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Master Thwaits Leaves Mid-Ohio Second in Trans Am Championship

By
Official Release
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Lexington, OHIO – June 25, 2022 – Ken Thwaits picked up the Masters Award and claimed a terrific P4 in Round 7 of the 2022 Trans Am presented by Pirelli Championship at Mid Ohio today. He went on to cement second place in the Drivers’ Championship behind only reigning Champion Chris Dyson. The 23 points Ken picked up for P4 put him on 158 for the season, two points ahead of Tomy Drissi.

Commentator Kerry Hitt alluded to Ken’s huge progress in the Series and the Tennessee based driver went into the weekend with a level playing field in the Drivers’ Championship on 135 points with former TA Champion Tomy Drissi. Sure enough it was the man dubbed “The Rockin’ Moroccan” who proved his closest rival on the track as the two men went head-to-head from flag fall. Drissi’s aggressive driving meant that they almost came together on Lap 3 but thereafter Ken was able to gradually draw away from the Californian and assert his superiority.

Driving the No. 7 Franklin Road Apparel Showtime Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro, Ken had opened up a sizable advantage over his competitor but a spin on Lap 29, very well managed by Ken in the circumstances, allowed Drissi to close the gap right up. Drissi attempted to pass on the following lap before a couple of cautions that included the retirement of second placed Kaz Grala settled the field and confirmed Ken in P4.

Speaking from the top step of the podium as he collected the Masters Award Ken was clearly thrilled with the afternoon’s work, “It was a great race. Tomy and I were having a showdown from the beginning. He didn’t give up. During the middle of the race I was trying to run down David Pintaric. It was just awesome. These cars are just awesome. Thanks to my crew and all of you guys that support us. We work so hard and will be back next weekend again to put in the work.”

In a field that featured an increase in car count and talent this weekend at the Mid Ohio Sportscar Course, Ken did extremely well to qualify in P5 in 1:22:852, ahead of Tomy Drissi, his closest competitor this season for second place in the Drivers’ Championship.

The Franklin Road Apparel team are in action again tomorrow when Cameron Lawrence takes to the track in the TA2 Class. Ken himself will be back in action at Road America next weekend when the Ryan Companies present the Trans Am 100 July 1 to 3.

Here is your CBS Sports television broadcast schedule from Mid Ohio for all classes:

TA2 – July 2, 7:30p.m. ET on CBS Sports Network
TA2 (Encore Presentation) – July 3, 11:30 a.m. ET on CBS Sports Network
TA/XGT/SGT/GT – July 3, 2:00p.m. ET on CBS Sports Network
TA/XGT/SGT/GT (Encore Presentation) – July 4, 1:00 a.m. ET on CBS Sports Network

Fans can find the Franklin Road Apparel Trans Am clothing here: https://www.franklinroad.com/search/trans+am/

Visit the team’s website for Showtime Motorsports showtimemotorsports.net. Learn more about the Showtime Motorsports team partner, Franklin Road Apparel, at franklinroad.com and keep up to date with the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli at gotransam.com. #GoTransAm

Check out the Showtime Motorsports Facebook page: facebook.com/showtimemotorsp/ and @ShowtimeMotorsp on Instagram.

About Showtime Motorsports:
The Showtime Motorsports brand includes Ken Thwaits’ racing team and racecars, and an outstanding classic Camaro collection. Showtime Motorsports brings together a dynamic staff who employ diverse talents and share a passion for cars, racing and caring for clients like they are our own family members.

Luck not on the Stoner Car Care Racing Team’s side at Watkins Glen

By
Official Release
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Intermittent power issues and an untimely yellow sidetrack the day in the Michelin Pilot Challenge

WATKINS GLEN, NY (25 June 2022) – It was a case of this close for the Stoner Car Care Racing fielded by Automatic Racing team Saturday in the two-hour Tioga Downs Casino Resort 120 at Watkins Glen International but in the end, luck was not on the team’s side.

Drivers Rob Ecklin, Jr. and Ramin Abdolvahabi drove a stellar race behind the wheel of the No. 09 Stoner Car Care Aston Martin Vantage GT4 in extremely hot conditions (85 degrees ambient temp and 127 track temp), with Abdolvahabi pacing in fifth position mid-race. But the team could not overcome the disadvantage that came with some unfortunate timing for a full course caution paired with an intermittent power issue.

Through one-hour practice sessions on Thursday and Friday, the team worked on finding the perfect balance between speed and downforce, though Thursday afternoon’s practice was cut short due to the first indication of a possible sensor issue that kept the Aston Martin down on power. Abdolvahabi took the wheel for qualifying, setting consistent lap times and placing the No. 09 25th in the race starting order with the team confident that the issue had been resolved.

In the typically chaotic start for the Michelin Pilot Challenge series, Abdolvahabi had his right-side mirror pushed in, but thankfully not dislodged. From that drop of the green, he set his focus forward, laying down consistent and competitive laps. Up to P20 by lap nine, the team made the call to bring him in for fuel and left side tires (and to fix the mirror), planning to take his stint right to the drive-time mark required for Ecklin (40 minutes minimum). With any luck, they would be able to go to the finish from the driver change.

Abdolvahabi continued his charge as teams utilized a range of pit sequences, as the Stoner Car Care-liveried Aston Martin moved up to race in fifth position with the effort looking poised for a strong result. But just after calling for Abdolvahabi to take to pit lane, a full course caution for debris on track was called and the pits were closed.

Fortunately, the pits opened in time for Ecklin to jump on board and race to the finish while still meeting his drive time requirements. Unfortunately, the range of pit strategies saw Ecklin deep in the pack for the restart.

“We just had such bad luck,” said Abdolvahabi. “We were doing so well and all we needed was 15 or 20 seconds (to get into pit lane). We were in the window coming in and everyone else had already pitted. We would have been ahead of the field by a quarter of a lap, but then the yellow dropped the pits closed. We had a good strategy, it’s just unfortunate that it happened like that. The car was great and very comfortable to begin with and both Rob and I drove really well. The track was so hot and you could see that the lap times were off by two seconds.”

Ecklin took the wheel with 41 minutes remaining, at a track he knows better than any other. This is a home race for Ecklin, who grew up in nearby Corning, the son of a Corning Glass executive, so plenty of family and friends were in attendance. But unfortunately, the power issue that had affected the team’s practice session came back mid-race, making forward progress difficult. He took the checkered flag in P20 – disappointing, given the progress the team had made.

“I didn’t see any of my friends or family through the weekend, but it was nice to have people here!” said Ecklin. “It’s always good to come back, I love driving here. The car was set up well, very well balanced, but I had several power issues. It would go to power in one turn and have it be flat, then have it come back in the next corner and I was off. That happened several times in the middle of the stint, but it came back near the end. I think we got everything we could out of the car so we feel good about that.”

“Sometimes you have drives that are really strong but you don’t get the result that you maybe deserved, and sometimes you have drives that aren’t as strong and you get lucky,” said Automatic Racing team manager David Russell. “Today we had a really strong run, Ramin moved up right at the start and I loved the aggression there. Rob carried the torch at the end there and just kept moving up and moving up. There are a lot of pluses on the weekend: I think strategy-wise we did a really great job, so overall I think it was a really strong effort for the team. I think we need to do a little bit more testing to help understand a few technical things about the car that weren’t quite right, which probably cost us that position in the end. We’ll take what we got and move on.”

The Stoner Car Care team continues to support End Alzheimer’s Racing, carrying decals on the car to help their efforts to raise funds and awareness.

Next up for the Stoner Car Care team will be the Road America 240 on Saturday, August 7. The race will be live streamed in the U.S. on Peacock TV, while international viewers can watch via IMSA.tv. IMSA Radio will also be available at IMSA.com. A race replay will air on USA Network Saturday, August 13 at 3:00 p.m. Eastern.

About Stoner Car Care
Stoner Car Care produces high-performance car washes, waxes, polishes, and dressings for auto enthusiasts and car care professionals. The Stoner Car Care line-up includes Invisible Glass, America’s #1 Automotive Glass Cleaner, along with many other appearance products. Whether driving, washing or waxing, Performance Matters! Stoner car care proudly formulates all of our product since 1942. www.stonercarcare.com

About Invisible Glass
Automatic Racing sees their way to victory with Invisible Glass, the top-selling automotive glass cleaner in the United States. The Invisible Glass product line includes aerosol and spray bottle cleaner, Invisible Glass with rain repellent for windshields and wiper blades. Find more online at https://www.invisibleglass.com/

About Automatic Racing
Based in Orlando, Automatic Racing is one of the longest-running teams in the paddock, forming in 2001 and competing in all but one of the 11 MICHELIN Pilot Challenge races at Daytona. The team has been developing, preparing and racing the prestigious Aston Martin Vantage GT4 since 2012. Automatic Racing won the 2017 MICHELIN Pilot Challenge title.
https://automaticracing.com

About End Alzheimer’s Racing
End Alzheimer’s Racing began in 2019, as father and son duo Bill and Alex Slupski – both experienced kart racers who also work in sports car racing – chose racing as the “vehicle” for their program to promote awareness and raise funds for the Alzheimer’s Association. Through End Alzheimer’s Racing, they want to be an integral part of the support network for families dealing with Alzheimer’s and other dementias and be part of the cure that ends Alzheimer’s disease.
http://act.alz.org/goto/endalzheimersracing

Monster Energy Racing: Riley Herbst NXS Race Report from Nashville

By
Official Release
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Herbst Drives to Strong Third at Nashville
Monster Energy Driver Earns Fifth Top-Five of 2022 Season
Date: Saturday, June 25
Event: Tennessee Lottery 250 (Round 15 of 33)
Series: NASCAR Xfinity Series
Location: Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway (1.333-mile, concrete oval)
Format: 188 laps, broken into three stages (45 laps/45 laps/98 laps)
Start/Finish: 1st / 3rd (Running, completed 188 of 188 laps)
Point Standing: 9th (413 points, 188 out of first)
Race Winner: Justin Allgaier of JR Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 1 Winner: Justin Allgaier of JR Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 2 Winner: Justin Allgaier of JR Motorsports (Chevrolet)

Overview:

Riley Herbst and the No. 98 Monster Energy team were strong out of the gate as the NASCAR Xfinity Series returned from a two-week break during Saturday’s Tennessee Lottery 250 at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway. After scoring his second career Xfinity Series Pole this morning with a lap of 156.665 mph, Herbst led the field to green for this afternoon’s 188-lap race. The Las Vegas native ran solidly in the top-10 for the first two stages, finishing third and fourth, respectively, and earning a total of 15 bonus points. Crew chief Richard Boswell made the call of the race when he brought Herbst to pit road for the final time during a lap-117 caution while half the field stayed out. Herbst restarted 17th and quickly and methodically worked his way into the top-10 by lap 140. The final 58 laps of the race went green, playing into the No. 98 Monster Energy team’s strategy as others were forced to pit for tires and fuel. Herbst was able to stay out and drive his way up to the third position, which he held all the way to the checkered flag. It was his fifth top-five and 10th top-10 of the season.

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

“Our Monster Energy Ford Mustang was good today. We got the pole and we wanted to lead some laps but, unfortunately, we didn’t lead any. We got quite a bit of stage points, which is what we needed. It’s just a good day for everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing, myself included. I’m proud of all these guys on the 98 team. If we just keep getting these runs, we’ll eventually get there and, if we just keep knocking on the door, eventually it will open.”

Notes:

● Herbst’s pole was the second of his NASCAR Xfinity Series career. He won his first in May 2021 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway.

● Herbst third-place finish equaled his best result so far this season. He finished third May 7 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.

● Herbst finished third in Stage 1 to earn eight bonus points and fourth in Stage 2 to earn seven more bonus points.

● Justin Allgaier won the Tennessee Lottery 250 to score his 18th career Xfinity Series victory, his second of the season and his first at Nashville. His margin over second-place Trevor Bayne was 4.513 seconds.

● There were five caution periods for a total of 27 laps.

● Only 12 of the 38 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.

● AJ Allmendinger remains the championship leader after Nashville with a 25-point advantage over second-place Ty Gibbs.

Next Up:

The next event on the NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the Henry 180 on July 2 at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. The race starts at 2:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by USA and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Allgaier cruises to a dominant Xfinity Series victory at Nashville

By
Andrew Kim
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LEBANON, TENNESSEE - JUNE 25: Justin Allgaier, driver of the #7 Hellmann's Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series Tennessee Lottery 250at Nashville Superspeedway on June 25, 2022 in Lebanon, Tennessee. (Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images).

Justin Allgaier outlasted the warm humidity surrounding the state of Tennessee by scoring a dominant NASCAR Xfinity Series win in the Tennessee Lottery 250 at Nashville Superspeedway on Saturday, June 25.

The 36-year-old Allgaier from Riverton, Illinois, led five times for a race-high 134 of 188 laps, including the final 40. He swept both stages en route to his second Xfinity victory of the 2022 season and his first at Nashville after beating runner-up Trevor Bayne by four-and-a-half seconds.

With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring Saturday, Riley Herbst started on pole position for the second time in his career after posting a pole-winning lap at 156.665 mph in 30.562 seconds. Joining him on the front row was AJ Allmendinger, winner of the previous Xfinity event at Portland International Raceway who posted a qualifying lap at 156.200 mph in 30.653 seconds.

Prior to the event, Tyler Reddick started at the rear of the field due to an engine change. Natalie Decker also dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to her car.

When the green flag waved and the race started, Herbst and Allmendinger dueled early for the lead through the first two turns until Allmendinger gained the advantage on the outside lane in Turn 3 to take the lead as he led the first lap. Behind, the field fanned out and jostled for positions through the frontstretch as Allmendinger stabilized his early advantage over Herbst.

By the fifth lap, Allmendinger was leading by nearly eight-tenths of a second over Herbst followed by Trevor Bayne, rookie Austin Hill and Justin Allgaier while Jeb Burton, Josh Berry, Daniel Hemric, Noah Gragson and Brandon Jones were in the top 10.

At the Lap 10 mark, Allmendinger continued to lead by a second over Herbst while Allgaier continued his march to the front as he battled Bayne for third place. Behind, Hill remained in fifth while Gragson, Brandon Jones and Ty Gibbs battled for ninth.

Five laps later, Allgaier muscled his No, 7 Hellmann’s Chevrolet Camaro to the runner-up spot after he overtook Herbst’s No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang. Another four laps later, Allgaier emerged as the second leader of the event after he overtook Allmendinger’s No. 16 Nutrien Ag Solutions Chevrolet Camaro for the top spot. 

Through the first 35 laps of the event, Allgaier extended his advantage to more than four seconds over both Allmendinger and Herbst as Hill and Bayne joined the battle in the top five. Meanwhile, Berry was in sixth while Jeb Burton, Ty Gibbs, Brandon Jones and Hemric were in the top 10. Sam Mayer was in 11th ahead of teammate Noah Gragson, Landon Cassill, Ryan Preece and Jeffrey Earnhardt while rookie Sheldon Creed, Brett Moffitt, Ryan Sieg, Brandon Brown and Kyle Weatherman were in the top 20.

When the first stage concluded on Lap 45, Allgaier, who continued to extend his advantage to six seconds, captured his fourth stage victory of the 2022 Xfinity season. Bayne made his way into the runner-up spot followed by Herbst, Allmendinger, Hill, Berry, Gibbs, Brandon Jones, Mayer and Gragson.

Under the stage break, the field led by Allgaier pitted as Allgaier exited with the lead followed by teammate Berry, Brandon Jones, Allmendinger, Gibbs and Hill. Following the pit stops, Kaulig Racing’s Allmendinger, Cassill and Hemric were penalized for speeding on pit road along with Sheldon Creed and Kyle Sieg. Jeb Burton was also penalized due to an equipment interference while Bayne endured a slow pit stop due to Herbst hitting Bayne’s crew member.

The second stage started on Lap 52 as teammates Allgaier and Berry occupied the front row. At the start and with the field fanning out, Allgaier rocketed away with the lead while Gibbs battled Berry for the runner-up spot. Behind, teammate Mayer along with Brandon Jones, Herbst and Hill battled towards the front as Allgaier checked away from the field.

By Lap 60, Allgaier was leading by seven-tenths of a second over Gibbs followed by Mayer, Herbst and Hill while Berry, Gragson, Bayne, Brandon Jones and Ryan Preece were running in the top 10. By then, Allmendinger was mired in 13th, Tyler Reddick was up in 16th and Hemric was back in 22nd.

At the Lap 75 mark, Allgaier extended his advantage to nearly one-and-a-half seconds over Gibbs while Mayer, Herbst and Bayne remained in the top five. Meanwhile, Hill was back in 10th while Preece made his way up to eighth. Allmendinger could only make his way back up to 11th while Hemric was mired in 17th ahead of teammate Landon Cassill.

When the second stage concluded on Lap 90, Allgaier claimed his fifth stage victory of this season and swept both stages of the event in Nashville after beating Gibbs by more than two seconds. Gibbs settled in second followed by Mayer, Herbst, Bayne, Gragson, Berry, Brandon Jones, Preece and Hill.

Under the stage break, the leaders led by Allgaier returned to pit road as Gibbs edged Allgaier to emerge with the lead followed by Bayne, Gragson, Herbst and Mayer. Following the pit stops, Mayer and Anthony Alfredo were penalized for speeding on pit road.

With 92 laps remaining, the final stage commenced. At the start, Allgaier and Gibbs dueled for the lead through the backstretch until Allgaier retained the lead approaching Turn 4. Behind, Bayne and Hill battled for third in front of a flurry of competitors led by Brandon Jones. 

Back at the front, Gibbs reignited his battle for the lead against Allgaier as he swapped the top spot with the JR Motorsports veteran before he assumed the lead with 89 laps remaining. Allgaier, however, fought back during the following lap as the battle between him and Gibbs continued to ignite. Behind, Bayne trailed by eight-tenths of a second while Brandon Jones, Hill and Allmendinger, who rallied from his early pit road speeding penalty, battled for spots in the top five.

With 83 laps remaining, the caution flew when Berry slipped sideways and spun off the front nose of Preece through the backstretch. During the caution period, some like Ryan Sieg, Brandon Brown, Alfredo and Berry pitted while the rest led by Allgaier remained on the track.

Four laps later, the race proceeded under green, At the start, Allgaier gained another strong start to retain the lead while Joe Gibbs Racing’s Bayne and Ty Gibbs battled for the runner-up spot. Behind, Hill was in fourth ahead of Hemric, who recovered from his early pit road speeding penalty, while a three-wide action occurred between Gragson, Creed and Jeb Burton.

Then with 72 laps remaining, the caution returned when Jeffrey Earnhardt made contact while battling Creed as he spun off of Turn 4 while being dodged by the field. During the caution period, a majority of the field led by Allgaier pitted while the rest led by Allmendinger remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Preece and Bayne were penalized for equipment interference.

With 66 laps remaining, the race restarted under green as Allmendinger and Brandon Jones occupied the front row. At the start, Allmendinger took off with the lead followed by Jones and Gragson as the field fanned out. 

Then during the following lap, the caution flew when Jeb Burton made contact and turned Creed sideways into the outside wall in Turn 1 as Joe Graf Jr. was also involved.

When the race restarted under green with 58 laps remaining, Allmendinger fended Brandon Jones to retain the lead as Allgaier bolted his way towards the front on four fresh tires. Meanwhile, Gragson remained in third ahead of Hemric and Gibbs while Cassill, Mayer, Ryan Sieg and Tyler Reddick were in the top 10. Shortly after, Myatt Snider spun behind the leaders, but the race proceeded under green.

Four laps later, the battle for the lead between Brandon Jones and Allmendinger ignited as Jones made his move beneath Allmendinger’s No. 16 Chevrolet through the turns. The former, however, was able to fend off the challenges entering the straightaways as Gragson joined the battle. Meanwhile, Allgaier battled and overtook Gibbs for fourth place.

With less than 50 laps remaining, Allmendinger stabilized his advantage to nearly half a second over Brandon Jones while third-place Gragson trailed by nearly seven-tenths of a second. Allgaier and Gibbs remained in the top five followed by Mayer while Hemric, Herbst, Bayne, Hill and Cassill battled within the top 10.

Then with 42 laps remaining, contact ensued between rivals Gibbs and Mayer as Mayer got into the left-rear quarter panel of Gibbs’ No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Supra entering Turn 4 while both were battling in the top five. With Gibbs sideways, he made contact with Mayer’s No. 1 Huck’s Market Chevrolet Camaro and both competitors bumped and rubbed fenders before both managed to continue running straight as the race proceeded under green. The contact placed Mayer in fifth while Gibbs fell back to eighth behind Herbst.

Back at the front, Allgaier reassumed the lead with 37 laps remaining after tracking and overtaking Allmendinger on four fresh tires while Brandon Jones and Gragson settled in third and fourth.

With 30 laps remaining, the battle for the runner-up spot ensued as Gragson overtook Brandon Jones before he issued his challenge on Allmendinger. With Allgaier checking out and leading by nearly four seconds, Bayne, who rallied from his late pit road penalty, made his way into the top five as he then overtook teammate Brandon Jones for fourth place.

Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Allgaier continued to lead by more than three seconds over Bayne, who made his way into the runner-up spot, while Gragson, Herbst and Brandon Jones were in the top five. Shortly after, however, Gragson, who had not pitted since the conclusion of the second stage, pitted for four fresh tires and fuel. Brandon Jones would soon pit along with Allmendinger, Hemric and Cassill.

With 10 laps remaining, Allgaier remained as the leader by more than nearly four seconds over Bayne while Herbst, Gibbs and Mayer were up in the top five. By then, Preece was in sixth followed by Hill, Jeffrey Earnhardt, Ryan Sieg and Brett Moffitt.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Allgaier stabilized his advantage to four seconds over Bayne. Having a clear racetrack in front of him with a dominant race car, Allgaier was able to cycle his way back to the finish line and claim his second checkered flag of the 2022 Xfinity season.

With his second victory of the season and first at Nashville, Allgaier recorded his 18th career win in the Xfinity Series, his 15th driving for JR Motorsports, as he became the fifth multi-winner of this year’s Xfinity season.

“What a heck of a race,” Allgaier said on USA Network. “I’ve been coming here a long time and love this racetrack, and have been trying to go to Victory Lane so bad and haven’t been able to do it. Today was for the dirt racers, though, ‘cause it was slick, it was hot. We were sliding around. Just proud of this team, everybody at JR Motorsports, the Hendrick engine shop…These black marks [burnouts], they never get old. That’s the best race car I’ve ever had. This series is just so much fun right now. Man, that was a good race. ”

Bayne, a native of Knoxville, Tennessee, came home in the runner-up spot for his third top-five result in his fifth series start of the season while Herbst, Ty Gibbs and Mayer finished in the top five.

“I think I’ve learned a lot of perspective in the last three years,” Bayne said. “I’m still frustrated and upset right now with second because we had a winning car. I felt like I did everything I could to do today. We drove to second three times and just kept getting ourself in pit road with [Herbst] clipping our guys. Nothing my guys can do about that, but then, we had a tire get away, went all the way to the back on that last run and drove to second. Catching Allgaier, my buddy Gator, congrats to him. Proud of him, happy for him, but I wanted that guitar really bad. The thing is I’m thankful to be here, thankful to have the opportunity to drive these cars. You can see how pink I am. That’s pushing hard those last 20 laps…It’s all we could do, man. We just got to clean it up. If you’re gonna win, you got to be perfect.”

“Our Ford Mustang was really good,” Herbst said. “We got the pole and we wanted to lead some laps. Unfortunately, we didn’t lead any laps. We got quite a bit of stage points, which we needed. It’s just a really good day for everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing and myself included. I’m proud of all these guys on the No. 98 team. Just keep doing these runs and we’ll eventually get there. Just keep knocking on the door. Eventually, it will open.”

Preece, winner of Friday night’s Truck Series event at Nashville, ended up in sixth place while Jeffrey Earnhardt, Hill, Ryan Sieg and Moffitt completed the top 10. 

Notably, Gragson, Brandon Jones, Allmendinger, Hemric and Cassill finished 13th, 14th, 16th, 17th and 18th following their late pit stops.

There were 13 lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 27 laps.

With 11 races remaining in the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series regular-season stretch, AJ Allmendinger leads the regular-season standings by 25 points over Ty Gibbs, 32 over Justin Allgaier, 42 over Noah Gragson and 75 over Josh Berry.

Ty Gibbs, Noah Gragson, Justin Allgaier, Josh Berry, AJ Allmendinger, Brandon Jones and rookie Austin Hill are currently guaranteed spots for the 2022 Xfinity Playoffs based on winning once throughout the regular season stretch while Sam Mayer, Riley Herbst, Daniel Hemric, Landon Cassill and Ryan Sieg occupy the remaining vacant spots to the Playoffs based on points. Anthony Alfredo trails the top-12 cutline to the Playoffs by 69 points, Brett Moffitt trails by 72, Brandon Brown trails by 74, Jeb Burton trails by 93, Sheldon Creed trails by 100, Myatt Snider trails by 116, Alex Labbe trails by 141 and Jeremy Clements trails by 160.

Results.

1. Justin Allgaier, 134 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

2. Trevor Bayne

3. Riley Herbst

4. Ty Gibbs, four laps led

5. Sam Mayer

6. Ryan Preece

7. Jeffrey Earnhardt

8. Austin Hill

9. Ryan Sieg

10. Brett Moffitt

11. Brandon Brown

12. Parker Retzlaff

13. Noah Gragson, one lap down

14. Brandon Jones, one lap down, one lap led

15. Stefan Parsons, one lap won

16. AJ Allmendinger, one lap down, 48 laps led

17. Daniel Hemric, one lap down

18. Landon Cassill, one lap down

19. Ryan Vargas, one lap down

20. Anthony Alfredo, one lap down

21. Tyler Reddick, two laps down

22. Jeremy Clements, two laps down

23. Alex Labbe, two laps down

24. Ryan Ellis, three laps down

25. Kyle Sieg, three laps down

26. Patrick Emerling, three laps down

27. Myatt Snider, three laps down

28. BJ McLeod, three laps down

29. Josh Berry, four łaps down

30. Dillon Bassett, six laps down

31. Bayley Currey, seven laps down

32. Natalie Decker, seven laps down

33. JJ Yeley, 31 laps down

34. Josh Williams – OUT, Electrical

35. Jeb Burton – OUT, Accident

36. Sheldon Creed – OUT, Accident

37. Joe Graf Jr. – OUT, Accident

38. Kyle Weatherman – OUT, Power

Next on the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the series’ 13th consecutive, annual visit to Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, which will occur on Saturday, July 2, at 2:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.

Justin Allgaier earns long-sought victory in Tennessee Lottery 250 NASCAR Xfinity Series race

By
Official Release
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LEBANON, Tenn. (June 25, 2022) – Whenever a bucket list item is scratched off, special memories are made for a lifetime.

Justin Allgaier enjoyed that moment on Saturday as he had a dominant day in winning the Tennessee Lottery 250

NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Nashville Superspeedway.

Allgaier, who finished second in this race last year, won Stage 1 and Stage 2 at the 1.3-mile concrete track and led 134 of the 188 laps.

It is Allgaier’s 18th career victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and second of the 2022 season for the driver of the No. 7 Chevrolet owned by JR Motorsports.

“I’ve been coming here a long time – I love this race track,” Allgaier said. “I’ve been trying to get to Victory Lane here for a long time and we finally did it.

“That’s the best car we’ve ever had. We get to bring a guitar home. This guitar has been on my bucket list for a long time.”

Trevor Bayne, a Knoxville, Tenn., native, was second, followed by pole winner Riley Herbst in third, Ty Gibbs in fourth and Sam Mayer in fifth.

“We’re frustrated and upset with second because we had a winning car today,” Bayne said. “I wanted that guitar really bad. I could see the [No.] 7 but we just ran out of time.”

A.J. Allmendinger, who led 48 laps before finishing 16th, still heads the series standings by 25 points over Gibbs.

Even though Allgaier ended up with a comfortable winning margin of 4.513 seconds and led the event from Lap 149 on, he admitted he got nervous in the final laps.

“About 10 [laps] to go, I was expecting a caution,” Allgaier said. “It’s great to get to Victory Lane. I collect guitars – we have a ton of guitars in the house. This is more important than any of the other ones. I need to start taking some lessons.”

Allgaier completed the 250-mile event in 2 hours, 5 minutes and 44 seconds for an average speed of 119.319 mph.

Five drivers exchanged the lead 13 times and five caution periods consumed 27 laps.

Among other notable finishes, Jeffrey Earnhardt placed seventh, Noah Gragson was 13th and one lap down, Daniel Hemric was 17th and Tyler Reddick was 21st and two laps behind.

Nashville Superspeedway’s NASCAR tripleheader weekend concludes Sunday with the Ally 400 NASCAR Cup Series race. The green flag is set for just after 4 p.m. CT (NBC).

TICKETS:

Kids 12 and under get in for just $10 (with a paying adult) for the Ally 400 NASCAR Cup Series race on Sunday. For Nashville Superspeedway ticket information visit NashvilleSuperSpeedway.com or call 866-RACE-TIX for details.

FOLLOW US:

Keep track of all of Nashville Superspeedway’s events by following on Twitter and Instagram or become a Facebook fan.

Ford Performance NASCAR: Three Mustangs Finish Top 10 in Nashville Xfinity Race

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Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Tennessee Lottery 250 – Saturday, June 25, 2022

FORD FINISHING RESULTS
3rd – Riley Herbst
6th – Ryan Preece
9th – Ryan Sieg
12th – Parker Retzlaff
25th – Kyle Sieg
28th – BJ McLeod
37th – Joe Graf Jr.

RILEY HERBST, No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang – “I don’t think the whole field had anything for the 7. I think he was on cruise control all day, but our Monster Energy Ford Mustang was really good. I’m just proud of us as a group. Way to execute. I messed up on pit road a few times myself and the team, so we’ve got to clean up a little stuff there, but, all in all, it was a good day. We got a pole and good points. This is what we need to keep doing, just knock on the door and eventually it will open.”

THE LAST PART OF THE RACE YOU HAD AS GOOD A CAR AS ANYBODY. “Yeah, I think so. I think we finished where we should have. The 18 was a little bit better, but we were comparable back and forth, so, all in all, we’re getting better. I’m proud of Stewart-Haas Racing, my guys, myself and we’ll have this Monster Energy Mustang in victory lane soon.”

DID THE HEAT BOTHER YOU AT ALL? “I mean, it’s warm for sure, but I just tried to be better than the others.”

DESCRIBE THE AFTERNOON? “Our Monster Energy Ford Mustang was really good today. We got the pole and we wanted to lead some laps, but unfortunately we didn’t lead any laps. We got quite a bit of stage points, which is what we needed. It’s just a really good day for everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing, myself included. I’m proud of all these guys on the 98 team. If just keep doing these runs we’ll eventually get there and if we just keep knocking on the door, eventually it will open.”

HOW DIFFICULT IS THIS, ESPECIALLY ON PIT ROAD WHERE YOU HIT THE 18 TIRE CARRIER? “Yeah, I mean, I had no intention of doing that. I apologize to the 18 guys, Ratcliff and Joe Gibbs Racing. I just got in there hot. I locked up the left-front and just a bummer deal. We both lost spots, so by no means was I trying to do that, but, yeah, it was tough. I’ll go get some Monster Energy and some food and get ready for Road America.”

RCR NXS Post Race Report: Nashville

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Sheldon Creed and the No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet

Team Sidelined by Incident at Nashville Superspeedway

Finish: 36th
Start: 19th
Points: 17th

“The results don’t show how fast our Whelen Chevrolet was today at Nashville Superspeedway. Our Richard Childress Racing pit crew did a great job. Those guys gained us positions every time we came to pit road. My crew chief, Jeff Stankiewicz, kept working to make all the right adjustments and we had worked our way into position to score a top-10 finish. Unfortunately, I sped on pit road after Stage 1 and that put us behind but we fought our way back into contention. Then, we got caught up in a wreck and weren’t able to salvage our No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Camaro. It stinks our day ended early but we’ll bounce back next week at Road America.” -Sheldon Creed

Austin Hill and the No. 21 Bennett Transportation & Logistics Chevrolet Team Fight Hard for Top-10 Finish at Nashville Superspeedway

Finish: 8th
Start: 4th
Points: 8th

“It was a hot one in the Bennett Transportation and Logistics Chevrolet today at Nashville Superspeedway. I felt like I did a pretty decent job hydrating but I might need to work on it a little bit. In the middle of the race, I got pretty hot. I had to do a reset. I got some ice and got to feeling better again to finish the run. All in all, it was a decent day for us. We fought a loose entry. Our Chevy would get tight across the middle and we never found the right balance. On the last pit stop towards the end of the race I went for a call that I thought would help us, but it didn’t. We lost some speed on the long run so we’ll reevaluate this week. Our RCR Chevrolet was good. I thought we were pretty decent on a short run. As the run went, we would start getting free and then tight across the middle. I feel like we got our front ends working pretty decent now, we just have to get the rear back in the race track.” -Austin Hill

Toyota Racing NXS Post-Race Recap — Nashville 6.25.22

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TWO GR SUPRAS SCORE TOP-FIVE FINISHES IN NASHVILLE
Tennessee-native Trevor Bayne finishes second during scorching race day

NASHVILLE (June 25, 2022) – On a race day in Nashville where the temperatures inside the race cars were over 130 degrees, Toyota driver Trevor Bayne finished second in Saturday afternoon’s NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) race. Bayne was followed to the checkered flag by his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Ty Gibbs in fourth and fellow GR Supra driver Jeffrey Earnhardt in seventh.

Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Nashville Superspeedway
Race 15 of 33 – 250.04 miles, 188 laps

TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Justin Allgaier*
2nd, TREVOR BAYNE
3rd, Riley Herbst*
4th, TY GIBBS
5th, Sam Mayer*
7th, JEFFREY EARNHARDT
11th, BRANDON JONES
32nd, NATALIE DECKER
19th, JJ YELEY
*non-Toyota driver

TOYOTA QUOTES

TREVOR BAYNE, No. 18 Devotion Nutrition Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 2nd

How was your race overall and how were you able to come from the back twice to score and second-place finish?

“It’s really hard to win a race when you go to the back twice. We drove to second twice, from the back. The second stage, we came in with Riley (Herbst) and hit a pit crew member, not intentionally, but it can happen. Then fell back to 15th and drove back to second. Then we had a loose wheel and had to go to the very back and drove back and was catching (Justin) Allgaier. He’s my buddy, Gator, congrats to him. Happy for him, but man, I wanted to win that guitar and win here at Nashville. I feel like we did everything right on the car and feel like I did everything right behind the wheel. We have to clean up the mistakes and we’re going to win because it takes every piece of this deal. But thankful to be here, but it’s perspective. I used to be mad and I’m still mad, but with perspective being happy to be here.”

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

Finishing Position: 4th

How strong was your race car today?

“I think we had a really fast Monster Energy Toyota Supra. I can’t thank TRD enough and all my guys. We just got hit there and got a little damage on our left front there and kind of hurt us the rest of the race. Overall, a good day. I’ll take it. I thought we had a shot at the win, but the 7 (Justin Allgaier) was good and congratulations to him and that team. We’ll just have to hammer down and keep going. Road America is next month and if you think this is hot, we’ll move on to Road America and somehow it gets hot in Wisconsin.”

What was your point of view when you were spun out from Sam Mayer?

“He (Sam Mayer) just packed air on my left rear and I got out there and he drove into me. It’s just part of it. Hopefully we learned from it and we don’t have to go through that again. I’ve done that mistake too with the 39 (Ryan Sieg) at the beginning of the year. It’s just part of it, part of the learning experience. But overall, thank you to my guys. Thank you to Chris Gayle (crew chief), my guys, Toyota, TRD, Monster Energy – so many people that helped. Hopefully we can hammer down at Road America.”

Will you and Sam Mayer talk about what happened?

“I don’t know, it’s just part of it. It’s a learning experience. We’re both the same age so we’ll see what happens.”

How was your car overall?

“We had a very fast Monster Energy Toyota Supra. Just got hit there, got aero-packed there and got too loose and got drove into. I got damage, left front damage there and that hurt us there and we got tighter. But it’s part of it and overall it was a good day. All the Supras were fast today. My teammate finished second and I know Brandon (Jones) was on a different cycle, but we were all running up front. Good day, good way to improve. We’ll just keep going

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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.

Cadillac occupies Rows 2 and 3 for start of race at The Glen

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Official Release
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Sebastien Bourdais qualifies third in the No. 01 V-Performance Academy Cadillac DPi-V.R

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (June 25, 2022) – Cadillac Racing full-season DPi entries will occupy the third and fourth rows for the start of the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen on June 26.

Sebastien Bourdais, who has added four pole starts and two race victories to his career ledger this season, drove the No. 01 V-Performance Cadillac DPi-V.R to the third starting spot with a best lap of 1 minute, 30.048 seconds on the 3.4-mile, 11-turn Watkins Glen International road course.

Teammate Earl Bamber qualified fourth in the No. 02 Cadillac Accessories Cadillac DPi-V.R with a lap of 1:30.242.

“It’s all about where you catch traffic and when you get the yellows and if you get a lucky undercut or something happens,” Bourdais said of the race that is scheduled to take the green flag at 10:40 a.m. ET.

“It’s six hours of chaos with 48 cars out there. Keeping your nose clean is going to be key.”

Added Bamber, who tested at The Glen earlier this month: “We had a good test day and I think it’s converted into some strong results. It’s going to be all about track position and traffic is a bit wild out there.”

Olivier Pla, competing in his second race with Action Express Racing, qualified fifth in the No. 31 Whelen Engineering DPi-V.R with a lap of 1:30.500.

Entering the third of four rounds of the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup, the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R is the points pacesetter, with Tristan Vautier, Richard Westbrook and Loic Duval co-driving the JDC-Miller MotorSports entry. Vautier qualified sixth with a lap of 1:31.059.

Kamui Kobayashi, coming off a runner-up finish at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, qualified seventh in the No. 48 Ally Cadillac DPi-V.R. He completed only three laps because of an issue with the front brakes. Kobayashi will share driving duties with Jimmie Johnson and Mike Rockenfeller.

The team is competing in the endurance races this season. Johnson, the seven-time NASCAR Cup champion, did not drive at Sebring because of an INDYCAR race weekend conflict.

“It’s great to be back with the race team and the cars are extremely fun to drive. I’m excited to be back with Action Express,” he said.

Tom Blomqvist produced a track-record lap time of 1:29.580 in securing the Motul Pole Award in the No. 60 Acura. The previous record of 1:29.639 was set in 2019.

The USA Network will telecast the race live at 2 p.m. ET, with Peacock providing flag-to-flag coverage starting at 10:30 a.m. IMSA Radio will broadcast the race at IMSA.com along with XM 207 and SiriusXM Online 992.

Cadillac Racing lineup, starting position and notes

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 third, 1:30.048). “Happy with the car, just not quite there yet with the balance. It’s much more comfortable and we will see what tomorrow brings. It will be a long day and usually a lot of things happen in the race. Hope to be consistent, keep our nose clean and we’ll see what we get at the end of the day.”

Van der Zande and Bourdais co-drove the No. 01 Cadillac DPi-V.R to victory on the streets of Long Beach on April 9 and on the Belle Isle street circuit June 4 after starting from the pole in both races with qualifying track-record lap times. … Bourdais set the qualifying lap record time in earning the pole for the March 19 Twelve Hours of Sebring and the May 15 Grand Prix at Mid-Ohio. … Bourdais is a four-time INDYCAR champion.

Car chief-Phil Binks

Lead engineer-John Hennek

Race strategist-Peter Baron

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

Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn

Bamber drove in the qualifying session (start fourth, 1:30.242): “I think we had a good car in qualifying. The No. 02 Cadillac was strong. I think we made the right choices, just got blocked twice with traffic. I think all things considered, we’re in a good spot for tomorrow and we’ll definitely tune it up and be ready for tomorrow.”

First-year entry in expanded Cadillac Racing DPi program. … Bamber and Lynn co-drove to a runner-up finish on the streets of Long Beach on April 9 after starting second. … They, along with Neel Jani, co-drove to victory March 19 in the Twelve Hours of Sebring. … Bamber salutes his home country with a silver fern design on the sides of his helmet — a quasi-national emblem used for various official New Zealand symbols. … Bamber tested at Watkins Glen earlier this month.

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, Mike Conway

Pla drove in the qualifying session (fifth, 1:30.500).

Pla is making his second start in the No. 31 Cadillac. … Derani and Felipe Nasr won the 2-hour, 40-minute race at Watkins Glen in 2021. … Derani and Tristan Nunez co-drove to third place on the Laguna Seca road course after starting sixth. They followed with a third-place finish May 15 at Mid-Ohio. … Derani and Nunez, joined by Conway, started second and finished third in the March 19 Twelve Hours of Sebring. … The three-driver team started seventh and finished fourth in the Rolex 24 At Daytona to open the season. … Derani and Felipe Nasr were the 2021 IMSA DPi Driver Champions and Whelen Engineering/Action Express Racing was the Team Champion. … Conway co-drove to a runner-up finish at Le Mans two weeks ago.

Car chief-Bill Keuler

Technical director/lead engineer-Iain Watt

Race strategist-Tim Keene

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

Tristan Vautier, Richard Westbrook, Loic Duval

Vautier drove in the qualifying session (start sixth, 1:31.059): “It’s not where we want to be. It’s not great for Cadillacs with the BoP, but we have some work to do to catch the others. We know where to look, we haven’t found a solution yet to fix what we want to improve on the car. Tomorrow is a long race that doesn’t rely only on pure speed. We’ll focus on our execution and look forward to a strong race tomorrow.”

The team leads the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup standings through two of the four races. … Vautier and Westbrook co-drove to third place on the streets of Long Beach on April 9 after starting fifth. … Vautier and Westbrook, joined by Duval, drove to second place in the March 19 Twelve Hours of Sebring and opened the ’22 season by starting second and finishing third at the Rolex 24 At Daytona. … Westbrook is a three-time winner at The Glen (2014 and ’15 in a Corvette DP; 2016 in GTLM).

Car chief-Josh Kerrigan

Lead engineer-Rick Cameron

Race strategist-John Church

No. 48 Ally Cadillac DPi-V.R (Action Express Racing)

Jimmie Johnson, Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Rockenfeller

Kobayashi drove in the qualifying session (start seventh, 2:17.096).

Team is running the four endurance races this season. … Team of Johnson, Kobayashi, Rockenfeller and Jose Maria Lopez opened the season by starting third in the Rolex 24 At Daytona. Repairs in 13th hour necessitated by being bumped off course negated a strong showing, and team placed 11th overall. … Lopez was the third driver for the Sebring race, sitting in for Johnson, who had a conflicting INDYCAR race weekend. … The team started fifth and finished sixth at Sebring. … Kobayashi co-drove to a runner-up finish at Le Mans two weeks ago.

Car chief-Scott Darnell

Technical director/lead engineer-Iain Watt

Race strategist-Chad Knaus

See the Cadillac lineup

Spectators can view an array of Cadillac vehicles, including the exciting CT5-V Blackwing, CT4-V Blackwing and the 2023 Escalade-V, at the Cadillac display in the midway. Hours are 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday.

The 2023 Escalade-V — the industry’s most powerful full-size SUV that goes on sale late this summer – expands the V-Series lineup. Now in its fourth generation, Cadillac’s V-Series represents ultimate performance, the epitome of Cadillac’s engineering capability, with unrivaled sophistication and comfort for everyday driving. In adding Escalade-V to the lineup, the V-Series family continues to expand, while consistently combining power, luxury, thoughtful technology and athletic refinement for the discerning enthusiast.

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.

Ford Performance NASCAR: Logano, Blaney and Harvick To Start Top 10 on Sunday

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Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Ally 400 Qualifying – Saturday, June 25, 2022

FORD QUALIFYING RESULTS
2nd – Joey Logano
6th – Ryan Blaney
8th – Kevin Harvick
11th – Aric Almirola
15th – Chris Buescher
17th – Cole Custer
18th – Michael McDowell
24th – Austin Cindric
26th – Harrison Burton
27th – Brad Keselowski
28th – Chase Briscoe
31st – Cody Ware
32nd – JJ Yeley
33rd – Todd Gilliland
35th – BJ McLeod

JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang – YESTERDAY YOU THOUGHT YOU WERE PRETTY FAST, SO DID TODAY SURPRISE YOU? “I really didn’t think I was that fast, that’s for sure. Good changes, I guess, at least for qualifying got the car doing the right things at least for one lap. We’ll see what that means later on, but we’ll take that and we’ll go from there.”

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON TRACKS HAVING ONLY ONE DATE? “Honestly, I feel like every track should have one race because I think we should bring tracks to the fans. You’ve seen success here in Nashville. We’ve seen success at Road America. We’ve seen success at all the new racetracks that we go to. I think it’s asking a lot for fans to drive a long distance. It’s hard to ask somebody to drive four hours or six hours to go to a race. I feel like it’s probably the right move. I like the doubleheader weekend at Pocono. That was cool, but I think when there’s one race, you don’t have to pick. If you can only go to one, you’re gonna go to the spring or the fall and then you’re splitting your fans in half possibly if you can’t go to both. This kind of gives the ability to visit new places and also not give them the choice of what race do I go to.

HOW IS THE HEAT? “It’s hot. It was pretty hot in there. It was toasty.”

WHAT DO YOU DO SUNDAY? “Drink a lot of water and just prepare. It is what it is.”

NO COOLING SUIT? “I have a cool shirt that I wore for the first time last week and now I’m spoiled and don’t ever not want to have it. It’s awesome.”

HOW WOULD THIS STACK UP WITH THE HEAT? “It probably will. It’s pretty hot and you’ve kind of got a track that’s a little more physical, too. I think Indy used to be really, really hot when we were there and you had a track that was two-and-a-half miles long and you have some straightaways where you’re working the whole time. You don’t really have much of a straightaway to relax.”

ARE YOU ABLE TO FEEL THE AIR AT ALL? “Yeah, it’s like standing in front of a blow dryer. It’s very hot. It’s better than nothing, though.”

IS IT BETTER THAN THE FALL WHEN THERE WAS NO AIR CIRCULATING IN THE NEXT GEN CAR? “Oh gosh, yes. So much better. Days like today (Friday) you wouldn’t be able to make it if you didn’t have the windshield ducts and they didn’t shorten up the exhaust system and do all the things – the rear slots in the back glass. If we didn’t have that, no one is making it.”

DO YOU THINK FITNESS WILL COME INTO PLAY? “It possibly could. I would think so. It’s just that it’s hot. I say it would, but we also do this every week. Our bodies are conditioned for very hot temperatures. We’re used to is, so I think we’ll be all right.”

WHAT ABOUT THE CAR UNDER THIS KIND OF STRESS? ANY CONCERNS ABOUT PARTS? “No. I don’t personally have any concerns. You just have to adapt to the outside temps. You adjust your throttle plate, so you engine doesn’t run hot, you just kind of adjust those things, but making sure gear temps and those type of things is what can be the issues for the hot temps, especially on a short track. I know this is a superspeedway, but I still call it a short track, so I would say those type of things are what the biggest concerns would be.”

DO YOU HAVE A LIST OF THE GUYS TO BEAT THIS YEAR? IT SEEMS TO CHANGE WEEKLY. “It depends on the track. There are certain tracks that I feel like we’re really good and there are certain ones I feel like we have a little bit of work to do. The same for others. There are teams that I see that are really good on the mile-and-a-halves and I’m like, ‘Gosh, how do they do that?’ And then some teams are good everywhere. There are a couple of them that you can probably pinpoint which ones those are, so we’ve just got to work on some consistency on all the racetracks right now.”

YOU WON AT GATEWAY WHICH IS SOMEWHAT SIMILAR TO PHOENIX. DOES IT HELP TO BE GOOD AT THE PLACES WHERE IT MATTERS? “Yeah, you have to get there first, but I would say yes. The flatter, shorter racetracks have been our strength. Gateway, it showed there. I hope Loudon is like that. Phoenix, we had a pretty solid run there. I would say if we’re pinpointing in the area where we’re strong, it’s those areas, which surprisingly enough it was the same way with the old car. I’d say as much as everything is different some things stay the same.”

WILL WE SEE TEAMS RUN OFF FIVE OR SIX WINS OR IS THREE OR FOUR THE MAX YOU’RE GOING TO HAVE AS WE GET CLOSER TO THE PLAYOFFS? “I think you’ll have teams that can rack up five, six wins. I think so because good teams still figure things out and win. I don’t know if the separation is quite as big, though. The teams that have good pit stops and nail the strategy and have fast enough cars to recover if they have an issue, or can pass a car from fifth and move your way forward and put themselves in position, those teams are gonna win races. Even though the field is closer and a tenth of a second means more than ever, I still think that there will be guys who can knock off quite a few wins.”

THE HEAT DOESN’T SEEM TO BOTHER YOU AS MUCH AS OTHERS. ARE YOU BETTER AT IT THAN OTHERS? “I don’t know. It is what it is and it’s the same for everyone. It’s an element that has been there forever. Ever since they’ve been driving a Cup car it’s been hot and when you get to the summer months like we are in now it gets hot, so you better prepare for it because it’s gonna happen. You know it’s coming. You can prepare for the storm when you look at the weather forecast and you kind of see it’s gonna be hot. You would just adjust to that and prepare for it.”

HOW DO YOU PREPARE FOR HEAT? “I think your training conditions are one big piece to me. A lot of the training I do is outside on the asphalt. I mean, think of where is your heart rate and what are you doing inside the car. The biggest thing the heat does is I feel it really limits your reaction times, your ability to think quickly, which is what it’s all about and then mistakes are happening – and you’ve got to be the best at the end. The end of the race is the most important. This is a short race though – 300 laps, so it’s a pretty short race.”

THIS IS CONCRETE AND DOVER WAS ROUGH FOR YOU GUYS. WILL THIS BE AN INDICATOR TO SEE IF YOU HAVE IMPROVED? “I feel like this is so different than Dover. I get that the surface is the same, but there are so many differences from Dover to here. I hope that’s not the case. I promise you that. That was a rough one. That was our worst race of the year, which I don’t think we’re that far off. I wouldn’t say we’re great right now, but I don’t think we’re as bad as we were at Dover. Thank God (laughing).”

THOUGHTS ON THE NEW JGR STYLE OF PIT STOPS AND IF YOU HAVE TALKED TO YOUR TEAM ABOUT THAT STYLE? “Details matter more is basically what it comes down to. When everybody is running a similar speed and you don’t have a dominant race car – nobody really does – and if you don’t have that, the details matter more and so pit stops, restarts, strategy – all the little things that is really hard to say matter one way or another. The little things will stack up and eventually those will be the ones that makes the difference, so I’d say overall, yeah, we’re pushing in every direction. Any little item we can find we’re gonna push on it.”

ARE YOU CONCERNED ABOUT WHAT THEY’RE DOING? “When they hit it, they’re fast. We saw even at the All-Star Race not all of their teams did it. There’s some advantages to it, but the mistakes are like yard sales – when they go wrong, they go way wrong. They’re pretty selective on when they do it and that would be what we’d have to do. It’s a decision you have to make. Do you want to focus 100 percent on one type of stop, or do you want to be able to do both and does that mean you’re gonna be mediocre at both? You’ve got to answer these questions. This is kind of like the discussions we’ve had is how do we want to do this and what’s the pros and cons to it. There’s some risk factor of a bad stop, but also where you’re putting your guys is a little more risky as well.”

HAVE YOU HAD A CHANCE TO DIGEST AUSTIN’S DATA FROM THE MARTINSVILLE TEST? “I talked to him on the plane, but that was it. I’d say I haven’t really dug too deep into it.”

HELIO COULD BE COMING TO DAYTONA. ARE YOU EXCITED FOR THAT? “Heck yeah. I hope so. Helio is awesome. He’s just a good person. You don’t see that every day, but what you see is what you get. You see him out there and he’s an intense racer, and then he’s as happy as can be and he’s joyful and jokes around. He’s a goof. He’s just fun to be around, so I’m happy to see him successful.”

CAN HE ACCLIMATE TO THAT KIND OF RACING WITHOUT ANY XFINITY OR ARCA? “On a road course, yeah.”

HE WANTS TO RUN DAYTONA. “Is that what he’s saying? I haven’t heard this. Yeah, the 500, you can figure it out pretty quickly. Superspeedways are a lot different. It would be a big challenge because he’s never done it before, but he’s pretty talented and he’s been racing forever – and dancing – so he’ll figure it out. He’ll dance in the draft.”

HOW COSTLY IS IT TO MISS A TURN AT ROAD AMERICA? “It depends on how you miss it. Did you slide a tire and now you’ve got to come down pit road because you slid your left-front or right-front too long and you’re gonna blow a tire out? Then you’re never making that up. If you’re just kind of off a couple feet here or something like that, then you’re not bad. It’s just the run off there. You run off and you go in the dirt and then you’re like in the dirt. That’s not good, so it’s a tricky track. Tire wear is big. The car changes every lap, so you get used to one thing and then you go do the next lap and you know you can’t do the same thing, but how bad is it? It’s four miles by the time you get back around at a track that wears tires out, so you’ve just got to be adapting quickly the whole time.”

SO GUYS WHO ARE GOOD AT TIRE MANAGEMENT HAVE AN EDGE? “Typically, yeah. I would say so. It’s kind of like Sonoma. Sonoma is like that too if you can manage your tires, you’ll be pretty good on a long haul.”

HOW TAXING WAS ATLANTA? “Mentally frustrating just because of the way the drafts work, but I wouldn’t say whether it’s the car or not but the track itself and the cars are running – I mean, you’re definitely grip limited. You’re somewhere in between a mile-and-a-half and a superspeedway – more so a superspeedway because you can’t do it on your own. You think you can for a corner and you’ll probably make a bunch of spots in the corner by yourself if you get clean air and you go, but if you don’t get back up you lose 10 spots, so that’s kind of the frustrating part.”

WOULD IT BE A HYBRID DRAFT? “Yeah, it’s a hybrid for sure, but more so superspeedway – definitely.”

RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Advance Auto Parts Ford Mustang – IS THIS REFLECTIVE OF HOW YOU WERE YESTERDAY IN PRACTICE? “I think we made good changes from practice to qualifying. I didn’t feel bad yesterday in practice after my first run. My first run I didn’t think we were very good, but I thought we made good changes. I really wish we would have had a second round of qualifying because I kind of left a little bit out there, I thought. I was kind of conservative getting in the corner watching everybody blow it in there and missing, and I was like, ‘All right, let’s not miss the corner,’ and I kind of left a little bit out there, so I was really hoping to have a second round, but I don’t know where we’ll start. Overall, not a bad effort. It’s a decent spot for tomorrow and I think our car is OK, so we’ll see.”

HOW DIFFERENT WAS THE TRACK FROM LAST YEAR TO THIS YEAR? “Yeah, I mean multiple things from the track to the car being different. I was kind of surprised we didn’t move up in practice like we were last year. I felt like last year we were top of the black, like middle of the racetrack three lanes up, trying to chase the grip and kind of practice yesterday the highest you were was in the middle and then in the race we were on the bottom. That kind of surprised me a little bit. I don’t know why because they put resin on the whole racetrack instead of just half of it this year. I thought we would have moved up, but you never know. I think in the race tomorrow you’ll be searching around with it being hot.”

DOES THE BRAKE ROTOR FAILURE FROM LAST YEAR MAKE YOU WANT TO HAVE AN EVEN STRONGER RUN THIS YEAR? “Yeah. I mean, to be honest with you, it was just a bad day last year for us. We qualified good, but we had to start in the back messing up our quarter panel coming on the track and then 40 laps later we blew a right-front rotor and knocked the fence down. I didn’t have any fun here last year on Sunday and I’m hoping to change that. It would be nice to run the whole race this year and hopefully contend for a win.”

THE JGR TEAMS ARE DOING THINGS DIFFERENTLY ON PIT ROAD WITH THEIR CHOREOGRAPHY. HAVE YOU TALKED TO YOUR TEAM ABOUT THAT? “Yeah, I mean, our pit department is really good at noticing that and kind of seeing what that group does – what the Gibbs guys are doing. It does have potential to be faster and it can be faster, but it’s kind of a risk vs. reward thing, especially when we go to these tight pit roads and you’ve got guys all running out in front of the car. You’ve got more guys in a smaller area at one time. That can kind of be nerve-wracking and you don’t want to see anybody get hit, so it’s kind of a risk-reward thing. I know they practice that a lot. There’s speed there, but I think there are certain tracks it will probably perform better than others – when there’s a wider pit road and you’re not having someone to kind of try to come around you. We’ve talked about it in our group and you’re always trying to learn new things, but that’s more of the pit department there.”

RICHARD PETTY TURNS 85 NEXT WEEK. DO YOU HAVE ANY COOL STORIES ABOUT HIM? “Yeah. I can’t believe he’s 85. He looks great. It’s been a pleasure to get to know him throughout the years. I had my passing with him. ‘Hey, how are you?’ Talk a little bit. It was really neat, I got a sit down with him. We were testing the new car at Charlotte in the offseason and he came over to our camp in our garage stall and sat down and talked to me for 20 minutes, just kind of BSing about the car and just other random things. I thought that was super cool that he just came over and started talking to me. He’s just such a great guy. As a kid, you loved the guy and growing up around the sport it was really neat to kind of know who he was at a young age and be around him, but that sit down for 20 minutes, just casual at Charlotte, that was like the coolest thing ever. I was like a kid again getting to talk to the King was very neat.”

YOU START 6TH. “That’s better than I thought I was gonna be. That’s good. It’s better than seventh, so that’s good., I felt like I left like a tenth out there, which really disappoints me. I was too conservative, but I think our car is pretty decent and definitely could be starting worse, but I think it’s a good spot to try to go forward.”

AT WHAT POINT DO YOU GET NERVOUS ABOUT THE POINT SITUATION VERSUS NUMBER OF DRIVERS WHO HAVE WON THIS YEAR? “Obviously, we want to have a win. It’s getting down to where four guys are in without a win right now. Yeah, we’re the highest points guy, but that doesn’t really mean much if you’re not the points leader and four guys win and you’re out, so it’s kind of a weird spot we’re in, honestly. I think about this week and we’re kind of sniffing the points lead. There are like five of us that are really close to the 9. OK, if you don’t get a win and you win the regular season points, you’re in. So our strategy is, ‘OK, we need to strategize to win races,’ but you don’t want to dump away a lot of points because you’re still in the fight for the regular season championship. It’s kind of an interesting spot. Obviously, the easy goal is to just go out and win races, but last week was tough. This opposite strategy, we short-pitted everything and threw away stage points to restart towards the front in the stages, but we threw away a bunch of points, but we got a good finish and then contended for the win. As far as am I nervous? Not really. I think we can go out and win any single week. We’ve just got to execute well and do our job to the best of our ability and if we do that, I think we can get one here soon.”

BUBBA SAID DESPITE GOING ON VACATION IT TOOK 3 OR 4 DAYS TO GET RACING OUT OF HIS SYSTEM. HOW LONG DID IT TAKE YOU TO PUT THE RACING BEHIND YOU AND JUST ENJOY THE MOMENT? “I’m pretty good at kind of putting things behind me and focusing on what’s next. I think it was harder for him because he had a bad race. He blew up, so he’s gonna be stewing that. You’d stew over that for more days. We had a pretty decent run, so I was like, ‘All right, good run. Let me get my notes down here and I’m gonna go enjoy my off time.’ I think everyone handles that differently, but I’ve always kind of been somebody who can put good or bad things behind you and move onto the next thing and learn to enjoy these certain things. It didn’t help that he had a bad day and I had a good day. If I had a bad day, I’d probably think about it for a day or two, but I was fortunate on that one.”

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