LAS VEGAS, NV – October 17, 2022  – Team Penske’s Joey Logano won the NASCAR Cup Series South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, becoming the first driver to secure a spot in the Championship 4. This victory marked Logano’s third win of the season and the 30th of his career.

“Congratulations to Ford Performance, Roger, Paul, Joey, and everyone at Team Penske for the race win at Vegas,” said Doug Yates, President and CEO of Roush Yates Engines. “Joey was fast throughout the race and Paul’s late race pit strategy set them up for the win and now they are locked in to the Championship 4.”

“We’re racing for a championship! Let’s go! Man, what a great car. Penske cars were all fast. All of them were really fast today. Oh, man, all you want to do is get to the Championship 4 when the season starts and race for a championship, and we’ve got the team to do it. I don’t see why we can’t win at this point. Things are looking really good for us, awesome Pennzoil Mustang, this bad boy, and man, just a lot of adversity fought through the last 50 laps or so,” commented Logano.

Sunday’s 400-mile race started with NASCAR Hall-of-Famer Mark Martin leading the field to the green flag in his Las Vegas Motor Speedway inaugural race-winning Ford Taurus. 3 Ford drivers started in the top 5: Austin Cindric in P2, Ryan Blaney P4, and Joey Logano in P5. In Stage 1, an early race incident took out several front runners, but Logano and Blaney finished up front to capitalize on critical stage points. At the end of Stage 2, there was a battle between Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, and Ross Chastain. Blaney secured the Stage 2 win with a 1.6-second lead over Logano. The final stage of the race saw several cautions and Logano was shuffled throughout the field. After making a late race pit stop for new tires, Logano gained six spots immediately and started in eighth on the final restart with 16 laps remaining. Chase Briscoe led the pack on the restart while Joey Logano continued to power through the field, battling with Ross Chastain for the lead with just 3 laps to go. Logano completed the race-winning pass and finished with a 0.817 second lead, securing a spot in the race for the championship at Phoenix.

Ford Performance teammates Chase Briscoe with Stewart-Haas Racing finished in P4, Kevin Harvick with Stewart-Haas Racing finished in P12, and Chris Buescher with Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing finished in P15.

Hailey Deegan made her NASCAR Xfinity Series debut in Saturday’s Alsco Uniforms 302 with SS Greenlight Racing, finishing in P13.

The NASCAR Playoffs Round of 8 continues for both the Cup and Xfinity Series next weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

*Photos courtesy of NASCAR Media & Getty Images

33 CHAMPIONSHIPS – 440 WINS – 397 POLES

MOORESVILLE, NC – January 7, 2022: SS GreenLight Racing (SSGLR) announced today major changes for the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series season. Among the changes for the Mooresville, N.C.-based team, including a manufacturer change, a new technical alliance and additional drivers within the team’s footprint.

The team will switch from Chevrolet to Ford which includes a technical alliance with Stewart Haas Racing (SHR) and Ford Motor Company’s Ford Performance program. Ford Performance is the high-performance division of the Ford Motor Company and the multinational name used for its motorsport and racing activity.

SHR will supply the organization with race cars while Roush Yates Engines will provide the legendary Ford horsepower.

In addition to providing race cars to SSGLR, SHR will also provide technical support for the entire 33-race season.

The new partnership was orchestrated by fgrACCEL, a full-service sports marketing and management agency.

“We are thrilled to be part of this new relationship with SS GreenLight Racing,” offered Stewart-Haas Racing executive Joe Custer. “The team is very eager to raise their competitiveness to the next level and with this technical arrangement, they are going to be in a great position to accomplish all of their goals and more next season, as well as position themselves for future growth.”

With their agreement with Stewart-Haas Racing, nine-time Xfinity Series winner Cole Custer will also join SS GreenLight Racing for a minimum of four Xfinity events over the course of the 2022 season. 11-time NASCAR Xfinity Series winner Chase Briscoe will also take the wheel for one race in 2022.

“The addition of Cole and Chase driving a limited schedule for SS GreenLight Racing will also be an added benefit to help evaluate the team’s transition,” added Joe Custer. The team’s technical support with SHR should allow SS GreenLight Racing the opportunity to showcase a performance peak in the series on a consistent basis.”

A fixture in the NASCAR Xfinity Series since 1995 and a full-time commitment to the series since 2017, team owner Bobby Dotter is elated about the next chapter for his organization.

“I am excited to be joining the Ford Performance group this season,” he said. “I know they have a proven winning product, and I am looking forward to working with them and the other Ford teams.

“I have had a great working relationship with Stewart-Haas Racing for a number of years on other various racing projects, so it’s great to see this relationship come full circle of this magnitude. Having that prior relationship with SHR, I have seen what Ford does for its team and having an alliance with them should speed up our learning curve and result in better on track performances next season.”

The team also confirmed that Joe Graf Jr. will return to the team next season to pilot one of the two full-time entries.

“I am so stoked for the new opportunities in 2022,” said Graf Jr. who joined the Bobby Dotter-owned team at the beginning of the 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series season. “Our new relationship with Stewart-Haas Racing and Ford will allow us to continue to grow and improve as a team and hopefully give us the opportunity to showcase our ability in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at our highest level yet.

“This new relationship with Stewart-Haas Racing is more than about a technical alliance, it’s about being a part of a new family and a team that has enjoyed monstrous success in the Xfinity Series for the past several seasons.

“Joe Williams will return as my crew chief next season, and I know we both feel like this new opportunity not only has the potential to bring SS GreenLight Racing to new heights, but hopefully elevate this team to a highly competitive perennial organization.”

Added Dotter, “This is a huge move for us, but it would not have been possible without fgrACCEL, Joe Graf Jr., Stewart-Haas Racing and our marketing partners. Joe has found a home at SS GreenLight Racing and with his team already having success in landing partnerships for next season, the opportunity to strengthen not only his team but the entire SS GreenLight Racing foundation is pinnacle for our future.

“We have a lot of work to do in the coming weeks and months ahead, but I believe with Joe’s continued focus, determination and outlook, he’s ready to make a giant step forward and we want to give him all the right equipment for his third year with SS GreenLight Racing.”

Additional details on Joe Graf Jr.’s 2022 program, including an expanded partnership lineup, will be announced at a later date.

Further announcements on SS GreenLight Racing’s second full-time team are forthcoming.

For more on Joe Graf Jr. visit JoeGrafRacing.com, like him on Facebook (Joe Graf Jr.), follow him on TikTok (@JoeGrafJr), (Twitter (@JoeGrafJr) and Instagram (@joegrafjr).

For more on SS GreenLight Racing, please like them on Facebook (SS GreenLight Racing) and follow them on Twitter (@SSGLR0717) and visit their website at SSGreenLight.com.

About SS Green Light Racing:

As one of the most tenured teams in all of NASCAR, SS GreenLight Racing led by team owner and former driver Bobby Dotter has been a mainstay in the sport fielding entries in either the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series or the Xfinity Series competition since 2001.

SS GreenLight Racing will continue with a two-car program in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2022.

CONTACT: pr@joegrafracing.com.

AVONDALE, AZ – November 7, 2022  – Joey Logano won the NASCAR Cup Series Championship race on Sunday, securing his second career title with Team Penske. The driver’s championship is Ford’s tenth overall and seventh in the modern era (1972-present). The victory marked Logano’s fourth points win of the season, third at Phoenix, and the 31st of his career in 507 Cup Series starts.

“Congratulations to Ford Performance, Roger, Joey, Paul, and everyone at Team Penske on the race win and the 2022 driver’s and owner’s championships,” said Doug Yates, President and CEO of Roush Yates Engines. “To see all of this year’s hard work come together is a proud moment. That was an intense race in which Joey and Paul executed flawlessly. We are blessed to be a part of the Ford family, providing the horsepower to win with these fast Ford Mustangs.”

“It’s been a great season for the sport, I think, just with the Next Gen car coming in and it definitely mixed things up a lot. We did start out well in many ways with the win in the Daytona 500. We were fast at some of the early races. Chase Briscoe won here, but then we seemed to struggle a lot and a lot of it was just coming to grips with the new car and really optimizing. It’s different at every track and we found that we could get the setup right across our teams at some of the different tracks, but not at all of them. It’s part of learning the new car and I think definitely in the second half of the seasons, the last third of the season came on really strong. There was a lot of extra work from Doug Yates and Roush Yates Engines and some extra power that they’ve been bringing these last couple races and it all came together and really strong today,” commented Mark Rushbrook, Global Director of Ford Motor Company.

“Race wins are nice, but championships are what it’s all about. We worked so hard the last couple weeks trying to put ourselves in position. And everything that happened in 2020, I knew we just wanted to have a solid run and do this today. I can’t thank Ford and Shell-Pennzoil enough for supporting me over the last 10 years and getting us a couple championships,” commented Logano.

Joey Logano began the 2022 season by winning the inaugural Clash at the LA Coliseum, marking the competitive debut of the Next Gen Ford Mustang. Ford Performance went on to sweep both duels at Daytona with Chris Buescher and driver/owner Brad Keselowski from Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing. Rookie Austin Cindric won the Daytona 500, marking his first NASCAR Cup Series win. In another first, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Chase Briscoe claimed his first Cup Series win at Phoenix. Team Penske’s Joey Logano won again at Darlington and Gateway while teammate Ryan Blaney took home the All-Star Race win in Texas. Kevin Harvick claimed two back-to-back wins at Michigan and Richmond to retain the Michigan Heritage Trophy for Ford, while Chris Buescher took home his first win at Bristol.

Joey Logano started Sunday’s battle for the Championship from the pole position and carried the momentum throughout the race. A total of six Ford Performance drivers started in the top 10 with Logano including teammate Ryan Blaney in P2, Chase Briscoe with Stewart-Haas Racing in P3, Harrison Burton with Wood Brothers Racing in P6, Kevin Harvick with Stewart-Haas Racing in P7, and Cole Custer with Stewart-Haas Racing in P9. Logano led the first 87 laps of the 312-lap event. After passing Ford Performance teammate Chase Briscoe with 29 laps to go, Logano was able to maintain the lead over teammate Ryan Blaney and hold off fellow playoff contenders. Logano led a race-high 187 laps, capping a day in which Ford lead 310 laps of the 312-lap race. Four Ford drivers finished in the top 5: Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney in P2, and Stewart Haas Racing’s Chase Briscoe in P4 and Kevin Harvick in P5.

The Xfinity Series also raced at Phoenix on Saturday. Riley Herbst with Stewart-Haas Racing finished in P7.

*Photos courtesy of NASCAR Media & Getty Images

35 CHAMPIONSHIPS – 441 WINS – 398 POLES

DAYTONA BEACH, FL. (Jan. 22, 2022) – A quartet of NASCAR young guns will leave their stock cars at home to compete in upcoming IMSA sports car events at Daytona International Speedway to open the 2022 season.

Austin Cindric, Harrison Burton, Chase Briscoe and Hailie Deegan – all part of the Ford Performance program in NASCAR – will pair up in two Ford Mustang GT4s for the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge season opener, the BMW M Endurance Challenge on Jan. 28. A day later, Cindric will step into the No. 15 Proton USA Mercedes-AMG GT3 and race in the new GTD PRO class at the 60th Rolex 24 At Daytona, which tips off the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship calendar.

Cindric and Burton will share the No. 41 PF Racing Mustang for the Michelin Pilot Challenge race, with Briscoe and Deegan in the No. 42 Mustang from the same stable. The goal for all four drivers is to gain valuable road course experience prior to embarking on their NASCAR seasons – the Camping World Truck Series for Deegan and the Cup Series for other three.

Cindric, the NASCAR Xfinity Series champion in 2020 who’ll be a Cup Series rookie this year with Team Penske, is no stranger to IMSA racing. The 22-year-old has been in 16 Michelin Pilot Challenge races with two wins and has six WeatherTech Championship races under his belt.

For Burton, 21-year-old driver of the Wood Brothers Racing Ford in NASCAR and the son of former NASCAR driver and current NBC Sports race analyst Jeff Burton, it will be a new experience on Daytona’s 3.56-mile course.

“I’ve had these conversations with my friends at Ford and at the Wood Brothers and at Penske. The one thing I wanted to work on to be better was (to) be a better road racer,” Harrison Burton said. “To have an opportunity to do that right off the bat is awesome and credit to them for being committed to helping me get better. That’s really all a driver can ask for.”

The drivers have the blessings of their teams to venture out of their regular workspace to compete at Daytona.

“We want to be flexible,” said Walter Czarnecki, vice chairman, Team Penske. “We want to give them opportunities to expand their skill set.”

The foursome will get plenty of seat time at Daytona to do so. It began Friday with three days of testing for both IMSA series at the Roar Before the Rolex 24. In Friday’s second session, Cindric was seventh fastest among the 30 cars in the Grand Sport (GS) class with a lap of 1 minute, 54.027 seconds (112.394 mph), while Briscoe was 12th at 1:54.367 (112.060 mph).

“That’s one thing that I’ve really buckled down and said for this 2022 year, that I just need to get as much seat time as I can, whether it’s in dirt, circle track stuff, whatever I can drive,” said Deegan, 20, who returns to David Gilliland Racing for a second trucks season in ‘22. “I just want to get in and get more experience and I feel like one thing I could improve on – I can improve on a lot of things – but I feel like one thing that really is coming up more in the NASCAR world is road course races. I feel like being able to race any type of road course is, I think, just going to better me as a driver.”

It will be a reunion for Deegan and Briscoe, who shared a Mustang for the Daytona race in 2020. Briscoe, driving for Stewart-Haas Racing in the Cup Series this season, is looking forward to the seat time and to seeing how Deegan has improved in the two years since they drove together.

“The last time we were there was the first time she’d ever ran anything on a road course,” Briscoe, 27, said. “Now to go back with her, she’s probably ran three or four truck races now (on road courses) and has run some other IMSA stuff, so it’ll be fun to see her improvement as a race car driver.

“She does a really good job in a lot of different disciplines, and it’ll be fun to go down there and do a totally fairly new discipline to both of us and go down there and just have a good time.”

When the Michelin Pilot Challenge race is over, the racing will end for three of the drivers. Not so for Cindric, who will make his fourth start in the Rolex 24, this time co-driving the No. 15 Mercedes with Dirk Mueller and Patrick Assenheimer. Cindric has a clear goal in mind.

“I have a very strong desire to win the Rolex 24 and that’s my motivating factor to do this race,” he said. “I’ve worked really hard every offseason to try and make something happen, not to get in a five-driver lineup just to go do the race and experience it. I’ve kind of done all that.

“I’d say the Rolex is probably the most realistic race I can look at and say I would like to win that race. I think this is a great opportunity for me to do that or at least establish my capabilities to do so and, like I said, against a group of drivers that are incredibly talented, incredibly experienced all in their cars.”

GTD PRO is just that – a class based on professional drivers. Most of the cars have factory backing. In a way, Cindric says, this Rolex 24 will mirror what he will face as a NASCAR Cup Series rookie – going head-to-head with the best pro drivers.

“Being in GTD PRO, you look at the entry list and my jaw kind of dropped,” Cindric said, “so I’m excited for that challenge.”

The 2022 season kicks off Saturday, February 6th at the “World’s Greatest Stadium,” the LA Coliseum. The inaugural event marks the first time in over 40 years that the Clash has been raced at a track other than Daytona. The 0.25-mile asphalt oval was constructed over the facility’s existing football field and marks the shortest track that NASCAR has competed on in the modern era. Since opening in 1923, the venue has hosted many marquee sporting events including 3 NFL Championships, 2 Super Bowls, and 2 Summer Olympic games. Although the Clash is a non-points event, it is the competitive debut of the Next Gen car – featuring a fleet of redesigned Ford Mustangs.

In addition to the one-off race at LA Coliseum, both NASCAR Cup and Xfinity series have each added one track to the 2022 schedule, along with several other lineup changes. On June 4th, the Xfinity series ventures to the Pacific Northwest for the first time at Portland International Raceway. The next day, June 5th, the 1.25-mile World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois makes its first ever NASCAR Cup Series debut. Auto Club Speedway makes its long-awaited return after a 2 year break due to COVID-19. All the previous 2021 track additions will return in 2022 including COTA, Nashville, Road America, Bristol Dirt, and the Indianapolis Road Course. This year’s Bristol Dirt race will take place under the lights as opposed to last year’s daytime race. The season still opens with the famed Daytona 500 and ends in Phoenix.

Ford Performance and Roush Yates Engines are powering 15 full time NASCAR Cup series drivers this season: Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher with Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing, Austin Cindric, Ryan Blaney, and Joey Logano with Team Penske, Harrison Burton with Wood Brothers Racing, Kevin Harvick, Aric Almirola, Chase Briscoe, and Cole Custer with Stewart-Haas Racing, Michael McDowell and Todd Gilliland with Front Row Motorsports, Garrett Smithley and Cody Ware with Rick Ware Racing, and BJ McLeod with Live Fast Motorsports. The 3 full-time Xfinity drivers being powered are Riley Herbst with Stewart-Haas Racing, Ryan Sieg with Ryan Sieg Racing, and Joe Graf Jr. with SS GreenLight Racing.

The long-awaited Next Gen car that was revealed in 2021 will see competition starting with this year’s Clash. The look and feel of the car has been redesigned to replicate the street version of the world’s best selling sports car, the Ford Mustang. The new design of the car has lowered the greenhouse, shortened the deck lid, and widened the track width to give the car more of a coupe look. Upgraded specs to match modern street car technology include a new independent rear suspension, rack and pinion steering, and larger brakes. A new transaxle combines the transmission and rear gears into one package to allow for electrification in the future. Hood louvers allow for maximization of engine performance independent of aerodynamics. The new composite material of the car is more durable, front and rear bumpers allow for increased safety, and both the front and rear clips bolt on to the center section for easy serviceability and repair.

For the 2022 NASCAR season, NASCAR Cup Series has established a 670 and 510 HP package. The 510 HP package will be utilized at Daytona, Talladega, and Atlanta – while the 670 HP package will be utilized at all other tracks. As NASCAR has opened up engine development in several areas this year, our team has been hard at work during the offseason to maximize power, performance, and reliability.

 3 Series – 21 Teams – 83 Races

LOS ANGELES, CA – February 7, 2022 – Joey Logano won the inaugural Busch Light Clash at the LA Coliseum on Sunday, securing the victory by a 0.877 second lead over second place. This weekend’s exhibition race marks the first time in over 40 years that the Clash has been held at a track other than Daytona. The 0.25-mile purpose-built asphalt oval was constructed over the facility’s existing football field and was the competitive debut of the Next Gen car featuring a fleet of redesigned Ford Mustangs.

“Congratulations to Ford Performance, Roger, Joey, Paul, and everyone at Team Penske,” said Doug Yates, President and CEO of Roush Yates Engines. This is an incredible and exciting start for the Next Gen Car debut as Joey, Paul, and the entire 22 team were able race their way into victory lane. What a dynamic venue at the LA Coliseum and thank you NASCAR for pushing the boundaries of our great sport. To those that joined us or supported the event, thank you for an experience that we will never forget!”

“We got the victory with the old Shell/Pennzoil Mustang. This is an amazing event. Congratulations, NASCAR. Such a huge step in our industry to be able to do this, put on an amazing race for everybody,” commented Logano.

Joey Logano started the race in 4th after winning an earlier heat race and securing a second-row start spot. Logano was able to work his way through the field and take the lead just before the 75-lap intermission. The second half of the race saw Logano and Kyle Busch battling for position, but ultimately Logano was able to hold off Busch and lead the last 35 laps to win the inaugural event. The 0.25-mile short track saw its share of excitement with six cautions during the 150-lap race.

Ford Performance teammates Cole Custer with Stewart-Haas Racing finished in P7, Kevin Harvick with Stewart-Haas Racing finished in P10, and Harrison Burton with Wood Brothers Racing finished in P12.

NASCAR takes a breather for the Super Bowl and the official 2022 NASCAR Cup season starts with the Daytona 500 on February 20th.

33 CHAMPIONSHIPS – 425 WINS – 384 POLES!
*Photos courtesy of NASCAR Media & Getty Images