In six NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) races at Circuit of the Americas (COTA), Spire Motorsports has logged one top-15 and two top-20 finishes with four different drivers. Corey LaJoie, driver of Spire Motorsports’ No. 7 Gainbridge Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 finished 11th in last year’s EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix. The Mooresville, N.C., team fields the Nos. 7, 71 and 77 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1s in the NCS with LaJoie, and fellow drivers Zane Smith and Carson Hocevar, respectively.

The EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix from Circuit of the Americas will be televised live on FOX Sunday, March 24, beginning at 3:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The sixth of 36 races on the 2024 NCS schedule will be broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. NASCAR RaceDay’s pre-race coverage on FS1 will take the green flag at 2 p.m. EDT and shift to FOX at 3 p.m.

Corey LaJoie – Driver, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

• Sunday’s Grand Prix will mark LaJoie’s third NCS start at COTA, all of which have come behind the wheel of the No. 7 Chevrolet Camaro for Spire Motorsports. Over the last three season’s LaJoie has finished 11th, 36th and 20th, respectively in the NCS annual visit to the 3.14-mile Austin, Texas road course
• The Concord, N.C. racer has an average start of 28.0, an average finish of 22.3 and has completed 186 of 198 (94 percent) laps contested over those three races.
• Last season, LaJoie started 27th and went on to earn a venue-best 11th-place finish.
• Gainbridge Insurance Agency, LLC (“Gainbridge”), a Group 1001 company, is an insurtech which strives to offer products that are simple, intuitive, and backed by smart technology with no complexity or hidden fees. Gainbridge empowers consumers to take control of their financial future with solutions that are accessible to everyone no matter their budget or financial knowledge. Gainbridge’s digital-first distribution model underpins its mission to reach all communities, including those that have been historically underserved by the national financial system.
• Last weekend at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, LaJoie started 18th and finished 21st.
• LaJoie is currently 22nd in the NCS championship point standings, seven points behind 21st and 15 markers outside the top 20.
• The 32-year-old driver’s best finish of the year is a fourth-place effort at the Daytona 500.

Corey LaJoie Quotes
Last year’s race at COTA was pretty intense as the laps wound down and you came away with a solid finish. What are your thoughts as we head into the first road race of the season?
“We finished well at COTA last season after a couple wild, late-race restarts so I’m ready to get back to down to Austin. I’ve been working hard on honing my road-racing skills and our baseline set-up has been getting better. I think a top-15 is absolutely a realistic goal this weekend, and with a little luck, maybe we can set ourselves up for a top 10.”

Zane Smith – Driver, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

• Zane Smith will make his first NCS start at Circuit of the Americas in Sunday’s EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix driving the No. 71 Focused Health Chevrolet for Spire Motorsports. Round 6 of the 2024 NCS tour marks Smith’s sixth NCS start for Spire Motorsports and 15th of his career.
• On Sunday, Smith’s start at COTA will be the third road course race in his NCS career. Last year, he raced at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway and the Charlotte Roval in the No. 38 for Front Row Motorsports.
• Smith has a winning past at COTA in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (NCTS). The Huntington Beach, Calif., native won the XPEL 225 in back-to-back (’22-’23) seasons.
• Smith’s victory at COTA last season made him the only NCTS repeat race winner at the venue. Smith led the final 15-laps and crossed the finish line 5.451 seconds ahead of second place.
• Join Smith at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday at the EchoPark Automotive FanZone stage for a 15-minute question and answer session.
• Last Sunday, Smith finished 36th in the NCS race at Bristol Motor Speedway. After starting 16th, Smith was fast before being collected in a multicar accident on Lap 31. Smith returned to the track following repairs before mechanical issues in Stage 2 ended his race.
• Smith will carry the No. 71 primary sponsor, Focused Health, Sunday. Focused Health is a National Health Insurance agency founded by industry veterans with over 60 years combined industry experience. Primarily focused on the government programs space, Focused Health partners with payors and employers to deliver health insurance solutions for individuals and families. For more information, visit AtFocusedHealth.com.
• Fans can pre-order Focused Health No. 71 Zane Smith merchandise at shopzanesmith.com.

Zane Smith Quotes
Knowing your success at COTA, how excited are you to race there on Sunday?
“I love racing at COTA. I’ve won there the past two years in the Truck Series so it’s a track that is super special to me. This will be my first time racing the Cup car there so it will be a little different, but I know that we will have a fast Focused Health Chevy Camaro. I’m looking forward to it.”
Sunday marks the sixth race of the year. How are you feeling so far about the start of your season?
“Luck hasn’t been on our side every weekend, but my team continues to work hard every day to bring a fast No. 71 Chevy Camaro to the track. The season is just getting started, so much left to prove. I’m excited to see what we can accomplish this season.”

Carson Hocevar – Driver, No.77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

• Carson Hocevar will pilot Spire Motorsports’ No. 77 Delaware Life Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for his first NCS road-course race in Sunday’s EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix.
• Hocevar stared 35th and finished 27th in last Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Despite myriad tire issues throughout the race, the 21-year-old completed all but three of the race’s 500 laps at the legendary high-banked, half-mile oval.
• Delaware Life Insurance Company (“Delaware Life”) has made its mission to deliver pure value to its network of financial professionals with a set of tools and products that help them empower their clients to plan for retirement with confidence. Delaware Life’s focus is delivering a seamless experience that gives clients exactly what they’re looking for: the comfort of understanding, the confidence of transparency, and streamlined products without needless features. Learn more at www.delawarelife.com.
• Hocevar leads the NCS Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings and is currently 24th in the division’s championship points standings. He earned a season-best 15th-place at both Las Vegas Motor Speedway (3.3) and Phoenix Raceway (3/10).
• In three previous NCTS starts at COTA, Hocevar has earned two top 10s, completed 95 of 129 laps (74 percent) and logged a 16.3 average finish.
• The Portage, Mich., driver logged four NCTS wins in 2023 and finished fourth in the series’ championship point standings.
• Hocevar made his NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) debut in 2023 at COTA for SS GreenLight Racing where he started 17th before being sidelined early with mechanical issues.

Carson Hocevar Quotes
This weekend at COTA marks your NCS road course debut. Given you haven’t raced a road course in a Cup car before, how have you prepared?
“I’m looking forward to our first road course race of the season. I’ve got a good amount of experience at COTA and with the simulator data we’ve gathered from the Cup car, we should have a really solid showing.”
Shifting gears from the ovals, what excites you most as a driver about tackling a very technical racetrack like COTA?
“I am just excited for the opportunity to really have a lot of pace. There is a lot more separation in lap times on road courses than on ovals, so we have an opportunity to put together a really good day.”
From the Top of the Box

Ryan Sparks – Crew Chief, No. 7 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

• Ryan Sparks serves in a dual role as both Spire Motorsports competition director and crew chief for driver Corey LaJoie and the No. 7 Chevrolet Camaro in the NCS.
• Sparks, a Winston-Salem, N.C., native, has been paired with LaJoie since 2020.
• Combined, Sparks and LaJoie have earned four top-five and seven top-10 finishes, including a pair of top four in the 2024 Daytona 500.

Stephen Doran – Crew Chief, No. 71 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

• Stephen Doran begins his first full season as a Cup Series crew chief leading Zane Smith and the No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet team during the 2024 season.
• In 2006, Doran got his start in NASCAR at Petty Enterprises.
• Prior to his arrival at Spire Motorsports, Doran worked at Stewart-Haas Racing as an engineer, most recently on the No. 4 car driven by Kevin Harvick.

Luke Lambert – Crew Chief, No. 77 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

• Luke Lambert is the crew chief for Spire Motorsports’ No. 77 team with 2024 NCS Rookie of the Year candidate Carson Hocevar
• The 2005 North Carolina State graduate has led the competition efforts for some of the sport’s most notable names including Jeff Burton, Ryan Newman, Elliott Sadler and Chris Buescher.
• In 2014, Lambert led Newman to a berth in the Championship 4, and ultimately a runner-up finish in the NCS championship point standings.

About Spire Motorsports …
Spire Motorsports is a NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race team co-owned by long-time NASCAR industry executives Jeff Dickerson and Thaddeus “T.J.” Puchyr. In 2024, Spire Motorsports will campaign the Nos. 7, 71 and 77 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1s in the NASCAR Cup Series with drivers Corey LaJoie, Zane Smith and Carson Hocevar, respectively. The team will also field the Nos. 7, 71 and 77 Chevrolet Silverados full time in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series. An all-star driver lineup will rotate throughout the 2024 season in the No. 7 Chevy. Rajah Caruth will drive the No. 71 entry and Chase Purdy rounds out the team’s fleet of Chevrolets in the No. 77.

Spire Motorsports earned its inaugural NASCAR Cup Series victory in its first full season of competition when Justin Haley took the checkered flag in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway on July 7, 2019. Less than three years later, William Byron drove Spire Motorsports’ No. 7 Chevrolet Silverado to its inaugural NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series win on April 7, 2022, at Martinsville Speedway. The team’s most recent win came on March 1, 2024, when Rajah Caruth took the checkered flag in the Victoria’s Voice Foundation 200 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

JUSTIN HALEY | KAZ GRALA
COTA Advance
Event Overview

● Event: EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix (Round 6 of 36)

● Time/Date: 3:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday, March 24

● Location: Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas

● Layout: 3.426-mile, 20-turn road course

● Laps/Miles: 68 laps/231.88 miles

● Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 15 laps / Stage 2: 15 laps / Final Stage: 38 laps

● TV/Radio: FOX / PRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Justin Haley, Driver of the No. 51 Fraternal Order of Eagles Ford Mustang Dark Horse

● The Fraternal Order of Eagles returns to the No. 51 Ford Mustang Dark Horse as Justin Haley is set to make his fourth start at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas. Haley’s best finish at the 3.426-mile, 20-turn road course came in 2022, when he started ninth and finished 15th.

● The 24-year-old from Winimac, Indiana, has made 18 road-course starts in the Cup Series with two top-five finishes and three top-10s. He led 23 laps en route to a runner-up finish at last year’s inaugural Chicago Street Race.

● Haley also competed in the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at COTA, the first NASCAR race run on at the track, and earned a ninth-place result. In total, he owns four top-fives and 10 top-10s in 16 Xfinity Series road-course starts, including two runner-up finishes – 2020 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and 2021 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington.

● Prior to racing on road courses in NASCAR, Haley competed in the Trans Am Series TA2 class. In 2015, the then 16-year-old driver set the track record at COTA in qualifying.

● Last Sunday at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, Haley and teammate Kaz Grala had the best showing of the year for RWR. Both drivers ran as high as sixth, but severe tire wear affected teams all day, ultimately forcing the Rick Ware Racing (RWR) duo outside of the top-15 in the closing laps. Despite the extreme tire fall-off, it was the first time both RWR cars finished within the top-20 at Bristol. The drivers also improved on the previous best average running positions by RWR cars in a Cup Series race with a 14.7 average running position for Haley and 18.8 for Grala.

Kaz Grala, Driver of the No. 15 N29 Capital Partners Ford Mustang Dark Horse

● Grala, driver of the No. 15 N29 Capital Partners Ford Mustang Dark Horse, will make his second Cup Series start at COTA on Sunday. He completed all 69 laps in the 2022 race to earn a 25th-place finish.

● In 2020, Grala made his first career Cup Series start in the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing entry on the Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway road course. He started 10th in the field of 39 cars and led three laps en route to a seventh-place finish. In 18 Xfinity Series starts on road courses, Grala has earned four top-fives and six top-10s.

● Grala also owns one Xfinity Series start at COTA, resulting in an 18th-place finish in 2023. He will return to the Xfinity Series on Saturday, competing for RSS Racing in the No. 28 Ford.

● The Boston native is no stranger to making left and right turns. In 2014, at the age of 15, Grala entered the Michelin Pilot Challenge to become the youngest driver ever to compete in an IMSA event. Two years later, he made his debut in the Rolex 24 At Daytona, where he was the youngest driver in the field, piloting a car for RWR president Robby Benton.

Rick Ware Racing Notes

● NHRA Top Fuel driver Clay Millican and the Mission Foods NHRA Drag Racing Series are back on track this weekend at the Lucas Oil Winternationals in Pomona, California. Two weeks ago, Millican competed in the season-opening Gatornationals in Gainesville, Florida, where the Parts Plus driver qualified 10th but was bested by Doug Kalitta in the first round of eliminations. A three-time winner for RWR, Millican started the year setting fast time in the first round of qualifying at the PRO Superstart Shootout exhibition event in Bradenton, Florida, Feb. 8-10. He stayed atop the leaderboard to secure the No. 1 qualifying position, then advanced to the final round of eliminations.

● In Senoia, Georgia, Progressive American Flat Track (AFT) drivers Briar Bauman, Kody Kopp and Shayna Texter-Bauman will be back on track for the second event of 2024. In the season kickoff at Daytona two weeks ago, 19-year-old Kody Kopp took home a win in the Thursday-night AFT Singles feature by a margin of 1.502 seconds. The two-time champion followed up with a second-place finish in the Friday feature.

● Rick Ware has been a motorsports mainstay for more than 40 years. It began at age six when the third-generation racer began his driving career and has since spanned four wheels and two wheels on both asphalt and dirt. Competing in the SCCA Trans Am Series and other road-racing divisions led Ware to NASCAR in the early 1980s, where he finished third in his NASCAR debut – the 1983 Warner W. Hodgdon 300 NASCAR Grand American race at Riverside (Calif.) International Raceway. More than a decade later, injuries would force Ware out of the driver seat and into fulltime team ownership. In 1995, Rick Ware Racing was formed, and with wife Lisa by his side, Ware has since built his eponymous organization into an entity that fields two fulltime entries in the NASCAR Cup Series while simultaneously campaigning successful teams in the Top Fuel class of the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series, the LMP3 class of the IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge, Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup, Progressive American Flat Track and FIM World Supercross Championship (WSX), where RWR won the 2022 SX2 championship with rider Shane McElrath.

Justin Haley, Driver Q&A

How do you envision Sunday’s race at COTA will play out for you?

“These races are long, and they play out in all kinds of different ways. So, I feel like I’ve been fast at COTA before and I feel like I’ve struggled at COTA before. We just have to try to do the best we can. There’s some confidence, I feel like as a driver you can make a bigger difference at a road course, you’re just trying to do your best.”

You and the RWR team showed marked improvement at Bristol last weekend. Should everyone expect to see that continue?

“I think so. This is a building season. Everyone considers RWR to be a lower-level team, so I’m excited for this to continue. Personally, I find a lot of enjoyment in this process and I feel like we can have some great finishes. I do think it’ll take some time just to kind of get everyone meshing together, but we’re seeing that already take place. It’s hard to put a new quarterback onto a team and then just expect him to play. He doesn’t know his guys and that’s kind of what we’re working through. We’re going to have some good finishes and and, most importantly, we’re going to have a lot of fun with it.”

Kaz Grala, Driver Q&A

You have a lot of experience on road courses, whether it be in sportscar or in stock cars. How are you feeling ahead of the first road-course event of the year?

“I’ve been looking forward to the road courses. With extra time on track in practice, we’ll be able to get ourselves in a good place with the handling and I feel like I know what I need for these types of races. I’ve won some sportscar races at COTA and run well in NASCAR, so I think we have potential to get a decent finish.”

You’re running Saturday’s Xfinity Series race this weekend, as well. What kind of benefit does that provide?

“It’s a huge help to get additional track time for the road-course events. Not so much to help the car itself, because they drive completely differently, but to have the extra laps to get familiar with the track and find those spots where you can push a little harder for a big payoff come Sunday.”

What has been the impact of the Bristol run?

“We’ve known from the beginning that we’re capable of running well. Coming in to a new team, you know it’s going to take time, but it was nice to have that moment early in the season to show other people that we can do it. The morale in the shop has been great since Justin’s run at the Clash, but it’s definitely improved after Bristol and I think we can keep it going.”

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix Media Availability | Wednesday, March 20, 2024

Austin Cindric, driver of the No.2 Team Penske Ford Mustang Dark Horse, will be making his fourth NASCAR Cup Series start at Circuit of the Americas and will be trying to extend a streak that has seen him qualify in the top 10 every season. He has registered back-to-back top 10 finishes as well with his best effort coming last season when he ran sixth. Cindric spoke to members of the media earlier today about this weekend’s event.

AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 2 Team Penske Ford Mustang Dark Horse – HOW DO YOU FEEL GOING INTO COTA? “I think it’s a great opportunity for us to kind of get back on track and hit the reset button. The last couple of weeks have been pretty funky with getting knocked out the first couple of laps at Phoenix and then obviously last week’s craziness and all the tire failures that we experienced, so I’m kind of excited to just get back going and hopefully a lot of green flag running. It’s been a place that we’ve had some good pace. We obviously have to adapt to the new package, but I’m excited to go hit the reset button and get after it.”

THE RESTART ZONE HAS BEEN PUSHED BACK CLOSE TO TURN 20. WHAT KIND OF IMPACT WILL THAT HAVE AND WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BE SUCCESSFUL THERE? “I think the restart zone, I would say the initial impressions are that it should hopefully separate the top 10 in the field from the back half to where you don’t have that immediate stack up where you’re trying to fit 40 cars slowing down and have that massive check up that causes guys to make it three, four, five, six, seven, eight, however high you can count, wide into turn one. Upon reviewing it today with where the restart zone is and how many cars there are, I still think turn one certainly has a great opportunity to be messy depending on how the first couple rows play the start, and I think how early the leader goes. I still think there is plenty of opportunity for chaos there on the restarts, but I think it’s a much higher percent chance of cutting some of that down.”

ARE YOU AT A PLACE WHERE YOU HAVE TO GET STAGE POINTS OR IF YOU HAVE A GOOD CAR JUST RACE FOR THE WIN AND GIVE UP THE STAGE POINTS? “I think it all depends on how competitive you feel like you are, whether that’s on Saturday or Sunday. If you feel like you have a chance to win the race or not, I think there’s gonna be some pretty clear-cut guys that are gonna flip the stages. We’re obviously back to playing that game to where you might even win the race and not have a max points day, or have a good finish and not have a very good points day, so you certainly have to weigh that out. I think the points are very tight. I think I was 11th or 10th or third in points two or three weeks ago, so things happen pretty fast this early in the year. I’m not necessarily in a points panic, but points are definitely just as important as getting a good finish if not more.”

YOU TRIED TO WAVE OVER TO RICKY TO TALK TO HIM BUT HE KEPT WALKING AFTER THE RACE. I ASSUME YOUR TIRES WERE JUST ICE AND YOU COULDN’T STOP ONCE YOU MADE THAT MOVE? “Yeah. I certainly was trying to stay on the lead lap and tires were old, but I put us in a bad spot. I drove through marbles, put us three-wide with the 38 and I put complete responsibility on me for that accident. I don’t know what his race was looking like at that point, but I’m sure it wasn’t appreciated. He was fairly frustrated after the race and I think has every right to be, so that was just making a bad situation worse on my end, so I certainly have to do less of that. It’s definitely not fun and I hate to find myself in that situation. It’s totally on me.”

YOU HAVE QUITE A FEW GOOD RUNS AT RICHMOND IN XFINITY BUT CUP HAS BEEN A STRUGGLE. CAN YOU FIGURE OUT WHY THAT IS? WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE? “I’m not sure I’ve ever started Richmond in the Cup Series inside the top 30 and I can give you a number of reasons of why, and the one time I did I lost a cylinder about six laps into the race. It’s a very difficult racetrack. It’s a challenging race from a strategy standpoint with long green flag runs. It’s a tough track, but I really do enjoy Richmond, so I am looking forward to going there. I feel like we can kind of get our heads wrapped around the short track package a little bit. I’m certainly not discouraged, but it’s a racetrack where you can’t hide if you have a weakness or an issue throughout the race. It’s a racetrack where veterans really perform well, not to say that I can’t with my experience level, but it is a track that I actually feel somewhat confident about what I need to do with the car and how I need to take care of the race and how the track moves and so on, just kind of putting it together has still yet to happen for me in a Cup car.”

IS A HOT DOG A SANDWICH AND WHEN YOU HAVE ONE WHAT ARE YOUR TOPPINGS? “A hot dog is not a sandwich. The hot dog is the actual weiner itself, like the bun is the vessel that makes it. It’s not a sandwich. It’s like saying a taco is a sandwich. As far as what my toppings are on my hot dog, I’m pretty basic. I could maybe put some cheese on it or something like that, but I just go straight dog.”

WHAT DID YOU FEEL DURING PRACTICE WITH THE NEW SHORT TRACK PACKAGE AND DO YOU FEEL THERE WILL BE ANY SIMILARITIES? “I think the similarities are just what our information tells us as far as from aerodynamically how is it different. I think you’re kind of splitting hairs to really feel like the aero package is going to be a ton different. I look at it more as a simplification to have a similar product from a car pieces and parts standpoint versus how the car actually drives. That’s kind of how I’ve approached it. I know everyone’s hoped to have closer racing and greater fall off and sliding cars more and all that. I don’t think this change was big enough to really make me believe that any of that was going to be a whole lot different than what we had last year from my expectations, and as far as how that relates to COTA, I think a lot of the same. I’m not expecting a massive shift from last year to this year. I think the things we don’t know about, more straight line braking events, then it’s more lateral, grip limitations at Phoenix, so I think you’ll see the car maybe perform in different ways at that track so we should have a pretty good picture of the total limitations or changes from last year’s short track package.”

IS THERE A LITTLE MORE EMPHASIS ON THIS WEEK KNOWING THERE ARE TWO ROAD COURSES IN THE PLAYOFFS? “Yeah, for me it’s make it to the playoffs and then focus on that, but certainly it’s important now having Watkins, which I would say Watkins is kind of a different ball game compared to more of a traditional road course like Circuit of the Americas or even Sonoma, so some of the relations between all the road courses on the schedule are quite different I feel like. This has been a difficult one for us because I feel like we’ve been OK with our road course package, but COTA has kind of been our outlier. That’s been one of our best events since we started the Next Gen car, our meaning specifically for me and the 2 car, so it’s kind of hard to convince yourself to do something a ton different and especially after the last couple weeks you almost want to just have a base hit and do something you know that works, so it should be an interesting weekend for us. Hopefully, we have some repeatability and have the same speed that we’ve shown the last couple of events there.”

WHEN DO YOU START LOOKING AT COTA AS KIND OF A RELIEF TYPE OF RACE THAT YOU WILL PROBABLY RUN WELL? “It’s funny because two weeks ago I would have gotten the same questions from a lot of folks saying how great the start of your season has gone. Two weeks later it’s all you’re in a rut. It’s so to react to that kind of stuff. It’s a pretty long game here, so I feel like I have to defend that in a moment that it’s a long season. Yeah, the last two weeks have been wildly out of the control of what I feel like our race team is capable of in a few different ways, but as far as COTA stacks up for me, yeah, no matter how you cut it, it’s been a racetrack that I’ve been able to be competitive at and lead laps every time I’ve been there in a Cup car. Personally, it’s not necessarily my favorite racetrack, to be honest, but it’s somewhere that we’ve performed well. We seem to have a package that works well there and after the last couple of weeks I’m very hungry to just execute and everyone get to do our jobs – that comes down to my pit crew as well and everybody just kind of getting in a rhythm again because we haven’t been able to and as much as we race, it feels awkward to not have anything to really think about from a normal standpoint of like, ‘Oh, maybe we need to do this to improve the car or that,’ and not have these massive issues, whether if it’s getting wrecked out early or having this tire and track debacle or any of that. Let’s just reset and I think it’s a great weekend to do it.”

HOW WOULD YOU RATE YOU AND TEAM PENSKE SO FAR THIS SEASON? “Plate events have been really great for us across the board as a team. Daytona and Atlanta, two absolute stand out events. I think all three of our cars were probably the best in the field, the class of the field, and obviously frustrating not to have any of us win those races, but I think it was an A+ for those events. I think the last three weeks have just been learning, whether that’s offset with the Dark Horse Ford Mustang, to figure out where we’ve made gains or where we’re different as well as just kind of getting started off into the season. Obviously, like I’ve said before in here, the last two weeks have just been kind of a mess regardless of anything that we’ve really done outside of our preparation, so it’s a bit difficult to get a read, but it’s certainly been interesting. Obviously, the Toyotas and specifically the Gibbs cars have been pretty strong on the short tracks so far this year, so I think that’s a pretty easy stand out to make, but otherwise, it’s early days.”

WHAT STANDS OUT ABOUT COTA COMPARED TO OTHER ROAD COURSES NASCAR RUNS? “I think it has everything – every type of corner imaginable. High speed, low speed, lefts and rights, braking zones, medium speed corners. You go through the whole gearbox. There is some tire wear. We’ve got some patches in some places, but if anything that will make the tire wear maybe a little bit less, and I also don’t’ feel like this tire necessarily wears anymore than any of the rest, but it’s somewhat of an abrasive racetrack, so past that it’s just got everything in it and you just have to have the complete picture to be competitive there.”

DOES YOUR TEAM CONSULT WITH RFK TO IMPROVE FORD’S PERFORMANCE AND HOW HAS THE DYNAMIC GONE WITH YOU AND BRIAN WILSON? “There’s obviously a lot of collaboration between Ford teams as far as some information shared on race weekends and then obviously the work that all of the teams did as well as Ford Performance to get aerodynamically ready for the season and make the improvements that we know we’ve made with the Ford Mustang Dark Horse, but past that, obviously, we’re still competitors. Brian and I, we obviously got the last 10 races of the year to get the wheels back on the bike. We know each other extremely well. We’ve been in the same building since the start of both of our Cup careers and it’s been great. I think we’re just trying to find our footing right now as far as things that are important to us car setup-wise and communication throughout the race weekends. We’ve been put in some different situations than what we might have been in the Xfinity Series as far as practice and qualifying, so we’re just kind of playing a little bit of catch-up in comparison to Ryan and Joey, who have kind of had their same groups for the last couple of years. I think things are progressing well and the mentality is all in the right way. Brian and I are a good fit because I think we think a lot alike and I think process information the same way, and I think we also put in a very similar level of effort and that’s about all you can ask for in that pairing.”

The Motorcraft/Quick Lane team – and their peers on NASCAR’s Cup circuit – had to perform a West Coast-style turn-around this week in preparing the No. 21 Mustang Dark Horse for this weekend’s race at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.

The No. 21 hauler left North Carolina early Wednesday to make the 1,200-mile trek to the 20-turn, 3.426-mile track that will host Sunday’s fourth-annual EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix.

That early departure meant lots of work had to be done in two days once the NASCAR caravan returned home following last Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Jeremy Bullins, crew chief of the No. 21 Mustang Dark Horse driven by Harrison Burton, said he’s hoping his team can build on Burton’s prior runs at COTA.

In 2022, Burton scored points in both Stages and finished 17th. Last year he started 16th and ran well before experiencing mechanical issues and finishing 22nd. Both of those races were run before Bullins took over as Burton’s crew chief.

Bullins scored top-10 finishes at COTA in the past two seasons with Austin Cindric as his driver.

“If you look back at last season, Harrison seemed to get around COTA pretty well before having transaxle trouble and losing first gear,” Bullins said. “It’s a track that we have run well at in the past and have a good set-up to work from.

“Hopefully we can adapt it to Harrison’s liking and have a good weekend in our Motorcraft Ford.”

Practice for the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix is set for Saturday at 9 a.m. Central Daylight Time (10 a.m. Eastern Time) to be followed by qualifying at 11:30 a.m. (Eastern Time).

Sunday’s 68-lap, 231.88-mile race is scheduled to get the green flag just after 2:30 p.m. (3:30 p.m. Eastern) with Stage breaks at Laps 15 and 30.

FOX Sports 1 will carry the TV coverage of practice and qualifying, with FOX taking over the broadcast on Sunday.

About Motorcraft®
Motorcraft offers a complete line of replacement parts that are recommended by Ford Motor Company. From routine maintenance to under hood repairs, Motorcraft parts offer value with high quality and the right fit at competitive prices. Motorcraft parts are available nationwide at Ford Dealers and Lincoln Retailers, independent distributors and automotive-parts retailers, and are backed by the Service Parts Limited Warranty* of Ford Motor Company. For more information, visit www.motorcraft.com.
*See your dealer for limited-warranty details.

About Quick Lane® Tire & Auto Center
Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center offers extraordinary service for routine maintenance, serving all vehicle makes and models. Quick Lane provides a full menu of automotive services, including tires, oil change and maintenance, brakes, batteries, alternator and electrical system, air conditioning system, cooling system, transmission service, suspension and steering, wheel alignment, belts and hoses, lamps and bulbs and wiper blades plus a thorough vehicle checkup report. Service is performed by expert technicians while you wait at any of nearly 800 locations in the U.S., with evening and weekend hours available and no appointment necessary. For more information about Quick Lane, please visit www.quicklane.com.
*See your dealer for limited-warranty details.”

About Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) is a global company based in Dearborn, Michigan, committed to helping build a better world, where every person is free to move and pursue their dreams. The company’s Ford+ plan for growth and value creation combines existing strengths, new capabilities and always-on relationships with customers to enrich experiences for customers and deepen their loyalty. Ford develops and delivers innovative, must-have Ford trucks, sport utility vehicles, commercial vans and cars and Lincoln luxury vehicles, along with connected services. The company does that through three customer-centered business segments: Ford Blue, engineering iconic gas-powered and hybrid vehicles; Ford Model e, inventing breakthrough EVs along with embedded software that defines exceptional digital experiences for all customers; and Ford Pro, helping commercial customers transform and expand their businesses with vehicles and services tailored to their needs. Additionally, Ford is pursuing mobility solutions through Ford Next, and provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. Ford employs about 177,000 people worldwide. More information about the company and its products and services is available at corporate.ford.com.

About Ford Performance
Ford Performance is based in Dearborn, Mich. It is responsible for Ford’s performance vehicle development and major racing operations globally, including NASCAR, IMSA, SRO British GT, FIA World Rally Championship, Supercars Championship, World of Outlaws, Ultra4, SCORE-International, FIA Rally-Raid, Formula Drift, NHRA, Rebelle Rally, Thailand Super Series and our latest commitment in Formula 1 with RedBull Ford Powertrains. Ford Performance also maintains a constantly evolving fleet of electric performance demonstrators to showcase the limits of electrification technology. In addition, the organization also oversees the development of Ford’s racing engines, as well as the outreach programs with all Ford Clubs and Ford enthusiasts. For more information regarding Ford racing’s activities, please visit Performance.Ford.com or follow @FordPerformance on Facebook, Instagram, X, Threads, TikTok and YouTube.

Wood Brothers Racing
Wood Brothers Racing was formed in 1950 in Stuart, Va., by Hall of Famer Glenn Wood. Wood Brothers Racing is the oldest active team and one of the winningest teams in NASCAR history. Since its founding, the team won 99 races (including at least one race in every decade for the last seven decades) and 120 poles in NASCAR’s top-tier series. Fielding only Ford products for its entire history, the Wood Brothers own the longest association of any motorsports team with a single manufacturer. Glenn’s brother, Leonard, is known for inventing the modern pit stop. The team currently runs the Ford Mustang driven by Harrison Burton in the famous No. 21 racer.

Circuit of the Americas Competition Notes

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (March 20, 2024) – Todd Gilliland and the No. 38 team heads to Austin, Texas for the Circuit of The Americas (COTA) Grand Prix. Gilliland and the team are coming off a 26th place finish at the Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway and sit 29th in points.

Gilliland’s most recent success at the 3.4-mile long track came last year after he earned Front Row Motorsports (FRM) their first top-10 finish of the season with a 10th place result. Gilliland also saw success in the inaugural CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race, winning the event in 2021.

Gilliland will run the fan-favorite Ruedebusch Development & Construction blue and white scheme; the same scheme he ran in last year’s event.

Track activity will begin with practice and qualifying on Saturday, March 23rd at 10:00 a.m. ET. The EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of The Americas will take place Sunday, March 24th at 3:30 p.m. ET and will be televised live on FOX. Fans can also listen in on the action live from Sirius XM and the Performance Racing Network.

No. 38 Ruedebusch Development & Construction Ford Mustang Dark Horse:

DRIVER TODD GILLILAND:

“COTA is a race I’ve had circled on my calendar. I’ve won there in the trucks and it’s where I got my first top-10 of 2023. I know Ryan (Bergenty) and the team will bring me the same speed we had last year, but it will come down to me executing and being technical around every turn.”

CREW CHIEF RYAN BERGENTY:

“This is a very technical track, but we have the driver that can get it done. Our results the past couple weeks haven’t been what we wanted, but our luck is about to change. Todd (Gilliland) is able to compete upfront, we saw it last year and when he won in the trucks, so I’m confident he can get the job done this weekend.”

ABOUT FRONT ROW MOTORSPORTS

Front Row Motorsports (FRM) is a winning organization in the NASCAR Cup and CRAFTSMAN Truck Series. The team is the 2021 Daytona 500 and 2022 CRAFTSMAN Truck Series champions. The team was founded in 2004 and is owned by successful entrepreneur, Bob Jenkins. FRM fields the No. 34 and the No. 38 NASCAR Cup Series teams along with the No. 38 CRAFTSMAN Truck Series team from its Mooresville, N.C. headquarters. Visit teamfrm.com and follow FRM on social media: Twitter at @Team_FRM, Instagram at @team_frm and Facebook at facebook.com/FrontRowMotorsports.

Circuit of the Americas Competition Notes

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (March 20, 2024) – Michael McDowell and the No. 34 Ford Mustang Dark Horse prepare to turn left and right at the Circuit of the Americas this weekend in Austin, TX. This will be the first road course of the season for the NASCAR Cup Series.

Known for being a road course specialist, McDowell has seen success in recent years, including winning last year at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course and three top-10s in his last five road course starts. McDowell also has a top-10 in three starts at the 3.426-mile track. This will be the first road course utilizing the new NASCAR Cup Series short track / road course package.

McDowell and the No. 34 team will once again have Love’s Travel Stops and their truck care partner, Chevron Delo, racing with them this weekend. Chevron Delo is the maker of top performing heavy duty engine oils, coolants, antifreezes, transmission fluids, gear oils, greases and hydraulic oils.

Track activity will begin with practice and qualifying on Saturday, March 23rd at 10:00 a.m. ET. The EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of The Americas will take place Sunday, March 24th at 3:30 p.m. ET and will be televised live on FOX. Fans can also listen in on the action live from Sirius XM and the Performance Racing Network.

No. 34 Love’s Travel Stops / Delo Ford Mustang Dark Horse:

DRIVER MICHAEL MCDOWELL:

“Really looking forward to this weekend, COTA is a proper road course. The racing is fun and with moving the Restart Zone back, that will certainly cut back on the Turn 1 chaos. I’m looking forward to getting back there with a lot of the things that we learned last season of making our road course program better. We should have a shot at winning the race and hopefully we can.”

CREW CHIEF TRAVIS PETERSON:

“Really excited for this weekend at COTA, and I know Michael is ready! We always look forward to the road courses and right now we have good momentum, it’s going to be a great opportunity for us to perform at a high level, we should be in contention on Sunday.”

ABOUT FRONT ROW MOTORSPORTS

Front Row Motorsports (FRM) is a winning organization in the NASCAR Cup and CRAFTSMAN Truck Series. The team is the 2021 Daytona 500 and 2022 CRAFTSMAN Truck Series champions. The team was founded in 2004 and is owned by successful entrepreneur, Bob Jenkins. FRM fields the No. 34 and the No. 38 NASCAR Cup Series teams along with the No. 38 CRAFTSMAN Truck Series team from its Mooresville, N.C. headquarters. Visit teamfrm.com and follow FRM on social media: Twitter at @Team_FRM, Instagram at @team_frm and Facebook at facebook.com/FrontRowMotorsports.