Sixth victory for team at action-packed street circuit

LONG BEACH, Calif. (April 8, 2017) – Corvette Racing’s Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner won the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class at Saturday’s Bubba Burger Sports Car Grand Prix of Long Beach in the No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R. It is the sixth class win for the team and Chevrolet at the historic Long Beach street circuit.

Gavin won for the fourth time at Long Beach, and the victory was Milner’s second at the event. They won together in 2012, and on Saturday came from sixth at the start to record a surprising but rewarding victory in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

“After a hard-fought battle, it was rewarding to see Tommy Milner roll the No. 4 Corvette C7.R into Victory Lane today at Long Beach,” said Jim Campbell, Chevrolet U.S. Vice President, Performance Vehicles and Motorsports. “Tommy and Oliver Gavin overcame adversity early in the race to be there at the end to capture the win.”

Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen, coming off a GTLM victory at Sebring three weeks ago, placed fifth in class Saturday with their No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R. Garcia seemed headed for certain victory until a multi-car incident at the final turn blocked the track and brought a handful of cars to a stop – including both Corvettes. Garcia became trapped on the left-hand side of the track while Milner, on the right-hand side, was able to slip through the traffic jam and won by 1.830 seconds.

The two Corvettes found themselves running 1-2 in class with 10 minutes left despite different race strategies. Magnussen was caught up in an opening-lap incident and suffered damage to the front of the No. 3 Corvette C7.R. Garcia drove the final 78 minutes on the same set of Michelin tires and tank of fuel, aided by five full-course caution periods.

Gavin drove the first 42 minutes in the No. 4 Corvette before handing off to Milner. Not long after Milner left the pitlane, an incident – similar to the once that impacted the race’s finish – blocked the final turn with Milner stuck in the outside lane. Nearly an hour later, he found himself approaching the same situation but chose to take the inside line. As it turned out, it again was the lane that was able to clear the pileup.

“While the outcome of the late local caution was frustrating, it is the never-give-up attitude of everyone at Corvette Racing that continues to result in these exciting races and finishes,” Campbell said. “We had two strong race cars today and look forward to the next race at COTA.”

The next race for Corvette Racing is the Advance Auto Parts SportsCar Showdown on May 4-6 from Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas. FOX Sports 1 will air the race at 7 p.m. ET on Saturday, May 6. Live coverage will be available on FOX Sports Go with live audio coverage from IMSA Radio is available on IMSA.com.

OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – GTLM RACE WINNER: “This was a very bizarre day and finish. We will take this victory, and we’re glad that Corvette Racing and Chevrolet have won again at Long Beach. It was just a very unfortunate way that it worked out for Antonio and Jan. We’ve all raced together for so many years now. It’s definitely not the way Tommy and I would have liked to have won. But at the end of the day, a victory is a victory. The good thing for Tommy and I is that it has gotten us back in a good direction heading to COTA for the next round.

“The start was pretty interesting. Coming down into Turn One, it looked like Jan had been jumped by a couple of cars. On first laps here, you’re always looking to see who has their tires up to temperatures, who is using a little bit of extra road and who is taking chances. When I came to Turn Five, the Patron car was already backward going over the apex curb. Knowing that the camber falls away, I knew everyone would be going outside and into the wall. Three of us managed to avoid any contact and got through. From there, it was a lot of insane racing. “Yes it’s a 100-minute race but some people were trying to win it with 75 or 80 minutes left. My goal was to keep the Corvette clean and hand it off to Tommy at the appropriate point whenever the team called us in. We managed to do that and our crew managed to get us out and in front of the cars we felt we were racing. Even past that point, the race kept getting turned on its head. You never knew which way it was going to go.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – GTLM RACE WINNER: “It was a weird race today for sure. There was a lot of giving and taking throughout the day. As for the finish, I’ve never seen things work out that way for me or anyone else for that matter. You feel bad for the No. 3 guys, for Antonio and Jan. They had a great race and did everything right. It was just unlucky to lose it that way in a big pack. You need luck in racing sometimes, and today we had that on our side. It feels good for us to get a win and to get points for our No. 4 Corvette and Chevrolet.

“We were a bit behind at one point and it didn’t look like our strategy would play out for us. All those cautions allowed the cars who pitted early could make it on one stop for fuel. Our hope was to get past them if they had to make a late splash for fuel. That didn’t happen. I was hoping for another yellow to get us bunched back up again, which is what happened. I had 13- or 14-lap newer tires and I was able to get around the 24 and I went door-to-door with the 67. That allowed Antonio to get out in the clear, and then so was I. He was quick but then his tires started to go away. In that situation, getting by him was going to be really tough.

“In the last corner at the end, my first reaction was that the race was over. Antonio had a gap over me and also over the 67. I figured it would end up like that but I heard on the radio that there was another crash at the hairpin. At first the track was clear and then it wasn’t. I was in that exact situation earlier in the race and went to the outside; it didn’t work and I lost a spot there. I went to the inside this time, and it opened up. When I got out of the hairpin, I saw green but thought the race was over until they told me on the radio that we had won. It was definitely an unusual way to take a victory. Now we have to regroup as a team and get ready for the next race at COTA.”

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED FIFTH IN GTLM: “I’ve never been part of a finish like that. It’s for sure very difficult to go through; I’m very confused with how the officials judged both incidents in the last corner. Our No. 3 Corvette team did everything we needed to do in order to have the best chance at another victory. I don’t understand the ending and unfortunately for us the results are what they are. All we can do is put ourselves in position to go for a win the next race in Austin.”

JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED FIFTH IN GTLM: “The start was unfortunate. I didn’t get a good getaway. I kind of got swamped going into Turn One. Then I was just in the wrong place going in to Turn Five when the Ferrari got it wrong with one of the prototype. I got caught in all of that and set put us back. We were on a different strategy from there. Our team did a fantastic job. It just an unsatisfying result.”

Corvette Racing takes third straight and 11th class victory in 12 Hours

•Garcia, Magnussen, Rockenfeller complete stunning turnaround

•25th Sebring class win for Chevrolet-powered entries

•No. 4 Corvette suffers from overheating issue

SEBRING, Fla. (March 18, 2017) – Corvette Racing stormed to a stunning class victory in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh from Florida on Saturday – its third straight in North America’s oldest endurance sports car race. Antonio Garcia, Jan Magnussen and Mike Rockenfeller drove the winning No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R to a 4.453-second victory for the team’s 11th Sebring class victory.

It ended an amazing comeback for the No. 3 Corvette, which ran sixth as late as the eight-and-a-half-hour mark of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s second round. After maintaining through difficult conditions and bad luck in the afternoon, a series of strategic calls, strong pit stops and exceptional driving resulted in another Sebring triumph for America’s sports car.

Garcia drove a stunning final two hours and 53 minutes to claim victory. He led the final 35 laps and withstood intense pressure from other contenders in the class. While Sebring’s brutal conditions and bad luck began to claim other entries, the No. 3 Corvette and its team ran a nearly flawless race.

Saturday’s victory was Magnussen’s fifth at Sebring, the third for Garcia and first for Rockenfeller. The trio also won the second of four Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup rounds of the season.

The No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Corvette C7.R was forced to retire with water temperature issues that arose in the opening hour. The root cause remained unclear, and it brought an early end to the day for defending class winners Tommy Milner, Oliver Gavin and Marcel Fässler.

Garcia, Jan Magnussen and Mike Rockenfeller each rotated through with two stints each in the first six hours. The No. 3 Corvette C7.R led at the three-hour mark but a combination of greasy track conditions and bad luck with traffic and caution periods hindered its standing at six hours.

An emergency stop for fuel near the halfway point was particularly cruel. Rockenfeller was set to pit for new Michelin tires, fuel and the exchange to Garcia but the yellow flag ruined that plan and strategy. Instead, Rockenfeller had to stop for five seconds of fuel and then again one lap after the GTLM leaders completed their stops.

Fortunes reversed for the No. 3 Corvette with a timely full-course caution with four hours left. A perfect pit stop moved Magnussen from sixth to third on a restart. That the stage for the late-race heroics.

The next event for Corvette Racing is the Bubba Burger Sports Car Grand Prix on Saturday, April 8 from the Long Beach (California) street circuit. The race will air live at 4 p.m. on FOX. Live audio coverage from IMSA Radio is available on IMSA.com.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – GTLM RACE WINNER: “I knew it was going to be really, really tough. Since yesterday in qualifying it was super close, the first two hours I managed to make my way up to P2. I did two hours first following the No. 66. Then I did that third hour and I was kind of sick of following Fords. So at some point I just needed to go. We made that really good call to come in with the Ferrari. So the Fords stayed out on a poorer set of tires than us. I knew that had to be my stint. That first stint with two or three stints to go, I needed to make the moves and pass the Ferrari. I passed the No. 68; I passed (Scott) Dixon. I passed everybody because I knew it had to be done then because that was probably the only time they would be a little bit weaker than we were. It worked. At the end the Porsche looked very, very strong. That second-to-the-last time they pitted quite a bit later than us, and they were flying. They passed all the way up to us until that last safety car. Again, there was a magnificent stop by the Corvette Racing crew. I think the Porsche made a mistake there. Without knowing, I thought it was Joey (Hand) behind us, but it was again the Porsche. I knew it was going to be tough. I didn’t know if I was going to be able to hold him , but probably. The car kept going faster and faster. When you lead the way, the aero works pretty decent compared to when you follow someone. At the end things went a little bit in our favor. It was a sprint to the end. I can’t believe what Corvette Racing did today. Just awesome. Amazing.”

JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – GTLM RACE WINNER: “I don’t even know where to start. What a fantastic race. It was a tough race… a hard race. I mean I am so happy about this. The boys did a great job with the pit stops. Antonio’s last stint there was just fantastic. What can you say? It is just fantastic. It was all about running our own race and then at the end when we had to do something, to then be able to do it. The crew – those last couple of pit stops – awesome. As I said Antonio’s last stint… just fantastic!”

MIKE ROCKENFELLER, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – GTLM RACE WINNER: “It is still hard to believe right now because I didn’t expect it. We had a tough race, and Antonio (Garcia) did just a fantastic job – like always. But it is very special what he got out of the car today. That is why I am speechless. I am very happy for the team. Thanks to Corvette Racing and everyone on the teams – all the mechanics and engineers. They always believe. We had a tough start in Daytona and even here. We weren’t the quickest all the time, but at the end when it counted, we were there. This team is just amazing!”

DOUG FEHAN, CORVETTE RACING PROGRAM MANAGER: “I think what we saw tonight may have been the most intense mix of tremendous engineering and strategy from our engineering crew and flawless pit stops all day long by our Corvette Racing crew. Then there was the driving exhibition that I’m sure will be a highlight of Antonio’s career – certainly at Corvette Racing. When you put those three elements together, we are hard to beat. It was an amazing demonstration by everyone at Corvette Racing.”

Article by Judy Kouba Dominick and Ryan Smith

Photo credit: Richard Prince

 http://www.monch.com/mpg/news/14-land/724-orbital-atk-progress-through-partnerships.html

Mönch’s US correspondent Marty Kauchak, on-site at an Orbital ATK-hosted BUSHMASTER Users Conference outside Kingman, Arizona, USA, provides highlights of Day 2 (31 January 2017) of the event.

Industry representatives were finalising their preparations for live fire demonstrations scheduled for tomorrow (Day 3). While some industry teams remain focused on innovation and expanding technology baselines, others are seeking incremental efficiencies through reusability and similar strategies. At the end of the day, collaboration and partnership are vital to allowing industry teams achieve their milestones.

For its part Oshkosh has two Joint Light Tactical Vehicles (JLTV) at the conference to internally compete a M230 Link Fed Chain Gun integrated with Kongsberg PROTECTOR Remote Weapon Station (RWS) and EOS R400 RWS. The RWS will be put through its paces in static and on-the-move firings tomorrow (Day 3). Dave Diersen, the Director of Defense Programs, JLTV Program, at Oshkosh, spoke with Mönch about his company’s presence at the users conference, but first took the opportunity to update Mönch on this major Pentagon programme. JLTV is in low rate initial production, with Oshkosh having started delivering the vehicles to the US DoD in 2016. “We’re continuing to deliver vehicles for test. They are just getting into their test programme. They will have tests that will be ongoing for a little over a year,” Diersen added.

This testing regimen will culminate in a full rate production decision in about December 2018. Oshkosh is on contract to deliver 1,398 JLTVs among its US Army and Marine Corps (USMC) customers during the LRIP period. Part of the JLTV contract directs Oshkosh to fully integrate the vehicle. With respect to weapons systems, “What we’re trying to demonstrate is versatility and flexibility of our vehicles. We don’t make guns and we don’t make radios. We integrate them into the vehicles. What we’re showing is that flexibility to integrate different types of weapon systems and capabilities on our vehicles, so should our customer tell us what they want, we can quickly and rapidly integrate those systems on our vehicles. Let’s be clear, this is not a government event,” the industry executive concluded.

Scott Burk, the Washington, DC-based Business Development and Government Relations at Kongsberg, built the business case for embracing his company’s PROTECTOR M230LF CROWS (Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station), noting in one instance, many of the components used in this system have been reused from existing CROWS systems currently in the field. “This significantly reduces cost, but more significant, reduces cost to the taxpayer and the federal government. In many instances the system has previously been qualified and in some cases these are also owned by the federal government with the license agreement we have on the CROWS programme. So it made a lot of sense from an investment perspective to use this as much as possible.”

As noted earlier, the RWS solution for JLTV has not been definitised by the US Army customer. Discussions have included a co-axial capability of a smaller machine gun, anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) integration and even the long-range sensor system Long-Range Advance Scout Surveillance System (LRAS3) (Raytheon). “In all those cases, JAVELIN for ATGM, co-ax and LRAS integration – we’ve already done it. There’s already qualified software, qualified hardware in the Army system. We would be lifting capabilities from other systems that have already been qualified. It makes it very simple.”

Citing specific instances of reusability, the sight servo assemblies on the PROTECTOR system are both from the US Army M153 low profile CROWS from the M1A2 ABRAMS Main Battle Tank. “We lifted both of those components off there. So you have reuse of the sensors, reuse of the sight servo assembly and reuse of the controlling software,” the industry subject matter expert observed.

A number of military and security forces around the globe are using manned guns without optics, thermal imaging devices and other enablers, mounted in the rear of commercial vehicles. These weapons platforms offer their operators limited lethality and accuracy during operation. In another effort to examine and expand the art of the possible in weapons platforms, Orbital ATK selected Pratt Miller, to determine how to safely and robustly place an unmanned weapon system in the rear of a small truck and operate it.

New Hudson, Michigan-based Pratt Miller specialises in advanced research and development, advanced engineering and developing advanced suspension systems for the defence sector and also has an extensive motor sports portfolio. Ray Errer, a Program and Engineering Manager at Pratt Miller, recalled that about seven months ago his company started work on the project using a Toyota LC (Land Cruiser) 79 as the weapons platform because, “it’s a platform you see all over the world. It is very robust and they have been making them for 30 years – not much has changed in 30 years.”

Pratt Miller’s envisioned outcomes efforts go beyond the LC 79, and are designed to make the weapons integration process universal in any small type vehicle – a Chevrolet pick-up truck, a robotic system or other. Pratt Miller’s industry partners to develop a weapons integration kit have included Rod Hall Products (Reno, Nevada) and Fox Defense (El Cajon, California) for the suspension system. “We totally redid the suspension system, working with them to come up with a complete kit that includes everything from leaf springs to shocks to stay bars, all brand new, to optimize speed on terrain, new center of gravity with the gun and accuracy of the weapon system,” Errer added.

Additional enhancements to permit emplacement of a weapon in the rear of a common, small commercial truck include addition of an independent, 24-volt alternator system, a remote weapon control system command station inside the cab, a weapon mounting station that bolts to the frame of the truck (rear bed), and others. EOS has a heritage of providing RWS on vehicles in many nations, and is supplying its remote weapon station solution in this Orbital ATK project – but with a major difference. “When you are talking about the M230LF and the recoil off of it and adding it on to a platform of this size, this is the first time we’ve provided this much fire power on this type of platform,” Craig Burman, the Chief Technology Officer at EOS, pointed out.

Orbital ATK’s Small Caliber Systems Defense Systems Group will be supplying ammunition at the Wednesday event to support US Ordnance’s firing of its crew served weapons, medium machine guns and light machine guns. Dan Fassler, the senior vice president of the McCarran (Reno), Nevada-based company emphasised that all weapons are assembled from start to finish at his facility. He continued “We have our machining capabilities, our own chrome line to line our own barrels in the MK19 receiver, stress relief ovens and other capabilities. Our customers like to visit us because they know they are actually getting something from us because they can see it being made there.”

Article by Monch Publishing Group

Excellent pit work, never-give-up spirit highlights 2017 opener

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Jan. 29, 2017) –Antonio Garcia, Jan Magnussen and Mike Rockenfeller led Corvette Racing’s effort in the GT Le Mans class of the Rolex 24 At Daytona on Sunday. The No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R placed fourth in a battle that saw the top seven entries separated by 7.5 seconds after a grueling opening race of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

The No. 3 Corvette ran a nearly perfect race with no mistakes and incredible performances in pitlane. With a majority of the race run in cold, damp conditions, the Corvette Racing team found itself in position to challenge for a third straight Rolex 24 class victory heading into the final three hours.

Twice in the final two hours, the No. 3 Corvette crew sent Garcia out in the lead – making up four spots on the penultimate stop and three on the final stop. Over the last three stops of the race, the No. 3 Corvette gained nine positions. Garcia eventually finished 4.593 behind the class winner after coming back from a lap down in the early morning hours that saw rain soak Daytona International Speedway for more than 12 hours.

“It was a very good race today,” said Mark Reuss, Executive Vice President, Global Product Development, General Motors. “Everybody was on the same lap there in the end. All the manufacturers placed there one through four, so it was really a good race.

“They (Corvette Racing) never give up. They never lose hope. I think we won in the pits. I watched them beat all the other teams many times. This is a tough race to win. They did a great job, and I am very proud of the Corvette team.”

The No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Corvette C7.R, the class-winner in 2016, placed ninth in GTLM after suffering a loss of power and a broken right-rear lower control arm following contact with another GTLM competitor near the six-hour mark. Gavin, Milner and Fässler all cycled through in the cold and wet conditions to help support the team’s strategy for the No. 3 Corvette.

The next event for Corvette Racing is the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh from Florida on March 15-18 from Sebring International Raceway in Sebring, Florida. The race will air from 12:30-11 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1. Corvette Racing has won at Sebring 10 times since 2001.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED FOURTH IN GTLM: “I think we need to be happy with the race we had. In any race, you have to do your best and take it to 100 percent and more. Corvette Racing did that today – optimizing everything we had to have a perfect race and a perfect Corvette to the end. What else can you say about the pit stops? We made up so many positions and came out first so many times. When you have all that and don’t have the pace to keep it, it’s a shame. We gave everything we had. We congratulate the winners.”

JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED FOURTH IN GTLM: “It wasn’t what we wanted. We were just lacking a little bit of the speed that we needed to be able to fight at the end there. The team did a fantastic job there throughout the event. The pit work today was absolutely fantastic. We came out in front almost every time. Unfortunately we didn’t quite have the speed to stay there. Antonio did a fantastic job at the end, and Rocky drove really well too. This is a great group of drivers with a great crew, a great team and a great car in the Corvette. It just wasn’t quite enough this time.”

MIKE ROCKENFELLER, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED FOURTH IN GTLM: “We did all we could to try and win the race. The result is pretty much what we kind of expected after practice sessions if you look at the pure speed we had. Even though we had a good chance at the end, we knew it likely wouldn’t be for long because you need to have speed on the straights. We just didn’t have enough to stay ahead of the others but I have to say thanks to my teammates and my team. It was good fun in these difficult conditions. We kept fighting till the end. It was nice to be there at the end to feel the emotion of maybe winning the race. We were there again although not as close as last year. Everyone tried hard, and that’s racing. Congratulations to the 66 car. I think they deserved it. Today just wasn’t for us.”

OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED NINTH IN GTLM: “The first lap, as it always is here, was difficult to weigh the risks of looking to pass someone, shooting a gap with so many cars. You try to weigh the risks. It was a good first couple of laps. I was able to pass a couple of cars and it seemed to go backward and forward. Overall it was a good first stint. I was pleased to get it done and out of the way.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED NINTH IN GTLM: “I was having fun which is a positive thing. We were so far behind that we were just trying to get laps back and doing everything we were supposed to. We were competitive aside from the incidents, which also makes it more fun. So some you win, some you don’t. With the contact early on and then the electrical problem we had, that is racing. Sometimes it goes your way, sometimes it doesn’t.”

MARCEL FÄSSLER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED NINTH IN GTLM: “In those difficult conditions the only thing you can do is stay patient and stay on the track. It is really very easy to make big mistakes. It was very tough. Behind the spray on restarts you couldn’t see. We had to survive these showers before we could push again.”

Article by: Ryan Smith and Judy Kouba Dominick

Will Power puts Chevrolet on Podium with Runner-up Finish in Long Beach Grand Prix

Will Power capitalized on his front row starting position and scored a strong runner-up finish in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. The 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series (VICS) champion was credited with leading once for six laps in his No.12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet.

Defending VICS champ Josef Newgarden was seventh at the finish behind the wheel of the No, 1 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet. Newgarden led three of 85 laps in today’s race, contested on the 1.968-mile, 11 turn temporary street circuit. He currently sits second in the standings with three of the 17-race schedule in the record books.

Tony Kanaan, No. 14 ABC Supply AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet, finished 8th. It is the second strong top-10 finish for the 2013 Indianapolis 500 winner in his inaugural season driving for Foyt.

Charlie Kimball brought home the first top-10 finish for Carlin in its first full-time season in the Verizon IndyCar Series. Driving the No. 23 Tresiba Chevrolet for Carlin, Kimball started 23 and finished 10th, his best finish at Long Beach in eight starts.

2016 Series’ champion Simon Pagenaud, No. 22 DXC Technologies Team Penske Chevrolet started third, but his race ended halfway through Turn 1 of Lap 1 when he was hit from behind, and unable to continue. He was scored in the 24th finishing position.

The remaining drivers of the Chevrolet 2.2 liter V6 twin turbo direct injected powered cars finished as follows:

Matheus Leist, No, 4 ABC Supply AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet – 14th

Spencer Pigot, No. 21 Preferred Freezer Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet – 15th

Kyle Kaiser, No. 32 Juncos Racing Chevrolet – 16th

Max Chilton, No, 59 Gallagher Carlin Chevrolet – 17th

Jordan King, No, 20 Fuzzy’s Vodka Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet – 18th

Gabby Chaves, No. 88 Harding Group Harding Racing Chevrolet – 19th

Alexander Rossi (Honda) was the race winner, and Ed Jones (Honda) completed the podium.

Next on the schedule is the Honda Indy Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Alabama on April 22, 2018.

Article by Trackside Racing News

Three Team Chevy Drivers in Top 10

It was a solid day with a second place finish for Kyle Larson and his No. 42 DC Solar Camaro ZL1 in the Auto Club 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) race at Auto Club Speedway. The defending event winner posted his third top-10 finish in five races at the challenging 2-mile California track. The result also marked Larson’s third top-10 finish thus far in the 2018 season. He was able to rally from contact with Kevin Harvick on Lap 37 of the 200-lap race, and then from a brake issue later in the event.

Jimmie Johnson, who has won at Auto Club Speedway six times, finished 9th in his No. 48 Lowe’s For Pros Camaro ZL1; and Austin Dillon, behind the wheel of his No. 3 Dow Coatings Camaro ZL1 was 10th in the final order.

Martin Truex, Jr. (Toyota) was the race winner, Kyle Busch (Toyota) was third, Brad Keselowski (Ford) was fourth, and Joey Logano (Ford) finished fifth to round out the top 5.

The next race for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) will be at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Virginia for the STP 500 on Sunday, March 25 at 2:00 pm ET. Live coverage can be found on FOX1, PRN and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 DC SOLAR CAMARO ZL1 POST RACE PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT:

THE MODERATOR: We are now joined by our second place finisher in the 22nd Annual Auto Club 400, Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 42 DC Solar Chevrolet for Chip Ganassi Racing.

A tough, grueling race out there today, a lot of tire falloff. Talk about the race today.

KYLE LARSON: Yeah, it was a pretty tough race from the start. Fell back a little bit, was able to get past a few cars. Obviously Kevin and I had our issue there down the backstretch, just racing hard, side drafting each other for a few laps. I think he came down to maybe side draft down me, got in my right rear, it spun him pretty quick.

From then on we had to repair a little damage, come from the back. Was able to get to sixth or so into the first stage in a short amount of time, which was good.

Then there late, we had an issue with the left front on one of our pit stops, then had to come from the back again maybe that whole last run there.

It was good to get all the way to second. Would have liked to be one spot better, but we couldn’t even see Martin. Got to be a little bit better.

All in all, a good day. We fought hard. That’s all you can ask for.

THE MODERATOR:

THE MODERATOR: We’ll start with questions.

Q. Kyle, you were around Kevin (Harvick) obviously quite a bit there in the early going. Do you think he would have had anything for Truex at the end?

KYLE LARSON: Yeah, it’s so hard to tell early in the race, but just the little bit I was around Kevin, I felt like he still had the best car. Who’s to say, though? Didn’t get to really race a whole lot. The little bit I was around him, his car seemed to get through one and two really good. I could be fairly even with him in three and four. One and two, he was really fast. I’m sure he would have made it better throughout the race.

But, yeah, I don’t know. He’ll be good every weekend.

Q. Kyle, what do you think it is that you’ve been able to find driving the new Chevy that the other teams can’t figure out yet?

KYLE LARSON: It’s nothing I’ve found. I don’t know, our race team has a lot of smart people within our organization. Any time we had a rules change over the last three or four years, the one off weekends like Darlington or Michigan, our team would do a good job, we’d be fast those weekends.

I think they just did a lot of homework on this new car. For whatever reason, we seem to be a little bit better than the other Chevy teams, which we were kind of last year, too.

But, yeah, I’ve been happy to see how we’ve started so far. But we still have a little ways to go to win.

Q. Kyle, when you were racing with Harvick, were you surprised you were racing as hard as you were? Did you think one of you was going to let the other person go?

KYLE LARSON: No, I wasn’t surprised that we were racing that hard, or he was racing me as hard as he was to try to hold me off. He had pitted a lap before me, so I had a lap fresher tires than him, was better than him at that point, in that little run we got in.

I think he knew he was better than I was overall, so he was just trying to hold me off, race me hard to maybe burn my stuff up, then he could stay in front of me, not have to worry about me 10, 15 laps later when he would be better than me.

I was actually having a lot of fun racing like that because this place is really cool, you can just kind of go wherever. I was a lot better than him in three and four. One and two, he was a little bit better than me in those few laps. Yeah, just got to battling really, really hard.

Q. Kyle, the radio chatter was fairly animated after that accident. Were you upset at all? Was there any damage that you felt impacted the ability of your car the rest of the race?

KYLE LARSON: No, I don’t really feel like any damage impacted us because we were able to drive to the front right after that.

Yeah, I mean, I was pretty amped up on the radio there right after just because I felt like at the time maybe he let his frustration build and kind of just ran into me down the backstretch, wrecked himself. I thought he would be mad at me or something like that, which I knew I didn’t do anything wrong at the time.

A couple minutes later, they let me know he was taking the blame for it on the radio, which was nice. I was able to chill out some.

Yeah, I mean, I respect Kevin a lot. I think he respects me a lot, too. You never want to see anything like that happen.

Q. The issue they had to fix, was that something that broke or a mistake?

KYLE LARSON: I haven’t exactly seen what broke. Sounded like brake duct or something fell in between the wheel. Yeah, I don’t know if that was something the pit crew guys hit and broke or whatever. I’m just glad I could feel it under that caution and was able to pit. That would have ruined our day, had I not.

Article by Nancy Wager

Camaro ZL1 Driver, Kyle Larson Leads

After completing 204 circuits around Bristol Motor Speedway, the remainder of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Food City 500 has been postponed to Monday, April 16th due to persistent rain.

Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 driver, Kyle Larson, was scored as the leader when the race was suspended. The theme thus far in the eighth race of the 2018 Cup Series season has been stop and go. The start of the Food City 500 was slightly delayed in order to get the track dry from morning rain showers. Three red flag periods, two for weather and one for an on-track multi-car accident, halted the green-flag action for a total of 51 minutes.

When the event restarts Monday at 1:00 p.m., ET, seven Team Chevy drivers will restart in the Top 15 spots. Seven-time Cup Series champion, Jimmie Johnson, will continue his quest for a third Bristol win from the eighth position. 2018 Daytona 500 winner, Austin Dillon, will pilot his No. 3 Realtree Camaro ZL1 from the 10th spot. Alex Bowman, No. 88 Nationwide Camaro ZL1 will recommence the race from 12th followed by fellow Team Chevy driver Ryan Newman, No. 31 Bass Pro Shops/Cabela’s Camaro ZL1 in 13th and Rookie of the Year contender, William Byron, No. 24 Axalta Camaro ZL1 in 15th.

Live coverage of the remainder of the Food City 500 can been seen at 1:00 p.m., ET on FOX, PRN Radio and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

Article by Trackside Racing News

Seventh victory for Corvette Racing, Team Chevy in IMSA at Long Beach

• 50th victory for Oliver Gavin with Corvette Racing

• Garcia, Magnussen battle back to finish fourth in GTLM

• 107th all-time class victory for Corvette Racing

Corvette Racing’s Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner raced their way to back-to-back victories in southern California by claiming the Bubba Burger Sports Car Grand Prix of Long Beach for the second year in a row. The duo won by 2.157 seconds in their No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R.

It was the 107th class victory all-time for Corvette Racing and the first of its 20th season of competition. The team also won for the 16th time in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s GT Le Mans (GTLM) class.

“This team just does not give up,” said Jim Campbell, Chevrolet U.S. Vice President, Performance Vehicles and Motorsports. “ While we didn’t have the ideal starting position, Olly and Tommy took advantage of every opportunity on track and the crew executed in the pits. Congratulations to the No. 4 Corvette team for back-to-back wins at Long Beach.”

Gavin also won for the 50th time with Corvette Racing – the most of any driver in program history. He now has five victories at Long Beach… three of them with Milner.

Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen finished fourth in the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R in what ended up being a comeback drive for Garcia. A mechanical issue dropped him from second to eighth on a restart with 52 minutes left.

Gavin started the race fifth and drove the first 40 minutes before handing off to Milner during a full-course caution period. The No. 4 Corvette crew leap-frogged the No. 66 Ford in the pitlane, and Milner joined third among GTLM cars that stopped during the yellow.

The first car in class out of the pitlane was the No. 3 Corvette, which gained two spots on the stop. Magnussen started fourth and moved to third on the opening lap. Things looked to be going the way of the No. 3 Corvette until it didn’t go in gear on the restart. Once Garcia got under way, he went from eighth to fourth in the span of 36 minutes. He ended less than two seconds from a podium position.

Meanwhile, Milner went from third to second with 37 minutes left and took the lead for good 15 minutes later. It was a much more conventional victory than a year ago when he and Gavin won after the track became blocked in the final corner, and he got around the stuck No. 3 Corvette.

Corvette Racing’s next event is May 4-6 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

Article by Trackside Racing News

Photo by Richard Prince

Cooper second, O’Connell third

Lexington, Ohio, Cadillac V-Performance drivers Michael Cooper (Syosset, N.Y.) and Johnny O’Connell (Flowery Branch, Ga.) raced to second and third place finishes respectively in today’s running of the Pirelli World Challenge Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio.

At the drop of the green on the long Mid-Ohio back straight Cooper in the Vector Blue No. 8 Cadillac ATS-V.R Coupe slotted in behind the pole sitting and eventual winning McLaren of Alvaro Parente. Closely behind Cooper was his teammate O’Connell in the Velocity Red No. 3 Cadillac ATS-V.R Coupe. The race was uneventful until a caution flew with just 18-minutes remaining. On the restart a lapped car was between Cooper and leader Parente, which allowed the McLaren driver to seal the win and the Cadillac racing duo had to settle for second and third on the day.

“I don’t know if we ran too many qualifying laps and hurt the rear tires, but the car was a handful,” Cooper said. “I was hanging on out there, the car was loose on the rear tires. Johnny may have been a little faster, but I appreciate him running me clean and not making a move. We are going to stay up late tonight and make some adjustments for tomorrow. The Cadillac Racing guys will figure it out. I am happy with second today.”

“We had a really good Cadillac today,” O’Connell said. “I might have been able to play with the McLaren a little, but it wasn’t worth taking a risk on getting by Michael and risking both cars. I am pleased with third and Michael taking second. I will be ready and if the car is as good tomorrow as it was today I can move up.”

The Pirelli World Challenge Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio race two will take the green flag at 12 p.m. ET tomorrow and will be televised on CBS Sports the same day at 2 p.m. ET.

Article by Kyle Chura

O’Connell third, Cooper fifth

Elkhart Lake, Wis., Cadillac V-Performance driver Johnny O’Connell (Flowery Branch, Ga.) drove the No. 3 Velocity Red Cadillac ATS-V.R Coupe to a third place finish in race two of the World Challenge Championship (PWC) World Challenge Grand Prix of Road America today. Teammate Michael Cooper (Syosset, N.Y) drove his No. 8 Vector Blue Cadillac ATS-V.R Coupe to a fifth place.

Based on lap times from yesterday’s race, O’Connell started third and Cooper lined-up next to him in fourth on the second row. On the first lap they were able to complete the circuit in the same positions in which they started. A full course caution flew for an incident in Turn 5. On the restart into Turn 5 Cooper was passed by the No. 31 Ferrari and another incident in the infamous Turn 5 caused a red flag stoppage to the race, just three laps into the scheduled 50-minute event. When the race restarted with less than 20 minutes allowed to race the Cadillac duo of O’Connell and Cooper finished in third and fifth respectively.

“It was a better result for us today,” O’Connell said. “Yesterday we had a good car, but for what happened in Turn 5 when I got turned. The guys, as they always do, improved on the car overnight. I was able to get a good start and held third. The Bentley and the Porsche were just a tick better than us this weekend. I needed Patrick Long in the Porsche and Adderly Fong in the Bentley to dice it up a little so I could get to them, but that didn’t happen. Heck, I am leaving Road America with a trophy, so hopefully our luck has turned.”

“It was a wild race,” Cooper said. “I thought we were looking good to be in contention with the front guys. Then the 31 Ferrari put a crazy move on me into Turn 5 and that is where I got stuck to the checker. I mounted a few attacks on him. Every time I did he was a bit reckless, so I thought it was a good idea to take the points and move onto Mid-Ohio.”

The Pirelli World Challenge Grand Prix of Road America race from today will be broadcast this afternoon at 3 p.m. ET on the CBS Sports Network. The series will travel to the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, July 28-30 for another round of sprint events.

Article written by Kyle Chura