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Monster Energy Racing: Riley Herbst Road America NXS Race Report

By
Official Release
-
The Henry 180 NASCAR Xfinity Series race takes place on Saturday, August 8th at Road America.

Herbst Finishes Seventh at Road America
Monster Energy Driver Secures Fifth Top-10 of Season

Date: July 3, 2021
Event: Henry 180 (Round 17 of 33)
Series: NASCAR Xfinity Series
Location: Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin (4.048-mile, 14-turn road course)
Format: 45 laps, broken into three stages (10 laps/10 laps/25 laps)
Start/Finish: 34th / 7th (Running, completed 45 of 45 laps)
Point Standing: 14th (373 points, 348 out of first)
Race Winner: Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 1 Winner: A.J. Allmendinger of Kaulig Racing (Chevrolet)
Stage 2 Winner: A.J. Allmendinger of Kaulig Racing (Chevrolet)

Overview:

Despite a rough start to the race weekend at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, Riley Herbst and the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford team for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) persevered for a seventh-place finish in Saturday’s Henry 180. The No. 98 team was forced to start at the rear after switching to a backup car following a spin in Friday’s practice session. In an effort to save tires for the race, the team opted to only make one run during qualifying since it would have to start at the rear, regardless. When the green flag waved for today’s race, Herbst spared no time in his march forward. By lap five, the Las Vegas Native had broken into the top-20. When the caution flag waved with only four laps to go in Stage 1, the No. 98 Monster Energy crew kept its driver out on track to try and earn valuable stage points. The strategy paid off as Herbst finished the stage 10th. Herbst restarted the second stage 19th after making a pit stop for four tires and fuel. The 22-year-old driver once again made his way forward to end up 10th in the second stage. When the final stage got underway on lap 22, Herbst restarted eighth and broke into the top-five just one lap later. He continued to stay near the front until the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang was called to the pits under a lap-27 caution, in keeping with the team’s strategy. With one set of tires and plenty of racing to go, the team made the call on lap 35 to bring Herbst down pit road one final time for four fresh tires and to fill up on fuel. The Monster Energy driver’s seventh-place finish is his fifth top-10 of the season.

Riley Herbst, driver of the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

“Yeah, we were definitely better than yesterday. It was cool coming from the back. I definitely feel like we had a top-five car, it just took a little too long getting through traffic there at the end and finishing seventh. We’ll take it, with a couple stage points, finishing in seventh place. All in all, it was a good day.”

Notes:

● Herbst finished 10th in Stage 1 to earn one bonus point, and 10th in Stage 2 to earn an additional one bonus point.

● Kyle Busch won the Henry 180 to earn his 101st career victory, his fourth of the season and his first at Road America. His margin over second-place Daniel Hemric was 3.522 seconds.

● There were seven caution periods for a total of 11 laps.

● Twenty-seven of the 36 drivers in the Henry 180 finished on the lead lap.

● Austin Cindric remains the championship leader after Road America with an 89-point advantage over second-place A.J. Allmendinger.

Next Up:

The next event on the Xfinity Series schedule is the Credit Karma Money 250 on Saturday, July 10 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton. The race starts at 3:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBCSN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Henry Repeating Arms Racing: Kevin Harvick Road America NXS Race Report

By
Official Release
-
The Henry 180 NASCAR Xfinity Series race takes place on Saturday, August 8th at Road America.

Harvick Finishes Sixth in Henry 180
Driver of Henry Repeating Arms Ford Mustang Maintains Top-10 Road-Course Streak

Date: July 3, 2021
Event: Henry 180 (Round 17 of 33)
Series: NASCAR Xfinity Series
Location: Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin (4.048-mile, 14-turn road course)
Format: 45 laps, broken into three stages (10 laps/10 laps/25 laps)
Start/Finish: 20th / 6th (Running, completed 45 of 45 laps)
Race Winner: Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 1 Winner: A.J. Allmendinger of Kaulig Racing (Chevrolet)
Stage 2 Winner: A.J. Allmendinger of Kaulig Racing (Chevrolet)

Overview:

It was another NASCAR Xfinity Series race on a road course and another top-10 finish for Kevin Harvick. The driver of the No. 99 Henry Repeating Arms Ford Mustang for B.J. McLeod Motorsports finished sixth in the Henry 180 Saturday at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. It preserved Harvick’s unblemished streak of top-10s on road courses in the Xfinity Series, as the two-time Xfinity Series champion has never finished worse than seventh in 13 career road-course starts. Saturday’s drive around the 4.048-mile, 14-turn road course roughly 60 miles north of Milwaukee was no walk in the park, despite Road America seemingly being located inside a state park. Harvick’s Ford Mustang was loose into the corners and tight in the middle of the turns. Yet despite starting 20th, he rose to as high as third for a lap-30 restart. Smart pit strategy, tenacious driving and the ability to keep his Henry Repeating Arms machine on track allowed Harvick to outlast many of his competitors to earn his 261st top-10 in 348 career Xfinity Series starts.

Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 99 Henry Repeating Arms Ford Mustang:

“I was way off as far as racecraft and what I needed to do on the starts and restarts into turn one. I just was kind of going throughout the whole race not having a lot of help from the spotters stand just because you can’t really hear ‘em, so there was a lot of racecraft stuff that I was way off on. We got better as we went through the race. They did a good job on pit road and calling the race and probably should’ve finished third or fourth there, but I dinged it all up not getting a good restart there at the end.”

Notes:

● Kyle Busch won the Henry 180 to score his 101st career Xfinity Series victory, his fourth of the season and his first at Road America. His margin over second-place Daniel Hemric was 3.522 seconds.

● There were seven caution periods for a total of 11 laps.

● Twenty-seven of the 36 drivers in the Henry 180 finished on the lead lap.

● Austin Cindric remains the championship leader after Road America with an 89-point advantage over second-place A.J. Allmendinger.

Next Up:

The next event on the Xfinity Series schedule is the Credit Karma Money 250 on Saturday, July 10 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The race starts at 3:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBCSN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Harvick’s next Xfinity Series race comes Aug. 14 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

Kyle Busch conquers Road America for 101st Xfinity Series win

By
Andrew Kim
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ELKHART LAKE, WISCONSIN - JULY 03: Kyle Busch, driver of the #54 M&M's Ice Cream Toyota, takes the checkered flag to win the NASCAR Xfinity Series Henry 180 at Road America on July 03, 2021 in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images).

The streak of different winners at Road America in the NASCAR Xfinity Series was extended to a 12th season as Kyle Busch rallied from an early spin to win the Henry 180 on Saturday, July 3, after leading the final five laps of the event. The victory also extended Busch’s winning streak in this year’s Xfinity Series season to four wins in four starts along with achieving his 101st series victory.

Qualifying occurred on Saturday, July 3, with rookie Ty Gibbs recording his first Xfinity career pole after logging a pole-winning lap at 107.532 mph. Joining him on the front row was Austin Cindric, winner of last weekend’s event at Pocono Raceway and the reigning Xfinity winner at Road America.

Prior to the event, Noah Gragson (engine change) and Riley Herbst (backup car) dropped to the rear of the field along with Brett Moffit, Natalie Decker and Ryan Ellis (unapproved adjustments).

When the green flag waved and the race commenced, the entire field battled dead even entering the first turn until at the front, Gibbs was able to squeak ahead of Cindric and AJ Allmendinger through the Turn 2 straightaway and past the third right-hand turn. 

Through Turn 3, the Turn 4 straightaway and the fifth left-hand turn, Gibbs retained the lead while Allmendinger bolted his way into the runner-up spot over Cindric, who was in front of Daniel Hemric, Kyle Busch, Justin Allgaier and Jeb Burton. Behind, Kaz Grala went wide in Turn 5 after locking up his brakes.

From the left-hand Turn 5 through the right-hand Turn 14, the field settled in a competitive, single-file line with Gibbs still leading Allmendinger and Cindric.

When the entire field returned to the start/finish line following 14 turns, Gibbs led the first lap followed by Allmendinger, Cindric, Busch and Hemric.

After leading the first two laps, Gibbs was overtaken by Allmendinger, a former winner at Road America.

On the fifth lap, the first caution of the event was displayed when Spencer Pumpelly, driving the No. 6 Chevrolet Camaro for JD Motorsports, spun in Turn 14 following a bump from Brandon Brown and got stuck in the gravel trap.

Under caution, multiple names like Kyle Busch, Gibbs, Hemric, Justin Allgaier, Andy Lally, Brandon Jones, Harrison Burton, Ryan Sieg, Preston Pardus, Brett Moffitt, Myatt Snider, Josh Williams and Alex Labbe pitted for four fresh tires.

The race restarted on the eighth lap as Allmendinger retained the lead over Cindric, Jeb Burton, Haley, Gragson, Annett and the field through the first three turns. Then in Turn 3, Kyle Busch spun into the grass following contact from Allgaier, though he was able to continue without any serious damage. Not long after, Gibbs was assessed a penalty for changing lanes during the restart.

With the field continuing to battle for positioning around every turn, Allmendinger cruised to the first stage victory on Lap 10 as he claimed his fourth stage victory of the season. Cindric settled in second followed by Jeb Burton, Haley and Gragson. Gibbs crossed the start/finish line in sixth, but he was discredited from earning any stage points as a result of his restart violation. The move promoted Hemric to sixth followed by Allgaier, Annett, Josh Bilicki and Riley Herbst.

Under the stage break, most of the leaders led by Allmendinger pitted while others led by Cindric and Gragson remained on the track.

The second stage started on Lap 12 with Cindric and Gragson restarting on the front row. At the start, Cindric peaked ahead briefly, but Hemric made a move to the outside of Cindric’s No. 22 Menards/Richmond Ford Mustang to take the lead through the first turn. Through the first three corners, the Turn 4 straightaway and the left-hand Turn 5, Hemric and his No. 18 Poppy Bank Toyota Supra remained out in front while the field jumbled up while battling for positioning.

Shortly after, the caution returned for a hard accident involving Sam Mayer and Preston Pardus. 

When the race restarted on Lap 15, Allgaier took over the top spot over Hemric, where he led the following two laps. Then, Allmendinger moved back to the front of the field.

With a series of battles occurring around the road course, Allmendinger, like he did in the first stage, was able to pull away and win the second stage on Lap 20, thus claiming his fifth stage victory of the season. Allgaier settled in second followed by Hemric, Haley, Busch, Jones, Gibbs, Cindric, Harrison Burton and Herbst. Moments before he crossed the start/finish line, Busch went off the track through the straightaway between Turns 11 and 12 as he kicked up dirt before continuing without serious damage.

Under the stage break, the leaders pitted as Allgaier inherited the lead. Following the pit stops, Allmendinger was penalized due to his crew members jumping over the pit wall early, thus sending Allmendinger to the rear of the field.

With 23 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Allgaier and Kyle Busch restarted on the front row. At the start, Allgaier was able to prevail over Busch to remain as the leader. With the field fanning out through the first two turns, Allgaier led Busch through the first three turns, the Turn 4 straightaway, the left-hand turns in 5 and 6, a brief straightaway in Turns 7 and 8, a long right-hand turn in 9 and 10, a long straightaway from Turn 10 to 12 and a pair of turns in 13 and 14 before returning to the start/finish line. 

The following lap, Allgaier continued to lead, but he had Cindric closing in for the lead entering the first turn after Cindric overtook Kyle Busch for the runner-up spot. Then, through the second turn, Cindric made a move to the right of Allgaier’s No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro. Following a side-by-side battle through the straightaway and under the Sargento bridge, Cindric returned to the lead.

With 20 laps remaining, Cindric was leading by more than four seconds over Gragson, with Allgaier being pressed by Busch and Gibbs for more. Haley was in sixth followed by Herbst, Hemric, Jones and Jeb Burton. 

A lap later, the caution returned for a harrowing accident involving Spencer Pumpelly, who lost his brakes entering the first turn, spun through the gravel trap and plowed into the tire barriers, where the rear end of his No. 6 Chevrolet Camaro ended up on top of the barriers. 

Under caution, nearly the entire field pitted while names like Brandon Jones, teammate Harrison Burton, Harvick, Josh Bilicki and Cody Ware remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Hemric was penalized due to a crew member jumping over the pit wall too soon.

With 16 laps remaining, the race restarted. At the start, Jones retained the lead over teammate Harrison Burton, Harvick and the field through the first three turns, the Turn 3 and 4 straightaway and through the left-hand fifth turn.

The following lap and after navigating his way through the 14-turn circuit, Jones continued to lead followed by Harrison Burton and Cindric, who started to close in on Burton for more. After leading through the first four turns,, Jones locked up the brakes entering Turn 5 in front of Cindric, forcing Cindric to crossover to the left of Harrison Burton and Jones through the fifth turn. After going three wide with Burton and Jones, Cindric reassumed the lead entering the sixth turn.

With Cindric out in front, Harrison Burton remained in second place. A lap later, Allgaier and Gibbs moved up the leaderboard followed by Gragson while Jones slipped back to sixth. Meanwhile, Kyle Busch was in eighth in front of Allmendinger.

Then, through Turns 12 and 13, Gibbs moved up into second place followed by Allgaier and Gragson while Harrison Burton fell back to fifth. Behind, Kyle Busch and Allmendinger moved up to sixth and seventh.

A few laps later, Jeb Burton and Brandon Jones spun in Turn 14, but the race remained under green as both plummeted on the leaderboard.

With 11 laps remaining, Harrison Burton brought his No. 20 Dex Imaging Toyota Supra to pit road for service. Shortly after, the caution returned when Gibbs, who was running in the runner-up spot, came to a stop under the Corvette bridge in Turn 6 following a transmission failure to his No. 81 Monster Energy Toyota Supra, an issue that eliminated him from race-winning contention.

Under caution, some led by Cindric pitted while the rest led by Gragson remained on the track.

Down to the final eight laps, the race restarted under green as Gragson and Allmendinger started on the front row. At the start, Gragson jumped ahead with the lead followed by Kaulig Racing’s Haley and Allmendinger through the first turn. 

Then, the caution returned when Snider made contact with Harrison Burton, spun and made light contact with the wall through the Turn 2 straightaway. Snider’s incident resulted in ensuing chaos behind as Cody Ware, Kris Wright and Natalie Decker wrecked and knocked down a number of advertising billboards through the Turn 2 straight In the midst of the incident, Cindric and Allgaier sustained damage to their respective machines, forcing both to pit under caution.

With six laps remaining, the race restarted as Gragson and Haley started on the front row. At the start, Gragson received a bump from Allmendinger to retain the lead over Haley through the first three turns and through Turn 5. With Gragson’s No. 9 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro leading, Kyle Busch bolted his No. 54 M&M’s Ice Cream Toyota Supra into third place entering Turn 3 as he then challenged Allmendinger for the runner-up spot through Turns 5 and 6. 

Then in Turn 8, Allmendinger made his move beneath Gragson and made contact with Gragson before he moved his No. 16 Hyperice Chevrolet Camaro back into the lead followed by Busch. Gragson, meanwhile, fell back to third in front of Haley, Harrison Burton and the field. 

The following lap and with five laps remaining, Busch made his move beneath Allmendinger entering the first turn and made contact with Allmendinger, which gave Busch the advantage through the Turn 2 straightaway and Turn 3 to take the lead. From there, Busch started to pull away from the field.

When the field returned to the start/finish line, Busch was leading by nearly a second over Allmendinger, with Gragson, Michael Annett and Haley in the top five. Jones and Harrison Burton followed in pursuit along with Harvick, Hemric and Herbst. Way behind the leaders, a multi-car wreck occurred in Turn 12, involving Ryan Sieg, Josh Bilicki, Ryan Ellis and Brett Moffitt. Despite the incident and the damage, the race proceeded under green.

The following lap, Jones went off the track in Turn 1, but the race remained under green. By then, Busch extended his advantage to more than two seconds over Allmendinger.

Down to the final two laps of the event, Busch remained out in front by more than two seconds over Allmendinger, who had Annett and Hemric closing in for the runner-up spot. Behind, Harrison Burton challenged Gragson for fifth place while Harvick was in seventh.

When the final lap of the event started, Busch was the leader by more than three seconds. Behind, Annett and Hemric were in second and third after both passed Allmendinger, who was struggling with grip, through Turns 13 and 14. Not long after, Hemric moved into the runner-up spot in Turn 3.

Back out in front, Busch continued to set sail with a comfortable advantage. With no pressure occurring in front of him and behind, Busch was able to navigate his way through the 14-turn circuit and climb up the road hill from Turn 14 to streak across the finish line and take the checkered flag for the win.

With his victory, Busch is four-for-four in this year’s Xfinity Series season as he claimed his first triumph at Road America and extended his all-time lead in Xfinity Series victories to 101. He also recorded the first Xfinity win for crew chief Mark McFarland, with McFarland and Joe Gibbs Racing’s ARCA team assisting Busch’s efforts to the Xfinity win.

With his Xfinity Series plans for the future uncertain now that he has achieved 100+ victories, Busch is scheduled to run his fifth and final series event of the season next weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

“Obviously, tires, that was the saving grace for us,” Busch said on NBC. “We had tires left over. [Allmendinger] didn’t. When we came in to put them tires on, I wasn’t sure we were gonna be able to get through that many cars, but man, I don’t know what happened the last couple restarts. Just melee at the start going down the straight. I couldn’t see what was happening. Then, there was a wreck between [Turns] 2 and 3, and was just fortunate to be on the right side in order to get by that stuff and get through that stuff without too much damage to our race car. Obviously, it was neat to have the opportunity to run this race today, get ready for tomorrow. Hopefully, tomorrow will look a lot like this day.”

Hemric settled in the runner-up spot for the ninth time in his Xfinity Series career while Annett picked up his first top-five result of the season with a strong third-place effort.

Allmendinger, who was aiming to become the first repeat winner in the Xfinity Series event at Road America, settled in fourth place while Harrison Burton finished in the top five.

Harvick, Herbst, Cindric, Gragson and Haley finished in the top 10.

Allgaier finished 12th, Jeb Burton came home in 14th, Kaz Grala settled in 18th in front of Brandon Jones and Snider ended up in 23rd behind Ryan Sieg. Ty Gibbs, following his late transmission issue, ended up 33rd.

There were 12 lead changes for eight different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 11 laps.

With an eighth-place run, Austin Cindric continues to lead the regular-season standings by 89 points over AJ Allmendinger as third-place Daniel Hemric trails by 105 points.

Results.

1. Kyle Busch, five laps led

2. Daniel Hemric, three laps led

3. Michael Annett

4. AJ Allmendinger, 12 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

5. Harrison Burton

6. Kevin Harvick

7. Riley Herbst

8. Austin Cindric, 10 laps led

9. Noah Gragson, four laps led

10. Justin Haley

11. Brandon Brown

12. Justin Allgaier, five laps led

13. Andy Lally

14. Jeb Burton

15. Tommy Joe Martins

16. Preston Pardus

17. Josh Williams

18. Kaz Grala

19. Brandon Jones, four laps led

20. Timmy Hill

21. Alex Labbe

22. Ryan Sieg

23. Myatt Snider

24. Cody Ware

25. Kris Wright

26. Stephen Leicht

27. Landon Cassill

28. Jeremy Clements, one lap down

29. Josh Bilicki – OUT, Accident

30. Ryan Ellis – OUT, Accident

31. Brett Moffitt – OUT, Accident

32. Natalie Decker – OUT, Accident

33. Ty Gibbs – OUT, Transmission, two laps led

34. Jade Buford – OUT, Suspension

35. Sam Mayer – OUT, Accident

36. Spencer Pumpelly – OUT, Accident

Next on the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is Atlanta Motor Speedway. The event will occur on Saturday, July 10, at 3 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

Toyota Racing – NXS Road America Post-Race Report – 07.03.21

By
Official Release
-
The Henry 180 NASCAR Xfinity Series race takes place on Saturday, August 8th at Road America.

KYLE BUSCH SCORES 101st XFINITY SERIES WIN
Busch earns 200th Toyota victory with his win.

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (July 3, 2021) – Kyle Busch led Toyota on Saturday at Road America winning his 101st Xfinity Series race followed closely by his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Daniel Hemric in second. With the win Busch earned his 200th victory with Toyota. He has 55 Cup wins, 90 Xfinity Series victories and 55 Truck Series wins with Toyota.

Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Road America
Race 17 of 33 – 182.160 miles, 45 laps

TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, KYLE BUSCH
2nd, DANIEL HEMRIC
3rd, Michael Annett*
4th, AJ Allmendinger*
5th, HARRISON BURTON
13th, ANDY LALLY
19th, BRANDON JONES
20th, TIMMY HILL
25th, KRIS WRIGHT
26th, STEPHEN LEICHT
30th, RYAN ELLIS
33rd, TY GIBBS
*non-Toyota driver

TOYOTA QUOTES

KYLE BUSCH, No. 54 M&M’s Ice Cream Toyota Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 1st

After two off track excursions, how did you get it done on that last run?

“Obviously tires, you know, that was the saving grace for us. We had tires left over and the 16 (AJ Allmendinger) didn’t and when we came and put tires on, I wasn’t sure we were going to be able to get through that many cars. But man, not sure what happend on those last couple of restarts, just a malay on the start going down the straightaways and I really couldn’t see what was happening. There was a wreck between two and three and we were fortunate to be on the right side in order to get through that stuff without too much damage to our race car. Can’t say enugh about M&M’s Ice Cream, go get some cookie sandwiches to celebrate 4th of July this weekend. It’ll cool you right off. Thanks to M&M’s of course, a lot of people to thank. Mark McFarland (crew chief) and the ARCA team, they came and helped me this weekend, so winning with those guys and then Chris Gayle, all the Xfinity Series shop, all those guys and girls that help prepare all these cars. This was a fifth entry, so that’s a lot. Also, this might sound weird, but Joe Nemechek and John Hunter. They’ll know why. Obviously it was really unique to have the opportunity to run this race today and prepare for tomorrow. I hate I tore up my Cup car, but I think we’ll still be fast and hopefully tomorrow will look a lot like this day.”

You said pre-race that it was going to be a challenge today and here you are in Victory Lane. Connect the dots for me.

“Well, I was right. It was a challenge. It was just a different kind of challenge. Thankfully we had that set of tires there at the end and that was kind of our saving grace. The 16 (AJ Allmendinger) and the 22 (Austin Cindric) getting the damage, the 7 (Justin Allgaier) getting damage, so it kind of fell in my lap a little bit, but we still had a fast racecar. This M&M’s Ice Cream Supra was awesome. Thanks to all of these guys. Thanks to everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing, especially the Xfinity shop, Mark McFarland (crew chief), the guys here that helped me this weekend to get this car here to make it possible to run five. That’s a lot on a team, an organization. I appreciate that and Coy (Gibbs) to do that. I also want to say thanks to Joe Nemechek and John Hunter Nemechek, they helped me to be able to get some laps here and get prepped a couple of weeks ago. Just also want to say hey to Brexton (Busch, son) and Samantha (Busch, wife). I wish Brexton good luck tonight. Hopefully he can bring home a win too.”

Is there a fun factor coming to a place like this?

“When you figure it out and you win, yeah, its fun, but other than that it’s a challenge. Every time you get into the next corner, you have to be up to that next challenge, that next corner. I blew the kink again in this car and about wadded it up, but I was able to hold on to it and be able to work through the rest of the day. Everybody on pit road did good pit stops. Strategy worked our way, so it’s cool to get here in victory lane. Thanks to M&M’s, Rowdy Energy, Toyota, and we will see what we can do tomorrow.”

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

Finishing Position: 2nd

What did you need there in the closing laps?

“Just a yellow or something to close the gap. I thought we did a pretty good job taking care of it – clean racecar, fresh tires – when we had the opportunity to take care of it throughout the race. For whatever reason, the holes didn’t quite go the way I thought they were going to go and some of them closed, and I lost too much time to Kyle (Busch) there to make it up. I gave it all I had – tongue hanging out at the last five, six, seven laps trying to get to the point where I at least had a shot at it. I’m really proud of everyone at Poppy Bank. I’m really proud of everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing for an incredible Camry, not Camry – Supra. I would like to drive a Camry one day. I say that and the fender is knocked in on this thing – makes it look like a Camry. I’ve had a ton of fun racing with these guys this year, and they hate running second. No one hates it more than I do, especially as many times as it has happened. We are doing the right things. We just have to continue to execute, and we will have our day.”

This is your ninth runner-up finish in the Xfinity Series. What’s it going to take to take that next step?

“We just have to stop handicapping ourselves whenever that final stage is. I thought we got over that with our stage two. I thought we were setting ourselves up where we weren’t at least starting from the tail and then we had the penalty with the mistiming with jumping over the wall and we got a penalty. We started the last two runs from the back and that’s the difference from being an extra row or two on the restart, the way things funneled in here. If you don’t get the pass done, it cost you a lap as crazy as that sounds and that is what happened. If I could have cleared those guys a lap or two sooner, that would have at least given me the opportunity to have a clean racetrack. We had newer tires than he did, it was just track position. I’m proud of everyone on this Poppy Bank Toyota Supra team. They’ve done an incredible job.”

HARRISON BURTON, No. 20 DEX Imaging Toyota Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 5th

A tough couple of races the last handful of races, but a top five today. What does this top five mean for you and the team moving forward?

“I mean, gosh, we’ve been fast. Really we’ve been fast enough to win the last two or three weeks and I’ll screw it up and this weekend, we were never fast enough to win and we got a better finish. Racing is like that. Some days the days you expect to win you don’t even finish and the days you expect to finish 10th, you finish fifth. I need to go to work a little bit. I think our DEX Imaging Supra could have used some work as well. I said earlier I felt like I was a top three, top four, five road course guy in the beginning of the year, and now I feel like everybody else has either gotten better or I’ve gotten worse. I don’t know, but I’ve got to go to work a little bit, but that’s part of learning. That’s what makes this series awesome, is everyone is always getting better and better and better. Just got to go to work and try to be the best I can be.”

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 community, civic, academic and governmental organizations to address our society’s most pressing mobility challenges. We believe that when people are free to move, anything is possible. For more information about Toyota, visit www.toyotanewsroom.com.

Ford Performance NASCAR: Road America (Trio of Mustangs Finish Top-10 at Road America)

By
Official Release
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The Henry 180 NASCAR Xfinity Series race takes place on Saturday, August 8th at Road America.

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Xfinity Series — Henry 180
Road America | Saturday, July 3, 2021

FORD FINISHING RESULTS
6th – Kevin Harvick
7th – Riley Herbst
8th – Austin Cindric
22nd – Ryan Sieg

KEVIN HARVICK, No. 99 Henry Repeating Arms Ford Mustang (Finished 6th) — “I was way off as far as racecraft and what I needed to do on the starts and restarts into Turn 1. I just was kind of going throughout the whole race not having a lot of help from the spotters stand just because you can’t really hear ‘em. So there was a lot of racecraft stuff that I was way off on. We got better as we went through the race. They did a good job on pit road and calling the race and probably should have finished 3rd or 4th there but I dinged it all up not getting a good restart there at the end.”

RILEY HERBST, No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang (Finished 7th) — “Yeah, we were definitely better than yesterday. It was cool coming from the back. I definitely feel like we had a top-five car, it just took a little too long getting through traffic there at the end and finishing 7th. We will take it, with a couple stage points, finishing 7th place. All in all, it was a good day.”

AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 22 Menards/Richmond Ford Mustang (Finished 8th) — “You can’t win ‘em all. Our guys brought a really fast Menards Richmond Ford Mustang. Sometimes it works out for you and sometimes it doesn’t. Today was one of those days. It just wasn’t meant to be. If they gave out an award for cars passed, we would handily have that. I am not sure there is a corner on this car that doesn’t have damage. I appreciate the hard work by everybody. We had a decent points day and we will move on.”

WHEN YOU CAME TO PIT FROM THE LEAD BEFORE THE LAST RESTART AND SAW NEARLY EVERYONE ELSE PIT, WHAT WAS GOING THROUGH YOUR MIND? “It was obviously the strategy to win the race. It is how the 54 won the race. I got a good restart and put a row of guys behind me before I even got to Turn 1 and thought I was in the right spot. The 2 just went off the track and collected a bunch of cars. I had to check up and got a bunch of rear-end damage and caused a tire rub which caused the tire to go down. I had to run on an old tire the rest of the race and still drove from last to wherever we finished. Not ideal, but it could be worse.”

CHEVROLET NTT INDYCAR SERIES-MID-OHIO: JOSEF NEWGARDEN PUTS CHEVY ON THE POLE

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Official Release
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CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES
HONDA INDY 200 AT MID-OHIO
MID-OHIO SPORTS CAR COURSE IN LEXINGTON, OHIO
TEAM CHEVY POST RACE RECAP – WITH QUOTES
JOSEF NEWGARDEN PUTS CHEVY ON POLE
JULY 3, 2021

LEXINGTON, OHIO (July 3, 2021) For the third consecutive race and the 14th time in his career, Josef Newgarden will lead the NTT INDYCAR Series field to the green flag powered by a Chevrolet 2.2 liter V6 twin turbo direct injected engine.

The two-time champion grabbed the NTT P1 Award by a mere three-thousands of a second behind the wheel of the No 2 XPEL Team Penske Chevrolet.

Teammate Will Power, No .12 Verizon 5G Chevrolet, joined Newgarden in the Firestone Fast Six. The former champion, and Indianapolis 500 winner will roll off from fourth on the grid for the 80-lap race on the 2.258-mile 13 turn natural terrain Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

The remaining Team Chevy drivers qualified as follows:
11th Rinus Veekay, No. 21 Sonax AutoGeek Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet
12th Sebastien Bourdais, No. 14 Rokit AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet
13th Felix Rosenqvist, No. 7 Vuse Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet
14th Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet
15th Simon Pagenaud, No. 22 Menards Team Penske Chevrolet
17th Max Chilton, No. 59 Gallagher Carlin Chevrolet
20th Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet
21st Dalton Kellett, No. 4 K-Line Insulators AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet
24th Conor Daly, No. 20 U.S. Air Force Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet

Colton Herta will start alongside Newgarden. Marcus Ericsson, Scott Dixon and Alexander Rossi completed the Firestone Fast Six qualifying field.

NBC will telecast the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio live at noon ET Sunday, July 4. The 80-lap/180.6-mile race will 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:

JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 2 XPEL TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, POLE WINNER: That was a little tighter than I wanted it to be. I about fell apart the second half of that lap. I opened the lap really well. The car has been on rails right out of the box. I am really proud of the team. Obviously thanks to this whole group here. Everyone at Team Penske has been on it! We’ve had some troubles the last couple weeks securing a win, but I can’t ask much different. They are doing everything they need to do to win these races. Excited to have another chance with a really great car. Team Chevy keeps doing a great job for us.. It’s good to have XPEL on the car. They’ve been a great partner for us the last couple of years. There is an anniversary! I didn’t know this coming into it. This is the 50th year today for Team Penske and Roger Penske scoring the first win for the organization with Mark Donohue. I was thinking of how cool it is to be in the car here racing today. Every now and then you have moments where you reflect that you are actually doing this. It’s so cool It’s a dream to drive for Roger and this entire group. So proud of everybody. Hopefully we can seal one off tomorrow—that’s what we need to do!

“I knew the third lap would be the money lap on used red tires. I opened the lap really well and then started losing time in Turn Four, all the way to the line. I was just trying to keep it together – Tim (Cindric) was telling me exactly what we needed and we got it. Really proud of everyone, the car looks good and it’s fast, and Team Chevy has done a great job so we just need to keep it together tomorrow. We need a good, clean day and I think we have the car to do that, and I know we’re capable. You have the curse of wanting to do well and get a good result when you know you’re capable as a team, but I’ve been racing long enough to see the ebbs and flows and I know that if we keep doing what we’re doing, it will come.

“There’s a lot of respect for Honda as our competitor, here at one of their home races. You want to have a good battle with someone who pushes you and they push us as hard as you can push. I’m proud to be backed by Chevrolet: every one of my INDYCAR wins has come with Chevrolet engine power so I’m pretty comfortable with where I’m at. I’m looking forward to putting them on top tomorrow.”

RINUS VEEKAY, NO. 21 SONAX AUTOGEEK ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 11TH:
“The car feels strong. I think the Fast Six was definitely possible, I was on a good lap but the dirty air kicked in and the lap was gone. We had great track position until Bourdais came out in front of us. I had two peak laps and messed up both of them, giving up my second lap for a third one that I hoped would be faster. P11 isn’t bad but it isn’t great either. I’m not super happy but I know the car is great so hoping tomorrow is better.”

FELIX ROSENQVIST, NO 7 VUSE ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 13TH:
“I thought I did. I thought it was a good lap. But somehow its 7tenths off. If it was one or two, I ciould understand it. But seven tenths I don’t know where to find it. I thought I did one of my best laps ever around here. But the lap time just didn’t come. It felt better to be honest. I am kind of at a loss for words about the lap time. It feels good to be back in the car. Everything is back to normal. I feel good both physically and mentally. It feels good to be out there again, its just frustrating to not have the speed.”
SIMON PAGENAUD, NO. 22 MENARDS TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 15TH:
“It was a really good lap. The Menards Chevrolet was so good. I lifted. I was on a .664 going into turn nine there. There was a white flag and then the yellow came out right in the center of it so I knew it was a moving car. That is why I knew it wasn’t somebody’s car in the middle. As you can see I moved all the way over. I guess it is the rules, but this is the second race. In Detroit I had to lift in the last corner because of Ferrucci who crashed. We were going to get in. Its just unfortunate when you have so much speed. Thanks to the team for doing such a great job. It just makes for a long weekend.”
PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 20TH:
“I wasn’t at my best, I messed up, but the tires were really inconsistent from set to set as well. We’ve had pace all weekend but on this set everything just went away: the car wasn’t even there on Lap 3. I don’t know what’s up, we’ve had some inconsistency on certain weekends, where we don’t know what’s going wrong. It’s difficult to be starting so far back but we’ll see what we can do.”

POST QUALIFYING PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT – JOSEF NEWGARDEN
Q. Josef Newgarden, P1, once again. Third straight this season. Last time that happened was 2015, some guy named Will Power did that in Texas, Toronto. Third consecutive pole. Your thoughts on getting it done at the end?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: It was tighter than I would like it to be. These guys all close the gap quite a lot. I felt we had a really good car straight out of the box this weekend. So we opened really well. And I think for us it was a matter of maintaining that, trying to not lose any speed and keep up with the track progression.
And then everyone around us, like certainly Colton, just raised their game a lot and just about knocked us off. It was going to be hard. You could see how fast these guys were. He was super quick all through qualifying. So it was going to take a really good lap. And thankfully we put it together.
That’s INDYCAR. It’s Mid-Ohio. Always tight here. So difficult. I think I’ve qualified second like three times, something that. It always comes down to being super tight in the end. Very happy to — I think the biggest thing that’s encouraging me for is we’ve had speed all weekend, the car’s felt good. It’s about maintaining that. And if we can keep our composure for the race conditions, we’ll have an opportunity to challenge again and seal one of these off. That’s what it starts with. You get one on the board and it will help. We’re still trying to make that happen for 2021.

Q. That’s pretty good. Both you guys, looks like in qualifying, looks like you’re almost water-skiing out here, the way you’re working the wheel and stuff, the tires almost looked like barely touching it. What’s it like driving a car to the limit like that?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I thought it was pretty hooked up. I was more hooked up in the Fast 6 and I thought maybe it might be. Tires dropping off were an issue. I think Colton and me were matched as far as how much we use the tires two laps apiece. That made a big difference. I think if you have three laps on the reds, makes it even harder. My car felt really solid all weekend. I can speak to that. Doesn’t feel like you’re water-skiing at all. Feels like you’re riding a roller coaster on rails. They say it about this place. It’s like a roller coaster, with the undulations and just how hooked up it can be with the elevation change.
It’s a really fun ride when the car’s working well. If it’s not super comfy, it can be challenging, but for us in the 2 car, it’s been really nice with that.

Q. How much did traffic affect you all in the first couple rounds of qualifying there?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: In qualifying I was okay with it. I didn’t have any problems at all and everybody was pretty considerate.26 cars. We were talking about it, it’s on the limit here. Probably over the limit here for practice running, but in qualifying it seemed fine. Once you cut it down to 12.

Q. Josef, how much fun is for you to steal a race from the other manufacturer?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: For me, there’s a lot of respect for our competitor and Honda. They’re a tough competitor for us, which is great. You want to have a good battle. And someone that pushes you — and I feel they pushed us as hard as you can be pushed. So a lot of respect for Honda and what they do every weekend. I think for us at Chevrolet, obviously for me I’m very proud to be backed by Chevrolet. Every single one of my INDYCAR wins comes with a Chevrolet powering me in the back of my vehicle. I’m pretty comfy where I am at and hopefully we can put Chevy on top tomorrow.

Q. Talking about strategy, how much do you think strategy will be a factor tomorrow?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Depends on the yellows. Outside of yellows, if it’s a green race it looks pretty straightforward.
Q. Which has happened a lot here?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: It has. But as soon as you try and predict the race, it does the opposite sometimes. So it could be all green or we could have five yellows. You just don’t know. I think yellows are always what flip the script on these things. If it’s green all day, it looks pretty straightforward.

Q. Josef, you guys, you’ve done everything but win this year, a race. Is there pressure there? How would you describe — I think y’all won five of the last six, seven races last year. Quite a roll. But what is it like within the team about getting one on the board you talked about a minute ago?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Pretty normal, to be honest with you. Doesn’t feel any different. I don’t feel any different. I don’t think the team really feels any different. Kind of been doing the same thing, feeling really good. And joking, a lot of joking in the engineering meeting as normal. So, yeah, it’s pretty much status quo on our side of the world. Definitely been unfortunate. It’s probably the word I’d use. Just unfortunate we’ve not been able to have things go our way. Some of that’s probably a little self-inflicted. Obviously we try and clean that up in a year when we have a couple of mistakes. But some of it has just purely been unfortunate. So outside of that, pretty jokey. Pretty committed, and ready to go tomorrow. So same deal as always.

Q. You have race control, drivers?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: No, I think it’s — obviously race control doesn’t want to dictate races either. Puts them in a tough spot. I think they hate having to throw a yellow and it flips the world upside down for the top 5 who have worked hard to get there and deserve to stay there. So they don’t want to influence the race.
But to Colton’s point, you can only do so much in the rule sets that we have because it’s a closed pit situation. If there’s a car in harm’s way, they’ve got to throw the yellow immediately. If they can’t, I think they try and do everything possible to give the team an opportunity to pit, which is about the best you can do with this set of rules. If we want to make it even better, you know, where we mitigate the risk of your race being ruined by a yellow, then we’ve got to change the rules. We’ve got to figure out how to do that safely. That’s another conversation. But as far as how we approach the day, to Colton’s point, you can only do so much. There’s some areas where you can lower your risk of getting caught by the yellow, but then there’s some areas where you just can’t do anything about it. You’ve got to focus on your strategy that you have kind of gone with. If you get bit by it, it sucks to get bit by it. That’s the nature of this style of racing at the moment.

Q. So you have been bit by late yellows two consecutive races. Tell me, what do you say and feel when it happens, and what happens tomorrow if it’s a third time?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I would say the last two races weren’t necessarily — I wouldn’t put those down to yellows. You look at last year, last year was very unfortunate for yellows. I think we gotten taken out of four events, four wins because of yellows. I wouldn’t say that was the case these last two races. Things just didn’t pan out. Detroit didn’t pan out because of our strategy the way the yellow fell. And Road America, we just couldn’t predict what was going to happen there. It’s just an unfortunate failure. But if you looked at last year, yellows played a big role in our races specifically. And those are the tough ones.
When they purely take you out of the top 10, when you’re up there on merit, it’s a hard pill to swallow. But like I said, it’s the rule sets we live in right now. It’s the style of racing we’re used to. We know the drill. If we want to make that better, we have to change the rules one day.

Q. Lastly, are there guys out there that you guys are sick of it, are there guys out there, that are just, like, targets, get your act together, stop throwing yellows?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: It’s up and down, up and down the grid. So, yeah, I don’t think you can point the finger at one person. No one’s trying to do anything on purpose.

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.

Newgarden Grabs Third Consecutive Pole at Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio presented by the HPD Ridgeline

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Official Release
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Photo by Chris Owens. IMS Photo

LEXINGTON, Ohio (Saturday, July 3, 2021) – Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden continued to dominate NTT INDYCAR SERIES qualifying Saturday at Mid-Ohio Sports Course, winning his third consecutive series pole. Now he must put aside recent disappointments in races and win the Honda Indy 200 Presented by the HPD Ridgeline.

The two-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion and driver of the No. 2 XPEL Team Penske Chevrolet became the first series driver since 2015 to win three consecutive poles. Newgarden also was the top qualifier for the second race in Detroit and at Road America on June 19. But this one was close – almost too close.

Newgarden edged Andretti Autosport with Curb-Agajanian’s Colton Herta (No. 26 Gainbridge Honda) by 0.031 seconds with his lap of 1 minute, 06.6739 seconds.
“That’s a little tighter than I wanted it to be,” Newgarden said. “That’s INDYCAR. It’s Mid-Ohio. Always tight here. So difficult.

“I think I’ve qualified second like three times, something like that,” he said. “It always comes down to being super tight at the end.”

Herta said he couldn’t compute the distance of a 0.031 second difference around this 13-turn, 2.258-mile circuit:

“Probably very little, maybe like just the length of the P1 sticker,” he said.

The pole was the 14th of Newgarden’s career — his first at Mid-Ohio — and came on the 50th anniversary of Team Penske’s first INDYCAR victory (by Mark Donohue at Pocono Raceway in 1971).

Converting poles into wins has been a challenge of late for Newgarden, who is one of four winless drivers this season from Team Penske. The two-time series champion got passed by Pato O’Ward in the closing moments of the second Detroit race after leading 67 of the 70 laps and then had a gearbox failure at Road America with two laps to go after leading 32 of 55 circuits. He finished second and 21st in those races.

Poles are always important, and they come with a championship point. But at Mid-Ohio, statistics show the value of the pole even more. Fifteen of the 37 previous INDYCAR races – 40 percent – have been won by the fastest qualifier. Both of last year’s races were won from the pole and three of the past four have been.

Newgarden won the 2017 race at this track, and he will be aiming for his 19th career win in the series.

Marcus Ericsson (No. 8 Huski Chocolate Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) qualified third with Will Power (No. 12 Verizon 5G Team Penske Chevrolet) fourth followed by six-time Mid-Ohio race winner Scott Dixon fifth in the No. 9 PNC Bank Grow Up Great Honda of Chip Ganassi Racing and Andretti Autosport’s Alexander Rossi sixth (No. 27 NAPA AUTO PARTS/AutoNation Honda). Power advanced despite a nervous first six minutes of the first round when his crew battled an electronics gremlin. They got it repaired in time for him to utilize the Firestone alternate (red) tires to advance.

The Firestone Fast Six was comprised of two cars each from Team Penske, Andretti Autosport and Chip Ganassi Racing.

The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by the HPD Ridgeline will air live on NBC at noon. The INDYCAR Radio Network will also have the coverage on its affiliates, INDYCAR.com, the INDYCAR Mobile app presented by NTT DATA and SiriusXM Channel 205.

The first qualifying group had a strange ending. Meyer Shank Racing’s Jack Harvey (No. 60 AutoNation/SiriusXM Honda) spun coming to the timing line on his final lap, drawing a local caution flag. Rossi and Team Penske’s Simon Pagenaud (No. 22 Menards Team Penske Chevrolet) slowed but per rule had those laps disallowed. Harvey lost his fastest lap for creating the situation. That kept Harvey and Pagenaud from advancing to the Round of 12, and they will start 15th and 23rd, respectively, Rossi and Sebastien Bourdais (No. 14 ROKiT/A.J. Foyt Racing Chevrolet) moved on.

Rossi was one of Michael Andretti’s four drivers securing a spot in the top 12. They swept the podium in last year’s second race at Mid-Ohio.

O’Ward (No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet) had posted the fastest time in Saturday’s morning practice, but the temperatures rose considerably – and it will be hotter Sunday – and he failed to advance from the first round. He will start the 80-lap race from the 20th position.

O’Ward will have work to do to cut into the series lead of Alex Palou (No. 10 NTT DATA Chip Ganassi Racing Honda). Palou holds a 28-point lead and will start 13 positions higher than O’Ward. Palou missed a spot in the Firestone Fast Six by 0.0384 seconds, bumped by Ericsson on the final lap.

Ed Carpenter Racing’s Rinus VeeKay (No. 21 Sonax/Autogeek Chevrolet) and Arrow McLaren SP’s Felix Rosenqvist (No. 7 Vuse Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet) are back in the starting lineup after missing races. VeeKay missed one race after breaking a clavicle in a cycling accident June 14; Rosenqvist was held out of two races following his crash into a tire barrier in the June 12 street race in Detroit. They will start 11th and 13th, respectively.

Two-time Indy Lights race winner Ryan Norman (No. 52 KOINU INU/EVO Honda of Dale Coyne Racing with RWR) will make his first NTT INDYCAR SERIES start from the 26th position. He will start in the 13th row alongside seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson of Chip Ganassi Racing (No. 48 Carvana Honda).

Toyota Racing – NCS Road America Quotes – Martin Truex Jr. – 07.03.21

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Official Release
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Toyota Racing – Martin Truex Jr.
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (July 3, 2021) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Martin Truex Jr. was made available to media after practice at Road America today:

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

What was it like for your first laps at Road America?

“It’s fun. I mean this is a really beautiful place and nice part of the country. My first thought yesterday driving here from the airport was “Man it’s really nice up here and I need to find some buddies up here to go deer hunting with.” I saw a few deer on the way here, so beautiful part of the country. The track seems fun so far. It’s a big track, lots of corners, a very technical, very narrow so not a lot of room for error and you have to learn the track in 50 minutes plus caution, so still learning.”

The kink has always been a very part of this track. We’ve seen incidents already today and yesterday. How challenging is that and what is that going to be like for tomorrow’s race?

“It’s a big challenge for sure. I think it’s really about confidence and understanding how much you can get in that corner. Again, it’s very narrow and there’s not a lot of runoff, but there’s a lot of time to be gained there as well. You’re playing that balance act of trying to baby step it and go a little faster each time and hope you don’t try to get too much and overstep it. I was getting faster through there every single time all day, but then I came through there one time and saw the 18 (Kyle Busch) backwards crashed, and it’s like alright, just baby steps, a little bit at a time. I haven’t quite got to where I want to be yet, just needed a little more time out there.”

What was it like seeing him (Kyle Busch) driving backwards?

“I just saw him sitting there when I came around the corner. I was going through the kinks, and you saw the dust and start slowing down and you just hope no one is sitting in the middle of the track and luckily, he was off on the side of the track. Pretty wild when a guy goes off in front of you there and dirt flies everywhere and you can’t see anything, it’s a little bit hairy.”

Can anything be done before tomorrow’s race to alleviate that?

“No, it’s been grass and dirt there for how many years, it’s probably going to stay that way. You just see the cloud of dust. Literally, the last lap of practice, the caution came out and we were coming around slow to come to the pits and we come off of there and you couldn’t see. We slowed down and went way to the right and just hoped no was there or sitting there. It’s pretty crazy.”

You are one of about eight or nine drivers who haven’t raced here. Does that matter?

“I feel a pretty big disadvantage right now honestly. You know, one practice, 50 minutes, I think we made 13,14 laps. That’s not a lot, ins and outs, coming out of the garage, a four-mile road course with 12 tricky turns takes longer than 14 laps to learn. I’m nowhere near where I want to be. I know there’s a lot more speed for me to be had. I know our Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry is faster than what I showed today, so now we just try to be smart and pick out the areas where I think we need to make the car better and then not pick the wrong areas where we just need to make me better. It’s a big learning curve right now and I wish we had another practice to be honest with you.”

Do you do extra laps in qualifying to make up for that?
“No, because tire wise you can’t afford to do that. This place is tough on tires. It fell off quite a bit through the runs. We will have to pull out some magic in qualifying. Hopefully, we will get to the second round, where we can improve on the first round. That’s your only hope, so we will see how it goes.”

With it being a new road course, does anyone have an advantage?

“I think it’s the big equalizer. It just depends on who has the most laps here. I think right now it’s going to come down to experience. If you look at Chase (Elliott) and I, we’ve mostly traded off Watkins Glen. We kind of own Sonoma. He’s really good at the Roval. We weren’t quite as good at the Roval. We were really good at Daytona and didn’t show it. CotA, he was really good – we weren’t. That conversation has changed so much because of all of the tracks that we go to now and how different they are. A brand-new place like this, you don’t know. If it was still two road course like it used to be, we would probably trade it back and forth more, but this stuff is challenging, and I look forward to learning this track more and hopefully have a good day tomorrow.”

NASCAR did more testing in the NextGen car. How much is that going to affect your longevity in the Cup Series if you are not crazy about how things go?

“I would say, yes it would. It will, I think and that’s a fair question. I think look at the new car, see what it’s like, go racing, hopefully, it’s fun. Hopefully, I have as much fun as I have driving these things. I love working with my team. I still love racing, but for sure, that’s going to be a big deal. If it’s not fun, I won’t hang around long. I don’t have to do this anymore. I’m still around because I really want to do this and continue to win races and hopefully more championships.”

How have the fans been to you?

“So far really good. I think everybody is excited about this weekend. Obviously, got a great crowd here, lots of camping. Lots of my kind of people up here. It was pretty cool to drive by the Johnsonville plant on the way up here to the racetrack and just a beautiful part of the country. I’ve seen deer up here driving around. I’m having a blast.”

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 community, civic, academic and governmental organizations to address our society’s most pressing mobility challenges. We believe that when people are free to move, anything is possible. For more information about Toyota, visit www.toyotanewsroom.com.

CHEVY NCS AT ROAD AMERICA: Post-Practice Notes

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Official Release
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NASCAR CUP SERIES
ROAD AMERICA
JOCKEY MADE IN AMERICA 250
PRESENTED BY KWIK TRIP
TEAM CHEVY POST-PRACTICE NOTES
JULY 3, 2021

NASCAR CUP SERIES PRACTICE AT ROAD AMERICA: TEAM CHEVY TOP-15
1st KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 MONSTER ENERGY CAMARO ZL1 1LE
5th TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 KALAHARI RESORTS & CONVENTIONS CAMARO ZL1 1LE
7th AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 16 HYPERICE CAMARO ZL1 1LE
9th KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1 1LE
11th WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1 1LE
12th ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 1LE
13th ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 42 ADVENTHEALTH CAMARO ZL1 1LE
14th CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE
15th AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 DOW MILITARY DEGREE EQUIVALENCY CAMARO ZL1 1LE

NASCAR CUP SERIES: POST-PRACTICE MEDIA AVAILABILITY HIGHLIGHTS:
KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1 1LE
WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE MISSING RIGHT NOW?
“I don’t know – I want to hear what my teammates have to say first, but I feel terrible. But I think the track is just so slick. I don’t remember much from 2013, but I don’t remember it being this slick. So, I think the track has aged a lot and all that. I just felt like I had my hands full; it looked like everybody else did too. Like I said, I’ll talk to my teammates and see if they feel like I do.”

WHAT EXCITES YOU THE MOST ABOUT THIS COURSE?
“I think just the level of difficulty. It’s extremely narrow and tight. I think to make passes, you have to be really bold. To me, this is probably the toughest road course we’ll go to all year. It’s intense.”

IS YOUR LEVEL OF COMFORT AND CONFIDENCE SORT OF GROWN A LOT OVER THE PAST FEW MONTHS?
“Yeah, until I made a lap today (laughs). I felt really good coming here; and then after making some laps, I haven’t hit two corners the same yet. Still have a lot to learn and get better; but we’ll look at data, talk to my teammates and hopefully get more comfortable.”

TALKING ABOUT THE DIFFERENCES IN ROAD COURSES, IS IT GOOD TO HAVE THAT VARIETY?
“I think variety is good. I think we’d all like to see more variety on the ovals, too. I think it challenges the drivers and the race teams. I think when there’s a variety, you won’t see the same guy run up front every time.”

WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1 1LE
I WAS LOOKING AT ROAD COURSE RESULTS – ARE THOSE DECEIVING?
“I think, partly, we’ve been off on speed. But I think we’ve been in that fifth to tenth range and I feel like we’ve gotten in stuff, like getting damage and then we’d get tire rubs and have issues. So, we just have to get above that area where we’re not always scratching and clawing. At that point, you’re up to luck basically whether or not you get some damage and stuff. We’ve been off a little bit and we were trying some things, just trying to get better, and so we’ve just kind of gone back to the basics this weekend. We feel fast. I feel like we’re pretty good this weekend.”

WHEN YOU LOOK AT WHAT CHASE (ELLIOTT) AND KYLE (LARSON) WERE DOING, YOU KNOW IT’S THERE, IT JUST A MATTER OF PUTTING A RACE TOGETHER.
“Yeah – we went into this road course thing thinking, ‘OK we have seven of these; we can experiment’. We use our sim a lot because we don’t have practice. Using our sim kind of backfired because we were running so fast in there that when we got to the track, our car was not doing the things that we thought it would do because we were slower, pace-wise. We overestimated the grip for some of these places and kind of adjusted our setup because of that. And then when we get to the racetrack with no practice, we don’t have a chance to get that back out.”

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE
IS THIS A COURSE YOU’VE BEEN LOOKING FORWARD TO?
“Yeah, it’s a really fun track. I feel like it’s been a great stop on the NASCAR Xfinity schedule, so I feel like it fits us well on the Cup side. It’s good to be here.”

HOW DID YOU FEEL TODAY?
“I felt OK. I feel like road racing is a lot about finding a rhythm. I never felt like I found a good one today. We’ll go to work tomorrow.”

I ASSUME YOU WERE IN THE SIMULATOR. IS IT SIMILAR TO WHAT YOU SAW IN THE SIMULATOR OR IS IT DIFFERENT?
“It’s similar to what I remember it being a few years ago. I was here in 2015; it’s all about the same as what I remember then. I’ve watched most of all the races that the Xfinity series has run here. It hasn’t really changed a lot from my memory.”

WHAT MAKES A GREAT, NATURAL TERRAIN ROAD COURSE?
“There are definitely road courses that don’t flow. All the tracks that we’ve turned into road courses don’t flow very good. This type of place and Circuit of the Americas – all these tracks in the United States that are known road racetracks, they just have a certain flow to them. It just feels more like a traditional road course. Maybe that’s because we have a preset mindset of what should flow and what shouldn’t, but this place definitely has that feel and it’s laid out well. It has a lot of character to it, which is really cool. It’s a very long course, which is fun. There’s a lot of opportunity to either be really good or make a lot of mistakes.”

WHAT DO YOU THINK THE TOUGHEST PART OF THE COURSE IS?
“It was all tough for me today. I never felt like I got into a really good rhythm at all. Just trying to find that flow. The racetrack flows well, but that doesn’t mean you’re flowing good on a personal level. So, just trying to find that within myself and getting into a good rhythm. It’s a lot about rhythm and hitting your marks properly – that’s key.”

WHERE DOES THAT COME FROM? IS THAT A MENTAL THING? IS IT THE CAR? IS IT BOTH?
“Yeah, I feel like both are super important. You have to push yourself to the right limits to make the car feel like it should. And then we you do find those limits; you want the car to be there for you. It’s a fine line, but you definitely have to have both.”

KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 MONSTER ENERGY CAMARO ZL1 1LE
INAUDIBLE
“The track is a unique challenge. There’s an old school feel here with the track’s layout, not a lot of run off areas and the pace the way the lap time drops. I came here with a Darlington mentality, which probably caught a lot you by surprise; but you have to respect the track and know when to push for a lap. And then you have to work on your tires and the balance of the car for all of the different corners and the long runs that none of us are really going to get into until we get in the race. So, you just have to race the racetrack; try to stay clean and stay out of the trouble. We had a good practice to be able to be on top of the charts. Now we just have to back it up.”

HOW CRITICAL DO YOU THINK HAVING ANY EXPERIENCE ON THIS TRACK IS FOR THIS WEEKEND?
“It’s helpful. I jumped on the iRacing sim at my house and some of the curbing isn’t as realistic as what we have here. I jumped into the Chevy simulator and got even closer. But nothing can duplicate what you have for real life and that’s were we just had to maximize today’s track time with the practice session.”

WHAT DOES THAT SAY ABOUT YOUR TEAM TO BE ON TOP OF THE BOARD AFTER EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED THIS WEEKS?
“That’s exactly it – you drive harder, push deeper and push harder when news like that comes out. It was a surprise to me, but all of us at Chip Ganassi Racing looked at each other and said – we’ve got a Playoff berth right in front of us; let’s go get it, let’s win and let’s push as hard as we can here right now in 2021.”

INAUDIBLE
“Just take it one week at a time. We’re in a nice battle for the bubble; the cutoff line to get into the Playoffs. I haven’t really been in this situation much; usually there’s a win or there’s really good points that give us a cushion. I’ve embraced this year; it’s just been a whole different level because of all of the challenges that have come our way.”

ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 42 ADVENTHEALTH CAMARO ZL1 1LE
“Rolling out I felt confident in the AdventHealth Chevy from our recent time in the simulator and everything around the track made sense – braking zones and shifting were all in a pretty good spot. The car was a little slimy the first lap out, but it came in pretty good. We were able to make three separate runs during practice, so I think we pretty much maximized our track time today. I realized throughout the session of how little grip Road America has, which is similar to what we just had at Sonoma a few weeks ago. We’ll use some of those notes and we try to build as much rear grip into the car as we can for qualifying. We’ve got just a bit too much rear slide the longer we run. Kurt had a great mock qualifying run, so we’ll review his data and see what I can learn for tomorrow.”

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

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Ford Performance NASCAR: NCS Jockey Made in America 250

By
Official Release
-

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series — Jockey Made in America 250
Road America | Sunday, July 4, 2021

POST PRACTICE MEDIA AVAILABILITY

The top-10 drivers in the current NASCAR points standings participated in media sessions following the only practice session this weekend at Road America on Saturday. Below is a transcript of race-related questions and answers.

BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 2 Snap-On Ford Mustang — IT HAS BEEN AWHILE SINCE YOU RAN HERE WITH THE XFINITY SERIES, HOW IS IT TO BE BACK HERE IN THE CUP CAR? “It is nice to be anywhere that you feel wanted. The fans have really done a great job of showing up. I walked through the campground last night and met some fans, had a brat and drove some go-karts. There is a lot of energy here. That is exciting to see. I am happy for everybody and am thinking this is going to be another big weekend for our sport. We have had two great weeks with Pocono and the week before in Nashville for our sport with a lot of people and a lot of energy. It has a good upswing feeling effect for the sport. This is a nice way to piggyback on that.”

WHAT DIFFERENCES DO YOU NOTICE BETWEEN WHEN YOU RAN THAT XFINITY CAR AND THE CUP CAR THIS WEEKEND? “Well, I am not running the Xfinity car here today. I don’t know. It has been so long ago and the car was a different car. It was the other gen car. I don’t know if it is a very good comparison.”

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE NEWS THIS WEEK OF JUSTIN MARKS AND TRACKHOUSE? “Just more big news in the sport. There are a lot of things going on and it piggybacks off what I was just saying about coming here to Road America and coming off those big weekends at Nashville and Pocono. It feels like the sport is on a nice up-turn”

WHAT IS IT LIKE BEING IN WISCONSIN? HOW HAVE THE FANS RECEIVED YOU? “It has been good, a good reception with good energy. Clearly the fans were hungry for this kind of race. It is a great weekend to have it, being Independence Day weekend. I think Bob (Pockrass) wrote a nice article about it when he said it feels like they might have found a home for July 4th.”

SOUNDED LIKE YOU HAD A LITTLE SMALL INCIDENT THERE IN PRACTICE BUT WE DIDN’T SEE IT: “Yeah, I dipped the wheel off in the kink and did a little loop and fired back up and drove on. Just pushing her to the limits.”

WHY IS THE KINK CAUSING EVERYBODY A PROBLEM? “I don’t know if it is the tires or the car but there is a big lack of rear-lateral grip and the cars want to spin out very easily. That section seems to really push you to the ledge and when you go over it just doesn’t recover. Then you add that it is really dusty and dirty down there and it is just a lot of factors. That is certainly looking to be the calamity corner of the track this weekend.”

ANYTHING YOU CAN DO TO AVOID IT? “Yeah, stay on the track (laughter). The big issue is if someone wrecks in front of you, you can’t see because the dust is so bad. Probably going to have to do some touchup work there.”

KEVIN HARVICK, No. 4 Busch Light Apple Ford Mustang — THIS IS YOUR FIRST TIME AT ROAD AMERICA, WHAT DO YOU THINK? “It has been a progression for me. Every lap gets a little bit better. Hopefully by the end of the Xfinity race I am better with the references. There are just so many blind references to the apex of the corner that made speed that I am struggling with a little bit right now. My Cup car was way better than my Xfinity car but I think that is just from seat time. I am really happy with my Cup car. We will see what happens today.”

HOW MUCH IS EXPERIENCE ON THE TRACK WORTH? “Well, it is a 2-minute and 15-second lap. So I would say a lot.”

IS THIS A TRACK THAT YOU WERE LOOKING FORWARD TO WHEN IT WAS ANNOUNCED? “I was, yeah. I have never heard a bad thing about Road America. You hear so many great stories about people racing here and doing things here and how great the racetrack was. Since I have stepped foot in it, it has been that way.”

HOW SIGNIFICANT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO CARS? “My Cup car drives way better than my Xfinity car. They are nothing alike.”

WHAT IS THE TOUGHEST BLIND PART OF THE TRACK? “I think the kink is probably the toughest to make speed in, as you saw through practice. Turn 1 is deceiving because the apex falls away from you and you can let off the brake pedal and make a lot of speed to the center of the corner off the brake pedal because there is nowhere to go on the exit. Same thing in Turn 3. So, I think that the hardest corner for me right now has been the kink and probably up into Turn 6 because if you go too far you wheel-hop. If you let off the brake too soon you shove the nose. It is a unique corner because there is no reference to turn in. The bridge is in the wrong spot to use as a reference. There are a lot of reference points you need to pick up and that will just take a lot of laps to get the details right.”

WHAT ABOUT COMING OUT OF THAT LAST CORNER COMING UP THE HILL WHERE YOU CAN’T SEE ANYTHING? “That isn’t really that big of a deal because you know you are going straight. The unique part in the kink is, obviously, you have seen people wreck and dust goes up in the air and that makes it a little challenging knowing where they are.”

HOW SURPRISED WERE YOU ABOUT THE LENGTH OF A LAP HERE? “It doesn’t seem as long as it actually takes.”

RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 BodyArmor Ford Mustang — YOU WERE HERE ONCE WITH THE XFINITY CAR, HOW DIFFERENT IS IT WITH THE CUP CAR? “Yeah, I ran here in 2015. It has been some time. It is nice to be back though. I enjoyed this place a lot in 2015 and we ran second here. It is just a cool racetrack. A super big place. It is really tough and technical with a lot of tire falloff too. It is going to be neat. It was nice to get on track today, even if it was just 50-minutes. You can’t get that many laps in that little time. It is nice to be back though. Driving in here yesterday and seeing all the people around here is awesome. I thought it went pretty decent today and we will see what we can do tomorrow.”

PARKING TOMORROW IS COMPLETELY SOLD OUT, WHICH HAS NEVER BEEN DONE HERE: “That is good. I remember coming here in 2015 and it was packed. I thought it was packed. I knew with the Cup cars coming here along with the Xfinity it was going to get more people. It is great. The 4th of July is obviously a special weekend no matter where we race. These fans deserve it for sure. Hopefully we put on a good show. There are a lot of people here. It is good to see.”

THIS IS A STRETCH OF THREE ROAD COURSE RACES IN THE NEXT FIVE. HOW DO YOU LOOK AT THIS STRETCH? “I just kind of take them as they come. There are obviously a lot more road courses this year, which is good. I enjoy road course racing, especially when you can come to new places like this. We will have here, and the Glen and then Indy. Two brand new road courses for the Cup guys. I don’t really think about them any differently, you just have to shift more and turn right more than usual. Our program has been pretty decent on road courses, so hopefully we can close the gap a little to the Gibbs and Hendrick teams. Hendrick was strong at Sonoma and I have some Sonoma vibes here with how far the tires are falling off.”

JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford Mustang — SOUND LIKE YOU HAD AN INTERESTING SESSION OUT THERE: “It is hard to get a clean lap. It is hard to get a lap in with all the cautions and cars out there. When you only get 50-minutes of practice there is no patience. You have to go and you hustle through things and it takes a minute to decipher what was what and where you stack up and what you need and what the changes did. It is just 50-minutes of chaos out there trying to figure out which way is up. I feel like we got our car okay. I feel like our faster corners are off and we need to make some gains there. We took off a little further off than I thought we would. We threw some things at it to try to get close but I still need to look to see where we stack up. A lot of guys made qualifying runs at the end. It seems like the normal cast of characters at the moment that are pretty fast.”

ARE YOU AT A DISADVANTAGE BECAUSE 30 GUYS IN THE CUP RACE HAVE RUN XFINITY HERE BEFORE AND YOU AREN’T ONE OF THEM? “Yeah, I feel like a rookie. That is how they feel, right? The guys that don’t have experience when they come to the other tracks. COTA was one that none of us had experience so it wasn’t much of a disadvantage. Here it is just trying to figure out what corner comes next and where you brake. Little nuance stuff of when you release the brakes and those types of things. Where you want to be. All that stuff was new. Just kind of figuring it out as a go and you don’t have much time to do it. You have to figure out which way you are going, what you need in your race car, which way you think it is going to go in the race and then how to race others. Yeah, it is a lot to figure out in a short amount of time.”

HOW MUCH OF A FACTOR WILL THAT EXPERIENCE BE TOMORROW? “I mean, they might have a little edge to start with but I feel like I have been doing this a long time too. I have experience in other ways, so maybe I can make up the difference.”

THE FANS HERE IN WISCONSIN HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS RACE. WHAT HAS THE FAN RESPONSE BEEN LIKE? “It is great. I went for a run around the track last night with a map to figure out where i was running to and I stopped a few times and saw some fans and jumped the wall to talk to them. The amount of camping is incredible. There are campers everywhere around this huge track. It is really cool and I can’t wait to see what Sunday looks like with the amount of fans that will show up. I am sure a lot of people will come out. I am looking forward to it. It has been pretty welcoming so far.”

HOW MANY BEERS DID YOU GET OFFERED ON YOUR RUN? “I didn’t get offered any beers. I got offered a steak though. It sounded good after my run but not when I was going into Turn 8.”

HOW HARD CAN YOU PUSH IT IN QUALIFYING? “As hard as I can. I am going to have to. You are going to have to push super hard to lay down a decent lap. That is what practice is about, trying to find your limits and jump over them a couple of times so that you know where they are at.”

SO YOU WERE JUST ON A RUN YESTERDAY, ON THE TRACK? “Yeah, I was just running around. I get bored. For exercise and to check stuff out. I was bored. I don’t like sitting in my bus by myself so I get out.”

HOW MANY LAPS DID YOU GET? “One, are you kidding me. Just when you start to get a little tired you are down in Canada corner and it is a long way up from there. That is like the very bottom of the racetrack, I learned that. I was chugging up that hill. I started to get tired.”

HOW LONG DID IT TAKE YOU? “I don’t know because I stopped to talk to those fans and took some pictures of stuff that I saw. I didn’t look. I didn’t want to look.”

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