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Richard Childress Racing and Boot Barn Announce Partnership Extension

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Official Release
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Content-Centric Partnership Includes Primary Race Sponsorship of Austin Dillon in Both the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Cup Series

WELCOME, N.C. (May 19, 2025) – Boot Barn, the largest western and work wear retailer in the nation, will continue their partnership with Richard Childress Racing and driver Austin Dillon in 2025. Building upon an already successful relationship that includes impactful content creation and primary sponsorship of Dillon and the No. 3 Boot Barn Chevrolet in the NASCAR Cup Series, the brand will also extend their reach into the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2025.

“Continuing our partnership with Richard Childress Racing and Austin Dillon allows us to further connect with fans who share a passion for the western lifestyle and motorsports,” said Stephen Loscko, vice president of marketing and media for Boot Barn. “From Charlotte to Mexico City, we’re excited to highlight our brand on the track and through influencer-generated content that brings our story to life. Last year’s cross-collaboration creative storytelling with Austin Dillon and Boot Barn-sponsored rodeo athlete Rocker Steiner has been incredibly well received. We’re excited to continue building on that success.”

Dillon, the 2013 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion, will race the No. 3 Boot Barn Chevrolet in the Xfinity Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway over Memorial Day weekend. The race will be broadcast live on The CW at 4:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, May 24.

“I’m honored to have the opportunity to continue RCR’s relationship with Boot Barn and I can’t wait to get back behind the wheel in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at Charlotte Motor Speedway,” said Dillon. “Charlotte has been good to me, and I’m thankful to Boot Barn for allowing me the opportunity to help showcase their brand within motorsports and beyond.”

As part of the partnership, RCR and Boot Barn will work together to host western lifestyle influencers later this summer when Dillon drives the No. 3 Boot Barn Chevrolet in the NASCAR Cup Series’ highly anticipated race in Mexico City, Mexico.

“Austin Dillon’s authentic interests in western sports and the western lifestyle make him the perfect ambassador for Boot Barn as they continue to showcase their broad selection of cowboy boots and western wear to NASCAR fans,” said Mike Verlander, president of RCR. “Our entire team is looking forward to highlighting that connection and building upon the unique and engaging influencer-driven content that has become a pillar of the partnership.”

For more information and all that is going on at RCR, visit rcrracing.com.

About Boot Barn: Boot Barn is the nation’s leading lifestyle retailer of western and work-related footwear, apparel, and accessories for men, women, and children. The Company offers its loyal customer base a wide selection of work and lifestyle brands. Boot Barn now operates more than 460 stores in 49 states, in addition to an e-commerce channel www.bootbarn.com. For more information, call 888-Boot-Barn or visit www.bootbarn.com.

Richard Childress Racing (www.rcrracing.com) is a renowned, performance-driven racing, marketing and manufacturing organization. Incorporated in 1969, RCR has celebrated over 50 years of racing and earned more than 200 victories and 16 championships, including six in the NASCAR Cup Series with the legendary Dale Earnhardt. RCR was the first organization to win championships in the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Truck Series and is a three-time winner of the Daytona 500 (1998, 2007, 2018). Its 2025 NASCAR Cup Series lineup includes two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch (No. 8 Chevrolet) and 2017 Coca-Cola 600 winner and 2018 Daytona 500 champion Austin Dillon (No. 3 Chevrolet). RCR fields a full-time NASCAR Xfinity Series program with Jesse Love (No. 2 Chevrolet) and Austin Hill (No. 21 Chevrolet).

Weather-Ready Driving: Spring Safety Tips Beyond the Basics

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SM
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Photo by EdZbarzhyvetsky at https://depositphotos.com/

Many people consider spring to be their favorite season. However, don’t allow the beautiful blooms and increased sunshine to fool you. The spring brings its own driving challenges. While behind the wheel, be sure to keep these critical safety tips in mind.

Watch Out for Two-Wheeled Vehicles

When the weather begins to get warmer, there will be more motorcycles and bikes on the road. This means you need to keep your eyes peeled at all times. Because these two-wheeled vehicles are smaller in size, they can easily become hidden in your blind spot. Develop a habit of double-checking your mirrors and using extra caution when making left turns. 

Keep an Eye Out for Pedestrians

Whether you’re cruising through a residential area or maneuvering around a shopping mall parking lot, expect to see a lot more people out during the spring. Always pay attention to your surroundings.

In the blink of an eye, a pedestrian could suddenly cross your path. In fact, pedestrian accidents are on the rise across the country. In 2021, just the state of Oklahoma saw 771 pedestrian accidents resulting in 104 deaths. Dangerous habits, such as texting on your phone and speeding, dramatically increase your chances of hitting someone. If your vehicle is equipped with pedestrian detection, take advantage of this modern safety technology. 

Use Caution During Severe Weather

During the spring season, thunderstorms tend to be a common occurrence. Always take the necessary precautions when caught out in severe weather. To make your vehicle more visible to other motorists, turn on your low-beam headlights. Most importantly, increase the distance between your car and the next vehicle ahead during rainy conditions.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), wet pavement causes 70% of weather-related car accidents. Not only can a heavy downpour cause your vehicle to hydroplane, but it can also decrease visibility. Don’t hesitate to pull over into a safe area until the storm passes. 

Watch Out for Crossing Animals 

Driving at certain times of the day can be a bit more hazardous. Wildlife, such as deer, are often more active during dawn and dust. So, use extra caution while traveling near wooded areas. Remember, even small animals can cause a significant amount of damage to your vehicle. 

Prioritize Vehicle Maintenance

When it comes to vehicle safety, routine maintenance is of the utmost importance. Have your mechanic perform a full vehicle inspection during the spring. From the brakes to the tires, everything needs to be in good condition.

Don’t overlook the performance of your headlights at night. UV-damaged headlights won’t illuminate the road nearly as well. If the sun has caused your headlights to become cloudy, you can either purchase a headlight restoration kit or have them cleaned by a professional. 

Stay Energized on Spring Road Trips

As spring weather can be unpredictable, it’s crucial to stay prepared for sudden changes. One effective way to ensure safety on the road is to hire hourly driver services, which can provide experienced professionals familiar with navigating various weather conditions. This option not only offers peace of mind but also allows you to focus on enjoying the journey without the stress of driving in unfamiliar or challenging environments. Whether you’re planning a long road trip or just need assistance for a few hours, having a skilled driver can make all the difference in maintaining safety and comfort.

The spring is the perfect time to plan a weekend road trip. However, don’t make the mistake of getting behind the wheel while fatigued. Research shows that thousands of drowsy driving-related fatalities are reported every year. When driving a long distance, take several breaks along the way. As soon as you begin to feel dozy, pull over immediately! 

Modern Distracted Driving: Beyond Texting – Apps, Infotainment Systems, and Driver Attention

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SM
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Photo by believeinme at https://depositphotos.com/

Most people are aware these days that texting while driving is hazardous, and a number of states have banned any use of cell phones at all while behind the wheel. Despite this, distracted driving as a result of technology remains a problem. Cars today come equipped with infotainment systems which, along with apps, can be just as dangerous as texting on a cell phone. Unfortunately, the awareness of these dangers is not as widespread. 

Touch Screens in Cars

In fact, manufacturers argue that these screens are an improvement on the knobs and buttons found on older vehicles in terms of driver distraction. However, in 2022, Swedish journalists tested these claims and found that they took the least amount of time making changes using an older vehicle with knobs and buttons. The amount of time they took to make adjustments on vehicles with screens ranged from around 13 seconds to as much as 45 seconds. While even the latter number may not sound like a lot, this can be nearly a mile of distracted driving. In fact, in a mere three or four seconds, a car can travel the length of a football field. A lot can happen in that span of time. The likelihood of an accident can increase when a driver’s attention leaves the road for just seconds. 

Infotainment

A study by the AAA Foundation found that infotainment systems made demands that led to distractions ranging from moderate to very high, with no infotainment systems falling into the category of low demand. The Swedish study came to similar conclusions. The amount of distracted time was based on such factors as the angle of the screen and the complexity of the system. It’s important to note that screen size did not always reduce distraction time if the angle and complexity were an issue. Furthermore, the types of operations performed were also a factor. Drivers need to be able to easily change the heat and air conditioning in their vehicle or adjust the radio, so these controls should be simple. For more complex actions, such as putting in navigation information, drivers should pull over anyway because this requires too much attention away from the road. 

Then there are distractions that have no place in driving at all. Infotainment systems can offer the opportunity to not just respond to a text but to access social media. Sometimes, a call or text may come through while driving that it’s necessary to respond to, but drivers should stop before doing so. However, there is little justification for acts such as updating social media status while behind the wheel. Drivers should not make the mistake of assuming that because a feature has been included in a car, it is safe to use it. 

Apps, including those that assist drivers in being hands-free by offering voice control, do not eliminate the problem of distraction. These can still lead to inattention and accidents. Of course, larger tech-based distractions, such as playing videos on cell phones, should also be avoided. 

The Dangers of Distracted Driving

Distraction while driving comes in several forms. It can be visual, cognitive or physical. The most dangerous distractions combine all of these, but being distracted in even a single area can be enough to cause a crash. Car crashes can lead to devasting injuries and loss of life. In 2022, just the state of Florida saw nearly 400,000 car accidents, an untold number of which were likely caused by distracted drivers. It is impossible to avoid all distractions, but it’s important for drivers to understand the dangers and limits of technology. The best practice is to avoid using apps and car infotainment systems as much as possible and to find a place to stop safely for more complex tasks. While these tasks can take under a minute, this is more than enough time for a serious accident to happen. 

Logano Finishes Runner-Up in NASCAR All-Star Race

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Official Release
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Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
All-Star Race
Sunday, May 18, 2025

Ford Unofficial Finishing Results:
2nd – Joey Logano
10th – Chris Buescher
13th – Noah Gragson
16th – Ryan Blaney
17th – Josh Berry
18th – Austin Cindric
20th – Harrison Burton
22nd – Brad Keselowski

JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse – WALK US THROUGH THAT FINAL RUN AND HOW HARD WERE YOU DRIVING? “It’s all you’ve got. I was hoping I could just fight him long enough to where the advantage would go away a little bit, but it just never did. I did as best I can blocking my butt off, but once he got under me just released the brake and gave me no option to either fence it and wreck or run up in the marbles and spin out like what happened to Heim in the Truck race. I get it. We’re racing for a million bucks, but things carry over all the time, but it just stings. I’m upset because we had the best car. We had the best car by a long shot and we didn’t win. I don’t know. A lot of things are running through my mind I probably shouldn’t say.”

DO YOU FEEL LIKE BELL’S MOVE WAS FAIR OR FOUL WHEN YOU’RE RACING FOR A MILLION DOLLARS? “It is what it is. I don’t know. I mean, sure. Sure. He did it good enough that I couldn’t get back to him because I was gonna show him what fair was, but I just couldn’t get there. I just couldn’t get there with the tires. I couldn’t get away fast enough. It took me six or seven laps after that restart to get rolling again and then he passed too many cars there the first couple laps and then he was there. I was doing all I can to play defense until my rear tires would come in and it just took too long, and then he was gone. I couldn’t catch back up. It’s frustrating when you lead that many laps, you had the fastest car and a gimmick caution beats you. It just sucks, but it is what it is. You move on and we’ll be happy that we had the best car the last two times that we’ve been here. I wish we had two wins, though.”

WAS STAYING OUT THE RIGHT CALL? “Obviously not. We got beat.”

ARE YOU SURPRISED THAT WAS THE CALL? “I felt like it was 50/50. We were gonna put two on and then at the last-minute we decided to stay out. I thought six cars was gonna be enough. It was a similar situation to what Brad had in the heat race – 30 or so laps on the tires, he stayed, he was able to manage, but the difference is it’s a heat race to the feature and what are people willing to do in a heat race versus a million dollars for the win at the All-Star Race. That changes the game a little bit and we didn’t fire off as fast as we needed to the first eight laps of that run. We didn’t make the right call. We go down together. We do all this stuff together. We had the best car and we did most everything right. We just made one decision off, so we’ll take second. What does second pay? Not a million, I guess.”

IT SOUNDED LIKE YOU WERE ABOUT TO TELL PAUL YOU DIDN’T KNOW WHAT TO DO? “I didn’t know. I did say I don’t know. Nobody knows. If eight cars stay out, yeah, he probably doesn’t get to us. If he gets held up by a couple cars before that, do we get him? Maybe. The 1 kind of let him go and I think you know what he’s doing. I think he was hoping that he’d get to me and then we’d get all roughed up and he could sneak one by. I mean, it’s the right call, but I needed Ross to do Ross things and he let him go. That didn’t help my situation.”

YOU SAID THAT THINGS CARRY ON WITH BELL, SO HOW DO YOU HANDLE THIS MOVING FORWARD? “I just race him the same way. That’s all it is. I mean, like I said, we’re racing for a million dollars. I get it, but we race each other every week and we’re like elephants, we don’t forget anything.”

BELL SAID THIS WAS THE BEST SHORT TRACK IN NASCAR. DO YOU AGREE? “With a gimmick caution, yeah. Sure.”

HARRISON BURTON, No. 51 Morton Buildings Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “I had a lot of fun. Obviously, it wasn’t the result we wanted, but I kind of felt like we were better than where we finished. We tried some strategy there at the end to try and have a shot there, but tires mattered more than maybe I thought they would. It was just such a fun time to be back in the Cup Series racing against a lot of my friends and seeing a lot of my friends around the garage. I felt like we made the car better and better throughout the weekend. The last caution, obviously it was the promoter’s caution and that probably took some spots for us, but I’m really proud of the effort and thankful for Morton Buildings, Rick Ware Racing, Ford Performance and all that for the opportunity. Hopefully, we’ll do it again some more.”

BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 6 Solomon Plumbing Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “I was just driving too hard. We were all running up towards the wall and I stepped over the cushion and bounced off the wall and broke the right-front shock it looks like. That ended our day.”

WAS THE TOE LINK BROKEN AS WELL? “Maybe, I don’t know. I thought it was a toe link, but somebody said the shock, so I haven’t really had a chance to know.”

WHAT CAN YOU TAKE OUT OF THESE LAST TWO WEEKS MOVING FORWARD? “We’re connecting things for sure, we just haven’t connected everything and when we do that we’ll be dangerous.”

ALL-STAR OPEN

Ford Finishing Results:

6th – Zane Smith
9th – Cole Custer
11th – Ryan Preece
12th – Todd Gilliland
16th – Cody Ware
17th – Noah Gragson

Noah Gragson, driver of the No. 4 Rural King Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Front Row Motorsports, won the fan vote for the third straight year and will advance to the NASCAR All-Star Race.

NOAH GRAGSON, No. 4 Rural King Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “It means a lot. I’m very grateful to have all of the support from the fans and I feel like we’ve got a pretty good race car. We struggled. I lost power steering in the Open race, so we’re gonna try and get that better for the All-Star Race. It’s such a cool atmosphere here and such a cool experience. I’m very lucky to be able to be a part of it.”

RYAN PREECE, No. 60 Boston Common Golf Ford Mustang Dark Horse –WHAT HAPPENED ON THE RESTART AND RUNNING OVER THE RESTART BOX? “I don’t think it was a restart, I think it’s a cone that’s non-existent. I don’t know. You can’t even see it right now. A rule is a rule. I understand that, but at the end of the day I made the mistake. I’m just frustrated with the decision.”

HOCEVAR WAS GOING TO GIVE YOU THE POINT BECAUSE HE DIDN’T WANT TO HAVE TO DEAL WITH YOU. DOES THAT MAKE IT HURT WORSE? “No. What are you gonna do? There’s nothing you can do. Maybe we need to rethink how we do it if there’s a lot of rubber caked up on it. Ultimately, we had a fast Boston Common Golf Ford Mustang.”

Team Penske NASCAR Cup Series Race Report – North Wilkesboro

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Official Release
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NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race – North Wilkesboro Speedway
North Wilkesboro, N.C. – May 18, 2025

AUSTIN CINDRIC No. 2 FREIGHTLINER FORD MUSTANG
START: 16TH FINISH: 18TH
RACE RUNDOWN: Austin Cindric and the No. 2 Freightliner team navigated a challenging night in Sunday’s All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway, coming away with an 18th-place finish in the annual exhibition event. After starting 16th and eventually racing inside the top 10, Cindric was caught up in a multi-car incident with Ross Chastain and Alex Bowman on Lap 113. The Freightliner Ford Mustang sustained right-side damage and headed to the attention of the crew for repairs and service, pitting twice. Despite going multiple laps down, the team stayed the course, eventually returning to the lead lap following a few cautions, closing out the night with an 18th-place run.

CINDRIC’S THOUGHTS: “We spent the first part of the race working on the balance and made some gains to get ourselves in a pretty good spot before that incident took us out of rhythm. The team did a nice job making repairs and getting us back on the lead lap so we could at least finish it out clean.”

RYAN BLANEY No. 12 MENARDS/WRANGLER FORD MUSTANG
START: 7TH FINISH: 16TH
RACE RUNDOWN: Ryan Blaney was in contention for his second-career All-Star Race win Sunday night at North Wilkesboro Speedway, but a late-race restart did not fall the No. 12 team’s way as the Menards/Wrangler Ford Mustang settled for a 16th-place finish. Blaney worked his way into the top-five by the time of the competition caution on lap 102 and maintained that pace throughout the latter stages of the 250-lap event, reaching third on the leaderboard at the time of the caution on lap 175. Following the promoter’s caution with 34 laps remaining, the No. 12 team opted to stay out to take the ensuing restart from the inside of row one with 28 laps to go. On the second lap following the restart, contact with the No. 1 out of turn four got Blaney sideways and shuffled him back into the middle of three and four-wide battles towards the back of the field as the Menards/Wrangler Ford went on to take the checkered flag 16th.

BLANEY’S THOUGHTS: “We tried to give it a shot at it by staying out at the end there but I got spun out off of [turn] four as I was trying to clear up and it was a rough two laps from there. Not a bad night. I wish we could have contended a little bit better but we got a lot better from Friday.”

JOEY LOGANO No. 22 SHELL-PENNZOIL FORD MUSTANG
START: 4TH FINISH: 2ND
RACE RUNDOWN: Joey Logano led a race-high 139 laps Sunday night in search of his second-consecutive All-Star Race win at North Wilkesboro Speedway, but ultimately settled for a second-place finish in the 250-lap exhibition event. After starting fourth, Logano quickly forced his way to the front from the drop of the green flag as the Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang battled for the race lead alongside the No. 6 throughout the first run of the night. Logano took over the top spot for the first time on lap 80 and paced the field through the competition caution on lap 102. The Shell-Pennzoil Ford was back out in front on the ensuing run as Logano distanced himself from the field in the latter stages of the night before the promoter’s caution brought the field back together with 34 laps remaining. The No. 22 team opted to stay out under yellow, allowing Logano to control the restart from the outside of row one as the field lined up to take the green with 28 to go. With nine laps to go and teams on fresher tires making their way to the front of the field, the No. 20 got underneath the No. 22 in turn one and ultimately made the race-winning pass as Logano went on to take the checkered flag from second.

LOGANO’S THOUGHTS: “It’s all you’ve got. I was hoping I could just fight [Christopher Bell] long enough to where the advantage would go away a little bit, but it just never did. I did as best I can blocking my butt off, but once [Bell] got under me he just released the brake and gave me no option to either fence it and wreck or run up in the marbles and spin out. It just stings. I’m upset because we had the best car. We had the best car by a long shot and we didn’t win.”

The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Charlotte Motor Speedway for the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday, May 25. Coverage begins at 6:00 p.m. ET on Amazon Prime Video and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90 with in-car camera angles available all race long through the MAX Driver Cam.

Rick Ware Racing: NASCAR All-Star Open and NASCAR All-Star Race from North Wilkesboro

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Official Release
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RICK WARE RACING
NASCAR All-Star Open and NASCAR All-Star Race
Date: May 18, 2025
Event: NASCAR All-Star Open and NASCAR All-Star Race (non-points events)
Series: NASCAR Cup Series
Location: North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway (.625-mile oval)

NASCAR All-Star Open: 100 laps, with a competition break at or around lap 50

● Race Winner: Carson Hocevar of Spire Motorsports (Chevrolet)
● Second Place: John Hunter Nemechek of LEGACY MOTOR CLUB (Toyota)
● Fan Vote Winner: Noah Gragson of Front Row Motorsports (Ford)

Note: The All-Star Open was the undercard event to the NASCAR All-Star Race, where non-qualified drivers attempted to race their way into the All-Star Race by winning the Open, finishing second in the Open, or by winning the fan vote.

NASCAR All-Star Race: 250 laps, with competition breaks at or around lap 100 and sometime between laps 200-220

● Race Winner: Christopher Bell of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

Note: The NASCAR All-Star Race was comprised of drivers who won a points-paying race in 2024 or 2025, fulltime drivers who have previously won the All-Star Race, fulltime drivers who have won a NASCAR Cup Series championship, and drivers who advanced from the All-Star Open.

RWR Finish in NASCAR All-Star Open

● Cody Ware (Started 15th, Finished 16th / Running, completed 100 of 100 laps)

RWR Finish in NASCAR All-Star Race:

● Harrison Burton (Started 18th, Finished 20th / Running, completed 250 of 250 laps)

RWR Notes:

● This was RWR’s first start in the All-Star Race.
● This was Burton’s first career All-Star Race. He earned entry into the event by winning the Coke Zero Sugar 400 last August at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway.
● This was Ware’s fifth career start in the All-Star Open. His best finish remains ninth, earned in 2022 when All-Star Race Weekend was held at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth.

Race Notes:

● Christopher Bell won the All-Star Race with a .829 of a second margin of victory over runner-up Joey Logano.
● The All-Star Race featured 18 lead changes among eight different drivers. Twenty-three drivers comprised the field.

Sound Bites:

“I had a lot of fun. Obviously, it wasn’t the result we wanted, but I kind of felt like we were better than where we finished. We tried some strategy there at the end to try and have a shot there, but tires mattered more than maybe I thought they would. It was just such a fun time to be back in the Cup Series racing against a lot of my friends and seeing a lot of my friends around the garage. I felt like we made the car better and better throughout the weekend. The last caution, obviously it was the promoter’s caution, and that probably took some spots for us, but I’m really proud of the effort and thankful for Morton Buildings, Rick Ware Racing, Ford Performance and all them for the opportunity.” – Harrison Burton, driver of the No. 51 Morton Buildings Ford Mustang Dark Horse

“I just wish we could’ve had a better piece to fire off and run this race. I feel like we were in the ballpark, but just couldn’t get the forward bite we needed in my race. But, big thanks to Schluter-Systems and Ford Performance and everybody on the No. 15 car this weekend. We’ll just get ready for the 600 next week.” – Cody Ware, driver of the No. 15 Schluter-Systems Ford Mustang Dark Horse

Next Up:

The NASCAR Cup Series returns to points-paying racing on Sunday, May 25 with the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway. The longest race on the series’ schedule gets underway at 6 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by Prime and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

LEGACY MOTOR CLUB: NORTH WILKESBORO SPEEDWAY ALL-STAR RACE RECAP

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Official Release
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NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. (May 18, 2025) – The NASCAR Cup Series stopped at the sport’s most iconic venues, North Wilkesboro Speedway for the NASCAR All-Star Race Weekend. John Hunter Nemechek piloted the No. 42 Family Dollar Toyota Camry XSE, while Erik Jones drove the No. 43 Dollar Tree Toyota Camry XSE in the NASCAR All-Star Open, each battling for a chance to advance to the main event and their shot at a one-million-dollar prize. Nemechek advanced due to his second-place finish in the All-Star Open. The winner of the million-dollar prize though was the No. 20 of Christopher Bell after 250-laps.

Below is a look at how the two LEGACY MC entries fared:
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK
NO. 42 FAMILY DOLLAR TOYOTA CAMRY XSE RACE RECAP:
OPEN START: 17TH | OPEN FINISH: 2ND
ALL-STAR RACE START: 22ND | ALL-STAR RACE FINISH: 19TH
ALL-STAR OPEN RECAP:

John Hunter Nemechek made his third attempt at qualifying for the NASCAR All-Star Race, starting eighth in the Open. With no points on the line and a shot at racing for a million dollars, tensions were high and patience was likely to be thin.

In the opening laps, Nemechek and the No. 42 Family Dollar Toyota Camry XSE quickly gained a few positions, moving into the top five. As the first 50 laps progressed, the car’s handling began to shift to loose on entry, tight in the center, and loose on exit. At the competition break, Nemechek was running ninth. Crew chief Travis Mack called for four fresh tires and made a significant air-pressure adjustment during the pit stop.

In the second half of the 100-lap Open, Nemechek slipped to 12th under green-flag conditions but began working his way back up once he found a rhythm. A caution on Lap 78 provided an opportunity. Under yellow, Nemechek and Mack agreed they needed to make an aggressive move to contend for the win. They pitted for right-side tires, aiming for track position.

Restarting sixth, Nemechek surged forward, first into fifth, then executing a bold three-wide pass to take third. With eyes on the transfer spot, he set his sights on the No. 23 and timed his move perfectly to secure second place. When the checkered flag waved, the 27-year-old crossed the line in second, earning a spot in his first NASCAR All-Star Race.

JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK QUOTABLE:

“Heck yeah. We have a shot to go win a million dollars. Hats off to this No. 42 team – we unloaded and had pretty good two or three lap speed, but really no long run pace, so proud of them for the effort that they put in yesterday, and what they were able to find. Pitting on that last deal – I knew I couldn’t win from where I was at. We came and got two, and that helped us out. Hats off to the whole 42 team. Proud of the effort. Wish Taylor and the girls were here – they are at home, but overall excited to have a shot to go and win a million dollars in this Family Dollar Toyota Camry XSE.”

NASCAR ALL-STAR RECAP:

The No. 42 Family Dollar team achieved their first goal of the night by earning a spot in the All-Star Race. Competing on the historic and fast-paced short track of North Wilkesboro Speedway, things unfolded quickly—including lap times. Battling a tight-handling Family Dollar Toyota Camry XSE, Nemechek fell to the back of the field. On lap 55, race leader Brad Keselowski caught and passed Nemechek, putting him a lap down. Fortunately, a caution flag flew on the same lap, awarding the No. 42 team the lucky dog to get back on the lead lap. Crew chief Travis Mack brought Nemechek to pit road for fresh tires, fuel, and a track bar adjustment.
Leading up to the competition break at lap 100, Nemechek continued to report that the car lacked front turn through the center of the corners. In response, Mack called for a major adjustment to improve the handling of their No. 42 Family Dollar Toyota Camry XSE.

The field settled into a long green-flag run, once again setting a fast pace around the 0.625-mile oval. On lap 160, race leader Joey Logano passed the No. 42 Family Dollar Toyota, putting the team a lap down again. A caution came out on lap 175 when the No. 6 car got into the wall. The No. 42 team took advantage of the wave-around to get back on the lead lap. With under 70 laps remaining in the 250-lap race, the team was hoping for another timely caution to allow them to pit for fresh tires, having last taken them on lap 100. That opportunity came on lap 216, when a promoter’s caution, used at the officials’ discretion, was displayed with Nemechek running 20th. The caution bunched up the field and gave the No. 42 team a chance to pit for much-needed fresh tires with the leaders.

The field went back to green with 28 laps to go, and Nemechek lined up 18th, looking to make a late charge. The race stayed green to the finish, and despite giving it everything they had, Nemechek and the No. 42 Family Dollar team crossed the line in 19th place in the NASCAR All-Star Race.

JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK QUOTABLE:
“At the end of the day, it was great to get our Family Dollar Toyota Camry XSE into the main event and showcase all the hard work the men and women at LEGACY MOTOR CLUB have been putting into our program. While we didn’t get our ultimate goal of winning, it was still a positive step forward for us.”

ERIK JONES
NO. 43 DOLLAR TREE TOYOTA CAMRY XSE ALL-STAR OPEN RECAP:
OPEN START: 12TH | OPEN FINISH: 4TH
After a mishap in Friday’s qualifying session had him starting 12th for the All-Star Open, Erik Jones had an uphill battle in the quick 100-lap race to try to make it into Sunday night’s All-Star Race. The top-two finishers and the fan vote winner would be the last additions to the main event. In the opening laps of the Open, Jones was extremely loose all over and fell back to 15th by lap 30. The No. 43 Dollar Tree team kept reminding their driver that a competition caution would come around lap 50, where they would bring him down pit road to try to fix some of the problems on his Toyota Camry XSE.

The competition caution came out on lap 51 when Jones was running 14th. He relayed to the team that the car started coming to him in the last seven laps of that run but still needed some work on the start of the run. The team brough him down pit road for four tires, fuel, and a chassis adjustment to try to combat the loose-handling racecar. He restarted the race in 12th.

Despite handling a tight No. 43 Dollar Tree Toyota Camry XSE after that pit stop, Jones fought in the final laps to find his way up into the top-10 and eventually the top-five. In the last five laps, Jones was in a heated battle for second and third. With his teammate John Hunter Nemechek in second, Jones attempted to chase him down for the final transfer spot but got into the wall after contact with the No. 23 of Bubba Wallace. He held onto it to finish the race, but ultimately finished fourth, just two spots shy of the two transfer spots.

ERIK JONES QUOTABLE:
“We made progress on our No. 43 Dollar Tree Toyota Camry XSE after that pit stop. In the initial laps, we were wrecking loose, but in that final segment we raced our way all the way up into the top-five. I’m glad we found that speed. We got put into the wall on the final laps which hurt our chances at racing our way in. We’ll move on to Charlotte.”

(Photo Credit: LEGACY MOTOR CLUB)
NEXT UP: The NASCAR Cup Series returns home to Charlotte Motor Speedway for the iconic Coca-Cola 600. Don’t miss 600 miles of high-speed, Memorial Day weekend tradition on Sunday, May 25 at 6 p.m. ET. Catch all the action live on Amazon Prime, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

ABOUT LEGACY MOTOR CLUB: (LEGACY MC) is a premier auto racing organization co-owned by seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and 2024 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee, Jimmie Johnson and Knighthead Capital Management, LLC. Drawing from a rich tradition of success, LEGACY MC is dedicated to pushing the boundaries of motorsport and setting new standards of excellence. The CLUB competes under the Toyota Gazoo Racing banner in the NASCAR Cup Series with the No. 43 Toyota Camry XSE piloted by Erik Jones and the No. 42 Toyota Camry XSE driven by John Hunter Nemechek. Johnson also races on a limited basis in the No. 84 Toyota Camry XSE. With NASCAR legend and Hall of Famer Richard Petty, “The King”, serving as CLUB Ambassador, LEGACY MC blends timeless racing traditions with a new forward-thinking vision. As an inclusive community for motorsport enthusiasts, LEGACY MC honors both its storied past and the promising future of its members, always striving for victory and championship glory at the pinnacle of NASCAR competition.

Chevrolet Takes the 2025 Manufacturer Showdown at the NASCAR All-Star Race

By
Official Release
-

NASCAR CUP SERIES
NORTH WILKESBORO SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE REPORT
MAY 18, 2025

Chevrolet Takes the Crown in the 2025 Manufacturer Showdown

  •  Chevrolet took the crown in NASCAR’s first Manufacturer Showdown at the 2025 All-Star Race. All five Team Chevy contenders that were vying for the honors took the checkered-flag in the top-eight positions – led by Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain, who drove his No. 1 Busch Light Chevrolet to a third-place result after rebounding from damage sustained early in the race.
  • Chastain led a trio of Hendrick Motorsports teammates, with Alex Bowman in fourth, Chase Elliott in fifth and William Byron in sixth, with Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch driving home with an eighth-place finish.

TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10 RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
3rd – Ross Chastain
4th – Alex Bowman
5th – Chase Elliott
8th – Kyle Busch

Chevrolet’s season statistics with 12 NASCAR Cup Series races complete:

Wins: 4
Poles: 7
Top-Fives: 24
Top 10s: 55
Stage Wins: 11

UP NEXT: The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season continues at Charlotte Motor Speedway for the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday, May 25, at 6 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on Amazon Prime, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
Post-Race Driver Quotes:

Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet

Finished: 3rd

It was a hard fought race for you, but it was arguably probably one of your best All-Star races. How was your night?

“Yeah, we got turned around there early in the race and hit the left-rear and the left-front, so something is bent. It really didn’t drive much different after that, even when the wheel was off. For everyone on this No. 1 Busch Light Chevy team — we’ve all seen the struggles we’ve had, so just to be able to see the front and be right there with them the last couple of weeks is really cool. We want more of that, for sure, and we’ll keep working. We have a lot of strong things to take away from here this weekend. A lot of effort has already gone into Charlotte, and that continues tomorrow.”

Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

Finished: 4th

“I’m just really proud of everyone on this No. 48 Ally Chevrolet team. We were so bad yesterday and the guys made the right adjustments. Our hands are pretty tied on what we can or can’t change, and they made a lot of really good calls to take us from struggling pretty bad to at least having a shot at it there at the end. Really happy for this team. Obviously, fourth doesn’t really mean anything here, but it was a big improvement from yesterday.”

Is there anything you can learn from this race for shorter, flatter tracks in the future?

“I think we certainly came here just to do that – try to learn things. It pays $1 million, but honestly winning a regular Cup race, with the playoff implications and everything, it adds up to more than that. So yeah, just came here to learn. Obviously what we had, we struggled with at first, but maybe we have our heads wrapped around it a little bit better.”

Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

Finished: 5th

“It looked like a great race for the win.. I wish I could have been a part of it. I thought the race was much better this year than last year, so that was cool to see. We had another great crowd here, great environment, for an All-Star race, so hopefully everyone enjoyed that.

Our No. 9 Prime Chevy was pretty good. We were in the mix, but we just needed a little bit more to be there with Joey (Logano) and Christopher (Bell). We were solid, better than we’ve been, and it’s just a nice step in the right direction. We just had a good solid night. Obviously needed a little bit more, but overall, it was pretty solid.”

William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

Finished: 6th

“All four of the Hendrick Motorsports Chevy’s were pretty fast. For us personally, we just have to continue to improve. We were good to start the weekend and good to start the race, but it just seemed like it kind of went away on us. We just have to figure out what exactly that was, but I’m overall happy with the result. I feel like we did a good job throughout the weekend. I don’t know if I was expecting to win, but I was hoping we’d have a shot to win and I think we were right there. We just didn’t have quite enough.”

Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

Finished: 8th

What did you think of the race tonight?

“We had a decent night for our No. 8 SENIX Chevrolet. I felt like there around halfway, we jumped to the outside lane and I think we led a lap. We just kind of faded on the long run. I didn’t quite have the complete package with all the grip that I was looking for. I don’t know that all of the Chevy guys did. We’re just a little bit behind on that front, but overall, we made great adjustments all night. The team worked hard overnight to try to find something that would make us better, so that was good progress”

Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

Finished: 14th

“We had a fast No. 3 Dow Salutes Veterans Chevrolet in the All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Our Chevy started with a loose balance and lacked right-rear grip, but crew chief Richard Boswell made solid adjustments throughout the race. Our pit crew was consistent all night, which helped us race inside the top 10 and climb as high as seventh. With 25 laps to go, we made a strategy call to take right-side tires only, knowing it was our best shot at the win. Unfortunately, as the race went green to the finish, the car tightened up, and we didn’t gain the track position we had hoped for. I’m proud of everyone at Richard Childress Racing. We’re making steady improvements every week, and our short-track program is definitely heading in the right direction.”

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.

Keselowski Wins Pole and Heat Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway

By
Official Release
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Buescher 10th, Keselowski 22nd in All-Star Race; Preece 11th in the Open

North Wilkesboro, NC (May 18, 2025) – Roush Fenway Keselowski (RFK) Racing entered All-Star weekend at North Wilkesboro with high expectations and delivered flashes of speed across all three of its entries. Chris Buescher, Brad Keselowski, and Ryan Preece each showed competitive pace in qualifying and early race segments, with Keselowski capturing his first career All-Star pole and dominating his heat.

No. 17 – Chris Buescher

Coming off a third-place finish at North Wilkesboro in last year’s All-Star Race, Buescher and the No. 17 Korger/Tylenol Ford team aimed to start the weekend strong. They recorded a 13.309-second pit stop—13th fastest in the field—but a pit road speeding penalty during the run offset their efforts. As a result, Buescher was set to start eighth in the second heat race, despite showing promising speed in the opening sessions.

Buescher delivered a strong run in Heat 2, climbing from eighth to fifth by lap 10 with smooth, decisive moves. He maintained his position through the competition caution on lap 30, then executed a clean four-tire stop to restart on the third row. Holding steady in the closing laps, Buescher finished fifth, showing solid speed and control throughout the race before the main event.

In the All-Star race, Buescher made an early move into ninth place after the initial restart, showing strong pace before a caution on lap 57. His team opted for four fresh tires, which dropped him to 14th, and he soon fell to 17th as dirty air made passing difficult. He remained in that position through the competition caution at lap 101, struggling to gain ground amid the traffic.

Buescher continued to run around 17th until a key caution on lap 175 allowed his team to pit for a fresh set of tires. The strategy paid off, as he used the improved grip to work his way back into the top 10 in the closing laps. He ultimately finished 10th, salvaging a solid result through smart pit strategy and consistent driving.

“It’s good to be in the All-Star event, but we weren’t where we wanted to be for the day obviously,” Buescher said. “We fought back and made some adjustments there at the end, and we’ll be better off on the next go around.”

No. 6 – Brad Keselowski

Keselowski kicked off All-Star weekend on a high note by capturing his first career pole position in what marked his 17th appearance in the NASCAR All-Star Race. Driving the No. 6 Solomon Plumbing Ford, Keselowski earned the top spot through an impressive performance in the qualifying session, beating out the rest of the field by nearly nine-tenths of a second in the final qualifying metric.

In the opening heat race, Keselowski started on the front row and dominated from the drop of the green flag, leading 74 of the 75 laps. With smart defensive driving, he effectively blocked both lanes and never relinquished control. Hitting his marks lap after lap, Keselowski powered to a convincing victory, claiming the heat race win for the second consecutive year.

Keselowski and the No. 6 team opened the All-Star Race with dominance, leading 61 of the first 63 laps and building nearly a one-second gap over Joey Logano. A caution on lap 63 forced the team to take two tires to maintain track position, keeping Keselowski on the front row. However, the reduced grip became a factor, and he steadily fell back to eighth by lap 101 as handling worsened in traffic.

After a four-tire stop under caution, Keselowski restarted seventh and quickly showed strong pace, turning some of the fastest laps on the track. He remained competitive for the next 50 laps and appeared poised for a late-race charge. Unfortunately, his night took a turn when he brushed the wall in turn three, breaking the right front shock and ending the team’s hopes.

“I was just driving up towards the wall and stepped over the cushion,” Keselowski said. “We’re connecting things for sure, we just haven’t connected everything and when we do that we’ll be dangerous.”

No. 60 – Ryan Preece

Looking to build off a seventh-place run at Kansas, Preece and the No. 60 Boston Common Golf Ford team impressed in qualifying at North Wilkesboro. The crew logged a 13.066-second stop—ninth fastest overall—which helped Preece secure the fifth starting spot for Sunday night’s All-Star Open race.

Preece wasted no time moving to the front in the Open race, breaking into the top three by lap 30 with a strong, consistent run. At the lap 50 competition caution, he pitted for four tires and fuel, dropping to seventh as others opted for a two-tire strategy to gain track position.

Back under green, Preece used his short-track experience to climb back up, passing Michael McDowell and Bubba Wallace to reclaim third. He then engaged in a tight battle with Ty Gibbs, eventually clearing him off turn four to take second—enough to advance to the main event.

However, a caution on lap 78 changed everything. NASCAR ruled Preece had committed a choose-cone violation under yellow, forcing him to restart at the rear. Despite the setback, he fought back to finish 11th, showing resilience in one of the fastest cars on track.

“I’m just really disappointed, because we brought a really fast Boston Common Golf Ford to the track this weekend,” Preece said. “I hate it for our team, but we’ll move on to next week and look forward to the Coke 600.”

Up Next
Charlotte Motor Speedway (Concord, NC): Sunday, May 25, 2025, at 6 PM ET on Prime

Rookie Robert Shwartzman puts Chevrolet on Pole for Indianapolis 500

By
Official Release
-

Pato O’Ward will start from third giving Chevy two drivers on the front row

Rookie Robert Shwartzman had the drive of his life as he made his four-lap qualifying run for his first Indianapolis 500 and his first oval. The driver of the No. 83 PREMA Racing Chevrolet was the third driver to roll onto the 2.5-mile oval during Firestone Fast Six qualifying and set the mark to beat with a four lap average of 232.790mph. The 25-year-old held off a challenge from fellow Team Chevy driver Pato O’Ward, behind the wheel of the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, who will start on the outside of the front-row.

  • Shwartzman and O’Ward were joined in the Fast 12 by fellow Team Chevy drivers David Malukas in the No. 4 Clarience Technologies Chevrolet for A.J. Foyt Racing, who will start from 7th, Christian Lundgaard in the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, who will start from 8th, Scott McLaughlin in the No. 3 Pennzoil Team Penske Chevrolet, who will start 10th, Josef Newgarden in the No. 2 Shell Team Penske Chevrolet, who will start 11th and Will Power in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, who will start 12th.
  • Shwartman is the first rookie Indianapolis 500 pole winner since Teo Fabi in 1983.
  • PREMA Racing is the first new entry to win the Indianapolis 500 pole since Mayer Motor Racing won the 1984 pole with Tom Sneva behind the wheel.
  • Ryan Briscoe won the first Indianapolis 500 pole in the twin-turbo 2.2L era of NTT INDYCAR SERIES competition with Chevrolet power. This year, Briscoe is the Sporting Director for PREMA Racing, who wins the first Indianapolis 500 pole in the hybrid twin-turbo 2.2L era.
  • Shwartzman and O’Ward are the 27th and 28th Team Chevy drivers to start on the front row of the Indianapolis 500 since the introduction of the 2.2L twin-turbo formula in 2012. Eight of those are poles, nine are in the middle of the front row, and 11 are from the outside of the front row.
  • All 18 Team Chevy entries made the field of 33 drivers for the 109th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge.
  • Shwartzman is the 14th Chevrolet powered driver to win the Indianapolis 500 pole.

Chevrolet powered Indianapolis 500 pole winners

2025 – Robert Shwartzman – PREMA Racing

2024 – Scott McLaughlin – Team Penske

2019 – Simon Pagenaud – Team Penske

2018 – Ed Carpenter – Ed Carpenter Racing

2015 – Scott Dixon – Chip Ganassi Racing

2014 – Ed Carpenter – Ed Carpenter Racing

2013 – Ed Carpenter – Ed Carpenter Racing

2012 – Ryan Briscoe – Team Penske

2002 – Bruno Junqueira – Chip Ganassi Racing

1991 – Rick Mears – Team Penske

1990 – Emerson Fittipaldi – Team Penske

1989 – Rick Mears – Team Penske

1988 – Rick Mears – Team Penske

1987 – Mario Andretti – Newman Haas Racing

Firestone Fast Six Qualifying Results

Fast 12 Qualifying Results:

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING INDIANAPOLIS 500 SUNDAY QUALIFYING

Robert Shwartzman, No. 83 PREMA Racing Chevrolet / PREMA Racing

Sunday Qualifying Rank: 1st
Four Lap Average: 232.790mph
Quote: “Well, unbelievable guys we made it. My first ever Indy 500 pole as a rookie with the rookie team PREMA Racing. I mean overall, I just want to say a big thanks to PREMA and to Chevy for their support and for their work. We’ve done a really good job with progressing the car and honestly now I still can’t believe it. Mentally I’m quite exhausted, I just need to digest this whole thing, that I’m going to be starting on pole for the Indy 500. So yeah, just amazing. Big thanks to all the fans for the support and to everybody who was supporting me and believing in me for all these years. A huge thank you to everyone at Team Chevy for the support!!!! What a result for everyone!

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

Sunday Qualifying Rank: 3rd
Four Lap Average: 232.098mph
Quote: “I’ve never been on the front row for an Indy 500, so this is great. This is literally what I wanted. I told my family yesterday that my goal was to be starting on the outside of the front row. Obviously, I would’ve loved pole, but it’s a tall task. You just never know here, it’s always a surprise. I think it’s phenomenal what Prema and Shwartzman have done, it’s an incredible story. As for us, we’re right there. We’ve had a quick car all month, and we’re going to continue to have it in the race. We’re going to keep working on that and see what we can make happen.”

David Malukas, No. 4 Clarience Technologies Chevrolet / A.J. Foyt Enterprises

Sunday Qualifying Rank: 7th
Four Lap Average: 231.599mph
Quote: “It was a very easy run. The easiest out of all of the qualifying runs that we’ve had to do. We just played it too safe on the downforce level. With this track temp coming up we were kind of debating how things were going to be. We should have probably taken more risk. We need one of these guys to drop out to make the (Firestone) Fast Six, but it was very good run for the guys.”

Christian Lundgaard, No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet / Arrow McLaren

Sunday Qualifying Rank: 8th
Four Lap Average: 231.360mph
Quote: “That was a pretty good day. We went out to the Top 12 run not knowing what to expect with the balance, and we ended up a lot more pushy than we were this morning. We wanted to give Pato some of that information for his run, and he made it through to the Firestone Fast 6. Congrats to the No. 5 team. At the end of the day, the No. 7 VELO Arrow McLaren Chevrolet will start eighth, which is a lot better than I’ve previously done here. A lot of good to come.”

Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 Pennzoil Team Penske Chevrolet / Team Penske Fast 12

Rank: 10th
Four Lap Average: DNQ after practice incident
Quote: “Yeah, I’m fine. I’m just really, really, really, really sorry for everybody at Team Penske and the guys on the (No.) 3 car, and everybody on the 2, 12 and everyone who builds these cars. It was talking to me and I sort of felt it and I should have backed out. But, you know you are trying to complete a run to see what it feels like, and was it worth the risk. It probably wasn’t. I’m incredibly sad. (Watches the crash) You just try and brace yourself and hope you don’t go in the catch fence. I’m very grateful to INDYCAR for the safety. My team and the SAFER Barriers kept me safe.”

Josef Newgarden, No. 2 Shell V-Power NiTRO+ Team Penske Chevrolet / Team Penske

Sunday Qualifying Rank: 11th
Four Lap Average: DNQ
Quote:

Will Power, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet / Team Penske

Sunday Qualifying Rank: DNQ
Four Lap Average: Car 12 failed pre-qualifying technical inspection
Quote:

Pato O’Ward

Robert Shwartzman

Press Conference

Moving ahead to front row for the 109th running of the Indianapolis 500, Pato O’Ward joins us driver of the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, who has qualified for his sixth Indy 500. First front row start. Previous best was a fifth place start a couple of years ago in 2023. Tell us about the Firestone Fast Six.

PATO O’WARD: Yeah, super stoked to have my first front row start here at the 500. Definitely was pushing for that pole. First of all, I want to thank everybody, guys and gals, at Arrow McLaren. This is obviously the first time that I’ve had a true shot to compete for pole, but also compete to be one of the best three. We’ve got the best few going into turn one.

Big thanks to them, Team Chevy, you know, for us and as well for the pole setter. The rookie of rookies on ovals, team, I mean, it’s phenomenal what they did today. It really is. I think it’s an amazing storyline.

I’m happy to see that they obviously do look surprised. I believe they’ve built a rocket, and it’s phenomenal to see it’s the best definition that I can probably give Indianapolis is full of surprises. Yeah, just cool to be a part of it.

THE MODERATOR: Cool to see on the front row. Open it up to questions.

Q. I would like to start talking about Jacob. You just gave him a handshake. You missed your first Indy 500, much like him. What would you say to Jacob to deal with that situation?

PATO O’WARD: You’re better off watching the race than racing in a shit car. I mean, it’s miserable. 200 laps in a car that sucks. You don’t want that. That’s horrible. So I was actually kind of relieved when I didn’t make it.

I hope he kind of feels the same because otherwise, he’s just going to be pounding around there, and it’s not like he’s pounding around in 100 miles an hour. Like we’re going fricking fast, and accidents can happen just in a blink of an eye.

When something is not really that comfortable, I think it’s obviously a heart break, but I know exactly how it feels. I’m sure we’re going to see him here next year.

Q. Your struggles with speed throughout the month of May last year were well-documented. How gratifying is it to know that you finished second with a tough car last year, you’re starting third this year? How would you rate your chances?

PATO O’WARD: Oh, man. 200 laps, it’s 500 miles, it’s a fricking long race. Whoever looks to be winning it in the middle of the race is probably not going to win it because things change so much for the Indy 500.

We’re right there. I know how to position myself in order to have a shot, and I really embrace this event and everything that goes with it. I can’t wait to get onto the green flag, have the best view that I’ve ever had starting an Indy 500. I think there’s a lot of new and excitement that I’ll be able to appreciate and experience.

Q. I know you couldn’t hear it in the car, but the crowd perhaps gave the loudest cheer outside the Shwartzman for when you took the green flag. Not even put up a speed. Talk about these fans here at the speedway.

PATO O’WARD: Oh, man, they’re phenomenal. They make the magic that much more, when you really get to experience what Indy means. I love seeing the 5 shirts walking around, people chanting your name. It’s really special. I never thought in my career that I would be able to experience something so special.

I just think everything that has to do with the month of May, like, everybody embraces it. Everybody is, like, into it. That just gives it an extra element of just bad assness. I feel like this month, you know, I feel like a lot of us are walking around with extensions in our pants because it’s just — man, it’s so fricking gnarly. It is gnarly.

You have to take these cars to the edge after you’ve already taken it to the edge just to find a little bit extra speed. The feeling is unbelievable, but that feeling can also be pretty devastating when you destroy a car that you know is probably the best one that you’re going to have all month.

The stakes are so high, but the preparations and all that stuff, I mean, that’s why people come and watch qualifying here because I feel like specifically this year has just been bad ass.

Q. A couple of times you have mentioned how you’re going to have the best view. Why does the view matter?

PATO O’WARD: Because no one is in front of you, bro. You see turn one, and you just start accelerating as soon as pole man starts accelerating. Yeah, that’s just what it is (laughing). I’ve always had a few rows in front of me, so…

Q. Were you aware of what was going on with the Penske cars there in qualifying, why they didn’t qualify? Do you care? Did you feel that they were intentionally breaking the rules, or is it something that people do and work on?

PATO O’WARD: They weren’t accidentally doing it because they had the blowtorch right there in order to get it out. Honestly, I feel for Abel and for everybody that did the disqualifications or the last chance qualifying. Those cars weren’t in regulations.

I’m not an engineer, so I can’t tell you what they were doing, how much speed that it is or if it is any speed. Obviously it’s not in regulation. The rule is pretty black and white. Those cars should have been in the last chance qualifier. Like, those cars should have never — obviously they didn’t do anything in the Fast 12, but they should have been brought into the LCQ because they had that yesterday, I guarantee you. Until someone pointed it out today. Those cars, if they’re disqualified today, they should have been disqualified yesterday.

It’s a shame really because they don’t need to be doing that stuff. They’re a great team. They have got great drivers. Why are doing that? It makes no sense.

THE MODERATOR: See you back here tomorrow. Thanks, Pato.

THE MODERATOR:

We’ll get started with our pole winner for the Indianapolis 500. As we continue, though, for the pole position for the 109th running of the Indianapolis 500 Robert Shwartzman, driver of the No. 83 PREMA Racing Chevrolet with his first NTT P1 award in his rookie year on the NTT INDYCAR SERIES. First rookie to win the pole since Teo Fabi did so back in 1983. Tony Stewart qualified second in ’96 and inherited the pole after the Scott Brayton incident.

First driver from Israel in the Indianapolis 500. PREMA Racing is also the first-year team to win the pole since Meyer Motor Racing back in 1984. That team put Tom Sneva on the pole and Howdy Holmes in the second qualifying spot. Made a little history here today. What does it feel like?

ROBERT SHWARTZMAN: Honestly it’s unbelievable. I was just processing it, and I still can’t believe it. It’s just a dream.

I was just thinking in my dreams fantasizing, How will it feel to take pole position in Indy 500? How is the vibe? Then I was, like, Yeah, Robert, get back to reality. You have a new car, new team, you are a rookie. How can you expect to be in this position? It’s just in your dreams.

But still I was keeping that tiny dream deep inside like maybe, maybe. Yeah, coming here, honestly, we missed the first testing day. Let’s say the free practice. Even so, I think the thing that made me sit here now in this position I think is just the right team mentality. You don’t need to be a genius. You don’t need to have incredible experience. You just need to have a good people around you as a team, which are conscious of what they’re doing.

You know, as a whole team, you just know that, Okay, we’ll go step by step, small steps without rushing because even though I don’t have experience, I’ve heard a lot of people saying that Indy doesn’t forgive. One slight mistake can cost you a lot.

We’ve seen Colton, Marcus, Scotty, they were really fast, but I think they could have definitely challenged, but with that mistake, they didn’t manage to do it. So that was the thing that I didn’t really want to do. That’s why we didn’t come up with the warmup yesterday and in practice today. It was just like, you know, No, let’s keep it safe, just stable. We know that the car is quite quick. Just need to be consistent, do the four laps, and the last run I just give it all. I give maximum what I could.

I tried to stay as long as possible flat, and yeah, here we are. We managed to survive it. I managed to hold it on. Honestly it was the best feeling ever. The car was just amazing.

THE MODERATOR: Let me go through, before we open it up for questions, where you placed each day at practice here for Indianapolis. Tuesday you were 33rd quick. Wednesday you were 28th quick. Thursday, 32nd quick. Friday, bumped up to 13th. Now here you are starting from pole position. Where did you find? It was a confidence thing?

ROBERT SHWARTZMAN: Just to make it clear, I think in free practice we were definitely way faster than where we were. The problem is that other people were mainly simulating race runs while we were actually focusing on quallie runs. We were always in the free air trying to search and find the free air, obviously without the boost.

So that’s why we were not as good-looking in the field because other drivers, they had slip stream, and that was definitely giving them some speed advantage. We didn’t really care at that stage, let’s say, at the ranking. The target was just to get the car in the right window with the right balance for quallie.

Again, that’s another thing. I would have not known how to approach it, but luckily, there is my engineer, Eric, who have done that in the past, he was a Joseph engineer, and he knew how Indy 500 works.

That was his input, and he said, Guys, we’re going to do it like this. Obviously we have full trust in him. At the end here we are. He managed to give me a pole position car.

THE MODERATOR: It’s an amazing story. We’ll open it up to questions.

Q. Robert, you mentioned that this was a dream. When was your first memory of the Indianapolis 500?

ROBERT SHWARTZMAN: My first memory was when I was in Formula 1 Grand Prix in Monaco, I was just as a kid, let’s say, just watching the Formula 1 race, and at the same time it was going the Indy 500 race. So there was my friends and sponsors, and they invited me to a yacht, like the part of Monaco. I was just sitting there. It was no Formula 1 running. It was actually after the race of Formula 1. Normally Monaco is quite boring, as we know. There is not many possibilities of overtaking. It’s more quallie race for me.

Then we were just sitting there, and on the TV there was Indy 500 race running there. Honestly I was just looking. It was so much more exciting. I was just, like, Damn, until last turn you don’t know who is going to win. I was being like, Okay, this guy is fast, he’s going to win, and then all of a sudden, no, he’s getting overtaken and then another guy and another guy. The rotation is always changing.

That was the first member, Damn, this is amazing. This is proper battle. Then I obviously start hearing a lot of things about Indy that it’s another way from Formula 1. Let’s say if you don’t go to Formula 1, the best thing is to go to INDYCAR. Yeah, here we are.

It happened so that unfortunately I haven’t been given a chance to go to F1 even though I really tried my best. I know it’s, like, Okay, if that’s not the way to go, I’ll try here in Indy, and here we are. I think it’s a good place to be in. I really like it. I really enjoy it.

It’s first experience on ovals. That was just something unbelievable. Especially going 240 miles an hour, which is like 385 kilometers an hour. It’s just a new experience. I’ve never driven so fast a car.

Now sitting here being in pole position is just, again, just a wow.

Q. Have you ever had a crowd cheer for you like that?

ROBERT SHWARTZMAN: I don’t remember. It’s been really, really long time since I raced like this. I’ve been in an environment like this for me. Crowd is amazing here. Honestly, it’s been since like the moment I felt like we were fast and people start noticing us that we were actually not too bad, we’re pretty competitive, it started picking up this level of people just, like, you know, cheering, cheering, cheering.

Yeah, honestly, at the end now when we took the pole, it’s unbelievable, the roar, how loud it is. I mean, it’s been a long time since I heard that.

Q. You mentioned you focused mainly on quallie sims throughout practice. How important are these next two days of practice to get the race can car dialed in?

ROBERT SHWARTZMAN: For sure. For me, like I said, we spoke with Ryan who was helping me, Ryan Briscoe, and he was, like, basically Indy splits in two races. There is one race that is just quallies and then there is another race which is actual race. For me it’s the same approach.

We don’t have much time obviously, and we need to try to figure out what’s about best way for the race car, how is it going to be looking like? Plus, I don’t have much experience. I have none experience racing on oval, so I don’t know exactly how are the overtakes, how do you defend? It’s something absolutely new. So I don’t want to put any high expectation on myself on that point.

It’s obviously amazing to start first, but again, I just probably take it easy. I guess I need to just analyze and see what the others are also doing because, you know, it’s very easy to make be a mistake here. As I said, it can cost a lot. I just want to make it a smooth ride. The approach is just we use maximum we can the free practice we got for the race, and then hopefully it’s going to be good enough to put the car in a decent position. Then we’re just going to race. I try to enjoy the battling, the racing with the other guys.

Q. Two questions for you: Number one, I heard that Ryan Briscoe is part of the PREMA Team. Is it fair to say that he maybe prepared you with this open-wheel experience?

ROBERT SHWARTZMAN: For sure. Yeah, for sure he helps. That’s what he’s doing. He’s really helping a lot with his experience, his knowledge, things he was doing in his past.

Yeah, yesterday morning I was feeling really nervous about going to the qualifying. I was, like, Ryan, were you actually nervous going for quallie? For me I never actually was nervous in my career in qualifying. It’s just one lap. You go there. There’s nothing dangerous, nothing scary. Here it was, like, first time being really nervous to go out there and, like, because you don’t know. You don’t know what’s going to be, how the car is going to be. You definitely don’t want to end up crashing here.

I was really nervous, and I was, like, Ryan, were you nervous? He was, like, Yeah, I was. It’s normal. It’s absolutely normal. We chatted. He calmed me down. He is, like, Listen, take it easy. It’s the first year. You’re a rookie. No expectations. Just enjoy it.

That’s what I did. Especially when you have a good car and you can get confidence and trust that the car is going to be good, that also helps a lot. And the second one?

Q. The second question is, very sadly your home country had headlines with this war situation. You coming now here and are on pole as rookie after more than 40 years, do you think you’re an ambassador to bring positive headlines back to your home country and hopefully maybe one day we have international race in Israel and a really good racetrack will be built? What you do you think?

ROBERT SHWARTZMAN: It would be amazing if we would go to Israel. Obviously, I’m not in control of it. It’s a dream. Like you said, it’s definitely an amazing idea to have a race track in Israel where we can do an international race because I heard the next couple of years we might go to Mexico. Honestly, I would also love to go to Israel if that would be built a proper racetrack.

Yeah, representing Israel I just want to believe that for all the people they realize that what is going on generally. Let’s say, I’m not supporting it. I just want peace in the world. I want people to be good, and I don’t want the separation of countries saying this is bad country, this is good country. There is no bad or good. We’re all human beings. We just have to support each other and respect each other. That’s as well.

We need it also find ways to, let’s say, negotiate things, find ways to agree on things because from my experience, there is always a gold medal, I’m calling it. There’s always the right path.

Yeah, I really hope that at the end of the day everything is going to be good in the world, it’s going to be all calm. From my side I try to just represent my country and do my best, let people know that I’m here, and that I’m giving it all. I’m not giving up with whatever I have in my career, in my past. I not giving up, and I won’t give up. So I keep pushing, so people just have that belief, keep going forward, and yeah, just look forward. Never look back.

Q. (Off microphone)

ROBERT SHWARTZMAN: I was not born, but — I lived in Ashkelon and born in Tel Aviv obviously, but I think for three years we lived in Ashkelon, but I didn’t know about racetrack. I heard later on that there was this race and that there was a racetrack and that they raced, but it’s been long time ago. Unfortunately I couldn’t witness it.

THE MODERATOR: Well said, by the way. The reference to Ryan Briscoe, so everyone knows, ten-time starter in the Indy 500, won pole position back in 2012. You have got a lot of good advice this week.

ROBERT SHWARTZMAN: I know that.

Q. Obviously the last rookie to win the pole for the Indy 500 was in 1983, and that’s your car number. Do you that’s a good omen for Sunday?

ROBERT SHWARTZMAN: That’s actually a good one. That’s something symbolic. I didn’t even know that. I want to believe that it’s definitely a big thing. Some people believe in this numbers thing. Some people don’t.

I find it kind of cool from my side, so yeah, as I said, I didn’t expect myself to be here, honestly. I raced with the same number actually last year in WEC, and unfortunately, we didn’t manage to win Lamond. We were really fast. We led most of the race. At that stage I was, like, well, you know, Lamond was so close, but we didn’t get it.

Then when I came to Indy and I took the same number, I’m, like, I have to bring this number up. I have to do it. I have to push it up that people will sigh this number.

It’s the second year with this number, and the fact that the last rookie was in ’83, that means it’s a good coincidence.

Q. In terms of your WEC experience, obviously it’s an endurance race, and the race next week is a very long race. Do you think there’s anything you can take away from your WEC experience to go into the 500?

ROBERT SHWARTZMAN: Yeah, for sure. When I was doing Lamond overall I’ve driven a bit more than eight hours. You don’t sleep. In that way when the races are so long, you get sort of this knowledge and ability of being just calm.

You sort of put yourself in autopilot. Just be smooth, take things under control, but you don’t overpush yourself because you can go for so long at your max effort. You have to balance well your energy.

I think in that way endurance racing helped me to get this knowledge, to get this feeling and understanding how to approach races like that. Obviously in a week’s time it’s going to be a new thing for me. So definitely it’s going to be difficult because it’s not only long race, but it’s like it’s my first oval race starting from pole, so there is a lot of things going on.

Again, I just try to use that knowledge to just be calm and as I said, take it easy without rushing things up. Yeah, hopefully we’re going to have a good, strong, fast, competitive car. Who knows? Maybe in the last laps I’m going to be there battling not only for pole position like for today but also for a race win. Thank you.

Q. First, I wanted to ask about the reception from the fans and you’ve talked about wanting to come and race in America, and you spoke about sort of the texts between your home country and the world view of it. To hear that reaction and to get that acceptance from the fans for winning the pole, what was your reaction of that? In general, how you’ve been treated by fans since you joined INDYCAR?

ROBERT SHWARTZMAN: Honestly, really well. That’s the thing that I want to bring up to generally the whole world. I think here in U.S. people are way less judgeful, let’s say. I have never felt that anybody would judge from where I come from. They just judge what you do, which is fair. If you do good things, they will judge you as a good man. If you do bad things, you’re a bad man. That’s how it’s supposed to be.

There is no, let’s say, this separation of, like, oh, okay, you come from this country, it’s in a worse state, they’re bad, you’re bad as well, and saying bad things.

Here, again, the fans are super supportive. They’re really nice. Yeah, as I said, I never felt — like here I feel really good with the fans.

Let’s say in a couple of years in Europe it was a bit more tense for me. I have to admit. It was difficult moments. Most of the people that were in that environment, they understand, and they supported me, but there were also some people that were going against me.

It’s been a very tough moment in my life where I was just, like, I haven’t done anything bad. I didn’t support anything. I generally just support my people from my country, but generally all the people with respect, and there were just some people saying bad things just because where I was born.

Q. My last question, I know you’re a budding musician. Can we expect a song about this performance today any time soon?

ROBERT SHWARTZMAN: As I said, I need some good studio to contact me, and I’m down to get in the studio on the mic, and we can have a look at how we can lyrically do a really cool song about getting the pole in Indy 500.

THE MODERATOR: Do you care to get into explaining what he means by that question, about your musical ability here? You’ve got a song out, right?

ROBERT SHWARTZMAN: I did one. It’s called, “Active.” Yeah, you can hear it if you want. I mean, it’s been a long time. It’s been, like, four years since I released it actually. At this stage I realize that I can do even better, but I think still it’s a fun sock.

THE MODERATOR: You might get a trending now after this.

ROBERT SHWARTZMAN: Maybe people can start using social media to rotate, use my face or whatever, my name, and use that song.

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations. You’ve got a lot of interviews to do.

ROBERT SHWARTZMAN: I though I’m going to have a free, let’s say, couple of days, but seems like not.

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations, Robert. What a great story. Thank you, Robert.

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