LEXINGTON, Ohio (May 16, 2021) – With six drivers that have claimed wins in the Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup Presented by BFGoodrich® Tires competition including two previous champions, the talent and experience in the 2021 field runs deep.

But there is a serious crop of rookies set to do battle for the $80,000 on offer from Mazda for the top Rookie this season, and one of them was able to capture a victory on Sunday: Chris Nunes (No. 32 JTR Motorsports Engineering) claimed his first career win at Mid-Ohio Sportscar Course.

Previous Mid-Ohio winner Gresham Wagner, who won at Daytona and Sebring earlier this year, finished second, with another impressive rookie, Luca Mars (No. 41 Copeland Motorsports), netting third.

The 45-minute race saw action early as the first of two full-course cautions periods came out on lap three when Jenson Altzman (No. 13 McCumbee McAleer Racing) got turned sideways just after the crest of the turn five hill, leaving him to be hit twice- first by an unsighted Aaron Jeansonne (No. 24 Provision Motorsports) and then Loni Unser (No. 92 Hixon Motor Sports) close behind.

On the restart, Jared Thomas was up to second and before the next yellow, he had raced into the lead. Shadowing Thomas at every turn was his teammate Nunes.

Polesitter Gresham Wagner (No. 5 Spark Performance) hounded the teammates for the final 10 minutes of green flag racing, but the pair were a united front and took the checkered flag 0.158-second apart. Thomas crossed the line first but saw his result nullified following technical inspection. This gave Nunes his first MX-5 Cup win.

“I’m honored and privileged to even be racing MX-5 Cup underneath the Mazda Scholarship,” Nunes said. “I took second place to my teammate in first, however, the car he rented didn’t pass tech, which put me into the first position. It’s not the way I wanted to get my first professional win, but I’ll take it. I couldn’t have done this without my Kicker Audio, keeping me cool and collected during the race. The SureCan gas can kept my car powered the whole entire race. My BFGoodrich tires kept my car planted under my feet the whole race and overall, I came out with the win. I can’t complain. It puts me in the lead for Rookie of the Year and fourth overall in points.”

Wagner had a power issue early that required him to restart the car and he fell all the way back to 13th. He displayed tremendous determination and was back with the lead pack after the second full-course caution.

He did lead briefly, but once he fell behind the JTR teammates, he was relegated to second in the final order.

“I had an issue on the technical side that forced me to shut off the car to restart it under green,” Wagner said. “At the first caution, I was in eighth and knew if the issue stopped, I had a chance at winning the race. It was a lottery while going through Turn Four if the car would have a problem. I thankfully avoided the contact in Turn Five because I was down on power and had a hand off the wheel ready to restart the car. It was a tough race, but I am happy to bring it home.”

Luca Mars (No. 41 Copeland Motorsports) made it two rookies on the MX-5 Cup podium. Not only was it his first podium, but Mars topped it off with his second Hard Charger Award of the weekend. Mars picked up 13 positions in the race.

“Starting from 16th, it was a crazy race from the beginning,” Mars said. “I kept my head down and kept pushing. Some cautions helped me out along the way. The car was really fast and felt good. I was able to catch the leaders but didn’t have enough to make a move there at the end. I did get my second Hard Charger Award and I’m getting more experience by the day. I’m glad I got my first podium and I want to thank all the guys at Copeland: Dean [Copeland], Kevin [Copeland], my mechanic Rob [Greenwood] and Dan [Schlosser] and all the guys. It was a fun race and I’m looking forward to Road America.

The rookie success kept coming with Juan Diego Hernandez (No. 59 Team Guatemala) finishing fourth. Hernandez hasn’t been to any circuit on the MX-5 Cup schedule but is improving by leaps and bounds with each race.

Justin Piscitell (No. 89 McCumbee McAleer Racing) completed the top five.

Hernan Palermo, in the No. 20 Slipstream Performance Mazda, scored his first-ever fastest lap in an MX-5 Cup race. Palermo turned a 1:36.217, but a drive-through penalty for the incident that brought out the first full-course caution held him to an 10th-place finish.

A recap of Mazda MX-5 Cup Rounds Seven and Eight from Mid-Ohio will air on NBCSN, Tuesday, May 25, at 3pm ET.

Next up on the schedule is Rounds Nine and Ten at Road America, August 6 – 8.

About: The Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by BFGoodrich® Tires is the signature spec series for Mazda Motorsports. Mazda-powered grassroots champions earn a Mazda scholarship to advance their career. The Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup champion earns a $250,000 scholarship.

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

Two victories and three fastest race laps from three races

LE CASTELLET, France (16 May 2021) – Jak Crawford made his first full weekend in the Euroformula Open Championship one to remember, taking two victories and a second place finish in Round 2 of the season at Circuit Paul Ricard.

Missing the first two races of the season due to age restrictions, the Texan Formula One prospect made his series’ debut two weeks ago with a seventh-place finish on his 16th-birthday at Portimao, Portugal. This weekend, Crawford was fastest in practice, captured the pole in qualifying, set all three fastest race laps and won first two races before taking a close second in the Sunday finale.

“I’d say it was a pretty good weekend,” said Crawford, who unofficially moved up to second in the standings. “I had the most points on the weekend, and we clearly established ourselves as the fastest, with the fastest lap in all three races plus two wins and the pole position. I’m a little sad I didn’t win all three, but overall I’m happy with the weekend. Our pace was good, and thanks to Motopark and everyone for getting me a fast car.”

Saturday’s opening race saw Crawford lead lights out to checkered flag in the No. 52 Motopark Dallara 320 Volkswagen. Adding drama to the race was a short safety car period and a restart with six laps remaining, but the Red Bull Junior Team driver held his own and won by 1.859 seconds. He also set the race’s fast lap on the final circuit.

“Overall, it was a cruising race – it was not the most difficult,” Crawford said. “I had to keep my focus and hit all my marks. It was not easy, especially when you’re dealing with a safety car at the end, because you don’t know what can happen. But it was a good race, and I think I drove really well.”

Starting sixth with the inverted grid for Sunday morning’s race two, Crawford avoided an incident in Turn 1 and emerged in third position. From there, he needed only two laps to claim second, and then set his lights on the leader. The pair ran side-by-side – separated by mere inches – down the front straight with two laps remaining. Crawford nosed ahead in Turn 1 and took the lead entering Turn 2, pulling away to win by 2.877-seconds.

“Once I caught up to the leader, he was defending quite aggressively,” Crawford said. “I managed to get past and take the lead with two laps to go. I also managed to set the fastest race lap, which put me on the pole for race three.”

Starting on the pole for the final race, Crawford fell to second at lights-out but battled to regain the position in a torrid three-car battle. He finally managed to get by for the lead in Turn 12 on lap nine. The second-place car spun and bumped Crawford, who nearly got sideways, opening the door for Motopark teammate Cameron Das, who was running third. Crawford made repeating challenges over the following laps before getting wide and nearly sideways with two laps to go, opening the door for Das to win by 0.998-seconds.

“I had a good race, but I thought my start was bad,” Crawford said. “Then I was racing with someone who I thought was quite reckless in defending. I got hit when I took the lead and got dirt on my tires, and I wasn’t able to defend. After that, I was just chasing and chasing, but I made a mistake in the final two laps that cost me a chance at a win.”

Following this weekend’s races, Crawford has nearly a month until his next race outing,

Round 3 of the Euroformula Open Championship is slated for Belgium’s Circuit Spa-Francorchamps on June 18-20. Only one week later, he returns to Paul Ricard for the second weekend of the FIA Formula 3 Championship on June 24-26.

• NGK Spark Plugs will serve as entitlement sponsor of the Nov. 4-6 NGK NTK World of Outlaws World Finals at The Dirt Track at Charlotte
• The multi-year agreement builds on a partnership with NGK which dates back to 2010

CONCORD, N.C. (May 14, 2021) – Dirt racing’s championship-deciding spectacle at The Dirt Track at Charlotte will have some extra “spark” this November. In taking its decade-long partnership with NGK Spark Plugs to a new level, Charlotte Motor Speedway officials have announced that the industry-leading manufacturer and retailer will serve as the entitlement sponsor for the NGK NTK World of Outlaws World Finals.

The multi-year agreement puts NGK and its NTK brand at the forefront of one of the World of Outlaws’ premier events, which takes place Nov. 4-6 on Charlotte’s high-speed, five-eighths-mile oval.

NGK’s history with Charlotte Motor Speedway began in 2010, but the globally acclaimed company revved up its support by becoming the title sponsor of the 2018 NGK NTK NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway – a partnership which continues with this weekend’s running of drag racing’s four-wide display of nitro-fueled excitement.

“Our long-standing partnership with the Charlotte Motor Speedway properties has provided us with great exposure to motorsport enthusiasts across many genres,” stated Beth Skove – NGK General Manager, Marketing. “Whether it’s oval, ROVAL™, drag strip or dirt, we’ve found that we can effortlessly engage with event attendees. The addition of our participation in the World of Outlaws World Finals extends and enhances our relationships, with both CMS and race fans.”

Long regarded as a coveted victory for sprint car, late model, and big-block Modified racers, the NGK NTK World of Outlaws World Finals promises to deliver another weekend of unforgettable excitement when spark plugs and the rubber meets dirt in November.

“Having such a mutually rewarding partnership with NGK Spark Plugs helps enable us to showcase dirt racing’s most exciting machines to a captivated audience, with a weekend of excitement like no other,” said Greg Walter, the executive vice president and general manager of Charlotte Motor Speedway. “The NGK NTK World of Outlaws is a can’t-miss event for racing fans of all ages.”

Ticket information for the NGK NTK World of Outlaws World Finals will be announced at a later date.

BECHTELSVILLE, PA. May 16, 2021 . . . Out of the last five point shows in the T.P. Trailers 358 NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series 30-lap Modified features Craig Von Dohren finished second in four of them with three being consecutive. Saturday night the defending Modified point champion advanced a position and scored his first win of the season to up his career total to 110 by holding off the challenges of Brett Kressley and Jeff Strunk.

For the second week in a row the T.P. Truck Equipment 25-lap Sportsman feature added a new name to the win list. Logan Bauman, who ran Slingshots the previous year before advancing to Sportsman this season, took advantage when leader B.J. Joly went wide coming out of turn four with a developing left rear flat tire and moved into first on the 21st lap. The rookie continued his pace to score his first career win at the track.

Briggs Danner, who runs several different divisions at numerous tracks throughout the area, was able to defeat runner-up Steve Drevicki in the 25-lap Rapid Tire East Coast USAC sprint feature.

Two weeks in a row Jesse Leiby was the early Modified feature leader from the pole position.

A blocked track in the first turn brought out the yellow/red condition on the fifth lap. Brett Gilmore, who was chasing Leiby since the initial start took to the outside trek on the restart and succeeded in becoming the new pacesetter.

Behind Gilmore a three-way battle for second developed between Leiby, Nate Brinker and Doug Manmiller.

By the 11th lap Manmiller put pressure on Gilmore for the top spot with side-by-side action and two laps later he was showing the way.

Ryan Lilick stopped in the first turn bringing out the yellow on the 13th lap. On the restart Manmiller maintained the lead, however Gilmore drifted high with cars scrambling. When things cleared Von Dohren and Brett Kressley had taken advantage of the situation and were now second and third respectively. Waiting in the wings anticipating advancement were Leiby and Strunk, who started 24th after having to run the consolation to get into the event.

Brad Arnold and Danny Bouc tangled in the first turn on the 23rd lap. Carroll Hine III tried to squeeze by, but got caught up in the mishap. When action resumed, Von Dohren outmaneuvered Manmiller to get by him for first and Kressley and Kressley were right behind for second and third as Manmiller dropped to fourth and Leiby completed the top five.

Von Dohren kept the competition behind him and went on to chalk up the victory trailed by Kressley, Strunk, Manmiller and Nate Brinker for his best finish since moving into the modified ranks this season. Sixth through tenth were Kevin Hirthler, Duane Howard, last week’s feature winner; Leiby, Jared Umbenhauer and Gilmore.

Dylan Swinehart, Kressley and Brinker were the heat winners. The consi was won by Kevin Graver.

Sportsman action saw polesitter Joly coming off a heat win earlier, take the lead followed by Tom Miller, rookies Mike Stofflet, Bauman and Mike Schneck in tow.

At the completion of eight laps Joly had a slight edge built up which he increased the distance each lap while second through fifth remained the same as they were trying to reel him in.

Dakota Kohler, who took a provisional start after failing to qualify in the consi in his badly damaged car from an earlier heat incident and then ran Jesse Leiby’s backup car, and Joey Vaccaro tangled along the homestretch for the 16th lap caution regrouping the pack. Joly held on to the lead, but by this time Bauman was second.

One lap later Nathan Mohr stopped along the backstretch and after the yellow was thrown pulled into the infield. When racing went green again Joly went too high coming off of turn four as the left rear tire started going down and Bauman was now ahead. Joly was determined to overcome the obstacle and try to regain control.

Bauman never surrendered the lead and went on to claim the triumph. Scoring his best career finish ever for second was Joly followed by Stofflet, who also had his best run; Chris Esposito and Cody Manmiller, another rookie that garnered his best run. Rounding out the top ten were Schneck followed by Miller. Decker Swinehart, Kenny Gilmore and Dylan Hoch.

Heats were won by Miller, Joly and Bauman. Vaccaro was the consolation winner.

Damon Paul led the first lap of the spring feature before Danner took over.

Battling for positions behind him were Paul, Kenny Miller III, Bruce Buckwalter and Drevicki as positions were constantly being swapped.

The red was thrown on the 13th lap when Eric Jennings flipped in the third turn with Ed Aikin also involved. Both drivers were uninjured, but out of competition. It was still Danner first on the restart. Mechanical issues forced second place runner Miller III to slow for the caution on lap 15 and now Drevicki was second.

In the closing stages Danner, Drevicki and Alex Bright were in a three-way duel for the lead and that’s the order they finished with Buckwalter fourth and Tommy Kunsman Jr. fourth and fifth. Nash Ely, Troy Betts, Mike Meyers, Billy Ney and Jason Cherry completed sixth through tenth.

Buckwalter, Drevicki and Kunsman Jr. won the heats. Craig Pelligrini Jr. won the semi-feature.

Next up on the schedule at Grandview is another tripleheader show of racing action featuring the T.P.Trailers Modifieds, T.P.Truck Equipment Sportsman and the Outlaw Vintage Racers. It all gets the green at 7:30 p.m. May 22nd. Adult admission is $14 while youngsters 11 and under are admitted free.

Then on Saturday, May 29th it is a doubleheader card of Modifieds and Sportsman.

That very same weekend, Sunday, May 30, the popular Thunder on the Hill Series offers Roaring Triple 20s Big Block/358 Modified racing along with Sportsman and Outlaw Vintage Racing Series with a 7:30 p.m. starting time.

RACE RESULTS

T.P. Trailers Modified Feature (30-laps): 1. Craig Von Dohren, 2. Brett Kressley, 3. Jeff Strunk, 4. Doug Manmiller, 5. Nate Brinker, 6. Kevin Hirthler, 7. Duane Howard, 8. Jesse Leiby, 9. Jared Umbenhauer, 10. Brett Gilmore, 11. Dylan Swinehart, 12. Craig Whitmoyer, 13. Eric Biehn, 14. Ryan Grim, 15. Ron Kline, 16. Bobby Gunther Walsh, 17. Kevin Graver, 18. Brad Grim, 19. Justin Grim, 20. Brad Arnold, 21. Danny Bouc, 22. Carroll Hine III, 23. Ryan Lilick, 24. Dillon Steuer, 25. Mark Kratz, Louden Reimert, 27. Cory Merkel, 28. Jack Butler. DNQ: Ray Swinehart, Darrin Schuler, Jordan Henn, Ron Haring Jr., Steve Young and Mike Lisowski.

T.P. Truck Equipment Sportsman Feature (25-laps): 1. Logan Bauman, 2. B.J. Joly, 3. Mike Stofflet, 4. Chris Esposito, 5. Cody Manmiller, 6. Mike Schneck, 7. Tom Miller, 8. Decker Swinehart, 9. Kenny Gilmore, 10. Dylan Hoch, 11. Kyle Lilick, 12. Ryan Beltz, 13. Jimmy Leiby, 14. Kyle Smith, 15. Parker Guldin, 16. Dakota Kohler (provisional), 17. Bryan Rhoads, 18. Kenny Bock, 19. Matt Clay, 20. Mark Kemmerer, 21. Brian Hirthler, 22. Nathan Mohr, 23. Joey Vaccaro, 24. Rich Cook, 25. Jesse Landis. DNQ: Colton Perry, Wayne Rotenberger, Mark Gaugler, Ryan Laise.

Rapid Tire East Coast USAC Sprint Feature (25-laps): 1. Briggs Danner, 2. Steve Drevicki, 3. Alex Bright, 4. Bruce Buckwalter, 5. Tommy Kunsman Jr., 6. Nash Ely, 7. Troy Bets, 8. Mike Meyers, 9. Billy Ney, 10. Jason Cherry, 11. Craig Pelligrini Jr., 12. Joey Amantea, 13. Blaine Emery, 14. Kenny Miller III, 15. Damon Paul, 16. Jonathan Swanson, 17. Mike Thompson, 18. Chris Allen, 19. Ed Aikin, 20. Eric Jennings, 21. Tom Savage. DNQ: Lou Cicconi, David Swanson and Richard Carnathan.