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Ford Performance NASCAR: Keselowski Gives Mustang 11th Cup Win of 2020

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Official Release
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NASCAR CUP SERIES
SUNDAY, AUGUST 2, 2020
FOXWOODS RESORT CASINO 301 – NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY

FORD PERFORMANCE DRIVER – POST RACE QUOTES

BRAD KESELOWSKI GIVES MUSTANG 11TH WIN OF 2020 CUP SEASON

  • Brad Keselowski won his third race of the season today.
  • The win is the 33rd of his Cup Series career and 24th with Ford.
  • Those 24 wins make him the all-time Team Penske leader for Cup wins with Ford, passing Rusty Wallace (23) and teammate Joey Logano (23).
  • The win is Mustang’s 11th of the season, bettering its win total from last season.
  • Today’s win is Ford’s 697th all-time in NASCAR Cup Series competition.
  • Of Team Penske’s 77 MENCS wins with Ford, 50 have come since rejoining Ford in 2013.

Ford Finishing Results:
1st — Brad Keselowski
4th — Joey Logano
5th — Kevin Harvick
6th — Matt DiBenedetto
7th — Aric Almirola
8th — Cole Custer
18th — Clint Bowyer
19th — Michael McDowell
20th — Ryan Blaney
21st — Ryan Newman
25th — Chris Buescher
29th — JJ Yeley
34th — Joey Gase
35th — Corey LaJoie
36th — John Hunter Nemechek

BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 2 Western Star/Alliance Parts Ford Mustang — VICTORY LANE INTERVIEW

WHAT KIND OF STATEMENT WAS THAT TODAY? “We’ve had a lot of great races this year with the 2 car, but we just haven’t really went out and kind of dominated a race. Talking to Jeremy Bullins and like, ‘Man, what do we need to get to that next level? We’re right there. We need to go out and just dominate a race,’ and that’s what today was for us with the Western Star/Alliance Parts Ford Mustang. I’m really proud of my team and the effort that they gave today. A great race car and to all of Team Penske, thank you. Its so great to be racing back in front of fans again. It feels like forever, so welcome back, guys.”

WHY HAS IT WORKED SO WELL WITH JEREMY BULLINS THIS YEAR? “It’s been good. I’ve had a good career and I thought we needed a kick in the ass and Jeremy and this whole team has been a kick in the butt for me to make me a little bit better and push me to find another level and we’re doing that so far. I’m just really thankful. I’m in a great spot here and hungry for more wins. I think this is my fifth straight year with three wins, but I don’t want to stop here. I want us to keep going and I know this team can do it. I’m driven. I’ve just got to say there’s so much going on in the world right now. I’m glad to be able to be a race car driver and get to be here and do these things. I’ve got two special decals on my car with Maurice Petty and Mr. Bob Bahre, who passed away this week. I’m just thankful to those who made the sport possible, and to my friend Dave who lost his father this week to the coronavirus. We’re thinking about you, bud. There’s so much going on in the world. We’re just glad to be here and glad that maybe we can take a few peoples’ minds off of all the craziness. I hope you enjoyed the race.”

WHAT KIND OF STATEMENT WAS THIS TODAY? “This is the same tire and similar track to Phoenix and we know that’s what you’ve got to do to win this championship. You have to go win Phoenix and we put on a great showing today. I’m pumped, I really am. The playoffs are a long ways away and they’re gonna be tough, but this is certainly a good sign.”

MICHIGAN NEXT WEEK. THAT WOULD BE SWEET AS WELL. “It would. I’ve been so close to winning there and hopefully this is good mojo.”

HOW ABOUT THESE FANS? “We’re just so glad to have them all back. It feels so weird to be racing without fans, but we’re glad you’re here. I hope you stay safe and thank you for being here.”

JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 AAA Insurance Ford Mustang — “For us here at Loudon, for me, personally, this has been a challenging racetrack and to be able to kind of work through it and have a solid run, I feel good about that. We pitted when we probably shouldn’t have and then we fuel-only’d to get our track position back and then the run went long, so the fuel only made us loose and we had seven or eight laps more on our tires, which ended up costing us there on that long run. We needed a caution. Congratulations to Brad, Team Penske. That’s great. I want to win at my home track, but nice to have a solid run.”

POST-RACE PRESS CONFERENCES

JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 AAA Insurance Ford Mustang — “It was an okay day. Paul put together a great car for me, something that was pretty competitive. I thought maybe it was something we could win with if we had the track position right. We scored a few stage points. It was a somewhat uneventful day. Our pit stall was very challenging. It’s just kind of how this works right now. If you have a bad race the race before, you get stuck with a really bad stall and stuck in between a couple cars and that cost us a little bit. And then there on one of those cautions there towards the end I heard Paul say, ‘Pit,’ and the part that I missed is where he said, ‘if they split, pit.’ So all I got was the pit part, so we pitted when there really wasn’t many cars or any cars that pitted. And then we kind of got lucky and got a caution five or six laps after that. We did fuel only, which just made us really loose the last run. It went green from there out, so we had a cycle on our tires and had 10 laps on them, more than the cars I was racing. I wish that went a little smoother because I just wish we could have had a shot at it a little bit and see what could have happened. I don’t know if I had anything for the 2, but I think we had something for the 11 and the 19, but that’s just the way the cards played. Like I said, in ways we were lucky and in ways it cost us, so I was really hoping for a caution there at the end to have a shot at it and do something, but, overall, it’s a solid day. It’s nice to have a solid day with the way our season has been going. It seems whatever can happen does happen and all the air stayed in the tires this time, so that’s a good day.”

MATT DIBENEDETTO, No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang — “We had some troubles and had a fast car from the start, we just had to tighten it up some. I was a little frustrated at times just because of how fast of a car we had and we were sort of stuck back in a little mess, had some big trouble on one pit stop and really set us back, so we were battling to try to get up where we belonged and then once we did we were pretty competitive. I thought we had a car that could have ran in the top two or three until that very last run we just got a little too tight on the last set of tires. We were tight and lost a little speed, so we ended up still having a solid day finishing sixth, which I’m happy about in the sense of our last two weeks were very rough as far as luck. We’ve had fast race cars, but the takeaway I take from it is we’ve really been in a good groove for the last many weeks I can remember. For the last sevenish weeks we’ve had cars that can run up in the top five and top 10 no problem, so I’m real encouraged about that moving forward. I think we’ll stay in a good rhythm. Other than that, not too crazy of a day. I’m glad we came out with a solid run that the team deserves when we’re obviously fighting for points.”

YOU’RE 40 POINTS UP ON THE BUBBLE. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT YOUR POSITION? “I feel okay, but not as good as I’d like just because of these last two weeks — Kansas and then what was right before that. The last two races really, really hurt and you want as much cushion as you can, but we’ve had a lot of speed, so I feel great about that part of it. The thing that I worry about the most is I want as much cushion as humanly possible going to Daytona because that’s just a real crap shoot, so the more cushion we can have going to Daytona the better.”

JOEY LOGANO CONTINUED — ANY FUEL CONCERNS AT THE END? AND WHEN YOU CHANGE CREW CHIEFS DO YOU CHANGE ANY OF YOUR LINGO AS FAR AS SAVING FUEL? “We talk about it a lot. The bottom line is to be diligent. You can’t assume that he knows. I worked with Todd for so long that he knew what I can and can’t do. He knew by the tone of my voice the severity of the car because we worked with each other for a long time. That’s natural. It’s like your wife sometimes. You can just look at her and know. You know what’s going on without asking. It’s essentially the same thing and we just have to get to that point, and over time we will get there. Today, we worked through one of those issues — when to key up. There’s a delay in our radio system. For one, we need to fix that. Two, we need to be able to handle that better. It’s something we’ve been fighting throughout the year, so we need to make that part. The lingo doesn’t change. You are just very clear about what exactly you need to do because there are times I could say something about the car that’s not a big deal and he’ll try to fix that, instead of something else. Those are the things that we can continue to work on. That all happened earlier. I feel like we’re making progress on that, which is natural. It’s just kind of part of what you would expect.”

SHOULD WE READ ANYTHING INTO YOU WIN PHOENIX, A ONE-MILE TRACK AND COME TO NHMS WITH THE SAME TIRE AND A ONE-MILE TRACK. A TOP-FIVE FINISH FOR YOU. IS THERE ANY CORRELATION OR ARE WE PUTTING TOO MUCH INTO THIS ONE-MILE FLAT TRACK WITH THE SAME TIRE. “No, I think you can definitely read into that. Phoenix and Loudon are the two tracks that are probably the closest to each other. That being said, there are still plenty of differences, but it’s the same kind of nuts and bolts of putting together a setup. Paul just does a great job with short track setups. If there’s one thing I have figured out at this point is his short track package is spectacular. That is definitely the strength of this race team, and I think with the 550s we’re starting to make some progress. We just had to change some direction on some things. I like where we’re headed. I like that we’ve been competitive the last few weeks. We’ve been in the hunt at Kansas and Kentucky and Texas. We were in the hunt of all those races. Now, like I said, something has happened in all of them, but I like that we can run in the top five with just a normal day, and that’s a little bit of progress. The wins come right after that. We kind of fine-tune the rest of it, so we’re in the ballpark.”

MORE THAN HALF THE RACES LEFT ARE WITH THE 750 PACKAGE? WHEN MIGHT WE SEE A CHANGE IN WHO IS STRONG AND WHO ISN’T WITH THIS BECOMING A BIGGER ROLE? “The 750 package is a lot of fun. There’s a lot more that the crew chief and the driver can really add to everything. It’s not a chaos restart at the end and something crazy happens that is unexpected. You’re not gonna get that at 750. The good drivers and good race teams are gonna win. That’s the bottom line. They’re challenging to drive. You’ve got to use both feet. You go to Kansas and all you’ve got to use is the right foot, so it gives a driver more tools to work with. You’ve got to think things through more. It’s not balls to the wall all day long, pushing as hard as you can on the repave and not paying a penalty. You come to these short tracks and there’s a penalty for riding the brake. There’s a penalty for pushing too hard on a short run compared to a long run. You’ve got to think more. Strategy comes into play more. Boy, we’ve seen a lot of crazy strategy today with all those cautions one stacked onto another. What are tires worth? That’s what, to me, made this race very interesting. Yes, the best car won the race no matter any way you look at it, and it was obviously a long run there towards the end where it probably wasn’t very eventful, but the fact is as a driver I’m in there pedaling the heck out of it coming off the corner. You’ve got to change your line. You’ve got to move places and search for grip. Matt was behind me for the last few laps of that thing and we’re both searching different lines. Something works for 10 laps and then you’ve got to move again. You’ve got to keep doing that and it’s something that I think is fun and it’s nice to have the 750s with the low downforce and the short tracks.”

MATT DIBENEDETTO CONTINUED — HOW DOES THIS 750 PACKAGE PLAY FOR YOU? “Joey’s laughed at how strongly I feel about how much I love the 750 package and the low downforce versus the other. It is just so much more fun to drive. No knock on the other, it’s just as a driver it’s an absolute blast and kind of plays into our hands a little bit more and it’s more fun and you’re doing stuff like, I was behind Joey for the entire last run at the end. I could see he was battling a little free, I’m battling a little tight. I’m changing my line multiple times and you feel like a dirt track racer moving around everywhere trying to find grip and run them down. It’s so much fun, so, to answer your question, I’m looking forward to that a whole bunch with the schedule remaining — the schedule for the season I think we can make these playoffs for sure. We’re really strong and then at those places I’m extremely partial to the 750 tracks and races for the fact that you’ve got to drive the car more at those places, to be quite honest. It’s a lot of fun just slip sliding around and it really shows the strength of the teams on who is good, so it’s a lot of fun and I couldn’t look forward to the rest of the season anymore, especially since we’ve really kind of hit our stride as a race team and had super-good speed for quite a while now. We’ve had ourselves around that top five area a ton, so I’m excited.”

John Hunter Nemechek Post-Race Report: New Hampshire

By
Official Release
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Track: New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Race: 20 of 36
Event: Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 (318 miles, 301 laps)

John Hunter Nemechek
No. 38 CITGARD Ford Mustang

Started: 36th
Finished: 36th (out)

Stage One: 11th
Stage Two: 18th
Stage Three: 36th (out)

John Hunter Nemechek took the green flag in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in the 36th place, following a random draw for starting position. After the first handful of laps, he radioed to the team that his No. 38 CITGARD Ford Mustang “started off on the splitter… getting tight center off.” He pitted at the Competition Caution for 4 tires with an air pressure adjustment, fuel and a track bar adjustment. When a caution came out on Lap 62, Nemechek said the previous adjustment helped, but he still needed “more rotation through the center.” He pitted for 4 tires, fuel and another track bar adjustment under yellow. By the end of Stage 1, Nemechek had made his way into the 11th position and told Crew Chief Seth Barbour that he was “good right there… I like the way that’s going.” He and Barbour opted not to pit during the Stage Break Caution.

Shortly after Stage 2 got underway, the caution flag flew for rain at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. However, the track managed to stay dry enough that a red flag pause was not needed. Nemechek brought his No. 38 CITGARD Ford Mustang to pit road for 4 tires and fuel under caution. Once the race restarted, Nemechek settled into the top 20 for a longer green flag run. When the caution came out on Lap 170, Nemechek told the crew that he had “lost grip in the tires as the run went on.” He pitted for 4 tires with a slight air pressure adjustment and fuel under caution. There were only a few green flag laps remaining in Stage 2, but by the end, Nemechek said the car felt pretty good. He would take the green- and white-checkered flag in the 18th position.

Nemechek would start the Final Stage of Sunday’s race in 16th place. On Lap 197, he noted that his No. 38 CITGARD Ford Mustang was free to fire off. When a caution came a few laps later, Nemechek said he was still on the free side and that it was hard to predict what the tires would do while running the top line. He pitted for 4 tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment. On Lap 212, Nemechek had a tire go down and hit the wall in Turn 3, bringing an unfortunate early end to his day.

Nemechek on New Hampshire:

“That was definitely a hard hit, but I’m okay. An unfortunate end to our day in the No. 38 CITGARD Ford Mustang. We had a fast car and were pretty good on the short run. We struggled a little on the long run, but overall we had a fast race car. I can’t thank my guys enough for how we unloaded. We unloaded with speed and felt good about our situation. We had a top-15 car today, but we pitted for tires towards the end and must have run something over and had a left front tire go down, which ended our day. Really appreciate the support from our partners at CITGARD, coming on board with us today. We’ll have them back with us again a few more times this season, so we’ll still have another chance to get them a great finish.”

Late Race Charge Earns McDowell and CP Compressors Top-20 Finish at New Hampshire

By
Official Release
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Track: New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Race: 20 of 36
Event: Foxwoods Resort Casino 301
(318 miles, 301 laps)

Michael McDowell
No. 34 Chicago Pneumatic Compressors Ford Mustang

Started: 18th
Finished: 19th

Stage One: 26th
Stage Two: 25th
Stage Three: 19th

Following a random draw for starting positions, Michael McDowell and his No. 34 Chicago Pneumatic (CP) Compressors Ford Mustang took the green flag from the 18th position in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. At the Competition Caution on Lap 30, McDowell radioed to his team to say that his race car was, “loose getting into the corner and under breaking” and would pit for 4 tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment. With less than 15 laps remaining in the first stage, the caution flag would come out once again. This time, McDowell noted that his CP Compressors Ford Mustang was “on the tight side” and he would pit for 4 tires, fuel, a wedge and track bar adjustment. The No. 34 CP Compressors Ford Mustang would go on to finish Stage 1 from the 26th position. Under the Stage 1 caution, Crew Chief Drew Blickensderfer told McDowell to “stay out.”

During Stage 2, the caution flag would fly early as rain began to fall over New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Thankfully, it did not last long and cars were able to remain on track. Under the caution, Blickensderfer called the No. 34 CP Compressors Ford Mustang to pit road for 4 tires and fuel. McDowell would run in and around the Top-25 for the remainder of the stage and take the Stage 2 green- and white-checkered flag from the 25th position. Under the caution, McDowell and his No. 34 CP Compressors Ford Mustang would pit for 4 tires, fuel and a packer adjustment.

For the first half of the Final Stage, McDowell and his No. 34 CP Compressors Ford Mustang would continue to battle in and around the 25th position. A mid-race caution would occur and Blickensderfer would call the No. 34 Ford to pit road for 4 tires and fuel. The remainder of the stage would run cautionless, however McDowell and his No. 34 CP Compressors Ford Mustang would make a late race charge and take the checkered flag from the 19th position at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

McDowell on New Hampshire:

“It was certainly a tough day for our No. 34 team today at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. We didn’t fire off exactly how we had hoped, but we consistently made good improvements to the car and ended up with a Top-20 finish after running around the 25th position for a majority of the race. I can’t thank Drew and my guys on pit road enough for all of their hard work to improve our car all race long. A big thank you to Chicago Pneumatic Compressors for joining our No. 34 team today for their first race in the NASCAR Cup Series. I’m looking forward to having them back on board with us in a few weeks for the road course race at Daytona.”

Toyota Racing NCS Post-Race Recap — New Hampshire 8.2.20

By
Official Release
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HAMLIN, TRUEX JR. DRIVE TO TOP-THREE FINISHES IN NEW HAMPSHIRE
Hamlin scores his eighth top-two finish of the season

LOUDON, New Hampshire (August 2, 2020) – Denny Hamlin (second) and Martin Truex Jr. (third) led Toyota at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon.

Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Race 20 of 36 – 318.5 miles, 301 laps

TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Brad Keselowski*
2nd, DENNY HAMLIN
3rd, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
4th, Joey Logano*
5th, Kevin Harvick*
24th, ERIK JONES
26th, DANIEL SUÁREZ
28th, CHRISTOPHER BELL
33rd, TIMMY HILL
38th, KYLE BUSCH
*non-Toyota driver

TOYOTA QUOTES

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 2nd

Were you battling your car just a little too much to get to Brad Keselowski in the closing laps?

“We just kind of were second there to the 2 (Brad Keselowski). We could really do well on restarts and we were going back-and-forth. Wow, that was some really, really good short track racing there. Hopefully the fans liked what they saw there with me and the 2 for most of the day. Some great side-by-side racing. We treated each other fair and it’s good that we got one-two out of it.”

MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 19 Sport Clips Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 3rd

Is this finish a little better than you might have expected in the middle of this race?

“We ran second in the first stage and had a tire get away on pit road, had to come from the back. That definitely made things a lot more challenging. Had a decent Sport Clips Toyota, just wasn’t quite driving like we needed it to and then it kind of burned the tires off after 25 or 30 laps. We could hang with them and we would fall consistently off the 2 (Brad Keselowski) and the 11 (Denny Hamlin). Third-best car and we finished third so all in all, a good day. Just have to find a little bit more. Just missed the balance a little bit today. Love coming up here to Loudon and this was a fun day.”

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Pedigree Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 38th

Did you have any indication the right-front tire was going down or did it just blow out?

“Just going down the backstretch there and about halfway down the backstretch I felt it go flat and tried to get slowed down enough without taking everybody else running over me behind me down the straightaway. I don’t know, I think there’s a replay of another Pedigree car here a few years ago that blew a right-front tire for absolutely no reason too. Seems to be our luck with the Pedigree car here at New Hampshire. Sorry to all of our fans and all the Pedigree folks. It’s still 2020.”

What happened that took you out of the race?

“I blew a right-front tire for some reason. I have no idea why. Way too early in the going for anything to be wrong or even to build enough brake temp or brake heat. I don’t know. Just hate it for our Pedigree team and the fight that we’ve been having this year seems to be continuing. Last time I was here in a Pedigree car, we blew a right-front tire for no reason as well too. Just seems to be our luck with the Pedigree scheme for some reason here at New Hampshire. It’s still 2020, but sooner or later we have to turn this stuff around.”

# # #

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.

Keselowski rolls to a dominant win at New Hampshire

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

With his status for next season uncertain, Brad Keselowski reignited his momentum for his second Cup title by dominating and prevailing over several battles with Denny Hamlin to win the Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, the 20th race of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season. The win was Keselowski’s third of this season, second at New Hampshire, third with crew chief Jeremy Bullins and 33rd of his Cup career, which moved him into a tie with the late NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Fireball Roberts for 24th on the all-time wins list.

The starting lineup was based on a random draw. Aric Almirola started on pole position for the third time this season and was joined on the front row with Denny Hamlin, a three-time winner at New Hampshire and last week’s winner at Kansas Speedway. 

Prior to the race, Jerry Baxter, crew chief for Bubba Wallace and the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE team, and Ryan Sparks, crew chief for Corey LaJoie and the No. 32 Go Fas Racing Ford Mustang team, were both suspended from the race due to a pre-race inspection infraction for an improperly mounted ballast. In addition, both Wallace and LaJoie started at the rear of the field and were each docked 10 points. Engineer Roy Gangdal served as LaJoie’s interim crew chief while the No. 43 team went into a group effort for Wallace. Austin Dillon also dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments.

When the green flag waved, Almirola, who started on the outside lane, jumped to an early advantage followed by Brad Keselowski while Denny Hamlin, who started on the inside lane and had issues getting started, dropped to third. Behind, Kyle Busch moved his way into fourth place followed by Clint Bowyer while Chase Elliott dropped to sixth. 

On the third lap, Keselowski made his move beneath Almirola to move into the lead. Behind, Kurt Busch slipped up the racing groove entering Turn 3 and dropped all the way back to 18th. While Keselowski continued to lead by two-tenths of a second over Almirola, teammates Kyle Busch and Hamlin along with Bowyer battled intensely for third with Elliott lurking behind. 

On Lap 10, Blaney missed the racing groove in Turn 3 while running 10th and nearly slapped the outside wall, though he was able to gather his car back into the racing groove entering Turn 4. By the time he gathered his No. 12 Menards/Sylvania/Team Penske Ford Mustang back, he had fallen back to 15th. A lap later, a similar thing happened to William Byron, who nearly collected teammate Jimmie Johnson in the process when Byron and his No. 24 Liberty University/Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE slipped. Byron’s miscue dropped him back to 15th as he was locked into a battle with rookie Tyler Reddick.

A few laps later, Bowyer and Elliott made their way into the top five, which dropped Kyle Busch back to sixth and with Kevin Harvick and Joey Logano closing in towards Busch. 

The first caution flew on Lap 15 when Kyle Busch blew a right-front tire and went dead straight into the Turn 3 outside wall as he sustained significant damage to the right side of his No. 18 Pedigree/Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry. Following his incident, Busch nursed his No. 18 Toyota back to pit road and made the left-hand turn to the garage as he parked his car near his hauler and his race came to an early end. The incident also extended his winless streak this season to 20 races.

“Just going down the backstretch there and about halfway down the backstretch, I felt it go flat and tried to get it slowed down enough without taking everybody else running over me behind me down the straightaway,” Busch said after being released from the infield care center on NBCSN. “I don’t know. I think there’s a replay of another Pedigree car here a few years ago that blew a right-front tire for absolutely no reason, too. Seems to be our luck with the Pedigree car here at New Hampshire. Sorry to all of our fans and all the Pedigree folks, but it’s still 2020.”

Under caution, many that included Hamlin, Bowyer, Harvick, Kurt Busch, Erik Jones and others pitted for tires while the rest led by Keselowski and Almirola remained on track. Following the pit stops, Jones was held a lap for pitting outside his pit box.

The race restarted on Lap 22 and Keselowski retained the lead followed by teammate Logano. Johnson gained a huge run on the outside lane entering Turn 4 to move into third place over Almirola while Elliott and Reddick battled for fifth. Behind, rookie Cole Custer moved into seventh followed by Hamlin and Byron. Harvick, the first car on fresh tires, moved back into 10th followed by Blaney and Bowyer. On Lap 25, Byron missed the racing groove entering Turn 3 for the second time of the day while battling inside the top 10 as he fell back to 16th. 

While the battling for positions continued to ensue around the track, Keselowski was able to stabilize his advantage by nearly a second over teammate Logano by the time the competition flew on Lap 30. Under caution, a majority led by Logano pitted while others led by Keselowski, Hamlin, Reddick, Blaney and Harvick remained on track. Following the pit stops, LaJoie was assessed an over-the-wall too soon pit penalty. 

When the race restarted on Lap 35, Keselowski retained the lead while Hamlin prevailed in a battle with Blaney for the runner-up spot. Bowyer, meanwhile, moved into fourth followed by Matt DiBenedetto and Harvick. 

On Lap 38, Hamlin started to challenge Keselowski for the lead. He made a few attempts to move Keselowski for the lead, including bumping Keselowski’s rear bumper to loosen up the 2012 Cup champion, but Keselowski still prevailed with the top spot. Shortly after, Blaney joined the party as he started challenging Hamlin for the runner-up spot. 

On Lap 44, Blaney moved into the runner-up spot after bumping Hamlin out of the way the previous lap as he started to set his sights towards teammate Keselowski for the lead. Behind, Bowyer and DiBenedetto continued battling for fourth followed by Harvick and Truex. Johnson, Bell and Byron were running in the top 10 while Logano, following his slow pit stop under the competition caution, was back in 12th ahead of Almirola. Elliott was in 14th followed by Reddick and Kurt Busch while Jones, who got back to the lead lap, was in 18th.

On Lap 50, with the clouds and weather concerns surrounding the track, Keselowski was still leading by a narrow margin over teammate Blaney and Hamlin with the trio being two seconds ahead of Bowyer and DiBenedetto. 

Three laps later, Blaney made a challenge for the lead over Keselowski, but was unable to clear his teammate for the lead as he lost his momentum and allowed Hamlin to move back into the runner-up spot. Another five laps later, Hamlin muscled his way to the lead but a lap later, Keselowski took it back while Blaney went to work again for the runner-up spot. 

On Lap 61, following a heated, intense battle with two Penske competitors, Hamlin was able to move into the lead and retain it while being pressured by Keselowski and Blaney. Shortly after, the caution flew when Johnson got loose underneath Bowyer while battling for position and spun entering Turn 2. He was able to continue without sustaining any significant damage to his No. 48 Ally/Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE.

Under caution, the majority of competitors led by Keselowski pitted while some led by Blaney and Byron remained on track. Following the pit stops, Elliott was sent to the rear of the field for speeding on pit road.

With seven laps remaining in the first stage, the race restarted under green with Blaney remaining as the leader. Behind, Hamlin, on fresh tires, bolted his way into the runner-up spot as the shuffling of positions ensued behind the leaders. With five laps remaining in the stage, Hamlin muscled his way back into the lead. Truex moved into the runner-up spot as Blaney fell back to third on older tires. Shortly after, Harvick moved into third followed by Blaney while Bell and Keselowski battled for position. 

With the battling for positions continuing and light rain drops being reported near the track, Hamlin was able to cruise to the first stage win on Lap 75 as he also recorded his third stage victory of the season. Teammate Truex settled in the runner-up spot followed by Harvick, Bell and Keselowski while Blaney, Bowyer, Logano, Preece and Almirola settled in the top 10.

Under the stage break, some like Blaney, Bowyer, Bell, Byron, Harvick, Custer, Reddick, Bubba Wallace, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Daniel Suarez and others pitted while the rest led by Hamlin remained on track.

The second stage commenced on Lap 83 with Hamlin retaining the lead. Behind, teammate Truex remained in sight for the lead while Harvick moved into third over Bell. Keselowski was in fifth followed by teammate Logano, Almirola, Kurt Busch, Ryan Preece and DiBenedetto. 

By Lap 90, with the intense racing from earlier easing down, Hamlin was still ahead by seven-tenths of a second over teammate Truex followed by Harvick, Keselowski and Bell. Behind, Elliott was in 13th followed by Blaney, Matt Kenseth, Custer and Jones. Byron was in 18th ahead of Ryan Newman and Bowman while Wallace was in 21st ahead of Reddick. Bowyer was in 24th while Johnson was in 27th. Not long after, the caution flew due to rain. By then, Harvick had overtaken Truex for the runner-up spot.

Under caution, where the field continued to remain on track under cautious pace, nearly the entire field led by Hamlin pitted while few like Harvick, Blaney, Wallace and Bowyer remained on track. Following the pit stops, Truex was assessed an uncontrolled tire violation penalty and was sent to the rear of the field.

With the race surpassing 100 laps, the race restarted as Harvick and Blaney engaged in a heated battle for the lead before Harvick cleared the field entering Turn 4. Behind, Hamlin, who restarted sixth on fresh tires, bolted his way to the runner-up spot while Logano moved into fourth. Soon after, Logano moved into third ahead of his two Penske teammates, Blaney and Keselowski, Behind, Bowyer was locked into a battle with Bell for sixth.

On lap 104, Hamlin returned to the lead and three laps later, Logano moved into the runner-up spot over Harvick. Another three laps later, Keselowski moved into third. Behind, Bell was in fifth followed by Blaney, Bowyer, Almirola, Kurt Busch and Elliott, who was just ahead of teammate Byron.

By Lap 125, Hamlin was leading by a second over Logano, who was starting to be pressured by teammate Keselowski for position. Harvick was still in fourth followed by Bell while Almirola was in sixth ahead of Blaney, Bowyer, Elliott and Byron, all of whom were in the top 10. Truex was in 14th following his pit penalty while Johnson was in 20th.

Five laps later, Hamlin was still leading by nearly two seconds over Keselowski, who overtook Logano for the runner-up spot. Another two laps later, Almirola overtook teammate Harvick for the fourth spot.

On Lap 141, Hamlin, who struggled with passing and lapping teammate Jones in Turn 2, was overtaken for the lead in Turn 3 by Keselowski. The lead for Keselowski, however, did not last long as Hamlin crossed over beneath Keselowski and moved back into the lead, though Keselowski remained within sight of his target for the top spot. 

On Lap 146, Hamlin, who struggled with passing and lapping Wallace in Turn 2 again, passed Hamlin for the lead again in Turn 3 and entering Turn 4. This time, Keselowski was able to prevail on the outside lane in Turn 1 the following lap to retain the lead with clear race track while Hamlin went to work in challenging Keselowski back for the lead. Soon after, Keselowski started to approach a handful of cars that included Michael McDowell and Ty Dillon in lapping them, but he was ahead by nearly a second over Hamlin.

At the halfway mark on Lap 151, Keselowski was ahead by more than a second over Hamlin followed by Logano, Almirola and Harvick, who was trailing by nearly 10 seconds. Ten laps later, Keselowski extended his advantage by more than three seconds over Hamlin with Logano trailing by nearly four seconds. Almirola was still in fourth, trailing by five seconds, while Byron moved up to fifth, trailing by nearly 12 seconds. Behind, Bell moved into sixth after passing Harvick while Bowyer, DiBenedetto and Elliott were in the top 10. Truex was in 11th while Johnson was in 19th.

On Lap 166, Harvick made a pit stop under green for fresh tires and fuel. Nearly five laps later, just as Blaney entered pit road for service, the caution flew due to a spin in Turn 2 involving Bell, who was having a strong run prior to his incident caused by a flat tire. Under caution, the lead lap cars led by Keselowski, Hamlin and Logano pitted. Following the pit stops, Austin Dillon was the first off of pit road following a two-tire stop followed by Keselowski, Hamlin, Almirola, Byron and Logano. 

With less than 10 laps remaining in the second stage, the race restarted and Keselowski prevailed on four fresh tires to move into the lead through Turns 1 and 2. Behind, Hamlin moved into the runner-up spot while Almirola was in third. Logano moved into fourth ahead of Byron while Bowyer tried to shove his way into sixth between Austin Dillon and Truex. Shortly after, the caution flew when Kenseth spun in Turn 2. Under caution, with light sprinkles reported on the track, some like Blaney, Jones, Chris Buescher, Stenhouse, Ty Dillon and rookie Brennan Poole pitted while the rest remained on track.

With two laps remaining in the stage, the racing under green resumed and Keselowski retained the lead through Turn 1 until Hamlin took it back in Turn 2. On the final lap of the stage, Keselowski and Hamlin battled against one another for the lead and Keselowski was just able to clear Hamlin entering Turn 4 to win the second stage on Lap 185 for his sixth stage victory of the season. Hamlin was in second followed by Logano, Almirola and Byron while Bowyer, Austin Dillon, Truex, Elliott and DiBenedetto settled in the top 10.

Under the stage break, some like Austin Dillon, Harvick, Reddick, Wallace, Suarez and McDowell pitted while the rest remained on track.

The final stage started with approximately 110 laps remaining with Keselowski leading, but Hamlin muscled his way into the lead the following lap. While Hamlin and Keselowski continued battling back and forth against one another for the lead, Byron started to challenge Almirola for third place, which he prevailed as he started to set his sights on the front two for the lead. Behind, Logano was in fifth ahead of Elliott and Truex with Bowyer, DiBenedetto and Johnson in the top 10. 

Four laps after the restart, the caution returned for another single-car incident involving Kenseth, who blew a right-front tire. Under caution, some like Blaney, Harvick, Logano, Ty Dillon and McDowell pitted while the rest remained on track.

With approximately 100 laps remaining, the race restarted and Keselowski reassumed the lead while Hamlin and Byron battled for the runner-up spot. A lap later, Hamlin was able to clear Byron for the runner-up spot while Almirola, Truex, DiBenedetto and Elliott railed behind. Johnson was in eighth followed by Custer and Bowyer. Another three laps later, a race turned bad became worse for Kenseth when he drew another caution due to another cut tire. Following his third incident, Kenseth took his No. 42 Clover/Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE to the garage and retired. 

Under caution, a majority of competitors led by Keselowski, Hamlin and Byron pitted. Following the pit stops, Logano, who miscommunicated with crew chief Paul Wolfe in opting to pit the previous caution and who pitted again this time with the field, emerged ahead after a fuel only stop followed by Ty Dillon, Hamlin, Byron, Keselowski and Truex. When the field cycled through, Elliott moved into the lead after opting to remain on track followed by Stenhouse, Bell, Blaney, Harvick and J.J. Yeley.

With 93 laps remaining, the race restarted and Elliott retained the lead followed by Blaney and Stenhouse while Hamlin moved his way towards the top five. While Elliott and Blaney battled for the lead, Hamlin continued moving up the pack as he worked his way to third. Logano was in fifth, one spot ahead of Keselowski, while Harvick was in seventh. 

Not long after the restart, the caution fell again when rookie John Hunter Nemechek made hard contact into the Turn 3 outside wall when he blew a right-front tire. Under caution, some like Elliott, Blaney, Stenhouse, Harvick, Bell, the Dillon brothers and McDowell pitted while the rest led by Hamlin, Logano and Keselowski remained on track.

With 83 laps remaining, the race restarted under green and Hamlin retained the lead while Keselowski issued another challenge for the lead. Three laps later, Keselowski returned to the lead with Logano lurking behind. Truex was in fourth followed by Johnson and DiBenedetto. Byron, Custer, Reddick and Bowyer were in the top 10.

With 75 laps remaining and with the skies starting to darken while overshadowed by the clouds, Keselowski and Hamlin continued to battle against one another intensely for the lead. Behind, Truex moved into third place, but not before Logano issued a challenge to retain the spot. Also, DiBenedetto moved into the top five ahead of Johnson while Byron and Custer battled inside the top 10. Elliott was in 12th ahead of Bowyer, Blaney was in 17th and Harvick was in 19th.

Fifteen laps later, Keselowski was still ahead by more than a second over Hamlin and nearly two seconds over Truex. Logano was in fourth, trailing by nearly four seconds, followed by DiBenedetto. Johnson was in sixth followed by Byron, Almirola, Custer and Elliott while Reddick was in 11th ahead of Harvick. Behind, Kurt Busch was in 14th and Blaney was trapped in 16th.

With approximately 50 laps remaining, Bell made a pit stop under green due to a flat right-rear tire, which ended his hopes of posting a top-10 result following an up-and-down day. Ten laps later, Keselowski was still leading by more than a second and a half over Hamlin with Truex, Logano and DiBenedetto trailing behind by four seconds or more.

Another 10 laps later, Keselowski extended his advantage by more than two seconds over Hamlin with Truex trailing by less than five seconds. Logano was in fourth, trailing by eight seconds, followed by DiBenedetto, Almirola and Johnson. Harvick, one of the fastest cars on the circuit, continued charging his way up to eighth followed by Custer and Byron. Two laps later, Harvick overtook Johnson for seventh place.

With 20 laps remaining, with fuel becoming the topic for some in terms of making it to the end, Keselowski extended his advantage to more than three seconds over Hamlin with Truex, Logano and DiBenedetto trailing by less than 10 seconds. 

With 10 laps remaining, Keselowski was still ahead by less than three seconds over Hamlin as he started to approach lapped traffic. Once he was able to navigate his way through traffic, he was able to conserve and save enough fuel for the final 10 laps to take the checkered flag by 1.6 seconds over Hamlin after leading a race-high 184 laps and following an intense battle between the two veterans.

Keselowski’s victory was also the sixth of the season for car owner Roger Penske and the 21st Cup career win for the new Ford Mustang since its inception for the 2019 season. The win at New Hampshire also marked the eighth season where Keselowski has won three or more races in a Cup season.

“We’ve had a lot of great races this year with the 2 car, but we just hadn’t really went out and kind of dominated a race,” Keselowski said on NBCSN in front of an estimated crowd of 12,000 fans. “I was talking to Jeremy Bullins and that’s what we need to get to that next level. We’re right there, we need to go out and just dominate a race and that’s what today was for us with the Western Star/Alliance Truck Parts Ford Mustang. I’m really proud of my team and the effort they gave today. … It’s so great to be racing in front of fans again. It feels like forever, so welcome back, guys. Jeremy and this whole team’s been a kick in the butt for me to make me a little bit better and push me to find another level, and we’re doing that so far. I’m just really thankful. I’m in a great spot here and hungry for more wins. I don’t want to stop here. I want us to keep going and I know this team can do it.”

Hamlin, who led 92 laps, settled in the runner-up spot for the third time this season and second in a row at New Hampshire as he also collected his 11th top-five finish of this season.

“We just kind of were second there to [Keselowski],” Hamlin said. “We could really do well on restarts and we were going back-and-forth. Wow, that was some really, really good short track racing there. Hopefully the fans liked what they saw there with me and [Keselowski] for most of the day. Some great side-by-side racing. We treated each other fair and it’s good that we got one-two out of it.”

Behind Keselowski and Hamlin, Truex made a nice rebound from his uncontrolled tire violation penalty to finish in third place followed by Logano and Harvick, who recorded his 13th top-five result of this season.

“We ran second in the first stage and had a tire get away on pit road, had to come from the back,” Truex, who recorded his fifth top-five finish of the season, said. “That definitely made things a lot more challenging. [I] Had a decent Sport Clips Toyota, just wasn’t quite driving like we needed it to and then it kind of burned the tires off after 25 or 30 laps. We could hang with them and we would fall consistently off [Keselowski] and [Hamlin]. Third-best car and we finished third so all in all, a good day. Just have to find a little bit more. Just missed the balance a little bit today. Love coming up here to Loudon and this was a fun day.”

DiBenedetto, Almirola and Custer finished sixth, seventh and eighth while Elliott and Reddick overtook Byron and Johnson in the final laps to round out the top 10. Johnson finished 12th in his 35th and final race at New Hampshire, one spot behind teammate Byron, while Bowyer, a two-time Cup New Hampshire winner, finished 18th, two spots ahead of Blaney.

There were 22 lead changes for seven different leaders. The race featured 11 cautions for 52 laps.

With his top-five finish, Harvick continues to lead the regular-season standings by 81 points over Keselowski with Hamlin trailing by 115 points and Blaney trailing by 118 points.

Results.

1. Brad Keselowski, 184 laps led, Stage 2 winner

2. Denny Hamlin, 92 laps led, Stage 1 winner

3. Martin Truex Jr.

4. Joey Logano

5. Kevin Harvick, six laps led

6. Matt DiBenedetto

7. Aric Almirola, three laps led

8. Cole Custer

9. Chase Elliott, nine laps led

10. Tyler Reddick

11. William Byron

12. Jimmie Johnson

13. Austin Dillon, three laps led

14. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

15. Alex Bowman

16. Ryan Preece

17. Kurt Busch

18. Clint Bowyer 

19. Michael McDowell

20. Ryan Blaney, five laps led

21. Ryan Newman, one lap down

22. Ty Dillon, one lap down

23. Bubba Wallace, one lap down

24. Erik Jones, one lap down

25. Chris Buescher, one lap down

26. Daniel Suarez, two laps down

27. Brennan Poole, two laps down

28. Christopher Bell, two laps down

29. J.J. Yeley, two laps down

30. James Davison, three laps down

31. Garrett Smithley, six laps down

32. Quin Houff, seven laps down

33. Timmy Hill, seven laps down

34. Joey Gase, eight laps down

35. Corey LaJoie, 39 laps down

36. John Hunter Nemechek – OUT, Accident

37. Matt Kenseth – OUT, Accident

38. Kyle Busch – OUT, Accident

The NASCAR Cup Series will return next weekend and host its second series doubleheader weekend of this season at Michigan International Speedway. The first Cup Michigan race will run on August 8 at 4 p.m. ET on NBCSN while the second will run the following day, August 9, at 4:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN. 

Buescher Finishes 25th at New Hampshire

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Official Release
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LOUDON, N.H. (Aug. 2, 2020) – After battling a tight handling Fastenal Ford and an unpredictable track condition, Chris Buescher finished 25th at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon.

Buescher rolled off the grid 24th but worked his way up to 21st in the first three laps.

The caution flag waved at lap 15 and the team decided to head down pit road for tires and an air pressure adjustment. The team restarted 21st but fell back to 27th as Buescher reported a tight handling Ford Mustang. At the competition caution, the team elected to stay out for track position and restarted 14th. The adjustments from the prior pit stopped helped for a while, but by lap 48 the driver was running 29th and struggling while trying to drive through traffic. Without enough laps in the stage to test the adjustments, Buescher finished stage one in 26th.

The Prosper, Texas native stayed out during the stage break to grain track position. The team restarted 19th and held that position until a caution flag was displayed briefly for rain. At lap 96, the team pitted for tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment to tighten up No. 17 machine under caution. After restarting 24th at lap 100, Buescher held track position for a while but ultimately fell a lap down to the leaders. Fortunately, a caution at lap 171 enabled the team to take the wave around and get their lap back. Buescher pitted once more with another caution at lap 178 and gained two positions on the restart to finish stage two in 22nd.

Buescher and the team stayed out on track again during the stage break and restarted 18th for the final stage of racing. Two caution flags waved early in the stage, but the team stayed out on track to gain track position and to save a set of tires. At lap 203, the team pitted during a caution for fresh tires and fuel, then had to come back down pit road to replace lugnuts on the left front tire and top off on fuel. Buescher restarted 27th but was able to gain track position when the caution flag waved seven laps later. The team stayed out to restart 18th but fell back to 25th during the restart. The driver held track position for the majority of the stage as the race stayed green and the team took the checkered flag in 25th, one lap down.

Buescher and the No. 17 team return to action next weekend for a double header at Michigan International Raceway. The first race begins Saturday, August 8 at 4 p.m. EST on NBC Sports Network, MRN and SiriusXM Channel 90. 

Newman Finishes 21st in Guaranteed Rate Ford at New Hampshire

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Official Release
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LOUDON, N.H. (August 2, 2020) – Despite 11 caution flags on the day, the final 83 laps of Sunday’s 301-lap race from New Hampshire Motor Speedway ran caution-free, as Ryan Newman and the Guaranteed Rate team finished 21st.

Newman – a three-time winner at ‘The Magic Mile’ – put himself inside the top-10 early in stage one, getting up to as high as ninth just 30 laps in. But, as the laps wound down, the handling on his machine faded with the final yellow coming out at lap 213.

Based off the random draw for starting positions, Newman rolled off 22nd for the 318-mile race. After an early yellow at lap 18 – with a competition caution scheduled for lap 30 – Newman went ahead and hit pit road for service early, putting him 19th on the restart. He ran 14th by lap 30 and would line up ninth after gaining track position with the differing pit calls throughout the field.

Newman maintained the top-10 position at lap 45 and was 14th by the next yellow at lap 62. With less than 10 laps to the end of the opening stage, Newman wound up 20th at lap 75, and set himself up 15th for the second segment. A brief rain shower hovered over Loudon at lap 92 to bring the caution out but had little effect as the race went back green at lap 100, with Newman in 20th.

From there, two cautions came out at lap 171 and 178, before Newman went on to finish the stage in 16th, reporting he was lacking grip early in a run. After lining up 14th for the final segment at lap 191, a string of three yellows were displayed within a 20-lap period, as Newman hit pit road one final time for service at lap 205. The final 83 laps ran all green, as Newman finished the day 21st.

Next up, the NASCAR Cup Series heads to Michigan International Speedway for a doubleheader next weekend, for a pair of 312-mile races on Saturday and Sunday. Race coverage Saturday begins at 4 p.m. ET on NBCSN, while Sunday’s coverage begins at 4:30 p.m. ET. Both races can also be heard on MRN and SiriusXM Channel 90.

CORVETTE RACING AT ROAD AMERICA: Another Wild 1-2 Finish for Corvette C8.R

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Official Release
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Garcia, Taylor take second GTLM win of season; Gavin, Milner finish as runners-up

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (Aug. 2, 2020) – Corvette Racing took its second consecutive 1-2 finish in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s GT Le Mans (GTLM class) following a chaotic finish Sunday at Road America. Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor won for the second time in their No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R following a late-race pass in torrential rain.

Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner placed second in the sister No. 4 Corvette C8.R. It was the eighth victory at Road America for Corvette Racing, and the team’s first there since 2016. Garcia and Taylor both won for the first time in their IMSA career at Road America and extended their points lead to 10 in the class. Gavin and Milner unofficially moved to third in the standings.

Chevrolet also grew its lead in the GTLM Manufacturer’s Championship to eight points. Corvette Racing has now won three consecutive races in the category.

Things weren’t looking positive for the first half of the race. Taylor, who qualified second, led early but the expected tire degradation reduced the pace for the GTLM cars. Adding to the problems for the team were electronics issues on the No. 4 Corvette that left both Gavin and Milner without traction control.

The predicted rain for the race came with just under an hour to go. Garcia, who took over with two hours left in the race, was the first GTLM runner to pit for rain tires and stopped from sixth place. Two other GTLM cars followed suit but three others stayed out, including the then-leading Porsche which skidded off-track during a downpour at Turn One.

Milner remained on slick tires during the first deluge as officials halted the race with 43 minutes left. The rain let up initially before cars returned to the track with about 25 minutes to go once the red flag was lifted. Following the final pit stops for wet tires, racing resumed with seven minutes left and Garcia in second place.

An even more intense rain began to fall with just minutes left in the two-hour, 40-minute race. Garcia was locked in a back-and-forth duel with Porsche’s Nick Tandy just before the GTLM leader and the third-place Porsche went off-track late in the lap. Both Garcia and Milner, who did a masterful job on a wet track with no traction control, were able to get through the chaos and took the checkered flag under a race-ending, full-course caution period.

Corvette Racing’s next event is the GT-only Michelin GT Challenge at Virginia International Raceway on Saturday, Aug. 22.
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – GTLM RACE-WINNER: “It was super tough. Because of the wave-by, we were at the back of all the GTD cars. So the spray we had back there was amazing. It was impossible to see anything. The first thing was to go by a couple of LMP2 cars while fighting (Nick) Tandy to catch up to the 24 BMW. It was a very intense three laps. I knew from Sebring practice that the Corvette C8.R was really good in the wet, even if today was beyond wet! I had Nick all over me, and we had many times when we were together… almost just sailing together instead of racing together. I knew the Carousel and the Kink were going to be really bad, and the line I took on the previous lap seemed to work. Luckily enough for me it was the same and I was one of the few cars to make it through. It’s another 1-2 finish for Corvette Racing, which is amazing. It’s finally my first victory at Road America, so it’s been a very good weekend.”

WHAT DID YOU SEE OF THE BMW AHEAD OF YOU? DID HE SPIN ON HIS OWN?
“The Carousel and the Kink were almost impossible to go through that part of the track. There is really nothing you can do there. It depends on the depth of the water. The Corvette C8.R survived it better than the rest. I don’t know if it was due to the race line I took. I was following the car behind me and saw the BMW lose control. The race still wasn’t done because I had to do another lap through there. It’s a credit to how good the C8.R is in the wet. Thanks to everyone at Team Chevy because this car seems to be working in all conditions.”

HOW IMPORTANT IS THIS WIN TO EXTEND YOUR POINTS LEAD?
“We didn’t know starting the season how the C8.R would be. With the fourth at Daytona, we saw the potential of the car. Our team did a great job during the shutdown with fixing things that needed to be corrected. We’ve had a chance to win the last three races, and we’ve converted those. We need to keep putting pressure on everyone and make the rest of the field make mistakes. On our own, we need to be their in the end and maximize our points opportunities. The next one is VIR, where we have tested with the new Corvette. We will do what we can to keep this momentum and carrying on winning.”

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – GTLM RACE-WINNER: “It was a wild day…very unexpected. The race started off strong for us. We took a different strategy to go with three stops from the beginning. Thankfully it worked out well with the timing the rain and track position. Antonio never gave up. It was a tough fight in tough conditions, but he did a great job of surviving for our second win of the year and third of the year for Corvette Racing.”

THIS RACE WAS ON THE NATIONAL NBC NETWORK. WAS THIS THE KIND OF EXCITEMENT THAT WAS GOOD FOR NETWORK TV?
“It had a bit of everything. The start for me was exciting, and the battles were all good. I could see on the big screen across the frontstretch that the prototype battle was often exciting and had a little bit of everything with the strategies. The weather was a bit different for those who probably turn into NBC for NASCAR where they wouldn’t run in the rain. There were probably too many crashes for everyone’s liking, but the show was very exciting with the battle for the win at the end. You like to see that between the manufacturers.”

TALK ABOUT WINNING ON THE SAME DAY AS YOUR BROTHER (RICKY TAYLOR):
“It’s definitely cool. I think this is the first time we’ve won on the same weekend. I know we’ve gotten a pole on the same weekend, but in all the years a win has never gone both our ways. It was cool to watch their battle at the end with the 10 car. I know my dad’s team hasn’t won here either, and we tried hard for many years.”

OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FINISHED SECOND IN GTLM: “I take my hat off to the team every time for never giving up. It didn’t look like we were going to be finishing that high up in the dry. But as we all know, there was a chance of rain all around. In this part of the world when the rain comes, it comes big. You just have to take you chances and make the right calls at the right time. We got a little lucky with a few things, and ultimately the No. 3 Corvette made the right choice on the right tires at the right time. We didn’t quite get that break or make that decision at that time. But then as all the pit stops cycled through for that last restart, we knew we just had to flat-out race. Our car was compromised a little as we didn’t have any traction control as part of an electrical issue throughout the entire race that we couldn’t really get on top of it. I fought it all during my stints. I honestly don’t know how Tommy kept the car on the track when he driving around on slick tires behind the safety car. I mean… water that was three or four inches deep on slick tires with no TC was amazing. For us to come away, even with all the stuff that happened, with a one-two finish is pretty spectacular. Hats off to the team and the crew and also to the C8.R. It seems like it is a car that can live through some crazy circumstances and conditions on track and deals with it. It’s a very fine car.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FINISHED SECOND IN GTLM: “That was absolutely wild. We had kind of a tough day to start with, but it came back pretty well for us there at the end. Credit to the guys with their never-give-up attitude that Corvette Racing is famous for definitely paid off today. The conditions were unbelievably difficult. The call to stay out there on slicks just before the full-course yellow was just as much mine as it was the engineers. I thought it was the right thing to do to run one more lap to see how bad the rain was going to be. And it ended up being almost biblical in the amount of rain that came. In all the races I’ve done, this has been the most rain I’ve ever seen come down at one time. It was hard enough just keeping it on the track under yellow with slicks, and it was bad enough when it was still green just trying to survive. Then it went red flag so we had the opportunity to come in and change it to rain tires. That in itself was difficult. For me I knew I just needed to get to pitlane and survive. That was the name of the game there and see what happened at the end. Once we went green, it was the most difficult conditions I have ever driven in my life with the amount of spray and with traffic and having so many cars around. At times it felt like I was driving blind. I could have closed my eyes and would have had the same amount of visibility at that point. I just tried to use very bit of muscle memory and track knowledge I could as to where the track goes at certain points. In the end, luckily we just survived with a first and second for the team. The day didn’t start out well, but it ended as well as it could.”
(Not having traction control) “Because I didn’t have it from the time I got in the car, I had to manage it from the start. In the dry, it’s definitely difficult because you are trying to not use the rear tires too much. I felt like I did a decent job in that first run but driving in the wet without it makes it that much more difficult. To be honest, the Corvette felt really good in the wet. Even though we don’t have a lot of time in the wet, the guys made the right call with tire pressure. When the Michelin wet tires are new, they’re really good. That gave me the confidence early on to really push, get through traffic, and trust in the car and tire to find the fastest way around.”

About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is one of the world’s largest car brands, doing business in more than 100 countries and selling more than 4.0 million cars and trucks a year. Chevrolet provides customers with fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

Renger’s Rain Dance Pays Off Big for the No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R

By
Official Release
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Elkhart Lake, Wis. (August 2nd, 2020) – Renger van der Zande, Ryan Briscoe and the No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R team put on a fantastic display amidst treacherous conditions and secured a second place finish at Road America, in round four of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. With its third podium finish of the season, the team extended its lead in the Championship standings to a total of 124 points, six points clear of the competition.

The team’s strategy at Road America was all about fuel saving, having the No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac consistently pit two laps after the leaders extending its pit windows. At the halfway point, Ryan Briscoe, who started the race from his fifth qualifying position, handed the No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac to teammate Renger van der Zande with hopes that rain would somehow equalize the fast pace of the Acuras and Mazdas with the underpowered Cadillac. As rain started falling, and with just under an hour to go, the team timed its pit window perfectly, one of two cars to put on Michelin rain tires. Immediately following the pit stop, heavy rain ensued causing a full course yellow followed by a red flag, and amidst the mayhem on track, the No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac car grabbed second place.

When green flag racing resumed with just seven minutes to go, van der Zande took the lead with a fantastic move past the No. 77 car, which struggled on the wet track, having yet to pit for rain tires. As rain began to fall once more, the No. 7 Acura of Helio Castroneves darted back and forth and then pushed past van der Zande. The team would have to settle for a well-fought second place finish.

“I am ecstatic!” said a proud team owner, Wayne Taylor. “Though we came in second today, it felt like a win! What a day! We are now leading the Championship by 6 points; my oldest son, Ricky and his teammate Helio Castroneves won the race and my other son, Jordan and teammate Antonio Garcia won the GTLM class. It does not get better than this! I cannot thank everyone at Konica Minolta, Cadillac, CIT and AMETEK enough for their continued support and to this special group of people that work for Wayne Taylor Racing. They are amazing.”

“We had a fantastic result.” said Renger van der Zande. “Compared to the Mazdas and Acuras we were not competitive this weekend in the dry conditions, so we needed rain to do better than a fifth-place finish. It was super tricky out there. The car became a boat a few times and I had some big moments. This team has done a fantastic job. We were doing well and were staying in front of the other Cadillac cars, but then I saw some rain drops on the windscreen and I told the team to put rain tires on the car even though the track was completely dry. Sometimes you dream about these strategy calls where you put rain tires on the car and then it becomes wet, but today it happened, and we were suddenly leading after the red flag. We can be very happy with leading the championship and coming out with a second-place finish!”

“A P2 for us today was great result,” said Ryan Briscoe. “We lucked out with the weather at the end and had really good timing with the pit stop going to rain tires. Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough to hold off the No. 7 car for the win, but we were really thinking about championship points. Given how we started today, a second-place finish was massive. I’m really pleased with that. I was happy with my drive at the beginning of the race and I thought the car was handling really well while we were holding our own In the front of the Cadillac field. At the end of the day, a really good result and nice way to go in the August break.”

The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship returns September 4th- 6th for the Six Hours Endurance Event at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta which will also host the MOTUL Petit Le Mans in October.

About Konica Minolta
Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. is reshaping and revolutionizing the Workplace of the Future™ with its expansive smart office product portfolio from IT Services (All Covered), ECM, Managed Print Services and industrial and commercial print solutions. Konica Minolta has been recognized as the #1 Brand for Customer Loyalty in the MFP Office Copier Market by Brand Keys for twelve consecutive years, and is proud to be ranked on the Forbes 2017 America’s Best Employers list. The World Technology Awards recently named the company a finalist in the IT Software category. Konica Minolta, Inc. has been named to the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index for eight consecutive years. It partners with its clients to give shape to ideas and work to bring value to our society. For more information, please visit us online and follow Konica Minolta on Facebook, YouTube, Linked In and Twitter. Konica Minolta, as title sponsor, highlights Wayne Taylor Racing’s existing lineup of partners that also features Cadillac V-Performance Racing, AMETEK Electronic Systems Protection (ESP /SurgeX) and Powervar, and CIT.

IMSA Added to Bank of America ROVAL™ 400 NASCAR Playoff Weekend

By
Official Release
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  • IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GT classes scheduled to make Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL™ debut on Oct. 9-10 as part of Bank of America 400 NASCAR playoff weekend
  • Fan access and additional pandemic-related protocols still to be determined

CONCORD, N.C. (AUG. 1, 2020) – America’s Home for Racing will add to its illustrious history with two nights of IMSA action during the Bank of America ROVAL™ 400 NASCAR playoff weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway. IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GT classes will make their ROVAL™ debut Oct. 9 and 10 before the NASCAR Cup Series Bank of America ROVAL™ 400 returns on Oct. 11, marking the first time the two series have run at the same event since 2014.

“When Speedway Motorsports CEO Marcus Smith first envisioned the ROVAL™, part of that vision included bringing new series to the track in addition to our classic NASCAR Cup Series events,” said Greg Walter, executive vice president and general manager of Charlotte Motor Speedway. “We look forward to working in partnership with IMSA to provide a unique perspective to race fans and a one-of-a-kind challenge to the drivers who will be tasked with tackling this technically innovative course.”

The inaugural two-day IMSA event will include a 60-minute WeatherTech Championship session for both of the series’ GT classes on Friday night and a 100-minute race on Saturday night. Competition will encompass all 17 turns of the technical 2.28-mile course, combining the tight corners of a world-class road course with the high-speed finesse of oval track racing.

“We’re grateful to Marcus Smith, Greg Walter and the team at Charlotte Motor Speedway for providing the opportunity to bring the highly competitive IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GT classes to the ROVAL™,” said IMSA President John Doonan. “Our teams, drivers and manufacturers will appreciate this chance to acquaint themselves with the unique ROVAL™ circuit, and we expect it will be an entertaining event for race fans.”

The GT Le Mans (GTLM) class will headline the race, bringing the world’s best GT teams and drivers to the ROVAL. GTLM cars such as the Corvette C8.R, Porsche 911 RSR and BMW M8 are eligible to compete not only in the WeatherTech Championship, but also in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The field is expected to include several Le Mans-winning drivers including Jordan Taylor, Antonio Garcia, Tommy Miltner, Oliver Gavin, Earl Bamber, Laurens Vanthoor and Nick Tandy.

The GT Daytona (GTD) class includes world-class race cars prepared by professional race teams, with each team fielding a mix of professional and amateur drivers. Cars from 10 different manufacturers – Acura, Aston Martin, Audi, BMW, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Lexus, McLaren, Mercedes-AMG and Porsche – are eligible to compete, with drivers behind the wheels such as 2011 NASCAR Cup Series rookie-of-the-year Andy Lally and Bill Auberlen who is currently tied with Scott Pruett atop the all-time IMSA wins list.

The Charlotte ROVAL™ IMSA race will be telecast by NBC Sports with specific time and network details to be announced.

Charlotte Motor Speedway and IMSA continue to work with state/local health officials surrounding options for access to the event for fans during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but no determinations have been made at this time.

ABOUT IMSA:

The International Motor Sports Association, LLC (IMSA) was originally founded in 1969 and owns a long and rich history in sports car racing. Today, IMSA is the sanctioning body of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the premier sports car racing series in North America. IMSA also sanctions the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge and the IMSA Prototype Challenge, as well as the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama, Ferrari Challenge North America and Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America one-make series. IMSA – a company within the NASCAR family – is the exclusive strategic partner in North America with the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO) which operates the 24 Hours of Le Mans as a part of the FIA World Endurance Championship. The partnership enables selected IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competitors to earn automatic entries into the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans. More information is available at IMSA.com. Follow IMSA on Twitter (@IMSA), Facebook (facebook.com/imsa) and Instagram (@imsa_racing).

ABOUT CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY:

Celebrating its 60th anniversary season, Charlotte Motor Speedway has set the standard in motorsports entertainment for fans of all ages. Known as America’s Home for Racing, Charlotte Motor Speedway is the only race vacation destination where fans can immerse themselves in the heart of NASCAR country. Visitors can attend one-of-a-kind race spectacles including the NASCAR All-Star Race, Coca-Cola 600 and Bank of America ROVAL™ 400; take behind-the-scenes speedway and race shop tours; explore the NASCAR Hall of Fame and drive an 800-horsepower stock car. The 1,000 plus acre speedway complex also includes state-of-the-art facilities zMAX Dragway and The Dirt Track at Charlotte. Through every event and every decade, Charlotte Motor Speedway puts FANS FIRST with a never-ending commitment to enhance the fan experience. That tradition continues with unmatched value through affordable tickets, unparalleled pre-race entertainment and opportunities for fans to see their favorite drivers. For all the latest news and information, visit www.charlottemotorspeedway.com, follow on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram or download the Charlotte Motor Speedway mobile app.

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