Posted on by Brandon White

After a long and grueling 2023 campaign, four drivers have earned the distinction as Division I regional champions in the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series.

Connor Hall, Matt Sheppard, Jacob Goede and Jeff Peterson all claimed NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series regional championships after enjoying stellar seasons in their respective parts of the country.

Reintroduced in 2021 after a prolonged absence, the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series regional titles are awarded to the drivers who score the most points in the Southeast, Northeast, Midwest and West, respectively. Each regional champion earns a $15,000 bonus for their efforts.

Below is a closer look at the four drivers who claimed NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series regional championships.

(Photo: Bill Carnes/Langley Speedway)

Southeast Region: Connor Hall

Dominant is the best word to describe Connor Hall’s 2023 season.

The 2023 NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series champion was an unstoppable force at his home track of Langley Speedway in Hampton, Virginia. He ended up tallying 14 victories at Langley to also secure his first championship at the facility.

Along with his efficiency at Langley, Hall also ventured out to other tracks in the southeast. Checkered flags at Hickory Motor Speedway and Southern National Motorsports Park helped bring Hall’s final win total to 18 on the year.

The closest competitor to Hall in the southeast was Doug Barnes Jr., who finished 36 points behind in second. He was followed by Peyton Sellers, Tyler Matthews, and Hickory track champion Kade Brown.

(Photo: Utica-Rome Speedway)

Northeast Region: Matt Sheppard

No driver has excelled on dirt tracks in the northeast like Matt Sheppard.

Boasting one of the most prestigious auto racing resumes in the entire country, Sheppard added a NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Northeast regional title to his long list of accomplishments with an efficient year that saw him earn 13 victories, 11 of which came at Utica-Rome Speedway.

The blistering pace Sheppard set in Utica-Rome’s Modified division allowed him to claim the track title by 66 points. Sheppard’s consistency resulted in a second-place finish in the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series national standings just six points behind Connor Hall.

Sheppard was followed in the northeast region standings by Grandview Speedway regular Brett Kressley. Making up the rest of the top five in the northeast region were Mike Gular, David Hebert, and Alex Yankowski.

(Photo: LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway)

Midwest Region: Jacob Goede

Jacob Goede is no stranger to success in the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series.

With a national championship in 2016 already on his resume, Goede added another accomplishment this year by taking the Midwest regional title. He did this by totaling five victories and 22 top fives between Elko Speedway and LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway.

Elko was where Goede accumulated four of his victories, but none of them came easy for the veteran. Goede traded wins with fellow track regular Jake Ryan all year in a heated points battle that came down to the last race.

Michael Bilderback and Jesse Dennis finished second and third, respectively, to Goede in the Midwest region. Placing fourth in the region was Ryan, with rookie John Potter completing the top five.

(Photo: The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway)

West Region: Jeff Peterson

A competitive West Coast environment in the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series saw Jeff Peterson emerge as the best driver in the region.

Six victories in the Pro Late Model division at the Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway enabled Peterson to secure the track championship over Jaron Gianinni. Peterson’s consistency around the Bullring all year was crucial toward taking home the West regional title.

When he was not competing at the Bullring, Peterson padded his advantage in the West regional standings with several strong runs at Irwindale Speedway. Although he was not able to contend for an Irwindale track title, Peterson more than benefitted in the West regional standings with several top-five runs at the facility.

Gianinni was second to Peterson in the West regional standings, as well. The rest of the top five consisted of Linny White, Brendon Fries and Kyle Latham.

Posted on by Adam Fenwick

The Bumgarner family has been involved in racing for three generations. What started with Mike Bumgarner was later passed down to his sons, Kevin and Keith Bumgarner.

Now the youngest member of the Bumgarner family, Keith’s son Michael Bumgarner, is starting to blaze his own trail.

Michael Bumgarner celebrates a victory at Hickory Motor Speedway earlier this year. (Photo: Gardner Street Photography/Hickory Motor Speedway)

Racing full-time in the Late Model Stock Car class at Hickory Motor Speedway this year for the first time, Michael put together a strong season that allowed him to earn the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Rookie of the Year presented by Jostens.

The reigning Limited Late Model champion at Hickory Motor Speedway competed in 29 events throughout the 2023 season, primarily at Hickory in addition to a few visits to South Carolina’s Florence Motor Speedway.

His campaign included one victory at Hickory, his first in a Late Model Stock Car, as well as 21 top fives and 28 top 10s. He finished the season at Hickory ranked second in the track championship standings to champion Kade Brown.

Those strong numbers allowed driver from Taylorsville, North Carolina to lay claim to the Weekly Series Rookie of the Year honors by 28 points ahead of Nevada’s Jaron Giannini. Bumgarner also secured NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Division I Southeast Region Rookie of the Year honors, besting Georgia’s Lanie Buice by 50 points.

Bumgarner was not the only rookie recognized by NASCAR for their efforts during the 2023 season. The sanctioning body also handed out Rookie of the Year honors to the best newcomer in the Midwest, Northeast and West, respectively.

Below are the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Regional Rookie of the Year recipients from the Midwest, Northeast and West.

Midwest Rookie of the Year – John Potter

In his rookie season at the Division I level, Potter enjoyed a strong season at Oklahoma’s Salina Highbanks Speedway. He banked two points-paying wins and claimed the track championship in the headlining B-Mod class at the track.

In addition, Potter ended the year ranked 36th in the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Division I standings.

Northeast Rookie of the Year – Rocky Warner

Far from your traditional rookie, Warner is a veteran dirt racer with victories at some of the Northeast’s top race tracks.

Warner’s 2023 NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series season included two victories at New York’s Fonda Speedway, and he was ranked 45th overall in the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Division I standings.

West Rookie of the Year – Jaron Giannini

A busy year for Henderson, Nevada’s Giannini was also a successful one, as he scored five victories split between the Pro Late Model class at The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and the Modified class at Arizona’s Tucson Speedway.

Giannini ended the year ranked 24th in the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Division I standings.

Posted on by Zack Albert

TALLADEGA, Ala. — Denny Hamlin found solace and some positive points after Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race at Talladega Superspeedway, recovering from a pit-road speeding penalty to claim third place in a mammoth rally with 20 laps to go. His place in the postseason standings is the most secure among those who aren’t already Round of 12 winners, but the rest of his Toyota mates are facing a mixed bag of scenarios.

Hamlin emerged from Sunday’s YellaWood 500 with a 50-point gap on the provisional elimination line, with just one race remaining — Sunday’s Bank of America Roval 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway’s road course (2 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App) — before four more drivers are ousted from title eligibility. Only Ryan Blaney, the Talladega winner, and William Byron, Sunday’s runner-up and a victor the previous week in Texas, have earned automatic passage to the Round of 8.

RELATED: Talladega results | Playoff Pulse

Hamlin was penalized when his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was clocked as too fast in the first section of pit road on Lap 105 of the 188-lap distance. The infraction knocked him to 33rd in the 38-car field and off the lead lap, a deficit he would not regain until receiving the free pass in a caution period with 25 laps remaining.

“Just (expletive) up like I’ve done like every year in the playoffs,” said Hamlin, who led once for three laps and was the only Toyota driver to finish among the top 10. “So I mean, I don’t know, it’s just dumb, and certainly it’s the one time in the race, you just can’t do it under green, and I managed to but also managed to get the lucky dog and then drive to the front.”

Driving forward was made difficult for each of the five Toyota drivers still alive in the playoffs from early on. Pitting in sequence with the rest of the Camry crowd in Stage 1 turned costly. Fords made green-flag stops together on Lap 38, with most of the contending Chevrolets hitting pit road one lap later. The Toyota group waited until Lap 41, and as those drivers were getting back up to speed to rejoin the fray, the pack overwhelmed them and whisked by, leaving them mired back in the field when the pay window opened for stage points at the first break.

Stage points were tough to come by in general for the automaker. Of the five Toyota playoff contenders, only Tyler Reddick grabbed a single stage point for his 10th-place finish at Stage 2. He was among those lamenting how their pack mentality didn’t result in forward progress.

“No, it really didn’t, unfortunately,” said Reddick, who placed 16th with a No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota damaged in final-lap bedlam at the checkered flag. “You know, I think just the pack racing’s evolving, teams are getting smarter. They kind of know what they need to do, and we’re just gonna have to keep getting … going back to the drawing board and be creative on our end, right, to figure it out and make it work.”

Hamlin, whose superspeedway prowess has three Daytona 500 wins to vet for it, was also feeling stymied.

“I mean, I need to look at the final finishing order, but I’m not convinced that manufacturers sticking with each other is the right move,” Hamlin said. “I’m just, because in my opinion, there’s probably … and actually, I talked to five of what I thought was the best superspeedway racers going into this race and said, ‘Do you feel like you can show off your skill set as much in Next Gen?’ No, because of alliances and because of this and the other. So it just, it handcuffs what drivers that are really special doing this, when you have to run right behind whoever is in front of you, it certainly puts the cuffs on you.”

Hamlin heads to the Round of 8 finale with the most comfortable of playoff margins, and his two JGR teammates are also on the plus side — Christopher Bell, up 22 points on the provisional elimination line, and Martin Truex Jr. at plus-17. The other Toyota drivers from the 23XI Racing camp are both below the line, with Reddick at minus-2 and teammate Bubba Wallace — a 23rd-place finisher Sunday — with a nine-point deficit.

Behind Hamlin, Bell was the best of the rest among Toyotas with a 14th-place result Sunday. Those finishes further back were a missed opportunity to make better gains on fellow playoff competitors Brad Keselowski and Ross Chastain, who both exited Sunday’s 500-miler early in separate crashes.

Wallace voiced those concerns over the No. 23 team’s radio, and he added post-race that their group fought uphill for track position nearly from the start.

“Yeah, that goes back to the plan,” Wallace said. “Like, we’re trying to let Toyotas in, like, I’m all for it. So if Toyota, anybody at JGR sees this, I’m all for it, but it was just hurting us, and it was just pulling us back. So we gotta, I think we’ve got to fight to get to the front, and then when it’s time to give and take, we start doing it there. But we were riding around 20th and like, ‘Hey, come on, get in line,’ and that moves our line back, so it’s like, well, that didn’t really do any help. So we’ve just got to revamp it, but yeah, just one of those days.”

Posted on by Zack Albert

TALLADEGA, Ala. — The No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford of Kevin Harvick was disqualified Sunday evening in post-race inspection after Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series event at Talladega Superspeedway.

Harvick had just crossed under the checkered flag with an apparent second-place finish to Ryan Blaney in his final Talladega race as Harvick wraps up his final Cup Series campaign. But his No. 4 entry was found in violation of Sections 14.5.6.2.F and 14.1.E and P; the former states that “windshield fasteners must remain secure for the entire Event,” and the latter section pertains to “Overall Assembled Vehicle Rules.”

RESULTS: Talladega results | At-track photos: Talladega

The ruling demoted Harvick to a last-place finish in the 38-car field for the YellaWood 500, and all other finishers behind him move up one position each. He also relinquished the three stage points earned for an eighth-place finish after Stage 1.

William Byron moved up to second place behind Blaney in the revised results. No other infractions were found in post-race inspection, confirming Blaney’s second win of the season.

On Monday afternoon, Stewart-Haas Racing issued a statement from chief competition officer Greg Zipadelli confirming the organization will not appeal the penalty.

“At the completion of the race, not all of our windshield fasteners were secure, as we had bolts that hold the windshield in place back out over the course of the 500 miles,” Zipadelli said in the team’s statement. “We are in the process of diagnosing why this happened and how to prevent it moving forward.

“We are disappointed in NASCAR’s decision to disqualify our race car and the hard-earned finish by our driver and team, but we will not appeal. Our complete focus is on the remaining races on this year’s schedule.”

The Cup Series returns to action with the final race of the Round of 12 Sunday at the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course (2 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).

Posted on by Staff Report

After the fifth race of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, here’s a quick look at the playoff picture. The middle race of the Round of 12 has concluded at Talladega Superspeedway, with only the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course next Sunday remaining before the championship-eligible field is trimmed to eight.

WINNER

Ryan Blaney scored a dramatic and ultimately clutch victory on Sunday at Talladega, edging Kevin Harvick for the win by just 0.012 seconds to lock his way into the Round of 8. Blaney, who scored the Stage 1 victory earlier in the contest, now carries an additional six playoff points into the next stanza of the postseason thanks to his Alabama efforts.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Talladega

WHO’S HOT?

Denny Hamlin. Hamlin bounced back from an early pit-road speeding penalty after falling off the lead lap and recovered for a fourth-place finish (third place after Harvick’s No. 4 Ford failed post-race inspection and was DQ’d). The result marks Hamlin’s second top-five result of the round after a fifth-place finish last week at Texas.

Christopher Bell. It was far from pretty, but a 14th-place finish at Talladega marked a day salvaged for the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing team. Bell was involved in a Lap 162 crash and suffered significant front-end damage, but the team was able to repair the vehicle enough to keep it in contention and score a reasonable result. Bell leaves Talladega sitting third in the points standings, 22 points above the elimination line.

WHO’S NOT?

Ross Chastain. Chastain was the victim of Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s fuel stumble on the final lap of Stage 1, his No. 1 Chevrolet clipped by Kyle Busch as Busch attempted to dodge Stenhouse. Chastain was sent into the outside wall, and the damage ended his day, relegating him to a 37th-place finish with only one point gained. After entering Sunday sixth in the standings, 12 points above the elimination line, Chastain leaves Talladega 11th in points, 10 markers below the elimination line.

Brad Keselowski. Keselowski was ousted from the race after triggering a Lap 162 multicar crash. An errant push to Carson Hocevar through the tri-oval spun Hocevar into traffic, collecting Ty Gibbs and Austin Dillon. Dillon clipped Keselowski, whose car briefly became airborne before settling back onto the pavement. Keselowski bolstered his points total by winning Stage 2, adding 10 points to his total, but he exits Alabama eighth in the standings, two points above the provisional elimination line.

BUBBLE WATCH

RankDriverCutoff
5Chris Buescher19
6Martin Truex Jr17
7Kyle Larson15
8Brad Keselowski2
ELIMINATION LINE
9Tyler Reddick-2
10Bubba Wallace-9
11Ross Chastain-10
12Kyle Busch-26
Posted on by Holly Cain

TALLADEGA, Ala. — Ryan Blaney’s No. 12 Team Penske Ford crossed the finish line about a foot ahead of Kevin Harvick’s No. 4 Ford to claim victory in a thrilling final 10-lap push to the checkered flag on Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway.

With the win — Blaney’s third at Talladega — he punched his ticket to the next round of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. Blaney led eight laps but was out front in the final two laps to secure the win over Harvick, whose car was disqualified during post-race technical inspection for violating rules involving windshield fasteners. It’s Blaney’s second win of the season and the ninth of his career.

SHOP: Winner’s gear

“I don’t really know, pretty wild last restart, let alone last couple laps,’’ Blaney said of the frantic finish. “Kinda lost momentum, then getting it back, got clear to the bottom to kind of get to the front row and drag race it out with Kevin (Harvick). It’s so cool to win here three times at Talladega.

“I won it by more than I had the last couple years,” Blaney said with a laugh. “You just don’t know. You have to drag race to the line and hope you get help. William (Byron) gave me a pretty good shove on the bottom.”

With Harvick’s disqualification, playoff drivers Byron and Denny Hamlin finished second and third, respectively. Corey LaJoie was fourth for his third career top-five finish as he came across just ahead of a multicar accident with Austin Cindric, who finished fifth.

Justin Haley, Chase Elliott, Ryan Preece, Riley Herbst — making only his fourth career Cup Series start — and Daniel Suárez rounded out the top 10.

MORE: Race results | At-track photos: Talladega

It was an action-packed day at Talladega, with 70 lead changes among 24 drivers. Blaney’s teammate, Joey Logano, led the most laps (48) but finished 24th.

Seven drivers led double-digit laps, but only one of those — Byron — was a playoff driver.

Hamlin’s third-place effort was especially impressive, considering he was issued a pit-road penalty mid-race and had to recover from being a lap down.

“Not how we drew it up, but a dub (W) is a dub, and that was a dub in our book,” Hamlin said. “As close as it gets to it. I made a statement, bringing me a car fast enough for us to win. And obviously, when I had to go there, I could, and just made the right moves at the right time, and a top five is a long way from where we were with about 15 laps to go.”

Blaney joined last week’s Texas winner Byron with victories in this three-race playoff round to earn a position in the Round of 8. Hamlin’s rally, after running outside the top 20 for much of the middle of the race, keeps his position atop the playoff standings (50 points up on the elimination line).

RELATED: See drivers closest to elimination line

Brad Keselowski, one of two playoff drivers to suffer a DNF on Sunday, still holds a slim two-point edge on Tyler Reddick for the eighth and final transfer position going into next week’s race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course.

Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain, who was involved in an early-race accident and suffered his first DNF of the playoffs, dropped below the elimination line for the first time this round and is now in 11th place, 10 points back.

Chastain is one point behind 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace, a former Talladega race winner who finished 23rd on Sunday. His team co-owner, NBA superstar Michael Jordan, met up with Wallace on pit road after the race, offering a handshake, pat on the back and some encouraging words.

Two-time series champion Kyle Busch finds himself in a catch-up role, essentially needing a walk-off victory next week at the road course. He finished 25th and sits 26 points behind eighth-place Keselowski.

The Bank of America ROVAL 400 is next Sunday afternoon at the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course (2 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App). Christopher Bell is the defending race winner.

Note: Harvick’s No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford was the only car found with an issue in post-race inspection, confirming Blaney as the event winner. Four cars will be taken to the NASCAR R&D Center for engine dynamometer testing: No. 24 (Hendrick), No. 11 (TRD), No. 31 (ECR) and No. 41 (RYE).

Posted on by Staff Report

Brad Keselowski crashed out of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs race at Talladega Superspeedway after triggering a multicar accident.

Keselowski was pushing rookie Carson Hocevar through the tri-oval bend of Talladega’s frontstretch and clipped Hocevar’s left-rear quarter panel. The contact sent Hocevar sliding into the pack, where he tipped Ty Gibbs and Austin Dillon spinning into the outside SAFER barrier. Dillon caught Keselowski in the left rear, sending the No. 6 RFK Racing Ford spinning toward the inside wall. The car briefly became airborne before the aerodynamic roof flaps set the vehicle back onto the pavement.

MORE: Race results | At-track photos: Talladega

The crash ended Keselowski’s day, a critical blow as the 2012 NASCAR Cup Series champion battles through the postseason. Sunday’s race marks the middle race of the Round of 12, with four drivers set to be eliminated from championship contention following next week’s race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course. Keselowski entered Talladega in seventh place, eight points above the provisional divide. He will be credited with a 32nd-place finish, earning 15 points — 10 of which came from winning Stage 2. That boost of points left him two points above the line, eighth in the standings.

“I didn’t hit that hard so I’m fine. I would’ve been OK but the toe link was broke, so I wasn’t able to keep moving,” Keselowski told NBC Sports. “Just unfortunate. We got shuffled to the outside line here. The 42 (Hocevar) pulled up in front of me. I’m like, ‘Alright, let’s go. We’re gonna go back up to the front.’ And I just pushed him and he kind of instantly spun out. I don’t think he did anything wrong. I just think his car probably wasn’t driving that good.

“It’s frustrating, you know? We were able to win the second stage and we were in good position there for a long time and just kind of unraveled on us. That’s how it goes here sometimes.”

Asked if Hocevar’s inexperience was factored before applying the push, Keselowski said: “Only one way to learn. Get out there and go. This is just part of this racing. You push, and I gave him a pretty light push. I don’t really think he did anything wrong. I just don’t think his car was handling well enough.”

Keselowski, Gibbs, Dillon and Hocevar were unable to continue but were evaluated and released from the infield care center. Chase Briscoe and Harrison Burton were also involved. Briscoe was able to continue toward a 13th-place finish while Burton’s race ended from suspension damage after 175 laps, resulting in a 31st-place finish.

Posted on by Staff Report

Ross Chastain was involved in a Lap 60 crash in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway, jeopardizing his hopes to advance in the NASCAR Playoffs.

Entering Turn 3 on the final lap of Stage 1, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. appeared to run out of fuel while leading the outside lane of cars. That slowed Kyle Busch, another postseason contender, who was just behind Stenhouse. As the pair slowed, Busch darted left to avoid Stenhouse and clipped Chastain’s No. 1 Chevrolet. Chastain spun into the SAFER barrier and incurred significant damage to his right-front fender and suspension, then was hit by Christopher Bell — yet another playoff contender.

MORE: Race results | At-track photos: Talladega

Chastain drove his Trackhouse Racing entry to the garage before being evaluated and released from the infield care center.

“Yeah, saw some slow and tagging the fence, and obviously they were that much slower, I should have just stayed in behind them,” Chastain said. “Four-wide wasn’t … obviously was not the right call. I saw a hole and just tried to slide through there. Wished I wouldn’t have.”

Chastain entered Sunday’s race 12 points above the elimination line with only one race remaining in the Round of 12. Four drivers will be eliminated from postseason contention following next week’s race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course on Sunday, Oct. 8 (2 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).

WATCH: In-car: Chastain wreck at Talladega

“Whatever we bring next week, we’ll put our best foot forward,” said Chastain, who advanced to the Championship 4 last season. “As long as I get to drive these rocket ships that Trackhouse brings me, I’m living my dream, and we’ll keep fighting.”

Chastain was credited with a 37th-place finish with one point scored, ahead only of Kevin Harvick, whose No. 4 Ford was disqualified upon failing post-race technical inspection. Chastain enters the Charlotte road course 11th in points, 10 markers shy of the provisional elimination line.

Bell, Stenhouse and Busch were able to continue toward finishes of 14th, 22nd and 25th, respectively.

Posted on by Staff Report

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. André Boissonneault, who’s in charge of the tow crew as well as an important annual charity race at Autodrome Granby, is the Home Track Hero whose name will appear on Blaney’s car during the YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

André Boissonneault is a staple at Autodrome Granby, the NASCAR Home Track located in Quebec, Canada.

His impact at the facility began 35 years ago.

Boissonneault was behind the start of what’s now known as the Défi-Vision, a race at Autodrome Granby in which blind drivers, aided by co-pilots in their cars, compete for 10 laps around the dirt track.

The Défi-Vision is a fundraising race that supports the MIRA Foundation, an organization that provides guide dogs for blind children. The MIRA Foundation also provides seminars for families of blind children with reference to daily living skills, psychology of blindness and what to emphasize in orientation.

In the 35 years Boissonneault and Autodrome Granby have been hosting the Défi-Vision, they have raised more than $1.5 million for the MIRA Foundation.

Boissonneault since the beginning has found and prepared the cars for the Défi-Vision.

In addition to his help with the charity race, Boissonneault aids Autodrome Granby through the towing company he founded in 1979.

Boissonneault and his employees are in charge of the towing crew at the race track; he’s worked countless volunteer hours over the years making drivers feel safer thanks to his presence. The track refers to Boissonneault and his crew as the best in the business when it comes to the dirt racing world.

At this point, it’s a family business. Both Boissonneault’s son and grandson have joined the fold through the years.

Boissonneault has been a pioneer at his local track. To Autodrome Granby, he’s the definition of a Home Track Hero.

Posted on by Staff Report

Anything can happen at Talladega. It’s easy to say that, but we also have the numbers to prove it.

PLAYOFFS: Playoffs hub page | Playoffs Grid Challenge game

— Seven different drivers have won the last seven Cup races at Talladega, with six different teams accounting for those victories.

— Six of the last seven races at Talladega have ended with a last-lap pass for the win.

— The last four Talladega winners all started from 16th place or worse.

— The final green-flag stretch was two laps or less in nine of the last 10 Talladega races.

These are all encouraging signs for drivers who suffered a slow start in the Round of 12 at Texas Motor Speedway. It means if they can be around at the end of Sunday’s YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway (2 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriuxXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App), then they’ll have a chance to go for a season-altering victory in the NASCAR Playoffs.

At least two big-name drivers could certainly use a pick-me-up after Texas — Kyle Busch and Ryan Blaney both stumbled out of the gate and sit 17 points and 11 points beneath the elimination line, respectively. And although Busch was the winner here in the spring, the stats tend to favor Blaney for this one.

Since 2017, Blaney has scored an average of 32 points per race at Talladega, and that’s tops among active drivers. He has also led laps in nine of the last 10 Talladega races, a stretch that has included two victories.

However, just as Talladega could mean a golden opportunity for drivers like Blaney and Busch, there are others who will need to buck the statistical trends if they hope to have a good result on Sunday.

PLAYOFF PICTURE

KYLE LARSON: Larson was running so well at Texas until disaster struck late when he lost aero grip racing close to Bubba Wallace and crashed en route to a 31st-place finish. Now Larson comes to a track where his fortunes haven’t been good (only three top-10 finishes in 17 starts) and with only a two-point cushion on the elimination line. | Breaking down Larson’s wreck

MARTIN TRUEX JR.:  Truex comes to Talladega with a 19-point cushion to the elimination line, but he can’t get too comfortable, considering he has bettered his positioning only once at Talladega under the current playoff format. Plus, he hasn’t had a strong playoff run to this point and finished 17th last week at Texas.

BRAD KESELOWSKI: Keselowski is only eight points above the elimination line, but his history at Talladega is the exact opposite of Truex’s as he leads active drivers with six victories at the 2.66-mile track. Keselowski hasn’t won in Cup since April 2021 at Talladega, but his two runner-up finishes in 2023 came at drafting-style tracks (Atlanta, Daytona).

CHRIS BUESCHER: Keselowski’s RFK Racing teammate won the last drafting race in August at Daytona and has an average finish of 2.67 on superspeedways this season. It wouldn’t be a surprise if he improved upon his 22-point cushion above the elimination line.

BUBBA WALLACE: Wallace is coming off a strong showing at Texas, where he led a race-high 111 laps and finished third. Plus, he has typically run strong at drafting tracks, including a fall win at Talladega in 2021.

Projections as of Sunday, Oct. 1:

RACING INSIGHTS’ PROJECTIONS FOR THE YELLAWOOD 500

Racing Insights’ advanced statistical formula includes current track, current track type, recent performance, team data and pit-crew data to arrive at a projected winner and full race results.

FinishCar NumberDriver
16Brad Keselowski
211Denny Hamlin
324William Byron
49Chase Elliott
517Chris Buescher
620Christopher Bell
712Ryan Blaney
84Kevin Harvick
91Ross Chastain
1043Erik Jones
1119Martin Truex Jr.
1223Bubba Wallace
135Kyle Larson
1410Aric Almirola
1548Alex Bowman
1699Daniel Suárez
1745Tyler Reddick
188Kyle Busch
1922Joey Logano
2014Chase Briscoe
2154Ty Gibbs
2247Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
2334Michael McDowell
242Austin Cindric
257Corey LaJoie
263Austin Dillon
2738Todd Gilliland
2831Justin Haley
2916AJ Allmendinger
3041Ryan Preece
3177Ty Dillon
3221Harrison Burton
3351J.J. Yeley
3413Chandler Smith
3578BJ McLeod
3636Riley Herbst
3742Carson Hocevar
3815Brennan Poole