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Brad Keselowski

NASCAR Website/Blog Weekly Recap: A few best mid-running teams and more from the 2025 Toyota/Save Smart 350 at Sonoma Raceway

by Sports Benches July 14, 2025

Another week, another win by one of NASCAR’s greatest road course racers right now in Shane Van Gisbergen.

He could have swept all three stage wins except when he chose to pit late in Stage 1 just to ensure he’s good for the rest but SVG never looked out of place since then.

He’s well set up to dominate the Playoffs with the extras in rugby terms like his winning kicking game celebration all the way past the two sticks or grandstands.

Great to see Michael McDowell finish 4th for Spire whose car may not have the same fire as SVG’s but he sure played his cards right with strategy including an extended run for the lead off the back of Stage 3 yellows coming from an experienced road course racer himself.

Same goes with Tyler Reddick too in the No.45 Toyota as the best mid-run Camry for 23XI having backed up another Top 10 road course result 2nd week down in 6th.

Plus, Brad Keselowski was the best mid-run Ford just outside the Top 10 in 11th for RFK Racing where he did the same thing like Tyler and McDowell. He could’ve resisted the temptation of not pitting late on yellows that would have given him a fighting chance up high & instead struggled at the restart. But not bad though with the result & there’s still time for Brad K to stamp a regular season win.

And special shoutout to Ty Dillon in the No.10 Chevy for Kaulig Racing who still found a way to stay in the in-season championship bubble at semi-finals time.

He finished 17th when his previous opponent Alex Bowman by two spots down (19th) as all he has to do is beat John Hunter Nemechek in the semi-final placing next weekend at the short track Dover and he could be in to win it come Indianapolis at the end of the month.

He’s even the only Chevy out there v three other Toyotas like JHN at Legacy, Ty Gibbs of course via his grandfather’s team, and Reddick as always with Denny’s 23XI side.

Maybe someone else should start giving Ty some additional sponsorship like from Polkadot and somehow the $$$ could be spent to help him win that in-season trophy by the time TNT airs its fifth and final race of the mid-summer & NBC takes over from August to the Championship Playoffs leg till November.

Looking at his run today, he was actually really good across the first half which was a boost with stage points. Now he couldn’t quite translate that promising start with his long runs but a few late yellows allowed TD to at least bring the car home.

All in all, another good week of road course racing where the battle of places is there as we go back to ovals on the short tracks.

It would have been extra cool though if the Supercars guys stick around a bit longer including Jack Perkins but then they had their own thing going on in Townsville.

I hear someone at Erebus Motorsport is considering Jesse Love from Childress’ Xfinity team to drive that wildcard Camaro car for the Adelaide finale event once the NASCAR season is over later November even though he could go back to Toyota should Legacy MC able to add a 3rd car.

We’ll see and if he does go to Toyota, there’s always Andretti Walkinshaw or Brad Jones Racing with the new Supras.

Sure there will be more good moments to come at Watkins Glen this September and Charlotte Roval in early/mid October.

July 14, 2025 0 comment

NASCAR

NASCAR: A few best mid-running drivers from the 2025 Quaker State 400 from Atlanta Motor Speedway with a bit of Truck racing earlier at Lime Rock Park

by Sports Benches June 29, 2025

Oh so close by Brad Keselowski in the No.6 Ford Mustang for RFK who had a top weekend from practice to race day.

The speed is there a few times throughout the night just need to turn into race wins where Chase Elliott got the better of him at the white flag on what has been a chain-reacted night along with an unreal last-lap finish on the ride home in Atlanta.

On the face of it, those RFK Fords have been fast as of late no doubt; sure they will find a way to get onto victory lane sooner than later even if they make the Playoffs without a win but strong finishes here and there.

Top shelf by the two satellite Toyota Camry cars in Tyler Reddick at 23Xl in 4th and Legacy MC’s Erik Jones 5th.

Erik never gave up & rebound straight from yellows under green while Tyler was trouble-free all night long to Top 5 & stayed battling up front since then.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. the one who continues to deliver at caution-filled races with some good late race opportunities finished 6th for the No.47 Chevy at Hyak Motorsports.

Special shoutout elsewhere to TNT Sports who just returned to NASCAR racing to bring you the next five Cup races.

Wish they could bring the Altcast one with Larry McReynolds and Jeff Burton on some extra stream Internationally but that one was only capped to TruTV & Max in the US.

Same with the in-car onboard cameras that was previously available to everyone by NASCAR.com until Max took over that product when the previous 10-year TV deal lapsed at the end of last season.

Meanwhile earlier today at Lime Rock Park in the Craftsman Truck Series, Corey Heim was too good in that No.11 Toyota Tundra for Tricon Garage, who continues to dominate simply everything once again.

It’s been a while to defending champion Ty Majeski who finished 2nd and so does rookie & fellow Tricon driver in the No.17 Gio Ruggiero after he came home 3rd.

Plus, shoutout to two more: one who came all the way from Supercars just for this occasion and another is an announcer with strong ties to this race track.

It’s Cameron Waters from Tickford Racing where he benefitted off a late yellow & also restart in 5th after running mid-pack for the most part with ThorSport Racing (No.67 Ford F-150) while Mike Joy from FOX NASCAR was there as an honorary guest rather than calling this race when it’s only Cup (usually the first half year).

He could’ve also called the Indy 500 that could make Mike call both 500s all in the one year but only Chris Myers achieved that since he’s always a studio host and Will Buxton from the UK is in good hands.

Wish Cam could stay on for another week but for the Chicago Street Race since there’s no Truck racing for the next few weeks when Will Brown from Triple Eight will be back this time in a part-time Chevy for Kaulig Racing’s Cup team & so does Jack Perkins by surprise but in a Toyota Supra at Joe Gibbs Racing’s Xfinity team.

Maybe Rick Ware Racing should call Cam up right now to have him race the No.01 part-time Ford then? Then somehow we could have three Supercars drivers if not four if you count SVG racing NASCARs all on that one awesome race weekend.

RWR’s future has been secured the other day thanks to new majority owner TJ Puchyr with the eventual goal of running a competitive three-car Cup team in the model of his old team that he co-founded so many years ago at Spire Motorsports.

What they’re doing right now when it comes to their competitive state and the way RWR treats their charters is more to do with just business than anything trying to reach some Top 10s every week.

However, for once, let’s hope TJ can finally help RWR tell the rest of the field that they’re here to win races rather than just sticking themselves at the back.

They could even be a Dodge team at the right time someday with Ram coming back to Trucks as soon as February next year at Daytona.

June 29, 2025 0 comment

NASCAR

NASCAR News Today: Chase Briscoe wins the 2025 The Great American Getaway 400 plus a few best mid-running teams from Pocono Raceway

by Sports Benches June 23, 2025

You just cannot believe what RFK Racing has been up to today where they had all three cars in the Top 10 with Chris Buescher leading the way in 4th.

A win would’ve been all but awesome having started from 2nd.

Even though he may not been able to find a way to outsmart those Toyotas, it’s still a top day though finishing inside Top 5 who deserves a regular season win soon.

Same with team-mates Ryan Preece and Brad K, both of whom also benefited greatly with a mix of yellows and strategy including an extended shot upfront by Brad, when things were up and down earlier on but both finished not bad in 8th and 9th.

And there’s another team out there that usually benefitted from the larger ovals with no need for an intro to Legacy MC.

Top weekend with a top setup where John Hunter Nemechek in the No.42 Toyota went all in for the overall result & JHN caught that one beautifully in 6th.

Your winner today at Pocono is Chase Briscoe also a Toyota but in a top team at Joe Gibbs Racing.

He had a flying start from 6th to 4th Stage 1 where it took figuring out for Chase and his Aussie crew chief James Small to force their No.19 Camry up front. From there off the back of yellows, that effect seems to have worked on their favour and they’ve never looked back ever since – how good!

It could’ve been Denny’s day over in the sister 11 car after he spent the rare weekend off last weekend when NASCAR crossed borders to Mexico City due to the birth of his third child – a baby boy.

But at the end of the day, it’s all about planning that 200mph chess (new term there made by Steve Letarte) right rather than just being fast if it wasn’t for yellows, and also weather plays a big factor too.

That’s how Chase went on to win saying “checkmate” over Denny fair and square.

Not a lot of Chevys down the Top 10 other than just the Hendrick duo of Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson in between 5th & 7th with Daniel Suarez being the best Chevy mid-pack runner in 5th following a tough afternoon from these cars when it comes to Chevy’s satellite teams.

But the only and only best Chevy moment from the weekend was the Saturday Xfinity race where Connor Zilisch got away the win over Jesse Love only laps before the finish line with Dale Jr. by his side from the pit box for just one race when Connor’s usual crew chief had to sit out by NASCAR officials.

At only 18 soon to be 19 next month, he continues to be one hell of a talent being Chevy’s own Ty Gibbs. Time will tell if he will get his chance full-time next season at Trackhouse at Cup or there’s always Spire or even Hendrick although we know he’s a Red Bull athlete much like SVG and they are both tied to Trackhouse.

Off the back of Daniel’s Xfinity and SVG’s Cup wins at the same Mexico City place last weekend, hate to see either one of them go when Trackhouse isn’t new at having to fit in drivers every year. But here’s hoping Justin Marks will find a compromise somehow that can hopefully help Chevy win championships again.

Can’t wait for the night race for the first time in 2025 when NASCAR returns to Atlanta Motor Speedway and also a first of returns too by TNT coinciding with the all-new in-season knockout competition.

June 23, 2025 0 comment

Motorsport NASCAR

NASCAR Shoutouts after the 2024 season-finale: Chris Buescher the best non-Playoffs driver outside the Top 16 Points, more farewells & a few exciting things to look out for going into 2025

by Sports Benches November 11, 2024

And now we roll off with the shoutouts for the final time in season 2024 aside from yet another Team Penske season where Joey Logano got his 3rd Drivers’ Championship there for the Blue Oval Ford as we start with Chris Buescher. Shoutout to Buescher as the best non-Playoffs driver of 2024 after he came home 9th in the No.17 Ford for RFK Racing. Who knows what he could do next year? When Kroger is expected to be onboard soon & he and Brad Keselowski will be able to see their team add a 3rd chartered car imminently.

So does Stewart-Haas Racing (Ford) after they finished their last race as a whole team together with No.10’s Noah Gragson being their best driver of the day in 12th. I know he’s already signed up to Front Row Motorsports next year but we’ll have to wait and see what happens since FRM has been in a court yard fight alongside 23XI Racing with the sport lately re. charters.

Don’t forget Harrison Burton over in 16th even though he wasn’t the best for Wood Brothers Ford over these last three years but still made his first and the team’s 100th win come true at Daytona’s summer race. Although Wood Brothers will be in good hands with a handy racer in Josh Berry next year, but there’s more to come from Harrison when he will step back at Xfinity level with another Ford outfit at AM Racing – wishing him the very best of luck.

Then we look at the 2017 Cup champ Martin Truex Jr. who also competed his last race as a full-time driver. Now he may not have been able to convert into a race win from pole, but still one of the best racers to watch including the last decade over the best of Toyota Cup teams.

Going down a position in 18th, how about also the best rookie on show Carson Hocevar in the No.77 Chevy for Spire Motorsports? He’s got a bright future ahead straight out of Trucks, especially with Spire growing more and more every race weekend alongside Justin Haley in the 7 — and they’ll soon be joined by veteran Michael McDowell in the 71 next season after his decorated seven-year stint with Ford’s Front Row Motorsports.

And if that’s not enough, how about we give a big shoutout to Australia’s own Leigh Diffey, who now calls America home & also recently became NBC’s lead NASCAR race commentator at least for Cup. We continue to see and hear the best of Leigh at the highest of racing levels whether if it’s Motorsport or Athletics/Track and Field as sure there will be more memorable NASCAR calls by the Diff going into next year and beyond. Well done Leigh & have a well-deserved break.

Yes, we’ve also heard the best of Rick Allen over the past decade up until late August before Leigh took over, having called the Xfinity season-finale race live the other day for The CW under NBC’s production. But again, we thank him for what he’s done as wishing him good luck wherever he ends up next season.

So there we have it, the 2024 NASCAR season is finally over after 36 points races plus two extra weeks of non-points fun and excitement. We cannot wait to go all over again for season 2025 under a new TV rights contract with a huge focus on the streaming part as it rolls on. For now, your champion is Joey Logano for the 3rd time after he fended off Blaney that justified another glorious Team Penske moment with another silverware yet again.

November 11, 2024 0 comment

Motorsport NASCAR

NASCAR Race Results: Another non-Playoffs winner strikes again with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. gifting JTG yet another restrictor-plates win since last year’s Daytona 500 win at the Dega

by Sports Benches October 7, 2024

What a finish & what a day it has been at Talladega by another new non-Playoffs winner. This time it’s Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in the No.47 Chevy Camaro after he gifted JTG Daugherty Racing yet another restrictor-plate event win since his Daytona 500 moment last year. Although it would’ve been any great if this was another regular season race, but at least Ricky & JTG has something to celebrate and he’s here for more – having renewed his multi-year contract earlier this season.

He had a brilliant start from 32nd to 2nd earlier on thanks to an early yellow. Now he may be been running mid-pack for a while, particularly during Stage 2 before that last-lap mini-drama changed everything. But as said, steering clear of yellows alongside some good adjustments were key to dominating this race & he’s done all of that to get what he and the No.47 Team wanted with the win.

Ah, so sorry for RFK Racing’s co-boss man Brad Keselowski (in the No.6 Ford Mustang) who fell so short by 0.006 seconds to Roush’s former long-time employee in Stenhouse. Another last restart would’ve been any better when he couldn’t get much help on the inside line & Stenhouse got the upper hand on the outside. But at least, there’s some positives to take out for 2nd as this is what restrictor-plate racing was all about when it’s so unpredictable full of “The Big Ones”.

What else? It’s been a while from Erik Jones in the famous No.43 Toyota Camry for Legacy Motor Club since this year’s Daytona 500 (8th) & he came off a really good afternoon as the best Toyota placed driver today in 5th behind the two Hendrick Motorsports Chevy cars of Kyle Larson (4th) and William Byron (3rd).

So does Justin Haley in the No.7 Chevy for Spire Motorsports who finished 7th with more to come after his second race back from Rick Ware Racing. Then there’s Austin Dillon in 8th at Richard Childress Racing. Good to see him finish off nice and clean following that Richmond win a while ago & he didn’t make the Playoffs when he wrecked Denny Hamiln at the finish line.

Speaking of Hamlin today, he came out not bad in 10th behind his 23XI employee Bubba Wallace (9th) when he was running up and down for some time & avoiding these yellows saved the day for him. But again, he’s currently in a comfortable middle ground at 4th in Playoffs points with one Round of 12 race left this weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway’s Roval course. All he has to do is keep running Top 5-7 including a win in any three semi-final races if that helps and Denny is sure that a championship can finally come his way when the season finale reaches Phoenix early next month.

And if that’s not enough, how about we give a round of applause to Rick Ware Racing with both Ford cars in the Top 20 – Cody Ware in 12th for the No.15 & Corey LaJoie 18th in the No.51. Plus, don’t forget NZer Shane Van Gisbergen who finished 15th in the shared No.16 Chevy for Kaulig Racing – his current Xfinity Series home.

Looks like SVG is so getting used to this sport ahead of his full-time Cup ride next year at Trackhouse other than his usual road course expertise where he’s getting the benefit of the doubt if he wins any of regular road course races there & a Playoffs spot immediately hands over to him. More to come also as he continues to keep on learning with merit every week.

October 7, 2024 0 comment

Motorsport NASCAR

NASCAR Top 3 News this week: Erik Jones stays in the No.43, AJ Allmendinger now back at Cup for Kaulig & a huge shake up within the Ford camp for Gene Haas and RFK Racing

by Sports Benches August 16, 2024

We’re currently in the middle of August with three regular season rounds to go at Michigan this weekend before Playoffs time and the silly season rumor talk is also halfway if not 2/3rds there as well to see which drivers will stay or go come 2025.

Erik Jones stays on at Legacy Motor Club

Good to hear that Erik Jones will be back in the famous No.43 for another few years at least until 2026, even though he’s yet to score a Top 10 since this year’s Daytona 500 in 8th. Okay, when LMC switched to Toyota this year, things weren’t that good mightily so far this year but they had some Top 10s though as still too early to judge at this stage. Although you can tell Jimmie Johnson has made another round of wholesale changes recently off the back of the team’s poor performances.

Forget about trying to win for the next three remaining regular rounds, what LMC needs to do is provide the Jones the best race car possible, so they can catch up to other good Toyota teams soon enough like Joe Gibbs Racing and 23XI Racing.

Things take time as we’ve seen with Bubba Wallace when he first drove for 23XI back in 2021 and fast forward to today, he’s doing really well – despite no recent race win but continues to finish consistently in the Top 10 alongside a great team-mate in none other than the No.45 of Tyler Reddick. With 23XI expected to expand into three cars going into 2025, I’m sure they’ll go even better where one of their race cars could be in the Championship 4 soon enough.

The same could be the same for LMC as long as they’re are on the same page but again still too early to say since they are now a Toyota team rather than a Chevy team, which hasn’t changed a lot when Richard Petty was still running the No.43 show over the last 5-10 years until Jimmie Johnson was onboard since the start of last season.

AJ Allmendinger is back at Cup next year what does it mean for SVG and Zane Smith?

He may not be racing Sundays right now since he is currently racing Xfinity full-time on Saturdays, but AJ has now changed his mind yet again and he will be back in the No.16 Kaulig Racing Chevy Cup machine after all next year. Maybe that’s something to do with Kaulig not being good without him at the top flight and AJ is the man to steer that ship once again until he retires once more before they can find a decent long-term replacement once AJ retires by then. Looks like Kaulig isn’t going away from this anytime soon following talks of them selling charters or even merge with Trackhouse to leave the sport.

So neither New Zealand’s Shane Van Gisbergen nor Zane Smith will be filling in the other full-time Kaulig Cup cars alongside AJ, with Daniel Hemric staying on in the sister No.31 team since he has his own sponsorship to help keep the team’s operations afloat.

As it stands as to who will be driving the 3rd Trackhouse car for next year, I would’ve personally like to see Zane Smith get the nod over SVG. But with Trackhouse admiring SVG so much since he’s a proven race winner mainly on road courses this season in Xfinity including his debut Cup win at Chicago last year, he would like to be there sooner rather than later & that is certainly bound to happen rather than SVG having to wait another year outside the top level. He’s won so many Supercars races and championships before including the Bathurst 1000 and there’s no way SVG wants to be left out of the cold by Trackhouse.

It’s a shame that Smith is going to be left out; not even a rare P2 finish from Nashville Superspeedway back in late June isn’t even enough to make Trackhouse and also Spire change his mind. Maybe he needs to step down to Xfinity and swap places with SVG & if Smith does well there to bring home a championship like he did at Trucks level two years ago with Front Row Motorsports, then Trackhouse would be more than certain not to get rid of him.

Haas Factory Team set to complete their Xfinity Series line this weekend for 2025 with Kroger set to join RFK Racing

Haas Factory Team is set to complete their 2025 Xfinity Series line-up this weekend at Michigan with two rides up for grabs. We don’t know who could that be with Cole Custer already confirmed for a return to Cup within the same newly-created organization. One would definitely say Hallie Deegan despite her recent dismissal from Ford-affiliated AM Racing team over her poor performances as she’s still tied under the Ford Development team, while another could either be Ryan Preece, Harrison Burton or Sheldon Creed.

Gotta say Burton or Creed will get the 2nd ride since they both had some success at this level and can also cover some of their own money as well. Yes, Preece would right be in there as don’t think Gene Haas fancies him well unlike Tony Stewart who brough him there & his performances there didn’t exactly work out well for the most part but then it’s more of an team issue than himself with Stewart-Haas Racing is set to shut down at season’s end.

If Preece was to find a new home post-SHR, he could turn up at RFK after all thanks to Kroger – who is expected to now join them over Joe Gibbs – with one of JTG Daughterty Racing’s co-owners Tad Geschickter also set to leave at season’s end. Considering the big financial boost RFK is gonna get from Kroger, this could allow RFK to expand into three Cup cars by purchasing another charter and then they will look to have Preece onboard.

The question is where they are going to get the third charter from with that Kroger money? Maybe JTG Daugherty Racing is gonna be shut down since Spire Motorsports seems to be Hendrick’s main affiliate partner for Chevy & Trackhouse builds their own cars. What about Kaulig? Could they go back to one Cup car? Maybe as don’t think they will talk away anytime soon with two cars but then they might be interested in buying half of Richard Childress Racing’s assets with the boss getting old at age 78, which would mean they would get three Cup cars with a fourth would likely be be sold to another team.

And while we would like to see Haas and RFK team up together to make it three cars without RFK having to buy a charter but then Haas would like to be on their own, so therefore not an option when Gene Haas wanted to keep just the one Cup charter for himself so he can keep on promoting his own Haas Automation engineering business. Watch this space for RFK looking to expand into three full-time Cup cars by knocking into Kaulig or JTG’s door for a charter using Kroger’s sponsorship money.

August 16, 2024 0 comment