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Autodesk Fusion 360/HaasTooling.com Racing: Cole Custer Charlotte Roval Race Report

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Official Release
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Custer Rallies for 18th at Charlotte Roval
Autodesk Fusion 360/HaasTooling.com Ford Driver Overcomes Spin To Earn 14th Top-20 Finish of Season

Date: Oct. 10, 2021
Event: Bank of America Roval 400 (Round 32 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway Roval (2.28-mile, 17-turn road course)
Format: 109 laps, broken into three stages (25 laps/25 laps/59 laps)
Start/Finish: 23rd / 18th (Running, completed 109 of 109 laps)
Point Standing: 28th with 496 points
Race Winner: Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 1 Winner: Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 2 Winner: Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-25):

● Cole Custer started 23rd and finished 19th.

● The No. 41 Autodesk Fusion 360/HaasTooling.com Ford driver reported early in the run that he needed more rear grip in his Ford Mustang.

● Crew chief Mike Shiplett made the call to bring his 23-year-old driver down pit road for four tires, fuel and a track-bar adjustment to combat his loose-handling racecar.

● When the competition caution came out on lap 10, Custer was able to stay out while the leaders came down pit road. He restarted 21st when the race went back green on lap 13.

● Custer continued to report that he needed more rear grip and drive off in his Ford Mustang. The team pitted under caution on lap 20 for another four tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment. Custer restarted 21st on lap 22.

● The No. 41 Autodesk Fusion 360/HaasTooling.com Ford driver worked his way up to finish 19th in the stage. During the break, Custer reported that the adjustments made by the team so far were great, but they still needed to work on his Ford Mustang throughout the race. The No. 41 Autodesk Fusion 360/HaasTooling.com team opted to stay out and restart 12th.

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 26-50):

● Custer started 12th and finished 31st.

● The Ladera Ranch, California, native jumped into the top-10 on the lap-29 restart and ran there until the caution came out on lap 33. During the yellow flag, Custer reported that the rear grip had gotten better but he still needed a little more help. The team kept him out, as the caution didn’t fall in their pit window, and he restarted seventh.

● Custer continued to run in the top-15 until contact with the No. 10 Ford Mustang of Aric Almirola on lap 44 caused Custer to spin going into turn one. With minimum damage, the No. 41 Autodesk Fusion 360/HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang got back up to speed and pitted on lap 46 for four fresh tires, fuel, an air-pressure adjustment and another track-bar adjustment.

● Custer reported that he needed more drive off and that long runs were a weak point. He finished Stage 2 in 31st and stayed out during the stage break to restart 16th.

Final Stage Recap (Laps 51-109):

● Custer started 16th and finished 18th.

● The No. 41 Autodesk Fusion 360/HaasTooling.com Ford driver was running 17th when contact with the No. 9 car of Chase Elliott sent his Ford Mustang for a spin on lap 56, causing him to fall back to 32nd. He pitted under caution on lap 57 to fix the damage, put on a set of four fresh tires and fill up on fuel. Custer rejoined the field 31st, but on the lead lap.

● After working his way up to 26th, Custer reported that he thought he had a tire rub when going through the infield portion of the road course. The team assured him that he was fine and to keep going.

● Custer reported on lap 70 that his No. 41 Autodesk Fusion 360/HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang had no front turn and needed more rear drive on the long runs.

● He had worked his way up to 22nd before green-flag pit stops began on lap 75. He pitted from 14th a lap later for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment to combat a loose racecar.

● Custer worked his way up to 23rd before the caution came back out on lap 86. He reported that the car was the best it had been all day. The No. 41 team brought its driver down pit road for another four tires, fuel and a slight adjustment.

● Custer worked his way up to 18th in the laps that followed. He ran there until the final caution on lap 99.

● When the race restarted on lap 101, Custer was 15th. While struggling with a tight racecar on the short runs, he fell back to 18th, where he finished the race to earn his 14th top-20 of the 2021 season.

Notes:

● Kyle Larson won the Bank of America Roval 400 to score his 13th career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his seventh of the season and his first on the Roval. His margin over second-place Tyler Reddick was .782 of a second.

● There were nine caution periods for a total of 18 laps.

● Thirty-one of the 39 drivers in the Bank of America Roval 400 finished on the lead lap.

Cole Custer, driver of the No. 41 Autodesk Fusion 360/HaasTooling.comFord Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

“That was a rough one for us. We got caught up in two incidents on the track, but I’m proud of the No. 41 Autodesk Fusion 360/HaasTooling.com team for never giving up and continuing to work to get our car better. The lap times we were putting down were fast, but we were just stuck in the back of the pack, where it’s harder to pass. We’ll take what we learned and head to Texas.”

Next Up:

The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 on Sunday, Oct. 17, at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. It is the seventh race of the 10-race playoffs and the first race in the Round of 8. It starts at 2 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBC and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

RCR NCS Post Race Report – Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL

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Official Release
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Austin Dillon and the No. 3 Whelen Engineering Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE Team Show Road Course Racing Prowess at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL

Finish: 15th
Start: 14th
Points: 17th

“It felt good to run in the top-five in our No. 3 Whelen Chevrolet today at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL. I just wish we could have finished up there at the end. Track position was so important, and crew chief Justin Alexander made great calls all day to keep us out front. We ran solidly in the top-five, and as high as second, throughout Stage 2 and for most of Stage 3. Unfortunately, the cautions didn’t fall our way. At the end of the race, we couldn’t turn in a lot of places where we needed to be able to turn. Still, I’m proud of this RCR team and our overall road course performance this year. We’ve improved so much as a team and have been able to put together solid road course performances all year. We’re headed to Texas Motor Speedway next, and we’re going to try our hardest to find Victory Lane.” -Austin Dillon

Spirited Battle By Tyler Reddick and the No. 8 Lenovo Chevrolet Team Results in Second-Place Finish at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL

Finish: 2nd
Start: 29th
Points: 12th

“The Richard Childress Racing team prepared one heck of a Lenovo Chevrolet for the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL today. We had a ton of speed right from the start of Stage 1 and quickly climbed forward from our 29th-place starting spot. We made an unscheduled pit stop early in the race, and once again were able to race our way back towards the front quickly. That shows just how fast of a car Randall Burnett and everyone at RCR and ECR built. Our Chevy had a lot of grip and a lot of power. We stuck to the track pretty good for the most part. Late in Stage 3 I got into the 24, and I just hate that it happened. It’s not something I meant to do. I’m proud we fought to a second-place finish. I wish we could’ve finished one position better, but we’ll keep fighting. It meant a lot today to drive a pink Lenovo Chevrolet for breast cancer awareness, so thank you to Lenovo for keeping survivors in mind.” -Tyler Reddick

Wright Motorsports Captures Victory at VIRginia International Raceway

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Official Release
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Porsche customer racing team makes gains in GT3 and GT4 championships

ALTON, Vir., (October 10, 2021) – Wright Motorsports had a successful visit to VIRginia International Raceway (VIR) over the weekend, driving the pair of No. 16 Porsche race cars to strong finishes in each respective series and gaining valuable ground with one race weekend remaining in the 2021 season. The team gained one spot on Saturday in the 2021 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTD class point standings following a fourth-place finish in the Michelin GT Challenge at VIR with Trent Hindman and Patrick Long. In Michelin Pilot Challenge, the team drove to victory with Ryan Hardwick and Jan Heylen, jumping to second-place the point standings.

“What a weekend,” said Team Owner John Wright. “We knew VIR would deliver some great racing, and we put up some strong fights to make sure we came out ahead, battling for every championship point. Our GT3 and GT4 programs made some great strides this weekend in the points, and we’re all looking forward to getting to Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta to give these championships one final push!”

IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
An off-track excursion in qualifying potentially led to splitter damage, and the No. 16 Porsche 911GT3 R was disqualified for improper ride height. The penalty moved Trent Hindman to start from the 14th position in the GTD class instead of his original third-place qualifying position. At the drop of the green flag, Hindman charged forward, passing four cars in the first ten minutes to break into the top ten. Racing behind the No. 9 Pfaff Porsche, the pair moved their way up through the field, with Hindman closing the gap between the two with every lap. The battle for position went four-wide as Hindman and the Porsche came up on the No. 14 Lexus and No. 66 Acura, who were racing side by side. As the Lexus and Acura traded paint, the Pfaff Porsche went left and alongside the pair with Hindman close on its bumper. The pair made it through, gaining more track position in the opening stint. As Hindman pushed from fifth position, a lapped car exiting pit lane made contact with the Wright Porsche, sending Hindman off in turn one. He recovered and pitted in the next lap, allowing the team to inspect the car and give the driver from New Jersey the next round of service before rejoining.

He re-entered the race in ninth, determined to gain back the ground previously lost. He acquired two more positions before closing out his stint, giving the 1st Phorm Porsche 911 GT3 R to Patrick Long under full-course caution. He restarted from ninth, digging in to make the most of the final laps. He pitted for a quick splash of fuel to get the car to the finish, gaining some ground in pit lane over the competition. With 20 minutes to go, the Wright Motorsports Porsche had climbed up to fourth-place, reeling in Bryan Sellers in the No. 1 Lamborghini. In the final 15-minutes, the race-leading BMW had contact with a GTLM Corvette, sending the car spinning and eventually limping back to pit lane. With two laps to go, the No. 14 Lexus of Jack Hawksworth sat behind Long, attempting to find a place to pass before the checker flag. Long held the position, but interference from a GTLM car opened the door for the Lexus, passing the Porsche in the final lap. Wright finished in fourth-place, gaining a spot on the GTD driver and team championship standings. They are currently placed third with one race remaining.

Championships will be determined after ten hours of racing at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta’s Petit Le Mans, November 10-13. Wright Motorsports will enter the event with a three-driver lineup to be announced at a later date.

Driver Quotes | No. 16 Porsche 911 GT3 R

Patrick Long
That was an extreme high and low sporting event. There was a great execution of strategy and pit stops by the Wright Motorsports team with a really tough starting scenario. There was a lot of traffic for Trent and myself. Two key events cost us a top-two finish today. First, getting taken out by a lap-down car coming out of the pits early in the race. We fought back and made it up to a podium position and on the last lap, unfortunately, as a GTLM car was coming through, opened the door to the car behind us and we got run over and had to settle in a battle to even hold onto fourth place. I am proud of the team but frustrated with the result. You can only control what is in your control.

Trent Hindman
Once again this was one that got away from us, and it was completely out of our control. We had a great qualifying but unfortunately got moved to the back. That didn’t seem to affect us much. The car was super good in traffic, and we were able to move our way forward in the first stint. At the very end of the first stint, we had contact that set us back down the order. It was a big fight to move back forward from then on. A big thanks to the Wright team, 1st Phorm, Mountain Motorsports, obviously Ryan Hardwick for making everything happen, and Pat for his excellent drive. It stings a little bit because we have all the speed in the world, and we have the potential, but we just aren’t getting it done. I feel for the whole team.
Michelin Pilot Challenge
Feeling good after two strong practice sessions, the team of the No. 16 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport had high hopes for Sunday morning’s qualifying session. Ryan Hardwick was sitting in sixth-place, working on a flying lap when a competitor’s crash brought out a red flag, dashing all hopes of bettering his starting position. Still confident, the team rallied for the afternoon’s green flag for the Virginia is for Racing Lovers Grand Prix. Hardwick slid into seventh on the start, getting held up for the first half of his stint by a slower McLaren. As soon as he made the pass for sixth-place, he pulled away, eager to regain any lost ground by the end of his stint. With one hour, 17 minutes remaining, The No. 16 Porsche pitted for fuel, tires, and a driver change to Jan Heylen. Heylen rejoined in seventh, with two cars ahead who had yet to pit. A crash brought out a full-course caution, and the team made the call to have the Porsche pit for a quick splash of fuel with one hour to go.

With only a small selection of teams following suit while under caution, the name of the game for Wright Motorsports became fuel saving. Heylen restarted from eighth with 51 minutes remaining, making his way up to fifth before the next full course yellow. With every lap, the team’s radio was in constant communication, with Heylen reporting his latest fuel consumption numbers and the pit box telling him what his goals should be. Two more cars pitted under caution, moving Heylen up to third place behind Stevan McAleer and Tyler McQuarrie. Never content with a podium when more is possible, with the waving of the green flag, Heylen made a smooth pass on McQuarrie and immediately put pressure on McAleer, who was potentially short on fuel. The team’s main championship contender, the BMW of Bill Auberlen fell back early in the race, but was able to gain lost ground, joining the fight for the top-three positions. Heylen made the pass on McAleer for the lead, and ran to the checker flag, securing the team’s second Michelin Pilot Challenge victory in two races (the first coming at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca). With the BMW finishing fourth, Wright Motorsports eliminated 60 of the 80 point gap that separated the team from the GS class championship leaders. However, following the post-race technical inspection, the second-place car received a penalty, returning 20 points back to the BMW who was moved to the runner-up spot.

At the season finale at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, Wright Motorsports will need to secure victory or finish two spots ahead of the BMW in order to clinch the 2021 team and driver championships. The Fox Factory 120, a two-hour sprint race to the championship title, will take place Friday, November 12 at 1:00PM Eastern, airing live on NBC Sports Gold’s TRACKPASS app.

Driver Quotes | Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport

Ryan Hardwick
You could never ask for more than to be able to come down to the final race and be competing with another great team for the championship. Nothing else has to come into play: the championship will come down to whichever team crosses the finish line first. There’s a ten-point difference with the Turner car in the lead. We don’t need any more cars between us, it’s just whichever car crosses the line at Road Atlanta will win. That’s an awesome position for both of us to be in. We’ve enjoyed racing against them, and I’m sure the feeling is mutual. This is my first year racing in this class, and all year, the racing has been so tight and so fun. There’s so much strategy involved and it’s cool to be in this position. With Road Atlanta being my home track, I’m pretty excited to close out the season in my backyard. The Porsche really came to us in the end, and I’m so glad we were able to celebrate back-to-back wins with the No. 16 1st Phorm Porsche.

Jan Heylen
The pass for the lead was all about understanding the situation around us as far as fuel strategy, and which strategy each car was on. The key was to be patient. I didn’t think at the start of the stint that we had the pace to be up front, but then I went into fuel and tire save mode, and very quickly after that I could feel that we got stronger than the cars around us. From there, I tried to set up Stevan McAleer and fake a few passes. When I felt it was the right time, it was easy to get by him. It was a super fun race. I loved every minute of it. There was an amazing strategy by the team. We could never have made it without the call the Wright team made early on. Good job to the team and Ryan Hardwick for driving an excellent stint. I was nervous about the fuel, even though the team was telling me: ‘we’re good’. There was no need to risk everything to try to make a big gap, so I just continued to save to make it to the end. The Porsche had really good speed today, and it took us right there to the end to celebrate in victory circle.
PORSCHE CARRERA CUP NORTH AMERICA Presented by The Cayman Islands
The trio of Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race cars gained ample track time in various conditions at VIRginia International Raceway, dealing with vast amounts of traffic in both of the 45-minute races. While the congestion on track limited the progress of the three Wright Porsches in Race One, Max Root, John Goetz, and Hutton McKenna were able to set fast laps to better their starting positions for Race Two. Though Goetz and McKenna fought for track position and made gains in the second race of the weekend, Max Root closed out the weekend leading the team pack, with a fourth-place finish.

The Porsche Carrera Cup North America presented by the Cayman Islands checkers the 2021 season at Road Atlanta on Petit Le Mans weekend, finishing the year with a triple header, November 10-12.

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1st Phorm
1st Phorm is a sports nutrition company based in St. Louis, MO. In 2009, CEO Andy Frisella and his business partner Chris Klein started the brand, and since then, it has become the fastest growing supplement company in the world. 1st Phorm has set the standards in the industry for quality and helping people reach their goals. This new racing partnership is not their first time in the exotic car scene either. 1st Phorm has been the title sponsor for the Gold Rush Rally for six years running. With over a million followers across social media, 1st Phorm has amassed a huge cult-like following known as, “The Legion of Boom.” They stand for a movement in the fitness world. To turn it back to what it was meant to be. Helping others improve their lives, to be a good human… and to drop the excuses and do the work. 1st Phorm is a winning brand and they don’t expect anything less when it comes to their race team. For additional info: www.1stphorm.com

Mountain Motorsports
Mountain Motorsports is a group of motorcycle and powersports dealerships with multiple locations in the southeastern United States. The company was founded by lifelong friends Ryan Hardwick and Justin Price when they opened their first location as a single-line Honda dealership in Sevierville, Tennessee in 1999. The company has since grown into one of the largest retailers of motorcycle and powersports vehicles in the nation, spanning nine dealership locations representing eleven of the industry’s most well-known brands. For additional info: www.mountainmotorsports.com

Una Vida Tequila
Una Vida translates to One Life. That is how this brand started. By people who want to live their “One Life” to the absolute fullest and to their highest potential. A group of guys from the Midwest who love great quality tequila, and want their One Life to have meaning and impact others.

One Life, One Tequila is our CORE BELIEF. We’re building the only tequila brand you will ever need to drink. Una Vida is bigger than just tequila we’re also building a culture of people who want to live their life to their utmost potential.

Our story begins and continues to grow bottle by bottle. It’s a life mission for us to create a community of people who all raise a glass knowing they’re living their ONE LIFE! For more information, visit unavidatequila.com

Wright Motorsports
Wright Motorsports is the premier Porsche race engineering facility in Ohio and a multi-series, international racing team known for superb car preparation, expert race strategy, and driver development. Located in Batavia, Ohio, it is owned and directed by John Wright, a certified Porsche factory-trained technician. As a crew chief John Wright has played a key role in winning eight driver and seven team championships in World Challenge, IMSA (ALMS) and the Grand-Am Rolex Series. Wright Motorsports won the team championship in Porsche GT3 Cup USA in 2012, 2013 and 2015, and went on to win the Pirelli World Challenge Overall, Sprint, Team and Manufacturer’s titles in 2017. In 2020, the team captured the GT World Challenge America Am championship.For more information, visit wrightmotorsports.com For more information, visit wrightmotorsports.com.

Toyota Racing NCS Post-Race Recap — Charlotte 10.10.21

By
Official Release
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DENNY HAMLIN, KYLE BUSCH AND MARTIN TRUEX JR. ADVANCE IN CUP SERIES PLAYOFFS
Busch led the way for Toyota with a fourth-place finish with teammate Hamlin in fifth

CHARLOTTE (October 10, 2021) – Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. will all advance in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs to the Round of 8. Kyle Busch (fourth) led the way for Team Toyota at The Charlotte Roval with his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin in fifth. The Round of 8 will start next Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway.

Toyota Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course
Race 32 of 36 – 109 laps, 252.88 miles

TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Kyle Larson*
2nd, Tyler Reddick*
3rd, Chris Buescher*
4th, KYLE BUSCH
5th, DENNY HAMLIN
8th, CHRISTOPHER BELL
14th, BUBBA WALLACE
29th, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
*non-Toyota driver

TOYOTA QUOTES

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 4th

What does it mean to have a day that isn’t a horrible day at the Roval?

“We’ve run fair before here. Put the 9 (Chase Elliott) back in there and we’re fifth. Overall good day for the M&M’s Camry. We came here with a plan and we tried to execute it as best we could. We’re just okay, I wouldn’t call us stellar. We did lead that stage and get a point there so that was good. It was hard to pass and really hard to make up ground. Once everybody got spread out, everyone runs really equal. Not a lot of gain throughout the run it seemed.”

How confident do you feel going into the Round of 8 with Texas and Kansas being tracks you’ve won at in recent years?

“We won both of them within the last year so I feel like that’s a good omen for us. The mile-and-a-half programs have been really strong for us. We did not run so well at Texas with the All-Star race, but that was different, just everything. Have to keep ourselves up front and hopefully we get to start up front so that should be a pretty good starting spot for us. Looking forward to next week.”

What are your thoughts on today’s race?

“We got everything we could out of it today. If you were out front you could kind of set sail and get gone there, which is what we did in stage two. But it seemed like everyone was pretty equal in traffic. Once everyone got single-filed out, there really wasn’t anyone out there killing the field. I guess that’s prettu equal racing. Overall, pretty good day for our M&M’s Camry. Came here with a plan and we were able to execute that. We’ll go see what happens next week.”

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

Finishing Position: 5th

How was your day and how do you feel about your team overall?

“I feel like we had a good day, just made a few mistakes with missing the chicane and speeding on pit road, but came back from that. Just kind of was in between trying to decide if we should pit or not and who knows, I’m not sure we had enough speed to beat the 5 (Kyle Larson) out right. We held those guys off as long as we could on the older tires. Just fell back to fifth.”

How do you feel about the reset to the Round of 8?

“We’re always ready, we always prepare to win every week. Not much changes, but I’m really excited about the way we’re running.”

Did you feel like a pinball on the final restart?

“We were just on older tires there. We chose to stay out and we went long on the previous green flag sequence. We were kind of between numbers there on if we were going to pit or stay out. We chose to stay out and take the track position to make them pass us and they passed us. Overall, a pretty good day for our FedEx Office Camry. We just didn’t have quite enough at the end.”

How do you feel about the tracks coming up in the Round of 8?

“Certainly I felt this round was statistically one of the toughest, but overall our mile-and-a-half program is very good and our short track program has been the best for us this year. We’ll see, you just never know. This thing is a three-race season. What we did for the first 32 races or whatever just doesn’t matter.”

CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 Irwin Trade Strong Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 8th

What were you missing to be able to compete for the win today?

“Two words, rear grip. I don’t know we just couldn’t quite hit it. We were struggled and I made a lot of mistakes driving too, but ultimately we weren’t fast enough to go up there and compete for the win. Came away with an eighth place finish, which is a lot better than it was looking like we were going to have today.”

How difficult is it to be eliminated from the Playoffs?

“It’s fine, but you have to be great every time you come to the race track. We have a lot of stuff we can clean up and our potential is a lot better that what we’re performing at right now. I have high hopes moving on in my NASCAR career and hopefully I get more opportunities at that.”

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

Finishing Position: 29th

What happened when you came to pit road on the final caution and then the contact with the 52 car?

“We had to pit for a tire run so we got in the back. I was following the 2 (Brad Keselowski) car back through traffic and they were two wide going into the backstretch chicane. They were two-wide and two-wide and there were four cars in front of me and all I could do was slow down and let them figure it out and go. We got in there and he (52 car) just drove into the back of me. I don’t know if he was out of brakes and missed the corner and didn’t expect us. I don’t know. His car was completely destroyed and he was running last all day and he completely ran me over with three of four laps to go. It was crazy, I can’t even believe it happened, but we’re through so it is what it is.”

How do you feel going into the Round of 8?

“Feel good. So hard to tell anymore. The 550 package, you just never know. You could be the best car all day long and finish 15th or 20th. Hard to say. We’ve done good there before at both of them. Won races at Kansas and Martinsville in our Bass Pro Shops Camry. Just go do what we can and figure it out.”

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in the U.S. and North America for more than 60 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands. During that time, Toyota has created a tremendous value chain as our teams have contributed to world-class design, engineering, and assembly of more than 38 million cars and trucks in North America, where we have 14 manufacturing plants, 15 including our joint venture in Alabama (10 in the U.S.), and directly employ more than 47,000 people (over 36,000 in the U.S.). Our 1,800 North American dealerships (nearly 1,500 in the U.S.) sold 2.8 million cars and trucks (2.4 million in the U.S.) in 2018.

Through the Start Your Impossible campaign, Toyota highlights the way it partners with community, civic, academic and governmental organizations to address our society’s most pressing mobility challenges. We believe that when people are free to move, anything is possible. For more information about Toyota, visit ToyotaNewsroom.com

Ford Performance NASCAR: Team Penske Drivers Blaney, Keselowski and Logano Advance to Round of 8

By
Official Release
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Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series — Bank of America ROVAL 400
Charlotte Motor Speedway | Sunday, October 10, 2021

FORD FINISHING RESULTS
3rd — Chris Buescher
6th — Matt DiBenedetto
7th — Joey Logano
9th — Ryan Blaney
16th — Michael McDowell
18th — Cole Custer
20th — Brad Keselowski
22nd — Chase Briscoe
24th — Aric Almirola
26th — Anthony Alfredo
27th — Joey Hand
28th — Josh Bilicki
31st — Scott Heckert
32nd — Timmy Hill
33rd — Kevin Harvick
39th — Ryan Newman

CHRIS BUESCHER, No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang — “That was a fun time. I’m really appreciative of everybody on this Fastenal Ford Mustang group. We worked hard. We were able to stay on pace all day and had a gameplan and followed through and ultimately got us into the top five. I had a top three there, but it got a little rough there at the end and I made a mistake with probably five to go and unfortunately we didn’t have a shot to win because of that, but we were definitely in the hunt. That was a lot of fun. I enjoyed the day. I’m pretty thankful for everybody.”

WHAT ABOUT THOSE CLOSING LAPS WITH GUYS NEEDING TO GAIN SPOTS? “I see bad blood on either side of us with people arguing right now. I guess from our side of things there wasn’t a whole lot for the last couple of laps, but the Roval is always tough, it’s always brutal. Cars never come back looking as good as they started, but we hung in there and got a really solid finish out of it today. I’m just really proud of everybody.”

BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 2 Wurth Ford Mustang — “I’m glad I don’t have to do that again. We got out of here and advanced and we’ll move on to Texas and focus on that, but it was not the prettiest of days. Thank goodness we ran so good at Talladega.”

HOW MUCH ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO THE NEXT ROUND? “A lot. I’m just glad to get out of this one. You fight them one at a time and that’s what we did today.”

HOW WAS YOUR DAY? “It wasn’t pretty, but the team did an excellent job helping me fight through it, which was really nice. It was a really frustrating day, but we built a good enough cushion at Talladega to be able to afford a little bit of a rough day and get through it.”

WHAT IS YOUR OUTLOOK ON TEXAS? “I’m hoping for big things at Texas, Kansas and Martinsville — three tracks that we’ve run really well at in the past. I’m hopeful for big things.”

IS IT JUST A SPEED ISSUE WITH THE 550 PACKAGE? “Yeah. My team has been so good all year with respect to the pit stops and all those things, and they’ve kind of carried us in so many different ways, but we haven’t had that race dominant speed. If we can find that, we’ll be a really tough team.”

WERE YOU WORRIED YOU WERE OUT OF IT AT ONE POINT? “It didn’t look good a couple times, but I just kind of held the faith and tried to do damage control and it worked out.”

JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang — YOUR RACE CAR IS TORN UP. “So much for keeping it clean. That was the plan, but just ended up having a rough day, but ended up finishing seventh and even a shot at a top five or top three towards the end of the race. I’m proud of our Shell/Pennzoil team. I got into Preece and dumped him early in the race and that was my mistake. I just went in there too hard and needed all the racetrack, so the good thing for him is I don’t think it affected his day, but, overall, we’re moving onto the Round of 8. It’s a great accomplishment. We’re proud of that. It’s onto the next three and try to score a bunch of points maybe or get a win. That might be the easiest way of doing it.”

IT LOOKS LIKE YOU”RE DOING ALL YOU CAN. “We’re maximizing the races. That’s what we’ve got. Our speed is close enough to point your way in. It’s hard to win where we’re at. We’ve got to be a little bit faster to be up there contending for a win, but we keep doing what we’re doing and grinding it out and focus on every point. That’s our slogan for the playoffs is every point and that’s what we’ve got to continue to do — look for every opportunity that’s there and don’t make mistakes throughout it and be in the Championship 4 again.”

KEVIN HARVICK, No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang — WHAT HAPPENED IN TURN ONE? “I just pushed it in there too hard and I got the tire locked up and I couldn’t stop it once I felt like I needed to go to get a couple spots back that I had lost, and I got the left-front locked up and I couldn’t get it to turn.”

WAS THE INCIDENT WITH THE 9 EARLIER IN THE RACE RETALIATION FROM BRISTOL? “Sometimes real life teaches you good lessons.”

WHAT HAPPENED? “I got in there too far and locked the left-front tire up and I couldn’t get it to stop. I just got in there way too far.”

WAS THAT PAYBACK WITH THE 9? “You remember Bristol.”

RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 DEX Imaging Ford Mustang — “It was a solid day. We did well in the stages and got some good stage points. We had to cycle back to the back a couple times, but with the spot we were in a lot of people they just wanted good stage points and we did a good job of that. At the end with all of those late cautions and people in desperation mode you just don’t want to get wrecked. You want to just try to finish the race and not get turned around and put yourself in a really bad spot, so was kind of little bit cautious at the end, but we did what we needed to do today and move on. It’s nice.”

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE NEXT ROUND? “I think those are three pretty decent tracks for us. You’ve got to have good runs. You can’t have any mistakes, but I think Texas, Kansas, Martinsville we’ve always had really good runs at, so you’re gonna have to have great runs at these tracks. Hopefully try to win one of the races and get to Phoenix.”

Bottas claims the Turkish Grand Prix; snaps yearlong winless drought

By
Andrew Kim
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While the drivers’ championship battle took another swing, Valtteri Bottas made his yearlong return to the top of the podium after winning the Turkish Grand Prix from pole position on Sunday, October 10.

The Finnish veteran, who originally posted the second-fastest lap in qualifying, started on pole position after his teammate, Sir Lewis Hamilton, was hit with a 10-place grid penalty for competing with a newly installed Mercedes engine in his car. After launching away from the field at the start and on damp conditions, Bottas led the first 37 laps. He returned to the lead on Lap 47 of 58, which he would keep for the remainder of the event as he beat runner-up Max Verstappen by more than 14 seconds.

With the victory, Bottas, who also set the fastest lap of the event, became the sixth different winner of this year’s F1 season as he achieved his 10th Grand Prix career win. Bottas, who remains in third place in the drivers’ standings, is down to his final six events with the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team, a team he joined in 2017 and went on to record his maiden Grand Prix victory. He is set to join Alfa Romeo Racing for the 2022 season.

“It feels awesome,” Bottas said. “It feels good. I don’t know. Almost like a relief to actually win a race this year. It’s been a while and it was not an easy race win. With these conditions, just needed like full focus, non-stop and couldn’t do any mistakes. The pace I had was really good and I was confident with the car. I feel like since Monza, things have been going quite well and quite nicely. There’s not pressure about anything, so I can just really enjoy, focus on the driving and that seems to work.”

Trailing Bottas to the finish line were Red Bull Racing’s two competitors, Max Verstappen and Sergio “Checo” Perez, both of whom sported a special silver Honda tribute scheme to pay homage to Honda’s final season as a power unit in F1. Verstappen finished in second place for his 12th podium result of the season and reassumed the lead in the drivers’ championship standings by six points over Lewis Hamilton. Perez, meanwhile, settled in third and achieved his first podium result since finishing third at Circuit Paul Ricard for the French Grand Prix in June.

“I think we had, in general, a decent race,” Verstappen said. “I think we maximized the result. Valtteri was a little bit faster, but of course this whole weekend, we were a bit behind in pace compared to Mercedes. This race was all about just managing the tyres through a certain lap. As a team, to finish second in Turkey was a very good result. I wish I had a bit more pace in the car so it would’ve been a bit easier. We are in the fight. We’ll keep fighting and we’ll see in the coming races how competitive we are going to be.”

“It’s been a while since I’m not on the podium,” Perez said. “Unfortunately, I think the last couple of races, we’ve been simply so unlucky. Today’s a special podium because it’s one of those days that I wasn’t fully comfortable with the car, especially on that first stint. It made it very tricky. It was good to get that podium. I think I learned a lot from my first stint to apply to my second one and how I bring the tyre in. That made a good difference. I really hope that from Austin onwards, we can be stronger than [Mercedes].”

While Charles Leclerc finished fourth after leading nine laps, Hamilton, who was able to methodically work his way to the front, ended up in fifth place after opting to pit for tyres with eight laps remaining while battling for a podium spot. The result left Hamilton furious with his team over the late decision to pit.

“I feel like I should’ve stayed out,” Hamilton said. “My gut feeling was to stay in and I that’s what I feel like I should’ve done. So frustrated in myself in not following my gut, but I work as a team. [I] Did the best I could with the advice I was giving…That’s life.”

Pierre Gasly, who qualified in the top five for the sixth time this season, rallied from a five-second penalty for colliding into Fernando Alonso on the opening lap to finish sixth followed by Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz, who started at the rear of the field while competing in a new power unit to his Ferrari. As a result of his drive from the rear of the field, Sainz was named ‘Driver of the Day.’ Lance Stroll and Esteban Ocon completed the top 10 on the track.

Antonio Giovinazzi settled in 11th followed by teammate Kimi Räikkönen, Daniel Ricciardo, rookie Yuki Tsunoda and George Russell. Fernando Alonso ended up in 16th ahead of Nicholas Latifi and Sebastian Vettel, who slipped off the course twice in the opening lap and later spun while trying to enter pit road. Rounding out the 20-car field in the running order were Haas’ Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin.

Results:

1. Valtteri Bottas, 26 points, 49 laps led

2. Max Verstappen, 18 points

3. Sergio Perez, 15 points

4. Charles Leclerc, 12 points

5. Lewis Hamilton, 10 points

6. Pierre Gasly, eight points

7. Lando Norris, six points

8. Carlos Sainz, four points

9. Lance Stroll, two points

10. Esteban Ocon, one point, +1

11. Antonio Giovinazzi, +1

12. Kimi Räikkönen, +1 lap

13. Daniel Ricciardo, +1

14. Yuki Tsunoda, +1

15. George Russell, +1

16. Fernando Alonso, +1

17. Nicholas Latifi, +1

18. Sebastian Vettel, +1

19. Mick Schumacher, +2

20. Nikita Mazepin, +2

Max Verstappen leads the drivers’ standings by six points over Lewis Hamilton. Meanwhile, Mercedes continues to lead the constructors’ standings by 36 points over Red Bull Racing Honda.

With six races remaining to the schedule, the 2021 Formula One season will be taking a one-week break before returning to Circuit of the Americas for the United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, on Sunday, October 24.

GMS Racing Signs Ty Dillon to Full-Time NASCAR Cup Series Entry in 2022

By
Official Release
-

Statesville, NC – GMS Racing is proud to announce that Ty Dillon has been signed to drive full-time in 2022 as the flagship driver for the team’s inaugural entry in the NASCAR Cup Series.

Dillon, who has competed in over 160 NASCAR Cup Series races since 2014, brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the table as GMS Racing makes the big step up to the top rung of the NASCAR ladder. To his credit, the Lewisville, NC native has one win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, three wins in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, and nine wins in the ARCA Menards Series, where he was crowned champion during the 2011 season.

“It’s such an honor to be able to drive for GMS Racing as they take the step into the NASCAR Cup Series for the first time, and that they have chosen me as their driver for the future. It’s been a challenging year off from racing full-time but I’m so excited to return. I don’t think that there is going to be another driver that is more hungry than I am next year to get back out there and prove what I am capable of in the Cup Series. I am excited for our future and am ready to get to work,” said Dillon.

Chevrolet will continue to serve as the team’s manufacturer across all series, strengthening a relationship that dates back to the team’s roots in ARCA in 2011. Every GMS Racing race car or truck to hit the track has been a Chevrolet vehicle, delivering wins across ARCA, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, and NASCAR Xfinity Series competition.

GMS Racing will field the No. 94 Chevrolet for Dillon, a number that has historical significance to Team President, Mike Beam. Over 25 years ago in 1995, Beam partnered with legendary NASCAR Hall-of-Famer Bill Elliott to spearhead Bill Elliott Racing, a team that fielded the iconic No. 94 entry throughout the late 1990’s. The original Bill Elliott Racing shop is still a part of the GMS Racing campus today, hearkening back to the team’s roots and past success.

“We are excited to welcome Ty to the GMS Racing family. Going full-time cup racing in 2022 is a big step for us and I can’t think of a better driver than Ty to lead us into our first year in NASCAR’s top series,” said Beam.

The No. 94 Chevrolet will be featured as an alliance with Richard Childress Racing, one of the most established race teams to compete in the sport, garnering six NASCAR Cup Series championships and over 200 wins combined across the top three NASCAR national series. In addition, ECR Engines will supply Dillon and the No. 94 team with Chevrolet power throughout the season.

The newly paired duo’s first outing will take place at the NASCAR Next Gen test at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval on Monday, October 11th, and Tuesday, October 12th. More information, including sponsorship and crew chief pairing will be announced at a later date.

“GMS is always looking forward and I believe this is the next step for the team in that process,” said Team Owner Maury Gallagher. “We have the goal to be a championship caliber team in any series in which we compete, and I am excited to watch the team grow in the coming years.”

The 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season kicks off with the 64th running of the Daytona 500 at the historic Daytona International Speedway on Sunday, February 20th. Stay up to date with all GMS Racing news by visiting the team’s official website at www.GMSRacing.net, or by following along on social media with the handle, @GMSRacingLLC.

#WeAreGMS

ABOUT GMS RACING:

GMS Racing competes full-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series with drivers Sheldon Creed, Zane Smith, Tyler Ankrum, Chase Purdy and Jack Wood. The team also competes in the ARCA Menards Series with Daniel Dye. Since the team began in 2014, GMS Racing won the 2016 and 2020 Camping World Trucks Championship, the 2015 ARCA Menards Series championship as well as the 2019 & 2020 ARCA East championship. GMS has grown to occupy several buildings located in Statesville, N.C. The campus also includes operations for GMS Fabrication. More information can be found at www.gmsracing.net.

SOCIAL MEDIA:

To keep up-to-date with the latest news, information and exclusive content, follow GMS Racing on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Three New Track Records Set in Utah for Trans Am West Coast Qualifying

By
Official Release
-

Erich Joiner puts Porsche on overall pole at Utah Motorsports Campus as Rydquist and Lux also set track records

TOOELE, UTAH (9 October 2021)- Following a morning of high winds, rain and cold temperatures, Mother Nature pulled through for the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli West Coast Championship drivers Saturday afternoon at Utah Motorsports Campus, delivering perfect qualifying conditions which resulted in three drivers setting new class track records.

For the first time in his Trans Am career, Erich Joiner drove the No.10 Good Boy Bob Coffee Roaster Porsche 991 GT3 R to an overall pole position for Sunday’s 100-mile sprint. Putting together a 1:52.515-second lap on the on the 3.048-mile Outer Loop course, Joiner set a new track record for the XGT class and earned his first Motul Pole Award.

It’s only the second time in Trans Am history to see an XGT car lead the field. In 2020, Simon Gregg opened the Trans Am West Coast season with a pole-winning drive in his XGT class Mercedes AMG GT3 at Thunderhill Raceway.

“Running with all these V8s with all the torque and horsepower is a challenge, but it has made me a better driver,” said Joiner. “Utah is a great track. I’ve raced here many times, we have a home here in Park City, so it’s like a second home track for us.

“Our production-based cars do have driver’s aids,” continued Joiner. “But, this afternoon was dry and beautiful, so the driver aids really didn’t come into play. I think it was a lot of deep braking and cornering that helped with the quick times today. I saw that the faster TA2 cars can pull me down this long straight, but they can also gap me if they can get out of the first turn well, so that is something that we will need to be aware of tomorrow.”

Though Joiner outpaced the field by a full three seconds, the top three TA2 times were separated by only 0.822-seconds. TA2 West Coast points leader Carl Rydquist only turned three laps in the No. 45 Racecars4Rent/GroupWholesale Ford Mustang during qualifying, but set a new track class record of 1:55.075-seconds along the way. Finishing second overall, Rydquist will share the front row with Joiner.

“Our strategy today was to run minimal laps in qualifying to keep as much life in the tires for the race,” Rydquist explained. “I am super excited that we set the new track record today for the TA2 class. It’s a great accomplishment for the team. This has been such a team effort coming back from mechanical issues in Portland. We were changing sensors as late as an hour before qualifying just trying to get the car to run the right way. I wish I had the inside line tomorrow, but the XGT cars are so incredibly fast here, and Erich (Joiner) put together a super great lap. I think he will be so fast off the start that I will be able to take whatever line I want by Turn 1.”

Ken Sutherland was on pace to catch Rydquist in the final minutes of qualifying but looped it on his flyer. Sutherland will lead the second row in the No. 48 Cascade Sotheby’s Chevrolet Camaro with a fast time of 1:56.109-seconds.

“We gave it all we had today,” said Sutherland. “We knew we were a little bit behind Carl (Rydquist) from what we were seeing in practice, so we knew that qualifying would be a stretch. We tried to go out one more time to see if we could get a bit quicker, but I spun the car, so we got what we got.”

Recovering from an incident in the last round at Portland, Kent Stacy (No.26 RF Racing / S3 / TTA Chevrolet Camaro) finished third in the TA2 class, fourth overall, setting his quickest time of 1:56.474-seconds on his very first lap. Brad McAllister (1:57.631-seconds) rounded out the overall top five in the No. 24 www.PortlandImplantDentisry.com Ford Mustang.

With a decade of driving experience at Utah, Cindi Lux also set a new track record in the SGT class with a 1:58.586-second fast lap. Finishing 10th overall in the No. 5 Lux Performance/Black Coffee Dodge Viper, Lux will have four TA2 drivers starting behind her. Lux’s teammate, Dirk Leuenberger will start 15th overall in the No. 35 Lux Performance Group Dodge Viper with SGT West Coast points leader John Schweitzer in the No. 00 Superior Builders Inc Ford Fusion finishing third in class, 16th overall.

“Track knowledge definitely helped set the new track record today,” Lux said. “It was so cold and wet this morning we didn’t go out. It will be a fun race tomorrow. The times that we qualified today I can pretty much run the entire race tomorrow. I am so grateful for such a great handling car, the boys certainly made my job very easy today.”

The Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli West Coast Championship drivers will take the green on Sunday at 10:50 a.m. Mountain Time for a 100-mile sprint (33 laps or 75 minutes whichever comes first). Live Timing and Scoring is available at www.gotransam.com/livetiming.

Toyota Racing NXS Post-Race Recap — 10.9.21

By
Official Release
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JONES, HEMRIC AND BURTON ADVANCE IN NASCAR XFINITY SERIES PLAYOFFS
Daniel Hermic leads Team Toyota at The Charlotte Roval with a third-place finish

CHARLOTTE (October 9, 2021) – All three Toyota Xfinity Series Playoff drivers will advance to the round of 8 in the series playoffs. All three Joe Gibbs Racing drivers finished inside the top-15 to lock their spots I the next round.

Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course
Race 29 of 33 – 155.44 miles, 67 laps

TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, AJ Allmandinger*
2nd, Austin Cindric*
3rd, DANIEL HEMRIC
4th, Justin Haley*
5th, BRANDON JONES
15th, HARRISON BURTON
19th, AUSTIN HILL
22nd, TY GIBBS
29th, WILL ROGERS
30th, AUSTIN HILL
35th, LORIS HEZEMANS
39th, KRIS WRIGHT
*non-Toyota driver

TOYOTA QUOTES

DANIEL HEMRIC, No. 18 Poppy Bank Toyota Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 3rd

What was the final lap like that got you to the third-place finish?

“That was all I had, you know I just lost a little too much rear grip that last run. Then honestly we were lucky to get as far forward as we did and then second, third, fourth, they were all right there in front of me, but I used my rear tires up. At that point we were locked in to the next round. We came here to win and knew we couldn’t with what we had; so Dave Rogers (Crew Chief) made a great call to come down and put four tires on Poppy Bank Toyota Supra. I don’t know, the 54 (Ty Gibbs) got hooked there on the next-to-last lap and I lost too much lap time to get to where I needed to, but proud of the effort, great call but just came up a little short.”

BRANDON JONES, No. 19 Toyota Racing Toyota Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 5th

How do you describe your day on The Roval?

“It’s nice to get a top five. Our road course program’s really stepped up I feel like these last couple of races for 2021. I’m learning a lot everytime we comeback and do this, we learn a bunch. On to the next one, I think that this was exactly what we wanted to do. I think when we show up to the track obviously we want to win, that’s our main goal. To be a championship driver you also have to be smart at times. So a little give and take today and try to make it to the end did perfect. Got stage points, collected a really good finish there at the end so everyone at Toyota thanks so much, Menards, everyone that’s got us to this point. We’ll keep going, we’ve got some good tracks coming up”

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for more than 60 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands plus our 1,800 dealerships.

Toyota has created a tremendous value chain and directly employs more than 47,000 in North America. The company has contributed world-class design, engineering, and assembly of more than 40 million cars and trucks at our 14 manufacturing plants, 15 including our joint venture in Alabama that begins production in 2021.

Through its Start Your Impossible campaign, Toyota highlights the way it partners with communit

Allmendinger Captures A ROVAL™ Hat Trick

By
Official Release
-
October 9, 2021: at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord NC.(HHP/Harold Hinson)
  • A.J. Allmendinger claimed his third consecutive victory in the Drive for the Cure 250 presented by Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC on Saturday at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL™
  • Austin Cindric and Daniel Hemric, who along with Allmendinger are NASCAR Xfinity Series championship contenders, completed the top three; Jeb Burton, Myatt Snider, Riley Herbst and Jeremy Clements were eliminated from the Playoffs’ Round of 12 in Saturday’s cutoff race
  • Fans can buy tickets and upgrades to Sunday’s Bank of America ROVAL™ 400 by visiting https://www.charlottemotorspeedway.com/

CONCORD, N.C. (Oct. 8, 2021) – A.J. Allmendinger saved his best for last in Saturday’s Drive for the Cure 250 presented by Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL™. Allmendinger saw a nine-second lead evaporate with four laps to go, when Tommy Joe Martins crashed – but the cagey veteran Allmendinger withstood a late restart to reign triumphant in the NASCAR Xfinity Series’ cutoff race in the Playoffs’ Round of 12.

Allmendinger’s win was his fifth of the season and the 10th of his Xfinity Series career. The Kaulig Racing pilot became the first driver to win the same Charlotte Xfinity Series race in three consecutive years.

Fellow Playoff contenders Austin Cindric, Daniel Hemric, Justin Haley and Brandon Jones rounded out the top five. Noah Gragson, another Playoff-eligible driver to advance to the Round of 8, finished sixth. Preston Pardus was seventh with Myatt Snider eighth, Justin Allgaier ninth and Sam Mayer 10th.

Hemric, a native of nearby Kannapolis, North Carolina, won Stages 1 and 2. Cindric started from the pole and led a race-high 22 laps.

Snider, Jeb Burton, Riley Herbst and Jeremy Clements were eliminated from the Playoffs.

A.J. ALLMENDINGER, No. 16 Hyperice Chevrolet (Race Winner): “It’s special, for sure, to win this race three years in a row and for it to be Drive for the Cure 250. The celebration, seeing the women in victory lane who’ve survived breast cancer makes it all the more special. For me, what means the most is to be able to represent them and it reminds me that we’re just out here racing cars. What they represent is bigger than racing. Today, I was nervous. We had a good points gap, but Talladega showed that anything can happen. We were deciding whether to go for points or go for the win. Once we decided that, our Hyperice Chevy was so good out front. I’m just pumped up to be able to get another win.”

AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 22 Menards/Richmond Ford (Runner-Up): “I feel like this has honestly one of my weakest road courses. I felt like I was driving a skid pad car after about 10 laps. I feel a bit lucky and a bit fortunate that I didn’t get moved or put in the wall. Either way, we had a fast car, set a fast lap time and got a good finish. It sets us up well for Texas, but I wish we could’ve taken advantage and gotten a Playoff point.”

DANIEL HEMRIC, No. 18 Poppy Bank Toyota (Third-Place Finisher): “We advanced further than we could’ve hoped for (by pitting with four laps to go). It was a great call by (crew chief) Dave Rogers. We were going to run fourth or sixth. I’d lost my rear tires trying to get back through the field. We gave ourselves a shot. That’s all you can ask for.”

TICKETS:
Fans can catch all the action from Sunday’s Bank of America ROVAL™ 400 for as little as $49, while kids 12 and under are just $10. For details or to purchase, visit www.charlottemotorspeedway.com or call 800-455-FANS (3267).

FOLLOW US:
Keep track of all of Charlotte Motor Speedway’s attractions and events by following on Twitter and Instagram or become a Facebook fan. Keep up with all the latest news and information with the Charlotte Motor Speedway mobile app.

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