Young Gun Outduels Veteran for North-South SLM Win

Courtesy of Speed 51

08 NOV

Young Gun Outduels Veteran for North-South SLM Win

Carson Kvapil has been winning plenty this year, whether it has been in a Micro Sprint or Outlaw Kart at Millbridge or in the Carolina Pro Late Model Series.  He closed out his 2020 season with a Super Late Model victory, outdueling Brandon Setzer in the North-South Shootout at Caraway Speedway.

After battling for several laps side-by-side with the Super Late Model veteran, Kvapil took the lead for good on lap 145 of the 150-lap race, pulling away to a two-second advantage by the checkered flag.

Kvapil celebrated after the race, thankful to end the year on a high note after sour recent performances in the Super Late Model.

“We’ve had bad luck the last three races,” said Kvapil in victory lane.  “We’ve wrecked out or had bad finishes.  I’m happy to finally get a win on the season, and it’s a good way to cap it off.”

With drivers required to go all 150 laps on the four tires they started the race, Kvapil used a poor handling car at the start of the race to his advantage.  Knowing he would come to pit road to improve his race car’s behavior, he rode in the back until his crew had an opportunity to work on the car, saving tires in the process.

“I wasn’t happy with the car the first 50 laps.  I decided I was going to ride, I had to pit either way for adjustments so I might as well save tires.”

That proved crucial at the end of the race, as Kvapil worked his way from fourth to second in six laps following a lap 100 restart, then worked on setting himself up for a way around Setzer.

The two battled side-by-side for several laps near the end of the race, even making contact at one point in turn one.  Ultimately, Kvapil was able to prevail on the bottom groove to take the lead and the win.

“He could turn the center better than I could.  I was tight, so I was gaining on him on entry through the center and he’d get me on exit.  I didn’t mean to get into him into one, but it was cool to be side-by-side with Brandon Setzer.  He’s a veteran at this.”

Setzer, making his first Super Late Model appearance since February at Southern National Motorsports Park due to a limited racing schedule in the Carolinas and his own work at Kyle Busch Motorsports, was pleased to be back behind the wheel and was all smiles after the late-race battle.

“It was just good, hard racing,” said Setzer.  “I enjoyed racing with Carson.  WE raced each other hard, we don’t give each other much room, and we shook hands after the race and both laughed about it.  We had a good race, just wish we were a little better.”

Justin Crider finished third, scoring his best career Super Late Model finish, followed by Kyle DeSouza and Tyler Church.

Fans can stay tuned to Speed51.TV presented by HMS Motorsport and Haney Lifestyle for post-race content from the 18th Annual North-South Shootout at Caraway Speedway.

-Story by: Zach Evans, Speed51 Content Supervisor – Twitter: @ztevans

-Photo credit: Speed51 Photo

Austin Cindric hoists first Xfinity Series championship trophy in Phoenix: Brett Moffitt finishes 19th in Cape Cod’s Chris Our’s entry.

Austin Cindric NASCAR driver page | Stats, Results, Bio | NASCAR
Austin Cindric

Note: Chris Our is a successful business man in the building trades and resides in Harwich, MA

By Staff Report NASCAR.com November 7, 2020  at 7:33 PM

Austin Cindric secured the 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series title on Saturday at Phoenix Raceway. The driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford bested fellow Championship 4 contenders Chase Briscoe, Justin Haley and Justin Allgaier to score his first NASCAR national series championship.

Cindric came from behind Allgaier during an overtime restart and passed him and Allgaier’s JR Motorsports teammate Noah Gragson for the race win and the title clincher. Crew chief Brian Wilson had Cindric come to pit road for fresh tires during the race’s final caution period, and that proved to be the key to winning the restart over Allgaier, who was on older tires.

It was Cindric’s eighth career Xfinity win and it came in his 100th career start. It was also his sixth victory in a breakout 2020 season for the 22-year-old from Mooresville, North Carolina.

“I watched Sheldon Creed do it last night, so why couldn’t we?” Cindric said about coming to pit road late. “Amazing effort by this 22 team. Brian Wilson and all the guys. Everybody back at the shop. There was a lot of work put into this race car.”

Though he made a name for himself as a road-course ace last season — his two wins coming on that track type — Cindric earned his first win of 2020 by mastering an oval. It was early evidence that the driver had developed into a contender to win on any track type and would be a threat to win the championship.

Cindric actually went back-to-back at Kentucky Speedway in July during the Xfinity Series’ first doubleheader weekend, then followed up those victories with a third at Texas Motor Speedway the next weekend.

Cindric still flexed his road-course prowess, winning at Road America and the Daytona International Speedway Road Course. The wins, yet again, were back-to-back. It was the Xfinity Series’ debut on the Daytona Road Course, too and marked a stretch that saw him win five time in six races.

This is Team Penske’s second driver championship in the Xfinity Series. The other belongs to Brad Keselowski from 2010, two years prior to his run to the NASCAR Cup Series crown.

Although Cindric entered the Phoenix win without a win since August, he advanced through the playoffs on the basis of points. In the six-race slate prior to the championship, he had four top-10 showings. The two outliers came at Talladega Superspeedway (34th, wreck) in the Round of 12 and Kansas Speedway (28th) in the Round of 8. His best finish was fourth at Texas, the Round of 8’s middle event.

This championship also signifies the first for Cindric’s crew chief, Wilson. The two have worked together for two seasons now. They placed sixth in the final standings last year.

Cindric will return to the Xfinity Series in 2021. He and Team Penske inked a multi-year deal that says Cindric will run one more full-time season in the Xfinity Series before officially moving up to the Cup Series in 2022. Once at the top level, Cindric will take over the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford currently driven by Matt DiBenedetto

Hard-Luck Doug Kalitta ‘Just Ran the Wrong Guy’ in Latest NHRA Top Fuel Disappointment

Source: Auto Week

Rookie Justin Ashley ends Kalitta’s chance at NHRA championship.

BY SUSAN WADE NOV 2, 2020lucas oil nhra winternationals presented by protecttheharvestcomRICHARD H SHUTE

  • With 49 wins, Doug Kalitta is the NHRA’s all-time winningest driver without a season championship.
  • Kalitta finished second in the 2020 NHRA Top Fuel standings. It was the sixth time in his career he’s finished runner-up in the championship.
  • Kalitta was knocked out of Sunday’s finals by NHRA Rookie of the Year Justin Ashley.

Even before NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series Top Fuel racer Justin Ashley was honored Saturday as 2020 NHRA Rookie of the Year, Doug Kalitta, the 1998 award recipient who has gone on to win 49 races, gave him props.

“From what I have seen, he is doing a great job. He is really consistent on the tree. He is hammering the tree most of the time,” Kalitta said. “You have to be on your ‘A’ game when he rolls up next to you, for sure. I am real proud to see what he is doing.”

Doug KalittaRON LEWIS

Kalitta wasn’t all that proud of Ashley in the first round Sunday.

Ashley used a slightly better reaction time at the starting line (.041 of a second to .048) and low elapsed time of the meet to upset the No. 3 qualifier Kalitta in the first round of the Dodge NHRA Finals at Las Vegas that left Kalitta, who has won 70 percent of his opening-round match-ups, in second place the standings for the second season in a row and sixth time in his career.

“I just ran the wrong guy in the first round. It’s just unfortunate,” the Mac Tools Dragster driver said. “We would have beaten just about everyone else out there.”

Repeat champion Steve Torrence agreed: “I was just looking at the run, and that run that (Kalitta) made, the reaction time and the E.T. would have beat us. So yeah, I’m excited that we won our third championship. I was excited to get that win. With that being said, I know what it takes to get here, what it takes to be in this position and how hard every one of those guys over there work and how hard Doug works and the amount of time that he’s been out here.

“And to come up short not just one time but so many times, it’s a mix of emotions for me. I know where his head’s at right now, and I know how it feels. I mean, I’m happy for my team and myself, but I was saddened for Doug and that whole Mac Tools team. They fought so hard and they had a great run.”

Kalitta, who owned the points lead through the first six of the 11 races, was hard-put to explain Sunday’s results.

“I don’t know what else to say,” Kalitta said. “It’s heart-breaking to go out in the first round at the last race. I know I have a hell of a team here. I’m really proud of my guys and everything we’ve done this year. We’re just going have to suck it up, put this behind us and move on and know that we have a great running car with a great group of guys. We were just unlucky today. It was pretty disappointing. We’ve had a good-running car all year. We’ve definitely given it our best. Nothing worse than going out in the first round.”

It’s no comfort at all that he was eliminated by a newcomer to the class who was only four years old when Kalitta, 56, started racing Top Fuel. (Kalitta’s first race was in 1998. Ashley was born in 1994.)

It also was aggravating for Kalitta to recognize that he won the season-opener but was eventually denied the title by a racer who skipped it.

“We wouldn’t have skipped the race if we would have known every race would have counted,” Steve Torrence said. “So it ended up biting us in the butt, really. It made it more difficult for us to be able to be where we’re at today. And who knows? It could have still been in the same situation. We could have gone there and not qualified.”

Both contenders experienced the woulda-coulda-shoulda syndrome, but for Torrence it was a little more palatable.

Loring Timing Association holds annual land speed races

The SanGiovanni family and friends made the trip up to Limestone from Connecticut for the Loring Timing Association’s land speed race. This marks the 11th year the family has attended the event. Pictured, from left, are Tonia Sawallich, Dennis Dagliere, Laura SanGiovanni, Steve Vanblarcom, Ron SanGiovanni Jr., Jeff Arnett, and Ron SanGiovanni posing next to their rear engine modified roadster with a body built form a World War II airplane drop tank. (Chris Bouchard)

Chris Bouchard 

LIMESTONE, Maine — The Loring Timing Association Land Speed races kicked off Sept. 1, with racers from across the country coming to push their vehicles to the limit and compete for high speeds. 

Due to state regulations amid the COVID-19 pandemic, spectators were not allowed to attend this year’s races. Crews, participants, and their families were required to stay at least six feet apart from others, and masks were required in all areas except for the racer’s personal pit stalls, which were spaced apart into zones to coincide with state crowd size rules.

Earlier this year, the Loring Timing Association had to cancel the July event in Maine, due to uncertainty surrounding travel restrictions and the insufficient number of confirmed entries leading up to the race.

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The LTA stated via social media that the September event was in accordance with all state guidelines surrounding the virus, with the race schedule being a noon start on Sept. 1, between 10 a.m. and noon on Sept. 2 and racing through 5 p.m., and a 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. schedule for Sept. 3-5.

Among the racers was Ron SanGiovanni of Wallingford, Connecticut, who came up with his family and a few friends for the big event. SanGiovanni described the group as “a bunch of gear heads going fast.”

SanGiovanni and his son, Ron Jr., raced in a rear engine modified roadster with a body built form a World War II airplane drop tank.

“Back in the day it was very common to start out with an aerodynamic device and the World War II airplane fuel drop tanks were perfect to do that after the war was over,” he said. “That began around 1949.”

SanGiovanni said this was the 11th year he’s attended the Loring race, and that he and his family came up as rookies during the very first year the event was held. 

On Sept. 2, Ron Jr. was able to achieve a speed of 229 miles per hour.

SanGiovanni, his son, and family friend Steve Vanblarcom have all achieved the distinction of getting into the “200 Miles Per Hour Club” at both Loring and the Bonneville salt flats, which SanGiovanni said requires setting a record of over 200 miles per hour based on the requirements of the venue.

He said the feeling of achieving such a high speed can be intense, and the car moves around quite a bit.  “You’re holding your breath, you really are,” he said.

His wife, Laura SanGiovanni, nicknamed his car “The Mistress” because he spends a great deal of time, effort, and money on the vehicle. “He bought her a condo, or a garage, and he likes to buy her sparkly things,” Laura said.

“It’s a place to put money instead of scratch off tickets, cigarettes, or sitting at a bar,” Ron SanGiovanni added. “It’s a hobby.”

Veteran racer Ron Keselowski, shown here in 2019 with one of his vehicles that hit close to 250 mph, attended this year’s land speed races at the former Loring Air Force Base Sept. 1-5. (Chris Bouchard)

Source: Loring Timing Assn.

Capeway Rovers will be in action this Sunday, Nov. 8, 2020

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2020 NCSC Motocross Schedule Updated 9-28-20Nov-1Sun NCSC & NEMX Capeway Rovers M/C Nov-8 Sun NCSC Capeway Rovers M/C Nov-15 Sun NCSC Capeway Rovers M/C SCHEDULE SUBJECT TO CHANGE GPS Address: Capeway Rovers 224 Plymouth St Carver, MA 02330 No Membership Required
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Sweet secures World of Outlaws title; (David) Gravel of Watertown, CT wins in Charlotte (WoO)

David Gravel of Watertown, CT

Brad Sweet took many years to score his first World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series title. His second took just one attempt. 

Sweet officially secured the 2020 championship for the winged sprint car series on Friday night, finishing fourth in the penultimate race at The Dirt Track at Charlotte to give himself a large enough point advantage to lock in the title. 

The Kasey Kahne Racing veteran was fairly stoic in his celebration because the overall job isn’t complete. Jason Johnson Racing (JJR) sits 22 points away from Sweet’s No. 49 entry in the team’s championship, meaning Sweet still needs one more top-10 to ensure his group claims both titles. 

I just don’t feel like the job is fully completed,” Sweet said. “I think the team championship is just as important to our guys, to me, to (team owner) Kasey (Kahne). The job is half done right now.

“Obviously, for me, personally, I know my name is going to be in those record books. Being a two-time champion is something that is really special to me. It puts me up there with some really great guys. I’m excited, but we still have to get that team championship for Kasey and the guys. If we’re able to do that, I think it will show that we were able to overcome a lot of adversity this year.”

David Gravel of Watertown, CT was the big winner in the race, leading wire-to-wire in the feature for his third-consecutive win in Charlotte. That gives his JJR group a chance to steal the team title in today’s season finale, which will mark Gravel’s final start with the team before he shifts to Big Game Motorsports. 

“What did he (Sweet) run fourth or something like that?” Gravel asked in Victory Lane. “So, we gained (eight) points on him. So, we’re (22) points back. Got to beat him by 10 positions tomorrow. That’s going to be hard to do. All we can do is win these races and see where we end up.”

Sheldon HaudenschildDonny Schatz, Sweet and Kyle Larson rounded out the top-five, with Logan SchuchartCarson MacedoIan MadsenJustin Peck and Cory Eliason completing the top-10. 

(Sources: Nick Graziano/WorldofOutlaws.com) 

Joey Logano (No. 22 Team Penske Ford)

Source: StockCarGazette

Joey Logano seen here after winning the Sylvania 301 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at NHMS in Loudon, NH. (Credit: Ap photo.)

Logano By The Numbers:

2 – Number of NASCAR Cup Series race wins at Phoenix Raceway. 

3 – Number of NASCAR Cup Series wins in 2020.

4 – Number of career appearances in the NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4 (2020).

5 – Number of top-five finishes at Phoenix Raceway. 

6 – Number of stage wins during the 2020 season.

6.5 – Average starting position during the first 35 races of 2020 season.

8.1 – Average finishing position during the first nine races of the 2020 Playoffs.

11 – Number of top-five finishes in the first 35 races of 2020 season.

12 – Number of top-10 finishes at Phoenix Raceway.

12.1 – Average finishing position during the 2020 season.

14.3 – Average finishing position at Phoenix Raceway.

20 – Number of top-10 finishes in the first 35 races of 2020 season.

22 – Total number of Playoff points accumulated in 2020.

98.4 – Career driver rating at Phoenix Raceway – eighth-best among active drivers.

101.0 – Season-to-date driver rating – third-best among active drivers.

449 – Total number of laps led at Phoenix Raceway.

814 – Total number of laps led in the 2020 season.

9,473 – Total number of laps completed in the 2020 season (98.7%).

Logano has a shot at second Cup title in three years

Team Penske’s Joey Logano has a chance to become just the 11th different driver to win two or more titles within three seasons and the 17th to win multiple NASCAR Cup Series championships

Why Joey Logano of Middletown, CT will win the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series title

Joey Logano

ByPat DeCola NASCAR.com November 6, 2020  at 8:31 AM

Editor’s note: This is the fourth in a series of four stories examining why each driver could win the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series championship.

Tuesday: Denny Hamlin
Wednesday: Brad Keselowski
Thursday: Chase Elliott
Friday: Joey Logano

• • •

Joey Logano will win the 2020 championship because …

Any path to the trophy likely goes through him, and there’s a strong chance he’s blocking the way.

While Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin were unquestionably in a league of their own for much of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season, Logano is the driver most of his peers would likely to say they enjoyed racing against the least this year. Not only is he exceptionally talented on the race track, he has a certain way of making said real estate seem *that* much smaller for his competitors, feverishly working his rearview mirror to make them work just a little harder to get past him.

This wouldn’t be as much of an issue for them if he also wasn’t doing this at the front of the field, and often.

Now remember, at the beginning of the season the first four races looked strongly suggested it was going to be Logano’s year with a pair of quick wins at Las Vegas and Phoenix before the sport was shut down for two-plus months due to the pandemic. By his own admission, the No. 22 driver and his crew lost their way a bit once the competition resumed. Whether it was from a strict lack of performance or the tough adjustment to no practice time to tinker, it all settled with an average finish of 16.33 over the first 15 races back that culminated in a crash at Kansas that netted a 35th-place result.

RELATED: Odds, lines for Phoenix championship race

Despite that mediocre average finish, though, Logano was still an extremely consistent presence among the leaders, pacing the field for double-digit laps in 11 of those contests, including a fourth-place run with 234 laps led at Martinsville — a venue that deploys the same short-track package that’ll be used in Sunday’s Season Finale 500 at Phoenix Raceway (3 p.m. ET, NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN, Sirius XM NASCAR Radio).

Even still, that Kansas crash appeared to be somewhat of a turning point for Logano, as he then reeled off six straight top-nine finishes in the march to the regular-season cutoff at Daytona where a crash, unfortunately, spoiled his streak. Take an even closer look, and the stats might even suggest he’s been the best driver since the calendar turned to August.

Removing a crash at the Daytona cutoff (in which he also happened to lead 36 laps, despite being locked in already) and another one at Talladega in the Round of 12 (where, hey, he also led 45 laps) and in the remaining 14 races between the Kansas crash and last weekend at Martinsville, the 2018 champ owns a sterling 6.2 average finish.

Combine all of that with a handful of other facts …

  • Won the most recent race at Phoenix in the spring.
  • Has won the fall race at Phoenix before (2016).
  • Is the only Championship 4 driver to win a title in this format.
  • Has the only title-winning crew chief in the Championship 4 calling the shots (Paul Wolfe).
  • Has had more time than the others to prepare for the title race by virtue of Kansas win in Round of 8 opener.

… and there’s a lot to like for the Logano camp about their potential for a second championship in three years.

You still have to race the race and in no way does any of this guarantee the No. 22 a title, but it feels certain that he’s going to have a significant impact on whoever’s holding the trophy at the end — whether it’s him, or because another driver specifically beat him.

And there might not be a harder driver to beat on Sunday.

Formula 1 Racing in Saudi Arabia in 2021at night: No doubt the hot weather in daytime hours is a factor

NASCAR Race Weekend Central

Formula 1 Racing in Saudi Arabia in 2021

(Photo: Rolex/James Moy)

Courtesy of Frontstretch

Mark Kristl November 5, 2020 F1 News

Formula 1 will race in Saudi Arabia in 2021, the sanctioning body announced Nov. 5.

The country will host a night race in Jeddah, entitled the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, in November 2021.

The race will take place on the city streets on Jeddah’s corniche, which runs along the banks of the Red Sea.

Jeddah is the second biggest city in Saudi Arabia.

“We are excited to welcome Saudi Arabia to Formula 1 for the 2021 season and welcome their announcement following speculation in recent days,” Chase Carey, chairman and CEO of Formula 1, said in a release. “Saudi Arabia is a country that is rapidly becoming a hub for sports and entertainment with many major events taking place there in recent years and we are very pleased that Formula 1 will be racing there from next season. The region is hugely important to us and with 70% of the population of Saudi being under 30 we are excited about the potential to reach new fans and bring our existing fans around the world exciting racing from an incredible and historic location.”

“Today is groundbreaking in every sense,” HRH Prince Khalid Bin Sultan Al Faisal, president of the Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation, added. “I firmly believe the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix will be the biggest sports event hosted in our country’s history and has the potential to change lives, perceptions and reach new audiences and communities like never before. To have the icons of the sport and historic teams race in Saudi in front of young fans and families is truly game-changing.”

The remainder of the 2021 F1 schedule will be released at a later date.

No divided loyalty in Championship 4: It’s all about the team at Team Penske; Joey Logano of Middletown, CT is one of the key members

Brad Keselowski, driver of the No. 2 Western Star | Alliance Parts Ford, Joey Logano, driver of the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford and Martin Truex Jr., driver of the No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota lead the field during the NASCAR Cup Series Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond Raceway on September 12, 2020 in Richmond, Virginia (Photo Credit: Sean Gardner | Getty Images)

Brad Keselowski, driver of the No. 2 Western Star | Alliance Parts Ford, Joey Logano, driver of the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford and Martin Truex Jr., driver of the No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota lead the field during the NASCAR Cup Series Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond Raceway on September 12, 2020 in Richmond, Virginia (Photo Credit: Sean Gardner | Getty Images)Team Penske owner Roger Penske has two drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4 race for the first time.

Both drivers are former Cup champions. Brad Keselowski won his title in 2012 under the 10-race Chase format. Joey Logano of Middletown, CT won the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway to secure the 2018 championship.

So how does a team owner allocate his loyalties between his two drivers as they head for Sunday’s Championship 4 event at Phoenix Raceway?

Roger Penske

Roger Penske“I think we run as a team, we win as a team,” said Penske, whose third driver, Ryan Blaney, was eliminated in the Round of 16 of the Playoff. “We know when we go to the race track, if we have three cars, only one is going to win. You have to have that DNA throughout your whole organization. It’s tough. These guys are competitive.

“I think the collaboration, quite honestly, our crew chiefs, we have to the ability to share the information. We want them to. That’s a byproduct of what we do in Indianapolis in the IndyCar Series with our teams sitting together after each practice.

“We can’t do that this year because of the moratorium on getting together (because of the coronavirus pandemic). It’s a team effort. To be in a position with two cars, obviously, is envious as far as I’m concerned. We’ve still got to go out there this weekend and perform, but it’s certainly a team effort.”

Source: Reid Spencer | NASCAR Wire Service