LEXINGTON, Ohio (Sunday, July 6, 2025) – Dennis Hauger stayed calm after an unexpected break Sunday and expanded his INDY NXT by Firestone championship lead with a victory in the Grand Prix at Mid-Ohio.
Hauger, from Norway, earned his fifth win in eight starts this season in the INDYCAR development series. His lead over fellow Andretti Global rookie Lochie Hughes grew to 47 points in the standings with six races remaining this season.
Pole sitter Hauger led every lap to beat Caio Collet’s No. 76 HMD Motorsports car to the finish by 3.3220 seconds to earn the 300th overall win across all series in Andretti Global’s rich history. Hughes placed third in the No. 26 McGinley Clinic/USF Pro Championship car.
“The team did an amazing job getting the balance for the race,” Hauger said. “Huge congrats on the 300th win, really cool to be a part of that history.”
Salvador de Alba placed fourth in the No. 27 Grupo Indi machine, the third Andretti Global car in the top four. Josh Pierson rounded out the top five in the No. 14 HMD Motorsports entry.
The race, originally scheduled for 35 laps, ended up being a timed race due to a massive crash between Andretti – Cape Motorsports teammates Ricardo Escotto and Sebastian Murray that triggered a red flag on Lap 5 for repairs of barrier damage caused by the impact.
Hauger pulled away from Collet on the start, building a gap of around one-half second. Then, Murray and Escotto were racing side-by-side on Lap 4 through the fast “kink” section of the track between Turns 3 and 4 on the 13-turn, 2.258-mile circuit when their wheels touched, hurling the No. 2 DREAM RACING DUBAI entry of Murray and the No. 3 Frank’s Red Hot car of Escotto into the barrier, with Murray going airborne.
Both cars suffered heavy damage, but neither driver was hurt. The remaining field returned to pit lane and climbed from their cars as facility crews and the INDYCAR AMR Safety Team needed approximately 37 minutes to make the major repairs.
Once the race resumed, Hauger again held off Collet. With 20 minutes remaining, Hauger led by seven-tenths of a second.
That margin grew to more than a second over the next few laps. Then with about six minutes remaining, Hauger dropped the hammer and padded his lead to two seconds. He kept the pace high until nearly the very end of the race, turning his quickest lap of the event on the third-to-last trip around the track.
“It was not easy; the first couple of laps were not the easiest,” Hauger said of the resumption of the race. “Once we got into a rhythm, it was just spot on. We just had a perfect race, so we’re happy about that.”
The next INDY NXT by Firestone race is Saturday, July 12 at Iowa Speedway, the second of four oval races on the 2025 schedule.
Josh Williams started in 27th but moved up to 22nd by the lap-five caution. Upon restarting on lap nine, he continued his upwards trek, giving crew chief Eddie Pardue the option to flip the stage. Pardue took the option, bringing Williams down pit road with three laps to go in the stage for four tires and fuel. One lap later, the caution came out, putting the No. 11 Alloy Employer Services Chevy in a good position strategically for the remainder of the race. Williams finished Stage 1 in 27th, but he restarted for the next stint in fifth. After passing teammate Christian Eckes on lap 20, Williams rolled into fourth place midway through Stage 2. With seven laps remaining in the stage, Williams was passed by the Nos. 00 and 21, shuffling him back to sixth. Debris brought the caution out with six laps to go, and Williams immediately resumed fuel saving. After firing off in the third row, Williams crossed the line to take the second green-white-checkered flag in seventh. Restarting with 16 laps remaining in the race, Williams was cued into the No. 70 in turn three, leading to a caution; the No. 11 suffered no damage and was positioned in eighth place. With 13 to go, the green came back out, and Williams settled into 11th after the field went single file. He leaped into the top 10 with six laps to go after the No. 7 developed an issue on track. A wreck that brought out the yellow flag happened with six laps to go, setting up a dramatic end to The Loop 110; Williams restarted in 10th with two to go and took the checkered in 11th.
“Our No. 11 Alloy Employer Services Chevrolet is in one piece. That’s a good day. You don’t get to do that all that often here. Our tires were worn there at the end, so that’s a shame, but I would’ve loved to battle more there. Pretty happy with how today went and I’m looking forward to Sonoma.” – Josh Williams
After acquiring major damage in practice and switching to a backup car, Christian Eckes started at the rear of the field in the No. 16 Benesch Chevrolet. An early caution allowed him to pit for adjustments, and while some short-pitted the stage, Eckes stayed out, finishing it in 22nd. He radioed that the car felt fine, but he struggled with gaining the confidence to pass. Luckily, the majority of cars ahead of him pitted during the stage break, putting him third to start the second stage with much-needed track position. Fighting a loose-handling Chevy, Eckes fell to 12th when the next caution came out with six to go in the stage. He pitted for a major adjustment before a two-lap dash to the stage end. Eckes was scored 27th in Stage 2. Staying out during the second stage break, Eckes was told by spotter Coleman Pressley to work on his exits in the right-hand turns to hopefully gain time and chip away at the field. He started the final stage from 24th place. Avoiding a wreck on the restart, Eckes sat 21st coming back to the green with 13 laps remaining. He had made his way to 17th when a late-race caution came out with six laps to go. After a two-lap dash to the checkered, Eckes went on to finish 15th in the No. 16 Benesch Chevrolet.
“I’m disappointed in myself for making a mistake during practice and having to go to a back-up car for the race, but I’m thankful to have this team of men and women at Kaulig Racing behind me and their hard work to get our Benesch Chevy race ready. We were focused on keeping the car clean the whole race, and that’s what we did. We’ll take a top 15 and get back to work for Sonoma.” – Christian Eckes
Throughout the first stage, Daniel Dye reported he was free overall and wasn’t able to get onto the throttle as quickly as his competitors. The No. 10 BettenhausenAuto.com Chevy came to pit road for an air pressure adjustment with three laps remaining, before a caution ended the stage under yellow. Dye was scored in 29th. In Stage 2, Dye worked to find confidence in order to give the team feedback to continue making positive changes. Crew chief Kevin Walter called him to pit road for a track bar adjustment to tighten the car for the final stage. During Stage 3, Dye told the team he was working to settle in and felt the adjustments helped his handling and overall confidence. Dye went on to finish in 19th place.
“Rough day in our No. 10 BettenhausenAuto.com Chevy. We were on track to end up around 16th until I was sent nearly down Michigan Avenue in turn 11 on the final lap. Back to the drawing board to find some more speed in our No. 10 car and behind the wheel as well. I’m looking forward to hopefully finding some of that next weekend in Sonoma and continue getting more confident on these road courses.” – Daniel Dye
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 earned 27 NXS wins, made the NXS Playoffs consecutively each season since the playoff system started, and won two regular-season championships. In 2021, the team competed in select NCS events, before expanding to a two-car, full-time NCS team in 2022 and adding a third, part-time entry during the 2023 season. Since its first NCS start in 2021, the team has earned two wins. Kaulig Racing is currently fielding two full-time entries in the NCS and continues to field three full-time NXS entries. To learn more about the team, visit kauligracing.com.
Jesse Love and the No. 2 Whelen Aerospace Technologies (WAT) Chevrolet Team Capture Top-10 Result at the Chicago Street Race
Finish: 6th Start: 9th Points: 4th
“Solid race today for our No. 2 Whelen Aerospace Technologies (WAT) Chevrolet on the streets of Chicago. It was a good foundational day for our road course program. We didn’t have any mistakes that took us out of it. Our car might have been lacking a little speed, but we were able to control not being out of control. I was happy with the handling, but just couldn’t get off the corner as well as we needed to. I learned a lot though, which helps to build off of especially going to another road course next week. It was a good points day too for our team. We will keep working and see how Sonoma shakes out.” -Jesse Love
Austin Hill and the No. 21 Bennett Transportation & Logistics Chevrolet Team Earn Fourth-Place Finish at the Chicago Street Race
Finish: 4th Start: 2nd Points: 2nd
“Our Bennett Transportation & Logistics Chevrolet was fast, but the driver could have been better. Right when we crossed the start finish line, I came on the radio to my guys and said I was tired of running third to fifth on these road courses. That is where it seems we stack up each and every time we come to a road course. It’s not bad by any means, but at the same time, I really want to win one of these things. We’ve been close so many times and just haven’t gotten the job done yet. I can’t thank everyone back at the shop and at RCR, ECR enough. I really thought we could have had a shot at the win. There were things that we learned today though that we can apply to races coming up, even maybe Sonoma next week. Things that fit my driving style and the way that I attack road courses in general. All in all, it was a solid points day for our No. 21 team, and we will keep on.” -Austin Hill
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - JULY 05: Shane Van Gisbergen, driver of the #9 WeatherTech/Red Bull Chevrolet, celebrates after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series The Loop 110 at Chicago Street Course on July 05, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images).
Shane van Gisbergen extended his dominance at Windy City, winning the third annual running of The Loop 110 at the Chicago Street Course on Saturday, July 5, amid a late battle with teammate Connor Zilisch.
The three-time Supercars champion from Auckland, New Zealand, led twice for a race-high 27 of 50 scheduled laps, dominating the first stage period from the pole position. Then, his control of the event nearly slipped out of his reach when he opted not to pit during the first stage’s break period while a host of competitors did. After remaining on the track and continuing to lead despite having both his pit strategy mixed and motor issues linger, van Gisbergen would pit prior to the first stage’s conclusion.
Restarting in ninth place at the start of the final stage period with 16 laps remaining, van Gisbergen caused an ensuing caution two turns later by bumping and sending Thomas Annunziata into the tire barriers. During the next restart with 13 laps remaining, he restarted seventh and methodically carved his way up the leaderboard. After moving up to the runner-up spot with eight laps remaining, van Gisbergen started to reel in on teammate Zilisch for the lead when Andre Castro wrecked and drew a late caution.
During the final restart with two laps remaining, van Gisbergen dueled with Zilisch through the frontstretch before he forced his teammate wide and got the latter barely scrubbing the wall in the first turn. Despite having Zilisch reeling in during the final lap, van Gisbergen managed to retain the top spot without missing his line for a final time and cycle back to the frontstretch to notch his second consecutive Xfinity Series victory at Chicago.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Shane van Gisbergen started on pole position with a pole-winning lap at 87.917 mph in 90.085 seconds. Joining van Gisbergen on the front row was Austin Hill, the latter of whom clocked in his best qualifying lap at 87.662 mph in 90.347 seconds.
Prior to the event, rookies Christian Eckes and Taylor Gray started at the rear of the field in backup cars. The following names include rookie Connor Zilisch, Ryan Sieg, Anthony Alfredo, Thomas Annunziata, and Matt DiBenedetto, also dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments that were made to their respective entries.
When the green flag waved and the race started, pole-sitter Shane van Gisbergen rocketed his No. 9 WeatherTech/Red Bull Chevrolet Camaro entry ahead of the field through the front straightaway and past the start/finish line before he made the first left-hand turn (Turn 1) that led through E. Ballbo Dr. As van Gisbergen proceeded to lead from Turns 2 to 7, which included driving through S. Lake Shore Dr. and S. Columbus Dr., a bevy of competitors behind him trailed in single-line formation. With an early advantage working to his favor, van Gisbergen proceeded to lead through the remaining turns (Turns 7 to 12 and including stops at S. Michigan Ave. and E. Jackson Dr.) before he returned to the frontstretch and led the first lap over Sheldon Creed.
During the second lap, Creed nearly snatched the lead from van Gisbergen after he got beneath him and power-drove into Turn 7, but he had to regain his momentum through the turn. This allowed van Gisbergen to cross Creed over and they made light contact entering Turn 8, which involved Creed making contact with the wall, before van Gisbergen reassumed the top spot. As van Gisbergen led the second lap, Creed was being intimidated by Austin Hill for third place while Justin Allgaier and Sam Mayer were trying to reel in from within the top-five mark.
Then on the sixth lap, the event’s first caution flew when Jack Perkins, an Australian Supercars competitor who was making his Xfinity debut and driving the No. 19 Shaw and Partners Toyota Supra entry for Joe Gibbs Racing, spun and wrecked against the wall in Turn 6. Prior to Perkins’ incident, Ryan Sieg had smacked the wall just past Turn 10 and had pitted under green to have his entry repaired while Connor Zilisch, who was carving his way from starting at the rear of the field, bumped and sent Thomas Annunziata nearly sliding into the Turn 11 wall.
During the caution period, rookie William Sawalich, who was scored in ninth place, briefly got out of his No. 18 Starkey Toyota Supra entry as the entry had stalled and had an electrical fire occurring in the cockpit. Eventually, the smoke cleared and Sawalich hopped back into his entry, but he would be pushed behind the wall and retire from further competition. In addition, the leader van Gisbergen reported a potential motor issue to his entry while Brandon Jones was black-flagged due to having no radio communication with his team.
The beginning of the next restart featured van Gisbergen retaining the lead. He motored away from Creed and the field amid his motor issues. Van Gisbergen proceeded to lead from Turns 1 to 7 while a bevy of competitors behind him jostled for spots. Creed, Hill, Allgaier and Sam Mayer trailed in the top five. Van Gisbergen stretched his advantage to a second as he led the next lap.
During the ninth lap, Connor Mosack hit the tire barriers in Turn 7 after sustaining a flat left-front tire on his No. 14 Invision Capital Chevrolet Camaro entry. Not long after, Perkins, who continued to race in his damaged No. 19 entry, was slowly limping around the track with a flat left-rear tire. Amid both incidents, the race resumed under green flag conditions. Van Gisbergen continued to lead by less than a second over Creed by Lap 10.
Then on Lap 11, rookie Taylor Gray made a strategic pit stop under green, though he was penalized for speeding. More names that included Jesse Love, Preston Pardus, Brandon Jones, Josh Williams, rookie Daniel Dye, Ryan Ellis, and Anthony Alfredo pitted their respective entries during the following lap.
Then on Lap 13, the caution flew when Brad Perez spun and slid into the tire barriers in Turn 4. The incident was enough for the first stage period to conclude on Lap 15 under caution. As a result, van Gisbergen was awarded the stage victory. Creed followed suit in second ahead of Hill, Mayer, and rookie Nick Sanchez. Justin Allgaier, Sammy Smith, Connor Zilisch, rookie Carson Kvapil, and Alex Labbe were scored in the top 10, respectively.
Under the stage break, nearly the entire field led by Creed pitted their respective entries. The rest, including the leader van Gisbergen and those who pitted before the first stage’s conclusion, remained on the track.
The second stage period began on Lap 18 as van Gisbergen and Jeb Burton occupied the front row. Van Gisbergen wasted no time driving away from Burton and the field through the front straightaway, leading through the first two turns. As van Gisbergen led from Turns 3 to 6, Burton was overtaken by Jesse Love in Turn 7. Eckes, Josh Williams, and Preston Pardus followed suit in the top six. Amid the battles, van Gisbergen, who has yet to pit, led the following lap.
Through the Lap 20 mark, van Gisbergen stretched his advantage to more than three seconds over Love while Jeb Burton, Eckes and Williams occupied the top-five spots ahead of Pardus, Anthony Alfredo, Annunziata, Creed and Austin Hill. Behind, Daniel Dye was racing in 11th place ahead of Jones, Gray, Sammy Smith, and Allgaier, while Mayer, Zilisch, Ryan Ellis, Kvapil, and Harrison Burton were mired in the top 20, respectively.
On Lap 24, the caution returned due to a tire carcass that was spotted on the course. Prior to the caution, Matt DiBenedetto had wrecked against the Turn 1 tire barriers, though he managed to continue with damage to his entry. During the caution period, some led by the leader van Gisbergen, and Christian Eckes and Preston Pardus pitted their respective entries, while the rest led by Love remained on the track.
Following an extensive caution period due to Josh Bilicki’s entry being on fire and stalling on the course, the event restarted under green with two laps remaining in the second stage period. At the start, Love fended off Creed to lead just past the start/finish line and the first turn. Love proceeded to lead the next two turns until Creed got underneath Love and overtook him for the lead. Love then nearly reassumed the lead from Creed through S. Columbus Dr., but Creed managed to retain the lead in Turn 6 and he led the remaining six turns before he cycled back to the frontstretch.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 30, Creed scored his first Xfinity stage victory of the 2025 season. Love settled in second ahead of Hill, Zilisch, and Sammy Smith, while Jeb Burton, Williams, Allgaier, Jones, and Annunziata scored in the top 10, respectively. By then, van Gisbergen, who restarted in the top 20, was up to 13th place.
During the stage break, select names that including Jeb Burton, Jones, and Kvapil pitted their respective entries while the rest led by Creed remained on the track.
With 16 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Creed and Love occupied the front row. At the start, Creed gained a strong launch through the front straightaway to lead entering the first turn. Then, as the field navigated through Turn 2, the caution returned when van Gisbergen, who was racing in ninth place, threw a bold but tight three-wide move underneath Williams and Annunziata. This resulted with contact that sent Annunziata sliding and making contact with the tire barriers. With most of the field dodging Annunziata’s wrecked entry, Taylor Gray, who was racing towards the rear of the field, came to a full stop to avoid hitting Annunziata, but he ended up colliding into the latter after he made contact with both Jeb Burton and Andre Castro.
The next restart with 13 laps remaining featured Creed fending off Hill to lead through the frontstretch and the first turn. Behind, Zilisch, who restarted in the second row, battled and overtook Hill in Turn 2. While Parker Retzlaff spun in between Turns 4 and 5, Zilisch reeled in and overtook Creed for the lead in Turn 6. Despite getting bumped by Creed in Turn 7, Zilisch maintained his ground and continued to lead from Turns 8 to 10. Zilisch would proceed to lead back to the front straightaway and the next lap over Creed while Hill, Sammy Smith, and van Gisbergen were up in the top five.
Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Zilisch was leading by more than two seconds over Creed. Hill, van Gisbergen, and Sammy Smith, the latter of whom trailed by four seconds, were racing in the top five. Another lap later, van Gisbergen overtook Hill for third place. He then overtook Creed for the runner-up spot with eight laps remaining. With van Gisbergen in second place and reeling in his teammate, Zilisch’s advantage stood to more than three seconds.
Then, with six laps remaining, the caution flew due to Andre Castro crashing into the tire barriers in Turn 6. By then, Zilisch was leading by two seconds over teammate van Gisbergen. Creed, Hill, and Sammy Smith were scored in the top five.
Down to a two-lap shootout, teammates Zilisch and van Gisbergen dueled for the lead through the front straightaway. Then as Zilisch appeared to have the edge, van Gisbergen used the inside lane to force Zilisch wide in the first turn. From the move, Zilisch made light contact with the wall. This allowed van Gisbergen to storm ahead with the lead past the first turn. Meanwhile, Zilisch was left to fend off both Creed and Hill for the runner-up spot. Having fended off both Creed and Hill by the second turn, Zilisch proceeded to reel in van Gisbergen through every turn and straightaway despite the latter’s steady pace in maintaining the lead.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, van Gisbergen remained in the lead by seven-tenths of a second over Zilisch. As van Gisbergen led, Zilisch nearly got to van Gisbergen’s rear bumper in Turn 6. Zilisch then tried to reel in his No. 88 Red Bull/WeatherTech Chevrolet Camaro entry to van Gisbergen’s through Turns 11 and 12, but the charge was not enough as van Gisbergen managed to steer back to the front straightaway and claim the checkered flag by eight-tenths of a second.
With the victory, van Gisbergen, who became the first two-time Xfinity winner at the Chicago Street Course, notched his fourth career win in the Xfinity Series division, his second in a row at the Chicago and his first driving the No. 9 Chevrolet entry for JR Motorsports. Having won Saturday’s Xfinity event from pole position and claiming the Cup Series’ pole for Sunday’s event at Chicago, van Gisbergen will attempt to become the first competitor to sweep a NASCAR weekend at Chicago.
The victory was the 16th of the 2025 season for the Chevrolet nameplate and the ninth for JR Motorsports, with the organization three victories away from achieving 100 victories in the Xfinity circuit.
“I thought it was going to be [a] lost cause when the [pit] strategy went wrong,” van Gisbergen said on the CW Network. “It worked out well. I knew [our pit strategy] was what we were going to do. But when so many cars didn’t follow us, it was a bit of a worry. But then, we had tire grip at the end. Really cool battles with everyone. I enjoyed it.”
“[Zilisch]’s a great young driver,” van Gisbergen added. “[It was the] First time I’ve really raced him. I knew that was my opportunity [during the final restart] and took it. It was an awesome one, two [finish] for the team. I would love to [sweep Chicago]. I’m lucky I got some great cars this weekend, driving for some great teams. I really look forward to tomorrow.”
As van Gisbergen celebrated, Zilisch was left disappointed on pit road over teammate van Gisbergen’s move on the final restart, which caused Zilisch to hit the wall and lose both his momentum and the race overall.
“I guess I should’ve just not let [van Gisbergen] get to my bottom,” Zilisch said. “I was clear there, just barely on the front straight. It just let him get to my inside and he took advantage of it. I hate it for my No. 88 group; I should’ve just been a little more aggressive there.” He continued, saying, “I just thought he was going to race me a little cleaner. I’ll learn from it, move on.”
Sheldon Creed led nine laps and won the second stage period. He settled in third place ahead of Austin Hill and Nick Sanchez. the latter of whom is coming off his first career victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Jesse Love, Sammy Smith, Sam Mayer, Austin Green, and Brennan Poole completed the top 10 in the final running order.
There were four lead changes for four different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 18 laps. In addition, 31 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.
Following the 18th event of the 2025 Xfinity Series season, Justin Allgaier leads the regular-season standings by 49 points over both Austin Hill and Sam Mayer, 65 over Jesse Love, and 75 over Connor Zilisch.
Results:
1. Shane van Gisbergen, 27 laps led, Stage 1 winner 2. Connor Zilisch, 11 laps led 3. Sheldon Creed, nine laps led, Stage 2 winner 4. Austin Hill 5. Nick Sanchez 6. Jesse Love, three laps led 7. Sammy Smith 8. Sam Mayer 9. Austin Green 10. Brennan Poole 11. Josh Williams 12. Alex Labbe 13. Harrison Burton 14. Dean Thompson 15. Christian Eckes 16. Carson Kvapil 17. Thomas Annunziata 18. Blaine Perkins 19. Daniel Dye 20. Kyle Sieg 21. Brandon Jones 22. Kaz Grala 23. Justin Allgaier 24. Parker Retzlaff 25. Ryan Ellis 26. Connor Mosack 27. Jeb Burton 28. Matt DiBenedetto 29. Preston Pardus 30. Brad Perez 31. Jeremy Clements 32. Jack Perkins, four laps down 33. Andre Castro – OUT, Accident 34. Taylor Gray – OUT, DVP 35. Josh Bilicki – OUT, Electrical 36. Anthony Alfredo – OUT, Engine 37. William Sawalich – OUT, Electrical 38. Ryan Sieg – OUT, Accident
Next on the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California, for the Pit Boss/FoodMaxx 250. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, July 12, and air at 4:30 p.m. ET on the CW Network.
CHICAGO (July 5, 2025) – Dean Thompson was the top-finishing Toyota in Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at the Chicago Street Course with a 14th-place result. Thompson rebounded from a 33rd-place starting position in the Sam Hunt Racing No. 26 Toyota GR Supra to earn his seventh top-15 result of the season.
Toyota GAZOO Racing Post-Race Recap NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) Chicago Street Course Race 18 of 33 – 110 miles, 50 laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Shane Van Gisbergen *
2nd, Connor Zilisch*
3rd, Sheldon Creed*
4th, Austin Hill*
5th, Nick Sanchez*
14th, DEAN THOMPSON
21st, BRANDON JONES
22nd, KAZ GRALA
32nd, JACK PERKINS
34th, TAYLOR GRAY
11th, DEAN THOMPSON
37th, WILLIAM SAWALICH
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
DEAN THOMPSON, No. 26 Thompson Pipe Group Toyota GR Supra, Sam Hunt Racing
Finishing Position: 14th
How was your race?
“It was really hot. We started off pretty terrible in practice and qualifying. Learned all day and got better and better and the car was great so I’m really thankful to have this team behind me and proud to have them stick with me. It was a good day.”
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for nearly 70 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 nearly 64,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 49 million cars and trucks at our 14 manufacturing plants. In spring 2025, Toyota’s plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles. With more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, Toyota currently offers 31 electrified options.
LEXINGTON, Ohio - JULY 5: Alex Palou, driver of the #10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, poses with the P1 Award flag after winning the pole for the NTT IndyCar Series Honda Indy 200 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on July 5, 2025, in Lexington, Ohio. Photo: Joe Skibinski/Penske Entertainment
LEXINGTON, Ohio — Alex Palou hopped out of his car to hug members of his crew. Amidst a dream season, he’ll lead the field to green, Sunday, at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
The driver of the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda and current NTT IndyCar Series points leader won the pole for the Honda Indy 200 with a time of 1:05.0215 and a speed of 125.017 mph.
“Yeah, it was great,” he said. “Really fast car since practice one.
“Yeah, then qualifying was interesting. We had a ton of speed in Q1. Then Q2 we struggled a little bit with the balance and also speed-wise. We’re still in and we’re still like P3 or P4 but we were still two tenths off, so we wanted to go aggressive. We went on a brand new set of softs for Fast Six instead of keeping it for the race, like I think three guys did it, to try and get that pole, and it worked out.”
It’s his ninth career pole in 90 career starts.
Christian Lundgaard lines up outside on the front row after clocking in at 1:05.2126 and 124.651 mph.
“Yeah, pretty straightforward I would say,” he said. “Really wasn’t the most entertaining. I think we were one of the few cars that decided to run a new set of primes in Q1 and Q2 as a bank lap. We knew we were going to be on the alts anyway, so we were in debate if we were going to use the third set or not. We ended up doing that in the Fast Six.
“Yeah, the worst that could happen was we started sixth, so at least we’re in a good spot to fight for it tomorrow.”
Kyffin Simpson starts third with a time of 1:05.7555 and a speed of 123.622. Nolan Siegel starts fourth with a lap of 1:05.9262 and 123.302 mph. Colton Herta starts fifth after clocking in at 1:06.1218 and 122.937 mph. Louis Foster, fresh off his first career pole at Road America, rounds out the Firestone Fast Six with a lap of 1:06.2398 and 122.718 mph.
Kyle Kirkwood, Palou’s current championship rival and fastest in first practice, failed to advance out of the second round and starts seventh. Pato O’Ward, third in points, starts 15th.
Rookie Shane van Gisbergen doubled down for the day in the Windy City by notching the Busch Light Pole Award for the third annual Grant Park 165 at the Chicago Street Course on Saturday, July 5.
The event’s qualifying format on Saturday featured a single round. The 41 participants were split into two groups and each group had 20 minutes to qualify.
Van Gisbergen was the seventh-fastest competitor during the event’s practice session. He carried that momentum into the qualifying session, posting a pole-winning lap at 88.338 mph in 89.656 seconds. He claimed the top-starting spot over Michael McDowell and his No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet team.
With the pole, van Gisbergen, who also claimed the pole position for Saturday’s Xfinity event at Chicago, claimed his third career pole in NASCAR’s premier series. It was also his second of the 2025 season and his first since Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City in June. As a bonus, van Gisbergen joined Dan Gurney as the only competitors to win their first three Cup Series career poles on road courses.
“That was epic,” van Gisbergen said. “The [No. 88] guys did a great job. I’m a lucky boy. I’ve got some great cars today. Xfinity pole, Cup pole. It’s pretty special. Looking forward to the race tomorrow. What a tune-up. Practice wasn’t that great. [I] Went out in qualifying. The car felt really good and laid down two pretty good laps.”
Michael McDowell, who was the fifth-fastest competitor in practice, clocked in his best qualifying lap at 87.879 mph in 90.124 seconds. McDowell’s lap was enough for him to start on the front row for a second time in 2025 and his first since he started on the pole at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March.
Carson Hocevar, McDowell’s teammate at Spire Motorsports, will start in third place. Tyler Redick and Chase Briscoe will round out the top-five starting spots in fourth and fifth, respectively. Kyle Busch, Ryan Preece, Chris Buescher, Ty Gibbs and Austin Dillon completed the top 10 starting spots.
Alex Bowman, the reigning Chicago winner, will line up in 11th place and share the sixth row with the reigning three-time Cup Series champion, Joey Logano.
Notably, Bubba Wallace, the fastest competitor in practice, will start in 37th place after he spun while qualifying. In addition, Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott and William Byron will start 38th and 39th, respectively.
This was due to both drivers damaging their primary cars while practicing. Unfortunately, neither driver was able to repair their entries before the qualifying session. Denny Hamlin also experienced issues in practice after his engine blew up and will start in 40th place.
With 41 competitors vying for 40 starting spots, Corey Heim, who was piloting 23XI Racing’s No. 67 Toyota Camry XSE entry, was the lone competitor who did not qualify for the main event after he scrubbed the wall and broke the toe link on his entry.
Qualifying position, best speed, best time:
Shane van Gisbergen, 88.338 mph, 89.656 seconds
Michael McDowell, 87.879 mph, 90.124 seconds
Carson Hocevar, 87.824 mph, 90.180 seconds
Tyler Reddick, 87.779 mph, 90.227 seconds
Chase Briscoe, 87.734 mph, 90.273 seconds
Kyle Busch, 87.639 mph, 90.371 seconds
Ryan Preece, 87.481 mph, 90.534 seconds
Chris Buescher, 87.471 mph, 90.544 seconds
Ty Gibbs, 87.391 mph, 90.627 seconds
Austin Dillon, 87.303 mph, 90.719 seconds
Alex Bowman, 87.241 mph, 90.783 seconds
Joey Logano, 87.239 mph, 90.785 seconds
Christopher Bell, 87.190 mph, 90.836 seconds
Kyle Larson, 87.181 mph, 90.845 seconds
Brad Keselowski, 87.181 mph, 90.846 seconds
AJ Allmendinger, 87.166 mph, 90.861 seconds
Ryan Blaney, 87.142 mph, 90.886 seconds
Daniel Suarez, 87.119 mph, 90.910 seconds
Will Brown, 86.990 mph, 91.045 seconds
Todd Gilliland, 86.961 mph, 91.075 seconds
Riley Herbst, 86.870 mph, 91.171 seconds
Ross Chastain, 86.837 mph, 91.205 seconds
Cole Custer, 86.751 mph, 91.296 seconds
Noah Gragson, 86.714 mph, 91.335 seconds
John Hunter Nemechek, 86.691 mph, 91.359 seconds
Zane Smith, 86.671 mph, 91.380 seconds
Austin Cindric, 86.459 mph, 91.604 seconds
Justin Haley, 86.459 mph, 91.604 seconds
Josh Berry, 86.416 mph, 91.650 seconds
Austin Hill, 86.403 mph, 91.663 seconds
Josh Bilicki, 86.097 mph, 91.989 seconds
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 85.951 mph, 92.146 seconds
Katherine Legge, 85.744 mph, 92.368 seconds
Erik Jones, 85.584 mph, 92.541 seconds
Cody Ware, 85.454 mph, 92.681 mph
Ty Dillon, 84.876 mph, 93.313 seconds
Bubba Wallace, 75.585 mph, 104.783 seconds
William Byron, 0 mph, 0 seconds
Chase Elliott, 0 mph, 0 seconds
Denny Hamlin, 0 mph, 0 seconds.
The 2025 Grant Park 165 at the Chicago Street Course is scheduled to occur on Sunday, July 6, at 2 p.m. ET on TNT.
LEXINGTON, Ohio (Saturday, July 5, 2025) – Dennis Hauger picked up two more accomplishments during his stellar rookie season, topping the track record and winning the pole Saturday for the INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix at Mid-Ohio.
Hauger, from Norway, earned his sixth pole in eight starts this season in the INDYCAR development series with a top lap of 1 minute, 9.7431 seconds in the No. 28 Nammo car fielded by Andretti Global. That smashed the INDY NXT track record of 1:10.2879 set by Caio Collet last season during qualifying.
“Super happy about the pole,” Hauger said. “Didn’t really expect it being in Group 1. It felt like the track evolution was quite big in our session. I hoped for (pole), and it came through. Time to get ready for tomorrow.”
The 35-lap race starts at 10:30 a.m. Sunday (FS1, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network). Hauger leads fellow Andretti Global rookie Lochie Hughes by 28 points in the championship standings after winning four of the first seven races this season.
Collet, who led practice this morning, didn’t repeat as pole winner but will join Hauger in the front row Sunday after qualifying second at 1:09.8612 in the No. 76 HMD Motorsports car.
Hughes will start directly behind his pole-winning teammate Hauger, qualifying third at 1:09.9894 in the No. 26 McGinley Clinic/USF Pro Championship car. Josh Pierson continued his recent improvement in form by qualifying fourth at 1:10.0315 in the No. 14 HMD Motorsports machine.
Salvador de Alba was the third Andretti Global driver in the top five with his best lap of 1:10.3916 in the No. 27 Grupo Indi entry. Callum Hedge will join de Alba in the third row of the starting grid after qualifying sixth at 1:10.2488 in the No. 17 Abel Motorsports car.
Hauger was the first driver in the opening group to break the 1:10 mark, dropping to 1:09.945 with six minutes remaining. He then laid down his best lap with two minutes left, and Hughes couldn’t top it.
“The track was getting better and better, so in the beginning, it was a bit weird,” Hauger said. “It felt like the tires and track really didn’t come together. The track was definitely better at the end. It was a good run. I maximized what I had with that lap.”
Collet wasted little time finding speed in the second group, dropping to 1:10.1 with nearly seven minutes remaining. He produced his best lap with six minutes left but couldn’t top it as the 13-turn, 2.258-mile track continued to bake under bright sunshine, which lifted track temperatures from 85 degrees this morning to over 120 degrees during qualifying.
NASCAR CUP SERIES CHICAGO STREET RACE TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES JULY 5, 2025
Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and defending winner of the Chicago Street Race, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying session at the Chicago Street Course.
Media Availability Quotes:
WHAT IS IT LIKE TO HAVE BEEN IN CHICAGO, THE WIN LAST YEAR, AND REALLY JUST WHAT YOU’RE LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS WEEKEND?
“Yeah, for sure. This is a super fun event. Always look forward to it just from the standpoint of it’s so different than what we normally do, right? Like we do a lot of the same thing for most of the year. So, you know, walking through the city to get to the racetrack, kind of the lack of having buses and being in hotels with the teams and stuff like that, makes it different and a little more enjoyable. And then the challenge of a street course in general is super fun. So very technical, very little room for error. Yeah, and then obviously got here Thursday morning and had a little media tour, went to an animal shelter with Bob, tried to get Bob to adopt a dog. I think his wife is now trying to get him to adopt a dog as well. Super fun. Don’t try to get Bob to take a photo with you because he gets really mad. And, yeah, it was fun. It’s been a good time so far, so I’m ready to, I feel like I’ve been here for a year, so I’m ready to get on the racetrack.”
ALEX, AFTER YOU WON THIS RACE LAST YEAR, I GUESS THE PERCEPTION WAS, HEY, MAYBE THIS SAVED YOUR JOB. YOU GUYS, JEFF GORDON, EVERYBODY’S LIKE, NO, ALEX, IS GOOD. I HAVE A CONTRACT. LOOKING BACK NOW, HOW IMPORTANT DO YOU THINK THIS VICTORY WAS TO CONTINUING AT HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS FOR THE FUTURE?
“Yeah, I mean, I think there was a lot of rumors started by people that maybe don’t really know what they’re talking about in a sense, but at the same time, you know, I think it was really important to make the Playoffs and to finish the year strong, right? Like, we were able to have a really strong Playoff run. A little drama there that kind of ruined it, but you know, in general, like we did a really good job through the Playoffs, did what we needed to do. Wish we could have gone further, but we didn’t. So yeah, I mean, I think that was just important in general for the race team to end the season strong and obviously, you know, start this year strong as well, which I feel like we’ve been able to do. Had a rough two months there, but the last couple of weeks have been good for us and things are pointing in the right direction. So yeah, I think it was just important for the team, and it was definitely a good day for us.”
HOW MUCH DOES THE THREAT OF RAIN CHANGE YOUR STRATEGY DURING PRACTICE OR QUALIFYING AND TRYING TO SET UP THE CAR FOR YOUR BALANCE?
“Yeah, it’s difficult because I feel like most things that you would do for the car in the rain, are really going to hurt the car in the dry so trying to manage that the best you can and understand what those things are what the weather is really going to do. There have been so many times that we’re sure it’s going to rain and it doesn’t rain and sure it’s not going to rain it does rain so I wish I could be wrong about my job as much as the weatherman. But yeah I mean I think it’s continued to look like more rain tomorrow, so certainly have to be cognizant of it and, kind of know where we need to be with the race car to capitalize on that. You still have to qualify in the dry and probably looks like maybe start the race in the dry, so going to need to have a compromise of both worlds for sure.”
INAUDIBLE QUESTION
“Yeah, for sure. I think it’s a very important market for the teams and for all the partners involved. I would love to keep coming back here. I think this place is a lot of fun. I would also love to go back to Chicagoland and run the oval. I think that track would present huge challenges with a next-gen car with how rough it is. I’m sure it’s only gotten rougher. So, yeah, it would be a huge challenge but obviously would be a lot of fun. I think with those challenges typically come some pretty exciting races, and unique things. So, yeah I love coming up here and hopefully we can continue to do that um obviously none of us know what the schedule does or doesn’t look like but um I think street course racing is super fun and that track’s cool as well.”
IF WE GO SOMEWHERE ELSE, WHERE WOULD YOU WANT THAT TO BE?
“Gosh I don’t know. I think there’s a lot of cool places I feel like you could put a street course. Obviously, there’s a lot of rumors flying right now about where that will or won’t be. I think the street course thing has been really fun from the driving aspect of it. Just because it’s so technical like trying to make lap time around this place is so hard. So I’ve really enjoyed it, I think there’s a lot of great places you could put it. I think you could rotate it around. You could do a lot of different things. So, I think continuing with the street course on the schedule is pretty important.”
YOU HAVE A BUBBA WALLACE MATCHUP THIS WEEK. YOU GUYS OBVIOUSLY HAVE A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY FROM HERE LAST YEAR. DOES THAT ADD TO THE MATCHUP, AND IS THAT KIND OF WHY THIS IN-SEASON THING WAS CREATED, TO HAVE THESE TYPE OF SUBPLOTS ON THESE RACES?
“Yeah, I mean, I don’t know that it adds to it. Maybe we’ll get on stage and, like, fake fight like AJ and Michael did last week. But, no, I think he and I are totally good. But yeah, I mean, he’s been really fast here in the past. Like, you don’t tend to think of him as a road course guy, but here last year, he was really fast. So, definitely going to be a tough one, but yeah, I think, you know, adding excitement, it’s probably more for the fans, right? And from where I sit, like, I just try to go to work and do the best I can throughout the weekend and kind of not super focused on it. Obviously, I think if we get down to the final round, you’ll probably fixate on it a little bit more. But if it gives the fans something to talk about and be excited about, I think it’s really good.”
WHERE ARE YOU ON THE PLAYOFF LEVEL AND HOW YOU WON THIS RACE LAST YEAR? DO YOU FEEL THERE’S ANY SIMILARITY WITH HOW YOU’RE COMING INTO THIS RACE? AND THEN WINNING, DO YOU HAVE ANY CONFIDENCE THAT YOU CAN COME BACK AND DO IT AGAIN?
“As far as confidence coming into this race, like, I feel like we’re plenty capable. Like, we’re typically pretty good at the road courses, have a lot of confidence coming into these places. You know, obviously the weather looks similar, so that adds a layer of confidence. I thought we were pretty good in the rain. We were really good as it started to kind of dry out and get patchy. So, yeah, I think we’re definitely confident. Hopefully it’s dry. I feel like the fans here deserve to just get a normal race, and I think we could put on a great show in the dry. Probably a little better than we do in the rain. But, yeah, we’ll have to wait and see.”
ALEX, HOW DO YOU MANAGE THIS PRACTICE SESSION? IT SEEMS LIKE XFINITY HAS BEEN PRETTY EVENTFUL WITH GUYS PUSHING AND GETTING IN THE TIRE BARRIERS. BUT WITH SUCH A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME, RIDE QUALITY IS HUGE. WHAT’S ON YOUR CHECKLIST AS FAR AS THIS PRACTICE SESSION?
“Yeah, I think qualifying is massively important here. So, trying to make pace early, understand what you need for your car in qualifying and have the ability to make pace to lay down a lap there is really important. And then you know trying to figure out where your long run stuff is with longevity of the rear tires. Obviously, the next gen car really burns the rears off more than the fronts kind of different than the Xfinity car. I think the Xfinity practice was a little bit chaotic last year too, so hopefully Cup practice is a little calmer and hopefully we’re on the good side of all that. I think that just shows how difficult this track is and how easy it is to you know overstep the line at a at a street course. Like it’s so narrow, so bumpy, and it’s only continuing to get rougher and rougher. Chad Knaus looked at me like I was dumb when I said it got rougher. He’s like, ‘of course it did, it’s Chicago. There was a winter here, like it’s going to continue to get rougher every year’. So, yeah I think it’s going to be tough but hopefully we’re on the good side of it.”
About General Motors
General Motors (NYSE:GM) is driving the future of transportation, leveraging advanced technology to build safer, smarter, and lower emission cars, trucks, and SUVs. GM’s Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC brands offer a broad portfolio of innovative gasoline-powered vehicles and the industry’s widest range of EVs, as we move to an all-electric future. Learn more at GM.com.
NASCAR CUP SERIES CHICAGO STREET RACE TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES JULY 5, 2025
Ty Dillon, driver of the No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying session at the Chicago Street Course.
Media Availability Quotes:
LAST WEEK WAS A BIG RACE FOR YOUR TEAM AND YOU HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO ADVANCE IN THE IN-SEASON CHALLENGE. MAYBE JUST HIT ON LIKE LAST WEEK IN GENERAL, BUT ALSO WHAT IT WOULD MEAN FOR YOUR TEAM TO BE ABLE TO PULL THAT OFF.
“Yeah, you know, obviously we’re quite overlooked going into that race, probably rightfully so coming in as a 32 seed against a one seed. But I think we’re pretty confident coming in. We’ve been running strong in a lot of these races and just haven’t been able to finish them out. And part of getting the recognition is finishing out the race is strong. It doesn’t really always matter if you’re running up front at most the race. Most people are just paying attention to the end result. Our race at Talladega earlier in the year was really strong and probably would have finished in the top 10 there. And I think that was a bit overlooked as well. And I knew we were going to be able to put pressure on Denny last week, and it wasn’t a place that he’s really pumped about racing around the last couple of years. But you know, he was going to put up a good fight by the end of the race. And I think whether he was in that crash or not, we were going to give him a good fight for knocking them out. So it was big for us. Our Kaulig Racing team, big for our sponsors, to have that moment, have kind of a fun moment after the race with Denny and his fans. Just carrying some good momentum in here to Chicago, a place that I’ve only raced at once. I came and spotted for my brother here last year in the rain. And so, I enjoy road course racing. I enjoy this unique style of it. And I think it’s another opportunity for our Sea Best team to go knock Brad out.”
TY, WITH THE POST-RACE MOMENT, THE INTERVIEW LAST WEEK, OBVIOUSLY THAT HELPED A LOT. IT WENT VIRAL, SOCIAL MEDIA TOOK OFF. JUST IN GENERAL, WHETHER IT WAS THAT MOMENT OR JUST BEATING DENNY IN GENERAL, CAN YOU EXPAND UPON JUST HOW MUCH YOU THINK THAT BROUGHT ATTENTION TO THE TEAM, TO THE SPONSORS THIS WEEK?
“Yeah, for sure. We’ve been getting a lot of comments, calls, and even walking around here in Chicago, I feel like the fan enthusiasm. I usually get a couple, hey, Ty, but like some more enthusiastic fan interaction already. So that’s been fun. You know, I think a lot of credit goes to Denny as well. He’s leaned into the Denny versus the world thing the last year or so and built up a bit of a villain role, and it’s been fun. And when drivers kind of lean into some kind of entertainment part of our roles, it opens up doors for us other guys to show some of our personality. And I think without Denny opening up to his fans a little bit or opening up to the sport a little bit, there’s not that opportunity for people to see me when we excel in a situation. And NASCAR also adding to it, doing the bracket challenge to add something interesting throughout the year that gives us a little chance to talk trash and go at each other a little bit and in a good fun (way). So, it was just a good moment. Everything culminated together. And then on our team’s credit, we’ve ran good all year. There just hasn’t been the moment that we’ve gotten a chance for everybody to really see it. We’ve got to continue to get better so that the broadcasters and you guys continue to talk good about us, and that only helps. And having a moment last week for sure helped that, and hopefully we continue that momentum.”
YOU SAID, ADMITTEDLY SO, YOU WERE KIND OF AN UNDERDOG GOING UP AGAINST DENNY LAST WEEK, BUT HE WENT ON THE SHOW AND SAID, HEY, LET TY HAVE HIS MOMENT. I’M NOT PISSED AT HIM. APPARENTLY, YOU CALLED HIM. WHAT WAS THAT MOMENT LIKE TALKING WITH DENNY AND WITH HIM? HOW DOES IT MAKE YOU FEEL FOR HIM TO GO ON THE SHOW AND SAY WHAT HE DID ABOUT, GIVE IT TO THIS GUY. HE DESERVES IT.
“Yeah, I sent him a text afterwards and just said, hey, man, just having fun with your friends. I hate that you got taken out. We didn’t get to race straight up as much as we probably wanted to, but he was like, man, I loved it. That was cool. And Denny gets it, you know, and I think that’s something for our drivers to continue to grow. Denny’s grown, I think, in his comfort level of who he is in the race car and around the track to where he’s leaning into that little, bit of a villain role, and I think we should all see that a little bit. I think we get so focused, as drivers on our own performance, and we beat ourselves up, but we don’t lean into the fact that so much of what we do isn’t just about us. It’s about the entertainment level that we provide to our fans, and Denny has done a great job of that, like I said, and given me also the opportunity when I excel, playing off of him to show some of my personality. I like trash talking. When I play sports, it’s kind of the fun thing that I do. Like, I don’t mean anything by it, but I like to see where people’s minds are inside the game, and so that was just a fun moment. He gets it, which is cool, and there’s a level of people that kind of understand there’s another level to this whole game once you’ve been around long enough that really matters as far as leaning into the fan side of this thing.”
SO, TWO QUICK ONES. WAS THAT REMARK PLANNED OR SPONTANEOUS?
It was planned when I knew he was eliminated. When I knew we had him, I told Mamba for the interview, I said, hey, give me a second after this interview, I got something to say. So, somewhat spontaneous, I guess you could call it that, but it was there. It was always there, and I just wanted to lean into it a little bit.”
AND HOW DO YOU LIKE YOUR CHANCES AGAINST BRAD ON THE CHICAGO STREET COURSE?
Honestly, I feel good. You know, we’re going to do our best starting today and all through the race tomorrow to put pressure on him. This is a place that if you feel like you can pressure people, they can make mistakes. Obviously, you’re seeing in practice in Xfinity cars, a little bit more can get you in a lot of trouble. And I enjoy road course racing. We ran really good in Mexico City, another one of the races that we ran up front. A lot of people credit it to being good in the rain, but we also ran really well when it turned dry, too. We were probably going to be staring at a top ten run there. And I think on the last restart when Truex got spun, it knocked our right front down, and we never got another caution to come back. So we have some confidence coming from Mexico City. Obviously, this is a little bit of a different animal. It’s been a cool week for me. We have Will Brown come over from the V8 Supercar, so I’ve been studying as much as I can from that guy. He is just as solid, it seems, so far as SVG and knowing his way around getting these street courses. So just learning. Went to a humbling school this week underneath Will Brown, just learning from him. So we’re going to try to get better every time we get on the track this weekend and finish strong. I think that if we do what we know we’re capable of, we execute our race, don’t put ourselves in trouble, we’re going to put a lot of pressure on Brad to knock him out too.”
YOU TOUCHED ON IT A LITTLE BIT. YOU LOOK AT THE RESULTS OVERALL, MAYBE THEY’RE NOT WHERE YOU WANT, BUT RUNNING POSITION, THINGS LIKE THAT, YOU GUYS ARE MUCH MORE ATTUNED AND MORE COMPETITIVE THAN MANY PEOPLE REALIZE. HOW WOULD YOU KIND OF CHARACTERIZE YOUR SEASON ON THAT FRONT?
Yeah, it’s been frustrating in a sense, but the main ingredient, to future success is there and that’s the speed and the ability to run up front. Now the execution is something that we have to grow in, finishing out these races we’re running seventh in Talladega and run out of gas come to the white flag. We ran I guess twice at Bristol killed our finish there, get ran into at Mexico City probably would have finished somewhere in the top-12, I believe, if that thing runs out without losing a flat tire. I can go back to so many races where just silly things happened, and we made mistakes. Maybe it’s just being a young team all the way through driver, crew chief, and pit crew where we’ve just made mistakes that have not finished the races out. At Phoenix earlier in the year we’re running really strong, I speed on pit road probably take a fifth or sixth place finish and end up 14th. Just these opportunities that we got to grow in, and I think we’re getting there. I think last week was a good, testament to that and you know our goal is to make sure people know that and see how we continue to progress as a team. It’s been so fun working with this Kaulig group and, we’re only going to get better.”
About General Motors
General Motors (NYSE:GM) is driving the future of transportation, leveraging advanced technology to build safer, smarter, and lower emission cars, trucks, and SUVs. GM’s Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC brands offer a broad portfolio of innovative gasoline-powered vehicles and the industry’s widest range of EVs, as we move to an all-electric future. Learn more at GM.com.
