“It was not quite the way we would have wanted to start a season here last time around 365 days ago, but things obviously turned the corner well. Was able to get through rehab and get back in the race car and then go through the season, win some races – three in a row at one point – my first Brickyard 400 and now to be Sprint Cup Series champion at the end of the season was pretty spectacular as well.
“I’m looking forward to just being in the truck every week. Last year, it was really hard because being in and out for 10 races and watching everybody progress and get better and better – that was really hard for me. I did get advice off the track a lot from Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick – all my teammates.
“Well drivers are all naturally very self-motivated and sometimes what is in the best interest of a driver is not what is in the best interest of the sport and that becomes a very delicate line to walk. Having the formats that are now available thanks to NASCAR have I think shed some of that.
Trevor Bayne returns to the sight of his first career NASCAR victory and one of the biggest wins in sports history; Daytona International Speedway (DIS). Bayne scored one of the biggest upsets in professional sports history in the 2011 running of the Daytona 500. Running up front for virtually the entire race, the young driver held off the field in a feverish green-white-checkered finish to earn his place in the annals of NASCAR history. Bayne capped off a dominant Speedweeks effort by becoming the youngest winner in the history of the “Great American Race” at 20 years and one day old.
Wallace will make his fourth career NASCAR XFINITY Series start at Daytona on Saturday afternoon. In three previous starts at the famed superspeedway, Wallace has recorded one top-10 finish, a seventh in the July 2014 event.
“I feel like I want to run well and we need to run well. It all goes to preparation and I’m working with the team and the team is preparing, and things like that. So I don’t feel any pressure, but I have to run well if I want to stay in the 5 car for a long time.
I just think when you look at how many cars were taken out of the race, we would have a much better race if the grass wasn't there. I didn't hit anything. All I did was go through the grass, got the nose ripped off. I know there were many other cars that went through the same thing.
ERIK JONES, No. 20 GameStop Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - What is it like to have other drivers identify you as one of the best young talents in racing?
In 28 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, Spire Motorsports has logged four top-20 finishes. Michael McDowell owns the team's best finish, a 12th-place effort earned in March 2025.
Entering Rounds Three and Four of the 2026 INDY NXT by Firestone season, HMD Motorsports heads to Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama, on March 27–29 focused on contending at the front.
In celebration of National Cocktail Day March 24th, Roush Fenway Keselowski (RFK) Racing today announced Kickstand Cocktails as the team’s Official Bold Canned Cocktail.
