23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace put the No. 23 McDonald’s Toyota on the pole for Sunday’s Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 (3:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App). Wallace scored the second pole of his NASCAR Cup Series career and will look to keep his championship hopes alive after advancing to the Round of 12. This ends Christopher Bell’s streak of three consecutive poles, and he will roll off the grid ninth in his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Starting alongside Wallace on the front row is Texas native Chris Buescher. Completing the top five in the Lone Star State: Brad Keselowski, Ty Gibbs and Ross Chastain. | Read the full practice, qualifying recap
Big story line
Will Christopher Bell’s impressive qualifying speed finally translate into a race win?
In the last 10 Cup Series races, Bell has won the pole five times, including three in a row to sweep the Round of 16. While the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota has shown up big time in qualifying, the team has struggled to put a complete race weekend together without issues and end up in Victory Lane. Bell has only experienced an incident-free weekend two times in the last 12 races when he earned a pair of third-place finishes at Watkins Glen and again at Bristol last Saturday night. The results for Bell at Texas Motor Speedway have been up and down in his four career starts at the 1.5-mile track. Bell has two top fives and two finishes 21st or worse. The No. 20 team certainly has the tools to win, but Sunday’s result will ultimately come down to execution and staying out of trouble.
History tells us…
Ryan Blaney and the No. 12 team have a good shot at a top-10 finish.
Since winning the Coca-Cola 600 in the month of May, Blaney’s No. 12 team has not looked the same as Team Penske continues to navigate a tough year. Austin Cindric is enduring a challenging sophomore year in the Cup Series and defending champ Joey Logano was eliminated from the postseason in the Round of 16. So, Blaney is the last hope for Penske to repeat as the title-winning team. In the last 14 races, Blaney has 10 finishes of 12th or worse. He traditionally runs well at Texas Motor Speedway so that is a welcome sight for the driver of the No. 12 Ford.
In the last six of 10 Texas races, Blaney led a total of 432 laps. This includes five straight finishes of eighth place or better. While Blaney has a victory at Texas in the 2022 All-Star Race, he has not gone to Victory Lane there yet in a points-paying event. He scored his best result of second place in the 2018 fall race and finished fourth here last year. If there is any track on the schedule for the No. 12 team to rediscover its form shown at Charlotte, a trip to the Lone Star State is coming at the perfect time. Blaney’s history at Texas suggests that a top 10 is certainly doable. | Preview Show: Twelve-way shootout in Texas
He may not be the betting favorite to win, but watch out for…
Joey Logano. After getting eliminated from the playoffs in the first round, all the pressure is off and Logano can solely focus on race wins through the end of 2023. The defending Cup Series champion has battled through a tough season of trying to defend his title, which came to a halt last Saturday night at Bristol after being involved in a wreck. While this year is certainly far from matching his 2022 championship-winning season, Texas Motor Speedway provides the No. 22 team with an opportunity to get a good result. Logano enters Texas with odds of 30-1.
In the last five Texas races, Logano has four top-1o finishes in the Lone Star State. Meanwhile, in the last 11 races here, Logano led 321 laps in eight of those races. His only career Cup Series win at Texas occurred in the spring of 2014. Flashing back to last fall’s race, he earned a runner-up finish. Based on Logano’s overall performance this year, Sunday could be another frustrating day. But never count out the two-time series champion, who may respond well with less pressure and spoil the show for the Round of 12 title contenders. | Logano eliminated from playoffs after Bristol crash
Familiar favorites ⭐️
Our biggest pieces of the week — get covered for race day from all angles.
• At-track photos: Sights and scenes from Texas Motor Speedway | Photos • Bubble Watch: Playoff twists and turns for Texas | Read more • Fantasy Fastlane: Can Ryan Blaney get back on track at Texas? | Get the advice
• Paint Scheme Preview: See the schemes for Texas | Pick a favorite • Power Rankings: Denny Hamlin bringing the heat — on track and with the fans | Latest driver rankings
• Stacking Pennies: Corey LaJoie discusses the partnership between Spire Motorsports and Trackhouse Racing | Listen to the podcast
💎 NASCAR 75: Learn more about the history of the sport, from pioneers to current stars | Visit NASCAR 75 hub
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Think you know NASCAR? Put your mettle to the test with gaming, fantasy and Fan Rewards.
• Fantasy Live: Participate in interactive gameplay from week to week | Choose your lineup • Fan Rewards: New in 2023, get rewarded for your participation | Learn more • NASCAR BetCenter: Don’t miss your chance to make picks each week | Visit the BetCenter
• Going the distance: 2023 Cup Series championship odds | See them here
For Daniel Suárez’s fans, attending a NASCAR race can be like going to a fiesta, an event full of fun, excitement and entertainment.
The first Mexican-born driver to ever compete on the Cup circuit has a growing support group, affectionately known as Daniel’s Amigos, and they track his exploits around the world and get together for several races in person.
Oftentimes, hundreds of Amigos attend meet-ups as Suárez races in NASCAR across the United States. Several of these events are sponsored by Coca-Cola, which made Suárez part of its Official Racing Family in 2017 and helped the driver formally start Daniel’s Amigos in 2019.
“For a while, I really wanted to do something for my community, to feel more welcome into NASCAR and the sport,” Suárez said. “I thought that after winning the (2016 Xfinity) championship, and after being in the Cup Series for a year or two, I was seeing progress but not as quick as I thought I was going to see it.”
Suárez said he worked with his sponsors and Trackhouse Racing to “give my community a unique experience” on race day. The first organized Daniel’s Amigos event was in 2019 at Auto Club Speedway, and it drew more than 500 attendees from Southern California and Mexico.
“It was really as a test,” Suárez said. “We didn’t have any expectations, we didn’t know what was going to happen after that or if it was going to be a one-time-only thing.”
Daniel’s Amigos had three official events during its first season. The COVID-19 pandemic put meet-ups on pause, but they resumed in 2021 and have become an annual tradition on the circuit.
“It really motivates me a lot because that’s my community,” Suárez said with a smile.
Arguably the greatest celebration Suárez and his Amigos had came in June 2022 when their favorite driver claimed his first-ever Cup victory on the road course at Sonoma Raceway.
Daniel still talks about the party they had afterward.
“We’re bringing brand new fans into the sport. It’s pretty special to give them this opportunity and to make them feel at home,” Suárez said. “They also made me feel (I’m at) home because 80 to 90% of them speak Spanish, so it’s very special for me to be able to do these kind of events with them. And I enjoy it.”
Many of the Amigos travel from Mexico and Central America to see their racing hero up-close at official meet-ups. Others even attend unofficial get-togethers at other Cup races, showing up with banners, Mexican flags and, of course, wearing lots of Suárez shirts. You can even spot sombreros in the grandstands, too.
“We only have the program a few times a year, but I see Daniel’s Amigos T-shirts almost every weekend,” Suárez said. “Some of these fans I see for the first time in the program, and then later, I see them again at other races. So this is special for me to be able to help move the needle when it comes to Latinos in sports.”
The 31-year-old Suárez, who came to NASCAR in 2014 — first racing in the Craftsman Truck and Xfinity series before moving full-time to the Cup circuit in 2017 — is very thankful for the support he gets from his fans.
“Something I appreciate a lot about the Latino community is that we’re very loyal to each other. Once we find out that one of us is doing something in baseball, soccer, racing, whatever that may be, we support it a lot,” Suárez said. “So it’s very special to support each other and for me to let the world know we’re doing great things in NASCAR.”
Suárez said he didn’t speak English when he first came to the United States in 2014, but he was quickly embraced by the Latino community in the Charlotte area. It’s one reason meeting with Daniel’s Amigos has become such a rewarding experience for him.
“For many years in the past, NASCAR has been viewed as an American sport. Right now, I believe that has changed,” Suárez said. “When I was making that transition, it wasn’t 100 percent easy, it required a lot of work, and a lot of people thought it wasn’t even possible.”
Alejandro Alvarez | NASCAR Studios
Suárez’s partnership with Coca-Cola in creating Daniel’s Amigos has played a big role in helping shift that perspective.
“Daniel came to us and told us, ‘I think I can be a support to NASCAR in building fandom among Hispanic fans, I can be that role model, I can be the voice because I think other Latinos would love this if they just had a chance to be a part of it,” said Al Rondon, Coca-Cola senior marketing manager, who took over the Daniel’s Amigos program in 2021.
“So that became the genesis, and it really aligned perfectly with what Coke and NASCAR were challenging each other to do, to bring new fans to the sport.”
With Rondon and Suárez working together, Daniel’s Amigos really took off.
Many events now feature authentic Mexican food and mariachi bands to celebrate Hispanic culture.
“Even the invitations we send out are both in English and Spanish,” Rondon said, noting the group partners with host tracks and other local organizations to do outreach. “We work with the community that they want to engage with, like Boys and Girls Clubs, Hispanic chambers of commerce and in markets where there is a Mexican consulate.”
Coca-Cola hopes to expand the Daniel’s Amigos program, which held an event in the company’s hometown of Atlanta earlier in the year. There are two more Coke-sponsored events this year still to come: on Oct. 8 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course and on Oct. 22 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
For Suárez, one dream would be NASCAR racing a Cup event in Mexico in the near future.
“I can see that happening,” Suárez said. “I see two amazing countries very close to the United States with amazing markets, I felt like we should be going there, with Canada being one of them and Mexico being the other.”
It would be a chance for Suárez and his Amigos to finally bring the party back home.
“If you were to tell me we’re going to be (racing in) Canada and Mexico in the next few years, I wouldn’t be surprised,” Suárez said. “That would be amazing for me.”
Ryan Blaney managed to fly under the radar and into the Round of 12 after a quiet-but-steady opening round of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.
The veteran driver of the No. 12 Team Penske Ford has become a staple of the postseason: Blaney has qualified for the playoffs in seven consecutive seasons and his advancement marks the fifth time in six years he’s competed in the Round of 12.
Finishes of ninth, 12th and 22nd at Darlington, Kansas and Bristol, respectively, allowed the eighth-year full-timer to remain in title contention as Blaney seeks his first NASCAR Cup Series championship. Those results don’t necessarily jump off the page — but they did the job.
Blaney entered the playoffs just one point above the provisional elimination line. But that cushion was padded to a 26-point margin by the checkered flag at Kansas Speedway, thanks in large part to the 20 stage points he garnered there and at Darlington, 10 stage points at each track.
“We did a good job of netting positive points each race,” Blaney told NASCAR.com Wednesday via teleconference. “Only being plus-one, right, as the playoffs started, and then I think after Darlington, we were plus-15. After Kansas, we were plus-26, which let us go into Bristol — and you’re never really safe, unless you have a win, right, or you’re 50 points to the good — but it lets you go and be able to have not a great race like we had at Bristol, but was still able to do what we need to do to get in. So we just did a good job of managing the race. …
“We just did a really solid job of (executing). I wish our speed was a little bit better but we did a great job and we made up for it in executing a good three races. And that’s what let us get into this round.”
Blaney said his top priority through the first round of the playoffs has always been simple: Don’t take yourself out of it. That mission was accomplished without issue. But the focus shifts as the No. 12 team enters the Round of 12 beneath the elimination line, trailing provisional last-one-in Tyler Reddick by six points.
The second stanza kicks off at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday (3:30 p.m. ET, USA, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App) before shifting to Talladega Superspeedway and concluding at the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course.
“Obviously, the rounds get tougher each time, right?” Blaney said. “I mean, as you cut teams, as the field gets smaller, it’s harder to make it to each round, especially because we don’t really have the bonus points that some guys have. So you know, I feel like this round is tricky.”
To advance is made more challenging by the potential chaos that looms at Talladega — a track at which Blaney has won twice but also often produces multicar collisions. There is an emphasis on starting the round well at the 1.5-mile oval in Fort Worth, Texas, to avoid any must-win scenarios in the subsequent two weeks, but Talladega isn’t exactly haunting Blaney.
“No matter how Texas goes, I don’t really think that changes our mindset for Talladega anyway,” he said. “You know, I feel like going into speedways, we’ve always had the mindset in our building we’re gonna go try to control the race; we’re going to try to run up front, lead laps, get stage points and contend for the win. You know, I’ve never been a fan of riding around, see how the race plays out. I’ve just never really been that way. You gotta go try to control the race and control the event.
“So no matter what happens, good (or) bad at Texas, Talladega, we have kind of our game plan. And it’s what’s helped us have positive results in the past and that’s, I think, a formula to stick to.”
James Gilbert | Getty Images
Indeed, if it works, it works — much like how Blaney quietly worked through the Round of 16. No noise was plenty fine by his standards.
“Flying under the radar is good for me personally,” Blaney said. “I mean, you want to not have any drama, especially in the first couple rounds. And if you fly under the radar and you’re making it — big deal. That doesn’t matter, right? I mean, you’re doing your job. You’re doing what you need to do to get there. But I think if you get to the Round of 8, you definitely need to perform.
“Those three tracks — Vegas, Homestead, Martinsville — you have to run very well. You’re not going to be able to fly under the radar when you get to eight guys, unless you’re the (Nos.) 24 or the 19 group, who have tons of bonus points. You can kind of fly under the radar and have enough points to back it up. If we get to Round of 8, we need to perform.”
That journey starts Sunday at Texas, where Blaney has been incredibly strong throughout his career. While he’s still seeking his first points-paying Cup Series win in Fort Worth, he owns a 2022 All-Star Race victory there in addition to a series-best eight top-10 finishes in his last 10 starts there (including a series-high five consecutive), most points earned in the last 10 Texas races (384 to Kevin Harvick’s second-most 377) and the third-most laps led at Texas without scoring a win (432, behind only Martin Truex Jr.’s 689 laps led and Brad Keselowski’s 685).
“I loved the old track and then when they redid it (in 2017), it still just kind of suited what we do and suited my driving style well,” said Blaney, whose lone 2023 victory came on the 1.5-mile Charlotte oval in the spring. “It suited what we do at Team Penske pretty decent to where we’ve led tons of laps there. Winning the All-Star Race was great and having good runs in the points races is really good. We just haven’t really been able to close it out. But you never know; you just hope you do your homework.
“I’m not a huge believer in, ‘Oh, we’ve run good at this place for years. We’re gonna run good again.’ Right? Things are always changing. Teams are getting better week in and week out. You have to keep up with the curve. It gives you confidence going into these places that you’ve run well at, but you never know. You can’t just expect to run good there. So you just try to do all the work you can and understand. You feel like you have a decent idea of, hey, I think I know what it takes to go fast here and what we need in our car to run well, but I don’t think you can ever really get comfortable.”
Sunday will mark Blaney’s 300th NASCAR Cup Series start — a stat that signifies both how long he’s been here and how rapidly the sport moves.
“I remember the first one and it’s crazy,” he said. “Time flies really quickly. And it seems like just yesterday, I was running at Kansas in my first Cup race, but really amazing. Been fortunate to be with such a great group from the Wood Brothers to Penske, who’s given me opportunities to make it this far.
“It goes by really quickly, especially when you’re surrounded by really great people. And I’ve been having fun and I’ve had some decent success. So it is wild that we’re already here. But it is really cool to be at this spot and hopefully we can make it a special 300th start.”
The arrival of start No. 300 sparked the curiosity about how many his father, Dave Blaney, made. The elder Blaney competed in 473 Cup races, a mark the younger Blaney would tie during the 2028 season if he continues at his current pace without stopping.
“That’s gonna be a big one when I surpass 473,” Ryan Blaney said. “That’s going to be a big one of putting it in perspective of having more starts than my dad. That’s really gonna make me feel like a veteran of the sport. I mean, that’s gonna be (five) years away, right, so yeah, that’ll be here before you know it.”
The second round of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs sees the most diverse trio of tracks in the 10-race quest for the Bill France Cup.
A 1.5-mile oval, NASCAR’s largest superspeedway and a road course await the 12 drivers vying for eight spots in the penultimate round of the postseason. Texas Motor Speedway is up first on Sunday (3:30 p.m. ET, USA, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App), and if last year’s race was any indication, more drama awaits the title hopefuls. Before the weekend’s action begins in the Lone Star State, get the outlook for the Round of 12, trends to watch for the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 and interactive ways to follow all the action.
After the Round of 16 nearly saw the Regular Season Champion eliminated, there’s no telling who the four drivers will be under the elimination line when the checkered flag waves at the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course in October.
Texas is likely going to favor the current drivers at the top of the playoff standings like William Byron, Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson. Drivers should be able to control their own destiny on Sunday, which means drivers Ross Chastain, Ryan Blaney, Brad Keselowski and Bubba Wallace will need to maximize stage points and get the best finish possible to avoid putting their backs against the wall heading to Talladega Superspeedway next weekend.
Talladega is favorable for a two-team tandem like Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing drivers Keselowski and Chris Buescher. They finished 1-2 in the most recent superspeedway race at Daytona International Speedway and are usually toward the front at most superspeedways. However, Kyle Busch has finished well at superspeedways this season, which includes a victory at Talladega in the spring. Busch failed to advance beyond the opening round last year and even though he’s already accomplished advancing in his first postseason run for RCR, Talladega could be his key to reaching the Round of 8.
For the Charlotte Roval, Tyler Reddick is on the short list of great road-course racers left in the postseason. But Larson will be out for redemption after he was eliminated at Charlotte last season, and Christopher Bell could return to his walk-off ways if he enters the road-course, oval hybrid below the elimination line.
📉 TRENDS TO WATCH 📈
— The last six races at Texas were won by different drivers.
— Chevrolet drivers have won three of the last four at Texas.
— Five of the last seven Texas playoff race winners reached the Championship 4 in the same season.
— Two of the last four Texas winners got their first win of the season.
(Via Racing Insights)
CLASSIC TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY RACES 🎥
2000: Dale Jr. scores his first career Cup Series victory | WATCH
2014: Keselowski, Gordon have pit-road brawl after contact in closing laps | WATCH
2015: Keselowski dominates, but loses to Jimmie Johnson and fails to reach Champ 4 | WATCH
After a tire test in July, Goodyear made a construction update to the right-side tires that will be unique to Sunday’s race. The left-side tires are the same that have been used at intermediate tracks this season. Teams will be allotted one set of tires for practice, one set for qualifying and an additional eight sets for the race.
Along the right-side door bars and extending toward the rear clip, teams are mandated to run a steel plate in addition to the chassis adjustments made for the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The right-side door bar gussets and the removal of the front clip V-brace are changes that remain, in addition to the removal of other front-clip components, to create a softer and larger crush zone for frontal impacts.
Also included in the updates are front-bumper strut softening (modifications to existing parts), the requirement of an empty front ballast box and a modified cross brace. NASCAR incurs the cost of all these updates.
In the event of a lost wheel that is contained to pit road, the offending team will be subject to a pass-through penalty under green-flag conditions. If the infraction occurs during a caution period, the offending team will restart at the tail end of the field.
If the wheel breaks free outside of pit road, the new rules guidelines mandate a two-lap penalty plus a two-race suspension for two crew members. Each penalty is series-specific: Violations in one series will not impact those crew members’ eligibility to participate in other series.
Fans can get in on the action all season long with NASCAR Fan Rewards, a free program that rewards fans for participating in the action when they watch races and play NASCAR Fantasy.
There’s no cost to join. Fans must be 18 years or older to participate in the program.
Earn points by checking into a race from home or at the track, setting your Fantasy Live lineup, making purchases on the NASCAR.com shop and more. Points can be redeemed for race tickets, merchandise and VIP experiences at the track, including pace car rides and waving the green flag at qualifying.
NASCAR Mobile has now added support for fans to “Follow the Race” and access live leaderboard and race information from Live Activities in the current app release (v13.2.0), available now. Android users, we didn’t forget you — the same functionality has been custom-built for Android devices, as well.
How to access Live Activities on iPhones:
Make sure your iOS device has been updated to 16.1 or higher.
Available on the leaderboard of all NASCAR Series races.
Click on the three-dot menu near the top right of screen.
Select “Follow the Race.”
Swipe up to access the home screen and you will see the Live Activities at the top.
Lock the device and you will see Live Activities on the Lock Screen.
To turn off, simply visit the leaderboard, click the three-dot menu and “Unfollow the Race.”
FANTASY LIVE 🏆
Want to manage a team and race your way to the top of the leaderboards? Check out NASCAR Fantasy Live, which resets for the playoffs. The free-to-play game lets you choose your drivers each week and show off your crew-chief instincts by garaging a driver by the end of Stage 2, and there is a $10,000 prize for the winner.
During the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, fans have the opportunity to compete in The Playoffs Grid™ Challenge presented by Ruoff Mortage. Fans can enter by visiting The Playoffs Grid™ Challenge page beginning Tuesday, Aug. 29 and registering for a free NASCAR.com account before filling out a bracket. From there, choose from a list of playoff-eligible drivers round by round, and you’re on your way to compete for prizes!
Get additional camera views by logging on to NASCAR Drive, where each week a select number of in-car cameras will be available — as well as a battle cam and an overhead look.
NASCAR has partnered with LiveLike to add fan engagement to the NASCAR Mobile App. Log in to the mobile app during the race for polls, quizzes, the cheer meter and more — and see instant results from NASCAR fans like you.
Lurking just behind Brenden Queen and Bobby McCarty in the Virginia Late Model Triple Crown standings is Winston-Salem, North Carolina’s Trevor Ward.
Despite not having the resources of his competition, Ward has amassed an average finish of fifth between the first two races of the Virginia Triple Crown, which currently has him third in the standings ahead of Saturday’s ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at Martinsville Speedway.
Defeating two of the disciplines best competitors is not going to be an easy task for Ward, yet the Late Model Stock veteran is not feeling any pressure as he looks to join an elite list of Virginia Triple Crown champions.
“It’s just like every other weekly show on a Friday or Saturday night,” Ward said. “I’m looking forward to [Martinsville]. We’ve devoted a lot of energy into that race, and I certainly couldn’t do it without everyone that’s helped me out. This is the first time I’ve ever raced for the Triple Crown, and we’ve put ourselves in the playground to do it.”
Ward and his No. 77 AAR Roofing Chevrolet have been a staple on both the weekly and touring sides of Late Model Stock competition since the mid-2010s.
Speed has never been an issue for Ward regardless of location, as he normally qualifies up front and maintains solid track position everywhere he goes. Despite having triumphed at the weekly level, Ward still finds himself working rigorously to put together complete races in events longer than 100 laps.
Opening the Virginia Triple Crown with two strong performances highlighted the progress Ward had made with his small program. He felt confident about his prospects in the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 at South Boston Speedway, having turned plenty of laps at the facility in its weekly division and with the CARS Tour, and he capitalized with a third-place finish.
Placing seventh in the Hampton Heat came as a pleasant surprise for Ward, as he only ran one national touring event at Langley Speedway prior to that weekend.
Finishes of third and seventh in the first two legs of the Virginia Late Model Triple Crown currently have Trevor Ward third in the standings. (Photo: Ryan M. Kelly/NASCAR)
Ward knows the effort displayed by his team at the shop is translating into success at the track, but he also credits the tough Late Model Stock competition around the Southeast for motivating him to develop more efficient setups.
“We haven’t been able to pull off a win [at South Boston], but we’ve raced up there with guys like Peyton [Sellers] and Carter [Langley],” Ward said. “Each time we’ve stacked up really good, so a lot of the progress stems from racing with good cars and knowing what you need to have to be there at the end.”
Strong results in the first two rounds of the Virginia Triple Crown have given Ward confidence heading into the ValleyStar Credit Union 300, a race that he believed could have ended in a top-five last year.
Ward earned a sixth-place starting position at Martinsville in 2022 and mixed it up with frontrunners like McCarty, Sellers and Mike Looney. He stayed within striking distance of the lead, but ran out of fuel with only 25 laps remaining, relegating Ward to a disappointing 28th-place finish.
Even though he was disappointed by the outcome, Ward found himself motivated to perform better once he departed Martinsville. By being one of the quickest among 90 cars in the most prestigious event for Late Model Stocks, Ward knows he is inching closer to his breakout victory in the discipline.
Accomplishing that goal starts with a strong qualifying effort on Friday night against a field that includes more than 80 cars. Placing himself near the front of his heat race would be a solid first step towards capitalizing on the strength of his equipment.
“This is our seventh year racing at [Martinsville] and every year we’ve gotten better,” Ward said. “That’s all we can ask for. If we’re making small gains, that will put us in contention to win that deal. I know we’re going to have a fast car, but picking the right strategy is the biggest thing along with letting everything come together.”
With steadily improving speed at Martinsville Speedway, Trevor Ward believes he can earn his first ValleyStar Credit Union 300 victory on Saturday. (Photo: Joe Chandler/South Boston Speedway)
Ward understands a victory in the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 could be a profound moment towards long-term sustainability in Late Model Stock competition.
The $32,000 up for grabs on Saturday night would be beneficial to help Ward keep his program up to par against powerhouses like Lee Pulliam Performance, JR Motorsports and R&S Race Cars, along with potential sponsorship opportunities stemming from the publicity surrounding the ValleyStar Credit Union 300.
Even though Ward wants to keep competing with the elite teams and drivers of Late Model Stock racing, he takes pride in what his small group has been able to accomplish with limited funding at their disposal. He said everyone on the team is fulfilling their own dream as they set their sights on obtaining both a grandfather clock and the Virginia Triple Crown title.
With so much money now flowing into Late Model Stock racing, Ward believes a victory on Saturday would be a perfect callback to the era of small teams attaining big goals.
“A win [at Martinsville] would open people’s eyes and realize that small people can still do it,” Ward said. “I thrive off the energy of picking ourselves up. I’ve done a lot with a little against those who do a lot with a lot.”
Ward has never been this close to either of Virginia’s most notable short track achievements in his career. A massive challenge awaits Ward, but he doesn’t plan to waste the chance to immortalize himself amongst Late Model Stock racing’s elites.
The field, which will take on the legendary venue Feb. 4, 2024, will be set based on these parameters:
— Top 10 drivers in regular-season points standings following the race at El Dorado Speedway (Sept. 23).
— Top six drivers in the NASCAR Mexico Challenge Series following the race at El Dorado Speedway (Sept. 23).
— Two Championship Provisional drivers, awarded to the most recent NASCAR Mexico champions not eligible based on driver points.
— One driver via fan vote, with eligibility coming from the rest of the field behind the cutoff in both divisions. Vote to be held for Mexico residents only.
— One guest driver, who will be announced at a later date.
Seven drivers have already punched their tickets to Los Angeles next February. These drivers are Rubén García Jr., Salvador de Alba, Germán Quiroga, Andres Pérez de Lara, Max Gutiérrez, Alex De Alba (Challenge Series) and Ruben Rovelo (Championship Provisional 1).
It’s easy to forget the aura of Trevor Bayne. As the youngest Daytona 500 champion in history (2011), he seemed to be on the cusp of greatness in his early 20s.
In reality, it’s been a fight to stay relevant.
Before last month’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Daytona International Speedway, Bayne was announced as the driver of the No. 19 Toyota in three of the forthcoming final 10 events of the season. Preceding this year were his nine standout races with JGR last season, which included five top-five and seven-10 finishes with two pole awards. Those performances put his name back on the map as a potential driver who could fill a competitive seat.
“I turned down a couple of truck rides full time and an Xfinity ride full time because this was the priority,” Bayne told NASCAR.com, 18 hours after his fifth child entered the world. “The Gibbs cars are so incredible, and I love the organization and the opportunities that were here.”
Last offseason, Bayne thought he would have a bigger role on the race track in 2023. Collectively, he and JGR thought it had 26 races together for the upcoming slate. In a situation no team likes to have, however, the suited sponsor backed out around Christmas time, leaving Bayne without any scheduled races.
“I was taking a chance because my deal here wasn’t done, the sponsorship wasn’t done,” Bayne added. “It was close with the sponsor they had on the line. I don’t know if they were just talking the talk or their business strategy changed, but at the last minute, we found out that this wasn’t going to happen.
“It set me back a little bit. I love being in the race car.”
Bayne was frustrated. Though he fell short of his goal of entering the winner’s column at least three times in 2022, he felt like he produced results well enough to get another chance. He had been through this before.
However, in a conversation with team owner Joe Gibbs and Steve deSouza, executive vice president of NASCAR Xfinity Series and development at JGR, Bayne was assured if any races opened over the duration of the 2023 schedule, he would get the call.
“I had a really strong season of nine races,” Bayne said. “It did produce opportunities, and I had those calls. Turning those down was difficult, but this felt like home to me, and if there was an opportunity here, I wanted to be here. I felt like it was worth waiting on.”
Come Daytona in August, Ty Gibbs, who was scheduled to drive the No. 19 car, was in a battle for the final Cup Series playoff spot. JGR decided it was optimal to have its 20-year-old rookie focus solely on the Cup Series race that weekend. The team received permission from its sponsors to add Bristol Motor Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway to Bayne’s schedule.
“We would love to have the opportunity to do more with him if that were a possibility,” deSouza said. “Sponsorship is difficult to raise those funds right now as everybody knows, but he’s trying to do that. If the right opportunity came to us, we would love to do something with him as well. I know he wants to do more and is determined to show what he can do in those events.
“We would love, selfishly, to put him in something with us, but if we can’t find something for him, we hope we can open somebody’s eyes and give him the opportunity.”
Bayne was in contention for the victory in each of his first two races this season. At Daytona, he led 26 laps before getting tangled up with Austin Hill on an overtime restart and finished 29th. At Bristol last weekend, he drove up to second place but dropped to seventh at the checkered flag.
Even if he were to win in his final scheduled start at Texas this Saturday (3:30 p.m. ET, USA, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), Bayne doesn’t believe it will lead to a full-time ride at JGR without bringing sponsorship to the table. But he does believe it can help his chances at securing opportunities for 2024.
“I don’t think that opens up the door tremendously,” he said. “I think it can close in on some things that we’re already working on. We’re already chasing things for next season to try to be in a car or truck.”
Standards are included. Bayne wants to be competitive and compete for wins. If not, he’s content being a television analyst for Fox Sports and serving as a driving coach for playoff driver Sammy Smith and 2023 ARCA Menards East champion William Sawalich.
“I enjoy helping develop the next generation of drivers because I needed that when I was 18,” he said. “If I had someone there helping me manage my race teams or telling me mistakes that I was going to make before I got to them, that would have been nice. I would have still made them, but I wouldn’t have done it two or three times.
“More than anything, actually being out of the sport for three years made me have a total appreciation and work ethic and perspective of what we get to do when we’re here.”
Over the years, Bayne has leaned on many close friends in the sport for advice on what to do. Among his best friends is Michael McDowell, who has had a different path to relevance from Bayne.
“He’s super talented, and it’s crazy to me that he doesn’t have something full-time,” McDowell said of Bayne. There are things in our sport that don’t make sense, and that’s one of the things that doesn’t make sense. You just never know how or when or why things work out the way they do, but hopefully, he will land a full-time deal over there and rebuild his career.”
Even still, Bayne will look toward impressing at Texas, where JGR’s all-star car won two seasons ago with John Hunter Nemechek.
Throughout the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, Advance Auto Parts is spotlighting a series of Home Track Heroes from NASCAR-sanctioned short tracks around the country. Each Home Track Hero, nominated by his or her peers as a result of contributions made to the race track, will have his or her name appear on the C-Post of Ryan Blaney’s No. 12 Team Penske Ford Mustang in a Cup Series Playoff race. Len Ellis, the race director and director of youth racing at Seekonk Speeday, is the Home Track Hero whose name will appear on Blaney’s car during the AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.
Len Ellis has been associated with Seekonk Speedway for more than 50 years.
He started winning races at the Massachusetts track in the 1970s and has been a major part of the venue’s community since. Now the race director for Seekonk’s NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series divisions and the Seekonk Youth Racing Bandoleros, Ellis himself is a two-time champion in the track’s Pro Stock division.
After his driving career ended, Ellis became a winning car owner. He also began assisting local youth through his son Tommy. That’s the Tommy Ellis who helped Joey Logano win the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series championship as his car chief.
Len Ellis returned to the track in 2015 as an official. He once again gravitated toward helping youth, this time teaching kids ages 8-16 the ropes of racing, assisting as they learn the track, the cars and the race craft required to succeed. Also included in Ellis’ teachings are sportsmanship and how to be a positive member of the community.
Several youth racers from Seekonk have progressed from the track’s divisions to NASCAR’s national and regional touring series. Which means the impact Ellis has on the future of NASCAR and its stars is immeasurable.
Ellis continues to be one of the most genuine people in the pit area. He’s always looking for ways to help the competitors and see the track thrive. He’s often found attending driver fundraisers in the offseason, assisting with setup advice on cars and chatting with everyone at the track before and after races. He enjoys all aspects of short-track racing Seekonk has to offer.
A Wall of Fame Member, Len Ellis is Seekonk Speedway’s Home Track Hero. From driver to official, to mentor, to friend, Ellis is a true Seekonk Speedway community hreo, and the track would not be where it is today without him.
