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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

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.

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NASCAR Race Today: Another Chevy day this time with a different non-Playoffs driver by Ross Chastain at Kansas for Team Trackhouse

by Sports Benches

It’s been another Chevy day but also another non-Playoffs winner’s day this time by Ross Chastain (No.1 Chevy Camaro for Trackhouse) at Kansas Speedway. 

We haven’t heard much from him other than slow and steady starts earlier on but he wasn’t far from the Top 10 before the start of Stage 3 thanks to a number of yellows where things went his way such as his long-run form that got what he wanted at the end of the day including that winning move on Kyle Busch (No.8 Chevy for Richard Childress Racing) with 67 laps to go (out of 267). He does look like and race like a champion indeed as proven many times before having won the season finale race event at Phoenix last time around almost a year ago despite not being eligible for the Championship 4 but his next big opportunity will have to be in 2025 that provided he can win at least one regular event race or always be Top 10 for the first 25 + races.

Not only Chastain was outstanding, there was another non-playoffs driver who also had a great day too in none other than Martin Truex Jr (No.19 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing). He always kept a great eye on the front runners thanks to his excellent start from 19th to 8th (both in Stages 1 & 2) & then 3rd behind Hendrick Motorsports’s William Byron. If it wasn’t for that speeding penalty, MTJ would’ve still been in the Playoffs hunt. All we could say that he’s doing the best he can to finish off his full-time Cup record on a high going into October & early November.

Who else? Reigning champion Ryan Blaney was the best lone Ford driver out there  to post a Top 10 after he finished 4th in the No.12 Ford Mustang for Team Penske. Meanwhile at the Spire Motorsports Chevy hub, Zane Smith also had a wonderful afternoon in the No.71 team thanks to his brilliant Stage 3 improvements after he finished 10th. 

Sure he won’t be short of suitors when it comes to Zane’s next Cup ride for 2025 as he’s getting there on-track with time & patience, so he can prove Trackhouse wrong at an organisation that he didn’t even race for them – not even once despite being under contract at the time until his mutual release a few weeks ago.

And last but not least, Corey LaJoie in 15th this time in the No.51 Ford for Rick Ware Racing since that recent driver swap last week, with Justin Haley going the other way into his now former spot at Spire – which is the No.7 team. He too is happy with the race car as reflected earlier during Stage 2 when he was in 20th at the time and as you can see with the Stage 3 yellows, Corey gained some more track position on his first race here for RWR. 

Yeah, things aren’t the same anymore when Spire chose to do things differently for next year by luring Haley back at this bright race shop. But we know he’s good at growing small teams with his experienced track record at Cup level & no doubt he will continue to help make more memories for Rick & Lisa Ware — even a first race win would be nice too for everyone working there including Corey himself.

Two more chances now for those Top 12 Playoff drivers still in the hunt as we’re going back on the high line in Talladega once again for the YellaWood 500 at 5am AEDT next Monday.

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NASCAR News Today: Kyle Larson unstoppable in the No.5 Chevy Camaro that wraps up a dominant night for Hendrick Motorsports at Bristol Motor Speedway

by Sports Benches

One word to describe Kyle Larson’s night at Bristol – tremendous. The same will say for Hendrick Motorsports too after a dominant 500 laps of racing for this multi-championship winning organisation with No.9’s Chase Elliott finishing in 2nd when Alex Bowman led the race field from pole but it was Larson who took over and went on to keep the lead with safe hands by sweeping all three stage wins in the No.5 Chevy Camaro. Love the celebration he just had with his son Owen while Owen ran around with the checkered glad when dad Kyle was interviewed by NBC Sports’s Marty Snider in front of the grandstand.

He and the No.5 Hendrick team still has unfinished business ahead for their 2nd championship hunt since his 2021 triumph with the Round of 12 now set to begin at Kansas Speedway next weekend (3pm ET Sunday afternoon/5am Monday AM here). 

Other than Kyle, looks like we will have to say goodbye unfortunately to the bottom four Playoff drivers as neither of them couldn’t get away with a must-win situation (or a Top 5 finish via luck). We begin with Ty Gibbs following an inconsistent 1st Playoffs round results down the middle of the race field (15th – No.54 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing), so does team-mate Martin Truex Jr. due to an untimely pit road speeding penalty from 2nd to 24th (19th Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing), Brad Keselowski (26th – No.6 Ford for RFK Racing) & Harrison Burton (35th in the No.21 for Wood Brothers Racing over a steering issue).

As said, any four of them can win the remaining few races of this year (see Chris Buescher’s win last weekend at Watkins Glen in the No.17 Ford for RFK Racing despite missing the initial Top 16 cut) but doesn’t mean they can all get back into Playoffs contention now that the first Round of 16 is over. After Kansas, we will have Talladega once again on the high banks oval in Alabama before the second Round of 12 Playoffs will finish on the roval (both left/right turns) at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

What else? Great to see Bubba Wallace in 3rd ahead of his boss Denny Hamlin (No.11 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing) following a busy last few days like his contract extension at 23XI Racing. He too had a great night all inside the Top 10  thanks to his functioning No.23 Toyota Camry machinery From 11th to 10th in Stage 1 followed by 6th in Stage 2 & 3rd overall. Yes, he may have missed the Playoffs this year (19th) but there’s a lot more to come from Bubba at Denny & Michael Jordan’s co-owned race team.

Speaking of Denny, he’s relieved to stay alive in the Playoffs race ahead of the next round in Kansas. Sure, he may not been able to quite close in on Larson when it comes to the race lead. However, he knows what it takes to bring these fast race cars home where Denny has been there and done that before with a couple of semi-final and Championship 4 Finishes under his belt. He still really wants to finally win his first championship so bad as a driver and let’s hope he can stay upfront all day long where he’s currently 6th in Playoff Points, so he doesn’t fall short outside the semi-finals like it was over the last two years. 

Meanwhile, Christopher Bell doesn’t disappoint in 5th (No.20 Toyota for Gibbs) as he’s sitting comfortably in 2nd on drivers’ points. Plus, the No.41’s Ryan Preece posts another Top 10 finish in 8th behind team-mate Chase Briscoe in the No.14 for Stewart Haas Racing (Ford), who continues to prove his talent whenever he can possible. And even though someone may have finished well against the rest when being a lap down, Michael McDowell steered his No.34 Ford home in 11th for Front Row Motorsports following his 7th-placed run last week (in his specialist road course ringer discipline) at Watkins Glen.

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NASCAR Race Review: Chris Buescher def. Shane Van Gisbergen on what has been a signature road course race finish with the win for Ford’s RFK Racing team at Watkins Glen

by Sports Benches

Plenty of twists and turns with some stunning side-by-side racing including that last lap on overtime from Watkins Glen International in New York where it was full of race/pit strategy as well as a mix of mechanical and contact drama into the wall. The winner you’re looking right now at is Chris Buescher from the No.17 Ford Mustang for RFK Racing even though he may have missed the Playoffs bubble by 1-2 spots when the regular season finale ended at Daytona a few weeks ago.

Haven’t heard much from him earlier on from 24th but he’s been flying high when he restarted in Top 7-8 at the start of Stage 3. From there, Buescher got a real sniff up front for the whole time alongside a good pit strategy thanks to another early Stage 3 yellow including the race lead off Joey Logano with 17 laps to go. 

Despite having go through a series of late yellows, Chris Buescher successfully fought off Shane Van Gisbergen on the run home that signalled the best of road course racing so far in 2024 of NASCAR at The Glen – congrats to Chris & the No.17 RFK crew. Commiserations to SVG for the runner-up spot but he too had a great day out up front for Kaulig Racing (No.16 Chevy) as sure we’ll see more of him right now at Xfinity level as well as Cup full-time next season with Trackhouse (3rd car).

What else? Spire Motorsports also had a terrific afternoon with all three (Chevy) cars in the Top 10. We begin with the No.77 of Carson Hocevar (3rd) followed by No.71’s Zane Smith (5th – even though Michael McDowell was upset with him post-race who finished 7th in the No.34 Ford for Front Row Motorsports) & No.7’s Corey LaJoie (8th). Gotta say future is bright indeed thanks to their big money investments over these past 12 months.

So does the No.41 Ford of Ryan Preece who posted a Top 10 finish in a while & his third overall of 2024 since Nashville back in late June in 9th for Stewart-Haas Racing. And despite losing his way when he was stuck on the gravel late in Stage 2, Daniel Suarez is well and truly safe into the Round of 12 (currently 5th on Drivers’ Playoff points) after he managed to rebound through a couple of Stage 3 yellows in 13th for the No.99 Trackhouse Chevy team. All he has to do is keep up the good faith & Daniel will probably see some good breakthrough moments like racing in the semis & even the Final ASAP.

Other than Daniel, the next Cup race this weekend (a night race) at Bristol Motor Speedway on the short track will be the last chance for those languishing outside the Top 12 Playoffs bubble. With the likes of Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr. & Harrison Burton — they are all stuck in a must-win situation or else be eliminated & have try again next season when the 3 x Round of 12 events begins towards the end of this month in Kansas.

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NASCAR News Today: Joey Logano the first driver to make it into the Round of 12 with the win after a great day for Team Penske & the Blue Oval at Atlanta Motor Speedway

by Sports Benches

It was massive Ford (Mustang) & even Team Penske day to light up the opening 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs race at Atlanta Motor Speedway where each of their three drivers won each stage (Ryan Blaney in Stage 1 for the No.12 followed by Austin Cindric in Stage 2 for the No.2) as today’s winner was all about Joey Logano in the No.22 side for Team Penske. 

It’s been a while since his last win in Nashville back in late June where he had a really top day upfront – mainly in the Top 5 – before more late cautions went his way to reach top spot, and there goes Joey Logano with his 2nd win of 2024 & also being the first driver now to advance into the second Round of 12 Playoffs. So nothing to worry about there until Kansas at the end of this month where he will either need to win again or stay consistent with his results up front on the road to the Championship 4 Finale as it’s party time for Joey & his No.22 Team Penske crew right now on the way home.

What else? Oh so close from Daniel Suarez there who finished 2nd in the No.99 Chevy Camaro for Trackhouse & he too loves racing at this track off the back of his early-round win back in late February. As long as he can stay consistently in the Top 5-10, then sure we will get to see more of him when it comes to the next round and even semi-finals round of Playoffs – keep your head up!

Meanwhile, Christopher Bell continues to be so good in the No.20 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing as he finished 4th & is currently 2nd on drivers’ points behind reigning champ & 3rd-placed finisher in this 2nd Atlanta race Ryan Blaney. This is the man who has made it to the last two season-finale races and he would love to make his 3rd season-finale attempt being his championship-winning breakthrough at Cup level.

And hats off to a few others that got away with some good finishes just outside the Top 10 mark. We begin with Daniel Hemric in 11th for Kaulig Racing (Chevy), Justin Haley 12th for Rick Ware Racing (Ford), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in 14th for JTG Daugherty Racing (Chevy) & don’t forget the Spire Motorsports Chevy duo of Corey LaJoie (No.7) and Carson Hocevar (No.77) who both came home in 15th and 16th respectively.

Next stop: Watkins Glen International where we will be going road course racing albeit in a slightly different time of the year next Monday rather than always August in New York as the Round of 16 is still up for grabs for some drivers if they really want to be in to win until the first cut-off ends with the Bristol Motor Speedway night race on Saturday 21st September 2024.

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NASCAR Race Review: Chase Briscoe def. Kyle Busch for the best of the final Playoffs spot following his Southern 500 win at Darlington

by Sports Benches

Lots to look back from a long night of racing in the Labor Day weekend Cup race from Darlington Raceway with Kyle Larson so dominant for the most part, but a couple of late Stage 3 cautions saw Larson beginning to slip away while the centre of attention up switched over to best of the last Playoffs spot up front between Chase Briscoe & Kyle Busch.

The winner of that battle belongs to Chase Briscoe over Kyle Busch who won them all in the No.14 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing – both the Southern 500 win as well as that 16th and last Playoff spot. 

Great to see Briscoe get his moment when his car was solid all-night long with Chase unable to get around Larson under green long enough before a series of late yellows went his way & now he wants to finish off Stewart-Haas Racing’s tenure with another championship exactly 10 years on from Kevin Harvick’s one & only 2014 championship-winning Cup season.

Meanwhile, Gotta feel for Larson where he had the best performing race car on show & he would’ve defended that win if it wasn’t for these yellows, but still more to come though if he wants to win his 2nd Cup championship so bad since 2021.

What else? The Toyota race cars continue to be always Top 5-10 material with Christopher Bell in 3rd yet again thanks to his long-runs, Spire also had another Top 10-15 weekend this time from Corey LaJoie’s No.7 Chevy in 9th, No.45’s Tyler Reddick in 10th who just won the regular-season championship for Denny Hamlin’s 23XI Racing as all eyes on the co-owner Hamlin now to hopefully win a first championship for himself over the next few weeks, and another Stewart-Haas Ford driver came home not bad by the No.41’s Ryan Preece after he finished 12th.

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NASCAR News Today: More on Zane Smith if he doesn’t secure a return to Front Row Motorsports next year with Ford standing in his way after his release from Trackhouse

by Sports Benches

While it’s great having Shane Van Gisbergen fulfill his wish to race Cup full-time next year for Trackhouse under the No.88 numberplate that meant lots to both Dale Jr. and SVG’s former Supercars team at Triple Eight Race Engineering (although he raced the No.97 there all along up until last year), but there’s still a lot more talk about Zane Smith who already announced his release ahead of 2025 from Trackhouse the other day.

As it stands, under the proposed seven-year charter rules, each Cup team can only hold up to three charters except Joey Gibbs Racing & Hendrick Motorsports.

So no room for Zane to come back at Trackhouse since they only have three Cup rides instead of trying to keep 4 or even 5 drivers while his current seat in the No.71 at Spire Motorsports has already been taken by former Front Row Motorsports team-mate Michael McDowell next year. 

Yes, Spire still has a spot available in the No.7 to replace Corey LaJoie but they most certainly won’t put Smith in there either due to his predominantly poor season, and would rather have Justin Haley in there from Rick Ware Racing with Rodney Childers coming along from the soon-to-be former Stewart-Haas team.

Image Reference: Zach Catanzareti via Wikipedia, CC BY 2.0

Same goes to Kaulig Racing even though they might replace Daniel Hemric in the No.31 but Kaulig and Trackhouse has a great business relationship when it comes to talent and there’s no way Kaulig would want to use someone who has already been dumped by Trackhouse like Smith. 

Also, whatever happens with the No.31 for at least next year, it will most likely be a pay driver where it could be Ty Dillon instead of Hemric & Smith doesn’t have his own sponsorship anyway.

The only other place he could end up within Cup is a return to Front Row Motorsports where he won a Truck Series championship back in 2022. Sure, he will have unfinished business with FRM as his proven Cup experience and his long-term ambitions will mean a perfect match for the pair like it was before – even though he skipped or barely raced Xfinity but we’re beginning to see more of this now.

However, there’s a catch and according to Kevin Harvick via his Fox Happy Hour podcast, it’s up to Ford to make this happen & since he left FRM for Trackhouse/Spire after the 2023 season, management wasn’t very pleased about this move at all. So looks like that 3rd FRM Cup ride is still taking so long but a different Smith could be jumping over from Joe Gibbs Racing’s Toyota Xfinity Series team in Chandler and not Zane. 

He also said that the No.34 car for 2025 would be filled by Noah Gragson in place of Spire-bound Michael McDowell rather than put Gragson in a 3rd car and put the underperforming Zane in there.

I think both Chandler’s enormous talent and even his sponsors may have ticked every box to FRM’s plans of closing the gap upfront as Ford would agree with this 100% & so would Chandler who no doubt wants to race on Sundays soonest in a Blue Oval – despite being in a Toyota again this year & many years before in Trucks when he was with Kaulig in a Chevy last season.

If it’s not for FRM, he might be better off going to Rick Ware Racing if Rick is happy to put faith in him & Ford agrees to this or else he should get a top Xfinity ride like JR Motorsports or Joe Gibbs Racing, so he can try win another championship there but in NASCAR’s second tier. Then we’ll know by then he can win Cup as well but I hope they don’t screw him up next time.

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Thoughts on Brodie Kostecki set for a Supercars switch from Erebus to Dick Johnson Racing in 2025 and how this impacts his NASCAR plans if he wants to race there again

by Sports Benches

We haven’t heard much of Brodie Kostecki’s NASCAR goals since his off-season stoush with Erebus Motorsport so far in 2024 as he won’t be coming back to race in the US at least for now according to Paul Morris a few months ago around April.

If it wasn’t for that off-season saga, then he would’ve done a couple more Cup races this year under Erebus with the support of Richard Childress Racing rather than directly for Childress as a third partial Cup team.

However, his pending Supercars move to Dick Johnson Racing next year could shake things up a bit when Anton De Pasquale just confirmed his 2025 ride yesterday as a replacement for Mark Winterbottom at Team 18. He too will switch over to Chevy having last driven a GM brand chassis formerly known as Holden back in 2020 with Erebus. 

Speaking of Erebus, looks like Kostecki is going the other way round and possibly take the spot of another Erebus alumni as the last time Kostecki raced a Ford car was back in 2017 in the Super2 feeder series for Matt Stone Racing.

If he wishes to come back racing in the US, then he would be better off racing for a Ford-powered NASCAR team unlike Richard Childress Racing – who previously viewed him as a great squad member thanks to the team’s Australian connections with Erebus. Both teams race Chevy in their respective race series and it’s highly unlikely RCR would want someone who is racing that isn’t Chevy. 

Plus, Will Brown raced for RCR back in June at Sonoma anyway as sure he’ll be given a warm welcome back in 2025 if Will wishes to make his NASCAR goals serious in the path like we’ve saw with 2025’s Trackhouse full-time Cup driver & former Triple 8 team-mate Shane Van Gisbergen.

Maybe Xfinity would be a good start again still part-time but RSS or AM Racing would suit him well or a good Trucks ride wouldn’t be bad either. Yes, he made his debut in a Cup car for Childress last year much like SVG also in a road course but at Indianapolis rather than Chicago. But again, he’s had a tough first half of the season or off-season as his proven Supercars track record should not go unnoticed. Therefore, Xfinity or even Trucks would be the way to go if Kostecki feels ready to race in the US again before he can think about Cup when the time is right; Maybe he’s happy living here with Supercars after all.

I hope Kostecki is well wherever he ends up ahead of next year’s Supercars season after his unexpected few months off where things will have to take time before we can see the best of him again from 2022-23.

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NASCAR Race Review: Harrison Burton holds off with the big Daytona summer win over Kyle Busch following a last-lap shootout on Wood Brothers Racing’s 100th win milestone

by Sports Benches

It was a huge night full of The Big Ones for the Ford cars upfront where they dominated each and every stage but tonight’s Cup race at Daytona was about Harrison Burton in the No.21 for Wood Brothers Racing. 

He was the one who just got away with his first career Cup win, his first Playoffs opportunity and also his team’s 100th race win – even though he won’t be coming back there next season with Josh Berry already confirmed to replace Harrison due to his underwhelming regular race results since he first replaced Matt DiBenedetto back in 2022. 

But that doesn’t mean he isn’t that bad in Cup after all when you look back at some good Top 5/10s before. He was battling mid-pack from the start before a series of yellows particularly throughout Stage 3 went his way with lots of track position & extra adjustments on pit road. All he had to do is get that race lead ahead of the final lap restart & hold off through the checkered flag and there he is holding off Kyle Busch (No.8 Childress Chevy) to get that breakthrough moment he was hoping for in a race that was so unpredictable twice a year at this same Daytona race track.

Wishing Harrison all the best wherever he ends up next year as it’s his night tonight in victory lane.

Shoutout to Cody Ware following a brilliant night to bring his No.15 Rick Ware Ford home in 4th, so does Parker Retzlaff in 7th for the part-time No. 62 Beard Motorsports Chevy; Meanwhile, Daniel Hemric continues to be so good at the big tracks in 9th for Kaulig also in a Chevy & there was bunch of Toyotas filling in the Top 10 with Christopher Bell (No.20 Joe Gibbs) in 3rd behind Kyle and Harrison.

One more regular race now to go before the Playoffs going into the Labor Day weekend next week at Darlington Raceway with another two special shoutouts – Leigh Diffey in his debut at NBC’s new lead NASCAR Cup caller & his co-commentator and former NASCAR racer Jeff Burton who also celebrated his son’s big breakthrough moment from upstairs.

As said, his time at Cup for the most part hasn’t been that great other than a handful of Top 10s prior to this as we would’ve liked but he’s grateful for the sponsors backing him every step of the way like Dex Imaging.

Again, I’d like to see him end up at Rick Ware Racing & stay being a two-car team since Justin Haley is most likely going to Spire Motorsports to replace Corey LaJoie despite Haley being around here for one year but he’s a top asset to them anyway with lots of $$$ or a returning top Xfinity ride would do it if Harrison wants it – it’s up to him.

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More on the RFK Racing 3rd charter hunt this week this time on Rick Ware Racing

by Sports Benches

There’s a bit more to it in RFK Racing’s 3rd charter venture this week since they will be expected to get a significant sponsorship and financial boost from Kroger any minute from now, with Tad Geschickter also expected to leave JTG Daugherty Racing as part-owner at season’s end who is currently sponsored by them right now thanks to Tad’s business links. 

Should RFK purchase a 3rd charter regardless of the sport’s new charter model from 2025-31, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Ryan Preece is the primary candidate to fill in the newly-created RFK 3rd Cup car for Ford full-time. 

He too is currently without a job for next season once SHR shuts down come November with three of his other SHR Cup team-mates already secured new rides elsewhere, such as Josh Berry at Wood Brothers, Noah Gragson at Front Row and Chase Briscoe at Joe Gibbs Racing. Yes, his race results here at Cup haven’t exactly set the world alight since he first replaced Cole Custer in the No.41 Ford Mustang last season, but then that’s more a team issue who is on its last legs ahead of SHR’s shutdown as we know it.

The question is though where they could purchase that 3rd charter from? They can use the Kroger money to fulfil that expansion worthwhile if this sponsorship deal comes out true.

One would say Kaulig Racing when the team’s owners look to buy 51% stake of Richard Childress Racing but that’s for Richard to consider since he’s 78 right now while we don’t know what JTG will look like despite Ricky Stenhouse Jr. recently signed a contract extension there when Tad walks out the door.

If it wasn’t for these two teams, why not enter Rick Ware Racing?

Rick Ware Racing

First of all, they’re currently happy running two Ford Mustang Cup cars right now with Justin Haley currently in the No.51 alongside Kaz Grala and the returning Cody Ware sharing in the other No.15 team. 

With Haley onboard, RWR has grown so much so far in 2024 and you gotta thank him for fulfilling the team’s much-needed potential. But Haley is also in demand with the likes of Spire and even Hendrick & it would be very difficult for him to say no going into next year as Haley is expected to replace Corey LaJoie in the No.7 Chevy alongside the chance to work with veteran crew chief Rodney Childers.

With that being said, RWR could not only take a significant financial package from Spire or Hendrick for Haley but also give the one charter away to RFK under a season-long lease for 2025. 

Good for them to get even more $$$ but how are they going to use it? The plan for RWR would be is run one full-time car (The No.51) while the 2nd car likely to be scaled back on a part-time basis. Not even the return of Grala is a guarantee since he doesn’t have the same calibre as Haley & neither does Rick’s son Cody as the best possible scenario is to get a good enough replacement for Haley in LaJoie. 

Then come 2026, RWR could either get it back or see themselves get a significant new partner involved like Gordon Smith & Brad Daugherty or Haas if RFK wishes to purchase one permanently without them having to pay $40 million to get a completely new second charter.

Although I wouldn’t be too surprised if RWR chooses to leave altogether at some point – should they make that RFK charter lease as a permanent sale while they sell the other remaining charter like to Haas or some other new Cup team. 

Post-Notes

RFK Racing is high flying once again with two Cup cars under co-owner Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher but they would still like to wish more success and a third charter with a third full-time Cup car is the perfect next step to bridge their way back up front like it once was before.

Another new big sponsor will be a great get with Preece set for one last opportunity to prove himself in a more good Ford Mustang race car being provided by Roush & Keselowski unlike SHR. 

For now, that mystery 3rd charter seller or leaser for RFK remains to be seen with the Kroger money.

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