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Zilisch Victory Narrows Mazda MX-5 Cup Championship at Road Atlanta

Just 30 points separate top two with $250,000 on the line

BRASELTON, Ga. (Sept. 29, 2022) – The Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by BFGoodrich® Tires title chase narrowed to 30 points on Thursday courtesy of a Connor Zilisch (No. 72 Hixon Motor Sports) victory. Zilisch beat teammate Selin Rollan (No. 87 Hixon Motor Sports) to the checkered flag by 0.123-second. Championship leader Jared Thomas (No. 96 JTR Motorsports Engineering) finished fifth while Gresham Wagner (No. 5 Spark Performance) had a disastrous race and only completed five laps before a mechanical issue ended his race.

Zilisch started the 45-minute race from outside the front row, but immediately took over the top spot. He and polesitter Sam Paley (No. 28 McCumbee McAleer Racing) controlled the first part of the race before being joined by Tyler Gonzalez (No. 51 Copeland Motorsports). The trio worked together and pulled away from the rest of the field.

Drama was unfolding behind them. Wagner, the defending champion and closest rival to Thomas, came into pitlane after five laps with a broken steering rack and his race was done.

Thomas, meanwhile, was struggling without power steering and hovering at the back half of the top 10. Wagner was no longer a threat to the championship, but the farther behind Thomas was to Zilisch, the smaller Thomas’ lead would be going into the final race on Friday.

A late full-course yellow to get a stranded car out of the Turn 10 gravel erased the lead the front-runners had built and gave Thomas one more chance to maximize his points.

The race resumed with 10 minutes left on the clock for a three-lap dash to the checkered flag. Zilisch grabbed the lead from Paley who fell to fourth, which gave Rollan the opportunity to move into second. Rollan became Zilisch’s wingman and pushed him away from third-place Gonzalez and eventually across the finish line.

“I come to the track to win and that’s what I did,” Zilisch said. “I have to thank Selin [Rollan] though. He helped me out more than I expected and more than he needed to. Thanks to the whole Hixon Motorsports team, it’s a championship fight now and I’m just looking forward to tomorrow and see what I’m going to be able to do. I’m just going to go out there with the same goal of winning the race and whatever else happens, happens.

“The yellow was good because it got Selin back in the race,” he added. “I was a little skeptical about it because it brought everyone else back into the race, but we managed it well and were able to come out with a 1-2 finish for the team. I’m just looking forward to Race 2 tomorrow.”

The race win earned Zilisch 350 points, plus 10 points for leading the most laps and 10 points for starting Friday’s race from pole. This brings his total to 3350 points, moving him to second in the championship, only 30 points behind Thomas.

Rollan, who is not in championship contention, was happy to help his teammate and return to the podium for the first time since Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in May.

“I’m really, really happy with that run today,” Rollan said. “I’ve had a bad few races since Watkins Glen. It is great to be on the pointy end most of the weekend. And for sure, super happy for Connor and to give the team a 1-2 finish! Thanks to Hixon Motor Sports and thanks to Austin Hatcher for making all this possible. I’m happy to be back on the podium. It’s been a while!”

Gonzalez, who is also not in championship contention, was hoping to add a race win to his record, but with the teammates ahead of him working together, it wasn’t to be.

“We were all working really well together and just pushing away trying to make it a three-car race,” Gonzalez said. “Then that yellow came out and it kind of messed up our plans. At that point it was a mad dash to the end and ended up being the two Hixon cars versus one Copeland car.

“Third place still feels good,” Gonzalez continued. “Hopefully next year we can go for the whole championship. It was unfortunate that I had some conflicts this year. Overall, the Copeland boys gave me a great car and I couldn’t be happier.”

Paley ended up fourth, followed by Thomas in fifth.

The race’s Hard Charger Award went to a newcomer to MX-5 Cup; Cameron Lawrence (No. 88 JTR Motorsports Engineering) picked up seven positions during the race to earn $1,000 as well as an additional $1,000 for his JTR Motorsports Engineering Crew Chief.

Zilisch has locked up the Rookie of the Year championship but will need to overcome a 30-point deficit to Thomas to take home the title.

Friday’s MX-5 Cup season finale goes green at 9:50am ET with live coverage on RACER.com and IMSA.com/tvlive.

About: The Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by BFGoodrich® Tires is the signature spec series for Mazda Motorsports. The series has been operated by Andersen Promotions since 2017 and is currently sanctioned by IMSA. Mazda-powered grassroots champions can earn Mazda scholarships for this pro-level series. The Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup champion is awarded $250,000 as the top rookie nets $80,000.

Find out more at http://www.mx-5cup.com.

Monster Energy Racing: Riley Herbst Talladega NXS Advance

RILEY HERBST
Talladega NASCAR Xfinity Series Advance
No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing

NASCAR Xfinity Series Overview

• Event: Sparks 300 (Round 28 of 33)

• Date: Saturday, Oct. 1

• Location: Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway

• Layout: 2.66-mile oval

• Time/TV/Radio: 4 p.m. EDT on USA/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Riley Herbst Notes of Interest

• After kicking off his third straight NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs appearance with a strong fifth-place finish last Saturday at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Riley Herbst and the No. 98 Monster Energy team are looking to jump above the top-eight cutline in Saturday’s Sparks 300 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. Herbst earned his career-best seventh top-five of the season at Texas, which moved him from 11th to ninth in the playoff standings, just one point below the top-eight cutline. Avoiding calamity will be especially important for Herbst at the always unpredictable Talladega, where he looks to better his seventh-place finish from April by staying out of trouble and earning valuable stage points along the way. While a win would guarantee a spot in the Round of 8, which begins Oct. 15 at Herbst’s home track of Las Vegas Motor Speedway, strong runs this weekend at Talladega and Oct. 8 on the Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway Roval can also help Herbst advance.

• With six races still remaining in 2022, Herbst can already call this season a career year. His seven top-fives eclipsed his previous season-best tally of five top-fives earned last year, and his 17 top-10s have already equaled his season high, first earned during his rookie year in 2020.

• The No. 98 Monster Energy team has been solid at superspeedway-style tracks this season. In the Xfinity Series’ season opener at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, Herbst earned a fourth-place finish after running in the top-10 for a majority of the day, successfully avoiding multiple accidents and collecting bonus points with his stage finishes. Five weeks later, the series arrived at the repaved and reconfigured Atlanta Motor Speedway, a 1.5-mile oval where racing now is more akin to what’s seen at Daytona and Talladega. Despite overheating problems that put him a lap down early in that March 19 race at Atlanta, the No. 98 team persevered to get back on the lead lap and earn another fourth-place finish. After a seventh-place drive April 23 at Talladega, Herbst claimed another Atlanta top-10 with a strong ninth-place finish on July 9. In his most recent superspeedway outing Aug. 26 at Daytona, Herbst navigated several accidents to finish 15th.

• The Sparks 300 will be Herbst’s sixth career Xfinity Series start at Talladega. The 23-year-old from Las Vegas finished fourth at the 2.66-mile oval in April 2021, currently his best result at the track. In his return to Talladega last October, Herbst was in position for the win, leading 26 laps and running in the top-10 for a majority of the race. However, the No. 98 Ford Mustang was caught up in the “Big One” with just six laps remaining. The team followed up that performance with another top-10 run when the series returned to Talladega this past April.

• In addition to his Xfinity Series starts at Talladega, Herbst has also competed in one NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race and four ARCA Menards Series races. His best finish came in his April 2019 ARCA start when he missed victory lane by .149 of a second as the runner-up to race-winner Todd Gilliland. That October, in his one and only Truck Series start at Talladega, Herbst earned a solid third-place finish.

Riley Herbst, Driver of the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang

You head to Talladega fresh off a top-five finish last week at Texas – a great way to begin your playoff run. With two races remaining in the Round of 12, what is your approach?

“Texas was a good weekend for us, and I’m glad that we could go there and get a top-five. With the playoffs, I’m more of a race-by-race guy. Ultimately, you have to survive each race and perform to the best of your ability. I will say that this first round will be the hardest for this No. 98 Monster Energy team. Talladega is unpredictable, and I haven’t been able to wrap my head around the Roval, yet. Hopefully we can survive and advance.”

Talladega is indeed unpredictable. How do you approach a race where there are so many variables out of your control?

“It’s all about survival. Talladega is a wild card and you never know what’s going to happen. I think if we can stay out of trouble and get a little luck, we can be contenders at the end. The key part is getting to the end of the race. We’ve led laps there and performed well at the superspeedways this season, so hopefully we can see that continue at Talladega.”

The playoffs are built around a “win-and-you’re-in” mentality, but you’ve proven that consistency can take you far, as well. A win is always the goal, but how satisfying is it to see your front-running consistency this season yield results?

“I’m proud of this No. 98 Monster Energy team for how far we’ve come. The growth is obvious and people are seeing it. Kevin Harvick gave me the best advice at the beginning of the season when he said I needed to focus on being consistent in the top-10 and finishing races. I think we’ve done that and I’ve grown as a driver because of it. Now we have to shift our focus to be consistently top-five and competing for wins. I cannot thank every person on this team enough for all of their hard work.”

No. 98 Monster Energy Team Roster

Primary Team Members:

Driver: Riley Herbst
Hometown: Las Vegas, Nevada

Crew Chief: Richard Boswell
Hometown: Friendship, Maryland

Car Chief: Matt Noyce
Hometown: Oregon, Wisconsin

Engineer: DJ VanderLey
Hometown: Mobile, Alabama

Engineer: Justin Bolton
Hometown: Latrobe, Pensylvania

Spotter: Tim Fedewa
Hometown: Holt, Michigan

Over-The-Wall Crew:

Front Tire Changer: Kevin Teaf
Hometown: Tallahassee, Florida

Rear Tire Changer: Trevor White
Hometown: Arlington, Texas

Tire Carrier: Davis Sampere
Hometown: Raleigh, North Carolina

Fueler: Corey Coppola
Hometown: Bluefield, West Virginia

Jackman: Stan Doolittle
Hometown: Ninety Six, South Carolina

Road Crew Members:

Truck Driver: Steve Wood
Hometown: Eatontown, New Jersey

Engine Tuner: Willie Pelotte
Hometown: Oakland, Maine

Tire Specialist: Austin Quick
Hometown: Flagstaff, Arizona

NCS AT TALLADEGA: Team Chevy Advance

TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE
YellaWood 500
Talladega Superspeedway
Talladega, Alabama
October 2, 2022

RACE #2 OF NCS PLAYOFFS ROUND OF 12: TALLADEGA

Another non-playoff contender win means all 12 NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) playoff drivers are still looking for a win to secure a spot in the Round of 8. That next opportunity for a guaranteed ticket into the next round comes on Sunday in the YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. NASCAR’s longest oval has held a spot in the NCS playoffs since its debut in the series in 2004, with 2022 marking the sixth consecutive year that the 2.66-mile Alabama venue has hosted the fifth race in the 10-race post-season stretch.

A look at where the Team Chevy NCS playoff drivers stand heading into race two of the Round of 12, including season numbers and career stats at Talladega Superspeedway:

Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Camaro ZL1 – 2nd in Playoff Standings (25-points above cutline)

Victories: 2

Top-Fives: 10; Top-10s: 16; Laps Led: 585;

Average Finish: 14.2; Stage Wins: 5

At Talladega Superspeedway:

Victories: 1

Top-Fives: 1, Top-10s: 1; Average Finish: 19.571

Of Note:

  • The 2022 season marks Chastain’s first career appearance in the NCS playoffs.
  • Chastain has already scored a win at one of the Round of 12 tracks in 2022, with his second-career NCS win coming at Talladega Superspeedway in April.

Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Camaro ZL1 – 3rd in Playoff Standings (23-points above cutline)

2021 NASCAR Cup Series Champion

2021 NASCAR Cup Series Champion

Victories: 2

Top-Fives: 11; Top-10s: 16; Laps Led: 360;

Average Finish: 13.6; Stage Wins: 4

At Talladega Superspeedway:

Top-Fives: 1; Top-10s: 3; Average Finish 23.133

Of Note:

  • The 2022 season marks Larson’s sixth appearance in the NCS playoffs, with 2021 bringing Larson his first trip to the Championship 4.
  • During the playoff era (2004-present); Larson leads the series in ‘multiple playoff race wins in a single season’ with five in 2021 (Bristol, Charlotte ROVAL, Texas, Kansas, Phoenix).
  • In 2021, Larson took the wins at two of the three tracks that are in the Round of 12, including both the playoff and All-Star races at Texas Motor Speedway; and the annual race at the Charlotte ROVAL.

Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Camaro ZL1 – 6th in Playoff Standings (11-points above the cutline)

Victories: 1

Top-Fives: 6; Top-10s: 11; Laps Led: 247;

Average Finish: 16.3; Stage Wins: 2

At Talladega Superspeedway:

Top-10s: 1; Average Finish: 22.091

Of Note:

  • The 2022 season marks Suarez’s first career appearance in the NCS playoffs.
  • Suarez has three top-five finishes on road course circuits in 2022 including his first-career NCS win at Sonoma Raceway; and fifth-place finishes at Road America and Watkins Glen.

Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Camaro ZL1 – 7th in Playoff Standings (11-points above cutline)

2022 NASCAR Cup Series Regular-Season Champion

Victories: 4 (series-leading)

Top-Fives: 11; Top-10s: 18; Laps Led: 763

Average Finish: 11.8; Stage Wins: 5

At Talladega Superspeedway:

Wins: 1; Top-Fives: 4; Top-10s: 6;

Pole Wins: 3; Average Finish: 16.538

Of Note:

  • The 2022 season marks Elliott’s seventh consecutive appearance in the NCS playoffs.
  • Elliott has advanced to the Championship 4 the past two seasons, winning his first career NCS Driver Championship in 2020.
  • Six of his 17 career NCS wins have come in the playoffs.
  • Elliott has won at two of the three tracks in the Round of 12, including Talladega Superspeedway (2019); and a two-time winner at the Charlotte ROVAL (2019 and 2020).

William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Camaro ZL1 – 10th in Playoff Standings (8-points below the cutline)

Victories: 2

Top-Fives: 5; Top-10s: 9; Laps Led: 713;

Average Finish: 16.5; Stage Wins: 4

At Talladega Superspeedway:

Top-Fives: 2; Top-10s: 2; Average Finish: 19.000

Of Note:

  • The 2022 season marks Byron’s fourth consecutive appearance in the NCS playoffs.
  • Bryon’s career-best finish in the NCS playoffs came in 2021, finishing the season 10th in the final standings.
  • Byron scored top-10 finishes in all three races of the Round of 16 including an eighth-place at Darlington Raceway; sixth-place at Kansas Speedway; and third-place at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Camaro ZL1 – 12th in Playoff Standings (26-points below the cutline)

Victories: 1

Top-Fives: 4; Top-10s: 12; Laps Led: 136;

Average Finish: 16.1; Stage Wins: 2

At Talladega Superspeedway:

Top-Fives: 1; Top-10s: 4; Average Finish: 24.429

Of Note:

  • The 2022 season marks Bowman’s fifth consecutive appearance in the NCS playoffs.
  • Bowman has raced his way into the Round of 12 in each of his NCS playoff appearances; making it to the Round of 8 in the 2020 season to score a career-best sixth in the final standings.
  • Two of Bowman’s 12 top-10 finishes of 2022 came in the Round of 16, recording a 10th-place finish at Darlington Raceway and a fourth-place finish at Kansas Speedway.  
    Chevrolet All-Time NASCAR Cup Series

Championships:

Manufacturer Championships:

1st Chevy Title: 1958

Most Recent Title: 2021

Highest Number of Consecutive Titles: 13 (2003-2015)

Driver Championships:

1st Chevy title: Buck Baker (1957)

Most Recent: Kyle Larson (2021)

Highest Number of Consecutive Titles: 7 (2005-2011)


REDDICK ON TOP AT TEXAS

In similar fashion as the series’ opening playoff round, the first race of the NASCAR Cup Series Round of 12 saw a non-playoff contender steal the show. Tyler Reddick and the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Camaro ZL1 followed up a disappointing early departure from the playoffs in the best way possible, taking the victory in the NCS Round of 12 opener at Texas Motor Speedway. Reddick’s third victory of the season is second-most of the series’ 19 winners, just behind fellow Chevrolet driver Chase Elliott. The 26-year-old California native’s triumph took Chevrolet to its 17th win of 2022 in NASCAR’s premier series, extending its lead as the winningest manufacturer of the NCS season.

BOWTIE LOOKING FOR A TALLADEGA REPEAT

The Bowtie brand is returning to Talladega Superspeedway as defending winners in all three NASCAR national series. In April, the series made its first stop of the season at the 2.66-mile Alabama venue for a doubleheader race weekend featuring the NASCAR Cup Series and the NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS); while the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) will make its return to the track for the first time since October 2021.

Ross Chastain and the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Camaro ZL1 team might have only led one lap in the spring NCS Talladega event, but it was the most important lap of the race. Taking the white in the third position and aligned with fellow Chevrolet drivers Erik Jones and Kyle Larson; a battle among the top-two opened the door for Chastain to pilot his Chevrolet-powered machine to the front, taking the checkered flag by a mere .105-seconds to capture his second NCS win of 2022. Chastain’s victory gave Chevrolet its 42nd all-time win at Talladega, extending its record as the winningest manufacturer in NASCAR’s premier series at the track.

In a triple overtime finish, JR Motorsports’ Noah Gragson record his first-career NXS win at Talladega in the series’ April event. Gragson’s victory came after narrowly edging out Jeffrey Earnhardt, grandson of seven-time NCS Champion Dale Earnhardt, who was piloting a black No. 3 Chevrolet as a special entry for Richard Childress Racing. Gragson delivered Chevrolet its 21st win in 33 NXS races at Talladega, the most of all manufacturers, as well as extending the Bowtie brand’s win streak at the track to seven in a row.

In the NCWTS most recent appearance at Talladega (October 2021), the series saw a first-time winner hoist the trophy in the Chevrolet Silverado 250. Driving a part-time schedule for Chevrolet team Young’s Motorsports, Tate Fogleman scored a playoff race upset, taking the lead on the final circuit from then race leader, John Hunter Nemechek, to score his first career NCWTS win in 46 starts in the series.

GRAGSON GOES FOUR-IN-A-ROW, TIES RECORD

Noah Gragson and the No. 9 JR Motorsports Camaro SS team started the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series playoffs in the same winning fashion as the team concluded the series’ regular season. In the NXS Round of 12 opening race at Texas Motor Speedway, Gragson continued to prove he is a championship contender, leading a race-high 85 laps en route to his series-leading seventh NXS victory of 2022. The victory – which punched his ticket to the Round of 8 – was also the 24-year-old Nevada native’s fourth consecutive victory. Gragson became just the second driver in series’ history to win four consecutive NXS races, joining Sam Ard on that elite list, who accomplished that feat in 1983. Gragson’s triumph gave Chevrolet its 20th win in 27 NXS races this season; and the manufacturer’s 497th all-time in NXS competition, one step closer to its milestone 500th victory.

PLAYOFF POINTS UPDATE: ONE DOWN, TWO TO GO

The Talladega Superspeedway race weekend marks the second of three races in each of the three NASCAR national series’ respective playoffs, with the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series in the Round of 12, while the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is down to the Round of 8.

An eventful 500-miles at Texas Motor Speedway provided for a shakeup in the NCS driver points standings, but one thing that remained the same was Chevrolet drivers leading in numbers above the playoff cutline. Collecting top-five finishes and crucial stage points in both stages, Ross Chastain took second in the playoff points standings with a 25-point cushion over the cutline. Just behind Chastain in third is 2021 NCS Champion Kyle Larson, who recorded his 16th top-10 finish of the season and increased his points advantage to 23-points over the cutline. Entering the Texas race weekend below the cutline in 11th, Daniel Suarez made a big jump in the standings to the sixth position and an 11-point advantage above the cutline. The 2022 NCS regular-season champion Chase Elliott fell in the standings after an incident forced the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Camaro ZL1 to retire from the race early, but he still remains above the cutline in the seventh-position (11-points above the cutline). Rounding out the Chevrolet playoff field includes William Byron in 10th (8-points below the cutline) and Alex Bowman in 12th (26-points below the cutline).

With race one of three in the books for the opening round of the NXS playoffs, the Bowtie brand continues to control the driver standings, with Chevrolet drivers currently occupying six of the top-eight positions in the standings. Leading the way is Noah Gragson, who’s Texas win already secured his spot into the Round of 8. 2021 NXS regular-season champion AJ Allmendinger is in second with a 47-point advantage on the cutline; with Chevrolet drivers Austin Hill, Josh Berry, Justin Allgaier and Sam Mayer taking the fourth- through seventh-spots in the standings, respectively.

In the NCWTS Round of 8, GMS Racing’s Grant Enfinger represents Chevrolet in the title hunt. While continuing his top-five streak in the series’ playoffs – recording a fourth-place finish at Bristol Motor Speedway – Enfinger still remains on the outside looking in, but just 15-points below the cutline.

Defending NCS and NXS Manufacturer Champions, Chevrolet, continues to pull away in the manufacturer points standings as the Bowtie brand looks to repeat its championship title. After a sweep of the wins at Texas Motor Speedway, Chevrolet extended its lead to 92-points in the NCS manufacturer points standings and 131-points in the NXS manufacturer points standings.

NCWTS ROUND OF 8: RACE TWO

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will make its return to the track this weekend, with Saturday’s Chevy Silverado 250 marking race two of the series’ Round of 8. Chevrolet’s playoff contender Grant Enfinger and his No. 23 GMS Racing Silverado RST team are riding the momentum of a strong, consistent run in this season’s playoffs, scoring top-five finishes in all four of the playoff races thus far. Enfinger’s next chance at a win to secure his spot in the Championship 4 comes at his home track of Talladega Superspeedway. The 2.66-mile superspeedway delivered Enfinger his first career win in the series in 2016, also behind the wheel of a GMS Racing Chevrolet-powered machine.

BOWTIE BULLETS

· Victories by active Chevrolet drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series at Talladega Superspeedway include:

   Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Camaro ZL1 (2022)

   Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Camaro ZL1 (2019)

   Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Camaro ZL1 (2017)

· Chevrolet is heading into the Talladega Superspeedway as defending winners at the track following Ross Chastain’s victory in the April 2022 NASCAR Cup Series race. Chastain’s victory was celebrated by a strong showing by the Bowtie brigade, with six drivers from four different Chevrolet teams taking top-10 finishes.

· In 106 NASCAR Cup Series races at Talladega Superspeedway, Chevrolet leads all manufacturers in race wins (42) and pole wins (37). Of those wins includes a record streak of 13 consecutive trips to victory lane, captured by five different drivers in Chevrolet-powered machines from April 1999 to May 2005.

· In his nine career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Talladega Superspeedway, Chevrolet driver Ty Dillon leads all active drivers in the series in average finishing position at the 2.66-mile Alabama Superspeedway with a 14.333.

· Tyler Reddick’s win – his third of the 2022 season – delivered Chevrolet its manufacturer-leading 17th win in 30 NASCAR Cup Series points-paying races. The Bowtie brand also continues to lead its manufacturer competitors in top-fives (71), top-10s (132), laps led (3,533) and stage wins (24).

· Seven Team Chevy drivers have combined 24 NASCAR Cup Series stage wins:

   Tyler Reddick 2 - Fontana x2

   Alex Bowman 1 - Las Vegas, Kansas

   Ross Chastain 4 - Las Vegas, Darlington, Charlotte, Pocono, Richmond

   William Byron 4 – Phoenix, Atlanta, Talladega, Darlington

   Daniel Suarez 2 – COTA, Charlotte

   Chase Elliott 3 – Martinsville x2, Charlotte, Atlanta x2

   Kyle Larson 4 – Bristol, Sonoma, Pocono, Texas

· Reigning NASCAR Cup Series and NASAR Xfinity Series Manufacturer Champions, Chevrolet, continues to lead in the manufacturer points standings in both series. The bowtie brand leads the NCS manufacturer points standings by 92-points, with the manufacturer’s lead in the NXS standings expanding to 131-points.

· With its 40 NASCAR Cup Series Manufacturer Championships, 33 NASCAR Cup Series Driver Championships, and 831 all-time NASCAR Cup Series wins, Chevrolet continues to hold the title of winningest brand in NASCAR.

FOR THE FANS

· Fans can visit the Team Chevy Racing Display in the Fan Midway at Talladega Superspeedway.

· Fans can check out an assortment of Chevrolet vehicles including: Camaro ZL1, Silverado 2500 LTZ, Silverado ZR2, Blazer RS, Tahoe Z71, 2023 Corvette Z51, Pink Silverado 1500 High Country.

· At the Chevrolet Display, fans can also view Kyle Larson’s No. 5 Camaro ZL1 show car.

Team Chevy Driver Appearances at the Display:

Sunday, October 2

· Tyler Reddick: 9:15 a.m.

· Chase Elliott: 9:45 a.m.

Chevrolet Display Hours of Operation:

Friday, September 30: 12 p.m. – 6 p.m.

Saturday, September 24: 8 a.m. – 3 p.m.

Sunday, September 25: 8 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Tune In:

NBC will broadcast the NASCAR Cup Series YellaWood 500 at 2 p.m. ET on Sunday, October 2. Live coverage can also be found on the NBCSports Gold App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

USA Network will broadcast the NASCAR Xfinity Series Sparks 300 at 4 p.m. ET on Saturday, October 1. Live coverage can also be found on the NBCSports Gold App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

FS1 will broadcast the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Chevy Silverado 250 at 12:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, October 1. Live coverage can also be found on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

QUOTABLE QUOTES

ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 1 JOCKEY CAMARO ZL1

How do you think Talladega will go for you?

“Unfortunately, my belief is when you win a superspeedway race, you have to pay it back for a long time so you don’t finish good for a long time. So I’ll be very lucky if I get to finish that race. If I can just stay on the bottom again and they move out of my way and I take the checkered flag in first, that would be great. Spring Talladega was wild. We’ll always have good memories but I’ve had a lot of wrecked racecars there.”

Do you feel confident since you won the Spring race?

“No, I don’t feel confident just because I won the race there earlier this year (laughs). That was pure luck, it’s still hard for me to believe it happened.”

AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BASS PRO SHOPS / TRACKER OFF ROAD CAMARO ZL1

How much more confidence do you have going into Talladega coming off a strong finish there in the Spring, and a recent win at Daytona International Speedway?

“I always feel like you’ve got something when you win on a certain type of track. Obviously, there’s a lot of luck involved as well, but the important thing is that there are opportunities to make your own luck. We’re going to work hard. We’ve just got to stay focused and see if we can play the same kind of chess match that we did earlier this year. Anything can happen at Talladega Superspeedway, but we’re going to do what we can to use momentum at the very end of the race to take advantage of positions.

KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1

Larson on if drivers might play it safe and run behind the main pack this weekend:

“I don’t think so just because there’s so many stage points on the line. Yes, there might be a couple that do that, but I feel like you typically don’t see that. I think there’s so many stage points on the line that if you can get those points then, even if you wreck, you’ll have a decent points day out of it. I see everybody racing pretty hard.”

CLIFF DANIELS, CREW CHIEF, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1

Daniels on if strategy or luck helped with their fourth-place finish at Talladega Superspeedway in April:

“I would say more luck because we were able to stay out of the wrecks. From a strategic standpoint, everything we accomplished that race is the exact strategy we try to implement every speedway race. We try to get up front and stay up front. We try to have a good driving car that can pass and draft and do all the things you need it to do. We try to be on the right side of pit strategy while working with our teammates and other Chevrolet teams. From a pure strategic standpoint, we target that every single speedway race.”

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1

Elliott on racing at Talladega:

“It’s obviously not an ideal situation to be where we’re at in the points heading into Talladega (Superspeedway), but it is what it is. I’ve said for years that no one is safe in these playoffs. We’ve been in similar situations in the past, so we know what we need to do these next two weeks to put ourselves in a good position to advance. I know we’re fully capable of getting the job done. We’ve proven it time and time again.”

ALAN GUSTAFSON, CREW CHIEF, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1

Gustafson on Talladega:

“We were able to learn a lot when we were at Talladega (Superspeedway) in the spring to really improve our superspeedway program. That was our goal going into the race, knowing we’d be coming back here in the playoffs. For us, it’s about getting maximum points this weekend, minimizing our mistakes and making sure we survive until the end. If we do that, we’ll have just as good a shot as anyone to get the win and lock ourselves into the next round.”

WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 RAPTORTOUGH.COM CAMARO ZL1

Byron on how to balance racing at Talladega:

“Racing at Talladega (Superspeedway) is more about how well you can push someone and how well your car can receive a push. It’s a track where you really have to be able to work with other cars to not only get to the front but also stay up there. We were running up front in the spring race and lost our help in the end to stay up front, unfortunately. Once you get back in traffic, it’s a lot harder to make your way forward. With how close the points are right now; I think stage points are going to be even more crucial Sunday than they normally are in this race. With everyone trying to get every point they can, you don’t want to put yourself at risk of not finishing the race either just trying to get a stage point. It’s a fine balance for sure.”

RUDY FUGLE, CREW CHIEF, NO. 24 RAPTORTOUGH.COM CAMARO ZL1

Fugle on preparation for Talladega:

“Talladega (Superspeedway) is a track where balance comes more into play than a place like Daytona (International Speedway). It’s a fine line between finding speed for qualifying, but also having the handling of your car right to keep you up front during the race. We’ve only had qualifying for two superspeedway events this year, but we have a good notebook on what adjustments we made from Saturday to Sunday. We ran really well in the spring race at Talladega earlier this year, and those notes are going to be a huge help even though the weather will be different this time around. We’ll also run the same tire that we ran not only at Talladega this year, but also at Daytona as well. This is probably one of the tracks in the playoffs that we have the most notes on and can prepare for.”

TY DILLON, NO. 42 SUNSEEKERRESORTS.COM CAMARO ZL1

Dillon’s thoughts on racing at Talladega Superspeedway:

“I’m pretty pumped to head back to Talladega this weekend with our Sunseeker Resorts Camaro. In every superspeedway race we’ve ran this season, our Petty GMS team has brought some really fast cars, and it shows with both of our teams. We were able to hook up with our teammate and get to the front of the pack in the spring, and also had a good run going for us at Daytona until we got caught up in the big one. This time around, I’m hoping that we can put together another strong effort and hang in there through all 500 miles so we have a shot at the end.”

ERIK JONES, NO. 43 FOCUSFACTOR CAMARO ZL1

“I think Talladega will be really good for us. Superspeedway’s, every race this year we’ve been really, really fast and really strong and had a shot to win and just haven’t closed it out. Hope this is the one. I think it’s a race we can win for sure going in. I think we all feel really confident. I feel really confident in my superspeedway ability, feel really confident in what we are bringing car wise to the superspeedway’s right now. I think Talladega plays in our hand a little bit more than Daytona with the speed we’ve had. I’m excited for that and hopefully we can go there and get a win with our FOCUSfactor Chevy.”

DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 TOOTSIE ORCHID LOUNGE CAMARO ZL1

Thoughts on Talladega?

“Talladega is very unpredictable and a lot of things can happen as we all know. As a driver you can put yourself in good positions and bad positions. You just have to be smart and keep yourself in good positions all day. Of course there is a lot of luck in that. If we can break even in Talladega we will be in good shape. I know the following week on the ROVAL at Charlotte we will be top-five and I expect to race for the win.”

How important are stage points?

“They weren’t as important in the first round, but in this round I think they are definitely a must. You have to earn stage points if you want to advance. We know that and it’s a priority. That starts in qualifying on Saturday, so you have to qualify well to start in a good spot and have a good pit stall then keep track position all day. We did that at Texas on Sunday.”

Can you win this championship?

“Somebody has to win it! You know at the beginning of the year (Trackhouse founder and owner) Justin Marks said something that really sticks with me. ‘Why not us?’ We might not have the experience in terms of years like many of the other teams have, but what we do have are the people, the corporate partners and the manufacturer support from Chevrolet to win this so why not? We haven’t gotten here by just luck. We have to continue to do our thing and see where all of this is going to take us.”

Thoughts on the remaining two races in the Round of 12 – Talladega and the Charlotte ROVAL?

“You know Trackhouse Racing has won at a superspeedway race when Ross (Chastain) won at Talladega earlier this year and then both of us have won on road courses this year, so we feel very confident in our setups and how we will race in the next two races.”

GRANT ENFINGER, NO. 23 CHAMPION POWER EQUIPMENT SILVERADO RST

Enfinger ‘s thoughts on racing at his home track during the Round of 8:

“Talladega is always a special place for me, so I’ve been looking forward to this weekend for a while. Jeff Hensley and the guys have our Champion Power Equipment Chevy as prepared as we can possibly be. Speedway racing is always chaotic, but hopefully we have the speed and make the right decisions to get some valuable stage points and contend for a win. Roll Tide!”

JACK WOOD, NO. 24 LOGITECH G SILVERADO RST

Wood’s thoughts on superspeedway racing in the Truck Series:

“There are a lot of unknown variables that come along with superspeedway racing, but I think Talladega provides us with a great opportunity to capitalize. I wasn’t able to get much experience racing in the pack there last season as we had a mechanical failure, but I learned a lot earlier this year at Daytona and Atlanta that I look forward to using this weekend. Our main goal has to be all about surviving, so if we can avoid ‘the big one’ and put ourselves in a good spot to be there when it counts, that is going to pay huge dividends. I’m looking forward to taking on this challenge with my No. 24 Logitech Silverado RST.”

Chevrolet NASCAR Cup Series Statistics

Manufacturers Championships:

Total (1949-2021): 40

First title for Chevrolet: 1958

Highest number of consecutive titles: 13 (2003-15)

Years Won: 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2021

Drivers Championships:

Total (1949-2021): 33

First Chevrolet champion: Buck Baker (1957)

Highest number of consecutive titles: 7 (2005-11)

Most Recent: Kyle Larson (2021)

Years Won: 1957, 1960, 1961, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2020, 2021

Event Victories:

Record for total race wins in single season: 26 (2007)

2022 STATISTICS:

Wins: 17

Poles: 8

Laps Led: 3,533

Top-five finishes: 71

Top-10 finishes: 132

Stage wins: 24

Tyler Reddick (Fontanax2)
Alex Bowman (Las Vegas), (Kansas)
Ross Chastain (Las Vegas), (Darlington), (Charlotte), (Pocono), (Richmond)
William Byron (Phoenix), (Atlanta), (Talladega), (Darlington)
Daniel Suarez (COTA), (Charlotte)
Chase Elliott (Martinsvillex2), (Charlotte), (Atlantax2)
Kyle Larson (Bristol Dirt), (Sonoma), (Pocono), (Texas)

CHEVROLET IN NASCAR CUMULATIVE STATISTICS:

Total Chevrolet race wins: 831 (1949 to date)

Poles won to date: 731

Laps led to date: 244,869

Top-five finishes to date: 4,209

Top-10 finishes to date: 8,687

Total NASCAR Cup Wins by Corporation, 1949 to Date:

       General Motors: 1,165

       Chevrolet: 831

       Pontiac: 154

       Oldsmobile: 115

       Buick: 65



       Ford: 818                                                           

       Ford: 718

       Mercury: 96

       Lincoln: 4



       Fiat Chrysler Automobiles: 467

       Dodge: 217

       Plymouth: 191

       Chrysler: 59



       Toyota: 168

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.

Hendrick Motorsports statement on Alex Bowman

CONCORD, N.C. (Sept. 29, 2022) – Alex Bowman will not compete in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series playoff race at Talladega Superspeedway after experiencing concussion-like symptoms following an accident in the Sept. 25 event at Texas Motor Speedway.

Bowman, the title-contending driver of the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Hendrick Motorsports, was evaluated by physicians today in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Noah Gragson will fill in for Bowman this weekend. The Las Vegas native has 13 Cup-level starts in 2022 with a best finish of fifth Aug. 28 at Daytona International Speedway. The 24-year-old driver won the April 23 NASCAR Xfinity Series event at Talladega.

Petty GMS Race Preview: Talladega Superspeedway II

Ty Dillon, No. 42 SunseekerResorts.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

  • Dillon at Talladega Superspeedway: Ty Dillon has nine Talladega races under his belt in the Cup Series, and has earned two Top-10 finishes at the facility. In 2020, Dillon earned his best-career NASCAR Cup Series finish in the fall race at ‘Dega, finishing in third position. He’s also led 10 laps here, and ran up front in the spring race earlier this year before becoming involved in a crash at the halfway point.

Dillon has made six NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at the super speedway, posting one Top-10 result in 2015, where he finished eighth. In two NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts, Dillon earned one pole in 2012, and finished in fourth position in that race as well. In 2011, Dillon made his one and only ARCA Menards Series start at the track, winning the race in dominant fashion from the pole.

  • Somewhere on a Beach: Ty Dillon’s No. 42 Chevrolet will feature vibrant colors with primary sponsorship from Sunseeker Resorts. Owned and operated by Allegiant Travel Company, Sunseeker Resorts aims at providing guests with a luxury getaway experience that is unmatched in the industry. As a newly emerging brand and largest new-build resort in all of Florida, Sunseeker plans on making a big statement with their first resort set to open next year in Charlotte Harbor, Florida.
  • About Sunseeker Resort Charlotte Harbor: Opening in 2023, Florida’s newest luxury resort located in Charlotte Harbor is the first resort property of Sunseeker Resorts, a wholly owned subsidiary of Allegiant Travel Company. Sunseeker Resort Charlotte Harbor occupies over 22 waterfront acres with 785 guest rooms, including 189 Signature Sunsuites™. Set upon the Peace River and Florida Gulf Coast, this premier resort offers 20 original food and beverage concepts; including seven stand-alone restaurants, eleven bars and lounges, two poolside offerings and a 25,000-square-foot multi-dining experience. Additional hotel amenities include a waterfront promenade, two unique rooftop and waterfront pool experiences, 60,000-square-feet of combined convention space, full-service spa and salon, a 7,100-square-foot state-of-the-art fitness center with four group exercise studios with specialty instructor lead classes, three retail and market shops, and an 18-hole championship level golf club exclusive to hotel guests only. The resort is conveniently located within a short drive of Punta Gorda, Fort Myers, Sarasota, St. Petersburg-Clearwater, and Tampa airports. For more information, visit www.sunseekerresorts.com. Follow us on Instagram: @sunseekerresorts and like us on Facebook: @sunseekerresorts.
  • Breast Cancer Awareness: As part of a team tradition, Ty Dillon will be honoring several women who have been affected by breast cancer with pink ribbons lining his No. 42 Chevrolet at Talladega. The women highlighted are family members of Petty GMS employees directly associated with his team.
  • From the Drivers Seat: Dillon’s thoughts on racing at Talladega Superspeedway:

“I’m pretty pumped to head back to Talladega this weekend with our Sunseeker Resorts Camaro. In every super speedway race we’ve ran this season, our Petty GMS team has brought some really fast cars, and it shows with both of our teams. We were able to hook up with our teammate and get to the front of the pack in the spring, and also had a good run going for us at Daytona until we got caught up in the big one. This time around, I’m hoping that we can put together another strong effort and hang in there through all 500 miles so we have a shot at the end.”

Erik Jones, No. 43 FOCUSfactor Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

  • Jones at Talladega Superspeedway: Erik Jones will make his 12th-career start in the Cup Series at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday afternoon for the YellaWood 500. In his previous 11 Cup Series starts at the Alabama track, Jones has two top-five finishes, five top-10 finishes with a best finish of second in 2020. Earlier this season, Jones started the GEICO 500 from the 16th position, led 25 laps and was in position for a shot at the win before finishing the race in the sixth position.

In the Xfinity Series, Jones has three starts with a career-best finish of fifth in 2017. With two starts in the Truck Series, Jones has a fourth (2015) and sixth-place finish (2014).

With three superspeedway races this season, Jones has led laps in all three races for a total of 50 laps out of a total of 123 laps led this season.

  • Erik Jones Sightings: Fans attending Sunday’s race at Talladega Superspeedway will have a chance to see Erik Jones before the race:

US Air Force: Erik Jones will make his way to the US Air Force display in the fan midway area from 9:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. CT on Sunday morning prior to the YellaWood 500.

  • Breast Cancer Awareness: The month of October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, and all Petty GMS and GMS Racing teams will honor individuals throughout the month who are battling, are survivors and those who have succumbed to the disease. Each vehicle will carry pink ribbons with the names of family members and friends submitted by Petty GMS and GMS Racing employees. During this month, we honor all those affected by this disease.
  • Focused on Winning: FOCUSfactor will serve as the primary partner on Jones’s Chevrolet Camaro for Sunday’s race at Talladega Superspeedway.
  • About FOCUSfactor: FOCUSfactor is sold at America’s leading retailers such as Costco, Wal-Mart, Walgreens, CVS, The Vitamin Shoppe and Amazon.com. FOCUSfactor, America’s leading brain health supplement, is a nutritional supplement that includes a proprietary blend of brain supporting vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and other nutrients. In December 2012, the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued US Patent 8,329,227 covering FOCUSfactor’s proprietary formulation “for enhanced mental function”. The issuance of the patent marked one of the few times a patent has been issued for a nationally branded nutritional supplement. FOCUSfactor is clinically tested with results demonstrating improvements in focus, concentration and memory in healthy adults.
  • From the Driver’s Seat: “I think Talladega will be really good for us. Superspeedway’s, every race this year we’ve been really, really fast and really strong and had a shot to win and just haven’t closed it out. Hope this is the one. I think it’s a race we can win for sure going in. I think we all feel really confident. I feel really confident in my superspeedway ability, feel really confident in what we are bringing car wise to the superspeedway’s right now. I think Talladega plays in our hand a little bit more than Daytona with the speed we’ve had. I’m excited for that and hopefully we can go there and get a win with our FOCUSfactor Chevy.”

ABOUT PETTY GMS:

Petty GMS competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, operating the No. 42 Chevrolet for Ty Dillon and the No. 43 Chevrolet for Erik Jones. Founded in December 2021, Maury Gallagher, championship team owner of GMS Racing, purchased a majority interest of Richard Petty Motorsports. Inaugural NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty, known as “The King,” remains a key stakeholder of the organization. For more information, please visit www.pettygms.com.

SOCIAL MEDIA:

To keep up-to-date with the latest news, information and exclusive content, follow Petty GMS on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Tony Stewart Racing: St. Louis NHRA Midwest Nationals Advance

Leah Pruett & Matt Hagan
Top Fuel | Funny Car
NHRA Midwest Nationals
Sept. 30-Oct. 2 | St. Louis

Event Overview

Friday, Sept. 30 (Nitro Qualifying, streamed live on NHRA.TV)

● Nitro qualifying session (Q1): 7 p.m. CDT/8 p.m. EDT

Saturday, Oct. 1 (Nitro Qualifying, streamed live on NHRA.TV)

● Nitro qualifying session (Q2): 2:30 p.m. CDT/3:30 p.m. EDT

● Nitro qualifying session (Q3): 5:30 p.m. CDT/6:30 p.m. EDT

Sunday, Oct. 2 (Nitro Eliminations, streamed live on NHRA.TV)

● Round 1: 10:30 a.m. CDT/11:30 a.m. EDT

● Round 2: 12:45 p.m. CDT/1:45 p.m. EDT

● Semifinals: 2:15 p.m. CDT/3:15 p.m. EDT

● Finals: 3:45 p.m. CDT/4:45 p.m. EDT

TV coverage on FS1

● Sunday, Oct. 2: Qualifying show recapping the action from Friday and Saturday (12:30 p.m. EDT)

● Sunday, Oct. 2: Finals show (2 p.m. EDT)

Notes of Interest

● The NHRA Midwest Nationals near St. Louis is the 19th race on the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series’ 22-race schedule and it is the third round in the six-race Countdown to the Championship. Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) drivers Leah Pruett (Top Fuel) and Matt Hagan (Funny Car) are both in the Countdown, with 2022 marking Pruett’s sixth appearance in the NHRA postseason and Hagan’s 11th.

● Pruett is 10th in the Top Fuel standings heading into St. Louis, 178 points behind championship leader Justin Ashley. Hagan is third in the Funny Car standings, 60 points behind leader Robert Hight. Pruett’s best career points finish is fourth, earned three times (2018, 2019 and 2020). Hagan is a three-time champion (2011, 2014 and 2020).

● Pruett is representing Sparkling Ice +Caffeine on her Top Fuel dragster at St. Louis. Hagan, meanwhile, has Baja Vida Snacks on his Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car.

Sparkling Ice +Caffeine is a zero sugar, full-flavored sparkling water containing 70 milligrams of caffeine, along with vitamins and antioxidants. Sparkling Ice +Caffeine comes in six refreshing flavors: Black Raspberry, Blue Raspberry, Cherry Vanilla, Orange Passion Fruit, Strawberry and Citrus Twist. Pruett has served as an ambassador for Sparkling Ice since 2014 and the brand has been a part of all 10 of her Top Fuel victories.

● Pruett’s Top Fuel dragster will also feature Rite in the Rain as an associate sponsor. Rite in the Rain is a line of All-Weather notebooks and pens designed to handle any weather or environment. The Rite in the Rain story began nearly a century ago in the forests of the Great Northwest. Entrepreneur Jerry Darling recognized the logging industry’s need for a durable material that could be written on and survive in poor weather conditions. Darling developed a special coating that created a unique moisture shield on the hand-dipped sheets of paper. Located in Tacoma, Washington, Rite in the Rain’s continued mission is to provide products for professionals and enthusiasts who brave the outdoors.

Baja Vida Snacks are influenced by the culture of the Baja Peninsula, where freshness and adventure abound. Its line of beef jerky has been a staple since the company’s inception in 2019, all of which are Baja inspired and support “The Flavor of Adventure”. Baja Vida Beef Jerky launched with five core flavors – Traditional, Lime & Serrano, Sweet Orange, Salsa Fresca and Churro. Two additional flavors were added in 2021 – Crackin’ Pepper and Street Taco. Baja Vida Snacks also offers a variety of beef sticks, dried mangos and seasonings. Baja Vida Snacks joined TSR earlier this year as an associate sponsor and the Midwest Nationals marks the brand’s first NHRA event as the primary sponsor of Hagan.

● The NHRA Midwest Nationals will be Pruett’s 190th career Top Fuel start and her seventh at St. Louis. For Hagan, the NHRA Midwest Nationals will be his 312th career Funny Car start and his 13th at the track.

● Pruett is seeking her first victory in the NHRA Midwest Nationals, as well as her first No. 1 qualifier at the event. Pruett has gone to the semifinals in three of her last four appearances (2018, 2019 and 2021). However, Pruett does own a win at the track – 2018 in Factory Stock Showdown. She has also competed in Pro Mod at St. Louis, advancing to the second round in 2012.

● Hagan enters the NHRA Midwest Nationals as the defending event champion. His 3.933 ET at 333.49 mph run defeated Bob Tasca III (3.967 ET at 329.99 mph) in last year’s event. Hagan has three No. 1 qualifiers at St. Louis, which came in 2013 (4.001 ET at 320.20 mph), 2015 (3.883 ET at 330.47 mph) and 2021 (3.875 ET at 327.03 mph). Hagan has gone to the finals five times in his last 10 appearances at St. Louis, with runner-up finishes in 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2020.

● DYK? Built in 1967 solely as a drag-racing facility, St. Louis initially began as a 1/8-mile drag strip until the track was extended to a full 1/4-mile in 1971. Having been developed on dormant swampland that was long ago buried by the Mississippi River, the track soon adapted the nickname “The Swamp.” The facility now features a 1.25-mile oval that hosts the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and the NTT INDYCAR Series, as well as a 2-mile infield road course and a state-of-the-art karting facility.

Leah Pruett, Driver of the Sparkling Ice +Caffeine Top Fuel Dragster

St. Louis is known for being one of the faster tracks on the NHRA circuit. What makes the venue so unique?

“The fall Midwest, crisp weather makes for prime track conditions. Also, many teams are really dialed into their performance program at this point in the season. As teams get solid in their stride, elapsed times tend to plunge, especially midway into the Countdown. It’s do or darn near die trying to make a difference in your points standing.”

You and your team will focus on tuning your car to a maximum level at St. Louis. For the novice drag racing fan, explain the effect added tuning has on the parts and pieces of your Sparking Ice +Caffeine Top Fuel dragster.

“In the most ideal world, we would have maximum performance with minimal parts attrition. We expect to be able to push harder, while keeping our rotating assembly of parts healthy, but it’s usually bearings and pistons that take the most beating when the wick is turned up. You can even have a burnt gasket or head, which can be seen by a change in header pipe flame pattern and color, or additional flames in the wrong places. There are a strong handful of teams that have destroyed dozens of big ticket items like engine blocks, superchargers, injectors, etc., in search of maximizing their tune-up. My crew and crew chiefs have done a phenomenal job of running competitively, while keeping me and our parts safe as we systematically improve our overall package. It’s not something that happens overnight. It takes dozens of races and test sessions for the complete picture to come together of how to safely and effectively move forward.”

You’ve advanced to the semifinals in three of your last four appearances at St. Louis. Explain how significant it would be to advance to the finals now that we’re at the halfway point in the Countdown.

“The significance of making it to the finals in St. Louis would mean that we will have had the best hot rod and driver package that we’ve had all year. The competition is exponentially stiff and our program will have elevated at a high rate of speed throughout qualifying and eliminations to make it through that field. We have the mindset and strategy going into St. Louis qualifying to do just that with our Sparkling Ice +Caffeine dragster.”

Matt Hagan, Driver of the Baja Vida Snacks Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car

You’re the defending event winner at St. Louis and you’ve advanced to the finals in five of your last 10 appearances at the track. What makes you so successful at St. Louis?

“It feels like it took me a long time to win at St. Louis. We need to win there this year, to be honest, if we want to win the championship. It’s a big race and there is a lot of pressure to perform to still be in the hunt. We have to step up and do some big things in St. Louis.”

You’re 60 points out of the championship lead. Now that we’re at the halfway point in the Countdown, explain the significance of a high qualifying position and what gaining points mean in each round.

“The Countdown puts pressure on everyone. You have to rise to the occasion and I know we are very capable of doing that. I feel confident as a driver to do my part on the starting line. I know we have to come in and be aggressive and put down on the racetrack all that the track will take. We have to leave it all on the starting line.”

You’re running Baja Vida Snacks on your Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car for the first time this season. What does it mean to welcome a new sponsor to the NHRA?

“It’s amazing to have a sponsor like Baja Vida on the side of the car. To bring them into the NHRA is exciting for me and I genuinely enjoy their product. I love their dried mangos and the beef jerky. It’s a great product that I eat on the regular. I’m a cattle rancher and beef is what we do. To see a company like Baja Vida come in and want to be a part of our sport is a great thing. Hopefully, we can help grow their brand. I’m very blessed to be able to run a new paint scheme and have a new group of folks come in and check our sport out. I’m looking forward to promoting them at Menards. We want to make people aware of what a great product they have.”

Wood Brothers Set To Make 100th Talladega Start

After spending a Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway experiencing the highs and lows of motorsports, Harrison Burton and the No. 21 DEX Imaging team are headed to Talladega Superspeedway confident they can overcome whatever obstacles the racing gods place in their path.

At Texas, Burton and the No. 21 team worked their way to the front of the pack and led the race for 15 laps only to lose the lead and a lap when a pit stop went awry and the team had to deal with a serious fire. Still, the team recovered, regained the lost lap and wound up with an 18th-place finish.

This week’s 54th annual YellaWood 500 marks the 100th Talladega start for the Wood Brothers team, which has five wins, 19 top-five and 33 top-10 finishes plus six poles at the high-banked, 2.66-mile superspeedway.

Crew chief Brian Wilson believes the team can mark that milestone with a strong showing this Sunday.

“Last weekend in Texas, it was really special to see the No. 21 Ford at the front of the field, especially with Nancy Wood’s name on the door,” Wilson said. “That was a great boost of confidence for our whole group and shows that our process is starting to pay off.

“As we head back to Talladega our group should also have confidence based on our previous speedway performance as well. I keep telling the guys if we survive one of these races we’ll end up with a great result.

“From the first race of the season in Daytona through the rest of the speedway races our team has shown the speed to run up front at each one of them. We’ll look to continue to build on that success this weekend.”

But as the Wood Brothers have learned in their previous 99 starts at the Alabama track, races there truly are wild-card affairs.

“Races at Talladega always produce some unpredictable action,” Wilson said. “As we’ve shown the past few weeks, and really all season, our group will be ready for anything that comes our way.”

There will be no practice for the Cup Series this weekend. Qualifying is set for Saturday at 9:30 a.m. (10:30 Eastern Time).

Sunday’s 188-lap race is scheduled to start just after 1 p.m. (2 p.m. Eastern) with TV coverage on NBC.

Stage breaks are planned for Laps 60 and 120.

About DEX Imaging
DEX Imaging is the digital document imaging division of Staples, the world’s largest business solutions provider. DEX sells and services the broadest selection of copiers, printers and data management solutions, such as HP, Konica Minolta, Canon, Kyocera and numerous others.

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES:
Reducing Operating Costs
Reducing Paper Consumption
Increasing Productivity

DEX Imaging has been the recipient of virtually every industry award since the company’s inception, including the JD Power & Associates Award for Best Customer Experience, the prestigious ProTech Service award by Konica Minolta, the Diamond Premier Dealer Award by Kyocera, and the Elite DEALER Award by ‘ENX’ magazine. Other accolades include being named ‘Best Place to Work’ by numerous business journals in the markets DEX serves.

Wood Brothers Racing
Wood Brothers Racing was formed in 1950 in Stuart, Va., by Hall of Famer Glenn Wood. Wood Brothers Racing is the oldest active team and one of the winningest teams in NASCAR history. Since its founding, the team won 99 races (including at least one race in every decade for the last seven decades) and 120 poles in NASCAR’s top-tier series. Fielding only Ford products for its entire history, the Wood Brothers own the longest association of any motorsports team with a single manufacturer. Glenn’s brother, Leonard, is known for inventing the modern pit stop. The team currently runs the Ford Mustang driven by Harrison Burton in the famous No. 21 racer.

Kurtz Aims to Finish on High Note in Season’s Final IMSA Endurance Race

IMSA, Sebring International Raceway, Sebrog , FL, March 2022. (Photo by Brian Cleary/bcpix.com)
  • George Kurtz rejoins Jon Bennett, Colin Braun in No. 54 CORE Ligier
  • Second appearance at Petit Le Mans for CrowdStrike co-founder, CEO
  • Top teams at Petit Le Mans to earn CrowdStrike Endurance, Teamwork and Speed Award

AUSTIN, Texas (Sept. 29, 2022) – George Kurtz and CrowdStrike Racing return to competition in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship this weekend with the 10-hour Petit Le Mans sports car race at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.

As he has at three previous WeatherTech Championship events, Kurtz will team with Jon Bennett and Colin Braun – Kurtz’s teammate in SRO Motorsports America competition. The trio share the No. 54 CrowdStrike/Motul/FLEX-BOX Ligier JS P320 in the Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3) category.

It concludes Kurtz’s 2022 program with CORE autosport as part of the Michelin Endurance Cup, the four endurance rounds on the WeatherTech Championship’s schedule: the Rolex 24 At Daytona, Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen and Petit Le Mans.

Kurtz, Bennett and Braun have been stellar together this season in the previous three long-distance rounds. They opened the IMSA season with a third-place showing in LMP3 at the Rolex 24, followed by fifth at the Sebring 12 Hours. In the most recent Endurance Cup round at Watkins Glen, the No. 54 Ligier was runner-up in class. Road Atlanta presents the final chance for Kurtz and CORE autosport to win a Michelin Endurance Cup event.

Bennett and Braun have won two races in LMP3 to put them in the class championship hunt. That places even more importance on a strong result for both the LMP3 full-season championship and the year-long Michelin Endurance Cup championship.

“I’m looking forward to getting back in the LMP3 car with Jon and Colin at Petit Le Mans,” Kurtz said. “Jon and Colin are in the hunt to win the championship, so we’re going to put our heads down and put in the work to make it happen. We’re prepared for a strong performance.”

Endurance, Teamwork and Speed: CrowdStrike as IMSA Partner

Petit Le Mans also marks the end of CrowdStrike’s first season as an Official Partner of IMSA and presenting sponsor for the new-for-2022 Endurance, Teamwork and Speed Award for Michelin Endurance Cup events.

The honor recognizes the team in each IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship class demonstrating the unique qualities needed to be successful in long and grueling IMSA endurance races. It’s the reward for a difficult combination of performance on the racetrack and the pitlane:

Endurance: Running at the finish of the race
Teamwork: The most efficient time on pitlane, putting a premium on efforts by the driver and crew
Speed: A car’s best qualifying time and fastest race lap

The prizes for the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen will be awarded during Sunday’s pre-race ceremonies at Watkins Glen.

Those philosophies within the Endurance, Teamwork and Speed Award mirror how CrowdStrike approaches its role as one of the world’s leading providers of cybersecurity services. Monitoring systems and preventing breaches is a long-distance and long-term effort that contributes to the overall success of the CrowdStrike-customer relationship, also a form of teamwork.

Speed is essential in both racing and security, whether it’s responding to breaches and attacks or responding to threats from fast racing competitors.

CrowdStrike has redefined security with the world’s most advanced cloud-native platform that protects and enables the people, processes and technologies that drive modern enterprise.

Powered by the CrowdStrike Security Cloud, the Falcon Platform stops data breaches and attacks like ransomware by protecting the most critical areas of risk: endpoints, cloud workloads, identity and data.

In addition to sponsoring the Endurance, Teamwork and Speed Award, CrowdStrike’s IMSA partnership will also include on-track signage at the Michelin Endurance Cup tracks such as Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. and IMSA VIP experiences at select IMSA races throughout the season.

The 10-hour Petit Le Mans is scheduled for 12:10 p.m. ET on Saturday, Oct. 1. The race will air live on NBC from noon-3 p.m. ET and from 7-10:30 p.m. ET on USA. Peacock will have live flag-to-flag streaming from noon-10:30 p.m. ET. IMSA Radio will provide live audio coverage Saturday on IMSA.com, XM 207 and SiriusXM Online 992.

About CrowdStrike

CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: CRWD), a global cybersecurity leader, has redefined modern security with the world’s most advanced cloud-native platform for protecting critical areas of enterprise risk – endpoints and cloud workloads, identity and data.

Powered by the CrowdStrike Security Cloud and world-class AI, the CrowdStrike Falcon® platform leverages real-time indicators of attack, threat intelligence, evolving adversary tradecraft and enriched telemetry from across the enterprise to deliver hyper-accurate detections, automated protection and remediation, elite threat hunting and prioritized observability of vulnerabilities.

Purpose-built in the cloud with a single lightweight-agent architecture, the Falcon platform delivers rapid and scalable deployment, superior protection and performance, reduced complexity and immediate time-to-value.

CrowdStrike: We stop breaches.

Learn more: https://www.crowdstrike.com/

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© 2022 CrowdStrike, Inc. All rights reserved. CrowdStrike, the falcon logo, CrowdStrike Falcon and CrowdStrike Threat Graph are marks owned by CrowdStrike, Inc. and registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and in other countries. CrowdStrike owns other trademarks and service marks, and may use the brands of third parties to identify their products and services.

About CORE autosport

Located in Rock Hill, South Carolina, CORE autosport operates its numerous motorsport programs from a purpose-built, state-of-the-art facility. From its inception, CORE autosport has been driven by the belief that wins, in and of themselves, are not the only definition of success. After all, a team can do everything right, only to have a race win taken from them by a mishap caused by another competitor, or a failure of a component over which they have no control. What defines success at CORE autosport is the development and execution of processes and systems that put them in the best position to seize victory.

RISI COMPETIZIONE PETIT LE MANS PRE-RACE NOTES AND QUOTES

RISI COMPETIZIONE PETIT LE MANS
PRE-RACE NOTES AND QUOTES – 2022
Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 No. 62:
Davide Rigon (ITA)
Daniel Serra (BRA)
James Calado (GBR)

(Braselton, Georgia, September 29, 2022) … Risi Competizione is returning to the race and circuit that helped kick off the team’s early success, Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta. The new in 1998 team won the first ever Petit Le Mans race that year with drivers Wayne Taylor, Eric van der Poele and Emmanuel Collard in the Doyle-Risi Ferrari 333.

Giuseppe Risi is still at the helm of the fan favorite Ferrari team based in Houston, Texas. His drivers for the 25th annual Motul Petit Le Mans IMSA WeatherTech Championship Series race, September 29-October 1, are Ferrari factory Competizioni GT drivers James Calado, Davide Rigon, and Daniel Serra.

In addition to the 1998 victory at Petit, the Risi Competizione team most recently won in class at the 2.54-mile, 12-turn Road Atlanta circuit in 2019 with drivers Calado, Serra and Alessandro Pier Guidi in the teams’ last outing here. Risi has three additional Petit victories — in 2016, 2009 and 2008.

In 2016 Giancarlo Fisichella, James Calado and Toni Vilander took the Risi Ferrari 488 GTLM to victory. In 2008 Jamie Melo and Mika Salo won from pole position in the Ferrari 430 GT2 and again in 2009 with Melo, Salo and Pierre Kaffer, also in the 430 GT2 at the 10-hour enduro.

The Maranello, Italy based Ferrari marque recently claimed its 500th victory with the Ferrari 488 GT3 in international racing across the globe, earning the model (both standard configuration and Evo 2020 versions) a prominent place in history as the most successful Ferrari ever.

Risi Competizione is one of seven GTD Pro entries in a field of 43 total entries for this year’s Petit Le Mans. There are two additional Ferrari 488 GTs entered, both in the GTD class.

QUOTES

Rick Mayer, Risi Competizione Race Engineer:
“Petit Le Mans is always a great race and one where the Risi team has had a number of successes, including the inaugural race 25 years ago. What a great story it would make if we could repeat that success this year. Our last race at Petit for the Risi team was in 2019 and we won so let’s hope history keeps repeating itself.”

Davide Rigon, driver, No. 62 Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo:
“It’s good to be back with Risi. It will be my first experience at Petit Le Mans in Atlanta. I’m excited to have my teammates teach me as much as possible. I’m looking forward to being there. I have heard that it’s a very beautiful place and a nice race. Looking forward to it and to be with Mr. Risi and all the people at Risi Competizione. We will do our best. “

James Calado, driver, No. 62 Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo:
“This will be my third Petit Le Mans [and third with Risi Competizione]. Hopefully, I can make it three out of three [wins] because it would be an unbelievable achievement. It’s obviously different this year being GT3 and not GTE so lap times and things like that will be a little bit different. I think the team have good knowledge of this track, good success and we have good teammates, so hopefully we can get the third win. I’m looking forward to being back. It’s nice to return to the team since Daytona was my last race with Risi. It’s always great to be back racing in America and I’ll give it my best shot.”

Daniel Serra, driver, No. 62 Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo:
“I’m very happy to be back at Petit Le Mans. The last time we were there with Risi was in 2019 and we won the race. Road Atlanta is one of my favorite tracks so I’m really happy and excited to be back. We are fighting for the IMSA Endurance Championship so let’s see what we can do this weekend. It’s always nice to share the car with Davide and James and we are ready.”

The first practice session for the 2022 running of the Petit Le Mans begins Thursday morning, Sept. 29 at 9:50-11:20 a.m. Practice 2 for the GTD Pro class, paired with the DPi class, is from 3:10-4:40 p.m. Thursday night Practice 3 is for 90 minutes commencing at 7:30 p.m. The GTD Pro class qualifying is 3:40-3:55 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 30. The full WeatherTech Championship driver’s autograph session is Friday at 11:00 a.m. for an hour.

The 25th annual Motul Petit Le Mans 10-hour race begins on Saturday at 12:10 p.m. after a morning warm up at 9:15-9:35 a.m. Live timing and scoring is available for all on-track sessions at IMSA.com and the IMSA Smartphone app.

Tune-In Information:
Qualifying for Petit Le Mans will be available on Friday, Sept. 30 at 3:35 p.m. on IMSA.com and streamed on Peacock.

The race will begin with live television coverage on the NBC Network from 12 noon for three hours and will be live on USA Network from 7:00-10:30 p.m. It will be live streamed on Peacock for the entire race from 12:00-10:30 p.m. All times Eastern. You can also listen to it live on IMSA Radio at imsa.com, RadioLeMans.com and SiriusXM Radio.
For more information, please go to www.risicompetizione.com and follow us on Facebook/RisiCompetizione, Twitter @RisiComp and Instagram @RisiComp.

Toyota Clinches 2022 ARCA Menards Series Manufacturer’s Championship

PLANO, Texas (September 29, 2022) – Toyota captured its seventh manufacturer’s championship in the ARCA Menards Series and its sixth-consecutive ARCA title following Sammy Smith’s fourth victory of the season at Bristol Motor Speedway earlier this month.

Toyota drivers have won more than half of the races this season and comes in to the race at Indiana’s Salem Speedway having won five of the last six events.

“We are excited to continue to have such success in the ARCA Menards Series,” said Paul Doleshal, Group Manager, Motorsports and Assets, Toyota Motor North America (TMNA). “Our team partners continue to deliver outstanding performance on-track and offer great opportunities for our development drivers’ growth as race car drivers. We are pleased that our teams have continued to deliver such consistent finishes resulting in our sixth-consecutive ARCA manufacturer’s title.”

Toyota supports three ARCA Menards Series teams, including Venturini Motorsports (VMS), Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) and Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM). All three organizations have scored wins this season with VMS scoring multiple victories with Toyota development drivers Corey Heim, Chandler Smith and Jesse Love. JGR was dominant in their five starts this season with Brandon Jones winning three of them. KBM had the best ARCA season for Team Toyota this season as Sammy Smith won races across multiple ARCA disciplines this season, which culminated in his ARCA East and Sioux Chief Showdown titles in Bristol.

Toyota first entered the ARCA Racing Series in 2007 and has captured seven manufacturer’s titles (2013, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022) and seven driver’s titles (2009, 2010, 2013, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021). Toyota now sits at 129 national ARCA Menards Series wins.

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for more than 60 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships.

Toyota directly employs more than 48,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 43 million cars and trucks at our 13 manufacturing plants. By 2025, Toyota’s 14th plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles. With the more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, more than a quarter of the company’s 2021 North American sales were electrified.

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