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CHEVY NCS AT ATLANTA: Post-Race Notes and Quotes

NASCAR CUP SERIES
ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY
FOLDS OF HONOR QUIKTRIP 500
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES AND QUOTES
MARCH 20, 2022

TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1st WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1
2nd ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 1 ADVENT HEALTH CAMARO ZL1
4th DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 COMMSCOPE CAMARO ZL1
5th COREY LAJOIE, NO. 7 FRATERNAL ORDER OF EAGLES CAMARO ZL1
6th CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1
10th ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1

TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1st William Byron (Chevrolet)
2nd Ross Chastain (Chevrolet)
3rd Kurt Busch (Toyota)
4th Daniel Suarez (Chevrolet)
5th Corey LaJoie (Chevrolet)

The NASCAR Cup Series season continues next weekend at Circuit of The Americas with the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix on Sunday, March 27, at 3:30 P.M. ET. Live coverage can be found on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES AND QUOTES:

WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1 – Race Winner
WILLIAM BYRON BRINGS IT HOME FOR HIS THIRD CAREER WIN. YOU JUST GOT OUT OF THE CAR AND SAID “THAT WAS FUN.” YOU HAVE A SUPERSPEEDWAY CAR, AN INTERMEDIATE SET UP – WHAT WAS THIS DAY LIKE IN THE END?
“It was so different. You know honestly the last few laps there, just trying to manage the gap to Bubba (Wallace) and trying to not get too far out front. My spotter Brandon (Lines), it’s his first win so congrats to him and just thanks to this whole team. They’ve done a great job this year. There’s a lot of changes with the Next Gen car.

The Liberty University Chevrolet was awesome there. We had a pretty rough practice; worked hard on it and got it handling well. Like I told you, it was kind of an intermediate style with a little bit of superspeedway to it, so it was lot of fun. Thanks to everyone at Hendrick Motorsports. Super exciting.”

HOW ABOUT THIS CROWD? PACKED STANDS HERE TO SEE AN ATLANTA RACE LIKE WE’VE NEVER SEEN BEFORE.
“It’s so cool. I think these fans saw one heck of a race. It was certainly long from my seat. It was mentally taxing. Just thanks to all the fans for coming out. Been an awesome weekend. I got the win last night in the Late Model too, so it’s been a lot of fun.”

ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 1 ADVENT HEALTH CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 2nd
LOSE SOME LAPS, GET THE LAPS BACK. IN POSITION AT THE END OF THIS RACE, ENDED UP THIRD.
“Maybe second. What a day, Regan. That’s the fight, that’s the fight in Trackhouse. This Gen 7 car to take a lick like that, blow a tire out of nowhere leading. Just cruising, blow a right rear, slam the wall, I thought our day was over. Our guys went underneath the car, got the tow closer and we got the balance back where I could drive it and this Advent Health Chevy was fast. It was so fast. I mean we were fighting with William (Byron) there at the beginning. So cool to race with buddies again. I only have a few, but the last two weeks I’ve been able to race with buddies. Can’t thank everybody at Trackhouse, the Moose, Advent Health, everybody that’s been on this car. Justin Marks and his family for what they do for me and Daniel Suarez. What a teammate to push me there at the end.”

DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 COMMSCOPE CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 4th
SECOND TOP-FIVE ALREADY THIS SEASON. YOU GUYS BOUNCED OFF THE WALL. YOU HAD A PENALTY ON PIT ROAD. WHAT WAS YOUR DAY LIKE?
“It was just like that, up and down. Our No. 99 CommScope Chevrolet was fast. We did a good job on pit road. We had fast pit stops. When we have a fast Chevrolet Camaro, it makes things easier. Everyone at Trackhouse Racing has been working very, very hard to build cars like this. We just have to keep it up. We have a few trophies coming in the near future.”

COREY LAJOIE, NO. 7 FRATERNAL ORDER OF EAGLES CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 5th
“We did exactly what we set out to do today. We made Atlanta Motor Speedway like a superspeedway. We missed the wrecks and put our No. 7 Fraternal Order of Eagles Camaro ZL1 there at the end and got a top-five finish. It’s great to start our season with three top-15’s and now one top-five. Hopefully, we can maintain the momentum over the next couple of weeks and put ourselves in a good points position through the summer. Thank you to everyone at Spire Motorsports and the No. 7 team for all the hard work to continue to build fast Chevy’s.”

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 6th
“It was crazy, for sure. Hopefully it was fun to watch because I felt like it was wild from my seat. It was very much so like a Daytona or Talladega. Just trying to position yourself there at the right spot and hope it goes your way.”

JUSTIN HALEY, NO. 31 LEAFFILTER GUTTER PROTECTION CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 11th
“Obviously, Chris (Buescher) and I were going for the same real estate there at the end, so neither of us were really to blame. I did not want to be forced down below the red and white line. I have been bitten by that rule in the past, so I obviously did not want to go below it, and I was not going to check up either. We had a really strong No. 31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Camaro ZL1 all day, but we were just unlucky at the end.”

KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1 – Sidelined due to damage sustained in an accident on lap 208.
“We were just coming to the end of the stage. He (Denny Hamlin) was just trying to help me get a run down the front stretch. He just got to me in the corner and got me loose. I hate that happened, but it’s a product of this racing and product of pushing; trying to draft and get your lane going. Nothing is intentional.

Obviously, I wish we were still out there and both of us racing. The good thing is we have a win already. Two DNF’s in a row isn’t what we want, but our No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevy is fast. We were able to drive to the front a few different times and avoid a couple different wrecks. I was happy with the car. The handling was off early, but we got it better. I know the speed was there to contend. We’ll move along and go have some fun on a road course.”

RICKY STENHOUSE JR., NO. 47 KROGER/SWEETLEAF CAMARO ZL1 – Sidelined by damage sustained in an accident on lap 200.
YOU WERE LEADING AND HAD A FAST CAR. I HEARD YOUR CREW CHIEF SAY ON THE RADIO THAT YOU HAD A TIRE GO DOWN. DID YOU HAVE ANY INDICATION?
“No, I was just riding around and I felt really good with our No. 47. Kroger / SweetLeaf Camaro. It was really, really fast. We drove right up to the front from the back there at the start of the race. You saw a few tires let go with people leading, running in the front. I don’t know if with all the speed we have here, if the right rear can’t hang on or what.

The JTG Daugherty guys brought a really fast car. It was another race where I felt like we were running up front. We’ve done that quite often this year. We missed it last weekend in Phoenix, but we’ll go get them at COTA. Our guys are continuing to build really good race cars and that’s all we can ask for. We’ll keep trying to put ourselves in position. I had fun.”

AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BASS PRO SHOPS/TRACKER OFF ROAD CAMARO ZL1 – Sidelined by damage sustained in an accident on lap 100.
“William (Byron) and I had a good run through (turns) one and two. Got to the lead and he pushed me down the backstretch. I knew the Toyotas were going to go opposite of us, so I felt like having the No. 24 block bottom and me go to the top would keep the Chevy’s up front. The No. 18 (Kyle Busch) decided to stick with me. I know he probably thought he was doing us a favor, but you can’t push on the left rear on exit off turn four going as fast as we’re going. He just turned me and it took us both out of the race.”

“It was the end of Stage One. We were going to get a run down the front stretch right there, so I don’t know why he’s pushing dead center, at the three-quarter mark. It’s part of it I guess. It was fun racing there for a while with a really fast No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevy. My feelings are hurt. Just two weeks in a row we’ve been taken out of the race.”

TY DILLON, NO. 42 ALSCO UNIFORMS CAMARO ZL1 – Sidelined by damage sustained in an accident on lap 100.
WHAT HAPPENED OUT THERE AND WHAT DID YOU SEE?
“I don’t know. We were taking it easy. We had a penalty on pit road, so we had to restart last there. I was just kind of chilling. I was trying to slow down with the wreck and the No. 14 (Chase Briscoe), I don’t know what he was looking at or doing. He just ran right through me and ended our day. I knew we had a good enough No. 42 Alsco Uniforms Camaro ZL1 to hopefully get up front with good track position and good pit stops. Just hate that it ended our day early.”

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE NEW ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY?
“It’s really hard to pass and you need help (to pass). I wasn’t up front enough to really tell you a lot, but it was really hard to pass. Even if you were handling better, if somebody could just stay in the middle lane, you could hardly get around them unless you had a massive run and they messed up. Track position matters. We were going to need to have good pit stops. Hopefully we would have been up front, but it wasn’t our day.”

NOAH GRAGSON, NO. 16 CHEVYLINERS.COM CAMARO ZL1 – Sidelined by damage sustained in an accident on lap 24.
“I just got loose there through (turns) one and two. It was still early in the race, so I wasn’t pushing it. I was just trying to bide my time and stay patient. It’s such a long race. It’s unfortunate. I hate it for the ChevyLiners.com team and everyone at Kaulig Racing. They’ve been putting in so many hours this year. My goal was to complete all the laps and finish the race. The No. 16 Camaro ZL1 was fast, it was just a mistake.”

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: Buescher and Logano Post Top 10 Runs in Atlanta Cup Race

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Atlanta Motor Speedway | Sunday, March 20, 2022

Ford Finishing Results:
7th – Chris Buescher
9th – Joey Logano
12th – Brad Keselowski
15th – Chase Briscoe
17th – Ryan Blaney
18th – David Ragan
19th – BJ McLeod
21st – Kevin Harvick
22nd – Aric Almirola
24th – Michael McDowell
25th – Harrison Burton
26th – Cody Ware
27th – Todd Gilliland
32nd – Austin Cindric
34th – Cole Custer

CHRIS BUESCHER, No. 17 ITsavvy Ford Mustang – “The pylon looks better than our race, probably. It was a hard-fought race. We had a lot of balance gremlins that a lot of the field fought early on. A lot of it was just not knowing what to expect. It got better and were definitely a competitive car at the end. We needed a little more raw speed and then going through one and two coming to the checkered I don’t know what happened there. I haven’t seen all of that yet, but coming to the finish I had what I felt like was a decent run and went to pull down and go somewhere with it and I don’t think I realized the 31 was below me there. That was the end of the day. That wreck is probably on me, so frustrating to end that way but a decent finish for us still. I’m missing the old Atlanta a lot right now. To be fair, it was my favorite mile-and-a-half before, so it was gonna be hard for this one to compare and, to me, it doesn’t right now but we’ll keep working on it and see if we can get it better for next time.”

WITH ALL OF THE QUESTION MARKS BEFORE THE RACE. WHAT IS YOUR IMMEDIATE FEEDBACK WITH ONE RACE BEHIND YOU? “I’d say probably a good amount of drafting, a lot of momentum – no tandeming and a little bit of pushing and shoving, but I don’t think there’s the ability to get in the corner and really push like I think we thought about early on. There are some big questions there if it’s really sustainable or if we can get to that. Handling was a big thing, but you have to have some speed in the cars, too. What we had to do to get the handling decent we probably cost a little bit of speed through the day, but now we have somewhere to work off of.”

JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Pennzoil Ford Mustang – “A long day. We spun out and then the engine wouldn’t start. I don’t know why it wouldn’t start, but it wouldn’t start until I got pushed. We lost a lap and then got our lap back. We just battled and battled and finished ninth. No stage points.”

WHAT DO YOU DO MOVING FORWARD AT THIS TRACK? “It’s a regular superspeedway. We just keep crashing. What did you expect? It’s the same stuff. I guess it’s OK, I don’t know. We survived, but a lot of cars crashed today for sure, just like we would expect. I don’t know, you be the judge if it was entertaining or not. I don’t know. It’s a different type of racing.”

CHASE BRISCOE, No. 14 HighPoint.com Ford Mustang — “There at the beginning I got a little bit of damage, but our car was honestly really good. We could never lead, but I could shove people really realliy good and if I had somebody that was good in front of me I could just keep going and keep picking them off. There at the end I felt like with how my car was, and I kept going to the bottom, the top was just so fast down the straightaway so I knew I probably wasn’t gonna win with the damage I had on the nose, so I was just trying to stay committed to running the top to keep our momentum up. I thought we were gonna come out third or fourth and was trying to help the 12 and, honestly, to shove him to potentially the win and I went in there and I just got him loose into one and obviously we both hit the fence because of it. It’s unfortunate. We were both gonna have a really good day and I kind of shot ourselves in the foot there.”

RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 BodyArmor Ford Mustang – “The 14 just shoved me into one when we were stacked up and you can’t do that. You’ve got to get off people and we ended up just getting destroyed. We were in a decent spot to win and have nothing to show for it.”

ARIC ALMIROLA, No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang – “Man we had such a fast Smithfield Ford all day. It handled great too. It was nice to run up front and get some stage points. We got spun by the No. 1 car there running up in fourth and I thought our car was fine, but we heard a rattle so we came to pit road and took tires to check on it and it looked fine. When we restarted we just didn’t have full power and some mechanical issues and just had to ride until the checkered flag waved. I think we would have had a good shot at it. This 10 team will continue to fight.”

TODD GILLILAND, No. 38 Georgia Peanuts Ford Mustang – “That was very unfortunate. I went high and we kind of split the field. Something for us to learn from and we didn’t want that to happen. Our Georgia Peanuts Ford was loose to start and then we broke a toe link. We fixed it, but we were laps down. We were racing it out and then got into the fence.”

CODY WARE, No. 51 Nurtec ODT Ford Mustang – “We were just riding around. I had the 77 and a couple of guys beyhind me and a couple guys in front of me that we all just planned on riding around and we weren’t ready to race yet. We were still just trying to figure it out to get to the end and go racing with maybe five or 10 laps to go but got that taken away from us today. I’m just really disappointed because my team brought a great Nurtec ODT Ford Mustang to the track today and it’s just a real shame that this is how the day ended.”

AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 2 Menards/Knauf Ford Mustang – WHAT DID YOU SEE? “It was something I’d been watching and waiting for the entire race, the leaders getting wrecked. From my vantage point, just tried to slow down through the crash and got rear-ended by somebody. It’s just how it goes when there’s not a lot of room. This style of racing we’re all together and it’s a pretty large hit. It’s a shame to be out of the race. We were fighting close to the top 10 range most of the day, but just kind of a victim and it’s a bummer.”

HOW DID THIS RACE PLAY OUT BASED ON THE QUESTION MARKS GOING INTO IT? “It played out probably similar to what I thought it would after watching the Xfinity race yesterday. We stayed in a really large pack and handling seemed to matter a little bit, but track position seems to matter a lot. To be honest, I still can’t quite figure out if there’s a trick to what we were doing today, but just a shame. I wish we had gotten to the end and had a shot at it.”

HOW SIMILAR OR DIFFERENT WAS THIS FROM DAYTONA? “I would say it’s quite a bit different. In some ways leading into the weekend I think as an industry we probably didn’t think it was gonna be as much of a pack, but obviously the track had a lot of grip and it didn’t take long for it to widen out, so I think after watching yesterday we kind of knew it was gonna be a pack race. At the same time, the track is one mile smaller, so the opportunity to build runs and to be able to carry them into the corner but also not be handling limited, I think that’s why we have the racing that we do at Talladega and Daytona. I feel like today if you weren’t fifth on forward, you were limited by whatever was happening in the first two or three rows. I never quite figured out a method to the madness today. We kind of hung around 10th on the edge of stage points all the time. It was interesting for sure, but narrow track and not a lot of room to have errors.”

WHAT NEEDS TO BE LOOKED AT FOR NEXT TIME? “It’s certainly hard to say. From a close racing standpoint we have an entire pack, so I guess it depends on the formula you want. Not to give you a non-comital answer, but I would say if you were 10th on back today you were kind of just as passenger. You could take a run and go somewhere and then go back up and take a run and go somewhere, but you really wouldn’t make any progress unless you were putting somebody three-wide, which putting somebody three-wide was a pretty large risk and then usually lift anyway. I took advantage of that a few times and it was kind of fun, but it’s a pretty rare opportunity that you would catch somebody sleeping. Like I said, I never quite figured out a method to the madness and felt like the track was getting more grip throughout the race, so I think it’ll probably be racier with three lanes before the end.”

THE KNOCK ON THIS WAS TOO SHORT AND TOO NARROW TO AVOID WRECKS. ACCURATE? “I think our biggest concern coming into the race was green flag pit stops because of how narrow the track is. I think that’s probably a conversation topic. You look at what Indy Car does, they use the apron as their pit entry, so if that’s a move that could pit come in. Obviously, we’ve had enough cautions today where that hasn’t come into play, but you would think in a 500-mile race statistically you would have a green flag stop, but maybe we won’t have to deal with that. I would say from a narrow track standpoint and the style of racing I’d say that was probably my biggest concern and still is, and from that point it hasn’t happened yet, so I’m not right or wrong.”

COLE CUSTER, No. 41 Dixie Vodka Ford Mustang – “The track is so narrow here that they got together up front and everybody stacked up with nowhere to go, so we hit the wall. We didn’t really hit that hard, but it broke some of the right-rear suspension and put us out.”

WHAT DID YOU THINK ABOUT THE TRACK AND STYLE OF RACING TODAY? “I thought it was OK. I thought the racing was solid. We were side-by-side the whole time and that’s just part of it. We’ve just got to move onto the next one.”

Toyota Racing – NCS Atlanta Post-Race Report – 03.20.22

BUSCH SCORES SECOND-STRAIGHT TOP-FIVE FINISH
Kurt Busch leads Toyota with a third-place finish

ATLANTA (March 20, 2022) – Kurt Busch (third) led Toyota in the NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon.

Toyota Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Atlanta Motor Speedway
Race 5 of 36 – 500.5 miles, 325 laps

TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, William Bryon*
2nd, Ross Chastain*
3rd, KURT BUSCH
4th, Daniel Suarez*
5th, Corey LaJoie*
8th, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
13th, BUBBA WALLACE
23rd, CHRISTOPHER BELL
29th, DENNY HAMLIN
33rd, KYLE BUSCH
*non-Toyota driver

TOYOTA QUOTES

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

Finishing Position: 3rd

How different was today for you?

“We were on a different planet today with the draft and the way the cars raced. Wow. I was catching air off of turn two. I had to lift to not hit the rev chip. I just had a little too much damage to not be on offense, and then we were just trying to ride around and pick our poison so to speak with the Monster Energy Toyota. We weren’t on offense, so if you are not on offense, you kind of have to ride and wait for the holes to open up and I got a top-five again. A lot of sarcasm here. We know we need to get better with the handling and some of our race craft, but another top-five – we will take it.”

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

Finishing Position: 23rd

NASCAR has decided to move you to the end of the lead lap after the last lap move. Can you explain it from your seat?

“I don’t know. I haven’t seen a replay or anything, but I saw a hole there and tried to take it and we came together. I know he was coming down, whether or not – it kind of is what it is. Our DeWalt Camry was extremely fast today. We’ve been pretty fast all year, just haven’t got the results to show for it. Just have to keep digging.”

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota Camry TRD, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 29th

Can you sum up what racing was like out there?

“We had a really fast FedEx Camry. I was just trying to help Kyle (Larson) there and I just needed to let him go off turn four. The track gets light there, the car starts to lift up and that’s where I needed to back off of him and I just didn’t and spun him out. It is a shame. Our car was really fast. We definitely slowed after the first part of the damage – we were involved in that first wreck. Overall, just frustrating, but we are running well, we are just finishing horrible. I’m just making some bad decisions. It’s easy in retrospect to say I should have done this, and I should have done that, but in the moment, you are trying to battle for some stage points there and we’ve got good grip, and I’m pushing him, and everything is going well and then all of a sudden the car lifts up and he’s gone. Just split-second decision making.”

#

About Toyota

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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.

Jr III Racing Takes Second at Sebring

Strong start to 2022 IMSA WeatherTech Campaign as team completes every lap

Sebring, Fla. (20 March, 2022) – Jr III (“Junior Three”) Racing raced to second place in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Advance Auto on Saturday with drivers Garett Grist, Dakota Dickerson, and Ari Balogh. The race was the first of the championship season for the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship LMP3 class, and saw the team impress through a long hot day with strong execution on both sides of the pit wall at Sebring International Raceway.

Ari Balogh manned the controls from the drop of the green flag, keeping in the fight. As temperatures soared and the race ran under a furious opening segment with no caution periods, Balogh impressively took on a triple stint – the only booze driver in the class to do so. Balogh turned the car over to Dickerson shortly after the three-hour mark on a well-time pit stop which saw the Sebring debutant move to the lead on a pit stop cycle on lap 107.

Making his first-ever IMSA WeatherTech race start, the promising young American racer ran in podium contention with the car briefly returning to the lead of the race before Dickerson turned the car over to Grist on lap 176 as the race moved past the halfway mark. Grist demonstrated his deep experience and strong pace as he ran in podium contention through his stints.

Once again moving to the lead on lap 265 before pitting, the Jr III entry was guided home through the final stages with Grist and Dickerson locked in P2. A long run of green flag action saw the team hit their marks on the pit stops well into the Florida night as Grist brought the car home in second place following 12 hours and 331 laps of hard racing.

“It was a lot of fun,” said Dickerson of his first run at the IMSA WeatherTech level. “It was a long race and everyone did a great job. I felt like I learned a lot and made improvements throughout my two stints. We kept the car clean, kept it on the lead lap and were able to make up a little ground as well. I’m very thankful for the opportunity that Jr III gave me. They did a fantastic job calling strategy, made great pit stops and really just did an awesome job all around. I’m very grateful to be on the podium in our first WeatherTech event together and I’m hoping for more to come in the future.”

“I didn’t get in the car until, probably, about seven hours in,” said Grist. “We had some trouble with handling issues during the daytime and then it was such a complete difference at night. So, I think we just have to look at why it was such a big swing. I knew that being able to battle with them (No. 33) was going to be tough, but our mechanics put in so much work this weekend and over the last couple of months at the shop -they are really the ones that got us this podium.”

“It was a long day, good day,” said team owner Billy Glavin. “The way we unloaded out of the box, I would have never expected second. The drivers did a great job and I think our crew really were key to getting this result today. To come and do every lap of one of the toughest races without a glitch—the guys did a mega job from preparing the car at the shop to all the stops we did today. Our car didn’t handle great in the middle segment of the race and I think that made the difference but this was really a great start for us and a great finish for the points, too. We have high expectations so we want to perform no matter where we go, so I’m really happy with how the whole week went and looking forward to build on this.”

Jr III will be back in IMSA action at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course May 13-15.

Era Motorsport Returns to Podium in Challenging Sebring Twelve Hour

SEBRING, Fla., (March 20, 2022) – Era Motorsport returned to the podium at Sebring International Raceway for the second consecutive year on Saturday evening, braving hot temperatures to finish third place at the always challenging Twelve Hours of Sebring. Drivers Dwight Merriman, Ryan Dalziel, and Kyle Tilley raced all twelve hours of the second round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship without air conditioning in the No. 18 Oreca, surviving a calamity-filled race to earn their first podium of the 2022 season.

Dwight Merriman qualified the No. 18 Oreca on Friday morning, putting in a quality performance to set the team up to start in third position for race day. The field took the green flag under muggy, overcast conditions, which quickly burned away by late morning to allow the sun to bake the Sebring, Florida circuit. Temperatures climbed to a high of 92 degrees, the highest of the weekend.

The team’s first instance of attrition started almost immediately when the No. 18 Oreca’s air conditioning failed to work. Merriman, Dalziel, and Tilley drove the entire Twelve Hour race with no cooling system at one of the most difficult circuits on the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Calendar. Despite the hardship, the team put in a good performance, beginning with a double stint from Merriman. He had a strong chance with the No. 81 Oreca, challenging his LMP2 competitor for second place. He pitted in fourth with 80 laps complete, passing the driving duties to Dalziel.

From there, the trio rotated through, with the engineers and strategists in pit lane expertly keeping the car in the top five positions in the LMP2 class, working cautions to the team’s best advantage. The No. 18 Era Motorsport Oreca proved to be tough competition in the tight field, consistently closing in on the cars ahead, gaining time with each lap.

Dusk provided a welcome respite for the team, allowing temperatures and humidity to cool down over the circuit. The No. 18 Oreca climbed to second place in the final hours, but a punctured tire forced Ryan Dalziel to make an unscheduled stop, dropping the team back to fifth place. Never giving up, the Indianapolis-based group persisted, with Dalziel and Tilley trading turns, each doing their best to gain back lost ground. In the final 30 minutes, Dalziel captured third position, and held it to the checkered flag, bringing home a much-needed podium after a difficult day.

Era’s IMSA WeatherTech program resumes April 29 to May 1 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California. The race will be the team’s first sprint event of the 2022 season, racing for two hours, forty minutes through the rolling hills of Monterey. Merriman and Dalziel will race together, with Tilley, the team’s endurance driver not returning to the car until June’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen at Watkins Glen International in New York. For schedule information, visit imsa.com.

DRIVER QUOTES
Dwight Merriman
Four hours into the race, we were fighting well for second or first place. But as happens in endurance racing to everyone sooner or later, we then had several random issues, one, for example, being a puncture, and little luck on the timing of cautions to mitigate. This all added up. I really admire the team’s tenacity as we fought back to a podium spot with focus, execution, and good strategy.

Ryan Dalziel
This was physically one of the toughest races I’ve done in a long time. After my first double stint, and I knew I had three more doubles to do, I was fairly concerned that we weren’t going to be able to last the whole race. Thankfully once the humidity dropped, it got better as the race went on. We would have been closer to the leaders if it weren’t for our puncture when we were running in second on the lead lap. That set us back and left us hoping for a yellow we didn’t get. It was a good rebound from a bad Daytona. Flawless job from everyone on the team and my teammates. It was a good points day, and on to the next one.

Kyle Tilley
Because of the heat alone, this was one of the hardest races I’ve ever done. I think the temperatures were floating around 90 degrees Celsius inside the car. It was relatively miserable in the car. We had a puncture for Ryan, which was unfortunate and took us out of contention to win the thing. We think we cracked an exhaust header as well, so we were possibly down on power a bit from where we should have been. After all of that, this one feels like a win.

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CHEVROLET NTT INDYCAR SERIES – XPEL 375 AT TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY ACE RECAP WITH RECAP

CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES
XPEL 375
TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
JUSTIN, TEXAS
TEAM CHEVY RACE POST RACE RECAP WITH TRANSCRIPT
MARCH 20, 2022

JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 2 PPG TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, MADE LAST CORNER, LAST LAP PASS ON TEAMMATE SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN TO CAPTURE HIS 2ND WIN IN THE XPEL 375 AT TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY.
CHEVROLET HAS CAPTURED TWO WINS, AND FOUR PODIUMS IN THE FIRST TWO RACES
TODAY’S VICTORY ON THE 1.5-MILE OVAL IS NEWGARDEN’S 21ST CAREER WIN AND THE 600TH WIN FOR ROGER PENSKE AND TEAM PENSKE
ALSO IS THE 97TH VICTORY SINCE 2012 FOR THE CHEVY 2.2 LITER V6 TWIN TURBO DIRECT INJECTED ENGINE

FT. WORTH (MARCH 20,2022) – A lap and a half from the checkered flag, Josef Newgarden, No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet, was behind his teammate, race leader and St. Petersburg winner Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 XPEL Team Penske Chevrolet, and had about decided to stay where he was, and take the second-place finish.

But, as if commanded, the opportunity opened up for Newgarden to dare to take the highline around McLaughlin, knowing there was a risk of the resin that had bitten several other drivers earlier in the race could be his demise.

Coming out of turn four Newgarden completed the pass of McLaughlin for the win at the checkered by .0669 seconds to score the 21st win of his career, his second at Texas Motor Speedway and the 97th for Chevrolet since 2012.

“Unbelievable (to have the) PPG car in victory lane,” said a jubilant Newgarden from Victory Lane. “Also, our XPEL car. How about Scott (McLaughlin)? I think he led like 95 percent of the laps. I hate doing that to a teammate, but I was going for it just like he was. We were driving hard. Man, I was loose. I was driving things sideways off of three and four every lap. I was trying to get a run, but Team Chevy what an unbelievable job right? We showed up, got the pole, got the win for Team Chevy’s camp, and just so pleased for everybody. It was so good to drive this PPG car again with Team Chevy.”

Two races into the 17-race 2022 NTT INDYCAR Series schedule, Chevrolet powered drivers have scored two wins, four podiums, four top-fives and six top-10 finishes.

“Congratulations to Josef Newgarden on his exciting win,” said Rob Buckner, Chevrolet Racing Engineering Program Manager for INDYCAR. “Great day again for Scott McLaughlin as well. I am so proud of the work that has been put in by the Chevrolet engineering group with our technical partners and teams that is giving us a strong start to the 2022 INDYCAR Series. It is awesome to help Team Penske capture its 600th win as an organization. What a tremendous achievement. Now we get ready for Long Beach but it is great to head to race three with momentum for all of our teams and drivers.”

With his second-place finish after leading 186 laps, McLaughlin leaves Texas with a 28 point lead in the standings.

Team Penske’s Will Power just missed another podium with a strong fourth-place finish, and heads to Long Beach second in points to give Team Chevy the three of the top-four finishers in today’s 248-lap exciting race.

Rinus VeeKayf battled for the lead around the two-thirds point of the race, and brought his No. 21 Sonax Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet, finished in 10th position.

Two Chevrolet drivers were forced to retire early from the race. Kyle Kirkwood driving the No. 14 Rokit AJ Foyt Chevrolet, was involved in a single-car incident on lap 113 making hard contact with the outside wall. He was checked and released at the infield care center and scored 25th in the final order.

Pole winner Felix Rosenqvist, No. 7 Vuse Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet, retired from the race on lap 138 with a non-engine related mechanical problem. He is credited with the 21st finishing position

Other Chevy powered drivers finished as follows:
ED CARPENTER, NO. 33 ALZAMEND ED CARPENTER RACING, .
, FINISHED 13th
JR HILDEBRAND, NO. 11 ROKIT AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 14th
PATO O’WARD, NO.5 ARROW MCLAREN SP RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 15th
CALLUM ILLOT, NO. 77 JUNCOS HOLLINGER RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 16th
DALTON KELLET, NO. 4 K-LINE AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 17th
CONOR DALY, NO. 20 BITNILE ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 18th

Next for Team Chevy in the NTT INDYCAR Series is the Streets of Long Beach on April 10, 2022.

Scott McLaughlin
Josef Newgarden
Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: We welcome in Scott McLaughlin, who almost went back to back. What happened at the end?
SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Looking back at it, if I would have thought about it in my head, which I already have done a million times, my car was tightening up, especially in traffic. It probably wasn’t handling exactly how it had at the start earlier in the race. I was sort of maxed out on my tools. I was trying to control the traffic, couldn’t catch the traffic too much. At the end the traffic checked up into me.
I knew there were going to be dramas in three and four. I struggled with my turns at three and four. I guess I wasn’t prepared to take the risk on the outside at 3-4, which looking back at it I should have. My teammate Josef, obviously Josef chose to. Once he was on the outside of me, I can’t do anything.
Yeah, look, I’m gutted. I’ll reevaluate everything over the next few days. But it’s funny, like last year I was fist pumping and jumping out of the car finishing second. I’m like today, It sucks. That’s how it is. That’s how we’re growing. I’ll learn from this, get better.
Yeah, I probably just need to expand, maybe risk a little bit more when I need, to try different lines. I’ll learn for the big one coming up in May.
One thing is great, 600 wins for the captain. Literally if anyone else beat me, I would be pissed. I’m kind of pissed now, but you know what I mean. 600 wins for the team. We led a lot of laps, extended the championship lead.
Yeah, I’m a race driver. I want to win. It definitely hurts.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.
Q. How do you feel the conditions were as the race went on?
SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Look, obviously the first stint went for a long time. I actually battled with the vibration on the run. We still had pretty good speed. I managed to pull away.
But definitely the wind, the conditions, changed towards the end of the race. Very gusty off turn two, which made it quite loose. A lot of push, quite tight through 3-4.
Maybe my car wasn’t quite set up for the gustier conditions, but all in all I think we had a really solid race car today. We were right there, thereabouts, throughout the whole race. I passed Dixon into one, a few others into one, able to demand track position when we needed to, that’s what we needed to do: get the right track positions at the right time.

Q. A little more in detail. When you’re coming around out of three, going into four, you know he is where he is, was there any possible thing you could have done to close the line without it being risky?
SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: No. Like I said, I was battling already on the exit of three and four. It would have been risky for me, for both of us, if I had moved. I mean, when I got told that he’s in the second lane, I was like, Oh, here we go (laughter).
Looking back at it, I was just too tentative. At the end of the day I’ll learn from that. I just didn’t want to go out the last corner, hit the fence, not have either of us win, because I quite easily could have taken Josef out.
It is what it is. At the end of the day it’s one of those days when you look back at the end of the year, championship-wise it might work out very good.

Q. (No microphone.)
SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, around when I was sort of like the leader, I had a good lead, I was sort of lapping him a little bit. He was fast. He was doing some really good moves. I saw him pass a guy on the outside in one, a few others.
J.J., we hang out a bit. He’s certainly coming strong. I’m sure he feels a lot more confident on the ovals. He’s going to be good at Indy. I’m really excited for him. He’s in a good car. I’m excited for what’s ahead.
For INDYCAR itself it’s exciting, a guy like that, with so much talent. There’s not many people in America who don’t know who Jimmie Johnson is. If he’s going to compete at the front of the Indy 500, hopefully just behind me, we’re good (smiling). I’ll lead him across the bricks at the end of the race, no dramas. Tuck in, mate, it’s good prize money.

THE MODERATOR: Probably that many people globally who don’t know who Jimmie is.
SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Everywhere has NASCAR on television knows who J.J. is. I flipped out when I got his mobile number. It was pretty cool.

Q. (No microphone.)
SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: I don’t know, maybe.

THE MODERATOR: Obviously Josef has his cowboy hat on.
JIMMIE JOHNSON: Head it much bigger now.

THE MODERATOR: Three laps led, but the most important ones.
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Was it three? I thought I only got one.
THE MODERATOR: Generally your thoughts coming up on Scott there on the last lap, what was going through your mind?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: It was a race of patience, for sure, for us at least. We tried to manage all the way throughout. We had a lot of adversities to work through. We had a right front that was coming apart on the first stint. We got through that. It actually worked out pretty well. We cycled up to second. Scott was way up the road, started closing the gap. Obviously had the big yellow in the middle.
Kind of the final restart, I just got my doors blown off by everybody. There was a ton of fuel to save at that point. Seemed like no one was worried about doing that right away. I must have went back to sixth or seventh. Kind of methodically got back forward.
At the end I was like Scott is going to be hard to beat with traffic. He’s been strong this whole time. He was strong last year, strong at the test. I thought if we just had clear running, we would have a great fight. We probably would have been dicing back and forth the entire time.
It gets so difficult when you have cars that are about to go a lap down, fighting each other. Scott is trying to manage that. Hurts me to be able to close up on end.
At the end I literally conceded with two laps to go. It’s just not going to happen. I literally almost lost it off four pushing hard to go ahead close. He did a good job. He was in position. He’s in position, he’s going to win this rails, bring it home.
SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: You could have held on for one more corner.
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I could have kept that mindset. But that mindset changed as soon as I got to corner three (laughter). The traffic just presented a great opportunity to really, I don’t want to say the words, but get after it, try to do something to win this race.
I went high side. If I hit the fence, I hit the fence. Scott is still the winner, it will be a great day for the team. I was so pumped. I’ve never been so excited. I got on the radio like in the middle of 3-4, I was like, No way.
SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: One thing that was cool, almost like one of the old Penske races when they used de Ferran and Castroneves used to run across the line? At the end of the day it was kind of cool.
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Much more old school. You might have had something like that even if there was no traffic to deal with, just Scott and me.
SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: The restarts, whoever led…
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I think you would have had a finish like that where it was real close. With two cars battling, you could really do a lot.
The drag race down the frontstretch was big today. Because of headwind versus yesterday, you could get such a big run off of four. It would have been an exciting finish the other way around, but it worked out the way it did today.
THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.
Q. What did you learn today that will help you out for the next time you run into a situation like this on an oval? Can you think of another race in your career where you had a lead position and then you lost at the end?
SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: I lost the championship on the last lap in 2017. That is very similar, but not as hectic.
What would I do different? Probably take the high line. Like I said, I didn’t risk that today. I think, yeah, should I have? Yeah, probably. That’s an experience thing that I’ll learn and come back with, maybe think about that for next year.
Like I said to you guys before, I was pushing out of three. I didn’t have the confidence to run that line, that groove behind those cars. Once he was up there, like I had nothing. I mean, it is what it is. I’ll learn from it.
Yeah, that’s INDYCAR racing, oval racing. It’s why we love it. I think today’s package, I had a lot of fun out there regardless. Passing. When we ended up having the fuel race, I slipped back to fourth, had to work my way back to second, almost the lead. That was fun. It’s what I remember watching when I was a kid.
I certainly hope we continue to build with this package and get this better. Once you have a bit of two lanes through this track, it’s going to be a lot of fun and we’ll have races like we did today.
Q. Do you think racing in daytime played a factor seeing more passing than you had been in the past?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: It wasn’t the daytime running, it’s the changes to the aerodynamic package. We were running quite a bit more downforce than last year. The wind direction was different today than normal. Normally we’re getting a tailwind down the frontstretch. Today we had a headwind. It aids the passing.
I think the session they ran yesterday cleaned up a little bit of the second lane. It really did. I wouldn’t have been able to do what I did in three and four last year. There’s just no way. I would have hit the fence for sure.
SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: They almost need to do that not only here but everywhere. No one’s going to run the slower lane. People don’t do that. We’re focused. Like Gateway, I’m sure Iowa. I agree with Josef. I think extra downforce was helpful.
Personally I like a night race. I think prime time is always awesome. But we don’t make those decisions. Our boss does, this bloke.
Q. One year on now at Texas, how is racing on an oval now compared to coming in as a rookie?
SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: It’s awesome. I enjoy oval racing. I wouldn’t say I prefer it. I love just INDYCAR racing. Like I said yesterday, INDYCAR racing is oval racing. I love it. I enjoy it. I learn off this car last year, Simon, some really good teachers that got me comfortable on the ovals, where I want the setup, where I want to go. I feel now I’m going a little bit my way with the step, which I think is helping the team overall.
Yeah, look, I love it. I love it. I can’t way for more of it, can’t wait for May. As a team we’re going to have a very strong race car. Very exciting.
Q. Your thoughts on the captain picking up win 600?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: The captain is so true to his word. He gave me $600 in pit lane, in cash. We’re going to In-N-Out is what we’re going to do.
Q. (No microphone.)
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: There you go, she said it.
It’s funny. I was answering the question in pit lane. I wasn’t suggesting that.
SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: That sounds like a fun time. You, too?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: You guys should just go if we don’t make it. Send us photos. We were literally talking about it before the race in the trailer. I think we were just getting to the 400 point, 2017. You had just joined the team like a year before or something.
SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yes.
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I came in in ’17, they ripped from 400 to 500 to 600. Amazing.
SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: I said to Roger, let’s celebrate at 500. A testament to the team globally. The super car we had down under, NASCAR series. The best thing about it, everyone is a part of it, whether you’re on the NASCAR side, the INDYCAR side, the sports car side, back in the day the super car side. Whenever somebody wins, there’s an award for the whole organization. That’s what super cool about it. Happy for everyone at home. Hopefully I’m here for 700. We get 700, we’re going all right. Have like five kids.
THE MODERATOR: Scott, we’ll cut you loose on that.
SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Thank you.
THE MODERATOR: Questions for Josef.
Q. In 2012, 2013, your first and second year of INDYCAR on an oval, would you in his situation have done the same thing?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Oh, yeah. I mean, look, Scott didn’t do anything wrong. I took a risk. I mean, I took a big risk there at the end. I just held it in 3-4 to see if it would work. If it didn’t work, it was going to be on me that I took a risk and I didn’t work out.
I made that in a very split-second decision. I’m serious when I say I was pretty much conceding with a lap and a half to go. It was going to be what it was going to be. I wasn’t in position correctly for the final stint.
I just went for it. He didn’t do anything wrong, up on traffic, getting loose. I was a little stronger than him at the end for sure. It would be unwise, it actually shows his wisdom. It would have been very unwise for him to take a flyer and go high side without knowing what’s going to happen. He won the first race, leading the championship. That would have been silly for him to do that decision.
For me it was a risk but I think it was somewhat calculated. I saw people going up there toward the beginning and middle of the race. I took a calculated risk and it worked out.
Q. How much (indiscernible) help you?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: It helps tremendously. I have been here a lot more than he has. This is my 11th appearance at Texas. I have a lot more to draw from experience-wise. I’ve seen these situations a lot more than he has. From that standpoint, it’s an unfair advantage for me experience-wise on what to do or not do.
Q. New team for you. New engineer. You had an average finish at St. Pete. You’re the two-time champion. You’re kind of protective of all these new people, make sure you’re the leader. What does this do to win in race two with a team for the most part that is pretty much brand-new?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: High turnover on the 2 car.
It’s big. We’ve got a lot of people on that car that are just learning. I should temper that. We have people that have experience, too, that are bringing a lot to the table and trying to rally this new crew that we’re working together with.
There’s a chemistry that you just have to build. Unfortunately I think for some of the people on the team that are new, less experienced in their roles, you can’t accelerate experience, you just can’t. You can try and talk about it. You can try and spend a lot of time, to develop it away from the track. You can’t replace going to the track and doing the job. The experience is what matters. You have to go through these times together.
Getting a win so early is just going to help the overall morale. It’s going to help the confidence of everyone on the team.
St. Pete was so incredibly disappointing to me. We had a great test going into it. I felt fantastic heading into the weekend. A lot of hurdles that weekend on the track. It wasn’t a good weekend.
I tell everybody, These things happen. It’s not what we wanted, but it’s okay. We’re going to see this at times, so let’s just stay on our plan, keep moving forward, it will eventually get there.
Some of these times, even if you don’t feel confident in the way things are going to come together, you have to stay positive because you’re in the situation together. You’re kind of with a brotherhood there almost. You have each other’s backs. You have to lift each other up.
I’ve been trying to do that from my side. But it takes everybody. It’s not just me that is going to make the difference. You have to make everyone believe that. When they all do it, that’s what really accelerates the program.
Q. You’re in more of a leadership role. Would you describe it as a little bit different? Do you relish it?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I don’t like saying that I am. It’s inevitable, right? This is my 11th year in INDYCAR. Of course I’m in more of a senior position, I would say, from an experience, observative standpoint. I’ve seen a lot more than some of these people on the team.
Doesn’t matter that I don’t have an engineering degree, but I’ve been in the trenches working on this stuff with other people and knowing where we’ve been, how we got to where we have gotten to in 2021 or 2022.
That inherently gives you more of a senior leadership role, I would say. But I don’t think we try and operate that way. Everyone is a leader in the team. You got to get buy-in from everybody. Can’t be just one person holding the torch. We all have to believe that and pick each other up.
That’s more of the discussions we’ve had in the off-season, is getting everyone to buy into the program. A team effort. When you have the whole group feeling that way, that’s when magic happens.
Q. Every driver dreams of winning a race in the fashion that you won today. How big of an adrenaline rush was it?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I’m telling you, I was yelling. I was on the radio way before the line, which I don’t normally do that. You don’t do that. You stay in the race. I was just so pumped up that, one, the car was sticking, I wasn’t flying towards the fence. But I’ve never had a race end that way. I’ve never been in a position to capitalize on that type of victory.
I was really excited. Still really am. That’s one of the coolest wins, probably the coolest win I’ve ever had in the 2 car. Hopefully we have more of those. Yeah, really, really neat to be a part of that.
Q. You had a competitor who ran his first oval race today and finished sixth. Jimmie Johnson.
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Did Jimmie finish sixth?
Q. He was fifth with a few laps to go.
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: That’s legit. Hard to finish sixth at Texas. It’s hard. Like, that’s really good.
Q. You could say he’s a legit contender for an Indy 500. To add another guy like that into the mix, along with Scott McLaughlin, that race seems to get more difficult competitive-wise every year.
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Well, look, not to take away from Jimmie, but it has been a steep learning curve. He’s had to unlearn an entire career of operating procedures. The INDYCAR is so removed from what a stockcar is. For him to be able to get on top of that so quickly, it makes sense it’s going better here at Texas, it’s closer to what he’s used to procedurally. I don’t want to act too surprised because he is a seven-time champ, incredible worker and teammate.
Man, that’s really good, though. First INDYCAR oval race, sixth at Texas. These cars are hard to drive. The way that we draft, the way the groove works for us, you can’t go up a lane or two like in a stockcar. They’re scrubbing the car before he gets there. I need to watch this race back, see how he got there. I’m sure he’ll be a huge threat at Indy then. Great news.
Q. Winning in your engineer’s second race as an engineer, tell us about that. Remarkable stuff.
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Well, look, I don’t think you can discount the tall order that Eric has in front of him. I mean, he’s a very smart individual, really great person, good personality, total team player.
Eric has never engineered a car like this. Not even anything close to this. He hasn’t been in an engineering position like this in, I don’t know, eight years. That position was very, very different than the position he’s in now.
He’s had a lot to learn, a lot. He is just trying to soak up information from everybody. He’s been leaning on Dave, Ben, all the other engineers. They have done a great job of trying to inject as much knowledge into Eric as quickly as possible.
The same point I was making before, you can’t force this stuff. You can give Eric a binder with every piece of information he would ever need, he could read the thing three times over before the season starts. Until he does it, he’s never really going to understand it, he’s not going to get good at that instinctual ability he has to have.
He has a super tall order in front of him. He’s staying positive. A day like today is very validating for a person like Eric. I’m really happy for him. I’m happy for our group. It’s only one race, let’s not get too excited, but this is a good boost for everybody. Eric is doing a tremendous job of being a team player for all of us.
Q. (No microphone.)
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: We haven’t divvied out the amounts yet. It’s a gift. Clean and clear. Don’t have to pay taxes on this. What am I talking about? I should gloat more about this $600.
We haven’t divvied it out. But we’re going to get burgers. I should give him one.
THE MODERATOR: $10,000 to your favorite charity. What is your favorite charity?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I’m splitting it between (indiscernible) Network, who I have done a lot of work with, and Wags and Walks out of Nashville. Wags and Walks is a rescue organization, they started in L.A., actually where we got our dog. They do a really great job. Growing, but they’re really small. I hope this is going to help. That’s my plan, split it between those two.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

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.

Newgarden Delivers Win No. 600 for Team Penske in Texas Photo Finish

FORT WORTH, Texas (Sunday, March 20, 2022) – It’s not often a driver is paid a cash bonus in Victory Lane, but this was no ordinary win for Josef Newgarden and Team Penske on Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway.

Newgarden rocketed his No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet past the No. 3 XPEL Team Penske Chevrolet of teammate Scott McLaughlin on the outside of Turn 4 on the final lap and won a drag race to the checkered flag, hanging on for victory by .0669 of a second in the first oval race of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES season.

The win was Team Penske’s 600th across all racing disciplines, and team owner Roger Penske was ecstatic to lay six crisp $100 bills on Newgarden’s palm in Victory Lane as a special bonus. Newgarden led just three of the 248 laps, while a dominant McLaughlin led 186 trips around the high-banked, 1.5-mile oval.

“Unbelievable,” Newgarden said. “I think Scott led 95 percent of the laps. I hate doing that to a teammate, but I was going for it, just like he was.

“Man, I was loose; I was driving the thing sideways off (Turns) 3 and 4. I was trying to get a win. I’m just so pleased for everybody. Last lap, last corner – that’s what it’s all about at Texas.”

Marcus Ericsson finished third in the No. 8 Huski Chocolate Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, 1.3537 seconds behind Newgarden. It was Ericsson’s career-best finish on an oval.

Will Power finished fourth in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, as Penske drivers earned three of the top four spots in the race. Team Penske also has won both races this season, as series points leader McLaughlin triumphed Feb. 27 in the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding.

Six-time series champion and five-time Texas winner Scott Dixon finished fifth in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.

Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson achieved a career-best finish with ease by placing sixth in his first NTT INDYCAR SERIES oval race after starting 18th in the No. 48 Carvana Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Johnson’s previous best finish was 17th last year as a rookie, when he only raced on road and street courses.

“I hoped to qualify in the top 10 and race in the top 10,” Johnson said. “Missed the qualifying mark a bit, but once we hit the halfway point of the race, I really could sense and feel the car. It became second nature, and off I went. We knew going oval racing would help, and today got us into the competitive mix.”

McLaughlin, who started second next to pole sitter Felix Rosenqvist, grabbed the lead on Lap 206 when rookie Callum Ilott pitted from the lead after trying to stretch fuel well beyond the normal pit cycles in his No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet. McLaughlin put himself into position to inherit the lead a lap earlier by passing Rinus VeeKay’s No. 21 SONAX Chevrolet for second in Turn 1.

Newgarden, who started seventh, drove to second and pulled to within .462 of a second of McLaughlin with 25 laps to go. McLaughlin expanded that lead to .914 of a second with five laps remaining as both drivers diced through lapped traffic.

New Zealand native McLaughlin tried to manage the gap between his car and the slower cars ahead of Ilott and fellow rookie David Malukas as the final laps ticked down, and Newgarden pounced. The gap between the top two was .315 of a second at the white flag.

As McLaughlin slowed slightly with Malukas’ car ahead, Newgarden moved up half a lane in Turns 3 and 4 and pulled outside of and even with McLaughlin exiting Turn 4. The slingshot-like whip around the final corner gave Newgarden the momentum he needed to win the drag race to the finish line.

“I was livid in the car because we had all this traffic and it wasn’t helping me, and then right when I needed it to help me, it helped me,” Newgarden said. “Literally last corner, last lap, the traffic helped me out.”

Said McLaughlin: “Second is a great day, but unfortunately, we made a little lapse and at the end of the day lost. If you’re going to lose to anyone, your teammate is the guy you want to lose it to. Gutted I couldn’t get it done for XPEL and Chevy. But at the end of the day, we’re there, and I learned a lot in the race that going to help us going in May to the Speedway.

“But I’m gutted. It still hurt. It’s how it is. But I’m pretty proud of how we’re running. My car wasn’t probably as good as it had been in traffic as it had been the whole race. I knew I was building push, I was building tightness. Once he (Newgarden) got on the outside there, I couldn’t come up above the line. I was stuck. I thought about going outside on Malukas there, but I was worried I would push up into the gray and into the fence. You’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t.”

Newgarden averaged 165.467 mph in a race slowed by four cautions for 52 laps.

Two-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Newgarden also gained a leg up on the PeopleReady Force for Good Challenge with his victory. The challenge offered by the industrial staffing giant is a bonus of $1 million to be awarded to the first NTT INDYCAR SERIES driver who can win on all three unique styles of tracks – street circuits, road courses and ovals – this season. The reward, if earned, will be divided, with $500,000 shared by the driver and his team and $500,000 presented to their chosen charity.

PeopleReady is offering an additional $10,000 to the winner of every race this season, also to be split with their selected charity. Newgarden is splitting his award from today’s race with SeriousFun Childrens Network and Wags & Walks Nashville.

XPEL 375 Race Results

FORT WORTH, Texas – Results Sunday of the XPEL 375 NTT INDYCAR SERIES event on the 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):

  1. (7) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 248, Running
  2. (2) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 248, Running
  3. (14) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 248, Running
  4. (4) Will Power, Chevrolet, 248, Running
  5. (5) Scott Dixon, Honda, 248, Running
  6. (18) Jimmie Johnson, Honda, 248, Running
  7. (11) Alex Palou, Honda, 248, Running
  8. (15) Simon Pagenaud, Honda, 248, Running
  9. (27) Santino Ferrucci, Honda, 248, Running
  10. (8) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 248, Running
  11. (19) David Malukas, Honda, 248, Running
  12. (9) Colton Herta, Honda, 247, Running
  13. (21) Ed Carpenter, Chevrolet, 247, Running
  14. (25) JR Hildebrand, Chevrolet, 247, Running
  15. (10) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 247, Running
  16. (20) Callum Ilott, Chevrolet, 247, Running
  17. (22) Dalton Kellett, Chevrolet, 246, Running
  18. (16) Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 245, Running
  19. (24) Christian Lundgaard, Honda, 233, Contact
  20. (3) Takuma Sato, Honda, 140, Contact
  21. (1) Felix Rosenqvist, Chevrolet, 138, Mechanical
  22. (26) Graham Rahal, Honda, 128, Contact
  23. (6) Helio Castroneves, Honda, 128, Contact
  24. (17) Devlin DeFrancesco, Honda, 128, Contact
  25. (23) Kyle Kirkwood, Chevrolet, 113, Contact
  26. (13) Romain Grosjean, Honda, 103, Mechanical
  27. (12) Alexander Rossi, Honda, 11, Mechanical

Race Statistics
Winner’s average speed: 165.467 mph
Time of Race: 2:09:29.7270
Margin of victory: 0.0669 of a second
Cautions: 4 for 52
Lead changes: 15 among 12 drivers

Lap Leaders:
McLaughlin 1 – 56
Sato 57 – 61
Castroneves 62
Kirkwood 63 – 67
Hildebrand 68
McLaughlin 69 – 149
Newgarden 150 – 151
McLaughlin 152 – 158
VeeKay 159 – 163
Power 164 – 183
Ericsson 184 – 193
Carpenter 194 – 197
Malukas 198 – 200
Ilott 201 – 205
McLaughlin 206 – 247
Newgarden 248

PeopleReady Force For Good Challenge ($10,000 charitable donation): Josef Newgarden

NTT INDYCAR SERIES Point Standings: McLaughlin 97, Power 69, Palou 67, Newgarden 65, Ericsson 58, Dixon 55, Herta 50, VeeKay 50, Pagenaud 39, Johnson 35.

Newgarden captures thrilling last lap victory over McLaughlin at Texas

Photo by Chris Owens (Penske Entertainment).

In what appeared to be a dominant victory within grasp for Scott McLaughlin for the second consecutive time into a new season of racing, teammate Josef Newgarden spoiled the party as he overtook McLaughlin with a daring pass on the outside lane on the final lane and with the finish in sight to win the XPEL 375 at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday, March 20.

The 31-year-old Newgarden from Hendersonville, Tennessee, led a total of three of 248-scheduled laps compared to McLaughlin’s 186, but benefitted with the last lap pass and lapped traffic that briefly stalled McLaughlin’s progress to become the second winner of the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series season.

With on-track qualifying occurring on Saturday that determined the starting lineup, Felix Rosenqvist captured the pole position after posting a pole-winning, two-lap average of 221.110 mph. Joining him on the front row was Scott McLaughlin, who earned his maiden IndyCar victory at the Streets of St. Petersburg, Florida, in February and posted a two-lap average at 221.096 mph.

Prior to the event, Santino Ferrucci replaced Jack Harvey in the No. 45 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Dallara-Honda after Harvey did not receive medical clearance to compete following a practice accident on Saturday.

When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Rosenqvist maintained a steady advantage for nearly a full lap until McLaughlin used the outside lane to lead the first lap by a hair. 

As the field fanned out and jostled for positions early, McLaughlin was out in front followed by Rosenqvist, Will Power, Takuma Sato and Helio Castroneves, who was being pressured by Colton Herta for more.

Through the first 10 laps of the event, McLaughlin was leading by two-tenths of a second over Rosenqvist while Sato, Power and Herta were in the top five. Castroneves was in sixth followed by Scott Dixon, Josef Newgarden, Marcus Ericsson and Rinus Veekay. By then, Alexander Rossi, who was in 12th place, was penalized for jumping the start when he pulled his No. 27 Andretti Autosport Dallara-Honda out of line prior to the start.

Two laps later, the first caution of the event flew when Rossi fell off the pace due to a mechanical issue and was creeping to pit road below the apron.

Four laps later, the race restarted under green. At the start, McLaughlin retained the lead ahead of Rosenqvist and Sato as the field settled in a long single-file line.

By Lap 25, McLaughlin was leading by nearly three-tenths of a second over Rosenqvist followed by Sato, Herta and Power while Castroneves, Dixon, Pato O’Ward, Ericsson and rookie Kyle Kirkwood were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Newgarden was back in 11th, Alex Palou was in 13th ahead of Romain Grosjean and Simon Pagenaud and Jimmie Johnson was in 20th ahead of Graham Rahal.

Through the first 50 laps of the event, McLaughlin stabilized his advantage to nearly two seconds over Rosenqvist while Sato, Herta, Power, Castroneves, Dixon, O’Ward, Kirkwood and Newgarden were scored in the top 10.

Nearly five laps later, pit stops under green commenced as Rinus VeeKay pitted followed by Marcus Ericsson and the leader McLaughlin. During the pit stops, David Malukas stalled his car while trying to exit his pit stall and nearly collided with Sato, which cost the two-time Indianapolis 500 champion from Japan time on pit road. 

By Lap 75 and with the pit stop cycle under green complete, McLaughlin was back in the lead by more than 12 seconds over his Team Penske teammate Newgarden while Arrow McLaren SP’s O’Ward and Rosenqvist battled for third place. Behind, Herta for Andretti Autosport was in fifth ahead of Ericsson, Dixon, Power, VeeKay and Castroneves. Meanwhile, Conor Daly was penalized for pit speed violation.

On Lap 99, the caution flew when Sato slipped in the marbles and made light contact against the outside wall in Turn 1 as a result of making earlier contact with Devlin DeFrancesco’s No. 29 Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport Dallara-Honda entering the turn. By then, McLaughlin had his advantage of nearly 12 seconds over teammate Newgarden reduced to half.

Under caution, the leaders pitted and McLaughlin retained the lead ahead of teammates Newgarden and Power along with Dixon and Ericsson. During the pit stops, O’Ward hit his left-front tire changer while teammate Rosenqvist overshot his pit stall and endured a slow pit stop, which cost him time and positions. In addition, Romain Grosjean retired due to a mechanical issue to his No. 28 Andretti Autosport Dallara-Honda.

When the race restarted on Lap 113, McLaughlin retained the lead ahead of teammates Newgarden and Power as the field scrambled for positions. 

Just then, the caution returned when Kyle Kirkwood, who was battling DeFrancesco on the outside lane through Turns 3 and 4, got loose, spun and backed his No. 14 AJ Foyt Dallara-Chevrolet against the outside wall, which ended his day with a wrecked race car.

With the race surpassing its halfway mark under caution on Lap 124, McLaughlin was out in front ahead of teammates Newgarden and Power along with Dixon, Ericsson, VeeKay, Herta, Alex Palou, Pagenaud and Graham Rahal, who started at the rear of the field. 

When the race restarted under green on Lap 127, McLaughlin retained the lead ahead of teammates Newgarden, Power and the field. Not long after, however, the caution returned for a multi-car wreck that involved DeFrancesco, Graham Rahal and Helio Castroneves in Turn 3. During the caution period, Rosenqvist’s strong start to the weekend ended on a low note after he retired due to a mechanical issue to his No. 7 Arrow McLaren SP Dallara-Chevrolet

With the event reaching the final 100 scheduled laps, the race restarted under green. At the start, McLaughlin maintained a steady lead until Newgarden assumed the top spot a lap later. Behind, Rinus VeeKay charged his way towards the front as he moved into the top four before moving into third place ahead of Power.

Shortly after, the battle for the lead ignited as McLaughlin reassumed the lead while VeeKay joined the battle and overtook Newgarden for the runner-up spot. 

On Lap 159, VeeKay moved his No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Dallara-Chevrolet to the top spot. Five laps later, however, Power muscled his No. 12 Team Penske Dallara-Chevrolet to the lead as Scott Dixon was in third place.

With less than 50 laps remaining and pit stops under green occurring for a majority of the field, David Malukas, who has yet to pit, was leading followed by Callum Ilott. Behind, VeeKay, who pitted, was in third ahead of McLaughlin and Newgarden. 

On Lap 206, McLaughlin cycled back to the lead after Ilott pitted while Newgarden, VeeKay, Ericsson and Power were in the top five. Behind, Pagenaud was in sixth while Jimmie Johnson was up in seventh place ahead of teammates Scott Dixon and Alex Palou.

With 30 laps remaining, McLaughlin was leading by nearly a second over teammate Newgarden while Ericsson was in third place. Power was in fourth ahead of VeeKay while Pagenaud, Johnson, Dixon, Palou and Santino Ferrucci were in the top 10. 

Ten laps later, McLaughlin continued to lead by more than two-tenths of a second over teammate Newgarden while Ericsson remained in the final podium spot in third place. While Power and Pagenaud settled in fourth and fifth, Johnson was up in sixth place. 

Down to the final 10 laps of the event, McLaughlin was leading by four-tenths of a second over teammate Newgarden amid lapped traffic followed by Ericsson while Power and Johnson were in the top five. Pagenaud, Dixon and Palou were in sixth, seventh and eighth while VeeKay was back in ninth ahead of Ferrucci. 

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, McLaughlin, who continued to navigate his way through lapped traffic, stabilized his advantage to three-tenths of a second over teammate Newgarden, who was trying to reduce the gap between himself and his Penske teammate. Then with McLaughlin mired behind some more lapped cars, this allowed Newgarden to narrow the deficit and gain a huge run to the outside of teammate McLaughlin through Turn 3. With both Penske teammates dead even approaching the finish line, Newgarden muscled ahead and stole the show and the win by 0.0669 seconds over McLaughlin.

The victory was Newgarden’s first of the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series season, second at Texas and the 21st of his career. With the victory, Newgarden also rewarded the 600th overall motorsports win for Team Penske as he ignites his bid for his third IndyCar title.

“Oh my gosh!” Newgarden exclaimed on NBC. “I was fuming in the car. We had all this traffic and it wasn’t helping me. And then right when I needed it to help me, it helped me literally last corner, last lap. The traffic helped me out. Unbelievable. I hate doing that to a teammate, but I was going for it just like he was. We were driving hard. Man, I was loose. I was driving things sideways off in [Turns] 3 and 4 every lap I was trying to get a run, but Team Chevy, what an unbelievable job. Just so pleased for everybody. It was so good to drive this PPG car again with Team Chevy. That’s what it’s all about at Texas. I hope we come back [to Texas]. Let’s come back!”

McLaughlin, who led a race-high 186 of 248 laps, settled in second place as he fell short in his bid to claim back-to-back IndyCar victories. Despite the result, McLaughlin made a trip to Victory Lane to congratulate teammate Newgarden on the win.

“Second’s a great day,” McLaughlin said. “Unfortunately, we led a lot of laps and at the end of the day, we lost it though. If you’re gonna lose to anyone, your teammate is a great guy to lose it to. Congrats to Josef and the PPG team. Gutted I couldn’t get it done for XPEL and Chevy but at the end of the day, with the air, I learned a lot [from] this race. I’m gutted. It’s how it is, but I’m pretty proud of how we’re running.”

Ericsson came home in a strong third place for his fifth top-three career result in IndyCar competition while Will Power and Scott Dixon finished in the top five.

Meanwhile, Jimmie Johnson achieved his maiden top-10 result in IndyCar competition after methodically racing his way to a career-best sixth-place result in his maiden IndyCar oval event and at a track where he won at seven times in NASCAR.

“I had hoped to qualify in the top 10 and race in the top 10,” Johnson said. “Once we hit the halfway point in the race, I really could sense and feel the car, and it became second nature, and off I went. I’m just very thankful for the support that I have from Chip Ganassi Racing, my teammates, team members, fantastic support from Carvana. We knew going oval racing would help, and today got us in a competitive mix. When I was racing with [Dixon] at the end, I thought that was pretty cool and pretty fun. We had a little trouble with our telemetry and didn’t know how much fuel I had saved, so I had to really go into conserve mode at the end and couldn’t fight for that top five, but what a special day. Just very thankful.”

Teammate Palou finished seventh while Pagenaud, Ferrucci and VeeKay completed the top 10.

With his runner-up result, Scott McLaughlin continues to lead the points standings by 28 points over teammate Will Power, 30 over Alex Palou, 32 over teammate Josef Newgarden, 39 over Marcus Ericsson and 42 over Scott Dixon.

Results.

1. Josef Newgarden, three laps led

2. Scott McLaughlin, 186 laps led

3. Marcus Ericsson, 10 laps led

4. Will Power, 20 laps led

5. Scott Dixon

6. Jimmie Johnson

7. Alex Palou

8. Simon Pagenaud

9. Santino Ferrucci

10. Rinus VeeKay, five laps led 

11. David Malukas, three laps led

12. Colton Herta, one lap down

13. Ed Carpenter, one lap down

14. JR Hildebrand, one lap down

15. Pato O’Ward, one lap down

16. Callum Ilott, one lap down

17. Dalton Kellett, two laps down

18. Conor Daly, three laps down

19. Christian Lundgaard – OUT, Accident

20. Takuma Sato – OUT, Accident

21. Felix Rosenqvist – OUT, Halfshaft

22. Graham Rahal – OUT, Accident

23. Helio Castroneves – OUT, Accident

24. Devlin DeFrancesco – OUT, Accident

25. Kyle Kirkwood – OUT, Accident

26. Romain Grosjean – OUT, Engine

27. Alexander Rossi – OUT, Battery

Next on the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series schedule is the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach at the Streets of Long Beach, California, which will occur on April 10 at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.

Pagenaud Charges to Eighth in Texas

#60: Simon Pagenaud, Meyer Shank Racing Honda

Castroneves’ race end early after mid-race incident

FORT WORTH, Texas (20 March 2022) – Simon Pagenaud made a clean charge through the field en route to scoring an eighth-place finish to lead the Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) effort in Sunday’s incident-filled XPEL 375 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Pagenaud was in reach of a podium finish through the closing stages of the race after battling forward from his 15th place starting position. It was the best result of the MSR campaign for the Frenchman in the No. 60 AutoNation / SiriusXM Honda, who finished 15th in the NTT INDYCAR Series opener at St. Petersburg.

It was a short day for MSR teammate Helio Castroneves, who was collected in a three-car incident on a restart midway through the race driving the No. 06 AutoNation / SiriusXM Honda shortly.

After a long green-flag stretch during the opening stages of the 248-lap event, three consecutive incidents prevented the field from running a full green-flag lap from lap 99 through lap 149.

Pagenaud started the race in 15th, and moved up to 12th following the first round of green-flag pit stops on lap 62. Pagenaud was up to ninth during the extended caution sequence. Once racing went back to green for the final 99 circuits, Pagenaud charged to fifth before slowing slightly in the final circuits to finish eighth.

The NTT INDYCAR SERIES next moves to the streets of Long Beach, Calif., for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on Sunday, April 10 which will also see MSR’s IMSA program competing the same weekend.

Driver Quotes:

Simon Pagenaud:

“It was an awesome race and I feel like the whole team had such a great performance on all levels. I’m really happy about my driving and my restarts and it was a really, really good day for everyone. At the end the car got really loose, there was more wind and I just couldn’t hold on to fifth position. Overall it was really fun out there – there were a lot of passes and a lot of dicing with the competition. I was really proud to bring the AutoNation / SiriusXM Honda to eighth place. This was a really good foundation for the rest of the season and especially for the Indy 500. From here we are going to go up and we look forward to Long Beach.”

Helio Castroneves:

“I had no idea what happened. It went three-wide and I made sure to give space to Graham [Rahal]. Then I saw him spinning out and I had nowhere to go. We got the worst of it. Whatever happened is unnecessary. We still had half of the race, 100 laps, to go, and it’s unnecessary to take a risk like that. If it was 10 laps, 15 laps to go, I understand, but half of the race is frustrating. We were just taking it easy, we were just taking our pace. Obviously, the car was really good, and we knew exactly what we needed to do. It’s a shame that happens. I’m not happy, obviously, but we’ll move on to the next race at Long Beach.”

Leclerc leads a 1-2 finish for Ferrari in 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix

Charles Leclerc and Ferrari commenced the 2022 FIA Formula One World Championship season with an emphatic statement after both captured a dominant victory in the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix at Bahrain International Circuit on Sunday, March 20.

The 24-year-old Leclerc from Monte Carlo, Monaco, who qualified on pole position on Saturday, took off with the lead at the start, led all but two of the 57-scheduled laps and benefitted from three strong, strategic pit stops to remain ahead of his front-runners en route to a victory over teammate Carlos Sainz Jr. under caution as Ferrari captured a 1-2 finish to commence their bid for this year’s championship battle. 

The victory at Bahrian was the third of Leclerc’s Formula One career and first since winning the Italian Grand Prix in September 2019. In addition, Ferrari captured its first Grand Prix victory since the 2019 Singapore Grand Prix in September with Sebastian Vettel.

“It feel amazing,” Leclerc said. “It really feels amazing. After all the hard work, to do the pole yesterday felt good, but I had to finish the business today and to have a race win, especially with a one, two [finish] for the team, it feels absolutely incredible.”

“A victory’s always very, very special,” Leclerc added. “I definitely feel much grown as a driver compared to my victory in 2019. Here today, everything felt a bit more under control and it felt nice. Obviously, there were some tense moments on track with Max [Verstappen] after the first stop, with the Safety Car restart after that, but everything was managed well. It’s great.”

“So happy,” Mattia Binotto, Team Principal of Scuderia Ferrari, added. “I think we’re not expecting or hoping for such a good result at the end. It’s great to be here, to win and finally, a one, two [finish]. I think it has been, overall, a great team effort, great team result. Everyone worked very well. Both drivers did a fantastic race.”

Behind, Sainz, who qualified in third place, commenced his eighth full-time season in F1 competition by tying his career-best result of second place.

“I think it’s a great day for the team,” Sainz said. “It’s a massive day. I just need to say congratulations to everyone, to everyone back at the factory because you cannot imagine how much hard work there’s behind these results. These last two years, there’s been a lot of struggles, a lot of suffering and suddenly, to come back with a one, two, it’s something huge for Italy, for Ferrari. Great day. Time to celebrate and then, time to get our heads down and keep going.”

Rounding out the podium was Sir Lewis Hamilton as the seven-time F1 champion, who never contended for the victory but settled quietly near the top five, settled in third place for his 183rd career podium in Formula One competition.

“Honestly, I’m generally quite happy with today, given the struggle that we’ve had in the forms we’ve had,” Hamilton said. “I’m positive. I had a pretty decent lap in the end. I’m excited. I know it’s a long, long season. It’s easy to get down when you know that you can’t compete for wins, but just proud of the team. Proud of us all keeping our heads down. I know that this is the best team. We will huddle together, unite and fix whatever problems we have, and be back in the fight with these guys.”

While Ferrari celebrated their strong start to the season, Red Bull Racing, the reigning champions, were left disappointed after both Max Verstappen and Sergio “Checo” Perez retired late due to late fuel pump issue. Verstappen, the reigning champion, retired on Lap 54 of 57 after he fell off the pace due to his mechanical issues while running in second place, thus retiring in 19th place. Meanwhile, Perez, who had third place locked up on the final lap, spun through the first turn and just in front of Hamilton as he was unable to continue. With his late issues, Perez settled in 18th place as both competitors failed to record points for Red Bull Racing one race into the new season and in their bids to defend the drivers’ championship.

George Russell, Hamilton’s new full-time Mercedes teammate, came home in fourth place while Kevin Magnussen finished fifth in his return to Formula One competition following a one-year absence, thus scoring the first points for the Haas F1 Team since the Eifel Grand Prix in October 2020 with former F1 competitor Romain Grosjean.

Valtteri Bottas earned a strong sixth-place result in his first event with Alfa Romeo F1 Team Orlen followed by Esteban Ocon, Yuki Tsunoda and Fernando Alonso. Rookie Guanyu Zhou for Alfa Romeo completed the top-10 points-paying results by capturing his maiden point in F1 with a 10th-place result.

The first competitor to finish outside of the points was Mick Schumacher, who rallied from an early spin following contact with Ocon, in 11th place followed by Lance Stroll, Alexander Albon, Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris. Nicholas Latifi finished 16th while Nico Hülkenberg, who filled in as an interim competitor for Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel after Vettel tested positive for COVID-19, settled in 17th place.

Pierre Gasly settled in 20th place, dead last, following a late overheating issue to his AlphaTauri-RBPT under the final 15 laps.

Results:

1. Charles Leclerc, 26 points, 55 laps led

2. Carlos Sainz Jr., 18 points, two laps led

3. Lewis Hamilton, 15 points

4. George Russell, 12 points

5. Kevin Magnussen, 10 points

6. Valtteri Bottas, eight points

7. Esteban Ocon, six points

8. Yuki Tsunoda, four points

9. Fernando Alonso, two points

10. Guanyu Zhou, one point

11. Mick Schumacher

12. Lance Stroll

13. Alexander Albon

14. Daniel Ricciardo

15. Lando Norris

16. Nicholas Latifi

17. Nico Hülkenberg

18. Sergio Perez – Retired

19. Max Verstappen – Retired

20. Pierre Gasly – Retired

Following the first event of the 2022 F1 season, Charles Leclerc leads the drivers’ standings by eight points over teammate Carlos Sainz Jr., 11 over Lewis Hamilton, 14 over George Russell, 16 over Kevin Magnussen and 18 over Valtteri Bottas. 

In addition, Ferrari leads the constructors’ standings by 17 points over Mercedes, 34 over Haas Ferrari, 35 over Alfa Romeo Ferrari and 36 over Alpine Renault.

Next on the 2022 Formula One schedule is Jeddah Corniche Circuit for the second running of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, which will occur on Sunday, March 27.