Local Racer Ty Majeski Ready for NASCAR XFINITY Johnsonville 180 on August 25
August 15, 2018 by Road America- Ty Majeski Faces a Stacked Field of IndyCar and IMSA Veterans, Plus a NASCAR Hall of Famer - ELKHART LAKE, Wis., August 14, 2018 - Even though Ty Majeski got his first glimpse of Road America one year ago, the grandeur and challenges of the track are not lost on the late model star. The Seymour native and Roush Fenway Racing development driver served as a spotter in Turn 3 for teammate Ryan Reed during the 2017 NASCAR XFINITY Series race at the 14-turn, 4.048-mile permanent road course in Elkhart Lake. Majeski will drive in his first road course event at the XFINITY level in the Johnsonville 180 on Aug. 25. The young driver, who celebrates his 24th birthday on Aug. 18, is running 12 NASCAR XFINITY races this season for Roush in the No. 60 Ford Mustang, splitting time with Austin Cindric and Chase Briscoe. 'It's a state-of-the-art facility and it's beautiful,' Majeski said of his hometown track. 'It's really a neat facility, driving around all the different corners and different sections. All the festivities that have in each corner - it's really cool to go and see all that.' The extent of Majeski's experience on road courses includes time spent last year at a Ford Performance Racing Course in Tooele, Utah and during a test session last month at Road America. He is also collecting miles in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Series running a Ford Mustang. Majeski posted a podium finish at Daytona International Speedway and raced at Watkins Glen. He also raced earlier this month during the the IMSA Continental Road Race Showcase at Road America in the IMSA Continental Sports Car Challenge.
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Majeski has also logged miles at Road America in Ford's full motion simulator, which operates off software that's used to set up a car while giving the driver a chance to feel movements the car would make. 'The simulator has a big, panoramic screen and cockpit - it's as close as doing the real thing as you can get,' he said. 'I had the chance to run a ton of laps at Road America before I actually showed up to the race track, which was beneficial to me in knowing what corner is coming up next. The track is so big. There were a couple blind corners, so it was good to shorten that learning curve a bit and have some experience on the simulator.' The Roush Fenway team has earned solid results in nine XFINITY races at Road America, including a win by Carl Edwards in 2010. During the 2015 season, Bubba Wallace and Chris Buescher finished fifth and ninth, respectively, in the Johnsonville 180. Majeski put aside his engineering studies at the University of Wisconsin and moved to Concord, N.C. in February 2017 to work at Roush. He flies back to the state when his schedule allows for his late model fix. Majeski won late model races in the span of five days - at Madison International Speedway, La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway and Slinger Speedway - in July. Majeski is a four-time champion of the ARCA Midwest Tour Series. Majeski said he is cautiously optimistic that he can acclimate quickly to the track and string together a strong run. Tire management, finding passing zones and staying out of trouble are tasks on his priority list. 'On one hand, I'm going to treat it like any other race but on the other hand, I'm keeping my expectations at a realistic level,' he said. 'A lot of my friends and family will be there, so it will be cool for them to experience what I do now for my job. I'm excited to put on a show for all the Road America fans.' Majeski will have his work cut out for him as the Wisconsin native will face off against IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship drivers, Andy Lally and Katherine Legge. Lally will return behind the wheel of the No. 90 Camaro of DGM Motorsports, donning a brand-new sponsor livery with Henry Repeating Arms for the NASCAR XFINITY Johnsonville 180. Henry Repeating Arms is one of the leading firearms manufacturers in the country making rifles and shotguns under their company motto, 'Made in America Or Not Made At All.' Henry Repeating Arms considers Road America as their home track due to a manufacturing facility in nearby Rice Lake Wisconsin. Lally returns to the NASCAR XFINITY Series for the Johnsonville 180 as one of the most accomplished drivers in the road racing discipline. Beyond winning three championships in assorted IMSA GT categories over the years, the endurance veteran is also a five-time class winner of the famed Rolex 24 at Daytona, with additional victories at the 12 Hours of Sebring, Petit Le Mans, and Six Hours of the Glen. Currently competing full-time in the IMSA WeatherTech GTD category for the wildly popular Magnus Racing, the Long Island native will arrive at Road America as someone who likely has more laps at the circuit than anyone in the field. Legge will drive the No. 15 Chevrolet with sponsorship from Maryland-based aviation and technology integration company Airtec. The British driver currently competes for Meyer Shank Racing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. She has one win, four podiums and is second in the GTD championship standings. Legge was recently named driver for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing in the Formula E new Jaguar I-PACE eTrophy Series - the first to feature street-legal production battery electric vehicles. Legge ran 28 races in the Champ Car Series, 11 in IndyCar and has two starts in the Indianapolis 500. IndyCar veteran, Conor Daly, who recently announced a deal with Rousch Fenway is no stranger to finding his way into Road America's victory lane. He visited there in the Weathertech SportsCar Championship in 2015. This year, with the support of Lilly Diabetes, Daly will get to try his hand at NASCAR XFINITY racing behind the wheel of the No. 6 Ford Mustang for the Johnsonville 180. If that isn't enough pressure, 62-year-old NASCAR Hall of Famer, Bill Elliott, intends to be in the field and charging for the win. GMS Racing announced after Watkins Glen that Elliott will drive the team's No. 23 NASCAR XFINITY car in the Johnsonville 180. It will be Elliott's first race in NASCAR since July 2012 at Daytona International Speedway. His last NASCAR XFINITY race was October 2005 at Memphis. Bill's son Chase is currently a NASCAR Monster Energy Cup series driver for arguably the most powerful team in the sport, Hendrick Motorsports, and won his first NASCAR Monster Energy Cup race at Watkins Glen with Bill serving as a spotter. Everything for the NASCAR XFINITY Series Johnsonville 180, SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks presented by Menards and SCCA Pro Trans Am weekend begins on Thursday, August 23, with test sessions and practice sessions for Trans Am from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. On Thursday at 11 a.m., NASCAR XFINITY Series team haulers will gather at Plymouth High School, in nearby Plymouth, Wis., prior to their convoy to Road America for the NASCAR XFINITY Johnsonville 180. Last year's hauler parade drew hundreds of NASCAR fans and an impressive welcome was also extended between local residents. The Plymouth Chamber of Commerce, City of Plymouth, Plymouth Joint School District, the Downtown Arts and Merchants Group and Road America expect even greater hauler participation and attendance this year and encourage all fans, residents and businesses along the route to participate in welcoming the return of the NASCAR XFINITY Series teams to Sheboygan County. The haulers will gather for the party at Plymouth High School between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. Fans are invited to attend, free of charge and the event will be held rain or shine. The convoy to the track will be led by a Johnsonville semi and will depart around 5 p.m. following through Plymouth before proceeding north on Hwy 67 to Road America and arriving between 5:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. Practice for SCCA Pro Trans Am and practice and qualifying for SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Truck Series presented by Menards takes up the majority of the morning on Friday, August 24, with the Stadium SUPER Trucks running from 9:45 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., on the front half of the race course, crossing between turns 5 and 13 as compared to the entire 4-mile circuit utilized by NASCAR XFINITY Series and the SCCA Pro Trans Am Series. For those unaware, The SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Truck races presented by Menards will feature four 36-inch tall aluminum ramps placed in strategic locations on the racecourse, allowing the trucks to fly 20 feet off the ground and hundreds of feet down the race course. The first practice for the NASCAR XFINITY series is at 12:35 p.m. on Friday followed by the first race for the SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Truck Series at 1:35 p.m. The final NASCAR XFINITY practice is at 2:35 p.m. with SCCA Pro Trans Am qualifying rounding out the Friday schedule at 4:10 p.m. Saturday, August 25, begins with SCCA Pro Trans Am driver introductions at 7:45 a.m. with the first SCCA Pro Trans Am race at 8 a.m. The SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks Series presented by Menards shootout begins at 9:20 a.m., followed by a second SCCA Pro Trans Am race at 10:10 a.m. A NASCAR XFINITY Series driver autograph session is scheduled from 10:10 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. in the paved area just west of Victory Lane in the Paddock. NASCAR XFINITY Johnsonville 180 qualifying begins at 11:35 a.m., with the final SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Truck Series presented by Menards race at 12:35 p.m. The green flag drops at 2:20 p.m., for the NASCAR XFINITY Series Johnsonville 180 race, which will also be broadcast on the NBC Sports Network. Tickets are available and additional event details; ticket pricing and camping information can be found at www.roadamerica.com or by calling 800-365-7223. There will be karting all weekend at the CTECH Manufacturing Motorplex, a Family Fun Zone in Turn 1 and Road America's Disc Golf Course will be open all weekend. Anyone 16-years-old and under gets in FREE with a paying adult at the gate. Racing runs rain or shine.
