DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Sept. 26, 2024) — NASCAR named Ticketmaster its official ticketing partner in a move that complements Ticketmaster’s longtime partnership with Speedway Motorsports and further unifies ticketing for fans of the sport. Ticketmaster was chosen as the official ticketing partner following a thorough RFP process.
The partnership will make it easier than ever for fans to discover, purchase and enjoy NASCAR events at facilities nationwide, beginning with the 2025 racing season.
“We partnered with Ticketmaster as our new ticketing solution based on their advanced capabilities, deep industry insights, and proven best ticketing practices in sports. Their expertise will be key in consolidating all NASCAR-owned race events onto one efficient and accessible platform, improving our overall operations,” said Kari Gritton, NASCAR’s Senior Vice President of Consumer Strategy. “We’re thrilled to join forces with Ticketmaster to deliver a consistent and user-friendly purchasing experience that our fans expect.”
Fans will now be able to discover upcoming racing events on TikTok and Snapchat using Ticketmaster’s wide distribution network. The new and improved NASCAR Tracks App will fully integrate with Ticketmaster Ignite, giving fans seamless ticket management at their fingertips. With native ticket discovery, SafeTix entry, and other fan-friendly features, the Ignite platform leverages Ticketmaster technology to provide an engaging app experience from purchase through race day. The NASCAR Tracks App will be the single fan source for ticket and event-related information when attending NASCAR races.
Ticketmaster’s SafeTix, Smart Queue and other industry-leading tools, along with new solutions tailored for NASCAR and Speedway Motorsports, will simplify entry, enhance security and drive growth in data management, pricing, marketing and distribution.
“Our longstanding partnership with Ticketmaster has provided efficiency and consistency through the purchase process as well as the operational excellence to serve our fans on race day,” said Speedway Motorsports Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer Kevin Camper. “Ticketmaster is best in class for sports and entertainment, and our fans will continue to benefit from the ticketing industry’s best technology and service team.”
“NASCAR and Speedway Motorsports have the vision to build a frictionless fan experience, and we’re the right partner to help them achieve that goal,” said Marla Ostroff, Ticketmaster’s Managing Director of North America. “The technologies, services and consultancy we provide are designed to empower our partners to refine their operations from A to Z — all with zero compromises to the fan experience.”
Tickets for 2024 Speedway Motorsports events and select 2025 races are on sale now through Ticketmaster. Select tickets for 2025 NASCAR-owned events will go on sale on Ticketmaster by the end of the year.
Layne Riggs stunned the entire Craftsman Truck Series garage when he took over the final 53 laps of the opening Round of 10 race at The Milwaukee Mile to claim his breakthrough win in NASCAR national series competition by 1.547 seconds.
Yet the driver of the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford wasn’t content with just one triumph. Riggs set his sights on the very next event at Bristol, where he dominated the final stage, led 80 laps and again left title contenders to battle for second.
The 2024 season hasn’t been without its struggles for the Bahama, North Carolina, native, with parts failures and incidents plaguing much of the rookie’s season. Still, Riggs and Co. maintained their confidence and continued learning and working on the chemistry needed to push into Victory Lane.
“We’ve run good at the majority of races all year,” Riggs said Wednesday in a teleconference with NASCAR.com. “Just had a lot of bad luck, parts failures, getting into incidents with people, and it just hadn’t really been a full circle, completed race yet. And, you know, we finally got to the point we’re in fifth at IRP, was solid fifth at Richmond. I think we should have finished second or third, honestly, and then just come out of the box at Milwaukee, and we were just better than everybody.
“It’s good confidence to do that and just carry that over. We had a whole month to think about it and dwindle on it, and then, you know, come out at Bristol again with a great truck. I told Dylan (Cappello) we had a better truck than I had at Milwaukee. And, you know, just went out there and showed everybody why we were fast and why we won the race.”
Along with a rookie driver in Riggs, the Front Row Motorsports truck team experienced a lot of changes during the offseason, most notably with a change on top of the pit box with lead engineer Dylan Cappello called up to the crew chief role to start the 2024 season opener at Daytona.
Cappello, a short-track racer himself, knew the challenges and growing pains that would be ahead of the team and ultimately used those challenges as motivation to get the No. 38 back to winning form.
“I think just building that confidence,” Cappello said. “You know, to work with Layne, we’ve had a lot of changes here at Front Row as far as the truck side goes, like rebuilding our processes, how we’re putting these trucks together, and just trying to, piece by piece, make stuff better. I feel like every time we’ve put a truck together this year, we’ve made it a little bit better in some aspects.
“So just focusing on the future right now, and trying to close out the season and really just ride this wave that we’ve kind of created the past couple races.”
Alex Bialek | For NASCAR.com
The wave Cappello mentioned is felt by the four-year Truck Series team and the entire shop of Front Row Motorsports as each team looks to close out the 2024 campaign with strong runs.
“I think it’s been huge for everybody at Front Row,” Cappello told NASCAR.com. “We got back from Milwaukee and everybody was super happy for us and it was like ‘alright, you gotta go out and prove that, that it wasn’t a fluke’ and try and go run good. That was our goal; we wanted to prove that it wasn’t. We didn’t luck in anything. We didn’t just hit on something on accident; you know, I think we proved that at Bristol.”
With Kansas quickly approaching, the 22-year-old Riggs is heading into the weekend with excitement and contentment in playing the “spoiler” for his fellow competitors who are vying for the championship glory, choosing to focus on building more for next year rather than disappointment in not making the playoffs.
“I guess we got hot at the wrong time,” Riggs said while smiling. “Would have been nice if we did this a race or two before. I’d rather be winning races and not be in the playoffs than points racing, running third to fifth every weekend and making my way around. You know, of course, I wish we were. I feel like right now we’d be the championship favorite with, you know, a track like Milwaukee, we won at, which is really similar to Phoenix. I think that we would have been really hard to beat. So it is disappointing in that aspect. I’m just ready to go swinging and keep trying to win all I can and play spoiler. And I really enjoy playing that role. I feel like I can be more offensive on the race track.
“I think that the best way to describe it’s just, you know, offseason shenanigans with contracts and sponsorship and just trying to figure everything out. But I think to describe it best, it’d be really hard to split apart what we got going on right now from any aspect. So, yeah, fully confident we’ll be running the truck next year, and everything will be just like it is right now.”
Prior to 2023, Landon Huffman had never attempted a ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at Martinsville Speedway.
He was only a few inches away from winning in his debut appearance.
Narrowly missing out on a grandfather clock to Trevor Ward last year remains a bitter memory for the short track veteran. Despite this, the speed Huffman showed all weekend at Martinsville last year has provided extra motivation as he prepares to make another run at a ValleyStar Credit Union 300 trophy.
“I try to forget about it,” Huffman said. “I was pretty down on myself after that. To be leading with less than 10 laps to go and not come away with a clock is tough, but with the way I’ve grown up racing and the equipment I’ve owned myself, to make that race is special. I’m proud of how I raced but obviously still dejected to not come out of there with a clock.”
Although Huffman has developed a reputation as one of the most recognizable Late Model Stock competitors from the southeast, a lack of funding always prevented him from making a trip to Martinsville in early fall.
The status quo was initially going to remain in place for Huffman in 2023. He was focused on keeping his own program competitive at tracks like Hickory Motor Speedway and Tri-County Motor Speedway, all while occasionally making appearances with the CARS Tour’s Late Model Stock division.
Huffman’s outlook on the season changed when he got a call from Nelson Motorsports owner Barry Nelson.
Failing to qualify for the CARS Tour race at Hickory fewer than two years after winning a series championship required Nelson to regroup so his team could stay competitive. Nelson contacted Huffman about conducting a test to see what improvements were necessary.
By the next CARS Tour event at Ace Speedway, Huffman was the driver for Nelson’s No. 22 Toyota. Just over three months later, Huffman had secured a $30,000 paycheck with a victory at Tri-County.
The rapid ascent of Nelson’s program back to the top of the CARS Tour pedestal with Huffman behind the wheel was a methodical process that required everyone to build cohesion with one another. Most of Nelson’s crew members were new to the program, including crew chief Matthew Eshleman, who came from the West Coast.
Patience, along with Nelson switching over to a Forrest Reynolds chassis, provided Huffman everything he needed to start competing for victories on a regular basis.
“I’m not the smartest guy by any means, but I have been driving these cars for a while,” Huffman said. “I was able to come in and help [everyone] find their footing. It was a new situation for me, as well, but all that played a factor in us building a notebook and making the race cars better.”
Improvements over the season with Nelson Motorsports made Landon Huffman (22) a contender in the 2023 ValleyStar Credit Union 300. (Photo: Susan Wong/NASCAR)
Prevailing at Tri-County against many stellar Late Model Stock competitors galvanized Huffman, Nelson and the rest of the team. If they could win one big money event together, Huffman knew a ValleyStar Credit Union 300 victory was more than feasible.
With how unpredictable Late Model Stock races at Martinsville can be — from the qualifying races all the way to the checkered flag — Huffman entered the weekend expecting a grind. He added that possessing raw speed alone is usually never enough to win the ValleyStar Credit Union 300; luck is often needed, as well.
Huffman had both speed and luck on his side when it came time to decide who would claim a grandfather clock, albeit in intervals. He posted the second fastest lap of 84 cars in time trials at 19.768 seconds, but he felt his car lacked consistent long-run speed through his respective heat and the main event.
Adjustments at the halfway break helped Huffman maintain track position inside the top five as night descended upon Martinsville. When the second competition caution came out with 25 laps to go, Huffman was in contention alongside Ward, Peyton Sellers and Carson Kvapil.
Contact between Ward and Sellers on the last restart of the night provided Huffman an opening he needed to make a run at the lead. Starting inside on the second row, Huffman moved Ward up the track in Turn 1 to power his way to the front, but he knew efficient defense would be imperative to hold off the faster car of Ward.
The two engaged in an intense battle for the win that nearly culminated with both crashing on the frontstretch coming to the white flag. Huffman did everything in his power to keep Ward in second place but was denied a ValleyStar Credit Union 300 victory by only a slim margin.
Huffman found some solace in delivering Nelson his best performance at Martinsville since Timothy Peters won in 2017, but he still came away from the event heartbroken about coming so close to a win. He particularly wanted to celebrate the milestone with his father Robert Huffman, who won five championships in the NASCAR Goody’s Dash Series.
“Having an opportunity to win a big race like that would have been really cool for my family,” Huffman said. “There’s a lot of things my dad has done in racing that I haven’t done, and I’ve always tried to be half the racer my dad was. [A ValleyStar Credit Union 300 win] was something he never achieved, so it would have been cool to see him in that environment.
“He’s always proud, and I was proud of the run. I just need to be one spot better this year.”
For Huffman to replicate his success from last year’s ValleyStar Credit Union 300, he will need to do so with a different organization. He is set to pilot the No. 57 Chevrolet for his friend Justin Carroll, a veteran short-track competitor who has four top 10s in five ValleyStar Credit Union 300 appearances.
Like with Nelson, Huffman has started to see gradual improvement in Carroll’s cars since joining the operation after the CARS Tour’s second event at Hickory this year. With fellow veteran Brandon Pierce as a teammate, Huffman believes everything is lining up for him to have another solid performance at Martinsville.
“I’m confident in their race cars and their knowledge,” Huffman said. “When I first got into Justin’s cars, I actually ran a little bit better compared to the Nelson cars. It’s later in the year, and I don’t have that full season to develop and help them get everything on track, but I do think we’re close.
“It’s a wild race and a lot could happen, but hopefully we can prove we belong up there just like I did last year.”
Now partnered with Justin Carroll, Landon Huffman believes he can deliver another strong performance in this year’s ValleyStar Credit Union 300. (Photo: Adam Fenwick/NASCAR)
Everything Huffman experienced over the past couple years has made him grateful just to make another trip to Martinsville with a realistic chance of winning.
There was a time when Huffman was unsure if he would even be able to chase a grandfather clock in the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 due to his own budget constraints. Now he’s returning to Martinsville as the defending runner-up in Late Model Stock racing’s most prestigious event.
Huffman is prepared to go all-in at Martinsville and join an elite list of winners that includes NASCAR Cup Series drivers like Josh Berry and Mark Martin. A victory on Saturday would be cathartic for Huffman in many regards, but it would also serve as validation for the sacrifices he made to obtain that accomplishment.
“Tri-County was probably the biggest racing moment of my career,” Huffman said. “Martinsville would outweigh that, especially with the year I’ve had. I’ve rebounded at the weekly level, but the first half of the year was incredibly taxing on myself and my family. You go from a high [with Nelson] to being on the bottom of the totem getting beat in the dirt every week.
“If we came out on top at Martinsville after all that, it would surpass the [$30,000] win at Tri-County by a longshot.”
Several great Late Model Stock drivers have gone their whole careers without winning a ValleyStar Credit Union 300. If everything goes according to plan Saturday, Huffman could bring home a grandfather clock in only his second Martinsville appearance.
1. Larson puts on a show once again — what can’t he do?
Kyle Larson finds a way to up the ante in yet another race, in a class of his own that we haven’t seen since a former fellow Hendrick Motorsports driver.
This past Saturday night under the lights at Bristol Motor Speedway, we witnessed perhaps the biggest butt-whoopin’ yet to be laid down this decade.
And as the series shifts to the Round of 12 this weekend with a return to Kansas Speedway, we’re reminded of what happened there during the spring visit, a little thing you might’ve heard about — the literal closest finish in NASCAR Cup Series history.
Naturally, it was the same driver, Kyle Larson, emerging victoriously in each.
What can’t this guy do?
Dominance can be a rare and fleeting thing in this sport, with several drivers flirting with it over the past couple of decades — names like Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth, Joey Logano and Martin Truex Jr. — but none quite knocking on the door of the Jimmie Johnson echelon, effortlessly established by the laid-back Californian during an unprecedented run of five straight titles from 2006-10.
Must be a California thing because no driver has felt as close to joining “Seven-Time” among NASCAR’s all-time greats the way the 32-year-old Elk Grove native currently does, and we’re likely still looking at a decade-plus of Larson racing at the sport’s highest level. But it’s also possible that he, himself, has not reached his highest level yet, which is about as disheartening for his competitors as the fact that he spotted the field an entire race and still only lost this year’s Regular Season Championship by a single point.
No. 5’s Bristol drubbing immediately brought to mind Truex’s dominant 2016 Coca-Cola 600 when he led 392 of 400 laps in NASCAR’s longest race. It’s possible Larson’s performance — particularly given the unknowns of the tire going into the race and the expected unpredictability, which he obliterated almost immediately — was even more impressive.
Larson’s 1.108 average running position at Bristol is the best in any race by any driver since October 2019, with his worst position under green being third place. After an uneven first two races to start the round, elimination was on the table for Larson at Bristol — that seems laughable to think about now, as it now seems a foregone conclusion he’ll ride this momentum all the way to Phoenix.
The 2021 champ’s Bristol beatdown is a continuation of a career defined by versatility, skill and pushing his machine to its limit — and beyond — while still keeping it (mostly) under control better than anybody else. From dirt tracks to speedways, short tracks to road courses, Larson has proven time and again that he can win anywhere, in any conditions.
With his Bristol win, Larson is now tied for the sixth-most playoff wins of all time, which is notable because the man he tied — MTJ — got nearly a decade-long head start on No. 5, making his first playoff appearance in 2007 to Larson’s postseason debut in 2016.
As we look ahead to the rest of the 2024 season, there just isn’t a case — at the moment, at least — for any driver other than Larson as the favorite for the championship. History is on his side, too. Only once has a driver seeded in the top three entering the Round of 12 failed to advance to the Round of 8 (though, it’s worth noting — it was him). Assuming he scoots through to that round, it shapes up as his best in the playoffs with wins at every track and those particular venues falling right into his general wheelhouse.
So, what can’t Kyle Larson do? At this point, it’s hard to say. He’s proven himself on every type of track, in multiple racing disciplines and against the best competition in the world. He’s broken records and won a championship. He isn’t just winning races; he’s redefining what’s possible in a race car. Whether he’ll admit it, his Bristol performance wasn’t just a victory; it was a statement. It was Larson at his best, doing what he does better than anyone else — putting on a show and making it look easy. Just like Johnson.
After Bristol, he’s left us all wondering absolutely nothing about his talent except just how high his ceiling might be.
And if there even is one.
Sean Gardner | Getty Images
2. Good luck catching your breath — the Round of 12 could be even wilder
Grab your popcorn and maybe an oxygen tank because the Round of 12 is about to take your breath away and leave you gasping for more.
You know, we might owe Larson a bit of a thank you because the precedent for chaos and intensity set by the opening two races of the playoffs probably would’ve given us heart palpitations by Phoenix Raceway if it continued at Bristol and beyond.
Instead, it was almost soothing watching Larson tick off laps with calculated precision, settling things down a bit before they ramp up in a major way once again this weekend.
Kansas Speedway kicks off this crucial Round of 12, and if recent history is any indication, we could be looking at non-stop action right down to the last inch before the winner crosses the start/finish line — literally. The 1.5-mile Midwestern track has become a hotbed of last-lap drama and photo finishes in the Next Gen era, quickly turning into a favorite among drivers and an absolute can’t-miss show among fans. You’re going to hear non-stop about the finish from May this week, but don’t forget that the May 2023 race saw a record-shattering 37 lead changes — the most in a 400-mile race on a 1.5-mile track in Cup Series history.
Then again, it feels fairly certain that there’s one thing we can expect this weekend: That guy who just stomped the field is going to be the man to beat once again.
Larson has been absolutely dominant on 1.5-mile tracks this year, winning half of them while just adding to his overall excellence — the Hendrick Motorsports ace has twice as many wins on these tracks in the Next Gen era as any other driver. He boasts six straight top 10s at Kansas and a blistering 5.29 average finish there in Hendrick equipment. Larson could easily go from potential playoff elimination status heading into Bristol to the first driver prepping for how he’ll tackle the Round of 8 in the span of two weeks.
But don’t count out friendly rival Denny Hamlin, who came alive in Tennessee after a befuddling start to the postseason. After a roller coaster open to the playoffs (with average running positions of 30.8 and 32.2 in the first two races), Hamlin roared back at Bristol with a 4.6 average running position to advance out of what was likely his most difficult round.
This could be where he starts to reassert his 2024 dominance — No. 11 has more Kansas wins than anyone else in the field and has finished in the top five in his last six starts there. If there’s anyone who can challenge Larson’s supremacy, it’s Hamlin.
That said, every remaining playoff driver is likely looking at Kansas as the place to capitalize this round. Not only does a win there allow for extra Round of 8 prep but the last two races of the round also offer significantly more — on paper, at least — volatility, being the largest track we go to (the 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway) and the only road-course/oval of the season (Charlotte Motor Speedway’s road course).
Every competitor will likely be on the ball this weekend, and we shouldn’t hand the Kansas trophy and coveted Round of 8 spot to Larson or Hamlin just yet. In the stages era, four of the seven winners of the first Round of 12 race were ranked eighth or worse in the standings coming in. And while 95% of drivers seeded in the top three have historically advanced out of this round, there’s always that chance for an upset — just ask Larson, himself, about 2017.
The stage is set for three weeks of heart-pounding action (there we go with the palpitations again), and with Talladega and the Roval looming after Kansas, drivers know they can’t afford a misstep.
Perhaps the chaos of the Round of 16 — which saw two past champions eliminated and the fewest points ever scored by playoff drivers — was just the appetizer.
In this clip from Corey LaJoie’s ‘Stacking Pennies’ podcast, LaJoie relives how he found out he was driving the final seven races for Rick Ware Racing.
4. How many points do you traditionally need to advance to the Round of 8?
Keep an eye on the standings as the Round of 12 rolls on — as drivers approach these numbers, their chances improve to move on.
Season
Driver
Points
To Bubble
2023
Martin Truex Jr.
3,102
+12
2022
Kyle Larson
3,101
+7
2021
Martin Truex Jr.
3,113
+25
2020
Kurt Busch
3,081
+10
2019
Kyle Larson
3,092
+4
2018
Clint Bowyer/Ku. Busch/Chase Elliott
3,114
+6
2017
Jimmie Johnson
3,106
+9
5. Catch the pack — news and notes from around the garage
The opportunity to drive for a Late Model Stock competitor like Pulliam is one Pembelton does not intend to waste. He considers himself fortunate to be considered by both Pulliam and Toyota for the No. 55 seat, which is why he is ready to get to work on securing another Martinsville checkered flag.
“When we were at North Wilkesboro in August, [Pulliam] approached me and my dad and gave us an offer Toyota had offered him,” Pembelton said. “Lee had been watching me for a couple of years, but I’ve known Lee for all my life. He threw my name out there to them, and Toyota was all good with it.”
Landon Pembleton (left) celebrates with Layne Riggs (right) after winning the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 in 2021. (Photo: Veasey Conway/NASCAR)
Looking back on his triumph from 2021, Pembelton is still in disbelief over how he pulled off the victory, as his initial plan was to just make the race and fight for a top 10. A second-place finish in his heat race put Pembelton eighth on the starting grid for the 40-car field. He managed to keep solid track position for most of the opening laps, but a decision to take tires sooner than most of his competition on Lap 75 proved to be a crucial turning point.
With everyone else putting on fresh rubber at Lap 150, Pembelton cycled to the front of the field and fended off a charge from 2016 ValleyStar Credit Union 300 winner Mike Looney for the most prestigious victory of his career.
Some of the notables Pembelton bested for a grandfather clock that evening included Layne Riggs, Corey Heim, Connor Hall, Brenden Queen, Kaden Honeycutt and Bubba Pollard, among others.
One of the only regrets Pembelton has from his first Martinsville victory is not fully appreciating the context and significance of being the youngest winner in ValleyStar Credit Union 300 history at 16 years old. Now that he is older and wiser, Pembelton intends to cherish a second Martinsville win if everything lines up in his favor.
“I honestly still don’t remember much of what happened that night just from being phased out from not really understanding the moment,” Pembelton said. “I really want to secure another clock and redefine that first one, just to understand what it feels like to have that big accomplishment under my hat.”
Among those who witnessed Pembelton pull his No. 0 Solid Rock Carriers Toyota into Victory Lane at Martinsville in 2021 was Pulliam, who had fully transitioned into being an owner in Late Model Stocks after previously winning the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 twice.
Unlike many others in attendance, Pulliam expected Pembelton to be a contender.
“I had seen [Pembelton] race in person at South Boston and knew he had fast cars,” Pulliam said. “He always seemed to find his way to the front in races, so it wasn’t a complete shock for me. He raced at one of the toughest tracks in the southeast.
“Anybody that can run up front at South Boston is very capable of going to Victory Lane at Martinsville.”
Landon Pembelton’s success at South Boston Speedway is why Lee Pulliam was not surprised to see him win the 2021 ValleyStar Credit Union 300. (Photo: Joe Chandler/South Boston Speedway)
The victory at Martinsville gave Pembelton an opportunity to showcase his natural driving ability on a national level. He joined Venturini Motorsports’ ARCA Menards Series program as a Toyota development driver for the 2022 season, competing sporadically at different short tracks across the United States.
Pembelton never recorded a finish outside the top 10 with Venturini and believed he could have improved the following year if the proper funding materialized. Despite this, Pembelton enjoyed his time in the ARCA Menards Series and hopes to race on the platform again one day.
“It was a blast with those guys,” Pembelton said. “When we’d show up to the track, we’d do some [simulator] stuff, but we only got 30 minutes of practice and then went straight into qualifying. I feel like if I went back and did it all over again, we’d be so much better, because I feel like I’m a better race car driver today than I was two years ago, for sure.”
Nearly two years after his last ARCA Menards Series race with Venturini, Pembelton is back in a Toyota-funded seat for the Late Model Stock equivalent to the Daytona 500. With Pulliam’s experience at Martinsville also at his disposal, Pembelton is confident he will have one of the best cars for this year’s ValleyStar Credit Union 300.
The track record Pulliam has amassed at Martinsville includes two victories, in 2011 and 2014, both of which came on passes within the last two laps. In 10 total ValleyStar Credit Union 300 appearances, Pulliam finished outside the top five on just two occasions.
Pembelton is grateful to have been mentored by both Pulliam and Philip Morris, a three-time ValleyStar Credit Union 300 champion. He plans to put the advice of the two Late Model Stock legends to good use in his pursuit of a stellar Martinsville weekend for Lee Pulliam Performance.
“[Pulliam] is really looking forward to having a solid run,” Pembelton said. “We want to have a one-two finish of course, and it’s not going to matter if I’m first or if he’s first. I feel like he’s going to bring the race car to do this for sure.
“He’s a very hands-on, active worker, and it shows on the track how much effort he puts into bringing great cars to the track every week.”
Landon Pembelton’s car owner for the Martinsville race, Lee Pulliam is one of the best in ValleyStar Credit Union 300 history with two victories and eight top fives.(Photo: Sara D. Davis/Getty Images)
While Pulliam would love to obtain his third ValleyStar Credit Union 300 victory this year, his primary focus is working closely with Pembelton so he can listen to feedback and provide everything necessary to make him comfortable inside the car.
Pulliam believes Pembelton gives him a great chance to win the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 as an owner for the first time. The turnaround to get everything ready is a quick one, but Pulliam knows everyone on the team is going to come together to ensure Pembelton can compete for another grandfather clock.
“We’ve come close as an owner with Corey Heim,” Pulliam said. “If Landon crosses the finish line first, there aren’t going to be many people there happier than me, for sure. His dad might be one of the few, but it would be a cool experience. I’ve got a lot of faith he can get the job done, because he’s one of the more talented young drivers out there.
“I wouldn’t bet against him if I was a betting man.”
A lot has changed in Pembelton’s life since the last time he visited Victory Lane at Martinsville. Instead of being a relative unknown, Pembelton now finds himself as a ValleyStar Credit Union 300 favorite with backing from a major manufacturer.
Despite the momentum on his side, Pembelton is going into Martinsville with the same mindset he possessed in 2021: Just make the show and complete all the laps.
“I’d be very ecstatic if we could come away with a top 10 or a top five,” Pembelton said. “The opportunity itself all together [is amazing], so I want to make the most of it by making sure we don’t tear anything up and we’re very consistent. We want to have a good run and chase a clock at the same time while doing it.”
A conservative-but-methodical strategy helped Pembelton add his name to a prestigious list of ValleyStar Credit Union 300 winners before the age of 18. Only a handful have won the crown jewel race more than once, but Pembelton is in a perfect position to add onto his own Martinsville legacy and Pulliam’s once Sept. 28 arrives.
One year after winning the 2023 Xfinity Series Regular Season Championship, Austin Hill isn’t entering the 2024 Xfinity Series Playoffs with as much momentum. He finished fourth in the regular-season standings, with all three of his victories coming at drafting-style tracks.
Opening the campaign with consecutive wins at Daytona International Speedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway, Hill took advantage of the No. 21 team’s primary strength: superspeedway racing. He swept the Atlanta leg, winning at his home track again with three races remaining in the regular season.
Based on Hill’s regular season performance, he enters the playoffs as the No. 3 seed, trailing only Justin Allgaier and regular season champion Cole Custer. Hill’s 25 playoff points give him an 18-point buffer to the elimination line to begin the opening round.
“I probably wouldn’t say that we’re one of the favorites right now,” Hill told NASCAR.com ahead of his postseason run. “I don’t think people view us as a favorite just because a lot of people only view me as I can only get it done on superspeedways when it comes to the Xfinity Series.”
Hill won’t sugarcoat that the No. 21 team is a step off from the 2023 season. Two early-season victories enabled crew chief Andy Street to chase playoff points, which was a strategy spearheaded by Hill. That mindset flips this weekend at Kansas Speedway (Sat., 4 p.m. ET, The CW, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), with stage points being the focus.
“There are areas that we’ve done well at, but there are also areas where we’ve gotten better, but there is still room to be gained,” Hill said. “You are never pleased with where you’re at. You’re always trying to find more unless you’re winning every single race.
“We love where we are unloading and that we have speed off the truck, it’s just what can we do to keep that speed all race long and not start going backwards. Little things like that, if we can clean that stuff up going into the playoffs, we’re going to be strong.”
Sean Gardner | Getty Images
Through the first 26 races, Hill would give the No. 21 team a B-minus letter grade. Richard Childress Racing has made its short-track program better, an area that needed to improve, Hill explained.
“We’ve won three races — that’s been great — but we want more,” Hill stated. “We’re not satisfied with where we’re at. If I sat here and told you we were an A-plus, that means there’s no room to grow and there is a lot of room for us to grow.
“On the flip side, even though I said we’re a B-minus, I think we’re a really strong race team.”
Street has a similar assessment to the team’s regular season.
“Our regular season didn’t go as planned for sure,” he said. “Looking at last year’s regular season, we were fortunate enough not to be involved in as many accidents and didn’t have as many DNFs as we’ve had this year. I think the performance of the team, in general, has been good. We’ve had a few races where we haven’t been our best, but I feel like the tracks that we’ve been to and showed up with speed, we’ve been a solid top-five car, putting ourselves in a chance to win the race.”
The Round of 12 is filled with tracks that suit Hill. In three starts at Kansas, he has a pair of top-five finishes and has won at the 1.5-mile oval in the Truck Series (2020). Talladega Superspeedway is the middle race, and while he has dominated multiple races at the 2.66-mile facility in the past, he’s still looking for his first victory. The round concludes with the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course, and while the 17-turn layout isn’t his best, the No. 21 team is often competitive when turning left and right.
The point of emphasis in the opening round is to have a clean Talladega.
“If we get out of Talladega unscathed, we’re going to be looking really well for when we go to the Roval,” Hill said.
The first two Round of 8 venues bode well for Hill, as well. He has won at both Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway, but Martinsville Speedway has been among his biggest challenges during the postseason, no matter the series. Last year, it was a catastrophe for RCR when Hill and his former teammate Sheldon Creed took each other out while battling for the lead in the waning laps.
Hill believes RCR has improved at Martinsville, but it’s the track that’s taken him out of the playoffs more times than not.
“Martinsville has been the Achilles’ heel for me,” Hill admitted. “It’s been one of those race tracks where there’s times when I’ve had speed and run up front, but there is something about when it’s in the playoffs, it hasn’t gone our way.
“My mindset going into that round — if I make it into that round — is to win at Vegas or Homestead and not have to worry about Martinsville. That’s the easiest thing to do, but it’s the hardest thing. I’m going to be extremely aggressive at Vegas and Homestead doing all we can to build as many points to go into Martinsville.”
With fifth- and sixth-place finishes in his first two seasons at the Xfinity level, Hill’s primary focus is to advance to the Championship 4 at Phoenix Raceway. Anything else is a bonus.
To advance to Phoenix, the No. 21 team will need to minimize its mistakes through the first six races and then a weight will be lifted off his shoulders to have a shot at adding to RCR’s title collection in the Xfinity Series.
“With as many years as it’s been of me getting into the Round of 8 — the last five years in trucks and Xfinity and not making it to that final four — my goal is to just make it to the final four,” Hill said. “From then on, at least it gives you a shot. You have a 25% chance of winning the championship after that.”
Sunoco rookie Jesse Love plans to phone a friend before the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs begin with Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway (4 p.m. ET on The CW, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
The friend? Fellow Richard Childress Racing driver Kyle Busch, who leads all active full-time NASCAR Cup Series drivers with 63 victories.
Before he joined RCR, Love didn’t know what to expect from his veteran elders like Busch, Austin Dillon and teammate Austin Hill, but he has found Busch in particular extremely accommodating in his willingness to pass on the knowledge he has gained over more than two decades.
Love already knows what a championship run is like. He won 10 of 20 races on the way to the ARCA Menards Series title last year. But he’s still an eager learner and a quick study.
“I still want to lean on some more people at RCR, especially Kyle,” Love said during Tuesday’s Playoff Media Day Zoom conference. “I want to give him a call in the next few days before we go to the first one (the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway), to (see if he can) give me a nugget or two to keep in the back of my head as we go through the playoffs.”
Busch already has been helpful to the 19-year-old from Menlo Park, California.
Jesse Love and Kyle Busch race side-by-side at Charlotte in May | Jared C. Tilton (Getty Images)
“There have been times when he’s called me to help me out on something,” Love said. “Before I was even Xfinity racing, we went and did that testing at COTA (Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas) in the WRL (World Racing League) series. He was really blunt and honest with me if I was doing something wrong.
“But I was really fast, and he was like, ‘Where are you missing it?’ I’m like, ‘What are you talking about — I’m really fast.’ And he was like, ‘Well, you’re two-tenths (of a second) off in this corner compared to me last year …
“After he said that, I had a confused look on my face, he brought data over and brought people to show me the data and explain it to me, and that’s kind of been our relationship this whole year.”
Friday night at Bristol Motor Speedway, Cole Custer got the miracle he was looking for and earned the NASCAR Xfinity Series Regular Season Championship with a win.
His next goal? Converting that into his second straight title in November at Phoenix Raceway before returning to the NASCAR Cup Series in 2025.
The 2023 Xfinity champion won this year’s regular-season crown after eliminating a 43-point deficit to Justin Allgaier, whose hopes were dashed after two incidents while running inside the top five plummeted him to a 30th-place finish, 10 laps down.
Custer has proven throughout his career he doesn’t need to rely on luck for success, emphasized in the Arizona desert 10 months ago. But the last two months have been feast or famine for the No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing team. In the eight races since and including Pocono Raceway on July 13, Custer has two wins, two runner-ups, a 21st-place result and three finishes of 30th or worse as results of DNFs.
“We’ve just got to keep doing what we’re doing,” Custer said Tuesday during a NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs Media Day teleconference. “And at the same time, just trying to stay clean. I feel like we’ve had really fast cars that can go run up front every weekend. We’ve just had a lot of stupid stuff happen the last month and a half. So Bristol was a race where we turned that all around, was able to have a really fast car and get a win. So hopefully, we can take that into the playoffs and have a good first round.”
There’s also more sentiment pushing the No. 00 team this year as Custer heads back to Cup to drive the No. 41 Ford with the rebranded Haas Factory Team in 2025, and Stewart-Haas Racing, as it’s known today, will cease to exist.
“I’m really excited about the Cup car next year and getting that opportunity again,” said Custer, who earned his first Cup win at Kentucky Speedway in 2020. “But these guys that I’ve raced with in the Xfinity Series with this 00 team has been unbelievable. So to get to do this with these guys and compete for another championship and just look back at the things we’ve accomplished really means a ton. So I can’t thank them enough and hopefully we can put this all together and end it out strong.”
Sheldon Creed hopes to turn runner-ups into title run
Ethan Smith | For NASAR Digital Media
Thirteen times. That’s how often Sheldon Creed has finished second in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, and yet the driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota is still searching for that elusive first win.
Perhaps, though, Friday’s runner-up to Cole Custer — whose No. 00 Ford will be piloted by Creed himself in 2025 — was Lucky No. 13. Creed, whose 13 second-place finishes are most in series history without a victory, also now has 13 top-five finishes this year — most of any driver this season. And a championship run is not out of the picture: Former JGR driver Daniel Hemric wheeled the No. 18 Toyota to an unlikely title in 2021 with a last-corner bump-and-run on Austin Cindric at Phoenix to score his first career win and claim the Xfinity title in one nudge.
“Obviously, Daniel and others have proved that you can point your way in there and then win the championship,” Creed said. “I think Matt Crafton did it [in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series] in 2019. So it is possible. You have to be really consistent, really good to do that, which I do think we have the consistency and speed as we’ve shown the last two, three months. So I don’t want to bank on that, I guess. Obviously, I want to be consistent these next seven races, but I would really love to win in this first round, win stages so our points are up, and would love to go win Vegas or Homestead and have an off weekend for Martinsville [in the Round of 8].”
Despite his strong results this year, Creed, the 2020 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion, still enters the Xfinity Series Playoffs three points beneath the provisional elimination line, the first driver on the outside looking in due in part to a significant lack of playoff points since the No. 18 Toyota won just a single stage this year.
“Yeah, we’ve won one stage,” Creed said, alluding to the single playoff point that provides him entering the postseason. “I think the 7 car [Justin Allgaier] has won 14. So that’s 14 points more that he’s starting with. So stages pay a lot. I think I finished fifth in regular-season points, and the similar cars in front of us just scored way more stage points than we did, and then we probably have more finishes better than them. So they just pay a lot, maybe too much, in some scenarios.
“So yeah, that’s definitely a main focus is stage wins and and top-five stage points to get to the next round. Like you said, we’re negative three, which is three spots in a stage. So it’s definitely doable. Everyone’s going to be good. We start with 12, so two guys aren’t going to point in the stages. So it’s going to be really important this first round to capitalize on that.”
Kligerman ready for one last championship chase
James Gilbert | Getty Images
Parker Kligerman announced Sept. 12 that he will step away from full-time NASCAR racing following the 2024 season, meaning the driver of the No. 48 Big Machine Racing Chevrolet has one final chance to earn a national series title and make this playoff appearance count.
Kligerman enters the postseason for the second straight year, this time last of the 12 drivers and sitting 12 points under the provisional line in the Round of 12. But with Kansas Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway and the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course on his path to the Round of 8, the 34-year-old brings with him a heaping helping of optimism. The No. 48 Chevrolet was fourth at Kansas a year ago, and Kligerman owns one top five and two top-10 finishes in three of his last four Talladega starts — including a sixth-place finish way back in 2013. He also finished sixth at the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course in his track debut a year ago.
“I think that these three tracks are great for us, so there’s I think a high level of confidence that, as long as we execute and just do what we’ve done, we should be in a pretty good position,” Kligerman said. “I know we’re starting 12 points down, but I really think that’s such a tight situation. I mean, just look at Daytona. We had a 38-point or 40-point swing on the (elimination) line that day. And you look at Allgaier and what happened to him at Bristol this past weekend. I think it’s a huge opportunity.
“We don’t have to do anything spectacular. But I do believe Talladega is one that we circle as, OK, let’s go win that. And then, obviously, the Roval is taken care of then.”
Kligerman also has three top fives and five top 10s in the past nine races dating back to the Chicago Street Course in July. With momentum in hand after finishes of second and seventh at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Watkins Glen International, respectively, in recent weeks, the Big Machine Racing group is thriving on being underestimated. Much of that stems from the team’s youth, entering the stage in 2021 and qualifying for its first driver postseason a season ago, with Kligerman and its first owners’ title chase this year.
“I think it’s natural to see Big Machine Racing, and then up against Joe Gibbs and JR Motorsports and Stewart-Haas and that sort of thing, and to think, OK, that’s a different name than I’ve seen here,” Kligerman said. “But I think we have all the capability to go out there and make a run in these playoffs. And I think internally, we have the confidence, kind of like we alluded to this first round. To me, there’s no reason that if we just perform at the level we’ve been performing, that we shouldn’t be able to advance. And I think right now, we’re still in the top five of average finish through the whole season of Xfinity teams. So we’ve really performed a high level. And so I think putting aside being a young team and that sort of thing, we have all the expectations to make the Championship 4.”
HAMPTON, Va. — On Sept. 7, Connor Hall entered his final NASCAR points-paying race of 2024 knowing he had all but clinched his second consecutive Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series national championship. With a stomach full of his father Earle’s grilled pork chops, Hall was enjoying one last night of racing with the friends and family who help maintain his No. 77 Late Model Stock. The Diet Cokes were flowing. Smiles were seemingly permanent.
Upon exiting his car that night at Langley Speedway, Hall was livid.
With a face as red as the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series patch on his suit, Hall scrambled around his still-steaming hot ride, checking tire wear and examining the suspension. The 27-year-old Hampton native finished fifth, his first result outside the top two at his home track all season.
“We might as well have stayed home,” the enraged driver told his team, which later discovered the engine was down on horsepower with damaged rings and pistons after overheating a few weeks prior. A misguided track-bar adjustment further hampered Hall’s pace.
Hall and his team members have set such a high bar for themselves over the past two seasons, a fifth-place run at Langley felt like a punch to the gut.
Slowly, though, the smiles returned. Hall watched Langley’s remaining support division races while sitting on the ground and leaning against the car he had basically condemned a half hour prior, laughing with his girlfriend Lindsey and others who stopped to chat.
Hall’s perspective is different at the end of the 2024 season than it was at the conclusion of last year’s championship run. This year, he scored the vast majority of his NASCAR points victories before spring turned to summer. The opposite was the case in 2023.
In earning the 2024 Weekly Series Division I national title, Hall’s record shows 18 NASCAR wins in 26 starts at five different tracks. He earned top-five finishes in 24 of those starts and never finished outside the top 10. He took checkered flags at Langley, Virginia’s South Boston Speedway, South Carolina’s Florence Motor Speedway, and North Carolina’s Hickory Motor Speedway and Southern National Motorsports Park.
The bigger picture is the reason Hall was able to shake off the disappointment of his last Langley race of the year.
He also knows his back-to-back Weekly Series national championships are major reasons why he suddenly has everything in front of him when it comes to a career as a NASCAR driver.
Connor Hall works full-time as a boat salesman. He’s putting the finishing touches on a boat he built for fishing in and around the Chesapeake Bay. (Photo: Ted Malinowski/NASCAR)
‘I thought almost all my doors were closing’
So much has changed for Connor Hall over the last year, and yet so much remains the same.
Located right off the Chesapeake Bay in Hampton, Hall’s home features an assortment of “2023 Weekly Series national champion” decor. Among the new furnishings is the championship trophy flanking his TV in the living room. About 15 minutes away, at the race shop located inside the detached garage at his parents’ house, Hall’s championship banners grace the walls.
Connor Hall runs his championship-winning Late Model Stock operation out of his parents’ garage in Hampton. (Photo: Ted Malinowski/NASCAR)
Beyond these aesthetics, Hall lives the same life he was maintaining in 2023 while chasing his first title. The son of Earle, a champion hydroplane racer, Connor Hall still works as a boat salesman at Bluewater Yacht Sales. He still spends a good chunk of his spare time boating and fishing, hobbies he acquired at an early age and never relinquished. Loyal by nature, he maintains longstanding friendships both inside and outside the world of racing.
He still spends time in the shop working on the race car with his father and friend/crew chief Clayton Parrish. At the race track, he still benefits from the aid of car chief/tire specialist Brad Roper, as well as the help of spotter Bo Gurkin and crew members Matt Veltri and Cody Gary. His pit area on any given race night still feels more like a family gathering than a workplace.
More so now than ever, Hall considers himself an aspiring NASCAR driver who’s doing everything he can to create opportunities for himself. He started racing go karts at Langley at age 8 before moving to the track’s Legends division and, eventually, late models. He considers himself behind on development in part because his parents insisted he obtain a college education before pursuing a career as a driver.
Now Hall’s life is as dedicated as it can be to what he hopes is a path to NASCAR’s national series. He often drives the 300-plus miles from Hampton to the Charlotte area, bolstering his racing connections and bunking with friends. He watches his diet knowing any possible advantage he can gain in the driver’s seat is worth the effort.
“I thought almost all my doors were closing throughout last year,” Hall said. “That’s one reason why I attempted the (2023 national championship); I was praying it brought some avenue to me.
“I’m more invested in my future within motorsports right now than I have ever been.”
Hall benefits from his laid-back personality. In July, for example, he was able to quickly shrug off an exasperating second-place finish in the Hampton Heat, Langley’s crown-jewel race and the second leg of the prestigious Virginia Late Model Triple Crown. His next race at Langley ended with a resounding victory, his ninth win in what was then 11 starts at his home track in 2024, including a CARS Tour triumph.
Hall’s calm demeanor can be deceiving when it comes to his motorsports exploits. He’s perpetually curious, a trait representing the tip of the iceberg that is his hunger to succeed.
As it relates to that hunger, for Hall, 2024 was a smörgåsbord.
Connor Hall poses for a photo with his crew after a Langley Speedway victory on May 4. (Photo: Bill Carnes/Langley Speedway)
‘Just be consistent and run the clock down’
After their championship-winning effort in 2023, Hall and his late model team members over the winter did what came natural.
They just chilled.
The final stretch of racing last season was a grind for the No. 77 crew. Last year, Hall didn’t commit to the title push until August, so they spent their late Summer chasing points and obsessing over the national standings. By the time Hall was crowned champion during the end-of-season NASCAR awards banquet in Nashville, he was spent. There was no way, Hall and his team thought, they would commit to another season of national title contention.
The plan changed with one small, joking comment.
“Before the start of the season, we tore the car all the way down and put it back together, and we were just like, ‘Holy cow. It looks so good,'” Hall said. “We thought we might have made it even better than the year prior. I was sitting there joking with my dad, Roper and Clayton at the shop when we were all working one weekend. I was like, ‘Man let’s go for the national championship again.’ And they were all like, ‘Heck yeah.’ And I was like, ‘What?’
“We had said we’re never doing this again. But after we all took two months off, we were all re-energized and ready to go.”
Hall started his title defense on an absolute tear. By the end of March, he already had nine wins on the books, further justifying the team’s efforts to pursue another championship.
With a newfound deal to race for Nelson Motorsports on the CARS Late Model Stock Tour and in select NASCAR races, Hall knew he needed to front-load his Weekly Series schedule so he could earn as many points as possible before the busy, late-Summer weeks. In addition to Langley, he traveled to Florence, Southern National and Hickory on multiple occasions. During a stretch from March 2 at Hickory until the Hampton Heat in late July, with the exception of one slip at his home track, he won every NASCAR points race he entered.
“I was like, ‘Well, this is kind of a no-brainer,’ ” Hall said of his continued push for a second national championship.
Hall and his team put themselves through hell both last year and this year. The difference was the timing.
“We hit the ground running so hard at the beginning of this year, I was already like, ‘Man, if we have to do this all year, this is going to be a lot of work,’ ” Hall said. “So, in a sense, I feel way more re-energized now than I did at the end of last year. I would say that’s the biggest difference in the feeling.
“When the last day of the season came last year, we had sweat rolling down our backs, and we were like, ‘Holy cow, thank God it’s over.’ But this year, we were just kind of casually like, ‘Oh, 18 days left.’ Just more of an enjoyable last month of the season.
“More buying time than throwing Hail Marys. Just be consistent and run the clock down. Knee the ball with a minute left. Go shake hands.”
With 592 points, Hall had built an insurmountable lead in the national standings before the engine trouble spoiled his last two NASCAR points races of the year. He ended the season with eight wins at Langley (not including CARS Tour), five at Hickory, three at Southern National, one at Florence and one at South Boston.
The victory at South Boston was particularly satisfying, as it came in the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200, the track’s biggest race and the first leg of the Triple Crown. Driving Nelson’s No. 22 Toyota, Hall after a tire issue started the race from the rear of the field. After picking off the competition one-by-one, Hall beat his friend Trevor Ward to the finish line for one of the biggest wins of his career to date.
“I always joked that [South Boston] was going to be the last track I actually got a win at,” Hall said that night. “I checked this one off the list on their biggest platform. And to get to race one of my really good buddies for the win was pretty much a dream come true.”
If Hall’s trajectory continues, he’ll be turning more dreams into realities in the coming years.
The biggest win of Connor Hall’s 2024 NASCAR points season came in the Thunder Road Harley Davidson 200 at Virginia’s South Boston Speedway. (Photo: Susan Wong/NASCAR)
‘I’ve always wanted it’
Aug. 10 was a relatively routine day and night of racing for Connor Hall. He practiced and qualified throughout the afternoon. After competing that evening, he conversed with friend and mentor Chad Bryant. He joked around with his late model crew. He gave Lindsey a hug.
Hall may have treated Aug. 10 as a routine race day, but it was the biggest of his life to date.
On that scorching-hot evening at Richmond Raceway, Hall finished 10th in his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut driving the No. 91 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing Chevrolet. The event could not have gone much better; he ran top-10 average lap times in practice, and he made up for his own error in qualifying during the race, working his way through a field of more experienced competitors after starting 21st.
The seeds of Hall’s debut at Richmond were planted when he and Bryant spoke about the next steps in the driver’s career. Bryant connected Hall with his friend Charles Denike, a crew chief at MHR, and Hall’s meeting with Denike led to a fruitful sit-down with team co-owner Bill McAnally and then-racing director Chad Norris.
The relationship between Hall and Bryant has evolved to the point where the big picture is often the topic of conversation. At first, Hall would pepper Bryant with persistent calls for advice on his late model setups. Now Hall and his team have all the knowledge they need to set up the car on their own.
These days, Hall and Bryant talk about each other’s goals in racing. Hall says their discussions, which still occur on a near-daily basis, are more “refined” now that they’re closer than ever.
“You’re not trying to build with building blocks; you’re trying to fine tune whatever it is you’re dealing with,” Hall said. “The main thing he calls me about: He still is very much a person coach, or driver coach. He’s just one of my best friends. We just talk about how to better attack the entire weekend rather than just the setup.”
Hall is thankful for Bryant’s friendship, and he knows Bryant’s mentorship has catalyzed so many of the opportunities on which he’s seized. From ARCA Menards Series starts a few years back to the late model program to his Truck Series debut, all of Hall’s big steps in motorsports have been taken alongside Bryant.
And they’re going to continue. Hall has big plans in place for 2025, which he’ll announce in the coming weeks. With back-to-back NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series national championships on a resume that now includes a top-10 finish in his lone Truck Series start, Hall is gaining clarity on the path he’s hoped to see for years.
“There might be times where I’ve wanted it just as bad,” Hall said of his goal to race full-time in any of NASCAR’s national series. “But with some of the puzzle pieces that are falling into place, and the opportunities I’m receiving, it’s just more viable now.
“I’ve always wanted it. It just seems to be more attainable now than it has been.”
As a result, Hall’s work-life balance will continue to tilt toward the former as he chases bigger platforms. He plans to temporarily relocate to North Carolina in 2025 as racing becomes more of a day job and less of a weekend recreation. He’ll manage longer-distance relationships with his friends and family in Hampton, and the continued success he hopes to achieve will give grounds for such sacrifices.
Regardless of what’s in store for Hall the race-car driver, he insists he’ll always be the down-to-earth guy who enjoys more than anything in life the company of those he cares about most. He will never take for granted the moments, particularly in Langley’s infield, that have defined the last couple years.
The results aren’t as important when Earle is grilling up some deliciously marinated pork chops, and everyone around Connor Hall is keeping a smile on his face.
After his electrifying Cup Series debut in 2023 at the Chicago Street Course — where he became the first driver to win his first career race since 1963 — Shane Van Gisbergen became NASCAR’s most anticipated full-time rookie in 2024.
Now that he’s headed to the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs as the No. 5 seed in the 12-driver field, it’s a good time to check in on Van Gisbergen’s progress as a NASCAR regular: What have we learned about his development as a driver, and what might it tell us about his chances in both the 2024 Xfinity playoffs and the Cup Series down the line?
Here are four takeaways from SVG’s rookie campaign:
He is the best road-course driver in Xfinity — by far
The Xfinity Series has had five races at road (or street) courses in 2024 so far. Of those, Kyle Larson won the first one in one of his only starts in the series, Connor Zilisch won the most recent one in his Xfinity debut … and Van Gisbergen took the other three. At one point, SVG had a trifecta of consecutive road-course victories going — and he’s still on a run of five top fives in his past six road races, between Xfinity and Cup.
Van Gisbergen’s immediate Cup win at Chicago last summer was no fluke for the three-time Supercars champion. There’s a reason why SVG is the most feared competitor in the Xfinity Series — if not all of NASCAR — on road and street courses. Just in Xfinity alone, he has an Adjusted Points+ index of 294 on those types of tracks, meaning he was 194 percent better than the average driver. Among series regulars in 2024, nobody else is even remotely close: Parker Kligerman is second with an index of 200, followed by AJ Allmendinger and Austin Hill at 182 apiece.
Van Gisbergen isn’t perfect on road courses; no one is. (At the Cup level, his mistake in the esses at Watkins Glen opened the door for Chris Buescher to re-pass him for the win just two weeks ago.) But SVG has earned his reputation for dominating the same types of tracks where he excelled for years in touring cars in Australia.
He’s not bad on ovals — or drafting tracks
As nice as it is to be feared at road courses, those still make up only 18 percent of the Xfinity Series schedule and just 14 percent of the tracks in the Cup Series, where Van Gisbergen is set to drive the No. 88 full-time for Trackhouse Racing next season. By contrast, regular ovals comprise roughly half of tracks in both series, with restrictor-plate/drafting tracks making up another 15 to 20 percent — which means a driver won’t get very far in NASCAR without an aptitude for turning left at very high speeds.
The good news for SVG is that he has been above average in both types of tracks this season. His Adjusted Points+ index at Xfinity Series ovals is 105 — 5 percent better than average — and his index at drafting tracks is 108 — 8 percent above average. Among regulars with 20 or more races in the series, that ranks him 14th out of 26 drivers at ovals and 11th out of 26 drivers at drafting tracks.
He’s generally getting better, too. On ovals, for instance, the five-race rolling average of his Adjusted Points index is currently 29 percent better than the Xfinity Series norm, his best five-race stretch of the season on intermediate tracks. That includes a pair of top 10s at Indianapolis and Darlington — and finishing no worse than the 17th-place showing he posted at Michigan, after previously finishing no better than 15th in any of his seven prior oval races.
His consistency needs work
Having said all of that, SVG’s performance has still varied a lot across the entire season. He is one of only three Xfinity Series regulars to finish at least 25 percent of their races in the top 10, 25 percent between 11th and 20th place, and 25 percent in 21st or worse. (The other two? Riley Herbst and Brandon Jones.)
That applies to SVG across many different track types, too. While all three of his wins were at road courses, he also scored a 27th in March at COTA after a 30-second penalty for violating track limits. He has three top 10s on ovals, but also a pair of finishes outside the top 30. He finished third in February at Atlanta, but also has an average finish of 21.5 in his other races at drafting-style tracks.
And in perhaps the biggest area where he needs improvement, SVG has an Adjusted Points+ index of just 77 (23 percent worse than average) at short tracks in his first year as a full-time Xfinity driver. It’s a small sample, of course — just four races. But he has zero top 10s and a 34th-place finish (at Iowa, one of his worst runs of the season), making this the worst track type of Van Gisbergen’s rookie effort as a NASCAR full-timer.
That probably shouldn’t be surprising. Short track racing is a specialized skill that many regulars in the Xfinity and Cup series come up learning at local race tracks across America, an educational process that Van Gisbergen simply didn’t have access to as he was growing up racing karts and motorbikes, before transitioning to touring cars. It’s pretty impressive that he has even held his own on those types of tracks in his first real exposure to them this season.
He could still be a factor in the Xfinity playoffs
The next tracks on the Xfinity Series schedule line up to give Van Gisbergen a decent chance to at least make some noise in the playoffs.
For one thing, he will get to run a road course, in the form of the Charlotte Roval, to close out the Round of 12. Given his incredible win rate on that track type this season — three victories in five tries, plus an additional top five — he will automatically be a threat to move on at least one round before the road courses dry up for good this season.
But it’s also worth mentioning that the first round contains an oval (Kansas) and a plate track (Talladega), both track types where SVG has been above-average as a rookie. Combine that with a good stash of playoff points from the regular season, and Van Gisbergen isn’t set up badly to start the Xfinity playoffs.
The Round of 8 is looking less promising, with no road courses — and a short track serving as the elimination race. So SVG may have to level up at his weakest track type in order to make a real run to the Championship 4. But if he does make it that far, it should be pointed out that SVG scored a sixth-place finish at Phoenix in early March, in just his fourth career Xfinity Series race. Given how much he’s improved since then, he could be dangerous if his title hopes are still alive by then.
To be clear, the betting odds still consider SVG to be a long shot for the Xfinity championship. Various different sportsbooks list him among the least likely winners heading into the playoffs — far from favorites like Chandler Smith, Cole Custer and Justin Allgaier.
If we zoom out on the big picture, however, Van Gisbergen’s first full-time season in stock cars has to be considered a big success. He has three wins (yes, all at road courses), six top fives and eight top 10s in 26 races, with an Adjusted Points+ index 38 percent better than the series average. For a guy trying to replicate the road-course-ringer-to-regular path of names like Marcos Ambrose, AJ Allmendinger, Juan Pablo Montoya, Robby Gordon and Boris Said, that means SVG is already off to a rolling start in his full-time NASCAR career.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Sept. 26, 2024) — NASCAR named Ticketmaster its official ticketing partner in a move that complements Ticketmaster’s longtime partnership with Speedway Motorsports and further unifies ticketing for fans of the sport. Ticketmaster was chosen as the official ticketing partner following a thorough RFP process.
