It’s only midway through May, and William Byron is on pace to shatter many of his best single-season marks, including already setting a NASCAR Cup Series career high with three wins — all in just the first 13 races of the season.
Though they each have very different backgrounds and journeys to the top level of stock car racing, the 25-year-old Hendrick Motorsports driver might still be years ahead of his prime and has a nearly identical career arc with a two-time Cup Series champion, currently one of the best drivers in the sport and one of the 75 Greatest Drivers of all time — Joey Logano.
One of the most highly touted prospects in the modern era, Logano burst onto the premier series scene at 18, collecting his first full-time schedule one year later with high expectations at Joe Gibbs Racing. Byron, a sim-racing superstar, wasn’t far behind when he introduced himself at 20 years old and joined Hendrick Motorsports to take over the legendary No. 24, made famous by NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon.
Each had two very different paths to success, but through their first 193 starts in the Cup Series, their numbers are incredibly similar.
Take a look.
Joey Logano
William Byron
Starts
193
193
Poles
8
10
Wins
5
7
Runner-up finishes
2
5
Top-five finishes
32
32
Top-10 finishes
65
69
Laps led
1,044
2,201
Average finish
17.66
16.26
Throughout the time frame, Byron has more Busch Light Pole Awards, victories, runner-up finishes, top-10 finishes and significantly more laps led. And sure, it’s hard to compare a driver’s success in a different era under vastly different circumstances, but the numbers show that Byron is already leaving his mark at a phenomenal pace.
Since his debut in 2018, Byron has been a significant piece of the talented young stable at Hendrick Motorsports, featuring Cup Series champions Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott and seven-time Cup Series winner Alex Bowman. But by leading the series with three victories — winner at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Phoenix Raceway and Darlington Raceway — Byron is on the verge of a breakout campaign and finally has a chance to flash his talent at the forefront.
And it’s clear that his early accomplishments are putting the series on notice. Even Kyle Busch had to chime in on the rising star’s “rare talent.”
Although there is still a long way to go in the season, the win at Phoenix, specifically, bodes well for the team moving forward. After all, it is the site of the championship race. A race Byron and the No. 24 team fell just six positions short of contending in a year ago, finishing seventh at Martinsville Speedway and sixth in the final series standings.
If he could pull off the feat, unseating reigning champion Joey Logano and collecting his first Bill France Cup, it would be a remarkable, full-circle moment given how tightly both careers — at least by the numbers — have begun.
Both drivers have a break from regular points-paying racing Sunday at North Wilkesboro Speedway for the annual All-Star Race (8 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). With a hefty $1 million on the line, Byron is searching for his first All-Star Race victory and Logano his second, after winning the prize in 2016 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Statistics for the table were provided by Racing Insights.
Festivities at Darlington Raceway brought about the usual throwback-oriented flavors commonplace for the much-anticipated race weekend, and Kevin Harvick certainly partook. As captain of the No. 4 Sunny Delight Ford, Harvick not only wheeled out a runner-up finish but additionally helped pay homage to a scheme originally scheduled for his Cup Series debut in 2001 as a 25-year-old.
After announcing his retirement from the Cup Series after the 2023 season, honoring the past will continue to be the underlying theme for the now 47-year-old driver this weekend leading up to Sunday’s NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway (8 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). This time around, Harvick will switch out the light blue and gray livery that usually adorns the No. 4 for the white-and-red stylized No. 29 that he flew during that same 2001 campaign.
The number’s revival brings back long-lasting memories for not only Harvick but for the entire sport. After Dale Earnhardt’s death in the Daytona 500, Harvick moved into Earnhardt’s role, with Richard Childress Racing changing the car number from the iconic No. 3 to the No. 29. After his 14th-place finish at Rockingham Speedway in his official Cup debut on Feb. 26, 2001, Harvick went on to collect his first of two wins that season two weeks later at Atlanta Motor Speedway in the same scheme being honored this weekend.
A pair of wins, coupled with six top fives, 16 top 10s and 374 laps led, eventually netted Harvick a ninth-place finish in the standings and a Rookie of the Year Award triumph.
Even after joining Stewart-Haas Racing in 2014 – the same year he won the Cup Series championship – Harvick wished to return to his roots in some form or fashion. And so, the idea of driving the No. 29 – the number planted on his RCR machine for 13 seasons – came to fruition.
— Stewart-Haas Racing (@StewartHaasRcng) May 16, 2023
“Everything that started in my Cup career started at RCR. It wasn’t supposed to start in the 29, but it wound up being my first in the 29 after Dale’s death,” Harvick said in a release provided by the team. “And to be able to put that car back out on the race track is something that we all thought would not ever happen again. But with Stewart-Haas Racing and Richard Childress Racing working together and making my crazy idea work out and being able to see the first win paint scheme in the 29 and to have it on the race track at North Wilkesboro is something I think we’re all excited about. I know the fans are excited, but for us, it’s an honor and a privilege to drive it one last time. It will be a fun night for all of us.”
Of course, every idea starts on a drawing board somewhere. On the surface, such an idea of reviving the number sounded far-fetched. With RCR and Stewart-Haas being under the Chevrolet and Ford umbrella, respectively, the pickle certainly looked significant on paper.
When Harvick pitched his request during his retirement meeting, that notion remained.
Until it didn’t, that is.
“It was really simple. We started the retirement planning at Stewart-Haas Racing and working through things, and we got done with what I believe was the second meeting, and I said, ‘Hey, by the way, I want to drive the 29 car at the All-Star Race,’” Harvick said. “And they all kind of looked at me and were like, ‘You serious?’ Everybody kind of slept on it and talked about it in the next couple of days, and nobody said no. So we went back to the next meeting, and I said, ‘What about the 29 car? Do you guys think we can pull that off?’ They said, ‘Somebody’s going to have to call Richard.’
“I said I would call Richard, so I called Richard Childress and said, ‘Hey, we want to drive the 29 car at North Wilkesboro and run the first win paint scheme.’ And he said, ‘Kevin, you can have whatever you want. Do whatever you want. You’ve been great for RCR, and we’d love to work with you guys to figure it out.’ And they all figured it out, and here we are.”
And so, the occasion comes for one last drive at not only a historic venue but at an event Harvick has a knack for showing out in. In addition to winning the All-Star Race twice (2007, 2019), Harvick has seven top-five and 13 top-10 finishes in 22 total All-Star Races. Since his 2001 debut, Harvick has been a part of every All-Star Race and is the only active driver to say as such. His 23rd All-Star Race appearance Sunday will also mark the most among all active drivers.
“I don’t know the last time the All-Star Race was the most anticipated event of the season,” Harvick said. “Fans are going to show up in droves. North Wilkesboro is a great short track, the asphalt’s worn out and I think it’s going to be a fantastic event.”
As he prepares for his All-Star swan song, Harvick will look to do the usual – lead laps, attempt a winning move or two and potentially cement another victory to his already-abundant trophy shelf.
But perhaps most importantly, Harvick will look to make one more go behind the No. 29 wheel a memorable one, like so many times before.
“Well, I think it’s going to be strange just climbing into it, right? For me, there’s a huge sense of pride in being able to be a part of something like this with both organizations,” Harvick said. “Going back in time and doing everything that weekend in the 29 car is something I’m really excited about. And I think when you go out on the race track, the fans will be in the same boat. As you go by the first time, people are going to be, like, ‘I can’t believe that actually happened.’”
CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. – Just 10 days before Charlotte Motor Speedway kicks off Memorial Day Weekend with three straight days of action-packed racing, the speedway hosted Aric Almirola for its final Mission 600 visit of the season, a day with Marines from the 2D LAR (Light Armor Reconnaissance) Battalion at Camp Lejeune.
Mission 600 is a campaign that pairs NASCAR drivers with military bases, designed to educate the NASCAR community about the day-to-day lives of the men and women who serve in the U.S. Armed Forces and to build meaningful connections between the worlds of motorsports and the military.
Almirola, along with Charlotte Motor Speedway Executive Vice President and General Manager Greg Walter, flew in an MV-22 Osprey, participated in a tire-changing demonstration, learned about a variety of weapons systems and fired an M242 Bushmaster from an LAV (Light Armored Vehicle). Almirola also served lunch to dozens of Marines, courtesy of Smithfield.
“Such a humbling experience for me to come and spend time with all these men and women,” Almirola said. “They volunteer to keep our country free, and they get up every morning and go to work with one objective – to make sure that me and you walk out of our front door every morning and that we’re safe. And it is amazing to have this opportunity and come spend the day with them and to show them our appreciation.”
The LAR battalion performs combined arms reconnaissance and security missions in support of the ground combat element. Its mission is to conduct reconnaissance; security and economy of force operations; and, within its capabilities, limited offensive or defensive operations that exploit the unit’s mobility and firepower.
“What’s really cool is this the appreciation that the Marines have and understanding where they came from,” Walter said. “And then there was this appreciation of just the smiles. You have athletes like Aric out here. Everyone’s in peak condition. Everyone’s training to be their best, both with their equipment as well as personally. And to see those conversations happening is exactly what we want from Mission 600.”
Mission 600 serves as a prelude to Charlotte Motor Speedway’s patriotic pre-race salute to the troops prior to the Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day Weekend. With representation from all six branches of the U.S. Armed Forces, the salute embodies the patriotism and service of the nation’s men and women in uniform.
For Dale Earnhardt Jr., this is nothing new. The NASCAR Hall of Famer competed in a Late Model race at North Wilkesboro Speedway last year, when the CARS Tour visited the revived venue for the first time.
But for Chase Elliott, Kevin Harvick and many more NASCAR stars, this week’s Late Model races at North Wilkesboro Speedway as part of NASCAR All-Star Week are brand-new opportunities to compete on the historic, 0.625-mile oval.
Both the ASA STARS National Tour race (ECMD 150; Wednesday, 9:45 p.m. ET on FloRacing) and the CARS Tour races (Crossroads Harley-Davidson 75 and Window World 125; 5:45 p.m. ET on FloRacing) will feature big NASCAR names on the entry lists.
In addition to Earnhardt, Elliott and Harvick, Brad Keselowski, William Byron, Erik Jones, Chase Briscoe, Noah Gragson, Daniel Suarez and many more NASCAR national series drivers will race Late Models on either Tuesday or Wednesday evening.
The complete list of NASCAR drivers racing in late model events at North Wilkesboro Speedway during NASCAR All-Star Week can be found below, as can information on how to watch both nights on FloRacing.
North Wilkesboro Speedway Late Model races: TV channel, live stream
Tuesday’s ASA STARS National Tour race was postponed to Wednesday due to weather in North Wilkesboro. That and the CARS Tour races will be shown live on FloRacing, NASCAR’s streaming home for grassroots racing. None of the Late Model action during NASCAR All-Star Week will broadcast on TV.
Below is the complete live stream schedule for the Late Model races on Wednesday of NASCAR All-Star Week.
Date
Race
Start time
How to watch
Wednesday, May 17
Crossroads Harley-Davidson 75 (CARS Tour Pro Late Models)
How to watch Dale Earnhardt Jr. race at North Wilkesboro in 2023
As was the case last year, when he finished third in the main event, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is entered in the Late Model Stock portion of Wednesday night’s CARS Tour show at North Wilkesboro.
The Late Model Stock feature is the second of two CARS Tour races Wednesday. Both will be shown live on FloRacing. Earnhardt’s race is expected to begin at approximately 7:30 p.m. ET.
Earnhardt recently recalled how last year’s Late Model Stock race at North Wilkesboro felt, and he expects a similar scene in 2023.
“Everybody was just so happy to be there, and as soon as the cars started rolling, everybody was like, you know, sort of this surreal moment where you’re thinking, ‘Man, I can’t believe that this is happening,’” Earnhardt said. “And I was thinking that in the car and after the race, and I’m like, ‘I just can’t believe that we actually raced here, and that we had such a great turnout, and we had such great energy.’ And everybody, even all the drivers, competitors are just so happy to be part of it.
“And I think that it’s just going to multiply when we go there for the All-Star Week, and when we’re all standing there, all of us here, when we’re standing there, for that race to begin, that moment is going to happen for all of us. We’re going to be like, ‘I never thought this would happen. I can’t believe this is actually about to happen.'”
NASCAR drivers racing Late Models against Dale Earnhardt Jr. at North Wilkesboro in 2023
Dale Earnhardt Jr. is just one of several famous NASCAR names on the entry lists for the Late Model races at North Wilkesboro for All-Star Week. Many are current NASCAR national series competitors who want practice ahead of the week’s Craftsman Truck Series or Cup Series action; others simply want chances to run Late Models at an historic facility.
Including Earnhardt, below are the NASCAR national series drivers entered to race in the three Late Model features scheduled at North Wilkesboro.
North Wilkesboro Speedway Late Model races: Schedule for NASCAR All-Star Week
FloRacing‘s coverage of Late Model action on Wednesday at North Wilkesboro begins at 11:40 a.m. ET. Meaning fans can watch qualifying ahead of the CARS Tour feature races.
Including the qualifying and race start times on Wednesday, below is the updated schedule for Late Models at North Wilkesboro.
Wednesday, May 17
NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway: TV channel, schedule
The Late Model races on Tuesday and Wednesday of NASCAR All-Star Week will precede a packed schedule of national series action at North Wilkesboro.
The action continues with All-Star Friday on Friday, May 19, when both the NASCAR Cup Series and Craftsman Truck Series will practice ahead of a Pit Crew Challenge for Cup teams that will set the starting lineup for Saturday night’s qualifying heat races.
Saturday, May 20 will feature the Craftsman Truck Series race, the Tyson 250. The Truck race will broadcast live on Fox starting at 1:30 p.m. ET. Following the Truck race Saturday will be the pair of 60-lap qualifying heats for the Cup Series.
The capper for NASCAR All-Star Week at North Wilkesboro on Sunday, May 21 will be both the All-Star Open and the All-Star race for the Cup Series. Both the Open (5:30 p.m. ET) and the race (8 p.m. ET) will broadcast live on FS1.
Below is the complete TV schedule for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and Cup Series at North Wilkesboro in 2023.
Friday, May 19
Series
Time
Event
TV channel (Radio)
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
3:05 p.m. ET
Practice
FS1
NASCAR Cup Series
4 p.m. ET
Practice
FS1 (MRN, SiriusXM)
NASCAR Cup Series
5:45 p.m. ET
Qualifying (All-Star Pit-Crew Challenge)
FS1 (MRN, SiriusXM)
Saturday, May 20
Series
Time
Event
TV channel (Radio)
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
10:30 a.m. ET
Qualifying
FS1
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
1:30 p.m. ET
Tyson 250
FOX (MRN, SiriusXM)
NASCAR Cup Series
7:35 p.m. ET
All-Star Race Heat No. 1
FS1 (MRN, SiriusXM)
NASCAR Cup Series
8:15 p.m. ET
All-Star Race Heat No. 2
FS1 (MRN, SiriusXM)
Sunday, May 21
Series
Time
Event
TV channel (Radio)
NASCAR Cup Series
5:30 p.m. ET
All-Star Open
FS1 (MRN, SiriusXM)
NASCAR Cup Series
8 p.m. ET
All-Star Race
FS1 (MRN, SiriusXM)
NASCAR recently announced the format for the 2023 All-Star race at North Wilkesboro. The winningest NASCAR Cup Series drivers in North Wilkesboro Speedway history, Richard Petty and Darrell Waltrip will serve as co-Grand Marshals.
Kyle Busch’s perspective on William Byron is among the most unique between two of today’s best NASCAR Cup Series drivers.
Busch, a two-time champion at the sport’s highest level, welcomed Byron to Kyle Busch Motorsports when Byron was merely 17 years old, making his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut in 2015.
Since then, Byron went on to set a rookie record in Trucks with seven wins in 2016, win the Xfinity Series championship in 2017 with JR Motorsports and now leads the NASCAR Cup Series with three wins through 13 races in 2023, bumping his Cup total victories to a collective seven, all with the sport’s winningest team in Hendrick Motorsports.
Fair to consider the new face of the No. 24 Chevrolet a championship threat?
“Yeah, I mean, you’d have to,” Busch said in a Tuesday teleconference.
Byron’s progression to Cup is well documented — a journey that began through iRacing and computers that propelled him to real track in legend cars, late models and the ARCA Menards Series East before landing on the national stage.
Now, in addition to his Cup Series-high three wins, the 25-year-old leads the league in top fives (six) and laps led (596); sits second in top-10 finishes (seven); is tied with Kyle Larson and Joey Logano for most poles (two); and sits fifth in points, 42 points behind series leader Ross Chastain. A 60-point penalty after the April 2 race at Richmond Raceway now remains the only thing separating Byron from the top spot in the standings midway through the regular season.
The tracks where Byron has broken through are also critical. The 1.5-mile Las Vegas Motor Speedway serves as the opening race of the Round of 8 in the NASCAR Playoffs; Phoenix Raceway, the flat 1-mile, D-shaped oval, is where the championship will be decided in November. Darlington Raceway, the site of Byron’s most recent triumph, opens the playoffs in September.
“All of his wins have been pretty diverse at all different race tracks, you know?” Busch said. “I think William is a rare talent. (…) He’s done a great job at driving all the stuff that he’s driven. He’s been in good stuff the entire time, but he’s made the most of that as well.”
Busch, who has welcomed Byron back into the KBM fold for a select number of Truck Series races this season thanks to his return to Chevrolet, pointed to their 2016 romp over the circuit, collecting 11 top fives and 16 top 10s to pair with those record seven wins over 23 events. A failed engine in that season’s penultimate race at Phoenix denied Byron the chance to vie for a championship — one he would have won considering he was victorious at Homestead-Miami Speedway in the season finale.
Atop the pit box was crew chief Rudy Fugle, who now guides Byron and the No. 24 team at Hendrick Motorsports.
“Working with William the time that we did, him and Rudy were amazing here and had great results, and now they’re having great results on the Cup side as well,” Busch said. “It took a couple years of learning the ropes of the Cup Series for William, which, to be expected out of anybody, right? But ever since being paired with Rudy again, it seems like those two really have a knack for one another. And Rudy is really good at what he does. I know that very well, having him be here at KBM for so many years. So that doesn’t surprise me.”
Sean Gardner | Getty Images
Fugle’s filter for prioritizing information is a significant key to the success he’s had with multiple drivers in the Truck Series — Busch (10 wins), Christopher Bell (five) and Erik Jones (four) to name a few.
“I think he just has a knack for being able to read information and the sim and stuff like that, without there needing to be a full emphasis put on the driver being in the sim, if you will,” Busch explained. “We all go do and run the simulator and everything. And sometimes it works for particular race tracks; sometimes it doesn’t. Like, I felt like Fontana, it was perfect. It was really good. And then I felt like Darlington, it was actually really good for us. But Vegas, it wasn’t even close. And somewhere else we went, it wasn’t even close, you know?
“So we really struggled at a couple of those places trying to rely on that, where Rudy and William, I know they go use it and they run on it. But I think Rudy really looks at numbers, a lot more of just setup things and the stuff that he does on how he picks what springs to run and what setups to go with.”
As for Byron and Fugle’s success, well that just leaves Busch with mixed emotions.
“I’d like to say that I’m happy for him (Fugle),” Busch said. “But on the other hand, I’m not because I’d rather have Rudy here on the Truck Series side with us at KBM and I’d rather be beating William on Sunday.”
NASCAR officials penalized the No. 45 team from 23XI Racing on Tuesday for violations found in Cup Series pre-qualifying inspection last weekend at Darlington Raceway.
The No. 45 team was found in violation of Section 14.11.2.1.A of the NASCAR Rule Book, which states that, “Any and all ballast added to the vehicle must be secured inside a ballast container(s). … Additional ballast containers will not be permitted to be added to the chassis.” As a result, competition officials docked the team 10 points in both the drivers and owners standings.
The team had lost pit-stall selection for Sunday’s Goodyear 400 after the infraction was discovered during Friday’s technical inspection at the 1.366-mile track, and crew chief Billy Scott was ejected for the remainder of the race weekend. 23XI Racing performance director Dave Rogers filled in for Scott, and Tyler Reddick drove to a 22nd-place finish in Sunday’s 400-miler, scored as the final driver on the lead lap. It marked two consecutive weeks that the No. 45 team failed pre-qualifying inspection twice.
Competition officials also issued suspensions for two crew members of the No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Chevrolet team after a wheel dislodged during Sunday’s Cup Series race. Erik Jones was involved in a multicar stack-up when the No. 43 Chevy spun sideways at the start of the final stage, collecting eight other cars at the exit of Turn 2. The No. 43’s right-rear wheel came loose and rolled down the backstretch, and Jones was held in the pits for two laps. He finished 25th.
The infraction falls under the heading of Section 8.8.10.4.C — “Loss or separation of an improperly installed tire/wheel from the vehicle.” The violation resulted in two-race suspensions each for No. 43 crew members Nate McBride (jack) and Adam Riley (rear tire changer).
For the first time since 1996, it’s NASCAR race week at North Wilkesboro Speedway.
The NASCAR All-Star Race is back in the state of North Carolina and shifts to the 0.625-mile oval in Wilkes County at the historic short track, which heartily welcomes back the Cup Series and its modern-day stars on Sunday night (8 ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) for the first time in more than 26 years.
With the All-Star Race comes unique changes to the weekend format, at the forefront of which are a pit crew challenge and heat races. The main goal, however, remains a simple, easy-to-follow setup that’s bound to excite throughout this special weekend.
Here is how the format factors into the main event:
FRIDAY
Qualifying — Pit Crew Challenge, 5:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM: Lineups for the two heat races and the All-Star Open will be determined by the Pit Crew Challenge, which will feature each team performing a four-tire pit stop with timing lines marked one pit stall behind and one ahead of the designated pit box. Fuelers will be in play for the pit stop as usual, but their fuel cans will be dry.
The goal is straightforward: The quicker the pit stop, the higher up the field that team will start. The race team with the fastest pit stop Friday will also collect a $100,000 bonus.
The 21 teams locked into the All-Star Race will be split into two heats. Those who finish first, third, fifth and so on in the pit competition will compete in the first heat race; those who finish second, fourth, sixth and so on will compete in the second heat.
The remaining drivers not yet locked into the big show will compete in the All-Star Open, the starting lineup for which will be set by the results of Friday’s pit competition, with the quickest team on the pole.
SATURDAY
Heat Races – 7:20 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM: Two 60-lap heat races are set to fire off Saturday night with 11 cars in Heat 1 and 10 in Heat 2, each fighting for their starting positions in Sunday night’s $1 million main event.
The results of the first heat will set the inside row – first, third, fifth and so on – for the starting grid of the All-Star Race, while Heat 2 will set the outside, even-numbered positions.
All caution laps will be counted throughout the heats, with each team slated to start on new, fresh tires with one additional set available on pit road. Normal race procedures are in effect for pit road with no scheduled interruptions throughout the 60-lap dashes.
SUNDAY
All-Star Open – 5:30 p.m., FS1, MRN, SiriusXM: The sixteen drivers not yet locked into the main event will fight through this 100-lap preliminary event to earn one of two transfer positions into the All-Star Race.
The field will take the green flag with the event’s lineup set by Friday night’s Pit Crew Challenge. All normal race procedures are in effect with one scheduled “competition break” set to wave at or around Lap 40.
The top two finishers in this dash will advance to the All-Star Race. In addition, the Fan Vote winner will also bump from the Open into the All-Star Race. The award is granted to the driver with the most votes who did not already advance via the transfer positions.
All-Star Race – 8 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM: The grand finale, the 200-lap All-Star Race pits 24 of the sport’s greatest drivers against each other for a $1 million payday.
Like the heats, every lap will be counted with all competitors starting the event on fresh tires. Teams will have three additional sets of Goodyears available to use on pit road, which will be open per standard race procedures.
An “All-Star Caution” will signify the yellow flag at or around Lap 100, the midway point of Sunday’s big show. After that caution period, only one additional set of new “sticker” tires may be used throughout the duration of the event.
The winner walks away $1 million richer in this non-points exhibition thriller.
Just in case you’ve lost count, there are now two Phoenix Raceways.
One, of course, sits proudly in the Sonoran Desert as the final leg of NASCAR’s West Coast Swing and the host site for the season-ending Championship 4 race.
The other “Phoenix” harkens to the immortal mythological bird that rises from the ashes of its predecessor. In this case, our second “Phoenix” has risen from the ash heap of NASCAR history as the miraculous renaissance of North Wilkesboro Speedway.
What better place to hold a NASCAR All-Star Race during the 75th anniversary of the sport than the track that has sat idle since 1996 and is enjoying its revival through the advocacy of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the enthusiastic cooperation of Speedway Motorsports president and CEO Marcus Smith?
The gritty 0.625-mile paved oval added kindling to the foremost rivalries in NASCAR’s top division: Richard Petty vs. Bobby Allison, Cale Yarborough vs. Darrell Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt vs. a host of characters including Rusty Wallace, Terry Labonte and Jeff Gordon.
Before Gordon won the last Cup race at North Wilkesboro in 1996, the track took the measure of the four-time series champion. In 805 career starts, Gordon finished last only five times, two of which came against 34-car fields at North Wilkesboro during his 1993 rookie season.
By the time Gordon took the checkered flag to beat Earnhardt by 1.73 seconds in 1996, North Wilkesboro already had fallen behind the curve in terms of the amenities fans had come to expect from a Cup Series venue.
Speedway Motorsports founder Bruton Smith purchased 50% interest in North Wilkesboro in 1995 after the death of track developer and owner Enoch Staley. In 1996, New Hampshire Motor Speedway owner Bob Bahre bought the remaining 50% from the Staley family.
Smith and Bahre bought the track for its two Cup dates, intending to transfer them elsewhere. Nevertheless, North Wilkesboro’s disappearance from NASCAR’s schedule was a heart-wrenching loss for Wilkes County, whose moonshine-driven role in the origins of the sport is the stuff of legend.
Wilkes County native Junior Johnson, a member of the inaugural NASCAR Hall of Fame class, refused to attend the last race at the speedway, which had debuted as a dirt track in 1946.
In a contemporaneous story in the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, Bob Zeller quoted Johnson as saying, “I’m not going. It would be more of a sad deal for me to go out and just stand around and look at something disappear, something I can remember almost since I’ve been around.”
For decades, the thought that NASCAR Cup racing would return to North Wilkesboro was dismissed as a pipe dream. The track property, located five miles east of the town of North Wilkesboro, was overgrown with weeds.
But in 2023, the pipe dream will become a reality as the luminaries of the sport take to the track for the All-Star Race (Sun., 8 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Gordon earned $91,350 for his victory in 1996. On Sunday, drivers will compete for a $1-million top prize. But money isn’t the main motivator. Just ask Joey Logano, winner of the first Busch Light Clash at The Coliseum last year.
“I think the atmosphere is going to be amazing,” Logano said. “That’s the race everyone has been talking about, kind of like the Clash before there was the Clash. What’s it going to be like, right before we went there the first time? Now, it’s North Wilkesboro, and what’s it going to be like?
“Everyone has talked about it. I’m pretty excited to get up there and see what the racing is like. You’ve got a million bucks on the line. It doesn’t matter where you race, it’s going be intense and exciting, but I think the nostalgia of going back there and that excitement that a lot of fans and competitors have as well have added a piece, for sure.”
An opportunity in motorsports is often the result of being in the right place at the right time, and building relationships with the right people make such an opportunity feasible. Jordan Taylor‘s path to North Wilkesboro Speedway is the latest example.
The 32-year-old Corvette Racing driver in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is set for his debut racing a stock car on an oval track. The moment will come in Wednesday’s CARS Tour Pro Late Model race at the historic 0.625-mile oval (7:30 p.m. ET, FloRacing).
For Taylor, this is simply his long-awaited opportunity to compete in an oval event after years of watching stock car racing with a curious eye. Yet the fact that his chance arrives during NASCAR All-Star Week at North Wilkesboro, of all times and places, makes the challenge all the more notable.
Jordan Taylor’s alter ego is “Rodney Sandstorm,” and Rodney’s name will be on the team’s Rainbow Warriors throwback car at North Wilkesboro. (CARS Tour)
The Apopka, Florida resident’s road-racing resume is loaded. Running his fourth full-time season with Corvette, Taylor is a four-time IMSA drivers champion. He’s won the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway and the 12 Hours of Sebring. Overall, he has 24 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship wins, 11 of which have come with Corvette.
The Rolex 24 victory in 2017 began the chain reaction that led to Taylor’s entry with E33 Motorsports in Wednesday’s Late Model race at North Wilkesboro.
“It’s kind of all fallen into place in a weird way,” Taylor said. “It started with me driving with Jeff Gordon in 2017 … we won the Rolex 24 together, so it kicked off the relationship in a nice way.”
Taylor’s connection to Gordon led to the IMSA driver being involved with Hendrick Motorsports’ program when the NASCAR Cup Series team took to the Daytona road course in 2020. Taylor said that experience was the primary reason he was invited to contribute to Garage 56, a special entry from NASCAR and Hendrick Motorsports set to compete in this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The domino effect continued from there. In part because of his experience with a NASCAR stock car in the Garage 56 program, Taylor was pinned in March as the replacement for an injured Chase Elliott in the Cup Series race at Circuit of The Americas, where he completed every lap and finished 24th.
Even after all that, Taylor wanted more from stock-car racing.
“I reached out to a few people to see what other opportunities there’d be in the stock-car world,” he said. “Greg Ives from Hendrick [Motorsports] — I’ve gotten to know him pretty well. He was actually the one who made the introduction to E33 Motorsports. They had an open seat available for North Wilkesboro, and they asked Greg who he thought could do it. Greg asked if they’d be up for giving me a shot at an oval.
“The E33 guys have been amazing — super helpful and excited to be a part of my first oval experience.”
Jimmie Johnson and Jordan Taylor talk during the NASCAR Garage 56 test at Daytona International Speedway on Jan. 31, 2023. (Photo: James Gilbert/Getty Images)
Some might see Taylor’s appearance at North Wilkesboro as a sort of ploy, especially given Rodney Sandstorm’s presence. (Rodney Sandstorm is Taylor’s playful alter ego. It began years ago when he pranked Gordon wearing a leather DuPont jacket and jorts. He’ll have the Rodney Sandstorm attire on hand at North Wilkesboro should he decide to play the part.)
But this is no ruse. Taylor is approaching his first oval start in a serious manner, and he’s well aware of the challenges he faces.
Taylor’s only experience in a Late Model is the testing he recently completed at Florida’s Orange County Speedway and North Carolina’s Ace Speedway. He’s studied videos of drivers running Pro Late Models at North Wilkesboro and has spent time learning the track on iRacing.
Even knowing a Pro Late Model would feel completely different than a Corvette C8.R, Taylor was stunned by the test.
“The biggest surprise was how much grip [Pro Late Models] had,” Taylor said. “And how much speed you can go into the corner with; how far you can attack into the corners. A much higher limit than I was expecting. And that just leads me to think about how difficult the racing’s going to be.
“You watch these drivers run side-by-side and nose-to-tail, lap-after-lap for 100 laps. So testing it is one thing. Getting to a race weekend with a bunch of other cars is going to be a whole different thing to learn.”
The 2023 season is the fourth for Jordan Taylor as a full-time driver with Corvette Racing. He teams with Antonio Garcia in the No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R for the full GTD PRO season in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. (Photo: James Moy Photography/Getty Images)
Taylor’s awareness of the difficulty the North Wilkesboro race will bring is part of the reason he’s not entering with expectations. He’s approaching race day the same way he viewed his COTA Cup Series start in March: “I want to show some speed if I can, and be in the mix somewhere in the pack. I don’t want to fall off the back of the pack. I just want to have a respectable showing.”
Ultimately, as Taylor described it, this is “just going to be a cool experience.” And it helps that he’ll have one of the sharpest looking cars at North Wilkesboro.
Despite Taylor’s association with Gordon, the Rainbow Warriors throwback paint scheme on his No. 1 Pro Late Model was not his idea. The E33 team conceived the look and pitched it to Taylor, who had no issue playing the Rodney Sandstorm game.
Taylor also noted it’s fitting that Gordon, sporting the Rainbow Warriors look on his Chevy Monte Carlo, won the last time the NASCAR Cup Series visited North Wilkesboro, in the fall of 1996.
Almost 27 years later, the Cup Series is back at North Wilkesboro for Sunday’s All-Star Race. Thanks to Taylor and E33 Motorsports, an iconic paint scheme is back, too, ready to grace the historic venue. Or so the driver hopes.
“This opportunity — it’s going to be a lot to take in,” Taylor said. “Hopefully we’ll just be somewhere in the mix.”
Ross Chastain has developed into one of NASCAR’s most magnetic personalities. Lately, his car has also been magnetic.
The latest metal-attracting-metal moment from the Trackhouse Racing ace came on Sunday at Darlington Raceway, where he pressed 2021 Cup Series champ Kyle Larson in a late-race duel that ended in stock-car shrapnel. The two drivers led significant swaths of the Goodyear 400 but neither was around to contend for the victory in overtime.
Rick Hendrick celebrated after William Byron drove the No. 24 to its 100th Cup Series win, but the contact that thwarted Larson roused the typically slow-to-anger team owner, and he issued a bit of a salvo from the media center dais.
“I think you can ask any driver in here that he’s wrecked or been involved with him,” Hendrick said. “He doesn’t have to be that aggressive, and I guess at this point in the race maybe you’re super aggressive, but you just don’t run people up in the fence or just — he’s not going to — he’s going to make a lot of enemies. It’s hard to win a championship when you’ve got a lot of paybacks out there.”
The NASCAR-sphere was still buzzing about Chastain’s sparring session with Noah Gragson the previous weekend at Kansas Speedway when this latest episode of aggression dropped. Rewind one week earlier to Dover and it was another Chastain move that sent Brennan Poole’s slower car skidding into Larson’s path.
Chastain’s list of rivals has grown this year, and Larson is the latest member of the club.
Still, Chastain’s unabashed approach to racing has attracted a following. Reactions to his name on the roll call of driver introductions have become more polarizing. The 30-year-old journeyman is a no-nonsense hero to some, incorrigible villain to others, and his Trackhouse Racing team has previously wrapped its arms around Chastain’s style, staying true to its mantra of disrupting the status quo, even within the bounds of the ownership establishment and under the Chevrolet umbrella.
“Well, I don’t know if Chevrolet can cool it down. I don’t know that,” Hendrick said, referring to No. 5 crew chief Cliff Daniels’ suggestion on the radio that the manufacturer should intercede. “That’s not the way they usually operate. It’s either NASCAR or the drivers, the owners. You’ve heard the pit crew say before, we like it. We don’t care if people like us. We’re here to run over and win. If it doesn’t change, he’s going to have a hard time winning a championship.”
Nearly 24 hours later, one of the vested owners had already stepped in. Trackhouse founder Justin Marks told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio that the organization was taking measures to address the string of incidents. Marks indicated that Chastain had raced hard throughout the day at Darlington, making moves that placed him in position to win.
“Ross clears Kyle and makes that pass and wins the throwback weekend to Darlington seven days after getting a scuffle on pit road, the guy’s a legend,” Marks told SiriusXM. “And you know, he’s got the skill to do that. He’s got the ability to do that. The result was just bad. It just was bad for everybody. … And so, you know, this has been my life today. I mean, we have addressed it. We’ve had many conversations with different people today, some difficult conversations. And I think the important message here is that we are a believer in Ross’ talent. That’s obvious. He’s very fast, but he’s got some things he’s got to clean up. I mean, I’ll just be totally honest with you. And we today started the process of more aggressively handling that, with our partners, with Ross and with our team because, not because necessarily that we’re mad at him but because there’s so much opportunity here, and we’re addressing it.
“I’m going to take a more active role in it, and I love the kid and I love the opportunity that he’s giving every single person that works at Trackhouse to be able to put a championship run together but there’s just stuff that needs to be cleaned up, and it’s a process he’s going to have to start going through sooner rather than later. We are very supportive of him. We’re very supportive of this team. And we are addressing it.”
The thing about Hendrick’s claim of Chastain’s hard road to a championship: Amid all the controversy, conflict and contact, the current NASCAR Cup Series points leader is … Ross Chastain. His five stage wins are second only to the league-leading six from Byron, another top championship contender. One key difference is that Byron already has three wins through the first half of the regular season, while Chastain is still searching for his first.
There are multiple routes to a Cup Series title, but winning is certainly the most direct. As Hendrick suggests, that path is made more difficult by frequently re-aligning the feathers of his peers. But in the same breath, the team owner lauded Chastain’s gobs of talent, saying that he just needs to find a balance of picking his spots and knowing when to push it.
NASCAR honored its 75 Greatest Drivers this weekend at Darlington, gathering legends of the sport from multiple generations. Chastain may well wind up on the list of 100 Greatest in the next quarter-century, depending on how his career goes from here, but his season’s body of work thus far feels like an audition for an unofficial list of the 75 Most Aggressive Drivers to join the diamond-anniversary superlatives.
Depending on your point of view, that’s either a rambunctious dark spot or a badge of honor to be worn proudly. It’s a formula that could result in a breakthrough championship. That, or another magnetic moment.
