Posted on by Staff Report

The ARCA Menards Series’ annual pre-race practice at Daytona International Speedway offers drivers from across the motorsports spectrum a chance to gain knowledge and experience at one of the most legendary venues in the country.

When the series returns to the track for its lead-in to the 2023 season on Jan. 13-14, six drivers will have earned opportunities to make laps around the famed World Center of Racing via the “Road to Daytona” program, which for the first time includes the champions of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series.

Modified Tour champion Jon McKennedy and Weekly Series champ Layne Riggs will join ARCA Menards Series West champion Jake Drew, ARCA Menards Series East Bounty Rookie Challenge winner Leland Honeyman, ARCA CRA Super Series super late model top rookie Bobby Van Meter and ARCA Midwest Tour super late model rookie of the year Harley Jankowski as participants in 2023.

RELATED: Complete 2023 pre-race practice schedule

Layne Riggs
Layne Riggs (Photo: Joe Chandler/South Boston Speedway)

Each of the drivers will make laps in cars prepared for the practice session by Andy Hillenburg, the 1995 ARCA Menards Series champion and two-time ARCA winner at Daytona, and his Fast Track High Performance Racing Team.

Emotions run high for each of the drivers as they head to Daytona Beach.

“I feel very fortunate to get the opportunity to test,” McKennedy said. “In a car prepared by former Daytona winner and ARCA champion Andy Hillenburg and his people. Daytona is the pinnacle of racing, and I’m very excited to feel the sensation of driving a car around a high banked superspeedway.”

Jake Drew looks on during ARCA Testing at Daytona International Speedway on January 14, 2022 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert/NASCAR)
Jake Drew (Photo: James Gilbert/NASCAR)

Added Jankowski: “I’m just a small one-car, low-budget driver who does all the work on the car and pays for everything out of my own pocket. Working full time plus trying racing is a struggle at times, but it all paid off this year even though it was a long shot. We never give up.

“Being able to drive at Daytona has always been a dream of mine that I thought would never come true. I can’t wait to make some laps. I even thought about bringing the motorcycle down and pulling up like Cole Trickle did in the movie Days of Thunder.”

The Road to Daytona program is supported by Ilmor, General Tire, Sunoco, Eibach and JRI Shocks.

Former Road to Daytona participants include five-time ARCA Midwest Tour champion and 2022 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series playoff contender Ty Majeski, two-time ARCA CRA Super Series champion Travis Braden, and Greg Van Alst, who finished fifth in the 2022 ARCA Menards Series championship standings.

This year’s pre-race practice at Daytona takes place Friday and Saturday, Jan. 13-14, with a weather day reserved on Sunday, Jan. 15. The open practice sessions begin at 10 a.m. ET and run through 5 p.m. ET each day.

The 60th running of the ARCA Menards Series’ Daytona 200 is set for Saturday, Feb. 18 and will be televised live on FS1 starting at 1:30 p.m. ET.

Posted on by Staff Report

Stewart Friesen will have a new brand on his truck this year, Halmar Friesen Racing announced Thursday.

Ferris Mowers will sponsor Friesen and the No. 52 Toyota Tundra as a primary partner in six races during the 2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season. The announcement came Thursday in Sherrill, New York, at the Briggs & Stratton facility where Ferris mowers are engineered and manufactured. Ferris was founded in central New York, and HFR has a shop in the region, the team said in a press release.

RELATED: 2023 Truck Series schedule | Silly Season updates

Ferris will be featured as the main sponsor of Friesen’s trucks at Texas Motor Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt, North Wilkesboro Speedway, World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, Nashville Superspeedway and the Milwaukee Mile.

“I’m looking forward to representing Ferris mowers nationally in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and on Ferris’ home turf in the Northeast Modified events,” Friesen said in a press release. “As someone who mows a lot of acreage at home when I’m not racing, I appreciate the smooth ride and superior quality of a Ferris mower. Everyone at HFR is excited to welcome Ferris to our team, and we look forward to a successful 2023 season.”

Friesen, a three-time winner in the Craftsman Truck Series, earned his most recent victory in May 2022 at Texas Motor Speedway. The native of Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada, was one point shy of advancing to the Championship 4 last season, eventually finishing sixth in the overall year-end standings.

“We’re excited to expand our involvement with the racing community this year by partnering with HFR, Stewart Friesen and the No. 52 truck,” said Christin Wam, senior director of marketing, Briggs & Stratton in a press release. “Given that race car drivers and lawn contractors alike are always looking for the best possible ride, the partnership just makes sense.”

The new partnership is dedicated to the late Bill Shea, who was an integral part of making the partnership a reality, HFR added. Shea, who was a long-time Northeast Modified racing supporter and track owner, was a Ferris executive up until his passing in 2022.

Ferris will also serve as an associate sponsor of Friesen’s No. 44 Halmar dirt modified as an associate partner at all dirt-modified races in 2023.

Posted on by Staff Report

Every new season means lots of new changes to keep up with throughout NASCAR’s premier series, including driver and crew chief movement. From Kyle Busch’s historic move from Joe Gibbs Racing to Richard Childress Racing to Greg Ives’ retirement from atop the iconic No. 48 pit box, we have the details covered here in our Silly Season tracker.

As we approach the 75th anniversary season, we will update the tracker with the latest information and movement for every full-time Cup Series team.

Check for updates on this page often, as organizations finalize their plans for the Busch Light Clash at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the 65th running of the Daytona 500 and beyond. Anything highlighted in red indicates news on that driver, team and ride, and clicking on the red line will give you more information on the move and its impact.

No.
Driver
Crew Chief
Team
1
Ross Chastain
Phil Surgen
Trackhouse Racing
2
Austin Cindric
Jeremy Bullins
Team Penske
3
Austin Dillon
Keith Rodden
Richard Childress Racing
After two seasons driving under Justin Alexander, Dillon's crew chief will be Rodden in 2023 as Alexander moves into the role of director of vehicle performance at RCR. Rodden's last full-time crew chief stint was with Kasey Kahne in 2016.
4
Kevin Harvick
Rodney Childers
Stewart-Haas Racing
5
Kyle Larson
Cliff Daniels
Hendrick Motorsports
6
Brad Keselowski
Matt McCall
RFK Racing
7
Corey LaJoie
Ryan Sparks
Spire Motorsports
8
Kyle Busch
Randall Burnett
Richard Childress Racing
After 15 seasons at Joe Gibbs Racing, Busch's departure was one of the biggest free-agent moves of the last decade. The two-time Cup Series champion found a new home for 2023 and beyond with Richard Childress Racing and Chevrolet.
9
Chase Elliott
Alan Gustafson
Hendrick Motorsports
10
Aric Almirola
Drew Blickensderfer
Stewart-Haas Racing
Almirola announced his imminent retirement at the start of the 2022 season, but changed his plans and is back for his 12th full-time season at the premier level in 2023.
11
Denny Hamlin
Chris Gabehart
Joe Gibbs Racing
12
Ryan Blaney
Jonathan Hassler
Team Penske
14
Chase Briscoe
John Klausmeier
Stewart-Haas Racing
15
TBA
TBA
Rick Ware Racing
Rick Ware Racing has not yet announced their driver lineup or other plans for this ride during the 2023 season.
16
AJ Allmendinger
Matt Swiderski
Kaulig Racing
Following recent success in the Xfinity Series, Allmendinger returns to the Cup Series full-time for the first season since 2018, looking to build on a rapidly improving Kaulig Racing program.
17
Chris Buescher
Scott Graves
RFK Racing
19
Martin Truex Jr.
James Small
Joe Gibbs Racing
20
Christopher Bell
Adam Stevens
Joe Gibbs Racing
21
Harrison Burton
Brian Wilson
Wood Brothers Racing
22
Joey Logano
Paul Wolfe
Team Penske
23
Bubba Wallace
Robert 'Bootie' Barker
23XI Racing
24
William Byron
Rudy Fugle
Hendrick Motorsports
31
Justin Haley
Trent Owens
Kaulig Racing
34
Michael McDowell
Travis Peterson
Front Row Motorsports
Peterson, a veteran lead race engineer for RFK Racing, gets the gig atop the box for 2023 with former No. 34 car chief Ryan Bergenty shifting to the No. 38 entry. McDowell's 2022 crew chief, Blake Harris, will work with Alex Bowman this season.
38
Todd Gilliland
Ryan Bergenty
Front Row Motorsports
Bergenty was elevated to crew chief for Gilliland after spending the past two seasons as a car chief with the organization.
41
Ryan Preece
Chad Johnston
Stewart-Haas Racing
After spending the 2022 season waiting in the wings, Preece is finally back at the top level full-time, taking over the ride from Cole Custer. The team announced that Tony Stewart's former crew chief, Johnston, would be at the helm.
42
Noah Gragson
Luke Lambert
Petty GMS Racing
Rising star Gragson settles into the vacant ride alongside his Xfinity Series crew chief Lambert for the upcoming season. Gragson made 18 Cup Series starts in 2022 and will compete in his first full season at the level this year.
43
Erik Jones
David Elenz
Petty GMS Racing
45
Tyler Reddick
Billy Scott
23XI Racing
One of the brightest young talents on the market, Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan signed Reddick to a future contract during the 2022 season that was expedited by Kurt Busch being sidelined.
47
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Mike Kelley
JTG Daugherty Racing
Stenhouse reunites with former crew chief Kelley after a stint together during the 2014 season and one race in 2016.
48
Alex Bowman
Blake Harris
Hendrick Motorsports
After Greg Ives' retirement from his crew chief role, Harris joins the team after spending the 2022 season with Michael McDowell at Front Row Motorsports.
51
Cody Ware
Billy Plourde
Rick Ware Racing
54
Ty Gibbs
Chris Gayle
Joe Gibbs Racing
The phenom graduates to the Cup Series to take over the vacant roster spot left by Kyle Busch's departure. Along with this change comes the return of the storied No. 54 to the premier rank and a partnership with veteran crew chief Gayle, who spent 2017-20 with Erik Jones.
77
Ty Dillon
Kevin Bellicourt
Spire Motorsports
Dillon remains with Chevrolet but moves from Petty GMS Racing to Spire for the 2023 season.
78
BJ McLeod
David Ingram
Live Fast Motorsports
Ingram, the former Xfinity Series crew chief and Live Fast Motorsports competition director, takes over the pit box for McLeod and the No. 78 team for the 2023 season.
99
Daniel Suárez
Travis Mack
Trackhouse Racing

 

 

 

Posted on by Staff Report

Ken Block, who captivated audiences with his pioneering style of automotive acrobatics, died Monday in a snowmobile accident. He was 55.

Block’s death was announced Monday by Hoonigan Industries, an auto enthusiast company that he co-founded. Block was a standout in RallyCross competition, and his Gymkhana series of short films blurred the lines of motorsports and action sports with his precision driving — wild drifts, surreal stunts and tire-shredding burnouts — in all styles of terrain.

Block’s passing shook the NASCAR community, which shared its remembrances and tributes. Several drivers and industry figures also shared thoughts for Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin, whose collapse and cardiac arrest during Monday night’s NFL game closely coincided with the news of Block’s death.

Posted on by Staff Report

The start of the 2023 season is still more than a month away, but already NASCAR has recorded its first winner of the year. NASCAR’s float, themed “Always Forward,” won the award for Most Outstanding Depiction of National Treasures & Traditions as chosen in the 2023 Rose Parade on Monday in Pasadena, California.

The float mixed old rivals like Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon with new frontiers such as the LA Coliseum for the upcoming Busch Light Clash all decked out in the colorful flowers that are customary to the traditional parade down Colorado Boulevard. And in typical southern California fashion, it was a gorgeous day under blue skies and a warm reminder that it won’t be long until cars are revving down the track as NASCAR gets ready to celebrate its 75th anniversary.

RELATED: Buy tickets to the Clash

To make the New Year’s celebration complete, NASCAR Hall of Famer and seven-time champion Richard Petty was on hand to ride the float along with promising newcomer Rajah Caruth, who honed his racing skills while playing eNASCAR and will join GMS Racing for a full-time ride in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series this year.

Check out some of the tweets below from our folks on the ground at the parade and see some of the photos, too, from both our social team and the students from the University of Southern California, who are working with NASCAR leading up to the Feb. 5 Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum (8 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM).

Don’t forget to take a peek at the 2023 NASCAR schedule and start planning your trips to the track so you can get the best seats possible.

RELATED: See the making of the float

Posted on by Zack Albert

Editor’s note: This concludes the series of season reviews for select 2022 NASCAR Cup Series drivers.

See more: Bubba Wallace, Erik Jones, Martin Truex Jr., Alex Bowman, Kevin Harvick, Tyler Reddick, Kyle Busch, Austin Cindric, Austin Dillon, Daniel Suárez, Chris Buescher, Chase Briscoe, Ryan Blaney, Kyle Larson, William Byron, Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott, Christopher Bell , Ross Chastain

Driver: Joey Logano
Car: No. 22 Team Penske Ford Mustang
Crew chief: Paul Wolfe
Final 2022 ranking: 1st
Key stats: 4 wins, 11 top fives, 17 top 10s, 784 laps led

How 2022 ended: About as well as it could. Logano landed his second NASCAR Cup Series championship with a dominant performance in the finale at Phoenix. The 32-year-old driver won twice in the regular season to firm up his playoff stature, then methodically advanced through the postseason. A berth in the Championship 4 final was his after a clutch victory in the Round of 8 opener at Las Vegas. His fourth win of the year sealed the deal, making him only the second active driver with multiple Cup titles, joining Kyle Busch.

RELATED: Logano rolls to season-ending win, ices title

Best race: Cup Series Championship. With an honorable mention for his victory from the pole on NASCAR Throwback Weekend at Darlington (107 of 293 laps led), Logano saved one of his best performances for last at Phoenix Raceway. Logano brimmed with confidence all week leading up to the final event, not shying from pronouncing himself as the pre-race favorite. He and his No. 22 team backed up the chatter, claiming the pole in qualifying and executing all the way to the end, leading 187 of the 312 laps.

Joey Logano celebrates with the trophy and his family on the phone after winning the Busch Light Clash in Los Angeles
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images

Other season highlights: Logano started the season off with a historic first, holding off Kyle Busch for victory in the first Busch Light Clash exhibition held at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The triumph was not only the first of its kind at the prestigious venue, but also marked the competitive debut of NASCAR’s Next Gen car. He capped the weekend with his wife, Brittany, as they welcomed the family’s third child, announcing the birth of Emilia Love Logano on the following Tuesday.

MORE: Logano: The toast of LA

Stat to know: Logano’s title-clinching performance was part of his fifth Championship 4 appearance, and all have come in even-numbered years (2014, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2022). The Phoenix weekend also kept a streak alive — in the nine seasons since the advent of the Cup Series elimination-style playoff format, the champion has also been the season-ending race winner each time.

WATCH: Joey Logano’s speech at the NASCAR Awards

Quotable: “When you get this far, I said it all week, we weren’t satisfied with being in the Championship 4. There was nothing to celebrate for us. We’ve been here before. We know what it feels like to lose. It’s the worst feeling in the world if I’m being honest, and winning is the best feeling in the world. It’s great to be able to accomplish it.”

Joey Logano leads Martin Truex Jr. and Cody Ware through the turns at Phoenix Raceway
Christian Petersen | Getty Images

RELATED: Joey Logano through the years

Looking ahead: Falling under the heading of “why mess with success,” the No. 22 Team Penske bunch has announced no major changes ahead of the 2023 season. The organization announced in August that it had signed Logano to a long-term contract extension. Veteran crew chief Paul Wolfe will return to the No. 22 pit box but said he is entering the final year of his contract with Team Penske. The immediate challenge ahead for the group is going back-to-back, a feat that hasn’t happened in the elimination playoff era and not since Jimmie Johnson completed his historic run of five consecutive Cup Series titles from 2006-2010.

Posted on by Jerry Bonkowski

Editor’s note: This continues the series of season reviews for select 2022 NASCAR Cup Series drivers.

See more: Bubba Wallace, Erik Jones, Martin Truex Jr., Alex Bowman, Kevin Harvick, Tyler Reddick, Kyle Busch, Austin Cindric, Austin Dillon, Daniel Suárez, Chris Buescher, Chase Briscoe, Ryan Blaney, Kyle Larson, William Byron, Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott, Christopher Bell 

Driver: Ross Chastain
Car: No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
Crew chief: Phil Surgen
Final 2022 ranking: 2nd
Key stats: 2 wins, 15 top fives, 21 top 10s, 692 laps led

How 2022 ended:  Two words best describe not just the way the season ended for Chastain but also the entire season as a whole: outstanding and surprising. Few people likely expected the Florida watermelon farmer not only to earn his first two career Cup wins but also to reach the Championship 4 season finale and finish a close runner-up to champion Joey Logano. While his two wins were notable, how Chastain performed in the two final rounds of the NASCAR Playoffs really told the story, finishing second at Las Vegas and Homestead, fourth at Martinsville in the Round of 8 and third in the Championship 4 race at Phoenix.

Best race: Chastain’s first career win at Austin’s Circuit of The Americas was outstanding, leading nearly half (31) of the event’s 69 laps. But he also had several other noteworthy showings, including his last-lap win at Talladega, second-and third-place finishes at Las Vegas and 153 laps led at Charlotte in the Coca-Cola 600 (albeit with a disappointing 15th-place finish).

RELATED: Chastain ‘Hail Melon’ car top-selling die-cast of 2022 

Other season highlights: Chastain had long been considered a strong talent who just needed the right team and equipment to see that talent brought to the fore, and that all came together in his first season with Trackhouse Racing in 2022. While his wins at Austin and Talladega proved to be the linchpins to get him into the NASCAR Cup Playoffs, finishing second in the Cup championship – and almost stealing the title away from eventual champ Logano – proved just how talented of a driver Chastain is. Don’t expect how he finished in 2022 as a one-time-only accomplishment. He’s just getting started and is likely only going to get better and better.

Stat to know: Chastain blossomed in 2022, establishing himself as one of the most aggressive drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series. Perhaps the best illustration of that was in the laps-led category. Until 2022, the most laps Chastain had led in any single season was 62 in 2021. But in 2022, he exploded, leading 692 laps for the fourth-highest among all Cup drivers.

Quotable: “I need to continue to evolve and be a better race car driver, study these guys and study myself, see what they’re doing, understand these cars better and understand the craft that it takes to drive at this level and extrapolate the most out of these cars. I feel like I’m on a never-ending hamster wheel to be the best version of myself, and that’s not going to stop. I hope I never lose that drive because I wake up and I think about how can I drive a race car fast. That is my main priority every day of my life now and probably has been for the last seven or eight years.”

RELATED: Championship 4 recap | Youth, parity define 2022 season

Looking ahead: Given how close he came to winning the championship in 2022, Chastain immediately joins several other drivers as among the top preseason favorites for the 2023 Cup championship, including defending champion Joey Logano, Chase Briscoe and Chase Elliott. Two things Chastain must improve upon, though: Cut down on the number of controversial incidents he’s involved in (which was one of the biggest downers for him in 2022, though he’d clearly improved in this area by season’s end), and be a bit wiser in strategy. If he looks like the best finish he’ll have is fifth, don’t overly push it to try and finish two or three spots higher if that pushes his chances of a good finish into jeopardy.

Posted on by Sean Montgomery

Editor’s note: This continues the series of season reviews for select 2022 NASCAR Cup Series drivers.

See more: Bubba Wallace, Erik Jones, Martin Truex Jr., Alex Bowman, Kevin Harvick, Tyler Reddick, Kyle Busch, Austin Cindric, Austin Dillon, Daniel Suárez, Chris Buescher, Chase Briscoe, Ryan Blaney, Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott

Driver: Christopher Bell
Car: No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry TRD
Crew chief: Adam Stevens
Final 2022 ranking: 3rd
Key stats: 3 wins, 12 top fives, 20 top 10s, 4 poles, 573 laps led

How 2022 ended: Bell made a remarkable run through the NASCAR Playoffs to the Championship 4, earning a title-race bid after winning must-win elimination races at the Charlotte Roval and Martinsville Speedway. In the championship race at Phoenix Raceway, Bell was out front for 27 laps but continued to fall back in the field with unfortunate pit stops, taking him off the pace of the top contenders. Bell and the No. 20 team rallied to finish 10th in the season finale but fell behind Cup Series champion Joey Logano and runner-up Ross Chastain to finish third in the overall standings. Still, Bell’s clutch run-of-form down the stretch left him with many memorable moments from his third season in the premier series — the best of his career to date.

Best race: Charlotte Roval. With respect to Bell’s incredible performance at Martinsville Speedway, among such a strong field of road-course ringers, the Roval win was seemingly against all odds. Bell did score his first career victory on the Daytona Road Course layout in 2021, but in a must-win situation at one of the most daunting circuits on the schedule, not many people picked the No. 20 team to advance to the next round. Stuck behind the leaders all afternoon, a masterful pit strategy from crew chief Adam Stevens on Lap 105 of the 112-lap marathon set Bell up with fresh tires to fight for a miracle. Confident and composed, Bell tracked down Kevin Harvick and made the pass, eventually sailing off into the sunset, Victory Lane and the Round of 8.

RECAP: Bell nets first of two playoff-saving victories

Stat to know: Four poles. Bell flashed some serious speed this season, earning the first four Busch Light Pole Awards of his Cup Series career. The impressive total equaled the sum of his three Joe Gibbs Racing teammates combined (Denny Hamlin with three, Martin Truex Jr. with one and Kyle Busch with zero) and tied the mark for most in the series this season (Kyle Larson and Joey Logano). Bell started on the pole for both of the races at Talladega Superspeedway.

Other notable highlights: Entering the season, Bell had led a total of 118 laps in his previous 72 Cup Series starts. His 573 laps led in 2022 shatters that total and was the ninth-most in the premier series.  … Bell also set personal records in top fives (12) and top 10s (20) … Before this season, Bell had never made it past the Round of 12, making his Championship 4 run the deepest playoff run of his career. … Bell is the second driver that crew chief Adam Stevens has taken to the Championship 4 after first accomplishing the feat with Kyle Busch.

Quotable: “Yeah, I think the season was successful. To get to the final four is what every driver in NASCAR’s goals are. I’m very proud of that effort. With 40 or 50 to go, the last green-flag pit stop, we put ourselves in position to race for it. You can’t ask for much more than that. Looking towards next year, I think we have potential to be stronger yet, and certainly, we have room to improve at Phoenix. Yeah, I’m very content with where we ended the season and proud of the effort on this 20 car. I’m excited about the future with Joe Gibbs Racing.”

MORE: Relieve the Roval race in GIFs

Looking ahead: Joe Gibbs Racing was filled with rumors of shakeups and a new direction during the 2022 season, settling into the roster we know now. After the departure of longtime driver Kyle Busch, Bell steps into a much bigger role with higher expectations coming after a marvelous campaign. The No. 20 group proved that this is a race team with the credentials to race for a championship, right alongside series staples Martin Truex Jr. (the 2017 Cup Series champion) and three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin. Bell and Co. shattered predictions for his performance during the 2022 season by advancing to the Championship 4 but moving forward, that will always be the standard now for the talented young driver chasing his first Bill France Cup. Expect them to have a bit more consistency in their second season settling into the Next Gen car and perhaps raising the bar even higher.

Posted on by NASCAR Official Release

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Dec. 27, 2022) – “The King” will have company during the 2023 Rose Parade presented by Honda.

NASCAR announced today that NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver Rajah Caruth will join Richard Petty on “Always Forward” – its float that celebrates NASCAR’s 75th anniversary and the upcoming Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum.

“NASCAR’s 75th anniversary is all about honoring our past, celebrating our present and looking to our future,” said NASCAR Vice President of Marketing Services Patrick Rogers. “It’s only fitting that a driver like Rajah, who represents NASCAR’s now and beyond, joins our all-time winningest driver on this historic day for our sport.”

RELATED: Caruth joins GMS Racing for rookie Truck Series season

Caruth, who started his driving career on a computer, certainly represents a modern-day NASCAR success story. The 20-year-old from Washington, D.C., parlayed his success on the virtual iRacing platform to an invitation from NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity Program at the age of 16. That led to real-life driving opportunities at Rev Racing, which fielded cars for Caruth at the grassroots level and led to a full-time season in the national ARCA Menards Series last year. He finished third.

Now, Caruth finds himself on the threshold of his first full-time season in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. He’ll drive the No. 24 Chevrolet Silverado for GMS Racing with sponsorship from the Wendell Scott Foundation. The foundation, named in honor of the late NASCAR Hall of Famer, provides resources and services to underprivileged African American youth communities near Scott’s hometown of Danville, Virginia.

“This is going to be a great way to start 2023,” Caruth said. “It’s nothing short of an honor to ride along with Richard Petty in the Rose Parade and help introduce our sport to new audiences in Southern California and around the world.”

The float that will carry Caruth and “The King” on Jan. 2 features Petty’s iconic No. 43 race car, along with the No. 3 made popular by Dale Earnhardt and the No. 24 driven by Jeff Gordon. With the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum’s Peristyle and Olympic cauldron serving as a breathtaking backdrop, the cars race around a track surrounded by checkered flags, ribbons, palm trees and more.

MORE: Details on NASCAR’s float in 2023 Rose Parade

Designed and constructed by Artistic Entertainment Services (AES), the float is 25 feet tall, 55 feet long and headed by NASCAR’s 75th Anniversary diamond logo.

The annual Rose Parade celebrates 134 years of success with its upcoming celebration on Jan. 2, led by the volunteer-driven, non-profit Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association. In addition to participating in the 2023 parade, NASCAR will also be providing the Association’s 935 volunteers with a special Busch Light Clash and Auto Club Speedway ticket offer, in recognition of their dedication to America’s New Year Celebration.

The Busch Light Clash at the LA Coliseum will be held on Sunday, Feb. 5, 2023, as a part of the destination’s “Coliseum Forever” celebration to honor the historic stadium’s centennial anniversary and will air live on FOX at 8 p.m. ET. After an action-packed 2022 season, the 2023 NASCAR season-opener is bound to be another thrilling event in a momentous year.

For more information about the Busch Light Clash and details on ticket pricing, please visit nascarclash.com.

Posted on by Holly Cain

Editor’s note: This continues the series of season reviews for select 2022 NASCAR Cup Series drivers.

See more: Bubba Wallace, Erik Jones, Martin Truex Jr., Alex Bowman, Kevin Harvick, Tyler Reddick, Kyle Busch, Austin Cindric, Austin Dillon, Daniel Suárez, Chris Buescher, Chase Briscoe, Ryan Blaney, Denny Hamlin

Driver: Chase Elliott
Car: No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
Crew chief: Alan Gustafson
Final 2022 ranking: 4th
Key stats: 5 wins, 12 top fives, 20 top 10s, 3 poles, 857 laps led

How 2022 ended: When you are a recent NASCAR Cup Series champion, the 2022 regular season champion and a favorite to hoist another trophy, any other outcome is understandably disappointing. So despite all the positives of a stellar season, Elliott’s fourth-place finish in the championship race at Phoenix was a bit of a disheartening way for such a promising season to end for the young superstar. He finished the championship finale in 28th place  – two laps down – after his Chevy made contact with fellow playoff driver Ross Chastain’s Chevy on a late-race restart. It forced Elliott’s famous No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet to pit road for repairs during the green flag run that ultimately settled the trophy. And so for the second consecutive year, Elliott finished fourth in the championship – earning only a trio of top-10 finishes in the 10-race championship run.

Best race: With a series-best five victories on the season, Elliott had a lot of reason to smile during the year, but it was a heartwarming victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway during the summer that truly hit home – literally. Elliott led a race-best 96 of the 260 laps and then held off Corey LaJoie in a final-lap duel to claim his first NASCAR Cup Series trophy at his family’s “home track.” The Elliotts hail from nearby Dawsonville, Georgia, and the locals were absolutely overjoyed to celebrate their hometown hero’s win.

RELATED: Chase Elliott denies LaJoie in late-race battle, emerges with Atlanta win

Stat to know: Elliott’s first regular season championship propelled him to career-high numbers in the final tally. His five wins were most in the series as were his 857 laps led. Only one driver bettered Elliott’s 20 top-10 finishes (Ross Chastain had 21) and the No. 9 team netted six stage wins, tied for fourth most all season. The 46 playoff points Elliott accumulated were easily the most in the series and his fifth Most Popular Driver award leads all active drivers.

Quotable: “It was a solid year, especially through the summer months. That was probably as good as I remember running throughout the summer. Unfortunately, the last nine or 10 [races] weren’t great. I actually thought Phoenix was pretty solid for us as far as how car drove and how the day was going. The nine weeks prior to that were pretty rough but I thought the 10th was moving in the right direction, which was good, so nice to kind of end on a high note from a car perspective. …

“This sport will humble you in a hurry and I don’t think anyone’s ever immune to that especially now with the way everything works and with all the winners and things we saw this year. I don’t think you’re immune to that regardless of how good a season you had until that point. You have to stay on it and it’s easy to miss a little bit here and there and have a bad day.”

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Looking ahead: With a year under everyone’s belt in terms of preparing, driving and racing the Next Gen car, Elliott was optimistic that he ended the season on a positive note despite missing out on a second series title. He added victories at three new tracks in 2022 (Nashville, Atlanta and Pocono) – paced the entire field in wins and laps led, and again, boasted at least 20 top-10 finishes for the third straight year. Elliott, who signed a five-year contract extension with Hendrick Motorsports in February, is in an enviable position. Nothing but greatness is expected from the 27-year old and that No. 9 team. It’s just navigating the challenges and staying on what he’s already established is a championship path.