Ross Chastain's aggressive driving draws ire of NASCAR legend: 'He’s going to make a lot of enemies' Ross Chastain and Kyle Larson got into a wreck in the final laps at Darlington Raceway in the Goodyear 400 on Sunday, costing them both a chance at a first-place finish.
Chastain led 93 of the 295 laps of the race and was just ahead of Larson in the final stage when he drove up the track and got into the No. 5. Chastain ended up sideways and Larson perpendicular to him. Chastain had to be towed to the garage, while a damaged Larson was able to finish. Larson finished 20th and Chastain dropped to 29th. NASCAR Hall of Famer Rick Hendrick team owner of Hendrick Motorsport speaks to the media during a press conference after the NASCAR Cup Series Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway on May 14, 2023 in Darlington, South Carolina. (Logan Riely/Getty Images) Rick Hendrick, the legendary team owner who Larson races for, appeared to be upset with Chastain’s style of racing. Chastain has drawn the ire of plenty of drivers over the course of the 2023 season. "I don’t care if he’s driving a Chevrolet if he wrecks our cars," Hendrick said, via NBC Sports. "I don’t care. I’ve told Chevrolet that. If you wreck us, you’re going to get it back. If you don’t do it, they’ll run all over you. I’m loyal to Chevrolet, but when somebody runs over us, then I expect my guys to hold their ground. I’m not going to ask them to yield just because of Chevrolet." Hendrick said Chastain does not have to be so aggressive. "I guess at this point in the race maybe you’re super aggressive, but you just don’t run people up in the fence. He’s going to make a lot of enemies. It’s hard to win a championship when you’ve got a lot of paybacks out there." Hendrick added he believed Chastain’s tactics was getting "old" for some drivers. Chastain said afterward he wanted to squeeze Larson but did not want to wreck him. "We all go race and I fully committed into (turn) one and wanted to squeeze him up, I didn’t want to turn myself across his nose for sure," Chastain said. "That’s not how I wanted to be talking to y’all here." Last weekend in Kansas, Noah Gragson’s frustrations with Chastain boiled over, and he confronted him after the race. Chastain landed a punch on Gragson before officials broke up the fight. 
Joey Logano, driver of the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang, stopped by the Darlington infield media center before NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying to answer questions from the media.
JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang – CAN YOU BELIEVE HOW MUCH HAS HAPPENED IN A SHORT AMOUNT OF TIME WHEN 10 YEARS AGO YOU STARTED WITH TEAM PENSKE AND NOW YOU’RE ON A LIST OF THE 75 GREATEST DRIVERS? “It’s obviously an incredible honor, especially when you look at the other drivers that are on the list and to have your name involved with those guys – a lot of them are ones I grew up watching racing and some that I raced against. A lot of them I remember the first few years of my career kicking my butt and thinking, ‘Boy, I just hope I’m in the sport. Forget being on a list like this.’ I was talking to Walt Czarnecki this week. Afterwards he called me and congratulated me and I thought, ‘You know what? This is really kind of our award because I would never have made it if it wasn’t for you.’ It’s really a shared thing. I was this close of not having a Cup ride and you look at the last 11 years – to rack up enough stats to make that list is pretty cool for me.” SHOULD SECURITY BREAK UP FIGHTS ON PIT ROAD? “I don’t know. I don’t have an answer for you on that. I’m not a huge fan of tearing up race cars because that’s dangerous, but it’s also probably not safe to have fights on pit road either if they're not equally matched. A big guy versus a little guy, you might want to go run into a wall. I don’t know. I don’t have the answer. You look at the NHL and sometimes they let them fight and sometimes they don’t. I don't know. Usually, it never escalates into too much. Typically, it’s just a shoving match or people yelling at each other, but I don’t know. I don’t have an answer. HOW DOES IT CHANGE YOUR MENTAL FEELINGS AFTER YOU WIN AND KNOW YOU’RE IN THE PLAYOFFS? “It's a relief for about a day and then you’re back at it again. It’s kind of like one box is checked, but not the ultimate box. It’s like one stepping stone to get there. If your goal is to win the championship, well, first we have to make the playoffs. Now we’ve made the playoffs and now we need to get as many playoff points as possible to stack ourselves into the playoffs the best we possibly can to up our chances. So that’s pressure again. And then you get into the playoffs and it’s, OK, we made it to the next round. OK, we made it to the next round, but we’ve got to do it again. It’s gonna get harder and harder. The NASCAR schedule and point system is there to apply pressure all the time. It is not like it used to be, where you won a race and you’re locked into the playoffs and everyone is stacking up pretty close in the points to where you can have a bad race and it doesn’t matter. It’s not like that anymore. The regular season points it turns into playoff points. It’s about the regular season championship and the top 10 in points is big. Every stage is big. Every race win is now big. You can’t let your foot off the gas. You’ve got to go all the time and the schedule is designed to do that and the points are designed to do that as it should be. That’s what fans want. That’s what I get a little confused sometimes when fans say they want it to be like it used to be. Do you remember what that was? That sucked. This is great. The intensity is ridiculous all the way through the whole season and then each round of the playoffs it just gets more and more. As a driver, I’m never comfortable and I never go, ‘Well, that race really didn’t matter.’ I never say that. I am disappointed after every bad race because there’s a lot on the line.” CALE YARBOROUGH TOOK YOU AROUND DARLINGTON IN YOUR ROOKIE YEAR. WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER? “I’ll remember it forever. I know that. I don’t sit in the passenger seat very often, but when it’s Cale Yarborough around Darlington I’ll strap in and go for a ride because that’s like the coolest thing you can do. I remember some of the things he told me about how to get around this place and it hasn’t changed much since he raced because it all lined up really, really well about how you get around the place and what to do. Part of it was cool, just sitting in the passenger seat and watching him wheel it around here. That was really neat obviously, but, like I said, his advice really transferred over to the modern day – even to today.” HOW BIG OF A DEAL IS NEXT WEEK AT NORTH WILKESBORO? “I think the atmosphere is gonna be amazing. I mean, you’ve got two throwback weekends in a row if you ask me. You’ve got this weekend, which is great, and then you’re gonna get North Wilkesboro, which is the most hyped race of the year. That’s the race everyone has been talking about, kind of like the Clash before there was the Clash. What’s it gonna be like right before we went there the first time. Now it’s North Wilkesboro and what’s it gonna be like? Everyone has talked about it. I’m pretty excited to get up there and see what the racing is like. You’ve got a million bucks on the line. It doesn’t matter where you race it’s gonna be intense and exciting, but I think the nostalgia going back there and that excitement that a lot of fans and competitor have as well has added a piece, for sure.” THE FORMAT IS OLD SCHOOL. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THAT? “Yeah. There’s no reason to change it up until you race there the first time. How do you know what you would adjust? I think tires are gonna be key and that will be important, but let it just be a race. Let it be a normal race and see what it comes out like.” WHAT IS IT LIKE WITH KEVIN HARVICK IN THE BROADCAST BOOTH? “Kevin does a good job up there. He’s fun to work with. We’ve gotten to know each other really well, whether it’s flying back and forth to some races or being up there in the booth. Obviously, he has an incredible eye for the sport to kind of know what’s going on. He’s been in it for so long he can see it really quickly. He’s obviously got a lot of experience up there over the last few years to be ready for his next venture and I think he’s gonna be great for the sport. That’s one of the things I think is best about Kevin is that he’s not just leaving us high and dry. Kevin has a big fan following. He is very vocal in our sport in a positive way to make it better all the time, and for him to just race and leave would hurt all of us. The fact that he’s staying around to still be involved with the sport, whether it’s just from being around or being on TV and talking to the fans is all really, really good.” HAS HE GIVEN YOU ANY TIPS ON HIS BROADCAST STYLE? “No. We don’t talk about that. We usually talk about race cars.” What drivers said at Talladega Speedway
What drivers had to say after Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway:
Kyle Busch — winner: “Sometimes you got to be lucky. Some of these races come down to that. You got to take them when they come your way. The seas kind of parted there when they (Bubba Wallace and Ryan Blaney) went up the racetrack. They were trying to push draft. These cars are just not stable enough to do that. I saw the 23 (Wallace) just turn a little bit sideways. I was like, ‘Get out of the way, just miss it.’ Tried to see if I was ahead of the 12 (Blaney) by the time it was called. It shut off right here when I was trying to do a burnout. Maybe it’s out (of fuel). I went left instead of going right. Fuel pickup is on the right. Maybe it ran it out. I’ll see. We were sweating it being close. … We got to gamble. You’re up here, got to take the track position when you have it, give it what you can on the restarts, see what happens. Lo and behold, it worked out. Knock on wood for this one.” MORE: Talladega Cup results, driver pointsRyan Blaney — Finished 2nd: “It’s just you get big runs, take them when you can. I’m glad everyone’s okay, but in my mind you kind of triple move like that, triple block, you can’t block three times. I don’t know. Runs are so big. As a leader, with Bubba trying to block, which is the right thing to do. But I think a lot of those, I mean, I got to go somewhere. I hate that cars got torn up, I hate for us being so close to the win. I’m not blaming anybody. Just hard racing at the end of this thing. Unfortunate cars got tore up and we missed out on another win. The Fords were quick. We did a good job working together, but it’s unfortunate we got a little separated there with the No. 4 (Kevin Harvick) having to pit and the No. 10 (Aric Almirola) having a right-front flat. I think we worked great together… just I think someone ran out of gas at the restart zone and kind of hurt our lane. By the time we got back up there, we tried to make every run we could. It’s a fast car, just a shame not to win. This is a completely separate race than anywhere else, so you take it for what it’s worth, get ready to go for the next speedway. Hopefully, the momentum carries over.” Chris Buescher — Finished 3rd: “It was a good finish for our Fastenal Mustang. It was not as much fun on the day as I expected. Just really hard to make any moves – lanes just stalled out, handing didn’t seem to come into play. I don’t know if it was temperatures or what. Just not as much movement as we hoped… just thought we’d have more opportunities there. Everybody worked hard and got us up there in the end. We had enough fuel and threw some good strategy in there. We were in the hunt for it. I wanted to see the lap play out. I felt like we had a good run up-top, but looking back I don’t think we had any help, either. I don’t know. At the end of the day, it was a good finish. The race itself wasn’t as much fun as I was hoping for, for us.” Chase Briscoe — Finished 4th: “Wild day. I made a huge mistake coming to pit road. We’re two laps down, and then we were one and was going to get the lucky dog at the end of Stage 2, and then (Joey) Logano had that speeding penalty and barely got us for the lucky dog. It was a battle all day long – very similar to how we kind of were at the end of last year, just continuing to fight and keep doing everything we could to try to maximize our day. At the end, find ourselves up there and in the top five. I would have loved to have a little bit more, but if you told me we were going to finish fourth there — at any point of the race really — even there with 20 to go. We were so stuck in the back and couldn’t really do anything. So, cool to get this Mahindra ‘Old Goat’ car in the top five and looking forward to next week.” Brad Keselowski — Finished 5th: “We could just never get track position. Felt like we had a car that could win this race if we could get to the front, but we could never get to the front with all the pit cycles and everything. It just kept cycling us back, and it was really frustrating. Toward the end when we got to the front, I feel like if the No. 23 (Bubba Wallace) didn’t spin, we were in a spot to win the race, pushing 8 (Kyle Busch) down the backstretch. It’s just not the way the cookies crumbled.” Erik Jones — Finished 6th: “It was kind of an up-and-down day. We weren’t really running how we wanted to during the day. But obviously there at the end some attrition got us toward the front. I felt like our car was good and that the Air Force Chevy had speed. We just weren’t up there to show it. We’ll take it, though. A (top-six) is obviously a strong run. I was hoping to come here and have a good day for us and get us rolling with some momentum to Dover and forward. We’re on to some good tracks for us, so hopefully we can repeat the same next week – bring a good car and kind of keep this momentum rolling.” Kyle Busch — winner: “Sometimes you got to be lucky. Some of these races come down to that. You got to take them when they come your way. The seas kind of parted there when they (Bubba Wallace and Ryan Blaney) went up the racetrack. They were trying to push draft. These cars are just not stable enough to do that. I saw the 23 (Wallace) just turn a little bit sideways. I was like, ‘Get out of the way, just miss it.’ Tried to see if I was ahead of the 12 (Blaney) by the time it was called. It shut off right here when I was trying to do a burnout. Maybe it’s out (of fuel). I went left instead of going right. Fuel pickup is on the right. Maybe it ran it out. I’ll see. We were sweating it being close. … We got to gamble. You’re up here, got to take the track position when you have it, give it what you can on the restarts, see what happens. Lo and behold, it worked out. Knock on wood for this one.” MORE: Talladega Cup results, driver pointsRyan Blaney — Finished 2nd: “It’s just you get big runs, take them when you can. I’m glad everyone’s okay, but in my mind you kind of triple move like that, triple block, you can’t block three times. I don’t know. Runs are so big. As a leader, with Bubba trying to block, which is the right thing to do. But I think a lot of those, I mean, I got to go somewhere. I hate that cars got torn up, I hate for us being so close to the win. I’m not blaming anybody. Just hard racing at the end of this thing. Unfortunate cars got tore up and we missed out on another win. The Fords were quick. We did a good job working together, but it’s unfortunate we got a little separated there with the No. 4 (Kevin Harvick) having to pit and the No. 10 (Aric Almirola) having a right-front flat. I think we worked great together… just I think someone ran out of gas at the restart zone and kind of hurt our lane. By the time we got back up there, we tried to make every run we could. It’s a fast car, just a shame not to win. This is a completely separate race than anywhere else, so you take it for what it’s worth, get ready to go for the next speedway. Hopefully, the momentum carries over.” MORE: Second place leaves Ryan Blaney looking for moreChris Buescher — Finished 3rd: “It was a good finish for our Fastenal Mustang. It was not as much fun on the day as I expected. Just really hard to make any moves – lanes just stalled out, handing didn’t seem to come into play. I don’t know if it was temperatures or what. Just not as much movement as we hoped… just thought we’d have more opportunities there. Everybody worked hard and got us up there in the end. We had enough fuel and threw some good strategy in there. We were in the hunt for it. I wanted to see the lap play out. I felt like we had a good run up-top, but looking back I don’t think we had any help, either. I don’t know. At the end of the day, it was a good finish. The race itself wasn’t as much fun as I was hoping for, for us.” Catch the First Pitch - Stream Online or on the App Ad www.ballysports.com/Official-Site/MLB Chase Briscoe — Finished 4th: “Wild day. I made a huge mistake coming to pit road. We’re two laps down, and then we were one and was going to get the lucky dog at the end of Stage 2, and then (Joey) Logano had that speeding penalty and barely got us for the lucky dog. It was a battle all day long – very similar to how we kind of were at the end of last year, just continuing to fight and keep doing everything we could to try to maximize our day. At the end, find ourselves up there and in the top five. I would have loved to have a little bit more, but if you told me we were going to finish fourth there — at any point of the race really — even there with 20 to go. We were so stuck in the back and couldn’t really do anything. So, cool to get this Mahindra ‘Old Goat’ car in the top five and looking forward to next week.” Brad Keselowski — Finished 5th: “We could just never get track position. Felt like we had a car that could win this race if we could get to the front, but we could never get to the front with all the pit cycles and everything. It just kept cycling us back, and it was really frustrating. Toward the end when we got to the front, I feel like if the No. 23 (Bubba Wallace) didn’t spin, we were in a spot to win the race, pushing 8 (Kyle Busch) down the backstretch. It’s just not the way the cookies crumbled.” Erik Jones — Finished 6th: “It was kind of an up-and-down day. We weren’t really running how we wanted to during the day. But obviously there at the end some attrition got us toward the front. I felt like our car was good and that the Air Force Chevy had speed. We just weren’t up there to show it. We’ll take it, though. A (top-six) is obviously a strong run. I was hoping to come here and have a good day for us and get us rolling with some momentum to Dover and forward. We’re on to some good tracks for us, so hopefully we can repeat the same next week – bring a good car and kind of keep this momentum rolling.” Daniel Suarez — Finished 9th: “It was an Will NASCAR return to the Bristol dirt or might Sunday have been a swan song?Story by Jerry Bonkowski
Several drivers do not like points-paying races on dirt. And fans seem to be torn on the merits of watching races on dirt. Or will there be another venue in 2024? Will NASCAR return to the Bristol dirt or might Sunday have been a swan song?© Provided by Auto Racing Digest on FanNationSunday marked the third straight year that the NASCAR Cup Series has held a points-paying race on a makeshift dirt track at Bristol Motor Speedway. But surprisingly, several drivers believe the uniqueness of racing on what is essentially an artificial dirt track has already seen its time come and go, and that Bristol should revert back to two races each year on its regular asphalt surface. Among those drivers against continuing to race on dirt at Bristol are the two Kyle's: Kyle Larson, who once again failed to win on dirt at the half-mile bullring, and Kyle Busch, who won last year’s dirt race at BMS. I admit, I’m kind of torn on the whole dirt thing … or as I like to call it, “dirt vs. clean" racing. Let’s face it, most drivers who have competed in NASCAR over its 75-year history had at least some experience racing on dirt before they eventually found their way to the Cup Series. There are some notable exceptions, though. Kevin Harvick never raced on dirt until it came time for him to take part in future team owner Tony Stewart’s former yearly non-points exhibition event at his Eldora Speedway that ran for several years before it essentially ran its course and was replaced for several more years by a Craftsman Truck Series race on the dirty and dusty clay stuff – which also eventually ran its course at the south-central Ohio venue. Which leads me to wonder if, even after just three years, has NASCAR Cup run its own course on racing on dirt? Granted, guys like Sunday’s race winner, Christopher Bell, love playing on the dirt and clay – and you’d probably get a strong argument from him if NASCAR were to stop racing on dirt at Bristol. Admittedly, racing at Bristol on dirt was done to not only attract new fans to the sport, but also to bring back old-time and former fans who may have grown up watching stock car racing – on dirt – earlier in their lives, but eventually grew away from the sport. On one hand, there has been an uptick in fan interest in the annual dirt race at BMS, but I’ve also noticed a decrease of sorts, as well. Related video: Bell wins at Bristol: ‘Those were some of the longest laps of my life’ (Dailymotion) Here’s the rub: Maybe not so much in the first Bristol dirt race won by Joey Logano in 2021, but last year’s and this year’s races illustrated what many fans may find somewhat wrong with the concept. When you try to tamp down 80-plus semis full of dirt, it’s not the easiest thing to do, especially on a race that lasts 250 laps and goes roughly three hours in length. What we saw last year and again Sunday is what started as a well-packed and tamped-down event on dirt that quickly devolved into a race where dirt essentially blew away or washed away (even without rain to do the actual washing), leaving the asphalt underneath the dirt to become not only very visible, but more importantly, very slippery, almost as if the race was being run on an ice rink. That’s the nature of racing on dirt placed on top of asphalt, plain and simple. Even a friend of mine who is a noted national radio sports talk host texted me Sunday night and said it looked as if the track was no longer a dirt track, but just a “very dirty track.” That could be one of the best descriptors on how and what happened to the dirt that was laid down. Will NASCAR return to race on dirt at Bristol next year? That seems to be anyone’s guess. Plus, let’s face it, Bristol, Speedway Motorsports and NASCAR are also wrapped up in focusing on other things such as bringing NASCAR back to race at Fairgrounds Speedway in Nashville, as well as returning to North Wilkesboro Speedway for this year’s NASCAR All-Star Race, which just happens to be held on a true dirt track (well, it started out that way before it shifted to asphalt, and now has returned to its dirt roots, so to speak). And even though we have yet to see the first All-Star Race on dirt at North Wilkesboro, some people are already wondering if it too will continue holding such an event. After more than three decades at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the non-points all-star event has moved around the last several years – Bristol in 2020, Texas Motor Speedway in 2021 and 2022, and North Wilkesboro this year on March 21. I would welcome the opportunity for the All-Star Race to remain at North Wilkesboro, or perhaps another true large dirt track (I’d LOVE to see it at Eldora, which can hold roughly 30,000 fans, which is about 6,000 more than North Wilkesboro, but that’s a whole other story). I get it how drivers like Larson and Busch aren’t fans of racing on dirt, at least in a stock car. Larson has even gone so far as to say he believes crowds at BMS would be larger if the dirt race reverted back to an asphalt event. On the flip side, Larson absolutely loves racing on dirt in a sprint or midget car, but not a stocker. Go figure, to each his own. Perhaps NASCAR may want to switch the points-paying dirt race venue from Bristol to the flatter Martinsville Speedway, but the cost factor would have to be borne by NASCAR, as opposed to Speedway Motorsports, as NASCAR owns Martinsville while Speedway Motorsports owns Bristol. And let’s face it, trucking in dozens and dozens of truckloads of dirt, not to mention the dirt itself, isn’t a cheap proposition, whether it’s at Bristol or Martinsville or wherever – unless the race is at a true dirt track like Eldora. In conclusion, I'd like to offer congratulations to Christopher Bell for winning Sunday’s race, the first “true” dirt track racer to win the dirt race at BMS since its inception. I just hope that after only three races at Bristol, Bell doesn’t wind up being the last guy to win a points-paying dirt race in NASCAR after so many years of hearing folks wishing and hoping we’d see a dirt race back on the regular Cup schedule. In my mind, if there's a way to keep the dirt on the track (maybe bring in another 30 or 40 more truckloads worth?) -- we're just getting warmed up at Bristol! NASCAR, teams at 'significant impasse' over charters
Story by By JENNA FRYER, AP Auto Racing Writer • 5h ago
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — A top group of NASCAR team owners skipped a meeting with series officials Wednesday with the two sides at an impasse over permanent charters, a key plank in the business model of the stock car series. Drivers race in a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Richmond Raceway on Sunday, April 2, 2023, in Richmond, Va. (Eva Russo/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP)© Provided by The Associated Press – SportsFearing the meeting would be “hijacked” by conversation solely on the charters -- multimillion-dollar guarantees of having a car in NASCAR’s top Cup Series -- the team owner council told NASCAR it felt talks should be postponed. NASCAR said it planned to hold the meeting anyway, but the teams did not attend, said Curtis Polk, a part owner of 23XI Racing and one of four members of a negotiating committee that is trying to hammer out a new business plan for the nation’s top racing series. “It was evident that if we got the whole group together, that was going to be the only topic that anyone wanted to talk about and that is generally not constructive,” said Dave Alpern, president of Joe Gibbs Racing. Alpern, Polk, Jeff Gordon of Hendrick Motorsports and Steve Newmark of RFK Racing are the members of the council representing all teams. FILE - CEO and Chairman of NASCAR Jim France, right, along with the Executive Vice President of NASCAR Lesa France Kennedy announce the Landmark Award to Edsel Ford II at Hall of Fame induction ceremonies in Charlotte, N.C. Jan. 31, 2020. NASCAR teams boycotted a meeting with series leadership Wednesday as a show of frustration over the slow pace of negotiations on a new business model. Moving forward, they want NASCAR chairman Jim France and executive vice chair Lesa France Kennedy at the meetings, the team representatives told AP. (AP Photo/Mike McCarn, File)© Provided by The Associated Press – SportsThe owners went public last October with their frustration over what they consider a broken business model in which racetracks and NASCAR make the bulk of the money and teams are forced to fund their organizations through outside sponsorship. In a telephone interview with The Associated Press, Alpern and Polk said significant progress has been made with NASCAR on many key issues but the two sides have reached a “significant impasse” on the charters. NASCAR in 2016 adopted a charter system for 36 cars that is as close to a franchise model as possible in a sport that was founded by and independently owned by the France family. The charters give the teams something of value to hold — or sell — and protect their investment in the sport. The charters are both renewable — the current ones expire at the end of the 2024 season — and revocable by NASCAR if a team fails to perform over a predetermined length of time. The race teams want the charters to become permanent, and NASCAR apparently is unwilling to even discuss the issue. “It's the foundation that everything else is built upon. If they gave you the moon, but they're able to take it away from you periodically, what good is having the moon?” Polk told AP. Kyle Larson (5) has the lead coming out of the last caution in lap 386 of a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Richmond Raceway on Sunday, April 2, 2023, in Richmond, Va. (Eva Russo/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP)© Provided by The Associated Press – SportsNASCAR has said it is willing to work with the teams on financial security, and reiterated that commitment Wednesday after no owners showed for the meeting. “NASCAR is committed to open and productive dialogue on a regular basis with all industry stakeholders," NASCAR said in a statement. "We remain committed to continuing discussions in the spirit of collaboration and with the shared goal of growing our sport for the benefit of all stakeholders.” The breakdown happened after the entire Race Team Alliance held a call Tuesday to discuss topics for the smaller meeting with NASCAR. The RTA is comprised of all 16 teams and teams can have as many representatives as they choose on those calls. When it became apparent on the call with 50-plus participants that permanent charters was the only issue the RTA wanted addressed, the smaller negotiating committee advised NASCAR that its meeting should be delayed. The meetings with NASCAR are limited to one team owner and one executive from each of the 16 chartered teams. Asked what happens next, Polk said “we're ready to meet. We want to make a deal.” But he reiterated that talks must open on permanent charters. Alpern and Polk declined to discuss specifics on how teams have gained traction with NASCAR during months of negotiations. NASCAR has maintained that teams receive about 40% of industry-wide generated revenue. The financial split from the $8.2 billion media rights deal signed ahead of the 2015 season sends 65% to the tracks, 25% to the teams and 10% to NASCAR, according to the series. There are two major track operators, NASCAR and Speedway Motorsports; NASCAR owns the majority of the venues on the Cup Series schedule, including the crown jewel Daytona International Speedway, and the France family owns NASCAR. Alex Bowman (48) steers out of Turn 1 during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Circuit of the Americas, Sunday, March 26, 2023, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Stephen Spillman)© Provided by The Associated Press – SportsTeams have argued they have become “full-time fundraisers” seeking sponsorship to keep their organizations afloat and the only possible place to make further financial cuts is through layoffs. The teams revealed last October that sponsorship covers 60% to 80% of the budgets for all 16 chartered organizations. Because sponsorship is so vital, teams are desperate for financial relief elsewhere and have asked NASCAR for help to cover baseline costs. NASCAR President Steve Phelps in February told AP that he was confident a resolution could be found. “We have said publicly and we will continue to say publicly that we need to have financially healthy race teams,” Phelps said then. “Financially healthy race teams will put a better product on the racetrack and that’s great for the sport overall.” The current charter agreement expires at the same time that NASCAR’s current television deals expire. NASCAR is in an exclusive negotiating window with both Fox Sports and NBC Sports on renewals. The exclusive period expires May 1, Phelps told AP, and NASCAR can explore television rights deals with outside partners after that date. 
EBy Dan BeaverMar 26, 2023, 2:04 AM EDT
0 CommentsIn the past two weeks, Eli Tomac lost his momentum and with it the Monster Energy Supercross red plate to Cooper Webb, but a gutsy performance in Seattle gave him a sixth win of the season as he and the series heads into an off week tied. Tomac is currently tied in the points with Webb. With this win, Tomac also ties James Stewart for second on the all-time wins list at 50 with six rounds remaining in 2023. “I needed that bounce back,” Tomac told NBC Sports’ Will Christien. “It was almost like I was in a little bit of a slump in the past couple of weeks; just a little bit off. I’m feeling much better now. That track raced really cool. There were a lot of different lines out there. “It was obviously very dicey early on. I got passed and then had to make those passes back.” Tomac suffered with a stiff neck in Indianapolis two weeks ago when he lost the red plate to Webb for the first time in 2023. In that race, he scored his worst finish of the season in eighth. He lost more points in Detroit after finishing a distant third behind Chase Sexton and Webb. This is the fifth time this season that Tomac and Webb finished 1-2 in a race. Tomac has won them all, but Webb has been more consistent. RESULTS: How they finished for the 450 Main in Seattle by Taboola Promoted Links Capital One ShoppingAmazon hates when you do this (but can't stop you). NBC SportsAirborne wreck on first lap of IndyCar opener causes red flag - NBC Sports OrCam LearnRevolutionary Learning Device for Kids with Disabilities [Try Now] NBC SportsKen Roczen wins Indianapolis Supercross - NBC Sports Webb was disappointed to lose the ground to Tomac, but he will enter the Glendale, Arizona race with a red plate and a share of the points’ lead. “It was overall a great night to get up front and get a second was great,” Webb said after the race. “Those few spots where I would get close to Eli and then make a mistake. “The track was gnarly. It was no joke. It was cat and mouse as to who could ride the cleanest race and pick the line. I got off to a decent start, but Chase and Eli were ahead of me and I had some catchup to play and got into a good position.” Early in the race, Sexton was indeed ahead of Webb and the remainder of the field. Another costly mistake sent Sexton to the ground. He battled back to finish fifth but is now 22 points out of the lead and in jeopardy of dropping out of championship contention unless Tomac and Webb have problems. Rounding out the podium was Justin Barcia, who scored the third-place finish on his birthday “Awesome ride,” Barcia said. “It was a lot of fun. I’m sure we kept the fans on their feet tonight. The track was gnarly. […] We’re searching; we’re so close to having that speed. We want it so badly. We’ll keep pushing hard and going for that win.” Sexton’s mistake kept the three top points’ earners of 2023 from sharing the podium for the sixth time in 11 rounds, but the trio finished 1-2-3 in Heat 2 with Webb first, Sexton second and Tomac third. The 250 West contenders were back in action after giving the last four rounds over to the East riders and Jett Lawrence picked up where he left off in Oakland: In Victory Lane. Lawrence scored his fourth win in five 250 West rounds. Last week his brother Hunter Lawrence tied Jett with 10 wins, but everyone knew it would not take long for Jett to regain the advantage. Between them, the Lawrence brothers have won all but one race each in their respective divisions. Lawrence rode a patient race in the Main. He settled in behind Stylez Robertson and concentrated on navigating the ruts mistake-free. He could not afford to be patient any longer when Cameron McAdoo caught up to the leaders. Lawrence found a second gear and gapped the battle for second. An incident in their main made the battle between Lawrence and McAdoo more dramatic. While racing for second, the pair of riders ran out of room in the rhythm section. Both crashed but had a large enough lead over fourth to maintain their positions. “It was a very eventful day,” Lawrence told NBC Sports’s Daniel Blair, answering a question about the earlier contact. “[…] It’s good to be back racing. It’s been a while. I feel like I’ve had another offseason. Glad to get out in one piece tonight.” Lawrence now has a 23-point advantage over the field with four rounds remaining. Click here for full 250 Main Results RJ Hampshire finished second in his race and is second in the points after a seesaw affair that produced the final pass for position just before the white flag was displayed. “I felt like I had a pretty good pace going for a little bit,” Hampshire said. “I closed the gap and then had a couple of big mistakes that almost put me on my head. I backed it off a little bit. “Cam actually gapped me a little more than I would have wanted. I knew I could get a push there at the end. I thought that was the last lap, which is why my pass was a little more aggressive than it should have been, but I’m stoked to be able to close the gap a little bit.” McAdoo took the final spot on the podium. This is the fourth time in 2023 these three riders have shared the box and if not for a sixth-place finish in Anaheim 2, he would be mounting a much more formidable challenge for the points’ lead. “The track was really demanding tonight,” McAdoo said. “It did change a lot and the key thing was to get off the rhythms every time. We were swapping back and forth.” Enzo Lopes in fourth and Max Vohland rounded out the top five. Robertson had the early lead but when he lost the top spot to Jett he cross rutted on the next lap, crashed hard and failed to finish. 
ENDEAVOR STREAMING AND THE NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION TEAM UP TO HOST NEW GLOBAL SERVICENEW YORK, NY – FEBRUARY 15, 2023 – Endeavor Streaming and the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) announced today a multi-year partnership, leading with the upgrade of NHRA’s OTT platform NHRA.tv. The new service is available for sign-ups.
In addition to enhancing NHRA.tv, the company has enlisted Endeavor Streaming’s direct-to-consumer growth services division. Through close collaboration, Endeavor Streaming will help scale the NHRA business and grow their fan base and digital service revenues. The long-term partnership combines NHRA’s expertise in drag racing with Endeavor Streaming’s expertise across OTT focused marketing, analytics, and predictive modeling. “We are excited to have Endeavor Streaming’s support in launching our new and improved NHRA.tv,” said Glen Cromwell, NHRA President. “Further to the new service launch, we are excited for the content and fan engagement initiatives. The future for streaming our events is only going to get better for our audiences and our partners and we look forward to what’s ahead.” “The NHRA have been incredible partners in developing a streaming platform that delivers for their fans,” said Pete Bellamy, Chief Commercial Officer. “We are pleased to offer Endeavor Streaming’s end-to-end technology in supporting their engagement efforts. Beyond this, we are looking forward to integrating our D2C growth marketing specialists into the team to help achieve their goals.” Details and features of the upgraded NHRA.tv service include: · A multi-CDN delivery platform that encompasses localized delivery based on viewer location, providing viewers with a more responsive video, including near real-time scrubbing during live or recorded events · The ability for end users to bookmark content and resume watching on a different supported device · A user experience across supported devices enabling viewers to see the same content no matter where they are watching · Sign-in options that allow for hassle-free sign-in to AppleTV/Android TV and Roku devices. HASE BRISCOE, No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang – HOW DOES IT FEEL TO WALK THROUGH THAT DAYTONA TUNNEL EVERY YEAR? “I think it’s special for sure. I don’t think it ever is not gonna be special. I think if you’re at that point, then you’ve either won a ton of these races or you probably need to retire. For me, it’s super special. Even last night, I took my son to do the hauler parade and rode in the hauler coming in. It’s just a special weekend. I feel like it kicks off our season. It’s the biggest race of the year and, literally, it can change your life in one day, so this is one of those races that I feel like even non-race fans always sit down and watch. The Daytona 500 and Indy 500 are always two races that if they watch one race all year long it’s gonna be that race. I think that’s one of the things that make this race so special is just the amount of eyes on it and it’s always so special coming down here and being a part of it.”
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE KEVIN’S TEAMMATE IN HIS FINAL YEAR? “It’s been a huge thing for me. I can’t think of a better guy for me to be a teammate with. Any question I’ve ever had on the racetrack or off the racetrack, business related, racing question, he’s always my first phone call. For me to be able to be teammates with a guy that’s obviously gonna be a first ballot hall of famer and to see how he ticks and what he does behind the scenes has been big for me, especially coming through the ranks. I’m gonna be sad that Kevin’s gone, just because I’m not gonna have that easy access to him daily, but I think to be able to see what goes into making Kevin Harvick what he is has been huge for me. As he steps out and Aric is probably not gonna be around much longer either, so I’m gonna be the longest tenured guy at SHR, so as weird as that sounds I definitely have been trying to take in as many mental notes as I can of how Kevin takes that leadership role. For me to be teammates with a guy that, I really don’t think it could have worked out any better for me.” HOW DO YOU PREPARE TO BE THAT GUY FROM A LEADERSHIP PERSPECTIVE? “I think you figure it out, but I still think you, at least for me, I pay attention to how Kevin does it. Me and Kevin’s personalities are two totally different personalities and how Kevin gets a point across is totally different of how I get a point across. It’s something I’ve talked to him about. I’m not like how he is in certain situations, so, for me, how can I get the same point across that you’re trying to get across. He’s told me things and, for me, just being able to be behind closed doors with him in meetings and things like that, and just to see how he operates. I think he does such a good job of always circling back to the point. He might go 100 different directions, but he always ends and gets his point across, so just trying to take as many of those notes as I can of how he does it and how he leads because he is the leader at our company and has been able to steer the ship for a really long time. When he’s gone, somebody is gonna have to take over that role, whether that’s me or not. If it is me, I want to be prepared for that because it’s gonna be a crucial point for our organization of what way it goes. When you lose a guy like Kevin, who is a hall of famer, you can kind of get spiraled off pretty quickly when you don’t have his leadership there, so I’m just trying to figure out what I can do to try to steer the ship in the same direction that we’ve been going.” HAVE YOU DONE ANYTHING FROM A FITNESS STANDPOINT THAT’S DIFFERENT? “No, not really. I worked out a little bit in the offseason, but nothing crazy by any means. I met a state trooper and started working out with him. I threw up a couple times, but, other than that, not a whole lot, but, yeah, everybody keeps asking me if I’ve been losing weight, but I think I just shave and it makes me look skinnier. My suit is way bigger, but that was just a mess up.” NOW YOU HAVE A BIGGER SUIT. “Yeah, I have a bigger suit, so that helps, too. We’re working on it. We washed the other ones and it made it way better, but this one was brand new and it’s huge. I think if I was even 240 pounds it would still be pretty loose, so this one is definitely big.” LOOKING AHEAD TO FONTANA. THOUGHTS ON THAT TRACK AND POSSIBLY BEING THE LAST ON THE TWO-MILE OVAL? “I know everyone says the plan is a half-mile, but it’s gonna kind of be like the old Atlanta was. I think it’s gonna be bittersweet for all the drivers because that’s like the last true track that we have, well, I guess Homestead a little bit, but Auto Club is just so fun from a driver’s standpoint because it’s so slick. It’s wore out. It’s rough. You just bounce around. You literally run wherever on the racetrack, especially with the Next Gen car. I thought that it was just a really well put together racetrack for those cars, so I’m bummed. It’s one of my favorite tracks for sure to go to just because I feel like that’s one of the tracks where you as a driver can make quite a bit of a difference. But, yeah, a half-mile, the west coast doesn’t really have any half miles either, short track stuff for us, so if we go that route, I guess we go that route. I’m sure land out there is quite expensive, so if they can sell off a lot of that land that a lot of that racetrack takes up, that probably helps too. I think for the driver’s we’re all gonna be sad to see it go, if it does go away, but hopefully the fans come out. Hopefully, we put on a really good race and, who knows, they pushed Atlanta back a couple years. Maybe we can do that to Auto Club, too.” WHEN DO YOU KNOW WHO IS RUNNING WELL? “I would say when you get done with the west coast swing, but then last year if you look at us we were really good the first four weeks and then we were kind of non-existent. I feel like when you get eight, nine weeks in you typically have a pretty good idea of who the guys are, and I think you get a general idea the first four weeks when the west coast swing is over. By the eighth or ninth race, I feel like you have a big enough pool to look at. You can typically tell who has it figured out and who doesn’t have it figured out, but with the Next Gen car I feel like it is a little bit trickier than the old car just because it’s such a tight window. The old car, really after four weeks, you probably knew who the teams were that were gonna be good, but this Next Gen car just goes in so many swings. You can be good one week and then be terrible the next week. It’s a little bit harder. I think it’s not gonna be as hard to pick out the guys this year just because everybody has it a little more figured out than last year, but I would say after COTA I feel like you would have a pretty good idea.” ANYBODY YOU HAVE CIRCLED AS THE ONE TO BEAT THAT YOU USUALLY DON’T THINK ABOUT? “I think everybody. I think it’s such a wide-open pool right now that anybody can show up on any given week. You don’t know in the offseason how everybody was and then this car. There’s really no advantage to be found, at least a big advantage, so that’s what makes the field so tight. That’s why one week you can see guys up in the front and the next week they’re not up in the front. I don’t think there’s any one team that you can even say is the team to beat because it’s wide-open. Hendrick Motorsports and Rick Ware have the same car, same parts, same pieces, so it’s kind of hard to say who is gonna stick out.” HOW MUCH DIFFERENT WILL THIS YEAR’S 500 LOOK FROM LAST YEAR’S? “I think you’ll definitely see more aggressiveness. Last year, we were so timid, I felt like, not knowing what we could get away with, not knowing how hard we could push. I felt like we still pushed, but nearly like we did if you go look at the last Talladega or even the last race here. I think it will definitely be more aggressive because we know what we can get away with to a certain extent now and know what we need our car to do, too. I think it’ll definitely be more aggressive, especially at the end. Maybe early it still won’t be because everybody is trying to get to the end, but at the end, for sure, you’re gonna have guys pushing and shoving because we know what we can get away with now.” DOES NASCAR NEED ANOTHER SHORT TRACK? “I think that’s a good point. If you would have asked me three years ago I would have said we need all the short tracks we can get just because I felt like that was what put on the best product. Truthfully, right now, the intermediates are putting on the best product. I would say the short track and road course package, the road course races haven’t been very good either, at least from the driver’s seat. It’s really hard to pass. It’s just a struggle to get by anybody, where before it was fairly easy if you were one of the faster road course guys. I think the package is the top priority right now and then if you figure out the package and it starts racing good, then we can start trying to find more short tracks. Right now, going to more short tracks hasn’t been the best answer for good races, so I think the package is top of the list and I’m curious to see what they end up doing with the package and how it races.” HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT HAVING RYAN PREECE AS YOUR NEW TEAMMATE? “I feel like Ryan is fairly similar to Cole upbringing-wise. Cole ran a lot of short track stuff, a little bit of dirt stuff, but I think Ryan brings a lot to the table when it comes to those tracks. Look at the L.A. Clash. That’s pretty similar to what he grew up doing and was really, really fast there, so I feel like there’s a lot he can bring to the table when we go short track racing for sure, places like Loudon and things like that. It’ll be good to have that and I feel like these Next Gen cars are probably more similar to a modified or a late model or things like that, so I think his background and one thing about Ryan is he knows a lot about setup stuff, too. That’s gonna be a little bit different, more similar to Kevin where he can bring a lot from that side of things and just technical, so it’ll be good. I thought he did a really good job at the L.A. Clash, obviously, so it’ll be fun to see as the season goes where he progresses.” Former NASCAR champion to attempt Indy 500Story by Arthur Weinstein • Yesterday 12:35 PM
2422 Comments Add Kyle Larson to the list of NASCAR stars to attempt the grueling Indy 500-Coca Cola 600 doubleheader. Kyle Larson NASCAR© Provided by The ComebackThe Arrow McLaren IndyCar Team announced Thursday that the former NASCAR Cup Series champion will drive in the 2024 Indianapolis 500. Larson and team owner Rick Hendrick will co-own his Chevrolet and carry sponsorship from HendrickCars.com. “I’m super excited,” Larson said (via IndianapolisMotorSpeedway.com). “Competing at the Indianapolis 500 is a dream of mine and something I’ve wanted to do for a very long time — since I was a child before I ever began competing in sprint cars. To do it with Arrow McLaren, and Mr. Hendrick especially, is a dream come true. “I’m grateful for the opportunity and am really looking forward to it even though it’s still about a year-and-a-half away. I’m really looking forward to competing in both the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 and maybe even get a win or two that day.” eIt’s worth noting that Arrow McLaren SP principal stockholder Sam Schmidt mentioned last fall he was interested in bringing aboard a NASCAR driver for the Indy 500, but that driver was Kyle Busch. Only four NASCAR drivers, Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch, Robby Gordon and John Andretti, have ever pulled off the Coca-Cola 600 and Indy 500 doubleheader in the same day. It’s truly an amazing feat. Not only because of racing endurance but logistics, as well. To get the driver from Indianapolis to Charlotte Motor Speedway is quite the haul. Stewart remains the only driver to complete all 1,100 miles in the same day, in 2001. Remarkably, Stewart finished sixth at Indy that day, and third at Charlotte. Busch was the last to turn the double-duty feat, in 2014. Larson, 30, has 19 career NASCAR Cup Series victories in addition to his 2021 series title. JUST GETTING STARTED: Adam Pierson Takes Lessons From Rookie Season Into 2023
BY MICHELINA FRISS PHOTO CREDIT: NOAH WATTS
Pierson looks to make steady improvement in sophomore season with the Super DIRTcar Series, After a successful rookie season on the Super DIRTcar Series that included two top-five finishes and seven top-10 finishes, Adam Pierson is just getting started. The East Corinth, VT native took detailed notes on his rookie season experiences and intends to put it all to use in 2023. “Probably the biggest thing that we learned was having to adapt to different racetrack sizes, reading each track as it goes on through the night,” Pierson said. “If you don’t have a lot of experience at a track, you don’t know what it’s going to do, so you kind of just don’t really touch your car a lot.” Pierson started off the season slow, getting accustomed to the competition, finishing in the middle of the field. The results of his tenacity started to show during the second half of the season, finishing second during the second night of SummerFAST at Land of Legends Raceway. Five weeks later when the Series visited Albany-Saratoga Speedway, Pierson held a steady lead over the competition for the first 80 laps of the 100 lap Feature. But it was not smooth sailing to the finish line for the rookie, as he dealt with another challenge. Another motor issue forced him to permanently exit the track on Lap 83. “Motor issues was our weakness this year, I think,” Pierson said. “When we had a good motor running, we did well, but we lost three motors this year, one obviously at Albany (Saratoga Speedway). After the season concluded at The Dirt Track at Charlotte on Nov. 5, Pierson admittedly, “did not want to look at or touch a race car for two or three weeks.” The wear and tear of the season’s grind had worn him down, and he needed to embrace the time away from racing in the offseason. After some quality time with his wife, attending his children’s basketball games, and even firing up his iRacing console, he’s ready to refocus his attention to the upcoming season. Pierson has every intention of getting back into the swing of things at DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park, Feb. 15-18, 2023. “I’m going down there to knock the rust off I guess,” Pierson said. “To be honest, there hasn’t been a whole lot of rust to get knocked off because we race in November, and it’s only been a couple months. It would be good to start really well down there. Our goal would be to qualify every night and not use the [Last Chance Showdown] stuff; we can go through the Heats, time well. I’d love to win one. I think we have the car, the team, the equipment to do it, it’s just everything has to line up together.” And besides the incremental improvements to be more in the “top-10, top-eight, top-five” in Series finishes, he has one coveted goal that will be on his mind a little more than others when he takes the seat the wheel of his #215 machine. “My goal this year is to win at least a Super DIRTcar race,” Pierson said. “Whether it’s at our home track Albany (Saratoga Speedway), or a track that we’re decent at, or a track that we don’t have a lot of experience at. That would be my goal.” 
NASCAR: 3 possible car numbers for Jimmie Johnson in 2023 Asher Fair- After spending the last two seasons competing in IndyCar following his initial retirement from the NASCAR Cup Series, seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson is set to return to the Cup Series in 2023 with Petty GMS Motorsports.Johnson is set to join the team in a driver-owner role, though he is only set to compete in select races. He will not compete full-time like teammates Noah Gragson, who is set to replace Ty Dillon behind the wheel of the No. 42 Chevrolet, and Erik Jones, who is set for another year behind the wheel of the No. 43 Chevrolet.
Johnson’s car number has not yet been determined, though despite some speculation, it has been confirmed that it won’t be No. 48, as Alex Bowman is set to continue to drive the No. 48 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. Johnson drove the No. 48 Chevrolet for all 686 of his starts with Hendrick Motorsports, the only team for which he has ever competed in the Cup Series. What car number will he use next year? Jimmie Johnson landing spots: No. 1 – No. 92 ChevroletThis might be the least likely option of the three listed in this article, but the No. 92 is the only other number that Jimmie Johnson has used as a full-time NASCAR driver. He used the number in 2000 and 2001 when he competed for Herzog Motorsports in the Busch (now Xfinity) Series. Feld Motor Sports and MX Sports Pro Racing Partner to Form the SuperMotocross World Championship Race Purse Increased to Sport’s Richest - $10 Million
Reigning Monster Energy AMA Supercross Champion Eli Tomac (3) leading a star-studded field into the first turn at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. Photo Credit: Feld Motor Sports
NTT INDYCAR SERIES Announces
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Palou’s Speed, Strategy Sink Rivals
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Musings of a Filterless Reporter- Roy J. Akers
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By Roy J. Akers
With silly season with us to sort out the remainder of the 2002 season and into 2023, things are changing.
- First, its hard to believe Chase Elliott has not won in Atlanta. After driving through Dawsonville years ago, its not worth a second drive but for those from Elliott's hometown, it means the world to them. Elliott was already in the season ending playoffs. His win is his third on the season and six top fives and 13 top ten's show his consistency. Elliott has only one DNF on the season in his dominating season performance.
If you want to look at a driver who would love to win more than almost every other driver in the field combined, Corey LaJoie is that driver. He is 31st in driver points out of 43 full-time drivers on the circuit. LaJoie led 20 laps on Sunday with quite a few more laps in the top five. He was nudged with just over a lap to go. He ended up finishing out of the top 20 and was in good spirits in a video segment done with Elliott on NASCAR.COM.
Ross Chastain has it in for Denny Hamlin, that's for sure. Elliott certainly knows how to return a favor. The problem for Chastain is he has two wins in 2022 and that is probably two more wins than friends among the drivers. Dale Earnhardt Jr. said in Sunday's NBC telecast Chastain will need to mend some fences as drivers will spoil his chances if he contends for a NASCAR championship.
With silly season with us to sort out the remainder of the 2002 season and into 2023, things are changing.
- First, its hard to believe Chase Elliott has not won in Atlanta. After driving through Dawsonville years ago, its not worth a second drive but for those from Elliott's hometown, it means the world to them. Elliott was already in the season ending playoffs. His win is his third on the season and six top fives and 13 top ten's show his consistency. Elliott has only one DNF on the season in his dominating season performance.
If you want to look at a driver who would love to win more than almost every other driver in the field combined, Corey LaJoie is that driver. He is 31st in driver points out of 43 full-time drivers on the circuit. LaJoie led 20 laps on Sunday with quite a few more laps in the top five. He was nudged with just over a lap to go. He ended up finishing out of the top 20 and was in good spirits in a video segment done with Elliott on NASCAR.COM.
Ross Chastain has it in for Denny Hamlin, that's for sure. Elliott certainly knows how to return a favor. The problem for Chastain is he has two wins in 2022 and that is probably two more wins than friends among the drivers. Dale Earnhardt Jr. said in Sunday's NBC telecast Chastain will need to mend some fences as drivers will spoil his chances if he contends for a NASCAR championship.
World of Outlaws
Remembering Jimmie's last visit to MIS
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Bubba Wallace on 2021 and more...XFinity MIS Race final laps of New Holland 250
Brad Keselowski headed to Roush Fenway Racing in driver-ownership role (Video Presser follows)By Staff Report NASCAR.com July 20, 2021 Roush Fenway Racing team president Steve Newmark announced Tuesday at the NASCAR Hall of Fame that Brad Keselowski will come on board as a driver with a minority ownership stake in the organization, starting in 2022. Keselowski is leaving Team Penske, where he has driven full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series since 2010 and has amassed 34 of his 35 Cup wins and a series championship (2012).
The Rochester Hills, Michigan, native will stay in the Ford camp. The news comes after a July 15 announcement from Team Penske that moves Austin Cindric into the No. 2 Ford for the 2022 campaign and also confirmed Keselowski’s departure from the team at the conclusion of this season. Roush Fenway Racing currently fields the No. 6 Ford for Ryan Newman and the No. 17 Ford for Chris Buescher. Keselowski will take over the No. 6 ride in 2022. Keselowski will also assume a leadership role within the organization on the competition committee. The team will provide additional details on driver lineup, partners and other team assets at a later date. “I am thrilled to be able to share the news about this next venture with my fans, peers, and the industry,” Keselowski said in a team release. “This presents an opportunity to continue my on-track success with a strong team and a long-term commitment, but also dive into my passion of team ownership where I know I can be an asset to the future of the team. I am optimistic about what Jack (Roush), John (Henry) and I can accomplish together, especially with a new era for our sport on the horizon (with the Next Gen car). Our goal is to win races and compete for championships at NASCAR’s top level, and we plan to do just that.” Jack Roush was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in the Class of 2019. The 79-year-old team owner has fielded entries in the Cup Series since 1988 and has compiled 137 victories at that level, including series championships with Matt Kenseth (2003) and Kurt Busch (2004). He has also guided drivers to five Xfinity Series titles and one championship in the Camping World Truck Series. The organization was first known as Roush Racing. Red Sox majority owner John Henry became an investor in the team in 2007, and the name was changed to Roush Fenway Racing. “I’m truly excited about this partnership with Brad,” Roush said. “I think it will bring a lot to the organization, from not only Brad’s ability behind the wheel, but a rejuvenation and fresh perspective across our teams. I’ve had the opportunity to watch Brad for a number of years, as he has fought and clawed his way up the ladder, molding himself into a champion and one of the top drivers in our sport. I’ve always admired his resolve and determination. I’m very pleased that he has chosen to be a part of our organization and I’m proud to partner with him moving into the future.” Since 2011, Keselowski has qualified for the NASCAR Playoffs in 10 of 11 seasons. His streak of 11 consecutive seasons with a victory is tied with Kevin Harvick for the second-longest among active drivers. Entering the Olympic break, the 37-year-old sits ninth in the Cup Series points standings with a victory at Talladega — his sixth of his career there — seven top fives and nine top 10s. In a statement released on July 15 on Twitter, Keselowski said that “getting to drive for Mr. Roger Penske in the No. 2 has been a tremendous opportunity, and I am proud of the success we’ve had together. His guidance has helped me both be a better competitor, but even more so, a better man. … “Making the decision to part ways with Team Penske to embrace a new opportunity and challenge was a difficult one, and one I did not take lightly.” This will be Keselowski’s second turn at an ownership role with a team on the NASCAR national series level. From 2008-15, he headed up Brad Keselowski Racing in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Cindric, Tyler Reddick, Chase Briscoe and Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney were among the drivers who piloted trucks for Keselowski during those years. His team compiled 11 race wins, including one for Keselowski as an owner-driver in 2014 at Bristol Motor Speedway. RELATED: Brad Keselowski through the years, career milestones During his availability to discuss elevating Cindric into the No. 2 Ford, Penske revealed that Keselowski had shown an interest in an ownership stake during talks. “He wanted to have ownership and the way we’re structured, that wasn’t available,” Penske said. Denny Hamlin, who drives for Joe Gibbs Racing and is a co-owner of 23XI Racing with Michael Jordan, is another Cup Series veteran who is doing the dual role of driver and owner at NASCAR’s highest level. Other drivers who are either currently holding both roles or have done so in the past across NASCAR’s national series include Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Tony Stewart. Keselowski got his start in the Cup Series with Rick Hendrick driving two races toward the end of 2008 season. Keselowski then drove part of the 2009 season for Hendrick, James Finch and ultimately Roger Penske. Keselowski got his first Cup win that year for James Finch in April at Talladega Superspeedway. 
NASCAR at Atlanta race results: Kurt Busch wins Cup raceKurt Busch emerged from his car Sunday with a massive grin on his face and a line ready for the cameras.
“Hell yeah, we beat Kyle!” the elder Busch said on NBCSN after climbing from his No. 1 Chevrolet. Busch secured his first win of the season at Atlanta Motor Speedway by leading 144 laps of the 260-lap event and holding off his younger brother Kyle through the final stage. The victory lifts the elder Busch into the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. He was sitting on the bubble of the 16-driver cutoff prior to Sunday and 327 points back from series leader Denny Hamlin. The Busch brothers battled through each stage, with Kyle winning the first stage and Kurt behind him. Kurt then emerged ahead of Kyle to open the second stage, and was able to hold the lead through a long green flag run and eventually regain the top spot after green flag pit stops. It was the elder Busch who won the next stage followed by his younger brother. In the final stage, the two continued to exchange the lead. Kyle was chasing Kurt, but a savvy call to pit a lap before the leader allowed Rowdy to sail to take first place as his brother came off pit road. Kurt continued to put pressure on Kyle and as he worked through lapped traffic.
LEBANON, Tenn. -- Kyle Larson won again - that's all he does these days - this time in the Cup debut at Nashville Superspeedway, where Hendrick Motorsports' new star drove to victory lane for the fourth consecutive week.
Larson led 264 of 300 laps Sunday for his third consecutive win in a points race, fourth straight including last weekend's All-Star race. That win at Texas Motor Speedway kicked off a stretch of four wins in seven days as Larson collected the $1 million All-Star payout then traveled to Ohio to pocket the $6,000 purses in two sprint car races. Rick Hendrick's cars have been to victory lane six consecutive weeks dating to Alex Bowman's May 9 win at Dover. Nashville Superspeedway re-opened this weekend after a decade of dormancy to host its first ever Cup race. NASCAR's top series last raced in the Nashville-area 37 years ago at the Fairgrounds, where Geoff Bodine won in the No. 5 Chevrolet for Hendrick. To celebrate his win in his new No. 5, Larson did burnouts along the entire Nashville frontstretch to put on a show for the sold-out crowd of 40,000. "There's a lot of fans out there and we had enough rubber and enough fuel there to do a good burnout at the end," Larson said. Next up for Larson is a trip to Brandon, South Dakota, for Monday and Tuesday night World of Outlaws races at Huset's Speedway. Larson's fourth Cup points win of the season was the first with sponsor Valvoline on his hood, which marked just the third time in 17 races so far this season that Larson featured a non-Hendrick company on his car. He's largely unsponsored after missing all but four races last season during a NASCAR suspension for using a racial slur while participating in an online race. Ross Chastain finished second for Chip Ganassi Racing and Hendrick driver William Byron was third in a Chevrolet podium sweep. "My goodness, we don't have anything for those Chevrolets right now," said Ford driver Aric Almirola, who finished fourth after starting from the pole. His Stewart-Haas Racing teammate finished fifth in one of the better days for the slumping organization. The pair of top-fives came the same day team co-owner Tony Stewart was at his first Cup race since the start of the pandemic. Traffic issues leading into the speedway delayed the start the race by 10 minutes. NASCAR asked television partner NBC Sports to push back its first Cup race of the season to allow for more fans to get seated before the race began. NBCSN had an NHL playoff game scheduled Sunday night and could only afford the 10-minute delay. Nashville Superspeedway is 28 miles east of downtown Music City and the race was a sellout at about 40,000 spectators in the grandstands, temporary seating and suites. Xfinity Series driver Noah Gragson and the wife of Cup rookie Chase Briscoe were among those caught in the congestion and Gragson tweeted that he had "been in traffic for 2 hours. Brutal." Nashville opened in 2001 and hosted 21 Xfinity Series races and 13 Truck Series events before it closed in 2011 when it couldn't get a coveted Cup date. Dover Motorsports owns the track and moved one of its weekends from its Delaware facility to Nashville to reopen the speedway and at last host a Cup race. NASCAR awarded the track a four-year sanctioning agreement. 
Hélio Castroneves Wins Indianapolis 500 for the Fourth Time NDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Hélio Castroneves joined the exclusive club of four-time Indianapolis 500 winners Sunday, and then scaled the fence at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in front of the largest crowd since the start of the pandemic.
The Brazilian joined A.J. Foyt, Al Unser Sr. and Rick Mears, his former mentor at Team Penske, as the only four-time winners of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” Mears was the last driver to join the club in 1991. Castroneves won his third 500 in 2009 and has been chasing win No. 4 ever since. At 46 years old, in his first season no longer driving for Roger Penske, he held off Alex Palou to win the 105th running of the race in front of 135,000 fans — the most at any sports event in the world since the pandemic began 18 months ago. The number represented 40% of the speedway’s capacity and was agreed upon by health officials. A year ago, no fans were allowed for the race that was delayed from May to August. This year, celebrities were back and fans were everywhere and they were treated to a win by one of the most popular drivers in Indy 500 history. NASCAR Erik Jones meets the media on his switch to Petty
Video interview: 2019 Indy winner talks to Roy J. Akers on his win and driving for the CaptainJuan Pablo Montoya has a home in a new racing seriesAric Almirola on NASCAR
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