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Ford Performance Notes and Quotes – NCTS Martinsville 1 Post-Race Quotes

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Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
Long John Silver’s 200 | Saturday, April 14, 2023

Ford Finishing Results:
3rd – Zane Smith
4th – Ty Majeski
6th – Ben Rhodes
13th – Stephen Mallozzi
18th – Conner Jones
20th – Hailie Deegan
26th – Matt Crafton
28th – Kaden Honeycutt
33rd – Mason Massey

ZANE SMITH, No. 38 Long John Silver’s Ford F-150 – WHAT DID YOU NEED? “No rain. It was just kind of a waste of a race, to be honest. It’s just a bummer, especially to have Long John Silver’s on the truck in the Long John Silver’s 200. It’s still a good finish, but almost impossible to pass and the rain didn’t do any favors for tonight.”

HOW DID THE RAIN TIRES FEEL? “I don’t know everyone else’s opinion, but we weren’t good. We were super tight and fortunately we were able to get normal tires back on and drive back through them and come home with a top three finish.”

WHAT MORE DID YOU NEED ON THE LAST FEW RESTARTS TO GET THE LEAD? “I fought lot of wheel spin, definitely. It was just kind of hit or miss on being up top or on the bottom. Me and Kyle just kept changing. It depending on how well the third guy got going to plug that hole, but it is what it is.”

TY MAJESKI, No. 98 Soda Sense Ford F-150 – A LONG NIGHT WITH THE RAIN. “Yeah, you hate to see that for TV. Everyone wants to put on a show and it just wasn’t in the cards for us to do that for everybody tonight. Overall, it was a good day. We started 12th and with not a lot of green flag laps to be able to get to fourth was a solid day for us. I have a string of really good finishes here and I’m excited to go to Kansas. We were good there last year.”

HOW DID IT FEEL ON THE RAIN TIRES? “The track wasn’t totally wet. The biggest thing is these are road course rain tires so they don’t have any stagger. The truck was just very, very tight compared to what it is with an actual tire that’s made to turn left. It was an experience. I guess somebody had to do it first, so I don’t know. It’ll be interesting to see where that takes us in the future.”

No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 Claims Pole Position for Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach

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(Long Beach, Calif.) April 14, 2023 — Filipe Albuquerque piloted the No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 into pole position during Friday’s qualifying session for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. Albuquerque’s flying lap posted a time of 1:09.909 – a half of a second faster than the second-place qualifier for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTP field. With the pole position for the No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06, Acura locked in the front row for the manufacturer’s home race.

“It feels so good to be in pole position in Long Beach, the home of Acura,” said Filipe Albuquerque. “Through the two practices we seemed to be a little quicker than the other manufacturers, but between the two Acuras we were really close, and the fight was mainly between us. We were never underestimating anybody, so there was still a lot of tension to secure that pole. Again, my lap came out really well and it seemed that we had an edge on everybody, so super happy with the pole position by half a second with such a strong field feels good.”

TOP FIVE STARTING GRID

  1. No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 (Acura ARX-06) R. Taylor, F. Albuquerque (101.343 mph)
  2. No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb-Agajanian (Acura ARX-06) C. Braun, T. Blomqvist (100.375 mph)
  3. No. 01 Cadillac Racing (Cadillac V-Series R) S. Bourdais, R. van der Zande (99.812 mph)
  4. No. 25 BMW M Team RLL (BMW M Hybrid V8) C. De Phillippi, N. Yelloly (99.783 mph)
  5. No. 24 BMW M Team RLL (BMW M Hybrid V8) P. Eng, A. Farfus (99.271 mph)

Albuquerque and the No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 will lead the field to the green flag for tomorrow’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach at 2:05pm PT. All 100 minutes of the first sprint race of the season will be broadcast on USA Network and Peacock.

ABOUT KONICA MINOLTA
Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc.’s (Konica Minolta) journey started 150 years ago, with a vision to see and do things differently. The company innovates for the good of society and the world. The same purpose that kept it moving then, keeps it moving now. Konica Minolta aims to partner with clients to Give Shape to Ideas by supporting their digital transformation through its expansive Intelligent Connected Workplace portfolio. Its business technology offerings include IT Services, intelligent information management, video security solutions and managed print services, as well as office technology and industrial and commercial print solutions. Through its ongoing work, the company is fortunate to be continuously recognized for its products and services. This includes, but is not limited to being included on CRN’s MSP 500 list numerous times; named a finalist in the IT Software Category by The World Technology Awards; recognized as the #1 Brand for CustomerLoyalty in the MFP Office Copier Market by Brand Keys and presented with Keypoint Intelligence’s BLI 2021 A3 Line of The Year and BLI 2021-2023 Most Color Consistent A3 Brand Awards for its bizhub i-Series.

Sustainability also continues to be a key driver for the company. As such, Konica Minolta Inc. has been named to the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index for nine consecutive years and has spent six years on the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World list. For more information, please visit Konica Minolta online and follow its accounts on Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn and Twitter.

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

The Heart of Racing Earns Motul Pole Award on the Streets of Long Beach

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Long Beach, Calif. (14 April 2023) – Returning to the streets of Long Beach, The Heart of Racing team (HOR) qualified to roll off from pole position for Saturday’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.

Ross Gunn and Alex Riberas placed the No. 23 Heart of Racing GTD PRO entry at the top of the leaderboard for the first practice of the day. The Grand Prix of Long Beach reigning victors continued to lay down fast laps in the afternoon sun for second practice, ending the second practice with the fourth fastest lap.

Gunn qualified for the duo earning a top spot early on in the qualifying session. Just after his fastest lap was eclipsed, the session went to red flag conditions for an incident on track, and did not restart as Gunn will open the 100-minute race from the front row of the GTD PRO grid.

Marco Sorensen and Roman De Angelis are teamed in the No. 27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 entry in the GTD class. The duo are making their IMSA WeatherTech Sprint Cup start together, and worked through a balance issue in the opening session to start the day eighth in first practice.

After a few changes, the car had more stability in the second practice session landing the No. 27 Aston Martin with the third fastest lap in that session.

Sorensen qualified for the first time on a street circuit in an Aston Martin and quickly went to the top of the leaderboard and earned the Motul Pole Award for the No. 27 Heart of Racing entry. Sorensen topped both the GTD and GTD PRO classes with a 1:17.811 – second lap time.

The Acura Grand Prix at Long Beach will take the green flag on Saturday at 5:05 pm ET with live coverage on USA Network starting at 5:00 pm ET. Live race IMSA Radio coverage will be broadcast on SiriusXM Ch. 207.

The Heart of Racing Quoteboard

Ross Gunn No. 23 GTD PRO : “It’s a great result for the team because Marco was P1 and I was P3 overall, P2 in class. Everyone wants to be on pole but Marco delivered the lap and delivered the performance, he did an amazing job. Qualifying wasn’t very smooth for me – I really under-achieved, to be honest. I made a mistake which upset the rhythm a bit but having said that, we’re at the front, close to where we need to be to start getting points to come back in the championship. So at least we’re up at the sharp end. Tomorrow is about trying to pick up some good points because we are quite a long way behind in the championship, having had some bad luck so far this season. But we’ll be out there pushing tomorrow.”

Marco Sorensen No. 27 GTD : “I think coming here for the first time on the street circuit, I was definitely a bit uneasy. When I came out on the track the first time it was something you had to build up to during the day today. It was nice when we actually made the decision that I was doing the qualifying, though it was not fully the plan. It was good to actually go out and just get the job done. The car was really good.”

About The Heart of Racing

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

Cadillac Racing to start third, seventh at Long Beach

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Cadillac aiming for sixth consecutive prototype victory on challenging street circuit

LONG BEACH, Calif. (April 14, 2023) — Sebastien Bourdais and Renger van der Zande will aim to successfully defend their victory and extend Cadillac Racing’s winning streak at Long Beach to six races from the inside of the second row in the 100-minute IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race Saturday.

Bourdais, who last April set the track qualifying record of 1 minute, 9.472 seconds (101.980 mph) in earning the pole, covered the 1.968-mile, 11-turn temporary street circuit in 1:10.981 in the No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R to grab the third starting spot.

Alexander Sims qualified seventh in the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R with a best lap of 1:11.410. Felipe Albuquerque claimed the pole in the No. 10 Acura with a lap of 1:09.909.

Long Beach is the first outing for the hybrid Grand Touring Prototype cars, which are heavier and have less downforce than their DPi predecessors, on the street course.

In 2022, Bourdais and van der Zande took the checkered flag after 73 laps to lead a Cadillac sweep of the podium.

USA will telecast the race at 5 p.m. ET Saturday, with steaming coverage on Peacock. IMSA Radio will broadcast the race at IMSA.com along with Sirius 216, XM 207 and SiriusXM Online 992.

In Round 2 of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship on March 18, the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R co-driven by Sims, Pipo Derani and Jack Aitken, earned its third consecutive victory in the Twelve Hours of Sebring.

Cadillac leads the GTP Manufacturer Championship standings and the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R prepared by Action Express Racing sits atop the GTP Championship Team and Driver standings.

No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R

Sebastien Bourdais, Renger van der Zande

Bourdais drove in the 20-minute qualifying session (1 minute, 10.981 seconds on 13 laps): “It was a trying day for us. I think the cool temperatures hurt us quite badly. The Cadillac has been very good so far, though, taking care of conditions like this on a street course. I’m pretty happy with the qualifying results, all things considered, and I know we can go racing from there.”

No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R

Pipo Derani, Alexader Sims

Sims drove in the 20-minute qualifying session (1 minute, 11.410 seconds on 13 laps): “Seventh is not great, but I’m relatively comfortable with the time gaps around me. There was more lap time in me fine-tuning things. Fifth definitely was in the cards if maybe I just had a few more laps. We opted to do what we did with tires, which should help us tomorrow to put a few extra laps on them so they come in nice and quick for Pipo. I was happy with how the car felt. It was nice to do a low-fuel run. We have work to do tomorrow to make some opportunities happen probably in traffic. Hopefully give it to Pipo and he can make some magic happen out there. Keep it smart, stay in the race and see where it goes.”

Cadillac Racing DPi-V.R Long Beach results 2022-2017

2022: Overall winner (No. 01 V-Performance Academy Cadillac DPi-V.R) start first – Renger van der Zande, Sebastien Bourdais

      Second (No. 02 Cadillac Accessories Cadillac DPi-V.R) start second – Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn

      Third (No. 5 Mustang Sampling Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R) start fifth – Tristan Vautier, Richard Westbrook

      Fifth (No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R) start fourth – Pipo Derani, Tristan Nunez

2021: Overall winner (No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R) start first – Pipo Derani, Felipe Nasr

     Second (No. 01 Cadillac Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R) start second – Renger van der Zande, Kevin Magnussen

     Third (No. 5 Mustang Sampling Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R) start third – Tristan Vautier, Loic Duval

2019: Overall winner (No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R) start fourth – Felipe Albuquerque, Joao Barbosa

     Fifth (No. 84 JDC-Miller MotorSports Cadillac DPi-V.R) start seventh – Stephen Simpson, Simon Trummer

     Sixth (No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R) start second – Pipo Derani, Felipe Nasr

    Seventh (No. 50 Juncos Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R) start ninth – Kyle Kaiser, Will Owen

    10th (No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R) start 10th – Renger van der Zande, Jordan Taylor

2018: Overall winner (No. 5 Mustang Sampling Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R) start fifth — Felipe Albuquerque, Joao Barbosa

    Third (No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R) start sixth – Renger van der Zande, Jordan Taylor

    Seventh (No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R) start second – Felipe Nasr, Eric Curran

2017: Overall winner (No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R) start first – Jordan Taylor, Ricky Taylor

    29th overall, seventh in class (No. 5 Mustang Sampling Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R) start second – Joao Barbosa, Christian Fittipaldi

    32nd overall, eighth in class (No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R) start fifth – Eric Curran, Dane Cameron

CORVETTE RACING AT LONG BEACH: Time to Make Some Magic

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Official Release
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Garcia, Taylor aim to charge forward in street fight with No. 3 C8.R

LONG BEACH, Calif. (April 14, 2023) – Corvette Racing will start fourth in class and fifth among all production-based GT cars Saturday for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach following Friday’s qualifying session for the Acura Grand Prix.

Antonio Garcia set a best lap of 1:18.329 (90.449 mph) in a tough-luck, 15-minute qualifying for GT Daytona (GTD) PRO cars in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Driving the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R with teammate Jordan Taylor, Garcia finished the session a half-second off the GTD PRO pole time.

He lost two of his best laps in the qualifying due to cars spinning ahead of him, which meant the Corvette had to bail out on those flying laps. Still, Garcia will look to make up spots early and often at the tight and twisty 1.968-mile, 11-turn circuit. The race likely will feature one planned pit stop, so the potential is there for the stellar Corvette Racing crew to gain spots in the pitlane.

Long Beach is an intense 100-minute dash for the Corvette program and the rest of the WeatherTech Championship teams. It’s an event that Corvette Racing has won more than another team in series history – four times since 2014 – to go along with four more victories in the American Le Mans Series era from 2007-2013.

The event is, of course, miles different than the team’s first two races of the season – the Rolex 24 and Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. Due to the 100-minute race time and no margin for error with concrete walls lining the circuit, qualifying and track position are everything.

That meant a dual-focused approach in Friday’s two practice sessions for establish the best qualifying and race setups in order to not just earn track position in Friday’s time trials but to also keep and improve it Saturday in the race.

The Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach is scheduled for 5:05 p.m. ET / 2:05 p.m. PT on Saturday. The race will air live on USA Network from 5-7 p.m. ET with full streaming coverage on Peacock. IMSA Radio will carry the race at IMSA.com along with Sirius 217, XM 207 and SiriusXM Online 992.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – QUALIFIED FOURTH IN GTD PRO: “It was a difficult session in a way. It was difficult to gauge the traffic and when people were going to spin. So far we have been struggling to put temperature in the tires. We definitely needed more laps. It’s a shame I only got one good-ish lap. Maybe it should have been better than that but it’s a shame that a 15-minute qualifying went down to five or six laps total around here.

“The McLaren spun in front of me in Turn Five, and I had to bail on that lap. Then we there was another crash at Turn Eight. Those may have been good laps there. I’m not sure they would have been good for pole, but the car and the rhythm were still coming in. But that’s Long Beach.”

2023 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship – GTD PRO (After two of 11 events)

Driver Standings

  1. Daniel Juncadella/Jules Gounon/Maro Engel – 708
  2. Ben Barnicoat/Jack Hawksworth – 682
  3. Klaus Bachler/Laurens Vanthoor/Patrick Pilet – 659
  4. Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor/Tommy Milner – 643
  5. Jordan Pepper/Romain Grosjean – 612

Team Standings

  1. No. 79 WeatherTech Racing – 708
  2. No. 14 Vasser Sullivan – 682
  3. No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports – 659
  4. No. 3 Corvette Racing – 643
  5. No. 63 Iron Lynx – 612

Manufacturer Standings

  1. Mercedes-AMG – 708
  2. Lexus – 682
  3. Porsche – 659
  4. Chevrolet – 643
  5. Lamborghini – 612

CORVETTE RACING AT LONG BEACH: By the Numbers

  • 1: As in one team, one manufacturer and one model of car for 16 years at Long Beach: Corvette Racing, Chevrolet and the Chevrolet Corvette.
  • 3: Generations of Corvette Racing entries at Long Beach since 2007 – Corvette C6.R (2007-13) and Corvette C7.R (2014-2019) and Corvette C8.R (2021-current). All three generations have won at least once at Long Beach.
  • 4: Number of Long Beach race victories for Corvette Racing’s duo of Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor.
  • 8: Number of drivers who have competed at Long Beach for Corvette Racing – Olivier Beretta, Antonio Garcia, Oliver Gavin, Jan Magnussen, Tommy Milner, Johnny O’Connell, Nick Tandy and Jordan Taylor. Each driver won at least once at Long Beach.
  • 8: Number of Long Beach victories in 15 appearances for Corvette Racing – more than any other IMSA entrant at the circuit.
  • 10: Number of Long Beach sports car victories for Chevrolet. Throw in 12 IndyCar wins, and Chevrolet has claimed 22 victories in the event’s two premier races.
  • 14: Manufacturer Championships for Chevrolet and Corvette Racing since 2001.
  • 19: Number of street circuit victories for Corvette Racing – more than any other IMSA entrant at the circuit.
  • 26: 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, Portland, Road America, Road Atlanta, Sebring, Sonoma, St. Petersburg, Texas, Trois Rivieres, Utah, VIR, Washington DC and Watkins Glen
  • 30: Number of wins in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for Corvette Racing since the start of 2014.
  • 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.
  • 123: Victories worldwide for Corvette Racing – 113 in North America and eight at Le Mans.
  • 269: Event starts by Corvette Racing since 1999.
  • 4,081.61: Number of racing miles completed by Corvette Racing in its 15 previous trips to Long Beach. That represents 2,074 laps around the 1.968-mile street circuit.
  • 353,311.01: 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 Long Beach (wins in bold)

2007

No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Johnny O’Connell – 2nd in GT1 (Magnussen fastest race lap)

No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 1st in GT1 (Gavin pole)

2008

No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Johnny O’Connell/Jan Magnussen – 1st in GT1 (Magnussen pole)

No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 1st in GT1 (Gavin fastest race lap)

2009

No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Johnny O’Connell – 2nd in GT1

No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin – 1st in GT1 (Beretta pole, fastest race lap)

2010

No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Johnny O’Connell – 2nd in GT2

No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Jan Magnussen – 9th in GT2 (Gavin fastest race lap)

2011

No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Olivier Beretta/Tommy Milner – 5th in GT

No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Jan Magnussen – 2nd in GT (Magnussen fastest race lap)

2012

No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 4th in GT

No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 1st in GT (Gavin fastest race lap)

2013

No. 3 Corvette C6.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 5th in GT

No. 4 Corvette C6.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 4th in GT (Gavin fastest race lap)

2014

No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 1st in GTLM (Magnussen pole)

No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 3rd in GTLM (Milner fastest race lap)

2015

No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 3rd in GTLM

No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 7th in GTLM

2016

No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 9th in GTLM

No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 2nd in GTLM

2017

No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 5th in GTLM (Magnussen pole)

No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 1st in GTLM

2018

No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 4th in GTLM

No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 1st in GTLM

2019

No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia – 2nd in GTLM

No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 3rd in GTLM

2021

No. 3 Corvette C8.R: Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 2nd in GTLM (Taylor pole)

No. 4 Corvette C8.R: Tommy Milner/Nick Tandy – 1st in GTLM (Tandy fastest race lap)

2022

No. 3 Corvette C8.R: Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 3rd in GTD PRO (Taylor pole)

Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.

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 INDYCAR AT LONG BEACH: TEAM CHEVY FRIDAY PRACTICE ONE RECAP

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Official Release
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2023 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach
Streets of Long Beach
Long Beach, California
Team Chevy Practice One Recap
April 14, 2023

PATO O’WARD ON POINT IN PRACTICE ONE FOR CHEVROLET

LONG BEACH, Calif (April 14, 2023) NTT INDYCAR Series points leader Pato O’Ward set the pace for the 27-car field in the first practice for the 48th running of the Grand Prix of Long Beach-the 39th for INDYCAR. O’Ward bested the field with a lap of one minute, 06.6999 seconds behind the wheel of his No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, just over two and a half tenths faster than second place.

“Yeah, we just kept chipping away at it,” said O’Ward. “We rolled off strong, but we’ve been definitely making adjustments to kind of get it a little bit more in the window. A bit more to this tracks characteristics and, to what I like. So far it’s good we’re, we’re gonna look into it and see where we can make improvements but I think we’re in some good shape for tomorrow and it just all about executing. It’s such a tight field. Long Beach always is just such an intense qualifying.

“I mean, I couldn’t get off of the brakes when I flat spotted the tire. If I did, I was gonna go into the tires. It was the last run of the day and when you’re gonna try something like that, that’s usually when you should because you know qualifying definitely not the not the place to be getting experimental. So now we know what we want we don’t want to do but the tracks gonna keep evolving. It’s going to keep creeping up. There’s it’s really quick. It’s a very, very quick section after turn six is really nice now, a lot a lot more smooth. But turn eight reminds me a little bit of what the changes felt like in turn three at St. Pete with a new asphalt that meets the older one meet was a massive bump. That makes consistency a little bit more challenging. But yeah, so far it’s a good start.”

Three additional Chevrolet powered drivers joined O’Ward in the top-nine of the final order. Teammate Alexander Rossi in his No. 7 Chevrolet posted the seventh quickest time with third of the Arrow McLaren drivers, Felix Rosenqvist, posting ninth quickest in the No. 6. Wedged in eighth is Callum Ilott, No, 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet.

Remaining Team Chevy drivers finished practice as follows:

13th No.3 Scott McLaughlin

14th No. 2 Josef Newgarden

15th No. 12 Will Power

20th No. 20 Conor Daly

22nd No, 21 Rinus VeeKay

23rd No. 78 Agustin Canapino

26th No. 14 Santino Ferrucci

27th No. 55 Benjamin Pedersen

On Saturday demanding 1.968-mile, 11-turn temporary street circuit on the Streets of Long Beach hosts NTT INDYCAR Series Practice Two at 8:45 a.m. local. Firestone Fast Six Qualifying will start at 12:05 p.m. PT on Saturday. A final warm up will start race day on Sunday at 9 a.m. PT. All practice and qualifying will be live on Peacock, INDYCAR Radio and SiriusXM Channel 160. The 85-lap, 167.28-mile race Sunday, April 16 will take the green flag at 3:45 p.m. ET/12:45 p.m. PT live on NBC.

NTT INDYCAR SERIES News Conference

Friday, April 14, 2023

Pato O’Ward

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon. Wrapping up day one with NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice. Pato O’Ward, the NTT INDYCAR SERIES points leader, quickest.

Pato, we heard you talking about the new pavement. You like it, feels pretty good?

PATO O’WARD: It’s a lot better. I think what’s made it a little bit trickier is where the new asphalt meets the old one in turn eight, it reminds you of turn three in St. Pete. It’s smooth moving in, but it’s a smaller scale, not as quick, but there’s definitely a bump there. I think that will be something to watch just throughout the weekend.

Yeah, I’m happy with it. We got into the window. It’s tight, man. I think qualifying is going to be as tight as it’s probably ever been. I think it puts a lot of emphasis on just the little mistakes you can make.

THE MODERATOR: We’ll open it up for questions.

Q. Pato, you said it’s super tight. You’re a quarter of a second quicker than P2. That’s a lot in this series. Where did that last bit of speed come from?

PATO O’WARD: I guess I nailed down the lap. Yeah, it felt good. The little changes that got done to the track maybe not completely changed the setup, but I think it allows you to do a couple different things. You can get away with a couple more things that you couldn’t years past.

But where did it come from? I don’t know. I guess, yeah, I was just driving (smiling).

Q. Pato, it’s usually in the 70s here in Long Beach around this time. Today it was 62. Did the weather have any effect at all on what happened out there today in the session?

PATO O’WARD: Beautiful day. I haven’t really seen what tomorrow’s going to be like. Is it going to be similar?

Q. Colder.

PATO O’WARD: I thought today was beautiful. The track is definitely quicker than what it was last year. There’s not as much rubber down, but the track is fast. I think the more cars laying down rubber, it’s just probably going to gain and gain and gain.

Yeah, the tires and the engines like the colder temperatures rather than it being really hot.

Q. Pato, it’s only Friday, but how much confidence does that give you going into the rest of the weekend?

PATO O’WARD: Things can change really quick in INDYCAR. It’s so competitive. So I think what we’ll do now is just try and make it better. There’s always things you can improve on. Come tomorrow, go out there and just execute. I think that’s the most important part.

You can have the quickest car, but if you don’t get the lap together, you’re looking yourself at a harder Sunday than what it should, I guess.

Yeah, I think tomorrow will just be about getting the laps down and not making the silly mistakes that can put you back.

THE MODERATOR: Thanks for coming by. Appreciate it.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.

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.

How Electric Motorsports Are Changing the Future of Racing

By
SM
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In recent years, electric motorsports have been gaining traction as a new and exciting form of racing. With advancements in technology and a push towards sustainability, electric motorsports are quickly becoming a popular alternative to traditional gasoline-powered racing. From Formula E to the Electric GT Championship, these races not only showcase cutting-edge engineering but also promote environmentally conscious practices. In this blog post, we’ll explore how electric motorsports are changing the future of racing and what this means for the industry as a whole.

The Advantages of Electric Motorsports

There are many advantages to electric motorsports that make them appealing for both spectators and racers. For starters, electric engines are much more efficient than gasoline-powered ones. This means that electric vehicles can go faster, further, and for a longer period of time without needing to refuel or recharge.

Plus, electric engines produce less noise pollution, making events quieter and easier to manage. This is beneficial both for spectators, who don’t have to deal with loud engines, and the environment, which suffers less air pollution.

Electric cars also require much less maintenance than gasoline-powered ones. Because they lack the moving parts of traditional engines, electric motorsports cars are simpler and cheaper to maintain.

Lastly, electric motorsports races tend to be more exciting than traditional ones. This is because drivers must try to conserve their battery power in order to finish the race – a tactic that adds a unique twist to the sport and keeps spectators on the edge of their seats.

The Impact of Electric Motorsports

Electric motorsports are quickly becoming popular among fans and racers, and this has the potential to revolutionize the racing industry. Electric motorsports can significantly reduce costs for teams and sponsors, as electric cars are cheaper to maintain and require less investment in fuel or power sources.

Additionally, electric motorsports races create an opportunity for teams to showcase their innovative technologies and designs. With more of a focus on speed and efficiency, teams will be incentivized to create more efficient vehicles in order to gain an edge over their competition.

Electric motorsports can also help reduce the environmental impact of racing and make it a more sustainable sport. With less noise pollution and fewer fuel emissions, electric motorsports can help reduce the carbon footprint of races while still providing exciting racing action.

Finally, motorsports betting can benefit from electric cars. Electric motorsports races are more predictable than traditional ones, as drivers must carefully manage their battery power in order to finish the race. This makes it easier for bettors to make informed decisions and increase profitability.

The latest betting markets in motorsport have started to include races such as Formula E and the Electric GT Championship. As a result, fans have more opportunities to place bets on these races and profit from their predictions.

Getting To Know the Major Players in Motorsports

Electric motorsports have attracted many major players in the industry, including manufacturers and racing teams. Some of these include:

Formula E

Formula E is an electric racing series developed by the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile). Races are held in cities around the world, and many of its teams are backed by big names such as BMW, Jaguar, Audi, and Nissan.

MotoE World Cup

The MotoE World Cup is an all-electric motorcycle racing series created by the FIM (Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme). The purpose of this series is to promote electric motorcycles and encourage innovation in the motorsports industry. Teams such as Yamaha, KTM, and Suzuki are involved in this championship.

Extreme E

Extreme E is a new off-road electric racing series developed by Formula E. It features races in extreme environments, such as the Arctic and Sahara Desert. Teams like X44 (founded by Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg) are involved in this series, as well as manufacturers such as Volkswagen, Audi, Mercedes, and Porsche.

Electric motorsports are quickly becoming popular among fans and racers, and this has the potential to revolutionize the racing industry. With more opportunities for innovation and sustainability, electric motorsports can bring a new level of excitement and entertainment to the sport.

Additionally, betting markets in motorsport are expanding with events like Formula E and MotoE World Cup, giving fans more chances to make informed decisions and profit from their predictions. With so many major players involved, electric motorsports has the potential to be a game-changer in the racing industry.

Bottom Line

Electric motorsports are fast becoming a major part of the racing industry. With lower costs, more opportunities for innovation and sustainability, and increased betting markets, electric motorsports have the potential to revolutionize the sport and make it even more exciting for fans around the world.

Electric motorsport races create an opportunity for teams to showcase their innovative technologies, reduce the environmental impact of racing, and open up new betting markets. With more major players getting involved, electric motorsports will continue to be an important part of the industry in the future.

Corey Heim perseveres to win rain-shortened Truck Series race at Martinsville

By
Angie Campbell
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Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.

Corey Heim held on to win the NASCAR Xfinity Truck Series Long John Silver’s 200 at Martinsville Speedway Friday night in his TRICON Garage No. 11 Toyota, despite persistent race throughout the event. It was his third victory in the Truck Series in only 26 starts and his first trip to victory lane this season.

“This race was cut short and that’s definitely unfortunate, but this truck was fast all night,” Heim said after the race. “I couldn’t ask for a better group of guys.”

The beginning of the race was delayed by almost 2 ½ hours, finally getting underway shortly before 10 p.m. The first 25 laps were run using a weather package specifically designed for driving on a wet track. Then, after the track was deemed dry enough, a competition caution was called to allow the teams to change back to the regular dry weather slick tires.

An on-track incident with 83 laps remaining brought out the final caution and with it came more rain. At this point, NASCAR called the race official on Lap 124 of the originally scheduled 200 laps.

Kyle Busch finished a disappointing second and said, “It did not go our way today, unfortunately.”

“We just didn’t have a good enough short-run truck,” he explained. “Being a little bit loose and free that we were, we were hoping that would pay off in the long run but never had a long run. The longest run of the race was on rain tires.”

Zane Smith, Ty Majeski and Tanner Gray rounded out the top five with Ben Rhodes, Matt DiBenedetto, Taylor Gray, William Sawalich and Chase Purdy completing the top 10. 

Majeski remains on top of the Truck Series driver standings by 26 points over Zane Smith, followed by Ben Rhodes (-49), Heim (-71) and Christian Eckes (-72).

The Truck Series will take some time off with its next race scheduled for Saturday, May 6 at Kansas Speedway.

Results:

Results-Trucks-Martinsville32307_UNOFFRES

Cole Custer captures Xfinity Series pole at Martinsville Speedway

By
Angie Campbell
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Photo by Ron Olds for SpeedwayMedia.com.

Cole Custer set the fastest lap speed of 94.411 mph during the NASCAR Xfinity Series qualifying session at Martinsville Speedway and won the pole for Saturday’s Call811.com Before You Dig. 250. It was the second pole of the season for the Stewart-Haas Racing driver and his 14th career pole in the series.

He described his qualifying effort, saying, “It’s always very nerve-racking coming here in qualifying because you never know how good your tires are going to come in. But it never feels great, but you hope when they say your lap time afterward that it was a good one. Luckily, had a good one.

“This is a hard place. It’s not easy to get a trophy here, and a clock. You have to dodge a lot of bullets throughout the race. Hopefully, I can stay up front and dodge all of them.”

John Hunter Nemechek was second quickest with a lap of 94.331 mph followed by Sheldon Creed (94.237 mph), rookie Parker Retzlaff (94.041) and Sam Mayer (93.808) to complete the top five qualifiers.

Josh Berry, Sammy Smith, Justin Allgaier, Riley Herbst and Brandon Jones will line up sixth-10th.

Nemechek, Berry, Allgaier and Chandler Smith are eligible for the Dash4Cash bonus.

Notes:

Garrett Smithley (JD Motorsports) and Chad Finchum (MBM Motorsports) did not qualify for the race.

Alex Labbe had to make repairs due to a brake line cut during practice and will start 24th.

Anthony Alfredo will start from the back of the field after issues during tech inspection and will start from the back of the field.

You can tune into the Call811.com Before You Dig. 250 Saturday, April 14 at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1, with radio coverage on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Starting Lineup:

Xfinity-Starting-Lineup-Martinsville-22308_STARTROW

O’Ward Leads Long Beach Practice To Keep Good Times Rolling

By
Official Release
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2023 Long Beach Grand Prix

LONG BEACH, Calif. (Friday, April 14, 2023) – It’s only fitting that in Southern California, Pato O’Ward continues to ride a wave.

O’Ward led the opening practice Friday for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, turning a top lap of 1 minute, 6.6999 seconds in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet on the 11-turn, 1.968-mile temporary street circuit.

“It’s a tight field,” O’Ward said. “Long Beach is always such an intense qualifying. We just kept chipping at it today. We rolled off strong, but we’ve been definitely making adjustments to get it a little more in the window, a bit more to this track’s characteristics and to what I like. So far, it’s good.”

The top time continued a roll for NTT INDYCAR SERIES points leader O’Ward, who opened the season with second-place finishes in March on the temporary street circuit at St. Petersburg and earlier this month on the high-banked oval at Texas.

Less than half a second separated the top seven drivers in the 27-driver field under sunny Southern California skies. But O’Ward still managed to build a gap of .2650 of a second over his closest pursuer, six-time series champion Scott Dixon, who ended up second at 1:06.9649 in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.

“We’re going to look into it and see where we can make improvements, but I think we’re in good shape for tomorrow,” O’Ward said. “It’s all about executing, man. It’s going to be really, really tough.”

Practice resumes at 11:45 a.m. ET Saturday, followed by NTT P1 Award qualifying at 3:05 p.m. (both sessions live on Peacock, INDYCAR Radio Network). Live coverage of the 85-lap race starts at 3 p.m. Sunday on NBC, Peacock and the INDYCAR Radio Network.

Southern California native Colton Herta led two Andretti Autosport cars in the top five of the 75-minute practice, ending up third at 1:06.9808 in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda. 2022 Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge winner Marcus Ericsson, who won the season-opening street race in St. Petersburg, was the second Chip Ganassi Racing car in the top four after ending up fourth at 1:06.9859 in the No. 8 Huski Chocolate Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.

Romain Grosjean rounded out the top five at 1:07:1049 in the No. 28 DHL Honda, the second Andretti Autosport car in the top five.

Reigning Long Beach winner Josef Newgarden ended up 14th at 1:07.4273 in the No. 2 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet after scraping the wall exiting Turn 5 about 35 minutes into the session. The floor of his car was damaged, as was his first set of tires. Newgarden returned to the pits for repairs and returned to the track but ended his session about 10 minutes early to save wear on his second set of Firestones.

“This place is like a gnarly afternoon on the 405 (freeway) with hella traffic,” Newgarden said. “It’s Long Beach. I about did that (hit wall) four or five times. Some of the settings we started with were probably aggressive, and I was trying to make the most of it.

“But it’s good vibes here. I love this place, and the Hitachi car is quick.”

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