A storybook 2023 NASCAR campaign has come to a close, but that doesn’t mean fans can’t reminisce about a season chock-full of lasting memories.
In fact, with the 2023 Fan Choice Awards Supercharged by Worldwide Express, fans will have the chance to let their voices be heard when it comes to these action-packed moments. For the next week, you will have the opportunity to vote on 10 different categories from the sport’s 75th anniversary season.
Voting opened Nov. 14 and closes on Nov. 20 at noon ET. Voting categories include:
• Best Race • Best Rivalry • Best Paint Scheme • Person of the Year • Best Driver on Social Media • Best Celebration or Burnout • Best Scanner Moment • Most Improved • Crew Chief of the Year • Most Dominant Performance
Users may vote for one option within each category and submit one ballot per day per unique email address. Winners for each category will be announced soon thereafter, so stay tuned to see if your choice won in the polls!
Richard Childress Racing managed another multi-win season as a multi-time champion joined its Cup Series stable. But drivers Kyle Busch and Austin Dillon left 2023 wanting more.
Busch made the highly publicized transition from Joe Gibbs Racing to RCR’s campus in Welcome, North Carolina, and won nearly immediately, scoring a victory at Auto Club Speedway in Week 2 of the regular season after leading Lap 200 of the Daytona 500 seven days earlier. The 2015 and ’19 champion netted two other victories (Talladega Superspeedway in April; World Wide Technology Raceway in June), which locked him into the NASCAR Playoffs for the 11th consecutive year.
Dillon, winner of the 2017 Coca-Cola 600 and 2018 Daytona 500, had a less fruitful year with far more frustration than in years past.
In one sense, it was a tale of two opposite seasons for the new teammates. In another, those disappointments were shared across Dillon’s No. 3 team and Busch’s No. 8 program.
Busch’s postseason push ended after the Round of 12, eliminated after the series’ visit to the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course. Despite his three wins — a personal best since winning five races in 2019 — all six of Busch’s DNFs came because of damage.
“I mean, I would say it’s OK,” Busch said of the No. 8 team’s year ahead of the Phoenix finale. “Did we meet expectations? Yes. I would say there were a lot of doubters that I wasn’t going to win at RCR and all that stuff. So for us to go out and win, I feel like that was really good. You know, we’re building on a notebook and building on our program this year here to be able to get ready to go back to some of these places for a second time next year. So I’d like to think next year can be even better.”
Ultimately, Busch finished the year ranked 14th in points, his worst final points position since a 20th-place showing in his 2005 rookie season. He was ahead of only Michael McDowell and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who rounded out the 16-driver playoff field at season’s end. To say 2023 was a failure for Busch, crew chief Randall Burnett and the No. 8 team would be a harsh overstatement — three wins, 10 top fives and 17 top-10 finishes cannot be overlooked. But as a former title winner with a sure ticket to the NASCAR Hall of Fame after he hangs up his helmet, hopes were undoubtedly higher for Busch this season.
“We had a lot of highs and lows,” he said. “So the peaks and the valleys were very far and spread wide. So we got to clean that up and just, you know, obviously raise our bar, get more top 10s, more top fives. Even though we’re high on those amounts, we’re very high on DNFs as well, too. So that’s where, like you said, the inconsistency lies and being able to be better at that. So I think there was probably two at least, maybe three other races that we had potential we could have won. Wish I could have them back but, you know, it is what it is.”
Sean Gardner | Getty Images
So came plenty of growing moments for Busch and his new teammates, led by Burnett who crew chiefed the No. 8 car to three wins in 2022 with then-driver Tyler Reddick. Per Busch, there was no shortage of accountability in diagnosing persistent issues, all in an effort to produce better and more steady results.
“It’s tough because you sit in a room and you talk about all the negative, right?” Busch said. “You’ve just gotta go, what didn’t work? What was wrong? What was missing? And all that stuff and just this, this, this, this, this we need to fix. And there was like, OK, well what did we do good? What did we have good? And it was like, not a whole lot, you know? But that’s the times in which you’ve got to be tough — Randall and them tough on me, and me tough on them. All of that.”
The season was a further struggle for Dillon, who wound up 29th in points with career-worst numbers in average start (20.0), average finish (21.8), DNFs (10) and tied a career low with 20 lead-lap finishes.
A veteran who’s competed at the highest level of stock-car racing since 2014, Dillon saw modest improvement in the closing stages of 2023 with a 10th-place finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway, capitalizing on a sixth-place qualifying effort and cultivating a fifth-best average running position of 8.75.
“When you have a good run like Homestead,” Dillon said, “you go back and look at it and you prove to yourself that when given the right opportunity, you can take advantage of it and you can race with those guys. And sometimes you might put in more effort — like this year, I feel like I put in more effort than I ever have and getting less from it than I ever have. So, it’s still a sport and you have to take it seriously every day. But also sometimes, you’ve got to laugh and just enjoy the situation you’re in and come out the other side and know that there’s going to be a time where it’s going to be your turn.”
Crew chief Keith Rodden was new to the No. 3 team, who returned to the pit box for his first full season since 2016. Rodden most recently served as crew chief for Kasey Kahne at Hendrick Motorsports through 27 races of the 2017 season, winning that year’s Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway with Kahne and the No. 5 Chevrolet.
Dillon said his relationship with Rodden has “been tested for sure” through a grueling Cup season but remained optimistic for what’s ahead.
“It’s grown and we’re still growing our relationship,” Dillon said. “But what I’ve learned about him is he’s not going to give up on me. And you know, when times are like that, when you make it out the other side, your relationships are better.”
Dillon is the grandson of car owner Richard Childress and son of Mike Dillon, the team’s executive vice president. So the driver of the famed No. 3 Chevrolet has a vested interest in the overall performance of RCR with a potential future eye in team management.
There were plenty steps taken in the right direction this year, but work within the shop persists with eyes on a better 2024.
“I think we’re capable of winning races and being in the playoffs,” Dillon said. “And we’ve got to do a better job of when we get in the playoffs, capitalize a little better. Kyle just didn’t really have a great second round and we couldn’t help him as much as we needed to. So hopefully next year, we’re both in it, we’re both fighting together and we have more shots at it.”
Landon Huffman has a lot to look forward to in 2024, and that includes racing with the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.
Huffman announced Monday he will drive the No. 98 Modified for Shamrock Motorsports, a new team that will make its debut during the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing at New Smyrna Speedway in February.
The team, which will be owned by Justin and Ernie Hanney and operate out of Huffman’s shop in Claremont, North Carolina, has its origins in the 1960s and ’70s. Hanney’s father, Ernie, owned a Modified team that fielded cars for drivers like Richie Evans and Eddie Flemke.
The Hanney family has decided now is the time to revive his family’s Modified team, and they asked Huffman to help him do it.
“I got connected with a guy named Justin Hanney, who is a longtime family friend. Actually his father (Ernie Hanney) built engines and owned part of an engine shop that worked with my dad (Robert Huffman) in the ’90s during the Goody’s Dash Series days called Golden Shamrock,” Huffman explained. “They developed a really good friendship over the years. Once my dad got out of racing, Justin’s dad Ernie closed shop and Ernie moved out West with Justin, who lives in Washington State now.
“Over the last year or so, they’ve been putting together a plan to restart their Modified team that ran in the late ’60s and early ’70s called Shamrock Motorsports. They got the funding put together to do so. Justin’s going to own and operate it out of his headquarters in Washington State, and I’ll operate all racing operations here out of my shop.”
Racing a Modified was not something Huffman said he had on his bingo card as he looked ahead to the 2024 season. But when Hanney came to him and laid out his idea to revive Shamrock Motorsports, it all made perfect sense.
“Justin approached me and he had this idea,” Huffman said. “He said he was looking for someone that could help him work on the cars and kind of kickstart the racing operations side of it. We obviously had a race shop already, and he was looking for someone who could help him build to his goal of having a team that can operate in multiple divisions and hopefully operate on a full-time basis moving forward in the next couple years.
“I’ve always thought the Modifieds were cool. I think it’ll be a neat opportunity for me to do something different and learn a little bit.”
Landon Huffman, driver of the No. 75 High Rock Vodka Late Model, during the CARS Tour Tuff Shed 250 at Hickory Motor Speedway on April 22, 2023. (Photo: Adam Fenwick/NASCAR)
The team plans to make its debut during the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing at New Smyrna Speedway in February, but Huffman said they will not compete in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour opener at the track on Feb. 10.
Instead, Huffman said the team will race in the Modified division during the World Series to better prepare for their Whelen Modified Tour debut, which will come at Richmond Raceway on March 29.
“The best opportunity for me to get experience and laps is to run those races,” Huffman said. “Basically they’re just Saturday night shows, one set of tires. That’s the easiest way to kind of break me in, I guess.”
In addition to the race at Richmond, Huffman said the team also plans to enter the events at North Wilkesboro Speedway on Oct. 5 and Martinsville Speedway on Oct. 26. Huffman said the long-term plan will be for the team to run the full NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour schedule at some point in the coming years.
Huffman and Co. are already hard at work preparing for New Smyrna. They’ve acquired a complete Modified from Tommy Baldwin Jr., and Huffman is already reaching out to friends in the industry for advice on what to expect.
“I’ve talked to a lot of people who have started in Late Model Stocks or in the Late Model world and transitioned to Modifieds,” Huffman said. “(Bowman Gray Stadium champion) Brandon Ward is a very good friend of ours, so I’ve been talking to him and kind of using him as a mentor to sort of help me. He’s been kind of preparing me for what to expect in the car.
“Honestly, man, it’s got four tires and a motor; it can’t be all that much different. It’s got really wide, sticky tires, and they don’t weigh anything. Everybody says they’re a blast to drive, so I know going into it that it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Legacy Motor Club announced Monday that crew chief Ben Beshore will join the No. 42 Toyota team, keeping intact his pairing with driver John Hunter Nemechek as both move to the NASCAR Cup Series in 2024.
Beshore helped guide Nemechek to a seven-win campaign and a Championship 4 berth in the Xfinity Series with Joe Gibbs Racing this season. Next year will mark a full-time return to the Cup Series for both: Nemechek for the first time since 2020, and Beshore after a one-year break. Legacy M.C.’s offseason manufacturer shift from Chevrolet will also keep both in the Toyota system.
“The driver-crew chief relationship is something I know well and it’s such an important part of the performance foundation,” team co-owner Jimmie Johnson said in a news release. “We are so thankful to see Ben join the Club. His experience with John Hunter and Toyota will help us with the transition and his on-track experience will elevate us in so many ways. I have learned that Ben is a highly focused person and that he believes in the future potential of an organization that is going through a lot of change. He’s a great fit.”
Beshore spent time as a car chief and engineer — first with RFK Racing and later joining JGR in 2014 — before moving to a crew-chief role for the 2019 season. The 42-year-old Pennsylvania native was atop the pit box for eight wins in two seasons – four with Kyle Busch and four more with Harrison Burton.
That experience led to Beshore’s first full-time stint as a Cup Series crew chief with Busch and the No. 18 team, starting in 2021. Their time together produced three victories before he was teamed with Nemechek this season.
Nemechek’s arrival coincides with the organization’s second season of competition under the Legacy Motor Club banner. He’ll be a teammate to Erik Jones, who has been behind the wheel of the No. 43 ride the last three seasons.
“The partnership between driver and crew chief requires a type of chemistry that is hard to find,” Nemechek said. “As a driver, if you’re lucky enough to find a crew chief that you mesh with as well as Ben and I do, you do everything possible to stick together. I look forward to building on our competitive partnership and fighting for more wins and championships.”
The 2023 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season featured incredible moments, culminating in Ron Silk’s second series championship 12 years after his first. The triumph also marked Haydt Yannone Racing’s first title in just their second full-time season.
With 2023 now in the rearview, it’s time to take a look back at some of the telling statistics from the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season.
0.045 – Margin of victory, in seconds, for Justin Bonsignore over Doug Coby to win in the Mohegan Sun 100 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in dramatic fashion.
1 – First time winners in 2023: Austin Beers scored his first victory in the second race of the season at Richmond Raceway. He proceeded to win again at Lancaster Motorplex in August.
1 – Number of drivers (Jamie Tomaino) who competed in the inaugural NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season (1985) to start at least one event in 2023. He has competed in at least one event every season with the exception of 2020, when he withdrew from the lone race he entered.
2 – Best finish by Sunoco Rookie of the Year Award winner Jake Johnson, which came at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park.
2 – Number of drivers (Ron Silk and Tyler Rypkema) running at the finish of every NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event in 2023.
2 – Consecutive seasons the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour finale at Martinsville Speedway has been won by a full-time NASCAR Cup Series driver — Corey LaJoie last year and Ryan Preece in 2023.
3 – Number of NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour races that rank in the top 10 of most viewed events on FloRacing in 2023.
3 – Victories Justin Bonsignore is from moving into third on the all-time NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour win list following his five-win season in 2023.
Justin Bonsignore, driver of the No. 51 Phoenix Communications Inc. Modified, celebrates after winning the Eddie Partridge 256 for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour at Riverhead Raceway on September 16, 2023 in Riverhead, New York. (Photo: Kostas Lymperopoulos/NASCAR)
3.2 – Average starting position of Austin Beers during the 2023 season.
3.3 – Average finish by NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion Ron Silk in 2023.
4.94 – Average number of lead changes during NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour events in 2023.
5 – Number of laps led by Kyle Bonsignore during his victory at Langley Speedway, the fewest of any winner in 2023.
5 – Drivers (Ron Silk, Justin Bonsignore, Matt Hirschman, Austin Beers, Doug Coby) to lead at least 400 laps during the 2023 season.
6 – Best finish by NASCAR Hall of Famer Bobby Labonte (Richmond) in three NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour starts in 2023.
7 – Different drivers (Ron Silk, Justin Bonsignore, Matt Hirschman, Austin Beers, Kyle Bonsignore, Doug Coby, Ryan Preece) to win NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour events in 2023.
9 – Finish by Woody Pitkat in the World Series 150 at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park, which doubled as the first top-10 finish for team owner Stan Mertz in his final race as a team owner.
13 – Combined number of Mayhew Tools Dominator Pole Awards won by Justin Bonsignore (7) and Austin Beers (6).
15 – Top-five finishes by Ron Silk and Justin Bonsignore during the 2023 season.
16 – Drivers to make their NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour debuts in 2023.
17 – Top-10 finishes by NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion Ron Silk in 2023, more than anyone else.
18 – Drivers to lead at least one lap during the 2023 season.
21 – Years between NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour starts for Tim Connolly, who returned to the series this year for the first time since 2002.
22 – Career victories for Ron Silk following his five-win season in 2023, which ranks him 10th on the all-time NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour win list.
Ron Silk, driver of the No. 16 Blue Mountain Machine and Future Modified, during the Thompson 150 for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park on August 16, 2023 in Thompson, Connecticut. (Photo: Adam Glanzman/NASCAR)
25 – Drivers to earn top-five finishes during the 2023 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season.
25.05 – Average field size during the 2023 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season.
38 – Drivers to compete in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event at North Wilkesboro Speedway, the biggest field of the 2023 season.
44 – With the addition of North Wilkesboro Speedway, the number of tracks to have hosted the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.
77 – With Austin Beers’ win at Richmond, the number of drivers to win a NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race
82 – Drivers to enter at least one NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race in 2023.
129.9 – Speed, in mph, of the fastest qualifying lap of the season, set by Justin Bonsignore for the race at New Hampshire.
150 – Laps led by Matt Hirschman and Justin Bonsignore in their victories at Seekonk Speedway and Monadnock Speedway, respectively. They were the only two drivers to lead every lap of a race during the 2023 season.
152 – NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour races held at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park, more than any other track. Justin Bonsignore and Ron Silk won the pair of Thompson races on the 2023 schedule.
312 – NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour events held in the state of Connecticut.
403 – Laps led by Matt Hirschman during his three NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour victories in 2023.
521 – Laps run under the caution flag in 2023, 28.94 per race, down 3.3 percent from 2022.
644 – Laps led by NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion Ron Silk in 2023, more than anyone else.
724 – With the completion of the 2023 season, the number of events held in the history of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.
1,791 – Days between Kyle Bonsignore’s first NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour victory in 2018 and his second at Langley Speedway this year.
3,048 – Laps completed by NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion Ron Silk in 2023, more than anyone else.
HICKORY, N.C. – Kade Brown accomplished a lot of firsts this season at Hickory Motor Speedway.
He won his first track championship at the 0.363-mile oval, he won the Bobby Isaac Memorial for the first time and on Saturday night, he won the 200-lap Fall Brawl season finale for the first time.
Racing against a strong field that included rising NASCAR Cup Series driver and former track champion Josh Berry, defending Fall Brawl winner Coleman Pressley and 2023 ARCA Menards Series race winner Connor Mosack, Brown more than held his own.
He started on the outside of the front row alongside Berry, who was making his debut in Kevin Harvick’s No. 62 Late Model with Rodney Childers serving as crew chief.
Brown assumed command of the event as soon as the green flag waved, taking the lead from Berry on the outside. Brown would go on to dominate the event, leading all 200 laps on his way to a statement victory to close out his 2023 Hickory Motor Speedway campaign.
“Last year we came to this race and I think we qualified like third to last and then we ended up sixth, just staying alive,” Brown said. “To qualify on the front row and especially beat some of these guys like Berry, it means so much. I feel like we had a really good car all day and we were able to finish it off.”
Connor Zilisch finished second behind Brown, with Berry crossing the finish line third. Ryan Millington and Taylor Satterfield completed the top-five.
Brown’s focus now shifts to the next major Late Model Stock Car event in the Carolinas, the South Carolina 400 at Florence Motor Speedway. The event takes place next Saturday, Nov. 18 and will be available live exclusively on FloRacing.
Half of Hendrick Motorsports advanced to the Championship 4 to contend for the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series title.
The other half was left to maximize what was left and salvage a season as the playoffs rolled on without a chance at the drivers’ championship on the line.
While Kyle Larson and William Byron finished third and fourth in pursuit of championship glory at Phoenix Raceway on Nov. 5, Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman also finished nose to tail — for 16th and 17th places, respectively.
Injuries sidelined both Elliott and Bowman for periods of the 2023 campaign, making for an unusual set of circumstances for two perennial playoff contenders. Elliott missed six races due to a broken leg suffered in a snowboarding accident in March and missed a seventh race in June after a NASCAR-issued suspension. Bowman was out for four weeks after fracturing a vertebra in a sprint car crash in April. Neither driver had missed the postseason since joining Hendrick Motorsports — 2016 for Elliott; 2018 for Bowman — but those streaks came to an end in 2023.
With the help of relief drivers Josh Berry and Corey LaJoie, Elliott’s No. 9 team kept itself in contention for the owners’ championship and ultimately advanced to the Round of 8. The 2020 Cup champion turned in plenty of competitive performances but ended the season with four straight finishes of 15th or worse.
“Been some times of being decent, but you know, for the most part, been certainly not what I expect of myself and what we expect of our team,” Elliott said ahead of the season finale. “So yeah, a lot of room for improvement, and we intend to do a lot of that going into next year. … It all needs to be better.”
Elliott ends the 2023 campaign without a victory, his first winless season since 2017 and snapping a streak of five consecutive multi-win campaigns. Lack of visits to Victory Lane are not the only signal to learn, grow and improve — Elliott stressed those steps are taken whether he and his team are celebrating a championship or not. But there was plenty of reflection evident at Phoenix.
“You’re always wanting to be better,” Elliott said. “I think we’ve learned a lot about ourselves and the things that I need to do better. For me, I’ve learned a lot about myself and just areas that I want to improve in and trying to tackle a lot of that this weekend, you know, and get a good head start on things we want to improve upon for next year.
“Lots of lessons and a lot about the car and what I want to feel and what I think I need to feel in the vehicle each week.”
Meg Oliphant | Getty Images
The five-time defending winner of the Most Popular Driver Award also emphasized the significance of having crew chief Alan Gustafson, a veteran of the sport who’s worked with numerous Hall of Famers, at the helm of the No. 9 team to guide through the most adverse season Elliott has experienced at the Cup level.
“I think it’s really important,” Elliott said. “AG has always been right down the middle of the road. He’s no different when we struggle as he is when we won the championship. So it’s nice to have that, and I think that it sets a good example, and it’s taught me a lot of valuable lessons too because, you know, it’s easy when things are going good to get up too high, you know? And it can make the next time things don’t go well hurt more. I do think it’s important to just ride the wave as middle ground as you can. And I just think in the long haul, you’re better served.”
At the No. 48 team, Bowman and new crew chief Blake Harris came out of the gates strong, maintaining a top-five points position through each of the first six weeks of 2023 — including a three-week span as the series’ points leader.
That came to a halt after a 100-point penalty was dealt to both driver and owner following the April race at Richmond Raceway. Just three weeks later, Bowman experienced his sprint car crash, sidelining him through the NASCAR All-Star Race before a Memorial Day Weekend return for the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
The program never regained its early-season momentum, garnering one top five and three additional top 10s in the final 23 weeks of the season.
“We’ve had a lot of highlights, at least throughout the years,” said Bowman, who was victorious in each of the four prior years. “And this year, there haven’t been many of those other than leading the points at the beginning of the year. So it’s definitely been tough, but I feel like we’ve got a really good group. And I’ve learned a lot as a person on kind of how to handle some of those things, and yeah, definitely grown from it, for sure.”
In those final 23 races of 2023, Bowman finished inside the top 20 a total of 13 times, an obvious downturn after collecting nine such finishes in the year’s opening 10 events. He admitted there is “definitely a little bit of pain still” following his mid-spring injuries but said discomfort only truly arises at tracks that require heavy braking. But as his overall results dipped and the weight of personal disappointment increased, he realized a change in mindset and approach was necessary.
“I think the biggest thing for me is, like previous years, I would have a bad weekend and hold on to that for the whole week and make myself miserable the whole week and really kind of tear myself apart over like little mistakes,” Bowman said. “I think this year, there’s been so many bad weeks that I’ve really had to learn how to deal with them in a better way and be more positive about things and be able to positively look forward to the next weekend and just kind of be better at those things. So it wasn’t fun to figure out how to do, but definitely, I guess, a requirement of a 2023 season like this.”
Bowman lauded the support system he has around himself but largely worked independently to better his mental approach.
“I think for me, that was something I had to figure out on my own,” Bowman said. “Because I have had a lot of really positive people around me that have — I mean, I was teammates with Jimmie Johnson for a long time, and he could give you all the advice. But until you figure out what works for you, it’s difficult. So yeah, I just had to figure out what worked for me, and you know, bad days suck, but definitely have figured out how to be more positive throughout the week for sure.”
Christian Petersen | Getty Images
With the offseason comes an opportunity to set back from the week-to-week cycle and evaluate whatever issues have ailed the No. 48 team. The hope is to rekindle the consistency the group had to begin the 2023 campaign.
“I think some of it is being able to just push the reset button, right, and just kind of start over,” Bowman said. “But at the same time, you know, I think we have a good group on the 48 team and Blake and I are working well together. Like, Vegas, we were really fast, and I just crashed the car. So mistakes that I don’t typically see from myself. So that’s been frustrating. But you know, at the same time, there’s been a lot of weeks that we’ve just been way off. So just maybe hitting the reset button might help, but I think it’s important to try to end the season on a high note.”
Harris’ inaugural season as a crew chief at Hendrick Motorsports clearly didn’t go to plan, but Bowman remains optimistic the duo will find their stride in the months to come.
“I feel like Blake and I have a really good relationship,” he said. “I’m sure we’ll be around each other a lot to the offseason, like even when we’re away from the race track and Chili Bowl and stuff like that. So yeah, I mean, I don’t know that him and I need a reset between each other. I feel like we communicate well, but the season’s been tough. I mean, we’ve kind of been kicked in the teeth every week for the last six months. So just kind of getting away from that and being able to recharge a little bit will be nice for sure.”
U.S. Army engineers and NASCAR’s Research & Development team share a common motto and ethos: “Let Us Try.”
“Whether it’s military aircraft or the Next Gen Car, it’s all about moving people and things, so there is a lot of carryover,” said CJ Tobin, Senior Engineer for Vehicle Systems at NASCAR and retired U.S. Army Officer. “But for me, the biggest overlap between NASCAR and the Army is that sense of family.”
Tobin came to NASCAR’s Research & Development Center in Concord, North Carolina, in 2022 following a distinguished career in uniform, which saw him graduate from the United States Military Academy at West Point, rise through the ranks of the Army Aviation community and eventually become a Company Commander.
When Tobin prepared for the transition into civilian life, he thought about how he could combine the advanced engineering skills he learned in the Army together with his passion for racing.
Thankfully, the Department of Defense had launched SkillBridge, a hands-on externship program that placed Tobin, then still an active-duty officer, in a working role within the NASCAR organization. With his skills and experience, Tobin immediately began to add value to the NASCAR team and upon completion of the program, he was hired in a full-time role as Vehicle Systems Engineer.
While Tobin was NASCAR’s first SkillBridge participant, he will certainly not be the last – as the company continues to engage transitioning service members through the DoD program. Michael Patterson, a project manager and former jet engine mechanic in the U.S. Air Force, is currently supporting NASCAR’s Sourcing and Procurement team at company headquarters in Daytona Beach.
The involvement with SkillBridge represents a continuation of NASCAR’s longstanding support for the U.S. Armed Forces and veterans, a commitment celebrated through NASCAR Salutes Together with Coca-Cola and other ongoing military programs, including NASCAR Troops to the Track.
Through the recently launched NASCAR IMPACT platform, NASCAR is strengthening its support for veterans with a focus on transition services. This week, in the spirit of Veterans Day, NASCAR launched partnerships with organizations dedicated to easing the challenges of transitioning from active duty to civilian life.
On Nov. 9, NASCAR announced a new endeavor with Texas-based nonprofit Sound Off, founded to help reduce the staggering rate of veteran suicide in the U.S. through an anonymous platform for veterans and active-duty service members to access mental health services.
“We recognize that 47% of veterans won’t seek the mental health services they need, in large part because there is a huge difference between ‘confidential’ and truly ‘anonymous’ support,” said Sound Off Founder and CEO William Negley. “From day one, NASCAR was willing to really lean in and say ‘how can we activate our fanbase to become direct supporters of other veterans and service members’ in a way that not all organizations are willing to.”
Sound Off specifically targets military veterans to join its platform, participate in mentorship training, and serve as mentors for other veterans and service members in need of mental health support. Beginning in 2024, NASCAR will bring Sound Off to its fan base and encourage those who are veterans to become peer supporters through the digital platform.
NASCAR Vice President of Racing Operations Tom Bryant, who served 21 years as an officer in the U.S. Army, announced the partnership on Thursday at Sound Off’s annual Veterans Day event in San Antonio.
“For veterans and service members, talking about issues like anxiety and depression is not easy, but having that conversation with other veterans who share similar backgrounds and lived experiences makes it less difficult,” said Bryant. “We believe in the critically important work Sound Off is doing and know that our sport can have a substantive impact on its mission.”
With a similar focus on mentorship, NASCAR is also partnering with American Corporate Partners (ACP), a leading nonprofit dedicated to providing one-on-one career mentoring to transitioning service members. Through the partnership, NASCAR will enlist employees through its volunteer platform to serve as peer mentors for veterans that have joined the civilian workforce, lending their on-the-job expertise in the areas of career counseling, communications and marketing, and financial skills.
“ACP aims to ease the transition from the military to the civilian workforce by partnering with organizations like NASCAR to provide real, hands-on career support,” said Sid Goodfried, American Corporate Partners Chairman and Founder. “In NASCAR, we have found a partner who is truly committed to putting in the work to this critical shared mission.”
The work with Sound Off and ACP will commence in early 2024, a year that will also mark the 10th anniversary of NASCAR Salutes Together with Coca-Cola, a national celebration of the service and sacrifice of U.S. military members and their families through various at-track integrations, original content features and fan engagement opportunities.
But for veterans like Tobin, NASCAR’s commitment to America’s veterans is a lived commitment that endures 365 days a year.
“We as veterans don’t necessarily need a day when we’re paraded in front of a larger group to say, ‘what a great American,’ ” said Tobin. “It’s not about recognition, it’s about recognizing them as humans and providing them with the real resources they may need.”
Voting continues for the 13th annual Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award, organized by The NASCAR Foundation.
The award, which honors the foundation’s late founder and chairwoman, Betty Jane France, is a recognition of NASCAR fans who volunteer for children’s causes in their local communities. Each finalist receives a $25,000 donation for their organization; the overall winner will receive a $100,000 donation from The NASCAR Foundation to further their efforts.
The winner of the Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award will be announced during NASCAR Champion’s Week on Thursday, Nov. 30, in Nashville, Tenn.
Meet the four finalists below:
Darla Crown
Darla is a volunteer with Youth & Family Services, a non-profit organization that supports children and families to become capable, caring, and contributing members of the community. Darla is also a 41-year veteran of the South Dakota National Guard.
Jennifer is the founder of GiGi’s Playhouse Phoenix, a non-profit organization that serves children and adults with Down Syndrome by helping them find support and network with other families navigating their diagnosis.
Molly, a camp counselor and mentor for nine years, volunteers with Comfort Zone Camp. The camp is a non-profit organization that operates camps across the nation with the goal of empowering children experiencing grief to fully realize their capacity to heal, grow, and live more fulfilling lives.
Sandy is a volunteer with the City of Refuge Dalton, a non-profit organization that provides opportunities for family and community advancement. Sandy serves as a part of the hot meal feeding program, where she packs and delivers food boxes to the area’s most vulnerable children.
The winner of the Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award will be determined by an online vote, which is still open. Fans can visit NASCARfoundation.org/Award to vote once a day, every day though Nov. 17 at 5 p.m. ET.
Ross Chastain’s victory in last weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series finale came in the most Ross Chastain of ways – bucking convention, adding a dash of aggressive driving and achieving the unprecedented. In some ways, his Phoenix Raceway flourish stands as a significant footnote to Ryan Blaney’s first championship triumph. Still, the performance is a potential turning point in Trackhouse Racing’s growth.
The Cup Series team and burgeoning entertainment start-up founded by Justin Marks first set foot on the track in 2021 as a single-car outfit with Daniel Suárez as its driver, promising big plans and rapid expansion. In Year 3 of operations, Trackhouse kept imagining and mostly fulfilling those plans, continuing its mission as a challenger and widening its reach.
By some measures, 2023 was a step forward with the smashing victory of New Zealand import Shane van Gisbergen in the Chicago Street Race debut for Trackhouse’s Project 91 initiative, the signing of highly rated prospect Zane Smith from the Truck Series ranks, and the equaling of the organization’s three wins from last year. In other measures, the team regressed – Chastain was ousted in the Cup Series Playoffs’ Round of 12 after making the Championship 4 a year ago, and Suárez missed the postseason grid altogether.
If there was frustration along the way, some of the hurt melted off with Chastain’s precedent-breaking Phoenix finish – marking the first time in 10 editions of the elimination-style playoff format that the eventual champ was not the race winner. Chastain also balked at the prevailing thought of deferential treatment for the four title contenders, racing Blaney especially tough down the stretch.
But Chastain also lauded what Sunday’s victory could do as a “ripple effect” for the team’s esprit de corps as it prepares for Year 4.
“We sustained that level of competition,” said Chastain, who also guided his No. 1 Chevrolet to victory at Nashville Superspeedway in June. “We’ve had our fair share of eighth-place days, 18th-place days, sometimes 22nd-place days, straight up. Yeah, it’s just a continuation, and we’re staying here. We’re not going away. Like, we’re disruptive on track usually by my driving, but it goes with the disruptiveness of Justin and (co-owner) Pitbull and our leadership team doing things different, having a real presence in Nashville, keeping a presence there on Broadway for something outside of Charlotte and Concord and the Lake Norman area. Our shop’s in Concord and all of our employees are there except for Justin and the brain trust of the marketing side.
“Yeah, I just love that we’re staying here and we’re continuing to be fast. Our processes are working. We trust ’em and we continue to see it through.”
Trackhouse will continue as a two-car Cup Series effort with Chastain and Suárez, but with its tentacles sunk into a pair of additional drivers it signed in September. Van Gisbergen, 34, will compete in a curated 2024 schedule that spans all three NASCAR national series. The 24-year-old Smith will move to a full-time Cup Series ride next year through an alliance with Spire Motorsports before a transition to what’s intended to be a three-car Trackhouse attack in 2025.
Those splashy moves for the future diverted some of the attention from a slight downturn in performance for Trackhouse’s established pair. Chastain ended up ninth in the final Cup Series standings after running second a season ago, and Suárez dropped from 10th to 19th, year over year. Both drivers also slipped in other statistical categories, notably in top fives, top 10s, average finish and laps led.
Marks said he still counted the 2023 campaign as a success, but suggested that other teams had made competitive gains in the second year of the Next Gen stock car.
“I’m every bit as proud of this season as last season,” Marks said at Phoenix. “The series has gotten tougher. These teams are bigger than us, have a lot of resources to figure out these cars. Now everybody understands the cars more and more, and what it takes to make them go fast, the drivers understand how to drive them. The level of competition has gotten much more difficult this year. Look, I mean, we won two races. Three in the organization. I think it’s a wonderful success. I think the playoffs are just very, very difficult. One race can make a difference.”
James Gilbert | Getty Images
Any offseason momentum created by Chastain’s victory would be welcome to the No. 99 Chevy team and Suárez, who summed up his 2023 campaign on the eve of last Sunday’s finale with an eye toward improvement next year. Suárez broke through for his first Cup Series win a year and a half ago at Sonoma Raceway, but had fewer contending moments this season. His six DNFs also matched a career-high set in his rookie season (2017).
“We want to be a championship-contender kind of team. We have more to do,” Suárez said. “We can win a race once in a while the way we’re operating, but that’s not my goal. I don’t work my butt off to win a race once in a while. I want to win a bunch of races and contend for a championship, so we have work to do, and this is not a secret. We know that. We have to get to work.”
When Trackhouse signed Smith, Marks said that the organization was positioned for growth, but cautioned that “expansion is not something to be taken lightly.” Suárez echoed that sentiment in his Saturday remarks, adding that he planned to curtail his offseason vacation time to bear down for 2024.
“Honestly, I even ask those questions as well to many people inside the team. It’s great that Trackhouse is growing. I love that, you know. I want Trackhouse to be a powerhouse,” Suárez said. “With that being said, right now the 99 team requires some attention, and we have to work on that. We have to clean up some things and be better. Obviously, there is a lot of other things going on within Trackhouse — Project 91, the third-car alliance and things of that nature. But I think that the team is capable of doing everything at the same time, we have to be smart and real about it, too. We can’t be in the position where we’re just hoping things to get better, because hope will only get us so far. So we have to get to work and be real about the issues that we have.”
Marks addressed those concerns after Chastain’s season-capping win, saying that the success of both drivers – collectively, individually – was shared through the organization.
“They struggled a little bit this year,” Marks said. “They’ve been fast at times, and they’ve had some really, really great races. We owe it to Daniel and to the organization this winter to take a real hard look at that 99 program and make sure we are surrounding him in 2024 with all the tools and things that he needs to be successful. I mean, I think in any multi-car organization, there’s one or two that are behind the others for several different reasons, whether it’s data or information or process or culture, whatever.
“We just have to take a hard look at that and make sure that we re-rack the deck in 2024 with a tremendous opportunity for him to go out and be successful because we’ve got the people and partners and tools to have both these cars in the playoffs and fighting in every round. Like I said, we owe it to him. He’s a tremendous human being. He’s a tremendously talented race car driver who wants it as much as anybody else out here. We’re going to try to make sure the next season replicates 2022.”
