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Capps Scores First No. 1 Qualifier of NHRA Season at Gatornationals
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By NAPA
Ron Capps’ bid for a third consecutive Funny Car win at the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals came to an end in a close second-round race Sunday afternoon at Bristol Dragway. Capps qualified third in his NAPA Auto Care Toyota GR Supra before falling in the quarterfinals to J.R. Todd. The overall weekend performance showed Capps and his Dean ‘Guido’ Antonelli-led team that the drastic changes they made in the early part of the season are paying off as the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series heads into the hot summer races. Capps leaves Bristol No. 6 in the point standings after eight of 20 races on the 2024 schedule.
Capps was one of several drivers who struggled to find traction in the first qualifying session on Friday, but crew chief Dean ‘Guido’ Antonelli got the NAPA Auto Care entry back on track for the second session. Capps laid down a 3.976-second pass at 320.74 MPH to move up from ninth to third, while also earning a bonus point for making the third-best pass of the session. Capps maintained the No. 3 spot through two more qualifying sessions on Saturday.
The NAPA team’s strong performance carried over into the first round of eliminations on Sunday morning when Capps got a big starting line advantage over opponent Buddy Hull and maintained the lead with a winning 3.962-second pass at 323.12 MPH to Hull’s 4.176 E.T. In a second-round battle with fellow Toyota driver J.R. Todd, Capps ran quicker to the 60-foot and 330-foot marks, but he started to lose ground and finished second behind Todd. Capps ran a 4.001 E.T. at 316.45, while Todd recorded a 3.977 E.T. at 319.75.
“I’m so proud of Guido and our NAPA Auto Care team to go out there and compete like we did, to qualify as well as we did, and not only that, but to do it in completely different conditions like we did,” said Capps, the winningest Funny Car driver at Bristol with seven victories. “We qualified well in the Friday night conditions that we didn’t think we’d see the rest of the weekend. We went out and made a great run in the first round and got lane choice against a really good team, our Toyota teammate J.R. Todd and his team, in the quarterfinals. The fans got their money’s worth. It was a great side-by-side race, but we came up a little bit short. We’ve got a string of hot, summer races coming up and it gives me such confidence knowing Guido’s got a combination for that. I’m just so proud of these guys.”
The next stop for Capps and the Ron Capps Motorsports Funny Car team will come in two weeks at the Virginia NHRA Nationals, June 22-23, at Virginia Motorsports Park outside Richmond.
Start / Finish: No. 3 / def. in quarterfinals
Points Standing / Total: No. 6 / 360 pts. (-220)
Next Race: June 22-23, Virginia NHRA Nationals
How to Watch or Listen: FS1,
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By NAPA
Jack Wood delivered his best performance of the 2024 season on Friday afternoon at Sonoma Raceway and earned a fifth-place finish. The driver of the No. 16
link hidden, please login to view Chevrolet SS gained a position in the ARCA Menards Series West standings and now resides third in points after four events. The effort in California’s wine county marked his first top-five finish of the season and his third top-five result at Sonoma. Wood started the 200-mile showdown from the eighth position and immediately went forward at the drop of the green flag. The Loomis, Calif. driver vaulted himself into the top five on the opening lap to assert himself as a contender. The race’s first restart came on lap 10 and Wood settled into sixth position as he preserved his tires, since no tire changes were permitted during the 67-lap event.
He came to the attention of the NAPA Auto Care team for his only pit stop of the afternoon during a lap 23 caution for a chassis adjustment and fuel. He restarted seventh on lap 27 and worked his way into fourth by lap 36. He would consistently run inside the top five for the balance of the event and claimed third position on a lap 47 restart.
Over the final 10 circuits, Wood found himself in a heated battle for third and ran fourth with two laps to go when a caution flag waved to set up a one-lap overtime restart. Wood restarted fourth and took the checkered flag in fifth for his first top-10 result of his 2024 campaign.
“It definitely feels good to get a top-five today,” Wood said. “We had a real consistent NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet today and it’s nice to come out of here with a good finish. All these guys at BMR brought some good speed here. We were a little bit off of race-winning speed, but proud of the effort and feel like we executed a solid day from start to finish.”
Start / Finish: 8 / 5
Points Standing / Total: 3rd / 140 pts. (-19)
Next Race: Thursday, July 4, Irwindale Speedway
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By NAPA
For the second event in a row,
link hidden, please login to view Toyota GR Supra driver Ron Capps found himself facing Matt Hagan in what was billed as NHRA’s Funny Car Marquee Matchup of race day. During the Route 66 Nationals near Joliet, Illinois, Capps fell to Hagan, but on Sunday at the NHRA New England Nationals, Capps was able to avenge the loss as he powered past his former DSR teammate to advance to the quarterfinals at New England Dragway. After struggling to make it down the track during Friday’s two qualifying sessions, the NAPA Auto Care team led by Dean ‘Guido’ Antonelli, sent Capps’ machine straight down the groove in 4.036 seconds at 319.37 MPH in the heat of the day on Saturday. They then closed out qualifying by matching their Q3 E.T., settling into the No. 12 spot to set up a first-round rematch with Hagan. Against the No. 5 qualifier, Capps powered to a 4.045-second pass to defeat Hagan’s 4.185-second effort. Capps drew Daniel Wilkerson in the quarterfinals, and while he was the first to stand on the throttle, his machine lost traction early into the run while his opponent made a full pull in the opposite lane to advance.
“We’ve talked about the rejuvenation of this NAPA Auto Care tune-up and what Guido has been working on with our team,” explained the third-year team owner-driver and three time Funny Car world champ. “The end game is another championship at the end of our season. We didn’t get down the track Friday night, so we weren’t able to capitalize on those primetime conditions to get us in the top half but so proud of what Guido and the team did on Saturday in those hot, difficult conditions when it went down the track both times. We’re going to see those same conditions coming up at these next few races and throughout the summer.
“We have the performance. Guido is working hard to get us where we’re used to being, consistency-wise and that’s what gave us two championships two years in a row. We’re going to get that back, but unfortunately, just a little overpowering the track in the quarterfinals here today. Luckily, we’re back to back and we don’t have to wait long to get back on track.”
The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series heads south to Bristol, Tenn. in a few days for the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway, June 7 – 9, where Capps returns as the winningest driver in the facility’s history with seven Bristol wins.
Start / Finish: No. 12 / def. in Quarterfinals
Points Standing / Total: No. 7 / 360 pts. (-220)
Next Race: June 7-9, NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals
How to Watch or Listen: FS1,
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By NAPA
Christian Eckes finished second on Saturday afternoon for the third-straight season at World Wide Technology Raceway. The driver of the No. 19 Gates Hydraulics Chevrolet Silverado RST led for the 12th-straight race this season and delivered a 53-point performance, tied for the most of all drivers in the field. Eckes now holds a 31-point advantage in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (NCTS) standings after 12 races with four remaining in the regular season.
Eckes was near the front of the field for the entire weekend in St. Louis. On Friday afternoon, he posted the second-quickest lap in practice and qualified second. After cloudy and rainy skies gave way to bright sunshine on Saturday afternoon, Eckes fired off in the second position and threatened for the lead. A restart on lap 16 gave him the opportunity to briefly claim the race lead in the 12th event this season. While he battled a tight handling condition, Eckes maintained the second position for the balance of Stage 1 to earn nine points on lap 35.
Crew chief Charles Denike elected to put four tires on Eckes’ Gates Hydraulics Chevrolet during the stage caution as varying strategies developed. Eckes restarted 12th on lap 42, but swiftly made his way back towards the front. He restarted eighth on lap 55 after a quick yellow and immediately rejoined the top five on lap 56. The balance on his Chevrolet was improved but a tight condition still lingered. He took the third spot on lap 64 and reclaimed second on lap 67. He collected another nine points at the end of Stage 2 on lap 70.
During the second stage caution, Eckes took another set of fresh tires, but an issue on the left front relegated him to restart 12th on lap 78. Despite the setback, Eckes locked in and drove forward yet again to blitz his way back into the top five on lap 91. A long green flag run set up a cycle of green flag pit stops beginning at lap 118. Eckes pitted for the final time on lap 122 under green for four tires and a minor adjustment. He narrowly unlapped himself before the race’s final caution flew on lap 130. Eckes cycled to third for the event’s final restart on lap 137. He seized control of a podium position on the restart and moved into second on lap 150. Eckes began to reel in the leader in the waning laps but took the checkered flag in second position for his sixth top-five finish of the season.
“The whole weekend was second,” Eckes said. “We practiced in second. We qualified second. Second in both stages and second in the race. Consistent on that, but just definitely let one slip there. I felt like we should have won that race and felt like we had the best truck, but just got behind on track position and never could get it back up. Just super hard to pass and here we are running second. Can’t thank Gates Hydraulics, NAPA, Chevrolet, and everybody enough, and Sparks Tire & Auto.”
Start / Finish: 2 / 2
Points Standing / Total: 1st / 506 pts. (+31)
Next Race: Friday, June 28, Nashville Superspeedway
How to Watch or Listen: FS2, MRN or SiriusXM
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By Advance Auto Parts
RALEIGH, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE: AAP), a leading automotive aftermarket parts provider in North America that serves both professional installer and do-it-yourself customers, announced its financial results for the first quarter ended April 20, 2024.
“Our team continues to execute against our decisive actions, including commencing our supply chain consolidation and making meaningful progress toward the potential sale of Worldpac,” said Shane O’Kelly, president and chief executive officer. “While the industry experienced a slower start to 2024 compared with our expectations, the actions we began in the back half of last year will help us streamline our operations for the long term. Our leadership team and I continue to focus on improving the core fundamentals of our business while reducing costs, which is reflected in our year-over-year SG&A reduction. As previously announced, we are reinvesting a portion of the savings back into the foundation of our business, including frontline compensation and training. We also made progress on our other decisive actions, including beginning three of our DC to market hub conversions.
“We continue to work on improving our overall performance by removing complexities and distractions to increase our value proposition and deliver shareholder value. We recognize we still have significant work ahead of us, however the actions we're taking will put us on the path to delivering improved results. I want to thank all our team members for their continued commitment to serving our customers as we navigate through this pivotal year for Advance.”
First Quarter 2024 Results (1,2)
First quarter 2024 net sales totaled $3.4 billion, a 0.3% decrease compared with the first quarter of the prior year. Comparable store sales decreased 0.2%.
The company's gross profit decreased 2.2% to $1.4 billion. Gross profit margin of 42.0% decreased 82 basis points compared with the first quarter of the prior year. This was primarily driven by increased costs that were not fully covered by pricing actions. These were partially offset by supply chain productivity.
SG&A expenses were $1.3 billion, which improved to 39.4% of net sales compared with 39.9% in the first quarter of 2023. This was primarily driven by the cost control efforts initiated at the end of 2023, including reduced corporate expenditures from the decrease in headcount and significant reduction of marketing expenses as well as a net gain on asset sales. These were partially offset by the reinvestment in field wages and training as well as typical expense inflationary pressure.
The company's operating income was $86.0 million, or 2.5% of net sales, compared with 2.9% in the first quarter of 2023.
The company's effective tax rate was 33.2%, compared with 28.5% in the first quarter of 2023. The higher effective income tax rate was due to a discrete charge for share-based compensation. The company's diluted EPS was $0.67 compared with $0.81 in the first quarter of 2023.
Net cash provided by operating activities was $2.7 million through the first quarter of 2024 versus $382.5 million of cash used in operating activities in the same period of the prior year. Free cash flow through the first quarter of 2024 was an outflow of $46.3 million compared with an outflow of $472.5 million in the same period of the prior year.
Capital Allocation
On May 21, 2024, the company declared a regular cash dividend of $0.25 per share to be paid on July 26, 2024 to all common stockholders of record as of July 12, 2024.
__________________________________ (1) All comparisons are based on the same time period in the prior year. Comparable store sales include locations open for 13 complete accounting periods and exclude sales fulfilled by distribution centers to independently owned Carquest locations.
(2) As reported in the company’s fourth quarter and full year 2023 earnings release, the company corrected non-material errors in certain previously reported financials. All comparisons are based on the corrected historical results as presented in the company’s prior earnings release dated February 29, 2024.
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