CONCORD, N.C. — Since his triumphant Chicago debut, Shane van Gisbergen has been honing his skills in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, preparing for what he hopes will be a transition to the Cup Series on a full-time basis.
The three-time Australian Supercars champion burst onto the NASCAR scene nearly a year ago by winning the inaugural Chicago Street Race. He will look to defend his race win later on July 7 in the Grant Park 165 (4:30 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Van Gisbergen has been fully committed to learning an entirely new race craft — especially when it comes to oval racing. So far in his rookie Xfinity season, the No. 97 Kaulig Racing driver is holding his own with respectable top-20 finishes at some of the toughest ovals on the calendar.
“Just the oval stuff is so different,” van Gisbergen said during his media availability on Tuesday at the NASCAR Productions Facility. “No matter where you are in the field, you’re always racing someone and never seem to be able to get your own air, like you’re always racing or lapping people or getting lapped. It’s crazy, but the racing is really good.
“It is good to go to a place kind of under the radar in Xfinity on the ovals, and just learn how it all works, and spend a year just studying and learning everything to be better next year. … Every time I go out, I feel more and more comfortable and more competitive.”
Road courses, however, have been second nature for the Kiwi driver. After his win last weekend at Portland, van Gisbergen earned a provisional playoff spot. He also had a strong showing in the fifth race of the year at Circuit of The Americas, crossing the finish line second, but a 30-second time penalty for short-cutting the course on the final lap relegated him to 27th.
Through 13 regular-season races, SVG has only scratched the surface of his potential as he is still learning and perfecting his skills behind the wheel of a stock car.
“I’m a conservative person by nature,” van Gisbergen said. “Always by Stage 3, I seem to be getting better and better and moving through the field. But that’s sort of been my goal. Just finish the races and always be on the lead lap with a straight car and the results have been getting progressively better and better. Now, in the second half of the year, and then especially when we go back to tracks I’ve been to, I’ll probably start taking a bit more risk.”
Van Gisbergen currently sits 14th in the driver standings, but as the season treks on, if his trajectory continues to trend upward in oval racing in the second half of the year, he could be in a position to pounce at the Xfinity Series championship.
“I think there’s the Roval in the first round. So that’s obviously an advantage for me. The second round, I think it’s tough, it would be awesome if I could keep progressing, and by then, I should be a lot more comfortable and willing to push more. I wasn’t too bad at Phoenix, either. So yeah, anything can happen and it’s just it’s awesome to be in it.”
This weekend the New Zealander faces another road course in Sonoma Raceway, where he will look to win back-to-back races Saturday (8 p.m. ET, FS1, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
1. Good luck to any driver yet to reach Victory Lane this season
With three new drivers in the playoffs in 2024 compared to last year, big names and past champs could be left out of the postseason.
An Austin Cindric victory last Sunday was probably not on the 2024 bingo card for many. But a strong run all day for the No. 2 Team Penske stable paid off as teammate Ryan Blaney ran out of gas on the final lap, opening the door for Cindric to snap an 85-race winless skid and become the ninth different winner of 2024.
Cindric’s win now creates a significant stir on the playoff bubble that will be dodgy to navigate for some of the Cup Series’ biggest stars if they can’t find Victory Lane in the final 11 races of the regular season.
With Chase Elliott, Daniel Suárez and now Cindric all finding Victory Lane, it guarantees that at least three drivers — and really four, considering 2023 playoff driver Kevin Harvick is now retired — from last year’s postseason will not make it come September when the checkered flag waves at Darlington Raceway. Among the crop of drivers who remain winless so far in 2024 are Joey Logano, Ross Chastain, Bubba Wallace, Chris Buescher, Kyle Busch and defending series champion Ryan Blaney. Chastain, Wallace and Buescher have yet to be consistent enough to feel comfortable about their chances to reach Victory Lane in 2024, though Buescher has come extremely close — literally — to doing so.
Meanwhile, Busch continues to struggle in 2024 as he’s parachuted down to 19th in the playoff standings and sits 20 points below Buescher on the elimination line. Not only are Rowdy’s playoff hopes dwindling with each passing weekend but a chance to grab a win in 20 consecutive Cup seasons is also at risk if the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing team can’t find momentum.
Ty Gibbs (+107) and Alex Bowman (+59) are also spoiling the party for those trying to return to the playoffs.
Rank
Driver
Gap to playoff elimination line
12th
Alex Bowman
+59
13th
Ross Chastain
+59
14th
Ryan Blaney
+47
15th
Bubba Wallace
+13
16th
Chris Buescher
+10
17th
Chase Briscoe
-10
18th
Joey Logano
-14
19th
Kyle Busch
-20
Sean Gardner | Getty Images
2. Gold or fool’s gold for Team Penske?
Cindric’s Gateway victory locks in at least one team for the organization, but will it cost the Nos. 12 and 22?
You can pencil in multiple Team Penske cars for the playoffs almost any given year, but 2024 could be the outlier that takes a chunk out of Penske lore.
Yes, Cindric’s win would have most people thinking that puts all three of the organization’s teams into the provisional postseason field, but looking at the performances so far from Blaney and Logano in their respective campaigns, hands should be hovering over the proverbial panic button.
Blaney had one of the best cars Sunday at Gateway, running inside the top five for most of the race, and was on his way to victory after the dominant Christopher Bell suffered an engine issue late that forced the No. 20 to bow out of the battle. But after running out of gas off Turn 4 coming to the bell lap, Blaney idled all the way back to the start/finish line to settle for a 24th-place result. Entering Sonoma, Blaney now has three consecutive finishes of 24th or worst and only has two top-10 runs between Bristol and Gateway. With Kyle Larson receiving his playoff waiver, Blaney sits 14th in the playoff standings and just 47 points to the good on Chase Briscoe.
Logano is trending even worse than his younger counterpart. He’s 18th in the playoff standings and 14 marks below Buescher. Both Blaney and Logano are trending toward respective average finishes that would be among their worst seasons at the Cup level.
Joey Logano's worst avg. finishes
Ryan Blaney's worst avg. finishes
20.0 (2009)
18.5 (2016)
19.1 (2011)
17.5* (2024 so far)
17.6* (2024 so far)
17.3 (2017)
17.4 (2012)
14.8 (2018)
16.8 (2010)
14.1 (2023)
The two-time titleholder Logano got a much-needed top-five run last Sunday, and Sonoma could be another big day for the No. 22 team as he finished third at the Bay Area road course in 2023.
Top fives and top 10s will be there for both Blaney and Logano as the playoffs near, but victories may be the requirement for them if they hope to chase the Bill France Trophy this year.
NASCAR on FOX’s Larry McReynolds and MRN’s Todd Gordon discuss what happened during the final round of pit stops at Gateway that led to Ryan Blaney running out of fuel, costing him a win.
Kim Coon and Skip Flores preview the race weekend and hear what Cup Series drivers have to say about Sonoma Raceway ahead of Sunday’s showdown in wine country.
5. Catch the pack — news and notes from around the garage
MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Rising Modified competitor Luke Baldwin will make his NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour debut at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Saturday, June 22. Driving the Pace-O-Matic No. 7VA for Sadler-Stanley (SS) Racing, Baldwin will compete with NASCAR’s best during the only NASCAR national series weekend of the New England racing season.
Competing in the Mohegan Sun 100, Baldwin will get his first taste of drafting in a Modified at the “Magic Mile” oval. He’s no stranger to racing Modifieds over the last few years; he’s a 602 Modified champion at New Smyrna Speedway’s World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing and already a Tour-Type Modified winner in a short time in 2024.
Baldwin is excited to take his talent north to New Hampshire to compete on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.
Luke Baldwin celebrates winning the 602 Modified feature and championship on night 7 of the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing at Florida’s New Smyrna Speedway on Feb. 17, 2023. (Photo: Adam Fenwick/NASCAR)
“New Hampshire is a dream come true for sure,” Baldwin said. “Growing up, it was one of the coolest races to watch, so having the privilege to run this race is an incredible feeling. The Sadler-Stanley Racing team has a ton of momentum, and I know they’ll bring a stout piece to New Hampshire.
“It wouldn’t be possible without my mom and dad, Sadler-Stanley Racing, Pace-O-Matic and PSR Products. I can’t thank them enough. I’m extremely grateful for this opportunity, and I can’t wait to go have some fun.”
Hermie Sadler from SS Racing agrees that Baldwin is ready for the challenge.
“It was pretty evident to me early on this season that Luke has ‘it’ for us,” Sadler said. “His ability to do things like adapt to our cars, more horsepower, new tracks, to get that extra speed for qualifying, knowing when to be aggressive and when to save… he is just mature beyond his years. Taking him to a track like New Hampshire was the logical next step for his development.”
The Mohegan Sun 100 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway is set for Saturday, June 22. Practice and qualifying will take place Friday, June 21. Saturday’s race will be shown live on FloRacing when it takes the green flag around 6:30 p.m. ET.
Fans can follow Luke Baldwin across all social media accounts. For more information on Sadler-Stanley Racing, visit Sadler-StanleyRacing.com and follow the team on Facebook at SS Racing for the latest updates, including from the track on race day.
After a decade of running partial NASCAR schedules in all three series, Parker Kligerman finally had a full season a year ago to prove himself with a single team.
And it could pay off in full in 2024.
Despite not finding Victory Lane in 2023, Kligerman’s introductory season with Big Machine Racing was a smashing success. The Scott Borchetta-led organization, then in its third Xfinity Series season, recorded a team-high 18 top-10 finishes and Kligerman was a weekly front-of-the-field threat in the second half of the season, earning 14 top 10s over the final 20 races.
“Productive in almost every category except for getting a checkered flag,” Kligerman said of his first season in the No. 48 Chevrolet. “We have done everything but get a checkered flag.”
Kligerman has earned nine top-five finishes in 47 starts in the No. 48 car. Statistically, the No. 48 team is off to a stronger start in 2024 compared to a season ago.
The early consistency has led to a happier driver as Kligerman is thoroughly pleased with Big Machine Racing’s performance to start 2024. At this time last year, he was still fresh to working with veteran crew chief Patrick Donahue.
“I didn’t know Parker at all a year-and-a-half ago,” Donahue, a member of Jeff Gordon’s Rainbow Warriors in the 1990s, said. “Just getting to know who he is, what he’s about and what makes us all tick.”
With how consistent Kligerman was the second half of the 2023 season, which included runner-up finishes at Road America and Texas Motor Speedway, he expected the team to pick up where it left off. The finishes haven’t told the full story, but the No. 48 team has improved at some of the most important tracks on the schedule, including Phoenix Raceway — the same venue that decides the 2024 Xfinity Series Championship.
“In terms of running position and results, we’re way ahead of last year, massively,” Kligerman said. “We’ve had a lot of issues on pit road this year; that’s been a tough spot for us. You can look at these first [13] races and add up a couple points over every race that if we had that back, we’re sitting fifth or sixth in points.”
Donahue agrees the team has far more speed this season as opposed to last.
“We’re running better and getting more stage points than we did last year,” Donahue stated. “The places where we’ve had our best races are Daytona, Talladega, Atlanta. And we had some of our worst finishes. We’re running faster and more competitive throughout the race.”
Meg Oliphant | Getty Images
Kligerman often thinks about the races the No. 48 team let slip away. Believing that Jesse Love was going to run out of fuel at Atlanta, he was in position to take the victory but ran out of fuel himself on the restart. He led a season-high 10 laps at Talladega Superspeedway and was wrecked while leading on a late restart.
“Those are two that got away,” Kligerman added. “You look at those and are like, ‘Alright, we’re in it.’ “My sole focus this year is to just go win. Points have been nice, and I know we could have more points, but I’ve barely even looked at it because I know we can run well enough to just be here on points. Winning is really going to open the floodgates for our race team.”
Donahue is also astonished that the No. 48 has yet to win with Kligerman. The team is still building a notebook at select race tracks in its fourth season of competition. The single-car organization is competing against teams like Richard Childress Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing, which have been pumping out championship-capable Xfinity cars since the late 1990s.
“I’m surprised because we have put ourselves in that position probably more than anybody else in the field that hasn’t closed out the deal,” Donahue said. “What are you going to do? Are you going to let it tear you apart, or are you just going to keep racing and putting ourselves in position, and sooner or later, it’s going to fall our way?
“I know that we can win. We’re still trying to improve our program and make things better every week.”
Now, 46 races into Kligerman’s full-time tenure with Big Machine, it’s the most stability he’s had with one team in his career. Nearly half of his starts have come piloting the No. 48 Chevrolet in an opportunity he thought had sailed.
“To be somewhere and be committed to each other has been different,” Kligerman said. “When you don’t have the success you want, it’s like, ‘Oh no, in years past, you would be on to the next thing because that’s the way it works.’ Now it’s like, we’ve got to keep building.”
Much of Kligerman’s career following his 2013 season with Kyle Busch Motorsports consisted of scratching and clawing to find opportunities. Along the way, he picked up gigs with NBC Sports, whether it be pit reporting or hosting “Proving Grounds.”
To get back into the daily grind of being a race car driver has been “different” for Kligerman. He had to make life-changing sacrifices and is splitting time between his native Connecticut and having a room at a friend’s house in the Charlotte area.
“When you’re forced, like I was, to be beside it and not drive, you get a different view of life around you,” Kligerman added. “To get back into it is awesome, but you also have that perspective that you didn’t have before.”
An avid road-course lover, Kligerman is excited about the stretch of races over a six-week period that began at Portland International Raceway with an eighth-place finish and will conclude at the Chicago Street Course in early July. Three of those races, including Portland, are on road courses. Kligerman’s average finish in 10 road courses with Big Machine is ninth. The series heads to Sonoma Raceway this weekend, where Kligerman finished fifth last season.
“I love stock cars on road courses,” he said. “There is nothing like a big water buffalo trying to go around those courses and hopping over the curbs, managing your brakes over the course of the run and the tire fall off.”
Perhaps achieving that long-awaited checkered flag is in order.
Front Row Motorsports announced Wednesday that it has reached a multiyear contract extension with Todd Gilliland, who will return as driver of the No. 38 Ford in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2025 and beyond.
Gilliland is currently in his third Cup Series season, having joined the Bob Jenkins-owned team as a rookie in 2022. The 24-year-old driver ranks 22nd in the Cup Series standings after placing 16th in last weekend’s race at World Wide Technology Raceway.
“I want to be at Front Row Motorsports, and I want to be a part of what’s happening right now,” Gilliland said in a press release. “This is the time to join as a partner, a fan, and watch our next chapter. It’s really cool to see it all happening, and I have to thank Bob Jenkins and Jerry Freeze for their commitment in taking the steps to make us a consistent winning and playoff organization. It’s never easy, but I feel confident in our direction. I’m excited to see what the future holds.”
Gilliland is the first piece of Front Row’s driver lineup to fall into place for 2025. The organization announced last week that it had acquired a third charter to sustain its growth to three full-time Cup Series teams next year.
Gilliland will be the lone holdover from Front Row’s current Cup Series roster. Michael McDowell announced last month that he would join Spire Motorsports in 2025 after seven seasons with FRM. Front Row indicated that more driver announcements would come at a later date. “Todd (Gilliland) and his family have been with my family and the team for a very long time,” Bob Jenkins, Front Row Motorsports owner, said in a press release. “We’ve watched him grow, mature, and show all his potential behind our truck and car. It’s now his time to lead us into our next phase of winning races and being a consistent playoff contender.”
Gilliland has just one top-10 finish this season — eighth at Talladega Superspeedway in April — but other statistics have shown modest improvement over his previous two Cup Series campaigns, which both ended with a 28th-place result in the final standings. He has led 101 laps this season — most in his career — and is on track to lower his start and finish averages this year.
Gilliland is a three-time winner in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, notching all of his victories with different team owners. The middle of those three wins came with Front Row Motorsports’ Truck operation, at the Circuit of The Americas back in 2021.
Gilliland also has two wins in the main ARCA Menards Series, plus two championships (2016-17) and 13 wins in ARCA’s West division.
Kyle Weatherman has been fined $25,000 following Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Portland International Raceway, officials announced Tuesday.
Weatherman, driver of the No. 91 DGM Racing Chevrolet, was penalized in violation of Sections 4.4.B&D in the NASCAR Rule Book, which references the NASCAR Code of Conduct. The penalty report specifically cited “contact with another vehicle on pit road after the race,” which is noted under Section 4.4.B.
Under the guidelines of the rule book, “intentionally damaging another vehicle on pit road” is one of several actions that could result in a loss of 25-50 driver and/or team owner points and/or fines of $25,000-50,000.
Weatherman wheeled the No. 91 car to a 25th-place finish on the 1.967-mile road course. His best finish of the season came at Dover Motor Speedway, where the Missouri native finished in eighth place.
The Xfinity Series heads west to Sonoma Raceway for its next contest on Saturday at 8 p.m. ET on FS1, PRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Austin Cindric proved his abilities once again after his miraculous, last-second win at World Wide Technology Raceway on Sunday.
The North Carolina native etched his name into the provisional playoff field after a final-lap advance past the No. 12 Ford of teammate Ryan Blaney, which ran out of fuel in Turn 4 just before the white flag waved. Although Sonoma Raceway is approaching quickly on Sunday, Cindric still took the time to celebrate his win accordingly.
“Obviously, it’s a short turnaround, probably shorter than most weeks with Sonoma and cars having to leave this morning,” Cindric said of the upcoming trip to California during a Tuesday teleconference. “My guys didn’t have much time to turn around and we had to do the whole car yesterday, so we got all the families of the guys on my team together, pit crew, road crew and went out and had dinner last night. …
“It’s a pretty big moment for us and a lot of momentum for the team.”
This winning feeling is nothing new to the 25-year-old driver, but it isn’t something he has experienced as frequently in recent years. Cindric drove his way to the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship in 2020 — and nearly to a second, if not for falling on the wrong side of a photo finish at Phoenix Raceway in 2021.
On top of his rich resume is a triumph in the 2022 Daytona 500, becoming the first rookie to win the “Great American Race” en route to earning that season’s Rookie of the Year honors as well.
Although Cindric proved himself to be worthy of a Cup Series ride, he never anticipated automatic success. In 2023, those moments of celebration became more rare.
“That is the first year since 2011 that I haven’t won a race,” said Cindric. “That’s a long time. That’s a really long time. … From a goal-setting standpoint, look, I didn’t expect to get into the Cup Series and go out here and win a ton of races right away against some guys that have been doing this for over a decade. …
“A lot of it is a weekly self-check for me because there is a different way to prepare for a race if you’re gonna run from 10th to 25th versus 10th to first, whether that’s studying restarts, how different drivers drive, what decisions to make in traffic. Those are the types of things that my preparation has had to be a much wider spectrum of preparation because the racing is so different throughout the Cup Series field. This past weekend, there were cars that raced that race that I never saw the entire weekend. Usually, I see the entire field at some point or the other.”
Cindric now prepares for the road-course race at Sonoma Raceway this Sunday (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). He scored top-10 finishes at a plethora of road courses, including Sonoma, Circuit of The Americas and the Chicago Street Course.
However, he still finds certain tracks difficult to tackle as a younger driver on the circuit.
“I feel like Sonoma and Watkins Glen are probably two of the hardest road-course races to go into as a new guy,” Cindric said. “I mean, there are so many laps and so much experience from the traditional Cup Series field of drivers.”
The driver of the No. 2 Team Penske Ford is looking forward to this weekend, hoping the entire Penske organization can capitalize on its Gateway success despite a brutal beginning to the 2024 season.
“We have enough greatness surrounding us to know that we have all those ingredients,” Cindric said. “Obviously, it hasn’t been the best year for our Cup program as a whole, but you have to be ready for those opportunities and do what is necessary to take advantage of that.”
After a weeklong discussion amongst top officials, Kyle Larson is back in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs picture after Tuesday’s decision from the sanctioning body restored his eligibility despite missing the Coca-Cola 600.
Larson’s absence was a product of his inaugural attempt of “The Double,” trying to compete in both the Indianapolis 500 and NASCAR’s Coke 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in the same day.
Inclement weather in both Indianapolis and Charlotte derailed those efforts, however. Larson chose to stay in Indy to begin the 500-mile affair despite its four-hour rain delay and completed the full 200-lap race with an 18th-place finish in his IndyCar debut, ultimately opting to miss the start of the Coke 600.
Therein laid the crux of what became a difficult decision for NASCAR officials to determine. The NASCAR Rule Book covers postseason eligibility in Section 12.3.2.1.A, which states: “Unless otherwise authorized by NASCAR, driver(s) and Team Owner(s) must start all Championship Events of the current season to be eligible for The Playoffs. If a starting position was not earned, then the driver(s) and Team Owner(s) must have attempted to Qualify, at the discretion of the Series Managing Director, for the Race.”
Larson entered the Charlotte weekend atop the regular-season points standings and otherwise clinched his spot in the playoffs by winning twice already this season.
“This was without a doubt uncharted waters for us,” Elton Sawyer, senior vice president of competition, said in a Tuesday teleconference.
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
Despite difficult circumstances, NASCAR ultimately decided to grant Larson exemption from the above rule to compete in this year’s postseason hunt. Sawyer credited leadership from John Probst, NASCAR’s chief racing development officer.
“We stayed the course,” Sawyer said of the decision-making process. “We had our internal meetings. We had more internal meetings. We continued to have dialogue around it. And then the other part of it is in front of us was a race at World Wide Technology raceway that (we were) all getting prepared for. So again, the number one thing was to get to the right decision, take the time. We felt like the time that it took was the right amount of time to get to the right decision.”
Waivers have previously been granted to competitors who either missed races due to injuries or suspensions from NASCAR-sanctioned events. What complicated matters this time, Sawyer said, was “we had a driver miss one of our races, a championship event, to be at another event.
“One of the reasons (the waiver is) in place is to give our fans some certainty that if they buy a ticket to come and watch our athletes and our stars perform, that they’re going to see them,” Sawyer said. “So the prior precedent that was set with allowing waivers, those were quick decisions, as I said earlier. This one was unique in the fact that obviously Kyle raced with another series and wasn’t there to start our event.”
Why Larson will still be able to compete for the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series championship comes down to the effort he and Hendrick Motorsports made to show up to compete in Charlotte one way or another.
Larson practiced and qualified his No. 5 Chevrolet on May 25, placing 10th on the provisional starting grid, before flying back to Indianapolis that night for the Indy 500 on May 26. After completing the 500, Larson and Hendrick personnel flew back to Concord, North Carolina, where Larson literally ran back to his NASCAR team’s pit box in his fresh fire suit, strapped on his helmet and prepared to relieve backup driver turned starter Justin Allgaier behind the wheel.
That swap never happened, though. Lightning and rain overtook the Charlotte oval, eventually ending the race prematurely with 151 laps still on the board.
“All communication with HMS was (Charlotte) was their priority. That was their day job,” Sawyer said. “And unfortunately, the weather situation threw them a curveball, threw the industry a curveball and was something that we had to deal with. But ultimately, the effort that they made — without the weather, they were going to be there. We feel confident that was going to happen.
“To not have Kyle Larson in our playoff and give our fans the opportunity to see him race for a championship … at the end of the day didn’t feel like that’s the right decision for us to make. And we didn’t. We felt like we got to the right spot.”
Alejandro Alvarez | NASCAR Digital Media
Sawyer added “everything was on the table” as officials determined the best ways to move forward, which may have included options to penalize Larson for missing a Cup Series event.
“But if you look at the rule book,” he said, “the two options were grant it or not to grant it. And anything in between that or outside of that would have been us digging deep into the rule book to do something that just didn’t feel right.”
Sawyer also pointed to the points Larson lost by simply not participating in the event, leaving what could have been a 70-point day by the wayside — 40 points for winning and 10 points per stage win (three available in the Coke 600). Additionally, eight playoff points were at stake: five for winning the race and one each per stage win. Larson is also in contention for the Regular Season Championship, which would give the 2021 champion a boost of 15 playoff points to carry with him through the playoffs.
His decision to miss the Coke 600 could ultimately have cost him 23 potential playoff points — 15 if he fails to win the regular-season title, and eight from the Coke 600.
“Time will tell if those potential 23 points that were on the table that they didn’t get, how that will unfold as we go through the playoffs,” Sawyer said. “So there was a point penalty for him, and we don’t feel like from our side that any other additional penalty or any type of asterisk beside it would have been the right way moving forward.”
NASCAR officials also want to see drivers continue to attempt and complete the Indy-Charlotte double, Larson or otherwise.
“Obviously, the Coke 600 is a huge race for us, as well,” Sawyer said. “But if we look in motorsports in general, the Indy 500 is a big event. We embrace the double. We think it’s great. We want to see other drivers have that opportunity. So we have to just make sure that we’re looking out, first and foremost, for the fans that again buy the ticket that were here in Charlotte. And it felt like Kyle and the team gave every effort to be able to get here. He was ready to go and had his helmet on. And unfortunately, we were not able to get going and get him back in the car.
“I know it’s a little bit of a cliche, but every situation is different. And I feel like that we had the parameters in our rule book and the team here at the R&D Center to ultimately make the best decision and that’s what we were hired to do.”
NASCAR officials granted Kyle Larson a waiver on Tuesday to restore his eligibility for the Cup Series Playoffs.
Hendrick Motorsports applied for the exception after Larson missed the Coca-Cola 600 on May 26, with his arrival at Charlotte Motor Speedway delayed by rain at the Indianapolis 500, where he finished 18th in his IndyCar debut. Larson has qualified for the Cup Series’ 16-driver postseason field as a two-time winner this season.
The NASCAR Rule Book covers eligibility in Section 12.3.2.1.A, which states: “Unless otherwise authorized by NASCAR, driver(s) and Team Owner(s) must start all Championship Events of the current season to be eligible for The Playoffs. If a starting position was not earned, then the driver(s) and Team Owner(s) must have attempted to Qualify, at the discretion of the Series Managing Director, for the Race.”
“We didn’t take it lightly,” Elton Sawyer, senior vice president of competition, said Tuesday. “There was a lot of discussion internally. … We ultimately landed at giving Kyle a waiver. Essentially our decision-making was, although we had the inclement weather in Indianapolis as well as Charlotte, Kyle made every attempt to get to Charlotte. He was standing in the pit box with his helmet on ready to go.
“Unfortunately we had weather in Charlotte as well, and were unfortunately not able to get the race going again. That’s how we landed on our decision.”
Larson earned the 10th starting spot for his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet on May 25 at Charlotte in the Cup Series qualifying session, then flew to Indianapolis as he attempted to become the fifth driver to run both the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 in the same day. When storms delayed the Indianapolis event by roughly four hours, Larson stayed to begin the 500-mile race, and standby driver Justin Allgaier suited up to start the 600 in Charlotte for the No. 5 team.
Allgaier, an Xfinity Series regular, dropped to the rear for the green flag but worked his way up in the running order when rain and lightning halted the action at Charlotte with 249 of a scheduled 400 laps complete. Larson flew in from Indianapolis and arrived at the No. 5 team’s pit box when the race was stopped. He prepared to enter the car for the remainder of the 600-mile event, but after the progress of the track-drying efforts had slowed, the race did not resume.
“This was without a doubt uncharted waters for us,” Sawyer said. “In the past those waivers have been given mostly for medical reasons. … This one was unprecedented in that we had a driver miss one of our races, a championship event, to be at another event. That’s why it took as long as it did.
“There were different views from different people. Everyone had a view on it. The ultimate decision we wanted to get to was the right decision, and we feel like we got there.”
As the official starter of record, Allgaier was credited with 13th place in his first Cup Series start since 2022. Larson did not earn any championship points for the race, and he fell from the lead in the Cup Series standings. After Sunday’s Cup race at World Wide Technology Raceway where Larson finished 10th, he was second in the points standings, 21 points behind Denny Hamlin.
“To not have Kyle Larson in our playoff and give our fans the opportunity to see him race for a championship … at the end of the day, didn’t feel like that’s the right decision for us to make,” Sawyer said. “So we didn’t. We felt like we got to the right spot.”
Larson, the 2021 Cup champion, has won twice in the Cup Series this season, first with a dominant victory in March at Las Vegas. Two months later, he prevailed at Kansas Speedway by 0.001 seconds in the closest finish in series history, notching his 25th career win in NASCAR’s top tour.
“Under normal circumstances, completing ‘the double’ is one of the toughest tests in sports,” Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports said in a statement. “Despite our best efforts, this year’s combination of weather conditions in Indianapolis and Charlotte made it impossible. We hoped race day would play out differently, but the program was still incredibly positive for everyone involved. Kyle’s performance throughout May was a great reflection on the level of talent competing each week in the NASCAR Cup Series.
“Although losing ground in the standings was hard to swallow, we were especially disappointed for the fans at the Coca-Cola 600 who were not able to see Kyle race. I’m extremely proud of everything he did to prepare and the months of planning by our team and our partners at Arrow McLaren to run these two crown-jewel events. We appreciate NASCAR communicating with us throughout the effort and granting our request for a playoff waiver.”
Hickory Motor Speedway’s newest crown jewel, the Jack Ingram Memorial, is set to return Saturday evening for its third running.
The race was first organized in 2022 to honor Jack Ingram, one of NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers who tallied two Hickory championships and recorded eight of his 31 NASCAR Xfinity Series victories at the facility, including his first and last triumph.
Since its inception, the Jack Ingram Memorial has certified itself as one of the most notable events at Hickory alongside the Bobby Isaac Memorial and Fall Brawl. The event has attracted many of Hickory’s local contingent of drivers along with a handful of outsiders seeking to win the race named after Ingram.
NASCAR Cup Series driver and Late Model Stock standout Josh Berry kicked off the new tradition by claiming the inaugural Jack Ingram Memorial. In 2023, the event belonged to the local drivers, as Tyler Matthews emerged victorious after chasing down and passing that season’s track champion Kade Brown.
A fresh group of Late Model Stock drivers are set to descend upon Hickory this weekend with the goal of claiming a Jack Ingram Memorial victory.
Below is everything you need to know about the 2024 Jack Ingram Memorial on Saturday evening.
Saturday evening will serve as the third edition of the Jack Ingram Memorial at Hickory Motor Speedway. (Photo: Adam Fenwick/NASCAR)
What TV channel is the Jack Ingram Memorial at Hickory on in 2024?
All feature racing action from the 2024 Jack Ingram Memorial at Hickory Motor Speedway can be viewed live on FloRacing, the streaming home of all NASCAR Regional properties.
The race will not be shown on a television network.
Below is the complete schedule for coverage on FloRacing.
This year’s event at Hickory Motor Speedway is schedule for Saturday, June 8. Below is the complete race-day schedule for the 2024 Jack Ingram Memorial.
(All times ET)
Time
Event
8 a.m.
Sign In Begins
9:45 a.m.
Pit Gates Open
10 a.m.-1 p.m.
Early Practice/Late Model Pre-Tech Inspection
2-4:15 p.m.
Practice
5 p.m.
Qualifying
7 p.m.
Feature Racing
Tyler Matthews took home a trophy in last year’s Jack Ingram Memorial at Hickory Motor Speedway. (Photo: Brandon White/NASCAR Regional)
Entry list
The official entry list for the 2024 Jack Ingram Memorial has not been released by Hickory Motor Speedway, but the event is expected to feature several talented Late Model Stock competitors from around the region.
Among those names is current Hickory Late Model Stock points leader Michael Bumgarner, who holds a comfortable advantage over Skylar Chaney with one victory at the track so far this year.
Plenty of second and third generation competitors are anticipated for Saturday evening, as well. They include Clark Houston, the son of two-time track champion Tommy Houston, along with Shane Huffman’s son Landon S. Huffman.
