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CHEVROLET NCS AT DOVER: Chase Elliott Media Availability Quotes

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Official Release
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NASCAR CUP SERIES
DOVER MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES
JULY 19, 2025

 With precipitation forcing the cancellation of the NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying session at Dover Motor Speedway, the starting lineup for tomorrow’s AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 will be set by the rulebook, putting Chase Elliott and the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team on the pole.

Media Availability Quotes:

Chase, what does starting on the front row mean for you and the team?

“It’s definitely a different pole than normal. Saturday has definitely not been a strong suit, so we had to blaze a little different trail to get a pole. At the end of the day, it’s a testament of hard work throughout the year and a good stretch of races, right? It earns you the metric that puts you in a position if it were to rain.

It’s a little different vibe, but we’ll take it. We’ll try to take advantage of that first pit stall tomorrow. It’s always a big deal. It’s not something we have a whole bunch, so we’d like to get in the habit of getting that more often. Hopefully, we’ll have a good day.”

Obviously a new tire for this weekend. What’s the feeling of not having any laps from that tire before the green flag?

“At the moment, I don’t really know because I haven’t spent any time on it.

I think all we can really do at this point is just try and dissect any similarities that the tire this weekend might have to a change that we’ve maybe already seen throughout the year. Really just make your best guess off of the information that you have in front of you with that. I feel like that stuff is always a little bit of an educated guess when you’re coming to these places for the first time.

Hopefully, we hit that right and can have a good day and get going. I’m sure the track being fresh like it is right now and the Xfinity drivers fixing to go run — I’m not sure if we’re expecting any more rain overnight or not, but hopefully there’ll be some rubber down before we start tomorrow. I think that would certainly help concerns as the race gets going, but we’ll see. Last year, we were cording tires within just a handful of laps in practice. It could be an interesting day. We’ll find out.”

Do you feel maybe like the guinea pig being on the pole without practicing qualifying with this? Not to the extreme of the Bristol fiasco where everybody was losing tires so quickly, but do you feel like you’re sort of like it’s a lab rat waiting to feel the green with this? How does the debriefing conversations take place when you’re on the pole like this?

“We didn’t get on track, so I don’t really know that we have anything to debrief, honestly, unless we want to talk about our travel getting up here (laughs). But outside of that, I don’t really think we had a whole bunch going on. I don’t really know other than I just was talking about maybe thinking back to some other races that we’ve had a similar tire; try and take an educated guess on something that we’ve already seen or hope pieces of the puzzle are looking at us somewhere that we can try and pick apart. But outside that, I do feel like it is a little bit of a risk kind of being out front. If you are able to get through one and two well and get clear when you have clean air like that, you’re kind of in the best position to make the most lap time, right? And a lot of times when you’re running fast on a green track on a fresh tire, that typically can lead to issues. So we’ll just have to see… see what this race is like today and how much rubber is left over before we start tomorrow. Kind of eyeball that before we start the race and find a silver lining in there somewhere. Hopefully I’ll be the first one back around to the rubber when everybody gets done running through it one time, so we’ll look at it that way.”

Here at Dover, you’ve had 14 starts and 10 of those you’ve had top-fives. What is it about this place that you like so much? And what is it about this track that you just tend to find that piece of consistency from start to finish in races?

“Yeah, that’s been a popular question throughout the day. I honestly don’t know why the track has suited me throughout my career. Kind of right from the rip, I enjoy coming up here. I ran a truck race here early on in my career, and a few Xfinity races when we raced up here twice a year at that time. So yeah, all those races were just enjoyable. The track is challenging. It’s one of those places that can certainly reach out and get you if you don’t watch it. I’ve always just tried to respect this place as best as I know how and hope that it shows me some respect back, and that’s kind of always been my approach.”

I’m not sure if you’re aware, but 24 straight races here, the pol sitter hasn’t gone on to win. I’m just wondering, does that give you any expectations?

“Thanks a lot… I really appreciate that (laughs).

I mean, no. I guess just hope it’s not 25. That’s about all I can do right now. We’ll try to try to break the streak.

We obviously haven’t put rubber down here since spring of last year, and with the rain and stuff now, are you worried that these conditions are going to make the track a lot different from what you’re used to and kind of shake out your groove?

“I mean, it’s certainly a concern, I think, as you start the race. When you just have unknowns with the tire, I think kind of to expand on some of the earlier questions — yes, I think that there’s definitely an element of concern and just the fact that you don’t have those answers, right? And I think as a race team, you always want to try to have all the answers you can get in front of you before you start the race.

Unfortunately, this is just a circumstance where we’re just simply not going to have that before tomorrow. So it’ll be a little bit of a trial-and-error run throughout the race, and hopefully the error is not too large that we can’t overcome if there is one. Be smart, take advantage of that first pit stall, try to go to work and put together a full race.”

About General Motors

General Motors (NYSE:GM) is driving the future of transportation, leveraging advanced technology to build safer, smarter, and lower emission cars, trucks, and SUVs. GM’s Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC brands offer a broad portfolio of innovative gasoline-powered vehicles and the industry’s widest range of EVs, as we move to an all-electric future. Learn more at GM.com.

Toyota GAZOO Racing – NCS Dover Quotes – Denny Hamlin – 07.19.25

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Official Release
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Toyota GAZOO Racing – Denny Hamlin
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

DOVER, Del. (July 19, 2025) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin was made available to the media on Saturday prior to practice for the NASCAR Cup Series race at the Dover Motor Speedway.

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 Progressive Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing

What are your thoughts on running an open team and are you worried about Tyler Reddick’s contract and being lured away to another team?

“I don’t have any direct comment to that. All I can tell you, and this will be my blanket answer for all questions about this is, if you want answers, you want to understand all of why this is happening, come December 1st. You will get the answers that you are looking for and all will be exposed.”

What is the impact of the Brickyard 400 and what is the strategy of that race?

“There is just so much history at that track. Just the close calls that I’ve had at that one – that is kind of the last big major win that I don’t have on my resume. Leading with six laps to go, blowing a tire back in 2020 – just so many close calls. It is one that I’m highly motivated to run really well at. It is also always been kind of a showcase of driver, team, engine department – kind of everything. You don’t see a whole lot of surprises there – there has been some, but not a whole lot. Maybe a little more in the Next Gen era because qualifying means more, track position means more than it ever has, but generally speaking, nothing takes away from the prestigious of winning at that track. That is just something that is very, very special. The facility has so much history that you just can’t take away – no matter the circumstances or how you win it – you just can’t take away from the prestige of winning at the Brickyard.”

Do you have confidence you can win this weekend? What do you think the tire is going to do?

“That is the only kind of kink – chink in the armor with where does your confidence lay is we do have a different tire combination. I feel like we’ve done a really good job at adapting to that and understanding that this is a tire that we have had on a couple of the intermediates, but overall, I’m very confident. I feel as so, since I’ve changed my style of driving at this track over the last six to seven years, it has worked with all kinds of tires and cars. Yes, still very confident.”

Has anything changed that has made you second guess your decision to file the lawsuit?

“Not a chance.”

Have you talked about running open cars and what it would mean if 41 cars show up?

“December 1st is all that matters. Mark your calendar.”

Is it a big focus on your time?

“I would love to be doing other things. I have a lot going on, but when I get in the car in a few minutes, nothing else is going to matter other than that. I always give my team 110 percent. I always prepare – whether I have side

jobs, side hustles, more kids – that all matters, but I always give my team all the team that I need to make sure when I strap in, I’m 100 percent committed.”

Was there a meeting at 23XI or any message to the team?

“No.”

What has made Joe Gibbs Racing so successful at Dover?

“I think good cars mean a fair amount of it, and the second is – I was really blessed to have Martin Truex as a teammate. He was exceptional at this race track, and really the gold standard. As Jimmie’s (Johnson) success started to tail off, he was the next guy in line that every time we came here, you were going to have to battle him for race wins. Early in my career, I was studying Jimmie. Late in my career, I was studying Martin – those two guys were the guys I changed my style too and it has been better.”

How important would it be to get the regular season championship?

“It is important. It is something that all of the guys that are in contention are really striving for. It is something that – it is an accomplishment that we would all like to have. Obviously, it didn’t take precedence over the birth of my son. If the regular season was all that I cared about, I wouldn’t have missed that race but family has changed my priorities a little bit on that. It is one of the – I don’t know that it is another crown jewel, but it is certainly a crowning accomplishment that we have in our series now that rewards big sample sizes. I think that is why people would view it pretty highly. If you look at the guys that have won it, it has been the guys that have dominated the first 26 races of the season. There have been no flukes, no accidental winners. It is the biggest sample size that we have in the sport, so that is why I think it is the most legitimate.”

How do you feel like the In-Season Challenge went?

“I think it has been successful. I think it has been unfortunate, right, you probably had a lot of the top seeds get knocked out pretty early in it, but overall, I thought the implementation of it has been good. I thought the press around it has been good. We are talking – I think none of the eight had even won a race this year – so while it was kind of an unfortunate thing that you knocked out your top seeds and guys that people were probably counting on to keep their brackets going, I think overall it has been great for the storylines of the drivers that are still in it, and it will matter. I think the only – if I were in charge – it is just tweaking the tracks that it is. I think even the finale next week, you are not going to have a side-by-side battle of your head-to-head guys, just because we are going to a track where we don’t run side-by-side. It is just refine your schedule around – if you keep it – make sure you have these five on race tracks that could create a compelling thing to watch on TV, because even if you have someone who is – next week, if your top two guys are running eighth to 10th – they might as well be a full track apart. It is such a huge buffer on a place like Indy. Overall, I think it has been a good success, and I’m glad that they did implement it.”

What are your thoughts of being an owner to a driver that is still in the running to win the In-Season Challenge?

“I think Tyler (Reddick) probably knows that – it is probably as important to us as it is to him. He was able to win the driver’s regular season last year, and that was a good accomplishment. It was a good milestone for that team. He knows the importance of it and that we want to win it, and he is certainly highly motivated.”

Can you talk about the improvements that Tyler Reddick has made the last three weeks?

“Yeah, he’s closed in – I think he has now passed me in the points. I’ve had a bit of a rough go of it. They are kind of doing what they were doing in the middle of the summer last year where they made that run towards the regular season – while their pace hasn’t been elite, but their finishing hasn’t been elite. They are just executing well, getting the best finishes they can out of their car that day, and that has been the key. Really truthfully, people like him and Chase Elliott making this little run towards the regular season has really been largely due to them not beating themselves, and the rest of us just stepping on it.”

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for nearly 70 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships.

Toyota directly employs nearly 64,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 49 million cars and trucks at our 14 manufacturing plants. In spring 2025, Toyota’s plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles. With more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, Toyota currently offers 31 electrified options.

For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.

Toyota GAZOO Racing – NCS Dover Quotes – Tyler Reddick – 07.19.25

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Official Release
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Toyota GAZOO Racing – Tyler Reddick
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

DOVER, Del. (July 19, 2025) – 23XI Racing driver Tyler Reddick was made available to the media on Saturday prior to practice for the NASCAR Cup Series race at the Dover Motor Speedway.

TYLER REDDICK, No. 45 SiriusXM Toyota Camry XSE, 23XI Racing

What kind of concern do you have being in an open car and your contract?

“Everything related to litigation, charters – I don’t have a comment for at this time. Thank you though.”

What updates do you want on the In-Season Challenge and your match-up with Ty Gibbs?

“The last three weeks I feel like we’ve raced around each other a bunch, so I don’t know if I’m going to need any. I feel like that will continue, especially – I don’t know where I saw the stat somewhere on X – I saw that I think 490 some laps that we’ve ran here, we’ve ran like 490 laps within two or three spots of each other, or something like that. It does feel like every time I’ve been at Dover since Ty (Gibbs) has been in the Cup Series, I can at least see him on the track when I’m making laps, and yeah, last year, I finished directly behind him – so I feel like that is going to continue. I feel like we are going to be around each other a lot this weekend. Hopefully, we will have some good hard racing.”

What is your expectation on the new tire at Dover this weekend?

“I don’t know the exact details – but as far as – I believe it is a right side that we run at some of the intermediate style tracks, but yes, the left side is different. The trend with that has been softer tires that lay more rubber – something that goes along with that is marbling outside of the racing lane, but typically when there is more rubber going down on the race track, it is presenting us with more options on the racing surface, especially a place like this. Even last year, when we ran here, it was laying so much rubber down on the track that it was forcing you, late in the runs, to move around to get away from the rubber build up. I feel like we were having so much of it on corner exit, it reminds me of Martinsville. That would be exciting. That would be good. Certainly, would force you to move around off the bottom if the rubber really builds up like that again, and quite possibly could do more of that. Excited to see what that means here. Typically, I felt like, this race track – the more sun, the more heat it has, all of the stuff we talked about just now increases. I think the more that happens, the more wide the surface gets, the more options we have as drivers as the tires wear out.”

Do you anticipate the track to open up quicker with multiple lanes with the new tires?
“Yeah, I mean, that is a guess. I think practice will be telling to some degree. I felt like in years past, we don’t lay a lot of rubber down in practice, and if this tire does lay rubber in practice, or quite a bit of rubber, I think that will be a sign on how much faster the track will rubber in and how much sooner it will fall off a little bit. That’s my thought.”

What makes this track difficult to qualifying at?

“It is a test of your guts. That is for sure. This place, again in practice, you will go out there and you will have some kind of idea on how fast it could possibly be on a cleanish race track, and by the end of the run, you are kind of driving it like you would do it in the race. You get out of the car and you look at some data, and then you go out and go qualify. You get two laps, but realistically, I think it is going to be one lap, so with that you just have to have good notes, you have to be ready, as soon as you get out of the car to put practice behind you until tomorrow or later in the day after you qualified, because the mind set and the approach and how much harder you have to drive the car on those two laps is an extreme. I feel like it is more extreme here than a lot of the race tracks that we go too for qualifying.”

10 years ago, you won here in the Truck Series. How significant is to have the unique Dover trophy?

“For me personally, it was early in my NASCAR career. It was really cool to get a trophy as unique as that. I’ve been fortunate to win some unique trophies over the years, but that is one for me, running Trucks, that was a big deal. Obviously, having a trophy like that is really cool, but in the Truck Series – it is not the full-size trophy, but it is still a trophy nonetheless, I don’t know. I just felt like the year before, I had some issues I was fighting in the car comfort wise. I was motivated to come back here the next year, 10 years ago, and run good. There is something about this place, the way it races, how creative you have to be in the car, how much you have to search – I just love this race track and would love to take home the full-size trophy on Sunday.”

What are the odds that the three guys named Ty or Tyler in the Cup Series would make the final four of the In-Season Challenge?

“Did John Hunter (Nemechek) change his name to Ty yet? (laughter) Yeah, that is pretty wild. There is a lot of things that have happened throughout this that looking back, you would have thought at some point – and it finally happened last week, you would have thought that at some points there would be teammates matched up, and we finally got that, and yeah, it seems if the first two letters in your name are T and Y, you are going to pretty far in this thing, so yeah, very interesting for sure. I think, myself and other drivers talk about it for sure, it is all about execution these weeks – for the most part, everyone is really close on speed that making the right strategy call or having good restarts, avoiding the chaotic, big losses of track position – all of those things really, really matter, and I feel like the In-Season Tournament really has shown that – the drivers that step up to the plate and get it done, and have that ability or find their way through it. I think for my case, I was fortunate throughout it. At Atlanta, Kyle (Larson) unforuntately, got caught up in it, so I was okay there. I really thought me and (Carson) Hocevar were going to be around each other a lot in Chicago, and then he collected about half the field when he had his issue. Sonoma was a real test. (Ryan) Preece, I think was better than us last week, but it came down to the end of the race. We came in and got tires – he did as well, but he got collected in the chaos. We were able to shoot the gap and get through it. The pressure of being behind the guy you have to beat throughout the day, throughout the race is something that can get to you, so you just have to understand it, put it away and use it to motivate yourself to hopefully get back to him and hopefully battle with him. I feel like me and Ty (Gibbs) will most likely be around each other a lot tomorrow and probably today in practice too.”

Can you talk about racing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway?

“We’ve gotten to race the road course, and I got to race on the oval, the full circuit, a couple years back when I was running Xfinity, so it was really cool last year to get in it, get back to running the two-and-a-half mile track with the Next Gen car and see what that’s like. It was really mind blowing to see some of the tendencies you would have to do with that car to make it through the pack. (Kyle) Larson really used that to his advantage last year, and it is going to be interesting to see how much the field has learned from that and how much they apply what he did to what the field is going to do when we go back. It is fun. We did last year – we had that 50 minute practice – you are going out there on stickers and you are going as fast as you can. It is really exhilarating to nail the lap and get it right at a place like that. It is very unforgiving if you miss it – even in a Cup car.”

Are you having a sense of optimism since you are consistently in the top-10, or is it frustration because you haven’t won a race yet this season?

“I would say that – I think it is fair, I think at some degree that we frustrated that we haven’t won for sure, but we’ve been using it as motivation to keep improving and finding speed and increasing the amount of times that we properly execute throughout the race. We haven’t really backed away from the fact that we haven’t won a race. We are just using it motivate. It is crazy. I feel like three weeks ago we were 120 something points behind William Bryon and a lot of those cars up there, and the last couple of weeks we have closed the gap. Sonoma – we didn’t really make up much ground at all – but we were still able to pass my bossman, Denny (Hamlin), in points. I think we are right on that cusp of being right there of having weeks like we’ve had in the last three weeks. I think we can keep closing in on it. If we keep performing at that level, we will continue to find opportunities to battle for wins and hopefully one of those come our way too.”

Were the last three races track specific success?

“It’s Atlanta, and Chicago. I don’t know – I know that Shane (Van Gisbergen) is really good at street courses, and there is a number of guys good at road courses, but something about the way you get around Chicago works for me. I’ve been fast every time we’ve been there. For us to have the speed that we did in Chicago is good, but yeah, Sonoma for us was a weekend where we didn’t have the speed that we wanted, we thought our car drove good, but we were able to put tires on and get the finish. I think this weekend will be really important. We’ve been working really hard the last two months to figure out what we are missing and get some of that speed back, and I think it will be a really important test to see how much progress we’ve made on that. This is a place where yes, you’ve got to run a smooth, clean race. It is easy to make a mistake and get yourself out of it, but we definitely want to unload in practice here today and be top-five on pace for sure.”

What would it mean to you to win a million dollars?

“It would be great. I feel like I’m too busy to think about what I would even do with it, but nonetheless it would be great to have and once I have some free time, maybe if I get some free time during the week, I can think about what I would spend it on, but if anything, you can just put it away and maybe have some fun with the money during the off-season.”

Any chance it might get you back into a dirt car?

“Much less would get me back in the dirt car, that is for sure. It is a tricky balance. I love dirt racing. I always have. That is what got me going in racing. It just a difficult balance. I want to make sure I’ve giving my team, my crew everything I can to be prepared. I think it is really important to do all you can during the week to be prepared, so right now, to able to disappear a night or two a week to go race dirt doesn’t make the most sense, and I’m hoping here soon – I keep saying it – I feel like one day I will just do it. I will be able to do that at some point, but as of right now, it doesn’t look like it is happening.”

Do you think NASCAR made the right choice on the tracks for the In-Season Challenge?

“I don’t think there is a wrong choice, honestly. Yes. I think the tracks that we went too had a sense of some unpredictability to it. They could have done it anywhere, but certainly, the tracks that they chose added to that chaos certainly. Getting going, I felt like Sonoma was kind of the first race in this tournament where it should play out, somewhat naturally, but you still did have a lot of movers late in the race with those restarts. I’m good with it either way. Whatever tracks they want to choose, I’m all for it. It’s been fun, and I’ve enjoyed it.”

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for nearly 70 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships.

Toyota directly employs nearly 64,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 49 million cars and trucks at our 14 manufacturing plants. In spring 2025, Toyota’s plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles. With more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, Toyota currently offers 31 electrified options.

For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.

CHEVROLET NCS AT DOVER: Kyle Busch Media Availability Quotes

By
Official Release
-

NASCAR CUP SERIES
DOVER MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES
JULY 19, 2025

 Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying session at Dover Motor Speedway.

Media Availability Quotes:

Can you talk about the initiative at Dover Air Force Base this week?

“Yeah, Cheddar’s has a special promotion for red, white, and blue. We wanted to give honor to the service members that are over here at Dover Air Force Base, with Dover being the next race on the Cheddar’s calendar. And so, Cheddar’s has painted their car red, white, and blue for this weekend, also in honor of veterans that have or do work at Cheddar’s. There are 67 names on the decklid this weekend, and we’re here to honor those, but also paid a visit over to the military base to help honor some more that were over there.”

What was your take from the visit?

“It’s always enjoyable to be able to go and spend some time with our service members — their passion for the sport and watching us go around the racetrack on Sunday’s. It was really, really cool to just spend some time with them; sign some autographs and take some pictures. There was a foreign exchange student group that was there as well, too, that got to spend some time checking out the race car and looking around on that.

It was a really good piece by Cheddar’s. We appreciate them serving lunch for everyone, as well. They made it a good time for everyone.”

Throughout your career here (at Dover Motor Speedway), you’ve had a bunch of wins, but you’ve also had a bunch of DNFs. Here at the Monster Mile, just how hard is it to stay out of trouble?

“That question started really rough, by the way (laughs). I mean, I would probably venture to say that I’ve had a bunch of wins at a lot of tracks and also a bunch of DNFs at a lot of tracks. So I think you have feast or famine just about everywhere.

You know, here at Dover, winning three times has certainly been the highlight, and we’ve had some really, really good runs as well, too, of being close to winning. I remember that time when I was so close with the 5 car and finishing second at Jimmie Johnson… right up his tailpipe and was told to leave him alone and let him win the race (laughs). So, you know, it’s just been a great track for me over the years. Same as Richmond, Bristol, a bunch of places. It’s a great place to race. It’s fun. It’s really challenging, but yet lends itself to really good drivers and really good cars.

Looking at the weekend last year, Dover was obviously one of your best runs of the season. You got the pole and you finished top-five. Is there anything that can be taken from that, even though it was an April race compared to July now, the new tire compound… there are a lot of differences, but is there anything you can take from last year’s run to help you?

“I would say that you take everything that you did use last year because it was good for you, and you try to just look at all of that and try to replicate that as much as you can without knowing anything about the tire with no tire test being here, no wheel force test being here, anything like that. We’re all sort of up in the air on exactly what that’s going to be. So you might as well just copy and paste last year; go out there on the racetrack and hope that it suits your race car again this year like it did last year.”

You’re the winningest active driver here at Dover with three wins. That means you got three ‘Miles the Monster’ trophies. I’m curious what it was like, if you can reflect back, what it was like winning that first trophy here, and if that ‘Miles the Monster’ trophy is one of the more sought after as a driver?

“I think it’s so hard to win races anymore, honestly, that you just take any one that you can get. It doesn’t matter if it’s here at Dover, Martinsville, Phoenix or wherever. You certainly will just want to win the race. There’s definitely some cool trophies that are out there, Dover being one of those with the cool Monster trophy that you get. That’s a special piece. I always looked up to that trophy. I was able to win a couple of Truck ones, a couple of Xfinity ones, but then finally was able to capture the big one with a Sunday win for my first time. They’re all special and they all mean a lot, but this place is very tough, especially in that era going up against Jimmie Johnson. It was really hard to get those trophies as he was hoarding them all.”

Last year there was a lot of talk about after this race, should people get rid of the mirrors? Should NASCAR take the mirrors away from you guys because this is a track where aero-blocking is so prevalent, as Denny (Hamlin) did to (Kyle) Larson last year. What’s your stance on the mirror… do you want it in the cars? Do you want to get rid of it?

“I mean, us talking about it isn’t going to change anything, right? But I would say that if you run the mirror, you don’t get a spotter. If you want a spotter, then you don’t get the mirror, the camera. So, pick one.”

What would you pick?

“I would pick the spotter over the mirror.”

With NASCAR combining now the practice session for everybody getting out there for 50 minutes, is that a benefit to have everybody on track at the same time, and even when it comes to being able to evaluate where everybody stacks up?

“I must be really stupid because I was scratching my head on why. What are we doing? But then I thought — well if it rains, which I guess we’re worried about some sort of weather that’s not here, that one group gets practice and the other doesn’t. So if the track is just open, everybody can go. So if you miss out, you miss out. It’s your own fault. So I think that’s really the only reason why it happened that way.

We don’t have enough tires. We have probably 10 minutes of tire and we have a 50-minute sessions. So you’re going to have to be mindful of just — if you go out and run five laps and come in and look for an adjustment, go out and run five laps, come in and look for an adjustment. But if you want to go out there and make a long run, like we all typically do at all of these big places, then you’re going to go until you feel like you shouldn’t go any further and you’ll be done on your first set, your only set.”

You’ve had two good finishes in a row. How much are you looking at the points with six races left in the regular season?

“Yeah, I mean, you’re obviously looking at it every week. I think we leave probably the fifth race of the year looking at points like where we’re at and what are we doing? But honestly, points take care of themselves when you run good. Results are what matters. Being able to get stage points and being able to get good finishes will all equate to higher point totals and you not having to look at the sheet. So obviously with a ‘win and you’re in’, you really don’t have to pay any attention to it.

That’s certainly on our radar right now. We’ve had a couple of good weeks where we’ve made up some of the deficit. I feel like there is potential and opportunity for us to continue that way, and we want to continue to climb that way and put ourselves above the cut for making the playoffs.”

About General Motors

General Motors (NYSE:GM) is driving the future of transportation, leveraging advanced technology to build safer, smarter, and lower emission cars, trucks, and SUVs. GM’s Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC brands offer a broad portfolio of innovative gasoline-powered vehicles and the industry’s widest range of EVs, as we move to an all-electric future. Learn more at GM.com.

Berry Looking to Add Cup Trophy This Weekend at Dover

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Official Release
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Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Dover Media Availability
Saturday, July 19, 2025

Josh Berry, driver of the No. 21 Advance Auto Parts Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Wood Brothers Racing, has a spot secured in the playoffs after his victory earlier this year at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He stopped by the infield media center at Dover Motor Speedway to talk about this weekend’s race and the upcoming postseason.

JOSH BERRY, No. 21 Advance Auto Parts Ford Mustang Dark Horse – YOU HAVE ADVANCE AUTO PARTS ON THE CAR THIS WEEKEND. CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT IT? “It’s really cool to have Advance Auto Parts on board this weekend, obviously the tie-in with the weekly series national championship I won in 2020. That was the first Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series national championship, so it’s super cool to have them on the car this weekend. It reminds me of those times that I look back on very fondly. We’re at a great track and hopefully we can have a good weekend for them.”

YOU’VE WON HERE IN XFINITY AND MADE YOUR CUP DEBUT HERE. HOW DO YOU SAY YOUR CAREER HAS PROGRESSED SINCE THEN, AND WHAT CAN YOU TAKE FROM YOUR PREVIOUS RACES HERE THAT CAN HELP THIS WEEKEND? “Obviously, this is a place that I’ve had a lot of fun coming to, making my Cup debut. It’s always really special and I’ve had really good results here in the Xfinity Series. Obviously, getting that win and two second places with JRM, so this is a place I’ve always enjoyed coming to and I really love the racetrack. I’m excited to be here this weekend and hopefully we can continue that on with the 21 car.”

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO WIN A MILES THE MONSTER TROPHY? “It was super cool. The first time I came here was 2021 and with no practice or qualifying we ran second in the ARCA race, second in the Xfinity race, won the Dash 4 Cash and realized I was that close to winning it, so that made me want it that much more, so to win it the next year was really cool and it’s an awesome trophy. It’s right there front-and-center in my living room. It’s really cool coming here and racing here.”

ONLY ONE TOP 10 SINCE THE VEGAS WIN. WHERE IS THE TEAM RIGHT NOW WITH SIX RACES TO GO IN THE REGULAR SEASON? “Obviously, we’d love to have some better results. We’ve had some bad luck here and there, some mistakes that have taken us out of good finishes, but I still feel like we have a lot of good tracks coming up. Here, I feel good about. Richmond, Iowa, those are places I ran good last year, and even the first round of the playoffs I think are three good tracks for us. We’ve been right there. We definitely need to get a little bit better, execute a little bit better, but I’m not necessarily panicked or anything at this point. It’s good to have the win in the bank and we’ll just keep trying to get better and hopefully hit our stride when the playoffs start.”

YOU GOT INTO JONES AND HOCEVAR LAST WEEK. WHAT WAS YOUR VIEW OF THOSE TWO INCIDENTS? “The 43 was a restart at turn seven. Obviously, we’re all jammed up into each other . The 4 car was on my right and kind of clipped me, and we just all got bottle-necked up and he got turned around . The 77 was a complete mistake on my part. I laid off at the bottom of one. I was trying to time it to where I could get up beside Carson and follow the 45 through and was just too fast to the top of the hill, got too far left and ran into Carson and knocked him off the track. It’s unfortunate. Obviously, I hate it for those guys. I tried calling Carson Monday and sent him a next, but never heard anything back. I did talk to Luke Monday morning to apologize to those guys and it’s just part of racing. We were on old tires and, for me, probably just trying a little too hard in that situation.”

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE NOSTALGIA OF THE BRICKYARD 400 NEXT WEEK? “It’s awesome going back to the Brickyard. It’s such an iconic facility for sure and it’s a crown jewel event that we all really look forward to, so it’s always really special getting to race in Indianapolis. I’m excited to go there next week with the Wood Brothers and hopefully we can have a solid race and a good result.”

ANY CONCERN THAT HOCEVAR HASN’T RESPONDED TO YOU, AND WHAT IS THE FOCUS IN PRACTICE TODAY? “Everybody handles things differently in those situations. Obviously, the contact at the end of that race opens the door for retaliation. If he decides to act on that, I gave him that opportunity. That’s part of racing. I’ve been doing this a long time. I’m 34 years old now and I’ve seen a lot. Like I said, it is what it is at this point and whatever happens we’ll move on from it. As for today, we’ve got one 50-minute session now, so that will be interesting having all the cars out on the track at the same time. The track should rubber up pretty well and hopefully give us a good read for tomorrow. Hopefully, it’s just gonna be about finding a good balance on our car and qualifying well and setting us up good for tomorrow.”

KALITTA, TODD, ANDERSON & HALL ROLL TO PROVISIONAL NO. 1 SPOTS AT MUCKLESHOOT CASINO RESORT NHRA NORTHWEST NATIONALS

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SEATTLE (July 18, 2025) – Top Fuel’s Doug Kalitta just missed out on the track record on Friday at Pacific Raceways, taking the provisional No. 1 spot under the lights at the Muckleshoot Casino Resort NHRA Northwest Nationals.

J.R. Todd (Funny Car), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) and Matt Smith (Pro Stock Motorcycle) are also the provisional No. 1 qualifiers at the 11th of 20 races during the 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season, with each also claiming the Deecell Power Systems “After Dark Low Qualifier” award.

Kalitta went 3.671-seconds at 335.90 mph in his 12,000-horsepower Mac Tools dragster, just missing the track record of 3.670 he set a year ago. But it was plenty good enough to take the No. 1 spot, giving him the $4,000 Deecell “After Dark Low Qualifier” award. Should that hold, Kalitta would earn his sixth No. 1 qualifier this year and continue his torrid qualifying pace.

What the veteran would enjoy even more is his first victory of the season, something he hopes can come together in ideal weather conditions this weekend in Seattle.

“The conditions were good, and I was really hopeful that my car would go out there and run a good number,” Kalitta said. “We were making a lot of changes back in the staging lanes because people were smoking the tires. I wasn’t sure if they backed the thing down or what but when the thing left, I could tell it was really running. I wasn’t sure what it ran, but I was pretty definitely pleased to hear what we ended up with.

“I’m sure they’ll be gunning for that tomorrow because it’s definitely within reach with what the conditions probably will be for tomorrow. I’m just real fortunate Alan [Johnson, crew chief] and Mac [Savage] and my whole team because they can throw down with the best of them.”

Teammate Shawn Langdon is second with a 3.689 at 332.92 and Brittany Force is third with a 3.703 at a track-record 340.47.

In Funny Car, J.R. Todd made the most of the one nitro session on Friday at Pacific Raceways, taking the top position with a run of 3.901 at 329.26 in his 12,000-horsepower DHL Toyota GR Supra. Todd was one of only two drivers in the category to make a three-second run, as teams struggled under the lights.

But Todd wasn’t one of them, making a clean pass and claiming the $4,000 Deecell “After Dark Low Qualifier” award. Should that hold, Todd would pick up his first No. 1 qualifier of the year and the 15th in his career. On Saturday, the nitro teams will get three qualifying conditions in more great conditions as Todd and his Kalitta Motorsports team look to keep improving.

“From the time I hit the gas, a whole sequence of events happened. It picked the front end up pretty good. I must have had it pointed right, so I snatch it back left, and then goes out there and quivers the tires a little bit,” Todd said. “Once that happens, it kind of like it puts you behind, then there’s a pretty good bump out there, so I’m just steering the thing all over the place. I definitely did not expect it to make it, but it did.

“There’s no reason we shouldn’t be running mid- to high-80s tomorrow during the day, which that usually doesn’t happen on Saturday at most places. It’s got me excited.”

Chad Green is currently second with 3.928 at 329.75 and Austin Prock is third after a run of 5.580 at 160.46.

With ideal conditions on Friday, Pro Stock’s Greg Anderson and Dallas Glenn put on a thrilling show, trading track records during each qualifying session. Glenn set it to start the day and Anderson finished it off with a massive 6.472 at 211.13 in his HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro to take the No. 1 spot and win the $2,500 Deecell “After Dark Low Qualifier” award.

In a terrific side-by-side pairing, Glenn went 6.479, just missing on slipping past Anderson at his home track. It was another stellar duel between the two drivers who have dominated the class in 2025. For Anderson, who has four wins this season, it’s now a chance to qualifying No. 1 for the first time this season and the 137th time in his incredible career.

“Two great runs for both of us. We’re certainly not disappointed either way. It worked out because guys are just doing a fantastic job with the race cars,” Anderson said. “They spent a lot of time over the last couple weeks testing Dallas’ car, and obviously they’re better. They got happier in the first 60 feet, which is where it was kind of behind mine before.

“Getting the track record is definitely cool, but sometimes that low E.T. doesn’t win a race. I’ve shown that before, but I’d certainly rather have the fastest race car. It appears that either Dallas or I have that right now, so that’s a good feeling but it doesn’t guarantee anything. There’s a lot of guys that can win on that starting line on Sunday.”

Following Glenn in third is Greg Stanfield, as he dipped into the 6.40s as well with a run of 6.493 at 210.31.

Fresh off his victory in Norwalk, John Hall is on the verge of a massive moment in his Pro Stock Motorcycle career after going a career-best 6.717 at 201.76 on his American Rebel Beer Buell on Friday at Pacific Raceways. Should that hold, the veteran would earn his first career No. 1 qualifier, just weeks after getting his first victory in 12 years with his triumph in Norwalk.

On Friday, the run was good enough to win the $1,500 and the Deecell “After Low Qualifier” award, which was certainly good enough for the first day of racing for Hall. He posted a pair of strong runs as he looks to keep rolling after his huge victory last month.

“I could have probably gone close to that in the first round, but I screwed up, so we knew it had power, we knew it was fast, and I just went out there and did it,” Hall said. “I knew the air was good. I knew the tune-up was going to be good. I think I got every bit of it on that run.

“Matt and Angie [Smith] have done a lot of work and a lot of research. This bike just wasn’t running in the beginning of the season. They couldn’t figure out why. They spent a lot of time and money and effort to get this bike to where it is, and now it’s fast, obviously.”

Gaige Herrera is currently second after going 6.721 at 201.76 and Matt Smith’s 6.733 at 201.88 has him third.

Qualifying continues at 12:30 p.m. PT on Saturday at the Muckleshoot Casino Resort NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways.

KENT, Wash. — Friday’s results after the first of four rounds of Top Fuel and Funny Car qualifying and the first two of four rounds of for the 36th annual Muckleshoot Casino Resort NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways, 11th of 20 events in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series.

Qualifying will continue Saturday for Sunday’s final eliminations.

Top Fuel — 1. Doug Kalitta, 3.671 seconds, 335.90 mph; 2. Shawn Langdon, 3.689, 332.92; 3. Brittany Force, 3.703, 340.47; 4. Clay Millican, 3.708, 331.12; 5. Shawn Reed, 4.140, 277.09; 6. Antron Brown, 5.993, 113.31; 7. Josh Hart, 6.385, 100.03; 8. Tony Stewart, 6.439, 93.60; 9. Justin Ashley, 8.761, 75.40; 10. Cameron Ferre, 8.895, 83.80; 11. Ida Zetterstrom, 13.114, 68.89.

Funny Car — 1. J.R. Todd, Toyota GR Supra, 3.901, 329.26; 2. Chad Green, Ford Mustang, 3.928, 329.75; 3. Austin Prock, Chevy Camaro, 5.580, 160.46; 4. Daniel Wilkerson, Mustang, 6.691, 96.66; 5. Bob Tasca III, Mustang, 6.912, 91.85; 6. Ron Capps, GR Supra, 7.131, 95.11; 7. Hunter Green, Dodge Charger, 7.404, 89.22; 8. Dave Richards, Mustang, 7.443, 100.09; 9. Paul Lee, Charger, 7.501, 79.85; 10. Cruz Pedregon, Charger, 7.599, 90.09; 11. Matt Hagan, Charger, 7.713, 87.10; 12. Jack Beckman, Camaro, 8.402, 84.00; 13. Alexis DeJoria, Charger, 8.454, 81.25; 14. Buddy Hull, Charger, 8.576, 74.20; 15. Jeff Diehl, Toyota Camry, 8.725, 71.97; 16. Spencer Hyde, Mustang, 26.571, 67.12.

Not Qualified: 17. Dylan Winefsky, broke.

Pro Stock — 1. Greg Anderson, Chevy Camaro, 6.472, 211.20; 2. Dallas Glenn, Camaro, 6.479, 211.89; 3. Greg Stanfield, Camaro, 6.493, 210.31; 4. Cody Coughlin, Camaro, 6.511, 210.54; 5. Deric Kramer, Camaro, 6.512, 209.92; 6. Aaron Stanfield, Camaro, 6.522, 210.83; 7. Jeg Coughlin, Camaro, 6.523, 210.08; 8. Cory Reed, Camaro, 6.543, 210.47; 9. Chris McGaha, Camaro, 6.545, 210.90; 10. Matt Latino, Camaro, 6.548, 210.47; 11. Mason McGaha, Camaro, 6.562, 209.52; 12. Erica Enders, Camaro, 6.576, 210.44; 13. Kenny Delco, Camaro, 6.592, 208.46; 14. Matt Hartford, Camaro, 6.719, 207.11; 15. Joey Grose, Camaro, 7.260, 187.50; 16. Troy Coughlin Jr., Camaro, 9.434, 97.57.

Pro Stock Motorcycle — 1. John Hall, Beull, 6.717, 201.76; 2. Gaige Herrera, Suzuki, 6.721, 201.07; 3. Matt Smith, Buell, 6.733, 202.21; 4. Richard Gadson, Suzuki, 6.735, 199.73; 5. Jianna Evaristo, Buell, 6.774, 197.80; 6. Angie Smith, Buell, 6.789, 200.29; 7. Chase Van Sant, Suzuki, 6.846, 197.94; 8. Chris Bostick, Suzuki, 6.854, 194.27.

Ryan Preece Delivers Popular Victory to Home Track Crowd in New England 900

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Official Release
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Berlin, CT Native Picks Up 38th Career Stafford Motor Speedway Win

STAFFORD SPRINGS, CT (July 18, 2025) – Ryan Preece put on a show for his hometown crowd as he returned to Stafford Motor Speedway victorious in Friday’s New England 900. Preece raced his way from the 15th starting position to claim a thrilling victory in the exhibition event organized by Cleetus McFarland and the Freedom Factory.

“That was the most fun I’ve had in a race car in a very long time,” said Preece.

The 90-lap event was part thrill show, part race, as each competitor piloted modified Crown Victoria Fords equipped with nitrous-oxide boosters. Lights on the rear decklids of each car flashed when the nitrous was engaged, and it was clear Preece and Greg Biffle were using it as they battled for the win.

“I didn’t realize that when you hit it, it shows on the trunk strobe light when you’re using it. So, I think everybody knew how much I was using it,” Preece said. “It was a lot of fun. It was cool. It was a little push-to-pass.”

Preece needed the nitrous as the intensity ratcheted up on lap 72 of the 90-lap race, when Biffle restarted on the outside of Preece on the front row. Biffle got the initial jump, but Preece charged back, reclaiming the lead. That clash continued throughout the remaining laps.

Another restart on lap 77 gave Biffle another chance, and he was up for the challenge. The two raced side by side for a full lap before Preece hit the nitrous to pull away. Biffle, however, remained within striking distance. With eight laps remaining, Biffle dove to the bottom of Preece in turn one and overtook him on the backstretch.

As the laps wound down, both drivers repeatedly engaged the nitrous button. Biffle could not shake Preece, who was locked to his rear bumper. With the white flag waving, the leaders encountered lap traffic in the final set of turns. Preece seized the opportunity, dove to the bottom in turns three and four, and muscled his way under Biffle, taking the lead and holding on for the win.

“It was all about having fun. At the end, we had to do the old NASCAR—rubbing is racing—and put on a show for everyone,” explained Preece.

The win marked the 38th Stafford victory for Preece, who hails from nearby Berlin, CT.

“To be able to race with these guys at my home track—a place that has made me who I am as a race car driver—is really special,” Preece added. “To have my daughter here, my family, my in-laws, my dad, and everybody here… it’s my hometown crowd, so it’s awesome.”

Preece returns to NASCAR action Saturday and Sunday at Dover Motor Speedway.

About RFK Racing
RFK Racing, in its 38th season in 2025, features an ownership lineup pairing one of the sport’s most iconic names, Jack Roush, along with NASCAR Champion Brad Keselowski and Fenway Sports Group owner John Henry. Roush initially founded the team in 1988, and it has since become one of the most successful racing operations in the world, propelling him to be the first NASCAR owner to amass 300 wins and capturing eight championships, including back-to-back NASCAR Cup titles in 2003 and 2004. Keselowski, a former owner in the NASCAR Truck Series, is the 2012 NASCAR Cup Series Champion. In 2007, Roush partnered with Henry, who also owns Major League Baseball’s Boston Red Sox, English Premier League’s Liverpool F.C., and the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins, to form Roush Fenway Racing. Off the track, RFK is a leader and proven winner in NASCAR marketing solutions, having produced multiple award-winning social media, digital content, and experiential marketing campaigns. Visit rfkracing.com and follow the team on all social platforms @rfkracing.

Brenden Queen reigns at the General Tire 150ARCA Menards Series race at Dover Motor Speedway

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Official Release
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DOVER, Del. (July 18, 2025) — ARCA Menards Series points leader Brenden “Butterbean” Queen dominated Friday’s General Tire 150 at Dover Motor Speedway, leading all 150 laps en route to a commanding victory.

Piloting the No. 28 Pinnacle Racing Group Chevrolet, Queen collected his fourth win of the 2024 ARCA season in his first Dover start in convincing fashion.

“I really wanted to win a Monster,” Queen said. “[During the race] I had to tell myself to breathe. I could tell the load and G-force here is more than I’ve experienced-super fun! When I rode in here, it looked like a roller-coaster and it drove like a roller coaster. I had a lot of fun.”

Queen, 27, from Chesapeake, Va., is the second driver to lead every lap in an ARCA Menards Series race at Dover. Ty Gibbs led all 125 laps in the General Tire 125 ARCA Menards Series East race in 2021.

“This was a bad to the bone race car,” said Queen, who also won at Daytona, Kansas and Michigan earlier this year.

“I told them I wanted a Monster [Trophy] to take back home. That baby’s going on a road trip tonight. I love unique trophies that have a lot of history, and I’ve wanted one of these since I was a kid.”

The day began with Queen earning the pole with a lap of 22.770 seconds around the high-banked one-mile oval.

Brent Crews, driving the No. 18 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, qualified second with a 22.805, setting the stage for what looked to be a thrilling battle up front.

That battle, however, was cut short.

On lap 45, Crews made heavy contact with the Turn 4 wall in a fiery crash that brought out one of the biggest cautions of the race. The 17-year-old Crews climbed from the car under his own power and was thankfully unharmed, but the incident ended his day early with a 21st-place result.

“That was super scary,” Crews said. “We had a really good race car, and it’s unfortunate that it’s going to end up in flames.”

Camden Murphy secured a career-best second place finish, 7.130 seconds behind the winner, Queen. While Isabella Robusto crossed the line third to tie her career best ARCA Menards Series finish.

“[Dover Motor Speedway] is probably the craziest track I’ve been to,” Robusto said. “You feel the speed here more than anywhere else. I had a lot of fun!”

Isaac Kitzmiller in the No. 79 Chevrolet and Tyler Reif, who started at the rear after not getting to complete a qualifying lap, in the No. 23 Chevrolet rounded out the top five.

Local fans had high hopes for Carney’s Point, N.J., native Lavar Scott, who considers Dover a home track, but mechanical misfortune struck early, as a flat right-rear tire on lap 24 forced him to pit and fall seven laps down. He recovered to finish 11th.

NASCAR TICKETS:

Dover Motor Speedway’s remaining 2025 race schedule includes:

  • Saturday, July 19: BetRivers 200 NASCAR Xfinity Series race (4:30 p.m., The CW, Performance Racing Network)
  • Sunday, July 20: Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 NASCAR Cup Series race (2 p.m., TNT, Performance Racing Network)
  • Visit DoverMotorSpeedway.com to buy tickets or register for the Speedway’s email list to receive updates and announcements.

FOLLOW US:
Keep track of all of Dover Motor Speedway’s events by following on Facebook, X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, Instagram and TikTok (@MonsterMile). Keep up with all the latest information on DoverMotorSpeedway.com and our mobile app.

Chevrolet in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES – Friday Practice Report

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Official Release
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CHEVROLET IN THE NTT INDYCAR SERIES
Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto
1.786-mile, 11-turn Exhibition Place street circuit
Toronto, Ontario
Friday Practice Report
July 18

  • Chevrolet-powered drivers made up six of the top ten spots on the combined practice sheet for the opening practice for the Indy Toronto on the 1.786-mile, 11-turn Exhibition Place street circuit, with Scott McLaughlin in the No. 3 Gallagher Team Penske Chevrolet leading the way to Team Chevy. The New Zealander was joined in the top ten by Will Power in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, Callum Ilott in the No. 90, Pato O’Ward in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, David Malukas in the No. 4 Clarience Technologies/A.J. Foyt Racing Chevrolet and Christian Lundgaard in the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. Kyle Kirkwood, the winner of two of the first three street circuit races of the year, was the quickest driver.
  • Power led the first 40 minutes of practice, where all 27 cars were eligible to participate, and all drivers utilized the Primary (Black) Firestone Firehawk Racing Tires exclusively. His best lap was 61.9059 seconds (103.861 mph), and Josef Newgarden in the No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet and Pato O’Ward in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet joined the 2016 Toronto winner, making it Chevrolet-powered cars with three of the four best times on the preferred tires.
  • Power, at 61.8538 seconds (103.948 mph), was the quickest in the first 15-minute group, which consisted of drivers primarily using the Alternate (Green) Firestone Firehawk Racing Tires, with fellow Chevrolet-powered driver Lundgaard going second best.
  • The dusty race track continued to take rubber in the second 15-minute session, with McLaughlin going almost a half-second quicker at 61.3411 seconds (104.817 mph), with Callum Ilott in the No. 90 PREMA Racing Chevrolet joining the Kiwi McLaughlin in the top five.

Tune-In Alert

Saturday

· NTT INDYCAR SERIES Practice #2 – 10:30am (ET)/9:30am (CT)/8:30am (MT)/7:30am (PT) – FS1/INDYCAR Radio Network/SIRIUSXM 218

· NTT INDYCAR SERIES Qualifying – 2:30pm (ET)/1:30pm (CT)/12:30pm (MT)/11:30am (PT) – FS1/INDYCAR Radio Network/SIRIUSXM 218

Sunday

· NTT INDYCAR SERIES Warm Up – 8:30am (ET)/7:30am (CT)/6:30am (MT)/5:30am (PT) – FS1/INDYCAR Radio Network/SIRIUSXM 218

· Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto (90 laps) – noon (ET)/11am (CT)/10am (MT)/9am (PT) – FOX/INDYCAR Radio Network/SIRIUSXM 218

Friday practice combined timesheet:

Coming together as a team and a series

One Chevrolet-powered team had a long three days, after one of Juncos Hollinger Racing’s transporters caught fire, forcing the team’s crew, their competitors, their partners and the series to come together to help them make the race this weekend.

Sunday evening at 7 pm: The transporter carrying Sting Ray Robb’s No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet, suffered a fire on the trip back from the Iowa Speedway to the team’s shop in downtown Speedway, Indiana, which caused fire, smoke and water damage to the equipment and cars.
Sunday, starting at midnight through Monday: Between friends and the team, three trailers were dispatched to begin bringing back damaged items, which the non-competition team members set out on tables to dry and start assessing what was salvageable.
Monday – The crews for the No. 76 and No. 77 joined together to rebuild the No. 76, while they assessed the damage to Robb’s car.
Tuesday – Both crews’ attention turned to the No. 77, rebuilding the car, which suffered crash damage in the second race at Iowa Speedway.
Wednesday – The transporters, including the Juncos Hollinger Racing INDY NXT by Firestone trailer, began the trip north to Toronto.

Team owner Ricardo Juncos:

“We had the situation with the trailer on fire, and it was a huge amount of work overload for everyone at the team. But, we knew that we needed to work, with no options and things like that could happen. So, it was actually was good to see the whole team spirit with that moment, when things like that happen. I’m really, really happy with them because what I saw as a team owner, it was a mega. Mega! The chemistry, everybody helping each other, at that time was just one team pushing forward, and it was amazing to see. So, that’s one side

“On the other side, is all the support from INDYCAR. Every single team called us, called me right away, offering trailers, equipment, and whatever. From Roger Penske to the last team owner. Then the series itself, Dallara, Chevy, I mean, you name it. Even, a lot of fans as well, and that was really, really good to see as a team owner.”

Driver Sting Ray Robb:

“I’m appreciative (of the crew), but I’m more impressed. Honestly, I’ve seen when these kinds of things happen and it knocks its team out completely. But they showed up Monday morning at 8.m. and they were there until about midnight, putting everything back the way it should be. My car still smells like a smoke bomb went off in it, but everything is as it should be.

“Largely in part to the fire department doing their job when they got the call and the state trooper doing his job to call the fire department ahead of time and everyone that was involved, I think they’re the reason that we’re here today. So, to the first responders, thank you and then to the team, thank you.”

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING (QUOTES):

ARROW MCLAREN

Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:

“I think we have rolled off in a better position than where we have been in the past. We just need some time to pepper it in and get it there for Qualifying. I am definitely not unhappy with what we’ve arrived with considering our performance here last year. Let’s see what we can do tomorrow.”

Nolan Siegel, No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:

“A difficult first practice session. It’s not a track that we’ve historically been great at, so we’re going to try to maximize the weekend and our package to get what we can out of it. I think we got better through that session, which is promising. We’ll continue to get better, and hopefully we can make our way forward through the rest of the weekend.”

Christian Lundgaard, No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:

“Friday practice done here in Toronto. The No. 7 Arrow McLaren SmartStop Chevrolet looks awesome, so hopefully we can generate a good result for them this weekend. We’ve got a bit of work to do as the car is very tough to drive. Some of the faster cars are able to extract some lap times that we couldn’t. There’s a lot of work to be done, and we’ll see what we can do for Practice 2 tomorrow.”

Josef Newgarden, No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet:

“It was very slippery out there today but the PPG Chevy was solid. The weather should cool off a bit over the next two days and we don’t have many support series here to lay down additional rubber, so it’s hard to gauge how much we learned today. It’s going to be a very interesting race with tire strategy, which is one of the things that makes this series so much fun.”

Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 Gallagher Team Penske Chevrolet

“Really happy with how that first session went. This is a tough place, but the Gallagher crew and Team Chevy have brought a very competitive package here this weekend. I think the way the tires reacted today have given everyone something to think about. Tire strategy starts on Friday because of the limited number of sets your allotted.”

NTT INDYCAR SERIES News Conference
Friday, July 18, 2025
Kyle Kirkwood (for context)
Will Power
Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon, everyone. Wrapping up practice today and joined by a couple of the fastest in practice.

THE MODERATOR: Will, you’ve won three times here at Toronto. Good to be atop the leaderboard so far this weekend?

WILL POWER: Yeah, it’s a very difficult track. Like Kyle said, it was surprisingly low grip. Really hard to really change anything on the car. Yeah, the greens, you literally had that one prep lap and one lap to go. Yeah, it will be interesting.

Massive new bump at the end of the straight into three. It actually hurts. Right in the braking zone, boom.

THE MODERATOR: I’ve heard winters are tough here in Toronto.

KYLE KIRKWOOD: They repaved something. The bridge used to go there. For some reason they put a strip of pavement just in that section.

THE MODERATOR: Exit of three?

KYLE KIRKWOOD: Entry.

WILL POWER: I think they honestly need to grind it tonight. It will hurt racing. Very apprehensive to go up the inside. They should grind it.

THE MODERATOR: We’ll start with questions.

Q. How great is it to return to an event where it’s bustling with fans, you’re in a big city, there’s a great vibe? We came off what was two really good races, but nobody really saw ’em.

WILL POWER: Yeah, man. I was going to say, I was sitting there, I looked at the grandstands, they were full. I was really impressed.

Yeah, and the autograph session. How many people were there when we left? The line was massive. Yeah, good attendance so far. Very good.

Q. As a professional athlete, does it get the adrenaline going when you know there’s a lot of people out there that love to see what you do?

KYLE KIRKWOOD: Just proves we’re in a high-performance, high-stakes sport that people like watching, right? Re-proves that to you. Nonetheless, exciting to have people out here.

Q. Canada is the only race we come to internationally. With the crowd turnout that we’ve seen here and kind of the talks that we’ve had for the last couple weeks, does this race really showcase that INDYCAR can go into other international markets to race?

WILL POWER: Yeah, absolutely. I think we’d be very well-received in Europe. Japan, we always get a massive crowd. Went to Australia. Yes, could totally do it.

Got to make sense financially. But yeah, I think they’d be surprised. When we raced in Europe in Champ Car in ’07… People were very interested in open-wheel cars over there.

I think it would be very good markets for us, I believe. Obviously they’re trying to nail it over here, North America. I’ve just seen the series grow and improve. I’ve been in it 19, 20 years. Only got better every year.

Q. For the rest of this weekend, it should cool down a little bit. Do you expect the graining of the tires for the rest of the weekend?

KYLE KIRKWOOD: I’m not sure. That’s a great question. Not sure why it was like that. We clearly had a very soft street course tire. Given the nature of that session where it was pretty low grip, maybe that just has something to do with it.Nonetheless, it’s on our minds for the rest of the weekend and obviously for the race.

WILL POWER: Yeah, no, obviously the track grips up and temperature matters. At the end of the day, they’re just too soft. I think incredibly soft. Sure it will be a three-stop race unless something strange happens.

Yeah, it will actually be interesting in qualifying, to be honest, what compound you use.

KYLE KIRKWOOD: You only went a 10th quicker later in the session when you assume you could go faster on primes.

WILL POWER: I would have said, yeah. Threw on new primes, you’d be right there.

KYLE KIRKWOOD: Faster.

WILL POWER: I think so.

Q. Tomorrow do you maximize track position in qualifying or do you save tires that you want for the race?

WILL POWER: Yeah, I mean, at the end of the day, like, no one’s going to use more than one set of the greens. You just don’t have enough tires.

KYLE KIRKWOOD: In the race, what do you do for qualifying? Do you use primes for qualifying, is that what you’re saying?

WILL POWER: You have to save three sets of new tires for the race. I mean, I can’t see anyone else coming to any other conclusion. You’re saying take a risk and use them in qualifying.

KYLE KIRKWOOD: If they were faster, that would be very interesting. Some people use new all the way through qualifying.

WILL POWER: You could do it, but they went off pretty bad. Mine degraded a lot.

KYLE KIRKWOOD: I did a second run on them and they definitely fell off.

Q. Will, you got a lot of experience here at this track. Is this the slickest this track has been on a Friday?

WILL POWER: It’s hard to say. Definitely on the track walk yesterday it looked really dusty. I don’t know. Like, I can’t remember to be honest. It’s been so many times I’ve been here. It’s always this way first session. I guess if you had a couple more support series, it would help.

Yeah, it will progress. Lap time isn’t that bad, 61s. Got to 59s last year.

Q. Will, I understand you’re in a contract year. How important is it for you to get a result here this weekend?

WILL POWER: Yeah, man, every race, every session. It just matters, you know? Can you believe the year I’m having, in a contract year? Two engine failures in two race weekends. Just one of those things. Not bad luck. It just happens at times.

Yeah, we’ll see. Just keep pushing. Still got five races to have great results. I

I’ve had great cars everywhere. We’re quick. Can only smile about it because

I’ve been in the sport a long time.

I just know these sort of things come round. It’s very typical of life that a bad year would play out when you’re trying to get a contract.

Yeah, man, but I love it here. I do. I really hope I’m back next year.

Q. Will, you mentioned the bump in the braking zone going into three, the need to grind that. What would that discussion look like with the series to make that happen?

WILL POWER: Actually, I don’t know. I think to Joe Hodge. Used to be able to go to Jay Frye and ask him, but I’m not sure now who it is.

Man, it’s nasty. Gave me a headache. It was that hard. I don’t know. Was it that hard for you?

KYLE KIRKWOOD: It wasn’t extremely harsh. The bottom is hard.

WILL POWER: That’s what I mean.

KYLE KIRKWOOD: Just depends where you hit the brakes right? Everyone is going to be hitting it there.

WILL POWER: I think it will hurt passing.

Q. Will, in his recent wins here, Scott Dixon always jokes this feels like his hometown course because Canada is part of the Commonwealth. Does that carry over for you, as well?

WILL POWER: Didn’t even register. I did think the other day, I wonder with your passport and so on, if you got denied, Well, I’m in the Commonwealth. You could let me in.

Yeah, I don’t know what the immigration rule is here. Yeah, didn’t really register. If I win, I’ll mention it.

Chevrolet on the Streets Of Toronto

Chevrolet wins on the Streets Of Toronto: 13

2019 – Simon Pagenaud – Team Penske
2017 – Josef Newgarden – Team Penske
2016 – Will Power – Team Penske
2015 – Josef Newgarden – Ed Carpenter Racing
2014 Race #2 – Mike Conway – Ed Carpenter Racing
2014 Race #1 – Sebastien Bourdais – KV Racing Technology
2012 – Ryan Hunter-Reay – Andretti Global
1993 – Paul Tracy – Team Penske
1991 – Michael Andretti – Newman Haas Racing
1990 – Al Unser Jr. – Galles Racing
1989 – Michael Andretti – Newman Haas Racing
1988 – Al Unser Jr. – Galles Racing
1987 – Emerson Fittipaldi – Patrick Racing

Chevrolet poles on the Streets Of Toronto: 12

2019 – Simon Pagenaud – Team Penske
2018 – Josef Newgarden – Team Penske
2017 – Simon Pagenaud – Team Penske
2016 – Scott Dixon – Chip Ganassi Racing
2015 – Josef Newgarden – Ed Carpenter Racing
2014 – Race #1 – Sebastien Bourdais – KV Racing Technology
1993 – Emerson Fittipaldi – Team Penske
1992 – Bob Rahal – Rahal Hogan Racing
1991 – Michael Andretti – Newman Haas Racing
1990 – Danny Sullivan – Team Penske
1989 – Emerson Fittipaldi – Patrick Racing
1988 – Danny Sullivan – Team Penske

Chevrolet podiums on the Streets Of Toronto: 36

Chevrolet podiums on the Streets Of Toronto by driver: Danny Sullivan (5), Helio Castroneves (4), Michael Andretti (3), Sebastien Bourdais (3), Emerson Fittipaldi (3), Tony Kanaan (2), Josef Newgarden (2), Simon Pagenaud (2), Will Power (2), Bob Rahal (2), Al Unser Jr. (2), Mario Andretti (1), Eddie Cheever (1), Mike Conway (1), Luca Filippi (1), Ryan Hunter-Reay (1), Felix Rosenqvist (1), and Paul Tracy (1)

Chevrolet podiums on the Streets Of Toronto by team: Team Penske (13), Galles Racing (5),, Ed Carpenter Racing (4), Newman Haas Racing (4), Chip Ganassi Racing (3), Dragon Racing (2), Patrick Racing (2) Andretti Global (1), Arrow McLaren (1), KV Racing Technology (1), and Rahal Hogan Racing (1)

Chevrolet laps led on the Streets Of Toronto: 1109

Chevrolet laps led on the Streets Of Toronto by driver: Al Unser Jr. (182), Michael Andretti (153), Emerson Fittipaldi (123) Josef Newgarden (113), Will Power (97), Simon Pagenaud (84), Sebastien Bourdais (79), Helio Castroneves (74), Scott Dixon (56), Paul Tracy (54), Danny Sullivan (50), Ryan Hunter-Reay (36), Scott McLaughlin (28), Tony Kanaan (19), Rinus VeeKay (18), Mike Conway (7), Mario Andretti (6), Jordan King (6), Pato O’Ward (3), Luca Filippi (2), JR Hildebrand (1), Charlie Kimball (1), Spencer Pigot (1) and Felix Rosenqvist (1)

Chevrolet laps led on the Streets Of Toronto by team: Team Penske (519), Galles Racing (182), Newman Haas Racing (159), Chip Ganassi Racing (74), Patrick Racing (74), Ed Carpenter Racing (64), Andretti Global (36), Dragon Racing (20), Arrow McLaren (4), A.J. Foyt Racing (1), Carlin (1) and Panther Racing (1)

Manufacturer History on the Streets Of Toronto

Wins (with competition):

13 – Chevrolet (2019, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014 Race #2, 2014 Race #1, 2012, 1993, 1991, 1990, 1989, 1988, 1987)

10 – Honda (2024, 2023, 2022, 2018, 2013 Race #1, 2013 Race #2, 2001, 1999, 1998, 1996)

4 – Ford (2000, 1995, 1994, 1992)

1 – Toyota (2002)

1 – Mercedes (1997)

1 – Cosworth (1986)

Earned Poles (with competition):

12 – Chevrolet (2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014 Race #1, 1993, 1992, 1991, 1990, 1989, 1988)

11 – Honda (2024, 2023, 2022, 2013 Race #2, 2013 Race #1, 2012, 2001, 2000 1999, 1998, 1996)

2 – Ford (1995, 1994)

2 – Cosworth (1987, 1986)

1 – Toyota (2002)

1 – Mercedes (1997)

** 2014 Race #2 – Helio Castroneves (Team Penske Chevrolet) started from the pole on driver points after qualifying was rained out**

Historical Chevrolet in the INDYCAR SERIES information

INDYCAR SERIES Manufacturer Championships (since 1979)

Chevrolet-Powered Wins in the Twin-Turbo 2.2L V6 Era (2012-present)

Chevrolet-Powered Wins (All-time)

About General Motors

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Kirkwood Maintains Andretti Street Course Prowess on Opening Day in Toronto

By
Official Release
-
Ontario, CA- during the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto in Toronto, Ontatio (Photo by Travis Hinkle | IMS Photo)

TORONTO (Friday, July 18, 2025) – Once again, an Andretti Global driver was atop the speed chart in preparation for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES’ Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto.

But while last year it was Colton Herta leading the way in every session, including the race, this time it was Kyle Kirkwood in Friday’s opening practice.

Kirkwood posted the fastest time of the practice, a lap of 1 minute, 1.2054 seconds in the No. 27 Silver Gold Bull Honda. Herta, who won last year’s race from the pole, was 10th overall in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda at 1:02.0219.

Herta, who twice saw his car inadvertently venture into the Turn 8 run-off zone, said the 11-turn, 1.786-mile street circuit felt different to him year over year.

“It’s very low grip (now),” he said. “It is very difficult, and I’m sure guys had moments all over the place. It’s a different year, and it definitely feels like it out there.”

This track at Exhibition Place also has a history of changing as an event weekend continues, so expect the lap times to improve with each day.

It should not be a surprise that Kirkwood had the best lap of the session. He won the previous two street races this season (the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach and the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear). He finished second to Herta in this race a year ago, but, too, also said the track was challenging on this day.

“It’s certainly a tough one because that’s probably the lowest amount of grip I’ve driven in INDYCAR in a very long time,” he said. “That’s just due to the fact that we don’t have a bunch of support series here.”

Team Penske’s Will Power, who had the fifth-quickest lap overall in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, agreed that “it’s a very difficult track.”

“There’s a massive new bump at the end of the straight into (Turn) 3,” he said. “It actually hurts (and it’s) right in the braking zone – boom!”

Turn 8 also proved tricky. In one instance, the cars of Scott McLaughlin (No. 3 Gallagher Insurance Team Penske Chevrolet), Pato O’Ward (No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet) and Santino Ferrucci (No. 14 Sexton Properties/AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet) ended up there at the same time, fortunately without contact.

Honda has won 11 of the season’s first 12 races, and it dominated last year’s race here as well with the top seven finishers. But while Kirkwood led this practice, McLaughlin was second overall at 1:01.3411.

Series leader Alex Palou (No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) had the third-quickest lap at 1:01.5987. He has a 129-point lead over O’Ward in pursuit of his third consecutive season championship and fourth in five years.

Up next is pre-qualifying practice at 10:30 a.m. ET Saturday, followed by NTT P1 Award qualifying at 2:30 p.m. (both sessions FS1, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network). The 90-lap race will be at noon ET (FOX, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network).

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