From elation to disappointment, Rhodes and Hemric reflect on overtime finish

Posted on May 3, 2025May 3, 2025 by Chris Murdock

FORT WORTH, Texas — A tale of two cities transpired on pit road as the checkered flag flew on the SpeedyCash.com 250 from Texas Motor Speedway on Friday night. With Corey Heim standing tall, victorious at the start/finish line, Ben Rhodes and Daniel Hemric were left with mixed emotions after the final restart in NASCAR Overtime.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Texas

Rhodes restarted on the outside front row on the final restart on Lap 172 and held pace with Heim, who had the dominant truck all night, leading 96 of the 174 total laps.

Heading into Turn 3, coming to the white flag, there was slight contact between the two front-runners, pushing the No. 99 of Rhodes up the race track and leaving the door open for the No. 19 of Daniel Hemric to charge to the bottom, making it three-wide at the white flag.

When the race was all said and done, neither Hemric nor Rhodes would wind up in Victory Lane, with the No. 11 of Heim taking home the win. Exiting his ThorSport Racing in frustration, Rhodes said he felt he was raced unfairly and had no room to challenge for victory at the end.

“I think we got used up by the 11 being on the outside line with clean air on both of our noses,” Rhodes said on pit road post-race. “He just decided to run us up the track and out of the groove at both ends of the track. So on the last restart, you know, we’re in three and four. We’re coming back around to the white; he runs me way high. We both have to lift, pretty unacceptable, in my opinion, because, you know, we could have wrecked there.

“So, you know, I’m not gonna cry about it, but it just stinks when you have a good opportunity to win a race and then you get run a little dirty. But you know, I know how it is with him, and he’s got his third win of the season. We’re still looking for our first right now, so when you have these opportunities, you need to seize them, and that’s what we’re trying to do.”

WATCH: Rhodes upset by Heim’s tactics | Hemric: ‘Second’s not fun’

Parked one spot ahead of the two-time Craftsman Truck Series champion on pit road was the runner-up finisher, Hemric, who was able to capitalize on the Heim-Rhodes scrap to maneuver his Chevrolet to the inside of the two and have a shot at the win entering Turn 1.

“I knew when they got side by side I’d have a big run,” Hemric said. “I didn’t know if I have enough pure tire capability left to make the move, and kind of created just enough angle to get left of the 11 to get three-wide at the bottom, just didn’t have enough left to make it stick through one and two.”

“So either way, we were not good when we started. (Crew chief) Josh Graham did the exceptional job of tuning on me correctly, in the right direction, and yeah, ultimately found ourselves with the opportunity and stayed quite close.”

Close it was, as the Kannapolis, North Carolina native had a shot on the final lap to punch his ticket to Victory Lane for the second time this season. At the end of the night, that is all Hemric could ask of his No. 19 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing team.

“Just trying to win,” Hemric said. “That’s what this team deserves. That’s what everyone on this No. 19 team deserves. I feel like, you know, we put so much into this deal, and we overcame some adjustments and stuff that we had to go through at the beginning of the race. You’ve got to go for the win. That’s what we did. Came up short, but great execution today.”

Posted on May 2, 2025May 3, 2025 by Reid Spencer

FORT WORTH, Texas — A casual glance at the box score might tell you Corey Heim’s victory in Friday night’s SpeedyCash.com 250 was a cakewalk.

Quite the contrary. Heim’s 14th career win was anything but easy.

The driver of the No. 11 Tricon Garage Toyota and Craftsman Truck Series points leader had to survive two overtimes at Texas Motor Speedway to pick up his first victory at the track and his third of the season.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Texas

Heim was barely ahead when caution stalled the first overtime almost before it began. The restart in the second extra period packed a surfeit of drama into the final two laps.

Starting second to Heim’s outside, Ben Rhodes held his ground, racing side-by-side through the first two corners. As the drivers navigated Turn 3, both had to lift off the gas, allowing Daniel Hemric to make a strong move to the inside at the start/finish line.

But Heim pressed the accelerator, charged between trucks and surged into the lead, clearing Hemric and Rhodes in Turn 1. Heim pulled away slightly to beat Hemric to the stripe by 0.279 seconds, as Rhodes lost momentum and faded to sixth.

“I wasn’t going to let that one get away from me,” said Heim, who led a race-high 96 of 174 laps and gained an extra playoff point by winning Stage 2. “I’ve given up too many this year so far. I’m just overwhelmed — so many restarts there at the end and guys were taking me three-wide.

“I wasn’t going to let them take it from me… They tried to take me three-wide into (Turn) 1, and I drove until I couldn’t anymore.”

WATCH: Heim elated, exhausted after victory

At age 22, Heim is the youngest driver in series history to reach 14 wins. Friday night‘s Truck Series race also was the first to go to overtime after 21 straight events had ended in regulation.

Rajah Caruth ran third behind Heim and Hemric, with Tyler Ankrum finishing fourth and Tanner Gray fifth.

Rhodes took issue with the way Heim raced him into Turn 3 on the white-flag lap in the second overtime.

“I was a little upset, and even still watching the replay, with how I was run in 3 and 4 by Heim,” said Rhodes, a two-time series champion. “Basically, to see him come off the bottom, and the groove is extremely narrow here. That’s why all those wrecks kept happening.

“I had to lift. I think he had to lift, and that’s what opened up for three-wide down the frontstretch and why we’re in sixth place.”

All told, the race produced 11 cautions for 57 laps, a testament to the intense action at the Fort Worth track.

Texas Motor Speedway, arguably the most treacherous 1.5-miler on the schedule, claimed three early victims. On Lap 31, rookie Giovanni Ruggiero drove too low entering the tri-oval, clipped the grass below the apron and shot up the track, collecting Brandon Jones and Kaden Honeycutt in a violent collision.

The impact ripped the right front wheel off Jones’ Toyota and destroyed Honeycutt’s Chevrolet.

“It is just so hard to see the grass here on the frontstretch when you’re behind other trucks,” Ruggiero said. “I definitely misjudged it on my part. Really unfortunate for all of my guys.

“We had a really fast JBL Tundra — definitely not how I wanted tonight to go. Just have to keep digging and come back stronger for the next one.”

On Lap 52, Layne Riggs spun underneath the Ford of reigning series champion Ty Majeski. Thirteen laps and two cautions later, Riggs was off course again after contact with Luke Fenhaus’ Ford, this time bouncing through the frontstretch grass and tearing the nose off his F-150.

Andres Perez de Lara backed into the Turn 2 wall on Lap 57, damaging his Chevrolet beyond repair. Before the end of the second stage, the race was peppered with six cautions, with the longest green-flag run coming from the start of the race to a competition caution at Lap 20.

The tenor of the race changed after the second stage break. During a 60-lap green-flag run that began on Lap 87 and featured a cycle of green-flag pit stops, Heim built a lead of 15.794 seconds before Frankie Muniz crashed in Turn 2 on Lap 147 to cause the eighth caution of the night.

Grant Enfinger and Heim divided the stage wins, with Enfinger leading twice for 18 laps. His fortunes went south with 13 laps remaining, when Stewart Friesen’s No. 52 Toyota broke loose and made contact with Enfinger’s No. 9 Chevrolet in a contest for second place, sending both trucks into the outside retaining wall and collecting Chandler Smith’s No. 38 in the melee. That forced a red flag with 11 laps left.

From that point, the race reclaimed its frenetic character and required the two overtimes to get to the finish. The result left Heim 46 points ahead of second-place Chandler Smith in the series standings.

The Craftsman Truck Series’ next race is the Heart of America 200, scheduled Saturday, May 10 (7:30 p.m. ET, FS1, NRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Kansas Speedway.

NOTE: Post-race technical inspection concluded without issue, confirming Heim as the winner. The Nos. 07, 15 and 99 trucks will be brought to NASCAR’s Research and Development Center in Concord, North Carolina, for further inspection.

Contributing: Staff report

Posted on May 2, 2025May 2, 2025 by Staff Report

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – NASCAR and JDV Productions have postponed Saturday’s Cheshire County Clash NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event at Monadnock Speedway due to a forecast of inclement weather.

Officials from JDV Productions, the racetrack, and NASCAR are working collaboratively to find a date in the best interest of competitors and race fans. An announcement on the new event date is expected to come next week.

For updated event information as available, fans may go to nascar.com/regional.

Posted on May 2, 2025 by Zack Albert

Kyle Petty shares a laugh when talking about the latest edition of his eponymous charity motorcycle journey, one that’s evolved to more regional routes that go a little easier on the odometer.

“The 500- and 600-mile days of our youth are gone,” Petty says with a chuckle.

That may be, but the 64-year-old former racer has packed a week’s full of activities into a healthy 1,400 miles in the 29th anniversary edition of this year’s Kyle Petty Charity Ride. The 2025 trek begins Saturday in Traverse City, Michigan, and ends May 9 in Hot Springs, Virginia, cutting a diagonal hook from the upper Midwest back to the Mid-Atlantic — all for a worthwhile cause.

The ride has raised $22 million in its lifetime for the Victory Junction camp and other children’s charities, including $1.8 million in funds raised from last year’s ride. The year-round camp opened its doors in 2004 in memory of Kyle’s son, Adam Petty; in the years since, more than 136,000 camp experiences have been provided to children ages 6 to 16 with serious and chronic medical conditions.

This year’s ride to benefit Victory Junction has been billed as a “Tour of Wonders,” and with good reason. The path takes participants along Great Lakes vistas, to majestic Niagara Falls, before landing at the endpoint near Virginia’s Shenandoah region. Multiple pit stops are planned, including the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, plus some laps at Watkins Glen International in New York.

Roughly 225 riders plan to make the weeklong trip, including celebrities such as Richard Petty, Ken Schrader, Kenny Wallace and the timeless Hershel McGriff. Petty says many riders are returning participants who have created a community through their years on the road, but he adds that newcomers have breathed new life into the ride, experiencing the trip and its sightseeing for the first time.

“We try to leave it open for new people coming up,” Petty says. “New people can experience it, and it’s funny, though, if you can get somebody to come once, they’re more than likely to come out three or four more times, and some of them just become long-term connections.”

Those long-lasting bonds extend to Victory Junction, which celebrated its 20th anniversary and completed extensive renovations to its water-park facilities last year.

“It’s just been incredible,” Petty said. “We are at that place now, after 27 years, that we have kids that came when they were 8 or 9, and now they come back as counselors. We have kids that came when they were 16 or 17, and now they’re working there. That’s phenomenal because it’s that same old thing: People tell you they already believe in the product, you don’t have to sell it. They already have that passion. They already have that desire to help other people, and when you see that’s really cool. So that’s the biggest thing is hopefully we’ll see more kids than we’ve ever seen.”

Even though this year’s ride is about to set sail, another big, round number is coming up for the event’s record books — next year’s 30th anniversary. Previous milestone editions of the ride have made significant coast-to-coast expeditions — such as roughly 3,700 miles from Seattle to Key Largo, Florida, for the 25th anniversary, and a 2,800-mile jaunt from Carlsbad, California, to Daytona Beach for the 20th.

Petty says organizers are already in the early planning stages for next year. The route? To be determined.

“We’ve crossed the country just about every way you can cross it,” Petty said. “… We’ve got so many suggestions in so many different ways. The problem is we’ve only got seven to nine days when the ride starts, so I don’t want to wear these people out, man. I want them to come back for the 31st year, but we’re already planning.”

Petty still marvels at how the philanthropic venture he founded is now nearing the end of its third decade. Fads have come and gone, he said, but the charity ride’s staying power has been built by the riders’ passion and those who rallied behind the family after Adam Petty’s death in 2000 and the camp that was part of his vision for the future.

That feeling, and the ride itself, have endured.

“It’s one of those crazy ideas that just hooked with a certain group of people, and then the camp came and it gave it a purpose,” Petty says. “Even though we were going to children’s hospitals, when the camp and Adam’s accident happened, it just gave it a purpose and a focus, and so many people have come along since then. I’ve told people all the time, when we built camp, we had a personal tragedy, and we raised our hand and said, ‘I think this is what we’re going to do.’ We turned around one day, and there were people behind us that were like, ‘yes, we’ll do that with you.’ The rides have kind of been the same thing. You look back one day, and all these people want to ride with you.

“So it surprises me that it’s still here after 30 years, but when I’m on the ride and I’m talking to the people on the ride, and I’m talking to the fans that come out along the way and the people you meet, it doesn’t surprise me as much.”

Kevin Kane Photography

Posted on May 2, 2025May 15, 2025 by NASCAR Official Release

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (May 1, 2025) — NASCAR and Coca-Cola are doubling down on their shared commitment to the military community by bringing together the motorsports industry this May through the longstanding NASCAR Salutes Together with Coca-Cola program. The annual initiative is designed to support and recognize active duty servicemembers, veterans, military families and fallen heroes through a variety of programs throughout the month, culminating in the 600 Miles of Remembrance at the 2025 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 25 (Sun., 6 p.m. ET, Prime Video, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

For more than a decade, NASCAR Salutes Together with Coca-Cola has aimed to support the military and veteran community by hosting at-track experiences for military members, veterans and their families, galvanizing partners across the motorsports industry in a month-long show of public recognition and providing critical investments to military and veteran service organizations through NASCAR Impact and other league-wide initiatives. Each year, the monthlong Salutes program is designed to lead into Memorial Day Weekend and the 600 Miles of Remembrance, during which each NASCAR Cup Series driver will take the green flag at the Coca-Cola 600 with the name of a fallen service member on their car.

RELATED: NASCAR Salutes hub page

“The Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR race is more than a competition; it’s a tribute to the brave men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice and those currently serving,” said Eric Kacker, Vice President of Coca-Cola North America’s Sports & Entertainment. “Partnering with the USO and Speedway Motorsports, we honor their legacy and heroism during this Memorial Day weekend at the 66th running of the Coca-Cola 600.”

In addition, NASCAR and Coca-Cola are showing their support for the men and women of the Armed Services with a new ad campaign that kicks off this weekend during the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series, and NASCAR Cup Series races at Texas Motor Speedway. The campaign celebrates the service and sacrifice of U.S. military members and their families through a multitude of at-track integrations, original content features and fan engagement opportunities throughout the month.

“Salutes is a part of NASCAR’s DNA and provides some of the most impactful moments on-and-off the track for our entire industry,” said Michelle Byron, Executive Vice President, Chief Partnership & Licensing Officer at NASCAR. “Our partnership with Coca-Cola not only allows us to make critical investments in these organizations that are providing vital services to the military and veteran community, but it also allows us to take a moment and recognize those who have sacrificed so much.”

Once again, Honor and Remember will work with several NASCAR teams to host Gold Star Families at Charlotte Motor Speedway as part of the 600 Miles of Remembrance tribute. Recently announced as a NASCAR Impact partner, Honor and Remember hosts families who have lost loved ones in the line of duty at race weekends throughout the NASCAR season.

This year, NASCAR Impact will also encourage fans with a military background to sign up as peer supporters through Sound Off, a nonprofit established to help veterans and active duty servicemembers get the mental health support they need through the Sound Off app. Forty-seven percent of military members who show signs of PTSD or depression do not seek help, in part because of fears related to stigma or blowback. Sound Off provides a platform where military members who would otherwise avoid mental health support can engage anonymously with veterans with similar lived experiences.

In addition, NASCAR Salutes Together with Coca-Cola will also seek to:

Host at-track experiences for military members, veterans, and their families, including:

– Discounted grandstand tickets for military members all season long through NASCAR MilTix Presented by GOVX. Active military and veterans can verify their status and purchase tickets by visiting NASCAR.com/miltix.

– Access to complimentary grandstand tickets and unique VIP experiences throughout the month of May for service members from local bases, made possible by Chevrolet’s NASCAR Troops to the Track Program and Vet Tix.

– The “Mobility Pit Box,” which will host mobility-impaired race fans and veterans attending races at Texas Motor Speedway, Kansas Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway. The Mobility Pit Box was designed and announced by Toyota in 2023. It was gifted to NASCAR at the beginning of the 2024 season to expand its availability, highlighting Toyota’s vision of “Mobility for All.”

Bring together the motor sports industry in recognition of our military, including:

– Xfinity, a Proud Premier Partner, which will display red, white, and blue Xfinity windshield headers on their race cars during the NASCAR Xfinity Series Bet MGM 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. This initiative showcases Xfinity’s commitment to hiring veterans, National Guard and reserve service members and military spouses who bring unique skills and experiences to Comcast NBCUniversal.

– Craftsman, who will also display red, white and blue windshield decals on all NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series trucks racing in the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

– Goodyear, which will continue its tradition of replacing its iconic “Eagle” sidewall design with “Honor and Remember” during the Coca-Cola 600 in support of the Virginia-based nonprofit supporting Gold Star Families.

– Mechanix Wear, who will provide NASCAR officials special camouflage “MultiCam Mechanix Wear” gloves for the Coca-Cola 600.

Invest in veteran and military service organizations so that they can continue their critical work, including:

– Sound Off

– Honor and Remember

Posted on May 1, 2025 by Press Release

PHILADELPHIA (May 1, 2025) — Comcast is proud to announce nominations for the 2025 Comcast Community Champion of the Year are now open at ComcastCommunityChampion.com. In its 10 years, this prestigious annual award has served to recognize the philanthropic efforts of individuals within the NASCAR community.

To nominate and learn additional details about the award, visit ComcastCommunityChampion.com today through Monday, June 16.

Created in 2015, the Comcast Community Champion of the Year Award was designed to honor the outstanding efforts and achievements of NASCAR industry members who have worked to selflessly give back to their communities and beyond. Comcast will select and honor three finalists, sharing their stories publicly. Following the finalists’ selection, a committee of NASCAR & Comcast executives, as well as 2024 winner Erik Jones, will name the 2025 Comcast Community Champion of the Year, awarding $60,000 to the champion’s affiliated charity and $30,000 to each of the two finalists’ selected charities later this year.

“I’m really looking forward to hearing who the nominees are for this year’s Comcast Community Champion Award,” Jones said. “Last year, the award meant so much to us and our foundation. I can’t wait to see the impact it’s going to have on the next recipient and their organization.”

Any individual with a 2025 annual credential or NASCAR full season license from any of NASCAR’s top three national series is eligible to be nominated as a 2024 finalist, including:

Team owners, drivers and all NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series employees
Full-time employees of tracks that are currently on the schedule for NASCAR’s three series
NASCAR Media members who have a Print, Broadcast or Photography Hard Card
NASCAR Officials
NASCAR Partners/Sponsors
Family members of drivers and crew members
Driver and team employees (motorhome drivers, agents, managers, etc.)
Support industry personnel (engine builders, parts and service providers, etc.)

Since the inception of the program, Comcast has supported over 30 different nonprofit organizations — a powerful reflection of the unwavering dedication and long-standing philanthropic spirit shared by all finalists and champions. Over the past 11 years, Comcast has made it a priority to reach and uplift as many communities as possible, creating meaningful change across the country. With over $1 million contributed to deserving organizations connected to members of the NASCAR family, Comcast has not only deepened its roots within the sport but also extended its impact far beyond the track. This initiative is more than a program — it’s a movement grounded in compassion, community and a shared commitment to making a lasting difference where it matters most.

“Driving positive change is a core mission at Comcast, and we are proud to honor the philanthropic contributions of individuals within the NASCAR community who consistently go above and beyond to support and strengthen their communities,” said Matt Lederer, vice president of Brand Partnerships, Comcast.

Past champions include:

NASCAR driver, Erik Jones, representing The Erik Jones Foundation
OnPoint Motorsports Driver, Ryan Vargas, representing FACES: The National Craniofacial Association
Senior Director of Live Shows at CSM Productions, Jes Ferreira, representing Foster Village Charlotte
World Wide Technology Raceway Owner, Curtis Francois, representing Raceway Gives Foundation
NASCAR driver, Bubba Wallace, representing the Live To Be Different Foundation
Dover Motor Speedway President, Mike Tatoian, representing USO Delaware
NASCAR champion, Joey Logano, representing the Joey Logano Foundation
Chip Ganassi Racing’s pit crew department, representing Ronald McDonald House
JR Motorsports fabricator, Wade Jackson, representing Camp LUCK
NASCAR driver, Joey Gase, representing the Iowa Donor Network

Comcast has a long track record of community service, aiding in the advancement of local organizations, developing programs and partnerships, mobilizing resources to connect people and inspiring positive and substantive change. To learn more about these efforts, visit the Comcast Community Impact site.

Posted on May 1, 2025May 1, 2025 by Press Release

PHILADELPHIA (May 1, 2025) — Xumo, Comcast’s and Charter’s joint venture that offers consumers nationwide a simple, easy way to stream all their favorite shows and movies and proud partner of NASCAR, today announced that the NASCAR Channel, NASCAR’s official FAST (free ad-supported streaming TV) channel, will launch on Xumo Play. The channel offers race fans round-the-clock NASCAR content, including classic races, re-airs of the season’s events, original series, documentaries and more.

NASCAR’s FAST channel will anchor a new comprehensive hub for all things NASCAR across Xumo’s streaming devices, Xumo Stream Box and Xumo TV. Whether it’s the roar of re-aired races, behind-the-scenes stories from NASCAR Studios, or fan-favorite video podcasts, the new destination will bring together NASCAR-related programming available across streaming apps, giving viewers an easy way to dive deep into the culture, history, and adrenaline of the sport. Users can easily access the destination by saying “NASCAR” into their Xumo voice remote.

“Our new partnership with NASCAR marks an exciting new chapter for our brand and for motorsports fans everywhere,” said Fern Feistel, Vice President, Marketing at Xumo. “Whether watching at home or live at the track we’re making it easy for fans to enjoy all the adrenaline and drama of NASCAR through the launch of the NASCAR FAST channel, our NASCAR hub, and on-site experiences. This partnership is just the beginning of how Xumo is redefining the future of NASCAR streaming content.”

In addition to the at-home experiences, Xumo will have a physical presence at multiple NASCAR races throughout the season, starting with the Würth 400 presented by Liqui Moly at Texas Motor Speedway the weekend of May 4. Fans in attendance can stop by the Xumo ‘Easy Street Pit Stop,’ where they’ll be able to charge their phones, enjoy snacks and refreshments, and stay cool to recharge throughout the weekend’s events.

“Our partnership with Xumo represents an important step in expanding NASCAR’s digital footprint and making our sport more accessible to fans across multiple platforms,” said John Dahl, NASCAR Senior Vice President of Content. “The launch of the NASCAR Channel on Xumo Play is the first of many exciting projects we have planned together.”

The NASCAR Channel joins a host of other sports-focused options on Xumo Play, including The NBA Channel, NBC Sports NOW, NFL Channel, PBR RidePass and PGA TOUR. In addition to streaming through Xumo TVs and Xumo Stream Boxes, Xumo Play is available on all major streaming platforms, including Amazon, Android, Apple, Roku, Samsung, Sony, Xfinity, Xumo and more.

The simplicity of Xumo’s streaming devices is made possible by the platform that powers it. It is the same global entertainment operating system that powers tens of millions of devices from Comcast and its partners across the globe, bringing some of the TV’s best features, like seamless content discovery, voice search and personalization, to life. Xumo TVs are currently available in retail locations across the country, including Walmart, Best Buy, BJ’s and more, and Xumo Stream Boxes are currently offered through major U.S. operators, including Comcast’s Xfinity, Charter’s Spectrum, Mediacom, Cox and GCI.

Posted on May 1, 2025May 2, 2025 by Neil Paine

On Sunday, the NASCAR Cup Series will make its return to Texas Motor Speedway, the site of Chase Elliott’s most recent victory last spring. And on the surface, Elliott rolls up to Fort Worth in as good a form as he’s had in a while. He currently ranks fourth in the Cup standings, tracking for his first placement that high since he made the Championship 4 in 2022. He’s coming off a top-five finish last week at Talladega, and he hasn’t finished outside the Top 20 in any of his 10 starts so far in 2025. Elliott is also tied with Tyler Reddick for the sixth-highest odds (+1000) to win this year’s Cup championship, according to DraftKings, which puts him squarely in the mix to win his second career title — surpassing his father, Bill, whose sole title came in 1988.

Under the hood of all that, however, is a fascinating change in how Elliott has achieved his recent success.

RELATED: Texas schedule | Cup Series standings

In previous years, Elliott was a threat to win most weekends. From 2018 to 2022, he took 18 checkered flags in 180 races — good for a 10.0% winning percentage, second only to Kevin Harvick at 12.8%. He never had a season with fewer than two wins — winning three or more races four times and five or more races on two occasions. And during that span, he never went longer than 26 races without a victory, usually recording his wins after waits of fewer than 15 starts:

More recently, however, Elliott has found Victory Lane a lot harder to drive to. Starting late in the 2022 season, he embarked on what would eventually be a 42-race winless streak before winning the 2024 Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Texas last April. And any hopes that would break the seal on another stretch of frequent Elliott wins were misplaced — after this past weekend, Elliott is on a 37-race winless streak dating back to that victory at Texas a year ago. For those not keeping track, that means Elliott has won just one of his past 80 Cup starts, a stretch that is verging on matching the 1 win he had in his first 99 career races.

Overall, since the start of 2023, Elliott has a mere 1.3% winning percentage, far from that 10% figure from the preceding five seasons. This is reflective of a general trend of fewer high-tier performances from the No. 9 car in recent seasons. Expand things to look at other finishes, and only 28% of Elliott’s races have ended with him in the top five and 53% within the top 10, compared with rates of 36% and 55%, respectively, earlier on:

At the same time, Elliott has all but eliminated the really bad outings from his stat sheet. During that 2018-2022 period, he finished outside the top 20 in 22% of his starts — and outside the top 30 in 12% of them. From 2023-2025, by comparison, only 12% of Elliott’s races have seen him finish outside the top 20, and 9% outside the top 30. Even as his week-to-week ceiling has appeared to lower, the floor on Elliott’s performances has seemed to rise, making him a model of consistency: He almost never suffers a bad day.

We can see this shift in Elliott’s strength as a driver by examining his rankings across various stats. Specifically, let’s look at three numbers: Average Finish, Average Driver Rating and my Adjusted Points+ Index (which assigns drivers exponentially more points for higher finishes, scaled to a Cup Series average of 100). The first of the three rewards consistency more, while giving less upside to winning — it treats the difference between first and fifth the same as between 21st and 25th. The second rewards consistent dominance throughout races, if not at the end of them in terms of finishes. And the third gives disproportionate rewards to high finishes, making minimal distinctions between finishes outside the top 20.

During Elliott’s heyday for winning races, he generally (though not always) tended to rank more highly in Driver Rating and Adjusted Points+ than Average Finish, indicating that he was dominating on his best days, even if his results were occasionally dragged down by bad luck or inconsistency. Starting in 2023, however, his rankings in Driver Rating and Adjusted Points+ began to dip well below his rank in Average Finish, where he was the No. 1 driver in the sport last season and ranks third this year — despite sitting fifth in Adjusted Points+ and ninth in Driver Rating:

Meanwhile, other Elliott indicators are trending toward less dominance as well. After going a combined 333-207 head-to-head (a 61.7% winning percentage) in races against his Hendrick Motorsports teammates from 2018-2022, he fell to 51-36 (58.6%) in 2023, 54-54 (50.0%) last season and is 12-18 (40.0%) this year. That’s tracking to be his first losing season head-to-head versus teammates since going 4-16 (20.0%) in a partial schedule driving the No. 25 car during his rookie Cup season of 2015 at age 19.

What are we supposed to make of all this? Certainly, the change in risk/reward balance hasn’t left Elliott’s standings placement any worse for ware. Again, he sits comfortably in fourth place, trailing only a couple of teammates — William Byron and Kyle Larson — plus Denny Hamlin. And he will be a threat to win at plenty of locations coming up on the Cup calendar: He ranks No. 7 this weekend in projected Driver Rating according to my track-scouting system, which ought to also correlate with good projections at similar tracks in Kansas, Charlotte and Michigan. Then comes a stretch with three road courses in five races, a theoretical bonus for a driver who at one time was known as the best regular road-racer in NASCAR.

But while piling up solid points days is good in and of itself, especially during the regular season (when the standings reward a steady hand at the wheel), Elliott’s championship potential will probably ride on whether he can consistently find that winning gear again — a surprising turn of events for a driver who made victories look routine just a few years ago.

Posted on April 30, 2025 by Nate Ryan

Chase Elliott arrives at Texas Motor Speedway this weekend with an outlook that feels vaguely familiar while also vacillating between the varied emotions that have defined his season.

NASCAR’s seven-time most popular driver is mired in a 37-race winless streak in points events that is the second-longest of his career. The longest was the 42-race drought he snapped in the April 14, 2024 race at Texas by hanging on for a victory through two overtimes.

RELATED: Texas schedule | Chase Elliott gear

Asked whether he’s frustrated about returning to Texas in virtually the same position or encouraged about being the defending winner, Elliott smiled and said, “I guess both.”

“Well, the good news was it went well,” he said of the 19th career victory that wound up being his only win in 2024. “The bad news was it was 12 months ago. A lot changes in a year, and things that we are working on behind the scenes, whether a setup path or a race strategy path or whatever it is, that is going to outweigh something that went on 12 months ago.

“It’s hard to reflect that far back and think that, ‘Oh, we’ll just do what we did last year,’ and that’s going to be perfect because most of the time that’s not the case. … The lessons that we’ve learned lately are likely more applicable than those 12-plus months ago.”

Indeed, car setups and track conditions rarely stay constant enough for past results to be an accurate predictor of future success. But Elliott has remained remarkably consistent despite being absent from Victory Lane.

He is the only driver to have finished in the top 20 of the first 10 races, and he’s fourth in points despite having no stage wins. Assessing his 2025 results, the Hendrick Motorsports star sees the glass as both half-full and half-empty.

“I’m somewhat happy,” the 2020 Cup champion said. “No different than anyone else on our team. We want more. I think we’re capable of more. And we just have high expectations. We are proud of those good runs that we’ve had, but we know that there’s more in the tank. The season’s still very early, and I’ve seen enough high spots to kind of give me hope.”

Elliott does have a checkered flag, having dominated The Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium in early February. Since winning the exhibition season opener, the highlights were fourths at Circuit of The Americas and Martinsville (where he led a race-high 42 laps). An eighth at Darlington was “a good step in the right direction.”

But the team’s less heralded performances have him nearly as optimistic. In the season’s first three points races at Daytona, Atlanta and COTA, the No. 9 team worked feverishly to repair damage from incidents and salvage a result.

“Our team does a really good job of just trying to piece stuff together,” Elliott said. “It just comes down to those guys being prepared on pit road for toe-link changes or needing to patch together body pieces. A lot of that stuff comes from, from their preparation and hard work throughout the week to just make sure that they’re ready for those types of circumstances that can be thrown at them. So that is the only reason why we didn’t finish outside the top 20 at those races. It’d be great to pair that with some really good results and race wins.”

Texas should be a good opportunity. Elliott’s breakthrough Xfinity Series victory came at the track as a rookie on the way to a 2014 championship. That was among the earliest of several memorable moments with sponsor NAPA, and his No. 9 will carry a special paint scheme at Texas to honor the company’s 100th anniversary.

“Everyone knows they’ve been a huge piece of my career and a vital piece of the puzzle to my career even becoming a career,” Elliott said. “I really can’t say enough about them and what they’ve done for me and my family and everyone at Hendrick Motorsports as well. I think we’ve all kind of become a part of one another’s families over the years, and it’s been a really nice and natural fit. It wouldn’t even feel right to go race without them at this point.”

Posted on April 30, 2025December 10, 2025 by Zach Sturniolo

ARLINGTON, Va. — Few race wins carry the honor and prestige the Coca-Cola 600 provides. Christopher Bell learned that firsthand Wednesday.

Eleven months after winning the 2024 iteration of the NASCAR Cup Series’ Memorial Day Weekend staple at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Bell ventured to Arlington National Cemetery to partake in a sobering wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Bell’s grandfather served in World War II, and his uncle served in the Vietnam War. Bell had never visited the cemetery himself, but received advice from his father, David, who had.

“He’s been here several times,” Bell said, “and he told me that you don’t understand what privilege you’re gonna have to be able to participate in the wreath ceremony, witness the changing of the guards. He tried to explain to me the precision of the guards and how disciplined they are, but it really can’t be put into words.

“It puts things in perspective. It makes you understand that there are much bigger things in this world. Just special to me.”

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Arrival to the expansive grounds immediately signals the gravity of the landscape, where more than 400,000 fallen Americans who served their country lay at rest. According to its website, between 27 and 30 funerals are conducted per day across its sweeping 639 acres. The weight of the visit was not lost on Bell, the defending winner of the Memorial Day feature race.

“It reminds you that it is a memorial day,” he said. “All of these people here have paid the price and given us the freedom that we have in the United States of America. I think it becomes easy for Memorial Day to turn into a holiday and celebrating it for the wrong reasons. Coming here, visiting Arlington, is just a reminder that we have a Memorial Day for a reason, and we have this amazing country for a reason, and it just makes you thankful and puts everything in perspective.

“It just hits hard whenever you see how many people are here and how many people have paid the ultimate price for us to live in the country that we live in and to have the freedoms we have. It’s the greatest nation in the world, and this is a friendly reminder that freedom isn’t free.”

Zach Sturniolo | NASCAR Digital Media

Bell’s day at Arlington began just outside the Memorial Amphitheater, where he and wife Morgan were introduced to Col. Mike Binetti, Chief of Staff of the Arlington National Cemetery. Their first stop was at the headstone of First Lieutenant Audie L. Murphy, a World War II veteran recognized as the most decorated combat soldier of the second World War.

The Bells, joined by Joe Gibbs Racing team president Dave Alpern and Speedway Motorsports Chief Operations Officer Mike Burch, were later escorted to the Tomb of the Unknown Solider, where Bell and Burch received instructions for the laying of the wreath inside the Memorial Amphitheater’s artifacts room. At 11 a.m. ET, clock bells rang to signal the changing of the guard, which the Bells, Burch and Alpern watched from the steps leading down to tomb. The wreath was placed seamlessly before Burch and Bell stepped away, and the somber silence was soon replaced by an equally solemn playing of “Taps.”

“It was nerve-wracking, just to try and match the guards’ precision,” Bell said. “And I didn’t do it. I didn’t. I don’t think anybody can. But you want to pay respect and be the most precise and disciplined person you can be. It was just impressive. It was very impressive to see the guards and see their discipline. It hits hard. It really does.”

Upon conclusion of the ceremony, Bell and Co. were directed back inside the artifacts room and debriefed, asking more questions about the guards, their precision, their 21-step march and more. Now in their summer hours, the guards change shifts every 30 minutes. The sweltering heat, however, can make that feel far hotter.

Suddenly, there was a friendly snapback to reality, though. Sgt. 1st Class Jesse Zafft, who in July will move from funeral grounds to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier as Sergeant of the Guard, is an avid NASCAR fan originally from South Dakota. After long discussions about the ceremonies and history of the tomb, Zafft took his opportunity to ask Bell: “You give Denny any crap about Talladega?”

Bell laughed and took that chance to introduce Zafft to Alpern as the team president, joking that he gave Hamlin a slap on the wrist after a bump from the No. 11 car spun Bell into the inside wall after a Stage 1 restart last Sunday at Talladega.

“That was really cool that he watched the race,” Bell said with a smile. “It was a good lighthearted moment after — it’s hard to be lighthearted here in the Arlington Cemetery. So that was cool.”

Bell became the fifth defending winner of the Coke 600 to have the honor of visiting the cemetery and laying the wreath, joining past winners Brad Keselowski, Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin and Ryan Blaney. Though there are some four weeks before the series returns to the 1.5-mile Charlotte track, Bell already has a repeat trip to Victory Lane in mind for Sunday, May 25 (6 p.m. ET, Prime Video, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

“There’s no place I’d rather be than Charlotte Motor Speedway on Memorial Day Weekend,” Bell said. “It’s not just another event. They make it special, and it is truly one of the best and (most) special events of the year. Charlotte Motor Speedway on Memorial Day weekend, it’s second to none. It’s a dream come true that I even get to participate in that event, let alone win. It’s a big deal.”