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NASCAR

NASCAR website/blog update Huge Month of May 2025 full of Cup, Xfinity and also Truck Series racing

by Sports Benches June 1, 2025

NASCAR Trucks: 2025 SpeedyCash.com 250, Corey Heim holds off the win following a night full of cutting infield grasses and bumping into walls at Texas

Saw many getting run over into the wall & so does through the infield grass as the the of the day, brilliant stuff with the win by Toyota’s Tricon Truck star Corey Heim.

He knows there were several front-runners wanting to steal the lead off him but Corey kept himself calm all along and he knew he did exactly that to defend all of that noise on his way (at last via overtime) to the checkered flag.

He also had a better long-run set up where he first took the lead somewhere in Stage 2 and having led the most laps, Corey will want to be the driver to beat every week as the Trucks season goes on.

So close there from Daniel Hemric (2nd) and Spire’s Rajah Caruth (3rd) – that race at Texas just never ends at the hands of yellows but both had solid endings there.

More shoutouts as well to Bayley Currey with his 2nd Top 10 of 2025 in 8th and Rackley W.A.R.’s Dawson Sutton (an 18-year-old rookie) just secured his first career Top 10 at Trucks level in 9th.

NASCAR Xfinity: Kyle Larson wins the 2025 Andy’s Frozen Custard 300 for the injured Connor Zilisch at JR Motorsports

Another spinny crash day but it’s still exciting Xfinity Racing and can’t get enough of Kyle Larson who did the injured Connor Zilisch proud for JR Motorsports.

Connor is a rising star in the making currently tied to Trackhouse while Larson simply wants to make competition so much fun every time he’s in the race car.

He’s got unfinished business with Hendrick in Cup as well as sprint cars on dirt, might race Supercars in Adelaide at some point & has an Indy 500 stint coming up at last later this month.

Here’s a few more highlights:

Great recovery there from Taylor Gray in the No.54 Supra for Gibbs even though he wasn’t able to close in on time at the white flag in 2nd.
Harrison Burton finished 6th in the AM Racing Ford.
And there’s lots more who stood out that will help them stay in that Top 12 Drivers’ Points like Ryan Sieg 8th and Jeb Burton 10th who also came close (2nd) last weekend at Talladega.

2025 NASCAR: A few standout mid-running teams from the weekend at Texas starting with Ross Chastain from Trackhouse

Aside from a Joey Logano win plus two separate car-related issues Sunday at Texas, there’s a few out standout drivers there who benefitted a Stage 3 cut-off of surviving crashes on the run home.

So close from Ross Chastain there in 2nd for Trackhouse – good news that he’s stable above the Top 16 Playoffs line as a win would be lovely for him to focus on a championship guaranteed 100%.

While Legacy MC have may struggled in the normal kind of races but hey, they can be spur us a good moment here and there – especially when it comes to the big and restrictor plate tracks. What’s even better is that they had both Toyota Camrys home in the Top 10 with the No.43 Erik 5th and No.42’s John Hunter Nemechek 8th. They should be proud of themselves and you never know next time? Could be a win that could give them a chance to go further.

There’s a whole lot others who has been more than ready to knock on the front row doors when there’s still plenty of time left ahead of the end of August cut-off.

However, hats off to Ricky Stenhouse Jr. being the one-man show for Hyak after he finished 6th and having won races at these kind of tracks before, sure he will be the next man to win one. That way, he can help them punch above their weight in order to say hi to the big teams via VL.

And the same goes with Austin Dillon in the No.3 Chevy for his family-run Childress side following his 7th placed finish the other day. As long as he finishes races cleanly and positively, AD would no doubt be wanting to win the next race again at a bigger track – and RCR could somehow be on the same page as RFK Racing, Trackhouse and 23XI Racing after all.

He is currently 21st behind Spire’s Michael McDowell in Drivers’ Points as of Race 11 out of 36. We’ll see especially with Kyle Busch steering the ship even though he had an unlucky Stage 3 outing also from the other day that saw him finish 20th.

Now we’re off to Kansas Speedway this weekend which is going to be Fox’s last regular season race of 2025 via the FS1 cable sports network with the All-Star race around the corner. Other than Josh Berry in the No.21 two months ago from Las Vegas, who will the next one to celebrate that isn’t a Top-notch or Big 3 team?

Time will tell.

NASCAR Trucks, 2025 Heart of Health Care 200 at Kansas: Hocever beats the brush off Layne Riggs for the race win

What a finish it was at the white flag by Carson Hocevar and Layne Riggs where Riggs tried to pass him on the outside, inside but only tagged the rear of him as both of them could’ve hit the wall & Hocevar came out unscathed.

Great night also from Spire’s Truck team with Hendrick Cup regular William Byron 3rd in the “star car” No.07 Truck.

For Corey Heim, a win would’ve been great when an early pit error at the expense of pressure-cooking yellows takes away his flying start away from first – only for him to regain a lot of ground at the end 4th.

As Layne said, sometimes having the best pit strategy and even timing makes the difference where some have sunk or swim.

Carson’s got Cup tomorrow hoping for another Top 10 run so he can stay within Top 16 points & he did guest commentate ARCA the other day where Brenden Queen too good over William Sawalich.

NASCAR: Top 3/4 mid-running teams from the 2025 AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway

1️⃣ Josh Berry simply impresses to amaze the Cup field inside that No.21 Ford Mustang for Wood Brothers even if he had to start from the back. His good Stage 2 even though there were one few yellows in Stage 3 puts him home in 6th – good from someone who has a playoffs berth intact hoping to make a big play later this year.

2️⃣ A top day too by both Roush cars in Ryan Preece No.60 and Chris Buescher No.17 over in 7th and 8th. Preece didn’t complain much all day and Buescher even though would’ve love to turn that short setup into the long stretch for top spot but he wouldn’t mind a great finish also.

3️⃣ Lots of mid-running Fords filling in and out of Top 15 but at least we have a Toyota sitting 10th that is a satellite team with John Hunter Nemechek at Legacy MC. Didn’t hear much from him when it comes to the clean green runs having started 17th; At the end of the day, he simply stayed out of it & finished 10th.

NASCAR Trucks at the 2025 Window World 250: Chandler Smith steers clear past team-mate Riggs and rival Heim for his 2nd race win this season with Front Row Motorsports

Lots to look back at white flag overtime with Corey Heim unlucky being sandwiched towards the outside wall by Layne Riggs at Turn 2 who had a superior No.11 Toyota truck right in front of him.

It’s a shame these yellows really threw him out of the window like it was last weekend (early pit stop issue) in Kansas.

He’s got exceptional talent as sure he will wanna win his 1st championship later this year on top of his excellent Cup/Xfinity part-time cameos – all to do with Corey’s credibility even without JGR’s help.

Meanwhile, top day though by Front Row Motorsports where Chandler Smith is your winner waiting to pounce on the inside with fresher tires & there he goes steering well clear from the Riggs and Heim drama, even though Riggs is his team-mate with a bit of wheelspin finishing 2nd best again.

2025 NASCAR All-Star Race: A few best mid-running teams from Sunday’s main event race at North Wilkesboro Speedway

Yes, it may be a non-points All-Star Race weekend as congrats to Christopher Bell with the win following a thrilling last lap alongside Joey Logano but top night by Ross Chastain also in 3rd for Trackhouse.

Looks like Ross will be the next mid-running team race winner after Josh Berry from Wood Brothers at least during the regular season in 2025 with last year’s championship 4 contender Tyler Reddick not far behind in 7th for 23XI Racing.

Also, great to see Kyle Busch back running Top 10 & he hopes to stay that way ahead of the long Coke 600 race next Sunday.

Same with Chris Buescher even though his No.17 team was fined the other day and special shoutout to Spire who was fortunate enough to sweep those extra All-Star weekend prizes – from the No.71 team winning that fastest pit crew time challenge for Michael McDowell to Carson Hocevar’s win at the open race.

Carson was almost there with improvements in the 2nd half, just unlucky at the final restart from Top 5 to 11th.

Thoughts on Jack Perkins set to make his NASCAR debut later this year in the Xfinity Series for Joe Gibbs Racing at Portland

Great to hear about Jack Perkins able to secure a one-off ride with Joe Gibbs Racing’s Xfinity team for the Portland weekend race (road course) on August 30.

Interesting to see Shaw and Partners continue their involvement with racing this time supporting Jack represent JGR’s “star car” No.19 Toyota Supra.

That’s a Toyota Supercars will be about to see for the first time come next season competing against arch rivals Chevy and Ford with the factory Andretti Walkinshaw team (2 cars) and customer-run Brad Jones Racing (4 cars) – exciting times ahead.

We hope he will make the most out of his NASCAR debut at Xfinity level and for now, he’s lucky enough to be in Charlotte this week. He’s just visited the race shop & soon he will be at the speedway visiting the team’s garage trackside and also supporting them for the Coca Cola 600.

NASCAR Trucks: Corey Heim going strength to strength in a mostly clean evening following his win at the 2025 North Carolina Education Lottery 200 in Charlotte

One thing to look at Corey Heim’s win at the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 in Charlotte tonight – brilliant stuff.

He may have been thrown into the hot seat when it comes to the race off pit road especially under caution or in-between stages but boy, he’s fast, extremely fast.

Goes to show he’s more than ready to going the distance than ever who finished ahead of both Niece Chevy trucks:

1️⃣ Cup regular from Trackhouse Ross Chastain even though he makes the most out of his short runs as a mostly clean run tonight meaning he came home 2nd.

2️⃣ Same goes with Kaden Honeycutt off the back of his 3rd placed finish where race craft may not be on par with Heim’s but made some good calls off pit road, however, to keep in a good check of the front row.

On that note, with the Fox’s primary female Truck Series commentator Jamie Little in Indy to report the annual 500 on pit road this weekend, great to hear Kevin Harvick on the call this time as a lead announcer. It’s also on Stan Sport btw for this annual event along with the full IndyCar season races irrespective of Fox taking over NBC as the new TV partner this year.

He’s got his own weekly podcast and vodcast show twice a week where he could’ve been a handy fill-in host with last weekend’s All-Star race but being in the booth suits him better.

He could even be a perfect replacement someday if Mike Joy wants to retire but NASCAR now has at least two new broadcast partners over the next ten Cup races with Amazon Prime & TNT Sports.

And Kevin, enjoy the grand stage of the 500 as a spectator this Sunday – lots of astonishing history right there!

NASCAR Xfinity: William Byron overcomes speeding penalty and chain reacted Stage 3 crashes to finish the race off as the winner at the BetMGM 300 in Charlotte

From winning the first two stages to a speeding penalty and then back following a chain reacted Stage 3 when he got around Justin Allgaier with two to go –

How good from William Byron!

No doubt he will want to win the 600 so badly from 3rd in Cup tomorrow while Allgaier did his best to hold off on older tires which could’ve been his to win if wasn’t for those endless late yellows.

Shoutout also to Nick Sanchez 3rd with a car capable of good results, Dean Thompson 5th from mid-pack to an extended shot at the front row, and Josh Williams was better late than never in 6th.

NASCAR Race Results: Top 3 to 4 mid-running teams from the 2025 Coca Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway

Lots of mid-run teams with top-notch Coca Cola 600 results after all surviving mid-race yellows that includes one race winner, who successfully nailed down the most lead lap driver of the night, just laps before the finish line over William Byron.

If Ross Chastain may have been disappointed over Corey Heim the other day in Trucks, why not be the top of the crown with the watermelons on it in Cup?

He’s done it just that when William Byron thought he could take home the Cup & Xfinity Charlotte double which didn’t happen but hey, at least everyone had their fair share of wins in each category.

1️⃣ 2nd driver to win after Josh Berry that isn’t a top team goes to Ross Chastain from the way back to way front and never looked back blowing William Byron and Denny Hamlin away so late for 1st.

2️⃣ AJ Allmendinger kept a great eye on the front runners all night long where yes, his No.16 may not be closer to the lead but still a nice and clean Top 4th finish.

3️⃣ 1st Top 5 of 2025 from Brad Keselowski who had to bide his time before he made plenty of ground all the way to the Top 10 then 5th over the last 200 odd laps – that’s a RFK weekend success story with Ryan Preece in 9th.

4️⃣ Another 1st Top 10 also for 2025 by Michael McDowell in first-time Spire colours with a good Stage 1 in 10th where he may have fell back at one stage; fortunately, important adjustments after others drop out saw Michael cruise back as it goes with good 2nd half speed in 7th.

Who will be the next winner that isn’t a top team after the Coke 600? No surprise if a different Trackhouse driver wins the next few either Daniel Suarez or SVG.

The same goes with AJ Allmendinger in the No.16 Chevy for Kaulig and Michael McDowell at Spire, who can use a bit of their specialist & even big oval road course advantage, to lock up one of the next open Playoff spots.

But RFK seems to be the consistent mid-play performer if we go back to normal every week and it could be any of the three drivers to sweep those stakes this summer ahead of the August cut-off.

Also not writing off Stenhouse too who hasn’t yet won this season but he is too a consistent Top 10-15 performer in the lone-run Hyak Chevy – watch this space as long as Ricky can stay being constant.

NASCAR Trucks: Spire’s Rajah Caruth pulls down curtains on Corey Heim and Layne Riggs on time to taste victory at Nashville

Rajah Caruth – gotta credit his pit crew and crew chief on getting that No.71 truck past Corey Heim with the Nashville win.

He had a superior Top 3 truck who was also impressive at restarts & boy, a good balance of being the fastest on pit road and the right adjustments proved to be something that no one else could match but than Rajah & 71 himself.

More good Spire news with shoutout to the No.7 of Corey Day in 5th.

Second best from Heim where the 11 truck was always there no doubt; there were areas that didn’t go his favour, especially after he missed out to Caruth in Stage 3.

Good recovery also from Stage 1 winner Layne Riggs in particular with his long run speed back to 3rd & Daniel Hemric made a lot of ground whose No.19 truck may not be close to Heim & Caruth when it comes to the race for 1st but still great for 4th.

June 1, 2025 0 comment

NASCAR

NASCAR website/blog update April 2025: Charter Complications while we go South East from Darlington to Bristol and Talladega in between the off Easter break

by Sports Benches April 30, 2025

NASCAR: Thoughts on Legacy Motor Club suing Rick Ware Racing over a charter purchase agreement that gone wrong

No secret there from Legacy Motor Club who wants to expand into three full-time cars but it’s a shame that seller Rick Ware Racing has been messing things up lately.

So they decided to bring this up to the courthouse for the judge to decide.

Thought RWR would have taken the chance to improve their on-track performance even more which they haven’t so far this season when Justin Haley moved to Spire along with the other chartered lease to RFK Racing for Ryan Preece.

But if RWR is not serious enough to improve any time soon while making looking to make another quick dime, then they should take the money now (around $40 million USD) before things get ugly.

Not sure what will happen if RWR is gonna do once they’re without charters where maybe might as well they’ll do part-time (see Live Fast Motorsports) but hoping this happens and maybe the No.44 could be back on track potentially as a three-car team with the 42 and 43 so they can go full speed to where they want to be.

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

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.

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

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.

Thoughts on Dodge rumoured to team up with GMS Racing on their proposed return to NASCAR via Ram at Truck Series level

So there you have it, not only Maury Gallagher’s son Spencer is back on a one-off ride somewhere at ARCA level, but we could see GMS Racing going back to NASCAR after all as a Ram trucks team if Dodge is officially coming back next year.

Not only that, we could see at least two entries to begin with since these engines are spec powered by Ilmor and not built by each of the current manufacturers unless you’re talking the Xfinity Series or Cup.

So no-brainer there for Dodge to get back into the stock car racing business.

Then it’s a matter of when if Dodge does want to re-join and compete the likes of Chevy, Ford and Toyota for the NASCAR Cup Series – could be 2027 or 2028.

Should Legacy Motor Club be able to finalise their purchase with that 3rd charter off Rick Ware Racing, it could be perfect timing for Dodge to team up including “The King” Richard Petty again like it was in the good ol’ past.

Although Jimmie Johnson is the majority owner nowadays with Maury still holding a small cut alongside new member Tom Brady and his investment partner who owns Birmingham City – they just got back into the Championship btw.

I wouldn’t be against it and it’s never been a better time to have Corey Heim onboard ready to battle for a championship for that newly-expanded car (could be the No.44) under Dodge and Legacy MC – pretty sure he will never be picked by Joe Gibbs because of his feud with grandson Ty.

And of course if Erik and John Hunter wanted to stay, I’m sure they will too considering they have families through a wife and a young kid of their own.

At the moment, qualifying pace ain’t bad sometimes but with just a Toyota-powered engine on their own race cars – seems like they will have to do a whole lot of work if Legacy MC was to compete for Top 10s & I mean regularly to stay on top of Playoffs.

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

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.

NASCAR, 2025 Jack Links 500 at Talladega: Ryan Preece and Joey Logano DQ promotes Noah Gragson to 4th for Front Row along with two Spire cars within Top 11 by C. Hocevar and M. McDowell

Thought Ryan Preece was 2nd even if he was oh so close behind Austin Cindric but unfortunately, he and Austin’s other Penske team-mate Joey Logano got DQed post-race over a spoiler ride issue.

If one former Stewart-Haas driver’s got talent, Noah Gragson flies the flag at Front Row Ford in the No.4 Mustang also in 4th.

Spire having a solid afternoon with two cars in the top half as looks like they might as well be the next ones into victory lane where Carson finished 6th and McDowell 11th + the fastest lap driver of the day.

Yes, still no Top 10 from the No.71 just yet but also Michael not far from Top 16 drivers’ points bubble with Carson now joining him in 20th.

Because at the end of the day, Spire wants to be the 2nd best Chevy team to affiliate partner Hendrick ahead of Trackhouse and RCR (Childress).

April 30, 2025 0 comment

Top 5 sports items this week 24/4/25: Rodney Childers’ shock departure at Spire, Scott Parker’s links with Tottenham after PL promotion with Burnley, Super Rugby Round 11/16, Max Verstappen and Western Bears in NRL

by Sports Benches April 24, 2025

Bummer Rodney Childers won’t be back in the No.7 pit box but Spire ain’t backing down nonetheless with all three cars in & out of Top 16 to 20 drivers’ points.

There’s always time with the win and Playoffs still a possibility as long as it’s before September where Spire has the full backing of three talented and experienced drivers in McDowell, Haley and Hocevar.

Parker back to Tottenham?

While Burnley now back to the PL, Scott Parker might not be there because of Tottenham who could get rid of Aussie Ange even if he wins the Europa final.

Maybe it’s best if Scott helps Burnley win it all and see Leeds bottle it at the same time, then he can go considering he hasn’t been successful so far at this top level.

There’s even talk about Leeds wanting to sack Farke in order to avoid his curse record at PL level – looks like it will be advantage Parker for the title then.

Super Rugby: another golden week from the Aussie sides v NZ?

Super Rugby back for another week going the Australian teams away we hope after a few brilliant games including one that ended in a draw, although not so much for the Waratahs unfortunately v Fijian Drua away in Suva.

Yet, things could get even better if Reds, Brumbies and Force all beat their respective NZ teams in Blues, Hurricanes and Chiefs this weekend.

Perfect timing (mark that down) and as of Week 11 out of 16, still no NZ side win recorded yet at least on Australian soil.

Max Verstappen wants out of Red Bull?

Also, Max frustrated behind the scenes being the cut lone figure at Red Bull when McLaren in a Mercedes customer engine are leading the way via Oscar and Lando.

Would love to see him end up at Aston Martin with Honda engines + Adrian Newey again & Franco C. be the ideal one when RB have no other choice post-Max.

NRL finally has a Perth team with assistance of the North Sydney Bears

And last but not least, Perth will finally get a NRL team in a long time with credit to the North Sydney Bears.

That means, the Bears will be expected to play top-level Rugby League once again but looks like half of the games will be played at in Perth with other still going to be at the spiritual North Sydney Oval.

National footprint is important for all of our Aussie sports including rugby despite losing a team in Melbourne but gotta accept it’s the best fight right now in the bid for championships and series trophies.

The big weekend other than the off-weekend of F1 starts tomorrow on ANZAC day Friday before the second last round’s matches is on a bright Saturday night at 9pm and we round it off with the shuffling decks of Talladega come Monday AM.

April 24, 2025 0 comment

NASCAR

NASCAR website/blog update March 2025: COTA to Phoenix plus Las Vegas, Homestead-Miami & Martinsville

by Sports Benches March 31, 2025

March 2025 was a big month of NASCAR with our first road course race of the year in the midwest plus the back-to-back West Coast leg and back to East with a mix of hot and cold weather between Homestead-Miami and Martinsville.

NASCAR today’s result: Another dominant Toyota weekend by Christopher Bell courtesy of a sensational race-winning move with six laps to go along with an P22 finish of a tough weekend from John Hunter Nemechek at Legacy MC

Here’s another Toyota race winning weekend and what a sensational drive Christopher Bell has pulled off against both Chevys in William Byron and Kyle Busch right there & never looked back on his second race win of the new year with 6 laps to go on the final stretch at COTA.

Looks like he’s the early favourite tipped to be the next first-time champion at the No.20 Gibbs Camry even though there’s a whole lot of other races to get through after three weeks of 36 or 37 if you count the All-Star non-points weekend.

And yes for Legacy Motor Club, it may not have been the best weekend, especially when racing on a road course & also in qualifying where they rolled off at the back. But at least both cars came home all in one piece with #43 Erik Jones in 27th while #42 John Hunter Nemechek benefitted some yellows to gain some track position there & he finished 22nd – imagine what could happen if JHN started a bit further afield with a fighting chance.

Still lots of time though as he’s been happy with the team’s good progress as of late with first two races being Top 10 & sure he will make it three out of four before he’ll be running after a Top 5 very soon.

NASCAR today’s result: Christopher Bell goes three-in-a row after he defeated Gibbs team-mate Denny Hamlin at the white flag plus more coming from Legacy Motor Club

A bit unlucky there from the No.11 Denny Hamlin but good to see him finish 2nd and how good was Christopher Bell in the No.20 Gibbs Camry once again with another Toyota race win after three races out of four minus the Daytona 500.

Still early days with 2nd chances on the line by everyone else before Bell would want to pull off a Phoenix Raceway clean sweep alongside that championship trophy he long wanted come November for the C’ship 4 finale but so far, so good.

And yes, the same goes to fellow Toyota customer Cup team Legacy MC with a lot to reflect on.

JHN was excellent on the long runs as always like it was last weekend at COTA where he finished in 14th with the exact same difficult circumstances he had to do from the back once again – imagine how serious he could be and the best of this LMC’s on-track results is yet to come.

Erik Jones, meanwhile, may not have been able to hold down a top-half spot especially with a series of yellows holding him back ahead of restarts but not a bad second half session though to sign off at the 43 office in 18th.

NASCAR today’s result: Josh Berry another first time winner who just gifted Wood Brothers Racing’s 101st Cup win and a mixed afternoon in LV from Legacy Motor Club

It’s good to see another Wood Brothers race win in the space of just over six months from their centurion Cup victory and hats off to hard-worker Josh Berry with his first Cup win.

Didn’t know there was another first timer making the big rounds at WBR just like Harrison Burton last year at Daytona & don’t forget Young Ryan Blaney too back in June 2017 at Pocono.

For Legacy MC, kinda of a mixed day with John Hunter Nemechek on another Top 20 afternoon (20th) & Erik Jones 27th.

Erik was off to a flyer thanks to his unreal qualifying run from 5th but then a lot of yellows + his own spin ruined his momentum while JHN effective on the long runs as always & able to keep his car clean that benefitted his track position – wish he had good qualifying car though that can change everything.

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

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.

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

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.

March 31, 2025 0 comment

NASCAR

NASCAR website/blog update February 2025: From Daytona 500 to the opening Atlanta race of the year

by Sports Benches February 25, 2025

NASCAR is back in full swing to start the new year of 2025 coinciding with the new TV rights deal. This is the opening month of the new season as been looking at one specific team for a start along with an exciting rumor in between that is related with a possible new manufacturer coming back into town.

NASCAR Today’s Results: Jimmie Johnson Carvana-led 84 team finishes third at the 2025 Daytona 500 with John Hunter Nemechek 5th & Erik Jones 12th that caps off a stunning new season start for JJ’s Legacy Motor Club

It was awesome to see Legacy Motor Club begin their 2025 campaign with a bang in their 2nd year using Toyota engines off the back of their huge off-season change of crew and even minority investment thanks to the man of the hour himself Jimmie Johnson.

He still has something to offer whose patience paid off after he came home third even though he races part-time these days, John Hunter Nemechek had a solid Top 5 car all day long other than the late yellows but happy though with 5th & Erik Jones not far off down in 12th – fortunately he was okay.

This is still a team in progress when things will take time but surely they will be more than ready to sweep Top 10-15z every weekend including an odd Playoffs run in possible – time will tell with JJ calling the shots now himself in majority charge.

Plus, happy to see Jimmie’s former team Hendrick celebrating this year’s Daytona 500 win in none other than William Byron.

And shoutout to ex-player Aaron Woods who stopped by at Daytona the other day to promote NRL/Rugby League with the new season opener soon in Las Vegas.

There won’t be a NASCAR race though on the same weekend unlike last year but will they will be back in the middle of March.

Thoughts on Dodge back to NASCAR once again this time from the ground up with the Truck Series starting in 2026

Looks like Dodge wants to go back to NASCAR once more having heard new rumours from the weekend’s Daytona 500 but looks like they would rather start from the bottom at Trucks level under Ram since the engines everyone in this competition use now are spec ones – not too bad to get in at an affordable cost.

Gonna be great seeing more competition with Ram joining Chevy, Toyota and Ford back out on the race track that will make them a decent enough contender to fight for race wins and even championships.

Don’t know which teams will be up for it but shouldn’t be a problem if Dodge under Ram officially comes back.

And yes, they would also wanna go Cup and even Xfinity racing as well at some point as long they find an engine builder but not on their own via in-house.

It’s easy to put in the Charger there since they just got a new generation model last year that also offers an electric & plug in hybrid option and they now both come in a two-door coupe and a four-door sedan.

Watch this space for that and let’s hope the rumors do come out true this time.

NASCAR today’s result: Another Top 10 run by Legacy Motor Club this time from John Hunter Nemechek in the No.42 on what has been a top Toyota afternoon at Atlanta

Fantastic to hear another Legacy Motor Club Top 10 run of 2025 this time at Atlanta Motor Speedway (Race 2/36) by John Hunter Nemechek – who endured a decent No.42 Toyota Camry all afternoon from 22nd to staying right in between Top 10-15 for the most part even though there were multiple yellows where he had the chance at one stage up front – and there goes his solid result for crew chief Travis Mack & his crew on pit road and garage.

Yes, the real test does begin other than the unpredictable restrictor plate races like Daytona 500 last week as he’s 100% right post-race. It goes to show how competitive this can be when going after the regular front-runners for race wins that isn’t Daytona or Talladega but they are getting there though race after race.

You can see how the 77 Spire’s Carson Hocevar was oh so close there particularly at the final restart after he finished 2nd as sure he can go one better sooner rather than later that can mean anything including the Playoffs later this year.

Although unlucky for Erik Jones there in the other Legacy No.43 Camry when he was taken into the wall midway through Stage 2 – wasn’t a team-mate crash though as this was committed by the No.17 Chris Buescher from Ford’s RFK Racing.

But still not a bad weekend to keep themselves through the field from LMC and also Team Toyota in general with Christopher Bell being the 2nd early winner of 2025 for the No.20 Gibbs camp.

February 25, 2025 0 comment

Motorsport

Thoughts on Legacy Motor Club’s huge minor ownership change with Tom Wagner now onboard with Jimmie Johnson running the show more often as majority owner

by Sports Benches January 28, 2025

Still a long way to go when it comes to their results following a slow 2024 racing Toyotas for the first time, but Legacy Motor Club certainly made a lot of steps up lately mainly off-track including an ownership change now, with Tom Wagner’s Knighthead Capital just got onboard (who owns Birmingham City) with Maury Gallagher stepping back & 7 x champion Jimmie Johnson running the show more often as majority owner.

Yes, chopping and changing things can be hard especially being team owner rather than full-time racer but at the same time, it looks promising for both the 42 and 43 cars to deliver this year. If they can really be battling Top 10-15 every week plus a win or two, we could see LMC expand into a 3rd full-time car after all – as long as the price is right and they’re content using their own built cars with a Toyota PU.

Whichever one asset they would want to go with expansion, time will tell especially when the charter system has now updated a little for at least another seven years.

But hey, the fresh investment is here for Jimmie Johnson’s team to turn things around thanks to Tom & who knows if the legendary 43 or even 42 turns up in victory lane someday? Watch this space.

January 28, 2025 0 comment

Motorsport NASCAR

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

by Sports Benches November 11, 2024

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

November 11, 2024 0 comment

Motorsport NASCAR

NASCAR 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 November 11, 2024

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.

November 11, 2024 0 comment

Motorsport NASCAR

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 November 10, 2024

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.

November 10, 2024 0 comment

Motorsport NASCAR

Thoughts on Ty Majeski winning his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship after his win at Phoenix

by Sports Benches November 9, 2024

First of all, congratulations to 30-year-old Ty Majeski, who not only was the Championship 4 contender to win that season-finale Trucks race, but he also got away with the Trucks season title in his No.98 Ford F-150 as well for ThorSport Racing.

I’ve haven’t forgotten about him after all when he was part of the the shared Project60 Xfinity Series program several years ago at Roush Fenway Racing alongside now current Cup drivers Austin Cindric (Team Penske Ford) and Chase Briscoe (Stewart-Haas Ford for one last time this weekend before he will switch over to Joe Gibbs Toyota next season).

Okay, his results there wasn’t that good for the most part other than just the two Top 10 finishes before he was dumped by Roush at season’s end after the team shut down their Xfinity program at the time. But again, he just made the most out of his opportunities since then including some iRacing work, and good to hear that Ty is finally making his name at Trucks level with wins & decent top finishes along the way.

And who would’ve thought when iRacing was an important feature to every racers’ life when COVID put a hold to everyone for most of 2020 & some in 2021? Well, Ty Majeski most certainly was one of the drivers who benefitted from this for a long, long time as he wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for iRacing. But hey, ThorSport gave him a chance to start from the bottom and here he is now with the Truck Series championship. He’s so grateful to both of them as what’s next for 2025?

Well, he’s having so much fun getting used to running up front, which is the most important thing everyone needs to know as an inspiring racer of any kind. So I guess he will stay at Trucks as long as he enjoys dominating this every week. If he was to end up in Xfinity and maybe Cup though, then I’d say he will go to a team who can provide him the competitive means to win races & run regular Top 10s.

Yes, he might not be a young prospect anymore unlike a few others today. But at least he wants to win races for fun and that’s not going to change anytime soon.

Fast forward to 2025: He’s still staying on at this Truck Series level as he wants to dominate this on his own every week rather than trying to move up to a higher level which may be a big ask for someone into his 30s but as long as he’s having fun, that’s his No.1 priority especially when he has his family to look after as well.

November 9, 2024 0 comment