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Valkyrie Velocity’s Dominic Starkweather Earns First Career IMSA Win in Lamborghini Super Trofeo at Road America

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Official Release
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A Near-Miss on Sunday Prevented a Weekend Sweep in the No. 12 Beacon Building/Daxxon Gray Motorsports Lamborghini Huracan

ELKHART LAKE, Wisconsin (August 6, 2023) – Valkyrie Velocity’s Dominic Starkweather earned a belated first career IMSA victory on Saturday and experienced the heartbreak of a narrow miss on Sunday in Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America action at Road America.

Starkweather’s No. 12 Beacon Building Products/Hardpoint/Daxxon Gray Motorsports Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo EVO2 crossed the finish line in second place of the Am class during Saturday’s race, but as elevated to the win on Sunday morning after the car he was chasing was deemed to have improperly completed the mandatory pit stop.

On Sunday, Starkweather started third overall and on the pole for the Am class and led handily for the first 46 minutes of the 50-minute race. On a very late restart with under four minutes to go, Starkweather had contact with an LB Cup-class competitor who was a lap down but restarting near the front of the field. That subsequent spin left Starkweather just off the podium and with a fourth-place finish.

Valkyrie Velocity Pre-Race News and Notes

  • Saturday’s race continued to improve overnight for Starkweather, who was elevated to the win after the No. 69 Lamborghini Huracan who crossed the line ahead of him originally was assessed a time penalty. The 44-second penalty was officially for failing to serve a drive through penalty after entering a closed pit, but came because the rival car had not made it to pit lane prior to the caution coming out and the pits closing.
  • The Valkyrie Velocity team made their mandatory pitstop with Starkweather two laps after the second full course caution of the race. Both cars ahead of Starkweather at the time tried to dive to pitlane soon after, but the third full course caution had already been displayed. That left both with a penalty, dropping them down the final results.
  • Starkweather had already moved from third, where he ran prior to the first pit stop, to second on the race track. He was closing on the race leader on the final lap, but time expired before he could make the pass on the track.
  • The 21-year-old happily celebrated with his crew on the podium with his second IMSA trophy, following a third in the season-opening weekend at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Sunday morning’s first-place trophy was a pleasant surprise.
  • Sunday’s race was even more impressive. He had earned the class pole in qualifying two and was starting third overall, behind only two Pro-class cars. From there, he led a significant portion of the race before the last lap incident.
  • Starkweather, along with his coach and Watkins Glen co-driver Tyler Cooke, sent the Valkyrie Velocity crew home to the Hardpoint shop just outside the gates of Virginia International Raceway with some setup homework prior to Road America. The team responded, and the car came to life at Road America. Both expect that momentum to continue into the next doubleheader at VIR, later in August.
  • That doubleheader, August 25-27, is the home race for the Valkyrie Velocity race platform. The team utilizes Hardpoint crew members and the team’s shop, based in the motorsports technology park at team owner Rob Ferriol’s home track.

Valkyrie Velocity Quote Board

Dominic Starkweather Driver, No. 12 Lamborghini Huracan: “Saturday was a weird race, with the cautions and restarts, but we fought the whole way. We executed well, nailed our pit strategy, followed the procedures and it came together for us as it should. I was content with second place but knew we had more and to hear that we got it at the end was great. Today was a bittersweet moment and more on the bitter side. We ran up front overall, executed again flawlessly on pit road. The last restart, turn three, a couple of cars came together and I fell victim to it. We could focus on the negatives but there were a lot of positives to take away this weekend. We found so much in the car, I found a lot in my driving, and we’ll build on that moving forward.

“I said it yesterday, this Valkyrie Velocity team has one of the hardest working crews I’ve seen. It’s all love from me. We couldn’t have done what we did this weekend without Zach Henson, Dre Joyner and all of the guys on the car. They had a lot of work to do at the shop, and they did it and it showed this weekend.”

CHEVROLET INDYCAR AT NASHVILLE: Post-Race Report

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Official Release
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CHEVROLET IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES
BIG MACHINE MUSIC CITY GRAND PRIX
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE
TEAM CHEVY RACE REPORT
AUGUST 6, 2023

SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN CAPTURES CHEVROLET’S 304TH PODIUM OF THE V6 ERA IN THE BIG MACHINE MUSIC CITY GRAND PRIX

  • Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin finished the 80-lap Big Machine Music City Grand Prix second, capturing Chevrolet’s 20th podium of the 2023 NTT INDYCAR Series season and 304th since 2012.
  • After starting from pole, McLaughlin led 25 of 26 laps led for Team Chevy during the chaotic event that saw a late red flag and three-lap shootout to the checkered flag.
  • Josef Newgarden, of Team Penske, finished fourth in difficult hot and humid conditions.
  • Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren INDYCAR, and Will Power of Team Penske, completed the top-10 for Team Chevy by finishing eighth and 10th, respectively.

NASHVILLE (August 6, 2023) – Under sunny, hot, and humid conditions, a charging Scott McLaughlin, driver of the No. 3 DEX Imaging Chevrolet for Team Penske, settled for the second step on the podium for Chevrolet in downtown Nashville. After starting on pole, McLaughlin drove a tough and tricky race on the tight 2.17-mile temporary street circuit in Music City, to give the Bowtie brand their 20th podium finish of the 2023 NTT INDYCAR Series season. Additionally, McLaughlin’s second-place finish gives Chevrolet their 304th podium since 2012 in the V6 2.2-liter twin turbo direct injected era.

“I really tried my best but just couldn’t get there,” said McLaughlin reflecting on his Big Machine Music City Grand Prix race. “The DEX Imaging Chevy was great, and I’m very proud of everyone. There’s another top-three, another very good points day. We were really hoping to get the win. But, you know, we weren’t best today compared to Alex (Palou) and props to him.”

Not only battling the competition but also the heat, McLaughlin’s Team Penske teammate Josef Newgarden, driver of the No. 2 PPG Chevrolet, was quick to check on McLaughlin post-race after finishing fourth. Reflecting on his top-five finish for Chevrolet, Newgarden said “I felt like we had a little more charge in the beginning of the race that didn’t materialize. It’s a decent top-five that we can come out of here with and be proud of with the PPG car,” continued Newgarden. “There was a little more opportunity that just didn’t materialize in the beginning you know, typical street course stuff. You get used up a little bit at times. It’s just what we always see. It gets tight as everybody knows. I thought it was a really good day for our team, I really thought they executed well.”

Rounding out the top-10 for Team Chevy, Arrow McLaren INDYCAR’s Pato O’Ward, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet, finished eighth, and Will Power, driver of the No. 12 Team Penske Chevrolet, finished 10th after a chaotic 80-lap event.

The NTT INDYCAR Series next heads back to Indianapolis for the Gallagher Grand Prix Saturday, Aug. 12. Sharing the 2.439-mile, 14-turn road course with the NASCAR Xfinity and Cup series for the racing-packed weekend, Saturday’s race airs live on USA Network at 2:30 p.m. ET. Additional coverage can be found on Peacock, and through INDYCAR Radio and SiriusXM Channel 160.

TEAM CHEVY TOP-10 RACE RESULTS:
Pos. Driver
2nd Scott McLaughlin
4th Josef Newgarden
8th Pato O’Ward
10th Will Power

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING (QUOTES):

Josef Newgarden, No. 2 Chevrolet at Team Penske:

“Fourth was pretty decent on the day. I felt like we had a little more charge in the beginning of the race that didn’t materialize. It’s a decent top-five that we can come out of here with and be proud of with the PPG car. There was a little more opportunity that just didn’t materialize in the beginning you know, typical street course stuff. You get used up a little bit at times. It’s just what we always see. It gets tight as everybody knows. I thought it was a really good day for our team, I really thought they executed well. There are some things we got to work on that I think are pretty visible to us. But you know, everyone’s done a great job. Team Chevy always elevates for us. Great job this whole weekend. Thanks to PPG with their support. I think we can leave here pretty happy, but just wishing we had a little bit more.”

On the conditions of the race and talking with Team Penske teammate Scott McLaughlin after the race…

“It’s just hot. It’s humid here in Tennessee. It’s tough to make it through here.”

Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 Chevrolet at Team Penske:

“I really tried my best but just couldn’t get there. On days like today, I probably should have worn the cool suit, but I ate too many pies so it’s a bit heavy for me. The DEX Imaging Chevy was great, and I’m very proud of everyone. There’s another top-three, another very good points day. We were really hoping to get the win. But, you know, we weren’t best today compared to Alex (Palou) and props to him. Hopefully next year we’re on for the championship, and we win, and then we win the championship as well. I felt really good. I’m really proud of everyone. Really proud of the Thirsty 3’s. The pit stops were unreal, and I’m really proud of the effort.”

Will Power, No. 12 Chevrolet at Team Penske:

“It wasn’t a very good day. I had to use a lot of fuel after getting in the car late. That stopped us from going an extra lap. We lost a lot of positions in that sequence. I think we went from like third, to like 10th or 11th. I couldn’t find my earbuds or head sock. That is why we were late getting on track. I freaked out because normally there are extras in the bag, but they weren’t there. Not a good situation. I’m going to have like five pairs now. That was as good as we can do today. The Verizon 5G car was good, just some things with strategy stuff. Just one of those days.”

Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Chevrolet at Arrow McLaren INDYCAR:

“It was a tough day in Nashville. I think we were too late in taking our first pit stop; we lost a lot of time there. It’s pretty much a track position race. It’s tough to pass, especially when you have fuel numbers and you can’t really use the push to pass. I’m bummed we went backwards. We’ll collect and try to have a good Indy road course, just look forward to what’s next.”

Felix Rosenqvist, No. 6 Chevrolet at Arrow McLaren INDYCAR:

“Tough weekend overall. There was some hope there after qualifying. I thought we had a bit better car than what showed. In the race, I was struggling a lot with straightline speed and with pace. We were able to follow but couldn’t really get by anyone. I got stuck on the outside in that last restart and hit the marbles. It was like going on ice; the tarmac was kind of breaking up at that point. It was a disappointing weekend. We really didn’t have any positives in the race. We tried to gamble on a strategy, but it didn’t work out. It is a weekend to forget for us.”

Alexander Rossi, No. 7 Chevrolet at Arrow McLaren INDYCAR:

“The good thing is for the first weekend really since Detroit, I had a good race car in the race, so we definitely found a direction, which is what we were really hoping to get coming into this weekend. That’s the positive. There was a bit of a mess out there with Veekay, and then I made a mistake a lap later, brushed the wall, and that kind of ended our day. I’m bummed for the team. That was one of the better cars that we had in quite some time, and we didn’t get anything out of it. We’ll take the good parts from today and move on to Indy next week.”

Gavin Ward, Race Director at Arrow McLaren INDYCAR:

“Obviously, not the day we were hoping for today with two cars that got caught up in incidents. Pato did well to bring it home, but the race really started to fall apart for him when he couldn’t make the Firestone Reds last on that first stint. I was a little bit surprised on how difficult it was to get a stint like that out of those tires, but that’s part of the game.

“It’s a process; we’ll learn from it and get better. It was a tough day. You have to stay positive. With a stretch like this, it’s about the long game and we’ll keep playing it.”

Ryan Hunter-Reay, No. 20 Chevrolet at Ed Carpenter Racing:

“It was a really tough day, a really tough weekend. We just never really found a set up that worked well. The good news is we were able to salvage some points and get out of here cleanly.”

Rinus VeeKay, No. 21 Chevrolet at Ed Carpenter Racing:

“We almost had a great day! We went from 19th to fourth and then the contact happened. Got a drive-through penalty, which does not make sense to me. Anyway, it was a big step in the right direction for us and a great strategy by the team!”

Santino Ferrucci, No. 14 Chevrolet at AJ Foyt Racing:

“Long day. Just fighting understeer, trying to understand the car. I think we had a good idea of what we think went wrong. The biggest thing is towards the end of the race, we had the correct strategy – we did everything right. That last crash, for whatever reason, the reorder was not favorable. It was favorable to those involved in the wreck and not for the people who avoided it. Finished clean, 18th. Moving on to the (Indianapolis) GP.”

Benjamin Pedersen, No. 55 Chevrolet at AJ Foyt Racing:

“Pretty tricky day. Honestly, we had really good pace. At times, we had the same pace as the leaders. Unfortunately, caught a yellow at the wrong moment when the pit light came on. We were on the pit commit line and received that penalty. Really just wrong place, wrong time. Had to do a drive-through, but otherwise, a top-15 was looking really promising starting from the back. We had a lot of promising things. Looking forward to continue this pace into the rest of the season. It’s just been a bit of unlucky lately, but there’s been strong, promising points as well. We’re working really hard to get better and better.”

Callum Ilott, No. 77 Chevrolet at Juncos Hollinger Racing:

“I had a really positive race going from 18th at the start to 12th. It was a bit of a strange race because I really didn’t know exactly where I was for about half of it. We did a bit of a different strategy to have me (pit) early to try and gain some clear track. It kind of worked. I think for a while it was touch and go because we had that early yellow which didn’t quite help us. Our pace was good. We kept the car clean which is necessary here at Nashville. Pit stops were good, and we were very happy. So P12, good points. Off to Indy.”

SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN, No. 3 Team Penske Chevrolet – Post-Race Press Conference:

Finishing second today for the second straight year Scott McLaughlin. Second podium in three races in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES. Third podium of the season. 11th of his career.

Scott, another podium for you, although I have a feeling you wanted to finish one step higher.

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, yeah, I’m disappointed. But it is what it is. I think we had a really fast car today. Just that first yellow destroyed a few things, which is probably going to play. You hope it doesn’t come, but it came. You take it or lose your advantage, try to reset and go again. That’s what we decided, the latter.

Yeah, we did pretty well. We were able to come back a little bit. But overall Kyle just had that little shorter stop that he could do, away they went.

I was trying to do my best to hunt him down at the end. I just had a poor restart. I had no temp in my rear tires for some reason. So annoying. I don’t know what happened. Like I didn’t change my procedure. I’m normally pretty good on restarts, but I was terrible.

Yeah, got to do a little bit of study on that. I think if I was a little bit closer, I might have been able to maybe throw a little dive bomb at him. Unfortunately couldn’t.

THE MODERATOR: The restarts, I’m sure you’re second or triple guessing what you could have done differently.

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, that last one has me a little confused. I felt like I was harder on the tire, whatever. I just think from a sport perspective, though, the restarts are a joke. We need to, like, I think we need to start on the start/finish line. We cannot pass until the start/finish line. You’re always going to have these yellows. You’re always going to have these clusters that cause red flags and make us look like…

Yeah, there’s no cadence. Once there’s a yellow flag on a street circuit, it’s just a free-for-all. People bomb. We’re well within our rights to do that. If we want to have a pure race, we could have had a 10-lap shootout, me and Kyle there at the end. Instead we’re stop, start, stop, start. The action is fantastic. We just have no race.

Q. Scott, they changed the restart zone this year and last year. You just want it to be where the start/finish line is?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: I just think everywhere we go, we don’t have to have it for ovals, but I think it happens at Long Beach. We talked about doing it, like, about not passing till the apex of the last corner. At least that.

I think when it goes green, there’s kamikazes at the back and don’t care. Well within their right to throw it inside when it turns green. That’s fine. But we just have this terrible just stop, start, amateur-ish looking finish to races.

I’m going to speak to Jay about it, Novak. We just need to go apex last corner or start/finish line. Just make a point where you can’t pass just to get it going.

Look, I might be wrong. I might crash in turn one. What I’m saying, I’ve done it in Supercars. Formula 1 does it. Other sports around the world do it. It just gets the race going.

Everyone is on cold tires. Someone is going to have a mistake. The guy behind him is going to go, I have a crack. People getting hurt. Rah-rah. I just think it looks amateur-ish, it really does.

Q. At Long Beach, there’s that hairpin that works. Gentlemen’s agreement?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: It’s not a gentlemen agreement. I think VeeKay a couple years ago threw it on the inside, ruined Rahal’s race.

Road America this year, I passed Rahal before the last corner. I felt like a kamikaze. You have to run the rules how they’re run.

It’s just such a simple thing. We move restarts, we do that, we do that. Nothing works until we, like, police it. We have to police something. It pisses me off, it really does.

Q. You said yesterday you felt like last year got away from you. Do you feel the same way this year?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, that’s how it is. I think if I could have got past Grosjean a little bit earlier, put more pressure on Kyle (Kirkwood). I could have passed him maybe before when he was on greens before he pitted.

That’s just how it is. I’m pretty stoked with the result. Bummed that maybe I couldn’t have had too much of a shootout at the end. Like I said, my restart was bad.

Yeah, I probably said too much, going to get in trouble over it.

Q. (No microphone.)

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: I don’t know the rule exactly. I decide not to wear one because as well I’ve had one fail in Supercars. It was so hot. It was almost hotter than it was.

The hardest thing today is yellows and red flags. As soon as you stop, it gets 30 degrees hotter right away, knocks you around a little bit.

Yeah, we were good. We were good. No dramas.

Q. Earlier in the weekend some drivers were saying it’s almost impossible because of how crazy it was. Where was this on your ranking of this is going to happen, this is going to happen?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: I knew when the yellow came out, that’s kind of the time, the first yellow, where we didn’t want it. I don’t know what plan that was. We knew it would put us in an awkward spot. If it happened lap 21 or something like that, no-brainer. We lose spots, go back to 10th. People are taking it before the yellow, kind of like last year.

But, yeah, it’s hard to plan for this stuff.

Q. To have that long of a run, green flag…

ALEX PALOU: It was 23 laps max last year.

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah. Maybe we’re learning. Maybe as a sport we’re getting better driving.

Q. Were you surprised by the pace of the race at the beginning or were you just kind of thinking like the guys of NASCAR thinking, that impending doom that something’s going to happen?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: I was just sort of driving within myself. I knew it would get to lap 20 or so. Better in clear air on the green tire to control it, look after the fronts, whatever.

But, yeah, I was in a really good spot. I was controlling Pato, saving the fuel I needed. Then I started sort of pushing after the first yellow. We actually gapped them again.

The blacks, brought everyone back to us, the gap we gained. Herta was driving around. It is what it is.

Q. Did you think the race would continue without yellows?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: No.

Q. You’re saying, When is it going to happen?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: There is going to be a yellow at some point, yeah.

About Chevrolet

Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, available in 79 countries with more than 3.2 million cars and trucks sold in 2020. Chevrolet models include electric and fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

CORVETTE RACING AT ROAD AMERICA: Back on the Podium

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Official Release
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Third-place in class for Garcia, Taylor, No. 3 C8.R

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (Aug. 6, 2023) – Corvette Racing finished third Sunday in the GTD PRO class of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s feature event at Road America.

The No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R of Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor led multiple times in the two-hour, 40-minute race with strong pace and engineering strategy that elevated the team from its third-place starting spot.

Taylor got things started early by getting the jump at the drop of the green flag with a run from third to second place by the first corner. He moved into the class lead just shy of 40 minutes running when the class-leading and race-winning Aston Martin made its first stop as differing fuel strategies emerged in the first stint.

Taylor set his best lap of the race a lap later before handing off to Garcia at the 51-minute mark. Having been the last of the top three cars to pit, Garcia and the No. 3 Corvette carried a fuel advantage for the race’s second and final scheduled pit stop.

That happened with Garcia leading and taking on fuel and four tires with 52 minutes left. He emerged directly ahead of the Aston Martin and barely in the lead. The two cars raced nose-to-tail and side-by-side for a half-lap before Garcia took charge.

Things changed, however, as the No. 3 team was forced to serve a penalty for not meeting the minimum refueling time required by sanctioning body IMSA on the final stop. Team and series officials discussed the matter, but the call stood and Garcia had to give up the lead with 24 minutes left in order to drive through the pitlane.

The Corvette Racing team will continue to work with IMSA to understand its process of determining refueling penalties.

Corvette Racing’s next event is the Michelin GT Challenge at VIR on August 25-27 from Virginia International Raceway.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FINISHED THIRD IN GTD PRO: “A very disappointing result and a shame about the penalty. We had strong pace and good strategy calls that put us in the lead late. It was a hard but fair fight with the Aston late. Instead of gaining points in the championship, now we have lost more. Winning races is our only goal from now on.”

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “I was happy with my stint. The Corvette Racing guys did a great job giving us a good setup to move forward and eventually take the lead a couple of times. Things were looking great until the penalty on the last stop. Now we have to focus on getting maximum points in every race from here on.”

About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, available in nearly 80 countries with nearly 2.7 million cars and trucks sold in 2021. Chevrolet models include electric and fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

Podium Run at Road America for Sean Creech Motorsport at Road America

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Official Release
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ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (6 August 2023) With a record-setting pace in qualifying and a strong run out front for nearly the entire race, Sean Creech Motorsport dominated much of Sunday’s IMSA SportsCar Weekend race at Road America, but late race loss of grip saw the team finish in second position at the checkered flag.

Drivers Nico Pino and Joao Barbosa combined to keep the No. 33 Focal One Ligier JS 320 in the lead for much of the two-hour and 40-minute race. But the newly repaved racing surface get more and more slippery late in the race, allowing the No. 74 Riley Ligier to catch up – and when Barbosa was momentarily stuck behind a GT car, they were able to get by for the lead with 20 minutes remaining.

Pino – the team’s endurance driver – joined Barbosa at the legendary 14-turn, 4.048-mile road course, with Lance Willsey unable to attend the race weekend due to prior commitments. On Saturday, Pino put the No. 33 on the LMP3 pole, setting a new track record with a lap of 1:57.930. It was the team’s second straight pole position and track record at Road America.

The field took the green flag following four pace laps – double the scheduled number, after a prototype went into the sand in the Carousel. The same GTP prototype stalled on lap three, bringing out the first full course caution of the race.

Once the field returned to green, Pino focused on making inroads into the P2 field ahead while keeping his LMP3 competitors at bay. Despite racing at Road America for the first time, he settled in quickly and stretched his lead to over three seconds with two hours remaining.

Pino continued his charge through the LMP2 field, carving his way forward until he cleared the P2 cars and paced at the back of the GTP field, setting a quick lap at 1:58.566. He completed his quietly masterful stint and headed to pit lane with 1:36 remaining, handing the car to Barbosa – who headed back on track with a lead of over nine seconds on the LMP3 field.

A four-time IMSA champion and past Road America winner, Barbosa quickly slid into rhythm, balancing aggression and caution as he threaded his way through traffic. Increasing his lead over the No. 74 Riley LMP3, Barbosa came into pit lane with 42 minutes remaining for fuel and four Michelin tires.

But as the race hit the late stages – and track temperatures began to rise – Barbosa began fighting for grip, allowing the No. 74 back into the mix. With 22 minutes remaining and fighting with every inch of the racetrack, Barbosa got stuck behind a GT car and the 74 made the pass for the lead.

Barbosa battled hard to the end and brought the No. 33 home for the team’s second podium of the year (after the Rolex 24 at Daytona).

While disappointed, Pino, Barbosa and team principal Sean Creech were all extremely proud of the team for the hard work and effort.

“It was a quick stint for me,” said Pino. “I was on the qualifying tires, and I might have pushed them a bit too much yesterday. I was able to build up a gap early in the race and didn’t make any mistakes. In the end, P2, which is not the best result given what we were expecting, but a strong result overall. The car is in good shape and that’s most important.”

“Overall, it’s a great result for the team,” said Barbosa. “We wanted a bit more, but after the tough few races we’ve had, it’s a solid result. The lower downforce setting helped early in the race, but when the track temps came up, we just didn’t have the pace. But at the end of the day, it’s a good result for everyone on the team.”

“Both drivers did an outstanding job,” said Creech. “We got wrecked out of the lead last year here, so it was good to finish on the podium today. We lost a good deal of grip at the end, both from the track getting even more slippery and with the lower downforce setting we had on the car – it worked well in the cooler temps than in the heat. But it was a great effort from the entire team.”

SCM thanks partner Focal One for its continued support.

Next up for SCM will be the TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, September 15-17. The race will be broadcast live in the U.S., on NBC and Peacock TV, while international viewers can watch via IMSA.tv, with IMSA Radio also available at IMSA.com.

About SCM
Team leader Sean Creech has competed in a multitude of sports car series from 1990 until the present day, includingGroup C, IMSA GTP, WSC, Grand-Am, SRO World Challenge, and IMSA. SCM will contest the full WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in 2023 with João Barbosa and Lance Willsey. http://seancreechmotorsport.com/

About Focal One

One in eight men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during their lifetime in the United States. The Focal One® HIFU Prostate treatment offers patients a non-invasive outpatient procedure to target prostate tissue while avoiding the common side effects such as loss of urinary continence and sexual function. The Focal One treatment uses high-performance, high-intensity focused ultrasound
(HIFU) to precisely target and ablate the prostate, allowing patients to quickly return to normal activities. http://www.focalone.com/

SCM Social Media

Instagram: @seancreechms
Twitter: @SeanCreechMS
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Kirkwood Blends Strategy, Speed To Win at Nashville

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Official Release
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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Sunday, Aug. 6, 2023) – Kyle Kirkwood used a combination of smart strategy and raw speed to win the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix on Sunday on the streets of Nashville.

Kirkwood, from Jupiter, Florida, earned the second NTT INDYCAR SERIES win of his career and this season – both on street circuits – in the No. 27 AutoNation Honda fielded by Andretti Autosport. Kirkwood, who started eighth, beat the charging No. 3 DEX Imaging Team Penske Chevrolet of NTT P1 Award winner Scott McLaughlin to the finish by .7633 of a second after a late restart.

“I’ve got to give up to the 27 crew, AutoNation, Andretti, Honda,” Kirkwood said. “They played everything in my favor, to be honest. They gave me all the tools I needed. They cycled me to the front on strategy, and we just made really smart decisions and hit all of our marks. Just a solid day.”

Championship leader Alex Palou finished third in the No. 10 The American Legion Honda of Chip Ganassi Racing. He expanded his lead to 84 points over closest pursuer and Nashville native Josef Newgarden, who placed fourth in the No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet.

Six-time series champion and 2022 Nashville winner Scott Dixon rounded out the top five in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.

Kirkwood fended off McLaughlin on a restart with just over three laps remaining after a red flag period of 11 minutes. That pause was triggered by a three-car stack-up on Lap 75 of the 80-lap race involving the No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet of Felix Rosenqvist, the No. 55 AJ Foyt Racing/Sexton Properties Chevrolet of Benjamin Pedersen and the No. 78 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet of Agustin Canapino in Turn 11.

On the restart at the end of Lap 77, Kirkwood rocketed away on the 11-turn, 2.1-mile temporary street circuit that includes two trips over the Korean War Veterans Memorial Bridge per lap, pulling a lead of 1.6 seconds after one green-flag lap.

But McLaughlin and Palou started a hot pursuit in steamy weather conditions of air temperatures in the high 80s and high humidity. McLaughlin sliced more than half of Kirkwood’s lead at the white flag, but he had to settle for his second consecutive runner-up finish from pole in this race.

“Right there at the end, man, they were so fast,” Kirkwood said. “They ran me down just in that last lap.”

Said McLaughlin: “I tried my hardest. Congrats to Kyle and his team. Another top-three, good points. Bummed we didn’t get the win, but we weren’t the best on the day. Kyle was. Hopefully next year we’re running for the championship and win here and win the championship, as well. There will be a huge party on Broadway.”

Kirkwood led a race-high 34 of the 80 laps, including the last 27. But team strategist Bryan Herta may have paved the winning path with a crucial strategy call early in the race that cycled Kirkwood toward the front of the pack for most of the race.

On Lap 14, Palou dove into the pits from the top five during the second of what was expected to be many cautions at this event, where calamity seemingly lurks around every corner. Palou shed his Firestone alternate guayule tires for the more durable but less grippy Firestone primary tire. It was expected the other cars in the lead pack would do the same, but they all stayed out of the pits and tried to extend the life of their alternate tires.

Kirkwood finally made his first stop on Lap 29 after leading Lap 28 during pit cycles, pulling into second behind Palou – on a different strategy – on Lap 33. Kirkwood took the lead on Lap 45 when Palou pitted and surrendered the lead to teammate Romain Grosjean after his final pit stop on Lap 52.

When all the leaders’ stops cycled, Kirkwood was out front on Lap 54 and never trailed thereafter.

The early pit strategy for Palou and Chip Ganassi Racing was based on an abundance of yellow flags in the first two years of this street race, as there were an average of 8.5 cautions in 2021 and 2022. But that nearly backfired as there were just two cautions in the first 71 laps.

Palou was running third and within a few laps of maybe needing a quick, costly final stop for fuel when a welcome third caution flag flew for CGR on Lap 71. Rookie Linus Lundqvist hit the wall in Turn 11 in the No. 60 AutoNation/SiriusXM Honda fielded by Meyer Shank Racing.

That caution, and the next caution and red flag after the ensuing restart, saved Palou’s spot in the top three and almost certainly his lead of more than 1.5 races over Newgarden in the points with just four races left this season.

“We had the speed,” Palou said. “It was improbable after the call we did on that first yellow. Honestly, we talked about it before the race. We expected more yellows, and it was not the right call. But hey, we survived, we made it work. It was a tough race, but we made the podium and couldn’t be happier now.”

Kirkwood will split $10,000 with Andretti Autosport and his chosen charity, AutoNation DRVPNK, for his victory as part of the PeopleReady Force For Good Challenge.

The next NTT INDYCAR SERIES race is in just six days, the Gallagher Grand Prix on Saturday, Aug. 12 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. Live coverage starts at 2 p.m. ET on USA Network, Peacock and the INDYCAR Radio Network.

With four races and 216 available points remaining this season, the top eight drivers in the standings remain eligible to win the Astor Challenge Cup. Toronto race winner Christian Lundgaard is eighth in the standings, exactly 216 points behind 2021 season champion Palou.

Big Machine Music City Grand Prix Race Results

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Results Sunday of the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix NTT INDYCAR SERIES event on the 2.1-mile Streets of Nashville, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):

  1. (8) Kyle Kirkwood, Honda, 80, Running
  2. (1) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 80, Running
  3. (4) Alex Palou, Honda, 80, Running
  4. (9) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 80, Running
  5. (12) Scott Dixon, Honda, 80, Running
  6. (6) Romain Grosjean, Honda, 80, Running
  7. (20) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 80, Running
  8. (2) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 80, Running
  9. (13) Christian Lundgaard, Honda, 80, Running
  10. (7) Will Power, Chevrolet, 80, Running
  11. (17) Helio Castroneves, Honda, 80, Running
  12. (18) Callum Ilott, Chevrolet, 80, Running
  13. (16) Marcus Armstrong, Chevrolet, 80, Running
  14. (19) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 80, Running
  15. (15) Graham Rahal, Honda, 80, Running
  16. (27) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Chevrolet, 80, Running
  17. (24) Sting Ray Robb, Honda, 80, Running
  18. (21) Santino Ferrucci, Chevrolet, 80, Running
  19. (10) Alexander Rossi, Chevrolet, 78, Running
  20. (23) Agustin Canapino, Chevrolet, 77, Off Course
  21. (3) Colton Herta, Honda, 76, Mechanical
  22. (14) Felix Rosenqvist, Chevrolet, 73, Contact
  23. (25) Benjamin Pedersen, Chevrolet, 73, Contact
  24. (22) Jack Harvey, Honda, 71, Contact
  25. (11) Linus Lundqvist, Honda, 69, Contact
  26. (26) Devlin DeFrancesco, Honda, 65, Contact
  27. (5) David Malukas, Honda, 11, Mechanical

Race Statistics
Winner’s average speed: 85.396 mph
Time of Race: 01:58:02.3028
Margin of victory: 0.7633 of a second
Cautions: 4 for 8 laps
Lead changes: 9 among 6 drivers

Lap Leaders:
McLaughlin, Scott 1 – 24
Grosjean, Romain 25 – 27
Kirkwood, Kyle 28
Ericsson, Marcus 29 – 32
Palou, Alex 33 – 44
Kirkwood, Kyle 45 – 50
McLaughlin, Scott 51
Grosjean, Romain 52
Power, Will 53
Kirkwood, Kyle 54 – 80

NTT INDYCAR SERIES Point Standings: Palou 513, Newgarden 429, Dixon 387, McLaughlin 371, Ericsson 357, O’Ward 353, Power 337, Lundgaard 297, Kirkwood 290, Herta 285, Rossi 276, Grosjean 241, Rosenqvist 241, Ilott 203, VeeKay 199, Rahal 197, Malukas 181, Armstrong 173, Ferrucci 163, Castroneves 162, Canapino 142, DeFrancesco 133, Harvey 130, Daly 120, Robb 105, Pedersen 97, Pagenaud 88, Hunter-Reay 76, Sato 65, Carpenter 40, Kanaan 18, Andretti 13, Blomqvist 5, Enerson 5, Legge 5, Lundqvist 5

Helio Castroneves Earns Season-Best Street Course Finish for Meyer Shank Racing

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#06: Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing Honda

Lundqvist impresses in first INDYCAR outing and sets fastest lap of the race

Nashville, Tenn. – (6 August 2023) – Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) put together a strong event in Nashville on Sunday, carding a season-best finish on an NTT INDYCAR SERIES street course this year as veteran Helio Castroneves brought his No. 06 AutoNation / SiriusXM Honda home in 11th place.

The veteran Castroneves was paired with 24-year-old Linus Lundqvist on a very warm Sunday, who was making his series debut as a substitute for the injured Simon Pagenaud, and the youngster ran a very strong race just outside of the top ten before late race contact with the wall placed him 25th.

Starting 17th, the popular Brazilian pitted after just five trips around the 2.1-mile, 11-turn Nashville street course as MSR developed an alternative pit strategy to get Castroneves off of the softer alternate tires early in the race. The plan worked well for the pink-and-white No. 06 machine as he used longer fuel stints and consistent lap times to move into the top five as the myriad of strategies played out through the 27-car field.

The move paid off handsomely for the four-time Indianapolis 500 champion as he found himself in 11th for a Lap 77 restart, which was necessitated by a late-race red flag where four cars suffered contact. Castroneves battled on the restart and had passed for 10th before yielding the position back a lap later and settling for a solid 11th-place result.

Lundqvist (No. 60 AutoNation / SiriusXM Honda) showed very well in his series debut after starting 11th, managing his tires well and allowing MSR to consider any number of strategies on a day when teams used many different options to get to the end of the 80-lap race.

After pitting on Lap 14, the reigning INDY NXT champion made his Firestone rubber last for 28 laps before his next stop – working his way up to fifth in the process. He short-pitted on his next stint to get himself back in line with his teammate and made a fistful of on-track passes in moving into the top half of the field. His charge through the field also saw Lundqvist post the fastest lap of the race. Unfortunately, contact ended his day with 10 laps to run.

MSR will pack quickly and head back to Indianapolis for the third time this season, competing again on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course for Saturday’s Gallagher Grand Prix. Qualifying will take place Friday afternoon, with Saturday’s race shown live on USA Network and Peacock. Live audio of all sessions will also be available on Sirius XM Radio, Channel 160.

Driver Quotes:

Helio Castroneves:

“Coming from 17th to 11th, was really awesome today. The AutoNation / SiriusXM machine was pretty strong this weekend. We knew we had it. We had some good moments, going sideways and bumping but in the end it was great points for the team, we needed it.”

Linus Lundqvist:

“My first-ever INDYCAR weekend is over, sadly it didn’t end the way I wanted it to. First off I want to sorry to the team. We’ve had such a great weekend, we had great speed, so it’s sad to end it in the wall. It was simply my mistake pushing a little bit. But put that aside, I think we did very well, the car was awesome. There were a few surprises in there for me, I had never done pit stops before. I’m very happy that I got the 70 laps in, but it definitely leaves a bit of a sour taste in my mouth to end the weekend like that. I have to thank Mike and Jim and the team for having me with them this weekend, it really was a dream come true.”

Cadillac Racing soldiers on at Road America

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Official Release
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Fourth- and sixth-place finishes for Cadillac V-Series.Rs in 2-hour, 40-minute race

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (Aug. 6, 2023) – Cadillac Racing overcame pre-race and in-race issues to record fourth- and sixth-place finishes Sunday in the IMSA Sports Car Weekend at Road America.

The No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R, which qualified third on the 10-car Grand Touring Prototype grid, experienced tire issues in the middle section of the 2-hour, 40-minute race on the recently repaved 4-mile, 14-turn road course that cost Renger van der Zande two positions and effectively the opportunity to compete for a podium spot. He and Sebastien Bourdais drove to fourth place.

The pole-winning No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R experienced adversity two hours before the green flag when Alexander Sims got caught off-guard by cold tires on the fast Turn 12 and made heavy rear impact with the barrier. Sims was checked at the infield care center and cleared to drive, and the crew quickly prepared to commence systematic work on the Cadillac Racing hybrid racecar.

After an extensive exchange of parts and bodywork that took less than 90 minutes, the car rolled out of the prep area to cheers from the throng of spectators gathered and joined the grid with Pipo Derani behind the wheel. Per IMSA regulations, the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R started from the rear of the GTP field.

“It was a great effort by the entire team, including Pipo handing off wrenches and being fully engaged, to get the car on the grid for the warmup laps and take the green flag with no mechanical issues,” team manager Gary Nelson said. “The crew worked systematically and, as always, professionally. We are appreciative of the crew of the No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R checking if we needed any parts or assistance. Cadillac Racing works as one team.”

Derani and Sims did not find the pace it had when Derani reset the track lap record in qualifying and soldiered on to sixth place. The No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R fell out of the IMSA Driver/Team Championship lead and enters the penultimate race of the season 14 points arrears. Derani, Sims and Jack Aitken lead the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup standings with one race left.

Cadillac retained its IMSA Manufacturer Championship points lead.

The No. 7 Porsche 963, which qualified second, won the race to mark the sixth different winner in seven races.

Next up is the TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks on Sept. 15-17 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. Both Cadillac V-Series.R recently tested on the 2.439-mile, 14-turn circuit that incorporates sections of the famous oval.

No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R

Sebastien Bourdais: “I thought we were looking pretty good through my stint. The 7 car was really quick and got a couple of breaks in traffic. The car wasn’t easy to drive but I thought we were en route to a podium finish. Unfortunately, it got clearly more difficult rapidly for Renger with the flat spot on the left-front that he dragged the whole middle stint. It hurt him a lot when he fought it out with the 60 on the way out of the pits, and I think that kind of dictated our race because that middle stint really hurt us when we lost second and third (place). I feel like the team did a really nice job this weekend. We found a few things that we liked on the car at the Indy road course test that seemed to translate well here. We just need to keep working and learning about the car.”

Renger van der Zande: “The middle stint was hurt by the flat spot on the front tire and later in that stint I flat-spotted the right-front as well. I don’t know why the second one happened but the first was just cold tire and off-line. It’s just a slippery track. I didn’t expect that to happen but it compromised our race day. I would have been able to fight the Acuras for position on normal tires, but I’m happy with the finish given how tough it is to pass off-line and move on from there.”

No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R

Pipo Derani: “We take the positives from what the crew and team did to get the car into the race after what happened in warmup to Alex on cold tires. Just to have gone into the race to score some points is great. Obviously, difficult situation with the tires being too cold in warmup and getting Alex off-guard. We’ve being seeing that happen a lot this year. It was us today and could be someone else tomorrow. We leave here without the lead in the championship, but it’s one of those things that are out of your control. But the positive is we finished the race and scored points in the championship.”

Alexander Sims: “The real credit today goes to the team that got us back out. They were faced with massive difficult conditions after my mistake in warmup, so they really got us the points today. The race was unfortunately not much better than the start of warmup. It seemed like we really struggled for pace. I was hoping Pipo might have good pace on a new set of tires, but he didn’t seem to be able to pull up. I had only two tires and double stinted right-side tires and it was really tough. It’s the way it goes in IMSA. We got the best points we could get under the circumstances, and we’ll go on to the next one.”

Rasmussen Resists Pressure To Win at Nashville, Expand Points Lead

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Sunday, Aug. 6, 2023) – Christian Rasmussen withstood the pressure of numerous late restarts to lead all 35 laps Sunday en route to victory in the INDY NXT by Firestone Music City Grand Prix on the streets of Nashville.

Danish driver Rasmussen expanded his championship lead to 45 points over Nolan Siegel with his third victory of the season in the No. 6 HMD Motorsports with DCR car. Rasmussen has won the last two races in the INDYCAR development series, as he also captured the oval race July 22 at Iowa Speedway.

Rasmussen, who started from pole after qualifying was rained out, drove to a 1.1594-second victory over runner-up Hunter McElrea in the No. 27 Smart Motors car fielded by Andretti Autosport. Jacob Abel finished third in the No. 51 Abel Motorsports car, 10.6525 seconds behind the winner.

“We were really good on the restarts and managed to pull a big gap at the start,” Rasmussen said. “I was just trying to manage it. Whenever they got close, I would put a good lap in and maintain that gap. The restarts were kind of tough, but I think we had some really good ones and had the pace.”

Irish driver James Roe finished a career-best fourth in the No. 29 Topcon machine fielded by Andretti Autosport, with Siegel rounding out the top five in the No. 39 HMD Motorsports with DCR entry as the top rookie finisher.

Rasmussen bolted away at the start after the first lap was under caution and cruised to a 4.7-second lead over McElrea during an otherwise clean first half of the race. But the first of three caution periods in the final 17 laps of the race was triggered on Lap 18 when Christian Bogle hit the wall in Turn 11 in the No. 7 HMD Motorsports with DCR car.

On the restart on Lap 20, Rasmussen eased away from McElrea. But there were intense duels for spots three through six on the 11-turn, 2.1-mile temporary circuit that includes two crossings of the Korean War Veterans Memorial Bridge per lap.

That close racing led to two more caution periods in the final 10 laps. The first came on Lap 25 when Ernie Francis Jr. hit the wall in Turn 4 while jousting for fifth place in the No. 99 HMD Motorsports with Force Indy car. The final yellow flew on Lap 29 when Danial Frost was on the losing end of contact with Rasmus Lindh in a race for position, with Frost’s No. 68 HMD Motorsports with DCR car ending up in the Turn 4 wall.

Rasmussen was never challenged for the lead on any restart, but McElrea stayed on his gearbox briefly on Lap 27 restart before an oversteer moment let Rasmussen pull away.

“I think we got 100 percent today,” Rasmussen said. “On the top step of the podium, led every lap. I’m very happy. HMD gave me a great car. I rolled it around pretty good, I guess.”

The series races next in just five days, as the INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is scheduled for Friday, Aug. 11. It’s a one-day event, with practice and qualifying Friday preceding the green flag of the 35-lap race at 5 p.m. ET (live, Peacock, INDYCAR Radio Network).

INDY NXT by Firestone Music City Grand Prix
Race Results

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Results Sunday of the INDY NXT by Firestone Music City Grand Prix INDY NXT by Firestone event on the 2.1-mile Streets of Nashville, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, laps completed and reason out (if any):

  1. (1) Christian Rasmussen, 35, Running
  2. (4) Hunter McElrea, 35, Running
  3. (3) Jacob Abel, 35, Running
  4. (8) James Roe, 35, Running
  5. (2) Nolan Siegel, 35, Running
  6. (5) Louis Foster, 35, Running
  7. (12) Rasmus Lindh, 35, Running
  8. (17) Jamie Chadwick, 35, Running
  9. (7) Reece Gold, 35, Running
  10. (13) Josh Pierson, 35, Running
  11. (18) Yuven Sundaramoorthy, 35, Running
  12. (16) Christian Bogle, 35, Running
  13. (15) Matthew Brabham, 35, Running
  14. (9) Victor Franzoni, 35, Running
  15. (10) Kyffin Simpson, 32, Off Course
  16. (6) Danial Frost, 28, Contact
  17. (14) Jagger Jones, 27, Mechanical
  18. (11) Ernie Francis Jr., 24, Contact
  19. (19) Francesco Pizzi, 22, Running

Race Statistics
Winner’s average speed: 79.892 mph
Time of Race: 00:55:11.9696
Margin of victory: 1.1594 seconds
Cautions: 4 for 7 laps
Lead changes: 0

Lap Leaders:
Rasmussen, Christian 1 – 35

Stewart-Haas Racing: NXS Race Report from Michigan

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Official Release
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STEWART-HAAS RACING
NASCAR Xfinity Series: Michigan 250

Date: Aug. 5, 2023
Event: Michigan 250 (Round 21 of 33)
Series: NASCAR Xfinity Series
Location: Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn (2-mile oval)
Format: 125 laps, broken into three stages (30 laps/30 laps/65 laps)
Race Winner: John Hunter Nemechek of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

Stage 1 Winner: Justin Allgaier of JR Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 2 Winner: John Hunter Nemechek of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

SHR Race Finish:

● Riley Herbst (Started 5th / Finished 6th, Running, completed 125 of 125 laps)

● Cole Custer (Started 13th / Finished 16th, Running, completed 125 of 125 laps)

SHR Points:

● Cole Custer (4th with 725 points, 86 out of first)

● Riley Herbst (9th with 574 points, 237 out of first)

SHR Notes:

● Herbst earned his 10th top-10 of the season and his third top-10 in four career NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Michigan.

● This is Herbst’s third straight top-10. He finished fourth July 22 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway and fifth last Saturday at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.

● This is Herbst’s third straight top-10 at Michigan. He finished ninth in the series’ last visit to the track in 2022.

● Herbst’s sixth-place finish bettered his previous best finish at Michigan– seventh, earned in August 2021.

● Herbst finished fifth in Stage 1 to earn six bonus points and fourth in Stage 2 to earn seven more bonus points.

● Herbst led once for one lap – his first laps led at Michigan.

● Custer earned his 16th top-20 of the season and his fourth top-20 in four career NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Michigan.

● Custer has never finished outside the top-16 in his four Xfinity Series starts at Michigan.

● Custer finished third in Stage 1 to earn eight bonus points and sixth in Stage 2 to earn five more bonus points.

Race Notes:

● John Hunter Nemechek won the Michigan 250 to score his seventh career NASCAR Xfinity Series victory, his fifth of the season and his first at Michigan. His margin over second-place Josh Berry was 1.495 seconds.

● There were seven caution periods for a total of 31 laps.

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

● Nemechek leaves Michigan as the championship leader tied in points with second-place Austin Hill, but leading the standings with his five victories.

Sound Bites:

“Man, we had a fast No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang today. I’m proud of this team for putting together a fast racecar and fast pit stops to help keep us up front. We were in the top-five almost all day, and I think it just shows all of the hard work that we’ve been putting in on this race team. There’s been some bad luck this season, but I think it’s finally starting to turn around. I’m excited to get to Indianapolis next week to see what we can do.” – Riley Herbst, driver of the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang

“We had a solid day overall, but the track started going away from us at the end there. I thought at the start of the race, we were just about as good as anybody, but in that last run, we just had bad luck. Something was wrong and I felt a vibration, even though the tire looked fine when we pitted. We had to fix that under the caution, and it put us back in the pack on the final restart. We were kind of done from there. The guys did a great job working on it all weekend. We were in the fight, but sometimes it’s just not your day.” – Cole Custer, driver of the No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang

Next Up:

The next event on the NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the Indianapolis 150 on Saturday, Aug. 12 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course. The race begins at 5:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by USA and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Victory for Silver Hare on the Streets of Nashville

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Connor Zilisch Goes from Last to First for the Second Time in Five Races;
14-Year-Old TA2 Rookie Ben Maier Scores Third Top-10 of the Season

Overview:Date: Aug. 5, 2023
Event: Big Machine Music City Grand Prix (Round 9 of 13)
Series: Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli
Division: Big Machine Vodka Spiked CoolersTA2 Series
Location: Streets of Nashville, Tennessee
Layout: 2.17-mile, 11-turn temporary circuit
Format: 46 laps or 75 minutes
Weather: Partly cloudy, mid-80s
Winner: Connor Zilisch of Silver Hare Racing

Silver Hare Racing:

● Connor Zilisch – Started 34th, Finished 1st (Running, completed 38/38 laps)
● Ben Maier – Started 13th, Finished 9th (Running, completed 38/38 laps)

Noteworthy:

●Today’s victory was Connor Zilisch’s third of the season and the third of his career. He qualified on the pole during qualifying this morning but was sent to the back of the 34-car grid due to a post-qualifying technical inspection infraction. His victory June 5 in the second race of a weekend doubleheader on the downtown Detroit street circuit also came from the back of the grid after originally qualifying on the pole.

● Zilisch’s lap of 1:31.350 earned the recently turned 17-year-old the Omalagato Fastest Lap of the Race Award.

Connor Zilisch, Driver, No. 7 Waukegan Farms Quarter Horses/Planet Cowboy/Silver Hare Racing Chevrolet Camaro:

“That was wild, to say the least. I can’t say enough about my team. They believe in me, trust me, and they work so hard for me and I couldn’t be more grateful for them, Silver Hare Racing, they do such a good job. Maurice and Laura Hull gave me the opportunity of a lifetime, to come out here and race cars and to fulfill my dream. This is one of the events that I’ve always wanted to win ever since that first year. So to come out here and get that win is super special to me and super special to the guys, as well. They invest a lot, being away from their families. It feels so good to get this win for all my team. I was having radio issues pretty much the whole race, so I didn’t know how long we had, what place I was in at almost any point in the race until toward the end, when my radio came back. That’s when I realized that I had a good shot at this and I’ve just got to have good, clean restarts and hopefully have some green-flag runs so I could get by some of these guys.”

Ben Maier, Driver, No. 75 Silver Hare Racing/Gel Blaster/Waukegan Farms Quarter Horses Chevrolet Camaro:

“It went pretty well. I was off to a slow start at the beginning of the weekend – wasn’t that fast, but then I picked up speed in qualifying, qualified 13th. I was running well in the race and made it up to eighth or ninth, but then I made a mistake, blew past a turn and lost a bunch of positions by the time I made it back on track. I made it all the way back up to ninth from about 15th. Made a mistake but recovered from it, which is a good thing. I feel pretty good about how things have been going. Now that I have more and more experience, the more seat time I have, the more comfortable I am. Connor is amazing. He’s done this twice – here and at Detroit. I guess he’s good on street courses. The team is amazing, working so well on the cars, getting everything done. The setups are good. Just looking forward to keep getting better with this Silver Hare team.”

Maurice Hull, Co-Owner, Silver Hare Racing:

“Boy, you talk about ups and downs. We had the fastest car on the track, the best driver on the track, and today was his day. He started in the back, went all the way to the front, kept the fenders on it, didn’t wreck anybody, didn’t hit anything, and he beat everybody there. It was awesome. I’m really proud of this Silver Hare crew, Connor, and everybody in this family for standing together and being strong through this. And then we’ve got a top-10 finish out of our 14-year-old prodigy driver who is just awesome. He was racing guys who are way older and more experienced and he brought it home with all the fenders clean and just ran the fastest laps he’s run all weekend. We’re just blessed to have both of these guys on this team.”

Next Up:

The Big Machine Vodka Spiked Coolers TA2 Series competitors have a month-long reprieve before next taking to the track for the 10th round of the 2023 calendar Sept. 8-10 at historic Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International. The Watkins Glen SpeedTour commences Friday, Sept. 8, with a pair of TA2 open test sessions on the 3.4-mile, 11-turn road course. Official TA2 practice is set for the morning of Saturday, Sept. 9, with qualifying late that afternoon. The 30-lap, 75-minute TA2 race is set for 11:05 a.m. EDT Sunday, Sept. 10, with live television coverage provided by MAVTV, and live-streaming video coverage by the Trans Am Series and SpeedTourTV channels on YouTube.

About Silver Hare Racing:

Silver Hare Racing is a fulltime competitor in the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli’s newly renamed Big Machine Vodka Spiked Coolers TA2 Series. The multicar team has won the TA2 Masters class championship three times (2018, 2019 and 2020) with driver and team co-owner Maurice Hull. Under the leadership of Hull’s wife, co-owner and team manager Laura Hull, Silver Hare Racing provides a variety of services that includes private testing and arrive-and-drive programs. The team offers six professionally built and maintained TA2 chassis from Howe Racing and operates from a state-of-the-art facility in High Point, North Carolina. For more information, visit SilverHareRacing.com.

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