SAN DIEGO — Earlier today, NASCAR declassified renderings of the street course it will use for next year’s NASCAR San Diego Weekend presented by Anduril. Digital renderings and maps reveal a challenging 16-turn, 3.4-mile street circuit at Naval Base Coronado that mixes high-speed action with breathtaking views. The street course will also provide a star-spangled backdrop to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States Navy, June 19-21, 2026.
“It’s so exciting to finally share the street course layout and provide this first look for our longtime and new fans,” said NASCAR San Diego President Amy Lupo. “Anticipation for this event is already high, and we know this course layout will raise that level of excitement even higher. We can’t wait to see how the best drivers in the world meet this challenge, while celebrating America’s Navy.”
Grandstand seating and hospitality will be available throughout the circuit, the longest course on NASCAR’s 2026 schedule. It features a quick right-hand turn after the Ellyson Start/Finish Line, before two quick 90-degree left-handers launch competitors on a high-octane journey around the San Diego Bay and one of the world’s foremost military installations, Naval Base Coronado.
Course highlights include:
The Ellyson Start/Finish Line: Named in honor of Commander Theodore Ellyson, Naval Aviator Number One. His training at North Island laid the foundation for its commissioning as a naval air station in 1917 and eventual recognition as the “Birthplace of Naval Aviation.”
Turn 5, Carrier Corner: This sharp left-hand turn is located between the docking location of two aircraft carriers.
Turn 8, Coronado Chicane: This begins a series of turns that will provide drivers with a steep challenge as they speed toward the interior of the base.
Turn 14, Runway Road: Aptly named, given it is located near the north end of Runway 18/36 at Halsey Field.
NASCAR San Diego Weekend presented by Anduril begins with Navy Community Day on Friday, June 19, 2026, with plans to honor the military forthcoming. Friday access will be open exclusively to members of the U.S. Navy at Naval Base Coronado and a limited amount of Coronado residents and then culminate with the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race.
Ticket holders from the general public will be welcome aboard June 20-21, 2026. The NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series will take center stage on Saturday, June 20, and the stars of the NASCAR Cup Series will compete in the Anduril 250 Race the Base on Sunday, June 21.
Race fans have already begun placing deposits for pre-sale tickets at NASCARSanDiego.com. The ticket pre-sale window for depositors begins Oct. 23, with tickets going on sale to the public on Nov. 7.
In the first couple of races, Werner broke multiple transmissions and couldn’t figure out why. He ended up having to tear apart his race car and seek professional advice on the problem. He ultimatelty installed a new drive shaft, and off he went.
“It was probably the fourth or fifth night out, I believe, when we finally got the problem figured out,” Werner said. “It turned out to be pretty good.”
From there, Werner went on to win seven races and pick up 17 top-five finishes in Adams County’s Hobby Stocks by Hulett & Sons Salvage division.
He narrowly missed out on his first championship at the Corning, Iowa track, coming in second by six points. But he came away with multiple wins in the bigger picture.
Werner captured both the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Division IV national championship and the Midwest regional championship, the first of his career for either feat. Those titles count drivers’ 14 best results throughout a season.
“It’s pretty awesome to be able to pull something like that off, especially after the start of the season,” Werner said. “It was pretty rough for us, but we had it turned around, and I’m pretty happy with it.”
The early season was especially frustrating for Werner, because he and his team really wanted to go for the track championship.
He missed out on the track title by six points because of a disqualification midway through the season. After the DQ, he said he and the team were “pretty down in the dumps,” adding, “anytime you run for something like that it gets pretty stressful when you’re trying to concentrate just on running for points and stuff.”
Cody Werner (21) raced to seven wins in Adams County Speedway’s Hobby Stock class in 2025. (Photo: CK Imaging)
With three races left, Werner said someone realized they were 80 points out of the regional and national title points leads, so they turned their attention to that.
“We put our heads down and we focused on doing one thing — that was going to win,” he said. “We didn’t know if we could get it, and we had to have some really good nights, and we just focused on going over there and winning some races. And, obviously, winning gets you places.”
Werner has been racing at Adams County for 21 years, following in the footsteps of his dad, Kenny, who also raced at the dirt track.
“I live in a little town of probably 200 people, and everybody goes to the races,” Werner said. “I grew up around it. That’s something I always wanted to do when I grew up.”
As a graduation present in 2003, Werner’s parents bought him his first race car, and they had it ready for the track the following year.
Werner only raced sparingly for about a decade because he was traveling across the country for work. When he had his first child, he quit that job and got another that allowed him to be closer to home. That’s when he and his team put the focus back on racing.
In 2024, he got a new car and picked up four wins, finishing second in the track standings by 21 points. The close finish was motivation for 2025.
“The car worked really well, and we really put our heads down over the winter time and focused in on trying to run for the championship,” Werner said. “I’ve never really focused in on running for the championship. I like to do it for fun. If it ain’t fun, it ain’t worth doing to me. And that was our main focus this winter was to win some races and see where we played out.”
Cody Werner is joined in Victory Lane by his family and crew this season at Adams County Speedway. (Photo: CK Imaging)
Kenny still helps his son with the car every week. Werner estimates his dad has only missed maybe five races in 21 years.
“First and foremost, I’ve got to thank my dad,” he said. “He’s been there with me every year.
“We’ve grown pretty close over the years. We don’t always agree on things, but at the end of the day, he’s always been there for me.”
Werner also thanked his friend, Matt, who has been with the team for several years, and his brother, who helps with the car and often buys parts when needed.
He also thanked his girlfriend and children, who are just as big a part of the team.
“My girlfriend, my kids take a lot of time, because building these things and working on through the week and everything like that, a lot of people don’t understand what it takes to keep this thing going,” Werner said.
The team will have an end-of-season party later this month to celebrate their first championship. Werner said he’s most excited to head to Charlotte, North Carolina later this year to be part of the NASCAR Regional and International Awards.
As he reflects on his first title, Werner said everything he accomplished this year hasn’t really hit him, but he thinks he’ll see it and feel it once he gets to Charlotte.
“It’s a pretty cool thing,” he said. “I don’t think it’s really sunk in yet. Everybody keeps saying, ‘Hey man, congratulations on winning the national and regional championship.’ I’m just kind of like, ‘thanks.’ I don’t know if it’s really set it.
“I feel like when I get to go to the trip to Charlotte, I’m sure getting to be around all the NASCAR people and everything, that’s when it will hit.”
When Adams County Speedway finished its 2025 season in early September, Shawn Kralik was sitting atop the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Division III national standings. But he figured he didn’t have much of a chance to stay there.
His competitors at other tracks across the country still had one, two or even three races remaining in their seasons. Kralik and his team basically stopped following the results in those final weeks. He was content knowing he was just in the conversation.
Then he got the call.
“We didn’t really know about it here until recently,” Kralik said. “We didn’t know if we’d be able to hang onto it or not because we had left there for quite a while.”
Those final races at other tracks didn’t matter. Kralik won the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Division III national championship by 32 points ahead of Berlin Raceway’s Tim DeVos.
It’s the first national championship for the driver from Creston, Iowa.
“That part really hasn’t sunk in,” Kralik said. “Just to find out we actually pulled it off when the final results were in, that means quite a lot. It hasn’t quite sunk in yet. It’s a pretty neat deal. We honestly didn’t figure that was something in our hands that we’d ever pull off, so it’s neat that it happened.”
Shawn Kralik earned six wins in the Sport Mod class at Iowa’s Adams County Speedway to clinch not just the track title, but the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Division III national championship, as well. (Photo: CK Imaging)
Kralik had his best season in his 14th year, finishing with six wins in Adams County’s Sport Mods by RJ’s Plumbing & Heating division. He never finished worse than fourth in 19 races, and he won the track championship by 196 points.
“It went pretty good. I guess we had a pretty solid year,” he said. “We had pretty good car count in our class and our division. … It went pretty good, I thought.”
The meteoric success comes less than a year after Kralik was involved in a wreck at the Corning, Iowa track that forced him to build a new race car for the 2025 season. This was Kralik’s second track championship at Adams County. His first arrived in 2023.
With several near misses at the national title, Kralik’s team focused simply on winning races at his home track and then seeing how the points played out at the end of the year. That’s why his championship came as such a surprise. He didn’t even know he was close to the top of the standings until someone mentioned it to him at the track when he had just a few races remaining.
“We’ve been close a few times. We’ve led it some, but toward the end, we just didn’t quite hang on,” he said. “At the end of the whole season, everything changes pretty quick. So I know we’ve led it several times, but we just haven’t finished it out. It’s kind of nice to finally get one of them done.”
Kralik doesn’t come from a racing family, and he didn’t get into the sport until his late teens. Growing up, Kralik had a friend who was a racer, and he found himself going to tracks to watch the races.
“Obviously, you want to be like your idol at some point in your life,” he said. “We’d go to the races all the time and watch. And — I don’t know — just one day we decided we could do it, but it’s a lot bigger challenge than a guy thinks. It’s a lot easier to watch than it is to do; that’s for sure.”
Kralik needed more than a decade to find success, and for that, he credits the aid he received.
“I was fortunate enough to have good help from the beginning with an experienced racer on my side and on my crew, so that helps a lot,” he added. “And, of course, a lot of good guys on my team in general, just helping me keep everything going every week because we’ve been doing it every summer, all summer for a lot of years, so that’s a lot of dedication.”
Shawn Kralik celebrates one of his six Sport Mod victories this year at Adams County Speedway. (Photo: CK Imaging)
This year, Kralik was joined by good friends Jeremey, Big Mike, Nick, Little Mike, Quinton, Chuck, Spenser, Garrett, Thad, Bailey, Lawson, Knox, and his dad.
His wife was also a major help, as was his year-and-a-half old son, who Kralik said enjoys doing whatever he can in the shop.
“It’s kind of fun to have him out there rolling tires around, and he likes to let the air out of my tires,” he said. “It’s pretty funny.”
The difference the last few years, Kralik said, comes from the team simply being better organized and racing with better equipment.
“We were maybe struggling to keep up with some of them guys,” he added. “It’s a money game, so just maybe getting better equipment under us, honestly, is what kind made us start doing better.
“And more experience, in general. Just over the years figuring out what you need as a driver to make yourself better. We’ve been close to championships before in years prior, but just not quite there. The last, I’d say three or four years, maybe even five years, have been really actually pretty good years for us. It’s a lot more enjoyable when you can do better.”
Kralik’s team is mostly farmers with a busy season in the fall, so they haven’t had time to get together and celebrate their championship. Once work winds down, they’ll get together for a celebration. He’s also looking forward to the awards banquet at Adams County in January.
Maybe by the time his team is able to get together, the success they achieved this season will have set in.
“That’s actually what makes it all come together is having everyone there, solid, working together,” Kralik said. “That’s honestly what makes this all happen for us. It’s a team effort, for sure. So it means a lot to have that many people take time out of their weekends to be there to support it and keep it going, and we’ve got a really good crew together.
Joe Gibbs Racing driver Chase Briscoe wound up doing what we alluded to here last week, punching his first career ticket to the Championship 4 in remarkable fashion Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway. Ryan Blaney, who has shown up to the Phoenix party fashionably late in each of the past two seasons with a last-minute win at Martinsville, is hoping to make it three in a row and punch his title ticket this weekend in Virginia.
Analysis: Hamlin was plagued by a debris-induced throttle issue at Talladega, relegating him to P24 when all was said and done after clawing his way back to the lead lap. He could’ve finished 40th, and it wouldn’t have made a difference in his title quest; No. 11 is already locked in on Phoenix. He’ll probably be in the mix this weekend at arguably his best track, however, as the six-time Martinsville winner would love to add a seventh not only for an additional grandfather clock, but also to potentially keep some of his stronger competition (i.e., Team Penske’s Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney) far away from title contention at Phoenix.
Analysis: If there were such awards in NASCAR as “Most Improved Driver” and “Most Valuable Driver,” one could strongly argue that Briscoe delivering three wins, the No. 19 car’s first Championship 4 bid since 2021, first ever superspeedway win and series highs in top fives and poles in his first year at Joe Gibbs Racing would have him capturing both. While the pressure is off and the focus turns to Phoenix, Briscoe is strong at Martinsville as well and — similarly to Hamlin — has incentive to win this one outright and play a bit of keep-away.
Analysis: All the pressure that Hamlin and Briscoe don’t feel? All of that now gets put squarely on the shoulders of Bell, who won three of the season’s first four races but is now at risk of watching his teammates compete for a title in Phoenix while he hopes for better luck next year. That said, he’s in a better position than any other non-locked-in driver, and he’s got the chops to take matters into his own hands (he is a former do-or-die Martinsville winner, after all) and ensure he joins his compadres in the desert for a championship chance.
Analysis: Instead of Briscoe, the driver with a dirt background who won his first superspeedway race was nearly Larson … before No. 5 ran dry at the end and walked away with a finish outside the top 20 and a stressful weekend ahead. Larson and Co. were cooking in the weeks before this letdown, however, and there’s an exceptional chance they find their way to Phoenix one way or the other this weekend at Martinsville, where he has six straight top-six results.
Analysis: A bit of a curveball here as one could reasonably argue that two-time defending Martinsville fall race winner Ryan Blaney is the most likely below the cutline to advance because, well, this is his race to lose. But take a look at that season low for Byron — never falling lower than sixth is nuts. The No. 24 team has put together one of the series’ most complete seasons, with what felt like consistently more above-average to excellent weekends than anybody else. A sneaking suspicion indicates the two-time Martinsville winner and his determined No. 24 group have at least one more “excellent” weekend in store for 2025.
Analysis: Blaney and Team Penske went from being in command late at Talladega to essentially being one with the wall this weekend at Martinsville, their backs completely up against it, and likely only one of either him or Joey Logano (or neither) being able to make it to Phoenix. Of course, going into the weekend, everything on paper indicates that Blaney should be the top contender this weekend; he hasn’t finished worse than 11th at Martinsville since 2018, and his two wins there have come in this race each of the past two years. Still gotta do it, though, and that’s a heck of a lot of pressure. But we know he can.
Analysis: Elliott’s dismal day at ‘Dega, finishing dead last after being an innocent victim in a Stage 1 wreck, lands him in must-win mode this weekend at Martinsville, which would be of utmost concern for plenty of drivers. Elliott, however, is generally a not-too-high, not-too-low kind of competitor, and will take his calm and cool demeanor into this weekend’s cutoff race in Virginia, and you can all but guarantee he’ll see the front of the field at some point. Elliott has led a whopping 1,275 laps at Martinsville, with 1,083 of those coming in this decade alone, and still has an excellent shot to advance with a win.
Analysis: I mean, it wouldn’t be a Joey Logano championship run if he didn’t do something exceptional, and that’s certainly on the table this weekend, should the No. 22 driver and three-time champion win at Martinsville to keep his hopes alive for a fourth title in 2025. All of the guys that need to win this weekend are great at the half-mile short track, Logano included, and No. 22 is riding a 12-race top-10 streak there. Never say never, especially with this No. 22 team.
TALLADEGA, Ala. – Miss Alabama looked on, tiara and sash in place as she blended in amongst Joe Gibbs Racing’s celebrants, as the call went out in Talladega Superspeedway’s crowded Victory Lane. “Technical difficulties!” an emcee announced with a deprecating self-jab as attendants initially struggled to hoist the outsized horseshoe wreath of carnations around race winner Chase Briscoe’s neck.
The difficulty, however technical, was one of few glitches for Briscoe and company on a day when so much went so right.
The team and driver who had struggled so mightily on superspeedways finally cashed in at the most opportune moment, propelling Briscoe and the No. 19 team to a rousing YellaWood 500 victory and providing both with a shot at the NASCAR Cup Series championship in two weeks at Phoenix Raceway. It also produced a moment of team harmony for Toyota, which freight-trained its way to place five of the top eight finishers Sunday, making amends for two recent bouts of teammate turmoil that had threatened to disrupt its playoff goals.
The triumph was also a major moment of validation, for Briscoe in the latest stop on his Cup Series journey and for the team that brought him in.
“Yeah, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel like we were capable of doing it,” said Briscoe, in his first year with JGR after the breakup of his previous home at Stewart-Haas Racing. “That’s why I said even what I said at the beginning of the year: If I don’t go win, I’m never going to get hired again because the expectation is you have to go to JGR and win. If you can’t win in a JGR car, why would anybody hire you for another team? Glad that I’ve been able to I feel like prove my worth.
“To be in the Championship 4 is a huge accomplishment itself. We want to win the championship. But to be one of those elite guys is a pretty special feeling.”
The sense of fulfillment was shared by JGR’s No. 19 team, which went winless last year in Martin Truex Jr.’s final Cup Series campaign. Truex was notably 0-for-40 for his career at both Daytona and Talladega, and Briscoe’s superspeedway track record wasn’t exceptional, either — 0-for-9 at Talladega before Sunday’s breakthrough.
The burden of both dry spells weighed on No. 19 crew chief James Small, who felt some of the same make-or-break preseason pressures that Briscoe did. Enjoying their third win together this season offered Small some relief.
“I never lost belief in myself or my team,” Small said. “I always had the support of everybody back at JGR. I knew if we had this opportunity, it was going to take a little bit, but we were going to be a force to be reckoned with. I think you’ve seen that since Kansas (and) Charlotte. We’re consistently, in my opinion, the best team in the series. We scored more points than anybody, more poles, had the most points in the playoffs here. Now we’re going to Phoenix.”
Alejandro Alvarez | NASCAR Digital Media
Chris Gabehart, Joe Gibbs Racing’s sage competition director, said that the organization had faith in Briscoe’s abilities but that the team’s resurgence doesn’t end with the driver and crew chief. Before the season, JGR brought in another Stewart-Haas transfer in J.D. Frye to serve as the No. 19 car chief, then bolstered the team’s engineering staff around them.
Things didn’t click right away during Briscoe’s adjustment period after four seasons with the Stewart-Haas group, but even then, Gabehart had his hunches about how the No. 19 group might respond.
“I knew that team had the makeup of a real dangerous combination,” Gabehart told NASCAR.com. “They were all motivated, all knew kind of their careers were on the line. Let’s be real, and they’re all super-hungry to perform, and super-smart and a huge foundation underneath of them. So I honestly knew back in January — and you can ask any one of them, I told them — that this had all the makings of the real Cinderella story. I think safe to say, going to the final four, here they are.”
The cohesiveness didn’t end there. JGR specifically and Toyota generally have endured two high-profile instances of team discord during these playoffs. The first came in the Round of 12, when an agitated Denny Hamlin shoved aside teammate Ty Gibbs at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, setting off a lively dispute over how drivers outside of the playoff picture should race against the postseason-eligible. A variation of that debate flared one week later at Kansas Speedway, where Hamlin’s fender-scrubbing overtake of Toyota mate and 23XI Racing employee Bubba Wallace allowed Chevrolet’s Chase Elliott to scoot through for a demoralizing win.
Sunday, those fractures seemed to heal. Hendrick Motorsports teammates Kyle Larson and William Byron controlled the overtime restart for Chevrolet, and they were lined up nose-to-tail for the final lap with their own Championship 4 fates in the balance. Larson’s No. 5 Chevy ran out of fuel with half a lap remaining, and a three-car power move by Wallace, Briscoe and Gibbs consumed whatever hopes Byron had left.
Gibbs stayed glued to Briscoe’s back bumper the rest of the way, giving his teammate a crucial aerodynamic push that withstood any remaining challenges.
“Ty was the whole reason I won the race,” Briscoe said. “He was extremely committed to me from the get-go. Really did a good job of keeping me up tight to Bubba so I could keep pushing him along. When I made a move, Ty went with me. Was selfless in the fact that he’s going for his first win, could have easily tried to make a move, did something different. He pushed me to the win. An incredible team effort.”
Gabehart also took note.
“Maybe unsung by some, but not by me,” Gabehart told NASCAR.com, with a nod to Gibbs’ dedication. “I realized that the thing I’m so proud of is we had so many Toyotas up there at the end. And you know, when you get that many of them up there, if one drops the ball, the other one can pick it up. In this case, Ty knew what his mission was, Chase was aggressive, and we were able to pull it out. But that really is a testament to Toyota and JGR, 23XI, Legacy Motor Club. It doesn’t happen by accident. There’s a lot of work and effort that goes into this each and every weekend, and especially at speedway races. I’m just proud that we could finally get a speedway win for Toyota.”
The outcome meant that half of the Championship 4 field for the Phoenix finale is now set, and that Hamlin — Joe Gibbs Racing’s most senior driver, 20 years in — and Briscoe — a Year 1 JGR newbie — will be among that quartet. The organization has a chance to add a third driver to that group, with Christopher Bell vying for a title shot in Sunday’s Xfinity 500 (2 p.m. ET, NBC, Peacock, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, HBO Max), the Round of 8’s finale at Martinsville Speedway.
Phoenix already holds fond memories for Briscoe, who scored his first Cup Series victory at the 1-mile oval in the spring of 2022. In the most recent season finale there, Briscoe was brought to tears when his Stewart-Haas Racing team bid farewell in the organization’s final race. Two weeks ago, media obligations brought him back to the Arizona track, where he stood on the front straightaway and took a moment to reflect.
“I hadn’t done that since I won there,” Briscoe said. “I kind of thought how that day felt, winning my first Cup race. I didn’t think about it for a second. Next time you stand here, you might be a champion.”
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs will go short-track racing this weekend for the penultimate race of the 2025 campaign at Martinsville Speedway on Friday (6 p.m. ET, FS1, NASCAR Racing Network Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
The race marks the last shot for playoff drivers to cement their spot in the Championship 4 at Phoenix Raceway, Corey Heim is the only driver with a punched ticket to the title fight by virtue of his Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval victory.
Brenden “Butterbean” Queen will make his second career Truck start this weekend, piloting the No. 07 Spire Motor Motorsports Chevrolet. Queen made his Truck Series debut in the Spire machine at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park in July, finishing 16th.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs Round of 8 continues at Martinsville Speedway in Saturday’s IAA and Richi Bros. 250 (7:30 p.m. ET, The CW, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Following Austin Hill’s playoff-spoiler win at Talladega Superspeedway, JR Motorsports teammates Connor Zilisch and defending series champion Justin Allgaier puched their tickets to Phoenix on points, leaving two spots open for a Championship 4 berth. Jesse Love (plus-40) and Carson Kvapil (plus-11) hold the final provisional positions above the cutline. Sammy Smith (minus-11), Brandon Jones (minus-20), Sam Mayer (minus-22) and Sheldon Creed (minus-41) will look to advoid playoff elimination at Martinsville.
Thirty-nine cars are entered for Saturday’s race, but only 38 cars can lineup for the starting grid, meaning one team will miss the show after qualifying.
While the chaos of Talladega Superspeedway might be in the rearview mirror, there is no letting up for the Cup Series Playoffs field, with the Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway acting as the Round of 8 finale on Sunday (2 p.m. ET, NBC, Peacock, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).
Following Chase Briscoe’s Talladega victory, two Cup Series drivers have punched their tickets to the Championship 4, with Denny Hamlin the other after winning the Round of 8 opener at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. As far as the remaining positions go, Christopher Bell (plus-37) and Kyle Larson (plus-36) currently sit above the playoff cutline, while William Byron (minus-36), Joey Logano (minus-38), Ryan Blaney (minus-47) and Chase Elliott (minus-62) face postseason elimination should their fortunes not flip in their favor at the Virginia short track.
Casey Mears will once again pilot the No. 66 Garage 66 Ford. The 47-year-old California native has competed in three Cup races this season, including an 18th-place result at Talladega last weekend. Sunday will mark his 600th NASCAR start, as he eyes his 500th Cup race next season.
Beers has enjoyed the best Modified Tour season of his young career. None of his finishes have been outside the top 10, with the consistency also yielding him two victories and 11 top fives.
Trailing Beers in the point standings is the four-time Modified Tour champion in Bonsignore, who remains within striking distance of tying Tony Hirschman with his fifth title. Although he only possesses one win to his name in 2025, Bonsignore has shown plenty of speed all year with eight top fives to go along with four poles.
There are 30 cars on the entry list for Thursday’s Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200 at Martinsville Speedway (7:30 p.m. ET on FloRacing). This means Beers needs to finish eighth or better to earn the Modified Tour championship regardless of what Bonsignore does.
If Beers finishes ninth or worse, the door opens for Bonsignore to claim the title. Should a scenario play out in which Beers and Bonsignore end up tied in the point standings with neither obtaining an additional victory, Beers would be the beneficiary of the tiebreaker with his two wins compared to Bonsignore’s lone triumph.
(Photo: Rob Branning/NASCAR)
The tiebreaker shifts to Bonsignore’s favor should he win Thursday and earn maximum points with Beers finishing ninth. Bonsignore gets this distinction since he has two runner-up showings this year, all while Beers only has one.
A driver can earn maximum points on the Modified Tour by winning the race and securing the appropriate bonus points; one for winning the pole, one for leading a lap and another for leading the most laps. Wins automatically grant three additional points, bringing the maximum total to 49 points.
Regarding Martinsville, Bonsignore holds the advantage over Beers with a championship-clinching victory in last year’s race and a runner-up to Ryan Preece in 2023. Beers’ best finish at Martinsville is fourth, which he obtained during 2024 Modified Tour finale.
Below is a complete breakdown of the championship points scenarios between Austin Beers and Justin Bonsignore going into the Modified Tour season finale on Thursday evening.
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship points scenarios for Martinsville
The battle for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship has reached its crescendo as Austin Beers and Justin Bonsignore settle the battle for the series championship during Thursday evening’s Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200 at Martinsville Speedway (7:30 p.m. ET on FloRacing).
Beers enters Thursday’s race with a 14-point advantage in the standings and needs only to finish eighth or better to claim the series championship regardless of what Bonsignore does. Bonsignore, however, is the defending winner at Martinsville and could turn the tide in his favor if Beers stumbles at the 0.526-mile oval.
Thursday’s event marks the 40th trip to Martinsville for the modern Modified Tour. Drivers to score wins there include Mike Stefanik, Mike Ewanitsko, Jeff Fuller, Reggie Ruggiero, Charlie Jarzombek, Tom Baldwin, Brett Bodine, Ryan Preece, Ted Christopher, Tony Hirschman, Donny Lia, Mike McLaughlin, Bobby Santos III and Bonsignore, among others.
Tickets to Thursday’s Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200 are available here. Below is everything you need to know about the final race of the 2025 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season.
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour field prior to the 2024 Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200 at Martinsville Speedway (Photo: Ted Malinowski/NASCAR)
Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200 at Martinsville Speedway
Austin Beers and Justin Bonsignore have a lot on the line in Thursday’s NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season finale at Martinsville Speedway.
Both drivers have a chance to leave the track as the 2025 Modified Tour champion, but each has an opportunity to earn a unique distinction should he manage to secure the title.
Should Beers capture the championship, not only would be his first and the first for the KLM Motorsports team owned by Mike Murphy, be he also would become the youngest champion in Modified Tour history.
The record currently belongs to Ryan Preece, who won his championship when he was 22 years, 11 months and 25 days old.
Bonsignore has the chance to further cement his legacy should he capture his fifth Modified Tour championship. In the history of the modern series, only three drivers have won five or more championships. They are Mike Stefanik (seven), Doug Coby (six) and Tony Hirschman (five).
Beers enters the weekend with a 14-point advantage on Bonsignore in the fight for the series championship and needs only to finish eighth or better to clinch the title no matter what Bonsignore does. Beers has three previous Modified Tour starts and has finished eighth or better in two of them. Bonsignore has made five starts at Martinsville and has finished third or better in all but one.
While most of the focus will be on Beers and Bonsignore Thursday night, there are several other notable drivers scheduled to compete in the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200. They include 2000 NASCAR Cup Series champion Bobby Labonte, who will make his second Modified Tour start of the season aboard the No. 38 for Sadler-Stanley Racing.
Also returning to the series is Ryan Newman, who will make his fifth start of the season at Martinsville. He’ll once again pilot the No. 4 Mystic Missile entry for Tim Connolly.
Luke Baldwin returns to the series in the family No. 7 fresh off a big win over the weekend at North Wilkesboro Speedway.
Other notable entrants include Jake Lutz, Carson Loftin, Jeremy Gerstner, Eric Goodale, Andy Seuss, Mike Christopher Jr., Conner Jones, Luke Fleming, Danny Bohn and Teddy Hodgdon as well series regulars like Craig Lutz, Patrick Emerling, Matt Hirschman, Stephen Kopcik, Trevor Catalano, Tommy Catalano and Tyler Rypkema.
The full entry list for Thursday’s Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200 is available here.
Justin Bonsignore (51) leads the 2024 Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200 at Martinsville Speedway. (Photo: Ted Malinowski/NASCAR)
SCHEDULE: Thursday, Oct. 23: Practice from 12:35 – 1:05 p.m. ET … Final Practice from 1:45 – 2:15 p.m. ET … Hoosier Tire Pole Award qualifying at 3:30 p.m. ET … Start of the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200 at 7:30 p.m. ET (200 Laps / 105.20 Miles)
QUALIFYING: Two consecutive qualifying laps. Faster lap determines qualifying position. Adjustments or repairs may not be made on the vehicle after the vehicle has taken the green flag at the start/finish line. NASCAR reserves the right to have more than one vehicle engage in qualifying runs at the same time. Starting field for the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200 is limited to 32 starters including Provisional Positions.
TIRE ALLOTMENT: The maximum tire allotment available for this event is eleven (11) tires per team. All tires used for qualifying and the race must be purchased at the track and scanned by Hoosier, unless otherwise approved in advance by the Series Director. Four (4) tires must be used for qualifying and to begin the race. All qualifying tires must remain in impound until released by NASCAR Officials. The remaining tire allotment may be used for practice and/or change tires during the event. Maximum of nine (9) tires may be used for the race, not including Emergency Change Tires. Teams will declare to NASCAR Officials at the conclusion of practice the tires they will use during the race. The tire change rule is two (2) tires per stop.
Austin Beers and Justin Bonsignore have a lot on the line in Thursday’s NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season finale at Martinsville Speedway.