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How to Choose a Fire Suit

By
SM
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Photo by Pixabay

Did you know that most fire-related deaths occur from smoke inhalation and not direct burning? In most cases, fire-related deaths occur because the victim gets pinned down by the fire or immobilized by burns. Choosing the right fire protection can give your team members the opportunity to escape or the confidence to intervene in the event of a dangerous blaze.

Of course, there are standards and metrics you can look out for when selecting the fire protection your team needs. This handy guide is going to give you pro tips on what to look for when choosing your fire suit supplier.

Two Types Of Fire Protection

The two main types of fire suits available are single-layer and multi-layer suits. Their effectiveness at protecting the wearer against severe burns is measured by an index called the thermal protective performance (TPP) rating. This rating indicates how long a person would have to escape a fire before they get second-degree burns.

When a person’s suit has a given TPP rating, they will have half that rating’s value in seconds to escape before they get second-degree burns. So if a suit has a TPP6 rating, the occupant generally has 3 seconds to escape.

Choose the Fire Suit That Fits Your Sport

The vehicles in different racing leagues present different dangers because of the design of the vehicles themselves. Formula-One sees very few fire-related injuries or deaths compared to Nascar and Drag Racing. Different leagues’ vehicles are built to different standards and pose different kinds of threats.

Top fuel drag racing regulations require drivers and crews to wear TPP80 suits. Your crew won’t these heavy multi-layered suits if you’re managing a Rally team, but you should still equip your drivers with moderate fire protection.

Choose the Fire Suit That Fits Your Role

Since there are many roles that individuals fulfill in a driving team, it stands to reason that different types of team members will need different kinds of fire protection. You can optimize your team’s performance and the cost by selecting position-specific fire suits.

The crewmembers who refuel the car and work on the wheels will need thick multi-layered fire suits. Static electricity built up in the wheels can give off sparks. These sparks can set any fuel on a crewmate’s uniform or on the ground alight.

Drivers will need racing fire suits, which will need to protect them from burns for long enough to escape a fire. However, you also have to think about limiting weight and getting a good fit so that the driver can be mobile enough if they need to run or roll.

Equip Your Team With the Right Fire Protection

Selecting a good fire suit for each member of your team is a life-saving action. Make sure you know what kind of suit you select by checking its TPP rating. It’s also good to customize your fire suits to fit your crew well so that they can still be mobile and competitive.

Crew and driver safety are important aspects of motor racing team management. If you found our suit selection tips useful, check out some of our other informative articles about key motorsport elements.

Which one is more intense: NASCAR or the Kentucky Derby?

By
SM
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Photo by Bence Szemerey

Racing comes in many shapes and forms from NASCAR and Formula 1 to big horse racing events like the Kentucky Derby. Even though they are very different, every racing sport has the same principles. Whichever participant finishes the race in the shortest time, is declared the winner.

In today’s article, we will focus on the two most popular sports in the United States which are motor racing and horse racing. There is no doubt that those who drive the cars and those ones that sit on top of a horse are pure adrenaline junkies. After all, they reach incredible speed and put their body on the line just to finish first.

This got us wondering, which racing event is more intense, the NASCAR race or the Kentucky Derby. Even though they might look completely different, both events share many similarities. Let’s highlight some of the facts and see which one is more intense. 

Kentucky Derby

If you are a horse racing enthusiast then you already know the importance of the Kentucky Derby in the horse racing calendar. This is without a doubt the most-watched horse race in the United States with millions of people turning to watch this exciting two-minute race.

The Kentucky Derby is the opening of the prestigious Triple Crown renewal of the season, and the stakes cannot go higher. When it comes down to the actual event, apart from the horses, jockeys also play an important role when it comes to getting out the best performance from the horse.

Just like in any racing sport, jockeys must have a plan and tactics that will win them the race. For example, some decide to go to full speed right from the start, while others sit behind the leaders and make a late challenge down the finish line.

20 horses will be competing for the Kentucky Derby trophy, and since this is one of the biggest and most prestigious races in the world, all the high-performance horses in the world want to take part in the Derby. This means that the competition is always very high which is great for horse racing enthusiasts since they can watch some amazing racing on the racecourse. 

Even though the speed that horses run isn’t anywhere close to the speed of NASCAR, it is still very exciting to watch. On top of that, the Kentucky Derby lasts for little more than two minutes, which means that it is a short event full of thrills. If you want to find out what horse is favored to win the Kentucky Derby in 2022 click here.

This is one of the differences between NASCAR where the action is a little more spread for a longer period of time.

NASCAR

NASCAR is the most popular racing sport in the United States, where the drivers reach the top speeds of 200mph or more and with 40 cars on the track, drivers must make snap decisions in order to avoid a devastating collision. 

NASCAR is really exciting to watch and it is full of thrills from the close high-speed action, where one small mistake can cost the driver a lot.

As we mentioned before, NASCAR races last anywhere from 1 and a half to 3 hours long. With that said, it is worth mentioning that there isn’t a non-stop action. Although there are many different elements to a race, eventually they come to a point where there aren’t much overtaking or exciting moments on the track.

It is an intense sport, but on intervals, which is perfectly fine since nobody can race in high-tense situations for 3 hours.

Conclusion

Both sports are very intense. The only significant difference is the delivery of the thrills. With horse racing, you’ll get a short high-tense race, and on the other hand, NASCAR can provide you with similar thrills in a more comfortable fashion over a couple of hours.

With that said, it is very exciting to watch athletes both from horse racing and NASCAR as they willingly enter dangerous situations, and rely on their skills to make it out without any injuries.

Chastain grabs first Cup victory in a wild finish at COTA

By
Andrew Kim
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AUSTIN, TEXAS - MARCH 27: Ross Chastain, driver of the #1 ONX Homes/iFly Chevrolet, and crew celebrate in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Echopark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of The Americas on March 27, 2022 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images).

From losing the lead to earning it back with the finish in sight, Ross Chastain etched his name as a first-time NASCAR Cup Series winner after outdueling AJ Allmendinger and Alex Bowman in an overtime attempt to capture the second annual EchoPark Automotive Texas Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas on Sunday, March 27.

The 29-year-old Chastain from Alva, Florida, led four times for a race-high 31 of 69 over-scheduled laps as he bumped and moved Allmendinger out of the racing groove along with Bowman to reclaim the lead that was briefly taken from him through the final two corners and recorded the long-awaited, first win in NASCAR’s premier series for himself and for Trackhouse Racing in the team’s second season in competition.

With on-track qualifying occurring on Saturday, Ryan Blaney claimed his second NASCAR Cup Series pole of the year and the eighth of his career after posting a pole-winning speed at 92,759 mph. Joining him on the front row was Daniel Suarez, who posted a fast qualifying lap at 92.741 mph.

Prior to the event, Michael McDowell, AJ Allmendinger, Erik Jones, Loris Hezemans, Boris Said, Josh Bilicki and Joey Hand dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to their respective machines. In addition, Andy Lally was assessed a pass-through penalty at the start of the event for failing the pre-qualifying technical inspection process three times.

When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Blaney and Suarez dueled for the top spot through the first two turns until Blaney just managed to peak ahead entering a series of left and right-hand turns (Turns 3 through Turn 10). With the field fanning out before settling in a single-file line for the turns, Suarez then made his move beneath Blaney and took the lead in Turn 11. 

Through the 3.41-mile, 20-turn circuit, and when the field returned to the start/finish line, Suarez led the first lap followed by Blaney, Tyler Reddick, Cole Custer and Joey Logano. Denny Hamlin was in sixth ahead of rookie Austin Cindric, Justin Haley, Alex Bowman and Chase Briscoe. 

During the following lap, Loris Hezemans was penalized for cutting the corners through the esses. Meanwhile, Suarez continued to lead by more than a second over Blaney while Reddick, Custer and Hamlin occupied the top five.

Through the first five scheduled laps, Suarez was leading by more than a second over Blaney followed by Reddick, Logano and Cindric while Custer, Alex Bowman, Hamlin, Haley and Ross Chastain were in the top 10. Christopher Bell was in 11th followed by teammate Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson, Chase Briscoe and Kurt Busch while Chase Elliott, Bubba Wallace, Kevin Harvick, Chris Buescher and William Byron occupied the top 20. AJ Allmendinger, winner of Saturday’s Xfinity event in Austin, was in 21st ahead of Martin Truex Jr., Austin Dillon, rookie Todd Gilliland and Erik Jones while rookie Harrison Burton, Ty Dillon, Aric Almirola, Kaz Grala and Joey Hand were in the top 30. Michael McDowell was back in 31st ahead of Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Brad Keselowski, Corey LaJoie, Josh Bilicki, Cody Ware, Andy Lally, Loris Hezemans and Boris Said, who was also assessed a penalty for cutting the corner.

Five laps later and by the Lap 10 mark, Suarez remained as the leader by nearly seven-tenths of a second over Blaney while third-place Reddick trailed by more than four seconds. Cindric was in fourth while Bowman was in fifth ahead of Logano, Custer, Chastain, Larson and Haley. Meanwhile, Kyle Busch fell all the way back to 28th after spinning his No. 18 Skittles Toyota TRD Camry in Turn 12 following contact with Chase Elliott’s No. 9 LLumar Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.

Another few laps later, pits stops under green commenced as Harvick, LaJoie, Almirola, Hamlin, Joey Hand, Allmendinger, Buescher, Kyle Busch, Truex, Bell, Wallace, Byron, McDowell, Gilliland, Ty Dillon, Erik Jones, Kurt Busch and Grala pitted. Chastain, Cindric and Custer also pitted prior to pit road closing for the conclusion of the first stage. During the pit stops, Austin Dillon was penalized for an unrolled tire violation while Gilliland was also penalized for an equipment interference. Meanwhile, Suarez remained as the leader.

When the first stage concluded on Lap 15, Suarez cruised his No. 99 CommScope Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to his first stage victory of the season. Blaney settled in second followed by Bowman, Logano, Larson, Haley, Elliott, Briscoe, Harrison Burton and Cindric.

Under the stage break, some led by Blaney pitted while the rest led by Cindric remained on the track.

The second stage started on Lap 17 as Cindric and Reddick occupied the front row. At the start, Cindric launched ahead with the top spot through the first turn while Ross Chastain challenged and overtook Reddick for second place. As the field fanned out and scrambled through the first turn, disaster struck for Daniel Suarez as he got hit and spun, thus sustaining a flat left-rear tire as he was left to limp his car back to pit road under a cautious pace. Then as the field navigated through the left and right-hand turns (Turns 3 and 10), Larson spun, but the race proceeded under green as both Larson and Suarez pitted.

Back at the front and through the long straightaway between Turns 11 and 12, Chastain and Cindric dueled dead even for the lead while Reddick lurked behind. As Chastain tried to take the lead through Turn 12, Cindric fought through Turns 13 and 14 as he retained the lead while Reddick challenged Chastain for second. Meanwhile, Hamlin moved his No. 11 FedEx Toyota TRD Camry into fourth place followed by Custer, Bell, Allmendinger, Byron, Buescher and Truex.

By Lap 20, Cindric was leading by half a second over Chastain while Reddick, Hamlin and Allmendinger were in the top five. Custer was in sixth ahead of Byron, Bell, Truex and Kyle Busch. Meanwhile, McDowell was assessed a drive-through penalty through pit road for cutting a corner while Larson and Suarez were back in 33rd and 39th following their incident.

Five laps later, Cindric stabilized his advantage by six-tenths of a second over Chastain while Allmendinger, Reddick and Hamlin occupied the top five. By then. Cody Ware and Loris Hezemans were penalized for cutting the course.

Nearing the Lap 30 mark and the conclusion of the second stage, another round of pit stops under green commenced as Buescher pitted along with Bell, Truex, Erik Jones, Harvick, Elliott, Bowman, Briscoe, Haley, Joey Hand, Larson, LaJoie, Gilliland and McDowell. Meanwhile, Chastain issued another on-track challenge on Cindric for the lead entering Turn 11. Just as Chastain used the outside lane to overtake Cindric for the lead entering Turn 19, both pitted along with Reddick, Allmendinger, Byron. During the pit stops, LaJoie and Byron were both penalized for speeding on pit road.

Back on track, Hamlin, who came into this weekend in 25th place in the standings, inherited the lead followed by teammate Kyle Busch and Logano

When the second stage concluded on Lap 30, Hamlin notched his first stage victory of the season. Teammate Kyle Busch settled in second ahead of Logano, Blaney, Almirola, Austin Dillon, Harrison Burton, Chastain, Cindric and Bubba Wallace.

Under the stage break, some led by Hamlin pitted while the rest led by Team Penske’s Logano and Blaney remained on the track. During the pit stops, Ty Dillon was penalized for improper fueling.

With 36 laps remaining, the final stage started under green. At the start and with the field fanning out, Logano bobbled and locked up the brakes of his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang entering the first turn as he went off the course, which allowed Chastain to rocket back to the lead followed by Allmendinger, Cindric and Reddick while Blaney fell back to fifth.

A lap later, Cindric, who was in third place, spun his No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang off the front nose of Reddick’s No. 8 3CHI Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in Turn 10 and was narrowly dodged by the field as the race proceeded under green. In addition, Joey Hand spun in Turn 1 following contact with Almirola. Not long after, however, the caution flew due to debris reported in Turn 11. By then, Chastain was leading by eight-tenths of a second over Allmendinger.

Under caution, names like Logano, Cindric, Stenhouse, Grala, Cody Ware and Joey Hand pitted while the rest led by Chastain remained on the track. During the pit stops, Stenhouse was penalized for speeding on pit road.

With 32 laps remaining, the race proceeded under green. At the start, Chastain fended off Allmendinger through the first turn to retain the lead while the field fanned out entering the second turns and the series of left and right-hand turns. As the field continued to scramble for positions entering Turns 10, 11 and 12, Briscoe moved into third place followed by Reddick and Blaney while Elliott started to make his charge to the front in sixth place.

When the field returned to the start/finish line, Chastain continued to lead by half a second over ex-teammate Allmendinger followed by Briscoe, Reddick and Elliott. Meanwhile, Blaney was in sixth ahead of Custer, Truex, Bowman and Larson as the field continued to duke for positions. 

Then with 28 laps remaining, the caution returned when Erik Jones stalled his No. 43 Focus Factor Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in Turn 11 as he needed a wrecker to return to pit road. Earlier, Christopher Bell pitted and had the hood of his No. 20 DeWalt Toyota TRD Camry up as his crew went to work to diagnose steering issues.

Under caution, the entire field pitted and Chastain exited with the top spot followed by Briscoe, Reddick, Bowman, Allmendinger and Kyle Busch.

Down to the final 25 scheduled laps, the race restarted under green At the start, Chastain dueled with Briscoe and briefly went off the course with Briscoe in Turn 1 until Chastain retained the lead entering Turn 2 and through the series of left and right-hand turns (Turns 3 through 10). Then in Turn 11, Briscoe moved his No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang out in front of Chastain’s No. 1 ONX Homes/iFly Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 until Chastain fought back from Turns 12 to Turn 19. Meanwhile, Logano spun in Turn 12.

Back at the front in Turn 20, both Chastain and Briscoe remained dead even until Briscoe managed to clear Chastain entering the first turn. Not long after, however, the caution returned when the left-rear wheel off of Bubba Wallace’s No. 23 Leidos Toyota TRD Camry came off, resulting with Wallace stopping on track in Turn 17 and needing assistance to return to pit road.

Under caution, some like Logano pitted while the rest led by Briscoe remained on the track.

With 22 laps remaining, the race proceeded under green. At the start and with the field fanning out, Briscoe retained the lead through the first turn ahead of Chastain while Allmendinger was in third ahead of Reddick. Then in Turn 11, Chastain made his move and overtook Briscoe for the lead while Allmendinger quickly challenged Briscoe for the runner-up spot. 

Under the final 20 scheduled laps, Chastain was leading by seven-tenths of a second over Briscoe while third-place Allmendinger trailed by more than a second. Meanwhile, Reddick and Kyle Busch battled for fourth place until the latter prevailed while Bowman also moved into the top five. Elliott, Cindric, Hamlin and Truex were in the top 10 followed by Larson, Blaney, Harvick, Byron, Custer, McDowell, Austin Dillon, Haley, Almirola and Stenhouse.

A few laps later, Ty Dillon spun in Turn 11 while Boris Said was penalized for cutting the course. Back at the front of the field, Chastain continued to lead by four-tenths of a second over Briscoe, who started to close in on Chastain for the top spot, while third-place Allmendinger trailed by more than a second.

A lap later, Briscoe briefly went off course in Turn 11, which allowed Allmendinger to move into second place while Chastain continued to lead. Bowman remained in fourth place while teammate Elliott was in fifth following an earlier battle with Kyle Busch. In addition, Reddick was back in seventh ahead of Cindric, Blaney and Larson.

Then with 15 laps remaining, the caution flew when Stenhouse’s No. 47 SunnyD Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 came to a stop past Turn 11. Prior to the caution, names like Truex, Harvick, Almirola, Custer, LaJoie, Grala, Ty Dillon and Erik Jones pitted.

Under caution, some like Hamlin, Gilliland, Larson, Kurt Busch, Byron, Austin Dillon, Logano, Brad Keselowski and Bilicki pitted while the rest led by Chastain remained on the track.

Down to the final 12 scheduled laps, the race restarted under green. At the start, Briscoe bolted his car beneath Chastain’s in a three-wide bid for the lead while Allmendinger challenged on the outside lane. Chastain, however, fought back as he retained the lead entering the second turn while Reddick rocketed to second place. Then through the series of left and right-hand turns (Turns 3 to 10), Briscoe went off the course and was initially penalized for his maneuver as he blended back in seventh place behind Kyle Busch. After NASCAR deemed that he was forced off the course, however, the penalty was withdrawn.

Back at the front, Chastain remained as the leader over Reddick, Allmendinger and the field that continued to scatter and jostle for positions. Behind, Cindric and Grala spun in Turn 11. While the race remained under green following Cindric’s incident, the caution returned when fluid was reported on the frontstretch.

Under caution, Briscoe pitted from seventh place for four fresh tires along with Harrison Burton and Cindric while the rest led by Chastain remained on the track.

With nine laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start and through the uphill climb to the first turn, Chastain managed to fend off Allmendinger by the end of Turn 2, even running him off the racing groove, to retain the lead while Cole Custer spun. Following the series of left and right-hand turns (Turns 3 through Turn 10), Joey Hand collided into Hamlin in Turn 11, sending Hamlin around. Five turns later, Grala sent Almirola sideways. In spite of all the incidents, the race remained under green.

Back at the front, Chastain was leading by two-tenths of a second over Allmendinger while Reddick was in third place ahead of Elliott and Bowman. Behind, Kyle Busch was in sixth ahead of Blaney, Truex, Bell and McDowell. While Allmendinger kept occupying Chastain’s rear view mirrors to close-quarters racing, Chastain was able to maintain the lead and not let his former teammate overtake him.

Just then, the caution flew with six laps remaining due to Loris Hezemans coming to a stop in Turn 3. At the moment of caution, Chastain had managed to maintain a steady advantage over Allmendinger.

Down to the final three laps of the event, the race restarted under green. At the start, Chastain and Allmendinger dueled for the lead entering the first turn until Reddick made a bold three-wide move through the first turn to take the lead. Shortly after, however, the caution returned and the race was sent into overtime due to a wreck that involved Kurt Busch, Larson and Logano in Turn 2.

At the start of the first overtime attempt and with the field fanning out up the hill, Chastain reassumed the lead and Allmendinger moved into second place followed by Bowman while Reddick fell back to fourth. Behind, the field scrambled for positions.  

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Chastain was leading by nearly a second over Allmendinger while third-place Bowman trailed by more than a second. Through the esses and Turn 11, Chastain maintained the lead despite having Allmendinger and Bowman close in for the lead and the win. Behind, Kyle Busch spun through the esses while the race proceeded under green. 

Then in Turn 12, Allmendinger gained a huge run to pull himself behind Chastain’s bumper. After Chastain briefly went wide in Turns 13 and 14, Allmendinger seized an opportunity through Turns 15 and 16 and ran into the rear of Chastain, which sent Chastain wide as Allmendinger took the lead while Bowman challenged Chastain for the runner-up spot. 

Through Turns 17 and 18, Chastain bumped Allmendinger as Bowman bolted his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to the lead. With Bowman in brief control, Chastain bumped and got Allmendinger loose as he came darting into Bowman and both collided in Turn 19, resulting with Allmendinger spinning and Bowman running off the course. This allowed Chastain to reassume the lead entering Turn 20. With no competition lurking behind, Chastain was able to navigate his way through the final frontstretch and claim the first checkered flag for himself and for Trackhouse Racing owned by Justin Marks and Pitbull in NASCAR’s premier series.

With the victory, Chastain, who came into Austin with three consecutive top-three results, became the 201st different competitor to win a NASCAR Cup Series event along with becoming the third first-time winner and the sixth different winner through the first six scheduled events of the 2022 Cup season. He also became the 39th different competitor to achieve a victory across NASCAR’s top three national touring series (Camping World Truck, Xfinity and Cup) with his last victory occurring at Pocono Raceway in the Truck Series in July 2019. In addition to the driver and organization, the Austin victory produced a first NASCAR win for crew chief Phil Surgen.

Upon returning to the frontstretch for his victorious burnout and salute to the fans, Chastain reignited his trademark victory by smashing a watermelon before being greeted by team owner Justin Marks.

“That’s insane to go up against some of the best with AJ [Allmendinger],” Chastain said on FOX. “I know he’s gonna be upset with me, but we raced hard. Both of us. He owes me one, but when it comes to a Cup win, man, I can’t let that go down without a fight…People don’t know how good this group is. I can’t believe [owner] Justin Marks hired me to drive this car.” 

“[The watermelon]’s never tasted sweeter, I gotta tell you,” Chastain added. “I don’t know. I don’t know how we got back by. I was so worried about AJ on the second-to-last restart that I let Tyler [Reddick] drive by both of us. AJ’s so good. I’ve learned so much from him. And then it was like, ‘How do I go beat the guy?’ He taught me so much. I’ve learned so much from so many people…It crossed my mind like we’re not gonna win. We’re on old tires, but I couldn’t think that way. I thought neutral. Chevrolet and everything they do for me, gave me the tools to try to go and execute and we did it.”

In the midst of the chaos, Bowman came home in second place, more than a second behind Chastain, while Allmendinger ended up in 33rd place following his spin.

“We had a really fast Ally Camaro,” Bowman said. “I’ve really been trying to do a better job as a race car driver at these road courses and I felt like from where we started in the weekend, I accomplished that. Proud of [crew chief] Greg [Ives] and all the guys. [I] Hate that we didn’t come away with the win, but happy for Ross getting his first win. It’s been a crap weekend, so I’m ready to get home and see [my] dogs and move on to next weekend. Glad to come away with a second-place finish.”

“At the end of the day, we all gotta look at ourselves in the mirror and if you’re okay with it, you’re okay with it,” Allmendinger said. “Each person’s different. More than anything, proud of Kaulig Racing. The Action Industry Chevy was so fast. I think if we could’ve had just a long run, nobody was gonna touch us. Pit stops were great. Everybody at Kaulig Racing, all the men and women. It’s just lot of sleepless nights for them right now trying to just get these cars to the next race. I was doing everything I could to try to sweep the weekend for them. We were that close. At the end of the day, each person’s gotta make the move that they’re comfortable with and that’s fine. At the end of the day, we know we had a shot to win the race. It’s tough to win a Cup race, so when you put yourself on a position to legitimately run upfront all day and have a shot to win it, it’s a pretty great day. Unfortunately, I needed about two more corners.”

Christopher Bell, who came into Circuit of the Americas in 29th place in the standings and with a best on-track result of 10th place, notched his first top-five result in third place while Elliott and Reddick finished in the top five.

Blaney, Truex, Cindric, Erik Jones and Austin Dillon recorded top-10 results.

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

With his fourth-place result, Chase Elliott continues to lead the regular season standings by 13 over Ryan Blaney, 23 over Joey Logano, 25 over Alex Bowman, 28 over Ross Chastain and 33 over William Byron.

Results.

1. Ross Chastain, 31 laps led

2. Alex Bowman 

3. Christopher Bell

4. Chase Elliott

5. Tyler Reddick, two laps led

6. Ryan Blaney, one lap led

7. Martin Truex Jr.

8. Austin Cindric, 11 laps led

9. Erik Jones

10. Austin Dillon

11. Kevin Harvick

12. William Byron

13. Michael McDowell

14. Brad Keselowski

15. Justin Haley

16. Todd Gilliland

17. Harrison Burton

18. Denny Hamlin, three laps led, Stage 2 winner

19. Aric Almirola

20. Ty Dillon

21. Chris Buescher

22. Josh Bilicki

23. Cole Custer

24. Daniel Suarez, 15 laps led, Stage 1 winner

25. Kaz Grala

26. Boris Said

27. Cody Ware

28. Kyle Busch

29. Kyle Larson

30. Chase Briscoe, two laps led

31. Joey Logano, two laps led

32. Kurt Busch

33. AJ Allmendinger, one lap down, two laps led

34. Loris Hezemans – OUT, Rear gear

35. Joey Hand – OUT, Suspension

36. Corey LaJoie – OUT, Engine

37. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – OUT, Drivetrain

38. Bubba Wallace – OUT, Suspension

39. Andy Lally – OUT, Suspension

Next on the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is Richmond Raceway for a 400-mile feature in Richmond, Virginia. The event is scheduled to occur on Sunday, April 3, at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX.

Stewart-Haas Racing: EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix from COTA

By
Official Release
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STEWART-HAAS RACING
EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix
Date: March 27, 2022
Event: EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix (Round 6 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas (3.426-mile, 20-turn road course)
Format: 68 laps, broken into three stages (15 laps/15 laps/38 laps)
Note: Race extended one lap past its scheduled 68-lap distance due to a green-white-checkered finish.

Race Winner: Ross Chastain of Trackhouse Racing (Chevrolet)
Stage 1 Winner: Daniel Suárez of Trackhouse Racing (Chevrolet)
Stage 2 Winner: Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

SHR Race Finish:

● Kevin Harvick (Started 18th, Finished 11th / Running, completed 69 of 69 laps)
● Aric Almirola (Started 25th, Finished 19th / Running, completed 69 of 69 laps)
● Cole Custer (Started 3rd, Finished 23rd / Running, completed 69 of 69 laps)
● Chase Briscoe (Started 14th, Finished 30th / Running, completed 69 of 69 laps)

SHR Points:

● Aric Almirola (8th with 168 points, 40 out of first)
● Chase Briscoe (9th with 166 points, 42 out of first)
● Kevin Harvick (14th with 153 points, 55 out of first)
● Cole Custer (28th with 90 points, 118 out of first)

SHR Notes:

● This was Harvick’s fourth finish of 12th or better this year. His season-best finish is sixth, earned March 13 at Phoenix Raceway.
● Harvick’s 11th-place finish bettered his previous best result at COTA – 37th, earned in the inaugural race last May.
● Almirola’s 19th-place finish bettered his previous best result at COTA – 26th.
● Almirola finished fifth in Stage 2 to earn six bonus points.
● Almirola is the only NASCAR Cup Series driver to finish on the lead lap in every race this season.
● Custer’s 23rd-place finish bettered his previous best result at COTA – 36th.
● Briscoe finished eighth in Stage 1 to earn three bonus points.
● Briscoe led once for two laps – his first laps led at COTA.

Race Notes:

● Ross Chastain won the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix to score his first career NASCAR Cup Series victory. His margin over second-place Alex Bowman was 1.331 seconds. Chastain is the sixth different race winner in the six races run this season.
● There were nine caution periods for a total of 13 laps.
● All but seven of the 39 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.
● Chase Elliott remains the championship leader after COTA with a 13-point advantage over second-place Ryan Blaney.

Sound Bites:

“We had speed, so that was good. I wish we had ended up better with One Cure on the car and all the donations and everything. It’s just frustrating – everything about it in the second half of the race. We got spun and we should’ve ended up way better, but it was definitely good for us to have speed coming here and that will bode well for the other road-course races.” – Cole Custer, driver of the No. 41 One Cure Ford Mustang

“We were able to keep making the car better through the race and at the end there it felt like we had a chance. The 1 (Ross Chastain) kind of ran me off and I was trying to get back to him and made a mistake and let the 16 (AJ Allmendinger) by. Then I locked the left-front (tire) up on a restart and from there every restart after we were just trying to hold on and we blew the right front (tire) on the last restart. We had another really fast Mahindra Tractors Mustang, which is encouraging. We had the speed and we were able to run up front again. We just need to put it all together. That has been the story all year long. If we can put the whole thing together, we are really tough. That is what we did in Phoenix and we just need to continue doing that.” – Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang

Next Up:

The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Richmond 400 on Sunday, April 3 at Richmond (Va.) Raceway. The race begins at 3:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FOX and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

CHEVY NCS AT COTA: Post-Race Notes and Quotes

By
Official Release
-

NASCAR CUP SERIES
CIRCUIT OF THE AMERICAS
ECHOPARK AUTOMOTIVE GRAND PRIX
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES & QUOTES
MARCH 27, 2022

TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1st ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 1 ONX HOMES / IFLY CAMARO ZL1
2nd ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1
4th CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 LLUMAR FILMS CAMARO ZL1
5th TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 3CHI CAMARO ZL1
9th ERIK JONES, NO. 43 FOCUSFACTOR CAMARO ZL1
10th AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BENNETT CAMARO ZL1

TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1st Ross Chastain (Chevrolet)
2nd Alex Bowman (Chevrolet)
3rd Christopher Bell (Toyota)
4th Chase Elliott (Chevrolet)
5th Tyler Reddick (Chevrolet)

The NASCAR Cup Series season continues next weekend at Richmond Raceway with the Toyota Owners 400 on Sunday, April 3, at 3:30 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES AND QUOTES:

ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 1 ONX HOMES / IFLY CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 1st
Chastain has been so close this year to getting that first career win. Ross, today you couldn’t be denied. You had to fend them off at the end. You go from first to third. There was beating, there was begging. What was that last lap like, and what is this first win like?
“I don’t know. It’s insane. To go up against some of the best with AJ (Allmendinger) – I mean, I know he is going to be upset with me; but we raced hard, both of us, and he owes me one. But when it comes to a Cup win, man, I can’t let that go down without a fight. So, Justin Marks, Trackhouse, AdventHealth, the Moose. A million Moose members, they better be celebrating tonight all across the country and the world. Phil Surgen (Crew Chief), man. He is so good. People don’t know how good this group is. I can’t believe Justin Marks hired me to drive this car.”

You lost control of that final restart. You get a good restart on the outside, which nobody had done. What did you have to do to make that happen, and how is that watermelon tasting right now?
“It’s never tasted sweeter, I got to tell you. I don’t know. I don’t know how we got back by. I was so worried about AJ (Allmendinger) on the second-to-last restart that I let Tyler (Reddick) drive right by both of us. And AJ is so good. I’ve learned so much from him. And it was like how do you go beat the guy? He taught me so much. I’ve learned so much from so many people from 417 Speedway back home with my dad.I was thinking about on those late restarts, my dad used to make me race on old tires, and back then I was not going to win. It was in my head before I even started. It crossed my mind, like, We’re not going to win, we’re on old tires, but I couldn’t think that way. I thought neutral. Chevrolet, everything they do for me gave me the tools to try to go execute and we did it.”

AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BENNETT CAMARO ZL1– Finished 10th
“Finished top-10 and we were really good on those restarts at the end. Came from a long way back. You know we had a little pit trouble that sent us back, but we were able to just keep going and get all the way up there to finish where we needed to. Luckily these races are really long, so you can’t let an early penalty get you down. Just stay focused and we were able to progress and make the car better. To come back after two bad races getting taken out kind of out of our own hands, we kept this one in our hands all day and it was wild there at the end. It feels great to get a top-10. Probably not our best track that we would look forward to coming to and it’s becoming better and better for us. Really proud of our guys and the effort that we put in our Bennett Chevrolet.”

TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 3CHI CAMARO ZL1– Finished 5th
WALK ME THROUGH THOSE LAST FEW LAPS
“Yeah, just didn’t get a good launch off turn one. And just almost had the 1 car cleared but didn’t quite. We were really on the loose side all day long and that make us pretty susceptible to getting aggressive at the end. So, was just easy to get moved around there and that was kind of a problem I had all day. Just a little bit of pressure I had from anybody, and the back of this car was out of the track. It could get through the esses pretty good and could do a lot of things really well, but we just missed it in a little way where if we had to battle with other cars in traffic, it was really hard to get the good launch off the corner and complete a pass or really battle hard. So, it was tough, but we will learn from it and go back to the simulator and go back to work.”

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 LLUMAR CAMARO ZL1– Finished 4th
WHAT WAS YOUR POINT OF VIEW AND WHAT DID YOU HAVE TO DO TO HAVE A FINISH THIS SOLID? YOU FOUGHT FOR IT ALL DAY LONG CHASE.
“Yeah, I didn’t really have to do anything. They just kind of wrecked and they were out of the way so I just kind of ran it on the road and I got a free couple of positions, so I will take it.”

YOU AND KYLE BUSCH WERE GETTING INTO IT A LITTLE BIT EARLY OR WERE YOU GETTING INTO IT? WAS THERE ANYTHING HOT AND HEAVY BETWEEN YOU TWO?
“No, I messed up earlier in the race. I got crossed up in the braking zone and hit him. Obviously, we were racing for last and probably weren’t even racing for Stage points and I think he knows me better than that. But yeah, that was completely on me…….and my fault.”

AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 16 ACTION INDUSTRIES CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 33rd
“This Action Industries Chevy was so fast, and our pit stops were great all day. If we had a long run, nobody was going to touch us. I’m so proud of everyone at Kaulig Racing. All these men and women have had a lot of sleepless nights trying to just get these cars to the next race. I was doing everything I could do to try to sweep the weekend for them. We were that close. We know we had a shot to win the race. It’s tough to win a Cup race, so when you put yourself in a position to legitimately run up front all day and have a shot to win it, it’s a pretty great day. Unfortunately, just we needed about two more corners.”

WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 RAPTORTOUGH.COM CAMARO ZL1– Finished 12th
“Tough day. Definitely put us behind with the speeding penalty. We were going to cycle out there in between AJ (Allmendinger) and Reddick (Tyler) and messed it up on my part. I thought our car was decent all day. Definitely some things to work on, but good to come home 12th, get a solid finish and we’ll be good at Richmond and Martinsville. Looking forward to it.”

ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1– Finished 2nd
WHAT’S YOUR TAKEAWAY ON THAT LAST LAP IN THE BATTLE FOR THE WIN?
“We had a really fast Ally Chevrolet Camaro and I have been trying to do a better job as a race car driver at these road courses and I felt like from where I started the weekend, we accomplished that. So, thanks to Greg (Crew Chief Ives) and all the guys and really happy for Ross (Chastain) in getting his first win. Its been a crap weekend, so I am ready to get home and see the dogs and move on to next weekend. But glad to come home with a second place finish.”
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.

Ford Performance NASCAR: Blaney and Cindric Finish Top-10 at COTA

By
Official Release
-

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix – Sunday, March 27, 2022

FORD FINISHING RESULTS
6th – Ryan Blaney
8th – Austin Cindric
11th – Kevin Harvick
13th – Michael McDowell
14th – Brad Keselowski
16th – Todd Gilliland
17th – Harrison Burton
19th – Aric Almirola
21st – Chris Buescher
23rd – Cole Custer
}25th – Boris Said
27th – Cody Ware
30th – Chase Briscoe
31st – Joey Logano
34th – Loris Hezemans
35th – Joey Hand
39th – Andy Lally

RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Menards/Richmond Water Heaters Ford Mustang — Finished 6th

“It was a hot day for sure. We got done with the first stage and it was hot. We were close to winning the first stage but I just couldn’t get to Suarez. We ended up fourth in that second stage and that kind of put us back behind the eight ball and make our way through the field. We stayed out on old tires and were able to maintain track position pretty good there at the start of the third stage. Then we lost a bunch of spots on pit road when we had to wait on gas. We drove back up through there and just kind of survived. I thought our car was pretty decent. It is so hard surviving restarts and trying not to get turned. Overall it wasn’t a bad day. We got some stage points, so that is good.”

AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang — Finished 8th

“On paper, it is pretty simple, right? Qualify 10th, first stage 10th. Second stage ninth, finish eighth. Easy right? It is definitely not that. A lot of adversity to overcome. I put some of it on me and some of it is just circumstantial I guess. They are tricky cars to drive and tricky to try to out-brake somebody. There were a lot of people out-braking themselves. Either way, a really strong effort by the Discount Tire Ford Mustang. We had the pace to run inside the top-three today and lead laps. I am just happy we got stage points and a top-10. That is what I wanted to come away with today and that is what we got.”

HOW WAS THE HEAT IN THE CAR? “This was the hottest event for sure. I will definitely plan accordingly from here.”

COLE CUSTER, No. 00 One Cure Ford Mustang — Finish 23rd

“We had speed, so that was good. I wish we had ended up better with One Cure on the car and all the donations and everything. It is just frustrating, everything about it in the second half of the race. We got spun and we should have ended up way better.”

DID THIS CAR FEEL GOOD ON THE ROAD COURSE? “It was definitely good for us to have speed coming here and that will bode well for the other road course races.”

JOEY LOGANO, No. 21 Shell Pennzoil Ford Mustang — Finish 31st

“It was up, down, down and more down kind of day. We got stage points, which thank goodness we got something. We got dumped by the 17. Then we started recovering and had a loose wheel and started to recover again and got back up to 10th and then got dumped again. Then the toe got broken and everything else was bad. I limped it around and finished, I don’t even know where I finished but it was just kind of one of those days.”

DID THE AGGRESSIVE NATURE OF THE CORNERS SURPRISE YOU? “No, not surprised. If you look at this track, look at Turn 1 and how it bends in, it is like it is saying, ‘Hey, go five-wide”. I don’t know. I don’t know what happened on that last restart there. I heard someone had a flat tire. All I know is I had a flat tire after it.”

CHASE BRISCOE, No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang — Finish 30th

“We were able to keep making the car better through the race and at the end there it felt like we had a chance. The 1 kind of ran me off and I was trying to get back to him and made a mistake and let the 16 by. Then I locked the left front up on a restart and from there every restart after we were just trying to hold on and we blew the right front on the last restart. We had another really fast Mustang, which is encouraging. We had the speed and we were able to run up front again. We just need to put it all together. That has been the story all year long. If we can put the whole thing together we are really tough. That is what we did in Phoenix and we just need to continue doing that.”

JOEY HAND, No. 15 Ford Pass Rewards Visa Mustang — Finished 35th

“We were trying to find our way a little bit and trying to make sure that the car didn’t have any issues from that tire, so I was a little timid with it and just working on it in the first stage. We had a struggle on power-down but we were really good on brakes. I could catch up to guys but I just couldn’t get in the mix. Guys were bringing good changes. We kept changing the air pressure and wedge and got it going pretty good actually. Before these last couple of cautions, we had moved through guys fast. We moved through half the field. Then I just got pogo’d. I got wrecked early on. They come down inside and hit us pretty hard over in 11 and then this last one was just chaos with guys going down inside. I was on the inside and guys were pulling down four-wide and it was just everybody hitting everybody. I ended up getting a piece of the 11, I know that. I guess me and the 5 got a piece of the 11 but it was just soft in there. That corner, Turn 1, it just gets four-wide and you get pushed in there. It is down in tight and you are locked up. We took some hard hits to the front and that last one was enough to bend something in the right front. We thought it was a flat tire but we actually bent something. It was a good day at times but ended up as a bad day, really. I need to finish these races. These guys are definitely hard and coming after me it seems. As a road course guy, I don’t think everybody loves having a road course guy out there in the mix. It is fine. It is racing. They are racing everybody hard. But you have to know – when you don’t race with them every week you have to know what you can do with some and not with others. I probably made a couple new friends out there. You have to race hard out there. Like Charlotte, it is kind of getting thrown in the lion’s den. These guys race together every week and we can run up through them. We have a fast car and can get it done but it is just tough to stay out of trouble.”

Toyota Racing – NCS COTA Post-Race Report – 03.27.22

By
Official Release
-

BELL DRIVES THROUGH THE FIELD TO FINISH THIRD
Christopher Bell battles back from a lap down to earn a season-best finish

AUSTIN, TEXAS (March 27, 2022) – Christopher Bell (third) drove through the field to a top-five finish, despite battling steering issues, to lead Toyota in the NASCAR Cup Series race at the Circuit of the Americas on Sunday evening.

Toyota Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Circuit of the Americas
Race 6 of 36 – 231.88 miles, 68 laps

TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Ross Chastain*
2nd, Alex Bowman*
3rd, CHRISTOPHER BELL
4th, Chase Elliott*
5th, Tyler Reddick*
7th, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
18th, DENNY HAMLIN
28th, KYLE BUSCH
32nd, KURT BUSCH
38th, BUBBA WALLACE
*non-Toyota driver

TOYOTA QUOTES

CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 DeWalt Toyota Camry TRD, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 3rd

How was your race?

“It was a hard-fought day that’s for sure. Losing power steering wasn’t ideal. I picked up an issue early on in the race and I knew something wasn’t right and eventually lost power steering a couple laps later. That wasn’t good, but this 20 group did amazing getting us back out there. The DeWalt Camry was really strong on restarts. I was always able to pick off a couple spots and that’s ultimately how we got our finish.”

Did you think you had a shot watching the craziness unfold in front of you on the last lap?

“I knew if I was like third or second, maybe, but being fourth, I didn’t think there was any chance.”

MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry TRD, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 7th

Great pit call and great driving led to a top-10 run. How was the race from your seat?

“It was just a battle. We never could get the car where we needed it. I was definitely worried after practice – I was not feeling too good. Your hands are so tied to these things with these short practices. We just battled all day and fought on and got a decent finish but no stage points, so just a so-so day for this Bass Pro Shops Toyota team.”

#

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.

Verstappen strikes back with a late victory in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

By
Andrew Kim
-

Following a late mechanical retirement in the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix in Sakhir, Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing struck back with vengeance and an early championship statement after claiming a late victory in the second annual Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at Jeddah Corniche Circuit on Sunday, March 27.

The reigning Formula One champion, who qualified in fourth place and raced towards the front for the entire event, battled and overtook Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc on Lap 46 of 50 before proceeding to fend off the Monégasque over the final five laps to win by half a second under a safety car virtual caution and claim the first victory of the 2022 season for the Dutchman and Red Bull Racing.

The victory was Verstappen’s 21st overall in Formula One competition and the first since winning the 2021 season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina Circuit, where he claimed his maiden F1 title.

“[The battle] was a tough one,” Verstappen said. “It’s not easy, especially in the beginning. To follow was quite difficult. It was very easy to open up the tyre and then you have no performance anymore, but I think once we swapped to the hard tyre, it went well. I think we played the long game on the tyres, especially after the last VSC [Virtual Safety Car period]. We had good tyre grip. We could make the most from that. Yeah, tough battle. I really enjoyed it with Charles. It’s not easy to get past him. At the end, we did it. We can be very proud. I’m sure [me and Perez] have plenty of races to make up for that. Patience is always key, especially when you want to fight for the championship. You have to fight hard, but of course, I think you need to score some good points. That’s what we did today. We raced hard, but of course, we also want to score the points. ”

“Great racing between all the drivers, but particularly, Max and Charles again,” Christian Horner, Team Principal of Red Bull Racing, added. “They did it last week in Bahrain. This weekend, more overtaking, more great close racing. A great motor race. You can see that they’re both great racers. That was absolute quality from two of the best guys out there. It was an enjoyable race. These cars, it does feel like you can follow a bit closer. The overtaking is a bit more possible. Max, he just played it cool, he waited for his moment and then, he struck and he made it stick. The season is very long. We need to be consistent. Today maybe, Red Bull was a tiny bit stronger, but we brought both cars home in good places. Good points for the team.”

Leclerc, who notched a dominant victory at Bahrain a week ago, settled in second place after leading a race-high 30 of 50 laps. Despite falling one position short of the victory, Leclerc continues to lead the drivers’ standings over teammate Carlos Sainz Jr., who grabbed his second consecutive podium result in third place.

“I really enjoyed [the battle with Verstappen], but obviously, disappointed with a second place,” Leclerc said. “We’ve been leading for the big part of the race and then to lose the lead at the end, it’s a shame, but it’s like this. We took a bit of a different approach this weekend with a bit more downforce compared to Max and Red Bull in general. It was extremely difficult for me to defend with the straight line speed they had. It’s like this, but it’s the way it is and now we need to keep working and hopefully, do a step forward in Melbourne.”

Meanwhile, Sainz settled in third place for his eighth career podium in F1 competition as he was eight seconds behind the two leaders.

“[It was] A better feeling with the car than in Bahrain,” Sainz said. “I think I did a step forward in the right direction. I also know exactly where I’m lacking and where I need to improve with the car. Apart from that, I think we are gonna get there. While I’m not feeling 100%, I’m still getting good points, finishing in the podiums. It’s coming. As soon as I put a car a bit more to my liking and I adapt a bit to my driving, I think [a win] will come and we are gonna be in a strong place.”

Perez, who became the first Mexican competitor to start on pole position after claiming the top qualifying spot on Saturday and who led the first 14 laps before losing the lead during the first virtual safety car period for Latifi’s accident, settled in a disappointing fourth place with a potential podium and victory evaporating from his grasp while George Russell claimed his second consecutive top-five result of the season in fifth place.

Esteban Ocon claimed sixth place in front of Lando Norris, who managed to secure the first points of the season for the McLaren F1 Team. Pierre Gasly, who finished dead last at Bahrain, came home in eighth place in front of Kevin Magnussen, who earned points in his first two events since reuniting to Formula One and with Haas.

Meanwhile, Sir Lewis Hamilton, who qualified in 15th place but methodically carved his way into the top 10, settled in 10th place and collected a single point during the event after making a late pit stop following the second virtual safety car period.

The first competitor to finish outside of the points was rookie Guanyu Zhou, who received two different penalties during the main event: the first for cutting a corner following an early battle with Albon and the second for failing to serve the penalty while pitting. Nico Hülkenberg, who filled in as an interim competitor for Sebastian Vettel and the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team, finished 12th. Teammate Lance Stroll ended up in 13th place, the only competitor to finish a lap behind the leaders, after he was involved in a late on-track collision with Alexander Albon, who was unable to finish late in 14th place.

Valtteri Bottas, Fernando Alonso and Daniel Ricciardo all retired in 15th, 16th and 17th due to mechanical issues along with 18th-place finisher Nicholas Latifi, who wrecked and retired on Lap 16.

Prior to the event, there were two competitors who did not participate in the Grand Prix. The first was Yuki Tsunoda, who stalled his AlphaTauri during the formation lap and retired due to a suspected drivetrain issue. The second was Mick Schumacher, who was involved in a vicious accident during his qualifying session on Saturday and was flown to a local hospital, where he was evaluated without any serious injuries but resulted with Haas electing to field one car for Magnussen for the main event. 

Results:

1. Max Verstappen, 25 points

2. Charles Leclerc, 19 points

3. Carlos Sainz Jr., 15 points

4. Sergio Perez, 12 points

5. George Russell, 10 points

6. Esteban Ocon, eight points

7. Lando Norris, six points

8. Pierre Gasly, four points

9. Kevin Magnussen, two points

10. Lewis Hamilton, one point

11. Guanyu Zhou

12. Nico Hülkenberg

13. Lance Stroll, +1 lap

14. Alexander Albon – Retired

15. Valtteri Bottas – Retired

16. Fernando Alonso – Retired

17. Daniel Ricciardo – Retired

18. Nicholas Latifi – Retired

19. Yuki Tsunoda – Retired

Following the second event of the 2022 F1 season, Charles Leclerc continues to lead the drivers’ standings by 12 points over teammate Carlos Sainz Jr., 20 over Max Verstappen, 23 over George Russell, 29 over Lewis Hamilton and 31 over Esteban Ocon. 

Ferrari continues to lead the constructors’ standings by 40 points over Mercedes, 39 over Red Bull Racing RBPT, 62 over Alpine Renault and 66 over Haas Ferrari.

Next on the 2022 Formula One schedule is the return of the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne, Australia, which will occur on April 10.

CHRIS FERGUSON SCORES $50,000 SUPER LATE MODEL VICTORY SATURDAY NIGHT DURING KARL KUSTOMS BRISTOL DIRT NATIONALS

By
Official Release
-

BRISTOL, Tenn. – Chris Ferguson pocketed $50,000 for winning the XR Super Series Late Model feature Saturday night in the Karl Kustoms Bristol Dirt Nationals at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Sir Lawrence O’Connor (Modified), Dustin Vis (Stock Car) and Colton Trouille (602 Late Models) also were feature winners in their respective divisions.

Ferguson overcame a lackluster run last night where he finished 19th and recaptured the form he used last year to win the Friday Dirt Nationals Super Late Model feature for $10,000. He earned $50,000 for tonight’s win in star-studded the 50-lap feature.

“This is awesome,” Ferguson said. “I am so thankful for all the people that are here with me this weekend and I am so blessed to be in this moment. I have to thank God. This is the biggest win that I’ve had.”

Ferguson held off a hard charge from dirt racing hall of famer Scott Bloomquist and pole-sitter Ricky Weiss to take the win.

“That car was awesome, it was flawless, it’s the same car I won with last year,” Ferguson said. “Anytime Scott is behind us you’ve got to be on your game.”

With the win Ferguson, from Mt. Holly, North Carolina, is now in the conversation to claim the $100,000 total points bonus at the end of the two-week Karl Kustoms Bristol Dirt Nationals next Saturday.

Friday winner Chris Madden had a tough run during his heat race today and started in the back of the pack and eventually finished 12th. Jonathan Davenport had another strong finish and produced another fourth place finish.

Other notable finishers included Dale McDowell, who finished second last night, posted a seventh place effort tonight. Last night’s third place finisher Brandon Overton finished 15th tonight. Newport’s Jimmy Owens was running in third but got caught up in a crash on lap 21 and eventually finished 21st.

O’Connor, from Vancouver, Canada was declared the winner of the 30-lap Modified feature after original winner Shane Demey was docked two positions for a post-race rules violation.

There was a similar situation in Stock Car as pole winner Vis, who finished second, was declared the winner following post-race tech. Original winner Dallon Murty was docked two positions for a rules infraction discovered during post-race inspection.

Johnny Spaw, Murty, T.J. Herndon and Pat Rachels completed the revised top five.

Georgia native Trouille led all 20 laps of the 602 Late Models feature, and pulled away from the pack to take the victory. Cody Courtney of Knoxville finished second and was followed by Tucker Anderson.

“This car was money, it was perfect,” Trouille said. “My dad worked really hard on this car all week. I want to thank all the people that support me. It’s Bristol, baby.”

The Karl Kustoms Bristol Dirt Nationals continues Monday with support classes practice for week two. The XR Super Series Late Models return to action on Thursday with their practice session to set up their final two feature races, set for next Friday and Saturday, April 1 and 2.

XR Super Series Late Models, 50-lap feature results

  1. Chris Ferguson
  2. Scott Bloomquist
  3. Ricky Weiss
  4. Jonathan Davenport
  5. Ricky Thornton Jr.
  6. Darrell Lanigan
  7. Dale McDowell
  8. Shane Clanton
  9. Devin Moran
  10. Kyle Strickler
  11. Mike Marlar
  12. Chris Madden
  13. Dakotah Knuckles
  14. Ashton Winger
  15. Brandon Overton
  16. Mark Whitener
  17. Kyle Bronson
  18. Brian Nuttall Jr.
  19. Stacy Boles
  20. Garrett Smith
  21. Jimmy Owens
  22. Joseph Joiner
  23. Tim McCreadie
  24. Earl Pearson Jr.

Modified, 30-lap feature results

  1. Sir Lawrence O’Connor
  2. D. Auringer
  3. Shane Demey
  4. Jeff Bodendorfer
  5. Jeremie Hedrick
  6. Lyle Sathoff
  7. Tim Balding
  8. Marcus Yarie
  9. Nathan Patrick
  10. Paris Archie
  11. Rob Charapata
  12. Tyler Stoddard
  13. Rusty Zeigler
  14. Dallas Caldwell
  15. Bill Pittaway
  16. Larry Sanders
  17. Darin Leonard
  18. Randy Zeigler
  19. Kenneth Zeigler
  20. Corey Kortum
  21. Jimmie Leonard
  22. Cody Leonard

Stock Car, 30-lap feature results

  1. Dustin Vis
  2. Johnny Spaw
  3. Dallon Murty
  4. J. Herndon
  5. Pat Rachels
  6. Damon Murty
  7. Colton Arends
  8. Dan Michonski
  9. Justin Vogel
  10. Jason Rogers
  11. Shelby Williams
  12. Ben Glascock
  13. Leslie Gill
  14. Andrea McCain
  15. Johnny Coats
  16. Jason Park
  17. Donnie Pearson
  18. Jaylen Wettengel
  19. Brandon Blake
  20. Nathan Wood
  21. Chris Murray
  22. Tyler Easterday
  23. Eric Zwirschitz
  24. Burl Woods

602 Late Models, 20-lap feature results

  1. Colton Trouille
  2. Cody Courtney
  3. Tucker Anderson
  4. Monk Gulledge
  5. Paul Jorgensen
  6. Cass Fowler

Franklin Road Surges to Second Place in TA2 Championship After Incident Filled Atlanta Showdown

By
Official Release
-

Braselton, GEORGIA – March 26, 2022 – Round 3 of the 2022 Trans Am presented by Pirelli Championship season was staged at a cool, fresh Road Atlanta circuit. The race went green around lunchtime and saw former Champion Cameron Lawrence maintain focus when many of the drivers in the TA2 Class were losing theirs. Driving the No. 6 Franklin Road Apparel Chevrolet Camaro, Lawrence came through the pack to finish in P4, lifting himself in the process one place up the drivers’ Championship table to P2.

It was a good result for Showtime Motorsports as Lawrence delivered an exciting performance, climbing a dozen places over the course of the race from a grid position of P16 to P4 and just off the podium at the checkered flag. The 23 points Lawrence collected put him on 63 Championship points for the season and in a provisional P2 in the Championship table.

We spoke to Cameron after the race and he was understandably pleased that his smooth drive had paid off, “It was a really good race. We just hung in there all weekend. This team just never quits. Same thing in the car: you just can’t ever give up!”

He went on to praise the hard work and consistency of the car and team, “Consistency is paying off for us for sure. We’re happy being just one step off the podium. It just shows what this team’s got.”

Of his climb up the standings to an impressive P2 of over 45 cars in the Championship, he added, “If we don’t have the fastest car then we just want to score the most points we can and that’s what we’re doing.” Cars were leaving the track at regular intervals at Atlanta but none of that phased Cameron.

“We thought there’d be fewer yellow flags than at Charlotte. I didn’t know what to expect. Some of it helped out with cars going off and making some passes.”

Next up for Showtime is the TA Class race where the team principal will bid to follow up his 2020 win at the track in the XGT Class. Fans can catch all the action live on the SVRA and Trans Am YouTube Channels.

CBS Sports Network Air Times

This weekend’s races from Road Atlanta will air on CBS Sports Network the week following the event. TA/XGT/SGT/GT will air on Saturday, April 2 at 6:00 p.m. ET, while TA2 will air on Sunday, April 3 at 5:30 p.m. ET.

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

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

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

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

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