The NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series both race at Rockingham Speedway this week. Bookmark this page and come back often for your race-week essentials — from links to qualifying order, average practice speeds, results and more.
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Race day: Saturday at 4 p.m. ET on The CW. The categories listed below will be filled out with links as the information is available.
Tires: Seven sets
Note: Driver audio won’t be available on Scanner this weekend.
It’s been a long seven weeks, but Josh Williams is finally feeling better.
Williams, driver of the No. 11 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet, has been battling the lingering effects of pneumonia since March 1 at Circuit of The Americas. The past month and a half hasn’t been easy — and he’s still getting winded just moving boxes around the house. But at long last, Williams is getting back to normal ahead of Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Rockingham Speedway (4 p.m. ET, The CW, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
“I’ve never felt anything like this before, ever,” Williams told NASCAR.com.
The illness started in early March, just before the Xfinity Series’ first road-course race of the year at COTA. Williams woke up “freezing cold” without a voice and knew it wasn’t good, but he assumed it was some sort of flu he got while traveling.
What began was one of the worst bouts of sickness he’s ever faced. He trudged through the Austin road course for a 15th-place finish — “wasn’t terrible for me on a road course” — but returned one week later to Phoenix Raceway still feeling dismal.
“I went to the care center at Phoenix because I was having trouble breathing and stuff,” Williams said. “I had, like, crackling fluid in my lungs, so I was in there for a pretty good while. I didn’t feel bad — I mean, I felt bad, but I didn’t feel terrible. So I got an IV at Phoenix … and they were like, ‘Well, there’s really nothing we can do for you.'”
Williams went on to finish 12th that weekend for his best finish of 2025, but Las Vegas proved to be a different story. The Florida native soldiered through the first 45-lap stage of the March 15 event but needed to exit the car as soon as it came to an end.
“Dude, I literally felt like somebody was holding me underwater,” Williams said. “That was the longest 45 laps of my life.”
As Ty Dillon stepped in as his substitute, Williams climbed from the car, removed his helmet and took a seat atop the pit box to watch as Stage 2 got underway — simply trying to catch his breath. And after his experience at the infield care center one week prior, he didn’t see much use in heading back to the Vegas care center.
“I knew they couldn’t do anything for me because it was just like a breathing thing,” Williams said. “It’s not like I had carbon monoxide (poisoning). It’s not like I was overheated and dehydrated. It was just a struggle to breathe in the car under lateral loads in the corners and things like that because it was compressing my chest, my body in the corners, and we already talked about at the infield care center weeks before that, there’s really nothing we can do. You just kind of got to wait it out.
“So the best thing for me was just fresh air, right? So that’s why I sat on the pit box and just took a minute to sit there and breathe and get everything back.”
Zach Sturniolo | NASCAR Digital Media
While miserable, Vegas proved to be the lowest point for Williams competitively. Dillon was on standby for Williams again at Homestead-Miami Speedway the following week, but Williams mustered through the entire race and scored a 19th-place finish.
The race track wasn’t the only place Williams was suffering the effects of his illness, though. Since 2015, Williams has visited over 200 children’s hospitals on the “Josh Williams Hospital Tour,” wearing his firesuit to brighten the days of children and their families during difficult times, an endeavor for which Williams was recognized in 2022 as a finalist for the Comcast Community Champion of the Year Award. Because Williams has been sick, multiple visits were canceled over the past seven weeks.
“It’s been terrible,” Williams said. “I mean, some of our greatest visits that we do (are out there), one of them being Vegas. And Phoenix, having guests out to the race track and going to tour some of these places — we haven’t been able to go. It just sucks, because that’s what I’m used to. That’s what we do, and that’s what I enjoy doing.”
Williams is ready to put it all behind him now. His voice is still on its way back, he said, but the hospital tours are set to resume in two weeks when the circuit heads to Texas Motor Speedway. As he returns to feeling better, he’s ready for improved results, too, because “it kind of hurt our season too,” he said.
The 31-year-old has finished inside the top 20 in all but two races this year — 29th at Vegas when Dillon stepped in on short notice, and 36th at Darlington with a DNF after his car overheated. Those results are OK, Williams said, but the goal is much more than that.
“I mean, we need to make the playoffs for sure. I think that’s achievable,” Williams said through a lingering cough. “We’re running out of time, but I think that’s achievable. You know, some of the tracks where I thought that we would really strive, like Bristol and Martinsville, we weren’t as good as I thought we were going to be. But we’ve got some good tracks coming up that I enjoy up until the playoffs. So I think that that’s really our main goal is just to get the 11 into the playoffs, and then if we can achieve that goal, then we’ll worry about staying in the playoffs.”
This season marks Williams’ second with Kaulig Racing but eighth running the majority of the races of the Xfinity schedule. His average finish of 19.7 in 2025 is already two spots better than he finished in 2024 (21.7) and his average start has improved from 23.5 to 19.6.
“I think it’s been OK,” Williams assessed of his 14 months so far with Kaulig. “It’s just one of those deals, like we do have some good runs, and then sometimes we have things happen out of our control, but I think we’re moving still in the right direction. I just don’t know if we’ve moved fast enough.”
Crew chief Eddie Pardue is back on the pit box for Williams this year after replacing Kevin Walter just past the midpoint of the 2024 campaign. Williams said he believes they’re “on the right track” but ultimately needed to set up Williams’ cars more optimally for his driving preferences.
“I’ve always drove off of the right-rear (tire), so everything for me is on-the-throttle kind of driving,” Williams said. “So I’ve struggled with the cars being a little bit tight for me, just because the style of driving that I have. …
“We’re gaining on it. I just wish we’d gain on it a little faster.”
Track: Rockingham Speedway Location: Rockingham, NC Track length: 0.94 miles When: Saturday, 4 p.m. ET Where to tune in: The CW, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Race purse: $1,651,939 Race distance: 250 laps | 235 miles Stages: 60 | 120 | 250 Defending winner:Jamie McMurray, February 2004
Xfinity Series ready to rock with return to Rockingham
For the first time since 2004, the NASCAR Xfinity Series is racing at Rockingham Speedway. The 0.94-mile high-banked tri-oval is back, allowing North Carolina’s Richmond County to host NASCAR national series racing once again for the first time since the Craftsman Truck Series returned for two years in 2012-13.
At long last, Jamie McMurray’s streak of four straight Xfinity wins at “The Rock” will fall. The question is: Who will be the first new Xfinity winner at Rockingham since Jason Keller in 2002?
Sheldon Creed — still in search of his first Xfinity win — posted the best 10-lap average in Friday’s 50-minute practice session, picking up where he and his Haas Factory Team left off after a mid-winter NASCAR test. But his overwhelming takeaway wasn’t just his lap times — it was how much speed the track’s new coat of pavement allows drivers to carry through the corner.
“It’s just super fast,” Creed told NASCAR.com. “Like, we’re wide open at the quarter mark in (Turn) 3. It’s so fast. And we’re wide open at like the center in (Turns) 1 and 2 — in race trim. It’s just really fast.”
Defending series champion Justin Allgaier raced at Rockingham back in 2008 in ARCA Menards Series competition. With that experience came preconceived notions that may not be serving well, despite scoring the sixth-quickest single lap in practice.
“I think in my mind, I expected (the track) to do something,” Allgaier told NASCAR.com. “And I think that’s a tough spot to be in because a lot of these younger drivers that are coming in, they don’t have a perception of what to expect, and I think that they’re willing to do things that, while I’m not saying I’m not willing to do them, my thought doesn’t even go there because I’m so used to how I think it should go.”
Matt DiBenedetto is one of those drivers who doesn’t have much Rockingham experience, but he did test a Cup Series car for 600 miles at “The Rock” a number of years ago. Walking into the track again Friday, only one came to DiBendetto’s mind:
“Legendary,” DiBenedetto told NASCAR.com. “That’s the word. I think it’s cool, just because I grew up watching it as a kid on TV, and watching ‘The Rock’ and thought just how cool. I mean, this place is historic, legendary — kind of like going back to North Wilkesboro. It’s got some of that same cool factor to it. …
“I’ve just always, as a fan, thought this place was cool for the history of it, and to be actually coming here, seeing an event here, seeing it sold out, and all the excitement and enthusiasm, all the people wanting passes — friends and everybody wanting to come to this one — it’s just a good thing. It just shows how excited everybody is, especially locally too.”
From atop the pit box …
What do crew chiefs and pit crews have in focus to win Saturday’s race?
Though Rockingham is traditionally known for its high tire wear and abrasive surface, a 2022 repave smoothened the track significantly.
“The Rock” still has its quirks — a relatively long backstretch, steeply banked turns and a late apex in the tri-oval before diving into Turn 1 — but a lack of significant tire wear could play a role in how crew chiefs strategize for Saturday’s 250-lap feature.
“If the fall-off model is low and we’re not seeing it, you’re going to see guys flipping stages and trying to hold that track position for the race win,” Jim Pohlman, crew chief of Justin Allgaier’s No. 7 Chevrolet, told NASCAR.com. “And if you get off cycle to take some tires or stay out, you might get your points, but man, it’s going to be hard to get back through there. So unfortunately, we’re probably going to see a split field when it comes to some of that, guys fighting for points right now.
“That becomes a qualm for all the crew chiefs as to what strategy (they choose) and how they want to play and where how your season’s been so far. So yeah, I think track position — getting it and maintaining — it’s gonna be a big priority.”
Chevrolets will be at the front of the field. Chevrolet teams have combined to lead 1,313 of 1,666 laps in the Xfinity Series this season. That should favor teams like JR Motorsports and Richard Childress Racing on Saturday afternoon.
He may not be the favorite to win, but watch out for …
NICK SANCHEZ. Of the 27 drivers and teams who posted a 10-lap average in Friday afternoon’s practice, Sanchez was fourth-quickest on average. The Big Machine Racing rookie has posted top 10s every other week in 2025. Good news for the Florida native: The numbers say he’s due for his fifth top 10 of the year in race No. 10.
Speed reads
Our biggest pieces of the week — get covered for race day from all angles.
• Welcome back, Kasey: Kahne, one of NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers, returns for Xfinity race| Read more
• Rocking out: Best photos from a doubleheader weekend at Rockingham | View gallery
• NASCAR Classics: Rewind with full-race Rockingham replays from the archives | Watch races
• Paint Scheme Preview: All the schemes on track for “The Rock’s” return | View gallery
The driver of the No. 13 ThorSport Racing Ford paced the field for 43 laps in the Black’s Tire 200 and saved just enough fuel in the closing moments of Friday’s race to notch the second runner-up result of his career to tie a career-best finish.
“Yeah, it was a good day,” Garcia said. “Obviously we want to be one stop or one spot higher, but I’m proud of our guys. We brought a really fast truck to the race track. Strategy deal there at the end.”
Indeed, Tyler Ankrum stretched his fuel mileage across the final 88 laps at “The Rock” to score his first win since 2019 and snap a 130-race winless streak, the longest in series history. Garcia is still searching for his first trip to Victory Lane, but a stretch of four consecutive top 10s is building momentum in the right direction for the 20-year-old Georgian.
“These guys work really, really hard and put together really nice pieces for me to come drive,” Garcia said. “I’ve got good trucks under me now and can run up front.”
That credit goes, in part, to crew chief Jeriod Prince, now heading the No. 13 team after spending the 2024 campaign with ThorSport teammate Matt Crafton. Garcia ended the 2024 season with a 19.7 average finish — a five-position drop from his rookie year in 2023. Through seven races in 2025, Garcia’s average has skyrocketed to 9.4.
“I don’t know that I really improved a whole lot driver-wise — maybe a little,” Garcia said. “But we’re running about 20 spots better every week, so this is certainly refreshing. I was getting to doubt myself a little bit there. So yeah, I’m happy to have fast trucks and glad to be at ThorSport Racing.”
James Gilbert | Getty Images
Once he climbed from the pit box, Prince was kicking himself after the checkered flag wondering if their Ford had enough fuel to chase down Ankrum for the victory — but those kicks were mixed with smiles after a season-best day for the third-year driver.
“When it was like 30 to go and we weren’t catching leaders, I said go to fuel-save mode and just lift early,” Prince told NASCAR.com. “We slowed down half a second a lap and just rode there. And I really wasn’t worried about the 18 (because) he pitted so early; I didn’t think he topped off there. So I was just worried about the 38 (Chandler Smith) and 34 (Layne Riggs) and they ran out. I thought we were gonna be OK, but (Ankrum) made it.
“The last two or three laps, we just went full fuel-save mode. We were two seconds off the pace, but at that point, it was just ‘get to the finish line.’ (Grant) Enfinger was a whole straightaway behind us. So at that point, I just wanted to finish. Now looking back, we’re gonna go to tech (inspection) here and see how much fuel it took. And probably had a gallon left, and we could have went hard the whole time, and I’ll be kicking myself. But I’d hate to run out of last lap in the top five.”
Leaving Rockingham, the goal for Garcia and Co. is to continue capitalizing on the pace the No. 13 team is producing. That starts with the driver, who has put his trust in the group around him.
“They always say it in racing, but it’s true: If he’s got faith in it, he’ll drive it harder,” Prince said. “Now he’s pushing it harder. Restarts are better. Qualifying up front. Today’s the first day we actually had a really good stage-point day, so hopefully it’s a good points day in total. We’re all working better together, getting to learn what he likes and doesn’t like, and just (building) experience together.”
A good points day indeed: Garcia totaled a race-high 52 points Friday, netting nine points in Stage 1 with a second-place finish and eight in Stage 2 by placing third.
Next up is Texas Motor Speedway on May 2 (8 p.m. ET, FS1, NASCAR Racing Network Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), where Garcia placed fifth in his first Texas start in 2023.
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Triple Truck Challenge incentive program returns for the 2025 campaign, with a trio of intriguing races making up this year’s event.
This hub page will provide you with everything you need to know about the program, including links and more for each race event. Continue to monitor this hub as results from each Triple Truck Challenge race are added.
Beginning in 2019, “The Trip” is a program that rewards drivers financially for performing well during a three-race stretch in each Truck Series season. Over that span, drivers compete for a $50,000 bonus for winning a race. Should a driver win multiple events, the bonus money increases. If a driver wins two out of three races, he or she will be awarded $150,000. If a driver wins all three Triple Truck Challenge races, a $500,000 prize is awarded.
Where will the Triple Truck Challenge take place this season?
“The Trip” begins its 2025 campaign on March 28 at Martinsville Speedway. The second of the three Triple Truck Challenge races will be on April 11 at Bristol Motor Speedway. The 2025 Triple Truck Challenge finale will occur on April 18 at Rockingham Speedway. This will be the first time all three tracks have hosted the Triple Truck Challenge program.
Who qualifies for the Triple Truck Challenge?
In order to qualify for the Triple Truck Challenge, drivers must be declared to collect Craftsman Truck Series points.
Recap: What better way to cap off your first career Craftsman Truck Series win than with a $50,000 check to boot? That’s exactly what Daniel Hemric did at the Virginia short track, capitalizing on late-race cautions and outlasting McAnally-Hilgemann Racing to claim the first 2025 bonus of the season.
Recap: In his first season back in the Craftsman Truck Series and having a hand in hiring his team weeks before the season. Chandler Smith was able to keep Kyle Larson at bay in closing moments at the “Last Great Colosseum” to win and earn a bonus check for Front Row Motorsports.
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At Rockingham Speedway (April 18)
Recap: Falling a lap down early on, Tyler Ankrum and company used clever pit strategy, avoided a Stage 3 crash and conserved enough fuel down the stretch to snap a 130-race drought and bank $50,000 at Rockingham. While several of his competitors ran out of fuel in the final moments of a 77-lap run to the checkers, Ankrum even had enough juice to burn it down afterward.
ROCKINGHAM, N.C. — It had been so long since Tyler Ankrum won his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race that the driver of the No. 18 McAnally-Hilgemann Chevrolet couldn’t find Victory Lane after winning Friday’s Black’s Tire 200 at Rockingham Speedway.
After a prodigious effort at saving fuel, Ankrum coasted across the finish line 6.657 seconds ahead of pole winner and runner-up Jake Garcia to break a 130-race drought, dating to July 11, 2019.
Ankrum’s last win was so long ago that the track that gave him his maiden victory — Kentucky Speedway — has long since fallen off the NASCAR national series schedule.
In the series’ return to “The Rock” after a 12-year absence, Ankrum had to battle back from damage sustained during an accident on Lap 2, an incident that put him a lap down. Ankrum got his lap back as the beneficiary under caution for the Stage 2 break after Lap 90 and embarked on a heroic drive to the front.
The trophy wasn’t the only reward Ankrum got for the victory. He also earned a $50,000 check for winning the final Triple Truck Challenge race.
“It’s strange — I didn’t know where Victory Lane was at,” Ankrum said after climbing from his truck. “The way this day started, going a lap down and (crew chief) Mark (Hillman) making a pit call to get the track position back…
“Just saving fuel, man. I knew we were five (laps) short. I was hoping I had saved enough, and we did… I just found something there where I was pretty much lifting 60 percent down the straightaway, and I was able to draft off of (Matt) Crafton and a couple of other guys, and I was able to save that way.
“It’s just surreal. I feel like this is pretty much the way it went down at Kentucky in 2019.”
Ankrum took the lead for good on Lap 172 after Corey Heim and Gio Ruggiero came to pit road. The two Tricon Garage drivers stayed on the track during consecutive cautions early in the final stage and were running 1-2 before having to come to pit road for fuel.
Heim seemed confused by the strategy that kept him on the track while other top contenders pitted for the fuel they hoped would carry them to the end of the race.
“I felt like if we had the track position we would have been in really good shape from the very start,” said Heim, who started 15th and finished eighth. “Just didn’t have a good qualifying effort on my end. It was kind of an uphill battle from there all day.
“I didn’t exactly know what happened there the last 40 laps there, but we pitted, and it seems like some of the other guys didn’t run of fuel. Unfortunate. Just a weird deal in that last stage but have to be better on my part to qualify better and have the track position.”
Even though the Front Row Motorsports Fords of Layne Riggs and Chandler Smith pitted after Heim’s final stop, both ran short of fuel and had to bring their trucks to pit road in the closing laps.
Daniel Hemric, Rajah Caruth and Grant Enfinger benefited from the Fords’ gas shortage, finishing third, fourth and fifth, respectively.
Trouble continued to follow reigning series champion Ty Majeski, whose truck broke loose from the inside lane in Turn 1 while he was racing Enfinger on Lap 109. Majeski’s No. 98 ThorSport Ford backed into the outside wall and was eliminated from the race. He finished 31st after a 13th-place run at Martinsville and a 33rd-place result at Bristol in the previous two races.
“I can’t really blame Grant,” Majeski said. “He held me tight, obviously took the air off my right side. Yeah, just embarrassed, honestly. These last three weeks isn’t who I am as a driver. I feel so bad for everybody at ThorSport—(owners) Duke and Rhonda (Thorson) — yeah, I just need to be better.”
Heim, who led a race-high 52 laps compared to 43 for Garcia and 29 for Ankrum, held the top spot in the series standings by 22 points over Chandler Smith and 62 points over Ankrum in third. Kaden Honeycutt, Jack Wood, Corey Heim, Connor Mosack and Gio Ruggiero finished sixth through 10th, respectively, in Friday’s race.
The Truck Series will return to action in two weeks at Texas Motor Speedway for the SpeedyCash.com 250 on Friday, May 2 (8 p.m. ET, FS1, NASCAR Racing Network Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
NOTE: Post-race inspection in the Craftsman Truck Series garage was completed without issue, confirming Ankrum as the race winner.
A total of 41 races have been added, with those events falling under four categories: Closest Finishes, Legendary Tracks, Milestone Races and Championship Battles.
The 15th race in Truck Series history, and the first at Richmond Raceway, turned out to be a thrilling battle to the checkered flag between two NASCAR Cup Series stars.
Terry Labonte qualified his No. 5 truck for Hendrick Motorsports on the pole for the event, headlining a field that included multiple NASCAR Cup Series drivers.
Geoff Bodine, Ken Schrader, Derrike Cope and Darrell Waltrip all qualified for the race, which kicked off a tripleheader weekend that saw the Xfinity Series and Cup Series both in action.
It didn’t take long for the first caution to wave, as a handful of trucks, including Labonte’s teammates Scott Lagasse and Jack Sprague, were involved in an accident.
Labonte, Bodine and Ron Hornaday Jr. dominated the race, as they were the only three drivers to lead a lap. The three traded the lead multiple times throughout the race, as it looked like one of the three would end the race in Victory Lane.
The drivers were battling for the lead with less than 10 laps remaining, when Bodine made contact with Hornaday Jr., sending him around and into the wall.
This set up a restart with three laps remaining. When the green flag waved, Bodine attempted to chase down Labonte and caught his bumper as they were approaching the white flag.
The Cup Series stars raced the entire final lap side-by-side, with Mike Skinner right on their tail. Labonte beat Bodine to the line by inches, taking his No. 5 truck to Victory Lane for the first time.
The Craftsman Truck Series took their inaugural tour to Flemington, New Jersey in August of 1995 to Flemington Speedway, which was paved in late 1990. The track was originally operated as a dirt track since it opened in 1916.
One of the unique quirks of the speedway was the use of styrofoam blocks that were used in front of the walls to help drivers receive less of an impact.
The interesting shape to the track ended up creating a wild event, as the caution flag waved 11 times for 50 laps. Scott Lagasse was the first driver to hit the styrofoam, as he made contact with it less than 10 laps into the race.
The two biggest impacts of the day came when separate incidents involving John Nemechek’s No. 87 truck and the No. 83 of Steve Portenga left styrofoam scattered all across the track. Glenn Jarrett proclaimed on the broadcast, “It’s snowing in August in New Jersey.”
A late caution flag reset the field as Rick Carelli led the field back to the green flag with just two laps to go.
Ron Hornaday Jr. slid under Carelli as they raced to the white flag. The two raced side-by-side for the win, which was captured by Hornaday Jr., despite contact from Carelli, which sent Hornaday’s No. 16 truck spinning after crossing the line.
When the checkered flag dropped at Rockingham in February 2004 for the final time, it marked the end of an era.
The NASCAR Cup Series debuted at the track in October 1965, racing there until Matt Kenseth held off Kasey Kahne for the win in a thrilling finish in 2004.
Fast forward to 2012 and the anticipated return of Rockingham became a reality, as the Craftsman Truck Series made their debut at the track.
Future Cup Series drivers Ross Chastain and Ty Dillon were in the field that day.
Kahne avenged his loss to Kenseth by leading the final 46 laps en route to Victory Lane. The race marked the fifth race of Kahne’s Truck Series career and fourth victory.
Eventual Truck Series champion James Buescher finished second.
The first few seasons in Truck Series history featured dominance from Mike Skinner, Ron Hornaday Jr. and Jack Sprague.
The three drivers combined to win 41 of the first 70 races and three championships through the first three seasons.
With Skinner racing in the Cup Series, Hornaday Jr. and Sprague’s friendly rivalry turned into an intense championship battle between the two drivers.
They entered the season finale at Las Vegas first and second in points, with just 13 points separating the two.
It was no surprise when the checkered flag waved that the two drivers finished first and second at Las Vegas, with Sprague winning the race but Hornaday Jr. winning the title by just three points.
SOUTH BOSTON, Va. — As a former road racer, Bob Davis conquered the competition, winning races and earning numerous podium finishes while competing on some of the country’s top road courses. He then turned to a new challenge — short-track racing — and found success.
Now Davis is facing and fighting the biggest battle against the biggest opponent of his life: cancer. It’s a battle he has been waging since March of 2023.
Davis’ story is one of multiple components. It’s a story of his deep faith in God. It’s a story of having a never-give-up attitude. It’s a story of thinking outside the box, journeying alone to Mexico to receive treatments that so far have yielded success. It’s a story of a desire to race and to use racing to inspire those who face difficult struggles and dire circumstances.
Many people may not think of his seventh-place finish in last weekend’s second annual Kenny Meadows Limited Sportsman Memorial feature race, a 75-lap event at South Boston Speedway that took the better part of an hour to complete, as a major accomplishment. In Davis’ book, and in the book of those who know the Thaxton, Virginia resident, it was a win.
“I was kind of surprised at my performance,” Davis remarked. “I really didn’t know how I would do. Like most cancer patients, I am slightly anemic. It’s tough to get your energy level up. I think most drivers will tell you when they get in the car, start the engine and start making the pace laps we come to life. That’s the case for me. I was very energetic in the that car. I really had no trouble driving. I really had a good time. I must be on the rebound, on the way to being healed.”
The overwhelming majority of drivers race to win. Davis’ goal in the season’s opening race for South Boston Speedway’s Budweiser Limited Sportsman Division was far more modest.
Bob Davis, No. 19, in action at South Boston Speedway (Photo: Joe Chandler/South Boston Speedway)
“Our goal was to see how the car did, keep the car together, and finish the race,” Davis explained. “I was happy at the end of it all because that’s what we accomplished. We found out the car raced well, and it was fast. It felt good knowing the car was really working well and that I could race with those guys. That really helped me a lot.
“What I’d like to do,” Davis continued, “is finish races this year and drive the car onto the hauler. That’s my number one goal. If we’ve got a car that’s good enough to run toward the front, then that will be an even bigger plus.”
Cancer battles are something Davis has seen far too often in his family. His father, his brother and a sister died from cancer, and two other sisters have been affected by it.
“I never figured it was going hit me,” Davis said. “It hasn’t got me, and I don’t know that it will.”
Davis’ battle against cancer has been a tough one. Last September, his situation became dire.
“I was really beat down,” he explained. “I had a lot of problems with my health. My kidneys were at the point of shutting down. After I got so bad and the doctor told me about hospice, I went to Mexico. I found out about a place in Mexico called the Oasis of Hope Cancer Center through some health people. My wife and I talked to them, and they felt they could help me, so, in January, I flew out to San Diego, California. They (hospital personnel) picked me up at the airport and drove me to the hospital. I spent the next three weeks there under treatment. I got my blood tested when I got back home, and it was looking really good compared to what it was in late September and October.”
It isn’t just medical treatments that have helped Davis in his battle.
“There’s a couple of things that have helped me,” he noted. “I’ve got a thousand or more people praying for me. I do believe that God has a plan for me. I know God can heal me if he wants to. I know He has a plan.”
The three weeks spent in the hospital in Mexico not only gave Davis an opportunity to receive intense medical treatment. It also offered a time for inward reflection.
“Having this cancer is the best thing that has happened to me,” Davis said. “I mean that from my heart. It (the three weeks in Mexico) gave me a lot of time to look back on my life and reflect, pray and read my Bible. Looking back on my life I really didn’t like what I saw, and being faced with the end maybe being closer than most people having any idea of, it gave me a lot of reason for wanting to do better.”
Feeling better and being on a better path health-wise after his return from Mexico in late January, Davis began thinking about racing again. Conversations with close friends Bruce Anderson and H.C. and Peyton Sellers led to Davis buying a car and setting out on plans to race again in 2025.
“I told Bruce I’d like to race if my health was going to improve,” Davis explained. “He and H.C. got together. They got Mike Chambers’ attention, and Mike stepped up, and I got a car. I bought the car from Peyton and H.C. Mike picked it up and took it to his shop in Durham, North Carolina. He looks after it and brings it to the track. He’s got his own crew, and Joey Conner still spots for me.
“Things just came together,” Davis added. “I started feeling better and, as a result of that, there I was racing Saturday.”
Davis admitted weighing his decision to return to racing this season was difficult.
“I was really, really struggling with why am I racing,” he said. “Was this an ego trip for me? Is this just about having fun? H.C. and I were talking one day, and I said, ‘You know, H.C., I really want a better reason to race. I feel like if we’re doing this maybe somehow we can help people, maybe do something that will please God.’ He said that’s what we need to do.
“That’s how we need to look at this,” Davis continued. “He felt like with the cancer it was a great opportunity to help people who may be struggling and suffering, people not really believing they can get better or who need some help, some advice or whatever. If we can inspire people by being there, that’s our goal. That’s what I want to do.
“I’m so lucky to be a part of racing. I really thought it was done for after last season. Through God’s grace and those people in Mexico, they have brought me back to life.”
Davis pointed out his plan for now is to compete in five events.
“I thought let’s just do it for five races and see how we go,” he remarked. “I felt five consecutive races was a good number to shoot for. After that, we will take a look and see where we stand.”
His belief is that approach is doable.
“I believe that I am going to feel good,” Davis said. “I really want to have a positive impact on the people at the race track, the crew, and everyone around there. I feel like God has given me a second chance.”
Next up for Davis and the competitors in the Budweiser Limited Sportsman Division are the twin 30-lap races that will be part of the Advance Auto Parts Day at the Races presented by Bojangles on Saturday afternoon, April 26 at South Boston Speedway.
DALLAS — McKenna Haase has always blazed her own trail en route to becoming a professional sprint car racer. But after more than a decade of traversing a dirt-covered career path, the 28-year-old has decided to pave that path with asphalt. Haase is making a career change from 900-horsepower sprint cars to pavement-pounding late model stock cars.
It is a vastly different discipline in a vastly different environment, and Haase is going all in. Just as the allure of westward expansion in the 19th century was rooted in opportunity, ambition and reinvention, Haase is of the same mindset here in the 21st century. She isn’t going Late Model racing at her hometown track. Instead, the Iowa native is heading west to compete in the 602 Late Model division of the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway in Bakersfield, California, with backing from Interstate Batteries. Her first race is this Saturday.
“I got connected with Charlie Wilson, who is based out in California,” Haase said. “Charlie has a long and extensive background in asphalt racing. He’s got a reputation for having good equipment that’s fast, but also for being a really good person who is genuine, fair and ethical, and those are all values that matter to me. There’s mutual respect, and we just clicked.”
Wilson is a veteran crew chief who once turned wrenches for Harvick, Tony Stewart, Clint Bowyer, Ron Hornaday Jr. and Steve Park, among others, in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, before transitioning to Late Model team ownership where he focuses on driver development.
“Charlie’s the main reason to answer the ‘Why California?’ question,” Haase said. “Charlie was willing to work with me and help make this happen. I don’t have endless funding to go race. I need to maximize this opportunity. Charlie understands that.”
Racing is a relationship business, and just as Haase has developed a good rapport with her new car owner, Haase has fostered a strong partnership with Interstate Batteries. The leading replacement battery brand in the United States continues its support of Haase after signing on last year as a primary partner of her 410 winged sprint car.
“Having the support of Interstate Batteries has been incredible. I’m super thankful for their flexibility and their loyalty,” Haase said. “Last year wasn’t as successful of a season as we were all hoping for — just had a lot of unfortunate events that were outside of our control. But Interstate Batteries was really good at pivoting when needed and being supportive, and I’m very thankful for that. And now they’re on board with this stock car opportunity. It wouldn’t be possible without them.”
Mike Arning | True Speed Communication
Haase endured two massive, highlight-reel accidents in 2024. The first was in May at Tri-City Speedway in Granite City, Illinois, when Haase cartwheeled through Turns 3 and 4 of the 3/8-mile dirt oval. She emerged unscathed, but the same could not be said three months later when Haase endured an even heavier crash on the first lap of the first heat on Friday night of the Knoxville Nationals at famed Knoxville Raceway in Iowa. Haase flipped into the Turn 1 wall at the ultra-fast, half-mile dirt oval, spun high in the air and then landed hard on the clay surface.
“I had a collapsed lung and was pretty bruised up,” said Haase, recounting the accident that ended her season. “I had a decent amount of whiplash, too, lots of strains in my neck and back muscles. I didn’t have any kind of head injury, which I’m thankful for, because when I flipped into the wall, something metal went through the top of my carbon-fiber helmet. If I had been two inches taller, things would’ve been a lot worse. The lung injury was the main, lasting injury.
“It’s kind of wild because I hadn’t really crashed hard in a sprint car in, like, five seasons. So it’d been a long time since we’d tore up equipment, and it was really frustrating to have that happen twice in one year.
“After the Knoxville crash in August, I was laying in the hospital bed thinking ‘OK, we’ll be fine in a few weeks, and we’ll make it to Eldora.’ Apparently, my math was a little off because the doctor told me that I couldn’t even fly for six weeks, never mind race. But for some reason, I thought I could be back in a race car in four (weeks). I don’t know why I thought that, but it took me a minute to realize I wasn’t going to be racing any sprint cars for the rest of the season.”
As Haase recovered, she was also in the midst of wedding planning. She married NFL player Zavier Scott on March 17 in Indianapolis.
“We got engaged in July, and then a few weeks later, I went to Knoxville, and he went to training camp with the Indianapolis Colts,” Haase said. “Zavier was actually watching the race and saw my wreck as it happened. It was a hectic time, but thankfully, my parents were able to keep him up to date on my condition. He stayed at camp, and I stayed at my parents’ house in Des Moines to heal.
“I actually went wedding dress shopping in Des Moines while I was still healing. I probably wasn’t well enough to do that. I still wasn’t feeling very good. I remember the dresses were pretty painful to wear, and I couldn’t even turn my head left or right to look in the different mirrors, but it was still a really cool experience because I never thought I’d be married, anyway. And then to go from a hospital gown to a wedding gown, it just made me all the more grateful, knowing that you don’t take life for granted.
“Zavier went to the Minnesota Vikings after training camp with the Colts, which was nice because it’s closer to my family in Des Moines, and then we got married in March. It was an incredible wedding and a super cool experience. Like I said, it was never something I thought I’d do, and planning the wedding was more of a gift than an expectation, and it was pretty awesome.”
Mike Arning | True Speed Communication
Throughout recovery and planning for her wedding, Haase continued to pursue racing.
“I’ve always wanted to race stock cars and, you know, I’m not getting any younger. I just wanted to give it a chance,” Haase said. “I’m not saying that I’m going to try and be a Cup driver, but I’ve always loved NASCAR. I want to be successful at it, and I’m coming at it from a humble approach. The door was open for this opportunity with Charlie Wilson and Interstate Batteries, so why not take it?”
Saturday’s race at Kern Raceway will be the first of six races for Haase in the No. 55 Interstate Batteries 602 Late Model for Charlie Wilson Motorsports.
“I expect it to be a challenge because it is so new,” Haase said. “I don’t 100 percent know what to expect, but being a race car driver, I still have high expectations. But to get to where I eventually want to be this year — winning — I’ve got to be consistent, keep things clean, and just get laps in, get experience.”
Tackling this new racing discipline is a full-circle moment for Haase.
“As silly as this might sound, this actually reminds me of my first season ever, when I started out in Outlaw carts when I was 13,” Haase said. “I can remember, even though it was an entry-level Outlaw cart, I was still taking a risk. It was a big deal for me at the time, and I had to overcome a lot of challenges just trying to figure things out. That’s kind of how I feel now, especially coming off a tough season in sprint cars. I’ve had to really refocus and tell myself, ‘OK, we can’t go back to last season, a lot of that was outside of your control, you’ve got to focus on the here and now.’
“In sprint car racing, there’s not a lot of track time. You show up, you get some hot laps, you qualify, you’re in a heat race, and then you run the race. I’ve had to learn as quickly as I can, and that’s just been the nature of my career.
“I know I’ll be up against drivers with a lot more laps, but it’s OK because I’m used to having to figure it out, so that’s what we’ll do.”
The NASCAR Xfinity and Craftsman Truck Series are ready to roll at “The Rock.”
In the final event of an Easter tripleheader weekend that also includes the ARCA Menards Series East, Xfinity Series drivers will compete at Rockingham Speedway for the first time since 2004 with the running of Saturday’s North Carolina Education Lottery 250 presented by Black’s Tire (4 p.m. ET, The CW, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
“The Rock” is not the same track on which driver-turned-television analyst Jamie McMurray won the last four Xfinity Series events held at the Richmond County speedway. Repaved in late 2022 and remeasured at 0.94 miles, the iconic track is unfamiliar territory to all but one driver in Saturday’s field, as far as actual racing is concerned.
Only Kasey Kahne has competitive Xfinity Series experience at the track, with his last series appearance coming in the final race there in 2004. On Saturday, Kahne will make his first Xfinity start at any track since 2017 in the No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.
Kahne, a sprint-car driver and team owner, quickly acclimated to the stock car in his return to pavement during an organizational test in January.
“It had been six and a half years,” said Kahne, who won a Truck Series race at Rockingham in 2012. “It was really nice to be back in a car. I didn’t know exactly how it would feel and if I would have to refigure out how to drive in a way.
“But truthfully, once I got to Turn 3 coming to the start of practice and the car loaded into the corner, I instantly felt right at home and felt like I had been doing it for a while. From there on, it was a solid practice for the next four or five hours.”
Despite the lack of competitive reps, other drivers aren’t coming to Rockingham with empty notebooks. Sheldon Creed, Brandon Jones and series leader Justin Allgaier participated in a Goodyear tire test last November.
And the organizational test in January gave a broad range of drivers in both the Xfinity and Truck Series a sense of what they will face on Easter weekend.
In Allgaier’s case, there’s more on the line than the race trophy. The driver of the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet is competing for a record eighth $100,000 bonus in the final Xfinity Dash 4 Cash race of the season.
To win the bonus, Allgaier will have to finish ahead of three other eligible drivers — teammates Carson Kvapil and Sammy Smith and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Jones.
“It’s really cool to be heading back to Rockingham with our Brandt Professional Agriculture Chevrolet,” said Allgaier, who won two of the first three Dash 4 Cash bonuses this season, at Homestead-Miami Speedway and Bristol Motor Speedway.
“No one really knows what to expect this weekend, but I feel like the test we had here back in January gave (crew chief) Jim (Pohlman) and all the guys on this team a good playbook to start with.
“We’ve had a lot of momentum on our side here lately, and hopefully that will carry over and we’ll have another great run on Saturday.”
