Race results: Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200 at Martinsville Speedway

Posted on October 27, 2022October 27, 2022 by Brandon White

Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200

Martinsville Speedway

Race Results

Pos	No.	Name	Sponsor	Laps	Diff
1	53	Corey LaJoie	Curb Records	200
2	60	Matt Hirschman	PeeDee Motorsports	200	0.601
3	39	Ryan Newman	Pacematic/PSR Products	200	0.861
4	44	Bobby Santos III	Harshaw Paving/Olivas Market	200	1.401
5	92	Anthony Nocella	Nocella Paving/K&D Associates/Airgas	200	1.741
6	24	Andrew Krause	Supreme Mfg. Co.	200	1.776
7	58	Eric Goodale	GAF Roofing	200	1.893
8	64	Austin Beers*	Dell Electric/Lumiere Electrical	200	2.237
9	54	Tommy Catalano	FX Caprara	200	2.672
10	34	J.B. Fortin	Red Camel Racing/Johns Fuel/John Tree Removal	200	3.003
11	16	Ron Silk	Blue Mountain Machine and Future Homes	200	3.178
12	79	Jon McKennedy	Middlesex Interiors	200	3.408
13	99	Jamie Tomaino	Dunleavy’s	200	3.722
14	20	Ed McCarthy*	McCarthy Marine Sales	200	3.748
15	02	Joey Coulter IV	SRI Performance/Air Shok/Race-Run/Molecule	200	3.796
16	22	Kyle Bonsignore	Chalew Performance/MTT/Munn’s Auto	200	5.159
17	7	Jimmy Blewett	John Blewett, Inc.	200	11.265
18	2	Chuck Hossfeld	Gershow Recycling	199	1 Lap
19	50	Ronnie Williams	Empower Financial Services/RB Enterprises	199	1 Lap
20	36	Dave Sapienza	Sapienza Enterprises	199	1 Lap
21	29	Spencer Davis	Max Industrial	199	1 Lap
22	32	Tyler Rypkema	Northeast Drilling/MUSCO	199	1 Lap
23	82	Craig Lutz	Horton Avenue Materials	198	2 Laps
24	55	Jeremy Gerstner	Jerry Hunt SuperCenter/GMR Complete Lawn Care	194	6 Laps
25	26	Gary McDonald	Lakeland Landscape Supply	194	6 Laps
26	77	Max McLaughlin	CURB Records	190	10 Laps
27	18	Ken Heagy	Buoy One Seafood Market & Restaurant	178	22 Laps
28	01	Melissa Fifield	Pine Knoll Auto Sales	175	25 Laps
29	51	Justin Bonsignore	Phoenix Communication Inc.	153	47 Laps
30	10	Doug Coby	Mayhew Tools	147	53 Laps
31	3	Ryan Preece	Propane Plus/ACG/Island International	111	89 Laps
32	97	Bryan Dauzat	Brother in Law Motorsports	82	118 Laps
33	17	Bobby Labonte	Pace-O-Matic	63	137 Laps
34	07	Patrick Emerling	Captain Pip Marina & Hideaway	55	145 Laps
35	78	Walter Sutcliffe, Jr.	Last Minute Racing	3	197 Laps

Posted on October 27, 2022 by Adam Fenwick

MARTINSVILLE, Va. — For the second time in Jon McKennedy’s career, he ran all the races on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour schedule.

The 35-year-old from Chelmsford, Massachusetts, turned his second full season with the Tour into his first series championship.

Driving for team owner Tim Lepine, McKennedy used incredible consistency to secure his championship. In 16 races this season, McKennedy finished outside the top-10 just three times. He scored seven top fives and 13 top 10s, which included a victory at New Hampshire’s Claremont Motorsports Park on July 29.

McKennedy entered the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour finale at Martinsville as the championship leader, six points ahead of Ron Silk, 11 points ahead of Justin Bonsignore and 13 points ahead of Eric Goodale. He secured the championship with his 12th-place run in the finale.

In his only other full-time season with the Tour in 2020, McKennedy finished second in the series standings.

McKennedy made his NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour debut in 2006 at the age of 19, competing in eight races and earning two top-10 finishes. It took him until 2017 to earn his first top-five finish, a fifth-place finish at Stafford Motor Speedway.

One year later, he scored his maiden NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour victory at Myrtle Beach Speedway in South Carolina. That stood as his lone Tour victory until his triumph earlier this year at Claremont.

Posted on October 27, 2022 by Adam Fenwick

Tommy Baldwin Jr. has a lot to be thankful for this year.

His Tommy Baldwin Racing team found its footing on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, leading to a dominant season that ended Thursday at Martinsville Speedway with the team clinching the owner championship for the first time.

It was years in the making for Baldwin.

Tommy Baldwin Jr. (Photo: Adam Fenwick/NASCAR)

“It’s been in the works a long time,” said Baldwin, who clinched the owner championship when the green flag waved for the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200. “It’s something that, growing up, especially before I moved south, it was definitely something you wanted to accomplish. I kind of did it backwards, right? I won a championship after I moved down south and became pretty successful at the Cup level.”

Baldwin grew up in NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour pit areas up and down the East Coast with his father, Tom Baldwin Sr. The elder Baldwin raced with the Tour for 20 years, earning six victories before dying in a crash in 2004.

His son carried on the family racing tradition, becoming a successful crew chief at the NASCAR Cup Series level. He later owned his own NASCAR Cup Series team, fielding cars for drivers like Michael McDowell, Geoffrey Bodine, Dave Blaney, Steve Park, Alex Bowman and Bobby Labonte, among others.

However, his heart was always with the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.

Baldwin returned to the Tour as an owner full-time in 2020, but it wasn’t until this year that his program hit its stride.

With Doug Coby, Jimmy Blewett and Mike Christopher Jr. splitting driving duties of Baldwin’s No. 7, the team emerged as the top program on the Tour this year.

Doug Coby, Jimmy Blewett and Mike Christopher Jr. drove Tommy Baldwin Jr.’s No. 7 throughout the 2022 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season. (Photo: Ryan M. Kelly/NASCAR)

“Obviously all three of them have very, very good talent,” Baldwin said of his drivers. “They’re all capable of winning races no matter what car they get into. I got lucky enough to get all three of them into mine.”

It started with Coby, who wasn’t originally scheduled to drive the No. 7 this year, when he drove to victory in the third event of the season at New York’s Riverhead Raceway.

Coby added two more victories in the No. 7 for Baldwin at New Hampshire’s Lee USA Speedway and Virginia’s Langley Speedway. In all, Coby made nine starts in the No. 7 and never finished worse than 10th.

“What I told Tommy from the beginning was if it’s just this race, or just these two races, then that’s awesome,” Coby said. “It turned into a few more over the course of the season and ultimately ended with a true team effort to capture the championship amongst all of us.”

Originally the plan for the season was for Blewett to pilot Baldwin’s No. 7 for most of the season, with Christopher making a handful of starts at events Blewett couldn’t make. However, when Blewett’s daughter got sick, Baldwin needed to find someone to drive his car while Blewett focused on his family.

Baldwin called Coby, who admits he was a bit surprised when Baldwin reached out about the opportunity.

“He just texted me, this is the situation, do you want to drive the car?,” Coby recalled. “He had, I want to say, a lot of easier options. He’s from Long Island, we were racing at Riverhead, obviously anyone out on Long Island could have driven Tommy’s car. I don’t know if it was Jimmy or Tommy or who, but they decided to call me.”

Jimmy Blewett, driver of the No. 7 John Blewett Inc Modified, celebrates with team owner Tommy Baldwin Jr. after winning the Jersey Shore 150 for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour at Wall Stadium Speedway on July 9, 2022. (Photo: Kostas Lymperopoulos/NASCAR)

Despite missing several races to care for his ailing daughter, Blewett made the most of the events he did get to compete in this year for Baldwin.

He made five starts for the team, including Thursday’s finale at Martinsville. The highlight of those events was a victory at his home track, New Jersey’s Wall Stadium Speedway, on July 9.

“I know I was a part of it, but all the credit really needs to go to Tommy,” Blewett said. “I think all the drivers that drove the car this year can agree on that. Tommy and the team. Us as drivers, he made our part easy. The hard part is preparing the race car, having the crew, having the crew execute and having the car run every time you unload out of the trailer.

“Tommy and his team did that.”

The opportunity to be part of a championship-winning program is something Blewett admits he never thought he’d get to experience, making the 2022 season even more special.

“Obviously I’ve never won a Tour championship, nor do I ever think I will,” Blewett said. “I’ve never really run for points. I very rarely have. I always try to run to win and really never got the opportunity to run all the races. With Tommy this year and the other drivers, that gave me that opportunity to be part of something, be a part of a championship run.”

The final driver to take the wheel of the No. 7 this year was by far the youngest, 23-year-old Christopher. The nephew of 2008 Tour champion Ted Christopher, the young man from Wolcott, Connecticut, proved he has the talent to compete with the best the Tour has to offer.

Mike Christopher Jr. celebrates after winning The Jennerstown Salutes 150 for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour at Jennerstown Speedway on May 28, 2022. (Nate Smallwood/NASCAR)

In three starts aboard the No. 7, he finished no worse than third. He joined Coby and Blewett as Tour winners thanks to an impressive victory at Pennsylvania’s Jennerstown Speedway on May 28.

“It’s just been a huge opportunity that I tried to make the most of,” Christopher said. “All those guys know exactly what they’re doing. I knew that my job as a driver was pretty simple, to go out there and drive, because the car was always good and the team always had my back too.”

When you add everything together, the 2022 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season was a dream year for Baldwin, Coby, Blewett and Christopher.

Perhaps most importantly, Baldwin secured the legacy of the No. 7, which always carries the initials NY like the cars his father drove for so long on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.

“To secure the legacy of the 7NY number and my dad is probably the biggest accomplishment of it all,” Baldwin said. “Growing up at a very young age, 8, 9, 10 years old with the Modifieds, and then you start working on them at that young age, then all of a sudden you’re crew chiefing at 14 or 15 years old with your dad and working on them.

“To come back and have all the pieces fall into place this year, it’s pretty special.”

Posted on October 27, 2022October 27, 2022 by Brandon White

Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200

Martinsville Speedway

Qualifying Results

Pos	No.	Name	Sponsor	Best Tm	Best Speed
1	60	Matt Hirschman	PeeDee Motorsports	18.733	101.084
2	7	Jimmy Blewett	John Blewett, Inc.	18.738	101.057
3	50	Ronnie Williams	Empower Financial Services/RB Enterprises	18.792	100.766
4	16	Ron Silk	Blue Mountain Machine and Future Homes	18.794	100.756
5	53	Corey LaJoie	Curb Records	18.802	100.713
6	64	Austin Beers*	Dell Electric/Lumiere Electrical	18.821	100.611
7	22	Kyle Bonsignore	Chalew Performance/MTT/Munn’s Auto	18.831	100.558
8	2	Chuck Hossfeld	Gershow Recycling	18.836	100.531
9	79	Jon McKennedy	Middlesex Interiors	18.84	100.51
10	20	Ed McCarthy*	McCarthy Marine Sales	18.855	100.43
11	10	Doug Coby	Mayhew Tools	18.862	100.392
12	51	Justin Bonsignore	Phoenix Communication Inc.	18.878	100.307
13	32	Tyler Rypkema	Northeast Drilling/MUSCO	18.884	100.275
14	39	Ryan Newman	Pacematic/PSR Products	18.889	100.249
15	58	Eric Goodale	GAF Roofing	18.89	100.244
16	36	Dave Sapienza	Sapienza Enterprises	18.893	100.228
17	3	Ryan Preece	Propane Plus/ACG/Island International	18.893	100.228
18	07	Patrick Emerling	Captain Pip Marina & Hideaway	18.898	100.201
19	54	Tommy Catalano	FX Caprara	18.914	100.116
20	77	Max McLaughlin	CURB Records	18.931	100.026
21	44	Bobby Santos III	Harshaw Paving/Olivas Market	18.993	99.7
22	92	Anthony Nocella	Nocella Paving/K&D Associates/Airgas	19.003	99.647
23	17	Bobby Labonte	Pace-O-Matic	19.024	99.537
24	82	Craig Lutz	Horton Avenue Materials	19.082	99.235
25	18	Ken Heagy	Buoy One Seafood Market & Restaurant	19.083	99.23
26	02	Joey Coulter IV	SRI Performance/Air Shok/Race-Run/Molecule	19.099	99.147
27	29	Spencer Davis	Max Industrial	19.118	99.048
28	34	J.B. Fortin	Red Camel Racing/Johns Fuel/John Tree Removal	19.164	98.81
29	24	Andrew Krause	Supreme Mfg. Co.	19.166	98.8
30	55	Jeremy Gerstner	Jerry Hunt SuperCenter/GMR Complete Lawn Care	19.228	98.481
31	99	Jamie Tomaino	Dunleavy’s	19.456	97.327
32	97	Bryan Dauzat	Brother in Law Motorsports	19.745	95.903
33	78	Walter Sutcliffe, Jr.	Last Minute Racing	20.004	94.661
34	26	Gary McDonald	Lakeland Landscape Supply	20.148	93.985
35	01	Melissa Fifield	Pine Knoll Auto Sales	20.738	91.311

Posted on October 27, 2022October 27, 2022 by Brandon White

Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200

Martinsville Speedway

Practice Results

Pos	No.	Name	Sponsor	Best Tm	Best Speed	In Lap	Laps	Diff
1	07	Patrick Emerling	Captain Pip Marina & Hideaway	18.738	101.057	37	38
2	79	Jon McKennedy	Middlesex Interiors	18.758	100.949	39	39	0.02
3	7	Jimmy Blewett	John Blewett, Inc.	18.763	100.922	27	31	0.025
4	10	Doug Coby	Mayhew Tools	18.771	100.879	22	54	0.033
5	53	Corey LaJoie	Curb Records	18.79	100.777	3	48	0.052
6	17	Bobby Labonte	Pace-O-Matic	18.828	100.574	32	32	0.09
7	60	Matt Hirschman	PeeDee Motorsports	18.857	100.419	38	40	0.119
8	34	J.B. Fortin	Red Camel Racing/Johns Fuel/John Tree Removal	18.873	100.334	35	36	0.135
9	58	Eric Goodale	GAF Roofing	18.875	100.323	27	39	0.137
10	3	Ryan Preece	Propane Plus/ACG/Island International	18.877	100.313	34	47	0.139
11	22	Kyle Bonsignore	Chalew Performance/MTT/Munn’s Auto	18.886	100.265	30	43	0.148
12	16	Ron Silk	Blue Mountain Machine and Future Homes	18.888	100.254	35	51	0.15
13	32	Tyler Rypkema	Northeast Drilling/MUSCO	18.89	100.244	45	46	0.152
14	64	Austin Beers*	Dell Electric/Lumiere Electrical	18.906	100.159	27	62	0.168
15	54	Tommy Catalano	FX Caprara	18.926	100.053	27	45	0.188
16	2	Chuck Hossfeld	Gershow Recycling	18.956	99.894	4	44	0.218
17	77	Max McLaughlin	CURB Records	18.987	99.731	4	42	0.249
18	39	Ryan Newman	Pacematic/PSR Products	19.03	99.506	39	47	0.292
19	51	Justin Bonsignore	Phoenix Communication Inc.	19.03	99.506	17	59	0.292
20	50	Ronnie Williams	Empower Financial Services/RB Enterprises	19.043	99.438	54	54	0.305
21	20	Ed McCarthy*	McCarthy Marine Sales	19.079	99.25	42	50	0.341
22	18	Ken Heagy	Buoy One Seafood Market & Restaurant	19.1	99.141	15	32	0.362
23	36	Dave Sapienza	Sapienza Enterprises	19.105	99.115	5	64	0.367
24	29	Spencer Davis	Max Industrial	19.114	99.069	20	20	0.376
25	92	Anthony Nocella	Nocella Paving/K&D Associates/Airgas	19.116	99.058	28	30	0.378
26	44	Bobby Santos III	Harshaw Paving/Olivas Market	19.158	98.841	49	49	0.42
27	02	Joey Coulter IV	SRI Performance/Air Shok/Race-Run/Molecule	19.171	98.774	2	33	0.433
28	82	Craig Lutz	Horton Avenue Materials	19.175	98.754	45	58	0.437
29	24	Andrew Krause	Supreme Mfg. Co.	19.177	98.743	11	17	0.439
30	99	Jamie Tomaino	Dunleavy’s	19.388	97.669	16	17	0.65
31	55	Jeremy Gerstner	Jerry Hunt SuperCenter/GMR Complete Lawn Care	19.449	97.362	16	37	0.711
32	97	Bryan Dauzat	Brother in Law Motorsports	19.497	97.123	22	39	0.759
33	78	Walter Sutcliffe, Jr.	Last Minute Racing	19.788	95.694	17	37	1.05
34	26	Gary McDonald	Lakeland Landscape Supply	19.865	95.323	27	28	1.127
35	01	Melissa Fifield	Pine Knoll Auto Sales	20.016	94.604	10	45	1.278

Posted on October 27, 2022 by Reid Spencer

Two down and two to go — that’s the status of NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship 4 berths entering Saturday’s Dead On Tools 250 at Martinsville Speedway (3:30 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

JR Motorsports drivers Josh Berry and Noah Gragson will race for the series title Nov. 5 at Phoenix Raceway, thanks to respective Round of 8 victories at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Saturday’s race at the .526-mile Virginia short track will determine the final two positions in the Championship 4, at least one of which will be decided on points. That’s good news for five-time winner Ty Gibbs, who holds a 30-point edge over fifth-place Justin Allgaier.

MORE: Full Martinsville schedule | Xfinity Series standings

Gibbs will clinch a Championship 4 spot by scoring 31 points at Martinsville, no matter what else happens during the race.

“Martinsville is a challenging track, but one I do have experience at,” said Gibbs, who won the pole, led a race-high 197 laps and finished eighth on April 8. “We know what we need to do to advance to the final four, but winning makes it that much easier.

“(Crew chief) Chris Gayle and the 54 Monster Energy Toyota GR Supra guys have brought me good cars all year, and hopefully this week at Martinsville we’ll have another good one. It’s a tough track, but we’re ready.”

AJ Allmendinger, another five-time winner in the series this year, holds a much more tenuous position than Gibbs. The driver of the No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet is five points clear of Allgaier.

The good news is that Martinsville is one of Allmendinger’s best tracks. He finished third there in the 2022 spring race.

Austin Hill, like Allgaier, is well within striking distance of a Championship 4 spot, standing just seven points behind Allmendinger.

On the other hand, Sam Mayer and Brandon Jones (28 and 38 points below the cut line, respectively) realistically will have to win on Saturday to advance. That’s not a far-fetched proposition, at least where Jones is concerned — he won the spring race in overtime.

Posted on October 27, 2022December 12, 2022 by Press Release

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — As NASCAR prepares to celebrate its 75th anniversary in 2023, the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour blends the old with the new as 19 race dates were announced on the 2023 schedule.

The Tour will kick off the season at Florida’s New Smyrna Speedway for the second straight year, joining the track’s “World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing” during NASCAR’s Speedweeks, racing under the lights on Saturday, Feb. 11. The 65th running of the Daytona 500 at nearby Daytona International Speedway will take place the following weekend.

In 2022, Martinsville Speedway is hosting the Tour’s season finale for the first time in 30 years. And the Virginia short track will return as the season finale next year to crown the series champion on Thursday, Oct. 26. The Tour title race will kick off a weekend of excitement as NASCAR also will set the field for the Championship 4 in the Cup Series and Xfinity Series.

In a tribute to NASCAR’s past, the Whelen Modified Tour will take on North Wilkesboro Speedway for the first time in series history on Saturday, Sept. 30. North Wilkesboro will be hosting the NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race and the NASCAR Xfinity Series in May, marking the first time a NASCAR national series has raced at the track since 1996.

“NASCAR has been running a Modified series since its founding, and it was important to honor that history in the Whelen Modified Tour schedule as NASCAR celebrates its 75th anniversary,” said Jimmy Wilson, Senior Director, NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. “We’re excited to see our drivers put on a great show for fans at so many venues and cities that have played a large role in the success of NASCAR over the years.”

Richmond Raceway (Friday, March 31) and New Hampshire Motor Speedway (Saturday, July 15) will once again welcome the Tour in conjunction with NASCAR national series events. New Hampshire’s 74 Tour races is the second most among tracks on the 2023 schedule.

Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park (Connecticut), one of the original tracks from the Tour’s modern era schedule (1985-Present), will host a pair of events on Wednesday, Aug. 16, and Sunday, Oct. 8. Thompson has hosted 150 Whelen Modified Tour races, most all time.

Riverhead Raceway, third on the current tracks list with 70 Whelen Modified Tour races since first hosting the series in 1985, continues to be a cornerstone of the schedule. The Long Island, New York, track will hold three Saturday race dates again in 2023 – May 20, June 24, Sept. 16.

Seekonk Speedway (Massachusetts), which first hosted a Whelen Modified Tour event in 1987, returns to the schedule after a three-year absence with a race on Saturday, June 10. Langley Speedway (Hampton, Virginia) remains as a summer date, hosting the Tour on Saturday, Aug. 26.

Monadnock Speedway in Winchester, New Hampshire, will hold two races for the first time in the track’s history with the Tour, on Saturday, May 6, and Saturday, Sept. 9. Lancaster Motorplex (New York) – formerly known as New York International Raceway Park – will host its second ever Tour event with a Saturday, Aug. 5, race. The Tour’s only other event there was in 2021.

Additionally, the Tour will return to Oswego Speedway (New York), which has hosted 15 Tour races, on Saturday, Sept. 2, and to Wall Stadium on Saturday, July 8.

“These historic tracks and fans in the Northeast are the heart of the Whelen Modified Tour,” Wilson added. “They pack the stands and create an electric atmosphere for their hometown drivers.”

Two additional dates have been set (Saturday, May 27, and Saturday, July 29), with the venues to be announced in the near future.

The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour concludes the 2022 season tonight at Martinsville Speedway, with four drivers sitting within 13 points of each other for the championship. Jonathan McKennedy leads the points with 564, while Ron Silk is six behind him. Reigning champion Justin Bonsignore is third, 11 points behind McKennedy, and Eric Goodale trails the leader by 13 points in fourth place.

Below is the 2023 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour schedule. Schedule is subject to change. Race times and broadcast networks will be announced at a later date.

2023 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour schedule

Date	Track
Saturday, Feb. 11	New Smyrna Speedway
Friday, March 31	Richmond Raceway
Saturday, May 6	Monadnock Speedway
Saturday, May 20	Riverhead Raceway
Saturday, May 27	Lee USA Speedway
Saturday, June 10	Seekonk Speedway
Saturday, June 24	Riverhead Raceway
Saturday, July 8	Wall Stadium
Saturday, July 15	New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Saturday, July 29	Claremont Motorsports Park
Saturday, Aug. 5	Lancaster Motorplex
Wednesday, Aug. 16	Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park
Saturday, Aug. 26	Langley Speedway
Saturday, Sept. 2	Oswego Speedway
Saturday, Sept. 9	Monadnock Speedway
Saturday, Sept. 16	Riverhead Raceway
Saturday, Sept. 30	North Wilkesboro Speedway
Sunday, Oct. 8	Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park
Thursday, Oct. 26	Martinsville Speedway

Posted on October 27, 2022October 27, 2022 by Staff Report

The National Motorsports Appeals Panel on Thursday upheld the post-Charlotte penalty issued to the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing team and driver Cole Custer. Custer’s No. 14 Mustang appeared to slow on the final lap of the Oct. 9 race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course, which allowed teammate and NASCAR Playoffs driver Chase Briscoe to make a pass for position.

MORE: NASCAR penalizes Custer, No. 41 SHR team

Custer is still fined $100,000 and docked 50 points as a result of violations of Section 5.5 of the NASCAR Rule Book, which states that competitors must race at 100% of their ability and takes action against competitors who intend to “artificially alter” the race’s finishing order. Additionally, crew chief Mike Shiplett remains indefinitely suspended from NASCAR and is also fined $100,000.

The members of the Appeals Board for the hearing were Mr. Dixon Johnston, Mr. Bill Mullis and Mr. Dale Pinilis. The Appellants have the right to appeal the decision of the National Motorsports Appeals Panel to the National Motorsports Final Appeals Officer in accordance with the NASCAR Rule Book.

This story will be updated.

Posted on October 27, 2022 by Zach Sturniolo

Only one race remains to set the Championship 4 in the NASCAR Cup Series.

The premier stock-car racing division heads to Martinsville Speedway for the Xfinity 500 on Sunday (2 p.m. ET, NBC, NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) for the final race of the Round of 8.

With only one driver sure of his championship hopes, let’s set the table for a busy weekend around the shortest track of the postseason:

RELATED: Weekend schedule | Cup Series standings

SET THE GRID

Teams will be broken into Groups A and B for 20 minutes of practice on Saturday (12 p.m. ET, NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio; 12:30 p.m. on USA Network) for each group, respectively. Following practice, the series will roll into two rounds of single-car, two-lap qualifying set to begin at 12:45 p.m. to set the starting lineup.

With the postseason underway, playoff drivers and teams will be ordered by their previous race metrics and assigned to Group A or B by the usual odd/even metric procedures. Playoff teams will be the final cars to qualify in their respective groups.

Each driver will post two laps during their time trial. The fastest five drivers from each group will advance to the final round of qualifying, where those 10 drivers will set two more circuits to fight for the Busch Light Pole Award. The driver who sets the quickest lap in the session will start first on Sunday.

MORE: Paint Scheme Preview | Qualifying order

MARTINSVILLE HISTORY

— Built in 1947, Martinsville Speedway hosted its first race on Sept. 7, 1947, a modified stock car race that preceded NASCAR’s inception. Bill France Sr. convinced track founder Henry Clay Earles that stock cars were the future of racing and promoted the event for a percentage.

— Martinsville appeared on the first Cup Series schedule in 1949 and is the only track on today’s circuit that remains from that year.

— The first 12 Cup races at Martinsville were run on dirt.

— Earles partnered with Ridgeway Clock Company in 1964 to begin awarding race winners with a grandfather clock. Fred Lorenzen took the first one home on Sept. 27, 1964. Richard Petty won the most at 12 (not including his three prior victories), Darrell Waltrip won 11, and Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson each won nine.

— The track’s turns were resurfaced with concrete in 1976, and the track wasn’t resurfaced again until 2004 after Gordon struck a loose chunk of concrete during that year’s spring race.

– LED lighting surrounded the 0.526-mile track starting in 2017.

— In 2022, Martinsville Speedway celebrates its 75th anniversary (1947-2022).

— The spring race at Martinsville was 400 laps, the first race there that was scheduled for less than 500 laps since 1958.

Source: Racing Insights

GOODYEAR TIRES

Teams return to Martinsville Speedway with a new tire compound, but one they already have experience with.

Goodyear is providing a different tire setup than what was previously run in April when exceptionally cold conditions made laying rubber on the track’s concrete corners significantly more challenging. A June tire test featuring Tyler Reddick, Kyle Busch and Austin Cindric helped guide Goodyear’s direction on updated tire codes which were confirmed in an organizational test at the track in August.

“Martinsville is such a unique track, not only with the relatively long straightaways and tight turns but also with the concrete surface in the corners only,” said Greg Stucker, Goodyear’s director of racing. “After an especially cold spring race, where it became very difficult to lay rubber in the corners, we decided to test there to make another step in doing that no matter how cool the temperatures are. We had a good test, and the compounds worked extremely well, and we believe it’s a formulation that will work in all conditions. Laying rubber in the corners is important at Martinsville because it gives drivers an option to move up to a second groove to look for grip and give them a better chance to pass cars. That, of course, creates better racing.”

MARTINSVILLE STORYLINES

— Joey Logano is the only driver locked into the Championship 4 and has done so for the fifth time in the past nine years, continuing his streak of advancing to the title race in every even year since the elimination format was introduced in 2014.

— Kyle Larson’s Homestead-Miami win locked the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports team into the Championship 4 for the owners’ championship. Only twice in Cup have there been a separate owners champion and driver champion: In 1963, Joe Weatherly won the drivers’ title, and Wood Brothers won the owners’ championship; in 1954, Lee Petty won the drivers’ championship, and Herb Thomas won the owners’ championship.

— Logano (2018) and Chase Elliott (2020) are the only remaining past champions in the playoffs.

— Nineteen different drivers have won this year, tied for the most all time.

— William Byron won the last race at Martinsville Speedway in April.

— Joe Gibbs Racing’s next win is its 200th and would make it the third organization with at least 200 wins.

— AJ Allmendinger finished top 10 in his last six starts, his longest-ever top-10 streak in Cup.

— The last driver to win from pit stall No. 1 at Martinsville was Jimmie Johnson in April 2013.

— Ross Chastain finished runner-up in the last two races (Las Vegas, Homestead). The last time he was runner-up in two consecutive races, he won the next race (COTA).

— The driver leading the most laps won seven of the last 10 races at Martinsville, including the race there in April when Byron won after leading 212 laps.

Source: Racing Insights

MONEY ON MARTINSVILLE

Chase Elliott is one of only three playoff drivers to win this postseason while still eligible for championship contention. And with a solid track record at the paperclip, it should come as no surprise that the No. 9 Chevrolet is posted as the favorite to win Sunday’s race at 6-1 odds, according to BetMGM.

But perhaps the driver to watch will be Ryan Blaney (8-1). The driver of the No. 12 Ford carries the best average finish at Martinsville among active drivers at 10.2 but has yet to win at the half-mile track. Entering Sunday’s race 18 points beneath the elimination line, the playoffs’ lone winless competitor may need to break into Victory Lane to keep his championship hopes alive.

Ross Chastain might also be a bargain this weekend at 14-1 odds. Chastain sits highest in points among those who aren’t yet locked into the Championship 4 (+19 points) and doesn’t have the best record at Martinsville. But his lone appearance in a Trackhouse Racing car there produced a fifth-place finish, meaning the runner-up of the last two weeks could break through in a dramatic way come Sunday.

MORE: Complete list of odds for Sunday

FANTASY LIVE

Want to manage a team and race your way to the top of the leaderboards? Check out NASCAR Fantasy Live, which reset for the playoffs. The free-to-play game lets you choose your drivers each week and show off your crew-chief instincts by garaging a driver by the end of Stage 2, and there is a $10,000 prize for the playoff winner.

The 2022 Fantasy Live points leaders are Chase Elliott (1,141), Joey Logano (1,052) and Ryan Blaney (1,035).

In addition to Fantasy Live, NASCAR.com is offering the Playoffs Grid Challenge presented by Ruoff Mortgage during the playoffs.

How to play: Fantasy Live | Set up a team today!

ALSO ON NASCAR.COM

Get additional camera views by logging on to NASCAR Drive, where each week, the full field of in-car cameras will be available — as well as a battle cam and an overhead look.

NASCAR has partnered with LiveLike to add fan engagement to the NASCAR Mobile App. Log in to the mobile app during the race for polls, quizzes, the cheer meter and more — and see instant results from NASCAR fans like you.

Posted on October 27, 2022October 27, 2022 by Sean Montgomery

MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Out with the old, in with the new. David Gilliland Racing ushered in a new era Thursday, rebranding its name to TRICON Garage and shifting from Ford to Toyota as the team’s primary manufacturer.

Beginning in 2023, TRICON Garage will have a brand new look and refocused energy in pursuit of its first Craftsman Truck Series championship. The organization broke the news Thursday in a live broadcast from their team shop, located in Mooresville.

For the team, many of the operations will remain the same, spearheaded by longtime owner David Gilliland and David Wilson, president of Toyota Racing Development (TRD). Gilliland has owned and operated the team since 2018, making strides in the Truck Series as well as the ARCA Menards Series and employing race-winning drivers like Ryan Preece, his son Todd and more.

Sean Montgomery | NASCAR Studios

Serving as a Ford Performance staple in recent years, the move to TRD has created a new burst of energy in the garage.

“We are thrilled to return to Toyota and compete in the new Toyota Tundra TRD Pro next season,” TRICON partner David Gilliland said. “I’ve seen Toyota’s dedication to the sport firsthand, and we are excited to partner with them going forward. I’m sure this new partnership is going to help TRICON reach our goals of consistently competing for race wins and championships.”

SCHEDULE: 2023 Truck Series season

TRICON plans to field three full-time trucks, led by brothers Tanner and Taylor Gray who have been linked to the organization for the past few years.

Tanner, the elder at 23 years old, is in his third full-time season racing for Gilliland after debuting in 2020. Taylor, a 17-year-old rising star, has raced in a part-time capacity but will make the full-time leap next season — despite missing the first three races of next season’s Truck Series schedule due to age restrictions. Taylor’s first race in will come at Circuit of The Americas.

“It’s exciting, obviously,” Tanner said in an interview when asked about racing with his younger brother. “We’ve got to race each other a little bit up until this point, but it’s always nice having him there. He’s younger than me, but you wouldn’t know it. He’s mature and he’s someone that I can go to and lean on for advice and kind of bounce ideas off. We’re also super competitive and we want to beat each other. So, I’m looking forward to it. It’s gonna be fun.”

Taylor has continued to impress on his way to the NASCAR national series scene, collecting three wins in the 2022 ARCA Menards Series season and five top-16 finishes in his 12 career Truck Series starts. Despite his youth, winning races and competing for a playoff spot is still his personal standard.

“Personally, I wanna go out there and win, right?” Taylor said. “I’m missing three races worth of points, so I think if you go out there and run top three every week, top five every week, then I think you can point your way in. But it’s always more comforting and better for yourself to win and get in the playoffs and lock yourself in for the first round. So, winning is better than anything.”

TRICON’s move from Ford to Toyota also brings a roster change, confirming that Hailie Deegan will no longer be with the team after this season. Deegan is in her second year with DGR and has been a mainstay in their consistent two-driver lineup alongside Tanner. Corey Heim, a rising star in the Toyota Driver Development Program, slots in as the third full-time truck for the 2023 season.

Heim slides over from Kyle Busch Motorsports after collecting a pair of wins, six top-five finishes and nine top 10s in 18 races. His impressive victories came this season at Atlanta Motor Speedway in the spring and World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway.

“It will be my first full-time year here in the Truck Series, but I feel like I’ve made enough starts to really carry a lot of momentum into 2023 with TRICON and TRD,” Heim said. “I really wanna get the ball rolling right away and hopefully go for some wins and compete for the championship when it’s all said and done. So, just super thankful for everyone at Toyota and TRD and TRICON for this opportunity. I think it’s gonna be really good.”

With a youthful roster and reinvigorated outlook, TRICON, Gilliland and Toyota are beginning to create a path to sustainable success. Running three full-time trucks — and entering the No. 1 on a part-time basis — there are many opportunities for the organization to thrive in the coming years.

“Our goal in the truck series is to create future racing icons,” TRICON partner Johnny Gray said. “We’ll know we did our job when several years from now our drivers are racing for Cup championships. As for Garage, what we do is more than just field a race team. We build chassis, we build bodies. We have a transportation company. We are marketers and content creators. We are teachers and mentors. It’s bigger than simply ‘motorsports’ or ‘racing.’ But what it all has in common is that it takes place in our garage. So, TRICON Garage just seemed to encompass what we’re all about.”