Posted on by Staff Report

RFK Racing announced Thursday evening Chris Buescher, driver of the team’s No. 17 Ford, will miss this weekend’s inaugural NASCAR Cup Series event at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway after testing positive for COVID-19.

GATEWAY: Weekend schedule | Paint schemes | Betting odds

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series front-runner Zane Smith will fill in for Buescher, piloting the No. 17 Acronis Ford Mustang as NASCAR makes its much-anticipated return to the St. Louis area.

Buescher currently sits 21st in the points standings, 14 points below Kurt Busch and one point above Michael McDowell. Through 14 regular-season races, Buescher has notched three top 10s and is among the drivers battling for a spot in the NASCAR Playoffs based on points.

Buescher expects to return to action next week at Sonoma Raceway, according to the team.

Sunday will be the first Cup Series start for Smith, who has three wins and eight top-10 finishes in 10 starts in the Camping World Truck Series this season. He has also led a series-high 253 laps while piloting the No. 38 Ford F-150 for Front Row Motorsports. He will become the 24th driver to pilot an RFK Ford for Jack Roush in the Cup Series.

Posted on by Zach Sturniolo

For the first time in series history, the NASCAR Cup Series rolls into World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway.

The St. Louis area will get its first experience with the sport’s premier series after hosting Xfinity Series races from 1997-2010 and Camping World Truck Series races since 1998, returning every year except 2011-13.

Get up to speed on the newest addition to the Cup schedule here:

MAKE LAPS AND TAKE NOTES

Teams will get a bit more track time than usual this weekend.

NASCAR Cup Series teams will have a full 50-minute practice session Friday (5:05 p.m. ET, FS1) as drivers and teams get familiar with the 1.25-mile flat oval. That deviates from the typical 20-minute sessions teams have received at other, more familiar circuits on the schedule where cars were split into two groups for practice.

SET THE STAGE

While teams won’t be split into groups for practice, there will be Groups A and B for qualifying Saturday (11 a.m. ET, FS1).

Each driver will post a single, timed qualifying lap. The fastest five drivers in each of the two groups will advance to the second round, where the remaining 10 drivers will fight for the Busch Light Pole Award.

RELATED: See the qualifying order here | Weekend schedule | Cup Series standings 

HISTORY NEAR THE ARCHES

– Race promoter Chris Pook purchased Gateway International Raceway in 1995, a facility that consisted of a 1/8-mile drag strip, a quarter-mile track and a 2.6-mile road course.

– Pook, who previously promoted the Formula 1 and CART races of the Long Beach Grand Prix, immediately demolished the existing tracks and began construction of a new oval, infield road course and NHRA-sanctioned drag strip. 

– The track’s first major event was a CART race on May 24, 1997, which was won by Paul Tracy.

– NASCAR’s first foray at the facility was an Xfinity Series race on July 26, 1997, won by Elliott Sadler. The series competed at Gateway through 2010.

– Dover Motorsports, Inc. purchased the track from Pook in 1998.

– The Camping World Truck Series made its first visit to Gateway on Sept. 19, 1998, which was won by Rick Carelli. Carelli currently spots for Erik Jones and the No. 43 Petty GMS Motorsports team. 

– In 2010, Dover Motorsports, Inc. announced Gateway would officially close. In 2011, Curtis Francois, a retired race-car driver and real-estate developer, announced the purchase and re-opening of the 160-acre facility for the 2012 season. The track was renamed Gateway Motorsports Park.

– NASCAR and the facility announced the Truck Series’ return to Gateway for 2014, the first NASCAR-sanctioned race at the track since 2010.

– Gateway increased to more than 200 acres and is the largest outdoor entertainment facility in the region, encompassing a quarter-mile NHRA-sanctioned drag strip, 1.25 mile NASCAR oval track, 1.6-mile road course, a newly built world-class karting facility, improved grandstands and a recently completed fan pavilion.

– The oval was repaved in 2017 after the Truck Series race. 

– In early 2019, Gateway Motorsports Park and World Wide Technology, a market-leading technology solution provider, formed a long-term naming rights commitment, renaming the motorsports facility World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway.

– Nine of the 36 drivers entered in Sunday’s race have won an Xfinity or Truck race at Gateway.

Source: Racing Insights

RELATED: See who heads to St. Louis with winning memories

GOODYEAR TIRES

Although Cup cars have never competed at WWT Raceway, teams will have experience with this weekend’s tire package.

Goodyear will provide teams with the same left- and right-side tires used at both Phoenix Raceway in March and Richmond Raceway in April.

“Having a 50-minute practice and three sets of tires on a known tire set-up will be a big advantage for Cup teams at Gateway this week,” said Greg Stucker, Goodyear’s director of racing. “This being an inaugural event, NASCAR gives the teams this time to hone in on their car’s set-up, and that will give teams enough time to get ready for the race. They already have a good idea of what these tires will do, having run this set-up at Phoenix and Richmond, so teams will unload closer to what they will settle on and get up to speed much quicker.”

GATEWAY STORY LINES 

– Denny Hamlin scored his second win of the year last weekend in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Hamlin’s only other top-10 finish this year is a fourth-place result earned at Kansas Speedway, one points race before his Charlotte triumph.

– The last driver to have multiple wins with only three top-10s through 14 races in a season was Derrike Cope in 1990.

– Hamlin’s victory was also his 48th career win, tying him with Herb Thomas for 16th on the all-time wins list and moving him one win shy of Tony Stewart’s career win total (49).

– Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has finished inside the top 10 in each of his last four races, a career-long streak and the first time JTG Daugherty Racing has accomplished that feat.

– Christopher Bell has also scored four straight top 10s, tying his career-best streak.

– Hendrick Motorsports has led 99,902.9 miles in the Cup Series and is 98 miles short of crossing 100,000 miles. Hendrick will break that barrier if the team’s four drivers combine to lead 79 laps Sunday at Gateway.

– Kyle Larson is on a 12-race winless streak, his longest since joining Hendrick Motorsports in 2021.

– The pass for the win came in the final 10 laps in 11 of the 14 races in 2022.

– Martin Truex Jr. is making his 600th start this weekend. Only Richard Petty won in his 600th Cup start (Richmond in February 1973).

Source: Racing Insights

RELATED: All drivers who have made 600 Cup starts

NEW TRACK, SAME FAVORITES

No matter where the Cup Series ventures, expect Kyle Larson to be at the head of the field.

The odds agree Larson is one to watch entering the weekend, with BetMGM listing Larson as the 15-2 favorite and JGR teammates Busch and Denny Hamlin right behind at 8-1. Larson has no prior experience at Gateway, but Busch does, winning an Xfinity Series race at the 1.25-mile oval in 2009.

Martin Truex Jr. is listed at 9-1 odds alongside Ross Chastain and William Byron. Truex won an Xfinity race at Gateway in 2004.

Looking for a long shot? Consider Bubba Wallace at 80-1 odds. Wallace won the Truck Series’ return to Gateway in 2014 during a four-win campaign, and his No. 23 Toyota has looked considerably quicker in recent races at Kansas and Charlotte.

RELATED: DraftKings betting odds for Gateway

FANTASY LIVE

Want to manage a team and race your way to the top of the leaderboards? Check out NASCAR Fantasy Live, which is open now. 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 3, and there is a $25,000 prize for the winner.

The 2022 Fantasy Live points leaders are Chase Elliott (483), Kyle Busch (445) and Ross Chastain (444).

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 a select number 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 in 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 by Reid Spencer

The NASCAR Xfinity Series ventures to the Pacific Northwest on Saturday for the Pacific Office Automation 147 at Portland International Raceway (4:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

The race marks the series’ first visit to the flat 1.967-mile, 12-turn road course, which runs in a clockwise direction. The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series raced at the track in 1999 and 2000, with Greg Biffle and Andy Houston, respectively, winning the two events there.

RELATED: Portland weekend schedule | Entry list

Road-course ace AJ Allmendinger, who won earlier this season at Circuit of The Americas, is the obvious favorite at Portland. In fact, Allmendinger has a history at the track.

“I’m really looking forward to going back to Portland,” Allmendinger said. “Last time I was there was 16 years ago when I was able to win my first Champ Car race. It’s going to be truly special to go back to the track for the first time since then, and I think we will put on a great race for the Xfinity Series.”

Regardless of the outcome, the weekend promises to be an adventurous one for Allmendinger, who is also competing in the NASCAR Cup Series debut race at World Wide Technology Raceway on Sunday — without any prior laps in the No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet.

“I’m looking forward to pulling some double duty and getting to drive the Cup car at Gateway on Sunday,” Allmendinger said. “I have never driven there and will miss practice and qualifying for the race, but I know we are up for the challenge that the weekend will bring.”

Posted on by Staff Report

Christopher Bell’s win in the 2016 Drivin’ for Linemen 200 at Gateway Motorsports Park was a “dream come true” that made things “less stressful” for his Kyle Busch Motorsports crew.

Six years later, Bell is back at the 1.25-mile oval just east of St. Louis in Madison, Ill., for the track’s – now named the World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway – first-ever NASCAR Cup Series race. While he’s no longer the wide-eyed 21-year-old and is one of few drivers in the Enjoy Illinois 300 field with notable experience at the track, the stress might return at the track formerly known as “The Swamp.”

“I don’t know if there’s any track like that,” Rusty Wallace said this week. “Turn one will suck you in and it’s like a big, mean person waving his arms, saying ‘Come on. Come on.’ Then all of a sudden you realize you’re going a lot faster than you thought.”

RELATED: Latest BetMGM odds | Weekend schedule

At existing Cup Series tracks, Bell’s two career starts would rank near the bottom of the field in experience. This week, his two career starts rank closer to the top.

Oddsmakers don’t appear to be putting much stock into the limited experience, however. 

As of Thursday in NASCAR betting at BetMGM, Bell has the ninth-best odds (+1200) to win the 240-lap race. Among the eight drivers ahead of him are two former winners at the track; Martin Truex Jr. (+900) won the 2004 Charter 250 in the Xfinity Series, and Ross Chastain (+900) won the 2019 CarShield 200 presented by CK Power in the Truck Series. 

And bettors aren’t buying Bell at +1200. He’s tied with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and AJ Allmendinger for the 22nd-highest ticket share (1.1%) and is 15th in handle share (1.8%). But they are buying Bell in his featured matchup with Alex Bowman.

Here’s a look at the four featured matchups at BetMGM for the Enjoy Illinois 300:

Christopher Bell (-135) vs. Alex Bowman (+105)

The biggest favorite in featured matchup betting, Bell is seeking his first Cup Series win since last year’s victory on Daytona’s road-course layout. Since then, however, he has 23 top-10 finishes, including four straight top-six finishes entering this week.

Only three drivers have more top 10’s than Bell this season, though one of those three is Alex Bowman, who’s tied with Chase Elliott for the second-most in 2022 and has won five times since Bell’s last win. 

Bell is dominating tickets (94%) and handle (92%) against Bowman.

Ross Chastain (-115) vs. William Byron (-115)

It took Ross Chastain 121 Cup Series starts to earn his first career win. Now, he’s seeking his third win in his last 10 starts to become the first driver this season with three victories, as is his featured matchup foe William Byron.

Since the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Chastain and Byron have combined to win four of the last 10 races. 

Bettors love Chastain in race-winner betting – second-highest ticket share (9%) – but they’re pounding Byron in the featured matchup to the tune of a 93% ticket share and 94% handle share.

Kyle Larson (-120) vs. Denny Hamlin (-110)

Denny Hamlin leads all drivers in wins at intermediate tracks since 2019 (eight), including Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 victory at Charlotte Motor Speedway. His average driver rating over that time, however, is only fifth; at 99.7 he’s well behind the leader Kyle Larson, who’s led more than 2,000 laps in his 30 races the last three and a half years.

More than one in every six dollars bet on race-winner odds has gone to Larson; at 17.3% he leads all drivers in handle share. The next-closest driver is Ryan Blaney at 11.1%.

And Larson is commanding 97% of the tickets and 95% of the handle against Hamlin.

Tyler Reddick (-130) vs. Chase Briscoe (+100)

Tyler Reddick and the BetMGM-sponsored No. 8 Chevy is looking to build on last week’s sixth-place finish at Charlotte, his sixth top-10 this season. Bumped to No. 14 in Pat DeCola’s NASCAR Power Rankings, Reddick sits just 50 points outside of the top 10 in the Cup Series standings, one point ahead of this week’s opponent, Chase Briscoe.

The pair has combined for just five top-five finishes and 104 laps led in 47 career Cup Series starts at intermediate tracks.

There’s currently a 50-50 ticket split between Reddick and Briscoe in tickets for their featured matchup, though Briscoe has 83% of the handle

You can view updated Enjoy Illinois 300 odds and more NASCAR odds at the BetMGM online sportsbook.

Posted on by Staff Report

Hendrick Motorsports is returning to the NASCAR Xfinity Series, the team announced Thursday.

The storied Cup Series organization will field the No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet in three Xfinity Series races this season, all at road courses throughout the summer.

Kyle Larson will pilot the car July 2 at Road America, Alex Bowman at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course on July 30 and William Byron at Watkins Glen International on Aug. 20.

RELATED: Xfinity Series full schedule

“Our drivers are always looking for more opportunities to compete,” Jeff Andrews, president and general manager of HMS, said in a press release. “We believe the additional road-course experience on Saturdays (in the Xfinity Series) will translate well to Sundays (in the Cup Series). It will be exciting to see the No. 17 return to the race track for Hendrick Motorsports, and we’ll do everything we can to take it back to Victory Lane.”

Hendrick has deep ties to the No. 17, fielding it for Darrell Waltrip from 1987-90 and claiming a Daytona 500 victory before running the same number in the Camping World Truck Series for Ricky Hendrick, the late son of team owner Rick Hendrick. The HendrickCars.com paint scheme used in Xfinity will be based on Ricky Hendrick’s 2001 scheme from his rookie season in Trucks.

“It will be special to see the No. 17 back in action for Hendrick Motorsports,” Rick Hendrick said. “It’s a great chance for Kyle, Alex and William to gain more time on the road courses to do even more with our HendrickCars.com sponsorship. I’m looking forward to running the Xfinity Series again.”

Kevin Meendering will crew chief the part-time entry. Hendrick Motorsports has 26 Xfinity Series wins, winning its most recent race with Tony Stewart at Daytona International Speedway in the No. 80 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet.

Posted on by Team Release

CONCORD, N.C. – Spire Motorsports announced Wednesday that ARCA Menards Series standout Rajah Caruth will make his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut aboard the team’s No. 7 Chevrolet Silverado in Saturday’s Toyota 200 presented by CK Power at World Wide Technology Raceway (1:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

RELATED: Full weekend schedule for Gateway

Caruth, 19, has logged five ARCA Menards Series starts in 2022. The Washington, D.C., native has earned three top-five and four top-10 finishes over those five races, including a career-best second-place finish two weeks ago at Kansas Speedway. He is currently the division’s championship points leader a quarter of the way through the season.

“I’m thrilled to make my NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut this weekend at World Wide Technology Raceway with Spire Motorsports and Chevrolet,” Caruth said. “To drive the Confluence Music Festival Chevrolet Silverado and represent the Steward family and World Wide Technology is truly an honor. I’m grateful to represent them on and off the racetrack. This is the big break I’ve been striving for and I’m going to make it count.”

“Confluence Festival: Crossroads of Concert & Community” — a showcase of innovation, talent and live entertainment – will be featured as the team’s primary sponsor.

The Confluence Festival will encompass the entire weekend and kicks off Thursday at Ballpark Village Fan Fest.  The event shifts into high gear Friday-Sunday at World Wide Technology Raceway with live entertainment from a diverse lineup of musical acts, including Old Dominion, Nelly, Cole Swindell, Kameron Marlowe and numerous other artist and performers.

“Raj Caruth is a rising star in the world of motor racing, and the Steward Family and World Wide Technology are thrilled to sponsor Raj in his St. Louis debut, June 4, in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series,” said David L. Steward, founder and chairman of World Wide Technology, the largest Black-owned company in the United States. “St. Louis is also making its debut with the NASCAR Cup Race on Sunday, and we have a wonderful package of top-tier racing, music and science, engineering, technology and math activities for students. Friday, Saturday and Sunday will be a celebration of all that is possible in racing, music and community.”

Spire Motorsports has fielded an entry in four NCWTS races in 2022 with an All-Star driver lineup, including Austin Hill (Daytona International Speedway), Alex Bowman (Circuit of The Americas), William Byron (Martinsville Speedway) and Chase Elliott (Bristol Motor Speedway, dirt), earning one win (Byron) and a pair of top 10s.

The team is led by championship-winning industry veterans Mike Greci and Kevin “Bono” Manion.

“Rajah Caruth is a rising star and we’re thrilled the help him take the next logical step in his career this weekend at World Wide Technology Raceway,” Spire Motorsports co-owner Jeff Dickerson said. “Rajah has a tremendous upside and he’s proven that on multiple occasions in the ARCA Menards Series. He has the kind of talent Spire Motorsports looks for and this type of opportunity is exactly what my partner T.J. Puchyr and I had in mind when we decided to field a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team. We’re grateful to our friends with the Confluence Festival and World Wide Technology for helping us pull it all together so Rajah can make his first Truck Series start this weekend.”

Posted on by Dustin Albino

It wasn’t long ago that Austin Hill was trying to find his footing in NASCAR. Now, he’s competing for one of the Xfinity Series’ Goliaths in Richard Childress Racing.

“I’ve never forgotten where I’ve come from,” Hill recently told NASCAR.com. “I’m very humble and very grateful to have the opportunity to be in really fast race cars. It makes it so much fun to go out and try to race for wins now. I don’t forget where I came from.”

Moving up the ranks, Hill competed for his family team in the K&N Pro Series East (Now, ARCA Menards Series East) before making stops with Camping World Truck Series underdog teams like Young’s Motorsports, Ricky Benton Racing, Empire Racing and Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing before landing at Hattori Racing Enterprises ahead of the 2019 season.

At HRE, Hill won off the bat at Daytona International Speedway. While driving the No. 16 truck, Hill won seven more times over the next three seasons, clinching the 2020 regular season championship.

“I think he learned a lot from Scott [Zipadelli, crew chief at HRE] and our team,” owner Shige Hattori said. “Three years with Austin, he became a great driver.”

But even when Hill succeeded, he saw the doubters. They continued despite him becoming a versatile driver, winning on a superspeedway, mile-and-a-half, road course and even on dirt at Knoxville Speedway.

“I get motivation from people that believe in me or don’t believe in me,” Hill added. “You’ll see tweets where it says, ‘This guy is terrible.’ And it just makes me laugh and dig that much deeper and harder to go show everyone that I can run up front, win races and can compete and run just as good as anyone out here.”

Building a program at HRE and becoming embedded with Toyota was hard to walk away from. Originally, Hill planned on staying in the Truck Series for the 2022 season to drive the No. 16 truck. However, neither side could agree to a deal.

That put Hill on the market, and last October, he landed a ride at Richard Childress Racing for a full Xfinity schedule.

RELATED: Weekend schedule for Portland

“For whatever reason, we weren’t able to make it work out,” Hill said.” I started looking around a bit, and there were a few places I could have went on the Xfinity side but I didn’t want to go because I’ve always said that if I was going to move up from trucks to Xfinity, I wanted to get in equipment that I thought I could win in.”

Admittedly, Hill had been talking to RCR for the past few years, trying to land a deal. This time, he had partners Bennett Transportation & Logistics and United Rentals follow him, adding on Global Industrial and Alsco.

Because of that, it was a no-brainer for Hill to move up to chase an Xfinity title.

“They could have easily gone and found someone else that probably had more money than what I brought,” Hill stated. “I feel like we’ve done a good job of finding the sponsorship and what it takes to win races with teams that we feel like are good enough to get the job done.”

A rugged, tough, relatable family man fits the RCR mold. In that way alone, Hill was the perfect fit to take over the No. 21 car.

“He’s a hard worker, good competitor and I like everything he’s done this year,” Austin Dillon, grandson of Richard Childress, said. “I thought he’d do a really good job and it’s panning out.”

Similar to when Hill joined HRE, he won his first race out with RCR at Daytona. It’s likely that win locked him into the playoffs, as seven series regulars have victories with 13 races remaining in the regular season.

Getting that first win off his chest early into his rookie campaign — acting like a series veteran — was important.

“It was a big boost,” Hill said of the win. “I feel like I’ve always been the underdog for whatever reason. We come to Daytona on the Xfinity side and win right off the bat, that just builds my confidence even more.”

Since Daytona, Hill has four additional top-five results, including runner-up finishes in consecutive weeks at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Circuit of The Americas, two distinctly different racetracks. The No. 21 Chevrolet also paced the field for more than half the race at Talladega Superspeedway before getting involved in a late incident, finishing 27th.

Currently sitting eighth in the championship standings, Hill has high aspirations for his rookie season. In a way, it’s win at all costs, believing he could potentially be a viable championship threat in the playoffs.

RELATED: Xfinity Series standings

As he noted, anything can happen if you make it into the postseason.

“I don’t ever try to come across as cocky because I don’t feel like I’m that type of guy, I feel like I’m a very confident person,” Hill continued. “For my rookie season, I’m going for the championship. It is what it is.

“Why not? I feel like our team is established enough and good enough that if we tweak on certain small things that we can win more races and compete for the championship.”

No matter what, Hill is going to do it with grace, knowing everything aligned with him to be in his current position.

Posted on by Zack Albert

Even before Ross Chastain and Daniel Suárez ran 1-2 for wide swaths of Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600, their Trackhouse Racing team had already made one of the week’s biggest splashes with far-reaching implications.

The two drivers who dazzled at Charlotte Motor Speedway will soon have company under the Trackhouse banner for select Cup Series events. That news came in a dynamic 1-2 punch of its own last week with first the unveiling of PROJECT91, a part-time car designed as a NASCAR entry point for international drivers, and secondly the tapping of Kimi Raikkonen – the fast Finn who won the Formula One title in 2007 – just days later as its first appointee.

RELATED: Cup Series standings | PROJECT91 revealed

For Chastain and Suárez, the latest venture from team co-owner Justin Marks has the potential to make waves outside of the stock-car series’ traditional stateside audience.

“Dude, do we expect anything else from Justin Marks?” Chastain said before Cup Series qualifying last weekend. “I mean, my goodness, the guy goes and starts a two-car Cup team and immediately puts us all in position to win races and compete the first year together as what Trackhouse is now as a two-car team out of Concord (North Carolina). So it doesn’t surprise me when he first told me about it. It’s … OK, let’s do it. How can I help?”

Raikkonen, 42, has already dabbled in NASCAR with a double-duty weekend at Charlotte in 2011, finishing 15th in his Camping World Truck debut then following that with a 27th-place run in the Xfinity Series a day later. He’s best known, however, for his 21 Grand Prix victories, his brilliance with Ferrari during his title march and his super-stoic demeanor.

The opening of opportunities not just for Raikkonen but for the global motorsport’s community holds special meaning for Suárez, now in his second season with Trackhouse. The 30-year-old driver came to stock-car racing’s big leagues through the NASCAR Mexico Series in his home country. Now his team is striving to build a similar bridge for other international stars.

“It’s huge, man,” Suárez said. “I mentioned to someone just a little bit ago that I have always felt that here in NASCAR that I’m the only one that is a little bit different — where they come from, with having a different background, having to come from a different country with a different language. Right now, I don’t feel that way, but in the process, I felt different. You know, I felt like, ‘Man, I’m the only one that is coming from somewhere else.’

“And I feel like now I’m kind of feeling and seeing the similarities with PROJECT91 because Kimi — and it doesn’t matter who comes in the future that has a lot or a little experience that they come from different disciplines — they’re going to have those feelings, kind of like somebody that is coming from a different country or a different series or something like that. So it’s great. I’m really looking forward to work with PROJECT91 and to enjoy what they’re going to be able to accomplish.”

MORE: Trackhouse Racing team page

That eager feeling has proven to be infectious, reaching outside of the Trackhouse shop’s walls. Kaz Grala, the part-time pilot of choice for Floyd Mayweather’s The Money Team Racing outfit, said his No. 50 team hopes to compete in two or three more races this year. Grala has been pushing to make one of those Aug. 21 at Watkins Glen International, site of Raikkonen’s scheduled start.

“I thought that was the coolest thing ever,” Grala said, recalling his reaction to PROJECT91’s driver announcement. “I love Formula One. I’m a big fan, and Kimi has probably been my favorite personality in F1 for quite a few years now. So I think it’s awesome that he’s gonna come over and do a NASCAR race. So I’m hoping that I’m in that field because wouldn’t that be cool to be able to say you’ve raced against him.”

That enthusiasm has potential to stretch behind Raikkonen’s scheduled Cup Series debut. Trackhouse’s PROJECT91 reveal included hints that more surprises were in the works, creating tantalizing speculation about other big names who might take a turn behind the wheel.

“It’s insane that Kimi Raikkonen is going to be my teammate, and the sky’s the limit on who else could do it,” Chastain said. “You know, he’s opened it up to anybody, and it’s incredible to think that any winning race-car driver in the world could put together a program to come run with us, so I don’t know who to expect next.”

Posted on by Staff Report

Last summer, NASCAR introduced its Competition Partner program, a platform that celebrates the automotive performance suppliers that are producing parts for the Next Gen car. The automotive suppliers play a significant role in the development and operation of the Next Gen car, and the early results on the track have been stellar.

The Next Gen car made its competitive debut at the Busch Light Clash at the L.A. Coliseum, followed by the iconic Daytona 500. The Next Gen car went from competing on a quarter-mile track inside a stadium to a 2.5-mile track at Daytona International Speedway, and it delivered on both occasions.

Brandon Thomas Inset Photo
Brandon Thomas, NASCAR Managing Director, Vehicle Systems, holds windshield air cockpit ventilation unit printed at Stratasys Direct Manufacturing.

The NASCAR Competition Partner program now includes 14 best-in-class automotive performance suppliers, including its eight newest members: Five Star Fabricating (Body parts), E3 Spark Plugs (ignition spark plugs), Hyperco (Coil Springs), Lincoln Electric (Welding equipment), Paoli (Pit air guns), Roush Yates Manufacturing Solutions (precision suspension machining), SKF Bearings (wheel bearings) and Stratysys (Windshield Air Ducts).

“The Next Gen car could not have been completed without the collaboration with NASCAR Competition Partners,” said John Probst, Senior Vice President, racing innovation, NASCAR.

As part of the program, NASCAR Competition Partners have the ability to promote and market the products that are in the Next Gen Car. This partnership allows automotive based performance companies to showcase their alliance with NASCAR to fans, customers, and the motorsports industry.

“The Next Gen car simply does not compete on the track each weekend without the support of incredible partnerships,” said Jeff Wohlschlaeger, Chief Sales Officer, NASCAR. “As the season continues, the car will endure the most rigorous schedule in motorsports. Our partners continue to provide their expertise and parts to help us optimize performance and put on a great show for our fans.”

As a competition partner, the eight new suppliers will utilize a newly designed Competition Program badge that can be used to promote and market their parts. Each part is NASCAR tested, NASCAR approved, and NASCAR tough. They join BBS wheels, Technique Chassis, SRI Performance, Cometic Gaskets, Mobil 1 and Goodyear to round out a robust Competition Program.

Posted on by Cara Cooper

Brad Derry has six championships and more than 175 wins in his 18 years of racing. But there was always one victory that eluded him.

After years of trying, and more than one second place finish, Derry could never take the checkered flag at Adams County Speedway‘s annual Tradition race, the yearly season finale at the NASCAR-sanctioned track in Corning, Iowa.

Last October, Derry suited up in a different class than his usual Stock Car division, and in a car that was new to him but meaningful to many people in the stands and the pits at Adams County. The Hobby Stock car belonged to Jeremy Ribbey, a fan favorite who a month prior passed away unexpectedly.

One of Ribbey’s friends, Tyler Gray, asked Derry if he would like to race Ribbey’s car at the end of the season. Derry had known Ribbey through racing at Adams County and sharing an engine builder at Whitehead Machine Shop, the place Derry called “kind of the hub for all the Clarinda (Iowa) racers that raced Adams County Speedway.”

“Jeremy was always getting stuff fixed there and they were helping him out,” Derry said. “I’d give him a few pointers at times, even after I moved out of the hobby stocks. We’d just visit and talk.”

When Derry was first asked to drive Ribbey’s car, he had mixed emotions and had to take a few hours to think.

“He was a friend of all of ours in the local town,” Derry explained. “He was like a football coach, a baseball coach. He was a really, really well-to-do person in the community, a good influence on the kids. And I was just nervous because I was like, ‘What if you tear it up, or whatever?’

“His friend, Tyler Gray, said, ‘You’re not going to tear it up. Go out and win with it.’ So I said, ‘We’ll do our best.'”

The first time Derry ran the car was the final points night of the season last year at Adams County. He finished second.

The next race was the Tradition.

“I said, ‘Alright, we’re going to change some stuff,'” Derry said of his conversation with Gray ahead of the Tradition race. “He said, ‘What do you mean?’ I said, ‘First of all, we’re going to put a seat in there I can fit in,’ because I’m quite a bit bigger guy than Jeremy was.

“And all we did was put that seat in it and go.”

Derry remembers buckling into the car and said he was “nervous as could be” that night. He started last in his heat race but came through with a win, which meant, with a re-draw, he would start the feature in the middle of the pack.

“Tyler just told me to go out and win the thing,” Derry said. “I was thinking under my breath, ‘Yeah, right.'”

Ultimately, it didn’t matter where he started, because he made his way to the front pretty quickly and won the race.

“We led that thing and led it by quite a bit,” Derry said. “It was kind of a Cinderella story, to be honest. I never dreamed that we would have done that. But it worked out.”

Even thinking back on the race six months later, Derry still gets emotional thinking about putting that car in Victory Lane.

“It was kind of surreal,” he said. “We took the checkered flag, and it was like, this race has eluded me even back when I drove hobby stocks. I finished second in the Tradition race multiple times, in my stock car, as well. To be able to get in somebody else’s equipment that passed away and be able to win that thing was amazing. It was just a very overwhelming feeling.

“Of course I had tears coming out of my eyes, because it was for a special reason, and I’m just glad we could do that for his family. There was a bunch of his family there that night and a whole lot of friends and people that came down afterward, and it’s just a surreal moment. Probably the biggest win of my career, emotionally, for sure.”

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The racing community at Adams County is tight-knit, something Derry has seen in his nearly two decades of racing. He has been going to races at the track since he was in second grade and began driving himself when he was 16.

“I was helping a friend race, and pretty soon I was working on his car more than he was,” Derry explained. “So I said, ‘If I’m going to be doing this I might as well get my own car.’ So I did.

“I was sitting up there in the stands and the whole time, after a couple years I was thinking, ‘How am I ever going to afford this?’ But if you work hard enough, you can make your dreams come true.

“It was pretty cool. It was a rude awakening. Everyone can bleacher-race, but when you actually start doing it yourself there’s a lot more involved with it. … But there’s nothing like winning at your home track, in my opinion.”

Derry is back in the Adams County Stock Cars division this year, and he has done well so far. Even though he does not yet have a win, he has three top-five finishes in three races and currently leads in points.

His goal this year is to win a track championship at both Adams County and I-80 Speedway, a NASCAR-sanctioned track in Greenwood, Nebraska. Derry won the track championship at both tracks in 2015.

Ribbey’s car is also still on the track. With the same 12G number and wrap, Gray is racing it this year as a rookie. He has one top 10 in three races at Adams County so far.

“He’s got a pretty big following with people who have transitioned over from Jeremy to Tyler,” Derry said.

Racing has changed a bit for Derry since he started as a teenager. He now has three children who come to the track with him every week. But even with the changes, it’s still the same family atmosphere at his home track, and it’s not something he plans on giving up any time soon.

“We’ve raced two nights a week since 2008,” he said. “When you’re a one-man show, when you work on everything during the week yourself, it’s pretty hard to keep everything up and keep going.

“I’m just very blessed to be able to do what I’ve been doing for the last 18 years.”

Plus, he’ll always have that one special win that meant so much to him and so many others.

“There’s a picture out there somewhere when I first got out of the car and I pointed up to him,” Derry said. “I don’t know who’s got that picture, but I pointed up to the stars and told him that this one was for him, and celebrated accordingly.”