Posted on by Zack Albert

TALLADEGA, Ala. — Austin Dillon rolled into Talladega Superspeedway 60 points lighter after L1-level penalties were issued to his No. 3 Richard Childress Racing team earlier in the week. The hit in the NASCAR Cup Series standings hasn’t altered his outlook for the rest of the regular season.

That must-win mission continues for the No. 3 team in Sunday’s GEICO 500 (3 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), the 10th race of the Cup Series campaign. Dillon has two top-10 finishes thus far in 2023, but the underwing assembly infraction after last weekend’s race at Martinsville dropped him from 21st to 29th in the points.

RELATED: Weekend schedule | What to Watch: Talladega

Dillon was largely mum about the violation itself Saturday, acknowledging that RCR has opted to take the penalty into the appeals process. But his goal for the Talladega weekend and subsequent races remains the same.

“I would probably would rather make a statement after the appeal process to really get a better grasp on the whole situation,” Dillon said before qualifying 14th for Sunday’s 500-miler. “So, as far as that goes, I’ll probably be waiting till after the appeal to really give you my thoughts on it. But right now, it’s (to) go after another win here at Talladega. … Just race hard this weekend and see what comes of it.”

Part of the penalty included a two-race suspension for crew chief Keith Rodden, a veteran who took over the role for the No. 3 team this season. In his place as interim crew chief this week is Justin Alexander, his predecessor who shifted to RCR’s director of vehicle performance in a move announced last October.

MORE: Sunday’s starting lineup

Alexander had been atop the pit box for all four of Dillon’s victories in his Cup Series career, and the 32-year-old driver said he expected him to shift back to his crew chief duties without much of a hitch.

“Justin has been on the competition side of things all year,” Dillon said. “He’s been running our competition meetings at the shop, so he’s very in tune, and him and Keith have had discussion during the week on how our process has been going this year. So I think he’s in a good position to just jump in for the current situation that we’re in and should be fine.”

Dillon qualified for the Cup Series Playoffs last season with a last-ditch victory in the regular-season finale at Daytona International Speedway last August. That clutch moment filled out the 16-driver postseason grid with 15 winners.

So far this year, seven drivers have won in nine events, suggesting that the window for advancing to the playoffs on the basis of points may already be narrowing.

“I think NASCAR has really kind of made the series into a must-win anyways. Points aren’t really an option,” Dillon said. “I mean, there’s one guy that made it on points maybe last year. … So it’s kind of a must-win to make a good season, so I don’t think anything really changes truthfully on the points side.”

Posted on by Staff Report

TALLADEGA, Ala. – Bubba Wallace was in a free-wheeling mood during Saturday morning’s media scrums at Talladega Superspeedway, fresh from a top-10 finish at Martinsville a week before and buoyant about his chances for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series showdown.

As usual, he’ll be competing in the 23XI Racing No. 23 Toyota co-owned by friends and associates Michael Jordan, the NBA legend, and Denny Hamlin, who won the pole for Sunday’s GEICO 500 (3 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) during Saturday’s qualifying session at the 2.66-mile track. The Wallace-Hamlin partnership is now in its third season, but hard racing between the two last weekend at Martinsville showed that the driver-owner spirit of kumbaya has its limits.

RELATED: Weekend schedule | What to Watch: Talladega

“Yeah, the 11 car is a competitor,” Wallace said, nodding toward Hamlin’s No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. “It’s a different organization, different race team. So, people say that’s the boss. Not when he’s driving. He’s a competitor, and that’s it.”

Hamlin led once during last week’s 400-lapper at Martinsville, which was won by Kyle Larson. Hamlin eventually placed fourth, and Wallace started and finished ninth in the ninth race of the year.

During Hamlin’s stint up front, he worked aggressively to keep other potential contenders a lap down. When he encountered Wallace’s No. 23, the two traded contact as Wallace tried to return to the lead lap.

Those bumps aside, Hamlin said he expects Wallace to drive hard and that he’s able to split the employee-employer viewpoints.

“Listen, as a car owner, I would say, ‘Man, you’re about to go a lap down in a track-position race, you better fight everything you can,’ ” Hamlin said. “Now, as a driver, I’m like, ‘Get the hell out of my way. I’m the leader. Like, I’m trying to make up some ground here.’ So that’s one where, while I may be, like, perturbed in the moment, in the bigger picture, I’m like, ‘Well, this is what I would expect him to do.’ So that’s how it gets separated, and people wonder how do you separate it? When I’m driving, I’m a race car driver. I’m not an owner.”

MORE: Talladega odds | Starting lineup

Wallace has high hopes for Talladega, where he scored his first career victory in October 2021. He’s led laps in six of his last seven starts here, and the superspeedway style of racing has long suited his skills. The confidence level at the other track types on the Cup Series schedule is still a work in progress.

“Speedway stuff, we’ve been able to build up a decent-sized resume for the speedways and other tracks, you know, we’re still building on that,” Wallace says. “Mile-and-a-halfs, we felt like we were pretty good at last year. Short tracks and road courses we needed a lot of work on. But, you know, a new track, new weekend, it’s a new opportunity, right? So you just go out and try to execute the best that you can.”

Posted on by Holly Cain

TALLADEGA, Ala. – Veteran Denny Hamlin earned the first Talladega Superspeedway Busch Light Pole Award of his celebrated 18-year career Saturday morning, besting the field by a slight .032-seconds to take the coveted starting position in Sunday’s GEICO 500 (4 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Hamlin’s No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota ran a lap of 180.751 mph (52.979 seconds) around the 2.66-mile speedway to claim the top starting position – his 37th career pole. Aric Almirola will start his No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford alongside him – marking the second consecutive week he’s qualified second fastest and fourth time in 2023 he’s qualified in the top 10.

RELATED: Full Cup Series lineup

“I was well aware I’d never gotten a speedway pole,” the two-time Talladega and three-time Daytona 500 winner Hamlin said with a smile.

“I don’t know that there is one [advantage], honestly” Hamlin continued. “If I had qualified 18th I’d have been just as optimistic. Although, I will say qualifying on the pole means my car is very capable and will be fast leading. I haven’t been fast in the Next Gen era while leading on superspeedways so certainly that gives me the confidence we should be able to lead the pack quickly, which will make it harder for them to pass us.”

MORE: Hamlin named one of NASCAR’s 75 greatest drivers

Hamlin’s JGR teammate, Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate Ty Gibbs was third fastest in the No. 54 JGR Toyota – the best NASCAR Cup Series starting position to date for the first-year full-time driver. He’ll start alongside Almirola’s teammate Chase Briscoe in the No. 14 SHR Ford.

Two-time Talladega winner Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell (who started on pole in both of last year’s Talladega races), Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano, last week’s Martinsville winner Kyle Larson and Chris Buescher rounded out the top 10, all advancing to the final round of qualifying. The top group included all four JGR team cars (Hamlin, Gibbs, Bell and Truex).

Defending race winner, Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain, the only driver to earn top-five finishes in both 2022 Talladega races, qualified his No. 1 Chevrolet 22nd for Sunday’s grid.

Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott, who is making only his second start since returning to competition after a six-week recovery for a broken leg, will roll off 29th  in the No. 9 Chevrolet. He is a two-time Talladega winner, hoisting the trophy in last fall’s playoff race. He finished 10th in his return to racing last week at Martinsville.

Posted on by Zach Sturniolo

Daytona 500 champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is heading to Talladega Superspeedway with a new pit crew in tow — the former wrench wielders for Chris Buescher’s No. 17 RFK Racing Ford.

JTG Daugherty Racing, which fields Stenhouse’s No. 47 Chevrolet, signed a two-year deal with RFK Racing to operate and provide its pit crews for the 2022 and 2023 seasons, Stenhouse told NASCAR.com on Friday. A stellar performance by the No. 47 group at Martinsville saw new front-tire changer Jakob Prall join tire carrier Zach Yager, rear changer Dalton Leonard, jackman Nicholas Patterson and fueler Arinze Obi average the sixth-fastest four-tire pit stops last weekend at 11.01 seconds, according to Racing Insights. Buescher’s crew was 33rd-fastest at Martinsville with an average stop of 13.45 seconds.

RELATED: Talladega weekend schedule | Cup standings

The JTG Daugherty group’s effort helped lead Stenhouse to an eighth-place finish at the .526-mile track, a career best in 21 starts and his third top-10 result in the last four races. But by Monday afternoon, he knew that crew would be pitting a different car at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday (3 p.m., FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

“They got us a new tire changer in the front (Prall) and last week was our first week with him,” Stenhouse said Friday. “After the race, man, we were pumped at how well the guys did on pit road. … And then Monday morning, we get an email that they’re swapping.”

Obi, who has fueled the No. 47 Chevrolet all season, is the only member of Stenhouse’s Martinsville crew who remains on the car this weekend in Alabama. Coming to the team from Buescher’s No. 17 car per the NASCAR roster portal are front changer Greg Donlin, tire carrier Justin Edgell, rear changer Chris Shuman and jackman Matt Wilps.

Pit crews have long played pivotal roles in a team’s on-track success. But with the momentous change of aluminum wheels and single lug nuts on the Next Gen car — a shift from the decades-long norm of steel wheels and five lugs — came even sharper emphasis on minimizing pit times.

“I think the pit crew is more crucial now than it’s ever been in our sport,” Stenhouse said. “The cars are so close. The lap times between slower cars and faster cars are not that much different. And so anytime that you can gain positions on pit road — definitely not lose positions on pit road — makes your race day so much easier.

“That’s one of the strong points that we had last weekend at Martinsville. We were really good on pit road. We didn’t lose spots. We gained spots. And anytime you can do that, especially like Martinsville, a hard place to pass, it’s so much (more) beneficial to your team. And so I don’t think there’s any year that pit crews are more important.”

Stenhouse is optimistic the newcomers at JTG Daugherty will be welcomed additions to the program. But there’s still some displeasure surrounding the move itself.

“That was kind of the long-term play as to why we signed up for two years, so that you can keep your pit crew consistent,” Stenhouse said. “And it’s a bummer because we won with most of those guys at Daytona and I think they wanted to stay with us, or at least from from everything I’ve talked to them about. But I mean, it is what it is. It’s the cards we’re dealt now. Should have known that they (RFK) would have played it that way, I guess.”

Stenhouse’s history with RFK Racing dates back to 2008, driving for car owner Jack Roush in the ARCA Menards Series and collecting two wins. He moved up to the Xfinity Series on a part-time basis in 2009 and eventually claimed back-to-back championships in the division in 2011 and 2012 before moving into the Cup Series full-time in 2013.

Their relationship ended in 2019, when the organization exercised an option on Buescher’s contract to pull him from JTG Daugherty’s No. 37 Chevy into what was Stenhouse’s No. 17 Ford at season’s end, leading to what was effectively a team swap for the two drivers.

MORE: Details of Buescher’s jump to the No. 17 car

Now in his fourth season with JTG Daugherty, Stenhouse still knows plenty of folks at RFK, as does crew chief Mike Kelley. That includes the crewmen en route to their No. 47 car at Talladega.

“I know a few of those guys. I’ve worked with them. Mike Kelley’s worked with some of them,” Stenhouse said. “And I know that they’re gonna go out and prove what they got as well. So, you know, it’s not all lost other than I felt like we had a really good bond with the guys that we had, and I’m bummed for them.”

Posted on by Staff Report

Chase Elliott was named Friday as the newest addition to the list of NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers.

The recognition comes after the Hendrick Motorsports driver returned to action last weekend at Martinsville Speedway and posted a top-10 finish in his first race back since missing time with a leg injury.

RELATED: About 75 Greatest Drivers list | Weekend schedule

Elliott joins his father, 1988 Cup Series champion Bill Elliott, on the elite list. The elder Elliott, a NASCAR Hall of Famer, was honored as part of the original 50 Greatest Drivers roster for NASCAR’s 50th anniversary in 1998. And like his father, Chase Elliott has carried the No. 9 for the majority of his NASCAR career.

Chase Elliott adds his name as part of the 25 new honorees in commemoration of NASCAR’s 75th anniversary. The 27-year-old Georgia native has 18 career victories in eight seasons as a Cup Series regular, and he claimed the 2020 championship with a five-win campaign that included a non-points All-Star Race triumph.

Elliott broke into the national-series scene with three wins as an Xfinity Series rookie, capitalizing on his performance and consistency to capture the 2014 championship with JR Motorsports. He moved up to the Cup Series full-time in 2016 and topped Chris Buescher and Ryan Blaney for Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors.

Elliott has won multiple races a year for five consecutive seasons (2018-22). He has also been recognized as the Cup Series’ Most Popular Driver Award each year during that same span.

Posted on by Staff Report

Now is your chance to pick a driver who could compete in the 2023 NASCAR All-Star Race on May 21 at North Wilkesboro Speedway (8 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). That’s because the polls for the All-Star Race Fan Vote are open, and this year, Fan Rewards members will earn 50 points for voting.

The rules are simple: You can vote once per day, per unique email address, and the voting period is from noon ET on April 21 to 9 a.m. ET on May 21. The winner of the fan vote will be announced after the NASCAR All-Star Open on May 21 and before the main event starts that night.

RELATED: Vote now!

Ken Schrader won the first fan vote in 2004, and Erik Jones was the most recent winner in 2022. Kyle Petty, Danica Patrick and Clint Bowyer were some of the others on the list, too.

Kasey Kahne, in 2008, is the only fan vote winner who went on to win the All-Star Race. So see, you can make a difference.

Check back with NASCAR.com over the next month for updates on how the fan vote is going.

Happy voting everyone!

Posted on by Staff Report

NASCAR knows its fans live and breathe the sport of stock car auto racing, so now there’s another new way to follow your favorite drivers on race day — from your iPhone’s Lock Screen and Home Screen.

Apple recently launched a new feature with iOS 16.1 called Live Activities that conveniently places live updates on your iPhone’s Lock Screen and Home Screen, a compelling feature adopted by many notable sports leagues and events already, such as the National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball, NCAA March Madness and The Masters Tournament.

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 ahead of the upcoming race weekend at Talladega Superspeedway. Android users, we didn’t forget you — the same functionality has been custom-built for Android devices, as well.

MORE: Full weekend schedule for Talladega | Download NASCAR Mobile for iOS

How to access Live Activities on iPhones:

  1. Make sure your iOS device has been updated to 16.1 or higher.
  2. Available on the leaderboard of all NASCAR Series races.
  3. Click on the three-dot menu near the top right of screen.
  4. Select “Follow the Race.”
  5. Swipe up to access the home screen and you will see the Live Activities at the top.
  6. Lock the device and you will see Live Activities on the Lock Screen.
  7. To turn off, simply visit the leaderboard, click the three-dot menu and “Unfollow the Race.”

 

NASCAR Live Activities graphic -- how to use
NASCAR Creative Design
Posted on by Sean Montgomery

GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway
(⏰ 3 p.m. ET | 📺 FOX, FOX Sports App | 📻 MRN, SiriusXM)

Everything you need to know for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race in Alabama, the 10th regular season race of the 2023 Cup Series campaign.

Weekend schedule | TV schedule | Weather tracker | Talladega 101

📍 Location: Talladega, Alabama
📐 Track length: 2.66 miles
🎟️ Buy tickets: Find weekend passes, seats for Sunday
💰 Cup Series race purse: $7,857,314
📏 Race distance: 188 laps | 500 miles
🔢 Stages: 60 | 120 | 188
—
🚪 Entry list: Drivers, teams heading to Alabama
📋 Starting lineup: Denny Hamlin on the pole
🚗 Pit stall assignments: See where drivers will pit
🏆 Most recent winner: Chase Elliott

Key things to watch 🔑

Top story line

Another wild-card race. Every year, it becomes harder and harder to tell which driver will triumph at Talladega. On one end of the spectrum, Brad Keselowski has seemingly mastered the track with six career wins on the mammoth oval. And on the other end, two of the last three winners at the track were just earning their first victory. There have already been seven winners heading closer to the midway point of the regular season, and the urgency for drivers likely needing a win to get into the NASCAR Playoffs is apparent — especially for Chase Elliott. Elliott was sidelined with an injury, leaving him behind in the points standings. But luckily for him, he’s the defending race winner and has an eager attitude when it comes to embracing the challenge. Sunday could be anybody’s race, but don’t count out the 2020 champion.

🔐 TITLE TELL?: Each of the last seven years, the Cup Series champion was top six in points by the ninth race of the season | Read the analysis

Qualifying story

Toyotas show out. Four Toyotas qualified in the top 10 on Saturday morning at Talladega, including pole winner Denny Hamlin. It was the 37th pole win of his career but the first for him this season and his first on a superspeedway, according to Racing Insights. Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Ty Gibbs (third), Christopher Bell (sixth) and Martin Truex Jr. (seventh) joined Hamlin in the top 10. It will be Gibbs’ best career start. Meanwhile, Bell started on the pole last fall at Talladega, but it was Chase Elliott in the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet who came away with the win. Toyota’s last win at Talladega was in the fall of 2021 by Bubba Wallace. Hamlin won the fall race in 2020 at Talladega.

History tells us…

Ford is the focus. Led by exceptional form from Keselowski, Ford has won 10 of the last 15 races at the daunting 2.66-mile superspeedway — a remarkable showing of prowess. Carrying momentum from a strong showing at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Keselowski joins Blue Oval counterparts Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano near the top of Sunday’s betting oddsboard to win the race. Michael McDowell, a more-than-respectable superspeedway racer, was also one of four drivers to finish top 10 in both Talladega races last season. Look for this group to have another solid day, overall.

He may not be the betting favorite to win, but watch out for…

Erik Jones. Jones doubled up with two sixth-place results in the 2022 races at Talladega, achieving a remarkable feat of consistency. Based on his consistency at a track where it is pretty rare, he may be worth a look at 35-1 opening odds. According to Racing Insights, four of the last five winners at Daytona International Speedway and Talladega were at 30-1 odds — not a far cry off from where Jones sits on the board currently. Keep an eye out for the No. 43.

Inside the Race 🔍

MRN’s Todd Gordon and NBC Sports’ Steve Letarte forecast which drivers could be feeling the pressure in Sunday’s race at Talladega Superspeedway.

Familiar favorites ⭐️

Our biggest pieces of the week — get covered for race day from all angles. 

• Paint Scheme Preview: Check out the latest Alabama attire | Pick a favorite
• Power Rankings: Is Ryan Blaney set for a Talladega takeoff? | Latest driver rankings
• Fantasy Fastlane: Superspeedway aces will shine this weekend | Top Fantasy Live plays, sleepers
• Betting odds: See which driver is the favorite for Sunday’s race | Top bets, underdog picks
• Stacking Pennies: Corey LaJoie talks about on-track incident with Kyle Busch | Listen to the podcast

💎 NASCAR 75: Honoring NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers … then revealing 25 more | Check out the list

Hot off the press 📰

Key stories and breaking news from the week leading up to the race.

• Penalty: No. 3 team issued an L1-level penalty for infraction | Read more
• Mr. 800: Kevin Harvick set to make 800th start on Sunday | Read more
• NASCAR Mobile: Live Activities launches for iOS during 2023 season | Learn more
• Mission 600: Austin Dillon takes annual visit to Fort Bragg | Read more
• Chase Elliott: Driver eager to make big playoff push | Read more
• Ryan Newman: ‘Rocket Man’ named to NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers | Read more
• Appeal update: Final Appeals Officer amends Kaulig Racing’s penalty at NASCAR’s request | Read more
• Big win for the France family: Reflecting on Ben Kennedy’s historic win at Bowman Gray | Read more
• Erik Jones: Erik Jones Foundation expanding outreach | Read more
• Burnout fires: Elton Sawyer addresses post-race incidents | Read more
• eNASCAR: Kirwan takes home huge victory | Listen to his reaction

Get in on the action 💰

Think you know NASCAR? Put your mettle to the test with gaming, fantasy and Fan Rewards.

• Fan Rewards: New in 2023, get rewarded for your participation | Learn more
• Fantasy Live: Still time to get on the leaderboard and win big this season | Tips for 2023
• NASCAR BetCenter: Don’t miss your chance to make picks each week | Visit the BetCenter
• Going the distance: 2023 Cup Series championship odds | See them here
• The Action Network: Why RFK Racing should have your eye on Sunday | Expert analysis

Alabama abstract 🧭

Fitting that the biggest track on the schedule has some of the biggest moments in the sport’s history.

• Winner, winner: Every spring winner at Talladega | See the full list
• Out of the blue: Surprise winners at Talladega | Who was most surprising?
• Throwback: Best GIFs from last season’s spring race | Check them out
• In-car camera: Watch the final laps of Chase Elliott’s big win | Watch highlight

Take some notes 📝

Five hard-hitting, race-relevant statistics, brought to you by the experts at Racing Insights.

• Ross Chastain is the only driver to finish top five in both Talladega races in 2022, including a win.
• The last four Talladega races were won from a starting position of 10th or worse.
• No one has ever swept both stages at Talladega.
• Four of the last five winners at Daytona and Talladega were 30-1 odds.
• Eleven different drivers won the last 11 superspeedway races.

🔮 Predicting the winner: Using data to set a projected finishing order

Posted on by Cara Cooper

Growing up, Kayla Surles was always the type of athlete who wanted to prove her abilities on the field.

A swimmer, track runner and lacrosse player through middle and high school, Surles and her brother would go head-to-head in lacrosse, challenging the other to see who could score the most goals and do the most trick shots.

“We just wanted to prove that we are as good as other people say we are, we are as good as we say we are,” Surles said recently.

So, when the opportunity to potentially test an ARCA Menards Series car at Daytona International Speedway came about, Surles didn’t want to just be handed the ride. She wanted to prove she deserved it.

Surles, a 21-year-old from Fredericksburg, Virginia, works at Bugsy’s Repair, which is owned by Willie and Dinah Mullins. The Mullins’ also own an ARCA team, Mullins Racing, and were looking for a driver for the annual pre-race practice at Daytona.

“When Willie and Dinah were trying to decide if they wanted to put me in the first test, I told them, ‘Don’t put me in because of just me helping work on your cars. I want to be able to earn that,’” she said. “So I had the breakout season and they were like, ‘Well, you earned it.’”

Surles more than earned the chance thanks to her season last year at Dominion Raceway, a NASCAR-sanctioned 4/10-mile asphalt oval track in Thornburg, Virginia. She finished the 2022 season with six victories and was second in the track’s Modified division standings.

It’s no surprise Surles has found success behind the wheel, given her competitive nature. Ten years ago, she and her dad went to watch one of her friends race, and she instantly wanted to give the sport a try.

“I’m a super competitive kid and my friend started racing, and my dad said, ‘We’re going to go watch them race,’” she said. “And I wanted to beat my friends.

“My dad knew what he was getting into when he went to the race. He was prepared.”

Kayla Surles won six races in the Modified division at Dominion Raceway in 2022. (Photo: Dinah Mullins/Dominion Raceway)

Surles started racing in a dirt go-kart, and made the move to Modifieds about four years ago.

“One of my dad’s buddies bought an asphalt Modified and said, ‘You know what? Let’s put Kayla in it,’” she said. “That’s just sort of where the door opened up and that’s where we had people built up around us supporting the Modified, and it’s kind of where we’ve been put now.”

Surles races Modifieds for Ferry Farm Racing, a four-car team that also includes her younger brother, P.J., who drives a Bandolero.

She’s enjoyed helping be a coach to her brother and other young racers, both on her team and at Dominion.

“There’s a little girl named Addy at the race track. She calls me her mentor because about the time she started racing Bandoleros is about the time we were trying to get my brother in a Bandolero,” Surles said. “At first I just kind of took her underneath my wing because she got on the track first and we got her up to speed really quick. Now it’s time to focus on P.J. and all that.

“Racing is all about trying to get new fans in the stands, trying to get young drivers back in it, and it’s a huge family aspect of it,” she said.

She’s perfecting the Modified, but Surles wants to be the type of driver who can race anything. She’s learning from her driver coach Davey Callihan, a former Modified and Limited Late Model driver who now competes in Dominion’s Late Model Stock Car division.

Getting more confident at the track and better at qualifying had a lot to do with Surles’ breakout season.

“I used to not be able to qualify at all,” she said. “So I definitely learned how to qualify, so we’ll be taking that into next season.

“Just kind of, like, being able to weave through the traffic a little bit quicker is what I learned last year because I used to be too patient or too antsy, and it would cause problems. But I definitely got that down last year, the perfect go-time and how to be patient, so I’m looking forward to taking that into this season.”

Being an all-around racer is why Surles is adding Limited Late Models to her slate this summer at Dominion, and why she was so excited to get a chance to get on the track at Daytona.

Kayla Surles plans to chase the Modified championship at Dominion Raceway in 2023 while also making select Limited Late Model starts. (Photo: Dinah Mullins/Dominion Raceway)

Testing at Daytona was “awesome,” she said, especially because she spent a short time living about 20 minutes north of the track when she was younger.

The day did have a scary moment, though.

“I had a bit of a scare when drafting because someone accidentally hit the kill switch,” she said.

“I don’t know how fast I was going, but it was going to be a heck of a lap. It was the most RPMs we had really seen from that car all day because I had a huge run coming down the backstretch, so I was still able to put up a 50 second lap time with me having to slam on the brakes and avoid disaster.

“I saw my boss’s face flash before my eyes,” she added. “I was like, ‘Oh no!’”

Surles will open her Modified season this weekend at Dominion.

She plans to run for the full season and go for a Modified championship at Dominion while also competing in the track’s Limited Late Model division part-time.

Surles will also compete in the Busch Light and Women in Motorsports North America racing program that provides contingency funds for women who accumulate points throughout the 2023 season.

Coming off of her season last year, Surles is feeling confident that she can hopefully expand on her success and go for track championship.

Racing returns to Dominion Raceway this Saturday night at 7 p.m. ET.