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Dyson Grows Trans Am Championship Lead with Road America Win

By
Official Release
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Francis Jr. Suffers Mechanical after his SRX breakthrough victory on Saturday night

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (4 July 2021) – Driving like a man on a mission, Chris Dyson motored to his third-consecutive Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli victory on Sunday in front of a sold-out Road America, taking a giant step forward in a bid for his elusive first Trans Am championship.

Driving the No. 20 ALTWELL CBD Ford Mustang, Dyson took the lead on a lap 11 restart and led the rest of the way, padding his points lead in the race for the TA title. Entering the race with a 12 point advantage, the four-time 2021 winner now provisionally leads Tomy Drissi by 23 points, 177-154.

“What a day for us, putting the No. 20 ALTWELL CBD Ford Mustang on podium at Road America for the second year in a row, it’s a dream come true,” said Dyson, whose team won the Chill Out Award for a double-podium finish. “I am just so delighted to see all these fans out here this early today. This place is packed, a lot of enthusiasm, a lot of energy, and I was feeling every bit of it out on the track, I was feeding off it.

“It was a handful today” Dyson continued. “The conditions were pretty slick out there. I was playing with all the tools and experience I had to get us up front. When I have Tomy Drissi, Boris Said, Cody Ware, Ernie Francis Jr. and Guy Smith out there behind me, that’s a tall order to stay ahead of those boys. The car was fantastic, I felt like I dug really deep and was rewarded with a victory.”

Boris Said took second, 8.290 seconds back, leading the opening two laps in the No. 2 Weaver Racing Technique/SRI Dodge Challenger.

“Pancho Weaver builds a great car,” commented Said. “Unfortunately, the electrical box went. We were missing really bad and debated on pulling in and giving up. Then the issues went away, then it was intermittent for the rest of the race. I still drove the wheels off, it’s still a great car. To have NASCAR here and all these fans, I’ve never seen a crowd like this here. This place is just awesome.”

In position for a third-place finish, championship challenger Drissi went for broke in Turn 14 on the final lap in the No. 8 Lucas Oil Chevrolet Camaro. He led eight laps in the early going, but lost several positions on the first restart. Bidding to take second on the last lap, Drissi went spinning when Said slammed the door, falling to an eighth-place finish. Last year, Drissi also spun on the final lap challenging for the lead.

CD Racing driver Guy Smith capitalized on Drissi’s misfortune by taking third in the No. 21 Thetford/CD Racing Ford Mustang.

“It’s been an amazing weekend,” said Smith. “I got a last minute call from Chris (Dyson) to do this race. I’ve been following his season this year with Trans Am and what an awesome series you’ve got here with a great bunch of guys. The cars are just amazing to drive. I’ve driven some fast cars in my career but these things are a lot of fun. It was a great race and I was really pleased for CD Racing. Hopefully they invite me back to race with them again, I just loved it.”

Only hours after scoring a major victory over a hall of fame lineup in the Camping World SRX series at Lucas Oil Raceway, Ernie Francis Jr. saw his hopes for an eighth-consecutive Trans Am title suffer a blow on Sunday.

Starting 24th in the 26-car field, Francis was 14th after one lap and was quickly up to eighth. However, he went to the pits on lap six with the No. 98 Future Star Racing Ford Mustang, losing four laps to repair a broken hime joint on the right-front control arm. Francis managed to come back out and set the fastest laps of the race but finished 13th in TA, four laps down. He remains third in the standings but is now 49 points in arrears.

Pro-Am Challenge driver Oscar Teran scored a career-best National Series finish of fourth in the No. 3 Ford Mustang, followed by Cody Ware in the No. 4 Ave Motorsports Nurtec ODT Corvette – becoming a third-generation driver in Trans Am competition. Simon Gregg was sixth in the No. 59 Peter Gregg Foundation Camaro.

Denny Lamer finished ninth in the No. 66 Stumpf Ford/McMahon Group Mustang to earn TA Masters honors. The Wisconsin native designed all of the buildings at Road America.

“I am not the fastest driver out there, but I tried to outlast some of them, and we did that today,” said Lamers. “I would like to thank Greg Bosch for giving me a car that could finish, and to finish in the top 10, against all these guys, that’s pretty big for us. I got to say though that all the people here at Road America do a great job. I hope the fans love this track as much as I do. I hope we are with the Cup guys every year, it’s the best track on the planet.”

The race was slowed by a pair of caution periods. Aaron Pierce and Anthony Magagnoli got together in Turn 1 on lap five, bringing out the yellow for six laps. On lap 12, Larry Bailey went off in the kink, bringing the caution out for four laps.

Erich Joiner took his fourth consecutive victory in XGT, leading all the way in the No. 10 Good Boy Bob Coffee Porsche 991 GTE.R – a car formerly raced by long-time American factory Porsche driver Patrick Long.

“The Trans Am guys were hooked up today,” Joiner said. “To see all the fans in Turn 5 and all the Porsche people who came by to say hello, it was just a fantastic weekend overall. It was a fun race and my guys do a fantastic job putting me in a safe car every week.”

Justin Oakes took his fourth triumph in his campaign for the SGT championship. Oakes started second in class but took the lead on the first lap in the No. 11 Droneworks Corvette.

“What a wonderful experience, I feel so fortunate to be here,” said Oakes. “It is beautiful weather with all the fans back, and the fact that we can be close together on the podium again for the first time is pretty spectacular. It just feels like we are coming back. Road America is amazing, and the fans here are even better. My team built me an incredible machine, this car is composed, balanced and it’s reliable. Just everything about it is fun to drive.”

Lee Saunders, the 2020 SGT champion, made his return to competition with a second-place finish, 17.746-seconds back in the No. 84 Landsearch LLC Dodge Viper. He was followed by the No. 6 Porsche of Carey Grant, who beat out his father Milton for the final podium position. Milton Grant was the SGT Masters winner in the No. 55 Sentry Self Storage Porsche. Three different manufacturers – Chevrolet, Dodge and Porsche – made up the SGT podium.

“It feels great to be on podium today,” said Carey Grant. “I would like to thank God and my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for giving me the ability to do this. We are racing with heavy hearts today. My crew chief lost his mother yesterday and my father’s crew chief lost his cousin yesterday as well. I would like to dedicate this race to them.”

After a week off, the Trans Am visits Brainerd International Raceway for Round 7 of the 2021 campaign on July 16-18, with a pair of Sunday races.

Newgarden Breaks Through with First 2021 Win on Special Penske Weekend

By
Official Release
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LEXINGTON, Ohio (Sunday, July 4, 2021) – This victory almost seemed like destiny for Josef Newgarden and Team Penske.

Newgarden drove to the first victory of 2021 for himself and Team Penske on Sunday, leading 73 of 80 laps and holding off a charging Marcus Ericsson to win The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by the HPD Ridgeline in the No. 2 XPEL Team Penske Chevrolet. It ended a dry spell of nine races without a victory for Newgarden and Team Penske, the winningest team in INDYCAR SERIES history.

The win, the first for Newgarden and Team Penske since the 2020 season finale last October at St. Petersburg, also snapped a streak of two straight race weekends of heartbreak for the driver and team. Newgarden has won the NTT P1 Award at the last three races, including this one, but lost the lead late in the final three laps at both Race 2 of the Chevrolet Dual in Detroit on June 13 and the REV Group Grand Prix presented by AMR on June 20 at Road America.

Two-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Newgarden also earned his 19th career victory on the same weekend that the legendary Team Penske is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its first INDYCAR SERIES win, by Mark Donohue on July 3, 1971 at Pocono Raceway. It also didn’t hurt that American driver Newgarden won on Independence Day.

“I’d start each stint and feel like we had everything under control,” Newgarden said. “You get to the back end of it, and I felt like I was starting to fall apart, so it was really hard to hang on. I had my wing man, Tim (Cindric, Team Penske president), coaching me all the way, just making sure I knew what was up.

“This team has been doing the job. Everyone has been giving me a hard time, asking what’s up with us not winning a race. But I don’t think these people at Team Penske could have done anything different. We’ve been in the game almost every race, had great performance. It’s great to seal a win here finally.”

Ericsson’s late charge in the No. 8 Huski Chocolate Chip Ganassi Racing Honda fell just short, but he earned his seventh top-10 finish of the season. Championship leader Alex Palou captured the final podium position in the No. 10 NTT DATA Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.

Reigning and six-time series champion Scott Dixon helped Chip Ganassi Racing take three of the top four finishing positions, ending up fourth in the No. 9 PNC Bank Grow Up Great Honda. 2016 Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge winner Alexander Rossi finished fifth in the No. 27 NAPA AUTO PARTS/AutoNation Honda, his best result this season.

The fraught moments over the last 10 laps of the race for Newgarden were quite a contrast from earlier portions of the race on the undulating, 13-turn, 2.258-mile circuit. Newgarden led Ericsson by 6.6 seconds before entering the pits for his final pit stop, on Lap 53.

That lead was trimmed to approximately four seconds shortly after Ericsson made his final stop, one lap after Newgarden.

The gap between the top two ebbed and flowed over the next 15 laps, with Newgarden padding his lead to 7.1 seconds on Lap 66. But then Newgarden started to encounter slower traffic ahead, and Ericsson began using his push-to-pass button more often to draw closer.

Ericsson pulled to within 2.6 seconds with five laps remaining, slicing that margin to 1.4 seconds with two laps to go. When the white flag waved to signal the final lap, Newgarden led Ericsson by .8665 of a second.

One mistake, and it could have been a third consecutive race of late calamity for Newgarden. But he kept his cool and deftly maintained enough of a gap from the slower traffic ahead so those cars’ turbulent air didn’t affect the handling of his machine and also didn’t let Ericsson get close enough to attempt a pass for the win.

“We had a great day,” Ericsson said. “I’m really proud of the whole team. We were pushing very, very hard there at the end to catch Josef. A couple of more laps, and we could have challenged for it. But overall, P2 was a very good result today.”

The strong day for Chip Ganassi Racing ended with three of its drivers in the top five of the series standings. Championship leader Palou is 39 points ahead of Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren SP. Dixon is third, 56 points behind Palou. Newgarden remained fourth, 69 points back of the leader, and Ericsson jumped three positions to take fifth in the standings, 104 points behind Palou.

In the early laps, Colton Herta – who started second in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda – appeared to be the only driver who could keep pace with Newgarden. But Herta’s chance to compete at the end for a win was eliminated by two troublesome pit stops.

A fuel probe issue kept Herta in the pits for 25 seconds on his first stop, on Lap 31, dropping him from second to eighth. Herta’s car then stalled when he was exiting the pits after his second and final stop on Lap 57. Herta ended up finishing 13th.

It took a few laps for the race to find its rhythm due to two early incidents.

On Lap 1, 2012 series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay and Felix Rosenqvist ended up spinning after contact from cars behind them in Turn 4 due to first-lap traffic. Teammate James Hinchcliffe hit the rear of Hunter-Reay’s No. 28 DHL Honda, punting him into the tire barrier, and contact from Romain Grosjean turned around Rosenqvist’s No. 7 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet.

All of the drivers were able to continue. But Rosenqvist and Hunter-Reay needed lengthy pit stops for repairs and ended up finishing 23rd and 24th, respectively, both two laps down.

An incident on Lap 4 ended up eliminating 2014 series champion Will Power and Ed Jones from the race. Power spun after light contact with Dixon during a hard battle for position in Turn 5, with Power’s No. 12 Verizon 5G spinning 180 degrees and pointing toward the onrushing field in a cloud of white tire smoke.

Unfortunately, Jones never saw Power’s stranded car due to the tire smoke, and his No. 18 SealMaster Honda collided with Power’s car. inflicting heavy damage to both. Both drivers were released after evaluation at the track’s medical center.

Those two incidents triggered the only two full-course cautions of the race, helping Newgarden average 108.405 mph in the victory.

The next NTT INDYCAR SERIES race is the inaugural Big Machine Music City Grand Prix on Sunday, Aug. 8 on the streets of Nashville, Tennessee, which starts a stretch of three consecutive race weekends for the series. Following the highly anticipated street race in Nashville, the series heads to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course for the Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix on Saturday, Aug. 14 and then shifts to World Wide Technology Raceway for the final oval race of the season, the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 on Saturday evening, Aug. 21.

Verstappen sweeps Austria, extends championship lead

By
Andrew Kim
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The recent momentum and domination for Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing continued in Spielberg, Austria, after the 23-year-old Dutchman scored his fifth Grand Prix victory of the season in the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring, the ninth Grand Prix event of the 2021 Formula One season, as he also completed a two-race season sweep at the circuit.

Verstappen, who started on pole position for the fourth time this season, dominated the second Austrian Grand Prix event of the season as he led all 71 laps, a similar feat he made when he won last weekend’s Styrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring. With a huge advantage over the field, he even made a pit stop with 10 laps remaining for four fresh tyres, which allowed him to pull away from runner-up finisher Valtteri Bottas and establish the fastest lap of the event before claiming the checkered flag.

With his 15th career victory in Formula One, third in a row in recent weeks after winning the French and Styrian Grand Prix events, Verstappen extended his lead in the drivers’ championship standings to 32 over Sir Lewis Hamilton.

“Yeah, it was really, really good today,” Verstappen said. “I expected it to be good, but not this good. Really, really happy with how the whole race went. You don’t get these races often. You have to take it and enjoy it. When you feel good in the car, you have a good balance and [the crew does] not mention your lap times, which is exactly what you want, and that’s why we could extend our gap like this.”

“[Verstappen] was in a league of his own these last two weekends,” Christian Horner, Red Bull Racing’s team principal, said. “I think he’s pretty much led every single lap that we’ve done here. A phenomenal performance by him and the team, and extending both leads in the drivers’ and constructors’ championships. I think [Verstappen]’s just taking things session by session, race by race. He’s not letting his concentration drift. We’ve had a phenomenal start, we’ve built some great momentum and we’ve got to carry that on, but there are some big races coming up.”

Behind Verstappen, Valtteri Bottas notched a strong runner-up result for his fifth podium result of the season while Lando Norris, who started on the front row, came home in third place for his third podium result of this season, fourth of his career and second in Austria. The podium result for Norris occurred after he rallied from a five-second penalty for forcing Sergio “Checo” Perez off the course and into the gravel.

“I think it was a strong race,” Bottas said. “Definitely, starting fifth and ending up second was the maximum today we could get. We need to keep working. We have two weeks to try and find more pace, but also, we have some upgrades planned for Silverstone, so hopefully, they will help. Hopefully, we can carry this good momentum. I just try to look ahead.”

“Whether or not, we can keep this up at every race track,” Norris said. “This is one of the tracks we’ve done well every single year, qualifying and the race. It’s always been one of our best circuits of the season, so I think the main thing is we don’t get too complacent and think this is where we are now because just last weekend, where we didn’t have two weeks to nail everything, the car wasn’t good enough, so yeah, we had a great day today and we’ve been fast all weekend, but I don’t expect to be like this every single weekend throughout the rest of the season. I think there’s gonna be much tougher again and not so much glory, so we’ll see.

Meanwhile, Sir Lewis Hamilton, fresh off a two-year contract extension with the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team, ended up in fourth place after slipping in the final laps due to sustaining aerodynamic damage from running over the curbs.

Behind, Sergio “Checo” Perez, coming off a podium result in France and a fourth-place result in Styria, finished in fifth. Perez, however, was hit with a pair of time penalties as a result of forcing Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc off the course and into the gravel on two separate occasions. As a result, Carlos Sainz, who crossed the finish line in sixth, was promoted to fifth place while Perez was penalized to sixth place.

Daniel Ricciardo rallied from a 13th-place result last weekend during the Styrian Grand Prix to finish in seventh while Charles Leclerc, Pierre Gasly and Fernando Alonso rounded out the top-10 points-finishing positions.

George Russell, who was battling Alonso for the final points-finishing result, settled in 11th as he has yet to record the first points of the season for himself and the Williams Racing team. Rookie Yuki Tsunoda settled in 12th followed by Lance Stroll, Antonio Giovinazzi and Nicholas Latifi.

Kimi Räikkönen and Sebastian Vettel ended up in 16th and 17th after both collided and wrecked on the final lap while Haas F1 drivers, Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin, settled in 18th and 19th.

Esteban Ocon ended his race in 20th, last place, following an opening lap incident with Giovinazzi and picking up damage to his Alpine machine.

Results:

1. Max Verstappen, 26 points, 71 laps led

2. Valtteri Bottas, 18 points

3. Lando Norris, 15 points

4. Lewis Hamilton, 12 points

5. Carlos Sainz, 10 points

6. Sergio Perez, eight points

7. Daniel Ricciardo, six points

8. Charles Leclerc, four points

9. Pierre Gasly, two points

10. Fernando Alonso, one point, +1 lap

11. George Russell, +1 lap

12. Yuki Tsunoda, +1 lap

13. Lance Stroll, +1 lap

14. Antonio Givinazzi, +1 lap

15. Nicholas Latifi, +1 lap

16. Kimi Räikkönen, +1 lap

17. Sebastian Vettel – DNF

18. Mick Schumacher, +2 laps

19. Nikita Mazepin, +2 laps

20. Esteban Ocon – DNF

Max Verstappen continues to lead the drivers’ standings by 32 points over Lewis Hamilton, 78 over teammate Sergio Perez, 81 over Lando Norris and 90 over Valtteri Bottas. Red Bull Racing continues to lead the constructors’ standings by 44 points over Mercedes, 145 over McLaren and 164 over Ferrari.

Next on the 2021 Formula One schedule is Silverstone Circuit for the British Grand Prix on Sunday, July 18.

CHEVY NCS AT ROAD AMERICA: William Byron Wins the Pole at Road America

By
Official Release
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NASCAR CUP SERIES
ROAD AMERICA
JOCKEY MADE IN AMERICA 250
PRESENTED BY KWIK TRIP
TEAM CHEVY POLE WINNER QUOTE/QUALIFYING RESULTS
JULY 4, 2021

TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL QUALIFYING RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1st WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1 1LE
2nd KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1 1LE
3rd AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 16 HYPERICE CAMARO ZL1 1LE
4th TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 KALAHARI RESORTS & CONVENTIONS CAMARO ZL1 1LE
8th ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 42 ADVENTHEALTH CAMARO ZL1 1LE
10th ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 1LE

TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL QUALIFYING RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER

  1. William Byron (Chevrolet)
  2. Kyle Larson (Chevrolet)
  3. AJ Allmendinger (Chevrolet)
  4. Tyler Reddick (Chevrolet)
  5. Austin Cindric (Ford)

NBC will telecast the Jockey Made in America 250 Presented by Kwik Trip at Road America live today, July 4, at 2:30 p.m. ET. Live coverage can also be found on MRN and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Pole Winner Quote

LISTENING TO HIS RADIO YESTERDAY AT THE BEGINNING OF PRACTICE, I DON’T THINK I WOULD HAVE PREDICTED THIS? WOULD YOU HAVE PREDICTED THIS BECAUSE I DON’T THINK YOU GUYS WERE IN THE BALLPARK OF A POLE YESTERDAY?
“Yeah, we struggled a little bit off the truck; but we had some good changes in mind and the No. 24 Liberty University Chevy was really fast in qualifying. We were fast in race trim in the last run and I feel like we just kind of went back to the basics on the road courses. We’ve struggled this year on the road courses and kind of got back to a basic setup and put it all together today.”
“Thank you to Rudy (Fugle, crew chief) and the guys for working really hard. Awesome to see Hendrick Motorsports 1-2 and on the pole. Great horsepower and great speed, so hopefully we can keep it up there.”

THERE ARE SO MANY THINGS THAT COME INTO PLAY WITH DRIVERS STILL LEARNING THE RACETRACK. YOU’VE GOT FAST GUYS, LIKE YOUR TEAMMATE CHASE ELLIOTT, AND KYLE BUSCH STARTING IN THE BACK, AND ALL THE STRATEGIES THAT COME INTO PLAY. IS THIS SETTING UP TO BE AS CRAZY OF A RACE AS IT FEELS LIKE IT IS RIGHT NOW?
“Yes, I think for sure. I think you’ve got two guys that are the best here with AJ (Allmendinger) and (Austin) Cindric; they’re really good at Road America. And you’ve got the rest of us that are pretty good here, too. (Kyle) Larson has been extremely fast on the road courses and Chase (Elliott), obviously. We’re just going to have to fight all day long and see what happens.”

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.

Ernie Francis Jr. fends off Labonte for SRX win at Lucas Oil Raceway

By
Briar Starr
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Photo Courtesy of SRX Racing Series

After multiple late-race cautions, 23-year-old Trans Am racing driver and young SRX standout, Ernie Francis Jr., fended off Bobby Labonte following a late restart.

Francis won over Labonte by 0.649 seconds to take home his first career Superstar Racing Experience victory.

“Me and Scott Speed went at it for a few laps there, side-to-side, and I didn’t know how that was going to end up. I ended up with a few donuts on the car, but man, couldn’t be happier with it, super incredible. I want to thank everybody from SRX, Ray Evernham and Tony Stewart for giving me this opportunity.”

“I was playing around with gearing trying to see what would work,” Francis said. “Second gear was spinning off of turn four as I tried to roll through third, and that last restart I got really sideways, but I stayed in it. I didn’t want to lift there. And I thought, man, when I saw that I cleared Labonte there – that was a good feeling knowing I just had to get through a few turns cleanly and I just ran my race and took it home. This is going to make that drive back to Road America a lot better.”

Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis was the fourth event on the SRX Racing Series schedule. As usual, there were two heat races that lasted 12 minutes each.

This week, “The Ringer” was former NASCAR star Scott Speed. Speed started on the pole and led all the laps to pick up the first heat race win. Tony Kanaan, Michael Waltrip, Tony Stewart and “Local All-Star” Bobby Santos III finished fifth in the heat.

When the field was inverted for heat 2, Willy T. Ribbs started up front with Paul Tracy alongside him. However, Ribbs and Tracy wouldn’t last long at the front as Castroneves took the lead on Lap 5. The 2021 Indy 500 winner went on to lead the rest of the way and take home his first heat race win in the SRX Series. Labonte, Stewart, Francis and Andretti were the top five. This was the first time in SRX history, there would be no on-track incidents during the first two heats.

Then came the main event which was a 76-lap feature with a unique twist added. Caution laps would count until there were six laps to go, although that would eventually change toward the end of the race.

Following the green flag, Francis took the lead on Lap 11 from Scott Speed going into Turn 1. Francis had the dominant car as the Davie, Florida native maintained the lead through three cautions on Lap 25, Lap 48 and Lap 66.

The field lined up for the restart with seven laps to go, but as soon Francis and the field got to the backstretch, Tony Kanaan went spinning around and flat-spotted his tires creating another caution with six laps to go.

With the restart at two laps to go, Francis once again was able to get the lead briefly before there was more contact behind him. Santos spun out Tracy on the backstretch while Indy 500 winner Castroneves retaliated against Scott Speed by spinning Speed around after Speed had gotten into Castroneves one lap earlier.

For the final time of the night, Francis had to hit his marks as he had racing veteran and 2000 NASCAR Cup Series Champion Bobby Labonte right beside him on the restart. Fortunately, Francis kept Labonte on the back bumper of his car and went on to claim the victory after numerous restarts.

“All night, my car was really good,” Labonte said. “I got a little too tight at the end, and then Scott and Ernie got together and I was having to decide whether to go high or go low. I thought they were going to wreck, and then I was three-wide. Scott was sideways, somewhere, and we might have touched, and I got by him. We ran well from there. He was always dogging me off the bottom of (turn) four and he always seemed to be right there on my left rear. And then, that last green-white-checkered when it was just me and Ernie, my car was just too tight and I didn’t want to get into him too hard – just needed to keep it together and bring it home.”

Speed was battling hard with Castroneves late in the going when he got turned around during the last yellow. Despite being turned, Speed rebounded to finish third on the podium.

“Man, we had such a good battle, me and Francis,” said Speed, who won the first heat race. “We were definitely the best two cars and we were playing cat-and-mouse with our tires, saving them. And then, with 10 to go, it was ‘game on.’ We were both going to charge and we had such an awesome side-by-side race. I just got a little bit too loose underneath him with a couple laps to go and fell back, lost a couple of spots. But it was a great race. I had so much fun.

“We came out of turn four and I got into Helio (Castroneves) a little bit. I didn’t do it on purpose. I’m having a good time here regardless of where I finish. But I’m happy for a guy like Ernie because for a kid like that, we’ve all had our careers in motor racing, but stuff like this can help him establish himself and that’s the big picture here.”

The SRX victory was big enough for Francis as it caught the attention of series sponsor Marcus Lemonis, who hinted at an opportunity for Francis in a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series ride if Francis is interested.

Francis will now make the five-hour drive back to Road America for the Trans Am TA2 event at 8 a.m. CT.

Labonte, Speed, Marco Andretti and Santos rounded out the top five.

Official Results following the SRX Racing Series event at Lucas Oil Raceway:

  1. Ernie Francis Jr
  2. Bobby Labonte
  3. Scott Speed
  4. Marco Andretti
  5. Bobby Santos III
  6. Michael Waltrip
  7. Tony Stewart
  8. Paul Tracy
  9. Helio Castroneves
  10. Tony Kanaan
  11. Willy T. Ribbs
  12. Bill Elliott

Championship Points Standings

1.     Tony Stewart (160 points)

2.     Ernie Francis Jr. (130 points, -30)

3.     Helio Castroneves (120 points, -40)

4.     Bobby Labonte (115 points, -45)

5.     Marco Andretti (111 points, -49)

6.     Michael Waltrip (86 points, -74)

7.     Paul Tracy (83 points, -77)

8.     Tony Kanaan (65 points, -95)

9.     Bill Elliott (52 points, -108)

10.   Willy T. Ribbs (45 points, -115)

Up Next: The Superstar Racing Experience will continue their summer stretch by visiting Slinger Speedway Saturday night, July 17, live on CBS.

Team Penske NASCAR Xfinity Series Race Report – 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.

Team Penske NASCAR Xfinity Series Race Report

Track: Road America
Race: Henry 180
Date: July 3, 2021

No. 22 Menards/Richmond Ford Mustang – Austin Cindric
Start: 2nd
Stage 1: 2nd
Stage 2: 8th
Finish: 8th
Status: Running
Laps Completed: 45/45
Laps Led: 10
Point Standings (ahead of second): 1st (+89)

Notes:

  • Austin Cindric rebounded from a late-race incident to score an eighth-place finish in the Henry 180 Saturday afternoon at Road America. The driver of the No. 22 Menards/Richmond Ford battled back to claim his 13th top-10 in 17 races this season. Cindric led 10 laps and was in contention for the victory until his Mustang was damaged following a restarted with eight laps to go. He remains the leader in the NASCAR Xfinity Series driver standings, 89 points ahead of second-place AJ Allmendinger.
  • Cindric qualified his Menards/Richmond Mustang second Saturday morning. He dropped back to fourth during the opening laps of the 45-lap event but soon the reigning Xfinity Series Champion worked his way back through traffic to score a second-place finish when Stage 1 ended on lap 10. Crew chief Brian Wilson kept his driver on the track during the stage caution, giving Cindric the lead on lap 11.
  • The race restarted on lap 12 and two laps later the third caution slowed the pace. Inside the No. 22 teams pit window, Wilson called the driver of the Menards/Richmond Mustang to pit road on lap 14 for a slight air pressure adjustment, four tires and fuel. Cindric restarted 28th but once again showed his road course skills, wasting no time getting back to the front. He raced back inside the top-10 and claimed an eighth-place finish when Stage 2 ended on lap 20.
  • Cindric restarted fourth on lap 22, 23 laps from the finish. He grabbed the lead on lap 24. The fifth caution on lap 28 brought the leaders to pit road. Wilson elected to pit, calling for four tires and fuel. Cindric restarted seventh on lap 29 and recaptured the top spot on lap 31. The sixth caution of the race on lap 36 which split the field on pit strategy. Wilson chose to pit, giving Cindric four tires and setting themselves up for the short run to the finish. The driver of the No. 22 Mustang restarted 10th with eight laps remaining but moments after the green flag waved misfortune struck. A car spun in front of Cindric and as traffic stacked up another car hit Cindric in the right-rear. The damage forced Cindric to pit for repairs. He restarted 27th with six laps to go. From there Cindric was able to rally back, charging his way through the field to collect an eighth-place finish.
  • Cindric will be back in action tomorrow at Road America behind the wheel of the No. 33 PIRTEK Ford Mustang. He will be making his sixth start of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season in the Jockey Made in America 250. Live race coverage will begin at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC and MRN Radio.

Quote: “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 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.”

Monster Energy Racing: Riley Herbst Road America NXS Race Report

By
Official Release
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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
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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
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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.

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