HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. (Feb. 8, 2023) – Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) announced Wednesday that Myatt Snider will pilot the NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) No. 19 Toyota GR Supra for six races in 2023.
Snider will kick off the season for JGR in the season opener at Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 18 (5 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM). The 28-year-old will be back in the car on the other side of the country as the NXS travels to Portland Raceway in June. Snider will round out his schedule with four races in the NXS Playoffs – the ROVAL at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Martinsville Speedway and the season finale at Phoenix Raceway.
“We’re looking forward to having Myatt on our No. 19 team for six races,” said Steve DeSouza, JGR’s Executive Vice President of NXS and Development. “Building out the driver lineup for this car is an opportunity for JGR to help drivers continue to develop in their racing career and we’re looking forward to seeing how Myatt continues to grow.”
Snider has three years of full-time NXS experience under his belt after making his first start in the series in 2020. In his rookie season, he split time between Richard Childress Racing (RCR) and Ryan Sieg Racing, collecting three poles, two top-five, and six top-10 finishes.
In 2021, Snider won his first NXS race at Homestead-Miami Speedway with RCR, won one pole and finished in the top 10 11 times.
For the 2022 season, Snider competed with Jordan Anderson Racing with a season-best finish at Portland Raceway of second place. He finished in the top 10 three other times last year.
Snider claimed the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Rookie of the Year honor during his full-time season in 2018.
Making the transition to driving the No. 19 should come naturally for Snider as he is no stranger to working with JGR or the team’s crew chief, Jason Ratcliff. Snider worked in various departments at JGR from 2011-2015. He also worked under Ratcliff on JGR’s No. 20 NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) car driven by Matt Kenseth in 2013.
“With six races on our 2023 schedule, I’m looking forward to climbing into the No. 19 TreeTop Toyota GR Supra with Joe Gibbs Racing this year,” Snider said. “Having worked with JGR as a high schooler and a young racer, it’s an awesome full-circle moment to return as a driver to the team that taught me so much about racing itself. It’s good to be reunited with Jason Ratcliff as we have an awesome history working together. With many memories and wins from 2013 and 2014 when I worked on the No. 20 Toyota Camry under Jason’s leadership, the team has always been more of a family relationship to me. I’m glad to be returning to the JGR family and looking forward to continuing to learn and grow as a driver.”
“I’m excited to get to work with Myatt again,” Ratcliff said. “He’s hardworking, and it will be great to have him back in the shop as a driver. I’m looking forward to getting to the track with the No. 19 guys this year and seeing what we can do.”
Tree Top will be the primary partner for Snider and his NXS campaign with JGR in 2023. Headquartered in Selah, Washington, Tree Top led the way in premium, quality juices and apple sauce and with its fruit expertise and trusted sources of fruit, now produces the widest array of fruit-based products and solutions for consumers and for most of the world’s leading food and beverage manufacturers. While apple juice and apple sauce are the backbone of the product offerings, they also make a variety of blended fruit juices and a wide range of organic and flavored fruit and vegetable products.
“We are thrilled to continue our partnership with Myatt, especially with the move to one of the best teams in NASCAR at Joe Gibbs Racing,” said Tree Top Vice President of Marketing Brad Olsen. “We look forward to building off some great finishes with the Tree Top car last year, including a second at our home race, Portland. Our growers and employees are excited to be a part of what we hope is Myatt getting back to Victory Lane in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.”
Ryan Truex, Joe Graf Jr. and Connor Mosack were previously announced as drivers of the No. 19 Toyota GR Supra combining for 14 races on the 33-race schedule. The remaining drivers and races they will compete in will be announced at a later date.
Kyle Busch announced Wednesday which five races he will run during the 2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule while also welcoming a new sponsor to Kyle Busch Motorsports.
Busch will pilot the No. 51 Chevrolet Silverado at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (March 3), Circuit of The Americas (March 25), Martinsville Speedway (April 14), Kansas Speedway (May 6) and Pocono Raceway (July 22).
Zariz Transport joins as a primary sponsor for all five of Busch’s KBM entries this season and beyond as part of a multiyear deal, according to a team release. The company, which is an intermodal drayage company that specializes in transporting containers from ports, will also serve as an associate sponsor for the 18 remaining races for the No. 51 team. Jack Wood will pilot the entry in at least 10 races, the team announced in November 2022.
Zariz also reached a multiyear renewal to be the presenting sponsor of The Samantha and Kyle Busch Bundle of Joy Fund annual gala.
“I’m really excited to have Zariz as the primary sponsor on my No. 51 Silverado for my five races in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in the coming years,” Busch said in a team release. “Samantha and I were introduced to Zariz through our foundation and immediately developed a great connection with them, and we are honored that not only have they committed to the Truck Series sponsorship for multiple years, but they’ll also continue being the presenting sponsor of our Bundle of Joy Fund gala.
“We feel that introducing them to NASCAR consumers and people within the industry on the national stage through the Craftsman Truck Series makes perfect sense given the nature of their business and I can’t wait to make them a part of KBM’s winning tradition.”
Busch, the winningest driver in Truck Series history with 62 victories, has won at least one race in each of the last 10 seasons, a series record. A two-time Cup champion to boot, Busch stands as the all-time wins leader combined across NASCAR’s top three series with 224 and is the only driver in history to sweep all-three NASCAR touring series in the same weekend, doing it at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2010 and repeating the feat in 2017. The Las Vegas native holds 60 Cup victories (tied with Kevin Harvick for ninth all-time) and 102 wins in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, more than double Mark Martin’s previous record of 49.
“Through working with Kyle and Samantha as the title sponsors of their Bundle of Joy gala, we recognized that there was a business synergy between Zariz and KBM and that the opportunity to align ourselves with one of the most successful drivers in the history of NASCAR is going to be very beneficial to us as we continue to grow our company,” Yaakov Guzelgul, founder and CEO of Zariz, said in a release. “We look forward to seeing our logo on the No. 51 in the coming years and hosting our employees and customers at the track to cheer on Kyle as he looks to add more wins to an already impressive resume.”
The Truck Series season begins at Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 17 (7:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
The year 1985 was monumental for grassroots racing in NASCAR.
The Modified series, standing as the sanctioning body’s oldest division having existed since Red Byron took the first NASCAR points-paying victory on the beach course in Daytona Beach on Feb. 15, 1948, was consolidated into what was then called the Winston Modified Tour. It featured a 29-race schedule rather than a massive, unorganized program of events.
Spearheading the creation of the Tour was six-time Modified champion Jerry Cook, who witnessed the struggles he and other racers endured financially in the early 1980s. Cook knew a formal series was the best way to cut costs and showcase the talent within the Modified ranks.
“The Modifieds as we knew them were getting awfully expensive to run on a weekly basis,” Cook said. “I told Bill France [Jr.] and everyone else that, since we still had cars, that I would like to start a Modified Tour with NASCAR. They agreed to it, and I was the one who started everything from zero.”
Cook said the formation of the Modified Tour streamlined a sturdy foundation that had been crafted for more than 35 years up to that point through its precursor in the NASCAR National Modified Championship.
The Modified division’s name derives from drivers modifying street cars in various manners to gain edges. As the years progressed, more innovations were introduced. Exposed fenders, bumper bars and offset bodies helped Modified racing form its own identity.
With those changes came a plethora of talented drivers who competed across the northeastern and southeastern U.S. more than four times a week to gain points for the National Modified Championship, which used a similar format utilized by the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series today.
Notable drivers like Fonty Flock, Red Farmer and Bobby Allison claimed Modified titles prior to the formation of the Tour. Others like Cook, Bugs Stevens, Fred DeSarro and NASCAR Hall of Famer Richie Evans became synonymous with the division as its popularity grew.
Ray Hendrick was one of the most efficient Modified drivers during the 1960s, finishing inside the top 10 in points nine times during the decade. (Photo: ISC Images Archives via Getty Images)
Speedway Illustrated founder and former NASCAR pit reporter Dick Berggren has many fond memories of Modified competition dating back to his childhood. He considers Modifieds the most authentic form of motorsports across the United States.
Having raced both asphalt and dirt-track Modifieds, Berggren believes the division has adapted exceptionally over the years, adding the spirit and passion remain prevalent 75 years after Byron took home that first checkered flag in Daytona Beach.
“All you have to do is see what [the Modifieds] do,” Berggren said. “Those cars are incredible. They’re so much fun to watch, and they’re fun to drive. Those races are as good as any race you’re ever going to see anywhere. It’s only gotten bigger as time has gone on, especially in the last few years.”
Maintaining the appeal of Modified competition and spreading it across the country was exactly what Cook wanted to accomplish when he started the Tour.
Cook for six seasons served as the director of the Modified Tour. He established a consistent set of rules that prevented costs from skyrocketing, allowing the long-time, loyal drivers to stay committed while simultaneously creating opportunities for new names to build their own legacies.
NASCAR Hall of Famer Mike Stefanik, who ran six races in the inaugural 1985 season, went on to become one of the greatest drivers in the history of the Tour era with 74 victories and seven championships — records that have yet to be eclipsed.
Joining Stefanik as champions of the Modified Tour over the past three decades include series regulars like Ted Christopher, Donny Lia and Justin Bonsignore, along with those would later find success in NASCAR’s top three divisions like Jimmy Spencer, Mike McLaughlin and Ryan Preece.
Only a handful of notable rule changes have occurred within the Modified Tour since its inception. Cook said that has been instrumental toward keeping the culture of the series intact while motorsports continue to evolve financially and technologically.
“[The Modified Tour] has gotten a lot stronger,” Cook said. “What I felt like was best was to keep things from changing all the time. Every time you change something, it costs more money. I keep telling everyone to not mess with the cars, because the cars run the Tour. Not keeping them the same would run everyone out of business.
“Today, we still have pretty darn good car counts with every race.”
Doug Coby, a six-time Tour champion, said the series would not be on its current trajectory without the support of sponsors, drivers and fans who embrace just how unique and competitive Modified racing can be, particularly in the northeast.
Seeing Preece earn an opportunity to compete full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series after winning a Modified championship in 2013 came as validation for Coby and the rest of the Tour regulars who strive to prove they are some of the best drivers in the country.
Throughout his career, Coby has managed to consistently defeat not only some of the best drivers in the history of the Tour, but also outside competitors like 2008 Daytona 500 champion Ryan Newman, who has four victories in 32 Tour starts and plans to compete part-time in 2023.
Doug Coby celebrates one of his 34 career NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour wins at Stafford Motor Speedway in 2016. (Photo by Michael Ivins/NASCAR via Getty Images)
Reflecting on everything he has accomplished on the Tour is humbling for Coby, who never imagined becoming a legend in the discipline himself when he ran his first race at Stafford Motor Speedway in 2002.
“When I started, I was just hoping to win a race,” Coby said. “For the longest time, I had only won just once [in 2006], but I’ll never forget what it was like to win against Ted Christopher, Mike Stefanik, Tony Hirschman, Ed Flemke, Rick Fuller and all those guys who made the Modified Tour what it is. Those of us who race today don’t forget what those guys did and the significance of the Modifieds in NASCAR history.”
Coby remains a key competitive fixture of the Modified Tour ahead of his 22nd season. He races alongside an efficient core of veterans in Bonsignore, Ron Silk and defending champion Jon McKennedy, among others.
Mixed in with the veterans are drivers sustaining their own family traditions of success in Modifieds. Tony Hirschman’s son Matt has amassed a stellar resume that includes five Modified Tour victories. Mike Christopher Jr., the nephew of Ted Christopher, tallied his first victory at Jennerstown Speedway last year.
Numerous families in the Modified Tour have built their own devoted followings like the Earnhardts, Pettys and Allisons in Cup. Berggren said presence of so many recognizable names year after year is only going to keep that passionate fan base alive.
“This is a family sport,” Berggren said. “Kids grow up watching their dads race and decide they want to do what dad did. There’s a bunch of drivers out there who are second and third generation, and it takes enormous skill to be successful in these cars, but the Modified Tour is a series where people just go to watch drivers who are unlikely to compete in NASCAR’s top division.”
Coby has come to terms with being an established regular on the Modified Tour. He said would not trade any of the memories and accomplishments he has enjoyed over the past two decades.
The 75th year of Modified racing in NASCAR will see Coby return to the Tour full-time after scaling back his schedule in 2022. He will be back in Tommy Baldwin Jr.’s iconic No. 7NY Modified, which won its first owner’s title last year with a roster consisting of Coby, Christopher Jr. and Jimmy Blewett.
Coby also has an opportunity to join Stefanik as the only seven-time Modified Tour champion, which Coby would consider a tremendous honor during a season in which the history of the discipline is being recognized by NASCAR.
“There’s significance to everything, and tying anything Mike Stefanik did is one of the biggest things a Modified racer can dream of doing,” Coby said. “I wish he would be here to shake my hand and congratulate me, because he was always so graceful whenever someone had a major accomplishment in [this series].
“Chasing seven in the 7 is kind of the theme of my season, and working with Tommy is going to be exciting. I know we’re going to have fantastic cars at every track, and I want to try and win as many races and titles as possible during this next phase of my career.”
Although he is not sure how much longer his time in the series will last, Coby has every reason to believe the Modified Tour will thrive long after NASCAR’s 75th anniversary season, especially with continuous media coverage and interest from drivers like Preece, Newman, Bobby Labonte and others to run races in the series.
With a healthy car count and a diverse schedule, the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour continues to thrive in the 2020s. (Adam Glanzman/NASCAR)
Berggren shared Coby’s optimism about the future of the Modified Tour. He expects the series to maintain its blue-collar, grassroots appeal if the status quo on limiting costs and emphasizing driver safety remains in place.
“They have to keep a good handle on the cost of the cars,” Berggren said. “These cars are handled by people who work for a living, and NASCAR is aware of that. They’ve done everything to make the cars safer, and the expenses aren’t as awful as they could be. NASCAR has done phenomenal with the Modifieds, and I know they’ll continue to do so.”
When he established the Tour, Cook said he faced doubts about whether it would last even a couple years. He said the Tour’s existence in the modern era of motorsports highlights how significant it remains to both NASCAR and the people who shape the discipline’s culture.
With a diverse schedule in 2023 that includes trips outside the northeast to tracks like New Smyrna Speedway, Langley Speedway and North Wilkesboro Speedway, Cook can only see the popularity of the Modified Tour growing as the racing becomes more familiar to fans and drivers in those markets.
For Cook, if more people have opportunities to experience the competitive nature of the Modified Tour, the series can only continue on its upward trend over the next 75 years.
“The Modifieds are No. 1 on my list,” Cook said. “I still go to a few races each year and talk to the people who both race in the Tour and work in it, because I want to see the series be successful everywhere it goes. I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t.
Jenson Button had never driven on a high-banked turn before his first trial run in the Garage 56 test car last week at Daytona International Speedway. The steepest curves he could recall navigating in his career were the 9-degree banks in parts of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway layout used for eight United States Grands Prix.
So imagine ratcheting up the degree of difficulty to 10/10 and the degree of banking to 31 on Button’s first laps at Daytona, all in an unfamiliar stock car on an unfamiliar course.
“It’s a bit of a shock at first. I was like, ‘Oh, wow! OK, where am I going? So, where do I look?” Button told NASCAR.com, laughing as he leaned and craned his upper body to mimic the car’s angle through the oval track’s sloping turns. “It’s a funny experience but took a bit of time to get used to, and a new track for me as well. On top of that, learning a car that’s very different to anything I’ve driven, but it’s such a blast. It’s still taking me time to really adapt to it, but I’m enjoying it. I’m enjoying the process, and the guys have been great.”
The 2009 Formula One champion joined the Garage 56 driver lineup of Jimmie Johnson, Mike Rockenfeller and alternate-slash-coach Jordan Taylor, receiving his introduction during IMSA’s Rolex 24 weekend. Three days later, Button was suited up and in the rotation to drive the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 test car as part of the collaborative effort to race in the centennial edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans on June 10-11.
Button said that his history with both of his primary co-drivers runs deep. He initially caught wind of the Garage 56 project by casually asking Johnson about his racing plans for 2023. That’s when the seven-time Cup Series champion mentioned the nature of the initiative, to bring a modified NASCAR vehicle to Le Mans. Button’s reaction: “I was like, sorry, what?”
Those early talks led to an invitation from Rockenfeller – with the blessing of IMSA President John Doonan – for Button to observe the car’s test at Sebring (Fla.) International Raceway in December. That session helped spark the 43-year-old driver’s interest in the project, watching the team make progress and igniting a rejuvenating desire to try something new.
Since making his participation official, Button has turned those well-established racing friendships into teamwork – soaking in the at-track feedback from his co-drivers and providing his own.
“First of all, I have a lot of respect for both of them,” Button said. “I’ve known Rocky for a few years, and I raced against him in DTM (German touring cars) in one race, and also at Le Mans have raced against him but in different categories. And Jimmie, I’ve watched his career for years, met him about 12, 13 years ago. Spent some time after the season in Homestead, we went to Miami together and had some fun. That’s the first time really got to know him. Great guy, obviously at the top of what he does, and racing a stock car, it’s very different to anything I’ve ever done. …
“But when I had the opportunity to come and race with these guys in a stock car, but on a race course, it’s something that I can work with. I can work with those guys, guys that are super-talented in their different fields. We’ve all experienced very different things and feel in different cars. We can bring all that useful information together to take this car to race in the biggest endurance race in the world.”
Relaying that information proved a tad tricky during last week’s test, if only in figuring out the proper terminology for the car’s handling characteristics. The Hendrick Motorsports personnel on the other end of the team communications has dealt with driver feedback primarily using terms such as “loose” or “tight” – lingo that’s not quite commonplace in international road racing.
“I was talking to the guys as I’m driving around, and it’s difficult to hear anyway, and you can hear them processing it – ‘understeer’ and ‘oversteer’ and what have you,” Button said. “So there’s definitely some different ways to explain a race car, and that language is really important. So yeah, we need to get a good understanding and a handle on that as soon as possible. I need to watch more NASCAR races, really, to listen to the drivers and their feedback to the teams.”
The concept of Button watching more NASCAR events begs the question of whether a Cup Series appearance might be in the offing. Trackhouse Racing opened the stock-car door to global motorsports stars last season with the birth of its Project 91 team, which fielded a one-off entry for Formula One great Kimi Räikkönen at Watkins Glen last August. The Justin Marks-owned organization also indicated at launch that it intended to expand Project 91’s international reach after its first season.
Button, however, said that his preference for pursuing a NASCAR opportunity would hinge on potentially making a more sustained go of it rather than just a one-time entry.
“For me, this is great because I can actually spend time in the car, spend time with the team,” Button said of his Garage 56 experience thus far. “It’s quite in-depth, the practice before Le Mans, so I’m going to be ready. I don’t want to jump in something when I’m not ready, you know? I’m not going to get the best out of myself. I’m not going to do it justice, really, in terms of performing at my best and for the team, I wouldn’t want to do that. So I don’t know. After this experience, obviously a Cup car is quite different in terms of it doesn’t have any downforce really, so this has a little bit. So it’s another step in a direction that I’m not used to, but yeah, I think if I could do a few races, I would be up for it. Jumping in for one? That doesn’t interest me. I would take a few to get myself into a position where I think I’d be competitive enough.
“We always want to fight for a win; that’s the whole thing about racing, right? So jumping in and finishing 25th isn’t what I’m here to do.”
Editor’s Note: Today’s Stewart-Haas Racing preview continues NASCAR.com’s countdown of team previews for the 2023 Cup Series season, ranked in reverse order of best finish in last year’s owner standings.
STEWART-HAAS RACING
Manufacturer: Ford Engine: Roush Yates Engines Driver-crew chief pairings: Kevin Harvick-Rodney Childers (No. 4), Aric Almirola-Drew Blickensderfer (No. 10), Chase Briscoe-Johnny Klausmeier (No. 14), Ryan Preece-Chad Johnston (No. 41)
Team outlook: Only one of its four cars finished in the top 10 in points last year, its flagship driver is set to retire by season’s end, and yet, there is just so much reason for optimism with regard to SHR’s 2023 prospects. The Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum gave us a quick glimpse of things to come, and SHR as a whole seemed to have a little more pep in its step than we’ve grown accustomed to over the past two underwhelming, head-scratching years. Just two seasons ago, Harvick reeled off a ridiculous nine wins in 2020 before the collective mustered just four total scattered across 2021-22. With a reinvigorated Harvick looking to strike gold one final time, Briscoe on the verge of a big-time breakout, a well-seasoned slice of veteran leadership in Almirola and a potential superstar talent in Preece getting his first crack at a strong Cup entry, there’s a lot here to get excited about. Next season – without Harvick and possibly Almirola, if he changes course again — will look a lot different, but they’ll cross that bridge when they come to it. For now, SHR looks to be back in the elite team mix once again.
KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 4 FORD
Experience: 23rd full-time season in NASCAR Cup Series. 2022 stats: 15th in final standings; 2 wins, 9 top fives, 17 top 10s 2023 championship odds (BetMGM): 14-1
Outlook: It’s kind of remarkable to think that a driver who has indelibly left his mark on the sport for nearly two and a half decades and should be viewed as one of the best to ever do this has just one championship to his name. Well, this is it. Harvick’s shot to add another trophy alongside the big one he got in 2014 comes down to the 2023 season, his announced final full-time Cup Series campaign. We saw last year how he can still seemingly win at will — he was the only driver to go back-to-back in 2022 with victories at Michigan and Richmond, which is saying something — and ‘Happy’ is as hungry as ever. It all comes down to the cars, and SHR has not been among the best in that department the past few years. Expect the organization to bring its A-game in 2023 as it works to help its marquee driver make one final run, and expect Harvick to elevate himself to new territory to give him the best shot possible to make title No. 2 a reality.
Experience: 12th full-time season in the NASCAR Cup Series 2022 stats: 20th in the final standings; 2 top fives, 7 top 10s 2023 championship odds (BetMGM): 150-1
Outlook: Almirola has had an “on-again-off-again” kind of relationship with the “R” word the past few seasons, but for now, it seems retirement is back off the table as the 38-year-old veteran looks to rebound from a frustrating 2022 — his worst points finish with SHR. Almirola has shown himself capable of capitalizing on winning opportunities when they arise (see: his 2021 New Hampshire win) but didn’t come quite close enough last year and led just 81 total laps. Drivers often excel in their late 30s — for example, 29 of Martin Truex Jr.’s 31 wins and his championship all came in his age-35 season or later — so you can never quite close the book on a driver. Still, he’d need to get off to a really hot start before we look at him as a championship contender in ’23.
CHASE BRISCOE, NO. 14 FORD
Experience: Third full-time season in the NASCAR Cup Series. 2022 stats: Ninth in final standings; 1 win, 6 top fives, 10 top 10s 2023 championship odds (BetMGM): 28-1
Outlook: Briscoe’s 2023 season will be an interesting one to watch — he very clearly is on the verge of breaking out and becoming “the guy” at Stewart-Haas with Harvick’s impending retirement and also was the only driver among the four to finish in the top 10 in points last year. That said, Harvick most certainly outperformed him all year — the 2014 champ nearly doubled Briscoe’s top fives and top 10s, despite the worse playoff result — and Briscoe had just two top 10s in between his win in mid-March and when the playoffs started in September. He’ll need to more consistently race among the leaders to be a title threat, but the talent sure is there, and his owner — the former No. 14 Ford driver, Tony Stewart — has all the faith in the world in him.
RYAN PREECE, NO. 41 FORD
Experience: Second full-time season in the NASCAR Cup Series. 2022 stats: Part-time in all three series; 2 Cup starts (no top 10s), 3 NXS starts (1 top five, 2 top 10s); 10 Truck starts (1 win, 7 top fives, 9 top 10s) 2023 championship odds (BetMGM): 50-1
Outlook: And now, for 2023’s biggest wild card, here he is. We might’ve gotten our answer earlier than anticipated, too — Preece sure looked like the real deal at the Busch Light Clash, leading a race-high 43 laps before fading to seventh right at the end. The Connecticut native has three full seasons and change of Cup racing on his resume, with just nine total top 10s to show for it. As for what he can do in upper-echelon equipment, however, look no further than his truck starts last year … when he landed nine total top 10s in just 10 starts. Not a soul out there has ever scoffed at Preece’s talent as a driver, and if the car performance is there — and, admittedly, it hasn’t been for a few years — there’s no reason why Preece couldn’t theoretically offer SHR its best shot at a 2023 title, despite his newcomer status. After all, we saw a driver born in 1990 in The Constitution State win it all last year. Why not make it two in a row?
After conquering the mountain peak in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in 2022, Zane Smith will attempt to tackle similar and different obstacles in 2023.
Since soaring above all NCTS competition on Nov. 4 to claim the 2022 championship for Front Row Motorsports, the 23-year-old has felt a metaphorical weight lift off of his shoulders. Such an opening, in turn, has helped him focus on new opportunities as the 2023 grind begins to gear into motion.
For Smith, an opportunity comes in the form of attempting to qualify for the Daytona 500 aboard the No. 36 Wellcare Ford Mustang on Feb. 19 (2:30 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). And while a new calendar year might mean opportunity, it will not mean a sharp change in mindset.
“I don’t know what the right word for it is, but probably, I don’t want to say less pressure because I feel like anything is more pressure trying to defend this title,” Smith said in a Tuesday teleconference through Zoom. “I’m just ready to get racing. I feel like I have done so much talking about it, and I’m just ready to get going, really.
“Like I said, just with that championship being captured is a huge weight off my shoulders. Ready to get back going again and hopefully capturing some more wins.”
In addition to defending his 2022 truck title and attempting to qualify for the “Great American Race,” Smith will be splitting time with Todd Gilliland as pilot of the FRM No. 38.
Cup contests Smith is tentatively slated to partake in include Phoenix Raceway (March 12), Talladega Superspeedway (April 23), Sonoma Raceway (June 11), Texas Motor Speedway (Sept. 24) and the Charlotte Roval (Oct. 8). Centene Corporation will partner with Smith and Front Row Motorsports across the Truck and Cup Series in 2023. Wellcare will partner with Smith during his Daytona 500 qualifying attempt and his Cup races at Phoenix, Talladega and Sonoma. Ambetter Health will sponsor at Texas and Charlotte. The multi-series partnership was announced Tuesday.
Aside from three full-time seasons in the Truck Series for a total of 69 races, Smith has additional experience in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, logging 11 combined starts (2019, 2021), two top-five and seven top-10 finishes. Smith additionally participated in his only Cup Series start to date last season when he subbed for Chris Buescher in the No. 17 RFK Racing Ford at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, where he finished 17th.
While the finish might not have brought the luster that a top-10 result might bring, it did provide the racer with a dose of positive momentum. After his Gateway bout in Cup, Smith translated the experience into the truck circuit, following through with 10 top-10 finishes over his last 12 NCTS races, including a victory at Phoenix Raceway to seize the title.
Although the 2022 calendar has since turned, Smith will continue to look back at the Gateway opportunity as a chance to brew more success as he races more frequently on Sundays.
From driving with Cup champions to learning the ins and outs of what it takes to win at the Cup level, Smith is eager for the challenge. Perhaps a new mountain peak will be conquered as a result.
“Everyone in the Cup Series is good at everything,” Smith said. “And so, the guys that, I don’t want to say you forget about, but you don’t hear mentioned as much, have multiple championships, multiple race wins and have been around in the sport for a long time, so these guys are no joke. Just when you race around them, you can mess up here and there and still get away with a thing or two in Trucks for Xfinity.
“On the Cup side, you have to be perfect, and obviously, the big things on the pie chart gone. So, being perfect in all of those small areas, whether it is on pit road or certain things on restarts, are huge, and that’s the difference between first and 15th in the Cup Series. So, these races that I have, I hope I can learn as much as I can and kind of just improve on all of these little things that I look for.”
Last Sunday during the Busch Light Clash at The Coliseum, former teammates and longtime rivals Kyle Busch and Joey Logano joined the FOX Sports booth and exchanged pleasantries ahead of the 150-lap main event.
Mere hours later, the two tangled under the primetime lights as Logano’s No. 22 Ford spun Busch in his new No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet on Lap 86. Busch rebounded quickly in the closing laps to land on the podium with a third-place finish, but it didn’t stop the 37-year-old from speaking his mind on the incident.
“It’s really unfortunate to be raced by guys who are so two-faced,” Busch said on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “We were in the TV booth earlier in the night together and when we were all done with that he was like ‘hey man, good luck tonight.’ I’m like ‘OK, great. Thanks. Yeah … whatever,’ and then lo and behold, there you go, he wrecks me. Don’t even talk to me if you’re gonna be that kind of a–hole on the race track.”
On Monday, Logano took the blame for the incident, saying that he overdrove the corner and got loose, but said it was an accident and that he accepts being called “two-faced.”
“Am I sorry? Yes, I am. Am I two-faced? Yes, I am. Do I think anything’s wrong with that? No, I don’t.” Logano said on SiriusXM’s “Behind the Wheel” show. “That’s where I’m at with it. I’ve heard Kyle say it before that I’m two-faced and that’s fine. I have a switch that I flip when it is time to go racing. I am out there to win and yes, I have to do what I gotta do to win. I made a mistake. I didn’t want to do that [in reference to Busch spin] but I’m still gonna be an intense racer no matter what.
“Luckily, I know how to shut that off when I get out of the race car and in Kyle’s words, ‘I’m not a complete a-hole all the time.’ That’s better than being an a-hole 100% of the time. At least it’s only when I’m in the race car. I have a job to do. I’m representing a lot of people that work really hard on my race car and they expect me to go out there and win.”
Their incident last weekend wasn’t the first time the two have disagreed on the race track.
In 2017, Logano spun Busch in Turns 3 and 4 on the final lap at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, leading to their infamous post-race brawl that left blood streaming down Busch’s forehead.
As the only active multi-time champions in NASCAR’s premier series, Busch and Logano own bragging rights over the rest of their racing counterparts. Come the 65th running of the Daytona 500 on Sunday, Feb. 19 (2:30 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), however, the two rivals are sure to be in the mix again in their quest for Cup title No. 3.
NASCAR’s oldest touring series will celebrate the 75th anniversary of the sanctioning body in a big way in 2023.
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour teams will chase the championship in a 19-race schedule – spanning across eight different states from New Hampshire to Florida – moving from February through October. The last time the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season included 19 races was in 2004.
For the second-straight year the season begins New Smyrna Speedway in Florida on February 11 as part of the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing, and ends at Martinsville Speedway in the midst of a massive NASCAR Playoffs weekend on Thursday, October 26. In the middle, teams will visit countless tracks in the Northeast and help headline weekends with NASCAR National divisions at places like New Hampshire Motor Speedway and Richmond Raceway.
“Definitely adding a little bit more to the schedule this year with some different tracks,” defending series champion Jon McKennedy said. “Some that we have been to before, but others we haven’t. It’s cool to see some different venues there and have some more tracks interested in hosting our series and some more races on our schedule.”
After leaving New Smyrna, the series will visit Richmond for another year on March 31 for a Friday night special, prior to NASCAR Cup Series weekend. After that, drivers move north to Monadnock Speedway (May 6), Riverhead Raceway (May 20) and Lee USA Speedway (May 27) on Memorial Day weekend.
Trips to Seekonk Speedway in Massachusetts (June 10), Riverhead (June 24), Wall Stadium (July 8) and New Hampshire Motor Speedway (July 15) will bring the series to the halfway point.
McKennedy isn’t the only one looking forward to it.
“As a driver, I’m really excited for it this season,” three-time series champion Justin Bonsignore said. “The schedule has a lot of cool tracks, and some great facilities for us to visit. We’re heading to places like North Wilkesboro… that’s going to be an incredible event in itself.”
In the second half of the year, the Tour visits Claremont Motorsports Park (July 29), returns to Lancaster Motorplex for the second time in three years (August 5) and hits the high-banks of Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park on Wednesday, August 16. Stops at Langley Speedway (August 26), Oswego Speedway (September 2), Monadnock (September 9), Riverhead (September 16), North Wilkesboro Speedway (September 30), Thompson (October 8) and Martinsville (October 26) will keep drivers on their toes, and teams busy.
JDV Productions returns for the third straight year, promoting the two Monadnock events, the Lee USA Speedway race and Claremont Motorsports Park’s 150-lap race.
Travel is certainly going to play a major role in deciding who wins the championship. Even though the beginning of the season has the first two races separated by more than a month, the middle of the summer will be a grind with 15 races between May and September across seven different states.
The teams are ready and many of them are excited to see how it shakes out.
(Photo: Ryan M. Kelly/NASCAR)
“It’s awesome to start the season at New Smyrna again between the Whelen Modified Tour and the World Series of Asphalt Tour Modified division – getting six nights of racing in to start the season is great,” Eric Goodale said. “My opinion it’s the best week of the year. I’m definitely excited to head to North Wilkesboro and still have some races in my hometown at Riverhead Raceway and everywhere else in New England.”
Bonsignore says the season will be a bit tougher on the crews compared to last year with three more races on the calendar. The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour garage area is filled with crew members who work full-time jobs during the week away from the cars, then spend their nights in the shop and weekends at the track.
They will all need to work together on the cars to get them prepared.
“It’s going to be a challenge for our team and many teams, but it’s part of it,” Bonsignore said. “For the crew guys, especially with everyone volunteering, we may need to potentially rotate some guys in and out if a few have to miss a race or two. But we’re looking forward to the challenge.”
McKennedy, who knows defending his title will be a tough task to begin with, is ready. He also knows it will come with some adjustments.
“The Whelen Modified Tour has been extremely strong the last few years, with good car counts and support and I think it is great,” McKennedy said. “Having some races where we are with the NASCAR top divisions like the Cup Series and Xfinity Series also there, it’s cool to go out there and show those guys what we can do. A lot of them love the Modifieds and they are all watching us. The Whelen Modified Tour is some of the best short-track racing out there and it’s going to be like that again this year.”
For fans who can’t make it to the track, all 19 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour races will available live on FloRacing.
GATLINBURG, Tenn. (February 7, 2022) – High Rock Vodka today announced an extensive partnership with Landon Huffman that will include sponsorship of the Huffman Racing No. 75 Late Model Chevrolet throughout the 2023 Hickory Motor Speedway season.
Huffman enters the 2023 campaign as the defending NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series (NAAPWS) Late Model Division Champion at Hickory Motor Speedway. Should Huffman repeat as champion at Hickory, he would be just the tenth driver to win consecutive championships in the six-decade history of the track, which has crowned a champion each year since 1959. Huffman’s father, Robert, accomplished the feat in 1988 and 1989. The 2023 NAAPWS Hickory Motor Speedway season begins Saturday, March 4, and spans 18 races, commencing with Championship Night on Saturday, September 16.
In addition to Hickory Motor Speedway, High Rock Vodka will support Huffman at various other yet-to-be-named races throughout 2023. High Rock and Huffman will also collaborate on content that will chronicle Huffman’s quest for consecutive championships at Hickory and other events.
“Working with High Rock Vodka and everyone at Sugarlands Distilling was a privilege last year, and I’m excited to expand that partnership this season,” said Huffman. “Winning the championship at Hickory Motor Speedway was a great accomplishment and it would be incredible to win back-to-back titles at the track, just like my dad did 34 years ago. I appreciate High Rock Vodka for supporting grassroots racing and race fans everywhere”
In addition to partnering with Huffman, High Rock will serve as the Official Vodka of Hickory Motor Speedway in 2023. Both partnerships are part of High Rock Vodka’s strategic initiative to help support local, regional, short-track and grassroots racing of all forms.
“The spirit of racing lies with drivers like Landon and tracks like Hickory,” said Patrick Sullivan, Sugarlands chief revenue officer. “We’re excited to support both this year as part of our commitment to grassroots racing while providing fans with engaging content that will showcase the heart and passion that Landon and all the other competitors at Hickory display each week.”
High Rock is a premium, handcrafted vodka created by Sugarlands Distilling Company in collaboration with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Amy Earnhardt. Beginning with a base of 100% corn and crisp, clean water from the Great Smoky Mountains, High Rock Vodka is distilled seven times and then triple-filtered using the Lincoln County Process. Made famous by Tennessee whiskeys, the Lincoln County Process uses sugar maple charcoal to remove any impurities. The result is premium vodka that is undeniably smooth and pure. High Rock checks in at 88 proof, a nod to the number Earnhardt drove for a decade in the NASCAR Cup Series.
The High Rock Vodka Huffman Racing No. 75 will take “The World’s Most Famous Short Track” for the first time during open practice on Saturday, February 25. Huffman’s name will also be added to the Hickory Wall of Championships that evening, alongside his father and racing legends like Ralph Earnhardt, Ned Jarrett, Junior Johnson, Harry Gant, Jack Ingram and more.
The full 2023 NWAAPS Hickory Motor Speedway schedule is available at HickoryMotorSpeedway.com. Race fans who can’t make it to Hickory in person can stream each NWAAPS race live on FloRacing.
