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Hunt Brothers Pizza Racing: Kevin Harvick Race Recap from Richmond

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Harvick Finishes Eighth at Richmond
Driver of No. 4 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford Mustang
Scores Series-Leading 27th Top-10 at Virginia Short Track

Date: Sept. 11, 2021
Event: Federated Auto Parts 400 Salute to First Responders (Round 28 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Richmond (Va.) Raceway (.75-mile oval)
Format: 400 laps, broken into three stages (80 laps/155 laps/165 laps)
Start/Finish: 5th / 8th (Running, completed 400 of 400 laps)
Point Standing: 6th (2,078 points, 25 points ahead of top-12 cutoff)

Race Winner: Martin Truex Jr., of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 1 Winner: Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 2 Winner: Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-80):

● Kevin Harvick started fifth and finished ninth, earning two bonus points.
● Contact with Ryan Blaney on lap two damaged the right-front corner of the No. 4 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford Mustang.
● Harvick settled into sixth place by lap three and held that spot until passing Brad Keselowski for fifth on lap 27.
● “Tight into the corner, loose off the corner,” said Harvick after the competition caution on lap 30.
● Pitted for four tires and fuel on lap 31. Lined up fourth for lap-37 restart.
● “Just plows taking off and loose as soon as you put the throttle down,” said a fifth-place Harvick while under caution on lap 42.
● Harvick was sixth on lap 50, three laps after the race returned to green.
● Fell to seventh on lap 70 as a hard-charging Kyle Larson took the position.
● Dropped to ninth on lap 78 as Ross Chastain and Martin Truex Jr., got by.
● At the end of the stage, Harvick radioed that his car’s handling condition hadn’t changed.
● Pitted for four tires and fuel at the end of the stage, with right- and left-rear wedge adjustments.

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 81-235):

● Harvick started 10th and finished 10th, earning one bonus point.
● Lost 10th to Kyle Busch on lap 94, but Harvick regained the spot on lap 96 with a pass of his Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Aric Almirola.
● Made scheduled, green flag pit stop on lap 132 for four tires and fuel with some chassis adjustments. Was 12th after pit stops cycled through.
● Fell to 13th by lap 65 and was 14th by lap 166. “It’s gotten worse,” said Harvick about his car’s handling.
● Made scheduled, green flag pit stop on lap 179 for four tires and fuel with a right-rear wedge adjustment.
● Harvick was eighth after pit stops cycled through.
● Fell to ninth on lap 200 after Christopher Bell got by, and dropped to 10th on lap 215 as Alex Bowman took ninth.
● “It needs to hang on with the rear drive,” said Harvick at the end of the stage after finishing 10th.
● Pitted for four tires and fuel at the end of the stage, but spent extra time on pit road fixing right-side damage from the early-race contact with Blaney.

Final Stage Recap (Laps 236-400):

● Harvick started 11th and finished eighth.
● The No. 4 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford Mustang picked up 10th two laps after the lap-245 restart.
● Passed Bowman for ninth on lap 262 and then took eighth from Blaney on lap 269.
● Made scheduled, green flag pit stop on lap 293 for four tires and fuel.
● Harvick climbed to sixth by lap 302 after pit stops cycled through.
● Dropped to seventh on lap 307 after Chase Elliott got by and then fell to eighth on lap 319 when Bell took the spot.
● “I’m struggling with the front tires. I just can’t really do much,” said Harvick on lap 334 after Kyle Larson got by to put him in ninth.
● “I’m struggling with rear grip too,” said Harvick on lap 343.
● Made scheduled, green flag pit stop on lap 345 for four tires, fuel and chassis adjustments.
● Was seventh after pit stops cycled through by lap 350.
● Dropped to eighth on lap 380 after Larson took seventh, but Harvick held the position through to the finish.
● “It was a handful, that’s for sure. But we made something out of it,” said Harvick on the cool-down lap.

Notes:

● Harvick earned his 18th top-10 of the season and his series-leading 27th top-10 in 41 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Richmond.
● This was Harvick’s second straight top-10. He finished fifth in the series’ prior race at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.
● This was Harvick’s eighth straight top-15, a streak that began July 11 with an 11th-place finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
● Since joining SHR in 2014, Harvick has only finished outside the top-15 once at Richmond, a lone 24th-place finish in the series’ previous visit to the track in April.
● Martin Truex Jr. won the Federated Auto Parts 400 Salute to First Responders to score his 31st career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his fourth of the season and his third at Richmond. His margin over second-place Denny Hamlin was 1.417 seconds.
● There were five caution periods for a total of 30 laps.
● Only nine of the 37 drivers in the Federated Auto Parts 400 Salute to First Responders finished on the lead lap.

Playoff Standings (with one race to go before Round of 12):

  1. Denny Hamlin (2,127 points) 1 win
  2. Martin Truex Jr. (2,113 points) 1 win
  3. Kyle Larson (2,151 points) +88 points
  4. Joey Logano (2,093 points) +40 points
  5. Ryan Blaney (2,081 points) +28 points
  6. Kevin Harvick (2,078 points) +25 points
  7. Chase Elliott (2,072 points) +19 points
  8. Christopher Bell (2,070 points) +17 points
  9. Brad Keselowski (2,066 points) +13 points
  10. Kyle Busch (2,061 points) +8 points
  11. Aric Almirola (2,056 points) +3 points
  12. Kurt Busch (2,053 points) +0 points
  13. Alex Bowman (2,053 points) -0 points
  14. Tyler Reddick (2,048 points) -5 points
  15. William Byron (2,035 points) -18 points
  16. Michael McDowell (2,015 points) -38 points

Next Up:

The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Bass Pro Shops Night Race on Saturday, Sept. 18 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. It is the third race of the 10-race playoffs and the last race in the Round of 16. It starts at 7:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBCSN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

RCR Post Race Report – Richmond 400 Salute to First Responders

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Austin Dillon And The No. 3 Roland Chevrolet Team Show Speed En Route to 11th-Place Finish at Richmond Raceway

Finish: 11th
Start: 19th
Points: 17th

“We came to Richmond Raceway this weekend to finish what we started last year, when we had a great run but didn’t win. Even through we came up a little bit short in the Roland Chevrolet this weekend, I’m proud of the entire team for hanging in there. We started off the race with a very loose handling machine, but we made a big swing at adjustments at the end of Stage 1. Those adjustments helped the handling tremendously. The No. 3 Roland Chevrolet was strong tonight through the middle portion of the race, but we lost forward drive in Stage 3 and never got it back to where we wanted it. All-in-all, 11th isn’t horrible. We’ll head to Bristol Motor Speedway with the goal of winning.” -Austin Dillon

Tyler Reddick And The No. 8 Childress Vineyards Team Rally To Top-15 Finish Under the Lights at Richmond Raceway

Finish: 15th
Start: 11th
Points: 14th

“Tonight didn’t go as planned for our Childress Vineyards team, but this Richard Childress Racing team never quit fighting. We spent the first half of the race too loose on entry and tight in the center. Our Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE struggled to rotate the middle. Once we made adjustments that positively changed the handling, we had already lost track position and the cautions didn’t fall our way to get back on the lead lap. The positive coming out of tonight is that we are still in contention to advance to the Round of 12 next weekend. We will give it everything we have in Bristol to see if we can keep our Playoffs run going.” -Tyler Reddick

ARCA Menards Series West Race Recap: Portland International Raceway – TAYLOR GRAY WINS!

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Saturday, September 11
Track: Portland International Raceway, 12-turn, 1.967 mile road course
Race: 6 of 9
Event: Portland 112 (57 laps, 112 miles)

Taylor Gray, No. 17 Ripper Coffee Fusion
Start: 3rd
Finish: 1st

  • Taylor Gray qualified third for his first ARCA event at Portland International Raceway.
  • By lap 10, Gray was in the second position in his Ripper Coffee Ford Fusion. He took the lead on lap 18 and held onto it through the break on lap 30.
  • The young driver pitted for service during the break for adjustments to help him with front grip.
  • Gray restarted from the first position on lap 33. Shortly after the restart, Gray spun after contact with a competitor and was unable to get the car to re-fire which caused a caution and sent him one lap down.
  • After restarting 16th, one lap down, Gray was able to get back on the lead lap on lap 43 after another caution came out and he was the beneficiary of the free pass.
  • Once Gray was back on the lead lap, he worked quickly to move his way up through the field.
  • On lap 52, the caution was once again displayed and Gray was fifth. The lengthy caution set up a green-white finish. Gray got a great restart from fifth, went three-wide and took the lead which resulted in his first win this season.
  • The 16-year-old earned the victory in his first start at Portland International Raceway and his first this season.

Next event: Star Nursery 150 at The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada on September 23 at 10 p.m. ET.

Team Hardpoint EBM Earns Win From Efrin Castro, Podium From Riley Dickinson in Porsche Carrera Cup North America in Indianapolis

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Official Release
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Photo credit Sideline Sports Photography

Team Hardpoint’s IMSA WeatherTech GTD Porsche Will Start On Row Five Out West at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca

INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana (September 11, 2021) – Team Hardpoint EBM’s Efrin Castro earned his second Porsche Carrera Cup North America Pro-Am win on Saturday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and teammate Riley Dickinson earned his fourth podium finish of the season at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The team is split in two different locations this weekend, with the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship running out west at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Team owner Rob Ferriol and Katherine Legge will co-drive the No. 88 Richard Mille/GridRival Porsche 911 GT3 R in Sunday’s race after qualifying 10th in class on Saturday for Team Hardpoint.

Castro’s win came flag-to-flag in the No. 65 Fine Fare Supermarkets/GoDomincanRepublic.com Porsche 911 GT3 Cup in dominating fashion with a 23.353 second win. Despite running in the Pro-Am Class, Castro finished in ninth place overall in the 45-minute race.

The victory allowed him to make up twenty points in the championship, as leader Alan Metni missed Saturday’s race to run in a separate series at Laguna Seca. Metni will be in Indianapolis for the two Sunday races.

“I was able to hold my pace and create a gap for the whole race and was very consistent with my laps and that gave me the win,” Castro said. “I learned the track a little better today for tomorrow’s races, and that will help tomorrow. I would have liked to have Alan Metni here but he had a different race and I’m very glad to get the win today. I’ll try to do it again tomorrow with him here.”

Dickinson had a successful day for himself and the No. 53 Porsche Austin/Team Hardpoint EBM Porsche 911 GT3 Cup overall and in the Pro class. Starting fourth, Dickinson made his way around the championship leader for third early in the race. Once clear, Dickinson gapped the rest of the field and came home comfortably in third place.

That result allowed Dickinson to close within one point of fourth in the season-long point championship.

“The race result was definitely what we needed, especially after race two at Road America,” Dickinson said. “I had a good fight at the beginning with myself and another driver. That set the tone for us for the way the rest of the race went, because it created a big gap for the rest of the race and that result was set in stone. I can’t thank the Team Hardpoint EBM guys enough for the work they’ve done this weekend. We’ve kept our heads down and continued to refine our 992 Porsche Austin Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car. I’m looking forward to race two and race three, we’ll see how that plays out tomorrow morning. It’s going to be a little bit cooler, and we’ll see how the day plays out, go from there, and keep on pushing.”

Dickinson will start Sunday’s race fourth overall on the grid.

Ferriol qualified 10th with a time of 1:25.813 (93.887 mph) for the GT Daytona class of the WeatherTech Championship race at Laguna Seca. Legge was one position higher in the “pro” portion of qualifying, which awards championship points.

Sunday will be a busy day for the Team Hardpoint line-up. Dickinson, Castro and the Team Hardpoint EBM contingent race at 8:45 a.m. EDT and again at 3:30 p.m. EDT on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Ferriol, Legge and the No. 88 Richard Mille/GridRival Porsche 911 GT3 R run a two-hour, 40-minute race at Laguna Seca beginning at 1:10 p.m. PDT (4:10 p.m. EDT). The Porsche Carrera Cup races can be seen live on Porsche Motorsport North America’s Youtube page, while the WeatherTech Championship race can be seen on NBCSN for cable or satellite subscribers or via TrackPass on the NBC Sports app.

About Team Hardpoint:
Hardpoint Motorsports was founded by Rob Ferriol in 2018 with the vision of combining his experience as a successful entrepreneur with his passion for racing. Team Hardpoint EBM is a joint venture between Team Hardpoint and Earl Bamber Motorsport formed in late 2020 for Team Hardpoint’s Porsche Carrera Cup North America program to utilize the resources of EBM and co-owners Earl Bamber and Will Bamber and the early success of Team Hardpoint. Headquartered at VIRginia International Raceway, the team’s 2021 plans include a full-season effort in the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship in a Porsche 911 GT3 R and a multi-car effort in the IMSA Porsche Carrera Cup North America. More information on Hardpoint Motorsports can be found at www.hardpoint.com or through its strong social media presence on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Dramatic Day as Dyson Wins Trans Am Race at Watkins Glen

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Dyson named overall winner of Trans Am race, Matos goes three for three at WGI in TA2, Joiner and Oakes take class wins

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (11 September 2021)- With championship runs on the line and more than 40 cars sharing a 3.4-mile course, drama was sure to follow in the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli all-class race at Watkins Glen International on Saturday afternoon. In an action-packed 100-mile showdown, Tomy Drissi crossed the line first, but it was Chris Dyson who claimed the victory after the post-race review showed that Drissi passed the No. 20 ALTWELL CBD Ford Mustang under yellow conditions. (VIDEO: TA Race Recap)

Rafa Matos extended his TA2® points lead, driving the No. 88 3 Dimensional Services Ford Mustang to his third consecutive win at The Glen. Erich Joiner (XGT) and Justin Oakes (SGT) also won from the pole in their respective classes. 

 ”I am over the moon, celebrating my 20th anniversary of professional racing at Watkins Glen with a win,” said Dyson. “It’s always a thrill to put No. 20 ALTWELL CBD on top of the standings. We are happy now, but we are very much still focused on the race tomorrow. We want to close the weekend out in style as we go for another race win on Sunday.”  

The all-class sprint started with just as much intensity as the finish. The opening lap saw the first full-course caution after local driver Paul Fix (No. 44 StopFlex.com/CarCoachReports Chevrolet Corvette),  TA2® Wilwood Rookie of the Year points leader Rhett Barkau (No. 01 BarkauCars.com/BarkauCDJR Dodge Challenger), Trans Am ProAm TA leader Oscar Teran (No. 17 Oscar Teran Ford Mustang) and West Coast reigning TA2 champion Jim Gallauger (No. 16 Madison Development Group/MCR Ford Mustang) came together in a multi-car melee in the Boot. 

Pole-starter Ernie Francis Jr. fended off Dyson on the restart to lead all but the last four laps of the race. After controlling the pace and pulling away from the field, Francis Jr.’s No. 98 Future Star Racing/Wings & Wheels Ford Mustang engine seized, forcing him to immediately stop on the circuit to bring out the final full- course caution. Francis suffered a similar fate at Road America after charging through the field from a near last-place start to first before mechanical issues took him out of the race. 

Though he did not get his desired result today, Francis Jr. will have another chance tomorrow as he will start on pole after setting the fastest lap in Saturday’s race. 

“I’m not sure what happened, we had something let go in the engine,” Francis Jr. said. “We’re climbing into it now to see what we can fix and get it ready for the next race. It’s pretty frustrating, a rough year with a lot of endings like this to races we should have won. We have the speed, we just don’t have the luck; we need to keep it together. I’m really frustrated right now, but our guys will get on it and see what we can do to try to make it up tomorrow.”

Trying to capitalize on Francis Jr.’s misfortune, Drissi challenged second-place Dyson for the point, overtaking him as Dyson slowed for the yellow. Drissi, who is second in the TA championship, was penalized 40 seconds following a review by the race stewards for passing under yellow and making avoidable contact with another driver.  

“I saw Ernie (Francis Jr.) go off, and that motivated me,” said Drissi. “We started out pacing (Chris) Dyson. He was good, but we were better on the long run, we just didn’t get many of those laps. I put my head down, I did not see the yellow, so Dyson and I went into the Bus Stop, I don’t see a yellow there, I don’t see a yellow at Turn 1, I don’t see a yellow going up the hill or braking in Turn 3. I would have given it back if I saw the yellow going into the Bus Stop. I’ll race with Dyson any day, I’m proud to be part of Trans Am.”

In only his second time behind the wheel of a TA machine, Dyson’s teammate Guy Smith made it a one-two finish for CD Racing, wheeling the No. 21 Amamos LaVida Tequila Ford Mustang. 

‘“It was definitely a very exciting race,” Smith said. “Unfortunately for me, I got hit from behind on the first lap, trying to avoid the chaos in the Boot, so my race for first was pretty much over at that point. But I’ve got the best team in the house. It was a great race. I had the best seat in the house, seeing these two guys (Dyson and Drissi) going at it over the last few laps was pretty exciting. I think tomorrow will be a lot more fun.”

Dyson added, “I was thrilled to be joined on the podium with Guy (Smith) for our first team one-two result of the season. He’s been my teammate for many years, and he’s been a terrific help to the team for the championship.”

Two-time champion Amy Ruman fought mechanical issues on Friday but recovered on Saturday to finish fourth in the No. 23  McNicholsCo/CornerTechCNCSolutions Chevrolet Corvette. After penalties were assessed, Ruman earned her first podium result of the season. 

“We were really happy with our results today after having some mechanical issues in testing and missing practice,” said Ruman. “The crew worked diligently to get the No. 23 back in action just in time for qualifying. I started P9 and kept my nose clean and took the checkered in fourth. There was some controversy upfront near the end of the race, and I was just informed that we moved into third place after some penalties were assessed. It’s not normally how I like to get onto the podium, but that’s racing and we’ll take it.”

After starting 10th, Ken Thwaits (No. 4 Franklin Road Apparel  Chevrolet Camaro) was the top TA Masters Class finisher with a fourth-place overall result. Richard Grant (No. 30 Grant Racing Chevrolet Corvette) completed the top-five in class, finishing 20th overall. 

MATOS EXTENDS TA2 POINTS LEAD (VIDEO: TA2 RACE RECAP)

Matos’ Watkins Glen winning streak continued on Saturday after the 3 Dimensional Services driver took his fourth class win on Saturday. Matos started second in class, 14th overall, beside Motul Pole Award winner Mike Skeen. 

Matos battled Skeen through traffic on the opening lap to take the lead. Skeen repaid the favor after reclaiming the point on the first restart. The pair diced back and forth until Matos made his last pass stick on the second restart after Masters Class drivers Maurice Hull (No. 57 Silver Hare Racing Chevrolet Camaro) and Kerry Hitt (No. 19 Advanced Composite Product Cadillac CTS-V) brought out the full course caution on Lap 12. The victory extends Matos’ championship lead and he will start on pole for the TA2 class in Sunday’s finale. 

“Three in a row for us at Watkins Glen!” Matos exclaimed. “The weekend started out slow with some problems with the car. The balance wasn’t there for the first day. We kept on working. It was a little bit off in qualifying, but we made some really good changes overnight and the car was right on pace. I had a clean start, and Thomas (Merrill) and Mike (Skeen) kept me honest for the whole race. We’ve been working really hard all year to win the championship, and this was a big step for us.”

Merrill kept his championship campaign alive with a second-place finish, sixth overall. Merrill started eighth in class, 20th overall, driving the same highlighter yellow No. 26 HP Tuners/Mike Cope Race Cars Ford Mustang that NASCAR driver Ryan Newman drove at Road America after Merrill’s typical No. 81 Ford Mustang’s sustained damage in Nashville. Merrill drafted off Matos as they both passed Skeen on the second restart. Merrill’s driver door was damaged in his podium pursuit. Mastering the course with a wounded car earned Merrill the ChillOut Move of the Race. 

“It was a great race for us,” said Merrill. “We had been struggling with the balance all weekend, and we finally found that magic touch right before the race and the car was a heck of a lot better. We did what we could to race forward. One of our guys, Jason Bowser, is home sick, but he figured out what was wrong with our car and called it in. He’s an integral part of our team. We fixed it, a big thanks to him.”

Skeen held off Connor Mosack and Misha Goikhberg to finish third, seventh overall, in the No. 1 Liqui-Moly/Turn14Distribution Chevrolet Camaro.

“I’m pretty disappointed with third,” Skeen admitted. “We had a great car in qualifying, lots of speed, but it didn’t equate to a great race car today. We struggled when we got behind some guys with the aero wash. We really fought the car a lot, but even though I’m frustrated I’m fortunate to be here, thanks to the Stevens Miller guys. We’ll be back for them tomorrow.”

Mosack (No. 28 NicTailor/IFS M1-SLR/Fields Chevrolet Camaro) and Goikhberg (No. 0 BC Race Cars Chevrolet Camaro) rounded out the top five in class. 

Doug Peterson drove to an overall 18th place finish in the No. 87 3 Dimensional Services Ford Mustang for the Masters Class TA2 win. 

JOINER AND OAKES WIN IN PRODUCTION CLASS

Erich Joiner became the first XGT winner at Watkins Glen on Saturday, taking the class win (23rd overall) in the No. 10 Good Boy Bob Coffee Roaster Porsche 991 GT3 R. 

“It’s always a heck of a race with all the TA2 cars,” said Joiner. “We started back and tried to make our way through. We’ve got a great crew, and I couldn’t have done it without them. It was a heck of a race, the fans were on their feet, up against the fence, for all the race.”

SGT points leader Oakes held off the Grant family to take first-in-class behind the wheel of the No. 37  Droneworks Chevrolet Corvette. 

“It was a wild experience,” said Oakes. “These production car classes are a lot of fun, but this was special because it was a mixed class. Being out there with the TA2 cars and TA cars it’s always fun seeing how these cars are going to perform. I had a good time mixing it up with some of the TA2 guys, and I had a blast. The team is doing great and we’re looking to do well tomorrow.”

Carey Grant beat out his dad Milton Grant for a second-place finish in SGT. Celebrating his 50th Trans Am start, the elder Grant lost his speed pump halfway through the race but held on to finish third overall in SGT and first in the Masters Class. 

The Trans Am drivers will be back on Sunday for another 100-mile all-class race, taking the green at 11:15 a.m. Eastern. The starting grid will be determined by the fastest lap within each class. The full Watkins Glen SpeedTour race weekend will be live streamed on the Trans Am by Pirelli Racing App:

CHEVROLET NTT INDYCAR SERIES – GRAND PRIX OF PORTLAND: TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING RECAP

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Official Release
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CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES
GRAND PRIX OF PORTLAND
PORTLAND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY
PORTLAND, OREGON
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING RECAP
SEPTEMBER. 11, 2021

FELIX ROSENQVIST LEADS TEAM CHEVY IN QUALIFYING FOR PORTLAND GRAND PRIX

PORTLAND – (September 11, 2021) Felix Rosenqvist, No. 7 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet, led Team Chevy in qualifying for the Grand Prix of Portland. After advancing to the Firestone Fast Six, Rosenqvist captured the fourth starting position for tomorrow’s 110-lap/216-mile Grand Prix of Portland on the 12-turn, 1.964-mile Portland International Raceway that opened in 1961.

Chevrolet-powered championship contenders Pato O’Ward, No.5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet, and Josef Newgarden, No. 2 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet, will start 7th and 18th respectively. O’Ward and team weren’t happy with performance on red tires, and Newgarden and team were lacking pace of this morning’s practice.

The remainder of the Team Chevy drivers qualified as follows:
11th – Max Chilton, No. 59 Gallagher Carlin
12th – Sebastien Bourdais, No. 14 ROKIT AJ Foyt Racing
14th – Will Power, No. 12 Verizon 5G Team Penske
15th – Scott McLaughlin, No.3 PPG Team Penske
16th – Conor Daly, No. 20 U.S Air Force Ed Carpenter Racing
19th – Callum Ilott, No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing
22nd – Rinus Veekay, No. 21 Sonax/Autogeek Ed Carpenter Racing
26th – Simon Pagenaud, No. 22 Menards Team Penske
27th – Dalton Kellett. No. 4 K-Line Insulators AJ Foyt Racing

Alex Palou won the pole. Alexander Rossi Scott Dixon, Graham Rahal and Colton Herta completed the Firestone Fast Six.

VeeKay will have a six grid position penalty for an unapproved engine change as a result of damage his engine received in an accident at Gateway.

NBC will telecast the 110-lap Grand Prix of Portland at 3 p.m. ET Sunday, Sept. 12. Sept. 11, will stream on Peacock Premium. The racewill also be broadcast live on INDYCAR Radio Network affiliates, Sirius 211, XM 205, Indycar.com, and on the INDYCAR Mobile app powered by NTT DATA.

Driver quotes:
FELIX ROSENQVIST, NO. 7 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 4TH:
“It’s been a good day. The car felt good all day. Every session it felt like it was solid top-five which is where you want to be. We didn’t have quite the car to win the pole in the Firestone Fast Six. When you make the Fast Six, you always want to go for pole. But overall it is satisfying to have good qualifying. To be up there to help Pato’s situation in the championship to race hard against those other guys. So happy with where we are so far!”

PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 7TH:
ON HIS QUALIFIFYING: “Honestly, its not too bad. Our pace on reds was horrendous. We made significant steps forward in Q2. But it wasn’t enough to have us go to the Firestone Fast Six. We can do a lot from here honestly. We are starting inside of row four. We need to make it clean through turn one, and then run our race with the strategy. We will work on the race car in warm-up. It is what it is I guess. We need to pass the other contenders contenders in front of us.”

JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 2 HITACHI TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – QUALIFIED 18TH:
ON HIS QUALIFYING EFFORT
“We just didn’t have any pace. It wasn’t a bad lap, it just wasn’t fast. So, I don’t know. I’m not sure. We’ve got a lot of fights, so we’ll fight back. I was really happy this morning, so I’m not quite sure why we didn’t have the speed there, we just didn’t. We’ll just have to figure it out. We’ll get together as a team and try and make the most of it and we’ll battle tomorrow, for sure.”

YOU HAD TO BACK OFF TO FIND ANOTHER GAP AFTER YOUR FIRST FAST LAP ON THE REDS. DID THAT IMPACT ANYTHING?
“It wasn’t ideal, but I don’t think that’s the reason. I think I was within a tenth or a tenth and a half of what I could do. So, we just didn’t have speed for some reason. It’s definitely odd.”

About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, available in 79 countries with more than 3.2 million cars and trucks sold in 2020. Chevrolet models include electric and fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

Wagner Hangs on for Mazda MX-5 Cup Race One Victory in Monterey

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Championship Leader Carter Rockets from Last to Fourth

MONTEREY, Calif. (Sept. 11, 2021) – No one was safe from the dusty surface of WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in Round 11 of the Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by BFGoodrich® Tires on Saturday. Gresham Wagner (No. 5 Spark Performance) hung on for the win while holding off a charging Selin Rollan (No. 87 Hixon Motor Sports) who finished second. Promising young rookie Aaron Jeansonne (No. 24 Provision Motorsports), who won a scholarship to race in the series in the Mazda Shootout, finished third.

Starting second, Wagner took the lead on the opening lap of the race and was under heavy pressure from rookie Chris Nunes (No. 32 JTR Performance Engineering).

Their battle continued after a brief full-course caution and eventually Nunes got the better of Wagner and led six laps of the race. Behind him, Rollan was eager to get the top spot back and was soon nose-to-tail with the rookie. On the slippery track surface, all it took was the slightest of touches for Nunes to spin as the young Californian went for an off-course spin. Luckily, the pack of cars behind him were able to avoid him and he was able to continue.

“We had a great car, it had pace, it was hard to drive because the track conditions weren’t optimal,” Rollan said. “I’m sorry to Chris [Nunes]. I don’t know what happened there. I think he didn’t know that my bumper was there, and he turned, and he spun. I don’t want to race like that, and I’ll go chat with him after. I’m sorry that it happened, and the officials saw it as I guess he made the move.”

Rollan did not get to enjoy his lead for long. Wagner made his move and Rollan fell to fourth just past the halfway mark of the 45-minute race. Wagner held onto the lead all the way to the finish.

“Well, I don’t know where to start because the top three, I mean, it shuffled around a good bit there and it was down to who was making mistakes and who was capitalizing,” Wagner said. “I don’t think anybody drove a good race by the normal standards. It’s just that the track is so tough to get around consistently lap after lap while still being fast, it just invites mistakes, and it catches you out all the time.

“Once I finally get back to the lead after slipping back to fourth, I mean, I knew I couldn’t make any mistakes at that point. And that was what was going to determine the race is whether I slipped up or not. Lots of pressure on myself, but barely hung on and got the win.”

It is Wagner’s third win of the season. He won the season opener at Daytona International Speedway and won Race Two at Sebring International Raceway.

Rollan was only 0.547-second shy from taking his fifth win of the season. Such close margins are nothing new in Mazda MX-5 Cup, but the constant position swapping was a little unusual for a track like Laguna Seca where the passing zones are few and the grip offline is non-existent.

“That was crazy out there, that was really crazy,” Rollan said. “Thanks to Hixon Motor Sports, it was a great run. I think that was the craziest race we’ve had all season and especially at a track where you don’t really get much passing, but I’m happy to bring home second. Gained on Michael but lost to Gresham, but still good.”

Jeansonne finally got his first podium of the season, finishing third.

“It feels really good, obviously,” Jeansonne said. “It’s been such hard work getting here. There could’ve been a lot of other races where we had podiums, but so many things have happened to us, so I’m glad to give myself and these guys a result we deserve for all of this hard work.

“It was very slippery. The falloff didn’t get too bad until about halfway through the race and then it was like driving on grease. Everybody was sideways everywhere and that really kept us bunched up because as soon as you had a few clean runs, someone makes a mistake and then you make a mistake, but it was really fun.”

Jeansonne had the largest and loudest cheering section for his first podium.

“I want to thank Mazda, all the series affiliates, and all of my west coast friends that came out to support me this weekend, it’s been awesome,” Jeansonne said. “It’s a great series and a pleasure to be here, and I hope to stay here a little while.”

Though he didn’t make the podium, Michael Carter (No. 08 Carter Racing Enterprises) may have had the best drive of anyone. The current point leader was forced to start at the back of the grid after a transponder issue prevented him from logging a qualifying time. By lap five he was up to eighth and then third by lap 16. While running second, Carter had a big off-track excursion exiting Turn Six. He fell back to sixth but recovered to finish fourth in the remaining 10 laps.

Jared Thomas (No. 96 JTR Motorsports Enterprises), who was quickest in Friday practice, completed the top five after some epic battles with his former teammate Carter.

Alex Bachoura (No. 33 Slipstream Performance) earned the Hard Charger Award for advancing nine positions during the race.

“It was pretty slippery,” Bachoura said. “I think you just take your time, work your way up the field and try not to get in trouble. There was a lot of trouble in this race. I had many close calls. I think I almost hit about five cars. This afternoon was fun. This is what racing is about: it’s about the close calls, the adrenaline, it’s about taking chances and it worked out.”

Rollan will start from pole for Sunday’s Round 12 race at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. The race goes green at 9:25am PT and will be streamed live on IMSA.com/tvlive.

About: The Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by BFGoodrich® Tires is the signature spec series for Mazda Motorsports. The series has been operated by Andersen Promotions since 2017 and is currently sanctioned by IMSA. Mazda-powered grassroots champions can earn Mazda scholarships for this pro-level series. The Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup champion is awarded $250,000 as the top rookie nets $80,000.

Find out more at http://www.mx-5cup.com.

CHEVY NCS AT RICHMOND: Post-Race Notes and Quotes

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Official Release
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NASCAR CUP SERIES
FEDERATED AUTO PARTS 400
RICHMOND RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES & QUOTES
SEPTEMBER 11, 2021

TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
4th CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 KELLEY BLUE BOOK CAMARO ZL1 1LE
6th KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1 1LE
7th ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 42 MOOSE FRATERNITY CAMARO ZL1 1LE
11th AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 ROLAND CAMARO ZL1 1LE
12th ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 1LE

TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1st Martin Truex Jr. (Toyota)
2nd Denny Hamlin (Toyota)
3rd Christopher Bell (Toyota)
4th Chase Elliott (Chevrolet)
5th Joey Logano (Ford)

The NASCAR Cup Series season continues next weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway for the Bass Pro Shops Night Race on Saturday, September 18, at 7:30 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on NBCSN, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES AND QUOTES:

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 KELLEY BLUE BOOK CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 4th
YOU SAID ON THE RADIO THIS WAS THE BEST CAR YOU’VE HAD HERE. TO REBOUND THE WAY YOU DID HOW WOULD YOU EVALUATE THE DAY?
“Yeah, tough. I’m super proud of our effort. Our entire Kelley Blue Book team did a great job preparing for this week and then coming and executing a really fast car. I’m really proud of that. I hate our incident on pit road happened. I don’t know what I would have done any different. I guess let him go is a safe thing, but it’s so close and always hard to tell kind of when they’re going to get done on the left side. I hate that. I thought I was long in the box and backed up out of a precautionary measure, but yeah, I hate that. I know that Kyle and Martin were really fast there at the end. I’m not sure if we would have had anything for them, but I sure would have liked to have found out.”

AS ROUGH AS DARLINGTON WAS LAST WEEK, HOW IMPORTANT WAS JUST COMING HERE AND JUST HAVING A GOOD FINISH AND A GOOD DAY? YOU GUYS REALLY WORKED HARD FOR THIS.
“Yeah, for sure. A nice rebound after last week. Everything about Darlington was miserable. Everything about last weekend was miserable, aside from our foundation efforts. But it was nice to come here and just put together a solid night. I felt like we performed at a really high level that I know we are capable of every week. If we perform like that the rest of the season, I think we’ll be just fine.”

KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 6th
ARE YOU HAPPY WITH YOUR FINISH TONIGHT?
“Yeah, it’s a lot better than we were here at Richmond earlier in the year. At the beginning of the race, I thought I was going to have a really good shot to win, but we kind of lost the balance there and got it back a little bit there at the end. So, we probably finished where we deserved. The No. 18 (Kyle Busch) kind of had his problems, so maybe we finished one spot better. Not a bad day. To go to Bristol and know that we’re locked in is nice. We’ll try to be aggressive and get a win this week.”

IS IMPROVING THE ONLY GOAL OUT OF THE EVENING?
“Yeah, as bad as we were the last time we were here, I think to have a win in your expectations would be difficult to do. I think we exceeded what I thought we would do here. I thought it would be a good day to run around tenth. I feel like I ran from fourth to kind of seventh, once I got there, all race. So it was a good day for our HendrickCars.com Chevy and I’m looking forward to Bristol now.”

ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 12th
“We struggled to start. We were really good at the end of Stage Two. We didn’t make any adjustments and we were really bad at the beginning of Stage Three. We just had a set of tires that didn’t agree with our racecar and got a lap down there. It’s hard to overcome that. Bummer for all of our guys. I feel like we did a good job throughout the course of the race at getting our car better from where we started. We just didn’t end where we needed to end. On the bubble going into Bristol, but just have to go do my job and hopefully we have a fast Ally Camaro there and go get the job done.”

ARE YOU SURPRISED AFTER THESE LAST TWO RACES?
“Tonight, I don’t really feel like we did anything bad. We had an OK night, especially for us at Richmond. We’ve had way worse nights; all except for really two races here. It could have been way worse for us. But Darlington is just on me. I tried to let the 8 (Tyler Reddick) go and I drove it straight into the fence instead on lap seven. When you put yourself in a hole like that, it’s tough to overcome. Unfortunately, we didn’t have a night capable of overcoming that tonight and we’re going to have to go do that next week.”
“Yeah, it’s a bummer. It puts us in a really tough spot. But when you have these three round deals, that’s what happens.”

TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 CHILDRESS VINEYARDS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 15th
“We just didn’t have the opportunities to fix our car and not pay the penalty for it with the green flag runs. We didn’t get it fixed until it was too late and the rest of the race ran green. It’s nice knowing that we can make the right adjustments, but we didn’t make them in time to make anything out of it.”

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS HEADING INTO BRISTOL?
“I feel good about going to Bristol because there’s been shining moments of hope that we can do it. There’s just going to be no room for error from the drop of the green flag to lap 500. We’re just going to have to have it together. We’re just going to have to be right from the start, score the points that we’re going to need and be running up front in the position to make it into the Round of 12.”

DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 GOOD SAM CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 17th
HOW WAS YOUR EVENING?
“It was okay. We’ve got some work to do. I think we were better than that, towards the end with the speed that we had. We were struggling a lot with the rear of the car. We will keep working to keep getting better.”

WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 19th
“We were just really bad. We finished seventh here in the spring and felt like we had something decent. We tweaked some stuff to try and get a little better. I think the best we got was we got to eleventh one time.”

“We just had a lack of grip. Some runs I could run with the 2 (Brad Keselowski) and the 12 (Ryan Blaney). Some runs I was way off the pace. I don’t know. I fought both; tight center at the start of the race. I thought we got some more drive in the car. I thought that was kind of making us faster, but that kind of ran out too.”

HOW DO YOU APPROACH BRISTOL?
“Just try to race hard and see if we can win it. That’s pretty much what we probably have to do.”

“Bristol is an OK track for me. I feel like we’ll have a much better car there. We just have to get there and race as hard as we can.”

DO YOU HAVE TO GO IN WITH THE MINDSET THAT YOU HAVE TO WIN?
“We just have to race as hard as we can, try to get as many stage points and see where we’re at.”

ERIK JONES, NO. 43 PETTY’S GARAGE CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 21st
“Decent day for us with the 43 Chevy. Cool to have the special 9/11 remembrance scheme on the car today. Lost the balance in the middle part of the race and just got a bit behind and couldn’t make it up from there. Looking forward to Bristol next week, my favorite place to go.”

KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 MONSTER ENERGY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Sidelined with left rear tire issue on Lap 40; Finished 37th.
KURT IS ALRIGHT AFTER THAT HARD HIT. DID YOU HAVE ANY WARNING THAT THE LEFT REAR TIRE WAS COMING OFF THE CAR BASICALLY?
“I was just impressed with our speed and the way we unloaded and (the speed) we had in that first 30-lap run. After the pit stop, something in the left rear wasn’t right. The guys said they got the tire tight. They made an adjustment and there was no rub and the left rear let go. I just radioed to them how loose the car was. Something happened with that left rear. It let go. It let go of our points and it let go of our whole season right now. I don’t know what we’re going to have to do at Bristol other than win.”

“Hats off to everybody at Ganassi. Family, I’m alright. But that left rear took off on me and now we’ve got to dig out of this hole and give it our best. Thanks to Monster. Thanks to Chevy and Ganassi. It kind of sucks.

Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.

About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, available in 79 countries with more than 3.2 million cars and trucks sold in 2020. Chevrolet models include electric and fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

Toyota Racing – NCS Richmond Post-Race Report – 09.11.21

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Official Release
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TRUEX ADVANCES IN PLAYOFFS WITH ANOTHER RICHMOND WIN
Joe Gibbs Racing drivers sweep the top-three positions.

RICHMOND, Va. (September 11, 2021) – Martin Truex Jr. scored his fourth win of the season in the Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond Raceway on Saturday evening. Truex, Denny Hamlin (second) and Christopher Bell (third) finished in the top-three positions. It was Toyota’s 12th top-three sweep in its Cup Series history, and first this season.

Toyota Post-Race Recap

NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Richmond Raceway
Race 28 of 36 – 400 laps, 300 miles

TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
2nd, DENNY HAMLIN
3rd, CHRISTOPHER BELL
4th, Chase Elliott*
5th, Joey Logano*
9th, KYLE BUSCH
32nd, BUBBA WALLACE
*non-Toyota driver

TOYOTA QUOTES

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

Finishing Position: 1st

With the stars and stripes on his car, 20th anniversary of 9/11, Martin says, This one means a lot. How about in front of these Richmond fans to win on the 20th anniversary, a big time for the team, as well, Martin?

“Yeah, it’s a big day. It’s an important day in our history. I think all of us here – yeah, we’re proud to win, and this car is amazing and there’s so many people to thank, but what a day to win on. It reminds you of the honor and the privilege it is to get to come out here and do this. All these great fans that come out here, we couldn’t do any of these kind of things without the men and women that take care of us and all the first responders, police officers, firefighters, the military, you name it. NASCAR is very patriotic and we’re very proud, and Johnny Morris is very patriotic; that’s why this thing is red, white and blue. So very proud of everybody to be able to do this today.”

How much of the finish of this night, finishing with the win, was about the start of this night and making up for that when you had to come down pit road right off the start?

“That was frustrating; I’m not going to lie. But I knew we’d have a good enough car to overcome it. It felt pretty good the first couple laps. Just one of those things; you’ve got to put it out of your mind and you’ve got to go race, and we knew there was a lot on the line tonight. Very happy to get to do this and go to Bristol without any worries next week is always fun.”

How good does it feel to win for the first time in a while?

“Yeah, it’s been a while. We talked last week about how much speed we’ve had in these things, and just thanks to all my guys and everybody at JGR, Toyota, TRD, Bass Pro, Auto Owners, Reser’s Fine Foods, Oakley, Textron, everybody that helps us. We couldn’t do it without them. Very lucky to get to do this, as I mentioned, and very proud to win here tonight.”

What a special night for you and the team, congratulations.

“Thank you. I’m really proud of this one. It’s a big day. 20 years ago, something big happened to us and I think for all of us here, we are really fortunate to get to this. I think we understand how lucky we are to live in the best country in the world. We are very proud. We are very patriotic. We are very much thinking about those that lost their lives 20 years ago and honestly all of our first responders, firefighters, police officers, men and women of the military, we couldn’t do this without any of those people. We are very lucky to live here. We are very lucky to get to do this. Obviously, winning is just icing on the cake.”

When did you know your racecar was good?

“I knew right away. The first three laps I ran and then had to go to the back. That was a tough one to swallow. I knew I wasn’t the control car, but I let the 11 (Denny Hamlin) nose out ahead a little bit there but then he spun the tires. What am I supposed to do there? Am I supposed to stop in front of the field? I don’t know. I think that was kind of a bad call, a bad decision because there is nothing I could do about it. Luckily, we were able to overcome it. When those things happen, that’s all you can do. Focus forward. These guys stuck with me. They didn’t get mad. We all just kept our cool and we were able to come home with a W.”

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

Finishing Position: 2nd

How many more laps did you need there?

Yeah, just a couple more. But our pit stops were a little slow there and we lost about two or three seconds, maybe four on pit road those two stops. We were coming, just we got off track with our car right there in the middle stages of the race, but overall Chris (Gabehart, crew chief) and the team made great adjustments there at the end on the FedEx Camry, just needed a couple more laps, that’s all.”

Do you feel like you guys are back on track where you want to be?

Well, it’s go time now. Ultimately it’s the time where you’ve got to bring your best. All JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) team had fast cars for all of us today, and we just — I really wish we would have got two in a row, but regardless, still a great day for our team.”

Can you describe you evening?

“Just two more laps. That’s really what I needed. We got a little bit off track with our car in the middle of the race, but there in the end, we definitely made the right adjustments and was coming, just a little bit too late.”

CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 DEWALT Salute First Responders Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 3rd

Were you pretty happy with it by the end of it?

“Yeah, I mean, I think obviously all of our Joe Gibbs Racing cars were extremely fast, so hats off to everyone back there at the job, Toyota, TRD that gives us the resources that we need to come out here and do good. We knew going into Richmond that this is one of our better racetracks, so we needed to capitalize on that and get all the points we could. Really proud of everyone on this DeWalt Camry. They worked hard. The start of the race was a little bit disappointing to give up stage points in Stage 1, but we did good; we got some points there in Stage 2 and got a good finish out of it.”

How do you feel about your points position going into Bristol?

“Yeah, I feel good about it, and Bristol is a really good racetrack for our company and me. It’s just you can get caught up in stuff so easily at Bristol. It’s nice to have a buffer and hopefully we can go to Bristol and have an uneventful event.”

How was your car tonight?

“I think we were the bottom of the four (Joe Gibbs Racing cars), which was disappointing, but still a third-place run. It’s funny I was telling you how good our cars were and it seemed like we were going to run 1-2-3-4 there. I don’t know what happened to Kyle (Busch) there, but really, really good day for Joe Gibbs Racing as a company and for us with this DeWalt Toyota Pristine Auction car. Hopefully, that got us a little bit of points gain going into next week.”

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: Logano, Harvick and Blaney Finish Top 10 in Richmond

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Official Release
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Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series — Federated Auto Parts 400
Richmond Raceway | Saturday, September 11, 2021

FORD FINISHING RESULTS
5th — Joey Logano
8th — Kevin Harvick
10th — Ryan Blaney
13th — Brad Keselowski
14th — Aric Almirola
16th — Chase Briscoe
18th — Matt DiBenedetto
20th — Ryan Newman
22nd — Cole Custer
24th — Chris Buescher
26th — Anthony Alfredo
28th — Michael McDowell
30th — B.J. McLeod
36th — Josh Bilicki

JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang — “That’s about where we were — a fifth-place car. Maybe sometimes a little better, sometimes a little worse depending on the kind of run. I’d say we averaged out as the fifth car and that’s where we finished. We got some good points. I think we were third in the first stage and fifth in the second and a fifth finish, so that’s some good points. I don’t know where that’s gonna stack the Shell/Pennzoil Mustang up in the playoff standings, but it should put us in a decent spot going into Bristol next week. That’s what it’s all about right now. It’s about being solid and getting every point, so we’re getting them. We’re doing what we’ve got to do. We’re grinding them out, but had nothing for the Gibbs cars tonight.”

RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Advance Auto Parts Ford Mustang — “From the spring race here I thought we could run right there and we ran 11th in the spring. I thought we figured some stuff out and we worked a little bit more on it, so we got some stage points and had a couple runs that were bad, a couple runs where we got better and better, and at the end we were able to pass a handful of cars to get home 10th. I’m proud of the team. Thanks to Advance Auto Parts and Ford and Menards for sticking in. I had fun tonight. I actually had a lot of fun tonight. That was fun. September 2021 I had fun at Richmond. It’s cool to be in a nice spot going into Bristol. I’m just proud of the whole group all night.”

DO YOU GO TO BRISTOL COMFORTABLE? “I think just have a normal race, just go out and run a normal race like we did tonight and work on our car all night. That’s how we have to approach it and I think we can do that.”

HOW WOULD YOU BREAK DOWN YOUR RACE? “I thought it was a good night for us. I thought we made big gains here and we finished 10th. That’s pretty good. I’m proud of the whole group. Leaving Richmond with more points above the cut line than where we entered is always nice. We were in a lot worse spot leaving here last year, so it’s nice to have a good run.”

ARIC ALMIROLA, No. 10 Smithfield/Tuesday’s Children Ford Mustang — “We didn’t have a race-winning car, but I thought we could have run fifth to eighth, so I’m a little frustrated but it’s a team sport and we’ll go to Bristol and keep fighting.”

DO YOU FEEL ENCOURAGED AT THE 750 TRACKS? “Yeah, I think we’re competitive. We’re in the hunt. Like I said, today we should have ran fifth to eighth. We had a loose lugnut and I had to pit again under green, and then got us behind. I don’t know where we finished. I think we finished 14th instead of sixth or seventh, which is about where we were running, so frustrating that we gave up those points. This situation we can’t really give up any points. It would have been a lot nicer to go to Bristol plus 12 instead of plus three or four, but it is what it is. It’s no big deal. We’ve got to put our head down and go race. It’s the same situation. We’ve just got to go racing and score as many points as we can. You just hate to five up six, seven, eight points.”

BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 2 Western Star Ford Mustang — “It’s not the day we wanted with our Western Star Ford. I’m really proud of the pit crew. They kept us in the game all night.”

WHAT DID YOU THINK OF YOUR RACE? “Disappointing day. Didn’t have any speed. Just ran a whole race and didn’t really make any mistakes, but that’s all we had. I was hoping this was going to be a big day for us, but we never really showed any strength.”

YOU’RE PLUS-13 OVER THE CUT LINE FOR BRISTOL. “That’s not great, but it’s better than being behind. It could be worse but obviously could be better.”

MICHAEL MCDOWELL, No. 34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford Mustang — “Just another missed opportunity. We’re just making too many mistakes. We sped on pit road. The first time I thought, ‘Maybe it was close.’ And then I sped on my sped and it was not close, so obviously we missed the configuration on the lights, and then I backed it down again and still sped again. It’s unfortunate. Everybody did a really good job. We actually had good speed. We had a fast Love’s Travel Stops Ford Mustang and we just lost all those laps with penalties and unfortunately I didn’t adjust enough or quick enough. I thought I knocked enough speed off, but obviously it wasn’t enough. It’s really unfortunate.”

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