Posted on by Dustin Albino

All eyes were on Jeffrey Earnhardt last weekend at Talladega. And why wouldn’t they be? An Earnhardt was driving the No. 3 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

For the first time at any level in his career, Earnhardt would finally drive a No. 3 car.

“We’ve been trying to make it happen for many years, but it’s never come together, whether it be sponsorship, financially, whatever,” Earnhardt told NASCAR.com ahead of last week’s race weekend at Talladega. “It always seemed to never come together until now.”

He also got to work with Larry McReynolds, who was making his return to the pit box after 22 years.

“To have him as a crew chief, someone who crew chiefed my grandfather and won the Daytona 500 with, is pretty darn special,” Earnhardt said. “Knowing the history and how long he’s been in our sport, his dedication to our sport. And the history he has with my grandfather, it makes all of this that much more special.”

RELATED: Earnhardt turns laps with Larry McReynolds on pit box

After the 2021 Xfinity season, Earnhardt chose not to return to JD Motorsports, the place he called home for the previous two seasons, his second stint with the team. Racing on a tighter budget, Earnhardt’s breakthrough days were cracking the top 15, something he did just five times between the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

Though forever thankful for his time with Johnny Davis, Earnhardt needed to take his funding elsewhere.

“I’m not getting any younger,” Earnhardt, 32, said. “You look at the ages of people in our sport, I’m old. It’s time to either make it happen or not.”

For the 2022 season, Earnhardt’s goal was simple: Look to see where he could get the best results. And even though that would require a partial schedule, his overall goal is to impress enough to get a full-time ride in a competitive car for the 2023 season.

In January, Sam Hunt Racing inked a seven-race deal with Earnhardt, which began in the season opener at Daytona.

“It’s just a matter of getting better equipment and better people,” Earnhardt said. “When you do that, your funds get eaten up really quick. You’ll pay more money for those races to be competitive and that’s the route that we saw fit to take this year.

RELATED: Earnhardt’s racing schedule for 2022

Earnhardt’s presence around the Sam Hunt Racing shop has helped the team grow, too. He’s one of the first drivers in team history, along with John Hunter Nemechek and Ryan Truex, who isn’t a rookie while competing for Hunt.

“I think he’s a guy that doesn’t get quite enough credit for how much talent he has,” Hunt said. “More than anything, he’s the kind of person our team loves to have around, which is really important to me. He’s motivated, friendly, humble and above everything, he’s the ultimate team player.”

At Daytona, driving a second car for Sam Hunt Racing, Earnhardt finished 15th. He took over the reins of the No. 26 Toyota at Auto Club, where he finished 29th because of a battery issue late in the race.

At Phoenix, Earnhardt made a one-off start in the No. 35 car for Emerling-Gase Motorsports, as he had additional funding and wanted to compete with a team that fielded Toyotas. The following week at Atlanta, another superspeedway-style race, he finished 13th for Sam Hunt.

Sean Gardner | Getty Images
Sean Gardner | Getty Images

And over the weekend, Earnhardt fulfilled his lifelong dream of driving the No. 3 Chevrolet — the same car number his grandfather and uncle drove — for RCR. The deal happened via a conversation between Brian Karmie, owner of ForeverLawn, and Childress.

Believing he would have a car that could compete for the pole and win, Earnhardt wanted to maximize his weekend and take in the moment. He went out and won his first pole award, and brought the No. 3 car home runner-up to Noah Gragson. The second-place outing was his best finish in 136 Xfinity starts.

“I really can’t complain about the year we’ve had,” Earnhardt said.

Earnhardt noted there was a lot of interest in his announcement to drive the No. 3 car at Talladega, and he’s hoping it springboards into “bigger and better things” in the near future.

Admittedly, Earnhardt would race every day of the week if he could, noting “it’s never fun when you’re doing a partial season.” In his down time, he’s been maintaining his physical fitness while chasing the almighty dollar, hoping to piece together more races. It’s something that “never stops” and “24/7.” Noodling season is also quickly approaching.

RELATED: Earnhardt earns runner-up finish at Talladega

Should Earnhardt impress enough, such as his second-place finish from last Saturday, he’s hoping to have his 2023 plans complete far in advance from when they’re typically announced.

That, though, is in a perfect world.

“Our main thing is to make it a full season in a really competitive ride next year,” Earnhardt added. “That’s been our focus and our goal to try to accomplish and, hopefully, we’re able to nail something down by the end of this race season because it’s always stressful when you have to go through the holidays not knowing what you’re doing racing-wise the next year.

“I’m pretty confident with our group at (Jeffrey Earnhardt Inc.), the guys at ForeverLawn. They work just as hard as I do to try to find more sponsorship for us to go run more races. I think we’ll be able to accomplish that.”

And if Earnhardt were to get that opportunity more than 14 years since he first competed in a NASCAR national touring event and now in his early 30s, he’s shooting for the stars.

“My goal is to win an Xfinity Series championship,” he said. “I want to try to make that happen within the next couple of years. I think I’m capable of it given the right opportunity.”

Posted on by Brandon White

The town of Bahama, North Carolina, is no stranger to seeing the Riggs family enjoy success behind the wheel.

During the late 1990s, residents from the town would flock to Orange County Speedway to see Scott Riggs win one race after another, success that helped him progress through the ranks to become a full-time driver in the NASCAR Cup Series.

A couple decades later, Scott’s son Layne Riggs finds himself on a similar path toward the top divisions of NASCAR as he pursues a NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series championship with the family-owned operation.

With four wins at South Boston Speedway already to his name this year, Layne Riggs is optimistic he can bring a national championship back home to Bahama and earn the breakthrough he needs to sign on with a major organization as a development driver.

“We wanted to run a little bit of South Boston [Speedway] at the beginning of the year, but with the success coming so quickly, it was a no-brainer to try for the national championship,” the 19-year-old Riggs said. “Past champions have told me I’ve got a really good shot at it this year, and this is also a good opportunity for me to get my name out there more.”

FLORACING: Follow the action at South Boston all season

When Riggs strapped into a Late Model Stock for the first time at the age of 14, he genuinely believed that hard work would yield a NASCAR ride after a few years.

Although Riggs has yet to break out of the Late Model Stock ranks, he has made the most of his circumstances by traveling to several tracks around the southeast, where he has gained valuable knowledge on conserving equipment and utilizing patience against the seasoned veterans.

Riggs’ persistence has enabled him to earn victories over Weekly Series champions like Josh Berry, Peyton Sellers and Lee Pulliam. His accomplishments in a Late Model Stock also include a win in the prestigious Rodney Cook Classic at Ace Speedway in 2019.

Layne Riggs celebrates one of his four early-season victories at South Boston Speedway (South Boston Speedway)

Learning from the likes of Berry, Sellers, Pulliam and many others in the region has been invaluable for Riggs, who hopes all the knowledge and experience obtained over the past few years translates to a national championship.

“I’ve raced with the best and beaten the best,” he said. “Where we are right now, we’re one of the best. My racing career has been great because of all the competitors I’ve raced against. They’ve taught me a lot about my race craft and built up my confidence, so now I have to apply it and create my own legacy.”

Riggs has enjoyed his on-track success despite his family not having the resources and funding of other major Late Model Stock operations.

Scott Riggs did everything possible to make sure his son was in the best possible position to excel from the beginning. Along with exercising countless hours on the cars, Scott put a heavy emphasis on big picture racing with Layne so his son would understand not to race others aggressively every lap.

As the years have progressed, Scott has watched Layne gradually mature into a well-rounded competitor who knows how to get the most out of his equipment by constantly providing feedback, observing how the racing line evolves and being actively involved with preparing efficient setups.

Scott knows Layne can win in any car he climbs into, and the father is determined to help his son accomplish his goal of one day reaching NASCAR — even as Layne’s schedule on and off the track gets busier each year.

“It’s just us racing against guys who make their living this way,” Scott Riggs said. “I know Layne’s got a lot of schoolwork on his plate these days in Charlotte trying to get a mechanical engineering degree. During the work week, this is pretty much myself and volunteers, some of which were with me when I was racing Late Models. We’re very fortunate to have so many people who want to help us.”

Layne Riggs believes the right opportunity to move up to the ARCA Menards Series or NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is out there, which is why he is going all in to pursue the Weekly Series national championship.

RACING REFERENCE: Career stats for Layne Riggs

Points in the national championship come down to car counts, with the minimum being 16 cars for a full allotment. To stay in contention, Riggs plans to visit tracks in the region where car counts range from the minimum number to around 25 competitors.

South Boston and Dominion Raceway check those boxes. Along with averaging 20 cars a night, each facility regularly attracts the best Late Model Stock drivers in Virginia, including the defending national champion in Sellers.

Riggs knew winning races at South Boston and Dominion would not be an easy feat, but he feels he and Scott have developed setups that will allow him to continue the momentum from his strong start to the 2022 season.

“The pavement is very similar between South Boston and Dominion,” Layne Riggs said. “Peyton Sellers has always run good at high grip tracks, but I feel like we’ve hit on something where we’ll be able to do the same. Dominion, South Boston and Motor Mile all have really smooth asphalt, and I can definitely see why they have high car counts.”

Despite his enjoyment for both tracks, Riggs’ championship pursuit hit a snag during his first race at Dominion on Apr. 23. After finishing sixth in the first 60-lap feature, he was involved in an early crash during the second race and had to settle for 12th, all while Sellers swept the evening.

(Adam Fenwick/NASCAR)

The last thing Riggs wanted was to give Sellers a margin of error to utilize through the summer. With weekly competitors all around the country beginning to accumulate wins at their home tracks, Riggs knows he will have to be nearly perfect to stay within striking distance.

Scott Riggs is confident Layne can make up that lost ground to Sellers through the upcoming months, adding that someone as committed and appreciative as his son will find success long after he moves on from the family-owned team that helped launch his career.

“It’s very rewarding that we’re able to compete with the high-caliber teams,” Scott Riggs said. “At the same time, it’s tough on our program because of the time, money, energy and personnel we spend. We have to rob Peter to pay Paul in order to give [Layne] a competitive car, but the strongest aspect of our team is the man behind the wheel.”

There are many occasions when Layne Riggs feels like a veteran in the industry even though he is one month shy of his 20th birthday.

From racing the high banks at Bristol Motor Speedway to tangling with Sellers and Bubba Pollard for the win at Martinsville Speedway, Riggs has already experienced so much in his brief time in Late Model Stocks while gaining a fanbase that once watched his father make a name for himself.

Adding a national championship to his resume would only be another chapter in Layne’s eventful career, but one that could carry an extra amount of significance when it comes to following in his father’s footsteps and one day racing in the Cup Series.

“Everyone champion you look at is someone you can consider a legend in short track racing,” Riggs said. “I think I’ll be the youngest one if I’m able to do it this year. That’s nothing but good press and it would be great for a sponsorship opportunity.”

A long season is ahead for Riggs as he battles Sellers across the southeast, but many in the industry, along with the town of Bahama, will be watching to see whether the second-generation Riggs can join an elite of national champions.

Posted on by Staff Report

NASCAR officials announced Tuesday that Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin must complete a sensitivity training course.

A NASCAR spokesperson sent the update Tuesday afternoon, saying the process must begin by the end of this week.

The mandated course comes in response to a social-media post that Hamlin sent Monday afternoon. Hamlin’s post was directed toward Kyle Larson, whose last-lap move in Sunday’s race at Talladega Superspeedway collected the 23XI Racing entries of Kurt Busch and Bubba Wallace. Hamlin is a co-owner of the 23XI operation.

Hamlin deleted the tweet later Monday and issued an apology.

Representatives from Toyota, which Hamlin holds an affiliation with as a team owner and a driver, issued a statement Tuesday, saying: “We have spoken with Denny Hamlin regarding his tweet from yesterday. Toyota supports NASCAR’s decision to mandate sensitivity training for Denny and we will all move forward together.”

Posted on by Bozi Tatarevic

Editor’s note: Bozi Tatarevic is a professional racing mechanic and pit crew member. He will provide technical analysis for NASCAR.com throughout the 2022 season.

Talladega brought out the excitement as the Next Gen car visited the longest oval on the schedule and some of the highest speeds that the car will see all season. We are finally getting into the stage of the season where similar types of tracks are repeated so teams now have some data to work with versus everything being brand new. While Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway do race differently, there are enough similarities that teams were able to sift through some data and optimize their cars.

It’s usually no surprise to see drivers from major teams like Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron and Kyle Larson and Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney out there leading laps, but seeing some of the smaller teams out front shows who is finding advantages with the Next Gen car and making the most of their data. Drivers like Erik Jones from Petty GMS Motorsports and Bubba Wallace from 23XI Racing were in contention for much of the race and led a number of laps alongside Daniel Suárez from Trackhouse Racing, whose teammate Ross Chastain became the eventual race winner.

RELATED: Ross Chastain survives chaotic final lap to win at Talladega | Full race results

This type of parity is a testament to the efforts put in place by the introduction of the Next Gen car but also shows the success in some of the personnel choices made by these smaller and upstart teams. While the Next Gen car places emphasis on equalizing the field with many single-source supplier parts, technical expertise and playing in that small box of adjustments plays a huge factor in how well these cars perform. And the choice to place people like Darian Grubb, Joey Cohen and Michael Wheeler in technical leadership roles on these teams is starting to pay dividends as the season progresses.

The top four drivers in laps led were all behind the wheel of a Chevrolet, and this is not surprising considering the speed that these cars have shown for most of the season. However, that engine strength can occasionally come with a compromise as we saw with the retirement of the No. 8 piloted by Tyler Reddick after just 31 laps. According to radio communications, the engine went off-pitch before eventually shutting down, which is usually a sign of one or more cylinders going down. Once Reddick coasted into pit lane, his crew diagnosed it as a broken timing belt and those factors combined likely mean that there was a valve spring failure.

The timing belt connects the crankshaft and the camshaft of the engine so they turn in sync. Typically, the carbon fiber reinforced timing belt does not break on its own but instead breaks because there is an obstruction causing the camshaft to go out of sync with the crankshaft, resulting in the belt being stretched. This would match with the earlier comment of the engine going off-pitch and having a misfire, often meaning a valve spring has broken for a specific cylinder. A valve spring breaking can result in a variety of damage from dropping the valve on the piston to damaging a pushrod or the camshaft itself, which would result in the loss of timing sync and breakage of that belt.

While the failure of Reddick’s car came quietly on pit road, the engine in the No. 16 Chevrolet piloted by Daniel Hemric quit in a much more chaotic fashion while he was in the middle of a pack. This time we had an onboard with audio that allowed us to hear the engine in that car go off-pitch and lose power much like what Reddick had described for his situation, but unfortunately, the sudden deceleration meant Hemric was hit and pushed down to the apron. Hemric tried to save the car, but it bounced back up the track and triggered a crash that ended up taking out the No. 14 of Chase Briscoe and No. 17 of Chris Buescher.

RELATED: Watch Daniel Hemric trigger multi-car wreck at Talladega

James Gilbert | Getty Images
James Gilbert | Getty Images

Briscoe ended up impacting the wall and had a hard right-front hit. In the past that would likely mean an immediate write-off based on the amount of damage that is visible, but the modular nature of the Next Gen car could allow the potential for repair. While the front clip of that car is visibly damaged and twisted, it is a piece that can be unbolted and replaced. And according to initial reports, the center section on the No. 14. appeared to be undamaged, so there is a possibility that a new front clip could be bolted on and that chassis could potentially be used again if it passes all safety checks.

Talladega brought the excitement and the speed but also brought some great long green-flag runs that are a welcome sight at superspeedways. While there was some chaos on the final laps, seeing such a long green-flag run in the last stage definitely brought a fun perspective for the race and even resulted in some unexpected fuel-saving elements to team strategy. The next superspeedway race should be even more fun as teams take everything they learned here to make their cars even faster for the second half of the year.

Posted on by Team Release

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (April 26, 2022) — Today, JR Motorsports announced it will field a fifth car in five additional NASCAR Xfinity Series races this season. With primary sponsorship from HendrickCars.com, current Cup Series stars William Byron, Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson will combine to make the starts in the No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro.

Elliott, who won the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series championship with Hendrick Motorsports, will kick things off at Darlington Raceway (May 7). Byron will take the wheel of the No. 88 at Texas Motor Speedway (May 21) and New Hampshire Motor Speedway (July 16). Larson, the defending NCS champion, sees action at Watkins Glen International (Aug. 20) and Darlington Raceway (Sept. 3).

JRM owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. has been a longtime partner with Hendrick Motorsports owner and Hendrick Automotive Group CEO Rick Hendrick with four franchises located in Tallahassee, Florida: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Cadillac and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Buick GMC. Hendrick is also a minority owner of JRM.

“The NASCAR platform has been instrumental in helping us build HendrickCars.com into a national brand, and we look forward to continuing that momentum through this expanded effort,” said Greg Gach, president of Charlotte-based Hendrick Automotive Group. “We are committed to our racing programs and supporting our Hendrick Motorsports teammates whenever we can, and we know these additional races will benefit our drivers and teams. We’re also excited to work with Dale Jr. on this opportunity. He’s a terrific partner whose dealerships have created tremendous value for our General Motors customers. It’s a win-win for everyone.”

HendrickCars.com is Hendrick Automotive Group’s online destination for new and pre-owned vehicle shopping, locating centers for service and collision repair, exploring career opportunities, and learning about vehicle investment protection. It also sponsors Larson’s No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in the Cup Series in addition to NHRA driver Greg Anderson and other racing efforts at the grassroots level.

All three drivers have previously driven for JRM. Byron and Elliott are both past NXS champions and multi-time winners with the organization, while Larson made one start for JRM’s Camping World Truck Series operation in 2015.

The news brings the No. 88 team’s tally to nine events in 2022, up from the four previously announced starts. In the two races to date this season, the team has one top-10 finish with Miguel Paludo at Circuit of the Americas.

Crew chief duties for the No. 88 team will be announced at a later date.

Posted on by Dustin Albino

The last time Kevin Harvick won a stage in the NASCAR Cup Series was at Dover Motor Speedway … in 2020. That’s a lofty 58 races since the No. 4 car has earned a playoff point.

That weekend continued Harvick’s recent surge of success at the Monster Mile, who picked up his first win on the concrete race track in 2015. On that afternoon, in a must-win situation to advance to the Round of 12 in the playoffs, the No. 4 car soared from 15th to lead 355 of 400 laps.

RELATED: Dover weekend schedule | Cup Series standings

Since the 2015 win, Harvick has visited Victory Lane two more times at Dover, and he heads into the Monster Mile for Sunday’s DuraMAX Drydene 400 (3 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM) with seven consecutive finishes of sixth or better at the track. In that time frame, he’s led 200-plus laps on three separate occasions.

“It took a long time to click, I know that for sure,” Harvick told NASCAR.com of his success at Dover. “When I came to SHR, Rodney [Childers, crew chief] knew that was a struggle for me and put a lot of effort into that and took that into winning races and running up front.

“As we’ve gone to Dover through the years, it’s definitely been a fun place to go.”

Of course, Harvick says he wishes NASCAR still took to Dover twice in a season. But this year will have a whole new dynamic.

Many drivers consider this weekend’s race at Dover to be the last true test for the Next Gen car. It’s competed on two superspeedways, another pack-style race at Atlanta, a couple of intermediates, two short tracks and a dirt track, but now has a whole new challenge in the Monster Mile.

Unique to Dover, it has significant elevation change going down into the corners and when exiting the corners with 24 degrees of banking. In the past, it’s been referred to as a roller coaster.

Harvick was quick to point out that teams won’t truly know what they have with the Next Gen car until practice on Saturday.

“I don’t anticipate the actual characteristics of Dover being any different than what they’ve been in the past,” Harvick added. “But I do think it will be somewhat different inside of the car with how you achieve that and put the car in the right spot.

“It’s been different at all the race tracks that we’ve gone to. But in the end, it’s also been a lot of the same, as far as where you want to place the car and things like that.”

Through 10 races this season, Harvick sits 11th in the championship standings, and he is coming off a 10th-place finish at Talladega. And though he’s led just 12 laps on the season – 11 of which came in one swoop at Atlanta – the No. 4 team is maximizing many of its performances thus far in 2022.

“With everything that we’ve had going on, I’m pretty happy with the results that we’ve been able to achieve because we’ve had so many things go wrong,” Harvick added. “Whether it be crashes, pit road, you name it and we’ve had to deal with it. I think the performance of the car has been relatively good from the standpoint and my comfort in the car. We just have to keep plugging away and clean up the things that are going wrong each week and progress from that.”

Changing over to the Next Gen car, Harvick said his team was mentally prepared to clean up miscues. He just didn’t think the team would have so many issues in the first two months of the season.

At the same time, the 2014 champion “didn’t really have any expectations” going into the season because he didn’t want to have to worry about anything additional than honing in on the development of the Next Gen car. He just wants to race.

And though Harvick is on a 53-race winless streak, the goal hasn’t changed.

“Put yourself in the top five, try to win races and put yourself in position to win races,” he said. “I think from the performance side, we have the capability to do that. We just have to have clean days.”

As the season progresses and already eight playoff spots potentially filled, Harvick’s outlook hasn’t changed, even with three first-time winners. His methodical approach will continue on the “week-to-week grind,” forgetting about the issues that have occurred.

“You see things, feel things and you apply those things and move forward and the car continues to get better week after week.”

Posted on by Adam Fenwick

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – A packed house greeted Bowman Gray Stadium competitors as the legendary short track opened its NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series season Saturday night with the annual running of the Hayes Jewelers 200 for the Brad’s Golf Cars Modified division.

After 200 laps, it was New Jersey’s Danny Bohn who left the quarter-mile flat oval with the trophy. He dominated the race, taking the lead from polesitter and defending track champion Tim Brown on Lap 6 and leading the rest of the distance for his first victory in Bowman Gray’s Crown Jewel event.

Bohn, who has starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series during his career, is the first Northern-born driver to win the Hayes Jewelers 200 since Jerry Cook won the 200-lap event in 1980.

It was his 16th career victory at Bowman Gray Stadium in 121 starts.

“I’ve won the 199 a couple of times, the championship, the 100 lappers. I’ve not won the 200 lapper. This was what I was coming for this year,” said Bohn, the 2014 Brad’s Golf Cars Modified champion at Bowman Gray. “I knew if I could control the race with the way the track was it would be tough to pass us. Tire wear wasn’t bad.

“It’s pretty awesome to see this crowd. This place is special to me. I’ve been able to do some NASCAR starts and stuff, but it was all because of here. I’m going to come support this place when I can.”

Brandon Ward was second, followed by Jason Myers, Chris Fleming and John Smith. Brown faded to seventh after leading the first five laps of the race.

In other action, defending McDowell Heating & Air Sportsman track champion Tommy Neal survived multiple caution flags to win the 40-lap feature that opened the night of racing.

Neal led every lap of the feature after starting from the pole. He was joined on the front row by his grandson, Riley Neal, who was making his first Bowman Gray start in the Sportsman division. Tommy Neal is a four-time track champion at Bowman Gray, having won two track championships each in the Sportsman and Stadium Stock divisions.

The Stadium Stock division was split into a pair of 15-lap features, with Tyler McDonald and A.J. Sanders picking up victories.

In the first race, McDonald took the lead from Tyler Bush on the 14th circuit after muscling his way to the inside. Bush, who faded to third, shared his displeasure with McDonald by making contact with him post-race and pushing him into the infield grass.

Sanders also scored a dramatic victory in the second Stadium Stock race. Race leader Chuck Wall fell off the pace a few laps from the checkered flag, which elevated Sanders to second. He then took the lead from Luke Smith coming to the white flag and held on to win his first feature of the year and 50th of his career at Bowman Gray.

The evening was bookended by a 20-lap feature for the Law Offices of John Barrow Street Stocks, with Bryan Sykes collecting the victory ahead of Nate Gregg.

Bowman Gray Stadium will be in action on most Saturday nights through Aug. 20, with the Modified, Sportsman, Street Stock and Stadium Stock classes typically sharing the card. The venue will also host its popular Crash Fest and Night of Destruction events on May 21 and July 16, respectively.

Catch live racing from Bowman Gray Stadium all season long only on FloRacing.

Posted on by Brandon White

Saturday’s season-opening Icebreaker at Berlin Raceway provided all the excitement and intensity that fans and drivers have been used to with the historic facility.

While afternoon featured a handful of hard hits across the four different divisions on display at Berlin, the Icebreaker also included many fantastic on-track battles, most of which were not resolved until each respectful race entered its closing stages.

FLORACING: Watch all the highlights from the Icebreaker

The exciting on-track action culminated into an intense fight for the win between two experienced competitors during the 75-lap Super Late Model feature.

Late restart propels Kyle Crump to victory

Throughout his career, Kyle Crump has developed a reputation as one of the most efficient drivers on restarts in the Midwest.

That quality proved to be essential on a restart inside of six laps to go in the Icebreaker’s main event, as he utilized the high line to power past fellow veteran Joe Bush and hold on for his second career victory at Berlin.

Crump, who battled Bush for most of the event’s second half, knew his restart had to be perfect for him to clear Bush and pull away.

“Joe Bush has been doing this for years [at Berlin],” Crump said in Victory Lane. “He knows how to get it done, and that was a true test. I was biting my teeth the whole time, and I was expecting him to get to my rear bumper. That didn’t happen, and I ended up in Victory Lane.”

Having won the most recent edition of the Battle at Berlin 150, Crump entered the Icebreaker with confidence and momentum on his side.

The speed Crump displayed from that victory was prevalent from the drop of the green flag. He methodically worked his way to the front after starting sixth and patiently bided his time while waiting for an opportunity to chase Bush down for the win.

Now that he has another Berlin victory on his resume, Crump is eagerly looking forward to returning to the track later this year as he looks to defend his Battle at Berlin title while also striving to add a Money in the Bank 150 win to his growing resume.

“This is kind of surreal,” Crump said. “This is a brand-new car, and I only got one tire mark on it. We’ll take it back and get ready for the next one.” 

Veteran Joe Bush enjoys strong day at Berlin

A season-opening victory at Berlin just narrowly slipped away from long-time competitor Joe Bush.

The 55-year-old driver from Hastings, Michigan, stalked Kyle Crump for the lead before finally taking it away with just 20 laps remaining. Unfortunately for Bush, an ill-timed competition caution reset the field and enabled Crump to overtake him for the win.

While Bush came up short on a trip to Victory Lane in the Icebreaker, he still managed to bring home a strong second place finish and show Berlin’s diverse group of regulars that he is still more than capable of being a top contender.

Outside of Berlin, Bush has recorded starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and ASA National Tour. All his combined experience was prevalent as he attempted to pick up a big season-opening Icebreaker victory in front of a packed house at Berlin.

Bush will have another opportunity to add another win at Berlin when the Super Late Models hit the track once again this Saturday.

Carl Snider and Dave Avink escape violent crash

Before the other divisions hit the track, Berlin’s 4 Cylinder competitors kicked off the day’s festivities in an unorthodox-but-frightening manner.

While battling for the lead in the first feature, Carl Snider and Dave Avink made contact down the backstretch after the former was bumped by Corey Holtzlander. Both drivers lost control of their cars and crashed hard into the protective tire barrier that separates the runoff area on the backstretch from the Turn 3 wall.

Both Snider and Avink emerged from the wreckage unscathed, but the damage to the tire barrier resulted in a red flag that lasted approximately 15 minutes. Neither driver took the green flag for the second 4 Cylinder feature later in the day.

NOTES:

  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver Carson Hocevar, who won the track championship at Berlin in 2017, struggled to make his way to the front after being inverted to the fifth row for the 75-lap main event. He did rebound to finish third behind Crump and Bush.
  • Terry Senneker, who is the nephew of all-time ASA National Tour wins leader Bob Senneker, was among the 25 cars that took the green flag for the 75-lap Super Late Model feature. A mechanical issue cut his day short after nine laps and he ended up finishing 21st.
  • Other notable names in the Super Late Model field include former ARCA Menards Series competitor Michael Simko and two-time Money in the Bank 150 winner Brian Campbell. Simko finished seventh while Campbell pulled behind the wall shortly before halfway to come home in 20th.

Feature winners: 

Super Late Model: Kyle Crump

Sportsman (1): Brian Thome

Sportsman (2): Kevin Ford

Limited Late Model (1): Nick Delongpre

Limited Late Model (2): Tyler Rycenga

4 Cylinder (1): Case Roelofs

4 Cylinder (2): Chase Roelofs

Posted on by Terrin Waack

TALLADEGA, Ala. — Last year, Ross Chastain wrecked out of the Bluegreen Vacations Duel 2 at Daytona International Speedway with seven laps remaining. Bigger issue was, Chastain needed to be able to compete three days later in the Daytona 500. And his primary car was shot.

Chastain’s team at the time, Chip Ganassi Racing, had to bring out and prep up a backup.

“I got in for practice the next day and I called them out, ‘There’s no way, this is the same car, same interior,’ ” Chastain said. “They’re like, ‘No, it’s all new, but it’s all that good. It’s that well-prepared.’ They prepare it that close that you can’t tell a difference.

(‘Dega) Alejandro Alvarez | NASCAR Digital Media

“Same thing with these cars. I can’t tell a difference week in, week out. I can’t tell that it’s the same car because I can’t tell that one’s any different.”

RELATED: Talladega race results

Chastain finished seventh in that 2021 Daytona 500 – a career-best there – and “these cars” he referred to would be the Next Gen cars introduced in 2022. The throwback story becomes present-day relevant because unlike at Daytona, the race car Chastain drove Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway was actually the same as the one he raced back in March at Circuit of The Americas. Yet, he still couldn’t have confidently known that without confirmation from his new team, Trackhouse Racing.

The story gets better. The Duel-to-500 path was at the same track, so same setup. In this year’s version, COTA is a road course, while Talladega is a superspeedway. The venues couldn’t be more different. And the cherry on top: Chastain won at both.

Cota
(COTA) Dylan Buell | Getty Images

“It makes it so special that Jim France and the NASCAR family, the France family, their vision for this car … in a month, you can bring a car back, you (can) win at a road course and win at Talladega,” Chastain said. “That hasn’t happened since the ‘60s. I don’t know, farther back. I have no idea. They would have different cars.

“It’s wild. That’s more what it means to me, that this car is capable of that.”

COTA marked Chastain’s first career victory at NASCAR’s top level. Talladega made him only the second driver, joining William Byron (also two wins), to capture more than one checkered flag this season. They’re 10 races in with Dover Motor Speedway up next (Sunday, 3 p.m. ET, FS1).

RELATED: ‘So special’ to win Talladega in COTA car

Granted, the process of reusing Chastain’s COTA-winning car wasn’t as simple as quick wash. There was still a complete dismantling and rebuilding. What qualifies the car as the same is the chassis, which, to be clear by Merriam-Webster’s definition, is the supporting frame of a structure.

“Really comes down to just the whole Next Gen platform,” crew chief Phil Surgen said. “All the cars are the same, have the same range of adjustments, same group of parts. All the cars right now are essentially universal. We took that car after it was done at COTA, cleaned it up, set it up a little bit differently to come here (Talladega). There’s no reason it can’t race at a different try to of track, (like) an oval next time, a downforce oval.”

And for very similar reasons, Surgen wouldn’t put this car above any others in Trackhouse Racing’s garage.

“No, I would say it’s exactly the same,” he said. “In fact, there’s so many parts on ‘em that are interchangeable, there’s likely a different group of parts on this car – on the chassis element – than there was on the car when it raced at COTA.”

Talladega was still proof to Surgen, who’s in his second-full time season atop the pit box, cars can be successfully recycled into the schedule lineup every three or four weeks.

THROWBACK: Who is Trackhouse Racing?

COTA and Talladega combined proved to team owner Justin Marks this season was the perfect time to enter NASCAR. He formed Trackhouse Racing because of what Next Gen promised: a more financially friendly car to help level the playing field. Trackhouse Racing is barely 2 years old at this season, and it is home to one of the two multi-race winners, just like Hendrick Motorsports, and owns as many wins as Joe Gibbs Racing.

“This new car represents an opportunity for us to make a statement quickly,” Marks said, “to where, if we came in with a Gen-6 car, the Gen-5 car, we’re up against teams that have so much engineering depth and money. Now we’re all kind of playing with the same ball. I say if we can build a team around this ball, give you control of it, we can really, really do great things.”

Posted on by Terrin Waack

TALLADEGA, Ala. — Woulda. Coulda. Shoulda.

On the last lap of Sunday’s race, Erik Jones lost the lead coming to the checkered flag at Talladega Superspeedway. Kyle Larson wasn’t able to snag it from the second-place position either. Instead, third-running Ross Chastain coasted by to steal the victory.

RELATED: Official results | Chastain prevails at Talladega

“Defending the 5 (Larson), I probably would have just stayed on the bottom,” Jones said. “I didn’t realize the bottom was coming with that much momentum. … Obviously, if I would have known that the bottom had that much steam, I would have probably stuck with it and hoped, hoped the 1 (Chastain) has to push me.

“It’s frustrating, but you work that hard for 500 miles and it comes down to the last 1,000 feet.”

As the field made its way down the frontstretch, Jones’ No. 43 slid out further and further, which isn’t ideal at a superspeedway. The gap allowed Larson to make a move to the outside. Jones tried to defend, following Larson to block his path.

Both went too high and created a wreck behind them. Larson finished fourth. Jones managed sixth.

“I made the move that I wanted,” Larson said. “I just wished instead of taking that run to the outside, I would have just kind of did what I did but kind of juked left at the last second and got to the bottom and probably would have won the race.”

Because they drifted up together, a clear view of the finish line was presented to Chastain. The win marked his second of 2022, making him just the second driver (along with William Byron, also two) to own more than one win through 10 races.

Austin Dillon turned out the runner-up. Kyle Busch came in third, then Larson, and Martin Truex Jr. fifth.

“I’m gonna remember that I crossed the line and I honestly didn’t know if we won,” Chastain said. “I mean, I knew that I quit blocking. I think the 3 (Dillon) finished second. Like I saw the 5 (Larson) and the 43 (Jones) hang a right, and then I was just motoring on the bottom.”

Larson won earlier this year at Auto Club Speedway, so he has a playoff bid. He sits seventh in the points standings.

A Talladega victory for Larson, though, would have been career first for superspeedways. The top-five result was even still a first. In his previous 30 superspeedway starts – that includes Talladega (2.66 miles) and Daytona International Speedway (2.5 miles) – Larson’s best-ever finish was sixth, at both tracks.

“Yeah, I don’t know,” Larson said. “I mean, I really didn’t do anything fancy or different. I just kind of ran the bottom all race long, saved fuel and allowed myself to have shorter pit stops.”

A victory Sunday for Jones would have not only been a first for him personally in 2022, it would have signified No. 200 for the No. 43 in the sport’s history. Talladega, rather, marked his third top 10 this season. His best, so far, was third at Auto Club. Jones now ranks 17th, one spot short of the 16-driver postseason field.

Sixteen races until that field is set, starting with Dover Motor Speedway next Sunday (3 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM).

“I guess at the end of the day, we go on to Dover next week and hopefully have another opportunity,” Jones said. “Beyond that, I know we can win at non-superspeedways. We just have to put the parts and pieces in place to do it.”