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Amber Balcaen Reaves and Rette Jones Racing Begin Championship ARCA Battle at Daytona

By
Official Release
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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.: The moment that Amber Balcaen Reaves has been waiting for is just days away.

Rette Jones Racing and Balcaen Reaves will soon invade Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway and begin their quest for the ARCA Menards Series championship with their No. 30 ICON Direct Ford Fusion.

For Balcaen Reaves, Daytona is the start of her first full year on the ARCA Menards Series and one of two females not only battling for the championship but also looking to become the first female winner in the premier ARCA Menards Series.

“I am so grateful for this opportunity with Rette Jones Racing and ICON Direct,” said Amber Balcaen Reaves. “I am extremely excited to race at Daytona International Speedway. I have been working for the opportunity to race at Daytona for the last 8 years and I couldn’t be any happier that it’s now our reality!”

“On top of that, to know I have 19 more races scheduled is a great feeling! It feels so great to be full-time racing again!”

Balcaen Reaves who married her longtime boyfriend, Jordan Reaves on Feb. 5 in Winnipeg Manitoba Canada had the opportunity to tackle the 2.5-mile superspeedway for the first time last month during preseason testing and it offered the opportunity for her to get accustomed to the fundamentals of superspeedway racing when practice launches on Thursday afternoon.

“I had so much fun at the test last month, it makes me even more excited for the race!,” added Balcaen Reaves. “I am confident in the RJR crew and hope we can get ourselves in a good qualifying group on Friday so we can have an opportunity to start our No. 30 ICON Direct Ford Fusion as close to the front as possible.”

“My crew chief and co-team owner Mark (Rette) has been working hard on our ICON Direct Ford Fusion since the test and I’m eager to see if we found more speed from the test last month. With that being said, I am confident in Mark (Rette), the RJR team and myself to be successful at Daytona. If we can keep clean during the race, I know we will have a strong chance to be in contention for a podium and even a win.”

Rette Jones Racing is no stranger to success at Daytona. In January 2020, the Mooresville, N.C.-based team topped the speed charts with driver Dominique Van Wieringen and contended for a top-five finish before being swept into an accident nearly halfway into February’s race two years ago.

In 2017, RJR finished second in the ARCA season-opener with team co-owner Terry Jones who led 25 of the event’s 80 laps. Jones was preparing to a potentially winning move in the closing laps, but a late-race caution forced the event to end under yellow flag conditions.

Knowing his team is capable of success in front of a captive audience has Rette excited about Balcaen Reaves’s ARCA Menards Series premier debut in the sport’s biggest race.

“I’m excited,” offered Rette. “Amber should be too. I really feel like our No. 30 ICON Direct Ford Fusion is going to be fast and I know Amber isn’t afraid to drive, so we should be right up there with the best of the best in the series.

“I’m glad she turned some laps during the open ARCA Menards Series test in January and hopefully that track time will prove to be valuable for when she climbs aboard our race car with an opportunity to become the first female winner in ARCA National Series history.

“We had that chance a couple of years ago at Daytona with Dominique but came up short. I’m thankful to have another opportunity to do that this year with Amber – not only at Daytona but all season long.”

Canadian-based ICON Direct will continue its support of Balcaen and join her at Rette Jones Racing for the 20-race schedule from February to October 2022.

ICON Direct is a manufacturer of high-quality plastic component parts for the RV industry, located in Manitoba, Canada. ICON aftermarket replacement parts are available through RV Dealers and Distributors across North America and directly through their website IconDirect.com.

“We are excited to be a returning sponsor of Amber Balcaen in NASCAR’s ARCA Menards Series,” added John Loewen, CEO of ICON Technologies Limited. “I resonate with Amber’s underdog story. She has a really bright future as a professional race car driver and is a great brand ambassador for ICON.”

The Winnipeger’s new endeavor at Rette Jones Racing will also be supported by Glenn McLeod and Sons – cementing a full Canadian roster of partners for her ARCA Menards Series rookie season.

Longtime RJR partners Ford Performance, Goodridge Fluid Transfer Systems, Jones Group Demolition and Abatement and JRi Shocks will continue their relationship with the team in 2022 and serve as associate partners on Balcaen’s No. 30 ICON Direct Ford Fusion.

RJR is co-owned by Canadian entrepreneur and former race car driver Terry Jones.

For more on Amber Balcaen Reaves, please visit amberbalcaenracing.com, like her on Facebook (AmberBalcaenRacing) and follow her on Instagram (@amberbalcaen10) and Twitter (@amberbalcaen10).

For more on Rette Jones Racing, please visit RetteJonesRacing.com, like them on Facebook (Rette Jones Racing) or follow them on Twitter (@RetteJones30).

The Lucas Oil 200 driven by General Tire (80 laps | 200 miles) is the first of 20 races on the 2022 ARCA Menards Series schedule. Practice begins Thurs., Feb. 17 with a fifty-minute session from 4:05 p.m. – 4:55 p.m. Group qualifying is set for Fri., Feb. 18 at 1:30 p.m. The season-opener for the 70th consecutive ARCA season is set the following afternoon on Feb. 19 to take the green flag shortly after 1:30 p.m. The event will be televised live on FOX Sports 1 (FS1) with the Motor Racing Network (MRN) handling the radio waves. ARCARacing.com will also stream live timing and scoring throughout the entire weekend festivities.

About Rette Jones Racing:

Headquartered in Mooresville, North Carolina, Rette Jones Racing (RJR) was founded in 2015 with the intent of building a successful racing operation built around the fundamentals of hard work and a never-give-up attitude.

Owned by racers Terry Jones and Mark Rette, RJR plan to field a full-time entry in 2022 in the ARCA Menards Series, while also planning to field vehicles in the ARCA Menards Series East and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) respectively.

The winning ARCA team also offers technical and setup intel as part of its technical alliance partnership program.

Exclusive: First Seasons with Jimmy Vasser

By
Briar Starr
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Photo Courtesy of Michael L. Levitt/IMSA

In this edition of First Seasons where Speedway Media takes a look back on a driver’s rookie years in racing, we caught up with former CART racer turned IMSA co-owner, Jimmy Vasser. Vasser discusses how he got into open-wheel racing with Hayhoe Cole Racing and his decision not to go to Europe and race in the states. He also talked about his memories of making his first start at Queensland, earning a ride with Chip Ganassi in 1996, and winning the championship that year among many other moments throughout his career.

SM: In 1992, you made your debut racing in the now-defunct CART Series for Hayhoe Cole Racing at the age of 26. Can you discuss what it was like making your debut during that time period and why you chose the CART Series? Did you feel as though you had a late start in racing at that age?

JV: “I didn’t feel like it was a super late start, really,” Vasser said about making his debut. “I had been racing since I was six years old with quarter midgets and worked my way up. At that time, it was young, but nowadays, that’s a lot older. I had a choice to go to Europe, which at the time was Formula 3000, and have a chance to do the Indy 500, being a young American.

“I just didn’t think I was going to get a fair shot at it (racing) and my dream was to be in the Indy 500, not Formula 1 like it is today.”

SM: Discuss how you got connected with Hayhoe Cole Racing for your first opportunity in open-wheel racing.

JV: “I was racing in Formula Atlantic and I had met Jim Hayhoe through Rick Gallas who was the team owner at the time in IndyCar and won the championship with Al Unser Jr. at the time,” he said. “There was a whole group of guys that kind of came together and helped fund me in Formula Atlantics’ and Hayhoe/Cole decided to start a team and take me to IndyCars.”

SM: In the ‘92 season, you attempted the full season with the exception of not qualifying at Nazareth. Despite not qualifying, you competed in 15 of 16 races. As a rookie in the series during that time, what kind of expectations did you have? Obviously, winning races and championships are on your mind, but realistically, how did you manage those expectations being a rookie driver, and did those ever change throughout the season?

JV: “We never intended to do a full-season,” Vasser said. “The Nazareth deal was a start and park situation. I mainly practiced and then parked the car for Derrick Walker who was trying to maintain the franchise. It (being at Nazareth) was probably the most frightening thing I ever did. I practiced but never got to race because that was good enough for Walker as he got his franchise money so to speak.

“I broke my leg during the Indy 500 that year (1992 Indy 500). “I was the fastest rookie and broke my leg about halfway in the race, which took me out for a couple of races. Three to four weeks later, I raced with a rod in my leg and raced at Portland, my first race after the Indy 500.”

SM: Your first race that season came in Queensland where you qualified 17th but finished 15th due to an electrical problem. Before we talk about the race itself, what were the weeks like leading up to your debut in CART? Were you anxious and nervous or were you ready to go as the event approached?

JV: “(I) was super ready to go,” the 10 time CART winner said when getting ready to make his debut. “We took a team meeting or team vote whether or not to go to the race and the team voted ‘No, we weren’t ready.’ It’s funny, Mike Cole who was our team manager at the time, Bill Papis was my engineer and everyone took a vote not to go to the race. There were three of us that voted to go, Jim Hayhoe, myself, and one other and I guess our votes outweighed the others.”

SM: Then in the race itself, you were relegated to 17th with the electrical problem. Is there anything you think you could have done differently to have a higher finish in your first race and were you still in awe that you had just competed in your first CART race at the end of the day?

JV: “It was a little bit of both really,” Vasser said about his first race. “We should’ve finished better. We came out of the pits on fresh slicks on a previous stop and by the time I came down to the two chicanes, it was an absolute monsoon downpour. I just slid straight off the track and our day was done. I don’t think there’s anything I could’ve done differently, but maybe stop a lap later and we would’ve had rain tires on.”

SM: At Long Beach, you had your career-best finish of seventh. However, you made your first Indy 500 start that year where you finished 21st due to a crash. With the exception of the crash, what do you remember about your first 500 experience, making the practice laps for the first time, being in the garage area, prerace ceremonies, and the race itself? Was it a surreal moment for you to be in the 500 for the first time?

JV: “Everything was surreal to me,” the 1996 CART champion said. “As for Long Beach, I was following Rick Mears and I was just in awe of racing with Mears. Other than the crash and breaking my leg during the 500, it was a full month of Indy. I was bumped out of the field and I sat for a whole week on the bubble. Finally, they bumped me out and I re-qualified back into the race with my backup car and was the fastest rookie. That was an experience like no other.”

SM: In your first season, you would only go on to finish in four races that year with your best finish of seventh occurring at Long Beach as we previously mentioned. As you continue to reflect on your career, was there a learning curve in driving the car? I’m sure it had to be frustrating wanting to learn but not finishing races. Was it the car itself?

JV: “It was a bit of the healing, but back then in that era, you were just happy to be learning,” Vasser said. “I was lucky to have a year old car with an engine that was out of date and probably 50 horsepower down. Nowadays, everyone has the same equipment and the same car to compete with. Back then, you took what you were able to get, whether it was a two-year-old car. As a driver, if you were able to perform well with equipment that shouldn’t, then you would catch the eye of another team owner.”

SM: By the time the end of the season came, you finished 22nd in the standings. While it wasn’t the finish you wanted, were you satisfied with what you were able to accomplish that year, or were you ready for the season to be over with the amount of trouble you had?

JV: As a driver, you can always do more, but I was satisfied with my rookie year,” he said. “I thought I did well at Indy aside from the crash, but in general, I think I showed well with the equipment I had.”

SM: As the ‘93 season came along, you opened up the season with a 24th place finish at Queensland, but obtained your only podium of the year by finishing third at Phoenix. How special was it for you to get your first podium especially after the year you had in ‘92?

JV: “It was one of the most special moments of my career actually,” Vasser said. “That race stands out a lot as it was my first podium finish, but also Mario Andretti’s last win of his career. I was on the podium with Mario and Paul Newman was up there as well. I was like ‘Wow, I’m up here with these guys sharing the podium.’”

SM: After the ‘94 season and spending three years with Hayhoe Racing, you got an offer to compete with Chip Ganassi Racing from 1995 through 2000. It would be some of your best years spent in the sport winning the CART championship in 1996 and winning some of your first races. How did you get the opportunity to race with Chip Ganassi and was racing with him a fresh start for you?

JV: “Jim Hayhoe was shutting down his team due to the lack of funding,” he said. “Jim had some assets of the team and some sponsorship and he put a deal together with Chip and that was the beginning. Jim Hayhoe was actually the one that put the team together.”

SM: Eventually, you scored your first ever career win in your championship season by winning at Homestead in ‘96. You qualified third and led 32 laps en route to victory. What does that first victory still mean to you to this day and have you ever had a chance to rewatch that race?

JV: “I haven’t watched that race back (Homestead ’96). I’m not the one who goes back and watches races,” Vasser said. “The win was a sweet victory for me because going into the end of 1995, I finished second in Portland and post-race inspection had disqualified Al Unser Jr., so I originally was the race winner. However, Penske Racing took the decision to CART in court in the winter and the finish was reversed and my win was taken away.”

SM: In the ‘96 season, you went on to win at Queensland and Long Beach before having solid finishes along the way. At what point, did you and the team feel you were championship contenders?

JV: “We were contenders the whole season,” he said. “We were the quickest in preseason testing, we had a great combination of the Firestone tires and we won four out of the six races. So, we were contenders the whole season and we were really hanging onto the championship.

“My teammate, Alex Zanardi, was learning the IndyCar and he got competitive in the middle of the season, so the championship got very competitive.”

SM: At the end of the ‘96 season, you won the CART title over Michael Andretti by 22 points. What was it like being able to achieve the championship for Ganassi and especially winning over Michael Andretti? Did the championship do wonders for your career?

JV: “It was everything for my career,” the California native said. “You strive for race wins, championships, and the Indy 500. At that point in time, winning the championship was just magical.”

SM: I’m sure there are many races where you wish you had another chance. Are there any races that come to mind, and if so, which race sticks out the most, and why?

JV: “The one race that’s obvious is when I finished second at Long Beach in 2002,” Vasser said. “We were leading when a caution came out and in that time of CART, there was a strange race format where if you pitted, you couldn’t take fuel every 29 laps and everyone had just pitted.”

“However, Michael Andretti and Max Papis had just pitted and were running in the back at the time. When the yellow came out, they told me to save fuel and slow down. For Michael and Max, they were still able to pit and I slowed down and they came out in front of me. That’s how I lost the lead in that race. I was able to get back by Max but never could with Michael.”

SM: Out of your 10 victories, which trophy means the most to you in your collection?

JV: “I would say the 1996 championship means the most to me,” he said. “As far as race victories, I would say the 1998 Fontana California race on a last-lap pass of Greg Moore. Got second in the championship that year, which was another good chunk of money. Winning that race was like winning the Indy 500 for me.”

SM: Some drivers keep a memorabilia collection and some don’t. Are you a driver that collects your own merchandise and if so, what do you have in your collection that reminds you of your rookie years?

JV: “I keep all of my gear as I’m not much of a merchandise collector,” Vasser said. “I have my very first helmet that I drove from my rookie year.”

SM: Wrapping this interview up, it’s hard to believe your debut came 30 years ago. However, if time travel was available, what would a 56-year-old Jimmy Vasser tell a 26-year-old Jimmy Vasser? Is there anything you would do differently?

JV: “I don’t think there’s anything I would do definitely, as I’m really happy currently,” the ‘96 champion said. “I would probably say, ‘Stay on the right track and you’re doing just fine.’”

Throughout Vasser’s career, the California native has made 232 CART Series starts earning 10 career victories with 33 podium finishes and winning the 1996 championship with Chip Ganassi. In addition, Vasser had made six NTT IndyCar Series starts, eight IROC starts, and two NASCAR Xfinity Series starts in 2003. Vasser now co-owns the Vasser-Sullivan Lexus Motorsports IMSA team in GTD Pro competition.

Fans of Jimmy can follow him on Twitter and Instagram.

WELD Announces Contingency Program For 2022 NHRA Competitors

By
Official Release
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Kansas City, MO (February 16, 2022) – To continue its half-century commitment to the sport, WELD today announced its 2022 National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) contingency program. It will be made available to qualifying NHRA drivers competing in the upcoming season to reward success and give back to the drivers, who are the lifeblood of modern drag racing.

Competitors who qualify by using contingency-specific categories of WELD Racing wheels and also display the WELD decals on their race cars during the season are eligible for the contingency payout. Full contingency details are available here: NHRARacer.com.

For more than 55 years, WELD has built technologically superior wheels specifically for drag racing and other motorsports series. It continues the tradition of building Racing and Performance Street Wheels utilizing the latest technology, top-quality craftsmanship and excellent customer service to teams and drivers.

The roots of WELD are firmly planted in drag racing. The company actively developed wheels at its local drag strip and even owned the facility for a number of years, such was its commitment to ongoing development. The WELD engineering team continuing to develop race wheels specifically to meet the demands of individual drag strips on the NHRA Camping World Series schedule. The unique specifications support the fastest racing series in the world, which continues to serve as the ultimate proving ground for WELD wheel technology. This is the same technology that WELD has applied to its range of street wheels that anyone can fit to their personal vehicles.

“Given the deep history our brand has with the NHRA, we know it’s critical to offer a contingency program to competitors in NHRA,” said Andres Cisneros, President of MW Company. “Our goal is to ensure we have significant funding for the program to provide both an incentive to competitors across all classes and a financial boost to the teams. We’re looking forward to the new season and further cementing our position within the racing community.”

The WELD team is heading to Pomona, CA to kick-off the 2022 NHRA Camping World Series at the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, Feb. 18-20.

ABOUT WELD

WELD engineers’ performance that is proven by real-world results in all levels of amateur and professional drag and oval racing Innovation lives on in our industry leading products and relentless pursuit of speed and strength. WELD wheels are designed and engineered in the USA. WELD is part of the MW Company portfolio of brands across racing and automotive aftermarket industries. For more information, please visit https://www.weldwheels.com

ABOUT MW COMPANY

MW Company is an engineering, design, manufacturing, and marketing company with a portfolio of leading brands in the automotive and lifestyle industry. Headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., its portfolio of brands includes WELD, MOMO, Forgestar, ADV.1, CCW Forged Performance, Driven Motorsports, Reds, HiPer Technology and Tikore. The company employs more than 200 people worldwide. MW Company is part of the Cisneros Corp, a third-generation global family enterprise with experience in numerous industries across media, telecommunications, consumer goods and automotive brands. Learn more at https://mw.company

Burton 10th in Pole Qualifying for the Daytona 500

By
Official Release
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In his first qualifying attempt since taking the wheel of the No. 21 Motorcraft/DEX Imaging Mustang, rookie Harrison Burton advanced to the second round of qualifying for the Daytona 500 and wound up with the 10th best time. He also was the fastest rookie in qualifying.

Burton’s lap at 179.508 miles per hour in the second round means he’ll start fifth in the second of two Duel qualifying races Thursday night. (In Daytona 500 qualifying only the top two drivers secure their starting spots for Sunday’s race.)

In the opening round Burton was one of two Ford drivers to advance to the second round. His lap at 179.501 mph was eighth best on the speed chart in that session.

Eddie Wood said Burton’s strong start to Speedweeks should help the youngster as he heads into the rest of the week.

“I think it will take a load off his mind,” Wood said.

The 60-lap, 150-mile Duel qualifying races, which will set the starting lineup for the 500, kick off with the first race at 7 p.m. Thursday. The second Duel, Burton’s race, is set to start at 8:45 p.m., with TV coverage on FOX Sports 1.

The Daytona 500 is scheduled to start just after 2:30 p.m. on Sunday with TV coverage on FOX.

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About DEX Imaging
DEX Imaging is the digital document imaging division of Staples, the world’s largest business solutions provider. DEX sells and services the broadest selection of copiers, printers and data management solutions, such as HP, Konica Minolta, Canon, Kyocera and numerous others.

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES:
Reducing Operating Costs
Reducing Paper Consumption
Increasing Productivity

DEX Imaging has been the recipient of virtually every industry award since the company’s inception, including the JD Power & Associates Award for Best Customer Experience, the prestigious ProTech Service award by Konica Minolta, the Diamond Premier Dealer Award by Kyocera, and the Elite DEALER Award by ‘ENX’ magazine. Other accolades include being named ‘Best Place to Work’ by numerous business journals in the markets DEX serves.

About Motorcraft
Motorcraft offers a complete line of replacement parts that are recommended by Ford Motor Company. From routine maintenance to underhood repairs, Motorcraft parts offer value with high quality and the right fit at competitive prices. Motorcraft parts are available nationwide at Ford and Lincoln Dealers, independent distributors and automotive-parts retailers, and are backed by the Service Parts Limited Warranty* of Ford Motor Company. For more information, visit www.motorcraft.com.

About Omnicraft
Omnicraft is part of the Ford lineup of parts brands: Ford Parts, Motorcraft and Omnicraft. Omnicraft is the exclusive non-Ford/Lincoln parts brand of premium aftermarket parts. With over a century of parts heritage to build upon, Omnicraft provides excellent quality and fit and is a preferred choice of professional automotive technicians. To find out more about Omnicraft, visit www.omnicraftautoparts.com or contact your local Ford or Lincoln Dealership.

About Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center
Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center offers extraordinary service for routine maintenance, serving all vehicle makes and models. Quick Lane provides a full menu of automotive services, including tires, oil change & maintenance, brakes, batteries, alternator & electrical system, air conditioning system, cooling system, transmission service, suspension & steering, wheel alignment, belts & hoses, lamps & bulbs, wiper blades plus a thorough vehicle checkup report. Service is performed by expert technicians while you wait at any of nearly 800 locations in the U.S., with evening and weekend hours available and no appointment necessary. For more information about Quick Lane, please visit www.quicklane.com.

About Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) is a global company based in Dearborn, Michigan. The company designs, manufactures, markets and services a full line of Ford cars, trucks, SUVs, electrified vehicles and Lincoln luxury vehicles, provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company and is pursuing leadership positions in electrification; mobility solutions, including self-driving services; and connected services. Ford employs approximately 187,000 people worldwide. For more information regarding Ford, its products and Ford Motor Credit Company, please visit corporate.ford.com.

*See seller for limited-warranty details.

Wood Brothers Racing

Wood Brothers Racing was formed in 1950 in Stuart, Va., by Hall of Famer Glenn Wood. Wood Brothers Racing is the oldest active team and one of the winningest teams in NASCAR history. Since its founding, the team won 99 races (including at least one race in every decade for the last seven decades) and 120 poles in NASCAR’s top-tier series. Fielding only Ford products for its entire history, the Wood Brothers own the longest association of any motorsports team with a single manufacturer. Glenn’s brother, Leonard, is known for inventing the modern pit stop. The team currently runs the Ford Mustang driven by Harrison Burton in the famous No. 21 racer.

Ford Performance NASCAR: Jacques Villeneuve Qualifies for Daytona 500

By
Official Release
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Jacques Villeneuve, driver of the No. 27 Hezeberg Engineering Systems Ford Mustang, has won the 1995 Indianapolis 500 and 1997 Formula 1 World Championship, and on Sunday he’ll have the opportunity to claim the Daytona 500 after clinching a spot in the field with his qualifying run tonight. He spoke about the opportunity that lies ahead to members of the media.

JACQUES VILLENEUVE, No. 27 Hezeberg Engineering Systems Ford Mustang – WEREN’T YOU WORRIED YOU WOULDN’T BE ABLE TO GET IN? “I was convinced we didn’t have the speed to get in on time, and I thought we would then have to fight it through the Duels. Somehow today the car was a lot easier to drive. It was easy to be smooth because we got in by not a lot. It was very, very close. It was all a matter of getting right up to speed coming out of turn two, going through the gears, getting away from the wall to not block the air, just getting these extra few revs and that made the difference.”

WHERE DOES THIS RANK IN YOUR CAREER? “Super high. Obviously, it’s not a win. It’s not like winning the Indy 500 or the F1 championship, but at this point in my career the last time I tried to qualify here was 14 years ago, just to make the show is incredible because it’s a small team. We didn’t link up with a big team to get the car ready and it’s highly unexpected to be able to make it on time, so it ranks right after these big wins.,”

HOW MUCH IS IT A FEELING OF ‘I’VE STILL GOT THIS?’ – “That’s always amazing. I got this last year because I won the last race in the Euro NASCAR and on the podium there were 20-year-olds and then they look at you and you can see that they’re confused. To be able to make such a big race at such a high level is amazing and when I’m in the race car I don’t realize that I’m 50, which is good. As long as it carries on like this, I can’t imagine myself stopping racing.”

WHAT WAS THE MOOD OF YOUR TEAM AFTER QUALIFYING? “Ecstatic because all of us thought that if we had a good day, we could maybe be P4, so I have a little bit more of a chance during the Duels. This was surprising for everyone, how well the car ran and the fact that it was easy to drive made it good as well because all yesterday it was very notchy. The car was darting left and right and that always kills the speed a little bit and somehow today it was just really smooth to drive.”

DO YOU GET THE SENSE PEOPLE AROUND HERE KNOW WHAT YOU’VE ACCOMPLISHED IN YOUR CAREER? “Yes, I’ve always felt that whenever I’ve come to do races in NASCAR there was a lot of respect for the history and for what I’ve achieved in different categories, which has been nice. The welcoming has been very positive.”

HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO YOU TO SHOW THAT YOU WEREN’T ONLY THE BEST AT YOUR STYLE OF RACING, BUT YOU’RE ALSO ONE OF THE MOST VERSATILE? HOW IMPORTANT IS THAT TO YOU? “It is, but it’s very old-fashioned. When I was in F1 I didn’t think I would be able to drive anything else. I was so focused and groomed for those kind of cars, and it’s not until I jumped into a NASCAR that I realized there was a lot of fun to be had driving something different and I’ve had a blast ever since just jumping in different kind of cars. The most fun I’ve had racing has been in NASCAR, not qualifying because it’s hard to beat the speed that you get in Formula 1, but racing wheel-to-wheel or fender-to-fender, you can’t beat the way it goes in NASCAR.”

CAN YOU GIVE US A SENSE OF HOW THIS SERIES IS CURRENTLY VIEWED INTERNATIONALLY? “It’s not just NASCAR it’s sports in general because you have a lot of American sports that are world championships, but they’re only in America and it’s really cut off from what’s happening in Europe. Europe could learn a lot from the way sport is handled in America. The show, the way it can be battled out. It’s not like that in Europe. You just see it in racing. There are rules for everything and you don’t let the driver’s handling it, so it’s closer to what soccer is, I guess. You hope you don’t get caught and if you don’t get caught, good for you, but there won’t be a payback. I like the way it is here in North America, but what’s difficult for NASCAR in Europe is the ovals. It’s not a European thing. It’s very difficult to understand an oval unless you’ve grown up with it or you’ve driven it and I’ve seen that with F1 drivers. I remember having a discussion with Romain Grossjean, who is in Indy Car now when I did the Indy again in ‘13 or 14, I don’t remember. He looked at me and said, ‘Why would you do that race? It’s so boring. You just go around in circles.’ And I was trying to explain to him how difficult it was to drive and get in the groove, drive with the traffic and finally he got in Indy Car and went to an oval and said, ‘Oops, yeah, you were right. This is quite special.’ It is amazing, but you can’t tell that story on TV. Unless you’ve grown up with it, you just don’t get it.”

WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE TO NAME YOUR FIFTH CHILD AFTER YOUR FATHER? “Maybe by the time I was 50 I was ready. Already my fourth child is called Henri, which is my father’s middle name, so it was a step. It took a while to get to that point because he wasn’t a very present father. It was different days back then, so I guess I had a lot to digest and at this point in my life I was ready to do that and it felt right.”

IS THERE A CONCERN IT’S A LITTLE BIT HEAVY TO PUT ON A CHILD YOUR FATHER’S NAME? “It could be. Whenever you try to give your kids the best package they can and sometimes it can be tough, but then it’s their life to lead. You can’t just do things every time thinking, ‘Oh no, this will be too hard for him. I’ll just make it nice and easy. I’ll just put him on a cushion.’ I didn’t grow up like this and it turned out well. Other kids in my situation would have turned out wrong. You just never know, so you do the best you can. Yes, if he decides to go into racing, it could be a heavy weight to carry, but I don’t have any of my kids that have been interested in racing – maybe the fourth one a little bit – but not that much. They did not grow up seeing me racing, so maybe they didn’t get the bug.”

HOW PERSONALLY SATISFYING IS THIS FOR YOU? “It’s amazing. It’s satisfying and amazing because there’s quite a few times where I’ve been hearing, ‘OK, come on. You’ve passed it. Just give it up,’ and, no, the hunger has never stopped and experience is only a big help until the day where I guess you start getting your foot off the throttle because you get a little bit scared or you don’t get that adrenaline rush anymore as a positive thing, but start getting it as a negative that’s when you should stop, but until that moment experience is only a benefit.”

WHAT WOULD YOUR FATHER THINK OF YOU AS A STOCK CAR DRIVER? “I think he’d be jealous by now. I don’t know. What I know of him a lot of it is probably my imagination because there’s no way you know your dad when you’re 9 or 10, or it’s what I’ve heard from people was also being romanticized, so I really don’t know what he would have thought. I heard that he was wanting us to race together in Le Mans, for example, but then how would he have reacted to being beaten? (laughing) I don’t know. I would like to imagine it would be great, it would be father and son special moment, but we’ve seen it in other areas that sometimes the two things don’t go well together. Jealousy starts building up, so I really don’t know.”

WHAT GOALS DO YOU SET FOR SUNDAY NOW? “Sunday we’re racing (laughing). We didn’t run much in the pack because our focus was trying to get in on time, and it worked out so that was the right decision to make. Now, will anybody want to race with me or to draft with me in the race? That will be a little bit more difficult, but what comes Sunday then there’s nothing to lose anymore. The key is to not destroy the car tomorrow. Tomorrow is a good time to maybe test the drafting, but we don’t have spares and half the teams don’t have spares, so I can’t imagine being as aggressive as it normally is during a Duel.”

HOW DID THIS COMPARE TO YOUR FIRST ATTEMPT ALL THOSE YEARS AGO? “It feel better I made the show (laughing). Fourteen years ago the old track was bumpy, crazily bumping. When you were following cars you could see them get 20 degrees sideways just because of the bumps and the tires bending. You didn’t understand how the cars were staying on the track. It was tough and it was the older car. They were very different. Now we have a lot more downforce. The track is a lot smoother, so it’s moved a little bit towards more what Talladega is, I guess. It’s different to set the car up as well because of the aero platform with the diffuser and the flat bottom, which brings it closer to GT cars or even what I was used to in Formula 1 with the aero platform anyway. I think that’s caught a few guys out.”

CHEVY NCS AT DAYTONA: CHEVROLET CAPTURES TENTH CONSECUTIVE DAYTONA 500 POLE

By
Official Release
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NASCAR CUP SERIES
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
DAYTONA 500
FEBRUARY 16, 2022

CHEVROLET CAPTURES TENTH CONSECUTIVE DAYTONA 500 POLE
Kyle Larson, Alex Bowman on the Front Row

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (February 16, 2022) – Reigning NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) Champion Kyle Larson picked up where he left off: at the top of the leaderboard. The Team Chevy driver laid down a lap of 49.68 seconds, at a speed of 181.859 mph, in his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1 to mark Larson’s first-career Daytona 500 pole. In the Next Gen Camaro ZL1’s points-paying debut in the NCS competition, Chevrolet has topped the qualifying leaderboard for the tenth-consecutive year to secure the pole position and lead the field to the green in the 64th running of the Daytona 500.

“Anytime you are really proud of your team to get a pole here because this is the littlest it has to do with us drivers; qualifying at superspeedways,” said Larson. “Just a huge thank you to the engine shop at Hendrick Motorsports. Everybody who’s had a part in touching these vehicles; whether it be on the computer, engineering, or just hands on. It’s really neat; just awesome the speed in our HendrickCars.com Chevy. Hopefully this is the beginning of a really good weekend.”

Joining his Hendrick Motorsports teammate on the front row of the Daytona 500 will be Alex Bowman, who was second quick in his No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1. The front row feat puts Bowman’s name in the NASCAR history books as the only driver in the series’ history to sit on the Daytona 500 front row for five consecutive seasons (2018-2022). The Bowtie Brand has now swept the Daytona 500 front row 20 times in the event’s history, including 10 of the past 12 years.

“It just says so much about Hendrick Motorsports and all these guys,” said Bowman. “Congrats to the 5 on getting the pole. It’s cool to have the record, but I feel like Greg Ives (Crew Chief) and my race team should be the ones that get the credit for that record. The driver doesn’t really have much to do with it, but glad I didn’t mess it up for them and really happy for Ally and Chevrolet. Cool to be a part of it.”

Larson’s pole win gives Chevrolet its 30th pole award for “The Great American Race”; its 52nd pole win at Daytona International Speedway; and the manufacturer’s 724th pole in NASCAR’s premier series. The ten-year pole-winning streak extends Chevrolet’s record of the most of any manufacturer at Daytona. The 29-year-old California native’s pole win gives Hendrick Motorsports its 15th Daytona 500 pole, the most of all teams in the NASCAR Cup Series.

The top-10 in the first round of qualifying moved onto the second and final round in the race for the front row starting spots, with six of those top-10 being Camaro ZL1’s. William Byron, No. 24 Axalta Camaro ZL1, was third fastest; and Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1 was fifth, to give Hendrick Motorsports four of the top-five in the qualifying results. Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain, No. 1 Advent Health Camaro ZL1, was seventh; and Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Tootsies Orchid Lounge Camaro ZL1 was ninth to round out the Team Chevy top-10 on the qualifying speed chart.

Noah Gragson will make his NASCAR Cup Series points-paying debut after locking his No. 62 Beard Oil/South Point Camaro ZL1 into Sunday’s 40-car field by speed. The 23-year-old Team Chevy driver’s impressive lap gives Beard Motorsports its fifth start in the Daytona 500 and the team’s 18th-career NCS start.

With the front row set, all eyes turn to tomorrow’s two 60-lap, 150-mile Bluegreen Vacation Duels at Daytona to determine the remaining starting lineup of the Daytona 500. FS1 will telecast the Duels on Thursday, February 17, kicking off under the lights at 7 p.m. ET. Live coverage can also be found on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

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.

Explaining the Recent Boom in Online Gambling

By
SM
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Photo by jalil shams from Pexels

The ongoing pandemic has crushed countless businesses; however, it has also opened the door for a multitude of others, more specifically, online gambling. Whether working from home, quarantining, or just spending more time inside due to closings, it’s clear more and more people are transitioning towards online gambling. The main reason for this is the pandemic; however, there are a couple of other reasons as to why online gambling has increased exponentially in 2021 and onwards.

Livestreaming

The younger generation typically spends a lot of their time online and, more recently, watching ‘streamers’ on websites like YouTube and Twitch, and now, due to the pandemic, the age demographic has increased dramatically. Live streamers actively streaming their bets, coupled with recent technological advancements, have created a fantastic mix of entertainment and excitement for thousands of viewers. You are given a candid look at someone else gambling and begin to share the emotion in their losses or gains.

However, when the stream ends, where do the viewers go afterward? There is no doubt that a significant percentage of casino live stream watchers then go on to experience the same thrills they just previously witnessed their favorite streamer partake in. Many seek out places such as 22 Bet that offer multitudes of betting types in places around the world. Livestreaming also affects the casinos themselves. Many online casinos such as the aforementioned one also feature live event betting with chatrooms during big sports events like Nascar and NFL. They also have recently added live workers who are streamed to your devices to give an authentic casino-like experience right from home.

Cryptocurrency

Much like online gambling, cryptocurrency has also seen another explosion in 2021 similar to 2017. This has contributed towards online betting as a means to anonymously partake in online gambling, and circumventing laws and restrictions. Almost overnight hundreds of online gambling sites began to allow cryptocurrency gambling and have carved a home for many of the various cryptocurrencies to flourish. Some people enjoy the privacy side of cryptocurrency and like to use currencies like XRP or BTC to keep their activity off the books.

Covid-19

The last and most obvious is the recent pandemic. We doubt many people in this world weren’t affected by Covid-19 in some way, but it is a certainty that it has contributed to the rise of online gambling. Simply putting two-and-two together, more people at home, along with casinos being closed, equals more people seeking out different means of entertainment and gambling (plus, unlike physical casinos, you can come across online casino bonuses much easier, giving you even more for your money). This coupled with the fact you can’t book tickets to stadium events, has led to an increased amount of online sportsbook gambling too.

With the virus potentially entering the endemic stage and most of the restrictions becoming lifted, you’d assume the boom would be slowing down, however, online casinos even still are seeing massive increases in popularity in 2022 coupled with in-person casinos. Like with most things, it’s unclear whether online gambling will continue to exponentially increase in the future. We can however assume as the innovations continue; online gambling is certainly here to stay in a big way.

Larson wins first Daytona 500 pole, teammate Bowman completes front row grid

By
Andrew Kim
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Photo by Patrick Sue-Chan for SpeedwayMedia.com.

Kyle Larson picked up right where he left off from the previous season and saved his best for last after the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion from Elk Grove, California, claimed the pole position for the 64th running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on Wednesday, February 16.

The qualifying format that determined the front row of this year’s Daytona 500 was based on two single-car qualifying sessions, each comprised of a single-lap qualifying session for each competitor, where the top-10 fastest qualifiers from a total of 42, transferred from the first to the second round and contended for the pole position.

Larson, who was the second-to-last competitor to roll his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 on the track to post a qualifying lap through the first and second sessions, secured the pole position with a pole-winning time at 49.680 seconds at 181.159 mph. With his accomplishment, Larson, who notched his 11th Cup Series career pole, became the 44th different competitor to win the pole for the Great American Race and the first pole winner in the new Next Gen stock cars as he seeks his first 500 victory this weekend. The 500 pole award also was the 15th for Hendrick Motorsports and the 31st overall, 10th in a row, for the Chevrolet nameplate.

“Yeah, it’s really neat,” Larson said on FS1. “You are really proud of your team to get a pole here because this is the littlest it has to do with us drivers; qualifying at superspeedways. Just a huge thank you to the engine shop at Hendrick Motorsports. Everybody who’s had a part in touching these vehicles; whether it be on the computer, engineering, or just hands-on. It’s really neat. Just awesome the speed in our HendrickCars.com Chevy. Hopefully, this is the beginning of a really good weekend…I think it just be even more special if we could win the Duels tomorrow and go on Sunday and win the [Daytona] 500.”

Joining Larson on the front row will be teammate Alex Bowman, who made history by claiming his record-setting fifth consecutive front-row starting spot for the 500 as Hendrick Motorsports’ competitors swept the front row for the 500 for the seventh time in 13 seasons. Bowman, the reigning two-time Daytona 500 pole winner, posted the second-fastest qualifying time of 49.711 seconds at 181.046 mph in his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.

“It’s unbelievable,” Bowman said. “I’ve come down here not locked in, qualified poorly, had to race our way in. It just says so much about Hendrick Motorsports and all these guys. Congrats to [Larson] on getting the pole. It’s cool to be like to have the record, but I feel like [crew chief] Greg Ives and my race team should be the ones that should get the credit for that record because the driver doesn’t really have much to do with it, but glad I didn’t mess it up for them and really happy for Ally and Chevrolet. Cool to be a part of it. We’ve found out every way to lose a 500, so hopefully, we can figure out how to win in on Sunday.”

William Byron, the 2019 Daytona 500 pole winner, posted the third-fastest qualifying time of 49.711 seconds at 180.850 mph in his No. 24 AXALTA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 followed by Aric Almirola, the fastest non-HMS competitor who commenced his swan song season as a full-time NASCAR competitor by posting the fourth-fastest qualifying time of 49.854 seconds at 180.529 mph in his No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang. Chase Elliott settled in fifth place with the fifth-fastest qualifying time of 49.913 seconds at 180.314 mph, thus placing all four Hendrick Motorsports competitors in the top five.

Rounding out the top 10 in qualifying time and speed were Martin Truex Jr., Ross Chastain, Denny Hamlin, Daniel Suarez and rookie Harrison Burton.

Daniel Hemric, the reigning Xfinity Series champion who was the first competitor to roll off the grid and was one of 32 competitors that did not transfer to the second qualifying round, posted the 11th-fastest qualifying time of 50.160 seconds at 179.429 mph ahead of Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick, Bubba Wallace, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Chase Briscoe and Austin Dillon.

Meanwhile, Noah Gragson and Jacques Villeneuve were also left victorious after both raced their way into the Daytona 500 after emerging as the fastest two qualifiers competing for non-chartered teams.

Gragson, a five-time Xfinity Series race winner who failed to qualify for the 2021 Daytona 500 after being collected in a late multi-car wreck during the second Daytona Duel event, posted the 33rd-fastest qualifying time of 50.689 seconds at 177.553 mph, which was enough for him and his No. 62 Beard Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 team to emerge as the fastest of the non-chartered competitors and teams on the leaderboard. With his accomplishment, Gragson will make his debut in NASCAR’s premier series and in the Great American Race this upcoming weekend.

“It’s pretty special,” Gragson said. “We have one employee [at Beard Motorsports] with [crew chief] Darren Shaw. We have a lot of help from [Richard Childress Racing] and a great power unit under the hood with ECR. The Beard family, Mrs. Beard and the rest of the family, they allowed me to come drive this race car. [Brendan Gaughan] called me about a year and a half ago, he asked me to come drive this car, and we came up short last year. To be able to make my first Cup start on Sunday, it’s really special. We were the fastest out of all the open cars, so that’s pretty good. [I’m] Gonna be busy this year with JR Motorsports and now the Beard Motorsports’ car this weekend, so super excited, super thankful, and just very proud.”

Villeneuve, who made his return to the Cup Series for the newly formed Team Hezeberg, posted the 36th-fastest qualifying time of 51.010 seconds at 176.436 mph as he guaranteed himself a starting spot for the 500 based on his speed. With his accomplishment, the 50-year-old Quebec veteran will be making his first Cup career start since competing at Sonoma Raceway in June 2013 and his first career start in the Daytona 500.

Photo by Patrick Sue-Chan for SpeedwayMedia.com.

“Obviously, it’s not a win,” Villeneuve said. “It’s not like winning the Indy 500 or the [Formula One] championship. But at this point in my career, the last time I tried to qualify here was 14 years ago, just to make the show is incredible. Because we’re a small team, we didn’t link up with a big team to get the car ready, and it’s highly unexpected to be able to make it on time. So it ranks right after these big wins.”

The remaining four open competitors that includes Kaz Grala, Greg Biffle, J.J. Yeley and Timmy Hill will compete for the final two open spots for the Daytona 500 through the Bluegreen Vacations Duels on Thursday night.

Next on the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series schedule are a pair of Bluegreen Vacations Duels at Daytona International Speedway that will determine the rest of the starting lineup for this year’s 64th running of the Daytona 500 scheduled for February 20 at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX. The first Bluegreen Vacations Duel will occur on Thursday, February 17, at 7 p.m. ET on FS1 while the second Bluegreen Vacations Duel will occur approximately two hours later at 9 p.m. ET on FS1.

CHEVY NCS AT DAYTONA 500 MEDIA DAY: Ty Dillon Press Conference Transcript

By
Official Release
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NASCAR CUP SERIES
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
DAYTONA 500
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
FEBRUARY 16, 2022

TY DILLON, NO. 42 PETTY GMS MOTORSPORTS CAMARO ZL1, Daytona 500 Media Availability Transcript:

TY, ERIK JONES WAS IN HERE THIS MORNING AND SAID THAT THEY QUOTE REALLY NEED TO SAVE THE CAR FOR SUNDAY SO THEY ARE GOING TO TAKE IT EASY DURING THE DUEL. ARE YOU DOING THAT AS WELL AND WHAT HAVE THE LEADERS AT PETTY GMS TOLD YOU?

“I’m not going to take care of it. I am just going to go, I think. Just kidding. It’s a balance right. I think if we make it through the Duels, we are in a good situation car wise for the west coast swing. I think that is where everybody is kind of playing that game. Man, I can’t help it. I’m a racecar driver. I am going to go. Sometimes it turns out and you don’t tear the car up, but I think you are not a racecar driver if you don’t get in a race and try to win it. So, that’s a tough balance. I’ll be maybe a little more cautious, but I would really love to get that 42 into victory lane again. I’ve been given a great opportunity second go around and it’s hard to be conservative. I know we have a lot of great guys back at our shop and I’ll do my best to take care of our equipment. I know what that means going down as far as the amount of work that our team would have to do if we don’t. But also, I am here to win, and I have been given an opportunity to drive racecars and that opportunity entitles me to win.”

AFTER SITTING OUT MOST OF LAST YEAR OUT OF A CUP CAR, YOU LOOKED REALLY STRONG OUT IN LA. IS THIS GOING TO BE THE NEW APPROACH FOR TY THIS YEAR? ARE YOU GOING TO BE REALLY AGGRESSIVE AND HAS THE TEAM ESSENTIALLY GIVEN YOU WHAT YOU THINK IS MAYBE THE BEST CHANCE TO WIN IN THE SERIES?

“This might be a little long winded but being out of the sport helped me in a sense of going into last year not knowing if I was even going to have the chance to race again. It really put things into perspective for me of what I love about doing this. Why I originally did it when I was 13 years old and why I ran 70 to 100 races a year and was fine with that. It’s literally just the genuine work that I get to put into it, whether it is mentally or physically or working with our guys to just try to get our car a little bit better. It might not always go the best, but you really enjoy that and when it is gone you miss it. It’s really getting me back to my genuine passion for why I race. So, I am very grateful to have this second chance. So, my mindset this year is you don’t get many second chances in life and I don’t want to leave, whether the next race is my last or the next year is my last one or if it is 10 or 15 years, I don’t want to stop and say I wish I would have done more. I guess I kind of set the tone for myself in LA. Yes, I was very aggressive, but I had a car that was probably to the standard of the field one of the best ones I have ever had. If you look back in my career, whether it is ARCA, trucks or Xfinity, when I have had chances to win races I have been on the aggressive side. I’ve been in my share of bumps and dust ups off the track. I think that is a little bit of who I am as a driver. The LA situation is a little bit different. There were no points on the line. It’s a quarter-mile track. I grew up going to Bowman Gray Stadium. I know what it takes to get to the front of one of those races, when you have a good car. You know there is a combination that led to some of that aggressiveness, but a lot of that is who I am and I felt very satisfied even though I didn’t make it into the feature that race about my effort level and so I felt peace about that. So, this is all about the second chance and making the most of it and not feeling like I left anything on the table and enjoy the heck out of it with my family.”

DO YOU FEEL THAT THE CAR THAT YOU ARE IN THIS YEAR, THE TEAM YOU ARE WITH, GIVES YOU THE BEST CHANCE TO GET TO VICTORY LANE THAT YOU HAVE HAD DURING YOUR CAREER?

“Yeah, I don’t want it to seem ill-spoken of my time at Germain Racing. Learned a lot there and had good opportunities, especially at speedways. Even stepping into before we were Petty GMS, but just GMS speaking with Maury Gallagher, his focus towards NASCAR, the sport and racing in general he has a deep passion for that. He is also extremely successful businessman and a good person too. He is easy to talk to as a leader and he’s put great people at his company led by Mike Beam to be the most successful and a winning culture doesn’t go away just because you go from the Truck Series to the Cup Series. They have a very strong winning culture at GMS with the trucks. The championships and the wins that they have there and that is in the building already. And now we’ve brought in the Petty name, the most historic, winning, famous name in the sport. Infusing that in and building that into this Cup team we have all of the ingredients that it takes. So, absolutely I feel like this is my greatest opportunity that I have gotten yet. We’ve shown really good speed, more speed than I have ever been able to show. I’m building a new confidence with this new car that I don’t know if I had it compared to others and I don’t know if it is the situations of just what has transpired in my life and my career over the last couple of years, but I am really excited for this next chapter and I hope everybody gets to see the driver that I have always believed I am and the capability that I have.”

LAST YEAR YOU HAD AN INCREDIBLE PERFORMANCE IN THE DUEL, UNFORTUNATELY IT DIDN’T WORK OUT FOR THE 500. WHAT WERE SOME OF THE LESSONS THAT YOU CAN TAKE AWAY FROM THAT RACE AND APPLY IT TO HERE OR IS IT COMPLETLEY OUT THE WINDOW WITH THIS GEN 7 CAR?

“I think just another race around here is definitely helpful, experience wise. (INAUDIBLE) Going into this next chapter, I finished sixth. I think I lapped Cindric, who ended up getting into the race. I was very disappointed, very upset. I had been in the Daytona 500, I had been coming to the Daytona 500 my whole entire life, I ran it for eight years and had been a part of it and this is such a cool event to be a part of and to walk out that night just devastated that I wasn’t going to be a part of it. I cried with my wife til about midnight that night. It was very tough and it just changed me. It set the trajectory of that year, last year. Like I said it was well needed for perspective and gratitude. I feel like even in that race I did really well and I couldn’t have done anything really different coming to the line. I finished sixth. I feel like I should have been in the race, but I was very satisfied with the effort. That led into a year that was very up and down with different opportunities. I don’t know how many different race teams and how many different series. All three series and I learned so much and it’s definitely helped me. So to walk back in this racetrack that you love so much and have so much history with your family here, but to know you are locked in is a pretty good feeling and its led off the gratitude of being here and having this second opportunity is a special thing. You don’t realize it until, whether you are on a team that is not locked in or you don’t have an opportunity. You don’t realize how special it is to have it and I’m extremely grateful and I’m going to make the most of it. I promise you.”

IN ALL THE DRIVERS TALKING ABOUT THE ADAPTATION OF THE NEW CAR AND DRIVING IT DIFFERENTLY FROM LAST YEAR DO YOU FEEL THAT DRIVERS LIKE YOURSELF AND LARSON WHO HAVE HOPPED BACK AND FORTH FROM MODIFIEDS, LATE MODELS, SPRINT CARS AND CUP CARS DURING THE SAME SEASON THROUGHOUT YOUR CAREERS MAYBE HAVE AN EDGE IN ADAPTING TO SOMETHING DIFFERENT COMPARED TO SOMEONE THAT HAS COMPETED IN ONLY CUP?

“Yeah, you know I think so. You know I haven’t done as much dirt racing during my Cup career, but my career was almost set up for this. As I was developing, I ran, like you said, modifieds, super late models, all kinds of different cars in different series and what that taught me the most was to adapt. Always be adaptable, always be thinking what you can do. I’m a very, I wouldn’t say a pre-calculated driver as much as a feel driver in the moment because of that upbringing. When you have something so new and a new car that is changing all of the time, I do think it leads into somebody who is more open minded who doesn’t get hung up on it has to be a certain way and if it is not this certain way I can’t drive this car? The person who can adapt and who can kind of hit that refresh button over and over and over again and not lose it mentally is going to be successful. I think that does fit my style pretty good.”
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.

RCR Event Preview – Daytona International Speedway

By
Official Release
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Richard Childress Racing’s history at Daytona International Speedway … Dating back to 1976, Richard Childress Racing has won 11 poles and collected six points-paying victories at the most-storied racetrack on the NASCAR Cup Series circuit. RCR owns three DAYTONA 500 wins (Dale Earnhardt – 1998, Kevin Harvick – 2007, Austin Dillon – 2018), three Coke Zero 400 trophies (Earnhardt – 1990, 1993 and Harvick – 2010) and 15 qualifying races, including Austin Dillon’s victory in 2021 plus a record 10-consecutive victories with Earnhardt (1990 – 1999). In addition to RCR’s NASCAR Cup Series success at Daytona International Speedway, the organization has four NASCAR Xfinity Series victories with NASCAR Hall of Fame members Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2002) and Tony Stewart (2013) plus Kevin Harvick (2007) and Austin Dillon (2015 fall race).

The 2022 Lineup … Both Austin Dillon and Tyler Reddick return to RCR’s NASCAR Cup Series lineup in 2022, with Dillon driving the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Off Road Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and Reddick driving the No. 8 3CHI Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 at Daytona. RCR has expanded to two full-time entries for the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series season with drivers Sheldon Creed and Austin Hill, who are both competing for Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors. Creed will pilot the No. 2 Whelen Engineering Chevrolet Camaro SS in the season opening race at Daytona, while Hill will be behind the wheel of the No. 21 Bennett/United Rentals Chevrolet Camaro SS.

Keeping the Streak Alive … RCR has won the pole position in each of the last six consecutive NASCAR Xfinity Series February races on the Daytona oval where time trials were held. The impressive streak began with Ty Dillon’s pole-winning run in 2016. Other drivers who have kept the streak alive: Brandon Jones (2017), Daniel Hemric (2018), Tyler Reddick (2019), and Myatt Snider (2020).

Introducing the Next Gen … NASCAR’s Next Gen Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, which officially debuts in 2022, is a collaboration of the brightest engineering minds in racing. With technology at the forefront, Richard Childress Racing has played a unique and critical role in helping to bring this new on-track identity to life, working closely with OEMs, other teams and NASCAR to build and test the initial prototype.

Time to Duel … The Bluegreen Vacations Duels at Daytona feature two 150-mile races under the lights and will help decide the majority of the final starting grid for Sunday’s DAYTONA 500. Dillon and Reddick will find out which Duel their Camaros will compete in after Wednesday night’s single-car time trials. The qualifying session begins at 8:05 p.m. ET on FS1.

Catch the Action … The Bluegreen Vacations Duels at Daytona, two 60-lap qualifying races, will be televised live Thursday, Feb. 17 beginning at 7 p.m. ET on FS1 and will be broadcast live on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series Beef. It’s What for Dinner. 300 at Daytona will be televised live Saturday, Feb. 19 beginning at 5 p.m. ET on FS1 and will be broadcast live on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

The 64th running of the DAY 500 will be televised live Sunday, Feb. 20 beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX and will be broadcast live on the MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

This Week’s Bass Pro Shops / TRACKER Off Road Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 at Daytona International Speedway … Dillon, the 2018 DAYTONA 500 Champion, has 15 previous starts in the NASCAR Cup Series at Daytona International Speedway, acquiring one pole award, two top-five and seven top-10 finishes. The Welcome, North Carolina, driver, who grew up attending races at Daytona International Speedway with his family, has 10 starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with one win, seven top-five and seven top-10 finishes plus two starts in the NASCAR Truck Series.

Former Pole Winner … Dillon earned his first-career NASCAR Cup Series pole award with a lap of 196.019 mph (45.914 seconds) in the 2014 edition of the DAYTONA 500. It marked the fourth time the No. 3 has won the pole for the Daytona 500, and its 67th Cup Series pole. He also started on the front row for the Coke Zero 400 in July 2015 at Daytona. His starting position for this year’s DAYTONA 500 will be determined by his finishing position in the Bluegreen Vacations Duels on Thursday (live on FOX Sports 1 beginning at 7 p.m. ET).

TRACKER Off Road … Dillon’s No. 3 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 prominently features TRACKER ATVs, a game-changing new line of all-terrain vehicles and side-by-sides offering breakthrough performance, service and value in the off-road industry. TRACKER OFF ROAD was born out of a powerhouse partnership formed between Bass Pro Shops and TRACKER founder Johnny Morris and Textron Specialized Vehicles, bringing together the undisputed world leader in boating with a global leader in innovation and technology.

Bass Pro Shops … Bass Pro Shops is North America’s premier outdoor and conservation company. Founded in 1972 when avid young angler Johnny Morris began selling tackle out of his father’s liquor store in Springfield, Missouri. Today the company provides customers with unmatched offerings spanning premier destination retail, outdoor equipment manufacturing, world-class resort destinations and more. In 2017 Bass Pro Shops acquired Cabela’s to create a “best-of-the-best” experience with superior products, dynamic locations and outstanding customer service. Bass Pro Shops also operates White River Marine Group, offering an unsurpassed collection of industry-leading boat brands, and Big Cedar Lodge, America’s Premier Wilderness Resort. Under the visionary conservation leadership of Johnny Morris, Bass Pro Shops is a national leader in protecting habitat and introducing families to the outdoors and has been named by Forbes as “one of America’s Best Employers.” Bass Pro Shops has a long relationship with NASCAR, dating back to 1998. For more information, visit http://www.basspro.com/.

AUSTIN DILLON QUOTES:
Looking back now, what stands out to you about your DAYTONA 500 win?
“A lot stands out about my DAYTONA 500 win. Mostly, how special it was to our entire organization. All of the people at RCR that have put so much into my career. Going to Victory Lane at Daytona International Speedway is an epic feeling. It’s a dream come true. Nothing compares to that feeling of racing to the start-finish line when no one is in front of you nd everyone is behind you.”

You’ve had success at Daytona International Speedway. How do you negotiate staying out of the wrecks throughout the race so that you can be in contention at the end?
“It’s tough. It’s a game of putting yourself in position. I call it high-speed chess because you know at some point in time you’re going to be vulnerable. You hope that someone doesn’t take advantage of that too much and cause a big wreck. It’s one of those things where you are constantly moving and trying to guess the flow of the pack. I think the best place to be is in the front most of the time, but it’s impossible now with the way we race to keep yourself up there for the entire race. You see guys do it for long periods of time. Denny Hamlin has been pretty amazing at putting himself in the right position as of late. I’m going to do my best this time around to put ourselves in position for another shot at the DAYTONA 500.”

Do you feel the “Big One” coming, or does it happen so fast that you’re just in it?
“Sometimes you’re in it, and there is nothing you can do about it because you know time is running out and you’re in it either way. It’s an odd feeling knowing your putting yourself out there and something is about to happen. It’s an issue of timing. You’re hoping you just get through it. I’ve been fortunate to sneak through some of them, or be in front of some of them. You usually know when the intensity is rising and the pack is starting to get a little bit out of control. You try to do your best to give yourself an out or be in front of it.”

Tyler Reddick and the No. 8 3CHI Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 at Daytona International Speedway … Sunday’s sold-out DAYTONA 500 will be Tyler Reddick’s fourth attempt at a win in the season-opener and sixth NASCAR Cup Series start at the superspeedway. Last season, Reddick started 29th and finished 27th in The Great American Race and is looking to improve that number in the Next Gen Chevrolet. In the August race last season at Daytona International Speedway, Reddick started 17th and finished fifth, ultimately punching his ticket to the NASCAR Playoffs for the first time in his career.

3CHI Blazes the Trail for Another Industry First … 3CHI and Richard Childress Racing created another first with their partnership for the 2022 NASCAR season. 3CHI began with roots as a CBD producer and quickly became a pioneer in science-based hemp and cannabis innovation. The company was the first to commercially develop and market Delta 8 THC, and today, 3CHI is an industry leader with unsurpassed product quality and purity as verified by top independent labs and benchmark organizations. 3CHI products are sold in a majority of the United States, and the company produces and markets a variety of gummies, tinctures, lotions, edibles and vape products. All 3CHI products meet federal requirements for full legal compliance, with a commitment to promoting responsible adult use. See 3CHI.com for more information.

TYLER REDDICK QUOTES:
When you think of the DAYTONA 500 and all of the unknowns, like “The Big One,” how do you approach such a long race with many challenges?
“When it comes to running the DAYTONA 500, it’s always a very interesting challenge. Every single lap of the entire race, you have to wager risk versus reward. Any moment on the racetrack, your race can end. You can make a decision that takes you from the lead to last. You can make a decision that wrecks your racecar. You can make a decision that leads to you being in a wreck. When it comes to this race, there are so many decisions you have to make from Lap 1 to Lap 200 that have to be absolutely perfect. One decision throughout that entire race, a race filled with thousands of decisions that are made in split-second moments, can dictate whether you win, lose or crash. Because of that, it makes it one of the most challenging races of the year. And it makes it one of the most exciting, too.”

The DAYTONA 500 always produces exciting racing but with the new Next Gen car, what are you anticipating heading into the Great American Race?
“Kicking off the season with the DAYTONA 500 is something special every single year. As a racecar driver, this race is one of the biggest, exciting, and highly anticipated races. With the new car, all of the teams are on a level playing field. We all had the same opportunities to test the car and work with our teams and manufacturers to prepare for the season. I’m excited to see all the hard work that RCR and Chevrolet have put into this car be on display on the track.”

You’ve talked about never really slowing down during the offseason or stopping to take a break. What does that do for you and your preparation heading into a new season?
“I’ve never really been one to slow down during the offseason because I want to keep improving and working during that time to get better for the next season. I spent a lot of my time working out and getting stronger all while learning more about the Next Gen car, participating in the tests and preparing for 2022. The goals are the same for me week in and week out, and that is to go out on the track, contend for wins, be up front and in the mix and leave with positive results. I feel like this is our year and couldn’t be more excited to get to Daytona for the 500.”

The partnership with RCR and 3CHI is one that is very new and very different in the NASCAR industry. How excited are you to represent them in the No. 8 Chevrolet?
“The partnership with 3CHI is one that RCR is very proud of. A lot of hard work went into making it happen and I can’t thank NASCAR, 3CHI and my colleagues at RCR enough for all the time and effort they put into making this partnership come to life. 3CHI wanted to be a part of NASCAR throughout all of last year and we made it our goal to make it happen in 2022. I can’t wait to get that awesome paint scheme on track in a few days.”

Austin Hill and the No. 21 Bennett / United Rentals Chevrolet Camaro SS at Daytona International Speedway … Hill will be making his second career NASCAR Xfinity Series start at Daytona on Saturday. Hill competed in the Xfinity Series season-opener at Daytona in 2020. He scored his first Truck Series victory at Daytona in 2019, winning the race in NASCAR Overtime and going on to compete in the NASCAR Playoffs.

About Bennett Family of Companies … McDonough-Ga. based Bennett Family of Companies is a woman-owned, Women’s Enterprise Business Council (WBENC) certified, diversified transportation and logistics company. Through its nine affiliated operating companies, the Bennett Family of Companies delivers integrated transportation and supply chain management solutions worldwide. The company will use race experiences to recruit and retain hundreds of truck drivers for their organization in 2022. For more information, visit www.Drive4Bennett.com.com.

About United Rentals … United Rentals, Inc. is the largest equipment rental company in the world. The company has an integrated network of 1,278 rental locations in North America, 11 in Europe, 28 in Australia and 18 in New Zealand. In North America, the company operates in 49 states and every Canadian province. The company’s approximately 20,100 employees serve construction and industrial customers, utilities, municipalities, homeowners, and others. The company offers approximately 4,300 classes of equipment for rent with a total original cost of $15.72 billion. United Rentals is a member of the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, the Barron’s 400 Index and the Russell 3000 Index® and is headquartered in Stamford, Conn. Additional information about United Rentals is available at unitedrentals.com.

AUSTIN HILL QUOTE:
What are your thoughts on racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with Richard Childress Racing at Daytona International Speedway?
“Richard Childress Racing has felt like family from the get-go and these last few months have been great, just getting to know my crew chief Andy Street and all the guys in the shop. It feels very family-based which is what I like. I think the chemistry is there and we haven’t even been to the racetrack yet. RCR has some really fast Chevrolet Camaros on the superspeedways. They have an impressive streak of sitting on the pole at Daytona so I’ve got to go out there and put a good lap down when we qualify.”

Sheldon Creed and The No. 2 Whelen Engineering Chevrolet Camaro SS at Daytona International Speedway … Creed has one previous NASCAR Xfinity Series start at Daytona International Speedway that came in 2019. He has three starts on the 2.5-oval in the Truck Series where he led a lap in all three events and scored two top-10 finishes. Creed won the race in 2020 and finished second last season in two Truck Series races on the Daytona International Speedway Road Course.

About Whelen … Whelen Engineering is a family-owned company with a pioneering spirit and a passion to protect the lives of those who protect and serve others. The company mission is to provide industry-defining safety solutions around the world, while creating a community of problem-solvers who are inspired to push boundaries and continue our legacy of delivering ground-breaking innovation. As a global leader in the emergency warning industry, Whelen has been trusted to perform since 1952, when George Whelen III invented the first rotating aviation beacon. Whelen now encompasses two state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in Connecticut and New Hampshire with over 750,000 square feet of engineering and manufacturing space and the largest design staff in the industry. Every part of every Whelen product is proudly designed and manufactured in America. We embrace quality as our foundation, we celebrate innovative engineering in every product we produce.

SHELDON CREED QUOTE:
What are your thoughts on racing at Daytona International Speedway in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with RCR?
“I’m super-excited about this new opportunity with Richard Childress Racing and Whelen. It’s awesome join RCR and I can’t wait to work with everyone at Whelen this season. I’m really looking forward to hitting the track this week in Daytona. I know things are going to be a lot different with the Xfinity car than what I experienced in the Truck Series, but I have a great team behind me and that will definitely shorten up the learning curve. There’s a lot to learn early on but I’m eager to get to this week at Daytona.”

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