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NASCAR Race Today: Another late Team Penske Round of 8 win this time by No.12 Ford’s Ryan Blaney at Martinsville ahead of his season-title defense for next weekend

by Sports Benches

Yes, it’s that time of the year when eligible Playoff drivers who haven’t booked their Championship 4 ticket yet usually leave things to the last minute during the last Round of 8 Cup race. However for some when they were fortunate enough to get that golden ticket opportunity, it’s within good reason thanks to Ryan Blaney’s win today in the No.12 Ford Mustang for Team Penske at Martinsville Speedway. 

Now there’s going to be not one but two Team Penske cars alongside a 23XI Toyota (Tyler Reddick) and a Hendrick Chevy (William Byron) on what could be yet another golden Team Penske Championship year for the third straight time ahead of next weekend’s season-finale race at Phoenix Raceway.

You just couldn’t believe the time has come for Team Penske to dominate this three-week semis swing even though we haven’t heard much from them beforehand. But hey, they’ve been there and have done before with huge success and it would no surprise if either the defending champ Ryan Blaney or Joey Logano take home that championship trophy once the 2024 season is done.

First of all, Christopher Bell would’ve easily been the other last two favourites to book into Phoenix – provided if he can provide a good enough finish – as one of the championship front-runners like it was back in 2022 and 2023. But then he made an illegal wall move towards the end there on Byron (the actual Championship 4 contender instead) that got himself DQ’d and NASCAR fined him with a penalty there on the spot post-race. He’ll have to wait till next year now for his next championship opportunity as still plenty to offer in the No.20 Gibbs Toyota at age 30.

Also, feeling sorry there for experienced veteran Denny Hamlin who overcame yesterday’s crash to force his way back up through the field with a spare No.11 Toyota Camry in 6th – the best placed Toyota/Gibbs car today at Martinsville.

Unfortunately, it’s still not quite enough to book in his championship shot yet again for season 2024 when a win was still required that began with the Team Penske’s championship glory back in 2022. Yes, he also could’ve done it last weekend at Homestead if it wasn’t for that poor last restart & also if the last yellow didn’t come out when other eligible Championship 4 contenders already have better Playoff form than him it as seen with the Team Penske duo & even one or the other Toyota team-mates like Bell and his 23XI employee of course in Reddick.

Although there’s lots more to come from Denny as a co-owner for 23XI Racing with Reddick still in the fight, but as a driver, he really needs a big impact all along at Playoffs time next year like winning all these set of races if he wants to finally win the championship so badly.

What else? There’s also some Ford cars in and out of the Top 10 with Brad Keselowski who finished 9th in his co-owned No.6 Ford for RFK Racing as well as Noah Gragson 11th as the highest Stewart-Haas Ford finisher ahead of a few other team-mates down the Top 15 mark for his No.10 crew. And don’t forget New Zealand’s Shane Van Gisbergen in 12th for Kaulig Racing’s No.16 Chevy Cup team. Yes, I know Austin Dillon aka AD finished 7th for the No.3 Childress Chevy but he was there for the wrong reasons unfortunately when it comes to that late race radio drama.

And if I was going to choose a championship winner for next Monday’s season finale for Cup, it’s going to be a touch one for sure. Now based on regular season form then it would be William Byron; if not, going with Logano to get this done for a 3rd Drivers’ Championship.

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Tyler Reddick now step away to race for the NASCAR Cup season title after an unreal final lap pass win for 23XI at Homestead-Miami 

by Sports Benches

The second of the 2024 NASCAR semi-final races at Homestead-Miami saw a brand new & another bit surprising championship contender for the next fortnight’s finale at Phoenix Raceway as there’s only one to go before the “Final Four” line-up is sorted by the end of next Sunday’s Cup race (Monday AM in Australian time) at Martinsville Speedway.

The driver of the day belongs to Tyler Reddick, who was simply outstanding all afternoon including pole position the other day, having initially passed his boss Denny Hamlin on his way to Turn 1 following the last restart yellow and then Ryan Blaney during the last two corners before he managed shut Blaney down on time towards the checkered flag – what a day for Tyler and his No.45 23XI Racing team right there. 

Tough luck for both Blaney (Defending Champion in the No.12 Ford for Penske) and Hamlin (as a No.11 Gibbs Toyota driver) who fell just short in 2nd and 3rd respectively. Yes, good to see Denny in particular finish 3rd as the best Gibbs Toyota car ahead of always Top 5 finisher Christopher Bell in 4th while he was able to stop by to celebrate with his own driver post-race which was lovely to hear. 

However, it seems that Denny will really need a good race car once more to get out of this must win situation or else he will have it miss out yet again come Martinsville. Don’t have much confidence on him to pull off unfortunately unless all other five Playoff contenders drop out via luck such as a mechanical failure or a crash & Denny gets his way – remember he hasn’t won anything much for a while unlike the regular season leg including the past few Playoff race editions & also this “Paper Clip” short track record that goes way back to 2010 (15 years ago).

If I was going to choose the last two drivers to close off the last semi-final race, then it would be Bell who always does well in the Top 3-5 regardless of this next result & although that last pick looks like to be a very tough one, but maybe Kyle Larson in the 5 Hendrick Chevy will do it with the win as long as he doesn’t crash next weekend.

For now, go celebrate your drivers’ win Denny as Tyler is such a huge talent – who has won 2 x Xfinity Championships in the past – and sure he can make Championship 4 something special should he be the first driver to win one at Phoenix.

Who else other than a strong Top 3-4 Toyota afternoon at Homestead-Miami? There’s AJ Allmendinger in 8th for Kaulig’s 16 Chevy team (racing part-time there for now) and so does the new Rookie of the Year Carson Hocevar who finished 9th also in a Chevy for Spire’s 77 squad. 

And a few Stewart-Haas Racing Fords also filled in & out of the Top 10 when it comes to the next three spots like Ryan Preece (10th – No.41), Josh Berry (11th – No.4) & Chase Briscoe (12th – No.14). Yes, they may not have much time left as SHR are already out of any chances of a season title since Kevin Harvick last won it 10 years ago (2014) but a good Top 10-15 finish is at least a positive thing to hear if you closely follow SHR.

We’re going to miss them dearly at season’s end with Haas set to continue running on his own albeit on a smaller scale and Tony Stewart spending more time with his wife via their drag racing business in the NHRA together.

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NASCAR Race Results: Kyle Larson still the one & only Playoff eligible driver who has won a race so far following his great day out at Charlotte Motor Speedway’s Roval Course

by Sports Benches

The last Playoffs driver who won a race during the Playoffs was Kyle Larson at Bristol Motor Speedway a few weeks ago to close out the opening Round of 16 & he’s closing out the 2nd Round of 12 with a win once again at Charlotte Motor Speedway’s Roval course for Hendrick Motorsports and his No.5 Chevy team.

He gave a huge credit to the early yellows whose long runs have been top-notch that helped him gained track position up front, especially when “Yung Money” pulled off well clear of AJ Allmendinger in the No.13 Chevy from Kaulig Racing for the lead not long after that Lap 60 restart — and he was just simply unstoppable ever since. 

Looks like he’s saving the best for last as Kyle Larson is sure wanting to be there first all the way by the time the NASCAR season ends in early November as a possible two-time drivers’ champion at Phoenix Raceway in Arizona.

Post-Race Shoutouts

Who else has done well today other than Kyle Larson? No.20’s Christopher Bell back up front in 2nd for Joe Gibbs Racing’s Toyota works organisation & so does fellow Hendrick driver (No.24) William Byron who finished 3rd as both drivers also coming off strong recent results when it comes to the Top 5/7 – keep an eye on them over the next three weeks of semis.

How about Kaulig Racing’s two road course ringers and also full-time Xfinity Series drivers both AJ Allmendinger and Supercars champion & Bathurst 1000 winner Shane Van Gisbergen? AJ finished 6th in the No.16 ahead of his team-mate in 7th when things could’ve been better if it wasn’t for these early yellows but at least both cars were running well all afternoon to put both cars into the Top 10.

And don’t forget the 23XI satellite Toyota team is still in the running when it comes to the championship & so does co-owner Denny Hamlin over in the No.11 Gibbs machinery (who finished 14th today), although he’s currently sitting 6th (-8 off the Playoffs bubble) where Denny needs to win either of the next semi-final races/post consistent Top 3 finishes or he will sadly miss out yet again for season 2024. 

23XI’s man of the hour you’re looking right now at is the No.45 of Tyler Reddick, who currently sits 3rd in Playoff drivers’ points, thanks to his regular season championship title from a while ago at Darlington. He finished 11th following a series of late-race passes which is two spots behind team-mate the No.23’s Bubba Wallace in 9th as Tyler may not had a Top 5 since his last Cup win Michigan. But as long as he keeps up in the Top 10 with all those stage points he picked up right now, he’ll be alright to see out his first Championship 4 at Cup level – having won back-to-back Xfinity Series Championships at this same Phoenix race track back in 2018-19.

Now we will leave the Queen City to rolling the dices at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, which is going to be the next NASCAR Cup race (Race 33 of 36) and also the 1st of the 3 x Round of 8 events as they’ll be back next Monday at 5.30am AEDT.

Round of 12 now becomes Round of 8 on the road towards the Championship 4 Finale next month

And last but not least, we will bid farewell to the next last bottom four drivers who are now no longer eligible for the championship following the end of the Second Round of 12 races today.

We’ll start with Alex Bowman who originally finished 18th which was supposedly enough to make it into the semi-finals that could’ve seen Logano eliminated. But unfortunately he got caught up post-inspection for the wrong reasons to his No.48 Chevy & got DQ’d along the way, which ultimately ended his championship hopes in such tragic circumstances – such a bummer for Alex and his No.48 Hendrick racing team.

Then there’s Daniel Suarez when he didn’t see much of him since his 2nd placed finish at the 2nd Atlanta Cup race early last month as he’s hoping to bounce back even better following another good season in the No.99 Chevy for Team Trackhouse.

We also cannot forget the unsung talents of Chase Briscoe in the No.14 Ford for Stewart-Haas Racing having not scored a Top 10 since the last Round of 16 race at Bristol (8th), but he is someone who is tipped for maximum success when he will be replacing the retirement-bound Martin Truex Jr. next season at Joe Gibbs Racing’s No.19 Team. 

A big loss for Haas turns out to be a big gain by driving such a competitive car at a championship-winning team like Gibbs that can hopefully help Chase run upfront more regularly & in turn win more races as well as season-ending silverware.

And so does Austin Cindric in the No.2 Ford for Team Penske. He might not have chased down Kyle Larson on time to get out a must win situation down in 4th while he hasn’t made much Top 5 finishes since his last win at Gateway back in early June but sure there’s a lot more to come as Austin is capable of posting some good if not excellent results as long as that fast race car can come good for him – that’s all what’s best about him who won the Daytona 500 race in his rookie Cup year two years ago.

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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 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 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

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.

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Top 3 NASCAR news this week: Two Supercars drivers now confirmed for Sonoma next month, more merger teams talk & next year’s Coca Cola 600 event will no longer be on FOX

by Sports Benches

There’s a whole lot of NASCAR news you need to know including us Australian fans here including regular Supercars followers that is going to be huge over the next coming weeks and months to come. From Shane Van Gisbergen to Brodie Kostecki, two more Supercars drivers are now onboard on what is going to be their first real crack in NASCAR’s premier class next month on a road course at Sonoma Raceway. Then more silly season talk where 1-2 teams are in talks of selling off their charters in midst of a new long-term charter agreement & then if successful, they could still be involved in the sport with another team somewhere else. And one of the sport’s crown jewel races at the end of May during the big day of Motorsport alongside the Monaco Grand Prix & Indianapolis 500 will no longer be on free-to-air TV with a change of broadcasting hands and also a change of broadcasting view too where neither will be available on both TV & cable but only on streaming with a subscription.

Two Supercars racers are now off to Sonoma Raceway in California next month for their first tastes of NASCAR Cup Series Racing

So there we have it with not one but two Supercars racers from down under going Cup racing as Triple 8’s Will Brown and Tickford Racing’s Cam Waters will be racing at Sonoma Raceway in California early next month for the Toyota/Save Smart 350 event. What’s even better about it is that we have the Queen’s Birthday Public Holiday on that day during a Monday morning for most states, which is good news for those who regularly follow NASCAR here looking to take a rare day off & watch the full race with Brown & Waters in it when most of us need to work to support ourselves every day which is certainly impossible.

As per current Supercars affiliations, Brown who is currently racing Chevy for Triple Eight will pilot the No.33 Chevy Camaro for Richard Childress Racing in place of former Erebus team-mate Brodie Kostecki with sponsorship coming from Peter Adderton’s MobileX; Waters on the other hand via Tickford Racing’s strong ties with Ford will drive the No.60 Ford Mustang for RFK Racing alongside BlueForge Alliance backing with the AUKUS connections on it. Yes, Shane Van Gisbergen will also be there during the Sonoma weekend alongside his partner Jessica Dane – who still holds some shares in her family’s Triple Eight business despite moving to the US recently – but he will just be racing Xfinitys as usual in the No. 97 Chevy Camaro for Kaulig Racing. So not required by Kaulig or even Trackhouse to have SVG onboard unfortunately for this one alongside but we can all dream of seeing three Australian-NZ racers in NASCAR even if they’re all full-time together at some point in the near future.

It will be Brown’s NASCAR debut there after he earned great success on home soil such as his 2019 TCR Australia championship season with plenty of wins here and there at Supercars level. For Waters, he can also win Supercars races too many times before even though this year wasn’t the best so far here. However, he already made his first steps in NASCAR at Trucks level recently rather than take the risk & start at the top level with Kostecki and SVG where he made an underwhelming debut at Martinsville (same track he visited last year) last month before he finished 19th a few weeks later at Kansas despite some late drama with Layne Riggs, son of Scott Riggs, who was driving the No.38 Ford F-150 for Front Row Motorsports.

Look out for more Supercars drivers coming to the US soon where we all know Waters and even Brown would want to be at their best every week at Cup someday that would mean more NASCAR connections beyond drivers in Australia & in turn we could see a official NASCAR race here too but that idea is going to be a long, long time away unlike Mexico and Canada. For now, we wish them all the best next month as Brown and Waters will be resuming to their normal duties after this to achieve something that is unfinished business in Supercars later this year before we will find where they will go to next in the long run.

More silly season stuff on mergers with Front Row-Stewart Haas Racing & now Trackhouse looking to take over Kaulig Racing where both would then become four-car teams

Last week, we heard about Kaulig Racing wanting to sell a charter while Stewart-Haas is still looking to sell two charters at the same time but then merge with Front Row Motorsports to create a new four-car team. Now we are beginning to see some legs as Kaulig will merge with Trackhouse so Trackhouse can expand to four cars without having to buy a charter that will cost them $50 million & should the Front Row-Stewart Haas merger be true, Cole Custer would replace the Spire-bound Michael McDowell in the 34 and Chase Briscoe to replace the underperforming Harrison Burton at Wood Brothers Racing in the No.21.

So that means Josh Berry, Noah Gragson and even the No.38’s Todd Gilliland is staying with Ryan Preece being the odd man out whose performances is inconsistent for the most part unfortunately after being given another chance to prove himself in the current No.41 Ford for Stewart-Haas & he didn’t make much of a difference from here. Preece will be good at Xfinity level again with a good organisation or even accept another Cup lifeline at Rick Ware Racing which is going to be highly unlikely since he has no sponsorship. If SHR was to sell these two charters, one will go to Richard Childress Racing in order to go three full-time Cup cars and another would either be a satellite Toyota team in either 23XI Racing or Legacy Motor Club or even RFK Racing if they feel ready to go three cars and hire Riley Herbst who has his own family sponsorship $$$ to make this happen.

Regarding Trackhouse, bravo to Justin Marks on working around the tough charter climate by looking to take over another team in Kaulig Racing in order to expand his empire that would hopefully go even better on-track with a championship on his hands someday like he did to Chip Ganassi Racing three years ago. With four cars potentially coming into play, the No.1 will always be Ross Chastain while the No.99 will still be Daniel Suarez as long as the contract extension talks go well with SVG and Zane Smith coming in to complete the team’s expansion into Kaulig. We could also see Trackhouse enter Xfinity too where the pathway to the top level could be a lot clearer now for youngsters like 17-year-old Connor Zilisch coming in a few years time.

Image Reference: TaurusEmerald via Wikipedia, CC BY 4.0 International

What does it mean for Kaulig should they leave Cup racing? We all know they earned their way from the ground up at Xfinity Series level for many years with Blake Koch at the start before they made the step up over time including their first steps at the top level over the last 2-3 years when the sport introduced a brand new chassis which was the Gen7 model or the Next Gen Car. Yes, they had some moments along the way but now Kaulig is beginning to fade when AJ Allmendinger didn’t want to race on Sundays anymore by going back to Xfinity and suddenly they had to go back to the rotation driver line-up for the No.16 Chevy Camaro this season with no decent replacement drivers being lined up (SVG doesn’t count even though he’s tied under Trackhouse and won’t be dismissed that easily). Well, there is nothing they can do but to quit and give Trackhouse the greater control they need going into next year as this is right for them. Kaulig could still race Xfinity if they like on it own as long as they got a good driver pathway affiliation with Richard Childress Racing but then not so much at the end of the day & maybe see Matt Kaulig getting a board/executive role within Trackhouse. It’s gonna be hard to see them go when the team’s ambitions began to fade despite some good Top 15 results including some towards the front but sometimes you need to either be so serious at Cup level & be in to win with the right drivers & investment or else step aside if they cannot do it.

No more Coca Cola 600 on free-to-air TV next year with steaming-only giant Amazon Prime taking over from FOX

For the last several decades the Coca Cola 600 or the World 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway has been on free-to-air TV including FOX throughout the 2000s, 2010s and the early 2020s. Although FOX will continue airing the first-half Cup races under the new seven-year contract from next year alongside another full season of Trucks but the Coca Cola 600 race is no longer on the list whose season will end at the non-points All-Star race in North Wilkesboro Speedway instead. Next year’s running from here will be a new era where Amazon Prime will begin its five-race season at one of NASCAR crown jewel races with a completely new commentary team including new signing Dale Earnhardt Jr. & a completely different broadcast view where race fans would need to pay in order to watch the races from their phones/laptops/computers/tablets or via smart TV.

It won’t be the same when the FOX NASCAR crew will no longer be covering Cup racing there at all other than the Truck Series races having always been ever present since 2001. Off the back of their recent decision to shut down their daily RaceHub show, there’s not much they can do other than simply turning up on race days during the early months of the year that still includes the Daytona 500. Looks like they want to go for one last ride whose next contract expires in 2031 at the same time of the network’s expected 30th year anniversary association with NASCAR and then part ways after that from 2032.

As for Amazon Prime, good for them where they will get the chance to air the 600 race going forward that could lift the sport’s broadcast onto a whole new level that isn’t on free-to-air TV and cable whereas the big day of Motorsport on TV from next year would only be the Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix and the Indianapolis 500. Although we could see FOX stay on a bit longer if they can get the IndyCar rights off NBC at the end of the season and they can continue airing one of the big day of racing with the Indy 500 rather than the Charlotte 600. I guess it’s early days though when the sport isn’t leaving cable just yet for another while likewise with the other major sporting leagues who also shares a strong emphasis on the streaming world too but wishing Amazon Prime all the best with their new broadcast team and a brand new announcer in place soon enough.

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Motorsport

Thoughts on Kaulig Racing wanting to give up the No.16 charter and even both since they struggled to replace AJ Allmendinger

by Sports Benches

Image Reference: TaurusEmerald via Wikipedia, CC BY 4.0 International

Since Kaulig Racing struggled to replace AJ Allmendinger full-time in the No.16 Chevy Camaro this Cup Series season, it’s been no surprise that they went back to the multi-driver format like it was two years ago and then they would wanna give it up that early by selling one of their charters or even both with Daniel Hemric being the only full-time driver in the No.31 car.

Yes, the results aren’t that bad sometimes when Daniel scored back-to-back Top 10s in recent weeks at Talladega and Dover other than AJ scoring well whenever he can at the Daytona 500 (6th), Circuit of the Americas (6th again) and Dover I (13th) because he wants to go back to enjoy racing on Saturdays which is the Xfinity Series. However, it seems they don’t have a long-term replacement driver to promote from here with Justin Haley now at Rick Ware Racing in the No.51 Ford Mustang.

I would’ve loved to see Shane Van Gisbergen take up AJ’s spot in the No.16 cup car next year as he would be the perfect replacement from someone who shares the same road course ringer pedigree as AJ. But then he’s tied by Trackhouse who gave him his first steps into the world of NASCAR from Supercars and Justin Marks wouldn’t wanna let SVG go that easily, even though Trackhouse wishes to expand from 2 Cup cars in 2025. Instead, we could see them race four Cup cars where the 3rd car would go to Zane Smith after Michael McDowell just announced his departure at Front Row Motorsports to take up his current spot in the No.71 Chevy for Spire Motorsports while the fourth car will be reserved for the seasoned Supercars champ.

Where we could see Trackhouse buy these charters from? the No.16 Kaulig one looks most certain now and the other would come from Stewart-Haas Racing who is still open to selling 1-2 charters at season’s end. I guess the uncertainty on how the sport’s uncertain future on the way they see the charter system turns out to be a great time right now to use this advantage.

And with Kaulig potentially downsizing to now one Cup car, will see them stay on at the top level for a bit longer? Probably not since their ambitions to run Top 10-15 for the most part seems to be fading away where their best bet is to sell the other charter to Richard Childress Racing also at season’s end to create a 3rd full-time car for Austin Hill next year and then just focus on getting the best out of their Xfinity program just like BJ McLeod’s own motorsports team. Sometimes you would need top quality driving talent alongside a decent amount of $$$ to meet your ambitions by winning races in the Cup Series but a lack of good long-term replacements seems like Kaulig Racing would wanna leave this level sooner rather than later.

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Motorsport

William Byron puts Hendrick back into the Daytona 500 spotlight while Shane Van Gisbergen made his first US full season debut in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at the same time

by Sports Benches

Gotta say that this year’s Daytona 500 edition (the race was held on Monday, not Sunday due to rainy weather) was about Ford v Chevy with Chase Elliott winning Stage 1 and Austin Cindric winning Stage 2 where we saw a few of The Big One wrecks not long after the race start and not long before the end of the race. At the end of the day, the winner belongs to William Byron in the No.24 Chevy Camaro from Hendrick Motorsports. He too had a great start who worked his way up to 2nd during the first half of the day, steered clear of caution at all costs including the last restart to stay in 1st as Cindric eventually lost control alongside fellow contender Ross Chastain on the last lap and the race is his to take after all with his first Daytona 500 win. It’s been 10 years since Hendrick last won a 500 with Dale Jr behind the wheel in the No.88 Chevy & double that back to nearly 20 when Jeff Gordon last brought the No.24 car into victory lane back in 2005. Let’s see if Byron can pull off the season championship & end Team Penske’s two-year dominance come November at Phoenix after he finished 4th at the season-finale race last year that saw him end up 3rd in the drivers’ standings behind Kyle Larson and eventual champ Ryan Blaney.

Meanwhile, shoutout to Corey LaJoie in 4th for Spire Motorsports with his best Daytona 500 finish as this team is tipped for big things this year following their huge off-season investments with the 3rd charter for Zane Smith and taking over Kyle Busch Motorsports in the Truck Series. Same goes to both Legacy Motor Club cars of John Hunter Nemechek and Erik Jones in 7th & 8th respectively as they are a Toyota team now and their next target is to push the No.42 and famous No.43 for higher honours up front for regular Top 7-10s every week going forward – having seen the No.43 long been under an American manufacturer for several decades. And also great to see Noah Gragson back this time in the No.10 Ford for Stewart-Haas Racing after he had to sit the 2nd half last year out due to an inappropriate social media activity. He didn’t do bad in 9th where there’s still a long way to go towards getting that struggling team out of the middle & into the front once again.

If that’s not enough even though someone was there at the 500 but only racing in the other categories, how about our Kiwi Shane Van Gisbergen on his first full US season debut weekend for Kaulig Racing after a decorated career here in Supercars? Well, things might not have been easy from the start where he dropped a few spots from 5th to somewhere outside the Top 10-15 before he suffered some damage from the crash not long before the halfway mark on Lap 37. But fortunately his race wasn’t over where most cautions went his way to regain track position other than the last yellow whilst was running Top 10 for another while in Stage 3 as he completed his first Xfinity Series race in 12th. Yes, there are things where he could’ve been better running the Top 5 and even up front if it wasn’t for the yellows or the mid-race damage. But it’s his first full season in the US after a long time here in Australia, having also raced in the main ARCA Series race on the same weekend. Despite an unfortunate result there on what has been a wreck-spinning race, he did enough to pass the rookie superspeedway test as long as he participated including the practice orientation ones per NASCAR rules. Now he will look to look to dominate up front by getting used to winning with unfinished business ahead for the next race at Atlanta Motor Speedway this weekend.

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