NASCAR Legends: The story behind Martinsville’s grandfather clock

Posted on April 13, 2023April 13, 2023 by Holly Cain

Editor’s note: This story is part of our monthlong celebration of NASCAR Legends presented by GEICO. For more great legends content, visit our hub page.

You could say, it is the ultimate in time-honored traditions.

Beginning with Fred Lorenzen’s victory from pole position in 1964, NASCAR race winners at this week’s historic venue, Martinsville Speedway have received a grandfather clock for their effort. It’s arguably the most unique trophy in the sport and certainly one that keeps on giving — its chime every 15 minutes reminding all within earshot of a celebrated win or cherished victory.

The elite Martinsville clock ownership group largely reads like a NASCAR Hall of Fame roll call.

Although NASCAR legend Richard Petty is the track’s all-time winningest driver with 15 victories, he’d already claimed three wins before the tradition of awarding the timepieces to Martinsville winners began. His 12 clocks, however, are still the most ever won.

“And it’s always been kind of a standing joke through all of the clocks he has in all the various rooms of his house, that it must be pretty noisy over there every 15 minutes,” Martinsville Speedway President Clay Campbell says with a laugh.

Darrell Waltrip claimed 11 Martinsville clocks and still keeps three in his house. As with other multi-time winners he’s gifted some of the cherished timepieces to family and friends. Jimmie Johnson has all but one of the nine clocks he’s won at home. Another nine-time Martinsville winner, Jeff Gordon, has kept some and shared some.

“It’s certainly the most unique trophy and it has so much meaning behind it because it’s a tough one to capture,” said Gordon, now an executive with the same Hendrick Motorsports team he drove for when he won the clocks.

“It’s a very difficult race track. You have to have a lot of things go your way to conquer that place. And then the trophy itself stands out. It has a lot of meaning.”

Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images

Martinsville’s most recent multi-time winner, Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron has both of the grand clocks he won last spring — in the NASCAR Cup Series and Craftsman Truck Series races — strategically positioned in his Charlotte apartment.

“When we won that race last year, and won the Truck race, it was the first thing I thought about, that the clock was going somewhere,” Byron said. “I think it is the coolest trophy in NASCAR. It definitely holds a lot of meaning. I was excited to get that delivered and I’ve got both of them set up in my apartment.

“They’re nice to look at and remember those moments.”

That was exactly the intention when Martinsville’s original owner, Campbell’s grandfather, H. Clay Earles decided six decades ago to award winners with a full-sensory trophy for their performance at his half-mile Martinsville track.

“For whatever reason, granddaddy just wanted to do something different,” Campbell explained. “He wanted to have a trophy that wouldn’t sit around on a shelf or be put off to the side and collect dust like your typical old trophies. At the time that was pretty much the regular deal.

“So, he figured if he did a grandfather clock, the driver’s wife would like it, too, and it would be put in a prominent place in their home. That holds true today. But that was the origin of it. It was just a family-owned company with the speedway and a family-owned company with the clocks”

“My grandfather started that tradition and who knew at that time, it was going to be a tradition. That was just something he wanted to do.”

That tradition became so popular — the clock so cherished and desired — that Campbell recalls the family eventually decided to award it to all the Martinsville race winners not just the NASCAR Cup Series race winners.

“We got to thinking, it’s so important and so difficult to win here, we ought to give it to every race winner whether it be modified, late model, trucks, Xfinity Series, so now everybody gets it,” Campbell said. “And you’d be surprised how many drivers have not forgotten that they won the last year before we started giving the clock to all the winners. Mike Skinner is one that comes to mind. He’s always reminding me, ‘where’s my clock?’ because he won the [Craftsman Truck Series race] the year before we started giving it to all winners.”

And, Campbell notes, just the presentation alone is a well-choreographed event with all sorts of behind-the-scenes contingency plans to safeguard this one-of-a-kind trophy that isn’t formally released to the driver until after the winning race car passes inspection.

“We have the clock on stage and our Victory Lane is on the frontstretch, but our Victory Lane is actually a trailer,” Campbell said. “A trailer moves a little bit, and you also get some jubilant crew members jumping up and down so it can be a little risky for the clock.

“So, we have a guy that stands behind the clock and that’s his primary role, ‘hold that clock and make sure it doesn’t topple over.’ He’s not in view of any camera shots, but he’s back there holding the clock.”

The extra care is appreciated. It is a timeless treasure and certainly a prize to be displayed, not gathering dust on a trophy shelf. For drivers fortunate to have several of these iconic Martinsville winner’s trophies, that has created a wonderful conundrum: where to put them all.

Chris Graythen | Getty Images

“They are all on display in my man cave, all but one,” shared the seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Johnson, owner-driver of the NASCAR Cup Series’ Legacy Motor Club team.

“One I gifted to Bruton Smith. Being friends with him and neighbors essentially, he would always talk about that Martinsville clock and one conversation, he said, ‘If you win another one of those things, I need that in the foyer of my home.’

“And sure enough, that next weekend we went to the track and won that race and I remembered I mentioned I would give that to him. So, when the clock was ready for delivery, I had the truck take it over to his home, met him there and put it in the foyer of his house.”

Waltrip says he’s also shared his prize and given clocks to family members and close associates.

“I have three in the house, they are such beautiful clocks,” Waltrip said. “I couldn’t believe it the first time I ever won one, but you can only have so many grandfather clocks in your house.”

As Gordon acknowledges, “It’s a very good problem to have.”

Over the course of decades NASCAR competitors have really come to appreciate the opportunity for their own full-sensory Martinsville trophy experience. And the track is happy to oblige with this all-time favorite.

“It’s pretty cool, especially for a new winner to receive that clock because he knows the history and all the greats that are in possession of that clock,” Campbell said. “For him to be receiving that I think is very special. I’ve never seen anyone that isn’t really jubilant over getting it.

“Most people don’t talk about Martinsville Speedway for too long before the word ‘grandfather clock’ comes up. It’s just synonymous with us and one of our slogans this year is “only at Martinsville.” That could go for a lot of things, but it certainly goes for the clock.”

Tune in to Sunday’s NOCO 400 from Martinsville Speedway to see who will take home the clock this time (3 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

MORE: NASCAR’s greatest drivers

Ron Bouchard and Ray Hendrick pose with clock in 1974 after wins in NASCAR Modified and Late Model Sportsman races. NASCAR Research & Archives Center | Getty Images

Posted on April 13, 2023July 14, 2023 by NASCAR Foundation Release

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The NASCAR Foundation has announced the addition of Andrea Brimmer, chief marketing and public relations officer at Ally Financial Inc., and Kaulig Racing President Chris Rice to its Board of Directors, bringing wide-ranging marketing and motorsports experience to help grow the impact of Foundation activities into race communities across the country.

“Andrea and Chris are valuable additions to our Board of Directors. Their vast knowledge, experience and leadership within the NASCAR industry will provide welcome insight to our efforts,” said Mike Helton, Chairman, The NASCAR Foundation. “We are confident their guidance will help great things happen for the Foundation and kids it serves.”

As the chief marketing and public relations officer at Ally, Brimmer is responsible for leading all aspects of integrated marketing and brand transformation at the digital financial services company, driving unprecedented growth and disruptive consumer engagement. Among her many honors, Brimmer was named a winner of the 2020 Adweek Brand Genius award, is a three-time honoree on the Forbes’ list of World’s Most Influential CMOs, is the only three-time winner of the Financial Communications Society Marketer of the Year award and was named to the 2022 Adweek Most Powerful Women in Sports list.

Before joining Ally in 2006, Brimmer spent 20 years on the agency side in Detroit, where she led the Chevrolet account and launched the iconic American Revolution campaign. She holds several board positions at organizations including eHealth, the Ad Council and the Professional Advisory Board of the College of Communication Arts and Sciences at Michigan State University.

“It is such an honor to be named to the NASCAR Foundation’s Board of Directors. I have long admired the work of the Foundation and its initiatives designed to support children, their families, and the communities around them,” Brimmer said. “I’m looking forward to bringing Ally’s Do It Right mentality into the boardroom with me and working alongside the other talented and dedicated people who put children’s health and well-being front and center.”

Chris Rice, president of Kaulig Racing, has been in the sport for more than 30 years, beginning in 1989 as a gasman for the NASCAR Busch Grand National Series, now known as the NASCAR Xfinity Series. He worked closely with Hermie Sadler, who was named Rookie of the Year in 1993, and quickly moved on to win a championship in 1995 with Hermie’s brother, Elliott. Because of his accomplishments with the Sadler brothers, Rice became a well-known name in the industry. He’s worked in every elite series in NASCAR with over 18 drivers.

In 2000, Rice worked at Richard Petty Motorsports then moved to Bill Davis Racing in 2002. From 2011 to 2015, Rice worked as a crew chief for RAB Racing with a stable of four different drivers. In 2015, he moved to NTS as the competition director and crew chief. In addition to holding the title of general manager, Rice served as crew chief for Kaulig Racing from 2016-2018 and led the team to one pole, one top-five and 21 top-10 finishes and three consecutive NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff berths.

In 2018, Rice assumed the president role at Kaulig Racing and has continued to build a championship-contending organization.

“Being on The NASCAR Foundation Board of Directors is very special because you get to be a part of things that are bigger than racing,” Rice said. “We love the competition side of what we do, but it is truly an honor to be on a decision-making team when it comes to improving the lives of children through the NASCAR community.”

To learn more about The NASCAR Foundation or to make a donation, please visit NASCARfoundation.org.

Posted on April 13, 2023June 6, 2023 by Brandon White

The 2022 season at Berlin Raceway was something Evan Shotko had dreamed about repeatedly while growing up at the facility.

A total of seven wins, including a triumph in the prestigious Battle at Berlin, not only allowed Shotko to join his father Billy Shotko as a champion at the family’s home track. They also resulted in his claiming the Michigan state championship in the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series.

Besting seasoned veterans like Brian Campbell, Joe Bush and others for a Berlin title was something in which the 19-year-old Shotko took immense pride. But he knows expectations must be kept in check if he wants to put together another strong campaign in 2023.

“We’ve got another hot rod for this year,” Shotko said. “However, I’m a realist, so I realize it’s going to be tough to top what we did last year. If we can do half as good this season, then I’ll be a happy guy.”

Racing has been a pivotal part of Shotko’s family history from the moment his grandfather Bill turned his first laps several decades ago.

Bill’s love for motorsports ended up being passed down to Billy, who became one of Berlin’s best drivers in the Modified division with three titles. As Billy kept accumulating victories, Shotko paid close attention to his dad’s intuition on how to find success. He became determined to win at Berlin himself as soon as he was old enough to race.

The opportunity for Shotko to compete against many of the same drivers he idolized during his childhood materialized in the late 2010s, as he started making frequent appearances in Berlin’s Super Late Model division while also traveling to different tracks in Michigan.

Due to inexperience and his family team initially lacking resources, Shotko admitted his first years in a full-bodied stock car were far from a smooth experience.

“To be honest, I wasn’t very good when I first started,” Shotko said. “There was a lot of stuff we needed to learn, and we did everything ourselves. We never hired anybody to help us and never paid for a setup. It took me a while to get to where we were good enough to win races.

“We had to do everything the hard way.”

Among the accomplishments Evan Shotko accumulated during his title run at Berlin Raceway in 2022 included a victory in the Battle at Berlin 150 (Photo: Ally Ross/Berlin Raceway)

A part of that journey for Shotko saw him start up his own business in Shotko Motorsports, where he specializes in assisting drivers with their own needs such as shock services, setups and custom fabrication.

By spending so much time preparing cars and bouncing ideas off competitors with different backgrounds, Shotko only grew wiser about what his Super Late Model program needed to be efficient. He used that knowledge to emerge as a Berlin track champion in 2022.

Jeff Striegle, who is the general manager at Berlin, envisioned that Shotko would one day win a championship at the facility but said the acumen Shotko possesses with his cars at such a young age is a quality that will guarantee him success in motorsports for many years to come.

“What makes Evan unique is his knowledge,” Striegle said. “We all recognized Evan was going to be a talented race car driver, but we didn’t know how soon it would be. The amount of effort, time, knowledge and testing Evan puts into his program sets him aside from others. He has elevated himself to being one of the best in the country.”

Striegle puts Shotko’s initiative up against many industry veterans in regards to experimentation and applying his own distinctive critical thinking to setting up a car. With Shotko’s 20^th birthday coming in July, Striegle expects the driver’s knowledge to expand as he gains more experience.

Whether Shotko is able to parlay his success and knowledge of short-track racing into the top divisions of NASCAR is yet to be determined. Shotko himself admitted he would need to find a significant amount of funding to make that possibility a reality.

Despite this, Striegle has confidence in Shotko’s future and believes the reigning track champion is going to win a plethora of races outside of Berlin this year; a feat he already accomplished in the rain-shortened Motor Mountain Masters at Jennerstown Speedway last August.

Striegle cited Shotko’s victories at Jennerstown and the Battle at Berlin in the same week as a career-defining moment for the young driver. He expects more career-defining moments from Shotko as he continues to build his own brand.

“Evan believes in Shotko Motorsports, and [everyone at Berlin] believes in it, too,” Striegle said. “He can grow that business by showcasing his ability at other tracks around the country. I don’t know if we’ll see him every Saturday night, but I’d like to see him have that chance to keep developing his skills as a driver and as a business owner.”

With plenty of knowledge and a successful business at his disposal, Evan Shotko is ready to put together another stellar short track season. (Photo: Ally Ross/Berlin Raceway)

Although Shotko would love to defend his championship at Berlin from 2022, he said venturing out to other tracks and series is the most pragmatic approach for him to grow his company and take away some of the financial burden from his parents as they continue to support his career.

Shotko knows he is betting on himself this year, but he intends to make his own luck across the country and prove to everyone his efficiency as a driver extends far beyond his championship run from Berlin.

“In racing, you make 95 percent of your own luck, but the stars need to align for the final five percent,” Shotko said. “You could have the fastest car on the race track, but sometimes you don’t end up winning the race. I expect myself and my team to put ourselves in a position to win each time we race. We’ll just see if the stars align from there.”

A combination of experience, knowledge and a strong racing background allowed everything to line up perfectly for Shotko becoming a Berlin track champion. He hopes those qualities guide him to success once again as he searches for more wins to add to his growing resume.

Posted on April 12, 2023April 12, 2023 by Brandon White

The 73^rd season of competition at Berlin Raceway begins Saturday with one of the track’s most prestigious events: the Icebreaker.

Serving as the opening leg of Berlin’s triple crown that consists of the Money in the Bank 150 and the Battle at Berlin, the Icebreaker features a full docket of on-track action, which includes features in the Super Late Model, Limited Late Model, Sportsman and 4 Cylinder divisions.

The Super Late Model division will be the headliner for the Icebreaker with a $5,000-to-win race contested for 75 laps. Kyle Crump enters Saturday as the most recent Icebreaker winner.

Below is everything you need to know about the season-opening Icebreaker at Berlin Raceway.

(Photo:Nic Antaya/ARCA Racing)

What TV channel is the Berlin Icebreaker on in 2023?

All on-track action from the Icebreaker at Berlin Raceway can be viewed live on FloRacing, the official streaming home for all NASCAR Roots properties.

The Icebreaker will not be show on a television network.

Below is the complete schedule for Icebreaker coverage on FloRacing.

Date	Start time	How to watch
Saturday, Apr. 15	4 p.m. ET	FloRacing

(Photo: Nic Antaya/ARCA Racing)

Berlin Icebreaker 2023 schedule

A busy day of on-track action for the Icebreaker begins at 2 p.m. ET.

The Super Late Model and Limited Late Model divisions each get one session during a 90-minute practice period, with the Sportsman and 4 Cylinder divisions getting two opportunities to hit the track.

Qualifying for Super Late Models is set to start at 3:30 p.m. ET, with the first race of the day following shortly afterwards at 4 p.m. ET. The Limited Late Model, Sportsman and 4 Cylinder divisions will all participate in double features.

Below is the complete race-day schedule for the Icebreaker at Berlin Raceway.

Time	Event
11:30 p.m.	Pit Pass Window Opens
12 p.m.	Pit Gate Open
12:45 p.m.	4 Cylinder Tech (Turn 1)
1:30 p.m.	Sportsman Tech
2-2:30 p.m.	Super Late Model Practice (30 min)/LLM Tech (Turn 1)
2:30-2:40 p.m.	4 Cylinder Practice (10 min)
2:40-2:50 p.m.	Sportsman Practice (10 min)/SLM Tech
2:50-3 p.m.	Limited Late Model Practice (10 min)
3-3:10 p.m.	4 Cylinder Practice (10 min)
3:10-3:20 p.m.	Sportsman Practice (10 min)
3:20-3:30 p.m.	Limited Late Model Practice (10 min)
3:30 p.m.	Super Late Model Qualifying
3:57 p.m.	Invocation (Larry Bush)/National Anthem (Orchard Hill Praise Team)
4 p.m.	Icebreaker (Sportsman Feature 1: 20 laps/20 min, 4 Cylinder Feature 1: 15 laps/15 min, Limited Late Model Feature 1: 25 laps/25 min, Must See Sprints Exhibition Race: 8 laps, Sportsman Feature 2: 20 laps/20 min, 4 Cylinder Feature 2: 15 laps/15 min, Limited Late Model Feature 2: 25 laps/25 min, Super Late Model Feature: 75 laps/60 min

Posted on April 12, 2023April 14, 2023 by Cameron Richardson

Back to the asphalt the NASCAR Cup Series goes as the circuit returns to Virginia at Martinsville Speedway. The historic venue that many refer to as “The Paperclip,” NASCAR’s shortest track on the regular-season schedule has created some of racing’s most iconic and dramatic moments.

Ahead of Sunday’s NOCO 400 (3 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), check out some trends to watch for the race, notable moments from the track and the Goodyear tire info.

CHASE ELLIOTT RETURNS

Hendrick Motorsports announced Wednesday that the 2020 Cup Series champion will return to the No. 9 Chevrolet after missing the last six races due to a broken left leg suffered while snowboarding. In Elliott’s absence, Xfinity Series regular Josh Berry filled in the car on ovals while IMSA driver Jordan Taylor piloted the No. 9 at Circuit of The Americas.

Elliott has received a medical waiver from NASCAR, and with the top 30 in points rule out for 2023, there’s only one thing the 27-year-old Georgia native needs to do to reach the postseason — win.

MORE: How Elliott can make the 2023 playoffs

📉 TRENDS TO WATCH 📈

— The last seven short-track races have been won by seven different drivers.

— Denny Hamlin has never gone nine races into a season without a top-five finish.

— The driver who led the most laps won twice in the last seven short-track races.

— The pass for the win came in the final eight laps in two of the last three Martinsville races.

NOTABLE MOMENTS 🎥

1987: Darrell Waltrip moves Terry Labonte, Dale Earnhardt on final lap | WATCH

2015: Gordon wins 93rd and final Cup race | WATCH

2018: Logano moves Truex in final corner to reach Championship 4 | WATCH

2022: Ross Chastain’s ‘Hail Melon’ move secures Championship 4 berth | WATCH

ON-TRACK SCHEDULE 🗓️

Saturday, April 15

— 4:35 p.m. ET: Practice (FS2)

— 5:20 p.m. ET: Qualifying (FS2)

Sunday, April 16

— 3 p.m. ET: NOCO 400 (FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

MORE: Full weekend schedule at Martinsville

RULE CHANGES/GOODYEAR TIRE NOTES 🛞

The updated short-track package that debuted in March at Phoenix Raceway will be used at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday, along with the wet-weather equipment added at specific tracks such as the Virginia short track.

Last season’s miraculous effort from Ross Chastain will be the one and only time that move will be made as NASCAR banned any ‘Hail Melon-esque’ moves for the future.

The GEICO Restart Zone returned to its 2022 dimensions after it was extended for the first five races of this season.

The Cup Series will run the same tire code that was used at Martinsville last fall and is the only track where these specific codes are run. Each team will have one set of tires for practice, one set for qualifying and seven additional sets for the 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.

RELATED: See rules changes for 2023

FAN REWARDS 🫵

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.

EDITOR’S NOTE: For the Martinsville Cup Series race only, leaderboard check-ins will be worth triple points (150 points instead of 50 points).

JOIN TODAY

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.

How to play: Fantasy Live | Set up a team today!

ALSO ON NASCAR.COM 💻

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.

Posted on April 12, 2023April 13, 2023 by Staff Report

Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott has never missed the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs in his previous seven full-time seasons at the sport’s top level.

Making it 8-for-8 will be a challenge considering Elliott has missed six races while recovering from a broken bone in his left leg, the result of a snowboarding accident before the race weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in early March.

Now that the driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet is returning this weekend at Martinsville Speedway, the path to the postseason, at the very least, is clear: Just win, baby.

Winning to make the playoffs is hardly a new thing in NASCAR’s elimination era, but there are a couple of things that make Elliott’s case unique — an offseason rule change and the Next Gen car. Let’s take a quick look at both.

NEW PLAYOFF RULE

Remember, a win during the 26-race regular season clinches a driver into the Cup Series Playoffs.

Previously, though, the qualifications for the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs also included a caveat of finishing in the top 30 in the points standings. That playoff requirement was dropped before the 2023 season for all three NASCAR national series.

So, while Elliott should not have any trouble climbing into the top 30 anyway — he’s currently 42 points behind Noah Gragson — the removal of that requirement simplifies his path.

Elliott was granted a medical waiver from NASCAR to maintain his postseason eligibility since he has not attempted to start every race.

NEXT GEN PARITY

Here’s one thing we learned about the Next Gen car in its maiden 2022 season — it produces a greater number of winners. That’s something the No. 9 camp will have to keep an eye on.

Through eight races in 2023, we have seven different winners. Only William Byron has won twice.

We know race winners qualify for the postseason. From there, drivers ranked highest in the points standings comprise the rest of the 16-driver field. The Regular Season Champion is guaranteed a playoff spot if he does not have a win, too.

But what if there are more than 16 winners? Well, the drivers with multiple wins get in first. Then the one-win drivers fill out the rest of the field by order of points standings.

So, if Elliott just wins once and there are more than 16 winners — remember, last year there were 16 winners during the regular season and 19 for the season — he faces an uphill climb given his points position.

The silver lining in all of this for Hendrick Motorsports and Elliott himself?

He’s won multiple races in five consecutive seasons.

MORE: Drivers who’ve won in injury return | Buy tickets for Martinsville

Posted on April 12, 2023April 13, 2023 by Staff Report

Chase Elliott will return to the seat of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet this weekend at Martinsville Speedway, he and the team announced Wednesday.

Elliott, the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion and five-time reigning Most Popular Driver, missed the last six Cup events after suffering a broken left leg in a Colorado snowboarding accident on March 3. His return comes in time for the NOCO 400 on Sunday (3 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

“We’re looking forward to having Chase back in his race car to pick up where he left off,” said Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports in a team press release. “Since the injury, he’s worked extremely hard and focused all his time and energy on returning to the No. 9 team. Throughout the last six weeks, he’s stayed fully engaged with everything we’re doing, and we know he’s champing at the bit to get on the race track and compete for wins.”

Elliott has competed in just two races this year — the season-opening Daytona 500, where he finished 38th (DNF, crash) and the following week’s event at Fontana, where he was the runner-up to Kyle Busch.

NASCAR Xfinity Series regular Josh Berry filled in for Elliott at the five oval races, scoring a career-best second-place finish on April 2 at Richmond Raceway, finishing his substitute stint with one top five and two top 10s.

Three-time IMSA champion Jordan Taylor piloted the No. 9 Chevrolet at Circuit of The Americas on March 26 for his NASCAR Cup Series debut, finishing 24th after a qualifying effort placed him fourth on the starting grid.

Elliott returns for his 260th career start at the sport’s premier level. The Dawsonville, Georgia, native had never missed a start since entering the series full-time in 2016, his absence snapping a string of 254 consecutive starts.

Crew chief Alan Gustafson also returns to the pit box after serving his four-race suspension. All four crew chiefs at Hendrick Motorsports were sidelined, and the teams were fined $100,000 each for unapproved parts modifications entering the March 12 weekend at Phoenix Raceway. Tom Gray served as the team’s interim crew chief with Gustafson sidelined.

Elliott sits 34th in the driver points standings after missing six races. A NASCAR spokesperson confirmed that Elliott was granted a medical waiver for playoff eligibility. The sanctioning body requires all series regulars to attempt to qualify for each event to be eligible to qualify for the playoffs.

With the waiver, Elliott can provisionally lock himself into the playoffs with a regular-season victory.

MORE: How Elliott can make it to the playoffs

Posted on April 12, 2023April 12, 2023 by Staff Report

Randy LaJoie is a man of many legacies. There’s the racer. The champion. The champion (again). The seat builder. The father.

Add another to the list: The all-timer.

A two-time NASCAR Xfinity Series champion, LaJoie has been named to the list of NASCAR 75 Greatest Drivers.

Naming the 75 Greatest Drivers is a continuation of the popular program established in 1998 recognizing the 50 Greatest Drivers for NASCAR’s golden anniversary. There are 25 new names added over the coming weeks as NASCAR celebrates 75 years of history.

And the exclusive, blue-ribbon panel voted LaJoie in.

Perhaps the only thing more special than the honor itself was the manner in which LaJoie was informed — by his son Corey LaJoie, driver of the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet.

“I got chills,” Randy LaJoie said after being surprised. “Damn, that’s cool. That’s way cool. You don’t wake up when you’re 10 years old and racing go-karts and think you’re going to get something like this.

“That’s pretty damn badass,” LaJoie added, his voice trembling as he wiped the water from his eyes.

LaJoie is one of nine drivers to win two championships in what is now known as the Xfinity Series, and he’s one of five to win two titles consecutively. He accomplished that feat in 1996 and 1997, the first driver to do so. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (1998-99), Martin Truex Jr. (2004-05), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (2011-12) and Tyler Reddick (2018-19) would follow.

Both titles came on the strength of five wins and in driving the No. 74 Bill Baumgardner Chevrolet. LaJoie led the series in victories during his 1996 championship year. His encore title run in 1997 included wins at both Daytona International Speedway and Darlington Raceway.

Before his Xfinity Series title runs, LaJoie raced three seasons in the NASCAR North Tour. He won 10 times, including — you guessed it — five times in 1985 en route to the series championship. Now, he’s known for running The Joie of Seating company, where he’s the go-to in the industry for racing seat safety.

His on-track legacy of being a “Saturday guy” as Corey LaJoie dubbed it on the Stacking Pennies podcast never bothered Randy, who won in go-karts in his native Connecticut to launch his racing career.

“A champion is a champion,” Randy LaJoie said. “I was a champion in the division I was in. You have to act like a champion, and it’s a totally different ballgame. … The relationships you build through your championship years never go away.”

MORE: Hear LaJoie’s reaction on Stacking Pennies

Posted on April 12, 2023April 12, 2023 by Cara Cooper

Logan Brown’s 2022 race season at Salina Highbanks Speedway started with him and his crew getting their car ready about six hours before the first race.

The season ended with Brown’s first championship.

Brown won the Dawson Roofing Super Stocks championship at Salina, a NASCAR-sanctioned oval track in Pryor, Oklahoma. The title was won after Brown picked up three wins and 14 top-five finishes in 19 races, giving him the victory by 117 points.

On opening night, after Brown took the final six hours to take a nap, his last-minute fixes paid off.

“We came out the first night of the season and we actually ended up winning that night,” Brown said. “So that just put more of a kick into us. I told my dad I think we can go for the championship this year, and if everything goes well, I think we can win it.

“And from then on we just showed up every week and did our best.”

Every week, Brown spent his downtime before races talking with friends and competitors about what he would do if he won the championship. A title is something he’s been chasing since he began racing as a teenager six years ago.

“I come from a really small town, and it does have it’s supporters; there are people who support me and my buddy, but mostly it’s people that hate to see you do better,” he said. “I was just wanting people to know that I’m capable of doing that as well, because all these years I’ve been told, ‘You won’t do this,’ or, ‘You won’t do that.’ That just came to my mind, I can show them. If I win then I can show all these people that doubted me what I can do.”

When Brown was growing up, his grandfather always had cars in the garage, and Brown would often jump in them and pretend like he was driving.

Finally, one day his grandpa told him he could take a car into the parking lot.

“I kept making the rounds and kept getting faster and faster,” Brown said. “Finally, I started tearing his gravel up and his roads, and he finally said, ‘It’s time to go to the track or something, because you’re tearing my driveway up.’

“He played a big, big part in it, so I’ve got to give a lot of the glory to him.”

Unfortunately for Brown, the track where he wanted to race had an age limit of 14. With a November birthday, when Brown turned 14, he had to wait several months before the following season rolled around.

The joy he gets behind the wheel was worth waiting for, and it’s a feeling Brown has been chasing ever since.

“I guess it would be just the feeling of everything else in the world just went away for me,” he said. “Homework, sports, school, woman problems, stuff like that, it just all went away, and I was focused in on one thing… There’s nothing I would rather do. If I could race every single day of the week and get paid for it, I’d do it in a heartbeat.”

Brown moved up a class last season. He credited his team and a more patient approach, taking their time to learn everything they could about the car, with their newfound success.

He received help from his mom, dad, girlfriend, Maddilyn, and good friend, Aiden, who was there all 12 times they swapped out motors last season.

“I’m talking 2 in the morning the night before the races, we’d swap motors, gears, tires, everything, and he’s been there,” Brown said of his friend. “Dad and mom, they’re huge in it, too. Without them I couldn’t do it. I could probably do it, but I’d be pinching pennies a lot worse than I am now.”

There was another new member of the team last year, too: Former Salina driver Kyle Davis, who took Brown under his wing as a mentor.

Growing up, Brown used to watch Davis drive at Salina and said “I always picked him to win when my grandpa would take me to races to watch.”

Davis has his own chassis business now. He helped Brown with car set-up.

“I think the reason why we get along so well is because he has the same kind of passion and drive for the sport that I do,” Brown said. “Coming from others that personally know Kyle, they’ve all told me the same thing. Kyle, he doesn’t just help anybody. He only helps people he sees something in, and that actually means to world to me that he took a chance on my program and made it 10 times better than what it was.”

Davis will join Brown as they go on the road this summer, making time to race at Salina as often as possible.

He’ll keep chasing wins and championships for as long as possible, but he’ll never forget the first.

“It means more than a lot of things to me. It’s one of the greatest feelings that I’ve ever had,” Brown said. “I know it’s just a track championship to some people, but it’s something that I’ve worked a lot of years of my life for, and it just means that much more to me that I accomplished it.”

Posted on April 12, 2023 by Dustin Albino

If you didn’t know it, it might surprise you that Ryan Ellis first broke on to the NASCAR scene in 2012. Eleven years later, he finally has the chance to consistently be competitive.

After running a partial Xfinity Series season with Alpha Prime Racing in 2022, Ellis knew he wanted to return to the team for 2023. The issue? Sponsorship. But unlike previous seasons, he got a head start and announced a 24-race schedule with the company’s newly formed No. 43 team.

“It came together, and I wanted to do more races, so I really started to dive in on the sales side, not that I hadn’t before but really go crazy on it,” Ellis told NASCAR.com last month. “But I saw some traction and it’s been like deeper and deeper diving into it, trying anything.”

MORE: Xfinity Series standings | Martinsville schedule

Since joining Alpha Prime, Ellis has welcomed partners like Four Loko and Heartbeat Hot Sauce, among a plethora of other sponsors to the sport. It can also get confusing as he’s had a different primary sponsor for all seven races to start the 2023 Xfinity Series season.

“He’s a one-stop shop that can do all of his own sales, marketing and sponsor work because he’s done it for other teams,” David Schildhouse, vice president of Alpha Prime Racing, said of Ellis. “Beyond being a good race car driver for us, he’s done his career a huge favor, especially this year, with the amount of races that he’s sold from the original agreement.”

Managing all the different partners can be stressful. Ellis jokes it’s why he’s up all hours of the night but has to leave one hour for playing video games. He’s sending out thousands of emails per week, just hoping the right partner says yes.

That grind comes from having recent day jobs. Before his opportunity with Alpha Prime, he had a role at a company called Lead Coverage. There, he was the lead generation engineer, which helped build a marketing and sales pipeline for supply chain and logistics companies. Without having that gig, he doesn’t believe he’d be in his current position as a race car driver.

“All day, every day,” Ellis said of his persistent grind of finding sponsors. “I treat it like a normal 9-5 because the second I don’t, I’m not going to have it anymore.”

The results are paying off. Ellis is scheduled to compete in every Xfinity Series race up until Portland in early June. But the conversation of getting additional partners to run the duration of the schedule has come up internally at Alpha Prime.

“I believe if he was given the green light to sell them all, he would,” Schildhouse said. “He’s proven so far that he can. The question is do we have the availability to do that. He’s in line to become a second full-time driver if it works out correctly.”

Being in a competitive scenario is something Ellis could have only hoped for. Until now, he’s never had a constant shot of being in worthy equipment, and the most races he’d run in a single season is 16. To have that 11 years into his career means more to the Virginia native than having this opportunity come instantly.

“I hope that it makes me more of an established name in the sport,” Ellis said. “This is like my last hoorah. I’m sure I’ll have like 10 of those, but I want to dive in deep and not lose what I have right now.”

The season didn’t start off ideally at Daytona, breaking a transmission in practice and wrecking early in the race. The No. 43 Chevrolet was trapped laps down at Auto Club and Las Vegas before picking up its first top-20 result at Phoenix. Including Phoenix, Ellis has three top-20 finishes in the last four races and is coming off a season-best 15th at Richmond.

His primary goal is to, at some point in 2023, crack the top 10 in the finishing rundown.

“I want a top 10 so bad,” Ellis noted. “It’s the most embarrassing statistic of my life that I don’t have one right now. Talladega is coming up, Road America is going to be huge. Just taking it race by race, and I hope we get a top 10.”

Alpha Prime believes Ellis will get that top 10, particularly because of his instilled work ethic.

“I look at it as the reward for all of his hard work,” Schildhouse stated. “There are finishes that are probably better than he expected and better than what probably a lot of other people expected. He’s not a bad race car driver, and I think he can go out there and prove it.”

What Ellis has learned in his Alpha Prime tenure is he never wants to compete with a team with lesser equipment. As he stated, this is the new standard.

In a perfect world, he will be back with Alpha Prime in 2024 for another stab at a full schedule.

“It’s so refreshing to see somebody work that hard to get what they want instead of expecting it to come to them,” Schildhouse said. “I think with that comes the experience and wisdom to know that he has to work harder than other people do to accomplish what he wants. If he just wanted to race 13 to 15 times per year, I’m sure he could do that and not work as hard. But that’s not what he wants. He wants to race full-time, and he knows he must put in the work to do that. He doesn’t make excuses.”

With the Xfinity Series heading to Martinsville on Saturday (7:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), Ellis is hoping for redemption this weekend as last year he failed to qualify for the spring race with Alpha Prime.