STATESVILLE, N.C. — McAnally-Hilgemann Racing (MHR) announced Wednesday that 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Daniel Hemric will join the organization for the 2025 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season. The 33-year-old from Kannapolis, North Carolina, will drive the No. 19 NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet Silverado RST during Bill McAnally’s 35th season in partnership with NAPA. The 2025 season will mark Hemric’s third full-time Truck campaign as the team will celebrate NAPA’s 100th anniversary throughout the year.
Hemric returns to full-time Truck competition for the first time since 2016, when he finished sixth in the championship standings. He is coming off his second season in the Cup Series and has competed in five full Xfinity Series seasons over the past seven years. Hemric’s career highlight came in 2021 when he won the season finale at Phoenix Raceway to capture the Xfinity championship with a last-corner, last-lap pass. Hemric comes back to Truck competition with the strength of a race-winning organization in MHR to pursue his second NASCAR title.
“This is a great opportunity for me to compete for wins and chase another championship,” Hemric said. “Thanks to Bill McAnally, Bill Hilgemann, NAPA, Chevrolet and everyone involved for the opportunity. It’s a big milestone season to be a part of with NAPA’s 100th anniversary and the 35th year of Bill’s partnership with them. We’re going to do everything we can to get the NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet in Victory Lane and be in contention for a championship.”
“We’re looking forward to a big year and Daniel is the guy to pick up where we left off,” McAnally said. “The 2025 season will be a milestone year for us with NAPA’s centennial anniversary and our 35th year of partnership with them. This relationship started with my local store in California and progressed to the NAPA Sacramento DC and then to national level. To see what we’ve built over the years is incredibly special. Daniel has a wealth of experience in all three national series and can perform in the big moments, so we can’t wait to continue our team’s success with him behind the wheel.”
MHR will announce a crew chief and additional partners for Hemric at a later date. He will make his debut in the No. 19 NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet on Friday, Feb. 14, 2025 at Daytona International Speedway (7:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
23XI Racing announced Wednesday that Riley Herbst will run full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series for the team beginning in 2025. Herbst, 25, will pilot the No. 35 Toyota, teaming alongside Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace in the third car as 23XI expands operations.
“It’s an honor to join 23XI and Toyota for the opportunity to race in the Cup Series each week,” said Herbst in a statement. “Racing full-time in the Cup Series has been my goal since I started in NASCAR and I’m excited to start my Cup career with such an accomplished and driven team. What 23XI has accomplished in a short time is impressive and I look forward to building on their success as the organization grows. It’s also great to continue representing Monster and I’m excited about adding to their legacy in NASCAR.”
In five full years in the Xfinity Series with Joe Gibbs Racing and the now-defunct Stewart-Haas Racing, Herbst collected three victories across 165 races with 34 top fives and 82 top 10s.
Herbst’s first national series victory came toward the end of 2023 at his home track of Las Vegas Motor Speedway and won his second in thrilling fashion at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which marked Xfinity’s first race on the oval layout since 2019.
He enters the Cup Series coming off a win in the Xfinity Series championship race at Phoenix Raceway to cap the 2024 season.
Herbst has made eight Cup Series starts combined with Rick Ware Racing and Front Row Motorsports. He scored a career-high ninth-place result in the fall of 2023 at Talladega Superspeedway.
Davin Restivo will call the shots atop the box for the No. 35 team, keeping the same crew chief for Herbst after joining the No. 98 team at the midpoint of last season.
Monster Energy, a longtime partner of Herbst, will serve as the primary sponsor for the No. 35 Toyota.
“As 23XI enters our fifth season next year, we felt the time was right to continue the growth of our organization by adding a third team, and Riley is a driver we think will be a great fit for us,” said Steve Lauletta, 23XI Racing team president. “We have a very solid foundation with both Bubba and Tyler, and we know they will be a great resource for Riley as he begins his journey in the Cup Series.”
Jimmie Johnson is arguably the greatest NASCAR driver in the 76-year history of the sport, and the seven-time Cup Series champion wrapped up his second season as a top-level owner earlier this month at Phoenix Raceway.
Johnson’s transition to the ownership side of the sport has, however, been an uphill battle; a manufacturer switch, driver change, numerous new faces to the organization and inadequate results, for starters.
“It’s been a journey. Where I stand today, I have learned so much in the last two years,” Johnson told NASCAR.com. “The sport has evolved a bunch in the last two years. When you look at the first year and the competitiveness of our organization and how the sport continues to push forward and where the big teams are finding speed, how they are stacking 10 to 20 things to define a tenth of a second advantage. As time goes on, it’s more challenging to consistently compete at that level.”
In May 2023, Legacy announced it would swap from Chevrolet to Toyota ahead of the 2024 season, removing Johnson from under the General Motors banner for the first time in his Cup career. That led to a lame-duck final two-thirds of 2023 as data became harder to access and manufacturer support dried up.
Expectations were high with the manufacturer change, though, and Legacy’s addition to Toyota’s pecking order now meant having three multi-car organizations for the successful OEM.
The results were not immediate.
“This is a long-term play for us with Toyota,” Johnson said. “We thought this year would be a bit smoother, and it wasn’t. In that are lessons for us. It is what it is. There’s nothing we can do about it except work harder and get better. That’s what we’re gearing up for.”
While Johnson believes Legacy is positioned “very well for the future” with Toyota, the first year was dissatisfying on the track. Between Erik Jones and John Hunter Nemechek, Legacy collected a substandard six top-10 finishes combined. Jones earned the team’s lone top-five result of 2024 last month at Talladega Superspeedway.
“We couldn’t have tried any harder this year,” Johnson said. “It’s just part of the journey, is probably the best way to put it. I think this year has been a very transformational year for us. We won’t have a great sense of the change until we get into probably March of next year.”
Campe previously worked with Johnson at Hendrick Motorsports. Canter has been paired with some of the sport’s biggest names, including being a race engineer for Kyle Busch at Joe Gibbs Racing. Both were ready to give their input in taking Legacy to the next level.
“It boils down to details and adding additional details to look at every year, every race, every car,” Campe said of what Legacy needs to address over the offseason. “We’re going to push really hard and use our collective experience as well as our collective critical thinking and problem-solving. It’s not that, ‘Here, this is the way I’ve seen it done at other places, so we should do it this way.’
“We have a lot of people coming in from a lot of different experiences and we should lean into their experience and knowledge to try and build the Legacy Motor Club way. I think that’s what the offseason effort is: How is Legacy Motor Club going to go race in the Cup Series? It won’t look the same as other places; it will be what we build it into.”
Former Cup crew chief Chad Johnston was announced as one of the team’s newest hires last week, joining Legacy as the manager of race engineering. Travis Mack has also joined the team and will be the crew chief for Nemechek in 2025, in a move announced Tuesday. Ben Beshore will remain with the organization and lead the way for the No. 43 team with Jones.
“We need people that have been there, done it, seen it all,” Johnson said. “There is young experience coming through the door to manage the young people that we have and help build out the advancements and processes. That’s what we realized the most this year; we needed that leadership at the top.”
Spending the last three months with Legacy, Canter knows that there will be a plethora of areas for the team to improve heading into 2025.
“We’re going to have a lot,” he said. “That’s difficult because I’ve been trying to do more understanding and evaluating to see where the program is and where we could potentially find gains and align ourselves and move forward.”
Both Campe and Canter speak with Johnson regularly. When Johnson originally bought into the team two years ago, he figured his role would be more competition-focused. The California native has since come to realize that he’s needed more to generate revenue with partnerships on the business side.
Canter states that Johnson doesn’t give himself enough credit for how deeply embedded he is with the team, trying to steer the ship in the right direction. To that end, “Seven-Time” will also return to drive a partial Cup Series schedule in 2025 for a third consecutive season.
“He has tireless effort and is constantly working,” Canter said of Johnson. “He doesn’t give himself a lot of credit saying he’s more on the business side of things now, but he’s not. He’s also on the competition side of things, and we rely on him. Each week, there are a couple of little nuggets of information that we can lean on him for. His experience and his wherewithal are impactful for the drivers and crew chiefs, and it helps deliver a message.”
The message this offseason? Improvements are needed.
The team approaches each other as a family, so they can depend on one another in battle. Legacy also wants to establish culture and continuity, allowing Jones and Nemechek to be put in pressure-packed situations and enabling them to shine on the race track.
“We’re moving stuff around trying to learn and make sure we have the right human pairings,” Johnson stated. “It’s a big jigsaw puzzle.”
Sean Gardner | Getty Images
Obviously, the team finds it a necessity to improve on their finishes in 2024. The No. 43 car led the way, placing a dismal 29th in the owners’ standings. The No. 42 team was the second-worst chartered car in 35th, on the heels of finishing 32nd one year prior.
One of the key components that Legacy is chasing next year is pushing ahead and spending more time building out its hot rods. When Speedweeks at Daytona International Speedway rolls around in February, the team plans to be weeks ahead to avoid any last-minute scrambling.
Realism exists within Legacy higher-ups. Management knows that it’s not an overnight process to become one of the front-running teams in the garage; a work-in-progress where steady increments are feasible and evaluated.
“We have to measure ourselves against ourselves,” Campe said. “Everyone is in this sport to win races and compete for championships, but we also have to be realistic and understand the spot that we’re in and how competitive the series is.
“I think being 16th to 20th when it all shakes out would be an improvement for us and something to build on for the next two to five years.”
Canter is excited about the opportunity that presents itself. Though the team has hurdles to overcome, 2025 is a unique moment “to help create Jimmie’s vision of what he wants this to be.”
Canter added: “The first conversation I had with Jimmie — he asked me to come do this — and I was like, ‘What are your expectations; where do you plan on running? Because I can spend the next 10 seconds telling you that there are 24 cars you probably shouldn’t beat every week between how they operate and their preparations.’
“For us, it’s about hunkering down and putting our focus towards being in that conversation and making steps to doing that.”
The 2024 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season featured 16 races, 69 drivers and more than 2,500 laps completed from February through October.
While Justin Bonsignore claimed the biggest prize of the season in the 2024 championship, several season-end special awards were claimed by a variety of drivers.
Below are the special award winners for the 2024 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season.
Mayhew Tools Dominator Pole Award: Justin Bonsignore
Justin Bonsignore receives a $2,000 bonus for winning the Mayhew Tools Dominator Pole Award. (Photo: Nick Grace/NASCAR)
For the fourth consecutive season, Holtsville, New York native Justin Bonsignore secured the Mayhew Tools Dominator Pole Award.
The driver of the No. 51 Modified for Ken Massa Motorsports secured three Mayhew Tools Dominator Pole Awards in 2024, which tied him with Austin Beers and Matt Hirschman for the most poles this season.
However, based on his final point total, Bonsignore was named the winner of the 2024 Mayhew Tools Dominator Pole Award.
Bonsignore’s three poles came at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park, Riverhead Raceway and the finale at Martinsville Speedway. He turned the pole at Martinsville into his first trip to Victory Lane at the historic facility.
Bonsignore receives a $2,000 bonus for winning the Mayhew Tools Dominator Pole Award.
Mayhew Tools, founded in 1856, is the oldest punch and chisel manufacturer in the United States, growing their extensive professional grade, American-made product line to include pry bars, pneumatics, cable ties and more. In 2020, the company extended its product line to a complete line of dual drive and socket bits and sets.
Serving the industrial, automotive, hardware and construction industries, Mayhew’s premium hand tools are sold globally through an extensive distributor network. Mayhew Tools started sponsoring the Whelen Modified Tour pole award in 2019 and has continued the partnership ever since.
In addition to Bonsignore, Beers and Hirschman, others to secure poles during the 2024 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season included Ron Silk (one), Patrick Emerling (one) and Craig Lutz (one).
Phil Kurze Mid-Race Leader Award presented by Josten’s: Ron Silk
Ron Silk receives $1,000 for winning the Phil Kurze-Mid Race Leader Award presented by Josten’s. (Photo: Nick Grace/NASCAR)
Ron Silk may have fallen short of his third Modified Tour championship, but that doesn’t mean he went home empty handed.
For the second consecutive season Silk took home the Phil Kurze Mid-Race Leader presented by Josten’s, named in honor of former Whelen Engineering vice president of motorsports Phil Kurze. The award goes to the driver who is the leader at the halfway mark in the most races throughout the year.
The late Kurze, who was honored in 2021 at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, North Carolina with a plaque in the Whelen Hall of Champions, was a strong advocate for short-track racing. He helped elevate the Modified Tour prior to his passing in 2018.
Silk was the leader at halfway five times throughout the course of the season, enough for him to earn the Phil Kurze Mid-Race Leader Award presented by Josten’s. He receives $1,000 for his efforts.
Josten’s, the official provider of the NASCAR Cup Series championship trophy, the Daytona 500 championship ring, the Indy 500 championship ring and more, coins itself as the Most Trusted Partner in Celebrating Moments That Matter and is a proud supporter of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.
Hoosier Tire Lap Leader Award: Justin Bonsignore (Ken Massa Motorsports)
Justin Bonsignore takes home $6,000 for winning the Hoosier Tire Lap Leader Award. (Photo: Ted Malinowski/NASCAR)
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour tire supplier, Hoosier Tire, is the sponsor of a trio of special awards each year.
They include the Hoosier Tire Lap Leader Award, which goes to the car owner of the driver who leads the most laps in a race the most times during the season.
This year the award goes to Justin Bonsignore, who led the most laps six times during the 2024 season.
In all, Bonsignore led a whopping 789 laps during the 2024 season, more than any other driver.
Ron Silk, who finished second to Bonsignore in the 2024 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour standings, was second on the laps led list at 630. They were the only two drivers who led more than 400 laps during the season.
Bonsignore takes home $6,000 for winning the Hoosier Tire Lap Leader Award.
Whelen Engineering Winner of the Race Award: Justin Bonsignore
For winning the Whelen Engineering Winner of the Race Award, Justin Bonsignore receives an extra $2,000. (Rob Branning/NASCAR)
The special awards just keep on coming for Justin Bonsignore, who also captured the Whelen Engineering Winner of the Race Award.
This season, Bonsignore won five times, more than any other driver. Ron Silk was next in line with four wins, followed by Patrick Emerling, who won three times.
They were the only drivers to win multiple events this season.
Bonsignore’s first victory of the season came in the second race of the year at Richmond Raceway in March. He followed that with victories at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Connecticut’s Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park, North Carolina’s North Wilkesboro Speedway and Virginia’s Martinsville Speedway.
In addition to Bonsignore, Silk and Emerling, other drivers to earn trips to Victory Lane this year included Matt Hirschman, Jake Johnson, Trevor Catalano and Austin Beers.
For winning the Whelen Engineering Winner of the Race Award, Bonsignore receives an extra $2,000.
Hoosier Tire Hard Charger Award: Austin Beers
Austin Beers will take home an extra $6,000 for winning the Hoosier Tire Hard Charger Award.(Photo: Susan Wong/NASCAR)
A little bit of traffic has never slowed down Austin Beers.
That statement was truer than ever during the 2024 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season, as Beers gained more positions during races than any other driver throughout the year.
As a result, Beers captured the 2024 Hoosier Tire Hard Charger Award.
The Hard Charger award is given to the driver who advances the most positions during a race.
The postseason award is given to the driver who earns the award in the most races compared to his competitors throughout the season.
Beers takes home an extra $6,000 for winning the Hoosier Tire Hard Charger Award.
Hoosier Tire Most Improved Award: Trevor Catalano
Trevor Catalano will receive a $6,000 bonus for winning the Hoosier Tire Most Improved Award. (Photo: Jaiden Tripi/NASCAR)
A fast rising star on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, Trevor Catalano turned a lot of heads during his rookie season with the series in 2024.
Not only did he win his first race at Monadnock Speedway, he also captured the 2024 Sunoco Rookie of the Year Award and the Hoosier Tire Most Improved Award for Catalano Motorsports and his car owner and mother, Amy Catalano.
The Hoosier Tire Most Improved Award goes to the eligible new team/organization whose driver improves the most positions during the course of each race.
In his first year with the series, Catalano earned one win, three top five and four top 10 finishes.
Catalano receives a $6,000 bonus for winning the Hoosier Tire Most Improved Award.
Trevor Catalano had mild expectations for the 2024 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season.
At just 17, he was embarking upon his first full season within NASCAR’s oldest division, joined by his older brothers Tommy and Tyler as the Catalano Motorsports team took on the challenge of fielding three full-time entries.
“To be honest with you, I thought about just kind of waiting a year and not doing the tour this year just so we could kind of get back into the groove of running more than one car,” Trevor Catalano said. “We got down to the science of running one car and being more consistent with Tommy the last three years.
“We were just trying to get our feet wet and have a solid rookie year.”
The driver from Ontario, New York far exceeded his own expectations.
He won a race at New Hampshire’s Monadnock Speedway and posted three top-five and four top-10 finishes on his way to eighth in the final championship standings.
As a result of his solid season, Catalano was named the 2024 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Sunoco Rookie of the Year.
Trevor Catalano scored a win at Monadnock Speedway on his way to the 2024 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Sunoco Rookie of the Year Award. (Photo: Ted Malinowski/NASCAR)
“I wanted to come in and be a top-15 car,” he said. “I wanted to run in between that top 10 and top 15 area, maybe sneak into the top 10 every once in a while. That was my goal coming in; just get laps and figure out how this whole tour thing rolls and kind of get consistent.
“I think we exceeded a lot. We had speed at almost every single race we showed up to (so we could) run inside the top 10. I think that’s amazing. Yeah, we blew a couple motors, and I made many mistakes throughout the year and put us behind the game.
“But that was part of the learning. Trying to get better and not make as many mistakes.”
The season was a bit of a whirlwind for Catalano, who started the year in February at New Smyrna Speedway with a fifth-place finish. He backed that up by racing with the leaders and finishing third in the second race of the year at Richmond Raceway in March.
Catalano immediately found himself near the top of the Modified Tour standings with drivers like defending series champion Ron Silk and multi-time champion Justin Bonsignore.
“The fifth place at New Smyrna, we were happy. We were up late hanging out laughing. That was awesome,” Catalano said. “After that, we said, ‘OK, let’s regroup for Richmond. Let’s try and be consistent here. A top 15 would be amazing.’
“Then we were like ninth in practice. I was like, ‘Oh, we have a really good car here.’ We drove up to third during a long run, ran the leaders down. I was like, ‘Man, this thing is really good.’
“I messed up on one of the restarts and got into Justin (Bonsignore) a little bit and then got sideways. I messed up the car, but we still finished third. That was huge.”
After Richmond, though, Catalano experienced a bit of a drought. An engine issue at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park relegated him to a 19th-place finish, which he followed with a 17th-place effort at Monadnock and a 24th-place run at Riverhead Raceway following suspension problems.
Those results could have snapped Catalano back to reality, but all they did was motivate him.
Fast-forward to July 20 at Monadnock and the Duel at the Dog 250. Utilizing a daring strategy call, Trevor held off Silk to capture his first Modified Tour victory and the first for the Catalano Motorsports team.
The gamble, which saw Catalano stay on track when most of the leaders hit the pits for a fresh tire during a caution with 71 laps left, was a perfectly timed strategic masterpiece. He took the lead on Lap 195 and led the final 56 en route to the victory.
Trevor Catalano celebrates after winning the Duel at the Dog 250 at Monadnock Speedway on July 20, 2024. (Photo: Jaiden Tripi/NASCAR)
“We got like 100 laps into the race and the car was really good, but I was struggling to pass people,” he said. “We came in during the caution (on Lap 131), and we said we’re going to pit right now and we’re not pitting again. Then everybody went to go pit the second caution, and I said (on the radio), ‘Are you sure dad?’ He said, ‘Yep, we’re sticking with it. We’re staying out, and we’re going to gamble.’”
Silk filled Catalano’s mirror throughout most of the final run. The rookie somehow found a way to keep the reigning champion behind him, a feat that even now seems improbable.
“Fifty to go, and Ron Silk is up to third and Justin is fourth and then they both get to second and third and all you can think is, ‘Yup, this is over.’ You’ve got two champions behind you, and you’re not going to be able to hold them both off. That’s all I could think about.
“Mom was on the radio and just kept telling me, ‘Just don’t mess up, and you’ll be fine. Just don’t miss your marks.’ It was awesome. To have my mom spotting and my dad crew chiefing … it was really awesome to have the first win come with mom on the radio.”
Trevor joins an impressive list of drivers to win the Modified Tour Sunoco Rookie of the Year Award.
They include men like four-time series champion Bonsignore, two-time champion Donny Lia, 2003 series champion Todd Szegedy and other familiar names like Eric Goodale, Patrick Emerling, Timmy Solomito, Chase Dowling, Jake Johnson, Austin Beers and Catalano’s older brother, Tommy.
“When we won the Rookie of the Year with Tommy, that was kind of one of the things I set aside and said, ‘I want to win the Rookie of the Year,’” said Trevor, now 18. “You’ve got to start somewhere, and I feel like that’s a really good starting spot.
“You just add your name to an awesome list. Hopefully we can try and go win somewhere and maybe try to win a championship before we’re done.”
The 2023 Wendell Scott Trailblazer Award winner in the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series finds herself in a top-tier Late Model Stock Car for the crown-jewel event. She is teaming up with four-time Weekly Series champion Lee Pulliam to pilot his No. 55 Toyota, which pairs her with 2022 South Carolina 400 winner Brenden “Butterbean” Queen.
Buice has never been more confident ahead of a race. With her own experience at Florence along with the combined knowledge of Pulliam and Queen at her disposal, Buice believes she can be competitive through all 250 laps Saturday evening.
“This is a great opportunity,” Buice said. “It’s one-of-a-kind, honestly. I’m super excited to work with the Lee Pulliam guys and be teammates with Brenden. Everyone knows he’s a great driver, and he’s going to be doing some great things next year, as well. I’m excited to work up close with these guys and see what I can do.”
Lanie Buice’s determination on the track has already garnered her accolades, including the 2023 Wendell Scott Trailblazer Award. (Photo: Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
Lanie Buice’s performance in last year’s South Carolina 400 against drivers like Dale Earnhardt Jr., Josh Berry and others caught the attention of many in the Late Model Stock industry. After methodically saving her tires, Buice proceeded to work her way through the field during the second half of the race, positioning herself in third behind eventual race-winner Kade Brown. The charge proved to be slightly premature, as Buice exhausted her tires and ended up falling outside of the top five.
Finishing a stellar South Carolina 400 run in 13th was disappointing for Buice, but she used the momentum from that night to curate a solid first year in NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program. Buice’s success in a Rev Racing Late Model Stock includes top fives at tracks like Hickory Motor Speedway and Southern National Motorsports Park in North Carolina.
Eager to showcase her refined skills on a national stage, Buice reached out to Pulliam to inquire about a seat for the South Carolina 400. After a couple conversations, both sides came to an agreement that would see Buice pilot Pulliam’s second car in the event.
On every occasion he has seen Buice compete, Pulliam has noticed how methodical and patient she is behind the wheel. Those qualities, combined with her ability to keep a car in one piece, is why Pulliam believes Buice is an ideal fit within his program.
“When I got the chance to meet Lanie Buice, it was pretty evident her determination to be successful matches the determination we have here to be successful,” Pulliam said. “Her attitude is in the right direction, and I feel real positive about this.”
Pulliam is no stranger to guiding female competitors to success in racing. Julia Landauer won a track championship at Virginia’s Pulaski County Motorsports Park driving one of Pulliam’s cars. Amber Balcaen and Jessica Dana have also found Victory Lane under the Pulliam banner.
Buice took Pulliam’s entire history with Late Model Stocks into consideration when she first contacted him. Being able to lean on one of the discipline’s greatest competitors even for just one race is something Buice knows will only be beneficial for her career in the long term.
“A lot of females have shined being a part of the Lee Pulliam team, along with other drivers that he has had come along with him,” Buice said. “It’s definitely an inspiration, but I’m super excited to see what I can learn. It’s a great opportunity to develop myself, so I’m super excited to see where this can go.”
Lanie Buice joins a long list of female drivers that have competed for Lee Pulliam such as Julia Landauer and Isabella Robusto. (Photo: Adam Fenwick/NASCAR)
Buice got her first glimpse into the passion and commitment permeating at Lee Pulliam Performance when she first visited the shop a few weeks ago to get her seat fitted. When speaking with Pulliam, Buice was encouraged to stay focused and capitalize on everything she already knows about competing at Florence.
Pulliam sees a lot of potential in Buice as a competitor and wants to give her a car capable of winning the South Carolina 400. With how determined Buice is to absorb information, Pulliam is confident Buice can execute a flawless tire conservation strategy that can put her up front with the rest of the contenders.
“The thing about Lanie is that she is willing to listen, learn and do whatever you tell her to do behind the wheel,” Pulliam said. “Hopefully I can be key in helping her conserve tires and note when she needs to ride. I feel like she’s already done a good job [at Florence] since she ran top five for most of [the South Carolina 400 last year] before she lost tire at the end.
“We’re going to try and be on the opposite [side] this year so we can be going forward during those final laps.”
Buice’s own observations with tire management during the 2023 South Carolina 400 provided her a blueprint on how to approach this year’s endurance event at Florence that has only been bolstered by Pulliam’s influence.
A key component of Buice’s plan involved studying Queen’s conservative strategy, particularly when he won the South Carolina 400 in 2022.
“[Brenden] actually laid back earlier in the race and didn’t quite have the track position,” Buice said. “By the end of the race, he had saved so much, he was able to drive past everybody. I think that’s something I might look for this time, or I might do something similar to last year. I guess we’ll have to stay tuned.”
To prepare for the South Carolina 400, Lanie Buice (21) has been carefully studying how 2022 winner Brenden Queen (03) navigates Florence Motor Speedway. (Photo: Ted Malinowski/NASCAR)
Saving tires is only one aspect of success in the South Carolina 400. An entry list consisting of more than 50 cars puts additional emphasis on Buice locking her way into the field with a top-20 qualifying performance, a goal that will only be made tougher by the presence of Earnhardt Jr., Berry and many other Late Model Stock stalwarts.
Going up against so many strong drivers with varying years of experience is not intimidating to Buice in the slightest. Instead, she is motivated by the challenge the South Carolina 400 is providing and intends to stay composed as the strategy evolves throughout the night.
Pulliam saw how close Buice was to shocking the Late Model Stock world during the South Carolina 400 last year. If he and his team can be perfect on every front, Pulliam envisions Buice earning a milestone victory for herself, his operation and short-track racing in general.
“[Lanie Buice winning] would be huge,” Pulliam said. “I think that would be an incredible accomplishment for her and for me. It’s very much doable, so we’ve both got to work very hard. A great team is going to be behind her, and we’re all going to give 100 percent. I feel like she’s going to give 100 percent, too.”
Buice knows Pulliam will provide a great car for her second South Carolina 400 start, but she is also staying pragmatic before the green flag. The field for Saturday’s race will be one of the toughest Buice has faced in her career, which is why she is focused on avoiding trouble and improving upon her 13th place run last year.
“I’m just focused on doing the very best that I can,” Buice said. “A win is definitely something I think everyone wants to achieve, and it’s definitely doable. The opportunities are endless at Lee Pulliam, but at the same time, I’ve got to do my job. That’s the most important thing.”
A daunting weekend awaits Buice at Florence, but she has everything needed to put together another strong South Carolina 400 run and keep building a reputation as one of the most promising female competitors in the southeast.
Voting officially opened for the 2024 National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) Most Popular Driver Award on Oct. 28, and fans should continue to wear their voting caps and cast their ballots before the polls close Thursday, Nov. 21 at 11:59 p.m. ET.
Fans will be able to vote for their favorite driver five times per day (per unique address) on NASCAR.com or the mobile app.
After more than three weeks of voting, here are the current top five vote-getters in each series (alphabetical order):
Cup Series
Ryan Blaney
Kyle Busch
Chase Elliott
Kyle Larson
Martin Truex Jr.
Xfinity Series
Justin Allgaier
AJ Allmendinger
Shane van Gisbergen
Parker Kligerman
Jesse Love
Truck Series
Rajah Caruth
Christian Eckes
Grant Enfinger
Corey Heim
Ty Majeski
The winner of the 2024 NMPA Most Popular Driver Award will be announced during the NASCAR Awards banquet on Friday, Nov. 22, in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott has won the Most Popular Driver Award for six consecutive seasons (2018-23). Justin Allgaier is the defending victor in the Xfinity Series, while Hailie Deegan won the award in Trucks last season.
Additional information about the NMPA can be found at nmpaonline.com.
MOORESVILLE, N.C. (Nov. 19, 2024) — Todd Gilliland will enter the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season with new yet familiar colors. Gilliland will pilot the No. 34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Front Row Motorsports (FRM). Todd will follow in his father, David’s footsteps in representing Love’s colors at FRM.
As Love’s enters its 13th consecutive season with FRM, it was David Gilliland who first raced the Love’s livery in the 2013 Daytona 500. David went on to race for the company in 2014 and 2015, giving the FRM partner their first pole and top-five finish.
Todd first began racing for Love’s under the Speedco banner in the Craftsman Truck Series beginning in 2020 and again in 2021. Heading into the 2025 season, the 24-year-old driver now steps into the No. 34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford and is FRM’s longest-tenured driver.
“It is really humbling to race the No. 34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford Mustang beginning next season,” Gilliland said. “It’s just another cool moment in my career to race for a company that represented my father at FRM. The No. 34 Ford is what started FRM in the Cup Series, and there is a lot of history with Love’s, FRM and my family. I still remember watching my dad race the Love’s Ford.
“I did not take this next step lightly. I have seen the rise of the team and the new level of expectations. It is an honor that Love’s is putting their trust in me to continue to grow the team and compete for wins and get into the playoffs. I am gracious for this opportunity and look forward to 2025.”
Love’s will once again be the premier partner of the team and will adorn the No. 34 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for more than half of the season, beginning with the Daytona 500.
The crew chief and other partners will be announced before the start of the 2025 season.
Ryan Preece is set to join RFK Racing for the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season, the organization announced Tuesday. Preece will join the operation behind the wheel of the No. 60 Ford, giving the team three full-time vehicles next year.
Kroger will additionally move its sponsorship to RFK Racing. Kroger will join nearly 20 brands across the RFK Racing Ford of Preece, Keselowski and Buescher throughout the season. Kroger has been a primary sponsor in the Cup Series dating back to 2010 when it joined JTG Daugherty Racing’s ranks.
“Having a third team gives us another shot at the win on any given weekend,” RFK co-owner and driver Brad Keselowski said in a Zoom teleconference. “It’s a great opportunity for us at RFK. Our goal is to be an elite organization, I would say a world-class organization, and to do that in NASCAR, you’ve got to win races. The more teams you have, the better that opportunity is to elevate all the programs.”
Preece, 34, joins the organization in what will be his fifth full-time season in NASCAR’s premier series, departing Stewart-Haas Racing, which closed its operations following the conclusion of the 2024 Cup campaign. The No. 60 Ford made its Cup debut with RFK Racing last season as part of the organization’s #Stage60 program, with drivers David Ragan, Cameron Waters and Joey Hand piloting the machine in 2024. As driver of the No. 41 SHR Ford, Preece tallied one top five and five top-10 finishes in 2024. In 187 career Cup Series starts dating back to 2015, Preece has compiled four top fives, 16 top 10s and 176 laps led.
“It’s [an opportunity] that I’m really eager and excited for,” Preece said. “It’s somewhere that these guys had speed last year. I mean, you look at how many weeks in a row that Brad and Chris [Buescher] finished top two or top three and had some extremely good stats and found Victory Lane. So for me, it’s a great opportunity, one that’s filled with pressure. But I think if you’ve looked at my career in those pressure-type situations, I’ve succeeded. I’m grateful for the opportunity.” In 62 career Xfinity Series races, the Berlin, Connecticut native has found Victory Lane twice; in 12 Truck Series starts, Preece has additionally tallied two wins to his resume. The 2025 move will see Preece join RFK Racing co-owner Brad Keselowski and 2023 Cup Series Playoffs driver Chris Buescher as the organization enters its fourth year since its rebranding with Roush Fenway Racing.
MORE: All of RFK Racing’s wins by driver Since Jack Roush ventured into ownership with the team in 1988, the new-look RFK Racing operation has won 143 Cup Series races spanning across 11 drivers, including NASCAR Hall of Famers Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth and Mark Martin. With Preece’s full-time entry, RFK Racing will look to 2025 as another opportunity to not only make the playoffs but put more than one RFK Racing driver in the 16-driver postseason field. Buescher advanced to the Round of 8 in 2023, while Keselowski was eliminated in the Round of 16 in 2024.
“My commitment is taking someone like Ryan and putting him in that spot where he can win in and with the right resources, with the right team around him and the right support structure, and that’s what I see out of Ryan,” Keselowski said. “He’s got the talent, he’s got the work ethic, and that’s our commitment back to him is to put him in the right situation with the right equipment, the right people and the right infrastructure to be successful. And I think we can do just that.”
Crew-chief pairings for Keselowski and Preece will be revealed at a later date.
Another busy year of racing across the United States and Canada for more than 45 NASCAR-sanctioned short tracks has resulted in celebrations for drivers who have claimed track championships in 2024.
From Alaska Raceway Park in Palmer, Alaska, to Langley Speedway in Hampton, Virginia, drivers from across the continent worked endlessly toward the goal of becoming NASCAR track champions this year. For a select few, that dream was realized.
They include Burt Myers, who captured his 11th track championship at North Carolina’s Bowman Gray Stadium on his way to a runner-up finish in the 2024 NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Division I national standings. Also among the list of track champions is Brian Campbell, who claimed his second consecutive title at Michigan’s Berlin Raceway.
Peyton Sellers won his seventh track championship at Virginia’s South Boston Speedway, tying the all-time record previously set by David Blankenship. Jeff Strunk secured the track championship at Pennsylvania’s Grandview Speedway a decade after his last championship at the historic dirt track.
Below is a list of NASCAR-sanctioned division champions from all of the tracks that are part of the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series.
2024 NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series track champions
Brian Campbell raced to his second consecutive NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series track champion at Michigan’s Berlin Raceway this year. (Photo: Eric Bronson/NASCAR)
Jeff Strunk captured his first Grandview Speedway in a decade this year. It was his 11th track championship overall. (Photo: Rich Kepner/Grandview Speedway)
Peyton Sellers (26) leads Jacob Borst (25) at South Boston Speedway. Sellers captured his record-tying seventh track title in 2024. (Photo: Joe Chandler/South Boston Speedway)
