Posted on by Team Release

MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Sam Hunt Racing announced today that the organization will expand to two full-time entries in 2026, both with full-time drivers in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. Dean Thompson, who broke multiple organizational records in his rookie Xfinity Series season, will return to the No. 26 Toyota GR Supra. Harrison Burton, a Cup Series winner and 2025 Xfinity Series Playoffs driver, will pilot the No. 24 Toyota GR Supra full-time.

“It’s extremely fulfilling for me to not only see SHR’s on-track growth, but to witness the organization’s culture continue to blossom. We have created a competitive environment that attracts good people, and I believe the human element is the most important component to building a successful race team,” said Sam Hunt, owner/president of Sam Hunt Racing. “I couldn’t be prouder of Dean’s maturity, humility and work ethic this year. His on-track success is a direct result of his growth as a person and his buy-in to wanting not only himself but also this entire organization to succeed. He has more than earned his spot within this team and this garage. Bringing Harrison in full-time is another major step in this team’s growth process, and I couldn’t be more excited to have him. He not only brings a new level of experience to SHR but is the perfect fit for our team’s culture and vision. I am grateful to everyone involved and am ready to get to work on our next step.”

RELATED: Key players in 2025-26 Silly Season

Sam Hunt Racing has been competing in the Xfinity Series since its debut at Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2019. As each year passes, SHR continues to grow and break barriers in NASCAR’s second-tier national series, proving considerable strength and grit as the team fights for its much-anticipated first win.

“We are excited to provide support for Sam and the entire Sam Hunt Racing team on their expansion to two full-time teams in 2026,” said Jack Irving, general manager, Toyota Racing Development. “Sam has bought into the Toyota and TRD culture from our partnership’s early beginnings and is truly part of our family. We are thrilled to see how Dean has performed in their equipment this season, and with the addition of a talented driver like Harrison, we are confident they will continue that upward trajectory with many new firsts and team milestones achieved next season.”

Dean Thompson will return behind the wheel of the No. 26 Toyota after a breakout rookie season in the Xfinity Series alongside crew chief Kris Bowen. Thompson, who has become a well-respected competitor amongst the series’ veterans, has successfully broken many organizational records at Sam Hunt Racing. The 24-year-old captured the team’s first stage win at Rockingham Speedway, becoming the third driver in SHR history to lead laps and the first to lead laps in two different events. Thompson has elevated SHR at several tracks this season, including establishing a new team-best superspeedway finish with a seventh-place result at Daytona in the summer. He also recorded SHR’s first top five at Charlotte Motor Speedway and secured solid results at other intermediate tracks like Kansas Speedway. The Anaheim, California native has secured one top-five and seven top-10 finishes in his rookie season.

Harrison Burton, with Brian Gainey returning to lead the charge, joins Sam Hunt Racing as the first full-time driver of the team’s No. 24 Toyota entry in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series next year. The duo joined forces previously in the Xfinity Series at fellow Toyota organization Joe Gibbs Racing, where Gainey worked as a mechanic. During that time, Burton went on to win four races in 2020 and recorded 25 top 10s over two seasons. The North Carolina native has proven himself across NASCAR’s various series, most notably earning his first Cup Series win at Daytona International Speedway in 2024, locking him into the Cup Series Playoffs. Burton has competed in the Xfinity Series level for four years, making 2026 Burton’s fifth year in the series. This current season, Burton captured 10 top-10 finishes through 31 races, locking into the playoffs on points. Burton’s wealth of experience makes him a strong addition to Sam Hunt Racing’s lineup. Coming into next season, Burton is invested to build on his progress in the secondary series and make an immediate impact in his debut season with the team.

Additional information on Sam Hunt Racing’s 2026 plans, including team partnerships, will be released at a later date.

Posted on by Press Release

SEEKONK, Mass. — USNEPower Principal David J. Miller Jr. and NASCAR driver Patrick Emerling today announced the formation of USNEPower Motorsports, marking a new era for USNEPower’s racing involvement and a bold next step in its marketing strategy.

USNEPower Motorsports will field the No. 1 car for Patrick Emerling on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and select Monaco Modified Series races in 2026, representing a transition from multiple team sponsorships to a more strategic focus on ownership and select partnerships.

“This is the natural evolution of our relationship with the sport,” said Miller, principal of USNEPower and owner of USNEPower Motorsports. “We’ve sponsored dozens of teams over the years, but team ownership allows us to tell a more focused story about who we are – an organization built on reliability, precision, and showing up when it matters most. Motorsports is the perfect reflection of that.”

“USNEPower has long been one of the most visible names in Modified racing,” said Emerling. “They’ve supported so many racers and events, so bringing them in as an ownership partner feels like the right move. The No. 1 car paired with the company known for ‘One Call Does It All’—it just fits.”

Patrick Emerling will drive the No. 1 Modified for USNEPower Motorsports on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour in 2026.

Since its first sponsorship in 2017 with Rowan Pennink in Michael Boehler’s “Ole Blue” No. 3, USNEPower’s involvement in motorsports has always been about relationships—first as fans, then as partners, and now as team owners.

After supporting more than 27 drivers and six race events in 2025, USNEPower will strategically realign in 2026 to focus on team ownership and a smaller number of relationships, which will be highlighted by:

• Patrick Emerling – Driver for the USNEPower Motorsports-owned No. 1 (NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour / Monaco Modified Series)
• Tom Abele Jr. – USNEPower Super Late Model (Oxford Plains Speedway)
• John-Michael Shenette – Whelen Modified Tour and Open Events
• Timmy Solomito – Whelen Modified Tour

USNEPower will also return as the title sponsor of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Series Duel at the Dog 200 at Monadnock Speedway (NH) and the USNEPower Haunted Hundred XL at Seekonk Speedway (MA) in the 2026 Monaco Modified Series season.

Team ownership marks a decisive shift from pure brand visibility to deeper customer engagement and relationship-building. USNEPower’s Motorsports initiative mirrors its own work culture – meticulous planning, flawless execution, and rapid response under pressure.

“When fans see USNEPower on a car, we want them to know why,” added Miller. “We’re the first call for factory-authorized emergency repair and preventive maintenance of electrical equipment. Racing gives us a powerful way to demonstrate that precision, speed, and reliability aren’t just part of our work – they’re who we are.”

Emerling, who earned two wins, eight top-five finishes, and 10 top-tens in the 2025 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season, looks ahead to 2026 with high expectations.

“We’ve been close to a championship,” said Emerling. “With USNEPower Motorsports behind us, I believe we have everything it takes to finish the job.”

Posted on by Zach Sturniolo

MARTINSVILLE, Va. — A tiebreaker was needed to decide the 2025 Championship 4 for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.

The beneficiary? Kaden Honeycutt, whose second-place finish was enough to earn the nod over third-place finisher Layne Riggs to advance to the title round from Friday’s Round of 8 finale at Martinsville Speedway. He joins Tyler Ankrum, Martinsville winner Corey Heim and defending series champ Ty Majeski in this year’s championship quartet.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

Honeycutt’s emotions were obvious climbing from the No. 52 Halmar Friesen Racing Toyota — a truck he never expected to drive to start the season. The 22-year-old Texan began the year driving the No. 45 Chevrolet for Niece Motorsports, but his decision to sign with Toyota for the 2026 season led Niece to release him before the Aug. 8 race at Watkins Glen International. After spending that race in the No. 02 Young’s Motorsports entry, Honeycutt pivoted to the No. 52 Toyota for the rest of the season with team co-owner and typical driver Stewart Friesen sidelined after a dirt-racing crash left him injured.

Those circumstances all flashed through Honeycutt’s mind after Friday’s race at Martinsville, now with a chance to chase a championship on the doorstep.

“It’s unbelievable, man,” Honeycutt said. “I should have very easily been on the couch in July after I made my decision on what to do. And I’m so grateful to be a part of Toyota and this amazing manufacturer. To carry on this championship now, we got a 50% chance of winning it at least. So I’m very much looking forward to next weekend. Regardless of how everything goes, I’m just extremely thankful.”

Just behind him at the checkered flag was Riggs. One point out entering the final lap, Riggs muscled past Brent Crews off the final corner to tie Honeycutt on points. But in the event of a tie, the edge goes to the driver who earned the best finish in the round, and both drivers earned their best at Martinsville on Friday.

Honeycutt said he was unaware just how close it was in the waning moments.

“All (spotter Chris) Lambert told me was don’t lose a spot, just fight like hell,” Honeycutt said. “And yeah, that last restart, I didn’t do the best job at executing that restart. I spun the tires a lot, and Corey did an excellent job of executing there. So yeah, just had to hold on and hope that everything worked out, and thankfully it did. Now we get to go have the chance to have fun next week and go try to mix it up.”

Riggs, a three-time winner this season, was “dejected” to miss the Championship 4, but ultimately felt bad for racing Crews so aggressively despite the stakes.

“I just don’t like racing like that,” Riggs said. “I want to race straight up and how it’s supposed to be, but I’m hearing, ‘got to get a spot; got to get one.’ I’m gonna do what my team tells me to do to get in this championship. And (I’m) roughing guys up I don’t really want to rough up. They’ve done nothing to me in the past. I just don’t like racing like that, man.”

Riggs said he would have carried that same disappointment even if he had advanced because he wants to race cleanly.

His race took a turn, though, on a Lap 29 restart. Leading the opening 27 laps, Riggs was on the front row in the inside lane, leading the field back to the green flag. But he struggled to shift his truck into both third and fourth gears. That caused a stack-up behind him with multiple trucks incurring damage, including playoff contenders Honeycutt, Rajah Caruth and Daniel Hemric.

“I don’t really know what happened on the restart,” Riggs said. “I mean, I’ve never missed a shift in the truck with these transmissions ever, and it just would not go into third gear. Wouldn’t go into fourth. Like, no matter what I’d do, it wouldn’t go into gear. I’ve never had that problem before. So, yeah, it just summarizes our Round of 8 of things that could have happened.”

Indeed, the No. 34 team struggled to find clean races in the opening two events of this semifinal round — with a strong argument that the events were out of Riggs’ control. Riggs started on the front row at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval on Oct. 3, but contact from Grant Enfinger turned Riggs sideways and into Heim, sending both trucks into the Turn 1 wall. He nearly recovered for a top-10 effort, but a mechanical issue in overtime plummeted him to a 21st-place finish. At Talladega Superspeedway on Oct. 17, Riggs was contacted by Front Row Motorsports teammate Chandler Smith on Lap 10, sending Riggs spinning before he eventually rebounded to finish fifth.

“We can’t look at tonight where it went wrong,” Riggs said. “You’ve got to look at the Roval, Lap 1. Break the sway bar, ride around in the back all day, break the axle. Go to Talladega, get turned on Lap 10. I mean, it’s really the culmination. I’m not going to place tonight (as) the reason why. That was our best race out of the Round of 8. Just a lot of things lead up to it.”

Ankrum, Heim, Honeycutt and Majeski will race for the 2025 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship at Phoenix Raceway next Friday (7:30 p.m. ET, FS1, NRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Posted on by Staff Report

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs Championship 4 field is set after Corey Heim took his 11th victory of the year Friday at Martinsville Speedway.

Heim, 23, won two of three races in the Round of 8, having already secured his Championship 4 bid with a win three weeks ago at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

Defending series champion Ty Majeski also advanced to the final round with a seventh-place finish, and ninth place was good enough for Tyler Ankrum to compete for a title next Friday night at Phoenix Raceway (7:30 p.m. ET, FS1, NRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Finishing second in an overtime attempt, Kaden Honeycutt took the fourth and final spot in the Championship 4 by winning a tiebreaker over Layne Riggs, the first driver to miss out.

“It all kind of started with that missed shift on that restart,” Riggs said. “I’m not really sure what happened. I’ve never missed a shift in a truck in my whole career. We do have some new transmissions and I guess I’m just not quite used to them yet, so I’m pretty upset about that. I think things could have been a lot different, but it all started at the Roval and getting turned around on Lap 1. We go to Talladega and having all the issues we had. I’m definitely dejected. I would have been dejected if we were even in fourth. I just don’t like it.”

MORE: Honeycutt edges Riggs for final Championship 4 spot at Martinsville

Grant Enfinger, Daniel Hemric and Rajah Caruth were the other three eliminated drivers.

Caruth’s title hopes came to an end on Lap 73 when contact with Honeycutt exiting Turn 4 caused the left-rear tire to go down on his No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet. He then spun into the Turn 1 wall, ultimately ending his night with a 34th-place result.

the nascar craftsman truck series playoffs field
NASCAR Creative Design
Posted on by Reid Spencer

MARTINSVILLE, Va. — While Corey Heim continued his propensity for sweeping stages and races, a missed shift Friday at Martinsville Speedway likely cost Layne Riggs a chance to race for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship.

Heim won both stages in the Slim Jim 200 on the way to his 11th victory of the season, extending his own series record. The driver of the No. 11 Tricon Garage Toyota led a race-high 77 laps and beat Kaden Honeycutt to the finish line by 0.451 seconds in overtime.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

The real drama in the elimination race took place immediately behind the race winner. Honeycutt finished a career-best second, the position he needed to oust Riggs from the playoffs on a tiebreaker that rewards the best finish in a given playoff round.

Riggs came home third, followed by non-playoff drivers Brent Crews and Corey LaJoie. Defending series champion Ty Majeski (seventh) and Tyler Ankrum (ninth) secured the remaining two berths in the Oct. 31 Championship 4 finale at Phoenix Raceway — by one point over Honeycutt and Riggs.

Fastest in practice, Riggs won the pole and led the first 27 laps, but after the second caution of the evening for fluid on the track, Riggs missed a shift on the ensuing Lap 29 restart and fell to sixth in the running order.

As the race neared conclusion, Honeycutt engineered a masterful restart from the fifth position on Lap 186, gained the front row when Crews chose to line up behind Heim, his teammate, for a restart on Lap 192 and held the second spot — and the one critical point he needed — through the overtime finish.

In the wild two-lap overtime, Riggs beat Crews to the start/finish line but couldn’t catch Honeycutt.

“I was dejected even when I thought we were in (the Championship 4) at first,” said Riggs, a three-time winner this year. “I just don’t like racing that way, man. I’m hearing, ‘Gotta get one (position), gotta get one,’ and everybody knows how it is.

“If I’ve got the opportunity to get in for my team, I’m going to do it, even if I don’t want to do it … It all kind of started with that missed shift on that restart. I’m not really sure what happened. I’ve never missed a shift in a truck my whole career.

“We do have some new transmissions. I guess I’m just not quite used to them yet. I’m pretty upset about that. I think things could have been a lot different.”

Honeycutt, who took over the No. 52 Toyota from injured Stewart Friesen at Richmond in August, was elated to finish on the positive side a breathtakingly close battle for the final three Championship 4 spots.

RELATED: Honeycutt over Riggs for final Champ 4 spot

“Oh, man, we get to go next week,” said Honeycutt, who was released from his ride at Niece Motorsports after his plans to change teams surfaced. “I very easily should have been at home watching this race…

“I get to go and carry this race team (Halmar Friesen Racing) to Phoenix next week to have some fun and see if we can contend for that championship.”

Heim, who already had qualified for the championship race with a win at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval, simply wanted to maintain momentum into the final week of the season.

“I don’t want to jump to any conclusions yet,” Heim said of his title prospects. “We’ve got a big race next week…

“We wanted to capitalize on our day and make the best of it. Once we got out front, we showed that we really had something to work with here. We’ve got a big one next week to close it out. It’s going to be tough, but I’m confident we can do it.”

Two playoff contenders saw their hopes of advancing to the Championship 4 evaporate long before the race ended. On Lap 73, side-by-side contact with Honeycutt’s Toyota cut the left rear tire on Rajah Caruth’s Chevrolet.

Caruth slowed suddenly and spun in Turn 1, crashing into the outside wall with enough force to knock him out of the race. Having entered the elimination event 14 points above the cut line, Caruth was suddenly out of the running for the title.

MORE: Caruth eliminated from the playoffs

“We were in a really good spot, but it is what it is,” said Caruth, who had finished ninth in the first stage. “We’ll keep pushing, and the sun will come up tomorrow. It sucks now, but that’s part of it.”

Daniel Hemric, who came to Martinsville realistically needing a victory to advance, sustained significant damage to both ends of his No. 19 Chevrolet when he was sandwiched on the on Lap 29 restart when Riggs missed the shift.

Hemric’s truck began overheating, and after losing two laps under repairs, he failed to score points in either of the first two stages. The beneficiary under two cautions, Hemric regained the lead lap but his winning chances — and hopes for a Championship 4 berth — were gone.

On Lap 165, Hemric took his truck to the garage, dropping out of the race in 31st place.

Also eliminated from Championship 4 eligibility was Grant Enfinger, who entered the race 40 points below the elimination line and finished 12th.

The Craftsman Truck Series will crown a 2025 champion next Friday at Phoenix Raceway (7:30 p.m. ET, FS1, NRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Note: Inspection in the Craftsman Truck Series garage concluded without issue, confirming Heim as the winner and making the Championship 4 official. No trucks will return to the NASCAR R&D Center in Concord, North Carolina, for further evaluation.

Posted on by Staff Report

Rajah Caruth’s Championship 4 hopes came to an end after a cut left-rear tire suffered from contact with fellow playoff driver Kaden Honeycutt during Friday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway.

Exiting Turn 4 at Lap 73, Caruth and Honeycutt made incidental contact, flattening Caruth’s left-rear tire. He went spinning into Turn 1 and into the SAFER barrier, suffering damage at both ends of his No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

Caruth attempted to limp away from the incident, but after consultation with safety crews on track, his night was over and his truck was towed back to the garage area.

“Just tight racing with steel bodies and stuff you can’t really rub. You’ll cut a tire,” Caruth said after being evaluated and released from the infield care center. “And as soon as it cut, it was on the rim, so I kind of was just out of control. So not anything deliberate obviously, just things happen and hate I was on the bad end of it.”

The 23-year-old from Washington, D.C. entered the Round of 8 finale second on the provisional playoff grid, 14 points above the elimination line. A Lap 29 restart in Stage 1 resulted in heavy nose damage for Caruth after front-row restarter Layne Riggs missed a shift three rows forward. The contact altered the handling of his No. 71 Chevrolet for the rest of the evening. Still, Caruth was running inside the top 10 at the time of his incident, but the crash ultimately put an end to his title chances in 2025.

“Definitely heartbroken, for sure,” Caruth said. “It’d be different if it was something that I did, if I messed up, but it was pretty much out of my control. Definitely a heartbreaker.”

Caruth made the playoffs via a win at Nashville Superspeedway in May, the second of his career in his third full-time season. He has 12 top 10s in 2025, tying last year’s clip. This week, Caruth announced his plans to compete full-time in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series (currently the Xfinity Series) in 2026, splitting time with JR Motorsports and Jordan Anderson Racing.

MORE: Caruth on 2026 plans

Honeycutt eventually advanced to the Championship 4, earning the edge on a tiebreaker over Layne Riggs thanks to his second-place finish Friday night. But the driver of the No. 52 Halmar Friesen Racing Toyota was remorseful about his earlier contact with Caruth.

“I was pretty mad at myself, to be honest. I really hate that,” Honeycutt said. “I didn’t want any of that to happen. I know me and him came off the corner pretty close, and I really just need to look and see if he tracked out enough or if I just came up into him. So I’m definitely going to talk to him about that. I hate that it happened. He’s a good buddy. Thankfully, we were able to move past that and just execute all night and put ourselves in a spot to be tied to go on to Phoenix.”

Caruth was credited with 34th position for Friday’s 200-lapper in Virginia.

Posted on by Nate Ryan

Dominance has often been the championship storyline for Team Penske during the Next Gen era, but disappointment is almost guaranteed Sunday over 500 laps at Martinsville Speedway (2 p.m. ET, NBC, Peacock, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).

And possibly a double dose.

Call it the Penske Predicament.

The only team to have won the Cup championship since the 2022 debut of the series’ current race car could be locked out of the Championship 4 for the first time in four years. That cold reality arrives a season after the team’s dynamic duo of Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney claimed half of the championship field and finished 1-2 in the title race at Phoenix Raceway.

RELATED: Martinsville schedule | Cup Series standings

Their thunder has been stolen in 2025 by Joe Gibbs Racing and its enormously successful playoff push — winning five of eight races and clinching two of the four title-eligible berths with Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe.

On the flip side, Team Penske’s stumbles have been just as befuddling.

A trendy championship pick because of its trademark mastery in optimizing setups for the playoffs, especially on the shorter flat tracks that comprise the final two races, the patented Penske long game has come up short this season.

With the exception of New Hampshire Motor Speedway — where Blaney earned the team’s only 2025 playoff win to date and Logano led the most laps in fourth — this championship run has lacked the extra gear and efficient execution that are hallmarks of Roger Penske’s detail-oriented organizations.

Talladega Superspeedway exemplified those struggles. It’s normally a track where Penske machines are in complete control of the draft when at the front for the final 50 miles.

But with Blaney leading on a restart with 18 scheduled laps remaining, and Logano lined up behind with a squadron of Fords at the ready, the finishing kick got fumbled in a stunning fade. Neither Penske Mustang was in the top 15 at the checkered flag.

Paul Wolfe, crew chief for Logano, said the reason was as simple as the Fords losing their gains at superspeedways to the Toyotas and Chevrolets.

“It’s hard to keep those advantages for very long,” Wolfe said.

Penske has still tried to maintain its razor’s edge in Year 4 of the Next Gen.

Wolfe noted that without any recent major rules changes, the competition gap keeps thinning to where the difference between contending for wins and racing for 15th is small. Both Logano and Blaney have suffered multiple tire failures during the playoffs as the team has searched for ways to stay ahead.

“That’s just trying to find that little bit more,” Wolfe said. “That’s what we’re down to, pushing those limits without going over them, and we’ve had our struggles there a little bit here in the playoffs with that.”

MORE: Cup Series Playoffs winners in elimination races | Drivers below cutline to race into next round on points

Logano, who won the title in 2022 and ’24, is 38 points below the cutline. Blaney, the 2023 champion, is 47 points behind.

The No. 12 star has made the championship race the past two seasons with consecutive wins in the Round of 8 finale at Martinsville, but a three-peat for Blaney hardly will ameliorate the fact that it also would mean Logano’s title defense is over.

And if Logano wins, Blaney will feel the pain.

At least one Penske contender is leaving southwest Virginia in a funk Sunday night.

“It sucks, you know one of your guys isn’t going to transfer for sure,” Penske competition director Travis Geisler told NBC Sports after Talladega. “We’ve got to figure out how to get one of them through.”

There will be no shame if the opportunity for a fourth consecutive championship disappears for Penske at Martinsville. Comprised entirely of drivers from the Gibbs, Penske and Hendrick Motorsports powerhouses, this was the most elite Round of 8 in the 12-season history of the elimination playoffs.

Though the New Hampshire speed showed flashes of Penske’s flat 1-mile magic, there also was some internal doubt if it would hold for two months, given that JGR’s Christopher Bell and Hamlin finished 1-2 in March at Phoenix.

“I think we showed up as a group as good (at New Hampshire) as we’ve ever been,” said Jonathan Hassler, crew chief for Blaney. “Does some of that carry over to Phoenix? Sure, but are we going to be the fastest car in every run of practice and qualifying and lead the whole race? Absolutely not. I think Gibbs were definitely stronger at Phoenix this spring than they’ve ever been and will be super competitive there in a couple of weeks.”

It would be foolish to count out Penske from putting up a fight. Never further away from Victory Lane than a late-race restart, Logano has proven the toughest out in NASCAR’s premier series. After his Talladega win, Briscoe emphasized the importance of JGR blocking out a Penske driver from advancing to Phoenix.

But there already are strong odds of that happening. Racing Insights puts the probability of qualifying for the championship showdown at 12.5% for Blaney and 6.1% for Logano.

For a team so accustomed to controlling the title race, it’s a sobering situation.

And it can’t be any easier knowing that Martinsville will end only half-well at best.

Posted on by Brandon White

MARTINSVILLE, Va. — The ending to Thursday’s NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season finale at Martinsville Speedway carried mixed emotions for Justin Bonsignore.

A year-long pursuit of his fifth series championship ended in a runner-up finish to Austin Beers in the point standings. Despite losing the war, Bonsignore did claim one last battle in the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200, putting together a strong performance for his second victory of 2025 and his 47th overall.

RELATED: Complete results from the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200

From Bonsignore’s perspective, more showings like the one at Martinsville could have shifted the title battle with Beers in his favor. While he could not help but reflect on the missed opportunities in 2025, Bonsignore took solace in defending his Martinsville triumph from last year’s championship campaign.

“We had a great car all day, unloaded well, obviously qualified on pole and did everything we could to keep [Beers] honest,” Bonsignore said. “We just didn’t do a good enough job all year for that as far as the points. A great night to cap off a so-so season by what we feel our standards are.

“It was amazing we had a shot [at the title], but it was nice to get a second win and a second grandfather clock.”

The Modified Tour championship was well within reach of Bonsignore entering Martinsville, as he only trailed Beers by 14 points. A maximum points night with a victory, pole, a lap led and the most laps led would have given Bonsignore the title if Beers finished eighth or worse.

Bonsignore took care of the pole and led the opening portion of the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200, giving him two crucial bonus points to help erase his deficit. Even with Beers bogged down in traffic from his eighth-place starting position, Bonsignore anticipated the running order would change several times throughout the night.

Cautions brought strategy into play, as teams came down pit road twice per Modified Tour rules to change tires or insert fuel. Bonsignore ended up losing track position through the two pit stop sequences, all while Beers gained spots to re-establish control of the points lead.

The speed in Bonsignore’s car enabled him to methodically climb back toward the lead, but a victory ended up being his only feasible goal on the evening. Beers never lost track position after the first pit stop sequence and secured a runner-up finish to become the youngest champion in Modified Tour history.

Bonsignore offered nothing but praise for Beers at the end of their championship bout, making sure to congratulate the young competitor in Victory Lane. From the moment he first met Beers, Bonsignore noticed plenty of characteristics that he knew would one day translate to success on the Modified Tour.

“I hate that [Beers] beat me to [become champion], but he’s a great young man,” Bonsignore said. “He joined the series four or five years ago, and I don’t know how, but we just hit it off. We became really good friends at the track, tried to give him advice and took him under my wing a little bit.

“He’s a super good kid. He was raised by great people.”

Beers, who is the son of two-time Modified Tour race winner Eric Beers, joins an elite list of previous series champions that include Bonsignore, Tony Hirschman, Doug Coby and Mike Stefanik, among many others.

The idea of being a part of such a group was a surreal one for Beers, who always wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a successful Modified driver. After three full-time years of hard work and patience on the Modified Tour, Beers will now forever be immortalized as a series champion.

“It’s pretty insane to think about,” Beers said. “Growing up, going to these Modified races with my dad, [I] was dreaming of running on the Tour. Now to be a champion with all those guys like Mike [Stefanik], and Justin, someone who I have a lot of respect for. I pride myself in trying to be like Mike a little bit with how he was championship-wise.

“[Mike would be OK] with running second, but championships mean more than wins. To be a champion in this division is unbelievable.”

With Beers only being 22, he still has plenty of time to one day reach the highs of previous Modified Tour champions, which includes the four titles Bonsignore has claimed during his illustrious career.

Bonsignore knows he is still more than capable of at least tying Hirschman with five total championships, which is why the lack of victories in 2025 was frustrating. The last two years saw Bonsignore win five races apiece, a trend that was replaced with only two this year.

A handful of suboptimal showings mixed into his decreased efficiency prevented Bonsignore from celebrating both a victory and a championship on Thursday.

“I crashed myself at Seekonk [Speedway] on the last lap and I probably would have won the championship [if I didn’t],” Bonsignore said. “We just didn’t run great. There were times throughout the summer when we were eighth or ninth. Our big goal in this series is to make it to tech every week and you’ll have a shot.

“I’ve been doing this 16 years and have only won four of them. You’re going to lose way more than you win in this game.”

Instead of lingering too much on the hypotheticals, Bonsignore plans to enjoy his second Martinsville victory with his family and team before regrouping for 2026, where the pursuit for a fifth NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour title will begin once again.

Stephen Kopcik ended the 2025 Modified Tour season with a third-place finish. He was followed in the running order by Joey Coulter and Craig Lutz to round out the top five.

The rest of the top 10 finishers consisted of Tyler Rypkema, Eric Goodale, Conner Jones, Matt Hirschman and Mike Christopher Jr.

The Modified Tour now enters a three-month hiatus before the 2026 season commences. New Smyrna Speedway will open the new year on Feb. 7, with the race being broadcasted live on FloRacing.

Posted on by Staff Report

Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200

Martinsville Speedway

Martinsville Speedway C

  • Race results:
Pos. Car No. Name Sponsor Laps Diff.
1 51 Justin Bonsignore Phoenix Communications Inc 206  –
2 64 Austin Beers G&G Eletric Supply/Dell Electric/Fastrack Electric 206 1.107
3 21 Stephen Kopcik* Newtown Pools/Wanick Construction 206 1.229
4 2 Joey Coulter IV SRI Performance/Billstein Shocks/PFC Brakes/Molecule 206 1.33
5 46 Craig Lutz Riverhead Building Supply 206 1.37
6 3 Tyler Rypkema USNE Power/SYP/Northeast Drilling 206 1.568
7 58 Eric Goodale GAF Roofing 206 2.247
8 99 Conner Jones* Driveshaft Shop 206 3.559
9 60 Matt Hirschman PeeDee Motorsports/Bar Harbor Bank and Trust 205 1 Lap
10 77 Michael Christopher Jr* Curb Records/Mohawk Northeast 205 1 Lap
11 25 Danny Bohn Alpine Partners/Amerifast/Cutting Edge Stonework 205 1 Lap
12 8 John Michael-Shenette USNE Power Midwest/Eighty-Two Services 204 2 Laps
13 70 Andy Seuss Rockingham Boat 202 4 Laps
14 55 Jeremy Gerstner JT’s Services/Garage Doors of the Triad 201 5 Laps
15 56 Trevor Catalano USNE Power 201 5 Laps
16 22 Kyle Bonsignore MTT/ChaLew Performance/Munns Auto 200 6 Laps
17 1 Patrick Emerling Fleetworks Inc./Middlesex Interiors 198 8 Laps
18 5 Teddy Hodgdon IV* Montanari Fuel/Business Time Motorsports 198 8 Laps
19 18 Ken Heagy Speed 77 197 9 Laps
20 54 Tommy Catalano FX Caprara/USNE 191 15 Laps
21 7 Luke Baldwin* Baldwin Automotive 181 25 Laps
22 40 Luke Fleming William E Smith Trucking/Taylor’s Auto Parts 172 34 Laps
23 29 Mike Marshall* MLM Diagnostics/Jusczak Electric 151 55 Laps
24 4 Ryan Newman Bobcat/USNE/Finzer Rollers/Montrose Molders 120 86 Laps
25 14 Jake Lutz* Advantage Trucks/Washtronics/Anastasi Trucking 111 95 Laps
26 23 Carson Loftin L&R Transmission/LeBleu Water/QMF Metal & Electronics 52 154 Laps
27 11 Norman Newman* Family Funland 33 173 Laps
28 38 Bobby Labonte Cook-Out/PSR Products/Pace-O-Matics 7 199 Laps

 

Posted on by Adam Fenwick

MARTINSVILLE, Va. — We all have dreams.

Some dreams can be simple, like hoping Santa Claus brings you a new PlayStation for Christmas.

Other dreams, like the one shared by Austin Beers and Mike Murphy, are a bit more complicated.

Beers, a 22-year-old, second-generation racer from Northampton, Pennsylvania, and Murphy, a 68-year-old Irish immigrant, dreamed of someday winning the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship together.

On Thursday night, Beers and Murphy got to live out their dream. Driving Murphy’s No. 64 KLM Motorsports Modified, Beers finished second in the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200 to clinch his first championship in NASCAR’s oldest division.

“The biggest thing for me coming in was don’t think about it; don’t think about it, or you’re going to jinx it,” Beers told himself. “I didn’t really think about what I’d say or how I’d feel.”

He didn’t have to say much. In 2025, Beers let his driving do the talking.

In 16 Modified Tour races this season, Beers never finished worse than ninth. He scored two wins – at Lancaster Motorplex and Riverhead Raceway – to go along with 12 top fives and 16 top 10s.

He was the only driver to complete every possible lap this season, and he led all drivers with a 4.6 average finish.

Austin Beers
Austin Beers celebrates after clinching the 2025 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship Thursday at Martinsville Speedway. (Photo: Ted Malinowski/NASCAR)

Despite all those incredible stats, he still had to survive Thursday’s race to win his first championship. He avoided a multi-car melee during a restart and survived an overtime sprint to finish second, more than enough to clinch the championship.

Anxiety and stress levels were at all-time highs, but Beers showed maturity and composure beyond his years during a race that could have easily derailed his entire season.

“I knew I just had to do what I’ve been doing my whole life — that was the biggest thing,” Beers said when discussing the final restart. “I brought it home to the line and heard (on the radio) 2025 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion. That was a great feeling.”

As if that wasn’t good enough, Beers wrote a new chapter in the Modified Tour history books with his first championship.

At 22 years, seven months and five days old, Beers is now the youngest champion in the history of the Modified Tour. He broke the record set by current NASCAR Cup Series driver Ryan Preece, who was 22 years, 11 months and 25 days old when he won his Mods championship in 2013.

Beers has come a long way from playing video games with Preece between practice sessions at Modified Tour races a decade ago.

“Ryan was young running the Tour and just getting started, and my dad (Eric) was running the Tour. He’d hang out in the camper with me, and we’d play video games,” Beers remembered. “All the other drivers and crew members would go to the bar after the races. I’ve looked up to Ryan my whole racing career and pretty much since I was 6 years old.”

Murphy, who most of his friends and family affectionately call “Murph,” has watched Beers take his small team from a mid-pack organization to champion in the span of just four years.

For the native of Waterford, Ireland, just being in position to win a Modified Tour championship was something he never fathomed when he bought his first race car in the mid-1990s.

“This beats all of our expectations,” Murphy said. “We never even dreamed we’d be in a position like this when we started 25 or 30 years ago. Dreams come true, right?

“I’d never even seen what the (championship trophy) looked like, because we’d usually be pitted way over (in Turn 4) and the (trophy) would be over (in Turn 1). In all the years we’d been doing it, I never saw it for that reason.”

Austin Beers
Austin Beers became the youngest NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion in series history Thursday evening. (Photo: Ted Malinowski/NASCAR)

The KLM Motorsports team is truly a family operation. The team, which is named after Murphy’s wife Maggie and children Lyndsey and Kelly, is led by former driver Ron Yuhas and Sly Szaban.

The group has flourished since tabbing Beers to drive the No. 64 for his rookie campaign in 2022. Beers delivered the team’s first Modified Tour win in 2023 at Richmond Raceway, and since then, he has added four more checkered flags to Murphy’s growing collection.

It’s all still a bit surreal for Murphy, who was forced to sit on the sidelines for much of the 2024 season and the start of the 2025 season due to a host of health issues.

In January, Murphy got a new lease on life when he received a bilateral lung transplant. By May, he was back at the race track watching his driver and team chase a championship.

This could have been the worst year of Murphy’s life. Instead, he’s the living embodiment of the American dream.

“This is the best year of my life. I got a second chance at life,” Murphy said. “Hard work, I would say, is all it takes. This is a great country. A country of opportunity. The only thing that is going to stop you is yourself.”

While the championship meant the world to Beers and his family, Beers felt it was more important to deliver the title to Murphy. After all, Murphy is the one who took a chance on an unproven, 18-year-old kid.

Murphy gave Beers all the tools he needed to become the Modified Tour champion. And Beers delivered.

“Murph gave me the ultimate break to run this car and get my name out there,” Beers said. “Obviously the last year was really tough not having him at the race track. With him getting that lung transplant, you don’t know what’s going to happen. It was a pretty emotional time for our whole team.

“He’s been running the Tour since my dad (Eric) was running (the Tour), so 2010 or 2011. After all these years of ups and downs, to finally deliver that championship to him, it means more to me to give that championship to him than for me to win that championship, honestly.

“I owe everything to Murph and Maggie for giving me this opportunity to begin with, because I wouldn’t have it without them.”

With a Modified Tour championship secured, Murphy hopes to have Beers back next season to chase another championship.

However, what Murphy really wants is for Beers to get an opportunity to move on to bigger and better things.

That’s his new dream. It’s a dream Murphy believes that, like Thursday’s championship, Beers can make a reality.

“I hope this is a steppingstone,” Murphy said. “He’s still young. He’s only 22. Hopefully there is somebody out there watching and will see how good he is, and maybe they’ll offer him a ride somewhere along the way.

“I’d love to see him walking in Preece’s footsteps. Can you imagine? You turn the television on Sunday and see him at the race and you say, ‘We knew him when he was only a kid.’

“That would be another unbelievable dream as good as this. Maybe better.”