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. William Brown, the volunteer track manager at North Carolina’s Wake County Speedway, is the Home Track Hero whose name will appear on Blaney’s car during the Bank of America Roval 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Those at Wake County Speedway think of William Brown as the NASCAR Home Track’s hero without a cape.
His dedication to the facility began in 2019, when he heard Wake County referred to as “that dump.”
Brown’s son Zack at the time was — and still is — a racer at Wake County. But the “dump” reference lit a fire under the elder Brown, who became motivated to approach track promotor Charlie Hansen and ask about ways to make the facility a “nicer playground” for his son and other competitors.
Still a volunteer to this day, Brown was named the track manager in 2020. Ever since that meeting in 2019, Brown has dedicated 50-60 hours per week making improvements to Wake County’s grounds.
Brown is a retired builder, hence his ability to construct improvements to the track. For example, on race nights, Brown can be found overlooking his hard work from the VIP deck he built himself. He does not participate in race-day operations; he’s there supporting his son.
Beyond the work Brown has done to improve Wake County’s facilities, he also was a major factor in the track’s decision to become NASCAR-sanctioned. Hansen knew such a move would further Brown’s vision for the track.
Many at Wake County know Brown for his ability to chat. He’s never met a stranger, and when he gets going, good luck getting him to stop talking about Wake County. It’s a quality those around him adore.
The track goes as far as explaining that if Brown were a paid employee, there’s no monetary compensation that could represent what he means to Wake County and its entire operation.
The timing felt right to gather a cross-section of stock-car racing industry figures in the sport’s shrine. As NASCAR’s 75th anniversary celebration winds down and the details surrounding a new season draw near, the floor was open for a range of topics — on where the sport has been but also the course that it charts to move forward.
The NASCAR Insiders Roundtable, a two-part video series, debuted Monday with a panel of distinguished guests offering their candid insights on a list of topics, with the goal of sharing perspectives on potential improvements for the sport. The second part airs at 7 p.m. ET on Wednesday on NASCAR’s YouTube channel.
Steve Letarte, a race-winning crew chief turned analyst with NBC’s broadcasting team, moderated the discussion from the Hall of Honor in the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Contributing guests included Cup Series Playoffs drivers Christopher Bell and William Byron, NASCAR competition officials Elton Sawyer and John Probst, and Team Penske competition director Travis Geisler.
Part 1 dives primarily into the NASCAR schedule — its current 36-race length, the variety of tracks and markets that the circuit visits, and the impact of temporary street courses. The discussion touched on what used to be a “rinse and repeat” schedule — “I mean, I knew when my kid’s birthday was based on what race we’re going to,” Geisler joked — but that has since become more vibrant with a more interesting mix of events. That topic included debate about how the postseason should look, being selective about which 10 races will settle the Cup Series championship.
“I personally like the playoffs being the Wrigley Field-type race tracks, like Darlington,” said Byron, who posted one of his six victories this year at the historic South Carolina raceway. “Watkins Glen could be one. I think those tracks, in a competition standpoint, that’s like, ‘OK, you bring your best, and this is where it shows.’ ”
The aftermath of the inaugural Chicago Street Race was also up for discussion, from the international appeal of Shane van Gisbergen’s victory to the logistical challenges the event presented. Bell mentioned drawing in new competitors to NASCAR as well as having stock-car stars explore other series would be a “win-win” situation. Geisler amplified that point, saying doubleheaders with a mix of racing series would be worth exploring.
“I think that some of those, maybe they’re street courses or somewhere, we should be able to link up with those guys and run with the IndyCar Series or run with some other series, just to have some kind of cross-pollination of fans and give people a little bit of a different taste for things,” Geisler said. “I know to go run street courses takes a tremendous amount of logistical planning and money to make all that happen, to shut the city down. Why not knock out two events?”
NASCAR Studios
Wednesday’s final part explores the future of rules packages for the Next Gen car, specifically the configuration for short tracks and where alterations — in aerodynamics and horsepower — might make a difference. Part 2 also closes on the ever-evolving topic of safety, specifically after a pair of dramatic crashes in the Cup Series’ regular-season finale at Daytona.
Probst provided detailed insights on the nature of the crash investigation, saying the information-gathering process began nearly immediately after the checkered flag. All the measurements, data and calculations from the wrecked cars and computer modeling were crunched in the NASCAR Research & Development Center, and the early findings after Ryan Preece’s dramatic flip prompted a modification to the window-net assembly.
“When you’re at the R&D Center, there are a lot of Next Gen cars sitting around that have been crashed,” says Probst, a NASCAR Senior VP and Chief Racing Development Officer. “I think that as fans, it’s easy — and even sometimes as industry guys — we get caught up in the entertainment. It really is dangerous what these guys do and the stuff they put themselves through, and we lose more sleep just worrying about their safety, but as a fan, you don’t always see that.”
Wrapping the roundtable was the topic of communication and how these issues are discussed — among teams, drivers, manufacturers and competition officials. The panel consensus was that the channels of communication are more open than ever, with regular meetings and updates scheduled among the groups.
“I think this forum is an example of that,” Geisler said. “This is really kind of a place that’s a bit unheard of, I think. We haven’t typically sat down and just had a conversation with drivers and NASCAR and teams and just said like, here’s all the challenges. Let’s try to figure out how we fix some of the fans’ problems. That’s the most important thing for all of us, right?”
AM Racing announced Thursday that Hailie Deegan will join the team with a multiyear agreement in the NASCAR Xfinity Series beginning in 2024.
The deal was unveiled at the NASCAR Hall of Fame, where the team — established by Tim Self and operated by Kevin Cywinski — expressed its intent for an expanded presence in the Xfinity Series, with the assets and means to field two cars next year. Deegan will drive the No. 15 Ford next season.
Deegan moves to Xfinity competition after three seasons in the Craftsman Truck Series — two with David Gilliland’s operation and this year with ThorSport Racing. The 22-year-old driver also has one Xfinity Series start, driving a Bobby Dotter-owned SS GreenLight Racing entry to 13th place at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last fall.
“I think the conversations with everybody in the industry selling me (on) I need to get to Xfinity — people that have experienced it, people that have been a part of it, and drivers who are part of this series — so I think that’s something that has gone a long way in reassuring me that like, ‘OK, I think this is really the right step for me and direction of my career,'” Deegan said. “You see a lot of people skip trucks and have success in Xfinity and the Cup Series, so I don’t think it’s something that you have to do, but obviously I’ve done trucks and it’s had its ups and downs. We’ve had some really good moments; we’ve had some really not-so-good moments. So I think just moving on from that and starting fresh in the Xfinity car and with this new team and building something really great from there.”
Deegan joined the Ford driver development program in December 2019. Before reaching NASCAR’s national series, she was a three-time winner in the ARCA Menards Series West.
“We are excited to see Hailie continuing to advance her career by running full-time with AM Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2024,” Mark Rushbrook, global director Ford Performance Motorsports, said in a release. “Hailie works so hard on and off the track, and AM Racing will surround her with a great team to continue her development. From what we saw from Hailie in her Xfinity Series debut in Las Vegas last year, we look forward to some great results in 2024.”
AM Racing has fielded entries in Xfinity, Craftsman Trucks and ARCA Menards Series competition this season, joining the Xfinity ranks just this past year. Brett Moffitt – a winner last weekend in Truck Series competition at Talladega Superspeedway — has been the driver of the team’s full-time Xfinity entry, and AM Racing president Wade Moore said the company hopes he will return, though no decision has been announced regarding his future.
“The goal for us is to find a way to keep Brett within the program,” Moore said. “As of right now, we don’t have anything to really report on that. That is still our intentions. He’s done such a fantastic job for us — not only as a driver, but as it pertains to just a teammate and a person. He’s truly a guy that is someone that you can build around and someone you’d like to keep in your program, not just from a talent standpoint. We love his family and Stephanie and Cooper, so certainly something we’re going to keep moving down the field. We have all the necessary assets in order to run a two-car program next year, so that is the intentions as we move forward.”
In addition to Deegan’s signing, the team announced Airbox, Inc., and VIVA Tequila Seltzer will serve as primary partners through Deegan’s inaugural Xfinity season. Deegan and company dignitaries unveiled two show cars at the NASCAR Hall with those designs for the 2024 season.
Moore said that the agreement comes with a strengthening of ties and support with Ford, which added AM Racing to its list of Xfinity Series teams before this season. That also comes with an acknowledgement that Deegan’s results have included struggles during her three Truck Series campaigns with glimpses of promise (five top 10s in 67 starts) as she continues to get acclimated to the national-series stage.
“I look at it from an emotional standpoint, because that’s really what I have to go on,” Moore said. “She is, again, very committed, very passionate. She does have a lot to prove, you’re right. She hasn’t maybe lived up to even her own expectations. But with that, we still have a lot of room for growth, too. So I think that coincides very well. But from truly a performance standpoint, Ford believes in her, Ford is going to continue to stay behind her, and who am I, who are we as AM Racing to doubt whatever Mark Rushbrook or … anyone from that camp has to say when it comes to competition.
“So we’ll continue to follow their lead and work hand in hand with them. But again, we’re growing. She’s got a lot of room to grow. We’re going to do it together, and that’s why I think it’ll work.”
Since its inception in 2018, the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course has annually delivered postseason drama. That drama has amplified since moving to the Round of 12 elimination race in 2020.
Are back-to-back walk-off victories at the Roval on tap, or do the current top eight hold serve to set the semifinal round in the Cup Series Playoffs? Before the answer is revealed Sunday (2 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App), get a look at who has the best chance to save their season, as well as trends to watch, Goodyear tire info and interactive ways to follow all the action this weekend.
Six spots are still up for grabs ahead of Sunday’s Round of 12 finale. William Byron (Texas) and Ryan Blaney (Talladega) have already earned their spot into the next round via wins, and Denny Hamlin appears to be well on his way to the Round of 8 as he enters Charlotte 50 points above the elimination line.
Last year’s Roval winner Christopher Bell is in a much-improved spot compared to last year as he holds a 22-point advantage over the elimination line. A trio of stout road-course drivers in Chris Buescher (+19), Martin Truex Jr. (+17) and Kyle Larson (+15) sit just below Bell.
The final transfer spot is separated by a mere two points between Brad Keselowski and Tyler Reddick. As a three-time winner on road courses, Reddick owns the clear advantage over the 2012 Cup champion heading into the weekend.
Bubba Wallace (-9), Ross Chastain (-10) and Kyle Busch (-26) failed to capitalize at Talladega, and all three will have an uphill battle to climb as none of the three has proved to be formidable on the Roval. Of those three, Wallace owns the best average finish at the road course with a 20.4 mark. Qualifying will be key for the trio to try to gain points back on Sunday.
RULE CHANGES/GOODYEAR TIRE NOTES 🛞
Stage breaks return to a road course this Sunday at Charlotte after the rest of the road-course events in 2023 were run without cautions at the end of stages. The two stage cautions are scheduled for Lap 25 and Lap 50, with the checkered flag on Lap 109.
The GEICO Restart Zone is also updated for the Charlotte Roval. It will be moved to the final chicane before the start/finish line on the 2.32-mile layout. In the previous five Roval events, the initial start and restarts fired off from a portion of the oval track that’s used as a run-off area on all other laps.
Goodyear brings the same tire used at all road-course races this season. Cup teams will be issued one set for practice, one set for qualifying and an additional seven for Sunday’s 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.
📉 TRENDS TO WATCH 📈
— All five races at the Roval were won by drivers under the age of 30.
— Hendrick Motorsports drivers won three of the fives races at the Roval.
— A playoff driver has won all five Roval races.
— The driver who led the most laps won only one of the five Roval races.
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 Mortgage. Fans can enter by visiting The Playoffs Grid™ Challenge page 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.
A number of experiences or achievements that a person hopes to have or accomplish during their lifetime.
Stan Mertz has been involved in racing for more than 20 years and has achieved more than he ever could have dreamed.
He won races and championships as a driver and later did the same as a team owner. When he decided he would retire at the conclusion of the 2023 season, there was one thing he hadn’t yet crossed off his personal racing bucket list:
Be a car owner on, specifically, the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.
“We’ve accomplished so much more than I ever thought that I would ever accomplish in my entire racing career, except for one thing, [race with] the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour,” said Mertz, who has fielded his own No. 6 Modified in select Tour events this year for driver Woody Pitkat. “In the world of open-wheel modified racing, that’s like moving up to Cup if you’re a full-fendered guy.
“That was the only thing missing from my entire racing career.”
Mertz’s road to the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and, ultimately, his retirement from racing, started as an 18-year-old when he raced at Speedway 95 in Hermon, Maine.
His time competing at Speedway 95 was brief. He raced for a year before flipping his car. Being a teenager on a limited budget, he couldn’t afford to fix it, so he moved on with his life.
Mertz graduated from school, went to work, got married and had children. Yet buried at the back of his mind was a desire, an overwhelming urge to race. It was like an itch he couldn’t scratch or a craving he couldn’t satisfy.
Twenty years passed, but that urge never vanished. He began buying tools and stashing them in his garage. One day, after purchasing a welder, his wife cornered him and asked him point blank: “You’re thinking about racing, aren’t you?”
There was no point in lying.
“I hadn’t gotten it out of my system,” Mertz said.
At 38, Mertz was back behind the wheel of a race car, first at Massachusetts’s Seekonk Speedway in a Sport Truck. In 2002, he purchased a three-quarter scale Pro 4 Modified, which he raced regionally.
He won races and championships in the Pro 4 Modified, but he craved something more. In 2012, after a conversation with car owner Norm Perry, Mertz leased a full-sized Modified to race at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park.
“I really got to know how to drive these cars,” Mertz said. “It was a blast. We started out at Thompson Speedway. That’s where I learned how to really drive the open wheel Modifieds.
“I was up against guys like TC (Ted Christopher), Ryan Preece, Woody Pitkat. All the, at that time, big names.”
Fast forward to 2014, and Mertz was starting to lose his passion. He remembers one specific night at Thompson that changed the trajectory of his career.
“I was driving in a race at Thompson, and had the forethought to just say, ‘I’m just not having fun anymore as a driver,’” Mertz said. “There were three races left in the season. At the end of that race, I stepped out of the car and said, ‘I don’t want to be a driver anymore.’
“Of course, at that time I had a brand new car. Basically what I did is hire Max Zachem to finish out the season for me. He’s a great shoe. Then in the offseason, I was deciding kind of what I wanted to be.”
Woody Pitkat drives Stan Mertz’s No. 6 at North Carolina’s Concord Speedway in 2016. (Photo: Adam Fenwick)
Mertz during that offseason decided to transition from driver to owner. He hired Woody Pitkat, a familiar name to Modified fans in the Northeast, to drive his race car for the 2015 season.
The two had worked together briefly the year before, and Mertz was curious to see what Pitkat could do in his equipment, so he decided they would race full-time at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park that season.
“For the 2015 season, I said let’s go run the Sunoco Modifieds at Thompson,” Mertz said. “We went into it with no real expectations. He didn’t really know me a lot, I didn’t really know him a lot. I just knew that I wanted somebody that could really take what was essentially a new car and just a small funded team and see what he could do.”
The team went winless that season at Thompson, but the lack of victories did not equate to a lack of success. Pitkat was so consistent in Mertz’s equipment that when the checkered flag waved to conclude the season, the duo had won the track championship despite having a zero in the win column.
The championship was beyond Mertz’s wildest expectations. He’d given it so little thought that he didn’t even realize there was purse money from NASCAR for winning the track championship.
“This is how naive I was. I didn’t really know too much about the NASCAR sanctioning of Thompson and the benefits that as a car owner you get, especially if you win a NASCAR track championship,” Mertz said. “The first thing Woody said was, ‘What are you going to do with the purse?’ I said, ‘What purse?’ He said, ‘You get a purse for winning the championship.’ Oh wow, that’s great! Then he says, ‘We also get to go to Charlotte for the awards ceremony.’
“To go in and first year together win a NASCAR track championship was like winning the Cup championship at that level.”
Fast forward to the time between the 2022 and 2023 seasons, and Mertz was ready to retire. With Pitkat as his driver, Mertz had won more races and championships than he ever expected.
So when it came time to decide what to do during his final year, Mertz looked at his personal bucket list, and there was only one thing left to do.
The decision was made. For the 2023 season, he and Pitkat would race part-time with the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.
“I said if I’m going into my final year, let’s do it as a bucket list,” Mertz said. “There are very few things that I have left really as a small car owner for a bucket list. That bucket list included running the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. It’s the most prestigious tour.
“The level of competition is so much different than even the local series that are run all through New England.”
Mertz and Pitkat set a seven-race schedule for 2023 that began with the Duel at the Dog 200 at Monadnock Speedway in May. Utilizing the same car Mertz has owned since 2013, which he nicknamed “Princess,” Mertz and Pitkat set off to make Mertz’s Whelen Modified Tour dreams come true.
Woody Pitkat, driver of the No. 6 Koopman Lumber Modified for Stan Mertz Racing, competes at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park earlier this year. (Photo: Tom Morris/Stan Mertz Racing)
In the six races the pair has entered so far, the best came at a familiar place, Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park. In August, Pitkat drove Mertz’s No. 6 Koopman Lumber-sponsored car to an 11th-place finish after starting 17th.
Now Mertz and Pitkat are returning to Thompson, the track where they have enjoyed so much success, to put a bow on Mertz’s racing career this Sunday afternoon with the World Series 150 presented by FloSports.com.
Just thinking about it makes Mertz emotional.
“We’re going to go out there and do the best we possibly can and finish what to me has been an up-and-down season,” Mertz said. “I wouldn’t have missed it in a life time to be able to do that.”
What comes next for Mertz after retirement? He plans to spend more time with his family and take his wife on a well-deserved vacation.
While he won’t be a car owner anymore, Mertz still plans to spend some time at the races. With that said, Mertz said he’ll be spending a lot of time figuring out what makes him happy away from the race track.
It’s one challenge Mertz can’t wait to tackle.
“I’m going to kind of rediscover who Stan Mertz is,” he said. “I’ve been Stan Mertz the race car driver, Stan Mertz the car owner for so many years now that it’s going to be kind of a personal thing to rediscover what is really going to make me happy going forward.”
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (October 5, 2023) — NASCAR®, iRacing and Motorsport Games Inc. (NASDAQ: MSGM) (“Motorsport Games”) announced today that iRacing has acquired NASCAR Team Properties’ (NTP) exclusive simulation-style console racing games license from Motorsport Games. The sale, approved by NTP, will see the license transfer from 704Games, a wholly owned subsidiary of Motorsport Games, to iRacing, which will begin developing a NASCAR console game expected in 2025.
“When we were approached with the option to acquire the license for the simulation-style NASCAR console game, which was the console game and franchise that we were dreaming about doing, it was an opportunity we couldn’t pass up,” said iRacing President Tony Gardner. “Having the ability to build a NASCAR console game is a privilege we promise to execute with the utmost care. We look forward to working diligently with NASCAR industry stakeholders to deliver a product that provides an amazing experience for the gaming community and NASCAR fans worldwide.”
Gardner added, “With all the NASCAR game experience, console experience, resources and technology assets we already have in place, we are in a fantastic position to hit the ground running building a great NASCAR game franchise on the various platforms.”
The acquisition expands iRacing’s decade-plus presence in NASCAR. iRacing began its relationship with NASCAR in 2010 with a licensed sim-racing product and has grown into a key technical partner of the sanctioning body as its “official simulation partner.” iRacing runs dozens of NASCAR official series on iRacing with thousands of people participating daily from late models to Cup cars, including the $100,000-to-win eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series and the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Additionally, the Massachusetts-based company’s simulation and engineering abilities have helped NASCAR develop new cars and tracks, including the NextGen car, Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum and Chicago Street Race, among others. Now, iRacing can extend its expertise broadly to include NASCAR Team Properties.
Motorsport Games obtained the NASCAR simulation-style console gaming license in 2018 when it acquired majority equity in 704Games. Motorsports Games’ current NASCAR titles, including NASCAR Heat 5 and NASCAR Rivals (available here), will still be available and supported by Motorsport Games through 2024.
“The sale of the NASCAR license is the result of a thorough, strategic review of where we believe our company should be headed over the longer-term,” said Motorsport Games CEO Stephen Hood. “In our exploration of the sale, we gave due consideration to those companies we believed could develop a great NASCAR game. Both NASCAR and iRacing have been receptive to our proposed change, working with us to architect a positive transition post-sale and we thank them for their support. We will now concentrate our efforts towards delivering around other IP already in advanced development.”
In addition to simulation-style console gaming, NASCAR has worked diligently to produce quality experiences for fans who engage in virtual and gaming spaces. This year, the sanctioning body launched NASCAR Speed Hub on Roblox, released arcade-style console game NASCAR Arcade Rush, made available special team decals in Rocket League, announced the development of a mobile game with Hutch and completed another successful season of the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series. Furthermore, NASCAR partnered with esports organization Gen.G to create crossover content and build a live fan experience at the Rocket League Championship Series Major in Boston, and have had Fortnite and Rocket League paint schemes featured on cars in the NASCAR Cup Series this season. The sanctioning body is also leveraging gaming as an engine for content and community building through dedicated channels on Discord and Twitch, along with a growing presence on traditional social media channels.
“NASCAR has the most passionate fans in the world and a vast community that is just as passionate about gaming,” said NASCAR Managing Director Esports and Gaming Nick Rend. “What’s more, there continues to be tremendous opportunity to connect with millions of potential new fans in the gaming space.
“iRacing has been an incredible partner and ambassador for the NASCAR industry for more than a decade. We thank Motorsport Games for its efforts over the years and are ready to work with iRacing to deliver a best-in-class simulation-style NASCAR console game that’s exciting for the gaming community and allows our fans to connect with the sport in an impactful, meaningful way.”
For more information on NASCAR’s gaming initiatives, visit eNASCAR.com.
NASCAR unveiled the 2024 schedule for the Craftsman Truck Series on Wednesday. Next season will mark the milestone 30th year for the series.
The calendar kicks off from the “World Center of Racing” on Feb. 16 at Daytona International Speedway.
Atlanta Motor Speedway moves into the second race of the year on Feb. 24 ahead of Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 1 in what will be back-to-back superspeedway events to begin 2024 for the Truck Series.
Despite the Bristol Dirt race not returning, the series will still host a spring race on March 16 at the Tennessee track that will take place under the lights. It will be one of two trips to the concrete short track as Bristol returns on Sept. 19 as the second race in the Round of 10 of the playoffs.
Texas Motor Speedway moves to mid-April (12) and will be part of a tripleheader with the Cup and Xfinity Series.
North Wilkesboro Speedway (May 18) and the Milwaukee Mile (Aug. 25) return for their sequels in 2024, while Nashville Superspeedway (June 28) and Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park (July 19) hit consecutive year No. 3 on the circuit.
Richmond Raceway (Aug. 10) will once again serve as the regular-season finale before the 10-driver postseason field is set.
The Round of 10 will consist of Milwaukee, Bristol and Kansas Speedway. Talladega Superspeedway, Homestead-Miami Speedway and Martinsville Speedway will determine the four drivers who will compete for the championship. This is the first time Martinsville has served as the Round of 8 elimination race since 2021.
For the fifth season in a row, Phoenix Raceway will play host to the season finale where the 30th series champion will be crowned on Nov. 8.
While the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs continue, it is never too early to look ahead to 2024. Luckily for eager race fans, they can do just that with dates in mind as the sport announced the 2024 schedule on Wednesday.
Thirty-three races will make up the 2024 calendar, with Daytona International Speedway once again beginning the season (Feb. 17).
Phoenix Raceway (Nov. 9) will host the Championship 4, conclude the 2024 campaign and crown a champion for the fifth consecutive year.
Additional schedule highlights include a third trip to Portland International Raceway (June 1) in as many years, a return to Iowa Speedway (June 15) for the first time since 2019, a second annual running of the Chicago Street Race (July 6) and rotating back to the oval at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (July 20).
After the regular-season finale on Sept. 20 at Bristol Motor Speedway, the 2024 Xfinity Series Playoffs Round of 12 will consist of Kansas Speedway (Sept. 28), Talladega Superspeedway (Oct. 5) and the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course (Oct. 12).
Las Vegas Motor Speedway (Oct. 19), Homestead-Miami Speedway (Oct. 26) and Martinsville Speedway (Nov. 2) will make up the Round of 8.
FS1 and FOX will broadcast the first 14 Xfinity races, spanning from the season-opener at Daytona to June 8 at Sonoma Raceway. USA and NBC will air the final 19 races of the season, beginning with Iowa on June 15.
The 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is here with yet another splash set for the sport’s mapped path through the next year.
Dazzling changes dot the calendar in another milestone year for the Cup Series, highlighted by a trip to Iowa Speedway on June 16, the circuit’s inaugural visit to the 0.875-mile oval and first venture to the Hawkeye State since 1953.
Additionally, the opening Round of 16 in the NASCAR Playoffs takes on a new look for the 2024 slate and will come a week later than usual. Atlanta Motor Speedway (Sept. 8) becomes the first race of the Cup Series’ postseason in a round that now features Watkins Glen International (Sept. 15) before closing out with the Bristol Motor Speedway night race (Sept. 21).
“I think having an Atlanta, a Watkins Glen and then a Bristol night race in that Round of 16 — three very different types of tracks — it’s going to test our drivers quite a bit as they think about the Round of 12 and continuing through the playoffs,” said Ben Kennedy, NASCAR’s senior vice president of racing development and strategy. “I’m excited to see the change for Atlanta. I think it’s a testament to the great racing product that we’ve seen the last year or two.”
Watkins Glen replaces Texas Motor Speedway in the NASCAR Playoffs as Texas moves to the spring for an April 14 date, an opportunity Kennedy said the scheduling saw “to shake up the playoff schedule a little bit.”
“We’ve had kind of status quo the past few years, and I know we shook it up a ton three or four years ago,” Kennedy said. “I think the diversity that we have and types of tracks in that first round is going to be fun to watch.”
Kansas Speedway will host the opening race of the Round of 12 on Sept. 29 ahead of Talladega Superspeedway and the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course. The Round of 8 features a familiar run of Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Homestead-Miami Speedway and Martinsville Speedway ahead of the Nov. 10 finale at Phoenix Raceway.
The regular season will come to an end on Labor Day Weekend on Sept. 1 at Darlington Raceway with the storied Southern 500 marking the final opportunity for drivers to qualify for a championship run. Daytona International Speedway’s second date held that slot since 2020 but slides back to Saturday night, Aug. 24, as race No. 25 on the schedule of 36 points-paying events.
The 66th annual Daytona 500 will kick off the Cup schedule on Feb. 18 before a trip to Atlanta, which returns to the second date on the circuit for the first time since 2019. Atlanta held that position from 2015-19 and returns in place of Auto Club Speedway as the former 2-mile track undergoes renovations.
“I think now that we’ve seen Atlanta play out and how the racing product has frankly evolved there,” Kennedy said, “Having it come out of our biggest event of the year in the Daytona 500 and then carrying that momentum to Atlanta … I think it’s going to be something really special.”
Bristol’s first date on the NASCAR schedule returns to the concrete surface on March 17, 2024, after three years of dirt racing. Richmond Raceway, a 0.75-mile tri-oval, moves to Easter Sunday — 7 p.m. ET on March 31 on FOX — in place of the Bristol dirt race. The second Richmond race will also be in primetime at 6 p.m. ET on Aug. 11 (USA).
The Chicago Street Race, site of the Cup Series’ inaugural street-course event, returns for a sophomore year with Cup cars ready to charge into the downtown metropolis on July 7. Two weeks later, NASCAR returns to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval for the 30th anniversary of the Brickyard 400 on July 21, preceding a two-week hiatus for the sport during the 2024 Summer Olympics.
“We’ve seen the road course play out for a handful of years at Indianapolis,” Kennedy said. “And what better way to return to the oval than the 30th anniversary of the Brickyard 400 and really make it something special again? And again, I think the way that these Next Gen cars are racing on a lot of these tracks, I’m excited to see what the racing product looks like for the first time when the Next Gen cars run around the oval.”
The exhibition Busch Light Clash at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is back to open NASCAR festivities in southern California on Feb. 4, while the series’ other non-points event — the storied NASCAR All-Star Race — returns to the historic North Wilkesboro Speedway on May 19.
One piece absent from the 2024 schedule is an international race on the Cup docket, but efforts remain ongoing for future expansion outside the United States.
“We haven’t ruled it out. It’s something that we’ve continued to explore,” Kennedy said. “We’ve been exploring this since we put the scheduling group together several years ago. We’ve explored it for ’22, ’23, ’24. Unfortunately, there wasn’t anything that necessarily came together around ’24. I think that said, as we think about ’25 and beyond, we’re still bullish on taking the Cup Series international.”
If any race track has earned a place of prominence in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course has to be near the top of the list.
Since its debut as the Round of 16 elimination race in 2018, the Charlotte road course has figured dramatically in the successes — and failures — of title contenders.
Now the final race in the Round of 12, a position it has occupied since 2020. The 2.28-mile, 17-turn circuit is sure to produce its share of suspense in Sunday’s Bank of America Roval 400 (2 p.m. ET on NBC, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Whether it can match the pyrotechnics of the 2018 maiden race remains to be seen.
That extraordinary event was noteworthy not only for the finish, but also for the playoff scenarios that played out during the final laps. Jimmie Johnson was fighting for a spot in the Round of 12, hounding leader Martin Truex Jr. and closed in on the No. 78 Furniture Row Toyota through the backstretch chicane.
Running second, Johnson was seven points to the good where advancement to the playoffs was concerned, but the seven-time Cup Series champion was winless in 2018. As the top two cars approached Turn 16, Johnson steered to the inside of Truex’s Camry, locked his tires and spun.
Johnson’s No. 48 Chevrolet slid through the Turn 16 chicane and tagged Truex’s car as the 2017 series champion entered the final left-hand corner. Knocked off course by Johnson’s rear bumper, Truex slid sideways and backed into the outside wall on the oval.
Johnson deliberately stopped short of the finish line, then continued, a NASCAR requirement for any driver cutting the chicane. Ryan Blaney passed Johnson to win the race, and six other cars shot past before Johnson reached the stripe. Truex rolled home 14th after righting his car.
The eighth-place finish would have been enough to send Johnson to the Round of 12 — were it not for what unfolded behind him.
Driving the No. 42 Chevrolet for Chip Ganassi Racing, Kyle Larson had won the first stage, but Larson was part of a massive pileup in Turn 1 — appropriately dubbed “Calamity Corner” — on Lap 104 of 109.
Larson continued in his severely damaged car but was one point below the cutoff line for the Round of 12, until Jeffrey Earnhardt spun off the front bumper of Daniel Hemric’s car in the final corner. Earnhardt’s No. 96 Toyota came to rest against the outside wall.
Driving a car that was all but impossible to control because of a flat tire, Larson cleared the final chicane, bounced hard off the wall in the tri-oval and beat Earnhardt to the finish line. That one spot created a three-way tie between Larson, Aric Almirola and Johnson for 11th in the playoff standings.
Larson and Almirola got the final two berths in the Round of 12 based on best finishes during the opening round, leaving Johnson out of the playoffs.
“I had kind of given up there the last lap,” Larson said after the race. “I saw the No. 88 (Alex Bowman) made a couple of passes, and that’s who it sounded like we were in the points battle with. I knew I was screwed. Then they said they were all crashing, and it had to have been 45 seconds by the time I got back over there.
“I ran really hard through (Turns) 1 and 2. We had a lot of right-front damage, and we kind of knew the right front would blow if I ran hard. But I ran hard through (Turns) 3 and 4 and blew a right front and got into the fence. I could see the No. 96 and I knew I needed that point to get to the tiebreaker and hit the wall again. Thankfully, we got the tiebreaker.”
That wasn’t the end of Larson’s history with the Charlotte road course. In 2021, his first season with Hendrick Motorsports, Larson won the Round of 12 elimination race at the road course on the way to the Cup Series title.
This year, Larson’s position entering the Bank of America Roval 400 is as fragile as it was in 2018. Larson is seventh in the standings, the same position he occupied after two Playoff races in 2018. At that point, he held a 17-point edge over 13th-place Clint Bowyer — and came within one point of elimination at Charlotte.
Currently, Larson leads ninth-place Tyler Reddick by 9 points, with the playoff field to be cut from 12 drivers to eight on Sunday.
“We typically run pretty well there,” Larson said. “I made a mistake last year and cost myself advancing (after finishing five laps down in 35th). But I know our race car will be fast. We’ve been fast everywhere this year.”
