J.R. Gray extended his incredible run in the Congruity NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series on Sunday at Virginia Motorsports Park, defeating Dmitry Samorukov in the final round to claim his third win in the past four races as part of this weekend’s American Rebel Light Virginia NHRA Nationals.

It was the sixth of 10 races during the 2025 NHRA Pro Mod season, and this weekend’s event was powered by DPFXFIT by GESi to close out the regular season in the category.

Gray closed out the regular season in style in his Al-Anabi Performance Camaro, continuing a dominant run with a pass of 5.787 seconds at 251.49 mph to defeat Samorukov, who had an unfortunate showing in the championship round.

Samorukov lost control shortly off the starting line, hitting the left guard wall. He crossed the center line and then hit the right guard wall before coming to a stop. Samorukov was alert and exited the car under his own power and was examined onsite by NHRA Chief Medical Officer Dr. Surface before being released.

For Gray, it was the latest moment in a terrific 2025 campaign, as he won for the third time this season and the fourth time in his career. It was also his fourth straight final-round appearance as Gray continues to impress this season.

“I just believe everybody has to catch up,” Gray said. “We’re putting time in day in and day out, and there’s always somebody working on these cars. This is four finals in a row for me, and we’ve been in every final round as a team this year, so we’re really ready.”

To reach the final round, Gray, who qualified second, defeated Doug Winters, Derek Menholt and Sidnei Frigo.

Before the final round, Samorukov enjoyed a strong weekend at Virginia Motorsports Park, qualifying No. 1 with a 5.764 at 249.39 and then defeating former world champions Mike Castellana and Mike Janis, and Stan Shelton to reach the championship round for the second time in his career.

The points will reset for the final four races, with Gray taking the points lead into the playoffs as he looks for his first Congruity NHRA Pro Mod world championship.

The Congruity NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series opens its Road to the Championship playoffs as part of the 71st annual Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals on Aug. 27-Sept. 1 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.

This story was originally published on June 23, 2025.

NASCAR’s latest in-season challenge has set the motorsport world on fire, igniting excitement and speculation among fans and drivers alike. This high-stakes bracket-style tournament offers a jaw-dropping $1 million prize to the ultimate victor, adding an electrifying twist to the already adrenaline-pumping races.

The competition features the top 32 drivers based on points from three weeks ago, excluding latecomer Shane van Gisbergen, who missed the cutoff despite a recent stellar performance in Mexico City. Each week, two drivers go head-to-head in a thrilling showdown akin to March Madness, with the sole objective of outpacing their opponent to advance to the next round.

Over the course of five intense weeks coinciding with TNT’s broadcast schedule of select NASCAR Cup races, drivers will battle it out at iconic tracks such as Atlanta, Sonoma, and Indianapolis, culminating in the epic finale at the Brickyard 400. The current frontrunner, Denny Hamlin, leads the pack as the No. 1 seed, while underdog Ty Dillon enters as the No. 32 seed, offering a tantalizing long-shot opportunity for daring bettors.

As the inaugural matchups kick off this weekend, tensions are running high as fan-favorites and rising stars prepare to go wheel-to-wheel in a series of adrenaline-fueled duels:
– Denny Hamlin vs. Ty Dillon
– Kyle Busch vs. Brad Keselowski
– Alex Bowman vs. Joey Logano
– Bubba Wallace vs. Daniel Suarez
– John Hunter Nemechek vs. Josh Berry
– Chase Elliott vs. Austin Dillon
– Ross Chastain vs. Erik Jones
– Christopher Bell vs. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
– Chase Briscoe vs. Noah Gragson
– Ryan Preece vs. William Byron
– Ryan Blaney vs. Carson Hocevar
– Kyle Larson vs. Tyler Reddick
– Michael McDowell vs. AJ Allmendinger
– Ty Gibbs vs. Justin Haley
– Zane Smith vs. Austin Cindric
– Chris Buescher vs. Todd Gilliland

With adrenaline-pumping action, unexpected upsets, and the ultimate prize on the line, NASCAR’s in-season challenge promises to deliver heart-stopping moments and unforgettable battles on the track. Stay tuned as the drama unfolds and the race towards victory intensifies with each passing lap.

Chase Briscoe had enough gas to get to the end and hold off Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin on Sunday, June 22, to win the NASCAR Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway.

Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet –

McDowell endured a brake failure in Stage Two, ultimately ending the No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet team’s day early at Pocono Raceway.

Did you have any warning that your brakes were going out?

“Yeah, I had warning half of the race that the brakes weren’t going to make it. It’s unfortunate. It wasn’t what we needed for this No. 71 Gainbridge Chevrolet team. We came off a good weekend (in Mexico City), and this is the exact opposite of what we needed. But we have Atlanta, Chicago and Sonoma coming up, so we have a lot of good tracks on the horizon for our team. The season is grueling sometimes.

I was just trying to nurse it there at the end on that last restart, knowing I was starting to lose my pedal a little bit. In the car, there’s not a lot you can do other than dial bias to the rear and hope and pray for the best. What put us behind this weekend was yesterday in qualifying. I just made a mistake there, and that kind of sets you up for the whole race starting 28th. We did some strategy there and we were going to give ourselves a fighting chance. But like I said, I knew we had an issue with the brakes and I was trying to get to a place where hopefully they would last, but they didn’t. ”

Does this put more emphasis on winning moving forward?

“No, that’s been the mindset anyways. I’ve been telling you guys all year that I’m not planning on pointing my way in… I’m planning on winning a race because that’s the way I see us getting into the playoffs. You’re going to have weekends like this where you have issues, you get taken out or you have something happen. You can’t plan on pointing your way in, especially this early on because there’s still a lot of opportunities for guys below the cutline to win, as we saw last weekend. When you have places like Atlanta, Chicago, Sonoma, Daytona, you’ve got a lot of tracks that it could open it up for a new winner, like we saw with Harrison Burton last year. That last few years, there’s been a few surprise winners.”

What is it about this place that’s leading to the brake issues?

“Yeah, I’m not sure. I don’t know if it’s the teams pushing more. Obviously, for us, this is a different team, a different car, a different package than what we ran here in the past. But I think the brakes have been fairly close here at times. Obviously there’s really long straightaways and high braking zones, so the brakes heat and cool and heat and cool. Those cycles can hurt the rotors, and I think that’s what we saw today. We’ll look at it and see what we could have done differently.”

GM PR

Chase Elliott paced Chevrolet to the finish of The Great American Getaway 400 Presented by VISITPA.COM at Pocono Raceway – taking the checkered flag in the fifth position to earn the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team’s fifth top-five finish this season. Elliott was among just five drivers to earn points in each stage of the 400-mile race – ending the series’ annual trip to the Pennsylvania oval with a strong 43-point day. The result extends Elliott’s top-10 streak at Pocono Raceway to now four-straight.

· Spire Motorsports’ Carson Hocevar put together yet another strong showing throughout the Pocono Race weekend – starting with a third-place qualifying effort to lead Team Chevy to the green flag in the series’ 17th points-paying race of the season. The 22-year-old Michigan native stayed steady in the top-five through the opening laps before early pit strategy brought the No. 77 Chevrolet to pit road for the team’s first scheduled stop in the closing laps of Stage One. Continuing to carry speed throughout the race, Hocevar went on to collect points in Stage Two before taking the checkered flag with a 18th-place result.

· With NASCAR’s top division entering the single-digit countdown to the end of the regular season, a familiar face continues to stand atop the driver points standings. Fighting an uphill battle following an incident in qualifying, William Byron and the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team took advantage of pit strategy to collect points in each stage – ultimately leaving Pocono with a two-point lead.

TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10 RESULTS:

POS. DRIVER

5th – Chase Elliott

7th – Kyle Larson

Chevrolet’s season statistics with 17 NASCAR Cup Series races complete:

Wins: 6

Poles: 8

Top-Fives: 35

Top 10s: 71

Stage Wins: 16
UP NEXT: The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season continues at EchoPark Speedway with Quaker State 400 Available at Walmart on Saturday, June 28, at 7 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on TNT, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

Post-Race Driver Quotes:

Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

Finished: 5th

“We were just really loose in (turn) three. I felt like I could pace pretty good through turns one and two, but I just could not get turn three right all day. Certainly as the run went on, it became more challenging for me and I started making more and more mistakes over there. I thought Denny (Hamlin) and Ryan (Blaney) could do a better job of kind of stalking the person in front of them to get themselves opportunities. I was just a little bit too far back and I think it was mainly because of that. But overall, happy to get a fifth-place finish for this No. 9 NAPA Chevy team.”

Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

Finished: 7th

You showed a lot of pace there at the end and you scored stage points in Stage Two. Talk about your day here at Pocono Raceway…

“It was an up-and-down day. It was really hard to pass. It was a good fight for the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevy team to get a seventh-place finish. I just hope we don’t carry what we had the last few weeks into the rest of the season. Prior to the last few weeks, we’ve been really fast. It’s just been a rough stretch, but we’ll continue to go to work.”

Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet

Finished: 15th

“It was an average day for the No. 99 Very Good Ventures Chevrolet team. We started the race OK on the short run, but then in the final stage, we just lost the balance of the car a little bit. We were just way too tight and never got it back.”

Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

Finished: 20th

“Our zone Chevrolet team worked hard today at Pocono Raceway to overcome obstacles. A speeding penalty on pit road put us behind at the end of Stage 1, then we ended up with heavy damage to our Chevy after spinning towards the end of Stage 2. We just lost the air racing in traffic. Crew chief Randall Burnett and the rest of the RCR team worked hard to keep us on the lead lap. Our Chevy was never the same after the spin, and handling was really bad in traffic. We’ll regroup and head to Atlanta Motor Speedway.”

Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

Finished: 24th

“Our No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/Winchester Chevrolet team fought hard all race long at Pocono Raceway. We had a long delay from rain and that changed the way the track reacted. It was hot and slick. We fought a tight balanced Chevrolet. Crew Chief Richard Boswell made great strategy calls, and the car handled better towards the end. I tried to make a move to the top on a late restart, but the track was rubbered up more than I was expecting and itcost us a lot of spots. By the end of the race, our Chevy went back to the tight side, and we couldn’t recover. We will regroup and head to Atlanta Motor Speedway next week.”

Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

McDowell endured a brake failure in Stage Two, ultimately ending the No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet team’s day early at Pocono Raceway.

Finished: 35th

Did you have any warning that your brakes were going out?

“Yeah, I had warning half of the race that the brakes weren’t going to make it. It’s unfortunate. It wasn’t what we needed for this No. 71 Gainbridge Chevrolet team. We came off a good weekend (in Mexico City), and this is the exact opposite of what we needed. But we have Atlanta, Chicago and Sonoma coming up, so we have a lot of good tracks on the horizon for our team. The season is grueling sometimes.

I was just trying to nurse it there at the end on that last restart, knowing I was starting to lose my pedal a little bit. In the car, there’s not a lot you can do other than dial bias to the rear and hope and pray for the best. What put us behind this weekend was yesterday in qualifying. I just made a mistake there, and that kind of sets you up for the whole race starting 28th. We did some strategy there and we were going to give ourselves a fighting chance. But like I said, I knew we had an issue with the brakes and I was trying to get to a place where hopefully they would last, but they didn’t. ”

Does this put more emphasis on winning moving forward?

“No, that’s been the mindset anyways. I’ve been telling you guys all year that I’m not planning on pointing my way in… I’m planning on winning a race because that’s the way I see us getting into the playoffs. You’re going to have weekends like this where you have issues, you get taken out or you have something happen. You can’t plan on pointing your way in, especially this early on because there’s still a lot of opportunities for guys below the cutline to win, as we saw last weekend. When you have places like Atlanta, Chicago, Sonoma, Daytona, you’ve got a lot of tracks that it could open it up for a new winner, like we saw with Harrison Burton last year. That last few years, there’s been a few surprise winners.”

What is it about this place that’s leading to the brake issues?

“Yeah, I’m not sure. I don’t know if it’s the teams pushing more. Obviously, for us, this is a different team, a different car, a different package than what we ran here in the past. But I think the brakes have been fairly close here at times. Obviously there’s really long straightaways and high braking zones, so the brakes heat and cool and heat and cool. Those cycles can hurt the rotors, and I think that’s what we saw today. We’ll look at it and see what we could have done differently.”

GM PR