Final practice results: New Smyrna Beach Area Visitors Bureau 200 at New Smyrna Speedway

Posted on February 8, 2025 by Staff Report

New Smyrna Beach Area Visitors Bureau 200

New Smyrna Speedway

Final practice results:

Pos.	Car No.	Driver	Sponsor	Best Time	Best Speed	In Lap	Laps	Diff.
1	7	Luke Baldwin*	Baldwin Automotive	17.588	102.343	7	7	–
2	46	Craig Lutz	Riverhead Building Supply	17.678	101.821	2	8	0.09
3	1	Patrick Emerling	Fleetworks Inc	17.723	101.563	3	7	0.135
4	64	Austin Beers	G&G Electrical Supply/Dell Electric/Lumiere Electrical	17.745	101.437	24	38	0.157
5	44	Chase Dowling	SS Paving/ Harshaw Paving	17.765	101.323	15	16	0.177
6	16	Ron Silk	Blue Mountain Machine/Future Homes	17.776	101.26	8	13	0.188
7	14	Jacob Lutz	Advantage Trucks/Washtronic’s/Anastasi Trucking	17.786	101.203	16	17	0.198
8	60	Matt Hirschmann	Pee Dee Motorsports	17.814	101.044	2	15	0.226
9	51	Justin Bonsignore	Phoenix Communications, Inc.	17.843	100.88	5	7	0.255
10	54	Tommy Catalano	FX Caprara/USNE/Catalano Motorsports	17.891	100.609	2	7	0.303
11	56	Trevor Catalano	USNE/Catalano Motorsports	17.905	100.531	14	14	0.317
12	58	Eric Goodale	GAF Roofing	17.916	100.469	14	27	0.328
13	21	Stephen Kopcik	Wanick Construction/Karchner/Franzosa Trucking	17.92	100.446	15	16	0.332
14	36	Dave Sapienza	Eastport Feeds	17.946	100.301	14	14	0.358
15	84	Tyler Catalano	USNE Power/Kennedy Realty	17.975	100.139	6	11	0.387
16	40	Frank Fleming	William E Smith Trucking/Taylor Auto Parts	17.984	100.089	1	17	0.396
17	20	Max Zachem	USNE/Lu-Mac’s/Byrnes Agency	18.066	99.635	7	14	0.478
18	3	Tyler Rypkema	USNE/Northeast Drilling	18.096	99.469	17	22	0.508
19	24	Andrew Krause	Supreme Manufacturing	18.096	99.469	7	9	0.508
20	59	Tyler Barry*	Pro Systems/BNP Machine	18.106	99.415	2	8	0.518
21	8	Ryan Newman	Bass Pro Shops/Cabelas/USNE/Eighty-two services/Anglers Choice	18.117	99.354	2	27	0.529
22	81	Mark Stewart*	Cromers Market/Keith Grimes Excavating/Hydroaction	18.147	99.19	9	10	0.559
23	55	Jeremy Gerstner	TBE5/Crippling Hot Sauce/ Racecar Engineering	18.188	98.966	7	10	0.6
24	12	Brian Sones*	Dennis Wenner	18.247	98.646	3	21	0.659
25	25	Brian Robie	Bar Harbor Bank and Trust	18.247	98.646	4	44	0.659
26	26	Gary McDonald	Lakeland Landscape Supply	18.321	98.248	3	11	0.733
27	18	Ken Heagy	Buoy One Seafood Market & Restaurant	18.337	98.162	3	7	0.749
28	11	Norman Newman*	Family Funland Amusement Park	18.388	97.89	8	39	0.8
29	29	Mike Marshall*	MLM Diagnostics/Jusczak Electric/Tisdell Transmissions	18.396	97.847	11	35	0.808
30	9	Chris Hatton*	Generac	18.446	97.582	2	24	0.858

Posted on February 8, 2025February 8, 2025 by Brandon White

New Smyrna Beach Area Vistors Bureau 200

New Smyrna Speedway

Practice results

Pos.	No.	Driver	Sponsor	Best Time	Best Speed	In Lap	Laps	Diff.
1	60	Matt Hirschman	Pee Dee Motorsports	17.839	100.903	24	25
2	44	Chase Dowling	SS Paving/Harshaw Paving	17.925	100.418	3	35	0.086
3	51	Justin Bonsignore	Phoenix Communications, Inc.	17.988	100.067	4	42	0.149
4	16	Ron Silk	Blue Mountain Machine/Future Homes	18.045	99.751	3	31	0.206
5	64	Austin Beers	G&G Electrical Supply/Dell Electric/Lumiere Electrical	18.069	99.618	7	42	0.23
6	14	Jacob Lutz	Advantage Trucks/Washtronic’s/Anastasi Trucking	18.126	99.305	11	26	0.287
7	81	Mark Stewart*	Cromers Market/Keith Grimes Excavating/Hydroaction	18.137	99.245	24	24	0.298
8	56	Trevor Catalano	USNE/Catalano Motorsports	18.146	99.195	4	19	0.307
9	7	Luke Baldwin*	Baldwin Automotive	18.162	99.108	7	28	0.323
10	54	Tommy Catalano	FX Caprara/USNE/Catalano Motorsports	18.167	99.081	3	41	0.328
11	1	Patrick Emerling	Fleetworks Inc	18.187	98.972	9	15	0.348
12	46	Craig Lutz	Riverhead Building Supply	18.209	98.852	15	18	0.37
13	84	Tyler Catalano	USNE Power/Kennedy Realty	18.217	98.809	4	44	0.378
14	36	Dave Sapienza	Eastport Feeds	18.22	98.793	6	27	0.381
15	3	Tyler Rypkema	USNE/Northeast Drilling	18.237	98.7	13	27	0.398
16	22	Kyle Bonsignore	Chalew Performance/MTT/Munns Auto	18.241	98.679	3	5	0.402
17	40	Frank Fleming	William E Smith Trucking/Taylor Auto Parts	18.255	98.603	11	23	0.416
18	21	Stephen Kopcik	Wanick Construction/Karchner/Franzosa Trucking	18.274	98.501	17	29	0.435
19	58	Eric Goodale	GAF Roofing	18.278	98.479	4	24	0.439
20	55	Jeremy Gerstner	TBE5/Crippling Hot Sauce/ Racecar Engineering	18.332	98.189	14	15	0.493
21	59	Tyler Barry*	Pro Systems/BNP Machine	18.356	98.061	9	45	0.517
22	29	Mike Marshall*	MLM Diagnostics/Jusczak Electric/Tisdell Transmissions	18.416	97.741	25	26	0.577
23	20	Max Zachem	USNE/Lu-Mac’s/Byrnes Agency	18.419	97.725	4	22	0.58
24	8	Ryan Newman	Bass Pro Shops/Cabelas/USNE/Eighty-two services/Anglers Choice	18.425	97.693	19	20	0.586
25	25	Brian Robie	Bar Harbor Bank and Trust	18.426	97.688	19	36	0.587
26	24	Andrew Krause	Supreme Manufacturing	18.439	97.619	14	16	0.6
27	18	Ken Heagy	Buoy One Seafood Market & Restaurant	18.661	96.458	5	6	0.822
28	26	Gary McDonald	Lakeland Landscape Supply	18.677	96.375	11	30	0.838
29	09	Chris Hatton*	Generac	18.915	95.163	2	5	1.076
30	12	Brain Sones*	Dennis Wenner	19.024	94.617	6	16	1.185

Posted on February 7, 2025February 8, 2025 by Zach Sturniolo

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Officially, Carl Edwards is forever enshrined in stock-racing lore with his induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame on Friday evening.

Eight years after his abrupt decision to step away from NASCAR Cup Series competition, Edwards is still pinching himself, cherishing the honor after the sport left its arms wide open for his return.

HALL OF FAME: Edwards, Rudd, Moody inducted into Hall of Fame | Watch Edwards’ Hall of Fame speech

If anything, that warm welcome back has been what Edwards has struggled to wrap his head around.

“The most surprising thing is the realization that I can’t separate my life from this sport,” Edwards said during a Thursday teleconference. “And I did. I walked away eight years ago. I turned my back, and I walked out of the room, and it was scary. And over the last eight years, I felt odd about that. But for NASCAR to welcome me back, it’s made me realize that this sport, it’s a part of me. It’s who I am. It’s a part of my family. My life is shaped by this, and I think NASCAR knew that more than I did.

“And for them to welcome me back like this and show me that and give me this honor, I guess that’s been the most surprising thing, and really the most impactful part of all this.”

His return to the NASCAR world began two years ago at Darlington Raceway, rejoining the fraternity upon being named one of NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers, part of a yearlong celebration of the sport’s 75th anniversary. But while it was a moment of celebration, there was also a moment of pause.

“When I got invited back to Darlington, I was really nervous to go. You can ask my wife,” Edwards said Friday in the Hall of Fame’s Grand Hall. “I just didn’t know the reception. And I was blown away. I was shocked. I remember when we did the introduction, I was waiting to hear what the crowd would do, and they cheered. And I told Dale (Earnhardt) Jr., oh my gosh. He said, ‘Dude! We miss you!’ You don’t know how much it means to me.”

Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images

Edwards spent much if not all of his career in solitude. He was not one to make friends with the men and women he raced against. All he concerned himself with was being the best driver on the track. In large part, that played to his favor statistically. But Edwards regrets that mindset years later.

“I read this book Georges St. Pierre, a UFC fighter, wrote,” Edwards said. “And one of the things he said in the book was, ‘I don’t understand why people hate their competitors, why they have all these mean things to say. I can’t be a fighter without my opponent. My opponent makes me what I love to be.’ And I thought, Oh! Like, this light went off. I thought, I missed that my whole career. I thought of it wrong.

“I didn’t love and respect those guys for the fact that they were so good. And it was that iron sharpens iron. I mean, they made me great. And if I had to do it over again, I’d go back. I’d be best friends with these guys off the track. And we’d still race like crazy, but I could have done that better.”

Those same competitors, Edwards later said during his induction speech, helped add a necessary dose of humility to his life.

“I came in with a passion,” he said. “I wanted to literally race more than anything. I’d have given anything to just be in the car. Didn’t care about anything else. And then it got kind of interesting. You’re winning. You know, I’m kind of a big deal. Started walking around. I cared more than I should’ve about what I look like, what people thought of me, whether I was tough enough, whether I made enough money.

“And you guys found the cracks in that facade of reputation, OK? And you pointed them out. And it hurt. ‘These people don’t know me. Why are they treating me this way?’ And I realized: ‘It’s because you’re kind of becoming a [expletive].’ You’ll know this period because I didn’t have my shirt on the whole time. I had to realize that there’s a huge difference between reputation and character. Huge. And you helped me to develop that character and understand it. No matter how much shiny stuff there is around, it’s who you really are that matters.”

Geoff Burke | Getty Images

Edwards’ journey to the pinnacle of NASCAR was, in some measures, impossibly quick. In another universe, he explained Friday, that path was impossible altogether.

“This is hard for me to tell,” Edwards prefaced. “You realize there’s like a one-in-a-million chance you get to drive these cars. And I knew that my only chance was to win at the local dirt track.”

And so he did, racing and winning frequently in dirt modifieds in the early 2000s. Simultaneously, Edwards was lending a hand at Mike Mittler’s Craftsman Truck Series team shop. All he wanted was a chance to drive that No. 63 Ford.

“It was like, ‘Carl, you’re never driving the truck,’ ” Edwards recalled. “Mittler said, ‘Look, I get it. You’re winning these dirt races you’re doing. Don’t mean anything. The best drivers in the world come out of Silver Crown.’ ”

So after two championships in the modified ranks, Edwards and his family sold off everything they had, amassing $14,000. But it wasn’t quite enough for a USAC Silver Crown car. He and his family needed to sacrifice everything if Edwards was going to purchase one of those vehicles.

“Mom and dad, their life savings were $18,000. That was it,” Edwards said. “And I said, ‘OK, mom, here’s what I got. Gene Beach has got a Silver Crown car. It’s like 30 grand. It’s a smoking deal. I don’t have any money to rebuild anything, but we can run like two races. We gotta buy this car. My dad said, ‘That’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard in my life. Hell no.’ Mom said, ‘This is the craziest thing I’ve ever heard in my life. But do you think it’ll work?’ I was like, ‘I got no clue.’ ”

Edwards, whose father’s cousin is former Cup driver Ken Schrader, called a trusted family friend who worked at Schrader’s dirt shop.

“He said, ‘I’ll tell you what, junior. Sometimes you just gotta say, what the hell?’ ” Edwards said. “I told my mom that. She said, ‘Screw it. Let’s go do it.’ We went to the bank, got her life savings out, took it, bought that Silver Crown car. Two races in, got hired by a bunch of people and it took off. It was crazy.

“You were my age, mom. I can’t believe you did that. You’re insane.”

It was only insane if it didn’t work. Thanks to Edwards’ ferocious drive and natural ability to extract raw speed out of his race cars, it worked.

The reward for his family’s sacrifices is now bestowed upon Edwards for life as a NASCAR Hall of Famer.

Posted on February 7, 2025February 8, 2025 by Holly Cain

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — NASCAR royalty made its way to uptown Charlotte Friday night to welcome and honor the newest class of NASCAR’s greatest. The sport’s heroes and legends gathered at the NASCAR Hall of Fame to formally induct the Hall’s esteemed class of 2025 — racing greats Ricky Rudd, Carl Edwards and the late Ralph Moody.

They — along with one of the sport’s great safety innovators, Dr. Dean Sicking, and one of its most accomplished storytellers, Associated Press reporter Mike Harris, were celebrated for their important contributions to stock car racing.

Hundreds of fans began crowding the lobby of the NASCAR Hall of Fame early in the afternoon, hours before their heroes arrived — their cameras pointed toward the red carpet and applause finally greeting each of the honored guests from one of the Hall’s original inductees, seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Richard Petty, to beloved driver Donnie Allison to a pair of the most successful crew chiefs in racing history, Ray Evernham and Chad Knaus.

But the cheers rang loudly, and cell phone cameras flashed rapidly, when Rudd and Edwards arrived on the red carpet.

In a 13-year Cup Series career, Edwards won 28 races, including the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway and the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He was a two-time Cup Series championship runner-up, losing out on the 2011 title in the closest title race in history — a tiebreaker with fellow NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart.

In all, Edwards earned 72 victories across the three national series, including the 2007 Xfinity Series championship. In 2005, he competed full-time in both the Craftsman Truck Series and Xfinity Series.

Nearly 200 people — Edwards’ family, friends and most ardent career supporters — accompanied the 45-year-old Missourian to North Carolina for Friday’s career-defining big moment. One of his former car owners, fellow NASCAR Hall of Famer Joe Gibbs, rented an airplane for Edwards to transport his large group of support from Missouri.

He explained that during his career, fans watched him do his signature backflips to celebrate race wins, but that was only a momentary snapshot and that he probably did not allow himself the time to cherish the victories.

“So, I said, we’re going to make sure there is a real celebration,” Edwards said of the massive Hall of Fame honor.

“For many reasons, I’m happy to be able to come back and thank everyone,” Edwards said. “It’s not reality, not for me yet. … I don’t even know what to say. It feels. … very good.”

HALL OF FAME: Edwards through the years | Grit, determination define Rudd’s career

Asked about his emotions, Edwards conceded it’s been more special than he ever imagined but that he had received some advice on the momentous week.

“Chad Knaus was a great crew chief to me yesterday and pulled me aside and told me, ‘Carl, this is like a roller coaster,’ ” Edwards shared with a smile, “He said, ‘Right now, you’re going up [the roller coaster], and you’re nervous, and you’re going to get on the ride, and that’s right now and you’re going to like it. Then it’s going to be over, and you’re going to want to do it again immediately because it happens so fast.’

“For me right now, it’s time to soak this in and understand it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

In speaking to the Hall on stage during his official induction, Edwards called his message one of “gratitude” — thanking his parents, wife, children, longtime fans and Hall of Fame team owners Jack Roush and Gibbs, his competitors and all those who worked on his teams.

“I realized probably the most revelatory thing in my life, that changed everything for me, I realized that all that time in the car, all that time in the shop, all the people that loved and cared about me, helped me, all the people, the friends and family that I wasn’t alone, that God was leading, God was beside me, and you don’t know how perfect the timing is that you invited me back here because, for this one person, you were the signpost, the echoes of sound that showed me that,” Edwards said.

“So, you didn’t just give me racing, you gave me an amazing life.” Then he motioned toward the rapt audience, “I can’t wait to see what you guys leave here and go do, I’m so excited to see some of you at the race track this year. Thanks again for the honor. Thanks for making me part of your family. Thank you, NASCAR.”

It was a similarly moving induction experience for Rudd, known as one of the toughest competitors in the sport’s history. His first ever NASCAR start of any kind came in the Cup Series, and he finished 11th in that 1975 debut at Rockingham, North Carolina, as an 18-year-old — earning his first of 374 career top-10s the following week at Bristol, Tennessee. In 1983, at the age of 24, he became the youngest pole winner in Daytona 500 history.

WATCH: Rudd’s Hall of Fame acceptance speech | Ralph Moody’s son accepts father’s Hall of Fame honors

Rudd, 68, of Chesapeake, Virginia, would go on to earn 23 career Cup Series victories, including the 1997 Brickyard 400 as an owner-driver and the 1992 International Race of Champions (IROC) title in his first year in the series.

He is best known, however, for his singular toughness — 16 consecutive years (1983-98) with a victory at the sport’s highest level, and his string of 788 straight starts was a record that lasted until 2015. His 905 total starts in a career that spanned four decades is second only to the seven-time NASCAR champion Petty (1,185 starts).

“With the help of a lot of great people, I was able to chase a lot of dreams, and with tonight’s induction, that dream is now complete,” said Rudd, who thanked his family, fans, wife Linda and son Landon, noting that Linda “has not only been my wife and best friend for 45 years she mentally drove every lap with me.”

“NASCAR allowed me to experience things most people will never do. I got to fly with the Blue Angels. I shook the hands of two presidents, refueled with the Air Force Thunderbirds high above the Nevada desert and play a small role in a movie. … This is truly the honor of a lifetime.”

Ralph Moody, who passed away in 2004, served under General George Patton in World War II before becoming a full-time driver and winning five times in NASCAR’s premier division in 1956-57. But his legacy was only beginning. In 1957, he partnered with John Holman to form the iconic Holman-Moody Racing company — building cars and creating innovations that produced 96 Cup wins between 1957-72 and winning the 1968-69 Cup Series championships with driver David Pearson.

“If not for Ralph Moody there probably wouldn’t be a Bobby or Donnie Allison, he’s just a fantastic man,” Donnie Allison said, introducing Moody’s son and daughter to the stage for the official Hall of Fame ring presentation.

“It is with great pride and gratitude I stand here tonight to honor my father,” the younger Ralph Moody told the crowd of his father’s unlikely rise from a Massachusetts farm into NASCAR’s most esteemed hall of honor.

“For Dad, it was never just about winning, it was about creating safety not just being faster,” Moody said, ending the acceptance speech with an emotion-filled thank you to his father.

MORE: Sicking’s devotion to safety lauded by family, friends, NASCAR industry

Dr. Dean Sicking was given the Landmark Award for his Outstanding Contributions to NASCAR that included his work alongside the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in creating SAFER (Steel And Foam Energy Reduction) barriers that now line the walls at all race tracks hosting one of NASCAR’s three top-level divisions.

“I did not expect to win that,” shared Sicking, who received a standing ovation from the packed ballroom. “I was very surprised and honored and want to make sure all the team from [University of] Nebraska gets recognized for this effort because they certainly worked hard to make this happen.”

The long-time Associated Press racing journalist Harris was awarded the Squier-Hall Award for NASCAR Media Excellence for his four decades of work as the lead motorsports writer for the AP before retiring in 2009.

“Mike was always a gentlemen journalist,” said longtime NASCAR executive Mike Helton, one of more than a dozen racing insiders who offered their congratulations and praise for Harris.

“He truly was a gentleman and respectful of everybody else who was doing what he was inside the sport. While covering heroes of the sport and the characters and team owners and crew members, he himself became a well-known name that people would migrate to follow the sport because of his abilities to do it so well.”

Posted on February 6, 2025February 6, 2025 by Zack Albert

CONCORD, N.C. — A trackside photo dating back to the early 2000s popped up on a large screen Thursday morning at the NASCAR Research & Development Center, and a wave of memories started flooding back. Dr. Dean Sicking stood there in the picture, flanked by his team from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln on either side of a revolutionary retaining wall of their own creation.

Many of those team members were back by his side Thursday, celebrating the significant work led by Sicking, who was there to soak it all in.

“It’s been a wonderful experience because I spent hours and hours and hours with these people, and it’s great to see everybody here and celebrating the SAFER barrier work,” Sicking said. “I just can’t describe it.”

Sicking, a pioneer in both motorsports and roadside safety, was an honored guest at the NASCAR Research & Development Center on Thursday, one day ahead of his recognition as the Landmark Award recipient for outstanding contributions to stock-car racing at the NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2025 induction ceremonies.

Sicking’s work in developing the SAFER (Steel And Foam Energy Reduction) barrier system has been an indispensable advance in motorsports safety. The impact-absorbing walls were first installed at a major speedway 23 years ago and have since become a mainstay at every track on the NASCAR schedule.

The Landmark Award is the latest in a series of accolades for the 67-year-old innovator. Dr. Sicking was presented with the prestigious Bill France Award of Excellence in 2003, and he received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation — the country’s top award for technological achievement — from President George W. Bush in 2005.

“Who thinks about that?” Sicking said in reflection. “Nobody dreams about that because it doesn’t seem possible — and it still doesn’t seem possible that it happened to me.”

The SAFER barrier invention came during Sicking’s time as a civil engineering professor and director of the Midwest Roadside Safety Facility (MwRSF) at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He later moved to study and teach at the University of Alabama-Birmingham, where he became a faculty member in 2012, but his work from his UNL days remains an enduring, life-saving legacy.

That calling card was foremost on NASCAR Hall of Fame voters’ minds when his candidacy was considered last May. His Landmark Award recognition arrived in his first year on the ballot.

“I was glad that he got the award and got recognized for his work because honestly, it’s saved a lot of drivers’ lives, and for him to develop something like that, it should go recognized and noticed,” said Ryan Blaney, who served on the Hall of Fame Voting Panel that year as the Cup Series’ reigning champion from 2023. “From a driver standpoint, it’s one of the best inventions we’ve ever had. I mean, outside of the HANS (Head And Neck Support) Device, I put those two up there as the two most important safety measures that NASCAR and other sporting series have done. It was neat to sit on that panel as a voter as well, so it’s nice that he’s getting recognized for it.”

Ryan Blaney is among many to have praised Dr. Dean Sicking’s work to keep drivers safe. | Getty Images

Racing officials first reached out to Sicking in the late 1990s, first as IndyCar sought a technical solution to reduce the severity of racing impacts. That effort was later joined by NASCAR, which experienced a series of fatal crashes in that time period — from Adam Petty to Kenny Irwin Jr. to Tony Roper to the death of seven-time Cup Series champion Dale Earnhardt in 2001.

Early prototypes for an energy-dissipating barrier were made of plastic at IndyCar’s insistence, but that material was abandoned after studies showed that those walls allowed vehicles to gouge into it with a jarring, halting effect. The final SAFER product combined a sturdy barrier of steel tubing backed by bundled foam — a system that was more forgiving than a bare, concrete wall when vehicles struck it.

MORE: Members of the NASCAR Hall of Fame

Kurt Busch was the first Cup Series driver to crash into a SAFER barrier, making heavy driver’s-side contact during the 2002 Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Not only was Busch uninjured, but he was well enough to show his trackside displeasure for his run-in with rival Jimmy Spencer before boarding the ambulance for a precautionary trip to the infield care center.

NASCAR officials have learned plenty about the use of SAFER barriers in the days since. Jerry Nadeau’s severe crash into a wall without the SAFER system in place at Richmond Raceway in May 2003 demonstrated that the need was not isolated to larger, faster speedways. Kyle Busch’s injury-causing wreck during an Xfinity Series race at Daytona in 2015 showed that race cars will find unprotected walls, sparking an outcry for more widespread implementation of SAFER-equipped barriers. The analysis of crash angles has also been evolutionary; Sicking recalls being a passenger in the pace car years ago with Kurt Busch, who wanted to show him firsthand how a just-installed barrier at Charlotte Motor Speedway had created a harsh transition. He laughs today about the experience, saying that the intense, high-speed nature of the pace-car ride provided him with more than enough proof.

“The barriers get constant chatter and accolades when the driver can climb out of the car, but I just don’t know that they have a great appreciation, and maybe even some of us have forgotten or overlooked the importance of that day, that era, that relationship and what we learned from Dr. Sicking,” said NASCAR Vice Chairman Mike Helton. “We were in the performance business, and yes, safety was important, and we were kind of reacting to safety more than proactive to it, but that era with all of you and Dr. Sicking taught us the science of safety in and around a race car — things that I never thought we might learn, we’ve learned.”

Sicking, his family and many former colleagues were present at the R&D Center on the eve of the Hall of Fame festivities for tributes, stories and a brief tour. The facility has blossomed since its founding in 2002, and the embrace of technological advances that Sicking and his team championed have helped to drive its growth.

Those Nebraska team members took turns sharing stories Thursday about Sicking’s workaholic approach, his painstaking attention to detail, plus his tendency to sometimes walk barefoot in the office hallways. The team effort that was crucial to developing the SAFER barrier was top of mind, but so was Sicking’s leadership in making the project go.

“It’s kind of like reminiscing with this family again that we had a big role in an industry to make major progress,” said Ron Faller, the current director at the MwRSF who worked as a principal investigator alongside Sicking and traveled to many tracks to inspect new SAFER installations. “Seeing the videos, hearing all the speakers, it’s emotional actually to me to come together and enjoy this together because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Dean and all of us to be celebrating with him something that was greatness, being accomplished together as a team.

“… It was history in the making, and to cap it all off (Friday) night is a once-in-a-lifetime event for all of us, and I’m going to take it all in. I’ll never probably experience that again, but it’s going to be a celebration of work for keeping drivers alive and going home to their families at night is how we look at it. We deal with highway safety every day that way. This is no different. We want people to go home and see their children and their families after their work day. So that’s why we did it, and we wanted to innovate and push us to the limits to something we weren’t doing, and it really moved us to another level, taking this work on.”

Posted on February 6, 2025February 7, 2025 by Holly Cain

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Tenacity, innovation and backflips. Sustained success at NASCAR’s highest levels. Those are some of the defining qualities the 2025 NASCAR Hall of Fame class possesses. And on Friday night in downtown Charlotte, former NASCAR Cup Series competitors Ricky Rudd and Carl Edwards will formally be inducted into the sport’s famous Hall, joined by Pioneer ballot recipient Ralph Moody.

Dr. Dean Sicking will also be honored as the Landmark Award winner for his Outstanding Contributions to NASCAR. Rudd and Edwards were chosen to the Hall out of the Modern Day Ballot of 10 nominees, with Rudd receiving 87% of the vote and Edwards receiving 52% of the vote — the only two on the ballot to meet the threshold in this round of voting and both among the list of NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers.

Rudd, 68, of Chesapeake, Virginia, is the 1997 Brickyard 400 winner, the 1977 Rookie of the Year and at one time was the youngest Daytona 500 pole-winner in history when he claimed the top starting position in the “Great American Race” as a 24-year old in 1981. He won the 1992 IROC championship in his first year in that series — a year after finishing a career-best runner-up in the 1991 NASCAR Cup Series championship.

But the popular competitor, who earned 23 career Cup Series victories and last raced in 2007, is best known for an incredible mark of 16 consecutive years (1983-98) with a victory in NASCAR’s highest level of competition and a remarkable 788-race string of consecutive starts — a record that lasted in the sport until 2015. His 905 total starts in a career that spanned four decades is second only to fellow NASCAR Hall of Famer, seven-time NASCAR champion Richard Petty (1,185 starts).

He earned the first team victory for both the NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Childress’ legendary team and also drag racing great Kenny Bernstein’s NASCAR Cup Series team and would go on to drive for some of the biggest names in the sport, from Bud Moore to the Wood Brothers to Rick Hendrick before becoming one of the most successful owner-drivers in NASCAR.

MORE: Members of NASCAR Hall of Fame

Edwards, 45, of Columbia, Missouri, gained his entrance onto the NASCAR stage with both uncommon persistence and great drive — literally. He came to Charlotte and worked as a substitute teacher while going to shop after shop handing out business cards as he tried to land a job driving in one of NASCAR’s premier series. Once given the opportunity, it didn’t take long to see his special talent. Known for performing a backflip off his car to celebrate victories, Edwards got a lot of exercise and ultimately earned 72 wins in the three top-level NASCAR series.

In addition to six Craftsman Truck Series victories through five seasons, he competed full-time in both the Cup and Xfinity Series in 2005 — turning heads when he won both series races on the same weekend in Atlanta that year. Edwards finished first or second in the Xfinity Series championship for five consecutive years, capturing the season title in 2007.

In a 13-year career in the NASCAR Cup Series — 11 seasons with owner Jack Roush and two with Joe Gibbs — Edwards celebrated 28 wins, hoisting trophies in major races such as the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway and the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. That victory pace made him an annual championship favorite, and he finished champion runner-up twice (2008, 2011) — losing out on the 2011 title in a tiebreaker to Tony Stewart, a three-time series champion and NASCAR Hall of Famer himself.

“I have to say the longer I go along in life, the more I realize God just blessed me with these amazing opportunities and people and so many things. I just got to show up and enjoy it, so I’m the most grateful person you could meet today,” Edwards told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio after finding out he would be inducted.

Although Moody, a World War II veteran who drove tanks under General George Patton’s command, returned from service to win five NASCAR Cup Series races in 1956-57, it was the late Massachusetts native’s talent working on cars that established him as one of the sport’s greats. His mechanical acumen, combined with John Holman’s business sense, led to one of the most celebrated partnerships in racing history — Holman-Moody.

The Holman-Moody team won back-to-back Cup Series championships fielding cars for NASCAR Hall of Famer David Pearson in 1968-69 and famously won the 1967 Daytona 500 with the legendary driver Mario Andretti. In all, the Holman-Moody team won 96 races and 82 pole positions from 1957-73 with a wide assortment of NASCAR Hall of Fame drivers from Pearson to Fred Lorenzen, Fireball Roberts and Bobby Allison.

Certainly, with his engineering prowess, Moody would be among those to appreciate the work of Sicking, the Landmark Award winner. The college professor’s work developing the SAFER (Steel And Foam Energy Reduction) barrier, now implemented at all NASCAR national series race venues, has been an absolute game-changer in the sport’s safety.

Not only did he design the SAFER barriers, but working with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the Midwest Roadside Safety Facility he’s continued to study and advise how to improve track safety overall, limiting danger whenever possible. For his decades of important efforts, Sicking has already been given the 2003 Bill France Award of Excellence and, in 2005, awarded the National Medal of Technology and Innovation by then-United States President George W. Bush.

MORE: How to watch the NASCAR Channel on Tubi

The NASCAR Hall of Fame induction ceremony will air live on the NASCAR Channel on Tubi at 8 p.m. ET and will simultaneously be broadcast on the Motor Racing Network (MRN). Before the show, NASCAR.com and NASCAR’s YouTube platform will host a Red Carpet live stream starting at 4:30 p.m. ET.

Posted on February 6, 2025February 6, 2025 by Adam Fenwick

Every February, Frank Fleming takes a trip to New Smyrna Beach, Florida.

For several years, that vacation included racing a Modified during the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing at New Smyrna Speedway, but it’s been more than a decade since Fleming last competed. That will change Saturday when Fleming joins the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour field for the New Smyrna Beach Area Visitors Bureau 200 (7:30 p.m. ET on FloRacing).

“I’m down there every year,” said Fleming, who has made more than 30 Modified Tour starts dating back to 1986 but none since 2019. “I said, ‘Well shucks, I go to New Smyrna every year, that needs to be my first race (of 2025).’ So, we got the car done, and we’re going to New Smyrna.”

Modified racing fans in the Southeast are familiar with Fleming. The 65-year-old has spent decades racing at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and was a regular competitor with the now-defunct NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour.

He even made 10 NASCAR Xfinity Series starts from 1988-91 at tracks across the Southeast, including venues like Darlington Raceway, Daytona International Speedway, Hickory Motor Speedway and South Boston Speedway.

However, Fleming hasn’t done much racing the last few years while he focused on his business, Frank Fleming Body Shop & Collision Center in Mt. Airy, North Carolina.

In business since 1985, in 2021 Fleming decided he wanted to move his operation to a better location. That meant stepping away from driving race cars for a few years while he purchased and renovated a new building for his business.

“I’d been in the same location since 1985,” Fleming explained. “I decided I wanted to move my business into a better location and a better building. I bought a building and in ’21 and ’22 I was (renovating) the building. I’ve been in the building two years now.”

Frank Fleming returned for a few races in 2024 but will make his first NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour start since 2019 on Saturday at New Smyrna Speedway. (Photo: Erick Messer)

Once he got his new location up and running, Fleming decided he wanted to have a little fun and go racing again. So, he dusted off his old chassis, which required a few updates courtesy of PSR Products and Phil Stefanelli, and went racing.

“I had no idea I’d ever start racing again,” Fleming said. “Here I am.”

After making a few starts across the Southeast in 2024, Fleming found himself in need of a new engine. He purchased a new spec engine from Roush Yates Engines for the 2025 season. The first race for that new engine will be at New Smyrna, where he hasn’t raced since 2011.

“If I’m going to spend the money on this motor, I want to go run (with the Tour),” Fleming said. “I like the NASCAR (Modified) Tour races.”

Despite not driving a race car for a few years, Fleming hasn’t been away from racing. He’s spent nearly every summer weekend at Bowman Gray, helping his brother Chris and nephew Jordan when they compete in the track’s headlining Modified division.

Just last weekend Chris scored the biggest victory of his career when he won the Cook Out Madhouse Classic, an invitation-only Modified event held the day before The Clash at Bowman Gray.

The win was huge not just for Chris, but the entire Fleming family.

“It really made me happy for Chris,” Fleming said. “I had a great racing career; I had a lot of people that helped me. I was in a lot of good cars. He never had the opportunities that I had back 20, 30 years ago. Chris is 61 years old, and he is at his best right now. I was at my best in my 30s and 40s.

“It makes me happy for him. I want our family name to stay in racing. Chris is in the best equipment that he has ever had in his life.”

Just like Frank was there to help and support Chris during the Cook Out Madhouse Classic, Chris will be at New Smyrna to help and support Frank on Saturday.

Frank Fleming, shown here in 2012, raced regularly with the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour for several years. (Photo: Tyler Barrick/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Chris will serve as Frank’s crew chief during the Modified Tour opener, and the team will also have help from legendary Modified driver and New York native Jan Leaty, who spends his winters in Florida every year.

The race at New Smyrna is one of four Modified Tour events Frank plans to enter this year. He also hopes to race at North Wilkesboro Speedway, Richmond Raceway and Martinsville Speedway.

At 65, Frank knows the odds of a win this weekend aren’t high. But his goal is to be competitive and, hopefully, race inside the top 10 Saturday night at New Smyrna. Anything beyond that would be a bonus.

“I’m 65 years old, but I’m still healthy and I love to race,” Fleming said. “I would love to go to New Smyrna and qualify in the top 10. I think that’s possible. The top 15 anyway. A top-10 finish would probably be good for me. A top-five finish is possible if circumstances fall right.

“There is a slim chance that I could win it. I did say slim chance. A 65-year-old man can’t do what a 30-year-old man can. I know that. But anyway, I’m going to go down and have some fun.”

The one thing Fleming doesn’t want to do in his return to New Smyrna is end it like the last time he raced there in 2011.

“I crashed my car and tore it all to pieces,” Fleming said. “Every time I go, I think about that. I want to go down there and have a good race this time. If I don’t ever go back again, then I had a good race there.”

Posted on February 6, 2025February 6, 2025 by Staff Report

The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season is rapidly approaching. After the 2024 season, which produced a list of thrilling finishes and memorable moments, 2025 looks to be another year of exciting NASCAR action.

With the 2025 season almost here, it is time to dive deep into season previews as NASCAR.com analyzes each team and driver’s outlook for the year ahead. View the full release schedule below:

RELATED: 2025 Cup Series schedule

Jan. 6: Legacy Motor Club
Jan. 7: Kaulig Racing
Jan. 8: Spire Motorsports
Jan. 9: Hyak Motorsports
Jan. 13: Wood Brothers Racing
Jan. 14: Richard Childress Racing
Jan. 15: Haas Factory Team
Jan. 16: RFK Racing
Jan. 20: Trackhouse Racing
Jan. 21: 23XI Racing
Jan. 23: Front Row Motorsports
Jan. 24: Rick Ware Racing
Feb. 4: Joe Gibbs Racing
Feb. 5: Hendrick Motorsports
Feb. 6: Team Penske

Posted on February 6, 2025February 6, 2025 by Zach Sturniolo

Editor’s Note: Today’s Team Penske preview concludes NASCAR.com’s countdown of team previews for the 2025 Cup Series season.

TEAM PENSKE

Manufacturer: Ford
Engine: Roush Yates Engines
Driver-crew chief pairings: Austin Cindric-Brian Wilson (No. 2), Ryan Blaney-Jonathan Hassler (No. 12), Joey Logano-Paul Wolfe (No. 22)

Team outlook: For the third straight year, Team Penske enters the NASCAR Cup Series season as the defending champion of the sport. Logano’s 2024 title marked his second triumph in three seasons, sandwiching a Blaney championship run in between. Cindric wheeled the No. 2 Ford back to Victory Lane in 2024, sparking a playoff parlay for Penske as it pushed into the postseason. There appears no imminent reason to believe Penske will be any less of a threat for the championship in 2025 as its veteran-heavy roster continues to bolster confidence, particularly late in the season. Past success guarantees nothing in the future, however, and another strong display will be necessary to return to the top of the championship stage at Phoenix Raceway when the season’s final checkered flag waves in November.

AUSTIN CINDRIC, NO. 2 FORD

Experience: Three full seasons in the NASCAR Cup Series
2024 stats: 11th in final Cup Series standings; 1 win, 4 top fives, 7 top 10s
2025 championship odds (DraftKings): 100-1

Outlook: Cindric and the No. 2 Team Penske group took a mighty step forward toward regular contention at the front of the field late in the 2024 campaign. A June win at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway propelled him to the postseason, where he made a convincing charge into the Round of 12 and an impressive effort that nearly propelled him forward to the Round of 8 if not for a Talladega crash from the lead. Cindric could benefit from more consistent front-running in 2025, though. His 19.9 average finish marked a slight improvement from 2023 (21.6) but still down from his rookie-season results at 16.3. Two of his four top fives in 2024 came in the year’s final five races, but he also finished 27th or worse in four of the last seven events with two DNFs.

RYAN BLANEY, NO. 12 FORD

Experience: Nine full seasons plus two partial seasons in the NASCAR Cup Series
2024 stats: 2nd in final Cup Series standings; 3 wins, 12 top fives, 18 top 10s, 1 pole
2025 championship odds (DraftKings): 13-2

Outlook: One year removed from winning the 2023 Cup championship, Blaney established himself as a regular threat all over again in 2024 with his third multi-win season in the past four years. The No. 12 team is officially a threat just about everywhere, and with runner-up finishes in each of the last three season finales at Phoenix Raceway (and top fives in each of the last seven Phoenix races overall), there stands no reason to doubt Blaney will have a say in determining the 2025 championship battle. Few questions remain surrounding the 31-year-old’s on-track ability. His 13 career wins have come at every type of track on the schedule. But how consistently will his No. 12 Ford land in Victory Lane? Expect another rise in Blaney’s ascension in 2025.

JOEY LOGANO, NO. 22 FORD

Experience: 16 full-time seasons in the NASCAR Cup Series
2024 stats: 1st in final Cup Series standings; 4 wins, 7 top fives, 13 top 10s, 3 poles
2025 championship odds (DraftKings): 17-2

Outlook: The title of “reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion” says it all for Logano, who soared to the peak of the sport after a series-best three postseason victories during the 2024 playoffs. Logano netted four total wins across last year’s campaign, second only to Kyle Larson’s six despite Logano’s lowest top-five and top-10 totals since joining Team Penske in 2013. As the whole of Team Penske continues to prove formidable, Logano has proved a key leader in its success. After a championship run in 2024 — his second in the past three years — the driver of the No. 22 Ford should be a force to be reckoned with again in 2025.

BOLD PREDICTION: An all-inclusive trip to the playoffs no longer feels quite so bold for Team Penske after achieving the feat in ’24, particularly with Cindric’s continued improvement. Bolder yet, though: all three will advance to the Round of 8. It’s hard to go against the team that’s won three consecutive Cup championships — and I’m not ready to say they’ll win a fourth in a row. But Team Penske undoubtedly has the tools to do so.

Posted on February 5, 2025 by Staff Report

NASCAR officials introduced specific penalty options for manufacturers in an update to the NASCAR Rule Book on Wednesday in case the sanctioning body finds any wrongdoing from any of its three Original Equipment Manufacturers, or OEMs.

Competition officials noted in a January update a formal penalty structure would be implemented for rules violations made by OEMs. In Wednesday’s update to the official language in the rule book, that structure was announced as a new section in the rule book, Section 10.5.2.8.c, including but not limited to the following possible reprimands:

Loss of 25-50 manufacturer points
Loss of 30-60 wind-tunnel hours
Loss of 250-500 RCFD (restricted computational fluid dynamics) test runs
Loss of 2-4 vehicle tests

Section 10.5.2.8.A of the rule book states: “NASCAR reserves the right to determine if an OEM has violated the NASCAR Rule Book and may impose penalties on the OEM or its representatives accordingly. The following framework serves as a general guideline for assessing OEM penalties. The examples provided are illustrative and not exhaustive, offering clarity on the types and ranges of infractions that may result in penalties, should NASCAR determine enforcement is warranted.”

Conversation surrounding manufacturer penalties arose following the penultimate race of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season at Martinsville Speedway. Multiple teams were penalized after NASCAR determined the actions of those involved violated sections 4.4.B&D: NASCAR Member Conduct of the Rule Book, which includes race manipulation and actions detrimental to stock car racing.

In an additional rule book update on Monday, Section 5.5.A, which regards competitors’ performance obligation, was updated to include the following language: “Any member who attempts to improperly influence the outcome of the event or encourages, persuades, or induces others to do so shall be subject to penalties, as outlined in Section 10 Violations and Disciplinary Action. Prohibited actions include, but are not limited to, intentional planning or conduct that prioritizes objectives other than achieving the best possible competitive result for their team.”

The 2025 Cup Series campaign officially kicks off with the 67th annual Daytona 500 on Sunday, Feb. 16 at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.