Posted on by Neil Paine

Last weekend’s spotlight at Atlanta was on the first NASCAR In-Season Challenge bracket … and it immediately got blown up. Top seeds Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe were knocked out in a massive crash early in Stage 2, turning the debut of a March Madness-style tournament into true mayhem. Meanwhile, hometown hero Chase Elliott would go on to outduel Brad Keselowski for the win; Elliott is now the new favorite in the bracket, alongside Chris Buescher.

But with the Cup Series heading to Chicago, the driver everyone will be watching isn’t even in the tournament field: Shane van Gisbergen, the road-racing ace who didn’t qualify for the bracket, looms as the favorite to win again on the city streets. We warned everyone a few weeks ago that SVG was a threat to heat up and steal a playoff spot, with a number of road/street courses coming up, and that’s exactly what happened when he took the checkered flag at Mexico City. Now the big question might be whether anyone can deny van Gisbergen another victory on a track featuring both left and right turns — and if so, who?

Let’s run through the 11 drivers most likely to dethrone the street king — along with their key stats, including Adjusted Pts+ (which scales the quality of each driver’s finishes relative to a Cup average of 100) and Driver Rating, on both road courses overall and at Chicago specifically — while breaking down why each one might have what it takes to challenge SVG’s road-course reign. In no particular order:

No. 45 Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing

Chicago career: 2 starts, 0 wins, 1 top fives, 15.0 avg. finish, 193 Pts+, 104.5 Rtg.
Next Gen road courses: 19 starts, 3 wins, 8 top fives, 11.2 avg. finish, 199 Pts+, 101.2 Rtg.
Road course career: 28 starts, 3 wins, 9 top fives, 12.5 avg. finish, 177 Pts+, 94.8 Rtg.

Quick: Who’s the only Cup driver to post a Driver Rating above 100 in both Chicago Street Races? It’s not SVG — yes, he was near-perfect in his debut win (138.1), but he dropped to 83.5 last year after finishing 40th. Instead, the answer is Reddick, who has quietly been the most consistent frontrunner on the streets of Chicago. He was near the lead throughout both races, logging 57 laps in the top 15 (with eight laps led) in the inaugural event, then following it up with a runner-up finish behind Alex Bowman last season. So, this is a guy who feels comfortable in the tight confines of the street setup. And it bears mentioning that Reddick is also one of the Cup Series’ best road-course drivers in general, with a 199 Pts+ index and 101.2 Driver Rating since 2022, both of which are second only to (who else?) van Gisbergen.

No. 9 Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports

Chicago career: 2 starts, 0 wins, 1 top fives, 12.0 avg. finish, 175 Pts+, 80.5 Rtg.
Next-Gen road courses: 18 starts, 0 wins, 10 top fives, 9.8 avg. finish, 193 Pts+, 99.3 Rtg.
Road course career: 37 starts, 7 wins, 21 top fives, 8.8 avg. finish, 227 Pts+, 106.6 Rtg.

Even if Elliott is no longer the undisputed king of NASCAR road racing, he remains among the sport’s elite when it comes to that craft. The Atlanta winner from a week ago owns the second-best average finish of any active driver on road courses in the Next Gen era (9.8), trailing only Chris Buescher (8.8), to go with two poles, 10 top fives and 12 top 10s in 18 starts in that span. Elliott also worked his way up to finish third from a 26th-place start in the 2023 Chicago race, which recalled his climb from 34th to first at Elkhart Lake in his seventh and most recent road victory in 2021. Elliott remains due for another one of those, which would tie Tony Stewart for second-most in Cup history.

No. 13 Will Brown, Kaulig Racing

Chicago career: 0 starts
Next Gen road courses: 1 starts, 0 wins, 0 top 5s, 31.0 avg. finish, 20 Pts+, 60.2 Rtg.
Road course career: 1 starts, 0 wins, 0 top fives, 31.0 avg. finish, 20 Pts+, 60.2 Rtg.

The biggest wild-card name in the field on Sunday is Brown, an Australian Supercars driver straight out of the same mold as van Gisbergen. While his career Supercars resume isn’t quite as stunning as SVG’s was quite yet — he has 11 career wins and one championship; SVG had 81 wins and three titles — Brown is also about a decade younger, and is the defending 2024 Supercars Championship winner. Will that translate to Cup right away? Well, Brown will have to fight against inexperience; he has never run Chicago before and finished 31st in his lone previous NASCAR start, last season at Sonoma. However, given the parallels between Brown and SVG, and the multiple street circuits that populate the Supercars schedule, Brown’s odds to win the Grant Park 165 were getting high — up to +1800 at midweek on DraftKings’ sheet — so bettors clearly think there is some chance for Supercars-ringer lightning to strike twice.

No. 20 Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing

Chicago career: 2 starts, 0 wins, 0 top fives, 27.5 avg. finish, 39 Pts+, 102.5 Rtg.
Next Gen road courses: 19 starts, 2 wins, 7 top fives, 11.6 avg. finish, 187 Pts+, 96.6 Rtg.
Road course career: 28 starts, 3 wins, 9 top fives, 13.6 avg. finish, 174 Pts+, 93.2 Rtg.

Bell has finished no lower than second place in each of the past three Cup Series road-course races, including a win in March at COTA and a runner-up behind SVG at Mexico City a few weeks ago. That impressive consistency is related to Bell’s placement within a five-member club of active drivers (joining van Gisbergen, Reddick, William Byron and Kyle Larson) who’ve won multiple times at road courses in the Next Gen era, officially putting the No. 20 car among company that is as elite as it gets. Bell’s Chicago finishes haven’t been as impressive — he’s gone 18th and 37th so far — but that undersells his true performance, as he led at least a dozen laps in each race and posted Driver Ratings in excess of 91 both times out.

No. 54 Ty Gibbs, Joe Gibbs Racing

Chicago career: 2 starts, 0 wins, 1 top fives, 6.0 avg. finish, 233 Pts+, 112.0 Rtg.
Next Gen road courses: 16 starts, 0 wins, 4 top fives, 16.7 avg. finish, 124 Pts+, 81.6 Rtg.
Road course career: 16 starts, 0 wins, 4 top fives, 16.7 avg. finish, 124 Pts+, 81.6 Rtg.

Gibbs narrowly (and I mean narrowly) missed the cut for our stat about Reddick and the only drivers in triple-digit Driver Ratings at both Chicago races — he had a 99.9 two years ago, and a 124.1 last year while leading the most laps — finishing top-nine in both races. That has helped give him the best average Driver Rating (112.0) and co-best average finish (6.0) of any driver in their career on the Chicago streets, albeit in a sample size of two races. More broadly, Gibbs is also underrated on road courses, which have tended to be his best track type early in his career, and he’s had some of his best drives of the season recently — he had a 114.6 rating at Mexico City — after a first-half slump. This could be the week Gibbs finally scores that long-awaited first career win.

No. 71 Michael McDowell, Spire Motorsports

Chicago career: 2 starts, 0 wins, 1 top fives, 6.0 avg. finish, 216 Pts+, 81.9 Rtg.
Next Gen road courses: 19 starts, 1 wins, 5 top fives, 12.8 avg. finish, 165 Pts+, 91.1 Rtg.
Road course career: 49 starts, 1 wins, 5 top fives, 19.8 avg. finish, 101 Pts+, 73.1 Rtg.

McDowell’s mid-career glow-up at road courses has spanned practically the entire Next Gen era, and it continues to this very day. After a fifth-place run at Mexico City last month, McDowell has now finished 15th or better in six straight road races — including four top 10s — and 10 of his past 13 starts on road courses. That included a win at the Indianapolis G.P. track in 2023, as well as finishes of seventh and fifth in two tries at Chicago, tying him with Gibbs for the best career average finish of any driver on those streets. With an average start of 4.5 as well — never starting lower than sixth on the grid — McDowell has been good at giving himself early track position at a race with fewer lead changes (8.0) than other road courses (10.6) feature on average since 2022.

No. 48 Alex Bowman, Hendrick Motorsports

Chicago career: 2 starts, 1 wins, 1 top fives, 19.0 avg. finish, 214 Pts+, 83.6 Rtg.
Next Gen road courses: 18 starts, 1 wins, 6 top fives, 14.2 avg. finish, 155 Pts+, 84.1 Rtg.
Road course career: 37 starts, 1 wins, 8 top fives, 15.0 avg. finish, 137 Pts+, 78.3 Rtg.

Bowman doesn’t have quite the same consistency as the other names on the list — before winning here a year ago, he had crashed out and finished 37th in 2023 — but he is still a road-racer to be respected. In a race that was up for grabs after SVG wrecked just 24 laps in, Bowman eventually tracked down Joey Hand (another road-course ringer) and proved Cup regulars could, in fact, win on the streets of Chicago, too.

No. 5 Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports

Chicago career: 2 starts, 0 wins, 1 top fives, 21.5 avg. finish, 130 Pts+, 101.4 Rtg.
Next Gen road courses: 19 starts, 3 wins, 5 top fives, 17.3 avg. finish, 143 Pts+, 89.5 Rtg.
Road course career: 40 starts, 6 wins, 11 top fives, 15.2 avg. finish, 156 Pts+, 94.5 Rtg.

Larson has been all over the place at road courses recently — winning twice but also finishing outside the top 25 five times (including three outside the top 30) in his past nine outings. However, he does have a triple-digit average Driver Rating (101.4) at Chicago, breaking 90 each time out, and his adaptability to different driving conditions comes in handy on a street layout that Cup drivers don’t get a lot of practice in tackling. While road courses aren’t Larson’s absolute forté, they are certainly a weapon in his arsenal.

No. 8 Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing

Chicago career: 2 starts, 0 wins, 1 top fives, 7.0 avg. finish, 197 Pts+, 80.7 Rtg.
Next Gen road courses: 19 starts, 0 wins, 6 top fives, 16.3 avg. finish, 139 Pts+, 80.2 Rtg.
Road course career: 60 starts, 4 wins, 21 top fives, 15.0 avg. finish, 170 Pts+, 93.5 Rtg.

In an otherwise highly frustrating season, Busch scored his lone top-five finish on a road course — at COTA — and road racing has arguably been the most reliable part of his driving profile since joining RCR in 2023. That’s especially been the case at Chicago, where Rowdy has a pair of top 10s (and a fifth-place finish) in two starts, even recording one of the fastest laps of the race a year ago. Coming off a run at Mexico City where he crashed out after six laps and finishing last, Busch needs some road-course redemption — and this is a good place for it.

No. 24 William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports

Chicago career: 2 starts, 0 wins, 0 top fives, 10.5 avg. finish, 144 Pts+, 73.2 Rtg.
Next Gen road courses: 19 starts, 2 wins, 6 top fives, 12.7 avg. finish, 167 Pts+, 90.4 Rtg.
Road course career: 34 starts, 2 wins, 6 top fives, 15.6 avg. finish, 137 Pts+, 90.6 Rtg.

Byron has been solid, if not stellar, at Chicago in the past two years — finishing 13th in 2023 and eighth last season, but with Driver Ratings in the low-to-mid 70s both times. (So, barely average.) Leading zero laps and running among the top 15 only 27 percent of the time, he extracted high-quality finishes out of non-dominant performances. Still, the driver of the No. 24 car is one of the better road-course experts in Cup overall, with a 96.2 Driver Rating over the past three seasons. A truly dominant day on the Chicago streets may be coming soon enough.

No. 17 Chris Buescher, RFK Racing

Chicago career: 2 starts, 0 wins, 0 top fives, 15.0 avg. finish, 101 Pts+, 80.1 Rtg.
Next Gen road courses: 19 starts, 1 wins, 4 top fives, 8.8 avg. finish, 185 Pts+, 91.7 Rtg.
Road course career: 39 starts, 1 wins, 6 top fives, 12.9 avg. finish, 141 Pts+, 79.5 Rtg.

Ever since the start of the Next Gen era, Buescher has been an absolute machine on road courses, which one would think makes him a great pick to at least be in a position to contend at Chicago. In his 19 road-course starts since the beginning of the 2022 season, Buescher has 15 top 10s and was among the top 17 in all but two races: The first Next Gen road race (21st at COTA in March 2022) and last year’s Chicago Street race (20th), of all places. That’s why Buescher’s track-specific record here is merely good, not especially great. But he is so consistent at these types of tracks overall that he ought to be a factor this weekend — and we’ve seen him do the unthinkable, hunting down and passing SVG on the final lap for a road-course win, before as well.

Posted on by Zack Albert

Here’s what’s happening in NASCAR with the Quaker State 400 Available at Walmart at EchoPark Speedway (formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway) in the rearview and the Grant Park 165 at the Chicago Street Course up next.

MORE: Chicago entry list | In-Season Challenge hub

1. Challenge’s second round sweet for some, heartache for others

Atlanta was a wringer for In-Season Challenge hopefuls. The opportunity for more upsets looms in the Chicago Street Race, where the search for a breakout favorite continues.

The carnage that befell much of the NASCAR Cup Series field last weekend at Atlanta also broke the brackets of the inaugural In-Season Challenge. The 32-driver invitational, which coincides with TNT Sports’ broadcast segment of the season, is now rife with disarray heading into an intriguing showdown on the lone street circuit on the NASCAR schedule.

A handful of standouts could restore some order to the $1 million tournament in this weekend’s Chicago Street Race (Sunday, 2 p.m. ET, TNT Sports/truTV, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), Round 2 in the five-race series. The event also marks the third trip to the tricky 2.2-mile downtown course, officially turning the page into the second half of the Cup Series season.

First, let’s pick up the tattered pieces from Atlanta, which left everyone’s brackets in varied shards and shreds. Gone are top-seeded Denny Hamlin, a three-time winner this year, who was in the midst of the race’s largest wreck in Stage 2. That same melee claimed Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Chase Briscoe, the second seed and the series’ most prolific pole winner this season, and a host of others with damaged cars that found the wreckers’ hooks.

RELATED: Cup Series standings | 2025 schedule

Some of the biggest winners from the challenge’s opening round were obvious. Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman carried the baton for Hendrick Motorsports, with the former notching his first win of the season and the latter sealing his best finish since mid-March in third. The two are also distinctively poised to advance, given their momentum, plus Elliott’s overall road-course acumen and Bowman’s role as the defending Chicago race winner. That said, Elliott is still searching for his first road-course win since the Next Gen car’s 2022 introduction.

On the team side, RFK Racing — as hinted in this space last week — still carries plenty of upside into the next phase of the In-Season Challenge. All three of its drivers — Chris Buescher, Ryan Preece and Atlanta runner-up Brad Keselowski — advanced into the Round of 16, providing the organization with the most opportunities for a deep tournament run. Buescher was a trendy final-four pick when the brackets were unveiled, and his potential as the top seed remaining at No. 3 is great.

Kaulig Racing also produced some Cinderella positives, with 32nd-seeded Ty Dillon upending Hamlin and teammate AJ Allmendinger turning back Michael McDowell in the opener. Of the two, 22-seed Allmendinger has boundless possibilities for a deeper run toward the challenge’s prize with a pair of road-racing circuits — Chicago, then Sonoma — the next two weeks.

With Atlanta in the past, NASCAR’s next superspeedway-style racing at a drafting track won’t happen again until the regular-season finale at Daytona International Speedway in late August. Until then, the chaos will have to be contained within Chicago’s city limits in the next round of the In-Season Challenge, where most everyone’s brackets will be bracing again, this time for a street fight.

Alex Bowman (48) and Brad Keselowski lead the field at EchoPark Speedway
Sean Gardner | Getty Images

2. The ‘other’ Sweet 16: The rapidly filling playoff grid

The list of first-time 2025 winners has grown in recent weeks, with Atlanta victor Chase Elliott the most recent to clinch. Incentives abound in Chicago, including more for one of NASCAR’s newest free agents.

Another 16-driver grid is looming larger in the season’s second half — the race for spots in the Cup Series Playoffs, which is three-quarters of the way to completion. Four open berths remain for the taking in the regular season’s eight remaining races, and three of those eight events occur on road courses.

Of the 16 drivers left in the In-Season Challenge, only one — Elliott, by virtue of his Atlanta win — is a playoff lock. The remaining 15 are hungry not just for a deep-dish victory in the Windy City, but for the opportunity for a season-altering moment that ensures championship eligibility.

Those opportunities — with five first-time winners in the last six Cup Series races — are making life on the playoff bubble all the more volatile. Tyler Reddick — last year’s Chicago runner-up and the Regular Season Champion from 2024 — is the only non-winner in a seeming spot of comfort, 128 points above the provisional elimination barrier. Chris Buescher (plus-52), Alex Bowman (plus-39) and Bubba Wallace (plus-23) are less relaxed, especially with the knowledge that the bubble can easily narrow in the coming weeks.

Ryan Preece is the closest to reaching the positive side of the playoff ledger, down just 23 points to Wallace. But the minus side also includes two former Cup Series champions in Kyle Busch (-72) and Brad Keselowski (-122), and a new free agent in Daniel Suárez, who will part company with Trackhouse Racing at season’s end in a mutually reached agreement that was announced Tuesday.

There’s incentive beyond the obvious for Suárez, who has the chance to end his five-year run with Trackhouse on an up note, but also to audition for a potential new landing spot for the 2026 season. He holds a top-10 speed rating for the Chicago Street Race, according to Racing Insights, and will return next week to Sonoma Raceway, site of his first Cup Series win in 2022.

Daniel Suárez loads into the No. 99 Chevy at Pocono Raceway
Jonathan Bachman | Getty Images

3. Who has the Chicago advantage (or third-time charm)?

Do all signs point toward another Shane van Gisbergen type of day in the third edition of the Chicago Street Race? Crew chief experts Steve Letarte and Todd Gordon break down the street-circuit favorites, plus other top names to watch among the Cup Series regulars.

4. International intrigue on all-time list

A victory by either Shane van Gisbergen or Daniel Suárez on Sunday would move them into the lead among the Cup Series’ winners born outside of the United States — all of whom hail from different countries. A glance at the half-dozen drivers who make up that list. (Credit: Racing Insights)

DriverBirth countryWinsTrack, year
Shane van GisbergenNew Zealand2Chicago, 2023; Mexico City, 2025
Marcos AmbroseAustralia2Watkins Glen, 2011-12
Daniel SuárezMexico2Sonoma, 2022; Atlanta, 2024
Juan Pablo MontoyaColombia2Sonoma, 2007; Watkins Glen, 2010
Mario AndrettiItaly1Daytona, 1967
Earl RossCanada1Martinsville, 1974

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

Paint Scheme Preview: 2025 Chicago Street Race weekend

Trackhouse, Suárez mutually opt to part company after 2025 season

Checking in on the NASCAR Cup Series playoff bubble before Chicago

Power Rankings: Momentum leans in Alex Bowman’s favor

NASCAR Insights: Bowman’s vital role in Atlanta victory

Kyle Petty: Atlanta makes its case as a hype-worthy hybrid

Analysis: Chase Elliott savors home-state emotion

Cup Series favorites break down new In-Season Challenge

@nascarcasm: Fake texts to Atlanta winner Elliott

Shane van Gisbergen's No. 16 rounds a turn in the 2024 Chicago Street Race
Meg Oliphant | Getty Images
Posted on by Staff Report

The NASCAR Xfinity Series hits the streets of Chicago on Saturday for The Loop 110 (4:30 p.m. ET, The CW, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The CW App will air Xfinity Series qualifying at 11:30 a.m. ET.

QUALIFYING ORDER: Cup Series | Xfinity Series 

The qualifying order below is determined via metric that combines the previous race finish by owner (70%) and current owner points position (30%).

Saturday’s qualifying session will be just one round, but drivers will be split into two groups with 20 minutes to turn a lap.

MORE: How to watch on The CW | Weekend Schedule

# denotes series rookie
(i) denotes ineligible for driver points

Pos.Car No.DriverMetric ScoreGroup
150Preston Pardus42.51
29Shane van Gisbergen (i)39.81
324Kaz Grala (i)35.91
432Austin Green35.81
54Parker Retzlaff #34.01
611Josh Williams33.21
718William Sawalich32.71
853Sage Karam29.71
991Josh Bilicki29.21
105Kris Wright27.71
1142Anthony Alfredo27.21
1214Connor Mosack (i)26.61
1300Sheldon Creed26.31
1407Alex Labbe25.21
1539Ryan Sieg25.21
168Sammy Smith25.21
1735TBA24.31
1831Blaine Perkins24.11
1945Brad Perez23.91
2071Ryan Ellis23.71
217Justin Allgaier22.02
2221Austin Hill19.42
2316Christian Eckes #18.12
2444Brennan Poole17.92
2570Thomas Annunziata17.72
2699Matt DiBenedetto17.72
2727Jeb Burton14.22
2828Kyle Sieg14.12
2925Harrison Burton13.62
3051Jeremy Clements13.32
3126Dean Thompson13.12
3220Brandon Jones12.22
3310Daniel Dye #10.72
3419Jack Perkins8.22
3554Taylor Gray #6.22
362Jesse Love5.72
3748Nick Sanchez #4.32
3888Connor Zilisch #3.42
391Carson Kavapil #3.22
4041Sam Mayer3.02
Posted on by Staff Report

The NASCAR Cup Series enters Round 2 of the 2025 In-Season Challenge this weekend, with the streets of Chicago acting as host for Sunday’s race (2 p.m. ET, TNT Sports/truTV, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

QUALIFYING ORDER: Cup Series | Xfinity Series 

All 41 cars will have a chance to post a qualifying time Saturday (2 p.m. ET, truTV, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), with one open team failing to make Sunday’s main event.

Saturday’s qualifying session will consist of one round, split into two 20-minute groups. The groups below are determined via a metric that combines the previous race finish by owner (70%) and current owner points position (30%).

MORE: How to watch on TNT Sports | Weekend schedule

# denotes series rookie
(i) denotes ineligible for driver points

Pos.Car No.DriverMetric ScoreGroup
113Will Brown58.71
233Austin Hill (i)41.61
367Corey Heim (i)41.01
466Josh Bilicki (i)33.81
599Daniel Suárez32.51
62Austin Cindric 30.51
735Riley Herbst #30.11
812Ryan Blaney30.11
922Joey Logano28.51
1021Josh Berry28.11
1119Chase Briscoe27.51
124Noah Gragson27.41
1334Todd Gilliland27.31
1488Shane van Gisbergen #26.41
1524William Byron26.21
161Ross Chastain25.51
177Justin Haley25.11
1842John Hunter Nemechek25.11
1941Cole Custer23.51
2011Denny Hamlin22.91
2120Christopher Bell22.51
2278Katherine Legge (i)22.32
233Austin Dillon21.82
248Kyle Busch20.72
2551Cody Ware19.92
2623Bubba Wallace19.62
2771Michael McDowell19.22
2854Ty Gibbs17.02
2960Ryan Preece15.02
3010Ty Dillon14.92
3116AJ Allmendinger13.52
325Kyle Larson12.82
3338Zane Smith12.42
3477Carson Hocevar12.42
3547Ricky Stenhouse Jr.10.52
366Brad Keselowski9.52
3717Chris Buescher9.02
3843Erik Jones8.32
3948Alex Bowman5.72
4045Tyler Reddick4.62
419Chase Elliott1.32
Posted on by Cara Cooper

Seekonk Speedway’s championship format resembles that of the NASCAR Cup Series. The top finisher among the final four in points in the last race of the season wins the title.

Dylan Estrella finished second in the final race of 2024 to win his first Pro Stock championship at Seekonk, a NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series track in Massachusetts. But if the track were going by points, he would have finished second overall.

This year, Estrella wants to leave no doubt.

“As a racer that came up always being behind the point system where it was however well you did throughout the year that’s where you finish. … It felt great to obviously have that championship, but it’s like a little bit unaccomplished in my mind just because I wasn’t the points leader at the end of the year,” he said. “You still do have to do the best out of those guys for the last almost month, month-and-a-half of racing, so obviously nothing to take away from it, it’s just my own fixed-goal self of wanting to be the points leader and win at the same time like they did in the old days.”

Estrella has not yet reached Victory Lane this season, but he has finished in the top five in four of Seekonk’s five Pro Stock races. His 220 points place him sixth in the track’s standings, just eight points back from the lead.

Last year delivered Estrella’s first Pro Stock title at Seekonk, but he’s no stranger to the track. He’s won three other titles — two in the Late Model division and one in Mini Cup — and has been driving there for nearly two decades.

“My dad worked on a Pro Stock when I was a kid, and Seekonk had their youth division, they ran Mini Cup,” Estrella said. “They’re like younger kids. I think it was anywhere from the ages of like 10 to 18. And I ended up seeing those on a Saturday night show and I asked my dad if I could try one. He knew someone that had one, and once I got behind the wheel, it was kind of off into the sunset from there.”

Twenty years later, Estrella’s dad is still his crew chief, and the team has grown but stayed close-knit. Another friend, Jim, has also been there for years and is “basically an all-around guy,” Estrella said, helping with everything from working on the car to helping get tires ready.

“Pretty much anything you can think of, he gets his hands in it,” he added.

Seekonk Speedway
Seekonk Speedway (Photo: Jaiden Tripi/NASCAR)

Estrella’s best friend, Mike, is also there every week as the team’s tire guy and spotter.

“He’s been with us forever, since I was running late models,” Estrella said. “Anywhere between probably 10 to 12 years with us. It feels like forever.”

Even the girls in the Estrella family are at the track every week.

“My mom has been to every race. Never misses them,” Estrella said. “She video tapes every one. My wife goes to every single one, and we just had our daughter last year, so last year was kind of getting our feet wet, bringing the little one around, and I know it was really hectic for her, but she didn’t miss a race.

“And my sister’s always there, and bunch friends come because we’re only probably about 30 minutes from the track, so it’s easy for everyone to get out there.”

As much as Estrella enjoys winning and taking home titles, it’s the chance to share the sport with friends and family that keeps him coming back.

“That’s definitely a lot of the reason why I do it,” he said. “Obviously anyone that gets behind the wheel falls in love with it. You love driving and the competition, but a lot of it is knowing that I’ve got family members that I don’t get to see very often, that’s my time to go and see and hang out with them.”

Last year was Estrella’s first back at Seekonk after spending three seasons traveling across New England to race.

He came into 2025 with largely the same car and setup as he used to win the championship last season.

“To be honest, we just did everything exactly the same,” he said. “We had a good car at the end of the year, and we wanted to start off that way and hopefully just build off of what we had last year. And so far it’s been going pretty good.

“Hopefully me going into this year with a different mindset… just finish every race and see where we end up at the end.”

While Estrella is hoping to improve even more on his 2024 title, he’s making sure to keep fun at the forefront of his mind both on and off the track.

“We haven’t had any major issues or anything like that. It’s been good clean racing, a lot of green flag laps at Seekonk. Nothing really to complain about so far,” he said.

“It’s just one of those things for us, we’re not really making a killing and a living off of it. We’re just doing it for fun. So try and keep it at a fun level so it’s at least something to look forward to every weekend and you’re not stressed out about it.”

Posted on by Dustin Albino

Food often brings people closer together. Just ask NASCAR Hall of Famer Matt Kenseth and three-time Cup Series winner Erik Jones.

Kenseth joined Legacy Motor Club as a competition advisor toward the end of the 2023 season. One of his first calls was to Jones, who, roughly six years earlier at Joe Gibbs Racing, replaced the 2003 Cup Series champion in the No. 20 Toyota.

RELATED: Chicago schedule | Cup Series standings

The new teammates settled on Flatiron, a restaurant in Davidson, North Carolina, as their meetup location. Over nearly two years, they’ve established a close-knit relationship, with Kenseth even attending Jones’ surprise birthday party in late May.

“Erik and I have always gotten along, but we never really knew each other at a high level at all,” Kenseth told NASCAR.com. “It was somewhat interesting because when I left Gibbs, they decided not to bring me back. I wholeheartedly wanted to be back for another year or two before I retired, and they replaced me with Erik, which makes it kind of interesting. The same thing happened with him.

“I think he had a lot of apprehension because he didn’t know me that well, and he took over that car when I wasn’t there.”

During Jones’ rookie campaign in 2017, when his services were loaned to Furniture Row Racing, he occasionally interacted with Kenseth as quasi-teammates. Jones was also Kenseth’s fill-in driver late in 2015 when the 39-time Cup winner was suspended for deliberately wrecking Joey Logano — another former No. 20 car driver — at Martinsville Speedway.

Kenseth believes Jones was a bit anxious when they first met for lunch, unsure of how the situation would unfold.

Jones, a fellow Midwesterner like Kenseth, admits replacing a former champion at JGR made it tough to connect. At the same time, Kenseth never feared a younger driver in a manufacturer’s system as he always believed in his own ability. Still, JGR opted to go in a new direction after Jones took the Craftsman Truck Series and Xfinity Series by storm, collecting 16 victories, including the 2015 Truck championship with Kyle Busch Motorsports.

“Matt knew that he was the guy that was going to be out in that situation and ended up moving to make room for myself coming up through there,” Jones said. “That made it harder to build a relationship. I don’t know that there was any animosity from him towards me, and obviously, there was none from me to him. But when you’re getting replaced, it’s never an easy situation.”

There was no angst from Kenseth.

“I’ve been around it for a long time, and the owners and other people make those decisions,” he said. “It’s not like the driver did it, or he was the owner and let me go.

“To be fair, Erik was Toyota’s guy at the time. He was Kyle’s [Busch] guy, Coach’s [Joe Gibbs] guy and was running really well and having a ton of success. I wasn’t exactly a spring chicken, so if you look at it, objectively, you can’t really blame anyone for that.”

Aside from lunch, Jones can’t recall exactly how the duo struck up a friendship. While befriending each other, it became apparent they had interchangeable personalities.

“I see a lot of my younger self in Erik, for sure,” Kenseth added. “He’s not nearly as funny, but other than that, there are a lot of similarities. There are certainly a lot of differences, too, but there are a lot of similarities, which helps me with him because I see a lot of things where I feel like I’ve learned from in the past: good, bad or indifferent.

“Same thing with John Hunter [Nemechek]. I can say certain things or act certain ways that I can sympathize with what they are saying, but I can also live through a lot of it and help them from making the same mistakes, wrong judgments or whatever that I did.”

Away from the track, Kenseth has turned Jones into a fitness guru. Jones doesn’t think he will ever get to Kenseth’s level as he’s an avid long-distance runner, having competed in several marathons. Their longest run together is roughly four miles.

With guidance from Kenseth, Jones aims to continue improving his health through regular gym visits. Mentally, he’s found it helpful in getting through certain races.

“I think I’m in the best shape I’ve been in through racing,” Jones said. “Thirty-six to 38 races per year is hard on your body. When you’re 20 years old, it’s easy to hop in a car and go and feel good about everything. When you’re on the backside of 20, it’s not as easy to recover, not as easy to get through some of these days.

“That’s the biggest thing for me, just feeling better the day after these days and recovering faster has been the biggest bonus.”

MORE: Cup Series schedule

Recent structural changes within Legacy Motor Club have elevated the team on the track, too. With six consecutive top-20 finishes, highlighted by a fifth-place effort last weekend at EchoPark Speedway (formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway), Jones has skyrocketed 13 positions in the regular-season championship standings to 16th. Technically, he’s tied with Austin Cindric for 15th, but the Talladega Superspeedway victor holds the tiebreaker.

While the two-chartered team has taken big steps forward, Kenseth remains a realist. In his advisory role, he assists Legacy’s drivers, attends competition and engineer meetings, mingles with sponsors and frequents roughly 10 races throughout the season. He gets a firsthand glimpse into how the team operates.

“To be totally honest, we started the year not taking as big of a step forward as I expected or was hoping we would take,” Kenseth said. “I feel like we took a pretty big leap within the last [seven or eight] weeks. We’ve had cars — both or one of them — that were capable of running in the top 10. I don’t know if we had cars last year capable of running in the top 10, but once or twice.

“It’s been a big leap, but there’s a long way to go to get to where we want to be.”

With eight races remaining in the regular season, Jones ranks 18th on the playoff grid, 49 points below current bubble driver Bubba Wallace.

Posted on by Dustin Albino

When Taylor Gray tackled a partial Xfinity Series schedule during the 2024 season, he knew what the future held. Ultimately, the prospect transitioned to a full-time promotion with Joe Gibbs Racing in 2025.

Gray, 20, has been best friends with Ty Gibbs for as long as he can remember. The duo grew up competing against each other. So, when Gray was announced as the full-time driver of the No. 54 Toyota, the same ride in which Gibbs led to a dominant 2022 championship run, Gibbs was listed as the car owner in a full-circle moment for both of them.

RELATED: Xfinity Series standings | Chicago weekend schedule

“Going back and forth between the truck and an Xfinity car last year hurt me [with] the Xfinity car a little bit,” Gray told NASCAR.com, as he nearly missed out on a Championship 4 berth last fall at Martinsville Speedway. “I’ll be very honest, I’m not as good as some other guys that are out here that are able to switch back and forth between cars, whether it’s because I’m younger and still need some time to learn or what.”

Gray followed in his brother–Tanner Gray’s–footsteps. The duo started racing in the Ford camp with Tricon Garage and shifted to the Toyota pipeline when the organization switched manufacturers ahead of the 2023 season. Gray had to sit out the opening three races of his rookie campaign in the Craftsman Truck Series, as he didn’t turn 18 years old until late March.

Maturity has never been an issue for Gray. His veteran crew chief, Jason Ratcliff, saw the wisdom from the time they met. He appreciates the way the rookie driver analyzes data and how he isn’t afraid to be vocal.

Tyler Allen, who won eight races last year in the Xfinity Series, was originally slated to be Gray’s crew chief. However, a personnel shuffle at JGR moved Allen to the Cup Series, and Ratcliff stepped in to fill the role. Currently, he’s only working with Gray for 2025 after earlier announcing his retirement from the pit box late in 2023.

“It worked out and it was so late in the game that Coach called me and said, ‘Hey, what do you think about this?’” Ratcliff remembered. “I said, ‘Under these circumstances, I believe in Taylor and believe that he has what it takes to be successful and win. I like the race team that’s going to surround him. If you need me to come out for a year and do this thing and see if we can make a go of it, then let’s do it.’”

MORE: Taylor Gray’s driver page

With one of the Xfinity GOATs of crew chiefs — Ratcliff has won 57 races — atop the pit box, Gray felt a sense of comfort entering his rookie year.

“Before I knew [Ratcliff] was going to do this, I was a little nervous about it,” Gray added. “I had faith and wasn’t stressing it too hard. I was happy for Tyler. I was happy for him and there’s no bad blood there at all.”

After eclipsing the halfway point of his first full season last weekend at EchoPark Speedway, Gray jumped four positions in the regular-season championship standings to eighth, with a 28-point cushion over the elimination line. The No. 54 team had a standout run at Martinsville Speedway, leading a career-high 87 laps, only to be dumped by Sammy Smith on the final lap. He finished second to Cup Series star Kyle Larson at Texas Motor Speedway. And in the series’ return to Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Gray raced clean with Daniel Suarez on the final lap to finish as runner-up. That started a streak of three straight top-10 finishes, including a stage win at Atlanta.

Despite a solid start to 2025, Gray would argue that it should be better.

“We’ve had a lot of bad luck,” he stated. “We’ve had speed everywhere we’ve shown up. There have only been a handful of places where we’ve shown up and been legitimate outside the top five car. Most places that we go to this year, we should have finished top five and for sure won a race by now.

“I think it’s been a good year. It seems like we’re starting to get luck back on our side a little bit and have to keep putting together these races and stringing them along.”

Ratcliff is pleased with the No. 54 team’s performance. The group has done what it’s set out to do, minus capturing a checkered flag, which he believes will come sooner rather than later.

“All in all, [Gray is] doing a nice job as far as being a rookie in this series,” Ratcliff noted. “When you look at the statistics side of it, we’ve run up front. We haven’t finished where we feel like we’ve raced every week, but it’s been dumb stuff that takes us out of it. Some of it is our fault and we didn’t execute like we needed to. We sit down each week and talk about those things and what we can do better. When we look at things and say, ‘This is what we need to improve,’ typically, we improve. I like that. It’s the sign of a strong team.”

Being close to victory on multiple occasions has stung, but Gray isn’t concerned that he will not experience the thrill of Victory Lane this season. He expects to win multiple times.

“We’re capable of winning and we’re a winning team,” Gray added. “I know it’s going to come. I’m not sitting here like, ‘that was our only shot to win.’ We’re going to have a lot of wins this year, so I’m not too worried about it.”

Next up is Saturday’s Chicago Street Race (4:30 p.m. ET, The CW, MRN Radio, Sirius XM NASCAR Radio). Ratcliff has noticed Gray’s prowess on road courses and wouldn’t be surprised if the No. 54 car is in the mix again this weekend.

Posted on by Seth Sharp

To celebrate 75 years worth of memories, the legendary Wood Brothers Racing team will be celebrated throughout the summer with “Wood Brothers Wednesdays” on The NASCAR Channel.

Wood Brothers Racing has been around since 1950, when Glen and Leonard Wood teamed up to pioneer a legacy that has transcended time.

Glen was behind the wheel of their car at Bowman Gray Stadium in 1960 and took the Wood Brothers Racing team to Victory Lane for the first time. The team scored its 101st NASCAR Cup Series victory in 2025, when Josh Berry took the checkered flag at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Bookending those victories were triumphs everywhere from Daytona to Darlington to Rockingham and everywhere in between. Twenty of NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers have piloted a car for the team throughout their storied history, one that is well worth celebrating.

RELATED: How to watch The NASCAR Channel

This Wednesday’s content will highlight the 1991 Champion Spark Plug 400 from Michigan International Speedway.

Dale Jarrett raced full-time in the Xfinity Series from its inception in 1982 until 1987, when he also made 24 starts in the Cup Series. The son of two-time Cup Series champion Ned Jarrett, Dale finished fifth or better in the Xfinity Series standings from 1983 to 1987, while winning two races.

It led the second-generation driver to make those 24 starts in the 1987 Cup Series season for Eric Freelander. He showed tons of promise on short tracks, compiling a 10th-place finish at both Bristol Motor Speedway and Martinsville Speedway, while also finishing 12th at North Wilkesboro Speedway.

He split the 1988 season between the No. 29 car for Cale Yarborough and the No. 1 for Hoss Ellington. Jarrett and Yarborough split the No. 29 car that season, and Jarrett later raced for Yarborough’s team full-time in 1989 following Yarborough’s retirement from driving.

He picked up five top-10 finishes in 1990 but was replaced with veteran driver Dick Trickle for the 1991 season, leaving Jarrett without a Cup Series ride and forcing him back to the Xfinity Series.

Jarrett didn’t let the setback put him down, as he started the season with four straight top-10 finishes and found himself on top of the series standings. Fast forward to April 1, 1990, and Neil Bonnett, who at the time was driving the No. 21 for Wood Brothers Racing, was injured in a crash at Darlington Raceway.

Bonnett was knocked unconscious in a 13-car crash at the track, sustaining total amnesia due to the incident. It was the fourth time in five years that Bonnett was hospitalized with injuries. This left the legendary team without a driver as Bonnett recovered at home in Alabama.

Enter Jarrett into the picture once again.

He finished out the 1990 season with the team as the partnership grew stronger throughout the year. Jarrett finished the season with four top-10 finishes over his final seven races; he entered the season with just eight in his career.

Hopes were high for the 1991 season when it was announced that Jarrett would continue to race the iconic No. 21 for Wood Brothers Racing that season.

The team put up a handful of solid runs throughout the first few months of the season, notably notching a sixth-place finish in the Daytona 500, a fifth in the Coca-Cola 600 and then three straight top 10s heading into the August date at Michigan.

Jarrett, who sat 13th in the standings, qualified 11th for the race.

The 34-year-old Jarrett finally had a chance at grabbing that elusive first checkered flag of his Cup Series career after so many years of working to get to the Cup Series. The race came down to Jarrett trying to catch Davey Allison, whose father had also won a championship.

The two drivers ran side by side over the final few moments of the race, making contact several times. Jarrett inched in front of Allison at the last moment, finally taking the checkered flag in a thrilling finish.

The victory was not only significant for Jarrett but also for his team. It was the 95th win for the Wood Brothers Racing team, but the first in 154 starts since Kyle Petty won at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 1987.

Jarrett credited his team with making the call not to take tires, which gave him the best shot at finally driving into Victory Lane.

It was also bittersweet for the Jarrett-Wood Brothers combination as Jarrett had already announced that he would be leaving the team at the end of the season to join the new Cup Series team owned by Super Bowl champion coach Joe Gibbs.

In addition to the exciting race at Michigan, there will also be a documentary titled “The Wood Brothers” on the schedule to watch.

The NASCAR Channel delivers 24/7, always-on content, featuring the latest news and information from around the sport, original programming and race replays.

It is a FAST channel (Free-Ad-Supported Television) and can be watched on your TV or mobile device via one of its streaming partners, such as Tubi or Xumo Play.

Posted on by Team Release

DETROIT — Foxxtecca, an experiential media and events company that bridges mobility, tech, culture, and motorsports, is proud to announce its sponsorship of Lavar Scott’s debut in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. The partnership is in collaboration with Alpha Prime Racing, marking a bold new chapter in the company’s efforts to support rising talent and increase representation in motorsports.

A two-race commitment to Lavar and Alpha Prime, Foxxtecca will serve as a secondary sponsor during Scott’s NASCAR Xfinity debut at the Betrivers 200 on July 19 at Dover Motor Speedway and a primary sponsor for the race at World Wide Technology Raceway on September 6.

“Over the past couple of years, I’ve had the chance to get to know Lavar, and he’s truly a dynamic individual,” said Chris Harris, co-founder of Foxxtecca. “When he brought us the opportunity to sponsor, it immediately felt like the right fit. This collaboration isn’t just about putting our name on a car, it’s about aligning with good people who share our values.”

RELATED: ARCA Menards Series standings

Scott currently competes in the NASCAR ARCA Menards Series, where he earned the 2024 Rookie of the Year title. As of this announcement, he is ranked second in the ARCA championship standings, continuing to demonstrate his growth, consistency, and future potential in the sport.

“Supporting Lavar in his Xfinity debut is an extension of our commitment to creating more space for diverse voices in motorsports,” Harris continued. “After speaking with Tommy Joe Martins from Alpha Prime Racing, it was clear that we’re all on the same page when it comes to representation, opportunity and building something meaningful. That kind of synergy made the decision easy.”

Representation has become a staple of the Alpha Prime Racing driver lineup over the organization’s four years in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Young star Rajah Caruth was the first driver signed by the team in 2022 and debuted at his home track of Richmond Raceway in the spring of that year.

Alpha Prime Racing team president Tommy Joe Martins sees Lavar as one of the sport’s most promising young drivers.

“We’ve been really lucky to have some great young drivers come through our team, and I’m very excited to be adding Lavar to our roster,” said Martins. “He’s come through the same development ladder as Rajah [Caruth] with Rev [Racing], and you can see how competitive he’s been in ARCA the past few seasons at all different types of race tracks. And he’s got all the intangible stuff, too. Great attitude, work ethic, very humble. He’s going to go far. And it’s a big deal to me and Caesar [Bacarella – Co-owner of Alpha Prime Racing] to create a team that gives opportunities to drivers like Lavar.”

Lavar Scott was equally thrilled about the opportunity to race at the NASCAR national series level.

“Making my NASCAR Xfinity Series debut is a huge step forward in my career, and I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity. This is a moment I’ve worked toward for a long time. Having the support of Foxxtecca and Alpha Prime Racing means the world to me, not just because they believe in me as a driver, but because they’re committed to creating real change in this sport. Together, we’re not just racing, we’re moving the culture forward, and I’m proud to be a part of that.”

The collaboration reinforces Foxxtecca’s commitment to empowering new voices in racing while building authentic partnerships that reflect its mission: pushing culture forward through mobility, media, and meaningful representation.

Posted on by Zack Albert

Trackhouse Racing and Daniel Suárez announced Tuesday that they had mutually agreed to part ways at the end of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season, marking one of the first dominoes in the annual “Silly Season” shift of personnel.

As driver of the No. 99 Chevrolet, Suárez scored both of his Cup Series victories under the Trackhouse banner — Sonoma in 2022 and Atlanta last season — and his looming departure at year’s end creates a vacancy at one of NASCAR’s fastest-growing organizations. Suárez currently ranks 29th in the Cup Series standings at the season’s midpoint.

RELATED: Cup Series standings | Chicago weekend schedule

Suárez joined the Justin Marks-founded team as the driver for the team’s inaugural season of competition in 2021, when it forged into the Cup Series as a single-car operation. The organization has since grown to three chartered teams, with Suárez aligned with teammates Ross Chastain and Shane van Gisbergen.

“The role Daniel has played in the Trackhouse origin story and its first five years will remain a valued part of the company’s history forever,” Marks said in a statement. “His commitment, work ethic and dedication to the effort is one of the most impressive things I personally have seen in my career. We will forever be thankful and honored that Daniel chose to spend many incredible years with us. We are proud of his wins, his successes, the growth of his brand, and his emergence as a valuable athlete in America’s greatest motorsport. But, most of all, I’m proud of him as a friend. I’m truly excited to see what awaits him in the next chapter of his amazing career. We are grateful for the professionalism, effort and heart he’s brought to our organization.”

Suárez released his own statement shortly before the announcement as “a message to my amigos.”

“Trackhouse and I have mutually agreed to part ways at the end of the 2025 season,” Suárez said. “I’ve had some of the best years of my Cup Series career at Trackhouse. We had great successes as a team and I gained some incredible friends. We took a team nobody had even heard of in 2021 and in just a couple of years we were winning races and running up front on a weekly basis. Just like the seasons in a year, sometimes things change and we have mutually agreed to each go in our own direction. I wish Trackhouse nothing but the best, this 99 team will always be special to me. And like I always say, the best is ahead!”

Suárez has yet to qualify for this year’s NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, needing a victory in the final eight regular-season races to reach the postseason. Both of his teammates have clinched playoff berths, with Chastain winning the Coca-Cola 600 in May and SVG prevailing in Suárez’s home country of Mexico three weeks later.

The 33-year-old veteran said June 4 that his free-agent status was a complication ahead of the NASCAR Cup Series’ first event in Mexico City. “Definitely, it’s a distraction,” Suárez said. “I won’t sit here and tell you that it doesn’t really matter. It’s definitely a distraction, but I’m trying to be as smart as possible and to put all this stuff on the side and to just do my thing on the track.”

Suárez’s most recent contract extension with Trackhouse was announced in August 2024, a one-year deal that kept him in the No. 99 Chevy for a fifth season. But in reaching that agreement, Suárez said that he hoped for company-wide performance gains to sustain their relationship.

“There is a lot of things in Trackhouse that are adjusting and changing,” Suárez said then. “Performance-wise, we’re not exactly where we want to be — not just in the 99 but in Trackhouse as a company, and we have to make sure that we fix that before we want to go any longer. This goes really both ways.”

The growth of Trackhouse has been steady. The organization expanded to two teams in 2022, adding Chastain in the first season of NASCAR’s Next Gen car. The team also founded Project 91 that year as an avenue to attract global motorsports stars to NASCAR’s top series, setting a course to becoming a three-car operation this season with SVG’s promotion to Cup.

The team also signed teenage prospect Connor Zilisch to a developmental deal, partnering with JR Motorsports for a full Xfinity Series campaign this year. The 18-year-old rookie, who has made three Cup starts for Trackhouse this season, is a top candidate to replace Suárez in the No. 99. He ranks fifth in the Xfinity Series standings with two wins (COTA, Pocono) and a series-leading four pole positions this year.

Suárez is in his ninth season of Cup Series competition. He was promoted to NASCAR’s top division after winning the Xfinity Series championship in 2016, called up by Joe Gibbs Racing after the abrupt retirement of Hall of Famer Carl Edwards. Suárez spent two years with Gibbs before single-season stops at Stewart-Haas Racing and Gaunt Brothers Racing.

When Trackhouse Entertainment Group first announced its big-league NASCAR effort, Suárez was tapped as its first driver. “We are building a team of winners and Daniel has delivered just about every time he’s sat in race-winning equipment,” Marks said in a statement at Trackhouse’s launch in October 2020.