Path to Phoenix: How those on the outside looking in could advance to Championship 4

Posted on October 18, 2023October 19, 2023 by Zach Sturniolo

Kyle Larson is the only driver locked into the Championship 4 who knows he will compete for the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series championship on Nov. 5 at Phoenix Raceway.

The seven other drivers left in the Round of 8 are vying for three spots to join him. That fight continues Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), where champions have long been made.

Four drivers sit beneath the provisional elimination heading to South Florida. Surely, a case can be made for each of them to advance to the final round of the postseason, right?

MORE: Latest playoff standings | Homestead-Miami schedule

5. Christopher Bell (-2 to elimination line)

Bell was just about as close as anyone could be to not being on this list. The No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota fell just 0.082 seconds short at Las Vegas, but the door shouldn’t be closed on the only member of the 2022 Championship 4 left. His Homestead numbers aren’t exceptional but certainly, nothing to sneeze at either, with finishes of eight, 20th and 11th in three starts. His walk-off win a season ago at Martinsville launched him into the title race, so there’s no doubt he and crew chief Adam Stevens could work that magic all over again this year.

6. Tyler Reddick (-16)

Reddick was surprisingly never a factor last week at Las Vegas, but the high-line glider seems primed for a great run at Homestead-Miami. No one loves running against the wall quite like Larson or Reddick, and it’s worked in Reddick’s favor in the past. He finished fourth and second in his first two Cup starts at the 1.5-mile track before crashing out last year and claimed each of his two Xfinity Series championships there as well. His first Cup win at the track could come this weekend, which would lock him into the title fight for the first time at the sport’s highest level.

7. Ryan Blaney (-17)

With his Las Vegas points reinstated after NASCAR rescinded its initial disqualification of the No. 12 Team Penske Ford, Blaney enters Homestead with more than a fighting chance to find his path out of the Round of 8 for the first time in his career. This is Blaney’s fifth appearance in the penultimate round of the playoffs. How does he move onto Phoenix this time? It’s not impossible he finds a way to Victory Lane at Homestead. He was running third before pitting with 57 laps left a year ago — but took himself out of contention after an errant downshift spun his No. 12 Ford sideways and caused a caution. His first win of 2023 also came on a 1.5-mile track at Charlotte.

His path to Phoenix is more likely to shine at Martinsville, where he’s earned a 9.5 average finish — his best on any track with three or more starts. Blaney has seven top-fives and nine top-10 finishes in 15 starts at the 0.526-mile oval and has led 377 laps there. He hasn’t led the last one yet, but he’s earned the second-most points of anyone in the Next Gen car at Martinsville, per Racing Insights.

8. Chris Buescher (-23)

In his first deep run in the NASCAR Playoffs, Buescher is easily having the best season of his career. He has not won at either Homestead-Miami or Martinsville, but who’s to say this isn’t the year he breaks through? Buescher showed excellent speed to win at the 2-mile oval at Michigan over the summer and has been excellent on short tracks too, nabbing a 2022 win at Bristol in addition to this year’s triumph at Richmond. Is a walk-off win on the table for Buescher at Martinsville? He only has one top 10 in 23 combined starts at either track, but Buescher has proved any stats from prior seasons don’t necessarily apply this year.

Posted on October 17, 2023October 26, 2023 by Tadd Haislop

Either Ron Silk or Justin Bonsignore will leave Martinsville Speedway on Thursday, Oct. 26 as the 2023 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion. Which is fitting considering those are the drivers who have graced the top of the standings for the vast majority of the season.

Silk and Bonsignore, both already champs on the Tour with Silk taking the title in 2011 and Bonsignore winning in 2018, 2020 and 2021, have battled each other for race wins all year. Each driver has five victories, and they rank first and second in average finish positions among Tour regulars.

Silk, though, has the advantage entering the season-finale at the legendary half-mile paperclip in Southwest Virginia.

The driver of Haydt Yannone Racing’s No. 16 Modified has a 13-point lead over Bonsignore in the standings thanks in large part to the results of the most recent race, the World Series 150 at Connecticut’s Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park on Oct. 8. Silk won the race while Bonsignore, the pole-sitter, slid to a 13th place finish.

That means Bonsignore and his No. 51 Ken Massa Motorsports team need a little help to secure their fourth Modified Tour championship.

Ron Silk, outside, and Justin Bonsignore, inside, lead the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour field at New Hampshire’s Monadnock Speedway on May 6, 2023. (Photo: Nick Grace/NASCAR)

Simply put: If Silk finishes eighth or better at Martinsville, he will clinch the title no matter what Bonsignore does. Should Silk finish ninth or worse, the championship scenarios will open for Bonsignore.

The biggest factor working in Silk’s favor entering the finale is the consistency he’s displayed in 2023. He has 15 top-five finishes in 17 races; his only finishes outside the top five were his seventh-place run at Richmond Raceway in April and his 12th-place effort at New Hampshire’s Monadnock Speedway in September. The latter was the result of a spin early in the event.

Bonsignore, of course, has been just as strong. He has 14 top fives in 17 races and a series-high seven Mayhew Tools Dominator Pole Awards. Silk has zero poles.

Fittingly, all eyes will be on these two competitors as the Whelen Modified Tour season reaches its final laps at Martinsville.

Below are the championship points scenarios based on each driver’s possible finish positions in the finale. Included below the table are the tiebreaker scenarios in the event both drivers end the Martinsville race with the same amount of points.

Ron Silk and Justin Bonsignore at New Jersey’s Wall Stadium Speedway on July 8, 2023. (Photo: Kostas Lymperopoulos/NASCAR)

(The table features 39 positions based on the entry list for the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200.)

Ron Silk vs. Justin Bonsignore: Championship points scenarios for NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race at Martinsville

NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship points tiebreakers

(Via the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour rule book)

17-8 Ties

17-8.1 Championship points

A. In the event two or more drivers or Car Owners have the same number of points (a tie), each driver or Car Owner will be ranked according to the greatest number of 1st place finishes in 2023 Events for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour as of that time.

B. If a tie still exists, the greatest number of 2nd place finishes, 3rd place finishes, etc., will be used in the same manner, until the tie is broken.

C. If a tie still remains, the driver and/or Car Owner having the highest finishing position first during the current season in which the driver and/or Car Owner competed for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour at the time will prevail.

Posted on October 17, 2023 by Holly Cain

For more than two decades, the Homestead-Miami Speedway crowned the NASCAR Cup Series champion.

This year, the South Florida 1.5-mile track will again contribute mightily to the championship cause – hosting Sunday’s 4EVER 400 Presented by Mobil 1 (2:30 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App) with an automatic bid into the season finale Championship 4 on the line.

Kyle Larson earned the first position among the four drivers who will compete for the 2024 title with a win in last weekend’s Round of 8 opener at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. This week is another opportunity to claim a spot — and four of the current eight playoff competitors have won at Homestead-Miami in just the last six races there.

Larson is the defending winner, and his Hendrick Motorsports teammate — championship points leader William Byron — won in 2021. Among Joe Gibbs Racing teammates, Denny Hamlin won most recently in 2020 and Martin Truex Jr. in 2017. And these four drivers also happen to be the top four ranked competitors coming into the weekend.

The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion Larson already secured his bid into the Nov. 5 Phoenix title finale, and Byron sits atop the standings from there with a nine-point advantage over fifth place Christopher Bell in a tightly-contested ranking. Teammates Truex — the Regular Season Champion — and Hamlin are tied, only two points up on their JGR cohort Bell.

23XI Racing’s Tyler Redick is sixth, 16 points off the top four, followed by Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney (-17) and RFK Racing’s Chris Buescher (-23) with only this week’s 400-miler at Homestead-Miami and next week’s 500-lapper at the historic Martinsville Speedway half-miler remaining to see which four drivers will be eligible to compete for the season title.

MORE: Full playoff standings | Standings shift after Vegas

A race victory from any of the playoff drivers is an automatic bid into the Championship 4, with the highest-ranked drivers in the championship standings filling out the remaining title-eligible lineup.

The Homestead-Miami mile-and-a-half began hosting NASCAR Cup Series races in 1999. Hamlin has competed in 18 races at Homestead, and his three poles (2015, 2017, 2018) and three victories (2009, ’13 and ’20) are tops among all active drivers. Hamlin has failed to finish in the top 10 only six times in his 18 starts there and was seventh in last year’s race.

In Truex’s 18 starts, he has that championship-clinching victory in 2017, but also three runner-up finishes (2006, ’18 and ’19). He’s finished sixth or better in five of the last six races. In 2019, he led a race-high 103 of the 267 laps only to finish runner-up. He was sixth last fall.

“It’s a track I feel good about,” said Truex, driver of the No. 19 JGR Toyota. “Recent success is always important. Now racing with the Next Gen car, we raced there for the first time last year. That went really well, and we were in position to win that race late, and we had some issues getting spun on pit road that took us out of it.

“Definitely have a lot of confidence going there with our Bass Pro Shops Camry. I feel like we have a good notebook from last year to go off of. It’s a place where I think we can make something happen.”

Of note, Byron’s victory in 2021 was particularly impressive in that he led a race-best 102 laps en route to the win, even though he started 31st on the grid. Only one other race winner has started farther back on the grid – Hamlin won from a 38th-place start in 2009.

Only two drivers have won back-to-back races on the Homestead 1.5-mile speedway – NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart won the first two NASCAR Cup Series races there in 1999 and 2000, and Greg Biffle won three consecutively during the 2004-06 seasons.

Kyle Busch, who was eliminated from 2023 playoff competition after the previous round, joins Hamlin as the only other multi-time Homestead NASCAR Cup Series winner (2015 and ’19) among active drivers. Add in his NASCAR Xfinity Series wins (two) and Craftsman Truck Series victories (three), and Busch is the overall winningest driver at the track.

Several championship contenders have turned in big days in South Florida beyond the NASCAR Cup Series, however. Reddick, in particular, has a fantastic history at the track, winning back-to-back-NASCAR Xfinity Series races in 2018-19 to claim back-to-back series championships. And he did it driving for two different teams (JR Motorsports and Richard Childress Racing).

Larson won the NASCAR Xfinity Series race in 2015. Byron won the 2016 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race there.

This weekend marks a NASCAR playoff tripleheader, with all three series competing at Homestead-Miami. The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races on Saturday at noon (FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), followed by the NASCAR Xfinity Series at 3 p.m. (USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Practice for the NASCAR Cup Series race is scheduled for 9:05 a.m. ET on Saturday, followed by two rounds of qualifying at 9:50 a.m. ET.

Posted on October 17, 2023 by Staff Report

Two crew members from Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 54 Toyota team for rookie Ty Gibbs were issued suspensions Tuesday after a wheel detached from the car during last Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series playoff race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Gibbs and the No. 54 team were penalized on Lap 216 of the 267-lap South Point 400, shortly after his scrape of the Turn 2 wall forced the race’s seventh caution period. The right-front wheel came off as he limped through Turns 3 and 4, and Gibbs was held for two laps on pit road.

Tuesday, competition officials handed down two-race suspensions to No. 54 team crew members Braxton Brannon (jack) and Jackson Gibbs (front-tire changer) under Sections 8.8.10.4.A & C (Tires and Wheels) in the NASCAR Rule Book. The bans are set to be in effect for the Cup Series’ events this Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway and Oct. 29 at Martinsville Speedway.

Gibbs ended up 34th in the 36-car field, eight laps off the pace.

Posted on October 17, 2023October 17, 2023 by Staff Report

2024 will usher the continuous expansion of NASCAR in Europe. EuroNASCAR, the best European touring car series, will take the Pure Racing atmosphere of its American Festivals to seven different countries for a total of 28 races to crown the NASCAR European Champion alongside. The NASCAR Whelen Euro Series will return to oval racing with the addition of a seventh NASCAR GP at Raceway Venray, Netherlands and a returning playoff format, four races awarding double points during Semi-Finals at Oschersleben, Germany and Finals at Zolder, Belgium.

“This 2024 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series calendar is the best in the Series history! Each one of these destinations brings its own flavour and identity to the NASCAR Official Championship, providing fans, teams and drivers a great diversity of racing experiences. We can‘t thank our fantastic circuit partners enough, each one of them sharing the same ambition to build great American Festivals to entertain tens of thousands of fans and families. This 2024 season will be another big step in the development of NASCAR in Europe,” said NWES president and CEO Jerome Galpin.

On April 13-14, Valencia‘s Circuit Ricardo Tormo will host the traditional season opener NASCAR GP SPAIN for the tenth time. The splendid 4 km track will also welcome the series Prologue — a day of pre-season testing — on April 11.

The NASCAR GP ITALY will change dates to become the second event of the 2024 season and benefit from the Roman dolce vita atmosphere in May: the American Festival of Rome will take place at the Autodromo di Vallelunga on May 18-19.

Circuit Brands Hatch and the hugely popular American SpeedFest XI will once again highlight the month of June. The NASCAR GP UK will gather tens of thousands of fans at the iconic Indy Circuit on June 8-9 to crown the king of Brands Hatch.

Three weeks later on June 29-30, the brand new OVAL GP will be held on the high-banking half-mile oval of Raceway Venray, marking NASCAR Whelen Euro Series’ return to an oval track for the first time since 2019. This unique event will be the sole NASCAR Oval race outside of the Americas.

After the summer break, the EuroNASCAR action will resume on August 31st and September 1st, when the official European NASCAR series visit Autodrom Most for the fifth edition of NASCAR GP CZECH REPUBLIC. This exciting weekend will end the regular season and determine the classifications before entering the Playoffs, after all drivers dropped their two worst results.

The EuroNASCAR will launch the Playoffs in Germany for the SEMI-FINALS on September 21-22. The pressure will be on with double points on the line. Motorsport Arena Oschersleben will welcome EuroNASCAR for the second time following a spectacular debut in 2023.

The season will culminate in Belgium at Circuit Zolder on October 12-13. The legendary track in the Limburg forest will host the EuroNASCAR FINALS for the seventh time with four nail-biting NASCAR races to crown the NASCAR Champion as well as Cups and Trophies winners .

Who is going to raise the Tijey trophy to the sky in the 13th season of the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series? A new season is ready to begin for EuroNASCAR. Don‘t miss a single lap of the battle to crown the 2024 NASCAR European Champion.

Featured image by NASCAR Whelen Euro Series

Posted on October 17, 2023October 17, 2023 by Staff Report

At the end of a twelve-race season filled with passion, emotions, sudden turnarounds and close Pure Racing action, the last race of the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series season decided the battle for the title in favor of Gianmarco Ercoli, who earned his first EuroNASCAR PRO championship in the most unpredictable way. A never give up attitude was the key to success: Ercoli on the #54 CAAL Racing Chevrolet Camaro came out the winner ahead of Speedhouse‘s driver-owner Lucas Lasserre at the end of Europe‘s closest and most thrilling touring car championship.

Ercoli started the race from 17th and ended up fourth under the checkered flag. The outstanding comeback awarded him the eight bonus points for the most gained positions in the 18-lap race, a feat that played a major role in the outcome of the race. The Rome native is the first ever EuroNASCAR 2 champion to also win the premier NASCAR Whelen Euro Series title.

The race began with a potential three-way battle for the championship between Lasserre, Vittorio Ghirelli and Ercoli in which Ercoli was in the most desperate situation. Drama struck already in the first lap behind the Safety Car, when Ghirelli‘s throttle got stuck and caused the #72 Team Bleekemolen Ford Mustang to spin, putting the Italian at the back of the field.

In the first half of the race, Ercoli had to climb through the midfield of the pack and had only a glimpse left of hope for a miracle. But the Italian continued to get the best out of his #54 Chevrolet and tried to maximize the result, hoping for Lady Luck to be on his side. Meanwhile, Lasserre was cruising in second place with one hand on the Tijey Trophy.

In the rain of Belgium, drama struck again on lap 16, when a contact between Lasserre and Mario Ercoli, shuffled the Frenchman down to fourth. Ercoli received a 30 seconds post-race penalty for the incident. Lasserre still finished in front of Gianmarco Ercoli, but a 10 second post-race penalty for a procedure infringement in the initial start of the race relegated the Frenchman in 10th place, promoting Gianmarco Ercoli to fourth, 15 points clear in the lead.

In a season that saw six different winners, four different championship leaders and a unique competitive parity at all levels, three race wins, nine top-5 and ten top-10 results were the foundation for Ercoli to win the 2023 NWES Championship. To add to the record books, the winningest driver of the season, who won the EuroNASCAR 2 Championship in 2015, became the first driver to top both divisions, a testament to the quality of the NWES ladder system. The CAAL Racing driver stepped on top of his car‘s roof after being announced as the champions with tears of joy in his eyes. Ercoli experienced a rollercoaster of emotion in 2023.

“Even after the events on Saturday, I knew that this season would be decided today,” said Ercoli, who held onto the very last straw in the final race. “I just focused on myself and pushed very hard. Before the race, my team bosses Luca and Corrado Canneori as well as the whole team came to me and said: ‘Gimmy, fight! Don‘t think and just drive to have fun!‘ We were unlucky yesterday but today I‘m the lucky guy. It‘s really important for me personally to have won this EuroNASCAR PRO title and I have no words right now to express my emotions. I thank the whole team for the amazing work during this season.”

Lasserre ended up tenth in the last race of the season and finished second in the overall standings. Despite the heart-breaking loss, Speedhouse can be proud of an amazing year of strong results and a great development within the whole organization. Lasserre scored a total of two race wins in 2023 and paved the way towards strengthening the team‘s status in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series. Despite the frustrating outcome, the Speedhouse team will for sure find the positives in the season and keep on following their motto of “racing, style and good times”.

The same can be said about Vittorio Ghirelli and Team Bleekemolen, who vehemently emerged as top contenders for the title in the official European NASCAR Series.

Tobias Dauenhauer scored his second win of the season with Bremotion in dominant fashion. On a wet track, the driver of the #99 Chevrolet Camaro mastered the challenging condition with stunning lap times that were at some points more than two seconds better than the rest of the field. The German crossed the finish line 47.276 seconds ahead of Liam Hezemans in second. The latter, racing for Hendriks Motorsport, took the win in the Junior Trophy for drivers aged 25 and under, just six points ahead of race winner Dauenhauer. The special classification‘s podium was rounded out by Race Art Technology‘s Giorgio Maggi, who finished sixth.

“I love the rain and the car felt amazing,” says Dauenhauer in the Victory Lane. “It was a tough challenge for us because the car was damaged in a crash in the EuroNASCAR 2 race but my team managed to fix the car within ten minutes before the start of the race. Many thanks to Bremotion, we had an amazing car and I love these conditions. It‘s amazing to see so many fans here and I‘m really happy to end the season like this.”

Fabrizio Armetta collected his second overall Challenger Trophy win by finishing third under the checkered flag. The Italian made it to the overall podium for the first time of his career and scored his 22nd Challenger Trophy win to increase his lead in the all-time standings of the special classification. Giorgio Maggi followed behind Ercoli, while Anthony Kumpen ended up sixth and therefore kept his fourth place in the overall standings. The top-10 were rounded out by Martin Doubek, Paul Jouffreau, Ulysse Delsaux and Lucas Lasserre. Yevgen Sokolovskiy and Thomas Toffel joined Armetta on the Challenger Trophy podium.

Another thrilling and unpredictable championship is in the books. The NASCAR Whelen Euro Series will continue in 2024 with seven unique events across Europe in seven different countries. Buckle up for another year of exciting American themed events and Pure Racing at the tracks. Follow EuroNASCAR on social media and visit EuroNASCAR.com for the latest news about the 2024 season until the series travels to Valencia, Spain, on April 13-14.

EuroNASCAR PRO Results | EuroNASCAR 2 Results

Featured image by NASCAR Whelen Euro Series / Bart Dehaese

Posted on October 17, 2023October 17, 2023 by NASCAR Hall of Fame Release

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Distinguished Los Angeles Times reporter Shav Glick was named recipient of the 2024 Squier-Hall Award for NASCAR Media Excellence, becoming the 12th winner of the prestigious award.

Glick spent the last 37 years of his career as lead motorsports reporter for the Los Angeles Times. His coverage of NASCAR helped showcase the sport across Southern California.

“Shav Glick was a giant in motorsports journalism and the racing authority on the West Coast,” said NASCAR Chairman and CEO Jim France. “For decades, Shav’s stories helped introduce NASCAR to a new audience, as the sport grew nationally. He had a special way of highlighting the people behind the competition, always showcasing the human element that makes NASCAR so special. Whether he was covering the NASCAR Cup Series, or a grassroots-level race, Shav’s professionalism and grace embodied the best of sports journalism.”

Glick began his career at the Pasadena Star-News and served as sports editor of the Los Angeles Mirror before it merged with the Times. In 1969, 34 years into his distinguished career, he was asked to cover motorsports, which he did until his retirement in 2006.

He has earned numerous honors including the International Motorsports Hall of Fame (IMHOF) American Motorsports Media Award (for lifetime achievement in motorsports journalism) in 1977 and the AARWBA Angelo Angelopolous Award in 2004. In 2004, he became the first newspaper reporter inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America.

Glick will be honored during NASCAR Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony festivities on Jan. 19, 2024 and featured in an exhibit in the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Tickets to the Induction Weekend events are available at NASCARHall.com.

The Squier-Hall Award for NASCAR Media Excellence was named after legendary NASCAR media figures Ken Squier and Barney Hall, the first two recipients of the award.

The other seven nominees for the award were:

Russ Catlin, one of the best-known early racing writers and historians; editor of Speed Age Magazine

George Cunningham, long-time beat writer for The Charlotte Observer, Atlanta Constitution and NASCAR Scene; is the namesake for the annual NMPA award for Excellence in Writing

Mike Harris, spent 30 years as the lead motorsports writer for the Associated Press

Bob Montgomery, co-founder and announcer for the Universal Racing Network

Bob Moore, spent more than 20 years as a NASCAR beat writer including stints with the Daytona Beach News-Journal and The Charlotte Observer

Hank Schoolfield, a jack of all trades bringing NASCAR racing to fans across the Southeast through newspapers, magazines and radio

Deb Williams, the first woman to receive the American Motorsports Media Award of Excellence

Posted on October 16, 2023 by Staff Report

Tyler Reddick’s first season with 23XI Racing has produced his deepest run in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, an appearance in the Round of 8. The campaign has marked his next stage of growth, from his days as a winner and eventual title contender in the Craftsman Truck and Xfinity Series to a full-fledged title hopeful in NASCAR’s top tour.

Despite the postseason’s sometimes-frantic pace, Reddick found time recently for reflection in a wide-ranging sitdown — debuting today in full on NASCAR’s YouTube channel. The 27-year-old driver opened up on his career path, the joys and twists of parenting, and what it’s like driving for 23XI co-owners Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin.

Reddick’s development has accelerated since he first entered NASCAR’s national series scene as a promising teenager in the truck tour in 2013. Along the way, he grew into a force in the Xfinity Series, where he won consecutive championships (2018-19) for two different organizations. That proved to be reassurance for Reddick that his aspirations of gaining a foothold in the Cup Series someday was a possibility.

“Being able to switch teams like that and go out and win a second championship made me feel like it was going to happen at some point,” Reddick said. “It went down the way that it did, and I ended up moving into the 8 car the next year.”

Reddick eventually rounded into a Cup Series winner with Richard Childress Racing’s No. 8 group, but when Hamlin, Jordan and company came calling, he answered. Reddick acknowledged the potential for hurt feelings on the RCR side, especially after he had expressed, “It wasn’t even on my radar about racing anywhere else in the future.”

Reddick discussed how he made the news known about his 23XI Racing move as a surprise guest on a Zoom video conference and the motives for breaking the story the way they did. But he also noted how 23XI has raised his level of expectation, a precedent that stems from the organization’s “work together” mantra but also Jordan’s competitive nature and history of success.

“I remember a time that if I qualified 15th in a Cup race, I was over-the-moon excited,” Reddick said. “Now, if I qualify 15th in a Cup race, it’s harder to be much more disappointed than I am, and that just goes to show where this team is heading. So it’s nice to have those higher expectations week in and week out, and put ourselves in that top-line conversation.”

Watch the whole conversation, including Reddick’s take on fatherhood, from 23XI Racing here:

Posted on October 16, 2023February 8, 2024 by Staff Report

NASCAR officials rescinded the disqualification of Ryan Blaney’s Team Penske No. 12 Ford on Monday after further inspection of his car from Sunday’s Cup Series event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

The decision restores Blaney’s sixth-place finish in Sunday’s South Point 400 and provides him with better footing in the Cup Series Playoffs’ Round of 8, which continues Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

Blaney and the team were initially disqualified after post-race technical inspection at the 1.5-mile Nevada track, where competition officials ruled that the left-front shock on the No. 12 did not meet the overall specified length outlined in Section 14.11.3.5 of the NASCAR Rule Book. Blaney was demoted to last place in the 36-car field.

After a further review of the inspection process at the NASCAR Research & Development Center in Concord, North Carolina, competition officials discovered an issue with the damper template used for inspections in the Las Vegas garage. A statement from the sanctioning body said that “NASCAR then conducted a detailed investigation and has restored the No. 12’s stage and race finishing positions from Sunday. NASCAR has taken internal steps to remedy this issue moving forward.”

Blaney was once again credited with sixth-place points, and the eight points he had earned at the two stage breaks were also restored. The reversal moves Blaney from last place among the eight remaining title-eligible drivers to seventh, trimming his deficit relative to the provisional elimination line from 56 to 17 points.

Brad Moran, managing director for the NASCAR Cup Series, said Monday evening in an appearance on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio that officials brought back shocks, the damper template and other tools from the race weekend, then reviewed all the weekend reports before discovering the issue. Moran also explained how the template may have slipped out of spec.

RELATED: Updated standings

“Obviously a lot of shocks go on throughout a weekend,” Moran told SiriusXM. “They have a set screw underneath it that keeps everything tight, and if they become even the slightest bit loose during a weekend, they actually can basically come loose, shift a little bit. … So it’s not big numbers we’re talking about here, but there was a way that they could actually come loose, and if they were moved, the shock would go on, and was sealed prior to the race and that’s where the problem came about post-race. That same shock did not pass the same template that it was on previously.

“So again … there was a lot of digging in here to come up with what we did, but when we were all done, NASCAR had ownership in it. It was not a team problem, and we’ll own up to that, and that’s why the penalty’s getting rescinded.”

Team Penske responded with a statement later Monday evening, applauding the ruling.

“We are pleased with the decision by NASCAR to rescind the post-race disqualification to the No. 12 car following Sunday’s race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway,” Team Penske’s statement read. “NASCAR has shown a tremendous amount of integrity throughout the process which has led to this conclusion. We are proud of the effort and the results by the No. 12 team during the 2023 season. We look forward to continuing the pursuit of the NASCAR Cup Series Championship.”

Moran added that competition officials were taking measures to prevent a similar issue in the future.

“We’re implementing new procedures,” Moran said. “We’ve got the boards here that are getting re-done. There’s a lot of things taking place that are going to be done by the end of the day (Tuesday). So this will be the last time I talk to you about this situation, I can pretty near guarantee you that.”

Blaney is making his third consecutive appearance in the Round of 8, marking the fifth time in his Cup Series career that he has made such a deep playoff run. The 29-year-old driver is seeking his first appearance in the Championship 4 field, the final four drivers who will vie for the Cup Series title in the Nov. 5 season finale at Phoenix Raceway.

Posted on October 16, 2023 by Staff Report

With Kevin Harvick’s NASCAR Cup Series career soon coming to a close, it’s only fitting to offer a toast.

Anheuser-Busch will do just that this Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, with the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing driver’s longtime partner’s flagship brand returning as his primary sponsor for the 4EVER 400 Presented by Mobil 1 (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).

The iconic beverage that adorned the sides of his No. 4 en route to the 2014 Cup championship will once again add its red and white colors to Harvick’s livery, with the scheme itself harkening back to the look the 60-time winner sported the night he won the title at the 1.5-mile facility.

MORE: Harvick’s wins by track | All of his Cup wins

Budweiser, AB brand Busch Light — Harvick’s typical weekly sponsor — and SHR came together to surprise Harvick with the throwback Budweiser paint scheme and fire suit for his final race at the South Florida oval after a nearly decade-and-a-half-long partnership.

“Kevin Harvick has been an iconic Anheuser-Busch partner and cornerstone of our sports portfolio since we first started working together in 2011,” said Matt Davis, vice president of partnerships at Anheuser-Busch. “Through our partnership with Kevin, we have been able to connect with 21-plus NASCAR fans across the country, giving them unparalleled access to the sport. This surprise paint scheme is just another way we are celebrating Kevin, his loyal fans and his storied career on the track.”

Harvick, who also ran a throwback paint scheme during the All-Star Race weekend at North Wilkesboro, fondly recalled his 2014 march to the Cup Series title with his red-and-white No. 4 entry.

“I think the single best race has to be Homestead of 2014, just with the way everything went and the great call and the race at the end and everything that happened with coming to Stewart-Haas Racing that first year,” Harvick said. “All the adversity that we had at the beginning of the year, how fast the cars were, and then putting it all together in one day to win the championship, I think that single race is probably the one that I would circle just because of everything that happened and everything that it summarized and wound up, ultimately, with a championship at the end.”