To commemorate 75 years worth of memories, the Wood Brothers Racing team will be celebrated throughout the summer with “Wood Brothers Wednesdays” on The NASCAR Channel.
Wood Brothers Racing has been around since 1950, when Glen and Leonard Wood teamed up to pioneer a legacy that has transcended time.
Glen was behind the wheel of their car at Bowman Gray Stadium in 1960 and took the Wood Brothers Racing team to Victory Lane for the first time. The team scored its 101st NASCAR Cup Series victory in 2025, when Josh Berry claimed the checkered flag at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Bookending those victories were triumphs everywhere from Daytona to Darlington to Rockingham and everywhere in between. Twenty of NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers have piloted a car for the team throughout their storied history, one that is well worth celebrating.
This Wednesday’s content theme will be Indianapolis and pit stops.
The organization provided the pit crew for Jim Clark and his No. 82 Ford in the 1965 Indianapolis 500 and captured the victory in the historic event. The Wood Brothers team, which was literally comprised of four Wood brothers, teamed up with two other crew members to pit not only Clark, but Bobby Johns in the event as well.
Glen, Leonard, Ray Lee and Delano were brought in to help the team get to the next level and contend for the Indianapolis 500 victory, and they did just that. Clark dominated the event, leading 190 of the 200 total laps.
The NASCAR Cup Series, including the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford piloted by Josh Berry, will race this weekend at Indianapolis.
Meanwhile, the Cup Series’ race from Darlington earlier this season will also air. It’s a race which saw Berry use a throwback scheme in honor of the car Clark raced at Indianapolis in 1965.
One piece of original content is also on the schedule, titled “Pit Stops with Leonard Wood.” Wood sits down with former Wood Brothers Racing crew member Ryan Flores to talk about pit stops through the eras.
The Wood Brothers team finished 10th in the first two Brickyard 400s in 1994 and 1995, with Morgan Shepherd behind the wheel both times. They also have top-10 finishes in 2018 and 2019, thanks to Paul Menard, who qualified second in 2019.
The NASCAR Channel delivers 24/7, always-on content, featuring the latest news and information from around the sport, original programming and race replays.
It is a FAST channel (Free-Ad Supported Television) and can be watched on your TV or mobile device via one of the streaming partners, such as Tubi or Xumo Play.
LOUDON, N.H. — Tuesday’s Goodyear tire test at New Hampshire Motor Speedway featured a trio of Championship 4 hopefuls in Christopher Bell, Ross Chastain and defending NASCAR Cup Series champion Joey Logano representing Toyota, Chevrolet and Ford, respectively. The session at its core was a full day (with more testing on Wednesday) of logging data and giving feedback, with implications that may not be felt initially, but could come to fruition in just under two months.
Each already locked into this year’s NASCAR Playoffs but at different points in their championship quests, the three participants got an early leg up at a postseason puzzle they’ll be trying to decode as NHMS re-enters the equation as a track along the championship path in the Round of 12, deeper into the playoffs than it had historically been. This season will be the first the “Magic Mile” has been in the playoffs since 2017.
Bell, last year’s race winner at Loudon, wasn’t shy about how much that helps his search for title No. 1.
“With it being later on in the year, it just makes it that much more important,” he said. “If you win this, you could put yourself into the Round of 8. And certainly, it’s a track that we’re capable of winning at.”
While specifics on compound selection for the test remained under wraps — Bell noted “12 or 13 different sets of tires” — drivers got a preview of the significant swings a tire choice could make at the “Magic Mile.” Goodyear experimented Tuesday with multiple tire combinations, some different from what teams had seen before, with an increase in tire wear specifically in mind.
“We’ve made great strides in advancing the short track tire the past couple years, and the New Hampshire test is another opportunity to continue that work,” said Mark Keto, Goodyear Senior Project Manager for NASCAR. “Our intention is to come back here and race on Goodyear Racing Eagle tires with a softer compound designed to create more tire wear and falloff.”
The three-time champion Logano indicated after a full day of testing that Goodyear has found the falloff.
“This is Goodyear’s test, right?” Logano said. “We started with what we had finished (with) last year, kind of going to what the tire has been this year at other short tracks. And then some other just off-the-wall stuff that they’ve come up with, which is pretty interesting. There’s no doubt they’ve created falloff. They know how to do that.”
In addition to helping Goodyear with data collection, it’s possible Tuesday’s laid-back, technically focused session could also kick-start a championship defense for Logano — currently outside the top 10 in points. We’ve seen this before, however, and the No. 22 Team Penske group faced similar questions heading into the playoffs last year … before smoking everybody in the back half of them for a third title in six years.
“I feel confident in my race team, obviously. You know, this year has been pretty rough to start off. There’s no doubt about that,” said Logano, who just made start No. 600. “But we’ve been here before many, many times, and playoffs come around, and things just start to click. But we can’t just rest on that and assume that’s gonna happen right now; that’s never happened by accident ever before. So we have to continue working toward that, so we can try to make a great run like that again.”
Pat DeCola | NASCAR Digital Media
His fellow championship contender Bell echoed Logano’s thoughts on the dramatic swings Goodyear took, and was quite pleased to see New Hampshire saddle its way into the meat of the playoffs, when he’ll likely be battling the New England native.
“It is crazy the difference that tires can make,” the No. 20 JGR driver said. “Like, we went through a couple tires that were seconds different on the trial. … I was definitely a big fan of the playoff schedule changes, minus Talladega being Round of 8, but Gateway being tossed in and Loudon being tossed in were really good additions for our team. Hopefully, we get to that opportunity in the Round of 12, where this is an important race for us. So, looking at the test schedule, we knew that this was one that we wanted to come to, and thankfully, we got it ironed out to where we’re here, and just trying to keep up with Joey today.”
Both Logano and Bell have a long history of success at the Granite State venue, but Chastain, apart from a handful of decent-enough recent runs, hasn’t yet found the rhythm necessary to propel himself to holding a lobster at the end of any Loudon afternoon.
For Chastain, Tuesday’s session jumped out as an opportunity at a place that hasn’t always clicked for him, but of which he’s grown fond.
“I like the track. I like it since I’ve got with my current crew chief (Phil Surgen),” he said. “He definitely changed the game for me and made it a lot better-feeling track because the race cars are so good. I just didn’t have that feeling I was confident before.”
It’s easy to see how Bell and Logano would be thrilled to see one of their best tracks come at such a crucial point in the season, but was Chastain not as enthusiastic to see the schedule shakeup?
“No. (I’m not concerned) at all. Like, line ‘em up. I don’t care,” he said. “I can’t try any harder with the playoff race versus the first race of the year or the middle of the summer. I don’t have that ability to kind of turn it off and on. I have to show up every week and try. And I might get lucky.”
That said, Bell’s win last year, overall track record and any insights gained from this week could make him the favorite here until proven otherwise. If Bell gets through the opening round cleanly, New Hampshire could be the place where he locks into the Round of 8, and what’s waiting for him on the other side of that is another date with the Championship 4 — at Phoenix Raceway, the track most similar to NHMS and where he won earlier this year amid a blazing, three-race streak.
“It’s statistically, I think, my best track on the schedule,” Bell said of New Hampshire. “And with it being later on in the year, putting it in the playoffs is really, I mean, it’s good for me. So I’m all for it. Let’s crown a champion here.”
Denny Hamlin rose to the occasion at Dover Motor Speedway, elevating the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota in double OT to go back-to-back at the “Monster Mile” and collect a series-best fourth 2025 win and 58th overall. On the opposite end of the career victories spectrum, will his teammate Ty Gibbs, riding a hot streak, finally capture his first Cup Series win this weekend at the Brickyard and claim the inaugural In-Season Challenge prize?
NASCAR.com’s Pat DeCola ranks the top 20 Cup Series contenders after the AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Dover and before Sunday’s Brickyard 400 presented by PPG at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (2 p.m. ET, TNT Sports/truTV, HBO Max, IMS Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Analysis: Elliott dominated much of the afternoon but eventually drove to a sixth-place result at Dover, elevating his name atop the standings with his 12th top-10 finish of the season. Although he’s still chasing his first Brickyard 400 win, Elliott’s history of clean execution and recent momentum make him one of the best bets to convert at Indy and maintain his edge in the championship race.
Analysis: At Dover, Hamlin claimed his fourth victory of 2025, seizing the lead in overtime with a perfectly timed restart and breaking a tie atop the pile, as now the series’ winningest driver this year. He’s never won at Indy but has five top fives at the Brickyard. With Joe Gibbs Racing on a hot streak, few enter the weekend with more confidence or experience in big-event pressure.
Analysis: Byron’s promising Dover pace went unrewarded after a late crash ended his race in 31st, extending a frustrating summer season for No. 24. The Brickyard has been a frustrating track for him as well, but with Hendrick Motorsports consistently sharp in Indy’s crown-jewel race, he should still have a shot.
Analysis: A determined fourth-place run at Dover helped Larson bounce back after a streak of puzzling results for a series-leading 13th top 10. There’s a lot of baggage coming into this Indy trip for him after what happened there in May, but he triumphed in last year’s return to the Indianapolis oval and, with three wins already this season, heads to the Brickyard with a car capable of repeating.
Analysis: Bell’s speed at Dover put him in contention, but multiple late spins left him 18th and denied a shot at his fourth win of the season. No. 20 nabbed a top five at Indy last year and remains one of the grid’s best closers — thus, a date with the bricks could be in his future.
Analysis: Reddick quietly posted a 12th at Dover, failing to lead a lap for the sixth time in the past seven races. Indianapolis has historically provided him a chance to shine, and last year’s runner-up could be a popular pick to break his winless drought.
Analysis: Briscoe nearly claimed victory No. 2 of the season — the other was a battle with teammate Denny Hamlin as well — further staking his claim as one of 2025’s most improved performers. As an Indiana native, the Brickyard 400 is his home race, and with momentum building, he has a tremendous shot to win a true-to-form Indy contest.
Analysis: Blaney’s eighth-place Dover run stopped the bleeding a bit — and just in time. A win on the Indy oval feels destined to be in No. 12’s future, and with Team Penske’s traditional strength at the Brickyard, Blaney is likely to factor heavily as the team aims to regain some footing before the playoffs at a track owned by the big man.
Analysis: Bowman’s late surge to third at Dover was one of his best of the year, continuing to bring renewed optimism to the No. 48 team after a tough early summer. While Indy’s oval has typically been … less than flattering for Bowman, his Hendrick horsepower and recent momentum could make him a dark horse for a breakthrough victory at the Brickyard.
Analysis: Buescher netted a ninth-place showing at Dover for his fifth top 10 in the past seven races, all seven of which were top 20s. He’s a sneaky pick for a surprise top-five run in what could be a chaotic Brickyard 400 — Buescher landed a top 10 there in 2017 with much less experience and in lesser equipment.
Analysis: Not much to write home about for Logano in his 600th career start, landing P14 and an overdue Victory Lane date with Miles the Monster having to wait yet another year. With two runner-up finishes but no wins at the Brickyard, Logano’s experience and Team Penske’s Indy pedigree make him dangerous if he can qualify up front and survive its wild restarts.
Analysis: Chastain’s Dover ended in the garage after contact and a 33rd-place result, extending a difficult string of races (only interrupted by a P10 at Chicago) and netting just four points. Indianapolis has not been his strongest oval, but he has improved there in each of his starts and led eight laps last year.
Analysis: Wallace ended a discouraging run of results with a seventh-place showing at Dover, finally netting a finish that matches his car’s true pace this summer. Indy has actually been a real solid track for him, too — he led 28 laps last year en route to his second top five in three Indy races, all of which were top 10s.
Analysis: A charge to fifth place at Dover continued Gibbs’ recent surge, and he now sits in the top 16 in points after averaging an 8.0 finish over the past seven races. He’s a former Brickyard winner — on the road course and in the Xfinity Series, so take it with a grain of salt as it pertains to Sunday — but lines up well to perhaps crack through for his first Cup triumph there this weekend, with extra motivation fueling him with $1 million on the line.
Analysis: Busch is doing all he can with what he’s given — cars that are not enough in his owner’s eyes — and a P11 at Dover was typical of his frustrating but competitive season. “Rowdy” won back-to-back Brickyard 400s a decade ago and is always a threat at Indianapolis, though. His veteran savvy could be a serious difference maker in a race historically won by heavyweights.
Analysis: Preece survived a tough, contact-filled afternoon for 19th at Dover despite a late mix-up with Zane Smith, continuing a season teetering on the playoff bubble and sinking further away from a spot in Delaware. The Brickyard oval’s long green-flag runs could suit his methodical short-track-bred knack for developing a rhythm, but he’ll need to qualify well to avoid Indy’s notorious mid-pack mishaps.
Analysis: McDowell’s 13th-place run at Dover was his best non-road-course result since Charlotte, as he and Spire Motorsports continued to develop their oval acumen. The 2021 Daytona 500 winner has often raced smartly at long speedways, and if the Brickyard turns into a survival test, his experience could pay unexpected dividends as it has over the past decade there (15.0 average finish since 2016).
Analysis: Cindric finished 16th at Dover, showing competitive pace in the second half of the race but ultimately falling short of collecting his second top 10 since winning at Talladega. Like Gibbs, he’s a former Indy road-course winner in the Xfinity Series, and he’ll be another one looking to claim a traditional, oval-style win at the Brickyard, so people like me will stop pointing this out.
Analysis: SVG’s steep learning curve continued at the steeply banked Dover, where he struggled with traffic and finished 30th, seven laps down after puncturing a tire early. As he makes his first Indianapolis oval start, his exceptional adaptability and qualifying prowess could help offset a lack of oval experience, but a clean finish will be priority No. 1 as he continues to gain experience.
Analysis: A difficult Dover weekend left Berry three laps down in 28th, and with just a single top 10 since mid-March, it appears likely the No. 21 car could be headed for a first-round playoff exit for a second straight year. While Indy’s high-speed oval may not play to his traditional strengths, a smooth, mistake-free race could certainly happen for him this weekend — but neither of his Indy trips thus far in his national series career has gone well.
CORNELIUS, N.C. — Champion Tire & Wheel announced July 18 its plans to deploy an automated truck platoon, powered by Kratos Defense driverless technology and premium Goodyear commercial truck tires, to support the Brickyard 400 on July 27, 2025, at Indianapolis Motor Speedway — marking the first known use of driverless truck technology in global motorsports logistics.
The deployment features a human-driven lead truck paired with an autonomous follower vehicle — showcasing how automation can complement existing operations and improve logistics efficiency without disrupting workflows. Champion Tire & Wheel, in partnership with Kratos Defense and collaboration with The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, is proud to be the first in the motorsports world to integrate this advanced technology into race support operations.
“We’re always looking for ways to improve how we serve the teams and meet the demands of a fast-paced race schedule,” said Kevin Mahl, President & CEO of Champion Tire & Wheel. “The autonomous technology gives us an additional tool to keep our fleet moving efficiently when tight timelines and long distances come into play; and the Goodyear tires on the trucks and trailers help us maintain fuel efficiency and optimal performance across demanding routes. We’re excited to see it all come together at the track — the ultimate proving grounds.”
Champion Tire & Wheel has a long-standing commitment to transforming motorsports logistics. Since 2002, the company has pioneered new ways to deliver race-ready wheels and pit equipment, developing proprietary tracking systems, automated wheel inspection processes, and optimized handling practices to treat wheels as critical performance components — not just freight.
“This is more than just a tech demo, it’s about showing how automation can solve real-world logistics challenges,” said Maynard Factor, VP of Business Development at Kratos. “Champion and Goodyear are forward-thinking companies who understand that the future of mobility starts with operational relevance, and this deployment proves just that.”
Complementing Champion Tire & Wheel’s deep roots in motorsports, Goodyear’s involvement with the Brickyard 400 dates back to its inaugural race in 1994, showcasing our shared legacy of performance.
“Goodyear has long stood at the intersection of driving performance and vehicle intelligence — from the racetrack to autonomous innovation,” said Rich Cottrell, Senior Director, Commercial Marketing, Goodyear. “This deployment connects Goodyear’s racing legacy with our premium commercial tire technology and fleet solutions — helping advance performance and uptime for modern logistics. We’re proud to support this milestone with Kratos and Champion Tire & Wheel.”
“Our mission is to deliver race-ready wheels and pit equipment to every track. The confidence teams place in our work is what drives us,” said Todd Carpenter, Vice President & General Manager of Champion Tire & Wheel. “This deployment, made possible through our collaboration with Kratos Defense and The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, is another step forward in making our logistics operations smarter, safer, and more efficient.”
The deployment will run along the I-70 Truck Automation Corridor between Columbus, Ohio and Indianapolis, Indiana, providing a real-world demonstration of how automated systems can help solve practical logistics challenges in one of the most time-sensitive supply chains in the country.
Champion Tire & Wheel remains focused on adopting solutions that drive operational excellence, safety, and reliability for the racing teams and partners it proudly supports.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Five NASCAR Cup Series regular-season races remain, four drivers are currently playoff eligible based on points and three more are within striking distance. Plus, there’s a new championship leader, Chase Elliott.
That’s the situation as the series moves to Indianapolis Motor Speedway this weekend for Sunday’s Brickyard 400 presented by PPG (2 p.m. ET, TNT Sports, truTV, HBO Max, IMS Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
A thrilling 400-miler at Dover Motor Speedway only heightened the dramatic expectations of the five remaining races — at Indianapolis, Iowa Speedway, Watkins Glen International, Richmond Raceway and Daytona International Speedway.
Last year’s regular-season champ, 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick, is tops in points among those without a win — 156 points above the elimination line. Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman, RFK Racing’s Chris Buescher and Reddick’s teammate Bubba Wallace round out the fortunate four above the line heading to Indianapolis.
However, only a slight 16 points separate Wallace from RFK Racing’s Ryan Preece, who is below the line. Two-time series champion, Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch is 39 points below the line and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Ty Gibbs is a more distant 52 points off the pace.
The outstanding news for fans is that these final five venues are as unpredictable as they are diverse. Outside of road-course ace Shane van Gisbergen possibly working his magic at Watkins Glen, there are no absolute odds-on favorites to win at any of the upcoming tracks.
Among the four drivers in the playoff field on points, only Bowman and Buescher have NASCAR Cup Series wins at any of these tracks. Bowman won in spring of 2021 at Richmond, and Buescher has victories in 2023 at Richmond and Daytona and is the defending race winner at Watkins Glen.
As for the closest contenders to that playoff line, Preece and Gibbs are still racing for their first career Cup Series victory. The two-time former champ Busch, however, has Cup Series wins at four of the next five tracks.
Precedence also bodes well for a group of drivers further down the championship standings needing a race win. HYAK Racing’s Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon, for example, have both won the Daytona 500 and a summer race at the big track.
RFK team owner/driver Brad Keselowski has won at Indianapolis, Richmond and Daytona. Spire Motorsports teammates Michael McDowell and Justin Haley both have Daytona victories.
Not to be overshadowed in all the playoff eligibility drama at the bottom of the eligibility rankings is who will win the hotly contested regular-season championship trophy.
Hendrick Motorsports is poised for a big trophy hoist; it could be just a matter of who is doing the hoisting. Elliott’s resurgence coupled with his teammate William Byron’s summer slump have created more drama atop the standings.
Elliott’s sixth-place finish on Sunday at Dover — he also led 238 laps — coupled with his teammate Byron’s 31st-place finish gave Elliott the championship lead (by 16 points) for the first time this season.
Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, has finished sixth or better in five of the last six races, including a win at Atlanta, while Byron has three DNFs in the last four races and only a pair of top-20 finishes in the last seven.
Elliott’s only two wins at the remaining regular-season tracks, however, came at Watkins Glen, where he earned his first career NASCAR Cup Series win in 2018 and answered with another the next year. Byron won in 2023 at Watkins Glen and scored his first series win in the summer of 2020 at Daytona. He also has back-to-back Daytona 500 victories.
Their teammate, 2021 series champion Larson — who is ranked third, 38 points off Elliott — has had a similarly disappointing summer stretch. His fourth-place at Dover marks only his second top 10 in the last six races. As with Byron, however, he has a strong resume at the remaining five tracks with a pair of wins at Richmond and Watkins Glen and he goes into this weekend as the defending Indianapolis Motor Speedway race winner.
“It’s good to get a top-five finish and get back on the horse there,” Larson said of his work at Dover. “Hopefully we can string together some good runs now.”
Not to be lost in all the championship talk is the In-Season Challenge $1 million-to-win finale this week pitting Ty Gibbs and Ty Dillon — grandsons of team owners (Joe Gibbs and Richard Childress, respectively). Whoever finishes higher at Indy claims the big check.
It all makes for a compelling run for playoff contention. No matter where you are in the championship standings there is plenty still to be decided.
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is back in action after a three-week break with a trip to Indianapolis Raceway Park on Friday night (8 p.m. ET, FS1, NASCAR Racing Network Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Cup Series regular Ross Chastain returns to drive the No. 44 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet while Xfinity Series team owner Jordan Anderson comes back to his Truck Series roots, driving the No. 20 Chevrolet for Young’s Motorsports.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series heads out into the heart of racing country to visit the famed 2.5-mile oval at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the 21st race of the 2025 season on Saturday (4:30 p.m. ET, The CW, IMS Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson returns to the No. 17 Chevrolet in a double-duty effort as he aims to defend his Brickyard 400 win on Sunday. Katherine Legge will also be back in the saddle of the No. 32 Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet.
The NASCAR Cup Series returns to the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Brickyard 400 on Sunday (2 p.m. ET, TNT Sports/truTV, HBO Max, IMS Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Katherine Legge is set to become the 21st driver to compete in both the Brickyard 400 and the Indianapolis 500, driving the No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet this week. NASCAR Xfinity Series regular Jesse Love returns to the No. 62 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet on Sunday. Josh Bilicki will also return to the No. 66 Garage 66 Ford for MBM Motorsports.
See the full entry list for Sunday’s crown-jewel race:
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Saturday night’s Truliant Night of Destruction at Bowman Gray Stadium proved to be a battle to get through the rain.
After five different rain showers most of the schedule went on as scheduled. But the big winner turned out to be Tim Brown.
Brown, who is a 12-time champion in the Brad’s Golf Cars Modified Series, won the second 25-lap Modified race for his first win of the season. It was his first win since July 27 of last year.
“It’s mixed, right?,” Brown said. “You never want to win that second race. I don’t want to win the second race, but with the season we’ve had this year I needed that, right?”
Brown started second the second 25-lap race after Brandon Ward, the points leader, won the first 25-lap race.
“My needed it, My sponsors needed it. We all needed it,” Brown said. “So, we’ll take it. You know, we sat on the pole last week. And we finally got the car where I like it, and it’s got speed, and I can drive it.”
It was a relief for Brown.
“Hats off to this team” Brown said. “They’ve worked their guts out, and I’m just blessed that I can get them a victory. And so proud ny wide and kids were here. To get to share that with them is special. Like, I said, I’m not proud that this is the second 25-lapper. We’ll come back next week, set on the pole and win. I’ll be happy.”
Brown took the lead on the second turn of the first lap after passing Randy Butner, who sat on the pole after the Madhouse Scramble following Brandon Ward’s win in the first race.
“Our car was super-good,” Brown said. “I was able to pass Randy in the first race on the outside and then drive away from him. So, I knew, me and Randy’s big buddies. And I knew he’d race me clean and I’d race him clean, and that Rahmoc power just pulled him.
“And like I said, he raced me clean and I was able to clear him off of 2 there and just won my race from then on.”
According to race stats this season, Brown had not led a lap this season. That obviously changed Saturday night by leading all 25 laps in the second race.
“It’s been super-frustrating,” Brown said. “But we’ve tried a bunch of new setup stuff this year, like new-wave technology stuff, that just didn’t work out for us. We went went back to old-school stuff last week and here we win this week.”
Ryan Flores finished runner-up to Brown, followed by Butner, John Smith, and Daniel Beeson.
“So, we’re back where we need to be and things are good,” Brown said. “We just keep this momentum going and have a good last half of the season here.”
Saturday’s win also gave Brown 102 for his career, breaking the tie he had with Burt Myers, who has 101.
“It’s OK,” Brown said. “Like I said, I don’t even look at that because I ain’t nowhere near done.”
Brandon Ward after winning Saturday night at Bowman Gray Stadium. (Photo: Erick Messer/Bowman Gray Stadium
As for Brandon Ward, he just continued his winning ways.
He picked up his third win of the season and 15th of his career. Lee Jeffreys finished runner-up, followed by Burt Myers, Chris Fleming, and Jason Myers.
“It always feels good to win,” Brandon Ward said. “I mean, these twin-25s, man, it’s sort of a, you want to win them, but we lost some points tonight by winning that first one and having to start behind everybody in the second one.”
Brandon Ward finished 13th in the second race, and Bowman Gray officials do the average finish when a series has two races in one night.
“It’s good to win,” he said. We felt like we didn’t have a terrible night points-wise, We just didn’t gain anything. Lost just a little bit there, but to get a win’s always good.”
One of key moments of the first 25-lap Modified race happened on the second lap. Mike Speeney, who is second in points, was just ahead of Burt Myers, who is third in points. Burt Myers bumped Speeney, which wrecked Speeney’s car and kept him out of the second race.
“We pick up our third win of the season,” Brandon Ward said. We’re going to try to get a couple more if we can by the end of the year.”
There was no qualifying because of the rain before the race start. Starting positions for the first 25-lap Modified Series were determined by points standings. That meant that Brandon Ward, who is the points leader, started on the pole.
“Well, it’s definitely been different,” Brandon Ward said. “I’ve never had a night quite go like this with no practice, no qualifying, no anything. So, it was definitely different. Kind of shocked we got it in, you know. Most of the time it rains enough to where we don’t get them in.
“But it was nice to get started and get this one in. You know, it was definitely a different scenario kind of rolling out there in that first race not knowing what to expect.”
But a win’s a win.
“We’ve all raced enough over here this year,” Brandon Ward said. “We’ve all got laps on these cars, so it wasn’t like we were totally blind. (The) race track’s been slick all night. It’s just green from where it’s rained on it all week. And no practice this afternoon, so no rubber put down on it.
“So, definitely the race track was off tonight, but it was off for everybody. So, five more week, and like I said, try to get a few more wins.”
In the first 20-lap race on Law Offices of John Barrow Sportsman Series, Nate Gregg came from starting eighth to win.
Gregg was in second just behind leader Mitch Gales after the final restart on lap 18, but Gregg took the lead shortly thereafter.
Zack Ore finished third, Dylan Ward was fourth, and Kirk Sheets was fifth.
In the 15-lap Q104.1 Stadium Stock Series race, A.J. Sanders defeated runner-up Chuck Wall.
“It feels good,” Sanders said. “…There’s just to many (good drivers) out here.”
Sterling Plemmons was able to fend off Justin Taylor to win the second 20-lap Sportsman Series race.
“You know, it’s Justin and me,” Plemmons said. “So, it’s always magnets to each other. And he wanted to play games. He seemed upset. I don’t know what he’s upset over. I’ve had a terrible night. The transmission hung in gear the first race. I probably should’ve won that one. We rallied back to come get the second one. I don’t how to race any better than that. And, I don’t know, that’s it.”
Tommy Neal was third, Chase Robertson was fourth, and Zack Ore was fifth.
There were three cautions.
Isaac Harris finished third, Brandon Brendle was fourth, and Levi Holt was fifth.
The 20-lap race in the QRC HVAC & Refrigeration Series was the only event that was postponed Saturday night because of weather. Just as the cars rolled in the track to start the Street Stock race it started raining for the fifth time. The demolition derby went on as scheduled because it wasn’t affected by the rain.
Next week’s racing is highlighted by the Colors Edge 100, which will be a 100-lap race in the Law Offices of John Barrow Sportsman series.
In addition there will be twin 25-lap races in the Brad’s Golf Cars Modified Series, a 20-lap race in the QRC HVAC & Refrigeration Street Stock Series, and either one or two 15-lap races in the Q104.1 Stadium Stock Series.
In between managing the stifling heat, endless restarts and a nearly hourlong rain delay, Denny Hamlin peeked at the Dover Motor Speedway running order during his victory Sunday.
The scoring pylon told the story of two teams and a 2025 Cup Series title that increasingly seems destined to be determined between two reigning powerhouses of NASCAR.
“It was all JGR and Hendrick (Motorsports) there at one point; I think it was top eight,” Hamlin said, adding with a smile. “Resources goes a long way, apparently.”
The balance of power at the 1-mile concrete oval has tipped decidedly in favor of Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing, which now have combined to win 15 of the past 20 races at Dover (and 12 of 17 oval races during the 2025 season).
The Monster Mile is living up to its nickname as a championship measuring stick that is not for the faint of heart or the weak of the NASCAR Cup Series.
Hamlin led a top six exclusively of Hendrick and JGR drivers, but it easily could have been a clean sweep of the top eight for the four-car squads.
William Byron ran in the top five throughout before being caught in a late crash with his No. 24 Hendrick Chevrolet. Christopher Bell led 67 laps but lost control of his No. 20 JGR Toyota twice while racing hard for first on restarts.
“Dover and spinning out, I’ve got a problem with that,” Bell later joked.
There is no shame in that at Dover, particularly under extreme conditions rarely seen at the track. This season marked the first Cup race held in July at Dover since its 1969 debut, and the field was subjected to withering temperatures with triple-digit intensity while navigating the track’s nauseatingly steep banking.
“This is one of the more physical, demanding race tracks that we go to anyway,” Hamlin said. “It’s certainly in the top three just simply because of the G-forces it has. You don’t have long straightaways to take breaks. Typically, drivers like to relax their bodies on the straightaways to not fatigue all your muscles during the course of a three-and-a-half-hour race.
“There’s not a lot of time to do that at this track.”
The Dover victory roster underscores that only a select list of stars reach Victory Lane there.
In the past two decades, there have been 16 winners of Cup races at Dover. Six are in the NASCAR Hall of Fame, two were on this year’s ballot, and two (Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr.) will be surefire locks for induction in the next two years.
Of the remaining six, four are active Cup champions. The other two are Alex Bowman and Hamlin, who needed 14 years — and hours of studying the driving styles of Jimmie Johnson and Truex — to earn his first win at Dover.
“This is an oval race track, but this is the most unorthodox that you drive a track like this,” Hamlin said on the TNT post-race show. “You cannot drive it like a normal oval, like any other track on the circuit. You have to approach it differently, and it just took me a long time to figure that out.”
Despite being an outlier that was cut to one annual race four years ago, Dover is emerging as a barometer for the best teams in the Cup Series.
That designation once belonged to Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where the winner of the Brickyard 400 went on to win the Cup title eight times in 12 seasons from 1998-2009. That trend then shifted toward 1.5-mile speedways, which once comprised half of the 10-race playoffs.
But during the Next Gen era, competitive parity has become a popular story line on the 1.5-mile ovals, which also no longer weigh so heavily into the championship.
When this year’s Championship 4 field is set, and particularly if Hamlin finally manages to break through for his first championship, Sunday’s Dover results will be worth revisiting.
A monster day on the “Monster Mile” might have more meaning than ever.
