Posted on by Reid Spencer

PHOENIX — Two of the Championship 4 drivers—Chase Elliott and Martin Truex Jr.—have NASCAR Cup Series championships to their credit, but Elliott is the only one who can go back-to-back with a victory in Sunday’s season finale at Phoenix Raceway (3 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

If Elliott can win a second straight title, he’ll join fellow Hendrick Motorsports driver Jimmie Johnson as the only Cup competitors in the 21st century to win consecutive championships. Johnson won five straight from 2006 through 2010.

RELATED: Denny Hamlin: ‘I thrive in chaos’ | Kyle Larson has eluded butterflies so far

The last driver before Johnson to go back-to-back was another Hendrick stalwart—Jeff Gordon in 1997 and 1998.

“I think, having gone through the motions last year, we learned a lot about ourselves and about what’s important,” Elliott said. “How to perform in a big moment is a nice thing you can carry with you forward. On the same token, we didn’t have any of that experience last year, and it worked out OK.

“I feel like, for us, we just dive into what matters, and the guy who goes the fastest and runs the best race and executes a good day on Sunday will be rewarded, and that’s where our focus is.

Posted on by Terrin Waack

PHOENIX — Within a year, Kyle Larson went from watching the championship race at Hendrick Motorsports to competing in the championship race for Hendrick Motorsports.

During the 2020 finale, Larson sat among team engineers in front of numerous TVs inside Hendrick Motorsports’ control center at the Concord, North Carolina shop, seeing and hearing firsthand the information they relayed to at-track personnel as Chase Elliott piloted his way to the organization’s first title since 2013. Larson left that night with a renewed sense of motivation for the 2021 season, his first with Hendrick Motorsports.

“I mean, I was obviously excited to be back in a Cup car,” Larson said Thursday during Media Day at the Phoenix Convention Center. “But I remember walking out of that room thinking, like, ‘Wow, they just won the championship. I’m racing for the best team going into the season.’ ”

PHOENIX: Betting odds | Weekend schedule | Paint schemes

Not only is he racing for arguably the best team – Hendrick Motorsports boasts a series-best 16 wins in the 35 events so far – he’s racing for a championship with arguably the best team. Larson is one of Hendrick Motorsports’ two drivers in the Championship 4; the other being Elliott. Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. from Joe Gibbs Racing complete the quartet for Sunday’s title showdown (3 p.m. ET on NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Larson signed with Hendrick Motorsports in October 2020 – about a week after he was reinstated by NASCAR officials following his completion of sensitivity training and more than six months after his April suspension for use of a racial slur during an iRacing event. Since his debut in the No. 5 Chevrolet, he has won a career-high and series-best nine races, including three of the last four.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve truly raced for a championship, and I don’t really remember how I felt then,” Larson said. “I won a sprint-car championship in 2010. I won the K&N championship in 2012. So, it’s been almost a decade since I’ve been in this position with a championship. I feel like, though, if I was nervous then, I don’t feel nervous now.”

It’s his first Championship 4 appearance, though.

“I’m sure once Sunday comes around, I will have butterflies,” Larson said. “But right now, I haven’t felt them.”

Larson’s best playoff run until now was 2019, when he made it to the Round of 8 and finished sixth in the final standings. Otherwise, he had two Round of 12 showings in 2017-18 and a Round of 16 nod in 2016. Of course, in 2020, he was not playoff eligible.

Circumstances sure are different this year.

“This is something you always dream about, being in this position to win a championship,” Larson said. “I’m just very happy and thankful and lucky to be sitting where I am right now.”

Posted on by Zack Albert

PHOENIX — As far as Championship 4 Media Day appearances go, Thursday’s session with NASCAR Cup Series title hopeful Denny Hamlin was an all-timer.

Hamlin, fresh from a controversial late-race clash with Alex Bowman last weekend at Martinsville Speedway, turns the page just a few days later to this Sunday’s championship race (3 p.m. ET, NBC/NBC Sports App/Peacock, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Phoenix Raceway. Lest anyone think that’s a tough transition to make, Hamlin explained how he’s dealing with it — from the post-race frustration to the fallout from his fiery interview to the fan reaction that rained down on him from the Martinsville stands.

RELATED: Denny Hamlin advances, blasts Alex Bowman

“I mean, how do I get up in the morning and take my kids to school at 7:30, how do I go to 23XI and work for a couple days in the middle of the week during a playoff run. I live in chaos,” Hamlin said during Thursday’s Championship 4 Media Day at the Phoenix Convention Center. “My life is chaos, and I just, I thrive under chaos. Honestly, you can probably ask Kyle, the more (expletive) that is stirred up around me, the more I come at it. So I don’t mind things like that. …

“To me, it’s just fuel. I have so much fuel in my tank right now from just motivation. There’s a lot of motivation there.”

Hamlin will be vying for his first Cup Series championship again, making the Championship 4 for the third consecutive year. He’ll take the measure of Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr., plus Hendrick Motorsports teammates Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson in Sunday’s season finale.

Getting to the championship round was its own adventure. Hamlin’s seemingly comfortable points gap looked plenty vulnerable at Martinsville, where he rallied from the back of the field twice (once for pre-race tech violations, another for a pit-road speeding penalty) to contend for the win. The ending of that comeback story unraveled when Bowman’s aggressive push with less than 10 laps remaining left his No. 11 Toyota spinning, demoting him to 24th place at the end.

That move prompted a testy reaction on multiple levels, especially in the context of one Sunday’s race to the next.

“I really wanted to make a pretty strong statement at Martinsville, starting in the back, from back to the back again, and driving all the way to the front and winning that race would be like the old foot on the throat heading into this weekend, right?” Hamlin said. “I feel like that that momentum was taken away, was taken from us. But again, the momentum then in my head swings back around into now ultra-motivated, because I just I love the feeling of just proving people wrong.”

Bowman had said he planned to contact Hamlin in the wake of their late-race confrontation, but Hamlin said he had yet to hear from him. “It just shows, again, the lack of respect, right? I mean, so you know, I think they think that well, I said ‘sorry’ on TV, so that’s good. It’s just, guys aren’t men anymore.”

That note led Hamlin down the path of describing the differences — in racing styles and perceived integrity — between the newer crop of drivers and his own demographic, the older, veteran guard of the series. Meantime, Bowman’s camp had T-shirts printed that made light of Hamlin’s post-race remarks, where he referred to the race winner as an “absolute hack” in televised interviews.

“I mean, I don’t have a reaction to it,” Hamlin said, adding that he did not buy one. “It’s you know, they’re gonna thrive off of any kind of bump or hit that they can get during that time. You know, certainly, I think drivers in general in our series lack originality. So I’m glad I could help them out.”

Hamlin might be considered a sentimental favorite for Sunday’s title as a driver who has paid his dues and a veteran looking for the lone missing piece from his Cup Series resume. Last Sunday’s sentiment was mixed at best and overwhelmingly negative at its most honest worst.

Being a home-state favorite with a history of Martinsville success didn’t matter much Sunday, given the raucous reaction from the crowd after Hamlin’s spin and his piped-in interview over the track’s public address. Hamlin still ties it all back to his spinout of Elliott at the same track in 2017, making a nod to Elliott’s disagreement with Kevin Harvick that stirred the playoff cauldron.

DEBATE: Alex Bowman vs. Denny Hamlin

“It doesn’t correlate to common sense. Honestly, we were the guys that were crashed. We were booed?” Hamlin said. “I’m confused. What’s going on? Obviously people were passionate about their driver, which, that’s OK. But honestly, it doesn’t make any sense in the grand scheme of like what’s actually going on. It’s just bitter fans from half a decade ago. They just cannot get over it.

“There was controversy a few weeks ago, right? Eventually one of the drivers said, I’ve had enough, I’m done taking your (expletive), I’m going to crash you. I think that probably needs to happen a little bit more often to get some respect back. Obviously NASCAR’s not going to police the stuff. This is stuff that certainly fuels popularity. The drivers have to get back to self-policing, I think. That probably is going to have to come through the hard way.”

Back to the chaos-thriving part, does Hamlin necessarily bristle at the negative fan feedback?

“You would rather be booed than ignored,” Hamlin said. “The moment you get ignored, it’s bad news, you’re on your way out.”

In this roundabout campaign for Hamlin, one filled with remarkable consistency, a shockingly winless regular season and a steady playoff upswing, he still has a chance to cash in on another chance for postseason glory.

If that happens in front of a packed house Sunday and the reaction is somewhere between cheers and boo-birds — polite golf clap, perhaps? — Hamlin says he’ll be able to tune out the noise and simply bask in the moment.

“I’m not sure. I’ll be so happy for myself and my team, I won’t care. I really won’t,” Hamlin said. “I know how hard we worked to get here, how hard I worked, all the sacrifices my family has made to get me to this point. I’m going to try to find my family as soon as possible, give ’em a hug.”

Posted on by Staff Report

Craig Lutz just landed a new home for the 2022 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season.

Danny Watts Racing confirmed on Thursday that Lutz will pilot the No. 82 Horton Avenue Materials/Danny’s Cesspool machine for the full 16-race slate in search of the championship. Lutz will bring crew chief Douglas Ogiejko and his established team to the Danny Watts Racing stable to try and get right to Victory Lane.

Goodie Racing, the team Lutz sat behind the wheel for over the last few years, shut down in the middle of the 2021 season, leaving Lutz without a ride. After a few one-off appearances for different teams, including one for Watts Racing at Riverhead Raceway in September, Lutz was heading into the offseason with a lot of question marks about what 2022 might look like.

RELATED: NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour 2022 Schedule Announced

Those questions have now been answered.

Although Lutz will not drive for him, Goodie Racing and owner Russell Goodale will join the new team as a sponsor.

“Being able to plug in all of our guys is a huge part of putting this deal together,” Lutz said. “Danny Watts has everything there to make this all happen, and we’re excited to head to New Smyrna for the season opener in February. Russell and Goodie Racing are still going to be coming on board to help us and I couldn’t be more grateful for their support.”

In 88 career Whelen Modified Tour starts, Lutz has three wins, including checkered flags at Jennerstown Speedway, Thompson Speedway and Stafford Motor Speedway. His best career finish in points was fourth, twice. It was the 2020 season in which the Miller Place, New York, driver really broke out — winning two of nine races in the abbreviated COVID season.

Lutz will also drive the car for the historic Islip 300 at Riverhead Raceway as part of the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Racing Series action in New York on Saturday, Nov. 13.

RELATED: Craig Lutz Career Stats

Anthony Nocella, who drove the car for Danny Watts Racing for the last two years, will part ways with the team.

“We would like to thank Nocella Paving along with the whole Nocella family for the past two seasons together,” Watts said. “We are grateful for everything they have done to make our team successful. We want to wish Anthony nothing but the best in the future. We’re excited to get started at Riverhead.”

NASCAR announced the 16-race slate for the 2022 season on Wednesday. Thirteen races have already been established, including the season opener as part of the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing at New Smyrna Speedway on Feb. 12, 2022, and the championship race at Martinsville Speedway on Thursday, Oct. 27, 2022. Three races are still to be announced.

Eighty Two Car For Lutz 2022
Danny Watts Racing tabbed Lutz for 2022, looking to add more checkered flags to their stable next season. (NASCAR)
Posted on by Pat DeCola

Editor’s note: This is the third in a series of four stories examining why each driver could win the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series championship.

Tuesday: Kyle Larson
Wednesday: Chase Elliott
Thursday: Martin Truex Jr.
Friday: Denny Hamlin

•••

Martin Truex Jr. will win the 2021 championship because …

He’s as steady as they come, and a certain trend suggests he’s being slept on.

Of the Championship 4 drivers, Truex was given the worst odds to win the title (9-2). The No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing driver, however, has the second-most 2021 wins (four) behind Kyle Larson’s nine, one of which came at Phoenix in the series’ first trip out west earlier this spring.

Why that’s particularly interesting is that all four of his wins (Phoenix, Martinsville, Darlington, Richmond) came with the higher horsepower (750) package that we’ll see this weekend. Larson won everywhere this year, so he has plenty of similar victories on his 2021 resume, but the four that Truex has is more than the three combined between Chase Elliott (Circuit of The Americas, Road America) and Denny Hamlin (Southern 500). Truex, in fact, had his third by the 12th race of the season.

RELATED: Betting odds for Phoenix title race

The No. 19 group was an interesting one to follow this year, seeing periods of near-dominance (three wins in the eight-race stretch from Phoenix to Darlington) followed by mediocrity (21.0 average finish in the six races that followed). For all we know, the yo-yoing through the regular season might not necessarily have been unintentional.

What’s unique about the format of the NASCAR Playoffs is it gives teams the ability to strategically plan ahead and gamble a little. After compiling three 750-horsepower wins in the first third of the season, it’s conceivable the team — knowing that the final two races of the season use that package — used the remainder of the regular season to compile notes, tinker, and fine-tune some things while trying to make gains on the 550-horsepower package. Truex and Co. clearly had a championship-caliber notebook on the 750-horsepower package, all they had to do was make it to Phoenix.

And here they are.

It’s all theory, of course, but for what it’s worth 608 of Truex’s 793 laps led came in the first 12 races, when he compiled a 9.92 average finish. In the 23 races since then, Truex has just 11 top 10s, with an average finish of 13.5 — numbers that don’t exactly scream Championship 4-worthy.

And yet, on Sunday Truex will be one of four drivers racing for a championship. At the track he’s the most recent winner at. Using the package that his team has dominated with this year.

It sure doesn’t feel like an accident that Truex is in the Championship 4, or that he fell backwards into it at all. And we shouldn’t be surprised if the No. 19 comes out and dominates this weekend for the first time since May.

Perhaps that was the plan all along.

RELATED: Martin Truex Jr. through the years

Posted on by Holly Cain

It was a fitting set-up for Friday night’s season championship Lucas Oil 150 at Phoenix Raceway (8 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship race.

Restarts, lead changes and hot tempers characterized last week’s race at Martinsville Speedway to set the Championship 4 for this weekend. And 22-year-old Zane Smith earned his only win of the season – the most clutch victory of his young career – to advance to the title round.

Regular Season Champion John Hunter Nemechek, Ben Rhodes and three-time series champion Matt Crafton have also earned the right to vie for the season trophy at the 1-mile track in the Arizona desert.

PHOENIX: Full schedule | Camping World Truck Series Playoffs information

The points have all been reset for the four title-eligible drivers and whoever finishes best among them will hoist the big trophy.

As the only championship-eligible driver to win in this last round of the Playoffs – Smith actually assumes the No. 1 seed. He pulled the ultimate long shot off over the weekend. He went into the Martinsville race, ranked last among the Playoff eligible, 40 points behind the cutoff and then won the race.

And Smith brings that momentum to a track, he’s had some success. The driver of the No. 21 GMS Racing Chevrolet boasts the top Average Finish (2.0) at Phoenix, finishing runner-up to 2020 series champ Sheldon Creed in last year’s title race. It is his only series start at Phoenix, but he led 48 laps, which ties Rhodes for most laps led there among the Championship 4. Rhodes has raced there six times, however, compared to Smith’s one.

In comparison to the Championship 4, Smith has the worst average finish (13.5) on the season, however, his 13 top-10 finishes are more than Crafton’s (12) and close to Nemechek’s and Rhodes’, who lead the series with 15 top-10s each. Smith is the only one among the four to win in the 2021 Playoffs.

Rhodes, who won the opening two races at Daytona this year, has the best season Average Finish (9.6) among the four title contenders. In addition to his two victories, he has three runner-up finishes. He had four top-10 finishes in the six Playoff races, including a best of second place at Las Vegas.

This is the first time Rhodes has earned a position in the Championship 4. In six starts at Phoenix, the driver of the No. 99 ThorSport Racing Toyota has a pair of top-five finishes and three top-10 runs. His best work is fourth place in 2019.

“We’re here for Phoenix and now this is my first time in the Final Four and I have a really good team behind me with ThorSport Racing and just really, really proud of their efforts all year,” Rhodes said after securing a position in the Championship last week.

“It comes down to one race now and I know we can do it.”

The only former champion among the four who will race for the title this weekend is 45-year-old Matt Crafton. He boasts the most top-10 Playoff race finishes (five) among the foursome. His best showings were runner-up at Gateway and fifth at Martinsville.

Though Phoenix has not necessarily been a highlight on his resume. He has six top-five finishes and 12 top-10 finishes in 20 starts there, but has led only 16 laps total. His best work is a runner-up finish in 2014. The driver of the No. 88 ThorSport Racing Toyota had three top 10s and two DNFs in the last six Phoenix races. He was 14th in last year’s season finale.

Nemechek, 24, driver of the No. 4 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota, has been the championship frontrunner all season as he earned a career-high and series-best five victories, but after being wrecked out of the race at Martinsville – after highly-questionable contact by an non-Playoff truck – Nemechek suddenly found himself advancing to the Championship 4 Round by the slimmest of point margins.

His last win was eight races ago – this summer at Pocono – and he has three top-five finishes in the Playoffs, including a runner-up effort at Darlington. But he also has three finishes of 20th or worse, including that 39th-place finish Saturday at Martinsville.

He has four top-10 finishes in seven Phoenix starts and finished runner-up twice – in 2015 and 2017. He had DNFs, however, in his last two starts there – in 2018 and 2019. His Average Finish (13.7) at Phoenix is last among the four.

Posted on by Holly Cain

In one of the most competitive seasons in recent memory, Noah Gragson, Austin Cindric, Daniel Hemric and AJ Allmendinger have earned the right to compete for the 2021 Xfinity Series title in Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway (8:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Gragson, driver of the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet pulled off a dramatic victory at Martinsville Speedway last week to earn his first-ever shot at the series title.

He’ll contend with a pair of five-race winners in reigning series champion, Cindric of Team Penske, and this year’s NASCAR Xfinity Series Regular Season Champion, Allmendinger of Kaulig Racing. The steady and impressive Hemric of Joe Gibbs Racing rounds out the quartet. Only Cindric and Hemric have raced in the finale for the title previously.

RELATED: Full schedule for Phoenix | Daniel Hemric nearly snags elusive win

With his win, Gragson is the only full-time series driver to hoist a trophy in the most recent three-race Playoff round. In fact, only two of the six Playoff races – Allmendinger won at the Charlotte ROVAL – have been won by championship-eligible drivers.

Because of that win in the Round of 8, Gragson is listed as the top seed for the Championship Race. He has 20 top-10 finishes and three wins on the year. His Playoffs have tended to be “all or nothing” with four top-10 finishes and a pair of Did Not Finish (DNFs). He’s solid at Phoenix with three top-10 finishes in five starts. He was runner-up to Cindric in last year’s Championship Race (while not title eligible in that race) and has finished 11th or better in his last four starts there. 

When it comes to Phoenix, however, Cindric has been the master of this class. He is the defending championship race winner and won again this spring. He has six top-10 and four top-five finishes in seven starts and his 216 laps out front are most among the title-seekers. His 5.9 average finish in the No. 22 Team Penske Ford at Phoenix is by far the best among these four contenders.

He’s earned five wins on the year – tying Allmendinger for most. His 21 top-five and 25 top-10 finishes and an average finish of 8.4 through 32 races are high marks for the series this season. He hasn’t won since the Indianapolis Road Course back on Aug.14, but is the only one of these championship-eligible drivers to earn top-10 finishes in all six playoff races. Three times – at the ROVAL, Kansas and Martinsville – he’s finished runner-up.

Hemric’s consistency posting five top-five finishes in the six Playoff races has earned him his third appearance in the Championship 4. Still looking for his first career victory in one of NASCAR’s national series, he has been impressive this year, especially during the Playoff run with a runner-up showing at Texas and third-place efforts at the ROVAL and last Saturday at Martinsville.

The driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota has four top-10 finishes at Phoenix with a best showing of runner-up there in 2018. He hasn’t finished in the top-20 in his last three Phoenix starts, however, he did lead 44 laps there in a 23rd-place finish this spring.

After a celebrated maiden full-season run in the Xfinity Series, Allmendinger, 39, is ready to top off the work with a championship trophy. He’s won five races and amassed 22 top-10 finishes with a Playoff win at the Charlotte Road Course. His only Phoenix start since 2008 in the Xfinity Series was this March and he finished fifth. In 19 NASCAR Cup Series starts, his best finish was sixth-place.

Among those drivers eliminated from Championship contention was two-time Phoenix winner Justin Allgaier, who still goes into the race a favorite. He has led at least 30 laps in seven of the last nine Phoenix races and has eight top-five finishes and 14 top-10 finishes in his 22 series starts. His 8.6 average finish at Phoenix is second only to Cindric among series regulars with more than three series starts there.

Posted on by Kyle Souza

Return to Jennerstown on Memorial Day Weekend & Monadnock Event Part of New Slate

ATTLEBORO, Mass. — NASCAR announced the full NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour calendar for the 2022 season on Wednesday and JDV Productions is pleased to announce the organization will return to promote two races for the new year.

JDV Productions will return to Jennerstown Speedway on Saturday, May 28, 2022, celebrating Memorial Day weekend with the second annual Jennerstown Salutes 150. JDV Productions will also promote the 14th Whelen Modified Tour race in the history of Monadnock Speedway on Saturday, June 18, 2022.

Both the Jennerstown and Monadnock events will include local track support divisions to join the show. The Jennerstown event will include additional divisions compared to the 2021 edition of the race, while the Monadnock race will be headlined by special races for the track’s local NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Racing Series divisions. Jennerstown is set for 150 laps, with Monadnock set for 200 circuits.

The two races are part of a 14-race schedule NASCAR presented on Wednesday, which will send teams to at least seven different states to be in front of passionate Modified race fans. Three dates on the series schedule are listed as to be announced as of Wednesday. It begins in February at New Smyrna Speedway on February 12, 2022 and ends at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia on Thursday, October 27, 2022.

“The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour showcases some of the most competitive and talented  drivers in the country,” Josh Vanada, owner of JDV Productions, said. “It’s an honor and a privilege to bring them back in front of passionate race fans for 2022. From the pomp and circumstance of the second annual Jennerstown Salutes 150 to the duel that will take place on Monadnock’s high-banks, we are already working diligently to deliver a premium product to the car owners, drivers, crews, and most importantly the race fans, of NASCAR’s oldest division.”

At Jennerstown, JDV Productions will partner with Operation Vet NOW Inc. for the second straight year. The event will remember those who have lost their lives serving the country in war, while keeping in mind those who are currently in the country, or overseas, serving. The event will once again include special appearances by Gold Star Family members and will honor countless fallen heroes. Operation Vet NOW Inc. is a non-profit organization established to reduce veteran suicide and improve the overall welness of veterans, regardless of their era served.

Tickets for both JDV Productions events are now available by visiting JDVProductions.com/tickets. Tickets are $35 for general admission for each specific race, or $60 for a bundle, which will come with both races. This special ticket value will last through the end of the 2021 calendar year. Fans are encouraged to buy their tickets in advance and mark down the dates on their calendars for these two special events.

Additional information surrounding both events will be released in the coming months. For more information on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, visit nascar.com. For more information on JDVProductions, visit JDVProductions.com and follow on Facebook for the latest updates. JDV Productions is also now on Twitter, where fans can check out the latest at @_JDVProductions. 

Posted on by Press Release

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Nov. 3, 2021) – NASCAR today announced 13 races in the 2022 schedule for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, with additional dates and venues to be announced in the future. The schedule features some of the most popular short tracks in the northeast as well as historic tracks in Virginia and Florida.

For the first time in series history, the season will kick off at New Smyrna Speedway in Florida on Saturday, February 12, as part of the track’s “World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing” during NASCAR’s Speedweeks. It will also be the series’ debut at the half-mile oval. The race falls on the weekend before the 64th running of the DAYTONA 500 at nearby Daytona International Speedway.

MORE: Whelen Modified Tour news

“It will be special to start the season off at New Smyrna Speedway,” said Jimmy Wilson, Senior Director, NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. “The Daytona Beach area is obviously the heart of NASCAR racing. We can’t wait to add the track to our history books.”

After opening the 2021 season for the Whelen Modified Tour, Martinsville Speedway will serve as the season finale and the stage upon which the champion is crowned on Thursday, October 27. This will mark the first time in 30 years – and sixth time overall (1985, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1991 – Martinsville has hosted the final Whelen Modified Tour race of the year.

The race adds championship flair to the NASCAR weekend at the half-mile track that also serves as the host of the penultimate races for the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series.

The series will return to Richmond Raceway (Saturday, April 1) and New Hampshire Motor Speedway (Saturday, July 16), making it three weekends in total the Whelen Modified Tour will race in conjunction with NASCAR national series events.

Riverhead Raceway will again host a trio of Saturday dates – May 14, June 25 and September 17.  In addition, the Tour will return to Thompson Speedway after a one-year hiatus in 2021 with a Wednesday night battle on August 17.

Following a three-year absence from the schedule, Langley Speedway (Hampton, Virginia) will host a race on Saturday, April 23 (Editor’s note: This race date has since been moved). Langley previously hosted the series in 2017 and 2018, and prior to that held eight NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour races. Additionally, Wall Stadium (Wall Township, New Jersey) – which has hosted five Whelen Modified Tour races (most recently in 2019) – rejoins the calendar on Saturday, July 9.

Monadnock Speedway in Winchester, New Hampshire, which hosted the series in 2020 for the 13th time, also returns, hosting a race on Saturday, June 18. The schedule is rounded out by stops at Jennerstown Speedway (Pennsylvania) on Saturday, May 28, and Oswego Speedway (New York) on Saturday, September 3.

“Riverhead and Thompson, as well as the addition of Monadnock Speedway, are key tracks for our drivers and teams who are based in the Northeast,” Wilson added. “We’re looking forward to returning to race in front of some of the most passionate fans in motorsports.”

Below is the current 2022 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour schedule. Schedule is subject to change. Race times and broadcast networks will be announced at a later date.

 

2022 NASCAR WHELEN MODIFIED TOUR SCHEDULE

Date Race / Track
Saturday, February 12 New Smyrna Speedway
Friday, April 1 Richmond Raceway
Saturday, May 14 Riverhead Raceway
Saturday, May 21 Lee USA Speedway
Saturday, May 28 Jennerstown Speedway
Saturday, June 18 Monadnock Speedway
Saturday, June 25 Riverhead Raceway
Saturday, July 9 Wall Stadium
Saturday, July 16 New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Friday, July 29 Claremont Motorsports Park
Wednesday, August 17 Thompson Speedway
Saturday, August 27 Langley Speedway
Saturday, September 3 Oswego Speedway
Saturday, September 17 Riverhead Raceway
Saturday, October 8 Thompson Speedway
Thursday, October 27 Martinsville Speedway
Posted on by Staff Report

Brad Keselowski will run his final Team Penske race in the No. 2 Ford in Sunday’s season finale at Phoenix Raceway (3 p.m. ET on NBC/NBC Sports App/Peacock, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

RELATED: Brad Keselowski’s career stats | Recap all his Cup wins

Ahead of that start, Keselowski posted a video to social media looking back at his time with Penske and what he viewed as the key milestones of his tenure. You can watch the video below.

His playoff run came to an end following the Round of 8 race at Martinsville Speedway, where despite finishing third in the race, he was eliminated from the postseason. Keselowski spent 12 full-time seasons with Penske that saw him total 34 Cup wins (heading into Sunday’s season finale) and a 2012 NASCAR Cup Series championship.

Keselowski is moving to Roush Fenway Racing in 2022 where he will drive the No. 6 Ford and serve in a driver-owner role with the longtime organization of owner Jack Roush. He is already building his new team with the announcement of Matt McCall as the team’s crew chief being made on Tuesday.