Reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney co-presented the award for Best Record-Breaking Performance at Thursday’s ESPYs in Hollywood, California.
Blaney was on stage with Olympic gold medal skier Lindsey Vonn and Chicago Bears wide receiver Keenan Allen to honor the winner, Caitlin Clark (Iowa women’s basketball). Also nominated were 49ers running back Christian McCaffery, Tara VanDerveer (Stanford women’s basketball) and Max Verstappen (Formula 1).
Blaney was also up for the Driver of the Year Award after taking home the Cup Series championship in 2023, but Verstappen won the ESPY in that category. Also nominated were NHRA’s Matt Hagan and IndyCar’s Alex Palou.
Blaney is seventh in the Cup Series driver standings this season as he attempts to win back-to-back titles for Team Penske in the No. 12 Ford. He recently picked up his first win of the season in the Cup Series’ inaugural race at Iowa Speedway, locking into the playoffs that get underway in September at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
These were the 32nd annual ESPY Awards, and they were hosted by legendary tennis superstar Serena Williams.
There are just three races left in the regular season for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series as the drivers get ready for Friday’s CRC Brakleen 175 at Pocono Raceway (5:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). See how the playoff picture looks before the race gets underway at “The Tricky Triangle.”
Already Clinched
The following four drivers have clinched a spot in the 10-driver postseason field: Christian Eckes, Corey Heim, Nicholas Sanchez, Rajah Caruth.
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 111 points above the fifth winless driver in the standings.
Ty Majeski: Would clinch with 45 points.
The following drivers could clinch on points with a win by Tyler Ankrum:
Ty Majeski: Would clinch with 47 points.
The following drivers could clinch on points with a win by Taylor Gray:
Ty Majeski: Would clinch with 49 points.
The following drivers could clinch on points with a win by Ben Rhodes or a new winner lower in the standings still eligible for the playoffs:
Ty Majeski: Would clinch with 50 points.
Can clinch via win
The following drivers would clinch on their win alone:
Ty Majeski, Tyler Ankrum, Taylor Gray, Ben Rhodes, Grant Enfinger, Tanner Gray, Daniel Dye, Stewart Friesen, Matt Crafton, Chase Purdy, Jake Garcia, Layne Riggs, Dean Thompson, Ty Dillon, Bayley Currey, Bret Holmes, Timmy Hill, Matt Mills, Mason Massey, Lawless Alan, Spencer Boyd.
During his NASCAR Hall of Fame career, fan favorite Rusty Wallace always looked forward to a number of events every year, including the Daytona 500, racing at Bristol Motor Speedway and the Brickyard 400.
But for the past 19 years, Wallace, who retired from NASCAR racing in 2005 with 55 Cup wins, has had another event always circled on his yearly schedule, one that he looks forward to with great anticipation: his annual trip to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota.
For the past six years, Wallace’s trip to Sturgis has taken on an even greater personal meaning as he has turned his time as an Easy Rider into raising money for a variety of charities, including The NASCAR Foundation, Special Olympics and several South Dakota-based charities.
“The crowd that’s hanging out there include folks like Clint Bowyer and his dad and his mom and his brothers, they’re all there,” Wallace said. “We’re always talking racing and talking motorcycles.”
Wallace has raised several hundreds of thousands of dollars for the causes, enjoying not only his time on the open road, but also hanging out and just having a great deal of fun with fellow bikers and NASCAR fans who come to Sturgis.
“I’ll tell you, when you get out to Sturgis, there’s over 700,000 people that will be there, and nearly every one of them are NASCAR enthusiasts,” Wallace said with a smile. “They love NASCAR racing. They love their motorcycles. They love to meet different people. They love to drink some beer and have a great time. And they love to accessorize their bikes and show up with the coolest bad-to-the-bone motorcycles you’ve ever seen in your life.”
Wallace first got hooked on coming to Sturgis by former NASCAR President Mike Helton, who more than 20 years ago began organizing rides from Charlotte to Sturgis and back with NASCAR drivers and announcers such as Tony Stewart, Clint Bowyer and Brad Daugherty.
“Mike would always invite all kinds of different people and it got to where we would go to Sturgis every year and just have a hell of a good time,” Wallace said. “Mike eventually turned the reins over to me. I got so excited about it, really loving going to Sturgis.
“The charity thing began six years ago when I got a call from Rod Woodruff, who owns the Buffalo Chip, the largest biker bar in the world. They draw almost 20 to 30,000 people a night, with gigantic acts like this year with stars like Kid Rock, Bret Michaels, Travis Tritt, Jelly Roll and Quiet Riot.”
Helton convinced Wallace to join his two-wheel riding pack in 2006 and Wallace was hooked, not having missed a Sturgis event since then.
“Betty Jane France put Mike in charge of The NASCAR Foundation, as the chair of The NASCAR Foundation, and he still is the chair and president of The NASCAR Foundation to this day,” said Wallace, who sits on the Foundation’s board. “He opens up all of our board meetings. He’s really, really involved.”
Logan Riely | Getty Images
Wallace used to ride all the way from Charlotte to Sturgis, but this year, he’ll ride in an 18-wheeler that will contain not only the bike that he’ll ride in the Rally, but also several bikes that will be on display and for sale from Wallace’s business with son Stephen, Southern Country Customs, which produces high-end custom Harley-Davidsons.
“We’re going to bring about 16 motorcycles with us plus a couple of other trailers for service and sales,” Wallace said. “We’ll have bikes for sale, bikes that are ours, bikes that are customer bikes, just a host of everything. And obviously the special charity ride bike will be on one of the trailers making its way out there to be auctioned off.”
All the proceeds raised from the Ride this year will go to The NASCAR Foundation and the Rapid City Special Olympics Flame.
Wallace will also auction off a special 2024 Road Glide that his company has built, a two-wheel “showstopper,” as Wallace puts it. All proceeds will also go to charity.
“For the special custom motorcycle itself, we’re hoping to raise anywhere between $150,000 to $200,000,” Wallace said. “The bike raised $120,000 last year. And right now we’re already $80,000 ahead of where we were last year (in terms of overall fundraising).”
“We’ve had some real awesome stand-up people that want to help the cause, and really, they know that our bikes from Southern Country Customs are some of the coolest, badass motorcycles you’ve ever seen on the planet. And a lot of people want to have one. We’ve already sold 117 of them so far. Because they’re custom builds, each bike is truly a piece of art.”
This year’s ride will take on a different type of look. Wallace believes the Ride will attract more than 300 bikers and several thousand fans who will line the route along the way, cheering on Wallace and his fellow riders.
The Ride will hit the road from the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in nearby Deadwood, South Dakota, go through the picturesque Spearfish Canyon, and then return to the Hard Rock for a massive after-ride party, Wallace said.
Over his nearly 20 years of coming to Sturgis, Wallace has compiled enough stories to write a book. One of his favorite stories occurred more than a decade ago, when a hailstorm on a mountain near Mount Rushmore forced him and his wife, Patty, to take cover.
“We’re all under the tree. It was just the damnedest thing to see. I said to myself, ‘How do we go from 80 degrees at the bottom of this mountain to now the top of this mountain and we’re getting our (butt) kicked and hailed on?’
“We have laughed and smiled and we count it down every year. It’s like our bucket list thing to do. We can’t wait to get to Sturgis, and so I’m excited about it.”
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series returns to competition after a week break, with only three races remaining to set the 2024 10-driver playoff field.
McAnally-Hilgemann Racing driver Christian Eckes shows up at Pocono Raceway for Friday’s CRC Brakleen 175 (5:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) fresh off one of the most dominating performances of the season. The three-race winner went wire-to-wire to win the most recent Truck Series race two weeks ago at Nashville Superspeedway.
There are four drivers with guaranteed playoff positions — four-race winner Corey Heim, three-race winner Christian Eckes, two-race winner Nick Sanchez and a first-time series’ winner, Rajah Caruth. Ty Majeski is fifth in the playoff standings with a healthy 144-point edge on the cutoff line. Tyler Ankrum, Taylor Gray, reigning series champ Ben Rhodes, Grant Enfinger and Tanner Gray are currently above the playoff elimination line.
Tanner Gray holds only a slim 14-point advantage on Daniel Dye and a 17-point advantage on veteran Stewart Friesen in that final position. Three-time series champion Matt Crafton is 54 points behind Gray.
NASCAR Cup Series’ champion Kyle Busch earned his third Pocono Truck Series win last year. There are no former winners entered this week. Heim, who has won three races just since May, finished runner-up to Busch last summer and was fourth in his debut at the “Tricky Triangle” in 2022.
A pair of Cup Series drivers are on the Pocono entry list. Ross Chastain will run the No. 45 Neice Motorsports Chevrolet and former Truck Series champion Zane Smith will drive the No. 91 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing Chevrolet.
Heim, Taylor Gray and Dye will all pull double-duty competing in both the trucks and Xfinity Series races at Pocono.
Practice for the CRC Brakleen 175 is Friday at 2 p.m. ET followed immediately by Cometic Gasket pole qualifying at 2:30 p.m. ET. Both sessions will be televised live on FS2.
1. Who could be the next surprise entrant to the playoffs?
With a handful of playoff spots there for the taking, most of the drivers around the elimination line are battling bouts of inconsistency — except for one.
Well, how about that?
Last week, we posited here about the potential for the No. 48 car missing the playoffs for the second year in a row — and Alex Bowman immediately goes out and punches his ticket to the postseason at Chicago, snapping an 80-race skid since his last trip to Victory Lane.
For the second week in a row that moves a driver sitting on the elimination line upward in the standings, pushing some big names — Ross Chastain and Chris Buescher, in particular — into some quite uncomfortable territory. Each has a reasonable cushion, with Buescher’s +45 over Bubba Wallace slotting him in as the 16th and final driver, but six races remain, and those leads are in no way safe.
Bowman’s win was unexpected, but not surprising. His Hendrick Motorsports teammates were among the favorites and he’s come close on road courses before. Not to mention Hendrick has now won all three such races this year, as the clear team to beat on them — which is important to know, with two of them now in the playoffs.
The victory did, however, feel like just the appetizer to a main course of potential surprises over the next six races as the bubble gets more interesting and drivers get more desperate.
James Gilbert | Getty Images
What’s so interesting is that of the four above and four below the current elimination line, almost all of them have been struggling of late. Martin Truex Jr., the top driver in the standings without a win, has just one top 10 in the last eight races. Teammate Ty Gibbs right below him was strong at Chicago, but his third-place run there was just his first top 10 in six races. Ross Chastain has led in just two races since Kansas, Chris Buescher has been close lately but can’t seem to break through to lead at the end and Bubba Wallace, minus-45 to the RFK Racing driver, has just a pair of top 10s in the last 11 races.
Continuing on, Chase Briscoe rode the high of a wild and newsy weekend at New Hampshire to a runner-up finish but otherwise has five finishes outside the top 20 in the last seven contests, and Kyle Busch finally picked up a top 10 at Chicago for his first such result in the last eight.
Even if any of these drivers should wind up making it (and some more than likely will) this obviously isn’t the kind of consistency that leads to a lengthy playoff run.
But that was only seven drivers — and there’s an eighth worth mentioning who has been quite consistent, and his name is Todd Gilliland.
Not only has the No. 38 driver not finished worse than 17th since April, but he’s also culled together a very Chase Elliott-esque top-20 streak of nine races, the longest in Front Row Motorsports’ history. He’s finished better than he’s started in each of the last seven races, finished on the lead lap in all but four this year and actually owns the fourth-best average finish (12.33) over the last six weeks, ahead of Elliott (12.83), and right behind Tyler Reddick (7.59), Buescher (10.83) and defending champ Ryan Blaney (12.17).
Gilliland was a top-15 finisher at Pocono last year, for what it’s worth, and if you’re looking for who might be the next “surprise” entrant to the 2024 playoffs, he’s certainly the driver currently not locked in that’s building the biggest head of steam at the moment.
Getty Images
2. The trick to Pocono? Beating the Toyotas After a surging Ford camp has won more than the rest lately, Toyota will likely be the manufacturer to beat at in Pennsylvania.
Looking ahead to this weekend at Pocono, one can generally expect a more standard weekend than the wet-and-messy, wonderful madness we just witnessed at the Chicago Street Course, but don’t be surprised if more twists are in store at the “Tricky Triangle.”
The large, Long Pond, Pennsylvania track is no stranger to shocking winners and wild finishes, and as you’ll see in the below table — you often don’t know who will win based on early-race success.
Ford is on a hot streak lately after an admittedly quiet start, winning four of the last eight races — all with different drivers — after going winless for the first 12 races of the season. Chevrolet just won one of the season’s premier races, continuing to capitalize on road courses and marking Hendrick as just the second team to see all of its full-time drivers win this year.
But this weekend? Well, this weekend feels like if either of those manufacturers wants to win, it’s going to have to go through Toyota.
Denny Hamlin is one race away from tying the second-longest top-10-less streak of his career, but, barring catastrophe, that is absolutely going to end on Sunday. No. 11 is the literal winningest driver in Pocono’s lengthy history, with his record-breaking seventh coming just last year to give him victories in three of the last seven there. At the very least, we can expect him to find the front of the field at some point, having led in a whopping nine consecutive races at the 2.5-mile triangle.
Beyond Hamlin, however, are a pair of Toyota compatriots, one his teammate and the other his employee, lining up as arguably the hottest pair in the series at the moment in Christopher Bell and Reddick, respectively.
Bell, the New Hampshire winner, has led 29% of all laps in the seven races since the All-Star Race and looks like a clear contender to return to the Championship 4 for a third consecutive season. It’s easy to envision him becoming the season’s first four-time winner on Sunday. He’s putting in a career year and needs just four laps led — which he’ll almost certainly get this weekend — to check off 600 laps led in a season for the first time in his career, and we’re just over the halfway point.
Reddick has equally come on super strong of late and it’s a shock to still see Talladega as his lone trip to Victory Lane this year. No. 45 is tied for the most top fives (eight) and owns the most top 10s (13) outright in the entire series, propelling himself with consistent speed to gain 41 points in the standings over the last three races alone.
(Let’s also not forget about Truex Jr., a constant at the front of the field at Pocono and two-time winner there, himself.)
But then again, five of the last eight races have been won by drivers earning their first win of the season, with three of those five entering the race as the last driver above the elimination line, in 16th place.
That driver is currently Buescher, in a Ford.
And, naturally, where did No. 17’s first of his five career wins come?
NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon talks about the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports team after its win at Chicago and what that does for the team’s confidence.
4. Never over till it’s over at the ‘Tricky Triangle’
Five of the last eight Pocono winners finished 29th or worse in Stage 1, while dramatically making gains the rest of the race from there.
Date
Winner
Stage 1
Stage 2
6/2/19
Kyle Busch
30
14
7/28/19
Denny Hamlin
4
5
6/27/20
Kevin Harvick
34
7
6/28/20
Denny Hamlin
30
10
6/26/21
Alex Bowman
36
8
6/27/21
Kyle Busch
29
7
7/24/22
Chase Elliott
2
7
7/23/23
Denny hamlin
3
4
5. Catch the pack — news and notes from around the garage
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.”
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.”
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.”
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).
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
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.
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.
