After two overtimes and a restart that proved equal parts pivotal and controversial, Kyle Larson took the checkered flag to win the 30th anniversary edition of the Brickyard 400 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, earning his fourth win of the 2024 season and his first at Indianapolis. Larson's Brickyard 400 win gives him victories in three of NASCAR's four crown jewel races, going with his wins in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte and the Southern 500 at Darlington.
After running third when a caution came out with two laps to go, Larson was suddenly moved from third to first for the opening restart of overtime when race leader Brad Keselowski ran out of fuel and had to peel off to pit road coming to take the green flag. Although second-place Ryan Blaney inherited the lead and had control of the restart, Larson was able to move up in the inside lane and got an excellent -- and potentially early -- launch, allowing him to take the lead from Blaney as a big wreck in Turn 1 brought the caution out again.
Larson was able to get another great launch in the second overtime to beat Blaney through Turn 1, with his win ensured on the final lap when NASCAR was forced to throw a caution for Ryan Preece's stalled car.
The last time Larson was at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, what was supposed to be a monumental moment in his racing career turned into an unfulfilling and deeply unsatisfying experience. In May, Larson made his first start in the Indianapolis 500 as he attempted to become the latest driver to complete the Indy-Charlotte Double, but rain delayed the start of the 500 and forced Larson to miss the start of the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte, then more inclement weather that arrived just as Larson did after finishing 18th at Indy prevented him from ever turning a lap in his Cup car.
Running the same paint scheme that he was meant to have run at Charlotte, Larson went from the bitterness of a failed Indy-Charlotte Double to the sweetness of victory in the ultimate reversal of his Indianapolis fortunes.
"I think everything just comes full circle. Everything is meant to be," Larson told NBC Sports. "Today definitely meant to be for us. With the way the strategy was working out, Brad running out of fuel, me inheriting the front row, a lot had to fall into place. Thankfully it did.
"I can't believe it. It's surreal to win here. Can't wait to kiss the bricks with my team."
Larson's victory has given him his own niche in the long history of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, as he becomes the first driver to ever compete in the Indy 500 and then win the Brickyard 400 in the same year. This is also the 26th win of Larson's Cup career, giving him sole possession of 27th on NASCAR's all-time wins list.
Gas and go
As passing on sheer speed alone proved difficult Sunday, the Brickyard 400 became a battle of pit strategy and track position, with all strategies eventually converging in a fuel mileage race at the front of the field. Brad Keselowski spent the closing laps trying to stretch his fuel longer than anyone else, and it looked like he may have enough to hold off both Blaney and Larson as he went through Turns 3 and 4 headed to two laps to go.
Then, Kyle Busch crashed in Turn 3, sending the race to overtime and putting Keselowski in a position where he was bound to run out of fuel. Coming off Turn 4 to take the green flag in overtime, Keselowski's tank ran dry, forcing him to peel off to pit road and give up both the race lead and a chance to win -- while also setting up an eyebrow-raising final restart.
When Keselowski went to the pits, Ryan Blaney inherited the race lead and also inherited the right to be the "control car" on the restart and launch first. It also allowed the cars on the inside row, led by Larson, to move up a row. As Larson pulled up to the front row, he appeared to launch at the same time as Blaney -- or even earlier -- allowing him to race Blaney to Turn 1.
A multi-car crash in the first corner brought the caution out again, setting up double overtime and making Larson the race leader -- much to the displeasure of Blaney, who ended up finishing third.
"I obviously chose the top because (Keselowski) might run out in the restart zone. He runs out coming to the green so he gets to go to pit road and the 5 gets promoted. Luck of the day right there, I guess," Blaney told NBC Sports. "I don't know. I don't know what to be mad about. Mad at losing this race because I thought we were in the perfect position."
While NASCAR ruled that Larson did not jump the pivotal restart, Blaney proposed that NASCAR should have called the restart off -- as is done on some short tracks when a restart is questionable -- and allowed the field to go through the choose zone again. Given the situation, Blaney said he would have chosen to restart on the inside line had he been given the opportunity in order to get the preferred line into the corner.
"Now you're promoting the third-place guy before the second-place guy if the leader has problems. That's not right. It's dumb luck, right? Of where Brad ran out and stuff like this. At this racetrack where the bottom is preferred," Blaney said. "... I don't know. I'm just upset.
"That's a heartbreaker. We did everything right today. I mean, was in prime position to win and just didn't work out for us. Just got unlucky."
NASCAR and Straight Talk Wireless today announced an official multi-year partnership that makes Straight Talk Wireless an Official Wireless Partner of NASCAR. With this, Straight Talk Wireless also becomes an Official Partner of Homestead-Miami Speedway, including the entitlement to the October 27 NASCAR Cup Series playoff race – the Straight Talk Wireless 400. Terms were not disclosed.
“We’re excited to come together with NASCAR as there is so much overlap between Straight Talk customers and NASCAR fans,” said Cheryl Gresham, CMO of Verizon Value. “This partnership is very fitting. Our Straight Talk customers appreciate real value and reliable service wherever they are. As they experience the legendary NASCAR series this year, we look forward to meeting them at the track.”
In addition, NASCAR and Straight Talk Wireless will also be joining forces to present “NASCAR on Tour,” an exciting event series coming to select Walmart parking lots in Daytona Beach, Florida; Darlington, South Carolina; Atlanta, Georgia; Bentonville, Arkansas; Bristol, Tennessee; Kansas City, Missouri; Talladega, Alabama; Charlotte, North Carolina; Greenville, South Carolina; and Miami, Florida from August 21 to October 27. “NASCAR on Tour” will bring the ultimate racing experience to fans across the country, allowing them the opportunity to enjoy racing-themed experiences, giveaways, driver appearances, exclusive offers and much more. Additionally, new customers attending the “NASCAR on Tour” on-site events are eligible to participate in an exclusive Straight Talk Wireless promotion: buy one month and get one month free on any unlimited plan.
“Straight Talk Wireless is such a recognizable brand, and one that shares NASCAR’s priorities in providing tremendous value for its customers and their families,” said Michelle Byron, NASCAR executive vice president and chief partnership and licensing officer. “We are thrilled to have Straight Talk Wireless join the NASCAR family as an Official Partner, both at the league and track level.”
Available only at Walmart or via www.straighttalk.com, Straight Talk Wireless is a wireless service provider that offers a wide variety of value-based plans, including month-to-month options for customers seeking plan flexibility and affordable pricing. As part of the Official Partnership, Straight Talk Wireless will have a presence at all NASCAR-owned events, including the option to activate on site at select events and to create customized offers for NASCAR fans.
The NASCAR Cup Series continues with the Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway on Sunday, August 11 at 6 pm ET on USA, MRN and SiriusXM and NASCAR Radio.
A month after an engine explosion sent his race car careening into a concrete guardwall at more than 300 miles per hour at Virginia Motorsports Park, drag racing champion John Force was discharged Tuesday from Barrow Neurological Institute, where he was undergoing rehab for a TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury).
According to family members, while the 16-time Funny Car Champion will continue to work with therapists specializing in such injuries, it now will be on an outpatient basis in California.
“He finally gets to sleep in his own bed,” said daughter Ashley Hood who, with sisters Brittany, Courtney and Adria and mother, Laurie, maintained a constant presence through the Hall of Fame driver and car owner’s hospitalizations in Virginia and Arizona.
The next phase in the recovery process will be outpatient speech, as well as OTPT (Occupational and Physical Therapy) to address lingering short-term memory and cognitive issues.
NASCAR's sponsorship sales team going through big changes according to Sports Business Journal’s Adam Stern.
Reshuffling of staff, hiring of agency part of move to boost sales efforts
NASCAR is looking to extend the deals of premier partners Geico and Xfinity.
These are busy times for NASCAR Holdings when it comes to corporate sponsorship — reshuffling its sales team, bringing in a brand consultant and working to renew or land several important deals.
While NASCAR’s sales team has had success since the pandemic, major sponsorships with blue-chip companies new to the sport have been harder to come by during that time, and competition has increased fiercely. NASCAR is also preparing for a new era next year with the start of a new media rights cycle, all factors that appear to be contributing to NASCAR’s latest moves.
After 30 years of service to NASCAR and International Speedway Corp., NASCAR’s executive vice president and chief revenue officer, Daryl Wolfe, told colleagues this month he will retire after the 2024 season. NASCAR also recently let go multiple salespeople under Wolfe and, in a move that came several months ago, quietly hired Denver-based brand consultancy Monigle to change how the company goes to the market overall, including in the sponsorship space.
Xfinity and Geico, two of NASCAR’s four premier partners, are said to be in renewal discussions, while a third, Coca-Cola, has been making changes to its deal. NASCAR is looking for a fifth premier partner, sources said, in what would be the first new brand to come in at that level since the system debuted in 2020. Moreover, it’s looking to fill smaller deals in a host of open categories, including technology.
Taken together, there’s a lot going on for NASCAR, and top brass appear determined to get more aggressive in driving revenue.
“If, as a league, they don’t evolve and grow with the way the marketplace is going, then they’re going to fall behind,” said Kami Taylor, executive vice president of experiential at Octagon, which works with several brands in NASCAR. “However, I think the overall health of NASCAR is strong and they still provide robust sponsorship opportunities for brands looking to grow regionally or domestically.”
NASCAR officials declined to comment.
Sponsorship has been a part of the 76-year-old sport for decades to defray the cost of running a race team and the league. Over time, that formula — combined with the massive fan base that NASCAR developed — helped turn NASCAR into a marketing and licensing powerhouse. But following the 2008 financial crisis, sponsorship started to dry up relative to its peak.
Just as NASCAR was switching to its new premier partner system in 2020, Formula 1 grew its popularity immensely through the opportunely timed Netflix series “Drive to Survive,” which got many Americans into the sport while they were stuck at home during pandemic lockdowns. Corporate partners quickly followed, and 2021 and 2022 were filled with announcements from brands based in the U.S. getting into F1 for the first time or renewing. In 2024, roughly 75% of all technology-related sponsors in F1 — including team sponsors — are American companies, according to Spomotion Analytics, with more than 40 from the U.S. compared to just six from Europe. That includes Amazon, Google, Microsoft, American Express, Oracle, Visa, Dell Technologies, Hewlett Packard, Cash App and Meta’s WhatsApp messaging platform.
In 2023, NASCAR said it added seven official sponsors, and it’s added two more this year. Brands added since 2023 include FanDuel, Powerball, Hard Rock Bet, ABB, Cabo Wabo tequila, RTIC coolers, Leidos, Ally Financial and Liquid Death.
When NASCAR moved to the premier partner system for its top Cup Series, it asked around $15 million annually over three- to five-year terms for those positions, sources said at the time, but it was unclear how much incremental revenue NASCAR saw because the four brands that signed on were already official partners. On top of Xfinity, Geico and Coke, the fourth premier partner is Anheuser-Busch’s Busch Light brand.
NASCAR has looked into landing a fifth premier partner and doing so would ensure that the racing property would still have at least four if one of the original partners left.
Xfinity became title sponsor of NASCAR’s second-level series in 2015 as part of a corporate synergy strategy from Comcast, whose NBC Sports began broadcasting NASCAR races that year. Matt Lederer, Comcast’s vice president of branded partnerships and activation, has said Xfinity is in renewal talks with NASCAR. But the company wants to shake up the terms of its agreement, be more flexible with its spending and possibly redirect some of its league-level spending to other parts of the NASCAR industry, such as its team relationship with 23XI Racing.
Xfinity Mobile is a key product for Comcast and figures to be an important part of the next deal. Xfinity currently spends more than $10 million in the sport annually, all told, according to sources. The major question is whether Comcast will continue being both a premier partner of NASCAR and title sponsor of the Xfinity Series. Sources say it’s possible Xfinity could do a short-term renewal as title sponsor before shifting its relationship in the coming years to just being a premier partner.
Geico also is said to be in renewal discussions, and industry executives have waffled all year on whether the Berkshire Hathaway-owned insurer will renew. The company has had a multitude of executive and agency changes in recent years, which often equals change in sports marketing deals.
Meanwhile, Coke’s deal is expected to continue next year, but the company has been making changes to its asset mix, sources say. Some NASCAR-owned tracks have started selling their soda rights to other brands — such as Kansas Speedway having 7UP sponsorship at its race this year — which shows how Coca-Cola has changed some of its asset mix.
The new structure of NASCAR’s sales team and whether NASCAR will hire a new CRO to directly replace Wolfe was unclear. Taylor, the Octagon executive, recommended that NASCAR continue to partner with teams on sponsorship packages to make deals “one larger package instead of just disparate pieces from an asset perspective.” The sport has improved its cool factor since the pandemic, and Taylor noted that should help the company find new sponsors.
“That does help, because now they have got a different product than they had before to go out and sell with,” Taylor said.
Kubota High Limit Racing announced that the series will be heading to Australia's Perth Motorplex for three days of racing, December 28-30.
High Limit Racing is expanding beyond the USA borders for the first time through a partnership with Perth Motorplex in Perth, Western Australia. The three-day “High Limit International: Perth” will pay an Australian sprint car record $100,000 to the finale’s winner. High Limit International: Perth will stream live across the globe exclusively on FloRacing.
“All of us at High Limit are excited to take the first step in expanding our brand to an international level,” said Kyle Larson, Co-Owner of High Limit Racing. “Australian sprint car fans are passionate and super supportive. They deserve a six-figure paying race as do the Australian drivers and teams. I’m looking forward to getting down there with Brad (Sweet) and some of our High Rollers to race with those guys.”
Although the international event does not count toward the Kubota High Limit Racing point standings, thus far six Kubota High Limit Racing drivers will participate in the December 28, 29 and 30 event. Larson will be making his first career start at the Western Australian track. Sweet, Cory Eliason, Parker Price-Miller and Rico Abreu are both previous winners at the Motorplex. Australian High Roller James McFadden has nine career Motorplex wins and is the current Western Australia Sprint Car Champion. These “High Rollers” and more who are securing their Australian rides, will take on Australia’s top sprint car drivers including Callum Williamson, Dayne Kingshott and Jason Kendrick at the state-of-the-art venue that was recently named Speedway Australia’s Track of the Year.
“The Perth Motorplex is extremely excited to be the first track outside of North America to host High Limit Racing,” said Gavin Migro, General Manager at Perth Motorplex. “We’re proud to host the nation’s first ever $100,000-to-win sprint car race, joining some of the world’s highest paying events. Australian Speedway fans are in for an absolute delight to witness some of the greatest sprint car racers in the world battling in the most remote capital city on the planet.”
“This has been a goal of ours since the formation of High Limit Racing – to become a global brand and bring High Limit to race fans around the world,” said Sweet, Co-Owner of High Limit Racing. “Perth Motorplex is a great facility with an impressive staff and a strong fanbase. To team up with Gavin (Migro) and his track for our first international event was a no-brainer for us. We’re proud to be bringing a high-paying, high-caliber event to Australian sprint car fans.”
Elements from Kubota High Limit Racing events in “the States” will be traveling halfway around the world to the event, including the dice roll – giving race fans who pre-purchase tickets a chance at winning big money – will be included in the event. Announcers Chase Raudman and Tony LaPorta will join Perth Motorplex’s announcers while Competition Director Mike Hess will be managing the event from the pit side.
Australia is the second largest subscriber market for FloSports’ motorsports brand - FloRacing - outside of the U.S. The addition of “High Limit International: Perth” to the FloRacing schedule rounds out an action-packed December that will include the 57th Snowball Derby, Gateway Dirt Nationals, and The Tulsa Shootout.
Michael Rigsby, FloRacing GM added, “We know that our Australian fans are eager for more motorsports action on their shores and to be able to bring another high-paying High Limit Racing event to them and stream it to the world is extremely exciting. This is going to super fuel the growth of High Limit and FloRacing in the market.”
Race fans from around the world have five months to book their airfare and accommodations to go “Down Under” and witness this inaugural event live. For event alerts, including early access to ticket sales, sign-up here.
Stay up to date with “High Limit International: Perth” news by following Perth Motorplex on Facebook, X and Instagram. All information on Kubota High Limit Racing, including the international event, will be updated on highlimitracing.com, Facebook, X, Instagram and the recently debuted TikTok account.
NASCAR Setting Sights On International Expansion
According to Autoweek’s Deb Williams NASCAR employees have been told to make sure their passports are current.
NASCAR’s Cup Series will one day travel outside the United States, but when that occurs has yet to be determined,” says Chad Seigler, NASCAR’s chief international officer.
“We’re still working on the 2025 schedule,” Seigler said. “If you talk to anyone in the industry, there’s kind of what I feel like is a universal understanding that we need to start expanding outside of the U.S.”
NASCAR employees have been told to make sure their passports are current.
In recent years, there has been speculation the Cup schedule would have a race in either Canada or Mexico.
“I don’t think they’re necessarily weighing one over the other (Mexico or Canada),” Seigler said. “The logical place for you to go initially is North America. Then that sets you up to start to explore opportunities outside of North America.
NASCAR already has series in Canada, Mexico, Europe and Brazil.
Salvador de Alba Jr., NASCAR Mexico Series Champion, and Chad Seigler, NASCAR, attend the 2023 NASCAR Awards.
“Our (international) philosophy is that we want to go into a region or a market, we want to set up a series in that market where we can create local stars, local heroes, local talent, not just from the driver side, but we want to make sure when they think about that pathway, that there’s potential for a mechanic or a crew chief or an engineer,” Seigler said.
Last year, eight to 11 different countries were represented at Watkins Glen. This year at Daytona, NASCAR hosted people from more than seven different countries who want to “learn about NASCAR.” Also at this year’s Daytona 500, NASCAR hosted eight drivers from Brazil. After Speedweek, they tested at New Smyrna to become more familiar with oval track racing.
One EURO NASCAR race weekend two years ago at Brands Hatch, just outside of London, attracted 43,000 people. Last year, NASCAR’s Brazil series had about 40,000 people at Interlagos, a 2.677-mile (4.309 km) circuit in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
“That tells me there’s a passion and an interest and an excitement for our style of racing,” Seigler said.
Occasionally, NASCAR will have a Cup driver compete in one of its international series. Such will be the case during the two-week Olympic break when Daniel Suarez travels to Brazil for his wedding. After he and Julia Piquet are married, Suarez will compete at Interlagos.
“I’m very convinced that Julia loves racing, either more or the same that I do,” Suarez said.
Suarez noted that before the series was known as NASCAR Brazil it traveled to the United States a few years ago and Julia was invited to compete in the races it conducted. She accepted.
“I may have to go ask her for advice on this one,” Suarez said with a smile.
Julia is the daughter of three-time Formula 1 champion Nelson Piquet and sister of Nelson Piquet Jr., a Formula E champion who currently competes full time in the Brazilian Stock Car Pro Series.
Earlier this month, Xfinity Series driver Hailie Deegan and her team, AM Racing, parted ways.
It now raises the question: what's next for Deegan? Will she get another chance to climb the ladder and end up on the NASCAR Cup Series circuit?
On the latest edition of "Kevin Harvick's Happy Hour," host Kevin Harvick provided his perspective on Deegan's racing future.
"The big mistake here was getting out of the Toyota development system. I think Ford has the worst development program as far as their drivers go. I think Toyota has the best, and I think Chevy's somewhere in the middle. Getting out of that Toyota development program with all the resources, and they're willing to give time. I think that she needed more time in the Truck Series, getting that guidance and mentorship that she needed in order to develop into what she needed to be a NASCAR race-car driver," Harvick said. "She carries this fan base off the racetrack that's a big fan base, and I think that she just got pushed through too fast and wound up in the wrong development system for her to be successful.
"I think the moment that she stepped outside of that Toyota development system was a bad move. … I think it's going to be tough to get another chance. That's going to be the hard part."
Deegan, who recently turned 23, was 28th in total points (174) in the Xfinity Series this season, with no top-five or top-10 finishes before the split with AM Racing. It was Deegan's first season in the Xfinity Series, which came after racing three years in the Truck Series.
Across her three full-time seasons in trucks (2021-23), Deegan posted one combined top-five finish and six top-10 finishes. She finished 17th, 21st and 19th (in order) in points in those three seasons. Deegan joined Toyota's development program in 2017 but left for Ford in late 2019.
Prior to making the jump to trucks, Deegan competed in the ARCA Menards Series West, where she racked up three wins from 2018-19 and then went on to win the 2020 ARCA Menards Series Rookie of the Year Award. In that 2020 campaign, Deegan had four top-five finishes and 17 top-10 finishes, while finishing third in points.
Deegan was one of two female drivers in the Xfinity Series this season — Natalie Decker, who drives on a part-time basis, being the other — and is the daughter of six-time motocross riding champion Brian Deegan.
Six NASCAR Cup Series teams participated in a Goodyear Tire test on a warm and muggy Tuesday at Bristol Motor Speedway, in preparation for the crown jewel Bass Pro Shops Night Race, Saturday, Sept. 21.
The challenging 500-lap race is the cut-off race in the NASCAR Cup Series Round of 16 Playoffs. Following the race, the Cup Playoff field will be trimmed from 16 eligible drivers to 12.
Goodyear conducted the test following a highly-competitive Food City 500 in March, where teams faced a different Bristol challenge and had to manage tire wear throughout the race. Denny Hamlin won the race and said it was the most fun he has had in quite a while.
“This is the first time the driver played a huge role in a long, long time,” Hamlin said. “It’s a different philosophy than we are used to. Mostly cars on the bottom are running hard all the way around and then today there was driver technique that had to be a major part of it. I’m so proud. I feel like I played a huge factor in the result. It’s one of the more-proud races I’ve had in my career.”
The following drivers participated in the test: Former Bristol Xfinity Series winner Chase Briscoe, 2022 Night Race winner Chris Buescher, Bristol Xfinity Series race winner Austin Dillon, Justin Haley, Corey LaJoie and John Hunter Nemechek, who finished a career-best sixth in the Food City 500 this past April.
Below are select quotes from the test:
Austin Dillon, No. 3 Chevy, Richard Childress Racing: “Goodyear realized the PJ1 was very helpful for the tire and made it live a lot longer. The resin that they ran last time doesn’t seem to let the rubber lay down and it just dusts up. Laying rubber down you can run longer runs. The tire felt fine and we had good lap times. The tire did fall off quite a bit. Over 30 laps it was almost a second, pretty good falloff. That’s pretty good, really. That’s falling off fast enough to where if your car is a little better than the next guy, you can kind of manage the tire and pass the guys in front of you. We started early at 9 a.m. today and temperature always plays a little bit of a factor, but we thought it would lay rubber faster because of the heat and usually when it’s colder it takes a little longer, and it didn’t happen. Goodyear and Bristol had to put the PJ1 back on it and that seemed to solve a little bit of the tire wear issue. You have to manage things. Extreme case was the last race here (Food City 500, March 2024) where you were running slower to make a 50-lap run, that was somewhat fun. It was different. If you told us that was going to happen we would’ve managed it better, but that’s what made it a pretty good race.”
Chase Briscoe, No. 14 Ford, Stewart-Haas Racing: “It’s hard to say how much you can take away from a test, but when you think about it there wasn’t much rubber laid down with only six cars here. It’s weird, I don’t quite understand how the spring race played out like it did. It would be different if that was the first Next Gen race we ever had here, but we’ve ran other races and never had that problem. Now it’s like a thing to figure out. It’s definitely interesting, but also a lot of fun. Early in the day we could run 25 to 30 laps and there at the end I ran 40 laps. If there were more cars here we would’ve had more rubber. It does create a unique challenge and it puts a lot in the driver’s hands. We don’t really have this other places we go. It’s a little struggle from my standpoint since I came from dirt where tire wear isn’t a problem. I ran every lap as hard as I possibly could today. It is a lot of fun because the driver can make a bigger difference. When we come back for the Night Race it will be cooler. The one thing that’s odd for me is that we were in 85-90 degree weather and still didn’t have that rubber build up or that color change. I will let the guys who are way smarter than me figure that out. It’s head-scratching for sure, trying to see what’s changed here in a year. At the Night Race I think you will see the same typical same Bristol racing where we start at the bottom early and then by the end you can run the top and bottom.”
Chris Buescher, No. 17 Ford, RFK Racing: (How did it go out there today?) “It’s a lot hotter today and it was very cool the last go and thought that in itself would help our cause a lot. Not that our last time here was bad, you want tire wear and you want to manage things, but it was a little bit on the heavy end of it. We were kinda hoping with a warmer temperature we could make it to that 40-60 lap window and control your own destiny if you can save some tire. We felt like there was still some heavy wear, so they put the PJ1 down here about halfway through the day. I vote for the PJ1 and I’m a fan of it as long as it stays on the narrow side. The PJ1 seems to wear out through a race weekend and the hope is that the groove will move around to where we will start chasing the middle and the top. Again, it’s not like we were blowing a bunch of tires here last time. The catastrophic failures were those that tried to push beyond what was reasonable on cords. There’s a common ground in there in my mind. We needed a hotter day on track to be able to compare data. There are enough theories around it and some of the issues to have enough heat in the race track, even if it is cooler when we come back and run into the night. Ultimately, we will be able to go more toward the spring setup, but it will also depend on what we do in terms of track setup.” (Still thinking about Kansas and getting in the Playoffs?) “Not dwelling on it, but it comes up a lot in highlight reels right now. It's not our highlight, it’s Larson’s. We’ve been really good lately, and we were good at Pocono, a place that’s been challenging to us over the years, and we are close to doing all the things right. We just have to figure out how to win one of these things.”
John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Toyota, Legacy Motor Club: “Anytime I can come to Bristol and get some laps in is super exciting and being able to be a part of this test and try and learn something and figure out what we need when we come back later in the year is the goal. We will go back and debrief and talk about it. (How much tire falloff are you comfortable with?) “I know I am probably one of the few, but I really enjoyed the spring race (Food City 500 in March), it made the driver have to save tires instead of going all out every lap and try to predict where the falloff was going to be and there were crew chiefs making strategy calls, like whether to pit under green. Some people say it’s chaos I guess, but overall, I thought it was a great race. From a spectator standpoint I went back and watched the race (on TV). I thought it was great.” (Does a hot day like this alter the tire data?) “The temperatures definitely play a factor in the racetrack and how much it changes your balance in the car. I feel like when we come back we will have a little cooler conditions and we may have a little bit different of a race track.”
On Saturday evening, Sept. 21, the crown jewel Bass Pro Shops Night Race will showcase the Cup Series Round of 16 Playoff elimination race (7:30 p.m., USA Network, PRN Radio) under the lights as tensions will be high. The NASCAR Xfinity Series regular season will finish on Friday night, Sept. 20, during the running of the Food City 300 (7:30 p.m., USA Network, PRN Radio). NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. is scheduled to compete in the Food City 300 for the second straight year. He led 47 laps of the race last year before a short in a wire ended his night.
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will get the fun started on Thursday night, Sept. 19, with the running of the UNOH 200 presented by Ohio Logistics (8 p.m., FS1 and MRN Radio). The ARCA Menards Series will open Thursday’s racing to make it a doubleheader night with the Bush’s Beans 200 (5 p.m., FS1 and MRN Radio).
For tickets, please visit the BMS website or call the BMS Ticket Sales Center at (866) 415-4158. For a limited time, tickets can also be purchased at your neighborhood Food City store.
The Big Series of Modified, Sportsman, and Street Stock races returns to Orange County Fair Speedway on Sunday, August 4 to celebrate the historic track’s 105th Anniversary of auto racing on Joey Falanga Memorial Night. (Joey Falanga was a former competitor who competed at Orange County and who lost his life in a highway accident.) The program includes qualifying races in each division leading to feature events---30 laps for the DIRTcar Big-Block Modifieds, 20 laps for the Sportsman, and 15 for the Street Stocks.
Race meet two of The Big Series will follow the same format as the June inaugural. The event is DIRTcar sanctioned, allowing DIRTcar members to count this race towards their home track status. DIRTcar membership is not required to enter the event. As at the previous race meet, Small-Block Modified teams are encouraged to enter, with several engine-weight allowances permitted.
The headline Big-Block Modified feature has a $2,500-to-win base purse, but several special awards and bonus prizes---cash and merchandise certificates---await both the winner and additional race finishers. The Sportsman and Street Stock features also include bonus awards.
Fans are invited to come out early and enjoy the music of Iron Cobra from 3:00-5:00 pm on the outdoor stage. And to help keep cool, with each admission (while supplies last) race fans will get an old-fashioned hand fan that incorporates a full-color photo of an Orange County driver’s car. There’s a choice of eight different fans.
JP Adamsky Trucking, of Newton, New Jersey, has come on board as the sponsor of the three-race The Big Series Modified point fund. The top point man will earn $1,000 and a guaranteed seventh-place start in the October 27 Eastern State 200. Second and third-place point finishers will receive cash and positions eight and nine in the Eastern State 200.
On August 4, Joey Falanga Memorial Night, spectator and pit gates will open at 3:00 pm. That’s also when Iron Cobra begins playing on the outdoor stage. Race cars will be on the track beginning approximately 5:00 pm. Following qualifying, the Modified feature will be held first.
Adult General Admission for August 4 all Stands or Drive-In is $20, Seniors 62+ $15, Children 12 and under $2. Party Deck $30 per person two person minimum, Limited VIP Seating $50 per person (Call for information). All Pit Passes $35.
An open practice session is scheduled for Saturday, August 3 between 6:00-9:00 pm. All pit passes are $25.00. Fans may watch the practice session from the stands free.
