Turning Point: COTA rounds out wild-card start to the season with new layout, new tire, new pavement

Posted on February 26, 2025March 2, 2025 by Zack Albert

Here’s what’s happening in the world of NASCAR with Atlanta in the rearview and Circuit of The Americas (Sun., 3:30 p.m. ET, FOX) up next.

THE LINEUP

1️⃣ Twisting the trends: COTA yet another wild-card race in opening stretch

2️⃣ Ring in the new in Austin, where a new configuration, new tire, new asphalt await

3️⃣ Video: Inside Christopher Bell’s sky-high motivation for season ahead

4️⃣ Road-course review: Stacking up the best of the best from 2024

5️⃣ Catch the pack — news and notes from around the garage

Jonathan Bachman | Getty Images

1. COTA closes out triple play of wild-cards

Trying to draw a bead on who has the early hot hand in the 2025 Cup Series? Good luck, with a pair of superspeedways and a road course as the first three races potentially skewing those trends.

Conventional wisdom used to be that the first five races of the NASCAR Cup Series season would provide a good gauge of how the circuit’s balance of power might tilt. In years past, that span of the schedule typically served up a mix of intermediate tracks, one-milers and perhaps a short track — all kicked off by Daytona’s superspeedway test.

This year, however, pundits may have to let the calendar breathe a bit before drawing definitive conclusions about which teams made the best offseason performance strides, who jumped out to a competitive edge and who the rest of the field might be chasing for the bulk of the 2025 campaign.

For the second straight season, the Cup Series has competed on drafting-style tracks in the first two races of the year, making the turn from Daytona to Atlanta. This year, the chaser that rounds out the opening three-race trifecta is Sunday’s EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at the Circuit of The Americas, the deliciously complex road course in Austin, Texas.

RELATED: Cup Series standings

It’s a schedule that has all the look and feel of a triple play of wild-card events, with 1-mile Phoenix Raceway and 1.5-mile tracks at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway up next. That five-race stretch, though, still holds the possibility of providing a baseline for how the Cup Series field stacks up.

“You know, it used to be like — let’s get like a month in or something. That will probably still be true,” said former Cup Series champ Chase Elliott, the winner of COTA’s inaugural NASCAR race in 2021. “Really, I think by the time you get through — where do we go … from COTA to Phoenix to Las Vegas? I think by the time you get through Vegas, you’ll have a pretty good idea of what’s going on, truthfully, at that point. So you’ve delayed it a week, basically, with the second speedway and the road course thing.”

Road racing, Elliott acknowledged, isn’t the rarity or write-off that it used to be — not with six of that track type on the 36-race schedule.

“In the past, I would agree that it was kind of an outlier. Well, now, we have 15 of them, it seems like, so they kind of matter, too,” Elliott said, noting the days when Sonoma Raceway and Watkins Glen International were the Cup Series’ only two road courses. “It used to be that you could get away with just not being a road racer for two weeks a year, and it didn’t really matter because it was in the summer. If you ran good, great. And if you didn’t, no big deal, right? Where now, you have so many of them so you kind of have to embrace. I would argue that that one matters, as well.”

So far, the first two races haven’t produced the striking number of anomalies in the Cup Series standings that the small sample size tends to create. A quick glance at the top of the Cup Series heap isn’t all that wild of a card, with points leader Ryan Blaney just ahead of William Byron and Tyler Reddick in the top three — a trio that ended up in last year’s Championship 4 field.

On the flip side, John Hunter Nemechek and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. — both outside the top 20 in last year’s final standings — are in a three-way tie for sixth place with Kyle Larson. Further down, it’s a deep points deficit for three drivers who made last year’s Cup Series Playoffs, with Ty Gibbs 29th, Brad Keselowski 33rd and Chase Briscoe last. Both Gibbs and Keselowski crashed out of last Sunday’s Atlanta race, and Briscoe’s No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing team is in the cellar after a post-Daytona penalty.

This year’s winners haven’t been left-field surprises, either, with Daytona 500 champ Byron joining Atlanta winner Christopher Bell in that group. Both Byron and Bell have won multiple races in each of the last three seasons, and while Bell didn’t have Atlanta on the list of venues where he figured his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing team would necessarily thrive, he was bullish on putting his name among the early season front-runners in the first five races and beyond.

“Honestly we’re just getting into the bread and butter of what the 20 car likes,” Bell said post-race at Atlanta. “COTA should be a strong track. Phoenix, Vegas, Darlington, Homestead. All of these tracks coming up in the early part of the season is where we think we can compete for wins and do good, score a lot of points. Atlanta was not one of those race tracks we had circled. It’s very refreshing to be able to get one early in the season, especially one where we didn’t expect to win at. Hopefully, we can keep the ball rolling.”

Jonathan Bachman | Getty Images

2. Keep Austin New

Weird? Maybe. But a host of changes will greet the Cup Series this weekend, with a shorter course configuration, new pavement and new Goodyear rubber at COTA.

Circuit of The Americas still qualifies as one of NASCAR’s newer stops on the schedule. Significant changes, however, are ahead for this weekend’s event, which marks just the Cup Series’ fifth trip to the Lone Star State capital.

The city’s motto of “Keep Austin Weird” will describe not only its reputation as a home for eclectic music and culture but will also sum up a new-look course configuration for this weekend’s NASCAR events. Race promoters announced that change last November, shifting from a 3.41-mile full layout to a shorter 2.3-mile “national” circuit for both the Cup Series and Xfinity Series this weekend.

The new shape of the course eliminates the section from Turn 7 through the Turn 11 hairpin on the full layout. The scheduled race distances won’t change as much, with last year’s event going 231.88 miles vs. this year’s 228, but the lap count goes up from 68 to 95. That shift means that the field will rumble past fans’ vantage points more often over the course of the event.

RELATED: Cup entry list: COTA

“I think shortening the track definitely changes quite a few things,” Team Penske’s Austin Cindric said. “The lap count, from a fan standpoint, I think that is more than anything else. How much do you prioritize the other corners that still exist on the race track? Past that, there are still plenty of elements to take away. It is a very unique circuit.”

The adjustments will put a premium on Saturday morning’s extended practice, when the drivers will get a chance to validate their computer simulation testing with real-world track time.

“It’s kind of one of those things where it’s tough because the only thing you can do is simulator work, right, until you can get some eyes on it,” Elliott said. “The good news is that we’ve got some practice next week to understand the reconfiguration. I do not have my head wrapped around it completely at this point. I mean, I know what it’s supposed to look like, but I think until you really get out there and feel it — for me, it’s always hard to kind of understand exactly how things are going to be. And I kind of hate guessing because I don’t want to guess wrong in that situation, so I just kind of look forward to practice, honestly, more than anything. I would have to imagine it will change the racing a little, I would think, just based off the way it’s shaped. So hopefully, it gives more opportunities to get crafty, have some more options, opportunities to pass or just be different. If it does, great. And if it doesn’t, it’ll look like it has for the last few years out there.”

If that’s not enough new, Sunday’s race will be the first on the Circuit of The Americas’ fresh asphalt, the fruit of a repaving project that was completed last September. The resurfacing was the second in a roughly 2 1/2-year span as track officials sought to address the track’s bumpy nature.

That new begets more new, with Goodyear bringing a new tire that’s making its Cup Series debut this weekend. Goodyear officials indicated that the new tire features an updated construction, plus a new compound that emphasizes wear and lap-time falloff.

Christopher Bell's No. 20 Toyota rounds the turns at Circuit of The Americas — *Jonathan Bachman | Getty Images*

3. Bell building on early brilliance

Experts Steve Letarte and Jeff Burton break down Sunday’s Atlanta result, noting how Christopher Bell has heaps of motivation driving him to success.

4. Last year’s road-course review

Hendrick Motorsports won four of the five road-course races last season, led by Kyle Larson’s pair of triumphs (Sonoma, Charlotte Roval). RFK Racing’s Chris Buescher was the only non-Hendrick road-race winner (Watkins Glen) in 2024. See how the field’s finest stacked up in terms of laps led on road courses last season. (Credit: Racing Insights)

Driver	Road course laps led, 2024
Kyle Larson	81
Ross Chastain	61
Chris Buescher	51
William Byron	42
Tyler Reddick	42
Shane van Gisbergen	31
Christopher Bell	24
Joey Logano	22
Ty Gibbs	18
AJ Allmendinger	17
Alex Bowman	14

5. Catch the pack — news and notes from around the garage

Bell, Larson elevate statures at unlikely venue in Atlanta

Analysis: Carson Hocevar’s brash nature holds promise

Connor Zilisch eager for Cup Series debut at Circuit of The Americas

Power Rankings: Hocevar bolts into post-Atlanta Top 20

Three Up, Three Down: Drivers in focus leaving Atlanta

Paint Scheme Preview: 2025 COTA weekend

@nascarcasm: Fake texts to Daytona 500 winner William Byron

Jonathan Bachman | Getty Images

Posted on February 26, 2025February 26, 2025 by Cameron Richardson

Only two races into the 2025 Cup Series season and tensions are beginning to rise.

Carson Hocevar was the biggest topic of discussion on-track with his run-ins and conversations with multiple drivers at Atlanta Motor Speedway last Sunday, but the late-race incident between Austin Cindric and Kyle Larson for the lead flew under the radar as Ross Chastain spoke to Hocevar on the infield grass.

On Monday, Cindric and Larson spoke over the phone and hashed out their perspectives on the contact off Turn 2 that sent the No. 2 Team Penske Ford spinning along with Daytona 500 winner William Byron.

RELATED: Cup standings | COTA schedule

“I thought we had a good talk,” Cindric said during a Zoom teleconference Wednesday. “Kyle took responsibility on the end of the race there, which obviously ended our race. Talking about it doesn’t really un-wreck my race car, but I think we’re on the same page as to what the expectations are moving forward racing together.”

To schedule the call with Larson, Cindric didn’t have Larson’s number and said he doesn’t find the purpose in having his competitors’ phone numbers.

Instead, shortly after the race, Cindric handed a business card to Hendrick Motorsports President and General Manager Jeff Andrews.

“When the race is over, you know, I was helping my guys load the car and as you’re standing there, we’re the first hauler, and I can’t say I was really in a very good head space to want to talk to anybody,” Cindric said. “But at the same time, knowing that this is something I definitely wanted to discuss with Kyle, I was like ‘if somebody comes up to me, I’m just going to give them my phone number and be done with it. I do have a stack of business cards that I brought around with me, like going to the Rolex [24], like as a teenager, handing them out to team owners and team managers. So I still had all of them in my backpack, and I saw Jeff Andrews and Chad Knaus standing over by the 24 hauler, so I figured that was a good way of ensuring that I would get my conversation that would be a lot healthier than just showing up at the race track.”

With Cindric’s prowess on drafting tracks, there’s an argument to be made he could have two wins already stashed away and a guaranteed bid into the 2025 NASCAR Playoffs.

The fourth-year driver finished eighth in the Daytona 500 and 28th at Atlanta but the results don’t show what Cindric was able to do in those events. He led the most laps in the ‘Great American Race’ and followed it up by leading 47 circuits around the 1.5-mile Georgia track.

Looking deeper into the numbers, Cindric also scored 20 combined stage points in the first two races of the season, and according to Racing Insights’ loop data, Cindric ran inside the top 15 for all but 17 laps, including the nine he missed after exiting the race following the wreck. He leads the Cup Series with an average running position of 5.4, more than four positions better than teammate Ryan Blaney (9.5) in second.

“I felt like I could have said a lot more than I did,” Cindric said. “I like to honestly keep that behind closed doors, so maybe if you felt like I spoke up and I felt like I was holding back, that tells you how upset I was with the situation. It’s still something I’m relatively upset about and gets the blood pressure going a little bit. But that’s racing. I mean, I’m not the only one that’s been in those positions and felt like they haven’t been able to capitalize on an opportunity to win a race or had somebody else be the cause of that. It doubles down with it being two weeks in a row. At this level, race wins don’t fall out of the sky.”

While it’s still way too early in the season to discuss postseason outlooks, Cindric’s early-season heartbreaks already harken to a playoff-contending driver who had multiple win opportunities taken from him last season — Chris Buescher.

Cindric is nowhere close to any sort of panic button as he sits a healthy fourth in the points standings, but with two golden opportunities out of the mix for the No. 2 driver, he will have to battle Larson again and other stars of the sport to get that coveted checkered-flag sticker on his Ford Mustang.

“I know if I want to win in this series, I’m certainly going to have to race against him [Larson] a lot more,” Cindric said. “I certainly expect us to be at that level throughout the year and I just expect it to be better than what we had on Sunday.”

Posted on February 26, 2025 by Brandon White

The 75^th season of racing at Hickory Motor Speedway is poised to be one of the most notable in the track’s long history.

Along with more improvements to the facility’s infrastructure, Hickory is also introducing the Grand Slam for Late Model Stock competitors. This four-race championship encompasses Hickory’s three marquee events in the Jack Ingram Memorial, Bobby Isaac Memorial and the Fall Brawl, as well as one qualifying event.

Kevin Piercy, who is entering his 17^th year as Hickory’s promoter, has witnessed the historic track undergo plenty of changes during his tenure. The diamond anniversary at Hickory creates both pressure and opportunity for Piercy, who is eager to see another year of weekly competition commence Saturday evening.

“Anytime you open up for another season, there’s a lot of work, time and effort that goes into preparing for opening night,” Piercy said. “I haven’t had a whole lot of time to think about what’s next, but we’re excited to host the 75^th year of Hickory Motor Speedway, America’s most famous short track.”

RELATED: Ticket info for Hickory

Since 1951, Spectators have flocked to Hickory Motor Speedway to cheer on the local heroes and watch the next generation of NASCAR stars.

Long before he started overseeing the day-to-day operations of Hickory, Piercy was familiar with how the track got its nickname as the “Birthplace of the NASCAR Stars.”

Since Hickory opened its doors to the public in 1951, many NASCAR legends have honed their skills around the half-mile oval. The list of track champions features many NASCAR pioneers like Junior Johnson, Ned Jarrett and Ralph Earnhardt, along with other accomplished competitors such as Jack Ingram, Harry Gant, Tommy Houston and Josh Berry.

Hickory also hosted several NASCAR Cup Series races from 1953-71 before later becoming a staple on the NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule. Despite the last major NASCAR event at Hickory taking place in 1998, the track continues to attract both fans and competitors through its weekly racing program.

Piercy has strived to keep the proud tradition of racing at Hickory flourishing, though that often involves keeping a balance between being frugal and innovative. Full-time competitors at Hickory are becoming less common due to financial restraints, which is why Piercy said programs like the Grand Slam are essential to sustainability.

“You’re constantly trying to be creative and find new ideas,” Piercy said. “Our Limited [Late Model] division has a challenge with 10 events inside the season that make up a second crown. For people who are on a budget, that allows them to race without committing to the whole season.

“That’s the same direction we’re going with the Grand Slam this year.”

Hickory’s Grand Slam technically begins July 19 with the Jack Ingram Memorial, but a driver who wishes to compete for the in-season title can earn eligibility by competing in one weekly event between Saturday’s opener and Aug. 23. A total of 50 points toward the Grand Slam will be designated to a driver for making a weekly race start before the deadline.

STREAM: Watch Hickory’s opener live

Hickory’s Grand Slam consists of the track’s three Crown Jewels: the Jack Ingram Memorial, the Bobby Isaac Memorial and the Fall Brawl. (Photo: Gardner Street Photography/Hickory Motor Speedway)

The Grand Slam is not the only change Piercy has made ahead of the 2025 season, as he and his staff completed the installation of a new scoreboard in Turns 1-2 that doubles as a video board. With the updated technology, Piercy believes spectators will have a more optimal experience when it comes to keeping track of the leaders.

Infrastructure has been a top priority for Piercy since Hickory received more than $500,000 in North Carolina state grants following the COVID-19 pandemic. The renovated scoreboard was a continuation in a long line of improvements at Hickory over the past few years, but Piercy still has many plans outlined for the track, including a repave.

“We went as far as we could with the grant money with renovating the bathrooms, the suites and paving the infield,” Piercy said. “We have some money left, but not enough to get started on the track. We’d love to pave the track at some point, but that’s going to be a future project. The video board is a tremendous asset and an opportunity for sponsors, too.”

Piercy possesses optimism over Hickory’s future in an evolving world, but his focus is centered on ensuring everything is ready before opening night. He expects plenty of exciting moments throughout the 2025 season, one he hopes will end with a thrilling conclusion to the inaugural Grand Slam during the Fall Brawl in November.

Sustaining Hickory’s proud racing heritage is strenuous-but-rewarding work for Piercy. Having served as promoter for just under a quarter of Hickory’s lifespan, Piercy said the job remains arduous, but he’s proud of everything he and his staff continue to accomplish with one of NASCAR’s most cherished short tracks.

“When I took over, we were in a recession,” Piercy said. “I had multiple competitors come to me [back then] who felt the timing was disastrous. The first two or three years were sketchy, but we’ve evolved. It’s a rollercoaster with up and down years, but we try to be sensitive to the needs of the competitors, the fans and the sponsors.

“We try to underpromise but overdeliver on the way we do things at Hickory Motor Speedway.”

Hickory Motor Speedway’s 75^th season gets underway Saturday with a full docket of racing that includes twin 40-lap features for Late Model Stocks along with Limited Late Model, Street Stock, Super Truck and Renegade races. The first green flag waves at 6 p.m. ET with FloRacing providing coverage of all the on-track action.

Posted on February 26, 2025 by Nate Ryan

The latest episode of the “Hauler Talk” podcast provided a glimpse into the NASCAR playoff committee that held its first meeting two weeks ago at Daytona International Speedway.

The panel of more than two dozen members included active and Hall of Fame drivers, series executives and representatives from manufacturers and the media industry.

NASCAR managing director of racing communications Mike Forde said Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell was among the active drivers on the committee weighing changes to the NASCAR playoffs beginning with the 2026 season.

“NASCAR has really turned to him as a leader in the garage,” Forde said. “I think how he handled the disappointment of Martinsville (missing the championship round after his last-lap move was deemed illegal), we took notice of that. He was vocal and super candid, and I think a lot of people would probably assume that we didn’t care for that, but it’s the opposite. We met with him in January to talk about where we were with the playoffs and to invite him as part of this committee.

“He did speak up in the committee and gave some ideas that we should maybe think about. Rotation of the championship, for instance, was a big one on his mind.”

Forde said there was no agenda for the opening discussions and described the tenor of the room as civil, educational and wide-ranging.

“You’re looking at about 25 people on the panel from all walks of life, and I was kind of interested to see how it would start,” Forde said. “The first to speak was a retired NASCAR Hall of Famer who had a bunch of very well prepared research, and his idea or pitch was to go back to the 36-race season championship. Others went the opposite direction and said, ‘Well, I like the playoffs. I think that it is important to have eliminations but how will we do it a little bit differently? Is it a seven-race lead-in to a three-race championship?’ That was one idea that was kicked off. And do we reduce the field from 16 drivers to 12 or 10, as we did in prior iterations of the Chase and playoffs?

“So there was a lot discussed. Step one of the meeting was to really just throw ideas out there good or bad. The goal is a playoff system, whether it’s keeping it or changing it, that crowns a deserving champion but also maintains or elevates fan engagement, whether from a digital or social perspective, or butts in the seats and eyeballs on the television. We want the competition for sure, but we want fans to be really engaged as well.”

Forde and senior director of racing communications Amanda Ellis also explained why NASCAR changed course Sunday in ending the Cup race at Atlanta Motor Speedway under caution after allowing Saturday’s Xfinity race to finish under green despite a last-lap wreck.

The Daytona 500 ended under a green flag despite a massive crash coming to the checkered flag. Ellis noted that Daytona International Speedway has more than twice as many cutouts as Atlanta to allow safety vehicles to access the track, “and that alone makes calling those two races exactly the same, in my opinion, very challenging.”

With many calls for a consistent policy in how NASCAR handles last-lap wrecks, Forde said the varying dimensions of race tracks would make consistency difficult and noted the calls could be different this weekend at the Circuit of The Americas road course.

RELATED: COTA weekend schedule

“There are more run-off areas, so if there is a wreck at the front of the field between two leaders, it might not be a caution because you’ll have to see if the trailing cars are in a precarious position,” Forde said. “At road courses because it’s so spread out, we might be able to keep it green.”

The episode also features an interview with Speedway Motorsports senior vice president of operations and development Steve Swift who reviewed the positive reaction to the reconfiguration of Atlanta Motor Speedway and what might be ahead as the track’s asphalt quickly ages.

Swift also discussed this weekend’s overhaul to the NASCAR course layout at COTA, which will be about a mile shorter in distance and nearly 30 laps longer in race length.

Other topics covered during the third episode of “Hauler Talk,” which explores competition issues in NASCAR:

• Dissecting the disqualification of Parker Kligerman’s Daytona victory being upheld on appeal.

• Fan questions about the length of cautions, why series use different race directors and how track limits will be enforced at COTA.

Click on the embed above to listen or search for “Hauler Talk” wherever you download podcasts to hear it on your phone, tablet or mobile device.

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 new “Hauler Talk” show on the NASCAR Podcast Network. He also has covered various other motorsports, including the IndyCar and IMSA series.

Posted on February 26, 2025 by Staff Report

Icebreaker 150

Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park

$116,053 posted awards

RACING PURSE BREAKDOWN

*1st place monies includes the $3,500 Special Award Whelen Engineering “Winner of the Race” award paid to winning driver.

Total: $82,450

1st-$12,585
2nd-$4,792
3rd-$3,744
4th-$2,881
5th-$2,776
6th-$2,671
7th-$2,567
8th-$2,562
9th-$2,557
10th-$2,552
11th-$2,348
12th-$2,343
13th-$2,338
14th-$2,333
15th-$2,329
16th-$2,224
17th-$2,219
18th-$2,214
19th-$2,210
20th-$2,205
21st-$2,000
22nd-$2,000
23rd-$2,000
24th-$2,000
25th-$2,000
26th-$2,000
27th-$2,000
28th-$2,000
29th-$2,000
30th-$2,000

($10,000 of the above purse is contributed by FloRacing.com)

QUALIFYING AND SPECIAL AWARDS

$1,150 Hoosier Tire “Pole Award” per event award to the eligible driver with the fastest qualifying time eligible to participate under the Manufacturers’ Prize Money Conditions.
$1,000 Hoosier Tire “Hard Charger” per event award to the highest finishing eligible driver who advances the most positions from the start of the race to the end of the race. In the case of a tie, the highest finishing driver will receive the award.
$550 Sunoco Spec Fuel per race award divided: 1st-$300 5th-$150 10th-$100
$400 Phil Kurze “Halfway Leader” Award presented by Josten’s per event award to the race leader at the halfway point of the event, regardless if the race is running under green or yellow.
One set of Hoosier Racing Tires – Product Award valued at $1,000 to be awarded as follows: At the conclusion of the event, the race winner will draw a pill to randomly select which finishing position of 10th through 25th will win this award.
One set of Hoosier Racing Tires – Product Award valued at $1,000 to be awarded to the highest finishing new team participating in the race. New team is defined as a new Car Owner to the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour or a Car Owner who has not participated during the past three (3) seasons of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. If there are no new teams that qualify for this award, a second pill will be drawn, by the race winner, and the tires will be awarded to a team that finishes between 10th and 25th positions.

Posted on February 26, 2025March 4, 2025 by Holly Cain

MEXICO CITY — This is not the pina colada Cancun of your cruise ships, but a vibrant, sprawling, city center full of busy international vibes; welcoming and interesting. Smiling friendly people with places to be.

Beautiful snow-covered mountain peaks loom over Mexico City. Small, colorful taco stands decorate every corner, busy with lunch regulars. The sidewalks are filled with people and the traffic lanes are filled with mopeds and cars, door-to-door, bumper-to-bumper. Car horns and dog barks fill the air. It is a full sensory experience.

And the first big billboard rising out of the Mexico City airport? It advertises Chevrolets.

It all speaks to the warm reception NASCAR has already received and is sure to get again for the June Cup Series race in Mexico. The warm-hearted locals cannot wait for stock car’s summer arrival. Race organizers expect three days of sell-out crowds, eager to see this brand of racing at one of the world’s great road course venues: Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

“I feel like you are coming to my house for the very first time,” a smiling Mexico-native Daniel Suárez said Tuesday as he joined three other NASCAR Cup Series stars — Sunday’s Atlanta race winner, Christopher Bell, and series champions Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott for a tour of the course and the city and its offerings.

“I love racing in the United States and it feels like home to me now, but there is no one race track I can call home — Texas, Miami, Phoenix, California are all like home because there are a lot of my fans – but it is not home. I grew up racing here. I have won races here.

“For me, this is a very special place. My very first win in the NASCAR Mexico [Series] came here at this track on the oval [configuration].

“It’s fun having people here,” the Trackhouse Racing driver added. “It’s a different culture but they are very excited for the race track and for NASCAR.”

Each of the four drivers joined track management and other local dignitaries for a golf cart ride around the course, stopping at various points to look specifically at the layout.

They saw the slight variations NASCAR will use in its races, eliminating a series of turns that Formula One uses — one of several changes to the course since the last time NASCAR was here in 2005-08 for Xfinity Series races. Kyle Busch (2008) and Denny Hamlin (2006) are the only current drivers to have hoisted trophies here — each with a win on the former circuit configuration.

On Tuesday, the drivers were noticeably impressed by the paddock and famous massive grandstands that border Turns 11-14 — just a single portion of the track where 30,000 fans will sit. The facility expects upwards of 80,000 people a day in full, for the three-day event.

The track is in a green space in the middle of the busy city but inside the gates sit those massive permanent grandstands, a huge staging area used for concerts — Paul McCartney just last week — that will serve as Victory Lane. There’s even a baseball stadium adjacent to the actual track.

“Honestly, I’ve been really impressed,” said 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. “My initial thoughts are that is a pretty incredible property as a whole for the way they are able to rotate through events.”

MORE: Suárez on historic Cup event to show off ‘universal language’ of racing

“There’s the stadium section hosting concerts in an intimate way and the park section for bike riders. It’s really unique and the track I think is a pretty cool layout too. I feel like it’s got a little bit of everything and it’s been a fun experience so far. I’d never been to Mexico City and this is pretty neat.”

The response and embrace since NASCAR announced its return to the city has been nothing short of overwhelming. Nearly 200 of the country’s media outlets are expected for a press conference with the four drivers and track officials on Wednesday.

After a day of karting around the track, topped by a special taco stop at one of the city’s most renowned eateries, Atarantados, the four drivers were headed to a Lucha Libre show after dinner.

The city, the venue and the people all seem enthusiastic to welcome NASCAR. And judging by the smiles and energy from this visit, the feel-good attitude is reciprocated.

“First time at the track, first time in Mexico City,” said Blaney, the 2023 Cup Series champion and driver of the No. 12 Team Penske Ford. “I had super high hopes before we even got here and being here and seeing it all and hearing the plan got me even more excited to come here [and race]. I think they are going to do a great job and I hope everyone’s going to really enjoy it from a fan perspective.

“I know all the teams are excited to come down and it was a nice little treat today to be able to come and see the plan. I’m definitely looking forward to coming back here in the summer to race.”

Posted on February 26, 2025February 26, 2025 by Dustin Albino

As Harrison Burton explains, when a race car driver gets the opportunity to jump to the NASCAR Cup Series, they take the risk because that chance might not come again.

For the last three seasons, Burton experienced the waves of emotions that come with being a Cup competitor. The pinnacle was scoring Wood Brothers Racing’s 100th victory last summer at Daytona International Speedway. The pit was having an average finishing position south of 24th in a Team Penske-affiliated ride.

Burton doesn’t regret moving to Cup at 21 years old. He knew it would have its peaks and valleys.

“It was frustrating and not what I wanted it to be,” Burton told NASCAR.com. “I made great, lifelong friendships and got a lot of good out of it. Got to be a much better race car driver from it. It just didn’t go as well as it needed to soon enough.”

Now, Burton is back in the Xfinity Series with AM Racing and trying to work his way back up to the Cup ranks. He’s off to a fast start early in the season, being the only Xfinity driver to have consecutive top-10 finishes to start 2025. Burton sits sixth in the standings.

“I’m really motivated. I know that I can do it; I know I can be a Cup driver,” Burton said. “That’s still my goal. I’ve got to rework my way up there, get an opportunity and go take advantage of it.”

Having been around racing since he was born and watching his father Jeff Burton have success, Burton knows the demands it takes to be a high-level driver. However, he didn’t realize how much of a challenge it would be jumping from Xfinity to Cup.

And when the results aren’t there, it weighs on drivers. Burton had six top-10 finishes in 108 starts as a full-time Cup competitor.

“It’s hard because drivers are egomaniacs,” Burton said. “You want to be the fastest guy, walk in with your chest poked out. When that doesn’t happen immediately, it’s easy to let doubts creep into your head. For me, as time progressed, I got better about that and got more confident. It took some time for me to get there and feel like I belonged. Winning helped with that feeling, and I think it will carry into this season with AM Racing.”

When AM Racing got wind that Burton would be a free agent for 2025, Wade Moore, president of AM, reached out directly to Jon Wood, president and co-owner of the Wood Brothers. Having been a tire carrier for years in the Penske pipeline, Moore had a relationship with Wood as he helped deliver the team its 99th victory in 2017 at Pocono Raceway with Ryan Blaney.

Moore sent a text to Wood, who was mowing his lawn but still fired back immediately. Within five minutes, Wood started a group chat with himself, Moore and Burton. Within 25 minutes of the initial text, Moore was on the phone with Burton for 45 minutes. An hour-long phone call with both Harrison and Jeff came after.

AM had its new driver.

“It’s strange how these things happened, but it’s a full-circle deal for us because I spent a lot of time with the Wood Brothers and absolutely loved working for that family and being a part of that race team,” Moore said. “Now, being able to work with them again and bring Harrison over here to our program, it’s pretty gratifying.”

To sign a driver of Burton’s caliber was important for AM. The single-car team was coming off a year in which Hailie Deegan departed the organization halfway through the season. The second half of 2024 was split among six drivers.

“You hear the word ‘rebuilding’ a lot, more so in stick-and-ball sports, but essentially, that’s what we’ve done,” Moore said of his 2025 outlook. “We took an opportunity that wasn’t fun in the middle of the year last year to begin that reset. When we decided to do that, we wanted to focus on talent and chemistry.”

But the opportunity with AM also presented a new challenge for Burton, where he would become a key element in building a team. Ultimately, he believes that can raise his value.

“We’re not Joe Gibbs Racing, but I think we have what you need to run well,” Burton stated. “As a driver, if you put me in a position where I’m running well at the end of the race, I feel like I can capitalize on that. Going somewhere where I was actually wanted and it wasn’t, ‘We would love to have you, but how much money can you bring?’ It was, ‘We can hire you and figure out the rest.’

“All of those things put together, along with me being able to build something from scratch with this group, is something I’m excited about. It’s an interesting opportunity for me to find out about myself and how I can help lead this team and grow into a better driver.”

With a technical alliance with Haas Factory Team, expectations are high for AM Racing in 2025. Burton is a four-time winner at the Xfinity Series level and has proven he can get it done.

“My expectations are we’re going to perform well, win races and make the playoffs,” he said. “That’s my goal and the mindset we all have to have. It is a very deep driver class, there are a lot of great teams with a lot of cars. It’s going to be a challenge, but that’s what it’s supposed to be; it’s supposed to be hard. That’s what makes racing special to me.”

Posted on February 25, 2025February 25, 2025 by Chris Murdock

CONCORD, N.C. — Carson Hocevar has been the talk of the week following his runner-up finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway, which was met with criticism from several veteran drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series.

Aggression played a considerable role in the outcome of Sunday’s Ambetter Health 400 as Christopher Bell crossed the start/finish line for the victory with checkered and yellow flags waving following a multicar crash on the backstretch.

HOCEVAR: No. 77 driver ruffles feathers at Atlanta | Analyzing Hocevar’s performance

At the forefront of the post-race conversations was premier series sophomore Hocevar, who received visits from Ross Chastain and Ryan Blaney, two drivers who deemed Hocevar went too far. The Michigan native took the talks in stride, hoping to one day emulate the success of his peers.

“There’s no better school of guys to talk to, right?” Hocevar told reporters during a media availability at the NASCAR Production Facility in Concord, North Carolina. “You know, they’ve had the same progression as me. Ross especially, right? Of, you know, kind of had the same progression in trucks, even, right? So we’ve, you know, had a really good relationship from that point, and that’s why our economy, conversation was a lot longer than I think Ryan’s because we have that deep relationship.

“So, you know for sure, I apologize to (Blaney) for hitting him. There was no excuse for spinning anybody, intentional or not, and I wish I, you know, just made a different move and lifted just a little bit more and just didn’t see it panning out that way, obviously. But you know, there’s no better school to hear from them and want to have the same progression as them as they had when they were my age or at this point in their career.”

Hocevar largely attributes the success from the weekend to his aggressive tendencies, and the 22-year-old hasn’t let these hard conversations deter what was a solid performance for the No. 77 Spire Motorsports team.

WATCH: Get in the middle of the action with Carson Hocevar

“I had to be aggressive and make some drivers uncomfortable,” Hocevar said. “But at the same time, besides (Blaney), I’m not sure who we 100% hit, other than just, you know, just filling really tight holes and pinch and aero-block and play offense and defense, right? And this car rewards being aggressive. I mean, obviously, we had a shot to win the race, and I was, I think, the most aggressive. So the end result means, you know, if you play aggressively and you have a really fast car, you can take advantage of being aggressive.”

As the young driver transitions from Atlanta to the Circuit of The Americas on Sunday (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), Hocevar is focused on staying confident and maintaining his aggressive style as he aims to make the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet a frontrunning car in 2025.

“I’ve never been intimidated or scared, right?” Hocevar said. “And I always felt like I belonged. And if I had speed, it would show, and it would come across, and everything takes time.”

With a tale of two tracks on deck at the course in Austin, Texas, Hocevar imagines it will be difficult to ruffle any feathers on a 3-mile circuit.

“It’s just such a different world,” Hocevar continued. “I mean, we passed, I think it was, I think there were 10,500 passes (at Atlanta), green flag, right? You’ve seen everybody 10 different times in one stage. So at COTA, you’re going to, I think there was one natural yellow, if any, last year, and you get spread out. Maybe it’s a little different with them cutting the track in half, but it’s just such a different world that, you know, I’m still gonna be aggressive at times, but you can be a lot more patient, too.

“You might see you might even see one guy under a green flag cycle. Because, you know, obviously, tracks now smaller, but what it used to be, the 3-mile track you would barely see anybody during a great flight? I ran 20 or 30 laps almost on my own island. It’s hard to piss anybody off if I’m on my own island.”

Posted on February 25, 2025February 27, 2025 by Chris Murdock

CONCORD, N.C. — Connor Zilisch is quickly climbing the NASCAR national series ranks, and he will knock off another milestone as he makes his NASCAR Cup Series debut on Sunday at Circuit of The Americas (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN Radio, Sirius XM NASCAR Radio).

RELATED: Weekend Schedule for COTA

Zilisch, who won in his Xfinity Series debut for JR Motorsports last year at Watkins Glen International, will get plenty of attention as he tries to do the unthinkable and win in his Cup Series debut for Trackhouse Racing in the No. 87 Chevy. For the 18-year-old, this weekend is one he has been looking forward to for quite some time, and he’s not backing down from the challenge.

“I want to try and become the youngest Cup Series winner, and to do that, I have to race as soon as possible and get it in before I turn 19,” Zilisch said to reporters at the NASCAR Production Facility in Concord, North Carolina. “So, you know, I wanted to at least give myself a shot at that. So that was definitely part of my thinking. And honestly, I don’t feel like there’s anything that tells me that I’m not ready to race on a road course on Sunday.”

Whether he wins or not on Sunday, just being around JR Motorsports for his full-time Xfinity Series job and Trackhouse Racing before his Cup debut is exposing Zilisch to a wealth of racing knowledge. And he’s quickly been able to make friends and lean on veteran drivers for advice.

“Justin Allgaier, he’s a good example,” Zilisch said. “Even the last two races, I have gone to him and said, ‘Hey, you think what I did was, you know, wrong?’ And he’s a great person to lean on as a veteran of the sport and super talented. … But you know, at the end of the day, you just got to do it on the race track. And no matter what people tell you, if you don’t apply it, it doesn’t matter.”

MORE: Cup Series entry List for COTA

Like Zilisch, Trackhouse Racing’s Shane van Gisbergen also burst onto the NASCAR scene after winning his Cup Series debut in 2023 on the Chicago Street Course. He’s another veteran who helped Zilisch prepare for his looming Cup debut.

“I didn’t know him six months ago, well, six to 12 months ago,” Zilisch said of SVG. “I didn’t even know who he was, and I feel like now we’re pretty good friends. … It’s really cool to have those guys that, you know, give me and show me respect. You know, I appreciate it a lot, and he’s a guy that I’ve definitely leaned on and hung out with and been able to get a friend out of it.”

Beyond Sunday, Zilisch will keep experiencing a world of “firsts” as he continues his development with his full-time job in the Xfinity Series. In 2024, Zilisch made four starts in the series, with only one finish outside of the top 10 coming at Homestead-Miami Speedway (12th). He’s started off the 2025 season with back-to-back DNFs at Daytona International Speedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway.

SHOP: Connor Zilisch gear

The challenge of experiencing new tracks for the first time is one met with excitement as the Rookie of the Year contender hopes to be winning regularly sooner rather than later.

“I’m just excited to go to new places and learn them and see which ones I like, which ones I don’t like,” Zilisch said. “There’s just a lot of question marks for me this year that I’m excited to kind of get to and learn. And you know, that’s the biggest thing for me, and the coolest part for me, you know, I’ve never been to these places, so, yeah, just trying to soak it all in, enjoy it.”

Posted on February 25, 2025February 26, 2025 by Holly Cain

Hendrick Motorsports

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — American basketball superstar Breanna Stewart excitedly approached the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet sitting on Homestead-Miami Speedway pit road. As she looked over the car’s brightly colored, specially detailed pink and teal paint scheme, the 6-foot-4, three-time Olympic gold medalist wondered aloud how drivers climbed in through the small window opening.

The excitement was palpable as she and some of her fellow Unrivaled League players — Dijonai Carrington and Marina Mabrey — looked over the car Alex Bowman will steer in the March 23 NASCAR Cup Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. It was the high-wattage result of sponsor Ally’s involvement in bringing together two popular sports worlds — stock car racing and women’s basketball.

The NASCAR race at Homestead will come a week after the Unrivaled League finishes its inaugural season of three-on-three women’s professional basketball that Stewart co-founded and of which Ally — which sponsors Bowman’s car — is a founding partner.

“My initial thoughts about coming here and being on the speedway and seeing the decked-out Ally car and getting into the pace car for a ride, I’m so excited,” the WNBA All-Star and two-time league MVP Stewart said.

Carrington, who plays for the WNBA’s Dallas Wings, has never been to a NASCAR race but was also visibly impressed with the car — the three players sizing up the vehicle and taking note of the one-of-a-kind paint scheme, an ode to the Ally sports partnerships.

“It’s a lot more different than I thought,” Carrington said, smiling. “I never realized they didn’t open the door and instead go straight through the window. It’s completely different than what I thought. Those drivers are pretty nimble getting in and out of there.

“We took some hot laps, and I think I was just visually imagining 39 more cars out there at the same time and I was like, ‘no way.’ I couldn’t imagine even five more cars. And they’re going so fast. I have so much respect for them.

“We definitely want to come back (for the race).”

Hendrick Motorsports

That evening, Bowman and several of his No. 48 Hendrick team members took in a pair of Unrivaled League games in nearby Miami and were similarly impressed with the basketball vibe.

Unrivaled is an important development for women’s basketball as it allows its top-shelf pro players to earn a living without having to go overseas to play in the WNBA offseason — as was the case for years.

All the games — which are televised on TNT and TruTV — are played three nights a week inside a specifically designed arena called Mediapro. From the moment you walk up to the venue, there are interactive games for fans, colorful displays, merchandise sales and an unmistakable “all in” feeling with loud music and friendly people who enjoy high-level sports in an energetic atmosphere.

“Getting to go to the game and seeing their world a little bit … anyone that operates at a high level in their profession is really cool for me, to see the different perspectives and different lives,” Bowman said. “But typically, people that operate at that level — at least in sports — I feel like we have a lot of similarities. I’ve gotten to meet a lot of cool people over the years.

“Any time you get to give people rides or introduce people to the sport that have never been around it, it’s really fun.”

That kind of synergy is what Ally had hoped. And it complements the company’s pledge to achieve a 50-50 balance of media spending in men’s and women’s sports — a bright example of a commitment to equality. In only three years pursuing that goal, Ally is almost completely equally invested.

“Years ago, we noticed that 90 percent of our budget was in men’s sports and 10 percent into women’s sports and felt intuitively, we needed to challenge ourselves to get better and that was really the idea behind the decision making,” said Ally’s Chief Marketing Officer Andrea Brimmer.

“This has never been a men versus women thing, and we thought they were both so important to us. … It’s the journey we’ve been on as part of this 50-50 pledge as women’s sports has seen just an incredible rise in popularity.

The Unrivaled League

“I think sometimes people make this assumption that NASCAR is primarily dominated by men, but if you look in the stands, there are a wide variety of demographics — male and female,” Brimmer continued. “I think bringing Unrivaled basketball into NASCAR is going to be really cool for the fans and the sports as well. It’s a really strong way to bring two things together that maybe others would have never thought would coexist together.

“You could get a lot of NASCAR fans interested in women’s basketball because of this and a bunch of fans who go to women’s basketball games interested in NASCAR and that’s a great outcome.”

It’s not only a great outcome but pioneering.

“I think with Ally, they walk the walk and talk the talk,” said Stewart, who plays for the multi-time WNBA champion New York Liberty. “The fact they are equally investing 50 percent in men’s and women’s sports is something that is incredibly special because it doesn’t always happen that way and it’s just amazing to be partnering with them.

“Ally’s reach in so many things — obviously, I’m in the basketball and women’s sports space — but the fact it continues on and now we’re going to have an Unrivaled themed race car is something that is really incredible and brings all the worlds together.”

Judging by the genuine excitement the basketball-NASCAR blend produced just with that dual day of on-track and in-gym mash, Ally’s efforts are working.

Bowman’s car design was purposeful. It features the Miami skyline with a woman basketball player dribbling a ball and phrases such as “Women’s Sports” and “Leaders” on the art deco-like pink and blue hood. The Unrivaled logo is on the door next to Bowman’s famous number 48. And a call to “Watch to Change” sits on the roof.

“A big part of my work, is storytelling, visually telling a story for all the different brands involved, so we have the Alex Bowman story, the NASCAR story, Unrivaled, women’s basketball, Ally and everything Ally is doing in sports and women’s sports specifically, so it’s about figuring out the perfect cocktail mix of being able to bridge all those worlds together,” said renowned California artist Sophia Chang, who designed the No. 48’s paint scheme.

Hendrick Motorsports

It certainly got immediate rave reviews.

“She did a great job with the car,” Brimmer said, adding, “I just think it’s going to be a really fun one and I think it’s going to be one of the paint schemes where you look at it and say, ‘I’m going to get a diecast.’ ”

The vibe at track and at court was unmistakably positive — elite athletes in each sport learning about the other and providing support — all following the leadership and efforts of Ally. It seems like a simple concept — exposing one sport to the other — but the potential is groundbreaking. And only beginning.

“A big goal of ours at Unrivaled, in addition to elevating and amplifying basketball and women’s sports in general, is really trying to innovate and bring a different lens to the sport,” said Unrivaled’s Vice President of Partnerships, Jane Zorowitz, who was enjoying her day at the race track and first exposure to NASCAR.

“I think a big part of that is how we approach partnerships and collaborations like the one with Ally and NASCAR.

“Getting people, who maybe haven’t been historically part of the ecosystem in and seeing it and seeing the players that not only are some of the best athletes in the world but seeing their personality and their storytelling ability is really key for us as we think about how we can continue to grow the sport and grow women’s sports in general. So, getting them in a new environment [like NASCAR] is really key to bringing additional eyeballs to the sport.”

Our next Unexpected Allies collab is Unrivaled. 🤩

We are excited to be highlighting @Unrivaledwbb, the new Miami-based three-on-three professional women’s basketball league, of which Ally is a founding partner. Designed by artist Sophia Chang, the #Ally48 will sport a special… pic.twitter.com/oxebcpWCEG

— Ally Racing (@allyracing) February 25, 2025