BRISTOL, Tenn. — NASCAR officials will visit World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway in the next week to begin exploring possible changes to its pit-road configuration, a NASCAR competition executive confirmed to two reporters Friday at Bristol Motor Speedway.
The planned trip follows an incident on Gateway’s pit road during the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race on Sept. 12 in which crewmen were struck in a chain-reaction, multicar crash.
According to Racing Insights, pit road at Gateway ranks as the second-narrowest pit lane on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule at just 25 feet wide from the outer wall to the inner wall, only behind Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s width of 24 feet.
Pit entry became blocked at Lap 50 of the O’Reilly Auto Parts race after a stack-up turned Rajah Caruth’s No. 88 Chevrolet perpendicular in pit lane. The left-rear corner of his car slammed a tire out of the hands of the No. 19 team’s tire carrier. Simultaneously, Nick Sanchez slid and crashed into the right-rear quarter panel of the No. 19 Toyota driven by Brent Crews, contacting rear changer Bryan Backus. No injuries were reported.
In reflecting on the incident, Backus did not immediately feel change at Gateway’s pit road was necessary but expressed he’s open to anything to make pit road safer.
“IthinkNASCARisdoingthebesttheycanwithwhattheyhaveandeverything,” Backus told NASCAR.com Thursday. “Itisalittletightatcertainplaces. I mean, it’d be great if they could widen it out, but I don’t know if that’s even a possibility. Like, obviously, Gateway’s really tight and Indy’s really tight, but I think they’re doing probably the best they can with what they’ve got.”
No plans for changes have been determined at this time. However, the visit to study possible changes indicates a look to potentially widen pit lane to afford competitors — both behind the wheel and on pit road — more room to safely operate.
BRISTOL, Tenn. — Bryan Backus had no reason to suspect this pit stop was going to be any different than usual.
That was until he was struck by a crashing stock car while trying to service the No. 19 car during last weekend’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway.
Backus was completing routine duties as rear changer on Brent Crews’ No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota when the field came to pit road for the first time on Lap 49. Just as he arrived at the right-rear wheel of Crews’ car, so, too, did the careening No. 87 Chevrolet of Nick Sanchez, one of numerous cars involved in a chain-reaction crash at the front end of pit road on Sept. 12.
“Get one lug nut in, and next thing you know, I’m laying over top of the jack,” Backus told NASCAR.com Thursday evening at Bristol Motor Speedway. “Didn’t really know what happened at first, but luckily, nobody on the team was hurt, and our race car got the worst of it.”
Rajah Caruth’s No. 88 Chevrolet spun sideways, the left-rear of his race car striking the incoming left-rear tire that carrier Brad Donaghy was holding. That bumped the tire free from Donaghy’s hands.
“If that was even a foot closer to Brad, he’d have been 40 yards down pit road,” Backus said.
Backus simultaneously found Sanchez sliding into his path — first into the right-rear corner of Crews’ car and then directly into Backus’ left side.
The impact knocked the No. 19 Toyota off the jack and flung Backus toward the front of the vehicle, laying him over the jack.
“Once Matt picked me up off his jack, I was kind of assessing, like, am I really hurt? Does it just hurt a little bit? What’s going on?” Backus said. “And I looked over and, like, the whole quarter panel was crushed in. So like, if I was a foot to my left, or if our car parked a foot back, it was like, wow. And then obviously watching the overhead afterwards, it looks a lot closer than it needed to be.”
Amy Kontras | Getty Images
Many factors played into the fact that Backus, Donaghy, jackman Matt Wilps, front changer Dustin Necaise and fueler Luke Deal all walked away relatively unscathed. One was luck. Another key, though, was preparation, thanks in part to pit coach Terry Spalding.
Because O’Reilly pit stalls are picked mid-week based on the prior race’s qualifying results, the No. 19 team knew Crews would likely be entering his stall by driving around the No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and pitting at angle. Backus knew the challenge that would come with that, so he opted to seek extra practice before flying to Gateway.
“We knew we were coming around all day, so I went in on Thursday, and Terry was there, so it was just me and Terry,” Backus said. “We were just doing approaches all day — short, angled in, coming around. So in that aspect, it got me extremely prepared for coming around. I mean, obviously, if that doesn’t happen (and) I don’t do that preparation, possibly, I’m not as good at getting to the car that day, so I would have met the 87 in that back bumper and just not even got to the tire.”
After the incident, there was no hesitation to continue pitting the rest of the night. While their adrenaline and shock were sky high, another pit stop meant another opportunity to put that incident behind them.
Going through such a close encounter with danger also builds unity among teammates. From Spalding to Backus to Wilps and Donaghy, a band of crewmen instantly became that much closer.
The No. 19 team is the same unit that pitted the No. 1 Tricon Garage Toyota for Nick Leitz in Thursday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Bristol. The group will get back to action in Friday’s Food City 300, the second race of the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Chase (7:30 p.m. ET, The CW, ESPN Unlimited, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
At a historic venue that would be an ideal setting for a future WrestleMania, Bristol Motor Speedway has a knack for putting on a spectacle. The sport’s cream of the crop tends to shine at the “World’s Fastest Half-Mile,” though some of NASCAR’s elite have struggled to find consistent success in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The most recent visit produced Ty Gibbs’ first Cup Series victory, a finish that unfolded almost too perfectly to be scripted, even by WWE standards.
Returning to Fastlane this year is my weekly NASCAR 36 for 36 pick, where you can come play along. It’s a season-long points battle introduced in 2024 where strategy is the primary emphasis. With 36 chartered cars and 36 races on the 2026 schedule, players can choose each car once for the duration of the season.
MUST START
Driver: Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports, No. 5 Chevrolet Selections remaining: 4 Comment: The two-time Cup champion is getting hot at the right time. With a monstrous points day at World Wide Technology Raceway, Larson enters his best track nine points behind Denny Hamlin for the championship lead. The No. 5 team has won three of the last eight visits to Bristol, cracking the top five on seven occasions during that span.
Driver:Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing, No. 11 Toyota Selections remaining: 4 Comment: Hamlin is every bit as strong as Larson at Bristol, winning three of his last 11 starts, including two of the last six. He has seven top 10s in the last eight races and ranks among the top five in points scored in five of the last six.
Driver: Ty Gibbs, Joe Gibbs Racing, No. 54 Toyota Selections remaining: 5 Comment: An emotional scene awaits Saturday night as M&M’s returns to JGR to honor the late Kyle Busch, a Bristol legend. Gibbs is building his own Bristol legacy, leading 465 laps in seven starts while posting a 5.0 average finish at short tracks in 2026, second only to Hamlin.
Sean Gardner | Getty Images
DRIVERS TO AVOID
Driver: Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing, No. 45 Toyota Selections remaining: 4 Comment: Given the aggression required at “The Last Great Colosseum,” Bristol would seem to fit Reddick’s wheelhouse. Yet consistency has eluded him at the Tennessee short track. He has just two top 10s in 10 starts and has led a grand total of seven laps. His fourth-place finish in the spring marked his first lead-lap finish here since 2021.
Driver: Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing, No. 23 Toyota Selections remaining: 5 Comment: It could be a challenging weekend for 23XI. Wallace has a single top-10 finish in eight Bristol starts with the organization, coming in the fall of 2024. His 19.6 average finish across 14 career starts is the third-worst among Chase drivers, ahead of only Daniel Suárez (19.7) and Austin Cindric (22.7).
Chris Graythen | Getty Images
SLEEPERS OF THE WEEK
Driver:Carson Hocevar, Spire Motorsports, No. 77 Chevrolet Selections remaining: 5 Comment: Ever since Hocevar jumped to the Cup level at the conclusion of the 2023 season, he’s ripped around Bristol, finishing 11th. Four of his six starts in Thunder Valley have been 11th or better, including two top 10s. Of course, this is a place where one of his enemies — got a lot of enemies — could trigger payback.
Driver:Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports, No. 9 Chevrolet Selections remaining: 5 Comment: It feels odd calling Elliott, the 2020 Cup champion driving for powerhouse Hendrick Motorsports, a sleeper. But with the No. 9 team managing just one top-10 finish in its last 14 races, Bristol could be just what the doctor ordered. Elliott has never hoisted the victory sword in a points-paying Bristol race, but he has four finishes of eighth or better in his last seven starts.
Amy Kontras | Getty Images
FEATURED MATCHUPS
Chris Buescher vs. Ryan Preece
Pick: Preece Comment: Via Buescher’s 2022 triumph, it would seem as though he’s the easy pick. Bristol is also his favorite venue on the NASCAR schedule. However, the No. 17 team has tumbled of late, with a best finish of 10th in the last 11 races in 2026. Meanwhile, Preece has top 10s in two of the last four Bristol starts.
Denny Hamlin vs. Joey Logano
Pick: Hamlin Comment: In seven Next Gen races at the bullring, Logano has an average finish of 21.0. Hamlin has won two of those seven races, and you can almost guarantee he will be a threat again.
Ty Gibbs vs. Ryan Blaney
Pick: Gibbs Comment: It was Gibbs who got the better of Blaney in April by .055 seconds to win his first Cup race. However, Blaney led 190 of 505 laps and was in position for the victory late until a caution in the final laps. Blaney has led 775 laps at Bristol, but this is Gibbs’ best venue statistically.
Kyle Larson vs. Christopher Bell
Pick: Larson Comment: Bell, the defending winner of this race, tends to fly under the radar at Bristol. He has six top-10 finishes in the last seven Bristol races. But Larson is the best in the field at Bristol, placing sixth or better in 10 of his 12 last starts at the Tennessee short track.
MY LINEUP
Starting five: Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, Ty Gibbs, Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell. Garage: Chase Elliott.
36 FOR 36
Pick: Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports, No. 5 Chevrolet Comment: Larson has been the thunder in Thunder Valley recently, and it’s a scary sight for the field to see the No. 5 team starting to regain its early-season consistency. Since taking over the No. 5 ride in 2021, Larson leads the series in several categories at Bristol, including: wins (three), top fives (seven), laps led (1,405), average finish (6.25), stage wins (seven), laps inside the top five (2,860) and top 10 (3,232).
BRISTOL, Tenn. — For Jake Garcia, it was a case of stealing thunder.
For the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Chase drivers, it was blunder after blunder.
Driving the No. 98 ThorSport Racing Ford, Garcia took control in the third stage of Thursday night’s UNOH 250 Presented by Ohio Logistics at Bristol Motor Speedway and went on to win for the first time in his 94th start.
In the Chase opener for the series, Garcia led three times for 104 laps. On Lap 230 of 250, he wrested the lead from Stewart Friesen with an inside pass and held it the rest of the way. Garcia took the checkered flag 1.305 seconds ahead of Bayley Currey, who passed Friesen for the runner-up spot on Lap 247.
“I’m really proud of all my guys,” said Garcia, who started 12th on metrics per the NASCAR Rule Book. “They brought an amazing truck tonight. It was good today (in practice), but qualifying got rained out, so we got a good strategy that helped us come from the back, get some track position… and just kind of took off from there.”
Garcia ended a drought for ThorSport dating to Ty Majeski’s victory in the 2024 Championship 4 event at Phoenix Raceway, but it was hardly clear sailing to the finish. Garcia lost the lead to Friesen on a Lap 220 restart and spent the next 10 laps trying to regain it.
“Had some adversity on that last restart, but fortunately the truck was fast enough to overcome that,” Garcia said. “ThorSport Racing’s a really strong team, especially historically, so just proud of all my guys on the 98 team to be able to end that winless streak.”
Currey finished second in his first Truck Series start of the season. With Friesen third, Justin Haley fourth and Tristan McKee fifth — at age 16, the youngest driver in series history to score a top-five finish — no Chase driver finished better than sixth (Gio Ruggiero).
“I’ve still got it, I guess,” said Currey, who was driving the No. 5 Tricon Garage Toyota. “Just huge, huge thank you to everyone at Tricon, Toyota — just a great opportunity and glad we were able to make the most of it.
“I thought I was going to fumble it there at the end, but we were able to fight there and bring it home P2. Obviously wanted to win, but coming off the couch, I’m all right with it.”
In fact, the top four seeds in the Chase all experienced uncharacteristic difficulty. Top-seeded Layne Riggs started from the pole and won the first two stages wire-to-wire, leading the first 135 laps.
But Riggs was sixth out of the pits for the start of the final stage, and on Lap 156, he radioed to his crew that his No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford had a loose right rear wheel. Riggs pitted for four tires on Lap 161 but lost two laps to the leaders and never recovered.
After contact with the damaged No. 1 Toyota of Nick Leitz late in the race, Riggs was forced to pit road again and finished 32nd, 16 laps down.
The two stage wins proved to be a godsend for Riggs, who retained the Chase lead by three points over Kaden Honeycutt. The driver of the No. 11 Toyota finished eighth despite an unscheduled pit stop with a loose wheel under caution late in the race.
“There was a lot of fighting tonight,” Riggs said. “I’m just thankful that we had a fast-enough truck that we won the first two stages and got some points, but we just came down pit road and had an absolute catastrophe of a stop.
“I don’t understand how we were that slow on the stop, and we didn’t get the wheels tight… I’m very frustrated. I feel like we had the truck to beat again.”
Third-seeded Chandler Smith suffered a speeding penalty at the Stage 2 break before losing air in a tire late in the final run. Smith finished 24th and leaves Bristol third in the standings, 30 points behind Riggs.
The Chevrolet of fourth-seeded Christian Eckes suffered early front-end damage and finished 30th. Eckes dropped four spots to eighth in the Chase standings, 58 points out of the lead.
Behind Ruggiero, William Sawalich, Honeycutt, Majeski and Grant Enfinger completed the top 10.
The Chase resumes for the Truck Series on Sept. 26 in the Race to Stop Suicide 200 at Kansas Speedway (1 p.m. ET, FS1, NASCAR Racing Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
NOTE: Post-race inspection was completed without issue in the Craftsman Truck Series garage, confirming Jake Garcia as the winner. The Nos. 5 and 38 trucks each had one lug nut not safe and secure and will lose pit-stall selection next Saturday at Kansas Speedway.
BRISTOL, Tenn. – From top seed, to polesitter, to double-stage winner, to a 32nd-place finish.
That was Craftsman Truck Series top gun Layne Riggs’ Thursday night at Bristol Motor Speedway in the UNOH 250 Chase presented by Mobil 1 opener, and the result left him teetering on the edge of losing the point lead.
In winning the race’s first two stages with relative ease, Riggs led the race’s first 135 laps. Then he saw everything dissolve into disarray almost immediately. The team had a slow pit stop at the end of the second stage, dropping Riggs to sixth.
He gained three positions but then returned to pit road with a loose wheel, with the stop leaving him two laps down. Later, an on-track encounter with Nick Leitz left Riggs’ truck crippled, and a night that could have been golden instead ended with Riggs kicking the side of his truck several times after the race.
“We lost that one,” Riggs said. “We lost that one on pit road tonight. I don’t know what happened there. I mean, we had a really slow stop, first of all. And then we didn’t even get the wheel tight, either. I feel like we had the truck to beat. This stings really, really bad.”
Riggs kept the point lead thanks to his blistering runs through the first two stages, but his margin was cut from 25 points to three over second-place Kaden Honeycutt, changing the flavor of the race for the Chase lead.
For Riggs, who won six races during the regular season with a total of 598 laps in front of the field, it was a tough comedown – his worst finish of the year.
“Once you’re mired in the back and you’re two laps down, you’re just riding around with the guys in the back,” Riggs said. “I guess the No. 1 (Leitz) just lost talent and wrecked. I don’t really know what happened there.
“I had probably one of the top three hardest hits in my life. I can’t believe the truck was still rolling after that. Everything was just broke, destroyed. We should have just parked it, but I was trying to get as many laps in as possible. You have to beat the guys that are on your lap. Not doing much racing right there.”
Riggs seemed surprised when told he still had the point lead. Front Row mate Chandler Smith and Honeycutt had separate issues in the race’s late going.
“It could have been a lot worse of a day,” he said. “We’ve got to clean that up to win a championship.”
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Sept. 17, 2026) — NASCAR® today announced a landmark long-term partnership with FedEx Freight® that will make the newly independent freight transportation leader the entitlement partner of the NASCAR Truck Series beginning in 2027.
The NASCAR FedEx Freight Truck Series brings together two brands deeply connected to the trucking industry and the people who keep America moving — pairing North America’s largest less-than-truckload (LTL) carrier with a NASCAR series defined by toughness, relentless competition and some of the hardest racing in motorsports.
The agreement also represents a significant milestone for FedEx Freight as a newly independent, publicly traded company. The NASCAR sponsorship marks the first time FedEx Freight has placed its brand behind a sponsorship platform of this scale, using one of the most prominent entitlement positions in American motorsports to build awareness of the standalone FedEx Freight brand and deepen relationships with customers, employees and business leaders across the country.
“FedEx Freight choosing NASCAR for a brand investment of this magnitude says a lot about where our sport is today and the value our platform can deliver to businesses looking to grow,” said Craig Stimmel, SVP and chief commercial officer, NASCAR. “And there may not be a more natural pairing than FedEx Freight and the NASCAR Truck Series. This is a series built on trucks, toughness and people who compete incredibly hard to deliver every single week. That same grit, reliability and get-it-done mentality is embedded in FedEx Freight. As they continue to establish their identity as an independent company, we have an incredible opportunity to put that brand in front of millions of fans while creating real business value throughout the NASCAR industry.”
As part of the agreement, FedEx Freight will also become an Official Partner of NASCAR and NASCAR’s exclusive freight shipping partner in the United States, Canada and Mexico beginning Jan. 1, 2027.
The sponsorship gives FedEx Freight a year-round national platform reaching well beyond race-day visibility. Through the NASCAR ecosystem, FedEx Freight will connect with customers, employees and communities while leveraging NASCAR’s national reach, highly engaged fanbase and extensive business network to drive brand awareness, customer engagement, B2B lead generation, employee recognition and community impact.
“Some partnerships just make sense. As FedEx Freight moves forward in its next chapter as an independent company, we are focused on opportunities that strengthen our brand and support our long-term growth strategy and we are confident the NASCAR FedEx Freight Truck Series will deliver,” said John Smith, president and CEO, FedEx Freight.
“NASCAR and its loyal fanbase represent the same commitment to safety, hard work, reliability and teamwork that has defined our company for decades,” Smith said. “NASCAR provides a powerful platform to connect with customers, engage our dedicated team members and introduce the FedEx Freight brand to millions of passionate fans nationwide. This is a series built on trucks and being number one. It is a relationship that reflects our confidence in the future and our commitment to building a strong company positioned for continued success.”
At the center of the sponsorship will be the NASCAR FedEx Freight Truck Series entitlement and targeted activation in key markets surrounding FedEx Freight distribution locations.
For NASCAR, the partnership continues a period of significant commercial momentum as major brands increasingly view the sport as a platform capable of delivering not only consumer engagement and national visibility, but also meaningful business-to-business relationships, employee engagement and long-term brand growth.
The alignment extends beyond their shared connection to trucks. FedEx Freight operates a network of more than 365 locations supported by 40,000 team members and nearly 30,000 vehicles, providing another natural bridge to NASCAR’s national footprint and the communities in which the sport races.
Over the coming years, NASCAR and FedEx Freight will work to develop additional opportunities to engage fans, employees, customers and the broader business community. Together, the organizations will build a platform around shared commitments to performance, safety, reliability and delivering when it matters most.
At mid-race of Sunday’s Enjoy Illinois 300, Kyle Larson faced a restart sequence that seemed to threaten yet another promising run with an underwhelming result. Larson fired off next to the recently resurgent Josh Berry and went door-to-door with the No. 21 car, needing to recover from a wobble to avoid crashing through the turn. Then, later in the same lap, Larson went three-wide with Berry and Denny Hamlin, once again bouncing off a rival’s car, clipping the wall and maybe even drawing contact with the front bumper of Joey Logano behind him.
But somehow, Larson stayed intact through all that — and a lot more — to later claim victory in the shadow of the Gateway Arch, a result that may have shaken up the 2026 Cup Series championship picture with just eight races remaining in The Chase presented by Mobil 1.
For a driver who, at various moments in his Cup tenure, has made success actually look quite easy, ending a 51-race winning drought — the third-longest of his career, spanning 490 days since Kansas in May 2025 — was, at times, as difficult as it gets. Not only did Larson have to repeatedly fight his way through the kind of hand-to-hand combat highlighted above, but he also needed to survive multiple pressure-packed late restarts, including two in overtime. Wins are wins, and we’d been waiting for Larson (and Hendrick Motorsports in general) to break out of a losing slump for a long time. Multi-time champions with the knack to find Victory Lane 33 times don’t tend to go too long between checkered flags. In fact, we’d been banging the drum for Larson deserving better finishes — based on his race-long form — than the ones he’d gotten for most of the 2026 season.
While Larson has had seasons with more dominant Driver Ratings than his 94.8 mark in 2026 — such as when he posted a 112.4 en route to the 2021 championship, or a 101.2 in 2024 — he still ranks fourth-best among all Cup drivers this season, trailing only Hamlin (100.1), Ryan Blaney (99.4) and Tyler Reddick (95.9). And despite his winless drought overlapping this entire season up until Sunday — even now, a single victory is his fewest in a full-time season since 2019 — Larson has consistently driven well enough to win: He’s tied with Blaney (at 13 apiece) and just behind Hamlin (14) for the most triple-digit-rated races on the year.
Just as importantly, Larson’s consistent baseline in performance has been a weapon in moving up The Chase standings. Among full-time Cup drivers, only Blaney (five) has fewer races rated below 80.0 than Larson (six). Week in and week out, you know you’re going to get at least a pretty good outing from the No. 5 car. And that ability to avoid mediocre days start-to-finish — even if the final results falter — matters a lot in this current scoring and championship system, where not coincidentally, only Blaney (239) has more stage points this season than Larson’s 230.
In our podcast, Podracing, my co-host Tyler and I always say that “the season doesn’t really start until Kyle Larson wins a race.” Well, now that Larson has finally done that in 2026 — and moved within single digits of Hamlin for the top spot in The Chase standings — the title battle feels like it is legitimately on between Larson, Hamlin, Blaney, Reddick, Christopher Bell, Chase Briscoe, Ty Gibbs, Joey Logano and the rest of the top Chase suspects.
My forecast model — which uses track-specific projected Driver Ratings to simulate every race, and The Chase overall, 10,000 times — still considers Hamlin the favorite at 36%, a number that didn’t really budge much despite the chaos at Gateway. The main difference is Larson (22%) leapfrogged the rest to join Bell (21%) in the next tier, ahead of Blaney (9%) Reddick (4%) and Briscoe (4%).
Because Larson and Hamlin are traditionally so good at the intermediates — only the former (10) and latter (seven) have more than five wins in the 2020s at 1.5-mile ovals — the middle section of The Chase schedule (Kansas/Las Vegas/Charlotte) is now looking like a custom mini-tournament between them, jockeying for advantage coming out on the other side with four races to go (one of which includes another intermediate for good measure, in Homestead-Miami for the finale).
But Larson will have opportunities outside the intermediates as well. We’re coming up on a track — at Bristol — where he has the best average finish (7.0) and Driver Rating (118.3) of anyone in the Next Gen era, including Hamlin (8.1/110.3), despite the two being tied 2-2 on wins. Also, two of Larson’s patented near-perfect drives have happened at “The Last Great Colosseum” in that span, a 149.7 Driver Rating in 2024 and a 149.6 in 2025. With a brand-new win under its belt, the No. 5 team may be close to another super-dominant performance along those lines.
And then, Phoenix and Martinsville are intriguing places for Larson as well. He has a better projection on flat tracks than Hamlin, despite all of Denny’s many trophies at those particular tracks, and while Denny has the better Next Gen Driver Rating at Phoenix/Martinsville (106.9 versus 104.7), Larson has him beat there on average finish (7.2 versus 10.1).
Last season’s championship infamously came down to a single restart between Larson and Hamlin in the desert, with Larson getting the better of his rival — but with the whole affair providing some of the impetus to switch to a different championship format, one that accounts more for the season overall and takes a wider view of performance across a variety of key tracks.
Here we are a year later, though, under the new system — and it might just end up coming down to Larson and Hamlin in another dead heat, this time over eight races with just as little separating them as there was entering that final restart at Phoenix last fall.
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During racing’s early years, local racers trying to defend their home turf from traveling invaders was a surefire way for promoters to sell tickets. Not much has changed in the more than 100 years since the first organized automobile race. In fact, local racers facing off against talented invaders remains a key storyline today.
At tracks like Riverhead Raceway, it’s a major point of pride when a local competitor denies the invaders the satisfaction of a trip to Victory Lane.
Riverhead local Mark Stewart knows that firsthand.
The 28-year-old from Riverhead, New York delivered a bit of satisfaction for local fans earlier this year when he outclassed the best the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour had to offer to win the Miller Lite Salutes Don Howe 200.
“It definitely took like a month to realize how big of a deal and how big of a win that was,” said Stewart, who will attempt to duplicate his incredible feat Saturday during the Eddie Partridge 206 (8:30 p.m. ET on FloRacing). “There have been a lot of Riverhead locals who have tried to win that Tour race for years and years.
“I had people coming up to me that I’ve never even met before that used to race in the ’80s and ’90s, and they were like, ‘What you accomplished is a big deal.’”
Stewart, who ranks second in Riverhead Raceway’s headlining Buzz Chew Chevrolet Tour Type Modified division, has been attending and competing in events at the track his entire life.
He is the nephew of Chris and Roger Turbush and represents the fourth generation of the Turbush family to compete at Riverhead. However, he’s the first to win a Modified Tour race.
A winner in three different Riverhead divisions and a two-time champion in the track’s Super Pro Trucks class, Stewart has no shortage of experience at the Long Island bullring.
Mark Stewart, who drove the No. 36 in partnership with Dave Sapienza at Riverhead Raceway in May, will drive his family-owned No. 81 this Saturday night in the Eddie Partridge 206. (Photo: Anna Griffin/NASCAR)
“Obviously I’ve raced there weekly in multiple divisions. It just helps to know the track,” Stewart said. “Sometimes varying from during the day to at night, it can help you be able to adjust the car better. What to expect later on throughout the day definitely helps a lot.
“I’ve been racing there since I was 6, from Go Karts all the way to Super Pro Trucks. It definitely helps a lot. It’s definitely an advantage that we get to race there every week.”
Stewart’s win put him in elite company. Only a handful of Riverhead Raceway locals have faced off against the regulars of the Modified Tour and win.
They include Kyle Soper, who delivered a victory for the locals in 2022. Before that, it was men like Ed Brunnhoelzl Jr. and Don Howe who defended Long Island from racers like Mike Stefanik, Ted Christopher and Reggie Ruggiero.
Also worth considering is how many Long Island natives went from being local stars to becoming Modified Tour invaders. They include current competitors like Justin Bonsignore and Eric Goodale as well as local legends like Tom Baldwin, Mike Ewanitsko and Steve Park.
To summarize, winning a Modified Tour race at Riverhead is not easy for a local competitor. So how did Stewart do it?
Experience, a great race car, and a little bit of luck all proved to be key factors when Stewart reached Victory Lane on May 30. Starting third, he first had to avoid an incident on the opening lap involving his uncle, Roger, and polesitter Stephen Kopcik.
“You never really expect anything like that to happen so soon,” Stewart said. “It definitely caught me off guard. You don’t really expect anything like that, but anything can happen at any time, especially at Riverhead. Thankfully I was ready for it.”
Following the incident, Stewart inherited the race lead and spent the rest of the night going back and forth with Bonsignore for the race lead. The two traded the top spot multiple times throughout the course of the event, with Stewart making the race-winning pass on Lap 160.
Being able to outlast Bonsignore, a record 12-time Riverhead Raceway Modified Tour winner, was just as big of an accomplishment for Stewart as it was to win the race itself.
Mark Stewart celebrates his first NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour victory earlier this year at Riverhead Raceway. (Photo: Anna Griffin/NASCAR)
“I’ve been watching Justin since I was a kid growing up in Go Karts and then watching him race Charger cars and Modifieds and seeing all the success he’s had over the years,” Stewart said. “Racing against Justin was really cool. He’s had a lot of success, especially at Riverhead on the Tour.
“He’s just such a great driver and such a great person on and off the track. It was really fun and a great experience.”
Nearly four months after his first Modified Tour victory at his home track, the excitement has died down. The trophy has taken its rightful place at the Turbush Racing shop, but that doesn’t mean he’s forgotten the feeling of being the best Modified competitor in the region that night.
“It felt like a dream. You watch for years all these local guys try to come here and try to compete (with the Tour),” Stewart said. “These guys are the best of the best, and you’ve really got to bring your A game. Sometimes running there every week doesn’t mean you have an advantage because these guys are so on top of their game and their program.
“It’s an honor (to beat the Tour regulars). For us small guys at Riverhead that race with these Tour guys, it’s everything. When they come to town, that’s the ultimate win right there. I could’ve not won a race for the rest of this year and that race would have pretty much made the year for us.”
Stewart’s attention is now fully focused on Saturday’s Eddie Partridge 206. His mission is to prove that his win earlier this year wasn’t a fluke.
He doesn’t want to be a one-hit wonder. He wants to prove the Riverhead locals are the best the NASCAR Local Racing Series Powered by O’Reilly Auto Parts has to offer.
“I definitely have the confidence and definitely feel like we have the car to do it again,” Stewart said. “We’ve got to qualify up front and do what we know best. We’ll try to plan ahead a little bit and make the right adjustments. I definitely feel like we have a shot to win again.”
NASCAR announced a rule change Wednesday in how it will officiate teams’ use of wet-weather tires moving forward, beginning with this weekend’s slate of races at Bristol Motor Speedway.
At designated ovals approved for wet-weather racing, NASCAR officials will now allow teams to use their own discretion when deciding whether to switch from Goodyear Racing’s wet-weather tires to slicks, shifting a responsibility that had previously belonged to NASCAR.
NASCAR officials will still determine whether a race begins under wet-weather conditions. But as track conditions change, teams will now have the option to switch to slick tires. Previously, Section 8.6.2.B of the NASCAR Rule Book stated: “Once the race has started, NASCAR will determine if and when a tire configuration change will be required.” That responsibility now shifts to the teams to determine which tire best suits the conditions.
After the green flag is waved to begin the race, if NASCAR issues a caution flag for rain and deems the racing surface damp, the teams will then have the choice whether to continue on wet-weather tires or slicks.
If NASCAR deems pit road as damp, any pit stops under the caution flag will be non-competitive. That means positions will not change on pit road, and cars exiting the pits will be ordered behind cars that stayed out, if applicable. Green-flag stops, however, remain competitive.
“We always listen to fan and industry feedback, and if there’s an opportunity to make a meaningful difference that benefits the racing, we won’t waste time acting on it,” NASCAR CEO Steve O’Donnell said. “There were a lot of strong opinions after New Hampshire, and Ben Kennedy, John Probst and the entire Competition team went to work. Giving teams the freedom to make their own calls in wet-weather situations on ovals is another example of how we’re working to improve and put on the best possible show for our fans.”
The change aligns NASCAR’s wet-weather racing policy on designated ovals with its procedure on road and street courses. The relevant Section 8.6.1.D in the NASCAR Rule Book states: “Once the race has started, the crew chief will be responsible for which tire configuration to use for the remainder of the race.”
NASCAR’s wet-weather oval procedure has continued to evolve since the tires first appeared competitively at the 2023 All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Richmond Raceway in March 2024 marked their first use in a points-paying Cup Series race on an oval, when the field started on wet-weather tires before NASCAR mandated a switch to slicks at Lap 30. Later that June, wet-weather tires helped NASCAR complete the final 86 laps of the Cup race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway following a lengthy rain delay.
Later in 2024, NASCAR adjusted its procedures to give teams more control over their wet-weather tire allotment. Under natural cautions while the track remained under wet-weather conditions, teams could choose whether to change from one set of wet tires to another. NASCAR, however, still determined when conditions warranted a switch from wet-weather tires to slicks.
The latest example came Aug. 23 at New Hampshire, when rainy conditions prompted the Cup Series field to start on wet-weather tires. As the track dried, NASCAR called a competition caution after 40 laps and directed teams to switch to slicks.
After further discussion throughout the industry, while officials will still make the determination if the track is wet for teams to have the option to put on the wet-weather tires, NASCAR will now allow teams to decide for themselves when to switch over to slick tires without a competition caution to intervene.
“We’ve been very deliberate about making any changes to the wet-weather tire procedure on ovals, and we believe now is the right time to take this next step,” John Probst, president, NASCAR event management, said. “You never root for rain, but if we do need to battle wet-weather conditions this weekend or at other future short tracks, it will be fascinating to see how the teams put the tires to work and the strategy they will bring to the race track. The collaboration with the race teams was again fantastic, and we hope this is a welcome change for our fans.”
Bristol, Iowa Speedway, New Hampshire, Phoenix Raceway, Martinsville Speedway, North Wilkesboro and Richmond are among the ovals approved for wet-weather tires when conditions necessitate their use. Bristol and Iowa both had wet-weather sets available for Cup Series teams earlier this season.
The NASCAR Cup Series continues The Chase presented by Mobil 1 with its third race Saturday night at Bristol (7:30 ET, USA Network, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series opens The Chase in its return to action Thursday at Bristol (8 p.m. ET, FS1, FOX One, NASCAR Racing Network Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), while the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series continues its Chase on Friday (7:30 p.m. ET, The CW, ESPN Unlimited, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Wins are wins, and we’d been waiting for Larson (
