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CHEVY NCS AT PHOENIX: Post-Race Notes and Quotes

By
Official Release
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NASCAR CUP SERIES
PHOENIX RACEWAY
RUOFF MORTGAGE 500
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES & QUOTES
MARCH 13, 2022

TEAM CHEVY TOP-10 UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
2nd ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 1 K1 SPEED CAMARO ZL1
3rd TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 GUARANTEED RATE CAMARO ZL1
9th DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 COMMSCOPE CAMARO ZL1

TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1st Chase Briscoe (Ford)
2nd Ross Chastain (Chevrolet)
3rd Tyler Reddick (Chevrolet)
4th Ryan Blaney (Ford)
5th Kurt Busch (Toyota)

The NASCAR Cup Series season continues next weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway with the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 on Sunday, March 20, at 3 P.M. ET. Live coverage can be found on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES AND QUOTES:

ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. K1 SPEED CAMARO ZL1– Finished 2nd
EXCITING. FAST. HOW WOULD YOU SUM UP YOUR DAY?
“Like a day at the K1 track. That was so much fun to get to race like that at this level. Trackhouse Racing believes in me and AdventHealth and The Moose, these people they believed in me early in the season when stuff wasn’t going great. That’s so cool to race with Tyler (Reddick) and Chase (Briscoe). I mean that’s like everything I’ve ever wanted and my crew chief Phil Surgen, like people don’t know how good he is. His adjustments this year have been so incredible and gave me exactly what I needed. Just came up one spot short. I’m so happy.”

TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 GUARANTEED RATE CAMARO ZL1– Finished 3rd
TYLER, A GOOD RACE CAR ALL WEEKEND LONG, ALL DAY LONG. JUST A LITTLE BIT SHORT AT THE END.
“I thought we got a good launch considering all things going right there into one. I know about how deep I could drive it in turn one all day. I thought I got pretty good heat in the tires. I still overstepped it. I couldn’t have drove it any deeper than I did. I still thought I was going to get him in the fence. Chase was able to drive it off in there, clear, high, take the lead. It was a lot of fun. Great to claw back from the hiccup we had earlier in the race. Everyone on this No. 8 Guaranteed Rate team did a really good job all day. One little miscue that took us from second to 12th. My pit crew did an amazing job, had a good restart at the end to put ourselves in position. It was a fun day. Nice way to recover from a mistake that late in the race, be battling for the win. Great day. We’ll see what else we can learn from this and see what lies ahead.”

DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 COMMSCOPE CAMARO ZL1– Finished 9th
“It was a rollercoaster, up and down. I don’t feel that we had the greatest speed, probably top-15 somewhere in there. I made a mistake on pit road, the speeding penalty. We had a couple slow stops. I feel like it was just ups and downs. We were able to recover a little bit. Travis (Mack, crew chief) made a good call right there with the right side tires only and we were able to get a couple spots back. Overall, it wasn’t a good day, we have to learn and come back stronger.”

JUSTIN HALEY, NO. 31 LEAFFILTER GUTTER PROTECTION CAMARO ZL1– Finished 17th
“Our No. 31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Camaro ZL1 started off building tight but were able to make some positive gains during our first pit stop. Track position here is crucial. I think we had a solid run overall and learned some things we can really build on for our short track program.”

AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 16 ACTION INDUSTRIES CAMARO ZL1– Finished 20th
“We fought some more handling issues today – I lacked rear grip and stability. We made a few major swings on pit road, but just couldn’t quite get the No. 16 Action Industries Camaro ZL1 feeling the way I wanted it to with the speed we needed. It was frustrating for sure, but we learned all we could and salvaged a top 20. This is a track we have been spending a lot of time putting our focus on, so hopefully the gains we made today carry over to the next time we come here in the fall.”

AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 GET BIOETHANOL CAMARO ZL1– Finished 21st
“This No. 3 Get Bioethanol Chevrolet team continues to work so hard. We had a top-five run going today so I hate that our day ended the way it did. During the race, we fought a tight-handling condition that caused our tires to chatter and made us snappy loose on exit to the corner in Turn 2. Solid adjustments all day had us running in the top-five by the time we got to Stage 3. We were as fast as anyone in clean air. Our pit crew fired off great stops all day. On the last restart we were running sixth when the field went three-wide and someone tagged our right-rear. We got collected and it ended our day. Not the way we wanted to end the race after having such a strong run. It’s unfortunate to get tangled in someone else’s mess, but we’ll regroup and head to Atlanta Motor Speedway with even more fire underneath us.”

KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 VALVOLINE CAMARO ZL1– Sidelined due to mechanical failure; Finished 34th
ANYTHING THAT YOU DID TO LEAD TO THAT THAT YOU KNOW OF?
“I don’t know. I felt it four or five laps before it, well it was just getting worse. Hate that. Our Valvoline Chevy was pretty good, I thought that we were a fourth or fifth place car. Just was just hoping to be a little better than that. I know they’ll address the issue that seems like we have had the last couple of weeks with some of the engines. We’ll come back strong and reliable. The good thing is we have fast cars, fast engines and great drivers driving these Chevys, so we’ll get some more wins here.”

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.

Kaulig Racing Post-Race Report | Phoenix Raceway

By
Official Release
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Kaulig Racing Post-Race Report | Phoenix Raceway
Ruoff Mortgage 500


AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Action Industries Camaro ZL1

Start: 29th

Stage 1 Finish: 27th

Stage 2 Finish: 24th

Finish: 20th

Quote:

“We fought some more handling issues today – I lacked rear grip and stability. We made a few major swings on pit road, but just couldn’t quite get the No. 16 Action Industries Camaro ZL1 feeling the way I wanted it to with the speed we needed. It was frustrating for sure, but we learned all we could from the issues we experienced. This is a track we have been spending a lot of time putting our focus on, so hopefully the gains we made today carry over to the next time we come here in the fall.”


Justin Haley, No. 31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Camaro ZL1

Start: 28th

Stage 1 Finish: 28th

Stage 2 Finish: 23rd

Finish: 17th

Quote:

“Our No. 31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Camaro ZL1 started off building tight but were able to make some positive gains during our first pit stop. Track position here is crucial. I think we had a solid run overall and learned some things we can really build on for our short track program.”

United Rentals 200


AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Action Industries Chevrolet

Start: 17th

Stage 1 Finish: 8th

Stage 2 Finish: 7th

Finish: 7th

Quote:

“We fought the handling of our No. 16 Action Industries Chevy all weekend in practice, qualifying and the race. We made some gains on it, but it just wasn’t enough to compete in the top five. Fortunately, we worked on a few things and think we’ve made some gains for the fall race.”


Daniel Hemric, No. 11 AG1 Chevrolet

Start: 15th

Stage 1 Finish: 11th

Stage 2 Finish: 8th

Finish: 8th

Quote:

“You don’t necessarily go to the racetrack to finish eighth, but in all reality, we made the most out of the day. We were seventh, eighth, and ninth-place cars, and that’s where we ran. As an organization, we tried some stuff to try and learn for the fall race here at Phoenix. Obviously, you want to still come to the track every week to win that day. We did not do that, but we did learn a ton, so that’s a positive. We just need to be diligent with our data and notebooks to be better the next time we are here hopefully racing for a championship.”


Landon Cassill, No. 10 Voyager Digital Chevrolet

Start: 22nd

Stage 1 Finish: 7th

Stage 2 Finish: 9th

Finish: 9th

Quote:

“It was a pretty solid day for me. I felt like our car was between a sixth and ninth-place car and we ended up ninth. I feel like we really could have probably finished sixth or seventh, but I wasn’t fast enough on pit road. I struggled with my pit road speed and my timing lights. I was faster than the cars ahead of me for position, but unfortunately I just gave up too much time on pit road to them.”

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About Kaulig Racing™

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

Briscoe scores first Cup career victory at Phoenix; becomes 200th overall Cup winner

By
Andrew Kim
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Photo by Ron Olds for SpeedwayMedia.com.

In a three-lap shootout between three competitors vying for their first career win in the NASCAR Cup Series level, Chase Briscoe came out on top at Phoenix Raceway. After fending off Ross Chastain and Tyler Reddick he won the Ruoff Mortgage 500 Sunday afternoon and claimed his first victory in his 40th career start in NASCAR’s premier series.

The 27-year-old Briscoe from Mitchell, Indiana, led three times for 101 of the 312-scheduled laps, including the final 24, and had enough horsepower within his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang to hold off the field, including Chastain, Reddick and teammate Kevin Harvick in a three-lap shootout. Briscoe is the second first-time winner of the 2022 season and the 200th different competitor to win in the NASCAR Cup Series’ 74th season of competition.

With on-track qualifying occurring on Saturday, Ryan Blaney claimed his seventh Cup career pole after notching the top starting spot with a pole-winning lap at 132.709 mph. Joining him on the front row was Denny Hamlin, who posted a fast qualifying lap at 132.353 mph.

Prior to the event, Kyle Larson (unapproved adjustment), rookie Harrison Burton (unapproved adjustment) and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (engine change) dropped to the rear of the field.  

When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Kyle Busch used the dogleg to vault himself into the top 10 from his 11th-place starting spot while Blaney rocketed with an early advantage ahead of the field. Behind, William Byron challenged Hamlin for the runner-up spot. Following the first lap, Blaney was out in front of a side-by-side battle between Hamlin and Byron while Christopher Bell settled behind in fourth, followed by Chase Briscoe and Aric Almirola.

Through the first 10 scheduled laps of the event, Blaney was leading by more than a second over Hamlin, who was followed by Byron, Bell and Chase Briscoe while Kyle Busch, rookie Austin Cindric, Joey Logano, Alex Bowman and Tyler Reddick were in the top 10.

Ten laps later, Blaney continued to lead by nearly two seconds over Hamlin, who was engaged in a battle with Byron for the runner-up spot. Behind, Briscoe was in fourth followed by Kyle Busch, Logano, Reddick and Bowman while Bell slipped back to ninth ahead of Kevin Harvick.

When the competition caution flew on Lap 25, Blaney was out front by more than two seconds over Hamlin and Byron. By then, Larson was scored in 20th after starting at the rear of the field.

Under the competition caution, the field pitted for early adjustments and Blaney retained the lead after exiting pit road with the lead followed by teammate Logano, Briscoe, Hamlin and Reddick. During the pit stops, Kyle Busch stalled his No. 18 DeWalt Toyota TRD Camry on pit road after running in fifth place, Following the pit stops, Blaney was sent to the rear of the field for speeding on pit road along with Michael McDowell, Hamlin and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. The penalties moved Logano, who opted for a two-tire pit stop, to the lead followed by Briscoe, Reddick, Byron and Alex Bowman.

When the race restarted on Lap 31, the field fanned out through the dogleg as Logano retained a narrow advantage followed by Briscoe, Byron, Reddick and Chase Elliott. 

Two laps later, Briscoe moved his No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang into the lead ahead of Logano while Hendrick Motorsports’ Byron and Elliott battled for third place. 

On Lap 45, the caution flew when Corey LaJoie smacked against the backstretch, outside wall. The hard impact knocked the tire carcass off of LaJoie’s No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 as Cody Ware hit and ran over the carcass. 

Under caution, some including Blaney, Aric Almirola, Daniel Suarez, Erik Jones, rookie Harrison Burton and Ross Chastain pitted while the rest led by Briscoe remained on the track.

When the race restarted on Lap 52, Byron used the inside lane to his advantage as he stormed his No. 24 AXALTA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to the lead while teammate Elliott challenged Briscoe for the runner-up spot. As Briscoe used the outside lane to retain the runner-up spot, Reddick started to challenge Elliott for third place while Bowman settled in fifth.

When the first stage concluded on Lap 60, Byron notched his first stage victory of the season. Briscoe settled in second followed by Elliott, Reddick, Bowman, Bell, Larson, Harvick, Logano and Austin Dillon while Martin Truex Jr., the reigning Phoenix spring winner, was in 11th ahead of Kurt Busch, Blaney, Cindric, Chris Buescher and Kyle Busch.

Under the stage break, some led by Blaney, Kyle Busch, Cole Custer and Burton remained on the track while the rest led by Byron pitted. During the pit stops, Elliott was the first competitor to exit first followed by Briscoe, Reddick, Byron and Harvick.

The second stage started on Lap 69 as Blaney and Kyle Busch occupied the front row. At the start and as the field fanned out through the dogleg, Blaney retained the lead while Kyle Busch was left to retain the runner-up spot ahead of Briscoe, Elliott, Byron and Reddick.

By Lap 75 and with the field jostling for positions, Blaney was leading by a second over Kyle Busch while Elliott, Briscoe and Byron were in the top five. Reddick was in sixth ahead of Harvick, Larson, Custer and Logano while Burton, Bowman, Cindric, Truex and Hamlin were in the top 15.

Fifteen laps later, Blaney stabilized his advantage to more than two seconds over Elliott while Byron was in third place ahead of Kevin Harvick, a nine-time Phoenix winner who was on a quest to end a 46-race winless drought. Reddick was in fifth followed by Kyle Busch, Larson, Briscoe, Logano and Bowman. 

Through the first 100 scheduled laps of the event, Blaney’s No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang continued to lead by more than a second over Elliott’s No. 9 UniFirst Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 while Byron, Harvick, Reddick, Kyle Busch, Larson, Briscoe, Logano and Bowman remained in the top 10. Behind, Ross Chastain was in 11th followed by Austin Dillon, Custer, Truex, Hamlin, Bell, Kurt Busch, Cindric, Almirola and Chris Buescher while Harrison Burton was mired in 21st ahead of Ty Dillon, Erik Jones, rookie Todd Gilliland and Justin Haley. Meanwhile, Daniel Suarez, AJ Allmendinger, Brad Keselowski, Bubba Wallace and Stenhouse were in the top 30 while Michael McDowell was the final car on the lead lap in 31st.

On Lap 118, the caution flew when Bell got loose and spun his No. 20 Rheem Toyota TRD Camry through the backstretch. By then, names like Keselowski, Wallace, Burton and Stenhouse were lapped.

Under caution, the leaders returned to pit road and Elliott emerged with the top spot for the first time after exiting with the lead followed by Blaney, Byron, Harvick, Larson and Briscoe.

When the race restarted on Lap 125 and as the field fanned out through the dogleg, Elliott persevered over a brief battle with Blaney to retain a narrow advantage while Byron fended off Harvick and Larson to retain third place.

Eight laps later and following a side-by-side battle with Elliott, Blaney re-emerged with the lead, though Elliott kept Blaney’s No. 12 Ford within his close sights. 

By Lap 140, Blaney extended his advantage to more than a second over Elliott, who started to have Harvick close in on him for the runner-up spot. Byron was back in fourth ahead of teammate Larson while Reddick, Chastain, Briscoe, Austin Dillon and Logano were in the top 10.

At the halfway mark on Lap 156, Blaney stabilized his advantage to more than a second over Elliott and less than two seconds over Harvick while Byron and teammate Larson remained in the top five. Reddick, Chastain, Briscoe, Austin Dillon and Logano remained in the top 10 ahead of Truex, Kyle Busch, Bowman, Almirola, Suarez, Buescher, Hamlin, Custer, Kurt Busch and Gilliland while Erik Jones, Ty Dillon, Haley, Cindric, Allmendinger, Keselowski, Wallace, Stenhouse, Bell and McDowell rounded out the top 30.

By Lap 175, Blaney continued to lead by four-tenths of a second over Elliott while third-place Harvick trailed by more than three seconds. Trailing by more than four seconds behind were teammates Byron and Larson. 

When the second stage concluded on Lap 185, Blaney fended off Elliott to claim his first stage victory of the 2022 season. Harvick crossed the start/finish line in third followed by Byron, Larson, Reddick, Chastain, Briscoe, Austin Dillon and Logano.

Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Elliott returned to the top of the leaderboard followed by Harvick, Reddick, Blaney, Byron and Larson.

With 118 laps remaining, the final stage started under green. At the start and with the fan fanning out through the dogleg, Reddick was quick to attack Elliott for the lead, but Elliott was just able to utilize the outside lane to his advantage as he retained the lead. Meanwhile, Blaney moved up to third while Larson challenged Harvick for fourth place. 

Down to the final 100 laps of the event, Elliott was leading by less than half a second over Reddick while Blaney, Harvick and Larson were in the top five. Briscoe was back in sixth followed by Chastain, Austin Dillon, Byron and Truex. Bowman was in 11th followed by Logano, Suarez, Buescher and Kyle Busch while Aric Almirola, Kurt Busch, Hamlin, Erik Jones and Custer were in the top 20. 

Eight laps later, the caution flew when Truex went dead straight after cutting a right-front tire and pounded his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota TRD Camry into the backstretch outside wall hard. The incident was enough to terminate Truex’s event as he emerged uninjured and made the mandatory trip to the infield care center.

Under caution, the leaders returned to pit road and Elliott retained the lead followed by Harvick, Briscoe, Chastain, Austin Dillon and Byron while Blaney dropped to ninth place. Following the pit stops, Daniel Suarez was penalized for speeding on pit road. 

With 83 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Briscoe assumed the lead over Elliott and Harvick retained third place as the field jostled for positions.

Eight laps later, Briscoe was leading by nearly eight-tenths of a second over Elliott while Harvick, Logano and Chastain were in the top five. Byron was in sixth followed by Austin Dillon, Blaney, Larson and Bowman. Shortly after, Larson fell off the pace and had to limp his No. 5 Valvoline Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for another full lap before pitting. Soon after pitting, it was determined that a broken valve spring was detected in Larson’s car, which forced the reigning Cup champion to nurse his car to the garage.

Down to the final 50 laps of the event, Briscoe continued to lead by more than three-tenths of a second over Elliott, who continued to stalk Briscoe for the lead, while Harvick, Chastain and Blaney were in the top five.

Not long after and with the leaders mired in lapped traffic, the battle for the lead intensified as Elliott pressured Briscoe for the top spot. Despite Elliott’s efforts in closing the gap and trying to navigate his way around Briscoe’s No. 14 Ford for the lead, Briscoe was able to maintain the top spot.

With 30 laps remaining, Briscoe continued to lead by less than half a second over Elliott while third-place Harvick trailed by more than a second. Chastain, coming off his strong run at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, was in fourth followed by Team Penske’s Blaney and Logano. Reddick was in seventh ahead of teammate Austin Dillon while Bowman and Almirola were in the top 10.

Shortly after, the caution flew when Erik Jones spun off of Turn 2 and made contact with the inside wall.

Under caution, the leaders pitted and Briscoe managed to retain the lead ahead of teammate Harvick, Chastain and the field.

With 20 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start and with the field fanning out, Chastain bolted below the dogleg to challenge Briscoe for the lead along with Harvick, but Briscoe managed to retain the lead by a narrow margin. Not long after, Chastain fought back on the inside lane and he drew himself alongside Briscoe as Tyler Reddick joined the party after he passed Harvick.

Shortly after, a three-wide battle ensued between three competitors seeking their first Cup victory before Briscoe managed to remain ahead of Reddick and Chastain. 

With less than 15 laps remaining, Briscoe, who was representing Stewart-Haas Racing, was leading by half a second over Reddick, who was representing Richard Childress Racing, and more than a second over Chastain, who was representing Trackhouse Racing. Meanwhile, Harvick was mired back in fourth, trailing by more than a second, while Blaney was in fifth.

Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Briscoe continued to lead by more than half a second over Reddick while Chastain was being pressured by Harvick for third place.

Just then, the caution flew with eight laps remaining when Elliott got loose and spun through the backstretch while running in seventh place. The caution evaporated Briscoe’s steady margin over Reddick.

Under caution, the top-13 competitors led by Briscoe remained on the track while the rest led by Chris Buescher, who was in 14th place, pitted. 

Down to the final three laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Briscoe, who restarted on the inside lane, darted his car to the dogleg and received a bump from Chastain to clear the field and retain the lead entering the backstretch. Behind, Chastain challenged Reddick for the runner-up spot as Kurt Busch challenged Blaney and Harvick for fourth place. 

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Briscoe was still leading by over Chastain and Reddick. With all types of battles ensuing behind, Briscoe was able to pull away and streak across the finish line in first place as he emerged victorious for the first time in his second full-time season in the Cup circuit.

With the victory, Briscoe recorded the first win for Stewart-Haas Racing this season and for SHR’s No. 14 team currently led by crew chief Johnny Klausmeier since former veteran, Clint Bowyer, won a rain-shortened event at Michigan International Speedway in June 2018. In addition, Briscoe, who claimed the Cup Rookie-of-the-Year title in 2021, became the 38th different competitor to achieve a victory across NASCAR’s top three national touring series (Camping World Truck, Xfinity and Cup).

“That’s unbelievable,” Briscoe, who was emotional on the frontstretch, said on FOX. “I was crying the whole last lap. I mean, this is definitely a team win, but I gotta thank everybody that’s got me to this point. Seven years ago, I was sleeping on couches, volunteering at race shops and was literally driving home to give up. [Owners] Briggs Cunningham [III] and Kerry Scherer and Beth Cunningham gave me an opportunity and it’s led to this. Unbelievable. So blessed to be driving at the organization of the team and the car that was my hero [Tony Stewart] growing up. To get this No. 14 back in Victory Lane, to do it with Mahindra Tractors, their first year in the sport…it’s unbelievable.”

Behind, Chastain edged Reddick to finish in the runner-up spot, with both competitors claiming their best results through the first four events of the 2022 campaign.

“Like a day at the K1 track, that was so much fun,” Chastain said, “To get to race like that at this level. Trackhouse Racing believes in me. These people, they believed in me early in the season whenever stuff wasn’t going so great. If we can keep putting these together. That’s so cool to race with Tyler [Reddick] and Chase [Briscoe]. That’s everything I’ve ever wanted. My crew chief Phil Surgen, people don’t know how good he is. His adjustments this year have been so incredible and he gave me exactly what I needed. We just came up one spot short, but I’m so happy.”

“I thought we got a really good launch [on the restart] considering all things,” Reddick added. “Being right there with [Briscoe] going into [Turn] 1, but I knew about how deep I could drive it in Turn 1 all day. I thought I got pretty good heat in the tires. I still over-stepped it. I couldn’t have drove it any deeper than I did and I thought I was still gonna get up in the fence. Chase was just able to drive it off in there. Kind of like dirt racing, clear high and take the lead. It was a lot of fun. It was great to claw back from a hiccup we had early in the race. Everyone on this Guaranteed Rate Chevrolet did a really, really good job all day. We had one little miscue that took us from second to 12th, but my pit crew did an amazing job. They got us right back out of that hole and we had one good restart at the end to put ourselves in position. It was a fun day. It was a nice way to recover. It’s nice to recover from a mistake that late in the race and still be battling for the win there at the end. All in all, great day. We’ll see what else we can learn from this and get ready for what lies ahead.”

Blaney, who led a race-high 144 laps, finished fourth and Kurt Busch claimed his first top-five result of the season and with 23XI Racing after muscling his No. 45 MoneyLion Toyota TRD Camry in fifth place. 

Harvick came home in sixth place while Kyle Busch, Logano, Suarez and Chris Buescher finished in the top 10.

Notably, Elliott settled in 11th following his late spin, Hamlin ended up in 13th place in between Almirola and Bowman, Byron fell back to 18th and Austin Dillon finished 21st after being involved in a last-lap skirmish with Daniel Suarez while battling for a top-10 spot. Todd Gilliland was the highest-finishing rookie in 16th place while Bubba Wallace, Brad Keselowski and Austin Cindric finished 22nd, 23rd and 24th.

There were 14 lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured eight cautions for 52 laps.

Despite finishing in eighth place, Joey Logano leads the regular-season standings by four points over Kyle Busch, five over Chase Elliott, 10 over Chase Briscoe and Kyle Larson and 14 over Aric Almirola.

Results.

1. Chase Briscoe, 101 laps led

2. Ross Chastain

3. Tyler Reddick

4. Ryan Blaney, 143 laps led, Stage 2 winner

5. Kurt Busch

6. Kevin Harvick

7. Kyle Busch

8. Joey Logano, four laps led

9. Daniel Suarez

10. Chris Buescher

11. Chase Elliott, 50 laps led

12. Aric Almirola

13. Denny Hamlin

14. Alex Bowman

15. Ty Dillon

16. Cole Custer

17. Justin Haley

18. William Byron, 12 laps led, Stage 1 winner

19. Todd Gilliland

20. AJ Allmendinger

21. Austin Dillon – OUT, Accident

22. Bubba Wallace, one lap down

23. Brad Keselowski, one lap down

24. Austin Cindric, one lap down

25. Erik Jones, one lap down

26. Christopher Bell, two laps down

27. Michael McDowell, two laps down

28. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., two laps down

29. Harrison Burton, three laps down

30. Landon Cassill, four laps down

31. Cody Ware, five laps down

32. Garrett Smithley, seven laps down

33. BJ McLeod, eight laps down

34. Kyle Larson – OUT, Engine, two laps led

35. Martin Truex Jr. – OUT, Accident

36. Corey LaJoie – OUT, Accident

Next on the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is Atlanta Motor Speedway, the first of two stops at the venue for the series and the first race since the track was reconfigured for this season. The event is scheduled to occur on Sunday, March 20, at 3 p.m. ET on FOX.

Ford Performance NASCAR: Chase Briscoe Wins Phoenix

By
Official Release
-

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Ruoff Mortgage 500 | Sunday, March 13, 2022

CHASE BRISCOE CAPTURES HIS FIRST CAREER CUP SERIES WIN

  • Chase Briscoe drove his No. 14 Ford Mustang to victory today at Phoenix for his first Cup Series win.
  • This marks the 31st win for Stewart-Haas Racing since joining Ford.
  • Today’s win is Ford’s 713th all-time in NASCAR Cup Series competition.
  • Briscoe is the 88th different driver to win a Cup race with Ford, and the first new winner since Austin Cindric won the Daytona 500 (2022).

FORD FINISHING RESULTS

1st – Chase Briscoe

4th – Ryan Blaney

6th – Kevin Harvick

8th – Joey Logano

10th – Chris Buescher

12th – Aric Almirola

16th – Cole Custer

19th – Todd Gilliland

23rd – Brad Keselowski

24th – Austin Cindric

27th – Michael McDowell

29th – Harrison Burton

31st – Cody Ware

32nd – Garrett Smithley

33rd BJ McLeod

CHASE BRISCOE, No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang — FINISHED 1st – VICTORY LANE INTERVIEW

“That’s unbelievable. I was crying the whole last lap. I mean, this is definitely a team win. I got to thank everyone that has gotten me to this point. Seven years ago, I was sleeping on couching, ready to give up. They gave me an opportunity and it’s led to this.I am so blessed to be driving at the organization, the team, the car that was my hero growing up. To get this 14 back in Victory Lane, to do it with Mahindra Tractors, their first year in the sport, everybody that’s believed in me. It’s unbelievable.”

YOU HAVE DREAMED FOR YEARS OF DRIVING IN YOUR IDOL TONY STEWART’S RACE CAR. YOU LOOKED A LOT LIKE TONY STEWART OUT THERE TODAY. “Yeah, those restarts, I mean, we were sliding, everything else. I hope the race fans enjoyed the race. It was unbelievable from my point. Thank you, guys, for coming out. We missed you the last two years with COVID and everything else. So thankful to have guys back. Without you guys, we don’t have a sport, don’t get to race, do what we do for a living. I wish my wife and baby were here. Definitely special and one that’s going to be remembered forever.”

RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Menards/Maytag Ford Mustang — FINISHED 4th

WHAT MORE DID YOU NEED TODAY? “It is hard to tell. I lost the lead there on pit road and just could never get back. I don’t know. I just didn’t have quite the speed and was kind of too tight. I could drive up through the field and make good spots and nobody could really do that. You would just get really tight behind people. Not a bad day. A good recovery from last week. We had a fast car, just a shame we couldn’t contend more for the win. It is cool to see Briscoe get his first win and we will go on to next week.”

KEVIN HARVICK, No. 4 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford Mustang — FINISHED 6th

“It was a good day for us. Restarts weren’t 100% our strong point. We had a bit of a brake shake issue that kept pulling the car to the right under braking so I couldn’t get into corners like I wanted to. Still a good day and the car ran good. I just couldn’t really connect all the corners altogether through the day. Putting a SHR car in victory lane and running inside the top-five all day for us is always a good day.”

CHRIS BUESCHER, IT SAVVY Ford Mustang — FINISHED 10th

“That was a really solid day. Phoenix is self-admittedly not been my best track, probably one of my worst. To have a day where we come out of here with a top-10 is a small win. I want to be better but definitely a strong Phoenix for us. I am proud of everyone in this group. It was a tough weekend again with just a 150minute practice and not uch time to work on it but we were able to dial it in and be competitive in the race. I think we learned some good stuff for our short-track program and we have a lot of those coming up shortly.”

Toyota Racing – NCS Phoenix Post-Race Report – 03.13.22

By
Official Release
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BUSCH BROTHERS LEAD TOYOTA IN PHOENIX
Kurt Busch scores his first top-five for 23XI Racing

PHOENIX (March 13, 2022) – Kurt Busch (fifth) led Toyota in the NASCAR Cup Series race at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday afternoon. It was his first top-five finish for 23XI. He was joined by his brother, Kyle, inside the top-10 (seventh).

Toyota Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Phoenix Raceway
Race 4 of 36 – 312 miles, 312 laps

TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Chase Briscoe*
2nd, Ross Chastain*
3rd, Tyler Reddick*
4th, Ryan Blaney*
5th, KURT BUSCH
7th, KYLE BUSCH
13th, DENNY HAMLIN
22nd, BUBBA WALLACE
26th, CHRISTOPHER BELL
35th, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
*non-Toyota driver

TOYOTA QUOTES

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

Finishing Position: 5th

Battled back for a top-five, can you tell us about your day?

“It was a little loose on corner exit. That turn two was a battle – a couple of guys spun right in front of me over there. We gave it our best. Once we got that sorted out in turn two, some of the other parts of the track got tight for us, but my car really surprised me on the refires. We were okay on older tires – usually, I’m a sticker guy. My crew chief, Billy Scott, said ‘No, you are going to stay out buddy.’ Really happy with the run. Thanks to MoneyLion, Toyota, everybody that was on our team this weekend. That’s a really good top-five, checked box for 23XI.”

Where did you come from, Kurt?

“It was surprising, and it was fun. I’m normally a sticker guy. I need sticker tires and this car reacted really well to scuffs today, so that’s good for our notebook at 23XI. The restarts – I was able to find the right spots to be. Thanks to MoneyLion, Toyota. We were the top Toyota today, which is somewhat of a surprise. We were just trying to get to 10th, but we will take a top-five. It’s really cool for our program, this car number, number 45. To get a top-five, check mark done. This was a good West Coast swing. Not so much on points with stage one and stage two, but our finishes were there, and we will keep chiseling away.”

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

Finishing Position: 35th

What happened out there?

“We had been getting really loose all day on the longer runs. I was just out there trying to take care of it, and we gained a few spots on the restart and I was just trying to take care of the rear tires. Coming off of turn two there, I’m kind of neutral free and then all of a sudden it shot straight into the fence. I cut a right front down running up there in the glue or something.”

#

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.

Top-Five Qualifying Performances for Two Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Cars and Record Setting Runs for Mopar Drag Pak at NHRA Gatornationals

By
Official Release
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2022 NHRA, Gatornationals
  • Wet and cold weather canceled Friday qualifying and delayed Saturday’s sessions at the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Camping World Drag Racing Series’ Amalie Motor Oil Gatornationals resulting in just one run to make the show
  • Cruz Pedregon powered his Snap-on Tools Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat to the No. 3 qualifier position for Sunday’s Funny Car elimination rounds at Gainesville Raceway 
  • Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) driver Matt Hagan put his Dodge Power Brokers Funny Car No. 4 on the eliminations ladder in quest for the team’s first win and his first Gatornationals Wally trophy
  • TSR pilot Leah Pruett and the Dodge Power Brokers dragster took part in the NHRA Top Fuel All-Star Callout but a loss of traction ruined chance to advance in the specialty race and ability to participate in Sunday’s eliminations 
  • Two 2021 Dodge Challenger Mopar Drag Paks qualify atop the Constant Aviation Factory Stock Showdown eliminations ladder with historic runs to vie for a Gatornationals win and the new $10,000-to-win Direct Connection Contingency purse

March 12, 2022, Gainesville, Florida — Wet weather canceled Friday qualifying and delayed Saturday’s sessions at the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Camping World Drag Racing Series’ 53rd edition of the Amalie Motor Oil Gatornationals and then unseasonably cool conditions at Gainesville Raceway further hampered qualifying resulting in just one run to make  the famed race event.

In Funny Car action, Cruz Pedregon powered his Snap-On Tools Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat down the track with a 3.891-second run at 327.35 mph in the sole qualifying session of the weekend to put himself No. 3 on the eliminations ladder and qualifying in the top-five for a third consecutive event. The Cruz Pedregon Racing owner and driver will have No. 14 seed JIm Campbell in the lane next to him for the opening round of eliminations.

Tony Stewart Racing’s Matt Hagan followed up his No. 1 qualifier position and runner-up finish at the Arizona Nationals two weekends ago by taking his Dodge Power Brokers Charger SRT Hellcat for a solid 3.898-second elapsed timed pass at 320.13 mph in the late afternoon session to secure the No. 4 position on the eliminations ladder. He’ll have lane choice over No. 13 seed Dave Richards to begin his quest for the TSR team’s first win and his first Gatornationals Wally trophy.

Top Fuel qualifying featured the opening round of the Pep Boys NHRA Top Fuel All-Star Callout in which TSR pilot Leah Pruett and the Dodge Power Brokers dragster were competing. Pruett, who had been “called out” by defending NHRA world champion Steve Torrence, staged her 11,000-horsepower machine for the specialty race ready to battle for the prize money and also set her place on the eliminations ladder.

Pruett and her Dodge Power Brokers dragster had the slight advance at the hit of the throttle, but she soon found herself peddling it after losing traction. She skillfully regained control and continued down the track to record a lap time, not knowing if she would have another session to qualify for Sunday’s main event. Unfortunately, the unseasonably cold weather shortened the day’s activities and another qualifying run was no longer possible, which meant that the 5.125 sec./ 227.34 mph recorded pass wasn’t going to be enough to give her a chance to race on Sunday. This will be the first time since 2013 (Indianapolis) that Pruett won’t get to stage her race car for eliminations.

While the Gatornationals have had a history of record-breaking performances with one of the fastest tracks on the NHRA circuit, Saturday’s cooler weather provided some extra excitement  for the 22 Constant Aviation Factory Stock Showdown (FSS) entries vying for the 16 spots on the eliminations ladder as the top half of the ladder posted runs that were quicker and faster than the previous national records of 7.718 seconds and 183.10 mph. 

Among the seven Dodge Challenger Mopar Drag Paks making their first qualifying runs of the season was Mark Pawuk who powered his 2021 Empaco Equipment Dodge Challenger Mopar Drag Pak to an impressive and record setting 7.608-second elapsed time run at 183.15 mph to earn his third career No. 1 qualifier position and reset both ends of the nationals record.

To further solidify the 2021 Mopar Drag Pak’s reputation as the quickest, fastest, and most powerful Challenger Drag Pak ever offered by Stellantis, Pawuk’s Don Schumacher Racing teammate, Warren Walcher, recorded his own impressive 7.669-second pass at 180.79 mph to earn the No. 3 position in just his second FSS competition. The two will not only vie for a Gatornationals win but also for the new $10,000-to-win Direct Connection Contingency purse.

The Gatornationals eliminations are set to air on FS1 on Sunday, March 13, beginning at 7 p.m. Eastern.

ADDITIONAL NOTES and QUOTES: 

Leah Pruett, Dodge Power Brokers Top Fuel Dragster  

(Did Not Qualify – 5.125 seconds at 227.34 mph)

Qualifying 1: 5.125 sec./ 227.34 mph

Matt Hagan, Dodge Power Brokers Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car  

(No. 4 Qualifier – 3.898 seconds at 320.13 mph)

Qualifying 1: 3.898 sec./ 320.13 mph

“We’re on the good side of the ladder and I’m really happy with how it turned out. We’re going to work real hard on keeping lane choice all day tomorrow and running really hard. The weather’s going to be phenomenal with cool conditions, so we’re going to make a lot of power and hopefully run really fast. We just keep building on this new team and this Dodge Power Brokers Hellcat keeps going down the racetrack. I’m excited to see the guys gelling in the pit and making quick turnovers. Some of those little wins and little goals that we’re achieving along the way, it turns into big things over the course of time. 

“The drivability of my race car is great. My lights are great. I have nothing but confidence in Dicky Venables, so I feel like we have a real good shot at pulling down the first win for TSR with this Dodge Power Brokers Direct Connection car and I hope I get to say that a whole lot tomorrow.”

Cruz Pedregon, Pedregon Racing Snap-on® Tools Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat

(No. 3  Qualifier – 3.891 seconds at  327.35 mph)

Qualifying 1: 3.891 sec./ 327.35 mph (1 bonus point for third quickest of session)

“Qualifying in the top five is our goal. It’s a nice benchmark to shoot for each week. There are some really good cars here, but top-five is what we always shoot for so we are happy with qualifying No. 3. Conditions were tough for everybody but (Crew Chiefs) John Collins and Rip Reynolds have notes and have run in cooler conditions before. The Safety Safari guys made sure the track was good and I think it was really a credit to them for prepping the track.

“The Snap-on Dodge CHarger SRT Hellcat made a good run. It was business as usual for us. It was a nice, smooth run. We’re creeping the speed up a little bit, but it was still a run that we really had to go down the track. We weren’t trying to be cute and go for the top spot. We’ll get out there tomorrow and see what we can do.”

DodgeGarage: Digital Hub for Drag Racing News

Fans can follow all the NHRA action this season at DodgeGarage, the one-stop portal for Dodge//SRT and Mopar drag-racing news. The site includes daily updates and access to an online racing HQ, news, events, galleries, available downloads and merchandise. For more information, visit www.dodgegarage.com.

@DodgeMoparMotorsports on Instagram

The @DodgeMoparMotorsports Instagram channel continues to share content capturing Dodge//SRT Mopar drivers on the track. Fans can see action from the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series and NHRA Sportsman grassroots racers, competing in classes such as Factory Stock Showdown, Stock and Super Stock, as well as additional motorsports series.

Dodge//SRT

For more than 100 years, the Dodge brand has carried on the spirit of brothers John and Horace Dodge. Their influence continues today as Dodge shifts into high gear with muscle cars and SUVs that deliver unrivaled performance in each of the segments where they compete.

Dodge drives forward as a pure performance brand, offering SRT versions of every model across the lineup. For the 2022 model year, Dodge delivers the drag-strip dominating 807-horsepower Dodge Challenger SRT Super Stock, the 797-horsepower Dodge Charger SRT Redeye, the most powerful and fastest mass-produced sedan in the world, and the Dodge Durango SRT 392, America’s fastest, most powerful and most capable three-row SUV. Combined, these three muscle cars make Dodge the industry’s most powerful brand, offering more horsepower than any other American brand across its entire lineup.

In 2020, Dodge was named the “#1 Brand in Initial Quality,” making it the first domestic brand ever to rank No. 1 in the J.D. Power Initial Quality Study (IQS). In 2021, Dodge brand ranked No. 1 in the J.D. Power APEAL Study (mass market) — making it the only domestic brand ever to do so two years in a row.

Dodge is part of the portfolio of brands offered by leading global automaker and mobility provider Stellantis. For more information regarding Stellantis (NYSE: STLA), please visit www.stellantis.com.

Mopar

This year marks the 85th anniversary of Mopar.

A simple combination of the words MOtor and PARts, Mopar offers exceptional service, parts and customer-care. Born in 1937 as the name of a line of antifreeze products, Mopar has evolved over nearly 85 years to represent both complete vehicle care and authentic performance for owners and enthusiasts worldwide.

Mopar made its mark in the 1960s during the muscle-car era with performance parts to enhance speed and handling for both on-road and racing use. Later, Mopar expanded to include technical service and customer support, and today integrates service, parts and customer-care operations in order to enhance customer and dealer support worldwide.

Complete information on Mopar is available at www.mopar.com. For more information regarding Stellantis (NYSE: STLA), please visit www.stellantis.com.

Follow Dodge, Mopar and Stellantis news and video on:

Company blog: blog.stellantisnorthamerica.com
Media website: media.stellantisnorthamerica.com
Dodge brand: www.dodge.com
Mopar brand: www.mopar.com/
DodgeGarage: www.dodgegarage.com
Mopar blog: blog.mopar.com/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/dodge and www.facebook.com/mopar
Instagram: @Dodgemoparmotorsports, @dodgeofficial and @officialmopar
Twitter: @Dodge, @OfficialMopar and @StellantisNA
YouTube: www.youtube.com/dodge, https://www.youtube.com/c/mopar and www.youtube.com/StellantisNA

Slingshot to Victory! Paasch Makes Another Last-Second, Daring Pass to Win His Second Straight DAYTONA 200

By
Official Release
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Brandon Paasch (No. 96 left), who entered the backstretch Le Mans Chicane in fourth on the final lap of Saturday’s DAYTONA 200, maneuvered his way to third before making a daring pass around the top two of Cameron Petersen (No. 45) and Sheridan Morais (No. 113) coming to the finish line. It was the second straight year he used to draft to slingshot his way to victory in Daytona International Speedway’s culmination of Bike Week Presented By Monster Energy.

Wins by .007 of a Second; Culmination of Bike Week Presented By Monster Energy Featured Every Race with Last-Ditch Passes for the Lead Through Trioval, Mere Feet From the Finish Line

DAYTONA BEACH, FL (March 12, 2022) – TOBC Racing’s Brandon Paasch executed his DAYTONA 200 plan to perfection Saturday, loitering around at the back of a four-rider pack until the time was right to pull the trigger on his Triumph Speed Triple RS.

As it turns out, the 20-year-old had just the right amount of ammo at his disposal. He exited the Le Mans chicane in fourth place, went down low on the banking, and started making moves until delivering the final dagger with a double-draft pass on Cameron Petersen and Sheridan Morais at the finish to win his second successive DAYTONA 200 – this one by just .007 of a second.

Paasch had spent his afternoon at Daytona International Speedway lurking at the back of the lead group – no matter how many riders it consisted of. But when it came down to his final pit stop, the only way he was going to be in a position to battle for victory was to take on just fuel and not tires.

The New Jerseyan got in and out of the pits quickly and found himself just behind the duo of SYNTAINICS Racing’s Morais and Squid Hunter’s Josh Hayes, the pair smartly squabbling over second and all the while pulling themselves to the back of Petersen, the South African alone and helpless as he watched his four-second lead evaporate all too quickly. Suddenly, it was a four-rider race to the finish and the man at the back was the man at the front when he needed to be. At the finish.

Paasch beat Attack Performance Yamaha’s Petersen by the .007 margin with Morais third, another .057 behind, with Hayes fourth and .126 of a second from victory.

Fifth place went to Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Richie Escalante, some 46 seconds behind Paasch, but well clear of four-time Daytona 200 winner Danny Eslick on the second TOBC Racing Triumph.

TSE Racing’s Harry Truelove, who races in the British Superbike Series, was just a tick behind Eslick at the finish and some eight seconds ahead of Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Geoff May. Disrupt Racing’s Hayden Gillim and Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC’s Josh Herrin rounded out the top 10.

Pole-sitter Herrin was in the lead group when he ran out of fuel on his way to the first pit stop, coasting to pit lane and losing gobs of time in the process; and 2021 MotoAmerica Superbike Champion Jake Gagne, who qualified third-fastest, lasted only a few laps in the 200 before pulling out due to back pain from his crash in the morning warm-up session.

Paasch averaged 113.162 mph in winning the race and he also set the fastest lap of the race, a 1:49.959, en route to snagging his second Rolex watch.

Paasch, who gave Yamaha its 27th victory in the 2021 Daytona 200, brought Triumph its fourth victory in the 200 and the first since Eslick won on a TOBC Triumph in 2014.

The race was red-flagged on the seventh lap when Jose Lloreda crashed exiting the chicane, leaving debris on the racetrack.

DAYTONA 200 Top-10 Finishers

  1. Brandon Paasch (Triumph)
  2. Cameron Petersen (Yamaha)
  3. Sheridan Morais (Yamaha)
  4. Josh Hayes (Yamaha)
  5. Richie Escalante (Suzuki)
  6. Danny Eslick (Triumph)
  7. Harry Truelove (Yamaha)
  8. Geoff May (Suzuki)
  9. Hayden Gillim (Suzuki)
  10. Josh Herrin (Ducati)

Mission King Of The Baggers
It seems that no matter what kind of motorcycle you race at Daytona International Speedway, strategy and timing are so important on the run to the checkered flag.

In Saturday’s Mission King Of The Baggers race two, Ulsterman Jeremy McWilliams made a perfect pass, at the perfect time, to take the victory. The Mission Foods/S&S Cycle Indian Challenger racer has competed on all kinds of motorcycles, and in road races all over the world (including Daytona nearly 20 years ago), and he put his experience and racecraft to good use when he rocketed past Roland Sands Design Indian rider Bobby Fong, who was in the lead on the final lap. With the finish line in sight, McWilliams’ teammate Tyler O’Hara also drafted past Fong to take second place, relegating Fong to third. It was an all-Indian podium in the Harley-Davidson versus Indian Big Twin racing series.

Twins Cup
The final event of the day was in Twins Cup, and their second race of the weekend was, once again, action-packed. Fluid on the track caused multiple riders to crash on the opening lap, and the race was red-flagged and restarted with a five-lap sprint to the checkers. Eight riders were at the front and in it to win as the laps wound down. At the checkered flag, Cycle Tech Yamaha rider Hayden Schultz got the win, which was the first of his MotoAmerica career. Veloce Racing Aprilia’s Jody Barry finished second, just .241 of a second behind Schultz, and Italian expatriate Tommaso Marcon, .256 of a second behind Barry, rounded out the podium in third in a wild-card ride for Robem Engineering Aprilia.

Quotes by the Riders:

Brandon Paasch – Winner, DAYTONA 200
“Honestly, I wasn’t sure the whole time. There were a few times I did try to draft them, and I couldn’t get past. I was a little bit nervous, and I was like, ‘well, as long as we’re in the fight at the end, there’s nothing you can do about it.’ It’s Daytona. It’s a drafting game and sometimes it goes your way and sometimes it doesn’t. For me, honestly, it was just kind of sit there and wait, wait. We didn’t change the tire at the second pit stop, so I was a little bit nervous about the tire wear. I saw Cam (Petersen) had a pretty big gap, so I was just sitting behind Sheridan (Morais) and Josh (Hayes), and I was just like, ‘I see them closing. I don’t know if we’ve got enough time. I’m going to do what I can do and hopefully I can just draft these two the line.’ Then I see Cam coming closer and closer and closer and I just wait, just wait. Keep saving the tires as much as I can through that last lap. Honestly, when Sheridan and everybody started rolling out of the gap, I was a little bit like, ‘I don’t know where to put myself,’ but I saw Hayes was up high, so I kind of cut below him. I was like, I’m in a prime spot. I’m behind the front two boys. Once they went, I was like, ‘game time’. The Triumph pulls really hard when you go to the gas. So, I knew I was maybe going to have a chance at picking up mile per hour a little bit quicker than them guys. Just perfect. Just like last year.”

“This one is great, to be honest. (Josh) Herrin was on Instagram saying I’m not in his league, and then to come out here and beat him was really good for me. I’m stoked. Having all the Superbike guys out here is great. I know it’s not what they’re used to. They ride the big bikes and they’re really damn good at it. So, for them to jump back on the 600 and have a little fun with me is pretty cool. I feel lucky to be able to share the track with these guys. Hopefully, this summer I can learn a thing or two from Cam (Petersen) and the boys in Superbike.”

Cameron Petersen – Second, DAYTONA 200
“Yeah. I’m super happy. We came here to win. That was the goal. We did get the motorcycle capable of winning, but for my first Daytona 200 I’m super stoked to be on the podium. It’s got me wanting to come back already. I know I’m going to lose quite a lot of sleep over this one. I’m not going to lie. I think it’s going to take me a week at least to stop thinking about it. Like Shez (Morais) said, it was just so much fun. I don’t think I’ve ever had so much fun in a race, just battling with guys I’ve always wanted to race against. I’ve actually never gotten to ride against Josh Hayes like that, and even Shez. We’ve raced against each other a couple times but to race again and pass each other like that was pretty cool. Honestly, my team crushed the second pit stop. When I came by and everything settled down after the pit stop, I think I was like four and a half seconds in front. So, they absolutely crushed that second pit stop. They put me in the position to try and maintain that gap and win the race. Unfortunately, the guys behind me just put their heads down and slowly caught me lap by lap by lap. The last three laps it was all about just trying to pick your spot and figuring out where you wanted to be going into that last corner. I could tell coming off the chicane, he (Morais) went to three-quarter throttle, and I went to half throttle. I was just like, ‘there’s no way I’m leading coming out of this thing.’ I thought I timed it to perfection. I really did. I almost started celebrating before I got to the line. Sure enough, here comes Brandon (Paasch) on the outside and took the W. Congrats to these two guys. It was so much fun riding with them. Congrats to them. I hope we come back and do this next year.”

Sheridan Morais – Third, DAYTONA 200
“I love it. That was the best race of my life. So much fun. So much passing. Ridiculous. I know it’s an endurance race, 57 laps, but it felt like a sprint race. It was really, really cool.”

“The pit stops went well. The first stop for some reason, before the first straightaway, the back was locked up and I went straight on over there. So, I rejoined in 20th-something place and worked myself up to I think 12th before the red flag, and then after that it was smooth sailing. Cam (Petersen) had an amazing pit stop and he came out way in front. So, I just got tangled a little bit up with Josh (Hayes), having a good race. Finally, I got to the front and put my head down. Saw Cam and then we were in for it the last three or four laps.”

Jeremy McWilliams – Winner, King Of The Baggers
“I kind of learned how to ride it off Tyler (O’Hara). Give him all the credit for that because he rides it differently than I do. I came along not knowing and riding it a little bit like a sportbike, and that’s not how it works. It just needs to be nursed a little bit differently. It’s got so much torque that you’ve got to change your throttle position and stuff. You’ve got to learn how to do that because it’s got an incredible amount of go off the bottom. So, you can see me spinning up and that’s still me learning. Still not quite there yet. I struggled off six. I’ve been struggling off six the whole way through. I probably haven’t been using the RPM range as well as I should be over the whole weekend. I did have the slightly different aero on. I was short-shifting a little. I didn’t learn how to draft until discussing it with Tyler, really. The drafting was the big thing at the end of the day. Getting across the line, Bobby (Fong) went low, and I stayed high thinking, ‘Should I be down there, or should I be up here?’ I think it was 16 years or 17 years ago, so I kind of forgot how to draft like this. It’s a very unique racetrack. Very special. And it’s very special just to be here and standing on top of the box. That’s not really what I expected. I’d be really happy to just get on the podium. I was a bit disappointed coming up short yesterday. Today made it all up for it. It’s a great team scenario where we can all speak openly and try to help each other.”

Hayden Schultz – Winner, Twins Cup
“It’s incredible. I’m not that old, but I’ve been doing this for a while. This has got to be season eight or nine of me racing in MotoAmerica. I haven’t made a full season. To come so close whether it’s in Twins or KTM Cup and not get it, it drives me absolutely crazy. Last year, to get second in the championship and not get a win and see the other guys get wins, just drives you crazy through the off-season. The last couple months, I’ve been working really, really hard. My team has been putting a ton of effort into our program. I felt like we were really prepared for Daytona. So, to have what happened yesterday I was gutted to throw that race away because I know we have the speed to win and to pull off what we did today. So, that made today that much sweeter. If I would have had to drive home knowing that I threw away a grand opportunity to get a win or at least start the season on the podium, that would have been a really difficult few weeks. I’m so excited that we finally got it done. I just want to try to use this momentum to get through the rest of the season and see if we can rack up a few podiums. It’s going to be really tough. This class is absolutely stacked this year. These guys are so fast. I know my work is cut out for me because it’s going to be extremely difficult. I’m going to keep putting in the work and try to keep improving as a rider just to continue to make moments like this happen.”

Coming Up At Daytona International Speedway
Next up for motorsports action at the World Center of Racing will be the NASCAR Cup Series’ summer classic – Coke Zero Sugar 400 – set for Saturday evening, August 27. The 400-miler will serve as the last-chance, cutoff race for the premier series playoffs. By virtue of his DAYTONA 500 triumph, Austin Cindric guaranteed his spot in the battle for the season-long title.

Fans can stay connected with Daytona International Speedway on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, as well as the all-new NASCAR Tracks App, for the latest speedway news.

For all Daytona International Speedway event information and ticket information, fans can visit www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com or call 1-800-PITSHOP.

About Daytona International Speedway
Daytona International Speedway is a state-of-the-art motorsports facility and was awarded the SportsBusiness Journal’s prestigious Sports Business Award for Sports Facility of the Year in 2016. Daytona International Speedway is the home of The Great American Race – the DAYTONA 500. Though the season-opening NASCAR Cup Series event garners most of the attention – as well as the largest audience in motorsports – the approximately 500-acre motorsports complex, also known as The World Center of Racing, boasts the most diverse schedule of racing on the globe. In addition to at least nine major event weekends, the Speedway grounds are also used extensively for events that include concerts, civic and social gatherings, car shows, photo shoots, production vehicle testing and police motorcycle training.

RCR NXS Post Race Report: Phoenix Raceway

By
Official Release
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Sheldon Creed Battles for Respectable Finish at Phoenix Raceway in the No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet

Finish: 14th
Start: 9th
Points: 14th

“It may have been a tough day, but this RCR team never gave up. We qualified ninth, but when the race started we were just too tight in the center of the corners. My crew chief Jeff Stankiewicz and everyone on the No. 2 Whelen team worked hard and made two big adjustments during the race but, unfortunately, we were still too tight in the middle. We just didn’t make the headway we were hoping for, no matter what kind of adjustment we made and that’s a bummer. It was a long West Coast swing and our team really fought hard every week for good finishes. I’m proud of our group for never giving up today and we’re already looking forward to the next race. I think we will bounce back with a good run next weekend in Atlanta.” -Sheldon Creed

Austin Hill and the No. 21 United Rentals Chevrolet Team Showcase Never-Give-Up Attitude at Phoenix Raceway

Finish: 17th
Start: 12th
Points: 11th

“It’s been a long few weeks of West Coast racing, so I really wanted to perform well today in the No. 21 United Rentals Chevrolet to cap off this stretch of races and recognize the road crew, who have been away from their homes and families, and to honor everyone at United Rentals for their entitlement race. We didn’t make it to Victory Lane, but this team never gave up. We just didn’t have the car we needed today. We struggled through the corners all day. It was halfway decent at the beginning of each run, but then it was like a light switch. Our Chevy got so tight with about 10 laps remaining in the race that it felt like a tire was going down. We completely lost front grip and I had to basically completely stop it to make turn in the corners. It did the same thing no matter what lane I ran. It was a struggle, but this team never gave up. I’m so proud of them for that. We’re headed to Atlanta next week and as a Georgia native, I can’t wait to get there.” -Austin Hill

Toyota Racing – NXS Phoenix Post-Race Report – 03.12.22

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Official Release
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FOUR SUPRAS IN THE TOP SIX AT PHOENIX
Brandon Jones delivers season-best second place finish

PHOENIX (March 12, 2022) – Brandon Jones (second), Trevor Bayne (fourth), John Hunter Nemechek (fifth) and Ty Gibbs (sixth) earned strong finishes in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Phoenix Raceway on Saturday evening. Jones scored a season-best finish, while Nemechek led the first laps and delivered the second top-five result for Sam Hunt Racing in their 49th NASCAR start.

Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Phoenix Raceway
Race 4 of 33 – 200 miles, 200 laps

TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Noah Gragson*
2nd, BRANDON JONES
3rd, Josh Berry*
4th, TREVOR BAYNE
5th, JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK
6th, TY GIBBS
34th, JEFFREY EARNHARDT
*non-Toyota driver

TOYOTA QUOTES

BRANDON JONES, No. 19 Menards/Jeld-Wen Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 2nd

What were you missing at the end?

“First off, I think this is exactly what this 19 team needed to kind of turn this season around. We’ve had speed at all of these race tracks so far and just haven’t got the finishes that we need. It’s really early in the season still. I thought when we came out of the pits there and were out ahead of him, it was going to be pretty good because aero situations were pretty tough today and it seemed like whoever was leading the race was kind of difficult to pass. Noah (Gragson) was leading before we all pitted. We were a little bit faster, so I think they just made some adjustments and got it better, but still all-in-all pretty happy to come home second – we got some really good stages too. Can’t thank Jeld-Wen and Menards enough for being on this Supra. This is the right momentum we need to turn this season around.”

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

Finishing Position: 4th

You battled back to the front after that penalty to earn another top-five finish. How was your race?

“I’ve never seen a Xfinity go green flag for the last segment. We had a bad stop at the beginning and it kind of got us behind. I tried to make up for it in the wrong spot and sped on pit road, so we had to go the rear. We went from dead last to fourth. That thing was hooked up, catching the leaders, running the fastest lap times every single lap and never had a chance to recover. The only reason I look disappointed is because I’ve never had a race car that good. This Devotion Nutrition Supra was unbelievable on the long run and I feel like I should have won with it. Those make you sick. California, I felt like Cole Custer had a better car. Here, we had the car to win, so you don’t want to give those away, but for what we had to overcome in 100 laps – to come from the rear and back up to fourth is pretty solid.”

JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK, No. 26 Stillhouse Toyota GR Supra, Sam Hunt Racing

Finishing Position: 5th

What did you guys learn today?

“We didn’t start off super great during practice and qualifying. We qualified decent, found a little bit of speed, but the long run speed wasn’t very good. We worked hard on it all day and made some big adjustments from practice to qualifying and qualifying to the race and made some more adjustments during the race. This team just never stopped working on this Stillhouse Toyota Supra. We got up there and led some laps – I think that’s the first for Sam Hunt Racing – ran inside I feel like the top five, top six all day, which is a huge accomplishment for them. I had fun behind the wheel driving this thing. Anytime that I can come race and be behind the wheel, I’m enjoying it. The more laps the better and to run in the top five for this team is great. This is a great group of guys. Now our focus has shifted back to the Truck deal next week.”

TY GIBBS, No. 54 Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 6th

Recovered from the early contact for a solid top-10. How was the race overall?
“It was good. I feel like our Sport Clips Supra was pretty fast today. It just didn’t have enough speed and where they put the resin made it harder – just a weird spot, so it made it just single file and hard to pass. We got spun out and then came from the back. We were down a set of tires and then it went green to the end, so we never had time to get all of the way back up. I feel like we had a third-place car, second place at-best. Just a frustrating day. Frustrating, but we have to keep moving on.”

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.

Chevrolet rolls to quick times at Gainesville

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Official Release
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CHEVROLET AT GAINESVILLE

What: Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals
Where: Gainesville Raceway in Gainesville, Florida
TV: FS1 will telecast taped eliminations at 7 p.m. ET Sunday, March 13

Team Chevy rolls to quick times at Gainesville
Brittany Force, Aaron Stanfield set records; Robert Hight goes to top in Funny Car

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (March 12, 2022) – Chevrolet drivers were quick off the truck and turned in record-setting runs during truncated qualifications for the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway.

Top Fuel, Funny Car and Pro Stock teams were limited to one qualifying pass. The day’s events got off to a late start because of inclement weather that impacted track preparations, and safety was the chief concern in the early evening because of falling track and ambient temperatures.
Brittany Force reset her year-old Top Fuel track record with a blistering 337.75 mph pass in the Monster Energy/Flav-R-Pac Chevrolet dragster. Force, who ran 331.94 mph at Gainesville last spring, also holds the national record of 338.17 mph set in 2019 at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Force also won her first-round matchup in the Pep Boys NHRA Top Fuel All-Star Callout against Antron Brown with a pass of 3.684 seconds that gave her the No. 2 qualifying position heading into eliminations.

Pro Stock points leader Aaron Stanfield made the quickest run in the electronic fuel injection (EFI) Pro Stock era at 6.468 seconds (211.66 mph) in the Janac Brothers Chevrolet Camaro SS. Stanfield won the NHRA’s last race at Chandler, Arizona, and was runner-up in the season opener at Pomona, California.

“That’s pretty fast. It’s been a while since Pro Stock has been that fast,” said Stanfield, who also is the No. 4 qualifier in the Constant Aviation Factory Stock Showdown in the Janac Brothers Chevrolet COPO Camaro. “The track was a little tricky, so I’m sure the crew chiefs were a little nervous out there. I had all the confidence in them, and they did a great job today. Let’s see if we can get it done this weekend.”

Kyle Koretsky, the No. 1 qualifier in Arizona, remained steady with a pass of 6.484 seconds (212.06 mph) in the Lucas Oil Chevrolet Camaro SS. Pro Stock drivers will be chasing the 350th win for Chevrolet since the inception of the class in 1970.

Robert Hight, who has swept the two Funny Car races, topped the field in the Auto Club of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro SS with a pass of 3.831 seconds at 333.41 mph. Fourteen of Hight’s 15 runs this season (qualifications and eliminations) have been in 3.8 seconds. He holds the track Funny Car record of 3.828 seconds.

“Honestly, I wasn’t expecting to be No. 1. I talked with (crew chief) Jimmy (Prock) before the run and he told me it’s good out there, but he said, ‘We backed this thing down and we just needed to make a good run to have a solid baseline for tomorrow,’ ” said Hight, who claimed his 72nd career No. 1 Funny Car qualifier honor.

“Tomorrow we’ll have to pick it up a little bit, but when we do that this thing is going to run even better. This thing is amazing.”

Sixteen-time NHRA Funny Car champion John Force qualified 15th in the PEAK BlueDEF Platinum Chevrolet Camaro SS. Austin Prock qualified eighth in Top Fuel in the Montana Brand/Rocky Muontain Twist Chevrolet dragster.

FS1 will telecast taped eliminations at 7 p.m. ET Sunday, March 13.

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.

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