Layne Riggs all set for LMSC, Truck Series doubleheader at North Wilkesboro

Posted on May 11, 2024May 15, 2024 by Brandon White

The NASCAR All-Star Race week at North Wilkesboro Speedway is one Layne Riggs has been looking forward to.

Not only will the 2022 NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series champion get to run his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at the prestigious facility, but Riggs is also returning to his Late Model Stock roots that Wednesday evening behind the wheel of the No. 00 Infinity Communications Group Ford for Tom Usry Racing.

Just like last year, North Wilkesboro’s freshly repaved surface presents several unknowns for Riggs and the rest of the field. Despite this, Riggs believes the equipment provided by Usry’s operation and Front Row Motorsports presents him with two perfect opportunities to join a long list of North Wilkesboro winners.

“I’m super excited about our late model deal,” Riggs said. “It was kind of a last-minute deal, but [Tom Usry Racing] said they had an extra car and they wanted to see me in some good equipment. They wanted twice as good of a chance to win the race and they thought I’d be the perfect guy to help them there.”

RELATED: Career stats for Layne Riggs

Driving for a program that honors Usry’s impact in motorsports serves as a full-circle moment for Riggs and his family.

In the 1970s, Riggs’ grandfather Russell accompanied Usry in his attempts to make the Daytona 500. Those trips down to Florida ignited Russell’s passion for racing, which he would pass down to Riggs’ father, Scott, who won nine races between the Truck Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series before embarking on a career in the NASCAR Cup Series.

Although Usry passed away in 2009, Riggs appreciates seeing his influence persist in the Late Model Stock ranks and is fortunate to have a chance at delivering a victory in the same car number Usry utilized until the end of his long career.

“Carrying the No. 00 was my idea,” Riggs said. “They were OK with using the No. 99 if that’s what I wanted, but I thought using the No. 00 would be cooler. This is a throwback, classic team and they were the last team I thought I would get a call from.

“I’m thankful to help carry on [Tom’s] legacy, and this will be a good tribute.”

Riggs’ No. 00 is not the only car being fielded by Usry’s team at North Wilkesboro. He will be joined by Kaden Honeycutt, a fellow Late Model Stock standout who picked up his first victory in an Usry car at Orange County Speedway in March.

Before entering the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, Layne Riggs enjoyed a solid Late Model Stock career that included a NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series title. (Photo: Andrew Coppley)

Riggs knows having a teammate like Honeycutt to lean on will be beneficial when it comes to finding the perfect balance in his car. A pre-race test at North Wilkesboro in April showed that Riggs was evenly paced with Honeycutt, which has given him plenty of optimism about contending for the win.

That session also gave Riggs an idea of what to expect in a Late Model Stock at the resurfaced North Wilkesboro. He was pleasantly surprised at how much room there was to race around the facility with the fresh pavement, which he believes will lead to auspicious on-track conditions throughout the week.

“The track was smooth,” Riggs said. I was surprised with how high we ran in turns one and two. The Pro Late Models got within a car-length of the outside wall, and that only moved up during the race. There are a lot of people who will run the top, and that’s going to lead to side-by-side racing down the backstretch heading into [turns] three and four.”

“Every series that races there should have a good show to put on.”

No matter how the CARS Tour race turns out for him, the track time at North Wilkesboro on Tuesday and Wednesday can only help Riggs prepare for Saturday’s Wright Brand 250.

Riggs is searching for a jolt of momentum in the Truck Series following a tumultuous start to his rookie campaign. Despite showing speed, bad luck has hindered Riggs through his first eight starts with Front Row, with his only top 10 so far occurring at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Now that he is back in familiar territory, Riggs feels he can improve upon his career-best Truck Series finish of third at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park last year. The only way he can eclipse that milestone is to stay composed and put together a full race.

“I’m glad to go back to another short track,” Riggs said. “We were fast at Bristol and Martinsville, two places that I’m very familiar with. We’ve tried carrying momentum from those races into the other ones, but we’ve had something different go wrong every weekend. Two out of three things go right, but one won’t stick like we need to.

“If we bring a fast truck and make no errors, we’ll be up front at any race we go to.”

Layne Riggs enters North Wilkesboro Speedway determined to get his rookie NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season back on track. (Photo: Jacy Norgaard)

Riggs has never doubted his ability to excel in NASCAR’s top divisions during the long, arduous journey toward his current ride. He is not letting an inconsistent rookie year impact his confidence over the remaining 14 weekends.

Climbing into a competitive Late Model Stock ride also brings some much-needed levity for Riggs as he tries to turn his Truck Series season around. A victory in Usry’s No. 00 on Wednesday evening could provide Riggs the necessary jolt to break through in the Truck Series and establish sustainable consistency.

“[Getting two wins at North Wilkesboro] would be massive,” Riggs said. “With the points in the Truck Series, we’re pretty much in a must-win situation to make the playoffs, but that isn’t our mindset. The mindset is to get wins no matter what, but we might as well try to get into the playoffs while we can. Our chemistry is getting better, but a win would just light everybody up.

“Winning fixes everything.”

With a couple of great rides at his disposal, Riggs is ready to shine amongst the all-stars at North Wilkesboro and remind the garage area of the talent he has possessed since his days in a Late Model Stock.

Posted on May 11, 2024May 11, 2024 by Reid Spencer

DARLINGTON, S.C. — Taking advantage of a late caution, Ross Chastain surged ahead during an overtime restart and held off Nick Sanchez to win Friday night’s Buckle Up South Carolina 200 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Darlington Raceway.

Moonlighting from the Cup Series in a race delayed more than two hours by rain, Chastain, driving for Niece Motorsports, led only the last three laps after seizing the top spot from Ty Majeski on the overtime restart on Lap 148.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

Sanchez finished second, 0.315 seconds behind Chastain. Defending series champion Ben Rhodes was third, followed by Christian Eckes. Majeski, who chose the top lane on the front row for the final restart, faded to fifth.

“We have been trying to win at Darlington,” said Chastain, who picked up his fifth Truck Series victory and his first of the year in his second start. “This is where my career changed, my life changed forever.

“It’s so cool — we won Darlington.”

It was at the “Lady in Black” in 2018 that Chastain first turned heads in the NASCAR world. Driving a handful of Xfinity Series races for team owner Chip Ganassi, he won the pole at Darlington and swept the first two stages before an accident relegated him to a 25th-place finish.

But at that point, he had made his mark, and on Friday night, Chastain completed the circle.

WATCH: Chastain reacts to special Darlington win

Sanchez won the pole for Friday’s race but had to start from the rear after his team replaced a right-rear hub on his No. 2 Chevrolet. On the final restart, he surged from the inside of the third row into second place but couldn’t catch Chastain before the finish.

Majeski lamented his lane choice after the fact.

“I should have taken the inside,” said Majeski, who held a lead of more than five seconds before Jack Wood hit the outside wall with five laps left to cause the seventh caution and force overtime.

“It sucks when you’re in position to win with a truck like that. We were so good on the long run and not so good on the short run. It would take 10-15 laps for this thing to get going, and then the thing was just lights out.

“But it came down to a short run, and I didn’t execute like we needed to.”

Corey Heim, the series leader entering the race, swept the first two stages with 77 laps led, but after a Lap 98 restart, the No. 5 Toyota of Dean Thompson broke loose beneath Heim’s No. 11 Tundra at the exit from Turn 2 and ignited a wreck that severely damaged the trucks of Heim, Rajah Caruth, Layne Riggs and Matt Crafton.

Caruth, who was eliminated along with Heim, Thompson and Crafton, had started from the rear after scraping the wall during qualifying earlier in the day, but had worked his way up to second by pitting for fresh tires midway through Stage 2.

“It’s real tight there off of (Turn) 2, and the 5 just kind of lost it there,” Caruth said after exiting the infield care center. “We had a really fast truck. We’ll get ’em next time.”

MORE: Truck Series standings | Truck Series schedule

Heim surrendered the series points lead to Eckes and trails by 14 points.

Racing for the first time in a truck at Darlington, Kyle Busch was challenging Heim for the lead on Lap 2 when his No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet snapped loose on the backstretch and nosed into the inside wall.

Busch lost seven laps on pit road as his crew tried to make repairs. After he returned to the action, Busch pounded the Turn 1 wall and exited the race in 32nd place.

That result marked a dubious distinction for the all-time Truck Series winner with 66 victories to his credit. Before Friday night, Busch had never finished last in a Truck Series race.

“The truck was wrecked — there’s no reason it should have been back on the race track,” Busch told FOX Sports’ Bob Pockrass after the second accident.

The Truck Series is action again at the historic North Wilkesboro Speedway on Saturday (1:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

NOTE: No issues were found during post-race technical inspection, confirming Chastain as the race winner. No vehicles will be taken back to the NASCAR R&D Center for teardown inspection.

Posted on May 10, 2024May 11, 2024 by Staff Report

DARLINGTON, S.C. – An intense late-afternoon storm and lingering rain have delayed the start of Friday night’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Darlington Raceway.

Lightning brought a halt to on-track activity in the late hours of the afternoon, canceling practice and qualifying sessions scheduled at 5 p.m. ET for the Xfinity Series. Heavy rain and hail hit nearly an hour later, drenching the 1.366-mile track and placing the 7:30 p.m. ET start for the Truck Series’ Buckle Up South Carolina 200 (FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) on hold.

After more intermittent showers had cleared, driver introductions began at 9:30 p.m. ET, with the green flag waving at 10:10 p.m. ET.

RELATED: Starting lineup | Weekend schedule

Track-drying efforts began at 6:35 p.m. ET, shortly after a lightning warning lifted, and continued throughout. The thunderstorm also interrupted opening-day inspection for the NASCAR Cup Series.

Nick Sanchez won the Cometic Gasket Pole Award in qualifying, posting a 167.905 mph lap in the No. 2 Rev Racing Chevrolet before the rain arrived. But the 22-year-old driver is set to drop the rear before the start, after the team discovered a leak in the right-rear wheel hub.

Series points leader Corey Heim earned the second starting spot in the No. 11 Tricon Garage Toyota.

Posted on May 10, 2024May 10, 2024 by Steve Luvender

NASCAR.com’s 36 for 36 continues at Darlington Raceway.

With 36 races and 36 full-time Charter cars, our players select one car per race, but there’s a simple twist: once they’ve made the pick, they can’t choose that car again for the rest of the 36-race season. Yes, that means every car will be selected exactly once … a survivor pool, by another name.

Follow along weekly as our panel of pickers — Dustin Albino from Jayski, along with Steve Luvender and Cameron Richardson from NASCAR.com — embarks on a season-long journey to think like strategists and prove their picking prowess.

We’ll also feature a fourth “community” 36 for 36 pick each week, as decided by fan vote on the r/NASCAR subreddit. Can the collective vote topple our trio of full-timers?

Current Standings:

Steve Luvender: 308
Dustin Albino: -12
@therichreport: -39
@NASCARonReddit: -53

Race 13 of 36: Darlington

It was a middle-of-the-road day for our 36 for 36 pickers at Kansas — no photo finish here. Dustin Albino’s selection of 25th-place finisher Austin Dillon broke his tie for the points lead in Steve Luvender’s favor, who earned 24 points with John Hunter Nemechek. The r/NASCAR community picked up 20 points from Bubba Wallace, while the big winner of the week was Cameron Richardson — thanks to a 50-point, fifth-place day for Denny Hamlin.

Darlington is the next challenge for our panel, a unique and notoriously tricky track with two dates on the calendar. For this weekend, though, there’s hardly any playoff talk; in September’s race that concludes the regular season, that’ll be a different story.

Jayski’s Dustin Albino: No. 10, Noah Gragson

Dustin’s pick last week: No. 3, Austin Dillon

Points earned last week: 12 (25th-place finish)

Total season points: 296 (second place)

Dustin: With three consecutive top-10 finishes, Gragson has jumped 10 spots in the regular season championship standings and is among the hottest drivers in the Cup Series. He shows up to the track regularly as the fastest Stewart-Haas Racing entry. Darlington is also a track that is in his wheelhouse. Sure, his lone Cup start last season wasn’t ideal, but have you seen his numbers there in the Xfinity Series? He won twice, has an average finish of 4.0 and never finished worse than eighth in seven starts. That’s Kyle Busch territory. Here’s to thinking he keeps up the momentum this weekend.

NASCAR.com’s Steve Luvender: No. 77, Carson Hocevar

Steve’s pick last week: No. 42, John Hunter Nemechek

Points earned last week: 24 (13th-place finish)

Total season points: 308 (first place)

Steve: A rookie at a place as notoriously difficult as Darlington? Believe it! Carson Hocevar impressed last year in a surprise start driving the Legacy Motor Club No. 42, qualifying 15th and finishing 17th. Darlington is also the site of one of his rare Xfinity Series starts — he finished sixth last May — and a 5.25 average finish in four Craftsman Truck Series starts at the track isn’t too shabby. It’s a track that requires grit and determination, and even as an underdog, I believe he’s got it (a top 10 at Texas comes to mind). One downside if Hocevar wins Sunday, though: it would spell the end of his memorable campaign to qualify for the All-Star Race Fan Vote, considering a victory qualifies a driver for the big show just as winning the fan vote would.

NASCAR.com’s Cameron Richardson: No. 31, Daniel Hemric

Cameron’s pick last week: No. 11, Denny Hamlin

Points earned last week: 50 (fifth-place finish)

Total season points: 269 (third place)

Cameron: A bit of a strategy play for the long haul of the season, but Hemric has two top 10s across the last three races so I’m going to strike while the iron’s still hot for the No. 31 team. Kaulig has had success at Darlington in the Next Gen. The No. 31 has top 10s in the last two spring races at the South Carolina track, and if some late-race chaos ensues similar to last year, it could put Hemric in a great spot for another quality run.

r/NASCAR Community: No. 24, William Byron

r/NASCAR’s pick last week: No. 23, Bubba Wallace

Points earned last week: 20 (17th-place finish)

Total season points: 255 (fourth place)

Reddit’s collective vote went to defending race winner William Byron.

From the voting thread:

u/FridgusDomin8or: “After a few bad weeks in a row I think we need a rebound, I think Byron is our pick this time around. Either him or Reddick. Byron’s been real good here in the Next Gen era, up front at the end of both spring races the last two years.”

u/LeapsFrog: “I am going to recommend William Byron. He won this race last season and seems to have always been great at this track in the 7th Generation era.”

Check back in two weeks to see how our pickers fared as the season-long 36 for 36 journey continues when points racing resumes for the Coca-Cola 600.

And, if you’ve got a competitive itch beyond meticulously managing your Fantasy Live lineup each week, feel free to save or print your own 36 for 36 sheet and see if you can beat our pickers and the Reddit community!

Posted on May 10, 2024 by Cameron Richardson

Editor’s Note: Racing Insights’ playoff projections use a combination of current standings and historical performance at upcoming tracks to determine the probability of each driver winning or making the playoffs on points.

With the Cup Series Playoffs on the mind throughout the season, what if there was a way to project how the 16-driver field could look before each race weekend?

It now exists via Racing Insights. From now until the start of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, “The Field of 16” will give fans a weekly look at where their favorite drivers could potentially land in the postseason field — and the likelihood of having a shot at the Bill France Cup.

Here’s this week’s update on the projections heading into Darlington Raceway.

PROBABILITY CALCULATED BY RACING INSIGHTS AHEAD OF DARLINGTON RACEWAY, MAY 12, 2024

DRIVERS LOCKED IN

With multiple wins in 2024 already, Kyle Larson, William Byron and Denny Hamlin are safely into the Cup playoffs with 100% probability. Larson became the third driver of the 2024 season to become a multitime winner after outdueling Chris Buescher by 0.001 seconds at Kansas Speedway in the closest Cup finish ever. Larson has the advantage over Byron and Hamlin in points as Hamlin sits 56 points behind Larson while Byron has a lot of ground to make up on his Hendrick Motorsports teammate as he sits 105 points behind Larson.

DRIVERS LIKELY IN

Christopher Bell, Chase Elliott, Tyler Reddick and Daniel Suárez each have one win so far. Reddick and Elliott are in good shape in case there are more than 16 winners in 2024 as both are in the top five in points, but Bell and Suárez have been inconsistent so far this season. The driver of the No. 20 Toyota is 13th in points while Suárez is 18th.

Martin Truex Jr. is well in the playoff picture, sitting second in the Cup Standings, 29 points back of Larson. Defending champion Ryan Blaney is sixth in points and Ross Chastain currently rounds out the top 10.

Buescher was an inch off a provisional playoff berth for the second year in a row but is still in good shape 11th in points. Ty Gibbs has been in a lull lately but is still eighth in points despite just one top-10 result since Richmond.

LAST 4 IN

Quite the shift in Racing Insights’ Last 4 In as Alex Bowman has jumped from the first driver out of the projected playoff field to the top of this bubble group. It’s for good reason as Bowman has flown under the radar sitting ninth in points and racked up a third consecutive top 10 last weekend at Kansas.

Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano remain stagnant despite a pair of solid runs last Sunday from both Busch and Keselowski. Logano has yet to find stable footing as his 34th-place tally at Kansas was his fourth straight finish outside the top 10.

FIRST 4 OUT

After a solid stretch of results from Circuit of The Americas to Texas, Bubba Wallace has fallen out of the projected playoff field after consecutive DNFs at Talladega and Dover, followed by a 17th-place effort at Kansas. Talladega and Kansas were among the No. 23 Toyota driver’s bread and butter, but now with those tracks not appearing until the postseason, Wallace is going to need a solid stretch in the Carolinas to turn the tide back in his favor.

Michael McDowell recovered from a final-stage incident Sunday to collect a top-10 result to see his probability rise. Meanwhile, rookie Josh Berry jumped Erik Jones in the playoff picture after Jones sat out the last two races due to injury.

WHO CAN SHAKE UP PLAYOFF PICTURE AT DARLINGTON?

Much has been made of Keselowski’s over 100-race winless drought but this could very well change Sunday as he’s scored three consecutive top 10s at Darlington. No driver has scored top 10s in all four of the Next Gen races at the track “Too Tough to Tame,” and Keselowski is one of just five drivers with three of them.

MORE: Racing Insights predicts Darlington | 2024 Cup Series schedule

Jones returns from injury this weekend and Darlington has been his playground with two wins at the track. He finished 10th in last year’s Southern 500.

Before each race weekend, check back into The Field of 16 to see the latest projections of the 2024 Cup Series playoff field.

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

Corey Heim will continue his season of firsts throughout 2024 as he prepares to jump back in a NASCAR Cup Series car at Nashville Superspeedway with 23XI racing.

23XI Racing announced on Friday that Heim will pilot the No. 50 Mobil 1 Toyota for the June 30 race in the Music City (3:30 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) while sporting a special black-and-gold paint scheme to commemorate the lubricant brand’s 50th anniversary.

RELATED: Cup Series schedule | Nashville tickets

“I’m very thankful for this opportunity I’ve been given by Mobil 1 to compete with 23XI in Nashville,” Heim said in a team release. “… We have seen this season how strong 23XI’s Camrys have been, which makes me even more excited to get behind the wheel in Nashville. I’m putting in the effort to be prepared for this opportunity and cannot wait to get on track with the No. 50 Mobil 1 Toyota team in a few weeks.”

Heim currently competes full-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, where he drives the No. 11 Toyota for Tricon Garage and sits in second place in the points standings, but he also has two Cup Series starts on his resume in 2024.

Legacy Motor Club tapped Heim to drive the No. 43 Toyota when Erik Jones was sidelined with a back injury at Dover Motor Speedway and Kansas Speedway. Heim had his best finish of 22nd at Kansas, and Jones was set to return to the No. 43 for Sunday’s race at Darlington Raceway (3 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Heim also is driving part-time this season for Sam Hunt Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and posted his first top-five finish in that series in March at Richmond Raceway.

Mobil 1 and 23XI Racing’s black-and-gold 50th anniversary scheme is hitting the track for the second time this season, as Kamui Kobayashi drove the No. 50 to a 29th-place finish in March at Circuit of The Americas.

“We are excited for Corey to join the 23XI team in Nashville as he helps us celebrate our partners at Mobil 1 and its 50th anniversary,” said Steve Lauletta, president of 23XI Racing. “Corey is undoubtedly an up-and-coming star, and we look forward to working with him as he prepares to race at Nashville. Mobil 1 has a history of working with some of the best young talent in racing, and I can’t think of a better person than Corey to drive the No. 50 Toyota at Nashville.”

Posted on May 10, 2024 by Seth Sharp

Throughout the 2024 NASCAR season, Ken Martin, director of historical content for the sanctioning body, will offer his suggestions on which historical races fans should watch from the NASCAR Classics library in preparation for each upcoming race weekend.

Martin has worked exclusively for NASCAR since 2008 but has been involved with the sport since 1982, overseeing various projects. He has worked in the broadcast booth for hundreds of races, assisting the broadcast team with different tasks. This includes calculating the “points as they run” for the historic 1992 finale, the Hooters 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

The following suggestions are Ken’s picks to watch before this weekend’s Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway.

1965 Rebel 300:

Fred Lorenzen backed up his winning effort in the 1964 Rebel 300 with a pole-winning effort, besting Marvin Panch and his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford.

The humid 85-degree day mirrored the action on the track, as it didn’t take long for some tough racing to take place.

Lorenzen and Panch battled door-to-door after taking the green flag, touching a handful of times as they entered the first turn with the field of 31 drivers behind them.

A few laps later, Wayne Smith’s No. 38 car crashed, ending Earl Balmer’s day as he hit the wall while trying to avoid Smith’s car.

Lorenzen’s sleek No. 28 car started having engine issues early on, and he had to bring it into the pits twice before climbing out and thus ending his chances at a victory.

He lost a cylinder, and his team pulled all of the spark plugs to explore their issues. After losing four laps, they found a broken spark plug wire.

Chaos continued as Timmonsville, South Carolina’s Cale Yarborough ran over debris, which cut a tire on his car and sent him into the guardrail. He attributed part of the issue to the hot temperatures and alluded that the rest of the race could be crazy.

Yarborough wasn’t wrong as Bub Strickler’s car soon turned over, sliding down the track on its roof before coming to a stop upside down. He quickly climbed from the car under his own power.

Throughout all the cautions, it was Junior Johnson who dominated the race. He led 197 of the race’s 219 laps en route to his 42nd career victory.

Darel Dieringer came home second, racing the No. 16 Mercury for Bud Moore. Series points leader Ned Jarrett was third, while Dick Hutcherson and Bobby Johns rounded out the rest of the top five.

Getty Images

1970 Rebel 400:

The 13th race of the 1970 NASCAR Cup Series season was joined in progress by ABC Wide World of Sports as the No. 71 of Bobby Isaac, No. 17 of David Pearson and No. 43 of Richard Petty battled for the lead. They were the only three cars on the lead lap at the time, as 161 laps had already ticked by.

Within 10 minutes of being on the air, a horrifying crash involving Petty silenced the South Carolina crowd.

In one of the most eye-popping incidents in NASCAR history, Petty’s No. 43 car made a beeline for the inside wall, slamming it head-on, as the wall exploded into the air.

This sent Petty’s car airborne, before barrel rolling down the track. Petty ended the incident hanging outside of his car, seemingly unconscious as one of the red rags that he used during the race lay on the track underneath the wreckage.

Petty’s team sprinted over the wall to assess the incident and help their driver, as smoke billowed from the car. They took him from the car in the rescue squad station wagon to the infield care center.

He was soon transferred to a hospital in Florence, South Carolina. His wife, Linda, climbed into the front of the station wagon for the ride.

His brother Maurice was interviewed and gave an update on his brother, noting that he had pain in his left arm, had bloody eyes but was conscious and alert.

Petty was admitted to the hospital and miraculously the worst of his injuries was a dislocated shoulder.

Only 13 cars were running at the finish of the race, which was won by Pearson. He finished three laps ahead of the second-place finisher, Dick Brooks.

Getty Images

1979 CRC Chemicals Rebel 500:

One week after Dale Earnhardt captured the first victory of his career, the NASCAR Cup Series traveled to Darlington Raceway for the annual Rebel 500.

The rising star put his No. 2 Chevrolet for Rod Osterlund 13th in qualifying, as Donnie Allison captured the pole position.

Attrition turned out to be the word of the day, as series points leader Bobby Allison, David Pearson, Terry Labonte and 11 other drivers saw their day end early due to some type of issue.

The finish of the race came down to an epic battle between Darrell Waltrip and Richard Petty. The two drivers exchanged the lead multiple times over the final 80 laps of the race, in every way possible, setting up an unforgettable finish.

Petty was out front at the white flag but Waltrip soon dipped under the No. 43 car for the lead. Petty attempted to cross Waltrip over, as the No. 1 car of Allison closed in. Petty drove his car too deep into the turn as he passed Waltrip, sliding up almost into the wall as Waltrip checked out. Allison then caught up to Petty, as Petty finished inches in front of Allison for second.

Waltrip’s victory moved him into first in the season standings, thanks in part to Bobby Allison’s engine issues.

Getty Images

You can watch these three races and hundreds more by visiting NASCAR Classics.

Posted on May 10, 2024November 20, 2024 by Cameron Richardson

Whether it’s planting seeds on his watermelon farm or delivering maiden victories for multiple NASCAR teams, Ross Chastain has been digging roots his own way for his whole life.

When the green flag drops for Sunday’s Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway (3 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), it will mark a milestone 200th NASCAR Cup Series start for the 31-year-old Alva, Florida native.

Chastain’s rise to NASCAR’s highest division has been well-documented. A driver trying to carve his path through the ranks based on high-quality results, Chastain considers this point of his career ‘surprising’ after making his national series debut over a decade ago just to cross off a bucket list item for his racing venture.

“My career in NASCAR started as one Truck race at IRP in Indianapolis, and it was a bucket list thing that my family and I, we had won a lot of late model races, really about all we could down in South Florida,” Chastain told NASCAR.com “We wanted to keep doing it, but we felt like that if we could do one thing, it would be to make it to NASCAR in the trucks and just do it one time. We did that in 2011 and somehow that one race turned into four more, turned into a full season and I just haven’t stopped. I’ve just tried to keep it moving.”

That originally planned one-off Craftsman Truck Series race resulted in a top 10 for Chastain.

In 2012, Chastain ran his first full-time NASCAR season in the Truck Series for owner Bobby Dotter and SS-Green Light Racing and then began making a name for himself running for Brad Keselowski’s Truck Series team in 2013.

Splitting time in the Xfinity and Truck Series from 2014-2016, Chastain got a dream opportunity. However, it was one he admittedly wasn’t expecting at the time.

“I told the group that was putting together my first Cup start for Dover in 2017, I told them ‘No, I didn’t want to do it. I didn’t think I was ready,’ ” Chastain said. “And then I went home and slept on it, woke up and drove back down and thought I probably should reconsider this and take this opportunity. I don’t know if it’ll ever happen again. So it’s kind of like that first Truck start. I just wanted to, at that point, do a Cup race one time to say I did it and now we’re at 200. It’s incredible.”

Sarah Crabill | Getty Images

After making his Cup debut with Premium Motorsports, the floodgates opened for Chastain’s success at the national series level.

He collected his first win in the Xfinity Series with former NASCAR team owner Chip Ganassi at Las Vegas, followed by four victories combined at the Xfinity and Truck level highlighted by earning Niece Motorsports its first victory.

Chastain credited his quick-learning driving style to then-Premium Motorsports owner Jay Robinson as the organization showed up to race weekend just wanting to finish races.

“I just thought the way that they prepared and the way that Jay coached me was such a unique thing that I had never had before,” Chastain said. “Even Trucks and Xfinity, when I was in lower-funded or mid or back to the pack teams, the goal was to try to win. Like we’re gonna put it all in and we’re gonna go. And Jay was different. Jay was very intentional with what he did. He ran it as a business.

“Him coaching me on the radio back then was so, so valuable and I think for every driver as they ascend through the ranks and they usually have somebody that leaves an impact and for me, Jay in that very intentional way of going about things on the track was important.”

As Chastain turned to full-time Cup racing in 2021 and eventually earning his Trackhouse Racing home its first win and his maiden Cup triumph in 2022, there were mishaps and mistakes that came along with it as Chastain tried to earn respect on the track.

When teams have told him to “just race, go win and bring the steering wheel back,” Chastain responded as such, and while the eight-year Cup veteran has racked up four victories, his assertive moments led to heated dustups on-track with Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott, ultimately reaching a breaking point at Darlington last year when Rick Hendrick put the No. 1 Trackhouse Chevy driver on blast during a press conference.

“I’ve definitely overstepped that line and wished I could have some of those moments back but finding a happy medium as we go,” Chastain said.

Checking off a career highlight at Darlington this weekend seems fitting for a driver who’s made his own roots as NASCAR celebrates its history with teams donning throwback paint schemes across all three series.

The historic South Carolina oval has given fits to Chastain so far at the Cup level, but his most recent effort at Darlington bore a fifth-place result in last year’s Southern 500.

Regardless of his success at the track, Chastain always welcomes a trip down to The Palmetto State.

“It’s my favorite track just hands down,” Chastain said. “I’d race a wheelbarrow around it and be happy. But the thought that I’ve got it figured it out is definitely no. I continue to learn, continue to study it and keep up with the aging process as the asphalt gets older. We’ve had some good runs and not great finishes, some OK. Yeah, definitely looking to tie it all together. I mean, it’s just such a challenging track and I love it so much for that.”

After 199 starts in the Cup Series, Chastain has become a fan favorite and among NASCAR’s superstars.

From earning the admiration of blue-collar fans for his humble beginnings to making highlight reels on popular sports media outlets for his heart-stopping moments like the “Hail Melon” in 2022 at Martinsville to clinch a Championship 4 berth, Chastain has evolved into a driver anyone can get behind, and his ability to generate all-time moments matches well amid a season that has been one for the record books already.

Stacy Revere | Getty Images

A lot of buzz was generated after Larson’s rousing Kansas victory that saw him ahead of Chris Buescher by 0.001 seconds, the closest finish in Cup Series history.

Heading into the rest of May with more moments to be made at NASCAR’s home-field trifecta of Darlington, North Wilkesboro Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway, there’s a lot for fans to be excited about and Chastain feels the same way behind the wheel.

“That’s what the Cup Series is,” Chastain said. “That’s why it’s been so successful for so long. You have these moments where two of the best drivers in the sport right now go for the win and put on a heck of a show. I think it was a great race across the board from when I was up there earlier in the race and then we slipped back and other people went forward.

“It’s really a good time to be watching Cup racing in NASCAR and even better time for me to be in it.”

Posted on May 9, 2024May 10, 2024 by Alex Cadavid

CONCORD, N.C. — Michael McDowell, the 2021 Daytona 500 champion, and Spire Motorsports President Doug Duchardt were at the NASCAR Productions Facility on Thursday and addressed the media after Wednesday’s announcement that McDowell will join Spire as a full-time driver starting in 2025.

“It’s a tremendous opportunity to continue to build and be in the Cup Series for many years to come,” McDowell said to the group gathered in a conference room.

The “years to come” part was a key factor in why McDowell chose to sign with an organization building up its Cup program and aiming to compete against prominent teams for race wins and playoff spots more often.

Although leaving Front Row Motorsports — a team he has been paired with for seven seasons — was a challenging decision, McDowell, 39, wanted more security in a full-time ride in the future.

“It wasn’t easy,” McDowell said. “I mean, I love everybody at Front Row. I feel like it’s family. So making any decision like this wasn’t easy. But I think I came to the realization when I felt like I poured everything into this program that I’m currently in, and there wasn’t anything beyond the year in front of me. So at that point, I had to make a tough decision that I’m not going to chance it, I’m going to go ahead and do the hard thing and move on.”

McDowell, who has been in the sport since 2008, knows how unforgiving the stock-car business can be.

“Conversations are always happening in our sport,” McDowell said. “Motorsports is tough, and you’re never guaranteed tomorrow. So you’re always paying attention to what’s happening in the industry and where the moving and shaking is happening and if there’s opportunity.”

Duchardt said McDowell’s track record of elevating the performance of smaller organizations was a key factor in targeting him for the No. 71 Chevrolet. Plus, with a stable of young drivers in its Truck Series program and a rising rookie in Carson Hocevar — in addition to Corey LaJoie — at the Cup level, Duchardt said McDowell would not only push the team forward on track but also be a figure for the young drivers to lean on as they continue to develop in NASCAR’s national series.

“The driver of a race team is a leader,” Duchardt said. “[They] drive the tone. [They] drive the narrative. [The team] feeds off of [their] energy. [The team] feeds off how you’re doing. [The team’s] eyes are on the driver, the moment they come in the back of that truck for that weekend. I think that that’s one of Michael’s strengths. In how he sets the tone, how he sets that energy and how he sets that narrative. And for our group, as we grow, it’s imperative to me that we run as one three-car team.”

While the two parties are excited about their new partnership for next season, McDowell said he is still committed to finishing the year strong with Front Row, and Duchardt said Spire will continue to help the development of driver Zane Smith this season.

The Cup Series makes its next stop Sunday at Darlington Raceway for the Goodyear 400 (3 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, Sirius XM NASCAR Radio).

Posted on May 9, 2024May 14, 2024 by Pat DeCola

Here’s what’s happening in the world of NASCAR with Kansas in the rearview and Darlington (Sun., 3 p.m. ET, FS1) right around the corner.

THE LINEUP ️

1️⃣ Closest. Finish. Ever. Now what?

2️⃣ No time to catch your breath, Throwback Weekend is here

3️⃣ A game of ‘risk vs. reward’ at Darlington

4️⃣ Finding the front of the field — and staying there

5️⃣ Catch the pack — news and notes from around the garage

Sean Gardner | Getty Images

1. Closest. Finish. Ever. Now what?

Everyone expected Kansas Speedway to deliver another electric race. Nobody expected it to be, perhaps, the greatest one of all time.

Last week in this space, we asked the question: “What ‘big moment’ might be in store for Kansas?”

Little did we know, the next big Midwest Moment would come in the form of, well, the closest finish in NASCAR Cup Series history.

In the aftermath of Kyle Larson’s legendary finish (literally just) ahead of Chris Buescher on Sunday, plenty has been written about how truly unbelievable the racing product is at Kansas Speedway, and it has deserved every last drop of digital ink put to digital paper. But what about the fallout in terms of what it means for the 2024 season at large?

For a brief moment in time, it appeared Ford’s season-long winless drought — that actually stretches back to the Martinsville fall race last year — was finally ended, which would’ve shifted some of this year’s narrative and taken a significant load off of the manufacturer. Instead, the points leader and championship favorite Larson walks out of the Sunflower State with his second victory and Ford heads back to the Carolinas empty-handed after yet another bang-bang finish that didn’t go its way.

MORE: Closest finishes in NASCAR Cup Series history

The blue ovals are still the back-to-back defending NASCAR Cup Series championship winners, however, and will surely make noise the second half of the year and into the playoffs. We’ve seen how quickly things can turn around with the Next Gen — essentially every team at this point has found its way into an inexplicable cold streak at some point since its debut as engineers continue to tinker in its toddler stage.

That said, having just one driver (reigning champ Ryan Blaney) in the top 10 in points one race shy of the halfway point of the regular season likely wasn’t how Ford teams drew it up over the winter, and it’s worth keeping an eye on as each week passes.

Beyond the two above who door-slammed their way into the NASCAR history books on the way to the checkered flag, the rest of Kansas’ top 10 otherwise featured a slew of familiar faces among 2024’s top drivers — along with Noah Gragson, whose three straight top 10s are almost enough to put him in that category — as the potential long-haul Championship 4 contenders are starting to make themselves known. After Larson and Buescher, who each have championship aspirations, the next four in the finishing order are either past champions or multi-time Championship 4 attendees. It’s important to note that winning at Kansas in the playoffs — and my goodness, what a race that’s likely to be after what we just witnessed — is one of the most pivotal things a driver can do en route to a title; scooting into the Round of 8 unscathed while your competitors have to sweat out the chaos of Talladega and the Charlotte Roval.

Take note of those noted above who seemed to have it dialed in at Kansas, along with Alex Bowman and Kyle Busch also landing in the top eight and Ross Chastain leading 43 laps before fading to 19th.

And remember, perhaps more notably — who didn’t.

All the talk leading into Kansas was about how dominant 23XI Racing was at the track — and it had been, winning three of the last four there and its team owner winning the fourth — but a frustrating race for both Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace left them with finishes of 20th and 17th, respectively, with seven laps out front between them.

william byron crosses the finish line at darlington — *Logan Riely | Getty Images*

2. No time to catch your breath, Throwback Weekend is here

Buckle up, because NASCAR’s month of May is shaping up to be an all-timer with a Mother’s Day Throwback Weekend contest at Darlington up next.

Obviously, it will be difficult to top the literal closest finish in the history of Cup racing, but if it’s any consolation — we’re racing this weekend at the site of the previous all-time record, Darlington Raceway.

Not to mention it’s Throwback Weekend.

Another special one lies ahead, as Darlington tends to deliver moment after moment as drivers soak in the history all weekend, before trying to then become part of it on Sunday night.

The “Lady in Black” has been a formidable dance partner in the Next Gen era, and the last seven races at the track “Too Tough to Tame” have seen a fresh face in Victory Lane. It’s a track that often sees a driver come out ripping and seem like the clear one to beat, before track conditions change over the course of the evening or he acquires one too many stripes on the right side of his ride. The Stage 2 winner has yet to finish a race better than 25th in the four Next Gen races there.

And this isn’t just a case of final-stage nerves striking when it’s time to close. The three drivers with the most laps led at Darlington in the Next Gen are Hamlin (234), Truex Jr. (221) and Busch (174) … the three most experienced drivers in the field. The former Joe Gibbs Racing compatriots have led a combined 48% of Next Gen laps at Darlington, but have netted just one top-five finish, two top 10s and exactly zero wins among them. JGR as a whole has not quite hit it at the South Carolina facility yet, with just three of its 16 results since 2021 going for top 10s. Given how strong the Toyota group has been on a weekly basis in 2024, this could be the team’s first true measuring stick.

Another interesting wrinkle to this weekend? For the past few years, the Southern 500 has opened the NASCAR Playoffs. This year, it closes the regular season.

As we know, when NASCAR visits a track in the regular season and also the playoffs, teams tend to give those races a little more emphasis on notebook-building — find something that works, and it could be your key to a lengthy postseason. But now, with what the regular-season finale entails and the fact that it’s every team not locked in at that point’s last chance to make the playoffs … who knows what could happen?

More playoff hopefuls and dark horses will be up on the wheel this weekend and it’s not impossible to think some alternative strategies could be used. Darlington is always intense — and no stranger to unexpected winners — but this could ratchet up the drama a bit more.

That is all to say, yes — last Sunday at Kansas Speedway was one we will never forget.

ANALYSIS: So far, 2024 shaping up to be an all-time NASCAR season

But the way this season is going, the next unprecedented, highlight-reel moment always feels like it could happen on any lap.

So let’s race 293 of them on Sunday in tribute to legends across the sport — while perhaps another emerges.

3. A game of ‘risk vs. reward’ at Darlington

Kim Coon and Skip Flores take you ‘Around the Track’ in a preview of the weekend ahead at Darlington Raceway, where the sport will celebrate its rich history.

4. Finding the front of the field — and staying there

With a dozen races in the books, the elite are starting to separate themselves from the rest of the pack. These are the drivers with the most laps in the top five so far:

Driver	Laps in top five	Percentage of all laps run in top five
Kyle Larson	2,061	57.9%
Denny Hamlin	1,880	52.8%
Martin Truex Jr.	1,713	48.1%
Chase Elliott	959	26.9%
Ty Gibbs	879	24.7%
Tyler Reddick	874	24.5%
Kyle Busch	809	22.7%
Ryan Blaney	808	22.7%
Christopher Bell	765	21.5%
Bubba Wallace	740	20.8%