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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
Threads: @seancreechms
Facebook: Sean Creech Motorsport

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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Official Release
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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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Official Release
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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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Official Release
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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.

McLaughlin Blitzes Field To Win NTT P1 Award in Nashville

By
Official Release
-

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Saturday, Aug. 5, 2023) – In a series known for its tight qualifying margins, Scott McLaughlin blew away the field Saturday to win the NTT P1 Award for the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix on the streets of Nashville.

McLaughlin, from New Zealand, earned his second consecutive pole for this event with a top lap of 1 minute, 14.6099 seconds in the No. 3 DEX Imaging Team Penske Chevrolet. It was his fourth career NTT INDYCAR SERIES pole and first this season.

Even more impressive was McLaughlin’s margin of .3296 of a second over No. 2 qualifier Pato O’Ward, whose best lap in the Firestone Fast Six was 1:14.9395. That’s the second-biggest gap between first and second in qualifying so far in 13 races this season, topped only by Romain Grosjean’s edge of .4155 of a second in the season-opening race at St. Petersburg.

“We did a big lap in Q1 that really set us up,” McLaughlin said. “Every time we’re in this printer wagon, this DEX Imaging Chevy, she’s a ripper. Really proud of that one.”

Live coverage of the 80-lap race starts at noon ET Sunday on NBC, Peacock and the INDYCAR Radio Network. The winners of the first two editions of this race, Marcus Ericsson in 2021 and Scott Dixon in 2022, started 18th and 14th, respectively, so starting up front isn’t essential to contend for victory in an event known for its unpredictability. Still, McLaughlin knows he’s in a good spot to avoid any chaos in the midfield or back at the start or on restarts.

“Who knows at this place?” McLaughlin said. “It’s scary how yellows can happen out of the blue, and strategy can be thrown everywhere. But we start in the No. 1 spot, and that’s the main thing. To put in pole two years in a row is unreal.”

Qualifying took place in dry conditions and under sunny skies and thick humidity after morning and afternoon rain created course conditions that forced a delay of nearly four hours to the start of the session and the cancellation of final practice.

McLaughlin and O’Ward were the only two drivers to break the 1:15 barrier during the last of the three rounds of qualifying on the 11-turn, 2.1-mile temporary circuit that includes two crossings of the Korean War Veterans Memorial Bridge per lap.

Colton Herta qualified third at 1:15.2416 in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda fielded by Andretti Autosport with Curb-Agajanian, with championship leader Alex Palou fourth at 1:15.2462 in the No. 10 The American Legion Honda of Chip Ganassi Racing.

David Malukas will start fifth after a lap of 1:15.8703 in the No. 18 HMD Trucking Honda of Dale Coyne Racing with HMD, tying his best career qualifying performance on a street circuit set in July 2022 at Toronto. Grosjean rounded out the Firestone Fast Six at 1:15.9921 in the No. 28 DHL Honda, as Andretti Autosport was the only team to put two drivers into the first three rows of the grid.

Three drivers in the top five of the standings – Josef Newgarden, Dixon and Ericsson – didn’t advance into the Firestone Fast Six and will start outside of the first three rows Sunday.

Newgarden will start ninth after his best lap of 1:15.4862 in the No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet during the Fast 12. Six-time series champion Dixon made a rare mistake and clipped the inside wall in Turn 11 with 30 seconds left in the Fast 12, hurtling his No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda across the track into the outside retaining wall. Dixon was unhurt, but the front and front right of his car suffered heavy damage. He will start 12th.

Ericsson was quickest in wet conditions during practice Saturday, but his dry-weather pace wasn’t enough to advance from the first round of qualifying. Ericsson will start 20th after his best lap of 1:16.0420 in the No. 8 Huski Ice Spritz Honda fielded by Chip Ganassi Racing.

Rookie Linus Lundqvist continued to enjoy a magic carpet ride during his first NTT INDYCAR SERIES race weekend, as he qualified 11th and was the quickest rookie in the field at 1:16.0715 in the No. 60 AutoNation/SiriusXM Honda. It was the second-best qualifying performance of the season for Meyer Shank Racing on a temporary street circuit, bettered only by the eighth-place starting spot by Simon Pagenaud in June at Detroit. Lundqvist is substituting this weekend for Pagenaud, still recovering from a violent flip July 1 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

Big Machine Music City Grand Prix
Qualifying Results

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Qualifying Saturday for the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix NTT INDYCAR SERIES event on the 2.1-mile Streets of Nashville, with qualifying position, car number in parentheses, driver, engine, time and speed in parentheses:

  1. (3) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 01:14.6099 (101.327 mph)
  2. (5) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 01:14.9395 (100.881)
  3. (26) Colton Herta, Honda, 01:15.2416 (100.476)
  4. (10) Alex Palou, Honda, 01:15.2462 (100.470)
  5. (18) David Malukas, Honda, 01:15.8703 (99.644)
  6. (28) Romain Grosjean, Honda, 01:15.9921 (99.484)
  7. (12) Will Power, Chevrolet, 01:15.1384 (100.614)
  8. (27) Kyle Kirkwood, Honda, 01:15.1641 (100.580)
  9. (2) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 01:15.4862 (100.151)
  10. (7) Alexander Rossi, Chevrolet, 01:15.5711 (100.038)
  11. (60) Linus Lundqvist, Honda, 01:16.0715 (99.380)
  12. (9) Scott Dixon, Honda, 01:16.7692 (98.477)
  13. (45) Christian Lundgaard, Honda, 01:16.0985 (99.345)
  14. (6) Felix Rosenqvist, Chevrolet, 01:15.4638 (100.180)
  15. (15) Graham Rahal, Honda, 01:16.1825 (99.235)
  16. (11) Marcus Armstrong, Chevrolet, 01:15.5631 (100.049)
  17. (06) Helio Castroneves, Honda, 01:16.2203 (99.186)
  18. (77) Callum Ilott, Chevrolet, 01:16.0170 (99.451)
  19. (21) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 01:16.3356 (99.036)
  20. (8) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 01:16.0420 (99.419)
  21. (14) Santino Ferrucci, Chevrolet, 01:16.6416 (98.641)
  22. (30) Jack Harvey, Honda, 01:16.1193 (99.318)
  23. (78) Agustin Canapino, Chevrolet, 01:16.6900 (98.579)
  24. (51) Sting Ray Robb, Honda, 01:16.3907 (98.965)
  25. (55) Benjamin Pedersen, Chevrolet, No Time (No Speed)
  26. (29) Devlin DeFrancesco, Honda, 01:16.4369 (98.905)
  27. (20) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Chevrolet, 01:17.2417 (97.875)

John Hunter Nemechek rallies from early spin to notch milestone Xfinity victory for Joe Gibbs Racing at Michigan

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

From a Lap 10 multi-car wreck that involved himself and his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates, John Hunter Nemechek rallied in dominant fashion by notching a milestone victory for the JGR organization in the Cabo Wabo 250 at Michigan International Speedway on Saturday, August 5.

The 26-year-old Nemechek from Mooresville, North Carolina, led twice for a race-high 65 of 125-scheduled laps in an event where he started 10th and quickly raced his way towards the front. Amid a Lap 3 incident for a single car spin and a Lap 9 restart, Nemechek’s event quickly went south when he made contact with teammate Ty Gibbs entering the backstretch that sent Gibbs spinning while his third teammate, Sammy Smith, was also collected after making ensuing contact with Nemechek. Despite falling down the leaderboard, Nemechek, who pitted prior to the first stage’s conclusion, gained an advantage during the stage break when he remained on the track and moved up the leaderboard. From there, Nemechek assumed the lead for the first time on Lap 55 and proceeded to win the second stage. He then gained control of the field throughout the final stage spanning the final 59 laps and held off the field during a seven-lap dash to the finish to notch his fifth NASCAR Xfinity Series victory of the 2023 season and record the 200th Xfinity career win for Joe Gibbs Racing.

With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, August 4, Josh Berry notched his second Xfinity pole position of the 2023 season after posting a pole-winning lap at 189.549 mph in 37.985 seconds. Joining him on the front row was teammate Justin Allgaier, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 188.289 mph in 38.239 seconds.

Prior to the event, the following names that included Connor Mosack, Sage Karam, Kyle Weatherman and Josh Williams dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to their respective entries.

When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Berry surged ahead with a strong start from the outside lane through the backstretch, but teammate Allgaier gained a strong run from the inside lane through the first two turns as he then assumed the lead entering the backstretch. With Allgaier placing a reasonable gap between himself and Berry exiting the backstretch before entering Turns 3 and 4, Allgaier proceeded to lead the first lap while Austin Hill and Sam Mayer battled for third place behind Berry.

During the second lap, Allgaier stretched his lead to half a second over teammate Berry while teammate Mayer trailed in third place by less than a second. By then, Austin Hill was in fourth ahead of rookie Chandler Smith while Ty Gibbs, Carson Hocevar, John Hunter Nemechek, rookie Sammy Smith and Ross Chastain were in the top 10.

On the third lap, the first caution of the event flew when Kaz Grala, who was battling within the top 20, slipped sideways entering Turn 4 and spun off the front nose of Sheldon Creed as Grala spun his No. 26 Toyota Genuine Parts Supra below the track and backwards on the frontstretch grass.

When the race restarted on the ninth lap, teammates Allgaier and Berry dueled for the top spot until Allgaier muscled ahead in his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro to retain the lead. As the field fanned out and jostled for positions, contact was made between Mayer and Chandler Smith entering Turn 3 as Mayer went up the track and lost a multitude of spots while Allgaier continued to lead.

A lap later, the caution returned when Nemechek, who was battling amid close-quarters racing with Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Ty Gibbs and Sammy Smith, ran into the rear bumper of Gibbs’ No. 19 He Gets Us Toyota Supra entering the backstretch, which got Gibbs loose and spinning sideways as Nemechek also spun after getting hit by Sammy Smith. In the ensuring mayhem, Nemechek spun his No. 20 Mobil 1 Toyota Supra towards the bottom of the track in the backstretch while Smith collided into the side of Hocevar and nearly sent his No. 77 Premier Security Chevrolet Camaro flipping over before Hocevar’s car quickly came back down on all four wheels and spun through the backstretch. While Nemechek and Gibbs, who was left sour over the incident with Nemechek, continued along with Hocevar, Sammy Smith’s event came to an early end.

During the proceeding restart on Lap 16, Allgaier retained the lead amid another strong restart while teammate Berry, who elected to restart on the second row, gained a strong start to move up to second followed by Chandler Smith while Hill, who moved up to restart on the inside lane on the front row, fell back to fourth.

Approaching Lap 19, the caution flew for a third time when Mason Maggio, who was involved in the previous caution period for a multi-car wreck, went dead straight after blowing a right-front tire and smacked the outside wall towards Turn 2 as his event came to an early end. During the caution period, Nemechek, Karam and Josh Williams pitted while the rest led by Allgaier remained on the track.

The following restart on Lap 23 featured Allgaier and Custer dueling for the lead on the front row as Allgaier retained the lead while the field fanned out through the first two turns. As Allgaier retained the top spot, Berry moved back into the runner-up spot followed by Custer while Chandler Smith and Herbst followed suit along with Brandon Jones. Amid the continuous on-track battles, Allgaier would retain the lead at the Lap 25 mark.

When the first stage concluded on Lap 30, Allgaier claimed his eighth stage victory of the 2023 Xfinity season. Teammate Berry settled in second while Custer, Chandler Smith, Herbst, Brandon Jones, Austin Hill, Ryan Sieg, Mayer and Anthony Alfredo were scored in the top 10.

Under the stage break, a majority of the field led by Allgaier pitted for service while the rest led by Ty Gibbs, Nemechek and Grala remained on the track amid mixed strategy ensuing. Amid the pit stops, Jeb Burton spun while trying to entering his pit stall and was penalized for a safety violation.

The second stage started on Lap 36 as Ty Gibbs and Creed, who pitted for two fresh tires, occupied the front row. At the start, Gibbs took off with the lead ahead of Creed and the field that proceeded to fan out entering the first two turns. By the following lap, Ty Gibbs stretched his advantage to half a second while teammate Nemechek battled and overtook Creed for the runner-up spot.

On Lap 38, the caution flew when Connor Mosack got turned by Joe Graf Jr. towards the outside wall exiting the frontstretch and approaching Turn 1 as Mosack limped back to pit road with extensive damage on his No. 24 Toyota Racing Development Supra.

When the race restarted on Lap 42, Ty Gibbs pulled ahead from Riley Herbst with a push from teammate Nemechek as Gibbs assumed the lead while Nemechek and Herbst battled for second.

At the Lap 50 mark, Ty Gibbs was leading by a tenth of a second over teammate Nemechek followed by Herbst, Cole Custer and Allgaier while Mayer, Austin Hill, Berry, Brandon Jones and Chandler Smith were in the top 10. Behind, Brett Moffitt was in 11th ahead of Creed, Anthony Alfredo, Parker Kligerman and Ryan Sieg while Daniel Hemric, Ross Chastain, Parker Retzlaff, Jeb Burton and Grala occupied the top 20.

Five laps later, the top-nine competitors were separated by less than two seconds as Nemechek cycled his way around teammate Ty Gibbs to assume the lead. With Nemechek leading by four-tenths of a second and half a second over Herbst, Allgaier and Austin Hill settled in the top five.

When the second stage concluded on Lap 60, Nemechek fended off the field to claim his fifth Xfinity stage victory of the 2023 season. Allgaier, who moved from fourth to second two laps earlier, settled in the runner-up spot while Ty Gibbs, Herbst, Austin Hill, Custer, Berry, Mayer, Brandon Jones and Moffitt were scored in the top 10.

Under the stage break, trouble struck for Allgaier as he got bumped and turned by Ty Gibbs while approaching his pit stall as the field entered pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Nemechek exited first ahead of Herbst, Hill, Custer, Berry and Ty Gibbs.

With 59 laps remaining, the final stage started as Nemechek and Hill occupied the front row. At the start, Nemechek jumped ahead to retain the lead over the field that fanned out with the competitors jostling for positions.

With 50 laps remaining, Nemechek was leading by three-tenths of a second over Austin Hill followed by Herbst, Berry and Brandon Jones while Ty Gibbs settled in sixth. With Custer and Mayer running in seventh and eighth, Allgaier, following his pit road incident during the stage break, had carved his way back up to ninth after restarting 30th while Chastain was in 10th.

Ten laps later, Nemechek continued to lead by more than a second over Austin Hill while Berry, Herbst and Brandon Jones retained their respective spots in the top five. By then, Ty Gibbs and Custer were running sixth and seventh while Allgaier was in eighth followed by teammate Mayer and Chastain.

Another 10 laps later, Nemechek increased his advantage to nearly two seconds over Berry while Hill, Herbst and Brandon Jones remained in the top five. Not long after, green flag pit stops commenced as Mayer and Chandler Smith pitted. A series of names that included Ty Gibbs, Allgaier and Custer would pit during the ensuing lap before the leader Nemechek pitted with 28 laps remaining along with Brandon Jones, Hill, Chastain, Berry, Creed, Hemric, Jeb Burton and Jeremy Clements. Amid the pit stops, Allgaier was penalized due to a crew member jumping over the pit wall too soon while Moffitt, who has yet to pit, cycled into the lead. In addition, Austin Hill reported a transmission issue to his No. 21 United Rentals Chevrolet Camaro as he was exiting pit road, which resulted with him losing ground of the leaders.

Then with 22 laps remaining, Nemechek cycled his way back into the lead after Sage Karam, who led a lap for himself, pitted. In the process, Berry moved up to second as he trailed Nemechek by two seconds as Ty Gibbs would follow suit to third place.

With 15 laps remaining, Nemechek was leading by more than a second over Berry while Gibbs, Jones and Custer were in the top five.

Then two laps later, the caution flew when Patrick Emerling blew a left-front tire and went dead straight towards the outside wall in Turn 3. During the caution period, names that included Custer, Allgaier, Ryan Sieg, Karam and Moffitt pitted while the rest led by Nemechek remained on the track.

Down to the final seven laps of the event, the race restarted under green as teammates Nemechek and Ty Gibbs occupied the front row. At the start, Nemechek retained the lead over the field as Berry and Ty Gibbs battled for second ahead of Brandon Jones and Mayer. With the field fanning out through the first two turns and the backstretch, Nemechek stabilized his advantage while starting to place a gap from the field.

With five laps remaining, Nemechek was leading by three-tenths of a second over Berry and six-tenths of a second over Brandon Jones while Ty Gibbs and Mayer were in the top five. Behind, Herbst was in sixth followed by Chastain, Kligerman, Retzlaff and Jeb Burton. Nemechek would then stretch his advantage to nearly a second over Berry while Brandon Jones would slowly lose touch of the top-two competitors as the laps dwindled.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Nemechek remained as the leader by more than a second over Berry and Brandon Jones while Ty Gibbs and Mayer trailed by more than two seconds. Having no close competition lurking behind him, Nemechek was able to cycle his way around the circuit for a final time and cruise back to the frontstretch to notch his fifth checkered flag of the 2023 Xfinity season.

With the victory, Nemechek notched his seventh Xfinity Series career victory in his 88th series start and his first at Michigan as he became the first five-time race winner of the 2023 season. In addition to delivering the seventh Xfinity victory of the season for Joe Gibbs Racing, Nemechek bestowed the honors of achieving the 200th career win for the JGR organization, with six of them coming from Nemechek.

“Man, I’m grateful for this whole No. 20 bunch,” Nemechek, who accepted responsibility over the contact and incident with Ty Gibbs, said on NBC. “[I’m] Grateful for Joe Gibbs Racing, this opportunity. All of our great partners that help us get to the racetrack. I have to apologize to Ty [Gibbs]. I’ve been the one that’s been very vocal about teammates recently. I put him in a bad aero spot, got him loose and then, couldn’t check up. It’s my mistake. I hate that we both spun early, but at least, we both rebounded decently. I know he’s not too happy with me. He has every right not to be. I’m thankful for my team, all the guys. Win number five. After the last two weeks, we said that we needed to come out here and answer. We were able to do that today here at Michigan.”

Berry, who did not lead a lap despite starting on pole position, ended up in the runner-up spot for the second time this season as he continues to pursue his first victory of the season while teammate Brandon Jones claimed his second top-five result of the season by notching a strong third-place result.

“Yeah, we just built really tight that last run,” Berry said. “I thought I was kind of inching in on [Nemechek] for a while and then, we kind of leveled out. It was tough there. I felt like I needed to pick behind [Nemechek] there [on the final restart], but the bottom [lane] just got so slick there at the end. I felt like that was gonna give us our best chance. Overall, we were just a little too tight to make a run at him there. Overall, [I’m] really proud of these guys. Obviously, we’ve had a good couple of weeks, so we just got to keep working, keep getting better. We’re just gonna keep after it. We’re getting better at the right time. Definitely, a good day for JR Motorsports and we’ll be in Victory Lane soon.”

Ty Gibbs, who led 22 laps, rallied from his early incident to finish fourth in his sixth Xfinity start of the season while Mayer, winner of last weekend’s event at Road America, finished fifth.

Herbst, Ross Chastain, Kligerman, rookie Parker Retzlaff and Jeb Burton completed the top 10 on the track. Notably, Austin Hill ended up 11th in front of teammate Sheldon Creed, Allgaier settled in 14th following his late-race pit road penalty, Custer finished 16th behind Daniel Hemric and rookie Chandler Smith, who had a late-race run-in with Hill that led to a post-race discussion with Hill, fell back to 20th.

There were seven lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 31 laps. In addition, 20 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

With five Xfinity regular-season events remaining on the schedule, John Hunter Nemechek and Austin Hill are tied for the lead in the regular-season standings, with Justin Allgaier trailing by 34 points and Cole Custer trailing by 86.

Results.

1. John Hunter Nemechek, 65 laps led, Stage 2 winner

2. Josh Berry

3. Brandon Jones

4. Ty Gibbs, 22 laps led

5. Sam Mayer

6. Riley Herbst, one lap led

7. Ross Chastain

8. Parker Kligerman

9. Parker Retzlaff

10. Jeb Burton

11. Austin Hill

12. Sheldon Creed

13. Ryan Sieg

14. Justin Allgaier, 32 laps led, Stage 1 winner

15. Daniel Hemric

16. Cole Custer

17. Bret Moffitt, four laps led

18. Anthony Alfredo

19. Kyle Sieg

20. Chandler Smith

21. Kaz Grala, one lap down

22. Josh Williams, one lap down

23. Ryan Ellis, one lap down

24. Jeffrey Earnhardt, one lap down

25. Sage Karam, one lap down

26. Jeremy Clements, one lap down

27. Joe Graf Jr., one lap down

28. Dawson Cram, one lap down

29. Brennan Poole, two laps down

30. Garrett Smithley, two laps down

31. Stefan Parsons, two laps down

32. Carson Hocevar, two laps down

33. Blaine Perkins, two laps down

34. Patrick Emerling, five laps down

35. Kyle Weatherman – OUT, Electrical

36. Connor Mosack – OUT, Accident

37. Mason Maggio – OUT, Accident

38. Sammy Smith – OUT, Accident

Next on the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the series’ fourth annual running of the Pennzoil 150 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course in Indianapolis, Indiana. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, August 12, at 5:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.

Toyota Racing – NXS Michigan Post-Race Report – 08.05.23

By
Official Release
-

NEMECHEK EARNS SERIES-LEADING FIFTH WIN OF THE SEASON
Nemechek’s victory scores Joe Gibbs Racing milestone 200th Xfinity Series win

BROOKLYN, Mich. (August 5, 2023) – John Hunter Nemechek battled back after early contact to win his fifth race of the season in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, and the 200th overall Xfinity Series win for Joe Gibbs Racing. Nemechek drove through the field to take the lead on lap 55 and led the majority of the following laps – 65 of the 125 – to earn the win. With the victory, Nemechek moves into a tie on the top of the regular season point standings.

Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Michigan International Speedway
Race 20 of 33 – 250 miles, 125 laps

TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK
2nd, Josh Berry*
3rd, Brandon Jones*
4th, TY GIBBS
5th, Sam Mayer*
21st, KAZ GRALA
36th, CONNOR MOSACK
38th, SAMMY SMITH
*non-Toyota driver

TOYOTA QUOTES

JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK, No. 20 Mobil 1 Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 1st

Can you talk about the rebound today?

“Just a never give up attitude. This team is absolutely amazing, and I’m just the lucky one to be able to drive these Mobil 1 Toyota GR Supras each weekend. I have to apologize to Ty (Gibbs) and the 19 team. I didn’t mean to get into him. I’m the one that has been preaching about teammates. It was my fault. I put him in a bad aero spot. It looked like he got loose and then I couldn’t checkup. Just chain reaction type of events – but it is my fault. I take the blame for that. We will move on from it. Him and I will have a discussion about it. I’m thankful for this whole team. I’m thankful for everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing, Coach (Joe Gibbs), Toyota, TRD, Mobil 1, Pye Barker, everyone involved. Win number five, let’s keep it going.”

How special is it to win number 200 for Joe Gibbs Racing?
“It’s definitely special. Being able to win so many races for JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) in Xfinity Series – I’m just the lucky guy that gets to hold the wheel of these fast Toyota GR Supras every single weekend. Super thankful, super grateful. All the glory to God. Getting 200 is sweet. We’ve been joking about it for the past few weeks, and after the past couple of weeks that we’ve had, we’ve definitely needed to rebound. This is a great rebound.”

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.

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