NASCAR’s In-Season Challenge is set to kick off on June 28 at EchoPark Speedway (formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway) as TNT Sports begins its part of the broadcast schedule. The new tournament-style bracket is sure to add plenty of story lines to the summer months. Bookmark this page and refer back to it often for information on how the In-Season Challenge works:
A 32-driver, single-elimination tournament that takes place over five races on TNT Sports. The driver with the best finish in each matchup advances to the next round.
When does it start?
The first In-Season Challenge race is June 28 at Atlanta — but there are three seeding races before that that set the bracket itself. | Track the seeding here
Which drivers have qualified?
The top 32 drivers in points following the NASCAR Cup Series race at Nashville make up the In-Season Challenge field. Those drivers are:
William Byron, Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott, Tyler Reddick, Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, Ross Chastain, Bubba Wallace, Chase Briscoe, Alex Bowman, Austin Cindric, Chris Buescher, Kyle Busch, Ryan Preece, Carson Hocevar, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., AJ Allmendinger, Josh Berry, Michael McDowell, John Hunter Nemechek, Todd Gilliland, Erik Jones, Zane Smith, Austin Dillon, Ty Gibbs, Daniel Suarez, Justin Haley, Ty Dillon, Noah Gragson and Brad Keselowski.
The four full-time drivers who did not qualify are Shane van Gisbergen, Cole Custer, Riley Herbst and Cody Ware.
How is the bracket seeded?
There are three seeding races — Michigan International Speedway (June 8), Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez (June 15) and Pocono Raceway (June 22). Drivers are seeded by their best finish in those three races.
How are ties in seeding broken?
The first tiebreaker is the next-best finish in the three seeding races. If two drivers were to finish with the exact same finishing positions over the three seeding races, the next tiebreaker is points standings following the Pocono race.
What tracks are in the In-Season Challenge?
EchoPark Speedway (32 drivers), Chicago Street Course (16), Sonoma Raceway (8), Dover Motor Speedway (4) and Indianapolis Motor Speedway (2).
How do drivers advance?
Simple. The driver in each head-to-head matchup that finishes higher than the other “wins” that matchup and advances to the next round.
What does the winner get?
A cool $1 million — the ultimate bragging rights.
How can I watch?
All five In-Season Challenge races air on TNT, and an alternate broadcast on truTV will focus exclusively on the In-Season Challenge matchups in real time.
How can I get involved?
All five In-Season Challenge races air on TNT, and an alternate broadcast on truTV will focus exclusively on the In-Season Challenge matchups in real time.
IN-SEASON CHALLENGE
While drivers compete head-to-head in the NASCAR In-Season Challenge, fans also can get in on the action. You could win $1,000,000 with a perfect bracket in our Fantasy game and earn Fan Rewards points just for setting up a bracket. Stay tuned for more information and a link on how to play.
Since rain wrecked the well-laid and meticulously constructed plans of Kyle Larson for the second consecutive year, there’s been an outcry of how to make “The Double” logistically easier.
Earlier and later start times! Greater collaboration between IndyCar and NASCAR leadership! Souped up planes, helicopters and golf karts!
All this misses the point of the most Herculean quest in motorsports: Racing the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on the same day is supposed to be extremely hard to accomplish.
Its demanding appeal stems from overcoming an inherent nightmare of logistics — from making a 600-mile commute between the Midwest and Southeast enough times to earn Admirals Club access to turning thousands of laps in practice and racing two wildly different cars at top speeds over 235 mph.
“The Double” is underpinned by its degree of difficulty — starting with the fact it was a literal impossibility for decades.
The Coca-Cola 600 didn’t exist until 1960, 49 years after the inaugural Indy 500. For its first 14 years, NASCAR’s longest race ran once on the same day as the Indianapolis 500, which was annually held on May 30 until it was permanently moved to the Sunday of Memorial Day Weekend in 1974.
For the next 20 years, the signature races were held on the same day but often concurrently and with no window that allowed for racing in both.
Until Charlotte Motor Speedway added lights and moved the 600 to a nighttime finish in 1993.
In the second year that “The Double” as we know it was possible (there were four drivers who ran the Indy 500 and Coke 600 on separate days in the same year from 1967-71), John Andretti made it a reality in 1994 — and with much less buffer than Larson was scheduled to have with no delays.
It’s been a hit-or-miss opportunity that four more have tried since. From 2005-11, the race shifted to a 1 p.m. EDT start that essentially made completing “The Double” impossible.
In the 14 years since moving to a noon EDT start in 2012, there have been three attempts — Kurt Busch in 2014 and Larson in 2024-25, with Larson facing weather delays prior to the green flag dropping. Those are two NASCAR Cup Series champions who had a legitimate shot to win one or even both races.
That’s a select list. This isn’t open to anyone, nor is it an annual guarantee. Again, “The Double” is hard because it should be.
After Larson’s meteorological misfortune the past two years, it’s logical to address how to minimize a 45-minute rain delay negating months of careful coordination and preparation.
There might be wiggle room on the start times of both races.
Until 2005, the Indy 500 started at 11 a.m. during an era when the Indianapolis area didn’t observe Daylight Savings Time as it does now. Surely it’s possible to get the same crowds of 300,000-plus through the gates before noon now with modern technology.
Until Larson crashed Sunday on Lap 91 of the Indy 500, NASCAR was considering a delay of the Coke 600 from its 6:27 p.m. ET start.
But there are natural limits to how much “easier” it can be to attempt “The Double” — which is good.
As Trackhouse Racing co-owner Justin Marks alluded to after Ross Chastain’s Coke 600 victory, there’s an aspirational side to watching a versatile superstar such as Larson take on a challenge that can inspire the general populace to do the unthinkable.
Who’s building the Hoover Dam, digging out the Panama Canal or laying the Transatlantic cable anymore? When the country made an 11-figure investment in space exploration in the 1960s, it was as much about getting the youth of America interested in math and science as putting a man on the moon.
That’s the limitless value of “The Double.” If Larson somehow were to win both races, imagine trying to attach a price tag to the resultant exposure and sponsor interest that likely would follow for IndyCar and NASCAR.
People want to see the seemingly improbable happen, which is why “The Double” needs to remain very hard to do — even if that compromises the frequency with which it occurs.
Greatness is harder to witness if it happens every year.
Nate Ryan has written about NASCAR since 1996 while working at the San Bernardino Sun, Richmond Times-Dispatch, USA TODAY and for the past 10 years at NBC Sports Digital. He is a contributor to the “Hauler Talk” show on the NASCAR Podcast Network. He also has covered various other motorsports, including the IndyCar and IMSA series.
CONCORD, N.C. — Any win in a crown-jewel race just means more. But Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 win for Ross Chastain and Trackhouse Racing highlighted the total team effort it took to propel their No. 1 Chevrolet toward NASCAR immortality.
At the team’s shop Wednesday, three days removed from their remarkable win six miles down the road at Charlotte Motor Speedway, smiles were still shining bright in awe of their weekend and all it entailed. The team churned through the wee hours of Saturday night into Sunday morning to prepare a backup car that was fit for Chastain to motor past William Byron in the late stages of Sunday’s marathon race to score his and the organization’s first victory in a NASCAR major.
Mark Cass — the team’s setup mechanic, better known through the garage as “Mud” — has been working in NASCAR for 40 years. He got his start at age 12 painting parts and pieces utilized by Junior Johnson’s team and was working hand-in-hand with the Hall-of-Fame racer and team owner by age 18. He’s worked for Larry Hedrick Motorsports, Travis Carter Enterprises and Chip Ganassi Racing throughout his career, doing a little bit of everything over that time, including work as a jackman on pit road for 23 years.
A kid who grew up in North Wilkesboro — now a man who lives just east of the famous small town in Hamptonville — Cass had won the Daytona 500, Darlington’s Southern 500 and Indianapolis’ Brickyard 400. Prior to Sunday night, the Coca-Cola 600 — the race he grew up admiring as the World 600 called on the radio by Hall-of-Fame broadcaster Barney Hall — had always eluded him.
Until now. Team owner Justin Marks retained Cass as part of his operation when Marks purchased Ganassi’s program in 2021. Now in his fourth season under the Trackhouse banner, Cass can still draw parallels from the new age of stock-car racing back to his roots in the 1980s.
“This is one of the best places I’ve ever worked,” Cass told NASCAR.com. “Just the people and Justin. He makes you believe in what he says, you know? And that means a lot. He reminds me a lot of Junior. You knew where you stood with Junior, and I think Justin is sort of the same way.”
Justin Potter | For NASCAR Digital Media
On the opposite end of the spectrum of experience stands Stan Vishinski, a 25-year-old tire technician and mechanic on the No. 1 roster. With origins in eastern Upstate New York, some two hours north of New York City, Vishinski knew by age 5 he wanted to work in NASCAR. This season is his first with Trackhouse and only his second overall, previously working as a rear-end mechanic at Carl Long’s MBM Motorsports in 2024.
Fast forward to last weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway, a 15-minute commute from shop to stadium in Concord, North Carolina. In Saturday’s practice, the setup Cass helped implement on the No. 1 car proved nearly perfect — Chastain rocketed to the top of the board in five-lap, 10-lap and 15-lap averages despite posting the ninth-quickest lap overall.
“I set Chastain’s car up, and I was at home,” Cass said. “We were actually getting ready. I like to cook on the grill, so we were going to have a little cookout for Memorial Day. I’ve been watching practice, and man, he’s fast.
“Well, I stepped outside for just a minute. When I came back in, we’ve crashed.”
A flat left-rear tire sent Chastain’s car into a slide in Turns 3 and 4. The car spun backward and swiped the outside SAFER barrier with the left side of the door before sliding back off the banking and onto the apron. Watching from pit road, Vishinski watched as crew chief Phil Surgen and car chief David Fero began to assess and plan the next steps.
“Quickly everybody sprung into action,” Vishinski said. “That’s the other part that’s so amazing with this group, is that the whole entire time, everybody’s absolute professional of, OK, how do we handle this situation? If they bring the car back here, get your jacks ready. Just make sure the car doesn’t drag the ground more than it needs to, right? Just having all that set up and getting a plan going before the car is even back.”
What ensued was organized chaos. Repairs on the primary car began immediately in the garage stall — not just with members of the No. 1 team but of all four of Trackhouse’s entries that weekend, including the Nos. 87, 88 and 99 cars.
“Even the shop guys that were there just being fans for the weekend, they were all there just trying to help out any way they could,” Vishinski said. “It was all hands on deck, and that was a super cool moment. Obviously, at a very negative time, to see that, it was pretty cool.”
Logan Riely | Getty Images
But while they worked, the team opted for a backup car instead as the damage was deemed too much to repair. Garage hours ended at 4 p.m. ET, which meant work would need to continue at the shop.
“We had a goose-neck trailer and a dually sitting outside the garage waiting for us,” Vishinski said. “So we rolled that thing out, strapped that car down, took our toolbox with us, and quickly hightailed it back here, and it was all hands on deck. I walked in the door and it was just incredible to see. We had everybody, members from every team here, shop guys that came in when they found out what happened.”
That included Cass, who put his cookout on hold and hopped in his car to make the hour-long drive to Concord.
“The most amazing thing is what Justin tells you: As you walk in the shop, you see four different uniforms because we had four cars there,” Cass said. “Some guys are taking the motor out of the car we wrecked because it’s got to go into the one that we’re going to get together. The other guys are putting the suspension on. Then we tune the setup up. And it was just almost like a ballet — everybody’s moving.
“And the car was actually done way quicker than you thought it would, because that was our Nashville car backup. So you had to put the Charlotte setup under it, which required a lot of moving pivots and suspension parts.”
Quicker than expected? Maybe. But those efforts lasted long into the night.
As Surgen explained Sunday night, this car was going to be the team’s backup for Nashville one week later, so it had already been properly assembled. But when the team needed to transform it into a race-ready Coke 600 machine for a green flag just 27 hours away, it needed an overhaul of engine, suspension parts, paint-scheme vinyl wrap and a dynamometer (dyno) test in addition to scaling and inspecting it via the team’s Hawkeye laser system, making sure all was legal before it left the shop.
The final batch of an estimated 10 employees went home at 2:30 a.m. Sunday, and were the first ones back to the shop just three hours later.
Even in just one year, Vishinski had plenty of experience managing multiple roles at MBM Motorsports. In the thrash of getting the backup prepared, that experience came in handy, swapping transaxles, adding windshield glass and bleeding brakes in addition to other roles.
“That was my biggest thing, and it will continue to be, is just to try to be a sponge to everything,” Vishinski said. “Anything in the shop that I can get involved with, whether that’s tires, bodies, suspension stuff, transaxle stuff, motor stuff, I want to be able to know how to do it all in case you get into situations like that.”
That phrase — “be a sponge” — was a common thread through the No. 1 team all weekend. On a weekend meant to honor and remember fallen military service members, the name and photo of U.S. Army Specialist Kevin McCrea rode with Chastain all weekend. Plastered on the decklid were exactly those three words: Be a sponge. That was advice McCrea had given to his daughter, Allie, who was in attendance Sunday with her sister, brother and mother.
“That term or that saying can be taken any way we want,” Chastain said Sunday. “I can look at it, and I’m always trying to learn. That’s what he was telling them: ‘Just be a sponge.’ Just always try to learn something. Just like I don’t know how winning this race will affect my life, I don’t know how being a sponge will affect my life, but it’s something I’ll never forget.”
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
And indeed, the team’s efforts were not in vain. Chastain, Surgen and Co. worked to perfect the balance of their No. 1 car through the entire 600-mile affair, working from a last-place starting spot to eventually passing Byron to lead the final six laps en route to victory. The celebrations were electric — which would have been the case even had Chastain won in Saturday’s primary car. But that the entirety of Trackhouse had a hand in Sunday’s triumph added significant weight to a tremendous effort.
“That culture here is why you see that,” Vishinski said. “Everybody has each other’s back and we’re all in this together. And yeah, there might be three teams out there, but we are all one, trying to go out there and put the best product on track as possible. We all have that same goal in mind.”
Cass can now lay claim to winning all four of NASCAR’s crown-jewel races, a moment he dreamt of since childhood.
“Just getting your picture made with that trophy was pretty special because you always wanted to do that,” he said. “Yeah, it was a big win.”
Vishinski, meanwhile, celebrated his first NASCAR victory, period. The moment was even sweeter than he could have imagined.
“I can’t even explain to you what that felt like,” Vishinski said, “because since I was 5 years old, as long as I could remember, I always wondered what it would be like to be in Victory Lane of the NASCAR Cup Series. And at that moment, I’m like, this is happening. This is unbelievable. And for everything that not only the 1 team but just the whole company went through in the last 36 hours, like, you can’t make that stuff up.
“It is just amazing, you know. And to hug the guys and go onto pit road and celebrate — I called my mom right there, right as Ross started doing the burnout. I had to be like, ‘Gotta go, Mom!’ because you can’t hear anything. It was amazing. I mean, that’s something I will never forget for the rest of my life.”
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is on race five of a season-high stretch of six consecutive race weekends with Friday night’s stop at Nashville Superspeedway for the Rackley Roofing 200 (8 p.m. ET on FS1, NRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Championship frontrunner Cory Heim — who will be making his third NASCAR Cup Series start for 23XI Racing on Sunday night — collected his fourth Truck series trophy of the season with a dominant performance last weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway, extending his lead atop the standings to 100 points heading into Friday night’s race. The driver of the No. 11 Tricon Garage Toyota has twice as many wins (four) and has led three times as many laps (754) as anyone else and only finished outside the top 10 twice in the 11 races to date this year — all series best statistics.
Heim, however, has never won at Nashville. He has two top-five finishes in three starts, crashing out in his Nashville debut in 2022. He was a career-best third place last year.
Take the huge frontrunner Heim out of it, and the standings are a lot closer among the other title contenders. Front Row Motorsports’ Chandler Smith, a two-race winner, is second to Heim but holds only a 10-point advantage over McAnally-Hilgemann Racing’s Daniel Hemric and a 29-point cushion over Hemric’s teammate Tyler Ankrum.
No current full-time drivers have ever won on the 1.33-mile Nashville oval.
Two-time NASCAR Cup Series champ Kyle Busch — who won both the 2010 and 2011 Nashville Truck races from pole position — will be making one of his limited season starts Friday, driving the No. 07 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet.
Christian Eckes, who now races full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, led all 150 laps en route to the trophy last year in one of the most dominating showings in years.
Practice is at 4:05 p.m. ET Friday followed immediately by Kennametal Pole Qualifying at 5:10 p.m. ET — both sessions airing live on FS1. Stewart Friesen won pole position last year and finished 11th. It’s been three years since a polesitter also won the race — Ryan Preece last doing so in 2022.
MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Martinsville Speedway will host the 30th rendition of NASCAR’s biggest and most prestigious late model stock car race this fall, celebrating 30 years of the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 – the finale of the Virginia Triple Crown.
In honor of this anniversary, Martinsville Speedway is upping the ante in the Triple Crown race. For the first time ever, the winner(s) of the South Boston Speedway and Langley Speedway Triple Crown races will have a guaranteed starting position in the finale. Those winners will have an ensured chance to compete for the championship, regardless of qualifying effort.
“The ValleyStar Credit Union is packed with layers of tradition, intense competition and, most importantly, heart and soul,” said Clay Campbell, President of Martinsville Speedway. “For 30 years it’s been a cornerstone event for teams, drivers and all of us here at Martinsville Speedway, and celebrating this anniversary with some of the most passionate fans in the business is really special.”
Not only does 2025 mark 30 years of the famed Virginia Triple Crown finale, but this year also celebrates 10 years of the longstanding partnership between ValleyStar Credit Union and Martinsville Speedway, dating back to 2015 when the company was first named entitlement sponsor for the ValleyStar Credit Union 300.
The Virginia Triple Crown kicks off this summer with the first race set for June 28 at South Boston Speedway followed by the second race at Langley Speedway on July 19.
Then, it all comes down to the finale at Martinsville, with drivers competing for the title of Virginia Late Model Triple Crown Champion in the 30th anniversary of the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 on Saturday, Sept. 27.
For more details and ticket information for the ValleyStar Credit Union 300, please visit www.martinsvillespeedway.com. Tickets are also available for purchase via phone at 877-RACE-TIX.
More than a year has passed since Jake Johnson brought Ole Blue back to Victory Lane on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, a win that arrived at Monadnock Speedway in New Hampshire.
A lot has changed for Johnson since that day, but his commitment to winning in Modifieds remains unwavering. Now part-time in the series with JMA Motorsports, Johnson is set to make his second Modified Tour appearance with the program in Sunday’s J&R Precast 150 at Massachussets’ Seekonk Speedway.
Johnson’s first start with JMA earlier this season at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park saw him qualify on the outside pole before he was eliminated in a wreck with nine laps to go. Despite the Thompson race ending in disappointment, Johnson said the cohesion he and JMA displayed that weekend has provided him plenty of optimism ahead of Sunday’s race.
“We’ve had a pretty good year so far,” Johnson said. “Everywhere we’ve shown up with my family car or the No. 07 car, we’ve had a lot of speed. I’m excited to get back in the No. 07, because [even though] Thompson was rough, we showed good speed.
“These guys are deserving of a good run, and I think we can put one together [at Seekonk].”
Johnson was enjoying a career season on the Modified Tour last year before he sustained a hard crash in the second race at Thompson. After the wreck, Johnson parted ways with Boehler Racing Enterprises and did not return to the series for the rest of 2024.
Jake Johnson broke through on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour last year by earning his first career victory at Monadnock Speedway, piloting the famous Ole Blue Modified. (Photo: Jaiden Tripi/NASCAR)
As Johnson was crafting a 2025 racing schedule with his family car, JMA co-owners Mike and Justin Albernaz reached out to him about competing in select Modified Tour events. Johnson jumped at the offer to race with JMA, which now assists his own program in other Modified events around the northeast.
The Albernaz family’s involvement in motorsports extends far beyond Modified competition. Mike operated CJ Racing in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series from 1999-00, when he fielded entries for a variety of drivers like David Starr, Lonnie Rush Jr. and 2008 Modified Tour champion Ted Christopher.
Mike’s hands-on approach to racing was passed down to his grandson Justin, who also serves as the crew chief for the No. 07 Modified. The addition of Johnson to JMA’s program has been invaluable for the younger Albernaz, who praised the determination his driver displays both on and off the track.
“[Jake] is 100 percent focused on racing,” Albernaz said. “His mind is in it, and he’s not only worried about driving it, he’s worried about getting the car right. He’s very talented behind the wheel. He’s aggressive at times, but that’s what you need to get the job done sometimes.”
One aspect of the partnership between Johnson and JMA involves the crews from both programs working on the same car. Combining resources made the duo stronger and reinforced the expectations Johnson and the Albernaz family have for the Modified Tour, which is to win a race together.
Thompson showcased that Johnson and JMA could hold their own with the full-time Modified Tour operations across the board. The two sides are eager to shake off the late-race crash from Thompson and utilize their collective knowledge by putting together a complete weekend at Seekonk.
Especially since this is a hometown affair for nearly everyone involved at JMA.
“Seekonk was probably the first one that got put on the list just because [JMA’s] shop is about three minutes away,” Johnson said. “Seekonk is about 10 minutes from my house, so it’s a special place for us because it’s our home turf. We always run good there, and [JMA] used to run good there when we did open racing at Seekonk.
“It made a lot of sense for us to circle Seekonk.”
With Seekonk Speedway being their home track, Jake Johnson looks to deliver JMA Motorsports a NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour win in their second race together with the series. (Photo: Rob Branning/NASCAR)
Countless trips to Seekonk over the years have provided Albernaz plenty of insight into all the fundamentals necessary to prevail. The facility only being 0.333 miles in length means laps will click of rapidly Sunday. That emphasizes the importance of obtaining solid track position in qualifying.
Albernaz does not see qualifying being a problem for Johnson at Seekonk given how fast he was in the No. 07 at Thompson. The challenge for Albernaz will be designing a setup that responds well to Seekonk’s unique characteristics and puts Johnson in the best position to upset the Modified Tour regulars.
“[Seekonk] is a very tough track to get around,” Albernaz said. “It’s very throttle-sensitive and this race is going to be all about saving tires. That’s going to be the biggest talk in the garage probably for the entire race. With Jake’s laps on the track and our expertise with how many races we’ve run there, I think we should be pretty good.”
A Modified Tour win at his family’s home track would be an emotional, cathartic moment for Albernaz. Mike enjoyed numerous Seekonk victories with drivers like Eddie St. Angelo, Vinny Annarummo and Mike Christopher Sr.; now Justin wants to add to his family’s legacy at the track with JMA’s first win.
Johnson is focused on not only helping JMA secure a Seekonk checkered flag, but also on validating his talent to the rest of the Modified Tour field. Prevailing at Monadnock in Ole Blue last year was a milestone moment, but Johnson knows he can accomplish so much more.
“I don’t want to be known as the guy who just won one [Modified Tour] race as a fluke,” Johnson said. “If I could go win two or three Tour races, I think it would solidify that [Monadnock] wasn’t luck. The No. 07 is overdue for a win. They’ve been super strong everywhere they go, so I’d like to do that for them, as well.”
With their chemistry continuing to grow every week, Johnson and JMA are ready to make a statement in their second Modified Tour race together this weekend by earning a victory in front of their hometown crowd.
The NASCAR Cup Series, Xfinity Series and Truck Series are all in action this weekend at Nashville Superspeedway. Bookmark this page and come back often for your race-week essentials — from links to qualifying order, average practice speeds, results and more.
NASCAR Cup Series
Race day: Sunday at 7 p.m. ET on Prime Video. The categories listed below will be filled out with links as the information is available.
Tires: Nine sets for the race, plus one set for practice and one set for qualifying. The qualifying set rolls over into the race.
For most of Sunday evening and night, the Coca-Cola 600 looked like a two-man show.
William Byron and Denny Hamlin combined to lead 336 of 400 laps, controlling the race as other would-be challengers spun out, blew engines or otherwise failed to keep pace. Byron alone led 283 laps and swept Stages 1-3, while Hamlin dueled for the lead late — with the two swapping the top spot back and forth over each of the first 147 laps of Stages 3 and 4. That is, until everything suddenly flipped.
Hamlin ran out of fuel. Byron got bogged down in lapped traffic with six laps to go. And somehow, the driver who’d crashed in practice, started last and hadn’t won a race all season — Ross Chastain — came surging through for the crown-jewel win.
Let’s be honest, though, if Chastain was going to steal one before the playoffs, this was always going to be how he’d do it — with a mix of perseverance and opportunism amidst all the chaos. And in that way, Sunday’s win proved that the old Melon Magic is far from gone. But beneath the surface is something that might be even more interesting, a driver whose stats have dipped since his initial breakout, but who might be racing smarter and more efficiently than ever.
Before taking the checkered flag at Charlotte, Chastain had a streak of three straight seasons with at least one Cup Series win, which he extended to four on Sunday. But he also hadn’t won one that really mattered — at least not to his championship hopes — in a while. After taking the Ally 400 in Nashville on June 25, 2023, with 10 races to go before the playoffs, Ross’ next two wins happened:
At Phoenix in the 2023 season finale, after he’d long since been eliminated from title consideration.
At Kansas in the 2024 playoffs, well after he had failed to make the playoffs at all.
All the while, Chastain’s raw form drifted further and further from his early Trackhouse breakout. After posting an Adjusted Points+ index of 194 — i.e., 94% better than Cup average, an outstanding figure — in the first half of the 2022 season, he fell to 152 in the second half of that year’s schedule (despite the Hail Melon) … then to 135 in 2023 as a whole … then to 127 last season. That mirrored his declines in other metrics as well, such as average finish, average running position and Driver Rating. Ross still wasn’t below-average by any means, but he was also far from elite — nor was he making real progress toward contending for his first career championship.
It was a disappointing turn for a driver who had been the embodiment of Trackhouse Racing’s meteoric rise — brash, fiery and fearless, with a penchant for exciting moments (again, see the video-game move at Martinsville) that helped vault himself into the national spotlight. At his peak in 2022 and early 2023, Chastain had a real case as the best driver in NASCAR according to many advanced metrics. And at the same time, Trackhouse was hanging with giants like Hendrick Motorsports, Team Penske and Joe Gibbs Racing in terms of average results. Seeing that version of Chastain seem to fade was jarring, like watching a once-electric superstar slowly turn into just another guy.
And he seemed to know it, too. “I can’t drive a slow car fast,” he said last Saturday, pushing back against criticism while admitting that his results were largely at the mercy of his car’s setup in any given week. “As far as the car goes, I can only go forward when it’s handling right … [I] go backwards when the balance is off and go forward when the balance is right.”
It was a far cry from the swaggering, hyper-aggressive “Wreck-It Ross” image we had of Chastain in the past — the driver who punched Noah Gragson in the face one week and punted a backmarker into a title contender the next. That version of Chastain hasn’t vanished completely, but something about him has seemed different for a while now, whether because of the stern talking-to he received from Rick Hendrick in the wake of one too many run-ins with Kyle Larson, or just changes at Trackhouse over the past few seasons.
This latest win changes that narrative arc, of course … but only so much. While Chastain is now locked into the playoffs after a year away, and his Points+ index has rebounded to 166 as part of that — wins do get heavily rewarded in the formula — his other 2025 metrics are looking scarcely different from the disappointing form of the previous few seasons, if not worse. Chastain’s average running position has dipped from 12.1 in 2022, 14.3 in 2023 and 14.6 in 2024 to 16.5 this season, while his Driver Rating has fallen from 93.6 (second only to Chase Elliott’s 98.6) to 82.5 in 2023 (10th-best), 83.6 in 2024 (10th) and 79.5 (13th) this year.
The main trend is that, instead of continuing its ascent, Chastain’s underlying form has flatlined:
But at the same time, Sunday’s worst-to-first win was a testament to Chastain’s improvement in the art of being a winning race-car driver — further proof that he has the craft, and the will, to rise above his equipment and claim victory even when conditions are stacked against him.
For proof that Chastain is still extracting every ounce of performance from his car — even if it’s not always showing up in the metrics — consider his rankings in the latest NASCAR Insights report. During the 2025 season overall, Chastain ranks just 17th in speed and 19th in pit-crew performance, but he ranks No. 4 on restarts, No. 6 on defense and No. 8 in passing. That’s the definition of a driver who is winning at the margins by outworking, outwitting and out-executing the field.
Or think about the fact that Chastain is 22-7 in head-to-head finishes against teammates this year, the best record of any full-time driver in the Cup Series. That includes matchups against Daniel Suárez and Shane van Gisbergen, who drive Trackhouse cars against him full-time, plus a rotating cast of one-offs like Connor Zilisch and Hélio Castroneves. By that measure, no one is doing more with what they’re given than Chastain — not even stars like Tyler Reddick, William Byron, Kyle Larson or Christopher Bell:
Some of that edge can be attributed to the uneven quality of his teammates this season, as Suárez has been mediocre and Van Gisbergen even worse. But this isn’t a one-year fluke: Chastain has consistently beaten the baseline expectations of his car throughout his tenure at Trackhouse. Since joining the team in 2022, Chastain once again has the best head-to-head record — at 94-47, or a 66.7% winning percentage — of any driver in Cup. Whether through aggressive tactics, race-day adjustments or sheer relentlessness, he’s developed a knack for maximizing his results even as the underlying speed of his car has plateaued.
So maybe the Melon Man isn’t the fastest or flashiest driver in the field anymore. But if this version of Ross Chastain is more disciplined, more surgical behind the wheel, that might be exactly what it takes to win more when it counts — especially if his team can give him just a little more with which to work.
Here’s what’s happening in NASCAR with the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in the rearview and the Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway (Sun., 7 p.m. ET, Prime Video) up next.
1. How will Kyle Larson respond after ‘Double’ doldrums?
For the second year in a row, the fizzle of motorsports icon Kyle Larson’s Indianapolis 500/Coca-Cola 600 attempt fell flat by Sunday night. Will it impact his season-long Cup Series endeavors?
With a second straight deflating attempt at the famed Memorial Day Weekend “Double” in the books, a large focus of the fallout has been on whether or not Kyle Larson should attempt the grueling feat again in the future.
But what about his day job?
For the better part of the past month, Larson has been jetting back and forth (and beyond, when dirt duty calls) from the Carolinas to Indiana in prep for another shot at racing immortality. While weather was a major factor in his struggles last year — it held him out of the 600 entirely — the 2021 Cup Series champion wrecked out of each race this past Sunday and, well, it’s just gotta be hard to swallow that amount of disappointment after that much sheer effort and planning.
The beauty of NASCAR, though, is that until November, there’s always another race on the horizon. But how much will this past weekend weigh on him, and for how long?
For starters, there are the tangible effects.
Larson entered the Coca-Cola 600 as the regular season points leader, holding a 35-point advantage over Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron. However, after his 37th-place finish and Byron’s legendary 65-point day, that lead was completely erased. He now trails Byron by 29 points heading into Sunday at Nashville. The DNF at Charlotte not only cost him points but also momentum, as he was expected to contend for the win after starting second and leading early. There was plenty of wind in his sails entering the weekend, but he may now need to break out the oars and start rowing.
The bigger concern? The mental and physical toll incurred from an exhausting and unfruitful past few weeks. Larson’s month of May was certainly a learning experience, and one he doesn’t regret, but that experience came with a cost. Miles are miles, and nobody has more of them on the odometer lately — both on track and in the air — than the California native. At a time when many of us are counting down days to summer vacations, he’s looking ahead to a pair of races in the coming weeks that will see him toe the Canadian border and then cross the Mexican one the following week.
I’m ready for a nap just thinking about his schedule.
But there’s a reason he’s the one driving the race cars here — he’s simply built for this.
Larson remains one of the most talented and resilient drivers in NASCAR and racing circles at large. Despite the rough weekend, he remains in a strong position for the playoffs, should still battle his teammate for the Regular Season Championship and has consistently demonstrated the ability to bounce back from adversity in past seasons. Considering Nashville is his best track in terms of average finish, the rebound, to be honest, likely comes as soon as Sunday.
The setback is significant but not season-ending in any way, shape or form. In fact, remember this moment.
It might be the one that sparked his second championship run.
James Gilbert | Getty Images
2. Are fresh midseason contenders emerging to shake things up?
The past few races have seen a handful of atypical names mixing it up with the weekly contenders. Are any of them about to flip the playoff picture on its head?
By nature of its heavy attrition, the Coca-Cola 600 has a history of spitting out top 10s that resemble those we’re used to seeing at the end of a superspeedway race.
Though we saw some heavyweights battling it out for the win in the closing moments of this past Sunday’s marathon crown jewel, there were a handful of notable names that also enjoyed strong nights, some of whom seem to be trending up in general.
For much of the spring, the NASCAR Cup Series playoff picture seemed to be solidifying around the usual suspects: Byron, Larson, Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell, etc. But look at that running order from Sunday — Chase Briscoe, A.J. Allmendinger, Brad Keselowski, Michael McDowell, Ryan Preece and Noah Gragson … all in the top 10, and all drivers who, if they can keep this momentum, have the potential to upend the playoff field in the coming weeks.
Briscoe’s third-place run was the kind of performance Joe Gibbs Racing envisioned when they signed him, and it’s his second top-five finish in the past two points races. His season to this point had been solid but unspectacular, with flashes of speed but little to show for it, and Charlotte changed that narrative.
JGR’s intermediate program has been especially sharp this year. If Briscoe is able to convert that speed into a win, it would not only lock him into the playoffs but also signal that he’s ready to contend down the summer stretch and make a deep playoff run.
With Allmendinger landing fourth — and honestly being a factor the whole race — it was a reminder of his veteran savvy and talent. While No. 16 is best known for his road-course prowess, he and Kaulig Racing have steadily improved on ovals this year. That said, the next month brings Sonoma and the Chicago Street Race, two spots where Allmendinger is a legitimate threat, if not among the favorites, to win. Carrying this momentum through Nashville and Michigan could be tantamount to him shaking up the playoff grid on those specialty tracks. A win at either would almost certainly knock a current playoff favorite out of contention.
And it keeps going.
Keselowski’s top five was huge for his playoff hopes, and the preseason expectation of him making the postseason could be back on the table. McDowell’s seventh-place run wasn’t luck; Spire Motorsports is improving, as evidenced by his Las Vegas pole position and fight for victory late at Texas. Preece and Gragson, in ninth and 10th, are dark horses, but might also be the most realistic path to the playoffs for their respective organizations. Both need everything to go right, but neither would be as shocking as Harrison Burton’s playoff appearance just a season ago.
Stenhouse, Jones, and SVG also warrant a tip of the cap, all cracking the top 15 and all still having feasible chances to make the cut after (or at!) Daytona. Stenhouse is always a drafting-track threat, and there are two of those left — but he’s also currently in position to advance. Jones is well overdue for a breakout, and SVG has obviously proven himself capable of beating all these guys when the opportunity strikes, too.
With Nashville and a diverse summer ahead, the playoff race is wide open; certainly more so than it was even a month ago.
And the song and dance continues Sunday in Music City.
NASCAR Hall of Famer Jimmie Johnson comments on Kyle Larson’s second attempt at the Memorial Day Weekend ‘Double’ and supports his fellow Cup Series champion’s future bids at racing the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 in the same day.
4. Nighttime is the right time for these drivers
With William Byron nearly winning a fifth Next Gen night race at Charlotte and with another on deck this weekend, here are the drivers who have excelled under the lights in this era of race car. (Credit: Racing Insights)
Driver
Wins
William Byron
4
Denny Hamlin
3
Chris Buescher
2
Christopher Bell
2
Kyle Larson
2
Ross Chastain
2
Austin Dillon
1
Chase Briscoe
1
Chase Elliott
1
Erik Jones
1
Harrison Burton
1
Kyle Busch
1
Ryan Blaney
1
5. Catch the pack — news and notes from around the garage
Editor’s Note: Episodes 3 and 4 of the ‘Earnhardt’ docuseries launch Thursday on Prime Video.
In the final episode of the four-part “Earnhardt” docuseries on Prime Video, Dale Earnhardt Jr. revisits his first trip back to Daytona Beach, Florida, after the death of his father at Daytona International Speedway.
Cruising into the oceanside town with his friends before the July race weekend, Earnhardt Jr. wanted to make a stop at the track before indulging in some downtime.
“We’re jamming out to music. It’s the middle of the afternoon, sun’s out. It’s a beautiful day,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I got it in my head, I was like, ‘Hey, I want to go see if we can go inside the track’ because I couldn’t drive past that track and go into town and hang out just knowing what had happened there.”
As they entered the track, Earnhardt Jr. hopped out of the car and made his way to Turn 4 near the area where his father hit the wall on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500.
“I don’t know exactly where his car came to rest, but I kind of came to that general area and I just got out,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I wanted, I think really, to see how I would feel. Would I get emotional? Would it be too much? Would it feel too heavy? Would I have a problem with it? I didn’t know.”
While Earnhardt took in the moment, he thought of his dad and all the memories they had made at Daytona, including his father’s one and only Daytona 500 triumph in 1998, when an entire line of people from the NASCAR industry came to pit road to give “The Intimidator” a high five.
In Earnhardt Jr.’s words, it gave him a ‘weird feeling’ to experience the wave of emotions the superspeedway gave and took from him.
“I just had this feeling that I shouldn’t be mad at it,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I shouldn’t dread going to Daytona.
“I almost hesitate to say this because it isn’t going to make any sense to anybody, but there was this really strange feeling of freedom, and I felt guilty even about feeling that way at all. I felt so guilty. I mean, I’m still in the very beginning of my, hopefully, a long career, and so I kind of decided then and there that I wasn’t gonna hold anything against the track. And if anything, Daytona was maybe even more special because it’s where dad had passed away.”
Watch the first two episodes of “Earnhardt,” available on Prime Video now.
