A winning night in Indiana for Kyle Larson Racing and its namesake

By Jun 20, 2020, 11:45 PM EDT
Trent Gower/World of Outlaws
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A night after his eight-race victory streak ended, Kyle Larson rediscovered his winning ways Saturday — and so did his World of Outlaws sprint car team.

Larson outdueled Buddy Kofoid and Thomas Meseraull at Lawrenceburg Speedway in Indiana to win for the fourth time in five races of the 16th annual Indiana Midget Week.

With his ninth career victory at Indiana Midget Week, Larson tied a record set by the late Bryan Clauson.

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Larson, who has won eight of his past nine starts on dirt ovals over the past two weeks, also is the first driver with four victories during a single Indiana Midget Week.

“That was a fun race,” Larson said, according to Richie Murray of USACRacing.com. “You had to work for that one, and once again, (we had) a good enough car to keep us in contention. Chad Boat and everybody there, they prepare such nice cars, probably the nicest midgets in the pits.”

He will take a 57-point lead over Kofoid into Sunday’s sixth and final round at Kokomo Speedway.

But the good news didn’t end there for Larson.

About an hour earlier and 200 miles away on the western edge of the state, Kyle Larson Racing driver Carson Macdeo won at Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, Indiana, for his first World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink victory of the season.

The 2019 Outlaws rookie of the year beat Brad Sweet, Larson’s brother in law, by 0.064 seconds.

Macedo led the first 28 laps before being passed by Sweet. After a caution, Macedo retook the lead on the restart and held off the 2019 series champion while navigating traffic.

“I wanted to win really bad,” Macedo said in a World of Outlaws release about his sixth career victory. “When (Sweet) passed me on the restart, I basically said, ‘I was going to commit and either crash it or try to win. I felt really good. When your race car is really good, it’s easy to make those kinds of decisions.”

Larson has three Outlaws victories of his own this year while focusing on dirt racing for the past eight weeks after being suspended indefinitely by NASCAR for using a racial slur during an iRacing event.

He won eight consecutive starts on dirt in three series (All Star Circuit of Champions, World of Outlaws, USAC National Midget) across five states from June 7-18.

The streak was snapped Friday when Larson finished second to Tucker-Boat Motorsports teammate Chris Windom at Lincoln Park Speedway.

USAC INDIANA MIDGET WEEK ROUND 5 RESULTS AT LAWRENCEBURG SPEEDWAY

FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Kyle Larson (3), 2. Buddy Kofoid (2), 3. Thomas Meseraull (6), 4. Chris Windom (12), 5. Tyler Courtney (1), 6. Cannon McIntosh (22), 7. Kaylee Bryson (5), 8. Cole Bodine (15), 9. Jason McDougal (8), 10. Tanner Carrick (16), 11. Jake Neuman (18), 12. Noah Gass (19), 13. Zach Daum (23), 14. Clinton Boyles (9), 15. Daison Pursley (20), 16. Ronnie Gardner (13), 17. Brady Bacon (10), 18. Maria Cofer (4), 19. Justin Grant (11), 20. Brody Roa (21), 21. Landon Simon (17), 22. Shane Golobic (14), 23. Andrew Layser (7). NT. Lap leaders: Buddy Kofoid 1-5; Thomas Meseraull 6-26. Kyle Larson 27-30.

WORLD OF OUTLAWS RESULTS AT TRI-STATE SPEEDWAY

NOS Energy Drink Feature (40 Laps) – 1. 2-Carson Macedo [1][$10,000]; 2. 49-Brad Sweet [4][$5,000]; 3. 18-Ian Madsen [3][$3,000]; 4. 83-Daryn Pittman [10][$2,700]; 5. 1S-Logan Schuchart [8][$2,500]; 6. 21-Carson Short [19][$2,200]; 7. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [11][$2,000]; 8. 2M-Kerry Madsen [5][$1,800]; 9. 26-Cory Eliason [7][$1,600]; 10. 71-Shane Stewart [12][$1,450]; 11. 39-Sammy Swindell [16][$1,300]; 12. 41-David Gravel [6][$1,200]; 13. 1A-Jacob Allen [2][$1,100]; 14. 3X-Ayrton Gennetten [18][$1,000]; 15. 14-Parker Price-Miller [13][$950]; 16. 15-Donny Schatz [14][$900]; 17. 7S-Jason Sides [20][$850]; 18. 5X-Justin Peck [15][$750]; 19. 3-Jac Haudenschild [23][$725]; 20. 33M-Mason Daniel [21][$700]; 21. 24-Rico Abreu [22][$700]; 22. 55-Hunter Schuerenburg [24][$700]; 23. 7-Critter Malone [17][$700]; 24. 5S-Chase Stockon [9][$700]; Lap Leaders: Carson Macedo 1-28, 30-40;  Brad Sweet 29; KSE Hard Charger Award: 21-Carson Short[+13]

Carson Macedo battles Brad Sweet in the World of Outlaws feature race at Tri-State Speedway. Macedo edged Sweet by 0.064 seconds for first victory of the season (Trent Gower/World of Outlaws).

Ford unveils a new Mustang for 2024 Le Mans in motorsports ‘lifestyle brand’ retooling

Associated PressJun 9, 2023, 7:00 PM EDT
Ford Mustang Le Mans
Ford Performance
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LE MANS, France — Ford has planned a return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans with its iconic Mustang muscle car next year under a massive rebranding of Ford Performance aimed at bringing the automotive manufacturer “into the racing business.”

The Friday unveil of the new Mustang Dark Horse-based race car follows Ford’s announcement in February (and a ballyhooed test at Sebring in March) that it will return to Formula One in 2026 in partnership with reigning world champion Red Bull.

The Mustang will enter the GT3 category next year with at least two cars in both IMSA and the World Endurance Championship, and is hopeful to earn an invitation to next year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans. The IMSA entries will be a factory Ford Performance program run by Multimatic, and a customer program in WEC with Proton Competition.

Ford CEO Jim Farley, also an amateur sports car racer, told The Associated Press the Mustang will be available to compete in various GT3 series across the globe to customer teams. But more important, Farley said, is the overall rebranding of Ford Performance – done by renowned motorsports designer Troy Lee – that is aimed at making Ford a lifestyle brand with a sporting mindset.

“It’s kind of like the company finding its own, and rediscovering its icons, and doubling down on them,” Farley told the AP. “And then this motorsports activity is getting serious about connecting enthusiast customers with those rediscovered icons. It’s a big switch for the company – this is really about building strong, iconic vehicles with enthusiasts at the center of our marketing.”

Ford last competed in sports car racing in 2019 as part of a three-year program with Chip Ganassi Racing. The team scored the class win at Le Mans in 2016 in a targeted performance aimed to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Ford snapping Ferrari’s six-year winning streak.

Ford on Friday displayed a Mustang with a Lee-designed livery that showcased the cleaner, simplified look that will soon be featured on all its racing vehicles. The traditional blue oval with Ford Performance in white lettering underneath will now be branded simply FP.

The new mark will be used across car liveries, merchandise and apparel, display assets, parts and accessories and in advertising.

Farley cited Porsche as an automaker that has successfully figured out how to sell cars to consumers and race cars in various series around the world while creating a culture of brand enthusiasts. He believes Ford’s new direction will help the company sell street cars, race cars, boost interest in driving schools, and create a merchandise line that convinces consumers that a stalwart of American automakers is a hip, cool brand.

“We’re going to build a global motorsports business off road and on road,” Farley told the AP, adding that the design of the Mustang is “unapologetically American.”

He lauded the work of Lee, who is considered the top helmet designer among race car drivers.

“We’re in the first inning of a nine inning game, and going to Le Mans is really important,” Farley said. “But for customer cars, getting the graphics right, designing race cars that win at all different levels, and then designing a racing brand for Ford Performance that gets rebranded and elevated is super important.”

He said he’s kept a close eye on how Porsche and Aston Martin have built their motorsports businesses and said Ford will be better.

“We’re going in the exact same direction. We just want to be better than them, that’s all,” Farley said. “Second is the first loser.”

Farley, an avid amateur racer himself, did not travel to Le Mans for the announcement. The race that begins Saturday features an entry from NASCAR, and Ford is the reigning Cup Series champion with Joey Logano and Team Penske.

The NASCAR “Garage 56” entry is a collaboration between Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet and Goodyear, and is being widely celebrated throughout the industry. Farley did feel left out of the party in France – a sentiment NASCAR tried to avoid by inviting many of its partners to attend the race so that it wouldn’t seem like a Chevrolet-only celebration.

“They’re going right and I’m going left – that NASCAR thing is a one-year deal, right? It’s Garage 56 and they can have their NASCAR party, but that’s a one-year party,” Farley said. “We won Le Mans outright four times, we won in the GT class, and we’re coming back with Mustang and it’s not a one-year deal.

“So they can get all excited about Garage 56. I almost see that as a marketing exercise for NASCAR, but for me, that’s a science project,” Farley continued. “I don’t live in a world of science projects. I live in the world of building a vital company that everyone is excited about. To do that, we’re not going to do a Garage 56 – I’ve got to beat Porsche and Aston Martin and Ferrari year after year after year.”

Ford’s announcement comes on the heels of General Motors changing its GT3 strategy next season and ending its factory Corvette program. GM, which unlike Ford competes in the IMSA Grand Touring Prototype division (with its Cadillac brand), will shift fully to a customer model for Corvettes in 2024 (with some factory support in the IMSA GTD Pro category).