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Blomqvist earns the pole for the Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park

By
Angie Campbell
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Photo by Tim Jarrold for SpeedwayMedia.com.

Tom Blomqvist won the pole Saturday afternoon in his No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-05 and will lead the field when the green flag drops for Sunday’s Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Round 7 of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

The 1:04.394-lap was Blomqvist’s second consecutive IMSA pole and a DPi track record.

“It was an absolute wild ride,” he said. “I was over my limit; I’m not going to lie. That session was a case of putting your brain to one side.”

Ricky Taylor qualified second in the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing car and Tristan Vautier was third fastest in the No. 5 JDC-Miller Motorsports Cadillac DPi-V.R. The Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac of Alex Lynn’s No. 02 will start in fourth place with Olivier Pla in the No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac starting fifth and Sebastien Bourdais rounding out the top six.

Andretti Autosports’ Jarrett Andretti won the pole in LMP3 with a 1:13.102 lap time followed by Gar Robinson (Riley Motorsports) in second, Ari Balogh (Jr III Racing) in third and CORE Autosport’s Jon Bennett in fourth.

Pfaff Motorsports’ Mathieu Jaminet earned the pole in GTD Pro, and Frankie Montecalvo had the best time in GTD in his Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3.

Jaminet was tops in GT3 R, 0.165 seconds ahead of the GTD pole-sitter Montecalvo.

Alex Riberas was third among the GTD cars and second in GTD pro in the No. 23 Aston Martin Vantage GT3, followed by the No. 25 Team GT3 team of John Edwards. Jordan Taylor was fifth in the No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R GTD.

You can tune into the Chevrolet Grand Prix Sunday at 3 p.m. ET with television coverage on NBC and Peacock.

Complete Qualifying Results:

CTMP-IMSA-Weather-Tech-Sports-Car-Championship-Qualifying03_Results_Qualifying-1

Toyota Racing – NXS Road America Post-Race Report – 07.02.22

By
Official Release
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GIBBS EARNS VICTORY IN OVERTIME DUEL AT ROAD AMERICA

Ty Gibbs gets past Kyle Larson on the final lap to earn his fourth win this season

ELKHART LAKE, Wisc. (July 2, 2022) – Ty Gibbs earned his series-leading fourth win of the season with an impressive and clean last lap pass on the reigning Cup Series champion Kyle Larson in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Road America on Saturday evening. Gibbs was joined in the top-five by his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Brandon Jones (fifth).

Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Road America
Race 16 of 33 – 182.16 miles, 45 laps

TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, TY GIBBS
2nd, Kyle Larson*
3rd, Josh Berry*
4th, Austin Hill*
5th, BRANDON JONES
18th, JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK
24th, SAMMY SMITH
38th, WILL RODGERS
*non-Toyota driver

TOYOTA QUOTES

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

Finishing Position: 1st

Can you walk me through the battle and the pass?

“First off all, all glory to God. My team is awesome. We have the best people. Thank you to my team. My pit crew did awesome – fantastic job today. Thank you to Monster Energy for being on our Supra, Interstate Batteries too. I had a fun times racing there, but I’m glad to take home a win. This is a cool place to win.”

What was going through your mind on the last lap?

“It’s part of it. We have to put on a good show for the fans – that’s what we are doing here. It was a great race with Kyle (Larson), so happy to be here with the win.”

How did you beat a Cup Series champion in a head-to-head battle?

“I don’t know. I just want to say all glory to Jesus Christ. Thank you to my team, Monster Energy. I had a fun time racing with Kyle (Larson). I thought it was going to get a little rough there, but he’s such a great competitor and a great person. We played golf the other day – I want to tell him thanks for the golf lessons. I still suck. This is awesome. I can’t believe it. It’s wonderful.”

How did you make that pass?

“I felt like we were a little bit faster in the first half of the track. The last two sectors, I felt like we were not as fast. I feel like right now I need to earn respect back and that’s what I’m doing. I feel like I’ve got my lessons – just got to learn and not make mistakes. I made plenty off them today, I could have lost the race on that one restart, so thankful to get this one back, but I still have to work on the restarts – the first initial and the next-to-last.”

Your crew chief put you in the right mindset going into that last restart. What did that mean?

“It’s awesome. I just stayed the same the whole time. Hopefully a lot of people were watching. It’s cool to be here, cool to race the Cup Series guys. Hopefully that says something. Thankful for where I’m at.”

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.

O’Ward Becomes Ninth Different Pole Winner, Claims NTT P1 Award at Mid-Ohio

By
Official Release
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O’Ward Becomes Ninth Different Pole Winner, Claims NTT P1 Award at Mid-Ohio

LEXINGTON, Ohio (Saturday, July 2, 2022) — For the ninth different time in nine races to start the 2022 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season, a different driver will lead the field to green on Sunday.

This time, it will be Pato O’Ward, who won the NTT P1 Award for pole Saturday at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. His best lap of 1 minute, 6.7054 seconds in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet capped an eventful qualifying session on the picturesque permanent road course.

O’Ward’s fast lap on the 13-turn, 2.258-mile road course marked his fifth career NTT INDYCAR SERIES pole. What’s more, by becoming the ninth different pole winner to start the season, he matched a number from 1961, when there were also nine different pole winners to start the year. The record for most different pole winners to start a season is 10 set in 1952.

O’Ward will see the green flag first for Sunday’s The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by the All-New 2023 Civic Type R (12:30 p.m. ET, live on NBC, Peacock Premium and INDYCAR Radio Network).

“It was a good session for us,” O’Ward said. “I couldn’t get the lap together in the first two sections, but I got it done the third time. The car’s been great. We didn’t roll off the truck the best, but we made some changes overnight, and we got her in the window.”

Lining up alongside O’Ward will be Scott McLaughlin, who qualified second in the No. 3 Odyssey Battery Team Penske Chevrolet at 1:06.8382 for his best starting spot of the season since starting second in the second race of the year at Texas Motor Speedway.

Colton Herta will start third at 1:07.0262 in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda, with Felix Rosenqvist fourth at 1:07.2163 in the No. 7 Vuse Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet, Scott Dixon fifth at 1:07.4047 in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda and Simon Pagenaud rounding out the Firestone Fast Six at 1:07.4199 in the No. 60 AutoNation/SiriusXM Honda.

David Malukas held serve as the fastest rookie of the day and nearly qualified for his second Firestone Fast Six, posting a best lap of 1:06.8201 in Round 2, good enough for eighth in the No. 18 HMD Honda.

Malukas led a trio of rookies qualifying in the top 10. Kyle Kirkwood qualified ninth at 1:06.9506 in the No. 14 ROKiT/AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet for his career-best qualifying effort, and Callum Ilott qualified 10th at 1:06.9534 in the No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet.

It was a challenging day for the three drivers leading the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship.

Points leader Marcus Ericsson, who won the double-point Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge, was the best of the rest in Group 1 of Round 1 of qualifying. Ericsson put down a best lap of 1:07.1475 and will start 13th Sunday in the No. 8 Ridgeline Lubricants Honda.

Will Power is second in the standings, 27 points back of Ericsson, and he’ll be worse off on the starting grid. In Group 1 of Round 1 of qualifying, Power was swerving side-to-side to warm up his tires before a quick run. In doing so, he impeded the lap of Helio Castroneves in the No. 06 AutoNation/SiriusXM Honda. Power, who had the fastest lap of the group, was penalized for the incident and lost his two fastest qualifying laps from the session. Falling back on a best lap of 1:07.5559, Power will start 21st in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet. It marks his third consecutive start outside the top 15 and his worst-ever start at Mid-Ohio.

Meanwhile, Josef Newgarden, who is 32 points behind Ericsson in third place and has a season-high three wins this season, qualified a frustrating 14th in the No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet with a best lap time of 1:07.3338.

Two-time series champion Newgarden struggled to find open track that would allow him to put down a quick lap without the impediment of slower cars, and he tied his worst qualifying effort of 2022. He also started 14th in the Indy 500.

O’Ward hopes to capitalize on a familiar trend for Mid-Ohio INDYCAR SERIES pole sitters: winning the race. Fifteen times, the INDYCAR SERIES pole winner at Mid-Ohio has gone on to win the race, including the last three Mid-Ohio pole sitters (Power, Herta and Newgarden).

O’Ward, who has one win this season at Barber Motorsports Park, feels confident he can continue that trend.

“It’s huge, man,” he said. “It’s a track position race. The best position that we’ve had here starting is like 15th, so first is definitely a lot better than that.”

CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES – INDY 200 AT MID-OHO: Team Chevy Qualifying Quotes

By
Official Release
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CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES
HONDA INDY 200 AT MID-OHIO
MID-OHIO SPORTS CAR COURSE
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING QUOTES
JULY 2, 2022

TEAM CHEVY QUOTES

PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROW McLAREN CHEVROLET, ARROW McLAREN SP – POLE-WINNER: “The car has been great. We didn’t really roll off the best, but we made some really good changes overnight. We got her in the window, and I’ve been able to extract what it has.”

“I wouldn’t change anything. It’s a great qualifying position to start tomorrow so we’ll see what we’ve got.”

HOW CRITICAL IS POLE POSITION HERE? “It’s huge, man. It’s a track-position race. The best starting position we’ve ever had here is I think 18th. First is definitely a lot better than that!”

WHAT KIND OF RACECAR DO YOU HAVE FOR TOMORROW? “It’s a long race. A lot can happen. We’re in a great starting position and we have the best view into Turn One. We’re going to be giving it hell tomorrow!”

WHAT’S THE OUTLOOK ON FOR THE NO. 5 CAR TOMORROW NOW? “This is a track-position race. You make your life a lot easier when you start up at the front. Let’s just hope we stay there. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN, NO. 3 ODYSSEY BATTERY CHEVROLET, TEAM PENSKE – QUALIFIED SECOND:”Fantastic! I’m really pumped with this. It’s been a little bit hard. We’ve been on the edge of the Fast Six but then to break into the Fast Six and compete with those guys… Congrats to Pato. Fantastic job by them and their guys.”

WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT FOR TOMORROW? “I think we’re going to be OK on both (black and red Firestone tires). We’ve tried to be a bit 50-50 on the reds and the blacks. I feel good on old tires, which is a good thing. Obviously I didn’t get pole on old tires, but at the end of the day we’re right there. If we have decent tire degradation, we’ll be OK. As always, it’s big to qualify at the front here. That’s a good first step. We just need to have a good first stint and get on with it.”

FELIX ROSEQVIST, NO. 7 VUSE CHEVROLET, ARROW McLAREN SP – QUALIFIED FOURTH: “Solid day… In Q1 we had the best time and almost the best time in Q2. I don’t know, I just felt we didn’t really make anything happen in the Fast Six. It’s a good day when you are disappointed with fourth. Congrats to Pato for piecing a good one together in the Fast Six. We have to look at our approach in the Fast Six. It seems like we are really good at getting to the Fast Six, but when we are in it, we never really go further than P4. It’s a good starting position, and I think we have a very good shot tomorrow.”

KYLE KIRKWOOD, NO. 14 ROKiT CHEVROLET, AJ FOYT RACING – QUALIFIED NINTH: “P9 today in qualifying… an awesome result! It’s our best qualifying of the year, so we’re super-stoked. We didn’t really have the pace in either of the practices but we did now, which is all that matters. We feel like we have a good racecar going into tomorrow.”

CALLUM ILOTT, NO. 77 DYNAMIC EDGE CHEVROLET, JUNCOS HOLLINGER RACING – QUALIFIED 10TH: “A bit of potential for a bit more, but to be fair I’m really happy with the progress we’ve made. In FP1, we had to improve a bit car-wise and on myself. In FP2, again had to improve a bit car-wise and on myself. Coming into qualifying, we were immediately competitive. In the Fast 12, there was still a bit more time. We made a change to make it a bit more faster and a bit more on the edge. I didn’t quite put it together which is a bit annoying but P10 isn’t too bad. We beat some good names. I’m pretty happy with that. We have to think about what we want to do for the race, and we should have a good one. Thanks to the team and thanks to Chevy.”

RINUS VEEKAY, NO. 21 BITCOIN WITH BITNILE CHEVROLET, ED CARPENTER RACING – QUALIFIED 11TH: “The balance of the car was really good in both rounds of qualifying. We had something that wasn’t 100 percent right in the second round, which was unfortunate but we know we have the pace for tomorrow. There is bit of a window you can play with, but it’s not going to be that much of a strategy race. I just have to be fast and pass people! The team has given me a great racecar here in the past and as long as I can attack, I am very happy!”

JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 2 PPG CHEVROLET, TEAM PENSKE – QUALIFIED 14TH: “We’re not searching for answers with our PPG Chevrolet. It’s just traffic. Not searching for anything. The car is just fine, so it’s just a shame. Good job by Team Penske and Team Chevy. It’s just INDYCAR qualifying. Sometimes it is fine, and sometimes it is difficult to move through traffic.”

WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON 5G TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – QUALIFIED 21ST: “That was just giving away the championship right there. It is what it is. We will just have to make the best of it starting 21st. I’m just feeling sorry that happened. It’s totally on us. I talked to the team and told them I have got to know if someone is on a (qualifying) lap. We don’t normally have these kinds of penalties. That just was giving away a top-six and maybe a pole. The car has speed, but it is going to be difficult to go forward tomorrow. In this series, anything can happen but we can’t have these kinds of penalties. It’s on us.”

CONOR DALY, NO. 20 BITNILE CHEVROLET, ED CARPENTER RACING – QUALIFIED 22ND: “Every little bit counts. Three-hundredths puts you three rows higher here. It’s kind of crazy. Our teammate was fast and I think we could have been there as well, so this is tough. We were struggling with some rear insecurity, which is a shame because you have to be perfect. We always race well, so we will work towards tomorrow.”

DALTON KELLETT, NO. 4 K-LINE CHEVROLET, AJ FOYT RACING – QUALIFIED 23RD: “Just a couple of mistakes in qualifying on my end. It was a bit of a scrappy run. It felt like our K-Line Team Chevy was relatively balanced and feeling pretty good. Just didn’t put everything together and left some time on the table. I’m looking forward to we have for the race. We have a relatively solid car, so I’m pretty optimistic for tomorrow.”

SIMONA de SILVESTRO, NO. 16 CHEVROLET, PARETTA AUTOSPORT – QUALIFIED 25TH: “I think we improved quite a lot. I did not maximize the red tire in qualifying. That’s something I really need to put my head into and figure out for Nashville. We do have a good race car. I think we can definitely have consistent pace and move forward.”

TATIANA CALDERON, NO. 11 ROKiT CHEVROLET, AJ FOYT RACING – QUALIFIED 26TH: “I’m really happy to be back in Mid-Ohio where my IndyCar story started. I think we’ve been improving every session. I’m a bit disappointed with qualifying because we had a little bit more in there. We just got a little bit of traffic and ran a little bit wide. I think we have a really good racecar. Hopefully we can tweak a few things in the warmup and go hard for raceday.”

About Chevrolet

Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, available in nearly 80 countries with nearly 2.7 million cars and trucks sold in 2021. Chevrolet models include electric and fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES – INDY 200 AT MID-OHO: PATO O’WARD NTT P1 AWARD QUICK QUOTE

By
Official Release
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CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES
HONDA INDY 200 AT MID-OHIO
MID-OHIO SPORTS CAR COURSE
LEXINGTON, OHIO
TEAM CHEVY PATO O’WARD NTT P1 AWARD QUICK QUOTE
JULY 2, 2022

PATO O’WARD PUTS CHEVROLET ON POLE AT MID-OHIO

LEXINGTON, OHIO – Pato O’Ward, behind the wheel of the No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet, picked up the fifth NTT P1 Award of his career and will lead the field to the green flag tomorrow for the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. It is the sixth pole of the 2022 NTT INDYCAR Series season for drivers powered by the Chevrolet 2.2 liter V6 engine.

In addition to his five poles, O’Ward has three INDYCAR victories–all in the cockpit of a Chevrolet-powered IndyCar from the Arrow McLaren SP stable.

PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROW McLAREN CHEVROLET, ARROW McLAREN SP – POLE-WINNER: “The car has been great. We didn’t really roll off the best, but we made some really good changes overnight. We got her in the window, and I’ve been able to extract what it has.”

“I wouldn’t change anything. It’s a great qualifying position to start tomorrow so we’ll see what we’ve got.”

HOW CRITICAL IS POLE POSITION HERE? “It’s huge, man. It’s a track-position race. The best starting position we’ve ever had here is I think 18th. First is definitely a lot better than that!”

WHAT KIND OF RACECAR DO YOU HAVE FOR TOMORROW? “It’s a long race. A lot can happen. We’re in a great starting position and we have the best view into Turn One. We’re going to be giving it hell tomorrow!”

WHAT’S THE OUTLOOK ON FOR THE NO. 5 CAR TOMORROW NOW? “This is a track-position race. You make your life a lot easier when you start up at the front. Let’s just hope we stay there. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

ABOUT CHEVROLET:

Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, available in nearly 80 countries with nearly 2.7 million cars and trucks sold in 2021. Chevrolet models include electric and fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

McElrea Takes Pole for Indy Lights at Mid-Ohio

By
Official Release
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LEXINGTON, Ohio (Saturday, July 2, 2022) — Hunter McElrea’s dominant Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires weekend at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course continued Saturday as he scored the pole for Sunday’s Indy Lights at Mid-Ohio event.

With a best lap of 1 minute, 12.1926 seconds in the No. 27 Andretti Autosport car, the rookie scored his second pole of the season. It rounds out what has been a strong weekend for McElrea, who was fastest in both practice sessions of the weekend.

McElrea put an exclamation point on his strong qualifying session by besting his own time, which was already good enough for first place as time expired in the 20-minute qualifying session around the 13-turn, 2.258-mile road course.

“It was good,” he said. “We were P1 almost the entire session. I started getting a little sloppy at the end. Even on my last lap, I completely blew through Turn 2, but I didn’t think that was going to be a (1:12) lap.

“I can’t tell you how fun it is when you drive a car this good around Mid-Ohio. I love this place. We’re back where we belong.”

Joining McElrea on the front row will be Indy Lights points leader Linus Lundqvist, who put down a best lap of 1:12.4218 late in the session to secure his seventh front-row start in eight races this season in the No. 26 HMD Motorsports with Dale Coyne Racing machine.

“I’m very happy and super proud of the team,” said Lundqvist, who holds an 82-point lead over Sting Ray Robb in the championship. “We knew that this place is probably one of our weakest places, so good job. Thanks to my guys for giving me a car that could fight for the front row.”

Lundqvist’s teammate Benjamin Pedersen will start third at 1:12.4459 in the No. 24 Global Racing Group with HMD Motorsports car. St. Petersburg winner Matthew Brabham qualified fourth at 1:12.4911 in the No. 83 Andretti Autosport car, and the series’ most recent winner Christian Rasmussen starts fifth with a best lap of 1:12.5129 in the No. 28 Road to Indy/Stellrecht car for Andretti Autosport.

This weekend’s performance at Mid-Ohio for McElrea is mirroring the drive he had at the start of the season on the Streets of St. Petersburg, Florida. McElrea, 22, paced practice, started on the pole and led the first 11 laps of the race before a mistake put him in the wall and ended his chances for victory.

Since then, McElrea, a New Zealand driver who was born in Los Angeles and grew up in Australia, has worked on being less aggressive on track. He is currently seventh in the championship, 117 points back of leader Lundqvist.

In his young racing career, Mid-Ohio has proven to be strong for McElrea, who has five poles and two wins at this track prior to this weekend. Therefore, McElrea is confident about finally scoring that elusive first career win in Sunday’s Indy Lights at Mid-Ohio (10:35 a.m. ET, live on Peacock Premium and INDYCAR Radio Network).

“It’s pretty obvious what I’m going to plan on,” McElrea said. “We’re pretty dominant all weekend, so I don’t see why we shouldn’t keep that pace in the race.”

Expect a tight 35-lap race as the top nine drivers in qualifying were separated by just over half a second.

About Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires

Celebrating 35 years, Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires develops drivers and teams to compete in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES and the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge. Past champions include INDYCAR SERIES champions Tony Kanaan, Scott Dixon, Josef Newgarden, Paul Tracy and Cristiano da Matta. In 2021, 20 drivers in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES were Indy Lights graduates, including rising stars and race winners Colton Herta, Pato O’Ward and Rinus VeeKay. The 2022 season consists of 14 races in the United States. The NTT INDYCAR SERIES, Indy Lights, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and IMS Productions are owned by Penske Corporation, a global transportation, automotive and motorsports leader. For more information on Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires, please visit www.indylights.com. For more information on INDYCAR and the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, please visit www.indycar.com.

About Cooper Tire

Cooper Tire, a subsidiary of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company (NASDAQ: GT), specializes in the design, manufacture, marketing and sale of passenger car, light truck, medium truck, motorcycle and racing tires. Cooper is headquartered in Findlay, Ohio, with manufacturing, sales, distribution, technical and design operations located in more than one dozen countries around the world. For more information on Cooper, visit www.coopertire.com, www.facebook.com/coopertire or www.twitter.com/coopertire.

About Goodyear

Goodyear is one of the world’s largest tire companies. It employs about 72,000 people and manufactures its products in 55 facilities in 23 countries around the world. Its two Innovation Centers in Akron, Ohio, and Colmar-Berg, Luxembourg, strive to develop state-of-the-art products and services that set the technology and performance standard for the industry. For more information about Goodyear and its products, go to www.goodyear.com/corporate.

Pagenaud Qualifies Sixth at Mid-Ohio for Meyer Shank Racing

By
Official Release
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#60: Simon Pagenaud, Meyer Shank Racing Honda

Castroneves will start 15th after interference setback in Group 1 qualifying

Lexington, Ohio (2 July 2022) – Simon Pagenaud will start sixth for Meyer Shank Racing’s (MSR) home race, Sunday’s Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio (Sunday, 12:30pm ET, NBC).

Pagenaud, driving No. 60 AutoNation / SiriusXM Honda for MSR which is based in nearby Pataskala, advanced through two rounds of qualifying to reach the Firestone Fast Six for the second time this season.

It was an impressive charge for the Frenchman, who was 18th and 16th in the event’s two practice sessions. Once in the Fast Six, he ran as high as third before his final lap of 1:07.419-seconds put him on the outside of the third row.

MSR teammate Helio Castroneves – a two-time Mid-Ohio winner – will start 15th in the No. 06 AutoNation / SiriusXM Honda. Castroneves also ran in the opening group, winding up eighth with a lap of 1:07.1798-seconds. On Castroneves’ fast lap, the Brazilian racer had a close call when the No. 12 entry – on a warmup lap – swerved which forced the MSR driver into the grass to avoid him. Following the incident, Castroneves was unable to improve his time and settled with 15th.

Sunday’s Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio is will have live broadcast coverage on NBC starting at 12:30pm ET. SiriusXM will also have IndyCar radio coverage on XM Ch. 160.

Driver Quotes:

Simon Pagenaud:
“It was a great qualifying run and obviously we have such huge support here in Ohio. This is our home track and it’s a Honda track, so it’s very important for us to do well. We didn’t start really well yesterday and the team worked really hard last night, I was on the phone with my engineering until 10:30 last night. So I was really happy we could put it into the Fast Six and I think we have something really great for the race tomorrow.”

Helio Castroneves:
“It’s a tough situation and obviously not the position that we wanted for the race. I had pitted early for reds and I don’t think they [Will Power’s team] told him I was coming by on my green flag lap. And whoever obstructs you on your green flag lap, it’s a penalty. I was really hoping that he saw me and would let me by because obviously he was fast enough to move on. I feel bad, but the way he moved the car around I couldn’t avoid it. But now, we have to keep going and focus on the race tomorrow. It’s Mid-Ohio, anything can happen and you have to push to the limit.”

Chevrolet NCS: Chase Elliott Captures Second Pole of 2022 at Road America

By
Official Release
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NASCAR CUP SERIES
ROAD AMERICA
KWIK TRIP 250
JULY 2, 2022

CHASE ELLIOTT CAPTURES SECOND POLE OF 2022 AT ROAD AMERICA
Three Camaro ZL1’s to Start in Top-Five

· Chase Elliott captured his second pole win of 2022 at Road America, recording a lap of 134.427 seconds, at 108.407 mph, in his No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1.

· This marks Elliott’s 11th career pole win in 239 races in NASCAR’s premier series.

· Elliott’s pole win is the fourth for Chevrolet in 2022; and the bowtie brand’s 727th all-time in the NASCAR Cup Series.

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (July 2, 2022) – Chase Elliott and the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1 team picked up right where they left off from their 2021 win at Road America. Edging out Chase Briscoe by .038 seconds, Elliott clocked-in a best-lap of 134.427 seconds, at 108.407 mph, to capture his second NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) pole win of 2022 and his 11th in 239 races in NASCAR’s premier series.

“Just appreciate everybody at Hendrick Motorsports, from the engine shop to every department that has a hand in what we do to make our NAPA Chevy what it was today,” said Elliott. “We’ll try to go to work and see if we can get it driving like it needs to for tomorrow.”

Elliott’s pole win marked the fourth for Chevrolet in 2022; and a manufacturer-leading 727th all-time in NASCAR Cup Series history. Chevrolet returns to the 4.048-mile, 14-turn Wisconsin road course circuit not only as the defending winners, but the bowtie brand heads into tomorrow’s race with an eight-race road course win streak. That feat started with today’s pole winner, Chase Elliott, and his win at Circuit of The Americas in May 2021.

The 26-year-old Georgia native led Chevrolet to three of the top-five in the starting lineup for tomorrow’s 62-lap, 250-mile race. Kyle Larson followed up a NASCAR Xfinity Series pole win with a strong run for the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1, securing a third-place starting spot to mark his 12th top-10 start of 2022. Tyler Reddick rounded out the Team Chevy top-five of the starting lineup in the fourth-position in his No. 8 3CHI Camaro ZL1.

USA Network will telecast the NASCAR Cup Series Kwik Trip 250 presented by JOCKEY Made in America live at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday, July 3. Live coverage can also be found on the NBCSports Gold App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 – Press Conference Transcript:

TAKE US THROUGH YOUR QUALIFYING RUN AND WHAT IT MEANS TO START FROM THE POLE AFTER WINNING THIS RACE LAST YEAR.

“It was the exact opposite for us last year. I think we started last, so hopefully the results are good tomorrow like they were last season. Definitely a different vibe to the weekend. I think our car is going to need some different things to be successful tomorrow. I don’t think we’re as good as we need to be to be successful as we sit, so want to make sure we do our homework. Looking forward to getting out of here, getting across the street and start dissecting the direction we think we want to go to be solid all race long tomorrow.

Appreciate our team and everybody for sticking with it. NAPA, getting them the pole is always important. Getting that first pit box is always good. It’s not as important at a road course, but certainly nice to have nonetheless. I wasn’t expecting the pole.. we barely made the second round. I felt like it was just good to get through that second round. I thought that was going to be kind of a tall order there with the cars that went back out to re-run. It’s nice to get through.

We’ll go to work tomorrow and see what we have.”

INAUDIBLE

“I knew I had missed a couple here and there. But at least for me and how slow my brain works; I have to kind of take it one at a time. As I got back around there, I thought I had a pretty good exit from the carousel and a pretty decent quick right through the kink there. But I didn’t think my lap was good enough for the pole. I didn’t think it was a whole lot different than the lap I had run in the prior session. I felt like if we could just repeat that lap, that would be a solid starting spot considering we had a chance of not making the second round. Just wanted to put a solid lap together – try to minimize my mistakes, push in a couple different areas that I felt like I didn’t do a good job in the first session and try to maintain. Fortunately, it went a little better so I was surprised by that.”

HOW MUCH MORE OF A COMFORT LEVEL IS THERE GOING INTO SUNDAY FROM THE POLE RATHER THAN THE BACK OF THE PACK?

“There’s not.. not really at all. These races are very long. Typically the cars that are superior find their way to the front regardless of where they start. It’s nice to get a pole. You want them as much as you can, but I would much rather be good on Sunday than Saturday.”

INAUDIBLE

“I feel like we’ve had a good package on the road course stuff, more so on the old car than this car. I still feel like we’re learning. Like I said, I don’t think we’re as good as we need to be for tomorrow in a race situation as we sit. So we want to make sure we make the right decisions overnight to try and go in that direction.”

YOU SAID YOU EXPECT IT TO BE HARD TO PASS. WHY IS THAT?

“A lot of the places that we’ve gone this year with narrow braking zones and narrow corner entries have just made it that way. Like Martinsville was that way and Gateway was that way – just kind of those narrow, flatter corner entry places where it’s kind of hard to get fresh air. It seems like the inboard side of the car, we’re used to where you could get a headlight out on someone, say through whatever turn. If you could just get that inboard headlight, you had a little sniff of fresh air and it would benefit you. Now, it’s like the inboard side of the car isn’t as effective in clean air as it used to be. You used to have to be further out to get some cleaner air on the nose. There’s just no further out to go.. you’re not going to get that big of a gap. So we’re going to have to really be smart tomorrow about how we play our strategy and how I drive the car to make sure we’re good throughout an entire stint. It’s all good.. it’s not necessarily a problem. I’m just saying that’s what it feels like to me. Somebody else might give you a different answer.”

THIS EVENT AND HAVING IT ON A HOLIDAY WEEKEND, JUST TALK ABOUT HOW UNIQUE IT IS.

“I told a lot of people this, but I was super nervous leaving Daytona for our July 4th race. For NASCAR, that’s been a tradition that’s been in place for many years. That was a race that I grew up going to as a kid, so I had a little bit of an emotional tie to that one. I just always thought it was a lot of fun. It was a great environment and it was fun to be at the beach.

Man, we came up last year and I was blown away, I really was. The people are nice and it’s a beautiful area. The people are outside and enjoying the race track. I feel like it couldn’t have received us better for trying to start a new tradition somewhere. I don’t know how long NASCAR is planning on coming here on this weekend, but I feel like it’s been a really nice fit for us. The people around here have accepted us really with open arms and have brought a lot of energy. Like I always say – anytime you bring energy to a race track, it’s more fun for everybody involved; and the fans are a direct piece to that.”

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.

Cadillac claims second-row starts for Chevrolet Grand Prix

By
Official Release
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Tristan Vautier drives No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R to third qualifying position

BOWMANVILLE, Ontario (July 2, 2022) – Tristan Vautier says he’ll have to watch a video replay of his qualifying lap that secured the third starting position for the Chevrolet Grand Prix because it was a blur.

Vautier, driving the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R, recorded a best lap of 1 minute, 4.895 seconds on the fast 2.459-mile, 10-turn to lead the Cadillac contingent in qualifying for the 2-hour, 40-minute race that NBC will telecast at 3 p.m. (ET) July 3.

“I actually don’t remember my whole lap. When you don’t it means that you were really on the edge because you didn’t have any energy left to process,” said Vautier, who delivered the best starting spot for the JDC-Miller MotorSports entry since the Rolex 24 At Daytona in January when he qualified second.

“It feels good to be back up there. From yesterday on, we did not look that great in the time charts but we felt like we had something better than the last few races.

“We didn’t panic about the practice lap times and stuck to our package so that we would not get too much out of line and be able to go into qualifying knowing our package well. We managed to make the tires work really well when it mattered. It’s good for the team; we needed that.”

Lap times for all six DPi entries were lower than the previous track qualifying record of 1:05.452, set in 2019 – the last time the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship visited the facility – led by Tom Blomqvist’s 1:04.394 in the No. 60 Acura.

Alex Lynn drove the No. 02 Cadillac Accessories Cadillac DPi-V.R to the fourth starting position with a best lap of 1:05.082. Olivier Pla, driving the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R, registered a 1:05.126 lap, while Sebastien Bourdais check in with a 1:05.266 lap in the No. 01 V-Performance Academy Cadillac DPi-V.R.

Track and tire management will be key in the race, according to Renger van der Zande.

“I think the racing you will be bumped up with traffic with an LMP3 or a GT car and if you’re behind you can’t go over them so you have to wait,” the co-driver of the No. 01 V-Performance Academy Cadillac DPi-V.R said. “The guy behind you is going to come with a big slingshot and might pass you on the straight. So, it’s attack mode and defend at the same time. You’ll see that the DPis will take a little risk getting by one or two cars just to have a gap from the guy behind you.”

Cadillac Racing lineup, starting position and quotes

No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R (JDC-Miller MotorSports)

Tristan Vautier, Richard Westbrook

Vautier drove in the qualifying session (start third, 1:04.895): “It feels good to be back up there. From yesterday on, we did not look that great in the time charts but we felt like we had something better than the last few races. We didn’t panic about the practice lap times and stuck to our package so that we would not get too much out of line and be able to go into qualifying knowing our package well. We managed to make the tires work really well when it mattered. It’s good for the team; we needed that.”

Car chief-Josh Kerrigan

Lead engineer-Rick Cameron

Race strategist-John Church

No. 02 Cadillac Accessories Cadillac DPi-V.R (Chip Ganassi Racing)

Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn

Lynn drove in the qualifying session (start fourth, 1:05.082): “P4 is not amazing. We are a little bit off the pace of the other cars than we would’ve liked but I think we have a very drivable race car for tomorrow. We have more work to be done overnight and will see what we can do on race day.”

Car chief-Jamie Coates

Lead engineer-Danielle Shephard

Race strategist-Michael Harvey

No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R (Action Express Racing)

Pipo Derani, Olivier Pla

Pla drove in the qualifying session (start fifth, 1:05.126): “We made a lot of progress since the beginning of the weekend. Tomorrow we’ll make sure we have the best car for the race.”

Car chief-Bill Keuler

Technical director/lead engineer-Iain Watt

Race strategist-Tim Keene

No. 01 V-Performance Academy Cadillac DPi-V.R (Chip Ganassi Racing)

Renger van der Zande, Sebastien Bourdais

Bourdais drove in the qualifying session (start sixth, 1:05.266). “Disappointing day for the 01. It was not my greatest showing. We’ve been trying a few different things to get it right. We’ll keep at it and see what we can do in the race tomorrow.”

Car chief-Phil Binks

Lead engineer-John Hennek

Race strategist-Peter Baron

About Cadillac

A leading luxury auto brand since 1902, Cadillac is growing globally, driven by an expanding product portfolio that features distinctive design and technology. More information on Cadillac appears at www.cadillac.com.

Zilisch Gets First Mazda MX-5 Cup Win at Road America

By
Official Release
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Contact relegates fast-starting Parker Kligerman to 16th on debut

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (July 2, 2022) – He may have started and finished at the front of the 30-car field, but Connor Zilisch (No. 72 Hixon Motor Sports) had his hands full at Road America en route to his first Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by BFGoodrich® Tires victory on Saturday. Zilisch shared the podium with two former series champions: Michael Carter (No. 08 Carter Racing Enterprises) and Gresham Wagner (No. 5 Spark Performance).

The Mazda scholarship shootout winner is having a busy Road America event, racing in both Mazda MX-5 Cup and Trans-Am for the holiday weekend. The 15-year-old went straight from Trans-Am qualifying and into his MX-5 Cup car waiting at the front of the grid.

Another driver pulling double duty is Parker Kligerman (No. 75 Thunder Bunny Racing). The Camping World Truck Series driver is an NBC Sports pit lane reporter for the NASCAR Cup Series this weekend. Kligerman, who’s making a guest appearance in MX-5 Cup, lined up directly behind Zilisch, starting third.

Zilisch held the lead early and was joined up front by his teammate Selin Rollan (No. 87 Hixon Motor Sports) who started fifth. They were soon joined by another teammate, Bruno Carneiro (No. 21 Hixon Motor Sports). It was up to Kligerman and Carter to break them up before they got away.

As Rollan took over the lead from Zilisch, Carneiro soon fell back into the hands of Carter and Kligerman. Zilisch and Rollan tried to work together to pull out a gap on the rest of the pack, but it was nearly impossible with a full field of evenly matched Mazda MX-5 Cup machines making the most of the draft at Road America.

After four laps up front, Rollan had to relinquish the lead back to Zilisch and now it was 2021 MX-5 Cup Champion Carter who was trying to break up the Hixon teammates.

He succeeded and brought Wagner with him around Rollan. Shortly thereafter a full-course yellow slowed the field to recover Kligerman’s Thunder Bunny Racing entry after being knocked off course and into the Turn Six gravel by another car.

Remarkably, the podium order stayed this way through the first restart and another soon after. The order remained that way all the way to the checkered flag, even with the notorious drag race out of the last corner to the finish line. But it was still another chapter in the well-established series history of close finishes, as Zilisch beat Carter to the finish line by just 0.088-second.

“At Road America you don’t want to be the leader going into the last lap,” Zilisch said. “I was nervous on that last restart. I thought they were just going to blow by me, but Michael [Carter] pushed me and I was able to get the win. I’m just super happy!

“It’s been a really busy weekend and a bit of an up and down year in MX-5 Cup. But to win my first race at this track is super awesome! It was a good race for me, I led a bunch of laps and kept my wits about me and stayed out front. I was able to capitalize and get the win. I’m super proud of the car that Hixon Motorsports brought me. It was a really good race. I think this will create a lot of momentum into the rest of the year.”

Carter, a former MX-5 Cup Shootout winner like Zilisch, was thrilled with a runner-up finish as it was his first podium of the season.

“I just tried to put my car in a place to have that opportunity on the last lap,” Carter said. “I did the same thing last year (when he beat Sam Paley to the line by 0.008-second). Coming out of the last turn, I just didn’t quite have enough this time coming to the line. Connor drove pretty much a perfect race. He’s got a good handling car and he deserved every bit of that win. It was good for us, to run up front again and have nervousness on the last lap again. It was exciting. The car is in one piece which is always a goal. It was a lot of fun. It was good running up front with the usual group again.”

After a difficult weekend at Watkins Glen, Wagner, who started 13th, was all smiles with his third-place trophy.

“I had a fast car,” Wagner said. “The car felt great in practice. Me and a few other guys have been working from the back the last couple races. Starting from mid pack was a bit better than how Watkins went. I knew we could get up there. We had the pace. I was expecting to be in the fight for the win.

“Connor did a great job, being a rookie it’s hard to figure out how to win one of these things especially here at Road America. He did a great job. Michael was back up there like he should be. It was just a good race. I was really happy with that and had a lot of fun. I’m looking forward to doing that again.”

Rollan and Carneiro completed the top five, making it three cars in the top five for Hixon Motor Sports.

There were a number of drivers who made strong charges to the front in Saturday’s race, but the one who outdid them all was Chris Nunes (No. 32 Formidable Racing) who picked up 15 positions during the 45-minute race and finished ninth to claim the $1,000 prize for the Hard Charger.

“We have had a lot of bad luck this year unfortunately,” Nunes said. “But that is part of racing. We learn, we improve as a team, myself as a driver, and we adapt and overcome. That’s what we did today. We’ve learned so much and we are ready to get back on the box here soon.”

The MX-5 Cup Championship Point Leader did not have a good points day at Road America. Jared Thomas (No. 96 JTR Performance Engineering) started 12th but finished 26th after contact in the race earned him a costly drive-through penalty.

Zilisch will start on the pole again for Sunday’s race at Road America and will share the front row with Kligerman. The race goes green at 9:05am CT and will be streamed live on RACER.com and IMSA.com.

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.

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