TNT Sports announced the launch of a brand-new NASCAR Driver Cam experience — exclusive to Max — that will offer motorsports fans the ultimate all-access pass to every driver for every race throughout the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series schedule.
Launching with the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium on Sunday, Feb. 2 (8 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), NASCAR Driver Cam on Max will offer users the most comprehensive access inside each driver’s car — up to 40 drivers each race — including a layered audio mix of scanner team radios and ambient car noise, all synced up with a 1080p Driver Cam feed on supported devices.
At launch, fans will be able to choose between individual Driver Cams or two pre-set Multiview stream options featuring four drivers each, chosen based on the most compelling matchups and storylines each week. B/R Racing’s X and Instagram platforms will also run a weekly poll to enable fans to vote on which four drivers will be featured on a special “Fan Selected” Multiview stream on Max.
TNT Sports
Each individual driver stream will have integrated live stats — stage, lap number, position and race status — along with telemetry data including speed, RPM, gear and more. Users will be able to pause, rewind and fast forward live video as well, and a replay of each individual driver stream will be available following each race.
On race days, the NASCAR Driver Cams along with the featured and fan-selected Multiviews will all be available to stream within the B/R Sports section on Max. Users can find all NASCAR Driver Cam on Max live content on the upcoming schedule at https://play.max.com/live-sports-schedule
NASCAR Driver Cam on Max will be available for all drivers across all 38 race weekends of the Cup Series schedule, including the Daytona 500, all seeding races for and each race of the inaugural NASCAR In-Season Tournament and the Cup Series Playoffs.
TNT Sports’ networks will exclusively present the inaugural in-season tournament, starting with Atlanta’s night race on Saturday, June 28, followed by four consecutive Sundays of adrenaline-pumping race action: July 6 in Chicago, July 13 in Sonoma, July 20 in Dover and July 27 in Indianapolis. All races will also simulcast on Max.
TNT Sports and NASCAR are entering the inaugural campaign of a new seven-year multimedia rights agreement for distribution in the U.S. that will see some of the biggest moments in the NASCAR season returning to TNT Sports’ linear and streaming platforms. Additionally, truTV and Max will exclusively present the second half of the Cup Series practices and qualifying sessions each season.
The new agreement also includes expansive highlight rights for Bleacher Report’s digital and social platforms, including B/R Racing as a dedicated content destination for NASCAR fans.
This marks the continuation of TNT Sports’ 32-year relationship with NASCAR, a collaboration that began in 1983 and one that has been centered on innovation and creativity that was instrumental to the growth of the sport.
Growing up, Riley Neal cherished trips to Truist Stadium with his family to cheer for the local minor league baseball team in the Winston-Salem Dash.
He never imagined the Dash would one day be on his car for a Modified race at Bowman Gray Stadium.
The arrival of the NASCAR Cup Series to Winston-Salem for the Cook Out Clash on Sunday evening presented a perfect opportunity for Neal to partner with the Dash for the accompanying Madhouse Classic on Saturday. Neal’s Modified and firesuit will feature the Dash’s familiar white and purple pinstripe colors as he chases a checkered flag in the Modified race.
Neal’s commitment to supporting the Dash has persisted into his teenage years, which is why he is determined to deliver the team a strong showing for one of the most prestigious events in recent Bowman Gray history.
“During race season, I work [for the Winston-Salem Dash] from Monday-Friday and also on Sundays, too,” Neal said. “I know just about everyone there, [so it’s really cool] to say that they sponsored me. I always loved Bolt [the mascot] as a kid, so being able to have [the team] on my race car is something that’s really special to me.”
Sponsorship from the Dash is not the only aspect of the upcoming weekend over which Neal finds himself in disbelief.
The idea of any major NASCAR touring event at Bowman Gray, let alone a Cup Series race, was one Neal and his family always considered to be far-fetched. Prior to the announcement of the Clash being moved to Bowman Gray, the last Cup Series event at the historic track was in 1971, a race won by Hall-of-Famer Bobby Allison.
Since then, Bowman Gray has become a cornerstone of short-track racing in the southeast, renowned for its vibrant crowds and heated on-track action. Neal’s family has enjoyed plenty of success at Bowman Gray during that period, with his grandfather Tommy being a multi-time champion in the Sportsman and Stadium Stock classes.
Now with the Cup Series back at Bowman Gray for the first time in five decades, Neal anticipates a chaotic-but-enthralling environment for competitors and fans all weekend. He is trying to not let the gravity of the occasion distract him while preparing for Saturday’s 125-lap Modified feature.
“We don’t realize right now how big of an event this is going to be,” Neal said. “It’s all going to set in on Saturday morning at about 7:45 when I pull in the gate and I see all the Cup haulers. We’re going to be working right across from those guys. I don’t want to think about it too much, because I want to focus on ourselves and do our own thing.
“Then on Sunday, I can go watch and understand how cool this is.”
Riley Neal looks forward to sharing the pit area with NASCAR Cup Series drivers while preparing to chase a checkered flag of his own. (Photo: Erick Messer)
When Brian DeAngelis joined the Dash as both the president and general manager back in 2021, he quickly took notice of how much the locals loved racing. He enjoys every chance to honor Bowman Gray’s rich culture, which includes a racing-themed night each year at Truist Stadium that includes activities for fans such as changing tires and fueling cars.
This weekend will be the first time the Dash have sponsored any car for an event at Bowman Gray, but DeAngelis knew Neal would be the perfect choice for the venture with his status as an employee along with his dedicated work ethic.
“It starts and ends with Riley,” DeAngelis said. “He’s a great kid and somebody you want on your staff. We knew the Clash was coming and Riley was looking for sponsors, so who else would we put our support behind? For someone who has given so much time and is a great employee, it made too much sense for us to do this.”
DeAngelis was one of the last within the Dash organization to discover that Neal himself was a full-time Bowman Gray competitor. Once he found out, DeAngelis attended his first Bowman Gray race to support Neal, where he got a formal introduction to the electric atmosphere and how committed drivers are to winning.
Finding success at the Madhouse is an arduous process with which Neal is all too familiar. The triumphs Neal amassed in Bowman Gray’s Sportsman class included becoming the youngest winner in track history at 14, but he has not visited Victory Lane since moving up to the Modified division.
Neal does not see the task of a Modified victory being any easier with the Madhouse Classic. Since all of Bowman Gray’s weekly events are held during the summer, Saturday’s event presents plenty of unknowns for both veterans and rookies alike as they acclimate to the cooler track conditions.
The Madhouse Classic will also be held in the daytime as opposed to evening or nighttime conditions. An unorthodox setting for such a prestigious event is keeping Neal vigilant when it comes to qualifying, as he knows how important track position is to performance at Bowman Gray.
“Nobody has qualified over there in February with the track being as green and cold as it is,” Neal said. “We’ve never experienced this before. When we pull off the track after practice, everyone is trying to keep their cars as cool as possible. You’re going to have to keep heat in them [on Saturday]. I’m taking a bunch of propane heaters to keep the car warm.
“Whoever keeps the most heat in the car and gets the most heat in the tires is going to be your polesitter.”
Having spent the offseason refining his Modified, Riley Neal is ready to contend for victories at Bowman Gray Stadium during his sophomore year. (Photo: Susan Wong/NASCAR)
If he does not earn the pole, Neal hopes his starting position is somewhere on the inside line. He said no rubber on the track due to months of inactivity, combined with the cooler weather conditions, will make it impossible for an outside line to be viable, forcing everyone to fight for the bottom.
A long offseason of diligent work has Neal confident he can put himself in the best position possible to excel not only on Saturday, but the rest of the 2025 season. For now, Neal’s focus is on the Madhouse Classic, where he is taking pride in blending his motorsports career alongside his job with the Dash.
DeAngelis is thrilled with how everything came together for the Dash to sponsor Neal, from the publicity the team has gotten to the hype surrounding the event. Nothing would thrill DeAngelis more than seeing Neal take the Dash to Victory Lane, but he will consider the weekend a success regardless of how the race unfolds.
“We’ve already gotten more than what we wanted out of this partnership,” DeAngelis said. “If [Riley] won, we’d probably have him come out and throw the first pitch on opening day. He might even become a local legend in the baseball world, but we hope it’s a good race and Riley does what he sets out to do.
“It’d be so great to be out on the track with him. We’ll keep our fingers crossed.”
Neal has no idea when the Cup Series will visit Bowman Gray again, which only adds to the motivation of opening his sophomore Modified campaign with his first win. Reaching that milestone on such a big stage would carry plenty of catharsis for Neal, knowing he added to his family’s esteemed Madhouse legacy with his favorite baseball team on the car.
“It would mean so much to me,” Neal said. “That would be my first win in a Modified at the stadium. If [everything] is correct, then I would become the youngest Modified winner, too. I want to do this for my team more than anything. We all worked so hard last year to learn this race car and different things about it, so I hope it can all pay off for us.”
With so many eyes on him and the rest of the Modified competitors this weekend, Neal is ready to step up to the plate and hit a home run at Bowman Gray with the Winston-Salem Dash by his side.
After months of waiting for the dawn of a new season, the NASCAR Cup Series will fire up its engines for Sunday’s Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina (8 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN Radio, SiriusXM). No, the race doesn’t pay any official points, and it features a unique format at a unique track, but it will give us a first look at some of this season’s new faces in new places for 2025.
Furthermore, it could also provide some valuable early clues about how this year’s teams and drivers will end up running during the season — especially at short tracks.
Bowman Gray is a special venue, with a rich history going back to the late 1930s as both a football stadium and a race track. Every week throughout the spring and summer, it hosts races across multiple divisions, from Stadium Stock to Modifieds, and it even held points-paying Cup Series races up until the early 1970s. Modern Cup cars have not raced here since then, however, leaving us with little direct precedent for how today’s field might fare on its tight, quarter-mile layout.
Still, let’s dig into a few numbers that might give us a bit of insight. We’ll begin by looking at the best short-track drivers in Sunday’s field, according to both traditional Driver Rating and my Adjusted Points+ index (which scales every driver’s finishes relative to a field average of 100) during the Next Gen era:
Unsurprisingly, Kyle Larson is the best statistical short-track driver in the series over the previous three seasons, followed by Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell and Chase Elliott. Those guys are all among the championship favorites as well, so at the very least, the Clash will give us an early chance to see some bumping and banging between rivals who’ll be jockeying for position with each other all season long.
But we have to remember Bowman Gray isn’t a normal short track. At 0.25 miles, it’s shorter than any other track on the Cup Series calendar by a factor of at least double, if not triple in the case of Richmond Raceway. The closest examples from official points races are Martinsville (0.526 miles) and Bristol (0.533), which are the shortest of the regular short tracks. So when trying to see who might be best suited to the cramped conditions of the Clash, it’s interesting to look at which drivers saw their performance change the most at very short tracks versus all short tracks during the Next Gen era:
By that standard, yes, we see Larson show up once again among the masters of the shortest short tracks. But we also get a few other interesting names at the top rightmost side of the chart, who improved their performance the most: Chase Briscoe, now of Joe Gibbs Racing; Cole Custer of Haas Factory Team (formerly Stewart-Haas Racing); Ryan Preece, now of RFK Racing; and John Hunter Nemechek of Legacy Motor Club, with 2023 Cup Series champ Ryan Blaney also in that mix.
Some of this may tell us that the old SHR team ran especially well at Martinsville and Bristol in the Next Gen era, so it remains to be seen whether their former drivers like Briscoe and Preece can carry that over to new teams — but if we believe driver skill also matters to these metrics, they at least have experience beating expectations under tight conditions.
(And maybe this also tells us that Josh Berry isn’t primed for a big run.)
Of course, both Martinsville and Bristol are imperfect comparisons for Bowman Gray, even though they are the closest thing we’ve got to such a short track on the main schedule. One other relevant point of comparison more in line with the quarter-mile length of the new Clash? The old one, previously held on a 0.25-mile temporary track at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
We don’t have loop data for those races, so we can’t say what the top Driver Ratings were in the Clash’s Coliseum era. But we can still calculate Adjusted Points+ index at the Clash across the previous three seasons — here are those leaders:
This accounting gives us some interesting names at the top who didn’t show up well in our previous short-track chart: Kyle Busch and 2022 Clash winner Joey Logano. At the other end of the spectrum, Chase Elliott hasn’t fared as well at the Clash as we might expect from his short-track resume overall. And then there is Larson – along with Custer – near the top again, as we saw in our other data.
A couple of drivers in the field that we don’t have data on from any of these samples? Burt Myers and Tim Brown, who have combined to win a staggering 23 track championships at Bowman Gray under the modified classification in their careers. We have no idea how they’ll fare against Cup competition, but anyone who has won that often at a track is worth watching.
But perhaps the most important finding in all this number-crunching is that the Clash actually does matter to the regular season, despite not contributing any points in the standings.
Based on the data above from the Coliseum, we found that drivers who do better at the Clash perform better at short tracks during the subsequent season, even after controlling for their previous level of performance at short tracks. For instance, a driver who posts an Adjusted Points+ index 10% higher at the Clash can expect to do 1.2% better at short tracks overall that season – and 1.6% better at half-mile tracks specifically. This effect gets amplified the better you do: for example, a 30% increase in performance at the Clash predicts a 3.5% improvement at all short tracks and a 4.7% improvement at very short tracks.
So Sunday’s race could end up telling us something important about the season to come, even if the effect is relatively small in the grand scheme of things. In part, that’s because it’s a brand-new season – and every little bit of information we gain can carries more weight than we might think at first.
Tommy Baldwin Racing announced today that Luke Baldwin will pilot the historic No. 7NY to compete for Rookie of the Year honors on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour in 2025. Baldwin will compete in at least 12 of the 16 events on the circuit, beginning with the season opener at New Smyrna Speedway’s World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing on February 8.
Baldwin will also run the events at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park (March 30, August 6, October 12), Monadnock Speedway (May 3 & July 19), North Wilkesboro Speedway (May 18), Seekonk Speedway (May 31), Riverhead Raceway (June 14), Lancaster Motorplex (July 12), Richmond Raceway (August 14) and Martinsville Speedway (October 23). Additional events are possible and would be announced at a later date.
“Working with my dad is always pretty special, so it means a lot to be able to do so for most of the 2025 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season,” Luke Baldwin said. “I’m excited for the challenge of trying to win the Rookie of the Year.”
Tommy Baldwin Racing will compete in the full NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour schedule, with additional announcements to come.
“Putting Luke up against the best of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour is important to us,” team owner Tommy Baldwin Jr. said. “He’s going to have a busy year but we’re excited to see him run for the Rookie of the Year and also excited to chase the owner championship again with the 7NY.”
NASCAR Fantasy Live is now open for entry and league creation, inviting both returning and new players to get in on the online excitement. Players must log into their accounts on the NASCAR website or through the NASCAR Mobile App and can start setting their lineups for the Daytona 500 on Feb. 11.
Additionally, you can earn 10 Fan Rewards points each time you set your lineup in NASCAR Fantasy Live. With Fan Rewards points, you can earn exclusive prizes such as race tickets, NASCAR merchandise and more; sign up for Fan Rewards here. If you are a Fan Rewards member and the driver in your lineup wins the Daytona 500, you will earn 500 bonus Fan Rewards points.
Rules for the 2025 season echo those of previous years. Players will be tasked with selecting five drivers to comprise their weekly lineup, with an additional sixth driver placed in their garage. The routine of making picks opens every Tuesday. Players can insert their garage driver into their lineups up until the conclusion of Stage 2 each race. Once the final race stage kicks off, the five-driver lineup you have set will be locked, and the performance of each chosen driver will determine the final scoring.
A few critical rules to keep in mind during the season is that participants can utilize a particular driver up to 10 times during the 26-race regular season. What happens if you max your driver use before the playoffs? Well, there’s no need to fear. Once the playoffs get underway in August at Darlington Raceway, driver usage will reset, offering an additional five uses for any driver for the final 10 races.
But wait, the fun doesn’t stop there. Head-to-head matchups will return for the 2025 season. Choose between the two provided drivers on which one you think will finish higher in the race; choose the correct one, and you will receive 10 more bonus points.
Each driver can earn up to 60 points on a race weekend, similar to NASCAR’s official point system. Drivers who place within the top 10 at the stage breaks will be the only ones to receive bonus points, with the stage winner being awarded 10 points all the way down to the 10th-place finisher being awarded one point. If a driver in your lineup manages to win the race, NASCAR Fantasy Live will grant you 40 points. Official points won’t be handed out until the post-race inspection is complete approximately two hours after the race ends and the finishing order is confirmed. In the unfortunate event that one of your drivers fails post-race inspection, NASCAR Fantasy Live will resemble the points.
What are the stakes? If you have what it takes to score the most points for the Daytona 500 opener, you can earn a $10,000 reward. Looking beyond the “Great American Race,” the player who accumulates the most points over the full 36-race schedule will secure a substantial $25,000 prize. The runner-up will take home $10,000 and $5,000 will be awarded to the third-place finisher.
ROCKINGHAM, N.C. — Rockingham Speedway roared back to life this week with the sound of engines echoing through the Richmond County plains and sandhills. NASCAR’s first full-fledged test session for Xfinity Series and Craftsman Truck Series teams turned out to be an eye-opener, with drivers discovering a fast track, talk about the resurrection of a historic venue and a community that’s happily welcoming the return.
Tuesday’s organizational test marked a prelude for both circuits’ springtime events at the 1.017-mile track, which will reopen for NASCAR business with an April 18-19 race weekend. Competition officials extended the session to a second day Wednesday, reaching that decision after a damp track and drying efforts delayed Tuesday morning’s activity.
It’s an extra day to soak in the history of a facility that’s been hosting stock-car events since the mid-1960s.
“I feel like you’d be missing out if you didn’t get that feeling,” said Daniel Hemric, who returns to the Truck Series full-time this year for McAnally Hilgemann Racing. “I mean … my grandparents, they talked about racing, and this is a place that they came and watched races at as they became fans of the sport many, many years before I was even thought of. So it’s cool to be able to come here and experience some of what they got to live through.”
Rockingham Speedway has undergone significant upgrades after multiple developments in the track’s recent timeline. The facility was purchased by a Raleigh-based investment group in 2018, and the track received state funds intended to revitalize North Carolina’s motorsports industry in 2021. Infrastructure and safety enhancements followed, and new asphalt was placed in a 2022 repaving project.
No official test speeds were released Tuesday, but some of the early driver feedback from the resurfacing was positive. Corey Heim was among those noting the pavement’s character, plus some encouraging early signs of a widening groove in the high-banked turns.
“It’s definitely fast,” said Heim, prepping for his third full season with Tricon Garage. “I think that’s the first thing everyone realized after the track drying and we got some laps on it. Very little amount of break, and like I said, it’s quick. So I thought everyone got up to speed pretty quick. It seems like the differences between (lap) times are all pretty close within the top 20-ish, so I think everyone kind of expected it to be one groove, but it seems to be moving up a little bit in (turns) one and two already, which is promising.”
Even with the improvements, the Rockingham track still retains its old-school feel. Craftsman Truck Series teams set up camp in an open-air garage area closer to Turn 1, and Xfinity Series teams milled about the cozy garage that had hosted the Cup Series until its final race here in 2004.
The Rockingham track would aspire to emulate the rise from the ashes that’s happened with North Wilkesboro Speedway, two and a half hours to the northeast. The Wilkes County facility had mostly sat dormant after a long run of hosting Cup Series events from 1949-1996, but the same government incentive program that provided Rockingham with aid also helped give the North Wilkesboro track a lifeline.
North Wilkesboro — reborn and modernized, but with its heritage thoughtfully left intact — will host the NASCAR All-Star Race for the third straight year in 2025. That history — both at Rockingham and Wilkesboro — hasn’t been lost on the newer generation of stars in those series.
“I think it’s a matter of going back to your roots,” said Spire Motorsports’ Rajah Caruth, a 22-year-old driver who was just shy of his second birthday when Cup last raced at ‘The Rock.’ “I think you see it with Wilkesboro and then having NASCAR’s presence in the CARS Tour and going to places like Florence and Hickory and joints like that. So I think it’s imperative, right? I think it’s twofold. It’s important, in my opinion, to be out in places like Southern California and Vegas and Phoenix out there, but you can’t forget where you’ve come from. So to be here at Rockingham, to come back to Wilkesboro, and be kind of at these homegrown places where really the sport grew its roots, I think it’s important. So it’s great to be back.”
How long NASCAR will be back will at least partly depend on the race weekend’s reception. The track has already made a strong effort toward spreading the word, with billboards and signs dotting the nearby town and surrounding countryside, declaring that”The Rock” is back.
A respectable number of fans took advantage of the free admission to Tuesday’s test to gather and watch on a chilly but sunny day from the Turn 4 grandstands. Filling the bleachers come April would mark a significant step toward sustaining Rockingham’s rebirth.
“To be honest with you, our race fans — our diehard race fans — they crave the history and the nostalgia of our sport, right? They always have,” said defending Xfinity Series champion Justin Allgaier. “We hear it all the time, whether it be moving numbers around or race tracks that we go to, our car styles. Our fans really gravitate toward the history of our sport, and this is one piece of that puzzle. We have a ton of fans that have shown up today just to sit in the grandstands and watch and hang out. But that being said, when we come back here and race, we’re going to have to have that same energy and participation from our fans if they want to see this on the schedule, right?
“I would say that it doesn’t happen very often that race tracks come back onto the schedule after they’ve taken a hiatus, and we have a really, really good race track here that needs to stay on the schedule. So we need the fans to support it. I feel like the teams and the drivers have all bought in and want to be here, so I hope that we get the same support from the fans, and so far, that seems to be the case.”
ROCKINGHAM, N.C. — Kasey Kahne drove to the infield tunnel at Rockingham Speedway, and sure enough, his NASCAR 75 Greatest Drivers credential still worked. “Super simple,” the 44-year-old veteran said, his access for preseason testing granted.
Kahne made the rounds, taking a tour around the infield Tuesday morning while the 1.017-mile track was being prepped. He’ll be making his first NASCAR national-series start since 2018 when the Xfinity Series returns to Rockingham in the spring, but being back in a stock-car garage didn’t seem like a long time gone.
“A lot of familiar faces. It didn’t feel like I hadn’t been here in six years, I know that,” Kahne said from Rockingham’s media center. “Even just hanging out in the trailer, behind the trailer for the first half-hour, hour this morning waiting to get going, it just felt pretty normal. It didn’t feel too different. So I guess when you put basically your whole life into just racing and NASCAR for that many years leading up to it, and then 16 years in the sport, to take a little bit of time off and come back, it still feels pretty familiar.”
Kahne and the rest of the Xfinity Series roster will be back for the N.C. Education Lottery 250 on April 19 (4 p.m. ET, The CW, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), marking NASCAR’s first national-tour event since 2013. Xfinity teams will share the weekend with the Craftsman Truck Series, which will run the Black’s Tire 200 on April 18 (5 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The two series alternated 45-minute practice sessions during Tuesday’s organizational test, which will spill into Wednesday because of track drying needs that scrubbed testing time in the morning.
Kahne was a winner during Rockingham’s brief, two-year revival nearly a decade ago, prevailing in the Truck Series’ return race here in 2012. He’s kept his hand in racing since his most recent NASCAR start, running a successful sprint car team and increasing his participation on the driving side. He said he’s kept in touch with some of his contacts from the NASCAR world, and the Rockingham date on the 2025 schedule piqued his interest in finding a ride.
That opportunity came through with last week’s announcement that Kahne will drive the No. 33 Chevrolet, a third Richard Childress Racing entry, in the 250-lap event.
“I saw this Rockingham race pop up, and I was like, ‘Man, that’s a track I know, and I’ve enjoyed racing at over the years,’ so I started reaching out and trying to figure a way to get back into it and do a race,” Kahne said. “It felt like four or five years maybe since I’d raced, and it’s more like six and a half is what they’d said, so it’s been a while.”
His departure from the Cup Series roster felt abrupt, coming midstream with 11 races left in the 2018 campaign. But Kahne said the demands of racing at the big-league level of NASCAR each week had taken a gradual, physical toll that mounted as his final season crept along.
“The reason it was time was my body was just telling me it was time,” said Kahne, who won 18 times in a Cup Series career that began in 2004. “My dehydration was so bad by the time I got to the center part of the year. I mean, the last few Cup races I ran, yeah, it was as bad as I’ve ever felt in my life. After the races for the next two or three days, even into the next race, we just couldn’t figure it out, couldn’t get it fixed. It was a mess. It wasn’t a very good way to end. It wasn’t what I was wanting or expecting, but it was the way it went. Just kind of had a short, quick ending to my Cup run. I’ve watched a lot since, and I’m just glad to get an opportunity to do this race in April.”
What’s yet to be seen is if Kahne’s Rockingham go is a one-off. Asked if another opportunity at the Cup Series or another NASCAR level might be in the cards, Kahne hedged, keeping the focus on the reborn 1-mile track in front of him.
“I have no idea. I just want to do this one race, work with this group,” Kahne said. “It’s been actually really cool, and went together really quick, but they’ve given me a great opportunity and a lot of really good people at RCR. So I’ve really enjoyed it to this point, finish off this test and see where that is, do the race and see how things are going at that point in time.”
This season marks the second of NASCAR’s seven-year media rights agreements for the NASCAR Cup Series with four best-in-class distribution partners — FOX Sports, NBC Sports, Amazon’s Prime Video and TNT Sports.
Here’s a breakdown of how to watch NASCAR races on NBC, USA Network, Peacock and the NBC Sports App in 2026.
NBC starts its coverage on Aug. 9 at Iowa Speedway and will run for 14 weeks through the Cup Series championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Nov. 8.
Four races will appear on NBC and simulcast on Peacock — Daytona International Speedway (Aug. 29), Talladega Superspeedway (Oct. 25), Martinsville Speedway (Nov. 1) and Homestead-Miami (Nov. 8). The remaining 10 races will air on USA Network.
Additionally, all NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series races will be broadcast by The CW. Cup Series practice and qualifying during NBC’s portion of the schedule can still be found on Max and truTV. Xfinity sessions will air on The CW, and FOX Sports will continue to broadcast practice and qualifying for the Craftsman Truck Series.
How can I find USA Network?
AT&T U-verse HD: Channel 1125 Charter Spectrum HD: Channel 760 Comcast XFINITY TV HD: Channel 823 Cox Communication HD: Channel 1028 DIRECTV HD: Channel 242 DISH Network HD: Channel 105 Time Warner Cable HD: Channel 55, 101 Verizon FiOS: Channel 550
What about live streaming? USA Network is also available on most streaming services, including:
• fuboTV • YouTubeTV • Sling TV (blue package) • Hulu + Live TV • DirecTV Stream
How to watch on NBC Sports App: To access live streams, you can either visit NBC.com or download the NBC Sports app and authenticate by using your cable, satellite or streaming provider’s login credentials. There is no additional fee for this service; simply log in using the username and password associated with your provider’s website.
How to watch on Peacock TV: Go to https://www.peacocktv.com/ and pick a plan starting as low as $7.99 per month. This will give you access to live sports on Peacock, so for the four Cup races that are simulcast on Peacock, you will be able to watch with your Peacock subscription from your preferred device.
*1st place monies includes the $3,500 Special Award Whelen Engineering “Winner of the Race” award paid to winning driver.
Total: $116,000
1st-$15,875
2nd-$6,188
3rd-$4,641
4th-$4,180
5th-$4,091
6th-$4,003
7th-$3,914
8th-$3,826
9th-$3,738
10th-$3,649
11th-$3,561
12th-$3,472
13th-$3,384
14th-$3,296
15th-$3,207
16th-$3,119
17th-$3,030
18th-$2,942
19th-$2,854
20th-$2,765
21st-$2,677
22nd-$2,588
23rd-$2,500
24th-$2,500
25th-$2,500
26th-$2,500
27th-$2,500
28th-$2,500
29th-$2,500
30th-$2,500
31st-$2,500
32nd-$2,500
QUALIFYING AND SPECIAL AWARDS
$1,150 Hoosier Tire “Pole Award” per event award to the eligible driver with the fastest qualifying time eligible to participate under the Manufacturers’ Prize Money Conditions.
$1,000 Hoosier Tire “Hard Charger” per event award to the highest finishing eligible driver who advances the most positions from the start of the race to the end of the race. In the case of a tie, the highest finishing driver will receive the award.
$550 Sunoco Spec Fuel per race award divided: 1st-$300 5th-$150 10th-$100
$400 Phil Kurze “Halfway Leader” Award presented by Josten’s per event award to the race leader at the halfway point of the event, regardless if the race is running under green or yellow.
One set of Hoosier Racing Tires – Product Award valued at $1,000 to be awarded as follows: At the conclusion of the event, the race winner will draw a pill to randomly select which finishing position of 10th through 25th will win this award.
One set of Hoosier Racing Tires – Product Award valued at $1,000 to be awarded to the highest finishing new team participating in the race. New team is defined as a new Car Owner to the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour or a Car Owner who has not participated during the past three (3) seasons of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. If there are no new teams that qualify for this award, a second pill will be drawn, by the race winner, and the tires will be awarded to a team that finishes between 10th and 25th positions.
