 By Tom Luttermoser Images: Bob Packrass Twitter, Phillip Abbott Fire broke out on the Hendrick Motorsports #24 Hauler at IMS today, it started while parked outside the track in a staging area. It started in the generator area at the front of the hauler according to reports and images (Seen above). The car does not appear damaged according to the 24 team and no one was hurt. William Byron posted on social media concerning the incident "A huge thank you to everyone who helped out the 24 hauler today including the track, NASCAR, the local fire department and other team hauler drivers. Everyone jumped in and helped our team today and that support means a lot to all of us on the 24 team."  NASCAR is allowing the team to unload the car and will put it in the garage tonight (even though this is usually not permitted) until the garage area opens up tomorrow at 12:30pm.
Hendrick Motorsports has a back-up hauler in rout for the team operation for the weekend return trip of the cars.
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 By: Tom Luttermoser Image Via: Yahoo.com Jeff Yeung
Aston Martin's 4x World Champion, Sebastian Vettel announced his retirement this morning. After 289 Starts, 4 World Titles, 53 victories, 122 Podiums and 57 Poles the German born F1 driver has had one hell of a career. After getting his start in 2007 for Scuderia Toro Rosso, even getting his first win with them in 2008 at the Italian Grad Prix. He even won Rookie of the Year Honors in 2008. Vettel went on to win 4 World titles in a row for Red Bull Racing from 2010-2013 winning an astonishing 34 times in that short period. Sebastian has been in F1 for 15 full time seasons scoring his most recent win at the 2019 Turkish Grand Prix. Unfortunately Sebastian tested Positive for Covid 19 and was forced by F1's Covid protocol to miss the first 2 GP of the season at Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. So far, his best finish of the 2022 season has been a P6 at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.  By: Tom Luttermoser Photo By: Emilee Chinn/Getty Images
Per 23XI Racing's official Twitter, Kurt Busch has NOT been cleared to compete in this weekends Verizon 200 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course. Follow medical evaluation, was not cleared by the NASCAR medical team to race at Pocono after backing the 45 McDonalds Toyota Camry into the turn 3 wall and was quickly replaced by Xfinity Series leader Ty Gibbs for Pocono. 23XI announced as well today that Ty will fill in at Indy again as well. The team's official statement included, "Kurt's health is of the utmost importance to the team, and we will him all the best as he prepares for his return." Kurt has been granted a medical waver from NASCAR all but guaranteeing his spot to compete in the playoffs. His biggest hurdle will however come in the shape of being the bottom seed locked in with a single win. This very simply means, in the case of 17 winners before Daytona, the elder Busch brother would be out of the playoffs. Kurt stated that "I am dedicated to focusing on my recovery and getting back on the track and will continue to work closely with NASCAR's medical team and my own team of doctors" adding that he is thankful to 23XI and his sponsors for supporting him yet putting his health first and to Ty Gibbs for stepping up and representing the 45 team. Ty followed up his rushed placement into a Next Gen car with a 16th place finish at Pocono and was the obvious choice to be placed in the 45 at the Indy Road Course as he has proven extremely talented on RCs in the Xfinity series scoring his first Win at the Daytona Road Course and more recently, Road America.  By: Tom Luttermoser Image Via Front Row Motorsports Twitter
Tuesday, Front Row Motorsports #34 team was hit with an L2 infraction penalty near-identical to that of the L2 penalty handed down to RFK's #6 car earlier this year after the March Atlanta race. The #34 team has been hit with a 100 driver point, 100 owner point and a 10 Playoff point penalty if McDowell were to win one of the next 4 races. Before the penalty, Michael McDowell sat in 20th position in the points and this will bring him to 26th, 207 points outside of the playoffs. Additionally Crew Chief Blake Harris has been finned $100,000 and will be suspended from the next 4 Cup Series points paying races at Indy, Michigan, Watkins Glenn and Daytona. (Basically the remainder of the regular season). The penalty via Sections 14.1 C, D and Q as well as Sections 14.5 A and B in the NASCAR Rule Book apply to the body and overall vehicle assembly surrounding modifications of a single source supplied part. The 47 of Ricky Stenhouse Jr and the 34 Of McDowell were randomly selected post Pocono along with the Top-2 finishing drivers Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch (we know how that worked out). We can now see that NASCAR is not playing around with the new three-tiered penalty system in which an L2 infraction as seen here and with the 6 earlier in the season presents penalty options including:
 By: Tom Luttermoser Image Via: Team Hezeberg's Twitter
Team Hezeberg announced today that former F1 driver Daniil Kvyat will make his NASCAR Cup Series debut this weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course. Russian Born Daniil has raced for many years in F1, and is a Formula 3 and Formula Renault Champion. This weekend will mark his first attempt in a full-size Stock Car and his first race since announcing his withdrawal from the LMP2 Class of the FIA World Endurance Championship on March 6th. He was scheduled to run the full season for G-Drive Racing only to withdraw just two weeks before the season opening race. He sighted the conditions of "sanctions and regulations" against Russian athletes put in place by the FIA following the Russian invasion of Ukraine earlier this year calling them "unfair and discriminatory". From what I could find, he will be only the Second Russian born driver to ever enter into one of NASCAR's top-3 Series and the First to attempt a Cup Series Race. He will be attempting to qualify the #26 Hezeberg Systems Toyota Camry marking the first time the number has been used since 2016 in the Cup Series. As will all Hezeberg cars, it will be prepared in the Reaume Brothers Racing shop. This will mark the 4th race entered by the Rookie race team and the first time they will attempt 2 cars. They so far have a best finish of 22nd at the season opener Daytona 500 with former F1 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve behind the wheel.  By: Tom Luttermoser Image By: Tom Luttermoser @ Mid-Ohio
At one time he was one of the fan favorite drivers of the NASCAR Cup Series. He became the sports true underdog while in the 95 Toyota for Leavine Family Racing in 2019 where he got his career first Top-5 and a runner up finish at Bristol. 2020 and 2021 He ran for the legendary Wood Brothers team expanding his runner up finish record to 3 but never snagging that elusive win. The closest he got to that big win was winning the 2020 All-Star Open at Bristol. But in 2021 with Brad Keselowski announcing he was leaving Team Penske, despite being told by Roger Penske he was out of the 21 and had the entire season to build his resume and get a new ride... Matt figured he was the shoe in to replace Brad in the 2 car. The time came and he was out. He then slid out of the light at the end of the season and down to the Camping World Truck Series for 2022 in their 25 truck with Sophomore team Rackley-Willie Allen Racing or Rackley W.A.R. for short. I'll be honest I did not have the utmost confidence in Matt's chances in the 25 truck and he surprised me almost immediately. The team although lacking consistency has scored 6 Top-10s and narrowly missed the playoffs with only 2 DNFs. It was made official this passed Saturday that Matt would be returning to the 25 truck in 2023 to build on the successes that they have seen in 2022 and I fully expect to see Matt and the 25 team in the Playoffs for '23 with the team he calls "Family" according to the teams official Twitter.  By: Tom Luttermoser Edited 7/20/2022 12:34pm We have long known that NASCAR has been wanting to run a street course style race. Last season NASCAR, the City of Chicago and iRacing partnered on building a digital "Chicago Street Course". The iRacing Pro-Invitational race held last season was won by Australian driver James Davison leading from flag-to-flag in the race dubbed the Windy City 110. It was a 2.2 mile, 12 turn track on the streets of the windy city and yesterday at 3:30pm, it became official. City of Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot was accompanied by 23XI driver Bubba Wallace, NASCAR's Senior Vice President of Racing Development and Strategy Ben Kennedy and NASCAR President Steve Phelps announced on July 19th with the hustle and bustle of the City in the background that the new event would find it's beginning in 2023. “Really excited about announcing that for the first time with our national series that we’ll be bringing it to a street course, and what better place to do it than downtown Chicago, such an iconic city,” said Ben Kennedy. “You think about the history of sports there, the iconic monuments and facilities around Chicago, and the support that we’ve had around Chicago as well. Mix that in with the great racing that we’ve seen with our NASCAR Cup Series, certainly going to be a very special moment in the summer of 2023 as we go street-course racing for the first time with the series.” Together they announced to the world that, along with an accompanying IMSA race, the Cup Series will take to the streets for the first time in the Windy City July 1-2 2023. Chicago is one of the largest sports markets in the country and with the closing of the Chicagoland Speedway, a void was left that needed to be filled. “We’ll be working hand and glove with NASCAR to make sure that the experience is safe but also incredibly enjoyable for the fans,” Lightfoot added, mentioning the economic benefits of being a street-race host. “If you know anything about the city of Chicago, you probably know our tremendous lakefront and icons like Grant Park and Buckingham Fountain. I’m looking forward to showcasing our fantastic city on a global stage. We’re going to do everything we can to make sure that this race is a love letter to the city of Chicago.” In terms of logistics, Mayor Lightfoot mentioned that the City often hosts large-scale events, stating "We know how to do this." Together they mentioned that many locations were scouted but the park, Lake Michigan and the skyline-hub of the city.. The area was a "No-brainer". Kennedy confirmed that the Chicago Street Race would take the place of Road America on the 4th of July weekend slot on the schedule. The gorgeous road course in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin about 150 miles north of Chicago had hosted the Cup Series the last two seasons. I myself attended the inaugural weekend and was blown away. Kennedy stated he hopes that the event will mirror the festival like atmospheres of events of old 4th of July NASCAR weekends. The Race will be held in the Chicago Loop in an area of the iconic city with close proximity to Soldier Field in Grant Park. The cars will run with the starting line on S. Columbus Dr. with Pit Road right across the street from the beautiful Buckingham Fountain. Lake Shore Drive, Michigan Avenue, East Balbo and East Jackson will make up important stretches of the 12-Turn course as well. The cars will tear by the Field Museum, The Museum of Contemporary Photography, The Art Institute of Chicago as well as the Fine Arts Building.
So far fan reactions seem to differ with those like myself who are excited to see the continued ambitious schedule changes such as The Clash move to L.A. and Bristol Dirt. Then there are those who are against the move, some for reasons as simple as "why take the race from Road America?" to those who are concerned (rightfully so) of the South Side of the cities very well publicized history of violence. Facebook, Twitter and the like exploded in the last few days with negativity across the platforms. Lightfoot addressed the safety concerns of many fans; “We’ll be working hand and glove with NASCAR to make sure that the experience is safe but also incredibly enjoyable for the fans,” Lightfoot added, mentioning the economic benefits of being a street-race host. “If you know anything about the city of Chicago, you probably know our tremendous lakefront and icons like Grant Park and Buckingham Fountain. I’m looking forward to showcasing our fantastic city on a global stage. We’re going to do everything we can to make sure that this race is a love letter to the city of Chicago.” I personally hope the event works perfectly and I already plan to attend in a media position. We are looking for 3 Freelance writers and or 2 photographers for any motorsport. This can benefit us both by helping us grow and join a growing Motorsports media platform to share your work with the masses.
This is not limited to just online print. This can also include our YouTube, Twitter and other SM branches as well depending on your comfort level, desires and capabilities. Work and topics can be your choice with an assignment here or there. I cannot afford to pay right now as I fund the entire SFM platform out of pocket. With hopeful future growth, I hope to have the capabilities to compensate you one day soon if you do so choose to work with me.  Reported By: Tom Luttermoser
"I watched him, I raced against him, I wanted him, and I got him" - Denny Hamlin During the 23XI/Toyota Racing press conference with Denny Hamlin (Co-Owner of 23XI Racing w/Michael Jordan), Tyler Reddick joined "accidentally" on the wrong media session in a second screen, with members of the media even laughing at this apparent mistake. Denny then introduced their new driver for 2024. "Actually I don't think he did, I would like to announce to the media that today I would like to formally announce Tyler Reddick is a part of a future member of the 23XI and Toyota Racing Family starting in 2024". Denny slid his seat over as if to get to one side of the video, Tyler proceeded to slide on over into the main feed with Denny and shook his hand "hi buddy". Denny stated that the conversation started casually with Tyler actually reaching out to the team saying " I love what you're doing". Hamlin stated he asked Tyler about his future and asked permission from the OEM (Toyota) to pursue Tyler. Toyota wholeheartedly agreed that it was a good direction for the team. Denny also stated that they do not yet know the sponsors or which car, that they just planted their feet. "I watched him, I raced against him, I wanted him, I got him." Denny Hamlin stated. During the conference, Denny was asked if Tyler would be replacing Kurt Busch. Denny relied that so long as Kurt wanted a job that he would have one at 23XI Racing. That "if he want's to race until he is 48 (2 more years), that he would have a ride. It was stated that the team will find out which car in the future, that it is not yet set in stone. When asked why Tyler made the decision to move to 23XI from his current team at Richard Childress Racing, he responded "Well for me, just seeing where 23XI has started and where they're going... it has been very obvious to me that the ramp that they're on and how they're improving was very exciting to me and I wanted to be a part of that." He also in the same bit, referenced Toyota and their commitment to the Sport and 23XI as another exciting reason that "heavily influenced" his decision. Tyler said that he was extremely grateful for the opportunities granted to him by Richard Childress Racing to be a 2x Xfinity Series Champion, his first Cup Series rides in the 31 car and obviously.. most recently, his first Cup Series win at Road America. Tyler stated that he is devoted to RCR until the end of 2023 and will compete for championships in the next season and a half. He however also stated that "it shouldn't have been a total shock" to RCR that he was leaving. That he made it known he would be looking into other opportunities. RCR's official response on all Social Media was as follows, "We're proud of the success Tyler Reddick has found at Richard Childress Racing. We're focused on winning a championship in 2022 and 2023, although timing of this announcement could not be any worse". My fellow freelance NASCAR reporter Daniel McFadin reached out to an RCR executive and received the response that he then posted on Twitter, "We were shocked to hear the news today". With that statement, it is fairly clear either Tyler informed his current team just before the public announcement or not at all. Lots of questions such as Reddick's car, sponsors and his replacement at RCR will obviously be answered within the next few months to a year or so, make sure you keep up with us here as we keep you completely up to date on the breaking Tyler Reddick/23XI news.  Winners By Tom Luttermoser. Image Via AMS Twitter. Chase Elliott - Nothing is sweeter than winning at home. It took Chase 9 tries to win at his home track in the Cup Series, 12 total between the Top-3 series. Chase joins his father Awesome Bill from Dawsonville as being only the second Georgia native to ever win there. Chase dominated scoring maximum points winning both stages and leading a race high 96 laps in rout to his 3rd win of the season. He battled hard with Corey LaJoie in the final restart and the closing laps winning the race under caution for his first ever win at home. Corey LaJoie - Corey has been one of the fan favorites for the last few years in the Cup series. Last season he moved to the Spire Motorsports #7 entry and scored his first career Top-5 earlier this season at Atlanta. He announced that Sunday's Atlanta race would be his best shot at a "Hail Mary" to win and make the Playoffs. He made his presence known Sunday leading 19 laps late in the race and battling hard with Cup Champion Chase Elliott, a last lap up-high block by Elliott put Corey into the outside wall. His 21st place finish in no way described his day. It was a valiant effort by the team and driver and more importantly showed, if you can get him up front... He belongs there. Erik Jones - That Jones Boy showed once again this season he belongs in the Cup Series and that PettyGMS can be a force. Jones led 10 laps and scored his 6th Top-10 and 2nd Top-5 of the season already matching the entirety of last season for Top-10s. The team constantly has speed and has shown they can be competitive, especially at the faster tracks. Look for places like Michigan and Daytona could be shining points in the upcoming schedule to get the PettyGMS pairing their first win and the first race win for the Petty name since 2014.  Losers Image Via Broadcast photo
Christopher Bell - Bell, whos pit crew was just shaken up by Joe Gibbs Racing with several members switched up with Bubba Wallace got the short end of the stick on Sunday when Wallace's abysmal pit crew screwed up their first outing with the young Gibbs driver. on pit road, the jack dropped... and so did the rear left wheel that appeared to not be attached at all. I do give credit though at the tire changer did cling to the wheel and was nearly dragged out of the pit box. Bell qualified 15th and ran in the Top-10 even scoring 6 stage points. Bell spun out of 6th position in turn 4 going through the grass bringing out the caution on lap 235 when the wheel fell off during the stop and was relegated back to the mid-20s for the remainder of the race. This had a big impact on his playoff standings as now he is only safe by 18 points of Kevin Harvick. Kyle Busch - At one time Kyle Busch was 2nd in the points only a handful of points behind leader Chase Elliott, fresh off his win at Bristol... Consistent.. and then.. Chaos. 4 races 20th or worse. Busch raced his way from a 19th place starting spot to the Top-5 scoring 5 stage points. He was then collected by an early caution on lap 91. He did finish the race.. with a finishing place of 20th which was the only glimmer of the race for the Candy Man. Denny Hamlin - He led 2 laps and scored 3 stage points just to, once again, be taken out of the fight by a Ross Chastain move. Chastain came up the track taking Denny out of contention from 4th position. After the race, Denny stated "I'm at my peak" referring to his tolerance for Chastain's "overly" aggressive driving style. Ross would go on to a runner up finish and Hamlin was relegated back to a 25th place finish. |
