O’Donnell, Kennedy earn new roles with ‘another opportunity to continue to push’

Posted on March 10, 2022 by Terrin Waack

Two of NASCAR’s biggest proponents for innovation have been awarded new roles within the sanctioning body.

Steve O’Donnell has been promoted to chief operating officer, and Ben Kennedy has been named senior vice president of racing development and strategy. NASCAR announced the internal movement — effective immediately — Thursday in a news release.

“It’s just another opportunity to continue to push some initiatives with all the great teammates we have,” O’Donnell told NASCAR.com. “Both Ben and I really, really enjoy working with all the different stakeholders, and those projects, particularly around the schedule, allow you to work with the broadcast partners, the race teams to the race tracks. It makes it fun because you’re able to kind of touch all different aspects of the business.”

O’Donnell, whose previous title was executive vice president and chief racing development officer, will continue to oversee NASCAR’s competition and racing operations. His oversight will now also include track operations and strategic development.

Kennedy, meanwhile, is moving from the strategy and innovation sector (previously senior vice president there) to the competition department. He will, however, maintain oversight of schedule development.

“Going into the strategy and innovation side, there’s been a great opportunity to learn so many different facets of the business and areas that are quite frankly outside of my comfort zone,” Kennedy said. “But I think competition … it feels like it’s part of my DNA. … I’m excited to dive back into it. I have a lot of passion for this area.”

Kennedy was a race-car driver himself, competing full time at the touring and national levels from 2011-17. He’s also an active team owner, forming Ben Kennedy Racing in 2010. And he has worked in multiple corporate areas of the sport since he stepped out from behind the wheel. His first job within NASCAR was general manager of the Camping World Truck Series.

Kennedy is a crisp 30 years old.

“It’s just been really eye-opening — in terms of his work ethic — how quickly he’s been able to come up to speed,” O’Donnell said. “He went from someone, when we were first working on the Truck Series, who would not maybe say as much in a meeting to now he’s leading meetings, leading initiatives and really, really comfortable in his role. And for me, I’m just really happy to see him continue to grow.”

O’Donnell and Kennedy already have a successful history of working together. The two played an instrumental part in the NASCAR Cup Series’ schedule advancement in recent years. They were able to keep the sport running during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 with unprecedented doubleheaders and midweek shows. They introduced various new venues in 2021, such as Circuit of The America’s stock-car debut, Bristol Motor Speedway’s dirt track, Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course and Road America’s return after 65 years. And they pushed the envelope even further in 2022 with the inaugural Clash at the Coliseum, which required NASCAR to build a race track on top of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum’s football field.

“I don’t think it’s, say, change for change’s sake,” Kennedy said. “I think it’s change to be able to challenge ourselves. See if there are different ways that we could do things or ways that we can improve things, but do it measured and calculated, too. … Some of those ideas are probably a little more bold than they were two or three years ago, but I think those are for the right reasons, so we’ve got a lot of cool ideas in the pipeline.”

That’s just all in reference to where and when NASCAR races. As for the what, don’t forget the brand-new Next Gen car took to the track competitively for the first time this year, too. It replaced the model that had been running since 2013.

The 2023 schedule has not been revealed and the Next Gen car is built to stick around for a while, but promises to keep down this path of progress that has been made.

“I’ve been in NASCAR a long time,” O’Donnell said, “and I’ve never seen this much momentum and really positive story lines around the sport — both from the competition side and really what we’ve got going on for the fans and the activities happening at the track.

Posted on March 10, 2022 by Official NASCAR Release

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (March 10, 2022) – NASCAR today announced two key executive leadership moves, promoting Steve O’Donnell to Chief Operating Officer and returning Ben Kennedy to the Competition team where he will assume a key leadership position as Senior Vice President, Racing Development & Strategy.

“With more than 25 years of NASCAR experience across a variety of disciplines, Steve O’Donnell has earned the respect of the entire industry, and his collaborative leadership in the competition space has positioned the sport for incredible growth for years to come,” said Steve Phelps, NASCAR president. “In a short time, Ben Kennedy has proven to be an innovative, thoughtful leader with bold ideas and a tireless work ethic. He returns to his competition roots with this new role, one in which he will no doubt excel.”

As COO, O’Donnell will continue to provide oversight of all NASCAR Competition and Racing Operations, while adding Track Operations and Strategic Development to his purview. With these added duties, all NASCAR-owned track properties, track presidents and respective events fall under O’Donnell’s responsibilities.

As Chief Racing Development Officer since 2014, O’Donnell guided vital innovative advancements, including the introduction of the development of the Next Gen car, the implementation of the new Playoff format for all three of NASCAR’s national series and the enhanced race format system that was implemented in 2017.

O’Donnell has worked in various areas in the company since joining NASCAR in 1996 as a marketing services representative. After being promoted to manage that group – including work on NASCAR’s 50th Anniversary project – he was elevated to Director of Series Marketing. From there, he moved to Competition as Managing Director of Events and Operations to head the All-American Series and Touring Series before being promoted to Vice President of Racing Operations in charge of the national series. In 2008, he was named to Sports Business Journal’s prestigious “Forty Under 40” list.

“NASCAR is in a prime position for growth, and I look forward to helping our talented team continue the work necessary to build our sport,” O’Donnell said. “I am deeply passionate about NASCAR, its fans and those who work in our industry. Together, we will continue the unprecedented collaboration to ensure our sport’s success.”

In returning to NASCAR’s Competition team, Kennedy will maintain oversight of the national series schedule development, while assuming immediate oversight of Racing Operations, Track Services/Transportation/Officiating, Industry Relations and the NASCAR Touring & Weekly Series. He will work with O’Donnell in managing the areas of at-track competition and racing innovation.

Kennedy, a former race car driver who competed at the ARCA Menards Series, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series levels, has held a variety of positions within NASCAR since leaving the driver’s seat following the 2017 season. Kennedy began his corporate career as General Manager of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series before a promotion to Managing Director, Racing Operations and International Development.

Most recently, Kennedy held the position of Senior Vice President, Strategy & Innovation, where he helped guide overall company strategy, including developing the most dynamic NASCAR Cup Series schedule in 50 years in 2021 and innovating the Busch Light Clash by building a quarter-mile oval inside the iconic Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in February of 2022.

“I am excited to return to the Competition team and continue to learn from some of the most innovative leaders across our sport,” Kennedy said. “The racing this season with the Next Gen car is some of the best we’ve ever seen. It is truly an exciting time in NASCAR, and I look forward to helping this talented team grow our sport.”

Both O’Donnell and Kennedy will assume their new roles effective immediately.

Posted on March 9, 2022March 9, 2022 by Staff Report

The National Motorsports Appeals panel upheld a penalty issued to the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford driven by Zane Smith after Friday night’s race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Smith originally finished in second place but was relegated to a last-place finish after post-race inspection revealed that the truck did not conform to NASCAR Rule Book specifications per the following rules: 14.16.1: Wheel Assembly 1-4 Lug Nuts.

The panelists for the hearing were: Mr. Dixon Johnston, Ms. Cathy Rice and Mr. Lake Speed. Because this is a race disqualification appeal, the decision of the panelists is final and there is no ability for Front Row Motorsports to appeal the decision to the Final Appeals Office.

Posted on March 9, 2022March 10, 2022 by Staff Report

Check out the qualifying order (2:15 p.m. ET on FS1) for Saturday’s on-track action at Phoenix Raceway before Sunday’s Ruoff Mortgage 500 (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). To view the order, click the printer icon above or click here to see the full order.

RELATED: Phoenix weekend schedule

On most ovals this season, teams will be split into two groups based on odd/even finishing order from the week’s previous race for one warmup/practice session per group. This week’s practice sessions will run 20 minutes.

That practice will lead directly into single-car, single-lap qualifying that is split up into two groups. The top five drivers from each group will then advance to the second round of qualifying to fight for the pole with another single-car, single-lap run.

Posted on March 9, 2022 by Staff Report

The story of Mamie Reynolds sounds more fiction than fact.

Reynolds — the daughter of a former U.S. senator — drove race cars, bred horses, dogs and Pygmy goats and was also the first owner of the American Basketball Association’s Kentucky Colonels. She traveled around the world seven times and was an American Kennel Club member who won prizes and owned and trained many winning breeds.

She was also, believe it or not, a Cup Series car owner at 19 and the first woman owner to win in NASCAR’s top division with Fred Lorenzen in 1962 at Augusta Speedway, adding a fifth-place finish at Birmingham International Raceway (1963) and a sixth-place finish at Martinsville Speedway (1962) with Darel Dieringer.

MORE: Full Reynolds owner stats

Have you heard the story of Mamie Reynolds? #WomensHistoryMonth pic.twitter.com/AQJnUGRGwF

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) March 3, 2022

Reynolds, who passed away in Louisville, Kentucky, in 2014 at 72, was not only one of four children from one of controversial U.S. senator Bob Reynolds’ five marriages, she was also the granddaughter of Evalyn Walsh McLean. The matriarch is known as the last personal owner of the Hope Diamond, which has since been preserved at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. Reynolds spent much of her life calling Asheville, North Carolina, home, becoming a high-profile fixture of the city’s social circles. Notably, she had a famous godfather, too, in one J. Edgar Hoover, the former FBI director.

The pioneer, just 4 years old at the time, first inherited the wealth that would later fuel her stock racing desires following her mother’s death of a sleeping pill overdose in 1946. Reynolds was later introduced to Luigi Coco Chinetti Jr. at the age of 20 when he sold her the first racing car she ever bought. They later married, bringing her into yet another famous family.

Her father-in-law? Renowned racer and American importer Luigi Chinetti, who is credited with bringing Ferrari to the United States and appointed by Enzo Ferrari, himself.

In total, her foray into NASCAR ownership lasted just 20 races over two seasons but included being a winning contributor to the Hall of Famer Lorenzen’s career as well as being an indelible — and almost too good to be true — part of the sport’s foundational years.

Posted on March 9, 2022March 9, 2022 by Dustin Albino

Imagine having a weekly exam in calculus with little preparation every week. No notes to study, no cheat sheet, just show up and do your best. That’s been the majority of Anthony Alfredo’s NASCAR career.

While Alfredo is an avid iRacing participant, admittedly that isn’t the same as strapping into a 3,400-pound stock car with some of the best drivers in the world. But before the COVID-19 shutdown two years ago, the Connecticut native had just 14 national series starts — just one in the Xfinity Series — to his name. When returning to the track post-shutdown, there was no practice or qualifying, which didn’t allow for Alfredo to gain added experience in the Xfinity Series.

Still, Alfredo was competitive in 2020, earning nine top-10 finishes, running a partial schedule for Richard Childress Racing. He ended his season at Texas Motor Speedway, finishing a personal-best third. From there, he was fast-tracked to the Cup Series in 2021, competing full time for Front Row Motorsports.

In 2021, practice and qualifying was scheduled for eight races. That helped Alfredo, but not enough.

“As an Xfinity rookie, that was hard enough, and then I had to do it in the Cup Series in cars that all the veterans had been driving that generation of car for a while,” Alfredo said of moving to Cup. “I’m trying to learn the car and there were still some tracks that I’d yet to go to. That was just an enormous obstacle to overcome.”

Alfredo’s rookie season in the Cup Series didn’t go according to plan. His lone top-10 finish — 10th — came in the fall race at Talladega Superspeedway, which was rain-shortened. His nine DNFs, three of which came in the final four races of the year, was the second-highest among full-time drivers, only trailing Quin Houff.

One of the bright spots was running inside the top 10 late at Sonoma Raceway, a track Alfredo had never seen before race day. He was turned late in the race and finished 31st, below his season-long average finish of 27.5.

“You can imagine the effort that you put in to try to be as prepared as possible,” Alfredo said, “but you’re going in blind and can only do so much to prepare yourself.”

Two days after the 2021 season wrapped up, Front Row announced Alfredo wouldn’t return to the No. 38 car in 2022. Not knowing what his racing future held, Alfredo went back to his routes in Connecticut to help out his father’s construction business.

While doing some site planning, Chris Our — owner of Our Motorsports — called Alfredo out of the blue. It was an urgent conversation.

“Would you like to drive the 23 car? Our driver announcement is at the Hall of Fame tomorrow, and we would love for you to be there,” Alfredo recalled Our saying on the phone.

Immediately, Alfredo started to scurry, looking at options to get from the tri-state area to Charlotte. He also had to clarify with his partners that they’d still support him in going to Our Motorsports. That was because the driver didn’t think the No. 23 car was still on the table. Neither did Our.

“Originally, we had another young gentleman that was going to be in the car,” Our confirmed. “Unfortunately, I think things changed on their side and their comfort with us with where we were in the points.”

Zack Albert | NASCAR Digital Media

While competing against Alfredo in his rookie season as a car owner in the Xfinity Series two years ago, Our was often impressed with the driver. He wanted Alfredo on his team, believing he doesn’t have much of an ego and handles himself professionally. It also doesn’t hurt to have a construction background, as Our runs his own construction company, Robert B. Our Co.

“We knew the potential (he had),” Our said. “He had some frustrating runs in Cup, but he had some good runs. We knew his experience grew a lot last year doing that. So, we thought we would see a lot. I think he’s one of them sleeping dark horses.”

Having watched Our Motorsports progress over the last two seasons, included a finish of 16th in the owner’s standings last season, Alfredo is excited for the opportunity to be competitive again. He knows his team wants to win its first race.

“It’s a new team, but they want to grow,” Alfredo added. “They’re expanding to three cars with experienced drivers that want to win and assembling teams with members that want to win. Chris Our doesn’t have a race team just because he can. He wants to go out and win.”

Going into the season opener at Daytona, Alfredo had to qualify into the field on time, as the No. 23 team had no points to fall back on. He did just that, turning the 16th-quickest time. Early in the 300-mile race, Alfredo went three laps down for his right-side window falling out of the car. Late in the race, he was back on the lead lap and raced his way up to seventh come the checkered flag.

The next week at Auto Club Speedway, Alfredo looked to be in a prime position to get his first victory. He restarted on the front row during an overtime restart with fresher tires than the field, but he dropped back to fifth. However, he still went from the middle of the pack before his final pit stop and earned a solid finish for the No. 23 team. Alfredo is coming off a 17th-place finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Through three races, he sits eighth in the series standings.

“I’m pretty confident that we can go run top 12 every week,” Alfredo stated. “If we could run top 10 every week, that’s probably where we want to be by the end of the year. I think it’s going to take some building.”

MORE: Phoenix entry list

Looking back at last year, Alfredo believes the team can battle for a playoff spot. With the depth of the Xfinity Series in 2022, the team will have to do all of the “little things” right.

Fortunately for Alfredo, veteran crew chief Pat Tryson is calling the shots for the No. 23 team. In the past, Tryson has won Cup Series races with Elliott Sadler, Mark Martin and Kurt Busch.

“I feel like I have unfinished business in this series,” Alfredo said.

Similarly, Alfredo feels that way about the Cup Series. At just 22 years old, he has plenty of time to get a second shot in the premier NASCAR division.

And if he does, he says he’ll be more prepared for the opportunity.

“I took the step to Cup so early that I feel like now, being full time in the Xfinity Series, I’m where I want to be at this point in my career,” he stated. “I’ve run more Cup races than I have Xfinity and trucks combined at this point of my career. It’s going to be great to come back now and apply what I learned, which I think is going to help me a lot.

“I want to be back (in the Cup Series) someday in a better situation. I think taking a step back and applying what I’ve learned, performing well and finding a better opportunity when I’m ready to take that next step again will be ideal.”

Posted on March 8, 2022 by PJ Walsh

The Action Network specializes in providing sports betting insights/analytics and is a content partner with NASCAR. Check out more NASCAR betting analysis here.

For the first time this season, the NASCAR Cup Series’ Next Gen car will take on a short, flat track in a points-paying race.

The Next Gen car did race on a quarter-mile circuit at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for the preseason Busch Light Clash. However, Sunday’s Ruoff Mortgage 500 (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX) will be the first of these tracks with points on the line.

And while we can consider both Phoenix Raceway and the LA Coliseum as “short, flat tracks,” they’re really not all that similar.

Phoenix is a 1-mile, tri-oval compared to the Coliseum’s quarter-mile oval, so how the cars handle might be quite different.

With this in mind, I’m focusing more on historical performance at Phoenix Raceway when projecting performance for the Ruoff Mortgage 500. And after doing so, one side of the Christopher Bell vs. Alex Bowman featured driver matchup is showing enough value to bet right now.

NASCAR Picks for Phoenix

*Odds as of Tuesday morning

The reason I like this bet is equal parts buying on Bell and fading Bowman.

While it was more than five years ago, there’s still some idea floating around among NASCAR bettors and DFS players that Phoenix is a good track for Bowman.

Sure, he had an incredible performance while subbing for the injured Dale Earnhardt Jr. back in the fall of 2016 at Phoenix, a race in which Bowman piloted the No. 88 Chevrolet to a sixth-place finish that included the most fast laps run, the most laps led and the best driver rating.

However, it’s important to remember that the No. 88 team had Phoenix figured out during this time period no matter who was driving, with Earnhardt posting finishes of second, eighth, first and fifth in four of the five races leading up to Bowman’s stellar run.

Since that race in 2016, Bowman has struggled some at Phoenix, finishing 13th, 30th, 35th, 23rd, 14th, 16th, 13th and 18th, while leading zero laps and averaging just 1.5 fast laps per race in those eight starts, all of which came while driving Hendrick Motorsports’ top-tier equipment. Throw in the fact that Bowman is coming off an exciting win last week at Las Vegas, a track that has essentially zero similarities with Phoenix, and it’s reasonable to assume he’s a bit overvalued for all of these factors.

On the other hand, Bell has been very solid at the short, flat tracks since getting his shot in Joe Gibbs Racing’s elite equipment before the start of last season, including two ninth-place runs in 2021 at Phoenix. Additionally, Bell has a win at Phoenix in the Xfinity Series, so he’s certainly capable of running up front if provided with a fast car.

Just like previous weeks’ featured NASCAR matchups the edge here isn’t massive, but Bell should be a short favorite over Bowman, making his +100 price tag at BetMGM one worth considering.

Posted on March 8, 2022 by Bozi Tatarevic

Cup teams are quickly adapting to the Next Gen car based on the level of competition we saw at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Not only are teams finding speed in the cars and on pit road, but we’re seeing drivers get more comfortable with the handling of the Next Gen car as they push the limits, trying to find optimal speed in a car without letting the car break loose. We also saw those that did encounter lift-off over and spin adapt a bit better to the situation and recover the car by continuing to roll instead of stopping and getting stuck on flat tires.

The quote of “loose is fast and on the edge of out of control” from Harry Hogge in the 1990 movie “Days of Thunder” certainly applies these days as the aerodynamic balance of the Next Gen car, combined with the shorter sidewall tire, has resulted in a car that is a handful to drive but rewards those who can find that edge without losing the rear end of the car. We saw drivers running various lines in the race and finding the ability to pass, but as we predicted in our post-qualifying debrief on Saturday, the best move was to focus on that short-run speed because drivers are still finding that edge, and those occasional spins prevented a lot of long green-flag runs from happening.

Along with a reduction in the number of cars that spun, one of the improvements we saw in the race was that drivers are starting to adapt to how they recover from a spin. Radio communications showed us that drivers were encouraged to keep rolling as soon as they spun in order to prevent getting stuck. That resulted in drivers being able to roll back to pit road to get new tires without requiring a tow or going multiple laps down which is a positive improvement from what we saw at Auto Club Speedway a week earlier.

NASCAR

One of the cars that we saw with extensive damage was the No. 18 Toyota Camry of Kyle Busch, who spun due to a left-rear flat and ended up hitting the wall. The impact with the wall results in damage to the left-rear of the car with the bumper support assembly being bent as expected, but the key point that resulted in the team choosing to go to a backup car was that the greenhouse was cracked at the left C-pillar. Fixing it would have required a replacement of the entire greenhouse assembly as that is a part that is not repairable by teams per the “Body and Underwing Repair Policy,” which outlines the parts that must be sent back to the manufacturer for repair if they are deemed repairable.

Going to a backup car and having to start at the rear did not stop Busch from moving up through the field and being in a position to win at the end of the race. While the late-race strategy of choosing to go for four tires instead of two for the overtime restart did not ultimately end up working out, the backup car proved to be just as fast as the primary. Those pit stops also helped Busch and his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates gain ground on most of the pit cycles. We saw those crews getting deeper in the nine-second range this week with the No. 11 crew of Denny Hamlin even completing a 9.4-second four-tire change at one point in the race.

NASCAR

While Hamlin had a fast car and a fast pit crew, a mistake with the shifter coming off pit road ultimately ended up costing him the race. The sequential transaxle in the Next Gen car has a mechanical shifter but the motion is now to pull backward on the shifter to upshift and push forward on it to downshift. This is a change from the H-pattern gearbox that was in use last where the shifter was pushed forward for first and third gear and pulled backward for second and fourth gear. It looks like muscle memory may have gotten the better of Hamlin, and he ended up downshifting when he should have upshifted. That resulted in components breaking inside the transaxle as they spun at high speed from the sudden downshift.

NASCAR

Outside of learning how the car races and handles, teams are still getting familiar with driver comfort items such as the seat. Aric Almirola and Tyler Reddick reported some numbness in their legs during the race. This discomfort is likely the result of multiple factors due to the fact that the driver’s seat was moved closer to the centerline of the car for safety with the Next Gen car and the pedals have moved from hanging down from the firewall to now being mounted on the floor.

All of these factors combine for new reference points for the seat and pedals, so new foam was poured for the seats so drivers could find the best position for them. The likely scenario here is that we are also seeing a bit of muscle memory because drivers have spent so much time racing the outgoing car and the solutions that we’ll see will probably involve reshaping some of the seat foam or possibly pouring new inserts. That would allow drivers to be positioned in a different way, avoiding reduced circulation in their legs.

NASCAR

Teams will continue to adapt on the performance and comfort angles for the Next Gen car, and we’re likely to see those improvements as we head into the next few races. Pedal feel will be a bigger factor this week as the brakes will see quite a bit more use at Phoenix Raceway, so teams will be focused on making immediate improvements on that end this week.

Posted on March 8, 2022 by Zack Albert

The era of the Next Gen car is off to quite the beginning, with 25 different drivers occupying the 30 top-10 spots available after three events. It’s the most at this point in a Cup Series season since the 1973 campaign. Such a variety has left little room for repeat visitors, and one driver on his way to retirement has monopolized the top-10 realm so far.

Six more drivers notched their first top-10 results of 2022 in Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Race winner Alex Bowman topped that list in posting the second straight victory for the Hendrick Motorsports organization. Third-finishing Ross Chastain followed closely behind as he led the most laps and carried Trackhouse Racing to a banner day.

The only driver to go 3-for-3 in top 10s in the early going? That’s Aric Almirola, who announced in January that the 2022 campaign would be his last full-time season in the Cup Series. So far, he’s taken the No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford to finishes of fifth (Daytona), sixth (Auto Club) and sixth again (Las Vegas) — figures that have him unsurprisingly in sixth place in the early Cup points standings. Interestingly enough, he also placed sixth in each of the last two races of the 2021 season.

“We fight. That’s the beauty of this race team,” Almirola said after Sunday’s 400 in Vegas. “We’re still learning this car. There’s a lot to learn about it and we’re still trying to figure a lot of things out. Practice is great, but we’ve got to make adjustments throughout the race and I feel like every race we’re learning more and more and more and we’re building a notebook. We’re making adjustments throughout the race and trying to figure it out.

“This team has so much fight in it and so much grit that it’s a lot of fun to race with these guys. We’ll keep digging and try and keep this streak alive of all these top-10 finishes. It’s a lot of fun when you run up front.”

The Next Gen car that debuted earlier this season carried at least the potential for shifting some of the balance of power in the Cup Series standings. It’s still too early to see if that trend has a longer-range impact, but the early results are encouraging.

Some familiar powerhouses have already risen to the top. Defending series champion Kyle Larson is back atop the points standings, and the season’s win tallies so far have been divvied up by Hendrick (two) and Team Penske (one). The only other drivers to cop two top-10 finishes through three races are all former Cup Series champs — Larson, Kyle Busch and Chase Elliott.

In a neat bit of symmetry, 25 is also the number of Cup Series drivers who have led laps this season. For all his consistency, Almirola has yet to scratch this category so far.

William Byron, Tyler Reddick, Martin Truex Jr., and Christopher Bell were the others who secured their first top 10s of the year last Sunday at Las Vegas. But several more are aiming to break onto that list in the season’s fourth race, scheduled Sunday (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM) at Phoenix Raceway.

Denny Hamlin — a Championship 4 qualifier the last three seasons — is prime on that roster of hopefuls, after enduring early retirements in two of this year’s first three races. Ty Dillon, in his first year with Petty GMS Motorsports, is the highest-ranked driver (19th in the points) without a top-10 result to date.

Posted on March 8, 2022 by Staff Report

A new team announced a part-time entry into the NASCAR Cup Series on Tuesday, with Team Stange Racing setting an eight-race schedule for the 2022 season.

The organization announced that Brazilian veteran Tarso Marques will drive the No. 79 Ford, with a debut set for July 3 at Road America. The team also plans to enter races at Indianapolis Road Course (July 31), Watkins Glen (Aug. 21), Daytona (Aug. 27), Charlotte’s Roval (Oct. 9), Las Vegas (Oct. 16), Homestead-Miami (Oct. 23) and the Phoenix season finale (Nov. 6).

Marques, 46, has made 24 Formula One starts, the most recent coming in 2001. He was also a regular in Champ Car competition, making 27 appearances during parts of four seasons. The Road America event would represent his Cup Series debut.

The team indicated that sponsorship is provided by blockchain company DignityGold and the DIGau token. Team Stange has competed with occasional starts in the ARCA Menards Series, most recently scoring a best finish of fifth place with Frank Kimmel in the 2016 opener at Daytona. The Chicago-based organization also entered the 2019 Indianapolis 500 through an alliance with Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, netting a 22nd-place finish with IndyCar veteran Oriol Servia.

The No. 79 car number has been out of rotation in the NASCAR Cup Series since 2012. It was last driven by Kelly Bires in a part-time effort for team owner Archie St. Hilaire.