Posted on by Zach Sturniolo

Corey LaJoie signed a multiyear extension to remain with Spire Motorsports for “several” years in the NASCAR Cup Series, he confirmed Wednesday on his podcast, “Stacking Pennies.”

LaJoie, 31, has driven the team’s No. 7 Chevrolet since 2021 and is in the midst of a career year. His 21.2 average finish is three positions better than his previous high of 24.3, set in 2022, as is his average starting position of 25.0. LaJoie is also the only driver to finish every Cup race in 2023.

MORE: Listen to full “Stacking Pennies” podcast | Career stats for LaJoie

Through the team’s growth and the recent addition of sponsor Gainbridge, a Group 1001 company, LaJoie sees plenty of upside for the future of Spire Motorsports.

“The last couple of weeks have been big for our team in terms of future with (Group 1001 CEO and President) Dan Towriss and Gainbridge coming on board in a large capacity — whether it be on the car, behind the scenes — so that was obviously an element to make the decision to go back and keep doing what we’re doing easier,” LaJoie told NASCAR.com.

LaJoie and crew chief Ryan Sparks have worked together in tandem since the 2020 season when the duo competed for Go Fas Racing. Their leap to Spire with co-owners Jeff Dickerson and T.J. Puchyr in 2021 has seen a continuous evolution of performance over the past two and a half years, and LaJoie is optimistic better results remain ahead.

“I still feel like I’ve got a lot of work to do there and a lot a lot of stuff personally to learn and grow and just continue to evolve,” LaJoie said. “Because, you know, when we built this thing, when we started, there was literally zero employees. Like none. There was a vision that Jeff and T.J. had, and they had some connections with (Hendrick Motorsports owner) Rick (Hendrick) and they had some connections with (Chip) Ganassi (Racing) at the time to get cars, and we didn’t really know what would materialize — where we would get pit crews from and this and that.

“But I trusted Dickerson and T.J. enough (with) the direction they wanted to go and try to get it to, and also how much faith they had in me made it really enticing to be one of the ones that you know, kind of put it on your back and to make it grow. And I take a lot of pride in that. Take a lot of pride in our continued trajectory.”

Corey LaJoie drives the No. 7 Gainbridge Chevrolet for Spire Motorsports at Atlanta
Alex Slitz | Getty Images

That trajectory placed LaJoie in the midst of several conversations in NASCAR’s “Silly Season” of free agency, and he got an opportunity to drive the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet at Worldwide Technology Raceway in June at Gateway for the suspended Chase Elliott.

“It was weird to me for the last three months to be the hot girl to dance for once,” LaJoie said on the podcast. “People actually interested, asking what your deal is, being talked about as like a commodity of sorts, that you kind of bring value to the team. It was cool to see just the progression of I guess my career skills and just a brand inside and outside the car.”

The race at Gateway didn’t go to plan for LaJoie, who qualified 30th and finished 21st in his lone start for Hendrick. But that’s not to say the opportunity was all for naught.

“The wheels were already in motion (to return to Spire) before that, but it did show me how important continuity is and also having a group that really is all in,” LaJoie said. “Like, there’s no doubt when I go to Spire Motorsports that the owners have my back — spotter, crew chief, engineer, car chief, pit crew — like we are one team and there’s no pointing fingers. There is a collective understanding and mindset there that we’re trying to build on.”

LaJoie ranked 21st in the NASCAR Cup Series points standings at the end of June, following the Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway. Four finishes of 27th or worse in the past five races have seen that ranking drop to 27th in points, but the ebbs and flows are all part of the process of finding the consistency LaJoie and Spire are looking to build.

MORE: Cup standings | Cup schedule

Front Row Motorsports’ journey toward becoming a potential playoff-caliber team based on points alone sets a base that Spire can aim toward.

“It’s not like we’re going to instantly be a playoff contender over the next 16 months,” LaJoie said. “But I think by the by the length of the deal, we’re going to continue to build it to where you see Michael McDowell, where he’s built Front Row. They’ve had a 10-year head start or more on what we’ve been trying to do at Spire.

“So I think with the Gainbridge partnership behind the scenes, I think that’s going to expedite that process a little bit. But, you know, when I started getting some interest from other people in the garage, it didn’t really take my eye off the ball of what we were building what we’re gonna continue to build.”

Posted on by Staff Report

A 15th-place finish for Ty Gibbs last weekend at Richmond Raceway — his ninth finish inside the top 15 this season — illustrated the upside the 20-year-old has as he vies for a playoff berth in his first full-time season in the NASCAR Cup Series.

RELATED: Playoff Watch | 2023 Cup Series standings

However, the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing driver — who currently sits 18 points below the elimination line — didn’t net another top-15 finish on young talent alone. His pit crew of front tire changer Blake Houston, rear tire changer Mike Hicks, tire carrier Jake Holmes, jackman Derrell Edwards and gasman Peyton Moore helped with some fast stops. The No. 54 team delivered two of the fastest pit stops of the year, so Gibbs’ average four-tire pit time improved compared to last week’s mark. Additionally, the No. 54 team’s average four-tire pit stop of 9.764 seconds was one of only two four-tire stops to average less than 10 seconds during a race this season (No. 48 of Alex Bowman in June at St. Louis).

Should Gibbs continue to excel on the track while his crew capitalizes on stops on pit road, the continuous grind could continue to vault the No. 54 Toyota deeper into the postseason conversation.

See below to analyze additional pit-road statistics through Richmond and before Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway (2:30 p.m. ET, USA, NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

TEN FASTEST FOUR-TIRE PIT STOPS IN 2023

RankTrackDriverTime
1SonomaKyle Busch9.185 seconds
2Richmond-2Daniel Suárez9.260 seconds
3Richmond-2Ty Gibbs9.276 seconds
4NashvilleKyle Larson9.281 seconds
5SonomaAustin Cindric9.301 seconds
6Richmond-1Corey LaJoie 9.309 seconds
7NashvilleDaniel Suárez9.333 seconds
8Richmond-2Ty Gibbs9.343 seconds
9CharlotteWilliam Byron 9.383 seconds
10Richmond-2Denny Hamlin9.408 seconds

BEST AVERAGE FOUR-TIRE PIT STOP TIMES IN 2023

Posted on by Staff Report

Voting Day for the NASCAR Hall of Fame’s Class of 2024 is scheduled Wednesday afternoon, and NASCAR.com will provide a live stream for the announcement of this year’s honorees.

MORE: Watch here on NASCAR.com | Learn about Class of 2024 nominees

The three inductees for the Class of 2024 will be revealed at 4 p.m. ET from the NASCAR Hall of Fame’s Great Hall. The recipient of the Landmark Award for Outstanding Contributions to NASCAR will also be announced.

Fans can watch the proceedings multiple ways — on NASCAR.com, through Facebook, via Twitter, and through the YouTube link below.

Voters are scheduled to meet Wednesday at 1 p.m. at the Charlotte Convention Center. Two inductees will be elected from the 10 names listed on the Modern Era Ballot, and one will be chosen from the five legends on the Pioneer Ballot. The Landmark Award winner will also be selected from a list of five names.

Posted on by Zack Albert

RICHMOND, Va. — Testing at Richmond Raceway began Monday with optimism about what a new splitter might offer when crafting a 2024 short track and road course rules package for the NASCAR Cup Series. After altering some of the configurations Tuesday, NASCAR competition officials and teams gained insight into what other aerodynamic changes and a new direction with Goodyear tire compounds might offer.

Testing continued Tuesday at the 0.75-mile track, with the six participating teams cycling through softer Goodyear tire options. In earlier aerodynamic modeling, the new “lift splitter” or “up/down splitter,” so labeled because of its contours, had shown gains in downforce for trailing cars that would, in theory, reduce the negative effects of turbulent, “dirty” air in traffic — with computer modeling and wind-tunnel sessions supporting that notion.

RELATED: Photos: Cup Series test at Richmond

After trying out the configuration in a series of group runs Monday, drivers reported back that the feel was not drastically different from the difficult conditions in Sunday’s 400-lap race here. “A lot of the feedback from drivers was it wasn’t quite enough,” Dr. Eric Jacuzzi, NASCAR vice president of vehicle performance, noted after Monday’s sessions, but those observations from on-track testing at one of the circuit’s tougher circuits prompted competition officials to change up for Day 2.

The original plan was to concentrate on tires Tuesday, exploring softer compounds and different tire construction that could provide more grip and fall-off. Officials followed through with that but also added another group run to the Tuesday schedule and switched to remove the rear diffuser and add a 4-inch rear spoiler (up from the current 2-inch blade) to adjust the balance. Jacuzzi said an extension was also added Tuesday to the downturned section of the front splitter to increase its effect.

Those aero changes, Jacuzzi said, were tested separately on a control group of tires before trying other Goodyear compounds.

“We were pretty happy with how that looked,”  Jacuzzi said. “Went to the second set of tires, which had a little thicker tread on them, so a lot more grip in those. Drivers were really positive about that, said it laid down a lot of rubber, they could move around a lot behind each other. So yeah, it was pretty good, pretty positive outcome. Got some positive comments that the diffuser not being there made the car a little more forgiving. On corner entry, they felt like they could slide around a little bit more and move around. So we were pretty happy with that, for sure.”

Both days were divided by sessions of single-car runs, then group sessions where cars lined up in three rows of two. After simulating race conditions for roughly 30 laps, officials inverted or shuffled the order, then ran approximately 30 laps more. Monday, teams ran through varying ride-height settings and made one run with a filler panel placed behind the splitter.

In working with varying Goodyear tire compounds and construction, Stewart-Haas Racing driver Ryan Preece previewed Tuesday as “a new day, for sure. I know we’re going to be doing some tire testing, and after what we were all talking in there (in the debrief), and kind of expressing what we want as drivers to be able to do so we can put on a better show is to be able to lean on that tire. So I feel optimistic with some of the options they brought. If we can lean on it and then, as drivers, beat them up, hopefully, that’ll bring on the fall-off as well.”

Noah Gragson, driver of the Legacy Motor Club No. 42 Chevrolet, seconded that notion after Tuesday’s afternoon runs.

“That thicker-treaded tire, I’ve been calling it, was a lot better,” Gragson said. “I thought our balance shift from beginning to end of the run was a lot better. It didn’t change five or six out of 10 numbers from the beginning to end like the prior tire was, so I thought that was a big gain. Really the tire was the biggest thing that we hit on this weekend.”

The test was originally scheduled for July 17-18 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, but inclement weather forced a postponement and a move to Richmond. Christopher Bell, driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, said that the grip level of the flatter 1.058-mile oval in Loudon, New Hampshire, may have produced a different outcome.

“The track is so slick that you are naturally going to get spread out because you’re sliding around like crazy,” Bell said after Monday’s session. “I mean, all six of us are just complaining about being sideways loose, and you know the tracks that we complain about the aero package are places that are high grip like Phoenix, Martinsville. Loudon would have been better than here, for sure. … We’re struggling because we’re tight in traffic, and here today, you’re just sliding around, so you’re never really tight.”

Jacuzzi said Monday that after a review of the Richmond test, the next at-track steps in development of a new short track/road course package for 2024 would likely take place after the Cup Series Playoffs in the offseason. Tuesday, however, Jacuzzi said that competition officials plan to run the same trial configuration (splitter, splitter extension, 4-inch spoiler, no diffuser) at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, piggybacking onto a Goodyear tire test scheduled Aug. 14-15 on the 2.5-mile oval on the heels of the NASCAR race weekend on the 2.439-mile road course layout. Drivers scheduled to participate are Chase Briscoe (No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford), Alex Bowman (No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet) and Ty Gibbs (No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota).

“We actually plan to run that package we just did for two reasons,” Jacuzzi said. “One, Indy is obviously a track with a narrow racing groove, but the main thing is, coming out of here, the drivers said, ‘Hey, really feeling the tire a lot. The aero’s a small part of the cornering power of the car.’ So going to a place like Indy, where the speed is much higher, it should give us a really good read on whether that’s an improvement. So it’s another opportunity for us to evaluate it in that environment. It’s just gonna be a better aero test environment.”

Jacuzzi said more discussion would need to take place before trying the configuration at other track types. William Byron, driver of Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 24 Chevrolet, said that he felt the conversation after Monday’s test was productive and that the lines of communication remain open.

“Everyone’s real cordial and trying to work through the different options,” Byron said. “I feel like they’re really open to suggestions, NASCAR is really open to it. So you know, I think it’s really good dialogue between everyone, and they believe us. They believe what we’re talking about on the race track, and I feel, yeah, it’s good. There’s a good connectivity there to make changes, and I feel like there’s some more ideas yet to still work on.”

Posted on by Reid Spencer

David Pearson may have been the Dominator at Darlington Raceway in his native South Carolina, but the NASCAR Hall of Famer had a home away from home in the Irish Hills of Michigan.

Pearson won 10 poles and nine races at Michigan International Speedway — both track records — and during his tenure with the Wood Brothers in the 1970s, he was all but invincible at the 2-mile track.

RELATED: Michigan schedule | More NASCAR 75 content

A master of the larger speedways, Pearson enjoyed the smooth surface and multiple racing lanes he found at Michigan, though that venue stood in marked contrast to rough, abrasive 1.366-mile Darlington, where he won a record 10 times.

In 1969, driving for Holman-Moody, the Silver Fox won the second of 105 NASCAR Cup Series races held so far at Michigan — from the pole, no less. In seven years with the Wood Brothers, from 1972-1978, he dominated the sprawling asphalt track the way no other driver has done since then.

During one stretch of nine Michigan races with the Woods, Pearson won seven times and finished second and third in the two races he didn’t win. From 1976 through 1979, he won six straight poles, the last coming during his one season with owner Rod Osterlund.

Though Pearson’s prolific success puts him at the top of the pyramid, his story is hardly unique. NASCAR Cup drivers who win at Michigan tend to do so multiple times as the history of the track attests.

NASCAR Hall of Famer Cale Yarborough, who won the first Michigan race in 1969, went on to win at the track Roger Penske built seven more times, ending with a sweep of the two 1983 races.

Fellow Hall of Famer Bill Elliott, who succeeded Yarborough as the Master of Michigan, was a seven-time winner at the speedway from 1984-1989. Elliott’s run included four straight victories comprised of season sweeps in 1985 and 1986.

Kyle Larson’s Cup career got the catalyst it needed at MIS. Driving for Chip Ganassi Racing, Larson won his first Cup race at Michigan in his 99th start in his second race at the track in 2016. He swept the two events of 2017, giving him three straight wins at the venerable speedway.

More recently, Kevin Harvick won his sixth Michigan race last year, breaking a 65-race drought in the process. Harvick, who will retire from Cup racing at season’s end, has won four of the last five races at MIS.

MORE: Kevin Harvick through the years | All of Kevin Harvick’s Cup Series victories 

Last year’s win proved a point for the 2014 Cup champion, who was emphatic in his post-race comments.

“Everybody who doubted us doesn’t know us,” said Harvick, who now has 60 Cup Series victories, second-most to Kyle Busch’s 63 among active drivers. “They obviously know we thrive in these types of situations. And a lot of things went our way, which we haven’t had all year long—have things go our way and have things fall our way.”

Thanks to Harvick’s resilience, Ford retained the Michigan Heritage Trophy for the fifth consecutive season. The award goes to the manufacturer with the best performance at MIS.

Ford drivers have won the last eight Michigan races, including Harvick’s sweep of both events on consecutive days during the restructuring of the schedule in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This year, in NASCAR’s 75th anniversary season, Harvick looks to break another drought. He is winless since his triumph at Richmond in the 24th event of 2022.

Given the historical propensity of drivers to rack up impressive victory totals at the high-speed track, it might not be wise to bet against him.

Posted on by Staff Report

Nu-Way Auto Parts 150

Lancaster Motorplex

  • Entry list
Car No. Driver Organization Crew Chief Chassis Mfg Sponsor
01 Melissa Fifield Pine Knoll Racing, LLC Jake Marosz Troyer Pine Knoll Auto Sales
3 Bryan Narducci Boehler’s Racing Equipment Gregory Fournier Boehler Racing Florida Connection
4 Tim Connolly Connolly Racing Shane Connolly LFR Connolly Companies, LLC
5 Kyle Ebersole Bob Ebersole Bob Ebersole FURY Race Cars Ebersole Excavating Inc.; Technique Chassis
7 Doug Coby Tommy Baldwin Racing LLC Tommy Baldwin Troyer Mayhew Tools
16 Ron Silk Haydt Yannone Racing Philip Moran FURY Race Cars Blue Mountain Machine; Future Homes
18 Ken Heagy Robert Pollifrone Greg Gorman Chevrolet Buoy One Seafood
19 Anthony Sesely Wanick Construction Stephen Kopcik Troyer Wanick Construction Inc.
22 Kyle Bonsignore Kyle Bonsignore Cam McDermott FURY Race Cars Chalew Performance; MTT; Munns Auto
26 Gary McDonald Lakeland Avenue Landscape Supply Chad McDonald Chevrolet Lakeland Avenue Landscape Supply
32 Tyler Rypkema Dean Rypkema Zach Truesdail FURY Race Cars Northeast Drilling, Musco Lighting
46 Anthony Nocella Goodie Racing Doug Ogiejko Troyer Riverhead Building Supply
51 Justin Bonsignore Kenneth Massa Motorsports LLC Ryan Stone FURY Race Cars Phoenix Communications Inc.
54 Tommy Catalano David Catalano David Catalano Troyer FX Caprara
60 Matt Hirschman Pee Dee Motorsports LLC Mike Stein Troyer Pee Dee Motorsports
64 Austin Beers KLM Motorsports Ron Yuhas Troyer Dell Electric, Lumiere Electrical, Andrew James Interiors, AP Marquadt & Sons, Hughes Motors
77 Max McLaughlin Mike Curb Gary Putnam Troyer Curb Records / Mohawk Northeast
109 Tommy Wanick Wanick Construction Mike Odwazny Troyer Wanick Construction Inc.
125 Mike Leaty Michael Leaty Jan Leaty Troyer Northeast Industrial Technologies
214 Chuck Hossfeld Advantage Motorsports LLC Billy Putney LFR Advantage Trucks; Anastasi Trucking
Posted on by Adam Fenwick

Following the disappointing postponement of the Clash at Claremont 150 last week, the 2023 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season will resume with the running of the Nu-Way Auto Parts 150 at Lancaster Motorplex this Saturday night (8 p.m. ET on FloRacing).

The event marks just the second time the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will visit Lancaster Motorplex. The series made its inaugural trip to the facility in 2021, when the result came down to a dogfight between Patrick Emerling and Justin Bonsignore, with Emerling narrowly emerging as the winner in a photo finish.

Thanks to the efforts of Lancaster Motorplex officials as well as an unnamed benefactor, the Nu-Way Auto Parts 150 will feature an increased purse. The race winner will take home more than $13,000, which includes posted contingency awards. The race winner won’t be the only driver getting extra money, as the increased purse has been spread throughout the field, meaning every driver will take home a little extra prize money Saturday night.

To make things even better, a lap money program has also been instituted for Saturday’s race. The top three drivers of all sponsored laps will split $100 in memory of Zachary Hackett, the late son of Mike Myers, the owner of promotional company Speed Enterprises Entertainment.

Tickets to Saturday’s Nu-Way Auto Parts 150 are available here. Below is everything you need to know about the 10th race of the 2023 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season.

Nu-Way Auto Parts 150 at Lancaster Motorplex

What to watch for:

The last time the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour competed at Lancaster Motorplex, Justin Bonsignore came agonizingly close to a trip to Victory Lane. That race, held in 2021, saw Patrick Emerling edge Bonsignore at the finish line by approximately half a car length.

Bonsignore, the winner of the most recent NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, returns to Lancaster with his sights set on earning the trip to Victory Lane that he narrowly missed out on two years ago. He won’t have to contend with Emerling, who will be busy racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series event Saturday at Michigan International Speedway.

He will have to contend with a driver who knows Lancaster perhaps better than anyone in Matt Hirschman. The driver from Northampton, Pennsylvania has won countless times at the New York oval and will look to add a NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour victory at the track to his resume.

MORE LANCASTER: Watch live on FloRacing | Get tickets

Ron Silk, who leads the series standings by eight points ahead of Bonsignore, will look to add to his championship lead with a strong run at Lancaster. Doug Coby and Austin Beers, each of whom have one victory this year, will look to get back in the championship fight with strong runs of their own. Max McLaughlin, who finished third two years ago at Lancaster, will be back in action in search of his maiden series win.

Several returning names are also set to join the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour at Lancaster. They include Chuck Hossfeld, a seven-time NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour winner, who will be making his season debut with the series. In three starts last year, Hossfeld earned two top-five finishes, including a runner-up result at Oswego Speedway.

Also joining the field will be Mike Leaty, the son of NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour legend Jan Leaty. The younger Leaty will be making just his sixth career NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour start, and he’ll be doing so with his father acting as his crew chief.

Other notable entries include Tommy Catalano, Anthony Nocella, Tyler Rypkema, Anthony Sesely, Kyle Ebersole and Bryan Narducci.

The complete entry list for the Nu-Way Auto Parts 150 is available here.

Fans wave to drivers during the start of the Nu-Way Auto Parts 150 for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour at Lancaster Motorplex in Lancaster, New York on July 31, 2021. (Photo: Bryan Bennett/NASCAR)

RACE FACTS

Race Nu-Way Auto Parts 150
Date Saturday, Aug. 5, 2023
Track Lancaster Motorplex
Layout 0.625-mile paved oval
Location Lancaster, New York
Start Time 8 p.m. ET
Laps 150
Posted awards $108,995
Live stream FloRacing (Live)

Schedule: Saturday, Aug. 5 … Final practice from 2:15 to 3:15 p.m. ET … Qualifying at 5 p.m. ET … Nu-Way Auto Parts 150 at 8 p.m. ET (FloRacing).

Qualifying: Two consecutive qualifying laps. Faster lap determines qualifying position. Adjustments or repairs may not be made on the vehicle after the vehicle has taken the green flag at the start/finish line. NASCAR reserves the right to have more than one vehicle engage in qualifying runs at the same time. Starting field for the Nu-Way Auto Parts 150 is limited to 26 starters including Provisional Positions.

Tire allotment: The maximum tire allotment available for this event is eleven (11) tires per team. All tires used for qualifying and the race must be purchased at the track and scanned by Hoosier, unless otherwise approved in advance by the Series Director. Four (4) tires must be used for qualifying and to begin the race. All qualifying tires must remain in impound until released by NASCAR Officials. The remaining tire allotment may be used for practice and/or change tires during the event. The tire change rule is three (3) tires, any position.

Posted on by Zack Albert

RICHMOND, Va. — Chris Buescher was aglow in Victory Lane early Sunday evening at Richmond Raceway, soaking in a convincing, playoff-clinching win at a place where, not long ago, he said he wanted to cover over, fill with dirt and build housing on. “It seems like it sweeps your legs out every time we come here after the first stage,” he said, noting the track’s tendency to react and up the difficulty like a three-quarter-mile Cobra Kai.

Oh, how the opinions can flip, the result of what Buescher called a “massive leap” in progress by his RFK Racing team. Buescher was golden after the first stage, methodically climbing from a 26th starting spot on a day where position gains were hard-fought. Right there with him was his teammate and boss, Brad Keselowski, who also contended and ran 1-2 with Buescher in the race’s later segments before a wonky pit-stop entry shuffled him back to a sixth-place finish.

RELATED: Cup Series standings | Buescher clicks at Richmond

Keselowski and Buescher entered Sunday’s Cook Out 400 with a solid cushion on the plus side of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs hunt, one that only a historic collapse in the standings would unravel. Sunday’s victory placed an approval stamp on what’s been building the last two seasons at RFK Racing, but it also skipped past the unpalatable alternative of reaching the postseason by points.

“I’ve said that consistently,” Buescher said after netting his third Cup Series victory and his second under the RFK Racing banner. “We’ve talked about that as a team, that obviously, it has to be in the back of our minds because we are in a good spot in points. We’ve worked hard to have that consistency. But we’re not indestructible where we’re at, that a win would take care of everything.

“That’s our sport. Winning fixes everything. It fixes the points talk. It fixes morale. It fixes bad weekends. Everything can be changed by winning. From that standpoint, it’s awesome that we are in the playoffs. That was part of our goal at the beginning of the season. At RFK we talked about winning races, making the playoffs, and being able to be a contender in the playoffs. We don’t want to be a placeholder by any means either.”

The organization has undergone a recent transition in both performance and name, morphing from Roush Fenway Racing into the RFK banner when Keselowski became a part-owner before the 2022 campaign. The upswing has swelled memories of car owner Jack Roush’s heyday, when his mega-team was a regular winner on the Cup Series and fielded title-caliber efforts in both the Xfinity and Truck tours.

MORE: RFK Racing’s wins by driver

Recent markers have shown RFK inching back toward the team’s former glory. Buescher’s clinching effort Sunday resulted in the organization’s first playoff berth since Ryan Newman’s bid in 2019. The organization has led 415 laps through 22 races this season, just three shy of its laps-led total of 418 last year. Before Sunday, RFK hadn’t passed the 400-laps-led plateau in a season since 2013. Buescher and Keselowski have also finished in the top 10 together four times this year, the first time two drivers have each reached the mark since 2013.

“Certainly tremendous execution,” Keselowski said. “We wanted to win 1-2. That’s the ultimate goal. We didn’t get that, but we still had a heck of a day where we ran 1-2 at parts. This is kind of the next step for us, is to be able to win races on a contender basis. I told somebody, a lot of you guys here this year, we moved from irrelevant to relevant. The next step is to try to be contenders. You get to the contender status by winning races.

“We’re not where we want to be. We want to be where we win every week, we’re 1-2 finishing. This is another step in our progression and a lot to be proud of.”

The advancement from relevance to prominence is a movement that Keselowski hopes to keep rolling, and he’s quick to point out that he hasn’t done it alone. He also noted Sunday that the organization isn’t all the way there yet, even after one longtime scribe raised the question of whether RFK Racing was now the best team in the Ford camp.

“We’re positioning ourselves to get there one day, and I’m proud of that,” said Keselowski, acknowledging the modest inroads RFK has made against Ford heavyweights Team Penske and Stewart-Haas Racing. “That’s earned, right? You’ve got to earn that title. You do that with winning multiple races and contending for championships. We’re knocking on the door of that. Until we are walking in at Phoenix with three or four win stickers on our cars, it’s hard to say that we’re the best. That’s what we want to be.”

Posted on by Adam Fenwick

Eloy Sebastián López Falcón has spent his summer in an entirely new world.

The 17-year-old driver from Mexico City has spent the last few months racing a Legend car for Rev Racing at Charlotte Motor Speedway during the Summer Shootout.

Falcón, who was selected as part of the 2023 NASCAR Drive for Diversity class after capturing the 2022 NASCAR Mexico Truck Series championship, has faced an uphill battle adapting to a new style of racing while also learning an entirely new language.

“In Mexico, I drive in the NASCAR Mexico Series. It’s a big car, heavier,” Falcón said. “At Summer Shootout, it’s a small car and obviously on a small track. It’s like a sprint race here. I need to learn that part, how the car works, and obviously another barrier is that I don’t speak very good English.”

It’s hard for Falcón to take his experience in Mexico, which began in karting before he ultimately advanced into the NASCAR Mexico Truck Series, and translate it to what he’s been doing at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Eloy Sebastian López Falcón is in his first season with Rev Racing as part of the NASCAR Drive for Diversity program. (Photo: Adam Fenwick/NASCAR)

Most of the events in Mexico take place on road courses, making the quarter-mile oval on the frontstretch at Charlotte Motor Speedway uncharted territory for Falcón.

Luckily, he’s been able to quickly adapt thanks to the support of the Rev Racing team as well as his driver coach, four-time NASCAR Mexico Series champion Rubén Garcia Jr.

“I go to the shop every day,” Falcón said. “I do my workouts at Rev Racing and obviously have our debrief after the race so we can see the points where we can be better. That’s the thing that is helping me to learn. Obviously, I have many people that help me with the knowledge that they have.

“Practice is very short. All the programs are very short. I need to adapt very fast to this car and learn. All the races have 25 laps. That’s a very short race. I need to improve a little more in qualifying. That’s a problem I have now. That is very difficult for me. In the races we are good. [The racing] is a very high level here.”

Without NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program, Falcón likely never would have gotten the opportunity to race in the United States. He’s thankful for the opportunity that he hopes one day will lead him to the NASCAR Cup Series like his countryman, Daniel Suárez.

Eloy Sebastián López Falcón has been racing in the NASCAR Mexico Series while also competing at Charlotte Motor Speedway’s Summer Shootout. (Photo: Adam Fenwick/NASCAR)

“As a Mexican, this is a big opportunity to come here and make a dream come true,” Falcón said. “Obviously my dream is to be a Cup driver. It’s a big opportunity that the Drive for Diversity program gave to me.

“For me, I’m very proud to be a Mexican and obviously represent the Latino community.”

When the 2023 Summer Shootout season ends on Tuesday (watch live on FloRacing starting at 5 p.m. ET), Falcón’s racing season won’t be over.

In addition to his time at Summer Shootout, he’s also been racing in the NASCAR Mexico Series in the Challenge Series, where he recently earned his first victory at Autódromo Miguel E. Abed. He’s also hoping to make his Late Model debut later this year.

“When I finish the Summer Shootout I can see the possibility to [enter] some races in a Late Model,” Falcón said. “That’s a challenge for this year and to have a good season in the Summer Shootout.”

Posted on by Zack Albert

RICHMOND, Va. — Denny Hamlin nearly capped his milestone 50th NASCAR Cup Series victory the previous week at Pocono with an encore for win No. 51 Sunday at Richmond Raceway. His time spent near the front was a familiar refrain, and so was some chance contact along the way with Kyle Larson.

Hamlin finished second to eventual Cook Out 400 winner Chris Buescher, who scooted away from the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota in the final restart with three laps left to win by 0.549 seconds. The result marked Hamlin’s fourth top-five finish in the last eight races, bumping him up to second in the Cup Series standings — 39 points back of JGR teammate Martin Truex Jr. in the hunt for the regular-season crown.

MORE: Race results | At-track photos: Richmond

After Daniel Suárez’s spin prompted a late caution period, Hamlin was set up front row in the outside lane for the final green-flag sprint to the end, a shift from the previous week’s choice where he posted up on the inside line for the decisive penultimate restart at Pocono, then drifted up to crowd fellow front-runner Larson into the outside wall. No such confrontation occurred at Richmond, and Hamlin lamented that he had “drove in way too deep” to make a challenge to Buescher’s lead stick.

“No. I appreciate that’s a good talking point. But, no, it was not,” Hamlin told NBC Sports after being asked if other drivers might take liberties with him after his restart move last week. “I’m out there trying to win the race for sure. I loved getting the front row. I just got a god-awful restart. Kyle (Busch) just pushed me down the front straightaway, which is really helpful for us. Thanks for that. I just didn’t do a good job on the restart. I didn’t do a good job into Turn 1 on the second-to-last lap. Our team gave us a shot.

“The race should have been (Buescher’s) anyway. The caution at the end … It was a second chance at life for us there at the end.”

The Pocono maneuver that propelled Hamlin to victory had been the topic of the day for a good week leading up to Sunday’s Richmond race. Hamlin found himself in the unusual situation of being booed during pre-race activities at what’s considered a hometown track, not far from his native Chesterfield, Virginia, just down the road. One fan’s harangue was punctuated with “I know you can hear me, Denny!” ringing out from the Turn 1 stands awkwardly during the quiet, solemn pause between the pre-race invocation and national anthem.

The move was also on the mind of Buescher’s veteran crew chief Scott Graves, who told his driver over the No. 17 team radio, “Don’t let the 11 do to you what he did to Larson,” before Sunday’s final restart. Graves smiled in admitting he was “probably being a little dramatic at that point” but also acknowledging his driver’s vulnerability had he selected the outside lane.

WATCH: Denny Hamlin breaks down final restart

As for the two Pocono protagonists, Hamlin excelled in a bid for his fifth Cup Series triumph at Richmond, while Larson and the rest of his Hendrick Motorsports mates struggled to find pace. Larson finished last on the lead lap in 19th place, but not before he gave Hamlin a slight nudge with 72 laps remaining, not long after a change for fresher tires.

Asked if that contact signified ‘message delivered’ or was emblematic of any new rules of engagement between the two, Larson said the move was hatched out of necessity and urgency.

“I mean, I’m just trying to maximize my time and they were two-wide in front of me and there was a little bit of a hole, and I shot through the hole,” Larson told NASCAR.com. “So just based off the kind of strategy we were on and trying to do what we could to, like I said, maximize the strategy of being on one stop, I just couldn’t waste any time.”

Hamlin’s side of their collision was even more plainspoken in his post-race availability.

“He was having a tough day and we were racing up front for a win,” Hamlin said. “It’s all good on my end, for sure.”