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Chevy

Motorsport

NASCAR 2025: Next lot of mid-running team drivers in and out at the end of Top 16 that could change everything after Easter 

by Sports Benches

Ryan Preece is making a solid impact post Stewart-Haas at RFK Racing with one Top 5 and three straight Top 10s so far & he wants more of these good results after Easter to try stay within that Playoffs zone. 

Even a regular season win would be nice for Jack Roush and Brad K.

Then there’s the returning AJ Allmendinger who gave Kaulig Racing a much needed boost in that No.16 Chevy with three Top 10s also. 

Could a race win be up next? Probably at Mexico City in June if not in the August rush – message being sent to Trackhouse.

And Michael McDowell despite no Top 10 yet is not far from the Top 16 points in 19th where he was closer to Top 10 a few times plus the Las Vegas pole.

Can’t go wrong when he has two talented guys by his side in Justin H. and Carson C at Spire and maybe it’s Michael’s turn this year where Stenhouse couldn’t do but with both in-season win & extended Playoffs. 

Those three could change everything much like Josh Berry (fellow ex-Stewart-Haas) who won in Vegas last month at Wood Brothers.

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Motorsport

NASCAR Race 9 of 36 2025: Kyle Larson wins at Bristol with a few Gibbs Toyotas sweeping up the front row results 

by Sports Benches

Other than a dominant Kyle Larson afternoon after 500 laps at short track Bristol, not a bad day from the Toyotas up front – particularly with the Gibbs cars.

So close of going three wins in a row by Denny Hamlin when things were quiet other than just stage pauses and the odd yellow but will take 2nd. 

Then there’s Ty Gibbs (No.54) with his first Top 5 of the year in 3rd and so does James Small’s (crew chief) 19 team of Chase Briscoe after he came home 4th.

Here’s some more good Top 10-15 results by a few other Chevy cars like Trackhouse’s Ross Chastain now with 3 x Top 7s in a row in 7th & AJ Allmendinger who brought back the Top 10 for the No.16 team at Kaulig – despite being the first one lapped down with that mini 2nd group lot in 9th.

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Motorsport

NASCAR: Denny Hamlin wins another race for the Joe Gibbs Toyota Camrys on another week at Darlington Raceway

by Sports Benches

It’s been another amazing JGR Toyota weekend with another Denny Hamlin win for the second straight week running this time at the Throwback walls of Darlington.

Not only he was Top 3 fastest in qualifying he also took good care of the field too and with his Playoffs berth already intact, all Denny wants to do is keep on running up front every week so he can make the most out of the Championship later this year.

Here’s a few more when others survive those cut-offs of yellow flag mayhem:

One of the RFK Racing Fords goes Top 7 once again by Chris Buescher and so does the Front Row duo of Zane Smith (12th) and Todd Gilliland (14th) – glad Zane’s lifeline opportunity is going well so far.

Ty Dillon following up another solid day also in 16th with the No.10 Chevy for Kaulig Racing including ex-Erebus personnel Andrew Dickeson upstairs.

And at Legacy MC, Erik Jones finished 17th who kept battling hard all day in the 43; Although not so much from JHN in the other 42 when both customer Toyotas didn’t have the best push towards the end.

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Motorsport

NASCAR Race Results: Denny Hamlin wins his first race of 2025 with a new crew chief along with some good Top 10-15 results from elsewhere all at Martinsville

by Sports Benches

What a Denny day it has been from the man who led the most laps on his way to his first victory of 2025 earlier today at the paperclip (Martinsville Speedway) & with the Joe Gibbs Toyotas (including Denny’s own 23XI satellite cars) ever so strong up front over the last couple of weeks, no doubt this could be their best year ahead. 

What else? 

  • Good to see Ryan Preece back up another Top 10 finish in the No.60 Ford Mustang for RFK Racing in 7th.
  • Shoutout to Todd Gilliland btw also in a Ford with the No.34 team at Front Row Motorsports and he crossed the line with a Top 10 result in 10th.
  • There’s a bit more room also when Michael McDowell finished 12th for Spire and Ty Dillon 15th with his Aussie crew chief Andrew Dickeson (ex-Erebus crew from Supercars) calling the shots at Kaulig Racing.

And on Legacy MC, yes, their practice and qualifying laps have no doubt continued to shine. However, they just couldn’t quite translate it into race results unfortunately once again every time yellows hold up every now and then – not even a DQ from Erik Jones has helped so little either and he was busted after post-race inspection. 

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Motorsport

From last weekend: Kyle Larson pulls off late move over Alex Bowman for the best of Hendrick at Homestead along with some late progress from Erik Jones in 15th for LMC

by Sports Benches

It was a brilliant afternoon of NASCAR Cup racing at Homestead last weekend this time during the early season swing rather than later in the year at Playoffs time headlined by a Hendrick 1-2 finish courtesy of 2021 champion Kyle Larson, who made the winning move over team-mate Alex Bowman in the 48 after Alex brushed the wall a wee bit much with only seven laps to go – how good is racing!

Gotta feel for Bubba there who wasn’t far off the lead from Bowman at the time and then he just couldn’t keep up with those two Chevys on the run home, although he finished 3rd as the leading Toyota Camrys for 23XI Racing ahead of two Gibbs cars which ain’t bad.

Meanwhile, unlucky for his best friend Ryan Blaney in the No.12 Penske Ford following a great start but then a poor Stage 3 restart coupled with a blown engine meant he couldn’t go on through the end -you gotta feel for YRB there. 

Other than the Hendrick Chevy cars being absolutely top-notch up front, it was also good seeing both RFK Ford cars finish Top 10 like the always consistent No.17 Chris Buescher (6th) and so does the statement driver Ryan Preece in the new No.60 team (9th), along with AJ Allmendinger just inside Top 7 for Kaulig Racing (Chevy).

And last but not least for LMC, yeah don’t know what went wrong when a good qualifying run didn’t quite translate into a satisfactory race result. John Hunter Nemechek had that issue from the line in 7th where he was running outside Top 20 but at least the other car in Erik Jones seems to have the better finish thanks to a series of adjustments including the DNF of Ryan Blaney and he came home in 15th.

What can LMC improve going into Martinsville?

So six races out of 36, LMC has the raw pace as seen in practice and qualifying with back-to-back Top 10s which wasn’t bad for a start. But when it comes the race day form, it seems they are sometimes going all over the place inconsistently from up front to the middle of the field.

One thing they’re good at though is their ability to finish races strong – as long as they steer clear out of the crashed and mechanically defunct cars, they are all good to finish whatever track position they can take towards the checkered flag. Other than that, JHN is 18th and Erik is 23rd in Drivers’ Points so another Top 10-15 run or better is the way to go.

It is still a work in progress as said when Jimmie Johnson made a host of off-season changes and right now, they are currently on the up with still a long way to before the No.42 and No.43 Toyotas can start fighting consistently with the front-runners.

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Motorsport

2026-30 Supercars TV rights deal update March 2025

by Sports Benches

We got an update on the next Supercars TV rights deal and according to the latest Speedcafe’s Full Credit to the Noise Podcast, it seems the top tier package has all but signed, sealed and delivered with Fox Sports staying on as their primary broadcast partner once again.

So that means Nine would be out of the running at all not even via a shared FTA arrangement since they want the whole lot through Stan Sport with some on the main channel since its inception back in 2021.

It’s either Seven or 10 now as one could be staying on or returning after all.

I think Seven would be the winner when most of their simulcast sports deal do come with Fox Sports & they’ve got a great history with racing on their own that has been going on for many decades.

One thing that Foxtel should consider is at least having every Saturday or Sunday main afternoon race of every round live in front of a paywall on top of six marquee & full event ones (like the support races, etc.) including the Bathurst 1000 whether if it’s on Kayo Freebies or even Seven.

It’s just not the same as it once was before going back to the glory 90s & 2000s but times have changed unfortunately due to the prices of sports tv rights going up the roof including the demise of Holden at the start of this decade along with Chevy currently running an outdated Camaro.

Although you can tell Toyota is coming into the fold next year that could make up a three-way fight up front for the championship especially with the first-ever finals format coming later this year.

Yes, ad-free and getting the best experience out of a regular Supercars viewer on Fox/Kayo is paramount but would love to see a race per round live on either side of the weekend as if they’re tuning into NRL or AFL with both flexible paid and free TV options every weekend.

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Motorsport

Thoughts on Nine looking to bid exclusive rights for the 2026 Supercars TV deal that could change everything with Stan Sport

by Sports Benches

The Supercars season may be over with Will Brown winning his first Drivers’ Championship for Red Bull Team Australia which is under the Triple 8 Chevy organisation but there’s still more to it off-track following a huge update regarding the sport’s next TV rights package from 2026 to at least 2030.

It’s not just Fox Sports battling hard to retaining the majority rights alongside Seven, they now officially have competition in the form of Nine/Stan Sport under Nine Entertainment Co. Should Nine win the rights, this shouldn’t be an issue with $$$ since they got Stan as their own paid streaming service that includes Stan Sport. 

They currently hold a number of other major sporting rights content with some being simulcasted on Nine that operates similarly to other Pay TV outlets like Fox Sports via Foxtel (cable/satellite) & Kayo Sports (streaming).

With scheduling though, that will be another point of area to discuss if Nine does win the rights. They would like to have all Sunday races live, keep the other six major event races live that Seven is currently doing (which was also Ten has done as a secondary broadcaster back in 2015-2020) and have nearly everything else behind a paywall. 

Most Sunday races nowadays begin closer to 4pm and Nine has the NRL on at the same time, but Supercars is indeed one of our national-level sporting leagues much like our motor racing version to our two biggest footy codes – NRL and AFL.

Sunday Afternoon NRL, for example, during the season may be on the main channel over in Queensland and New South Wales with all other states being on 9Gem. However, it’s still better than nothing and sure Nine would at least have some sport to play with for the non-NRL states in Supercars as a lead-in for their 6pm news bulletin. 

Remember the Supercars races are held every couple of weeks across 12-13 times throughout the year as yes, the viewership and fan base may not be the same as once was before. Although you can say that ad-free racing proved to be the difference over the last decade & that won’t change anytime soon, but it would be better though if Supercars at least have every Sunday race live for free on top of six full event races every year – that’s the bare minimum we could ask for.

I’m not going to pick a winner out of this but whoever has the most money and most importantly, the appropriate reach they could offer to our viewership would be enough for Supercars to lock in that next TV rights deal.

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Motorsport

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

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. 

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Motorsport

NASCAR News Today: Another title, Another year for Team Penske with No.22’s Joey Logano back on top to prize off team-mate Ryan Blaney with his 3rd Championship win

by Sports Benches

It’s been another golden championship season of Team Penske Fords ever since when the Next Gen Chassis era began three seasons ago. 

The driver of the day though belongs to Joey Logano who stole the Drivers’ Crown off his No.12 team-mate & last year’s champion Ryan Blaney following a really great battle between those two on a few occasions – including the final stage when 1-2 others may have crashed out – before Joey pulled off the winning move & stayed there just in time to clinch yet another silverware piece for his No.22 team. 

Again, it has to come down to one huge winner as Logano both had the fight and championship-winning experience to lock up for the 3rd time that goes back from 2018 to 2022 & now 2024. 

For Blaney, it’s never a good feeling being 2nd best but hey, he raced really well to defend his crown against his team-mate Logano. At the end of the day, it’s all about great racing that makes Team Penske the most successful Ford Cup team over the last few years, and sure Blaney will back in 12 months time to hopefully hoist his Drivers’ Championship title No.2 at this same Phoenix race track.

William Byron finished 3rd in the No.24 Chevy Camaro for Hendrick Motorsports where he wasn’t quite up to Team Penske’s standards for the ultimate prize when it comes to the consistency including late race restarts. But he had a fantastic season though where he always finishes Top 3, Top 5 as well as a few regular season wins here and there. 

If he can translate with wins into Playoffs time next year, then the best of Byron and the No.24 Hendrick team should be yet to come.

We also still haven’t heard much of Toyota when you compare to Penske and Hendrick when you got Tyler Reddick finishing 6th behind another consistent Top 5 finisher Christopher Bell from Gibbs as the 4th and final Championship 4 contender for the manufacturer’s satellite Cup team at 23XI Racing, with team-mate Bubba Wallace in 7th. It remains to be seen what will happen going into next year since 23XI is having a really tough time alongside Front Row Motorsports at court & unfortunately, it didn’t go their way as per judge ruling before the weekend.

It’s not just 23XI who is walking into unknown territory but one of their co-owners Denny Hamlin would most likely not be donning the FedEx colours anymore  next season & he too finished 11th for his No.11 Gibbs Toyota team after missing the Championship 4 cup for yet another year in season 2024. Whoever comes in to support Denny, let’s hope he can adjust his expectations so he doesn’t end up disappointed next time as he’s still yet to win a Drivers’ Championship at age 43.

I wish he can get a decent enough crew chief who has been there & done that before with winning championships, but all he can do is just win them all at Playoffs time if he can and we might finally see the best of Denny as a driver. If Justin Allgaier can do like he did as a finally first-time Xfinity Series Champion yesterday, then so could Denny no matter what happens. 

In the meantime, if you’re a big Penske fan, particularly for Joey, then today’s your lucky day! No doubt Penske will go on to be the 2020s version of Hendrick Motorsports if they keep on adding more and more championship titles every season as congrats to Joey once again with his 3rd Cup crown all coming from the same place of Arizona’s Phoenix Raceway. 

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Motorsport

Thoughts on Justin Allgaier finally clinched his 1st Xfinity Series triumph & a perfect tribute to finish on a high for Stewart-Haas after Riley Herbst won the season-finale

by Sports Benches

From one new season series champion in Ty Majeski at Trucks level to another, how good was the No.7 JR Motorsports Chevy driver Justin Allgaier – who just over the line as the best Championship 4 Finisher to take home the NASCAR Xfinity Series title in 2nd – just behind Phoenix race winner in the No.98’s Riley Herbst for Stewart-Haas Ford. Also, good to see former full-time Cup driver & Stewart-Haas alum Aric Almirola finish 3rd in the No.20 Toyota Supra for Gibbs too.

I mean, first of all, it’s been great seeing Tony Stewart own part of this Stewart-Haas Ford team for a long time whose last Xfinity Series race as a team owner ended things on a high thanks to Herbst, while we saw one of his former drivers make up the Top 3 by Almirola. 

Lovely to see this Stewart-Haas family bringing this together both past and present.

We thank him for everything as hoping he will still turn up next season & don’t forget the Haas team will continue after all on its own at the same time (still running Fords), with two Xfinity cars for Sheldon Creed & Sam Mayer as well as one chartered Cup car by the returning Cole Custer.

Yes, we could’ve saw Custer take home that Xfinity Championship again like he did last year when he finished 2nd in Drivers’ Points to Allgaier after he finished 8th. But still, it’s great to see Custer being at his best at this level to make up unfinished business and now it’s on him to at least be a Top 20 driver points team next Cup year.

And as said earlier, what a moment from Allgaier who dedicated this Xfinity Series competition with tremendous success while spending the most with family. He’s grateful to Brandt (his sponsor) and Dale Jr. (his race team) for giving him the platform to succeed regularly at this level since 2016 without even thinking of going into Cup. 

Although he will continue to be back at Cup at least for a rare occasion or two when someone has to pull out if required.

But hey, he’s there to give us tremendous competition including some Cup regulars earlier in the year when a young rising star would usually take this top prize. However, that doesn’t mean Allgaier can’t make this possible and here is today with the Xfinity Championship. Sure, there’s a lot more to come going into next year as hats off once again to Allgaier, the first time champion.

And next year will be another wonderful time to look forward to every week for those over in the US with free-to-access all along thanks to The CW and CW online.

For now, we got one more race to settle in the Championship 4 for the premier Cup class tomorrow. Will see another first time triumph in either 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick for Toyota or William Byron in the Hendrick Chevy? or will we continue to see another Team Penske Ford’s glorious moment from either already Drivers’ champs Joey Logano (two-time) or Ryan Blaney (defending winner)? Just cannot wait to see this out as the 2024 season-finale Cup race will begin at 7am AEDT.

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