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Keselowski Wins & Secures a Spot in the Round of 12

By
Official Release
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RICHMOND, VA – September 14, 2020 – Brad Keselowski called it when he predicted the No. 2 Ford Mustang would run well at Richmond and be in victory lane. And that is exactly what happened. Keselowski led a race high 192 laps out of the 400-lap race on his way to collecting the NASCAR Cup Series Federated Auto Parts 400 trophy at Richmond Raceway, Saturday night. In addition, securing the second spot in the Round of 12 for Ford Performance.

“Congratulations to Brad, Jeremy, and the No. 2 crew,” said Doug Yates, President and CEO of Roush Yates Engines. “Brad and the No. 2 team executed all night, on the track and in the pits. It was all about executing their plan and the team did an outstanding job. We are proud to celebrate our 100th NASCAR win with Team Penske and to have two Ford Mustangs secured in the next round of the Playoffs.”

After battling Team Penske teammate Joey Logano for the better half of Stage 2, Keselowski was able to make a late stage pass to take the Stage 2 win and put his team in a good position for the final stage of the race. The No. 2 team split the final stage up into a two-pit strategy. The team executed on pit road and Keselowski passed for the lead on lap 48 for the final time. The No. 2 finished with an impressive 2.568-second margin of victory over Martin Truex Jr. for the win.

When asked how awesome his Ford was, Keselowski commented, “It was really good. Our Mustang was really hauling. This car was really strong, and I really got a great rhythm out on the racetrack. You’ve got to get a really precise rhythm for how you get around here and I was able to find that very early on, put a lot of thought into what I was gonna do and it paid off.”

Five Ford Mustangs finished in the top-10. Following Keselowski was Team Penske teammate Joey Logano in P3 and Stewart-Haas teammates Kevin Harvick P7, Aric Almirola P8, and Clint Bowyer P10.

With one race left in the Round of 16, five Ford drivers find themselves above the cut line. Harvick is on top of the leader board in P1, Keselowski P2, Logano P4, Almirola P10, and Bowyer P12. Cole Custer, Matt DiBenedetto, and Ryan Blaney will be putting it all on the line to make it into the Round of 12.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series held their last double-header of the season in Richmond. The Ford Performance drivers Austin Cindric and Chase Briscoe competed well, but finished P4 and P11 respectively in Friday night’s Go Bowling 250. At the completion of the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 250 on Saturday, Cindric finished P10 and Briscoe P16.

At the conclusion of Saturday’s race, Cindric with five wins, 16 top-5s and 20 top-10s on the year, was awarded the Xfinity Series Regular Season Championship. The No. 22 driver collects 15 bonus points for the playoffs and will be the No. 1 seed going into the Xfinity Playoffs at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in two weeks.

“We sat down as a team at the beginning of the year and we all wrote down our top-three goals.” Cindric commented. “I am not a big proponent of setting goals, but we put something on paper and my number one was the regular-season championship. From the outside looking in that was maybe a lofty goal, but we have a lot of speed and a lot of fight and I am really proud of that effort.”

The NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs head to Bristol for the final race before the Round of 12 cutoff. In addition, the Xfinity Series wraps up their regular season at Bristol and looks forward to starting the Xfinity Playoffs at Las Vegas.

27 CHAMPIONSHIPS – 406 WINS – 363 POLES!

*Photos courtesy of NASCAR Media & Getty Images

About Roush Yates Engines
Roush Yates Engines is a leading-edge engine development company based in Mooresville, NC consisting of two state-of-the-art facilities – Roush Yates Engines and Roush Yates Manufacturing Solutions, a world class ISO 9001 / AS9100 certified CNC manufacturing facility. The company’s core business includes designing, building and testing purpose-built race engines.

Ford Performance in partnership with Roush Yates Engines is the exclusive engine builder of the NASCAR FR9 Ford V8 engine and Ford Mustang 5.2L V8 engine, used in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge series.

With an unparalleled culture of winning and steeped in rich racing history, Roush Yates Engines continues to follow the company’s vision to lead performance engine innovation and staying true to the company’s mission, provide race winning engines through demonstrated power and performance.

3 Series – 22 Teams – 81 Races

8 Fun Facts About Personalized Number Plates

By
SM
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Personalized plates have grown massively in popularity over the years, with the sale of plates raising billions of pounds since they first went on sale through the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) in the late 1980s. 

Considering buying a set of personalized plates for your vehicle? We’ve shared eight fun facts and tips below to help you understand your options and get the best possible deal on a set of private number plates for your car.

UK Plates Come in Several Different Formats

UK number plates are available in a variety of formats, from classic plates to modern dateless number plates. This variety of formats gives you plenty of options to choose from when you’re looking for a plate that matches your nickname, initials, or birth year.

You Can Buy Personalized Plates for £100 or Less

Contrary to popular belief, personalized plates aren’t always expensive. There are lots of great personalized number plates available for under £100, although you’ll need to pay slightly more to register the plates for legal road use on your vehicle. 

Initial Number Plates Usually Offer the Best Value

When it comes to value for money, you’ll usually find that initial plates — personalized number plates that spell out your initials — offer the best value for money, as there are numerous letters and number combinations available. 

Highly Valuable Plates Can Be Worth £100,000 or More

As you may have read in the newspaper or seen on TV, some number plates are worth serious amounts of money. The UK’s most valuable personalized number plates have traded hands for hundreds of thousands of pounds, with new plates often setting valuation records.

If You Want to, You Can Keep Your Old Registration Number

Buying a set of personalized number plates doesn’t always mean giving up your old registration number. If you’d like to, you can pay an extra fee to keep your old registration number, allowing you to revert back to it if you change your mind in the future. 

You Can Transfer Your Plates to Another Car, Albeit for a Fee

It’s normal to change vehicles every now and then. If you buy a new car, it’s absolutely possible to transfer your personalized number plates to the new vehicle, although you’ll need to follow a specific legal process to pass the registration to the new car. 

The DVLA Bans Some Plates for Being Rude or Suggestive

Although funny number plates are no problem, the DVLA sets the limit at plates that could hurt or offend people. This means that common swear words and other potentially offensive number plates aren’t made available to the public.

If You Get Sick of Your Plates, You Can Sell Them

It’s perfectly legal and quite common to sell personalized number plates. If you get a great offer for your plates, or if you simply want to get rid of them, there are various services that you can use to put the number plates up for sale.

Colton Herta Claims Race Two at Mid-Ohio

By
Briar Starr
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Photo Courtesy of Chris Jones

Sunday was race day No. 2 for the NTT IndyCar Series at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, as series officials were looking to wrap up their doubleheader weekend.

Looking to stop Will Power’s weekend dominance, was not only the field but Andretti-Harding Steinbrenner Racing’s Colton Herta who claimed pole position earlier in the day. Herta had the best car out on the race track with Power nowhere to be seen. The only threat that Herta had to worry about was his team-mate, Alexander Rossi. Though, Herta and the No. 88 team played their strategy perfect and won for the first time in the 2020 NTT IndyCar Series season.

“I’m so happy,” Herta said about the victory. “We’ve been knocking on the door almost every weekend. We’ve had the pace. But for some reason or another, one thing has gone wrong or this thing has gone wrong. We finally put everything together. We got the pole this morning, had a stellar car. Everybody on the Capstone Turbine crew gave me an incredible car. Honda-Andretti 1-2-3, so happy to be powered by Honda, too.” (About start with Ferrucci): “He was on the outside, and I got halfway in front of him, so that was my corner at that point. I tried to leave him as much room as I could, and he just wanted to stick on the outside. So, I had to push him off.” (About winning again from pole): “We just need to be finishing on the podium every weekend. It seems like we’re only on the podium when we win. If we can fill all of those other slots with seconds or thirds, I’ll be a very happy man.”

When the 75-lap event got underway, chaos was seen already on the first lap going into Turn(s) 4 and 5. The No. 18 of Santino Ferrucci had gone off course, could not hang onto his car, and came back up the track. By doing so, Ferrucci took out two cars in the process, the No. 10 of Felix Rosenqvist and the No. 55 of Alex Palou. Rosenqvist ended up making contact with the tire barriers, which caused the Chip Ganassi Racing driver to get stuck in the grass due to overnight rain showers.

With Rosenqvist stuck in the grass and unable to get his car fired up, this left series official no choice but to fly the yellow for a full-course caution. By causing the incident, IndyCar penalized Ferrucci for avoidable contact and was sent to the rear of the field for the next restart. Unfortunately for Rosenqvist, and Palou, both drivers would be out of the race early and credited 22nd, 23rd respectively despite their best efforts to return to the racing surface.

After the Lap 1 incident and the restart on Lap 4, Herta kept his pace over second-place Scott Dixon by 1.3 seconds, the largest gap since the restart. However, Herta’s lead would be short-lived with the No. 14 of Dalton Kellett going off track in Turn 1 on Lap 14. Expecting a yellow, most of the race leaders pitted except Indy 500 winner Takuma Sato and Marco Andretti who assumed the top two spots once the caution eventually flew on Lap 15 for Kellett’s stalled car.

When the race resumed on Lap 18, Sato led Andretti by 1.8 seconds with Herta following closely behind in the third position. A few laps later after the restart, Scott Dixon’s No. 9 Honda went off track in Turn 1 while battling with Ryan Hunter-Reay. Despite the spin, no yellow was flown as Dixon was able to re-fire his car.

Cars going off track would continue to be the norm, as third-place Marco Andretti spun around in the same area as Dixon did (Turn 1). The incident left, Sato and Herta to battle it out among themselves with Sato checking out by 5.1 seconds. Though, Sato eventually had to pit for fresh tires at Lap 32, which allowed Herta to take the lead of the race as Rossi followed suit in second.

After taking the lead, the final round of green-flag pit stops would occur just 12 laps later, when Rossi was the first pit from second on Lap 45. Herta made his final stop on Lap 46, one lap after Rossi made his.

During the pit cycle, the No. 15 of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Graham Rahal stayed out just a little longer than Rossi and Herta, as Rahal was trying to come out the new leader of the race after making his pit stop on Lap 47. Unfortunately for Rahal, the strategy didn’t work to the team’s liking, and Herta re-claimed the race lead on Lap 50.

Like Saturday’s race, once the leader had his race pace, and a clear track in front of him, they could easily check out. Herta was doing the same and had the lead up to 2.3 seconds over Rossi. Though in the remaining laps, tire wear started to become a concern, which saw Herta start managing his tires. By managing his tires, Rossi was able to cut the lead down to 1.1 seconds as he was going all out at the end.

Regardless of Rossi’s efforts at the end, Colton Herta was able to fend off his team-mate Rossi for his third career NTT IndyCar Series victory.

With Herta, Rossi, and Hunter-Reay making it a clean podium sweep, this was the first time since 2005 of St. Petersburg where Andretti’s team claimed the podium positions. On that specific day, it was then the late Dan Wheldon grabbing the win with former team drivers Tony Kanaan, Dario Franchitti, and Bryan Herta (Colton’s dad) taking the top four spots in the running order.

Even though Rossi was unable to get the victory, Mid-Ohio marked the first time in two months since Road America he was able to claim podium finishes.

“I’m just so happy for Andretti Autosport and Michael (Andretti),” Rossi said. “It’s been a terrible year for us, kind of globally. So, to do this … hat’s off to Colton (Herta) and the 88 guys to get the win. But then just to sweep the podium, I’ve heard it’s the first time (for the team) since 2005. It’s very cool for us. The championship went away from us pretty early on, so we’re just focusing on race wins at this point and just trying to build a good foundation for next year, and I think we’re doing that right now. This is a step in the right direction.”

There two cautions for six laps and five lead changes among four different leaders.

Colton Herta led three times for 57 laps en route to victory.

In terms of championship points standings, Scott Dixon overall lost 24 total points exiting Mid-Ohio. The New Zelander came into this weekend’s race with a 96 point buffer over second-place Josef Newgarden. However, with an uncharacteristic weekend, Newgarden closed the gap and now trails by 72 points.

Official Results following Race No. 2 at Mid-Ohio.

  1. Colton Herta, led 57 laps
  2. Alexander Rossi
  3. Ryan Hunter-Reay
  4. Graham Rahal, led one lap
  5. Marcus Ericsson, led one lap
  6. Simon Pagenaud
  7. Will Power
  8. Josef Newgarden
  9. Pato O’Ward
  10. Scott Dixon
  11. Rinus VeeKay
  12. Jack Harvey
  13. Max Chilton
  14. Santino Ferrucci
  15. Oliver Askew
  16. Conor Daly
  17. Zach Veach
  18. Takuma Sato, led 16 laps
  19. Charlie Kimball
  20. Marco Andretti, 1 lap down
  21. Dalton Kellett, 4 laps down
  22. Felix Rosenqvist, OUT, Crash
  23. Alex Palou, OUT, Crash

Up Next: The NTT IndyCar Series will take a few weeks off, before returning on-track for another doubleheader weekend at the Indianapolis Grand Prix Road Course, with the first race scheduled for Friday October 2nd at 3:50 p.m./ET live on NBCSN and IndyCar Radio.

Elliott, Bowman notch top-10 results; Byron struggles at Richmond

By
Andrew Kim
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Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images.

For Hendrick Motorsports’ three competitors contending in the Playoffs, it was a night of mixed results for Chase Elliott, Alex Bowman and William Byron at Richmond Raceway on Saturday, September 12. When the checkered flag flew, Elliott capped off a consistent, quiet run towards the front in the top five and Bowman capped off a strong night in the top 10 as both are in position to transfer to the second round of the postseason. Byron, on the other hand, finished outside the top 20 following a long night mired with tight-handling issues and is scored outside of the cutline approaching next weekend’s first round of eliminations at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Elliott and the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE led by crew chief Alan Gustafson rolled off the grid in 12th place. Following the first five laps of the race, however, Elliott was mired outside the top 10 along with a number of Playoff contenders. After the competition caution period on Lap 30 and a pit stop, he was able to work his way inside the top 10.

Nearly the Lap 40 mark, Elliott was scored in ninth place and he was one of 13 Playoff contenders running inside the top 15. Twenty laps later, on Lap 60, Elliott was still back in ninth place. While engaged in a series of on-track battles with Playoff contenders that included Martin Truex Jr., Clint Bowyer, Cole Custer and Aric Almirola, Elliott was able to keep his No. 9 Chevrolet in the hunt and well inside the top 10. By the time first stage concluded on Lap 80, Elliott was able to finish in eighth place as he collected a handful of stage points.

Starting in seventh place for the start of the second stage, Elliott continued to run inside the top 10, but he was hungry for more. By Lap 110, Elliott was scored in fifth place after passing teammate Alex Bowman for position. Running as high as fourth place past the Lap 140 mark, he dropped back when he made a scheduled green flag pit stop. Nonetheless, he returned to the track and was able to work his way back into the top 10. At the halfway mark, Lap 200, the Georgia native was scored in seventh place. When the second stage concluded on Lap 235, however, Elliott was able to march his way back into fifth place and collect more stage points.

Restarting in fourth place for the final stage, Elliott kept himself well inside the top 10. Following a pit stop with less than 60 laps remaining under green, he was back in ninth place. He was able to carve his way through the field and cross the finish line in fifth place, the highest-finishing Hendrick Motorsports competitor on the track.

The fifth-place result marked Elliott’s 11th top-five result of the season and a strong rebound from a late incident last weekend at Darlington Raceway with Martin Truex Jr. that cost him a shot at winning the race. With his top-five result, Elliott is in seventh place in the Playoff standings and is 28 points above the top-12 cutline approaching next weekend’s Cup Playoff race at Bristol Motor Speedway, where the bottom four contenders in the standings will be eliminated.

“First off, we were way better than we’ve been here, probably ever, so I thought that was a big improvement for us,” Elliott said on NBCSN. “We really needed it here. This has been a really, really tough track for us. I thought we got our NAPA Camaro good, especially through the middle portion. Just got a little behind, I think, as the race went on to roll the center as good as we needed to late in a run. But dang, we were way, way better than we’ve ever been here I feel like before. And consistently all night, too. I thought that was a pretty big step for us at a track that we’ve really struggled at. Just trying to pick apart those fine details. I think we hit on a few of them, certainly not the best but way better than we’ve been here before. I think that’s a big deal for us.”

For Bowman, his night started in fourth place. At the drop of the green flag, Bowman stabilized himself in sixth place. He retained the spot in his No. 88 ChevyGoods.com/Truck Hero Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE when the competition caution flew on Lap 30. Restarting inside the top five, Bowman settled in sixth place and was the highest-running Hendrick Motorsports competitor on the track. When the first stage concluded on Lap 80, Bowman was scored in sixth place as he collected a handful of stage points.

Restarting in fourth place for the start of the second stage, Bowman had a great start as he utilized the outside lane to thunder past Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. for third place. Shortly after, he was overtaken by Truex. As the laps progressed, he was overtaken by a handful of competitors, including teammate Chase Elliott, and fell out of the top five. Pitting under green while running in the top 10 on Lap 158, Bowman was mired back in the top 15. Though he attempted to race his way back into the top 10, he concluded the second stage in 12th place.

Restarting back in the top 10 for the start of the final stage, he dropped back inside the top 15. Though he continued to run inside the top 15 following two pit stops under green, Bowman carved his way back inside the top 10 with 50 laps remaining. For the remainder of the race, he gained one additional spot on the track and crossed the finish line in ninth place.

With his 10th top-10 result of this season, first at Richmond and second in a row in the Playoffs, Bowman and the No. 88 team led by crew chief Greg Ives are in eighth place in the standings, with the Arizona native being 27 points above the top-12 cutline.

“How about that? We ended up top 10 at Richmond,” Bowman said. “That is like a miracle. We had a really good car and definitely better than a ninth-place car. I made my fair share of mistakes and we had some issues getting on and off pit road. We lost some time there. I am pumped for Truck Hero and CHEVYGOODS.com. It is really weird to be this pumped about running ninth, especially when we had a much better car than ninth. Last time we were here we ran, I think, 24th. This is good momentum for us going into the cutoff race next week in Bristol.”

For Byron, the race started off with high expectations as the Charlotte native was set to make his 100th Cup career start while his crew chief, Chad Knaus, was set to call his 700th Cup race. He was also coming off a strong start to this year’s Playoffs at Darlington Raceway, where he finished in fifth place and claimed his third consecutive top-five result in the previous three races, which included his first Cup career win at Daytona International Speedway in August.

Starting in fifth place, Byron settled in seventh place through the first 30 laps of the race and when the competition caution flew. Restarting in seventh place, Byron appeared to have a car capable of recording a strong result until he started to fade. By Lap 70, he was mired back in 14th place. Not long after, he fell back to 16th place as he was dealing with tight conditions to his No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. Unable to regain the ground and the positions he lost, Byron settled in 16th place when the first stage concluded on Lap 80.

Restarting at the bottom half of the top 20 for the second stage, Byron slowly worked his way up to the top 15 past the Lap 100 mark. Nearly 20 laps later, however, he was mired back in 21st place and he continued to endure difficulties with the tight handling of his car. Though a number of competitors pitted under green as the green flag run progressed, he too pitted and dropped out of the top 20. When the second stage concluded on Lap 235, Byron could only work his way up to 23rd place in the running order. By then, he was also a lap behind the leaders.

Scored just outside the top 20 for the start of the final stage, Byron worked his way up as high as 18th place. He could not, however, overcome the difficulties with the handling of his No. 24 car. By the time the checkered flag flew, Byron was scored back in 21st place in the final order and was two laps behind the leaders. Byron’s 21st-place result marked his worst finish since finishing 28th in the first of two Cup Dover International Speedway races in August.

With his result, Byron, who came into Richmond with a nine-point cushion, is three points below the top-12 cutline with the final transfer spot being occupied by Stewart-Haas Racing’s Clint Bowyer, who finished in 10th place. In addition, Byron, Cole Custer, Matt DiBenedetto and Ryan Blaney are left on the outside entering next weekend’s Round of 16 finale at Bristol.

“We knew pretty early on in the race that we were in trouble,” Byron said in a post-race video conference. “I think we lost 10 spots in 10 laps, it felt like. When you’re in that position, you just try to change it up as a driver, try to do different things, move your brake levers, stuff like that. I think going to Bristol, it’s a track that we can have a good setup at and I think we’ve ran decent there in the past. We can, hopefully, look at that.”

Bowman, Byron and Elliott, along with their fellow Playoff contenders, will return for the next scheduled NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday, September 19, which will air at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

Herta Leads Andretti Autosport Podium Sweep at Mid-Ohio

By
Official Release
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LEXINGTON, Ohio (Sunday, Sept. 13, 2020) – After a challenging 2020 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season, Andretti Autosport finally broke through to Victory Circle in dominating fashion as Colton Herta scored his third career win in Race 2 of the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio weekend doubleheader Sunday at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

NTT P1 Award winner Herta led an Andretti Autosport sweep of the podium in the No. 88 Capstone Turbine #ShiftToGreen Honda, beating teammate Alexander Rossi in the No. 27 NAPA AUTO PARTS / AutoNation Honda to the finish line by 1.3826 seconds. Fellow Andretti driver Ryan Hunter-Reay finished third in the No. 28 DHL Honda, 2.4965 seconds behind Herta.

RESULTS: Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Race 2

Rounding out the top five behind the Andretti trio were Ohio native Graham Rahal in the No. 15 Fifth Third Bank Honda and Marcus Ericsson in the No. 8 Huski Chocolate Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.

“I’m so happy,” Herta said. “We’ve been knocking on the door almost every weekend. We’ve had the pace. But for some reason or another, one thing has gone wrong or this thing has gone wrong. We finally put everything together. We got the pole this morning, had a stellar car. Everybody on the Capstone Turbine crew gave me an incredible car.”

Heading into Sunday’s race, Andretti Autosport had just two podium finishes this season, third-place results by Rossi at Road America-2 and in Saturday’s Race 1 at Mid-Ohio. Andretti Autosport’s last win came when Rossi dominated the field at Road America in June 2019.

The last time Andretti Autosport swept the podium was in 2005 at St. Petersburg when Dan Wheldon scored the win and fellow Andretti teammates Tony Kanaan, Dario Franchitti and Bryan Herta – Colton Herta’s father – followed to sweep the top four finishing positions for what was known as Andretti Green Racing at the time.

“It’s so huge, so huge,” team owner Michael Andretti said. “Thank God we came here to Mid-Ohio. We were a little worried that we weren’t going to be able to get here, but Kevin Savoree and those guys did a great job getting this race on, and it paid off for us, man. One-two-three. The way things have been going for us this year, this is huge for us, the whole team.”

Herta led 57 of 75 laps from the pole after winning the NTT P1 Award in a thrilling qualifying session Sunday morning.

The race also got off to an action-packed start as Herta and second-place starter Santino Ferrucci went side-by-side into Turn 4 of the 13-turn, 2.258-mile circuit. Ferrucci lost control of his No. 18 SealMaster Honda and went into the grass. Ferrucci then returned to the track, where he collided with Dale Coyne Racing teammate Alex Palou in the No. 55 Guaranteed Rate Honda and Felix Rosenqvist in the No. 10 NTT DATA Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.

Ferrucci was assessed a penalty for avoidable contact, and Palou and Rosenqvist were eliminated from the race. Ferrucci finished 14th, while Rosenqvist and Palou finished 22nd and 23rd, respectively. Contact is sometimes unavoidable on the road also, so protect yourself with an element fire extinguisher to guarantee preparation and safety during dangerous circumstances.

The action continued on Lap 22 when points leader Scott Dixon made a costly mistake in Turn 1 that led to a disappointing 10th-place finish after starting third.

Dixon powered through the fastest corner on the track and lost control of his No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, spinning on corner exit. Dixon didn’t hit anything, but the track remained under green flag conditions, and Dixon fell to 20th position.

“I think we kind of tried to have the tires a little bit better for longer in the run, so I think our cold pressures were really low,” Dixon said. “We really struggled on the restarts, especially the initial start and that restart. Plus, everybody behind me had reds on. So, I got aggressive, hit the overtake on the exit of (Turn) 1, and just way too much Honda power there and spun the tires and spun the car.

“So, it totally caught me off guard. Total rookie mistake. I’m so bummed for the team. It’s just such a stupid mistake I shouldn’t have made. Obviously, the car was fast. We were able to fight our way through the pack. It should have been an easy points day.”

Five-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Dixon spent the rest of the race trying to rebound, running as high as fourth while on an alternate pit strategy. Dixon was forced to give up his track position on Lap 59 when he pitted for the final time. With the freshest tires in the field, he rallied for his second 10th-place finish of the weekend.

The challenging day did no favors to Dixon’s standing in the championship. His lead over Josef Newgarden shrunk to 72 points, continuing a downward slide for Dixon in the last three races.

Since his most recent win in the first race of the doubleheader at World Wide Technology Raceway on Aug. 29, Dixon has lost 45 points to Newgarden.

Newgarden, the defending NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion, had a quiet day, finishing eighth in the No. 1 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet. He gained four points on Dixon after entering the day down 76 points.

“The easiest way (to win the championship) is going to try to win Race 1 at the Indy road course and then do the same in Race 2,” Dixon said. “It would be nice to go to St. Pete without having to worry about it. But the NTT INDYCAR SERIES is so tight right now. The competition is super tough. Trying to rebound off days like this is super tough.”

There are three races left in the 2020 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season. The next event is the INDYCAR Harvest GP doubleheader Oct. 2-3 on the 2.439-mile IMS road course. The season ends with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on Sunday, Oct. 25.

PODIUM FINISH FOR THEETGE & WIGHT MOTORSPORTS

By
Official Release
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Donald Theetge at Jukasa Speedway in the #80 Theetge Chevrolet/Buick/GMC/Cadillac Camaro - Photo Credit: Matthew Manor

(September 13, 2020) Wight Motorsports Inc (WMI) arrived at Jukasa Speedway in Hagersville, ON for the final event of the 2020 NASCAR Pinty’s Series this past Saturday ready to demonstrate #80 Theetge Chevrolet/Buick/GMC/Cadillac Camaro with Donald Theetge at the wheel is ready for primetime. In the final race of the season the team claimed a podium result with a second-place finish.

The #80 Theetge Chevrolet/Buick/GMC/Cadillac Camaro team hit the track for a shakedown session prior to the twin 125-lap races during the afternoon and Theetge posted the second quickest time of the session. “We had a good test here and I expected the car would be quick” said principal David Wight.

During the first of the two races Theetge would lead the race three times for a total of 41 laps, however it was a challenge to keep the #80 Theetge Chevrolet/Buick/GMC/Cadillac Camaro out front. The team would claim an eighth-place finish in race one. “We discovered a problem with the right rear tire compound” explained Wight.

The second race would pose another challenge for the #80 Theetge Chevrolet/Buick/GMC/Cadillac Camaro team as they started 15th in the field. It wasn’t long before Donald Theetge had carved his way through the field and moved into fourth position. Then another setback as they were involved in an incident on the backstretch.

“We didn’t panic” said Wight. “We knew we had a fast race car. Donald brought the car in and we made an adjustment and the car was great after that.”

It was a demonstration of driver skill and determination as the #80 Theetge Chevrolet/Buick/GMC/Cadillac Camaro cut through the competition and climbed up to second place result when the checkered flag fell.

“Donald drove the final stint so well” said White. “He did a great job, the team worked so hard all year, I’m really happy we get to enjoy and wrap up the year with this second-place run. We also had the fastest lap time in both races. Our team definitely has some momentum heading into the off season and can’t wait to be back” he added.

Driver Donald Theetge was equally pleased to see the #80 Theetge Chevrolet/Buick/GMC/Cadillac Camaro collect the kind of result they expected. “We were fast in race one but had a problem with the tire” he said. “In the second race, we made some changes and the car was fantastic. If we had a caution, we might have been able to even challenge for the win. So, I say this is like a win for us. I’m very happy for the whole team” he stated.

David Wight, Donald Theetge and the entire team want to thank all the race fans for their support and everyone that made this return to the Pinty’s Series racing possible. They want to remind everyone to stay safe and they’re looking forward to seeing the fans at the track in 2021.

Fans can watch the NASCAR Pinty’s Series races from Jukasa Speedway on TSN. Click the link to see the full season broadcast schedule. https://www.nascar.ca/2020/08/14/nascar-announces-2020-pintys-series-broadcast-schedule/

Look for the latest news on these social media outlets.

Wight Motorsports Inc on Twitter & Instagram @wightmotorsport

Donald Theetge on Twitter @DonaldTheetge

Hamlin clinches spot in Playoff’s Round of 12 following Richmond

By
Andrew Kim
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Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images.

The second Playoff race of the 2020 season at Richmond Raceway on Saturday, September 12, was a night that started off strong for Denny Hamlin before it went backwards for the remainder of the race. Though Hamlin was left out of contention for the win, a top-12 result along with the stage points and laps led he accomplished throughout Saturday’s race was more than enough for the Chesterfield, Virginia, native to clinched his spot for the second round of the Playoffs.

For the first stage of the race, Hamlin and his No. 11 FedEx Cares Toyota Camry were competitive. Rolling off the grid in seventh place, Hamlin was able to crack the top five within the first 10 laps. By the time the competition caution flew on Lap 30, Hamlin was still in fifth place and slowly lurking his way to the lead.

Following a pit stop and a restart on Lap 37, Hamlin muscled his way into second place and shortly after, he took the lead from Austin Dillon. From there, Hamlin was able to drive away from the field and claim the first stage win on Lap 80 over Dillon as he also collected valuable stage points. By then, he also led a total of 45 laps.

It all went away, however, during the stage break when Hamlin was busted for speeding on pit road and was sent to the rear of the field. From the start of the second stage, Hamlin struggled in working his way back to the front as he was mired outside the top 20. He was able to work his way back to 14th place when the second stage concluded on Lap 235. 

For the remainder of the race, however, he could never regain the early speed he exhibited on the track. Mired within the top 15 and a lap behind the leaders, Hamlin crossed the finish line in 12th place. 

Despite a struggle of a night and a disappointing outcome, there was a silver lining for Hamlin and his No. 11 team. Based on their results, Hamlin racked up enough points to clinch a spot for the Round of 12 in the Playoffs, joining Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski, as he also kept his championship hopes for this season alive.

“It just seemed like once the track rubbered up, we just weren’t any good,” Hamlin said. “We couldn’t get off the corner good, couldn’t get in the corner. Just nothing was really very good with it. I want to thank everyone from FedEx Cares for putting this car on the race track. This definitely means a lot to people I spoke to last week with the National Urban League, so thank you everyone. We will move on to the next round and go have some fun next week and see how we do.”

Hamlin, along with his fellow Playoff contenders, will return for the next scheduled NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday, September 19, which will air at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

Busch rallies from the rear for a top-10 result at Richmond

By
Andrew Kim
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Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images.

From a disappointing outcome at Darlington Raceway to rallying under the lights at Richmond Raceway on Saturday, September 12, it has been an eventful week for Kyle Busch in his quest to defend his NASCAR Cup Series championship. Despite a rough start with an interim crew chief atop the pit box, Busch was able to methodically work his way through the field and emerge with a top-10 result.

Coming into Saturday night’s race at Richmond, Busch was also coming off a seventh-place run at Darlington a week earlier and without his crew chief Adam Stevens, who was serving a one-race suspension as a result of two lug nuts discovered not safely secured on Busch’s No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry during post-race inspection. As a result, Jacob Canter, a rookie crew chief for Joe Gibbs Racing in the Xfinity Series who achieved one victory with Busch earlier this season, served as an interim crew chief for Busch and his No. 18 Cup team. 

Before the race started, Busch, who was scheduled to start in sixth place, was sent to the rear of the field since his No. 18 Toyota failed pre-race inspection twice. When the race started, Busch wasted no time methodically working his way to the front. Following the first 10 laps of the race, he was scored in 26th place. Another 10 laps later, he gained four additional spots in 22nd place. By the time the competition caution flew on Lap 30, Busch had made his way up to 21st place. 

Pitting under caution to deal with tight conditions to his car, Busch proceeded to march his way inside the top 20 throughout the first stage. When the first stage concluded on Lap 80, Busch was scored in 13th place.

Lining up in sixth place for the start of the second stage, Busch kept himself running inside the top 10. At one moment in the stage, Busch cracked the top five. When the second stage concluded on Lap 235, he settled in sixth place and collected a handful of stage points. 

Restarting in sixth place again for the start of the final stage, Busch stabilized himself within the top 10 as he also made another appearance in the top five. With 57 laps remaining, Busch emerged with the lead and he led four laps before he made a green flag pit stop. 

Returning back on the track inside the top 10, Busch was all to gain a handful of spots for the remainder of the race under green to finish in sixth place for his 15th top-10 result of the season. Busch’s top-10 result came a day after he finished in third place in his fifth and final Xfinity Series start of the season at Richmond. With his result and finishing ahead of Playoff contenders like Kevin Harvick, Aric Almirola, Alex Bowman and Clint Bowyer, Busch is in ninth place in the Cup Playoff standings and is 18 points above the top-12 cutline.

“Kind of same as last night [in the Xfinity Series race],” Busch said on NBCSN. “Just not quite enough turn in the middle of the corner to keep wrapping on the long runs. The short runs it seemed like I was actually a little bit loose and then, it was starting to go a little bit tight and then, it was tight loose. Just not enough overall grip, I guess. Kind of been fighting that a little bit this year. The guys gave a great fight. Adam [Stevens] not being here and I thought Jacob [Canter] did a great job. We all know Adam was back at home. … Overall, that’s all we had. We fought hard with our M&M’s Camry and we came up short of a top-five. Good night for us.”

Busch, along with his fellow Playoff contenders, will return for the next scheduled NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday, September 19, which will air at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

Dillon shines under the lights at Richmond

By
Andrew Kim
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Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images.

It was another stellar performance for Austin Dillon in the early stages of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, this time at Richmond Raceway on Saturday, September 12, as the Welcome, North Carolina, native continued his late surge for an opportunity to contend for this year’s championship. On a night where he was hit with two curveballs, both involving pit road, he rallied and was in position of collecting an upset victory before he settled inside the top five when the checkered flag flew.

Starting in third place and coming off a strong runner-up result at Darlington Raceway to open this year’s Playoffs, Dillon had early speed to start the race at Richmond. By Lap 12, Dillon made his way into second place after passing Joey Logano. Nine laps later, Dillon muscled his way into the lead after passing Kevin Harvick. After taking over the top spot, Dillon started to pull away from the field and he was able to maintain his advantage through the competition caution on Lap 30. 

Retaining the leader under caution and following a stellar pit stop from his crew, Dillon was able to launch ahead with the lead. A lap later, however, Dillon was overtaken by Denny Hamlin for the lead. By then, he had led his first 17 laps at Richmond. Despite battling loose conditions to his No. 3 Dow Norkool Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, Dillon kept himself in contention for the lead. When the second stage concluded on Lap 80, he was scored in second place and collected a multitude of stage points.

During the pit stops under the stage break, however, Dillon was sent to the rear of the field for speeding on pit road, a situation that also affected Stage 1 winner Denny Hamlin. Restarting in 29th place for the start of the second stage, it took Dillon time to work his way back towards the front. 

By Lap 100, he worked his way up to 29th place. Ten laps later, he moved up to 14th place. Another 11 laps later, he was scored in 11th place. With a fast race car on the long runs, Dillon and the No. 3 car emerged back with the lead on Lap 182. He went on to lead 36 laps before he was overtaken by Brad Keselowski. Dillon went on to finish in second place behind Keselowski in the second stage, which concluded on Lap 235, and collect more stage points.

With 157 laps remaining, the final stage started with Austin Dillon still in contention for the win. Throughout the early portions of the final stage, Dillon struggled to keep pace with the leaders as he slipped back to the top 10. While the run progressed under green, Dillon’s car slowly came back to life as he marched his way back to the front. With 64 laps remaining, however, Dillon missed the entrance to pit road after having issues slowly his car down to enter pit road and with Kurt Busch closing in. To avoid a commitment line violation, Dillon cycled his way around the track and completed a successful pit stop, losing three seconds in the process and still having an opportunity to win. 

Despite the late misfortune, Dillon battled his way back inside the top five and emerged with the lead with 48 laps remaining. He was overtaken, however, for good by Keselowski the following lap and he went on to post a strong fourth-place result, thus losing spots from Martin Truex Jr. and Joey Logano.

By collecting his fourth top-five result of this season and racking up back-to-back top-five results for the first time in his Cup career, Dillon is in sixth place in the Playoff standings and is 36 points above the top-12 cutline approaching next weekend’s Round of 16 finale at Bristol Motor Speedway.  

“It’s unfortunate,” Dillon said on NBCSN. “We had a speeding penalty, also. To come from the back to finish second in that stage, too, which is so awesome…This No. 3 team’s on fire right now and showing up when it matters. The biggest thing is when we came to pit road, we were trying to bring everybody down and The No. 1 car was in my mirror on tires. I overdrove that entry just a little bit thinking that I needed to avoid getting rear-ended, and then it was like ‘Oh no, I’m going to hit the red box’ so I had to make another lap around the track. That cost us three seconds. but anyways, great run and it’s a lot of fun out here. We’ll go to Bristol.”

Dillon also took a shot at his skeptics and doubters as he sets his sights for next weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway and the opportunity to stabilize his title hopes in 2020.

“I hope they keep doubting us,” Dillon added. “We got a lot of work still. We’re putting ourselves in positions to win and you do that long enough, it pays off. We haven’t been here, we’re kind of new to this. We gotta keep running up here and those wins are gonna start clocking off. We need to make it happen when we got cars like this.” 

Dillon, along with his fellow Playoff contenders, will return for the next scheduled NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday, September 19, which will air at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

Truex and Logano claim podium results at Richmond

By
Andrew Kim
-
Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images.

While Brad Keselowski earned a one-way ticket to the Round of 12 in the Playoffs after winning at Richmond Raceway, Martin Truex Jr. and Joey Logano emerged with strong results on Saturday, September 12, though they missed out on the victory. By rounding out the podium results, both are in stable positions to transfer to the second round of the postseason and heading into next weekend’s first round of eliminations at Bristol Motor Speedway.

For Truex, he started in 14th place and was aiming to rebound from his late incident at Darlington Raceway last weekend that cost him an opportunity to win. By Lap 10, he was mired back in 13th place and battling with tight handling issues to his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry with no drive. He stabilized himself in 13th place when the competition caution flew on Lap 30. Following his first pit stop of the race, Truex was then able to make his way up into the top 10 as he settled in seventh place when the first stage concluded. 

Moving up and restarting inside the top five for the start of the second stage, Truex started to make his way towards the front. When the race passed its Lap 100 mark, Truex made his way up to third place. He stabilized himself in third place throughout the second stage and was able to maintain the position when the stage concluded, thus collecting a bevy of stage points.

Restarting on the front row for the final stage, Truex’s strong run towards the front continued as he spent most of the time battling Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano and Austin Dillon for the lead. With approximately 40 laps remaining, Truex was able to make his way to second place. Despite his late rally, Truex was unable to close the gap between himself and Keselowski as Truex settled in second place, 1.568 seconds behind and as the highest-finishing Joe Gibbs Racing competitor on the track.

With his fourth runner-up result and 12th top-five result of the season, Truex is in fifth place in the Playoff standings and is 38 points above the top-12 cutline entering next weekend’s Round of 16 finale at Bristol Motor Speedway.

“Never could really get the balance right,” Truex said on NBCSN. “It was slow on the short run early, slow on the long run late. Somewhere in between, we’d be pretty competitive but we could just never really put it all together. I was really surprised that we ran second after how it felt early in the race. I was like, ‘Oh, boy. This is gonna be a long night.’ I needed a little bit of practice time, another stab at it. Overall, solid day for our Bass Pro Toyota Camry. Thanks to everybody who helps us, who makes this possible, all the guys at the shop. It’s a good rebound week. You want to win every one of them but if we can run top two or three every week like we’ve been a while now, we’ll be where we want to be.”

For Logano, he started on the front row alongside Harvick and battled towards the front throughout the early portions of the race. He stabilized himself in second place when the competition caution flew on Lap 30. Following pit stops under the competition caution, Logano continued to run inside second place throughout the first stage. When the first stage concluded, Logano was overtaken by Denny Hamlin and Austin Dillon as he finished in third place in the first stage and collected a bevy of stage points for himself.

For the start of the second stage, Logano found himself with the lead after leaders Hamlin and Dillon were penalized for speeding on pit road. Leading for the first time on Lap 85, he went on to lead 36 laps before he was locked on and was overtaken by teammate Brad Keselowski for the lead following a vicious battle. Having a competitive car throughout the stage, Logano went on to finish in fourth place in the second stage as he collected more stage points.

Restarting on the front row with 157 laps remaining and to start the final stage, Logano settled in second place as he continued to pursue teammate Keselowski for the lead. Throughout the final stage, Logano remained at the front while battling Keselowski, Austin Dillon and Martin Truex Jr. for the win. Despite having a car strong enough to run towards the front, Logano was unable to close the gap between himself and Keselowski. In the end, Logano was overtaken by Truex for the runner-up spot as Logano crossed the finish line in third place.

Settling in third place for the second consecutive weekend and for his eighth top-five result of this season, Logano is in fourth place in the Playoff standings and is 51 points above the top-12 cutline.

Photo by Tim Jarrold for SpeedwayMedia.com.

“It was a pretty calm race and we just kind of hung around in the top three the whole time,” Logano said. “I felt like our car was pretty good in the beginning of the race. The track kind of tightened up a little bit and we lost a little bit of speed to [Truex] and [Dillon] a little bit and also, obviously, [Keselowski], congrats to those guys. They were fast today. It just seemed like if we fixed the turn I got loose off, so it seemed like pick your poison a little bit. It just seemed like we had third to fourth-place speed in our car and we finished third with the Shell/Pennzoil Mustang. We’re doing what we have to do. We scored stage points and a top five and puts us in a pretty good spot for next weekend. I’m proud of the effort and proud of what we’ve picked up here lately since the playoffs started. We just have to keep it rolling. If we keep getting top fives we’ll get all the way to Phoenix. We just have to keep doing that.”

Truex and Logano, along with their fellow Playoff contenders, will return for the next scheduled NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday, September 19, which will air at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

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