By: Mike Petteway for Triadsportscoverage.com The 2012 Late Model campaign closed out for the two Rev Racing drivers, Mackena Bell and Trey Gibson, with the running of the Pepsi Fall Brawl presented by Gold King at Hickory Motor Speedway on Saturday night. After the grueling 200+ laps behind the wheel, Gibson picked up a fourth place finish while Bell crossed the stripe in eighth. Bell had been battling a case of bronchitis the past few days but that didn’t deter her performance. Rain showers delayed the evening’s schedule but the track crew quickly dried the racing surface and qualifying took place for the 22 Late Model cars entered in the 200 Lap Feature. Mackena Bell wins her first ever Late Model Pole at Hickory It was Bell capturing her first ever Late Model pole and Gibson sliding into the eighth starting spot. “We were in Dover all day on Friday and we drove all night to be here (Hickory) and I was in the infield care center at Dover with bronchitis, it’s been crazy,” said Bell. Her Rev Racing crew had prepared a great car for this final race of the year. “We ran twenty laps in practice and the car didn’t need any changes, we were just really good right off the trailer,” Bell said. Mackena held the lead for the first 28 laps, “I didn’t really want to over do it so I just let them go and thought that it would all come back to me.” Bell said her car got tight in the middle of the first 100 lap segment and then it became loose in the final 100 laps. “I was racing really hard and on the green white checker I had moved up to fourth place on the white flag lap but coming out of turn two it was four wide and I was in the middle, some place that you never want to be,” explained Bell. “It was a really good year and I’m thankful for the opportunity, thanks to Rev Racing, Max Siegel, TRD, Toyota, Good Year, Jefferson and all the guys on my team,” Bell said. She added that she is “super bummed” that the year is over but is looking forward to many more years in her racing career. Bell’s team mate, Trey Gibson brought his #2 Toyota home in fourth in the season finale. Gibson said that he drove conservatively in the first 100 laps trying to save his tires. “I was careful not to use up my left side tires since we had to keep those on the car for the last 100 laps of the race.” Gibson said his car was a little too tight in the first segment but his crew chief, Mardy, made the correct adjustments at the break to free him up to make him more competitive. “We had a fast car and I was running laps times faster than the leaders at the end, but we just started too far back to catch them,” Gibson said. “The last 30 laps I gave it all I had, and overall it was a good night.” Trey Gibson awaits the start of the final race of 2012 Trey said it was a good solid run and a good way to end the season with a strong fourth place finish. “I couldn’t do this without Rev Racing, my crew chief Marty and all the guys that work on my Toyota,” said Gibson, “I want to thank all my sponsors, Lithium Pro Batteries, Toyota, and NASCAR Diversity for this amazing opportunity.”

CONCORD, NC (September 22, 2012) Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 6 Rev Racing and L&M Ethanol Maintenance & Contracting, Inc. Toyota Camry, won a drag race to the finish line for his second race win of the season in Saturday’s NASCAR K&N Pro Series East G-Oil 100 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. After starting the race in third, Larson proved that his No. 6 Camry was strong and would be a factor as he remained inside the top-five at the 1.058-mile oval for the first half of the race. Battling an ill handling car, Larson began to lose ground on the race leaders prior to the midway break on lap 50. Jumping into action, the No. 6 team was able to make the necessary adjustments to put Larson back into contention for the race win. With 35 laps remaining, Larson was able to make his move around points leader, Brett Moffitt, for second and closed in on race leader, Corey LaJoie. As the laps ticked down in the G-Oil 100, Larson pushed his way to the race lead with only 14 laps remaining. Though he began to drive away from the field, Larson would be forced into a shootout with Lajoie for the finish after the red flag was thrown following a multi-car accident on the backstretch on lap 90 of this 100 lap race. With the wave of the green flag, on lap 95, Larson was able to hold off a hard charging LaJoie for the win of this exciting race, which now puts him just three points outside of the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East points lead. “It was a lot of fun racing Corey to the checker today. It took five or six laps for the tires to really come in so I could roll around the bottom (of the corners) better,” said Larson. Luckily, we had enough for the win and made up some more points on Brett (Moffitt). I am lucky to have a great team and sponsors, including Toyota and L&M Ethanol Maintenance & Contracting, Inc., who make wins like this possible.” Starting this weekend with a new sponsor, the Puerto Rico Board of Tourism, Rookie of the Year contender and Larson’s teammate, Bryan Ortiz, also had a memorable day at the Magic Mile. After a rough start to his weekend, which lead to an accident in qualifying, Ortiz was forced to start this race in the 36th position. Having one of the best cars in the field, Ortiz battled his way into the top-10 by the midpoint of this race. Working hard to keep their driver in contention, the No. 4 team made the necessary adjustments to put Ortiz in the top-five with only 25 laps to go. However, after a caution on lap 88, Ortiz was forced back to the seventh position. Fighting back, though, Ortiz was able to put his No. 4 Puerto Rico Does It Better Toyota into sixth by the wave of the checkered flag. “ What an amazing race! We had the best car,” said Ortiz. “To start this race in dead last and finish sixth, I am one lucky driver to have the crew, sponsors and quality race team to compete.” Larson and Ortiz, along with their teammates Ryan Gifford and Jorge Arteaga, will return to action at Dover International Speedway, in the American Real TV 150, next Friday, September 28.

Concord, NC (August 24, 2012) Toyota Racing NASCAR drivers’ wives, girlfriends, sisters and moms have put their fashion expertise to work. As our own “Fashion Stars.”, they have designed T-shirts to help raise money for breast cancer awareness, and the one with the most votes wins. Rev Racing’s own, Mackena Bell, submitted a design which you can vote on here: http://www.toyotaracing.com/racing-for-awareness/shirts.html?TS5-Mackena-Bell When asked about her inspiration to participate in the campaign, Bell stated, “Since I started racing, I have always used the slogan ‘Don’t Stop Believing.’ A favorite Journey song of mine growing up, I have always ‘Believed’ that a female can make it in the world of NASCAR. Coincidently, having the last name BELL and being a third generation driver with the race number 11, the word came together for me perfectly. I even have it tattooed on my wrist, ‘Be11eve’! So when I was asked to help design a shirt, there was no question in my mind what my ‘word’ would be. And when the breast cancer ribbon created the perfect ‘L’, I knew it was meant to be!” Remember to Vote!

CONCORD, NC (Aug 6, 2012) Taking the term road warriors to heart, Rev Racing ran in both the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and West Pork Be Inspired 150, in Newton, IA, on Friday night and then traveled to Hickory, NC for a Saturday race in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series. All this hard work leading to a top five finish in both races. Friday night’s Pork 150, at Iowa Speedway, started with Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 6 L&M Ethanol Maintenance Contracting Toyota Camry, rolling off in fifth with his teammate, Bryan Ortiz, close behind in his No. 4 Toyota/Toyota Racing Development Camry, in eighth. Rounding out the 36 car field were Rev Racing drivers Ryan Gifford in 16th and Jorge Arteaga in 24th. On lap 15, smoke began to appear from the rear of Gifford’s No. 2 Universal Technical Institute/NASCAR Technical Institute Toyota Camry. By lap 17, Gifford would have to take his car to the garage for engine repairs and would not return until lap 70. At the halfway break, on lap 75, Larson would lead the Rev Racing team of drivers in the fourth position overall, followed by Ortiz in 12th, Arteaga in 20th and Gifford in 35th. “The first half of the race I kind of just rode around searching for different lines that might help me in the second half,” said Larson. Larson found that his car ran best on the high groove and moved his L&M Ethanol Maintenance Contracting Camry into the lead on lap 132. On lap 135, a multi-car wreck in turn two would bring out a red flag situation and set the stage for an exciting finish. Before the restart, knowing there were only 15 cars on the lead lap and that he was running 14th, Ortiz brought his Camry in for a quick adjustment. “We had a great car in practice but I just couldn’t get it to handle during the race,” said Ortiz. “We tried everything but nothing seemed to work. It was a tough night but we’ll be ready for Greenville.” Teammate, Arteaga would be the only Rev Racing driver to benefit from the red flag by being the recipient of the “lucky dog” and finding himself on the lead lap, in 15th position, during the restart. “It was a very complicated first half of this race,” said Arteaga. “The team did a great job of making adjustments at the break and we were really good in the second half. I am happy with the results.” When the race restarted, Larson was hoping everyone fighting for position might bring out another caution. “My car would start to fall off after five or six laps, so I knew it was going to be tough to remain in front for so many laps,” added Larson. “ I was hoping there might be another caution but it didn’t go that way.” Corey LaJoie would pull ahead of Larson on lap 141 and take the win. Larson would come home in second and moved up to second in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East point’s race, just 20 points out of first, with four races remaining. “While I would have liked to claim the win in the Pork Be Inspired 150, second isn’t bad at all when you consider all the bad luck we had at Columbus,” said Larson. Arteaga would claim the second best finish of the Rev Racing drivers in 11th position. Ortiz would finish the night in 14th position but only finds himself one point out of the top five in series standings. After a tough night, Gifford would bring home a 33rd place finish. It was well after midnight before the team finished the NASCAR post-race technical inspection at Iowa. After which the Rev Racing team would quickly load up their equipment and head to the airport for early morning flights back to North Carolina. There they would link up with their NASCAR Whelen All-American Series equipment, which was ready and waiting at Hickory Motor Speedway. Running on caffeine and adrenaline, the team arrived just in time for the first practice session. Drivers, Trey Gibson and Mackena Bell quickly showed that they were more than ready to race with both posting fast times and looking forward to qualifying. However, rain showers canceled the late model qualifying efforts and track points standings would determine the starting positions. After missing several races at this track, while supporting their teammates at previous K&N events, Gibson would line up fifth with Bell in ninth. On lap 6, Gibson and his No. 2 Lithium Pros Toyota Camry, would be involved in an incident going into turn two. While he was able to avoid any damage, NASCAR Officials would rule that Gibson intentionally turned the car in front of him sending Gibson to the rear of the 12 car field. “We haven’t been able to race for several weeks, so we were a little rusty at first,” said Gibson. “Fortunately, I had a great car, and it didn’t take us long to get back into the groove. I didn’t try to turn the 11, he just slowed in front of me and it was all I could do to keep from running over him and ruining both of our cars. Luckily, neither one of us had any damage. It was simply a racing incident.” Gibson would drive his car back through the field and would quickly be back in the fifth position. While gaining on the third and fourth place cars, Gibson remained in the fifth position when the checkered flag flew on lap 50. “It’s not the finish we wanted or expected but it was good to be back racing,” said Gibson. “I’m so proud of everything this entire organization did to get me and Mackena back here to race. This took a lot of effort on the part of everyone and shows how committed they are to seeing us succeed.” Bell, who started the night in ninth in her No.4 Toyota Racing Development Camry, would move up as high as seventh but would end the race in the same position she started. “We practiced and had everything set up to run the high groove,” said Bell. “ The rain cooled the track and meant that line just wasn’t there. So, even though the No. 4 Toyota Racing Development Camry car was fast, the handling just wasn’t what I needed to move up. It was fun to be back in the seat after so many weeks off though.” Rev Racing’s NASCAR Whelen All-American Series drivers will be back in action at Hickory Motor Speedway for the Twin-50’s on Saturday, August 11, with the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East drivers making their return to the track at Greenville-Pickens Speedway, in Greenville, SC, on Monday, September 3.