DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The NASCAR Foundation announced Ralph Maccarone as the winner of the 12th annual Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award during a live-streamed announcement on NASCAR’s YouTube channel Thursday. As the award winner, Maccarone secured a $100,000 donation from The NASCAR Foundation to Who We Play For, a nationwide organization whose mission is to eliminate preventable sudden cardiac arrest in young people through affordable heart screenings.
“It’s a great honor to have won the Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award,” said Maccarone following the announcement. “The entire NASCAR organization and The NASCAR Foundation have been phenomenal to work with and we’re so excited to use these funds to help students and save lives.”
Maccarone, who co-founded Who We Play For after losing his 15-year-old son to sudden cardiac arrest, has served and supported the organization for more than a decade. He earned the most online votes from a pool of volunteers, including: Dan Majetich of Nick and Kelly Children’s Heart Fund, Tammy Garrett of Rapahope Children’s Retreat Foundation of Alabama and Tracy Williams of Tom Coughlin Jay Fund Foundation. Together, the group of finalists have impacted more than 100,000 children through their 81 combined years of service. Each of these organizations has earned a $25,000 donation from The NASCAR Foundation in recognition of their nominated volunteers’ achievements.
“Ralph has dedicated his life to ensuring young people receive the proper screenings that could one day save their lives,” said Nichole Krieger, Executive Director of The NASCAR Foundation. “He has spent countless hours volunteering at screenings, fundraising and advocating for change as Who We Play For has grown into a national organization that’s reaching more communities each year. His work and the work of all of our finalists exemplify the lasting legacy of Betty Jane France and the countless number of children The NASCAR Foundation continues to impact.”
Maccarone co-founded Who We Play For in 2012 with the vision to inspire and empower schools, sports clubs and communities to provide heart screenings for all student athletes and students. Through his work, Maccarone has helped bring Who We Play For to many regions across the country as he has advocated for sudden cardiac arrest legislation on the local, state and federal level. With the $100,000 award, Maccarone hopes to bring heart screening events to more NASCAR communities over the next two years.
Aside from his service, Maccarone has been a fan of NASCAR after first being introduced to the sport by his wife, Valerie. He and his son started following Ryan Newman after discovering the driver shared the same birthday as his son.
In its 12 years, The Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award has recognized 48 NASCAR fans who are dedicated volunteers working for children’s causes in communities nationwide. More than 475,000 children’s lives have been affected by the program with $2 million contributed to children’s charities.
To learn more about The NASCAR Foundation’s programs, including the Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award and Speediatrics Children’s Fund, please visit NASCARfoundation.org.
Down in South Carolina on one of NASCAR’s most unique short tracks, Florence Motor Speedway, one of the biggest events of the year is set to take place — the South Carolina 400. Try your hand at some props for a chance to win points and prizes before Saturday’s star-studded showdown (7:45 p.m. ET on FloRacing).
Heading into Championship Weekend, Ty Gibbs – and Joe Gibbs Racing, in particular – had their work cut out for them.
Of course, the work didn’t come much regarding a lack of talent or capability to win the title. The team in JGR and the driver in Gibbs certainly had the pedigree to win at Phoenix Raceway, and they inevitably did, ousting the trio of other contending playoff drivers en route to a win at the track and a title clinch in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
Instead, the work cut out for JGR came from the team they were battling. After all, the three other Championship 4 drivers – Noah Gragson, Justin Allgaier and Josh Berry – called Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s co-owned JR Motorsports home. And while JGR might have prevailed over JRM when it was all said and done, the latter’s 2022 season could not be taken lightly. And who knows – even as drivers move up the league ladder, JRM’s breakout year could signify what JGR will have to contend with next season and beyond.
So, what exactly did JRM accomplish this season if they didn’t claim the title? Glad you asked. For starters, JRM led all 2022 teams in wins with 15, the fourth-most by an Xfinity Series team in a single season and the most since JGR won 16 in 2010, per Racing Insights. JRM’s 15 wins were additionally a team-high in a single season, lapping their nine wins during the 2014 campaign.
Spearheading JRM’s winning effort in 2022 was Noah Gragson, who found Victory Lane eight times. The 24-year-old acted as the ace and anchor for the team from start to finish, and a scorching start to the season certainly cemented this claim. According to Racing Insights, Gragson became the third driver to start the season with four consecutive top-three finishes. Collectively, Gragson led all drivers with eight wins, 21 top-five finishes and 16 stage wins. And just to add a cherry on top, Gragson’s four consecutive wins between Darlington Raceway (Sept. 3) and Texas Motor Speedway (Sept. 24) tied Sam Ard (1983) for most consecutive races won.
Now, the question is bound to arise. With Gragson’s transfer to the Cup Series as captain of the No. 42 Chevrolet under Petty-GMS starting in 2023, what will JRM do to offset the loss in production? If 2022 was any indicator, then JRM will remain in stable hands. When speaking of last season, Allgaier and Berry were tied for fourth in wins (three apiece). The pair combined for 27 top-five finishes (16 and 11, respectively) and individually ranked inside the top five in this category among all Xfinity Series drivers (Allgaier t-3rd and Berry t-5th).
Stage wins weren’t alien to the Allgaier-Berry duo, either, even when compared to Gragson’s total. Allgaier’s eight and Berry’s six stage wins in 2022 ranked third and fourth in the league, behind only Gragson and JGR’s Gibbs (10). And so, JRM’s success in winning stages only made it natural for the team to collectively break records in this category. JRM’s 33 stage wins were the most in a single season for a team, surpassing JGR’s 30 in 2019.
JRM’s Gragson-Allgaier-Berry trio undoubtedly put together strong seasons from start to finish, and while none of the three came away with the championship, all three put themselves in a position to fight for it. With their bids in the Championship 4, JRM added to their resume by being the only team to place three drivers in the Championship 4, doing so in 2022 and 2017.
A successful 2022 season from JRM sets the bar high for 2023. Challenge accepted. With Gragson’s departure comes Brandon Jones’ entrance, who will transition from JGR to JRM and take over Gragson’s No. 9 Chevy in 2023. Then, there is second-year driver Sam Mayer, who, in his first full-time season with JRM in the No. 1, tallied 11 top-five finishes and two stage wins.
No matter how JGR looks in 2023, the team will still be reeling off a victorious 2022 season that saw them net their second championship in as many years. However, if JRM has anything to say about it, then the former will continue to have their work cut out for them.
Editor’s note: NASCAR Roots will profile local drivers in advance of this weekend’s South Carolina 400 at Florence Motor Speedway, where Dale Earnhardt Jr. will compete. Click here to learn more about the track or watch Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET on FloRacing.
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There aren’t many drivers who can win a track championship in the top class at a NASCAR-sanctioned short track before their 18th birthday.
Kade Brown did it at 16.
Brown, driving a late model stock car prepared by AK Performance, was the driver to beat all season at Florence Motor Speedway in Timmonsville, South Carolina.
In 17 starts at the 0.4-mile asphalt oval, Brown won six times and finished outside the top 10 just once. If that weren’t impressive enough, 2022 was Brown’s first full season racing late model stock cars after he dabbled in the class last year.
“I started in late model stocks at Florence in 2021,” said Brown, who also claimed the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series South Carolina state championship in addition to the Florence track championship. “I ran about half the season, and I had one or two top threes. We were OK. We went into the 2022 season with really no idea how we were going to do.”
Part of the uncertainty was because of some bad luck late in 2021 that saw Brown crash his team’s primary car during the South Carolina 400 at Florence. The team built a new car for the 2022 season following the crash, a decision that immediately paid dividends.
Kade Brown pictured during practice for the Fall Brawl at Hickory Motor Speedway on Nov. 12, 2022. (Adam Fenwick/NASCAR)
In his first race in that new car during Florence’s IceBreaker in February, Brown drove to a third-place finish. It was at that point he knew he had a car capable of competing for the track championship.
“We knew we were good,” Brown said. “From there on out we kept getting better and better each time we were out there and learning. We ended up with six wins.
“We were confident enough to where we could go race for a championship after those first few races and how they played out.”
Brown is not a South Carolina native; he moved to the region two years ago from Fulshear, Texas. The move was the result of his father’s employer transferring him to the East Coast.
When it came time to pick exactly where in he region the family would land, Brown said they chose Denver, North Carolina, because of its proximity to the motorsports industry.
Brown had taken an interest in motorsports long before the move to North Carolina. His father, a former motocross racer, didn’t want his son to follow in his footsteps as a motorcycle racer. That’s when Brown, then just 5, got his first go kart.
He’s been off to the races – literally – ever since.
Kade Brown (right) helps his crew push his car at Florence Motor Speedway earlier this year. (Photo courtesy of Kade Brown)
“I raced that go kart until I was 7,” Brown said. “Then I got a Bandolero and raced that until I was 12. Then I got in a legend car, raced it for two years, and I’m still in and out of that. Then I got in a late model when I turned 14.”
While the regular season at Florence may be over, one big event remains on the schedule. The South Carolina 400, scheduled for this Saturday evening, is expected to attract one of the biggest late model stock car fields of the year.
Brown, as the reigning track champion, will be one of more than 50 drivers looking to qualify for the race. He’s looking forward to the challenge, which would include battling NASCAR Hall of Fame Dale Earnhardt Jr., who is returning to race to Florence for the first time since his formative years in racing.
“I’m really looking forward to it,” Brown said about competing in the South Carolina 400. “I’ve never been this excited for a race. I’m a little nervous because I really want to do good. I know it’s going to be a stacked field. Dale Jr. is going to be racing. I just want to do the best I can, and however it plays out is how it goes.
“It’s going to be the best of the best there. You can’t get any better. I’m really looking forward to it. These guys are the best there is. I’m hoping we can stack up well against them.”
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — NASCAR today announced the creation of NASCAR Brasil Sprint Race, the sanctioning body’s fourth international series and first in South America. The series, which will begin competition in 2023, is a partnership between NASCAR and the GT Sprint Race series in Brazil.
NASCAR Brasil Sprint Race joins the NASCAR Mexico Series, NASCAR Pinty’s Series (Canada) and NASCAR Whelen Euro Series as the fourth international series racing under the NASCAR banner. In 2023, NASCAR racing will take place in 12 different countries on three continents.
“Brazil is a vibrant country, rich in motorsports culture and community, and the perfect location for our first series in South America,” said Chad Seigler, NASCAR Vice President of International. “NASCAR Brasil Sprint Race will allow us to showcase the exciting side-by-side racing that defines NASCAR while giving Brazilian race fans a series to which they feel connected. It is our hope and intention that this series also opens more pathways for the country’s best drivers, mechanics and engineers to advance to NASCAR’s national series in the United States, the worldwide pinnacle of stock car racing.”
“NASCAR is an iconic American sport, and we are honored to join forces to create NASCAR Brasil Sprint Race,” said Carlos Col, General Partner, NASCAR Brasil Sprint Race. “GT Sprint Race has delivered exciting racing to fans since 2012 and this partnership will help take it to the next level with the introduction of more NASCAR-style racing, including future races on oval tracks. This is an historic day for motorsports in Brazil, and one that will benefit race fans across the country.”
GT Sprint Race was founded in 2012 by Thiago Marques, a former standout stock car driver in Brazil, with the goal of balancing high levels of competition, performance and safety. The 2022 schedule included 18 sprint races over nine weekends at road courses across Brazil, including Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace (Interlagos) in São Paulo. The 2023 schedule will be released at a future date.
Brazil’s strong motorsports culture has extended to NASCAR over the past 20 years. Three Brazilian-born drivers have competed in NASCAR in the United States – Christian Fittipaldi made 15 Cup Series starts in 2003, Nelson Piquet Jr. started 83 races across NASCAR’s three national series from 2010-16 winning three times, and Miguel Paludo has 81 starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and CRAFTSMAN Truck Series, including three this past season.
Through a partnership with Bandeirantes, all NASCAR Cup Series races and select Xfinity Series and CRAFTSMAN Truck Series races are shown on Band Sports. NASCAR is currently broadcast in 195 countries and territories, reaching over 500 million households.
Steve O’Donnell, the latest guest to join the “Stacking Pennies” podcast with Corey LaJoie, had plenty to share.
O’Donnell, the sport’s COO, offered candor on a multitude of pressing topics surrounding the sport at the forefront of the offseason, including potential upcoming changes to the Next Gen car, possible international events and ongoing discussions with manufacturers.
The 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season saw the Next Gen vehicle debut and bring with it plenty of upside – 19 different winners, compelling racing and more parity. But criticism remained around the on-track product at both short tracks and road courses. O’Donnell conceded those areas need work and will be addressed ahead of the 2023 season.
“I agree with the fans,” O’Donnell told LaJoie and Co. “Small body of work, right? We didn’t have that many races [on short tracks]. But you take Martinsville, for instance, and the thing that caught my eye – and you heard this from BJ [McLeod], a good race car driver, right? But he’s a lap down, and he’s able to hold off the leader, I think, for what, 50 laps, right? Just kind of shifting and getting off the gas. And that’s a problem for us.
“So if you’ve got a good car and you’re out there and you’re able to pass guys, you should be able to do that. And so we’ve looked at what’s happening in short tracks. You look at the brakes on the road courses, they’re so good. So this car is different for sure. But it presents some challenges on both short tracks and road courses. So we’re looking at a lot of things around the aero. Certainly looking at some things around the tires, but you know that’s going to be our big focus in the offseason is both road courses and short tracks for sure.”
Some of that work has already begun, thanks in part to NASCAR’s partnership with Hendrick Motorsports as the team fields a Garage 56 entry for the 2023 running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The company’s first test car hit the track Monday at Virginia International Raceway, and some of that data is already proving notable as NASCAR officials work to improve the Next Gen product on the sanctioning body’s traditional circuit.
“There’s a lot of things we’ve looked at in the wind tunnel that we found on that car that I think we can try for [a] fairly inexpensive way to go about it, particularly on the short tracks,” O’Donnell said. “So you’ll see us most likely go test something up in Richmond. … But I think there’s gonna be some good things. At least from what we’ve seen already in the wind tunnel and a lot of the sim data, it looks really good in terms of getting rid of some of the challenges as we’ve seen, particularly on the short tracks.
“And then, ultimately, we’ve got to look at shifting. Do we want to eliminate that? How can we work with the engine builders to improve upon that also?”
Power components also remain a hot-button topic as manufacturers consider moving further toward electric or other power sources for their vehicles. NASCAR continues to look at those options, O’Donnell said, but all factors must make sense too.
“For us, we’ve got to be all things to all people. And at the end of the day, we got to be entertaining,” O’Donnell said. “And people want to show up, and they want to go to an event, and they want to have fun. And what I’ve seen at least around [electric vehicle] racing so far, there’s maybe some fun off-track, but the racing is not that. And so we’ve got a lot of work to do if we’re going to be in that space. How do we do it? What’s the look and feel of the car?
“So we’re building kind of a mule car, so to speak, and we’ll beat it up a little bit, see what we can learn. But we’re also going to be looking at hydrogen space, alternative fuels, all kinds of things because we’ve got to be on the forefront of that and not just put all our eggs in one basket.”
NASCAR has not seen a new manufacturer enter the sport since Toyota joined the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in 2004, eventually leaping to Cup in 2007. O’Donnell stressed talks are ongoing and have gotten close, but added it remains difficult to say whether a new manufacturer will join in the next five years.
“I think there’s certainly interest,” O’Donnell said. “We are having conversations right now with an OEM, so I’d like to say likely, but it’s tough. … But again, when you go back to looking at how soon is electrification going to come? Or where do you want to be? And at the end of the day, for us, it’s great if you want to be in the electric space, but we want to be entertaining, right? We’re a sport. We want to make sure our fans come out there and love what they see, and we’ve got to balance that.”
Interest is also stemming from cities around the continent that don’t yet have Cup racing on its doorstep. The NASCAR Xfinity Series’ inaugural visit to Portland (Oregon) International Raceway in June — highlighted by full grandstands despite considerable rain — emphasized an appetite for racing in America’s Northwest region. But calls are also being made from across both sides of the United States’ borders.
”We haven’t necessarily brought the Cup Series to Canada or the Cup Series to Mexico,” O’Donnell said, “so there’s a lot of interest from both those places — Mexico City, Guadalajara, Monterrey, they’re all talking to us. Montreal, Toronto. So there’s a lot of interest.
“I think the key for us is going to be how do we balance this? I mean, you grew up on short tracks. Our fans love short tracks. So we don’t want to turn it into a 30-race road-course schedule, right? So we’ve got to balance where we’re going to take a race and what kind of race track we’re going to migrate that to.”
For more details on O’Donnell’s conversation with LaJoie, tune into this week’s episode of “Stacking Pennies.“
Dylan “Mamba” Smith is dusting off his driving shoes once again to compete in Saturday’s South Carolina 400 late model stock car event at Florence Motor Speedway in Timmonsville, South Carolina.
Smith, who made his ARCA Menards Series debut earlier this year at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, will drive a car fielded by Lee Faulk Racing with sponsorship from Dodge Direct Connection and @DodgeMoparMotorsports, the brand’s motorsports Instagram channel.
The 30-year-old from Randolph, Vermont, has worked with Dodge since 2019 as part of the Dodge Thrill Ride tour.
Baptized in the brotherhood of muscle… If it wasn't for @Dodge@OfficialMOPAR Motorsports I wouldn't be where I am with @NASCAR…
“In April 2019 I was offered a spot on the Dodge Thrill Ride tour, and since then I’ve grown within the brand from a support staff role to serving as a brand ambassador, Dodge product specialist, and now leading event activations and acting as a ‘hype man’ on the mic,” said Smith. “Without this opportunity on the Dodge Thrill Ride tour, I don’t think I’m doing what I’m doing with NASCAR. To carry Direct Connection and @DodgeMoparMotorsports colors on this car is a full-circle life experience — the people and the brand will always be home for me.”
Smith is one of more than 50 drivers entered to compete in the late model stock car portion of the South Carolina 400. He’ll be joined by NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr., who will drive a No. 3 late model stock car featuring a throwback wrap honoring his father’s Bass Pro Shops scheme from the 1998 NASCAR All-Star Race.
Complete coverage of the South Carolina 400 will be available on FloRacing starting Friday at 5:30 p.m. ET. Saturday’s coverage also begins at 5:30 p.m. ET.
On Thursday, Nov. 17 at 1:30 p.m. ET, The NASCAR Foundation will reveal the winner of the 12th annual Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award live on NASCAR’s YouTube Channel.
The Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award, named in honor of the foundation’s late founder and chairwoman, Betty Jane France, recognizes NASCAR fans who volunteer for children’s causes in their racing communities. Each finalist receives a minimum $25,000 donation for their organization with the overall winner receiving a $100,000 donation from The NASCAR Foundation to further their efforts.
This year’s Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award finalists include:
Dan Majetich of Tempe, Arizona, a co-founder and volunteer with Nick and Kelly Children’s Heart Fund of Arizona, an organization that assists Arizona families of children with congenital heart disease and acquired heart disease. After losing their sons, Nick and Kelly, to congenital heart defects, Dan and his wife, Margaret, founded the Nick and Kelly Children’s Heart Fund in 1985. Since then, Dan has become a leading advocate for families of children with heart disease, helping to provide financial assistance and hosting annual camps for children to experience activities that normally may not be accessible to children with heart defects.
Ralph Maccarone of Pagosa Springs, Colorado, a co-founder and volunteer of Who We Play For, a nationwide organization whose mission is to eliminate preventable sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) in young people through affordable heart screenings. After losing his 15-year-old son to SCA, Ralph helped to co-found Who We Play For and over the last decade has dedicated his time to volunteering at heart screening events, fundraising and advocating for policy changes and serving as the chairman of the Board of Directors.
Tammy Garrett of Mobile, Alabama, a volunteer with Rapahope Children’s Retreat Foundation of Alabama, a non-profit organization that provides opportunities to families on the childhood cancer journey through recreational support programs. A volunteer for 17 years, Tammy is involved in all aspects of Rapahope, including involvement on the organization’s fundraising and planning committees. She is also a regular attendee of the Camp Week, Sibling Weekend, Teen Weekend and Family Day programs, often volunteering her time to cooking meals and helping campers learn to fish.
Tracy Williams of Jacksonville, Florida, a volunteer with the Tom Coughlin Jay Fund Foundation, a non-profit organization that supports families that are tackling childhood cancer. For the past 17 years, Tracy has played an integral role in delivering support and raising funds for families affected by childhood cancer. A chairperson to the organization’s signature fundraising event, The Celebrity Golf Classic, Tracy has helped raise over $7 million dollars, coordinating program content and logistics to assure the event’s success including its transition to a virtual environment during the pandemic.
To learn more about The NASCAR Foundation’s Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award and the 2022 finalists, visit NASCARfoundation.org/Award.
Editor’s note: NASCAR Roots will profile local drivers in advance of this weekend’s South Carolina 400 at Florence Motor Speedway, where Dale Earnhardt Jr. will compete. Click here to learn more about the track or watch Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET on FloRacing.
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From the moment his career began, Ryan Glenski has never been afraid to think outside the box to gain an advantage on his competition.
That ingenuity can be seen every race weekend at Florence Motor Speedway, as Glenski chooses to primarily utilize the high side while most drivers stick to the bottom groove. Glenski’s strategy netted him several victories in the 2021 season alone.
Approaching racing in an unorthodox manner is a mindset that Glenski’s father Randy utilized during his time as a dirt track competitor. The younger Glenski has done everything possible to mimic his father’s techniques while becoming a consistent late model stock frontrunner in South Carolina.
“Anywhere is a good place to run at Florence, but up on that outside is where I want to be,” Glenski said. “My father [Randy] use to run dirt up in New York and dirt racers know how to get the momentum going on the outside. If you can get it to work, it’s going to prevail.”
While Glenski has found a home racing at Florence, it was just more than a decade ago when he had an opportunity to showcase his talents on a national level.
After going through Bandoleros and the Allison Legacy Series during the late 2000s, Glenski participated in Andy Hillenburg’s Fast Track Blue Collar Hero Driver Challenge, which took place in 2011 at Rockingham Speedway’s short track known as ‘Little Rock’ from March to June.
Hillenburg was impressed by the efficiency Glenski showed during the three-month period and elected to put him in one of his cars for the ARCA Menards Series race at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park on July 28 of that year.
Nothing would come easy for Glenski at IRP, as he was tasked with putting up a great qualifying lap against a talented entry list that included current NASCAR Cup Series drivers Ty Dillon, Ryan Blaney and Chris Buescher, as well as other accomplished competitors like Frank Kimmel, Grant Enfinger and Tom Hessert III.
Looking back on his opportunity at IRP 11 years later, Glenski recalled the emotion surrounding the weekend, from just simply having a chance to race in ARCA to thinking about his father, who was battling Sinonasal Neuroendocrine Carcinoma at the time; a rare form of cancer.
“That was the one race my father never went to because he was going through chemo at the time,” Glenski said. “It was the most important race I ever ran, and even though my dad was stuck at home, that weekend meant so much to me and my family. It was a fun race at a fun little racetrack.”
The funding did not materialize for Glenski to make more starts in ARCA or NASCAR, so he decided to shift his focus to running his own family business while simultaneously maintaining an active racing presence at Myrtle Beach Speedway and later Florence.
Following his lone ARCA start, Ryan Glenski became a regular at Myrtle Beach Speedway and later Florence Motor Speedway. (William Chilton/NASCAR)
When he first met Glenski, Florence general manager Steve Zacharias was impressed with the competitive nature he brought to each race. As the years have progressed, Zacharias said Glenski’s determination has enabled him to develop a unique race craft that keeps him in contention for victories.
“Ryan is a fierce competitor,” Zacharias said. “He’s learned a lot about saving tires and what it takes to stay up front. A lot of these guys burn their stuff up, but Ryan stays focused on the task at hand. He’s always got a chance to win.”
For Glenski, the 2022 season at Florence has been more about overcoming adversity as opposed to establishing consistency.
The car Glenski enjoyed so much success with at Florence in 2021 was destroyed in a restart pileup during last year’s South Carolina 400. It has taken Glenski time to get acclimated to his new car, but he has seen significant progress over the past few months, especially with former NASCAR crew chief Paul Andrews helping his program.
With one victory under his belt during a part-time campaign this year, Glenski is confident the speed he found will carry over into the South Carolina 400.
“[The South Carolina 400] is everything,” Glenski said. “Whether it was at Myrtle Beach or Florence now, it’s the big one. Martinsville is one thing, but the 400 is a completely different deal. You’re going to have the best of the best there, and it’s a survival race. We got caught up in someone else’s mess last year and the guy running 25th ends up winning by saving tires.”
While Glenski is currently focused on the South Carolina 400, he has not yet given up on his dream to one day make another start in NASCAR’s top divisions.
Glenski knows he can get the most out of a car after several years of competing at Myrtle Beach and Florence, which is why he wants another chance to prove himself in either ARCA or NASCAR, even if it is just a one-race deal.
Zacharias would love to see such an opportunity develop for Glenski, but stressed that he needs proper funding starting at the local level so he can proudly represent Florence and South Carolina short track racing on a much larger stage.
“I want Ryan to be successful in whatever he does,” Zacharias said. “We’d love to have him here, but we want to see people get behind guys like Ryan. It takes a lot for our local guys to financially pull off what they’re doing, so any support Ryan can get from a sponsorship standpoint would really help him out.”
Saturday’ South Carolina 400 is only the second time Ryan Glenski has competed in the event’s Late Model Stock feature. (William Chilton/NASCAR)
Glenski has seen his team rise to the occasion numerous times through the past several years and knows everyone involved is going to do whatever it takes to ensure Glenski will be among those battling for the win in one of the south’s most cherished short track races.
“It’s really been a pleasure to do this,” Glenski said. “There’s something new every day and the sport is always evolving. We’re going up against the big dogs every week, but everything we’ve accomplished is something we’re all honored to be a part of.”
Putting together a great performance in the South Carolina 400 for Glenski will come down to being patient during the opening stages while simultaneously getting more creative than his competitors regarding strategy and race craft.
Should he make it to the final stage, Glenski fully intends to honor his dirt track heritage by making the top side work so he can join an elite list of South Carolina 400 winners.
RFK Racing faced a mini-revolution of sorts in 2022.
The year was bound to be a reset as the NASCAR Cup Series transitioned to the Next Gen car anyway. But the addition of former Team Penske driver Brad Keselowski as both a part-owner and full-time driver of the No. 6 Ford brought a revamped rebranding to RFK — known from 1988 to 2006 as Roush Racing and from 2007 through 2021 as Roush Fenway Racing.
Jack Roush, who founded his historic NASCAR operation in 1988, was still involved at 80 years old. But the mechanical genius known both for his engineering prowess and preference for doing things his way allowed Keselowski into the fold this year.
One of the many witnesses throughout the entire process was Chris Buescher, driver of the No. 17 Ford since 2020 but with ties to the company since 2010.
With a new teammate — who happens to be his co-owner, too — Buescher acknowledged that while much has changed, there was a surprising similarity in how Roush and Keselowski operated.
“It’s been really good,” Buescher said. “I think that, you know, both of them coming from Michigan, both being very ingrained Ford people trying to come in from both having their manufacturing side of their businesses, I think that it’s been a great fit.
“I think that Brad’s very, very knowledgeable and has been very sharp and has been able to take a lot of his practices through the years and figure out how to help it apply to us and help us and I think that’s been very, very good for us in general as well.”
That was another plus for Keselowski: While this was his biggest leap into ownership in NASCAR, it was not his first. That came in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series with Brad Keselowski Racing, which operated between 2008-2017 usually as a two-truck program, providing opportunities for some of today’s Cup stars like Ross Chastain, Ryan Blaney, Tyler Reddick, Chase Briscoe and Austin Cindric.
“It’s really, really similar,” Keselowski said of his experiences at BKR and RFK. “It’s just every check has another zero on it. You know, that’s the reality. The things that cost $50,000 cost $500,000. Things that cost $500,000 cost $5 million. It’s just more expensive, probably the biggest thing. But all the same values and principles hold true of how you treat your people and how you develop your car and how you interact on a daily basis with your company and your team and sponsors and all the people that are kind of stakeholders.
“So I think the fundamentals are all the same. It’s just a little more expensive and a little better competition.”
The years leading up to 2022 were lean for RFK. Carl Edwards’ wins in 2014 at Bristol and Sonoma served as the company’s only victories on non-superspeedway tracks for the next seven years. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s triumphs in 2017 at Talladega and Daytona were the only exceptions.
That changed this past season thanks to Buescher’s victory in September at Bristol, his second career win and first since winning a fog-shortened race in 2016 at Pocono for Front Row Motorsports. Keselowski, meanwhile, went winless for the first time since 2010, snapping an 11-year streak of consecutive seasons with victories. While disappointing for the 2012 Cup Series champion, numbers from one year alone aren’t bothering him much.
“You know, if I’m able to do what I want to do with this company — and we’re on the track to do it — then it’s not gonna mean a damn thing to me,” Keselowski said. “Part of the risk of taking the opportunity and making the move I did is giving up some of those stats, which probably feel good in the moment, but you know, 10, 20 years from now, I’m not going to remember or care about those things. What I’m going to remember or care about is what I was able to take this company from where it was a year ago to where I want it to be in the next year or so.”
The numbers don’t lie. Buescher scored a career-high three top-five finishes and 10 top 10s in addition to his Bristol win while Keselowski contributed one top five and six top 10s. The quick math says that counts for four combined top fives and 16 top 10s — an immediate improvement from 2021, when Buescher and Ryan Newman combined for three top fives and 13 top 10s.
Keselowski is optimistic more good lies ahead despite him and Buescher finishing outside the top 20 in driver points this season, with Buescher 21st and Keselowski 24th.
“Definitely didn’t accomplish as much as I wanted to, but you know, looking realistically at the challenge, it’s probably somewhat on schedule,” he explained. “You know, I think we’ve got a lot of things coming over the offseason. … But we’ve got a lot of things that we’re doing to progress that have come over the last, you know, six to 12 months of understanding where the company is at and making the moves accordingly to get both race teams where they can compete for wins.”
The question remains, though, whether any baseline knowledge from 2022 can propel RFK toward an upward trajectory in 2023.
“I would like to say that we have a hold on this car and we got it all figured out and it’s gonna be much easier next year, but I’m not sure that would be truthful,” Buescher said. “We have ideas. We have baselines to start, but we are constantly learning. We’re constantly evolving even more. And I think that’s what we’re going to be looking at through the offseason, right, is how do we take our best days and figure out how to make that our every day.”
