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Chevrolet picks up important points in New Hampshire

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Official Release
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CHEVROLET RACING IN NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION
NHRA NEW ENGLAND NATIONALS
NEW ENGLAND DRAGWAY IN EPPING, NEW HAMPSHIRE
JUNE 5, 2022

Chevrolet picks up important points in New Hampshire

• Erica Enders earns third Pro Stock victory in a row, fourth of the season

• No. 3 qualifier Robert Hight races to Funny Car runner-up finish

• Top Fuel points leader Brittany Force sets track speed record

EPPING, N.H. (June 5, 2022) — Erica Enders said at the beginning of the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) season that she was on a mission to return the No. 1 to the side of the Melling Performance/Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro SS.

Through six of 18 rounds of the Pro Stock campaign, Enders is on target in pursuit of her fifth world championship.

Enders earned her third consecutive victory and fourth of the season, strengthening her points lead over Elite Motorsports teammate and runner-up Aaron Stanfield in the NHRA New England Nationals.

Enders, who also defeated Stanfield in the final of the season-opening race at Pomona, California, claimed her 37th career Pro Stock victory and 400th round win with a 6.547-second pass to Stanfield’s 6.553 in the Janac Brothers Camaro SS.

“This is the best way we’ve ever started off any year in my Pro Stock driving career, even ’15 when we completely dominated and won nine races and were in 11 finals. Team Elite has won five of six and we’ve won four of the six. It just goes to show that hard work and determination are second to none,” said Enders, who finished 61 points behind champion Greg Anderson in 2021.

Robert Hight was also looking for his fourth win of the season in the AAA Chevrolet Camaro SS. The No. 3 Funny Car qualifier faced off against points leader Matt Hagan in the final for the second time this season, with Hight’s car rattling the tires and crossing the line with his second runner-up finish of the season. Hight defeated Hagan in Phoenix.

John Force, the No. 2 qualifier in the PEAK BlueDEF Platinum Camaro SS, fell in the second round in the 144th Funny Car matchup with Ron Capps.

Top Fuel points leader Brittany Force, the No. 2 qualifier in the Monster Energy/Flav-R-Pac Chevrolet dragster, lost to John Force Racing teammate Austin Prock in the second round. Force reset the Top Fuel track speed record in qualifications at 334.32 mph.

Prock, the No. 3 qualifier in the Montana Brand/Rocky Mountain Twist Chevrolet dragster, was ousted in the semifinals by eventual event winner Mike Salinas.

The NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals on June 17-19 in Bristol, Tennessee, is next on the schedule for Chevrolet teams.

An interview with Pro Stock winner Erica Enders (No. 3 qualifier in the Melling Performance/Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro SS):

THIS IS THE BEST START OF YOUR CAREER. WHAT MAKES THIS YEAR DIFFERENT?

“After the way that we lost last year, just losing by a couple of rounds to Greg Anderson and him being able to sport the No. 1 on his car instead of that Melling Performance hot rod, it just gives us a little extra motivation. I have to give a huge shoutout to the race car shop. They are the ones who dig deep and make this happen. I was thinking on my way to get buckled in the car, how special is this. You see this house packed with people, and I’m just a little kid living my dream.”

EVEN YOU COULDN’T HAVE IMAGINED YOUR SUCCESS THIS SEASON.

“This is the best way we’ve ever started off any year in my Pro Stock driving career, even ’15 when we completely dominated and won nine races and were in 11 finals. Team Elite has won five of six and we’ve won four of the six. It just goes to show that hard work and determination are second to none. The guys who stand behind me are the ones who make it happen. I said no more nice Erica because of the way we lost the championship last year, coming down to the wire even with Greg (Anderson) dominating all year. It’s our mission this year to put that No. 1 back on the Melling Performance hot rod.”

IN THE SEMIFINALS WHEN YOUR CAR STARTED SHAKING, WHAT’S GOING ON IN YOUR HEAD BEFORE YOUR SAW THE WIN LIGHT?

“It started to rattle and then went full-blown shake. When it shook and I pulled second gear and it wasn’t having it, I looked over and Mason (McGaha) wasn’t ahead of me, so I just jammed it in third, pedaled it and tried to roll on. I never look at the scoreboard ever because you have to shift. I shut it down. I go back to 8-year-old Erica. This is all I ever wanted. I can’t be more proud of my team.”

CHEVROLET FROM THE COCKPIT

TOP FUEL:

BRITTANY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, MONSTER ENERGY/FLAV-R-PAC CHEVROLET DRAGSTER (No. 2 qualifier; fell in second round): “It was a tough weekend for our Monster Energy team. We made some good runs, but we got beat in round two over a holeshot. We’ll pack up and head to the next one. Still in the points lead and we still have great confidence for the rest of the season.”

AUSTIN PROCK, JOHN FORCE RACING, MONTANA BRANDS/ROCKY MOUNTAIN TWIST CHEVROLET DRAGSTER (No. 3 qualifier; fell in semifinals): “Another good showing on Sunday for this Montana Brand/Rocky Mountain Twist team. Really proud of my guys after this weekend. We were not easy on them in qualifying and they kept a good attitude and their heads down to prepare the car each round. We made some solid passes as a team today and know our time is coming. We’re looking forward to the rest of the season.”

FUNNY CAR:

JOHN FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, BLUEDEF PLATINUM CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 2 qualifier; fell in second round): “We ended up qualifying pretty well and we got a couple win lights. Not a bad weekend for this PEAK Chevy. Not great, but not bad. Everyone did pretty well. Brittany with Monster and Prock having to race against each other. Prock making it to the semis with Montana Brand. And then Robert with AAA getting to another final. They’re keeping up the fight. And we’re still in it. Sitting fourth in points, you know, we’ll be OK.”

ROBERT HIGHT, JOHN FORCE RACING, AAA CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 3 qualifier; runner-up): “Tough way to end the day. You know, this AAA Chevy got a little lucky in the first round. Had to pedal it and was able to pull it off, but then we really stepped it up and were running well. We just couldn’t get the job done in the final. It’s another fina round though, and it’s points on the board. We just have to keep it up. Keep running well, pick ourselves up if we stumble and that’s what this team does. They don’t give up. We’ll just head to the next one and look to get the job done in Bristol.”

About Chevrolet

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

MSR’s Pagenaud Takes Top Ten in Farewell to Detroit Belle Isle

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

Castroneves’ race ends early with electrical issue

Detroit, Mich. (5 June 2022) – Simon Pagenaud took a hard-fought ninth-place finish for Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) in Sunday’s Detroit Grand Prix, the final NTT INDYCAR SERIES race at Belle Isle Park. Pagenaud was running 7th on the final lap, but was passed by two cars on the final lap after a full course caution was called to unofficially be classified 9th.

Despite getting a strong start to the race, teammate Helio Castroneves had his race end early on board the No. 06 AutoNation / SiriusXM Honda, finishing 25th after experiencing an electrical problem.

With a second row qualifying lockout, Pagenaud and Castroneves were on full attack at the start of the 70-lap race, each moving up a position. Both starting on Firestone reds, the two MSR Hondas settled into a rhythm with a focus on fuel and tire save early on with Pagenaud second and Castroneves third.

Both Pagenaud and Castroneves pitted for their first of two stops for the primary black tires on laps 15 and 16.

Just several laps after pitting, Castroneves encountered an electrical gremlin which effected the steering wheel. The three-time Detroit winner pitted on lap 25 to swap out the steering wheel, but unfortunately the issue would sideline Castroneves for the remainder of the race as his promising run ended early.

Pagenaud continued his hunt to the front of the field running in seventh throughout his second stint. Getting caught in lapped traffic, the No. 60 crew made the decision to call Pagenaud into the pits earlier than originally planned for the final stop of the race.

Pagenaud made his way back into the top ten for the final stretch of the race despite having to adapt a close adhearance to fuel management after the last stop. Pagenaud managed his fluctuating fuel numbers perfectly through the very end of the race which saw the 2013 Detroit winner cross the line scored in ninth. Pagenaud was seventh when the full course caution fell but was passed by two cars on the final corners and was unofficially classified 9th.

The NTT IndyCar Series will be racing for the third consecutive weekend when it travels to Elkhart Lake, Wis., for the Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America next Sunday.

Meyer Shank Racing Driver Quotes:

Simon Pagenaud:
“Great weekend overall for the entire Meyer Shank Racing team. We qualified so well with Helio and myself on the second row. We had a great start and we were running down Newgarden there for a while. Then we had some issues with the fuel mid-race, but eventually we finished seventh (classified 9th unofficially), which I think is a great result considering some of the issues we had. I’m quite excited about what we accomplished this weekend, every race is getting better and better. And now we’re showing ourselves on the pointy end of the grid, so I’m pretty excited about that heading to Road America next weekend.”

Helio Castroneves:
“Really unfortunate way to end the day. My steering wheel all of the sudden went dark and I couldn’t see when to shift and then it came back. So I knew it was something electrical. We came in to the pits to try and change the steering wheel, but that didn’t work, so it wasn’t something that simple. The No. 06 AutoNation / SiriusXM machine was going really really well and I was having a great time. This is definitely not how I would like to finish especially at the last race at Belle Isle but I know we’ll get everything solved for next weekend at Road America.”

Team Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 Team Extends IMSA WeatherTech GTD Points Lead Across Two Championships with Fifth-Place Finish at the Detroit Grand Prix Saturday

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Official Release
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Detroit Grand Prix, IMSA WeatherTech Series, June 2022. (Photo by Brian Cleary/bcpix.com)

DETROIT – Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing entry Team Korthoff Motorsports and team driver Stevan McAleer increased their IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GT Daytona (GTD) team and driver championship leads Saturday with a fifth-place finish in the Detroit Grand Prix. Co-driving with Mike Skeen, McAleer and the No. 32 Team Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 team came to the Motor City atop the driver and team point standings and extended their championship leads at the halfway point of the 10-race season.

One of the two shortest races of the season, Saturday’s 100-minute sprint on the tight 2.3-mile street course on Detroit’s Belle Isle Park has always been a high-risk and high-reward affair. Starting driver McAleer proved it from the drop of the green flag when he boldly passed three competitors to move from eighth to fifth.

The triple pass was the decisive move of the race. No other competitor improved more than two spots, but each of those advances were due in part to others dropping out of the race. All three of McAleer’s position improvements were passes in full competition.

Skeen took over from McAleer at the 36-minute mark and continued in fifth place after a fast pit stop by the Team Korthoff Motorsports crew. The race was run caution free, and Skeen defended the top five position to the checkered flag, finishing at least two spots ahead of Team Korthoff’s nearest championship rivals.

Coming into Detroit with a 12-point lead, the No. 32 team and McAleer – Skeen missed Round 3 of this year’s championship at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca due to COVID-19 and unfortunately trails his teammate in the standings – now provisionally lead the team and driver championships by 33 points, 1520 – 1487, over the second-place team and drivers.

The Korthoff No. 32 team has now earned the manufacturer championship points for Mercedes-AMG in four of this year’s first five races. Mercedes-AMG leaves Detroit just four points out of the GTD manufacturer championship lead, 1619 – 1615.

Winward Racing was the top Mercedes-AMG finisher and manufacturer points-earner one race ago at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and came to Detroit looking to build on that season-best finish.

Russell Ward qualified the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 seventh, one spot ahead of McAleer, but was 27 minutes into his race-opening stint Saturday when his car met the turn 10 wall. Ward was uninjured in the contact incident, but the No. 57 was unable to continue in the race.

Next up for Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing teams in the IMSA WeatherTech Championship is the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen at Watkins Glen International, June 24 – 26.

Stevan McAleer, Driver – No. 32 Team Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3: “I think what’s cool is that we are halfway through the season now and we are not third or fourth in the standings with a mathematical chance. We are leading the championship, and the only thing I feel bad about is that I wish Mike was leading with me. There’s still a little disappointment from him missing Laguna Seca. The race was great. I had a good start and managed to get by three cars on the opening lap, and that was huge for us. It proved to be the finishing position for us in P5. The race showed I wasn’t particularly strong in qualifying because I went faster than my qualifying lap as well. I gave the car to Mike clean and in fifth and he did an amazing job. He was super strong all weekend, faster than me, and overall, it was a great weekend. We have seen a run of fifth place finishes lately but hopefully we will get back to thirds, seconds and get the first win coming up soon. It’s multiple races now we are finishing ahead of the cars we need to be beating, so overall we extended the championship leads a little and now we move on to Watkins Glen next and Mike and myself probably agree the car will be quite strong there.”

Mike Skeen, Driver – No. 32 Team Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3: “This was a great weekend from the start. We knew we had excellent pace all through practice and knew we had a really good car. We maybe missed it a little in qualifying, but Stevan got a killer start and picked up a bunch of positions right on the first lap. It really made the race easy for me. He fell into fifth place, the guys did a great pit stop, and we just held position. We had great pace but there were huge gaps in front of and behind me. It was kind of lonely just driving around by myself, but it is nice to get out of here with a clean car and know we have good speed. It gives us confidence heading into the next one.”

Toyota Gazoo Racing North America NHRA Epping Post-Race Report — 6.5.22

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Official Release
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TOYOTA DRAGSTERS AND FUNNY CARS SHOW STRENGTH IN NEW ENGLAND
Final Round and Semi-Final Round Appearances Highlight Toyota Outing in Epping

EPPING, N.H. (June 5, 2022) – The Toyota dragster and GR Supra Funny Cars showed strength at the New England Dragway on Sunday afternoon. Justin Ashley drove his top fuel dragster to the final round, but lost to race-winner Mike Salinas by six one-hundredths of a second. Toyota driver Shawn Langdon also made a semi-final round appearance in Epping. The GR Supra Funny Cars of J.R. Todd and Ron Capps also made their way into the semi-finals aiding in a solid points day for both drivers. Steve Torrence earned his first number one qualifier since joining Team Toyota this season, but was eliminated in round one.

Toyota Post-Race Recap
NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series
New England Dragway
Race 8 of 22

TOYOTA TOP FUEL FINISHING POSITIONS — Race Winner: Mike Salinas

NameCarFinal ResultRound-by-Round
Justin AshleyPhillips Connect Toyota Top Fuel DragsterFinal RoundW. 3.743 vs. D. Mercier (6.139) W. 3.786 vs. BYE W. 3.750 vs. S. Langdon (3.776) L. 3.782 vs. M. Salinas (3.729)
Shawn LangdonDHL Toyota Top Fuel DragsterSemi-FinalsW. 3.762 vs. J. Hart (no time) W. 3.787 vs. D. Kalitta (5.270) L. 3.776 vs. J. Ashley (3.750)
Doug KalittaMac Tools Toyota Top Fuel DragsterRound 2W. 3.742 vs. C. Ferre (10.412) L. 5.270 vs. S. Langdon (3.787)
Steve TorrenceCapco Contractors Toyota Top Fuel DragsterRound 1L. 5.816 vs. S. Farley (4.062)
Antron BrownMatco Tools Toyota Top Fuel DragsterRound 1L. 3.875 vs. A. Prock (3.68)

TOYOTA FUNNY CAR FINISHING POSITIONS — Race Winner: Matt Hagan

NameCarFinal ResultRound-by-Round
Ron CappsNAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota GR Supra Funny CarSemi-FinalsW. 3.974 vs. J. Campbell (12.153) W. 3.946 vs. J. Force (4.012) L. 4.092 vs. R. Hight (3.927)
J.R. ToddDHL Toyota GR Supra Funny CarSemi-FinalsW. 4.118 vs. B. Alexander (4.626) W. 4.019 vs. C. Pedregon (4.670) L. 3.981 vs. M. Hagan (3.963)
Alexis DeJoriaBandero Tequila Toyota GR Supra Funny CarRound 2W. 3.973 vs. T. Wilkerson (4.128) L. 3.988 vs. R. Hight (3.933)

TOYOTA QUOTES

JUSTIN ASHLEY, Phillips Connect Toyota Top Fuel Dragster, Davis Motorsports

Final Result: Final Round

How did your car run throughout the race weekend?

“The car ran really well all weekend and especially today, on Sunday. And it’s important to stack those round wins, especially early in the season just to keep adding points and accumulating, especially as we get close to the Countdown. Our objective for every race is to put this Toyota dragster in the winner’s circle and unfortunately we didn’t do it this time, but we got a lot of data and a lot of information that we can learn from and we’re already looking forward to Bristol.”

How hard was this semi-final to get to for you this weekend?

“It’s been a little bit difficult, but you kow that’s racing. That’s why you race on Sunday and not necessarily Friday and Saturday. Just really proud of our Phillips Connect team. Shawn (Langdon) is tough. He’s another Team Toyota car and we’re going to do our best and put our best foot forward.”

SHAWN LANGDON, DHL Toyota Top Fuel Dragster, Kalitta Motorsports

Final Result: Semi-Finals

After a strong appearance to the semi-final round, what ultimately cost you a trip to the finals?

“We had a solid DHL Toyota dragster this weekend for sure and I would have liked to have made a final round appearance – I definitely think we had something for them today. Unfortunately we blew a blower belt on that semi-final run otherwise I think it would have been a close race to get into the final round.”

How impotant is lane choice in the semi-final round here at Epping?

“I think both lanes are pretty equal here. The last few runs, we’ve been consistent and run 3.76 and 3.79 between both lanes. We kind of struggled there for a while with clutch wear and I think Connie (Kalitta) and Jason (McCulloch) and Kurt (Elliott) have done a good job of getting that back and now we have a good car. We’ll try to pick up on the next run and I’m sure Justin (Ashley) will throw down in the next round too so we need to step it up. For DHL, Toyota and Mac Tools, RevChem and everybody – it’s good to be in the semis, it’s been a while.”

RON CAPPS, NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota GR Supra Funny Car, Ron Capps Motorsports

Final Result: Semi-Finals

How do you feel about getting the win in Round 2 over John Force?

“It’s still weird. I stood next to him the other night doing an interview during qualifying and as a kid, I was up in the grandstands watching him dominate when I was a younger guy. So now to stand next to him or take it a step further, to stage next to him on the biggest stage in the world. That was a big match. The GR Supra, we’re just getting more and more of a handle on it and it’s got so much more potential and it gets better gas mileage so thank you Toyota. That was a big matchup in the points and everything. Everybody wants that first Toyota Supra win. That GR badge is a big deal. If we can get that first win, that would be huge.”

J.R. TODD, DHL Toyota GR Supra Funny Car, Kalitta Motorsports

Final Result: Semi-Finals

After making it to the semi-finals, what more did you need to get into the final round?

“Bummed the win light didn’t come on, but from the way we started the weekend to now, that’s a win in itself. Probably one run short of where we needed to be, but proud of these guys on this DHL GR Supra team – proud of all of their hard work. They overcame a lot of struggles this weekend and we picked up some points today. I just want to win one of these bad.”

#

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.

Toyota Racing – NCS Gateway Post-Race Report – 06.05.22

By
Official Release
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BUSCH BROTHERS SCORE PODIUM FINISHES IN CUP SERIES DEBUT AT GATEWAY
Kyle Busch scores his series leading 11th top-10 finish

MADISON, Ill. (June 5, 2022) – Kyle Busch (second) and Kurt Busch (third) led Toyota with top-three finishes in the debut event at the World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway on Sunday evening.

Toyota Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway
Race 15 of 36 – 300 miles, 240 laps

TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Joey Logano*
2nd, KYLE BUSCH
3rd, KURT BUSCH
4th, Ryan Blaney*
5th, Aric Almirola*
6th, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
9th, CHRISTOPHER BELL
26th, BUBBA WALLACE
34th, DENNY HAMLIN
*non-Toyota driver

TOYOTA QUOTES

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Snickers Toyota Camry TRD, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 2nd

Can you walk me through the pass in the end?

“My car was better on the outside, but it took a few laps for it to get rolling up there. Cold tires, firing off on that restart – didn’t have the help behind me. I was going to put my hand out the window and signal to Kurt (Busch) to push me along and Joey (Logano) was half a car back out my window trying to see it, so the hand signal was going to be irrelevant, so I didn’t do it, which kind of made Kurt too far back. Got into turn one by myself and was too far back. When you are the guy on the inside, you just flush the guy on the outside and it’s over. I got a crossover though but threw it into (turn) three too far. It chattered all four tires. Just didn’t have any grip to get off the corner well enough to be on his outside, so I don’t know. Way better than Phoenix overall. We were more in the running than there for sure. The guys on this JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing), Toyota, Snickers, M&M’s, Interstate Batteries, Rowdy Energy, Breathe Right team did a good job to improve and it’s something to work off of.”

KURT BUSCH, No. 45 Monster Energy Toyota Camry TRD, 23XI Racing

Finishing Position: 3rd

What more did you need on that final restart?

“I thought there was going to be a hand signal on when it was going to be go time and I was going to push the hell out of the 18 (Kyle Busch). We did the whole brother miscommunication. We should have won that. There should have been a Toyota in victory lane, a Busch in victory lane. (Joey) Logano, he didn’t do anything smart – we just messed up on getting the launch. Then I wanted Kyle all on my own running 1-2, but what an awesome day for our Monster Toyota. We won a stage. I gambled on that, and then the team had my back.”

#

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.

Power executes pit strategy to win final IndyCar event at Belle Isle

By
Andrew Kim
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Photo by Tim Jarrold for SpeedwayMedia.com.

For the first time in 10 months, Will Power raced his way to Victory Lane in the NTT IndyCar Series after utilizing a bold pit strategy to fend off Alexander Rossi and win the final Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix at Belle Isle Street Circuit on Sunday, June 5.

The 41-year-old Power from Toowoomba, Australia, rolled off the starting grid in 16th place, but had the primary black compound tires, strategy and speed favoring him in the early stages as he cycled his way into the lead by Lap 14 while some that started on the soft red alternative compound tires, including Rossi, pitted early. After pitting for the first time by Lap 25, Power remained out in front by a large margin over the field. Once he pitted with 20 laps remaining for the red compound tires, the battle was left between him and Rossi, who was on a three-tire pit strategy but had the tires and the speed to pursue Power. Despite erasing Power’s advantage as the laps dwindled, Power managed to preserve his tires and have enough muscle in his car to beat Rossi by a little more than a second to capture his first IndyCar victory of the season.

With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Josef Newgarden won the final pole position at Belle Isle after recording a pole-winning lap at 112.477 mph in one minute, 15.2153 seconds. Joining him on the front was Takuma Sato, who clocked in a qualifying lap at 112.278 mph in one minute, 15.3490 seconds.

When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Newgarden took off with the lead through the first two turns and Simon Pagenaud moved into the runner-up spot while Helio Castroneves and Takuma Sato battled for third place.

Through the 14-turn circuit and when the field returned to the start/finish line, Newgarden led the first lap ahead of Pagenaud, Castroneves, Sato and Pato O’Ward while Colton Herta, David Malukas, Marcus Ericsson, Alexander Rossi and Scott McLaughlin were in the top 10.

Through the first five laps of the event, Newgarden was leading by half a second over Pagenaud followed by Castroneves, Sato, O’Ward, Herta, David Malukas, Ericsson, McLaughlin and Will Power. By then, Graham Rahal, who cut a tire after scrapping the Turn 2 wall during the opening laps of the event, retired. During this, Rinus VeeKay made an early pit stop under green. 

Shortly after, names like Alexander Rossi, who started on red alternative tires, and Conor Daly pitted along with David Malukas and Santino Ferrucci as the tire pit strategy for the competitors and teams commenced. Felix Rosenqvist would also pit a few laps later.

By Lap 10, Newgarden continued to lead by more than three seconds over Pagenaud followed by Castroneves, O’Ward and Power while Scott Dixon, Herta, Alex Palou, Kyle Kirkwood and Christian Lundgaard were in the top 10. By then, Sato surrendered his spot in the top five to pit under green.

Four laps later, Will Power muscled his No. 12 Verizon Dallara-Chevrolet past teammate Newgarden’s No. 2 Hitachi Dallara-Chevrolet to take the lead in Turn 3. Two turns later, Scott Dixon moved his No. 9 PNC Bank Dallara-Honda into the runner-up spot as Palou engaged in a battle with Newgarden for third place, which he prevailed.

At the Lap 20 mark, Power was leading by more than two seconds over Dixon followed by Palou, Kirkwood and Rossi while Devlin DeFrancesco, VeeKay, David Malukas. Dalton Kellett and Conor Day were in the top 10. By then, a wave of competitors like Newgarden, O’Ward, Herta, Ericsson and Pagenaud pitted under green. Castroneves and Romain Grosjean also made their pit stops. A few laps earlier, Scott McLaughlin overshot and stalled his car in Turn 3, though he continued without needing assistance.

Five laps later, Power, who continued to run on the same black tires he started with in the event, extended his advantage to more than five seconds over Dixon followed by Palou, DeFrancesco and VeeKay. During the following lap, however, Power surrendered the lead to pit. Teammates Dixon and Palou would also pit as Power cycled his way back to the lead. By then, Daly, VeeKay, Malukas and Jack Harvey pitted as the strategy cycle continued. Meanwhile, Helio Castroneves retired due to an electrical glitch to his No. 06 SiriusXM Dallara-Honda.

By the Lap 30 mark, reports of precipitation were being made near the circuit as Power continued to lead by more than four seconds over Dixon.

At the halfway mark on Lap 35, Power was out in front by more than six seconds over Dixon and more than eight seconds over Palou. Rossi and Kirkwood filled in the top five while Newgarden, O’Ward, Pagenaud, Ericsson and Herta were in the top 10. By then, VeeKay, Malukas, Felix Rosenqvist, Daly and Sato were in the top 15 followed by Romain Grosjean, Jack Harvey, Lundgaard, DeFrancesco and Santino Ferrucci were in the top 20. Meanwhile, Jimmie Johnson was in 22nd ahead of Tatiana Calderon and Scott McLaughlin.  

Ten laps later, Power remained as the leader by more than 19 seconds over Rossi while Dixon, Newgarden, O’Ward and Herta pitted under green. By then, Palou also pitted along with Pagenaud. When Lap 47 struck, Rossi made his third pit stop of the event and exited the circuit ahead of Dixon.

With 20 laps remaining, Power, who was leading by more than 35 seconds over Rossi, pitted for tires and fuel under green as he remained more than 35 seconds ahead of Rossi. By then, Kirkwood, who pitted a lap earlier after making contact with the wall, retired in his pit stall due to a broken tow link to Kirkwood’s No. 14 Dallara-Chevrolet.

Five laps later, Power remained as the leader, but only by less than 13 seconds as Rossi continued to narrow the gap between himself and Power. Dixon remained in third followed by Newgarden and O’Ward.

Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Power continued to lead by more than 12 seconds over Rossi while third-place Dixon trailed by more than 15 seconds.

With five laps remaining, Power was leading by eight seconds over Rossi, who continued to close in to Power’s Chevrolet.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Power, whose rear tires were wearing out, was leading by two-and-a-half seconds over Rossi, who had Power within his sights. With Rossi unable to mount a final charge as he ran out of turns, however, Power nursed his car back to the finish line in Turn 14 as he beat Rossi by a second for the victory.

The victory was Power’s first checkered flag in the IndyCar Series since winning at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course in August 2021, his third at Belle Isle and the 41st of his illustrious career, which moved Power to be one victory behind Michael Andretti for fourth place on the all-time wins list. It also extended Power’s winning streak to 16 consecutive seasons. The victory was also redemption for Power, who dominated the first of two Belle Isle doubleheader events a year ago before a power issue plagued Power’s hopes of winning.

Photo by Ray MacAloney / CDN-R.com.

“I just drove [the car] as straight as I could,” Power, who led a race-high 55 of 70 laps and leads the championship standings by three points, said on NBC. “Never put any slip in it. I was just driving it really straight and really nice on the brakes, on the throttle. I knew that if I could keep a reasonable gap to the end, we’d be OK. Man, stellar job by the team. A very enjoyable race because you had to chop through the field and fight hard. Some good passing and really stuck together. The Verizon 5G Chevy in Victory Lane. Man, it’s redemption from last year. I was just waiting for something to happen those last 10 laps, but just stayed laser focused…Man, if you don’t qualify on poles, it’s not the end of it.”

Rossi, whose last IndyCar victory occurred at Road America in June 2019 as he tried to execute a victory on a three-race pit strategy, settled in second place while Dixon, Newgarden and O’Ward finished in the top five.

“I think one more lap would’ve been interesting,” Rossi said. “You got to give credit to the No. 12 guys as well. That’s hard to do at the end, to hang on. Huge thanks to all these boys behind me. The No. 27 NAPA/AutoNation Honda was amazing. Yet again, we come here with an amazing car and can’t quite get the win, but that was a good recovery from yesterday. The strategy was good and we’ll take it. We’re finally executing our potential. It’s been frustrating for a lot of reasons, but the speed’s been there. Just been a lot of factors, but it’s two weeks in a row that this team’s executed in a big way in pressure moments. Big thanks to them and we’ll go into Road America, a place where we’ve had some success. It’d be fitting to come full circle with a win there. Next weekend, we’ll try for that.”

“Going into the race and being one of the lucky few that started on the blacks [tires], you could kind of watch [the race] play out,” Dixon, who completed the event through two pit stops, said. “Kudos to Will [Power]. He drove aggressively at the start, jumped us and he was on the same strategy. Rossi did a hell of a job as well, especially with those reds [tires] on the first stint. It just feels good for the No. 9 to be back on the podium. It’s been a little bit for us and hopefully, we get on a roll here, but kudos to everybody at Honda. It was a fun race.”

Alex Palou, Ericsson, Colton Herta, Pagenaud and Felix Rosenqvist completed the top 10 on the track. Meanwhile, Rinus VeeKay fell back to 16th after wrecking on the final lap.

Sunday’s event marked the 30th and final IndyCar event held at Belle Isle Street Circuit. The IndyCar Series will be returning to the streets of Downtown Detroit, Michigan, in 2023 with a date yet to be announced.

Results.

1. Will Power, 55 laps led

2. Alexander Rossi

3. Scott Dixon, one lap led

4. Josef Newgarden, 13 laps led

5. Pato O’Ward

6. Alex Palou, one lap led

7. Marcus Ericsson

8. Colton Herta

9. Simon Pagenaud

10. Felix Rosenqvist

11. David Malukas

12. Conor Daly

13. Takuma Sato

14. Christian Lundgaard

15. Jack Harvey

16. Rinus VeeKay

17. Romain Grosjean

18. Devlin DeFrancesco

19. Scott McLaughlin

20. Dalton Kellett

21. Santino Ferrucci

22. Jimmie Johnson  

23. Tatiana Calderon

24. Kyle Kirkwood – OUT

25. Helio Castroneves – OUT

26. Graham Rahal – OUT, Contact

Next on the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series schedule is the Sonsio Grand Prix of Road America at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. The event is scheduled to occur on Sunday, June 12, at 12:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

JACOB BORST WINS LATE MODEL THRILLER AT SOUTH BOSTON SPEEDWAY

By
Official Release
-
Jacob Borst of Elon, North Carolina (left) is congratulated by Bojangles Unit Director Shane Cullen (right) in Victory Lane following his victory in the 100-lap NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Late Model Stock Car Division race that highlighted Saturday night’s Bojangles Prelude To The 200 event at South Boston Speedway. Photo Courtesy Joe Chandler/South Boston Speedway

By Joe Chandler
Director, Public Relations
South Boston Speedway

SOUTH BOSTON, Va. (June 5, 2022) — Jacob Borst edged defending NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series and defending South Boston Speedway champion Peyton Sellers in one of the closest and most exciting finishes in recent memory, surviving a metal-banging side-by-side battle over the last few feet to the finish line to win the 100-lap NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Late Model Stock Car Division race that headlined Saturday night’s Bojangles Prelude To The 200 event at South Boston Speedway.

Borst got the nose of his car in front of Sellers at the finish line to win by a scant .030-second.

“I’ve had a lot of crazy races, and that was definitely the craziest end-of-race I’ve had,” the Elon, North Carolina resident said after the thrilling last-lap pass on the outside that enabled him to collect his second win of the season at South Boston Speedway.

“That’s racing. You’re racing for the win. You’re racing hard and putting on a show for the fans. It just turned out in our favor.”

While Sellers was denied what would have been his second win of the season at South Boston Speedway, he took it in stride.

“That’s what short track racing is all about,” Sellers remarked of the exciting final-lap battle. “That’s why South Boston Speedway is what it is. It’s not easy to win here.”

Sellers appeared to have the race in hand. He took the lead when Borst had to pit during a mid-race caution period to have his crew fix an exhaust pipe that had become loose. The pit stop forced Borst to restart the race at the rear of the lead-lap cars in the field.

Another top challenger in the field, Layne Riggs of Bahama, North Carolina, who had won seven of the track’s first nine races, also encountered trouble. Riggs started the race at the rear of the field in an attempt to collect bonus points toward the national championship. He got up to third place, but just after the midway point of the race a flat tire sent him into a spin and forced him to have to make a pit stop to get the tire changed.

All was well for Sellers until a caution flag flew with two laps to go, creating a green-white-checker finish with Sellers, and Borst, who had driven back up through the field, starting on the front row.

“We were going to win the race if it had stayed green, but we had a green-white-checker finish and I came out on the short end of it,” Seller explained. “I cleared Borst one time, and I started to move up the track. But, I said ‘no, I’m not going to open the door on the bottom of the track for him to come back across me to the inside, so I left the door open on the top side. He got up there, stood in the gas, and it worked out for him.

“Long story short, we came up a little bit short,” added Sellers. “We came up a little bit short, and he (Borst) did what he had to.”

Borst said having to go to the rear of the field and come back to win the race “is pretty amazing. It’s one of the best wins I’ve ever had. Racing against Peyton, the national champion, at the end, a guy I grew up watching and wanting to be like, is pretty cool. I’m very thankful for that dream to come true for me.”

Chris Denny of Timberlake, North Carolina finished third, right behind Borst and Sellers. Riggs rallied to finish fourth and Landon Pembelton of Amelia, Virginia rounded out the top five finishers.

There were two lead changes between Borst and Sellers, with Borst leading twice for a total of 51 laps and Sellers leading once for 49 laps.

The race was slowed by four caution periods.

KYLE BARNES, JASON MYERS SPLIT WINS IN BUDWEISER LIMITED SPORTSMAN DIVISION TWINBILL
Kyle Barnes of Draper, Virginia and Jason Myers of Hurt, Virginia split wins in Saturday night’s pair of 30-lap Budweiser Limited Sportsman Division races.

Barnes took the lead from Myers with nine laps to go and went on to edge Daniel Crews by .418-second to earn his fourth win of the season at South Boston Speedway. Chris Donnelly of Montross, Virginia finished third, Carter Russo of Rougemont, North Carolina finished fourth and Zach Peregoy of Clarksville, Virginia rounded out the top five finishers.

Myers, the pole winner, was involved in a late-race mishap and finished eighth.

With the top eight finishers of the opening-race being inverted for the start of the second 30-lap race Justin Dawson of Nathalie, Virginia started on the front row alongside Myers.

Dawson led the first 17 laps of the race before Myers squeezed past him to take the lead. Myers went on to win the race and claim his second victory of the season at South Boston Speedway. Dawson finished second, 1.012-seconds behind Myers with Donnelly scoring a third-place finish. Crews and Barnes completed the top five finishers.

The first race was slowed by two caution periods. There was only one caution period in the second race.

JOHNNY LAYNE TOPS THE FIELD IN THE 25-LAP SOUTHSIDE DISPOSAL PURE STOCK DIVISION RACE
Johnny Layne of Halifax, Virginia won Saturday night’s 25-lap Southside Disposal Pure Stock Division race to earn his third win of the season at South Boston Speedway, breaking a four-race winless streak in the process.

Layne won his fourth pole of the season in qualifying and scored a flag-to-flag victory, edging fellow Halifax, Virginia resident Scott Phillips by .649-second. Jarrett Milam of Keeling, Virginia finished third with Jeb Redman of LaCrosse, Virginia and Jimmy Wade of Halifax, Virginia rounding out the top five finishers.

DILLON DAVIS CAPTURES FIRST CAREER HORNETS DIVISION VICTORY
Dillon Davis calls it “a dream come true.”
The Nathalie, Virginia resident won Saturday night’s 20-lap Hornets Division race and captured his first career win.

Davis sped past pole winner Jared Dawson of Nathalie, Virginia with six laps to go and crossed the finish line 1.388 seconds ahead of Dawson to take the win and become the fifth different winner in the division this season.

Kendall Milam of Keeling, Virginia finished third with two-time former division champion Kevin Currin of Chase City, Virginia taking the fourth spot and Steven Layne of Nathalie, Virginia finishing fifth.

SCOTT HEATH WINS MILLS FAMILY PRACTICE CHAMP KARTS RACE
Scott Heath edged Tommy Elliott of Virgilina, Virginia and Lee Ottaway in an exciting three-wide finish to win the 20-lap race for the Mills Family Practice Champ Karts.

Heath’s margin of victory over Elliott was only .042-second.

Corey Lucas finished fourth and Hunter Murray finished fifth.

A total of 21 karts were in the starting field.

NEXT EVENT AT SOUTH BOSTON SPEEDWAY – SRX (SUPERSTAR RACING EXPERIENCE) EVENT ON JUNE 25
The next event at South Boston Speedway is one that racing fans will not want to miss – the SRX (Superstar Racing Experience) event on Saturday, June 25.

SRX brings together some of the country’s top drivers to go head-to-head in a classic short-track battle on the .4-mile South Boston Speedway oval.

The field for the event includes NASCAR stars Tony Stewart, Ryan Newman, Michael Waltrip, Bobby Labonte and Greg Biffle. Stars from the open-wheel IndyCar racing realm include Helio Castroneves, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Marco Andretti, Paul Tracy, Tony Kaanan and Ernie Francis Jr. Two-time NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series National Champion and six-time South Boston Speedway NASCAR Track Champion Peyton Sellers of Danville, VA will also compete in the event.

A 50-lap race for South Boston Speedway’s Budweiser Limited Sportsman Division will kick off the night’s action at 6 p.m. The SRX event will start at 8 p.m.

All grandstand seating for the June 25 SRX event is reserved seating. Advance reserved seat and general admission tickets may be ordered online by going to the South Boston Speedway website www.southbostonspeedway.com or by calling the speedway office during normal business hours at 1-434-572-4947 or toll free 1-877-440-1540. Trackside tailgating and general admission lawn chair area tickets are also available online.

Fans are encouraged to purchase their tickets as soon as possible to ensure they get tickets and to ensure they get the best available seats for this spectacular special event.

Advance trackside tailgating and general admission lawn chair area tickets are also available for purchase on the speedway website.

There is no child ticket pricing for this special event. Everyone attending the event must purchase a ticket, with the exception of an infant-in-arms that will sit on an individual’s lap.

Persons with ADA needs should purchase a General Admission Lawn Chair ticket. ADA areas are accessible in Turns 3 and 4 or Turns 1 and 2.

South Boston Speedway Results – June 4, 2022
Finishing Position | Car Number | Driver | Laps Completed

Late Model Stock Car (100 Laps)
1 25 Jacob Borst 100
2 26 Peyton Sellers 100
3 2 Chris Denny 100
4 99 Layne Riggs 100
5 0 Landon Pembleton 100
6 01 Camden Gullie 100
7 90 John Goin 100
8 91 Chris Elliott 100
9 06 Terry Dease 100
10 17 Stacy Puryear 100
11 50 Raymond Pittman, III 99
12 82 Trey Dillard 98
13 31 Aaron Donnelly 97
14 04 Larry Barrett 96
15 28 Jason Barnes 46
Budweiser Limited Sportsman #1 (30 Laps)
1 00 Kyle Barnes 30
2 75 Daniel Crews 30
3 47 Chris Donnelly 30
4 21 Carter Russo 30
5 12 Zach Peregoy 30
6 36 Andrew Amos 30
7 88 Justin Dawson 30
8 17 Jason Myers 30
9 62 Ross Mountcasel 30
10 98 JD Eversole 21
11 26 Parker Brookfield 21
12 29 Brian Obiedzenski 21
Budweiser Limited Sportsman #2 (30 Laps)
1 17 Jason Myers 30
2 88 Justin Dawson 30
3 47 Chris Donnelly 30
4 75 Daniel Crews 30
5 00 Kyle Barnes 30
6 98 JD Eversole 30
7 21 Carter Russo 30
8 12 Zach Peregoy 30
9 62 Ross Mountcasel 29
10 36 Andrew Amos 5
Southside Disposal Pure Stock (25 Laps)
1 9 Johnny Layne 25
2 66 Scott Phillips 25
3 2 Jared Milam 25
4 16 Jeb Redman 25
5 61 Jimmy Wade 25
6 76 Drew Turner 24
7 77 Zach Reaves 17
8 12 Andrea Ruotolo 17
9 13 Ken Broadwell 8
Hornets (20 Laps)
1 63 Dillon Davis 20
2 01 Jared Dawson 20
3 50 Kendall Milam 20
4 49 Kevin Currin 20
5 3 Steven Layne 20
6 54 Jason DeCarlo 20
7 02 Colton Moore 19
8 28 Landon Milam 19
9 07 Mitch Newton 19
Mills Family Practice Champ Karts (25 Laps)
1 192 Scott Heath
2 14 Tommy Elliott
3 2 Lee Ottaway
4 55 Corey Lucas
5 88 Hunter Murray
6 121 Josh Ottaway
7 54 Cameron Ham
8 7 Arron Layden
9 28 Josh Eubanks
10 24 Kenny Mills
11 4 Tyler Wray
12 75 Dustin Phillips
13 41 Josh Garner
14 21 Chris Powell
15 O1 Trey Massengill
16 22 Chase Lawson
17 42 Jacob Tingen
18 70 Matt Broughton
19 127 Jimmie Whitehurst
20 118 Justin Tucker
21 56 Mike Owners
22 7x Tripp Dalial

No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-05 Finishes Fourth in Detroit Grand Prix

By
Official Release
-

Belle Isle, Mich. (June 4, 2022) — Ricky Taylor, Filipe Albuquerque and the No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-05 team achieved a fourth-place finish in the Motor City this weekend. The team is now second in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (DPi) standings with four races remaining.

At the drop of the green flag, Taylor got away cleanly into the first corner, driving a fast and consistent opening stint. The American drove strong until he pitted with 59 minutes remaining and Filipe Albuquerque took control of the No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-05 after a perfect pit stop by the Konica Minolta crew.

With strategy proving to play a crucial role throughout the race, the team elected to take an extra pit stop, gambling that the other teams would have to make a final splash and go as well. Unfortunately, the strategy didn’t play out as hoped and Filipe crossed the finish line fifth. Post-race, when a competitor failed Tech Inspection, the No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-05 team moved up to fourth.

“Today was a rough day,” said Ricky Taylor. “The car was strong all weekend and the team did a good giving us a solid race car. A little bit of traffic in the early stages of the race separated us from the two leaders and we decided to make something happen by going off strategy. At the end of the day, we took a chance, and it didn’t pay off. You can’t blame anyone for trying to win the race. We got the lead of the championship by taking risks trying to win, and the team was trying to win the race again today and it didn’t pay off. Unfortunately, we lost a lot of points, but we’ll go to Watkins Glen which is a really good track for us and hopefully make it back up there.”

“Oh boy. Hard race for us,” commented Filipe Albuquerque. “We were having a good weekend and pace, but the race is a good example when everything goes wrong. Ricky and the team did their best, it just didn’t pay off and it was completely wrong. We’re for sure going to analyze and investigate what went wrong. We want to know why it led us to make those decisions. This isn’t typical for Wayne Taylor Racing to do such a race. Starting in the front with a competitive car and finishing so far behind. Oh well. No one is perfect. We just need to analyze and come back stronger.”

“Disappointed,” said team owner Wayne Taylor. “I have nothing else to say because it’s very disappointing. Now we have to regroup and see what happened here. I really don’t know what happened. We had a fast car all weekend until we got to the race and then we had a fuel problem. We tested well at Watkins Glen, so we look ahead to the Six Hours later this month.”

The 2022 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season continues for the No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-05 with the third endurance race of the year, the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen, on June 23rd-26th. Practice 1 begins at 4:30 p.m. ET on June 24th. Green flag for the 6-hour battle waves at 10:40 a.m. ET on Sunday, June 26th. Full coverage can be streamed on Peacock with partial network coverage on USA Network beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET.
ABOUT KONICA MINOLTA

Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. is reshaping and revolutionizing the Workplace of the Future. The company guides and supports its clients’ digital transformation through its expansive office technology portfolio, including IT Services (All Covered), intelligent information management, managed print services and industrial and commercial print solutions. Konica Minolta has been included on CRN’s MSP 500 list nine times and The World Technology Awards recently named the company a finalist in the IT Software category. Konica Minolta has been recognized as the #1 Brand for Customer Loyalty in the MFP Office Copier Market by Brand Keys for fourteen consecutive years, and received Keypoint Intelligence’s BLI 2021 A3 Line of The Year Award and BLI 2021-2023 Most Color Consistent A3 Brand Award for its bizhub i-Series. Konica Minolta, Inc. has been named to the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index for nine consecutive years and has spent four years on the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World list. Konica Minolta partners with its clients to give shape to ideas and works to bring value to our society. For more information, please visit us online and follow Konica Minolta on Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn and Twitter. The No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-05 effort and Wayne Taylor Racing is supported by an outstanding lineup of partners including Harrison Contracting, Acura Motorsports, Hammer Nutrition and CIT.

Allmendinger survives to win the inaugural Xfinity Series event at Portland

By
Andrew Kim
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Photo by Corey Grantham for SpeedwayMedia.com.

From last place to Victory Lane, AJ Allmendinger persevered over a four-lap shootout and a battle with Myatt Snider to win the inaugural Pacific Office Automation 147 at Portland International Raceway on Saturday, June 4.

The 40-year-old Allmendinger from Los Gatos, California, led twice for a total of six of 75 laps and rallied from going off the course and making an unscheduled pit stop to clean his grille, where he eventually lost a lap to the leaders and went off course a few more times throughout the event, to methodically carve his way back to the front and place himself in late contention for the win while a majority of the field endured a series of on-track carnages around the 12-turn circuit amid wet conditions. Then during a four-lap restart to the finish, Allmendinger battled, bumped and overtook Snider to take the lead as he went on to grab the wildest victory of his racing career.

Following a rain-shortened on-track qualifying session on Friday, Anthony Alfredo notched his first career pole position after notching a pole-winning lap at 93.229 mph in 76.071 seconds. Joining him on the front row was rookie Austin Hill, who clocked in a qualifying lap at 92.973 mph in 76.280 seconds.

Prior to the event, the following competitors that included Ryan Vargas, Josh Berry, AJ Allmendinger, Myatt Snider, Darren Dilley, Ryan Sieg and Mason Filippi dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to their respective cars. In addition, Noah Gragson started at the rear of the field after wrecking his primary car during Friday’s practice session along with Josh Williams, who missed the driver introductions.

When the green flag waved and the race started amid wet conditions, Daniel Hemric made a three-wide move on both Alfredo and Hill to assume the lead through the first two turns. Through the first two turns, however, Alfredo and Hill missed the turn and went off the course while Sam Mayer was turned and spun as the field stacked up. As the field continued to run under green, AJ Allmendinger, who went off the course while coming to the green flag and got grass over his grille, made an unscheduled pit stop.

Following the completion of the first lap and through the 12-turn circuit amid the wet conditions, Creed, who overtook Alfredo for the lead, led the first lap followed by Gibbs and Hemric while Alfredo and Hill were in the top five. Connor Mosack, who was making his Xfinity Series debut in Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 18 Toyota Supra, was in sixth followed by Brett Moffitt, Riley Herbst, Jeremy Clements and Justin Allgaier.

During the second lap, Gibbs, who battled Creed throughout the circuit, moved into the lead, where he went on to lead the lap, while Hemric, Hill and Moffitt were in the top five. By then, Allmendinger went off the course in Turn 5 as he lost more ground to the leaders.

Two laps later, Justin Allgaier spun and went off the course in Turn 5 while running in the top 10, though the race continued to run under green.

By the fifth lap, Gibbs continued to lead by nearly four seconds over Creed followed by Hill, Moffitt and Hemric while Connor Mosack. Riley Herbst, Jeb Burton, Alfredo and Parker Chase were scored in the top 10.

Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Gibbs remained out in front by more than 12 seconds over Creed followed by Hill, Moffitt and Mosack. By then, Allmendinger was lapped by the field in 32nd place. In addition, Noah Gragson went off the course in Turn 5 while running in the top 15.

Three laps later, the first caution of the event flew due to Mayer slowing on the track as he sustained front-end damage after running into the rear of Alex Labbe due to Labbe reducing his pace while trying to avoid a spinning Brandon Jones. The damage was enough to end Mayer’s event on pit road and with a damaged race car.

When the race restarted on Lap 16, Gibbs rubbed and fended off Creed and Hill to retain the lead through the first two turns. As the field made their way back to the start/finish line, Gibbs was ahead by two seconds over Creed followed by Hill, Moffitt and Riley Herbst while Mosack, Hemric, Cassill, Jeb Burton and Alex Labbe were in the top 10.

During the following lap, Creed went off course and spun in Turn 4 as he dropped out of the top 10 while Hill, Herbst, Connor Mosack and Hemric moved up the leaderboard behind Gibbs.

At the Lap 20 mark, Gibbs extended his advantage to more than 10 seconds over Hill while Herbst, Mosack and Hemric remained in the top five. By then, Brandon Jones and Gragson missed the chicane and served a brief “stop and go” penalty on the course before continuing under green.

When the first stage concluded on Lap 25, Gibbs claimed his third stage victory of the 2022 Xfinity season. Hill settled in second followed by Mosack, Hemric, Moffitt, Alex Labbe, Gragson, Cassill, Brandon Jones and Justin Allgaier. By then, the on-track carnages under the slick conditions continued as Allgaier, Riley Herbst and Allmendinger had slipped off the course earlier.

During the stage break, the competitors pitted and the crew members were given three minutes to service the cars with the competitors maintaining their positions from the first stage.

The second stage started on Lap 26 as Gibbs retained the lead ahead of Hill, Mosack and the field. Through Turns 3 and 4, however, chaos ensued when Riley Herbst got turned by Creed as he was then hit by Gray Gaulding. With Matt Jackal and Darren Dilley also involved, the caution returned.

When the race proceeded under green on Lap 31, Gibbs maintained the lead ahead of Hill and Connor Mosack as the field made their way through the first two turns before entering Turns 3 and 4. During the following lap, Hill missed the chicane while running in third place. In the process, Clements went off the course in Turn 4 while Ryan Sieg spun on the course. 

As the on-track carnage continued with Labbe, Hemric and Moffitt all going off the course in their separate incidents, the caution flew due to mud between Turns 11 and 12 on Lap 39. At the same time, Jesse Iwuji was parked for two laps in his pit stall after turning the leader Gibbs on the track.

When the race proceeded under green on Lap 43, another stack-up towards the front resulted with Brandon Jones getting hit and spinning in Turn 1 while Gragson challenged and overtook Gibbs to lead. Then in Turn 5, Gibbs bumped into, and turned, Gragson’s No. 9 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro in Turn 5 as Creed took the lead. Shortly after, however, Creed and Gibbs got together in Turn 12 and spun while battling for the lead as the No. 44 Alpha Prime Racing Chevrolet Camaro piloted by road-course ringer Andy Lally emerged with the lead. 

By Lap 45, Clements spun in Turn 11 and Moffitt spun while running in the runner-up spot as Lally continued to lead. Two laps later, however, Myatt Snider moved into the lead over Lally. In the midst of the battle for the lead, Allmendinger and Jeb Burton each went off the course.

When the second stage concluded on Lap 50, Snider claimed his first Xfinity stage victory of the season. Lally settled in second followed by Hill, Cassill, Berry, Alfredo, Allgaier, Allmendinger, Creed and Jade Buford.

Following another intermission, the final stage started with 23 laps remaining. At the start and as the field fanned out through the first three turns, Snider maintained the lead ahead of Lally while Cassill, Hill and Alfredo were in the top five. It did not take long, however, for the caution to return due to debris spotted in Turn 1. 

Three laps later, the race restarted under green as Snider retained the lead ahead of Lally, Cassill and Allmendinger. Through the first turn, however, a number of competitors that included Creed, Jeb Burton, Labbe, Hemric, Brandon Jones and Spencer Pumpelly all spun and wrecked despite the race proceeding under green. In the midst of the carnage, the caution returned due to fluid on the course. During the caution period, Creed, whose No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Camaro sustained heavy front nose damage, made an obscene gesture towards Jade Buford to express his displeasure over being bumped and turned by Buford during the previous restart.

Down to the final 13 laps of the event, the race restarted under green. At the start, Snider overshot the first turn as Allmendinger assumed command followed by Allgaier before Snider fought back entering Turn 3. Behind, Moffitt got turned sideways through Turns 3 and 4 as Mosack, Spencer Pumpelly, Bayley Currey and pole-sitter Anthony Alfredo were all sent sideways with damage to their respective cars. The caution soon followed due to the carnage between Turns 3 and 4. By then, the rain was also slowly returning near the circuit. 

Under the caution period, nearly the entire field led by Allmendinger pitted for rain tires while Jade Buford and JJ Yeley remained on the track.

Down to the final seven laps of the event, the race restarted under green. At the start and as the field fanned out to multiple lanes, Allgaier, Cassill and Lally spun with Gibbs and Stefan Parsons sustaining damage while Snider and Allmendinger dueled for the lead. Just as Snider fended off Allmendinger to retain the lead, the caution flew yet again due to debris on the course. By then, the rain had dissipated.

With four laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Snider fended off Allmendinger to lead through the first three turns as the field jostled for positions. Not long after, however, Allmendinger, who was in last place prior to the first lap, emerged with the top spot with Berry, Hill and Hemric in the top five. Behind, Ryan Sieg spun while the race continued to run under green flag conditions.

During the following lap, Allmendinger was ahead by seven-tenths of a second over Snider followed by Berry, Hill and Hemric while Yeley, Gibbs, Allgaier, Brandon Jones and Gragson were in the top 10.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Allmendinger continued to lead by a second-and-a-half over Snider. With Snider unable to narrow the deficit between himself and the leader, Allmendinger navigated his way through the 12-turn circuit smoothly and cycled his way back to the finish line to grab the first checkered flag and conquer the first Xfinity event in Portland, Oregon.

With the victory, Allmendinger notched his third consecutive road course victory in the Xfinity circuit, his eighth overall in the series, his second of the season after winning at Circuit of the Americas in March and the 12th of his career in his 74th series start. He also became the fourth Xfinity Series regular to achieve multiple victories in 2022.

“Oh my god,” Allmendinger, who is pulling double-duty service for Kaulig Racing and is set to compete in Sunday’s Cup Series event at Gateway, said on FS1. “All the men and women at Kaulig Racing deserve that. I was awful. I cannot believe I crashed before we went green. I was off the race track, I think, four times. [I] Made all kinds of mistakes, was all over the place. Just proud of everybody on this Nutrien Ag Solutions Chevy.

“I was melting down in the car, honestly, making so many mistakes, trying so hard. I put so much pressure on myself at these races because I know what everybody expects. I know what I expect out of myself more importantly, but god, what a win. It might be one of the craziest wins I’ve ever had. Most mistakes ever to win a race, for sure, but all the fans at Portland for staying out here. This place is packed. Sixteen years ago, I won, this month, my first Champ Car race and it’s surreal that I get to do this…In these conditions, I knew that if I could get to the lead, I could kind of dictate it. I was fighting hard there, but Myatt [Snider] did a great job. He’s always fast on these road courses. Fun racing, just insanity, but thank everybody at Chevy that allows us to do this. Thank you, everybody.”

Snider notched his first top-five result of the season by finishing in second place followed by Austin Hill while Berry and Allgaier finished in the top five.

“I think, just AJ’s experience [beat me],” Snider said. “I could tell he was setting up those exits better than I was. Everywhere else, we were neck-to-neck. To me, that’s good hard racing. It’s not like he dumped me for no reason or spun me out or anything. He just got into me a little bit and all those restarts were extremely rough. For him to just kind of rub my door a little bit, that’s racing to me. It’s what this Xfinity Series is all about. It’s so cool to be disappointed with second. The team that’s only a year and a half old and to get a stage win, it’s the first stage win, probably, first top three [finish] with this car. Just can’t say enough about the boys from Jordan Anderson Racing. It’s a great day to be disappointed with second, but still disappointed.”

Hemric, Gibbs, Yeley, Gragson and Alex Labbe completed the top 10 on the track.

There were eight lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured nine cautions for 26 laps. A total of 21 of the 38 starters finished on the lead lap in the first Xfinity event at Portland.

With 12 races remaining of the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series regular-season stretch, AJ Allmendinger leads the regular-season standings by 43 points over Ty Gibbs, 44 over Noah Gragson and 64 over Josh Berry and Justin Allgaier.

Ty Gibbs, AJ Allmendinger, Noah Gragson, Josh Berry, Justin Allgaier, 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, Daniel Hemric, Landon Cassill, Riley Herbst and Ryan Sieg occupy the remaining vacant spots to the Playoffs based on points. Anthony Alfredo trails the top-12 cutline by 58 points, Jeb Burton trails by 67, Brett Moffit trails by 71, Brandon Brown trails by 72 and Sheldon Creed trails by 73.

Results.

1. AJ Allmendinger, six laps led

2. Myatt Snider, 19 laps led, Stage 2 winner

3. Austin Hill

4. Josh Berry

5. Justin Allgaier

6. Daniel Hemric

7. Ty Gibbs, 42 laps led, Stage 1 winner

8. JJ Yeley

9. Noah Gragson

10. Alex Labbe

11. Brandon Jones

12. Brandon Brown

13. Scott Heckert

14. Jade Buford, four laps led

15. Landon Cassill

16. Ryan Sieg

17. Andy Lally, three laps led

18. Matt Jaskol

19. Patrick Emerling

20. Brett Moffitt

21. Joe Graf Jr.

22. Josh Williams, one lap down

23. Ryan Vargas, two laps down

24. Stefan Parsons, two laps down

25. Mason Filippi, three laps down

26. Jesse Iwuji, four laps down

27. Parker Chase – OUT, Accident

28. Connor Mosack – OUT, Accident

29. Spencer Pumpelly – OUT, Accident

30. Bayley Currey – OUT, Accident

31. Anthony Alfredo – OUT, Accident

32. Sheldon Creed – OUT, one lap led

33. Jeb Burton – OUT, Accident

34. Jeremy Clements – OUT, Accident

35. Riley Herbst – OUT, Accident

36. Gray Gaulding – OUT, Accident

37. Darren Dilley – OUT, Accident

38. Sam Mayer – OUT, Accident

The 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series season will be taking a two-week break period before returning to action at Nashville Superspeedway on June 25. The event is scheduled to start at 3:30 p.m. ET on USA Network, which will mark the network’s debut airing NASCAR Xfinity events.

Cadillac closes the Belle Isle era with convincing victory

By
Official Release
-

Bourdais, van der Zande earn second win of season; Bamber, Lynn battle for third place

DETROIT (June 4, 2022) – A soak in the James Scott Memorial Fountain was a refreshing reward after a grueling, fast-paced 100-minute race for Sebastien Bourdais and Renger van der Zande, who co-drove the No. 01 V-Performance Academy Cadillac DPi-V.R to victory in the final IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race on Belle Isle.

It was the second consecutive victory for the No. 01 Cadillac on the 2.3-mile, 14-turn street circuit, and the fourth in five races in the DPi era for Cadillac. Bourdais and van der Zande also won on the Long Beach street circuit in April.

“It was definitely not the easiest race we have ever won, but I am super proud of everyone on the 01 Cadillac team,” said Bourdais, who set the track qualifying lap record a day earlier in earning his fourth pole of the season. “Renger brought it home. It was a hard fight, but it is that much sweeter when you win it.”

The No. 02 Cadillac Accessories Cadillac DPi-V.R, co-driven by Alex Lynn and Earl Bamber, claimed third place, while the hard-charging No. 31 Whelen Engineering DPi-V.R driven by Olivier Pla and Pipo Derani finished fourth. In post-race inspection, the Action Express Racing entry was penalized for being underweight and was relegated to sixth in the order. Tristan Vautier and Richard Westbrook drove the No. 5 Mustang Sampling DPi-V.R to a fifth-place finish, and took the No. 31 entry’s fourth place following inspection.

“A very spirited race. Congratulations to all the Cadillac teams today. It’s awesome to be back on the podium and to be taking two places including the top spot,” said Rory Harvey, Cadillac Global Vice President.

A Cadillac led all 73 laps in the first caution-free race at Belle Isle. The No. 01 V-Performance Academy DPi-V.R made up 65 points in the championship race this weekend and sits fourth through six rounds.

“We got it done. We’ve had some trouble this year. It is good to get it behind us so we can look forward and win some more races hopefully,” added van der Zande, who recorded his 17th IMSA race victory.

Going off-strategy, Derani took the wheel from Pla on a Lap 10 service stop and proceeded to go on a tear, re-setting the race lap record four times between Laps 21 and 27. He pitted on Lap 40 with 44 minutes left and continued his march to the front, recovering 29 seconds and lowering the race lap record to 1 minute, 18.877 seconds.

A spirited battle with the No. 02 Cadillac Accessories Cadillac DPi-V.R through the final 18 minutes added more drama to podium speculation.

“The car was on rails,” said Derani, the reigning DPi champion. “We were pushing, pushing and the Cadillac was running really well. Thanks to the team.”

The Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen on the 3.4-mile, 11-turn is up next for Cadillac teams on June 26.
An interview with the race winners:

TALK ABOUT HOW IMPORTANT THIS WIN IS FOR YOU IN DETROIT.
Bourdais: “After the pole, winning on Cadillac’s home ground was the expectation. The team worked really hard to fix all my mishaps from yesterday. Hats off to them to get us a great car and a reliable one. I couldn’t be happier for everyone and especially for Cadillac. It was a tough race. The 60 was really quick. They managed to save at least as much fuel as we did and then pressured both of us the whole time. It was definitely not easy but makes it that much more rewarding.”

TALK ABOUT YOUR STINT AND KEEPING THOSE CARS IN YOUR MIRRORS THE WHOLE TIME.
Van der Zande: “It’s a beautiful day. At the end I had to make it a bit more exciting with all the fuel saving and they bunched up behind me and had a go at it. But super happy for a dual podium as well. Seb did a fantastic job in qualifying; that’s what made the difference in this race. We could manage it from the beginning to the end and that’s what I did when I got in the car. He gave me a little bit of a gap, so I didn’t have to fight anyone coming out of the pits and took it home from there. I’ll take the honor of jumping in the fountain, but I think Seb definitely made it easy for me. It’s a good points day. It’s never over till it’s over. The only thing we need to do is keep winning races and see where we end up in the championship.”

YOU TOOK 65 POINTS OFF IN ONE WEEKEND AND A LONG WAY TO GO.
Van der Zande: “Like I said, let’s keep winning races and see where we end up. We had a tough beginning of the year. Not only for us drivers but the whole team. It’s kind of hard to get past mechanicals and at Mid-Ohio I had a bit of a an off-course because of touching with the 10 car. You need to be a bit lucky, but the only luck you can make is by winning races.”
Cadillac Racing from the cockpit

No. 01 V-Performance Academy Cadillac DPi-V.R
Sebastien Bourdais: “It was definitely not the easiest race we have ever won, but I am super proud of everyone on the 01 Cadillac team. Renger brought it home. It was a hard fight, but it is that much sweeter when you win it.”

Renger van der Zande: “For sure I was a little worried about fuel. It was a bit of a gamble for everybody. That’s why some pitted, but we didn’t. We have great strategy on the pit wall. We have a guy who can save a lot of fuel so I could go a little longer. When there was a gap, I was lifting massively. And then when there was traffic, give it a little bit more. We got it done. We had some trouble this year. It is good to get it behind us so we can look forward and win some more races hopefully.”

No. 02 Cadillac Accessories Cadillac DPi-V.R
Alex Lynn: “Very intense race with a lot of fuel saving in both stints. I really tried to maximize how much fuel capacity we have in the car and it was a game of playing with it all day. I think P3 was a good result.”

Earl Bamber: “To be honest, both the 01 and 02 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillacs this weekend were phenomenal. We were in fourth and came through and caught the car in third – the 31. He did a big move in Turn 1 and later on he got checked up and we were able to get by. Podium finish and good for championship points, and good to get a Cadillac 1-3. Awesome for the 01. They’ve had such a tough time this season it is well deserved.”

No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R
Olivier Pla: “I was trying to make position at the start and overtake the 02 in the outside of Turn 3, but it didn’t pay off so I got stuck behind the 5 car. So we decided to change the strategy and the team did an amazing job to give Pipo some good laps with little traffic. He pushed really hard and was able to make up a lot of time. He drove a fantastic race. It’s the first time for me; starting in Detroit wasn’t easy. The team did a fantastic job this weekend. We know we have the car and we have good expectations for the next one.

Pipo Derani: “We didn’t have track position, so we went to a different strategy to go flat out to the end. We did, but it’s hard when you don’t have track position and you have to race so much. I sure was risking it a lot. I got myself up to third. Tried a gap to get past the 60 but had a bad exit and unfortunately lost third position again. The car was on rails. We were pushing, pushing and the Cadillac was running really well. Thanks to the team. It’s unfortunate that we pushed that much but come home fourth. But we showed why we are here. Hopefully, we can push ourselves up higher in qualifying, which would help us, especially on a racetrack like this one where it’s nearly impossible to pass.”

No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R
Richard Westbrook: “We’re disappointed. It’s been below our standard this year. It’s been difficult to get a good feel for the car. But in the race I think we made a big step forward. We’re much closer to the pack and improved the car, and I think we have lots to think about for the next race and lots of good things to take away.”

Tristan Vautier: “A difficult weekend for us. It seems in the race we made some progress, but it wasn’t quite enough to get us up there. We’re pushing and working hard to find what’s missing. We’ll continue to work hard to take steps forward and being strong at Watkins Glen. We have two test days there with Loic Duval because Richard and I will be at Le Mans. We’ll hopefully be back to the form that we were earlier in the season.”
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. Cadillac’s media website with information, images and video can be found at media.cadillac.com.

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