Home Blog Page 1920

Wrap Your Car in Style: A Look at Car Wrap Trends in Melbourne

By
SM
-
Photo by Denin Lawley on Unsplash

Car wraps are becoming popular today because they improve your vehicle’s aesthetics as well as protect it from damage. Vehicle wraps are a versatile option to make your cars more creative, protecting and prolonging their original paint. 

In this blog, let’s talk about the different car wrap trends in Melbourne you should certainly check out for your vehicle. 

Vinyl Car Wraps

Vinyl car wraps are the most famous car wrap Melbourne. Additionally, other materials used in vehicle wraps are also made of composites. Generally, vinyl comes in two variants: cast and calendered.

Cast vinyl has undergone a molding process before being printed with the client’s preferred color and design. This material is durable and stronger compared to calendared vinyl. Another thing you should remember is that cast vinyl should be applied thinner than the calendared variant because it can acquire the same strength with less material. 

Because of cast vinyl’s durability and better strength, they are more flexible and can cover contoured and smaller spaces. 

On the other hand, calendared vinyl is achieved through applying pressure and heat, making it a cheaper alternative to cast vinyl. However, its limitation includes being less tough and thicker, making it less flexible. Regardless of this drawback, calendared vinyl is a popular option because it’s more budget-friendly.

Carbon Fiber Wraps

If you prefer that your car has a matte finish, then look into carbon fiber wraps. This car wrap trend gives an interesting texture to your car and makes it more resistant to scratches, dents, and other damages. Ultimately, carbon fiber wraps should be your option when you want a wrap that offers top-notch protection for your car. 

The only possible downside of this material is the decreased ease of application. Carbon fiber wraps are a lot more challenging to apply, especially when you are applying a full wrap. This material will also look less than the real thing, especially on closer inspection. 

Commercial Vehicle Wraps

Commercial vehicle wraps are the general choice when you have a business that uses various vehicles. The main advantage of this car wrap trend is uniformity among all your business vehicles while also allowing other people to know about your brand. 

Chrome Wraps

Chrome wraps are perfect for car owners who prefer their vehicles to have stunning and flashy exteriors. However, because this material is heavy-duty, it’s generally difficult to apply, except when you hire professionals to do the work. 

Another benefit of chrome wraps is their outstanding heat absorption because of their ability to reflect sunlight. Expect your cars to stay cool even when you leave them under the sun during summertime. 

Partial Wraps

As the name suggests, partial wraps only cover certain parts of your car. This option is perfect if you only wish for subtle changes in the appearance of your vehicle. Partial wraps are perfect when your cars already look remarkable and aesthetically pleasing. They are commonly used to cover your car’s roof hood, doors, and trunk. 

Make Your Cars Look Stylish with Car Wraps 

If you’re looking for a way to improve the look of your car and protect its exterior, a car wrap may be the perfect solution. Vehicle wraps are becoming increasingly popular because they offer many benefits. 

Reference: 

https://tuppsigns.com/the-different-types-of-vehicle-wraps/
https://www.conceptwraps.com.au/2019/12/20/4-vehicle-wrap-trends/
https://fleetingimage.com.au/different-materials-used-in-car-wraps/

The Risks of Driving With Expired Tags

By
SM
-

If you’re driving with expired tags, you could be risking a lot more than just a traffic ticket. Depending on your state’s laws, you could be facing hefty fines, having your vehicle impounded, or even having your license suspended.

In some states driving on expired tags is considered a misdemeanor offense. A misdemeanor offense means that you could be facing up to a year in jail and/or a fine of up to $1,000. In other states, it’s classified as a felony offense, which carries even harsher penalties.

So, if your tags have expired, make sure to renew them as soon as possible. It’s not worth the risk of incurring costly penalties or even losing your driving privileges and we’re here to elaborate on why.

Why is driving with expired tags dangerous?

Now, we’ll further elaborate on why driving with expired tags is dangerous to help you get an idea of how important it is to avoid such a situation. Let’s go!

Driving with expired tags is dangerous because it can result in getting pulled over. If an officer pulls you over and sees that your tags are expired, you may be issued a ticket. Depending on the state you live in, this ticket can be quite expensive. In some states, the fine for driving with expired tags can be up to $200. 

In addition to the financial cost of getting a ticket, driving with expired tags can also lead to points being added to your driver’s license. These points can cause your insurance rates to increase, and if you accumulate enough points, you may even lose your license. 

Although it’s tempting to let your tags expire, it’s definitely not worth the risk. Make sure to renew your tags before they expire to avoid any potential problems.

What is the grace period for driving with expired tags across US countries?

There is no universal answer to this question, as the grace period for driving with expired tags varies from state to state. In some states, there is no grace period at all, and drivers are expected to renew their registration as soon as it expires. In other states, there may be a grace period of a few days or weeks. In Florida, for example, Florida expired tag grace period is just seven days.

If you are planning on driving in a state other than your own, it is important to check the local laws regarding registration and renewals. Some states have reciprocal agreements with neighboring states, which may allow you to drive with an expired registration from your home state. However, these agreements are not always honored by law enforcement, so it is always best to err on the side of caution and renew your registration before traveling.

Tips for renewing your registration before it expires

If you’re renewing your registration before it expires, there are a few things you should keep in mind. First, make sure you have all the necessary documents and information ready. These documents include your driver’s license, proof of insurance, and vehicle registration. You’ll also need to know your renewal date and the amount of your renewal fee.

Next, you’ll need to decide how you want to renew your registration. You can accomplish this step online via email, or in person. Each option has its own set of requirements, so be sure to choose the one that’s best for you.

Finally, once you’ve renewed your registration, be sure to update your address and contact information with the DMV. This way, they can easily reach you if there are any problems with your registration in the future.

NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Sonoma

By
Jeffrey Boswell
-
Photo by David Myers for SpeedwayMedia.com.

Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Kyle Busch: Busch locked up his rear tires and spun on a restart on Lap 88, ruining his shot at challenging for the win at Sonoma. Busch finished 30th.

“Braking news,” Busch said. “I really put the ‘F’ in ‘KFB’ on that restart.”

2. Ross Chastain: Chastain finished seventh in the Toyota/Save Mart 350.

“I talked to Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott in regards to my mistakes at Gateway,” Chastain said. “But that was nothing compared to getting called out by Tony Stewart, who was in the Fox Sports booth. If I had a resume to match that of Stewart, I would tell him to ‘Eat those words.’ And the thing is, Tony would probably do it anyway.”

3. Chase Elliott: Elliott led 26 laps and finished eighth in the Toyota/Save Mart 350.

“We really blew a pit stop that cost us any chance of winning,” Elliott said. “We didn’t fully tighten a lug nut and then had to back up. That’s a penalty for pitting outside the box. So, even though I’m the one shifting the car in reverse, it’s my team that actually makes me go backwards.”

4. Joey Logano: Logano captured Stage 2 at Sonoma and finished 17th.

“I’m happy for Daniel Suarez,” Logano said. “And I think it’s awesome he celebrated by breaking a taco pinata in Victory Circle. I can only imagine the promotional tie-in a certain fast-food restaurant could be planning. Suarez’s is a Cinderella story, and I’m guessing his date for the ball in this commercial is the ‘Taco Belle.'”

5. Ryan Blaney: Blaney finished 6th at Sonoma.

“You may have heard me on my radio commenting on the difficulty of passing,” Blaney said. “I was dropping truth bombs while simultaneously dropping ‘F-bombs.'”

6. Daniel Suarez: Suarez snatched his first Cup series win with a brilliant drive at Sonoma to win the Toyota/Save Mart 350.

“I’m the first Mexican driver to win in the Cup series,” Suarez said. “That’s a big deal. I can’t wait to go home and celebrate with my fans. So, for all the Americans who want me to ‘go back from where I came,’ I plan to.”

7. Kyle Larson: Larson started on the pole at Sonoma and won Stage 1, but disaster struck when his No. 5 Chevy lost its right front wheel on lap 84. Larson finished 15th.

“I could have won this race,” Larson said. “I won the pole, and the car was set up perfectly. I was fully prepared to drive the wheels off my car until my pit crew beat me to it.”

8. Kevin Harvick: Harvick took fourth at Sonoma, posting his fourth top-five of the season.

“I was lucky to finish fourth,” Harvick said. “We had a pit stop in which the car fell off the jack. My pit crew’s been all over the place. Therefore, my season’s had more ups and downs than the jack.”

9. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex struggled at Sonoma with a 26th-place finish.

“The Clash is returning to the Los Angeles Coliseum in 2023,” Truex said. “So, we’re all heading back to ‘La La Land.” Now, if Michael Waltrip does his grid walk at the Clash, it will most certainly be ‘Blah Blah Land.'”

10. Alex Bowman: Bowman finished 16th in the Toyota/Save Mart 350.

“My team was one of the few Hendrick Motorsports teams that understand that race cars work better with four wheels,” Bowman said.

“It’s always fun to visit Sonoma. It’s wine country and probably the only stop on the season where the word ‘charcuterie’ is used correctly.”

McDowell continues quiet consistency with third place finish at Sonoma

By
Joseph Shelton
-
Chris Buescher (17) leads eventual winner Daniel Suarez (99) and third-place runner Michael McDowell (34) up the hill during Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series event at Sonoma. Photo by David Myers

Sunday’s Toyota/SaveMart 350 at Sonoma Raceway was a career day for Front Row Motorsports Michael McDowell, but looking at the 2022 season, it seems par for the course given his performance.

Starting fourth, the No. 34 Ford Mustang stayed at the front all race long, and in the end, finished third to eventual winner Daniel Suarez and fellow Ford driver, Chris Buescher. This normally wouldn’t be a surprise given that road courses are one of McDowell’s strong suits. But the 2022 season is almost halfway over and McDowell has already set a career-high in laps led in a season and top-10s in a season (six after Sonoma).

What sticks out about that statistic is that he’s had top-10s on varying types of tracks. He finished seventh in the season-opening Daytona 500 and lingered mid-pack for the next seven races. But in the season’s eighth race at Bristol Dirt, he finished a stout ninth and followed it up with an eighth-place run at Talladega, a track he’s run well at in the past.

Two weeks later he then finished seventh at Darlington for his third top-10 finish in four races and met that with an eighth-place finish at Charlotte in the Coca-Cola 600. At Gateway he set a personal best for most laps led in a season when he led 34 laps, setting his season total at 38. His 18th-place finish was indicative of how fast his car was. Then come Sonoma and McDowell had a chance to shine as a road racer and he came within shouting distance of his second career win.

It helps that he’s kept his car mostly out of trouble this season, as his lone DNF came at Fontana in the second race of the season due to an electrical issue. Otherwise, he hasn’t overdriven his equipment and has kept quiet behind the wheel. But despite not having the resources that most of the bigger teams have, McDowell has credited their momentum to learning the new Gen-7 car as well as his rapport with crew chief Blake Harris.

“I felt like this Next Gen car was going to level the playing field and give us more opportunities to show the level of team and program that we are, and I’m feeling like we’re getting an opportunity to do that now,” McDowell said. “I think we’re getting close to having the speed and if we can continue that, there’s going to be a weekend where we hit everything right and we have an opportunity to win a race.”

McDowell and the Front Row Motorsports crew are riding a hot streak of momentum heading into Nashville, where he finished 16th in 2021. He holds three Xfinity Series starts and two ARCA starts at the speedway, so he’s no stranger to the track. But given his performance across the various speedway types this season, there’s no reason to believe that the No. 34 crew can’t put out another strong performance in 2022.

Pat Smage Wins 13th AMA Championship

By
Official Release
-

Pat Smage Sweeps the 2022 AMA Trials Season. Wins FIM North American Championship. Wins Title 13

Gilbert, MN – The US AMA Mototrials Nationals finished their tour this weekend with Pat Smage claiming his 13th National Championship. In addition, he was crowned the FIM North American Champion. Pat was able to sweep the weather condensed season with P1 finishes at each round, although he had some tough battles with second place Josh Roper.

Iron Range OHV Park was the site of the final weekend where Smage had a 32 championship point advantage over Roper coming in. Mathematically speaking, all Smage had to do was start and finish each of the last two rounds to win the title, but that is not in his nature. He went for it and won round seven by 23 points with a total score of three. The score line was not indicative of how close the round was. Smage finished loop one with two marks against him with Ropers eight. Loop two saw Smage add a dab with Roper going clean. This brought the gap down to five which meant that one “off” could bring things to a tie. Loop three, which was actually two “shoutout” loops of four sections, went the way of Smage with a clean loop to Ropers 18, giving Smage the round seven win.

Round Seven Podium

“Saturday was a bit different from the usual national. It was a pro-shootout format with two loops of 12 sections in the morning, and then two loops of four really difficult sections in the afternoon” said Pat Smage. “I don’t particularly like this type of format because it takes me out of my rhythm. You can’t just finish the section you are on and then continue to the next. You have to watch and wait for all riders in the section. It is great for the other riders (non pros) that don’t normally get to see you, as well as for the fans, but it puts a bit of pressure on me. That, and Josh was riding well and excels in this format, on grippy rocks. I knew I had to ride mistake free. I took two points on the first loop as sort of safety dabs to make sure I didn’t five (taking maximum points)” He continued. “We rode late into the evening so it was a very long and tiring day. You had to keep your focus or else you could give up big points. I was able to clean the entire shoutout so I was very happy with my riding and the result. That night I didn’t think about the championship, it isn’t in my nature to shift my focus. I wanted to stay sharp and finish strong the next day,” Concluded Smage.

Day two (round 8) would see the traditional format return. Pat Smage and Josh Roper put up very low scores with Pat recording just a single dab on loop one which would be his total on the day. Roper kept it close with a 3 on loop one, followed by single dabs on loop two and three for five total.

“Sunday went really well for me with just a single point on the day,” said Smage. “The sections were on the easier side, and that actually puts more pressure on you to go clean. On loop one, I saw that there weren’t any areas that were going to trip up Josh. I knew every point was valuable, there was no room for error,” Continued Smage. “The conditions got really loose so I had to ride a different line on each loop. My point came when I landed on a rock that moved out from under me so I put a foot down to ensure it was only a one and not a five. There were a couple of climbs that could easily have been fives with how loose and sketchy they were but my Sherco helped make easy work of them. I was happy to finish strong and confident.”

Pat on his 13th Championship: “It is pretty crazy to be in this position; to have had trials as my main focus for this long. I was 16 when I won my first title in 2007. I am so thankful that I found a team that has supported me throughout this time. I never thought I would be doing this for this long. It is such a great memory to have my name in the record books.”

Pat on his future plans: “Right now, I am just going to enjoy the moment. I was thankful that the Colorado rounds got snowed out due to my wrist injury. I could have rode through it, but that helped me. I am going to recover a bit more and then I am going to race three hard enduros. RORR, Sugarloaf and TKO and maybe some others in the fall. I will finish out the year and then evaluate from there.”

About FactoryONE Sherco: FactoryONE Sherco is a multi-time United States AMA championship observed trials team and multi-discipline Championship enduro team led by some of the top riders in the business. The Enduro team is led By Cody Webb who is a multi-time champion that competes in Extreme Off-Road, EnduroCross and FIM SuperEnduro. He is also the 2010 AMA Mototrials Champion. The Trials team is led by 13x AMA Champion Pat Smage (Smah-gee) on the men’s side; and 6x AMA Champion Louise Forsley (fours-lee) on the Women’s side. The trials team consists of four professional riders and five development riders.

Post-Race Report | Sonoma Raceway

By
Official Release
-

Post-Race Report | Sonoma Raceway
Toyota / Save Mart 350

Justin Haley, No. 31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Camaro ZL1

Start: 18th
Stage 1 Finish: 4th
Stage 2 Finish: 13th
Finish: 12th

“Overall, it was a good day for us. We fought a loose car for most of the race, but we had some good adjustments and strategy on pit road. We kept track position for most of the day and ultimately ended up with a decent finish. It’s another solid race for us to build on. I’m looking forward to the off weekend and then keeping the momentum going at Nashville.” – Justin Haley

AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Gold Fish Casino Slots Camaro ZL1

Start: 16th (To the Rear)
Stage 1 Finish: 29th
Stage 2 Finish: 29th
Finish: 19th

“Tough day for us at Sonoma. I haven’t had the best luck at this track despite how much I love racing there. We started in the rear and had some power steering issues off the bat that we battled the whole day. It made for a difficult day, but we fought back into the top 10 until the very end when unfortunately I spun out. We showed speed but have some things to work on to be better for next time.” – AJ Allmendinger


About Kaulig Racing™

Kaulig Racing™ is a full-time multi-car NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) and NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) team, owned by award winning entrepreneur, Matt Kaulig. Established in 2016, Kaulig Racing™ has made the NXS Playoffs consecutively each season since the playoff system started and made the Championship 4 round in both the 2020 and 2021 seasons. They will continue fielding three, full-time NXS entries; the No. 10 Chevrolet driven by Landon Cassill, the No. 11 Chevrolet driven by Daniel Hemric, and the No. 16 Chevrolet driven by AJ Allmendinger. With multiple wins, Kaulig Racing has come to be one of the top competitors on track each weekend. The team made multiple starts in the NCS in 2021 and won in its seventh-ever start with AJ Allmendinger’s victory at “The Brickyard” for the Verizon 200 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The young team has acquired two charters for the 2022 NCS season, with Justin Haley competing as its first, full-time driver in the series. The team’s second entry will be shared by part-time teammates AJ Allmendinger, Daniel Hemric and Noah Gragson. To learn more about the team, visit kauligracing.com.

Keselowski Battles Hard, Earns Top-10 Finish in Sonoma

By
Official Release
-

No. 6 Team Earns Second Top-10 Finish of 2022

SONOMA, Calif. (June 12, 2022) – Brad Keselowski and his No. 6 Kohler Power Reserve Mustang showed promise throughout the weekend, and it culminated with a 10th-place finish at Sonoma Raceway.

Starting off P22 on an overcast Sunday afternoon, Keselowski picked up seven spots at the drop of the green. Lap 10 brought out the first caution of the day and the 6 team chose to stay out, jumping up two more spots to P13. The Kohler Power Reserve Mustang was able to keep spots gained, and short pitted the end of the stage on lap 22. Three laps later stage one concluded with Keselowski finishing P23.

Following pit cycles at the end of the stage, the team found themselves starting stage two P11. Keselowski used the same strategy at the end of stage two, short pitting to gain position on lap 52.

Starting stage three P6, Keselowski jumped to P5 on the restart and maintained his position gained. Green flag pit stops brought the Kohler Power Reserve Mustang to the lead on lap 86. Keselowski led three laps before the caution flag flew, ruining the team’s strategy and forcing the Mustang down pit road.

Restarting P24 with 23 laps to go, the Kohler Power Reserve Mustang surged ahead, passing 12 cars over 13 laps. Keselowski pushed his Mustang past two more cars to bring it home P10, his second top-10 of the season and third overall top-10 at the track

The NASCAR Cup Series is off next weekend. The following weekend, they will travel to Nashville Speedway.

Buescher Secures Best Finish of Year, P2 at Sonoma

By
Official Release
-

No. 17 Fifth Third Bank Ford Leads Laps, Runs Inside Top-Five Much of Sunday Afternoon

SONOMA, Calif. (June 12, 2022) – Chris Buescher led laps, ran inside the top-five much of Sunday afternoon, and was a position away from victory lane as he drove the Fifth Third Bank Ford to a second-place finish at Sonoma Raceway for his best finish of the season.

“This team did a great job and put a really fast Fifth Third Bank Mustang underneath me this weekend,” Buescher said. “What a way to return and come back to the race track, but I didn’t get the job done there at the end. I feel like we should have had the win and I didn’t get it. We were close, just needed more. I needed to make it happen on that restart and I didn’t, but if we can keep getting cars like this then a win will come. It was an awesome run, and I should be happy, but I’m disappointed to be that close and not get it.”

Fresh off his return from COVID, which sidelined him last week in St. Louis, Buescher put the No. 17 near the front in qualifying Saturday afternoon with the third-quickest lap in the field. It marked his second such top-five qualifying effort in as many months (pole – Dover).

Once the green dropped for the 110-lap race Sunday, Buescher held his own inside the top five and was fourth at the time of the first caution at lap 10. That yellow turned out to be one of only two non-stage cautions.

The team would short-pit the stage, hitting pit road at lap 23 from the second position. He would end the stage in 13th, then after track position flipped under the break fired back off second for the second, 30-lap stage. It ran caution-free, and again Buescher short-pitted the conclusion, this time from P2. Stops again would cycle and Buescher got credit for a P3 finish and seven stage points.

The Prosper, Texas, native was the leader to begin the final stage, where he led four total laps once the segment went green. With green flag stops cycling again, Buescher initially stayed on track to stay on sequence with the No. 99, but eventually hit pit road at lap 80 from the second spot.

After his teammate Keselowski inherited the lead for a few laps, a caution flew at lap 84 for debris in what would be the final of the day. At the time Buescher was ninth, but jumped to P2 on the ensuing restart. That came with 23 to go as he and the No. 99 stayed nose-to-tail for multiple laps in the run. Despite Buescher hanging within a half second for a majority of the laps, the 99 ultimately prevailed to snag the win.

The second-place effort marked the first P2 finish of Buescher’s Cup career. It is also his first top five of the 2022 season, and fourth overall top-10 on the year.

The No. 17 team will ride a wave of momentum now into the Cup Series’ lone off week of the year. Action returns June 26 at Nashville Superspeedway for the second half of the season and NBC’s return to coverage.

RCR NCS Post Race Report: Sonoma

By
Official Release
-

Austin Dillon and the No. 3 True Velocity Chevrolet Team Race to Solid 11th-Place Finish at Sonoma Raceway

Finish: 11th
Start: 13th
Points: 15th

“It feels great to earn an 11th-place Finish in the True Velocity Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 this weekend at Sonoma Raceway. This team has worked hard, and I have worked hard personally, on improving our road course performances. We qualified 13th on Saturday and came into Sunday’s race knowing that we had a strong car and a solid plan. We maintained our position throughout Stage 1. We tried to play the pit strategy a few times and got caught on the wrong side of a caution flag. During the final stage, we were making a green-flag stop right as the caution came out. It put us back about seven spots, but we had newer tires than the guys in front of us which gave me a little more leverage. I’m proud of the effort that everyone has put in. It was fun racing in the top 10 and seeing the improvements we’ve made. We’ll take an 11th-place finish and take the off weekend to regroup for Nashville.” -Austin Dillon

Tyler Reddick and the No. 8 Lenovo Chevrolet Team Show Resilience at Sonoma Raceway

Finish: 35th
Start: 5th
Points: 14th

“Our Lenovo Chevy was strong this weekend at Sonoma Raceway. We started the race fifth and spent most of Stages 1 and 2 in and around the top five. We were running fourth with three laps remaining in Stage 2 when we made a green-flag stop. Unfortunately, we were caught speeding on pit road and had to restart at the tail end of the field to start Stage 3. We got mirrored back in traffic. Everyone was bunching up and another car ended up making contact with us. It destroyed our left-rear and we had to go to the garage for repairs. We made it back out, but finished 14 laps down in 35th. It’s definitely disappointing to get a finish like that after running so strong today.” -Tyler Reddick

CHEVY NCS: DANIEL SUAREZ GETS FIRST CAREER NASCAR CUP SERIES WIN AT SONOMA

By
Official Release
-

NASCAR CUP SERIES
SONOMA RACEWAY
TOYOTA / SAVE MART 350
JUNE 12, 2022

DANIEL SUAREZ GETS FIRST CAREER NASCAR CUP SERIES WIN AT SONOMA
Team Chevy Scores Eighth NCS Victory of 2022

· The win is Suarez’s first-career victory in 195 starts in the NASCAR Cup Series.
· It also marks the third NASCAR Cup Series triumph for Trackhouse Racing in 2022.
· With his victory, Suarez secures a spot into the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Field.
· Suarez’s triumph is also the eighth of the season for the Camaro ZL1 and the 13th victory for Team Chevy at Sonoma Raceway, both of which are manufacturer-leading feats.
· The winningest brand in NASCAR, Chevrolet now has 822 all-time NASCAR Cup Series victories.

SONOMA, Calif. (June 22, 2022) – Daniel Suarez has been on the horizon of his first-career win in the NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) all season and a trip out west checked off that monumental feat in his career. In 195 starts in NASCAR’s premier series, Daniel Suarez drove his No. 99 Onx Homes/Renu Camaro ZL1 across the line first, capturing his first-career NCS win in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway.

“It’s a crazy day. I have so many thoughts in my head right now,” said Suarez. “I mean, it’s been a rough road. It’s been a rough journey in the Cup Series. These guys believe in me – Trackhouse Racing, Justin Marks, Ty Norris. Everyone that helped me to get to this point. Alot of people in Mexico: Jay Morales, Carlos Slim. My family, they never give up on me. A lot of people did, but they didn’t (tearing up).”

The feat came after Saurez took the green from the eighth-starting position. Piloting his Chevrolet-powered machine to a top-five finish in Stage Two, track position and a strong performance on pit road setup the No. 99 Trackhouse Racing team to start up front for the final stage. The 30-year-old Chevro driver went on to lead a race-high 47 laps en route to the victory at the 1.99-mile Northern California circuit. The win marks the third win for Trackhouse Racing in NASCAR’s premier series, all of which have been captured this season. The victory makes Suarez the sixth different Chevrolet driver to win in the series thus far this season; joining Trackhouse Racing teammate, Ross Chastain, and Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson, Alex Bowman, William Byron and Chase Elliott on the elite list that have secured a spot in the 2022 NCS Playoff field.

With 16 points-paying races in the books for the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season, the Camaro ZL1 has recorded eight wins, giving Chevrolet an impressive winning percentage of 50 percent. The trip to victory lane also marks Chevrolet’s 13th triumph at Sonoma Raceway and the 822nd all-time in NASCAR’s premier series to lead all manufacturers. Ross Chastain (7th), Chase Elliott (8th) and William Byron (9th) rounded out the Team Chevy top-10, giving the bowtie brand four top-10 finishes.

Heading into the off week for the series, the NASCAR Cup Series will be back in action at Nashville Superspeedway with the Ally 400 on Sunday, June 26, at 5 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 ONX HOMES/RENU CAMARO ZL1 – Press Conference Transcript:

THE MODERATOR: We are now joined by today’s winner, Daniel Suarez, driver of the No. 99 Trackhouse Chevrolet.

Take us through what went through your mind when you crossed the finish line on the last lap and became the first driver from Mexico to win in the NASCAR Cup Series.

DANIEL SUAREZ: I didn’t know what to do. It was special. Man, I’ve been working very hard for this moment, not just myself, but my entire team. I am very lucky to have people around me in the team, but outside the team. My family always supporting me, my beautiful girlfriend Julia that she work very hard in the last few months keeping me up and letting me know that I was doing the right things. We just need to have a clean day. That’s what we had today.

So today just felt special. I told her this morning that today felt good. We did it in front of a few hundred Mexicans and Daniel’s Amigos. It was just a special day. I have always seen California as my second home. To be able to get the first victory here is quite special.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q- What was the mindset knowing you had pretty much control of this race hoping there were no cautions?

DANIEL SUAREZ: I mean, honestly, I didn’t care who was behind me. I was just trying to do my race, trying to control what I can control. I knew that Buescher was very strong in the short run. Probably a little bit better than me. But in the middle part of the run I was better than him. In the long run I felt like I was better than him. It was able to play out pretty good right there near the end.

I knew if I stay up front for the first five to seven laps, I was going to be able to control the race. Obviously the last 10, five laps, I was just trying to take care of my tires in case we had a restart. If we had a restart at that point, I knew we were not going to come for tires. It was going to be a track position race.

I was trying to save a little bit, even though my car was already a little tired at the time, but everyone else was tired as well.

It worked out great. It was good. My team, my crew chief, everyone did what they had to do. They called the pit stops, everything work out where they were supposed to. We were able to maximize the potential of our car.

Q- Justin and Travis were talking about your confidence, that they never doubted you would be here. They felt like you never doubted it. What kept you confident?

DANIEL SUAREZ: You know, it has cost me a lot to get to this point. A lot of people doesn’t know that, but it has cost me a lot to get to this country first 10 years ago, and to get to this point, fighting. I come from a very humble family. Every step of my life has cost me a lot.

I knew that it’s important to remember that if I was able to come all the way here, I wasn’t going to give up here. My confidence was high. But obviously knowing that you haven’t won yet, there is a little bit of doubt. But I knew that I was fast. I knew that I could race with them, with the guys that are winning. But I haven’t showed that first victory.

I told my team, you know, the last five weeks we have had very fast race cars, but things happen. The jack broke last week. A few weeks ago the (indiscernible) broke. In Charlotte we were the fastest car and we were missing something on pit road every single time. It was hard to stay on track.

But at the end my team, everyone, stayed together. We keep pushing. I told them that bad luck doesn’t last forever, and tough people do. We keep working very hard and here we are.

Q- You said on Thursday you felt good about this weekend. What was it coming in here about why you felt so good? What was going through your head throughout the weekend?

DANIEL SUAREZ: I grew up racing go-karts, road course stuff. I never raced big cars in road course, but I raced go-karts a lot all over the world. Road course for me is fun. It’s something different. It’s something we don’t do every day. In years past I been always strong but never very strong.

In COTA it just felt special. In COTA we were the car to beat, we were the best car. Unfortunately my car had issues. I made sure in the radio in the middle of the race, if I can’t win the race, I want my teammate to win the race. I felt he was probably a good second best car. He was able to win the race. I was able to dominate the first stage with a car that was a rocket.

We came here with the confidence that it’s another road course. We had a good car, but we didn’t have the best car today. I felt like we were able to make the right calls, maximize what we got, and the result shows for that.

Q- What was going through your mind when you came around the final turn here? Once you crossed it, what did you think?

DANIEL SUAREZ: I was asking for my piñata. I was asking the team to bring the piñata with me. I wanted to break it (smiling).

It just felt right, man. It’s been a long journey, a lot of sacrifices, a lot of hard work. To finally be able to get the first one. I have told this to many people. The first one always costs a lot. Once you get the first one, be ready because we’re going to get some more.

Q- What does this mean for Mexico and what does it mean it was one of the races where you had Daniel’s Amigos here?

DANIEL SUAREZ: That’s special. That was very, very special. In the very last caution I was already slow on the caution. I was able to see in corner one on the right there was Daniel’s Amigos group there. All of them were cheering, the fans, all of them were excited. That fuels me. That’s energy for me.

I knew that I wasn’t going to let them down. I was going to push and I was going to do everything in my power to make this happen. Just felt right.

This morning I spent an hour and a half with them. Just felt right. I woke up this morning and I was ready to go. Yesterday we had a long race in the Trucks and I was tired. But it just felt right.

California like my second home. The people here are amazing to me. They support me a lot. I just can’t describe how thankful I am for being able to win the first one here in front of my people.

Q- For Mexico?

DANIEL SUAREZ: For Mexico the same. I don’t get to race in my country. There is a lot of races that feel like home. This is one of them. Texas is one of them. There is a lot, Auto Club, Vegas, Phoenix. There is a lot of racetracks, they feel like home.

Just very thankful being a kid coming from Mexico trying to live the NASCAR dream in the U.S.

Q- Do you keep in touch with anyone that you met in previous Daniel’s Amigos groups? Did you see any revisits, familiar faces?

DANIEL SUAREZ: Yeah, couple. It’s hard to keep track of everyone, of course. There is a couple, I remember them from here, from last time here. Yeah, that’s always very special.

The cool part is that they come this week, and the ones that are new, I’m going to see them next year. That’s something very special to me. Those are the faces I remember. The faces I remember from last year. I’m sure I’m going to see a lot of faces next year that I just met today. That’s very special.

I just can’t describe how happy I am to be able to get this win, the first one, in California in front of all of them.

Q- You have some of the earliest alumni from the Drive for Diversity program at Trackhouse. What does this win mean to you and what do you think it means for NASCAR moving forward?

DANIEL SUAREZ: Yeah, I mean, that’s very special. A lot of people doesn’t know this, but one of my engineers, he’s from Mexico City. Unfortunately he got sick, he couldn’t come to this weekend. He’s at home. He called me crying. He works extremely hard.

He is a big part of today’s win. His name is Jose Velasco. He’s a huge part of this team. We’ve been working together for two years. Part of my pit crew are from diversity, as well. Myself. If it wasn’t for the Drive for Diversity, I don’t think I would be sitting here right now.

Back in 2013 and ’14 they saved my butt. I was about to come back to Mexico. They gave me an opportunity to keep racing in 2013. That kept me alive. I was able to win races that year and keep the momentum going. Before that it was very, very tough.

So it’s been quite a journey. But those tough moments and those ups and downs is what makes this moment so special.

Q- With the final restart 23 laps to go, are you nervous? I was hearing from Justin your radio was silent.

DANIEL SUAREZ: I was just trying to stay calm. I knew that it was a big stake on the line, but I was trying to stay calm. I was silent. I wanted to do my thing. I didn’t want too much noise on the radio. I knew what I had to do.

I felt like I was controlling well what I could control. If the caution was coming out, welcome, try to go again. I was just trying to stay calm.

I would say after the white flag is when I got out of control. I just start crying inside the helmet, just thinking about. Especially because I had a big gap. If it wasn’t a big gap, I would be focused. Since I had a big gap, I was just thinking about every single moment that has cost me to be here.

It’s been a different journey. Every NASCAR driver has had a tough journey. Everyone has a different journey. But my journey is definitely the most different of everyone else, leaving my family, my country, and just coming to a different culture, different language.

Thinking of all those things, it makes today very, very special.

Q- What was inside the piñata?

DANIEL SUAREZ: A lot of chocolate. A lot of chocolate. Next time we have to organize that better. Next time I need a bat so can I break it. Actually we had one. I don’t know. It was missing somewhere.

It was good. Just felt good. Very, very thankful to all my team for today.

Q- What kind of momentum does this give for you and the No. 99 team 10 races to the Playoffs?

DANIEL SUAREZ: Yeah, it feels good. My team has been working very hard.

But to be able to finally get the first one, I feel like that is going to make us feel more relaxed. Now we’re going to do things more calm.

I told my team, Hey, let’s say calm. Let’s do our thing. We’re capable of winning races. But one thing is to say it, another thing is to do it. Today we did it. So now we’re going to be able to (indiscernible) and do things more relaxed. That way victories and success is going to be able to find us much easier.

Q- Have you ever punched a piñata before?

DANIEL SUAREZ: I have. I have. But I have punched a piñata after I smash it with a stick. This time nobody gave me a stick so I had to punch it.

Man, a few weeks ago or a month and a half ago when they gave me that taco piñata, I knew we were going to break it soon. I was keeping it in my lounge, getting ready to break it. Today finally we smashed that thing.

Q- When was the last time you punched one?

DANIEL SUAREZ: I was a kid, man. Probably my grandma’s house in front of all my cousins. I couldn’t see because I had my eyes taped. I was knocking out the piñata. Eventually when you break it, it’s not broken 100%, you just start smashing it to get all the candy. It’s been at least 15 years.

Q- Off weekend coming up. Are you celebrating?

DANIEL SUAREZ: Believe it or not I’m going to Mexico tomorrow. I have that already plan for a few weeks. My girlfriend is going to Brazil to visit her family, her father, after two years and a half that she hasn’t see him. Yeah, she going to celebrate in Brazil, I’m going to celebrate in Mexico.

I can’t wait to see my mom, my dad, my sister to give them a big hug. They’ve been with me on this journey since the beginning. My mom already called me, she was crying. It’s special.

I’m going to see the people I like to see, I love to see. Just try to enjoy the moment. Like I said, very few people knows how much work, sacrifice, tears, sweat this has cost me. So we have to enjoy it. After a few days, we’re going to keep working because we want more.

Q- 10 or 11 years ago you’re living in Upstate New York watching cartoons to learn English. Are you dreaming of this moment? Is this moment a thought? Could you have conceived what happened today?

DANIEL SUAREZ: I was always dreaming about winning in the Cup Series. I knew it was going to be a tough journey. At the time I was scared not to be able to compete because I didn’t speak English. At the time I didn’t have money to buy myself classes to speak English, so I had to in a way learn by myself by watching movies and watching cartoons and reading. It was quite a journey.

I remember one day waking up and being scared that the language barrier was going to keep me away from my goal, which was being a winner, a championship winner in the NASCAR Cup Series. I didn’t want that to happen.

I started working extremely hard to learn English. It’s been quite a journey. That’s why I felt like my story is very similar to many, many Mexicans, Latinos, out there coming to this country, trying to find a goal or trying to find their dream.

If I was able to make it happen, everyone out there can make it happen. So just feel very, very proud to be an example for many of them.

Q- Do you think this team can make a deep Playoff run? Are you a championship team?

DANIEL SUAREZ: I think we are. I think we are. The beautiful part is that we get stronger as we go. If you were asking me that question three months ago, I was going to tell you, man, we have work to do. We have the potential, but we have work to do. Two months ago I was starting to believe more. A month ago I would say, Heck, yeah. Right now, of course we are here.

We just keep getting stronger. I guarantee you in a month from now we’re going to be stronger than right now. We’re going to keep working.

Today was amazing. We did a lot of things right. But we believed that our car could have been a little bit better. So when you look at the big picture and always try to see yourself as what I could have done better or different, that’s when you become a great team. I feel like we’re on our way there.

Q- Thursday you talked about diversity. Does this win spur more Mexicans and Latinos to take up driving? One lesser thought. Ross smashes pumpkins and you’re smashing piñatas. Do the other teams have to step their game?

DANIEL SUAREZ: They’ll have to step their game.

We talk about diversity, how important it is. I personally feel extremely, extremely lucky and fortunate to be that driver that the whole Hispanic community can connect with. I feel extremely, extremely lucky. I feel so fortunate. I feel like I have an entire country and community behind me.

All the people wearing red shirts today, those are my people. Some of them, they have exactly the same journey that I have. Coming from Mexico, not knowing the language, trying to find an opportunity, having goals, just trying to find that dream or trying to make that dream happen. These are my people. I feel extremely lucky to be the one that can represent all of them.

Hopefully the success that we have had, that we’re having, can fuel them as well to continue to push in whatever they want to do, that is racing, mechanic, engineering, business, whatever that may be, to continue to fuel them to know that they can do it. They just have to work hard and put in the table what they have to do.

JUSTIN MARKS, FOUNDER AND OWNER, TRACKHOUSE RACING – Press Conference Transcript:

THE MODERATOR: We are now joined by today’s winners, owner of the No. 99 Chevrolet for Trackhouse Racing, Justin Marks, and crew chief Travis Mack.

We’ll go right into questions for Justin first as he has to leave.

Q- Justin, I guess Suarez said last year this was his best opportunity. Now he’s finally put it into Victory Lane. How does that feel for you as a car owner?

JUSTIN MARKS: Yeah, it’s hard to put it into words. When Ty Norris and I first started talking about this, I came to Ty, I’ve got this idea. What I said first and foremost is I believe with this new car it’s truly going to be about the people, the people are going to make this car go.

The way they changed the model of the sport a little bit is you have to invest in your people and keep them motivated, and put talented people in positions, lift them up, empower them. I just believe that.

I think we’re doing that right now because we have a great culture at Trackhouse. Daniel checked a lot of boxes for us right away. He’s an experienced Cup driver. He is a winner. When he’s been in positions to win, he’s won with his Xfinity championship and Truck.

He had a chip on his shoulder. He wanted to prove to the world he belonged in the Cup Series. 2020 was a difficult year for him.

He checked all the boxes for us and I knew he had a tremendous amount of potential, that he was a winner at this level. I told him from day one, This is your team, this 99 team is your team. You come to me and tell me anything and everything that you need. We’re going to put that behind you.

Travis to my left here is a big part of that. He’s been a big believer in this project. It’s really nice to see all that work over the last couple of years be at a place where everybody is rewarded for it.

Q- You say you saw the potential in him. Do you ever feel like he felt that he was never going to meet that potential?

JUSTIN MARKS: Did I feel like he thought that?

Yes.

JUSTIN MARKS: Not for one second. Not for one second ever. I have almost never met a more determined, focused, hard-working race car driver in my 20 years in this sport.

Every single morning he wakes up and says, I am going to be the best version of myself I can be today, I’m going to do all the work I can possibly do today to win this race this weekend.

I think Travis will say the same thing. It’s amazing how consistent he is, how that continues, that fire continues to burn so bright even after stringing numerous tough races in a row together. Tough month last year. He’s just very, very impressive in that regard.

Q- Have you talked to Armando?

JUSTIN MARKS: I haven’t talked to him. But he was on the phone. You can always count on Ty Norris having him on the phone in Victory Lane. I’ll talk to him tomorrow.

Q- Is there any surprises so far with this team with Daniel and with Ross, Trackhouse, the accomplishments that you guys have had so far?

JUSTIN MARKS: What I tell people is I’m not surprised that we’re a winning race team because I wouldn’t have started this project if I didn’t think, truly believe, that the opportunity existed to build a new race team in this sport that could win. It’s just happened really quickly. That’s been the surprise, is how quickly it’s happened.

To me it kind of makes sense, too. We’ve got such great people that work so hard. The promise of this car is being delivered every single weekend. We have talks in the race, in the team, I have talks with myself. It’s like, Is this a moment in time or is Trackhouse arrived? I think we’ve arrived because we fundamentally invest in the things that I believe are going to be…

Literally Pitbull texting me right now.

Congrats. I can’t say that word. I’m taking a couple tequila shots right now. History in the making. See you soon. Step on the gas and haul ass.

Anyway, it’s happened very, very quickly. When you have this many people together working, supporting each other, focused, and are talented, these are the things that can happen.

Q- Tell the truth, were you nervous on the final lap?

JUSTIN MARKS: Of course. I have a long way to go before I get comfortable at the ends of these races when we’re leading. My colleagues have been doing this for a long time. I sort of operate under the assumption that a late caution always comes out and these races can devolve into total chaos. I sort of was half expecting that today.

But some days it’s just your time, it’s just your day. Everything lined up perfectly. Everybody on the 99 team did an awesome job. Great strategy, Travis ran a great strategy, Daniel drove a career race.

Q- Was the radio silent?

JUSTIN MARKS: It’s actually funny. The 99 radio is typically the opposite of silent. I think there were five words said the last half hour of that race. 10 to go, you didn’t hear anything for eight minutes, then it was five to go, then there was a bunch of screaming.

Q- This one is huge not only for Daniel but also Mexico. The team has been about unification, diversity. What does this mean?

JUSTIN MARKS: I mean, it’s big for all that. Trackhouse is a race team that anybody and everybody can be a fan of. We’ve made investments in the minority community with Pitbull’s schools, our great (indiscernible) night program, our STEM stuff.

To me this is sort of a representation of what America stands for. It’s a place you can come with big dreams and you can work hard to achieve those dreams. I always say that Daniel is one of one. A Mexican race car driver moving to America, can’t speak the language, to be a NASCAR Cup Series winner, that shows the amazing place we live.

Not only him, but Jose our lead engineer from Mexico, wasn’t here today, probably is killing him that he’s not here today. Truly an elite talent. It’s really great to be able to write those stories.

Q- Justin, Suarez is four points ahead of Cindric and 11 points of Kurt Busch. There’s 10 races left. Do you feel comfortable he’s in the Playoffs or is it going to be a scrap?

JUSTIN MARKS: I haven’t really thought about that yet to be honest. How many races are left? Eight?

10.

JUSTIN MARKS: I don’t know. I saw you ask Denny that question. I thought about it, not in our context, but just in general, is this going to be a season.

I don’t really feel like it’s gonna. Anything can happen. I don’t really feel like it’s going to be that way. I don’t think we think about that until there’s 16 winners and a race or more left.

THE MODERATOR: Justin, thank you so much.

JUSTIN MARKS: Thanks, everybody.

TRAVIS MACK, CREW CHIEF, NO. 99 ONX HOMES/RENU CAMARO ZL1 – Press Conference Transcript:

THE MODERATOR: We’ll continue with questions for Travis.

Q- Travis, what does this one mean for you being involved with a guy that’s got their first win?

TRAVIS MACK: This is huge. Just taking it all in today. Really excited for Justin and Daniel, just really excited for all these team guys. I’m the lucky guy that gets to sit on top of the box and watch it all happen.

I’ve just had so much belief in Daniel and his capability of winning a race. We really believe in each other. You take two guys who have never won a Cup race, put us together, we’re both very, very hungry to win races. This is what you get.

Q- The last few laps can be crash, caution, green-white-checkered, are you sitting there thinking stay green? Are you praying?

TRAVIS MACK: I was so calm. Felt so confident coming in today. I think I stayed up studying last night till 12:30 West Coast time, that’s 3:30 East Coast time. I just felt so confident coming into today that we could get this done today.

Everything that has happened to us this year has led up to this moment. It’s taught us what we need to do, what we don’t need to do, and just execute this race the best we could. That’s what we did.

Q- Probably the biggest story is Trackhouse being the surprise of the year. Have you been surprised at the success?

TRAVIS MACK: Not really. This is what I do every year. Even last year, having the conversations with Justin, I think I was number two hire at Trackhouse, it was very exciting.

The first time I met with him, I was doubting if I should leave the Hendrick family, what I needed to do. I was really comfortable at Junior Motorsports. After I met with Justin, talked to him on the phone, I was so confident in what he was building.

I told him, You just give us the tools and you do you and I’m going to build us a great race team. We’re going to go to Daytona and get the pole. That’s how confident I was. I told him that. I think he believed in that. We believe in each other.

We went down there, had a top 10 effort. I wasn’t happy because we weren’t on the pole because I told him we would get the pole.

I was confident to get this win for Daniel and I’m excited to get it in Sonoma.

Q- Can you speak to the culture at Trackhouse right now? Two wins for Ross, one for Daniel. What is it like working there? Why is it working so well?

TRAVIS MACK: Just having fun. I’ve never been at a place that has had so much fun. We’re building fast race cars. Everybody is enjoying work. It’s just a great place to be right now. Team chemistry is amazing between the 1 and the 99. It really feels like one team building two cars, confident in each other and our capabilities of winning races, bringing the best cars to the racetrack every week.

Q- You said you have confidence in Daniel. Why?

TRAVIS MACK: First time I met with Daniel, I think a lot of crew chiefs in the past kind of doubted his capabilities. Around the garage you hear he shouldn’t be in the ride, this or that.

Once I met with him, I could see the drive in his face, in his eyes. Once we started becoming friends and talking to each other, I could see how hard he was working. He wanted this so bad. I was the same way.

Coming up as a crew chief, people doubted me being a crew chief. Not being an engineer, coming up through the mechanic, car chief role, there’s not many of us that has done that in the Cup Series. So people doubted me. They doubted him.

They put us together and I think we’re a great team.

Q- In the last part of this race, we saw teams that are at the front of the field with new names. Did that make the strategy any more difficult or is it just another car to you guys?

TRAVIS MACK: No, I think we played a perfect strategy. I didn’t feel like we had the best car coming into today. I think the 5 car was really good. 9 car was really good on long runs. So was the 4. All we had to do was execute. I knew we had a top five car. If everything worked out perfectly, made no mistakes on pit road, executed the race perfectly, we could have a day like we did today.

Q- Of all the victories, you mentioned a long journey, the engineer, where would you say this one ranks?

TRAVIS MACK: Yeah, I’m not an engineer. There’s not many of us that aren’t engineers in the sport today, especially with this car.

I trust my engineers on my team. I have really great engineers. Jose Velasco, Dustin and Troy. Those guys just work so hard. They make me look really good. I try to do the things, I’m dealing with the driver, the pit crew, the team, just trying to keep our team upbeat, moving the right direction, organized, prepared to come into the race weekends.

Coming up through the ranks at Hendrick, being a car chief, working so hard for this first win. This was actually my first win with Jeff Gordon. I believe in ’04 Sonoma was my first win on a Cup team. It’s very excited to get my very first win as a crew chief in Sonoma.

THE MODERATOR: Travis, congratulations and thank you.

TRAVIS MACK: Thank you.

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.

1...1,9191,9201,921...6,651Page 1,920 of 6,651