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Meyer Shank Racing Wins Indianapolis 500

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Official Release
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#06: Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing HondaWinner, celebration

Indianapolis, Ind. (30 May 2021) – Meyer Shank Racing driver Helio Castroneves won his fourth Indianapolis 500 on Sunday. The popular Brazilian racer started the race from eighth on the grid and moved up to take the lead on lap 37.

Saving fuel early in his run, Castroneves raced in the top seven through the majority of the race, racing to the lead on lap 72 under green flag conditions. Holding the lead once again on a lap 126 restart, Castroneves pitted from the lead for the final time on lap 172, with the Meyer Shank Racing squad delivering a final well-executed pit stop on the day to position him for a fight to the finish.

The race set a record as the fastest Indianapolis 500 in history, with Castroneves fighting for the lead with Alex Palou through a frantic final 20 lap segment. Taking the point for the final time on lap 198, Castroneves held firm at the front to take an amazing fourth victory in the race to the roaring approval of 135,000 enthusiastic race fans as he returned to climb the fence at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway once again.

“I love Indianapolis!” enthused Castroneves. “This is incredible. I had to put my elbows up to fight there at the end. Meyer Shank Racing gave me everything I needed to go fight for the win. Thank you so much to Jim (Meyer) and Mike (Shank) for giving me this chance, and to AutoNation and SiriusXM for supporting us. It was so great to be powered by Honda today. We had such an amazing car and the team did an unbelievable job. I can’t believe it!”

The victory marks an incredible new highlight for the team, which is based in Columbus and earned success in sports car racing with victories in some of the sports biggest events including the Rolex 24 At Daytona and Petit Le Mans before expanding to compete in IndyCar with a one-off Indianapolis 500 outing in 2017.

With Jim Meyer joining Shank in an ownership role in 2017, the team grew the program in partnership with AutoNation and SiriusXM to contest partial IndyCar seasons in 2018 and 2019 before making its first full-season campaign with Jack Harvey in 2020. Castroneves joined the team ahead of the 2021 season for a 6-race campaign starting with the Indianapolis 500.

“I don’t even know where to start,” said team co-owner Mike Shank. “Helio drove an incredible race-his experience in this race was there for all to see. I’m so proud to have the partnerships that we’ve built to get to this point. That starts with Jim (Meyer), who has made such an impact on this organization since coming on board and goes to AutoNation and SiriusXM, and of course Honda and the folks at HPD have been just amazing. This is going to take a long time to soak in, but right now I just am a little at a loss for words to be standing here right now after winning the Indianapolis 500!”

The sister No. 60 AutoNation/SiriusXM Honda-powered entry of Jack Harvey finished a disappointed 18th. After starting from 24th on the grid, Harvey raced his way to the top ten but lost ground during a lap 142 pit stop before fighting back to finish 18th.

“First off, congratulations to Helio, what a legend,” said Harvey. “And also to Mike Shank, and Jim Meyer, they have built a very strong team and that showed today with this big result. Unfortunately my race didn’t go as well as he had hoped and we don’t have the result we were looking for. So it was a disappointing day for us, but overall I’m so proud of this team and thrilled for AutoNation, SiriusXM, and everyone involved.”

Moffitt, Dillion take on the Alsco 300

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Official Release
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Our Motorsports teammates Brett Moffitt and Ty Dillion fought a hard fight Saturday May 29th at Charlotte Motorspeedway. The day started early Saturday morning with qualifying. Moffitt and the No. 02 Good Sams Camaro qualified 15th and the No. 23 Gun Broker Camaro of Dillion 10th.

In the opening laps of the 200-mile race, Moffitt settled into 14th while Dillion battled for 16th. During lap twenty the Our Motorsports teammates were running 14th (Moffitt) and fifteenth (Dillion). The remainder of the first stage resulted in Dillion and Moffitt losing track positions and fighting hard to stay on the lead lap until adjustments could be made. At the end of stage one, Dillion was 19th and Moffitt 23rd. During the scheduled pit stops, both the No. 02 and 23 were able to gain track positions as the pit crew executed wonderfully.

Moffitt took the green in 15th with Dillion not far behind in 18th. The Our Motorsports teammates held tight to their track positions during the first half of stage 2. At the end of the stage break, Dillion was in 17th position. Moffitt was not far behind in 21st.

At the start of stage three after pitting for adjustments, Dillion started 25th and Moffitt 29th. After a hard battle with seventy laps to go, Moffitt was racing right outside of the top ten position at 11th. Dillion was running in the 18th position at that time. Ten laps later Dillion had battled his way to 16th and Moffit held strong at 13th. However, the good run from Moffitt ended in heartbreak when he was involved in a late race caution that resulted in damage to the No.02. After receiving the necessary repairs, Moffitt found himself two laps down in 28th position. The No. 23 team of Dillon found triumph in this caution and made their way to 13th. Dillion continued to battle through the field. When the black and white checkered flew, Dillion crossed the finish line in the 7th position, showing solid speed. Moffitt made his way to the 25th position when he crossed the finish line.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series returns to action next weekend at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. The B&L Transport 170 is set for Saturday, June 6 at 1 p.m. ET on FS1.

PEYTON SELLERS CAPTURES WIN IN 100-LAP LATE MODEL STOCK CAR RACE OF SATURDAY NIGHT’S SOUTHSIDE DISPOSAL MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND SHOWDOWN AT SOUTH BOSTON SPEEDWAY

By
Official Release
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Peyton Sellers poses with representatives from event sponsor Southside Disposal in Victory Lane following his win in the 100-lap NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Late Model Stock Car Division race that headlined Saturday night’s Southside Disposal Memorial Day Weekend Showdown at South Boston Speedway. Photo Courtesy Joe Chandler/South Boston Speedway

By Joe Chandler
Director, Public Relations
South Boston Speedway

South Boston, VA……..Peyton Sellers admitted he didn’t have the best car, but it was good enough to deliver a win in the 100-lap NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Late Model Stock Car Division race that headlined Saturday night’s Southside Disposal Memorial Day Weekend Showdown at South Boston Speedway.

Sellers, of Ringgold, Virginia, sped past pole winner Stuart Crews of Long Island, Virginia to take the lead on the 14th lap, with Thomas Scott following him to the front. From there, the race became a battle between Sellers and Scott, with Scott hounding Sellers for the lead for most of the remaining 86 laps.

Scott, of Efland, North Carolina, made several runs at Sellers for the lead, but Sellers fended off Scott’s challenge each time. Sellers gradually inched away from Scott over the last 15 laps, crossing the finish line 1.518 seconds ahead of Scott to take the win.

“It’s good to put this Clarence’s Steak House car in Victory Lane,” Sellers remarked.

“We didn’t have the best car here tonight. Thomas Scott did. I just kept it (the car) on the bottom. I really didn’t have to make the car wide. I was just able to slide up, and I had good grip off the top side and the bottom. I was just able to beat him on drive-off (off of the corners).”

Scott had multiple opportunities to take the lead but was unwilling to move Sellers out of the way.

“If it had been anybody else, I probably would have used him up a little more,” Scott said.

“They’ve been working hard and he’s running for a national championship. If I wrecked my boss, it would have put me in a weird spot.”

Scott said he felt good knowing he had the best car.

“It feels good to have the best car,” Scott remarked.

“I ran my right rear tire pretty hard trying to pass him a few times. He was holding strong on the top. When it came time to go the last 15 laps, I just didn’t have any right rear (tire) left to get off of the corner and he was able to get away from me a little bit.”

Jacob Borst of Elon, North Carolina finished third with Crews finishing fourth and Landon Pembelton of Amelia, Virginia rounding out the top five finishers.

Chris Johnson of Ashland, Virginia finished sixth and was followed by Carter Langley of Zebulon, North Carolina, Trey Crews of Halifax, Virginia, Camden Gullie of Durham, North Carolina and Chris Denny of Timberlake, North Carolina.

The results of Saturday night’s 100-lap Late Model Stock Car Division race are unofficial pending post-race inspection.

Eversole Captures Limited Sportsman Division Victory

It has been two full seasons since J.D. Eversole of North Chesterfield, Virginia has won a NASCAR Limited Sportsman Division race at South Boston Speedway. The long drought came to an end Saturday night in the first 25-lap race of what had been scheduled as twin 25-lap races.

Eversole took the lead on the opening lap of the race and fended off a challenge from Drew Dawson of Nathalie, Virginia in a two-lap dash to the finish that followed the last of the race’s three caution flags to secure his first win of the season.

Dawson finished second .569-second behind Eversole with Eric Winslow of Pelham, North Carolina finishing third. Daniel Crews of Long Island, Virginia and AndrewAmos of Callands, Virginia rounded out the top five finishers.

Johnny Layne Scores His First Win Of The Season In The 30-Lap Pure Stock Race

Johnny Layne of Halifax, Virginia had to wait through a lengthy rain delay but the wait was worth it as he captured his first win of the season in Saturday night’s 30-lap Budweiser Pure Stock Division race.

Layne led twice in the race, leading all but seven laps enroute to a 1.242-second win over runner-up Justin Dawson of Nathalie, Virginia. Scott Phillips of Halifax, Virginia finished third in his best outing of the season. Bruce Mayo of Halifax, Virginia and Randy Hupp of Halifax, Virginia completed the top five finishers.

Layne’s victory ended a six-race win streak that had been compiled by division points leader Nathan Crews of Long Island, Virginia. Crews was leading the race when the engine in his car expired, forcing him to the sidelines.

Rain washed out the night’s scheduled second 25-lap Limited Sportsman Division race and the 15-lap Budweiser Hornets Division race.

Next Race At South Boston Speedway

South Boston Speedway will continue its Celebrate America Campaign when NASCAR racing action returns to “America’s Hometown Track” on Saturday night, June 12 with the Halifax Insurance NASCAR Late Model Twin 75s racing program.

Twin 75-lap races for the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Late Model Stock Car Division will headline the five-race card. A 50-lap race for the Limited Sportsman Division, a 30-lap race for the Budweiser Pure Stock Division and a 15-lap race for the Budweiser Hornets Division are also included in the night’s racing action.

The race day schedule has registration and pit gates opening at 2 p.m. Practice will begin at 4 p.m. and grandstand gates will open at 5:30 p.m. Qualifying will start at 6 p.m. and the first race will get the green flag at 7 p.m.

Advance adult general admission tickets for the June 12 race are priced at $10 each and may be purchased online on South Boston Speedway’s website, www.southbostonspeedway.com, through Friday night, June 11. Adult general admission tickets at the gate on race day are priced at $15 each. Kids ages 12 and under will be admitted free when accompanied by a paying adult.

The latest news and updates about South Boston Speedway and its racing events can be found on the South Boston Speedway website and through the speedway’s social media channels.

South Boston Speedway May 29, 2021 Race Results

Late Model | 100 Laps

126Peyton Sellers100
28Thomas Scott100
325Jacob Borst100
429Stuart Crews100
50Landon Pembleton100
636Chris Johnson100
75Carter Langley100
89Trey Crews100
901Camden Gullie100
102Chris Denny100
1114Conner Jones100
1219Jessica Cann91
1306Terry Dease75
1428Jason Barnes11

* Unofficial Pending Post-Race Inspection

Limited Sportsman No. 1 | 25 Laps

198JD Eversole25
28Drew Dawson25
322Eric Winslow25
475Daniel Crews25
536Andrew Amos25
617Jason Myers25
723Danny Willis, Jr.25
858Daniel Moss25
96Brent Younger25
103David Phelps24
1117Caleb Dyer23
1238Mark Cook22
132Kenny Daniel14

Limited Sportsman Race No. 2 – rained out

Budweiser Pure Stock | 30 Laps

19Johnny Layne30
28Justin Dawson30
366Scott Phillips30
400Bruce Mayo30
512Randy Hupp30
661Jimmy  Wade15
73Nathan Crews9
801Jared Dawson5

Budweiser Hornets – rained out

DGR ARCA Menards Series Race Recap: Charlotte Motor Speedway

By
Official Release
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Saturday, May 29
Track: Charlotte Motor Speedway, 1.5-mile quad oval
Race: 6 of 20
Event: General Tire 150 (100 laps, 150 miles)

Thad Moffitt, No. 46 CleanPacs/Aqua ChemPacs Ford Fusion

Start: 3rd
Finish: 7th

  • Moffitt earned his best starting position of the season via his practice speed and lined up third for the General Tire 150.
  • On lap 15, the 15 car got loose underneath Moffitt and he had to save the car and fall back in line in fifth. As he got back into a rhythm and continued to gain speed, he got a run to the inside lane for fourth position on lap 29 and lost the air off the nose causing him to spin out.
  • The No. 43 Fusion lost one lap to the leaders as a result of the spin and came down pit road to change tires and add fuel. After restarting 16th, the Ford driver gained two positions to 14th by lap 50 when the yellow flag waved for the scheduled competition break. Derek Smith made the call to stay out and take the wave around to get back on the lead lap and restart 13th.
  • When caution flag waved on lap 60, Moffitt was in the 10th position and opted to pit for fresh tires and fuel. He restarted 11th and had advanced up to seventh when the caution came out again with nine laps remaining.
  • The North Carolina native restarted in fourth for a green-white-checkered finish, but the outside lane struggled with wheel spin and got a bad launch causing him to fall to ninth on the opening lap. He was able to get back to seventh at the checkered flag.
  • The seventh-place result marks Moffitt’s fifth top-10 finish of the 2021 ARCA Menards Series season.

Next event: Dawn 150 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio on June 4 at 6 p.m. ET.

Tips for a Successful Trade Show; How to make it happen

By
SM
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Photo by Depositphoto at https://depositphotos.com/

A successful trade show doesn’t happen on its own. It requires a lot of management, resilience, and tons of creativity. Organizations measure their success through the number of leads they process through the trade show along with their ROI and opportunities that come along. However, what really makes all of this happen is the effort you are willing to put into it. Like most of the shows, you’ll need to get your full trade show checklist assembled and fully planned out to make sure that it turns out to be very successful. So how can you do that? Here are some tips!

  1. Plan A LOT:

There is a lot of planning required in trade shows and you need to plan way before time. You have to inform your team of the show dates and book flights accordingly, and ensure that everything happens weeks before the actual show. Don’t keep anything on hold until the last moment. Thus, a proper schedule is very crucial to maintain proper management. Pre-show marketing campaigns, giveaways, and emails all must be done according to the schedule. 

  1. Focus on the Display:

The first impression is the last impression and your display is the first spot that the visitors will lay their eyes upon. You need to make sure that it is representing your brand accurately. Add the right visual appeal to it. You can add a car into the display along with the addition of interior car lights at iilumo to make it appear loud and bold. Make the experience interactive for the visitors. 

  1. Keeping the Audience Engaged is Important:

To make sure that your trade show is a hit, you need to keep your audience engaged. If the crowd just starts to fade away quickly, it means that you are failing to impress them. Thus, the right amount of planning is the primary step to success. You can set up your creative team to brainstorm ideas about how to utilize cars in the right way, to keep the visitors engaged. Interior and exterior lighting can add an extra spark to the cars and make them more attractive. You can also paint the cars or some bikes in the colors of your brand to communicate with the customers. You can also hire event headliners such as keynote speakers specialising in automotive trends or innovations, who can add industry relevance to the show and draw in a genuinely interested crowd.

  1. Give them something to remember you:

Goodies are very important in any show, be it a car show. You need to make sure that you give a souvenir to the customers, to remember you by. You can hand over customized products at the end of the show to your audience. These can be small items like keychains, or t-shirts, or mobile covers, maybe even some branded beanies themed according to your brand. Everyone will appreciate this gesture, and you will be able to market your brand just right.

CONCLUSION:

It takes a lot of thought to figure out ways to make your trade show stand out and attract people. Thus, the more you plan, the better. 

Ty Gibbs rebounds to win Xfinity race at Charlotte

By
Angie Campbell
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Photo by Andrew Boyd for SpeedwayMedia.com.

Ty Gibbs recovered from a spin in Stage 2 to win the NASCAR Xfinity Series Alsco Uniforms 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway and claim his second victory in only six series starts.

He led the final 20 laps in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 54 Toyota and was the highest-finishing rookie in his Xfinity debut at the 1.5-mile track.

His surge to the front was not without difficulty. As Gibbs moved to pass Chase Briscoe who was leading the race, Gibbs inadvertently took the air off Briscoe’s car causing him to spin off Turn 2. Briscoe would have to settle for a 6th place finish.

Gibbs apologized on the team radio for the incident, saying, “I wasn’t trying to wreck him. I was trying to race him. That was never my intention.”

After the win, he took a moment to apologize again to Briscoe and his team.

“First off,” he said, “I just want to say sorry to the 99 and Chase and his crew. I didn’t hit him, but I definitely helped him out with him getting loose there, and it was not my intention. Already wrecked myself so, I just want to say sorry to them more importantly than this entire win.”

But nothing could take away from the excitement of claiming another victory for the 18-year-old who is running a part-time Xfinity Series schedule.

“It’s just awesome,” Gibbs said. “I’ll take it. This is a good day — we got one more (race) to go. So, I just want to say thank you all the fans out there and hell, yeah!”

Briscoe was disappointed, but said, “It felt like there at the end we just made the wrong adjustment and I was too tight. But truthfully, Ty was probably going to get me either way. After leading that many laps (60), it’s frustrating for sure.”

Austin Cindric placed second in his Team Penske No. 22 Ford, after finishing fourth in both Stage 1 and 2.

“Talking to everyone, it sounds like we were the most boring race car on the race track,” he said. “We took up residence in P4 for about the entire race. If that meant I had a good restart, a bad restart, a good pit stop, a bad pit stop, we were still P4. I felt like we weren’t good enough to make moves to get to the front, but we were good enough to maintain where we were. There’s definitely more for us to gain, but overall, we really executed well today. I can’t really complain.”

Harrison Burton finished third, followed by Brandon Brown and Tyler Reddick to round out the top five. Briscoe, Ty Dillon, Brandon Jones, Jeb Burton and Jeremy Clements finished sixth-10th, respectively.

Cindric leads the standings by 84 points over second-place Harrison Burton. AJ Almendinger (-108), Daniel Hemric (-108) Justin Allgaier (-133), Jeb Burton (-137), Justin Haley (-172), Jeremy Clements (-191), Noah Gragson (-197) and  Myatt Snider (-211) round out the top-10 in the driver standings.

The Xfinity Series travels to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for its next race on Saturday, June 8, at 1 p.m. ET on FS1.

Official Results:

  1. (8)  Ty Gibbs #, Toyota, 200.
  2. (4)  Austin Cindric, Ford, 200.
  3. (13)  Harrison Burton, Toyota, 200.
  4. (32)  Brandon Brown, Chevrolet, 200.
  5. (16)  Tyler Reddick(i), Chevrolet, 200.
  6. (2)  Chase Briscoe(i), Ford, 200.
  7. (10)  Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 200.
  8. (14)  Brandon Jones, Toyota, 200.
  9. (9)  Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, 200.
  10. (6)  Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 200.
  11. (26)  Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 200.
  12. (1)  Riley Herbst, Ford, 200.
  13. (28)  Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 200.
  14. (33)  Alex Labbe, Chevrolet, 200.
  15. (22)  Chad Finchum, Toyota, 200.
  16. (20)  Ryan Vargas #, Chevrolet, 200.
  17. (25)  Jade Buford #, Chevrolet, 200.
  18. (30)  Jesse Little, Toyota, 200.
  19. (11)  Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 200.
  20. (31)  Cody Ware, Toyota, 200.
  21. (34)  Josh Williams, Chevrolet, 199.
  22. (17)  Jeffrey Earnhardt, Chevrolet, 199.
  23. (21)  Stefan Parsons, Chevrolet, 199.
  24. (19)  Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 199.
  25. (15)  Brett Moffitt, Chevrolet, 198.
  26. (7)  Myatt Snider, Chevrolet, 196.
  27. (23)  Noah Gragson, Chevrolet, Accident, 187.
  28. (3)  Daniel Hemric, Toyota, Accident, 186.
  29. (27)  Tommy Joe Martins, Chevrolet, Accident, 186.
  30. (29)  Colby Howard, Chevrolet, 184.
  31. (12)  Ryan Sieg, Ford, Accident, 151.
  32. (18)  Josh Berry #, Chevrolet, Accident, 150.
  33. (5)  AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, Brakes, 128.
  34. (36)  Timmy Hill(i), Toyota, Engine, 114.
  35. (24)  Matt Mills, Chevrolet, Accident, 103.
  36. (35)  Grant Enfinger(i), Toyota, Accident, 26.

Ty Gibbs wins at Charlotte for second NASCAR Xfinity triumph

By
Official Release
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CONCORD, NORTH CAROLINA - MAY 29: Ty Gibbs, driver of the #54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series Alsco Uniforms 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 29, 2021 in Concord, North Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service

Not bad for a part-timer.

Ty Gibbs won his second NASCAR Xfinity Series victory in the sixth start of his career, recovering from a spin off Turn 4 to take the checkered flag in Saturday’s Alsco Uniforms 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

The grandson of team owner Joe Gibbs led the final 20 laps, surviving two eventful restarts during that stretch to beat series leader Austin Cindric to the finish line by .437 seconds.

Gibbs, who won’t turn 19 until Oct. 4, is the youngest winner at Charlotte in any of NASCAR’s top three national divisions.

The race came down to a battle for the lead between Gibbs and Chase Briscoe, who led 30 laps before spinning off Turn 2 as Gibbs closed near his bumper and packed the air on the left rear of Briscoe’s Ford.

Gibbs apologized immediately on his team radio for putting Briscoe in a precarious position.

“I wasn’t trying to wreck him—I was trying to race him,” Gibbs said. “That was never my intention.”

After taking the checkered flag and climbing from his car, Gibbs was still apologizing, even though there was clearly no contact between his No. 54 Toyota and Briscoes’s No. 99 Ford.

“First off, I just want to say sorry to the 99 and Chase and his crew,” said Gibbs, who spun through the artificial turf in the tri-oval at the end of Stage 2. “I didn’t hit him, but I definitely helped him out with him getting loose there, and it was not my intention. Already wrecked myself so, I just want to say sorry to them more importantly than this entire win.’

But the victory nevertheless assuaged whatever guilty feelings he might have had.

“It’s just awesome,” Gibbs said. “I’ll take it. This is a good day—we got one more (race) to go. So, I just want to say thank you all the fans out there and hell, yeah!”

Briscoe conceded that his spin was simply the product of hard racing between two quality cars. Gibbs had closed on Biscoe in traffic and had actually led the previous lap as the drivers raced side-by-side across the start/finish line.

“It felt like there at the end we just made the wrong adjustment, and I was too tight,” Briscoe said. “But truthfully, Ty was probably going to get me either way…. After leading that many laps, it’s frustrating for sure.”

Seeking his first victory in his 99th start in the series, Daniel Hemric swept the first two stages, but a pit road mistake cost him dearly. During a pit stop under the sixth caution on Lap 121 of 200, Hemric was blocked by the Toyota of Chad Finchum and had to back up to escape his pit stall.

That was the least of Hemric’s problems. A tire rolled away from the car and impeded the pit stop of Landon Cassill, who was pitting behind Hemric. The resulting penalty sent Hemric to the back of the field, and though he recovered to run as high as seventh, he couldn’t avoid a seven-car wreck after a restart on Lap 187.

That accident knocked Hemric and Noah Gragson out of the race. After the subsequent restart on Lap 194, Gibbs pulled away from Cindric and sealed the victory, lowering his average finish in his six starts to 5.17—from an average starting position of 18.2.

Harrison Burton finished third, followed by Brandon Brown, whose crew chief, Doug Randolph, made the call of the race by saving a set of tires for the final 20 laps. Fighting for a Playoff spot and currently 13th in the series standings, Brown was outside the top 15 for the penultimate restart on Lap 187 but took advantage of his fresh rubber to charge to fourth.

Tyler Reddick came home fifth, followed by Briscoe, Ty Dillon, Brandon Jones, Jeb Burton and Jeremy Clements.

Cindric, the reigning series champion, now leads the standings by 84 points over second-place Harrison Burton.

NASCAR Xfinity Series Race – 40th Annual Alsco Uniforms 300
Charlotte Motor Speedway
Concord, North Carolina
Saturday, May 29, 2021
(8) Ty Gibbs #, Toyota, 200.
(4) Austin Cindric, Ford, 200.
(13) Harrison Burton, Toyota, 200.
(32) Brandon Brown, Chevrolet, 200.
(16) Tyler Reddick(i), Chevrolet, 200.
(2) Chase Briscoe(i), Ford, 200.
(10) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 200.
(14) Brandon Jones, Toyota, 200.
(9) Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, 200.
(6) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 200.
(26) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 200.
(1) Riley Herbst, Ford, 200.
(28) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 200.
(33) Alex Labbe, Chevrolet, 200.
(22) Chad Finchum, Toyota, 200.
(20) Ryan Vargas #, Chevrolet, 200.
(25) Jade Buford #, Chevrolet, 200.
(30) Jesse Little, Toyota, 200.
(11) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 200.
(31) Cody Ware, Toyota, 200.
(34) Josh Williams, Chevrolet, 199.
(17) Jeffrey Earnhardt, Chevrolet, 199.
(21) Stefan Parsons, Chevrolet, 199.
(19) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 199.
(15) Brett Moffitt, Chevrolet, 198.
(7) Myatt Snider, Chevrolet, 196.
(23) Noah Gragson, Chevrolet, Accident, 187.
(3) Daniel Hemric, Toyota, Accident, 186.
(27) Tommy Joe Martins, Chevrolet, Accident, 186.
(29) Colby Howard, Chevrolet, 184.
(12) Ryan Sieg, Ford, Accident, 151.
(18) Josh Berry #, Chevrolet, Accident, 150.
(5) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, Brakes, 128.
(36) Timmy Hill(i), Toyota, Engine, 114.
(24) Matt Mills, Chevrolet, Accident, 103.
(35) Grant Enfinger(i), Toyota, Accident, 26.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 112.535 mph.

Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 39 Mins, 57 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.437 Seconds.

Caution Flags: 10 for 51 laps.

Lead Changes: 12 among 7 drivers.

Lap Leaders: R. Herbst 1-7;D. Hemric 8-47;A. Allmendinger 48;D. Hemric 49-92;A. Allmendinger 93;D. Hemric 94-114;C. Briscoe(i) 115-120;A. Cindric 121;C. Briscoe(i) 122-145;A. Cindric 146;R. Sieg 147-150;C. Briscoe(i) 151-180;T. Gibbs # 181-200.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Daniel Hemric 3 times for 105 laps; Chase Briscoe(i) 3 times for 60 laps; Ty Gibbs # 1 time for 20 laps; Riley Herbst 1 time for 7 laps; Ryan Sieg 1 time for 4 laps; AJ Allmendinger 2 times for 2 laps; Austin Cindric 2 times for 2 laps.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 18,16,54,22,10,99,9,20,39,31

Stage #2 Top Ten: 18,16,9,22,99,20,10,54,7,19

Team Penske NASCAR Xfinity Race Report – Charlotte

By
Official Release
-

Team Penske NASCAR Xfinity Series Race Report
Track: Charlotte Motor Speedway
Race: Alsco Uniforms 300
Date: May 29, 2021

No. 22 Carquest Ford Mustang – Austin Cindric
Start: 4th
Stage 1: 4th
Stage 2: 4th
Finish: 2nd
Status: Running
Laps Completed: 200/200
Laps Led: 2
Driver Point Standings (ahead of second): 1st (+84)

Notes:

  • Consistency paved the way for Austin Cindric’s second-place finish Saturday afternoon at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The driver of the Carquest Ford Mustang racked up his ninth top-five finish in 12 starts this season. He scored his best finish in four NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at the 1.5-mile oval. Cindric remains the leader in the series driver points standings, holding an 84-point edge over second-place Harrison Burton.
  • The reigning NASCAR Xfinity Series champion qualified fourth on Saturday morning and once the race started, he quickly moved his Carquest Mustang to second position during Stage 1. Throughout the run Cindric’s Carquest Mustang became a little tight in Turns 3 and 4. Cindric was able to maintain position and score a fourth-place finish when the opening segment ended on lap 45. During the caution crew chief Brian Wilson called for a trackbar adjustment plus four tires and fuel and restarted fourth when the race went green on lap 52.
  • Stage 2 ran caution free and during the long run Cindric said his balance of the No. 22 Mustang was steadily building to the tight side once more. The fourth caution on lap 92 ended the stage with Cindric scored in fourth position. Wilson once again called his driver to pit road during the stage caution for four tires, fuel, and adjustments to loosen up the balance. Solid work by the Carquest team gave Cindric third position for the restart on lap 97.
  • The Mooresville N.C., native remained inside the top-five during the first run of the final stage as the handling conditions improved. During the seventh caution on lap 145 Wilson once again called his driver to pit road, this time for an air pressure adjustment, four tires and fuel. Two cautions over the final 17 laps gave Cindric an opportunity to win the race. He restarted second on lap 193, seven laps from the finish, but couldn’t track down leader (and eventual winner) Ty Gibbs during the final sprint to the finish and scoring a second-place finish.
  • The NASCAR Xfinity Series is back in action at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Saturday, June 5th, for the B&L Transport 170. Live coverage will begin at 5:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.

Quote: “We really picked residency in fourth position for much of the day, so, honestly, second is not bad. You obviously want to win the race and we put ourselves in position to have a shot and some days that’s all you can ask for. I’m happy to get the Carquest Ford Mustang up with a chance. We were carrying 30 names of fallen heroes from the Carquest family on the back of our car, so happy to represent them well today and move on to next week.”

Emotional Win for Dyson in Drenched Lime Rock Park Trans Am Race

By
Official Release
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Joiner, Phillips and Di Pippo score class wins

LAKEVILLE, CT (29 May 2021) – Winning at his home track was twice as sweet for Chris Dyson in Saturday’s Trans Am Memorial Day Classic at Lime Rock Park. The resident of nearby Poughkeepsie, N.Y. led every lap for his second Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli victory of the season, while polesitter Ernie Francis Jr., his closest rival for the championship, failed to finish after a mechanical issue.

Dyson led every lap at Lime Rock for the second-consecutive race (he won in 2019), scoring his eighth career victory in the No. 20 ATWELL CBD Ford Mustang in a race that began in the rain and ended on a drying track.

“This means the world to me,” Dyson said. “The conditions were challenging, but Lime Rock always puts an extra spring in my step, and it’s an unbelievable feat to drive around this place in these Trans Am cars at these speeds and in these conditions, against the caliber of drivers in this field. I’ve been coming here since I was a kid, it’s always been special to be part of this tradition. What a day for the team – what a points day too! I think we’re just hitting our stride.”

Francis Jr. entered the race with a slim lead in the standings in the No. 98 Future Star Racing Ford Mustang, and won the Motul Pole Award in Friday’s rainy qualifying.

The race began with rain pouring down the front straight. Using a move that he learned from legendary Dyson Racing driver Butch Leitzinger, Dyson went to the outside in Turn 1 on the opening lap to take the lead. Francis did a 360-spin on the wet track and continued, although in eighth place.

“I’ve had that move in my pocket,” said Dyson. “I watched Butch Leitzinger use that move so many times here, and I’ve been waiting years to use it.”

Francis recovered quickly and worked his way up to third, setting his sights on Dyson’s teammate, second-place Andy Lally in the No. 21 Amamos LaVida Tequilla Mustang. Francis finally got by Lally entering No-Name Straight on Lap 28. Lally dove to the inside to regain the position entering the final turn, with Francis coming to a rapid stop shortly thereafter before pulling off in Turn 1 with mechanical issues.

“It’s been a very unlucky weekend for us, we’ve been kind of struggling all season, we are trying to shake it off and get back on track,” said Francis Jr. “I had a spin at the start, I pinched it down a bit tight, and spun off Chris’ (Dyson) car. I got back going and was moving through the field pretty quick. I thought we had a car to fight for the win if we had a caution. I came down the hill and lost oil pressure, and had to pull it off to save the motor. It’s really disappointing we couldn’t get the finish we wanted for our sponsors, but we will come back next time and do better.”

With Francis gone, Dyson’s biggest threat was the weather as the rain let off and the track began to dry over the final 25 laps. Ken Thwaits hit the tire barrier at the end of the front straight on Lap 50 in the No. 50 Franklin Road Apparel Camaro to bring out the first caution. Thwaits was able to continue after being extricated.

Racing resumed on Lap 55 with less than eight minutes remaining on the drying but slippery circuit. Tomy Drissi passed Lally for second with seven laps remaining. Drissi fended off Lally down to the stripe, only 0.315-seconds separated the pair at the checkered, as Drissi took second in the No. 8 Lucas Oil Chevrolet Camaro. Drissi’s clean defense earned him the ChillOut Moment of the Race.

“I learned a lot today over the last few laps,” said Drissi. “My tires came in right away [after the restart] and I got by Lally and I was catching Dyson. I’m feeling really good, but all of a sudden I see Dyson pick it up and Lally’s right behind me. I learned a lot. Lally was very nice to me,”

Lally was a late replacement for Humaid Masood in the No. 21 Mustang, with the sports car veteran winning his lone prior Trans Am start at Watkins Glen in 2017.

“It was fun,” Lally said. “With a drying track like that in these cars sliding around, to do battle with guys like Chris and Tomy was pretty crazy. We had a couple runs, but Tomy was smart with his lines on that last lap. We were side-by-side in West Bend, and we picked up a lapped guy. Tomy used him as a pick, and that was that. Trans Am’s a fun group, especially with this horsepower in mixed conditions like today.”

Three-time Lime Rock winner Paul Fix II, running his first race in two seasons, placed fourth in the No. 4 StopFlex.com/Car Coach Corvette. He was followed by Simon Gregg in the No. 59 The Peter Gregg Foundation Camaro, and David Pintaric in the No. 57 Kryderacing Ford Mustang.

Kerry Hitt, who finished seventh in the Advanced Composite Products Cadillac CTS-V, had his first Lime Rock race against Paul Newman in a Datsun 510. Hitt took the win in the TA Masters Class.

Michael Phillips led all the way to claim his first victory in SGT, driving the New York City-based No. 97 F.A.S.T. Auto Racing Corvette.

“It was really busy out there,” Phillips said. “I saw Justin Oakes roll the dice and start out on dries, so I knew I had to get out and stay out. Then I saw my 47-second gap evaporate because of the yellow, but that’s racing. I was geared up for battle with Justin at the end, but I didn’t know what happened to him.”

Jason Berkeley – the lone Pro-Am competitor in the field – finished second in the No. 67 Falls Village Inn Corvette. Gambling by running slick tires, two-time 2021 SGT winner Justin Oakes dropped out in the closing minutes while running second with electrical problems in the No. 11 Droneworks Corvette.

Erich Joiner led all the way in XGT in the No. 10 Good Boy Bob Coffee Roasters Porsche 991 GT3-R, finishing ninth overall. It was his second-consecutive and fifth career victory in the category.

Philip Di Pippo took the GT victory but failed to finish, completing enough laps in the No. 94 Saasco Sports Ford Mustang for his second victory of the season.

The TA2® class will be in the spotlight when the Trans Am Memorial Day Classic concludes on Monday. Qualifying begins at 9:05 a.m. (all times ET) with the 68-lap race taking the green flag at 1:30 p.m.

Ford Performance NASCAR: Cindric Leads Ford with Runner-Up NXS Finish in Charlotte

By
Official Release
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Ford Performance Notes and Quote
NASCAR XFINITY Series — Alsco 300
Charlotte Motor Speedway | Saturday, May 29, 2021

Ford Finishing Results:
2nd — Austin Cindric
6th — Chase Briscoe
12th — Riley Herbst
31st — Ryan Sieg

AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 22 CarQuest Auto Parts Ford Mustang — “We really picked residency in P4 for much of the day, so, honestly, all in all P2 is not bad. You obviously want to win the race and we put ourselves in position to have a shot and some days that’s all you can ask for. I’m happy to get the CarQuest Ford Mustang up with a chance. We were carrying 30 names of fallen heroes from the CarQuest family on the back of our car, so happy to represent them well today and move on to next week. One for the notebook.”

HOW MUCH DID THE TRACK CHANGE? “A little and none. It was definitely a challenge and I thought I figured things out, but even when you did it was hard to gauge what lane was gonna launch and what lane wasn’t gonna launch and, for me, I was willing to go for broke as far as what lane was gonna give me a chance to win the race and block the dirty air out. I didn’t think we were the best car by any means, but we gave ourselves a chance.”

CHASE BRISCOE, No. 99 Production Alliance Group Ford Mustang — WHAT WAS YOUR VIEW OF THE SITUATION WITH TY GIBBS? “That last run we just weren’t as good. We were really good the two previous runs and we tightened up and the track tightened up as well and I was just struggling to even maintain my lead. I knew about lap 10 of that run I was gonna be in trouble just because I was already building tight. Ty was gonna get me, I think, either way. It’s unfortunate. I don’t know if he got into me or not, I haven’t seen it yet, but unfortunate that we ended up running sixth instead of second. I’m thankful for the opportunity as always. It’s always fun to come back in the XFINITY Series. It was cool to have Production Alliance Group back on the car and Tex-a-Con and all the people that allowed me to do this race. I wish we obviously could have got in victory lane. It’s frustrating to lead that many laps and come away sixth, but that’s part of it. He’s going for a win. I’m going for a win and there’s gonna be contact in close racing. I can’t complain either way.”

RILEY HERBST, No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang — “That was probably the difference at the end for a good finish. We just somehow got the right-front cut down, but, overall, it was a pretty big learning day. We led some laps, qualified on the pole, but just struggled in traffic and fought balance.”

DO YOU FEEL THIS WEEKEND WAS A STEP FORWARD? “I’d like to think so. I wish we could have been more competitive in the stage ends and things like that, but, overall, I think we’re making steps in the right direction.”

RYAN SIEG, No. 39 CMR Construction and Roofing/A-Game Ford Mustang — “We were just trying to do something different, trying to get our CMR Ford in victory lane. That’s all we’re trying to focus on and just lost it on our own. I was just trying to go as easy as I could because I knew we were gonna be on edge with being full of fuel and on old tires. We were just trying to survive and hopefully get a caution with 15 or 20 to go and it didn’t work out.”

AUSTIN CINDRIC POST-RACE PRESS CONFERENCE

CAN YOU TAKE US THROUGH YOUR RACE? “Talking to everyone it sounds like we were the most boring race car on the racetrack. We took up residency with P4 throughout the entire race. If that meant I had a good restart, or if that meant I had a bad restart. If that meant I had a good pit stop or a bad pit stop, we always seemed to be fourth. I don’t feel like we were good enough to really make moves to get to the front, but we were good enough to maintain where we were, so definitely some more for us to gain, but, overall, really well executed day. I can’t really complain. This track has really been a thorn in my side a lot of my career, so kind of happy just to check that off. I still think we need some more speed to be where the 99 and some of the JGR cars were today, so definitely some data points for us.”

HOW BIG IS IT TO HAVE NINE TOP-5 FINISHES IN 12 STARTS? “It’s great because it’s consistency. It shows that we can do it every weekend and that regular season points, I said it last year and I’ll say it again this year is very, very — I mean, it’s three wins. Do you know how hard it is to win three races? It’s really hard. That’s all I’ve won this year. That’s a lot, so that’s partially if not the reason why I made it to Phoenix in the first place, so I’m definitely very focused on being consistent every week and trying not to let trying to win races cloud my judgment because it has in the past, and I think it has for others as well and we’re obviously doing a really great job and I think we need to get better on these mile-and-a-halves. We’ve had some struggled on pit road. Today was a positive day, so just chipping away at the little things.”

DO YOU THINK THE REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONSHIP IS OVERLOOKED IN NASCAR? “It is the most important thing to the people that get it. To the outside world it definitely doesn’t seem as celebrated is maybe the right way to put it, but the importance of it is massive, so I don’t think that can be understated, at least from the person who gets it.”

IS THERE ANYTHING YOU’RE GOING TO DO TOMORROW TO SOAK IN THE ATMOSPHERE OF THE INDY 500? “Yeah, I’m really excited. I’ve got a 7 o’clock flight, so I’m really happy that there was no weather today, so I can go and do that. I’ve got my bags packed. They’re in my car. I’m ready to go, ready to get out of here and go enjoy it. I was so pumped watching Carb Day practice. It seems like the lower temperatures with their current aero package, they seemed to race really well. It seems like our guys had a lot of speed, so excited to cheer those guys on and, like I said, and really embrace that. That race has meant a lot to my family and it’s kind of been a pillar, at least for the four of us — me, myself, my brother, my dad and my mom. It’s what we do every year. That’s a guarantee, so I’ve been joking about it. I said it last week. I expect this to be my last time on the grid on race day and the next time will either be when I’m out of a job or in the race, so I’m looking forward to it and hope we can do well.”

MID-OHIO, DO YOU GO IN THERE THINKING YOU SHOULD BE THE FAVORITE? “Yeah, it’s one of my favorite racetracks. We’ve obviously run really well there in the past. We should probably have two wins and not one, but, overall, it’s somewhere we’ve got a good package and we know we can run well. I think the JGR cars have been really, really strong on road courses and obviously Ty has done a great job, so I think he’ll be a challenge. I’m not taking any guarantees by any means, but it’s definitely a racetrack I feel comfortable at.”

WHAT HAVE YOU SEEN FROM TY THIS YEAR? HAS HIS PERFORMANCE SURPRISED YOU? “He’s putting numbers on the board. Obviously, the guys that are driving the same are doing the same, but for him he’s checking all the boxes and that’s all you can ask out of a guy like that. As long as you’re learning from the bad days and making the most of the good ones, I think you saw that today. He made the most out of what I thought was one of the best race cars, so good for him. It’s definitely a challenge. I don’t think it’s a mystery that I struggled when I first came into the series, but I feel like my knowledge base is different. Everyone learns at a different pace and he’s obviously doing exceptionally well.”

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