Home Blog Page 967

David Malukas Finishes 13th for Meyer Shank Racing at Iowa INDYCAR Race

NEWTON, Iowa (July 14, 2024) – Iowa Speedway hasn’t been kind to Meyer Shank Racing’s (MSR) NTT INDYCAR SERIES efforts over the last few years and Sunday’s race was more of the same for the Ohio-based team.

Comprised of two 250-lap races that ran Saturday and Sunday, the Hy-Vee Onestep 250 featured high temperatures and tight racing with long green-flag stints that left passing opportunities hard to find.

David Malukas (No. 66 AutoNation / Arctic Wolf Honda) rebounded after Saturday’s opening-lap spin that ended his day, using a ninth-place starting spot to earn finish 13th in his fourth series race with MSR. The result was the second-best of the season for the #66 car and the best for an MSR machine at Iowa since the 2020 campaign.

Meanwhile a promising day for Felix Rosenqvist (No. 60 AutoNation / SiriusXM Honda) went by the wayside after 195 of 250 laps, as he retired with a mechanical issue. Rosenqvist, who carried Eric Church’s Outsiders Radio SiriusXM channel on the No. 60 MSR machine for the double-header, started fifth and ran in the top five for the first fuel stint of the race, but a caution saw at the end of the pit cycle saw him drop to ninth.

The schedule provides no immediate relief as MSR will head north of the border next week, wrapping up a three-weekend streak of racing with the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto, which takes place on the streets of the Canadian city. Qualifying takes place on Saturday 2:45 p.m. E.T., with the race broadcast set for 1p.m. on Peacock. The races, along with all other INDYCAR action can be heard live on Sirius XM Radio, Channel 218.

Meyer Shank Racing Driver Quotes:

Felix Rosenqvist: “We started out pretty good, we were sitting P5. On the first sequence we lost a lot, we’ll have to see what happened there. I think we were a little slow in the pits and we lost a few spots and then we lost a few on the restart. Not ideal but pretty encouraging pace.”

David Malukas: “We just finished race 2 and completed a whole race this time. The guys did an incredible job putting the car back together. Of course going into today we knew the car wasn’t going to be exactly what it was. We didn’t really have the set up and everyone had information from race 1 which we didn’t. I struggled to keep up on the restarts. Decent points day for the 66 car and we’ll go on to Toronto.”

Workman Gets Mazda MX-5 Cup CTMP Win and Lead in Rookie Championship

BOWMANVILLE, Ont. CANADA (July 14, 2024) – On a track he just learned the day before, Westin Workman (No. 13 BSI Racing) climbed from sixth on the grid to take the top spot on the Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin podium at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park. He shared the podium with reigning series champion Jared Thomas (No. 96 JTR Motorsports Engineering) and Connor Zilisch (No. 72 JTR Motorsports Engineering).

Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup is known for its ultra-close racing, but even by Mazda MX-5 Cup standards, seeing the top 11 cars nose-to-tail for a 45-minute race with zero full-course cautions was a sight to behold.

Starting from the pole position, Aaron Jeansonne (No. 24 JTR Motorsports Engineering) and his third-place starting teammate, Thomas, tried to work together to pull away from the pack in the early going, but were unable to do so.

“I mean, always the guy on pole and the guy right behind him, no matter if they’re your teammate or not, we’ll talk about it (the start) and try to give your line the best advantage you can,” Thomas said. “So we did talk about that a little bit, but you know this place, you can’t really get away-we tried multiple times, in different groups and that just seemed impossible.”

Six different drivers representing three different teams were credited with leading a race lap at the timing line. Thomas and Jeansonne slid up and down the order, but by the race’s halfway point, Jeansonne’s pace had slowed and it was up to Thomas to carry the JTR banner.

At the same time, Workman, who started sixth, found his stride and was into the top three. With five laps to go, the rookie and Mazda Shootout Scholarship recipient took over the lead from Thomas.

He only kept it for two laps before Gresham Wagner (No. 5 McCumbee McAleer Racing), who nearly fell out of the top 10 early on in the race, moved into the top spot and crossed the finish line in first. A 10-second penalty for violating track limits, however, bumped Wagner to 10th and promoted Workman to the win and he knew it coming to the checkered flag.

“That was a crazy race,” Workman said. “I started P6 and was really just trying to put myself in the best position to win the race. On the last lap, I felt like I did that with Gresham’s 10-second penalty. I kind of used him as a draft in front of me to keep the cars behind me, behind me.”

It is Workman’s second win of the season, his first coming at Sebring in an exciting 0.004-second margin of victory.

“It’s awesome,” Workman said. “This is only my second time on the podium, so both my podiums have been wins. That feels really good, but I need to kind of improve the consistency a little bit and be getting on the podium more often. It feels really good, but I need to keep this momentum going for the rest of the season.”

The win provisionally puts Workman into the Rookie of the Year points lead.

After a great start, Thomas floated around the top five before putting in another late bid for the win but was unable to manifest the right opportunity.

“It’s always good to be up front especially late,” Thomas, who led seven laps said. “It keeps the car cool, but it’s also the kiss of death. It all depends on how the pack runs on that last lap and how third and fourth get battling. If you can get away then it’s a race for two cars rather than four cars so you just never know. I figured it was gonna be a revolving door at the front. And it was.”

He led the most laps, but in the end it was a third-place finish for Zilisch.

“I feel like these races are longer than people think they are,” Zilisch said. “You have to kind of be patient and understand that you’re not going to lead the whole race. We had a really fast BSI Racing, Silver Hare car today and it helped make my job easier by keeping me in the lead pack.”

Wagner wasn’t the only driver to get called out for track limits, several drivers including Zilisch received warnings. Lucky for him, it was only once, which did not equate to a penalty.

“It’s tough because you have to manage wanting to go fast with taking a risk,” Zilisch said. “Once I heard the first one, it was kind of a signal to not do it again. So I’m glad I could keep it on track and, and not get another one of those.”

Just missing the podium, in fouth place, was Nate Cicero (No. 83 McCumbee McAleer Racing).

Polesitter Jeansonne ended the race in fifth.

Just missing the top five was Jeremy Fletcher (No. 22 McCumbee McAleer Racing), who started at the back of the grid because of an engine change but made a remarkable climb through the field to finish sixth.

Sunday’s Round 10 race is slated for 2:30pm ET with livestreaming available on RACER.com and IMSA.tv.

About: The Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin is the signature spec series for Mazda Motorsports. The series has been operated by Andersen Promotions since 2017 and is currently sanctioned by IMSA. Mazda-powered grassroots champions can earn Mazda scholarships for this pro-level series. The Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup awards more than $1 million in prizes and scholarships.

Find out more at http://www.mx-5cup.com.

Difficult day at Iowa for ABEL Motorsports

NEWTON, Iowa. (July 14, 2024) – The ABEL Motorsports team fought through a myriad of outside issues during Saturday’s INDY NXT by Firestone Iowa 100, with Yuven Sundaramoorthy leading the driver trio with his fourth top 10 finish in the past five races.

Racing on a recently partially repaved circuit, several teams experienced tire blistering during Friday’s practice session, prompting INDYCAR – in consultation with series partner Firestone – to make several updates to Saturday’s race format. The race distance was adjusted from 75 to 55 laps, with a 10-lap competition yellow after the leader completed Lap 15.

Jacob Abel (No. 51 ABEL Construction), second in INDY NXT points, took the green flag in seventh position, with Sundaramoorthy (No. 22 S Team Motorsports) in 14th and Taylor Ferns (No. 55 Bradford Allen) – in her series debut – in 18th.

With track temperatures nearing 120F, the trio knew that tire management would be key. Abel opted for caution at the start, tucking into eighth position, as Sundaramoorthy and Ferns held their ground.

Two cars tangled in Turn 2 on Lap 13, with the field navigating a significant debris field as the yellow came out. Once the debris and resulting oil dry finally cleaned, the race returned to green with 10 laps remaining. As soon as he got back up to speed, Abel knew he had an issue, coming to pit lane to replace a punctured right rear tire. Sundaramoorthy and Taylor continued to battle, but the race went back to yellow with two laps remaining when another car found the wall. At the checkered flag, Sundaramoorthy had come home in 10th, with Abel 15th and Ferns 16th.

“We set up the car for long run pace in qualifying, which ended up starting us in the back,” said Sundaramoorthy. “But we were hoping we would get a long run to work our way forward. It didn’t quite happen that way with the yellows, which was a little unfortunate, but we had pace, so just going to look on the bright side today. There’s a lot of luck that goes into this sport and we didn’t get on the good side of luck today, so maybe next time.”

“We were fine early on, just saving our tires, and obviously the puncture was pretty bad luck,” said Abel. “We were going too slow during the yellow so it wasn’t apparent until we went back to green. Just a really frustrating day.”

“We lost the test day to rain but I had confidence in myself going into the weekend that we’d be alright,” said Ferns. “Unfortunately, the negative circumstances kept tumble-weeding, things that were out of our control. But the team worked with me, they were patient with me – more patient than I am with myself. I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t think I could be competitive, but we knew it was going to be a battle. I’m not out here whipping my sprint car around, and there are so many more variables. I’m really disappointed but we’ll be back.”

ABEL Motorsports thanks partners ABEL Construction Company, Advance Ready Mix, Boyd Cat®, S Team Motorsports, Quest Global and OMP for their continued support.

Next up for ABEL Motorsports and the INDY NXT by Firestone will be the Outfront Showdown at World Wide Technology Raceway near St. Louis, MO., August 17 at 3:55 p.m. ET. The race will be streamed live in the U.S. on Peacock, while international viewers can watch via INDYCARLIVE, with INDYCAR Radio available at indycar.com and on Sirius XM.

About ABEL Motorsports: Team principal Bill Abel began racing motocross in 1972, earning numerous championship titles as he continued the family racing tradition. In 2015, ABEL Motorsports was launched, starting in the USF2000 series and building up the junior open wheel ladder. The team captured the inaugural Formula Regional Americas Championship with driver Kyle Kirkwood in 2018.

ABEL Motorsports currently competes in the INDY NXT by Firestone series, the official development series for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, led by third-generation driver Jacob Abel. The team made its INDYCAR debut in 2023 with driver RC Enerson in the Indianapolis 500. For more information visit the official team website at abelmotorsports.com.

About Abel Construction Company: ABEL Construction is one of the largest general contractors in Kentucky, holding licenses in thirteen states. The company has offices in Lexington, Kentucky and Indianapolis, Indiana, with the corporate office in Louisville. Their expertise spans many areas, including general contracting, construction management, design-build, Integrated Project Delivery (IPD), and facilities maintenance.

Abel Construction has helped build some of the region’s most recognizable landmarks. Their projects cover diverse sectors, including automotive, healthcare, post-secondary education, commercial, food/beverage, tech, and industrial/manufacturing. They prioritize client satisfaction, focusing on efficient project delivery regardless of size or cost. The company’s skilled professionals utilize cutting-edge technology and software to ensure successful outcomes. abelconstruct.com/.

ABEL Motorsports social media

Facebook: ABEL Motorsports
Twitter/X: ABEL Motorsports
Instagram: ABEL Motorsports

5 Ways to Research a Neighborhood Before Buying a House

Photo by Zac Gudakov on Unsplash

When the time is right to invest in a new home, conduct thorough research to pinpoint the most suitable properties. However, your attention shouldn’t solely be on the house-hunting process. It’s equally important to assess the neighborhood where you plan to relocate.

Gaining insights into the local community may be a crucial first step before exploring available homes for sale. Your dream home could lose its allure if it’s in an unsuitable area. Analyzing neighborhoods and considering various metrics will assist you in identifying the ideal community for your requirements.

Take a Self-guided Tour

During home viewings, the typical routine involves arriving at a property, spending a brief moment there, and then departing without genuinely exploring the neighborhood. If you find a specific locality appealing, consider revisiting to delve deeper into the area.

Drive around nearby streets, potentially park, and take a stroll. This method can offer a fresh perspective on the neighborhood, especially when visited at varying times or on different days of the week.

Explore it Online

The vast amount of information available online regarding neighborhoods may surprise you. To begin, search for the property on Google Maps. This will provide an overhead view of the property, offering insight into the neighborhood’s overall appearance. The desired residence may be closer to a railyard or factory than anticipated.

Accessing such details enhances your comprehension of the area before deciding to relocate. Get information online and discover the neighborhood’s reviews or any complaints documented by previous homeowners.

Evaluate the Community’s Amenities and Infrastructure

Exploring purchasing a home in a fresh neighborhood requires a comprehensive understanding of the area—click here for more detailed insights. This entails assessing the amenities and infrastructure the town or city provides, including restaurants, entertainment venues, schools, public transportation, places of worship, and business opportunities tailored to your preferences.

Additionally, verify utility availability, such as access to natural gas connections or high-speed internet services. A property in a secluded area may not align with your lifestyle if you rely on nearby conveniences like grocery stores, pharmacies, and other essential amenities.

Examine the Crime Rates

When navigating your home search, examining crime rates becomes a vital step. Assess the frequency of criminal activities, but also consider the specific types of crimes happening in your vicinity, ranging from theft and burglary to assault and even more serious offenses like murder. Choosing a residence in an area with low crime rates within the neighborhood and its adjacent areas ensures a secure environment.

Property value trends over the past few years are significant and can inform you about a neighborhood you’re considering. See if this community is experiencing growth or if property values have declined. Many real estate apps and websites provide these value metrics. You can also compare listings of other homes for sale on the block or nearby.

If the property value is rapidly dropping, indicating people are leaving, it could suggest that the community is underfunded, affecting parks, schools, and other local amenities. While such past trends may indicate issues in the neighborhood, understanding these details could influence your decision to move there.

Endnote

When selecting a neighborhood to reside in, have confidence in your decision. Conducting comprehensive research on the neighborhood is vital for a fruitful home search. Be sure to allocate sufficient time for your search and extensive inquiries.

Jokaviproom Casino Online: A Comprehensive Review for Enthusiastic Gamblers

Welcome to our detailed exploration of Jokaroomvip.org, an online casino that’s become a favorite among Aussie players since its inception in 2018. Catering specifically to the Australian market, Jokaroom Vip Casino Online offers a wide range of gaming options, including over 1,500 games from some of the industry’s top software providers. Here’s an all-inclusive guide to what makes Jokaroom Vip not just another online casino, but a premier destination for real money gaming.

🌟 About Jokaroom Vip: A Storied Legacy in Online Gaming 🌟

Jokaroom Vip Casino Online debuted in 2018, quickly earning a reputation for quality and reliability. This online casino serves exclusively Australian customers, offering them a tailored gaming experience that includes a wide array of games in a secure environment. Jokaroom Vip is licensed under Curacao eGaming, ensuring that it adheres to strict standards of fairness and security.

🔍 Pros and Cons of Jokaroom Vip: Every Coin Has Two Sides 🔍

Pros:

  • Extensive Game Selection: Over 1,500 games including pokies, table games, and live casino options.
  • Generous Bonuses: Attractive welcome package and daily offers.
  • Mobile Compatibility: Seamless gameplay on mobile devices without the need for downloads.
  • Strong Security Measures: SSL encryption to protect player data.
  • Diverse Banking Options: Supports multiple methods for deposits and withdrawals.

Cons:

  • Limited Regional Availability: Primarily focused on Australian players.
  • Wagering Requirements: Bonuses come with wagering requirements that might be steep for some players.

🌟 An Expansive Array of Slot Games at Jokaroom Vip 🌟

Jokaroom Vip Casino Online is a paradise for slot game enthusiasts, boasting an impressive collection of over 800 pokies. These games range from classic three-reel slots to advanced video slots with intricate themes and multiple paylines. The diversity doesn’t end there; players can also find progressive jackpot slots offering the chance to win life-changing sums of money with just one spin. Each game comes with unique features, such as free spins, wild symbols, and bonus rounds, making each session exciting and unpredictable.

🔥 Exclusive VIP Club: More Than Just a Loyalty Program 🔥

The VIP Club at Jokaroom Vip is designed to reward the most dedicated players with exclusive benefits and personalized services. Membership in this club is not just about earning points; it’s an all-access pass to special promotions, higher withdrawal limits, and personal account managers. VIP members often receive invitations to exclusive events and giveaways, enhancing their gaming experience and providing added value. The VIP program exemplifies how Jokaroom Vip appreciates loyalty and aims to build a lasting relationship with each member.

🎲 Live Dealer Games: Bringing the Casino to Your Home 🎲

For those who crave the excitement of a real casino, Jokaroom Vip offers a variety of live dealer games. These games bridge the gap between online and land-based casinos by streaming dealers in real-time from a casino floor. Players can engage in games like live blackjack, roulette, and baccarat, interacting with dealers and other players through a sophisticated chat function. This live casino setup not only adds a layer of authenticity but also enhances trust and engagement by allowing players to watch the action unfold in real-time.

🔒 Commitment to Responsible Gaming 🔒

Jokaroom Vip Casino Online takes responsible gaming seriously. The platform provides various tools and resources to help players manage their gambling habits effectively. These include options to set deposit limits, session reminders, self-exclusion mechanisms, and direct links to professional help if needed. The commitment to responsible gaming ensures that the casino environment is safe and supportive, prioritizing the well-being of its players over profits.

📞 Enhanced User Experience with Proactive Customer Support 📞

Jokaroom Vip Casino Online places a high priority on customer satisfaction, evident in its comprehensive customer support system. The support team is accessible 24/7 through multiple channels including live chat, email, and a detailed FAQ section on their website. This proactive approach ensures that players’ queries and issues are resolved swiftly and efficiently, minimizing downtime and enhancing the overall user experience. The casino’s dedication to providing excellent customer service is pivotal in maintaining player trust and satisfaction.

Each of these aspects of Jokaroom Vip Casino Online contributes to a full-bodied online gambling experience, catering to a wide range of preferences and needs while upholding the highest standards of safety and customer care. Whether you’re a seasoned gambler or new to the world of online casinos, Jokaroom Vip offers a robust platform that combines excitement, variety, and exemplary service.

🌐 Exploring the Official Website of Jokaroom Vip 🌐

Jokaroom Vip’s website stands out with its user-friendly design and easy navigation. The dark-themed background accented with vibrant game thumbnails makes browsing not only intuitive but also visually appealing. The site’s layout ensures that new users can easily find their way around, from signing up to finding their favorite games.

🌍 Expanding Horizons: Jokaroom Vip’s Global Reach and Accessibility 🌍

Jokaroom Vip Casino Online may primarily cater to Australian players, but its appeal stretches far beyond the Australian borders thanks to its inclusive approach and wide accessibility. The platform supports gameplay in Australian dollars, making it convenient for locals, yet it also accommodates a broader audience with its versatile payment solutions that accept various currencies. This global perspective is further enhanced by the website’s multilingual support, which aims to provide a welcoming and accessible environment for players from different regions. Furthermore, Jokaroom Vip’s commitment to continuous improvement and adaptation to new technologies ensures that the casino remains at the forefront of the industry, offering cutting-edge games and features that attract a diverse player base. The blend of local focus and international reach makes Jokaroom Vip not just a leader in the Australian market but a notable player on the world stage.

🖊️ How to Sign Up at Jokaroom Vip 🖊️

Registering at Jokaroom Vip is straightforward:

  1. Visit Jokaroomvip.org.
  2. Click the ‘Sign Up’ button on the home page.
  3. Fill in the registration form with your details.
  4. Verify your account via email.
  5. Make your first deposit and begin playing.

🎁 Bonuses and Promotions Galore at Jokaroom Vip 🎁

Jokaroom Vip offers an impressive array of bonuses:

  • Welcome Bonus: Up to $5,000 + 75 free spins.
  • Daily Offers: Benefits like a 60% match bonus.
  • VIP Program: Earn points with every $10 wager.

Each bonus is designed to give players more chances to win while providing extra playing time.

💽 Software Providers Powering Jokaroom Vip 💽

The quality of gaming at Jokaroom Vip is guaranteed by partnerships with leading software providers like Microgaming, NetEnt, and Betsoft. These providers ensure a rich selection of games that are both entertaining and fair.

🎮 Games to Explore at Jokaroom Vip 🎮

From spinning over 800 pokies to engaging in a live casino session, Jokaroom Vip has it all. Popular titles include thematic and classic slots, alongside table games like Baccarat, Blackjack, and Roulette. The live casino options provide an immersive experience that makes players feel like they’re right in the heart of a physical casino.

🔒 Safety and Fair Play at Jokaroom Vip 🔒

Jokaroom Vip takes security seriously, employing SSL encryption to protect player data. Fairness is also a top priority, with all games using RNGs (Random Number Generators) to ensure unbiased outcomes.

💳 Banking Options for Smooth Transactions 💳

Deposits and withdrawals at Jokaroom Vip are streamlined with multiple banking options available, including major credit cards, e-wallets, and direct bank transfers. Transactions are secured and processed quickly, allowing players to access their winnings without unnecessary delays.

📱 Mobile Gaming: Play Anytime, Anywhere 📱

Jokaroom Vip is fully accessible on mobile devices, offering a responsive mobile site that lets players enjoy their favorite games on-the-go without the need for any downloads.

📞 Customer Support: Always Ready to Help 📞

Jokaroom Vip provides robust customer support through email and live chat. The support team is knowledgeable and ready to assist with any queries or issues that players might encounter.

❓ FAQs about Jokaroom Vip ❓

1. Is Jokaroom Vip safe to play at?

Absolutely, it employs strict security measures and is licensed by Curacao eGaming.

2. What types of games can I play?

You can enjoy over 1,500 games including slots, table games, and live dealer options.

3. How do I claim the welcome bonus?

Sign up, make your first deposit, and follow the instructions to activate your welcome bonus.

4. Can I play games on my mobile device?

Yes, the casino is optimized for mobile use, allowing you to play on smartphones and tablets.

5. Are there any fees for withdrawals?

Fees depend on the withdrawal method chosen; it’s best to check the terms and conditions for detailed information.

This comprehensive review of Jokaroom Vip Casino Online highlights its commitment to providing a superior online gaming experience. With its vast array of games, generous bonuses, and strong emphasis on security and customer service, Jokaroom Vip stands out as a premier choice for Aussie online gamblers. Why wait? Dive into the fun and excitement that Jokaroom Vip has to offer! 🎉🎲

SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN TAKES CHEVROLET TO VICTORY LANE OF RACE ONE AT IOWA SPEEDWAY

CHEVROLET IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES
HYVEE HOMEFRONT 250
HY-VEE DOUBLEHEADER WEEKEND
IOWA SPEEDWAY
NEWTON, IOWA
TEAM CHEVY RACE ONE RECAP
JULY 13, 2024

SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN DOMINATES TO TAKE CHEVROLET TO VICTORY LANE IN RACE ONE AT IOWA SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVERS PATO O’WARD AND JOSEF NEWGARDEN COMPLETE PODIUM SWEEP

  • Scott McLaughlin started his No. 3 XPEL Team Penske Chevrolet on the outside of the front row, took the lead exiting pit lane on lap 87 of the 250-lap race and never looked back to score his career-first win on an oval track since joining Team Penske in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES in 2021
  • Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet and Josef Newarden, No. 2 Hitachi Astemo Team Penske Chevrolet gave Chevrolet a podium sweep finishing second and third respectively
  • the win is the sixth win of McLaughlin’s career and the second of the 2024 season
  • Team Chevy drivers claimed six of the top-eight finishing positions in tonight’s grueling race with drivers battling excessive heat and humidity in the race that started in the bright sunshine and ended just after dark
  • Sunday sees the second of the two races, with the Hy-Vee One Step 250, airing live at 12 p.m. ET Sunday on NBC as well as broadcast on Peacock, INDYCAR Radio, and SiriusXM Channel 218

NEWTON, IOWA (July 13, 2024) – In what only can be described as scorching heat, Scott McLaughlin was a man on a mission. Since moving to America in 2021 and joining Team Penske behind the wheel of a Chevrolet powered INDYCAR after a tremendous career in Australian Super Cars, the Kiwi has always said he would honestly be able to say he was an INDYCAR driver after he won on an oval.

Tonight on the very fast .875 of a mile Iowa Speedway, he checked that goal off of his to-do list. Leading 164 of the 250-lap race, McLaughlin credited his team with getting him out of pit lane first and he never looked back during the race that was slowed six times by caution for a total of 66 laps.

Giving Chevrolet a sweep of the podium for the second time this season were last weekend’s winner from Mid-Ohio, Pato O’Ward followed by Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden.

It was a strong night for Chevrolet scoring six of the top-eight finishers. It is the 12th victory in 15 Iowa races for the 2.2 liter twin turbo V6 engine. It is the sixth win of the season for the Bowtie Brand.

Race Two, the Hy-Vee One Step 250, will air live at 12 p.m. ET Sunday on NBC as well as broadcast on Peacock, INDYCAR Radio, and SiriusXM Channel 218.

TEAM CHEVY TOP-10 RACE RESULTS:
Pos. Driver
1st McLaughlin
2nd O’Ward
3rd Newgarden
5th Rinus VeeKay, No. 21 AskROI Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet
6th Santino Ferrucci, No. 14 Sexton Properties AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet
8th Alexander Rossi, No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING (QUOTES)

MARK STIELOW, DIRECTOR MOTORSPORTS COMPETITION PROGRAMS:

“What a tremendous start the Iowa doubleheader weekend! Congratulations to Scott McLaughlin and the entire crew of the No. 3 Team Penske Chevrolet on a dominating win in Race One! To capture a Chevrolet podium sweep with Pato in second and Josef in third and six of the top-eight finishing positions just continues to show the hard work that our Chevrolet engineering team in conjunction with all of our Chevrolet powered teams continue to do that is producing strong cars that are capturing race wins and podiums.

“Now we have Race Two tomorrow in the heat of the day. We are ready for another great race on the Iowa short track.”

SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN, NO. 3 XPEL TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – RACE WINNER:

THIS ONE IS SPECIAL AND SCOTT IS GOING TO ENJOY IT

“Heck yeah, give me a minute. The Xpel Chevy was unreal and what got it done tonight was the pit stops by the team. Got me out in front of (Brian) Herta there and we showed our pace. That is a big deal today and we have been working on that for a couple of years. It takes a lot of hard work and I got bit that this place for a couple of years and it stung. I am really stoked for this whole team and for the whole team at Penske and give it another race tomorrow and we start on pole. So, let’s go again.”

WHEN YOU BREAK THROUGH AND DO SOMETHING YOU HAVEN’T DONE BEFORE, WHAT ARE THE POSSIBILITIES NOW?

“I wasn’t going to call myself and INDYCAR driver until I won on an oval, so I am going to call myself an INDYCAR driver now. If you don’t mind. Hopefully the flood gates open now, because we bloody need them to because we are a bit behind in the championship, but we will see how we go. “That was unreal. I’m bloody pumped. It was all them (the No. 3 Team Penske team). That’s a team win. Had a great car, and I’m very lucky as a driver. I’m just the space between the steering wheel and the seat. The team pit stops were unreal. They worked very hard on those, and we’ve been getting better and better. Just super proud of the team. I’m stoked. All the Thirsty 3’s fans out there, we got on the moon, so enjoy it. That’s awesome.”

PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROW MCLAREN CHEVROLET, FINISHED SECOND:

IT SEEMED LIKE YOU WERE CLOSING IN ON SCOTT THERE AT THE END, DID YOU HAVE ANYTHING FOR HIM IF YOU COULD HAVE GOTTEN TO HIM?

“The car had more, and I was super, super happy with it all race and you just can’t freaking do anything. With no two lanes. Its just a one lane race track and if you try anything, you are probably going to end up in the wall. So, not worth the risk of it. We just made our moves in the pits and the guys did phenomenal jobs with awesome pit stops and I just kept it clean on the track really. These guys gave me the opportunity to be on the podium today, so just super stoked and yeah, Arrow McLaren, let’s go.”

DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU GUYS HAVE TURNED THE CORNER AND HIT YOUR STRIDE HERE AT THE END OF THE YEAR?

“I have the car and the team to do it, I just don’t know if we have the track position tomorrow to really…..we need that little door to open to get in front of everybody. We just need an opportunity on a restart or something and that is where we can get it done. The car is more than capable, and I have some of the best guys in the business so let’s get it done tomorrow. “Very tricky today. Sadly, it wasn’t a two-lane racetrack like it usually is. It was a bit tough to kind of get by people once we were kind of just in a train. Super pumped about the pit stops. The guys did an amazing job. Our Arrow McLaren No. 5 is really, really quick today. Tomorrow we’re starting seventh which is one position where we started from today, so I think we can get something done.”

JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 2 HITACHI ASTEMO TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED THIRD:

“It was a good race. I think we ran out of time and a little bit of racetrack tonight. It’s always great being here at Iowa. I absolutely love this track. It’s always been good for us in INDYCAR. We’ve got a great turn out here. We’ve got people from the state. I love coming to Des Moines to visit, and we’ve got people coming from all over to watch this race. I hate that we came up short, but you can’t start 23rd on a night like tonight. I’m disappointed but Scott (McLaughlin) did a great job. Still a Team (Penske) victory. We fought all the way to the end. We got to third, and the good news is tomorrow we start a little bit higher. Hopefully we can get there to the top step tomorrow.”

RINUS VEEKAY, NO. 21 ASKROI ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED FIFTH:

“I felt good. It was a hard race. It was just a matter of managing staying out of the trouble and we had some good restarts, too. There’s not going to be a second lane tomorrow. It’s going to be the same characteristic race, but it’s funny how today ended up being two cautions in the window for everyone. Haven’t done a hard in or out of the pits, so we’ll probably have to do that tomorrow for the first time. The car was great. We were really quick, and I could attack on the restarts. Great, great job by the pit crew, of course. It’s nice to get back into the top-five. Last time, I think, was Mid-Ohio in 2022.”

SANTINO FERRUCCI, NO. 14 SEXTON PROPERTIES AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED SIXTH:

“I think it goes to show the No. 14 is back on the short ovals, baby. We got Parnelli Jones riding on the side of us, and Godspeed for him. Honestly, he was probably driving it more than me tonight, let’s be honest. I was just so fired up. Not in the right headspace. Boss came on the radio, basically yelling at me to get on with it and do my job. Reminded me that I’m one of the best, especially around this track. We made it happen.”

ALEXANDER ROSSI, NO. 7 ARROW MCLAREN CHEVROLET, FINISHED EIGHTH:

“In a race like today, everything comes down to qualifying and track position. We just had a tough stop, which happens in this sport, and we struggled to make ground up from there. I think the No. 7 VELO Arrow McLaren Chevrolet was capable of fighting for the podium, but unfortunately our race got away from us.”

NOLAN SIEGEL, NO. 6 ARROW MCLAREN CHEVROLET, FINISHED 12TH:

“I am overall happy with the way that race went. Lost a little ground on some of the restarts at the end, or we could have been solidly in the top 10. The car was super-fast, so really, really happy with the balance in the car with all the changes that we made and how the race was managed. So, honestly went really well, it was just my first oval race in INDYCAR and there is some stuff to learn from the veterans I was racing against. So, learned a ton, will soak it all in and we will try and go and be in the top 10 or top five tomorrow.”

STING RAY ROBB, NO. 41 GOODHEART VET/PRAY.COM AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 15TH:

“Really good day here. Just really disappointed we couldn’t hold on to those spots at the end of the race. We raced to the front really well, and thought we had a top-10 in our sights, just coudln’t hold on to the rears for some reason on those last few restarts. We’ll go back and look and figure out what we need to do for tomorrow. The beautiful thing about this weekend is we get two chances to go forward. Really good points day for us. Super proud of the Goodheart Chevy team, and I think we’re going to be good in the points by the end of the weekend.”

WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON BUSINESS TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 18TH:

ED CARPENTER, NO. 20 GUYCARE ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 19TH:

ROMAIN GROJEAN, NO. 77 JUNCOS HOLLINGER CHEVROLET, FINISHED 24TH:

AUGUSTIN CANAPINO, NO. 78 JUNCOS HOLLINGER CHEVROLET, FINISHED 26TH:

PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT:

Scott McLaughlin

Pato O’Ward

Josef Newgarden

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Joining us, the champion of tonight’s race, Scott McLaughlin.

Scott, congratulations. Your thoughts?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, just checked off probably one of my biggest goals that I had this year personally. Super proud. At the end of the day I did the job in some ways from my perspective, but it was a team win. They put me out in front and got me the lead. I was able to show how good our car was just controlling the pace at the front.

Yeah, obviously not a race that we’re used to seeing in Iowa, but we’ll move forward and know that we got a good car for tomorrow. I think even better when the sun’s out. Hopefully we can carry it on and win again.

THE MODERATOR: So many restarts. Nerve-wracking.

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah. One of them I left it in my caution fuel gauge, too. That’s why Colton got beside me. That was mine. I could have thrown that away. I was very lucky.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You came into this night with five career INDYCAR victories. On the broadcast you said you couldn’t call yourself an INDYCAR driver until you got a win on an oval.

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: I always felt like that. It’s correct. I felt like an open-wheel driver, but an INDYCAR driver is someone that can win on all three racetracks. Thankfully very proud to say I’ve won on an oval now, along with a road and street course. Proud moment for me.

It’s taken a lot of hard work, work hard behind the scenes to be better. Whether it’s here or with the old surface, Texas, any of the other ovals, I feel like I’ve been really strong, just haven’t quite finished it off.

Yeah, we were able to do that today. Thankful to my team who really got me out in front with some rapid pit stops.

Q. It’s safe to say you feel like a complete driver now and you didn’t before?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: There’s room for improvement all the time. I’m nowhere near a complete driver. I just feel like I’m an INDYCAR driver now, or I’m proud to say that I am. Ultimately everyone wants to win on an oval. It’s exhilarating, most fun racetracks some days.

Those two laps qualifying today, it’s just up there with Indy, exhilaration terms, how fast it is, how quick it is. It’s just a little bit shorter and a little bit less to start.

It’s a lot of fun. You get a lot of enjoyment from oval racing. I think it’s the backbone of the sport.

Q. After so many podiums on ovals, how much was that eating away at you, or was it not in the back of your mind?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Especially after losing Texas in ’22, that hurt for a long time. You sometimes think if you ever get that chance again, you know how hard it is. Ultimately I’m in such a good race car, race team, thankfully we come with a really good oval package as a team.

At the end of the day I have two of the world’s best oval drivers in the same equipment. It’s a matter of beating them, which is tough to do. I feel like we’ve shown up since the start of the weekend with a really good car, a stranglehold on what I want from the car.

Before qualifying today I had confidence I could post some really good laps. In the race I was biding my time, saving fuel when I needed. Thankfully we got out in front of Herta.

Q. What additional work did you do in the off-season to help you get better on ovals?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Just a lot of tape and understanding, listening to spotter’s calls, working with my spotter. My spotter is at Indy, as well. Working with Simon Pagenaud has been a huge help for me and taught me a lot. He’s a huge feather in my cap, in my corner. Very lucky to have him. He’s been an open book.

To get my first oval win, I don’t think that’s by coincidence. It’s because I started working with Simon. He’s been a massive help. Then Benny, my engineer, a guru with car setup. An old IRL guy. He loves this sort of stuff. I really enjoy working with him.

Q. When you’re out in front like that, have a good lead, what do you want in your head at that point from the spotter? Were you frustrated when those yellows started falling towards the end?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, I mean, the first one, I was it kind of splits — looked after my tires a bit. I knew it spaced me out from the back markers as well. Probably most likely wouldn’t catch the back of the pack.

At the end of the day I’ve worked really hard with my spotters, especially Adam. Adam has been in my corner from 2021. From my first ROP at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, he’s been my guy. Along with Rick Mears and everyone, whatnot.

Simon again, he was one of the guys that said you have to work with your spotters, get a language. We have the same language every oval. It’s the same whether it’s 10 to go, a hundred to go, whether it’s tight or whether I got a gap. It’s the same temperament.

Adam, I fully believe he’s one of the best. Don’t ever want to lose him. Make sure we do (indiscernible) our pockets and pay him.

Q. How close did you think it was on pit road? Colton came down the backstretch ahead of you.

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: I said, I think I got him. You always believe it. Doesn’t matter if you are behind him. You just say that you did. I believe this time I was in front of him. Must have been a whisker. I don’t know what it was. Yeah, it was a bee’s thing.

Q. Scott, you seem to have confidence in your car, know you were strong. I remember something about last year where you sat down with Newgarden and went over video. He gave you some coaching. Has that helped or played out?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yes, that was before last year’s Iowa. I wouldn’t say it’s helped. It probably helped me in ’23 here especially. It gave me an understanding of where I can trust the air and a few things.

I think Josef probably kicks himself because he probably gave me a bit too much information. Ultimately you’ve got to use it every chance you get.

Yeah, I think any bit of advice I get from my of my teammates, whether it’s Will, Josef, Rick, Simon, anyone like that, you take it. I’ve been a sponge ever since I was here in INDYCAR.

Oval racing, I never raced on ovals until I came here to America and raced INDYCAR. It’s a hell of a step up from what I was doing. Never on a dirt track or anything like that. Try to understand it, trust it, it takes a while. This year I’m in a position where it’s really clicked. I’m fully trusting it, regardless of temps or whatever.

Q. You mentioned Pagenaud. Team Penske has been wanting to have multiple drivers winning on ovals. This is a big sign that we know with Penske with all three drivers now can get this done on ovals.

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Like I said before, he’s been unreal for me, as you know. Such a good teacher. It’s special to work with someone like that. For him to basically give me everything, it’s crazy.

You should see the notes I get. He sends me notes every morning before I go on track. I don’t even have time to read it sometimes. It’s crazy. It’s like essays, longer than your reporting stories. It’s crazy.

Ultimately I treasure them. I save them. I’ll never give them to anyone else ’cause they’re just that good. Yeah, I’m very proud to do it for him, do it for Benny as well. Benny has been a huge help for me in that regard, Benny Bretzman. Good team.

I’m very thankful to have the people, blessed to have the people in my corner. That goes from the people I work with, but then I’ve got my wife, soon to be dad. All that stuff. It puts into perspective. It’s called winning races, but it’s always good having good people in your corner.

Q. What does it mean to be part of the success that Team Penske has had here also with Ryan Blaney?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Blaney texted me we’re corn brothers now. He was one of the first guys to text me. Great friend of mine. I was picking his brain a lot about the track and whatnot.

Ultimately I got a chance, a lifeline to come over here to America, achieve a dream. But I had to deliver. You’re expected to win on all tracks for Penske. It was getting pretty slim for me on the ovals. It’s just nice to deliver when you need to and have the chance to.

Yeah, we’ll keep rolling. Hopefully we can get another one tomorrow.

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP SpoTHE MODERATOR: Pato O’Ward joins us, second runner-up finish of the season, second straight podium, 24th of his career. Pato will start seventh tomorrow.

Josef Newgarden started 22nd tonight, finishing third. Third podium of the season, 55th of his career.

Pato, your thoughts on this evening?

PATO O’WARD: Yeah, it was a lot less physical race than what I was expecting. I think tomorrow will be hotter, you’ll see a difference in the cars with tire deg and stuff like that.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t bummed about the race and how it raced. Really tough to get that second lane working. Compared to I don’t know how many on-track passes we had last year, probably not even a 10th of that. That was a bit frustrating because I thought we had a very strong car, definitely a car that was capable of winning. Just no way to get around a car.

Yeah, awesome job by the guys in the pits. That’s truly what got us in this position to fight for the podium. We’re starting somewhere around the same place tomorrow, so see what we can make happen.

THE MODERATOR: Josef, you were able to make up a ton of spots. Thoughts on tonight?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, tough night. I think for us on the 2 car, we ran out of time and real estate, so… I wish we had maybe one more fuel stint, would have helped us, at least if you’re looking at tonight specifically and the setup.

It was a great recovery by the team. My goodness, they were really good in the pits, like really, really good. If Pato’s guys were good, mine must have been double as good. I made up probably 80% of my position in the pits tonight.

They’ve been good all year. Tonight they really brought it and we needed it. You can’t start 22nd, especially this year. If it was last year, I would have been okay starting 22nd. This was like almost the kiss of death this year to start that far back. That was the tough part for us.

Tomorrow we’re a little bit higher. I’m excited about that. I think we start 14th tomorrow. Not great by any means, but better than what tonight was.

Everyone did a super job. Really proud of Team Penske. Scott with the win. First and third on the podium. I don’t think we can be too disappointed as a group. A solid night for the team.

THE MODERATOR: Open it up for questions.

Q. Josef, you talked about how the pits helped you. How were you able to get around some guys?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Calculated risk tonight. You were flirting with disaster. It wasn’t a given. There wasn’t the real estate to use, just secondhand. It’s not like a second nature type thing you could use. You were risking the car every time you tried to move offline on somebody.

I did it a couple times. I had to. We had to take a little bit of risk to get forward. Even at the end I thought we could get another spot or two.

Look, our race car was fantastic. That’s always the difference maker. When you have the best car in the field, it’s easier to do what we did tonight. I think we had that. Like I said, we ran out of time and real estate.

The pit stops were the biggest part of it. That’s what got us the most. I think we put ourselves in position to make those pit stops what they were. We got a little bit on the racetrack. Tomorrow we need the same deal.

Q. Pato, at this point do you think they should just repave the entire track or what should be done before next year?

PATO O’WARD: I mean, I don’t think it’s up to me, is it? Probably up to NASCAR. I don’t know who decided to do this change. They ruined a fantastic race.

The track is very enjoyable by yourself. The problem is it’s not very fun when you just can’t get by anybody. You can’t fight. It reminds me a bit of, like, a Texas 2020 I would say where there wasn’t really a second groove. You might get there on the restarts, which is what you saw. I flirted with it a little bit. I know Josef probably did. I saw Santino. I saw a couple cars doing it, especially for the lead.

I know Herta and McLaughlin were going at it a bit. When you’re done with that first lap after the restart, you can’t. Once you get the momentum going, it’s just accepting the wall basically, or at least really crapping your pants.

That’s just how it is.

Q. After qualifying, what really happened that caused you to qualify so poorly?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I think it’s been a timing issue. 50% of this year we have just been off sequence timing-wise. Qualifying was a result of not being in the right place when we rolled off the truck, then kind of running in circles a little bit.

It was productive circles. What we did on Friday was productive, but we were in the wrong spot right before we needed to go into qualifying.

You’re guessing a little bit on what you do then. We just didn’t get it perfect. The balance was way off, way off. It doesn’t take a lot to really lose lap time. I think I was 4/10ths off, which is pretty tiny even at Iowa for a massive imbalance.

I feel like we got ourselves in that situation in Mid-Ohio. It’s disappointing for me because we are a good group. I mean, I’ve got total faith in what we’re doing. The 2 team is strong. We have a good process. We just have had our timing off. That kills this weekend. If you qualify 22nd and 14th, it nearly kills this weekend. It’s tough when the timing is in the wrong place.

Q. When you started picking the cars off in the first laps, is that when you realized you had the best car?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I knew it in practice yesterday I had a really good race car. It’s what do we do for qualifying? The other unfortunate thing, I’m the first guy out. Just circumstantially the way this year has flowed. That is another timing issue. We’re sitting 10th in points.

It is like a cascading thing. It just keeps adding onto the pain. We don’t get anybody to look at. If I’m going second, two teammates to look at… If we’re guessing on the 2 car, at least we have something to guess with. We were the guy helping the other guys guess.

It’s the way it goes. It’s our own problem to deal with that we’re sitting that far back in points. I think that’s a reflection of what happened in qualifying today.

Q. Pato, on a couple of restarts, when you got on the power, the car did a little bit of a fishtail in the back end. Is that a result of the slippery track or the power coming down on this hybrid assist?

PATO O’WARD: No, I wouldn’t say it’s the hybrid. I would just say this race tire that we’re racing this weekend is quite I would say temperature sensitive. When they’re cold, like, they really are like, No, no, no thanks. They really reject anything that is like push, push, push. That’s probably just what it was.

Q. Pato, second in the points. Talk about this momentum and ride you’ve been on since the Indianapolis 500.

PATO O’WARD: After the 500 I just felt like it was a consecutive results of just very frustrating weekends. We kept getting caught up on issues that we weren’t even a part of them in the first place, we just kept getting caught there. There are blockades everywhere. Some people are driving like maniacs. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been that idiot many times in my journey.

For example, this weekend, where it’s so tough to pass, guys that want to make up spots have to take so much risk. That risk usually maybe you look like a hero, barely made it, or it ends up in yellows. That just seems like it’s been the story of the series the last few races.

Like Detroit. The start of Road America to me was very odd to have it at that track. Feels like there’s a lot of frustrated minds out there trying to make up positions. A lot of time you just get stuck so you’re trying to make it up I guess in the most condensed parts of the race.

Yeah, it feels really good to kind of get back into my normal form because I feel like after the 500, those three races were like I was finishing seventh, eighth, and you feel like you’ve done the race of your life, obviously it’s not the race of your life because you’re eighth.

Q. Josef, he said lunacy. What were the restarts like, knowing had you to pounce on that lap or two after the green?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I mean, I think it was difficult for everybody tonight. It’s hard to pin anything on anybody because it was tough for every car to make something happen. I don’t care. I thought our car was great and it was really difficult for us. I would imagine any person up and down the grid was fighting to make something happen on those restarts. That’s tough.

It’s very different to what it was last year. Last year you had a lot to work with. That’s why I think you saw so few cautions, a lot of racing, green flag running, not as many incidents.

It’s tough. Unfortunately I don’t think our car and our formula works super well for this type of track adjustment. We’re different than a Cup car. We’ve developed our car differently than they have. It doesn’t always mesh. It definitely didn’t mesh tonight. I think everybody was working hard and it was tough to make stuff happen.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, guys.

ABOUT CHEVROLET

Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands. Chevrolet models include electric and fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heartbeat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com

McLaughlin Dominant in Maiden Oval Victory at Iowa Speedway

NEWTON, Iowa (Saturday, July 13, 2024) – Yes, Scott McLaughlin wanted to win Saturday’s NTT INDYCAR SERIES race at Iowa Speedway, but after doing so he acknowledged wanting something much more, something he has been driven to earn since arriving in the U.S. nearly four years ago.

McLaughlin has wanted to belong in this series.

“I didn’t want to call myself an INDYCAR driver until I won on an oval,” he said after winning the Hy-Vee Homefront 250 presented by Instacart. “So, I’m going to call myself an INDYCAR driver now.”

McLaughlin earned that distinction in style, too, dominated the 250-lap race and holding off Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward through a series of late-race restarts. Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden, who had won four of the past five Iowa races and nine of the past 12 oval races, including the past two Indianapolis 500s presented by Gainbridge, finished third with six-time series champion Scott Dixon of Chip Ganassi Racing finishing fourth.

Look at those McLaughlin had to fend off: They’re among the best oval racers in this series with a combined 39 such victories. Yes, McLaughlin now belongs.

“That’s a big deal today,” the New Zealand-born Team Penske driver said. “I’ve been working for that for a couple of years. It takes a lot of hard work.”

McLaughlin gets a chance at the Iowa sweep on Sunday when he starts the Hy-Vee One Step 250 presented by Gatorade from the pole. He also will have another chance to climb higher in the standings as Saturday’s win pushed him forward three positions to fifth place with seven races remaining.

McLaughlin praised the crew of the No. 3 XPEL Team Penske Chevrolet for their hand in the victory. It was the team’s quick service on the race’s first stop under caution that helped McLaughlin edge pole sitter and race leader Colton Herta by a foot at the blend line at pit exit. McLaughlin was never headed.

“What got it done tonight was the pit stops by the team,” McLaughlin said. “They got out in front of Herta there and then we showed our pace.”

McLaughlin led the final 164 laps for his sixth career series victory. He also became just the third active driver to win a series race at this track, joining Newgarden and O’Ward. His margin over O’Ward at the finish was .4814 seconds.

Newgarden made a heroic bid for a seventh win at this track. After qualifying 22nd, he used a big jump at the start to gain eight positions, and the benefit was being in front of a cluster of drivers who were involved in a crash in Turn 2.

Meyer Shank Racing’s David Malukas, who has had his best series results on short tracks such as this, lost control of the No. 66 AutoNation/Arctic Wolf Honda and drifted up the track in Turn 2. Unable to escape being collected were Juncos Hollinger Racing teammates Agustin Canapino and Romain Grosjean.

Running several positions behind Malukas, who had qualified 15th, was Christian Lundgaard. The driver of the No. 45 Hy-Vee Honda of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing similarly spun when his left-side tires ran too low on the track, although he did not make contact with another car. Still, he lost 17 laps due to the crew making repairs on pit road.

The second caution came as a result of Graham Rahal’s slow No. 15 One Cure Honda, the result of a cracked wheel. That allowed the field to come to pit road together, and McLaughlin edged Herta on exit by about a foot. For the second consecutive week, series leader Alex Palou had gearing issues with his No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, this time dropping him from third place to 19th.

Palou quickly regained a half-dozen lost positions before trouble found him on Lap 176. In a stunning situation, the two-time and reigning series champion lost control of his car on the front straightaway and slid into the outside wall. His 23rd-place finish was his worst in two-place years, a span of 36 races, when he finished 27th in the 2022 race at Road America.

Palou’s cushy lead in the standings took a bit of a hit as a result. He entered this event with a 48-point advantage on his nearest competitor. The margin is now 37 points over O’Ward with Power third, 43 points out of the lead. Dixon trails Palou by 46, McLaughlin by 59.

“Unacceptable,” Palou said of the miscue.

Herta started on the pole on an oval track for the first time in his career, and he led the first 86 laps before McLaughlin edged past him on that pit stop. Later, Herta’s car picked up a tire vibration, costing him second place. He was on pit road for a new set of tires when Palou crashed, forcing him to restart at the end of the lead lap.

On Herta’s charge forward, he did a half-spin in Turn 3 but somehow saved the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda from bigger trouble. He lost only one position in the moment and finished 11th.

Santino Ferrucci had one of the impressive drives of the race. He was in fifth place when he was dealt a stop-and-go penalty for jumping out of line on the first restart. That dropped him to 22nd, but he rallied over the rest of the race to finish sixth.

Just ahead of Ferrucci at the finish was Ed Carpenter Racing’s Ed Carpenter. His boss, Ed Carpenter, had a tougher end to the race, his car suffering significant damage when collected in a restart tangle between Power and Pietro Fittipaldi.

Power, a seven-time pole winner at this track, finished 18th, his race including a mid-race pit road speeding penalty. He, like the rest of the field, gets another chance Sunday.

The Hy-Vee One Step 250 presented by Gatorade takes place tomorrow at noon ET, live on NBC, Peacock and INDYCAR Radio Network.

Hy-Vee Homefront 250 presented by Instacart Race Results

NEWTON, Iowa (Saturday, July 13, 2024) – Results Saturday of the Hy-Vee Homefront 250 presented by Instacart NTT INDYCAR SERIES event on the 0.894-mile Iowa Speedway, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):

  1. (2) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 250, Running
  2. (6) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 250, Running
  3. (22) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 250, Running
  4. (5) Scott Dixon, Honda, 250, Running
  5. (13) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 250, Running
  6. (8) Santino Ferrucci, Chevrolet, 250, Running
  7. (19) Kyle Kirkwood, Honda, 250, Running
  8. (7) Alexander Rossi, Chevrolet, 250, Running
  9. (10) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 250, Running
  10. (9) Marcus Armstrong, Honda, 250, Running
  11. (1) Colton Herta, Honda, 250, Running
  12. (15) Nolan Siegel, Chevrolet, 250, Running
  13. (11) Felix Rosenqvist, Honda, 250, Running
  14. (27) Kyffin Simpson, Honda, 250, Running
  15. (24) Sting Ray Robb, Chevrolet, 250, Running
  16. (21) Graham Rahal, Honda, 249, Running
  17. (26) Katherine Legge, Honda, 249, Running
  18. (4) Will Power, Chevrolet, 241, Running
  19. (17) Pietro Fittipaldi, Honda, 228, Contact
  20. (25) Ed Carpenter, Chevrolet, 228, Contact
  21. (12) Linus Lundqvist, Honda, 209, Mechanical
  22. (23) Christian Lundgaard, Honda, 178, Contact
  23. (3) Alex Palou, Honda, 175, Contact
  24. (20) Romain Grosjean, Chevrolet, 48, Contact
  25. (18) Jack Harvey, Honda, 28, Retired
  26. (14) David Malukas, Honda, 0, Contact
  27. (16) Agustin Canapino, Chevrolet, 0, Contact

Race Statistics
Winner’s average speed: 128.098 mph
Time of Race: 01:44:41.1172
Margin of victory: 0.4814 of a second
Cautions: 6 for 66 laps
Lead changes: 1

Lap Leaders
Herta, Colton: 1 – 86
McLaughlin, Scott: 87 – 250

NTT INDYCAR SERIES Point Standings:
Palou 336, O’Ward 299, Power 293, Dixon 290, McLaughlin 277, Herta 270, Kirkwood 260, Rossi 250, Newgarden 221, Rosenqvist 209, Ericsson 202, Ferrucci 202, Lundgaard 190, Armstrong 162, Grosjean 157, VeeKay 155, Rahal 153, Lundqvist 137, Fittipaldi 114, Simpson 113, Robb 107, Rasmussen 104, Canapino 94, Harvey 80, Pourchaire 75, Siegel 63, Blomqvist 46, Ilott 39, Malukas 32, Ghiotto 27, Castroneves 26, Carpenter 24, Daly 21, Larson 21, Sato 19, Legge 18, Sowery 17, Vautier 12, Braun 10, Hunter-Reay 6, Andretti 5

Felix Rosenqvist Leads Meyer Shank Racing Results at Iowa INDYCAR SERIES Race 1

Newton, Iowa (13 July 2024) – Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) continued its consistent NTT INDYCAR SERIES campaign at Saturday’s Hy-Vee Homefront 250 as Felix Rosenqvist (No. 60 AutoNation / SiriusXM Honda) ran a workman-like 250 laps on his way to a 13th-place finish at Iowa Speedway.

Rosenqvist was in and around the top 10 all evening after starting 11th, climbing as high as ninth on the Lap 190 restart. The Swede, who carries Eric Church’s Outsiders Radio SiriusXM channel on the No. 60 MSR machine for the double-header race weekend, chased a top-10 position for 250 orbits of the .875-mile oval, but settled for a 13th-place result.

The finish was the fifth consecutive in the top-14 for Rosenqvist, who provisionally remains in the top-10 in series points leading to Sunday’s nightcap race at Iowa. Rosenqvist will start fifth in Sunday’s 250-lap event, after earning his fifth top-5 qualifying result of the 2024 season.

David Malukas (No. 66 AutoNation / Arctic Wolf Honda) suffered his first DNF of the season, spinning in Turn 2 on the opening lap and contacting the outside wall. The damage ended his race after just those turns, leaving him to finish 26th after earning the 14th starting spot in Saturday afternoon qualifying. The DNF was just the third of the 2024 season for MSR.

Malukas will start ninth in Sunday’s race, earning his spot on the second lap of Saturday afternoon’s qualifying session. The result set another MSR team standard, marking the first time in team history that two MSR drivers will start in the top 10 on an INDYCAR oval. It is the first time both drivers have top-10 grid spots since Detroit in 2022 (Helio Castroneves, Simon Pagenaud).

The second race of the weekend takes place on Sunday, less than 15 hours after the end of Saturday’s race, with the race broadcast set for Noon E.T. on NBC/Peacock. The races, along with all other INDYCAR action can be heard live on Sirius XM Radio, Channel 218.

Meyer Shank Racing Driver Quotes:

Felix Rosenqvist: “A little disappointed, we had a good car, but we kept losing positions on the restarts. I didn’t really use the high line, I didn’t feel like risking it to be honest, but it seemed to work for quite a lot of people. Really good pace, we just couldn’t really go anywhere. Tomorrow we are starting fifth so I think we can use out pace a bit better.”

David Malukas: “I made a rookie mistake. I had to check up on the start and didn’t anticipate it well, so I got on the curb and spun. We had a good start to the weekend and we were looking forward to a good race.”

Cole Custer prevails for first Xfinity victory of 2024 at Pocono

Photo by Jeff Clemons for SpeedwayMedia.com.

The reigning NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Cole Custer struck gold with his first elusive victory of the 2024 season in the Explore the Pocono Mountains 225 at Pocono Raceway on Saturday, July 13, following a wild four-lap dash to the finish.

The 26-year-old Custer from Ladera Ranch, California, led twice for 25 of 90-scheduled laps in an event where he started in eighth place but ran up front throughout the event as he assumed the lead for the first time on Lap 26. After winning the second stage period, he would find himself shuffled back within the top-10 mark before he methodically carved his way back towards the front.

Then after pitting with 29 laps remaining under green before a late-race caution period eight laps later, Custer capitalized on the following restart period with 12 laps remaining to overtake Justin Allgaier for the lead with nine laps remaining. Despite having his momentum stalled due to another late-race caution period for rookie Shane van Gisbergen spinning in Turn 2, Custer fended off both Allgaier and William Byron to muscle ahead and capture his first Xfinity Series victory of the season for himself, the Ford nameplate and Stewart-Haas Racing as he continues his quest to defend his series’ title.

With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Sheldon Creed notched his second Xfinity career pole position and his first of the 2024 season after posting a pole-winning lap at 167.255 mph in 53.810 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Brandon Jones, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying time at 166.334 mph in 54.108 seconds.

Before the event, the following names that included rookie Jesse Love, Josh Berry, Taylor Gray, Ryan Truex and Brennan Poole dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries. In addition, Poole was assessed a drive-through penalty through pit road due to unapproved adjustments made to Poole’s Alpha Prime Racing Chevrolet Camaro following Friday’s inspection process.

When the green flag waved and the race started, the field jumbled up in tight two-by-two formation through the frontstretch as Sheldon Creed and Brandon Jones dueled for the lead through the first turn before they led the field through the Long Pond Straightaway. Creed then tried to muscle ahead from the outside lane through the Tunnel Curve, but Jones fought back on the inside lane just past the curve as they navigated through the final sets of turns and back to the frontstretch in front of Chandler Smith, Justin Allgaier and William Byron. At the start/finish line, Creed managed to lead the first lap by a hair.

On the second lap and as both Creed and Jones continued to duel for the lead, the event’s first caution flew following a hard accident involving Dawson Cram in Turn 1, where Cram slid sideways towards the apron after he lost his brakes and collided rear-end into the outside wall at full speed.

Following an extensive cleanup process amid Cram’s incident, the event restarted under green on the sixth lap. At the start, Creed managed to fend off Jones from the outside lane to retain the lead through the first two turns and entering the Long Pond Straightaway. Behind, teammate Chandler Smith would muscle his way up to the runner-up spot before Allgaier would charge his way up to third place followed by William Byron as Jones slipped to fifth place.

Then on the eighth lap, Allgaier made his move beneath Creed to assume the lead through the frontstretch. At the same time, Chandler Smith moved to Creed’s outside to snatch the runner-up spot as Creed slipped to third place. Shortly after, Jones’ strong start evaporated as he pitted his No. 9 Menards Chevrolet Camaro to address a flat left-rear tire, which cost him a lap as he then endured a slow pit service. By then, Josh Berry, who was piloting the No. 15 AM Racing Ford Mustang in place of Hailie Deegan, who was released by the team earlier in the week, pitted with a flat tire.

Back on the track, a tight battle between Cole Custer, AJ Allmendinger, Byron and Creed ensued for third place, with all nearly colliding past the Tunnel Curve. With all four proceeding without wrecking, Byron and Creed continued to duel for fourth place as Austin Hill joined the battle. With Custer in third place, Allgaier proceeded to lead the Lap 10 mark by nine-tenths of a second over Chandler Smith.

At the Lap 15 mark, Allgaier was leading by three seconds over Chandler Smith followed by Custer, Byron and Hill while AJ Allmendinger, Riley Herbst, Ryan Sieg, Creed and Sammy Smith were running in the top 10. Behind, Sam Mayer occupied 11th place ahead of Parker Kligerman, Jeb Burton, Taylor Gray and Anthony Alfredo while Kyle Sieg, Corey Heim, Ryan Truex, Matt DiBenedetto and Parker Retzlaff trailed in the top 20 ahead of Josh Williams, Daniel Dye, Kyle Weatherman, Jesse Love and Jeremy Clements. Meanwhile, rookie Shane van Gisbergen was mired in 27th place behind Brennan Poole.

When the first stage period concluded on Lap 20, Allgaier claimed his 11th Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Custer followed suit in second ahead of Chandler Smith, Byron and Allmendinger while Hill, Herbst, Ryan Sieg, Sammy Smith and Creed were scored in the top 10.

Under the stage break, nearly the entire lap field led by Allgaier pitted for service while Jesse Love remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Anthony Alfredo was penalized for speeding on pit road. Soon after, Allgaier was also penalized and sent to the rear of the field due to an equipment interference, where the tire got loose and rolled into the next pit box.

The second stage period started on Lap 25 as Love and Custer occupied the front row. At the start, Love and Custer dueled for the lead through the frontstretch as the field fanned out to multiple lanes through the first two turns. With Byron rocketing his way up to third place ahead of Herbst and Chandler Smith through Long Pond Straightaway, Byron then joined the tight side-by-side battle for the lead between Custer and Love just past the Tunnel Curve before he fell off the pace through Turns 3 and 4. With Byron reporting a flat tire as he plummeted in the leaderboard while missing the pit road entrance, Custer, who rocketed ahead of Love through Turns 3 and 4, was leading as Chandler Smith, Herbst and Creed followed suit in the top five. A lap later, the caution returned due to debris being reported on the track and coming from Byron’s No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro, with the driver limping his car around the circuit as his tire carcass came off. Despite the early misfortune, Byron managed to pit for fresh tires and remain on the lead lap category.

The start of the next restart period on Lap 30 featured Custer and Chandler Smith dueling for the lead through the frontstretch and the first two turns before they navigated through the Long Pond Straightaway. With Custer retaining the lead, Hill made his way into the runner-up spot over Chandler Smith and Herbst while Love was in fifth place. Love was then overtaken by Creed for fifth place through Turns 1 and 2 during the following lap as Mayer, Ryan Sieg and Allmendinger went three wide within the top 10 and just past the Tunnel Curve. By then and amid a series of on-track battles ensuing around the Pocono circuit, Custer stretched his advantage to more than a second over a tight battle for the runner-up spot involving Chandler Smith and Hill.

By Lap 35, Custer continued to extend his advantage as he was now leading by three seconds over Chandler Smith with Hill keeping Smith closely within his sights. Herbst and Allmendinger were scored in the top five ahead of Ryan Sieg, Love, Creed, Corey Heim and Sammy Smith while Mayer, Taylor Gray, Kligerman, Allgaier and Ryan Truex were running in the top 15. With Allgaier rallying from his pit road penalty to be scored in the top 15, Byron had carved his way back up to 18th place as he was battling Jeb Burton for more. In addition, Brandon Jones was scored outside the top 20 in his efforts to rally from losing a lap from his flat tire.

Two laps later, Love and Mayer pitted their respective entries from the top 11 under green. By then, Custer, who remained on the track, was leading by nearly four seconds at the Lap 38 mark with Chandler Smith, Hill, Herbst and Ryan Sieg trailing in the top five and by six seconds on the track.

When the second stage period concluded on Lap 40, Custer captured his third Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Chandler Smith trailed in second place by nearly four seconds along with Hill, Herbst and Ryan Sieg while Allmendinger, Creed, Sammy Smith, Heim and Allgaier were scored in the top 10. With Allgaier scored in 10th place, Byron had carved his way to 12th place behind Kligerman while Jones was in 18th place behind Parker Retzlaff.

During the stage break, nearly the entire lead lap field led by Custer returned to pit road for service while select names led by Byron and including Alfredo, Mayer and Love remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Jeremy Clements was penalized for a safety violation.

With 44 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Byron and Alfredo occupied the front row. The final stage’s start, however, did not last long as a multi-car wreck erupted when Retzlaff got loose in Turn 1 and went up the track as he ran into Ryan Ellis, with both including Leland Honeyman and Poole wrecking against the outside wall. Amid the accident, Byron had retained the lead ahead of Mayer and Love while Chandler Smith, Hill and Custer were scored in the top six. During the caution period, select names including Allgaier, Alfredo, Sammy Smith, Jones and Blaine Perkins pitted while the rest led by Byron remained on the track.

With the race restarting with 40 laps remaining, Byron and Love battled for the lead as the field fanned out through the frontstretch. Then in Turn 1, Allmendinger slid sideways as he lightly rubbed fenders with Ryan Sieg, but he kept his car running straight below the apron and the race remained under green flag conditions as Love muscled his No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Camaro out in front with the top spot. Love would proceed to lead with 35 laps remaining over Byron before the latter ignited a side-by-side battle through Long Pond Straightaway. By then, Hill tried to join the battle before Byron split his way through both to reassume the lead.

Down to the final 30 laps of the event, Byron was leading by four-tenths of a second over Hill as Custer, Ryan Sieg and Mayer were scored in the top 10. Behind, Herbst, Chandler Smith, Allgaier, Kligerman and Corey Heim were in the top 10 as Love pitted under green. Love, however, would be penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation. Byron would then pit from the lead with 29 laps remaining along with Custer and Taylor Gray. With a host of names pitting over the proceeding laps, Allgaier would cycle into the lead with 24 laps remaining.

Then with 21 laps remaining, the caution flew due to Stephen Mallozzi stopping on the backstretch. During the caution period, some led by Allgaier and including teammate Sammy Smith and Alfredo remained on the track while the rest of the field pitted. Soon after, the next restart period with 16 laps remaining did not last long due to Clements spinning and hitting the outside wall in Turn 2 after getting pinned in a three-wide battle, with Mason Massey also getting collected.

The next restart period with 12 laps remaining featured Allgaier muscling his No. 7 Carolina Carports Chevrolet Camaro ahead from the outside lane before Custer tried to mount a charge from the inside lane. Allgaier would retain the lead by two-tenths of a second over Custer as the field behind jostled for late positions with 10 laps remaining. Amid the battles, third-place Byron trailed the lead by nine-tenths of a second as Creed and Alfredo were scored in the top five.

With nine laps remaining, Custer trailed Allgaier by a tenth of a second as he started to close in on Allgaier for the lead. Then through Turn 1, Custer made his move beneath Allgaier and dueled with him through Long Pond Straightaway before he moved his No. 00 Haas Ford Mustang into the lead. He would proceed to lead with eight laps remaining and slowly begin to stretch his advantage before the caution returned due to Shane van Gisbergen spinning in Turn 2 after he got hit by Mayer.

The start of the next restart period with four laps remaining featured Custer and Allgaier dueling for the lead before Custer muscled ahead through Long Pond Straightaway. Allgaier then tried to fight back through the Tunnel Turn and Turn 2, but Custer muscled ahead with the lead through the frontstretch and led the next lap. Soon after, the two-car battle between Custer and Allgaier became a three-car battle as Byron closed in. Behind, van Gisbergen spun for a second time in Turn 2, but the race remained under green as Custer led by nearly half a second over both Allgaier and Byron.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Custer remained as the leader by six-tenths of a second over Allgaier and by seven-tenths of a second over Byron. With both Allgaier and Byron losing ground and unable to narrow the deficit, Custer was able to cycle his No. 00 Haas Ford Mustang smoothly around Pocono’s tricky turns for a final time before he returned to the frontstretch and claimed his first elusive checkered flag of the 2024 Xfinity season.

With the victory, Custer, who came into Pocono as the leader in the regular-season standings, notched his 14th career win in the Xfinity circuit and his second at Pocono after he won his first in 2019. The victory was also his first since winning both the 2023 season-finale event and the series’ championship at Phoenix Raceway last November. The victory was also the first of the year for both Stewart-Haas Racing and the Ford nameplate.

“Man, you just try and manage it the best you can, but it’s just the luck of the draw on who gets the best push and everything,” Custer said on USA Network. “Man, that was some Doug Yates horsepower right there. We definitely had some [horsepower] on the straightaways today. Man, I just can’t say enough about these guys. They worked so hard this whole year and just haven’t had that final result. To finally get [a win], it’s so awesome. This is the second win here at Pocono for our team, so it’s awesome. We can really carry this momentum through the summer and into the Playoffs. I’ve been telling people [that] I’ve never been so frustrated [at] being the points leader. It was the weirdest feeling in the world. We’ve been so good pretty much all year, just top five [runs], and just haven’t been able to break through the year till now. It’s awesome to get [a win] now and I think we can really carry this.”

As Custer celebrated on the frontstretch, Allgaier was left disappointed on pit road after coming up four laps shy of netting his second victory of the season, though he had enough fuel to finish. The runner-up result marks the second time Allgaier has finished in the runner-up spot and first since Portland International Raceway in early June.

“I just feel like, unfortunately, we had the best car all day and at the end, the old tires were just a difference maker,” Allgaier said. “We did what we had to do with the penalty and being able to come through the field. We did all the right things. Obviously, William [Byron] gave me a great push on that last restart and it’s just so hard to keep the right front on [the car] on the long run like that. Really stinks to come out here second. I’ve led so many laps here. [I] Feel like this is same result every time, just not able to go to Victory Lane. Really proud of our team, proud of the effort. Just came up a little bit short and it’s going to sting for a while.”

William Byron came home in third place in his third Xfinity start of the 2024 season while pole-sitter Sheldon Creed and Taylor Gray finished in the top five.

AJ Allmendinger, Austin Hill, Parker Kligerman, Sammy Smith and Sam Mayer completed the top 10 in the final running order.

There were 10 lead changes for seven different leaders. The race featured eight cautions for 30 laps. In addition, 31 of 37 starters finished on the lead lap.

Following the 19th event of the 2024 Xfinity Series season, Cole Custer leads the regular-season standings by 51 points over Allgaier, 59 over Chandler Smith and 76 over Austin Hill.

Results.

1. Cole Custer, 25 laps led, Stage 2 winner

2. Justin Allgaier, 30 laps led, Stage 1 winner

3. William Byron, 16 laps led

4. Sheldon Creed, seven laps led

5. Taylor Gray

6. AJ Allmendinger

7. Austin Hill, one lap led

8. Parker Kligerman

9. Sammy Smith

10. Sam Mayer

11. Riley Herbst

12. Ryan Sieg, four laps led

13. Brandon Jones

14. Anthony Alfredo

15. Chandler Smith

16. Corey Heim

17. Daniel Dye

18. Josh Williams

19. Ryan Truex

20. Kyle Sieg

21. Jeb Burton

22. Jesse Love, seven laps led

23. Kyle Weatherman

24. Matt DiBenedetto

25. Leland Honeyman

26. Brennan Poole

27. Josh Berry

28. Thomas Annunziata

29. Mason Massey

30. Jeremy Clements

31. Shane van Gisbergen

32. Parker Retzlaff, one lap down

33. Patrick Emerling, one lap down

34. Blaine Perkins – OUT, Suspension

35. Stephen Mallozzi – OUT, Engine

36. Ryan Ellis – OUT, Accident

37. Josh Bilicki – OUT, Electrical

38. Dawson Cram – OUT, Accident

Next on the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the return of the Pennzoil 250 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Indiana. The event is scheduled for Saturday, July 20, and will air at 3:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.

CUSTER WINS NASCAR XFINITY SERIES EXPLORE THE POCONO MOUNTAINS 225

Stewart-Haas Racing driver Cole Custer celebrates in Victory Lane after winning Saturday’s Explore the Pocono Mountains 225 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Pocono Raceway. Photo credit: Pocono Raceway.

Points leader Cole Custer lands his first win of the season to solidify his NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs position.

LONG POND, Pa. (July 13, 2024) – Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer took a pivotal step toward defending his NASCAR Xfinity Series title by securing his first victory of the season in Saturday’s Explore the Pocono Mountains 225 at Pocono Raceway.

Custer outdueled Justin Allgaier of JR Motorsports following a restart with four laps remaining to end an 18-race winning drought and earn his second win at “The Tricky Triangle” in his last five visits. He also became the seventh full-time driver to win this season and more in command of securing one of the 12 Xfinity Series Playoffs berths. Custer had led the series points the last six races heading into Pocono, but still felt unfulfilled despite his strong campaign.

“I’m the points leader, but I’ve never been this frustrated being the points leader because we haven’t gotten a win yet,” Custer said. “To finally get one and for everything these guys have done to bring such a fast piece here means a lot. I think we can really take it to them in the Playoffs.”

With 35 laps remaining, it was shaping up to be a shootout between Custer, William Byron of Hendrick Motorsports along with defending race winner Austin Hill and Jesse Love, both of Richard Childress Racing.

The foursome all pitted under green-flag conditions in the ensuing laps while Allgaier was among a handful of drivers who gambled to stay out with the possibility of rain approaching. A caution came out with 20 to go and Allgaier already had 25 laps on his tires. It seemed like Allgaier would have no chance of holding off the group, but he did a masterful job in doing so, including another restart with 12 laps remaining.

Custer finally overtook Allgaier on Lap 82 of 90, but the eighth and final caution came out two laps later to give Allgaier another shot at an improbable win. The restart came with four laps remaining and Allgaier got a great jump from the inside position. Custer and Allgaier went side by side before Custer made the pass on the backstraight. Custer would extend the advantage and secure a .670-second win over Allgaier for his fifth consecutive top-seven finish at Pocono dating to his win in 2019.

Byron finished third, polesitter Sheldon Creed of Joe Gibbs Racing finished fourth and Taylor Gray, the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series full-time driver making a start with JGR, took fifth.

“This is such a hard place to win at; I mean you’ve never seen such a turnout at a race track. There are so many fans here who are hardcore about racing; this is a really special place for every team member and every driver to win because it’s so hard,” Custer said. “These guys brought a really fast race car, and we were able to take advantage of it. It was as hectic as you can get (on the restart) and I wish it wasn’t, but we kept our cool and made the most of it.

“We had such a fast car here I think we’ve been building and building all year, so we just got to keep it rolling. This is an unbelievable group that just keeps its cool and even on the tough days we’ve been able to make the most of it and figure out what to do next.”

NEXT UP: Sunday will close out the race weekend with The Great American Getaway 400 presented by VISITPA (2:30 p.m., TV: USA Network, Radio: MRN, SiriusXM).

For tickets or additional information about The Great American Getaway 400 presented by VISITPA, please visit www.poconoraceway.com.

About Pocono Raceway

Pocono Raceway, also known as ‘The Tricky Triangle,’ is family-owned and situated in the beautiful Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. In business for over 50 years, the Raceway hosts multiple, national motorsports events including the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series events each year. The facility’s calendar also consists of over 200 events including Elements Music & Arts Festival and a wide range of non-motorsports entertainment, car clubs and racing schools. Pocono Raceway is recognized as the world’s first, privately-owned solar-powered sports facility. Their 25-acre, three-megawatt solar farm provides the energy needs of the Raceway, as well as, adds electricity to the local power grid. Each member of our raceway staff is committed to creating exciting experiences and lifelong memories. For more information, please visit www.poconoraceway.com.