‘Both cars in the playoffs’: 23XI Racing makes 2022 goal clear

Posted on February 16, 2022 by Terrin Waack

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Now a two-car household, the room is split at 23XI Racing when it comes to postseason experience.

Kurt Busch, the brand-new driver of the No. 45 Toyota, is a former Cup Series champion, inking his name in 2004. Bubba Wallace, meanwhile, scored his first career win just last year in his continued No. 23 entry.

“A goal for us is to have both cars in the playoffs,” team owner Denny Hamlin said Wednesday during Media Day for the Daytona 500. “I think Bubba isn’t far off from that. I mean, it’s one DNF away when you look at the standing for who’s a contender to beat.”

DAYTONA 500: Weekend schedule | Betting odds | All-time winners

Wallace finished last year’s standings a career-best 21st. He did not make the 16-driver playoff field in his fourth full-time season. His victory came at Talladega Superspeedway in Race 31 of 36 — five events too late for an automatic postseason ticket.

Busch raced for Chip Ganassi Racing last season and qualified for his eighth playoff run. He placed 11th in the final standings, having been eliminated in the Round of 16. His berth was clinched, opposite of Wallace, five races before the regular-season finale in Race 21 at Atlanta Motor Speedway — his 33rd career win in 21 full-time seasons.

“As a teammate, he’s a listener and he’s eager to learn,” Busch said. “I mean that’s what any young driver should be doing. But it’s funny on how the information’s being thrown at him, and he goes, ‘Hey, man, is this something that’s serious that I need to look at or is this something that Denny is going overload on for data information?’ And I said it’s a perfect question. Because Denny is such an analytical numbers guy; he will eat, sleep and chew on them until it turns into a pulp. Bubba and his level, my level — we’re all working together to find that right stream.”

SPEEDWEEKS: Entry lists, qualifying procedure and more

Their first opportunity is Sunday in the season-opening Daytona 500 (2:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM), an event Busch has previously won (2017).

The 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway track is, of course, a superspeedway, which matches the same track type Wallace won on last year. He also has a runner-up Daytona 500 result on his resume from 2018, along with another second-place showing from 2021 in the summer race.

“We want to make the playoffs and compete for a championship, that’s a given,” Wallace said. “That’s what any driver is going to say. For us, it’s just become consistent. … Be more competitive, be more consistent. Get that speed up there, figure out this new car. Everybody’s figuring out this new car, but making sure we’re on that upper tier of the people who figure it out so we can have that advantage.”

The Next Gen car could very well make a difference in what teams make the playoffs. It’s an unknown, as this Speedweeks is really the first competitive opportunity.

Wallace had the seventh-fastest speed in Tuesday’s opening practice (47.081 seconds, 191.16 mph). Busch was ninth (47.085 seconds, 191.144 mph). Both worked in a five Toyota pack. In the second session, Busch and Wallace were 29th and 31st, respectively.

Qualifying is set for Wednesday night (8:05 p.m. ET on FS1). The two Bluegreen Vacations Duels are Thursday before two more practices Friday and Saturday. Sunday then marks the official start of the season.

“Right now, we’re tied for the lead in points,” Busch said. “And we intend to work our way all the way through the first couple months with a points-building frame of mind.”

Posted on February 16, 2022 by Tadd Haislop

In the closing laps of Tuesday night’s Race to Stop Suicide 200 presented by Place of Hope, the 2022 ARCA Menards Series East season-opener, it appeared as though last year’s wild New Smyrna Speedway finish between Sammy Smith, Taylor Gray and Max Gutiérrez was bound to repeat itself as they ran one-two-three.

But on a final restart with six laps to go, a sluggish restart by Gray allowed Smith to pull away for the win. It was sweet redemption for the 17-year-old from Johnston, Iowa, after he finished second to Gutiérrez in a three-wide photo finish to open last year’s East Series season at the same venue.

Not a bad way to start the 2022 season for the 2021 East Series champ@sammysmithSS WINS at New Smyrna 🏁 pic.twitter.com/obnRpr25NU

— ARCA Menards Series (@ARCA_Racing) February 16, 2022

The East Series event on Tuesday kicked off Night 5 of New Smyrna’s World Series of Asphalt Stock Car racing, and the evening concluded with Tour-type Modifieds, Super Late Models and 602 Modifieds.

In the East Series race, Gray finished second behind Smith. Gutiérrez finished third ahead of Leland Honeyman in fourth and Donald Theetge in fifth.

Below are more highlights from Night 5 of the 2022 World Series of Stock Car Racing.

In the Tour-Type Modified feature, Ron Silk prevailed in a bit of a chess match against Matt Hirschman, the latter of whom won Saturday night’s NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season-opener as part of the World Series. Jimmy Blewett, Teddy Hodgdon and Craig Lutz rounded out the top five in Tuesday night’s Tour-Type Modified race.
Jesse Love emerged victorious in Tuesday Night’s Super Late Model feature, beating out Derek Griffith for the win. Gabe Sommers, Jake Finch and Justin Mondeik completed the top five.
Carsten DiGiantomasso fell one position short of making it three-for-three in 602 Modified features at the World Series of Asphalt, as he finished second to Ricky Collins in Tuesday night’s race. Bryce Bailey finished third ahead of Adam LaCicero in fourth and Rob Schultz in fifth.

Wednesday’s Night 6 of the 2022 World Series of Asphalt Stock Car racing brings the John Blewett III Memorial Tour Modified 76.

Racing starts at 7:30 p.m. ET and can be viewed live on FloRacing.

Posted on February 16, 2022February 16, 2022 by Zack Albert

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – When Kurt Busch was last at Daytona International Speedway for a race weekend, the announcement that he would join 23XI Racing this year was spliced into the anticipation for the NASCAR Cup Series’ regular-season finale. It would be the seventh stop in his two-decades-plus career.

That August weekend, Busch said he was already working the phones and fielding calls from crew and colleagues who wanted in. That No. 45 Toyota team is now built up, complete with a reunion at crew chief.

Busch will have the veteran voice of Billy Scott guiding him this year, the first campaign for 23XI as a two-car operation. The two had paired up in 2018 with Stewart-Haas Racing to solid success, but that partnership was short-lived. When the time came to put the band back together, Scott was high on the list.

“I feel like we have some unfinished business,” Busch said after last season. “I think that’s the best quote that I can give is unfinished business for me, Billy Scott, and a group of … not rebels, but a group of guys that were assembled as all-stars from different teams. We were like, ‘we like you, we like you,’ and everybody wanted to jump on board and be part of this 45 car.”

Scott first connected with Busch at SHR after longtime wrench Tony Gibson shifted away from full-time crew chief duties after the 2017 season. In came Scott, and the No. 41 team that they formed kept producing consistent results.

Zack Albert | NASCAR Digital Media

Busch has had seasons with more wins (four each in 2002 and 2003 as he burst onto the scene), a season with a Cup Series title (2004) and one with a Daytona 500 victory (2017). But his season with Scott established a high-water mark for top-10 finishes – 22 in 36 races – that’s still tops for Busch’s career.

The pairing didn’t last, however. Busch departed in 2019 to drive for team owner Chip Ganassi. Scott stayed on to work with Daniel Suarez for one last season at Stewart-Haas before picking up with Richard Childress Racing and its affiliates. Neither driver nor crew chief may have verbalized it at the time, but the lingering “what-ifs” remained after they parted ways.

“It’s funny because we didn’t really talk about that with each other until recently,” Scott told NASCAR.com. “It all came to an end real quick, something that neither one of us wanted or even fully expected leading up to that. So it was unfortunate. I think we would have continued to grow, being there. We were in a good situation. That team there had a lot of success across the board, and we would have loved to keep that up, but it wasn’t up to us and it didn’t work out. So yes, being back together now, it does have some sentimental value to it. We both were regretful that it ended and wished we could have just seen what we could’ve made if we’d progressed.”

With the 23XI Racing footprint growing under the vision of team co-owners Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin, Busch and Scott now have that chance. And the opportunity for growth isn’t limited to the team in general. 23XI competition director Mike Wheeler says that Scott’s potential extends beyond the pit box’s reach.

“Billy was touted as a very good and responsible teammate,” Wheeler says. “He’s an engineer that I worked around, but never really had dealings with, but during the interview process, I really liked a lot of the things he was thinking about and had experiences with. I think we aligned in a lot of the thought process to make the cars go faster, how to treat people. And honestly, we’re working on our structure here to make him a senior race engineer and leader of our company, not just the team manager for the 45 but growing the company together.

“He fits that role and believes in that process. Once that came out in light of him, it was a very easy decision to kind of chase him and to make sure he joined our team.”

MORE: At-track photos: Daytona

Scott’s last Cup Series appearance as a crew chief came two years ago, overseeing Justin Haley’s Daytona 500 bid with Kaulig Racing. COVID-19 altered plans for more part-time crew chief starts, and he transitioned to the race engineering group and helping with the development phase and systems testing of the Next Gen car.

The appointment to his 23XI Racing post came nine days after the 2021 season ended, and Scott has already settled in with Busch, saying that “it does feel like it was yesterday that we ran our last race together.” Since then, he’s also had time to get better acquainted with 23XI’s mission as it enters its second season of Cup Series competition.

“It’s an awesome atmosphere, super-excited to be a part of it from that standpoint and from the growth,” Scott says. “It’s neat to watch something and be a part of something building up. I’ve kind of done that before at MWR (Michael Waltrip Racing) as that place evolved and grew, and it feels very similar to that. It’s all one team approach. Everybody there has a great attitude and is working together really well right now. We want to keep that and keep growing with them.

“I know Denny and Michael have a great vision for that and want to do things a little bit different in some respects, so that part’s fun to be a part of and it’s neat to be back in a small team. When they started building for the second team, I think there was barely 20 employees and now they’re just probably around 50 or so. But it’s still small enough that you know everybody and it’s very personal, and it’s nice to get back to that.”

Posted on February 15, 2022February 15, 2022 by Reid Spencer

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Greg Biffle was the last driver to take to the track for the first practice—with 15 minutes left in the session.

But Biffle, driving for the newly-formed NY Racing Team, teamed up in a two-car draft with another driver who isn’t guaranteed a spot in Sunday’s race. He and Noah Gragson were 17th and 18th, respectively, in the opening practice session.

Biffle and Gragson, both driving Chevrolets, are two of the six drivers fighting for four starting spots in The Great American Race. The other four occupied the following spots on the initial speed chart: Timmy Hill (27th), JJ Yeley (34th), Jacques Villeneuve (40th) and Kaz Grala (41st).

Hill, Yeley, Villeneuve and Grala confined their activity in practice to single-car runs.

Biffle hasn’t raced in the NASCAR Cup Series since 2016, but he ran—and won—a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event for Kyle Busch Motorsports in 2019, one of two NASCAR starts for the 52-year-old driver since leaving full-time racing.

“I can’t forget about 2019—I ran a truck race—and that’s been luring me back,” Biffle said. “I’ve been talking to (team owner) John (Cohen) for a couple of years now, and I told him, ‘If you get a program put together, I’ll come help you,’ and here we are. So I’m glad to be back.”

In the day’s second practice session, Grala was the top car among the open teams in 22nd, followed by Gragson (32nd), Biffle (36th), Hill (40th), Villeneuve (41st) and Yeley (42nd).

Posted on February 15, 2022February 16, 2022 by Terrin Waack

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Unloaded and unleashed.

NASCAR teams took out the Next Gen cars for their first official hot laps around Daytona International Speedway on Tuesday. There were two 50-minute practice sessions in preparation for Sunday’s season-opening Daytona 500 (2:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

The reigning Cup Series champion, Kyle Larson, welcomed in the new era as the first driver to roll out of the garage. And the defending Daytona 500 winner, Michael McDowell, closed out the day’s work with the fastest lap time overall.

DAYTONA 500: Weekend schedule | Betting odds | All-time winners

“These cars are definitely bouncing a little more,” McDowell said. “I don’t think they drive any harsher. Like last year, the cars were low to the ground as well and were pretty stiff. It’s just a different feel altogether. …

“I also think that there’s a lot of people that were trying things in those first two practices – see what they can get away with, how aggressive you can be. There’s a lot of cars with a lot of reverse skew, bouncing and moving around quite a bit. Some of them look very un-fun driving. But come race day, you’re going to need something that you can be aggressive with.”

McDowell posted the best lap time in the opening practice at 46.696 seconds and 192.736 mph. Ryan Blaney turned the quickest circuit during the second go-around at 46.732 seconds and 192.588 mph. Fords swept the top five slots in both portions, even going for all 10 in the latter.

For comparison from 2021: Bubba Wallace claimed top rank of Practice 1 at 45.057 seconds and 199.747 mph. Brad Keselowski topped the Practice 2 leaderboard at 45.826 seconds and 196.395 mph.

TUESDAY: Practice 1 results | Practice 2 results | Overall practice recap

Speedweeks has two more practices on tap, but they’re not until Friday and Saturday. Qualifying is Wednesday, and both of the Bluegreen Vacation Duels are Thursday.

“I’m just gonna say it: You’re going to minimize your risk,” McDowell said. “I mean, you’re not going to put yourself in a really bad situation on purpose. For me, I won’t. Just because of where we’re at from an inventory standpoint, how important all the races are. And yes, it does pay points, so if you can put yourself in position to score some stage points, you’re going to want to do that. But it’s really a risk. It’s probably not worth it on Thursday. It’s definitely worth it on Sunday.”

SPEEDWEEKS: Entry lists, qualifying procedure and more

Three teams made their NASCAR debut: Team Hezeberg with Jacques Villeneuve in the No. 27 Ford, NY Racing Team with Greg Biffle in the No. 44 Chevrolet and The Money Team Racing with Kaz Grala driving the No. 50 Chevy.

And then there were two remixed teams in Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing (Keselowski and Chris Buescher in the Nos. 6 and 17 Fords, respectively) and Petty GMS Motorsports (Ty Dillon and Erik Jones in the Nos. 42 and 43 Chevrolets, respectively).

Then – yes, there’s more – existing teams added new entries. Trackhouse Racing adopted Ross Chastain in the No. 1 Chevy, and 23XI Racing gained Kurt Busch in the No. 45 Toyota. Kaulig Racing upgraded to the Cup Series level, too, with Justin Haley in the No. 31 Chevrolet and Daniel Hemric (as a part-timer) in the No. 16 Chevy.

Other moves worth remembering: Austin Cindric (No. 2 Team Penske Ford) and Harrison Burton (No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford) have both moved up from the Xfinity Series.

SILLY SEASON: Track all of the Cup Series movement

Suffice to say, Tuesday involved more than blowing the dust off the garage.

“Coming to Daytona is special, it always is,” McDowell said. “Driving through the tunnel, you kind of get that feeling. I’m sure a lot of you do as well. When you come in, it’s kind of the kickoff to a new season, a fresh start and a lot of opportunities.”

Posted on February 15, 2022February 15, 2022 by Holly Cain

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Defending Daytona 500 winner Michael McDowell turned the fastest lap of Tuesday’s combined two opening Daytona 500 practice sessions at Daytona International Speedway with a top lap of 192.736 mph in the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford.

David Ragan, a former summer Daytona race winner, was second fastest in the No. 15 Rick Ware Racing Ford with a quick lap of 192.666 mph around the 2.5-mile high banks – also setting his fast time in the early session.

Team Penske teammates Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano topped the late practice – leading a 10-Ford contingent atop the speed chart in that session. Daniel Suarez was the top Chevrolet, putting his No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet 11th quickest. Christopher Bell was the top Toyota in the last session – 23rd fastest among the 42 cars.

It was the first true practice for a points-paying race in 2022 – important because NASCAR is now using Next Gen cars – a new generation of race cars that look as different to fans as it feels for drivers. It’s already getting rave reviews from both contingents after a competitive Busch Light Clash exhibition a week ago in Los Angeles.

And while teams had an opportunity to test on the Daytona high banks in January, Tuesday night’s pair of practice sessions marked the official beginning of the season.

“Practice, as you know, is situational,” McDowell said. “We sort of had a game plan going into practice to try and work with our Ford teammates, in particular, with the Roush Fenway Keselowski cars. And so we wanted to get out in that group and just kind of play around with the draft and not put ourselves in a bad situation where you’re two or three-wide but just kind of line up.

“It worked out well where we were lined up four or five of the Fords and catching the Toyota pack. Lap time here is very situational on where you get the draft and where you get the runs. But I feel really good about our Ford Mustang. Had good speed, drove pretty well, did all the things you’re looking to do with minimal practice and not being in that three, four-wide crazy situation.

“So I feel good.”

Teams return to the Daytona track on Wednesday night (8:05 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) for Daytona 500 Busch Pole Qualifying – setting the front row for the Feb. 20 Great American Race (2:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Qualifying this year will feature a slightly different format. There will be two rounds – the first consisting of single-car runs with the top-10 cars advancing to a second round. The fastest two cars from that round will earn the front row starting positions for Sunday’s race.

Posted on February 15, 2022February 16, 2022 by Staff Report

See the order that cars will head out for in the first round of single-car qualifying on Wednesday night (8:05 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) for the 2022 Daytona 500.

The top 10 cars from Round 1 will advance to the final round with the top two from the final round setting the front row for Sunday’s race (2:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). You can see the full order by clicking the printer icon button above or reading below.

Posted on February 15, 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.

Daytona Speedweeks is officially upon us!

Cars are on track Tuesday (5:05 p.m. ET, FS1) for the NASCAR Cup Series’ first two practice sessions of the week and will be back again Wednesday night for Daytona 500 qualifying (8:05 p.m. ET, FS1).

Daytona 500 odds are widely available, including outrights, finish props and driver matchups, though numbers might adjust after the qualifying session that will set the front row for Sunday’s race.

With this in mind, let’s take a look at two Featured Driver Matchups offering value right now.

Daytona 500 Picks

*Odds as of Tuesday morning

Michael McDowell (+150) over Justin Haley

DraftKings Sportsbook has four featured driver matchups posted for the Daytona 500, and this is my favorite of the bunch. And, it’s not just my preferred matchup, but two of The Action Network’s verified experts have also gotten down on this bet as well.

Simply put, there’s no way that an accomplished superspeedway racer and defending Daytona 500 winner should be a +150 underdog to Haley in a race as unpredictable as this one.

Sure, Haley is a strong superspeedway performer as well, but this matchup is much closer to a coin flip than the current odds imply, making McDowell’s +150 side a very enticing one.

Bubba Wallace +3.5 (-110) over Austin Dillon

The reasons to like the matchup are almost exactly the same as the one above. Wallace won the most recent Cup Series race at Talladega last fall, so he’s clearly a driver who knows how to contend at superspeedways.

Dillon is the 2018 Daytona 500 winner, so he’s not too shabby in the draft, either, but again, there’s no way Austin should be such a heavy favorite in the matchup, especially for a race that projects to be extremely random.

By taking Wallace here, we’re getting a three-position buffer AND an underdog price of -110 odds.

Yup, that works for me.

Take a minute to download The Action Network App, which now includes live NASCAR odds and pick tracking as well as the option to follow all of our verified experts.

Posted on February 15, 2022February 15, 2022 by Marcus DiNitto

The odds for the 2022 Daytona 500 are typically balanced, and not much is expected to change as Speedweeks progresses in Florida.

MORE: Full Daytona schedule | Odds for the 2022 Daytona 500 | Daytona 101

Denny Hamlin, the race favorite, is priced between +800 and +1000 around the betting market. In fact, one bettor likes Hamlin so much that they placed a $10,000 bet on him at +800 at BetMGM to win the 2022 Daytona 500 — meaning the bettor would win $80,000 if the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing driver scores his fourth Daytona 500 victory. At multiple sportsbooks, 19 other drivers are listed at 30-to-1 odds or shorter.

For non-superspeedway races, which are far more predictable than those run at Daytona or Talladega, the favorite’s odds don’t come close to double digits. But the tight pack of pricing for the Daytona 500 mirrors what we’re likely to see on the track this Sunday.

Driver	SuperBook	Barstool	BetMGM
Denny Hamlin	+1000	+850	+800
Ryan Blaney	+1200	+1200	+1200
Chase Elliott	+1200	+1100	+1000
Joey Logano	+1200	+1300	+900
Kyle Larson	+1400	+1100	+1000
William Byron	+1400	+1400	+1400
Kurt Busch	+1600	+1800	+1800
Bubba Wallace	+1600	+1600	+1800
Brad Keselowski	+1800	+2000	+1600
Alex Bowman	+2000	+2000	+1800
Kevin Harvick	+2000	+2000	+1600
Kyle Busch	+2000	+1600	+1600
Aric Almirola	+2000	+2500	+2500
Austin Dillon	+2500	+2200	+2500
Austin Cindric	+3000	+3000	+2500
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	+3000	+2800	+2500
Christopher Bell	+3000	+3000	+2500
Chris Buescher	+3000	+3500	+3300
Tyler Reddick	+3000	+3000	+2500
Martin Truex Jr	+3000	+2200	+2000

While the race itself is preceded by a week’s worth of competitive events, it’s unlikely bettors will see significant odds movement by the time the green flag drops on The Great American Race.

Two practice sessions Tuesday are followed by qualifying Wednesday, and then the Bluegreen Vacation Duels on Thursday. But Ed Salmons, vice president of risk management at SuperBook USA, doubts anything will transpire that will prompt major adjustments to his numbers. Salmons expects Hendrick Motorsports to be typically dominant in Daytona 500 qualifying — they’ve won six of the last seven poles for The Great American Race. And thanks to the nature of superspeedway racing, we’re not bound to learn much from the Duel races, either.

“It’s restrictor plates. It’s not like one of the guys or one of the teams is just going to drive away from the field,” Salmons said. “I just don’t see a lot that’s going to change things, but who knows, the Fords could look just dominant, and then yeah, they would all get lowered based on that.”

Sharp Bettors’ Approach To Daytona

Because of the randomness that comes with plate racing, it’s difficult even for sharp bettors to find an edge. Many sharps stay away from the outright market (betting on a driver to win the race) for Daytona and Talladega.

“I don’t bet outrights on Daytona or Talladega,” bettor Blake Phillips said. “They’re challenging. Every once in a while, I might place a small bet, have a little bit of fun with it, but I don’t really have much of an expectation of having any sort of a plus-EV (positive expected value) portfolio on that.”

Phillips will take a similar approach to Daytona he took for the Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum, or any race for which past stats are of little handicapping value. (The Bristol Dirt Race is another example.)

His approach: Try to spot betting market overreactions in the matchups (betting one driver to finish ahead of another).

“I’m not betting outrights on (Daytona) because I’m not handicapping it really. I’m playing a very exploitative strategy at these type tracks and races,” Phillips said. “ … For Daytona, it’s just like, who can I get odds on that’s going to keep it clean long enough.”

Treading Lightly Early In The Season

As NASCAR rolls out the Next Gen car, bettors are taking a largely watch-and-learn approach this season, particularly when it comes to futures wagering (betting a driver to win the Cup championship).

“It’s pretty quiet in that market,” Salmons said. ‘The best way I could sum it up is I think the public needs to see some of the new cars and the new teams first before they’re willing to bet it.

“I’m sure once we get going, and let’s just say if all of a sudden the Penske cars are the best cars — it looked like they had a really good test in Phoenix — so if they come out and have a good showing, their odds will get lowered and people will probably bet them because it’s what they’re seeing. But I think there’s a lot of people just waiting and seeing what’s going to happen.”

As he’s wont to do, pro bettor Zack White has made a few early long shot futures plays — Chase Briscoe at 750-to-1 odds and Alex Bowman at 30- and 25-to-1 (yes, again) — but he’ll watch how Next Gen racing unfolds and be ready to fire again.

“Ignoring Daytona for the most part. Will re-assess championship odds after we see some data from Fontana,” White said in a text message.

“I don’t think we can draw any major conclusions about where the teams are with the new car based on anything we saw at The Clash or anything that we will see at Daytona,” he added. “But who knows, maybe there will be strong market reactions that create opportunity. I’m keeping an eye on it.”

For Phillips, who doesn’t get too involved in futures, the wait-and-see mentality applies to wagering on races, too, especially this season.

“The beginning of the season is always kind of weird because with all the changes that happen from season to season, it’s always good to kind of start out light at the beginning,” Phillips said. “I weigh recency a lot heavier than previous results. And now that we’re switching over the Next Gen, we’ve got new team alliances, stuff like that, I’m going to be very, very conservative for the next month or two before I really get comfortable digging in as usual.”

Marcus DiNitto is Senior News Editor at Gaming Today. He’s been covering sports business for 24 years and sports betting for 11. NASCAR is among the many sports Marcus enjoys betting but often loses on. Follow him on Twitter; do not bet his picks.

Posted on February 15, 2022February 15, 2022 by Official NASCAR Release

DAYTONA BEACH, FL — College students nationwide will have the chance to compete at Daytona International Speedway — virtually that is. National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR^®) and NACE Starleague, the largest collegiate esports league in North America, announced today the launch of the eNASCAR College iRacing Series, bringing competitive sim racing to more than 500 colleges and universities nationwide.

The new series will be presented by NASCAR Official Partners Coca-Cola, Logitech, Playseat and Southern Computer Warehouse.

“Gaming and Esports are an important component of NASCAR, allowing us to reach new fans who are often engaging with the sport for the first time,” Nick Rend, managing director of gaming and Esports, NASCAR, said. “Our various eNASCAR initiatives have seen exponential growth. We felt this was the right time to extend our reach to a younger audience and launch the eNASCAR College iRacing Series to show students the opportunities that sim racing and our sport hold for them.”

More than 10,000 students will have the option to compete in the eNASCAR College iRacing Series through NACE Starleague, which was established in 2021 as a strategic partnership between the National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE) and CSL Esports, a Playfly Sports Company.

“It is paramount for CSL Esports and Playfly Sports to continue growing and expanding within NACE Starleague,” Rob Johnson, CEO, CSL Esports said. “Integrating sim racing as part of the league not only provides greater opportunity for students with varied gaming interests, but furthers our long-term mission of linking education, in this case engineering-focused knowledge, with Esports competition.”

The 2022 season opens on Thursday, Feb. 24 with the Playfly Sports 30 race at Daytona International Speedway. Qualifying takes place now through Monday, Feb. 21. The top 40 students who post the fastest qualifying times will advance to the race with the eNASCAR Scholarship Fund awarding the highest finishers a combined $50,000 in scholarships throughout the calendar year.

Students will compete with NASCAR Camping World Truck Series vehicles emblazoned with their school branding. Competition will be led via iRacing.com, the official simulation partner of NASCAR, which provides one of the top online racing simulation portals and features officially-sanctioned, laser-scanned replicas of race tracks around the world.

For more information or to register, visit https://www.enascar.com or https://www.cslesports.com.