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

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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

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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.

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.

Ford Performance NASCAR: NCS Jockey Made in America 250

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Official Release
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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.”

Toyota Racing – NCS Road America Quotes – Denny Hamlin – 07.03.21

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Official Release
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Toyota Racing – Denny Hamlin
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

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

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

How did you feel out there on that lap?

“It was good. The track is really fun. It’s different for sure, but fun. It’s really exciting. It’s like Watkins Glen in that sense, but overall, I like the racetrack.”

What is your reaction to the Trackhouse announcement?

“I thought it was a great move by Justin (Marks) and the Trackhouse guys. Did anyone really think that Ganassi (Chip Ganassi Racing) was for sale? I don’t think so, but I think they’ve got those relationships and he’s driven with them before, so I’m sure he’s had dialogue with them, but it was good. I think it’s good for our sport. I’m a little sad to see Chip (Ganassi) go. I really love Chip and what he’s about. We gain and we lose in that deal.”

Well, you’ve had some fun with Chip Ganassi over the years.

“Chip is just a great guy, a fun guy. He loves racing. Obviously, he’s still going to be racing in some capacity, but we are going to miss him in the NASCAR world.”

Does that become another avenue for you?

“I think every team owner has to weigh what their risk was, weigh what the outlook like. Like I said last week, you still have to have big money if you want to compete. Every team owner, whether it be in the front of the pack, middle of the pack or the back thinks about whether or not this business model is really going to work for them. There’s all kinds of avenues you can take to get charters, but ultimately writing the check is the easiest, but there are several different options.”

Is the track what you expected it to be?

“It’s just got so much flow to it. It’s got some fast speed stuff, heavy braking, tight corners, lefts and rights. It does have everything you would hope for in a track.”

Did you have any issues with any of the runoffs?

“Not really. Not that I could tell. I haven’t analyzed all of those major runoffs. What CotA is really great about is if you run long on a long straightaway, you’ve got room there for error and go about your business. Here I haven’t really analyzed where you are going to runoff. (Speaking about the kink) Yeah, that is a high-speed corner. You are trying to get all the speed out of it you can, and you know the exit is really important there.”

How much is the points battle a concern to you?

“I look at it – and if you look at the first 10 races, we were doing what he is doing – short of winning. The page flipped. We’ve pitted on the last lap the last three weeks, really not optimizing our day over the last few weeks and on top of that. Hendrick (Motorsports) and the Chevys in general have taken a big leap on the competition side. Frankly, the way I feel like the last two months have been, the fact that we still have something close to the lead is amazing.”

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.

CHEVROLET NTT INDYCAR SERIES-MID-OHIO: JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 2 XPEL TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, GRABS NTT P1 AWARD AT MID-OHIO

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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 DRIVER QUOTE
JOSEF NEWGARDEN QUICK POLE QUOTE
JULY 3, 2021

JOSEF NEWGARD CAPTURES NTT P1 AWARD AT MID-OHIO

LEXINGTON, OHIO – Josef Newgarden was a man on a nabbing the pole behind the wheel of the No. 2 XPEL Team Penske Chevrolet by a mere three-thousandths of a second. It is the 14th P1 award of his career. Quick quote:

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: 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.”

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.

Josef Newgarden edges out Colton Herta for Mid-Ohio Pole

By
Briar Starr
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Photo courtesy of IndyCar

Within the last few minutes of Fast Six qualifying at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden outperformed Colton Herta by 0.0031 of a second to win his third pole of the 2021 NTT IndyCar Series season after laying down a lap of 1:06.6739.

The pole position is much needed for Newgarden after a frustrating result of 21st after dominating the Road America race a few weeks ago.

“That was a little tighter than I wanted it to be,” Newgarden said about the pole run. “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.”

Colton Herta appeared to be in a good position to secure the pole before he was knocked off the top spot. Nevertheless, the Andretti Autosport driver will have a good starting spot for Sunday’s race at Mid-Ohio after he qualified on the outside pole with a time of 1:06.6770. The front row start is Herta’s fourth of the season with the exception of his pole run at St. Petersburg.

“You have to think that there’s 3/1000ths in it somewhere,” Herta said. “It’s a little disappointing when you lose by
that much. I think it’s like the third straight weekend I finished second during qualifying. In the Detroit race, too.
Road America. And now here. So I’m getting tired of it. I gotta get around it. It’s always fun to battle with Josef, and especially for the race. He’s one of the guys that’s extremely clean in the series and always races hard. I’m looking forward to that now.”

There were numerous incidents of note that occurred during the first session of qualifying.

During the session, the No. 60 of Jack Harvey came to a stop in Turn 9 bringing out a local yellow. As Harvey’s car was stopped on track, the No. 27 of Alexander Rossi and the No. 22 of Simon Pagenaud went flying by the No. 60 without slowing down.

As a result, both Rossi’s and Pagenaud’s current lap was deleted for failing to reduce speed. The same penalty was handed to Harvey as well.

Despite Rossi receiving the early penalty, he was able to bounce back and be a part of the Fast Six and qualified sixth, setting a pace of 1:07.2181.

“Qualifying was dramatic,” Rossi said. “The yellow flag in the first round really hurt us, but fortunately with INDYCAR rules if you cause another car to slow down your lap gets deleted, so we were able to transfer in. From there, we were able to show the pace of the car. Round 2 was quite good for us, but ultimately we didn’t have the pace in the (Firestone) Fast 6 round. Not quite what we wanted, but we have one more practice to get the NAPA AUTO PARTS Honda dialed in for the race.”

IndyCar will have one more practice session Saturday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. ET lasting approximately 30 minutes, live on Peacock (with a subscription).

The Honda Indy 200 is scheduled to go green Sunday at 12:05 p.m. ET live on NBC for the 80-lap race.

Official Starting Line Up for Sunday’s Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course:
  1. (2) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 01:06.6739 (121.919)
  2. (26) Colton Herta, Honda, 01:06.6770 (121.913)
  3. (8) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 01:07.0723 (121.195)
  4. (12) Will Power, Chevrolet, 01:07.1161 (121.115)
  5. (9) Scott Dixon, Honda, 01:07.1358 (121.080)
  6. (27) Alexander Rossi, Honda, 01:07.2181 (120.932)
  7. (10) Alex Palou, Honda, 01:06.4883 (122.259)
  8. (15) Graham Rahal, Honda, 01:06.5946 (122.064)
  9. (29) James Hinchcliffe, Honda, 01:06.6134 (122.030)
  10. (28) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Honda, 01:06.7517 (121.777)
  11. (21) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 01:06.7671 (121.749)
  12. (14) Sebastien Bourdais, Chevrolet, 01:06.9232 (121.465)
  13. (7) Felix Rosenqvist, Chevrolet, 01:06.7898 (121.707)
  14. (3) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 01:06.7313 (121.814)
  15. (22) Simon Pagenaud, Chevrolet, 01:06.8437 (121.609)
  16. (18) Ed Jones, Honda, 01:06.7882 (121.710)
  17. (59) Max Chilton, Chevrolet, 01:06.8473 (121.603)
  18. (51) Romain Grosjean, Honda, 01:06.8642 (121.572)
  19. (30) Takuma Sato, Honda, 01:07.0951 (121.153)
  20. (5) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 01:06.8679 (121.565)
  21. (4) Dalton Kellett, Chevrolet, 01:07.5866 (120.272)
  22. (45) Santino Ferrucci, Honda, 01:06.9254 (121.461)
  23. (60) Jack Harvey, Honda, 01:07.6740 (120.117)
  24. (20) Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 01:07.0704 (121.198)
  25. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Honda, 01:08.4077 (118.829)
  26. (52) Ryan Norman, Honda, 01:07.4714 (120.478)

CHEVROLET NTT INDYCAR SERIES-MID-OHIO: ARROW MCLAREN SP TEAM ZOOM TRANSCRIPT

By
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
ARROW MCLAREN SP TEAM ZOOM CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
JULY 2, 2021

ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET TEAM HOSTED A ZOOM CONFERENCE FOR MEDIA WITH DRIVERS FELIX ROSENQVIST, NO. 7 VUSE ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET, AND PATO O’WARD, NO.5 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET AND TEAM PRESIDENT TAYLOR KIEL. FULL TRANSCRIPT:

MODERATOR: FELIX TALK ABOUT GETTING BACK IN THE CAR WITH YOUR TEAM AT MID-OHIO.
FELIX ROSENQVIST: I am just really pumped to be back. I feel fine to drive. The whole team is ready to have a good second part of the season and try to get some momentum. Good to be back.”

MODERATOR: PATO HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO YOU TO HAVE A GOOD RESULT THIS WEEKEND AND SCORE SOME CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS HEADING INTO A LONG BREAK?
PATO O’WARD: It is going to be very important I think. We’ve had a good, strong start to the first half of the season. There has been certain weekends where I don’t think we maximized, and we can’t have any of those. We are in the championship fight with Ganassi cars, (Scott) Dixon and (Alex) Palou who have been extremely strong everywhere we go. Like I’ve said to the team, there is a time to push it and it’s now. We need to stay on top of it because every point is going to be gold between now and Long Beach. We just need to try and out score them every weekend.

MODERATOR: TAYLOR, HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO HAVE A BREAK TO GET THE TEAM RECHARGE AND REFOCUS GOING INTO THE PUSH AT THE END OF THE SEASON?
TAYLOR KIEL: It can serve two purposes. The break, if you have a lot of momentum and you are operating well and running well, you just want to keep going. But I think it is certainly good for everyone to have a mental break. What we ask everybody to do every day in motorsport is very stressful, so any time away I think is good and it gives everybody a chance to recharge the batteries. We are obviously at the mid-point of the season and this is where as Pato mentioned where we really need to take it to another level. We’ll take the break coming up after Mid-Ohio to recharge the batteries and hone in on some of the focus areas so we can finish the year strong.

OPEN FOR QUESTIONS FOR THE MEDIA:
FELIX, CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE STRUGGLES YOU HAD DURING THE WEEK FOLLOWING THE ACCIDENT IN DETROIT?
ROSENQVIST: The reason I didn’t get cleared, INDYCAR didn’t clear me is because the concussion test, which doesn’t really mean I had a concussion, there was some indication that something could be wrong and they didn’t want to take the risk which I fully understand. Obviously it was frustrating when you feel fine but it was just whatever they say goes. It’s something you can’t really change. None of this is something I can change. You just have to accept it and look forward. I don’t really feel like I have had massive issues mentally to go through because there is nothing I can change. I think it is like always if you make a big mistake and put yourself in that situation, its different. Things are just the way they are and I try in general to never dwell on things that happen. They can’t change. We’re back now and we just have to continue where we left off because at the time the incident we were really in a good place and on our way to turn around the season a little bit. We will try to get a good result at Mid-Ohio.

PATO, ON THE TV BROADCAST, WE’VE SEEN HOW STOIC AND CALM TAYLOR IS. WHAT IS A SIDE OF HIM WE HAVEN’T SEEN?:
O’WARD: He loosens up He loosens up. He is a fun guy to have around. I think what I feel like is really nice. This kind of goes toward the whole team, but specifically with the big guys. I feel like whenever I’m around either Taylor, Sam (Schmidt), Rick (Peterson) and Zak (Brown) they are the bosses but it is like having a best friend. And, you can talk to them like a best friend. I don’t know if you get where I am trying to go with that. It’s just really nice. I’m really happy where I’m at. Taylor is a fun guy, he can sound like he’s very serious all the time. He is very professional. Unlike myself, sometimes I can be very loud and obnoxious. Taylor can control himself a little bit more.

WHAT MAKES MID-OHIO SUCH A SPECIAL TRACK FOR YOU FELIX? YOU’VE ALMOST WON THERE:
ROSENQVIST: It’s a good question. We did a track walk yesterday and its just something with this track. I feel I’m always…there is good energy when you are here. It is a beautiful place. There are always a lot of people here and I feel like the fans are the right kind of fans. They are really diehard hard-core fans that come here to Mid-Ohio. They will spend the whole day in the sun. I just think somehow it is a special event. And the track is amazing. When you walk the track, you think you can’t pass here because it is so tight and twisty. But then it always produces some pretty good racing. The race format is pretty good and interesting with strategy. It is just one of those INDYCAR classics that kind of has everything, and personally I’ve had good success here. No better place to come back to.

PATO, YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE RACE BEING FIVE LAPS LONGER. DOES THAT CHANGE YOUR APPROACH?
O’WARD: Not really. I leave all the strategy to my team because I’m not like the most experienced at that. I’m pretty sure five more laps longer will open the windows to a two or three stopper which makes the racing cooler. Not just a straight forward fuel save and that’s what it is going to be. I think its nice. I’m happy the race is five laps longer. I don’t know how many more approaches we can take to it, but I am pretty sure that will open to a three stopper to maximize what you have.

TAYLOR, HOW GOOD IS IT FOR THE TEAM TO HAVE FELIX BACK THIS WEEKEND AND GOING FORWARD?
KIEL: It’s huge. It is something we have talked about. Felix kind of alluded to it. We finally felt like we were turning the corner in Detroit. I think we had a really good car. Felix was comfortable. We were ready, and then it didn’t happen. We need to turn the corner. This is a pretty good place to do it. That is what our focus is now. Securing good results week after week and building on the momentum so we can maximize the second half of the year. I know the potential is there. Felix is driving well. We just need to get the whole package together. Once we do that I have no doubt he will be running up toward the front where he belongs.

FELIX, WERE THEY TREATING YOU LIKE YOU HAD A CONCUSSION? WHAT WERE YOU ALLOWED TO DO, OR NOT DO. WHAT KIND OF THINGS WERE YOU DOING? WERE THEY TREATING YOU LIKE YOU HAD A CONCUSSION WANTING YOU TO DO A CONCUSSION-LIKE RECOVERY?
ROSENQVIST: After you have a crash like that obviously, I was more worried on the physical side because I had a lot of pain in my body. But I had nothing broken so it was nothing that would be really an issue to drive with. You just have to deal with the pain. But that was my biggest worry. But then when we found out there were some symptoms of a concussion when I did a test, it’s a normal procedure. You can’t watch too many screens, not do any big exercise for awhile. So I think everyone treated [me] really well and I got a lot of good help from INDYCAR to put me through the best possible rehab for the following weeks. And now I feel 99% recovered and I think it is thanks to all of the professionals that helped me to get to this place so quickly. So its been really good how everyone handled it. I think it is one of those things that you can’t be too careful. You only have one brain, so I don’t mind them caring for me.

WERE YOU ALLOWED TO TRAIN AS USUAL, OR WHERE YOU WITHHELD FROM THAT TOO?
ROSENQVIST: Actually the latest studies show that if you have a concussion or symptoms of one it is better to do light exercise with very low heart rate. Maybe like 30 minutes every day. That is something I did which seemed to really help especially on the physical side. I did some exercise and then I ramped it up. Now I am pretty much doing the same exercise I did before Detroit.

IS IT DISRUPTIVE TO HAVE SUBSTITUTE DRIVERS IN THE CAR?
KIEL: It’s not easy. You certainly want Felix in the car every weekend. But the good thing is we were able to lean into certainly Oliver (Askew) in Detroit and the guys were familiar with each other. We were able to get all the difficult things you have to do in that situation done. He did a great job and so very happy with that. Then we had a little bit of time. Thought Kevin (Magnussen) might be a good fit for one of these things. That came together very quickly for the Road America piece. We were able to try a few things, but the total focus was making sure we were maximizing the No. 5 car throughout the process. Certainly we were out to collect points with both entries. But you have to be very focused when something like this happens.

PATO WAS IT DIFFICULT FOR YOU TO NOT HAVE YOUR FULLTIME TEAMMATE DURING THE TWO RACES?
O’WARD: I certainly missed Felix. But you kind of have to mentalize yourself as in do your own program. Pay attention to what you need from the car. Honestly I feel like that is what INDYCAR is. There are teams that have two, three, four cars, and honestly sometimes we drive differently. Everybody drives differently and everybody needs different things from the car to be able to extract the time. Sometimes what our teammates have is useless to us. Sometimes its not useless to us. Sometimes it helps us. Its kind of like 50-50. Is it going to help? Is it not going to help? I kind of just focus on what I need from the car and get what works for me. I know that I drive very different to many other drivers. The way I extract the time from the car is very different. Some people can’t be driving the same thing they are because it’s just not going to be quick enough for them.

WHAT DID YOU THINK OF PATO SAYING HE WAS GOING TO WIN AND THEN DEDICATING HIS DETROIT WIN TO YOU?
ROSENQVIST: That was pretty awesome. We talked in the morning and Pato said he was going to win this one for you. We kind of joked about it. We were driving back home, my girlfriend was driving and I was watching the race. It was pretty cool when he said that after the race. He is a man of his word!

DID YOU LEARN ANYTHING BEING OUT OF THE CAR WATCHING THE RACES THAT MAYBE YOU CAN APPLY NOW THAT YOU ARE BACK IN THE CAR?
ROSENQVIST: I thought it was interesting following the race from the outside. I always try to do the best I can in whatever situation I am in. I thought there were things you can learn just observing. Spending more time observing other drivers as well. During the weekend you don’t really have time to look at much because you are busy with your own stuff. I had a lot of time to analyze everything all around. I thought it was interesting. But we have such a tight stretch with races I don’t really feel like it was a really bad thing to be…it’s always bad when others can be in the car and your not. But it would have been worse if it was a massive…if I was out of the car for two months or something. But just missing two weeks I don’t really think it will affect me in anyway really. I feel fine, and I think I will be at the level I was before I came to Detroit. I think everything will be fine.

WHAT ARE YOUR EMOTIONS GETTING BACK IN THE CAR?
ROSENQVIST: It’s like when you get in the car for the first time in the season and you are really excited to see how it feels. I feel a certain level of that I guess. It’s crazy how quickly you become hungry especially when you are not driving, when you are just watching everyone else drive. You just want to get back into it you picture it and you think about it. Hopefully that kind of fire will be a positive thing as well.

PATO, AS YOU MENTIONED YOU ARE OUTNUMBERED BY THE GANASSI TEAM. HOW AGGRESSIVE CAN YOU BE AT MID-OHIO?
O’WARD: I think it is pretty straightforward. We just have to score more points than both of them. I don’t think it gets simpler than that.

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.

Atlanta Speedwerks Wins Second Consecutive IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Race at Watkins Glen

By
Official Release
-
Photo credit Daylon Barr Photography

The No. 84 Honda Civic TCR of Brian Henderson and Robert Noaker Take Friday’s Win Just Five Days After Team’s Maiden Victory

WATKINS GLEN, New York (July 3, 2021) – Less than one week after the team’s first IMSA win, Atlanta Speedwerks followed it up with a second IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge win at Watkins Glen. Brian Henderson and Robert Noaker won for the first time in their IMSA careers on Friday in the two-hour race, backing up a win by the sister car co-driven by Ryan Eversley and Todd Lamb in the four-hour race last Saturday.

The race came down to a final full course caution and restart with eight minutes left. Noaker, driving the No. 84 Sabelt/Pagid Honda Civic TCR, held the lead as the skies threatened rain. A lapped GS-class car jammed up a pack of the top four with just three laps to go, forcing Noaker to lose the lead and then reclaim it in the same traffic just a few laps later.

“This win feels very different and a lot better than anything else I’ve ever gotten,” Noaker said. “It was really just trying to save the tires for the end of the race just in case a caution happened, and there was a caution. Then it was all out, as fast as you can possibly go. There were four cars trying to get the lead and you could go from first to third and back to first again in one lap.”

With grip going away as a light rain fell, that was even more difficult. Add in traffic, and Noaker earned the win.

“There was a slower GS car that was in the mix of all this,” Noaker said. “All of us were trying to get around him. I tried to go around the outside of him in the carousel and there was too much rain and no grip out there. That’s how the Audi got around us. Then there were two more GS cars on the next lap going into the bus stop. They were racing for position, and we were racing for position, and nobody wants to give up any ground. the Audi slipped up in the bus stop and I was able to go around the outside of him.”

Noaker had the comfort of knowing that the No. 84 car had been the quickest all race long, leading 15 laps in Henderson’s opening stint and 40 laps in total. That proved true, with Noaker breaking free of the battle in the final two laps and winning by 1.726 seconds at the checkered flag.

Henderson, who qualified second, took the lead on the 14th lap of the race and held on until his green-flag pit stop on lap 28 with 54 minutes remaining in the race. Henderson’s stint actually began under yellow after a competitor spun and dumped oil on the pace lap, necessitating the opening 18 minutes to be run under yellow.

“I was just trying to keep the car clean and give it to Robert in the best position possible so that we could go out there and have a strong finish,” Henderson said. “We had a little bit of a rocky start to the season but things seem to be getting better. Once I got out front I just tried to stay clean and run consistently quick laps to try and get a gap and hand the car over to Robert in first.”

The win was the first in IMSA competition for Noaker, who earned seven wins previously in MX-5 Cup competition, and the first professional win for Henderson, who has been on the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge podium previously.

The No. 94 Qelo Capital/Dinner With Racers/Lemons of Love Honda Civic TCR crossed the finish line in second place, but was moved to the rear of the finishing order when it didn’t meet the minimum weight standard in post-race technical inspection. The team is expected to appeal the ruling through the appropriate channels.

Atlanta Speedwerks and the Michelin Pilot Challenge field returns to action at Lime Rock Park, July 16 – 17.

About Atlanta Speedwerks
Atlanta Speedwerks is a professional road racing team and prep shop, providing road racing services, car builds, roll cages, arrive and drive programs, and performance parts. Headquartered near Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, the company runs winning arrive & drive programs in IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge, Mazda MX-5 Cup, Porsche Club of America and SCCA Spec Miata, among others. Professional coaching and driver development round out the company’s offerings.

Stoner Car Care Racing Completes the Double at Watkins Glen

By
Official Release
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Two consecutive weekends of Michelin Pilot Challenge competition yield solid results for the team

WATKINS GLEN, NY (3 July 2021) – The Stoner Car Care Racing fielded by Automatic Racing team completed a solid week of action at Watkins Glen International with a steady performance in Friday’s Sahlen’s 120, race five of the 2021 Michelin Pilot Challenge season.

Drivers Rob Ecklin Jr. (Lancaster, Pa.) and Ramin Abdolvahabi (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) returned to Watkins Glen International for the second consecutive weekend, after seeing the No. 09 Stoner Car Care Aston Martin Vantage GT4 take the lead for 11 laps in last weekend’s four-hour Tioga Downs Casino Resort 240.

The duo had some extra work during the sprint race, as the Aston Martin was carrying 30 kilos (66 lbs.) of added ballast following a performance adjustment by IMSA. The added weight effects all aspects of the car’s performance, from acceleration to braking, but the team worked hard to adjust and still get the maximum lap time from the Aston Martin.

Part of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s WeatherTech 240 at the Glen, the tight, two-day event began with a one-hour practice session and 15-minute qualifying scheduled for Thursday afternoon and evening. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had other plans, as torrential rains prompted the team to make the difficult decision to forego the practice session – especially considering the extensive track time the team had experienced just a few days earlier. Abdolvahabi took the wheel for qualifying, putting the Aston Martin P18 for Friday’s race.

Abdolvahabi was set to take the green flag for the afternoon race start until a car lost control on the pace lap and crashed into a barrier in Turn 7. The race clock began as scheduled as the field continued under yellow behind the pace car, with the green flag finally coming out 17 minutes into the race.

Under increasingly threatening skies, Abdolvahabi began to make his way through the field, taking advantage of penalties and early attrition to reach 13th place before heading to pit lane for fuel, four Michelin tires and a change to Ecklin.

“We had a good jump at the start and the car felt good,” said Abdolvahabi. “Our strategy was to work with the yellows, but the extra yellow at the end put a damper on that. But all in all, it was a clean race, with good pit stops. The track felt a bit slower than last week because of the change in temperature. But it was a good week here at Watkins Glen.”

Ecklin returned to the fray mired in the TCR class and worked hard to extricate himself from the slower cars. With 49 minutes remaining, he had returned to the GS class competitors in 15th position but had to pit with 25 minutes remaining which put him back into 17th. Ecklin once again set about making his way forward, but a lengthy late yellow and intermittent rain impeded his progress. When the checkered flag fell, the team had taken a hard-fought 16th place finish.

“It was a challenging stint,” said Ecklin. “We ran good pace, with good lap times, but we struggled to get the slick tires up to temperatures coming away from the pit stops – and then of course, we had some rain to deal with. That late restart made for a fight to the finish. We ended up P16, which is the same position we ended up in last weekend.

“It was fun to do back-to-back races at Watkins Glen. I was pleased to have a stint with better lap times though not happy we weren’t able to improve our position. This is a tough track and you have to fight hard. Nothing comes easy here but that makes it fun.”

About Stoner Car Care
Stoner Car Care produces high-performance car washes, waxes, polishes, and dressings for auto enthusiasts and car care professionals. The Stoner Car Care lineup includes Invisible Glass, America’s #1 Automotive Glass Cleaner, along with many other appearance products. Whether driving, washing or waxing, Performance Matters! Stoner Car Care proudly formulates all of our product since 1942. www.stonercarcare.com

About Invisible Glass
Automatic Racing sees its way to victory with Invisible Glass, the top-selling automotive glass cleaner in the United States. The Invisible Glass product line includes aerosol and spray bottle cleaner, Invisible Glass with rain repellent for windshields and wiper blades. Find more online at https://www.invisibleglass.com/

About Automatic Racing
Based in Orlando, Automatic Racing is one of the longest-running teams in the paddock, forming in 2001 and competing in all but one of the 11 MICHELIN Pilot Challenge races at Daytona. The team has been developing, preparing and racing the prestigious Aston Martin Vantage GT4 since 2012. Automatic Racing won the 2017 MICHELIN Pilot Challenge title.
https://automaticracing.com

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