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Ford Performance Notes and Quotes – NCS Michigan Post-Race Quotes (8.7.23)

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Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Firekeepers Casino 400 | Monday, August 7, 2023

Ford Finishing Results:

1st – Chris Buescher

4th – Brad Keselowski

8th – Kevin Harvick

9th – Ryan Blaney

12th – Austin Cindric

14th – Joey Logano

16th – Aric Almirola

17th – Harrison Burton

22nd – Ryan Preece

24th – Michael McDowell

25th – Cole Custer

27th – JJ Yeley

29th – Todd Gilliland

31st – Chase Briscoe

  • BUESCHER GIVES FORD NINTH STRAIGHT CUP WIN AT MICHIGAN
  • Chris Buescher gave Ford its ninth consecutive win at Michigan International Speedway Sunday.
  • The win was the second straight for Buescher who was victorious a week ago in Richmond.
  • This marks the second straight year a Ford driver has won Richmond and Michigan back-to-back after Kevin Harvick did it last season.
  • The win is the 140th NASCAR Cup Series triumph for car owner Jack Roush and second under the Roush Fenway Keselowski banner.
  • Ford is the all-time leader in Cup wins at MIS with 44.
  • Today’s win is Ford’s 724th all-time in NASCAR Cup Series competition.

CHRIS BUESCHER, No. 17 Castrol Edge Ford Mustang (Finished 1st) – “I am so proud of everyone at RFK and what we have been able to accomplish these last few years. To get it here at Ford’s home track, this one is always big. It is Jack’s home track and Brad’s home track and this is where we needed one. To fight for it and have such a clean race there with Truex at the end, he was really close to getting us at one point. We had to keep digging on it. I am really proud of everybody. That was awesome to put our Castrol Edge Mustang in victory lane here at Michigan and we have road courses coming up, I am really excited for those.”

HOW DID THE PIT STRATEGY PLAY OUT FOR YOU? “I didn’t know anything. I pitted when they told me to pit. We knew we had a fast car and were running really well. The 45 was fast too and when he had his issue we were able to get the lead and tried to make the most of clean air. I didn’t have a clue of what was going on around us. That was just this group right behind me here and their work to get us this spot. We started planning back on Tuesday for this race and it is really cool to see it all work out.”

THE LAST 20 LAPS, HAVING TRUEX CHASING YOU DOWN, WHAT WAS THAT LIKE? “We talked alot yesterday about the 19 being very fast and probably being the class of the field. We also talked about dirty air and how bad it was for us so the only thing I could think was to make it as dirty behind us as possible to make it difficult. He was so good on the bottom. I just couldn’t quite pull the car down that low but I was able to dirty up the air enough to hold him off and get away with some traffic. It was a tough race.”

THE HERITAGE TROPHY. FORD HAS HELD THAT TROPHY FOR EIGHT YEARS AND HAD TO BRING IT BACK TO THE TRACK, BUT YOU GET TO SEND IT BACK TO DEARBORN. “Yeah, that is awesome. I am a Ford guy through and through and have been for a really long time. To be here in Ford’s backyard and get this done and have so many Ford folks with us here today, it is a special weekend. You always have a little more on your shoulders here and we bring our A game when we come here. I knew to take care of this thing during the burnout too because I want to take care of this car for the playoffs too.”

BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 6 Nexlizet Ford Mustang (Finished 4th) – “Chris (Buescher) nailed it there at the end. We got really fast right at the end of the race with both cars and hadn’t shown that speed all weekend. Credit to both teams working together and making good adjustments and learned from each other applied them to get the speed out of our cars. We drove from 21st or 22nd there the last run up to fourth. I wish the race was like 30 or 40 laps longer because I was coming. We were running 37.80’s and the leaders were running 38.0. We just ran out of laps. If we can’t win it, I am so glad Chris did.”

WHEN YOU MENTIONED THE MULTI-WIN PER YEAR THING ON SATURDAY, I DON’T THINK YOU THOUGHT IT WAS COMING THIS WEEKEND, DID YOU? “You hope, right? Yeah, it seemed like most of the race the 19 and 11 car were just dominant. Right at the end we made some adjustments on both of our cars, found some speed. Chris was able to hold off Martin, running all of them down.Really happy for all the folks at Castro, RFK. There’s a lot of work going on here. We’re digging deep, getting the results. I’m so thankful and proud for everyone at RFK.”

SEEMS TO BE A BIT OF A STATEMENT WIN FOR RFK, TO BE ABLE TO DO IT ON A SHORT TRACK EIGHT DAYS AGO, NOW A TWO-MILE RACETRACK. IS RFK SAYING THAT WE’RE THE BEST FORD TEAM IN THE GARAGE AREA? “We’re letting our results speak for themselves. Chris has done a heck of a job driving the car. When you get win, it feels really good. We got to keep some humbleness and keep our head down. There’s some great competition out here.”

SECOND MOST POINTS EARNED FOR YOU. IT WAS A BIG ONE. “Yeah, I scored a lot of points. Obviously we want to win. The speed we showed at the end was enough to win the race, but at the beginning and early part of the race we were only really good enough to run 10th. We went for our points mode. The speed showed up. Dang, maybe we shouldn’t have gone for points. That’s part of how it always plays out. All in all a really strong day for both teams at RFK. Really proud.”

RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Menards/Knauf Ford Mustang (Finished 9th) – “Just kind of a decent, okay day. Just different pit strategies and stuff like that. I thought the call we made to come in before the second stage and put tires on with like 15 to go flipped the stage. It had us restart in the top-five and got us our track position back that we lost earlier. We were able to kind of halfway hang on. I didn’t think my speed was great but just a hard working day for sure. It is nice that a Ford run. That is nine in a row here for Ford which is great. I wish it was us but I am happy for the overall goal. We gotta keep going to work.”

Toyota Racing – NCS Michigan Post-Race Report – 08.07.23

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Official Release
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TRUEX, HAMLIN EARN TOP-FIVE FINISHES IN MICHGIAN
Martin Truex Jr. adds to his Playoff point total with two stage wins

BROOKLYN, Mich. (August 7, 2023) – Martin Truex Jr. expanded his points lead with two stage wins and a runner-up finish at Michigan International Speedway. His teammate, Denny Hamlin, followed him to the line. Christopher Bell (13th) made an incredible comeback after suffering damage in the event to come home in the top-15.

Bubba Wallace (18th) again extended the advantage over the Playoff cutline to 58 points, while Ty Gibbs (11th) moved back inside the provisional Playoff field with three races remaining in the regular season. Gibbs holds a three-point advantage heading into Indianapolis on Sunday.

Toyota Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Michigan International Speedway
Race 23 of 36 – 200 miles, 400 laps

TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS

1st, Chris Buescher*

2nd, MARTIN TRUEX JR.

3rd, DENNY HAMLIN

4th, Brad Keselowski*

5th, Kyle Larson*

11th, TY GIBBS

13th, CHRISTOPHER BELL

18th, BUBBA WALLACE

30th, TYLER REDDICK

*non-Toyota driver

TOYOTA QUOTES

MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 19 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota Camry TRD, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 2nd

What more did you need?

“I think we just needed a little longer run. I felt like we were a little better, but it is just really hard to pass the leader on equal tires. We had an unbelievable Auto Owners Toyota Camry. Hats off to everybody that puts the work in these things, Toyota, TRD, Bass Pro, Resers – everybody that supports us. It was a rocket – just the leader in clean air is really, really hard to pass. We just didn’t quite have enough, but all-in-all a good day.”

What is the big takeaway as we head closer to the Playoffs?

“We are excited. Every week we feel like we have a shot to win, that is all I can ask for. It’s exciting to come to the track every weekend knowing what these guys are going to bring me. Hopefully, we can keep it up. It would have been nice to get a win today, but all-in-all it was a good day, strategy kind of shook us up a little bit. We were luckily able to get our track position back all day because of our speed. One more stinks – it’s been tough to get a win here. We’ve been really good here in the past. Just can’t get it done, hopefully next year.

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 Mavis Tires & Brakes Toyota Camry TRD, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 3rd

What happened on pit road?

“Yeah, I just stalled it and couldn’t get it refired. Something with the ECU – just had to get it refired and cycled it there. I thought we were really close with the 19 (Martin Truex Jr.). I thought he got through traffic better than I did all day, and it looks like the 17 (Chris Buescher) was pretty good too. That’s no shock – he showed some speed yesterday. Showed some things on the track that I felt like – caught my eye. Track position was king, we just never got to be up towards the front enough until the very end. Proud of the whole Mavis Toyota team – we will go onto the next one.”

How different was the track from yesterday to today?

“It wasn’t a whole lot different. These conditions are cooler – cloudy, more on-throttle time, harder to pass. But that is kind of what you get here at Michigan – it’s a track position, track strategy track.”

TY GIBBS, No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry TRD, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 11th

Can you talk about your run today?

“Yeah, I feel like we had a great Monster Energy Toyota Camry TRD. I just didn’t do my job. I didn’t execute. I need to do a better job – be smarter, better race craft. I don’t know if that’s more studying or what. Just didn’t do a good job today. I appreciate all of the team effort. We had a great car – I just didn’t do my job.”

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 24 electrified options.

Flying Lizard Celebrates First Podium with Tait at Road America

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Official Release
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ELKHART LAKE, Wisconsin. (August 7, 2023) – Flying Lizard Motorsports once again closed out a Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America race weekend with a pair of podium finishes, continuing to build on the team’s historic legacy. The weekend at the fan-favorite Road America road course concluded with driver Tom Tait celebrating a third-place finish in Lamborghini Super Trofeo in front of a record-breaking crowd, his first podium result in the series. Chris Bellomo and Johannes van Overbeek also drove to a second-place finish on Saturday afternoon, gaining valuable points in their quest for the championship.

“All of the cars performed well this weekend,” said Program Manager Darren Law. “It was great to see Andy Lee secure pole for race one and then also to have cars on the podium with Johannes and Chris in second for race one and Tom Tait getting his first podium of the year in race two. We are continually working on what it takes to engineer these Lamborghini Super Trofeo cars and look forward to VIR in just a couple of weeks.”

Race One

Andy Lee and the No. 14 pink unicorn Lamborghini started race one from pole position in the Pro/Am class, his first pole of the 2023 race season. The No. 41 of Marc Miller started from sixth, with Johannes van Overbeek and the No. 68 right behind in seventh. In the Am class, the No. 64 of Tom Tait started eighth in the Am class, after missing the two previous rounds at Watkins Glen International. Lee slid into second place at the start, as the No. 96 of Billy Johnson took the lead in the opening lap. Miller advanced up a spot to run in the top five before Tait’s car slid off the track after running across fluid on the circuit surface. Ultimately, Tait had to retire early. Round five went back to green 20 minutes into the race, and the ten-minute mandatory pit window opened. Van Overbeek climbed to sixth place and the team of the No. 68 opted to bring the car in for the required stop early in the window, a move that would benefit him and co-driver Chris Bellomo. Bellomo took over, and a full course caution paused the chase for 16 minutes. Due to the pits being closed during the caution, the second-place No. 14 and the third-place No. 41 were unable to pit until the race returned to green and the pit window re-opened. The pit procedure resulted in a hoard of cars pitting with just a handful of laps complete, shuffling the race order to benefit those that pitted before the caution. With pit stops complete, Chris Bellomo joined the race in fourth place, and the duo worked their way up to second place at the finish. Together with van Overbeek, Bellomo celebrated the car’s second podium finish of the season and the fourth for Flying Lizard Motorsports. Paul Nemschoff and Marc Miller finished fifth in the Pro/Am class, with teammates Slade Stewart and Andy Lee in seventh.

Race Two

The No. 14 pink Lamborghini once again led the team charge at the start of race two, with Slade Stewart taking the green flag from fourth place with the No. 68 of Chris Bellomo behind in fifth place. Paul Nemschoff and the No. 41 began the final run from seventh in the Pro/Am class and Tom Tait and the green and black No. 64 entry rounded out the group in ninth. The field spread out early on, creating minimal passing opportunities for the Lizard squad. Stewart and Bellomo pitted early into the 10-minute mandatory window, allowing Lee and van Overbeek to drive to the finish. Nemscoff and Tait pitted in the final five minutes, ready to get the second half of the race underway. Tait rejoined in seventh, gaining two spots since his start, while his co-drivers continued to race in their starting positions. The race turned his way with 14 minutes remaining when contact between several cars brought out the first of two late-race cautions The caution brought the field back together, positioning Tait and the rest of the Am class to have a competitive battle to the end. That competitive spirit led to a multi-car incident as the field roared into turn one, and Tait masterfully maneuvered through the calamity, driving to a well-earned third-place finish. Stewart, Lee, Bellomo, and van Overbeek once again earned top-five results, with Nemschoff and Miller closing out their home race weekend in seventh.

Next Up:

The Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America series next races at VIRginia International Raceway, the fourth double header racing weekend of the six-race United States races on the 2023 schedule. The four Flying Lizard Lamborghinis will once again race in support of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar championship, August 25-27. For event information, visit lizardms.com.

2023 Race Schedule

May 12-14, 2023

Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America

WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca

Salinas, California

June 22-25, 2023

Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America

Watkins Glen International

Watkins Glen, New York

August 4-5, 2023

Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America

Road America

Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin

August 25-27, 2023

Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America

VIRginia International Raceway

Alton, Virginia

September 15-17, 2023

Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America

Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Indianapolis, Indiana

November 16-17, 2023

Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America

Autodromo Vallelunga Piero Taruffi

Campagnano di Roma, Italy

About Flying Lizard Motorsports
Based out of Sonoma, California, Flying Lizard Motorsports is one of the most iconic sports car teams in motorsports, having celebrated ten driver and team championships, as well as competed internationally at the 24 Hours of Le Mans eight times.

The Lizards burst on the American Le Mans Series scene in 2004, competing in the GT class until 2012. In 2013, the team moved to the GTC class, still competing in legendary events such as the 12 Hours of Sebring and 24 Hours of Daytona. In 2014, the team expanded its program to include running two Audi R8 LMS in the TUDOR Championship, and in 2015, again expanded the program to include two Porsches in Porsche Club racing. Flying Lizard closed out the season with a dominating win at the 25 Hours of Thunderhill with Toyo Tires, a win they repeated in 2016, 2017, and 2018. The 2020 season proved the team’s most successful to date, earning four titles in the GT4 America championship. Flying Lizard Motorsports has proven to be a championship contender no matter the race series or race car. For more information, visit lizardms.com.

About Lamborghini Newport Beach

Lamborghini Newport Beach is the authorized sales & service franchise for Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. serving Orange County, California.

Representing Lamborghini since 2010, Lamborghini Newport Beach is continuously one of the top US retailers year after year. With many years of combined experience, their team of professionals has all the knowledge and expertise necessary to assist you with purchasing the Lamborghini of your dreams, or properly maintaining the one in your garage. All Lamborghini Newport Beach technicians are fully factory certified, and all sales staff holds master certifications. Their newly opened state of the art facilities are now located at 44 Auto Center Drive, inside the Irvine Auto Center.

About Emerald Center

Emerald center is a premier lifestyle and home furnishings retail mixed use center featuring IKEA and over 2 million square feet of mixed use development serving the Southeast Phoenix market. Emerald center is located at the Northeast corner of I-10 and Warner Rd., Tempe, AZ.

About Chandler Pavilions

Chandler Pavilions is the most successful retail power center in Chandler, Az. With Marquis tenants including Home Depot, Lowes, Sam’s Club, REI, Flemings Steak House, and over twenty restaurants l, totaling 2 million square feet of retail tenants. Chandler Pavilions is located at the northeast and southwest corners of I-10 and Ray Rd, Chandler Az.

Evans and TOYOTA GAZOO Racing score another fine Finnish victory

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Official Release
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TOKYO, Aug 7, 2023 – (JCN Newswire) – TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team is celebrating another win on its home roads of Rally Finland thanks to a spectacular drive by Elfyn Evans, with team-mate Takamoto Katsuta also battling to finish on the podium in third overall.

Car 33 (Elfyn Evans, Scott Martin)

Evans becomes only the third driver from outside of Finland to win the event on multiple occasions as he and co-driver Scott Martin repeated their 2021 triumph on the fastest rally in the FIA World Rally Championship.

Welshman Evans looked at home in his GR YARIS Rally1 HYBRID all weekend, closely matched with team-mate and local hero Kalle Rovanpera on Friday until the Finn had to retire following a crash. Having taken over the lead, Evans was then in fine form on Saturday, winning seven consecutive stages to build an advantage of over 30 seconds ahead of the final day.

He won three of Sunday’s last four stages, sealing his seventh career victory by 39.1s with the fastest time in the rally-ending Power Stage. Second in the championship standings, Evans’ maximum score means he is now 25 points from leader Rovanpera with four rallies remaining.

Katsuta scored his fourth WRC podium after a strong and confident performance on the roads around Jyvaskyla, where he has lived for many years. He and co-driver Aaron Johnston won Friday’s first forest stage and were soon fighting for a podium place on pace, even as others were caught out by the slippery conditions that dominated the event.

An excellent drive on wet roads to win Saturday’s final stage also allowed him to regain the advantage in his fight for third with Teemu Suninen (Hyundai). He stretched that advantage with a further fastest time on SS20 on Sunday before setting the fourth-best time in the Power Stage to seal third overall.

Following its fifth Rally Finland win since 2017, TGR-WRT increases its manufacturers’ championship lead to 67 points.

Jari-Matti Latvala finished fifth overall after driving his home event for the first time since 2019 – at the invitation of TGR-WRT Chairman Akio Toyoda, who took on his Team Principal duties in the service park. Along with co-driver Juho Hanninen – the team’s test driver – Latvala delighted fans all weekend with his enthusiasm on the stages during his first experience of competition with the GR YARIS Rally1 HYBRID.

Quotes:
Akio Toyoda as alternate Team Principal
“During Rally Finland, I had four jobs as the alternate Team Principal. The first job was to talk to the team members. In addition to the regular morning greetings, what I told them were simply three things: “One team”, “never give up”, and “we hate to lose”. And one more Finnish word that I learned this time: SISU! I don’t get to see the team very often, but we can reach out to each other with these words. I said “never give up” to Kalle when he came back after the accident, and he returned: “we hate to lose”. After his rally finished, Kalle was giving lots of advice to Takamoto. This shows we are a real “one team”. I am grateful for Jari-Matti once again, who has built and is leading such a great team. I want to thank him and the team for this amazing week!

My second job was to follow the crews on the stages. Takamoto felt I was watching him on the stage and he set the top time on that stage. I felt I was able to contribute to the speed as well! And finally I was able to achieve the podium together with Takamoto which I have long waited for. Congratulations, Taka!

The third job was to take media interviews. I did quite a few interviews at the stages and the service park. It was a lot of work and that made me realise that Tommi and Jari-Matti have been doing this for us, Toyota, and I really appreciate it.

And the last one was to stand on the podium. It made me completely wet and sticky, but it was a really wonderful experience. I really thank Elfyn and Scott who made me experience this. I already said to them at the podium, but once again: Elfyn, Scott, congratulations! Thank you for bringing me to the podium! It’s not nice to get wet and sticky, but I definitely want to do this amazing job in Japan again. I feel sorry for Kalle and Jonne that they couldn’t finish the rally, but I want to get wet together with them next time for sure.

Being the alternate Team Principal this time, I was able to realise that each member of the team is doing a very hard job in each area and that made me appreciate everybody again. Jari-Matti will be back as Team Principal for the rest of the events. We will continue to work and fight together with our special words: ‘one team’, ‘never give up’, ‘we hate to lose’, and ‘SISU’.”

Akio Toyoda as Chairman of TGR-WRT
“Our goal is to be a ‘driver-oriented’ team. However, the Team Principal, Jari-Matti had driven only our Yaris WRC and he had never competed with our GR YARIS Rally1 HYBRID. Therefore I have long wanted him to drive the GR YARIS Rally1 HYBRID someday when there was a good opportunity. Finally, it came true and he could complete all stages together with his driver buddy, Juho. They seemed to be smiling all the time even though there might have been difficult times at some point. Together with Jari-Matti and the team, we will keep making cars that our crews can always drive comfortably with a smile.”

Elfyn Evans (Driver car 33)
“It’s been a great weekend for us and it feels pretty special to win this rally for the second time. It’s one of my favourites and a home rally for the team with the factory being based in Jyvaskyla. It also feels really special to win with Akio here this weekend and to share the podium with him and with Taka as well. It’s been fantastic to drive this car on these roads and it’s been a joy to be behind the wheel. We had a really nice feeling almost from the beginning. We were sorry to lose Kalle from the fight on Friday but then we could make a few little steps with the setup for Saturday which really boosted my confidence. Things really clicked and the stage times came naturally. It’s a positive weekend in terms of the championship as well and we’re now a bit closer to Kalle than we were before.”

Takamoto Katsuta (Driver car 18)
“I’m very happy to be on the podium at Rally Finland, my second home rally. It’s a really big thing for me and the team and also for Akio-san. He was giving me extra energy and motivation which was helping in the really intense battle that we had with Teemu. He was doing a really good job so it was not so easy, but we managed to make some gap on Saturday evening when the conditions were tricky, and this made the final day a bit less stressful. After Rally Estonia we worked really hard together with the team’s engineers to analyse where I could improve and this was why I could perform well already from Friday morning. I must also say thanks to Kalle who was giving me advice during our tests for driving these Finnish roads.”

Jari-Matti Latvala (Driver car 97)
“It has been an amazing and fun feeling all weekend, I really enjoyed the driving in this car. Thank you to Akio and the team for giving me this great opportunity. It’s been something really phenomenal that I will remember for the rest of the life. It was extraordinary to be able to drive relaxed without having to think about the results. When the conditions were difficult, we could just drive with our own rhythm and to end up fifth overall and even score in the Power Stage, it’s just fantastic. It is also really special to see Elfyn on the top step of the podium and Takamoto in third and I’m really happy for both of them.”

PROVISIONAL FINAL CLASSIFICATION, RALLY FINLAND

  1. Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1 HYBRID) 2h33m11.3s
  2. Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1 HYBRID) +39.1s
  3. Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnston (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1 HYBRID) +1m36.7s
  4. Teemu Suninen/Mikko Markkula (Hyundai i20 N Rally1 HYBRID) +1m41.0s
  5. Jari-Matti Latvala/Juho Hanninen (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1 HYBRID) +4m09.4s
  6. Oliver Solberg/Elliott Edmondson (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) +9m33.6s
  7. Sami Pajari/Enni Malkonen (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) +10m03.7s
  8. Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria (Ford Fiesta Rally2) +10m37.5s
  9. Nikolay Gryazin/Konstantin Aleksandrov (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) +11m11.5s
  10. Andreas Mikkelsen/Torstein Eriksen (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) +11m35.2s

(Results as of 14:30 on Sunday, for the latest results please visit www.wrc.com)

What’s next?
The Acropolis Rally in Greece (September 7-10) has a legendary reputation for rocky mountain roads and high temperatures which combine to create a tough challenge for cars, tyres and drivers alike.

Team HRC with Japan Post Wins 44th Suzuka 8 Hours Endurance Road Race

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Official Release
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TOKYO, Aug 7, 2023 – (JCN Newswire) – Honda factory team(1) Team HRC with Japan Post (CBR1000RR-R FIREBLADE SP: Takumi Takahashi / Tetsuta Nagashima / Xavi Vierge) has won the 2023 FIM(2) Endurance World Championship “Coca-Cola” Suzuka 8 Hours Endurance Road Race 44th Tournament (Suzuka 8 Hours) held at the Suzuka Circuit in Mie, on Sunday, August 6. This win marks Honda’s second consecutive and 29th overall Suzuka 8 Hours victory. For Takahashi, his fifth win ties him with the all-time record for Suzuka 8 Hours victories for a rider. Nagashima has earned his second consecutive Suzuka 8 Hours title, while Vierge has won his debut race at the event.

Team HRC with Japan Post’s Tetsuta Nagashima set the fastest lap time of 2 min 5.722s during the two qualifying sessions on August 4 (Fri) and 5 (Sat). The team’s average lap time was second overall, allowing the Honda factory team to proceed to the Top 10 Trial. In the Top 10 Trial that began at 4:00 pm on August 5 (Sat), Tetsuta Nagashima and Xavi Vierge represented the team. Nagashima once again set the fastest lap, 2 min 5.329s, giving Honda its second consecutive Suzuka 8 Hours pole position.

The race started at 11:30 am on August 6 (Sun). Although the team’s starting rider Takumi Takahashi initially lost the lead, once back on top he gradually extended the gap to the second-place rider. In the following stints, both Tetsuta Nagashima and Xavi Vierge kept consistent, fast paces to extend the lead even further, lapping all other teams. At 7:3０ pm, Team HRC with Japan Post crossed the finish line completing 216 laps, giving Honda its second consecutive Suzuka 8 Hours pole-to-win.

Koji Watanabe, President of Honda Racing Corporation
“First, I would like to congratulate the three Team HRC with Japan Post riders, team staff and everyone involved. I am very proud of everyone overcoming the pressure of defending the Suzuka 8 Hours title to win again. I would like to thank Japan Post Co., Ltd. and all our other sponsors who supported our efforts. HRC will continue to meet the expectations of motorsports fans and Honda fans, aiming even higher than before. I look forward to everyone’s support.”

(1) Factory team: Racing team managed by the bike manufacturer
(2) FIM: Federation Internationale de Motocyclisme

Podium-Filled Weekend for Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport’s Lamborghini Super Trofeo Team

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Official Release
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(Elkhart Lake, Wis.) Aug. 3, 2023 — As the halfway point of the season was reached with the Road America doubleheader, the Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport (WTRAndretti) Lamborghini Super Trofeo stable saw an incredibly successful weekend, collecting seven trophies across both races featuring two overall wins, two class wins and three additional podiums.

Kyle Marcelli and Danny Formal continued their perfect record in the 2023 LST season to date with a sweep of the doubleheader weekend at Road America. In Saturday’s Race 1, caution flags plagued a majority of the race and a timely pit stop in the pit window ahead of a caution slotted the No. 1 team into the lead ahead of WTRAndretti teammate Ryan Norman. In a teammate battle in the final minutes of the race, Formal ended up holding the position to take the win. Sunday’s Race 2 saw a similar but different story where Formal pitted after teammate Norman and Marcelli exited the pit lane ahead of the No. 84 driver. As back-to-back cautions led to a finish under caution in Sunday’s race, Marcelli piloted the No. 1 straight to victory lane.

Ryan Norman showed impressive speed across his LST debut at Road America, capturing pole position for both races of the doubleheader. Starting on pole in Race 1 on Saturday, Norman looked poised to capture his first LST victory before battling against his teammate Danny Formal in the final five minutes of the race after a late restart saw the Ohio-native finish second on the overall podium. On pole position again for Race 2, Norman appeared to have control of the field before teammates in the No. 1 car ultimately held position out of the pits ahead of the No. 84. Norman was charging forward to regain the lead, Norman unfortunately made contact and was forced into the Turn 12 runoff, ending a promising day early for Norman.

Nate Stacy and Nick Persing entered their second weekend as a co-driver pairing and the experience as teammates quickly paid off. Through multiple and lengthy caution periods in Race 1 mixed with a penalty to the driver pairing who finished ahead of the No. 8 drivers, Stacy and Persing captured their first PRO|AM LST victory of the season. Sunday’s Race 2 saw Persing start from class pole position, and it looked likely for a second win of the weekend before two consecutive cautions didn’t allow enough time for Stacy to pilot the No. 8 up from second to first, but the pair ultimately captured a second podium of the weekend.

Success reigned prevalent for rookie Graham Doyle as the 17-year-old captured his first LB Cup victory in Saturday’s Race 1. Saturday’s victory also marked Doyle’s first victory across his motorsports career. Race 2 showed Doyle’s learning expertise across his rookie season. Despite driving off course in the opening laps of the race, Doyle was able to stay clean and work his way back up to the podium to finish in third place.
The WTRAndretti stable will be back in action for the fourth weekend of Lamborghini Super Trofeo action at VIRginia International Raceway on August 25-27th.

Kyle Marcelli, No. 1 WTRAndretti (PRO)
“Big thank you to Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport and my teammate Danny. I think I did like six hot laps combined between both races, so it is what it is. It’s Road America and it’s a repave that’s thrown everybody for a loop. I feel bad for Ryan, our teammate, in the 84 car. He had shown so much speed all weekend. We leaped him the pits and I saw him behind me and I was just kind of managing the gap then we came up on some traffic. I was up the inside one of the slower cars and then I see him, either drop a wheel or on the inside of me – I’m not sure, I just feel bad that it got away from him and it ended like that. A great day for the team, for the No. 1 car and Harrison Contracting.”

Danny Formal, No. 1 WTRAndretti (PRO)
“The car has been incredible all year long. This Lamborghini’s just been incredible in race pace. Seriously, it’s just been phenomenal. Six wins in six races, that’s just fantastic! I’m just super thankful to the Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport team and now we go get ready for VIR.”

Ryan Norman, No. 84 WTRAndretti (PRO)
“I’m really disappointed with the result today. We were right on the tail of the 1 car, even with that three second longer pit stop since I’m a single driver. I was pushing really hard, we ran up on traffic and one of the cars I was expecting to let us go by, but he kind of darted into block and so Marcelli and I got checked up and I hit the brakes really hard, and I was offline too, so I had a big bobble and it was either completely take out my teammate or put it into the wall. Sorry to the team, that’s probably one of the biggest mistakes I’ve made in a long time so I’m looking for VIR to turnaround. Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport gave me such a great car. We put on pole for both races, a new track record and I think we maybe would have won yesterday if it wasn’t for so many yellows.”

Nate Stacy, No. 8 WTRAndretti (PRO|AM)
“A huge shoutout to Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport. Thank you for all the support this weekend, the team gave us outstanding race cars all weekend and an awesome crew to get everything done for this event. It was a really good weekend. I didn’t really feel like I drove much in the first race, it was probably like three laps green then came in on the fourth lap. Overall, it was a productive weekend. Nick brought it home for the win in the first race then led the entire second race and we came out of the pits a little behind, but we needed another lap or two to get the leader, but it is what it is and next time we will be better. I’m excited for the next one.”

Nick Persing, No. 8 WTRAndretti (PRO|AM)
“A solid weekend. First ever Lamborghini Super Trofeo win yesterday and a podium today. It was just an amazing drive by Nate and I. Nate just did an amazing job wheeling the car in the first stint yesterday and I took over then we got very lucky with some yellows and we were able to make up a couple of positions because of that. Today, I did my job until my in-lap, I went off a little bit – overcooked the corner – and it put us behind the P1 car so Nate had to got out in second then it went yellow and really never got a chance to get by them.”

Graham Doyle, No. 10 DEX Imaging with WTRAndretti (LB Cup)
“Road America was incredible. I had luck on my side this weekend for sure. Yesterday was amazing, my first win ever in motorsports, so that was incredible and something I won’t forget. Today was also great. I learned to climb back up. I was in last place at the beginning of the race after an incident in the final turn, but in the end, we finished P3 and we’re back on the podium. It feels great!”

ABOUT WTRANDRETTI’S DRIVER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM.
Based in Indianapolis, Indiana, Wayne Taylor Racing, now with Andretti Autosport (#WTRAndretti), is a leader in sportscar racing, recognized worldwide for fielding championship winning racing efforts since 2007. WTRAndretti has run a stable of championship winning cars and drivers in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America series for over half a decade, forming the basis of their Driver Development Program. Since its inception in 2015, the team has clinched eight North American PRO Driver, Team and Dealer Championship titles, fielded the first woman World Finals race winner and became the overall 2017 Champions at the World Finals in Imola, Italy. WTRAndretti’s Driver Development program has grown into interim classes and series as it evolves to encompass a greater variety of skill and experience levels. WTRAndretti currently fields a GTP program with it Championship winning No 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 effort as well as GT3 programs in both the IMSA Michelin Endurance Championship and Fanatec GT World Challenge with Harrison Contracting Company, Acura, Honda Performance Development (HPD) and Racers Edge Motorsports.

For more information on Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport’s Driver Development Program and how to get involved, contact Travis Houge at info@waynetaylorracing.com.

No. 93 HARRISON CONTRACTING COMPANY ACURA NSX GT3 EVO22 EARN TOP TEN AT ROAD AMERICA

By
Official Release
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(Elkhart Lake, Wis.) Aug. 6, 2023 — The IMSA SportsCar Weekend at Road America marked the return of the No. 93 Harrison Contracting Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 and Racers Edge Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing Andretti Autosport (WTRAndretti) in the sprint portion of the 2023 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season. Ashton Harrison qualified the No. 93 Rely on RED Acura to start 11th for Sunday’s race and the charge to the front was on from there.

Harrison began the two-hour, 40-minute race as the field saw the green flag fly a few minutes after the clock started given the full course caution for a GTP stopped on track. As traffic quickly began stacking up across the track, Harrison held the Acura Chiaki’s Journey-dressed machine within the top ten of the GTD class heading into the pit window. Just passed 40 minutes of drive time, Harrison came to pit lane and handed the controls over to co-driver Mario Farnbacher. Farnbacher took hold of the red GTD and through an alternate strategy worked his way up into second position in class. As it appeared the Racers Edge Motorsports WTRAndretti team’s strategy could play out for a podium position, Farnbacher was forced to bring the No. 93 to pit lane for fuel with ten minutes remaining the race, tallying an eighth-place result in GTD.

The No. 93 Harrison Contracting Company Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 team will continue their campaign in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship when the series returns to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course for the first time since 2014 for the TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks on September 17th, 2023.

No. 93 Harrison Contracting Company Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 DRIVER QUOTES:

Ashton Harrison:
“A P8 result at Road America. A lot to say about the race, but super proud of the entire Racers Edge Motorsports WTRAndretti team for rebuilding this new chassis. Getting all the hours in to get this Acura up and going and for it to be at the front of the field is something to be very proud of. Mario did an amazing job in his stint. We made a great strategy call, unfortunately we didn’t catch a yellow at the end, but we still finished eighth after starting 11th and running as high as second for most of the race. That was very encouraging and we’re looking forward to the next opportunity to showcase our Harrison Contracting Acura NSX and represent Chiaki’s Journey.”

Mario Farnbacher:
“First, a big thank you to the Racers Edge WTRAndretti crew to rebuild the car. We had a great car and unfortunately, we had to make a risk in the race strategy, but it unfortunately didn’t pay off, otherwise I think it would have been a podium finish if would have paid off. In the end, pretty happy with the pace and performance. Big thanks to the team, Harrison Contracting and to Ashton, she did a great job.”

About Harrison Contracting
Harrison Contracting Company, Inc. (HCC) is a commercial painting and facility maintenance contracting company headquartered in Villa Rica, GA with divisional offices in Florida and Texas. HCC provides repainting/reimaging and facility maintenance services nationwide, and new construction painting across the southeastern US. At HCC, red is more than the company color, its culture. RED stands for Reliable, Experienced, and Diligent, and is the cornerstone for all we do. We are more than just your painter; we are your partner.

Racers Edge Motorsports with WTRAndretti is also proudly sponsored by Acura Motorsports and Honda Performance Development (HPD).

The Heart of Racing Wins at Road America

By
Official Release
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Newell scores fourth in Nashville

Elkhart Lake, Wisc. (6 August 2023) – The Heart of Racing (HOR) scored back to back IMSA wins in the No. 23 Aston Martin Vantage. The No. 27 Heart of Racing entry worked its way up to second before a mechanical issue plagued the team.

The No. 23 Aston Martin team of Ross Gunn and Alex Riberas set the fast lap during the first practice of the weekend with a 2:05.206-second lap. Riberas continued the high speed momentum into Saturday’s qualifying session, breaking the GTD PRO track record at the National Park of Speed with a 2:02.918 second lap, surpassing the previous record by over two seconds to earn pole position.

Riberas was first up behind the wheel of the No. 23 Aston Martin Vantage leading the GT field to the IMSA SportsCar Weekend green flag. The Spanish driver was able to keep the lead when handing the Aston Martin over to Gunn.

“Definitely not an easy win by any means,” said Riberas. “I think today was really a matter of optimizing every phase of the race and that’s what ended up achieving this outcome. I feel super proud of the team, especially after rebuilding the car and making sure everything was ready. It feels amazing. I think things are starting to click for our side and it just feels like everything is a bit more enjoyable. Ross did a phenomenal job. To be honest the race was a bit opposite of what we expected, there was only one caution and that played well into our strategy.”

After falling back to fifth during pit stop rotations, Gunn drove up to second place when he started battling the No. 3 Corvette for the lead. Gunn was on his tail when the Corvette was called down pit road to serve a penalty leaving the lead to Gunn.

“The team did an excellent job and I’m incredibly proud of them,” said Gunn. “Aston Martin provides cars that are all pretty close together, but we have found something that’s really working well for us. Throughout the whole season we’ve had a package that has been quick enough and competitive enough to compete at the front, but things just hadn’t clicked. I’m so happy that now things are starting to work and we really want to keep this momentum going.”

Roman De Angelis and Marco Sorensen, pilots of the No. 27 Heart of Racing GTD entry, looked to find more speed through both of Friday’s practice sessions. De Angelis qualified for the pair setting the fifth fastest lap time of 2:04.397 seconds.

“I started fifth and handed the car over in second,” said De Angelis. “I thought we were in a decent position, but just seemed to lack pace compared to the No. 23 car this weekend. We started dropping back a lot and towards the end of the race. I was really pushing in the first stint, and I think a lot of people were fuel saving so it made it a bit difficult. At the end everyone started pushing hard and we seemed to struggle a lot. We’ll see what we can figure out for VIR.”

The No. 27 Aston Martin Vantage team started out very strong, with De Angelis going from sixth to second before handing the Aston Martin over to Sorensen on lap 49. Sorensen battled mechanical issues that kept him from being able to shift to sixth gear. The Danish driver lost pace and crossed the finish line in eighth.

“It was kind of one of those stints you want to forget about,” said Sorensen. “We had some issues on the car that made us really, really slow. That’s something we have to start looking into because it’s the second weekend in a row, even though we still won at Lime Rock, we still didn’t have the full pace. This race it seems we highlighted that a bit, the Heart of Racing is such a good team that we’re going to kind of figure it out and go to Virginia and come back a little bit stronger.”

The Heart of Racing IMSA team will be back in action at VIRginia International Raceway for the second GT standalone event weekend of the IMSA season, August 25-27.

While the IMSA teams were in Wisconsin, 621 miles south in Tennessee Gray Newell competed on the streets of Nashville with SRO GT America powered by AWS. After Friday’s morning practice session was cut extremely short due to standing water on track, Newell found pace in the afternoon scoring the fourth fastest lap in the GT4 category.

Saturday morning saw qualifying rained out with race one’s grid determined by the fastest lap times from Friday’s second practice session. After a bit of delay due to rain earlier in the day, race one began as the sun started to set over Nashville. Newell was able to maintain his fourth place starting position for the first five laps of the race, but unfortunately a mechanical issue forced Newell to pull off in a run off area. As Newell was pulling off a SRO3 car went to pass Newell and hit his rear bumper. Newell was unable to finish the first race.

Race two went to green Sunday afternoon with Newell starting from a fourth place starting position. Newell was battling for third with a Cayman when the Cayman’s tire blew causing a full course caution. The field went back green with just under 25 minutes remaining in the 40 minute race. With 16 minutes left on the clock Newell was passed, forcing him back to fourth, just four minutes later another full course caution slowed the field came out. Newell ran out of laps as the field went back to green flag conditions with just three minutes remaining, Newell crossed the finish line in fourth.

The Heart of Racing SRO GT America powered by AWS and the Pirelli GT4 America series will be on track at Road America August 18-20.

About The Heart of Racing

The Heart of Racing races to raise funds and awareness for Seattle Children’s Cardiology Research. The team competes internationally with concurrent campaigns in IMSA, SRO, Formula Drift and the 24H SERIES. Last season The Heart of Racing won the IMSA GTD Championship title in the No. 27 Aston Martin Vantage GT3. The Heart of Racing team hosted their first all-female driver shootout in November of 2022, bringing to the team Hannah Grisham and Rianna O’Meara-Hunt for the 2023 SRO GT4 America season. To contribute to The Heart of Racing’s fundraising efforts please visit: https://give.seattlechildrens.org/fundraiser/3642390

No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 Team Take Championship Lead After Podium Finish at Road America

By
Official Release
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(Elkhart Lake, Wis.) Aug. 6, 2023 — Following a third-place finish at Road America, the No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 team now retake the lead of the championship with two races remaining in the 2023 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season. After qualifying in fourth for the IMSA SportsCar Weekend, Filipe Albuquerque had control of the blue and black machine as the field came to the green flag for the two-hour, 40-minute race; however, the clock officially began under caution after fellow a GTP competitor went off track. Albuquerque drove a solid stint inside the cockpit to stay within the top five of the field before coming into pit lane to swap driver positions with Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport (WTRAndretti) co-driver Ricky Taylor.

Taylor took the reins of the No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 into the second half of the sprint event and began chipping away at the gap to the GTP competitors ahead. Just under the one-hour to go mark, Taylor made a pass around the No. 01 Cadillac, placing the WTRAndretti team into podium position. The remainder of the race ran caution-free, with WTRAndretti officially securing their podium spot and the lead of the points standings by 14 points.

“I think we should be really happy with today,” said Ricky Taylor. “We’re continuing our momentum. We’ve got Acura back in the lead of the championship and it’s really nice to be in the championship lead. We had an issue with the car today about halfway through the race, so happy that we could survive with such good points and still maintain such good pace, I kind of let the 60 go up and fight for the lead. It’s really good to have this momentum back after the first half of the year was so difficult. I feel like we are back in our rhythm. Now, we can go to Indy with the lead and have that first pit stall on pit lane and start to control things for the last two races of the year.”

“A solid result for us,” said Filipe Albuquerque. “I struggled a little bit in the beginning with cold tires, but then the car was really alive and that was demonstrated as I had the fastest lap of the race and Ricky was very quick as well. Unfortunately, those initial laps were a bit tricky for us. Again, it was about managing the championship as well and all the contenders were behind us, so it was a solid day for us. We are now the championship leaders, so it’s exactly where we want to be and it’s hard to not think about it going into the closing races of the championship.”

“A podium is always good,” said Wayne Taylor. “Even though it was only third, you always want to win. We’ve had such an up and down year and really the focus over the last two races is on the championship – and if we can win, we can win, but the championship is far more valuable than winning one race. Unfortunately, Ricky had a mechanical problem on his last stint, but he was purple laps all the time, but the gap was just too big. I’m really happy with today.”

WTRAndretti now heads to the penultimate race on the 2023 schedule, and the final sprint race, at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course on September 17th. The TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks marks the return of sportscar racing to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the first “home race” for WTRAndretti since 2014.

ABOUT KONICA MINOLTA
Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. is reshaping and revolutionizing the workplace to achieve true connectivity through the Intelligent Connected Workplace. The company guides and supports its clients’ digital transformation through its expansive office technology portfolio, including IT Services (All Covered), intelligent information management, managed print services and industrial and commercial print solutions. Konica Minolta has been included on CRN’s MSP 500 list nine times and The World Technology Awards named the company a finalist in the IT Software category. Konica Minolta has been recognized as the #1 Brand for Customer Loyalty in the MFP Office Copier Market by Brand Keys for fifteen consecutive years, and is proud to be ranked on the Forbes 2021 America’s Best-in-State employers list. The company received Keypoint Intelligence’s BLI 2021 A3 Line of The Year Award and BLI 2021-2023 Most Color Consistent A3 Brand Award for its bizhub i-Series. Konica Minolta, Inc. has been named to the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index for nine consecutive years and has spent four years on the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World list. The company recognizes 150 years in global business in 2023. Konica Minolta partners with its clients to give shape to ideas and works to bring value to our society. For more information, please visit us online and follow Konica Minolta on Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn and Twitter.

The No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 effort and Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport is supported by an outstanding lineup of partners including Harrison Contracting Company, Acura Motorsports, Honda Performance Development and Hammer Nutrition .

NASCAR postpones remainder of Cup event at Michigan to Monday amid ongoing precipitation

By
Andrew Kim
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Photo by Stephanie McLaughlin for SpeedwayMedia.com.

The conclusion of the NASCAR Cup Series FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway has been postponed to Monday, August 7, due to ongoing inclement weather that delayed the start of the racing event and has hindered hopes of the event being concluded on Sunday, August 6.

The green flag for the event on Sunday was initially set to wave at 2:30 p.m. ET on USA Network until on-track precipitation stalled the planned start for more than 90 minutes. NASCAR, though, was able to have the competitors fire the engines at 4:05 once the weather cleared and the field led by pole-sitter Christopher Bell and front-row starter Ross Chastain commenced the event under green at 4:12.

By Lap 73, however, NASCAR drew a caution amid reports of rain reoccurring around the speedway and the field led by Tyler Reddick was directed to pit road and placed in red flag period on Lap 74 of 200, 26 laps shy of the halfway distance and 46 laps shy of the second stage’s conclusion. With the ongoing precipitation along with heavy fog increasing steadily as the delay expanded beyond an hour, NASCAR made the decision to resume the remainder of the event for the following day.

Currently, Tyler Reddick, who assumed the lead on Lap 70, is the leader followed by Alex Bowman, Kyle Larson, Martin Truex Jr. and Erik Jones while Austin Cindric, Brad Keselowski, Austin Dillon, Bubba Wallace and Denny Hamlin are scored in the top 10. In addition, 32 of 37 starters are scored on the lead lap while a handful of big names that include Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, William Byron and Josh Berry, who is filling in as an interim competitor for Legacy Motor Club in place of the suspended Noah Gragson, are out of the event amid early on-track incidents. In addition, the event has been mired with six caution periods and nine lead changes for seven different leaders.

The remainder of the NASCAR Cup Series FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway will resume on Monday, August 7, at noon ET on USA Network.

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