NHRA crowns Torrence, Hagan, Enders and Smith as champions at Las Vegas

Associated PressNov 1, 2020, 10:00 PM EST
NHRA Las Vegas championships
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LAS VEGAS — Steve Torrence, Matt Hagan, Erica Enders and Matt Smith held onto their points leads to win season championships Sunday at the Dodge NHRA Finals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Torrence raced to his third straight Top Fuel championship, Hagan claimed his third Funny Car title, Enders won her fourth Pro Stock crown, and Smith captured his fourth Pro Stock Motorcycle title.

Hagan and Enders raced to event victories as well, with Hagan giving Don Schumacher Racing its 14th straight victory in the class dating to 2019. He beat Ron Capps with a 3.914-second run at 326.40 mph in a Dodge Charger SRT for his third win of the season and 36th overall.

“It’s been a dogfight the whole time,” Hagan said. “We had to battle it out and I can’t say enough about how proud I am of (crew chief) Dickie Venables and all my guys. They bust their butts each day and I try to drive the wheels off this thing. I love my team, I love my guys and I love everybody who allows us to do this.”

Enders raced to her fourth victory of the season and 29th overall. She beat Kyle Koretsky with a 6.643 at 206.39 in a Chevrolet Camaro.

Antron Brown won the Top Fuel event, and Angie Smith — Mike Smith’s wife — topped the Pro Stock Motorcycle field.

Brown beat Torrence in the final with a 3.759 at 315.34 for his first victory in more than two years and 51st overall.

Angie Smith won for the second time in her career, topping Steve Johnson with a 6.917 at 194.83 on an EBR.

Because of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the NHRA ended its season in Las Vegas instead of its annual season finale at Pomona, California, which was one of several events that were canceled.

Ryan Hunter-Reay hired as replacement for Conor Daly at Ed Carpenter Racing

By Jun 8, 2023, 9:05 AM EDT
Ryan Hunter-Reay Carpenter
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Ryan Hunter-Reay was named to replace Conor Daly in Ed Carpenter Racing’s No. 20 Dallara-Chevrolet, starting in the NTT IndyCar Series event next week at Road America.

Hunter-Reay is the 2012 series champion and 2014 Indianapolis 500 winner. He finished 11th for Dreyer & Reinbold last month in the 107th Indy 500, his first start since the 2021 season finale. He drove full time for Andretti Autosport from 2010-21.

“We need to improve our competitiveness and I wanted to add a fresh perspective from a driver like Ryan who has a massive amount of experience and success as well as a reputation as a team leader. I am excited to welcome Ryan to the team,” team owner Ed Carpenter said in a team release. “We have worked together in the past as teammates and he tested for ECR at Barber Motorsports Park in October 2021, where he made an immediate impact as we were able to qualify one of our cars on the pole following that test. I am confident that his experience and technical abilities will be an asset to ECR as we move forward toward our goals as a team.”

Hunter-Reay has 18 IndyCar victories, most recently in 2018. He also is a winner in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, having been a part of winning entries in the 2020 Twelve Hours of Sebring and 2018 Petit Le Mans. Last year, he was an endurance driver for Cadillac Racing while being on standby for Chip Ganassi Racing.

He replaces Daly, whose departure was announced a day earlier in what the driver and team said was a mutual decision.

“I was surprised when I got the call from Ed,” Hunter-Reay said in a team release. “He described how frustrated he was that his team has not been able to realize its potential despite their efforts, investments, as well as technical and personnel changes over the past few years and asked for my help. Ed and I are very close friends and have been for a long time. I’ve worked with the team in the past and they are a very talented group with high expectations and a committed partner in BITNILE.COM.

“This will certainly be a challenge for me as well. It’s a tough situation jumping in a car in the middle of the season without any testing in what I believe to be the most competitive series in the world. Certainly, part of my motivation in saying ‘yes’ to Ed is the great challenge ahead. The last time I turned right driving an NTT IndyCar Series car was in October of 2021 with this team at Barber. However, I remain very confident in both my driving and technical abilities and believe by working with the talented people at ECR and Team Chevy, while representing BITNILE.COM, we will make progress. I am going to do everything I can do to help the team achieve its long-term objectives.”

Said Milton “Todd” Ault, the chairman of sponsor BitNile.com: “It is great for BitNile.com to be aligned with an Indy 500 Winner and an NTT IndyCar Series champion. I have followed Ryan’s career for years and I am confident he will challenge the entire ECR team to perform at higher levels. I wish everyone luck at Road America.”