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Stewart-Haas Racing: M&M’s Fan Appreciation 400 from Pocono

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Official Release
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STEWART-HAAS RACINGM&M’s Fan Appreciation 400

Date: July 24, 2022

Event: M&M’s Fan Appreciation 400 (Round 21 of 36)

Series: NASCAR Cup Series

Location: Pocono (Pa.) Raceway (2.5-mile triangle)

Format: 160 laps, broken into three stages (30 laps/65 laps/65 laps)

Race Winner: Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

Stage 1 Winner: Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)

Stage 2 Winner: Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

SHR Race Finish:

● Aric Almirola (Started 12th, Finished 15th / Running, completed 160 of 160 laps)

● Chase Briscoe (Started 13th, Finished 17th / Running, completed 160 of 160 laps)

● Cole Custer (Started 32nd, Finished 19th / Running, completed 160 of 160 laps)

● Kevin Harvick (Started 24th, Finished 29th / Running, completed 160 of 160 laps)

SHR Points:

● Kevin Harvick (10th with 565 points, 214 out of first)

● Aric Almirola (13th with 512 points, 267 out of first)

● Chase Briscoe (18th with 485 points, 294 out of first)

● Cole Custer (26th with 351 points, 428 out of first)

SHR Notes:

● Almirola earned his 11th top-15 of the season and his sixth top-15 in 20 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Pocono.

● This was Almirola’s seventh straight finish of 16th or better at Pocono.

● Briscoe earned his 14th top-20 of the season and his first top-20 in three career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Pocono.

● Briscoe’s 17th-place result bettered his previous best finish at Pocono – 21st, earned in the second race of last year’s doubleheader.

● Custer earned his eighth top-20 of the season and his third top-20 in six career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Pocono.

● The M&M’s Fan Appreciation 400 marked Harvick’s milestone 775th career NASCAR Cup Series start.

● Harvick finished 10th in Stage 1 to earn one bonus point and sixth in Stage 2 to earn five more bonus points.

Race Notes:

● Denny Hamlin won the M&M’s Fan Appreciation 400 to score his 49th career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his third of the season and his series-best seventh at Pocono. His margin over second-place Kyle Busch was .927 of a second.

● There were nine caution periods for a total of 37 laps.

● Twenty-nine of the 36 drivers in the M&M’s Fan Appreciation 400 finished on the lead lap.

● Chase Elliott remains the championship leader after Pocono with a 100-point advantage over second-place Ross Chastain.

Next Up:

The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Verizon 200 at the Brickyard on Sunday, July 31 on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The race begins at 2:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBC and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

CHEVROLET NCS AT POCONO: Post-Race Notes and Quotes

By
Official Release
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NASCAR CUP SERIES
POCONO RACEWAY
M&M’S FAN APPRECIATION 400
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE
JULY 24, 2022

TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10 RACE RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
3rd CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1
4th TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 SHEETZ CAMARO ZL1
5th DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 COMMSCOPE CAMARO ZL1
7th KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1

TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1st Denny Hamlin (Toyota)
2nd Kyle Busch (Toyota)
3rd Chase Elliott (Chevrolet)
4th Tyler Reddick (Chevrolet)
5th Daniel Suarez (Chevrolet)

The NASCAR Cup Series season continues next Sunday, July 31, at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course with the Verizon 200 at the Brickyard at 2:30 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on NBC, the NBCSports Gold App and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES AND QUOTES:

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 3rd

A LITTLE BIT OF A SLOW START EARLY, BUT SLOWLY WORKED YOUR WAY UP. HOW MUCH OF A BATTLE WAS THAT?

“Yeah, definitely a bit of a battle for our NAPA team today. I’m pretty happy with third after that. I didn’t think we were all that good through the mid-portion of the race and I was struggling in traffic trying to get back up through there. We had some restarts go our way there towards the end and was able to get some spots back, which was nice. It was good to get a top-five, but certainly could be a little better.”

YOU SAID THAT YOU WANT TO FOCUS ON SOME OF THE TRACKS WHERE YOU FEEL LIKE YOU AREN’T YOUR BEST. THIS IS YOUR BEST FINISH HERE AT POCONO, WHAT DID YOU LEARN?

“I don’t know that I learned much of anything today, but just got fortunate there with the way the restarts and stuff went. I think we have room for improvement. We’ll go onto next week, try to build and be a little bit better.”

TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 SHEETZ CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 4th

YOU GUYS WERE GOOD AT THE BEGINNING, MAYBE STRUGGLED A LITTLE THROUGH THE MIDDLE, AND GOOD AGAIN AT THE END. YOU MAXIMIZED YOUR DAY, DID IT FEEL LIKE THAT?

“Yeah, we definitely maximized our day in our No. 8 Sheetz Chevrolet that’s for sure. I think we only struggled a little bit at times in the race just with track position. It may look that way, but honestly our team did a good job and got better the further we went. If the cautions would have played out differently, I think we could have been in position at the end of the race.

All-in-all, we passed a lot of cars today and we did that well on the race track and on pit road. It was a great day for our team.”

DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 COMMSCOPE CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 5th

“It was a good day for our No. 99 CommScope Chevy team. I thought we had a top-five, top-10 car all day long. At the beginning, I thought we had a winning car. We made the right adjustments and all-in-all, it was a solid day all around for our team.”

KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 7th

“I had one bad restart where I lost a bunch of positions and then you had to works s hard to get each position back.”

ERIK JONES, NO. 43 FOCUSFACTOR CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 11th

YOUR FINISH DOESN’T REALLY TELL THE WHOLE STORY. YOU GUYS USED STRATEGY TO GET TO THE FRONT AND THEN HAD THE SPEED TO LEAD. WHERE DID IT GET AWAY FROM YOU?

“The mid part of the race we were really good and I was really happy with it. Just got tight at the end of the race. It cooled down a lot and we probably didn’t stay ahead of that enough. The FOCUS Factor Chevy was good. Frustrated. We had the speed, kind of all weekend, and then hacked up qualifying a little bit, had to start at the back and found our way back to the front and then just got behind. A good weekend in the fact we did have good speed. It’s been a minute since we’ve had that kind of speed and I was happy with that. It’s frustrating that we came home 11th. You want to come home better than that with a car like that. Just got behind. It was a big day. Dave (Elenz) was enjoying his time off today and Danny (Efland) was enjoying his time on the box today so we had a lot of different stuff going on. I don’t think that was any benefit to our situation, but a good day. We’ve got to keep pushing, got to keep going. We’ve got to win at the point so hopefully we can find ourselves in that spot.”

YOU MENTIONED THIS WAS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR YOU TO WIN. LOOKING AHEAD, WHERE DO YOU THINK IT MIGHT BE POSSIBLE TO GET A WIN?

“I think Michigan is going to be a good one for us. I think similar things that work here will work there car wise. I look at Daytona, obviously, is going to be a shot for us again. Those are probably the two I’ve really got circled coming up. The short track stuff has been a bit of a struggle, road courses as well so those aren’t going to be our friend. So, Michigan and Daytona for sure. I hope we have a shot. Would love to get one in Michigan, that would be pretty cool.”

ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 1 WORLDWIDE EXPRESS CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 34th

“It was something that has been owed to me for a few months now. I’m proud of the effort by Trackhouse Racing and everybody on this No. 1 Worldwide Express Chevy. It’s week in and week out that we keep bringing fast Chevy Camaro’s. Everybody at Advent Health, Moose Fraternity and Jockey – to keep bringing bullets like that and keep bringing fast cars is a testament to everybody at Chevrolet.”

TEAM CHEVY RACE QUICK NOTES

Stage One:

· Kyle Larson powered his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1 to the lead on lap 13, pacing the field until the caution flew for Aric Almirola on lap 27.

· The 30-lap Stage One ended under the caution, giving Larson his third stage win of 2022.

· Five Chevrolet drivers made up the Stage One top-10:

1st Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1

2nd Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1

5th Daniel Suarez, No. 99 CommScope Camaro ZL1

7th Erik Jones, No. 43 FOCUSfactor Camaro ZL1

8th William Byron, No. 24 RaptorTough.com Camaro ZL1

Stage Two:

· Varying pit cycles in Stage One put Ross Chastain in the fourth position to lead Chevrolet to the start of Stage Two.

· Stage Two saw four cautions and eight lead changes, with Erik Jones leading the bowtie brigade in laps led with 11.

· Chastain took the checkered at the end of Stage Two in the second position, leading Chevrolet to six top-10 finishes in the Stage.

· Team Chevy Stage Two Top-10:

2nd Ross Chastain, No. 1 Worldwide Express Camaro ZL1

4th Erik Jones, No. 43 FOCUSfactor Camaro ZL1

7th William Byron, No. 24 RaptorTough.com Camaro ZL1

8th Daniel Suarez, No. 99 CommScope Camaro ZL1

9th Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1

10th Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1

Final Stage / Post-Race Notes:

· Chase Elliott led Chevrolet to three top-five and four top-10 finishes at Pocono Raceway.

· Three drivers from three different Chevrolet teams were represented in the top-five of the final running order.

· With 21 NASCAR Cup Series races in the books, Chevrolet continues to lead in lead the series in wins (11), top-fives (52), top-10s (95), and stage wins (19).

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.

Toyota Racing NCS Post-Race Recap — Pocono 7.24.22

By
Official Release
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HAMLIN’S TOYOTA TAKES CHECKERED FLAG AT TRICKY TRIANGLE
Camry TRD’s of Hamlin and Busch Tally Toyota One-Two Finish

LONG POND, Penn. (July 24, 2022) – Denny Hamlin drove his Toyota Camry TRD to his third win of the 2022 season and 49th of his career in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) race at Pocono Raceway. Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Kyle Busch led a significant portion of the race before following Hamlin to the checkered flag with a second-place finish. Toyota drivers Christopher Bell (sixth), Martin Truex Jr. (ninth) and Bubba Wallace (10th) also scored top-10 finishes. Ty Gibbs made his first career NCS start in Sunday’s race and finished in the 18th position subbing for Kurt Busch, who was not medically cleared to compete after a qualifying accident on Saturday.

Toyota Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Pocono Raceway
Race 21 of 36 – 400 miles, 160 laps

**UPDATED FINISHING POSITIONS BELOW FOLLOWING THE POST-RACE INSPECTION FAILURES ANNOUNCED FOR NO. 11 and NO. 18 CAMRYS.

TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS

1st, Chase Elliott*

2nd, Tyler Reddick*

3rd, Daniel Suarez*

4th, CHRISTOPHER BELL

5th, Kyle Larson*

7th, MARTIN TRUEX JR.

8th, BUBBA WALLACE

16th, TY GIBBS

35th, DENNY HAMLIN

36th, KYLE BUSCH

*non-Toyota driver

TOYOTA QUOTES

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota Camry TRD, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 1st

With a spin on Saturday, the lap 1 contact today, a spin in stage 2 and the fuel concerns – how did you overcome all of that to get to victory lane for the seventh time at Pocono?

“It’s the team. They were able to come back with a great strategy there to get us back upfront from the mistake I made.”

Was the contact with Ross Chastain straight payback?

“I mean, what did you want me to do? What did you expect me to do? We got position on him, and he just ran out of race track.”

Is it now over between you and Ross Chastain in your book?

“We’re just going to keep racing hard until we get the respect back from these guys. It’s not just that, we’ve been wrecked four times. Twice while leading in the last 10 months and I’m at the end of it.”

This is win 49 and it ties you with your former teammate Tony Stewart. Did you ever believe you’d be at this point?

“No, never. I just wanted to be a local short track racer in Virginia. That’s all I really cared about, but I was able to get a great break from JD Gibbs and that’s why I’m driving the No. 11 for Joe Gibbs Racing. I’ve just got to say thank you so much to Toyota, FedEx, Shady Rays, the Jordan Brand, Coca Cola, Sport Clips – everyone who makes this possible. It feels good to win here at Pocono.”

How have you been able to win seven Cup races at Pocono?

“I’ve been blessed to be with a great race team my entire career and that’s carried me a long way. But today was definitely a team thing. This guy right here, Chris Gabehart (crew chief), just made some great strategy calls to make up the positions that I lost when I spun out. Wow, just a great team effort.”

What happened in the accident with you and Ross Chastain?

“We drove in deep and he (Ross Chastain) drove in deep and I’m not even sure if we made contact, maybe we did. He ended up running out of race track. He knew I was going to race him hard, what else do you want me to do after the wrecks that I’ve had and that’s what we did today.”

Is there a scorecard among drivers in these scenarios?

“You just race people the way you get raced in the end. It was egged on my his car owner on Twitter and said he can’t wait so it just fired me up over those incidents. We’re just going to continue to race hard and I’m going to race him the same way.”

What happened when you spun out in the opening laps?

“The resin didn’t match up with the tire heat that I had in the race car so it just slid across the race track. It certainly caught me by surprise and then it caught Kyle Busch by surprise on the next restart. Have to thank our sponsors, Sport Clips, FedEx, Toyota, TRD, Logitech, Shady Rays, Coca-Cola – I couldn’t do it without those names and they’ve been with me a long time. Relationships is what makes all this happen.”

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry TRD, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 2nd

What did you need to catch your teammate in the closing laps?

“The second-to-last run there where we had the 1 (Ross Chastain) car there trailing us, he was a little better than us. It’s hard to pass, but having the car trending loose on me, we made an adjustment for that with as many laps as there was going to be to go with that last pit stop, but we just over did it I guess and missed it on that last run unfortunately. I was just way too tight and didn’t have the roll speed that I needed through the corners. The guys did a great job and bust their tails for me every week and do a really great job for me on this M&M’s Camry. Appreciate all of them and their support and what they do. Obviously, wish we had a little bit more today and of course with the M&M’s Fan Appreciation 400 race, it would have been nice to honor all the associates that were here in attendance to give them something to celebrate with us in victory lane. Just one spot short in qualifying and one spot short in the race. “

How much did the track change during the race and did you notice the change?

“I noticed that and maybe that was something I missed, but I just felt like as I ran, I lost grip and I think the race track was losing the spray, the additive that was down on the race track. So just losing grip there and trying to keep up with the race track you’re just trying to add grip to your car. That’s hard to do.”

What more did you need to beat Denny Hamlin today?

“We were trending loose there in that run where the 1 (Ross Chastain) car was trailing me and keeping up with me, so I figured that was our hindrance. We snuck it up a little bit and overjumped it too far and was way tight that whole last run. When the 1 and the 11 (Denny Hamlin) were out in front of us I was falling back from those guys. We were lucky to get a couple cautions there, lucky to keep pace like we did there at the end to the 11. We didn’t have a shot there, we were just too tight. Didn’t adjust right or didn’t call something right there, but thanks to all of my guys. Appreciate them and all of the guys at Joe Gibbs Racing for what they do. All of the hard work on the Toyota Camry I get to drive. M&M’s being the Fan Appreciation 400 – this was something special we wanted to go out and honor all of our associates and honor all of them. Came up one spot short in qualifying and one spot short in the race. It’s definitely frustrating. Hate it for all of them too. We’ll go to next week I guess.”

What can you learn from a day like today?

“If we left it alone there was too many laps to go. We would’ve trended loose and probably lost it loose. So, I don’t know. We need to go back to the setup sheets and look and see what was different for the 11 (Denny Hamlin) and their adjustments that allowed them to be that much better at the end. But, man, we’re talking half tenths. It’s all so close. Here at a race track like Pocono, if you’re not a half a second faster than the guy in front of you anyway, you’re going to have a hard time passing him regardless. Even if we would’ve had a tenth or a tenth and a half better than them at the end of the race and ran up to him and caught to him, I don’t know that I would’ve been able to maneuver around him.”

TY GIBBS, No. 45 McDonalds Toyota Camry TRD, 23XI Racing

Finishing Position: 18th

Can you describe this day for you and what it’s meant?

“First of all, I want to say thank you to God for giving me this opportunity. Thank you to Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin. Everybody at 23XI. The most important thing right now is about Kurt’s health and hopefully he can get back in this seat. He drives way better than me so he deserves this. He’s been awesome. He’s helped me out so much. I want to say thank you to him. We had a fast McDonald’s Camry TRD. I had a great time so Michael (Jordan), if you’re watching I want to say thank you. It’s a big pleasure to wear this on my shoulder and on my shoes. I had a great time and I learned a lot so it was awesome. Thank you to Monster Energy.”

What was the biggest surprise being in the Cup car for the first time?

“Just the dirty air and how bad that affects you. Just being able to make sure I was getting out far enough. I was a little bit tight all day, so just trying to get front turn and trying to get more center turn which would help me. It was a learning day. I felt like I learned a lot. I’m very thankful. It was close to almost a top 15. It was fun racing with Brad (Keselowski). Never thought I’d race with these guys. It was just cool being next to them on the track. So, to 10-year-old Ty that means a lot. I don’t think I would ever expect that.”

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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.

Ford Performance NASCAR: McDowell’s Top-10 Leads Ford at Pocono

By
Official Release
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Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Pocono Post Race | Sunday, July 24, 2022

FORD FINISHING RESULTS

8th – Michael McDowell

15th – Aric Almirola

16th – Brad Keselowski

17th – Chase Briscoe

19th – Cole Custer

22nd – Joey Logano

25th – Harrison Burton

27th – Todd Gilliland

28th – Cody Ware

29th – Kevin Harvick

30th – JJ Yeley

31st – Chris Buescher

32nd – BJ McLeod

33rd – Austin Cindric

35th – Ryan Blaney

MICHAEL MCDOWELL, No. 34 Fr8Auctions.com Ford Mustang (Finished 8th)

“It was a good day. I had a couple good restarts that got us track position, then I had one really bad one where we got hit in the left rear and about spun out and went back to last. That hurt us really bad. My guys called a good race and we tried some different strategies to try to get track position. We stayed out on old tires but I felt like if I got a good restart and got into the top 10 I could hold on. We restarted 16th with no tires and drove up to eighth so I am really proud of that finish. It is still not the day you want. You don’t want to be eighth, you want to win the race, but we are doing a great job and I feel like we are getting close.”

RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Menards/Duracell Ford Mustang – Accident Quote (Lap 135)

“I just got loose. It was one of those things. You get loose off three and think you can save it but you can’t. I just couldn’t save it. Gosh, I hate it for everyone on the 12 group. We finally got the car decent and we were running top five there and had a flat tire and had to come in and then I just tried too hard and it stepped away from me. I hate it for Menards and Ford and everybody. That was my mistake. We will go at it again next week.”

THAT LOOKED LIKE A BIG HIT: “Yeah, it wasn’t terrible but I have had softer before. It is just one of those things. It just stepped away from me. That corner is pretty tricky. I probably should have spun out about five other times today off the corner. It finally got me. I hate we tore the car up. Long day, that is for sure.”

Pato O’Ward grabs late victory in the second IndyCar doubleheader feature at Iowa

By
Andrew Kim
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Photo by Chris Owens (Penske Entertainment).

A day after losing to Josef Newgarden, Pato O’Ward benefitted from a late incident involving Newgarden to win the Hy-Vee Salutes to Farmers 300 at Iowa Speedway on Sunday, July 24.

The 23-year-old O’Ward from Monterrey, Mexico, spent the majority of Sunday’s event in the top five and was running in the runner-up spot on Lap 235 when Newgarden, who dominated and was vying for a weekend sweep at Iowa, wrecked in front of him following a mechanical failure. Taking control by leading the final 66 laps, O’Ward made a restart with 51 laps remaining work to his advantage as he rocketed away from Will Power and the field to grab his second NTT IndyCar Series victory of the season and draw himself back into the championship picture.

With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Will Power, who started on pole position on Saturday, also started on pole for Sunday’s main event after clocking in a pole-winning lap at 178.013 mph in 18.0796 seconds, which marked his 66th career pole in the IndyCar Series. Joining him on the front row was teammate Josef Newgarden, who posted a fast qualifying lap at 177.904 mph in 18.0907 seconds and went on to win Saturday’s event at Iowa.

When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Power launched his No. 12 Verizon 5G Dallara-Chevrolet clear of the field and ahead of teammate Newgarden while Pato O’Ward, who started eighth, rocketed his No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Dallara-Chevrolet to fourth place behind Takuma Sato. Through the first lap, Power led the first lap as O’Ward challenged and overtook Sato for third place. 

Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Power was leading by half a second over teammate Newgarden’s No. 2 Hitachi Dallara-Chevrolet followed by O’Ward, Sato and Conor Daly while Scott McLaughlin, Jack Harvey, Felix Rosenqvist, Marcus Ericsson and Rinus VeeKay were in the top 10. Romain Grosjean was in 11th followed by teammate Colton Herta, Jimmie Johnson, Alex Palou and David Malukas while Simon Pagenaud, rookie Kyle Kirkwood, Ed Carpenter, Scott Dixon and Callum Ilott were in the top 20.

By Lap 20, Power stabilized his early advantage to six-tenths of a second over teammate Newgarden while O’Ward, Sato and Daly remained in the top five. Behind Rosenqvist challenged and overtook Jack Harvey for seventh while McLaughlin was in sixth.

Ten laps later, Power continued to lead by nearly four-tenths of a second over teammate Newgarden as the leaders started to approach lapped traffic. O’Ward and Sato remained in third and fourth while McLaughlin cracked the top five in fifth ahead of Daly and Rosenqvist. By then, Jack Harvey was back in 14th as he was overtaken by Colton Herta.

Just past the Lap 40 mark, Conor Daly and Simon Pagenaud pitted under green, with Pagenaud making multiple pit stops and spending multiple laps in his pit stall as he was encountering radio issues.

Back on the track on Lap 50, Power continued to lead by nearly six-tenths of a second over teammate Newgarden followed by O’Ward, Sato and McLaughlin while Rosenqvist, Ericsson, VeeKay, Grosjean and David Malukas were in the top 10.

Nearing the Lap 60 mark, names like Alexander Rossi, Alex Palou and rookie Christian Lundgaard pitted along with Devlin DeFrancesco, Dalton Kellett, Colton Herta and Jimmie Johnson. Helio Castroneves, Scott Dixon, Ed Carpenter and Ilott would also pit along with Grosjean, Ericsson, Rosenqvist and O’Ward.

By Lap 65, Power surrendered the lead to pit along with his Penske teammates Newgarden and McLaughlin. VeeKay also pitted as Sato cycled to the lead followed by Malukas and Kirkwood. Once Sato pitted approaching the Lap 70 mark, Power cycled back to the lead followed by teammate Newgarden while O’Ward was in third.

Through Lap 85, teammates Power and Newgarden dueled for the lead as they were also trying to make their way around the lapped car of Grosjean. Shortly after, Newgarden assumed the top spot as Grosjean and Herta were both lapped.

At the Lap 100 mark, Newgarden was leading by more than a second over teammate Power while O’Ward trailed in third place by more than four seconds. Meanwhile, Ericsson was in fourth while Jimmie Johnson, who led 19 laps and finished 11th at Iowa on Saturday, was in fifth. Scored in the top 10 were McLaughlin, Dixon, Rosenqvist, VeeKay and Herta while Ilott, David Malukas, Grosjean, Sato and Christian Lundgaard were in the top 15. Meanwhile, Palou was in 16th ahead of Conor Daly, Rossi, Kirkwood and Ed Carpenter while Graham Rahal and Helio Castroneves were in 23rd and 25th.

Twenty laps later, Newgarden extended his advantage to more than two seconds over teammate Power while O’Ward, Ericsson and Jimmie Johnson were in the top five. By then, the top-five competitors were the only ones on the lead lap, though Newgarden went to work to lap Johnson. 

A lap later, the first caution flew when Kyle Kirkwood, who was overtaken by the leader Newgarden, wrecked his No. 14 AJ Foyt Enterprises Dallara-Chevrolet into the Turn 2 outside wall. During the caution period, the leaders led by Newgarden pitted and Newgarden retained the lead followed by teammate Power, O’Ward and Ericsson. Following the pit stops, Rinus VeeKay was given a “stop-and-go” penalty for speeding on pit road.

When the race restarted under green on Lap 132, Newgarden retained the top spot ahead of teammate Power while O’Ward and Ericsson briefly battled for third. During the following lap, however, O’Ward, who pulled away from Ericsson, engaged in a battle with Power for the runner-up spot. 

By Lap 140, Newgarden was leading by six-tenths of a second over teammate Power while O’Ward settled in third ahead of Ericsson and McLaughlin. By then, Scott Dixon was in sixth ahead of teammate Jimmie Johnson.

At the halfway mark on Lap 150, Newgarden continued to lead by half a second over teammate Power followed by O’Ward, Ericsson and McLaughlin while Dixon, Johnson, Rosenqvist, Grosjean and Herta were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Alex Palou was in 11th ahead of Takuma Sato, Callum Ilott, Daly, Malukas and Ed Carpenter.

Twenty-five laps later, Newgaraden stabilized his advantage to more than eight-tenths of a second over teammate Power while O’Ward and Ericsson settled in third and fourth. By then, Dixon cracked the top five followed by Rosenqvist and Johnson while McLaughlin was back in eighth ahead of Grosjean and Sato.

Another 15 laps later, the battle for the lead between Team Penske’s Newgarden and Power started to slowly brew as Power was a second behind Newgarden, who was trying to navigate and lap David Malukas.

Nearing the Lap 195 mark, the front-runners started to pit under green. By the time the final 100-lap mark of the event occurred, Newgarden cycled his way back to the lead while O’Ward emerged as the new runner-up competitor ahead of Power. 

Ten laps later, Newgarden was scored out in front by more than a second over O’Ward followed by Power, McLaughlin and Dixon while Ericsson, Johnson, Ilott, Rosenqvist and Grosjean were in the top 10.

Down to the final 75 laps of the event, Newgarden continued to lead by nearly three seconds over O’Ward while Power, McLaughlin and Dixon remained in the top five.

Then with 65 laps remaining, the caution flew when Newgarden, who led a race-high 184 laps, slipped sideways and backed his No. 2 Hitachi Dallara-Chevrolet hard into the outside wall in Turn 3 following a suspension failure as his hopes of sweeping the weekend at Iowa evaporated.

“Man, I wanna cry,” Newgarden said in the infield care center on NBC. “So sad for my team. I don’t know what happened. It was a good run. I feel terrible for us. The guys did a great job. I don’t know. Something went wrong there. Everything felt fine to me up until that point. I did have a vibration at the start of the stint, which is not abnormal. Totally unexpected. It caught me by surprised. This is racing. We’ll fight back. We got a great team here. We pick right back up. We don’t stop fighting.”

With Newgarden out of the event, O’Ward emerged as the new leader followed by Power, McLaughlin, Dixon and Ericsson.

During the caution, the leaders led by O’Ward pitted as O’Ward retained the top spot followed by Power, Dixon, McLaughlin, Ericsson and Johnson.

When the race proceeded under green wit 51 laps remaining, O’Ward took off with the lead by nearly eight-tenths of a second over Power while McLaughlin, Dixon, Johnson and Ericsson duked for spots in the top five.

Eleven laps later, O’Ward extended his advantage to more than a second over Power followed by McLaughlin, Dixon and Johnson while Ericsson, Grosjean, Herta, Malukas and Sato were in the top 10.

Down to the final 20 laps of the event, O’Ward was leading by nearly three seconds over Power followed by McLaughlin, Dixon and Ericsson while Johnson, Grosjean, Sato, Malukas and Felix Rosenqvist were in the top 10.

With 10 laps remaining, O’Ward continued to lead by more than five seconds over Power while McLaughlin, Dixon and Ericsson remained in the top five.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, O’Ward remained as the leader by more than four seconds over Power. Despite encountering lapped traffic, O’Ward, who had no late challenges from Power mounting behind him, was able to cruise his way back to the frontstretch and claim his second checkered flag of the 2022 IndyCar season. 

With the victory, O’Ward claimed his fourth NTT IndyCar Series career victory, his second of the season and his first since winning at Barber Motorsports Park in May. The victory was the ninth of the season for Chevrolet and the second for Arrow McLaren SP.

“The No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP guys in the pits were awesome,” O’Ward said on NBC. “I think that’s what gave us our win. Obviously, I did the job in the car to keep her safe and just to maintain there. I knew we had the pace, but it’s just tough whenever you’re going through the traffic. The guys in front of you have it in a different way than you do, so it’s just different every lap. Super stoked. Super happy. We knew that we had a great car, so I think it was all about just capitalizing and being there when it counted. The guys did a great job calling when we had to pit and it was very, very enjoyable. It’s been a great weekend.”

“Hopefully, we can win a couple more [races],” O’Ward added. “That’d be fantastic. I think we’ve had a good year, but we’ve dumped two wins in the past couple months, so it’s definitely been a frustrating, but yet rewarding few weeks. This is the perfect momentum we need going into the month of September, August and close out the month of July at [Indianapolis Motor Speedway] road course next week.”

Power, who swept both poles of the weekend and finished third on Saturday, came home in the runner-up spot while McLaughlin, who ended up 22nd on Saturday, rounded out the podium in third place.

“A good day,” Power said. “You would love to get the win. [I] Led some laps and I think we were really fast. Just really cool to get the Verizon Chevy on the podium again and close out the points lead. Gotta get one of these wins soon. We’re there. We get qualifying sorted. Just enjoying it. Loving the racing. Love this track.”

“That last restart, I really had to sort of get it going and through it to the outside of Dixon,” McLaughlin said. “He’s a pretty hard guy to throw it around the outside of and had a lot of fun, a lot of respect for him. Good times. The Freightliner Chevy was fast. It looked awesome all weekend. Very proud of the guys to bounce back.”

Dixon finished fourth while Jimmie Johnson earned his maiden top-five result in the IndyCar circuit by finishing fifth. 

“This is really a special day for me,” Johnson said. “For everybody that’s been on this journey with me in the IndyCar Series. So proud to have the American Legion on the car today in the race and to get my career-best finish with them. I really have to thank everybody at Carvana and taking this step with me. It took me getting on the ovals to get my best finishes and I was so happy to be able to do it here today. Tons of great support from Chip Ganassi Racing, all the teammates I have. Today was just a fun racy day out there.”

Ericsson, Rosenqvist, David Malukas, Grosjean and Sato completed the top 10 on the track.

There were seven lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured two cautions for 26 laps.

With his sixth-place result, Marcus Ericsson continues to lead the standings by eight points over Will Power, 34 over both Josef Newgarden and Scott Dixon, 36 over Pato O’Ward, 44 over Alex Palou and 86 over Scott McLaughlin.

Results.

1. Pato O’Ward, 66 laps led

2. Will Power, 80 laps led

3. Scott McLaughlin

4. Scott Dixon

5. Jimmie Johnson

6. Marcus Ericsson

7. Felix Rosenqvist

8. David Malukas

9. Romain Grosjean

10. Takuma Sato

11. Callum Ilott

12. Colton Herta, one lap down

13. Alex Palou, one lap down

14. Graham Rahal, one lap down

15. Devlin DeFrancesco, two laps down

16. Conor Daly, two laps down

17. Ed Carpenter, three laps down

18. Alexander Rossi, four laps down

19. Rinus VeeKay, four laps down

20. Jack Harvey, four laps down

21. Helio Castroneves, five laps down

22. Dalton Kellett, six laps down

23. Simon Pagenaud, 19 laps down

24. Josef Newgarden – OUT, Contact, 148 laps led

25. Kyle Kirkwood – OUT, Contact

26. Christian Lundgaard – OUT, Mechanical

Next on the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series schedule is the series’ return to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course for the Gallagher Grand Prix and as part of an IndyCar-NASCAR doubleheader feature, which will occur on Sunday, July 30, at noon ET on NBC.

Marco Andretti Wins 2022 SRX Championship and Chase Elliott Wins Season Finale at Sharon Speedway

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Official Release
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SRX: Sharon Speedway Post-Race Notes

Race Recap: With the SRX season finale Saturday night at Sharon Speedway and a championship on the line, Marco Andretti was able to battle back from an early race incident to secure the 2022 SRX Series Championship and Chase Elliott held off a late-charging Tony Stewart for the race win. Matt Kenseth finished third followed by Ryan Hunter-Reay and Bobby Labonte to round out the top five.

Elliott is now two for two in SRX competition adding the win at Sharon Speedway to his 2021 win at the Nashville Fairgrounds.

Ryan Newman finished second in the point standings, two points behind Andretti and Labonte retook third followed by Stewart in fourth. The top four in points were separated by only seven points at the conclusion to the 2022 season.

Post-Race Quotes:

Marco Andretti (Champion): “The cool thing about this is you get damage, you can still play and stay on the lead lap. I broke my wrist in that last incident, got my thumb caught in the wheel, so painful last couple of laps, but I just wanted to cover and finish right where I needed to finish, and we were able to do that. This thing was pretty robust tonight.”

Chase Elliott (Race Winner): “To sit there and race on dirt with one of my heroes in Tony Stewart and throw a couple of sliders with him, obviously this is a little different than the open wheel stuff, but knowing how good he is at this stuff and being able to dice it up and race with him. I actually thought he was better than me the run before and then I was able to watch him on the top and finally get a couple of things going there. Congrats to Marco (Andretti). Great crowd. Thanks everybody for coming out tonight. And thanks to the Blaney’s for having me up here.”

Tony Stewart (Finished 2nd in the Main Event): “I wasn’t very good in the heat races and I tried everything I’ve learned my entire life on dirt and pavement and a combination of both and couldn’t get going and couldn’t get enough points to get a good starting spot. Started ninth and worked out way up to fifth and then they had a little calamity on one of the restarts that got us to third and then we were in position to race for this thing and the win. Gave Chase (Elliott) a slide job in one and two and got the lead and got going, but the longer I ran the more my forward drive gave up and Chase was really good. He did a really good job at managing tires and making sure he didn’t make his rear tires mad, he did a better job than I did. I had to use mine up to get to the front and he just did a really good job of managing tires all night. Exciting race in general, extremely exciting race for the point championship having four of us in the running, well five of us mathematically, but literally four of us with a really good shot to win it. To have a champion sitting there with a brace on his wrist because he’s broke his wrist shows how hard and how much these guys want to win races and win championships with SRX. Just eternally grateful to Camping World and Marcus Lemonis and all of his staff. Good Sam was on my car all year. Just grateful we had great partners, we had TMS, VP Fuels, had a ton of great partners that came on board. An extremely talented group of guys to race with which made this year fun. It’s cool to see Ryan Blaney get to race with his dad tonight, got to do that with Chase and Bill Elliott last year. It was really fun at the end of this race tonight to run with Chase like that. Chase has been running midgets and ran a Sprint Car race on dirt, which makes my heart happy because that’s where my heart is, is dirt track racing, so to see him get a chance to come back and do that and see that he wants to learn that and get good at that is something that makes me proud. Super excited about the season. I think probably the biggest thing is I am so proud of our staff. We were very understaffed this year compared to last year and they did every bit of the same amount of the work if not more than last year with damage we had and gave us great race cars to drive each week. It’s probably, to those guys and girls who were here for six weeks working, it’s probably the longest six weeks of their life every year, but it makes all of us drivers extremely happy to know that when we come to the track we have great race cars to drive, so very grateful for that.”

Matt Kenseth (Finished 3rd in the Main Event): “This race was really fun. I really liked the race track. Last week I really struggled a lot, different style of dirt track and plus we got wrecked out. Here we got wrecked out in the heat and the guys did a good job fixing it. It was fun, just had to be real patient. I just kind of stayed on the bottom and looked for as much moisture as I could there. I never really ventured up top and tried to figure that out very good. The track was so slick that it seemed to work for me.”

On Racing SRX this Season:

“It was fun. It was a good experience. I learned a lot. I think all three weeks, I got wrecked out two of the three, and thankfully they were able to fix it for this one and we finished last week but with half car, so I would like a little less hitting and little less wrecking. Other than that, it was really fun. I had a great time at Nashville, Pevely was a great track and I had a good time here and it ended up ok.”

Ryan Newman (Finished 2nd in the Championship Point Standings): “Thanks for SRX and Camping World and everybody involved. It’s been an honor to be a part of this. Obviously, the outcome is not what we wanted, but to be second in the championship with some of the greatest drivers in the world is still pretty special. It wasn’t the end result that we wanted, but we did get an amazing result in Stafford and to have my daughters there in victory lane was so special for me and something that I will always remember. Happy to be a part of it and excited to hopefully get a chance to do it again.”

Bobby Labonte (Finished 3rd in the Championship Point Standings): “The race tonight, I thought we had a good start. We started sixth in the first heat and finished fourth. And then started at the back and finished third, so a good average and started third in the feature and was just steady, steady as it goes. Really the only thing I screwed up was on a restart I spun the right rear tire and lost two spots and then was done after that. I couldn’t get back around anybody.”

On Racing SRX this Season:

“As for the season, highlight was Nashville starting up front, leading and winning there was awesome, but we had a good run at South Boston, a decent run at Stafford, a good run at Pensacola and then we go to Pevely and didn’t have a good finish and then had a decent finish here and finished third in the points. Can’t thank everybody enough. It was always a lot of fun. My wife and I have been road tripping on this whole thing, and we’ve had a lot of fun along the way. We call it our summer fun and we enjoyed it. Can’t thank everybody enough for doing it and it’s hard to race against these guys because they are so good, but we were able to have a good one.”

Main Event Results at Sharon Speedway:

Finishing PositionDriver Car Number
1Chase Elliott9
2Tony Stewart 14
3Matt Kenseth5
4Ryan Hunter-Reay1
5Bobby Labonte18
6Greg Biffle 69
7Ryan Blaney 12
8Ryan Newman39
9Marco Andretti98
10Paul Tracy 3
11Tony Kanaan6
12Dave Blaney10
13Michael Waltrip15

Heat 2 Results at Sharon Speedway:

Finishing PositionDriver Car Number
1Chase Elliott9
2Tony Kanaan6
3Bobby Labonte 18
4Ryan Newman39
5Dave Blaney10
6Marco Andretti98
7Ryan Hunter-Reay1
8Paul Tracy3
9Tony Stewart14
10Michael Waltrip15
11Greg Biffle69
–Matt Kenseth5
–Ryan Blaney12

Heat 1 Results at Sharon Speedway:

Finishing PositionDriver Car Number
1Ryan Newman 39
2Michael Waltrip 15
3Marco Andretti98
4Bobby Labonte18
5Tony Kanaan6
6Ryan Hunter-Reay1
7Chase Elliott9
8Tony Stewart14
9Greg Biffle 69
10Dave Blaney 10
11Paul Tracy 3
12Matt Kenseth5
13Ryan Blaney12

About SRX Racing:

Announced in July 2020, the Superstar Racing Experience (SRX) Series was founded by NASCAR Hall of Fame Driver Tony Stewart, NASCAR Hall of Fame Crew Chief Ray Evernham, George Pyne and Sandy Montag. The series made its debut on June 12, 2021, airing on CBS Primetime. Tony Stewart won the inaugural series championship. The series has seen a plethora of racing talent behind the wheel including Stewart, Bobby Labonte, Helio Castroneves, Ernie Francis Jr., Bill Elliott, Chase Elliott, Marco Andretti, Tony Kanaan, Hailie Deegan, Greg Biffle, Doug Colby, and more. The second season kicked off on June 18, 2022.

Monster Energy Racing: Riley Herbst NXS Race Report from Pocono

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Official Release
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Herbst Finishes 12th at Pocono
Monster Energy Driver Earns 14th Top-15 of 2022 Season

Date: Saturday, July 23
Event: Explore the Pocono Mountains 225 (Round 19 of 33)
Series: NASCAR Xfinity Series
Location: Pocono (Pa.) Raceway (2.5-mile triangle)
Format: 90 laps, broken into three stages (20 laps/20 laps/50 laps)
Start/Finish: 14th / 12th (Running, completed 90 of 90 laps)
Point Standing: 9th (518 points, 229 out of first)

Race Winner: Noah Gragson of JR Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 1 Winner: Justin Allgaier of JR Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 2 Winner: Noah Gragson of JR Motorsports (Chevrolet)

Overview:

Riley Herbst and the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford team persevered through an up-and-down race to finish 12th in Saturday’s Explore The Pocono Mountains 225 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway. The Las Vegas native started 14th and was moving up in the field when he reported an issue with the right front on lap 12. He stayed on track to the end of Stage 1 and brought his Mustang to the attention of his No. 98 Monster Energy pit crew. He restarted 29th on the lead lap and was back in the top-20 just five laps later. Herbst made his way up to 15th by the end of Stage 2 and restart 14th in the final stage. After he successfully avoided several incidents in the early going, crew chief Richard Boswell opted to take advantage of the cautions and brought his driver down pit road during the caution on lap 48 to top off on fuel. When the rest of the field pitted under a lap-53 caution, the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang was able to stay on track and restart on the front row. Herbst led four laps after the restart but, as the remainder of the race went green, he began struggling with a tight-handling racecar that made it particularly difficult to negotiate the “tunnel turn.” He would ultimately earn his 14th top-15 of the season.

Riley Herbst, driver of the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

“We had a chance there, but my Ford Mustang was just too tight in the end. I’m glad we got to lead some laps, but ultimately we want to get a win. I’m proud of my No. 98 Monster Energy team and we’ll continue to work toward the playoffs.”

Notes:

● Herbst led one time for four laps – his first laps led at Pocono.

● Noah Gragson won the Explore the Pocono Mountains 225 to score his eighth career Xfinity Series victory, his third of the season, and his first at Pocono. His margin over second-place Ty Gibbs was .281 of a second.

● There were five caution periods for a total of 18 laps.

● Twenty-four of the 38 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.

● AJ Allmendinger remains the championship leader after Pocono with a 16-point advantage over second-place Justin Allgaier.

Next Up:

The next event on the NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the Indianapolis 150 on July 30 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course. The race starts at 3:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBC and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Wright Motorsports Claims Overall Victory, Breaks K-PAX Racing Streak

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Official Release
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Pro/Am Porsche breaks 11-race run

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (July 24, 2022) – Saturday afternoon at Watkins Glen International, Porsche customer racing team Wright Motorsports put in a masterful performance in race one of the Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS weekend, beating out not only all of the Pro/Am class competitors, but the Pro/Pro-ranked entries as well. Drivers Charlie Luck and Jan Heylen drove the No. 45 to victory after starting in 12th, ending the eleven-race winning streak held by Pro/Pro team K-PAX Racing.

“Race one was an incredible performance by everyone on our team,” said Team Owner John Wright. “While other programs struggled with tire issues or suffered contact, Charlie and Jan both had amazing stints, and the crew were able to gain us a spot in pit lane as well. To not only beat out the Pro/Pro lineups but also break such a long streak by another team is definitely something to be proud of. They did a great job.”

Split into three classes Pro/Pro, Pro/Am, and Am, each of the three categories in GT World Challenge America have no shortage of tight competition. The pairing of Charlie Luck (Am) and Jan Heylen (Pro) began the race event second in the championship points, eager to close the gap to Pro/Am class leaders George Kurtz and Colin Braun. Driving the No. 45 Porsche 911 GT3 R from sixth place in class and 12th overall, the 2021 champions had their work cut out for them.

Luck gained three class positions during the opening stint, avoiding the chaos of several on-track incidents and multiple tire issues among the field. The always-rapid work in pit lane by the crew brought the No. 45 Porsche 911 GT3 R out in front of the championship points leader, the No. 04 Mercedes AMG GT3, with Jan Heylen now handling the driving duties for the Porsche. Heylen held off heavy pressure to keep the team in front, claiming the class win. As the team continued its focus on driving to the class victory, their persistence on track paid off as each of the Pro/Pro cars ahead failed to stay up front. Wright Motorsports took the overall win and broke the streak of K-PAX Racing in the Pro/Pro class.

“We had one hell of a day,” said Luck. “I was really happy with the way I got through traffic and moved from sixth to third. We turned the car over to Jan in third and he moved to second-place in the pit stop. Jan just did a heck of a job. If there is anybody who can get every drop of performance out of the car, it’s that man. Phenomenal run today.”

With the victory, the team closed the gap to the points leaders to a mere seven markers.

“That was an awesome race,” said Heylen. “I feel like we really needed that to get the championship back on track and close the gap. I’m super happy. The car was pretty good, and it was a great stint by Charlie with all the pressure from behind. We beat the Mercedes out of the pits, so as always, that was a great stop by the team. It was just a fun race with the pressure from Colin Braun behind for the whole time. It was a great effort by all!”

The team races again on Sunday afternoon, taking the green flag at 1:15 PM ET, airing live on YouTube.com/GTWorld. Unofficially, the No. 45 Porsche 911 GT3 R will start the race form third in class and sixth overall.

Wright Motorsports
Wright Motorsports is the premier Porsche race engineering facility in Ohio and a multi-series and international racing team known for superb car preparation, expert race strategy, and driver development. Located in Batavia, Ohio, it is owned and directed by John Wright, a certified Porsche factory-trained technician. As a crew chief John Wright has played a key role in winning eight driver and seven team championships in World Challenge, IMSA (ALMS) and the Grand-Am Rolex Series. Wright Motorsports won the team championship in Porsche GT3 Cup USA in 2012, 2013, and 2015, and went on to win the Pirelli World Challenge Overall, Sprint, Team, and Manufacturer’s titles in 2017. In 2020, the team captured the GT World Challenge America Am championship. In 2021, Wright Motorsports had a wildly successful season, capturing nine championships across their five racing efforts.

RCR NXS Post Race Report: Pocono

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Official Release
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Sheldon Creed Showcases Fast No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet at Pocono Raceway

Finish: 5th
Start: 6th
Points: 13th

“This top-five finish in the Whelen Chevrolet at Pocono Raceway gives us a lot of confidence. Our Chevy was fast all day. We qualified well and we’re racing closer to the front. We earned Stage Points in every stage. We were having a good time out there today. I expected a lot out of myself coming into the NASCAR Xfinity Series this year with Richard Childress Racing and I haven’t done my job. We’ve run well all season, but the finishes aren’t there. During a lot of these races, I have made mistakes. We showed up and just haven’t had the results we needed on the racetracks, so I’m really happy to get the Whelen Chevrolet running well and to finish in the top five today. I feel like we’re closing the bubble between us and some of the other cars we need to battle in order to make it into the NASCAR Playoffs on points. Thankful for this forward motion and we’re going to do what we can to try and win before the Playoffs begin.” -Sheldon Creed

Austin Hill and the No. 21 Global Industrial Team Grind Out 12th Top-10 Finish of the Season with Eighth-Place Effort at Pocono Raceway

Finish: 8th
Start: 8th
Points: 6th

“That was a solid effort today by everyone on the Global Industrial team. We’re knocking out top-10s left and right. We want to do better and win some more races. We’ve got to keep working, keeping digging, and bring some faster Chevrolet Camaros to the racetrack. I think being a rookie has some challenges. In practice we were free and we get in the race and we were really tight. I don’t know if that’s just a rookie thing and trying to figure out how free I need to be in practice to be better to start the race or what the case is there. We worked on it all day and got it better. The pit stops were great and we made the balance on the car better every stop. During that last run, I thought we were really good. We were working up through the field and all of a sudden it started getting tight on me. I tried to move my line around and do some different things but just struggled on the long run trying to get it to turn and we lost a few spots at the end. If we can just fix a few things here and there I think we can be battling for wins.” -Austin Hill

Toyota Racing NXS Post-Race Recap — Pocono 7.23.22

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Official Release
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Second-Place Finish for Gibbs at Pocono
No. 54 Toyota GR Supra Comes Up Just Short at the Tricky Triangle

LONG POND, Pa. (July 23, 2022) – Ty Gibbs finished runner-up in Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Pocono Raceway. Gibbs challenged race-winner Noah Gragson in the closing laps of Saturday’s race but came up just short to earn a second-place result in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 54 Toyota GR Supra.

Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Pocono Raceway
Race 19 of 33 – 225 miles, 90 laps

TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Noah Gragson*
2nd, TY GIBBS
3rd, Josh Berry*
4th, AJ Allmendinger*
5th, Sheldon Creed*
17th, BRANDON JONES
30th, TIMMY HILL
31st, SAMMY SMITH
35th, SANTINO FERRUCCI
*non-Toyota driver

TOYOTA QUOTES

TY GIBBS, No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 2nd

You seemed upset when you got out of the car. Were you mad at something you did or maybe didn’t do in the final laps racing Noah Gragson?

“It definitely hurt us being on a tire disadvantage. I was so surprised to hang with the 9 (Noah Gragson) when he was on rights. I had a great car, just didn’t put it together. I want to say I felt like on my part I just made some mistakes, but we’ll come back at it next weekend. Thank you to Monster Energy, Sport Clips, Interstate Batteries, our Lord Jesus Christ and thank you to all of the fans for being here.”

How determined were you to keep it clean racing Noah Gragson for the win?

“I just put myself in a bad position there, but I always love racing out here and congratulations to the 9 team.”

Did you get too loose going into the tunnel turn?

“Yeah, you know we both went in there side-by-side and I just lost my side force and got loose under him, but that’s racing. I put myself in that position, but I feel like I definitely have to look back and see what other options I had. I just want to say thank you to my team and everybody who is a part of this deal. I had a great time.”

Did you feel like you had a car that could get the win today?

“We had a very fast Monster Energy Toyota Supra. Just made some mistakes there and I felt like that was my fault. We were on a tire disadvantage, which was kind of unbelievable that we still hung with the 9 (Noah Gragson). That shows how fast our Toyota Supra was. Thank you to Monster Energy, Sport Clips and Interstate Batteries.”

SANTINO FERRUCCI, No. 26 Freedom Alliance Toyota GR Supra, Sam Hunt Racing

Finishing Position: 35th

What happened to take you out of the race early?

“I don’t know. We were just restarting. We had a really fast car. Sam Hunt and Toyota and our Freedom Alliance car was just really, really good. I got really up close to Cole (Custer) just trying to understand – being part-time it’s so hard to judge the air off the side of the cars. I just made a mistake, man. I just got a little off the bottom and I got really close to him and the side force kind of went and I started to lose the rear. Our car actually hasn’t been loose all day. It’s just a shame for everybody else because there were a lot of cars caught up in that just because we were not spaced out yet. I’m really, really bummed for the Freedom Alliance boys and Toyota and all of our crew. We qualified 11th in my first-ever qualifying and we’ve been racing right there all day. Just not how I wanted my home race to go.”

#

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.

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