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Krummert, Miley, Brandon Matus, and Daughtery Win at Lernerville

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SARVER, PA (August 20, 2021): Garrett Krummert took advantage of a restart with nineteen laps complete to overhaul Big Block Modified points leader Jeremiah Shingledecker, who had led from lap three. The win narrowed the gap to three points for the track championship, with a pair of points races left in the season.

Also getting wins this night were Jared Miley in the Late Models, Brandon Matus (pictured above) in the 410 Sprints, and Brian Daugherty in the Pro Stocks.

“I came in first, but I beat the $h!t out of it,” Krummert said. He was concerned that he may need to send the shocks out for rebuilding due to the track conditions. Turning more diplomatic, Krummert added, “I appreciate everything that Lernerville did. They put a lot of work into it.” Before the features, the track crew did spend considerable time attempting to remedy the roughness that had developed in the middle of the track during the heat races.

The Big Block Modified twenty-five lapper had Krummert and Dave Murdick paired up on the front row. Brian Swartzlander and Shingledecker were in row two, with Rex King, Jr. and John Mollick in the third.

Krummert took off at the drop of the green, but Shingledecker was hounding him for the opening lap. Shingledecker rolled the top in turns one and two with two laps complete to grab the lead before they crossed for lap three.

Shingledecker led through the only caution of the race, on lap nineteen, when Rex King, Sr. stopped in turn two. Shingledecker took the inside line for the restart, even though he had been running the top to maintain his lead. The decision proved to be pivotal, as Krummert raced into turn one on the top to grab the lead away from his main adversary.

Krummert led the remaining six laps without difficulty. Rex King, Jr. slipped into third on the restart and chased down Shingledecker. King Jr. did take second briefly, but Shingledecker rallied on the final round to regain the second spot and minimize the point loss to Krummert.

Krummert, Shingledecker, King Jr., Swartzlander, and Murdick completed the top five. The drivers in the next quintet were Mollick, Steve Slater, King Sr., Colton Waters and Kevin Long.

A pair of heats for the Big Block Modifieds went to Brian Swartzlander and John Mollick. There was no B Main.

Jared Miley and Ken Schaltenbrand were on the front row for the Late Model twenty-five lapper. Levi Yetter started third after receiving his 2020 Western PA Rookie of the Year award. His partner was veteran Gary Lyle. Tommy Beck matched up with Kyle Lukon. Then came Andrew Wylie and Kelvin Kohan in row four.

Miley swept into the early lead, followed by Ken Schaltenbrand, Yetter, Lyle, and Lukon. Miley led the first ten laps despite a couple of cautions that kept the two-time defending champion close in second.

Schaltenbrand got several other chances to restart beside Miley in the middle stage of the race. The final restart, which happened before the halfway mark, proved to be Shaltenbrand’s undoing. He went to the bottom to try to get a run on Miley and, instead he was freight-trained by several other drivers.

Miley remained out front and built a substantial lead over Tommy Beck. In the final laps, Colton Flinner went by for the second position. Beck was third at the finish, with Alex Ferree and Kyle Knapp completing the top five.

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Ken Schaltenbrand faded to sixth, followed by Lyle, Shawn Schaltenbrand, Joshua Powell, and Kohan taking the rest of the top ten.

In the Late Model ranks, a couple of heats were held, with Jared Miley and Kelvin Kohan taking the wins. There was no B Main.

Brandon Matus had the pole in his quest for the feature win and his first track championship at Lernerville Speedway. Next to him was Matt Sherlock. Row two had Carl Bowser and Dan Kuriger. Row three belonged to Matt Farnham and Jack Sodeman, Jr. George Hobaugh paired off with A.J. Flick, who entered the night just four points from Brandon Matus. Pete Landrum and Darin Gallagher rolled off from row five and Mike Lutz, Jr. and Bryan Salisbury in row six.

Brandon Matus took off at the drop of the green, followed by Bowser, Farnham, Sherlock, and Kuriger. Brandon Matus poured on the coals and built a commanding lead while Bowser and Farnham fought for the second position. Farnham took it for several laps, but Bowser regained the position.

Late in the race, Brandon Matus had his pace slowed somewhat by lapped traffic, and that enabled Bowser to close in. However, the lapped traffic proved to be even more difficult for Bowser, who made contact with the slower car of Sherlock. Bowser tumbled hard into turn one, ending his night.  He was okay.

Brandon Matus completed the remaining four laps without incident. Sodeman climbed into second, with Sye Lynch also getting past Farnham, who was fourth in the final run-down. Fifth went to Kuriger.

Flick finished sixth, a position that he held for most of the race. That allowed Brandon Matus to gain a little breathing room heading into the final weeks of the season. David Kalb, Darin Gallagher, Hobaugh, and Brent Matus completed the top ten.

In the 410 Sprint division, preliminaries belonged to Darin Gallagher and Matt Farnham. There was no B Main.

The Pro Stocks went to the post for their twenty-lap finale. Brett Hutira took the early lead, but former Late Model crew chief Brian Daugherty chased him down after several laps. Daugherty took the lead coming through turn four and held control the rest of the way.

Taking second was Mike Miller, followed by Corey McPherson, Nick Kocuba, and Mike Bordt. Sixth through tenth went to Jake Dietz, Jason Fosnaught, Brett McDonald, Chase Lambert, and Hutira.

The Pro Stocks contested two heat races as well. The top drivers were Chris Schneider and Mike Miller. There was no B Main.

Next week, Lernerville Speedway will present its annual Sprint Spectacular. Joining the 410 Sprints will be the 305 Sprints and the RUSH non-wing Sprints. September 3 will be a Fab Four program, which will be repeated on championship night, September 17.

IndyCar

Alex Palou and Scott Dixon grab Top 10’s to lead Chip Ganassi Racing at St. Pete

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Penske Entertainment: James Black

ST. PETERSBURG, FL (March 10, 2024) – Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou and Scott Dixon grabbed Top 10 finishes in Sunday’s NTT INDYCAR SERIES season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Presented by RP Funding.

Palou, the defending and two-time series Champion, started 13th on grid and by the midway point in the race he had worked his way up to the 11th spot in the No. 10 DHL Honda.

Palou continued to gain spots and after his final pit stop he was just outside the Top 5, finishing sixth.

“I’m happy to finish in the top-six and it’s a great start,” said Palou, who was the fourth biggest mover over the course of the race (+7). “That first yellow really didn’t help us, as it put everyone in the same position so we had 35 laps less of the race to do something. We finished two spots better than what we did last year. We started struggling at the beginning of the weekend, so it was an amazing recovery by Chip Ganassi Racing and the No. 10 DHL Honda team. ”

Dixon started right outside the Top 10 in the 12th position and on the opening lap avoided disaster when several drivers split Romain Grosjean, who appeared to approach Turn 1 cautiously.  Grosjean drifted right to avoid the driver on his left, only to make contact with Dixon’s No. 9 PNC Bank Honda.  Luckily Dixon was able to continue without damage to his machine eventually finishing 9th.

“It was a bit of a bland day,” said Dixon, who will be inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame on Tuesday. “I thought we had a good situation at the start and then it all kind of closed down to go off-track to make sure that we didn’t hit anybody. There was just no tire degradation so there wasn’t as much racing as I would have liked. Ultimately, I think the PNC Bank crew should have had a fifth, sixth or seventh, so it’s not the absolute best way to start the season.”

Rookie Kyffin Simpson impressed in his INDYCAR debut, starting 23rd and advancing 9-positions to finish 14th in the No. 4 Journie Rewards Honda.

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“What an incredible day,” said Simpson, who finished the day as the top placing rookie. “I’m stoked to have such a good first race in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES. I felt like we had a good start to the race and then we just kept it clean. It was definitely tight at times with some side-by-side racing, but we were able to push through and keep things clean. We were able to really push it on the greens at the end with great pace. I’m very happy with the entire day for the Journie Rewards team.”

Linus Lundqvist was running ahead of Simpson and was sitting in 15th place at the midway point of the race and was methodically picking up spots.  Disaster struck on Lap 64 when Grosjean attempted a pass approaching Turn 10, sending the No. 8 American Legion Honda backwards into the tire barrier.  The No. 8 CGR crew replaced the rear wing on pit road and sent the 2022 INDY NXT Champion back into the fight.  Grosjean took responsibility for the ill-advised attempt and served a drive-thru penalty but that little solace for the No. 8 team.

“We were fighting on the edge of the top-10 and then sadly got taken out,” said Lundqvist. “It’s quite unfortunate because the guys and girls with the American Legion team did such a phenomenal job to be fighting for that top-10 position. It is a long season and we will definitely bounce back from that and bring the positives from the speed that we had.”

Marcus Armstrong and the No. 11 Ridgeline Lubricants Honda also showed speed all weekend and was the best qualifying car out of the CGR stable starting 11th and working his way into the Top 10 during the first 25-laps of the race.

Turn 10 challenged drivers all day because of a tricky tail wind going into the turn and Armstrong fell victim on Lap 27 when he ended up in the tire barrier.

“I was working on a fuel number and touched the brakes and locked the brakes immediately,” explained a dejected Armstrong. “I’m so disappointed by that mistake and I feel terrible for the No. 11 Chip Ganassi Racing Ridgeline Lubricants group because we were fast. To be honest, we weren’t pushing hard at the time. We were fuel saving and waiting for our time to push. It was a costly mistake and it stinks.”

Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden was basically untouchable all weekend leading 92-of-100 laps en route to the victory.

Next up for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES is the $1,000,000 non-points race at The Thermal Club.

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IndyCar

Racing Notebook: PA Motor Speedway cancels Test & Tune; INDYCAR at St. Pete; Kris Wright in Phoenix and more!

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Photo: Steve Skarupa

Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway cancels this weekend’s ‘test & tune’; The NTT INDYCAR SERIES gears up for the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding; Kris Wright takes on Phoenix this Friday and more in the Pittsburgh Racing Now Notebook:

PPMS Cancels Test & Tune

  • Persistent rain on Tuesday and Wednesday have forced Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway to cancel this Saturday’s ‘Test & Tune’ one week before the season-opening ‘Pot of Gold 75’.  The Pits open at 9 a.m. and the Grandstands open at 11 a.m. with the Saturday program scheduled to start at Noon.  For more information visit PPMS.com.
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INDYCAR Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

  • The NTT INDYCAR SERIES kicks off the 2024 season on Friday with one practice session to get teams ready for Sunday’s season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding.  Mayor Ken Welch, PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon and other dignitaries raised the flag Thursday morning at 10 a.m. at City Hall to signify the official civic event kickoff to the race weekend.

Kris Wright Gets Ready for Phoenix

  • Wexford native Kris Wright and his Venturini Motorsports team descend on Phoenix Raceway for Friday’s ARCA Menards Series General Tire 150. This weekend marks Wright’s first start at Phoenix in the ARCA Series. Wright has previously competed in a NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) race in 2022 and a NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (NCTS) race in 2021 at the Avondale, Ariz., venue.  Wright has participated in two ARCA Menards Series West races, including one event with Venturini Motorsports. “I’m excited to return to Phoenix Raceway after having a fast car there in the fall. Our No. 15 Venturini Motorsports team has been working on it during the off-season, and we’re looking forward to heading back West for this race.”

Chip Ganassi Racing Unveils Season 2 Trading Cards

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IndyCar

Chip Ganassi Racing Unveils Season 2 of Trading Cards Series

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Chip Ganassi Racing

ST. PETERSBURG, FL (March 7, 2024) – Sports fans have a great opportunity to get their hands on some cool Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR) team-official collectables and help out a great cause in the process.

CGR unveiled Season 2 of their classic trading card series Thursday, benefitting The American Legion and their Be The One initiative, which is a national platform to reduce the rate of veteran suicide. The program destigmatizes asking for mental health support, provides peer-to-peer support and resources and educates people on how they can Be The One.  Everyone can Be The One by asking veterans in your life how they are doing, listening when a veteran needs to talk and reaching out when a veteran is struggling.

Fans are invited to make a $10 donation for a single pack of eight random cards, drawing from the collection of 36 unique designs. Bulk ordering options are also available again, with quantities offered at 5, 10 and 20 packs.

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“We are excited to see the return of the Chip Ganassi Racing trading cards,” said Dean Kessel, Chief Marketing Officer of The American Legion. “This project was wildly popular last season because it not only provides a remarkable product to race fans across the country, but it also directly impacts our mission to support the veteran community and save lives. We’re proud of this partnership that continues to make a positive impact on the lives of those who have served our nation.”

Season 2 of the #CGRCards feature standard cards, unique chrome cards and rare, autographed inserts from the current Chip Ganassi Racing NTT INDYCAR SERIES driver lineup.

The chrome cards feature notable achievements from this past season and throwbacks to Chip Ganassi Racing lore, including ‘The Pass’ at Laguna Seca by Alex Zanardi, CGR’s first championship with Jimmy Vasser in 1996 and the team’s first Indianapolis 500 win in 2000 with Juan Pablo Montoya.

The trading cards will be available exclusively at ChipGanassiRacing.com/CGRCards. Only 2,000 packs of cards will be available through the 2024 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season so be sure to make a donation today and collect all 36 cards.

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