Posted on December 14, 2022December 20, 2022 by Zack Albert

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, Austin Cindric, Austin Dillon, Daniel Suárez, Chris Buescher, Chase Briscoe

Driver: Kyle Busch
Car: No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry TRD
Crew chief: Ben Beshore
Final 2022 ranking: 13th
Key stats: 1 win, 8 top fives, 17 top 10s, 627 laps led

How 2022 ended: Kyle Busch’s season may be best remembered for its off-track twists and uncertainty, which ultimately found resolution with a change in teams — from Joe Gibbs Racing to Richard Childress Racing — heading into 2023. As for the on-track portion of Rowdy’s final JGR campaign, a surprising last-lap victory in Bristol Motor Speedway’s dirt-track race sealed his berth among the 16 postseason-eligible drivers. Busch’s appearance in the playoff field, however, was short-lived. Engine failure while leading ended his day at Darlington Raceway, a spin at Kansas Speedway added to his deficit and another expired engine in his return to Bristol Motor Speedway added up to a rocky three-race stretch and an early Round of 16 exit. As for the end of his long tenure with Coach Joe Gibbs’ No. 18 team, Busch bid an emotional farewell after a seventh-place result in the Phoenix finale.

TAKE A LOOK: New merch available!

Logan Riely | Getty Images

Best race: In terms of result, the automatic answer is the race that Kyle Busch won last season. Busch threaded his No. 18 Toyota past a final-lap collision between front-runners Chase Briscoe and Tyler Reddick to snag the checkered flag on Bristol Motor Speedway’s dirt. He led only the final circuit that April night, achieving a milestone with career win No. 60. In terms of best race without the winning result, Busch had several strong all-around performances that went awry by the end. None were more devastating than the Cup Series Playoffs opener at Darlington, where Busch led a race-best 155 laps before his engine gave up just 23 laps from the finish.

MORE: Busch cashes in on Bristol’s dirt

Other season highlights: Amid some of the struggles, the No. 18 team flashed moments of resilience in the 2022 campaign. The year’s first top-five finish was emblematic of that spirit as Busch drove a reserve car — hastily prepared after a crash in practice — from last on the starting grid to a fourth-place result at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. As personal highlights go, the Busch family welcomed its second child to the world on May 10, announcing the birth of Lennix Key Busch.

Stat to know: Busch’s eight top-five finishes in 2022 marked the lowest total of any season since joining the Cup Series full-time 18 years ago. Attribute a share of that low-water mark to his seven DNFs — his highest total in that category since his rookie year in 2005 (eight).

Quotable: “It’s obviously been a challenging … not just this year but the last little while, and so it’s kind of maybe a blessing in disguise, honestly, where it might just be a time for a fresh start, time for something new and something different. So I’m kind of looking at it as the Tom Brady-Peyton Manning aspect where they left great teams, great organizations where they won championships, and they went on and were able to win championships somewhere else. So I’d like to think that I still have that opportunity to be able to do that with RCR.”

Looking ahead: A monumental change is in progress this offseason for Busch, who breaks with Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota for a future with Richard Childress Racing and Chevrolet starting in 2023. The move will take some major getting used to, not the least of which is a shift in car number from the No. 18 he’s driven for the last 15 years to the No. 8. Busch indicated during Champion’s Week in Nashville that he’s already getting comfortable in his new surroundings, and RCR teammate Austin Dillon said that Busch’s work ethic and enthusiasm have already made an impression: “He is already wearing everybody out about, ‘hey, we’ve got to be ready to go.’ ” How that translates to on-track performance in year two of the Next Gen car is still an unknown, but Busch and Childress are already firming up a new foundation.

Posted on December 13, 2022December 14, 2022 by Adam Fenwick

NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. — Work is well underway at North Wilkesboro Speedway as the historic facility undergoes a major face-lift in advance of the 2023 running of the NASCAR All-Star Race on May 21.

While many improvements are being made to the existing infrastructure, track officials say they are doing everything they can to maintain the historic look and feel that makes the .625-mile facility unique.

“We want to maintain the patina,” said Steve Swift, Speedway Motorsports senior vice president of operations and development. “The facility will look like it did, as close as possible to when it was running back in the ’90s and the ’80s.”

That includes maintaining the historic murals and classic graphics that greet race fans when they enter North Wilkesboro Speedway. Those displays will be preserved, as will many of the other historic signs around the facility.

NASCAR last visited North Wilkesboro Speedway on Sept. 29, 1996, when Jeff Gordon triumphed in the 93rd NASCAR Cup Series race at the facility.

Work is well underway at North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, to repair and replace old suites and buildings in advance of the 2023 NASCAR All-Star Race. (Adam Fenwick | NASCAR)

In the time since that event, many of the structures at North Wilkesboro Speedway fell into disrepair. Track officials have worked with contractors to make sure any structures that need to be repaired or replaced retain a similar look and feel to what was there before the current construction project.

“We want to maintain these old signs and this old look,” Swift said. “When we get back here for the All-Star (Race), even the new construction and fixing all the stuff that is rotted, we’re trying to go back to what was historical and what was here.”

Perhaps the most significant change made thus far to North Wilkesboro Speedway has taken place in the infield, which has been completely dug up and will be repaved in advance of race week next May.

As part of that process, a major infield drainage issue that existed long before the track closed in 1996 has also been addressed and has now been repaired.

“We’ve addressed a lot of the drainage issues,” Swift said. “We would get rain, and if there was a big storm, the pipe that led out of Turn 2 was the only place the water could get out. We’d have a lake in the infield and on the racing surface. We could have raced boats, but not cars. Those pieces had to be fixed.”

The process to repair and replace the retaining walls has also begun, with new concrete walls already poured into some areas of the track in preparation for the installation of SAFER barriers that are expected to be delivered in late January. New catch fencing will also be installed.

The pit stalls on pit road have been dug up and will be replaced with new, wider concrete pit stalls. North Wilkesboro Speedway previously had 43 pit stalls and will instead have 40 pit stalls once construction is complete.

The installation of a new MUSCO Lighting system, which will allow the NASCAR Cup Series to race at night at the historic track for the first time in history, is also in the planning stages.

“We’re putting in a new MUSCO system,” Swift said. “Those are on order. The foundations will go in in January, and shortly after that, there will be new LED MUSCOs. They’ll be able to turn on, turn off, dance the lights, spotlights, some cool features that will be really new to NASCAR.”

Construction crews work in the infield at North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, on December 13, 2022. (Adam Fenwick | NASCAR)

Swift said the track still plans to use the hydraulic lift to transport the winning race car into Victory Lane on top of the infield media center. There are also plans in place to refurbish the scoring pylon in the infield so that it’s operational in time for race week in May.

One of the most unique parts of the North Wilkesboro Speedway revitalization project will take place in Turns 3 and 4. Track officials plan to bring back the manually updated billboard that once stood outside the track and to use it when NASCAR returns to the facility.

“We came upon some old pictures that had the old scoreboard that had five positions and the laps,” Swift said. “Marcus (Smith) came across those pictures and was adamant that that goes back in place.

“We will have a physical person up there putting laps and the top-five positions up there every 10 laps on that board.”

A little more than five months remain before the NASCAR Cup Series returns to North Wilkesboro Speedway, but Swift is confident all the required work will be completed well in advance of the event.

“A lot of planning went into place in a short time frame,” Swift said. “[We] got a lot of people into place and a lot of those parts and pieces into place to make this all happen.”

Posted on December 13, 2022December 13, 2022 by Staff Report

The countdown is on — 200 days from now, NASCAR’s best will be winding around the “Windy City” in the Chicago Street Race, the first-ever street contest in NASCAR Cup Series history.

The unprecedented 12-turn, 2.2-mile street race will take the Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series past and through many of Chicago’s most renowned downtown landmarks during Fourth of July Weekend, July 1-2, 2023.

BUY TICKETS: Chicago Street Race Weekend tickets on sale now | NASCAR’s Chicago connections

“Chicago is one of the most iconic cities in the world, and the first-ever NASCAR Cup Series street race in the heart of downtown will be one of the can’t-miss sporting events in 2023,” said Chicago Street Race President Julie Giese in a November NASCAR release. “The best part is we will have options available for everyone ranging from all-inclusive packages with driver meet-and-greets to a free experience in Butler Field. We truly want anyone interested in experiencing a one-of-a-kind sports and entertainment festival to join us in Chicago over the Fourth of July weekend.”

Fans can follow @NASCARChicago on Twitter and Facebook and download the NASCAR Tracks App for the latest real-time updates on all aspects of the event.

MORE: History of unique Cup tracks | Scenes from race announcement

Posted on December 13, 2022December 20, 2022 by Cameron Richardson

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, Kyle Busch, Austin Cindric, Austin Dillon, Daniel Suárez, Chris Buescher, Chase Briscoe

Driver: Tyler Reddick
Car: No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
Crew chief: Randall Burnett
Final 2022 ranking: 14th
Key stats: 3 wins, 10 top fives, 15 top 10s, 3 poles, 503 laps led

How 2022 ended: Reddick had one of the more promising prospectives entering the 2022 Cup postseason, but his playoff run was cut short in the Round of 16 after wrecking out at Kansas and falling numerous laps down in the elimination race at Bristol. The brief playoff tenure defined Reddick’s season in general that saw him run at the front of the pack. However, a handful of results went the wrong way, most notably in the second race of the year, where the No. 8 led a race-high 90 laps at Auto Club Speedway but suffered a flat tire with just under 50 to go that parachuted Reddick to a 24th-place run. Reddick collected his third victory during the Round of 12 to cap off a three-win season.

Best race: Road America on July 3. A handful of races could take this spot due to Reddick’s ability to run up front. However, not many could have guessed the third-year driver to develop into a road-course ace in 2022, but that’s exactly what happened. Not only did Reddick lead 16 of 62 laps en route to his first career Cup win, but he also outdueled a known virtuoso on the left and right-hand turns in Chase Elliott.

Other season highlights: Reddick picked up two more wins following his maiden victory at Road America. He outclassed the field on the Indianapolis road course to become the first multi-time winner in a season for Richard Childress Racing since Kevin Harvick in 2013 (four). Reddick would then lead 70 laps en route to a Texas win in the Round of 12 of the Cup Series Playoffs and finish the season as one of just five drivers with three or more wins in 2022.

Stat to know: A -8.1 difference in start-to-finish position. Of full-time Cup drivers this past season, Reddick owned the second-best average start at 9.5. However, his average finish sat at just 17.6, which summed up his roller coaster of a season that ended with three finishes of 23rd or worse and included two back-to-back 35th-place finishes (Homestead-Miami Speedway and Martinsville Speedway in Round of 8). Reddick’s playoff elimination was also brought on by finishes of 35th and 25th at Kansas and Bristol, respectively. He started inside the top five 15 times this season and finished outside the top 10 in six of those races.

Quotable: “I’m really excited about next year. It is nice to know, like, hey, this is what the future is going to hold. I’m going to get to go over there earlier than I planned and just start working on those things that myself and a lot of the ownership over there had talked about wanting to do and why we wanted to get together.”

Looking ahead: Three wins would equate to a successful season for any driver, but after an early exit in the postseason, the focus and expectation for Reddick when he shifts over to 23XI Racing will be on advancing through a playoff run and limiting some of the errors that led to his -8.1 difference from average start to average finish. Reddick should be able to find Victory Lane multiple times again in 2023 with a prospective outlook of reaching the Championship 4.

Posted on December 12, 2022 by Press Release

ATTLEBORO, Mass. – Before the calendar turns to 2023, JDV Productions has a few more exciting announcements remaining for fans before the holidays.

Today, JDV officially announced a four-race NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour schedule for the new season, and also announced the renewal of the Whelen Granite State Short Track Cup in a multi-year agreement with Whelen Engineering.

The 2023 JDV season will begin at Monadnock Speedway with Duel at the Dog weekend from Friday, May 5 through Sunday, May 7. Friday will be an optional practice day for Monadnock house divisions, while the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will have a one-day show on Saturday, May 6. On Sunday, the NHSTRA Modifieds and additional Monadnock house divisions will headline the action.

Lee USA Speedway will be up next for the second running of the Granite State Derby on Saturday, May 27. The 175-lap main event on Memorial Day weekend moves from Jennerstown Speedway to Lee.

JDV Productions will also bring the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour back to Claremont Motorsports Park on Saturday, July 29. The inaugural Clash at Claremont, which took place on a Friday last season, moves to Saturday with select house divisions from the track set to be involved in the show. The JDV NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season will conclude right back at Monadnock on Saturday, September 9 with the debut of the Winchester Fair. This event will include a 200-lap NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race and Monadnock house divisions with a special flavor of Fair events for fans. Full event cards will be released for all four shows in the upcoming weeks.

“We’re excited to branch to four events for the 2023 season with the Whelen Modified Tour after what we feel was one of the best seasons yet for JDV Productions in 2022,” Josh Vanada, owner of JDV Productions, said. “Two events on the high-banks of Monadnock, one with a full weekend of racing and one with the Fair idea behind it will be great for the fans. Both Lee and Claremont produce different types of exciting racing and both put on a great show last year. We believe our schedule is a strong one to showcase the best Modified drivers in the country to dedicated New England race fans.”

Along with the date announcements, JDV also announced the return of the Whelen Granite State Short Track Cup in a multi-year agreement with Whelen Engineering. The Granite State Short Track Cup will continue to be a three-race series, with the champion crowned at Claremont in July, showcasing the top stars of Modified racing both on the Tour and at a local level – as select house Modified drivers at Monadnock, Lee and Claremont will again compete in the races. The Whelen Granite State Short Track Cup paid out over $10,000 in bonus awards from the 2022 season and will again have special awards and a point fund for the top three finishers in the standings. Exact details will be announced at a later date. In 2022, Matt Hirschman won the crown by just a few points.

Whelen Engineering — a global leader in the emergency warning industry — has been manufacturing in America since 1952, proudly marking its 70th anniversary in 2022. Whelen designs and manufactures reliable and powerful warning lights, white illumination lighting, sirens, controllers, and high-powered warning systems for Automotive, Aviation (Whelen Aerospace Technologies – WAT), and Mass Notification industries worldwide.

Posted on December 12, 2022December 20, 2022 by Pat DeCola

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, Tyler Reddick, Kyle Busch, Austin Cindric, Austin Dillon, Daniel Suárez, Chris Buescher, Chase Briscoe

Driver: Kevin HarvickCar: No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford MustangCrew chief: Rodney ChildersFinal 2022 ranking: 15thKey stats: 2 wins, 9 top fives, 17 top 10s, 119 laps led

How 2022 ended: Harvick was one of four drivers — a group that also included two-time champ Kyle Busch — to be dropped from title contention after the Round of 16 elimination race at Bristol Motor Speedway, a race Harvick had won just two years prior. It was a somewhat abrupt end to the 2014 champion’s shot at a second Cup title after coming alive just a few weeks prior with back-to-back wins at Michigan and Richmond as the regular season wound down. Issues at Darlington (exhaust, P33) and Kansas (crash, P36) put him in must-win mode at Bristol, and his 10th-place run was not enough to advance. His best remaining finish after being eliminated came at the Charlotte road course, with a runner-up showing.

Best race: This is a bit of a cop-out, but Harvick’s two wins at Michigan and Richmond in back-to-back weeks — the only driver to do this in 2022 — really feel inextricably connected given the tense build-up to Michigan’s victory and the questions that followed the win in Virginia. Many had written Harvick off as a legit title contender by midseason and rumblings that he might be cooked in general were louder than the No. 4 driver would’ve preferred. After all, the win in the Irish Hills snapped a 65-race winless streak dating back to 2020 and he’d looked way off in 2022 to that point. Neither win was particularly dominant (38/200 laps led at Michigan, 55/400 at Richmond) but many were touting the awakening of a “sleeping giant” at such a time that could disrupt the playoffs majorly. Had it not been for the issues at Darlington and Kansas, it’s fair to wonder just how far a dialed-in No. 4 team would’ve fared the rest of the way had it remained in contention.

kevin harvick celebrates a richmond win — *Getty Images*

Other season highlights: There weren’t a ton of them in relation to how Harvick typically performs (he did win a whopping nine races in 2020, after all), but he did manage to muster seven top-five finishes from the Coca-Cola 600 (third) through the end of the season, in a noticeable uptick from where he and the No. 4 started the year (just two top fives in first 12 races). He nailed down a win and runner-up in the two Richmond races in 2022, as well as running in the top five at some of his other mainstays (Darlington, Sonoma, Loudon and Phoenix).

Stat to know: While Harvick did turn in a pair of victories, it was an overall significantly down year by his standards. Plenty of numbers stand out — a career-worst 119 laps led perhaps chief among them — but Harvick also failed to record an average starting spot in the top 10 for just the second time since 2013. A rough 17.5 average starting position definitely hindered the No. 4 car’s results in 2022, but it’s worth wondering if Childers and Harvick failed to grasp the Next Gen changes out of the gate and were battling against a speed deficit all season. Qualifying improvements will certainly be on their radar for 2023.

Quotable: “I think as you look back at (being one spot below Dale Earnhardt in career wins after Richmond), I don’t think as you start your career, you don’t say, well, I want to — it’s easy to say, I guess, I want to win 70-some races and be close or win 60, and then you start doing this on a week-to-week basis, and I think that’s the hardest thing, especially I see it a lot in today’s world. You come out of the Xfinity Series and you see these guys winning a lot of races and you come — I tell (son) Keelan, you’re a go-kart racer. When you want to go big-boy racing, you go Cup racing.

“It’s just a lot harder because everyone in this garage is just a killer, from the crew chief to the drivers to the guys changing the tires. It’s the best of the best, and it’s not easy to keep your team and everybody within your organization competitive, keep yourself competitive. It’s hard.”

Looking ahead: Any driver who wins two races in a season — let alone in back-to-back weeks — will typically feel pretty good about the next campaign on tap, but there are some legitimate concerns for Harvick and SHR as the longtime pairing has now looked like a shell of its former self the past two seasons with two different car generations. Harvick, however, is one of the all-time greats, and the same can be said about his cerebral crew chief in Childers. An offseason of continued tinkering on Next Gen setups and overall preparation ahead of what might be the Californian’s final season in Cup should have them back in winning contention more consistently in 2023, but it’s far from a guarantee.

Posted on December 11, 2022December 12, 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. 12
11 a.m., Greatest Races: NASCAR Cup Series 2009 Aaron’s 499 @ Talladega Superspeedway (re-air), FS2
2 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub: 75 Years of Racing (re-air), FS2
3 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Best of Radioactive 2022 (re-air), FS2
3:30 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Best of Features 2022 (re-air), FS2
4 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub: 2022 Truck Season Recap (re-air), FS2
5 p.m., Greatest Races: NASCAR Cup Series 2010 Aaron’s 499 @ Talladega Superspeedway (re-air), FS2
8 p.m., Greatest Races: NASCAR Xfinity Series 1999 Goody’s 300 @ Daytona International Speedway (re-air), FS2
10 p.m., Greatest Races: NASCAR Cup Series 2005 Daytona 500 (re-air), FS2

Tuesday, Dec. 13
6:30 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Best of Radioactive 2022 (re-air), FS1

Thursday, Dec. 15
12 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub: 75 Years of Racing (re-air), FS2
1 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub: 2022 Truck Season Recap (re-air), FS2
6 p.m., AFT Cedar Lake Short Track Race (re-air), FS2
7 p.m., AFT Volusia Finale I Race (re-air), FS2
8 p.m., AFT Volusia Finale II Race (re-air), FS2
8 p.m., ARCA Menards Series Race at Kansas Speedway, MAVTV
11 p.m., ARCA Menards Series Race at Kansas Speedway, MAVTV

Saturday, Dec. 17
2 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Best of Features 2022 (re-air), FS1

Posted on December 10, 2022December 10, 2022 by Brandon White

The 2022 season saw Katie Hettinger emerge as one of the brightest young starts in short-track racing.

A third-generation racer from Dryden. Michigan, Hettinger showcased her talent in late model stocks this year. At just 15 years of age, she became the all-time winningest female driver in Hickory Motor Speedway’s storied history, an accomplishment that contributed to her earning the 2022 Wendell Scott Trailblazer Award.

Receiving the award came as a major surprise for Hettinger, who said the environment created by everyone at Matt Piercy Racing is what allowed her to take in vital information and find consistency on the track.

“This is definitely a huge accomplishment,” Hettinger said. “Wendell Scott broke so many barriers, and I’m really honored to receive this award. I’m really proud of my team for helping me accomplish so much this year.”

Katie Hettinger received the 2022 Wendell Scott Trailblazer Award following a stellar season that saw her become the all-time winningest female driver at Hickory Motor Speedway. (Adam Fenwick/NASCAR)

Hettinger said becoming the newest recipient of Wendell Scott Trailblazer Award is a great feeling that reminds her of how far NASCAR has progressed when it comes to diversity.

Named after Hall of Famer Wendell Scott, who became the first African-American to win a NASCAR Cup Series event in 1963, the award is presented to a driver based on his or her on-track performance in the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series, as well as other qualities like sportsmanship and community service.

Among those who have received the Wendell Scott Trailblazer Award in recent years include Ryan Vargas, Rajah Caruth and 2022 ARCA Menards Series champion Nick Sanchez, all of whom made at least one start in one of NASCAR’s top three divisions this year.

Hettinger is determined to one day follow in the footsteps of past Wendell Scott Trailblazer Award winners and is optimistic the progress she made both on and off the track in 2022 alone has guided her closer to that goal.

Along with getting an opportunity to participate in the Drive For Diversity Combine, Hettinger ran the final two races of the ARCA Menards Series West schedule with Young’s Motorsports, with her best finish being 19^th in the season finale at Phoenix Raceway.

Hettinger anticipated a learning curve in transitioning over to the much heavier cars utilized by ARCA, but she came away from her two starts at Phoenix and The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway much more confident in her ability to perform in any situation.

“We did ARCA just for an experience standpoint,” Hettinger said. “I wanted to get my feet wet, and it was a lot of fun. The Young’s Motorsports guys worked hard on the cars, and I definitely learned a lot. Hopefully if there’s more ARCA races planned in the future, we’ll be a lot more prepared.”

Katie Hettinger (Photo: Adam Fenwick/NASCAR)

Hettinger said her entire season could be best summarized by stepping out of her established comfort zone.

From getting comfortable with go-karts to venturing out to the West Coast for the first time, Hettinger acclimated herself with several prominent figures who all passed down valuable knowledge regarding setups and approaching different tracks.

While there are plenty of moments Hettinger would love to do over, she said building off both the positives and negatives from 2022 are only going to make her stronger as she moves up the developmental ladder.

“I really felt like we improved by working with a lot of different people,” Hettinger said. “Although we mostly worked with Matt Piercy, I got to drive so many different cars, which included a go-kart at [the GoPro Motorplex] with Josh Wise and Scott Speed. Hopefully in 2023, we’ll be really good everywhere.”

Following a successful 2022, Hettinger hopes to inspire the current and upcoming generation of female competitors by building off her triumphs and shortcomings.(Miranda Alam/ARCA Racing)

Hettinger is currently trying to figure out where exactly she will be racing in 2023, but she does intend to make frequent stops at Hickory so she can maintain her status as the track’s most successful female driver.

Outside of Hickory, Hettinger plans to compete in a full late model stock and pro late model schedule across the East Coast. But she admitted her outline for 2023 could change if she earns a ride in the ARCA Menards Series East through the Drive for Diversity Combine.

Regardless of those plans, Hettinger knows many aspiring female drivers see her as an inspiration, and she hopes her story becomes the status quo in NASCAR as more women earn opportunities to showcase their skills on a larger stage.

“If you can see it, you can be it,” Hettinger said. “Working hard is always the most important thing, and that’s what we’re going to do over the offseason. If you want to put the work in and are ready to do so, you can do anything.”

A busy winter is ahead for Hettinger, who is eager to get back on track and keep embodying the qualities of a Wendell Scott Trailblazer Award winner.

Posted on December 9, 2022December 10, 2022 by Adam Fenwick

2022 NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Division I champion

Layne Riggs

Nothing has come easy for Layne Riggs from the moment his auto racing career began.

A veteran in late model stock car competition despite being just 20, the second-generation competitor from Bahama, North Carolina, has fought for every victory with a small operation, all while waiting for the right opportunity to follow in his father Scott Riggs’ footsteps as a driver in one of NASCAR’s top three divisions.

The decision to bet on himself by going for a NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series title paid off for Riggs, who joined a long list of notable national champions with a stellar season that saw him claim 16 victories at five tracks, as well as a track championship at Virginia’s South Boston Speedway.

2022 NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Division I regional champions

A quartet of drivers who enjoyed successful NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series seasons now have additional reason to celebrate.

Layne Riggs, Craig Von Dohren, Jacob Goede and Neal Latham have been confirmed as regional champions of the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series for 2022.

NASCAR reintroduced regional championships last season for the first time since 2004, giving drivers from across the country who might not be able to contend for the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series national championship something else for which to race. Each regional champion earned $15,000 for his season-long efforts.

2022 NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Division III regional champions

2022 NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Division IV regional champions

2022 NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Division V regional champions

2022 NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Jostens Rookie of the Year winners

With the 2022 NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series season in the books, the Jostens Rookies of the Year for Division I competition have been revealed.

The award winners include one national Jostens Rookie of the Year and four regional winners.

This year’s national Jostens Rookie of the Year, Steve Bernier, who also captured a track championship at Canada’s RPM Speedway.

Katie Hettinger

The 2022 season saw Katie Hettinger emerge as one of the brightest young starts in short-track racing.

Tim DeVos

It’s hard to believe Tim DeVos has been racing since the 1970s and this season was the best of his career.

DeVos won 10 races and had 21 top-five finishes in 24 starts at Michigan’s Berlin Raceway. Not only did his 10th win give him 101 for his career at Berlin, tying him for the most victories in the history of the track, it also helped propel DeVos to the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Division II national championship.

DeVos didn’t come into the season looking for a national title, or even a track title. He raced the same way he’s always raced – just looking to get as many wins as possible.

Austin Paul

Austin Paul came into the 2022 race season with one goal in mind – get as many wins as possible.

Paul finished with eight of them, and 15 top fives in 16 races.

What he didn’t realize is those wins were adding up to points in a national title race he didn’t even know he was in the running for until about a month remained in the season. By the time the end of the year rolled around, Paul had 456 national points, enough to capture the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Division III national championship.

Luke Ramsey

The first championship is always the hardest, but a second title is never easy, either.

Luke Ramsey won the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Division V national championship in 2018, a title he said “eluded me for a few years before I finally got it.”

When Ramsey, who raced this season at Iowa’s Adams County Speedway and Nebraska’s I-80 Speedway, realized he had a chance at a second national title, he knew he had to go for it.

Ramsey had 12 wins and 17 top-five finishes in 19 races this season to take home the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Division IV national championship. He won the title by 10 points, besting Salina Highbanks Speedway’s Jaylen Hardbarger.

Jacob Brown

Jacob Brown’s NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Division V national championship this season was particularly special for him and the track where he races.

Brown had seven wins and 12 top-five finishes in 16 starts at Nebraska’s I-80 Speedway, scoring 404 national points on the way to the Division V national championship.

The honor comes after officials at I-80 Speedway announced the track would be closing after the 2022 season.

2022 NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series track champions

Posted on December 9, 2022December 20, 2022 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., Kevin Harvick, Tyler Reddick, Kyle Busch, Austin Cindric, Austin Dillon, Daniel Suárez, Chris Buescher, Chase Briscoe

Driver: Alex Bowman
Car: No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
Crew chief: Greg Ives
Final 2022 ranking: 16^thKey stats: 1 win, 4 top fives, 12 top 10s, 137 laps led

How 2022 ended: Despite qualifying for his fifth consecutive playoff run, Bowman missed five races because of concussion-like symptoms. However, the Arizona native was able to return in time for the Phoenix season finale, where he finished 34^th. It marked the last race he and Greg Ives were paired together after the veteran crew chief announced earlier in the season that he was stepping aside from the high-travel, high-stress crew chief duties to decrease time on the road and increase time with his young family.

Best race: Throughout his NASCAR Cup Series career, Bowman has shown a certain penchant to “be there at the end.” It resulted in a career-high four victories in 2021, and the ability to be there in the clutch was also the case for Bowman in 2022. His lone win of the year came at the series’ first Las Vegas stop in March – marking the new car’s debut on a 1.5-mile oval. Bowman led the race three times – and was out front the final three laps to earn his first win at the Vegas oval.

Stat to know: Bowman’s early season run was so solid this year that he nearly matched his career-best statistical showings in several categories – despite missing five races. His four top-five and 12 top-10 finishes either tied or bettered two other previous seasons in his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. His spring victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway marked the fourth straight year the 29-year-old has hoisted a trophy. And Bowman can now claim he has earned a playoff berth in each of the last five seasons.

Quotable: “New perspective. I’m as excited to work with Blake [Harris] as I am to see the future for Greg [Ives] and what he’s going to do and how much more time he can spend with his family. I’m looking forward to the future. Blake has been awesome to work with so far. Obviously, without getting on the race track it’s hard to say, but I’m really excited about it.’’

Looking ahead: The change in leadership for Bowman’s team will undoubtedly be significant going forward, but new crew chief Blake Harris brings a promising record and championship experience with him to Hendrick Motorsports. In his first year as a crew chief in NASCAR’s premier series this season, he led Michael McDowell to a career-high in top-10 finishes (12). Harris was additionally car chief on Martin Truex Jr.’s 2017 dominant championship season with Furniture Row Racing. Expectations remain high, and both Bowman and Harris are eager to team up on the No. 48 team which boasts a current four-year streak of winning at least one race and competing for the championship.

2022 NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Division I champion

Layne Riggs

2022 NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Division I regional champions

2022 NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Division II regional champions

2022 NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Division III regional champions

2022 NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Division IV regional champions

2022 NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Division V regional champions

2022 NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Jostens Rookie of the Year winners

2022 Wendell Scott Trailblazer Award

Katie Hettinger

2022 NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Division II champion

Tim DeVos

2022 NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Division III champion

Austin Paul

2022 NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Division IV champion

Luke Ramsey

2022 NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Division V champion

Jacob Brown

2022 NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series state & provincial champions

2022 NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series track champions