Massage therapy is more than just relaxation—it’s a therapeutic approach that supports the body’s natural healing process. Professional massage techniques help relieve pain by improving circulation, reducing inflammation, and releasing tension in muscles and connective tissues. This is especially beneficial for individuals recovering from injuries, surgeries, or chronic muscle strain.
Massage increases blood flow to affected areas, delivering oxygen and nutrients that promote faster tissue repair. It also helps flush out metabolic waste, reducing soreness and stiffness after intense physical activity. Many people find regular sessions improve flexibility, restore range of motion, and prevent future injuries by addressing muscle imbalances early.
For those struggling with back pain, neck stiffness, or joint discomfort, working with trained therapists ensures each session is tailored to the body’s specific needs. Practices like Copper Wellness use evidence-based methods to combine therapeutic touch with holistic care, addressing both physical and emotional aspects of recovery. You can explore more at https://copper-wellness.com/services/massage-therapy/. With consistent treatment, massage becomes a cornerstone of long-term wellness, complementing physical therapy, chiropractic care, and exercise for complete pain management.
Benefits of Massage for Stress, Muscle Tension, and Posture
Chronic stress and modern lifestyles often lead to muscle tension, poor posture, and fatigue. Massage therapy addresses these issues by relaxing tight muscles, calming the nervous system, and restoring balance to the body. When tension builds up in the shoulders, neck, and back, it can pull the spine out of alignment, causing discomfort and posture problems. Massage helps release these tight areas, allowing the body to return to its natural alignment.
Stress relief is another major benefit. Therapeutic massage lowers cortisol levels while increasing serotonin and endorphins—hormones that promote relaxation and improve mood. This not only helps manage daily stress but also supports better sleep, focus, and mental clarity. For individuals with desk jobs or sedentary routines, massage alleviates stiffness from prolonged sitting and reduces the risk of repetitive strain injuries.
Over time, regular massage sessions improve posture by training muscles to stay relaxed and balanced. Combined with stretching and mindful movement, it encourages long-term musculoskeletal health. At Copper Wellness, therapists design sessions that target both physical tension and emotional stress, helping clients feel lighter, more mobile, and mentally refreshed after each treatment.
When to Schedule Massage Therapy for Chronic Conditions
For those living with chronic conditions such as fibromyalgia, arthritis, or chronic back pain, scheduling massage therapy regularly can provide significant relief. The key is consistency. Weekly or bi-weekly sessions help manage symptoms by reducing pain flare-ups, improving circulation, and promoting relaxation of overworked muscles. Over time, this reduces reliance on pain medications and enhances overall quality of life.
Massage is also beneficial for individuals with chronic stress-related conditions like migraines or tension headaches. By releasing muscle knots and improving blood flow, therapy helps reduce the frequency and intensity of these episodes. People recovering from long-term injuries or managing degenerative conditions can also use massage as a complementary therapy alongside medical treatment or physical rehabilitation.
It’s best to consult a licensed therapist who understands how to adapt pressure, techniques, and session frequency to your specific needs. Clinics such as Copper Wellness specialize in personalized care, integrating massage into broader wellness plans. Regular scheduling—especially during high-stress periods or when symptoms worsen—keeps the body in balance and prevents discomfort from escalating. For chronic conditions, proactive therapy is far more effective than waiting for pain to return.
Let’s be honest. Free stuff always grabs attention. Doesn’t matter if it’s a free cookie at a bakery, a trial month of Netflix, or a couple of spins in an online casino. When something is free, people lean in. And in gambling, this is where the no deposit bonus shines.
So What’s the Deal?
It’s exactly what it sounds like. You sign up, maybe confirm your email, and the casino says, “Here you go, have some spins” or “Here’s a small amount of credit.” No money leaves your pocket. You’re already in the game.
It could be 20 spins on a popular slot. It could be $15 in bonus cash. Sometimes it’s even timed credits, like “Here’s $50, but you’ve got one hour to burn through it.” Different flavors, same idea: play first, decide later.
Why Free Feels Different
We all know free coffee samples taste better. It’s not the flavor, it’s the fact you didn’t pay for it. The same thing happens here. Free lowers the barrier. You don’t hesitate, you don’t stress. You just play.
And in gambling, that’s huge. Normally, every bet comes with the thought: “What if I lose?” But with a no deposit bonus, losing means… nothing. Zero. Which means you can relax and maybe even take bigger risks.
Player Reactions in Real Life
I remember seeing a guy in a casino chat bragging he turned $10 in free spins into $250. Was it luck? Of course. But the chat went wild. People love those stories. Even if you don’t hit big yourself, it’s proof that it can happen.
Others use these bonuses differently. Some players treat them like a test drive. They try out the site, see how fast it loads, check if payouts are smooth. If they like it, they stick around and deposit. If not, they move on. No harm done.
The Not-So-Hidden Catch
Now, here’s the part casinos don’t shout about: wagering requirements. Almost every no deposit bonus comes with them.
Say you get $20 free. The terms say 30x wagering. That means you need to place $600 worth of bets before you can withdraw winnings. Sounds heavy, right? It is.
But players still take the deal. Why? Because hey, it’s free. Even if you don’t cash out, you got to play, you had some fun, maybe learned a new game.
Adrenaline Without the Bill
Here’s the funny thing. Even when it’s not your money, the rush is still real.
Spin a slot with free credits, watch the reels line up, feel your pulse rise. That’s adrenaline. You don’t sit back thinking, “Oh, it’s just a free spin.” No — you lean in, waiting, hoping. The excitement doesn’t care who put up the money.
That’s why no deposit bonuses are powerful. They give players the buzz without the financial sting.
Where to Find Them
Not every casino offers this. Some do it all the time, others use it as a special promo. And quality matters. A flashy “100 free spins” might sound amazing, but if the terms are impossible, players get frustrated.
A smarter option? Look for offers with fair rules and actual usability. One example that often pops up is casino adrenaline no deposit bonus. It shows how a freebie can feel exciting and worth your time, not just bait.
Keeping It Healthy
Quick reminder: free doesn’t mean unlimited. It’s easy to get caught chasing the rush, even when you started with no risk. Responsible play still matters. Take breaks. Set limits. If you’re not having fun, stop. Simple as that.
Casinos now offer tools to help: reminders, spending caps, self-exclusion if needed. Use them. Gambling should be entertainment, not stress.
What’s Next for Free Play?
These bonuses aren’t going anywhere. But the format will evolve. I wouldn’t be surprised to see:
Gamified bonuses – complete small missions to unlock spins.
Personalized gifts – based on your playing style.
VR freebies – credits to explore a virtual reality casino floor.
Casinos know players love “free,” so they’ll keep reinventing it.
One More Thing: Stories Make It Real
Let’s face it, the best part about no deposit bonuses isn’t just the free spins or the bonus cash. It’s the stories people walk away with. You’ve probably seen it in forums: someone writes, “I signed up, got 25 free spins, didn’t expect much, but somehow cashed out $120.” That kind of post gets replies for days.
And here’s the truth: most people won’t hit a big win with a no deposit deal. But the fun is in the trying. The shared excitement makes it feel like you’re part of something bigger than just sitting at your laptop. The little rush of, “What if this is the one?” is what keeps players coming back.
Even the losses don’t sting. Why would they? It wasn’t your cash. You walk away with a few minutes of excitement, maybe a funny story, and the knowledge that you got to play for free. Compare that to spending $50 on a dinner you barely remember — at least with a no deposit bonus, you get entertainment and a shot at luck.
So yeah, these offers aren’t magic tickets to riches. But they are one of the rare times in life where the phrase “nothing to lose” is actually true. And that’s exactly why people love them.
Wrapping It Up
At the end of the day, no deposit bonuses are simple: free play, real thrills. You won’t always win, but you’ll always get something — experience, fun, maybe even a lucky story to tell.
So, next time you see one, why not? Worst case, you walk away with nothing lost. Best case, you turn free spins into real cash. And even if it’s somewhere in between, the ride itself is worth it.
Shane van Gisbergen capped off the NASCAR Cup Series’ Round of 12 Playoff battle by winning the eighth annual running of the Bank of America Roval 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course (Royal) on Sunday, October 5.
The three-time Supercars champion from Auckland, New Zealand, led a race-high 57 of 109-scheduled laps in an event where he started alongside pole-sitter Tyler Reddick. After assuming the lead from Reddick for the first time on the fourth lap, van Gisbergen preserved both his tires through various pit strategies and his entry amid a bevy of on-track actions to remain in contention for the lead. Amid a late-race battle with Playoff contenders Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell, van Gisbergen executed his race-winning pass on Larson with 12 laps remaining, which occurred not long after the latter two competitors made on-track contact. From there, van Gisbergen proceeded to notch his unprecedented fifth consecutive road-course victory in the Cup Series division.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, October 4, Playoff contender Tyler Reddick notched his second Cup pole position of the 2025 season and the 11th of his career with a pole-winning lap at 95.510 mph in 85.939 seconds. The competitor who started alongside Reddick on the front row was Shane van Gisbergen, the latter of whom clocked in his best qualifying lap at 95.474 mph in 85.971 seconds.
Prior to the event, Riley Herbst, who nearly flipped amid a wild wreck during Saturday’s practice session, and Erik Jones dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments that were made to their respective entries.
When the green flag waved and the event commenced, pole-sitter Tyler Reddick gained the upper advantage from the outside lane as he led Shane van Gisbergen and the field through the first turn. Behind, Kyle Busch, who was racing in the middle of the field and with new crew chief Andy Street, wrecked against the Turn 1 barriers, but the race remained under green flag conditions as Busch nursed his damaged entry around the Roval and took his car to the garage for repairs.
Back at the front of the field, Reddick retained the lead over van Gisbergen through the infield turns and the Charlotte Roval’s oval turns, including the backstretch and frontstretch chicanes. When Reddick returned to the frontstretch, he led the first lap over van Gisbergen while Playoff contender Kyle Larson, Ty Gibbs and Chris Buescher followed suit in the top five, respectively.
Over the next two laps, Reddick maintained a reasonable advantage over van Gisbergen through every turn and straightaway. Then on the third lap through the backstretch chicane, van Gisbergen got underneath Reddick. Both dueled through the remaining oval turns before van Gisbergen rocketed his No. 88 WeatherTech Chevrolet entry ahead of Reddick’s No. 45 Jordan Toyota Camry XSE entry and assumed the lead for the first time just past the frontstretch chicane. Van Gisbergen proceeded to stretch his lead to more than a second during the fifth lap while Larson, Gibbs and Buescher continued to trail in the top five, respectively.
Through the first 10-scheduled laps, van Gisbergen was leading by more than two seconds over Larson, the latter of whom assumed the runner-up spot from Reddick three laps earlier, while Gibbs and Buescher occupied the remaining top-five spots ahead of Michael McDowell and AJ Allmendinger along with a host of Playoff contenders that include Christopher Bell, Ross Chastain and Chase Briscoe. Behind, Playoff contenders Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott, Bubba Wallace, William Byron and Denny Hamlin trailed in the top-15 mark ahead of Ty Dillon, Playoff contender Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, Zane Smith and Cole Custer while Austin Cindric, who missed the backstretch chicane and spun shortly after amid contact from Justin Haley, plummeted to 36th place.
Shortly after, green flag pit stops commenced as Daniel Suarez and Cindric pitted their respective entries. By Lap 11, a host of names that included Briscoe, Blaney, Elliott, Byron, Ty Dillon, Alex Bowman, Carson Hocevar and Erik Jones all pitted before more names that included Ty Gibbs, Michael McDowell, Christopher Bell, Ross Chastain, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, John Hunter Nemechek, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Riley Herbst and Josh Berry pitted by Lap 12. Amid the pit stops, van Gisbergen continued to lead before he pitted for the first time on Lap 14. Larson also pitted with van Gisbergen while Buescher cycled to the lead.
At the Lap 20 mark and amid a series of on-track battles and jostling for spots within the field, van Gisbergen, who was reeling in Buescher on four fresh tires, returned atop the leaderboard after he overtook Buescher through Turn 7. Van Gisbergen proceeded to lead by two seconds over Buescher, the latter of whom continued to remain on the track on his current set of worn tires. Behind, Larson, Gibbs and Bell charged their way up into the top-five mark while Reddick, who has yet to pit, dropped to eighth place behind Chastain and McDowell.
Two laps later, a host of names that included Buescher, Allmendinger, Blaney, Reddick, Bubba Wallace, Bowman, Cole Custer, Cindric and Nemechek pitted their respective entries under green. Another lap later, pit road became inaccessible to the field as the first stage period was coming to a conclusion. Meanwhile, van Gisbergen retained the lead by more than six seconds over Larson.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 25, van Gisbergen captured his third Cup stage victory of the 2025 season. Larson followed suit in second place by more than eight seconds, which was enough for him to clinch a Playoff Round of 8 berth. Gibbs, Bell, Chastain, McDowell, Briscoe, Elliott, Byron and Ty Dillon followed suit in the top 10, respectively. While six of 12 Playoff contenders racked up the event’s first round of stage points, the remaining Playoff contenders that included Hamlin, Logano, Blaney, Reddick, Wallace and Cindric were mired back in 11th, 12th, 19th, 26th, 33rd and 36th, respectively.
Under the first stage break period, nearly the entire field led by van Gisbergen pitted for service while the rest led by Allmendinger and including Buescher, Blaney, Suarez, Bowman, Reddick, Custer, Wallace, Nemechek and Cindric remained on the track. During the pit stops, Chastain overshot the turn to exit pit road just after he crossed the exit commitment line, which dropped Chastain from 15th to 30th in the running order.
The second stage period started on Lap 29 as Allmendinger and Buescher occupied the front row. At the start, Allmendinger muscled ahead with the lead while Blaney charged his way into the runner-up spot over Buescher and Suarez through the first turn. As the field fanned out through the infield turns, Allmendinger retained the lead through Turn 7 and the oval turns, including the chicanes, before he navigated his way back to the frontstretch and led the following lap over Blaney, Buescher, Suarez and Reddick.
Then on Lap 32, Hocevar, who was racing within the top-20 mark, locked up the tires and overshot the frontstretch chicane. In the process, Hocevar made contact and spun Cindric, which left Cindric with a broken rear toe link as he took his entry to the garage. Amid the incident that evaporated Cindric’s hopes of advancing to the Playoff’s Round of 8, the race remained under green flag conditions as Allmendinger continued to lead.
Just past the Lap 35 mark, Allmendinger stabilized his lead to four-tenths of a second over Blaney while Buescher and Suarez remained in third and fourth, respectively. Meanwhile, van Gisbergen, who started the second stage period in 11th place, was up in fifth place, but trailing the lead by three seconds, while Reddick, Larson, Bell, McDowell and Bowman followed suit in the top 10 ahead of Byron and Elliott. Meanwhile, Wallace and Logano were mired in 16th and 17th while Chastain, Briscoe and Hamlin were racing from 21st to 23rd, respectively.
Then on Lap 37, another cycle of green flag pit stops commenced as Blaney, who was slowly reeling in Allmendinger for the lead, led a host of names that included Elliott, Wallace, Custer, Logano, Reddick, Zane Smith and Nemechek to pit road for service. Meanwhile, Allmendinger continued to lead before he was overtaken by van Gisbergen on Lap 40. Not long after van Gisbergen assumed the lead, Allmendinger, who was told to pit a lap prior, pitted. As van Gisbergen started to stretch his lead, Larson also started to reel in on Buescher for the runner-up spot.
Just past the Lap 45 mark, more pit strategies ensued as a host of names that included Byron, Bell, Suarez, Buescher, Allmendinger, Ryan Preece, McDowell, Justin Haley, Keselowski, Briscoe, Wallace, Hamlin, Bowman, Berry, Noah Gragson, Zane Smith and Austin Dillon all pitted their respective entries under green. The leader van Gisbergen then pitted on Lap 47 along with Larson as Blaney cycled to the lead.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 50, Blaney captured his ninth Cup stage victory of the 2025 season. Reddick settled in second ahead of Elliott, Chastain and van Gisbergen while Larson, Bell, Logano, Suarez and Custer were scored in the top 10, respectively. With his seventh-place result in the second stage period, Bell officially secured his spot to the Round of 8.
With seven of 12 Playoff contenders racking up the event’s second round of Playoff points, the remaining Playoff contenders that included Byron, Briscoe, Wallace and Hamlin were mired in 22nd, 24th, 25th and 26th, respectively. In addition, Cindric was strapped in 37th place and still in the garage with his damaged entry. During the second stage break period, some led by Blaney and including Reddick, Elliott, Chastain and Logano returned to pit road for service while the rest led by van Gisbergen, Larson and Bell remained on the track.
With 54 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as van Gisbergen and Larson occupied the front row. At the start, van Gisbergen retained the lead through the first turn while Bell navigated his way into the runner-up spot over Larson, Buescher and Suarez. The field behind the leader van Gisbergen fanned out, bumped and jostled for spots through the infield turns and the tight left-hand turn of Turn 7 before they navigated their way through the oval turns. At the front, van Gisbergen retained the lead over a hard-charging Bell through the chicanes on the backstretch and frontstretch before he led the next lap.
Then with 52 laps remaining, the caution flew due to Austin Dillon wrecking into the tire barriers in Turn 5. Prior to the caution, van Gisbergen, Bell and Larson had engaged in a heated battle for the lead through Turns 13 and 14, with the former just managing to outduel and fend off the latter two through the frontstretch chicane. During the latest caution period, select names that included Byron and Wallace pitted while the rest led by van Gisbergen remained on the track.
The start of the next restart with 48 laps remaining featured van Gisbergen fending off Larson, Bell and the field as he led through the first turn and the infield turns. The field continued to fan out and jostle for positions through the infield turns, Turn 7 and back on the oval circuit as van Gisbergen proceeded to lead the following lap. Shortly after, Larson, who intimated van Gisbergen starting in Turn 7, overtook van Gisbergen through the backstretch chicane and assumed the lead. Bell then followed pursuit in the runner-up spot as van Gisbergen dropped to third place in front of Allmendinger and Buescher.
With 42 laps remaining, select names that included Buescher, Gragson, Zane Smith and Custer pitted under green. Stenhouse pitted during the following lap before more names that included Allmendinger, Keselowski, Bowman and Ty Dillon pitted during the next. Amid the pit stops, Larson led by more than a second over Bell while van Gisbergen, Preece and McDowell followed suit with 40 laps remaining.
During the next two laps, more names that included Briscoe, Gibbs, Cody Ware, Suarez, Bell, Reddick, Preece and Haley pitted their respective entries under green before Larson surrendered the lead to pit with 38 laps remaining. Two laps later, van Gisbergen, who cycled to the lead, pitted along with Playoff bubble drivers Logano and Chastain, which allowed Larson to return atop the leaderboard with 35 laps remaining.
Down to the final 30 laps of the event, Larson was leading by more than three seconds over runner-up Bell and by four seconds over third-place van Gisbergen, with Buescher, Allmendinger, Keselowski, Preece, McDowell, Briscoe and Suarez racing in the top 10. Meanwhile, Chastain, who was mired in 14th place, held sole possession of the eighth and transfer berth to the Playoff’s Round 8 by three points over Logano, the latter of whom had a slow pit service under green and was mired in 20th place.
Two laps later, select names that included Allmendinger, Bowman, Stenhouse and Zane Smith pitted under green as van Gisbergen, who overtook Bell for the runner-up spot three laps earlier, trailed Larson by two seconds. More names that included Keselowski, Reddick and Buescher, Bell, Briscoe and Gibbs pitted over the next three laps while van Gisbergen proceeded to decrease Larson’s advantage to more than a second.
Then with 23 laps remaining, van Gisbergen, who had been reeling in Larson for the lead, overtook Larson as he returned atop the leaderboard. As van Gisbergen led the next lap, Chastain pitted along with Todd Gilliland under green. Shortly after, Chastain was penalized for speeding on pit road.
With 20 laps remaining and as more green flag pit stops occurred, Larson pitted from the runner-up spot while Chastain, who was racing in 19th place following his pit service, served a drive-through penalty as a result of speeding on pit road. By the time Chastain returned on the track, he was down in 24th place behind Logano, the competitor whom Chastain was battling for the final transfer berth to the Round of 8. As Keselowski pulled his car off the course in the backstretch due to power issues, van Gisbergen pitted with 18 laps remaining and he managed to blend back on the track in third place behind Larson and Bell.
Down to the final 15 laps of the event, Larson was leading by nine-tenths of a second over Bell while van Gisbergen, Buescher, Reddick, Preece, McDowell, Allmendinger, Briscoe and Suarez were scored in the top 10, respectively. Meanwhile, Chastain, who was mired in 16th place, trailed Logano for the eighth and final spot to the Round of 8 by five points, with Logano racing in 14th place on the track. By then, Reddick, who was racing in fifth place, trailed the cutline by 13 points while Wallace, who was mired in 13th place, trailed the cutline by 30 points.
Shortly after, the battle for the lead intensified as van Gisbergen, who trailed Larson by eight-tenths of a second, muscled his way back ahead of Larson for the lead. Van Gisbergen’s pass for the lead occurred with 14 laps remaining after he made contact with Larson through Turn 7 before he drew alongside Larson and rubbed the latter through the backstretch chicane to reclaim the top spot.
Larson then returned the favor during the following lap by overtaking van Gisbergen and reassuming the lead through Turn 1 as Bell joined the battle. As Bell pitted for tires and dropped back to fifth place with 12 laps remaining, van Gisbergen zipped past Larson through the backstretch chicane to reassume the lead, this time with no contact. Amid the battles at the front, Logano, who was overtaken by Chastain on the track, opted to strategically pit for fresh tires with 11 laps remaining. Logano’s move allowed Chastain, who has not yet pitted, to overtake Logano for the final transfer berth by two points as van Gisbergen led by more than a second over Larson with 10 laps remaining.
With eight laps remaining, Larson pitted from the runner-up spot under green. Larson’s moved allowed Bell to assume the runner-up spot from him as van Gisbergen continued to remain on the track for the lead. Meanwhile, Chastain, who was mired in 13th place, was seven points ahead of Logano and above the cutline while Logano was mired in 24th place despite racing on four fresh tires. As Chastain maintained his points cushion ahead of a bevy of competitors who were racing on fresh tires, Larson, who dropped to fourth place, overtook Buescher for third place, but he trailed van Gisbergen by 21 seconds as Bell trailed the lead by 18 seconds in the runner-up spot with five laps remaining.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, van Gisbergen remained in the lead by 17 seconds over Larson, the latter of whom overtook Bell for the runner-up spot. Having a huge lead to his advantage, van Gisbergen was able to smoothly navigate his way around the Charlotte Roval for a final time before he cycled back through to the frrontstretch and claim the checkered flag by 15 seconds over Larson.
With the victory, van Gisbergen notched his fifth consecutive NASCAR Cup Series win on road-course events. He also achieved his sixth career win in NASCAR’s premier series and his first at the Charlotte Roval.
Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“What an awesome race,” van Gisbergen said on the frontstretch. “Kyle [Larson] and Christopher [Bell] driving really good. [The battle] got a little rough, but man, the battle was awesome. I lost [the car] a little bit at the start of Stage 3 and whatever [the crew] did for the rest of the race. Unbelievable. Really enjoyed that and was a long time waiting, hoping the yellow wasn’t going to come out. I got [Larson] in a little bump at [Turn] 7 by accident and he just slammed me, and that sort of set it off. It was fun. I’m all for it. I hope he’s not too pissed off, but I hope it was good to watch, too.”
Amid van Gisbergen’s dominant victory, Chastain, who was initially a single point ahead of Logano for the final transfer spot to the Round of 8, had his hopes of transferring in jeopardy after Hamlin overtook him for 18th place on the track. Hamlin’s move placed Chastain and Logano in a tie for the final spot, with Logano being awarded the tie-breaker.
Then after trailing Hamlin from Turn 7 to entering the frontstretch chicane, Chastain sent his No. 1 Busch Light Chevrolet entry into the rear of Hamlin’s No. 11 Progressive Toyota Camry XSE entry. Chastain’s move resulted with both him and Hamlin spinning through the chicane. As Chastain quickly placed his car in reverse to cross the finish line, he was overtaken by Bowman, Stenhouse and Logano.
As a result, Logano, who beat Chastain’s reversed entry to the finish line for 20th place, claimed the final transfer berth to the Round of 8 by four points over Chastain. The result enabled Logano to maintain his hopes of defending his championship from the previous season while Chastain had his Playoff hopes evaporated following the Round of 12 for a second time in three years.
Photo by Kevin Ritchie for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“We’re still alive, baby,” Logano said. “We’re still going. I’m so excited. Such a close finish there. I knew it was within a point there and I knew we were going to be tied there at the end, and Ross is going to do whatever he had to do to make it happen. [I] Just wasn’t quite fast enough today with our car. But overall, man, it’s the drama of the Playoffs, right? If you want drama, the Playoffs bring it every time.”
“I’m proud of [crew chief] Paul Wolfe,” Logano added. “We made some really hard [pit] calls today. Three stop [strategy] in the end there. Kind of an audible there at the end. Our falloff was a little bit too much, so making that call there at the end was ultimately what kept us there in the game. So as a championship performance from the team. [I] Wish I was a little faster, but overall, we’re proud of the team and we still got a shot.”
“I’d restart the whole day,” Chastain said. “For Trackhouse Racing, they expect so much more out of me. To speed on pit road, I went off the end of pit road and didn’t turn. I had more room and just trying to get to the yellow line, and just completely started the downfall there and then came out of the pit stall and double clicked up into third [gear] and just unforced errors. It’s just terrible…[Team owner] Justin [Marks] hired me to carry this 1 car and to drive it and to be the leader, and I just completely unraveled our day. So, yeah, not acceptable. Like, just completely unacceptable.”
With the Round of 12 concluded, Logano joins Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, Chase Elliott, William Byron, Ryan Blaney, Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe as the eight Playoff contenders who will square off against one another in the Round of 8 next weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Meanwhile, Chastain joins Tyler Reddick, Bubba Wallace and Austin Cindric as the next round of four Playoff contenders who were eliminated from title contention.
Behind van Gisbergen on the track, Larson, who led 27 laps compared to van Gisbergen’s race-high 57, settled in second place ahead of Bell, Chris Buescher and Michael McDowell. Ryan Preece, Daniel Suarez, Chase Elliott, AJ Allmendinger and Tyler Reddick completed the top 10 in the final running order.
*Notably, Riley Herbst, who initially finished in 30th place, was demoted to the tail end of the field in 37th place due to his entry failing the height measurements during the post-race inspection process.
There were 15 lead changes for six different leaders. The event featured three cautions for 10 laps. In addition, 26 of 37 starters finished on the lead lap.
Results:
1. Shane van Gisbergen, 57 laps led, Stage 1 winner 2. Kyle Larson, 27 laps led 3. Christopher Bell 4. Chris Buescher, five laps led 5. Michael McDowell 6. Ryan Preece 7. Daniel Suarez 8. Chase Elliott 9. AJ Allmendinger, 13 laps led 10. Tyler Reddick, three laps led 11. William Byron 12. Ty Gibbs 13. Ryan Blaney, four laps led, Stage 2 winner 14. Chase Briscoe 15. Bubba Wallace 16. Josh Berry 17. Todd Gilliland 18. Alex Bowman 19. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 20. Joey Logano 21. Ross Chastain 22. Cole Custer 23. Denny Hamlin 24. Zane Smith 25. Justin Haley 26. John Hunter Nemechek 27. Ty Dillon, one lap down 28. Noah Gragson, one lap down 29. Carson Hocevar, one lap down 30. Erik Jones, one lap down 31. Austin Dillon, one lap down 32. Josh Bilicki, one lap down 33. Cody Ware, one lap down 34. Kyle Busch, nine laps down 35. Brad Keselowski – OUT, Drivetrain 36. Austin Cindric, 22 laps down 37. Riley Herbst – Disqualified *Bold indicates Playoff contenders.
The Round of 8 in the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs commences next Sunday, October 12, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada, for the South Point 400. The event’s broadcast time is slated to commence at 5:30 p.m. ET on USA Network, PRN Radio, SiriusXM and HBO Max.
Custer Battles Through Adversity on Challenging “Roval”
CONCORD, NC (October 5, 2025) – It was homecoming weekend for the Haas Factory Team (HFT), returning to Charlotte Motor Speedway. The Cup and Xfinity Series took on the 2.3-mile, 17-turn course with plenty at stake. It was an elimination weekend for HFT’s Xfinity Series playoff cars, and Sam Mayer and Sheldon Creed both rose to the challenge, advancing to the next round. While they kept HFT’s championship hopes alive, Cole Custer carried the organization’s Cup Series banner high on Sunday, fighting to the finish of the 400-mile race.
Xfinity Series
00 Sheldon Creed
Riding a streak of consecutive top-five finishes, Sheldon Creed was looking to close out the Round of 12 strong and advance to the next round in the Xfinity Series Playoffs. Starting 13th in the Road Ranger Ford, he steadily climbed the leaderboard in the opening stage. Creed cracked the top 10 just before a mid-stage caution gave the team a chance to pit. He restarted 14th but was able to navigate traffic and charged back to finish the stage ninth, gaining important stage points.
In Stage Two, Creed built on that momentum with a strong restart from eighth, picking up multiple positions in the opening laps. After a brief caution, he lined up sixth with 10 laps to go and remained aggressive. Even after contact with Conor Kvapil resulted in minor quarter panel damage that impacted his turning ability, Creed maintained his composure and pace. He powered through the closing laps of the stage to finish fourth, again collecting stage points.
After pitting for adjustments between stages, Creed restarted 22nd to begin the final stage. He quickly mounted a charge, climbing all the way to eighth with 11 laps to go. By the closing laps, he was running as high as fifth. A late caution led to a strategic decision to pit for four fresh tires, dropping him to 20th for a green–white–checkered overtime finish. Creed used the final laps to pick off several more cars and crossed the line in 11th, capping off a strong day that propelled him to the next round of the playoffs.
“I thought we were going to sweep this first (playoff) round with top-fives,” said Creed. “I really didn’t want to see that last caution, but it was just your classic, stressful Roval with a lot of chaos, and we survived it. We worked really hard through this first round to get good finishes, and now we can focus on the next three.”
41 Sam Mayer
With victories in the previous two Charlotte road course races, Sam Mayer entered Saturday looking for a Roval three-peat. After starting seventh in the Audibel Ford, he wasted no time picking up positions, quickly moving into sixth on lap two and then passing Jessie Love for fifth. After a caution, Mayer pitted and restarted ninth, but a chaotic restart forced him off track, causing him to miss the chicane and draw a stop-and-go penalty with just two laps remaining in the stage. Despite the setback, he charged back through the field to finish 12th.
In Stage Two, Mayer began his comeback from 11th and steadily worked his way forward. Following a brief caution, he restarted in the same spot with 10 laps to go and began making moves. He passed Conor Mosack for eighth and then climbed to seventh, closely trailing Haas Factory Team teammate Sheldon Creed. By the end of the stage, Mayer had powered his way to a sixth-place finish.
The final stage brought a challenge. Mayer was hit with a penalty for a crew member over the wall too soon during pit stops, forcing him to restart 29th. Undeterred, he mounted an aggressive charge, slicing through the field to 15th with 11 laps remaining and maintaining an impressive pace. A late caution presented another chance, but after pitting from 12th, he restarted 18th and ultimately finished 19th. While the result didn’t reflect his car’s speed or his determination, Mayer was excited to advance to the next round of the playoffs.
“The biggest thing is we made it to the next round, and I’m really proud of the Haas Factory Team. They did a great job of sticking with me all day,” Mayer said. “Literally everything that you could have thrown at us got thrown at us, and we still managed to make it to the next round. So I’m really looking forward to the next round. We’re going to some tracks that Ford Racing has been really good at in the past, and hopefully we can get the Audibel Ford Mustang into the Championship Four.”
Cup Series
41 Cole Custer
Cole Custer showed determination early at Charlotte Motor Speedway as he and his team worked to dial in the HaasTooling.com Ford during Stage One. After starting 18th, Custer focused on finding the right balance as the team looked for ways to give the car more drive off the corners and long-run speed. A pair of pit stops during the stage allowed the crew to address those challenges. The final stop came with only two laps remaining in the stage, and while Custer crossed the line 27th, he was in position to restart much higher.
Stage One strategy turned into Stage Two opportunity. The team flipped the stage, allowing Custer to restart seventh. He fought to maintain track position throughout the run, but as the laps wore on, tire wear became a factor. The team made a strategic pit stop to put on qualifying scuffs and regain grip. Custer’s perseverance paid off as he worked back through the field to finish the stage 10th — a 17-position swing from the conclusion of Stage One.
After pitting between stages, Custer restarted the final — and longest — segment in 24th. To close out the day, he sought more overall grip to attack corners more aggressively. A pit stop on lap 67 allowed the team to make further adjustments, but a speeding penalty on pit road forced a pass-through that shuffled his track position. Custer remained focused to the end, holding steady in the closing laps to bring the car home in 22nd.
“Overall I felt we had a solid Haas Tooling Ford Mustang, just wished we didn’t speed there at the end,” said Custer. I felt like we had a solid car and could’ve had a solid finish. I just put us to far behind with the speeding penalty. We’ll move on to the next one and try to rebound.”
Up Next
Las Vegas Motor Speedway (Las Vegas, NV)
The Xfinity series – Saturday, October 11th at 7:30pm on the CW Network.
The NASCAR Cup Series – Sunday, October 12th at 5:30pm on USA Network
About Haas Factory Team
The Haas Factory Team is a NASCAR Cup and Xfinity program owned by Gene Haas, founder of Haas Automation. Beginning in 2025, the team will feature Cole Custer driving the No. 41 Ford Mustang Dark Horse in the NASCAR Cup Series, while Sheldon Creed and Sam Mayer take on the Xfinity Series in the No. 00 and No. 41 Ford Mustangs, respectively. Based in Kannapolis, North Carolina, the Haas Factory Team reflects a commitment to performance and engineering excellence, carrying forward Gene Haas’s commitment to motorsports.
NASCAR Cup Series Charlotte ROVAL Round of 12: Elimination Race Team Chevy Post-Race Report October 5, 2025
Van Gisbergen Drives Chevrolet to Third-Straight Charlotte ROVAL Victory Three Team Chevy Drivers Advance to Round of Eight
Team Chevy’s Shane van Gisbergen added onto an already banner rookie campaign in NASCAR’s premier series – driving his No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet to the win at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course. With now five-consecutive road course wins in the division, Van Gisbergen sits just behind career Chevrolet driver Jeff Gordon’s all-time record streak of six-straight road course triumphs.
The victory marks Chevrolet’s sixth win in eight NASCAR Cup Series events on the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course, with Shane van Gisbergen extending the manufacturer’s streak to three-straight on the 2.28-mile circuit.
Joining Chase Elliott in the NASCAR Cup Series Round of Eight are his two Hendrick Motorsports teammates, Kyle Larson and William Byron, who were able to point their way into the next round at the conclusion of the second elimination race of the postseason. With the playoff rankings reset, Larson and Byron will head to Las Vegas Motor Speedway above the cutline in the third- and fourth-positions, respectively.
Setting out in his quest for five-straight road course wins in NASCAR’s top division, Shane van Gisbergen turned in a front-row qualifying effort for the Bank of America ROVAL 400. Wheel-to-wheel with polesitter, Tyler Reddick, coming to the green-flag, Van Gisbergen settled into the second position for just a handful of laps before quickly making a pass for the lead. Van Gisbergen went on to pace the field with the defending race winner and Team Chevy playoff contender, Kyle Larson, in tow. Continuing to click away laps, the first green-flag pit cycle began at Lap 11 by Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suarez. The duo of Team Chevy drivers, Van Gisbergen and Larson, were among the last cars to hit road – bringing their Chevrolet-powered machines in for their first scheduled stop of the day with 12 laps to go in the opening stage. With both crew chiefs making a call to put on a set of scuff tires, the pair quickly cycled back up through the field with the No. 88 Chevrolet regaining the top position with five laps to go in the stage. While a portion of pit road opted to flip the stage, Van Gisbergen and Larson were called to run out the opening stage with Van Gisbergen going on to collect the first green-white checkered flag of the race. Earning second-place stage points, Larson officially earned an early berth into the Round of Eight.
Among those that short-pitted the opening stage was road course ace, AJ Allmendinger, who lined up on the front-row to bring the field to the start of Stage Two. The No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet quickly set sail for the next 22-lap run. Looking to run-out the stage, Allmendinger was fighting too much fall off – forcing crew chief, Trent Owens, to give up the track position to bring his driver to pit road with nine laps to go in the stage. Looking to optimize points earned in Stage Two, Team Chevy playoff contenders, Chase Elliott and Ross Chastain, remained on the course to lead the Bowtie brigade with a third – and fourth-place stage finish, respectively.
Choosing to flip the stage, it was a Team Chevy front-row with Van Gisbergen and Larson leading the field to the green-flag for the final stage to mark 55 laps to go in the race. Taking the lead on the restart, Van Gisbergen held onto position through a tight three-way battle before the first natural caution of the day fell. Unwavered by the restart, the pair found their way back to the top-two positions, but Larson quickly challenged the road course king – ultimately driving his No. 5 Chevrolet to the lead at the 64-lap marker to lead his first laps of the day. Larson pulled away to a nearly 2.5-second lead before getting the call from crew chief, Cliff Daniels, to come down pit road for a scheduled stop with 38 laps to go – quickly taking over the lead once again just three laps later. The defending ROVAL winner continued to pace the field before a quickly-approaching Van Gisbergen closed the gap to make the pass for the lead at Lap 86. Van Gisbergen went on to ultimately accumulate 57 laps lad en route to his sixth career NASCAR Cup Series victory.
Team Chevy Unofficial Top-10 Results
Pos. Driver
1st – Shane van Gisbergen 2nd – Kyle Larson 5th – Michael McDowell 7th – Daniel Suarez 8th – Chase Elliott 9th – AJ Allmendinger
Chevrolet’s season statistics with 32 NASCAR Cup Series races complete:
UP NEXT: The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Round of Eight will get underway at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with the South Point 400 on Sunday, October 12, at 5:30 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on the USA Network, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. Post-Race Driver Quotes:
Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
Finished: 21st
If you got that last lap back, what would you have done differently?
“I would restart the whole day for this No. 1 Busch Light Chevrolet team. They expect so much more out of me. I went off the end of pit road and didn’t turn. I thought I had more room and I was just trying to get to the yellow line. I just completely started the downfall there. And then I came out of the pit stall, double-clicked up into third and sped on pit road. It was just unforced errors. It’s heartbreaking for almost 200 employees at Trackhouse Racing, our teammates, ECR engines, everybody that makes this go around. Justin (Marks) hired me to drive this No. 1 Chevrolet and be a leader, and I just completely unraveled our day. We definitely had the speed. On the last lap in turn seven, I downshifted into third, slid the rear tires and let the No. 11 (Denny Hamlin) by. It’s just not acceptable.”
“I would say a month before the playoffs until now, this team gave me everything I needed to get to the Round of Eight. We have a team that could go fight for the top-four. We had a top-four car, and we were a top-eight car a month ago and I just took that away from us today with some unforced errors. A terrible body of work today. When you work 20 years, studying and try to be ready for these moments and you fail, it’s a terrible feeling. But I will get up tomorrow and get back to work.”
Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Finished: 32nd
“Tough weekend for our Titan Risk Solutions/Carolina Cowboys Chevrolet team. During our qualifying run, the left front locked up which put us at the rear of the field for the start of today’s race. We knew it was going to be a battle with having to pass a lot of cars in the race. Our Chevy fired off loose at the initial start but the adjustments crew chief Richard Boswell made on our first stop definitely helped. Forward drive stayed with us the entire run after that, and we were playing the long game with taking care of our tires. Unfortunately in Stage 3, we got contact from behind and ended up in the tire barrier. From that point on, it was a grind to the end.”
Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Finished: 2nd
“I’m happy with a second-place finish for this No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevrolet team. Shane van Gisbergen (race winner) is just so good. It was a fun battle with Christopher (Bell), too. To start the final stage, we were trying to break up his (SVG) rhythm and race, and I thought it was playing out well. He was just so fast. I tried riding. I tried saving my tires, but I just can’t do it as well as he does. But overall, it was a great finish and momentum to head into the Round of Eight.”
Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Finished: 35th
“It was a rough start for the No. 8 Bank OZK Chevrolet today at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL, getting wrecked in Turn 1 on the first lap. Despite the early damage, the entire Richard Childress Racing team never quit and we were able to get our Chevy running better as the race progressed. This wasn’t the finish we all thought we’d have today, but we’ll take some learnings from this week and focus on getting a win next weekend in front of my hometown crowd in Las Vegas.”
Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Finished: 8th
“We were just trying to do something different on the strategy side, and unfortunately, it never really went our way. I thought the pace in our No. 9 UniFirst Chevrolet was respectable, restarting in the mid-20s there on a couple of occasions and getting back into the top-10. I felt like we were decent, but we just needed to have something go our way with the way we were running it. Overall, it was a solid day for our team. We certainly gave it our best effort and I’m excited to get to Las Vegas Motor Speedway.”
William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Finished: 11th
You’ll enter the Round of Eight 39-points above the cutline. It sounded like your car just didn’t have the speed you wanted today. What else did you need?
“I think I was just kind of out there trying to figure out something that would work. We were just kind of sliding around too much, especially on the restarts. We really needed green-flag runs. Once we got green-flag laps in, I felt like our No. 24 Valvoline Blood Cancer United Chevrolet was pretty decent. I’m not sure, but overall, we came home with an 11th-place finish. I felt like we got better there at the end, which is a good thing.”
Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
Finished: 5th
You’re walking away with a top-five finish. How do you feel about your day, and were you surprised by any of the strategies with the way it went down?
“I’m proud of the effort today by this No. 71 Delaware Life/FIG Chevrolet team. We executed really well. We had top-five speed, and we sort of stayed there all day long. There wasn’t a lot of excitement for us with just managing our track position. I’m bummed we didn’t have a little bit more speed to contend. When I would push hard, I could hang with the No. 88 (Shane van Gisbergen), No. 5 (Kyle Larson) and the No. 20 (Christopher Bell) for a little while. But then I would fade, so I sort of had to run my pace to keep the tires underneath me.
I’m proud of the top-five effort, but we come to these road courses to try and win. Today, we just didn’t quite have enough to do that. We were close. We were definitely in the game. The tire was fun. It was a tough 15 to 18 laps, depending how long you had to run your tires. They were falling off so hard and so fast, so that was cool. Goodyear did a good job of that. It mixed up the strategies, as we saw. I felt like we played that right. I think we ended up where we should have, as far as our speed goes. Proud of Travis (Peterson, crew chief) and everyone on this No. 71 team. We’ll keep building on our road course program. A couple top-fives this year, so that’s good. We’ve got good speed, but we just need a little bit more.”
Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
Finished: 1st
You said last year you struggled with the ROVAL, but you dominated today. A great strategy today
“Yeah, it’s unbelievable. Kyle (Larson) and Christopher (Bell) were racing really well today. They had a bit of speed on me and then got going at the end. Thank you to WeatherTech, Chevrolet, everyone at Trackhouse Racing. Our car was fast and really amazing today. Just an unreal year that we have had.”
If I had told you at the beginning of the season that you would not only have five wins, but five-in-a-row at road courses, what would you have told me?
“I don’t know. It’s just been unbelievable. We executed all of them, except for COTA. I am just over the moon.”
Now you have the ROVAL and you got your first top-10 on an oval last week, so the sky is the limit now, right?
“Yes, things are going well. We are getting better and better, and we’re having a blast doing it. Just speechless. It was certainly a good race, and I am so happy for everyone.”
About General Motors
General Motors (NYSE:GM) is driving the future of transportation, leveraging advanced technology to build safer, smarter, and lower emission cars, trucks, and SUVs. GM’s Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC brands offer a broad portfolio of innovative gasoline-powered vehicles and the industry’s widest range of EVs, as we move to an all-electric future. Learn more at GM.com.
Bell, Chase Briscoe and Denny Hamlin put three Camrys in the Round of 8
CONCORD, N.C. (October 5, 2025) – Christopher Bell led Toyota with a third-place finish at the final road course race of the year – the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL on Sunday. Bell, who clinched his Round of 8 berth after the second stage, earned his fifth top-five finish in six road course races this season.
Bell will be joined in the Round of 8 by his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Chase Briscoe and Denny Hamlin. Bell is looking for his third Championship 4 appearance in the last four years, while Hamlin is trying to advance to his first Championship 4 since 2021. A Championship 4 berth with be Briscoe’s first. To begin the round, Hamlin holds the points lead – eight points to the good. Bell is in fifth, four points out, while Briscoe is the six seed – 14 points back.
The 23XI Racing teams of Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace fought valiantly to advance to the next round but came up short of moving on.
Toyota GAZOO Racing Post-Race Recap NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL Race 32 of 36 – 248.52 miles, 109 laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Shane van Gisbergen* 2nd, Kyle Larson* 3rd, CHRISTOPHER BELL 4th, Chris Buescher* 5th, Michael McDowell* 10th, TYLER REDDICK 12th, TY GIBBS 14th, CHASE BRISCOE 15th, BUBBA WALLACE 23rd, DENNY HAMLIN 26th, JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK 30th, RILEY HERBST 31st, ERIK JONES *non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 DEWALT Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 3rd
What made the difference running up front?
“What made the difference, I don’t know. It felt kind of like the rest of the road courses. We had a hell of a race for second between me and my DEWALT Camry, (Chris) Buescher and (Kyle) Larson. It is that 88 (Shane van Gisbergen) car was what 30 seconds ahead of us. Congratulations to Shane and that Trackhouse team. They have set the bar, and we are all clearly having a hard time getting up to it.”
TYLER REDDICK, No. 45 Jordan Brand Toyota Camry XSE, 23XI Racing
Finishing Position: 10th
What went wrong today?
“I don’t know if anything necessarily went wrong today for how the race was playing out. We wanted to prioritize setting up to win the race. I think you could pick it apart – a couple restarts and what not, just kind of, as the race unfolded our long run was not where it needed to be with the top guys. Stage three there, we didn’t make the progress that we needed too, so we kind of went long there hoping for a caution there, and lost a lot of spots, but at the end of the day, we were trying to set ourselves up for a caution late. Looking back on it, my crew chief, Billy Scott, said we were only out by 14 – maybe we could have chased point a little bit harder there, so a few things to look back on, but coming into this, we played it the way we should have.”
CHASE BRISCOE, No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 14th
Battled through adversity today. How were you able to overcome it?
“I don’t know. It was definitely an odd day. We definitely just weren’t that great. I don’t know. They gave me a pill in the beginning, and I felt a lot better. I was just so dizzy – I’ve been fighting something all week, and I sound terrible, I’m sure. After those first 20 laps, I was able to kind of feel fine. At the end I was struggling a little bit, but I was just focusing on not making any mistakes. Not a super pretty day for our Bass Pro Shops, Tracker Toyota. It was good enough, that’s all we needed to do.”
BUBBA WALLACE, No. 23 Leidos Toyota Camry XSE, 23XI Racing
Finishing Position: 15th
Where was it missing for you here today?
“Last week. Just was thrown for a loop with this tire, and it is funny to look at myself and Denny (Hamlin) and a couple others at the short tracks, when tires degrade, we are pretty good at being able to save tire. Him and I both suck on road courses and we can’t save tires on road courses. It is just frustrating. It is back to how I was a couple of years ago. Frustrated at self, just knowing what was on the line, and didn’t produce, but it wasn’t for a lack of effort. I appreciate everyone on this Leidos Toyota team for pushing hard. This one sucks worse than last week for sure. I had high hopes coming in here, and it is what it is.”
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 Progressive Insurance Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 23rd
Can you walk me through what happened on that last lap and were you aware of what was going on with the points situation?
“Nah, I wasn’t aware. I definitely wish I was aware, but nobody told me. I never saw the 22 (Joey Logano) that last run, and I saw the 1 (Ross Chastain) fading, but I assumed if it was close, someone would have let me know. Obviously, I was the guy in the way.”
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for nearly 70 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships.
Toyota directly employs nearly 64,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 49 million cars and trucks at our 14 manufacturing plants. In 2025, Toyota’s plant in North Carolina began to assemble automotive batteries for electrified vehicles.
JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “We’ve got to go win. That’s the bottom line. We got to the next round, but we’ve got no playoff points. We’ve got to go win.” DO YOU HAVE ADDED CONFIDENCE HAVING WON AT VEGAS BEFORE? “Yeah. We proved it last year. Just let us get in the game and anything can happen.” HOW DID YOU HAVE TO ADJUST AFTER STAGE ONE AND MAXIMIZE YOUR DAY? “When you realize you’re gonna get beat, you’ve got to go do something and we were kind of tanking there pretty hard, so we were gonna be in trouble. Paul, you’ve got to make the call before it’s too late, and he made a good call there.” DID YOU TRUST THE CALL TO COME DOWN? “I trust Paul Wolfe.” WHAT’S IT LIKE KNOWING YOU’VE GOT A GUY LIKE PAUL ON THE BOX TO MAKE THOSE CALLS? “Yeah, he’s gonna make those calls. He’s gonna man up and do it and there’s no one better than Paul to do it.” WHAT’S IT LIKE AS YOU GET DOWN TO THE FINAL LAPS AND IT’S LITERALLY EVERY POSITION? “It’s tight. Every spot. If you don’t think regular season races matter, look at that. One point is the difference in making it.” YOU’VE GOT ANOTHER LIFE. “We’re still alive, baby. Now we’ve got to win. We’ve got to win from here.” THEY CAN’T KILL YOU IN THIS FORMAT. YOU FIND A WAY. “I don’t know if that’s the case, but everyone does a good job on this race team of just grinding and fighting. We’re just a bunch of fighters. We’re scrappers. We’re not the fastest car all the time, but a group of scrappers that are able to manufacturer some stuff.” PAUL CALLED YOU IN AND THEN WERE YOU THINKING ATTACK MODE? “Oh yeah, I had to. At that point it’s just kind of go. I was going as hard as I can, but I kind of burnt it up. I’m pretty sure those were my scuffs at the end, so they really weren’t that fast. It was kind of just falling off, but obviously the 1 was falling off a little harder there at the end and we were making up that difference.” IN THE FINAL TWO LAPS DID YOU KNOW HOW CLOSE IT WAS WITH CHASTAIN? “Yeah, everybody was telling me how close it was gonna be there. We’re still in. We’re still alive, baby. I’m so excited. It was such a close finish there. I knew it was within a point there and I knew we were gonna be tied there at the end and Ross was gonna do whatever he had to do to make it happen. I just wasn’t quite fast enough today with our car, but, overall, it’s the drama of the playoffs. If you want drama, the playoffs bring it every time. What an entertaining finish there. To come down to, like I said, a tie there basically at the end before the wreck. I’m proud of Paul Wolfe. He made some really hard calls today. Three-stopping the end there. That was kind of an audible at the because our fall off was a little bit too much. Making that call there at the end was ultimately what kept us in the game with just a few left, so that’s a championship performance from the team. I wish I was a little faster, but, overall, I couldn’t be more proud of the team. We’ve still got a shot.”
AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 2 Menards/Richmond Water Heaters Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “I’m bummed out, it definitely wasn’t the day we needed, and it wasn’t even really close. I just found myself involved in a lot of stuff, and we got spun out a few times and racked up a lot of damage. So you’re not going to win when that happens.”
RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Discount Tire Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “That was not a bad day. We had a pretty solid day. It was nice to get a stage win out of it with our Ford Mustang and we finished fairly decent. I’m proud of the effort today and I’m looking forward to getting to Vegas.” YOU SAID EARLIER THAT YOU GOT TO LOOK AT VEGAS A LITTLE EARLIER BECAUSE OF THE LOUDON WIN. “Yeah, I’m just excited to get there and excited to see what we’ve got when we unload. We’ll see where practice goes and then the race. I don’t really know until we get there, but I’m looking forward to it.” DO YOU GET CAUGHT UP IN WHAT’S GOING ON OUT THERE IN A RACE LIKE TODAY. WERE YOU AWARE OF JOEY’S SITUATION? “Not really. I was kind of aware of the scenario after the second stage, but that’s about it. The rest of the race I wasn’t really sure, but it was definitely wild, I guess. I’ve got my own stuff going on.”
CHRIS BUESCHER, No. 17 Fifth Third Bank Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “That’s where we ran all day right there, sitting around fourth. I’m proud of this team for bringing up a Ford Mustang that was this good. Today’s race was a big step in the right direction at the ROVAL. It was a lot more fun to drive this go-around, and I’m sure we want more and have a bit more to go, but it was much better than last week. We’re proud to take a top five.”
RYAN PREECE, No. 60 Kroger/Totino’s Ultimate Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “I feel like at many of these road courses, Mexico, Watkins Glen, COTA and here, we’ve had strong days for it being my first time at these tracks with RFK Racing. This result with our Ford Mustang is definitely something to build on and keep progressing from. It also felt good to get out of that ten-week slump and get back to where I feel like we can be on the racetrack.”
Speedway Motorsports President and CEO Marcus Smith, left, presents the Smokey Yunick Award to Hendrick Motorsports Vice President of Competition Chad Knaus on Sunday at Charlotte Motor Speedway. (HHP/Harold Hinson photo)
CONCORD, N.C. (Oct. 5, 2025) – One of NASCAR’s most successful crew chiefs, Hendrick Motorsports Vice President of Competition Chad Knaus, was named the recipient of the venerated 2025 Smokey Yunick Award prior to Sunday’s Bank of America ROVAL™ 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Named after the legendary mechanic and innovator Henry “Smokey” Yunick, the annual recognition was instituted in 1997 to recognize an individual from humble beginnings who demonstrated exceptional innovation and made a major impact in the world of motorsports. Yunick passed away in 2001, and Charlotte Motor Speedway has continued the award in his memory.
Knaus joins a legendary list of NASCAR greats who have received the honor, including Ralph Moody, Ray Evernham, Dale Inman, Richard Childress, Rick Hendrick, Waddell Wilson, Larry McReynolds, Ernie Elliott and Harry Hyde.
Speedway Motorsports President and CEO Marcus Smith presented the award to Knaus before the green flag of the eighth running of the Bank of America ROVAL ™ 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the track where his No. 48 team found so much success during his 20-year career on top of the pit box.
“This means a lot to me,” Knaus said on Sunday. “I have been a Smokey Yunick fan for my career, quite honestly, and the biggest reason is because of the stemming of invention and pushing the boundaries – that if there’s not a rule, try to exploit that opportunity. When I was a young man, the stories, and the lore of Smokey Yunick, was there. That was a bit of a fuel for me – it was something that I wanted to try to create.
“That was something that was really cool for me. It’s unfortunate I never got the opportunity to meet [Yunick].”
A seven-time Cup Series champion, Knaus was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2024. Over the course of a 20-year career, Knaus earned 82 career wins – 81 with fellow NASCAR Hall of Famer Jimmie Johnson and one with Charlotte-native William Byron. Knaus and Johnson scored eight points paying victories and four All-Star Race triumphs at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
A native of Rockford, Illinois, Knaus grew up helping his father, John, an accomplished short-track racer throughout the Midwest. At 14, the younger Knaus served as crew chief when his father captured the Rockford Speedway track championship. He began his NASCAR career in 1991 as a member of Stanley Smith’s race team, and has also worked for Dale Earnhardt Incorporated, Tyler Jet Motorsports and Melling Racing.
Since 2023, Knaus has also been an active board member with the Charlotte chapter of Speedway Children’s Charities.
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Machine Learning Self Driving Cars: The Technology Driving the Future of Mobility
Not long ago, the idea of cars navigating busy highways without human control sounded like pure science fiction. Yet today, this vision is rapidly becoming reality, as autonomous vehicles are tested on real roads, debated in regulatory chambers, and developed by the world’s leading automotive brands. At the core of this transformation lies machine learning self driving cars, a technology that is not just reshaping the future of driving, but also redefining how society thinks about safety, convenience, and innovation.
Why Machine Learning Is the Brain Behind Autonomy
Driving is not simply about following a set of rigid rules; it is about interpreting endless variables. Weather changes can make roads slippery, traffic patterns shift within seconds, and human behavior often defies predictability. This is where machine learning becomes indispensable. Instead of being confined to static instructions, autonomous vehicles are able to learn from massive amounts of data, recognize complex patterns, and adapt to real-world conditions in ways that traditional programming could never achieve. The more data these systems process, the more accurate and capable they become, leading to vehicles that can make decisions as fluidly as human drivers — and in many cases, even better.
From Data to Decisions on the Road
What makes machine learning self driving cars remarkable is the transformation of raw information into real-time decisions. Vehicles rely on a web of cameras, radar, and lidar sensors to capture the environment in full detail. This flood of data is then analyzed by deep learning algorithms that identify everything from lane markings and road signs to pedestrians and cyclists. The system does not stop at recognition; it predicts outcomes. If a child is standing near the curb, the car evaluates the likelihood that the child might step into the street. If weather conditions are deteriorating, it recalibrates speed and braking distance. Every action is the result of countless scenarios the system has already studied, turning data into decisions in fractions of a second.
The Global Race for Autonomy
Automakers and technology companies are investing billions into making autonomous driving a commercial reality. Some brands focus on luxury features, such as hands-free highway driving, while others aim for fully driverless fleets operating in urban centers. What unites them all is the reliance on machine learning as the fundamental technology making this possible. The journey is not only technological but also regulatory and cultural. Governments are tasked with creating safety frameworks, insurance industries are preparing for new liability models, and the public is gradually learning to trust vehicles that no longer require their control. Each of these steps depends on continued improvements in the intelligence that powers self-driving systems.
Challenges That Still Need Solving
Despite progress, the road to fully autonomous driving is filled with challenges. Edge cases, such as unusual weather patterns or rare traffic situations, continue to test the limits of machine learning models. Data diversity is another hurdle; training a system to operate flawlessly in Tokyo traffic does not guarantee the same success on rural roads in South America. Regulators also face difficult questions about responsibility in the event of accidents, while the broader public must overcome the psychological barrier of surrendering control to a machine. These challenges highlight the importance of refining data collection, ensuring inclusivity, and maintaining transparency in how autonomous systems are trained.
A Future Beyond the Steering Wheel
The impact of self-driving cars will extend far beyond personal convenience. Logistics and delivery industries could be transformed by fleets of driverless trucks operating around the clock, reducing costs and speeding up global supply chains. Public transport may evolve into a network of on-demand, autonomous shuttles, offering greater flexibility and reducing congestion. Cities themselves could be redesigned with fewer parking lots and more open green spaces, as cars operate continuously instead of sitting idle. Insurance models, urban planning, and even real estate values may all shift as the ripple effects of autonomy spread through society. At the center of all these changes is the intelligence made possible by machine learning.
Trust Built on Data and People
While the narrative often highlights the vehicles themselves, the truth is that people remain central to the progress of autonomy. Engineers, data scientists, and annotators are the ones who prepare the datasets that teach vehicles how to interpret the world. The quality of this human-guided input determines whether an autonomous car makes safe, fair, and ethical decisions. In many ways, the unseen workforce behind machine learning is as important as the cars on the road. Their work ensures that autonomous systems reflect the complexity of real life rather than an oversimplified version of it.
Conclusion: From Fiction to Function
The road toward full autonomy is not without obstacles, but the momentum is undeniable. Every year, machine learning systems become smarter, data sets become more robust, and public confidence grows. What once seemed like an unreachable dream is quickly becoming part of everyday life. The future of transportation will not be defined solely by sleek vehicles or advanced sensors, but by the invisible intelligence that drives them forward. And at the heart of that intelligence is machine learning self driving cars, the technology turning science fiction into function and shaping the mobility of tomorrow.
Connor Zilisch’s historic campaign as a full-time NASCAR Xfinity Series competitor continued under the lights in front of his home crowd after he scored a dominant victory in the eighth annual running of the Blue Cross NC 250 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course on Saturday, October 4.
The 19-year-old Zilisch from Charlotte, North Carolina, led all but seven of 68 overscheduled laps in an event where he was the fastest competitor both in practice and qualifying. Leading the field to the event’s start from pole position, he executed his strategic plan by pitting prior to the conclusion of the event’s first two stage periods, though he still claimed the first stage victory. Amid his plan, he dominated on the track.
Then, after having a 10-second advantage evaporate with four laps remaining due to a late-race incident involving Sage Karam, Zilisch was among a handful of competitors who elected to remain on the track while a majority of the field, including Zilisch’s JR Motorsports teammates and Playoff contenders, pitted for fresh tires. During an overtime shootout, Zilisch muscled away from the field and built a reasonable gap just prior to a fluid caution that flew on the final lap and concluded the event. With the lead in his possession, Zilisch was able to cruise to his unprecedented 10th Xfinity victory of the 2025 season and earn additional momentum heading into next weekend’s Round of 8 towards the Playoffs.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Playoff contender Connor Zilisch notched his eighth Xfinity career pole position with a pole-winning lap at 96.503 mph in 85.054 seconds. Zilisch shared the front row with teammate and Playoff contender Justin Allgaier, the latter of whom posted his fastest qualifying lap at 95.984 mph in 85.514 seconds.
Before the event, the following names, which included Parker Retzlaff, Daniel Dye, Anthony Alfredo, Josh Williams and Jeremy Clements, started at the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments that were made to their respective entries. Jeb Burton also dropped to the rear of the field due to missing driver introductions.
When the green flag waved and the event commenced, Connor Zilisch, who opted to start on the outside lane, engaged in an early duel with teammate Justin Allgaier through the first turn and a majority of the infield turns before the former managed to muscle ahead just past Turn 5. With Zilisch ahead of the field, he proceeded to lead through the remaining infield turns and a sharp left-hand turn of Turn 7 before the field navigated through Charlotte’s oval turns. Once Zilisch smoothly navigated his way through the backstretch chicane, the remaining oval turns and the frontstretch chicane, he led the first lap.
During the second lap, Corey Day, who was racing in fifth place, started to have smoke coming out of his No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro entry and he also had right-rear quarter panel damage due to hitting the wall exiting Turn 2. In addition, Daniel Dye sent Anthony Alfredo for a spin in Turn 7. Amid both incidents, the race remained under green flag conditions, though Day continued to lose positions and generate heavy smoke from his entry through every turn and straightaway. Meanwhile, Zilisch retained his early lead over teammates Allgaier, Playoff contender Sammy Smith and Connor Mosack.
Just past the first five scheduled laps, Zilisch was leading by more than two seconds over teammate Allgier while teammates Sammy Smith and Mosack continued to trail in third and fourth, respectively, by four seconds. As Playoff contender Jesse Love occupied fifth place, Playoff contenders Sam Mayer and Carson Kvapil along with Kaz Grala, Austin Green and Aric Almirola pursued in the top 10 while Playoff contenders Austin Hill, Nick Sanchez and Sheldon Creed along with Christian Eckes, Day, William Sawalich, Matt DiBenedetto, Alex Labbe, Playoff contender Taylor Gray and Brennan Poole trailed in the top 20, respectively. Meanwhile, Playoff contenders Harrison Burton and Brandon Jones were mired in 26th and 27th, respectively, behind Jeb Burton and Daniel Hemric.
Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Zilisch extended his lead to more than four seconds over teammate Allgaier while teammates Mosack and Smith, along with Mayer, trailed by as far back as 10 seconds. Zilisch proceeded to add another five seconds to his advantage as he led by nine seconds at the Lap 14 mark.
Amid Zilisch’s dominant run, the event’s first caution flew on Lap 14 when Harrison Burton, who radioed fuel pressure issues and was plummeting below the leaderboard, stalled his No. 25 DEX Imaging Ford Mustang entry in Turn 4 as the driver was attempting to steer his entry off of the racing groove.
During the event’s first caution, nearly the entire field led by Zilisch opted to pit early for tires, fuel and adjustments while a handful led by Nick Sanchez and including Matt DiBenedetto, Jeb Burton and Parker Retzlaff remained on the track.
When the race restarted with three laps remaining in the first stage period, Sanchez muscled away from the field as the field fanned out and jostled for spots entering the first turn. Through the infield turns, Zilisch, who reported concerns of having a loose wheel but opted to remain on the track, rocketed his way into the runner-up spot as the field continued to bump and jostle for spots through the remaining infield turns, Turn 7 and the oval turns. Zilisch would then overtake Sanchez through the backstretch chicane and muscle away with the lead. As Zilisch led, Mayer was bumped off the track in the backstretch chicane and he served a “stop-and-go” penalty at the chicane during the following lap.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 20, Zilisch cruised to his 11th Xfinity stage victory of the 2025 season. Love, Allgaier, Sammy Smith, Kvapil, Austin Hill, Sanchez, Aric Almirola, Sheldon Creed and Mosack settled in the top 10, respectively, while Taylor Gray and Brandon Jones were mired in 17th and 19th, respectively. In addition, Mayer was mired in 12th place.
Under the first stage break period, select names led by Sanchez and including DiBenedetto, Jeb Burton and Ryan Sieg pitted their respective entries while the rest led by Zilisch remained on the track.
The second stage period started on Lap 24 as Zilisch and Jesse Love occupied the front row. At the start, Zilisch muscled ahead of Love and the field through the first turn. Zilisch proceeded to lead through the infield turns and Turn 7 before he navigated his way through the oval turns and the backstretch chicane. As Zilisch’s lead grew to more than a second, he then led through the frontstretch chicane before he cycled back to the start/finish line and led the next lap.
Following a third caution period that occurred on Lap 26 due to Josh Williams stalling on the course, the event restarted under green on Lap 29. At the start, Zilisch muscled away from Love, Sammy Smith and Allgaier through the first turn and an early set of infield turns. As Zilisch proceeded to lead the next lap over Love and Sammy Smith, Austin Hill muscled his way up to fourth place while Allgaier, who got hit by Creed as the latter got hit by Kvapil, dropped to fifth place.
At the event’s halfway mark between Laps 33 and 34, Zilisch stretched his lead to more than four seconds over runner-up Love and by nearly six seconds over third-place Sammy Smith while Allgaier, His, Creed, Mayer and Kvapil, all of whom are racing in the Playoffs, trailed in the top eight, respectively. Meanwhile, Sanchez, Gray and Jones were mired in 20th, 21st and 23rd, respectively, while Harrison Burton was strapped four laps down in 36th place following his early mechanical issues.
Then with three laps remaining in the second stage period, a bevy of competitors, including Allgaier, Gray, Hemric, Mosack, Austin Green, Almirola, Eckes, Sawalich, Jeb Burton, Dean Thompson, Sanchez, Kaz Grala, Corey Day and Anthony Alfredo pitted their respective entries. During the pit stops, Sanchez dragged his jack out of his pit box. Soon after, Zilisch surrendered the lead to pit during the next lap, which allowed Love to cycle to the lead just as pit road became inaccessible to the field due to the upcoming conclusion of a stage period.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 40, Love captured his second Xfinity stage victory of the 2025 season. Playoff contenders Sammy Smith, Austin Hill, Creed, Kvapil and Mayer followed suit in the top six, respectively, while Alex Labbe, Josh Bilicki, Sage Karam and Zilisch were scored in the top 10. Meanwhile, Allgaier, Gray, Jones and Sanchez were racing in 15th, 24th, 25th and 28th, respectively, while Harrison Burton was still strapped in 36th place and racing three laps down.
During the second stage break period, some led by Love and including Sammy Smith, Hill, Creed, Kvapil and Mayer pitted their respective entries while the rest led by Zilisch remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Mayer was penalized due to his crew members jumping over the pit wall too soon prior to a pit stop.
With 23 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as teammates Zilisch and Allgaier occupied the front row. At the start, Zilisch fended off Allgaier to retain the lead through the first turn and the infield turns before he navigated his way through the oval turns and the backstretch chicane. Zilisch proceeded to lead the next lap over Allgaier, Mosack, Eckes and Austin Green while Jeb Burton, Almirola, Grala, Gray and Hill pursued in the top 10, respectively. By then, Sammy Smith was mired in 13th ahead of DiBenedetto, Creed, Kvapil, Love and Jones while Mayer was down in 25th behind Sanchez.
Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Zilisch stretched his late lead to more than two seconds over teammate Allgaier while third-place teammate Mosack trailed by four seconds. By then, Kvapil, who was racing in 15th place, occupied the eighth and final transfer berth to the Playoff’s Round of 8 by five points over Hill while Sammy Smith, who was racing in 13th place on the track, was scored 11 points below the cutline.
Five laps later, Taylor Gray, who was racing in 11th place on the track, found himself on the cutline as he was only three points ahead of Hill, who was racing in ninth place, while Sammy Smith, who bumped and sent Corey Day for a spin in Turn 7 four laps earlier, trailed the cutline by 10 points as he was racing in 12th place in front of teammate Kvapil and Love. Meanwhile, Zilisch stabilized his lead to four seconds over teammate Allgaier while Mosack, Eckes and Austin Green followed suit in the top five, respectively.
With 10 laps remaining, Hill, who reported a lost cylinder to his No. 21 Bennett Chevrolet Camaro entry, dropped to 18th place in the leaderboard. As a result, his points deficit grew from three to 12. In the process, Gray, who was racing in 11th place, retained the final transfer berth by eight points over Sammy Smith, who was racing just ahead of Gray in 10th place while Sanchez, who pitted under green to address a flat right-front tire to his No. 48 Gainbridge Chevrolet Camaro entry, was mired in 31st place on the track and trailing the cutline by 31 points. Amid the on-track battles within the field, Zilisch continued to lead by more than five seconds over teammate Allgaier, with Mosack, Eckes and Green retaining their respective spots in the top five.
As the final five laps of the event struck, Gray’s points cushion for the final transfer spot stabilized as he was six points ahead of Sammy Smith while Hill and Sanchez trailed by 11 and 29 points, respectively. At the front of the field, Zilisch added another four seconds to his lead as he led by nine seconds over teammate Allgaier. Amid the battles amongst the Playoff contenders, Mosack pitted under green flag from third place to have a fuel pressure issue addressed. Mosack’s move allowed Austin Green to move into third place while Eckes and Almirola followed suit in the top five.
Then with four laps remaining, the caution flew due to Sage Karam wrecking on the frontstretch. The caution occurred just as Sammy Smith had pitted his No. 8 Pilot Chevrolet Camaro entry from ninth place under green flag conditions to address a flat right-front tire. During the caution period, some led by Allgaier and including Almirola, Creed, Eckes, Love, Kvapil, Mayer, Hemric, Hill and Ryan Sieg pitted while the rest led by Zilisch and including Sammy Smith remained on the track.
With the event sent into overtime, the start of the first overtime attempt featured Zilisch muscling his No. 88 WeatherTech Chevrolet Camaro entry ahead of Green while the field fanned out, bumped and jostled through the infield turns. As the field navigated through Turn 7, Alex Labbe spun while the field bumped and scattered to avoid the carnage. Despite Labbe’s incident, the race remained under green flag conditions while a bevy of Playoff contenders racing within the middle of the pack jostled amongst one another to race above the cutline.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Zilisch remained in the lead by more than a second over Green. Then as Zilisch navigated his way through the infield turns, the caution flew and the event was deemed official due to fluid reported on the track. With Zilisch ruled ahead at the moment of caution, he was able to cruise his way around the Charlotte Roval circuit for a final time before he cycled back to the frontstretch and claimed his 10th checkered flag of the 2025 season
With the victory, Zilisch notched his 11th career win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series division, his first at the Charlotte Roval, his sixth on road-course events and his first since he won at World Wide Technology Raceway in early September. Zilisch also became the first competitor to record double-digit victories in an Xfinity season since Kyle Busch made the previous achievement in 2016. The Charlotte Royal victory was also the 17th of the 2025 season for JR Motorsports and the 24th for the Chevrolet nameplate.
Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.
Having won the Round of 12 finale, Zilisch will commence next weekend’s Round of 8 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway atop the Playoff standings with 3,071 points as he continues his pursuit for his first series’ championship.
“Enough people stayed out with me to give me a gap,” Zilisch said on the frontstretch on the CW Network. “[It’s] So much fun getting to race at my hometown. [The] JR Motorsports cars were so fast this weekend. My WeatherTech Chevrolet was as fast as Xfinity Mobile all day long. First in practice, qualified on the pole, led a lot of laps and came home with a win. Feels really good to get 10 [wins]. Double digits is pretty awesome for my first year in the series. Now, we just go to go win a championship.”
Amid Zilisch’s victory, NASCAR took extensive time reviewing the race results at the moment of caution to determine the Playoff competitors who either transferred or did not transfer to the Round of 8. Following the review of the finish, Sammy Smith, who navigated his way up to third place on his four fresh tires, claimed the eighth and final transfer berth to the Round of 8 by a single point over Taylor Gray, the latter of whom ended up in 13th place.
Photo by Kevin Ritchie for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“It was a hard fought day, for sure,” Smith said. “We brought speed. I’m very proud of our effort that we put in this week, to be able to put ourselves in this position. We knew it was gonna take a lot. I’m very proud of everyone at [JR Motorsports], everyone on my team. [Crew chief] Phillip [Bell] made a great call to pit. Obviously, it was a Hail Mary move and it worked. I’m just excited to go try to race for another championship here and put ourselves in a position where we can make the Final Four.”
“[I’m] Just obviously bummed out, right?” Gray said. “[I] Won’t be able to go race for a championship at the end of the year. We weren’t good enough today; we didn’t have a good Bristol.
We shouldn’t even have to be in this spot, but we are. We’re gonna take our loss and move on to the next four [races] and try to go win us a couple races.”
Like Sammy Smith, teammate Carson Kvapil along with Sam Mayer, Jesse Love and Sheldon Creed join Zilisch, Justin Allgaier and Brandon Jones as the eight Playoff contenders who will continue their quest to battle for the championship in the Round of 8.
Photo by Kevin Ritchie for SpeedwayMedia.com.
On the flip side of emotions, Gray joined Nick Sanchez, Austin Hill and Harrison Burton as the four Playoff contenders whose Playoff run of the 2025 season came to an end.
With Zilisch winning the race, Austin Green notched a career-best 19th-place result in his 19th Xfinity start while Kaz Grala and Connor Mosack finished in the top five behind Sammy Smith. Jeb Burton and William Sawalich finished sixth and seventh, respectively, while Justin Allgaier posted an eighth-place result in his 500th Xfinity career start. Nick Sanchez and Christian Eckes completed the top 10 in the final running order.
There were six lead changes for five different leaders. The event featured six cautions for 13 laps. In addition, 29 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.
Charlotte Results:
1. Connor Zilisch, 61 laps led, Stage 1 winner 2. Austin Green 3. Sammy Smith 4. Kaz Grala 5. Connor Mosack, one lap led 6. Jeb Burton 7. William Sawalich 8. Justin Allgaier 9. Nick Sanchez, one lap led 10. Christian Eckes 11. Sheldon Creed 12. Jesse Love, four laps led, Stage 2 winner 13. Taylor Gray 14. Aric Almirola 15. Carson Kvapil 16. Parker Retzlaff 17. Daniel Hemric 18. Brandon Jones 19. Sam Mayer 20. Ryan Sieg 21. Josh Bilicki 22. Corey Day 23. Anthony Alfredo 24. Ryan Ellis 25. Sage Karam 26. Leland Honeyman 27. Jeremy Clements 28. Austin Hill, one lap led 29. Blaine Perkins 30. Alex Labbe, one lap down 31. Brennan Poole, one lap down 32. Matt DiBenedetto, one lap down 33. Kyle Sieg, one lap down 34. Harrison Burton, four laps down 35. Dean Thompson, six laps down 36. Daniel Dye – OUT, Transmission 37. Josh Williams – OUT, Fuel Pump 38. Preston Pardus – OUT, Transmission *Bold indicates Playoff contenders.
Playoff standings:
1. Connor Zilisch – Advanced 2. Justin Allgaier – Advanced 3. Sam Mayer – Advanced 4. Brandon Jones – Advanced 5. Jesse Love – Advanced 6. Sheldon Creed – Advanced 7. Carson Kvapil – Advanced 8. Sammy Smith – Advanced 9. Taylor Gray – Eliminated 10. Nick Sanchez – Eliminated 11. Austin Hill – Eliminated 12. Harrison Burton – Eliminated
The Round of 8 in the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs commences next Saturday, October 11, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada, for the Focused Health 302. The event’s broadcast time is slated to commence at 7:30 p.m. ET on the CW Network, PRN Radio and SiriusXM.
