gisbergen maintained position and ended stage one 30th.
  • The No. 97 Kubota team opted to stay out for track position during the stage one caution and started stage two in the 26th position. Early in stage two, Van Gisbergen incurred handling issues and made contact with competitors and ultimately with the exterior wall sustaining fatal damage to the No. 97 Chevrolet. He was relegated to 34th place.
  • “Tough weekend for our No. 97 Kubota Chevy. Unfortunate to have this type of weekend after two back-to-back wins. I’m continuing to learn on these ovals to get better. Appreciate the efforts of my team at Kaulig Racing, Trackhouse and Chevrolet for making this all possible.” – Shane van Gisbergen  

AJ ALLMENDINGER
No. 16 Cirkul Chevrolet Camaro

  • AJ Allmendinger started 11th, as per the rule book, after qualifying for the Hy-Vee PERKS 250 was canceled due to weather.
  • Allmendinger took over 12th place on lap four and remained quiet on the radio about the handling of his car. On lap 35, the No. 16 Cirkul Chevy blew a tire and hit the outside wall, ultimately ending the day for the No. 16 team. Allmendinger was scored in 37th.
  • “There was no warning. The No. 16 Cirkul Chevy was building tight, but I didn’t expect to have a right front issue. There was no warning and of course, it blows right in the worst part of the corner. Just disappointing. We still needed to work on our Cirkul Chevy, but we were making gains each lap. What I love about this race team is we keep fighting. That’s all you can do. It’s easy to quit but we’re not going to do that.” – AJ Allmendinger

About Kaulig Racing

Kaulig Racing™ is a full-time, multi-car NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) and NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) team, owned by award winning entrepreneur, Matt Kaulig. Established in 2016, Kaulig Racing™ has earned 23 NXS wins, made the NXS Playoffs consecutively each season since the playoff system started, and won two regular-season championships. In 2021, the team competed in select NCS events, before expanding to a two-car, full-time NCS team in 2022 and adding a third, part-time entry during the 2023 season. Since its first NCS start in 2021, the team has earned two wins. Kaulig Racing is currently fielding two full-time entries in the NCS and continues to field three full-time NXS entries, with a part-time fourth entry at select events. To learn more about the team, visit kauligracing.com.

Stewart-Haas Racing: Hy-Vee Perks 250 from Iowa Speedway

By
Official Release
-

STEWART-HAAS RACING
Hy-Vee Perks 250
Date: June 15, 2024
Event: Hy-Vee Perks 250 (Round 15 of 33)
Series: NASCAR Xfinity Series
Location: Iowa Speedway in Newton (.875-mile oval)
Format: 250 laps, broken into three stages (75 laps/75 laps/100 laps)
Note: Race extended three laps past its scheduled 250-lap distance due to a green-white-checkered finish.

Race Winner: Sam Mayer of JR Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 1 Winner: Chandler Smith of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 2 Winner: Chandler Smith of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

SHR Race Finish:

● Riley Herbst (Started 12th / Finished 2nd, Running, completed 253 of 253 laps)
● Cole Custer (Started 7th / Finished 6th, Running, completed 253 of 253 laps)

SHR Points:

● Cole Custer (1st with 547 points)
● Riley Herbst (7th with 441 points, 106 out of first)

SHR Notes:

● Herbst earned his third top-five of the season and his second top-10 in three career NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Iowa.
● Herbst has never finished worse than 13th at Iowa.
● This was Herbst’s second top-10 in the past three races. He finished 10th June 1 at Portland (Ore.) International Raceway.
● Herbst’s second-place finish bettered his previous best finish at Iowa– sixth, earned in his Xfinity Series debut at the track in June 2018.
● Herbst finished eighth in Stage 2 to earn three bonus points.
● Herbst led two times for seven laps – his first laps led at Iowa.
● Custer earned his 12th top-10 of the season and his fifth top-10 in seven career NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Iowa.
● Custer has only finished outside the top-10 twice at Iowa in seven starts.
● This was Custer’s third straight top-10. He finished sixth June 1 at Portland (Ore.) International Raceway and ninth last Saturday at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway.
● Custer finished sixth in Stage 1 to earn five bonus points and ninth in Stage 2 to earn two more bonus points.

Race Notes:

● Sam Mayer won the Hy-Vee Perks 250 to score his sixth career NASCAR Xfinity Series victory, his second of the season and his first at Iowa. His margin over second-place Herbst was .146 of a second.

● There were nine caution periods for a total of 71 laps.

● Only 17 of the 38 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.

● Custer remains the championship leader after Iowa with a one-point lead over Chandler Smith.

Sound Bites:

“I have mixed frustrations, for sure. I’m happy to be back on an oval. I mean, the last two weeks on a road course was utterly embarrassing. It was an unacceptable performance from my end and everybody on the No. 98, so I’m happy to be back on an oval. I felt like we had an up and down day. I mean, it was a clean restart. It was fun. I like racing Sam (Mayer, driver) but Stage 1 or 2 he just absolutely brooms me. We were racing clean for fourth and takes us back to 10th and then doors me down the back straightaway before the green-white-checker. It’s just frustrating the way he wants to do that, but all in all, it was fun. I’m happy to be back on ovals. The speed is back in the No. 98.” –Riley Herbst, driver of the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang Dark Horse

“I just needed some short run speed. I felt like our car was pretty solid all day. I was able to run right around the top-five all day, just went back and forth on the balance trying to find out what our problems were, but at the end we just struggled with short run speed on those short runs. I’m still proud of our team for building that consistency, but we just need that little bit more.” –Cole Custer, driver of the No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang Dark Horse

Next Up:

The next event on the NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the Sci Aps 200 on Saturday, June 22 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon. The race begins at 3:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by USA and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Toyota Racing NXS Post-Race Recap – Iowa 06.15.24

By
Official Release
-

HEIM EARNS CAREER-BEST THIRD IN XFINITY SERIES RACE AT IOWA
Creed, Smith join Heim inside the top-10 in strong Toyota showing

NEWTON, Iowa (June 15, 2024) – Toyota Development Driver, Corey Heim, earned his career-best finish in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Saturday at Iowa Speedway, coming home third with the Sam Hunt Racing No. 26 Yahoo GR Supra. The Georgia native, who had the fastest car in practice on Friday, started in 22nd position due to a rained-out qualifying session, but showed the pace of his GR Supra immediately by passing 10 cars in just two laps. Heim hung around the top-10 and top-five most of the race and came home third after a few, hectic late-race restarts.

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Chandler Smith was the dominant car during the first two stages of the race, winning both and leading 125 laps. Today marked the second time Smith swept the first two stages of a race this season, as he did in Las Vegas. However, restarts in the final stage did not go his way, but he was able to power his Mobil 1 GR Supra to an eighth-place finish. His teammate, Sheldon Creed, also kept his GR Supra in contention throughout the race, earning his sixth top-five of the season.

John Hunter Nemechek also had a strong GR Supra Saturday, leading 31 laps in the final stage as he was closing in on his second win of 2024. Chaos from a late-race restart hampered that fortune and Nemechek ended up contacting the wall and finishing 27th.

The Xfinity Series is back in action next weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the Sci Aps 200 on Saturday, June 22.

Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Iowa Speedway
Race 15 of 33 – 218.75 miles, 250 laps

TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Sam Mayer*
2nd, Riley Herbst*
3rd, COREY HEIM
4th, Sammy Smith*
5th, SHELDON CREED
8th, CHANDLER SMITH
18th, Brett Moffitt
27th, JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK
*non-Toyota driver

TOYOTA QUOTES

COREY HEIM: No. 26 Yahoo Toyota GR Supra, Sam Hunt Racing

Finishing Position: 3rd

Can you describe your race today, starting 22nd and finishing third?

“Yeah, thought we had a great car all day. We certainly struggled with tires early. Really didn’t think that was going to be an issue, but it proved to be kind of how the whole race went. Certainly, didn’t expect that. Thought we were the best car yesterday and we were up there today. Had a couple things fall our way there at the end to get in the top five and come home with a great P3 for this small team. Super thankful for Sam Hunt Racing, Yahoo, Toyota Racing and everyone from that side of things. Great effort and going to move forward and try to win one of these things one day.”

What was the racing like out there compared to what you see in the Truck Series?

“It’s just so slick. Yeah, everyone anticipated this place to have a lot of grip and to race close without any issue, but, it did have a lot of grip but was super edgy and easy to slip a tire. Really surprised the leaders didn’t run into each other at the end. That was kind of what I was waiting on. I could’ve, in hindsight, been more aggressive to push the issue, but thought they were going to take care of that themselves. Sure enough, that didn’t happen.”

SHELDON CREED: No. 18 Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 5th

Top-five run, how was your race?

“I mean overall, pretty decent. Ran towards the front most of the day. Biggest thing is I just really struggled on the short runs. Extremely loose and it was hard for me to keep track position there early, and then I’d be one of the fastest cars in 15 laps or so. That made it tough with all those cautions there at the end. I thought if I could’ve cleared the 20 (John Hunter Nemechek), if he wouldn’t have throttled up outside of me there and maybe let me go, maybe a different outcome. But overall, a good day for us.”

CHANDLER SMITH: No. 81 Mobil 1 Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 8th

Where do you feel the race slipped away after two strong stages?

“I mean, every restart, we weren’t great to be honest with you. Was wicked free from when they dropped the green flag, all the way to a good 15 laps into a run. The track would kind of glaze over and I think it got a little bit better there at the end of the race, but it would almost glaze over and become super, super slick. That’s why everyone was running the top — top as that was the only place there was grip. It took about 20 laps for it to finally start winding back out. I don’t know. That one stinks really bad as we had a really fast No. 81 Mobil 1 GR Supra for sure. It was lights out fast. That really, really stinks. But, I feel like I have a good idea of what needed to be better there to just go back through — partially, it was my fault when I restarted fourth when I put the 11 (Josh Williams) and whoever else three wide and got freight trained. That’s on me but had so many times there on restarts when we should’ve just gone forward with how dominant our car was, but it was just way, way, way too free.”

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.

For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.

Herbst Finishes Runner-Up in Iowa Xfinity Series Race

By
Official Release
-

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Xfinity Series
HyVee Perks 250 | Saturday, June 15, 2024

Ford Performance Results:
2nd – Riley Herbst
6th – Cole Custer
7th – Matt DiBenedetto
12th – Ryan Sieg
19th – Kyle Sieg
25th – Hailie Deegan
35th – Blaine Perkins

RILEY HERBST, No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang Dark Horse – DESCRIBE THE LAST FEW LAPS AND PROCESS YOU WENT THROUGH TO TRY AND GET THE WIN. “I have mixed frustrations, for sure. I’m happy to be back on an oval. I mean, the last two weeks on a road course was utterly embarrassing. It was an unacceptable performance from my end and everybody on the 98, so I’m happy to be back on an oval. I felt like we had an up and down day. I mean, it was a clean restart. It was fun. I like racing Sam, but Stage 1 or 2 he just absolutely brooms me. We were racing clean for fourth and takes us back to 10th and then doors me down the back straightaway before the green-white-checker. It’s just frustrating the way he wants to do that, but, all in all, it was fun. I’m happy to be back on ovals. The speed is back in the 98.”

COLE CUSTER, No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “I just needed some short run speed. I felt like our car was pretty solid all day. I was able to run right around the top five all day, just went back and forth on the balance trying to find out what our problems were, but at the end we just struggled with short run speed on those short runs. I’m still proud of our team for building that consistency, but we just need that little bit more.”

MATT DIBENEDETTO, No. 38 Rema Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “It was a good run, a good car. It was fast all week and we knew in practice that the old Recycle Materials Association Mustang had some good ponies under the hood from the get-go. We had really good speed. The car felt good and the engines are always good thanks to Roush Yates and Ford. Right from the get-go in practice I was like, ‘Man, this thing has speed,’ and it really drove good and then in the race it handled good. We were good on long runs. We kind of played the long game, where I’d have to sacrifice on the short run and be free, and then to be good in the long run and we really didn’t want to blow a right-front, so that played into our favor. Then we did have to pit under green once and lost two laps, but came back from that and my spotter, Doug, did a good job. My crew chief, Kevin, did a good job tightening it up when we took tires so we could take off faster in the short run, which we knew we’d need at the end there for the restart and then, sure enough, we made the most of those and drove by a bunch of them and were really aggressive and ended up seventh.”

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