Noah Gragson to join Front Row Motorsports on multiyear deal for 2025

Posted on July 10, 2024July 10, 2024 by Staff Report

CONCORD, N.C. — Noah Gragson will join Front Row Motorsports on a multiyear deal beginning in the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season, the team announced Wednesday at the NASCAR Productions Facility.

Gragson, 25, stays in the Ford Performance Organization after his current team at Stewart-Haas Racing announced it will shut its doors at the end of the 2024 campaign. Front Row Motorsports will announce a crew chief, the car number and partners for Gragson at a later date.

“It’s definitely exciting times,” Gragson said during Wednesday’s press conference. “When we started out this year, I didn’t know how I was going to run. I didn’t know if I had the potential to run in the Cup Series just based off how the 2023 season went, and to be able to get my feet underneath me with the opportunity at Stewart-Haas, it definitely opened people’s eyes. And with the challenges that have come about with Stewart-Haas, we were looking for a home for a long time, and that’s when I got introduced to [co-owners] Bob (Jenkins) and Jerry (Freeze).

“Being able to sit down with them and talk and see what their goals were, what their vision was, and the thing that stuck out in my mind most importantly is what Jerry said when we met was Bob’s goal is to grow each and every year, and through the experiences that I’ve had in the last several years it’s been fun to challenge myself.”

FRM announced on May 29 it would expand to a three-car operation from its current two-car state. Michael McDowell, the current driver of the No. 34 Ford, revealed on May 8 he would depart the organization to join Spire Motorsports next season on a multiyear deal. The No. 38 car will continue to be piloted by Todd Gilliland, who announced on June 5 he will return to FRM on a multiyear contract beginning in 2025.

Next season will reunite Gragson and Gilliland, who were paired at the now-defunct Kyle Busch Motorsports in the Craftsman Truck Series from 2017-2018.

“Todd and I have been racing each other for the past, probably, 10 years,” Gragson said. “We had some fierce battles on the race track, became teammates over at Kyle Busch Motorsports and it’s going to be nice to be able to rekindle that relationship on the race track as teammates now. It’s been a few years in between, but I think from all our learnings from the past organizations that we both had been at we can definitely work together and help each other to become better.”

In his second scheduled full-time season in the Cup Series, Gragson has accumulated one top-five finish, six top 10s and an 18.3 average finish through 20 races in the No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford. The Las Vegas native’s rookie campaign came in 2023 with Legacy Motor Club, competing in 21 races in the No. 42 Chevrolet before an indefinite suspension sidelined him for the remaining 15 races of the year. Gragson also participated in 18 races in 2022, racing part-time for Kaulig Racing and in a relief role for Hendrick Motorsports.

For the first time in a handful of years for Gragson, Front Row offers him a key piece to success in NASCAR — stability.

Without the feeling of needing to audition for future roles, Gragson feels he’s ready for the chance to go from the highly touted prospect to an organizational frontman

“I think just from a young age, I was taught loyalty and loyalty in people,” Gragson said. “Bob and Jerry have given me an opportunity so I do feel like there’s opportunity to grow as a leader, as a driver on and off the race track and having that stability. I’ve jumped around from JR Motorsports in 2022, to Legacy last year, and at Stewart-Haas this year, Front Row next year that’s four teams in four years.

“To be able to come into the race shop after a year under my belt and already know the employees’ names January 1 and build relationships, that’s important to me.”

As Front Row leans younger in its roster for the coming years, it offers a chance for the organization to have long-term success.

Despite making the playoffs, reaching Victory Lane multiple times and having consistent speed the last few years, FRM feels poised to be a true contender for 36 races annually bringing on Gragson.

“When we told the team this morning, there’s a lot of enthusiasm about it for sure,” Freeze said. “I think Noah, he’s a likable guy for sure and brings a big personality to the team and the energy and I think people are just excited to know that. Filling the void of Michael McDowell leaving is hard without a doubt and so Noah coming in, somebody that people are excited about, kind of a very different personality than where Michael is in his life, I think is definitely just brought a real spirit to the shop and I think people are just excited to get to know Noah and get to work”

Gragson is the third SHR driver assured to remain in the NASCAR Cup Series despite the company’s closure. Joe Gibbs Racing announced on June 25 that Chase Briscoe will pilot its No. 19 Toyota next season in place of the retiring Martin Truex Jr. And on July 3, Wood Brothers Racing announced Josh Berry will replace Harrison Burton in the No. 21 Ford next season.

Front Row Motorsports will announce the driver of their third car for 2025 at a later date, and while it is unknown who the third man will be, Jenkins hinted at another ‘young, experienced’ driver to complement Gilliland and Gragson.

“Without knowing exactly who’s going be driving our third car, it’s hard for me to say everything,” Jenkins said. “But I think this is what you can expect. I think you’re going to have three young but experienced drivers that they’re youthful, that they’ve gotten that first couple of years out of the way and I think people will look at Front Row Motorsports and say ‘this is a team that could be together for a long time.’

“The thing I’m most excited about with Noah is that he’s not even really hit his ceiling. He’s still growing in the sport, getting better every week and I’m just excited to see where it goes.”

— Cameron Richardson contributed to this report.

Posted on July 10, 2024 by Zach Sturniolo

NASCAR’s electric dawn is here as the sanctioning body unveiled the ABB NASCAR EV Prototype Saturday at the Chicago Street Course.

The stock-car powerhouse’s first endeavor into the creation of a battery electric vehicle brings with it no series on the horizon and no concrete plan for what electrified racing may look like through the lens of NASCAR yet. But the prototype vehicle — created in collaboration with Ford, Chevrolet and Toyota by the same NASCAR engineers behind the Next Gen car that occupies the Cup Series and the Garage 56 entry in the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans — indicates a glimpse at what is possible years down the road.

“If you look out across the landscape, one thing that’s for certain is that change is accelerating all around us,” said John Probst, NASCAR senior vice president and chief racing development officer. “We, from a NASCAR perspective, want to be in the driver’s seat when it comes to where our future is going. We certainly don’t want to be in the passenger seat and then someday get to the future and go, ‘Oh, where do we need to be?’ It’s not fair to the collaboration that we have with our OEM partners if we go down a particular route that they’re not interested in or is honestly not relevant to them.”

MORE: NASCAR, ABB unveil prototype

What remained notable in a sitdown with NASCAR and manufacturer officials at the sport’s production facility in Concord, North Carolina, was the reiteration of the current stability of the internal combustion engine that remains synonymous with NASCAR racing. But with that comes an open mind toward different possibilities of what those power sources look like.

“One of the things you’ll see out of the Next Gen platform not just this year but over the years that come is you’ll see us experiment with a lot of different powertrains in that,” Probst said. “Today, obviously we have the combustion engine. There’s a long, long road ahead for the combustion engine, be it powered from sustainable fuel or hydrogen, for that matter. That’s something else that we’re very interested in. But then there’s obviously also the electrification side of that, be it hybrid (or otherwise).”

NASCAR’s extensive work in developing, testing and displaying such a radically different concept to the sport propels stock-car racing immediately toward the future.

According to the press release, the car has three STARD UHP 6-Phase motors (one front, two rear) supplying power directly to all four specially designed Goodyear tires. It also holds a 78-kWh liquid-cooled battery with a powertrain that can produce 1,000 kilowatts at peak power. Regenerative braking converts kinetic energy into power, making the car ideal for road courses and short oval tracks, the press release stated.

And while the powertrain was priority No. 1 on such an involved and complex project, that was not the only area of focus from a sustainability standpoint. The body of the crossover utility vehicle (CUV) that houses the new electric power is made from a flaxseed-based composite, sitting on a modified Next Gen chassis and utilizing the same steering, suspension, brakes and wheels featured in today’s NASCAR Cup Series.

The design of the vehicle and what went into it was led by CJ Tobin, NASCAR’s senior engineer of vehicle systems, and his team at the NASCAR Research and Development Center in Concord, North Carolina.

Working hand-in-hand with that group was Riley Nelson, who serves as NASCAR’s head of sustainability, a job that to outsiders before Saturday’s unveil may have sounded more like an oxymoron. But the effort their teams combined to perform significantly helps the sport pursue what realistic options exist in the years to come.

“Sustainability means a lot of different things. And for our team right now, it’s environmental sustainability,” Nelson told NASCAR.com. “And so that really starts with education and getting people to understand that this is what our role is. That what our team is doing is we’re trying to reduce NASCAR’s carbon footprint. And that happens in a variety of different ways.

“But the bulk of it is it’s not going to be just the NASCAR IMPACT team or the sustainability team that’s doing it. It’s the entire company and the entire industry that needs to think differently and think about some of these solutions and problem-solving ways to reduce carbon as a sport.

“And that’s why the education piece is so important because I’m not a car engineer or a car designer, CJ is. John is. So it’s important that they’re also thinking about the way that we’re thinking about sustainability and implementing that into their individual organizations and lines of business, and that’s slowly how then change happens across multiple departments and teams, which then affects across the industry.”

Pat DiMarco, Ford Performance’s manager of NASCAR and analytics, emphasized that if any change is to come, it will likely be slow, measured and reasonable.

“The Daytona 500 will (feature) an internal combustion engine for well beyond my (time),” DiMarco said. “So it’s going to be a balance, right? The experience may be good, may be bad, depending on how you look at it. It’s an unknown. We got to work through it. And that’s what this is. It’s educating and taking the feedback from the race fans as to, is this something that they want? Is this something that they like? And is this something that us as the OEMs want to pursue even further?

“But can we go race, you know, for 30 minutes, 45 minutes at a short track? Yeah. Is that a long enough race to go do something? Probably. Nitro Rallycross and some of the World Rally Cross stuff run short races to give people time to watch. Do you want to go to the Daytona 500 (with EVs)? No. A mile-and-a-half (track), you’re not gonna run for as long as you are. But you know, just seeing where the technology goes to dictate how we as OEMs in NASCAR roll it in.”

For now, just one prototype vehicle exists, which former Cup regular David Ragan has piloted across multiple test sessions and achieved similar lap times at Martinsville Speedway to the modern-day Cup vehicle. Whether anything more significant lies ahead remains to be determined.

“There’s no plans right now to have a series that’s electric,” Probst said. “But I will also say I learned a long time ago you never say ‘never’ or ‘always,’ so that’s a good life lesson.”

Posted on July 10, 2024July 10, 2024 by Staff Report

NASCAR officials issued a penalty Wednesday for an on-track infraction after the checkered flag of last weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series race at the Chicago Street Course.

Bubba Wallace, driver of the No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota, was fined $50,000 for violating Sections 4.4.B & D: NASCAR Member Code of Conduct during Sunday’s Grant Park 165.

During the cool-down lap after the conclusion of the 2024 Chicago Street Race, Wallace slammed the door of his No. 23 machine into the side of Chicago winner Alex Bowman’s no. 48 Chevrolet. The post-race confrontation came after a Lap 25 incident when Bowman’s Hendrick Motorsports Chevy tangled up with the No. 23, causing Wallace to clip the side and spin into the wall. Wallace subsequently finished the race in 13th and currently sits 17th in the playoff standings, 45 points underneath the elimination line for the 16-driver field.

The Cup Series continues its regular season at Pocono Raceway this Sunday (2:30 p.m. ET, USA, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).

MORE: Full Cup Series schedule

Posted on July 10, 2024July 10, 2024 by Adam Fenwick

When rain forced ARCA and Irwindale Speedway officials to postpone the ARCA Menards Series West race originally scheduled for March 30, a unique opportunity was created. Irwindale would host two West Series races in the span of three days from July 4-6.

Such a doubleheader came with its own set of unique challenges that track promoter Tim Huddleston and his team had to overcome in order to welcome more than 12,000 fans and competitors for two spectacular nights of racing and entertainment.

This is how they did it.

Long before ARCA officials and teams began to arrive at Irwindale Speedway, preparation was underway days in advance of Thursday’s NAPA Auto Parts 150 presented by the West Coast Stock Car Motorsports Hall of Fame.

The grandstands, which can hold approximately 6,500 people, were pressure washed. The race track was given a new coat of paint. Trash cans were emptied. Banners and flags were hung around the facility. Barriers were moved into place.

These tasks may sound simple, but there’s no such thing on a hot day in Southern California.

Huddleston on Wednesday was in Las Vegas for another event, so Manny Gonzalez handled much of the pre-event work to prepare the facility to welcome fans and competitors.

Gonzalez has worked at Irwindale for more than two decades. In fact, he was part of the team that prepared the landscaping prior to the construction of the track.

As long as Irwindale Speedway has existed, Gonzalez has worked there. He now holds the title of Facilities Manager at the 65-acre property.

Huddleston likes to give fans as much bang for their buck as possible. That’s why, when the West Series comes to Irwindale, each event also includes the popular Night of Destruction program.

A Night of Destruction is exactly how it sounds. Attractions like trailer races, jet car burn downs and motorhome destruction races create big reactions from race fans … and one really big mess.

Gonzalez and his team are the ones who clean it all up.

Not to be left out, West Series director Chris Wright also has a hand in preparing the facility for competition. Before almost every West Series race, Wright uses a drag mat to collect any debris leftover from whatever event was last on track.

Wright on Wednesday covered Irwindale’s entire half-mile oval, plus the infield of the track as well as the pit area. The drag mat collected a variety of debris, including rubber, bits of metal and plastic.

“It gives me a chance to scan the track for areas of concern. It allows me to put my eyes on the entire facility.” — Chris Wright

Tim Huddleston at the ARCA hauler.

Lisa Huddleston stocks merchandise.

Paul Belvin delivers fuel to competitors.

By Thursday morning, preparations were all but complete for the first of two days of racing and destruction. But there was still work to be done. Huddleston, his wife Lisa and operations coordinator Paul Belvin were quite literally all over the facility Thursday.

Huddleston is more than a promotor. When the action begins on race nights, he takes on the role of hype man for the capacity crowd. Lisa joins him to hand out giveaways in the stands.

“We built us a little tiny home. It’s a 600 square foot mini house on the property. Me and my entire family, we will not leave that property. We’ll come in from Las Vegas at 3 or 4 in the morning on Thursday, and I won’t leave that property until Sunday night.” — Tim Huddleston

July 4 at 4 p.m. PT – GATES OPEN

Following the conclusion of Thursday’s West Series race (won by Sean Hingorani), the program shifted to the Night of Destruction.

Just as advertised, there was plenty of destruction and, thus, one huge mess.

And with a 10 p.m. PT curfew, the show had to move on in a hurry.

July 5 at 5:30 a.m. PT – CLEANUP BEGINS

Gonzalez arrived on site at 5 a.m. PT on Friday. He and his 10-person crew began clean-up efforts at 5:30 a.m.

Part of the crew was stationed in the infield, where they cleaned up the debris created by the Night of Destruction and jet car burn down.

Wednesday afternoon before the jet car burn down …

… Friday morning after the jet car burn down.

While Gonzalez and his group were focused on cleaning up the infield, a second team was in the grandstands picking up trash left behind by spectators.

Gonzalez estimated his team would collect between 200 and 250 bags of trash from the grandstands and the various trash cans around the facility.

The entire race track and infield had to be cleared of debris ahead of a practice session scheduled for 4 p.m. PT on Friday afternoon. Gonzalez and his team cleaned diligently over the span of four hours. Wright arrived shortly before 10 a.m. and joined the efforts with the drag mat.

By noon, all of the debris was cleared from the infield, and all the trash had been removed from the grandstands. The track was ready to welcome fans and competitors all over again.

“We used to have a different crew, and they’d take the whole day to clean up. When I start, it only takes four hours. We’ll start at 6 in the morning, and we’re done by 10.” — Manny Gonzalez

July 6 at 4 p.m. PT – GATES OPEN

For the second time in three days, Irwindale Speedway opened for business. The West Series once again started the show. Hingorani completed the sweep of both events in a three-day span.

The race was followed by another Night of Destruction program. It again left the facility covered in debris that Gonzalez and his crew spent Sunday morning cleaning.

In all, it was a busy-yet-successful weekend for the Huddleston family, the West Series and the entire staff at Irwindale Speedway.

“The absolute first and foremost and always most important thing for a successful weekend is to send everybody home safe, first, and happy, second. That’s a successful weekend for us.” — Tim Huddleston

Photos: Adam Fenwick

Posted on July 9, 2024 by Holly Cain

Alex Bowman’s victory on the Chicago Street Course on Sunday marks the second consecutive week the driver on the playoff points position elimination line has won a race to secure his chance to race for the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series championship.

Last week, Team Penske’s Joey Logano won at Nashville Speedway vaulting from a tenuous place in the standings to a sure-bet opportunity to race for a third title, too.

Those new winners bring the season total to 12 race winners, leaving only four points positions to transfer into championship contention. There are still six races remaining to set the 16-driver playoff field starting with Sunday’s Great American Getaway 400 Presented by VISITPA.com at Pocono Raceway (2:30 p.m. ET on USA Network, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).

NASCAR Cup Series driver standings leader Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, William Byron, Christopher Bell, Chase Elliott, Tyler Reddick, Ryan Blaney, Brad Keselowski, Bowman, Logano, Daniel Suárez and Austin Cindric have all hoisted trophies to lock in their playoff berths.

Martin Truex Jr., Ty Gibbs, Ross Chastain and Chris Buescher round out the top 16 in the points standings. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver Truex holds a 125-point advantage over 17th-place Bubba Wallace. Buescher, holds a much slimmer 45-point edge over Wallace, whose 13th-place effort at Chicago significantly helped his bid to return to the playoffs this season.

MORE: Driver standings | Chicago results

Just behind 23XI Racing’s Wallace in the standings are Stewart-Haas Racing’s Chase Briscoe (-88 points) and two-time series champion, Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch (-98 points).

Securing his playoff opportunity — which now puts all four Hendrick Motorsports cars in the championship run — was an emotionally charged achievement for Bowman on Sunday. It not only punched his ticket to contend for a title, but it also ended an 80-start winless streak for the driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet. And he conceded, his struggles to win in that time and to be a part of this season’s playoff picture have weighed on him.

“Obviously we have all the tools we need to win and our teammates have been really good throughout that time,” Bowman said, “But we just couldn’t put it together.

“It has certainly been a large mental test to go through everything that has happened in the last two years and try to continue to overcome that each and every week, especially when things aren’t going your way,” Bowman said of missing races due to injury in both 2022 and 2023.

“Honestly, the last month has been super frustrating for us. We’ve had a lot of things outside of our control cost us a lot of points, and it’s been really frustrating. There’s a lot of emotions that go with this because of how hard that has been.”

Hendrick Motorsports executive Jeff Gordon — a NASCAR Hall of Famer and four-time series champion — was candid about what the win meant in such a competitive season.

“I think today was a huge day for both of these guys and the whole team,” Gordon said of Bowman and his crew chief Blake Harris, whose win Sunday was his first ever in that role.

“I couldn’t be more proud or happy for the whole group because I know what kind of pressure they’ve been feeling and it’s amazing for all of us now to have all four cars in the playoffs. … I’m sure for both of them, it’s nice to have this one off their back and then just start focusing forward on getting where they need to be in the playoffs.”

It speaks to the competitive tune-up and increasing pressures that competitors are feeling heading into a two-week summer break — after next week’s Brickyard 400 — and the final four-race regular-season push.

Three drivers still racing for that first win — Truex, Buescher and Busch — have won previously at Pocono. Busch has four trophies, the last coming in 2021. Truex has won twice, the last time in 2018. Buescher claimed his first career NASCAR Cup Series win there in 2016.

NASCAR Cup Series practice at Pocono is Saturday at noon ET followed immediately by Busch Light Pole Qualifying at 12:45 p.m. ET. Both will be televised on USA Network and carried live on MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio and the NBC Sports App.

Posted on July 9, 2024July 9, 2024 by Staff Report

Spire Motorsports announced Tuesday morning that crew chief Rodney Childers will be atop the pit box for Corey LaJoie and the No. 7 Chevrolet in a multiyear deal starting in 2025.

This transition is a significant move for Spire Motorsports as Childers became a coveted free agent after the announcement earlier this year that Stewart-Haas Racing would close at the end of the season. The 40-time NASCAR Cup Series race-winning crew chief is one of the sport’s most respected shot-callers in the garage, leading Kevin Harvick to the 2014 NASCAR Cup Series championship. He’s the winningest active crew chief in the Cup Series.

RELATED: Cup Series standings

“We are beyond excited to announce Rodney Childers as the crew chief for Corey LaJoie and Spire Motorsports’ No. 7 team beginning in 2025,” said Spire Motorsports co-owner Jeff Dickerson. “There are decisions that professional racing teams make daily that take courage, require deep thought and have some element of rolling the dice. To be clear, this wasn’t one of them. Rodney is a Hall-of-Fame worthy, championship-winning crew chief with 40 wins. He is one of the best in the garage, and when a guy like Rodney is available, it would be malpractice if we did anything but our absolute best to bring him into our growing organization. He will make us better the moment he walks into our shop, and we look forward to his contributions to our collective success.”

Ryan Sparks, currently crew chief of the No. 7 while also serving as the team’s competition director this season, will transition to a singular role as Spire’s official Competition Director at the conclusion of the 2024 season.

“Ryan Sparks is an amazing leader and has been a huge part of our organization since the first moment he clocked in,” Dickerson continued. “As he transitions from managing two roles to focusing on Spire Motorsports as a whole, it’s important to point out that he was one of the first guys who talked to me about bringing Rodney in. Lots of guys say they’ll put the team first, but there aren’t a lot of guys who follow through, and that speaks to the type of competitor and human Ryan is. He has been balancing being a crew chief and the competition director for the last couple of seasons. This move will allow him to focus solely on the competition director role. As we continue to grow, his knowledge and leadership will become even more instrumental to our success.”

Childers led Harvick to eight postseason appearances in their decade together, including five Championship 4 appearances between 2014-19. His drivers have collected 34 poles, 178 top-five and 298 top-10 finishes in 660 races with him atop the box.

This move represents a new chapter in Childers’ illustrious career. He will bring a new level of professionalism and precision to Spire.

“The thing that attracted me to Spire a lot was just they’re investing in the people. And if we’re all going to have to run the same parts, then the people is what’s going to make a difference,” Childers said during his media availability at NASCAR Productions Facility. “Yeah, some of these guys have a 25-year head start on us. But if you get the right group of people and the right mindset, people that are going to work hard and do all the right things, and you can still run with the big teams. You’ve got to go out there and be perfect. And you can’t flounder around by any means.”

Adding Childers to its organization adds another stepping stone in building the winning culture Spire aims to foster in the future. Crew members from the No. 4 team even saw the vision Spire was building, leading to a few of them switching to Spire over the 2023 off-season.

“Being able to talk to them every week about how much they loved it there and how much they were growing and just everything about it, none of them had a negative thing to say, and they kept saying that it reminded them of the No. 4 team in the early days of just how they all get along,” Childers added.

Team president Doug Duchardt also shared more on the trajectory Spire is working towards with the addition of Childers.

“I think someone like Rodney can help us determine how to get our cars to the next level,” Duchardt said. “I think we’re doing really well. But the thing is that it’s just incremental improvements in every little area that get you to that next level. And I think we’re just knocking on that door. And that’s where I think we’re going to focus as a group.

“We know that we’re growing. And we respect the competition enough to know that it’s a bit of a journey. But you have to embrace the journey,” Duchardt said. “And that’s why I try to tell everyone; we know that it’s a steep hill. But you have to embrace that and be okay with it, knowing that you can get there.”

Childers echoed a similar sentiment when talking about his goals in competing with the No. 7 team. “There’s going to be steps. There are going to be hard days. There are going to be good days. There’s going to be good tracks. There are going to be bad tracks. It’s not going to be a miracle. But we’re going to chip away at it every single week.”

Posted on July 9, 2024July 9, 2024 by Staff Report

Conor Daly is set for his first NASCAR starts of the year in a deal with Niece Motorsports for a limited schedule in the Craftsman Truck Series, the team announced Tuesday morning.

The 32-year-old driver from Noblesville, Indiana, will pilot the team’s No. 44 Chevrolet Silverado RST in three races this season, starting with his first attempt at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park on July 19. Daly has three truck starts to his name, turning in a best finish of 18th in last year’s run at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and also in his series debut at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2020. All three starts have been with Niece.

TRUCK SERIES: Full schedule | Full standings

Daly’s NASCAR campaign will also include races at Kansas Speedway in September and Homestead-Miami Speedway in October. The NTT IndyCar Series veteran has raced in some of motorsports’ most prestigious events, with starts in the Daytona 500, Rolex 24 and Indianapolis 500, and he’s eager for more stock-car action.

“I couldn’t be more excited to get back into a truck with Niece Motorsports,” Daly said in a team release. “Al Niece and Cody Efaw have always been great to me and supportive of my Indy 500 efforts, as well, over the years as we’ve (gotten) to know each other. We’ve been working on putting a program together for a while and I’m happy we could finally work out the details to go racing together once again.”

The versatile driver also made a recent ARCA Menards Series start at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, turning in a top-10 finish in his series debut.

“Conor has been great to work with every time he’s stepped into one of our trucks,” said Cody Efaw, Niece Motorsports general manager. “It’s been fun to see his interest in NASCAR grow since he made that first start with our team in Las Vegas a few years ago. Now that we have him secured for multiple races this year, I think that will give him a chance to go out there and learn each week to get better for his upcoming starts.”

Power Plus will serve as Daly’s primary sponsor for his first Truck Series start this season. Additional partnership announcements will be made at a later date, according to the team.

Posted on July 8, 2024 by Staff Report

Alex Bowman‘s victory on the Chicago streets sealed his spot in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs and snapped a winless drought that lasted 80 races.

However, this feat did not come without some rain and drama. On Lap 25, Bowman found himself tangled up with the No. 23 Toyota of Bubba Wallace, clipping the side and sending him spinning into the wall.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Chicago

The driver of the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet said his redirected focus caused this incident.

“The restart was chaotic,” Bowman said after the conclusion of the race. “I just made every wrong decision I possibly could, and I was fighting with my windshield wiper switch trying to get the thing working and I couldn’t get it working. I was focused on that, missed the corner and cleaned him out. I locked all four tires up and slid right into him. I just messed up and absolutely ruined his day.”

Before the on-track contact, Wallace was having a notable run in Sunday’s race. He started in the sixth position, right behind inaugural Chicago Street Race winner, Shane van Gisbergen, who wrecked out after the Stage 2 restart.

On the cool-down lap, Wallace showed Bowman his frustration after a 13th-place run for the 23XI Racing driver still looking to secure a postseason spot. Wallace’s No. 23 Toyota door slammed into the side of Bowman’s car as he celebrated his win.

The Arizona native validated Wallace’s post-race actions, saying it was warranted and did not deserve to be penalized.

“He barely hit me,” Bowman said. “It was fine, and it was plenty deserved.”

However, a NASCAR spokesperson confirmed officials will look into the incident to determine whether further action is needed.

As for making amends? Well, parking the No. 48 Chevrolet in Victory Lane may have created a harsher sting for Wallace. Bowman said there were not many avenues he could go down to make it up to him.

“He has every right to be mad; I’d be mad, too,” Bowman said. “I tried to call him during the rain delay and I shot him a text. Nothing I can do to make it better, and I’m sure us winning probably only makes it worse … I just messed up and ruined his day, so I hate that.”

Wallace politely declined comment when approached by NASCAR.com after the event.

Posted on July 8, 2024 by Aly McNair

The on-again-off-again between the Chicago Street Course, NASCAR Cup Series drivers and Mother Nature sent powerhouse drivers to the back of the field and others soaring to the top as time expired in the Windy City.

Maniacal weather halted all action for over 100 minutes under a red flag and yet watered the field just enough to see Alex Bowman evaporate an 80-race winless drought with his Chicago win.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

Before the Cup Series makes its way to Pocono Raceway on Sunday (2:30 p.m. ET, USA, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App), see which drivers are climbing upward or tumbling downward.

THREE UP ⬆️

1. Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

Started: 8th

Finished: 1st

What happened: In a thrilling show on the Chicago streets, Alex Bowman shattered an 80-race dry spell, marking his first win since early March 2022 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He made a bold pass on the No. 60 Ford of Joey Hand on Lap 51 and eventually ran away with the lead after holding off a resurgent Tyler Reddick. Bowman’s Sunday success solidified Hendrick Motorsports’ 2024 dominance in the Cup Series as all four drivers have clinched a spot in the playoffs via a points-paying race victory.

What’s next: Bowman will take his talents to the “Tricky Triangle” next week, where the No. 48 Chevrolet took home the victory in 2021. In other words, momentum certainly remains on Bowman’s side.

Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images

2. Michael McDowell, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford

Started: 3rd

Finished: 5th

What happened: Michael McDowell continues to prove competitive on road courses, following up on his runner-up finish at Sonoma Raceway earlier in the season. However, such a finish in the Windy City didn’t come easy as the No. 34 pilot saw himself outside the top 20 in Stages 1 (37th) and 2 (27th). Even still, the No. 34 driver gradually wheeled his way toward the front and capitalized where needed. Having also scored a top-10 finish on the Chicago streets in 2023, McDowell sure has left his mark in Chicago.

What’s next: McDowell’s tricky history at Pocono in 2022 will not stop his performance there as he will chase the win next Sunday in Long Pond. In 21 career Cup races there, McDowell holds two top-10 finishes.

Meg Oliphant | Getty Images

3. Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

Started: 19th

Finished: 9th

What happened: Kyle Busch has experienced an unfortunate year in the Cup Series so far, totaling four DNFs in the last six races. Sunday may have reignited his playoff hopes as he remained steady throughout the windy roads in the Windy City. Busch jumped back into a top-10 finish, his first since Kansas Speedway in early May.

What’s next: Like McDowell, Kyle Busch, too, has a past with Pocono, facing disqualification after finishing second to Denny Hamlin, who was also disqualified. Busch will head to Pennsylvania as well, hoping to continue the speed from Chicago. Although his disqualification at Pocono in 2022 might still sting, he does still maintain hearty results at the track, which includes four wins and 585 laps led in the Cup Series.

Meg Oliphant | Getty Images

THREE DOWN ⬇️

1. Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

Started: 1st

Finished: 39th

What happened: Kyle Larson hung within the top five throughout most of his time during the 2024 running on the Chicago streets. Larson entered this race sitting on the pole, with three wins in his grasp already from Sonoma, Las Vegas, and a photo finish at Kansas. However, on Lap 34 in Turn 6, Larson locked his brakes, deeply burying his No. 5 in the tire barrier. He was towed from the wreckage and tried to navigate back to pit road, ultimately slicing his chances of conquering Victory Lane for a fourth time.

What’s next: Fresh off the defeat, Larson will be back to perform at Pocono on Sunday. He has finished inside the top 20 in each of the last five races at the track and hopes to continue the streak.

Meg Oliphant | Getty Images

2. Shane van Gisbergen, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet

Started: 5th

Finished: 40th

What happened: Shane van Gisbergen was a heavy favorite going into the second-annual event as he was the inaugural and reigning champion in Chicago. However, van Gisbergen was clipped by the No. 14 Ford of Chase Briscoe, which sent the No. 16 Chevrolet into the wall and ultimately ended the New Zealand native’s day on Lap 26. The incident came after winning Saturday’s Xfinity race and prevailing in Stage 1 of Sunday’s Cup contest.

What’s next: The Kiwi driver will make his next Cup Series start at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, Aug. 24.

Meg Oliphant | Getty Images

3. Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

Started: 18th

Finished: 21st

What happened: Earlier this year, Chase Elliott joined his father, Bill, on the list of drivers to begin the regular season with 16-plus top-20 finishes. Unfortunately, Elliot’s skillful streak was snapped Sunday as Elliott couldn’t beat out the clock to put forth another such finish at Chicago.

What’s next: Chase Elliott drove off with the checkered flag at Pocono in 2022 and followed up with a 10th-place finish in 2023. In 14 career Cup starts at the track, Elliott has one win, four top fives and nine top 10s. And so, the No. 9 will search to start a new streak in Pennsylvania.

Meh Oliphant | Getty Images

Posted on July 8, 2024 by Zack Albert

CHICAGO – Alex Bowman had acquired a special variety of bourbon early in the 2022 season, some of the top-shelf stuff with the idea that it would be shared and sipped to celebrate his next NASCAR Cup Series win.

Few imagined that bottle would be stowed on his own shelf for more than two years.

Sunday’s stirring drive through the damp streets of the Windy City to win the second edition of NASCAR’s Chicago Street Race represented a long journey back to Victory Lane for the 31-year-old driver and his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports team. It had been 80 races since that last visit, a span marked by two injury absences, sagging performance and a striking playoff miss while his teammates racked up wins and Championship 4 appearances. That all fueled burbling speculation – at least from the keyboard crowd – that his job was in jeopardy.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Chicago

Sunday’s triumph – punctuated by an almost cathartic burnout that shrouded Columbus Drive in smoke – was reason to raise a glass.

“Everybody that said I couldn’t win and don’t deserve to be at Hendrick Motorsports and all that [expletive], cheers to you,” Bowman said.

Bowman had barely emerged from the cloud around his No. 48 Chevrolet when Hendrick Motorsports president Jeff Andrews handed him his phone. On the other end of the line was team owner Rick Hendrick, offering his congratulations from afar. The celebration was also a cherished moment for Bowman’s No. 48 crew, which mobbed him at the start/finish line.

Just a handful of those team members had been with Bowman for his first Cup Series win, scored five years plus a week ago at Chicagoland Speedway, just south of the major metro. For them, the date and the place stood out, but so did the ability to share the stage with their driver for the first time since March 6, 2022, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

“Alex is a super hard-working individual,” said Ty Sipes, the No. 48 car chief and a nearly 10-year Hendrick vet who transferred from the No. 88 group along with Bowman in 2021. “I mean, the time he puts into the simulator, the time he puts in by himself, it’s everything he’s doing to try and make himself better. For it to finally come together after all this, he never once quit, even through his injuries and everything else. He’s always been trying to get back to winning, so to get back here today, it really speaks as a testament to how hard he works.”

Brittney Wilbur | NASCAR Digital Media

The work has been necessary. Bowman enjoyed four consecutive seasons of having his name in the rotation of Cup Series winners, but a concussion near the end of the 2022 campaign placed him on the sidelines for five weeks. He forged his way back into the seat but missed three more weeks last season after a springtime sprint car accident left him with a fractured back. A medical waiver from NASCAR officials cracked the door for playoff eligibility, but when the wins didn’t come, that opening shut.

Bowman recalled spending his 30th birthday in an Iowa hospital room in the hours after his back injury, feeling that he had let his No. 48 team down. The mental adversity, he said, was comparable to the physical pain.

“Yeah, it’s really difficult,” Bowman said. “Obviously we have all the tools we need to win, and our teammates have been really good throughout that time. But we just couldn’t put it together. It has certainly been a large mental test to go through everything that has happened in the last two years and try to continue to overcome that each and every week, especially when things aren’t going your way, and honestly, the last month has been super-frustrating for us. We’ve had a lot of things outside of our control, cost us a lot of points, and it’s been really frustrating. To be able — there’s a lot of emotions that go away with this because of how hard that has been.”

Perhaps some of the speculation goes away, too. Hendrick Motorsports is one of the rare teams that discloses contract lengths when they are announced, and Bowman provided a reminder that he is signed and sealed through the end of 2026, thanks to a three-year extension he agreed to before last season.

MORE: Tire strategy, damp conditions shape Chicago outcome

That hasn’t stopped the Silly Season swirl that the contract might not be in permanent ink. Bowman’s Sunday drive, though, helped the cause as he put distance on road-racing ace Joey Hand in the closing laps, then went error-free the rest of the way as Tyler Reddick charged at him with a distinct tire advantage. And if the rumors needed further scuttling, Jeff Gordon – Hendrick’s vice chairman – seemed to make it official after Bowman’s long road back to winning ways reached its destination.

“You really want guys like that to find their way when they’ve had to struggle and have — just seems like right as he’s getting into a stride, boom, something would happen,” Gordon said. “I think that’s why this is so important, not just for him and the team but for him personally. As far as we’re concerned, Ally loves him, and we love him. He’s a car guy, and there’s a reason why he came to Hendrick Motorsports, and he’s proven he can win. Today was not an easy set of circumstances, and he proved he can win in these tough conditions, as well, on a road course.

“I understand why people want to talk and — it’s a tough business. When you’re at Hendrick Motorsports, you do expect, especially when the other three have won, to be in that same category, and it hasn’t been happening. Hopefully, this dispels a lot of the rumors.”

The victory also set aside any uncertainty for Bowman’s path back to the Cup Series Playoffs. Bowman entered Sunday’s event as the last driver in on the provisional 16-driver grid, with just a 51-point cushion over the provisional elimination line. He’s now out of the bubble conversation with six regular-season races remaining, joining teammates William Byron, Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson as the fourth Hendrick driver to punch a playoff ticket.

“Man, it’s awesome to just have that weight kind of lift off your shoulders,” said No. 48 fueler Jacob Conley, another veteran who made the shift from the No. 88 team with Bowman three years ago. “In these last few weeks of the season, we can just race. You’re not worried about this and that; you’re just out there kind of racing free. I feel that’s when teams can get dangerous.”

The playoffs sit two months away, but for now, the top-shelf bourbon can finally be poured with the purpose it was meant for. Sunday’s beverage appetizer was freshly uncorked champagne in the Chicago twilight, sprayed by the No. 48 team with the vigor of a crew that had been waiting more than two years for that moment. They were coated in it when Bowman took a group photo from the stage.

“It tastes good,” Sipes said, “and even though it burns your eyes, it’s a good burn.”