BROOKLYN, Mich. – Team owner Richard Childress said Saturday that a press conference this weekend at Michigan International Speedway was intended to reveal the news of a contract extension for Kyle Busch, who died last month before his return could be announced.
Childress’ first public remarks since Busch’s death came Saturday at the 2-mile Michigan track, site of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race and a venue where Busch won four times in national-series competition. He said that improvement in Richard Childress Racing’s performance in the weeks before Busch’s passing had made the 41-year-old driver bullish about returning for the 2027 season and for reaching the postseason Chase this year.
“We had a great conversation, talking about how he said, ‘You give me cars like you’ve gave me the last three weeks,’ he said, ‘I will make the Chase this year,'” Childress recalled. “I mean, we were that confident. Both of us had a lot of confidence in us.”
Busch was in his fourth season at Richard Childress Racing when he died May 21 from severe pneumonia and sepsis. The future NASCAR Hall of Famer won three times with RCR in the early stages of their first year together, but was in the grips of the longest winless spell of his Cup Series career before he fell ill.
O’Reilly Auto Parts Series regular Austin Hill has driven Busch’s ride in the two Cup Series races since his death, and did again in Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400, finishing 20th. Childress indicated that Hill would continue to pilot the No. 33 Chevrolet the rest of the season, rather than use a rotating cast of drivers.
Childress opened his press conference by thanking the media and motorsports community for their support, both for the Busch family and his organization, before noting the press conference’s original purpose. “That’s the tough part about today,” said Childress, who said he walked into the Michigan media center Saturday with thoughts of Busch being by his side.
It’s a feeling Childress unfortunately knows too well, having lost another stock-car racing giant and close friend in Dale Earnhardt in the 2001 Daytona 500. The Hall of Fame team owner said he has found the support of his family and the rest of the RCR group uplifting, but that coping with such a sudden loss had been emotionally taxing.
“It’s challenging,” Childress said. “… You lose two of the greatest drivers that’s ever driven a car in NASCAR and have to go through it again. I just feel so, so bad for the family and the employees and everybody, but yeah, I mean, it’s … I haven’t slept very good lately, I’ll leave it at that.”
Magnifying the difficulty, Childress said, was how much closer the driver and team owner had become. Their relationship had grown into an off-track friendship, with Childress introducing Busch to his love of the outdoors and joining him to watch Busch’s 11-year-old son, Brexton, as he continues the developmental phase of his racing career. As he had done with Earnhardt decades ago, Childress had shared conversations with Busch about his future and what would have become of his post-driving days.
The two were adversarial when on opposing teams earlier in Busch’s career, but they channeled their shared competitive drive toward a common goal when Busch came on board with RCR in 2023. Childress says he saw shades of himself in Busch. Others did, too.
Kevin C. Cox | Getty Images
“He wanted to win. He was driven by winning, hard work, everything that he could do to put in it,” Childress said. “Yeah, they say we’re a little alike, and once somebody said, ‘well, the only difference, one’s got an accent, the other one doesn’t.’ So I really … we built a friendship out of this. We went hunting, I took him on one of his very first hunts, and he really got into hunting. He started taking Brexton, and we had other plans.
“The sad part for me, looking back, knowing what Dale Earnhardt had in mind, and the plans he had for him in his future, and sitting and talking to Kyle at different times, knowing his plans and what he had in the future for him and Brexton, his family, and the many things that we all could have done together, that was probably the toughest part of this whole thing.”
Though Busch’s time with RCR was relatively short compared to the breadth of his 20-plus-year Cup Series career, Childress said his impact on the organization was immeasurable. In speaking openly about his legacy, Childress said Busch will one day join him in the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
Left up to him, Childress said, that day would come as soon as possible.
“Kyle Busch will go down in history as one of the greatest drivers there’s ever been,” Childress said. “He’ll be in the Hall of Fame. I’d love to see them put him in it right away. He helped RCR when we needed him. He came right in, and we won three races the first part of (2023). We had a lot of opportunities to win other races, but we just didn’t finish and capitalize on them. He was a man that a lot of people thought he was tough to deal with and that we wouldn’t last long, but he was a man that loved this sport. He loved it so much that he wanted to see his family carry it on.”
Family remains top of mind for Childress, who said that he foresees grandsons Austin and Ty Dillon being more heavily involved in the team’s leadership one day. The family focus also extends to Busch’s family.
The car was rebranded from Busch’s No. 8 to the No. 33 Chevrolet before Hill first drove it in the Coca-Cola 600. Childress said that Busch had a hand in designing the style of the No. 8 that he used, and the team owner reiterated that the number was reserved for Brexton Busch, should he want to use it in NASCAR’s top division – regardless of whether he drives for Childress or not.
Childress spoke highly of the younger Busch on Saturday, saying that his on- and off-track composure had impressed him.
“I think just showing him the respect and trying not to put more pressure on him, just like Dale Earnhardt Jr.,” Childress said when asked what might set up Brexton Busch for success. “I think that he’s got a great future. That kid can drive a race car. Personally and mentally, watching him last Tuesday (during a private memorial) was incredible. He’s just a bright young man and a great little race car driver. He’ll carry the Busch legacy for many years to come.”
See where your favorite NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series drivers will pit this weekend at Michigan International Speedway.
NASCAR Cup Series
NASCAR Cup Series FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway on Sunday (3 p.m. ET, Prime Video, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series DQS Solutions & Staffing 250 powered by Precision Vehicle Logistics at Michigan International Speedway on Saturday (1:30 p.m. ET, FS1, NASCAR Racing Network Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Ned Jarrett, twice a NASCAR premier-series champion as well as a second-year inductee into the NASCAR Hall of Fame and one of the first competitors to make a successful transition from the race car to the television booth, has died. He was 93.
The Jarrett family made the following statement: “With profound sadness, the family of NASCAR Hall of Fame driver and radio/TV personality, Ned Jarrett, announces his passing on Thursday, June 4, 2026. He died peacefully of natural causes at his home in Newton, North Carolina, with his family by his side. He was 93 years old. Our father was a devout Christian and a devoted, loving family man. He was a friend to everyone he met and NASCAR’s oldest living champion. By all accounts, he was a true NASCAR legend. While we mourn his passing, we celebrate the remarkable life of an amazing man and truly the best father anyone could have wished for. Rest in Peace, Dad.”
“Despite his calm demeanor, ‘Gentleman’ Ned Jarrett was as fierce a competitor as NASCAR has ever seen,” NASCAR CEO Steve O’Donnell said in a statement. “His on-track accomplishments speak for themselves with wins and championships across several NASCAR divisions. But it was his off-the-track persona that separated Ned from his peers. He was as kind as his nickname indicated. And his endearing personality helped him excel in his second career as a broadcaster. Ned was an outstanding ambassador for the sport for more than six decades, and he will be dearly missed. On behalf of the France family and all of NASCAR, I offer my deepest condolences to all of Ned’s family and friends on the loss of a NASCAR legend.”
The third driver to win at least 50 NASCAR premier-series races, Jarrett won championships in 1961 and 1965 in what is known today as the NASCAR Cup Series. He is also a two-time Sportsman champion, claiming back-to-back titles in 1957 and ’58 after finishing second to Ralph Earnhardt in ’56.
Jarrett holds the record for the premier series’ largest margin of victory — claiming the 1965 Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway by a whopping 14 laps.
His 50 career wins came in just 352 starts during a career that lasted 13 years, from 1953 through 1966. However, he ran more than half the scheduled races only six times.
In that short span, Jarrett still totaled 185 top-five finishes and 239 top-10 results.
His championships came with two team owners — his ’61 title was won while competing for shipping heir B.G. Holloway, while his ’65 title came with owner Bondy Long.
It was also in ’65 that Jarrett suffered his worst injury in racing — breaking his back in a crash at Greenville-Pickens Speedway.
That injury, and the temporary withdrawal of Ford Motor Company from stock-car racing the next year, hastened Jarrett’s retirement at the age of 34.
“With the help of a lot of good doctors and a lot of people, we were able to keep going and finish out the season and went on to win the championship,” Jarrett said during his NASCAR Hall of Fame acceptance speech in 2011. “I’m very grateful for that.”
John Harrelson | Getty Images
Jarrett was named one of NASCAR’s 50 greatest drivers in 1998, and his 43 victories in Ford entries remain tops for that manufacturer.
After his retirement from driving, Jarrett quickly became a fan favorite behind the microphone. “Ned Jarrett’s World of Racing,” a daily radio news show, became a staple among those in the sport and those who followed it.
He worked with the Motor Racing Network (MRN) as a pit-road reporter before moving to the television booth, where he enjoyed stints with CBS and ESPN. His call for CBS of the final laps of the 1993 Daytona 500, in which his youngest son, Dale Jarrett, held off (at the time) five-time series champion Dale Earnhardt for the victory, remains one of the most memorable calls in NASCAR.
“C’mon, Dale, go baby, go,” the elder Jarrett said as the final lap unfolded, urging on his son while a national television audience listened in. “… Don’t let him (Earnhardt) get to the inside of you coming around this turn. Here he comes, Earnhardt; it’s the Dale and Dale show as they come off of Turn 4.
“You know who I’m pulling for, it’s Dale Jarrett. Bring her to the inside, Dale, don’t let him get down there. He’s gonna make it! Dale Jarrett’s gonna win the Daytona 500! Alright!”
Ned Jarrett was born Oct. 12, 1932, near Newton, North Carolina, and grew up working on his family’s farm and sawmill. When talk of a new race track, Hickory Speedway, became hot news in the community, Jarrett began making plans to compete when the track held its first premier-series event in 1953.
“I played a little basketball and baseball in high school (and) thought I had some athletic ability,” he said. “When they opened the speedway, I ran the first race they ever run there. I was hooked.”
Racing was little more than a hobby at that time for Jarrett, who said he won half interest in his first race car in a poker game.
When he began running in the Sportsman Series full-time and winning regularly, he started to consider moving up to the premier series, where he could try to race for a living.
When no car owners came calling, however, Jarrett found himself still competing in Sportsman races. After one particularly stressful night, Jarrett said he told others he needed a change. “I need to get in a car that will win a race for me or run up front on a consistent basis,” he said.
What followed remains one of the more interesting stories in NASCAR lore.
After his induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2011, Jarrett shared the story with members of the media.
“There was a 1957 Ford for sale, being maintained in my hometown,” Jarrett said. “Junior Johnson was winning on a fairly regular basis in that car. They were building Junior a new Dodge to run at Darlington that year, 1959.”
The owners wanted $2,000 for the car. Jarrett didn’t have $2,000, but he did have a plan — which was to write a check for the car after the bank closed on Friday, meaning it would be at least Monday before the money could be drawn out of his account.
“There was a 100-mile race, pays $950 to win Friday night at Myrtle Beach,” he said. “There was another race on Sunday afternoon in Charlotte that pays $950 to win. That’s $1,900. I can cover that check on Monday morning.
“You can’t be foolish enough to try that, but I did. I had no doubt in my mind. I was cocky enough to believe if Junior Johnson could win races in that car, I could, too.”
NASCAR Research & Archives Center | Getty Images
The result was Jarrett’s first two premier-series victories as he won back-to-back events at Rambi Raceway in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on Aug. 1 and Southern States Fairgrounds in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Aug. 2.
“We were able to pull it off,” he said. “… That’s what launched me into the Grand National Series.”
Jarrett won five times the following season as he ran 40 of the 44 races on the schedule and finished fifth in the points standings.
In 1961, he hooked up with Holloway and Chevrolet — thanks to a recommendation from 1960 series champion Rex White — and won his first title despite winning only one race. He finished in the top five in 23 of his 46 starts, outpointing White for the title.
Jarrett won a career-best 15 races driving for Long in 1964 but finished second to Richard Petty in the battle for the championship.
In the ’64 running of the World 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Jarrett helped pull a critically injured Fireball Roberts from his burning car after a crash. Roberts suffered third-degree burns, while Jarrett was treated for minor burns.
Roberts, one of NASCAR’s first superstars, died two months later while still being treated for his injuries.
The ’65 season saw Jarrett win 13 more times and capture his second series title. Included in his victories was the stunning 14-lap winning margin at Darlington. He made his final start the following year, finishing third in Rockingham while driving for Long.
Besides a driving and broadcasting career, Jarrett also took a turn as a track promoter, running Hickory Speedway from 1968 through 1977. He was named Promoter of the Year twice for his efforts.
All three of Jarrett’s children — sons Dale and Glenn and daughter Patti — have NASCAR ties.
Dale Jarrett won the NASCAR premier-series title in 1999 and retired with 32 career victories. He was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2014.
Glenn Jarrett competed in both the Cup Series and NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series before embarking on his own broadcasting career, while his daughter, Patti Makar, is married to Jimmy Makar, who was the Senior Vice President of Racing Operations for Joe Gibbs Racing.
Ned Jarrett was preceded in death by Martha, his wife of 67 years, on Feb. 5, 2023.
In January of 1963, Ned Jarrett spoke to the Associated Press about the business of running a race team, its pitfalls as well as its advantages.
“There’s very little glamour in this business of stock-car racing,” Jarrett said at the time. “It is hard work. To make money in it, you’ve got to run your team like you would any other business.
“You’ve got to match dollars that go out with dollars that come in. You can’t live on fame.”
Eleven races into the 2026 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season, Layne Riggs has emerged as the hottest driver at the level. The pilot of the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford leads full-timers in virtually every category: laps led (200), stage points (120), wins (3) and most importantly, points after surpassing Kaden Honeycutt last weekend at Nashville Superspeedway.
As one of the top prospects to eventually make the jump to the Cup Series, the 23-year-old will be a part of the Silly Season rumor mill as he continues to visit Victory Lane.
Speaking to the media over Zoom on Tuesday, Riggs explained that his current success — as well as active Cup drivers who had Truck Series success — are giving him optimism that a call-up could be inevitable.
“It gives me confidence that I’m going to have an opportunity in the future,” Riggs said. “Not just from Corey (Heim), but you look at Zane (Smith), you look at (Carson) Hocevar, you look at a lot of other guys that went straight from Trucks to Cup, I feel like that’s a common path nowadays. It seems like when you do get to a national level, you either go straight to Trucks and then you go to Cup, or you go straight to the O’Reilly (Auto Parts) Series and then go to Cup. I have the confidence that I’m going to be there one day. I’m waiting for that right opportunity whenever it becomes available, but I do feel like that will be the inevitable if I keep staying on track at the performance that I have now.”
Patience has been key for Riggs in his national series career so far. It took 23 starts and missing the playoffs in 2024 before he scored his first Truck Series triumph at The Milwaukee Mile. Riggs is on a current run of eight wins across the last 43 events.
But moving up the national series ladder is easier said than done, regardless of the resume built.
Heim, who won 12 Truck Series races and the series championship last year, is on a part-time schedule in 2026 but will run full-time at the Cup level for 23XI Racing in 2027.
And when getting to Cup, can the accolades translate against the best the sport has to offer? That mountain is even steeper to ascend.
As an example, Riggs mentioned rookie Connor Zilisch and how the phenom is struggling to put together consistent runs in his maiden campaign at the top level, despite dominating the O’Reilly Series a year ago.
“You have to race Cup to learn how to run a Cup car,” Riggs said. “You look at the tough start that Connor Zilisch has had this year and every driver that starts in the Cup Series, their rookie year is usually pretty rough. I think that waiting for the right opportunity that comes when the timing is right. I feel like if it’s a rushed opportunity to do so or something that I’m not really comfortable with, or the teams really aren’t set up to be ready to have me yet, I would rather just stay where I’m at, develop a little bit more and wait until that opportunity and timing is right.
“I would be fine with running eight years in the Truck Series and then having a 15-year-long Cup career. That sounds like a lot of fun. But just with the way timing works out, you can’t stay but so long or you kind of get stuck. I think it’s easy for drivers to get stuck in a series and get labeled as ‘you’re this series guy’, ‘you’re a Truck guy’ or ‘you’re an O’Reilly guy.’ The prospects aren’t really looking for you anymore as a guy that wants to move up.”
As the Truck Series heads to Michigan International Speedway on Saturday (1:30 p.m. ET, FS1, NRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), Riggs is eyeing to become the first Ford driver in the Truck Series to win three races in a row since Greg Biffle in 2000.
The second-generation driver is going to keep making waves moving forward, but Riggs says there’s no added pressure.
“I think that our results recently just kind of speak for themselves of the performance we have,” he said. “I want to move up, but I want the opportunity to be right so just waiting for that, and trying to make sure I do all I can in this series that I’m in and focus on that, and hopefully the rest will take care of itself.”
Editor’s Note: Keep tabs on this page for lineup advice following qualifying, including changes you should consider.
Fantasy Update: Several drivers had flat tires in practice, including frontrunners – and eventual Busch Light pole winner – Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell. All came out unscathed, with Toyota leading the way yet again at a high-speed oval.If you have starts left with Hamlin and Tyler Reddick, this is a great week to deploy them. While Reddick’s career numbers at Michigan have been underwhelming, his 2024 win showed what he’s capable of at the track, and the No. 45 car stood out above the rest in practice. The only change in my lineup is replacing Bubba Wallace with his 23XI Racing teammate.
Starting five: Tyler Reddick, Ty Gibbs, Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Carson Hocevar
Garage: Chris Buescher
The 2026 Cup Series season has belonged to Toyota through 14 races, as 23XI Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing have combined to win eight times. Chevrolet and Ford will put added emphasis on strong performances this weekend at Michigan International Speedway, with both OEMs’ headquarters nearby. It’s an opportune race for Ford, which has won nine of the past 11 Michigan races, though five of those were delivered by the retired Kevin Harvick.
Also returning to Fastlane this year is my weekly NASCAR 36 for 36 pick, where you can play along. It’s a season-long points battle introduced in 2024 where strategy is the primary emphasis. With 36 chartered cars and 36 races on the 2026 schedule, players can choose each car once for the duration of the season.
Driver:Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Selections remaining: 3 Comment: Past the halfway point of the regular season, it’s time to get creative with lineups. I’ll have to bite the bullet here with Hamlin, who has eight straight top-10 finishes at Michigan — the longest active streak. He has an average finish of 4.0 in four Next Gen starts — the best among active drivers.
Driver:Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Selections remaining: 9 Comment: Gibbs excels at venues where the throttle is hammered down, and that sums up Michigan precisely. The No. 54 team has consecutive third-place finishes here, and Gibbs has never placed worse than 11th in four starts. His 6.8 average finish ranks as his best at any track.
Driver:Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Selections remaining: 5 Comment: Larson won three consecutive Michigan races during the 2016 and 2017 seasons. He has also cracked the top 10 in five of his last six MIS starts, with two of those being third-place efforts. Maybe this is the week the two-time Cup champion snaps his 38-race winless drought.
David Jensen | Getty Images
DRIVERS TO AVOID
Driver:Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota Selections remaining: 4 Comment: Winner of five events already in 2026, Reddick has been the class of the field and has yet to finish outside the top 15. Sure, he won at Michigan in 2024, but that’s his lone result better than 13th in seven starts. Reddick has an average finish of 20.6 at Michigan, his worst among active non-drafting circuits.
Driver:Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford Selections remaining: 7 Comment: Since winning at Michigan in 2023, Buescher has remained red-hot in Ford’s backyard. He has three consecutive finishes of sixth or better here, with two of those being in the top two positions.
Driver:Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford Selections remaining: 10 Comment: Smith continues to impress in 2026, earning top 10s in the last two races. Michigan happens to be his best track on the schedule through two starts, as he has taken the checkered flag in seventh both times.
Jonathan Bachman | Getty Images
FEATURED MATCHUPS
Denny Hamlin vs. Tyler Reddick Pick: Hamlin Comment: Owner and driver have ruled the series in 2026, separating themselves from third-place Ryan Blaney in the championship standings. Hamlin gets the leg up in this duel, as his recent Michigan track record is unmatched, and he enters as the defending race winner. Unlike his 2026 numbers, Reddick has been inconsistent in the Great Lakes State.
Chris Buescher vs. Ty Gibbs Pick: Gibbs Comment: With a pair of third-place finishes in the last two Michigan events, Gibbs has made that Toyota horsepower sing in enemy territory. Buescher finished runner-up last year and led Ford in two of the last three Michigan events. Gibbs still gets my vote.
Brad Keselowski vs. Ross Chastain Pick: Keselowski Comment: Chastain’s spring slump has been one to forget for the No. 1 bunch, as he has just two finishes better than 16th all season and has fallen to 26th in points. Hometown favorite Keselowski has long excelled at MIS and hopes to replicate the Wolverines’ March Madness title run.
Carson Hocevar vs. Bubba Wallace Pick: Hocevar Comment: Wallace has slid to 15th in the standings, losing 258 points to the championship lead over the last nine events with five finishes of 29th or worse. Michigan has been kind to the No. 23 team recently, with a pair of top fives in the last four races. Hocevar has plenty of speed, however, and is another local favorite looking to earn a signature victory.
MY LINEUP
Starting five: Kyle Larson, Ty Gibbs, Chris Buescher, Chase Elliott, Bubba Wallace. Garage pick: Carson Hocevar.
36 FOR 36
Pick: Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford Comment: Smith and the No. 38 team are warming up, banking a pair of top 10s in the last two races. Between the Coca-Cola 600 and Nashville, Smith has paced the field for 49 laps after leading 41 laps total in his prior 91 Cup attempts. His 7.0 average finish at Michigan is his best among all tracks.
The list of drivers who have carried Team Penske colors across the years could fill a motorsports hall of fame. To name only a handful: Rusty Wallace, Rick Mears, Mark Donohue, Will Power, Joey Logano, Hélio Castroneves, Brad Keselowski, Josef Newgarden and Ryan Blaney.
Anywhere Roger Penske’s name is spoken in the motorsports world, from one series to another and across oceans, star-class drivers are part of the conversation. Their success is celebrated in racing museums across the country and at Team Penske’s North Carolina headquarters, and their names are scattered across a library of record books.
The name that is missing from the grand list of career-long Penske drivers? Roger Penske.
Before he became a global motorsports success story and the leader of an extensive network of businesses employing more than 73,000 people, Penske was a respected, on-the-rise race car driver. Had he stayed on that path, many believe, he could have put his name alongside the great drivers of his era.
Instead, Penske took a detour into business and a highly successful second career as a racing team owner. The sensational results of that choice make clear it was the right move, but questions nevertheless remain about the other road and the racing lanes he could have taken.
“He would have been one of the all-time great drivers,” said Walt Czarnecki, a Penske lieutenant for decades. “One thing that has always caught my attention when I’m listening to him on the spotter stand is that he can talk to the drivers as if he’s in the car. There’s a video around of him driving at Road America, and he’s commenting on the lap, talking about what he’s doing in this corner and that corner.”
In 1958, Penske, then 21 years old, began driving in Sports Car Club of America events. Smart, handsome and a quick study, he picked up the finer points of racing in a hurry and became a spotlighted driver at virtually every event. In 1961, he won the SCCA National D Modified championship and was named SCCA Driver of the Year by Sports Illustrated magazine. A year later, he scored a United States Auto Club championship and won Driver of the Year honors from The New York Times. In 1963, he won a NASCAR Pacific Coast Late Model race at Riverside International Raceway in California.
A victorious Roger Penske at Riverside in 1963. (NASCAR Research & Archives Center | Getty Images)
Penske seemed to be on an upward trajectory as a driver, but he faced a difficult decision. He had big ambitions in the automotive and business world, and he realized he couldn’t take both roads. In an interview with the NASCAR Hall of Fame, which he entered in 2019, Penske said, “I had to make a decision that was either going to be stay as a race driver or be in business. And I had an opportunity to go to work for a Chevrolet dealer in Philadelphia, George McKean. When I went there, I said, ‘Look, I’d like to own this business in a couple of years.’ And I knew at the time that would take place, I’d have to make that decision.”
With financial help from his father, Penske bought the Philadelphia dealership in 1965, and was off and running. Just not on a track.
He jumped back into racing from the ownership side, building a many-pronged organization that has garnered 48 national championships and scored almost 700 race victories. The Team Penske trophy cases bulge.
Could he have filled some himself?
“He definitely understands how to drive a car,” said Keselowski, who drove in NASCAR for Penske from 2009 to 2021, winning the organization’s first Cup Series championship in 2012. “I remember one race at California when I slid through my pit box. I had a call from him a couple of days later. He said it looked like I had too much front brake in the car. I was like, ‘That was it.’
“I sense from him that his motorsports driving career was something that he really enjoyed. He was hesitant to give up on it, but he was doing the best he could for his family. He had an opportunity in business outside of it, so I respect him for making that move.”
A 1976 meeting of team-owner giants (from left) Roger Penske, Bud Moore and Glen Wood in the NASCAR garage. (NASCAR Research & Archives Center | Getty Images)
Logano, whose stagnant career flourished when he arrived at Team Penske in 2013, said he benefited from driving advice from the boss.
“There was a lot of coaching, especially when I started, and it was awesome,” Logano said. “He was a really good race car driver. He would say, ‘You do a floater into a corner.’ Or maybe, ‘Try some different things here and there.’ It wasn’t the same every week, but it was pretty specific a lot of times.”
After giving up driving, Penske attracted some of the world’s best drivers to his surging organization, and his business successes expanded into track ownership and operations. His portfolio included Michigan International Speedway, site of this weekend’s Cup Series race, and Auto Club Speedway. He now owns Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a Penske mecca and the place where his teams have won 20 Indianapolis 500s.
Team Penske’s many accomplishments across 60 years are being celebrated this year with an exhibit at the NASCAR Hall of Fame. The exhibit includes numerous artifacts and race cars, including the 1996 Ford driven by Rusty Wallace, the first Cup Series car developed by the team.
Wallace, the driver who played a major role in solidifying Penske’s success in NASCAR, said the team built a replica of the Pontiac, numbered 02, that Penske drove to victory at Riverside, California, to honor that long-ago accomplishment.
“He never talked much about driving, but when you start researching what he’s done, holy cow, he was good, a damn good driver,” Wallace said.
Roger Penske stands on Daytona International Speedway’s pit road for pre-race ceremonies at the Rolex 24 in 2025. (James Gilbert | Getty Images)
The two season-long NASCAR Cup Series championship leaders, Tyler Reddick and Denny Hamlin arrive at Michigan International Speedway for Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 (3 p.m. ET, Prime Video, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) as the last two race winners at the two-mile track.
Hamlin, the defending race winner and driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, shows up in Michigan’s scenic Irish Hills fresh off a hard-fought victory last weekend in Nashville. His series’ best 756 laps led are a career-high for him through the opening 14 races. He is seventh all-time in multi-win seasons (15). And, he is on a streak of eight top-10 finishes at Michigan.
Reddick, driver of the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota – co-owned by Hamlin and NBA great Michael Jordan – climbs into his cockpit not only as the 2024 Michigan winner but the absolute most dominant driver of the 2026 season; his five wins through the opening 13 races have put him a remarkable 97-points ahead of Hamlin in the standings.
It’s the first time since April that Reddick, who won the first three races including the Daytona 500, has led the championship by less than 100 points, and remains the only driver to lead the championship in 2026. Only upcoming NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Jeff Burton (17) has had more consecutive top-15 finishes to start a season than Reddick, whose 5.57 average finish ties Richard Petty for the seventh best mark all-time through 14 races.
Even though Hamlin and Reddick have established this impressive run atop the standings and statistics, Michigan has been a Ford track historically. In just the last decade, Ford won nine races consecutively before Reddick’s 2024 win.
A victory this weekend would go a long way for the blue oval, which has celebrated only one points-paying trophy hoist this year – Ryan Blaney’s victory at Phoenix back in March for Team Penske.
To his credit, the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series champion Blaney is doing his best to keep Reddick and Hamlin honest. He sits third in the points, but is an incredible 174 points off Reddick’s total. He is responsible for the last five Ford victories, dating back to last season.
Ford is the all-time winningest manufacturer at Michigan with 44 wins – 18 more than Chevrolet and 37 more than Toyota.
Of Ford’s nine most recent wins at Michigan, retired driver and upcoming NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Kevin Harvick owns five of them, and his NASCAR on FOX broadcast partner, driver Clint Bowyer, owns another. Blaney (2021), his Penske teammate Joey Logano (2019) and RFK Racing driver Chris Buescher (2023) fill out the recent Ford Michigan winners list.
For both Logano and Buescher – Logano especially – a win this week would go a long way to righting an uncharacteristically slow start to the season. Logano’s three Michigan wins are tied for most among active drivers, and the RFK organization, which Buescher drives for, leads all teams historically with 14 victories.
Buescher is ranked eighth in the championship standings with six top-10s. RFK owner-driver – and Michigan-native – Brad Keselowski is 13th in the championship, and his three Michigan runner-up finishes are the most for a driver without a win at the track.
Just past the regular season halfway mark, Team Penske driver Austin Cindric is holding onto that 16th position in the standings – the final transfer spot into The Chase. He holds a two-point edge on RFK’s Ryan Preece and is nine points up on 18th-place Logano.
“I feel like those guys have had some pretty big misfortunes this year that has kind of put them where they are at,” the driver of the No. 12 Team Penske Ford, Blaney, said of his teammates Cindric and Logano. “I think they’ve run a lot better than what it’s showing in the points.
“I know Joey and Austin are doing a really good job of trying to utilize everything they can week in and week out. I just feel like they run into some problems that really aren’t what they’re doing. And it’s really stuck.
“And I’ve been there before, and it just kind of seems like nothing’s going your way, and those guys are kind of in that right now. But I think they’re working hard to get where they need to be, and, like I said, I think the mood is pretty good.”
Saturday’s practice (5 p.m. ET) for the FireKeepers Casino 400, followed immediately by Busch Light Pole Qualifying (6:10 p.m. ET), will both be broadcast on Prime Video, MRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. JGR’s Chase Briscoe is the defending pole-winner.
The No. 99 ThorSport Racing team in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series was penalized following last weekend’s race at Nashville Superspeedway.
Jackman Evan Clay and rear tire changer Pedro Martinez have been suspended for the next two points races through Naval Base Coronado after a wheel came off driver Ben Rhodes’ truck during the final stage at the 1.33-mile concrete oval near Music City. The loose wheel is a safety violation noted in Sections 8.8.10.4A and 10.5.2.5D of the NASCAR Rule Book.
Per the NASCAR roster portal, Jabari Carney will serve as jackman for Saturday’s race at Michigan International Speedway (1:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), while Matt Kurinyj will sub in as rear tire changer.
Rhodes currently sits seventh in points, 52 markers ahead of the Chase cutline.
In racing, consistency has a habit of leading directly to championships.
Several of the NASCAR Cup Series’ top stars through the years have proven that sentiment. Benny Parsons and Matt Kenseth both won Cup Series titles with just one win but relied on incredible consistency to outclass the competition.
With that in mind, Austin Beers and the KLM Motorsports team have taken the consistent approach to a completely different level on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.
Beers and KLM Motorsports have finished in the top 10 in 35 consecutive Modified Tour races. His last finish outside the top 10 was a 26th-place run at Richmond Raceway in 2024, which was the result of a crash.
That consistency helped carry Beers and KLM Motorsports to the Modified Tour championship last year; the team won twice while securing 12 top-five and 16 top-10 finishes across 16 races.
Austin Beers has finished in the top 10 in more than 70 percent of his NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour starts. (Photo: Ted Malinowski/NASCAR)
In fact, in 75 Modified Tour starts to date, Beers has finished outside the top 10 in just 16 events. That means he’s finished in the top 10 in an astounding 78.66 percent of all Modified Tour races he’s run.
Beers is once again off to a consistent start to the Modified Tour season. Through five events, he has three top-five and five top-10 finishes with a worst finish of seventh, which came last Saturday night at New York’s Riverhead Raceway.
That’s all fine and dandy, but Beers and KLM Motorsports don’t enter races to finish in the top 10. The goal is to win, and Beers hopes to get back to his winning ways during Saturday’s All States Materials Group 150 at Oxford Plains Speedway (6:15 p.m. ET on FloRacing).
“The streak is definitely cool and a good stat to have. It shows the consistency our team brings every time we touch the race track,” Beers said. “With the being said we come to the track to win, and we want to start doing that again.”
35 years later, the Modified Tour is back at Oxford Plains
It’s been a long wait, but this Saturday, the Modified Tour returns to one of the tracks that appeared on the inaugural Tour schedule in 1985.
Oxford Plains Speedway, located in Oxford, Maine, has a long and storied racing history that dates back to 1950. The track opened as a half-mile dirt track but eventually evolved into the current 0.375-mile asphalt oval we see today.
The track is perhaps best known for the popular Oxford 250, a marquee late model race that has been won by drivers like Kyle Busch, Geoff Bodine and Kevin Harvick.
The Modified Tour made its debut at the track during the Tour’s inaugural season in 1985, with Richie Evans earning his final series victory prior to his passing in a crash at Martinsville Speedway a few weeks later.
Jimmy Spencer won the next two Modified Tour events at the track, with Mike McLaughlin and Jeff Fuller also collecting victories. Fuller’s triumph, which came in 1991, is the most recent stop by the Modified Tour at Oxford Plains Speedway.
Anthony Nocella has won multiple races at Oxford Plains Speedway during his career, which could give him an edge ahead of Saturday’s NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event. (Photo: Adam Glanzman/NASCAR)
Hirschman, McKennedy and Nocella have an Oxford Plains experience edge
Of the drivers entered in Saturday’s All States Materials Group 150 at Oxford Plains Speedway, only a select few have ever turned laps at the historic race track.
The three with the most experience are undoubtably Matt Hirschman, Jon McKennedy and Anthony Nocella.
Hirschman, a 10-time Modified Tour winner, has visited Victory Lane at Oxford Plains as recently as 2019, when he won a Modified event that also featured drivers like Ronnie Williams, Andy Jankowiak, Ron Silk, Woody Pitkat and Matt Swanson.
McKennedy has multiple Supermodified triumphs at Oxford Plains Speedway, with his most recent coming during the 2024 season.
Nocella, a part-time Modified Tour competitor, is a victor in both a Midget and a Modified at Oxford Plains Speedway. His most recent Oxford Plains win came in 2021.
