NASCAR officials handed down L1-level penalties to three Xfinity Series teams Wednesday for unapproved body-panel modifications discovered during last weekend’s events at Daytona International Speedway.
Competition officials discovered the infractions in pre-race inspection before Friday night’s Wawa 250, citing Sections 14.4.A and 14.4.11 C&D in the NASCAR Rule Book. Those sections address the body and rear bumper cover extensions for superspeedway events.
The offending teams were:
The No. 27 Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet, driven by Jeb Burton (crew chief Shane Whitbeck)
The No. 28 RSS Racing Ford, driven by Kyle Sieg (crew chief Joe Williams)
The No. 45 Alpha Prime Racing Chevrolet, driven at Daytona by Caesar Bacarella (crew chief Kase Kallenbach)
Each driver and team were docked 20 overall points and five playoff points in their respective standings. The respective crew chiefs for each team were also fined $25,000.
The Xfinity Series’ next race is the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200, scheduled Saturday (3:30 p.m. ET, USA, NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM) at Darlington Raceway.
The Southern 500 is in the unique position of being this year’s regular-season finale, and there are three playoff spots still open in the 16-driver field with Martin Truex Jr. (+58), Ty Gibbs (+39) and Chris Buescher (+21) holding onto those positions entering Sunday evening’s race (6 p.m. ET, USA, MRN Radio, SiriusXM, NBC Sports App).
With a grueling 500 ahead at the track “Too Tough to Tame” a lot can happen, including a shift at the top of the standings where there’s a hot battle going on for the Regular Season Championship, too. Here’s a quick rundown of the clinching scenarios for Darlington.
The following 13 drivers have clinched a spot in the 16-driver postseason field: Tyler Reddick, Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, William Byron, Christopher Bell, Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin, Alex Bowman, Joey Logano, Daniel Suarez, Austin Cindric, Harrison Burton.
Can clinch via points
If there is a repeat winner or a win by a driver who cannot advance to the playoffs, the following drivers could clinch by being ahead of the fourth winless driver in the standings. The same point requirements listed below would hold true if a new win comes from among Martin Truex Jr., Ty Gibbs or Chris Buescher.
— Martin Truex Jr. would clinch regardless of finish.
— Ty Gibbs would clinch with 16 points.
— Chris Buescher would clinch with 34 points.
— Bubba Wallace could only clinch with help.
— Ross Chastain could only clinch with help.
If there is a new winner from Bubba Wallace or another winless driver lower in the standings but still eligible to advance to the playoffs, the following drivers could clinch by being ahead of the third winless driver in the standings.
— Martin Truex Jr. would clinch with 19 points.
— Ty Gibbs would clinch with 38 points.
— Chris Buescher could only clinch with help.
— Bubba Wallace could only clinch with help.
— Ross Chastain could only clinch with help.
Can clinch via win
The following drivers would clinch on their win alone:
— Martin Truex Jr., Ty Gibbs, Chris Buescher, Bubba Wallace, Ross Chastain, Kyle Busch, Chase Briscoe, Todd Gilliland, Carson Hocevar, Michael McDowell, Josh Berry, Noah Gragson, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ryan Preece, Daniel Hemric, Austin Dillon, Justin Haley, John Hunter Nemechek, Corey LaJoie, Zane Smith.
Regular Season Championship
Additionally, the Regular Season Championship could be clinched by the following drivers:
When Lee Pulliam stepped away from active Late Model Stock competition at the end of the 2010s, he knew a day would come when he would climb back in the driver’s seat to chase another ValleyStar Credit Union 300 victory at Martinsville Speedway.
He just never envisioned the day would arrive so quickly.
With Pulliam’s primary driver Brenden “Butterbean” Queen racing at Kansas Speedway with the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series on the weekend of Sept. 28, the four-time NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series national champion will wheel his own No. 03 Toyota with one goal in mind: Win a grandfather clock.
Multiple factors are motivating Pulliam as Martinsville approaches. Not only does he have full confidence in his own Late Model Stock program, but he also looks forward to having his daughter cheer him on to victory.
On July 20, Lee Pulliam (left) and driver Brenden Queen (right) won the Hampton Heat at Langley Speedway, the second leg of the 2024 Virginia Late Model Triple Crown. (Photo: Ted Malinowski/NASCAR)
“I don’t know if I’ve ever been quite this excited to run a race,” Pulliam said. “For me, my daughter is old enough now to remember this. It’ll be really special to experience the whole thing with her and see what she thinks of everything post-race. Hopefully I can give her something to cheer for and make her proud.”
Pulliam hopes his daughter by the end of the weekend has a perspective into why he and so many others consider the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 the Daytona 500 of the Late Model Stock discipline. He has fond childhood memories of sitting on the backstretch at Martinsville, eager to see how the races played out. More than 100 cars typically showed up to compete, which only emphasized the prestige of the event to Pulliam.
As his own racing career began to take off, Pulliam was determined to join drivers like Mark Martin, Barry Beggarly, Curtis Markham, Tony McGuire and others as a ValleyStar Credit Union 300 winner. When he made his first attempt at Martinsville in 2008, he realized success was not going to be instantaneous.
“It took time and skill,” Pulliam said. “The first year I ran, I was in a Limited [Late Model] trying to jump up and run that race, but found out real quick how hard it was. The next year was kind of the same. It was my first year in a Late Model Stock, and we didn’t have any business going, but tried to anyway.
“The second year in a Late Model is when I really started putting things together.”
With more experience and resources at his disposal, Pulliam showed up to Martinsville in 2010 confident he had a race-winning car. That optimism was not unfounded; he went from missing his first two ValleyStar Credit Union 300 attempts to leading the 42-car field to the green flag from the pole.
Pulliam enjoyed 12 laps out front before settling for a fifth-place performance. Unsatisfied with the showing, he spent the following season refining his skills at short tracks around the southeast so he could return to Martinsville as the undisputed favorite.
Once he found his footing, Lee Pulliam embarked on a stellar career at Martinsville Speedway that consisted of two victories, eight top fives and 147 laps led. (Photo: Sara D. Davis / NASCAR via Getty Images)
Achieving immortality at Martinsville in 2011 required Pulliam to deal with Matt McCall, who now serves as Brad Keselowski’s crew chief in the NASCAR Cup Series. A talented racer himself, McCall led a race-high 112 laps that afternoon but had to fend off a hungry Pulliam over a green-white-checkered restart.
Victory appeared to be eluding Pulliam again when McCall successfully held the lead on the bottom line during the restart. Not ready to accept defeat, Pulliam got to McCall’s back bumper in Turn 3 and moved him up the track, which enabled Pulliam to drive away with his first Martinsville victory while McCall and others crashed behind him.
Despite having to deal with an angry McCall and a mixed crowd reaction after the race, a sense of euphoria overcame Pulliam. Martinsville had frustrated and humbled him several times over the preceding three years, which made that day in October feel like a significant milestone in his career.
“I remember jumping out of the car on the frontstretch, and 50 percent of the fans were going crazy, cheering,” Pulliam said. “The other 50 percent were chucking beer cans at me. I was one of those guys who had a ton of fire under me when I was young and had a refuse to lose attitude, so I was enjoying the boos and the cheers.
“It was a surreal moment to realize I had joined the list of names that won that race.”
Three years later, Pulliam relived the cathartic feeling of a Martinsville victory.
This time, it was Peyton Sellers standing in Pulliam’s way, another Late Model Stock veteran who was seeking his first ValleyStar Credit Union 300 victory. Sellers had emerged as the car to beat during the final 50 laps, all while Pulliam was struggling to maintain track position with an ill-handling car.
Circumstances brought Pulliam to the front row alongside Sellers for the final overtime restart. A perfectly timed jump gave the advantage to Pulliam, who ended up winning the race under caution after Sellers crashed with others while trying to salvage second.
Pulliam admitted the final laps of the 2014 race at Martinsville perfectly encapsulated how unpredictable the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 can be. Although Pulliam believed he did not have a race-winning car, he capitalized on the opportunity in front of him to become part of a select group that has won the prestigious event more than once.
“There were several years where I felt like I had the best car but didn’t win,” Pulliam said. “That year, I felt like I had an average fifth to seventh place car, yet was able to bring the clock home. I was definitely far from dominant that year, and I was doing all I could to get to Victory Lane that night.”
Both of Lee Pulliam’s victories at Martinsville Speedway required late-race heroics. (Photo: Sara D. Davis / NASCAR via Getty Images)
No matter the strength of his car in a given year, Pulliam typically found his way to the front of the field when it came time to settle the ValleyStar Credit Union 300. Over the 10 years Pulliam successfully qualified for the event, he finished outside the top five just twice, both of which were the results of late accidents.
The intensity prevalent every year in the closing stages of the ValleyStar Credit Union is why maintaining that consistency was such an arduous task for Pulliam. Increased competitive depth in the Late Model Stock discipline has only made that goal tougher during his visits to Martinsville exclusively as a car owner.
Pulliam knows being out of the seat for almost five years puts him at a disadvantage compared to those who race Late Model Stocks full-time. Despite this, he believes years of success at Martinsville will enable him to prepare a race-winning car and claim a third victory, a feat that would tie him with long-time rival Philip Morris.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve been [to Martinsville], but I still know what it takes to be successful there,” Pulliam said. “I’m sure I’ll be rusty the first couple of runs, but I should have it knocked off by the end of practice. We’ll be able to dial the car in really good and make the right changes at the right time.
“You can’t settle for just OK; you have to be excellent to win there.”
Excellence is expected to permeate the entry list for this year’s ValleyStar Credit Union 300. Past winners like Sellers, Mike Looney and Trevor Ward look to take home another grandfather clock alongside other talented Late Model Stock drivers searching for their first win such as Connor Hall, Carson Kvapil and more.
There are dozens of other drivers Pulliam thinks can win the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 if they hit their setup correctly, which is why he does not plan to count anyone out. Such a mindset is a two-way street for Pulliam, who hopes to remind his competition of what made him so stellar at Martinsville during the prime of his career.
Pulliam appreciates simply having the opportunity to race at Martinsville again following a prolonged absence behind the wheel. Nothing will come easy throughout the last weekend of September, but Pulliam is embracing the challenge that comes with pursuing Late Model Stock racing’s most prestigious event.
“A win would be emotional for sure,” Pulliam said. “Both of my wins were super special, but if I was able to get it done after five years, I think this would trump any win I’ve had in my career. I’m going to lay it all on the line, give it everything I got and put on a show for the fans.”
Many aspects in Pulliam’s live have changed since the last time he won at Martinsville, yet the dedication he has for Late Model Stock competition is still rampant as he prepares to make one last run at a renowned grandfather clock.
For the first time in more than six decades, the NASCAR Cup Series is traveling with a passport.
Ben Kennedy, the sport’s executive vice president, chief venue & racing innovations officer, was on site in Mexico City Tuesday to announce NASCAR’s top racing division will conduct a points-paying event at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in June 2025, marking the series’ first official visit outside the United States since 1958.
Joining Kennedy for the historic announcement was Daniel Suárez, a native of Monterrey, Mexico, who began his NASCAR journey in the NASCAR Mexico Series before graduating to the Xfinity Series in 2015 and won the championship one year later. Now an eight-year veteran of NASCAR’s premier series and locked into the Cup Series Playoffs courtesy of a February win at Atlanta, Suárez sat in awe Tuesday of what lies ahead in 10 months.
“Exactly 10 years ago, I was here racing NASCAR Mexico in 2014,” Suárez said via teleconference. “And I won a race here before winning NASCAR Mexico and moving full time to the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2015. And I knew that some years before my time, the NASCAR Xfinity Series had the opportunity to come to Mexico for a few years and I remember thinking, what a dream would be for me to race the NASCAR Cup Series one day in my country. I remember thinking that. And fast forward now nine years later, here we are.”
Chase Elliott, the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Champion and six-time defending most popular driver, scored his first NASCAR national series victory in 2013, when the Craftsman Truck Series ventured north of the border for an event at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. On Tuesday, Elliott praised the direction in which the sport is headed.
“The leadership group at NASCAR has been exploring a lot of different things that historically would probably have never happened, so I give them a lot of credit for that,” Elliott said in a separate teleconference. “I think to get outside the country is really a pretty cool thing. And it’s a pretty cool honor for us to have a following big enough to be able to leave and go somewhere and have an event and draw a big enough crowd for it to be successful. I think it’s really good and it’s healthy, and it’s something that we should probably look at doing if it goes well.”
Suárez competed in the NASCAR Mexico Series as recently as February, running and winning the season-opener at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Aiding Tuesday’s unveiling was a vast and overwhelming crowd before Suárez, Kennedy and accompanying dignitaries, highlighting the local buzz for the upcoming marquee event.
“It’s been unbelievable,” Suárez said. “You know, there’s a lot of people excited here in Mexico today. Today already is a day that we’re going to remember for a very, very long time. We were talking last night at dinner that today, we’re making history. Today, we’re bringing the biggest series of stock-car (racing) in the world to Mexico City for a points race for the very first time in the modern era. So it’s unbelievable.
“I feel very, very humbled and blessed to be part of this announcement today, and I cannot tell you how many people were down downstairs today recording and taking pictures of this moment. The energy was unbelievable — and we’re still a lot of months away from the race. So I’m just very happy. I couldn’t be happier today. Today is a day that I will remember for a very long time.”
NASCAR officials announced Tuesday that the Cup Series will race in Mexico next season, adding the first international points event in the division’s modern history to the 2025 schedule.
The historic race is scheduled for Sunday, June 15, at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City, the nation’s capital. A companion race for the NASCAR Xfinity Series is scheduled for the preceding day. The Cup Series event will air live on Prime Video, while Saturday’s Xfinity Series tilt will air live on The CW.
“This has been on our radar for a long time,” said Ben Kennedy, NASCAR executive vice president, chief venue & racing innovation officer. “We’ve been talking about the continued iteration of our schedule, right? You can go back a few years, went to new markets like Nashville and Austin, Texas. We went to the Coliseum for the Clash. … We went to our first street race in downtown Chicago, and this is going to be another first for us in a lot of ways. This is going to be certainly a monumental event for us, the first time we’re going south of the border.”
Although a points-paying Cup Series event in Mexico will be a first, NASCAR has long held a position in the country. The Hermanos Rodríguez circuit hosted four races in the Xfinity Series from 2005-08, and three current Cup Series stars are among its winners — Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch.
NASCAR has also sanctioned the NASCAR México Series since its formation in 2004, and the Hermanos Rodríguez course will be the site of this year’s season finale on Nov. 3. Mexican-born Cup Series driver Daniel Suárez — who won the series’ season opener at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in February — is among those who have emerged from that tour.
“This, for me, is like a dream,” Suárez said at Tuesday’s announcement. “This is really a dream come true. Exactly 10 years ago, I was here racing NASCAR Mexico in 2014, and I won a race here before leaving NASCAR México and moving full-time to the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2015, and I knew that some, some years before my time, the NASCAR Xfinity Series had the opportunity to come to Mexico for a few years and I remember thinking what a dream it would be for me to race the NASCAR Cup Series one day in my country. I remember thinking that, and fast forward now nine years later, and here we are in Mexico City.”
Kennedy said the partnership with Mexico City is a multiyear deal, and the expansion of the Cup Series’ footprint outside the United States borders marks the latest innovative step taken by NASCAR’s schedule makers in recent seasons. The Cup Series held two races in Canada in its earliest years — a 1952 event won by Buddy Shuman at Stamford Park in Niagara Falls, Ontario, and a 1958 meet at the Canadian Exposition Stadium in Toronto where Lee Petty prevailed and his son, Richard, made the first of his record 1,184 Cup starts. The series also held a series of exhibition races in Japan from 1996-98.
Kennedy said returning the sport’s top division to the global stage has long been a priority.
“It’s huge,” Kennedy said. “When we talk as a leadership team about where we feel like our biggest growth opportunities as a sport is, international is always one of the first things that comes up. … We brought the Craftsman Truck Series to Canada for a number of years, we’ve had the Xfinity Series in Mexico. This is a monumental moment for our sport in the sense that this is our first step of really taking the Cup Series internationally, and I think it could set us up for the future in potential new markets. I think we’ve been honest about our interest in taking our Cup Series abroad, whether that’s north of the border or south of the border, and then as we talk about some of our other races, there are opportunities for us to take the Cup Series even further than that.
“So, it’s going to be a big project for us. There’s a lot of questions that we have. I’m sure that the industry will have some questions as well, but excited to take this on, and to go to one of the biggest markets — not just in the country, but in the world — is going to be huge for our sport.”
The Mexico City track — which has road course and oval configurations — has hosted various series since its construction in 1959. The circuit, named in honor of racing brothers Ricardo and Pedro Rodríguez shortly after it opened, was remodeled in 2015 and has hosted eight Formula 1 grands prix since then.
NASCAR used a 2.518-mile layout during the Xfinity Series races in 2005-08, short of the full 2.674-mile, 17-turn course. Kennedy said the race lengths for both the Cup and Xfinity Series races were in development.
Kennedy said NASCAR will partner with OCESA, which promotes the Mexico City Grand Prix for Formula 1 and has organized other large-scale entertainment events in the country.
“At OCESA, we are dedicated to entertaining people, and this has positioned us as the most powerful live events platform in Mexico and Latin America, as well as one of the most important globally,” said Alejandro Soberón, Founder and CEO of OCESA. “The arrival of the NASCAR Cup Series to our country reflects the significant growth that motorsports has experienced in Mexico, an achievement in which Escudería Telmex has played a major role by promoting the NASCAR Mexico Series and supporting drivers like Daniel Suárez.”
Kennedy also confirmed that Richmond Raceway would drop from two annual NASCAR race weekends to a one-weekend date in 2025 to accommodate the Mexico City addition.
“We’re still committed to Richmond,” Kennedy said. “It’s an important track, an important market certainly, as we think about where our NASCAR fans are today. We’ve seen some exciting story lines certainly coming out of that track over the past few years and excited to continue to be there next year, put on a great event for our fans, and put a lot of that energy and resources into that event.”
As for the energy from Tuesday’s big reveal, Kennedy lauded the reception from the national media and dignitaries. The full list for the 2025 NASCAR calendar has only been partially announced, but the sport has added new venues to the schedule for five consecutive years.
Now, Kennedy says, the planning for logistics, transportation and set-up begins with on-the-ground support for an event that’s less than a year away.
“I’m certain that this is also just the start of it,” Kennedy said. “We have 10 months of planning ahead of us and a lot of other opportunities to have announcements leading into this event. So you know, excited to continue to drive that energy to June of next year.”
The shuffling of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs picture has reached its make-or-break point with this weekend’s regular-season finale at Darlington Raceway. Last weekend’s frenzied showdown at Daytona International Speedway did little to calm the waters.
Three drivers on the right side of the postseason bubble will clinch the final available berths in Sunday’s Cook Out Southern 500 (6 p.m. ET, USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App), where a Regular Season Champion will also be crowned. That same bubble will burst for those left outside the 16-driver playoff grid at a treacherous 1.366-mile track that’s been the site of plenty of heartbreak in its 74-year history.
Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Martin Truex Jr. and Ty Gibbs sit in the best spots among drivers provisionally in on the basis of points, with Truex up 58 points on the dividing line and Gibbs at plus-39. Right on the knife’s edge of elimination are Chris Buescher (plus-21) as the last driver currently in, and Bubba Wallace (minus-21) as the first driver out.
Harrison Burton’s surprise victory in the next-to-last regular-season race at Daytona sealed a playoff invite for a driver ranked 34th in the Cup Series standings, tightening the window for other postseason hopefuls. Buescher grabbed 10 stage points and finished 10th at Daytona, aiming to recharge before visiting the South Carolina track where his RFK Racing No. 17 Ford contended late in the circuit’s most recent stop there in May.
“We’ll take a couple days. We’ll take a breather,” Buescher told NBC Sports post-race. “We’ll get to Darlington, time to get down to business.”
Business has already picked up for Wallace in his bid for a second consecutive playoff berth. He has already matched his total of five top-five finishes and 10 top-10 results from the previous year, but the zero in the win column that he and Buescher have in common is a stinging point.
Wallace was critical of himself in post-race interviews at Daytona, noting the disparity between his results and 23XI Racing teammate Tyler Reddick, the Cup Series standings leader.
“You got one car fighting for a regular-season championship, and another car right on the bubble. Unacceptable,” said Wallace, who finished seventh at Darlington in the spring. “I’ll take all that weight on my shoulders. Should have won multiple times this year and I haven’t. We don’t even deserve to be here and we are. Got to go win next week. That is it.”
Reddick has his own fight on his hands as he tried to retain his place atop the Cup Series points for the Regular Season Championship. That crown includes a bonus of 15 playoff points, a valuable asset that carries through the three rounds of eliminations that will determine the Championship 4 contenders.
His primary rivals for the title are a pair of Hendrick Motorsports teammates in Kyle Larson (second place, 17 points back) and Chase Elliott (third place, minus-18). All three drivers were involved in crashes in Daytona’s 400-miler, but only Larson’s No. 5 Chevrolet was running at the finish after a heavy lift by the team to repair its damage.
“I mean, our team does an amazing job to be resilient and to work through a lot of the things that we’ve encountered over the years and especially over the day,” No. 5 crew chief Cliff Daniels told NASCAR.com “A lot of other teams on pit road are very capable of that as well; they just had more damage than we had. So, thankful our damage wasn’t worse, and hats off to the guys for digging in the way that they always do. Showed a lot of heart, a lot of strength and yeah, we’ll go to Darlington.”
Larson’s group is actually in a better spot for the regular-season title in the Cup Series owners’ standings. Larson has competed in one fewer race than the rest of the field after missing the Coca-Cola 600 when his rain-altered Indianapolis 500 bid thwarted his travel plan, but Xfinity Series regular Justin Allgaier piloted the No. 5 Chevy to a 13th-place result in his absence in the Charlotte race.
That outcome has the Hendrick No. 5 team leading the owners’ standings, seven points ahead of the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota team that fields entries for Reddick. Larson is also the defending Southern 500 winner.
“We’ll move on from tonight quickly and get focused on Darlington, a track that we run really well at,” Larson told NASCAR.com after exiting the car at Daytona. “You know, the 45 also runs really well there also, so we’ll have to be on our A-game, but happy. I believe they said we have the owner point lead, and then I think in the drivers’ we’re still a ways out of it. But yeah, we’ll just try to execute like we have there and run up front of the stages and hopefully we’ll be in contention to win the race and see what happens.”
Final Appeals Officer Bill Mullis upheld the penalty levied on the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet following a last-lap incident on Aug. 11 at Richmond Raceway.
In reaching the above decision, the Final Appeals Officer provided the following explanation: “The data presented today from SMT and IDAS systems indicate that more likely than not a rule violation did occur at Richmond Raceway on 8-11-24 by the No. 3 RCR car on the last lap of the race. (Rule 12.3.2.1.B Eligibility, race finishes must be unencumbered by violations of the NASCAR rules or other actions detrimental to stock car auto racing or NASCAR as determined in the sole discretion of NASCAR.)”
Austin Dillon made contact with Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin in the final turns en route to his win at the Virginia short track. Dillon and the No. 3 team were subsequently dropped by NASCAR officials from the Cup Series Playoffs, with the race win not counting toward postseason eligibility.
The team appealed the ruling, and while No. 3 team spotter Brandon Benesch saw his suspension reduced from three races to one, the National Motorsports Appeals Panel upheld the remainder of the infraction earlier this month. The panel agreed with NASCAR’s ruling that the totality of Dillon’s actions was significant enough to warrant penalties; the win remained, but Dillon’s Cup Series Playoffs berth was revoked.
The penalty violated Sections 4.4.B NASCAR Member Code of Conduct Penalty Options and Guidelines; 10.1. A General Procedure; 12.3.2.1.B Eligibility. Benesch was cited for violating 4.4.D and 10.1.A. Dillon and the No. 3 team were also docked 25 points in the drivers’ and owners’ standings in the penalty handed down Aug. 14.
Richard Childress Racing elected to appeal the decision to the Final Appeals Officer, who presided over deliberations and came to the decision to uphold the ruling.
Dillon’s No. 3 Chevrolet currently sits 29th in points and remains outside of the 16-driver Cup Series Playoffs field heading into Sunday’s regular-season finale at Darlington Raceway (6 p.m. ET, USA, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).
Thirty-four hours removed from his crowning achievement in racing, Harrison Burton was still soaking in the thrill of earning his first NASCAR Cup Series win after Saturday night’s race at Daytona International Speedway.
“I was running before last night on, like, two hours of sleep total between 48 hours and was starting to get pretty tired,” Burton told NASCAR.com Monday morning. “Really was a fun, fun time. Had a lot of friends reach out and come hang out and spend time with my sister and all kinds of people that weren’t able to be there, which was really cool and really, really fun to try and just enjoy the moment, right? You just never know when your next one will come.”
The struggles of Burton’s first two-and-two-thirds years at the Cup level underscore the gratitude and appreciation Burton has for his shining moment. What enhanced it was the presence of his dad, NASCAR Hall-of-Fame nominee Jeff Burton, who was there to enjoy the frills of the 23-year-old’s breakthrough victory. The elder Burton has seen the totality of Burton’s career — the thrilling highs working his way up the racing ladder to the Cup level in the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford down to the lows that have persisted in his first 97 series starts. Those lows have resulted in the team’s decision to part ways with Burton at season’s end in favor of Josh Berry in 2025.
Saturday night, Jeff Burton relished every facet of the victory celebration with his son — first from the NBC Sports broadcast booth, then to the tri-oval grass all the way to Victory Lane and the media center two hours after the checkered flag.
“It was really special,” Harrison Burton said of sharing the moment with his father. “I mean, man, I’ve spent a lot of time on the phone with him this year, spent a lot of time in person with him this year just trying to move forward in my career. And he was always trying to instill in me to never quit, and that was kind of the mantra for our entire team.
“Like I said in the media center, we won this race in the most Wood Brothers way ever, right? In a way that is hard-nosed, never quit, been down in the dumps and then find a way to win. That’s what the Wood Brothers do. So he seemed to be really proud of that. And I think, obviously, this year, he spent a lot of time telling me that he’s been proud of the way I’ve handled this situation as far as losing that ride and then not quitting and just making the most out of the opportunity we have. I think he was just excited that all those things that he tried to instill in me, I think, shined through in that moment.”
NBC Sports
As a father, Jeff Burton “has always called himself a hard-ass,” the 23-year-old said, a sentiment which still stands even as the younger Burton navigates life in the Cup Series. In fact, Jeff Burton told NASCAR.com Saturday night of a conversation the two had in recent weeks, telling his son: “Harrison, you’re a better race-car driver than you’re allowing yourself to be at the moment.”
“That kind of hit home, right?” Harrison Burton said. “It’s like, man, I think he’s right. Like, what’s going on here? There’s definitely some mental aspects to this game. I think it’s mostly mental. And when you get beat up in your rookie year, and your second year, it’s just hard sometimes to go to the race track with the right mentality. It’s hard to go to the race track with the confidence you need to perform at this level, right? Like, I feel like I could jump in a race car and go fast; it’s just having the confidence to do that is hard.
“If you’re a percentage off, it’s a big deal in this sport, especially at the Cup level. I’ve shown that I have the ability to win races. I’ve shown that I’ve won Xfinity races and I can drive cars fast and I can do the right things. It’s just I didn’t do it consistently enough. And when you have flashes that show you can do it, you better dang find out how to do it all the time.”
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
The blunt nature of Jeff Burton’s critiques have never dissuaded Harrison’s efforts because both knew the advice and observations were meant to help drive him forward.
“My whole childhood was that way,” Harrison Burton said. “He was a loving dad — I’m not telling you he was a mean person — but he just told you how it was and was very realistic about situations, and he continues to be that way. And for me, I think that means a lot because you just know when he does tell you something that he means it. …
“I would win races and he’d tell me I needed to do something better, and I missed this opportunity and did this wrong. I’m like, ‘Oh, all right, I thought I won, but OK.’ And you know, He’s just always realistic with you. So when he does say good job, he means you did a good job. And when he does say you need to work on something, you know you need to work on it. So that’s helped me a lot as a man growing up in that scenario where I feel like I can take criticism well. I feel like I can learn from it. I don’t shut down from it.
“It’s helped me keep going in my Cup career when times were not the easiest. When times were hard, it was much easier to understand why and understand what’s going on and understand how to get better from it because I grew up the way I did.”
Burton can now look forward to his first appearance in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, attempting to guide the legendary Wood Brothers team from 34th in points to its first Cup Series Championship. It seems only fitting that a family-owned organization won its 100th Cup race with a driver who comes from a racing family of his own.
“Even through the hard times that we’ve had, they still treat me with a lot of respect,” Burton said of the Woods. “They still believe in me. They still wanted me to succeed. They still root for me, and they’ve been really good to me and my family. I mean, they’ve just opened a lot of doors up and let me be my own person, and they have faith in me, and all those things kind of came together, right?
“We had Bailey Wood there, who’s one of the younger members of the (family) up on (the stage). We had Jon, we had Eddie and Len up there. Leonard was at home. He texted me. And by the way, Leonard’s very hip — he uses emojis and stuff for being 89 years old. I think that was pretty awesome. Just stuff like that, man. It just feels like you’re a part of their family when you’re driving for them.”
Eddie Wood, son of NASCAR Hall-of-Famer Glen Wood, now serves as both team co-owner and CEO alongside brother and chief operations officer Len. Eddie’s son Jon Wood, took over as team president in April and has driven in the Cup, Xfinity and Craftsman Truck series. And to bring Saturday’s triumph with Burton full circle, Jon Wood made his Xfinity Series debut in 2002 in the No. 9 Roush Racing Ford — substituting for none other than Jeff Burton.
In a Monday teleconference, Eddie Wood said he believes those family ties have served both Burton and the team well, which common bonds informing day-to-day conversations.
“You grow up in a racing family, it’s easier to just do things because you know they understand,” Wood said. “Like, if Len or I or Jon or somebody’s talking to Harrison about something, it’s like, you know what I mean? Your family’s the same as ours. You grew up with racing being the only topic that was ever talked about at lunch or dinner or in the car, wherever you were. It was about racing. And that’s, I’m sure, that’s the way he grew up.”
As a son, brother, father and cousin of racers himself, Wood understands the role Jeff Burton plays for Harrison better than most. Even though the elder Burton is always at the track — either to support his son or for work as an NBC Sports analyst — he allows his son to be his own man, Wood said.
“I think he gives Harrison enough room as a dad,” he said. “I mean, my son raced too. You can’t get in too deep with it. You’ve just got to be there when they want something. Or if you see something that is good or bad or you need to talk about it, usually, save that for later. But Jeff, as well as Kim (Jeff’s wife and Harrison’s mom), they’ve been big influences on his life because he’s probably the most polite young man I’ve ever been around in my life.”
With just six races left in the 2024 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season, the series travels to historic Oswego Speedway this Saturday for the running of the Toyota Mod Classic 150 (8 p.m. ET on FloRacing).
Oswego Speedway, located in Oswego, New York, first welcomed the Modified Tour during the 1988 season. That year, Brian Ross won not once, but twice at the legendary Steel Palace. Additional visits to the track that season were won by Mike McLaughlin and George Kent Jr.
A number of familiar faces have since won at the track, with Tony Hirschman leading all drivers with three Modified Tour victories at the 0.625-mile oval. Other notable winners at the historic track include Ron Silk, Justin Bonsignore, Matt Hirschman, Ryan Preece, Doug Coby and Mike Stefanik.
Tickets for Saturday’s Toyota Mod Classic 150 are available here. Below is everything you need to know about the 11th race of the 2024 Whelen Modified Tour season.
A rainbow forms over Turns 3-4 prior to the start of the Toyota Bud Mod Classic 150 for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour at Oswego Speedway on Sept. 3, 2023. (Photo: Bryan Bennett/NASCAR)
Toyota Mod Classic 150 at Oswego Speedway
For the first time in 2024, someone not named Ron Silk leads the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour standings.
It just so happens to be Justin Bonsignore, who utilized a runner-up finish in the most recent event at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park to move to the top of the leaderboard by four points with five races left this season.
That gives Bonsignore all the momentum heading into Saturday’s Toyota Mod Classic 150 at Oswego Speedway, a track where Bonsignore has twice visited Victory Lane. However, one season ago, things didn’t go as planned for Bonsignore when he crashed out of the event while racing in the top five.
That race was won by Silk, who used the victory to help catapult himself to his second Modified Tour championship and first since 2011. Silk, who has struggled to regain his early season form, will look for a return trip to Oswego Speedway’s Victory Lane this Saturday night.
Another likely contender should be Patrick Emerling, who enters the Toyota Mod Classic 150 with plenty of momentum after a dominant win at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park a few weeks ago. The win catapulted him to third in the series standings, 31 points behind Bonsignore.
Austin Beers, also a winner this year at Lancaster Motorplex, should also be considered a contender at Oswego.
Other notable entrants include Matt Hirschman, Craig Lutz, Woody Pitkat and Tommy, Trevor and Tyler Catalano, among others.
The full entry list for Saturday’s Toyota Mod Classic 150 is available here.
Gary McDonald (No. 26), Austin Beers (No. 64) and Ron Silk (No. 16) in action during the Toyota Bud Mod Classic 150 for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour at Oswego Speedway on Sept. 3, 2023. (Photo: Bryan Bennett/NASCAR)
Schedule: Saturday, August 31 … Final practice from 3:15 to 4 p.m. ET … Qualifying at 5:15 p.m. ET … Toyota Mod Classic 150 at 8 p.m. ET (FloRacing).
Qualifying: Two consecutive qualifying laps. (EIRI) Faster lap determines qualifying position. Adjustments or repairs may not be made on the vehicle after the vehicle has taken the green flag at the start/finish line. NASCAR reserves the right to have more than one vehicle engage in qualifying runs at the same time. Starting field for the Toyota Mod Classic 150 is limited to 24 starters including Provisional Positions.
Tire allotment: The maximum tire allotment available for this event is eleven (11) tires per team. All tires used for qualifying and the race must be purchased at the track and scanned by Hoosier, unless otherwise approved in advance by the Series Director. Four (4) tires must be used for qualifying and to begin the race. All qualifying tires must remain in impound until released by NASCAR Officials. The remaining tire allotment may be used for practice and/or change tires during the event. The tire change rule is two (2) tires, per caution period.
