NASCAR’s float ‘Always Forward’ wins award at 2023 Rose Parade

Posted on January 2, 2023January 2, 2023 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

You’re looking at the ‘Most outstanding depiction of national treasures & traditions’ float!#NASCAR75 | @RoseParade pic.twitter.com/kD9uIMxwGK

— Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum (@nascarclash) January 2, 2023

Today’s the day! 🌹#NASCAR75 x @RoseParade pic.twitter.com/YlBmhdc47a

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) January 2, 2023

The King has arrived at The Rose Bowl Parade! pic.twitter.com/paWs7DkNGu

— Richard Petty (@therichardpetty) January 2, 2023

Posted on December 30, 2022January 15, 2023 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.

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.

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.”

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 December 29, 2022December 29, 2022 by Jerry Bonkowski

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

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).

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.”

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 December 28, 2022 by Sean Montgomery

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

Driver: Christopher Bell
Car: No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry TRD
Crew chief: Adam Stevens
Final 2022 ranking: 3rdKey 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 December 27, 2022 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.”

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 December 27, 2022 by Holly Cain

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

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 28thplace – 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.

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.”

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.

Posted on December 26, 2022 by Zach Sturniolo

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, Chris Buescher, Daniel Suárez, Chase Briscoe, Ryan Blaney, Kyle Larson, William Byron

Driver: Denny Hamlin
Car: No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry TRD
Crew chief: Chris Gabehart
Final 2022 ranking: Fifth
Key stats: 2 wins, 10 top fives, 16 top 10s, 3 poles, 624 laps led

How 2022 ended: Hamlin was just two points shy of advancing to the Championship 4 for the fourth consecutive season, a feat erased by Ross Chastain’s absurd move around the Turns 3 and 4 walls at Martinsville Speedway that propelled him past Hamlin at the checkered flag. That didn’t erase a stellar playoff run for the No. 11 team, which earned nine top-10 finishes in the final 10 races of 2022 en route to another top-five points finish.

Best race: Coca-Cola 600. Arguments could easily be made for other strong performances for Hamlin’s 2022 season, but his triumph on the Charlotte Motor Speedway oval proved the resilience of the No. 11 team. After a dismal start to the season – and even in the year’s longest event – Hamlin rebounded from an early-race incident to score his first career victory in the Memorial Day special after leading 15 laps – netting a critical five playoff points in the process.

Other season highlights: Officially, Hamlin scored two wins in 2022 – one each at Richmond and Charlotte — but he did cross the finish line first at Pocono Raceway after leading 21 circuits as well. The car was disqualified for an illegal body modification, erasing five playoff points and handing them instead to third-place finisher Chase Elliott who was declared the winner. Despite sitting 25^th in points after race No. 5 at Atlanta, Hamlin’s performance improved significantly and began leading a noteworthy amount of laps, including a season-high 203 at Martinsville Speedway in the fall. The No. 11 Toyota led significant laps at Dover (67), Nashville (114) and the throwback race at Darlington (42) but failed to reach Victory Lane after his May win at Charlotte.

Stat to know: 15.5 average finish. Hamlin posted his worst average finish since 2013 due to his dismal start to the season. A stellar postseason run couldn’t save the stat, ending an impressive three-year stretch of top-10 average finishes (9.5 in 2019; 9.3 in 2020; 8.4 in 2021).

Quotable: “There’ll be a time where my attention will be more needed as a team owner than a driver, but it’s going to be on my terms and when I want it to happen and when I think it needs to happen. But I don’t think it … I don’t foresee ownership expediting my retirement. I think that my retirement will be a totally independent decision, regardless of where we’re at with the race team.” – Hamlin on his future entering 2023, a contract year with JGR.

Looking ahead: The 2022 season proved to be one of the most challenging of Hamlin’s career, failing to break into the top 20 in drivers points in the first half of the regular season. But he and fourth-year crew chief Chris Gabehart proved they could overcome the odds and be a consistent threat to win once again in the Next Gen era. The biggest difference in 2023 will have to be the team’s execution in closing races. Nine top-10 finishes through the playoffs should be celebrated. But a zero in the win column during that stretch is why Hamlin failed to reach the Championship 4, ending a streak of three straight years with a chance to win the title in the championship race.

Posted on December 23, 2022 by Staff Report

Which channels have NASCAR programming this week? We answer that and give the weekly NASCAR television listings here in the NASCAR TV schedule.

Note: All times are ET.

Monday, Dec. 26
4 a.m., Greatest Races: 2011 NASCAR Cup Series Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway (re-air), FS1
6 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub: 75 Years of Racing (re-air), FS2
7 a.m., Greatest Races: 1985 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway (re-air), FS2
9 a.m., Greatest Races: 1990 Goody’s 300 at Daytona International Speedway (re-air), FS2
11 a.m., Greatest Races: 1994 NASCAR Cup Series Brickyard 400 (re-air), FS2
2 p.m., NASCAR Presents: Beyond the Wheel, FS2
6 p.m., NASCAR Presents: Beyond the Wheel, FS1
7 p.m., Greatest Races: 2007 NASCAR Cup Series Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway (re-air), FS1
10 p.m., Greatest Races: NASCAR (re-air), FS1

Tuesday, Dec. 27
1 a.m., Greatest Races: 2011 NASCAR Cup Series Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway (re-air), FS1
4 a.m., NASCAR Race Classic: 1997 Daytona 500 (re-air), FS1
8 p.m., NASCAR Presents: Beyond the Wheel, FS2
9 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub: 75 Years of Racing (re-air), FS2
10 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub (re-air), FS2
11 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub (re-air), FS2

Wednesday, Dec. 28
9:30 p.m., NASCAR Presents: Beyond the Wheel, FS2
10:30 p.m., Greatest Races: 2001 NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway (re-air), FS2

Thursday, Dec. 29
1:30 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Best of Radioactive from Atlanta (re-air), FS2
12 p.m., ARCA Menards Series race (re-air), MAVTV
2 p.m., ARCA Menards Series race (re-air), MAVTV
4 p.m., ARCA Menards Series race (re-air), MAVTV
6 p.m., ARCA Menards Series race (re-air), MAVTV
8 p.m., ARCA Menards Series race (re-air), MAVTV
10 p.m., ARCA Menards Series race (re-air), MAVTV

Sunday, Jan 1
12 a.m, ARCA Menards Series race (re-air), MAVTV

Posted on December 23, 2022December 23, 2022 by Holly Cain

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

Driver: William Byron
Car: No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
Crew chief: Rudy Fugle
Final 2022 ranking: 6th
Key stats: 2 wins, 5 top fives, 11 top 10s, 1 pole, 746 laps led

How 2022 ended: After securing his fourth consecutive playoff berth, Byron turned in the best championship finish of his five-year career at the NASCAR Cup Series level with a sixth-place position in the final standings. Importantly for the 25-year-old, he proved himself a legitimate favorite to have advanced to his first Championship 4 – just missing the opportunity. Byron earned six top-10 finishes in the 10 playoff races. But his seventh-place effort at Martinsville Speedway (where he won in the spring) to set that four-driver title group was not enough to ultimately earn a championship shot.

Best race: Ironically, it was the famous Martinsville short track where Byron and the Rudy Fugle-led No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports team turned in their best single-day effort of the 2022 season. He led 212 of the 403 laps — including the final 83 — to earn the win in April, marking the first time Byron had ever led 200 laps in any NASCAR Cup Series race — the first truly “dominating” effort in his young career and he had to hold off eventual series champion Joey Logano for the trophy.

Stat to know: Despite starting the season with back-to-back DNFs at Daytona and Auto Club Speedway, Bryon managed to hit several career-high marks statistically. The springtime victories at Atlanta and Martinsville (only three weeks apart) marked the first time he’d scored multiple victories in the same NASCAR Cup Series season. His 746 laps out front (over 18 races) was also a personal high – over 300 more laps than he’d ever led in a single season. And most significantly, Byron’s career-best sixth-place finish in the championship showed he could contend alongside the sport’s stars and legitimately elevate his standing as a serious title contender.

Quotable: “Just have to put all the pieces together next year. But happy with where we are. Sixth in points this year and still continuing to climb forward. I’m young, but I’m experienced in what I’ve done in racing, and I think all that experience is starting to come to fruition. … I feel good about the direction we’re headed, and to be that close to the final four this year, was a big step.”

Looking ahead: In his second season reunited with his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship crew chief Fugle, Byron continued to raise his game. It’s easy to forget sometimes that although the precocious Byron has now competed in five full-time NASCAR Cup Series seasons, he is still only 25 years old. That “seasoning” is something Byron himself recognizes – and is encouraged about. Every year he has improved his championship ranking and elevated his statistical showings. He knows how to win a NASCAR championship, and his Hendrick Motorsports team is one of the most successful in the sport’s history, winning two of the last three season titles. The combination of experience and confidence that Byron has gained is evident in his 2022 work as a multi-race winner and his best-ever playoff effort. The progression certainly places him among the sport’s top tier and only raises expectations heading into 2023.

Posted on December 23, 2022December 23, 2022 by Staff Report

Driver Baltazar Leguizamón hopes to become the first native of Argentina to make his NASCAR national series debut, with MBM Motorsports aiming to provide the opportunity.

The 22-year-old native of Arrecifes, a province 112 miles northwest of Buenos Aires, is hopeful to make starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2023, according to a press release from the team. Leguizamón won the 2018 Atlantic Championship Series title and earned a runner-up championship finish in the inaugural season of F3 Americas, also in 2018. Leguizamón has also competed in Top Race V6, an Argentine touring car series.

“I am really proud to be the first Argentinean with a NASCAR national series license,” Leguizamón said in a release. “It’s been a long way on my career living my dream in international motorsports. All the hard work is paying off right now.”

“This is huge for us, for my country, and for South America. It’s my childhood dream beginning to come true.”

The team’s release noted Leguizamón still needs to secure financial backing to set a definitive date for his debut, but the team implied it is targeting one of the eight road or street courses on the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule for Leguizamón’s inaugural start. Circuit of The Americas marks the first road course on the circuit on March 25.

“I am very thankful to everyone involved with this project: the NASCAR administration, Bruce Bohlander, and Carl Long of MBM Motorsports, who opened this door for me and is helping me into this,” Leguizamón said in a release. “We’ve won in seven different series, and we want to keep going at this very seriously.”