Home Blog Page 531

CORVETTE RACING AT WATKINS GLEN: Points Lead for No. 3 Corvette

By
Official Release
-

Garcia, Sims finish second in GTD PRO for third time this season

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (June 22, 2025) – Antonio Garcia and Alexander Sims, Chevrolet and the No. 3 Corvette Z06 GT3.R squad moved into first place in the GTD PRO championship standings after a second-place finish Sunday in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen.

Sims drove the opening and closing stints with Garcia doing the work in the middle to net the fourth podium finish in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season for the No. 3 Corvette duo and third runner-up result of the season.

The No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports team weathered – literally (early on, at least) and figuratively – a race that featured 10 full-course yellow periods and sweltering heat in the race’s second half. In addition, Tommy Milner and Nicky Catsburg came home fifth in class with the No. 4 Corvette for the best finish of the season as the championship enters its critical summer stretch.

Eight full-course yellow periods in the first four hours didn’t do much to help teams get into any kind of racing rhythm. Starting drivers undoubtedly had the worst of it on the day as a heavy downpour soaked Watkins Glen. All four Corvettes made it through unscathed and worked toward setting up track position for the final hours.

In GTD PRO, the No. 3 Corvette moved toward the front with Garcia driving the middle portion. He took the class lead with 2:35 left – the first time the No. 3 led on pace since Sebring. Garcia turned the car back over to Sims for the final 70 minutes in third place but the straight-line pace of the Corvettes’ competitors made it difficult to hold position over the course of a stint.

Sims still was able to make a daring overtake for second place inside the final half-hour to net a precious position and valuable championship points.

Milner and Catsburg worked their way forward from ninth mid-race to their first top-five finish of the year. A late-race fuel save by Catsburg allowed him to attack in the closing stages and gain three spots in the final 45 minutes.

It appeared for most of the race that Corvettes would make the GTD podium as AWA and DXDT Racing challenged late for the race lead. Contact and a late penalty shuffled AWA’s No. 13 Corvette down the order and to a ninth-place class finish, and the No. 36 DXDT entry suffered a rear suspension issue late that ground the Corvette to a halt from second place with 10 minutes to go.

The next race for Corvette Z06 GT3.R teams in IMSA is the Chevrolet Grand Prix from Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on July 11-13.

CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R POST-RACE DRIVER QUOTES

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R – SECOND IN GTD PRO: “Starting sixth in my stint, I was a little bit on the back foot there on track position. But overall we made no mistakes. Every stop or every strategy call, we kind of felt like we always went in the right direction. We got into the lead near half distance, so that felt really good. I felt I had the pace just to be there, and nobody seemed to be faster than us at least at that time. But the car felt really good. On the restarts, I didn’t expect the 48 and 1 to be that fast. Pretty much everyone was competitive. It was difficult to defend on restarts and so on. So I thought I had a really good run and the car felt really good. It’s a shame that we seem to be doing the laptime in different places than the others, but in a way I think we maximized whatever we had today. So fuel strategy, the race strategy, driver changes, everything worked really, really good. So I’m happy with that.”

ALEXANDER SIMS, NO. 3 CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R – SECOND IN GTD PRO: “That was a fantastic race… really exciting, really tough to do it completely trouble-free with such changing conditions at the start and then such warm conditions at the end. The tires were, I’m sure, screaming for everybody. This is such a high-speed, flowing track that it’s really hard to save the tires when they’re getting hot in these conditions. Plus we had to fuel-save until that last yellow which I guess saved everybody. But it was really frantic. I don’t think there was a full green stint out there. It’s why we love IMSA… the racing’s so hard, so close and changes all the time. So yes, I’m really pleased with the job that we did. The whole team at Pratt Miller Motorsports did a pretty flawless job. Every pit stop was executed really well. I don’t think we ever really lost out at any point. We played it smart when we needed to. Antonio did a phenomenal middle of the race. That really put us in a good position. and gave me a great chance at the end. I raced hard. Some things went my way, some things didn’t, but it was great fun. It’s just awesome to finish second again. Obviously we’d love to win, but with the pace that some of the other cars had in the first sector here, it was nigh-on impossible to stay ahead if we were ahead each time, so I’m really pleased to be here.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R – FIFTH IN GTD PRO: “A lot of yellows obviously kept everybody close, for better or for worse. At times it helped us for sure and maybe not so good for us at other times. It’s tough out there. The class is competitive and with all the yellows everybody’s always there, no matter what. We continue to be hampered by having no straight-line speed. I’m sure overall that the laptimes are close but when it comes to racing and the way that the balance is between all the cars… it’s tough. To be honest, I’ve never seen such a disparity in cars. So for us, we have to drive like maniacs on restarts, and even that doesn’t really do anything for us. So that part’s frustrating. Otherwise, we do have some work to do on our side just to clean things up a little bit for us to get a good result. I think the car was in a good window this weekend. There are still some areas for me to improve, for us as the team to improve. So we’ll keep working on it.”

NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 4 CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R – FIFTH IN GTD PRO: “I feel like we didn’t do so many things wrong and we ended up in P5, which was okay. I think from a team point of view it was a good day with the No. 3 car in P2, but it would be nice to have a result with the No. 4 Corvette at some point. We didn’t make many mistakes. We do need to analyze where we lost time. Some of it is bad luck with the pit lane situation the way it is in IMSA and it’s not really anyone’s fault so we need to just keep grinding. Whenever we are ahead on track of the 3 car it gets tough in the pit lane. So sometimes it’s quite unrewarding because you feel like we’re doing well then the next pit stop and we’re not doing well anymore. So that’s frustrating. But other than that I would say a pretty solid day. We stayed out of trouble, the cars are in one piece, and it was a good job for the championship. So well done team.”

CHARLIE EASTWOOD, NO. 36 CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R – 15TH IN GTD: “What could have been again unfortunately for these guys. We were in a really good spot… P2 for most of the last stint and then actually the Lexus ran out of fuel in the last lap. Just 10 minutes to go and a rear-left failure potentially from some contact early in the race, but definitely not within the last three to four hours. So we just needed to diagnose what that was. But yeah, it was a super good weekend for us from start to finish and the team did a really good job. I tried to get these guys their first podium in IMSA, my own first podium in IMSA, but again it wasn’t to be today.”

Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.

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.

CHEVROLET IN NHRA AT RICHMOND: VIRGINIA NHRA NATIONALS EVENT RECAP & QUOTES

By
Official Release
-

CHEVROLET IN NHRA
2025 AMERICAN REBEL LIGHT VIRGINIA NHRA NATIONALS
VIRGINIA MOTORSPORTS PARK
NORTH DINWIDDIE, VIRGINIA
TEAM CHEVY RACE RECAP | NOTES & QUOTES
JUNE 22, 2025

AUSTIN PROCK SCORES THIRD WIN OF 2025, CONTINUES TO LEAD FUNNY CAR POINT STANDINGS

Prock Wins in Virginia for Second Straight Year, Beats Teammate Beckman in Final

Notes:

  • Austin Prock qualified No. 2 in his Cornwell Tools John Force Racing (JFR) Chevrolet, going 4.004 at 320.36.
  • Prock defeated Cruz Pedregon (Rd1), Bob Tasca III (Rd 2) and JR Todd (Rd 3) to meet up with teammate Jack Beckman in the finals
  • Prock scored his third victory of the season in running a 4.061 at 318.02 versus Beckman’s 4.071 at 305.42
  • Brittany Force qualified No. 1 in her Chevrolet Accessories Top Fuel Dragster, but fell in round 1.
  • Jack Beckman behind the wheel of the Peak Performance JFR Chevrolet Funny Car qualified No. 1 on Saturday, his third No. 1 qualifying effort of the 2025 season.

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING:

AUSTIN PROCK, DRIVER OF THE CORNWELL TOOLS CHEVROLET SS FUNNY CAR FOR JOHN FORCE RACING: “We went through hell last year. There was a lot of uncertainty, and we had no idea which way all these events were going to go. We’re so blessed to have him back out here at the racetrack, healthy. And to win back-to-back for him, this trophy is definitely going to him as well. We battled through adversity here last year racing for him and this year obviously we wanted to win for him. We battled a lot of tough track conditions. A lot of people were struggling here, and my team just kept their heads

to the grindstone and got the job done. I had a feeling we were going to come in here and prove why we’re the points leaders and we did exactly that. We raced smart, we raced competitively, and I finally got my stuff together behind the wheel. Really proud of this win. I can’t wait to get back and see my family, see John Force, and celebrate big tonight.”

JACK BECKMAN, DRIVER OF THE PEAK PERFORMANCE CHEVY SS FUNNY CAR: “So I said our goal is to qualify on the opposite side of the ladder of the Cornwell car and race them which means it’s a final round; and we did all of that. History will make it seem like this was scripted but the reality is, it was a miserably hot weekend. My hats off to the Cornwell Car, and my hats off to the PEAK squad. Everybody did everything through a nasty 102-degree heat index day to get those two cars into the final round and put on a great show for the fans. We were actually ahead by four-thousandths of a second before we

started spinning the tires. And that is not a would’ve, could’ve, should’ve. The Cornwell team did a better job than the PEAK team today. The PEAK team has got a car that will run in the heat and were going to be running in the heat for the next couple of months. Can’t wait for next weekend.”

BRITTANY FORCE, DRIVER OF CHEVROLET ACCESSORIES CHEVROLET DRAGSTER: “Tough weekend here in Virginia for our Chevrolet Accessories team. It’s difficult returning to this track after everything that happened last season. But overall to be able to come back with my dad is a very positive note. We qualified No. 1 which is outstanding for this team. We made two solid passes in the heat on Saturday and unfortunately, we just got out run first round against Tony Stewart. But again, we’re learning things every weekend, especially on these hot racetracks. We’ll pack up and go to Norwalk sporting our Chevrolet colors once again and try and fight for a win there.”

UP NEXT:

The 11th round of the 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series takes place June 26th to June 29th, 2025 at The Summit Racing Equipment Raceway Park in Norwalk, Ohio. The Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals finals can be seen on Sunday, June 29th starting at 2:00 p.m. ET on FOX. Coverage airs throughout the weekend with NHRA on FOX and NHRA.tv (subscription), streaming available via AppleTV, Android TV, and Roku devices.

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.

RCR NCS Race Recap: Pocono Raceway

By
Official Release
-
The Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono

Austin Dillon and the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/Winchester Chevrolet Team Earn 24th-Place Finish at Pocono Raceway

Finish: 24th
Start: 16th
Points: 26th

“Our No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/Winchester Chevrolet team fought hard all race long at Pocono Raceway. The track was hot and slick after the rain earlier in the day and we fought a tight balanced Chevrolet. Crew Chief Richard Boswell made great strategy calls, and our Chevy handled better towards the end of the race. I tried to make a move to the top on a late restart, but the track was rubbered up more than I was expecting and it cost us a lot of spots. By the end of the race, the handling of our Chevy went back to the tight side, and we couldn’t recover. We will regroup and head to Atlanta next week.” -Austin Dillon

Kyle Busch and the No. 8 zone Chevrolet Team Survive Spin to Earn Top-20 Finish at Pocono Raceway

Finish: 20th
Start: 26th
Points: 19th

“Our zone Chevrolet team worked hard today at Pocono Raceway to overcome obstacles. A speeding penalty on pit road put us behind at the end of Stage 1, then we ended up with heavy damage to our Chevy after spinning towards the end of Stage 2. We just lost the air racing in traffic. Crew chief Randall Burnett and the rest of the RCR team worked hard to keep us on the lead lap. Our Chevy was never the same after the spin, and handling was really bad in traffic. We’ll regroup and head to Atlanta.” -Kyle Busch

Alex Palou stretches fuel to win at Road America

By
Tucker White
-
ELKHART LAKE, Wis. - JUNE 22: Alex Palou, driver of the #10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, celebrates after winning the NTT IndyCar Series XPEL Grand Prix at Road America on June 22, 2025, in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. Photo: Joe Skibinski/Penske Entertainment

As the laps clicked away at Elkart Lake, Wisconsin, IndyCar points leader Alex Palou didn’t know if he could make it to the finish on fuel.

When teammate Scott Dixon pit from the lead with three laps to go, Palou, who pit two laps later than Dixon, stretched the fuel enough to score the victory at Road America.

“It was tough,” he said. “It was a crazy race. I don’t know about how it looked from the outside, but from inside, it just felt like there was a lot going on. Lots of yellows, obviously, that were shaking how we were looking.

“We were looking really bad at the beginning, then really good, then terrible, then really good. It was tough to be up there. But yeah, we just had to stay focused on battling against the people that were on our strategy.

“I didn’t agree with Barry’s strategy call. I got to be grumpy for a couple of laps, and then I saw it was working out, and I started saying thank you again. It was interesting, but for sure, we got the win because of the team that we had on both pit stops and strategy. They made it look really good, and HRC that gave us the mileage we needed to gamble and to make it with that stop that we did.”

It’s his 17th career victory in his 90th NTT IndyCar Series start and sixth of the 2025 season.

Felix Rosenqvist finished runner-up for the second time this season and Santino Ferrucci rounded out the podium.

“Yeah, good memories from here,” Rosenqvist said. “I had my first win here. As you said, it’s been a couple of good results here in the past. I felt the whole weekend we had good pace and in practice we were rolling well. Kind of messed up qualifying. Tried to do the carousel flat and I lost it and I started P12.

“It wasn’t ideal, but I knew we had good pace in the car. My Meyer Shank SiriusXM Honda was just on rails. There was a lot of strategies going on. We did two black stints in the beginning and we held on pretty good, and especially in the restarts, it seemed like the blacks were pretty good, and they faded a bit when you got up to speed. But we capitalized on all those yellows, and I think that was to our advantage.

“Then at the end of the race we didn’t have to save any fuel and we had two new reds, and we were just doing qually laps every lap, and that’s kind of when we ended where we ended. So it was really good, and super proud of all the guys.

“It’s a hot day out there. It was tough for everyone, pit crew, engineering, and computers and all that kind of stuff. Everything is running hot. Happy we made it to the finish.”

Kyle Kirkwood and Marcus Armstrong rounded out the top-five.

Kyffin Simpson, David Malukas, Nolan Siegel, Scott Dixon and Rinus VeeKay rounded out the top-10.

Alex Palou stretches fuel to win at Road America

Race summary

Louis Foster led the field to green at 1:53 p.m. ET. Caution flew on Lap 1 when Malukas locked up, got into the back of Pato O’Ward and spun into the gravel trap off Turn 3.

Back to green on Lap 4, Scott McLaughlin overtook Foster on the outside into Turn 1 for the race lead. Robert Shwartzman brought out the second caution when he got loose, spun and got stuck in the gravel pit off Turn 12 on Lap 5.

Back to green on Lap 8, the field tried settling into a green flag rhythm. On Lap 10, however, Sting Ray Robb wrecked hard in Turn 5. McLaughlin and most of the field pitted under this caution. Dixon, who pitted during the first caution, stayed out to take the race lead.

Back to green on Lap 14, the race settled into a green flag run. Just like the first two cautions, however, caution flew on Lap 22 when Conor Daly got stuck in the gravel trap off Turn 5. Dixon pitted under the caution, while Christian Lundgaard stayed out to take the lead.

Back to green on Lap 25, Kirkwood overtook Lundgaard into Turn 1, but ran wide on exit and Lundgaard held onto the lead. Teams started hitting pit road 29 laps to go. Including race leader Lundgaard. Kirkwood pit from the lead with 28 laps to go. Caution flew with 26 to go when Josef Newgarden got loose and wrecked into a sign and tire barrier off Turn 14.

Back to green with 23 to go, Dixon pit from the lead with 18 laps to go. Palou pit from the lead with 15 to go. Rosenqvist pit from the lead with 14 to go. Malukas pit from the lead with 12 to go. Dixon cycled back to the lead with 11 to go. The master of fuel saving in INDYCAR, however, couldn’t stretch the fuel enough and he pit from the lead with three to go.

Palou inherited the lead and stretched the fuel enough to win the race.

Alex Palou stretches fuel to win at Road America

What else happened

After the AMR safety team towed Daly out of the gravel trap, he took off before they removed the tow cable.

Alex Palou stretches fuel to win at Road America

Nuts and bolts

The race lasted one hour, 53 minutes and 30 seconds, at an average speed of 116.696 mph. There were 11 lead changes among nine different drivers and five cautions for 12 laps.

Palou leaves Road America with a 93-point lead over Kirkwood.

The NTT INDYCAR SERIES returns to action on July 6, at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

CHEVROLET NCS AT POCONO: Post-Race Report

By
Official Release
-

NASCAR CUP SERIES
POCONO RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE REPORT
JUNE 22, 2025

Elliott Tallies Top-Five Finish to Lead Chevrolet at the “Tricky Triangle”

  • Chase Elliott paced Chevrolet to the finish of The Great American Getaway 400 Presented by VISITPA.COM at Pocono Raceway – taking the checkered flag in the fifth position to earn the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team’s fifth top-five finish this season. Elliott was among just five drivers to earn points in each stage of the 400-mile race – ending the series’ annual trip to the Pennsylvania oval with a strong 43-point day. The result extends Elliott’s top-10 streak at Pocono Raceway to now four-straight.
  • Spire Motorsports’ Carson Hocevar put together yet another strong showing throughout the Pocono Race weekend – starting with a third-place qualifying effort to lead Team Chevy to the green flag in the series’ 17th points-paying race of the season. The 22-year-old Michigan native stayed steady in the top-five through the opening laps before early pit strategy brought the No. 77 Chevrolet to pit road for the team’s first scheduled stop in the closing laps of Stage One. Continuing to carry speed throughout the race, Hocevar went on to collect points in Stage Two before taking the checkered flag with a 18th-place result.
  • With NASCAR’s top division entering the single-digit countdown to the end of the regular season, a familiar face continues to stand atop the driver points standings. Fighting an uphill battle following an incident in qualifying, William Byron and the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team took advantage of pit strategy to collect points in each stage – ultimately leaving Pocono with a six-point lead over Christopher Bell.

TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10 RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
5th – Chase Elliott
7th – Kyle Larson

Chevrolet’s season statistics with 17 NASCAR Cup Series races complete:

Wins: 6
Poles: 8
Top-Fives: 35
Top 10s: 71
Stage Wins: 16

UP NEXT: The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season continues at EchoPark Speedway with Quaker State 400 Available at Walmart on Saturday, June 28, at 7 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on TNT, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
Post-Race Driver Quotes:

Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

Finished: 5th

“We were just really loose in (turn) three. I felt like I could pace pretty good through turns one and two, but I just could not get turn three right all day. Certainly as the run went on, it became more challenging for me and I started making more and more mistakes over there. I thought Denny (Hamlin) and Ryan (Blaney) could do a better job of kind of stalking the person in front of them to get themselves opportunities. I was just a little bit too far back and I think it was mainly because of that. But overall, happy to get a fifth-place finish for this No. 9 NAPA Chevy team.”

Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

Finished: 7th

You showed a lot of pace there at the end and you scored stage points in Stage Two. Talk about your day here at Pocono Raceway…

“It was an up-and-down day. It was really hard to pass. It was a good fight for the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevy team to get a seventh-place finish, and for three Hendrick Motorsports cars to get top-10 results. I just hope we don’t carry what we had the last few weeks into the rest of the season. Prior to the last few weeks, we’ve been really fast. It’s just been a rough stretch, but we’ll continue to go to work.”

Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet

Finished: 15th

“It was an average day for the No. 99 Very Good Ventures Chevrolet team. We started the race OK on the short run, but then in the final stage, we just lost the balance of the car a little bit. We were just way too tight and never got it back.”

Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

McDowell endured a brake failure in Stage Two, ultimately ending the No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet team’s day early at Pocono Raceway.

Finished: 35th

Did you have any warning that your brakes were going out?

“Yeah, I had warning half of the race that the brakes weren’t going to make it. It’s unfortunate. It wasn’t what we needed for this No. 71 Gainbridge Chevrolet team. We came off a good weekend (in Mexico City), and this is the exact opposite of what we needed. But we have Atlanta, Chicago and Sonoma coming up, so we have a lot of good tracks on the horizon for our team. The season is grueling sometimes.

I was just trying to nurse it there at the end on that last restart, knowing I was starting to lose my pedal a little bit. In the car, there’s not a lot you can do other than dial bias to the rear and hope and pray for the best. What put us behind this weekend was yesterday in qualifying. I just made a mistake there, and that kind of sets you up for the whole race starting 28th. We did some strategy there and we were going to give ourselves a fighting chance. But like I said, I knew we had an issue with the brakes and I was trying to get to a place where hopefully they would last, but they didn’t. ”

Does this put more emphasis on winning moving forward?

“No, that’s been the mindset anyways. I’ve been telling you guys all year that I’m not planning on pointing my way in… I’m planning on winning a race because that’s the way I see us getting into the playoffs. You’re going to have weekends like this where you have issues, you get taken out or you have something happen. You can’t plan on pointing your way in, especially this early on because there’s still a lot of opportunities for guys below the cutline to win, as we saw last weekend. When you have places like Atlanta, Chicago, Sonoma, Daytona, you’ve got a lot of tracks that it could open it up for a new winner, like we saw with Harrison Burton last year. That last few years, there’s been a few surprise winners.”

What is it about this place that’s leading to the brake issues?

“Yeah, I’m not sure. I don’t know if it’s the teams pushing more. Obviously, for us, this is a different team, a different car, a different package than what we ran here in the past. But I think the brakes have been fairly close here at times. Obviously there’s really long straightaways and high braking zones, so the brakes heat and cool and heat and cool. Those cycles can hurt the rotors, and I think that’s what we saw today. We’ll look at it and see what we could have done differently.”

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.

PROCK, LANGDON & HERRERA FIND WINS IN HEAT AT AMERICAN REBEL LIGHT VIRGINIA NHRA NATIONALS

By
Official Release
-
  • FC’s Prock wins second straight at VMP
  • Langdon races to TF triumph
  • Herrera goes back-to-back at VMP in PSM

DINWIDDIE, Va. (June 22, 2025) – Funny Car points leader and reigning world champion Austin Prock won for the second straight year at Virginia Motorsports Park on Sunday, defeating John Force Racing teammate Jack Beckman in the final round of the fifth annual American Rebel Light Virginia Nationals.

Shawn Langdon (Top Fuel) and Gaige Herrera (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also won the ninth of 20 races during the 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.

In the final round, Prock went 4.061-seconds at 318.02 mph in his 12,000-horsepower Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS Funny Car, holding off Beckman at the finish line and picking up his third win of the season. Prock defeated Cruz Pedregon, Bob Tasca III and J.R. Todd to advance to the final round en route to his 15th career victory. Prock and team delivered a strong performance and it came at an ideal time after the reigning champ lost in the first round at the past two races.

It was also an emotional win for Prock, as the matchup between JFR teammates took place a year after legendary Funny Car driver John Force was involved in a massive crash at Virginia Motorsports Park. Prock won on that trying weekend a year ago and was thrilled to hand another trophy to Force with his boss in attendance on Sunday.

“A lot of emotion for sure. Getting to win last year, that was huge and being able to take the Wally to John as a team, that’s what we wanted to do again today, and I’m happy that we could go back-to-back and get the job done for him,” Prock said. “The trophy’s going home with him. I might have to hide it in his suitcase or something. He won’t take it off my hand, but it’s definitely going back with him.

“He does so much for me, and he’s given me an opportunity in a lifetime to live my dream, so to win for him again today and be able to celebrate his health and have him back out at the racetrack and doing good and getting better every day means a lot for our team and all our partners and even NHRA. This sport is not the same without John Force. We’re very blessed to have him at the racetrack.”

Beckman moved back to second in points, reaching the finals for the third time this season and 75th time in his career after round wins against Jim Campbell, Paul Lee and Daniel Wilkerson. Prock leads his teammate by 60 points heading to the halfway mark of the season.

In Top Fuel, Shawn Langdon finished the job this year at Virginia Motorsports Park, taking his third win of 2025 with a run of 3.940 at 319.67 in his 12,000-horsepower Kalitta Air Careers dragster to get past Justin Ashley in the final round. Langdon advanced to the finals last year at VMP against teammate Doug Kalitta, but he enjoyed a different result in 2025, claiming his 22nd career victory.

To reach the finals, Langdon got past Cam Ferre, Dan Mercier and points leader Tony Stewart in a huge semifinal matchup. Stewart went red, handing the victory to Langdon and he closed out a stellar weekend with the victory. A year after advancing to seven final rounds but only winning twice, Langdon is the first Top Fuel driver in 2025 to get three wins, showing standout closing ability in what he hopes is another championship season.

The former world champ also closed the gap on points leader Stewart, as Langdon is now only 31 points behind Stewart heading to Norwalk next weekend.

“In qualifying, we kind of knew what we’re going to be in for on Sunday, so we really tried to get the car to where we felt comfortable with it on a hot surface,” Langdon said. “We know this track is probably the smoothest track that we have on tour, but there’s not a whole lot you can really do when it’s 145-plus-degree track.

“[Racing points leader Tony Stewart], you can’t lose in that situation and put yourself in a bigger hole. So, I mean, it was tough. I believe that was his first red light ever and I was doing the same thing on the other side. It was just my foot was coming back and his was going down. It was a long tree, high adrenaline, you know, lot of heat, and it’s just a tough situation.”

Ashley reached the final round for the fourth time in the past five races, defeating Doug Foley, Steve Torrence and Kalitta. He moved to third in points.

Gaige Herrera had to chase down Angie Smith in the finals in Pro Stock Motorcycle, but the points leader won for the second straight year at Virginia Motorsports Park with a run of 6.826 at 198.79 in the final round on his RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki. Smith left first on the back-to-back world champion, going 6.853 at 196.76, but Herrera had just enough to get past her at the finish line.

It gives Herrera his third win of the season and 24 in his career, with all of those coming since the start of the 2023 season. He continues to impress at every turn, defeating Ron Tornow, Steve Johnson and No. 1 qualifier Brayden Davis to reach the final round. The qualifying dominance hasn’t been there as of late, with Davis claiming the top spot at the last two races, but Herrera remains in control on raceday, stretching his points lead to 100 points over Matt Smith.

“I almost fumbled there in the final with my light,” Herrera said. “A 150-degree track is just insane but NHRA did a phenomenal job and Andrew [Hines, crew chief] had my bike consistent all day. Angie had a fast bike and I had a little doubt when I looked over before 1,000 foot and I saw her and thought ‘This is a little too close’ because the Buells always have the mph. So when I looked over, I saw I was actually pulling away from her (and) that was a good feeling.

“I’m having a lot of fun. Racing is all about competition, and that’s what I love, it’s what drives me and pushes me to do better than I can. I want to say I’m nervous racing Brayden and he always says he’s nervous racing me, just because of all this good success I’ve had.”

Smith reached the final round for the first time this season and 10th time in her career after defeating Dystany Spurlock, Matt Smith and Richard Gadson.

The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series returns to action June 26-29 with the 19th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio.

NHRA Agate from Dinwiddie, Va.

DINWIDDIE, Va. — Final finish order (1-16) at the Fifth annual American Rebel Light Virginia NHRA Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park. The race is the ninth of 20 events in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series.

TOP FUEL:

  1. Shawn Langdon; 2. Justin Ashley; 3. Doug Kalitta; 4. Tony Stewart; 5. Clay Millican; 6.

Steve Torrence; 7. Dan Mercier; 8. Antron Brown; 9. Shawn Reed; 10. Brittany Force; 11. Doug Foley; 12. Josh Hart; 13. Cameron Ferre; 14. Smax Smith.

FUNNY CAR:

  1. Austin Prock; 2. Jack Beckman; 3. J.R. Todd; 4. Daniel Wilkerson; 5. Hunter Green; 6. Paul Lee; 7. Ron Capps; 8. Bob Tasca III; 9. Chad Green; 10. Spencer Hyde; 11. Matt Hagan; 12. Cruz Pedregon; 13. Dave Richards; 14. Buddy Hull; 15. Alexis DeJoria; 16. Jim Campbell.

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE:

  1. Gaige Herrera; 2. Angie Smith; 3. Richard Gadson; 4. Brayden Davis; 5. Matt Smith; 6. Steve Johnson; 7. Ryan Oehler; 8. Chris Bostick; 9. Hector Arana Jr; 10. Chase Van Sant; 11. Ron Tornow; 12. Marc Ingwersen; 13. Jianna Evaristo; 14. Dystany Spurlock; 15. Kelly Clontz; 16. John Hall.

DINWIDDIE, Va. — Sunday’s final results from the Fifth annual American Rebel Light Virginia NHRA Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park. The race is the ninth of 20 in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series:

Top Fuel — Shawn Langdon, 3.940 seconds, 319.67 mph def. Justin Ashley, 4.167 seconds, 227.92 mph.

Funny Car — Austin Prock, Chevy Camaro, 4.061, 318.02 def. Jack Beckman, Camaro, 4.071, 305.42.

Pro Stock Motorcycle — Gaige Herrera, Suzuki, 6.826, 198.79 def. Angie Smith, Buell, 6.853, 196.76.

Competition Eliminator — Jay Schonberger, Olds Cutlass, 7.928, 169.15 def. Mark Moreland, Chevy Camaro, 9.345, 147.37.

Super Stock — Joe Santangelo, Chevy Camaro, 9.724, 132.06 def. Bryan Worner, Camaro, 9.935, 128.92.

Stock Eliminator — Steve Foley, Chevy Camaro, 9.906, 133.45 def. Greg Rowe, Pontiac Trans Am, Foul – Red Light.

Super Comp — Corey Manuel, Dragster, 10.835, 89.57 def. Lauren Freer, Dragster, Foul – Red Light.

Super Gas — JJ Brock, Chevy Camaro, 9.913, 157.85 def. Ricky Hall, Camaro, 9.872, 139.13.

Top Dragster — Tommy Muller, Dragster, 7.053, 187.55 def. Anthony Bertozzi, Dragster, 7.225, 180.24.

Pro Modified — JR Gray, Chevy Camaro, 5.787, 251.49 def. Dmitry Samorukov, Chevy Corvette, Broke.

Top Fuel Motorcycle — Larry McBride, Custom, 4.986, 232.67 def. Bob Malloy, American, 6.709, 111.69.

Factory X — Lenny Lottig, Chevy Camaro, 7.037, 194.13 def. Jesse Alexandra, Camaro, 7.038, 197.57.

DINWIDDIE, Va. — Final round-by-round results from the Fifth annual American Rebel Light Virginia NHRA Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park, the ninth of 20 events in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series:

TOP FUEL:

ROUND ONE — Justin Ashley, 3.934, 315.93 def. Doug Foley, 3.999, 259.71; Shawn Langdon, 3.905, 322.11 def. Cameron Ferre, 4.070, 293.09; Dan Mercier, 3.951, 304.12 def. Shawn Reed, 3.934, 321.19; Tony Stewart, 3.872, 318.99 def. Brittany Force, 3.938, 319.14; Clay Millican, 4.155, 224.92 def. Smax Smith, Foul – Red Light; Steve Torrence, 3.920, 321.12 def. Josh Hart, 4.041, 304.94; Doug Kalitta, 3.877, 326.87 def. Antron Brown, 3.933, 302.41;

QUARTERFINALS — Ashley, 3.925, 317.64 def. Torrence, 4.568, 175.96; Langdon, 3.952, 319.52 def. Mercier, 12.443, 55.03; Kalitta, 3.882, 326.00 def. Millican, 4.014, 276.46; Stewart, 11.465, 68.75 was unopposed;

SEMIFINALS — Langdon, 6.350, 108.73 def. Stewart, Foul – Red Light; Ashley, 4.422,

266.69 def. Kalitta, 5.856, 143.76;

FINAL — Langdon, 3.940, 319.67 def. Ashley, 4.167, 227.92.

FUNNY CAR:

ROUND ONE — Daniel Wilkerson, Ford Mustang, 4.062, 319.67 def. Dave Richards, Mustang, 4.157, 305.36; J.R. Todd, Toyota GR Supra, 4.115, 307.86 def. Buddy Hull, Dodge Charger, 4.171, 294.56; Jack Beckman, Chevy Camaro, 4.009, 319.82 def. Jim Campbell, Mustang, 5.317, 144.94; Austin Prock, Camaro, 3.996, 323.66 def. Cruz Pedregon, Charger, 4.127, 298.27; Ron Capps, GR Supra, 4.032, 321.81 def. Chad Green, Mustang, 4.047, 317.57; Hunter Green, Charger, 4.064, 295.08 def. Matt Hagan, Charger, 4.088, 321.12; Bob Tasca III, Mustang, 4.055, 319.14 def. Spencer Hyde, Mustang, 4.073, 309.06; Paul Lee, Charger, 4.050, 304.74 def. Alexis DeJoria, Charger, 4.660, 179.80;

QUARTERFINALS — Todd, 4.075, 313.66 def. H. Green, 4.151, 296.18; Prock, No Time Recorded def. Tasca III, DQ’ed CL; Beckman, 4.334, 236.26 def. Lee, 10.268, 69.38; Wilkerson, 4.063, 316.45 def. Capps, 10.668, 63.91;

SEMIFINALS — Prock, 4.115, 310.77 def. Todd, 5.342, 211.76; Beckman, 4.113, 315.64 def. Wilkerson, 6.677, 145.64;

FINAL — Prock, 4.061, 318.02 def. Beckman, 4.071, 305.42.

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE:

ROUND ONE — Ryan Oehler, 6.911, 196.07 def. Jianna Evaristo, Buell, 6.945, 192.41; Angie Smith, Buell, 6.853, 196.30 def. Dystany Spurlock, Buell, 6.990, 192.17; Richard Gadson, Suzuki, 6.857, 197.77 def. Hector Arana Jr, 6.897, 194.86; Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 6.880, 194.38 def. Kelly Clontz, Suzuki, 6.993, 193.90; Gaige Herrera, Suzuki, 6.790, 199.14 def. Ron Tornow, 6.925, 196.50; Chris Bostick, Suzuki, 9.639, 84.38 def. John Hall, Broke; Matt Smith, Buell, 6.791, 199.20 def. Chase Van Sant, Suzuki, Foul – Red Light; Brayden Davis, Suzuki, 6.835, 197.91 def. Marc Ingwersen, 6.929, 193.88;

QUARTERFINALS — Gadson, 6.887, 197.42 def. Bostick, 7.115, 191.08; Davis, 6.898, 195.73 def. Oehler, 6.962, 193.07; A. Smith, 6.818, 197.94 def. M. Smith, 6.850, 198.20; Herrera, 6.813, 199.73 def. Johnson, 6.936, 195.76;

SEMIFINALS — A. Smith, 6.854, 197.19 def. Gadson, 6.879, 197.25; Herrera, 6.818, 199.11 def. Davis, 9.567, 90.82;

FINAL — Herrera, 6.826, 198.79 def. A. Smith, 6.853, 196.76.

DINWIDDIE, Va. — Point standings (top 10) following the Fifth annual American Rebel Light Virginia NHRA Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park, the ninth of 20 events in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series –

Top Fuel

  1. Tony Stewart, 771; 2. Shawn Langdon, 740; 3. Justin Ashley, 630; 4. Doug Kalitta, 608; 5. Antron Brown, 591; 6. Brittany Force, 531; 7. Steve Torrence, 513; 8. Clay Millican, 445; 9. Josh Hart, 399; 10. Shawn Reed, 366.

Funny Car

  1. Austin Prock, 716; 2. Jack Beckman, 656; 3. Paul Lee, 617; 4. Ron Capps, 550; 5. Matt Hagan, 521; 6. J.R. Todd, 498; 7. Daniel Wilkerson, 474; 8. Chad Green, 414; 9. Alexis DeJoria, 396; 10. Bob Tasca III, 392.

Pro Stock Motorcycle

  1. Gaige Herrera, 546; 2. Matt Smith, 446; 3. Richard Gadson, 420; 4. Angie Smith, 299; 5. Chase Van Sant, 264; 6. Steve Johnson, 245; 7. Jianna Evaristo, 219; 8. Chris Bostick, 218; 9. John Hall, 206; 10. Brayden Davis, 203.

Tasca Racing Weekend Recap: 2025 NHRA Virginia Nationals

By
Official Release
-

Tasca Racing brought confidence and a proven combination into this weekend’s NHRA Virginia Nationals, returning to the chassis that delivered a No. 1 qualifier and a final-round appearance at this same track last season. Under sweltering conditions at Virginia Motorsports Park, the team’s decision paid off immediately with a string of strong runs and a competitive performance throughout qualifying and eliminations.

Bob Tasca III piloted the PPG nitro Mustang Dark Horse Funny Car to a smooth 4.113-second pass at 310.48 mph during Friday’s opening session, placing the team in the No. 8 spot. The second round of qualifying saw another full pull
at 4.138 seconds, though the car appeared to lose a cylinder early. On Saturday night, Tasca delivered his best run of the weekend, 4.047 seconds at 319.75 mph, securing the No. 7 qualifying position heading into race day.

“The car picked up right where it left off last year,” said Tasca. “Running a 4.04 in the hottest conditions we’ve seen all season says a lot about this team. I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished so far.”

On Sunday, Tasca faced Spencer Hyde in round one and powered to a decisive 4.055-second run at 319.14 mph, advancing to the second round of eliminations. The car was aggressive, consistent, and clearly capable of going rounds.

Round two matched Tasca up against Austin Prock, and on paper, Tasca had the winning run with a 4.141 to Prock’s 4.166. But the victory didn’t hold, Tasca was disqualified after the car spun the tires near 900 feet and drifted just
enough to clip the finish line cone with the header. “I tried to get it back in the groove, but it pulled too quick,” Tasca said. “Tough second-round loss for this team.”

The return to the 2024 chassis paid off in performance and consistency. The team made three full qualifying passes and ran strong on race day. Despite the heartbreak in round two, Tasca Racing showed signs of returning to form, and
the data collected under extreme conditions gives the crew something to build on as the season heats up.

Richmond Event Recap for the American Rebel Light Virginia NHRA Nationals

By
Official Release
-

Tony Stewart & Matt Hagan
American Rebel Beer
Top Fuel & Funny Car Drivers
American Rebel Light Virginia NHRA Nationals
June 21-22 | North Dinwiddie, Virginia

Event Recap
Tony Stewart, driver of the American Rebel Beer Dodge//SRT Top Fuel Dragster:

  • Earned No. 11 provisional qualifying position in Q1 on Saturday (10.187 ET at 67.80 mph)
  • Fell to No. 14 provisional qualifying position based off of Saturday’s Q1 run. In Q2 on Saturday, Stewart ran a 10.936 ET at 74.93 mph. Stewart faced Steve Torrence in the Round 1 of the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, where Torrence’s 3.888 ET, 321.96 mph run defeated Stewart.
  • Secured No. 14 qualifying position based off of Saturday’s Q1 run. In Q3 on Saturday, Stewart ran a 8.979 ET at 79.59 mph.
  • Advanced to Semifinals on Sunday:
  • Round 1: 3.872 ET at 318.99 mph, defeated Brittany Force (3.938 ET at 319.14 mph)
  • Round 2: 11.465 ET at 68.75 mph in a bye
  • Semifinals: 8.267 ET at 84.72 mph (red lit), lost to Shawn Langdon (6.350 ET at 108.73 mph)
  • Currently leading the Top Fuel championship standings, 32 points over Shawn Langdon

Matt Hagan, driver of the American Rebel Beer Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car:

  • Earned No. 5 provisional qualifying position in Q1 on Saturday (4.039 ET at 319.07 mph)
  • Fell to No. 6 provisional qualifying position based off of Saturday’s Q1 run. In Q2 on Saturday, Hagan ran a 4.596 ET at 186.28 mph.
  • Secured No. 6 qualifying position based off of Saturday’s Q1 run. In Q3 on Saturday, Hagan ran a 4.096 ET at 317.87 mph.
  • Round 1: 4.088 ET at 321.12 mph, lost to Hunter Green (4.064 ET at 295.08 mph)
  • Currently fifth in the Funny Car championship standings, 195 points behind leader Austin Prock

Notes of Interest

  • Stewart is the only Top Fuel driver that has advanced past Round 1 of eliminations in every event this season. He has advanced to the Semifinals in seven of the first nine events.
  • Stewart’s Round 1 run of 3.872-seconds was low ET (elapsed time) of the round.
  • By advancing to the Semifinals at the American Rebel Light Virginia NHRA Nationals, Stewart qualified to participate in the #2Fast2Tasty Challenge at the next event, the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals, where he will face a rematch against Shawn Langdon.
  • Hagan is the current track record holder at Virginia Motorsports park for both time and speed, a mark he set in 2022. The 3.853-seccond run set the track record for time. His Q1 run in 2022 set the track record for speed at 335.82 mph.
  • Virginia represents a home race for Hagan. The 52-time event winner is a native of Christiansburg, Virginia, located 190 miles west of the track.
  • American Rebel Beer was the primary sponsor of both Hagan and Stewart in Richmond. They also served as the primary sponsor of the event. American Rebel Beer was founded in April of 2024 by American Rebel CEO Andy Ross. American Rebel Beer is All Natural, Crisp, Clean and has a Bold Taste with a Lighter Feel. It does not use corn, rice or other sweeteners typically found in other mass-produced beers. American Rebel Beer is currently offered in 12 states (Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, and Virginia), with additional states being announced soon. You can also find American Rebel in various legendary bars like Kid Rock’s, Tootsies, Honky Tony Central, and many others in the entertainment district in Nashville, as well as retail outlets, venues and music festivals throughout the United States. American Rebel Beer is America’s Patriotic, God-Fearing, Constitution-Loving, National Anthem Singing, Stand Your Ground Beer.

Tony Stewart, Driver of the American Rebel Beer Dodge//SRT Top Fuel Dragster
“I was in a hurry during the Semifinals. It (red light) is a compliment to Shawn (Langdon). He is in the top-two of guys leaving in this category right now, so you can’t give him anything. We couldn’t leave anything on the table and his team is a great team also. I just let my team down today. It was a tough weekend overall. Qualifying was tough for us and I had my struggles today, so we’ll just rebound. I’m proud that our American Rebel Light team made it to the Semifinals again and we still have our round one streak going, but it’s hard to take when I’m the one that took us out.”

Matt Hagan, Driver of the American Rebel Beer Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car
“One of the positive takeaways from this weekend is that we qualified in the top-half of the field. We were focused on that coming into the weekend. We brought a new chassis out because we’ve been trying a couple different cars out that we’ve won with in the past. The car is running good, we’ve just been on the back side of some good drag races. I know I keep saying that, but it is what it is. Sometimes, we get caught up with who we’re racing, instead of just racing the racetrack. We talked as a team about pushing as hard as the track will hold and see if we can get on the other side of this thing. I’m very proud of (Mike) Knudsen (crew chief), Phil (Shuler – co-crew chief), Alex (Conaway – car chief), and all the guys that are working on the car. They are doing a phenomenal job and the car is running good, it’s just not good enough. It would be great if I could also leave on somebody. That always helps. It’s a combination of everything. If I had cut a .060-second light today, we’d be going some rounds. The burden doesn’t just fall on one person. We win as a team and lose as a team. We need to just put our best foot forward with Dodge coming up in Norwalk.”

Next Up
The next event on the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series schedule is the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals June 26-29 at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio.

CHEVROLET IN THE NTT INDYCAR SERIES: Race Report

By
Official Release
-

CHEVROLET IN THE NTT INDYCAR SERIES
XPEL Grand Prix at Road America Presented by AMR
Road America
Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
Qualifying Report
June 21, 2025

  • Santino Ferrucci saved just enough fuel to land on the podium in third place behind the wheel of the No. 14 Sexton Properties AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet in honor of long-time sponsor Marlyne Sexton
  • Starting 18th, Ferrucci scored his fourth consecutive top-five NTT INDYCAR Series finish
  • Took the checkered flag and coasted to a stop in turn one out of fuel as the race played out with fuel strategy as a result of early cautions
  • Ferrucci now sits ninth in the standings
  • David Malukas, No. 4 Clarience Technology AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet, finished seventh, and Nolan Siegel, No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet finished eighth
  • The NTT INDYCAR SERIES, along with the Team Chevy drivers and teams, have a weekend off before visiting another historic natural terrain road course, the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, on July 4th weekend.

NTT INDYCAR SERIES UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS FROM THE XPEL Grand Prix at Road America Presented by AMR

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING (Quotes):

Santino Ferrucci, No. 14 Sexton Properties/A.J. Foyt Racing Chevrolet finished 3rd:

“All I could think about to myself is that we are doing this for Marlyne (Sexton – team’s longtime sponsor). They were counting down the laps, and I told Mike (strategist Armbrester) I’ve got to focus because this is getting stressful and just let me drive. The crew did an amazing job – awesome job on stops. And, I stalled it too. Even with the stall, to come back and finish how we did was pretty amazing. This one goes to Marlyne. She was running with us today. I’m very proud. This one tastes a little bit sweeter.”

When asked about four straight top fives

“And, two podiums. We’re performing. We’re back to where we were at the end of last year. I feel it. I’ve got to get my qualifying performance up. ’Til then I like padding my passing stats.”

David Malukas, No. 4 Clarience Technologies/A.J. Foyt Racing Chevrolet finished 7th:

“I had an incident at the start of the race that put us in the back, but, man, I couldn’t believe it. That was probably one of the most chaotic races I’ve ever been a part of, and it was a lot of fun. I had no idea what was going on. I was really hot, and around lap 35 I was hallucinating from the heat and seeing bears in the carousel. I’m just joking, maybe not, but yeah, it was a lot of heat, lot of fun, lot of passing, and we finished right where we started. So good recovery, really good job from the team and the entire crew at the No. 4 Clarience Technologies Chevy.”

Nolan Siegel, No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet finished 8th:

Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 XPEL Team Penske Chevrolet finished 12th:

“Just an unfortunate day today. That’s about all I can say. We drove out to the lead there but those early yellows just gave so many opportunities to do something different with strategy. In the end that is what got us. I appreciate all of the support from XPEL for the No. 3 team and we really want to win this race for them and for Chevy. That’s racing.”

Alexander Rossi, No. 20 ECR Java House Chevrolet finished 13th:

“Honestly, it was a really good day. Not necessarily because of the end result, but we found a direction in warm up and it translated to the race. We had to be aggressive with the strategy because of where we were starting. It almost worked! We had to come in for a splash at the end from 3rd. The team did a lot of not giving up this weekend and it was positive that we were able to find a pretty good car by the race.”

Will Power, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet finished 14th:

“Tough day where the yellows fell for us. Couldn’t do much with that. Another rough day for us, man. Very, very, very tough season. Move onto the next one.”

Callum Ilott, No, 90 PREMA Racing Chevrolet finished 15th:

“Overall it was a very tough race and it was super hot out there. The crew and team did a great job. From our side we just went a little backwards. I struggled to get some forward momentum at times. The car was quite on edge in areas I didn’t really need it to be, so on restarts it was quite tough, but we managed to fight back. I think there was a bit more in the result if I had a bit more push to pass towards the end because we were quite a bit faster than the two guys ahead of me. We’ve fought that one hard, we should have come away with a bit more but at least we took home some solid points and a decent weekend and in general.”

Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet finished 17th:

Christian Rasmussen, No. 21 ECR Splenda Chevrolet finished 18th:

“This weekend was tough one at Road America. We really struggled not only with pace but finding a good balance for the car the whole time. We have a lot of improvement to do at Road America for next year. However, I am looking forward to Mid-Ohio. We had a strong weekend there last year, it was our strongest of the year. We have that to look forward to!”

Conor Daly, No. 76 Juncos Holliger Racing Chevrolet finished 22nd:

“A decent day going for us at the beginning, but completely locked the rears down in Turn 5. Really strange and we had some really difficult brake issues for the rest of the day. I’m not sure if it started there, but bad there was bad rear locking. I ended up in the gravel, which was my mistake. I just tried to fight back, but couldn’t do much. Apologies to the team. Obviously, drivers make mistakes sometimes and today I did. I’ll take responsibility for that, and move on to the next one.”

Christian Lundgaard, No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet finished 24th:

Josef Newgarden, No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet finished 25th:

“I really feel that the PPG Chevy was a top five car today. Our strategy likely wasn’t going to work out to where we could win but it is disappointing to find ourselves with another DNF. We had to pit off strategy for our second stop for a tire puncture, which put us in the strategy position we were in. Just pushing hard there on black tires to try and keep up with the 9 car and just pushed too hard in Turn 14.”

Sting Ray Robb, No. 77 Juncos Holliger Racing Chevrolet finished 26th:

“I’m all good. We got a really good run, and on the push pass for most of the straightaway there, but it felt like I had to get enough run and get up by him. And we set up the move, and I don’t know.

“I’m going have to go watch a replay and see what happened, but, it’s pretty frustrating. I mean, everyone is being aggressive out there, and it’s just it’s not the way you want your day to go at all. So, I thought we had a good car. I thought we were going to move forward. Looking at where Dixon’s at right now, I think that he’s going up in the field, and we were right there with him. So, pretty frustrating when you see those guys. We’re starting to have a good day when this happened.”

Robert Shwartzman, No. 83 PREMA Racing Chevrolet finished 27th:

“A very sad finish to the weekend here in Road America. We managed to make the car a bit better but we had an issue in FP2 where something happened under braking and I locked the rears and spun. We didn’t fully figure out what was the issue and we had it in the race as well. I managed to do a pretty OK start, getting to 15th and then defending from Rinus [Veekay] I just locked the rears and lost it. It was something that just caught me by surprise; I just arrived at the corner, braked and it was like I was pulling a handbrake and the car just immediately snapped. It was a super weird feeling. Sometimes we have a good weekend sometimes a bad one. This was overall a better one, we just need to learn from it and improve ourselves for the next round.”

Santino Ferrucci

Press Conference Transcript

THE MODERATOR: Currently joined by Santino Ferrucci, driver of the No. 14 Sexton Properties AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet, coming home with another podium this season, second runner-up finish of 2025, fourth top 5 of the season, third career podium as well.

THE MODERATOR: Santino, second runner-up finish here in 2025. Did you bring beer with you for the media center?

SANTINO FERRUCCI: No, I just did the one shotgun down in Turn 1. Felt great at the time.

Obviously starting 18th, not ideal. We had a really fast race car all weekend long. We didn’t get to run on the red tires on Friday and one of the setup changes we made in FP2 we weren’t sure about, and then obviously we were really quick on the prime tires in qualifying, and we were just way too tight for quals.

But warmup was awesome. Small changes overnight. We knew we’d come through the field, so at the start of the race, I was just unlike myself, trying to be super patient and not make mistakes, not get into too many people because it was mayhem back there, and the way the strategy unfolded, I stalled in the pits on one of the stops. Thankful for the hybrid so I could fire back up and only lose four or five spots.

We had a massive fuel target for the last two stints, so kudos to Chevrolet for giving me the tools to do that and honestly to my engineering team for giving me a car that can fuel save. Podium is — I’m happy getting on podium for Marlene Sexton in the memorial car for her, and she’s watching down on us today clearly. So pretty happy about that.

Q. Santino, did you ask for the beer or did the fan offer it to you?

SANTINO FERRUCCI: They offered, and I had asked for Spotted Cow since we’re here, but they gave me, I believe it was a Miller. I’ve been learning my shotgunning skills from the Chili Bowl, so if I did okay I’m happy with that. Giving my dirt racing guy some credit.

Q. All in all, the satisfaction of making it work until the end, you were really happy. Even if you ran out of fuel you’re out there taking bows and soaking it up with the fans?

SANTINO FERRUCCI: I’m not going to lie, I was stressed. I was really stressed out. I saw Felix come out of the pits in front of me, and they were like, yeah, there’s your fuel target, lifting at like the 800-foot mark going into 5 going, hmm, this is going to be a long 15-something laps.

Then I could see on the dash the 27 car coming and know that he’s quick.

Yeah, no, I just tried to put my head down and do what I do best and hold him off.

Q. Santino, can you talk a little bit more about Marlene? Obviously we’ve seen Sexton Properties on the car for a while, but this wasn’t a company, this was really her being a huge engine behind the team. Knowing her daughter is obviously grieving, as well, this is a pretty heavy time and an amazing result?

SANTINO FERRUCCI: Yeah, I didn’t know her late husband, but also was a very big AJ fan and helped AJ back in the day. Marlene has been on the car since I’ve been driving for AJ Foyt and for Larry, and obviously I would not have had a full season ride without Larry and her support, and what they’ve accomplished last year is where we’ve brought this team all the way from barely making leadership circle to winning the 500, top 10 in the points, fighting for top 5s consistently.

It’s her support that’s been behind us. So I’m very honored to be running that car with her riding along this weekend. To have the daughters here this weekend, as well, Tracy and Nicole, was pretty amazing on the grid. It was hard not to be emotional about it. It’s someone that was family to the team had passed away last week.

Looking forward to her memorial next week and celebration of life, and I’m just happy she was riding on board with us today to witness some greatness.

Q. Last season P10, strong year. You and James Schnabel form a really great union. You start over this year with Michael Armbrester, and the two of you seem like you’re finding a groove as well. Talk about the bond the two of you are building.

SANTINO FERRUCCI: Yeah, so me and Michael were working together all the way through to about Detroit, so Michael got promoted to technical director and he’s still on my stand and calls my races, and now my new race engineer is Adam Kolesar, so a little bit weird to have an engineering switch in the middle of the season, but we went fifth, second, fifth, third, so I’d say it’s going pretty good.

Obviously James is a brilliant guy and a great talent, and I think he’s proved himself very well with myself and with Malukas, and then my bond with Mike and Adam, C.J. and all of our stand has gone really well. It was just about catching our stride.

I think we’ve found some really good baselines, and I’m looking forward to the second half of the season together.

Q. Considering we weren’t really quite sure what the red tires were going to do before we got into the race, and for the heat today, did you expect as much passing before the race started?

SANTINO FERRUCCI: We thought it was going to be a red race. To be honest, we thought we’d get further in qualifying, so to show up this morning and have three sets of sticker reds — we started on the prime tire, and we had a ton of pace on it compared to everybody around us because that was the tire that we’ve been running on all weekend.

We just stayed committed to triple reds and it still paid off. Tough running a very long stint the way we did. I didn’t exactly get to run Q laps like I would have liked, like you did. But no, all in all, I think Firestone did a great job this weekend, and I think this is a track that they should kind of make a bit of a benchmark for.

Q. We saw some tempers flare and some paybacks out there. Did you have a good front row seat for any of it?

SANTINO FERRUCCI: I noticed that a little bit. Although, my favorite part of this race, your teammate Marcus, I pushed him past two cars down the straight, go-karting style. He lined it up for me and pulled out and I think he knew that I was going to push him because we’ve become a little bit more friendly sitting next to each other at autograph session, and I full on pushed him all the way down the frontstretch past two cars. It was great. We both cleared them, too.

Q. There was also some concern about the hybrid with the heat, maybe having some failures. Did you notice any issues over the weekend?

SANTINO FERRUCCI: No issues for me.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

Chevrolet at Road America

WINS

Chevrolet Wins: 11

2024 – Will Power – Team Penske (photo above)
2022 – Josef Newgarden – Team Penske
2018 – Josef Newgarden – Team Penske
2016 – Will Power – Team Penske
1993 – Paul Tracy – Team Penske
1992 – Emerson Fittipaldi – Team Penske
1991 – Michael Andretti – Newman Haas Racing
1990 – Michael Andretti – Newman Haas Racing
1989 – Danny Sullivan – Team Penske
1988 – Emerson Fittipaldi – Patrick Racing
1987 – Mario Andretti – Newman Haas Racing

POLES

Chevrolet Poles: 13

2021 – Josef Newgarden – Team Penske
2020 Race #2 – Pato O’Ward – Arrow McLaren
2020 Race #1 – Josef Newgarden – Team Penske
2018 – Josef Newgarden – Team Penske
2017 – Helio Castroneves – Team Penske
2016 – Will Power -Team Penske
1993 – Paul Tracy – Team Penske
1992 – Paul Tracy – Team Penske
1991 – Bob Rahal – Galles Racing
1990 – Danny Sullivan – Team Penske
1989 – Danny Sullivan – Team Penske
1988 – Danny Sullivan – Team Penske
1987 – Mario Andretti – Newman Haas Racing

PODIUMS

Chevrolet Podiums: 33

· Chevrolet podiums at Road America by driver: Josef Newgarden (6), Will Power (5), Mario Andretti (3), Emerson Fittipaldi (3), Michael Andretti (2), Rick Mears (2), Pato O’Ward (2) Bob Rahal (2), Al Unser Jr. (2), Helio Castroneves (1), Santino Ferrucci (1), Tony Kanaan (1), Scott McLaughlin (1), Danny Sullivan (1), and Paul Tracy (1)

· Chevrolet podiums at Road America by team: Team Penske (19), Newman Haas Racing (5), Arrow McLaren (2), Galles Racing (2), Rahal Hogan Racing (2), A.J. Foyt Racing (1), Chip Ganassi Racing (1) and Patrick Racing (1)

LAPS LED

Chevrolet Laps Led: 688

Chevrolet laps led at Road America by driver: Josef Newgarden (159), Will Power (81), Michael Andretti (79), Emerson Fittipaldi (76), Danny Sullivan (62), Paul Tracy (55), Mario Andretti (50), Pato O’Ward (43), Al Unser Jr. (24), Scott McLaughlin (18), Helio Castroneves (17), Max Chilton (7), Felix Rosenqvist (7), Kevin Magnussen (6), Oliver Askew (2), and Simon Pagenaud (2)
Chevrolet laps led at Road America by team: Team Penske (435), Newman Haas Racing (129), Arrow McLaren (56), Patrick Racing (35) Galles Racing (24), Carlin (7), and Ed Carpenter Racing (2)

HISTORICAL INFORMATION

Manufacturer history at Road America

Wins – 35

11 — Chevrolet (2024, 2022, 2018, 2016, 1993, 1992, 1991, 1990, 1989, 1988, 1987)

9 — Honda (2023, 2021, 2020 R2, 2020 R1, 2019, 2017, 2000, 1998, 1997)

7 — Ford (2006, 2004, 2003, 1999, 1996, 1995, 1994)

6 — Cosworth (2007, 1986, 1985, 1984, 1983, 1982)

2 — Toyota (2002, 2001)

Earned Poles – 35

13 — Chevrolet (2021, 2020 R2, 2020 R1, 2018, 2017, 2016, 1993, 1992, 1991, 1990, 1989, 1988, 1987)

7 — Ford (2006, 2004, 2003, 2001, 1999, 1998, 1995)

6 — Cosworth (2007, 1986, 1985, 1984, 1983, 1982)

6 — Honda (2024, 2023, 2022, 2019, 2000, 1996)

1 – Ilmor (1994)

1 — Mercedes (1997)

1 — Toyota (2002)

INDYCAR SERIES Manufacturer Championships (since 1979)

21 – General Motors (Chevrolet and Oldsmobile combined)

16 – Chevrolet (6 Championship Auto Racing Teams & 10 INDYCAR)

10 – Honda (4 Championship Auto Racing Teams & 6 INDYCAR)

9 – Cosworth (9 Championship Auto Racing Teams)

5 – Oldsmobile (5 INDYCAR)

2 – Ford (2 Championship Auto Racing Teams)

2 – Toyota (1 Championship Auto Racing Teams & 1 INDYCAR)

1 – Ilmor (1 Championship Auto Racing Teams)

1 – Mercedes Benz (1 Championship Auto Racing Teams)

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.

Palou Reaches Sweet Six After Strategic Win at Hot Road America

By
Official Release
-
Elkhart Lake, WI - during the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America Elkhart Lake, WI(Photo by Travis Hinkle | IMS Photo)

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (Sunday, June 22, 2025) – After 55 laps of ferocious, frantic uncertainty, about the only certain thing in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES happened again Sunday at Road America – Alex Palou and his Chip Ganassi Racing crew standing in victory lane.

Palou stretched the available fuel in his No. 10 SOLO Cup Chip Ganassi Racing Honda at the end to earn his sixth victory in nine starts this season in the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America Presented by AMR, becoming the first INDYCAR SERIES driver to take the checkered flag at least six times in a season since Will Power in 2011.

“It was a crazy race,” Palou said. “There were moments I thought we were losing a ton of positions. It was a tough race for everybody. Kudos to the team for the amazing strategy and Honda for giving us the fuel mileage we needed at the end to make it.”

Three-time series champion Palou expanded his lead to 93 points over Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood with the victory in a race of varying fuel and tire strategies as the season passed its halfway point, with eight races remaining on the 17-race schedule.

Felix Rosenqvist was unshackled from a fuel-saving strategy over the closing laps in the No. 60 SiriusXM Honda of Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb-Agajanian but fell 2.1725 seconds short to finish second. Santino Ferrucci had just enough Shell 100% Renewable Race Fuel to hang on to third in the No. 14 Sexton Properties/AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet, his fourth straight top-five finish this season.

Kirkwood, winner of the last two races entering this event, stayed almost as hot as the air temperatures in the mid-90s by finishing fourth in the No. 27 Siemens Honda of Andretti Global. Marcus Armstrong recorded a season-best result of fifth in the No. 66 SiriusXM/Root Insurance Honda, as Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb-Agajanian placed both its cars in the top five.

There were a race-record nine leaders today, with Palou taking the top spot for good on Lap 53 of the 55-lap race when teammate and leader Scott Dixon couldn’t pull off another miraculous fuel save and was forced to pit in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.

Dixon previously had pitted at the end of Lap 38, with about 15 laps maximum between stops unless there was a caution period to reduce speeds and save fuel. Dixon’s gamble didn’t pay off, as there were no cautions in the last 24 laps despite yellow flags flying five times in the first 30 laps.

Two-time reigning series champion Palou made his final stop at the end of Lap 40. Those two fewer laps on his final tank of fuel than Dixon – and saving fuel by running second in leader Dixon’s aerodynamic draft – proved pivotal in Palou making it to the finish with authority.

Rosenqvist made his final stop at the end of Lap 42 and pushed at his maximum toward leaders Dixon, Palou and Alexander Rossi in the No. 20 ECR Java House Chevrolet. Rossi, sipping fuel like Dixon, also was forced to stop at the end of Lap 51, creating more clean air and open space for Rosenqvist to charge.

But Rosenqvist – who showed his speed by leading the morning warmup – was nearly four seconds back when Rossi pitted. Rosenqvist turned the quickest lap of the race on the final trip around the 14-turn, 4.014-mile circuit, but it wasn’t enough to trim the margin and challenge Palou at the front.

“It was going back and forth there, comers and goers through the race,” Rosenqvist said. “We had great speed, had really good pace. We’ve had bad luck the last few races, haven’t really had a good go. Good comeback now. It’s been a while since I’ve been on the podium.”

It was Rosenqvist’s first podium finish in a points-paying race since finishing second in September 2023 at Portland International Raceway.

NTT P1 Award winner Louis Foster finished 11th to tie his career best set in May in the Sonsio Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

The spate of caution periods in the first half of the race led to divergent strategies up and down the pit lane. It also bred intense competition on a scorching day in central Wisconsin. There were 348 on-track passes (including 345 for position), 96 passes in the top 10 and 29 passes in the top five – all those numbers second all-time among INDYCAR SERIES races at this beloved facility.

Palou’s win also continued a historic duopoly this season in the series. Palou (six wins) and Kirkwood (three wins) are the only victorious drivers in 2025, and the last time two drivers so dominated the first half of an INDYCAR SERIES season came in 1980, when Bobby Unser and Johnny Rutherford were the only winners through nine races.

Honda also stayed perfect, as its engines have powered all nine race winners this season.

The next race is The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by the all-new 2026 Passport on Sunday, July 6 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio.

1...530531532...6,745Page 531 of 6,745