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NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Phoenix

By
Jeffrey Boswell
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Photo by Ron Olds for SpeedwayMedia.com.

Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

1. William Byron: Byron was strong early in the United Rentals Work United 400, winning Stage 1. After falling back from the front late, Byron used a fast two-tire pit stop, and two timely cautions, to win his second consecutive race.

“That’s two in a row,” Byron said. “And I really don’t know which flag to keep as a souvenir – the checkered or the yellow. Sometimes, your reputation as a great driver is built on the backs of those not-so-great drivers.”

2. Kevin Harvick: Harvick, historically dominant at Phoenix, blew by Kyle Larson for the lead late, but a sure win was foiled by a late caution. Harvick eventually finished fifth.

“Losing like this really sucks,” Harvick said. “Building such an insurmountable lead, only to have it wiped away by a caution, makes me sick to my stomach, much like Hunt Brothers Pizza.”

3. Kyle Larson: Larson started on the pole at Phoenix, and used a quick two-tire pit stop with eight laps to go to gain the lead. Larson was leading with two laps to go, but another late caution forced another restart, and Larson couldn’t hold off William Byron. Larson finished fourth.

“Let’s face it,” Larson said, “Kevin Harvick should have won this race. Harvick went by me on Lap 269 faster than Hunt Brothers Pizza through your digestive system.”

4. Alex Bowman: Bowman finished ninth at Phoenix, as all four Hendrick Motorsports cars finished in the top 10, with William Byron taking the win.

“Hendrick Motorsports builds cars that almost any driver can put in the top 10,” Bowman said. “Take Josh Berry, for example. He basically came off the street and was able to drive Chase Elliott’s car to success. So, driving a Hendrick car is a springboard to success, whereas Chase himself is a snowboard to the hospital.”

5. Christopher Bell: Bell posted his second top 10 with a sixth in the United Rentals Work United 500.

“Former Formula 1 world champions Jenson Button and Kimi Raikkonen are scheduled to drive in the Cup race at the Circuit Of The Americas on March 26th,” Bell said. “I think that would be a great time to prank those two guys by convincing them that NASCAR also begins races with a standing start.”

6. Kyle Busch: Busch overcame a slow Stage 2 pit stop and came back to finish eighth at Phoenix.

“It just goes to show that if you work hard and have a sizable budget,” Busch said, “anything is possible. That, of course, is a reference to my lawyer that got me out of that jam in Mexico. And yes, bribery does work.

“Some people are calling me the ‘Ja Morant of NASCAR. I think that’s a compliment. In any case, let’s holster that comparison for now.”

7. Ross Chastain: Chastain finished 24th in the United Rentals Work United 500, after dropping from the top five on the final restart.

“Sometimes,” Chastain said, “your car is fast, like Michael Waltrip at Daytona in 2001. Sometimes, your car is slow, like Michael Waltrip running through the grid on Sunday. Mine was both.”

8. Joey Logano: Logano struggled with handling early and never was competitive up front on his way to an 11th-place finish at Phoenix.

“That handling caused early contact with Martin Truex Jr.,” Logano said. “Luckily, Martin didn’t get too angry. I mean, he could have pulled a ‘Mexican Kyle Busch’ and gone ‘ballistic.'”

9. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin started second at Phoenix but faded fast on the final restart, finishing 23rd.

“I just had no grip at the end,” Hamlin said, “which made the handling of my No. 11 Toyota a disaster. In a car sponsored by Shingrex, you could say my car drove like ”S’ on a shingle.'”

10. Ryan Blaney: Blaney finished second at Phoenix, posting his first top-5 finish of the season.

“Congratulations to William Byron,” Blaney said. “I think his celebration of putting on that oversized big hat is cool. Funny thing is, that hat would fit Ryan Newman perfectly.”

The Heart of Racing Looks to Carry Winning Momentum into Sebring 12 Hour

By
Official Release
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Sebring, Fla. (13 March 2023) – After starting the 2023 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship off with a win at Daytona, The Heart of Racing (HOR) looks ahead to the second round of IMSA WeatherTech competition at the Mobile 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. The March 16-18 Super Sebring weekend will include the World Endurance Championship (WEC) 1000 Miles of Sebring on Friday ahead of IMSA’s day-to-night classic on Saturday.

The Rolex 24 hour lineup of Alex Riberas, Ross Gunn, and David Pittard will once again be paired in the No. 23 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 to take on the 3.74-mile Florida circuit. The trio led 208 laps at the Rolex 24 At Daytona in January until a suspension issue resulted in the team finishing seventh in GTD PRO competition.

Pittard will make his Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring debut, but already knows his way around the circuit having won the 2022 WEC 1000 Miles of Sebring in an Aston Martin Vantage. The trio will be hunting down a podium result on Saturday to gain championship momentum in the second event of the IMSA 2023 season.

HOR’s Rolex 24 Hour winning lineup of Ian James, Roman De Angelis and Marco Sorenson will combine in the GTD class No. 27 Aston Martin Vantage GT3.

Like Pittard, Sorensen is no stranger to Sebring, having run the WEC 1000 Miles of Sebring in 2022 and scoring a runner-up finish. De Angelis and James have competed at the IMSA twelve-hour event together for the past three years, highlighted by runs to second (2020) and third (2021) as the duo look to add another significant trophy to their roster again this weekend.

The Super Sebring weekend will open with practice on Thursday ahead of Friday’s qualifying session to set the grid. Catch live coverage of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring on Peacock TV starting at 10:00 am ET. Continuing coverage of all twelve hours will be on Peacock, with the final six hours also being covered on USA Network beginning at 4:30 pm ET.

The Heart of Racing Sebring 12 Hour Quoteboard:

Roman De Angelis: “Coming from a win at Daytona is amazing for the whole Heart of Racing team. Like Daytona, Sebring is a tough race to win and a lot of it comes down to luck. We’ve had success with podium finishes at Sebring in previous years so I’m hoping we can keep the ball rolling and hold the lead in points. It’s important we keep our eyes on the long term goal: the championship.”

Marco Sorensen: “We have the same goal as you always do when you go racing, and that’s to win! Sebring is a more difficult track to race on, but I’m sure we will have a good chance. This will be my first Mobil 1 Twelve Hours start, but I’ve competed at Sebring in WEC. IMSA and WEC are quite different, in IMSA you have more restarts and it creates harder racing.”

Ian James: “The team made a big focus in the off season to get a better start to the year in endurance races which paid off at Daytona. We hope to continue that momentum into Sebring. We have had a couple of podium finishes there, just haven’t made it to the top step yet. Our goal is to continue building on what we have and I think if we just keep that as our focus everything else will fall into place.”

Alex Riberas: “To be honest, right after the Rolex 24 we were all eager to get back on the horse, especially after the potential we were able to display. I think T17 is the biggest challenge without a doubt at Sebring. Everyone knows in Sebring you have to respect the bumps and going through T17 will quickly remind you why. It’s fast, extremely bumpy and to top it off you exit right on the wall, if you do it right. You can go from hero to zero in a quick second. I love it because this corner would be repaved in any other country, while here it’s just part of the history.”

Ross Gunn: “ We had a difficult Daytona finish in the No. 23 car, but in general we had a positive performance from everybody so we’re looking to get back on track at Sebring.We are excited to have David back for Sebring. He performed very well here last year in WEC, winning in the GTE-AM car, so we are very excited to welcome him as a teammate. We had a very positive test at Sebring recently. It’s not usually a circuit that favors the strengths of our car, but we will be working hard to make sure we can bring as much performance as we possibly can.”

David Pittard: “From a performance perspective, I am very happy with how Daytona went, and I believe we can carry the Sebring weekend. From the No. 23 car’s perspective, we have a new engineer and I’m new to the car, but our pace at Daytona showed that these changes were seamless so there is a great vibe on the team headed into Sebring. Daytona’s final result wasn’t what we had hoped for. We still scored maximum points at the six and twelve hour marks, so we are close to the endurance championship lead. Scoring consistently across this race as well as aiming for another win at Sebring is my main focus. The Heart of Racing cars have a lot of pace. Because of this, I think both car crews can push each other to learn faster and build two competitive cars to fight for points and wins at Sebring!”

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

Kaulig Racing Post-Race Report | Phoenix Raceway

By
Official Release
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Kaulig Racing Post-Race Report | Phoenix Raceway
United Rentals Work United 500

AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Action Industries Camaro ZL1

  • AJ Allmendinger qualified 22nd for the United Rentals Work United 500.
  • Allmendinger battled handling in the No. 16 Action Industries Camaro ZL1 throughout the entire race.
  • During stage one, Allmendinger made his way up to 18th before the rear faded, ultimately finished the stage 22nd. Under caution at the stage break, Crew Chief, Matt Swiderski, called for an air pressure adjustment to help with the handling of the car. Allmendinger restarted for the second stage at the tail end of the longest line after speeding on pit road.
  • Allmendinger lacked front turn and speed to move through traffic in the second stage. After green-flag pit stops, the No. 16 fell a lap down and would later take the wave around under caution. Allmendinger finished 20th for the day.

“I felt like we had a good plan going into the race after practice. We fought tight the whole race. My guys worked hard to try to make it a little better, but we definitely had it too tight which is what we thought would be the right thing from practice. We maximized everything we could, and we are learning what we need to do from practice to the race. We’ll work to be better next time.” – AJ Allmendinger

Justin Haley, No. 31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Camaro ZL1

  • Justin Haley qualified 26th for the United Rentals Work United 500.
  • After firing off tight, Haley’s No. 31 Leaffilter Gutter Protection Camaro ZL1 began running free in the opening stage. He finished the stage in 29th place and pit for multiple adjustments to tighten up the car.
  • Haley made his first, green-flag stop of the day on lap 120 for tires and fuel, and went on to finish 29th and one lap down in the second stage. The team made adjustments to the car to get it handling the way it did during Haley’s second run of the day.
  • The team continued to work on the No. 31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Camaro ZL1 throughout the final stage, but ultimately could not get back on the lead lap and finished 27th.

“It was a rough day for our No. 31 team. We definitely have a lot to work on with our short track program. Hopefully we can figure out where we fell short and learn from it for next time.” – Justin Haley  

United Rentals 200

Chandler Smith, No. 16 Quick Tie Chevrolet

  • Chandler Smith qualified sixth for the United Rentals 200.
  • Smith fought through a loose-handling car over the first two stages. He brought home one point in stage one after a tenth-place finish and finished outside the top-ten in stage two.
  • He began climbing up the leaderboard in the second half after the No. 16 Quick Tie Products crew made adjustments to add more lateral grip during pit stops.
  • Smith took advantage of multiple late-race restarts to gain ground on the leaders, even battling with eventual winner Sammy Smith for the lead with under 20 laps to go.
  • During the closing laps, Smith combatted with teammate Kyle Busch and passed him for third on the penultimate lap. Smith hung on to finish fifth – his third-straight NASCAR Xfinity Series top-five – after contact with Busch on the last lap.

“A good result for the Quick Tie Chevy Camaro at the end there. We got a little better, a little better and a little better over the course of the race. The car wasn’t too bad at the end there. We’ve got something to work with when we come back here for the Championship in November. I can’t thank Matt Kaulig and Chris Rice enough for the opportunities and our great partners in Quick Tie and Celsius. I’m having a blast right now.” – Chandler Smith

Kyle Busch, No. 10 LA Golf Chevrolet

  • In an effort to fix the fuel pump of the No. 10 LA Golf Chevrolet, Kaulig Racing forfeited its chance at qualifying and made an unapproved adjustment, relegating Kyle Busch to a 37th-place starting position for the United Rentals 200.
  • Busch ran top-three lap times throughout the first stage and made his way to 14th before the first caution came out on lap 29. He went on to finish the first stage in seventh place, 30 spots from his starting position.
  • After making air pressure and track bar adjustments, Busch continued to improve throughout the second stage and went on to finish fifth.
  • Busch led the opening laps of the final stage before settling in second. Although Busch lacked longevity in drive, he managed to stay in the top three before tangling with teammate, Chandler Smith, on the final lap. He crossed the line in ninth place.

“I appreciate all the hard work by everyone at Kaulig Racing. We had an issue in practice this morning and the ECR guys did a good job solving that issue. We started in the back but we were able to work our way into contention for the win with our LA Golf Chevrolet. Unfortunately it didn’t work out for us.” – Kyle Busch

Daniel Hemric, No. 11 Cirkul Chevrolet

  • Daniel Hemric qualified third for the United Rentals 200.
  • Hemric started off strong in the first stage while learning the groove of the car. With consistent lap times and a good restart, Hemric finished the first stage in fifth place.
  • After making air pressure adjustments, Hemric improved on short runs, and charged up the field to finish third in the second stage.
  • Hemric went on to finish 10th, his second-straight top-10 finish after earning points in both stages.

“This was definitely a step in the right direction with our Phoenix package. We worked on our Cirkul Chevrolet all day. At the start of the final stage, we helped the short runs tremendously. We lost a little bit of front turn, which cost us a couple spots. We had one hiccup on pit road with an untimely air hose getting hung up on the splitter, which put us back 18th or so for the next restart. I’m proud of the effort and communication.” – Daniel Hemric  
 
 
About Kaulig Racing™

Kaulig Racing™ is a full-time multi-car NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) and NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) team, owned by award winning entrepreneur, Matt Kaulig. Established in 2016, Kaulig Racing™ has made the NXS Playoffs consecutively each season since the playoff system started and has won back-to-back regular-season championships. Before becoming a full-time NCS team, Kaulig Racing made multiple starts in the 2021 NCS season and won in its seventh-ever start with AJ Allmendinger’s victory at “The Brickyard” for the Verizon 200 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The team expanded to a two-car, full-time NCS team in 2022 with Justin Haley piloting the No. 31 Camaro ZL1, and an all-star lineup featured in the No. 16 Camaro ZL1. Haley will continue to drive the No. 31 full-time in 2023, alongside AJ Allmendinger, who will drive the No. 16 Camaro ZL1. The team will continue to field three, full-time NXS entries; the No. 10 Chevrolet driven by an all-star lineup that will be announced at a later date, the No. 11 Chevrolet driven by Daniel Hemric, and the No. 16 Chevrolet driven by Chandler Smith. To learn more about the team, visit kauligracing.com.

Jr III Racing Wins Twice at Sebring

By
Official Release
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Garg breaks through for double-win VPRC weekend in Sebring

Sebring, Fla. (13 March 2023) – Jr III (“Junior-Three”) Racing scored its first IMSA win on Sunday morning and then repeated the feat in the afternoon to claim a double-win weekend in Sebring. Jr III Racing driver Bijoy Garg had a breakout event on board the No. 3 S2 Cyber Ligier JS P320, earning his first-ever IMSA’s VP Racing SportsCar Challenge (VPRC) victory on Sunday after claiming pole position in qualifying earlier in the weekend.

The winning weekend marked another positive benchmark for Jr III Racing, which made its first-ever IMSA start in 2019 and has continued to build its customer programs at the professional level. The VPRC outing was held as part of the prologue weekend to the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, with the two 45-minute sprint races featuring some 30 entries between the LMP3 prototypes and the GTX-class GT4 machines.

Race One

Starting the race in pole position, Garg had a smooth start to hold onto the lead going into the high-speed first corner. He quickly built a gap of over four seconds as his lap times continued to improve with each circuit of the 3.74-mile track.

As the race progressed Garg continued to lay down fast lap times improving in each sector of the track. Around the halfway mark, Garg had caught up to GSX traffic before a full course caution for debris on the back straightaway slowed the field.

The track went back green with just under five minutes remaining. Garg restarted from first and was able to once again quickly place a gap between him and the rest of the field. The rookie sports car driver took the checkered with a 3.479-second lead.

Race Two

In VPRC, the starting lineup of the second race is determined by the driver’s fastest lap in qualifying and second fastest lap in race one, because Garg had the fastest lap in both qualifying and race one he started from pole position for race two.

On lap one an incident between two LMP3 cars caused a full course caution right away. There were 35 minutes remaining in the 45 minute race when the track went green once again. Garg fell to second place early on, but stayed on the bumper of the leader, Dan Goldburg.

Just past the halfway mark, Garg made a decisive move under braking to take the lead in turn seven. Garg was able to build a bit of a gap between himself and the rest of the field while setting the fastest lap of the race – 1:57.903 seconds on his way to a second win in as many outings.

“It feels great to go back-to-back this weekend,” said Garg. “It has given me a lot of confidence for the rest of the year. Today was special though because not only did I get my first sports car win, but we also scored Jr III Racing’s first IMSA win! The team brought a great car for me and I really appreciate all their hard work. We had two different types of wins today, the first win was all about pace and the second win was about passing. Overall we had a really good weekend and I’m really happy about having the fastest car all weekend.”

Since starting IMSA competition in 2019, Jr III Racing had earned three IMSA Prototype Challenge podium finishes before growing to compete in IMSA WeatherTech competition in 2022 and taking four podiums on the season.

“The team has earned the wins we had today,” said Billy Glavin, owner of Jr III Racing. “Bijoy scored us our first IMSA win, and had an amazing drive in both races. In race one he had a great late race restart that put him in a position to take the checkered. Then in race two Bijoy had a great pass in turn seven that got him the lead. He kept his head down and hit his marks. A big congratulations to everyone on the team!”

The next VPRC event for Jr III Racing will take place July 22 and 23rd at Lime Rock Park. This will be the first race for LMP3 cars at the famed Connecticut track as the all-new VPRC series is added to the traditional July event.

WEC preview: Cadillac seeks to make splash in debut

By
Official Release
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No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R team takes Prologue momentum into Sebring opening race

SEBRING, Fla. (March 13, 2023) – The next chapter in Cadillac Racing’s dual series of competition will be written this week with the No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R making its FIA World Endurance Championship debut in the 1000 Miles of Sebring.

Its sister racecars – the No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R and the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R – on Saturday will seek to give the iconic brand three consecutive victories in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring in the second race of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season.

This past weekend’s WEC Prologue, incorporating four free practice sessions totaling more than 12 hours on the 3.741-mile, 17-turn Sebring International Raceway course, was instrumental in the Cadillac Racing team’s preparation for the opening endurance race Friday starting at noon local and the season in general in the electrified Hypercar class.

The No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R will compete in all seven rounds of the WEC calendar, including the centenary 24 Hours of Le Mans in June, and face 10 Hypercar competitors in the eight-hour kickoff event.

Evaluation, exploration and operational practice – key as there are notable differences in pit stop and race procedures compared to the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship — complemented drivers Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn and Richard Westbrook gaining pace through more than 200 laps on the bumpy circuit that originally was a World War II airbase.

The Cadillac V-Series.R topped the time chart in one session with a best lap of 1 minute, 48.429 seconds and was near the top in the others with no down time in its initial outing in WEC spec.

“It’s been a really positive two days. It’s a whole new program, the WEC, and it feels like it. But what a start we’ve made and there is so much more to come,” Westbrook said. “The whole team is just going to get stronger and stronger and I think everyone is excited. The Cadillac is really strong, but we knew that from Daytona, so we have a nice base to work with. There’s a lot to be positive about going into the race week.”

Bamber and Lynn co-drove a Cadillac DPi-V.R to victory in the 2022 Twelve Hours of Sebring to lead a Cadillac sweep of the podium. Lynn is a two-time overall winner (2017, 2022) in a Cadillac DPi-V.R and Bamber has an overall and class win in the Twelve Hours of Sebring. Westbrook co-drove a Cadillac DPI-V.R to the runner-up finish last March.

“I think we have a talented crew and we’re looking forward to going racing,” team manager and strategist Stephen Mitas said.

The 1000 Miles of Sebring will mark the second race for the trio in the new Cadillac V-Series.R powered by a 5.5-liter V-8 normally aspirated engine developed by GM’s Performance and Racing propulsion team paired with the spec energy recovery system. They co-drove to fourth place in the Rolex 24 At Daytona in January.

“Testing is limited so going to Daytona is a good way in race conditions to get the team and drivers aligned and prepared for the WEC season,” Mitas said. “The more experience you get, particularly with a new team, is only going to benefit you and reduce your learning curve.”

The first of three free practice sessions will be held Wednesday morning. The 1000 Miles of Sebring is scheduled for noon ET/5 p.m. CET Friday. The 15-minute qualifying session is scheduled for 7:20 p.m. ET Thursday (12:30 a.m. CET Friday).

The race will air live on MotorTrend with streaming coverage of the race and qualifying on the MotorTrend app. Radio Le Mans will broadcast the race, qualifying and all practice sessions.

See the exciting Cadillac V-Series lineup

Spectators can view the Cadillac V-Series performance vehicle lineup at the Cadillac display in the midway, including the Escalade-V, CT5-V Blackwing and the CT4-V Blackwing. Hours are 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Thursday, 8:30 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday and 8 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday.

The CT5-V Blackwing is a Car and Driver 10Best again for 2023: “…the Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing is the greatest sports sedan on sale today, if not of all time.”

Additionally, the 2023 Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing Sebring IMSA Track Edition, with a special matte black paint in honor of the 12-hour race and a symbol of racing in the dark, will be on display in the Cadillac Corral.

Spectators will also have the opportunity to participate in a Cadillac ride and drive program Thursday-Saturday with the exciting performance vehicle lineup at the track.

What the No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R drivers are saying

“It’s great to back at Sebring, where Cadillac has had a lot of success including our win last year. Now we’re here with a different challenge with a new Cadillac V-Series.R and looking forward to it. The Prologue went well. We were at or near the top of the chart every session – doing long runs, learning the tires and getting in full race preparation mode because there are short practice sessions when we roll back out Wednesday and it’s right into the race. Brand new team in terms of we did Daytona but now this a WEC team with a European-based crew, so we’re all learning. Looking forward to the race.”

— Earl Bamber

“I think we’ve built a great car. Us joining the World Endurance Championship is a different form of racing and something we have to adapt to and we’re learning a lot every day. We’ve been building up for this moment for a while and I’m impressed with how things are going. From my side I’m extremely excited to come back to a track where I’ve had loads of success. The personnel we’ve put together are extremely talented and we have to keep building. The car has been reliable and quick, which are the two main ingredients and that’s what gets everyone excited. I think we have a really talented driver crew, a fast car and those are the two bits that are hard to get. Once you’ve got that, the rest comes naturally.”

— Alex Lynn

“Really looking forward to Sebring to kick off a whole new era in sports car racing, particularly for the Cadillac entry into the world championship. This will be a slightly shorter race than I’m used to, but different now with the new Hypercar contingent. It will be fascinating, not just for us, but for the fans. I think everyone is really excited to see how that competition shakes out. Obviously, after Daytona, we have a lot of confidence in our car reliability-wise, but we have no idea how we will fare on pace. We have a little understanding how we compare with Porsche, but it’s going into the big unknown with the Hypercars. We’re all so excited and can’t wait to kick this season off.”

— Richard Westbrook

AO Racing Stomps to Sebring Twelve Hour with Full-Season T-Rex Livery

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Official Release
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Team turns GT3 R into Rexy, the GT3 “Rawr”

SAINT CHARLES, ILL. (March 13, 2023) – As Samuel L. Jackson’s character Ray Arnold said in 1993’s Jurassic Park, hold on to your butts. After racing under a special one-off livery at Daytona International Speedway, honoring the 1983 Rolex 24 At Daytona race winners, AO Racing has retired their Swap Shop livery in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for their full season livery. The No. 80 Porsche 911 GT3 R has transformed into the GT3 Rawr, ferociously dominating the competition as a Rexy Tyrannosaurus Rex.

The inspiration came from Team Principal and Driver PJ Hyett, in honor of his children. Hyett proudly sports a T-Rex for his son and a unicorn for his daughter on his helmet, taking his family with him as he races.

With a grill full of sharp teeth, Rexy the GT3 Rawr looks fierce, hungry to take down the competition of the 54-car field that will compete at next week’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. Despite her short arms, her strong legs will carry the strength to race up front, fighting for a result improved from January’s Rolex 24 At Daytona.

In preparation for March 18th’s endurance event in Sebring, Florida, the team has conducted additional testing, hoping for an improvement on the sanctioning body’s Balance of Performance (BoP) settings. The BoP has been the topic of conversation following the first race of the season, with fans and competitors eagerly awaiting to see what the regulations for evening out the playing field will be in the GTD class. Hyett will once again be joined by his full-season co-driver Sebastian Priaulx, with Gunnar Jeannette again fulfilling his driving duties as the endurance round addition.

The 71st Twelve Hours of Sebring will include all five classes of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. AO Racing is poised to be one of 54 cars competing in the event, with 20 entries racing in the GTD class. The race will begin on Saturday, March 18 at 10:10 AM ET, airing live from start to finish on Peacock, and with the last six hours beginning at 4:30 PM on the USA Network.

Partnering with Project-1 in the World Endurance Championship, the team will also compete in the 1000 miles of Sebring on Friday, March 17, beginning at 11:55 AM ET.

Sebastian Priaulx

I’m really looking forward to working with AO Racing again for another race weekend. It’s my first Twelve Hours of Sebring, which is pretty special for me. It’s a race that my dad has won, and one I’d like to win as well. It’s a great event. It’s one of the best ones out there. I’m looking forward to driving the Porsche and giving it all we’ve got. I’m looking forward to the weekend ahead and working with PJ and Gunnar and getting the job done.

Gunnar Jeannette

I’m thrilled to be one of the guys that will drive the GT3-Rawr. Hopefully, Rexy goes as fast as it looks and we can come home with a good result after our disappointing Daytona. We really want to give the fans something to cheer for as Rexy makes it’s mark both on & off track.

Jimmie Lockhart Has Perfect Day in F4 U.S. at NOLA

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Official Release
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AVONDALE, La. (March 12, 2023) – Jimmie Lockhart stepped atop the Formula 4 United States Championship Powered by Honda (F4 U.S.) podium for the first time in his career in Race 2 at NOLA Motorsports Park on Sunday morning. The Floridian started from the pole position in his No. 48 Velocity Racing Development Ligier JS F4 after setting the fastest lap in yesterday’s race, and led all the way from lights to checkered.

“It’s amazing,” said Lockhart after the victory. “I finally got the opportunity to get out here, and was able to keep it up front the whole race. I just ran quali laps the whole time, so that was how it went. I was disappointed with what happened on the start yesterday, but I was able to come in, drop to the back, and just run a good lap to be able to start today’s race up front. That was probably what helped us the most today.”

Jesse Lacey (No. 16 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F4) also had a solid race, starting in second and holding his position from the start of the race all the way to the checkered flag. The action really heated up for third through 10th place, with drivers often racing two and three wide while jockeying for position. Patrick Woods-Toth (No. 27 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F4) found himself in a few of those intense battles, racing side by side with Michael Costello (No. 19 Jay Howard Driver Development / CSU One Cure / Lucas Oil / LHP Ligier JS F4), Frankie Mossman (No. 6 JHDD / CSU One Cure / Lucas Oil / LHP Ligier JS F4), and Lewis Hodgson (No. 30 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsports Ligier JS F4) throughout the final minutes of the race.

Costello briefly got around Woods-Toth, actually holding the third position as the field took the white flag. However, as Costello tried to pull to the inside of Lacey in Turn 1 in an attempt to overtake the second position, Woods-Toth also found some momentum to make a charge at Costello. With Costello unable to complete the pass on Lacey, Woods-Toth pulled up to overtake Costello as they raced through Turn 3.

As they rolled across the line on Hankook tires, it was Lockhart, followed by Lacey and Woods-Toth.

Follow F4 U.S. on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, or use Race Monitor to follow live timing and scoring. This weekend’s races are streaming free at YouTube.com/SpeedTourTV.

STREAM RACE 2: F4 U.S. YouTube

Jimmie Lockhart Secures Second F4 U.S. Win at NOLA SpeedTour

AVONDALE, La. (March 12, 2023) – Jimmie Lockhart went two-for-two in Sunday’s Formula 4 United States Championship Powered by Honda (F4 U.S.) competition, securing the victory in Race 3 after winning Race 2 earlier in the day.

“Our first race this weekend was pretty unlucky, but to come back to get two wins today is pretty good,” said Lockhart from the podium. “In both races, we were able to just get out early and drive away with it. Great car; great race. It ran really well.”

Michael Costello (No. 19 Jay Howard Driver Development / CSU One Cure / Lucas Oil / LHP Ligier JS F4) started the race from the pole and jumped ahead of the field. The rookie driver held the position, but was no match for Lockhart (No. 48 Velocity Racing Development Ligier JS F4), who quickly closed in after starting the race fourth. In fact, it only took until Turn 4 on the second lap for Lockhart to pull to the inside and complete the pass, overtaking the lead with over 22 minutes remaining in the race.

After a full-course caution slowed the field, the race resumed as it neared the halfway mark. With everyone regrouped, the competition heated up—especially among those who were racing for second on back. Costello and Lewis Hodgson (No. 30 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F4) jockeyed for the second position. While they worked to figure things out, Patrick Woods-Toth (No. 27 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F4) quietly hit his marks just behind the two competitors.

Lockhart opened a multi-second lead on his Hankook tires, while Costello finally pulled ahead of Hodgson as they raced side-by-side entering Turn 1 with just seven minutes left on the clock. Woods-Toth quickly followed, also completing a pass on Hodgson as they worked through Turn 3 on the same lap.

With just four minutes left on the clock, the caution flag waved once again. Oil was spotted on the track during clean up and the clock ran out before the race was able to restart, leading the field to take the checkered flag under yellow conditions.

Fifteen-year-old Lockhart led Costello and Woods-Toth across the line.

READ MORE: Race 3 Official Results

Lockhart was named the winner of the Omologato Perfectly Timed Move of the Race for his successful weekend, coming back from an early incident in Race 1 to set the fast lap and take the pole for Race 2, before winning back-to-back races in the final events of the weekend. For the award, Lockhart was presented with a bespoke Omologato timepiece engraved with F4 U.S. branding.

F4 U.S. returns to action for Rounds 4-6 of their 2023 season at Road America, May 19-21. Tickets are available now to join us in Elkhart Lake, Wis., for the Road America SpeedTour. For updates before our next event, follow F4 U.S. on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

RACE 3 STREAM: SpeedTourTV YouTube

Buescher Finishes 15th in Phoenix

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Official Release
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No. 17 Team Charges through the Field for Solid Result to Cap West Coast Swing

AVONDALE, Ariz. (March 12, 2023) – Chris Buescher and the No. 17 team charged through the field in much of Sunday’s 312-mile race from Phoenix Raceway, ultimately finishing 15th after overcoming mid-race adversity.

Buescher qualified 21st in his Socios.com Ford Mustang on Saturday as NASCAR debuted its new short-track package this weekend. He wasted no time advancing from that position though as the No. 17 picked off multiple spots early in the 60-lap opening stage.

The Texan ran 15th by lap 10 and drove all the way to 11th by the end of the opening segment. Following the first stop of the afternoon in the stage break, Buescher would restart 10th for stage two and eventually cycled to ninth after the first pit stop under green-flag conditions at lap 119.

The first yellow of the afternoon was displayed at lap 138 with Buescher in ninth. Under the team’s stop in the caution break the car unfortunately fell off the jack as Buescher lost a chunk of the track position he had gained to that point. But, after restarting 17th he would quickly get back to 13th to end stage two.

Buescher fired off 11th for the final stage and was 12th with 50 to go after another round of green-flag stops. A caution with 10 to go separated the race from running green to the end as the No. 17 took four fresh tires putting him 13th on the ensuing restart. After an instant caution he restarted 14th and went on to cross the stripe 15th.

The No. 17 team returns to action next week as the action shifts back east at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Race coverage on Sunday is set for 3 p.m. ET on FOX. Radio coverage can be heard on PRN and SiriusXM Channel 90.

Keselowski Finishes 18th after Promising Day in Phoenix

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Official Release
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Late Blunder Proves Costly for No. 6 after Stage Points in First Two Segments

AVONDALE, Ariz. (March 12, 2023) – Brad Keselowski put his Castrol Edge Ford in prime position through the day Sunday at Phoenix Raceway earning stage points in the first two stages, before a late mishap put him 18th at the finish.

Keselowski – the 2021 winner at Phoenix – put himself in good position to start the day after qualifying fourth on Saturday, his best qualifying effort to date in 2023. He maintained that top-five position for much of Sunday’s 312-mile race as the No. 6 Ford showed speed throughout.

Stage one would run caution-free as the field spread out and Keselowski crossed the stripe ninth earning a pair of stage points. He restarted eighth for stage two that featured the race’s first natural caution. He ran eighth at the time of that yellow and restarted sixth with 39 to go in the stage. He would battle to gain two more spots and finish fourth in the second stage.

Stage three featured another set of pit stops under green as Keselowski cycled out to sixth with 50 laps remaining. The race looked to run caution-free to the end, but a yellow was displayed with 10 to go with Keselowski in seventh. After a four-tire stop he restarted 10th with the top six cars taking two tires. The No. 6 machine struggled to maintain power on the restart, relegating Keselowski to near 20th as the caution again came out, this time forcing NASCAR Overtime. Keselowski went on to finish 18th.

The No. 6 team returns to action next week as the action shifts back east at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Race coverage on Sunday is set for 3 p.m. ET on FOX. Radio coverage can be heard on PRN and SiriusXM Channel 90.

CHEVROLET NCS AT PHOENIX: Race Win Recap

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Official Release
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NASCAR CUP SERIES
PHOENIX RACEWAY
UNITED RENTALS WORK UNITED 500
TEAM CHEVY RACE WIN RECAP
MARCH 12, 2023

BYRON DRIVES CHEVROLET TO FOURTH CONSECUTIVE WIN OF 2023 AT PHOENIX
Team Chevy Drivers Take Five Positions of Top-10

William Byron became the first repeat winner of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season, powering his No. 24 Valvoline Camaro ZL1 to the win at Phoenix Raceway.

  • The win is Byron’s sixth victory in 184 career starts in NASCAR’S premier series.
  • The win marked Byron’s first NASCAR Cup Series victory at Phoenix Raceway.
  • Chevrolet has now won the first four NASCAR Cup Series points-paying races in 2023 with Byron becoming the series’ first repeat winner of the season.
  • This marks the first time since 2001 that a single manufacturer has won the first four NASCAR Cup Series races in a season, which was last accomplished by Chevrolet.
  • Byron’s victory marked Chevrolet’s 26th NASCAR Cup Series win at Phoenix Raceway, extending its series-leading record at the track.
  • The winningest brand in NASCAR Cup Series history, Chevrolet now has 837 all-time NASCAR Cup Series victories.

AVONDALE, Ariz. (March 12, 2023) – An overtime finish determined the winner of the NASCAR Cup Series’ (NCS) United Rentals Work United 500 at Phoenix Raceway, and it was William Byron and the No. 24 Valvoline Camaro ZL1 team that came out on top. The 25-year-old Hendrick Motorsports driver proved to be a contender all race long, taking the Stage One win and leading 64 laps en route to becoming the first repeat winner of the season in NASCAR’s premier series.

“I owe the last couple of weeks to Rudy (Fugle, crew chief),” said Byron. “He’s done a really good job strategy-wise, and execution-wise, we’ve done a good job to put ourselves in those positions on the front row with a shot at the end. Thanks to everybody back at Hendrick Motorsports putting together great cars and just doing a great job. It’s a big credit to them, the engine shop, Mr. (Rick) Hendrick and everybody.”

As a caution flew with 10 laps remaining in the race, pit strategy shook up the lineup for the late-race dash to the finish. Race winning crew chief Rudy Fugle called Byron down pit road, utilizing a two-tire strategy to give the team a front-row restart position with three laps to go. Taking the green, Byron was scored in the second-position when another caution forced the race into an overtime finish. Hitting his marks on the final restart, Byron took the lead on lap 316 and never looked back; driving his Chevrolet team to back-to-back trips to victory lane.

The winningest manufacturer in NCS history, Chevrolet has now gone four-for-four in NCS wins this season. This marks the first time since 2001 that the same manufacturer has won the first four points-paying races of the season in NASCAR’s premier series, with Chevrolet being the last to accomplish that feat.

The Bowtie brand was a consistent fixture at the front of the field throughout much of the race. Larson drove his No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Camaro ZL1 to the Stage Two win, giving Chevrolet its seventh NCS stage win of the season. Four Chevrolet drivers led a combined 280 of the race’s 317 laps. Larson led a race-high 201 laps, followed by Byron (64 laps led), Erik Jones (64 laps led) and Ross Chastain (one lap led).

With four points-paying NCS races in the books, the Bowtie brand has now occupied at least 50 percent of the top-10 in each of the series’ races this season. Posting a nearly dominant weekend, Larson and the No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Camaro ZL1 team ultimately took the checkered flag in the fourth position. Alex Bowman drove his No. 48 Ally Best Friends Camaro ZL1 to a ninth-place finish, making the 29-year-old Arizona native the only driver in the series to collect a top-10 finish in each race this season. In just his second start since becoming the fill-in driver for the injured Chase Elliott, Josh Berry (No. 9 Kelley Blue Book Camaro ZL1) took home a 10th-place finish to put all four Hendrick Motorsports Camaro ZL1’s in the top-10. Kyle Busch (No. 8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Camaro ZL1) recorded an eighth-place finish to give Chevrolet five top-10s to round out the series’ western swing.

Chevrolet will look to keep its winning streak alive as NASCAR’s premier series takes on Atlanta Motor Speedway in the Ambetter Health 400 on Sunday, March 19, at 3:30 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 VALVOLINE CAMARO ZL1;

RUDY FUGLE, CREW CHIEF, NO. 24 VALVOLINE CAMARO ZL1; AND

JEFF GORDON, VICE CHAIRMAN, HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS – Press Conference Transcript

THE MODERATOR: We are going to begin our post race media availabilities. We are now joined by our race-winning crew chief, Rudy Fugle.

You started the race strong, finished with a win. Talk to us a little bit about your race.

RUDY FUGLE: Yeah, no, William did a great restart, got the lead I think after lap one. We set sail and did well.

Ended up getting beat off of pit road. Pit stall one had a lot to do with that. Qualifying on the pole was big from them. Outmatched a little bit on pit road, never could get it back.

From there we kind of were tighter in traffic, tried to work on it to make it freer. Got way too free in stage three. Got an adjustment on the green flag pit stop. We were okay again, just too far behind.

Two weeks in a row we get that caution. Pit crew did a good job of getting us out on the front row. William did an awesome job. Second chance at a restart, did an amazing job, we won the race.

THE MODERATOR: We’ll go ahead and open it for questions.

Q. It was you and the 5 in front today. Without giving too much, what do you think you guys have hit on that have allowed you to have success?

RUDY FUGLE: Yeah, just a little bit of everything. Specifically 24 team is focused in the simulation program all off-season. We worked really hard, especially on Las Vegas and Phoenix ’cause they’re super important in the Playoffs.

We had fresh information. Run Vegas with four to go, Phoenix obviously the last race of the year, you race them early in the year. Makes sense to work on those. Most of our focus to start with. Hope to take notes from these two races to propel ourselves to the first third, half of the year.

THE MODERATOR: We’re also joined by Hendrick Motorsports vice chairman, Jeff Gordon.

We’ll continue with questions.

JEFF GORDON: First let me say how proud I am of this guy, this team. Nobody works harder. All these guys work hard.

Over the off-season I came in one day, was it right after Christmas?

RUDY FUGLE: Day after Christmas.

JEFF GORDON: I came to the office, this guy was there all by himself. I’m so proud of this guy and the efforts they’re putting in, see the results.

Q. We saw during the race that Kyle had a very dominant car. Unfortunately couldn’t win. I suppose like in other motorsport categories with your crew chief colleagues you share information, technical information. How identical are the Hendrick cars?

RUDY FUGLE: Yeah, if you get down to the nitty-gritty, the last 15, 20% of everything, they’re a little bit different.

We work together really well. Cliff and I were chatting about what strategy we were going to do. Open in the chat multiple times if we were going to take four or two, how we were going to do it. Even racing against each other, fully working together. We work together great, all four crew chiefs, all four teams.

But, yeah, we prepare the cars. We look at each other’s cars all week long, make adjustments. Each driver is a little bit different. So last 15, 20% is different.

Q. If one Hendrick driver is struggling, you take over the setup of another driver?

RUDY FUGLE: Definitely. We made a lot of changes their direction after Friday practice. Saturday morning came in and changed geometry and other things, too, to chase the 5, because they were a little bit better than us, yes.

Q. Jeff, knowing your new position with Hendrick Motorsports, do you still have time to do some races?

JEFF GORDON: If I do, please stop me. I like to drive, love to get out there and run laps. I know I can’t be as competitive as what I used to be. I prefer not to race.

I’m enjoying this challenge, working with these guys, our marketing and PR group. Obviously Rick has been an incredible mentor to me over the years. On the business side, working with NASCAR, tracks, others in the industry. It’s something I’m dedicating most of my time to these days.

I also have two kids. Family stuff, too. I did do a race last year, though. That was fun.

Q. (No microphone.)

JEFF GORDON: I did it. It reminded me why I shouldn’t be out there racing (smiling). Took all the fun right out of it as soon as I was two seconds off the pace.

Q. You touched on the two-wheel strategy. Was this strategy talked about before the race or at any point during the last yellow you were saying you might do four wheels or…

RUDY FUGLE: Yeah, no, as soon as the caution came out, we were chatting. We have a live chat. We were talking about what we were going to do.

Having that openness, racing for a win as teammates, is huge and vital. This week I may have swung Cliff one way, last week he may have swung me a different way at different times. It’s great teamwork.

Q. A conversation you were having actively with William, too?

RUDY FUGLE: Yeah, no. We kind of tell him the code word we think we’re going to use for there, make sure he’s not totally against it.

We see a whole lot more of the race than he does. We have a whole lot more of the history, so yeah.

Q. You have a little bit of the drama on Friday with them taking the pieces. Do you consider winning a race on a weekend where you have maybe a little bit of a distraction more of an accomplishment or just kind of separate, not in your head at all?

JEFF GORDON: You’re looking at me. He won the race. I’ll let him answer it first.

RUDY FUGLE: Yeah, I mean, it’s a test of mental strength. That’s just what it takes to be really good in this series. We have to think about what the task is. We have to focus on this weekend. That’s what we all did.

JEFF GORDON: I’d just say I was proud of these guys. I mean, this organization has a lot of depth. They’ve been through a lot of different experiences over the years. To lean on those in different positions or leadership or crew chiefs that have been around so much, whether you’re a young guy on a team or somebody who has been around, it’s nice to know you can lean on one another through times like that.

But I’m probably most proud of these guys went through that, then they went out there. We had the pole, third. The other two guys were fast, just slipped up a little bit. All four cars in the top 10 today.

I think that really solidified some of the hype and things that were being focused on on Friday. These guys have speed in the car. There was nothing, not last week, not this week, that was getting them to Victory Lane other than a lot of hard work and great teamwork.

Q. Maybe the consensus over the last few years is that Byron is maybe the third or fourth guy on the team. Can he carry the banner for Hendrick Motorsports? What do you see in Byron that maybe you don’t see in some of the other drivers?

RUDY FUGLE: We have four capable teams and four capable drivers of carrying the banner every weekend. Pretty amazing. We see it in different phases.

Different things affect race outcomes sometimes: the way certain drivers race, what they’re good at, good at qualifying or not, that kind of stuff.

Week in and week out, we see it, we have four capable drivers, four capable teams. That’s amazing.

Then William, just he’s the guy that has gotten here by being one of the best at preparing during the week, then you add the experience that he’s starting to get over and over and over now. You’ll see the fruits of all of his hard work paying off. That’s what I’m super proud.

JEFF GORDON: I’ll just add to that.

You can look at other driver/crew chief combinations and teams over the years at Hendrick. To me, especially the perspective I have now, it’s just really great to see a team mature, a team grow, a team evolve. You see all the things that they’re doing behind the scenes to get there.

They didn’t just show up at the racetrack and all of a sudden, bam, they clicked on it. These guys have had to work really hard to get there.

I see a progression with William ever since he came to Hendrick. Got to remember how young he was coming into the Cup Series, so much to learn. Young in racing in so many ways.

When Rudy came to Hendrick, the instant connection and chemistry between these two was so obvious. It just took the whole team up to another notch. I think now they’re just building on that.

It’s a lot of fun to watch and see.

Q. Bowman scoring four consecutive top 10s, you have to be happy with the consistency?

JEFF GORDON: 100%. Blake Harris coming onboard. New combination driver/crew chief. To see them click as early on as they have.

I think one of the reasons why that worked, kind of came to, was because the confidence both Alex had in Blake and Blake had in Alex. It’s nice to see that it’s paying off for them on the racetrack.

Q. Josh Berry, you were the first guy up to his car after he finished. What have you seen? It’s a tough situation for him to be in, but just to be able to step in, second start in a Hendrick car, top 10, pretty solid.

JEFF GORDON: I’m really impressed with today’s effort. I was on the 9 box most of the race. It didn’t start off so great. To see them just continue to work through changes on the car, changes of the track conditions, just continue to push forward.

Then he was mixing it up, man. On those restarts, he was right in the middle, three- and four-wide. I was a little bit nervous because they’re pretty deep in points and needed a solid finish.

It was great to see Josh get that. That’s going to build his confidence. I don’t think anybody can explain how difficult a situation this is. I mean, an Xfinity car today could not be more opposite than what the Cup car is throughout the history that I can recall of those things being so different than they are today.

To get out of an Xfinity car and hop into a Cup car that’s so different I think is a big, tall task. We put him in a bad situation last week. This week I saw him putting in the effort and the time, the sim, getting fitted in the seat, doing his homework. It really showed up.

Q. Jeff, what was the process like in deciding to have Josh in the car, also having your buddy Rodney Sandstorm at COTA? Who approached who about that?

JEFF GORDON: Well, I think Jeff Andrews touched on this this week.

Not always, but maybe this really started a few years ago, where you kind of have to have a backup plan. Sort of started with COVID. It’s continued on since then of if something were to happen, a driver could get sick, a driver could get injured, that you have something in place that can happen immediately.

We’ve gone down the path of not having a game plan, and it’s really difficult to find somebody. Sometimes they’re already on their way home, already left the racetrack.

Have a relationship with JRM, with their drivers, having a backup plan in place. I don’t know that Josh has ever really gotten an opportunity with Hendrick before, so that was a team decision, a lot driven by Alan and who he thought would fit in with their team, personality-wise. I think they’re making the right decision.

As far as the road course, I think the road course just opened up the door for should we look at an option that is sort of a road-racing option. We feel confident in Josh, want to keep Josh in the car as much as possible.

I raced with Jordan Taylor. He’s very talented. He’s been in our Garage 56 car, showing a lot of speed. Just the right timing, place to be able to pull that off.

Q. Rudy, how much of a threat did you consider Harvick even on Friday?

RUDY FUGLE: We recognized him right away. We were doing all our comparing to the 4 and the 5. He might not have felt it or people may not have been talking about him, but we knew, we were watching.

I just felt like this was going to be his kind of race, right? You look at that long green-flag run in stage three, with no downforce, a bunch of dirt racers, Harvick wrapping the bottom, and William being disciplined. Discipline for running and being really good, which Kevin is amazing at. A bunch of guys that aren’t afraid to slip and slide and figure out where the grip’s at.

Yeah, they did great. They’ve been good this year, so we’re going to have to contend with them a lot.

Q. Jeff, how much of a concern is having parts taken, even if it’s for further evaluation, especially in this era because of the single supplier issue that the penalties can be significantly more severe?

JEFF GORDON: I can tell you it was weighing on all of our minds coming into today. Certainly will continue.

We had some conversation, will continue to have conversations, with NASCAR. Every situation is sort of unique, but this is a more unique one than I’ve seen in a while where there’s been a lot of communication back and forth on this particular part, especially for this racetrack because they did a parity test in the wind tunnel.

I think it really opened up the door for some miscommunication. I don’t want to go any further than that. We’ll continue to just share all the facts and be transparent with NASCAR as we have been so far.

Q. William and Rudy, second year in a row this 24 team is the first team with multiple wins. Last year you got that second win at Martinsville. This year earlier. How important is it for you guys to get this early start? What can you do to keep this consistency going?

RUDY FUGLE: Yeah, I think you got to get the wins while you’re hot. You got to capitalize. Super good. Our focus is nothing different now. Hit the reset button and how do we do it again.

Put the hard work in every single day, keep grinding. That’s our focus.

WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, I mean, I think last year, even though we won early, we didn’t really know the car or understand the car. We were kind of just adapting to what we had. We were just making the most of an unpredictable situation with the entire field. There was a lot of attrition in the races, a lot of just weird things that were happening.

I feel like now it’s strength on strength. It feels different. It feels like we’re more consistently towards the front and we’re leading laps.

We just want to focus on our processes during the week. I think our processes this week were kind of frustrating because we didn’t really get to do the things we wanted to do. Everyone was a little tired. We did that Charlotte test. There was a lot going on on the outside. It was a little frustrating going into today, but it’s cool to see that we can overcome those things and still get a win.

THE MODERATOR: Jeff and Rudy, thank you.

We’ll continue with questions for William.

Q. What does it mean to you to continue to put the 24 in Victory Lane and carry that legacy on?

WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, I mean, when I first started out, it was a lot of pressure. Going into my rookie year with not having any Cup starts, I don’t think you really understand the magnitude of that shift.

I think everyone prepares you for it, going from Xfinity to Cup, but the level this is, it’s so different, so many details that go into it. That was a lot of pressure.

I think once we got a win under our belt, once we kind of got some consistency going, you stop thinking about that, start thinking about how can we just build this team into something that we want long-term.

It’s just cool to have a group of guys around me that we’ve really built from the ground up with Chad, then when Rudy took over, brought a couple more people in that I was really comfortable with and trusted, like my spotter. It’s just been a good progression.

Q. Can you give us your assessment of the new car, how you felt it changed over last season.

WILLIAM BYRON: New? Like aero package?

Q. Aero package.

WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, I thought it was really difficult to drive. Like from an objective standpoint, I know we were competitive, but I didn’t think we could pass any better. There’s still some work to do there with something going on with how tight they get in traffic.

I mean, yeah, they were certainly hard to drive. Think that’s a good test to see who is the best out there. Kyle is probably the most naturally talented. I think it just shows, like, guys were having to drive their cars and manage that. It made for a really difficult challenge inside the race car.

How many times I slipped, how much slip was too much, how much was enough to keep going fast. That was a good challenge. It kind of I think put our car control on display.

Q. Can you take me through the last restart. High lane, all of a sudden it seemed to thrust forward. Did you get a good push from Reddick, were you unstable?

WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, so the restart, the launch went well for me. I had a really good launch. No wheel spin. At that point I was just focusing how can I get through the gears, how can I side draft Kyle. When they all pulled down to the apron, the outside guys at a bit of a disadvantage because of the distance. Trying to stay as close as I could there.

Then it’s who can beat each other to the corner without hitting the wall. We both got in there deep, both were up the track. He held me really tight there through the middle of one and two, off of two. There was just enough grip up there. I think I was just far enough up on him I was able to stay in it.

We were obviously dragged back. I got that big push from Tyler down the backstretch. That was huge. He drilled me, but we’re not going that fast. It was nice. That kind of got me out in some clean air.

Q. You’ve won two races in remarkably similar fashion. Was it weird going through that? Feel like déjà vu out there?

WILLIAM BYRON: I wasn’t counting my blessings. I was kind of like, man, it went so good last week, I’m probably going to end up crashing here (smiling).

When you have that level of commitment, you know you have on a green-white-checkered to come out the other side. It’s either going to go really good or not.

Yeah, I don’t love winning races that way. It’s very stressful. It’s a lot of tactics going on with the restarts. But it’s fun. It’s a good challenge for us because you’re all tired, you’re all into that long-run mode mentally, then you have to have a pit stop and somehow reset and get into how do I get a good restart.

Q. Looking ahead to November, what were some things you learned today that will benefit you?

WILLIAM BYRON: I mean, the cars are going to change a tremendous amount. That I kind of keep in the back of my mind.

As far as the balance goes, I thought we had the balance really good to start the race. I was sliding around a lot. Seemed to be sliding less than everybody else.

Just when I got back in second, the dirty air is so significant, I just started to get tight. I started to contribute my issues to that. Then we just got the back out of the track.

Yeah, we had to try something to try to close that gap. It just seemed like there was a bubble there. As soon as I was hung up in second, I just focused on trying to be consistent and maybe we get to lap traffic and something would happen.

I think overall throughout the race, there’s still some work to do myself to just know what I need, then also managing the car. The brakes were kind of hot. I did a lot throughout the race messing with the brakes. I just got ’em too hot doing some stuff. Need to work on some of those technique things.

Q. You said earlier the car was difficult to drive with the new aero package. That’s for everybody. Is there a possibility you go maybe and have a meeting with NASCAR technical department to make improvements, proposals?

WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, for sure. We have meetings almost every weekend. That’s been a big thing since probably the middle of last year. We start having meetings with NASCAR. It’s been really productive.

Yeah, I definitely think we need to kind of objectively look at was this a better race or not. That’s really what it comes down to. From my standpoint, yeah, it tests me a lot more, but there’s still some element we have to figure out with how tight the cars are.

I think, yeah, we’ll keep working through that. I’m open to anything. I just want us to have options as drivers. I want it to be hard to drive, but I also want to be able to pass.

Q. (No microphone.)

WILLIAM BYRON: I don’t know. I just kind of see what they bring to the track, adapt that week, yeah.

Q. Was there much of a concern that you and Larson were going to wreck each other on the last restart?

WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, I mean, in my situation having a win, him not having a win yet, like, I assumed he would be more aggressive. But my counter was that I got a win, I’m going to do whatever I can, too. It was a game of chicken a little bit.

Yeah, I mean, I have a lot of trust in Kyle. He’s an amazing driver. We’ve gotten to know each other off the track. I feel like we always communicate well.

Yeah, I don’t know how to answer that. I wasn’t really thinking through that situation. I was just kind of going wherever he was, trying to be a little bit better.

Q. I asked Rudy and Jeff about everyone in the Hendrick camp seems capable of carrying the banner. Maybe consensus in the past was you are the third or fourth guy. As the years go on, do you believe you’re capable of carrying that banner? Got to be validation you are maturing.

WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, I think people around me have always kind of helped me understand that I’m young. Max and my dad, just everyone, my dad especially, he’s a big stats guy. He’s like, Man, you’re young. Just give it some time.

I’m very impatient, so I like things to happen quick. That’s how it happened for me coming up through.

This level is so different. Took a lot of homework, a lot of details. I think the fact that I started later than most driving was a little bit — it took some time to bridge that gap at this level. Now that gap is bridged obviously.

Yeah, I just feel like it’s a constant evolution, just trying to continue to get better.

Q. You ran with Larson all week in Vegas last week, today as well. What does the two wins do for your team’s momentum and confidence?

WILLIAM BYRON: Yeah, I mean, I think Cliff and Rudy work really well together. I think all the crew chiefs do. But Cliff and Rudy sit next to each other in the meetings. They spend a lot of time. They kind of came in the Cup Series at the same time. Cliff had one year on Rudy. They came in with a new driver, new situation.

I feel like they get along really well. They’re very different. I feel like there’s some camaraderie there. It’s not a surprise we’re both running well. I wouldn’t be surprised if all four of us are running well. Everyone communicates really well.

I think in some ways Kyle and I’s driving style, I try to adapt to whatever the setup is, and I think he kind of does the same.

THE MODERATOR: Thanks, William.

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