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Ryan Truex dominates for first NASCAR Xfinity victory at Dover

By
Andrew Kim
-
Photo by Mike Biskupski for Speedwaymedia.com

In his 188th start across NASCAR’s top three national touring series, Ryan Truex silenced his doubters and emerged triumphant for the first time after claiming his first Xfinity Series career victory in the A-GAME 200 at Dover Motor Speedway on Saturday, April 29, following a dominant run from start to finish.

The 31-year-old Truex from Mayetta, New Jersey, led seven times for a race-high 124 of 200-scheduled laps, including the final 11, and swept both stages en route to a long-awaited first career victory at the Monster Mile, his home race track. The victory occurred in Truex’s fifth start of this season in the Xfinity circuit, all in Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 19 “all-star” entry, and in his 89th series start overall.

With on-track qualifying that was scheduled to occur on Friday being canceled due to rain, the starting lineup for the main event was determined through a metric formula per the NASCAR Rule Book. As a result, Parker Kligerman was awarded the pole position and was joined on the front row by Cole Custer. The only competitor to drop to the rear of the field was Timmy Hill, who did so due to unapproved adjustments to his entry.

When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Kligerman and Custer dueled for the lead through the first turn until Custer muscled ahead on the inside lane. He then proceeded to lead the first lap ahead of Kligerman and Sheldon Creed as the rest of the field jostled early through two lanes for positions.

On the fifth lap, the first caution flew when Jeremy Clements, who was running in the top 10, spun his car toward the apron between Turns 1 and 2. By then, Custer was leading by half a second over Creed while Kligerman fell back to third. Austin Hill and rookie Chandler Smith were in the top five while Jeb Burton, Brandon Jones, Ryan Truex, Herbst and Justin Allgaier occupied the top 10.

During the following restart on the ninth lap, Creed gained a strong start on the inside lane as he assumed the lead from Custer. Behind, teammate Hill battled and overtook Custer for the runner-up spot as Custer fell back to third. As the field behind continued to jostle for early positions, Creed started to pull away from the field with the lead.

At the Lap 15 mark, Creed was leading by a second over teammate Hill followed by Custer, Truex and Kligerman while Riley Herbst, Justin Allgaier, Brandon Jones, Chandler and Brett Moffitt Moffitt were running in the top 10.

Two laps later, Ryan Ellis spun off of Turn 2, but the race remained under green flag conditions as Ellis managed to steer his car and proceed below the apron. By Lap 19, however, the caution flew when Anthony Alfredo, who lost a brake rotor through the backstretch earlier, stalled his car up the high lane in Turn 2. Alfredo’s caution served as the competition caution initially planned for Lap 20. By then, Creed was ahead by a second over teammate Hill while Truex, Custer and Kilgerman were in the top five. In addition, Josh Berry was up in ninth, Nemechek was in 11th, Hemric was back in 14th ahead of Jeb Burton, rookie Sammy Smith was scored in 16th ahead of Sam Mayer and Derek Kraus was in 19th.

During the competition caution, select names led by Creed remained on the track while the rest of the field pitted. Following the pit stops, Allgaier was penalized for speeding on pit road.

When the race restarted on Lap 24, Creed fended off teammate Hill while restarting on the outside lane to retain the lead, though Hill kept his Richard Childress Racing teammate close within his sights. Behind and amid the on-track battles, Custer was in third while fending off Berry and Truex while Nemechek was up in sixth.

Just past the Lap 30 mark, Creed was leading by three-tenths of a second over teammate Hill, who had Truex, Custer and Berry hounding him for the runner-up spot. Behind, Nemechek retained sixth ahead of Jones, Kligerman, Sammy Smith and Clements while Chandler Smith, Hemric, Jeb Burton, Sam Mayer and Ryan Sieg were in the top 15.

Soon after, the battle for the lead between Creed and a hard-charging Truex ignited as Truex tried to assume the top spot over Creed, but the latter maintained his ground and the top spot. Behind, Nemechek carved his way up to third followed by Hill and Berry while Custer fell back to seventh behind Jones. In addition, Kligerman, who was awarded the pole, was slowly dropping below the leaderboard and out of the top 10.

Then on Lap 34, Truex, who pitted during the competition caution, assumed the lead for the first time over Creed. Another four laps later, teammate Nemechek, who also pitted during the competition caution, moved up to second as Creed fell back to third in front of teammate Hill and Berry.

When the first stage concluded on Lap 45, Ryan Truex, who despite being mired in lapped traffic, claimed the stage victory after retaining the lead by more than three seconds over teammate Nemechek. Creed settled in third followed by Hill and Berry while Brandon Jones, Sammy Smith, Custer, Hemric and Chandler Smith were scored in the top 10. By then, Kligerman fell back to 12th and Allgaier was mired back in 18th as 31 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap.

Under the stage break, nearly the entire field led by Truex pitted. Following the pit stops, Truex exited first followed by Hill, Nemechek and Allgaier, who only opted for two fresh tires to gain a bevy of spots, while Sammy Smith and Jones exited in the top six. Back on the track, however, Kyle Weatherman opted to remain on the track as he inherited the lead. Amid the pit stops, rookie Parker Retzlaff and Herbst were penalized for speeding on pit road.

The second stage started on Lap 53 as Weatherman and Truex occupied the front row. At the start, Weatherman briefly jumped ahead, but Truex rocketed past him to reassume the lead in Turn 1. Hill quickly followed pursuit in second along with Nemechek while Weatherman was trying to retain fourth ahead of Allgaier, Sammy Smith, Brandon Jones, Chandler Smith and the rest of the field.

By Lap 60, Truex was leading by more than a second over Hill and more than three seconds over Nemechek as Allgaier navigated his way past Weatherman for fourth. Behind, Sammy Smith and Chandler Smith were in sixth and seventh while Custer, Berry and Creed were scored in the top 10.

Nearly three laps later, the caution returned when Kligerman got turned by newcomer Corey Heim entering the backstretch, which sent Kligerman’s No. 48 Big Machine Racing Chevrolet Camaro spinning before he slammed the inside wall. The incident spoiled Kligerman’s opportunity of both winning the race and claiming the final Dash 4 Cash prize as he sustained significant damage to both the front and rear of his car. The incident also prompted Kligerman to express his displeasure to Heim on the track with an obscene gesture.

During the following restart on Lap 69, Truex and Hill dueled for the lead for nearly a lap until Truex managed to pull ahead on the outside lane entering the frontstretch to retain the lead. As Truex fended off Hill for the lead, Nemechek battled Allgaier for third as Chandler Smith moved up to fifth in front of Custer and Sammy Smith. Meanwhile, Creed was back in eighth ahead of Berry and Mayer.

Just past the Lap 75 mark, Truex was leading by nearly two seconds over Hill followed by Nemechek and Allgaier while Custer battled and overtook Chandler Smith for fifth. By then, Creed was in seventh in front of Sammy Smith while Berry, who went up the track a few laps ago, fell back to 10th in front of Hemric.

When the second stage concluded on Lap 90, Truex, who approached and carved his way through lapped traffic, claimed his second consecutive stage victory of the day. Hill trailed in second place by more than four seconds while Nemechek, Allgaier, Custer, Chandler Smith, Creed, Sammy Smith, Mayer and Berry were scored in the top 10. By then, 27 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap.

Under the stage break, the leaders led by Truex returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Hill exited with the lead ahead of Truex and followed by Nemechek, Custer, Chandler Smith and Creed.

With 101 laps remaining, the final stage started as Hill and Truex occupied the front row. At the start, Hill fended off Truex on the outside lane to maintain the lead. Shortly after, Nemechek battled and overtook teammate Truex for second as the field fanned out and battled for positions. Then just as the field surpassed its halfway mark, the caution returned when Creed got loose amid a three-wide battle for sixth with Allgaier and Sammy Smith as he spun in the middle of the track in Turn 3. Despite the incident, Creed managed to continue without sustaining any damage to his No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Camaro as the rest of the field dodged him.

During the following restart with 94 laps remaining, Hill fended off Nemechek on the outside lane to maintain the lead. Truex, however, followed pursuit in second as he then set his sights on Hill for the lead. Then with 88 laps remaining, Truex seized an opportunity as he side-drafted Hill to reassume the lead.

With 80 laps remaining, Truex was leading by more than a second over Hill as third-place Nemechek trailed by more than two seconds. Behind, Custer was in fourth ahead of Allgaier while Sammy Smith, Berry, Hemric, Jones and Mayer were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Chandler Smith was in 11th ahead of Herbst, Jeb Burton, Kraus and Moffitt while Kaz Grala, Creed, Ryan Sieg, Weatherman and Clements were in the top 20.

Ten laps later, Truex continued to lead as he extended his advantage to more than two seconds over Hill. He then extended his advantage to more than three seconds over Hill with 60 laps remaining and more than four seconds with 50 laps remaining. By then, Allgaier was in fourth ahead of Berry and behind Nemechek.

With less than 40 laps remaining, Truex retained the lead by more than five seconds over Allgaier while Hill fell back to third, trailing by more than six seconds. Berry and Custer were in the top five while Sammy, Jones, Mayer, Creed and Hemric were in the top 10. By then, green flag pit stops commenced as Nemechek and Sammy Smith pitted. A host of names, including Truex, would pit as the laps dwindled past the final 30-lap mark.

Back on the track and with 27 laps remaining, Creed cycled into the lead followed by Herbst and select names while Truex was back in fifth and awaiting the fate of those who had yet to pit.

Then with 11 laps remaining, Creed, who was vying for his first victory and the final Dash 4 Cash prize, surrendered the lead to pit under green. Herbst would also pit, though he would eventually be penalized for speeding on pit road. Their pit stops allowed Truex to cycle his No. 19 Toyota Genuine Accessories Supra back to the lead as he was leading by more than five seconds over Berry.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Truex, who led by more than five seconds with five laps remaining, remained as the leader by more than four seconds over Berry. Having a clear path in front of him and with no challengers closing in, Truex managed to cycle around his home track smoothly for a final time and return to the frontstretch to claim his first elusive checkered flag in the Xfinity circuit and across NASCAR’s top three national touring series.

With the victory, Truex, whose previous best result in the series was second three times, became the 174th different competitor to win in the Xfinity circuit and the third first-time winner of this season in the series alongside teammate Sammy Smith and Chandler Smith. He became the 22nd different competitor to win an Xfinity event for Joe Gibbs Racing as he also recorded the fourth victory of the season for both the JGR organization and for the Toyota nameplate.

The victory was also redemption for Truex, who was within striking distance of winning his first Xfinity event at Dover in 2012 until his advantage was erased amid lapped traffic, which enabled Joey Logano to overtake Truex with six laps remaining as Truex ended up in a disappointing second place. Ironically, Truex’s first NASCAR career victory at Dover, his home track, occurred nearly 16 years after his brother and former Cup Series champion, Martin Truex Jr., recorded his first Cup career victory at the Monster Mile.

“I’m out of breath, man,” Truex said on FS1. “Oh my god. Just so thankful. All these fans, my team, everybody that stuck behind me. Most people didn’t believe in me and I still did. Just so thankful to be here. This is amazing. [With] Twenty [laps] to go, I was just waiting for something to happen and I was just praying, ‘Please, guys. Just keep everything straight. Let’s get to the end of this. What a car. What an amazing GR Supra. I’m speechless. I thought I’d be more emotional right now but when I crossed the flag [finish line], I couldn’t even talk on the radio. I’m not an emotional guy. This is for everyone that doubted me.”

“I belong here,” Truex added. “I just proved that. I’ve known it for a while. People around me have known it for a while. Now, everybody in this garage area knows it. My goal is to drive one of these cars full-time next year. Hopefully, we can make it happen.”

Berry finished in second place followed by teammate Allgaier while Hill and Nemechek completed the top five. Nemechek, Sammy Smith, Custer, Brandon Jones and Hemric finished in the top 10.

With today’s Xfinity event serving as the fourth and final Dash 4 Cash event of the 2023 season, the final $100,000 prize from the initiative went to Custer, who claimed the prize for a second consecutive week after finishing eighth.

There were 11 lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 32 laps. Only 10 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

Following the 10th event of the 2023 Xfinity Series season, Austin Hill leads the regular-season standings by four points over John Hunter Nemechek, 38 over Chandler Smith, 43 over Josh Berry and 49 over Justin Allgaier.

Results.

1. Ryan Truex, 124 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

2. Josh Berry

3. Justin Allgaier

4. Austin Hill, 18 laps led

5. John Hunter Nemechek

6. Sammy Smith

7. Cole Custer, 13 laps led

8. Brandon Jones

9. Sam Mayer

10. Daniel Hemric

11. Sheldon Creed, one lap down, 41 laps led

12. Kaz Grala, one lap down

13. Chandler Smith, one lap down

14. Kyle Weatherman, one lap down, four laps led

15. Brett Moffitt, one lap down

16. Ryan Sieg, one lap down

17. Parker Retzlaff, one lap down

18. Jeb Burton, two laps down

19. Jeremy Clements, two laps down

20. Derek Kraus, two laps down

21. Riley Herbst, two laps down

22. Joe Graf Jr., two laps down

23. Josh Williams, two laps down

24. Brennan Poole, three laps down

25. Ryan Ellis, three laps down

26. Rajah Caruth, four laps down

27. Gray Gaulding, four laps down

28. Stefan Parsons, four laps down

29. Kyle Sieg, five laps down

30. Timmy Hill, five laps down

31. Garrett Smithley, five laps down

32. Chad Chastain, seven laps down

33. Patrick Emerling, eight laps down

34. CJ McLaughlin, eight laps down

35. Corey Heim – OUT, Engine

36. Anthony Alfredo – OUT, Brakes

37. Jeffrey Earnhardt – OUT, Engine

38. Parker Kligerman – OUT, Accident

With the 2023 Dash 4 Cash initiative concluded, the next regular-season event on the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the series’ first of two scheduled visits to Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. The event is scheduled to occur on May 13 at 1:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

CHEVROLET INDYCAR AT BARBER: TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING RECAP

By
Official Release
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CHEVROLET IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES
CHILDREN’S OF ALABAMA INDY GRAND PRIX
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA

TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING REPORT

APRIL 29, 2023

TEAM CHEVY QUALIFIES SIX IN THE TOP-10 AT BARBER MOTORSPORTS PARK

  • Chevrolet will start two in the top-five, six in the top-10, in Sunday’s Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park.
  • 2022’s event winner Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren INDYCAR and Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin represented Chevrolet in the Firestone Fast Six.
  • All Team Penske and Arrow McLaren INDYCAR Chevrolets transferred from their respective qualifying groups to Segment 2 of the session, along with Rinus VeeKay of Ed Carpenter Racing.

TEAM CHEVY TOP-10 QUALIFYING RESULT:
POS. DRIVER
3rd Pato O’Ward
4th Scott McLaughlin
7th Josef Newgarden
8th Felix Rosenqvist
9th Rinus VeeKay
10th Alexander Rossi

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING:

Josef Newgarden, No. 2 Chevrolet at Team Penske:

“We qualified seventh, which is pretty good. Not where the car should be. I think it’s a pole-winning car quite frankly, so I was certainly disappointed that we weren’t able to realize all of the potential but this crew has been phenomenal this weekend. I think the PPG car is going to be really fast in the race. We’re going to make good use of it, to try and move forward pretty quick, hopefully, and hopefully get another win on the board. That’s our goal.”

Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 Chevrolet at Team Penske:

“Overall, pretty good day for the Good Ranchers Chevy. P4 we start tomorrow. I think we’ve got a pretty good car but just didn’t quite have enough for pole. A bit of me, a bit of the car. We’ll find a bit of speed overnight, and hopefully will come out stronger tomorrow. It’s going to be an interesting strategy. Strategy-wise, it’s going to be different with a three-stop, two-stop and who does what.”

Will Power, No. 12 Chevrolet at Team Penske:

“Not bad. I mean, I was determined to get into the top 12. Still just struggling with a little bit of straight-line speed. Still got to decide what we do with the engine. Obviously, everyone’s at the end of their miles. Some people change, some don’t, so there’s a bit of a discrepancy. You’ve got to think about what might hurt you down the road here. I think we can have a good race from there. It’s not a bad spot. Obviously, I’d like to be up further, but we’ll see what we can do. Hopefully, it’s a bit of a mixed-up strategy race, and we can play the right cards.”

Conor Daly, No. 20 Chevrolet at Ed Carpenter Racing:

“We’re certainly not starting as far back as we were at Long Beach which is helpful! We started racing our way forward in Long Beach so we are looking to do the same here. I do think we have a chance to move forward as was a bit of confusion from one set of tires to another in our qualifying session. We lost a bit of the balance of the car on our second set. Just a shame, it’s very, very tight; very very close. I am happy that Rinus (VeeKay) was able to get a decent qualifying run. Obviously, we need a good race tomorrow. Hopefully, we can work some magic and move forward.”

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

“I am proud of the guys! We have been struggling this weekend, so making it into the Top 10 almost feels like a pole position. This morning I was 20th while pushing hard, but we made a big jump forward. We have a fast car now. Really, our race pace has been good all three races this season, we’ve just had a bunch of bad luck and not had the results. We also haven’t been able to put it together in qualifying, but this time we did! The team worked really hard and it paid off.”

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

“We did some really good changes. I’m just really happy with what we did from practice 2 to qualifying. I mean, we missed it by less than a tenth, so we’re there. We’ve definitely found the lap time we wanted to. From practice to now working on the race car, it’s a different beast with the (tire degradation) and all that. You’ll see guys taking risks on the three-stopper, which ultimately is the quickest. But you can get hosed really easily by a yellow. The last couple of years, it’s been the fuel-save two-stopper, so I expect the Ganassis to be very quick. Obviously, Grosjean, it’s his second pole of the year, so I know he will be right on pace. I think for us, to have a good start, a good clean start. I don’t know what we’re going to do strategy-wise. Obviously, you want to go with the one that will win, so we’re just going to have to see what warmup says in terms of tire degradation from black to red and just play it from there.”

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

“I think there was more potential than that. Looking at Q1, we were pretty strong and Q2, I don’t know, it’s just so sensitive with tire warm-up and I just didn’t really feel like I had it in me or the car. Like, it wasn’t going to come. I did a decent lap but it wasn’t enough. Obviously, I’ve been close in the Fast Six three times in a row, so a bit bummed about that. But, honestly, where we started yesterday, I’m pretty happy to be P8. It’s a good spot, that gives us the fuel-save. Tomorrow, it could be to our advantage. We’re normally pretty good at that. Let’s see, you never know. Not too bad. My team, Arrow McLaren, always does a good job. Unfortunately, we have those weekends sometimes when you roll out, you don’t feel like you’re in it, and I think we did a really good turnaround from yesterday. We’re there. It’s super tight. Really good job from them, and we’ll see where we can end up tomorrow.”

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

“It’s really disappointing. I mean, we thought we had a pretty easy top-six car and made a change there. You’re always so close, you kind of have to adjust to the track and evolution. Just made the wrong change. I think the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevy has been good all weekend. We started our very happy, we’ve been happy all weekend, we just made the wrong decision there. We know what to do for the race. It’s a constantly evolving championship and it’s so tight. You’re looking for hundredths, and so you’re always trying to optimize, and sometimes you take the step in the wrong direction.”

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

“Yeah, a lot of positive changes today for free practice two, then we had an issue with the clutch so we didn’t get to run our second set of new tires. So we made some blind changes going into qualifying to where we had a sensor fail. So, now we have a lot of tires. So should make for a fun race tomorrow.”

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

“Qualifying all wrapped up here at Barber. We’re just trying to figure out what is going to work the best for the race tomorrow. And I feel like we made a slight step in qualifying but we still have a pretty big step to make for the race tomorrow, but just staying focused and trying to figure out exactly what the car needs to go faster and I feel like we’re in a pretty good situation with tires for tomorrow. So hopefully we can try to gain a couple of positions if not more, being very smart with strategy and figuring out a way to move forward tomorrow.”

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

“We start P15 overall. Could be better, could be worse. I felt the car was quite good. We’ve improved a lot. Just missed in one or two areas with it. The field is so tight, that that made the difference. But overall, I’m happy with the progress we’ve been making. Obviously, some others have made a little more progress from yesterday, but we’re heading in the right direction. I think, you know, this is a better track for us. Especially in the race, I think we’ll be all right. Looking forward to tomorrow. A few things to work on overnight. Should be a good one.”

Agustin Canapino, No. 78 Chevrolet at Juncos Hollinger Racing:

“Really happy with the progression, especially from practice to qualifying. We start P22 tomorrow, and we will try to do our race and finish the race we want to.”

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.

Stewart-Haas Racing: NXS Race Report from Dover

By
Official Release
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STEWART-HAAS RACING
NASCAR Xfinity Series: Dover 200

Date: April 29, 2023
Event: Dover 200 (Round 10 of 33)
Series: NASCAR Xfinity Series
Location: Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway (1-mile, concrete oval)
Format: 200 laps, broken into three stages (40 laps/50 laps/110 laps)
Race Winner: Ryan Truex of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 1 Winner: Ryan Truex of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 2 Winner: Ryan Truex of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

SHR Race Finish:

● Cole Custer (Started 2nd / Finished 7th, Running, completed 200 of 200 laps)
● Riley Herbst (Started 11th / Finished 21st, Running, completed 198 of 200 laps)

SHR Points:

● Cole Custer (6th with 318 points, 59 out of first)
● Riley Herbst (8th with 312 points, 65 out of first)

SHR Notes

● Custer earned his fifth top-10 of the season and his sixth top-10 in seven career NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Dover.

● Custer won his second straight Dash 4 Cash race, and his third career Dash 4 Cash race. He also took home the $100,000 check last Saturday at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.

● Custer has never finished outside the top-15 at Dover in his Xfinity Series career.

● This was Custer’s fourth straight top-10. He finished fifth April 1 at Richmond (Va.) Raceway, third April 15 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, and fourth last Saturday at Talladega.

● This was Custer’s fourth straight top-10 at Dover. He won in his prior start at the track in October 2019.

● Custer finished eighth in Stage 1 to earn three bonus points and fifth in Stage 2 to earn six more bonus points.

● Custer led two times for 13 laps to increase his laps-led total at Dover to 237.

● Herbst has never finished outside the top-25 at Dover in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

Race Notes:

● Ryan Truex won the Dover 200 to score his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series victory in his 89th career start. His margin over second-place Josh Berry was 4.820 seconds.

● There were six caution periods for a total of 33 laps.

● Only 10 of the 38 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.

● Austin Hill remains the championship leader after Dover with a four-point advantage over second-place John Hunter Nemechek.

Sound Bites:

“This Dash 4 Cash win is huge for our team. It’s a big accomplishment to win two checks back-to-back. We’ve been solid these past few weeks, and we’re starting to put it together. Ultimately, we want more. We want to go win, and I think we’re capable of that. I think it’s just a matter of everything coming together. It’s awesome to win this bonus,, and I can’t thank Xfinity enough for putting on this program. We get to race it out to win $100,000. That’s pretty incredible.” – Cole Custer, driver of the No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang

“It’s hard. We had a fast No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang, and then we got that damage. It put us back in the pack because we had to pit to repair it. We had a solid recovery, and then at the end, we tried to stretch our fuel window, but it didn’t work out in our favor. We got in trouble on pit road, and it put us two laps down. I hate it for my team. We’ll regroup during this off week and be back stronger at Darlington.” – Riley Herbst, driver of the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang

Next Up:

The next event on the NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the Shriners Children’s 200 on Saturday, May 13 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway. The race begins at 1:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FOX and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Grosjean Edges Palou at Barber for Second NTT P1 Award of Season

By
Official Release
-

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (Saturday, April 29, 2023) – Romain Grosjean earned his second NTT P1 Award of the season and the third of his NTT INDYCAR SERIES career Saturday, taking the top starting spot for the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park.

Grosjean, from France, turned the quickest lap of 1 minute, 5.8396 seconds during the Firestone Fast Six in the No. 28 Delaware Life/DHL Honda fielded by Andretti Autosport. 2021 Barber winner Alex Palou will share the front row with Grosjean after a best lap of 1:05.9130 in the No. 10 Ridgeline Lubricants Honda fielded by Chip Ganassi Racing.

“I’ve got a hell of a team,” Grosjean said. “We’re doing such a great job this year. The car is awesome, and I have three teammates I can rely on. I went with the setup, the baseline we have, and from the moment we started quali, I knew we had it. I just didn’t want to mess it on the last lap.”

Grosjean will aim for his first career NTT INDYCAR SERIES victory in the 90-lap race Sunday (3 p.m. ET, NBC and Peacock; 2:30 p.m., INDYCAR Radio Network). But it won’t be easy, especially since Palou has the 2021 victory and a runner-up finish to Pato O’Ward last year in two career starts on the 17-turn, 2.3-mile roller coaster of a road course.

“We’re starting in the best position, but now we’ve got 90 laps to lead,” said Grosjean, 37. “We’ll see tomorrow, but I’m really proud of my guys and really happy with what we’re doing. I was very stressed that session – I don’t know why. I’m too old for this, but I guess I’m not. So, it’s all good.”

Up first Sunday is a 30-minute warmup at noon ET (live on Peacock, INDYCAR LIVE, INDYCAR Radio Network).

Defending race winner Pato O’Ward will start third after his best qualifying lap of 1:05.9382 in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. Scott McLaughlin will join O’Ward on the second row after a top lap of 1:05.9515 in the No. 3 Good Ranchers Team Penske Chevrolet.

Six-time series champion Scott Dixon will aim for his first Barber victory from the fifth spot on the grid after his time of 1:06.0723 in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Christian Lundgaard rounded out the Firestone Fast Six with a lap of 1:06.1601 in the No. 45 Hy-Vee Honda. It was Lundgaard’s best qualifying performance in four races this season for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, as his previous best start was 11th in the season opener last month at St. Petersburg.

Two-time series champion and three-time Barber winner Josef Newgarden was eliminated in the second round of qualifying and will start seventh in the No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet. He missed a spot in the Firestone Fast Six by .0617 of a second.

“I’m frustrated and annoyed, mostly at myself,” Newgarden said. “The car was really phenomenal – there was nothing wrong with our PPG car. It’s disappointing to not transfer. I tried something different on my warmup and it probably wasn’t advised, and now looking back on it, I would do it differently, in hindsight. We’ve got a fast car.”

Newgarden’s teammate and two-time series champion Will Power and this year’s Long Beach race winner, Kyle Kirkwood, also were ousted in the second round. Power will start 11th in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, going off track while pushing late in the session. Kirkwood will start 12th in the No. 27 AutoNation Honda.

Championship leader Marcus Ericsson was eliminated in the first round of qualifying in the No. 8 Huski Chocolate Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, falling .1399 of a second short of advancing to the second round. Ericsson will start 13th.

Qualifying Saturday for the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix NTT INDYCAR SERIES event on the 2.3-mile Barber Motorsports Park, with qualifying position, car number in parentheses, driver, engine, time and speed in parentheses:

  1. (28) Romain Grosjean, Honda, 01:05.8396 (125.760)
  2. (10) Alex Palou, Honda, 01:05.9130 (125.620)
  3. (5) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 01:05.9382 (125.572)
  4. (3) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 01:05.9515 (125.547)
  5. (9) Scott Dixon, Honda, 01:06.0723 (125.317)
  6. (45) Christian Lundgaard, Honda, 01:06.1601 (125.151)
  7. (2) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 01:05.9603 (125.530)
  8. (6) Felix Rosenqvist, Chevrolet, 01:06.0930 (125.278)
  9. (21) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 01:06.1222 (125.223)
  10. (7) Alexander Rossi, Chevrolet, 01:06.2091 (125.058)
  11. (12) Will Power, Chevrolet, 01:06.3790 (124.738)
  12. (27) Kyle Kirkwood, Honda, 01:06.3963 (124.706)
  13. (8) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 01:05.9207 (125.605)
  14. (26) Colton Herta, Honda, 01:06.1850 (125.104)
  15. (77) Callum Ilott, Chevrolet, 01:06.0642 (125.333)
  16. (60) Simon Pagenaud, Honda, 01:06.2433 (124.994)
  17. (18) David Malukas, Honda, 01:06.1851 (125.104)
  18. (29) Devlin DeFrancesco, Honda, 01:06.4415 (124.621)
  19. (15) Graham Rahal, Honda, 01:06.2504 (124.980)
  20. (20) Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 01:06.4810 (124.547)
  21. (06) Helio Castroneves, Honda, 01:06.2715 (124.941)
  22. (78) Agustin Canapino, Chevrolet, 01:06.5158 (124.482)
  23. (51) Sting Ray Robb, Honda, 01:06.5925 (124.338)
  24. (30) Jack Harvey, Honda, 01:06.7181 (124.104)
  25. (55) Benjamin Pedersen, Chevrolet, 01:06.9327 (123.706)
  26. (11) Marcus Armstrong, Honda, 01:07.2378 (123.145)
  27. (14) Santino Ferrucci, Chevrolet, 03:49.1462 (36.134)

Ryan Truex earns first Xfinity Series victory in A-GAME 200

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DOVER, Del. (April 29, 2023) – It was an emotional Saturday for Ryan Truex, who earned his first NASCAR Xfinity Series win in the A-GAME 200 NASCAR Xfinity Series Dash 4 Cash race at Dover Motor Speedway.

“I belong here and I just proved that,” said Truex, who was greeted by his brother Martin, a three-time Dover champion in the Cup Series, in victory lane.

“People around me have known that for a while and now everyone in the garage area knows it. My goal is to drive one of these cars full-time next year.”

It was the first win in 89 Xfinity Series starts for Truex, who is driving a part-time schedule for Joe Gibbs Racing.

The Truex duo, from Mayetta, N.J., join an exclusive group of brothers to win NASCAR events at the Monster Mile.

Other famous sibling winners include the Bodine’s (Geoff and Todd), Busch’s (Kyle and Kurt), Wallace’s (Rusty and Mike) and Waltrip’s (Darrell and Michael). Coincidentally, Martin’s first Cup Series win also came at Dover in 2007.

Truex, driving the No. 19 Toyota, was making his fifth Xfinity Series start of the season. His previous high finishes of the year had been in Phoenix (second) and Atlanta (third).

“I think I held my breath for the last 30 laps,” Truex said. “I was definitely waiting for something to happen. I’m not an emotional guy but it took me a bit to say anything [after the race].”

Truex, who led a race-high 124 laps and won both stages, averaged 107.191 mph in completing the 200-lap race in 1 hour, 51 minutes, 57 seconds. Josh Berry, the 2022 Xfinity Series winner at Dover, finished second, followed by Justin Allgaier in third, Austin Hill in fourth and John Hunter Nemechek in fifth.

“It’s cool to make that kind of statement at a track like this,” Truex said. “It’s named the Monster for a reason. I had this one circled for a while.”

Cole Custer earned the final Dash 4 Cash bonus prize of the season, collecting $100,000 for the second week in a row.

“[Ryan] was really fast all day,” said Custer, who finished seventh. “This is his home track. It’s a great day for his family.”

Dover’s NASCAR tripleheader weekend concludes Sunday with the Würth 400 NASCAR Cup Series race (1 p.m., FS1, PRN, Sirius NASCAR Radio).

For tickets, call 800-441-RACE to discuss your options with an account representative or visit DoverMotorSpeedway.com.

Tickets for kids 12 and under (with a paying adult) start at just $10 on Sunday.

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Toyota Racing – NXS Dover Post-Race Report – 04.29.23

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Official Release
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RYAN TRUEX SCORES A DOMINATING FIRST XFINITY SERIES WIN
Truex scores his first NASCAR national series win at his home track

DOVER, Del. (April 29, 2023) – Ryan Truex earned his first NASCAR Xfinity Series win at Dover Motor Speedway on Saturday afternoon. Truex was dominate throughout the day. He won both stages and led 124 of the 200 laps on his way to victory. With the win, the No. 19 team is now locked in the owner’s championship playoff. Joe Gibbs Racing had a great day with John Hunter Nemechek (fifth) and Sammy Smith (sixth) also inside the top-10. Kaz Grala (12th) scored his third top-15 finish in the last four races, while Corey Heim ran in the top-20 for the majority of his Xfinity Series debut before suffering mechanical woes late in the event.

Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Dover Motor Speedway
Race 10 of 33 – 200 miles, 200 laps

TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS

1st, RYAN TRUEX
2nd, Josh Berry*
3rd, Justin Allgaier*
4th, Austin Hill*
5th, JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK
6th, SAMMY SMITH
12th, KAZ GRALA
35th, COREY HEIM
*non-Toyota driver

TOYOTA QUOTES

RYAN TRUEX, No. 19 Toyota Genuine Accessories Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 1st

How does this feel?

“It feels amazing. I was a wreck coming across the line. It’s been a long road. I’m proud of these guys. The Toyota Genuine Accessories was really fast – as fast as Xfinity 10 G, which is awesome. I’m on cloud nine. This is just a huge weight off my shoulders. I’m just so happy.”

Can you talk about the weight off your shoulders?
“To dominate like that with a car like that – just feels amazing. I’m so proud to drive for this team. Huge thanks to Joe Gibbs Racing, Coach (Joe Gibbs), Toyota. I knew I had two more shots at this, and I had to make one count, and I did today.”

Does it make it that much sweeter knowing how close you have come before?

“I’m out of breath. Just so thankful. All of these fans, my team, everybody that stuck behind me. Most people didn’t believe in me and I still did. My family, parents, brother, you know everybody. Just so thankful to be here, this is amazing. With one to go, I was just waiting for something to happen, I was just please guys keep everything straight, let’s get to the end of this. What a car. What an amazing GR Supra. I’m speechless. I thought I would be more emotional right now, but when I crossed the flag, I couldn’t even talk on the radio. I’m not an emotional guy, but yeah, this is for everyone that doubted me.”

What does this mean?

“That I belong here, and I just proved that. I’ve known it for a while. People around me have known it for a while, now everybody in this garage area knows it. My goal is to drive one of these cars full time next year and hopefully we can make it happen.”

Were you waiting for something bad to happen while you were leading?

“Yes, I was waiting for the caution. I think I held my breath for 30 laps there at the end. When I got out, I was completely out of breath because I was just like what is going to happen this time, what is going to be the flat tire or two guys run into each other, what was going to happen to bring that late caution out. I knew we were in control of the race, and I knew we had a big lead and I was trying to just manage the gap really, but I was definitely waiting for something to happen and luckily, it didn’t.”

What were you doing after you won?

“I was definitely emotional. People that know me, know that I’m not an emotional guy. It took me a minute before I could key up and say anything because I couldn’t really talk. It has been such a long road and a lot of self-doubt along the way and wondering if it is ever going to happen, am I good enough to do this? It is so easy to doubt yourself and be down on yourself, but you just keep digging, keep pushing through, just a huge relief to get the white flag. When I got the white flag, I knew it was over. I just was trying to get it back around as smoothly as I could. I was definitely choking up coming to the checkered for sure.”

What does it mean to win here – the same place that Martin got his first Cup Series win?

“I didn’t even think of that. It’s really cool. I think when he won that day, he dominated that race too, from what I remember. It is cool to do it like that – make a statement like that at one the hardest tracks on the circuit. It’s nicknamed the Monster for a reason. It is a tough track. A lot of people struggle to figure it out. I’ve had my moments of trying to figure out how to get around this place. I’ve learned a lot from Martin (Truex Jr.) as well. That has been a huge help. Obviously, JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) has great cars, and they are always great here. I’ve had this one circled for a while – it’s pretty special. Of all the places to get it, to be at the place where I gave it up 10 years ago with six to go or whatever it was. I felt like that was a huge – could have been a huge turning point in my career, and it’s been a battle ever since. To finally come back 11 years later with the same team, and get it done is really rewarding for me.”

JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK, No. 20 ACME/Safeway Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 5th

How was your race?

“We started off and I thought our car was going to be as fast as Xfinity 10 G, but overall we fought a little bit of balance all day and then we fought some other stuff there at the end. Solid day, solid points day – I think we are back tied with the 21 (Austin Hill) in points. Decent day for us; just have to keep plugging along with these top-five and consistent runs and more wins will come.”

KAZ GRALA, No. 26 Island Coastal Lager Toyota GR Supra, Sam Hunt Racing

Finishing Position: 12th

How was your race?

“Really solid day; really solid points day for Island Coastal Lager team. We started off a little bit shaky with the balance off the truck without having practice, but we ended up getting it dialed in on a couple of the race adjustments. I felt really good in stage three. I felt like we were good long run car, good in lap traffic at the end there which was important. We clawed our way up pretty high and then had a good clean green flag pit stop. We put ourselves in good position to finish 12th. I think that might be the happiest I’ve ever been to finish 12th. I feel like we made the most of today and got the most points, and that is what we’ve got to do at Sam Hunt Racing. Our pit crew did a really nice job today.

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 48,000 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 22 electrified options.

Through the Start Your Impossible campaign, Toyota highlights the way it partners with community, civic, academic and governmental organizations to address our society’s most pressing mobility challenges. We believe that when people are free to move, anything is possible. For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.

Rasmussen Wins Barber Pole with Track-Record Lap

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Official Release
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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (Saturday, April 29, 2023) – Christian Rasmussen won the pole for the INDY NXT Grand Prix of Alabama on Saturday, leading a train of 13 drivers quicker than the track record at Barber Motorsports Park.

Rasmussen, from Denmark, saved his best lap for last in the frantic, eight-minute session, earning his second career INDY NXT pole with a time of 1 minute, 10.7371 seconds in the No. 6 HMD Motorsports with Dale Coyne Racing entry. That lap obliterated the track record of 1:11.5149 set by Linus Lundqvist during qualifying in 2021 on the 17-turn, 2.3-mile road course.

“It was really just about getting a free lap,” Rasmussen said. “There was so much traffic out there. Very happy and got it strung together at the end, got a free lap. It was enough. That’s part one done. Now we have part two tomorrow, and hopefully we can stay in front.”

The 35-lap race is scheduled for 12:55 p.m. Sunday (live on Peacock, INDYCAR Radio Network).

Rookie Nolan Siegel, quickest in practice Saturday morning, will join Rasmussen on the front row after his best lap of 1:10.8682 in the No. 39 HMD Motorsports with DCR car. Fellow rookie Louis Foster qualified third at 1:10.9247 in the No. 26 Copart/USF Pro Championship machine fielded by Andretti Autosport.

A top-three starting position has been an essential path to victory at this race. In 17 INDY NXT races at Barber, the winner has come from the first three starting spots. The pole sitter has won 14 times and finished second three times, a good omen for Rasmussen.

“When you look back at history, 14 out of the last 17 races have been won from pole,” Rasmussen said. “We’ll just try to replicate that.”

Veteran Hunter McElrea helped Andretti Autosport lock out the second row of the starting grid by qualifying fourth at 1:11.0690 in the No. 27 Smart Motors car.

Toby Sowery, making his first INDY NXT start since 2021, qualified fifth at 1:11.0836 in the No. 14 HMD Motorsports with Dale Coyne Racing car. His teammate Kyffin Simpson rounded out the third row of the grid after his best lap of 1:11.1578 in the No. 21 HMD Motorsports with CGR entry.

Qualifying Saturday for the INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Alabama INDY NXT by Firestone event on the 2.3-mile Barber Motorsports Park, with qualifying position, car number in parentheses, driver, time and speed in parentheses:

  1. (6) Christian Rasmussen, 1:10.7371 (117.053 mph)
  2. (39) Nolan Siegel, 1:10.8682 (116.837)
  3. (26) Louis Foster, 1:10.9247 (116.744)
  4. (27) Hunter McElrea, 1:11.0690 (116.506)
  5. (14) Toby Sowery, 1:11.0836 (116.483)
  6. (21) Kyffin Simpson, 1:11.1578 (116.361)
  7. (76) Reece Gold, 1:11.2148 (116.268)
  8. (68) Danial Frost, 1:11.2155 (116.267)
  9. (47) Enaam Ahmed, 1:11.2944 (116.138)
  10. (29) James Roe, 1:11.3740 (116.009)
  11. (3) Josh Green, 1:11.4137 (115.944)
  12. (75) Matteo Nannini, 1:11.4623 (115.865)
  13. (98) Jagger Jones, 1:11.5003 (115.804)
  14. (57) Colin Kaminsky, 1:11.5430 (115.735)
  15. (51) Jacob Abel, 1:11.5850 (115.667)
  16. (7) Christian Bogle, 1:11.8030 (115.316)
  17. (28) Jamie Chadwick, 1:11.9208 (115.127)
  18. (99) Ernie Francis Jr., 1:12.0393 (114.937)

CORVETTE RACING AT SPA: What a Drive Back to Second Place!

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Late heroics by Catsburg, team effort secure runner-up finish heading to Le Mans

FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium (April 29, 2023) – It wasn’t a victory, but Corvette Racing earned the next best thing Saturday with a rallying drive to a runner-up class finish at the Six Hours of Spa in the third round of the FIA World Endurance Championship.

Nicky Catsburg, Ben Keating and Nico Varrone finished second in GTE Am with their No. 33 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R – a remarkable result given some of the hardships working against the Corvette Racing team.

The team came back from 12th place early in the race along with the addition of 45 kilograms of success ballast for this race to keep its perfect run of podiums intact through the first three races – and more importantly keep its early-season momentum headed into the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

For the second race in a row, Catsburg took a starring role late. After a stellar defense two weeks ago to win at Portimão, Catsburg held off the faster car of Charlie Eastwood for second place. The result means that – against all odds – the Corvette team increased its GTE Am championship lead unofficially from 31 points to 39: 82 points compared to the No. 83 Ferrari team with 43.

Keating started fourth in class, but the big story even before the race began was the weather. With the track damp and mist falling, the Corvette team elected to start the race on wet-weather tires. Numerous cars on slick tires went off-track and race officials elected to begin the race behind the safety car.

The additional formation lap allowed the dry-tire cars a chance to get their tires up to temperature, putting the Corvette and other cars that began on rain tires at a distinct disadvantage once the race went green and the track began to try.

Keating made a pit stop for dry tires at the 30-minute mark to fall down the order, and the Corvette team caught another bad break when the pits closed for another safety-car period as Keating was set to come in again for fuel, tires and a driver change. Instead he had to stop for five seconds of emergency fuel near the one-hour, 45-minute mark and came in a lap later for the scheduled service.

Varrone took over for a double-stint from seventh place and steadily worked his way up into the top-five through a full-course yellow and the race’s third safety-car period. The initial stint on his tires was difficult to manage as the team chose to try a harder compound in his run, but changing to a softer tire put him back on the pace of the leaders heading into the final two hours.

That set the stage for Catsburg’s double-stint to the end. A fourth safety-car period brought the Corvette back to the lead pack, and he managed to find himself in first before the final stop with 54 minutes remaining. A fierce duel over the final 40 minutes began with Catsburg getting around Eastwood on the latter’s out-lap and racing out to a nearly eight-second advantage. It didn’t take long for the lighter and quicker Aston Martin to find its way back to Catsburg’s rear bumper.

The final 14 minutes saw the two cars run nose-to-tail with Catsburg keeping the Corvette ahead despite traffic from the overtaking prototypes. He crossed the line with a 0.249-second gap to third place.

Corvette Racing’s next event in the FIA WEC is the 24 Hours of Le Mans on June 10-11. It is an event that Corvette Racing has won eight times.

NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 33 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – SECOND IN GTE AM: “Somehow we managed to find ourselves in the top-five or top-six before I jumped in the car. The Corvette Racing guys did great work again in the pitlane. We were in the mix with the front-runners, and I was able to pass some on the out-lap. I knew we didn’t have the pace to challenge for the lead, and I was never expecting to keep P2. But it worked out. It was déjà vu back to Portimão! I was struggling a lot to keep the Aston Martin behind. Charlie did a great job. He didn’t make any crazy moves and it was super-nice racing. An awesome feeling of two races in a row getting a good result. Great job to Ben doing the start in insanely difficult conditions. Nico… what people don’t know is that Nico had to drive on the worst tire compound we had available because we used him as a guinea pig to test! So it was very difficult for him, and hats off to him for keeping the car on the track and keeping it in contention. I’m super happy with the work they are doing and the team is doing. It’s super nice to have these big points.”

BEN KEATING, NO. 33 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – SECOND IN GTE AM: “This is another team win. Even though we came home second, with 45 extra kilograms this feels like it’s better than a win. I came into Sebring with the idea that maybe we could win. I came into Portimao with the idea that a podium would be a success. I came into this race thinking a top-five would be good. I never dreamed we would be second. It’s an unbelievable finish, especially given how we started.

“Normally in these races, you don’t get the opportunity to make up lost time. We had three different times where we got a pass-around around the safety car. We were a lap down a couple of times because I made the choice to go out on rain tires at the start because I thought it was the conservative, safe choice. It turned out to be the wrong choice and had to come in for an early stop. Because of that, we were off-sequence with everyone and kept going a lap down. The safety cars came out exactly when we needed them to and we were able to get our laps back. It was a crazy race. It’s hard to think that it was even crazier than Portimao! I’m just glad I have a good heart! This has been unbelievable to watch. The whole team was fantastic. Nico did a great job. I don’t know how Nicky stayed in front of the Aston Martin because they were so fast all weekend. It’s just an incredible job by Nicky two weekends in a row. I’m ready to go to Le Mans!”

NICO VARRONE, NO. 33 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – SECOND IN GTE AM: “This was a really hard race. From the beginning, we weren’t looking to be on the podium. A top-five would have been mega. But again the Corvette Racing team did a great job. We were lucky with the pass-arounds to get us back in the fight for the win. Nicky had great pace and did a great job defending again as in Portimão. Today was just fantastic. I can’t really believe it yet! It was a bit crazy. Big thanks to Ben and Nicky for the great job and to Corvette Racing for amazing pit stops and the engineers on the strategy. Everything was perfect.”

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.

CHEVROLET NCS AT DOVER: Qualifying Canceled, Kyle Busch Grabs Pole

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Official Release
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NASCAR CUP SERIES
DOVER MOTOR SPEEDWAY
WURTH 400
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING REPORT

APRIL 29, 2023

TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-20 STARTING LINEUP:
POS. DRIVER
1st KYLE BUSCH, NO. 8 LENOVO CAMARO ZL1
8th WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 RAPTORTOUGH.COM CAMARO ZL1
9th RICKY STENHOUSE JR., NO. 47 KROGER/ICY HOT PRO CAMARO ZL1
10th CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1
11th ERIK JONES, NO. 43 ALLEGIANT CAMARO ZL1
14th ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 1 JOCKEY CAMARO ZL1
15th DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 PITBULL/FREEWAY INSURANCE CAMARO ZL1
16th TY DILLON, NO. 77 NATIONS GUARD CAMARO ZL1
18th KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1

TOP-FIVE UNOFFICIAL STARTING LINEUP:
POS. DRIVER

  1. Kyle Busch (Chevrolet)
  2. Christopher Bell (Toyota)
  3. Ryan Blaney (Ford)
  4. Brad Keselowski (Ford)
  5. Chris Buescher (Ford)

The NASCAR Cup Series qualifying session at Dover Motor Speedway was canceled due to weather. With the starting lineup set by the NASCAR rule book, Kyle Busch and the No. 8 Lenovo Camaro ZL1 team will lead the field to the green from the pole position.

KYLE BUSCH, NO. 8 LENOVO CAMARO ZL1 – Polesitter Quotes

A LOT OF TALK ABOUT TIRE ISSUES. IN PRACTICE, JOEY LOGANO HAD A RIGHT-FRONT THAT CORDED. DID YOU HAVE ANY TIRE ISSUES DURING PRACTICE?

“We didn’t really run long enough to see any tire issues for us. I think we saw the No. 48 (Josh Berry) had a little bit. I think they had a 14-lap run or something, so they saw a little bit of that. As the tires were wearing, they weren’t really laying the rubber down into the race track as what we used to see here. They were kind of foaming up, if you will. Like you pick it up and it was like dust, like foam. That’s not too out of normal here at Dover, but definitely not seeing any rubber on the race track is not positive.”

DOES TOMORROW BECOME A TIRE MANAGEMENT GAME, OR DO YOU HOPE THAT AFTER 100 LAPS THAT THINGS GET RUBBERED UP?

“Yeah, I mean you would like to hope that after today it gets rubbered up. The Xfinity race getting out there and hopefully being able to lay some rubber down, but who knows with the weather tomorrow. If it rains and washes all that off, you start over with the Cup race. So if we’re going to be on a green track, it’s going to be a bit rough to start. Probably need a competition caution. Don’t ask me what lap number to put it on because I don’t want to be the one that’s on the hook for what lap, over or under, that the tires will blow. But yeah, you’re definitely going to need a competition caution or two.”

HOW WAS YOUR CAR DURING PRACTICE? IT SOUNDED LIKE THERE WERE SOME HANDLING ISSUES THAT YOU WERE BATTLING.

“Yeah, I mean the car drove fine. The ride quality of the car, the platform of the car – everything on that front was fine. It was just the balance was super, super tight. We were kind of throwing a little bit of things at it. We weren’t going too heavy on it just to kind of sneak up on it. We saw Austin (Dillon) crash in practice and so we were a little tentative on what our adjustments were and how fast we would go to free it up. But seeing what we saw for the rest of practice and how our balance is right now, we’ve got a lot of work to do on the No. 8 Lenovo Camaro to get it where we want it for the race and what it’s going to take to keep the right-front tire on it for a long run.”

 
 
 

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.

CHEVROLET NCS AT DOVER: Chase Elliott Press Conference Transcript

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Official Release
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NASCAR CUP SERIES
DOVER MOTOR SPEEDWAY
WURTH 400
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT

APRIL 29, 2023

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 – Press Conference Transcript:

HAVE YOU TALKED TO ALEX? ALSO, WHAT DO YOU GET OUT OF RACING SOMETHING ELSE BESIDES A CUP CAR THAT WOULD MAKE THE ARGUMENT THAT WE NEED TO CONTINUE TO RACE OUTSIDE OF HERE?

“I have talked to Alex. Look, I know he’s bummed. But I think it could have been a lot worse, right. For me, number one, I’m thankful he’s in a position where he’s going to be able to get back to the team and be able to contribute 100 percent as he was before. So to me, his health is really first and foremost. I know he’s bummed and he’s probably not feeling good, but I’m looking forward to having him back.

As for what you get out of it, I think that depends on who you are. I think that depends on your outlook on what you enjoy doing and what makes you happy. Alex enjoys racing sprint cars. He likes building his cars – drift cars, midgets and going and racing that stuff. That’s a passion of his, so I think for that reason, it’s meaningful to him and I think that probably changes per who the individual is and what your outlook on things are. I think for him, he seems to really enjoy all aspects of that stuff. It’s a bit of his getaway and I think that’s important.”

HOW MUCH CONCERN IS THERE ON YOUR END ON WHAT HAPPENED WITH THE NO. 5 CAR LAST WEEKEND AND THE WAY THE PASSENGER SIDE COLLAPSED AND THE DOOR BARS COMING IN?

“Yeah, I mean it’s not great, right. At the end of the day, you look at that thing – I haven’t seen it in person. We tested at Loudon this week, so I wasn’t at the shop on Monday. From what I’ve heard and the pictures I’ve seen, certainly it’s a bit concerning on a multitude of levels. I’m disappointed in that, personally. Last year, the softer hits were a problem, but that’s in preparation for a bigger hit being covered. From the data I heard, he was only doing 130 mph, so what happens if he’s doing 180 or 160 mph? So yeah, I definitely think that’s concerning. But I also think it’s probably more of a conversation on how to move forward outside of this room. We’ll get it better to where we can be productive on it and not just sit here and run my mouth.”

JEFF ANDREWS WAS JUST IN HERE AND HE SAID ONE ACCIDENT IS BAD. TWO EXTRACURRICULAR ACCIDENTS IS NOT GREAT. HE SAID MAYBE THERE’S A CHANCE IN THE FUTURE THAT HE MIGHT HAVE TO LOOK AT WHAT YOU GUYS DO. HOW CONCERNED ARE YOU THAT THERE COULD BE A CHANGE IN WHAT YOU GUYS ARE ALLOWED TO DO AND HOW MIGHT IT EFFECT YOU IF THEY HAVE TO GO FORWARD WITH THOSE TYPES OF CHANGES?

“I really don’t see it changing. I think it’s obviously very, very poor timing with where I was at and just coming back and obviously Alex being hurt this week. I mean look, I get it. It’s a bad look. I totally understand that. But also, I understand that there is a timing piece of that and it’s just really poor timing. I think if one happened this year and the other happened next year, would we be having the same conversation? Probably not, you know really. I think them being back-to-back makes it look a little worse than the reality.”

YOU COME IN AS THE DEFENDING WINNER AT DOVER. HOW MUCH DO YOU USE FROM LAST YEAR THAT YOU CAN MOVE FORWARD TO THIS YEAR?

“Yeah, I’m with you.. I don’t know what aero package it is and isn’t anymore. Certainly I’m sure the car is going to drive different because at this point last year, there was still a lot of learning going on. Not that there’s not still a lot of learning going on now, but I do think that people have really progressed a lot through the second half of the season. So I anticipate that it’s going to feel different. The car might have some different tendencies. It’s still going to have those characteristics that come along with being at this race track and racing here, so I don’t anticipate that changing a ton. But we’ll see. It’s been a year since we’ve been here and obviously a lot can happen in that amount of time. We’ll get on track and kind of see where we stack up and go from there.”

HOW IS YOUR LEG DOING? ALSO, YOU MENTIONED THE TIRE TEST UP AT LOUDON. DOES DOING THOSE LAPS AND GETTING THOSE EXTRA REPS KIND OF HELP BUILD BACK THAT STRENGTH?

“Yeah, I feel fine. I’m not going on runs or doing sprinting drills, but I feel fine. I don’t feel like it impacts me in the car at this point. Really, I didn’t think it impacted me in the car at Martinsville either and I’m certainly better than I was then. It’s just one of those things where you’re going to have good days, you’re going to have days that you don’t get around great. That’s just going to be part of it here for a little while I think. I think those extra reps are good. We made a lot of laps and I felt fine there both days and the day after, yesterday, being out of the car.

Yeah, I feel good. Just ready to keep pushing forward.”

WHERE DO YOU FEEL YOUR PACKAGE IS AT, NOT ONLY HERE THIS WEEKEND, BUT GOING FORWARD, CONFIDENCE-WISE?

“Well for me personally, I’m just kind of getting back, really and truly. Obviously Hendrick Motorsports as a company has had a lot of success. When I was gone, I felt like they ran really well at Las Vegas. They ran really good at Phoenix. I thought they were OK at COTA. Atlanta is obviously a bit of a wash. But Richmond, they were obviously very strong there, as well. As a whole, I feel like the Chevrolet camp and Hendrick Motorsports have been strong. For me, we ran Martinsville and then went to Talladega. We were OK at Martinsville – we certainly weren’t anything special. We were really bad there for the majority of the day, but we qualified bad. We qualified bad and put ourselves in a tough spot. You’re going to start see that narrative more – I think when you qualify bad, it’s probably going to set you up for a long day. I think we’re in a good place. I just have to get back in the rhythm of doing this stuff and getting going.”

YOU MENTIONED IT’S STILL DOVER AND IT STILL HAS THOSE TENDENCIES. YOU HAVE TWO WINS HERE. WHAT IS IT ABOUT THIS PLACE THAT KIND OF SUITS YOUR DRIVING STYLE?

“Yeah, I don’t really know to be honest with you. We ran pretty well here I feel like on the Xfinity side, too. We’ve had some really solid runs on the Cup front; last year probably being one of our better runs, maybe our best run. But yeah, it’s been fortunate that this place has been a solid track for us over the last few years. I hope that continues. We’ll see. I’ve enjoyed coming up here. I wish that meant we were going to guarantee me a good run tomorrow, but unfortunately that’s not how it goes.”

WITH JOSH BERRY FILLING IN FOR YOU FOR A HANDFUL OF RACES, HOW DO YOU FEEL HE DID WITH THE TEAM?

“I thought he did great with the team. Not only did I think that from the outside, but once I got back, everybody enjoyed working with him. I think you have to have that dynamic. He’s a guy that doesn’t say a whole lot, but I kind of like that. He doesn’t talk a ton, but he’s certainly putting in the effort and putting in the work; thinking about things, dissecting what he feels and what he needs to do next. I think he’s going to continue to build on that. Obviously he’s going to get a few more weeks here now to run and I think that’s just going to make him better, better and better. I think he’ll continue to run well; keep building on like his result at Richmond. I think he’s going to keep building on those things because he’s a guy that he’s learning a lot in a short period of time and I think he’s going to apply that very quickly.”

DO YOU LOOK AT DOVER AS ONE OF YOUR BETTER OPPORTUNITIES TO WIN IN THE REGULAR SEASON TO MORE SAFELY SECURE YOUR PLAYOFF POSITION?

“Yeah, it’s certainly an opportunity. When we show up properly, I think any given week can be a good opportunity for us, frankly. But certainly as I reference a second ago, this has been a good track for us. Does that guarantee that tomorrow is going to go good? No, but I certainly hope so. But look, these races, a lot can happen and a lot can happen out of your control. You have to put it all together on the race track, on the pit box, on pit road – everything has to be perfect. That’s a lot to put together and I think it’s a bit unfair to throw that all on one day and bet the house on it. That’ just unrealistic. But I think we can go and have a good run here just like we can go and have a good run next week or the next 15 after that, if we show up and do our part.”

BEING OUT OF THE CAR THIS SEASON, YOU SAW JOSH BERRY GET THAT GREAT RESULT AT RICHMOND. NOW THAT ALEX IS IN THAT POSITION, SEEING SOMEONE ELSE HAVE SUCH A GOOD RUN IN YOUR CAR, WHAT WERE THE EMOTIONS OF THAT DAY?

“At that point, I was past the weird space of seeing my car – it’s not really my car, it’s really Rick’s (Hendrick) car – but seeing the NAPA No. 9 car go around the track, I was kind of past that weird space of it and was really just excited to see them do good. They deserve it, in my opinion. I’ve been telling you all in here a long time – that team is really, really good. They make me look a lot better than I really am. I was hoping that maybe you all would start to believe me on that over the period of me being out because it’s very true.”

DO YOU TAKE MORE RISK? OBVIOUSLY WITH A MEDICAL WAIVER, TOP-30 IN POINTS, THAT’S GOING TO BE A GIVEN. SO DO YOU TAKE RISK TO WIN AS IF YOU ALREADY HAVE A WIN IN YOUR POCKET, OR DO YOU KEEP CHOPPING AWAY AT THE POINTS AND MAYBE GET TO THE 16TH SPOT?

“I haven’t been keeping up with it closely. That’s pretty farfetched, I would say, even if we run really well. Not impossible, but we’d have to have a summer stretch like we did last year to do that, which was a really good stretch for us. Really, our mindset is no different this week than it was last week. I feel like we have to win. If you’re putting yourself in position to win races, I think it’s probably going to work itself out. On the other side of that coin, if you’re not putting yourself in position to win races at least once or twice in the next 16 weeks, then I’d say you’re not going to win a championship anyways. So does it really matter at the end of the day, right? It matters, obviously. But like when you step back and look at it – if you’re not in contention at least a couple of times, I’d say you thinking you have a shot to go win Phoenix is probably a little unrealistic.”

WE HEAR A LOT ABOUT THE PHYSICALITY OF THIS RACE TRACK AND HOW IT KIND OF JUST MOVES YOU AROUND IN THE SEAT AND HOW YOU’RE PRETTY WORN OUT AFTER A RACE HERE. HOW MUCH OF THAT PHYSICALITY IS ON YOUR LOWER EXTREMITIES, SPECIFICALLY YOUR LEG?

“I don’t think it will be a whole lot. Fortunately, my knee and just kind of where it sits in the car is in a really secure position. And even before the injury, the way I kind of had all my stuff setup like where my knee is, doesn’t move laterally or it’s designed to not move laterally, at least in a normal circumstance. Obviously crashing could be something different. So that being said, no – I don’t foresee it being any more difficult than say a Martinsville or Loudon test where you’re using the brakes and kind of pushing your car from that perspective. I could be wrong, but I don’t anticipate that.”

 
 
 

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.

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