After a two-week layoff, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series returns to competition in Saturday night’s Heart of America 200 (8 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), and the two winningest drivers in the track history will both be on the grid.
Three-time series champion Matt Crafton and two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch each have three Truck Series wins at Kansas. Either is a good bet to earn the wins-record solo after this week, although Saturday’s race does feature a robust five former winners in the field – including defending race winner Zane Smith, Ross Chastain and Johnny Sauter. A win for Busch would mark a historic 100th victory for Kyle Busch Motorsports.
Crafton’s last series win coincidentally came at Kansas Speedway in 2020. The veteran would love to end the winless streak he has endured since and comes into the race ranked seventh in the championship with three top-10 finishes in the opening seven races. When it comes to Kansas, not only is the driver of the No. 88 ThorSport Racing Ford tops in victories, but he leads the series in top-five (seven) and top-10 (14) finishes, as well as starts (25) and laps completed (3,889) at the track.
2022 reigning champion Smith has also proven to be especially strong at Kansas. He has top-10 finishes in all but one of his six starts there and, since last year, boasts six top-five finishes at 1.5-mile tracks – including a runner-up showing already this season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
With victories already at Daytona and Austin, Texas, the Front Row Motorsports driver in Smith is ranked second in points, 36 points behind Ty Majeski, who is still racing for his first 2023 trophy but whose top-five (five) and top-10 (six) efforts in the opening seven races are best in the field. Majeski, driver of the No. 98 ThorSport Racing Ford, has finished 11th or better in three of his four Kansas starts, including a runner-up showing to Zane Smith in this race last year.
Toyota leads all manufacturers with 11 wins and has won at least one Kansas race in nine of the last 10 seasons. The fall Kansas winner, John Hunter Nemechek – one of only three drivers to earn a Kansas victory from pole position – is not entered this week. No driver has ever won back-to-back Kansas races, and there have been eight different winners in the last eight races.
Of note, ARCA standout Tony Breidinger hopes to pull double-duty this weekend and make her Truck Series debut. The 23-year-old, who also competes full-time in the ARCA Menards Series, is entered in the No. 1 Tricon Garage Toyota for the Truck Series race. Should she make the field, Breidinger would become the first Arab American woman to compete in the series.
Practice for the Heart of America 200 is set for noon ET on Saturday, with qualifying following the session on FS1.
ARLINGTON, Va. – Wednesday, as a prelude to its Memorial Day weekend salute to the U.S. Armed Forces, Charlotte Motor Speedway hosted defending Coca-Cola 600 winner Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing President Dave Alpern and Coca-Cola executives Bea Perez and Frank Harrison for a poignant visit to Arlington National Cemetery. Arlington National Cemetery is the final resting place for more than 400,000 servicemen and women and their families from every major United States conflict since the American Revolution.
Hamlin and Alpern joined Speedway Motorsports President and CEO Marcus Smith and Charlotte Motor Speedway Executive Vice President and General Manager Greg Walter in laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Solider, continuing an annual tradition for the defending Coca-Cola 600 race winner to kick off Military Appreciation Month each May in Arlington, Virginia.
“It’s a very prestigious honor in my mind,” said Hamlin of visiting Arlington National Cemetery and laying a wreath. “For the Department of Defense, the Coca-Cola 600 is their biggest event honoring fallen soldiers. That’s a big deal. It’s certainly an honor that I don’t take lightly.
“I’ve been part of the Coca-Cola Memorial weekend for 18 years now in the Cup Series. It’s so different because you see soldiers that are living there and still serving, but I haven’t gotten to see in person where the fallen soldiers actually go. To be here at Arlington Cemetery is certainly moving and makes you really appreciate what Memorial Day weekend is all about.”
In addition to the wreath-laying, the group enjoyed a private viewing of artifacts that paint the rich history of Arlington National Cemetery in the Memorial Amphitheater Display Room and watched a changing-of-the-guard ceremony. At the iconic tomb, which marked its centennial anniversary in 2021, members of the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, known as the Old Guard, stand watch 24 hours a day, a tradition that began in 1948. Following the visit to Arlington National Cemetery, the dignitaries visited the Pentagon and met Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks.
“This was a very special day,” said Perez, SVP and chief communications, sustainability & strategic partnerships officer for The Coca-Cola Company. “The Coca-Cola 600 is during Memorial Day weekend, which is really about honoring our military who fight for our freedoms every single day here in our own country and around the world. For everything they do, we just want to thank them, and this was an incredible way to honor them.”
“We are just so thankful for what these men and women have done for our country and we want to honor them in any way we can,” said Harrison, Coca-Cola Consolidated’s CEO. “We’ll have about 40 of these Gold Star families; we’ll be renovating some homes and we just excited to be able to honor them at the Coca-Cola 600.”
Each Memorial Day weekend, Charlotte Motor Speedway pays tribute to those men and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice during a moving Coca-Cola 600 pre-race show that includes representation from all six branches of the military. In addition to aerial and ground demonstrations, the pre-race salute features hundreds of members of the U.S. Armed Forces.
“Charlotte Motor Speedway, the Coca-Cola 600, Memorial Day weekend – when you think about that, you think about patriotism; you think about America, freedom and all the wonderful things that we can celebrate as Americas because of our military,” said Smith. “Coming here to Arlington to honor those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice is something I look forward to. It never ceases to amaze me how touching it is for us to spend a few moments here to think about the courage, bravery and sacrifice that so many have made for all of us.”
In recent years, the speedway’s salute has expanded to include Mission 600, a campaign pairing 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. To date in 2023 on behalf of the Coca-Cola Racing Family of drivers, Austin Dillon visited Fort Bragg to train alongside members from the 82nd Airborne Division and Daniel Suárez virtually met members of Area Support Group – Jordan in the Middle East. Additional Mission 600 visits in the coming weeks leading up to the May 28 Coca-Cola 600 will include Coca-Cola Racing Family driver Joey Logano traveling to Naval Station Norfolk and Aric Almirola visiting Marines at Camp Lejeune.
TICKETS
Tickets are still available for the May 26-28 Coca-Cola 600 weekend, with three-day packages starting at $99. Weekend tickets for children ages 12 and under are just $10. Fans can purchase tickets online at www.charlottemotorspeedway.com or by calling the ticket office at 1-800-455-FANS (3267). Admission to Circle K Speed Street concerts by AC/DC tribute band Dirty Deeds (Friday) and Jake Owen (Saturday) is free with any race ticket. Sunday’s pre-race concert by The Doobie Brothers is free with purchase of a Coca-Cola 600 race ticket.
There was a lot to like about Denny Hamlin’s performance at Dover Motor Speedway last weekend. There was also a lot to dislike. Your chosen viewpoint from that race depends on one thing — what you were watching.
If your eyes were on the track watching Hamlin’s No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Camry consistently carve through the field and run up front, you would (rightfully) be impressed by a day at the track that netted a fifth-place finish, the fourth top-five of the year for the veteran.
If your eyes were watching pit road, you would (rightfully) think the No. 11 wasn’t as sharp as NASCAR fans have grown accustomed to over the past several years.
Long a hallmark of the JGR powerhouse, pit-road performance has now plagued the 42-year-old driver through the first third of the 2023 season.
“We’re a year or so behind on our choreograph by going back to the old style,” Hamlin told FOX Sports reporter Bob Pockrass, referencing the team abandoning its intricate pit-road choreography on the Next Gen car and reverting to a more standard approach.
“That’s not what’s causing our 20-second pit stop at Richmond when you’re leading, our 20-second stop at the end here (at Dover). All those just add up. You just can’t win races that way. You’re asking too much of me and the team to have to make that up. Unfortunately we had a really fast FedEx Camry that kept driving to the front, but every time a caution came out it was a 90 percent chance we’re going backward.”
That’s no hyperbole. In fact, at Dover at least, Hamlin was giving his pit crew the benefit of the doubt with his 90 percent comment.
According to Racing Insights, the No. 11 car pitted seven times at the 1-mile concrete oval. Three were under green-flag conditions. Four came under caution, when most cars were pitting and when the ability to gain or lose positions on pit road was at its peak.
The No. 11 car lost ground on all four of those pit stops, dropping a total of 11 positions. That includes a brutal 30-second stop on Lap 389 of the 400-lap race.
Lap
Time
+ / -
23
10.276 seconds
-2
86
12.144 seconds
-3
124
12.745 seconds
Green
191
10.309 seconds
-2
254
11.944 seconds
Green
329
10.410 seconds
Green
389
30.858 seconds
-4
The good news for the No. 11 group, though, is that the series heads to Kansas Speedway this weekend (Sunday, 3 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Few are as good there as Hamlin.
His three wins at Kansas are tied for the most all time at the track with Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Joey Logano and Jeff Gordon.
Hamlin was one of seven drivers to finish in the top 10 in both Kansas races last year, and one of just two — alongside teammate Christopher Bell — to notch two top fives. His average finish of 3.0 in the Sunflower State last year was best in the series.
He enters this year’s race having run 2,262 laps (76% of all laps run) in the top 10 this year, the best rate in the series and nearly 400 more laps than second-place William Byron.
It’s evident that Hamlin will likely have the car, and certainly the mile-and-a-half driving skills, to compete for a victory Sunday.
What happens on pit road will go a long way toward putting Hamlin in position to capture his 49th career Cup Series win — or forcing him to try and drive through the field and make up ground.
CONCORD, N.C. – Rev Racing announced today Advance Auto Parts, a leading automotive aftermarket parts provider and the Official Auto Parts Retailer of NASCAR, will serve as the associate sponsor of the team’s late model program and youth initiative.
The Advance logo will be featured on Rev Racing’s NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series cars fielded for several members of this year’s NASCAR Drive for Diversity class, including Paige Rogers (from Fort Wayne, Ind.), Justin Campbell (Griffin, Ga.) and Jaiden Reyna (Cornelius, N.C.).
Rev Racing, which operates the competition arm of the NASCAR Drive for Diversity Development Program, saw immediate alignment with Advance, their shared mission and focused initiatives within the sport and beyond. Advance, with support from NASCAR Roots, will join hands with the program immediately. Rev Racing is responsible for training female and ethnically diverse drivers along with pit crew members for future competition at NASCAR’s highest levels.
“Advance Auto Parts believes in our mission and what we are committed to everyday with the development of our drivers and Program,” says Rev Racing owner Max Siegel. “This partnership will continue to assist our late model and youth program drivers, supporting the next generation of athletes in their quest for future opportunities in the sport.”
“It’s always inspiring when we have partners, like Advance, that want to be a part of our growth and the efforts we have in motion,” Siegel says.
Advance continues to expand its presence in the sport, with a heavy focus on supporting the future NASCAR stars of tomorrow.
“Our Advance team is thrilled to support the careers of these impressive young drivers through an enhanced partnership with Rev Racing,” says Advance executive vice president of merchandising, marketing, and eCommerce Jason McDonell. “The teams at Rev Racing and NASCAR have done outstanding work to advance diverse representation in motorsports. We’re looking forward to following this year’s NASCAR Drive for Diversity class as they compete throughout the season.”
In 2020, Advance announced its partnership with NASCAR to serve as the sport’s official auto parts retailer while also becoming entitlement sponsor of the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series. As part of the brand’s commitment to grassroots racing, Advance announced the “Advance My Track Challenge” in 2021. This unique program invites race fans to vote for their favorite NASCAR-sanctioned short track, with the track receiving the most votes winning a $50,000 grand prize. Along with its role as presenting sponsor of the Advance Auto Parts Drive for Diversity Combine, Advance is dedicated to growing racing at a local level.
Advance and Rev Racing’s new partnership is instrumental, in the sense that youth and late model drivers will continue to have expanded opportunities to succeed in the sport as well as access to state-of-the-art resources. Rev Racing and Advance remain committed to supporting drivers at the local level and the development needed to advance these diverse and female drivers to the next level in their careers. Their shared mission will continue to shape history and create expanded opportunities for the next generation of Rev Racing drivers.
After April showers and sparks at Dover, the NASCAR Cup Series opens the first weekend of May with a trip to Kansas Speedway in the “Sunflower State.”
Last year, 23XI Racing swept the events at the 1.5-mile oval as Kurt Busch and Bubba Wallace continued the rise of the Denny Hamlin-Michael Jordan co-owned team in its sophomore campaign. Before the green flag drops for 400 miles in the heart of the Great Plains, check out the trends to watch ahead of Sunday’s AdventHealth 400 (3 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), notable moments at Kansas, tire info and interactive options to follow the race.
Eight different winners have snagged the checkered flag through 11 races this season, and with Toyota gaining momentum after Martin Truex Jr.’s win at Dover, Denny Hamlin and Bubba Wallace can hold down the fort for the manufacturer at a track each has found recent success at.
Both Hamlin and Wallace remain winless in 2023, but Wallace could relieve pressure by clinching his first playoff berth Sunday and defending his crown at the track. Gains have been few and far between for the No. 23 team as it has only produced one top five and two top 10s this season. Wallace currently sits 21st in the Cup Series standings, 15 points below the playoff cutline.
MORE: Cup Series standings
📉 TRENDS TO WATCH 📈
— Toyota owns five of the last seven victories at Kansas.
— Three of the last four Kansas winners marked their first win of the season at the track.
— Ryan Blaney owns a three-race top-10 finish streak entering Sunday.
— The last eight races on 1.5-mile tracks were won by different drivers.
(Via Racing Insights)
NOTABLE MOMENTS 🎥
2001: Jeff Gordon wins inaugural Kansas race | WATCH
2004: Joe Nemechek outduels Ricky Rudd to sweep Kansas weekend | WATCH
2015: Logano spins Kenseth in closing laps at Kansas | WATCH
2022: Kurt Busch scores Kansas victory in Jordan brand car | WATCH
Goodyear ran a different tire code for the Kansas playoff race last year with the Next Gen car versus the spring race, and Sunday will see a return of that tire code from last fall’s race. It’s also the same setup that was used at Auto Club and Las Vegas already this season. Each Cup team will have one set of tires for practice, one set for qualifying and an additional eight for Sunday’s race.
In the event of a lost wheel that is contained to pit road, the offending team will be subject to a pass-through penalty under green-flag conditions. If the infraction occurs during a caution period, the offending team will restart at the tail end of the field.
If the wheel breaks free outside of pit road, the new rules guidelines mandate a two-lap penalty plus a two-race suspension for two crew members. Each penalty is series-specific: Violations in one series will not impact those crew members’ eligibility to participate in other series.
Fans can get in on the action all season long with NASCAR Fan Rewards, a free program that rewards fans for participating in the action when they watch races and play NASCAR Fantasy.
There’s no cost to join. Fans must be 18 years or older to participate in the program.
Earn points by checking into a race from home or at the track, setting your Fantasy Live lineup, making purchases on the NASCAR.com shop and more. Points can be redeemed for race tickets, merchandise and VIP experiences at the track, including pace car rides and waving the green flag at qualifying.
NASCAR Mobile has now added support for fans to “Follow the Race” and access live leaderboard and race information from Live Activities in the current app release (v13.2.0), available now. Android users, we didn’t forget you — the same functionality has been custom-built for Android devices, as well.
How to access Live Activities on iPhones:
Make sure your iOS device has been updated to 16.1 or higher.
Available on the leaderboard of all NASCAR Series races.
Click on the three-dot menu near the top right of screen.
Select “Follow the Race.”
Swipe up to access the home screen and you will see the Live Activities at the top.
Lock the device and you will see Live Activities on the Lock Screen.
To turn off, simply visit the leaderboard, click the three-dot menu and “Unfollow the Race.”
FANTASY LIVE 🏆
Want to manage a team and race your way to the top of the leaderboards? Check out NASCAR Fantasy Live, which is open now. The free-to-play game lets you choose your drivers each week and show off your crew-chief instincts by garaging a driver by the end of Stage 2, and there is a $25,000 prize for the winner.
Get additional camera views by logging on to NASCAR Drive, where each week, in-car cameras will be available — as well as a battle cam and an overhead look.
NASCAR has partnered with LiveLike to add fan engagement to the NASCAR Mobile App. Log in to the mobile app during the race for polls, quizzes, the cheer meter and more — and see instant results from NASCAR fans like you.
Josh Vanada, the owner of JDV Productions, works hard to make sure NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour drivers have extra incentives to compete in the races he promotes.
This year Vanada is promoting four NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour events, including the three-race Whelen Granite State Short Track Cup that begins this Saturday with the Duel at the Dog 200 at Monadnock Speedway (5 p.m. on FloRacing).
The Whelen Granite State Short Track Cup, which debuted in 2022, offers drivers and teams bonus dollars not typically available during regular NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour events. The amount of potential winnings up for grabs in the bonus program for competitors totals $15,700.
Teams will accumulate points during each of the three events at Monadnock, Lee USA Speedway (May 29) and Claremont Motorsports Park (July 29). The champion car owner of the three-race series will earn $5,000, while the runner-up owner will earn $2,500 and third will collect $1,000. Between the top three points finishers, $8,500 will be distributed.
The NASCAR points system will be used to determine which driver earned the most points during the three events. Matt Hirschman and Pee Dee Motorsports captured the inaugural Whelen Granite State Short Track Cup in 2022.
That’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to bonus money. Each additional event will also have bonus awards available at the track on each specific race day.
The Challenger Bonus, worth $200 per event, will be paid to the highest finishing driver in each of the Whelen Granite State Short Track Cup races who does not normally run the Whelen Modified Tour full-time. This is open to any driver who competed in less than 50 percent of the Whelen Modified Tour races last season.
The Hard Charger Bonus, which also pays $200 per race, is provided to the driver who improves the most positions since their last Whelen Granite State Short Track Cup event. For the season-opener at Monadnock Speedway, the Claremont Motorsports Park race finish from July of 2022 will be used to determine the winner.
The Lap Leader bonus pays $750 and is awarded to the driver who leads the most laps during the three races, which will be paid out after the finale at Claremont. The Best Average Finish Bonus, awarded to the driver who scores the best average finish during the three events, is another $750 award.
Finally, if any driver can sweep all three Whelen Granite State Short Track Cup events, they will earn an additional $5,000 bonus.
Fans looking to enjoy the four NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour races promoted by JDV Productions, which also includes a second event at Monadnock on Sept. 9, can purchase tickets to the JDV Experience, which provides fans with an exclusive, behind-the-scenes experience during a NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event.
Woody Pitkat will return to the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour this weekend aboard the No. 6 for Stan Mertz Racing. (Photo: Tom Morris/Stan Mertz Racing)
Woody Pitkat returning with debuting Stan Mertz Racing
A return and a debut are on the docket for Saturday’s Duel at the Dog 200 at Monadnock Speedway.
Woody Pitkat, who last raced with the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour in 2021, will make his return to the Tour aboard the No. 6 for Stan Mertz Racing.
For Pitkat, this will be his 182nd NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour start, all while Stan Mertz Racing makes their first NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour start.
“It’s been on our bucket list for many years and entering what will be my final year of racing as a car owner I’m excited to make the move to the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour,” team owner Stan Mertz said. “We have to thank all of our sponsors for coming on board and our dedicated crew for making it all possible. We’re looking forward to contending for strong runs and hope to come away with the Whelen Granite State Short Track Cup as part of our part-time Whelen Modified Tour efforts in 2023.”
Pitkat is hardly a stranger to the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour despite not competing with the series in 2022. He’s raced full-time with the Tour seven times dating back to 2009 and has won four races, with his most recent victory coming in 2019 at New Jersey’s Wall Stadium Speedway.
The Duel at the Dog 200 is one of at least eight races Stan Mertz Racing and Pitkat plan to compete in with the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. In addition to the other two Whelen Granite State Short Track Cup events at Lee USA and Claremont, the team plans to enter Seekonk Speedway (June 10), New Hampshire Motor Speedway (July 15), Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park (Aug. 16), Monadnock (Sept. 9) and North Wilkesboro Speedway (Sept. 30).
Whelen offering unique bonus during NASCAR’s 75th anniversary season
Thanks to series title sponsor Whelen, drivers competing in NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour events this season have the opportunity to race for a special bonus during NASCAR’s 75th anniversary season.
Available only this season, Whelen is offering a special $7,500 year-end bonus to the driver that leads at Lap 75 the most throughout the 2023 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season.
The driver leading the race at Lap 75 in each NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event receives one point towards the $7,500 bonus. If multiple drivers are tied with the same amount of points at the conclusion of the season, the driver highest in the final NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour driver standings will receive the bonus.
Through the first two events of the season, Ron Silk and Austin Beers have each scored a point towards the $7,500 bonus. Ron Silk was the leader at Lap 75 during the opening race of the season at Florida’s New Smyrna Speedway while Beers was the leader at Lap 75 during round two at Richmond Raceway.
Both drivers went on to win those respective races.
Notes:
Justin Bonsignore is the only driver who has finished in the top-five in both NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour events this season. The four-time Monadnock winner was second at the opener at New Smyrna Speedway and finished fourth in the most recent event at Richmond Raceway.
Two drivers – Austin Beers and Doug Coby – have already led more than 100 laps so far this season. While Beers visited Victory Lane at Richmond, Coby’s best finish of the season was fifth at New Smyrna.
Sam Rameau is making his season debut with the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Saturday during the Duel at the Dog 200. He competed in all three Whelen Granite State Short Track Cup events last year, earning a career-best finish of fourth at Monadnock.
After securing his own career-best finish last year at Monadnock with a 10th-place result, Jacob Perry is back with the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour this weekend for his fourth series start.
In eight previous Tour starts at Monadnock, Ron Silk has earned five top-five and seven top-10 finishes while leading 224 laps, which ranks third among all drivers at the track. However, he’s never managed to win at the quarter-mile oval, with his best Monadnock finish being a second that came in 2020.
“Rockford is well known for what we’ve done,” said David Deery, the general manager of Rockford Speedway. “That’s pretty cool. I like that aspect of it. The impact that this facility has had not only for the motorsports industry and not only the Rockford area, but the whole racing community across the country.
“Everybody knows of Rockford.”
Unfortunately, progress has finally caught up to the quarter-mile oval, which will close following the conclusion of its 76th season of racing and the property will be redeveloped.
“It was our thing. It was what our family did. We worked here, it was our life,” said Susan Deery, the president of Rockford Speedway. “We knew eventually (the closure of the track) was going to happen because we’re just being surrounded by homes and businesses. It’s the nature of the beast.
“All of the pieces kind of came together in December, January where the right thing to do was close.”
For nearly as long Rockford Speedway has existed, the Deery family has been involved with the speedway and the local community. The track was built in 1947 by a group of investors, but by 1966 Hugh and Jody Deery had taken ownership of the facility.
Together, they operated the speedway and raised eight children – Gunner, Ted, Jack, Susan, Tom, Brad, Chuck and David. Hugh passed away in 1984, but Jody was determined to carry on and continued to own and operate the track for more than 30 years with help and support from her children.
“We called it the Deery farm,” Jody explained in a story that appeared on NASCAR.com in 2017. “My husband and I both grew up on a farm. We realized the value of family working together. One of the dreams my husband had was to buy a few small acres and put kind of a model farm so people could bring their kids out from Chicago to see what farm life was like.
“Well that never materialized, but then when we got involved in the speedway it became our farm and my kids, as soon as they could talk or walk, they were involved. They grew up here.”
Jody Deery (right) stands with Patrick Bruns in Victory Lane at Rockford Speedway during the 50th anniversary National Short Track Championships in 2015. (Photo: NASCAR Archives)
Jody finally retired in 2020 at the age of 95 and passed away last year at the age of 97.
While Jody was perhaps best known for her role at Rockford Speedway, she was just as well known for her generosity.
A devoted Catholic, she always went out of her way to donate time and money to those in need according to David.
“Rockford Speedway and all of her community involvement kept her going,” David said. “She was a go-getter. She just never quit. She loved helping people out. My brothers and sisters can probably say it in better words, but that was her forte really.
“She always felt that everybody could use an extra hand.”
Jody continued her tradition of giving as part of her will. It was recently announced that she had donated a total of $320,000 to 16 organizations, with each organization receiving $20,000.
In addition, the St. James Catholic Church and the Catholic Diocese of Rockford were each given an ownership stake in Deery Properties, the family’s development group that is working to redevelop the land where Rockford Speedway currently resides.
“My mother was a very generous person and a very religious person, very faithful to the Catholic church,” Susan said. “All 16 she was involved in, either as a volunteer, a member of the board, they all meant something important to her.
“My mom lives on through those 16 charities.”
While the future of Rockford Speedway has already been decided, work is already underway by the Deery family to make sure the track is not forgotten.
Tom Deery, who worked as the general manager at Rockford Speedway from 1984 to 1996 before going on to hold executive rolls at NASCAR and the World Racing Group, said discussions are already taking place to make sure part of Rockford Speedway’s history remains once the physical race track is gone.
“No matter what happens to that piece of Earth in the development, to hundreds of thousands of people that will always be where Rockford Speedway is or was,” Tom said. “It’s important for all of us to somehow leave a mark that this is where that speedway was.
“Once we see how all the pieces get put together, there will be a park or an area that will reflect what happened on these grounds for 76 years.”
Rockford Speedway’s 76th season of weekly racing begins this Saturday with Late Models, Sportsman, Short Trackers, Road Runners and Bandits all scheduled to compete. (Photo: Hotshot Photography/Rockford Speedway)
While the popular quarter-mile oval will no longer host racing at the conclusion of the 2023 season, the track will always be remembered by those who raced and worked there.
The track has welcomed several familiar faces throughout the years, including seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion crew chief Chad Knaus. His father, John, won seven track championships at Rockford in the 1980s and ’90s.
John Darby, who worked as an official for NASCAR for more than 30 years, is also a Rockford Speedway graduate. Countless drivers who have raced at Rockford Speedway have also gone on to enjoy success on a national stage.
“The first emotion is to reflect back on the 75 years (of history),” Tom said. “That a small, paved quarter-mile in Rockford, Illinois, could have influenced the industry the way it did and give people a platform to expand their careers and to make a living in racing and show that motorsports is a viable choice in life and it can provide the types of rewards that many other types of employment do, probably even a little more rewarding in some aspects because of what you’re able to accomplish.”
Rockford Speedway will open its 76th and final season of NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series competition this Saturday night. It’s one of more than 30 racing events scheduled for Rockford Speedway this year.
Headlining the list of events during Rockford’s final season will be the 58th and final National Short Track Championships on Sept. 29-Oct. 1. The event, which debuted in 1966, has been won by some of racing’s greatest competitors through the years.
Among those to win the National Short Track Championships are Dick Trickle, Ramo Stott, Joe Shear, Mark Martin, Jim Sauter, Junior Hanley, Tim Fedewa, Rich Bickle, Butch Miller, Steve Carlson, Eddie Hoffman, Alex Prunty, Casey Johnson and, most recently, Austin Nason.
Susan is hoping to add a few special surprises to the National Short Track Championships program in celebration of Rockford Speedway’s final season, though those details have not yet been finalized.
“We always said if we were going to close, we’re not going to just say we’re done. We’re going to have a final season,” Susan said. “We’re going to let our people know, let our competitors know, the fans, the sponsors, so they’re not caught off guard.
“The very last weekend, which will be Oct. 28, will be our classic’s weekend. We want to bring in the Late Models, the Figure 8s, the Midgets, those were the divisions that started at Rockford in the ’40s. We feel like that’s a nice sendoff to what Rockford’s all about.”
The green flag for the 76th NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series opener this Saturday at Rockford Speedway waves at 7:07 p.m. CT, with gates opening at 5 p.m. CT. Additional information is available at www.rockfordspeedway.com.
CHICAGO – NASCAR, the Chicago Street Race, and Chicago Public Schools (CPS) hosted nearly 500 Chicago-area students on Tuesday for the first-ever STEAM Fest at the Field Museum. Following a two-month, in-school design competition, finalists from each grade level were invited to the Field Museum to participate in a championship round with help from NASCAR Cup Series driver Daniel Suárez and a team of STEM professionals from the NASCAR industry.
Student finalists were challenged with building and testing safety barriers like those NASCAR will install along its 2.2-mile downtown Chicago course this summer. The winning groups from each grade level were recognized during an awards ceremony and received complimentary tickets to the NASCAR Chicago Street Race Weekend on July 1-2.
“NASCAR races are a living, breathing physics lab, and today is all about being able to make that connection for students in our very own community,” said Julie Giese, Chicago Street Race President. “As a part of our long-term commitment to Chicago, STEAM Fest is just the beginning of a continuing academic partnership between NASCAR and Chicago Public Schools, as we look to grow the next generation of motorsports engineers right here in this city.”
CPS and NASCAR are also working together to develop new STEM curriculum for eighth-grade students exploring fundamental science and engineering concepts within the sport. The NASCAR-themed curriculum, designed to address Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) Performance Expectations, will be finalized and introduced in middle schools during the 2023-2024 school year.
“Exposing our students to opportunities for hands-on learning in STEM and STEAM allows them to make the connection between the classroom and the world outside of their school,” said CPS CEO Pedro Martinez. “Our partnership with NASCAR allows our students to showcase their incredible design and engineering skills while connecting with professionals who will help expand their vision of career opportunities in STEM. We want every child in every neighborhood to know that with focus and hard work, they can make their dreams a reality.”
Beginning in March, 22,000 CPS students from more than 40 STEM and STEAM schools began to compete in an in-classroom design challenge focused on driver helmets and culminating with the first-ever STEAM Fest. The initial partnership was announced by CPS and Chicago Street Race officials at the Field Museum on February 21 with the help of 2023 DAYTONA 500 champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr., fresh off the driver’s victory at Daytona International Speedway.
Suárez, who last season became the first Mexican driver to win a NASCAR Cup Series race, was joined on Tuesday by engineers and staff from his Trackhouse Racing team as the team engaged and encouraged CPS students during the competition.
“As someone who grew up in Mexico, it’s very important to me to introduce motorsports to young individuals from diverse backgrounds who may not have grown up around racing,” said Suárez. “But these students have clearly demonstrated an appreciation and understanding of all the complexities that go into the sport, and I am confident that the future of race engineering is in great hands with these brilliant young minds.”
Brad Keselowski, who climbed the stock-car racing ladder to establish himself as a Cup Series champion, was named on Tuesday to the list of NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers.
Keselowski has 35 victories on NASCAR’s top circuit, with a knack for winning at the tour’s biggest superspeedways. He clinched the Cup Series championship – a first for Hall of Famer and team owner Roger Penske – in 2012.
The Rochester Hills, Michigan native is a next-generation racer whose grandfather, John, raced motorcycles and owned a stock-car team, and whose father, Bob, was an ARCA Menards Series champion. The younger Keselowski followed his father’s footsteps as a driver and later an owner in the Craftsman Truck Series.
Brad Keselowski had his earliest NASCAR success, driving for team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. in what is now called the Xfinity Series. His rise in that circuit coincided with a surprise Cup Series victory for James Finch’s team at Talladega Superspeedway in 2009 that helped push his name to the forefront.
Keselowski joined Penske’s operation in 2010 and claimed the Xfinity Series championship in his first year there. His winning ways in the Cup Series began the next year, and he scratched the win column in each of his final 11 seasons with Team Penske.
Six of his career victories in the Cup Series have come at Talladega. He also has one victory in the Southern 500 at Darlington and the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis, claiming both crown-jewel races on back-to-back weekends in the 2018 season.
Keselowski partnered with another Hall of Famer in Jack Roush to start the 2022 season, starting the next chapter of his career as a Cup Series owner/driver. The organization rebranded as RFK Racing – an abbreviation for Roush Fenway Keselowski – and fields Fords for Keselowski and teammate Chris Buescher.
NASCAR officials have fined Joe Gibbs Racing crew chief Jeff Meendering $5,000 following Saturday’s race at Dover Motor Speedway, the sanctioning body announced Tuesday.
Meendering, crew chief for the No. 18 Toyota piloted by driver Sammy Smith, incurred the fine after officials found one lug nut not securely fastened after the A-GAME 200 at the “Monster Mile.” The penalty falls under Sections 8.8.10.4a in the NASCAR Xfinity Series rule book, which states, “all tire(s)/wheel(s) and all five lug nuts must be installed in a safe and secure manner during the event.”
Smith finished sixth in his Dover debut. The 18-year-old Iowa native and two-time ARCA Menards Series East champion scored his first career Xfinity victory at Phoenix Raceway in March, securing his spot in the playoffs in the midst of his rookie year.
The series is off this weekend but returns to action Saturday, May 13, at Darlington Raceway (1:30 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
