DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — (Aug. 30, 2024) — The annual NASCAR Awards — the year-end celebration honoring the sport’s top talents and brightest stars — will have a new home in 2024 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Home to many of the sport’s drivers, race teams and the NASCAR Hall of Fame, this will be the first time the NASCAR Cup Series Awards will be hosted in the Queen City.
The 2024 NASCAR Awards will be held on Friday, Nov. 22 to formally honor all three national series champions (Cup Series, Xfinity Series, Craftsman Truck Series) at the Charlotte Convention Center and will air on Sunday, Nov. 24 at 3 p.m. ET on your local CW station. Tune in to watch the celebration of the 2024 national series champions.
For the second consecutive year in conjunction with the national series awards, NASCAR will host a celebration for the NASCAR Regional Series (ARCA Menards Series, ARCA Menards Series East, ARCA Menards Series West, NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series) and the NASCAR International Series (NASCAR Brasil Sprint Race, NASCAR Canada Series, NASCAR Mexico Series and NASCAR Whelen Euro Series) on Thursday, Nov. 21.
“We are pleased to announce our move to the Queen City for our postseason celebrations,” said Michelle Byron, EVP, Chief Partnership and Licensing Officer at NASCAR. “Being able to trace many of our sport’s racing roots back to the North Carolina area, you can feel the energy and passion for NASCAR from the fans in Charlotte. We’re excited to officially crown our champions in the Queen City.”
Last year, 2023 Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney, Xfinity Series champion Cole Custer and Truck Series champion Ben Rhodes were honored in the Music City. The formal postseason Awards are a tradition that stretches back to 1981 when the event was held in New York City. It has since relocated to Las Vegas from 2009 to 2019 and Nashville from 2019 to 2023.
Editor’s Note: Racing Insights’ playoff projections use a combination of current standings and historical performance at upcoming tracks to determine the probability of each driver winning or making the playoffs on points.
With the Cup Series Playoffs on the mind throughout the season, what if there was a way to project how the 16-driver field could look before each race weekend?
It now exists via Racing Insights. From now until the start of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, “The Field of 16” will give fans a weekly look at where their favorite drivers could potentially land in the postseason field — and the likelihood of having a shot at the Bill France Cup.
Here’s this week’s update on the projections heading into the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.
NOTABLE PROBABILITY SHIFTS POST-DAYTONA
DRIVER
AT DAYTONA
ENTERING DARLINGTON
DIFFERENCE
Harrison Burton
0.88%
100%
+99.12
Ty Gibbs
80.19%
92.87%
+12.68
Ross Chastain
56.85%
13.74%
-43.11
Bubba Wallace
63.26%
12.44%
-50.82
PROBABILITY CALCULATED BY RACING INSIGHTS AHEAD OF SOUTHERN 500, SEPTEMBER 1ST, 2024
DRIVERS SOLIDLY IN PLAYOFF PICTURE
A chaotic Coke Zero Sugar 400 saw an array of results but almost a washout at the top of the Cup Series standings as Tyler Reddick, Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott were all involved in incidents last Saturday night.
Larson was the benefactor at Daytona despite being collected in a pair of multicar incidents as the 2021 series champion is now just 17 points behind Reddick for the Regular Season Championship. Elliott, who exited the race early in Stage 2, is now third and 18 points behind Reddick.
Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell and William Byron have all won multiple races this season, and while a regular-season title isn’t within grasp, they can still continue to rack up playoff points to position themselves well for the start of the postseason.
Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Alex Bowman, Daniel Suárez and Austin Cindric each own a win and have locked in spots in the postseason. Both Suárez and Cindric return to the playoffs after missing out in 2023. Harrison Burton shocked the Cup field with his dramatic victory, holding off Kyle Busch at Daytona to nab win No. 100 for Wood Brothers Racing.
LAST 4 IN
If there’s no new winner Sunday evening, all Martin Truex Jr. needs to worry about is finishing the race with a 58-point gap to the elimination line. However, the 2017 champ can’t cruise around Darlington if there’s a new winner, and he’ll need at least 19 points to clinch if that scenario comes to fruition.
Sophomore Cup driver Ty Gibbs has little Cup experience at Darlington, which may affect how he races Sunday night, but the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing driver should have confidence with a runner-up result at the track in the spring. He also has a pretty comfortable 39-point gap ahead of Bubba Wallace and will need just 16 points to clinch without a new winner. A new winner? Then a whopping 38 points for Gibbs will be required.
Chris Buescher will no doubt have a chip on his shoulder Sunday evening as he looks for redemption after spring heartbreak took away what would otherwise look to be a guaranteed win at Darlington. He’ll likely need some help in any scenario, but 34 points without a new winner will see Buescher clinch his second consecutive playoff berth.
FIRST 4 OUT
There’s still a path for Ross Chastain and Bubba Wallace to get in on points despite both being over 20 points below Buescher for the final playoff spot. However, it’s going to take a lot of help, and both Gibbs and Buescher were strong at Darlington in the spring.
In last year’s Southern 500, both Chastain and Wallace finished inside the top 10, and while it can lead to more success Sunday evening, they have to go in with a must-win mentality as Buescher was third in the same event. Wallace has been one of the hottest drivers over the last five races, with an average finish of 10.2 in that span. The only driver better than him is his 23XI Racing teammate Reddick who has an average finish of eighth.
Kyle Busch can only get in with a victory on Sunday. He’s won a Southern 500 before (2008) and will need to find that same magic if he’s to make the playoffs for a 12th consecutive season.
It has to be Erik Jones on the way outside looking in. Jones has double the Southern 500 wins compared to the Hall of Famer, motorsports icon and 200-time Cup Series winner Richard Petty. Jones is also one of only two active drivers with multiple Southern 500 trophies (Hamlin). Entering the regular-season finale, Jones’ 2024 campaign hasn’t gone to expectations, but there’s no reason to believe why the No. 43 Legacy Motor Club driver can’t be in the mix late on Sunday. With multiple drivers in pressure-filled scenarios this weekend, Darlington will be the ultimate test of mental and physical strength, and with only one path for Jones to the postseason, the vision is clear. Also, Jones has only failed to finish outside the top 10 once in seven Southern 500 starts.
Tyler Reddick had arrived early at 23XI Racing’s Airspeed headquarters one day last week, before the sun had fully risen. Walking by and noticing the No. 45 Toyota that he’ll drive this weekend at Darlington Raceway as it sat on the pristine arena-like floor, he did a double-take.
Reddick had already channeled Tim Richmond with his paint scheme for Darlington’s Throwback Weekend back in May, but this new design transcended just one sport’s greatness and made him look again. On the hood, thanks to a new partnership with Upper Deck, were images of 23XI team co-owner and NBA legend Michael Jordan, golf superstar Tiger Woods and hockey immortal Wayne Gretzky.
“I got to the shop at like 6:30 or something, I walk in the door and I’m looking at the car like, what? Like, wow, OK,” Reddick said. “I thought I was hallucinating. I mean, it was early in the morning, right, like I hadn’t had enough coffee yet. I’m looking at the car, like, ‘Am I seeing something?’ ”
When a 23XI colleague working the shop floor assured him that his Darlington ride was the real deal, Reddick said he’d take it. The “no pressure” expectations, however, are in another realm.
“What the hell did I do to deserve that?” Reddick cracked. “I’m going to have to go out there and do something spectacular.”
There may not be a direct comparison to knocking down the winning shot in the NBA Finals, donning the green jacket at The Masters, or hoisting the Stanley Cup, but Reddick has title aspirations all the same in this weekend’s regular-season finale at the historic Darlington oval. He’ll be chasing the Cup Series’ Regular Season Championship and the trophy that comes with it, but he’s also after the bonus of 15 playoff points that could aid his bid for the heavier hardware at stake at season’s end — the Bill France Cup that’s awarded to the overall champ.
Reddick enters Sunday’s Cook Out Southern 500 (6 p.m. ET, USA, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App), the last of 26 regular-season events, as the Cup Series points leader. He clings to a narrow advantage over Hendrick Motorsports teammates Kyle Larson, who sits 17 points back, and Chase Elliott, just 18 points off the top. The 28-year-old driver says the team’s tack isn’t focused on playing “prevent defense” to protect his points lead, but in staying focused on the challenge presented by the 1.366-mile grinder of a track, one that’s lured cars into its outer barriers on an annual basis since the 1950s.
“If we take care of our points, we do that by having a solid run at Darlington. I mean, from that aspect, those goals are kind of one and the same, what our approach is,” Reddick said. “When you go to some of these other tracks, you have to think about it a little differently. But Darlington’s a race, it’s you versus yourself and the race track. Obviously, we’re competing with other drivers out there, but you can make mistakes pretty easily there by getting too caught up in what your competitors are doing. So it’s just a good mindset to have.”
James Gilbert | Getty Images
His last time out at Darlington was a split decision, with one of those types of miscues snaring him in the late going. Reddick put his No. 45 Toyota on the pole and led a race-best 174 of the 293 laps in the Goodyear 400 back in May, but a late-race squeeze and contact with Chris Buescher’s No. 17 RFK Racing Ford dropped both from victory contention. That on-track altercation — which cleared the way for RFK’s Brad Keselowski to vault to the win — sparked a post-race confrontation, and Reddick took ownership of the mistake in an effort to explain his side and calm Buescher’s anger.
That 32nd-place Darlington finish still stands as Reddick’s worst of the season, and it’s stuck with him as the 2024 campaign has played out.
“Yeah, I really wish I could have looked into the future and saw where I’d be points. I would have taken that second place right about now, because I’d be just going into Darlington and not worrying about racing the 5 (Larson) or the 9 (Elliott) at all,” Reddick said. “You know, hindsight is always 20/20, but certainly it’s a learning moment, I feel like, as the year went on from that moment forward. There’s a lot of reflection for me after that race. Obviously, everything’s out there and been talked about between me and Chris, but beyond how I affected his race, for us and our team personally, I think …”
At this moment, Reddick paused to do some quick math, and his on-the-fly calculations were eerily close to accurate without the benefit of the results sheet in front of him. He’d gathered 17 points by finishing fourth and first at the stages, and a runner-up result would have meant a 52-point total payout. His haul instead was just 22 points — a shortfall that indeed has kept the regular-season title hunt closer than desired.
“So I learned a lot from that moment, and it’s benefited me ever since,” Reddick says, “but certainly it’s tough when I go there, because I’ve never won there. I feel like I’ve had a car and an opportunity and a day … I’ve had a number of days where I’ve been capable of winning there.”
Some of that confidence stems from Reddick’s experience there. His Darlington lap total goes beyond what the record book shows, owing to a handful of rookie tests as his Xfinity Series career transitioned from Chip Ganassi’s operation to JR Motorsports, where he won his first series title. “Got pretty familiar with it,” he says now. “Found the Darlington stripe really early on.”
A guide for those earliest tests was Larson, then with Ganassi on the Cup Series side. And while Reddick said he wondered why his teams kept going back to Darlington for testing instead of branching off to other venues, he says now that the experience has been a boon to his career.
“I don’t know, ever since I’ve stepped into a Cup car at that place, it’s just always seemed to have clicked,” Reddick says. “And on top of it also, we were doing the NASCAR Next Gen testing, they had me do the test at Darlington in that car as well. So again, just been fortunate to do so many tests there, do some tests for NASCAR there, and just have a good understanding of what you need to be feeling to go faster.”
Which makes it all the more surprising that Reddick has yet to visit Victory Lane at the rugged raceway. He’s come close, with three runner-up finishes there — two in Cup and one in Xfinity — in his career. The most recent came in last year’s Southern 500, where he led 90 laps and ran second to Larson.
“Had some painful second-place finishes there and third-place finishes,” Reddick says, “but it’s been nice to know that we’ve been super, super strong at Darlington.”
The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs are set to bring a fresh new lineup of tracks, with a 10-race postseason that features a mix of classic venues and new additions that create a diverse and challenging path to the championship.
First: The new tracks. World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway and New Hampshire Motor Speedway both are in the postseason for 2025, in the Round of 16 and Round of 12, respectively.
WWTR joins the playoff schedule on Sept. 7. This 1.25-mile oval near St. Louis will test drivers with its varying layout, featuring different degrees of banking in Turns 1-2 and 3-4. The WWTR event follows the playoff kick-off at Darlington Raceway, which returns to host the opening race for the annual crown jewel Southern 500 at the “Track Too Tough to Tame.” The Labor Day weekend race marks Darlington’s return to the playoffs after a one-year stint as the regular-season finale, setting the stage for a grueling battle on its unique egg-shaped oval to prime the postseason.
“It’s great that World Wide Technology Raceway now has a playoff race,” said Kyle Busch, who won at the track in 2023. “I think it’s cool to have a different mix of tracks in the playoffs. NASCAR is looking for what’s best for the sport and I think WWTR fits that perfectly. There’s been a sellout crowd there every year since the first Cup race back in 2022. I think it’s going to be an awesome event and I’m really looking forward to it.”
The Round of 16 concludes on Sept. 13 with the Bristol Motor Speedway night race. The high-banked, half-mile “Thunder Valley” always produces intense short-track action under the lights, making it a fitting climax to the Round of 16 to eliminate the first four drivers.
Former playoff track New Hampshire also returns, opening the Round of 12 on Sept. 21. “The Magic Mile” presents a strenuous challenge where track position is king, with its flat corners and long straightaways that reward precise driving and strategic pit calls.
Kansas Speedway hosts the second race of the Round of 12 on Sept. 28 followed by the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval on Oct. 5 as the Round of 12 elimination race. This road course/oval hybrid combines technical turns with high-speed banking, creating an air of chaos that will determine who advances to the Round of 8.
Las Vegas Motor Speedway kicks off the Round of 8 on Oct. 12. The desert track’s wide racing surface and progressive banking often produce exciting, multi-groove racing as drivers fight for a spot in the championship race.
Talladega Superspeedway moves to the penultimate round, hosting its trademark brand of superspeedway racing on Oct. 19. The 2.66-mile tri-oval is known for its high speeds, big packs and unpredictable finishes, making it a pivotal race in the playoffs that could produce a surprise Championship 4 contender.
“I think for Talladega in particular, it’s one of our bigger events,” said Ben Kennedy, NASCAR executive vice president, chief venue and racing innovation officer. “If you look at our ratings and viewership numbers, very high. If you look at the attendance numbers, it’s one of the highest that we have of the entire season. So it’s a big event for us. And I think as you look at the Round of 8, having a huge market like Las Vegas, going to Talladega Superspeedway and from the feedback that we’ve received from the fans in the industry, having Martinsville as that cutoff race before we have the championship race at Phoenix has been positive for us.”
Martinsville Speedway, NASCAR’s oldest active track, remains in its spot to serve as the Round of 8 elimination race on Oct. 26. The tight, paper-clip-shaped short track often produces intense battles and dramatic moments as drivers vie for a spot in the Championship 4.
The season culminates again at Phoenix Raceway on Nov. 2, where the Championship 4 will battle for the title once again. The 1-mile tri-oval, with its one-of-a-kind dogleg configuration, has proven to be an excellent stage for crowning a champion since becoming the finale in 2020.
NASCAR’s new In-Season Challenge, set to debut in 2025, promises to add an exciting dimension to an already fresh Cup Series calendar. The challenge will feature a 32-driver bracket-style format, reminiscent of the NCAA’s March Madness — but for stock car racing.
With the official release of the 2025 Cup Series schedule, the full picture is now in focus.
The challenge will consist of five races, beginning on June 28, 2025, with a Saturday night race at unpredictable Atlanta Motor Speedway. This event will mark the start of TNT Sports’ coverage of NASCAR, embarking on a return to the sport after a decade-long absence. Following Atlanta, the challenge will move to the Chicago Street Course on July 6, then to Sonoma Raceway on July 13, Dover Motor Speedway on July 20 and conclude at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the annual Brickyard 400 on July 27. The winner will receive a $1 million prize.
The seeding for the 32-driver bracket will be determined by the results of the final three races aired on Prime Video before the tournament. Drivers will be seeded based on their best finish in the three races (Michigan, Mexico City, Pocono), with tiebreakers determined by the next-best finish, followed by the season points position.
Throughout the challenge, drivers will compete head-to-head, with the highest-finishing driver in each matchup advancing to the next round. The field will be narrowed down from 32 drivers in the opening race to 16 in the second, eight in the third, four in the fourth, and finally, two drivers battling for the tournament win in the fifth and final race.
This format promises to create intense rivalries and potentially pit teammates against each other, adding an extra layer of excitement to the races. It may also influence race strategy as drivers might prioritize beating their head-to-head opponent for overall race position.
This new challenge is sure to enhance fan engagement and create compelling story lines throughout the summer months. It also aligns with NASCAR’s new media rights deal, showcasing the sport’s commitment to innovation and fan engagement with its broadcast partners, both new and old.
The 2025 schedules for the NASCAR Xfinity Series and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series were announced on Thursday, featuring a return to the historic Rockingham Speedway in April and a first-ever race for the Truck Series at road course Lime Rock Park.
Additionally, for the first time since 2011, the Craftsman Truck Series schedule will expand from 23 to 25 races, a testament to the demand for its unique style of racing and intense competition.
Both series will kick off their respective seasons at Daytona International Speedway, with the Truck Series set for a Feb. 14 green flag and the Xfinity Series on Feb. 15.
Like 2024, both series will turn to Atlanta Motor Speedway the following week. The Xfinity Series then heads to Circuit of The Americas for a March 1 visit, while the Truck Series breaks for two weeks.
While the Cup Series rests on Easter weekend, the Xfinity and Truck Series will return to Rockingham Speedway in Rockingham, North Carolina. The Truck Series remains NASCAR’s most recent visitor to “The Rock,” with races in both 2012 and 2013 — won by Kasey Kahne and Kyle Larson, respectively. Trucks will hit the track for a race on Friday, April 18, for its first event at the 1-mile oval since April 2013.
The Xfinity Series has competed at “The Rock” 42 times since 1982, but its last appearance came in February 2004, when Jamie McMurray won his fourth consecutive Rockingham Xfinity start. The series is set to return on April 19.
“We are really making sure that we’re doing our part to develop our drivers for the Xfinity Series and eventually the Cup Series that are coming through the Craftsman Truck Series as well,” said Jusan Hamilton, NASCAR managing director of competition operations. “So all those different elements are factoring into some of those divisions and also just making sure that each of the venues has a good balance of being able to see the Truck Series in the spring, for example, and see the Xfinity Series later in the year, especially for those venues that we go to multiple times in the season. So we’re factoring each of those elements and that’ll continue to build. I wouldn’t say the goal was to completely revamp the schedule, but the goal was to continue that growth pattern and also make sure we’re doing a service to the fans and industry.”
On June 14, the Xfinity Series will make its international return to Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, the road course in Mexico City, where the series first raced in 2005. The series will be joined in Mexico City by the NASCAR Cup Series, which makes its first point-paying appearance outside the United States since 1958 on June 15. There have been four Xfinity Series races at the facility, with Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin, Juan Pablo Montoya and Kyle Busch each scoring wins from 2005-08.
The Truck Series will visit two new road courses in 2025. Lime Rock Park makes its inaugural appearance on the NASCAR calendar with a stand-alone Truck Series race scheduled for June 28. The second additional road course comes as part of a new-look postseason for the Truck Series.
The opening Round of 10 for the Truck Series Playoffs kicks off at Darlington Raceway before races at Bristol Motor Speedway and New Hampshire Motor Speedway, which will serve as the first elimination race for the series. The Round of 8 will then kick off Oct. 3 with the Truck Series’ debut at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval, with Talladega Superspeedway and Martinsville Speedway left to help decide the Championship 4 ahead of the finale at Phoenix Raceway.
The Xfinity Series’ postseason remains largely unchanged. World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway will host the division’s regular-season finale on Sept. 6 before the playoffs begin at Bristol. Kansas Speedway and the Charlotte road course will conclude the opening Round of 12 before Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Talladega and Martinsville host Round of 8 races to determine the Championship 4 field.
See the full Xfinity and Truck schedules for 2025 below:
NASCAR unveiled a milestone 2025 Cup Series schedule Thursday, revealing a 38-race slate that features two historic exhibition tracks, 36 points-paying events and the series’ first trip to Mexico City for a points event in the modern era. The sanctioning body also released the full schedules for the Xfinity and Craftsman Truck series.
The Cup Series’ year begins with a trip back in time as The Clash heads to Bowman Gray Stadium for a non-points exhibition on Feb. 2, the Cup Series’ first competitive visit to the 0.25-mile track since 1971.
The traditional season-opening exhibition event that will once again air live on FOX, Bowman Gray hosted 29 Cup Series races from 1958-1971 and was site of Richard Petty’s 100th career series win in 1969.
Two weeks later, the regular season gets underway with the 67th annual Daytona 500 on Feb. 16. Spotlighting early-season changes include a March 2 visit to Circuit of The Americas and a spring race on March 23 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, which moves out of the NASCAR Playoffs.
The most significant addition to the NASCAR schedule in 2025, though, brings the Cup Series to international territory. NASCAR will venture to Mexico City on June 15 for a points-paying race at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, marking the top level’s first points event outside the United States since July 1958.
“It’s no secret we’ve been bullish about growing NASCAR beyond our borders, and the 2025 schedule is an important and thrilling first milestone in that journey,” said Ben Kennedy, NASCAR executive vice president, chief venue and racing innovation officer. “In addition to racing in Mexico, we’ve been able to bring back more historic and fan-favorite venues for the first time in decades across our national series. Not only will this combination of venues maintain the high levels of excitement and anticipation for NASCAR racing, but it also delivers one of the most diverse and challenging schedules anywhere in motorsports.”
The Xfinity Series, which raced in Mexico City from 2005 through 2008, will join the Cup Series and compete south of the U.S. border on June 14.
Darlington Raceway’s spring date shifts to April 6, with Bristol Motor Speedway moving to April 13, one week before the series rests for Easter weekend — although while the Cup Seres is off, the Xfinity Series and Craftsman Truck Series will race at historic Rockingham Speedway.
Memorial Day Weekend starts Amazon Prime Video’s coverage for a five-race stretch beginning with the Coca-Cola 600 on May 25 at Charlotte Motor Speedway before a June 1 trip to Nashville Superspeedway. Michigan International Speedway, Mexico City and Pocono Raceway make up the rest of the inaugural Prime Video slate — and each race will also serve as the basis for the seeding in NASCAR’s inaugural in-season tournament.
That five-race, bracket-style competition will begin on June 28 at Atlanta Motor Speedway as TNT Sports and Max kicks off coverage. It then shifts to the Chicago Street Course on July 6 before heading to Sonoma Raceway (July 13), Dover Motor Speedway (July 20) and Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 27 to conclude the tournament with the Brickyard 400.
NBC Sports then takes over broadcasting duties for the rest of the season starting Aug. 3 at Iowa Speedway, which returns for a second season on the Cup schedule. Watkins Glen moves back to mid-August from its 2024 playoff date, with Richmond next on Aug. 16 in a Saturday night feature. The regular-season finale returns to Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, Aug. 23, to finalize the 16-driver playoff field.
The 2025 postseason begins Aug. 31 at Darlington Raceway with the Southern 500 on Labor Day Weekend to lead off the Round of 16. World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway is in the NASCAR Playoffs for the first time and will host the second race of the opening round before the first elimination race on Sept. 13 at Bristol.
New Hampshire Motor Speedway returns to the postseason for the first time since 2017 as it hosts the Round of 12 opener. Kansas Speedway and the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval will then close the round.
Las Vegas Motor Speedway will host the opening race of the Round of 8 before the Cup Series shifts to Talladega Superspeedway, which could dramatically shake up the playoff picture ahead of the season’s penultimate race at Martinsville Speedway, which will set the Championship 4.
The season then concludes on Nov. 2 at Phoenix Raceway with the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race. For a full look at the 2025 schedules, see below:
The famous Boehler Racing Enterprises Ole Blue No. 3 will have a different driver behind the wheel for Saturday’s NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Toyota Mod Classic 150 at New York’s Oswego Speedway.
It just so happens to be a driver who has a bit of history with Ole Blue.
Bobby Santos III, who drove for Boehler Racing Enterprises during the 2007 season and scored his first Modified Tour victory with the team at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park, will be at the wheel Saturday night at Oswego.
Santos replaces Jake Johnson, who drove the No. 3 during the first 10 races of the season before departing the team earlier this week.
“It was (the Johnson family’s) decision to back away,” said team owner Michael Boehler. “I think between the wreck at Thompson and him starting his senior year at college next week and then going on to further education after that, it was just something they decided to do as a family.”
With Johnson at the wheel, Boehler Racing Enterprises has enjoyed its best season in years with the Modified Tour. The team opened the year with three top fives in the first four races, including a win at New Hampshire’s Monadnock Speedway. In all, the team has earned three top fives and eight top 10s to go along with the victory.
However, two of the team’s last three races have resulted in finishes outside the top 10. That includes the most recent event at Thompson, where Johnson retired early due to a crash just past the halfway point.
Boehler is hopeful Santos will help the team right the ship this weekend at Oswego, a track where Santos has ample experience in multiple divisions.
Bobby Santos III poses in Victory Lane at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park after his first NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour victory in 2007 while driving the Boehler Racing Enterprises Ole Blue No. 3. (Photo: NASCAR Archives)
“Bobby is first class,” Boehler said. “Obviously our families have known each other 40-plus years, so way back. With him driving for us in the past and even getting a win back in ’07 and all his experience in open-wheel (racing), I don’t know of any other driver in the Northeast who has as much experience as he does with all the types of open-wheel racing he’s done.
“To have his talent behind the wheel, we’re very excited, and the guys are excited. We’re going to go do the best we can and try to get another win.”
Santos was already going to be at Oswego Speedway this weekend, as he had plans to compete in Sunday’s annual International Classic for Supermodifieds, the track’s most prestigious event of the season.
When Boehler reached out to Santos to ask if he wanted to drive Ole Blue on Saturday, Santos said it was an easy yes.
“Mike sent me a text and said, ‘You’re running the super at Classic weekend, right?’ I said yeah, and he called me,” Santos said. “Obviously I was going to be there. I had no plans to race Saturday; I was just going up there for the super this year.
“I was looking forward to relaxing, but an opportunity to drive the No. 3 car is an opportunity you don’t say no to.”
Santos, a 38-year-old from Franklin, Massachusetts, is perhaps one of the most skilled open-wheel competitors in the United States. He’s raced and won in nearly every style of race car he’s driven, including on the Modified Tour.
His 19 career victories are tied for 12th on the all-time Modified Tour win list, and he captured the 2010 series championship while driving Bob Garbarino’s No. 4 Mystic Missile.
Santos is looking forward to a homecoming of sorts with the Boehler team Saturday. It’ll also double as a chance for his children to see him driving the car that helped launch his racing career.
“It’s pretty wild thinking that’s literally almost 20 years since I last drove that car,” Santos said. “It’s pretty neat because my kids have the toy modifieds, and I think one of them is the No. 3 car. We’ve told them that I’ve driven that car, and they don’t understand or see the significance at this point.
“They know what cars I drive the last handful of years since they’ve been around. For them to actually see me driving that car is pretty cool.”
Beyond Oswego, Boehler is still working on figuring out who will drive the No. 3 for the remainder of the Modified Tour season. Santos said that, should his schedule allow, he’d love to drive Ole Blue again after Oswego.
For now, however, Santos is only scheduled to race at Oswego. Both parties hope the homecoming results in a trip to Victory Lane.
Andy Jankowiak (Photo: Adam Glanzman/NASCAR)
Busy week leads Andy Jankowiak to Oswego
It’s been a busy week for veteran racer Andy Jankowiak.
On Monday, Jankowiak was at Martinsville Speedway to take part in a test session ahead of the inaugural oval event for the Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup. He took part in several simulated races that were designed to help drivers and teams adjust to racing the spec cars, which have up until now only been raced on road courses.
He was joined at the test by series regulars like Jeremy Flecher, Jared Thomas and Nate Cicero, as well as Late Model Stock competitors like Brandon Pierce and Chad McCumbee.
Once the test was complete, Jankowiak hit the road to travel back home to New York so he could race Jody Lauzon’s No. 00 Modified during Saturday’s Toyota Mod Classic 150 at Oswego Speedway.
Saturday’s race will mark Jankowiak’s fourth start with the Modified Tour this season and second of his career with the series at Oswego. One season ago, he started 11th and finished 13th at Oswego.
This year in three starts, Jankowiak has one top-10 finish, a seventh-place run at the Lancaster Motorplex on Aug. 3.
Justin Bonsignore now leads the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour standings for the first time this season entering Saturday’s race at Oswego Speedway. (Photo: Jeffrey Barnes/NASCAR)
Modified championship battle intensifies
For the first time all season, there is a new driver atop the Modified Tour championship standings.
That man is Justin Bonsignore, who holds a four-point advantage on Ron Silk ahead of Saturday’s Toyota Mod Classic 150 at Oswego Speedway.
Bonsignore claimed the championship lead after the most recent event at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park, where he finished second. Silk, who had led the standings since the opening race of the year at New Smyrna Speedway in February, finished seventh that night.
Consistency has allowed Bonsignore to gain a foothold at the top of the standings. He hasn’t finished worse than seventh all season in Ken Massa’s No. 51, whereas Silk has finished 10th three different times. Bonsignore also has more top fives with eight; Silk has six.
Oswego should serve as an even battle ground for the two would-be title contenders. Both men have two wins at the track, with Silk winning there in 2021 and 2023, and Bonsignore scoring wins in 2019 and 2022.
From a statistical viewpoint, Bonsignore might have a slight edge. In eight starts at the track, he has finished outside the top five just twice. Silk has three top fives in six starts.
1. OK, he’s in — but what’s next for Harrison Burton?
NASCAR’s newest first-time winner finds himself in the unique position of competing for a championship in this year’s playoffs … for the team that fired him last month.
Out of a job, but into the playoffs.
It’s almost hard to grasp Harrison Burton’s past few months, seeing his team choose its “obvious” driver of the future — a driver other than him — based on performance, then delivering a landmark, 100th victory to NASCAR’s most historic team to clinch a postseason berth and elevate the organization’s outlook for years to come.
Not only did Burton’s victory mark the largest playoff deficit overcome in history, his win — the first for Wood Brothers Racing since 2017 — came at a pivotal point in the 23-year-old’s racing career, with just 11 races remaining before he faces the great unknowns of free agency, with most available competitive rides already snatched up.
Few, if any, expected the North Carolina native to be a factor the rest of the way after WBR anointed Josh Berry the new pilot of the No. 21 Ford last month. Yet, here we are, now wondering what Burton’s prospects might be for both his postseason push and pending plans for 2025.
We’ve seen plenty of one-off superspeedway winners in the past peter out after their moment in the sun — former WBR driver Trevor Bayne only won two more Xfinity Series races and is out of the sport at age 33 after becoming the youngest Daytona 500 winner in 2011, for instance — but could Burton’s win potentially have saved his career?
You know, it’s difficult to fathom a 23-year-old son of a cusp Hall of Famer who was viewed as a hot prospect this decade as being in need of “saving his career,” but it’s possible that’s exactly what he just did. It wasn’t just the fact that he finally won — and right on schedule, as you’ll see in the chart later on down the page — but that he did so rather adeptly, outmaneuvering NASCAR’s literal winningest driver in history on the final lap with unquestionably the most pressure he’s ever felt with a steering wheel in his hands.
This might not have the Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racings of the NASCAR world lighting up his cell phone for a premier 2025 ride, but surely Burton warrants more consideration above a middling Xfinity or Truck Series ride for next year. After all, this is a driver that managed to put four wins on the board in 2020 with current Cup stars Chase Briscoe and Austin Cindric running silly on the NXS that year, combining to win nearly half of the season’s 33 races.
Four wins don’t happen by accident, and perhaps there’s a team out there looking to catch lightning in a bottle. It’s not impossible to think there are some dominoes to fall over the coming months that see Burton remain in the Cup Series when the dust settles and 2025 rolls around; though it’s no guarantee, the window feels a little more open now. Even if not, we’re starting to see instances of drivers to struggle at the Cup level in their early 20s drop down a series or two for more seasoning before ultimately returning; his Ford stablemate and reigning NXS champ Cole Custer being the most recent example.
Even still, come next week Burton will be one of 16 remaining drivers still vying for the 2024 Cup Series championship — which is no small feat in itself, as some collection from the group of title hopefuls in Martin Truex Jr., Ty Gibbs, Chris Buescher, Bubba Wallace, Ross Chastain, Busch and Briscoe will be out of contention. While he isn’t expected to be a serious contender for the championship — Burton is still the lowest-ranked full-time driver in points, with just 306 total — beating any of those guys in the standings is an accomplishment.
Anything can happen in the playoffs, especially with a pair of drafting-style tracks in the first two rounds, and it’s possible Burton isn’t done padding his resume for any prospective employers might be eyeing him. And there are certainly more on that list than there were a week ago.
2. Southern 500 finale … what more could you ask for?
One of NASCAR’s crown jewels will officially determine the 16-driver field for the 2024 NASCAR Playoffs — it also happens to be arguably the hardest race in the sport.
Sunday night is going to be anything but tame.
Darlington Raceway — the track “Too Tough to Tame” — serves as the regular-season finale for the first time this Sunday, and it’s already setting up to be an instant classic. Not only will the final result of the most hotly contested Regular Season Championship battle to date be determined, but the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs field will be set, and it’s anything but settled at the moment.
Tyler Reddick paces the field with a 17- and 18-point lead over fellow title contenders — and Hendrick Motorsports teammates — Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott. We literally could see the three of them battling for both the race win and regular-season crown Sunday night in what might wind up being a preview of the actual title race at Phoenix Raceway later on. On top of that, five drivers are trying to point their way into the field of 16 with just three spots available, with the rest of the drivers in the standings behind them — including a two-time champ riding both a lengthy playoff appearance and winning-in-a-season streak that he certainly would not like to see snapped — gunning for their respective shots at glory with their only remaining chance being to win one of NASCAR’s crown jewels with pressure at its absolute highest measure.
Burton’s Daytona win just further complicated the playoff picture, adding a third driver to the field below the top 16 in points, pushing that bubble line down even more. Coming into Sunday, a pair of drivers considered 2024 playoff locks — one of whom was a 2022 Championship 4 contender — have Ross Chastain and Bubba Wallace sweating even making the playoffs at a time when they theoretically should’ve just been concerned about adding a crown jewel win to their collection. Toss in there Kyle Busch, mesmerizingly 106 points out of the picture and in full must-win mode, and the desperation among those three drivers, three of the most successfully aggressive in the garage, and it’s enough to ramp things up to a degree that drama almost feels like an inevitability rather than a possibility.
Oh, and if that weren’t enough — Sunday evening’s race is considered by most of the garage to be the toughest event on the schedule, with drivers gripping and ripping for 500 miles of grueling, wall-riding action with changing conditions from day-to-night that have crew chiefs tossing and turning in bed all week just thinking about it.
“Darlington is probably the most unique track on the schedule, just from the way that you drive the track, how narrow it is, how the risk vs. reward is,” No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell said via teleconference on Tuesday. “That table is completely different than most of the other tracks, because you’re basically forced to put your car right up against the fence to have any sort of pace at all. So with that being said, it’s just you have to be on point all 500 miles, and you’re going to have to be up against the fence all 500 miles. So you know, you have to be comfortable putting your car in that position and driving hard when it’s time to drive hard, and you can’t make mistakes whenever it’s time to drive hard, and then whenever it’s time to cruise and not push the car, you still have to be in that exact same line but figure out how to just back it up just a little bit so that you’re not putting your car in jeopardy.
Kyle Petty sounds off on Kyle Busch’s decision not to block the top lane at Daytona, costing him a win and a playoff berth.
4. Keeping it a buck — it takes about 100
Harrison Burton won in his 98th career start, matching other current top drivers — along with his dad Jeff, who won in his 96th — who also scored their first career win right around start No. 100.
Driver
Start No.
Event date
Track
Harrison Burton
98
8/24/2024
Daytona
Tyler Reddick
92
7/3/2022
Road America
William Byron
98
8/29/2020
Daytona
Chase Elliott
99
8/5/2018
Watkins Glen
Kyle Larson
99
8/28/2016
Michigan
5. Catch the pack — news and notes from around the garage
Both of 23XI Racing’s full-time drivers will be pushing for playoff goals this weekend — one at the top end of the provisional bracket and the other striving to shoehorn his way into the 16-driver field from just outside it. That situation wasn’t lost on Bubba Wallace, who noted post-race last weekend the gulf between himself on the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs bubble and teammate Tyler Reddick and his quest for the Regular Season Championship.
Wallace called that deviation “unacceptable” after he exited his No. 23 Toyota, leaving Daytona International Raceway with a 21-point deficit to make up in this weekend’s regular-season finale while long shot Harrison Burton snapped up a precious postseason bid with his first Cup Series win.
Darlington Raceway will be the battleground that decides the postseason fate of several hopeful drivers including Wallace, who aims to clear the playoff hurdle for the second consecutive year. Sunday’s event is an all-time classic, the Cook Out Southern 500 (6 p.m. ET, USA, NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM) — long one of the sport’s most grueling races at a track that has a tendency to bite.
RFK Racing’s Chris Buescher, for now, is the last driver in the field, maintaining that 21-point edge over Wallace for a playoff berth, with Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain just 27 points back of the elimination line. Wallace’s performance has been solid in recent weeks, but a postseason-clinching win so far has been elusive. Reddick, however, has been lights-out save for a Daytona mishap, rocketing to the Cup Series points lead on the strength of remarkable consistency and a Michigan victory a week and a half ago in 23XI’s No. 45 Toyota.
“They were just able to execute and be there for the end of races as to where, we were either caught up in somebody else’s mess or something would go south and we didn’t have an opportunity to better ourselves,” said Wallace, who has top-10 finishes in four of the last five races. “So I look at the opportunity this weekend, looking at how fast we were in the spring, the 45 obviously (was a) winning car, and then we were top 10 kind of all day. We’ve worked on a lot of stuff this week in the sim to be better, and I’m excited just to show up and basically, I need to portray the best race that I’ve ever had in my career to make the playoffs. And I don’t say that from a desperation mode. I say it as I’m confident in our team and our ability, as long as all the outside factors execute — an example, pit crew and strategy — then there’s no reason why we can’t be in Victory Lane at Darlington on Sunday. So that’s what we need to focus on, and that’s where we’re at.”
Both 23XI Racing drivers are heading to a track with positive recent indicators. Reddick contended for the victory there in May, and Wallace has four straight top-10 results at the South Carolina oval. The disparity that Wallace pointed out post-race at Daytona, Reddick said, may not provide a full picture of how their performance has aligned. Reddick said their ongoing dialogue and feedback on a given race weekend has built up a level of mutual trust, and he specifically cited Wallace’s help as one of the keys to his Michigan win earlier this month.
While Reddick is riding some recent highs, he said those waves favored Wallace earlier in the year.
“Something that I feel like is a little bit lost in all this is, I feel like the first half of the regular season, the 23 was by far just doing a better job, week in and week out,” Reddick told NASCAR.com. “They were outperforming us, they were faster in qualifying, better in practice, starting their race off stronger than we were. It’s just they’ve had some things come their way, and I feel like it’s just what happens from time to time. I’ve experienced it myself. When just about the time things are going right, they start to go wrong again. It’s just how it can be sometimes, how this sport can be. The team, everyone’s got to be jelling perfectly. It’s so easy for that to get a little bit out of sync, and then it’s easy for a day to get away.
“So yeah, honestly, I hate it for him. Again, like I said, I feel like everywhere we went till we got to the midsummer stretch around Charlotte, the 600 or whatever, I mean, damn. Even Charlotte, he was really strong in Charlotte. I mean, just every weekend he was out-qualifying us, faster in practice, driving the race car better than I was. Just, things would go south. It’s just, it’s how racing can be sometimes.”
As far as the pressure goes, Wallace said it’s been relative in comparison to his first venture into playoff territory.
“I think from a bigger picture, I’m stressed about being winless in damn near two seasons,” Wallace says. “I think that’s just a general overview, but I think in the situation we’re at now compared to, let’s say this was Daytona last year or Bristol the (elimination) race, I have no stress compared to those last year, and I think that’s for the better. It’s allowing me to focus on the important things and the right things and everything we need to do to succeed. I mean, I’m not saying that it’s not there. Obviously you get down to crunch time and say we have a great first, second stage, and things start to get tighter, you have to keep the emotions in check. And so I think I’ve learned that over the last couple years is the races aren’t over until the checkered flag falls, so whatever happens and all four corners on the car are still intact and you’re capable of running fast laps, you have to — no matter how tough the going gets – you’ve got to keep pushing. So stress right now, I feel good.”
Wallace has already found some Darlington motivation from high places. He told the Dale Jr. Download this week that team co-owner and NBA legend Michael Jordan had texted him the Monday after Daytona with a message that improved his mood: “Things you want more cost more.”
The words, Wallace said, gave him a measure of perspective and a level of encouragement to put in the hard work at one of NASCAR’s most treacherous tracks.
“He understands the situation that we’re in, and he can see everybody fighting hard and doing what we need to do,” Wallace says. “I mean, Daytona, our goal was to go in there and make up ground to the 17 (Buescher) and the 1 (Chastain). We did that for the 1; the 17 got some pretty good stage points there, especially at Stage 2. But we did what we were supposed to do, we just had an unexpected new winner. I guess you can’t say unexpected, because it is Daytona, so you’ve got to kind of accept anything. But I think we did what we were supposed to do. We built a gap. If there wasn’t a new winner, then yeah. Where we fell short of is that we weren’t the new winner. So that’s what I was frustrated about the most. Just wasn’t able to work that out in our favor, but MJ is usually texting me right after every race with, ‘good job,’ or whatever it may be. So he’s very much involved.”
