Virginia Late Model Triple Crown prepares to heat up historic trio of tracks

Posted on June 25, 2024 by Press Release

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (June 25, 2024) – As the summer heat cranks up, so does the action in the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series with a trio of historic Virginia tracks preparing to host the most prestigious series of Late Model Stock Car races of the year.

The Virginia Triple Crown rewards the driver with the best average finish over the contests at three famed short tracks – South Boston Speedway, Langley Speedway and Martinsville Speedway. The winner receives $7,000, while second place gets $2,000 and third earns $1,000.

The Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 at South Boston opens up the Virginia Triple Crown this weekend on Saturday, June 29, with the drivers ready to chase glory once again. Langley Speedway follows with the Hampton Heat 200 on Saturday, July 20. The Triple Crown champion will be decided at the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday, Sept. 28.

In 2023, Bobby McCarty (South Boston) and Brendan “Butterbean” Queen (Langley) won the opening two races of the Virginia Triple Crown, and held the top two spots in the standings heading into the finale at Martinsville. But in the end, it was the driver who sat third in the standings entering the finale who walked away with the title. Trevor Ward had a patient late-race move to post the come-from-behind victory in both the race and the Triple Crown title chase at Martinsville.

“The triple crown is something I’ve always thought was a huge accomplishment,” said Ward. “Having the opportunity to chase the title last year was a great experience. Martinsville is something my family has dreamed of winning for many years and to have bene able to win that race is a feeling that will never be able to be replaced! Winning the triple crown was just that much better! We have put a lot of work into preparing for these races this year. It would mean so much to me and my team to put ‘two-time winner’ on the resume.”

However, another key driver from the 2023 season – reigning NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series national champion and current points leader Connor Hall – wants to add his name to the consideration set and include the Triple Crown title in his list of achievements.

“To go into the triple crown as the 2023 National Champion means a ton,” said Hall. “It was an honor to have my name placed into that conversation. We’re working hard towards having a good showing in this year’s Triple Crown and we are excited to get going with the first event at South Boston this week!”

The 11th iteration of the Triple Crown is led off by South Boston, and it’s a major event for not only the competitors such as Hall, but the fans as well.

“This race is our showpiece and to kick off the prestigious Virginia Triple Crown here at South Boston is special,” said South Boston General Manager Brandon Brown. “We take a lot of pride in it being a crown jewel event not only here in the Commonwealth, but in all of grassroots racing. You can tell how much the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 means just by talking to the drivers and fans. This race always delivers the action, and sets the tone for what’s to come at Langley and Martinsville.”

Ward is hoping to join four-time Virginia Triple Crown winner Peyton Sellers (2013, 2014, 2018, 2022) and two-time winner Lee Pulliam (2015, 2019) as the only the third multi-time winners of the Virginia Triple Crown. Other fan-favorite drivers, such as “Butterbean,” are chasing their first Triple Crown payday.

“The Triple Crown is the best of the best going at it for three crown jewel events,” said “Butterbean.” “Last year was a heartbreaker to be so close to winning it, but also, I was super proud to come out in second with all the competition involved. It gets harder and harder each year, and I’m sure that will be the case this year.”

It was “Butterbean” who won the middle race, the Hampton Heat 200, at Langley Speedway in 2023. He snapped an 11-race winning streak by eventual NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series national champion Connor Hall, who had been undefeated at Langley until that point in the year.

“I am excited about entering the second decade and 11th season of the Virginia Triple Crown with Brandon Brown and his team at South Boston, and Clay Campbell at Martinsville Speedway,” said Langley Speedway Owner Bill Mullis. “When the three-track series started, we had high hopes. But to see where it is today is great, as with NASCAR’s support and the Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series, these races have been sought out by sponsors, race fans and drivers. Watching the best of the best at these tracks continues to showcase the ever-increasing popularity of Late Model Stock Car racing.”    

The final race in the Virginia Triple Crown, Martinsville’s ValleyStar Credit Union 300, also offers up one of the most unique trophies in motorsports with the Grandfather Clock. Ward won the clock and the Triple Crown check while holding off Landon Huffman in a dramatic finish.

“Last year’s Virginia Triple Crown provided exactly the entertainment and on-track drama for the fans that makes this challenge so prestigious in the Late Model Stock Car community,” said Martinsville Speedway President Clay Campbell. “We share in the passion that our colleagues at South Boston and Langley put into this series of three races, and take great pride in hosting a fantastic finale and crowning the winner in the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at Martinsville Speedway each September.”

The three races at South Boston on June 29, Langley on July 20, and Martinsville on September 28 will be streamed live on FloRacing.

Tickets for the opener of the Virginia Triple Crown at South Boston may be purchased at southbostonspeedway.com. Tickets for the second leg of the series at Langley are available at langley-speedway.com. For tickets to the finale at Martinsville, fans can go to martinsvillespeedway.com.  

 Fans can stay connected to NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series action, including Virginia Late Model Triple Crown updates, at nascar.com/regional.

Posted on June 25, 2024 by Pat DeCola

LOUDON, N.H. — Kyle Larson saw his opening and wasted no time at all in giving the business to his friendly rival Christopher Bell last Friday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Bell became an instant, viral sensation on the stock-car racing side of X, formerly known as Twitter, with his accidental press-conference-reveal of soon-to-be teammate Chase Briscoe’s news that he’d be taking over the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota in 2025. Larson joined in by whipping his phone out immediately and dropping one of the most memorable social media posts (with a hammer of a hashtag) in years.

So long, Chase Elliott?

Man totally blind sided by this news! Wishing @chaseelliott the best on his new adventure at @JoeGibbsRacing. Have enjoyed you as a teammate! 😂 Good Luck #d19 https://t.co/MLNUG7Qyim

— Kyle Larson (@KyleLarsonRacin) June 21, 2024

To recap, during Bell’s Friday media session, he slipped and mentioned that a “Chase” would be in the 19 car next year after the incumbent Martin Truex Jr. retires from full-time racing at the end of 2024. Already suspected of being the top candidate to take over the ride heading into the weekend, Bell’s inadvertent admission essentially confirmed Briscoe’s 2025 status before the team itself announced the news, which it officially did Tuesday.

“I was like, really proud of it,” Larson said Saturday at NHMS of his post. “I was typing it so fast. I couldn’t wait to get it out. I texted Bell and Briscoe, I think before I even sent that tweet. I was (expletive) dying laughing because that was, I mean, that’s the greatest way to announce somebody coming to a team. I’m sure PR departments (were) planning this extravagant, very professional thing, but they got way more clicks for that than once they finally (did) announce it.”

All mainstays of the dirt-racing ranks, the trio of Bell, Briscoe and Larson are all quite familiar with each other, and bringing the Indiana native into the fold to pair with Bell, Ty Gibbs and Denny Hamlin on a championship-capable organization should provide plenty of battles between them for years to come.

It’s a bit of a revamped, younger lineup for JGR than we’ve seen in years; the team as recently as 2016 featured a lineup of Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth — at the time, four of the most tenured drivers in the sport and all current or future NASCAR Hall of Famers. Leading into next season, JGR’s three fresh-ish faces will have fewer than 400 Cup Series starts combined.

It’s not too dissimilar of a transformation that Hendrick Motorsports underwent over the past decade, seeing its own Hall of Famers Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmie Johnson all step out of the car in 2015, ’17 and ’20, respectively. The team has since invested in younger — and still extremely productive — talent, solidifying its core with Larson, Alex Bowman, William Byron and, of course, its own “Chase” — Elliott.

It’s not hard to see each of these legacy four-car stables competing annually as the 1A and 1B elite organizations in the Cup Series over the next decade, perhaps trading the Bill France Cup from shop to shop each year as well.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, no, it is (a solid, young foundation for the future at JGR). And then you got one old guy that’s probably leaving in a few years, so yeah,” said Larson, playfully referring to the 43-year-old Hamlin. “I think they have a good lineup for sure. I think, looking at Hendrick Motorsports’ lineup, though, I think we have by far the strongest lineup for (the future). We’re all, you know, in our early 30s or late 20s. Mid 20s, for William. And yeah, lots of wins and championships and all that. So yeah, it’s cool to see where the sport’s at right now.”

Posted on June 25, 2024June 25, 2024 by Zach Sturniolo

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. — “The opportunity of a lifetime” is now at Chase Briscoe’s fingertips.

With help from his new teammate Christopher Bell, Briscoe was officially introduced Tuesday as Joe Gibbs Racing’s newest driver, taking the reins of the No. 19 Toyota Camry on a multiyear deal to start the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season.

Briscoe, who has spent the past four seasons driving the No. 14 Ford at Stewart-Haas Racing, will now step into a top-tier car at a powerhouse organization, replacing the retiring 2017 Cup champion Martin Truex Jr. at season’s end.

“I think it’s the worst kept secret in the sport for a while,” Briscoe laughed, flanked to his right by Gibbs and crew chief James Small. “Christopher, I guess, just couldn’t hold it any longer.”

Indeed, longtime friend and the most recent Cup Series winner Bell tipped everyone’s hand Friday at New Hampshire when he let Briscoe’s first name slip in response to a press conference question. To finish the job, JGR employed Bell as Tuesday’s conference moderator in the organization’s auditorium, officially welcoming the Indiana native to the JGR stable.

“Since I had the mistake of starting this on Friday, I guess I’ll get to finish it out,” Bell said. “… It is my honor to finally announce the full name of our driver next year, Chase Briscoe, in the No. 19 car.”

The transition to an elite seat in the NASCAR Cup Series struck Briscoe lightning fast. Stewart-Haas Racing announced on May 28 that it would close operations at the conclusion of 2024, placing all four of its current drivers on the free-agent market. Upon receiving the news at SHR, Briscoe wasted no time in searching for his next opportunity.

“Literally in the conference room, I just started texting all the team presidents I knew, and Dave (Alpern, JGR president) was one of them,” Briscoe said. “And just said, ‘Hey, Stewart-Haas let us know today that we’re kind of free to do whatever we want. Would love the opportunity just to talk to you guys if there’s any potential there.’ And I think that SHR announcement got done Tuesday and Wednesday night, Dave had called me and said, ‘Hey, would you like to go to breakfast Thursday?’ And I think I was signed by (Wednesday). So it was a super quick thing. It’s like four or five days.”

The whirlwind has left Briscoe unable to truly process the magnitude of his latest opportunity yet.

“It did happen crazy fast,” he said. “I say that it started that Thursday when I went to breakfast, but like I didn’t hear from him until Saturday really. And that’s when like, Saturday, Coach (Gibbs) called me for five minutes. Sunday, I finally met with Coach, and then he called me Sunday night, said let’s meet Monday morning.

“Monday morning, I sit there, and 48 hours later had a contract, and he told me that I was going to be in the car another 12 hours after that. So yeah, I don’t know if I really had time to process it all.”

Three hours after signing his contract, Briscoe got another call from Gibbs at 7 p.m. that Wednesday evening, asking about his morning plans. Suddenly, a 6 a.m. flight was on Briscoe’s calendar to fly to Missouri to meet Johnny Morris, the founder, owner and CEO of Bass Pro Shops. The quick out-and-back trip returned Briscoe to North Carolina 30 minutes before his SHR flight to Sonoma Raceway, Briscoe said.

“They snuck me around the back so nobody saw me getting on Joe’s plane and getting off Joe’s plane,” he added. “Yeah, like this whole process has happened unbelievably fast for sure.”

Al Wheeler | Joe Gibbs Racing

At the top of the sport’s echelon, an opening at Joe Gibbs Racing immediately became the most coveted landing spot in NASCAR. To fill it, Gibbs himself focused on two things: character and winning. Briscoe is a one-time winner in Cup with 11 Xfinity wins and two Craftsman Truck Series victories.

“The most important thing we (have) is our people and the people that you have on your team,” Gibbs said. “And so for us really here, it always starts with character. You’re always looking at what kind of a person you’re getting. …

“But also, we have to win. So we came down to the end. We think Chase can win. And so that’s where we are and it’s a thrill for us to have him coming on board.”

With the backing of Bass Pro Shops built into his program, funding was not a required piece of Briscoe’s puzzle in coordinating his JGR ride.

“Out of all the teams I met with, Joe’s is the only team that never said, ‘What can you bring?’” Briscoe said. “They just wanted me for me. That meant a lot to me personally, just that they felt that strongly about me in the car. … Joe was the one that literally called me two, three times a day and would reassure how bad that they wanted me in the car. That just made a difference for me personally because it honestly it helped my confidence even just knowing that he believed in me that much, and I haven’t even driven a race over here yet.”

For Gibbs, that stems from a simple need: For his company to succeed, it must win. And by winning, sponsors will continue to happily support the team’s efforts.

“All our people here work super hard,” Gibbs told NASCAR.com. “We don’t have outside income or anything, so this has to go based on its merits. We’ve got to make it go. I tell people we go to work every day knowing there’s no alternative. This thing’s gotta go. We gotta make it work.

“I do think, you know, when you have the flexibility of saying, ‘Alright, what’s first?’ First is character and can we win. And other things come after that. So we’re fortunate.”

Its lack of reliance on Briscoe’s funding also factored into his perception of the team’s culture, a significant part of Briscoe’s priorities as he evaluated where his next steps would lead him.

“I definitely felt like from a culture standpoint, it was a great fit and felt like what I believe in, how I try to go about everything, it was a perfect fit,” he said.

Gibbs also pointed to Toyota Racing Development for its part in Briscoe’s signing, noting the team’s need for the manufacturer to believe in its new hire’s ability too. That was affirmed in a statement from TRD USA president David Wilson Tuesday afternoon.

“We are very excited to welcome Chase Briscoe to the Toyota family next season,” Wilson said in a statement. “Chase’s proven high character and racing acumen will fit perfectly amongst the talented drivers in the Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota camps. We believe in Chase and look forward to all of the on-track success he will achieve aboard a Toyota Camry XSE.”

MORE: Key players in 2024-25 Silly Season

Though the contract is signed and the ink has dried, Briscoe is not under any false premises. Once he gets behind the wheel of the No. 19 Toyota to begin the 2025 campaign, expectations are to find Victory Lane.

“I have to win. Like there’s no excuse not to win,” Briscoe said. “You have to make the playoffs. If you don’t make the playoffs, then there’s no reason I should be driving this race car. So yeah, I definitely think that you have to win races. You have to be running up front consistently, and I think they feel like I’m capable of doing that. But I have to show that, so hopefully that’s what I can do.”

On Sunday, Briscoe finished second in Sunday’s race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway behind Bell. Briscoe currently sits 16th in the regular-season points standings but 18th in the provisional playoff grid, 25 points beneath the elimination line to advance to the playoffs, which begin on Sept. 8 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Posted on June 25, 2024June 27, 2024 by Brandon White

A proud short-track tradition is set to commence this weekend when South Boston Speedway hosts the first leg of the 2024 Virginia Late Model Triple Crown.

Since the Triple Crown’s inception in 2012, many talented Late Model Stock competitors have battled across a grueling three-race stretch consisting of South Boston, Langley Speedway and Martinsville Speedway for an opportunity at a title. The list of champions includes Peyton Sellers, Lee Pulliam, Timothy Peters and more.

Every Virginia Triple Crown campaign kicks off at South Boston with the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200. A fast, 0.4-mile oval nestled in the heart of South Boston, Virginia, the facility has long been a proving ground for competitors seeking to build a successful short-track career or to find a path to NASCAR’s top ranks.

Fireworks will be prevalent both on and off track Saturday evening as a healthy contingent of drivers descend upon South Boston. A victory in the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 could be paramount toward carrying momentum into the final leg of the championship at Martinsville for the prestigious ValleyStar Credit Union 300.

Below is everything to know about Saturday’s Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 at South Boston.

Saturday’s Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 at South Boston Speedway will be the 18th running of the prestigious race. (Photo: Victor Newman/South Boston Speedway)

What TV channel is the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 at South Boston Speedway on?

All the on-track action for the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 can be viewed live on FloRacing, the official streaming home for all NASCAR Regional properties.

The event will not be shown on a traditional television network.

Below is the complete schedule for FloRacing’s coverage of the 2024 Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200.

Date	Start time	How to watch
Saturday, June 29, 2024	6:40 p.m. ET	FloRacing

Race-day schedule

This year’s Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 will take place Saturday, June 29.

Three support divisions encompass the evening’s schedule of events aside from Late Model Stocks. The Limited Sportsman, Pure Stock and Hornet classes open the festivities before the night concludes with the 200-lap Late Model Stock feature.

Below is the complete race-day schedule at South Boston Speedway.

(All times ET)

Time	Event
10 a.m.	Registration/Pit Gate/Tire Building/Frontstretch Spectator Gate/Tech Open
12:10 p.m.	Limited Sportsman/Pure Stock/Hornets Driver’s Meeting (Tech Building)
12:30 p.m.	Track Services Meeting
1-3:30 p.m.	Rotating Practice
3:30 p.m.	Backstretch and Turn 4 Gates Open
3:40 p.m.	Late Model Stock Driver’s Meeting (Tech Building)
4:15 p.m.	Late Model Stock Group Qualifying
5:15-6:15 p.m.	Driver Autograph Session
6:30 p.m.	Pre-Race Ceremonies
7 p.m.	Green Flag (Late Model Stock LCQ: 20 Laps/25 Minutes … Limited Sportsman: 40 Laps/45 Minutes … Pure Stock: 20 Laps/15 Minutes … Hornets: 20 Laps/15 Minutes … Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 (200 Laps)

There will be plenty of fireworks as drivers look to pick up an important victory at South Boston Speedway to kick off the Virginia Triple Crown. (Photo: Victor Newman/South Boston Speedway)

Entry list

More than 30 cars are expected to participate in Saturday’s Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200.

Leading the talented group of competitors is Bobby McCarty, the defending winner of the event. McCarty will be seeking a more orthodox path to Victory Lane this year, as he inherited last year’s victory after the original winner Carson Kvapil and second-place finisher Landon Huffman were disqualified for failing post-race inspection.

Joining McCarty on the entry list is the most recent NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series champion Connor Hall. Currently in the middle of another standout season that includes 16 victories in 20 starts, Hall is piloting Nelson Motorsports’ No. 22 Late Model with the goal of adding a Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 win to his growing resume.

Brenden “Butterbean” Queen and Kaden Honeycutt will be two of the busiest drivers in the South Boston garage area this weekend. Both are participating in Friday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Rackley Roofing 200 at Nashville Superspeedway before heading to South Boston for Saturday’s 200-lap Late Model Stock feature.

Trevor Ward, the most recent Virginia Triple Crown champion, is also on the entry list for the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200. After finishing third at South Boston last year, Ward capped off the impressive three-race stretch by securing his maiden victory in the ValleyStar Credit Union 300.

Other names set to compete in the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 include defending South Boston track champion Carter Langley, along with Peyton Sellers, Timothy Peters, Landon Pembelton, Deac McCaskill and Isabella Robusto, among many others.

Below is the current entry list for Saturday’s Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200.

Car No.	Driver
00	Chase Burrow
0	Landon Pembelton
1	Andrew Grady
01	Camden Gullie
01	G.R. Waldrop
2	Brandon Pierce
2	Matt Waltz
03	Brenden Queen
4	Kyle Dudley
5	Carter Langley
05	Mason Bailey
6	Bobby McCarty
08	Deac McCaskill
12	Austin Thaxton
15	Logan Clark
17	Jason Myers
17	Kaden Honeycutt
17	Stacy Puryear
19	Jessica Cann
22	Connor Hall
22	Jordan Pickrel
23	Kade Brown
25	Jacob Borst
26	Peyton Sellers
40	Brian Thomas
50	Raymond Pittman
51	Timothy Peters
55	Isabella Robusto
77	Blake Stallings
77	Trevor Ward
87	Mike Looney
87	Tate Fogleman
95	Sam Yarbrough

Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 history, winners

Throughout its history, the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 has primarily been dominated from drivers born outside of Virginia.

Lee Pulliam, who hails from Semora, North Carolina, was the most dominant of this group. A four-time NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series national champion, Pulliam was unstoppable in the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 during the 2010s, as he won the event six years in a row from 2011-16.

Virginia natives have tried to keep the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 trophy inside the commonwealth over the past several years. Despite this, the event’s past three winners in Bobby McCarty and Corey Heim were born in North Carolina and Georgia, respectively.

Three past winners are on the entry list for this year’s Thunder Road-Harley Davidson 200. Along with McCarty and Peyton Sellers, two-time winner Deac McCaskill makes his return to the prestigious event after last competing in 2014.

Below is the complete list of winners in the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200:

Year	Winner
2006	Drew Herring
2007	Adam Barker
2008	Deac McCaskill
2009	Nick Smith
2010	Deac McCaskill
2011	Lee Pulliam
2012	Lee Pulliam
2013	Lee Pulliam
2014	Lee Pulliam
2015	Lee Pulliam
2016	Lee Pulliam
2017	Philip Morris
2018	Peyton Sellers
2019	Peyton Sellers
2020	Not held
2021	Bobby McCarty
2022	Corey Heim
2023	Bobby McCarty

Posted on June 24, 2024 by Press Release

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (June 20, 2024) – NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver/owner Spencer Boyd is helping unveil a new look for his longest running marketing partner, Record Rack premium wildlife feed (brand owned by Cargill, Inc.). This marks the seventh season of the pair working together but the first race with Record Rack on Boyd’s new team, Freedom Racing Enterprises.

Cargill’s Wildlife Marketing Lead, Jodi Cornelison spoke about the updates to the Record Rack brand: “We have been so impressed and pleased with what Spencer has brought to our brand for seven years. From his support of the hunting industry, to his love for honoring our nation’s heroes. We are incredibly proud of him as he reaches this milestone in his racing career. We thought, what better way to kick off our brand new look than to celebrate it on Spencer’s truck with his new team, Freedom Racing Enterprises?

“Besides slick new packaging, we have two great new products for our beloved NASCAR fans. Both are super easy to feed, and the intense berry flavor and smell will keep the deer coming back for more. Spincast is a mix of protein pellets with corn so it will flow well through the popular spincast feeders. Couple that with our new Big Antler Mineral (BAM) Block, and you’ll start seeing bigger monster bucks in the fall.”

Spencer Boyd commented on the partnership: “When Record Rack first sponsored me back in 2018, I was driving the No. 76. This time it’s our new team with that same number coupled with their new packaging and products, it’s a great combination. While there is certainly a natural connection between us with me being a sportsman, the rooted connection is with our mutual love for our country. We have gotten to honor so many heroes together and this year will be no exception.”

The hood of the Record Rack of the No.76 Record Rack Chevrolet Silverado lists 65 names of America’s finest who have also been honored by attending the annual Bucks for the Brave sponsored by Record Rack.

Bucks for the Brave is an all-expense paid trip that will take place in the fall of 2024. The events will be hosted at Trinity Oaks’ Thumbtack Ranch in Batesville, Texas, which is the only nationally recognized Purple Heart Ranch in the United States. There will be both a men’s and women’s hunt with winners representing each of these eight categories: Army Veteran, Marine Corps Veteran, Navy Veteran, Air Force Veteran, Coast Guard Veteran, Retired Firefighter, Retired Law Enforcement and Retired EMT.

“As we round out the NASCAR Salutes campaign that focuses on appreciating the efforts of our military, I wanted to bring one of these true heroes to the track,” Boyd continued. “James ‘JD’ Roberts, a highly decorated Army Veteran will sit on our pit box at the upcoming race in Nashville alongside his wife, Linda. These people have sacrificed more than I could ever imagine and just hope this little token of appreciation helps them realize our entire team is grateful for all they have done.”

James “JD” Roberts, joined the army at 17. He did two tours of duty in Vietnam. The first was personal security for a chaplain, and the second was with a special forces group when he was promoted to Captain. He returned to the states where he became an AIT Company Commander. He then joined the Army Rangers as an instructor in Fort Benning, Georgia. JD was then recruited by the elite Delta Force and became one of the original members serving under Colonel Beckwith. He served during the Iranian Hostage Crisis on the Operation Eagle Claw rescue mission and survived the plane crash that killed eight service members. He retired after 20 years with decorations and medals including four Bronze Stars with Valor, a Purple Heart with OLC, along with special awards for his participation in the Iran Rescue Mission.

Even after retiring, he and two others went on a rescue mission to Jordan to bring home a young girl kidnapped by her father. This heroic event resulted in a made for TV movie starring Mariel Hemingway called “Desperate Rescue.” He didn’t stop there though. He spent an additional 20 years serving with the Department of Homeland Security. JD now lives in Crossville, Tennessee, with his wife and suffers from Parkinson’s disease caused by agent orange in Vietnam.

The No. 76 Record Rack Silverado will race at Nashville Superspeedway on Friday, June 28 at 8 p.m. ET on FS2, MRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Posted on June 24, 2024June 24, 2024 by Zack Albert

The arrival of rain — and lots of it — just past the two-thirds mark of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race seemed to signal an early end to the racing at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. But in a “stop the presses” moment befitting of a race called the USA Today 301, the event improbably resumed under damp conditions with wet-weather tires and ran to an overtime completion.

The conclusion shook up the finishing order, the points standings and the playoff picture like a Yahtzee tumbler.

RELATED: Race results | Cup Series standings

Christopher Bell stoked his New Hampshire hot streak with his third Cup Series victory of the season, climbing from a ninth-place spot at the red flag with 219 of 305 laps complete. Others rose and fell with wilder swings in their running position, and the overall standings shifted accordingly.

With eight races remaining in the regular season before the 16-driver Cup Series Playoffs field is determined, here’s a look at how some of the biggest of those before-and-after shifts played out — listed by organization, in order of their best Sunday finishes.

Joe Gibbs Racing: Bell took over when the wet-weather tires went on, but two of his JGR teammates had mixed fortunes. Denny Hamlin — a Stage 2 winner not long before the rains came — went from third place at the red flag to a 24th-place result. Martin Truex Jr., hampered by a pit-stop miscue and a Lap 210 spin before the stoppage, recovered from his 27th-place stature at the red flag to come home ninth — his first top-10 finish in the last six races. Though Truex is still missing a tally in the win column this year, he added a beefy 33 points to his sizable 155-point gap over the provisional playoff elimination line.

Stewart-Haas Racing: Chase Briscoe and Josh Berry carried the torch in a bright moment for the organization’s swan-song season, placing second and third, respectively. Those finishes marked a 21-position gainer for Briscoe and a 17-spot climb for Berry from where they stood during the rain delay. Those results marked one-spot jumps for each driver in the playoff standings as well; Briscoe gained 19 points relative to the elimination line, and Berry added 27. On the opposite side of the equation for SHR was Noah Gragson, who was 10th during the rain delay and slid to 27th after a Lap 265 crash slowed his progress.

Hendrick Motorsports: Kyle Larson led the charge for Rick Hendrick’s four-car stable, making a modest move from seventh at the red flag to fourth at the checkered in the No. 5 Chevrolet. Pole-starter Chase Elliott also made a three-spot gain to keep his historic streak of top-20 finishes alive in 18th, and he is now tied with Larson atop the points standings. William Byron had the most significant before-and-after contrast, fading 10 spots to a 26th-place result at the end.

RFK Racing: Chris Buescher noted that his No. 17 Ford ended up with more tire marks on his doors after the wet-weather stretch of racing, but he also came away with an eight-position improvement at the finish. He remained 15th on the provisional 16-driver playoff grid still searching for a win, but he padded his margin by 23 points to a 50-point cushion over the elimination line.

23XI Racing: Tyler Reddick was sitting in prime position for his second Cup Series win of the season, his No. 45 Toyota leading the field with some pit-strategy savvy at the time of the red flag. He held on for a net result of sixth place, but teammate Bubba Wallace had a more dramatic drop when Gragson’s spin triggered a multicar stack 40 laps from the finish. Wallace’s No. 23 entry was too damaged to continue, and he went from 14th at the red flag to 34th in the results. Wallace lost 19 points to the playoff elimination line and went from the last driver in to now the first driver outside the postseason picture — 13 points back.

MORE: At-track photos

JTG Daugherty Racing: Maybe it’s the dirt-track racer in him that helped save the day on wet-weather Goodyears, but Ricky Stenhouse Jr. made his way from 24th place at the red flag to a seventh-place finish — his second consecutive top 10. Stenhouse moved up one spot to 24th in the playoff standings, which is all but must-win territory from here on out.

Legacy Motor Club: John Hunter Nemechek registered his first top-10 finish since mid-March at Bristol Motor Speedway, persevering for eighth place after sitting one lap down in 31st at the red-flag break — a remarkable 23-spot turnaround. Teammate Erik Jones also made an upturn during the wet-weather portion of the race, moving from 18th place to 13th at the end. Both are deep in the playoff hunt — Jones 26th, Nemechek 27th — and need wins.

Trackhouse Racing: Ross Chastain recovered from a wet-weather spin on Lap 235 for a net positive — 10th place after a 15th-place status during the red flag. Teammate Daniel Suárez made an 11-spot jump to finish 21st, coming from two laps down at the red flag as the beneficiary of a pair of the several caution periods in the evening hours at New Hampshire. Suárez is already in the playoff hunt with his Atlanta Motor Speedway win, and Chastain bolstered his playoff buffer by 22 points — now a 93-point gap over possible elimination.

Front Row Motorsports: Todd Gilliland was fourth and teammate Michael McDowell sixth when the weather forced the two-plus-hour delay. Gilliland faded to finish 12th, and McDowell took 15th — after an aggressive move with postseason desperation in mind led to a late-race collision with Ryan Blaney in their battle for second place. Gilliland is 21st, 83 points back, and McDowell 22nd (minus-99 points) in the playoff standings.

Team Penske: Ryan Blaney, a winner one week earlier at Iowa Speedway, had the largest before/after drop from the Team Penske camp — slipping from second place at the red flag to a 25th-place result after his run-in with McDowell. Austin Cindric went from eighth to 19th after catching part of the Lap 265 jam-up, but both he and Blaney have their playoff fates secured by wins. Teammate Joey Logano, however, crashed with Chase Elliott on a Lap 194 restart and never returned to the top 30. His 32nd-place finish was offset by 17 stage points, and Logano vaulted into the final provisional spot on the playoff grid — 13 points above Bubba Wallace.

Richard Childress Racing: A suboptimal day and a pair of DNFs derailed the RCR duo of Kyle Busch and Austin Dillon. Busch crashed three times, including a wall crunch under caution before the resumption that left his No. 8 Chevrolet in 35th place, 83 laps shy of the full distance. Dillon was 19th at the red flag but was saddled with a 33rd-place result after Lap 265’s melee. Busch slipped further behind in his hunt for the playoffs, losing 19 points and one spot to the provisional elimination line after his third DNF in the last four races.

Posted on June 24, 2024June 24, 2024 by Staff Report

Joe Gibbs Racing will announce its new driver of the No. 19 Toyota for the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season on Tuesday afternoon, and NASCAR.com will have you covered.

The press conference will begin at 1 p.m. ET with live streaming coverage on NASCAR.com as well as NASCAR’s YouTube, Facebook and X channels. JGR announced in a media alert that joining the new driver will be team owner Joe Gibbs and crew chief James Small.

MORE: Stream the announcement here

Martin Truex Jr., the current driver of JGR’s No. 19 Toyota, announced on June 14 at Iowa Speedway that he will step away from full-time NASCAR competition at the conclusion of the 2024 campaign. Truex is a 34-time winner and 2017 champion in the Cup Series, competing full-time at the sport’s highest level since 2006. Truex also won consecutive championships in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2004 and 2005.

Joe Gibbs Racing’s current roster also includes 54-race winner Denny Hamlin, two-time Championship 4 contender Christopher Bell and 2023 Sunoco Rookie of the Year Ty Gibbs. Bell won Sunday’s race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway for his third victory of 2024.

Posted on June 24, 2024June 24, 2024 by Brandon White

For the 11th season, the best short-track competitors on the East Coast will convene across a series of three events known as the Virginia Late Model Triple Crown, starting with the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 at Virginia’s South Boston Speedway.

Every year, the Virginia Triple Crown opens at South Boston before leading into the Hampton Heat at Langley Speedway in late July. The series concludes in the fall with the prestigious ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at Martinsville Speedway, the Late Model Stock equivalent of the Daytona 500.

Martinsville president Clay Campbell was one of the masterminds behind the Virginia Triple Crown alongside Langley’s owner in Bill Mullis and former South Boston general manager Cathy Rice.

All three shared the same goal of bolstering the sturdy Late Model Stock foundation in Virginia, which Campbell believes the Triple Crown has more than accomplished.

“At the time, all three tracks had their own big race,” Campbell said. “We put our heads together to try and figure out if there was some way we could tie the three together and get some of the local guys to run at different tracks. The premise was to make these three races bigger and putting emphasis on the great racing in Virginia.”

One factor that separates the Virginia Triple Crown from similar events is how the champion is determined.

Instead of relying on points, the driver who records the best average finish between the three venues is declared the winner of the Virginia Triple Crown and receives a paycheck of $7,000. Second place takes home $2,000 while third place obtains $1,000.

Six different drivers have had the privilege of claiming the Virginia Triple Crown during its brief history, with two-time NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series champion Peyton Sellers leading that group with four titles.

Sellers admitted the Virginia Triple Crown gets harder to win with every passing year, but he said the more interest the event receives only adds to its prestige and significance toward short track competition, particularly on the East Coast.

“This has really gained popularity from guys in other states,” Sellers said. “You have drivers from Tennessee, North Carolina and Maryland trying to win it. For me, this is home, and there are a lot of people in Virginia who have carried the torch for short-track racing. That’s what you do by winning the Triple Crown.”

Cars in action during the 2023 Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 at South Boston Speedway (Photo: Sanjay Suchak/NASCAR)

Sellers added the exposure drivers and tracks have gotten from the Virginia Triple Crown has been phenomenal. He considers all three legs of the event to be true crown jewels for Late Model Stock racing because of the car counts, high attendance and the individual efforts taken by tracks to emphasize the importance of their races.

For Campbell, the success and growth of Triple Crown has been another positive development for short-track racing in the state of Virginia, which has recently seen Dominion Raceway emerge as a premier venue for competitors since its grand opening in 2016.

Even though there currently is not any room for another facility in Virginia to become part of the Triple Crown, Campbell wants to see every track in the state flourish. He is confident that trend will continue as the three-race series keeps growing.

“The [Triple Crown] started with [South Boston, Langley and Martinsville], but Virginia has numerous great weekly race tracks,” Campbell said. “This doesn’t take away from any track that isn’t a part of it, and there are other tracks that have come along that are certainly capable of being in the Triple Crown. We’re very healthy with great tracks in the Commonwealth of Virginia, but right now we’re sticking with what we got.”

Sellers’ mindset for the Virginia Triple Crown remains unchanged year over year. He always expects the title to come down to the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 due to the talented fields and the diversity of each facility.

“Nobody runs away with [the Virginia Triple Crown], because you’re looking at three different tracks,” Sellers said. “South Boston is a fast track with wide corners, Langley is as flat as a pancake with no grip at all, and Martinsville’s got all the grip in the world with nothing but straightaway.”

Brenden “Butterbean” Queen is the defending winner of the Hampton Heat at Langley Speedway. (Photo: Ryan M. Kelly/NASCAR)

Winning the Virginia Triple Crown has always been a great source of pride for Sellers, and he wants nothing more than to add a fifth championship in the series and celebrate in front of the loyal Virginia short track fans at Martinsville.

The support drivers like Sellers and others have for the Virginia Triple Crown has been a welcomed development for Campbell, who has seen the series weather different obstacles that included Langley’s brief closure in 2016 and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

Now that the Virginia Triple Crown is more popular than ever, Campbell cannot help but reflect on its beginnings and how he, Rice and Mullis worked diligently to create a series that has now become synonymous with Late Model Stock competition in the state.

“I don’t think any of the three of us ever thought [the Virginia Triple Crown] would be this popular,” Campbell said. “All three of us are so entrenched in Late Model Stock racing, but Cathy and Bill wanted to do whatever they could to enhance weekly racing. For people to mention these three races and talk about who’s going to win the Triple Crown at the end of the year is pretty cool.”

Virginia Triple Crown 2024 schedule

Date	Event
Saturday, June 29	Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 at South Boston Speedway
Saturday, July 20	Hampton Heat at Langley Speedway
Saturday, Sept. 28	ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at Martinsville Speedway

Virginia Late Model Triple Crown winners

Year	Champion
2012	C.E. Falk III
2013	Peyton Sellers
2014	Peyton Sellers
2015	Lee Pulliam
2016	Not held
2017	Timothy Peters
2018	Peyton Sellers
2019	Lee Pulliam
2020	Not held
2021	Bobby McCarty
2022	Peyton Sellers
2023	Trevor Ward

Posted on June 24, 2024June 24, 2024 by John Crane

There were curveballs aplenty in the NASCAR Cup Series over the weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. From no qualifying to little practice time, Sunday’s USA Today 301 at the “Magic Mile” looked to be anyone’s race to win. Factoring in more than two hours of a rain delay Sunday — and a strategy switch to wet-weather tires — only heightened the opportunity for drivers to show their ability to adapt on the fly at the New England facility.

Once the dust (and rain) settled, it was Christopher Bell who capitalized in overtime to claim his third win of the 2024 Cup Series campaign.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

Before the Cup Series treks to Nashville Superspeedway next Sunday (3:30 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App), see which drivers are trending up and skidding down following New Hampshire.

THREE UP ⬆️

1. Chase Briscoe, No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford

Jonathan Bachman | Getty Images

Started: 23rd

Finished: 2nd

What happened: Stages 1 and 2 didn’t net much momentum for the 29-year-old Briscoe, who completed both segments in 27th and 22nd, respectively. The No. 14’s late-race spark came during the contest’s final stage, where Briscoe chipped all the way up to the top row and might’ve contended more with Bell if surplus laps permitted. Even still, the Ford will take the runner-up in stride, given the speed it showed and the resilience its pilot endured from start to finish.

What’s next: Briscoe hasn’t seen much success at Nashville, given all three of his Cup appearances at the track have yielded finishes outside the top 30. However, as New Hampshire showed, momentum can come in many forms, and if there’s any belief in said momentum carrying over, Briscoe could be on the verge of even better results. Stay tuned.

2. Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford

Sean Gardner | Getty Images

Started: 15th

Finished: 5th

What happened: Similarly to Briscoe, it was a slow brew for Buescher, who completed Stage 1 in 18th and Stage 2 in 11th. Strategy switches, including two-tire stops and the wet-weather transitions, eventually helped Buescher’s short and long-run speed prevail, which was just the recipe needed to fight and thrive at the front of the pack.

“Loudon has not been our best track, definitely not mine specifically,” Buescher said after the race. “There was no quit in this Fastenal group today. It was awesome to come home with a top five. We were really good in the rain when it was wet. We really fought for it when it was dry, but we were on wet tires. There, at the end, there was just really one good groove, and that made restarts a battle. We were able to persevere through all that and bring this thing home with a handful of more tire marks on the door than when we went in under red initially, but a really good night for us.”

What’s next: On paper, Nashville hasn’t been Buescher’s best track; in three Cup Series races there, the No. 17 has two finishes of 30th or worse and has yet to lead a lap. However, Buescher’s Nashville trend has been an upward one, as seen with his finishes of 36th (2021), 30th (2022) and 18th (2023) in the last three seasons. Perhaps it continues.

3. John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota

Sean Gardner | Getty Images

Started: 28th

Finished: 8th

What happened: Sometimes, continuing to battle pays off in full. Such was the case for Nemechek Sunday evening at the “Magic Mile” after 30th and 32nd-place results in Stages 1 and 2, respectively. Despite the scuffles, Nemechek continued to push forward and capitalized late during overtime after the field crunched together.

“We were stuck two laps down until we got all of the cautions,” Nemechek said after the race. “I was sitting on the top of the box with Ben (Beshore, crew chief) praying that we were going to be able to go back racing. We were awful the first run of the race and just worked on it all day. These guys gave it all they had. A lot of adjustments throughout the day … I’ll take eighth after the day we had. I think we were stuck in 31st or 32nd pretty much all day, so solid finish for us and something that we needed. Hopefully, we can build some momentum off of this.”

What’s next: It will be a clean slate for the 27-year-old Nemechek, who will make his Nashville debut in the Cup Series next Sunday. Nemechek finished sixth in the 2023 Xfinity Series running at the track and additionally has two top 10s in two Truck Series starts there (10th in 2021, ninth in 2022).

THREE DOWN ⬇️

1. Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

Sean Gardner | Getty Images

Started: 5th

Finished: 36th

What happened: The No. 48 Chevy’s strong track position to begin Sunday’s contest quickly devolved into mechanical issues, as engine issues forced the Hendrick machine to the garage on Lap 144. Unfortunately for the race team, the No. 48 did not return to the track following the incident and was relegated to a last-place result.

What’s next: Although the Arizona native has yet to finish inside the top 10 at Nashville in three Cup tries, Bowman does have one thing going for him in Tennessee: He has started each of those three Cup contests inside the top 15 (eighth in 2021, 12th in 2022 and 15th in 2023). Although there is more to racing than starting at the front of the pack (as New Hampshire once showed), clean air can be a driver’s best friend. It’s possible that trend corrects itself this time around.

2. Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford

Sean Gardner | Getty Images

Started: 6th

Finished: 32nd

What happened: The New England native in Logano started Sunday on steady footing, completing the first two stages in second and third, respectively. If anything, it looked as if Logano could perhaps contend for his first 2024 regular-season victory.

Unfortunately for the No. 22 pilot, that possibility faded after the Team Penske Ford collided with Chase Elliott’s No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet during the race’s final stage. In other words, back to the drawing board.

What’s next: If there is one track where Logano could rebound … and fast … it very well could be Nashville. The 34-year-old has started all three of his Cup Series races there inside the top five and has finished all three inside the top 20, which includes two top 10s.

3. Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing Ford

Sean Gardner | Getty Images

Started: 9th

Finished: 28th

What happened: Keselowski was an antithesis of sorts when compared to his RFK teammate in Buescher. Despite strategy shifts and late-race cautions, the No. 6 Ford couldn’t make a gradual build through the field the way the No. 17 could. In the end, not enough speed, in conjunction with being mired in dirty air in the middle of the race pack, led to a strikeout performance for Keselowski in the Boston Red Sox-themed paint scheme.

What’s next: The bad news: In three career Cup Series appearances in Music City, Keselowski maintains an average finish of 21.0. The good news: Keselowski’s most recent performance at Nashville in 2023 netted his best finish of the three attempts (11th). This will be just the sort of result to build on down south as the No. 6 looks for a rebound from his New Hampshire performance up north.

Posted on June 23, 2024June 24, 2024 by Pat DeCola

LOUDON, N.H. — Sunday’s USA Today 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway wasn’t the first “official” use of wet-weather tires by NASCAR, but it sure felt like the one that helped usher the sport through the threshold to the next era of stock-car racing.

Battling pop-up rain showers nearly all day — followed by thunderstorms, lightning and the faint threat of a tornado watch to the south later in the afternoon and evening — the hurdles standing between NASCAR and a complete race were aplenty.

Thanks to the teams’ ability to implement Goodyear’s wet-weather product with NASCAR’s direction, the race saw all 301 laps completed — and then some.

A nearly two-hour delay in the final stage with the “Magic Mile” getting absolutely pelted with downpours for most of that window would’ve typically made it an easy call for NASCAR to wave off the remainder of the race with driver and fan safety and coming darkness in mind after needing to dry the track. Instead, drivers were able to re-fire engines at 6:43 p.m. ET and run all the way to the finish on wet-weather tires, with Christopher Bell — who got a little bit of experience on them in Saturday’s Xfinity Series win as well — emerging victorious for the weekend sweep just after 8:10 p.m. ET.

“Oh, we would have (had to call the race if we didn’t have wet-weather tires). We’d have been done with 82 laps ago,” said NASCAR SVP of Competition Elton Sawyer. “It gave us an opportunity to get back green. You know, we were up against it with daylight as well, but kudos to our teams, our drivers, our owners, and especially Mr. (Jim) France for his vision. …

“I think the way we started this whole wet-weather-tire-process was basically we wanted to get our races started on time. And it really played into our hand yesterday to get the Xfinity race started on time and to get our races back to green as quick as possible if we’ve had a delay, which we had today, so you know, kudos to Goodyear. Again, this was Jim France’s vision of what wet-weather tires could do. We ran 301-plus laps today. Went into the overtime. Our fans that bought a ticket, they got to see some great, exciting racing. And there’s still some things that we’re learning through this process and in all honesty, we’d like to be out of the tire business. We’d like to just turn that over to the teams. But as we continue to take small steps and learn, eventually, we’ll get there. We just want to do this in the safest way possible.”

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

NASCAR’s foray into wet-weather racing on ovals was an ambitious one; while road-course and street racing lend themselves quite well to racing in the wet, it’s basically unheard of otherwise. Thus, there was some industry skepticism that it could be accomplished successfully — skepticism that was quickly quashed once the race went back to green and produced truly mesmerizing racing.

“I was probably the biggest skeptic when they said they wanted to run wets at the ovals. I thought they were crazy, and they proved me wrong for sure,” said race-winning crew chief Adam Stevens. “They did a really good job of coming up with a plan methodically of how wet was too wet … and they figured out once they got the water off the race track that you can run it, and that was probably the best way to dry the track, too. So those are all boxes I never thought we would have checked from the way that that whole project started out but kudos to them for for being visionaries in that regard. And Mr. France for pushing the limits. I don’t think there was probably a lot of support for that. But as we narrow down what works, it’s pretty clear today that it worked.”

Once racing resumed, NHMS saw the track widen out massively, with drivers going four, five, sometimes six-wide searching for preferred grooves that fit both their own personal comfortability but also their car’s.

The top 10 was littered with drivers who come from a dirt background seeking the wet, with drivers used to pavement angling for any dry spots they could find.

Torey Fox | NASCAR Digital Media

“It was fun. You know, I think when it’s like that, I think that’s why you see a lot of the dirt racers kind of migrate to the front,” said fourth-place finisher Kyle Larson. “I just think we know what to look for. We know what to feel for, even though it’s pavement, you know, you’re still kind of looking and scanning. That’s why you see (Tyler) Reddick up front. Bell, myself, (Chase) Briscoe. … Props to the pavement guys who figured it out quick, too. I wish the conditions would’ve stayed wet because that was a lot of fun. (Ryan) Blaney was up there, too. I mean, he’s not a dirt guy but he’s got the genetics. So, no surprise that he’s he’s up there, too. So yeah, that was fun. Just wish it would stay wet longer. … I do (consider this a success).”

It was so interesting to hear the different feedback based on different backgrounds from drivers in their immediate feedback after the race. While Larson and non-dirt driver Chris Buescher didn’t agree on how to best get around the track once the tires were on, there was one thing they did agree on.

“Oh, ultimately, yeah (it was a success). I mean, we’ve finished our race. I think it worked,” said the No. 17 RFK Racing driver. “It’s dark. It was hard to see there at the end, just where moisture was and wasn’t, but ultimately, it worked out. I certainly would have loved to have done it when it first started in damp conditions; I think when we first went under red those conditions seemed a little more ideal to me with just that really light mist. They actually kept moisture in the track for a long period of time to where I think you would have seen the tire shine more in those conditions versus you know, all these cautions at the end, and us having to put three sets on to make sure that they weren’t blistering or really just peeling, but it worked. … We did pretty dang good and I’m not a dirt guy.”

All in all, a bellwether (pun extremely intended) day for the sport, with plenty of takeaways as NASCAR continues to build the notebook for the continued evolution of racing in the damp. NASCAR will look at everything — from both races this weekend — and use the data and feedback collected to further improve on an already successful experiment.

“Once we get back to the R&D Center, we’ll start downloading exactly how this race unfolded,” Sawyer said. “If you think about it, you know, we’ve only got maybe four data points. We ran the trucks in Martinsville, the All-Star Race with the Cup cars, this year at Richmond with the Cup cars, and now here, which is one of the faster short ovals that we run on. So we’ll get back and we’ll look at all the things that transpired today and if we should have put on dries, but the more we looked at it, I think staying on wets was the right decision to end the race.

“Absolutely (this was a success). I mean, if you go back and look at the reason we came up with this, and we started working through it with our teams and the folks that the R&D Center, it was to do exactly what we did yesterday with the Xfinity race and what we did today with the Cup race. So yes, very successful.”