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No. 93 HARRISON CONTRACTING COMPANY ACURA NSX GT3 EVO22 RACES INTO THE BIG EASY FOR GT WORLD CHALLENGE AMERICA

(Deland, Fla.) April 25, 2023 — Ashton Harrison and Mario Farnbacher return to the site of their first win together in GT World Challenge America as they and Racers Edge Motorsports and Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport (WTRAndretti) head to NOLA Motorsports Park for Rounds 3 and 4 of the 2023 season. In 2022, Harrison and Farnbacher podiumed and then won their race on the 2.75 mile, 16-turn track driving the No. 93 Harrison Contracting Company Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 as the first of many accolades in their championship winning season.

Harrison and Farnbacher enter this weekend as the Pro class points leaders, after a solid weekend at Sonoma Raceway, with a P3 finish in Race 1 capped by Harrison’s final turn pass for a stunning Race 2 victory in the teammates’ class debut.

The Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS weekend for Rounds 3 and 4 at NOLA Motorsports Park kicks off with a test day for all classes before official practice begins on Friday, April 28. The green flag flies in New Orleans on Saturday, April 29 at 3:10 pm and Sunday, April 30, at 1:45pm, both Central Standard Time, and streamed live at GT World on YouTube.

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

Ashton Harrison:
“I’m thrilled to be back with Racers Edge Motorsports with WTRAndretti so soon after we’ve spent so much time already together this month. I just made the joke to Mario that I think we’ve spent nearly the whole month together, so it’s a good thing we are all friends. We’re coming into this weekend in a great position after leaving Sonoma with a podium and a win and the points lead in the championship. We know we have a long season, so we’re not content to stop there. We want to continue to get better and collect points as we focus on the long-term goal of the Pro championship. For me personally, I’m excited to get back into the car and go to back to the track where the winning all started for us last year. I think we’re going to be strong contenders as this is a good track for us and the Harrison Contracting Acura NSX GT3. Jim (Pattin, our engineer) has gotten us to a great point with setup in this car. I’m so thankful for the hard work from the entire Racers Edge crew and Jon Mirachi to get these cars prepped for all of these back-to-back events. I’m looking forward to wrapping up the month with more wins and some champagne.”

Mario Farnbacher:
“I think this is a really cool track, and we also had our first win here last year, so I have lots of good memories. We had a good test here a few weeks ago, so I think we have a great car coming into this weekend’s races. A lot of the results may come down to the weather situation, but we have a car that perform well regardless of the conditions thanks to Racers Edge Motorsports, HPD, Harrison Contracting and WTRAndretti. We definitely have a good shot for more championship points. I’m really thankful that Ashton is back after Long Beach and I always look forward to every chance I get to race with her and this team.”
About Harrison Contracting
Harrison Contracting Company, Inc. (HCC) is a commercial painting and facility maintenance contracting company headquartered in Villa Rica, GA with divisional offices in Florida and Texas. HCC provides repainting/reimaging and facility maintenance services nationwide, and new construction painting across the southeastern US. At HCC, red is more than the company color, its culture. RED stands for Reliable, Experienced, and Diligent, and is the cornerstone for all we do. We are more than just your painter; we are your partner.

About the HPD Driver Academy Program
The Honda Performance Development (HPD) Driver Academy Program was developed to enable qualified racers to accelerate their racing career via ‘on-track’ and ‘off-track’ training from experienced Acura/Honda professional drivers, HPD-supported teams, and HPD personnel. The program includes sessions in the championship winning Acura NSX GT3 Evo or Honda Civic Type R TCR teaching the special knowledge and various skills required for professional sports car racing. The program is available by application-only and is limited to eight students per year.

About Honda Performance Development
Honda Performance Development, Inc., (HPD) has a rich heritage creating, manufacturing, and supporting Honda Racing and Acura Motorsports customers since 1993 from pinnacle racing in INDYCAR and IMSA to commercial racing programs. HPD is a wholly owned subsidiary of American Honda Motor Co., Inc. and leads all of Honda and Acura’s high-performance racing programs in North America, specializing in the design and development of race engines, chassis and performance parts, as well as technical and race support.

Ollie’s, Stefan Parsons Partner For Dover

Mooresville, NC – April 25, 2023 – Today, Ollie’s announced a two-race partnership with NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Stefan Parsons and SS GreenLight Racing. The nation’s largest brand name closeout retailer will feature it’s iconic yellow and red livery on the No. 07 Chevrolet Camaro at this weekend’s race at Dover Motor Speedway, followed by the May 13th Shriner’s Children 200 at Darlington Raceway.

“I couldn’t be more excited to partner with a well-respected brand in Ollie’s,” said Stefan Parsons, driver of the No. 07 Chevrolet, “To have them come on board for two of what I would consider good tracks for me as a driver, gives our SS GreenLight Racing team a chance to represent the Ollie’s brand and its associates to the best of our abilities. I can’t wait to get to Dover this weekend!”

SS GreenLight Racing team owner Bobby Dotter shared Parsons’ excitement.

“Having such a great brand in Ollie’s come on board for the next two Xfinity Series races is special,” Dotter said. “I am a frequent shopper at their Mooresville, NC, location, and am excited to represent them at Dover and Darlington as we continue improving week in and week out.”

About Stefan Parsons: Hailing from Cornelius, NC, Stefan is one of the most recognized names in the NASCAR community. A well-respected driver, Stefan comes from a famous and accomplished family of racers. His father, Phil, recorded a storied 23-year career as a NASCAR driver and currently serves as a FOX NASCAR analyst, while his uncle, Benny Parsons, is enshrined in the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

When not behind the wheel, Stefan is heavily engaged in the racing business. Known for his tireless work ethic and commitment to excellence, industry leaders have taken notice of his valuable contributions to the sport, affording him opportunities at the top levels of NASCAR.

Stefan is a seasoned spokesperson, an established and proven NASCAR driver, and a media and fan favorite; all of which translate to value for brands with which he is aligned.

Parsons joined SS GreenLight Racing in 2023, debuting for the team at Richmond Raceway in April.

About SS GreenLight Racing: Since entering the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2015, the Mooresville, N.C.,-based team has made more than 350 starts with multiple drivers, including Cole Custer, Ross Chastain and Chase Briscoe. SS GreenLight Racing has collected one win (Fontana 2022), eight top-fives, and 23 top-10 finishes.

About Ollie’s Bargain Outlet: We are America’s largest retailer of Closeout merchandise and excess inventory, offering Real Brands and Real Bargain prices®! We offer extreme value on brand name products in a variety of departments, including housewares, food, books and stationery, bed and bath, floor coverings, toys, health and beauty aids, and more. We currently operate 476 stores in 29 states and growing! For more information, visit www.ollies.us

Michael McDowell and the No. 34 A&W Ford Team Dover Competition Notes

Michael McDowell and the No. 34 A&W Ford Team
Dover Motor Speedway Competition Notes

TEAM AND RACE NOTES:

Michael McDowell and the No. 34 A&W Ford team are getting into the summer spirit this weekend at the Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway.

The team will race the popular A&W National Root Beer Float Day Ford on their No. 34 F The

Teams will just qualify on Saturday before running 500 miles on Sunday. The race is scheduled to start at 3:00 p.m. ET on FOX.

COMPETITION NOTES:

The Love’s Travel Stops team is in a heated points battle. McDowell is looking to position himself into the playoffs after Sunday. The No. 34 team is currently tied for 18th, but only 10 points out of 14th. McDowell will be looking to best the likes of Daniel Suarez, Chris Buescher, William Byron, and Chase Briscoe.

The tight battle has the team hungry for a strong run on Sunday.

CREW CHIEF TRAVIS PETERSON:

“We are not going to take our foot off the gas. We’re only going to push harder. That’s this weekend and every weekend until we lock ourselves into the playoffs. Talladega is just a great opportunity for us.”

DRIVER MICHAEL MCDOWELL:

“This weekend is a big one for us. We want to take advantage of it. It’s going to be a real fight for these playoffs spots now throughout the summer. Every race will matter. We have a good chance at Talladega. It’s just a matter of executing and being there on the final lap.”

ABOUT FRONT ROW MOTORSPORTS

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

CORVETTE RACING AT SPA: Three in Row?

Stellar start to WEC season for No. 33 C8.R team with back-to-back GTE Am wins

DETROIT (April 25, 2023) – Two wins, one pole position and a 31-point lead in the GTE Am Drivers and Team championships. Any way you put it, it’s been a dream start to the FIA World Endurance Championship for Corvette Racing.

Less than two weeks after a stunning triumph in the Six Hours of Portimão, the No. 33 Corvette C8.R is back in action Thursday through Saturday at famed Spa-Francorchamps for the Six Hours of Spa – the team’s final WEC race before the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The championship-leading trio of Ben Keating, Nicky Catsburg and Nico Varrone will share the wheel of the Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R, which will race at Spa for the third time.

While each of the drivers have been fantastic in the two wins so far this year – Catsburg’s final hour in Portimão is an early leader for drive of the season – the results are equally due to the work by the Corvette Racing pit crew and engineering team.

The strategy calls through two rounds has been spot-on with precise decisions on race and pit stop strategy. Once in the pitlane, the Corvette Racing crew has been a difference-maker. That was never more evident than on the final stop in Portugal when the Corvette crew completed their final stop five seconds faster than the runner-up Ferrari with a margin of 0.260 seconds at the finish.

That result means that regardless of what happens at Spa, Corvette Racing will enter Le Mans – a double-points event – with the championship lead.

It also means the No. 33 C8.R will carry 45 kilograms of “rewards weight”, per the GTE Am sporting regulations. Cars that finish the previous two races first, second or third must on-board additional weight on a sliding scale of 15-10-5 kilograms. In addition, the same amounts of ballast apply to the top-three entries in the GTE Am championship standings.

The Corvette ran with 30 additional kilograms at Portimão, but it didn’t deter Keating from taking pole position – his first in the C8.R. While the task will be that much tougher to repeat at Spa, Corvette Racing can take lessons it learned from the previous two years in the Six Hours of Spa with the mid-engine C8.R. Aside from the additional ballast, the C8.R will race in much the same shape as 2021 and 2022 – similar engine power, same mechanical configuration and Corvette-specific Michelin tires.

The Six Hours of Spa for the FIA World Endurance Championship is scheduled for 6:45 a.m. ET / 12:45 p.m. Central European time Saturday. MotorTrend and MotorTrend Plus will provide both live television and streaming coverage. Radio Le Mans will stream audio coverage of qualifying and the race. Live streaming video of qualifying and the race also is available through a subscription on the FIA WEC app.

NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 33 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “Spa is one of my favorite tracks. Compared to Portimão, we have a lot more information from the last two years. But we also will have a very heavy car due to the rewards weight, so it will be difficult for us there. It’s also a good sign though; it means we have won two races, which is the best thing you can do at the start of the season. So I’m looking forward to going to Spa. It’s an amazing track with high speeds. I don’t think I’ve raced a mid-engine car around Spa, so that will be a new thing. But I’m looking forward to this event. It’s almost like a home race for me, so it should be a good weekend.”

BEN KEATING, NO. 33 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “Going into Spa, it’s my favorite track on the WEC schedule. I really love Spa. I qualified very well last year and put together a really good lap. Based on what I know about the track and the characteristics of the Corvette, I expect us to be strong. Both of my co-drivers have a lot of experience there so it should be good. Because we won Sebring and Portimão, and we’re still leading the points, we’ll still have more weight in the car than anyone else. But the Corvette manages the weight very well. I have a ton of convince in the team and my teammates. We all love the track. Usually, the track you love ends up loving you back! We hope that’s the case at Spa.”

NICO VARRONE, NO. 33 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “I’m really looking forward to this race. Spa is one of my favorite tracks in the world. It will be really nice to drive the C8.R there and I know I’ll love it. We’ll see how it goes. We will have more success ballast but we’ll do our best and get the maximum result and points as possible. It would be good to arrive at Le Mans with good points in the championship. Let’s see what happens first at Spa.”

2023 FIA World Endurance Championship – GTE Am (After two of seven events)

Driver Standings

  1. Ben Keating/Nicky Catsburg/Nico Varrone – 64
  2. Christian Ried/Julien Andlauer/Mikkel Pedersen – 33
  3. Simon Mann/Stefano Constantini/Ulysse De Pauw – 28
  4. Davide Rigon/Francesco Castellacci/Thomas Flohr – 27
  5. Daniel Serra/Scott Huffaker/Takeshi Kimura – 24

Team Standings

  1. No. 33 Corvette Racing – 64
  2. No. 77 Dempsey-Proton Racing – 33
  3. No. 21 AF Corse – 28
  4. No. 54 AF Corse – 27
  5. No. 57 Kessel Racing – 24

CORVETTE RACING AT SPA: By the Numbers

  • 1: As in one team, one manufacturer and one model of car for 25 years of racing: Corvette Racing, Chevrolet and the Chevrolet Corvette.
  • 3: Tracks where Corvette Racing has competed in each of its 24 previous years: Sebring, WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca and Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta (later this year).
  • 4: Generations of Corvette Racing entries since 1999 – Corvette C5-R (2000-04), Corvette C6.R (2005-13), Corvette C7.R (2014-2019) and Corvette C8.R (2020-present).
  • 14: Manufacturer Championships for Chevrolet and Corvette Racing since 2001.
  • 27: Tracks at which Corvette Racing has won races – Baltimore, Charlotte Motor Speedway, COTA, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park/Mosport, Daytona, Detroit, Houston, Laguna Seca, Le Mans, Lime Rock, Long Beach, Miami, Mid-Ohio, Monza, Portimão, Portland, Road America, Road Atlanta, Sebring, Sonoma, St. Petersburg, Texas, Trois Rivieres, Utah, VIR, Washington DC and Watkins Glen
  • 34: Number of drivers for Corvette Racing since 1999. Ben Keating and Nico Varrone joined that list with their participation – and victory – in the 1,000 Miles of Sebring for the World Endurance Championship.
  • 124: Victories worldwide for Corvette Racing – 113 in North America and eight at Le Mans.
  • 271: Event starts by Corvette Racing since 1999.
  • 354,050.01: Total number of racing miles completed by Corvette Racing since its inception. To put that in perspective, Corvette Racing is more than halfway to the distance traveled by Apollo 13 – the longest manned spaceflight in history: 622,268 miles. That means Corvette Racing has raced to the moon… and then some!

Corvette Racing at Spa-Francorchamps

2021

No. 63 Corvette C8.R: Antonio Garcia/Oliver Gavin – 4th in GTE Pro (Gavin’s final Corvette race)

2022

No. 64 Corvette C8.R: Tommy Milner/Nick Tandy – 4th in GTE Pro

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.

Bass Pro Shops Racing: Martin Truex Jr. Dover Advance

Martin Truex Jr.
Dover Advance
No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry TRD for Joe Gibbs Racing

Event Overview

● Event: Wurth 400 (Round 11 of 36)
● Time/Date: 2 p.m. EDT on Sunday, April 30
● Location: Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway
● Layout: 1-mile, concrete oval
● Laps/Miles: 400 laps/400 miles
● Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 120 laps / Stage 2: 130 laps / Final Stage: 150 laps
● TV/Radio: FS1 / PRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Notes of Interest

● Truex and the No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry team for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) set the tone for the season right out of the gate by winning the 150-lap feature in the non-points Clash at the Coliseum on Feb. 5 in Los Angeles. Truex won his heat race, then went on to lead the final 25 laps of the feature en route to the victory.

● Truex heads to Dover seventh in the driver standings with 281 points, 50 out of the lead.

● First of Many: Truex’s first career NASCAR Cup Series victory came at Dover in June 2007. Its proximity to his hometown of Mayetta, New Jersey, makes Dover his home track, and his record there shows it definitely feels like home. Dover is one of five tracks where Truex has three career wins. In addition to Dover, Truex has won three wins apiece at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, Richmond (Va.) International Raceway, Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway and Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway.

● In his 32 career Cup Series outings at Dover, Truex has three wins, nine top-five finishes, 18 top-10s, and he’s led a total of 1,001 laps. His average Dover finish is 11.8.

● With his aforementioned three Dover wins, Truex is tied for winningest active driver at Dover with Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch. Also, the New Jersey native is tied for most pole awards at Dover among active drivers with JGR teammate Denny Hamlin.

● Truex has run particularly well at Dover since joining JGR in 2019. After scoring his first win for the team at Richmond in April of that year, he followed it up two weeks later with a victory at Dover. Truex has four top-five finishes at Dover in his six starts there with JGR.

● Ahead at this Stage: Truex leads the NASCAR Cup Series with 56 stage wins since the beginning of the stage racing era in 2017. He is the only driver with 10 or more stage sweeps, as well. While Truex came close to winning a stage at the season-opening Daytona 500, he does not have a stage win so far this year.

Martin Truex Jr., Driver of the No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry TRD

With Dover hosting the race that’s closest to your hometown in New Jersey, do you view Dover at your home track?

“I view Dover as my hometown track, it’s closest to home. If you could drive across the bay, it would be really close. It’s close to home, for sure. I’ve been going there a long time and it’s a place that means a lot to me, starting early in my Busch Series career, and doing some racing there in my dad’s car, and my first Cup win there, as well. We’ve had a lot of success there, too. It’s a special place for me and I love going there, it feels like home. We have a lot of friends and family who go to that race, as well, and hoping we can get them a win with our Bass Pro Shops Camry.”

When you race at Dover, is it a larger contingent of friends and family than usual who get to attend and watch you race?

“No question, most of my friends and family come to that race. We’ve got quite the cheering section, which is pretty cool. We are racing so much all over the country that it’s nice to see some familiar faces and get to spend a little bit of time with friends and family. Maybe just a little bit of extra time before the race, but definitely well worth it.”

How do you assess your season so far, 10 points-paying races in, and your thoughts on some of the tracks coming up in the next stretch?

“I feel really good about where we are at. We’ve had some missed opportunities, for sure. It was really cool to start off the year winning the Clash out in L.A., and get some confidence and momentum. Since then, it’s been a bit up and down. Richmond was definitely one that got away, but I feel really good about where we are at as a team and, if we can execute some cleaner races, I think we are going to have a shot at winning coming up here soon. There are some really good tracks for me coming up over the next several weeks. We have Dover, Kansas, Darlington, all good tracks for us. You kind of have to throw away Talladega, but I feel like we are gaining momentum coming off good runs at Bristol on the dirt and at Martinsville. Like anything, it’s always about execution. There are so many things that go on in these races that can go the wrong way for you, we just got to keep focused and good things will come.”

Your strong stats at Dover speak for themselves. When the NextGen car arrived, did you lean on what you knew about Dover prior to last year?

“Knowing that track and what you need is always a big deal. With the new car last year, it was quite the learning curve everywhere we went. We really ran strong at Dover, though. We had a shot at winning, and we restarted on the front row late in the race and couldn’t quite get to the lead, and I think we were going for third there on the last lap and got spun out. It was a good race, we were right there really close to being able to win. Hopefully we can use what we learned there last year with our Bass Pro Shops Camry TRD and step it up a couple of notches.”

What do you and your team need to lean on to have a successful race at Dover this weekend?

“Just build on what we learned last year and I think it’s important we qualify well, so hopefully we do that. Generally, when you qualify well there, you get a good pit stall and it sets you up for a smoother day. Staying out front all day long is very important, and track position is very important since it’s hard to pass. It’s a very fast track and you want to keep your track position. Hopefully we can qualify well and it can set us up for a really good day. Corner speeds are so high at Dover that it does become hard to pass. But we’ve also had years where it’s been hard to pass and we’ve driven through the whole field there, like in 2019. You’ve got to get your car dialed in right and, if you can do that, you can do pretty much what you want with it.”

No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Team Roster

Primary Team Members

Driver: Martin Truex Jr.

Hometown: Mayetta, New Jersey

Crew Chief: James Small

Hometown: Melbourne, Australia

Car Chief: Chris Jones

Hometown: Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia

Engineer: Nick Burton

Hometown: Arvada, California

Engineer: Jeff Curtis

Hometown: Fairfax Station, Virginia

Spotter: Drew Herring

Hometown: Benson, North Carolina

Road Crew Members

Underneath Mechanic: Ryan Martin

Hometown: Mechanicsburg, Virgina

Mechanic: Todd Carmichael

Hometown: Redding, California

Interior/Tire Specialist: Tommy DiBlasi

Hometown: Annapolis, Maryland

Engine Tuner: Gregg Huls

Hometown: Beatrice, Nebraska

Transporter Driver: Kyle Bazzell

Hometown: Fairbury, Illinois

Transporter Driver: Eddie DeGroot

Hometown: Baldwinsville, New York

Over-The-Wall Crew Members

Gas Man: Matt Tyrrell

Hometown: Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Jackman: Kellen Mills

Hometown: Mesa, Arizona

Tire Carrier: CJ Bailey

Hometown: Outer Banks, North Carolina

Front Tire Changer: Lee Cunningham

Hometown: Leaf River, Illinois

Rear Tire Changer: Danny Olszowy

Hometown: Lexington, Kentucky

Hunt Brothers Pizza Racing: Kevin Harvick Dover Advance

KEVIN HARVICK
Dover Advance
No. 4 Hunt Brothers Pizza/Realtree Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing

Event Overview
● Event: Würth 400 (Round 11 of 36)
● Time/Date: 2 p.m. EDT on Sunday, April 30
● Location: Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway
● Layout: 1-mile, concrete oval
● Laps/Miles: 400 laps/400 miles
● Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 120 laps / Stage 2: 130 laps / Final Stage: 150 laps
● TV/Radio: FS1 / PRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Notes of Interest

● Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Hunt Brothers Pizza/Realtree Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), has an impressive streak of top-10 finishes at Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway, site of Sunday’s Würth 400 NASCAR Cup Series race. Harvick hasn’t finished outside of the top-10 at Dover since a 17th-place result in October 2017. That’s a run of eight straight races, kicked off by a win in May 2018 and punctuated by another victory on Aug. 23, 2020. During this stretch, Harvick’s worst finish is ninth, earned last year.

● What was happening back in October 2017? We’ll tell you…

● The Las Vegas Golden Knights made their NHL debut in Dallas on Oct. 7, winning 2-1 over the Stars. The Golden Knights were the NHL’s 31st team.

● Catalonia voted for independence from Spain.

● Pixar’s animated film “Coco” premiered at the Morelia International Film Festival. The film ended up grossing more than $814 million worldwide.

● Nearly 3,000 files related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy were released.

● Jimmie Johnson, Clint Bowyer, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jamie McMurray, Matt Kenseth, Ryan Newman, Kasey Kahne, Danica Patrick, David Ragan, Trevor Bayne and Paul Menard were all active NASCAR Cup Series drivers.

● Harvick has three NASCAR Cup Series wins at Dover. In addition to the aforementioned victories in May 2018 and August 2020, Harvick won his first Dover race in October 2015. Harvick provided a prelude to that win by finishing second when the series raced at the 1-mile, concrete oval five months earlier for the FedEx 400.

● DYK? Harvick’s victory at Dover on Aug. 23, 2020 was Ford’s milestone 700th all-time NASCAR Cup Series victory. Ford’s first victory came on June 25, 1950 when Shirtless Jimmy Florian upset the field at Dayton (Ohio) Speedway, beating the likes of NASCAR Hall of Famers Lee Petty and Curtis Turner. Overall, there have been 88 drivers who have won at least one Cup Series race in a Ford. NASCAR Hall of Famer Ned Jarrett, who won Ford’s first series championship in 1965, is the manufacturer’s all-time leader with 43 victories. Ford’s current win tally stands at 721 victories.

● Harvick will make his 43rd career NASCAR Cup Series start at Dover when he takes the green flag on Sunday. The only active driver with more Cup Series starts at Dover is Kurt Busch, who made his Cup Series debut at Dover on Sept. 24, 2000, giving him one more Dover start than Harvick. The all-time leader in Cup Series starts at Dover is Ricky Rudd with 56. Rudd made his Cup debut at Dover on May 16, 1976, and his last start at the track came on June 4, 2007, a span of 31 years.

● No active driver has led more laps at Dover than Harvick. His 1,666 laps led are 350 more laps than next best Kyle Busch. That difference is just 50 laps short of an entire race distance at Dover. After Harvick and Busch, only one other active driver has cracked the 1,000 laps-led mark at Dover – Martin Truex Jr., with 1,001 laps led. However, the all-time lap leader at Dover is seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson with a staggering 3,113 laps led.

● Dover’s nickname is the Monster Mile due to its propensity to chew up and spit out even the most seasoned veteran, yet Harvick has seemingly tamed the Monster. Beyond his three wins, 10 top-fives, 23 top-10s and 1,666 laps led, Harvick has only one DNF (Did Not Finish) at Dover – and it wasn’t even a crash. It was an engine failure in the 2006 Dover 400.

● Harvick has also racked up miles at Dover outside of the NASCAR Cup Series. The Bakersfield, California-native has made 17 NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Dover, finishing among the top-10 10 times, with a best result of third – earned three times (June 2001, September 2006 and September 2013). Harvick has also made two NASCAR Truck Series starts at Dover, finishing among the top-five both times with a best result of third in June 2012.

● The 2023 season marks the 14th year of partnership between Harvick and Hunt Brothers Pizza. The nation’s largest brand of made-to-order pizza in the convenience store industry has sponsored Harvick for years in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Truck Series. Hunt Brothers Pizza joined Harvick fulltime in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2019 and has been a mainstay in NASCAR’s premier division ever since. With more than 9,000 locations across the country, Hunt Brothers Pizza is the nation’s largest brand of made-to-order pizza in the convenience store industry. Hunt Brothers Pizza offers original and thin crust pizzas available as a grab-and-go Hunk A Pizza®, perfect for today’s on-the-go lifestyle, or as a customizable whole pizza that is an exceptional value with All Toppings No Extra Charge®. Hunt Brothers Pizza is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, and is family owned and operated. For additional information, visit www.HuntBrothersPizza.com or download the app.

● Said Harvick about his more than decade-long partnership with Hunt Brothers Pizza: “Our fans are pretty loyal to the brands that are on our cars. Many of my pictures come from the standees in the store. People take selfies next to them. There are a number of reasons you have sponsorships – you want that brand recognition, the brand integration. Hunt Brothers Pizza is a very family-oriented company and we’re a very family-oriented group. Those relationships you build through the years with brands that recognize and reflect what you believe in are few and far between. We’ve grown with the Hunt Brothers Pizza brand. They’ve grown with us and have been very loyal to us, and I think our fans are very loyal to Hunt Brothers Pizza. It’s fun to see that brand recognition and that understanding of loyalty and partnership. You realize how many Hunt Brothers Pizza stores there are as you drive to racetracks.”

Kevin Harvick, Driver of the No. 4 Hunt Brothers Pizza/Realtree Ford Mustang

You have three NASCAR Cup Series wins at Dover and 23 top-10s. Is there something specific about Dover that augments your driving style?

“Dover is a racetrack that everything about it is unique. The concrete, itself, all the way around the racetrack, is unique. Dover is a racetrack where you can get away with being aggressive every single lap. You have to drive the car as hard as it will go every single lap, and that’s hard to do there because there are all the little bumps that come with the concrete, the change of elevation as you go in and off the corners, and all the banking in the corners – it’s just a really, really fast racetrack. It’s also a very physical racetrack just because of all the G’s and the bouncing and everything that comes with driving around Dover. It’s a racetrack where you have to have your hands gripping on the steering wheel and gritting your teeth all at the same time in order to go fast every single lap. When your car’s off, there’s just nowhere to hide there. You wind up going a lap down, probably two laps down, because you pit early and then the caution comes out. It’s a beast of a racetrack and there’s a reason they call it the Monster Mile because you can get yourself in trouble really quick.”

What is Dover like now after a year with the current car and different rules packages?

“Dover is more familiar because there’s actually no shifting. But Dover is still just hammer-down, and car placement is the most important thing there, and knowing when to move your car around in order to get through traffic because it’s always been a difficult racetrack. If you’re stuck to one line, you can get yourself in big trouble at Dover. Usually, the fast line is on the bottom, but you have to be able to figure out how to move around the racetrack. But it’s more straightforward than a lot of the places we go because there’s no shifting, so it’s still got a lot of the characteristics of Dover, but with the big, wide tire and everything we have going on, it’s a lot of throttle.”

Is there something inherent about Dover that resonates with you and makes you so good there?

“Dover is one of those racetracks where if we don’t win, we feel like we’ve let everybody down. It’s been a great racetrack for us and we’ve had some really dumb luck there with lug nuts and valve stems, but outside of those few races, it’s been a very successful racetrack for us. Dover is just one of those grind-it-out-type of races. The harder you can drive it and the more aggressive that you can be lap after lap after lap by being more aggressive and consistent, you can grind a lot of them into the ground there just because 400 laps around Dover, staying focused, and being able to grind away with your racecar that hard for that long is tough mentally and physically. It’s a fun race.”

How did you go from initially struggling at Dover to finding success at Dover, and what role did your crew chief, Rodney Childers, play in that?

“When I came to Stewart-Haas Racing in 2014, there were a few tracks that we had circled, and Dover was definitely one of those racetracks where, I’m sure he looked at the results and thought, ‘Man, what in the world? This guy is scared to death of something or he can’t drive’ or whatever the problem was at Dover. But he sat down with me before we went to Dover for the very first time and was like, ‘Hey, here’s what we’re going to do. We are not going to run bad at Dover. Just forget everything that you’ve experienced before and we’re going to start over right here because it’s one of my favorite racetracks.’ And I’m thinking to myself, ‘Oh, great, the racetrack that I would consider probably one of my top-three worst racetracks is one of his favorite racetracks.’ So immediately that put a lot of pressure on me to have to go out and try to do the best that we can, and really from day one at Stewart-Haas Racing, we have run well at Dover and it’s been one of our best racetracks. But that’s purely because of the focus and mental mindset that Rodney instilled from day one.”

Dover has a very unique trophy. It’s the track mascot, Miles the Monster, and he’s got the winning car held in the air. Is it one of the sport’s best trophies?

“My kids love Miles. There are so many racetracks that have terrible trophies – the plastic trophies – I feel like they smash up and I’ll take them home and Keelan will be like, ‘Man, Dad, that’s a terrible trophy.’ That is not the case at Dover. They have a very unique trophy that is easily known as to what racetrack it came from and that’s what every racetrack needs.”

No. 4 Hunt Brothers Pizza/Realtree Team Roster

Primary Team Members

Driver: Kevin Harvick

Hometown: Bakersfield, California

Crew Chief: Rodney Childers

Hometown: Mooresville, North Carolina

Car Chief: Robert “Cheddar” Smith

Hometown: Whitewater, Wisconsin

Engineer: Stephen Doran

Hometown: Butler, Pennsylvania

Engineer: Dax Gerringer

Hometown: Gibsonville, North Carolina

Spotter: Tim Fedewa

Hometown: Holt, Michigan

Over-The-Wall Members

Front Tire Changer: Daniel Coffey

Hometown: Granite Falls, North Carolina

Rear Tire Changer: Daniel Smith

Hometown: Concord, North Carolina

Tire Carrier: Jeremy Howard

Hometown: Delhart, Texas

Jack Man: Brandon Banks

Hometown: High Point, North Carolina

Fuel Man: Evan Marchal

Hometown: Westfield, Indiana

Road Crew Members

Mechanic: Tyler Trosper

Hometown: Mooresville, North Carolina

Mechanic: Nick DeFazio

Hometown: Orange, California

Tire Specialist: Jamie Turski

Hometown: Trumbull, Connecticut

Engine Tuner: Robert Brandt

Hometown: Mobile, Alabama

Transporter Co-Driver: Rick Hodges

Hometown: Raleigh, North Carolina

Transporter Co-Driver: Stephen Mitchell

Hometown: Woodville, Ohio

WEC preview: Cadillac doubles its efforts for Spa battle

Second Hypercar joins the full-season No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R as prelude to Le Mans

DETROIT (April 24, 2023) – After two strong performances as a solo, the No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R will welcome its sister racecar to form a formidable Hypercar duo this week at Spa-Francorchamps.

The No. 3 Cadillac V-Series.R, co-driven by Sebastien Bourdais, Renger van der Vande and Jack Aitken, will make its FIA World Endurance Championship debut in the Six Hours of Spa..

The three drivers are familiar with the 7.004km (4.35-mile), 20-turn circuit that hosted its inaugural car race in 1922 and has been part of every WEC season.

“I’ve done many races there since my first season in 2004,” said van der Zande, an Amsterdam resident who has amassed 18 IMSA victories.

“My greatest memory is we finished second in the 24 Hours of Spa with a one-minute penalty at the start of the race, so it was an amazing drive with Felix Rosenqvist and Tristan Vautier as teammates. It’s special for me personally to drive in my own Cadillac to Spa, have a race there so close to my home with my American team and Cadillac.”

The No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R, co-driven by Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn and Richard Westbrook, has finished fourth in each of the two rounds of the season. The first-year WEC team has advanced a total of five positions – more than twice as many as any other Hypercar entry — from its qualifying spots.

“We continue to learn with the program, and to have the strong performance that we did at Portimão gets us even more energized going into Spa,” GM sports car program manager Laura Wontrop Klauser said. “Cadillac will have two cars there, which will give us the opportunity to really get the team ready for Le Mans as well as think about strategy differently for the Spa race. We’re looking forward to seeing how everything goes at that racetrack.”

Cadillac is tied for third in the WEC Manufacturer Championship.

The gold No. 3 Cadillac V-Series.R, running as the No. 01 in IMSA, earned a podium finish in the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona in January and qualified second and third in the succeeding races.

“Cadillac and Chip Ganassi Racing believe that we are stronger when we race multiple cars on any given race weekend,” said Mike O’Gara, director of operations for Chip Ganassi Racing which campaigns the Nos. 2 and 3 entries. “The Spa event will serve as a much-needed dress rehearsal for the Le Mans 24-hour race. It will be a great opportunity for our ‘IMSA regulars’ to be immersed in the WEC rules and race procedures in anticipation of the big event in June.”

The No. 311 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R will join the Cadillac stable for the centenary 24 Hours of Le Mans in June. The Action Express Racing-prepared car claimed the pole for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s Twelve Hours of Sebring and went on to post Cadillac’s 28th prototype victory since 2017 and its third in a row at Sebring International Raceway with Pipo Derani, Alexander Sims and Aitken sharing the wheel.

The Cadillac V-Series.R features an all-new Cadillac 5.5-liter DOHC V8 naturally aspirated engine developed by GM’s Performance and Racing propulsion team based in Pontiac, Michigan. The body, codeveloped by Cadillac Design, Cadillac Racing and chassis constructor Dallara, incorporates key Cadillac V-Series production car design elements.

What they’re saying

No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R

Earl Bamber: “Really looking forward to Spa. It’s one of my favorite tracks in Europe and I’ve spent a lot of time there. Won one of my first big races in Europe there in Porsche Mobil 1 Super Cup, so I really looking forward to going back there especially with this Cadillac. I think we’re making strides as a team. We’re learning the WEC and I think we’ll continue to improve. Two cars will be a challenge for Chip Ganassi Racing, but it’s all in preparation to bring three for Le Mans. Obviously for us, being year one, it’s all about Le Mans mainly because it’s our first season. You saw with the Corvette program first time coming to Le Mans there’s a lot to learn. We’ve got the true test at Spa. They say Spa is the closest representation with the downforce level ahead of Le Mans.”

Alex Lynn: “I love Spa and I think this car is going to be so much fun to drive there. The WEC races there always throw off something crazy with the weather. It’s always an amazing race with everything mixed in, so super excited for Spa and challenge for the podium again.”

Richard Westbrook: “It will be great to get back to Spa. It feels too long since I’ve been there; over 10 years actually. It’s been that long racing in America. The only downside of racing in America is missing tracks like Monza and Spa and Silverstone. Can’t wait to get our Cadillac around there. I think it will come alive. We worked hard in Portugal to sort of tune the car for a European track and hopefully bridge that gap to the Toyotas.”

No. 3 Cadillac V-Series.R

Renger van der Zande: “The Spa track is very technical from a driver’s perspective and the setup is crucial to set it up for the high speed because that’s where all the time is and we don’t have many tracks like that in North America — maybe only Mosport, so it’s a good practice for that and obviously Le Mans. It’s special for me personally to drive from home in my own Cadillac, drive to Spa, have a race there so close to my home with my American team and Cadillac. It’s only about Le Mans and I think that race is a way to get into the groove of the WEC rules.”

Sebastien Bourdais: “I miss the old Spa where the grass was the limit, but the layout hasn’t changed and the challenge remains. It’s one of the coolest tracks in Europe and it’s always a tough track to get the balance right and get in the window, and that’s really important or otherwise you hurt your tires. The track is a nice rehearsal for Le Mans. It’s still somewhat specific and Le Mans remains the outlier because of the straights and the different asphalt if you compare it to Spa. A lot of guys used to run their Le Mans kit at Spa to try to understand the car better, so it was always a compromise because you’ll sacrifice the Spa weekend a little bit. There’s no consideration in Hypercar because it’s the same level of downforce wherever you go, so there’s no head-scratching with this one.”

Jack Aitken: “Driving at such an incredible circuit with the Cadillac V.Series R will be an invaluable addition to our prep for Le Mans. It will be a pleasure to integrate with Chip Ganassi and work together to push the Cadillac program forward, as we have a great deal of respect between us. Partnering up with Seb and Renger will be great for me personally, as I’ll be learning off two great guys.”

CHEVROLET NCS: Kyle Busch Prevails in Overtime Finish for Talladega Victory

NASCAR CUP SERIES
TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY
GEICO 500
TEAM CHEVY RACE WIN RECAP
APRIL 23, 2023

Kyle Busch Prevails in Overtime Finish for Talladega Victory
Chevrolet’s Seventh NCS Win of 2023; Chevrolet Sweeps Talladega Doubleheader Weekend

  • The win is Busch’s second NASCAR Cup Series win of the 2023 season and his 62nd career win in NASCAR’s premier series.
  • Busch is now the third repeat winner in the series this season, joining fellow Chevrolet drivers William Byron and Kyle Larson.
  • The victory extended Chevrolet’s series-leading NASCAR Cup Series win record at Talladega Superspeedway to 44 all-time victories, including the past three races at the Alabama superspeedway.
  • Chevrolet has now won the past five NASCAR Cup Series superspeedway races, dating back to Ross Chastain’s win at Talladega Superspeedway one year ago.
  • The winningest manufacturer in NASCAR Cup Series history, Chevrolet now sits at 840 all-time wins in NASCAR’s premier series.
  • Chevrolet swept the NASCAR doubleheader race weekend at Talladega Superspeedway, with Jeb Burton and the No. 27 Jordan Anderson Racing Camaro SS team taking the victory in the Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race.

TALLADEGA, Ala. (April 23, 2023) – In a double attempt at an overtime finish, Kyle Busch and the No. 8 McLaren Custom Grills Camaro ZL1 team came out on top to score Chevrolet’s series-leading seventh NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) win of the season at Talladega Superspeedway. The victory is Busch’s second trip to victory lane since joining Chevrolet and Richard Childress Racing at the beginning of 2023. The 37-year-old Las Vegas native is now alongside fellow Chevrolet drivers William Byron and Kyle Larson as the third repeat winner in NASCAR’s premier series with 10 points-paying races in the books.

“I know RCR had a lot of superspeedway love for a long, long time,” said Busch. “One of the best to ever do it and was obviously one of the winningest ones. It’s fun to be able to come out here and be a part of this team and work with Randall (Burnett, crew chief) and all my guys.”

A pair of late-race cautions setup two attempts at an overtime finish at the 2.66-mile Alabama superspeedway. Forgoing pit road during the race’s eighth and final caution put Busch in the third position for the second overtime attempt. When the top-two cars (Ryan Blaney and Bubba Wallace) made contact on the final lap, the gamble for track position paid off as Busch took over the lead before the race ultimately ended under caution.

The victory added to Chevrolet’s storied history at NASCAR’s longest oval with Busch’s victory extending the manufacturer’s series-leading record to 44 all-time NCS wins at Talladega Superspeedway. The Camaro ZL1 has made its way to victory lane in the past five consecutive superspeedway races in NASCAR’s top series, with Busch becoming the fifth different driver to add to the manufacturer’s superspeedway win streak.

“We have a great time being able to come out here and race; be a part of Team Chevy and Chevrolet and get this Camaro in Victory Lane,” added Busch.

Four drivers from four different Chevrolet teams logged top-10 finishes in the series’ second superspeedway race of the season. A favorite in superspeedway competition, Erik Jones and the No. 43 U.S. Air Force Camaro ZL1 team took the checkered flag in the sixth-position. William Byron (No. 24 Liberty University Camaro ZL1) finished seventh, with Daniel Suarez (No. 99 Tootsies Orchid Lounge Camaro ZL1) rounding out the Team Chevy top-10 in the ninth-position. Another notable run came from series’ rookie Noah Gragson and the No. 42 Wendy’s Biggie Bag Camaro ZL1 team. Gragson took top-10 finishes in both of the race’s stages – the first time this season he has accomplished this feat. The young LEGACY MOTOR CLUB driver ran in the top-five for much of the final stage, proving to be a contender for the triumph before getting collected in an accident in the closing laps.

The Bowtie brand swept the NASCAR doubleheader weekend at Talladega Superspeedway. Joining Busch with a trip to victory lane at the famed superspeedway was Jeb Burton and the No. 27 Jordan Anderson Racing Camaro SS team who took the victory in Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series event.

The 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season continues at Dover Motor Speedway with the Würth 400 on Sunday, April 30, at 2 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on FS1, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

KYLE BUSCH, NO. 8 MCLAREN CUSTOM GRILLS CAMARO ZL1 – Race Win Press Conference Transcript

THE MODERATOR: We are joined by our race winner, Kyle Busch.

Kyle, congratulations on that win. 10 races into the season, you now have two wins with your team at RCR. Tell us about those final laps, what it means to have two wins in the books at this point in the season.

KYLE BUSCH: It means a lot obviously. Last time I won here, 15 years ago, my first year with JGR. Here we are with my first year in RCR being able to get back into Victory Lane at Talladega. It’s been a little bit.

It is really cool to welcome on a new partner of ours with McLaren Custom Grills, to score a win with them and RCR, Team Chevy, to get the Camaro in Victory Lane here, really good for us.

We were obviously short on fuel, kind of stretching it. I don’t think we would have taken that chance, I probably wouldn’t have taken that chance of staying out but for the win in Fontana. That opened up our playbook, gave us a chance to be up front, restart up front and go for a win today.

Yeah, just being in the right place at the right time. Sometimes you got to be lucky. Feels good to have that. I’m sure all of you guys are going to be going to Cheddar’s tomorrow for your free tender meal as I probably need to send Brexton over there, we’ll get some of our own.

THE MODERATOR: We’ll now go to questions.

Q. It sounded like Randall was trying to call you to pit road too late, you were past it. What exactly was the sequence there of you talking about that?

KYLE BUSCH: Yeah, on my own mind, I was like there’s no way you come to pit road and just throw away your day, like your day is done. We didn’t have any stage points, we had nothing at that point in the race. I was why not take the chance.

He said, Pit, pit, pit.

I was like, It’s a good thing it’s too late anyway.

I knew I wasn’t going to get it in there, but also I wouldn’t have anyways. I would have taken the chance and said, You know what, roll the dice, let’s go.

Q. You struggled at superspeedways before you came to RCR. How much has joining RCR helped you gain your confidence? First two plate races this year, you have been a contender.

KYLE BUSCH: I wouldn’t say today we contended much. We got up front there for a little bit, then we came off of pit road really, really good in that second stage I believe behind Chase, and the 24 was with us. Then we caught up with the Fords. Then we all got misconjobulated, shucked me to the back, I was in the back again. The 9, I think he won that stage. That must have been the finish of stage two.

Yeah, our average running position and where we ran for most of the day wouldn’t have showed we contended much. But take ’em as they come. It was just like a 200-mile-an-hour parade lap. Hard to make passes, get enough room in the middle to make a move up the middle, get enough of a gap to the inside where you can fall in, try to cycle up, get a gap to the outside, cycle up. It was really hard.

Q. You referenced the 15 years. Did you ever feel Lady Luck was going to shine back on you?

KYLE BUSCH: Well, ever since 2015 struck, I’ve always just hoped to walk out of a speedway race at the end of the day. When you’re able to do that, you might as well take solace in it. It’s not a win, but at least you’re going home on your own two feet.

Races, they’re all hard to win, but especially speedway races are hard to win. You got 30 guys out there vying for it, that have a legit shot to win, barring different circumstances.

There were some wrecks in front of us today. We were able to squeak through, not get caught up in it fortunately, which isn’t a whole lot of my luck here.

We’ll take this one, for sure.

Q. I asked Randall about having a driver that maybe doesn’t overrule him on a call, but will say this is where we’re at, go against what he called. He said it was almost refreshing to have somebody like that. What does that mean to hear that from your crew chief?

KYLE BUSCH: Yeah, I mean, I didn’t really voice that over the radio about, Hey, we got to win, we might as well stay out and ride this thing out. I just thought it in my head.

It’s cool to work with Randall. Obviously, he gives me a lot of leeway just with my experience and stuff like that, being here.

Probably a few years ago I would have pitted and just taken the finish, whatever that might have been. We probably would have been caught up in that wreck.

But when I thought that we’d have a shot for a front row start at the end, I was like there’s no way we can pit. If we run out of gas coming off of turn two after we take the green flag, so be it.

Yeah, just go for it, roll the dice.

Q. When Richard was in here, he said you were helping build back the organization to where it used to be. Is there an area where you feel you’ve made the biggest impact so far?

KYLE BUSCH: No, not yet. Have you watched our short track program (laughter)? It’s a struggle. We’re working on that.

I’ve always known these guys have had a good restrictor plate program. We showed that in Daytona, we were really fast. It was fun to run as quick as we did, as good as we did with Austin to try to win that. Fontana, we were super fast there, too. They had a really good car there last year. The short track stuff has been head-scratching for sure.

On my front and Randall’s front, I know we’re trying to work through what it takes to turn that around. Hopefully we can get there to make the short track stuff go our way.

Q. Do you feel like you did anything better on a superspeedway today?

KYLE BUSCH: No.

Q. You just got lucky?

KYLE BUSCH: I got lucky, yeah (smiling).

Q. Do you consider the Blaney-Wallace portion of that luck or do you expect that at the end of a race?

KYLE BUSCH: Well, so Bubba was pushing me on the restart. He had me squirreled up a little bit down the backstretch. Then we got separated from each other. He went back to grab whoever was behind him, brought the momentum back forward. I got out a little too far.

Off of four, Bubba was coming with a head of steam. I could have turned up to get in front of him and tried to block. I’m going to get wrecked. My stuff would not take pushes anyways. I was not going to put myself in a spot where I was going to try to take one.

I just let those guys go by and say we’ll sort it out down the backstretch and see what happens. We have four more corners to see what happens in this race, two and a half more miles.

They got to pushing real hard, and Bubba went to block. You can’t make more than one turn being pushed. By the time you make that second one, you’re wrecked.

Q. Has there been anything noticeably different about superspeedway races when it comes to now being in the Chevy camp compared to what you had for so many years?

KYLE BUSCH: We’ve talked a lot about that. We’ve actually worked through some of that. The key partner group, had our meeting and stuff on trying to have our eight guys align and be part of the deal together.

There was a couple moments today where that really helped, being able to get down to the bottom, have those guys build a gap so you can get in line before you come to pit road. I thought our pit road execution today was really, really good. We all come in, do our deal, ride pit road, do our stops, got organized really quick. I thought the overall orchestration of that was really good.

I wouldn’t say it really materialized on the racetrack a whole lot. I saw the Toyota guys, they were I think four or five of ’em in a row on the outside towards the end of the race. We never really showed that. But there was some good cohesion.

Q. Eight months ago at Watkins Glen you opened up about how it had been a hard year. Now two wins, a new organization, having success. What is it like to be Kyle Busch, what is your mindset now? How did you get from, maybe you’ll say it’s a dark place, but a darker place to this point? Eight months is a short period of time.

KYLE BUSCH: Yeah, just having a good, strong support system. Obviously Samantha, Brexton, my family first. But then from there, having a great bunch of guys that I’m surrounded by that when Richard made comment to Randall about there being a chance I come over there, he was really pumped up about it, he was really excited about it. Petree was, as well, too. I remember Petree blowing me up for a couple weeks on phone calls.

They didn’t think that Kyle Busch was washed up or anything like that. It was really a breath of fresh air to get over there and get to work.

Trust me, I’ve probably done more, worked harder in this year than I have in the last four just because of feeling like it’s my duty, it’s my service to them to give them everything that I’ve got, absolutely everything that I’ve got, for them sticking their neck out for me at RCR.

We’re working really hard in a lot of areas. I keep pushing these guys on some stuff. I hope that it will continue to get better as we progress through the year.

I think next week is another big test for us as the RCR group statistically speaking at Dover was horrendous a year ago. Hopefully we can turn that around.

Q. You’re among the greats, no doubt about that. I’m sure every driver has ego or self doubt. To get two wins quickly, even though you are Kyle Busch, how important is that to have come out of the gate like that as opposed to get your two wins at race 25 or 26?

KYLE BUSCH: Yeah, right. No, I mean, trust me, I think I said it in Fontana, I’ll say it again: the more wins you can get, the earlier you get ’em, the better your season is going to go. The points buildup is obviously what you strive for. Winning races in the Playoffs obviously moves you through automatically to the next round. That’s a good plus, you get to carry the points late in the year too.

I’ve always looked at having strong starts to seasons, that kind of solidifying your base for the remainder of your season. Somebody told me this a long time ago, that any time you get to Charlotte, Coke 600, from there to the end of the season, points fluctuation, one or two spots barring something stupid happening. Three blown up motors in a row will hurt that. Other than that, the cycle of racing naturally, you’ll end up about the same spot.

I always like to be having a good, strong start to build that foundation.

Q. It seems like this new Next Gen racing more preaches patience than the aggressive style. Do you think this suits you more with the more mature Kyle Busch?

KYLE BUSCH: What number Kyle are we talking about (smiling)?

Q. 2018 Kyle Busch, how does that compare and contrast to other generations you’ve raced?

KYLE BUSCH: This style is by far a lot of patience, which I don’t think the consensus within the garage area with the drivers is that we enjoy it very much. You’d like to have some areas of opportunities to where you can make some moves, cycle yourself around a little bit.

Man, when you ride around there parade formation for 10s of laps at a time, it gets a bit frustrating. You know that you can do better than that. But you pull out of the line, try to make something happen, you hit a block wall of air, go backwards.

Everybody is just the same. It’s just so equal. There’s not enough separation within everything to put on, in my opinion, good, exciting racing at the speedway races. I think there’s a bit of a struggle right now.

Q. Can you speak a little bit on the partnership with RCR and the give-and-take in the transition?

KYLE BUSCH: Yeah, to us coming onboard and being a part of RCR for me this year, I’ve had a lot of great things so far that we’ve been able to work on and really show some positivity, show some good momentum in a direction that we need for success for this year. Then there’s just some of the other areas where we’re not really seeing the fruits of our labor yet.

Again, we’re all striving for the same thing. That’s one goal, and that’s to win. We want to see Austin get a win. Unfortunately he had some bum luck today. Want to get him in the Playoffs, as well, too.

The Xfinity program has been on fire. They’ve been super, super strong this year. That’s been fun to see.

We just need to keep it going in the right way.

THE MODERATOR: Kyle, congratulations again on that win.

KYLE BUSCH: Thanks.

RICHARD CHILDRESS, OWNER OF RICHARD CHILDRESS RACING, and RANDALL BURNETT, CREW CHIEF, NO. 8 MCLAREN CUSTOM GRILLS CAMARO ZL1 – Race Win Press Conference Transcript

THE MODERATOR: Good evening, everyone. We’ve been joined by team owner Richard Childress of Richard Childress Racing.

Richard, congratulations on another win. Tell us a little bit about the final laps from your vantage point.

RICHARD CHILDRESS: I think my stomach was in knots, but not as bad as the crew chief.

Randall was, Pit, pit.

Kyle said, Look, we done made this deal, we done made our decision, let’s ride it out no matter what.

He just stayed out. We were on the border of running out of fuel. I was just holding my breath. It wasn’t going to be fun if we run out of fuel.

It was a good day, a great day. Great crowd. One of the best crowds I understand at Talladega since Dale Jr. won in 2008 or last one that he won.

THE MODERATOR: We’ll take questions for Richard.

Q. Your 13th win here at Talladega, second only to Hendrick. What does it feel like to win at Talladega? Such a difficult place to win.

RICHARD CHILDRESS: It’s such an important win. If you win at Talladega, so much can happen during the race. But Talladega has been so great to RC. I raced here in 1969. One of the biggest breaks I got. I left here with about 1,500, 2,000 dollars, thought I’d never have to work again. Here I am still racing (smiling).

Talladega has been great. Winning with Dale here in the Winston I guess 2000 was the last win for him here.

Q. RCR has had such a resurgence with Kyle. How do you feel as an organization?

RICHARD CHILDRESS: I think he’s helping us build RCR back to where we want to be. I have to give all the credit to Austin Dillon. He’s the one that came to me, he knew Tyler was going somewhere else. He said, Pop, what do you think about bringing Kyle Busch over here?

I said, I’ll talk to him if he wants to.

We sat down, put a program together. The credit goes to Austin for bringing him on.

Q. You talk about Austin. How do you keep that team from not maybe getting into desperation mode?

RICHARD CHILDRESS: Which team?

Q. Austin’s team, considering how far back they are in points, looking at the Playoffs. Last year they won the last race to get in. Is there anything you do or want them to do to avoid being in desperation mode?

RICHARD CHILDRESS: Well, you start the season out in desperation mode. That’s the way we always look at this deal.

He knows now he’s got to win. We know we’ve got to get a win for him. We’ll be digging extra hard to get him there, those 60 points, we got an appeal. I feel we have a decent chance. I don’t know who the panel will be, but that will be who will decide it. I think we got a decent chance.

Q. You’ve had some struggles in recent years, but now when you go back to last season, you’ve won six of the last 29 races. I don’t know if you’re going to say you’re back or you consider yourself back, but what does it mean to be more of a player than what you had been for a number of years?

RICHARD CHILDRESS: Thank you, Dustin. That’s a good question.

Racing is like life: there’s peaks and valleys. When you get in on a peak, it’s harder to stay there. You got to be prepared when you’re at the top. We’ve been there. We’ve also been in the valley, the very bottom. You got to work harder and have the right drive and emotion to put you up to the top. That’s what we’ve worked hard to get there. It’s took a long road. It’s been a fun deal.

Q. What does it mean to you personally?

RICHARD CHILDRESS: Me personally, it means a lot. I’m still doing this. People say, Why do you do it? If you see all those fans up there, that’s why we do it. We’re all in this for that reason.

We got some great partners that we’ve been involved with. Chevy, Bass Pro, so many of them over the years. Just long-term partnerships drive you.

And our crew chief, Randall Burnett. Can you breathe yet (laughter)?

RANDALL BURNETT: Yes (smiling).

Q. A lot of people dread coming to this place. It’s been good to you over the years. Why do you think it’s been good to you? What is it about this place?

RICHARD CHILDRESS: Back even when I was driving, they used to say it was an Indian burial ground. I don’t know if any of you remember that. It was always supposed to be the ghost of Talladega to be here.

I just always shook it off and just enjoyed it. I loved racing here as a driver. I love being an owner here. We’ve had some great runs, great wins. I’m excited about the future of RCR, Kyle, Austin, the whole team.

Q. Richard, it’s been 15 races for Kyle since he’s won here. 22 for you, back since Clint Bowyer won here in 2011. Did you wonder if you would ever get back to Victory Lane? Did you see this as being one of those it’s just going to be a battle?

RICHARD CHILDRESS: Talladega is always a battle of survival. That’s what the battle really is. If you can be there at the end, you got a chance to win. That’s what we wanted to do. That’s always our goal here and Daytona. You got to be there at the end.

Both drivers talked about coming out here racing, racing as hard as they could, and they did. It was a good day for one. Austin didn’t have that good of a day, he was involved in that crash. But Talladega will give you that, give you the peaks and valleys.

Q. Randall, obviously the pit strategy, a big question. What does it mean to you to be on the box, have your driver say, This is what we’re doing, I have control?

RANDALL BURNETT: It’s hugely helpful. For him to buy into what we’re doing, the communication is there, Hey, man, this is where we’re at in the race, this is what we’ve got going on. For him to understand that, process that, do everything he can to help us along the way, is huge for us, how we play our strategy.

Q. The opposite side of that is can you look at Talladega Superspeedway and say if we need something great to happen, can you come to Talladega and say maybe this is where things turn around for us?

RANDALL BURNETT: Well, yeah, it’s a nice shot in the arm for us, honestly. We kind of hung out, tried to stay out of trouble all day. Everybody was kind of along the same lines of just being conscious of how much fuel they were using, all that.

We’ve came off a rough three or four races for us. To be able to come back out and win this race, it’s good for everybody on the team, get a good shot in the arm.

Really looking forward to going back to some of these mile-and-a-half tracks, get back to the meat and potatoes of the schedule, seeing what we’ve got there.

We’ve got some work obviously to do on our short track stuff. That will give us a little bit of a break, realign on that, come back, see what we got.

Q. Richard, you’ve seen a lot of races, ups and downs at Talladega. The optimism of coming to Talladega…

RICHARD CHILDRESS: Like I said earlier, it’s all about survival here, one thing, to put yourself in a position to win. All day long, Kyle sit there in that bottom line, when some other lines were moving, kept moving up, moving up. Pit strategy, the calls that Randall made there for the amount of fuel, saving fuel, use less fuel to get you out in front of them. That paid off. That’s what it takes.

I’m going to go celebrate with my friend J.P. Morris, Johnny Morris, all the friends at Bass Pro because we’re going turkey hunting tomorrow (smiling).

Q. Randall, what happened on the final sequence when you called Kyle in? When did you make the decision?

RANDALL BURNETT: Yeah, we’d had the talk when the first caution came out there like 184, 185. I’m like, Hey, man, we’re going to be in a bad spot here possibly if we get too many green-white-checkereds.

He was like, Let’s try to give it a go, the first one, see what happens.

He was fully aware. He was aggressively saving us fuel, doing everything he could. He knew the situation at that point. I saw a couple of ’em getting ready to duck off in front of us. They were kind of in the same fuel situation as we were. There were a bunch of us.

Honestly, I called it too late. It was a fortunate mistake, you know what I mean? We kind of lucked out there. He saved enough under those cautions to make it till the end. The caution coming out on the white flag lap there, who knows if we would have ran all the way to the end. We might not have made it.

Just kind of better be lucky than good at that point.

Q. 11 races with him. He’s a unique talent, temperamental. Never know what you’re going to get. How has it been working with him?

RANDALL BURNETT: It’s been great. His ability speaks for itself obviously. What he knows about the cars and the strategy, just how the race plays out, what he needs in a car, all that is hugely helpful.

I think it helps me be better, be more detailed, and really be on top of my game because he’s going to challenge you if you’re not.

I think everybody on the 8 team has really stepped it up in that manner. I think it’s been good so far. I think everything has been great. We have a good relationship, communicate a lot, communicate well. I think that shows.

Q. Kyle hasn’t won at one of these tracks in a points race in a long time. When you talk about this style of racing, does he tell you he’s good or that he hasn’t won in over a decade?

RANDALL BURNETT: Well, no, honestly, when he got there, that was one of the big things that he wanted to get with Derek on. He knows Derek has had some success, our spotter Derek.

He came over, Man, I’ll tell you what, I’ve really struggled at these places. I don’t know what it is about my approach, what we do, but I’ve struggled at these superspeedway tracks.

He was very interested to see how Derek goes about approaching his day and how that communication goes. They spent a lot of time over the winter talking about it, listening to tape, doing all that. I think it paid off.

Obviously we were in a great spot at the 500. Really fast there all weekend. Just kind of missed out on winning that one. Got wadded up at the end. Obviously put ourselves in position there, as well.

I think their relationship is really good. I think Kyle has put a lot of trust in Derek at these places. It’s been paying off.

Q. Since you won with Tyler at Road America, you’ve won five races among the two drivers. How have you been able to build this team that when you have the talent, you can take advantage?

RANDALL BURNETT: I mean, this 8 team, it’s strong. The road crew guys, they’re all racers. They’ve grown up racing. We’ve got great engineers. This team’s really strong. We’re really close, really connected. We’ve spent the last three or four years together all through Tyler’s coming up through the Cup side, now with Kyle.

Everybody’s really dedicated. Everybody wants to come out and win races. Everybody works hard. They pull their weight. They take their responsibility for their part in it. It just makes a great team.

Obviously we’ve been fortunate enough to have two very talented drivers. Tyler is an incredible talent. Now we got Kyle. His résumé speaks for itself.

Just very fortunate to have those kind of caliber of drivers drive the car, and for our team to stay close-knit and work as hard as they do. It’s been great.

Q. Even with the talent you have, how did you have to build it up as a coach?

RANDALL BURNETT: It’s one of those deals, we missed a lot of opportunities when Tyler was driving the car. We finished second I don’t know how many times. Everybody sees that and they taste that and they want it, right?

It’s not hard when you’re running up front to keep everybody motivated. It’s when you’re struggling and things aren’t going right. It’s tough to keep everybody pulling together in the same direction.

Fortunately, like last year, we had a lot of fast cars all year long. Tyler did a great job. We finally figured out how to break that barrier. Once we did, it started working out better for us.

Kyle came aboard. He’s been great to work with. He’s a proven winner many times over. Just to be able to get him in the car, us kind of adapt to him, him adapt to us, we kind of found a good middle road I think.

Looking forward to getting to more of these tracks.

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations on the win.


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Buescher Earns P3 Finish in Wild Final Lap at Talladega

Fastenal Ford Skates through Last-Lap Incident to Earn Best Finish of 2023

LINCOLN, Ala. (April 23, 2023) – Talladega often times provides some of the best, but most unpredictable finishes. Chris Buescher was on the right end of a chaotic one Sunday afternoon as he snuck his way through a final-lap crash to finish third in the Fastenal Ford Mustang.

“It was a good finish for our Fastenal Mustang,” Buescher said after the race. “It was not as much fun on the day as I expected. Just really hard to make any moves – lanes just stalled out, handing didn’t seem to come into play. I don’t know if it was temperatures or what. Just not as much movement as we hoped… just thought we’d have more opportunities there.

“Everybody worked hard and got us up there in the end. We had enough fuel, and threw some good strategy in there. We were in the hunt for it. I wanted to see the lap play out. I felt like we had a good run up-top, but looking back I don’t think we had any help either. I don’t know. At the end of the day, it was a good finish. The race itself wasn’t as much fun as I was hoping for, for us.”

The No. 17 was 12th at the time of the race’s final restart in the second NASCAR overtime attempt. With momentum in the high line, Buescher worked around a multi-car incident that ultimately ended the race under yellow as he was scored third at the time.

That came after the race was initially halted with just five laps remaining when another incident sent the race to overtime. Buescher was 18th at the time and lined back up there for the first overtime attempt. Otherwise, he had a mostly uneventful day in the opening two stages that featured just two combined yellow flags.

Race action returns next Sunday at Dover Motor Speedway, where Buescher earned the pole last spring. Race coverage Sunday is set for 2 p.m. ET on FS1, with radio coverage on PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Keselowski Finishes 5th in Chaotic Ending at Talladega

No. 6 Team Earns Second Top-Five of Season

LINCOLN, Ala. (April 23, 2023) – Brad Keselowski carved his way through a pair of late-race restarts Sunday afternoon to finish fifth in the Castrol Edge Ford Mustang at Talladega Superspeedway.

“We could just never get track position,” Keselowski said after the race. “Felt like we had a car that could win this race if we could get to the front, but we could never get to the front with all the pit cycles and everything. It just kept cycling us back, and it was really frustrating.

“Towards the end when we got to the front, I feel like if the No. 23 didn’t spin, we were in a spot to win the race, pushing eight down the back-stretch. It’s just not the way the cookies crumbled.”

In rare Talladega fashion, the full field of cars survived through the opening two stages with only a pair of caution flags in the opening 60 laps. However, that tide turned in the closing laps as a multi-car incident occurred with five laps to go before a pair of NASCAR overtime restarts ultimately settled the 500+-mile race.

Keselowski was running 13th at the time of the caution with five to go and restarted 12th for the first overtime attempt. Then, he fired off seventh on the final attempt and was second on the bottom line at the white flag. Despite a hard hit on the right front in an incident that ended the race under yellow, Keselowski maintained his position and was scored fifth as the ending settled.

Keselowski started the day from the 20th position and was unable to score stage points in the opening two segments, but secured his second top-five of the season and fourth top-10.

The No. 6 team returns to action at Dover next weekend. Race coverage on Sunday is set for 2 p.m. ET on FS1, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.