2023 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour: Race 1/19
| Race | New Smyrna Beach Visitors Bureau 200 at New Smyrna Speedway |
| Date | Saturday, Feb. 11, 2023 |
| Track | New Smyrna Speedway |
| Layout | Half-mile oval |
| Location | New Smyrna Beach, Florida |
| Start time | 7:30 p.m. ET |
| Laps | 200 |
| Posted Awards | $122,108 |
| Tickets | Click Here |
| TV Channel | CNBC (Delayed: Feb. 19, 10 a.m. ET) |
| Live stream | FloRacing (Live) |
QUICK LINKS:
TULSA, Okla. – Chase Briscoe has a love-hate relationship with the Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals.
That relationship continued Saturday night inside the SageNet Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where the driver of Stewart-Haas Racing’s No. 14 Ford Mustang in the NASCAR Cup Series fell three positions short of advancing to the 55-lap championship feature that headlines the biggest midget racing event in the world.
This year’s Chili Bowl delivered another heartbreaking result for Briscoe, who has come agonizingly close to making the finale via the B Mains several times over the last few years.
“We got going pretty good there at the beginning. The first five, 10 laps, I felt pretty good and felt like I was in a good spot,” Briscoe said. “I think I came out running sixth, and I felt like if I didn’t make a mistake I could have come out running fifth. Honestly I was just logging laps.
“I was hoping honestly it went green to checkered. I felt like that was probably my best chance to [advance]. The way the cautions kind of fell at the end were kind of weird for me. I’d just got passed, and I was running seventh and still felt like I was in an OK spot.”
At the Chili Bowl, only the top seven drivers in each of the two B Mains advance to race in the Chili Bowl finale. Briscoe was running seventh when the final caution flag of his B Main waved with three laps to go.
Instantly Briscoe knew he was in trouble, because he knew he had a huge target on his back.
“The caution came out and stacked everybody back up, and when you’re seventh with three laps to go, you’re kind of panicking here I feel like because you know big sliders are coming,” Briscoe said.
Briscoe’s panic was warranted. In the final three laps, Briscoe nearly flipped and dropped from seventh to 10th, eliminating him from contention.
“[Kevin Thomas Jr.] had been running the bottom fairly consistently, and I kind of expected him to do the same,” Briscoe said. “He kind of changed lanes real last minute and checked me up, and then [Ryan] Timms came in there and slid me. From there I just kind of got swallowed up.”
Despite the obvious disappointment, Briscoe’s enthusiasm and love for the Chili Bowl hasn’t wavered.
He considers the Chili Bowl one of the greatest motorsports events in the world, and the statistics back it up. More than 15,000 fans pack the SageNet Center every January to watch drivers from a variety of racing disciplines do battle on a temporary fifth-mile dirt oval.
It’s no wonder Briscoe and other NASCAR drivers like Alex Bowman, Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell and Tony Stewart have made the pilgrimage to Tulsa to participate in the Chili Bowl through the years.
“I feel like these are the best race car drivers in the world at what they do. You want to be considered one of the best,” said Briscoe, who qualified for his only Chili Bowl finale in 2017. “For me, I’ve been able to taste what the Saturday A-Main is like, but I got flipped over 12 laps in, so I really haven’t been able to experience the full thing, and I was so overwhelmed.
“It was my second time ever here, and I didn’t really savor the moment. I want to do that again and enjoy it a little bit more.”
While Briscoe has all the passion in the world for the Chili Bowl, he’s also realistic. At 28, he realizes he’s slowly slipping out of his midget racing prime.
This year alone Briscoe could only watch as a couple 14-year-olds, his teammate Brent Crews and Ryan Timms, raced their way into their first Chili Bowl championship finale. He knows his time could be running out, but that doesn’t mean he is going to stop trying.
“I’m getting older, I know that sounds weird being 28, but I don’t know how much longer I’m going to realistically do this and be able to do this at a [winning] level,” Briscoe said. “The kids are getting better and better and younger and younger.”
As much as the Chili Bowl broke Briscoe’s heart on Saturday night, his passion for the event still burns as bright as ever.
He’s not afraid to be disappointed, and he’s willing to have his heart broken. All in pursuit of a chance to race for a Golden Driller trophy.
“It’s definitely a week-long event where the anticipation keeps continuing and continuing, and I think that’s why this race creates such passion for it,” Briscoe said. “Because you’re always so close, or you make it and it’s exciting because you’ve been here all week long, or you’re dejected when you don’t make it because you’ve been here all week long.
“That’s part of what makes the Chili Bowl special, and I’ll always keep coming back.”
TULSA, Okla. – Logan Seavey admitted he had lost a bit of confidence in himself.
Entering the 37th edition of the Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals, Seavey hadn’t won a midget race in more than a year.
He went so far as to ask Kevin Swindell, his midget car team owner and crew chief each year at the Chili Bowl, if he was going to have him back to compete in the 2023 edition of the race.
“We kind of leave this race every year and we just kind of look at each other and nod, like, ‘OK, we’ll do it again next year,’” Seavey said. “This year, I was like, ‘Hey, what are your Chili Bowl plans? I know you’re building a car.’ He said, ‘Yeah, I’m building a car.’ I said, ‘Well, whose driving it?’
“He said, ‘Well, you are if you want to.’ That’s all that was said.”
Fast forward to Saturday night inside the SageNet Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Seavey suddenly has all the confidence in the world following a convincing drive to victory in the Chili Bowl.
“As soon as we got in this car, instantly I had a lot of people see it visually, we had a lot of speed and I was comfortable right away and able to drive really hard,” said Seavey, the 25-year-old from Sutter, California. “That’s what it takes to win this race. You have to be comfortable enough to run 100 percent for 55 laps. That’s what it takes to win.
“My confidence turned around pretty quickly.”
🗣️ An emotional @Logan_Seavey talks about his Lucas Oil @cbnationals championship-winning run!
Presented by @Lucas_Oil | MAVTV on FloRacing pic.twitter.com/M0YPkLN5Tk
— FloRacing (@FloRacing) January 15, 2023
Winning the Chili Bowl is no easy task. That has been proven time and time again by those who have won and, perhaps more importantly, those who have not.
In the 37-year history of the Chili Bowl, 23 drivers have visited Victory Lane. Seavey became the 23rd different driver to win a race that dirt racing legends like Doug Wolfgang, Steve Kinser and Dave Darland and modern stars like Chris Windom, Justin Grant and Buddy Kofoid have failed to win.
Things got off to an ominous start a week ago when, as the team was putting the finishing touches on Seavey’s new race car, they attempted to fire the engine for the first time.
Except the engine didn’t fire.
Rather than panic, the Swindell-led crew figured out the problem and got the car running in time for Sunday’s practice day. It was obvious to Seavey then that he had a car capable of winning the Chili Bowl.
He backed up his belief with a dominant victory in his preliminary event Friday, which he followed early Saturday evening by securing the pole for the 55-lap finale via the annual Pole Shuffle.
All that remained were 55 of the most intense laps in midget racing.
Intense, as it would turn out, was the operative word. Seavey led the opening 20 laps of the race, but just as he was about to catch slower traffic, second-place Cannon McIntosh rocketed past him to take the lead.
That could have been the end of a magical run at the Chili Bowl for Seavey, but he remained focused on his mission. Ten laps later, Seavey dove back under McIntosh to regain the lead.
Despite near constant pressure from McIntosh and defending Chili Bowl winner Tanner Thorson, Seavey survived to claim his first Golden Driller trophy. His name now can now be mentioned in the same breath as Sammy Swindell, Tony Stewart, Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson and more as a Chili Bowl champion.
“I just happened to make the move at the right time, and it worked out,” Seavey said. “For right now, it feels awesome. It didn’t even set in until I got the Driller.”
He also joined his team owner and crew chief, Kevin Swindell, as a Chili Bowl winner. Swindell, who won four-straight Chili Bowls as a driver from 2010-13, saw his driving career end after a brutal sprint car crash at Knoxville Raceway in 2015.
This year Swindell branched out, forming his own midget team rather than working as part of his father Sammy Swindell’s program. Saturday’s Chili Bowl was his first as a midget team owner.
“I’m just so happy to do it for Kevin. He deserves it,” Seavey said. “He’d probably have a lot more if it wasn’t for his accident. It means a lot to win this race in general, but to win it in the No. 39 in our first try is really, really cool.”
Legends are made inside the SageNet Center every January. Now Seavey can count himself among one of those legends. Like the winners before him and the winners that will follow him, he will forever be known as a Chili Bowl winner.
Confidence is no longer a problem for Seavey. Now all he has to do is look at his new Golden Driller and know he has what it takes. He proved it not just to himself, but to the entire world.
Logan Seavey faced an enormous amount of pressure in his bid to take home a Chili Bowl win early Sunday morning in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Tasked with holding off defending Chili Bowl winner Tanner Thorson, the former Kyle Busch Motorsports driver executed a defensive clinic during the second half of the 55-lap A-Main and successfully fended off the challenge to become the 23rd different competitor to win the prestigious event.
“[This is] indescribable,” Seavey said in Victory Lane. “It didn’t really hit me until I got [the Golden] Driller. Hopefully we can get a few more, but for now I’m going to enjoy this win as much as possible. I’m at a loss for words.”
Seavey led the field of 24 cars to the green flag after prevailing in the pole shuffle earlier in the evening, but he briefly surrendered the lead to fellow dirt track standout Cannon McIntosh on Lap 21.
A sequence of restarts enabled Seavey to work his way back around McIntosh at the halfway point of the A-Main. Once back in control, Seavey refused to give up the bottom of the track while Thorson and McIntosh both tried to get the run they needed to pull ahead.
Seavey remained composed through a handful of late restarts and capped off a strong week at the Tulsa Expo Center as a winner in front of an exuberant crowd after taking his preliminary A-Main feature the night before.
With his first Chili Bowl victory, Seavey joins an elite list of competitors who have triumphed in the event’s 36-year history. This group includes current NASCAR Cup Series drivers Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell, three-time Cup Series champion Tony Stewart and Seavey’s car owner in Kevin Swindell.
Thorson and McIntosh completed the front row in the Chili Bowl with Shane Golobic and Emerson Axsom taking the last two spots in the top five. Rounding out the top 10 were Kyle Jones, Mitchel Moles, Trey Marcham, Tim Buckwalter and Justin Grant.
Among the notable NASCAR names that participated in the Chili Bowl this year were Alex Bowman, Chase Briscoe, J.J. Yeley, Josh Bilicki, Kaden Honeycutt and Carson Hocevar. None of them reached the A-Main.
LOS ANGELES – There’s no artist on the planet like Wiz Khalifa, and there’s no NASCAR event like the Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum. So it’s only fitting that they combine for a powerful performance unlike any other on Sunday, Feb. 5.
NASCAR announced today that the multi-platinum selling, Grammy and Golden Globe nominated recording artist will perform during the race break of the 2023 Busch Light Clash. The performance will air live on FOX as part of NASCAR’s season-opening celebration inside the iconic Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
MORE: Busch Light Clash tickets, more info | Analyzing the Clash action
“Wiz Khalifa is a gifted and talented performer with a worldwide following,” said Ben Kennedy, NASCAR’s senior vice president for racing development and strategy. “I know the fans will be on their feet during his performance at the Busch Light Clash as we celebrate the beginning of our 75th Anniversary season together.”
Wiz Khalifa burst onto the scene with the release of his first major label debut album, ‘Rolling Papers’ in 2011. Since then Wiz has been nominated for two GRAMMY Awards and a Golden Globe Award, won “Best New Artist” at the BET Awards and “Top New Artist” at the Billboard Music Awards, and landed a No. 1 album on Billboard’s Top 200 chart. He has collaborated with The Weeknd, Travis Scott, Charlie Puth, Bruno Mars, Imagine Dragons, Juicy J, TM88, Girl Talk, Big K.R.I.T., and more. Wiz’s business ventures include; Packed Bowls by Wiz Khalifa, a ghost kitchen delivery-only restaurant, gin line McQueen and The Violet Fog, and he’s also an investor and ambassador in the Professional Fighters League.
Last year, Wiz released his full-length solo album Multiverse to rave reviews, as well as Multiverse (Deluxe). He also toured North America on his The Vinyl Verse Tour co-headlining with LOGIC. This spring, fans will see Khalifa portray funk icon George Clinton in the major motion picture “Spinning Gold,” which is about the legendary Casablanca Records label, to be released in theaters on March 31, 2023.
But first comes the Busch Light Clash, where Khalifa will once again showcase the skills that made him an icon.
“The NASCAR cars will bring the noise, and I’ll bring the party,” Khalifa said. “We’re going to have a great time celebrating together at the Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum, and I can’t wait to see everybody there.”
NASCAR announced earlier that hip-hop legends Cypress Hill will provide a pre-race performance prior to the main event, and more entertainment announcements are planned in the coming days.
MORE: Cypress Hill set for pre-race concert
The 2023 season-opening exhibition will once again feature the stars of the NASCAR Cup Series competing on a temporary, quarter-mile asphalt track nestled inside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. It’s one of the many anticipated events taking place this year as a part of the venue’s centennial anniversary celebration – “Coliseum Forever.” Joey Logano won the inaugural event en route to winning the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series championship.
Tickets for the 2023 Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum begin at $65, and kids 12-and-under are $10. Those are the same prices charged for this year’s inaugural showcase. Fans who want to take their race-day experience to the next level can upgrade to the Ally Pre-Race Party, which includes brunch, a drink ticket for Busch & Coca-Cola products, exclusive entertainment, a pre-race track walk and a special appearance from driver Alex Bowman. Fans are encouraged to get their tickets now while supplies last by visiting www.nascarclash.com.
College students can experience the Busch Light Clash from The Coca-Cola Torch Party Porch for just $40. This standing-room-only general admission section, located on the Coliseum’s peristyle steps, provides college students with up-close access to all of the musical entertainment, driver introductions and racing action. College students can take advantage of this exclusive offer by visiting www.nascarclash.com/student.
TULSA, Okla. – Alex Bowman has no problem admitting he hasn’t had a great week performance-wise at the Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals.
The driver of the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in the NASCAR Cup Series is competing in his seventh Chili Bowl inside the SageNet Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. On his preliminary night Tuesday, he looked to be in a prime position to advance to the championship feature for the first time.
That’s when things started going wrong.
“We’ve had weeks that were super successful here and then weeks like this where everything is in shambles,” Bowman said.
Bowman had barely started his preliminary feature when he was collected in a crash. He was unable to continue, relegating him to a 23rd-place finish that will bury him deep in the Chili Bowl’s alphabet soup races Saturday.
How much worse could the week get for Bowman?
A lot worse, as it would turn out.
In addition to competing as a driver, Bowman is also fielding cars for veteran dirt racers Jake Swanson and C.J. Leary. Swanson’s qualifying night was Wednesday, and he finished ninth in his preliminary feature after being collected in a crash. Leary hit the track Thursday and was involved in not one, but two crashes in two different cars.
2023 @cbnationals ABR motto pic.twitter.com/AZP364rW4T
— Alex Bowman (@Alex_Bowman) January 13, 2023
“I think our cars are really good. It’s all been things out of our control,” Bowman said. “Daison [Pursley] spun in front of me, and I didn’t have anywhere to go. Obviously that ended our night. Jake got caught in Ashton [Torgerson’s] deal and tore the car up and kind of limped it home.
“Then obviously C.J., in the heat race he made a mistake, and in the B [Main] he just got drove over. It’s been frustrating, but at least our cars are fast.”
That bad luck has left Bowman and company scrambling to have all three cars ready for Saturday night, but it hasn’t stopped them from trying to have a little fun at one of auto racing’s most unique events.
“I just enjoy going racing with my friends. That’s the biggest thing,” Bowman said. “I’m thankful that things haven’t been worse than they’ve been. They could always be worse. Just trying to enjoy it.”
What makes the Chili Bowl so unique? According to Bowman, it’s all about the party.
“I think the party is really what draws the big crowd,” Bowman said. “The pit area has as many people in it as the grandstands do. It’s a weeklong party with some racing attached to it.”
Bowman compared the Chili Bowl to tailgating at a football game, but on steroids.
“It’s like if you could tailgate at a football game in the grandstands. Everybody’s pit area has their own party, and you’re literally at the race track,” Bowman said. “The party is unlike anything else. The people are great. The atmosphere is great. It’s just fun.”
Despite the bad week on the track up to this point, Bowman remains hopeful for a positive result when his cars hit the track Saturday for the final day of action inside the SageNet Center.
While his own odds of making the 55-lap finale are slim, Bowman still thinks one of his cars has a legitimate shot at making the Saturday A-Main.
“If Jake’s car gets to the A Main, that would be phenomenal,” Bowman said. “He’s in the C (Main), so if we can get him through the C (Main), through the B (Main) and to the A (Main), that would be a super successful deal.
“I’m in the E (Main). It’s going to be tough. There are a lot of really good cars in the E. I’m sure C.J. is further back than that. It’ll be tough, but that’s part of it.”
TULSA, Okla. — As if it weren’t obvious by the unique hats he likes to wear on the grid before each NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event, Carson Hocevar likes to have fun.
That makes the Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals, taking place this week in inside the SageNet Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the perfect place for Hocevar.
“You’ve just got to experience it,” Hocevar said of the Chili Bowl. “No way around it — you’ve at least got to come once. I guarantee after you come once, you’re here for the rest of your life.”
Hocevar, who is preparing for his third full season in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series with Niece Motorsports, first competed at the Chili Bowl in 2022. He had so much fun, both as a competitor and as a spectator, that he made sure to include the 2023 edition of the event on his schedule.
“The first year I came here was last year, and I was just excited to run laps,” Hocevar said. “I didn’t really know a lot of people or anything really about this. I’d watched it, but I’d never experienced it. I’d never come here, just because I wanted to hold out and have my first experience driving rather than being a fan.
“This year has been extremely fun. I know a lot of people. I feel like I can walk three trailers and I’ll know somebody. I’m meeting new people now. It’s been a lot of fun. I’m not there yet on the race track on being quick. The social aspect and the fun meter is really the one that matters, and that one is pegged out.”
first laps back in a midget for @cbnationals practice!@diecast_b / @wwexracing pic.twitter.com/WLEFVnxjHJ
— Carson Hocevar (@CarsonHocevar) January 8, 2023
The Chili Bowl is unique in that it brings together drivers from all different backgrounds to compete under one roof, both literally and figuratively.
Each year, the Chili Bowl draws in excess of 300 competitors. That typically includes the best dirt racers in the world, such as defending Chili Bowl winner Tanner Thorson, as well as drivers from the NASCAR ranks, like Chase Briscoe and Alex Bowman.
Other forms of auto racing are also often represented. NHRA drag racers like Cruz Pedregon and Ron Capps have competed at the Chili Bowl, as have IndyCar drivers Conor Daly and Santino Ferrucci.
So not only is the Chili Bowl one of the biggest grassroots motorsports events in the United States, but it is also one of the biggest motorsports social gatherings in the world.
“It’s not often you have dirt late model guys, sprint car guys, IndyCar guys, NHRA guys, everybody from different levels,” Hocevar said. “I got to meet Santino Ferrucci this weekend, and we’ve talked nonstop. I never would have met him if it wasn’t for this race. I got to know (Chase) Briscoe and (Alex) Bowman. We’re all out of our element here, they’re in their element a little bit more than I am, but they’re not at that excel mark yet. They’re getting close. Their goal is to make it on Saturday where mine is to make it on our prelim night.
“We all have so many different goals. We all come in with a little less pressure because it’s mainly just about making the show as exciting for us depending upon what night you are. There’s not the pressure to win the show, because unless people have really, really bad nights, I have no shot in hell. I’m just excited to be here. The expectation is super low.
“Anything over [that] is great and super rewarding, but more than anything, it’s just about fun and no pressure. That’s really what it is.”
After making his debut last year, @CarsonHocevar is back for more. He’s already calling the @Lucas_Oil @cbnationals his favorite race. https://t.co/Ae5RlKFjib
— FloRacing (@FloRacing) January 11, 2023
Hocevar competed in Wednesday’s preliminary event but was unable to race his way into the preliminary feature that was won by former NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series competitor Rico Abreu. He did manage to win his C Main before finishing 10th in a B Main.
He could have easily been upset with that performance, but that’s not Hocevar’s style. Instead, he took to stands and hung out with fans. He specifically went to hang out with the group that calls themselves the ‘Top Row Rowdies,” where he enjoyed some adult beverages and got pelted with marshmallows alongside Ferrucci and Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s niece, Karsyn Elledge.
That’s just a typical Wednesday at the Chili Bowl.
“That was my first time really getting up in the rowdy section,” Hocevar said. “It’s a lot of fun now that I’m up there. It’s not just the rowdies, I’m up there with buddies of mine now and meeting new guys. Me and Karsyn Elledge were up there, and we’d just got done battling for eighth or 10th in a B Main. We were battling and then we were up with the rowdies laughing about it.
“That’s stuff you don’t really get to do any other place than here.”
TULSA, Okla. — There are a multitude of reasons why drivers compete in the Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals.
For many, the ultimate goal is to leave the SageNet Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with the Golden Driller trophy that goes to the winner of the Chili Bowl each January. Others travel to Oklahoma for the Chili Bowl hoping to do a little racing and have a lot of fun.
Then there are those who enter the Chili Bowl with something to prove. Kaden Honeycutt fits into that category.
“I’m trying to show people I can race anything no matter what the situation or circumstance,” said Honeycutt, a part-time competitor in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series last season with G2G Racing and On Point Motorsports. “This is what I want to do, and if I have to do different things to show that, then that’s what I’ll do. This is a perfect example.
“That’s kind of the point I’m trying to prove.”
From Aledo, Texas, Honeycutt is one of a large crop of drivers who have been looking to make names for themselves racing late model stock cars in the Southeast the last few seasons. The 19-year-old has become a regular fixture on the CARS Tour, winning multiple races the last two years.
That helped him secure a few opportunities in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in 2022, which included a ninth-place finish with On Point Motorsports in the season finale at Phoenix Raceway in November.
Now he’s looking to take the next step in his career by competing full-time in the Truck Series, but so far that opportunity hasn’t developed. That leads us back to the reason he entered the Chili Bowl.
There were, however, a few obstacles for Honeycutt to overcome. Most importantly, he’d never raced a midget. Despite having extensive dirt experience racing dirt late models and modifieds, Honeycutt said nothing prepared him for racing a midget for the first time this week.
“This was a whole new thing,” Honeycutt said. “Other than racing on dirt, there is nothing that compares to these midgets. They are totally different in a great way.”
Then there is the complicated and difficult format of the Chili Bowl. In short, the format rewards passing. The more spots you gain in heat races and qualifiers during your preliminary night, the higher you’ll start in the preliminary A Main that locks just two drivers into Saturday’s finale.
Honeycutt hit the track for his qualifying night Wednesday and held his own. He started and finished third in his heat, which he followed by going from seventh to fifth in his qualifier. That wasn’t enough to qualify him for the preliminary feature, but he rebounded to finish second in the B Main to earn a starting spot at the back of the preliminary feature.
He closed out the night by going from 20th to 14th in Wednesday’s preliminary feature, an impressive performance for someone who’d never raced a midget before showing up at the Chili Bowl.
“My expectation for myself, I definitely set it high enough to make the prelim (feature),” Honeycutt said. “Even if it wasn’t realistic, I still set it there. We had a good heat race, we had a good qualifier, then we worked our way up through the B Main and finished second to a Keith Kunz car, which I didn’t think was bad at all. Then for the feature we gained six or seven spots after going to the back.
“I didn’t think that was bad at all.”
What a unbelievable night we had last night. To even make the A main in the most stacked field was just incredible for me. The love and support I have from you guys is unmatched. We are in a great spot to make the A main on Saturday! Thank y’all again to every single one of you❤️ pic.twitter.com/A4cE5ZxdDA
— Kaden Honeycutt (@KadenWHoneycutt) January 12, 2023
His experience racing in the Chili Bowl has, like so many before, made Honeycutt want to continue coming to Tulsa, Oklahoma each January. Not only is he having fun racing a midget, he’s also having fun hanging out and taking in the Chili Bowl experience.
“I didn’t put much thought into it because I’d never driven a midget before,” Honeycutt said. “I didn’t have an aspiration. But man, during this week, I have thoroughly enjoyed this. I’ve had so much fun. I’ve learned a lot. It’s only made me want to do this a lot more.”
Honeycutt now waits for Saturday to hit the track again. His strong Wednesday night performance was enough to earn him a spot in a C Main, which gives him a realistic path to making the 55-lap championship finale.
With more than 350 drivers entered this year in the Chili Bowl, that means Honeycutt will be among the top 100 competitors no matter where he ends up Saturday.
Not bad for someone with no midget racing experience.
“I’m here to prove a point, that I can do this,” Honeycutt said. “No matter what type of car or race track, it doesn’t matter.”
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — NASCAR and Rev Racing announced today the next generation of drivers participating in the NASCAR Drive for Diversity Driver Development Program. Following a national and international search, eight talented drivers were selected to the newest class after participating in the Advance Auto Parts Drive for Diversity Combine.
Lavar Scott, Andrés Pérez de Lara, Jaiden Reyna and Justin Campbell are returning to Rev Racing for the 2023 season. Paige Rogers, Eloy Sebastián López Falcón, Caleb Johnson and Nathan Lyons will make their debut in 2023.
Nick Sanchez, who participated in the NASCAR Drive for Diversity Driver Development Program in 2022 and won the ARCA Menards Series championship with Rev Racing, is advancing to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Sanchez will pilot the No. 2 Gainbridge Chevrolet for Rev Racing with its technical alliance partner, Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM).
Rajah Caruth also graduated from the NASCAR Drive for Diversity Driver Development Program and will be competing full time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driving the No. 24 for GMS Racing. Caruth is a prominent iRacer who made his transition to the racetrack in 2019.
“We’re excited to welcome our newest class of drivers and be a part of their growth and development,” said Jordan Leatherman, NASCAR’s Director, Diversity and Inclusion. “We’re proud to see Nick Sanchez and Rajah Caruth graduate from the program and start a new chapter in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Their success reflects their talent and hard work.”
Drivers were selected after participating in the Advance Auto Parts Drive for Diversity Combine held in November of 2022 in Charlotte and South Boston, Virginia. Participants from the United States and Mexico were evaluated by judges from across the NASCAR industry. Each driver was assessed in different areas from physical fitness and on-track performance to media and marketing skills.
“We are extremely energized by the talent we saw this past November at the Combine,” said Max Siegel, Rev Racing owner. “We look forward to the season ahead and developing this amazing class of incoming drivers. This year’s class represents a talented pipeline of NASCAR’s future stars.
“Our entire Rev Racing organization is committed to being a championship-contending team and one of the premier development programs in NASCAR. We couldn’t be more proud of our accomplishments last season and of Nick and Rajah’s growth. We remain especially thankful to Chevrolet and Gainbridge for investing in Rev’s growth into the truck series with Nick Sanchez. This will be a pivotal year for our organization and this next class of drivers.”
The NASCAR Drive for Diversity Driver Development Program was created in 2004 to develop and train ethnically diverse and female drivers both on and off the track. NASCAR Cup Series drivers Bubba Wallace, Daniel Suárez and Kyle Larson are alumni of this program, which is operated by Rev Racing in Concord, N.C.
Suárez made history in 2022 becoming the first Mexican-born driver to win a race in the NASCAR Cup Series. A trailblazer in NASCAR, Suárez also made his mark in the sport when he won the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship in 2016. In 2023, Suárez enters his third season driving for Trackhouse Racing, a team owned by Justin Marks and Pitbull.
Wallace is the first Black driver to win multiple Cup Series races. In 2021, he became the first Black driver to win a NASCAR Cup Series race in almost 60 years. In 2023, Wallace enters his third season with the 23XI Racing team owned by Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin.
Larson is the first graduate of the NASCAR Drive for Diversity Program to win a NASCAR Cup Series championship. The Northern California native of Japanese descent won the 2012 K&N Pro Series East (now ARCA Menards Series East) championship with Rev Racing. Currently, he’s the only Asian-American driver competing regularly in the NASCAR Cup Series.
The 2023 class features the following drivers:
Andrés Pérez de Lara – ARCA Menards Series: The Mexico City, Mexico, native, 17, returns to Rev Racing after competing in the NASCAR México Series and NASCAR México Challenge categories. He is 2022’s NASCAR México Challenge champion.
Lavar Scott – ARCA Menards Series East: The 19-year-old from Carney’s Point, New Jersey has raced a late model stock car for Rev Racing the last two seasons in the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series, earning his first late model win at Hickory Motor Speedway in 2021.
Justin Campbell – NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Late Model: The 17-year-old Griffin, Ga., native returns to Rev Racing for his third season after earning two top fives and two top 10s in the 2022 Summer Shootout at Charlotte Motor Speedway in the semi-pro division.
Jaiden Reyna – NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Late Model: The Cornelius, North Carolina, native, 16, returns to Rev Racing after securing two first-place finishes at Lincoln Speedway in the young lion division. Reyna also finished a career-high second at Florence Motor Speedway in the late model division.
Paige Rogers – NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Late Model: The 19-year-old from Fort Wayne, Indiana will make her debut with Rev Racing in 2023. Rogers is the 2021 runner-up in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Late Model Sportsman division at Corrigan Oil Speedway.
Caleb Johnson – INEX Legend Car Series: The Denver, Colorado, native finished fifth in the Carolina Pro Late Model Series point standings. The 14-year-old also has an iRacing background.
Nathan Lyons – INEX Legend Car Series: The 13–year-old, originally from Texas, moved to Concord, North Carolina, to pursue his dream to race in NASCAR. Lyons had five top 10 finishes in the 2022 Summer Shootout at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Eloy Sebastián López Falcón – INEX Legend Car Series: The Oaxaca, Mexico, native will make his debut with Rev Racing in 2023. The 17-year-old is 2022’s NASCAR Truck México Series champion.
By the time the final week of the 2022 race season rolled around, late model driver Clay Jones knew he had all but locked up the Division I track championship at North Carolina’s Wake County Speedway. However, he thought the North Carolina state championship was out of reach.
He thought wrong.
Jones received a call from an official with the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series telling him if he could finish third or better in Wake County’s final race he would clinch his first state title in his two-decade racing career.
Jones qualified for the final race fifth out of 18 cars, adding nerves given his team had qualified at or near the front in just about every other race that summer. He quickly got up to third and settled in there, knowing if he could stay in that spot he’d have the championship.
With about 20 laps to go, the driver in second place had issues with his car, bringing out a caution and a restart.
“I was right there on the leader’s tail and didn’t really want to get in an altercation or anything to stay in second,” Jones said in a recent phone interview. “He slipped up, and we ended up getting by him on the last lap and ended up winning the race.”
The win was Jones’s eighth of the season. He added six second-place finishes and one third on the way to an 18-point win in Wake County’s late model class. He also tallied 400 total NASCAR points, giving him a four-point victory over Bowman Gray’s Tim Brown for the North Carolina state championship.
“It was just one of those dream-come-true races. You end up winning two championships and winning the last race. It was just a hell of a night,” Jones said. “It was a wild weekend, but it was a very successful year. We all had fun so I can’t complain.”
Jones is the third generation of his family to be a part of racing. His grandfather ran the now-closed Wilson County Speedway, in North Carolina, in the 1970s, and raced on the side, too. Jones’s father, John, as well as his uncles all spent time behind the wheel.
John not only passed down all his racing knowledge to his son, but he’s still a huge part of the team today. Jones called his dad the “brains behind everything.”
“My dad has been in it for so long, and he was very, very successful when he was driving,” Jones said. “Just the knowledge that he’s had over the years and put forth to me racing, he kind of hung up the helmet and put it all on me. With any type of sports team, but especially racing, if you get two or three people that click together, you’ve got something special. Especially when it’s a father-son combo, that makes it even more special.”
Getting to win a state title with his dad made the championship even sweeter, Jones said.
“It was a lot of emotions. Anytime in any kind of sports you’re going to have ups and downs. To finally see all the hard work and late nights kind of pay off, not only for me but my dad. He’s pretty much 100 percent what keeps this thing going,” he said. “All of his hard work and all the time he puts in, to see it all pay off and be so successful this year, and get all those wins and championships and everything, it was a big relief, but it was a lot of excitement too. It was a great time.”
The Joneses are joined in the pits by Wayne Goss, who has been around for many years, Dee Edgerton, and newcomer Josh Laneville, a longtime friend who started helping out this year.
“I told him the other night, ‘You picked a good time to start helping us,'” Jones said of Laneville. “He’s been really excited, the first year into it and being so successful.
“It’s like an army. It really takes a lot of people and a lot of connections to be successful with this stuff. There’s so many people that I’m sure I’m forgetting that I can’t even think of right now that lended a hand or did something for us. It’s been a special year.”
The state championship win was made more special because Jones and his team were able to attend the NASCAR awards banquet, which was presented alongside the annual Performance Racing Industry trade show in Indianapolis.
Jones said he and his dad had talked for years about wanting to go to the PRI show, and he said “It was very special to be able to do that with them and go check all that out, and also be able to receive all the awards.”
“I know a lot of it is on me… but I’ve got to put a lot of it on my dad. It was very special for all the guys and my dad,” he added. “It was more relieving for me to see all the excitement and stuff on their faces than it was mine.”
This track title at Wake County, a NASCAR-sanctioned quarter-mile paved track just outside of Raleigh, North Carolina, was Jones’ fourth at the track that sits about 45 minutes from his home. With previous titles in 2014, 2017, 2019, he’s tended to make a habit of racing there for a season and then taking a year or two to travel around and race.
He plans to return to Wake County for another full season this summer, though, along with his car the team nicknamed “The Blue Goose.” “Blue” is nearly 20 years old and has more than 50 wins on it, “but it’s been especially successful at Wake County,” Jones said.
There’s no doubt in his mind Jones wants to try to add another Wake County title to his collection in 2023.
To him, there’s no place like home.
“Honestly, Wake County, the environment and the energy of that place is like no other,” he said. “I tell people all the time it’s like a mini Bowman Gray… Every single Friday night the stands are packed top-to-bottom, end-to-end, people standing on the fence. When you go there the energy of the place is just overwhelming. It’s just so fun.
“I just hope everybody comes back out this year. It’s a very, very exciting, family-fun event. If you’ve never been, it’s definitely one for the bucket list. It’s not even five minutes from downtown Raleigh. It’s on a little old path, and all of a sudden it opens up to a little old racetrack, a little quarter-mile bullring. I’m telling you, it’s the most fun you’ll have in a while.”
