Events: Federated Auto Parts 400

Venue: Richmond Raceway (Richmond, Virginia)

Date/Broadcast: Saturday, September 12 at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN

Go Fas Racing driver Corey LaJoie will make his sixth NASCAR Cup Series start at Richmond Raceway on Saturday night as the circuit visits the Virginia track for its lone event of the year after the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic caused a reconfiguration of the 2020 schedule.

GFR’s longtime partner, Keen Parts, will return to LaJoie’s Ford for the under-the-lights race at the .75-mile oval.

Throughout the company’s tenure with the No. 32 team, an abundance of CorvetteParts.net schemes have graced the team’s race cars, but three distinct Keen Parts schemes have appeared so far this season.

For the second race back from the 10-week hiatus at Darlington Raceway in May, the Ohio-based company honored all of the frontline workers, who continue to work tirelessly amid pandemic, with a special “Thank a Hero” livery. Five weeks later, the Corvette parts supplier unloaded a mask-wearing LaJoie scheme at Martinsville Speedway. At Kentucky Speedway in July, the classic gray and orange look was contested – the same scheme that will head to the 300-mile race at Richmond this weekend.

Through his five outings at the track, LaJoie has a best finish of 26th – which he tallied last year in the spring race while driving a Keen Parts-sponsored car.

Drydene Performance Products will assist in the GFR team’s efforts this weekend with an associate sponsorship on the lower quarter panels as the team looks to rebuild momentum following an unfortunate and early end to their battle in the Southern 500.

The 28th race of the season – and second race of the Round of 16 in the NASCAR Playoffs – kicks off Saturday, September 12 at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

LaJoie on the upcoming race:

“Our entire team is excited to get Tom and TJ’s Keen Parts Ford on track at Richmond Raceway. This is a race the Keen’s almost always sponsor with our Go Fas team and we’re really happy to bring a sense of normalcy to them by running this car under the lights Saturday night. I’ve really enjoyed racing at Richmond since my K&N Series days when we had a lot of success there. Hopefully we can bring some speed to one of my favorite short tracks this Saturday.”

LaJoie’s Cup history at Richmond Raceway:
Starts: 5
Best Finish: 26th (2019)
Average Start: 29.6
Average Finish: 29.6

Looking back on the Southern 500:
Corey LaJoie and the Trump 2020 team started the Southern 500 from the 27th position at the historic Darlington Raceway. Just before the lap 25 competition caution, LaJoie relayed to crew chief Ryan Sparks that his car was turning good under throttle, but the air pressure would build it a little bit tight – while running in the 30th position. The North Carolina native made his way to the attention of the No. 32 pit crew for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment after expressing the need for more right-rear grip and turn, just before the lap 82 caution. Under the yellow flag, the Go Fas Racing Ford took the wave around to obtain a lap back.

Following stage one, LaJoie requested assistance for more left-front turn and said he landed free into the corner. On lap 132 of the 367-lap event, LaJoie was running in the top-25 in the 24th position. A caution on lap 180 permitted the Trump 2020 Ford to take another wave around, but the team would restart on older tires. LaJoie restarted in 27th on lap 185. Fifteen laps later, he fell to 29th while reporting that his car was still building too free over the course of the run. The 28-year-old finished 28th in stage two.

A chaotic restart on lap 236 for the final stage caused damage on LaJoie’s Ford, knocking the radiator out of place. With damage too severe to continue, LaJoie was credited with a 37th-place finish at the track dubbed “The Lady in Black.” The GFR team will regroup and head to Richmond Raceway on Saturday for another night race with Keen Parts.

About Our Team

About Keen Parts/CorvetteParts.net:
Corvettes are all they do, so whether you’re looking for a complete interior for your vintage ’58 Corvette or a performance accessory for your ’09, they have the Corvette part you need and the expertise you want. For your Corvette exterior, they got you covered bumper-to-bumper. They even have emblems, moldings, grilles, bumpers and brackets, fiberglass, exterior trim and weather stripping. For the interior, they have steering wheels, seats, dash pads, consoles, carpeting, door panels, seat belts, interior trim and fasteners. Under the hood, they’ve got it all from air cleaners to exhaust systems, air conditioning, radiators, and valve covers all the way down to the decals and correct fasteners to bolt it all back together. For more information, please visit www.corvetteparts.net or call 1-844-Tom-Keen.

About Go Fas Racing:
Go Fas Racing (GFR) currently fields Ford Mustangs in the NASCAR Cup Series for driver Corey LaJoie. Located in Mooresville, North Carolina, GFR has competed in the NASCAR’s premier series since 2014; fielding cars for some of NASCAR’s top drivers, including past champions. To find out more information about our team please visit www.GoFasRacing.com.

Stay up-to-date on Corey LaJoie:
To get live updates during the race weekends follow @coreylajoie on Instagram and Twitter. Make sure to give Corey a “like” on Facebook – “@CoreyLaJoieRacing”. For a detailed bio and updated in-season statistics, please visit www.coreylajoieracing.com.

NASCAR CUP SERIES

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2020

MATT DIBENEDETTO MEDIA TELECONFERENCE

Ford Performance NASCAR Cup Series driver Matt DiBenedetto met with members of the media today via Zoom to discuss the upcoming race weekend at Richmond and the 2020 NASCAR Playoffs.

MATT DIBENEDETTO, No. 21 Motorcraft Quick Lane Ford Mustang — HOW DOES YOUR GAME PLAN CHANGE FOR THE NEXT TWO RACES AFTER DARLINGTON? “We have to really perform at our very best for the next two races. We put ourselves behind the eight ball at Darlington. We had a big struggle of a race and it didn’t show but we finally got our car actually driving okay at the end of that thing and could have salvaged a decent finish and okay day but a poorly timed caution really hurt us there points-wise. It just put us behind but luckily we have two short tracks coming up and we will have to perform at our very best and hope we can stay up front all day long.”

HOW MUCH DO YOU FEEL LIKE GOING TO A NEW TEAM WITH A NEW CREW CHIEF THIS YEAR HAS HURT YOU OR IS IT IMPORTANT TO HAVE HAD THOSE RELATIONSHIPS BUILT WITH THE WAY YOU GUYS HAVE TO DO RACING RIGHT NOW? “I think that we have had a lot to work on together this year to get better. Being a new group working together and with the variables that 2020 has thrown into the mix it definitely hasn’t made it any easier. We have had to work really hard on our communication to maximize what we have. I would say it is tough not having practice and your normal weekend routine and things like that. We have grown as a team and just had to work through those types of things but it does make it pretty difficult.”

HOW IS THE TEAM FEELING ON PREPARATION OF THE CAR THIS WEEKEND CONSIDERING UNDER NORMAL CIRCUMSTANCES YOU WOULD HAVE ONE RACE TO BASE IT OFF OF? “Yeah, this is one that I am kind of anxious to get to and interested to see how it goes because we are in the playoffs and this is the first time that we are running at Richmond when otherwise we would normally have had a race under our belt and that would allow you to know without practice where we need to roughly be because we would have learned it at the first race. We don’t have that. I think it is interesting. I actually talked with my crew chief and engineer to kind of see what the strategy is and how they come up with their starting setup. Man, it makes my head hurt all the information that they look through to try to get a close or what they think will be a close starting setup for the race. The 2019 stuff is so different because of the high downforce there and the tire was way different. They take a whole bunch of different equations and aero stuff and all that to take their best guess. To answer your question, they do a good job taking every bit of information that we have to kind of jumble it all up and put it in simulation and hope it spits out a close setup. But man, there are a lot of variables and nobody is really going to hit it perfect right off the truck. We will have to see how it goes and we will have to be really good on pit stops, adjustments and communication with the team. Also, we haven’t run this tire before at Richmond, so that is a big change. This tire has been really good. This has been my favorite tire we have ran on this year because it has a lot more wear and fall-off. Goodyear did a good job with this one. Hopefully it makes for a good race.”

WOOD BROTHERS HAS EXPRESSED THEY ARE VERY HAPPY WITH YOU THIS YEAR. HAVE THERE BEEN ANY DISCUSSIONS ON WHAT NEXT YEAR HOLDS? “Not yet. Not much. I am glad we made the playoffs and we want a lot more than that for sure. I think we have a long way to go. We still have a lot more potential. Our goal is to be up there contending for wins and running up front weekly. We still have things to clean up and work on. We are growing together as a team. When I came to the team, everyone involved expressed that they wanted it to be a long term relationship that we build for a long term to come. My contract is a multi-year opportunity and those options have to be picked up on the team side. We haven’t really talked about it much. I want to stick around here and call this home for a long time to come so hopefully we will find out here soon.”

CAN YOU DESCRIBE HOW SEVERE THE TIRE FALLOFF IS AT RICHMOND? “Yeah, Richmond is a big one where the falloff is huge. I think with this tire this weekend being my favorite tire we have ran on, I think you are going to see a drastic amount of falloff. I will be curious to see. I think the fans will enjoy watching that. The tire makes a big difference in how the race plays out, more than anything at Richmond. So, Richmond is up at the top of the list and people may not know that but it is way up there. If you have a guy, and I am predicting with this tire that it will be more drastic than ever, but if you have a guy that comes in and bolts on a set of tires and everyone else is on old tires, they will drive by everyone like they are in reverse. It is that drastic and that much falloff. I am really anxious to see how this tire races here. I am really appreciative of Goodyear and NASCAR that they went to work on this tire to actually have some wear and lay down rubber and to wear out because that makes for so much better stock car racing, especially at places like Richmond.”

WHAT IS YOUR TAKE ON AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY RECONFIGURING TO A SHORT TRACK IN 2022? “Good question. Auto Club has been a cool place for a bigger track. Short tracks are my favorite thing to do, by far. Short track racing is the best. That and road courses, those are awesome. But for a bigger race track I don’t typically prefer them. I wish we could run almost all short tracks and road courses. Auto Club has been a great race track but the fact that they are doing that, I am in full support of it. Not that the 2-mile track wasn’t cool because it does have a lot of character and is one of the better big tracks we go to by far. Still, the fact that it is going to be turned into a half-mile high-banked short track that looks like a hybrid of Martinsville and Bristol is pretty cool. I can’t really argue with that. The more and more and more short tracks that we can implement in the future the better. There is just nothing like stock cars putting on a heck of a show at short tracks. I am 100-percent for it but in that same statement I would say that the 2-mile track at Auto Club is a very unique place that has also been really cool. Short track racing is the best though and I hope to see the schedule filled with a whole bunch more in the years to come.”

HOW CONFIDENT ARE YOU WITH YOUR NOTES FOR THIS NEW LOW DOWNFORCE PACKAGE AND TIRE COMBINATION FOR FLAT SHORT TRACKS AND HOW MUCH OF THIS RACE CAN YOU APPLY TO PHOENIX LATER IN THE YEAR GIVEN THE SAME PAIRING? “The good thing is that every time we have run on this tire at the short tracks, Phoenix, Martinsville and Loudon, we have been really fast. We didn’t execute real well at Phoenix but we did have an incredibly fast car. I think that tires are a big common ground there. We have raced Phoenix before, so going back there will feel good about where we know we need to start. Richmond we just don’t really know where we need to start. Moreso, we are taking the data off some of those other tracks and how this tire reacted and things like that to hopefully come up with some good starting points. We are factoring that stuff in as well as 2018 notes that our team has because that is more similar to the low downforce. Then they factor in the changes of the Mustang bodies and how this downforce is. There are so many equations it makes my head hurt. We have ran really well on this tire and it has been my favorite and short tracks seem to be our strength as a team and I feel confident it will take all the resources we have to compile a close starting setup and show our strength as a team on the short tracks which have been our best.”

WITH HOW STRONG YOU HAVE BEEN ON THE SHORT TRACKS, HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT YOUR CHANCES IN ADVANCING IN THE PLAYOFFS? “Darlington was really rough on us. The fact that we were going to recover and get a decent finish or at least an okay finish but then that caution killed us. That made it harder. How I feel about our chances, I would say that I am still pretty optimistic because I know these next two race tracks, while Darlington was a weak one for us, these next two I feel really good about. I think if we can go out there and continue the momentum of races we had through the middle of the season when we were in the top-five and top-10 on a weekly basis, if we can do that at a couple tracks that are great strengths for us, we need to rack up some points. I feel really optimistic that we can do it. This weekend will be a big teller. The next two races will have to be very strong for us. It can’t just be one good one and one mediocre or bad one. They will both have to be really good.”

Toyota Racing – Kyle Busch

NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

RICHMOND, Virginia (September 10, 2020) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Kyle Busch was made available to media via videoconference in advance of the race at the Richmond Raceway:

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

How will you work with Jacob Canter as your crew chief this weekend compared to having Adam Stevens usually on the pit box?

“I’m not sure with technology today and the war room and all that stuff at Joe Gibbs Racing with the communications and all that stuff that we have going on right now that much is going to be different at all really. Based off of Adam (Stevens, crew chief) being at the track or not being at the track. Especially with no practice and none of that stuff, basically just calling a race, the only thing that sometimes Adam can see is essentially the car going down the front straightaway by him. There’s no seeing the car on top of the truck or seeing what it does on that. They’re still going to have the same photos available to them, the TV coverage available to him – I don’t know that it’s really going to be all that different. Me talking on the radio is basically me talking directly to Adam, it’s just I can’t hear back from Adam. That will be all information coming back to me from Jacob (Canter, fill-in crew chief). I don’t foresee it being a whole lot different. Obviously the car back at the shop is all setup by Adam and everything else, it’s just a guy on top of the box.”

What are the challenges running Richmond with this downforce package?

“It’s not going to be what it was last year. I think it’s going to be more reminiscent to maybe 2017 or 2018 as far as downforce package and the way the cars feel and such like that. I’m sure with the tire upgrades that have been going on from Goodyear over the last year or two, the tires are certainly going to react different so the downforce level is not necessarily going to feel exactly the same. You’re going to look at your notes from ’17, ’18 and kind of look and see what things you did or didn’t do well in that time period and start from there.”

How much will it help you to race the Xfinity race Friday night at Richmond prior to the Cup race?

“I think any time you’re able to run a race will give you an opportune time to just kind of check out the track, check out the tire and kind of feel and see what’s going on. Not real sure what the weather is going to have for this weekend so we’ll see how that all kind of plays out with tonight in the Truck race and then tomorrow night trying to get our Xfinity race in. You always try or want to run the Xfinity race prior to the Cup race, especially this day and age with no practice and such so that would give you a little bit of a heads up as far as what to expect. It might not even happen Friday night. If Mother Nature steps in and says no Xfinity race on Friday, then I’ll run my Cup race before my Xfinity race. The use of it is not necessarily going to be what we expect it to be. We hope it all goes down on schedule and it should be a useful tool.”

How much do you enjoy the racing in the Xfinity Series?

“It’s good. Some of those guys are all really doing a good job and putting on a good show, fighting hard. The races this day and age, the way the driver etiquette has changed the last couple of years is very different and it comes from all these guys in their younger ranks and younger series that they run in and just bringing up that aggression all the way through and even the Cup nowadays with the aero package, there is no chill time. There is no let somebody go and they’ll let me go later, although sometimes, some of us older guys – myself or Kevin (Harvick) or Denny (Hamlin) or Martin (Truex Jr.), Jimmie Johnson for instance, we may still play in that realm a little bit where we kind of give and take a little bit and see what happens later on in the race.”

How important is it to have a long-standing relationship with your crew chief in this time where you’re not allowed as much time in-person with your team?

“I think it’s important. Sometimes like we’re seeing right now, for instance, the Jason Ratcliff and the Christopher Bell, they’re kind of going through a hit or miss, a little bit of a rough patch just not having the experience and not having the communication together, especially with these Cup cars, obviously they’ve run the last couple of years in the Xfinity Series together. Learning a new car and sometimes learning new tracks has been challenging. Having that notebook and having that experience that’s been developed over time with myself and Adam (Stevens, crew chief) certainly helps and gives us a good basis to go off of, but also too, the setups and everything else is ever-evolving and always changing so there’s a lot of things that we always have to take into consideration going into race weekends. What to do or what to change and what to improve on from the last time we were somewhere.”

Do you feel you and your team are on the verge of breaking through or still have a lot of work to do?

“I think we struggle in traffic, that’s our biggest problem. I can’t get through traffic very well. We kind of saw it in Darlington this week. Wherever I single-filed out in a race run is kind of where I ran. There wasn’t much of me going forward or going backwards for that matter. When I got up front and got up to second, I was able to restart with Martin Truex Jr.. Truex and I ran really fast, really hard and drove away from the field. Our car had speed. We had the comfort in being up front and the aero being in second place versus being back in seventh or eighth or whatever it might be. We were able to drive away from the field. That gave me some optimistic measures for things to come and obviously our teammates have been starting up front, they’ve been running up front and they’ve been doing a good job of keeping themselves in the mix as far as all that goes. If we can continue to evolve and get ourselves up a little bit higher then hopefully that will bode well for us too down the stretch here.”

What do you think about Auto Club Speedway being reconfigured into a short track?

“Fact of the matter is that I don’t like it. I like California Speedway, I like it the way it is. I think it’s a really fun race track. I kind of understand the fan point of it where it can get a little strung out, it gets a little extended. Cars aren’t up on top of each other and such and all of that. There’s a good point to argue where there’s really been some fantastic finishes there over the years. Being an old, worn out surface, it gives itself an opportunity to put on a good show or put on a good race with us drivers. Even as much as we want to to applaud or what not that put on good races from the driver’s seat, sometimes they don’t always do that from the TV standpoint. Atlanta, earlier this year, was a heck of a race from the driver’s seat, you could run all over the race track, but when Kevin Harvick runs away from the field by four or six seconds, it’s kind of boring. You can’t run away from the field at a short track by four to six seconds so there’s going to be everybody up on top of each other a little bit more and guys running into guys. If the layout really is what they show and what we expect it to be, it’s going to be a track that’s going to be hard on equipment, hard on brakes and hard on tempers.”

What is it about Richmond that suits your driving style?

“I don’t know, over the years – I started out really bad there. My first Truck Series race there was horrible. I think I ran into everything but the hot dog stand. The next time I went there was with Hendrick (Motorsports) in the Busch Series in 2004 when they first repaved the track and I ran really well, we were able to win that race and I led the most laps and won. From that point forward, I feel like I kind of learned or had a sense of what it takes to be fast there and what you need to be able to do to win there. As the years have gone on, the race track has definitely aged, it’s definitely gone through some transition, it’s lost a lot of grip. There’s been some changes in that respect as well just trying to figure out, okay, what’s next. What’s the next thing that’s going to keep you on top of your game at Richmond. It’s always been a good track for me, I enjoy going there. It’s a fun short track. It’s a very challenging short track that doesn’t lend itself to typical short tracks around the country. That kind of lends itself to some different ideas and concepts that you have to be ready for and myself and Denny (Hamlin) and Martin (Truex Jr.) now and Carl (Edwards) when Carl was with us and Matt Kenseth, I think we’ve all won there at Richmond in Joe Gibbs Racing Camrys. We certainly have a good basis of our cars that tend to run well there.”

Do you have any family or friends that are impacted by the California wildfires?

“I have not heard of anything, no. I’ve got a few friends out in the LA area and a couple that are in Idaho, not too far off of the Sonoma area and stuff like that. Fortunately, we haven’t heard of anybody having any issues. Thankfully, that’s been safe as far as our connection goes, but we know there’s plenty of other family connections and people out there that are suffering through the wildfires and such. We wish them all the best and hope they can come out of this all good on the opposite side.”

What is your assessment of your Truck Series drivers as the Playoffs are ready to kickoff?

“It’s been alright. The last four, five, six weeks, Christian Eckes has really come on strong and he had a few second-place finishes in a row. Had a third in there. Probably should have finished in the top-three at Gateway before we had a mechanical failure. He’s been having some good runs and that’s been very promising and he’s running in the top-three, top-five and getting some good finishes where he belongs. You do that enough times and the win is certainly going to come. Raphie (Raphael Lessard) had struggled with the beginning of the season and not having a whole lot of practice going to all of these race tracks for the first time, but really his last three weeks have given us a vote of confidence where he’s run well. He ran well and ran strong at Darlington, probably or arguably our best KBM (Kyle Busch Motorsports) truck was his effort at Darlington. Then also had a good, decent run there at Gateway too being in the top-five, running fourth at a point. Looking for some strong runs here to finish out the season. I think Eckes will be in the Playoffs obviously. I don’t know that Raphie will make it. We hope for a win, but other than that, he’s kind of on the outside looking in. We’ll just have to keep fighting it out and try to get all those guys some wins. Chandler (Smith) has been running real hard and had a good run at Darlington going. Had a loose wheel there at the end so that was derailed, but also had a few wrecks in there as well so those guys need to clean that up a little bit and get themselves in contention of running in the top-eight. Don’t shoot for wins, let’s shoot for top-eights right now and we’ll work our way up to top-fives and get where we need to get first.”

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in the U.S. and North America for more than 60 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands. During that time, Toyota has created a tremendous value chain as our teams have contributed to world-class design, engineering, and assembly of more than 40 million cars and trucks in North America, where we have 14 manufacturing plants, 15 including our joint venture in Alabama (10 in the U.S.), and directly employ more than 47,000 people (over 36,000 in the U.S.). Our 1,800 North American dealerships (nearly 1,500 in the U.S.) sold nearly 2.8 million cars and trucks (nearly 2.4 million in the U.S.) in 2019.

Through the Start Your Impossible campaign, Toyota highlights the way it partners with community, civic, academic and governmental organizations to address our society’s most pressing mobility challenges. We believe that when people are free to move, anything is possible. For more information about Toyota, visit www.toyotanewsroom.com.

Denny Hamlin
#11 FedEx Cares Toyota
Joe Gibbs Racing

Race Info:
Race: Federated Auto Parts 400
Date/Time: Saturday, Sept. 12/7:30 p.m. ET
Distance: 400 laps/300 miles
Track Length: 0.75 miles
Track Shape: Oval
2019 Winner: Martin Truex Jr.

Express Notes:

Press Kit: Download the 2020 FedEx Racing press materials at www.fedexracing.com/presskit, including bios for Denny Hamlin, Chris Gabehart and Joe Gibbs Racing leadership, program highlights and statistics.

Darlington Recap: Denny Hamlin had a fast Federal Express Toyota for the Southern 500 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway on Sunday night. But after running in the top three most of the evening, including 19 laps in the lead, Hamlin was relegated to a 13th-place finish after an on-track incident knocked him out of contention. Hamlin battled a loose race car early in the 367-lap event, but kept his Camry up front throughout the first two stages. His chances at a win were foiled in Stage 3, though, when Hamlin tried to slow down to peel off to pit road but was bumped from behind by Jimmie Johnson. The contact caused Hamlin to miss the pit road entrance and circle the track one more time before making his pit stop. He returned to the track in 19th and one lap down to the leader. Hamlin was able to drive back onto the lead lap and gain six positions to finish the race in 13th. Kevin Harvick took the first Playoffs win of the 2020 season.

Richmond Preview: The Playoffs Round of 16 continues as it heads to Hamlin’s home track of Richmond Raceway on Saturday night. Hamlin is a three-time winner at the track, taking the checkered flag in 2009, 2010 and in 2016. Hamlin owns 13 top-five and 17 top-10 finishes in 27 career races at Richmond, leading a total of 1,659 laps. Hamlin and his FedEx Racing team can secure their spot in the Round of 12 with a win or with points.

National Urban League & Project Ready – Special Paint Scheme: The FedEx Cares paint scheme pays tribute to the National Urban League, an organization FedEx has worked with since 2008, and its Project Ready program that prepares Black Americans and other historically underserved youth for college and careers. The paint scheme represents FedEx’s continued commitment to embracing diversity, equity and inclusion, and supports the company’s current corporate citizenship initiative called FedEx Cares 50 by 50, a program with the goal of positively impacting 50 million people by the company’s 50th anniversary in 2023.

Hamlin Statistics:

Track: Richmond Raceway
Races: 27
Wins: 3
Poles: 3
Top-5: 13
Top-10: 17
Laps Led: 1659
Avg. Start: 10.1
Avg. Finish: 9.1

Hamlin Conversation – Richmond and FedEx Cares:

You’ve got a new paint scheme for Richmond. Can you provide some background about it?

“I’m proud to be running this special FedEx Cares paint scheme at my home track. FedEx is lending its racing platform to the National Urban League and its program called Project Ready. I made the commitment to listen and learn about social injustice, and education is an area where all kids don’t always have access to the same opportunities. Project Ready aims to help with those opportunities.”

Can you tell us about the students you were able to meet and talk with about this program?

“I was thrilled to meet recently with two Project Ready students virtually. They educated me on the importance of organizations such as the National Urban League and the programs it offers. We spoke for around half an hour on Zoom, and it was a great conversation. We wish we could host them at the track this weekend, but instead they’ll be cheering us on in spirit as cardboard cut-outs on our pit box.”

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (September 10, 2020) – Spire Motorsports is pleased to welcome BetterForYourHealth.com as the primary sponsor of the team’s No. 77 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE for Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond Raceway where veteran Reed Sorenson will steer the team’s entry.

BetterForYourHealth.com is an educational platform, supported by Good Hemp, Inc., to inform the public about the health benefits afforded by hemp-derived products consumed for their nutritional value.

Good Hemp manufactures and markets Good Hemp 2oh!, Good Hemp Fizz and Canna Hemp. Good Hemp products represent a great tasting and affordable line of THC-free, hemp-infused functional beverages formulated for individuals who participate in healthy and active lifestyles.

Good Hemp beverages are made with all natural, organic and gluten-free ingredients that contain no artificial sweeteners or flavors and deliver the value of hemp, one of the world’s greatest “superfoods,” along with fiber and organic caffeine.

Hemp is a super plant that delivers sustainable, healthy benefits and is seeing a massive growth in awareness and demand. Hemp seed oil originates from the seed of the hemp plant. Similar to coconut or fish oil, hemp seed oil contains healthy fats and omega 3’s and 6’s that are shown to reduce muscle inflammation and boost the immune system, while benefiting the brain, heart and skin via healthy fats.

Fans are invited to learn more about the benefits of hemp seed oil by visiting BetterForYourHealth.com. Additionally, BetterForYourHealth.com will give away exclusive Spire Motorsports merchandise and gear to lucky fans throughout the remainder of the 2020 season.

Spire Holdings, the parent company of Spire Motorsports, Spire Sports + Entertainment, Spire Hockey and Track Enterprises owns an equity stake in Good Hemp.

“Spire Motorsports is proud to work cooperatively with Good Hemp and help roll out an educational platform to educate consumers and individuals with active lifestyles about the benefits of hemp-infused products,” said Spire Motorsports co-owner Thaddeus (T.J.) Puchyr. “We’ve been fortunate to deploy promotional elements for Good Hemp across our other sports and promotional assets, so we’re excited to see BetterForYourHealth.com on the race car this weekend in Richmond.”

As a chartered NASCAR Cup Series team, Spire Motorsports has competed in all 27 races on the 2020 schedule and is currently 33rd in owner’s points. The team’s best finish of the season came with Ross Chastain at the controls at Daytona International Speedway last month where the Florida native finished 16th. Sorenson has made eight starts for the team in 2020.

Recently, the team announced the purchase of Leavine Family Racing. As part of the purchase, Spire Motorsports will acquire LFR’s NASCAR charter, the team’s race shop and all owned inventory.

Spire Motorsports will expand to a two-car operation in 2021 and relocate to LFR’s existing race shop in Concord, N.C.

The Federated Auto Parts 400 from Richmond Raceway will be televised live on NBCSN Saturday, September 12 beginning at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The race will also be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.