Posted on by Staff Report

Kyle Larson has been nominated for Best Driver at the upcoming 2022 ESPY Awards.

The 29-year-old Hendrick Motorsports driver is the defending Cup Series champion, coming off a season in which he tallied 10 wins, 20 top-five finishes and 26 top 10s. Larson broke the record for laps led in a 36-race season with 2,581. He had an average finish of 9.1.

“It’s a great honor,” Larson said Saturday at Road America. “I know there has been a lot of NASCAR drivers to win the award, so my fingers are crossed that I can win that. That would definitely be one of the coolest awards. Just being nominated alone is a great honor. But if I was to win it and beat a F1 World Champion, as well as the other champions, that would be a great honor.

“We’ll see. I hope. Max (Verstappen) had a great year, as well as everybody else. Hopefully they consider my dirt wins, as well; because if you factor in my dirt wins, then that would give me a better shot.”

RELATED: Kyle Larson driver page

Larson was also the first driver to score 10 wins in a season since seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson accomplished the feat in 2007.

In the award’s 29-year history, NASCAR drivers have won 18 times with Johnson and Jeff Gordon earning the most at four. Kyle Busch is the most recent NASCAR driver to win the award when he did so in 2019.

Tony Stewart (three times) and Busch (twice) have also won the award multiple times, while Martin Truex Jr., Kevin Harvick, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Bobby Labonte and Dale Jarrett have each won once.

Going up against Larson for the award are 2021 Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen, defending IndyCar champion Alex Palou and four-time NHRA Drag Racing champion Steve Torrence.

The 2022 ESPYS will take place July 20 at 8 p.m. ET.

Posted on by Pat DeCola

The start of the Next Gen era can probably be summed up in one quick phrase — everybody is good somewhere; nobody is good everywhere.

With wins thus far at Richmond Raceway, Kansas Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway, and significant speed this past weekend at Nashville Superspeedway — as well as a victory at Bristol Motor Speedway’s dirt race, which doesn’t quite translate anywhere else — Joe Gibbs Racing can count shorter-to-intermediate tracks among those it has dialed in for 2022.

Road courses, however, tell a different story.

The Toyota-backed organization’s results at Sonoma Raceway, where of the six competitors driving for the manufacturer Kurt Busch was the highest finisher in 18th, speak for themselves. The first road course of the season at Austin, Texas’ Circuit of The Americas did not go much better, with an average finish of 21.0 among them despite Christopher Bell’s P3.

MORE: Full Sonoma results | COTA results

“We struggled at COTA as well to be honest with raw speed and being able to be good there,” Kyle Busch said at Nashville. “In the early stage of the race, I think we were running eighth, we were fading, I got spun out by Chase Elliott running 12th, you know what I mean? So we weren’t great at COTA either, but we were able to get through some of the restarts and get positions on guys to get ourselves up front. Christopher, I think, was third or fourth. I was right with him on the last lap there. And so you know, felt like with everything that kind of ensued on the last lap, we would have had a shot to run in the top two or three, for sure.”

“But I would say both road course events so far this year were not our strong suit. Why we missed it? I don’t know. If I could answer that, we wouldn’t struggle, we wouldn’t have been bad. But talking to Martin Truex (Jr.), who tested for us at (Watkins Glen International), certainly not looking forward to going to The Glen either. They weren’t very fast there.”

For arguably the top organization of the past decade, this is not typical. 

Toyota enjoyed a total of 10 wins last year in the final season for the Gen 6 Cup Series racer, spread across essentially every size and shape of race track the tour visits — including Bell’s victory on the Daytona International Speedway road-course layout. Part of what has historically made JGR so exceptional is its seeming ability to unload fast on a weekly basis, regardless of what track it happens to be racing at that weekend. 

The silver lining here for JGR and its sister organization 23XI Racing is that they aren’t alone — every team is fighting the same battle from this regard.

The sort of hit-or-miss nature for teams just about every weekend so far may just be a product of the vast increase in parity across the board that was part of the intention in the development of the Next Gens.

“A little bit. I would argue, too, that the (Team) Penske guys weren’t great at Kansas,” Busch said. “They’ve been super strong at the flatter tracks. They’re really fast at Martinsville, Phoenix. They’ve been good. They were good at Gateway as well, too. … it seems that these teams or organizations kind of have that they’re good at these particular tracks. And so I think as we all continue to learn and grow, like, the good teams will be the good teams everywhere. But you know, it is kind of patchy right now with just getting an understanding built around this car.”

With five of its drivers currently on the right side of the playoff bubble and three of them provisionally locked in with their respective wins, there’s no need to sound the alarm bells just yet, but the road-course issue is one that Toyota would like to have ironed out over the coming weeks.

The Cup Series will turn left and right on three weekends over the next two months as the regular season wraps, starting with Sunday’s Kwik Trip 250 presented by JOCKEY Made in America at Road America (3 p.m. ET, USA Network, MRN, Sirius XM NASCAR Radio).

MORE: Full Cup Series schedule

Should those three races not produce the solutions and finishes JGR, 23XI and Toyota are looking for, however, it might be time to start sweating.

The season’s final road course is perhaps the most unpredictable one, with the most pressure and implications — Charlotte Motor Speedway’s Roval.

Busch, Bell and Denny Hamlin all finished in the top 10 there last year, but at the moment, that looks like a bit of a long shot. Given that the Roval marks the Round of 8 cutoff and calamity could spell catastrophe, you can be sure there will be plenty of emphasis placed on Road America, Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s Road Course (July 31) and The Glen (August 21).

If there’s any team that has the knowledge, resources and talent to diagnose and rectify an issue like this it’s JGR, but if we’ve learned anything about the Next Gen through the season’s first half of racing … it’s no guarantee.

Posted on by Dustin Albino

Over the years, Toyota Racing has had multiple young, talented prospects go through its pipeline. Next in line is Sammy Smith.

Smith currently leads the ARCA Menards Series East racing for Kyle Busch Motorsports, capturing three checkered flags in five races in 2022. He’s led 494 of 875 laps (56.5%) and hasn’t finished worse than fifth.

This year, he’s also ran a partial ARCA Menards Series schedule, dominating at Elko last weekend by leading 233 of 250 laps. In five starts, he hasn’t finished worse than third.

“It’s been a really good season so far,” Smith told NASCAR.com last week.

RELATED: Road America weekend schedule | NASCAR on TV this week

This weekend at Road America will be a new challenge for Smith, an 18-year-old from Iowa. He will make his Xfinity Series debut, driving the No. 18 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, marking the first of eight races Smith has on the docket in Xfinity this season, with the remaining races coming at Pocono, Michigan, Watkins Glen, Bristol, Kansas, Martinsville and Phoenix.

Admittedly, Smith’s opportunity in the Xfinity Series has been in the works for some time. A conversation about Smith’s progression between Steve Desouza, executive vice president of JGR’s Xfinity Series program, and Kurt Smith (Sammy’s father), president of Rising Star Management Group, led to the initial thought of running Smith in Xfinity races someday.

“We’ve watched Sammy progress, and as he approached the age allowing him to race in the ARCA East Series, we developed a plan for him,” Desouza said.

Bringing sponsorship to the table certainly helps Smith’s case of getting Xfinity starts soon after turning 18 years old in early June. He brings to the table former sponsors of Michael Annett: Pilot Flying J and TMC Transportation, which have been with Smith since he raced go karts at 8 years old. Allstate Peterbilt Group will also be sponsoring the No. 18 car.

Up until this month, Smith couldn’t compete on tracks bigger than 1 mile in length due to age. He was counting down the days until he turned 18.

“I get to run the big tracks and hopefully continue to learn and work on my craft to try and be a good race car driver,” Smith said. “I feel like I’m decent on the short tracks because that’s what I grew up doing. I have a lot of confidence in those, but it’s going to be about getting used to the big tracks and the Xfinity car. Hopefully, we can run all the laps and get a win out of the eight races.”

Driving for JGR entails having some of the best equipment in the Xfinity Series on a weekly basis. Realistically, Smith knows there will be a learning curve, but isn’t ruling out a victory. After all, his JGR teammate Ty Gibbs shocked everyone in February 2021 when he won in his first Xfinity start at the Daytona road course.

Certainly, Smith has high expectations for himself and the No. 18 team, which he’s gotten to know over the last years with the ARCA and Xfinity cars coming from the same race shop.

“My goals are no different than they are now: Go out and try to lead laps, win poles, win races and do the best I can do,” he said. “I know the team will be behind me with Jason Ratcliff and the whole [No.] 18 group has been good this year and I know will bring fast race cars to the track.”

While Desouza won’t go as far as saying he expects Smith to win, he does have high expectations for the young driver, allowing him to develop in NASCAR’s second-highest division.

“Run all the laps, learn these cars, [communicate] with your team, take what the car will give you, and improve each time he is in the car,” Desouza said.

Leading up to his series debut, Smith has sought advice from 2011 Daytona 500 champion Trevor Bayne, who has driven the No. 18 car six times in 2022. He’s also worn out the simulator, provided by Toyota Racing Development.

Up until this year, Smith had little road racing experience. But working with Scott Lagasse in a TA2 car has given him some additional laps, particularly at the famed Wisconsin road course that he’ll see this weekend.

The final three races of the year for Smith at Bristol, Martinsville and Phoenix are familiar territory. He anticipates being most comfortable on the shorter tracks, which is where his racing success has come on.

“I’m going to be learning these eight races in the Xfinity Series,” Smith said. “The team is capable of winning, I’m capable of winning; I have to learn a lot and be competitive. Being able to adapt will be the biggest thing, and I don’t think it’s going to be easy by any means. I’ve got a good mindset, so hopefully we’ll go run well.”

The eight starts also serve as another purpose, as Smith surveys the landscape for 2023. Not knowing what he’ll be driving or where he will be competing in 2023, this is a perfect opportunity.

“I think every time you step into a race car you’re getting auditioned,” he said. “You’re only as good as your last race, and these eight races are going to be tough. I take it one race at a time, and we’ll take it when it comes to the present.”

Through 15 races, the No. 18 team ranks 10th in the owners standings, earning seven top-10 finishes.

Posted on by Staff Report

It’s really more of a “when” than an “if.”

JR Motorsports co-owner and vice president Kelley Earnhardt Miller, in a call Tuesday with Sirius XM NASCAR Radio, all but confirmed a JRM entry in the NASCAR Cup Series at some point.

“We’re thinking about it every day, we’re working on it it feels like every other day. We do want to go Cup racing. We believe that that’s a good spot for us,” said Earnhardt Miller, the sister of NASCAR Hall of Famer and JRM co-owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. “We want to stay in the Xfinity Series, too, so you know, what that looks like is certainly up for grabs.”

The timing here is interesting. Over the weekend at Nashville Superspeedway, No. 8 JRM driver Josh Berry indicated he has “a set goal of racing in a Cup car one day.” The veteran has proven to be a contender this year in the Xfinity Series and could potentially be a steady candidate to pilot a ride as the team gets its feet wet at the premier series level.

MORE: Josh Berry expresses interest in Cup Series future | 2023 Silly Season roundup

Earnhardt Miller didn’t provide a concrete timeline for when this could happen, and there are, of course, some hurdles to overcome before it becomes a reality. Still, the intention is fully there.

“The biggest barrier is that charter cost and just looking at the business model and trying to figure out sponsorship and trying to really make that leap,” she said. “I think right now, we saw it last fall where there was a high demand for charters and a lot of conversations went on and purchases went on. I don’t think there’s a lot of charters up for grabs at a reasonable cost right now, I’ll just say.

” … It’s like, when’s the right time to strike? That’s just really what we’re trying to work through and figure out. Right now, we’re focused on re-signing our guys for Xfinity for next year and re-signing our sponsors and then if we have the opportunity to do some Cup racing and kind of put our toe in the water and see. I don’t think we’ll be Cup racing full-time for 2023, that’s for certain. Unless something amazing happens and something really awesome falls out of the sky, but right now our sights are set beyond that and we’re really just trying to figure it out.”

JRM is having a sensational 2022 season in the Xfinity Series, as well. Through 16 races, the team has six wins among Justin Allgaier, Berry and Noah Gragson, including victories in five of the last seven.

Listen to the whole interview here:

Posted on by Press Release

STAMFORD, Conn. — USA Network begins its run as NBC Sports’ new cable home of the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series this weekend with live race coverage from Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, this Saturday and Sunday, July 2 and 3, beginning at 2 p.m. ET each day.

USA Network will be the exclusive home for 23 of the next 26 NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series races through September, visiting iconic tracks such as Atlanta Motor Speedway, Watkins Glen International, Darlington Raceway and Talladega Superspeedway.

Including practice and qualifying, as well as the NASCAR ARCA Menards Series and Whelen Modified Tour, USA Network will present nearly 200 hours of NASCAR coverage in 2022.

MORE: NASCAR TV schedule

USA Network has been a top-five cable entertainment brand for more than 20 years and is widely available across cable, satellite and streaming providers, including:

  • AT&T U-verse HD: Channel 1125
  • Charter Spectrum HD: Channel 101
  • Comcast XFINITY TV HD:  Channel 823
  • Cox Contour HD: Channel 1028
  • DIRECTV HD: Channel 242
  • DISH Network HD: Channel 105
  • Verizon FiOS: Channel 550
  • Optimum: Channel 38

Channel listings may vary by market and could be updated by the provider to a different channel at any time.

USA Network is also available via most streaming services, including:

  • DirecTV Stream
  • fuboTV
  • Hulu + Live TV
  • Sling TV (Blue package)
  • Youtube TV

Earlier this year, USA Network became the cable home of premium NBC Sports events, which, in addition to NASCAR, includes coverage of the Premier League, INDYCAR, the Olympic Games, USGA and The R&A Golf Championships, horse racing, cycling and more.

As in years past, coverage airing on USA Network will also stream on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app via authentication.

Following are NBC Sports’ full 2022 NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series schedules:

NBC SPORTS 2022 NASCAR CUP SERIES SCHEDULE
Date Location Platform Time (ET)
Sunday, July 3 Road America USA 3 p.m.
Sunday, July 10 Atlanta USA 3 p.m.
Sunday, July 17 New Hampshire USA 3 p.m.
Sunday, July 24 Pocono USA 3 p.m.
Sunday, July 31 Indianapolis Road Course NBC 2:30 p.m.
Sunday, August 7 Michigan USA 3 p.m.
Sunday, August 14 Richmond USA 3 p.m.
Sunday, August 21 Watkins Glen USA 3 p.m.
Saturday, August 27 Daytona NBC, Peacock 7 p.m.
Sunday, September 4 Darlington USA 6 p.m.
Sunday, September 11 Kansas USA 3 p.m.
Saturday, September 17 Bristol USA 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, September 25 Texas USA 3:30 p.m.
Sunday, October 2 Talladega NBC 2 p.m.
Sunday, October 9 Charlotte ROVAL NBC 2 p.m.
Sunday, October 16 Las Vegas NBC 2:30 p.m.
Sunday, October 23 Homestead-Miami NBC 2:30 p.m.
Sunday, October 30 Martinsville NBC 2 p.m.
Sunday, November 6 Phoenix NBC, Peacock 3 p.m.

 

NBC SPORTS 2022 NASCAR XFINITY SERIES SCHEDULE
Date Location Platform Time (ET)
Saturday, July 2 Road America USA 2:30 p.m.
Saturday, July 9 Atlanta USA 5 p.m.
Saturday, July 16 New Hampshire USA 2:30 p.m.
Saturday, July 23 Pocono USA 5 p.m.
Saturday, July 30 Indianapolis Road Course NBC, Peacock 3:30 p.m.
Saturday, August 6 Michigan USA 3:30 p.m.
Saturday, August 20 Watkins Glen USA 3 p.m.
Friday, August 26 Daytona USA 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, September 3 Darlington USA 3 p.m.
Saturday, September 10 Kansas USA 3 p.m.
Friday, September 16 Bristol USA 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, September 24 Texas USA 3:30 p.m.
Saturday, October 1 Talladega USA 4 p.m.
Saturday, October 8 Charlotte ROVAL NBC, Peacock 3 p.m.
Saturday, October 15 Las Vegas NBC, Peacock 3 p.m.
Saturday, October 22 Homestead-Miami USA 4:30 p.m.
Saturday, October 29 Martinsville NBC, Peacock 3 p.m.
Saturday, November 5 Phoenix USA 6 p.m.

 

Posted on by Staff Report

NASCAR officials issued four-week suspensions Tuesday to three crew members for the No. 17 RFK Racing team for a detached wheel during Sunday’s Cup Series race at Nashville Superspeedway.

Shortly after a final-stage pit stop, the right-rear wheel came off Chris Buescher’s No. 17 Ford with 46 laps left in Sunday’s Ally 400. That incident prompted the 11th of 12 caution periods in the 300-lap race, and Buescher limped back to the pits on the way to a 30th-place finish, three laps down.

RELATED: Cup Series standings | Official Nashville results

The lost wheel falls under the heading of Section 10.5.2.6 in the NASCAR Rule Book. That safety violation has resulted in a four-race ban for crew chief Scott Graves and crew members Seth Gajdorus (rear tire changer) and Matthew Wilps (jack).

Competition officials also handed down $5,000 fines to the crew chiefs for four teams in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for lug-nut violations after Saturday’s Tennessee Lottery 250 at the Nashville oval. The following teams were penalized for each having one lug nut unsecured in a post-race check:

• No. 6 JD Motorsports Chevrolet (crew chief Alex Bird; driver Ryan Vargas)
• No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet (crew chief Jason Trinchere; driver Landon Cassill)
• No. 31 Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet (crew chief Shane Whitbeck; driver Myatt Snider)
• No. 44 Alpha Prime Racing Chevrolet (crew chief Michael Brandt; driver Ryan Ellis)

NASCAR officials also issued an indefinite suspension to Tony Waters for violations of the sanctioning body’s Substance Abuse Policy. Waters was listed as the hauler driver for the No. 4 Kyle Busch Motorsports team for the Camping World Truck Series’ event last month at Texas Motor Speedway.

Posted on by Zach Sturniolo

Chase Elliott remains the current king on NASCAR’s road courses.

The 2020 champion has won seven of the last 16 Cup Series road races, a stretch that includes a trip to Victory Lane in last year’s return to Road America in the No. 9 Chevrolet.

In a small sample size, that dominance hasn’t yet carried over to the Next Gen era. Confidence remains high — rightfully so as Elliott heads back to the Wisconsin road course on the heels of a Nashville victory, his second win of 2022. But Elliott concedes his Hendrick Motorsports team is looking to maintain — or regain — its recent road-course dominance.

MORE: Elliott pulls even in title odds | Elliott’s run to Nashville checkered

“Really, I think we’re kind of back to the drawing board,” Elliott said Tuesday via Twitter Spaces. “We had a good package and a good system worked out with our other car. But really, that being out the window, we’re relearning just like everybody else. We hit on a good package with the other car back in 2016 or 2017 and started tweaking on it from there. And it took us a long time to get to where we were really happy and liked things and were really able to extract what we needed to out of the car.

“We haven’t been bad at the road courses this year, but we definitely haven’t gotten the car driving exactly like I want. We haven’t optimized every aspect of a road-race setup or a road-race event from the strategy side of it to being able to pit the car like we want to, to having the exact balance. Hopefully we get there, but I still think we have some work to do.”

The numbers still favor Elliott, whom BetMGM lists at 9-2 as the odds-on favorite to win Sunday’s Kwik Trip 250 Presented by JOCKEY (3 p.m ET, USA Network, NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). His two wins in the first 17 races this year already equal his total victories from 2021 and currently holds the top spot in both the regular-season standings and playoff grid.

MORE: How Elliott’s Nashville win pads playoff seed lead | Where he sits in Power Rankings

The postseason already has Elliott’s attention with just nine races remaining until the regular season concludes at Daytona International Speedway on Aug. 27. Winning the regular-season title comes with a bonus of 15 playoff points. Elliott holds a 30-point advantage over Ross Chastain for the top spot heading into Road America with Ryan Blaney just 31 back of Elliott.

“Thirty points does not — I mean you’re two stages away from basically eliminating that entire gap,” Elliott said. “So we obviously want to add to that. And I think just like anytime when you’re racing and you’re talking about points or talking about a bigger goal individually each week, if we’re in contention to win races and you’re kind of in the mix and in the fight, the points thing’s gonna take care of itself.”

Pit strategy at road courses, however, throws a wrench into those plans. Teams often elect to forego stage points and pit ahead of the stage breaks, leaving valuable points on the table in search of the bigger prize at the end of the race — a win and five additional playoff points.

Trackhouse Racing’s Chastain (Circuit of The Americas) and Daniel Suárez (Sonoma Raceway) have swept the year’s road courses so far. Road America is the first of two road races over the next five weeks, the second coming at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course on July 31. Watkins Glen International, where Elliott snagged his first Cup victory in 2018, is the last road course of the regular season on Aug. 21.

“A lot of road racing coming up,” Elliott said, “so if we don’t hit on it (at Road America), it’s a good opportunity to go in the right direction, and hopefully one of those two things happen.”

Posted on by Staff Report

News of Martin Truex Jr.’s return to Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 19 team next season came last Friday at Nashville Superspeedway in a short and sweet statement: “I’m coming back.” Monday, JGR pulled the curtain back on the moment when the 41-year-old driver shared that news with his crew.

RELATED: Truex announces return | Silly Season’s key figures

Truex, nearly midway through his 17th full season in the NASCAR Cup Series, will be back for his fifth year with Coach Joe Gibbs’ organization. In his brief address to his crew, he expressed his gratitude for his team’s effort and said, “Look forward to going out on top, hopefully.”

Truex won both stages in Sunday’s Ally 400 at Nashville before slipping to a 22nd-place finish. He sits seventh in the Cup Series standings, still seeking his first win of the 2022 campaign.

Posted on by Staff Report

A group of children from Nashville-area Boys & Girls Clubs received a special visit from one of country music’s hottest stars on Sunday, as award-winning artist Kane Brown surprised 20 teens before the start of the Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway. Brown, a longtime supporter of Boys & Girls Clubs of America, was announced last month as grand marshal for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series event, but his first priority after arriving at the race track was to surprise some unsuspecting youth from the Boys & Girls Clubs of Middle Tennessee and Boys & Girls Clubs of Rutherford County.

Kane Brown signs autographs for Boys & Girls Club members
Meg Oliphant | Getty Images

Brown signed autographs, took photos with the kids and engaged in an informal Q&A before reporting to the pit-road stage for pre-race festivities. A pair of club members — 13-year-old Amina and 13-year-old Yorec — joined Kane on the starting grid to deliver the most famous words in racing as all 40 drivers fired their engines in preparation for green flag.

Before the race, Amina and Yorec met NASCAR officials, drivers and race dignitaries, including NASCAR president Steve Phelps, 23XI Racing driver Bubba Wallace and WWE superstar Sheamus, during The 1948 pre-race experience.

The Boys & Girls Clubs attended the race as part of a national partnership with NASCAR designed to educate club youth about career opportunities in the sport. Before the Ally 400, the group received a private tour of the race track and met with various industry professionals along the way — including Nashville Superspeedway president Erik Moses and representatives from NASCAR’s broadcast operations and at-track medical team.

The experience is one of 15 activations planned for NASCAR Cup Series race days this season, and the goal of each is to demonstrate to Boys & Girls Clubs youth that are preparing to enter the workforce the wide variety of jobs and career opportunities in motorsports. In 2021, Boys & Girls Clubs of America was announced as the Official Youth Community Partner of NASCAR and, now in its second year, the partnership focuses on STEM learning and career development across both digital and at-track experiences.

Brown, who will embark on an international concert tour in September, lives in Nashville and was raised in Chattanooga, just a few hours from Nashville Superspeedway. The chart-topping artist has released multiple No. 1 tracks and his recently released single, “Like I Love Country Music,” has already amassed nearly 10 million listens on Spotify.

Shortly after meeting Brown, the Boys & Girls Clubs kids enjoyed a similar encounter with another celebrity with ties to the state. New Orleans Saints All-Pro tailback Alvin Kamara, who played collegiately at the University of Tennessee and currently serves as NASCAR’s growth and engagement advisor, met with the club members and signed autographs as part of a private meet-and-greet.

Kane Brown poses with Boys & Girls Club members in the infield at Nashville Superspeedway
Meg Oliphant | Getty Images
Posted on by Brandon White

Although Saturday’s Buzz Chew Chevrolet Cadillac 200 at Riverhead Raceway yielded a first-time NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour winner, the driver who parked his car in Victory Lane had plenty of experience getting there.

Kyle Soper, who has won three track championships at Riverhead during his career, finally broke through for his first victory after 15 starts and simultaneously broke a 27-year drought for Riverhead regulars in NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour competition at the facility.

RESULTS: Buzz Chew Chevrolet Cadillac 200 at Riverhead

Soper’s path to Victory Lane on Saturday was far from an easy one, as he had to fend off three-time Tour champion Justin Bonsignore, who was searching for his ninth Tour win in Riverhead, New York.

Fortunes ended up favoring the local hero in Soper, who joined Mike Christoper Jr. as the only other driver to get his first Tour win this season.

Below are the key takeaways from Saturday’s Buzz Chew Chevrolet Cadillac 200 at Riverhead Raceway

Kyle Soper wins one for the Riverhead regulars

Every NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event at Riverhead features plenty of representation from the local contingent of drivers.

Along with Soper, other track champions like Tom Rogers Jr., Howie Brode, Shawn Solomito and John Fortin have entered numerous Whelen Modified Tour-sanctioned races at Riverhead during their careers, but all of their attempts ultimately came up short of a trip to Victory Lane prior to Saturday.

The most recent Riverhead regular to win a Tour event at the track was Ed Brunnhoelzl Jr. in 1995, who held off legend Reggie Ruggiero for what proved to be his only Tour victory.

With so many close calls in the following years, it was only a matter of time before one of the current Riverhead regulars finally earned the distinction of winning a Tour race at their home track.

That honor was ultimately bestowed upon Soper, who was driving a car fielded by a five-time Riverhead track champion Wayne Anderson.

Still maintaining a small points lead in the weekly Modified standings at Riverhead, Soper intends to build off the momentum from Saturday so he can add another track title to his resume.

He also hopes to start a new trend of success for Riverhead regulars with the next Whelen Modified Tour race at the track just two months away.

Justin Bonsignore inches closer to the championship fight

The comeback trail for Justin Bonsignore is officially on.

After an inconsistent start that saw him record two finishes outside the top-20, Bonsignore has returned to his typical championship form with two straight finishes inside the top-three, including a win at New Hampshire’s Monadnock Speedway.


Bonsignore’s past success at Riverhead put him in a  position to get his second consecutive victory on Saturday and third of the 2022 season. He led 47 laps, but could not fend off Soper, who ended up passing Bonsignore for the win with 10 laps remaining.

Despite coming up short of the win, Bonsignore’s recent string of success has placed him fifth in the Tour standings, 33 points behind leader Ron Silk.

Although Bonsignore still has a significant amount of ground to cover, the odds are gradually shifting in the three-time champion’s favor as the Tour embarks on the second half of the 2022 schedule.

Timmy Solomito’s dry streak continues

It has been nearly five years since the last time Timmy Solomito won a NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race.

That streak came close to ending in Saturday’s Buzz Chew Chevrolet Cadillac 200, as Solomito led a race-high 114 laps before the handling went away on his No. 66 Natural Designs/Highmark Modified, forcing him to settle for an eighth-place finish.

Timmy Solomito leads Kyle Soper during the Buzz Chew Chevrolet Cadillac 200 at Riverhead Raceway on June 25, 2022. (Kostas Lymperopoulos/NASCAR)

Once one of the most consistent drivers in the series, Solomito enjoyed a dominant stretch driving for Eric Sanderson from 2016-’17, winning nine races during that timeframe and finishing inside the top-three in points during both seasons.

Unfortunately for Solomito, he has not been able to replicate that success in the following years. His 131 laps led in both Riverhead races this year have been the most for Solomito in a single year since 2017 when he led 410.

Now driving for his brother Jerry on a part-time basis, Solomito showed on Saturday that he is still capable of winning Tour events, but the opportunity to end his long dry spell will have to wait for another weekend.

NOTES:

  • Points leader Ron Silk continued his stellar season at Riverhead Raceway on Saturday with his fourth top-five finish of the year. The 2011 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion has yet to finish outside the top-10 in 2022.
  • Kyle Soper was not the only Riverhead regular to shine on Saturday. Dylan Slepian posted the fastest time in practice on Saturday and ended up recording his second top-five finish of the year, both of which have come at Riverhead.
  • An impressive rookie season continued for Austin Beers in Saturday’s Buzz Chew Chevrolet Cadillac 200. Along with getting his third top-10 finish of the year, Beers has also completed all but three laps so far this year.
  • Saturday was not the best evening for a handful of series veterans. Six-time Tour champion Doug Coby just barely held onto a top-10 finish after fading late, while an early accident for two-time champion Donny Lia relegated him to 21st, 35 laps behind the leader.