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Kyle Larson collects third consecutive Cup Series pole at Texas

By
Angie Campbell
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Kyle Larson, driver of the #5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, poses for photos after winning the pole award during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 13, 2024 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

Kyle Larson topped qualifying Saturday afternoon at Texas Motor Speedway in the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet to earn the Busch Light Pole Award for Sunday’s AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400.

His lap of 190.369 mph in the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet marked his 19th Cup Series career pole, his third consecutive pole this season and the 250th for the Hendrick organization.

“Yeah, it was a pretty intense qualifying session,” Larson said. “I felt like the track was really slick in practice, and then having to kind of talk to yourself before you make your lap, knowing that you have to commit even more than you did in practice to go fast is difficult.

“And then just the lap itself – the first round and second round both, there were moments where you have grip, and then moments where you’re like man, I’m going to crash. It’s pretty intense from behind the wheel, but always great when you can accomplish a pole and feel like you beat your confidence a little bit.”

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Ty Gibbs will start on the front row beside Larson after a qualifying lap of 190.134 mph lap in his No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. His teammate, Christopher Bell, will start third as 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Chase Briscoe, round out the top five.

William Byron, the defending race winner, will start sixth, followed by Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney and Austin Cindric as JGR’s Martin Truex Jr. and 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace, round out the top 10.

Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson both had issues during the practice session that preceded qualifying. Johnson’s No. 84 Legacy Motor Club entry made contact with the wall in Turn 2. The team plans to make repairs rather than go to a backup car for Sunday’s race. Kyle Busch spun exiting the same turn in his No. 8 Richard Childress Chevrolet. Neither driver made a qualifying run and will have to start near the back of the field. Kyle Busch will start in 34th and Johnson will start in 37th.

The AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 will be broadcast Sunday at 3:30 p.m. on FS1 with radio coverage provided by PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Starting Lineup:

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Toyota Gazoo Racing North America NHRA Las Vegas Post-Qualifying Report – 04.13.24

By
Official Release
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KALITTA CLAIMS NO. 1 QUALIFIER SPOT AT LAS VEGAS FOUR-WIDE NATIONALS
Antron Brown wins Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge in Top Fuel

LAS VEGAS (April 13, 2024) – Through sunny skies at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, reigning Top Fuel champion, Doug Kalitta, captured the No. 1 qualifying spot for tomorrow’s eliminations in the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals. The Michigan native laid down a blistering 3.738 elapsed time, a 336-mph top speed, in the first qualifying session Saturday afternoon – earning his 54th career No. 1 qualifier position.

Defending Las Vegas Four-Wide Nationals winner, Antron Brown was victorious in the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty challenge Saturday afternoon by defeating Kalitta, Shawn Langdon and Tony Stewart. Brown’s 3.792 elapsed time in the final qualifying session put him No. 6 for tomorrow. This is the second time Brown has won the challenge, and he couples this victory with the Pep Boys All Star Callout win at Gainesville to start the season.

In Funny Car, points leader, J.R. Todd put down his best run of the weekend, a 3.930 elapsed time, late Saturday afternoon to propel him to the No. 3 spot going into Sunday. Alexis DeJoria will be ninth when tomorrow’s eliminations begin and Ron Capps is 11th.

Toyota Post-Qualifying Recap
NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series
NHRA Four-Wide Nationals
The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Race 4 of 20

TOYOTA TOP FUEL QUALIFYING POSITIONS 

NameCarQualifying PositionFirst Round Opponents
Doug KalittaMac Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster1stS. LangdonS. Torrence
Billy TorrenceCAPCO Contractors Toyota Top Fuel Dragster4thB. ForceJ. HartJ. Salinas
Antron BrownMatco Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster6thC. MillicanT. StewartK. Baldwin
Shawn LangdonKalitta Air Careers Toyota Top Fuel Dragster8thD. KalittaS. Torrence
Steve TorrenceCAPCO Contractors Toyota Top Fuel Dragster9thD. KalittaS. Langdon
Justin AshleySCAG Power Equipment Toyota Top Fuel Dragster10thT. SchumacherS. ReedT. Totten

TOYOTA FUNNY CAR QUALIFYING POSITIONS 

NameCarQualifying PositionFirst Round Opponents
Austin ProckCornwell Tools Chevrolet Camaro Funny Car1st*B. AlexanderA. DeJoriaJ. Diehl
J.R. ToddDHL Toyota GR Supra Funny Car3rdD. WilkersonR. CappsD. Richards
Alexis DeJoriaBandero Tequila Toyota GR Supra Funny Car9thA. ProckB. AlexanderJ. Diehl
Ron CappsNAPA Auto Care Toyota GR Supra Funny Car11thJ. ToddD. WilkersonD. Richards

*= Non-Toyota driver

TOYOTA QUOTES

DOUG KALITTA,

TF Qualifying Result: 1st

How does this No. 1 qualifying position feel going into race day tomorrow?

“We definitely feel good heading into race day. My guys stepped it up with the 3.738 in that first session today which was plenty strong for the conditions, and I’m feeling really confident with what we have going on. I think on our last run, we pushed it a little too much to see what we could do. The track feels plenty good in all the lanes so it should be a good day for tomorrow. So much for the advantage of being the low qualifier, but I’ll definitely be up for those three guys – it should be a fun deal. Alan (Johnson, crew chief), Mac (Savage, assistant crew chief) and all my guys will take a look at that ladder and realize we definitely have to get down the track and be on our A Game so it should be fun. It was a little cooler today, but in general, it didn’t really feel like it was. I’m sure it was, but it’ll be a little cooler tomorrow which should play into our hand performance wise. This is always an interesting place to race; there’s always a lot of challenges here, but it’s one of my favorite tracks. I haven’t won here a lot, but it’s a beautiful facility.”

ANTRON BROWN, Matco Tools Toyota Top Fuel Dragster, AB Motorsports

TF Qualifying Result: 6th

Can you talk about the win in the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge today and the momentum it brings?

“For sure, a lot of momentum. I think we’re going in the right direction, just need to keep building and get quicker and quicker. When we go out there, I mean, that track, is getting better and better even though the sun is coming out. We thought we needed to run a 3.750 time there, but we just didn’t want to kick ourselves in the foot. So, we stepped it up and did a little bit. Expected like a 3.780 time there. Tomorrow is going to be a whole different ballgame. Our fellas out there, I felt like we were in a good position. Felt Shawn (Langdon) right on the side of us. Something happened to him right around the end of the track, inching and inching, and just drown a little bit around him at the end. It’s so incredible how tight this class is and the way the Kalitta Motorsports cars are running. But yeah, when you have Doug Kalitta, the champion, Shawn Langdon, a previous champion and then you have Tony Stewart, ‘Smoke,’ make it to the final round. I mean, the top eight cars in this Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, they’re all cars that can win on any given day. Going into tomorrow, this gives us a little more confidence, but you know, we have to keep working forward to go forward to be competitive to win this race as it’s going to be triple-A throwdown with the cooler conditions. The track is going to get better, and when it does that, someone is going to run a 3.680 to 3.700 flat and that’s the range you’re going to have to be in to go out there, be competitive and get the job done.”

J.R TODD, DHL Toyota GR Supra Funny Car, Kalitta Motorsports

FC Qualifying Result: 3rd

Moving up each session and making your best run at the end of the day, the team seems to be working hard and the results are coming.

“Yeah, the guys are working hard and have been doing that all season long. There’s no quit in these guys. Yeah, that’s nice, a 3.930 was something we were shooting for earlier in the weekend, but it’s nice to see that show up on the scoreboard to move us up in the standings. The Four-Wides are such an unknown, it really doesn’t matter where you qualify when you’re racing three other cars out there. But it is nice to have lane choice going into tomorrow and hopefully we can turn on four win lights for everyone out here supporting us with DHL, Revchem, Sealmaster. Want to thank everybody for sticking with us.”

About Toyota 

Toyota (NYSE:TM), creator of the Prius hybrid and the Mirai fuel cell vehicle, is committed to building vehicles for the way people live through our Toyota and Lexus brands, and directly employs more than 63,000 people in North America (more than 49,000 in the U.S.).

Over the past 65 years, Toyota has assembled nearly 45 million cars and trucks in North America at the company’s 13 manufacturing plants. By 2025, the company’s 14th plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles.

Through our more than 1,800 North American dealerships (nearly 1,500 in the U.S.), Toyota sold more than 2.4 million cars and trucks (more than 2.1 million in the U.S.) in 2022, of which, nearly one quarter were electrified vehicles (full battery, hybrid, plug-in hybrid and fuel cell).

PROCK, KALITTA AND TUCKER ROLL TO NO. 1 SPOTS AT NHRA 4-WIDE NATIONALS

By
Official Release
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LAS VEGAS (April 12, 2024) – Austin Prock stayed nearly perfect in qualifying, taking his third Funny Car No. 1 qualifier in four races on Saturday during the 24th annual NHRA 4-Wide Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Doug Kalitta (Top Fuel) and Jerry Tucker (Pro Stock) also qualified No. 1 at the fourth of 20 races during the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.

Prock, who also won his first Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge on Saturday, rolled to the top spot in Funny Car on Saturday, going 3.904-seconds at 321.42 mph in his 11,000-horsepower Cornwell Tools Chevrolet Camaro SS to claim his second straight top spot and third in four races. The team continues to roll, as Prock made three consecutive standout runs to slip past John Force, J.R. Todd and Bob Tasca III to get to the top. He’ll be in an opening-round quad that features Jeff Diehl, Blake Alexander and Alexis DeJoria a week after picking up his first Funny Car victory.

“That Tasca team, they do a great job. We’ve been duking it out all year, and he made a nice run in front of me today right before that last qualifying session,” Prock said. “I’m like, ‘Alright, well, the track’s pretty good,’ and along with my boss, John Force running [3.]90, it showed there was some potential out there to make a really good run.

“My team has done a great job in these hot conditions. We’re really getting a handle on these hot weather conditions, and that was kind of our goal this year, to really dial that in because it’s typically really fast when it’s cool out. It’s going to cool down tomorrow so it’s definitely going to be the quickest runs you’ll see all weekend.”

Force took the second spot with a 3.908 at 326.79, while points leader J.R. Todd moved up to third in the final session with a 3.930 at 322.19.

In Top Fuel, Kalitta improved on his Friday performance, staying in the No. 1 position with stellar pass of 3.738 at 336.82 in his 11,000-horsepower Mac Tools dragster. It’s the first No. 1 spot this year for the defending world champ and the 54th in his career. He’ll open up raceday in a quad that includes teammate and points leader Shawn Langdon and four-time world champion Steve Torrence. It makes for a tough start to Sunday, but Kalitta also knows the importance of an early-season win.

“The team it stepped it up to that 3.73 in that first session, so that was plenty strong for the conditions. I’m feeling really confident with what we got going on,” Kalitta said. “I think on that last run, we were maybe just pushing it a little, much just to see what we could do. But the track seems plenty good in all the lanes and it should be a good day tomorrow. It’s going to be a little cooler, which should play into our hand performance-wise.”

Tony Schumacher qualified second with a 3.768 at 325.53 and Clay Millican’s 3.773 at 332.34 has him third.

In his second season in the Pro Stock ranks, Jerry Tucker picked up his first career No. 1 qualifier, going 6.612 at 206.61 in his Outlaw Mile Hi Light Beer/SCAG Power Equipment car. It was a major moment for Tucker, who ran well right off the trailer in Las Vegas. He was the quickest of the opening session on Friday and then stepped up again to start the day on Saturday, clinching his first top qualifier in the loaded Pro Stock ranks. He’ll open eliminations in a quad featuring Chris McGaha, defending event winner Dallas Glenn and Elite Motorsports teammate Troy Coughlin Jr.

“I’m just trying to get my driving together and I think it’s finally coming together. This is the car that Erica [Enders] drove last year and I managed to make three solid runs,” Tucker said. “It takes a year or so to learn how to drive [a Pro Stock car] properly. For the first five or six races you’re just riding along. Then you start to get a feel for it, but it takes a while to really figure it out.

From 1 to 16, they are all tough. I really don’t see any difference between anyone in the field. It won’t be easy tomorrow.”

Jeg Coughlin Jr., who won the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge in Pro Stock, qualified second after going 6.625 at 206.64 and Greg Anderson is third thanks to his 6.625 at 206.32.

Eliminations for the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals begin at 12 p.m. PT on Sunday at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

LAS VEGAS — First-round pairings for professional eliminations Sunday for the 24th annual NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the fourth of 20 events in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series. Pairings based on results in qualifying, which ended Saturday. DNQs listed below pairings.

Top Fuel — 1. Doug Kalitta, 3.738 seconds, 336.82 mph vs. Bye vs. vs. 8. Shawn Langdon, 3.798, 319.29 vs. 9. Steve Torrence, 3.800, 332.75; 2. Tony Schumacher, 3.768, 325.53 vs. 15. Terry Totten, 4.092, 287.78 vs. 7. Shawn Reed, 3.793, 323.12 vs. 10. Justin Ashley, 3.800, 331.53; 3. Clay Millican, 3.773, 332.34 vs. 14. Krista Baldwin, 3.903, 316.38 vs. 6. Antron Brown, 3.792, 330.72 vs. 11. Tony Stewart, 3.807, 325.30; 4. Billy Torrence, 3.784, 332.26 vs. 13. Jasmine Salinas, 3.848, 326.32 vs. 5. Brittany Force, 3.787, 333.66 vs. 12. Josh Hart, 3.828, 324.59.

Funny Car — 1. Austin Prock, Chevy Camaro, 3.904, 326.95 vs. 16. Jeff Diehl, Toyota Camry, 4.117, 275.73 vs. 8. Blake Alexander, Ford Mustang, 3.963, 321.50 vs. 9. Alexis DeJoria, Toyota GR Supra, 3.967, 319.98; 2. John Force, Camaro, 3.908, 327.74 vs. 15. Jason Rupert, Mustang, 4.056, 316.01 vs. 7. Cruz Pedregon, Dodge Charger, 3.957, 319.14 vs. 10. Matt Hagan, Charger, 3.972, 324.20; 3. J.R. Todd, GR Supra, 3.930, 322.19 vs. 14. Dave Richards, Mustang, 4.051, 312.64 vs. 6. Daniel Wilkerson, Mustang, 3.943, 328.06 vs. 11. Ron Capps, GR Supra, 3.980, 324.67; 4. Bob Tasca III, Mustang, 3.931, 332.02 vs. 13. Steven Densham, Mustang, 4.020, 308.78 vs. 5. Paul Lee, Charger, 3.939, 328.22 vs. 12. Chad Green, Mustang, 4.018, 323.50.

Did Not Qualify: 17. Terry Haddock, 4.150, 299.60; 18. Jim Campbell, 4.215, 284.27; 19. Buddy Hull, 4.236, 294.31; 20. Alex Miladinovich, 4.268, 285.17.

Pro Stock — 1. Jerry Tucker, Chevy Camaro, 6.612, 206.61 vs. 16. Chris McGaha, Camaro, 6.683, 206.04 vs. 8. Dallas Glenn, Camaro, 6.636, 205.57 vs. 9. Troy Coughlin Jr., Camaro, 6.640, 207.46; 2. Jeg Coughlin, Camaro, 6.625, 207.62 vs. 15. Kenny Delco, Camaro, 6.676, 206.76 vs. 7. David Cuadra, Ford Mustang, 6.636, 205.91 vs. 10. Deric Kramer, Camaro, 6.645, 205.16; 3. Greg Anderson, Camaro, 6.625, 206.32 vs. 14. Sienna Wildgust, Camaro, 6.675, 204.88 vs. 6. Erica Enders, Camaro, 6.635, 206.39 vs. 11. Aaron Stanfield, Camaro, 6.648, 207.37; 4. Fernando Cuadra Jr., Camaro, 6.627, 206.16 vs. 13. Cristian Cuadra, Mustang, 6.660, 206.13 vs. 5. Eric Latino, Camaro, 6.634, 205.19 vs. 12. Brandon Foster, Camaro, 6.657, 205.85.

Did Not Qualify: 17. Mason McGaha, 6.704, 207.08; 18. Matt Hartford, 6.719, 204.98; 19. Steve Graham, 6.727, 204.63; 20. Joey Grose, 6.791, 203.89.

BROWN, PROCK AND COUGHLIN WIN FIRST FOUR-WIDE MISSION #2FAST2TASTY CHALLENGE IN LAS VEGAS

By
Official Release
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LAS VEGAS (April 12, 2024) – Defending event winner Antron Brown picked up a victory in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge on Saturday at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, holding off Tony Stewart, Shawn Langdon and Doug Kalitta to win the specialty race as part of the 24th annual NHRA 4-Wide Nationals.

Austin Prock (Funny Car) and Jeg Coughlin Jr. (Pro Stock) also won the specialty race at the fourth of 20 races during the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.

In the Top Fuel Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge on Saturday, Brown was the quickest in the talent-filled quad, going 3.792-seconds at 330.72 mph in his 11,000-horsepower Matco Tools dragster. It’s the second win in the specialty race for Brown, who won the 4-Wide Nationals a year ago in Las Vegas. In a quad that also included Stewart, Langdon and Kalitta, Brown drove around Kalitta and then held off Langdon, who went 3.798, to win as part of what the three-time world champ hopes is a double-up weekend.

“I felt Shawn around the side of us and then something happened to him right around half track and I felt us inching and inching and we drove just a little bit around them,” Brown said. “It’s so incredible how tight this class is. When you have Doug Kalitta, the world champion, Shawn Langdon, a previous Top Fuel champion, then you got Tony Stewart in the final round, they’re all cars that can win on any given Sunday.”

Funny Car’s Austin Prock enjoyed another impressive first in his new class, winning his first Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge on Saturday, going 3.915 at 326.95 in his 11,000-horsepower Cornwell Tools Chevrolet Camaro SS. He swept both the specialty race and qualifying, getting the Mission #2Fast2Tasty win by defeating Paul Lee, Blake Alexander and Daniel Wilkerson. A week after picking up his first Funny Car win, Prock added another big moment in his Funny Car career in the first four-wide Mission #2Fast2Tasty race.

“To get the first four-wide win, that’s pretty special,” Prock said. “I’ve been in a handful of these things [in Top Fuel] and never been able to get it done, but we did the job today. Yesterday wasn’t terrible on the tree but wasn’t really what I want it to be and today I just have a new aim, new focus and it worked and I had two pretty stellar lights today.”

Returning to full-time racing in the Pro Stock ranks, Jeg Coughlin Jr. enjoyed a strong showing on Saturday, winning for the first time in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge with a run of 6.628 at 207.62 in his SCAG Power Equipment car. Coughlin posted an impressive .022 reaction time and followed with a strong run to hold off a talented quad that also included Troy Coughlin Jr., Aaron Stanfield and Dallas Glenn. J. Coughlin was the lone veteran of the group but powered past the trio to claim the specialty event win.

“Any win is very special. But being out of the car for a couple years and getting one here in qualifying at Las Vegas feels great,” Coughlin said. “Mission Foods has done so much for NHRA Drag Racing, starting the #2Fast2Tasty Challenge last year and now the Mission Foods Drag Racing series.

“We had a pretty mean quad between Aaron Stanfield, myself, Dallas Glenn and Troy Jr. We needed all the Elite Performance that I had under the hood to turn on the win light. We’ve been building some momentum the last couple of weeks. I think a lot of great things are going on and we’re just looking to game day now.”

Eliminations for the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals begin at 12 p.m. PT on Sunday at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Mayer edges Sieg in photo finish for first Xfinity victory of 2024 at Texas

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

Sam Mayer erased his difficult start to the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series season by edging Ryan Sieg in a photo finish to score a breakthrough victory in the Andy’s Frozen Custard 300 at Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday, April 13. 

The 20-year-old Mayer from Franklin, Wisconsin, led four times for five of the 200 scheduled laps after starting in 10th place and spending the early portions of the event mired outside of the top 10. After recording a single stage point following the second stage’s mark, Mayer ran steadily within the top 10 during the final stage period. He persevered through a late cycle of green flag pit stops and a series of late-race restarts amid on-track carnages, including the final restart with 11 laps remaining, to ignite his charge to the front. He then squared off against Ryan Sieg, who was trying to capture his first elusive victory in the Xfinity circuit.  

After gaining a run on Sieg at the start of the final lap, Mayer overtook him for the lead through the backstretch before he nearly went up the track entering Turns 3 and 4. This allowed Sieg to draw even with Mayer as both hit fenders while continuing to run side by side to the finish line. Despite running on the outside lane, Mayer had enough momentum to beat Sieg by 0.002 seconds to claim his first elusive Xfinity victory of the 2024 season and cash in on the series’ second Dash 4 Cash bonus. 

On-track qualifying to determine the starting lineup occurred on Friday, April 12 with rookie Jesse Love notching his third Xfinity pole position after posting a pole-winning lap at 185.612 mph in 29.093 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Cole Custer, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying time at 185.471 mph in 29.115 seconds. 

Before the event, the following drivers including Jeremy Clements, Matt DiBenedetto, Parker Retzlaff and Kyle Sieg dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to their respective entries. 

When the green flag waved and the race started, Jesse Love muscled his No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Camaro ahead from the inside lane through the first two turns while Chandler Smith followed suit in second as he overtook Cole Custer for the position. Love led the first lap ahead of Chandler Smith and Custer while Justin Allgaier, Taylor Gray and Riley Herbst followed suit in the top six. 

During the following lap, Gray, who was running fifth, got sideways entering the backstretch but managed to keep his No. 19 Operation 300/Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Supra straight without spinning, but lost three spots in the process. With the field scattering to avoid hitting Gray, teammate Chandler Smith overtook Love for the lead through the frontstretch while Custer followed suit in the runner-up spot. Chandler Smith would proceed to lead the fifth lap mark. 

Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Chandler Smith was leading by four-tenths of a second over Custer followed by Allgaier, Herbst and Love while Ryan Truex, AJ Allmendinger, Brandon Jones, Taylor Gray and Ryan Sieg were running in the top 10. Behind, Austin Hill was mired in 11th ahead of Sammy Smith, Sam Mayer, Anthony Alfredo and Sheldon Creed as Parker Kligerman, Corey Heim, Kyle Weatherman, Jeb Burton and Hailie Deegan occupied the top 20 ahead of Daniel Dye, Josh Williams, Blaine Perkins, Josh Bilicki and Leland Honeyman.  

A lap later, the event’s first caution flew after Daniel Dye spun his No. 10 BPro Auto Parts/Kaulig Racing entry in front of teammate Josh Williams in Turn 2. 

When the event restarted under green on Lap 16, Chandler Smith rocketed away with the lead after restarting on the inside lane. Allgaier, who assumed the runner-up spot, then tried to launch a side-by-side battle with Smith for the lead through the backstretch and from the outside lane. Smith would prevail on the inside lane during the following lap while Custer, Ryan Truex and Herbst followed suit in the top five. Smith would lead by a tenth of a second over Allgaier by the Lap 20 mark. 

At the Lap 25 mark, Chandler Smith was leading by two-tenths of a second over Allgaier while Custer, Truex and Herbst continued to run in the top five. Three laps later, however, Allgaier would overtake Smith for the lead through the backstretch. Allgaier stretched his advantage to a second over Smith by the Lap 30 mark as Custer, Truex and Herbst trailed in the top five. Behind, Austin Hill moved up to sixth place while Ryan Sieg, Brandon Jones, Allmendinger and Mayer occupied the top 10 on the track. 

Just past the Lap 35 mark, Allgaier stabilized his advantage to more than a second over Chandler Smith while third-place Custer trailed the lead by three seconds. Truex and Herbst would retain fourth and fifth, respectively, on the track as Allgaier then extended his lead to two seconds by Lap 40. 

When the first stage period concluded on Lap 45, Allgaier captured his second Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Chandler Smith settled in second followed by Herbst, Brandon Jones and Custer while Truex, Hill, Ryan Sieg, Allmendinger and Kligerman were scored in the top 10. 

Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Allgaier pitted for a first round of service. Following the pit stops, Corey Heim, who missed his pit stall, exited first followed by Allgaier while Herbst, Custer, Chandler Smith, Hill and Truex followed suit. Heim would then be penalized for speeding on pit road as Allgaier cycled back into the lead. Amid the pit stops, AJ Allmendinger lost a bevy of spots after he too missed his pit box while trying to pit. 

The second stage period started on Lap 52 as Allgaier and Herbst occupied the front row. At the start, Allgaier and Herbst briefly battled for the lead exiting the frontstretch until Allgaier muscled his No. 7 BRANDT/TradeMark Nitrogen Chevrolet Camaro ahead through the first two turns. As Allgaier started to pull away from the field through the backstretch, Custer overtook teammate Herbst for the runner-up spot while Chandler Smith followed suit in third place. Hill, Sheldon Creed, Truex, Jeb Burton, Kligerman and Jones followed suit in the top 10 as Allgaier led by seven-tenths of a second by Lap 55. 

Just past the Lap 60 mark, Allgaier extended his advantage to more than a second over Custer while third-place Chandler Smith also trailed by more than a second. Behind, Herbst and Truex were running in the top five followed by Hill, Jones, Creed, Burton and Sammy Smith while Sam Mayer, Kligerman, Love and Hailie Deegan occupied the top 15 on the track. 

Through the Lap 70 mark, Allgaier continued to stretch his advantage as he was leading by more than two seconds over Custer while Chandler Smith, Herbst and Truex were racing in the top five ahead of Hill, Jones, Creed, Burton and Sammy Smith.  

Four laps later, Kligerman, who was running just outside the top 10, pitted his No. 48 Spiked Lite Coolers/Big Machine Racing Chevrolet Camaro under green to address a right-front tire issue. With Kligerman pinned a lap down, Allgaier stabilized his lead by more than two seconds over Chandler Smith by Lap 80 while Custer, Herbst and Truex were running in the top five.  

Shortly after, the caution flew after Leland Honeyman spun through Turn 2. During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Allgaier returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Allgaier retained the lead after exiting pit road first followed by Hill, Custer, Herbst, Chandler Smith, Truex, Creed, Jones, Sammy Smith and Mayer. 

With six laps remaining in the second stage period, the event restarted under green. At the start, Hill launched a side-by-side battle against Allgaier for the lead through the first two turns, but Allgaier fended off the challenge to retain the lead. As the field navigated back to the frontstretch, Truex got loose in between Turns 3 and 4 as he went up the track and hit the outside wall, but the event remained under green flag conditions as Truex continued to proceed forward. With the field behind battling for positions, where Creed then got loose through the first two turns, Allgaier retained the lead by more than a second over Custer while Herbst, Jones and Hill trailed in the top five.  

When the second stage period concluded on Lap 90, Allgaier captured his second consecutive Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Custer trailed in second followed by teammate Herbst, Jones and Ryan Sieg while Sammy Smith, Hill, Love, Allmendinger and Mayer were scored in the top 10. 

During the stage break, select names including Chandler Smith, Jeb Burton, rookie Shane van Gisbergen, Jeremy Clements, Taylor Gray and Truex pitted while the rest led by Allgaier remained on the track, despite Allgaier’s concerns about having a loose wheel on his entry. 

With 103 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Allgaier and Custer occupied the front row. At the start, Allgaier launched ahead to retain the lead from the inside lane while Herbst tried to follow suit in second as he battled teammate Custer for the spot. As Chad Finchum pulled his car down to the apron with damage to his front end, all while the event remained under green flag conditions, Herbst would move into the runner-up spot followed by Sammy Smith while Custer dropped to fourth ahead of Jones, Hill and Ryan Sieg. Hill then got loose through Turns 1 and 2 as he dropped out of the top 10 on the track while Allgaier retained the lead by more than a second over Herbst at the halfway mark on Lap 100. 

A lap later, the caution returned after Jeb Burton, who pitted during the second stage’s break period, spun his No. 27 State Water Heaters Chevrolet Camaro towards the frontstretch after slapping the outside wall as he was just dodged by oncoming traffic. During the caution period, some led by Hill and including Gray and Chandler Smith pitted while the rest led by Allgaier remained on the track. 

As the event restarted under green with 94 laps remaining, Allgaier muscled away from the field to retain the lead ahead of Stewart-Haas Racing’s Custer and Herbst while Jones tried to challenge the latter two in fourth place followed by Ryan Sieg, Allmendinger and Sammy Smith. Allgaier would stretch his advantage to more than a second with 90 laps remaining while Custer, Jones, Herbst and Allmendinger followed suit in the top five. 

With 75 laps remaining, Allgaier was leading by more than a second over teammate Jones followed by Herbst, Custer and Allmendinger while Mayer, Ryan Sieg, Sammy Smith, Creed and Love were running in the top 10. Behind, Kligerman trailed in 11th ahead of Anthony Alfredo, Parker Retzlaff, Kyle Sieg and Josh Williams while Hill, Truex, Gray, Clements and van Gisbergen followed suit in the top 20. 

Fifteen laps later, Allgaier continued to lead by four-tenths of a second over Herbst as Jones, Allmendinger and Mayer trailed in the top five. By then, pit stops under green started to commence as Sammy Smith pitted. Custer, Ryan Sieg, Love, Heim and Kyle Sieg would pit during the proceeding laps before Allgaier led a group of front-runners, including Herbst and Jones, to pit road for service with 58 laps remaining.  

With 50 laps remaining, Hill, who pitted earlier just past the halfway mark, was leading by nearly five seconds over Truex followed by van Gisbergen, Chandler Smith and Kyle Weatherman. Meanwhile, Allgaier trailed the lead in eighth place and Herbst was in 10th while Custer and Jones were mired in the top 15. By then, nearly the entire field made a pit stop, minus the top seven competitors, while Creed was mired towards the middle of the pack after he was penalized for a safety violation during his green flag pit stop. 

Ten laps later, Hill continued to lead by more than nine seconds over both van Gisbergen and Chandler Smith while Allgaier carved his way up to fourth place as he trailed the lead by 18 seconds. Behind, Weatherman and Honeyman were running in the top six ahead of Herbst, Mayer, Custer, Jones, Allmendinger and Ryan Sieg, all of whom were scored on the lead lap. 

Another 10 laps later, the leader Hill peeled off the track to pit his No. 21 Global Industrial Chevrolet Camaro for two fresh tires under green. Hill’s move enabled Allgaier to cycle back into the lead while Herbst, Mayer, Jones and Custer followed suit in the top five. By then, van Gisbergen, Chandler Smith, Weatherman and Honeyman had all pitted.  

The caution would then fly with 28 laps remaining after Allgaier, who was trying to fend off Herbst, got loose while trying to lap Honeyman entering Turn 2, which resulted in Honeyman getting hit and spinning sideways into the outside wall in Turn 2. During the caution period, nearly the entire field led by Allgaier returned to pit road for service while Kligerman remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Jones exited pit road first ahead of Hill, both of whom only elected for two fresh tires while Allgaier, Mayer, Custer, Herbst, Allmendinger, Sammy Smith, Ryan Sieg and Love followed suit in the top 10. 

Down to the final 21 laps of the event, the race restarted under green as Kligerman and Jones occupied the front row. At the start, the field fanned out as Jones and Hill challenged Kligerman for the lead through the first two turns. With the field still fanned out through the backstretch, Jones muscled ahead with the lead on the outside lane while teammate Mayer followed suit in second ahead of Hill, Herbst, Allmendinger and Ryan Sieg while Allgaier, who went up the track, dropped out of the top five as he was running in the top 10. 

During the following lap, Jones retained the lead by a tenth of a second over teammate Mayer while Ryan Sieg challenged and overtook Herbst for third place. Mayer then overtook Jones for the lead with 19 laps remaining through the frontstretch before Sieg continued his late, strong charge to the front by overtaking Mayer entering Turns 3 and 4. With Sieg leading, Mayer trailed in second ahead of Herbst and Jones while Allgaier, who was trying to march his way back to the front, was in fifth. 

Following another caution period with 17 laps remaining amid an incident involving Kyle Weatherman and Hailie Deegan through the frontstretch, the race restarted under green with 11 laps remaining. At the start, Sieg muscled ahead to retain the lead from Herbst, Mayer and Allgaier while the rest of the field behind jostled for late positions. Amid the battles and more on-track chaos within the field, Sieg was scored the leader by seven-tenths of a second with 10 laps remaining. Shortly after, Retzlaff made contact with the wall and Herbst pitted under green after making on-track contact with Jones, but the event remainded under green flag conditions. 

Down to the final five laps of the event, Sieg retained the lead by more than a second over Mayer while Allgaier, Allmendinger and Custer followed suit in the top five. Despite having his advantage shaved off by a tenth during the ensuing laps, Sieg continued to lead by a steady margin over Mayer and Allgaier. 

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Sieg remained as the leader by two-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Mayer. Through the first two turns, Mayer gained a strong run on Sieg from the outside lane, where he then crossed his No. 1 Carolina Carports Chevrolet Camaro over to the inside lane, drew even with Sieg’s No. 39 Sci Aps Ford Mustang and overtook him for the lead through the backstretch. Mayer then got loose entering Turn 3, which allowed Sieg to draw back even beneath Sieg approaching the frontstretch. With neither giving an inch amid a side-by-side battle to the finish line and on-track contact, Mayer managed to edge Sieg on the outside lane by 0.002 seconds before getting squeezed into the outside wall to claim his first Xfinity checkered flag of the 2024 season in dramatic fashion. 

With the victory, Mayer, who sustained three DNFs through three of the first four-scheduled events and is coming off a strong runner-up result at Martinsville Speedway, notched his fifth career win in the Xfinity Series, his first at Texas Motor Speedway and his first since winning at Homestead-Miami Speedway in October 2023. The victory was also the first of the season for JR Motorsports and the fourth for the Chevrolet nameplate. 

As an added bonus, Mayer claimed the second Dash 4 Cash $100,000 bonus of the 2024 season. This marks his second time claiming the bonus since he achieved his first at Richmond Raceway in 2022. 

“That’s absolutely unreal,” Mayer said on FS1. “This Carolina Carports Chevrolet was certainly as fast as Xfinity Internet. This team, the amount of adversity we had to fight this entire year so far and to come to a mile and a half that I want to say I’m good at, but it took every ounce for me to do that today. So proud of my team. [My spotter Kevin Hamlin] might have won that race because he told me [the] bottom of [Turns] 3 and 4 were better, so props to him.” 

While Mayer was left jubilant and in disbelief on the frontstretch with his victory, Sieg was left disappointed on pit road after falling short of his first Xfinity victory by a hair, which occurred in his 342nd career start in the Xfinity circuit. The result marks the third time where Sieg ended up in the runner-up spot. 

“Sucks, we had a really good car,” Sieg said. “I got tight and then tried to change my line to do different things. [I] Fell behind and I saw [Mayer] coming. I was doing all I could do and then at the end, I was just trying to run him into the wall, trying to win the race. We were so close. This sucks. I’ve been second before too many times, but this is a good thing. We’re running where we need to be in the top five. Just got to clean up a few things. [The first win]’ll come. We got to keep fighting. We’re right there. Just thought we had it there at the end.”  

Allgaier and Allmendinger finished third and fourth, respectively, as they will compete for the third Dash 4 Cash bonus of the 2024 season next weekend at Talladega Superspeedway along with race winner Mayer and runner-up Ryan Sieg. 

Cole Custer finished fifth while Austin Hill, Ryan Truex, Sammy Smith, rookie Jesse Love and Anthony Alfredo ended up in the top 10 on the track. 

There were 16 lead changes for 10 different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 35 laps. In addition, 25 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap. 

Following the eighth event of the 2024 Xfinity Series season, Chandler Smith continues to lead the regular-season standings by 19 points over Cole Custer, 33 points over Austin Hill, 56 over Justin Allgaier and 76 over Jesse Love. 

Results. 

1. Sam Mayer, five laps led 

2. Ryan Sieg, 17 laps led 

3. Justin Allgaier, 117 laps led, Stages 1 & 2 winner 

4. AJ Allmendinger 

5. Cole Custer, one lap led 

6. Austin Hill, 25 laps led 

7. Ryan Truex 

8. Sammy Smith 

9. Jesse Love, one lap led 

10. Anthony Alfredo 

11. Taylor Gray 

12. Josh Williams 

13. Brandon Jones, two laps led 

14. Kyle Sieg 

15. Chandler Smith, 26 laps led 

16. Jeremy Clements 

17. Corey Heim 

18. Shane van Gisbergen 

19. Sheldon Creed, two laps led 

20. Matt DiBenedetto 

21. Brennan Poole 

22. Parker Retzlaff 

23. Hailie Deegan 

24. Daniel Dye 

25. Parker Kligerman, four laps led 

26. Ryan Ellis, one lap down 

27. Riley Herbst, one lap down 

28. David Starr, two laps down 

29. Josh Bilicki, two laps down 

30. Joey Gase, two laps down 

31. Leland Honeyman, two laps down 

32. Jeb Burton, three laps down 

33. Patrick Emerling, three laps down 

34. Garrett Smithley, three laps down 

35. Blaine Perkins, three laps down 

36. Kyle Weatherman – OUT, Accident 

37. Dawson Cram, nine laps down 

38. Chad Finchum – OUT, Suspension 

Next on the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the Ag-Pro 300 at Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama, where the third Dash 4 Cash event will occur. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, April 20, and air at 4 p.m. ET on FOX. 

Larson earns NASCAR Cup Series pole for Sunday’s Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400

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Sam Mayer (No. 1) nips Ryan Sieg (No. 39) at the line of Saturday’s Andy’s Frozen Custard 300 at Texas Motor Speedway for the second-closest finish in NASCAR Xfinity Series history. Photo credit: Getty Images for Texas Motor Speedway.
  • Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports takes the top qualifying position at Texas Motor Speedway for his third in a row on the season.
  • Sam Mayer edges Ryan Sieg to win the Andy’s Custard 300 in the second-closest finish in NASCAR Xfinity Series history.

FORT WORTH, Texas (April 13, 2024) – Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports claimed his third consecutive pole of the NASCAR Cup Series season during Saturday’s qualifying for the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Larson, the last driver among the 10 in the second and final round of qualifying, posted a lap of 28.366 seconds / 190.369 miles per hour on the 1.5-mile oval to unseat Ty Gibbs of Joe Gibbs Racing for the pole position.

He edged Gibbs (28.401 / 190.134) by .035 of a second in his No. 5 Chevrolet for the 19th pole of his career and milestone 250th for Hendrick Motorsports. His poles in the previous two races came at Richmond and Martinsville, respectively.

Larson will lead the 38-car field to the green flag for the start of Sunday’s Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 beginning at 2:30 p.m. CT (TV: FS1, Radio: PRN, SiriusXM Radio, Lone Star 92.5 FM locally). Click HERE for the complete starting lineup.

“Yeah, it was a pretty intense qualifying session,” Larson said. “I felt like the track was really slick in practice, and then having to kind of talk to yourself before you make your lap, knowing that you have to commit even more than you did in practice to go fast is difficult. And then just the lap itself – the first round and second round both, there were moments where you have grip, and then moments where you’re like man, I’m going to crash. It’s pretty intense from behind the wheel, but always great when you can accomplish a pole and feel like you beat your confidence a little bit.”

Despite losing his bid for his first career Cup Series pole, Gibbs matched his season-best qualifying performance that he set at Phoenix and matched at Circuit of The Americas in Austin.

JGR teammate Christopher Bell qualified third with a lap of 28.417 secs. / 190.027 mph that established a season-best starting position for the Norman, Okla., native. Toyota grabbed three of the top four positions with Tyler Reddick of 23XI Racing qualifying fourth (28.450 / 189.807). Chase Briscoe of Stewart-Haas Racing landed Ford in the top five by equaling his season-best qualifying effort with a lap of 28.458 secs. / 189.753 mph.

The top 10 qualifiers were separated by just .316 of a second, with Toyota earning half of those positions. RFK Racing driver Chris Buescher, a native of nearby Prosper, Texas, will start 19th.

In Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series action, Sam Mayer of JR Motorsports nipped Ryan Sieg of RSS Racing by a scant .002 of a second for a photo finish victory in the Andy’s Frozen Custard 300. The margin of victory was the second-closest finish in series history.

“That’s unreal,” Mayer said. “I was like a second and a half back probably at one point, so to pick up that much time in that little time is certainly unreal and shows how good our Carolina Carports Chevrolet was today. We definitely took a lot of swings at it to get it better, but obviously we led the most important lap there at the end.

“We didn’t dominate by any means, but we certainly worked our tails off to get there at that point. To win it like that … I’ve been on the short end of that stick a couple times so to come out on top is really cool.”

Sieg, the 36-year-old veteran in his 12th season, found himself in position for his first career Xfinity Series victory in 342 career starts as the race leader on a restart with 10 laps remaining.

He fended off Mayer until that final lap, where Mayer made an inside move exiting Turn 2 to take the lead. Sieg returned the favor between Turns 3 and 4 and the two banged side by side down the frontstretch to the start/finish line that resulted in the dramatic photo finish of a few inches difference.

“Awe, it sucks,” said Sieg on his third career runner-up finish. “We had a really good car. I just got tight, so tried to change my lines, do everything. I saw him coming and I did all I could do and at the end I was just trying to run him up into the wall to try to win the race. We were so close. This sucks.

“I’ve been second before. Too many times. But this is a good thing, means we’re running where we need to be in the top five. … Just got to keep fighting, we’re right there, just got to keep it up. We’ll have it in Victory Lane here shortly.”

The victory was Mayer’s first of the season and fifth of his career. It may have been the most lucrative of those five as he earned the $100,000 bonus in the Xfinity Series Dash for Cash program. Based off the previous race results, he was one of four drivers who was eligible to secure the bonus if they won the Andy’s Frozen Custard 300.

For the majority of the 200-lap race, it didn’t appear that a dramatic finish between these two would even be in the cards.

JR Motorsports driver Justin Allgaier, successful but winless in 26 career starts at Texas, had the dominant car, but had to settle for a third-place finish. He won the first two stages, led four times for a race-high 117 laps and held the lead as late as Lap 174 when misfortune struck.

Allgaier made contact while passing the lapped car of Kyle Weatherman that led to a caution and dropped him to fourth on the restart. He remained in the mix up front for those final 20 laps, but never got back into position to challenge Sieg and Mayer for the lead.

Rounding out the top five behind Mayer, Sieg and Allgaier was Kaulig Racing’s AJ Allmendinger in fourth and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer in fifth. Click HERE for the full results.

Tickets are on sale now for the April 14 Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 NASCAR Cup Series race (2:30 p.m. CT on FS1, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Channel 90 and Lone Star 92.5 – local).

Tickets are on sale now at www.texasmotorspeedway.com.

The balance of Texas Motor Speedway’s 2024 major event season includes the High Limit Sprint Car Series (April 13), Fuel Fest (April 20), the Goodguys Rod & Custom/American Flat Track/Pate Swap Meet tripleheader weekend (April 25-28), C-10 Nationals (May 10-12), LS Fest (May 18), Bandas y Trocas (May 25), Solar Car Challenge (July 11-17), SuperMotocross World Championship Playoff 2 (Sept. 14), Goodguys Rod & Custom (Sept. 27-29), American Sprint Car Series (Oct. 4-5), the High Limit Sprint Car Series inaugural season finale (Oct. 11-12) and the Gordy’s Hwy 30 Fest Texas (Oct. 17-20).

ABOUT TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY

Texas Motor Speedway is among the largest sports and entertainment venues in the United States and features an array of amenities such as the largest single LED screen of any sports facility in North America, making it one of the premier venues in the world of sports. The 1.5-mile superspeedway located in Fort Worth hosts all three NASCAR national series among its various races and specialty events throughout the year. Texas Motor Speedway is owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports, LLC, a leading marketer and promoter of motorsports entertainment in the United States. For more information, please visit texasmotorspeedway.com.

TICKETS:

For ticket information about Texas Motor Speedway’s 2024 events schedule, please visit www.texasmotorspeedway.com.

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Keep track of all of Texas Motor Speedway’s busy schedule by following on Facebook, X, and Instagram. Keep up with all the latest news and information on the speedway website and TMS mobile app.

Stewart-Haas Racing: Andy’s Frozen Custard 300 from Texas Motor Speedway

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Official Release
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STEWART-HAAS RACING
Andy’s Frozen Custard 300

Date: April 13, 2024
Event: Andy’s Frozen Custard 300 (Round 8 of 33)
Series: NASCAR Xfinity Series
Location: Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth (1.5-mile oval)
Format: 200 laps, broken into three stages (45 laps/45 laps/110 laps)
Race Winner: Sam Mayer of JR Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 1 Winner: Justin Allgaier of JR Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 2 Winner: Justin Allgaier of JR Motorsports (Chevrolet)

SHR Race Finish:

● Cole Custer (Started 2nd / Finished 5th, Running, completed 200 of 200 laps)
● Riley Herbst (Started 5th / Finished 27th, Running, completed 199 of 200 laps)

SHR Points:

● Cole Custer (2nd with 314 points, 19 out of first)
● Riley Herbst (6th with 232 points, 101 out of first)

SHR Notes:

● Custer earned his fourth top-five of the season and his fifth top-five in eight career NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Texas.
● This was Custer’s sixth straight top-10. He finished second March 2 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, fifth March 9 at Phoenix Raceway, fourth March 23 at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin Texas, 10th March 30 at Richmond (Va.) Raceway, and eighth at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.
● This was Custer’s third straight top-10 at Texas. He finished sixth last September and eighth in November 2019.
● Custer finished fifth in Stage 1 to earn six bonus points and second in Stage 2 to earn nine more bonus points.
● Custer led once for one lap to increase his laps-led total at Texas to 45.|● Herbst finished third in Stage 1 to earn eight bonus points and third in Stage 2 to earn eight more bonus points.

Race Notes:

● Sam Mayer won the Andy’s Frozen Custard 300 to score his fifth career NASCAR Xfinity Series victory, his first of the season and his first at Texas. His margin over second-place Ryan Sieg was .002 of a second.
● There were seven caution periods for a total of 35 laps.
● Twenty-five of the 38 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.
● Chandler Smith remains the championship leader after Texas with a 19-point advantage over second-place Custer.

Sound Bites:

“We had a solid day. Obviously, we wanted to win for Andy’s Frozen Custard and get that custard cone in victory lane. It was a hard-fought day for sure. We fought for every point out there and made the most of it. We just need that little bit more. We’re executing at a really high level right now. Our pit crew is doing great, and our guys are doing great, not making mistakes. We’re doing great just trying to maximize the days and keep ourselves in the points. We want to win. We want to try to go out there and win, so we just have to find that little bit more, but we are working on it.” –Cole Custer, driver of the No. 00 Andy’s Frozen Custard Ford Mustang

“Man, it just makes it that much harder when you’re that close. We looked like we had the speed and ability to pass for the lead, but caution after caution just made it so much harder to pass these guys. My handling was way off on that last run and then I ended up fading. I hate it for my No. 98 Monster Energy team. They work so hard to give me fast cars, and I want to get them to victory lane. Hopefully, we can have the same kind of speed at the next intermediate track.” –Riley Herbst, driver of the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang

Next Up:

The next event on the NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the Ag-Pro 300 on Saturday, April 20 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. The race begins at 4 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FOX and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes – Ryan Sieg Finishes 2nd in Photo Finish at Texas Xfinity Race

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Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
Andy’s Frozen Custard 300 at Texas Motor Speedway
NASCAR XFINITY Series Post Race Quotes

FORD UNOFFICIAL FINISHING RESULTS
2nd – Ryan Sieg
5th – Cole Custer
14th – Kyle Sieg
20th – Matt DiBenedetto
23rd – Hailie Deegan
27th – Ryley Herbst
28th – David Starr

RYAN SIEG, No. 39 Sci Aps Ford Mustang Dark Horse — (Finished 2nd)

THAT WAS ONE OF THE CLOSEST FINISHES IN XFINITY SERIES HISTORY. .002 SECONDS AND UNFORTUNATELY, YOU WERE ON THE WRONG SIDE OF IT. HOW DO YOU DESCRIBE THAT LAST LAP? “Just tough. I was doing all that I could do. I wish we were on the other side of that .002. It is what it is. I think we are in the Dash For Cash now, so that is a good positive. We ran up front where we needed to be. We were able to make gains on it. I feel like there is more to come. We just have to put a full race together. Ugh, we were so close. That just sucks.”

WHAT IS THE EMOTION YOU ARE FEELING? “The first emotion is definitely disappointment. We had it. We were leading at the end. It is disappointing but you have to look at the other side of it and move on. We have to move on to Talladega. I thought we had a good shot right there. We got up front but we just got too tight. I was doing all I could do. I was changing lines, changing brakes, changing everything. It was just that close. I saw him coming. I was doing all I could do. In the end I was just trying to run him into the wall to win the race. We were just so close. I have finished second before, and it really sucks.”

COLE CUSTER, No. 00 Andy’s Frozen Custard Ford Mustang Dark Horse (Finished 5th)

“We had a solid day. Obviously, we wanted to win for Andy’s Frozen Custard and get that custard cone in victory lane. It was a hard-fought day for sure. We fought for every point out there and made the most of it. We just need that little bit more. We are executing at a really high level right now. Our pit crew is doing great, and our guys are doing great, not making mistakes. We are doing great just trying to maximize the days and keep ourselves in the points. We want to win. We want to try to go out there and win, so we just have to find that little bit more, but we are working on it.”

Toyota Racing – NXS Texas Post-Race Report – 04.13.24

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Official Release
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RYAN TRUEX TOP TOYOTA IN TEXAS
Second top-10 in three starts this season for the New Jersey-native

FORT WORTH (April 13, 2024) – Ryan Truex led Toyota with a seventh-place finish at Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday afternoon.

Although Chandler Smith’s top-10 streak ended with a 15th-place finish, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver continues to lead the point standings heading into next weekend’s race at Talladega Superspeedway

Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Texas Motor Speedway
Race 8 of 33 – 300 miles, 200 laps

TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Sam Mayer*
2nd, Ryan Sieg*
3rd, Justin Allgaier*
4th, AJ Allmendinger*
5th, Cole Custer*
7th, RYAN TRUEX
11th, TAYLOR GRAY
15th, CHANDLER SMITH
17th, COREY HEIM
19th, SHELDON CREED
*non-Toyota driver

TOYOTA QUOTES

RYAN TRUEX, No. 20 The Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 7th

Great late race charge to finish with a top-10. Can you tell us about your race?

“Started off really good. I felt like we were a top-three car. You just cannot pass – at all. As soon as the track moves up – the preferred lane moves up to the top – nobody could pass. You are just stuck in dirty air, so I just rode in fifth. I tried to pass somebody and ended up sixth in stage one. At the end of the race there, I just didn’t even try to pass him, because I knew if I did, I was just going to get freight trained. Our GR Supra was really good. I think we were probably an adjustment away from being able to win. I just got too high in (turns) three and four and got in the residual junk they have up there, and I just lost all of my grip and fenced it. Obviously, my fault, and I feel really bad about it because this car deserves to be winning races, not running seventh, but I’m glad we at least got lucky and had a good restart there at the end.”

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for more than 65 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships.

Toyota directly employs more than 63,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 45 million cars and trucks at our 13 manufacturing plants. By 2025, Toyota’s 14th 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 26 electrified options.

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

CHEVROLET NCS AT TEXAS: Larson Extends 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Pole Streak to Three-Straight

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Official Release
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NASCAR CUP SERIES
TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
AUTOTRADER ECHOPARK AUTOMOTIVE 400
TEAM CHEVY POST-QUALIFYING REPORT
APRIL 13, 2024

Larson Extends 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Pole Streak to Three-Straight at Texas Motor Speedway

  • For the third consecutive race, Kyle Larson and the No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Camaro ZL1 team will lead the NASCAR Cup Series field to the green-flag in tomorrow’s AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Texas Motor Speedway.
  • Larson posted a fastest-lap of 28.366 seconds, at 190.369 mph, in his No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Camaro ZL1 to claim his 19th career NASCAR Cup Series pole.
  • The feat marked yet another milestone achievement for Hendrick Motorsports with Larson delivering the Chevrolet organization its 250th all-time pole in NASCAR’s premier series.
  • This marks Larson’s third consecutive pole win of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season, also extending Chevrolet’s pole streak to four-straight in the series – a run that dates back to his teammate William Byron’s pole at Circuit of The Americas (March 24, 2024).
  • The pole marks Chevrolet’s 16th all-time NASCAR Cup Series pole at Texas Motor Speedway, and the manufacturer’s 747th all-time pole in NASCAR’s premier series – both of which are series-leading records.
  • FS1 will broadcast the NASCAR Cup Series AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday, April 14, at 3 p.m. ET. Live coverage can also be found on PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

 
TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10 STARTING LINEUP:
POS. DRIVER
1st Kyle Larson, No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Camaro ZL1
6th William Byron, No. 24 Liberty University Camaro ZL1

Kyle Larson, No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Camaro ZL1 – Pole Win Media Availability Quotes

TAKE US THROUGH YOUR POLE-WINNING LAP HERE AT TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY.

“Yeah, it was a pretty intense qualifying session. I felt like the track was really slick in practice, and then having to kind of talk to yourself before you make your lap, knowing that you have to commit even more than you did in practice to go fast is difficult. And then yeah, just the lap itself – the first round and second round both, there were moments where you have grip, and then moments where you’re like man, I’m going to crash. It’s pretty intense from behind the wheel, but always great when you can accomplish a pole and feel like you beat your confidence a little bit.”

WHAT’S IT LIKE RIGHT NOW, GOING THROUGH THIS PHASE OF HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS HITTING SO MANY DIFFERENT MILESTONES ACROSS ALL THE DRIVERS? OBVIOUSLY YOU WEREN’T THERE AT THE START, BUT HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS WILL PROBABLY BE AROUND FOR A LOT LONGER WITH A LOT MORE MILESTONES TO COME. BUT IN THIS MOMENT NOW, OVER THE LAST EIGHT OR NINE MONTHS, WHAT’S THAT LIKE TO BE A PART OF THAT LEGACY?

“Yeah, it’s pretty neat. Whenever you can kind of be ‘the guy’, I guess, to know that your name is going to be next to that milestone number – it’s pretty special. You know, like when I was able to be a part of win 269, like you feel the excitement; the happiness from Rick (Hendrick) and everybody that’s been a part of the organization for a long time. And then, even being out there on the opposite side of things – with William (Byron) winning 300 last year here at Texas, I was obviously super bummed because I was dominating the race and lost, but at the same point, I was really happy for the team. Even last week, I’m obviously bummed I didn’t win, but super, super happy for the team. Especially this year, being the 40th anniversary season for Hendrick Motorsports, there’s these milestones that are all kind of coming up right now. It’s just cool to get the 250th Cup Series pole, and I feel like I’m contributing to the record books at Hendrick Motorsports.”

NOT JUST FOR HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS, BUT ALSO FOR THE DRIVE FOR DIVERSITY PROGRAM – 52 POLES NOW FOR ALL OF THEM, BUT A LOT OF DIFFERENT MILESTONES FOR THAT PROGRAM, AS WELL. WHAT’S IT LIKE TO SEE THAT PROGRAM NOW FINALLY SEEING THE FRUITS OF ITS LABOR AND THE SUCCESS THAT IT’S HAVING FROM ALL OF THAT INVESTMENT TO THE PROGRAM?

“Yeah, I think I kind of touched on it maybe last week. Same thing.. it’s just really cool to see it all paying off. I think now, you’re seeing it pay off because these drivers are in really good equipment. You need good equipment in this sport, but it takes a large investment and they’ve been able to do that here lately. It seems like the last few years have helped get their drivers in some good stuff.

Yeah, it’s awesome and I definitely always cheer those drivers on. When they can get a pole or get a win, it’s definitely good for the program.”

BETWEEN NOW AND WHEN YOU HAVE TO GO OVER TO THE DIRT TRACK, ARE YOU FOCUSED ON THE RACE TOMORROW? IS THERE A LOT OF DEBRIEF, OR ARE YOU ABLE TO TAKE A NAP? DO YOU HAVE TO GO OVER AND DO ANY ADMINISTRATIVE STUFF AS A HIGH LIMIT SERIES OWNER?

“No.. no, we’ll have our debrief here in a couple of minutes to talk about today. I think I have maybe an autograph session here in a little bit.. just normal stuff. Everything is pretty well handled on the High Limit side. When it’s race day, I’m just a driver. I’ll go say ‘hi’ to all of them, but no, there’s nothing I need to do on the administrative side. And then same thing with the No. 57 sprint car.. like everything is pretty well handled there. I just show up; go to the driver’s meeting, hop in the car for engine heat, go race and cross my fingers and hope I do good.”

I’VE HEARD PEOPLE MENTION THAT PIT STALLS AND STARTING POSITIONS ARE EVEN MORE IMPORTANT HERE IN TEXAS. IS IT IMPORTANT TO YOU, AND HOW EXCITING IS IT TO DO AS WELL AS YOU DID IN QUALIFYING GOING INTO THE RACE?

“Well I think in the Next Gen stuff, qualifying is very important because of just track position and it being much harder to pass than it used to be. As far as pit stalls and stuff, this is one of the easier pit roads, I feel like. It’s wide and the stalls are not too small, so it’s not too bad, as long you as you don’t get stuck. Like say you qualified bad and you have to pick a stall in between two good cars and you’re also a good car.. like Kyle Busch will probably have a rough day on pit road tomorrow.

But yeah, you try to put an emphasis on qualifying for sure these days.”

GOING BACK-AND-FORTH BETWEEN A CUP CAR AND A SPRINT CAR IS ROUTINE FOR YOU, BUT HOW ABOUT GOING BACK-AND-FORTH BETWEEN THE INDYCAR AND THE CUP CAR.. IS THAT MORE DIFFICULT, BASICALLY BECAUSE OF THE DIFFERENT CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CAR?

“Well I mean I don’t really think it is that different anymore. I’m not sure.. I just think maybe with my experience of just driving different cars – I’m just guessing, but maybe I just adapt quicker than others might bouncing back-and-forth. But this week, the track was so gripped up in Indy that you’re just kind of driving around the track. It wasn’t ever sketchy-feeling, and hopefully it never gets that way.

But no, I don’t know.. it’s fine. I think the biggest thing for me, going from a Cup car to an IndyCar, is just remembering what all the buttons and stuff on the steering wheel do. That’s really the biggest thing, so far. Like every time I get in, I’m like – OK, what’s this weight jacker, left versus right, do.. moving the bar forward versus rearward, like what does that do. I just have to get reminded of that it seems like every time I get back in it.”

 
 

About Chevrolet

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